The day after 9/11 was a day to remember! That morning, people woke up and put petty differences and animosities aside. People came together to support one another in the face of tragedy.
There was a palpable sense of hope and unity for our neighbors and fellow citizens as good-will flourished throughout the nation.
That was a time to remember …
Please pass this along so that younger people will know that there was a time of great kindness and generosity in our nation that is not so evident today.
That was a Great America!
Joseph Garred
Santa Barbara
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Thank you to Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen for his clear-eyed Sept. 11 column, “25 Years After 9/11, Never Forget Who We Lost and Why — or What We Stand For.”
It’s unfortunate that it had to be said, but it does.
Ed Parker
Santa Barbara
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I wrote this on Sept. 13, 2001:
I sat back and began to think about the events of the past few days. What happened on Sept. 11 will always be etched in my mind. Vivid images, distressing sounds, heartbreaking news and terror-filled moments. Disbelief is what I have heard so many say.
How can this happen? We stare in utter amazement and are confused how so few men, with ideas and beliefs so foreign to the majority of us, can affect so much damage that touched so many people.
All of us, whether we are Christian, Muslim, Islamic, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist or agnostic, feel the power of this fanatical belief. An enormous power, which permeates the very soul of our moral fiber.
We cannot deny that there is something greater than us, something that moves within us. A power that can drive us to our knees in despair and fear. Drive us to raise our hands in an utter cry of helplessness.
The American Indians called this power the Great Spirit. That Great Spirit still thrives in this land. It hovers over each of us and guides us and motivates us and encourages us. We cannot deny its influence.
We search therefore for the inner understanding regarding these diabolic deeds. We cry over children, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, friends, co-workers and even people we do not know. We all feel their pain.
What if it had been Jane next door? What if it had been that nice lady at the grocery store who always remembered to smile? Would we miss her, too? Many of you would avidly say, “Yes I would” — that is why we cry today even if we have not been personally touched.
We have been touched by the very fact that we are all part of the human race.
While we ponder the magnitude of recent events and the way that they have touched us all, I am reminded, too, of the courage of just a few. The brave men and women who ran back in a building to save maybe a few more. The few passengers who took matters into their own hands to save others, to save ideals and symbols of something greater than all of us.
They hung on to that great power.
I do believe that all of the people responsible for these despicable acts need to be brought to justice. But I also cry over innocent lives that may be hurt by the methods used to seek revenge and justice.
We will be held accountable for our actions. We must be careful not to let our riled-up emotions override our sense of justice that may force us to use this ugly spirit of hatred against others.
A few showed their hatred for their fellow man in such a fanatical fashion that we are reminded of Hitler. This type of hatred is not much different than the racial prejudice we still see today in this country.
The hatred must stop. We cannot today hate anyone. Hate will only bring on more hatred, which in turn brings more bloodshed.
Yes, we will never be the same. Yet while I cry and fret over the lives of my fellow humans. I am so proud that there are many who, through it all, grasp the real meaning of what it means to be, not just an American, but a human.
God bless us all and God bless the human race.
Rev. Yvonne Bazinet
Santa Barbara
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Regarding the Sept. 9 article, “Future of Parades on Santa Barbara’s State Street Uncertain Under Master Plan,” the Old Spanish Days Fiesta parade has a hundred-year tradition. It isn’t held to increase the business of the local bars and other businesses.
I grew up in Glendale. My next-door neighbor used to go to Santa Barbara every year just to do Fiesta. It’s a tradition.
Oh, my God, a horse fell on a woman! Is that a reason to cancel the parade, because it’s too dangerous?
But is it really more dangerous than the electric bicycle crazies riding up and down State Street? If Police Chief Kelly Gordon had her way, we would all stay locked up in our houses.
I would appreciate if Noozhawk would provide a more balanced view, interviewing longtime Santa Barbarans who support the parade on State Street.
State Street today is a disaster, plain and simple. I spent 35 years of my career downtown and marched in the parade at least 10 times. It’s a tradition, an equine event that gives the town uniqueness.
Some people disdain the fantasy Spanish tradition. But it is a tradition and the parade has been at the heart of that tradition. Bob Stout’s business is selling alcohol and he can give up a day’s profit for that tradition.
The Spanish founded Santa Barbara and, including the Mexican period, shaped the cultural and political landscape of this community for 65 years. El Desfile Historico, or the historical parade as it is called, carried forth that tradition and in its day even attracted governors to the parade, including Earl Warren.
Jarrell Jackman
Santa Barbara
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At a recent Santa Barbara mayoral debate, City Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon claimed the proposed rent ordinance would offer “flexibility.”
She also argued voters shouldn’t decide the issue directly — it’s too technical for most people to judge.
But that call was already made without voters: Sneddon, Wendy Santamaria, Oscar Gutierrez and Meagan Harmon pushed the ordinance through rather than putting it to a vote.
That’s inconsistent. If the policy is too complex for citizens to evaluate, why should they trust Sneddon’s characterization of what it does? Is that true democracy?
Notably, even landlords and property managers who work with leases professionally are struggling to interpret these proposed rules. That argues for more clarity, not less.
The deeper flaw is conceptual. A lease is a signed contract — rent, term and conditions are fixed until it ends. Neither party can unilaterally alter it midstream.
Layering a new ordinance on top of existing leases doesn’t create flexibility; it adds new caps, registries and appeals processes onto agreements already locked in.
A signed contract doesn’t bend because a new law says it should.
Residents deserve specifics, not slogans: who benefits, how and under what terms — documented before any vote, not asserted on a debate stage.
So which part of the ordinance contains this flexibility? Until Sneddon can point to it, skepticism is justified.
Maxine Levinson
Santa Barbara
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Regarding the Sept. 5 article, “FEMA Funding to Fix Possible El Niño Winter Storm Damage Uncertain,” why doesn’t Santa Barbara County ask FEMA?
The ifs here are many, which makes me wonder if Chicken Little isn’t alive and well in Santa Barbara.
As for FEMA’s nonreimbursement for 2023 damage, I should point out that the Biden administration had more pressing needs for FEMA dollars as well as a big chunk of taxpayer money. FEMA funds were diverted for illegal immigrant housing and credit cards under a ghost program overseen by FEMA.
The Shelter and Services Program (SSP) began as the Emergency Food and Shelter Program to provide assistance to homeless Vietnam Wam veterans, but it was creatively morphed to aid a Biden administration pet project.
Santa Barbara was not alone. FEMA also dropped the ball in 2024 after Hurricane Helene decimated North Carolina.
But late last month, FEMA added an additional $137 million to bring the total since 2025 to $7.5 billion in disaster relief for Helene and other recent storms. North Carolina just asked.
The dude with the big ego will work with you, too. Don’t be shy, or hostile.
Brian Massey
Sonoita, Arizona, and formerly Santa Barbara
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I’m gobsmacked when people ask if Immigration and Customs Enforcement is still “a thing.” Yes, but the performative terror is now conducted quietly.
A little more than a year has gone by since heavily armed, masked troops arrived to violently arrest 360 people at Glass House Farms in Carpinteria and Ventura County.
How many troops, how many were released, how many deaths in detention are not known because the government has told its agencies not to report much of it and, as time goes on, to report less and less.
By the numbers: Number kidnapped from Santa Barbara County: 865. Percent of immigrants detained by ICE with no history of crime: 74%. Deaths in detention: impossible to know, but more than one a week, according to Wikipedia.
There is a domino effect. When a father is taken, families can’t meet rent and many live in their cars (with children as young as 1 year old). Out of fear, many go into hiding and lose access to food and education. Children are traumatized, being pepper sprayed for pleading with ICE agents (age 12), being trapped in a car seat (age 5), having to translate violent messages to their parents (age 9).
Showers in detention are scalding, not adjustable, and so heavily chlorinated that it causes sores.
Detainees can’t afford calls or enough soap or toothpaste. When we check in, they tell us, “Please don’t forget us.”
Is ICE still a problem? Yes, and it’s Greek-tragedy bad out there.
Jacqueline Wiley
Carpinteria
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