Goleta Valley Voice Roundup - 7/13

Front Page:
Party central, in its dotage
Traditionally a farming town, Goleta has always been the less glamorous sister to Santa Barbara. This was true even in the earliest days of the community, when well-heeled Goletans would take the hour trip south in their horses and buggies or Model Ts to attend some swanky event in SB.

News Briefs:
Organic solar cells, the next frontier
With a discovery made at UCSB’s Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, we’re going to have less and less of an excuse not to go green.

In this plan, locals rules
As part of a “toolbox” of methods for providing much-needed workforce housing in the area, the Goleta Valley Chamber of Commerce is kicking around the idea of a local preference policy whereby local workers would receive priority for housing in Goleta.

Planners get primer in housing
The Planning Commission, minus an absent Ken Knight, got an education in Goleta’s complicated housing situation Monday evening. Advance Planning Manager Anne Wells and Planning and Environmental Services Director Steve Chase gave the Commission the rundown.

Finishing the job
Demolition crews Wednesday took down what's left of a building at Rutherford Street and Dawson Avenue in Old Town that was destroyed by fire in March. The spectacular blaze gutted two businesses, Moore machining and Legend Eyewear.

Sheriff's Blotter

• Wish fulfillment
• Almost caught red-handed
• Feisty female settles civilly
• Young neighbor glimpses burglars
• Crackin' wise
• Heavy handed
• Sucker punched
• Another money-saving technique
• Early bird vandal

Time to trade pints
The local blood supply has again dropped to critical levels for some blood types, and is seriously low for others according to United Blood Services, which serves the Central Coast.

Water board OKs billing changes
Water bills will be higher for about 70 percent of Goleta Water District’s customers from now on following the board members’ approval Monday of a resolution to change the billing structure. The approval came on a 4-0-1 vote with Harry DeWitt abstaining.

Viewpoint:
Mayor's Report: A time of celebrations
What a show we experienced at Girsh Park on the Fourth of July! The entertainment and food were excellent and the fireworks were superb. Thank you Rotary Clubs of Goleta for a great community service.

Community:
A tour of Goleta the Green Land
There’ve been plenty of garden tours on the South Coast over the years, but not in Goleta — until now. Bonnie Freeman, a More Mesa resident, is heading up Goleta Valley’s first Garden Party Tour and Bazaar on Saturday from 12:30-5:30 p.m. It includes six award-winning gardens and landscapes, a green urban farm, and demonstrations of composting, vermiculture, tree planting and water-saving irrigation techniques.

Goleta Scrapbook: Good Land made for hiding
Judge Edward “Ned” McGowan, a portly fugitive from San Francisco vigilantes of the 1850s, reportedly fled south through the Good Land to Santa Barbara disguised as a Franciscan priest to avoid being captured and punished as an accessory to murder.

Business:
Strictly Local: He sees product as breath of fresh air
Goleta is home to a variety of entrepreneurs, and Steve Baker has joined the ranks with a practical patented invention: the Dus-T, a T-shirt with a built-in mask that can be tucked away in the neck of it when not in use.
Other articles at at the Goleta Valley Voice website.