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1 week ago | 
noozhawk.com | William M. Macfadyen |Noozhawk Publisher
It’s rodeo time, America, and specifically, time for the 82nd annual Santa Maria Elks Rodeo & Parade. As longtime Best of Bill readers know, each year Noozhawk sponsors a rider in the always entertaining mutton bustin’ competition, in which young buckaroos attempt to hang on to a galloping sheep three to four times their size for as long as they can.
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2 weeks ago | 
noozhawk.com | William M. Macfadyen |Noozhawk Publisher
There’s no sugarcoating this. What you are about to read is grim, one of the grimmest Best of Bill columns I’ve written in a long time. But, as I tell my staff, we don’t pick the news, the news picks us. I also don’t pick what I write about in these columns, which are my own take on the Top 5 stories that our Google Analytics says you were reading over the past week. According to our WordPress analytics, there were a staggering 203,406 of you in the last seven days.
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2 weeks ago | 
noozhawk.com | William M. Macfadyen |Noozhawk Publisher
On May 13, Santa Barbara County chose courage over complacency. Our county Board of Supervisors took a bold leap forward, fueled by the support of a majority of county residents, to ban new oil and drilling operations in the county and initiate a plan to phase out existing oil operations. This vote wasn’t just a policy move; it was an act grounded in science, fiscal responsibility and moral clarity. For decades, our community has paid the steep price of fossil fuel dependence.
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3 weeks ago | 
noozhawk.com | William M. Macfadyen |Noozhawk Publisher
Graduation caps aren’t the only things flying through the air this time of year!While Team Noozhawk prepares to commemorate commencement ceremonies throughout Santa Barbara County, we’re also offering two very different ways to celebrate achievements both big and small.
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3 weeks ago | 
noozhawk.com | William M. Macfadyen |Noozhawk Publisher
The 82nd annual Santa Maria Elks Rodeo & Parade opens May 28 and one lucky little buckaroo can get the ride of his — or her — life during the June 2 Mutton Bustin’ event, courtesy of Noozhawk. On Wednesday, we’ll draw the name of the rider who will represent Noozhawk in the event at the Elks Unocal Events Center, 4040 Highway 101 in Santa Maria. In mutton bustin’, children cling to sheep for as long as possible as the animals race around the rodeo arena trying to escape their rider’s grasp.
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4 weeks ago | 
noozhawk.com | William M. Macfadyen |Noozhawk Publisher
As you’ve no doubt seen from our emails, Noozhawk is in the middle of our spring fundraising campaign. This week, we’ve been highlighting our support for Santa Barbara County’s vital nonprofit community, which has been a key part of our mission and identity right from our start in 2007. We pride ourselves on collaborating with nonprofits to share their stories, expand their visibility and connect them with the audiences they’re trying to reach.
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1 month ago | 
noozhawk.com | William M. Macfadyen |Noozhawk Publisher
He did it again. Three weeks after Noozhawk South County editor Josh Molina reported each of the Top 5 stories in my weekly Best of Bill of column, he came right back with another perfect score. And it’s not like the rest of the team was coasting. This past week was an incredibly busy one for our staff, all of whom had very strong traffic on their stories, according to our Google Analytics.
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1 month ago | 
noozhawk.com | William M. Macfadyen |Noozhawk Publisher
For nearly 18 years, Noozhawk has been Santa Barbara County’s reliable, independent source for professionally reported and edited local news — built by and for the community we serve. Noozhawk’s three owners — editor in chief Tom Bolton, business development vice president Kim Clark and me — have lived here for most of our lives. We’ve raised our families here. Two of us even have a third generation growing up here. You know we’re as local as you are.
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1 month ago | 
noozhawk.com | William M. Macfadyen |Noozhawk Publisher
Happy Easter and a belated Happy Passover to my fellow faith-filled friends. Local journalism is Santa Barbara County’s civic lifeline. For nearly 18 years, Noozhawk has delivered unbiased, professional reporting where it matters most as an independent, locally owned news site. Our institutional knowledge and memory make the difference, providing crucial context on local issues, challenges, decisions and policies. This is our community, and you know we’re as local as you are.
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1 month ago | 
noozhawk.com | William M. Macfadyen |Noozhawk Publisher
Local journalism is the lifeblood of Santa Barbara County’s civic health, which is why we’ve launched our 2025 spring fundraising campaign, “The Voice You Trust.”For nearly 18 years, Noozhawk has delivered professional journalism when and where it matters most. As an independent newsroom, we answer only to our readers — not to corporate owners, out-of-state institutions or distant funders unfamiliar with local concerns. Our institutional knowledge makes the difference.
