A new season of high school football has kicked off, which always triggers a combination of excitement, expectation and butterflies for me — even though I’m decades past my prime.
Another reason for my exhilaration today? The Los Angeles Dodgers, however exasperating they may be. The defending world champions have clawed their way back into first place where they should be — for now, anyway — but that’s not what’s important.
You may have seen that Noozhawk has been conducting a wide-ranging audience survey to learn what our readers think about our local sports coverage.
If you haven’t already participated, there’s still time and we do want to hear from you. Click here for the survey.
According to our Google Analytics, the news of this past week brought 142,130 readers to Noozhawk. What follows is my take on the Top 5 stories you were reading during the period.
Before you go any further, I must remind you that this is my opinion column, not a news story. I’m Noozhawk’s publisher, not a reporter.
Which is why I’ll take the liberty to note that it is now three days past the Aug. 31 “deadline” to leave Afghanistan, and there are still hundreds — perhaps thousands — of Americans and green-card holders we abandoned to the Taliban when the last U.S. airlift flight left. I’m old enough to remember when that was unthinkable.
1. Liquid Nitrogen Delivery Troubles Lead to Atlas, Landsat 9 Launch Delay at Vandenberg
Leave it to COVID-19 to screw up a rocket launch.
As our Janene Scully reported Aug. 27, a dearth of liquid nitrogen forced United Launch Alliance to postpone the Sept. 16 liftoff of an Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The rocket — and its Landsat 9 satellite cargo — now won’t go until Sept. 23 at the earliest.
According to NASA, liquid nitrogen is needed for launch vehicle testing and countdown sequences. A supply chain bottleneck is thwarting availability, however.
“Current pandemic demands for medical liquid oxygen have impacted the delivery of the needed liquid nitrogen supply to Vandenberg by the Defense Logistics Agency and its supplier, Airgas,” NASA said in a statement.
Officials are redoubling efforts to scrounge up what they need.
The Landsat mission is an ongoing joint project of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey to monitor land and coastal regions from outer space. Vandenberg has been the mission’s home since the first launch, in 1972.
As you may recall from previous Noozhawk stories, the satellite’s solar array was designed and built at what is now Northrup Grumman in Old Town Goleta.
2. Santa Barbara’s Freshly Renovated Cabrillo Pavilion Ready to Welcome New Restaurant
In case you weren’t aware, Santa Barbara’s newly renovated Cabrillo Pavilion has reopened to the public at East Beach.
The place is beautiful, and the final piece — an Orange County-based restaurant, Reunion Kitchen + Drink — is about to make its debut on the ocean side of the historic building at 1118 E. Cabrillo Blvd.
As our Josh Molina reported, the City of Santa Barbara’s multiyear, $20 million renovation has resulted in a new beach boardwalk; restoration of the Bathhouse lobby; remodeled shower and locker facilities; multipurpose rooms for gym/fitness, recreation programs, meetings and special events; and storm water improvements.
And then there’s the aforementioned restaurant, which is designed by DMHA Architecture + Interior Design of Santa Barbara.
Reunion Kitchen owner Scott McIntosh, who owns restaurants of the same name in Anaheim Hills and Laguna Beach, told Josh that the “polished casual” menu ranges from fried chicken to filet mignon and local seafood, with all dishes made from scratch.
Other features include a champagne brunch and local wines and beers.
“We do our best to make friends with the neighborhood,” he said.
That’s good to hear because the longtime previous tenant, East Beach Grill, was popular among locals, including some pretty prominent ones. Owners Francisco Aguilera and his wife, Rita, had hoped to win the bid to be the city’s new tenant but that was not to be.
3. Pallet Houses for Homeless People Set Up in Lompoc; Similar Project Coming to Santa Barbara
They’re as spartan as can be, but nearly two dozen tiny pallet houses are demonstrating that dignified and effective solutions to homelessness do exist.
As our Serena Guentz reported Aug. 27, 20 of the 8-foot-by-8-foot units have been set up outside Lompoc’s BridgeHouse Emergency Center, which is run by Good Samaritan Center at 2025 Sweeney Road.
Each lockable aluminum-frame structure sleeps one or two people, and is equipped with beds, heating and air conditioning, lighting and electrical outlets. Bedding and toiletries are provided, and meals and showers are available at the main shelter.
The units, made by Seattle-based Pallet Shelter with a price tag starting at $5,500 each, can be assembled in less than a half-hour.
Pallet houses are intended to be a stepping stone toward permanent housing for the homeless, allowing them to maintain independence with a place of their own along with the supportive services needed to help them succeed.
Brian Halterman, Good Samaritan Shelter’s Lompoc homeless and housing program director, says the units are especially beneficial for people with mental illness or social anxiety, or those with service animals or other pets.
“By us putting them in place, it will allow us to serve a population that we have not been able to serve through normal congregate living,” he told Serena.
Halterman said residents will be able to stay for about 90 days while they work with a case manager to help prepare them for permanent housing.
A similar undertaking is afoot in downtown Santa Barbara, where Santa Barbara County is partnering with the nonprofit DignityMoves on a $2 million, three-year project. That plan is to provide 34 interim housing units in a parking lot between Santa Barbara and Garden streets.
4. CHP Investigating Suspected Wrong-Way and Hit-and-Run Crashes That Killed 4 County Residents
More than a week after two awful, fatal wrecks on Highway 101 west of Goleta, the California Highway Patrol is still investigating what happened, including the circumstances of the fiery head-on collision that took the lives of three of the four people killed that morning.
CHP Officer Jonathan Gutierrez told our Giana Magnoli on Sept. 1 that the early morning Aug. 25 crashes were not related, even though the timing was highly coincidental.
The first collision was reported at 2:10 a.m. on the northbound side of the freeway near the Winchester Canyon Road exit.
Authorities say the driver of the only car at the scene, 31-year-old Cameron Martinez of Solvang, was declared dead by Santa Barbara County firefighters. He reportedly had not been wearing a seat belt. The driver of the other vehicle didn’t stick around.
Less than 10 minutes later and only three miles away to the west, Gutierrez said, the driver of a northbound Volkswagen Jetta crossed into the southbound lanes and slammed head-on into a Ford Expedition near Dos Pueblos Canyon Road. Both vehicles caught fire.
The Jetta driver, identified as 28-year-old Natalia Stallworth of Santa Barbara, and the Santa Maria couple in the Expedition, identified as 25-year-old Daniel Garcia and 23-year-old Eryka Lopez, were all killed.
CHP Officer Thomas Kirkland told Giana that Ventura officers had been pursuing the allegedly speeding Jetta from Ventura County, but called off the chase at some point in Goleta — and actually stopped to assist at the site of the Martinez crash.
“Our vehicles were in pursuit of one of the vehicles involved in the wrong-way (collision), but they had canceled the pursuit before the collision,” he said.
A GoFundMe account for Garcia and Lopez’s funeral arrangements had raised $12,250 by Sept. 3. Click here to make an online donation.
Friends have started a GoFundMe account for Martinez, and the effort had raised $1,170 by Sept. 3. Click here to make an online donation.
5. BizHawk: The Good Plow Fresh Food Restaurant Replaces Fosters Freeze in Carpinteria
Carpinteria’s old Fosters Freeze was a quintessentially Americana burger joint, and remained in its retro state right up till the coronavirus took it down last fall.
But the property at 5205 Carpinteria Ave., just west of the Carpinteria Community Pool, didn’t stay vacant for long.
Katie and Jason Lesh, a local couple with deep roots in the community, thought it would be fertile ground for their restaurant idea, and The Good Plow has just sprouted up as a result.
“There’s very much a need for a new restaurant in Carp,” Katie Lesh told our Josh Molina. “I have always wanted to open a restaurant. We have been casually looking for a spot for like six years.”
The Leshes also own Farm Cart Organics, a downtown Carpinteria farmstand, and most of The Good Plow’s menu is vegetarian, with items like vegan Korean fried tofu tacos, a tofu poke bowl, crispy brussels and a bahn mi sandwich built on fried oyster mushrooms.
It’s not exclusively so, however. In fact, looking like it’s bucking for a #bestofbillrecommendation is “The Real Burger,” which features grass-fed beef from historic Rancho San Julian south of Lompoc.
There’s even a soft-serve frozen yogurt dispenser with chocolate-dipped cones.
The Good Plow is open 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, with an extra hour on Friday and Saturday nights.
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Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Future of Paseo Nuevo Sparks Controversy with Mall Development Agreement in Final Stages.
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Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
Vancouver’s Stanley Park is one of the coolest in the world. Now it’s closed nightly because of marauders running amok: Stanley Park Overnight Access Restricted as Coyote Attacks Continue.
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Best of Bill’s Instagram
Shadows bring out the dapples at Our Lady of @mountcarmelsb Catholic Church, #mysecondfavoritechurchinmontecito. You can see what I mean in my Instagram feed this past week.
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Watch It
I don’t want to give @sadiethealaskanmalamute any ideas for my next Zoom meeting but …
(Global News video)
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— Bill Macfadyen is Noozhawk’s founder and publisher. Contact him at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com, follow him on Instagram: @bill.macfadyen, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
