Goleta Groups Unite for Hollister Avenue Sprucing

Santa Barbara Newsroom
By Barney McManigal
June 16, 2007

Hoping to curb graffiti along Hollister Avenue, Goleta Valley residents will join forces today to plant trees and vines, and make other landscaping improvements to a wall that often serves as a “canvas” for taggers.

Members and volunteers from Goleta Valley Beautiful, Rotaract and the Coalition for Sensible Planning will meet at 9 a.m. with Supervisor Janet Wolf, who helped organize the collaborative project funded by a $10,000 grant from Homeowners Defense Fund.

The event will last into the afternoon, organizers said.

It all started when residents wanted to do something about the 900-foot stretch of barren and frequently defaced wall on the South side of Hollister between Evonshire and San Marcos Road.

Coalition for Sensible Planning member Gary Earle helped secure the grant, but when he and Goleta Valley Beautiful member Ken Knight faced red tape at the county, they called Wolf.

The first term supervisor from the 2nd district worked with county staff and helped find a landscape architect to draw up a detailed improvement plan for the site.

“It’s a wonderful example of what can happen when community members, local businesses, non-profits, volunteers and a public agency come together to make our community safer and more beautiful than ever,” said Wolf, who thanked participants.

Ms. Wolf will begin the day with a news conference at the corner of Hollister Avenue at Evonshire Road.

Santa Barbara Police Catch Graffiti Vandal in the Act

KSBY: (Video)

Santa Barbara Police think they've nabbed one of the city's worst graffiti vandals.

The teen was caught in the act at the railroad crossing on Calle Cesar Chavez on the east side of Santa Barbara.

It's not very common for police to stumble upon a crime in the process of being committed, but that's just what happened on a set of Santa Barbara railroad tracks Thursday evening.

The suspect? A 14-year-old Carpentaria boy.

On a routine patrol of Calle Cesar Chavez crossing, two bicycle officers expose a trespassing teen caught in the act of a self-admitted rash of taggings.

Spotting the officers, the teen fled down the tracks on foot.

With a police dog, officers chased the teen, who eventually surrendered and disclosed to police the volume of the vandalism he's committed.

"This juvenile did admit to tagging about 60 to 70 locations throughout Santa Barbara, Goleta and Isla Vista and so we're hoping this arrest will prevent future acts of graffiti vandalism," said Santa Barbara Police Department Lieutenant Paul McCaffrey.

The teen, a Dos Pueblos High School student, told officers he frequently uses the letters B, U, R, G, and L, as his tagging insignia.

He said it stands for "burglar."

His chosen targets have included MTD bus windows, a Goleta golf course and a location called the ‘jail house' which is a concrete block between Goleta Beach and Isla Vista.

Lieutenant McCaffrey said the arrest is considered a significant one. They hope it will decrease the teen's apparently busy graffiti activity.