Goleta Valley Voice Roundup - 7/27

Front Page:
A dream come true
Virgil Elings was first in the water at the Elings Aquatic Center last week, surprising the crowd gathered to celebrate the completion of the project on the Dos Pueblos High School campus.

News Briefs:
City gears up to tackle future
City staff will take another stab at the nearly 200 goals and objectives on its to-do list as it pushes forward with the Strategic Plan the council adopted at the City Council meeting on July 16.

UCSB shops its growth plans
UCSB’s Long Range Development Plan, a strategy that encompasses the next 25 years of the university’s anticipated growth, is in its early stages of review and revision and has been making the rounds in the Goleta community.

In Brief

• UCSB researcher awarded Fullbright
• Klein is Rotary president
• SB accounting firm buys Goleta office building

Sheriff's Blotter

• Side job pays for bad habit
• I always go out looking like this
• Would-be escape artist caught in act
• Man vs. wild
• You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here
• Getting her kicks behind bars
• Burgled in the 'burbs

Economic forecast sees uptick in valley
The Goleta Valley’s economic growth was slow in the years since incorporation, but there are signs that it’s picking up, according to the 12th Annual Goleta Valley Economic Forecast.

Viewpoint:
Mayor's report: City gets in the spirit of Fiesta
Your City Council had a very long meeting last week, but monotony was avoided by the absolutely charming Marissa Cordero, Junior Spirit of Fiesta, leading us all in the Pledge of Allegiance and then performing one of her beautiful dances. What a pleasure that was! We have so much talent in the city of Goleta that we are happy to share some of it with Santa Barbara and the gigantic Fiesta celebration.

Sierra Club: The threat to Naples
The development proposal at Naples threatens to overwhelm the rural character of the Gaviota Coast. Naples is a 485-acre ranch two miles west of the urban limit line at Cathedral Oaks that has historically been used for grazing and orchards. It sits astride the railroad and Highway 101 and has about one mile of ocean bluff-top frontage. The developer, Vintage Communities of Orange County, proposes to build either 54 luxury houses on the property or, in another alternative, 72 houses utilizing portions of the adjoining Dos Pueblos Ranch. The total build-out of the larger project is approximately 600,000 square feet.

Letters to the Editor

• Eyesore in paradise
• Kudos for water board

Community:
Surfing Goleta with a keyboard
Goleta has been known largely for its dirt-side products — walnuts, lemons and the like — but Tom Modugno wants you to know that it’s grown some pretty good surfers, too.

Goleta Scrapbook: The Irvines, from Scotland to the valley
Several members of the Irvine family were prominent in Goleta Valley in the early to mid-20th century.

Business:
Strictly Local: It was just what the doctor ordered
When Dr. Lexi Rudd bought Valley Animal Hospital in March, she knew it wasn’t going to be easy. She’d never owned a business before and the hospital had been through some difficult times with the illness and eventual death of its beloved former owner, Dr. Eric Westheimer.

Other articles at at the Goleta Valley Voice website.