Edhat Staff
By edhat staff
We had another year of stunning photography in Santa Barbara in 2019. As always, we had our fair share of tragedy and heartbreak as well as successes and heartfelt moments. We’ve picked some of the most interesting topics, photos, and discussions from 2019 to highlight a year full of events. Check them out below.
January
Annual bonfire took place in Solvang in January with Santa Barbara County’s largest of burning Christmas trees.
Vandenberg Air Force Base stepped up their launches and tests starting in January.
We lost local professional surfer Chris Brown in January at the age of 48.
Students of Santa Barbara City College led a powerful protest during a Board of Trustees meeting demanding accountability for racist events that took place on campus.
February
Edhat readers led the discussion of cleaning up homeless camps to prevent a long series of camp fires that took place in 2019.
March
Edhat readers debated whether the public should have beach access to Hollister Ranch as the legal battle continued through 2019.
Technology companies made their move into the downtown area of Santa Barbara in 2019.
Longtime local business Jedlicka’s Saddlery announced in March that it will close its 2605 De La Vina Street location.
The Santa Barbara City Council decided to remove two fountains on State Street due to dilapidation and misuse.
Students at UC Santa Barbara joined the global climate strike movement on Friday with a poignant protest outside the school’s library.
John Wiley shared close-up photos of Tangerine Falls.
April
The Painted Cave Fire Department closed up shop after a lawsuit claims the Department and its Chief misused funds and refuses to release their records.
Santa Barbara received its first Target Store in April and its second larger format store later in the year.
A new documentary exploring the Satanic Temple and its followers has debuted at the Riviera Theatre, much to the dismay of a local religious leader and to the delight of edhat commenters.
Two women at Comforts of Home Senior Care celebrated their 102nd birthdays last week with a special visit from a mini horse.
Edhat invited the Santa Barbara community to celebrate its 15th anniversary at Carr Winery with adoptable puppies from Spark Rescue.
May
A wanted felon was found dead after SWAT Teams surrounded an apartment during a shoot out off Turnpike in May,
Allegations of misconduct at Santa Barbara High School’s MAD Academy shocked parents and residents.
Everett, the world’s oldest snow leopard, passed away just three weeks before his 22nd birthday on Tuesday, May 21 at the Santa Barbara Zoo.
June
Samy’s Camera will closed their State Street location in June after serving the local area for over 20 years.
Santa Barbara-based professional motorcyclist and local business owner Carlin Dunne died in a crash during a race in Colorado Springs.
July
Santa Barbara Beautiful has partnered with the City of Santa Barbara to resume the planting of street trees.
Just three weeks after Masai giraffes were declared as “endangered,” the Santa Barbara Zoo has announced that both of their adult females are pregnant.
Edhat sponsored a “Wine & Woofs” event with Spark Rescue and brought the community and adoptable furry friends together at Carr Winery.
August
Delta returns to Santa Barbara Airport and throughout 2019 new non-stop destinations were added to our local airport.
Santa Barbara County firefighters helped free a local pup whose paw became stuck in the kitchen sink during a bath.
Cannabis productions and illegal marijuana grow raids dominated headlines throughout 2019 with residents fighting against the booming pot industry.
September
Our hearts broke Labor Day weekend as we learned the tragedy of the Conception boat fire off Santa Cruz Island.
34 people died on board the Conception Boat. Learn about them here.
In the latter half of 2019, residents were introduced to Public Safety Power Outages (PSPS) initiated by SoCal Edison. People were not pleased, still aren’t.
October
Santa Barbara Unified School District Superintendent Cary Matsuoka announced his retirement following some controversial decisions throughout the school year.
A mother and her two young children were killed during a head-on collision on Highway 154 which prompted residents to demand increased CHP patrol and new safety measures to be implemented on the dangerous roadway. The other driver involved was arrested for intentionally crashing head-on to the family.
November
The Santa Barbara Planning Commission approved a wind energy project for Lompoc.
The Cave Fire was aided by mother nature with a little snow to halt its progress after it burned a total of 3,126 acres.
December
An injured barn owl rescued from Highway 101 made a full recovery.
A local woman was arrested in Montana this morning for attempted murder and attempted kidnapping stemming from an incident at Zodo’s Bowling & Beyond.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning during Christmas evening’s rainstorm.
The rescued dog who fell off the cliffs of the Douglas Preserve near the July 4th holiday has been adopted by a local family and is now thriving.
An edhat reader captured photos of a bald eagle in Los Olivos.
Around the World News
On a National and Global perspective, a lot happened in 2019. The Los Angeles Times released a list of the 2019 Most Read Stories, The Associated Press published their 2019 – Year in Review for their top stories in the U.S. and PBS compiles the 2019 year of global activism.
For a bit of inspiration and heartwarming, watch Google’s “Year in Search 2019” video below:
We better be thinking about defense against unimaginable heat and fires like in Australia right now. Australia is similar to Santa Barbara, Mediterranean climate. Ember teams might be a partial solution. Maybe people should volunteer to hand cut vegetation in the hills, and cart it out? Each house store above ground water, like swimming pools, but for fighting fires, and have generator to pump water. Fire fighting hose nozzles. We need a much more active role for the public instead of fleeing the first scene of a threat. New trend: Ember Team.