Central Coast roundup
By El Latino Newsroom
[email protected]
More than five tons of trash no longer has a chance to pollute Goleta waterways thanks to the more than 70 volunteers who participated last weekend, in the Coastal Cleanup Day and the Beautify Goleta Bulky Item Drop-Off event.
Volunteers spent their morning picking up tons of thrash at one of three locations in Goleta and 48 vehicles dropped off bulky items.
Between all of the locations, more than 10,300 pounds of trash was collected.
“Thanks to the higher number of bulky items, this beats last year’s amount of 10,182 pounds,” said City of Goleta Environmental Services Specialist, Dan Rowell.
The Specialist also stated it is always so fulfilling to see first-hand how much people care about preventing trash from polluting the local beaches and creeks.
“What we found this year is that a lot of the volunteers pick up trash regularly on walks around their neighborhoods, or while walking their dogs at parks and beaches,” said Rowell.
Creek Week is an annual celebration of our creeks, watersheds, and the ocean, with events to help build awareness and stewardship of the natural treasures of Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Carpinteria.
OAKTOBER IN VENTURA C.
The Ventura County Tree Coalition – a network of Ventura County community organizations, nonprofits, land trusts, and agencies formed in early 2022, is hosting a series of community events with an emphasis on celebrating the importance of native oak trees and the benefits of community greening.
The events, collectively part of OAKtober, will include a variety of community greening and education events ranging from community planting, environmental education workshops, and hikes.
«Oaks are our true elders,” says David White, a member of the Ventura County Tree Coalition and Program Director for the Once Upon a Watershed program.
“California’s native oaks are at the core of our unique ecosystems. They work silently for us by cleaning our air and water, buffering climate extremes, reducing flooding and erosion, and most importantly, they provide keystone support for the native environment that has evolved here over millennia. Local oaks provide the foundation for sustaining our community’s health.»
OAKtober is part of a larger effort to invest in and give back to Ventura County’s tree canopy.
Supervisor Matt LaVere, Chair of the Board of Supervisors states that OAKtober provides a unique opportunity to celebrate and appreciate not only the beauty of the native tree species in the County, but to give back to the community through uniquely sustainable activities.
“This is an opportunity for residents and visitors alike to take part in a series of events that will provide a personal connection to investing in our natural resources while also helping to expand the impressive ecosystem of oak trees that we enjoy throughout our region,” LaVere said.
The calendar of events for OAKtober taking place throughout the county during the month of October is:
- OAKtober Fest at Taft Gardens, Ojai – Friday, October 6
- “Trail-or-Treat” at Camarillo Grove Park, Camarillo – Saturday, October 21
- Spooky OAKtober Woodland Restoration at Potrero Creek – Saturday, October 28
- Cooking with Acorns with Hi Stok’oy hil Xus at Community Roots Garden, Oxnard on Saturday, October 28
FATHER THAT TRIED TO KILL HIS SON SENTENCED
District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced today that Anthony Nardini (43) of Bakersfield, was convicted of three felony counts including attempted murder after beating his sleeping 24-year-old son with a sledgehammer.
Jurors found Nardini guilty of attempted murder, aggravated mayhem, and assault with a deadly weapon on September 20.
The jury also found true all felony special allegations, which included use of a deadly weapon and causing great bodily injury in commission of a felony.
On March 19, Nardini and the victim, who had recently reconnected after being estranged, were staying with family in an unincorporated part of Ventura County near Simi Valley.
That evening, a physical argument between the two had to be broken up by family members. Nardini left in his truck but would later return, when he reentered the home, the victim was asleep on the couch.
Nardini insisted that others in the house head to bed, but once he was alone with the victim, the criminal grabbed a sledgehammer he found on the property and began to bludgeon his sleeping son with it.
Hearing the force of the blows, family members came rushing in to find the victim suffering from severe head injury, Nardini fled out the backdoor.
When Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies arrived, a blood covered sledgehammer was found outside, the victim was placed in a medically induced coma for several days but ultimately survived the attack by his own father.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Stu Gardner, a member of the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office Domestic Violence Unit, prosecuted the case.
“While this conviction will never repair the emotional and physical scars inflicted by his father, we hope that this affirmation by the jury will bring some solace to the young man who experienced an unfathomable attack on his life,” Gardner said.
Nardini is scheduled to be sentenced on November 1, and is facing a life sentence with the possibility of parole and remains in custody without bail.
NEW BOARD MEMBER IN SMUSD
Alma Hernandez is the newest member of the SMJUHSD Board of Education and was sworn in during a special meeting last Monday night.
The board interviewed five candidates before making a final decision to fill the Trustee Area 3 position.
“I one hundred percent believe that raising children is a community effort. I’m very excited about this opportunity,’’ said Hernandez
Hernandez, who was provisionally appointed, replaces Trustee Amy Lopez and her term expires in December 2024.
The new board member is also eligible to run for election in Trustee Area 3 in November 2024.
Hernandez is currently employed as a field representative for Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joan Hartmann.
Prior to that position, Hernandez was the Healthy Start Family Service Center Director for the Guadalupe Union School District and when has lived in the district for 23 years.
The vacancy was created when Lopez submitted a letter of resignation that was effective July 31. Lopez and her husband relocated their residence to a nearby county.
The Board had 60 days to fill the vacancy.
The applicants could live anywhere in the city as Lopez was re-elected before the district adopted its current Trustee Area Redistricting Plan.
Lopez was provisionally appointed to the board in January of 2016 to fill a seat vacated by Victor Tognazzini, then elected for two subsequent terms.
MORE THAN 100 TREES PLANTED at Stow Grove Park
Also the City of Goleta announced that hundred new trees are in the ground at Stow Grove Park thanks to a community effort.
Approximately 90 volunteers turned out this past Saturday morning, for a community tree planting event.
The City of Goleta’s Parks and Open Space Manager George Thomson stated that every shovel was taken as volunteers of all ages, including Councilmembers and Parks and Recreation Commissioners, who spent two hours actively working together to get all trees planted.
“It was a heartwarming sight to see such a great turnout and cross-section of our community coming together and willing to push up their sleeves, grab a shovel and get dirty to ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy the pristine beauty of this treasured park in Goleta,” said Thomson.
The primary purpose of the tree planting event was to help restore the grove at the park which has been impacted by drought conditions over the past 15 years.
While some portions of the grove have remained strong and vigilant, others have declined and died.
Of the 100 trees that were planted this past Saturday, 75 were coast redwoods and 25 incense cedars which look like the coast redwoods but require much less irrigation.
The 100 new trees will help get the grove back to what Edgar Stow envisioned when he planted the original grove of about 300 coastal redwoods in the 1930s.
