National News
The historic Super Bowl LVIII took place on Feb. 11. The Kansas City Chiefs won in overtime against the San Francisco 49ers. This game was the most-watched U.S. television broadcast since the Apollo 11 moon landing. The halftime show was performed by Usher, and it had 123.7 million views across CBS, Paramount+, Nickelodeon, and the Spanish-Language Broadcast Univision. Additionally, the game was the longest in Super Bowl history, with a playing time of nearly 75 minutes.
On April 8, a total solar eclipse was visible in certain areas of the United States, including Dallas, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Cleveland, Ohio. Other areas of the U.S. and North America experienced partial eclipses, including Goleta. A total solar eclipse is when the moon passes directly in front of the sun, making it dark during the daytime for a brief period of time. These events occur about every one to three years, but they are often only observed from a remote place, such as one of the poles or the middle of an ocean.
In the U.S. presidential election, after an early debate on June 27, President Joe Biden decided not to run for re-election and dropped out of the race. His Vice President, Kamala Harris, was endorsed as the new candidate. She represented the Democratic Party and ran against former President Donald Trump, who represented the Republican Party. Trump flipped six states since the last time he ran and won the election with 312 electoral college votes, while Harris had 226.
The movie-musical “Wicked,” released in theaters on Nov. 28, made $611 million dollars in the box office, making it the sixth-biggest movie of the year worldwide. The movie is based on the hit Broadway musical and tells the first half of the story. It follows “The Wizard of Oz” characters, the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch, and takes place before Dorothy arrives in Oz. Elphaba, later the Wicked Witch of the West, was played by Cynthia Erivo, Galinda was played by Ariana Grande, and Fiyero was played by Jonathan Bailey.
The Major League Baseball World Series took place from Oct. 25 to Oct. 30. The American League Champions, the New York Yankees, played the National League Champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the first game, Freddie Freeman hit a historic walk-off grand slam to win the game. A walk-off is a hit that wins the game for the home team in the bottom of the last inning, and a grand slam is a home run that is hit when the bases are all occupied. This was the first walk-off grand slam in World Series history, helping the Dodgers to win the Series in five games.
Local/School News
The Elings Center for Creative Learning, built almost five years ago, underwent partial demolition for repairs in 2024. The construction of the building, which started in 2019, was delayed due to Covid-19 and supply issues. Nevertheless, construction still continued and the building was predicted to open in the fall of 2023. However, in the early months of 2024, Southern California got high amounts of rain, causing flooding inside the building. Construction was temporarily halted due to this damage, and demolition of the building began for repairs. According to Principal Bill Woodard, the building should be opened sometime next year.
In February, Southern California experienced extreme amounts of rainfall. Several storms caused dozens of mudslides in the Los Angeles area and up to 10.8 inches of rain. In Santa Barbara County, storms brought 1-3 inches of rain and major flooding to the downtown area. Some of the areas that experienced flash floods during the storms were Santa Barbara, Lompoc, Montecito, Santa Maria, and Carpinteria.
In the U.S. general election this year, city council members for both Goleta and Santa Barbara were elected. For Goleta, Jennifer Smith and Stewart Kasdin were elected to the council, while Paula Perotte was re-elected for mayor. For Santa Barbara, Wendy Santamaria and Mike Jordan were elected to be on the city council. The mayor of Santa Barbara, Randy Rowse, was elected in 2021 for a five year term, so his position was not open this year.
In late May, the Goleta Old Town streets underwent restriping. This included adding a new layer of paint and shrinking the former four car lanes to just two. It also made room for two bike lanes and diagonal, back-in parking along the side of the street. The goal of the project was to make it safer for bikers and pedestrians to cross the streets and avoid accidents with bikes and people. So far, the repainting has received mixed responses. Pete Jimenez, the owner of Goleta Barbers, located on Hollister, said in an interview with Noozhawk that he has seen more clients than usual because they’re “driving at a normal speed.” On the other hand, drivers have had a different response to the repainting.
“I don’t like it because it’s really hard to get in and out, and there’s a lot of traffic,” Dos Pueblos student Kate Warkentin (9) said.
The Dos Pueblos High School Boys Water Polo Team ended their season with a record of 18-12, allowing them to make it to the CIF DIV 2 semi-finals, where they lost against the Capo Valley Cougars. The team was coached by William Parrish and beat Santa Barbara High School out of the fourth place spot.
