With America spiraling into chaos almost by the hour, the return of Fiesta Ranchera after a two-year absence was truly a welcome respite this past week.
Add the dynastic Golden State Warriors’ fourth world championship in eight years and this weekend’s start of the College World Series, and maybe normalcy isn’t dead yet.
Viva la Fiesta!
Noozhawk had an audience of 94,613 readers this past week, according to our Google Analytics. What follows is my own take on the Top 5 stories you were reading over the past seven days.
Oh, and this is my opinion column as Noozhawk’s publisher. It is not a news story.
1. UC Santa Barbara Officials Release Some Details About Deadly Crash on Campus
Moving with the speed of a doctoral dissertation, UC Santa Barbara officials finally released the bare-minimum details of a horrendous three-vehicle collision that killed three people, including a UCSB student — back on May 28.
Because the crash happened on campus, at the intersection of El Colegio and Stadium roads near Isla Vista, UCSB police are investigating the circumstances.
Within three days, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau had released the identities of the dead: 20-year-old Sebastian “Sebas” Gil, a UCSB student from Santa Barbara; 28-year-old José Luis Hernández of Santa Barbara; and 20-year-old Daniel Razo of Yorba Linda.
Witnesses reported that a white Nissan Altima was speeding westbound on El Colegio Road when it ran the red light, struck a curb and went airborne. The car flattened the roofs of two oncoming vehicles waiting for the light to change, then spun into some eucalyptus trees.
While Noozhawk has been requesting details, which is considered public information under California Government Code, Section 6254(f), there had been no real explanation from UCSB police or the UCSB Office of Public Affairs & Communication.
On June 10, our Tom Bolton finally got some answers.
UCSB media relations manager Kiki Reyes told him that police investigators had concluded that Hernández was driving the Nissan that plowed over a BMW M235i driven by Gil and a Toyota RAV4. Razo was a passenger in Gil’s back seat.
Five other people were injured in the crash, with several needing to be extricated from the wreckage by Santa Barbara County firefighters. Those identities are still being wrongly withheld by UCSB.
Reyes provided no other information.
“The UCSB Police Department does not wish to speculate as to the cause of the collision until all the facts are known,” she said.
As it turns out, Santa Barbara police had arrested Hernández last July following an East Cabrillo Boulevard reckless driving spree that also involved a white Nissan. According to Superior Court records, he was convicted of reckless driving, resisting arrest and driving without a license, and was sentenced to 49 days in jail
GoFundMe accounts have been set up for funeral expenses and to benefit the families of Gil, Hernández and Razo.
2. 63-Unit Affordable Housing Project in Downtown Santa Barbara Gets Positive Review
Numerous projects have been proposed over the years for the City of Santa Barbara’s downtown commuter parking lot at 400 W. Carrillo St., between Castillo Street and Highway 101. But the latest plans for the 1.3-acre property appear to have momentum on their side.
As our Josh Molina has been reporting, the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara has been pitching a project for 63 apartments to be leased at below the market rate for housing and aimed at working professionals earning between 80% and 120% of the local median income.
“The city is very much in need of housing affordable to the moderate-income workforce, and that is what this development is all about,” said Rob Fredericks, the Housing Authority’s executive director and CEO.
While still in the conceptual phase, Fredericks and his team took their proposal before the Historic Landmarks Commission, where it received an enthusiastic reception.
Noting the site’s location as a gateway to downtown, commissioner Keith Butler said he likes the direction the project is taking.
“It’s a strong statement to people coming in that may be their first, early impression of us,” he said. “I think it fits pretty well.”
Unlike an earlier, stealth proposal for “tiny homes” for the homeless that ran into insurmountable neighborhood opposition, the Housing Authority has been working with nearby residents on the design.
The three- and four-story development, whose mass will be “stepped back” into the interior, emphasizes livability and community for those in the complex as well as those who will be looking at it from their own nearby homes.
3. Authorities Release Names of Lompoc Fatal Shooting Victim, Suspect
For far too long, parts of Lompoc have been beset by crime. But that ignominious record has gotten even worse this month with an explosion of violence.
As our Janene Scully first reported, 33-year-old Jose “Joe” Castillo was driving in the 500 block of North K Street, near West Maple Avenue south of Lompoc High School, the night of June 5 when he was hit by a hail of gunfire.
According to Lompoc police, Castillo was rushed to Lompoc Valley Medical Center, where he died from multiple gunshot wounds.
The circumstances of the shooting remain under investigation, but two suspects in the incident were later linked to an extensive crime spree that included an Anaheim carjacking, another Lompoc shooting, an armed robbery at a Buellton liquor store, and a police chase through San Luis Obispo and Kern counties.
Kern County authorities say one of the suspects in Castillo’s killing — identified as 20-year-old Kittipong Kaunbooncharn of Lompoc — was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound June 8 after he and his companion abandoned their vehicle and high-tailed it into an orchard on foot.
Kaunbooncharn’s buddy, a juvenile whose identity was not released because of his age, was taken into custody.
Lompoc police are trying to determine whether the shooting of Castillo was gang-related.
A GoFundMe account has been established to assist Castillo’s family with his funeral, which is pending.
“We unexpectedly lost Joe to a tragic act of violence, as you may know,” organizer Monica Castillo posted on the site. “Our family is at a loss for words.”
The account had raised nearly $4,000 as of June 17. Click here to make an online donation.
One week after Castillo’s murder, a 43-year-old Lompoc man was killed and a woman critically wounded in a shooting in the 400 block of East Prune Street, between North D and F streets, three blocks east of Highway 1/North H Street.
Police Lt. Chip Arias identified the dead man as Joseph Lujan. The woman, whose identity was not disclosed, was hospitalized with a gunshot wound.
Arias told Janene the gunman remained at large, and he appealed to the public for tips, especially from surveillance recordings in the multifamily residential neighborhood. Confidential tips can be reported to police at 805.736.2341.
4. Construction Nearly Complete for Carpinteria Segment of Highway 101 Widening Project
Carpinteria residents may have thought this day would never come but, lo and behold, the low-key beach town is about to get its serenity back.
The seemingly interminable freeway widening project runs from Mussel Shoals, east of the Ventura County line, to Milpas Street in Santa Barbara, but the $700 million segment through Carpinteria has been particularly disruptive for the community of 14,000 residents.
In addition to the years-long expansion of the freeway itself, the project has had an impact on surface street mobility while bridges, overcrossings, and entrance and exit ramps have been replaced.
Of course, any significant freeway wreck — and they are legion, as Noozhawk readers know — pushes a steady stream of pass-through traffic into town. That likely won’t change but, with additional lanes in each direction, it has to be better than it was.
Carpool lanes should be open by the time you read this, and cones and equipment are on their way out.
Overseen by Caltrans and the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, the larger project’s Padaro and Summerland sections already are under construction. The Montecito and Santa Barbara stretches are scheduled to begin sometime between 2023 and 2028.
5. Attempted-Murder Suspect Arrested Following Unprovoked Stabbing in Santa Barbara
An alleged backstabber was arrested June 13 in Santa Barbara after a bizarre, unprovoked attack on a man walking on the Westside.
As our Serena Guentz reported, police Sgt. Ethan Ragsdale said the assailant — later identified as 33-year-old Vanessa Beatriz Alvarez — stabbed the victim in the back with a large kitchen knife near the intersection of West Micheltorena and San Andres streets. She then fled on foot.
Fortunately for the victim, the attack went down near the Westside Neighborhood Medical Clinic, at 628 W. Micheltorena St., and the man immediately walked inside for help.
Clinic staff called 9-1-1, as did an eyewitness who followed the suspect, providing police with a detailed description and a play-by-play of her getaway route.
Ragsdale said officers eventually located and detained Alvarez several blocks away in the 1700 block of Castillo Street.
The victim’s identity was not disclosed. After initial treatment at the clinic, he was transported by American Medical Response ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries.
According to Ragsdale, Alvarez and the victim did not know each other.
Alvarez was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and use of a deadly weapon likely to cause great bodily injury, all felonies, and resisting an officer, a misdemeanor.
As of June 17, she remained jailed on more than $1 million bail.
• • •
Good Reads
Here are six more stories I recommend:
» SpaceX to Launch Rocket with German Military Satellite from Vandenberg Space Force Base — I love SpaceX rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base, especially the ones accompanied by sonic booms. North County editor Janene Scully has the countdown to the next one, which you may hear not long after 7:19 a.m. June 18.
» Radio Station Owner Shawn Knight Dies in Paragliding Crash — Rest in peace to my friend, Shawn Knight. We shared a love of country music and rodeo, I was inspired by his entrepreneurial passion and I admired his devotion to the magic of radio. Prayers to his family and employees.
» Trial Begins for Santa Barbara Man Charged with Intentionally Killing Solvang Mom, Children in Wreck — The horrific head-on collision that killed Vanessa Bley and her two young children, Lucienne and Desmond, still reverberates nearly three years later. Prosecutors believe the driver who allegedly caused the wreck did so intentionally. Our Serena Guentz is following the murder trial that opened this week.
» EconAlliance Forum Participants Charged Up for ‘Energy Transition to Net Zero’ — I was honored to lead a panel discussion on industry perspectives for the EconAlliance “Energy Transition to Net Zero” conference on June 15 in Buellton.
The day’s forum was educational and frank, although the assumptions driving the narrative are insane. That doesn’t mean net-zero goals aren’t worthy or that we shouldn’t continue to work toward them, but the debate is in desperate need of some intellectual honesty and a reality check.
Still, I was encouraged by the innovations and optimism shared by my panelists: Phil Adam, chief operating officer of Innovative Produce of Santa Maria; Bob Brown, senior director of the Western States Petroleum Association; Kevin Kester, owner of Bear Valley Ranch in Parkfield and a past president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association; and Tim Walters, principal of RRM Design Group in San Luis Obispo. Our Janene Scully plugs in the story.
» Super Bowl-Champion Los Angeles Rams Share Lombardi Trophy with Fans in Santa Barbara — Sports editor Barry Punzal was among the local Rams fans basking in the glory of a Super Bowl championship.
» Lompoc Man Accused of Attempting to Kill Father by Setting Him on Fire — Executive editor Tom Bolton has yet another peculiar Lompoc crime story.
• • •
Last Year on Noozhawk
What was our most-read story this time last year? Billionaire MacKenzie Scott Donates $20 Million to Santa Barbara City College.
• • •
Bill Macfadyen’s Story of the Week
In all the talk about gun violence, how come enforcing the law and fully prosecuting those who break it are rarely mentioned? Ex-Convict Who Killed Two El Monte Police Officers on Probation for Illegal Gun Possession at Time of Shooting.
• • •
Best of Bill’s Instagram
#bestofbillrecommendation food filled my Instagram feed this past week. Along with a hissing late-night visitor.
• • •
Americans Held Hostage: Day 290
A U.S. embassy official left behind in Afghanistan managed to escape and is now living in squalor in a Pakistan refugee camp. Oh, and it’s been 290 days since we turned our back on thousands of U.S. citizens and green-card holders.
• • •
Watch It
If you can’t stand the heat … get out of your crate and redirect the fan.
(Viral Hub video)
• • •
How You Can Help Noozhawk
Noozhawk is proud to be the go-to source of news for locals like yourself. You trust and rely on us to provide timely, relevant and thorough coverage of the issues that shape Santa Barbara County.
And we get up early — and stay up late — excited to report what’s going on in our community so we can keep you informed and engaged.
While most of Noozhawk’s revenue comes from advertising and sponsorships, we believe that reader contributions are a vital source of support — financially and fundamentally. We believe that if we ask our readers to contribute what you think we’re worth, we can build a sustainable business model for local news.
Yes, I’ll set up a monthly donation today!
Yes, I’ll set up a monthly donation today!
Yes, I’ll set up a monthly donation today!
Yes, I’ll set up a monthly donation today!
Yes, I’ll set up a monthly donation today!
Yes, I’ll set up a monthly donation today!
Yes, I’ll set up a monthly donation today!
Yes, I’ll set up a monthly donation today!
Yes, I’ll set up a monthly donation today! Yes, I’ll set up a monthly donation today!
Your loyalty membership helps us continue to provide you with unmatched local news and in-depth reporting on the issues that you care about.
Please note that personal contributions to Noozhawk are not deductible as charitable donations.
Thank you for your support.
— 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.
