One of the amazing things about being an online news organization is our ability to know, with tremendous detail, what people are reading. Our analytics inform us on a constant basis which stories are resonating with readers.
A review of Noozhawk’s most-read stories of the year demonstrates that our unmatched breaking news coverage — of fires, vehicle crashes, floods, crimes, etc. — brings in far more readers than any other topic.
But Noozhawk is much more than breaking news: We cover a wide variety of topics, including education and local government, politics and environment, business and sports, nonprofits, feature stories, and more.
What follow are our editors picks of stories from 2023 that we believe were significant and important, even if they did not crack the Top 10 in terms of readership.
The list is by definition subjective, and surely could have been several times longer, but here are our editors’ picks, in no particular order.
Reimagining State Street and the Downtown Parklets Debate
State Street is a great street in downtown Santa Barbara, but it remains beset by numerous challenges, including too many vacant storefronts, high rents, traffic conflicts, and an overall lack of consensus about what its future should look like.
Central to that debate in the short-term has been the future of the outdoor dining parklets many restaurants set up to help with weather the COVID-19 pandemic. Tied in with that is the question of which blocks, if any, should remain off limits to vehicular traffic.
There is considerable evidence that the outdoor parklets are popular with diners, and the restaurateurs say they are good for business.
But many other retailers complain that the structures on State and adjacent streets cost them visibility and ultimately business.
The bigger question — one that has been under discussion all year — is about how State Street should evolve. More housing? Mixed use development with housing and commercial space? Open or closed streets? Parades? Bikes vs. pedestrians?
It’s a debate that no doubt will continue into 2024.
Read:
Santa Barbara Orders Removal of Some Dining Parklets By Jan. 1
Santa Barbara City Council Agrees to Spend $55,000 for Bike Lanes Along State Street
Design Proposals for Santa Barbara’s State Street Spark Heated Debate
Munger Hall Rises & Falls at UCSB
Charles Munger made a fortune through his investment savvy and his involvement with the Berkshire Hathaway holding company. He also was a generous and faithful patron of UC Santa Barbara, where he funded a faculty housing project for the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics.
A businessman by trade, Munger also seemed to fancy himself as somewhat of an architectural visionary in the area of student housing. It was an interest that led him to propose a controversial nine-story residence at the seaside campus, along with a $200 million donation to help pay for it.
The project was intended to house some 3,500 students. The design featured bedrooms with artificial lights in lieu of windows, and large communal kitchens instead of a dining hall.
Munger, who passed away on Nov. 28 at age 99, hailed his ideas as the future of student housing.
But opposition to the concept was swift and vociferous — from students, faculty and the community — with former campus architects labeling it “a disaster in the making.”
So it was perhaps not surprising that in July, the university signaled that it was moving away from the Munger plan, and instead pursuing two new residence halls at the site near Harder Stadium. The details of a new project have not yet been released.
Read:
UCSB Plans to Build Alternative to Munger Hall
UCSB Pulls Back Curtain on Giant Munger Residence Hall Mock-Up
Former UC Campus Architects Slam UCSB’s Munger Hall Proposal
Sansum Clinic Merges with Sutter Health
Sansum Clinic, which has a long history in Santa Barbara County and is one of the powerhouses in providing medical care to the community, has long sought a strategic partnership to improve its own longterm health in an increasingly challenging financial environment.
To that end, Sansum in May announced a merger with Sutter Health, a nonprofit provider of coordinated health care to more than 3 million Californians, primarily in Northern California.
The move was described by Sansum as a way “to strengthen our ability to bring more resources to meet the healthcare needs of our patients and provide them a more connected, seamless experience.”
The partnership was finalized this fall, with integration efforts expected to continue into 2024 and beyond.
Read:
Sansum Clinic Is Pursuing ‘Strategic Partnership’ with Sutter Health
Sansum Clinic, Sutter Health Begin Partnership with Hopes of Expansion, New Jobs and Better Care
AMR and County Battle Over Ambulance Contract
Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig has made no secret of his ambition for his department to take over ambulance service in the county from American Medical Response (AMR).
AMR has been the ambulance provider for the county for about 50 years, excluding the Cuyama Valley, Vandenberg Village and UC Santa Barbara.
AMR and County Fire submitted proposals to become exclusive, countywide providers during last year’s bidding process for a new contract, and a review panel ranked AMR’s higher.
After multiple unsuccessful protests and appeals by County Fire, the Board of Supervisors threw out the bidding process, and created a new system for picking the ambulance provider.
That resulted, not unexpectedly, in County Fire being awarded the contract.
Also not surprising was the lawsuit AMR filed claiming the supervisors violated the state EMS Act when it passed the new ordinance and permitting system for ambulance services.
Judge Donna Geck granted AMR’s request to issue an injunction halting the plan until the manner can go to trial next year.
She also extended AMR’s contract, which was set to expire at the end of February, until at least July, when the trial is tentatively scheduled.
Read:
Judge Rules in AMR’s Favor in Ambulance Services Case
AMR Accuses County of Violating State Law By Denying Its Ambulance Services Permit
County Panel Denies Fire Department’s Appeal over Ambulance-Services Contract
Monarch Butterflies Making a Comeback at Ellwood Grove
The monarch butterfly could well be the official insect of Santa Barbara County, if there were such a designation.
The regal and colorful bugs are around pretty much all year, but their numbers historically swell in the winter, when their southern migration brings hordes of them to the eucalyptus groves in the Ellwood neighborhood in Goleta.
Recent years have seen their numbers fall precipitously, due to declining habitat, climate change and other factors. In the 2019-20 season, only 271 monarch butterflies were counted in all Ellwood sites, and only 10 monarchs were counted in the 2020-21 season.
But this year, to the delight of residents and researchers alike, the numbers are back up. At the most recent count on Dec. 15, 26,383 butterflies were tallied in the grove, making it by far the best year in a decade.
Read:
Monarch Butterflies Return to Goleta’s Ellwood Main Grove in Droves
Montecito Debris Nets Fill Up, Then Are Removed
In the wake of the deadly Montecito debris flows in January 2018, the community came together in a remarkable effort to do something to reduce the chance of the devastating incident being repeated.
By the following year, millions of dollars had been raised for the project, and two debris nets were installed in creeks of three canyons: San Ysidro, Cold Spring, and Buena Vista.
Part of the permit approval was a requirement that the nets be quickly cleaned out should they fill up with rocks, mud and debris.
In the following three years, there were no storms or flows of the magnitude of the Jan. 9 deluge, and the watershed steadily grew back vegetation and recovered.
In January of this year, a major storm filled up the upper net in San Ysidro Canyon, but stream conditions, legal requirements and the remote location prevented a quick clean out.
This year also marked the expiration date for the 5-year county permit for the nets. Without an extension, they were required to be removed by Dec. 21.
Despite some intensive negotiations, the sponsoring group — the Project for Resilient Communities — was unable to reach an agreement with the county to take over responsibility for the nets, including any required clean-outs.
In early November, the group decided to remove the nets, and they no longer are in place.
Read:
Breakdown in Negotiations Spurs Decision to Remove Debris Nets from Montecito Canyons
Montecito Debris Net in San Ysidro Creek Fills Following Rainstorm
Launch Schedule Soaring at Vandenberg Space Force Base
Vandenberg Space Force Base has a long history as the West Coast spaceport for the United States, launching rockets and missiles large and small from its strategic location in Santa Barbara County.
Early on, the launches were conducted by the military or NASA, and occurred only a few times each year. But with the advent and boom of commercial space operations, that situation is changing rapidly.
Launches from Vandenberg could increase to at least a couple each week within the next few years.
Leading the way will be SpaceX with its reusable first-stage rockets. The company announced late last year that its launch rate from Vandenberg could reach 100 per year by 2025.
Add in launches by the military and other entities, and 2024 is likely to be very busy at Vandenberg.
Read:
SpaceX Yearly Launch Rate at Vandenberg SFB Could Soar to 100 by 2025
Housing Crisis Shows No Signs of Abating
Housing is a crisis decades in the making in Santa Barbara County, and that trend continued in 2023. Once again this year, housing issues were almost constantly in the news.
There is general agreement that the problem stems from an overall inadequate supply of housing at all levels. Simple supply and demand means that the housing that does exist — both ownership and rentals — is very expensive.
Communities throughout the county grappled with updating the housing elements of their general plans, facing the challenges of meeting state mandates to significantly increase housing development.
The city of Santa Barbara wrestled with whether the La Cumbre Plaza shopping center should eventually be repurposed to create hundreds of new housing units. Debates also raged over whether developers should be building apartments and townhomes or hotels.
Rents continued to consume big chunks of residents’ incomes, while the real estate market — driven by limited inventory and high interest rates — presented an insurmountable obstacle to many potential homebuyers.
Debates also took place about accessory-dwelling units, bonus-density schemes, “renovictions” (the large-scale eviction of apartment tenants for building upgrades and rent increases), rent control and more.
Beautiful coastal California is a finite resource, and will always be in high demand. Look for housing to remain a major public issue in 2024 and beyond.
Read:
Santa Barbara Orders Removal of Some Dining Parklets By Jan. 1
New Housing Project Possibly Headed for La Cumbre Plaza
Santa Barbara’s State Street Promenade to Remain Closed to Vehicles Through at Least 2026
Santa Barbara State Street Meeting Sparks Debate Over Cars, Bikes, Retail and Restaurants