As reporters and editors at Noozhawk, we pride ourselves on delivering detailed and timely breaking news coverage, because we know that is what Santa Barbara County residents want. That is apparent in our roundup of the 10 most-read stories of the year, which you can review here.
However Noozhawk isn’t just about breaking news; reporters carefully watch local government, education, business and more.
To round off 2024, we’re bringing you our staff picks of some of the biggest stories from the year.
While this list could have been much longer, we chose the stories that shaped the year. Read more about them below, in no particular order.
Housing Element Leads to Major Land Rezones Plus Controversial Developments
It seems that all anyone talks about in Santa Barbara is housing, and for good reason.
In May, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors rezoned eight properties in North County and 26 properties on the South Coast to potentially add thousands of housing units. It was part of the state-mandated Housing Element Update.
The process was long and controversial, with residents and city leaders asking the board not to rezone agricultural land and consider how the influx of housing could impact traffic and safety.
However, if the county ignored the state mandate, it would be ineligible for grants and face legal consequences.
The housing drama didn’t end there.
The Rosewood Miramar Beach hotel got county approval in early December to build 26 affordable-housing units, eight market-rate units and about 17,500 square feet of high-end boutique retail shops at the resort at 1555 S. Jameson Lane.
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved the project 5-0, voting to reject three separate appeals filed by neighbors, a union and Heal the Ocean. The appellants raised many concerns about the project, including regarding traffic, air pollution, flooding, parking and evacuations, as well as the lack of a full environmental review.
The outcome for potential housing projects at Paseo Nuevo and La Cumbre Plaza in Santa Barbara remains to be seen. The city is negotiating with the developers behind the 642-unit housing proposal at La Cumbre Plaza to add more affordable units.
Read: Santa Barbara County Supervisors Consider North County Properties for Housing Rezoning
County Supervisors Approve Recommendations for Housing rezoning on the South Coast.
Caruso, Miramar Clear Final Hurdle to Build Housing, Retail Project
Santa Barbara Wants More Affordable Housing in La Cumbre Plaza Project
Voters Boot Out Some Incumbents in Local Elections
Few were expecting it, but former Carpinteria City Councilman Roy Lee beat incumbent Das Williams for the First District County Supervisor seat in the March election.
Williams served two terms on the board, and previously spent six years in the State Assembly and seven years on the Santa Barbara City Council. His last meeting was earlier this month, and Lee will be sworn in on Jan. 7.
That wasn’t the only upset in local elections this year.
David Silva, who was previously serving as vice mayor of Buellton, is now mayor after defeating incumbent David King in November. Silva made history as the city’s first openly gay mayor.
King was first elected to the City Council in 2008. He served for four years. He did not get re-elected, but then returned in 2018 to the City Council. Two years ago he was elected mayor.
In Lompoc, mayor Jenelle Osborne lost her seat to business owner and former council colleague James Mosby. He has already directed city staff to look into overturning prior decisions regarding carbon credit rebates and revival of the Fourth of July fireworks show.
Read: Roy Lee Scores Upset Win Over Das Williams in First District Supervisor Race
David Silva Takes Lead Over Incumbent Dave King in Buellton Mayoral Race
Lompoc’s New Mayor, Council Ready to Revisit City Changes
UCSB Encampment, Girvetz Hall takeover, and Henry Yang Retirement
The year 2024 was a big one for UC Santa Barbara. As at other universities across the country, students set up an encampment to express their support of Palestine and protest the U.S. involvement in the war between Israel and Hamas in Palestine.
The encampment, known as the UCSB Liberated Zone, was the longest lasting encampment in the UC system until June 23 when campus police dismantled the encampment and arrested five people.
Participants demanded that the university demilitarize, divest from weapons manufacturers, academically boycott Israel, protect free speech, name and acknowledge the violence in Palestine, and reinvest funding into community resources.
Another group of students, known as Say Genocide UCSB, occupied and barricaded themselves inside Girvetz Hall for two days before police raided the building. The protesters left before police arrived, and no arrests were made.
UCPD recently tried to obtain a search warrant for Instagram accounts allegedly related to the investigation into the Girvetz Hall takeover, but a Superior Court judge moved to quash the request due to privacy concerns. It remains to be seen if UCPD will attempt to obtain a new warrant for the investigation.
As if enough wasn’t going on, after 30 years as UCSB Chancellor, Henry Yang is stepping down from his role.
He will retire from the post at the end of this school year and will return to teaching and research.
He also got a salary increase to $820,000 this year, up from his previous salary of $579,750.
Read: UCSB Police Dismantle Pro-Palestine Encampment, Arrest 5 People
Police Clear UCSB Building Occupied By Protesters; No Students Arrested
Judge Quashes UCSB Search Warrant Request in Girvetz Hall Takeover Investigation
UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang Stepping Down Next Year
Mail Theft and Check Fraud in Santa Barbara
Over the summer, banks across Santa Barbara experienced a rise in bad checks.
James Jefferson, the chief risk officer for Montecito Bank & Trust, said the wave of bad checks began in July. Before the recent wave, Jefferson said he saw one to five bad checks a month, then it became 10 to 20.
Santa Barbara also saw an increase in reports of mail theft after unknown suspects stole bags of mail at the San Roque Post Office at 3345 State St. on Aug. 15. There was another attempt later that day at the Patterson Avenue Post Office in Goleta, but the suspects were not successful.
Lucas Watanabe with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service stated that both events occurred in the late afternoon and that the suspect did not forcibly break into the post office.
Read: Banks Report Rise in Check Fraud in Santa Barbara Area
Postal Inspectors Confirm Mail Theft at San Roque Post Office in Santa Barbara
Increasing Number of Vandenberg Launches Stir Up Noise Complaints
In October, SpaceX filed a federal lawsuit accusing a state agency of “egregiously and unlawfully overreaching its authority” when the panel rejected a boost in launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base amid Elon Musk’s increasing political activity.
The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court’s Central District of California named the California Coastal Commission, Executive Director Kate Huckelbridge and individual commissioners as defendants.
SpaceX asked to boost the number of annual launches from 36 to 50.
The noise from the numerous launches has also been disturbing residents, leading to Congress acknowledging the impact noise has on neighboring communities and asking the Pentagon to take mitigation action.
Vandenberg was in the news again this month when a man from China was arrested for flying a drone over the base.
Yinpiao Zhou, 39, was charged with failure to register an aircraft not providing transportation and violation of national defense airspace.
The illegal activity prompted a pause in the practices surrounding SpaceX launches from Vandenberg, including the webcast showing the countdown and first seconds of liftoff. The complete webcast resumed after Zhou’s arrest.
Read: SpaceX Sues Coastal Commission After Vote to Limit Vandenberg SFB Launches
Man From China Arrested for Flying Drone at VSFB to Remain in Custody
Santa Maria Airport Board Member Accused in Forklift Vehicle Collision Death
In August, a Santa Maria Public Airport District board member was charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in connection with a fatal crash while he was driving a heavy-duty forklift.
David Ernest Baskett, 81, of Orcutt, was accused of “unlawfully, and without malice” killing a woman in the May 2 incident.
Tiffany Ann Peterson, 39, of Orcutt was killed in the crash on the afternoon of May 2.
She was a passenger in a small truck driven by her father on Skyway Drive when it struck the tines of the rented telehandler, or telescoping forklift, driven by Baskett, who was stopped on Hangar Street.
Baskett was asked to step down from the airport district board but refused. However, he lost his re-election bid in November.
Read: Criminal Charge Filed Against Airport Board Member for Fatal Forklift Crash in Santa Maria
Santa Maria Airport Board Member Appears in Court for Forklift Crash Case
Isla Vista Bluff Erosion and Cliff Death
In February, 45 residents were evacuated from an apartment at the 6700 block of Del Playa Drive in Isla Vista when a balcony collapsed. While residents were allowed to return after a few hours, they said the received very little communication from the landlord following the incident.
Residents told Noozhawk that they’ve called their landlord every day after the balcony collapse. When they called property management, their calls were ignored, transferred or they were told that the property manager isn’t there after already being transferred several times. The residents didn’t know when or if the balcony would be fixed and didn’t feel reassured about the safety of their building.
Following this incident, the county implemented a new policy, mandating property owners to conduct a field measurement and report to the Santa Barbara County Building Safety Division twice a year if they have a property where a portion of the structure is within 20 feet of the bluff’s edge.
In June, Isla Vista saw a second cliff death within a year when Jacob William Aladar Parker fell from the 6600 block of Del Playa Drive about 50 feet to the beach below. Parker was a 23-year-old San Diego resident and a UCSB alum.
Read: Isla Vista Residents Left Scared and in the Dark About Building Safety After Balcony Collapse
Santa Barbara County Has New Rule for Isla Vista Bluff Property Owners
Authorities Identify Man Who Died After Isla Vista Cliff Fall
After Recent Tragedies Along Bluffs in Isla Vista, Focus Turns to Improving Safety and Education
Ongoing Highway 101 Construction
The never-ending saga of Highway 101 construction continued this year.
The project entered the fourth phase between Olive Mill and Hermosillo roads to widen the highway to three lanes in each direction. Parallel projects on surface streets include roundabouts and new bike paths.
The Highway 101 project began in 2008 and was designed to be separated into four phases, with construction moving generally south to north from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara.
The southern portion of the Santa Barbara phase is underway, but officials are still awaiting funding for the next section.
Read: Construction Shifts to Santa Barbara Portion of Highway 101
Santa Barbara News-Press Bankruptcy Trustee Starts Selling Assets
This year saw the aftermath of the Santa Barbara News-Press bankruptcy.
An anonymous local group bought the website, trademark and social media accounts in April for $285,000.
Ben Romo, representing the buyers, said they wanted to preserve the historical resources for community benefit. The group also considered buying the newspaper’s physical archives; however, those went to the Santa Barbara Historical Museum for $70,000.
The physical collection includes the former newspaper’s “photo morgue,” microfiche collection, clippings, bound copies, and unbound copies.
The Santa Barbara News-Press’ printing facility equipment went to auction in October as part of the defunct newspaper’s bankruptcy proceedings, and much of it remained unsold.
There were no takers for the press itself or the many rolls of unused newsprint left over when the newspaper abruptly stopped publication in July 2023.
Some of the forklifts, tools, computers, heavy-duty storage containers and ladders were sold during the auction.
Read: Locals Make Winning Bid for Santa Barbara News-Press Website, Trademark, Social Media Accounts
Historical Museum Wins Bid for Santa Barbara News-Press Archives
Bankruptcy Auction Sees Few Takers for Santa Barbara News-Press Printing Equipment
Orcutt Financial Advisor Fallout
Julie Anne Darrah, 51, a former Santa Maria Valley financial adviser accused of defrauding multiple clients and a business, is facing one federal criminal charge of wire fraud related to the allegations that amounted to millions of dollars in losses.
Darrah intends to plead guilty after signing an agreement last month for what’s now her third case in federal court but the first involving a criminal charge. The criminal complaint says her actions caused $7.7 million in losses. She could face up to 20 years in prison.
Authorities say Darrah misappropriated and stole approximately $2.25 million from individual clients of her investment advisory business using various methods.
She gained control of the accounts in various ways, including as trustee of their trusts or getting clients to provide standing letters of authorization permitting Darrah to transfer funds. In some cases, Darrah was a signatory on individual victims’ bank accounts or held power of attorney.
Nearly all of her victims were elderly, and at least some of them were receiving end-of-life care, according to federal court documents.
Read: Orcutt Financial Adviser Charged with Wire Fraud in New Federal Case
Sable Offshore Corp. Works Toward Pipeline Restart
Sable Offshore Corp. is the new operator of ExxonMobil’s southern Santa Barbara County offshore oil platforms and wants to restart operations for the platforms, pipeline and processing facility.
Local activists opposed the restart and expressed concern that Sable wouldn’t be able to prevent another oil spill. The pipeline ruptured and burst in 2015, causing the Refugio Oil Spill, and has been shut down since then.
In November, the California Coastal Commission ordered Sable Offshore Corp. to fill open pits and do erosion control for unpermitted work sites on the oil pipeline.
Crews were replacing sections of the coastal pipeline, installing safety valves and doing other projects in September and October. Sable asserts that work counts as maintenance and repairs, while Coastal Commission enforcement staff alleged that work requires a new permit. The agency ordered the company to stop work, and then to clean up work sites and do erosion control.
Protesters Speak Out Against Proposed Restart of Sable Oil Pipeline
Coastal Commission Issues Cease and Desist Order for Sable Pipeline Work
