Santa Barbara Independent
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“Good pitching is an equalizer,” says Andrew Checketts, UC Santa Barbara’s head baseball coach and the guru behind a long line of major-league pitching prospects to come out of the Gauchos program in recent years.
This philosophy has led to the development of Cy Young Award winners, first-round draft picks, and million-dollar arms that made their ways through the bullpen at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara.
Any college program that produces a major-league pitcher can be considered a success. But a school that manages to churn out multiple top-ranked prospects in the span of a decade can be counted among the best in the nation. At UCSB, big-league-level hurlers have become increasingly common, from 2020 Cy Young winner Shane Bieber to last year’s top-drafted pitcher, Tyler Bremner.
Now, UCSB baseball (@ucsb_baseball) has a new ace in Jackson Flora, a right-handed junior whose 100-mile-an-hour fastball has caught the attention of major-league scouts, many of whom expect Flora to follow Bremner as the first pitcher selected in next year’s draft.
To read the full cover story, click on the link in our bio, visit independent.com/cover-stories, or check out your nearest newsstand.
Out of town and can't get to a newsstand in Santa Barbara County? We put our weekly issue online each week, so you can have the print experience from anywhere.
📸: UCSB/Jeff Liang
🎨: Xavier Pereyra

“Good pitching is an equalizer,” says Andrew Checketts, UC Santa Barbara’s head baseball coach and the guru behind a long line of major-league pitching prospects to come out of the Gauchos program in recent years.
This philosophy has led to the development of Cy Young Award winners, first-round draft picks, and million-dollar arms that made their ways through the bullpen at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara.
Any college program that produces a major-league pitcher can be considered a success. But a school that manages to churn out multiple top-ranked prospects in the span of a decade can be counted among the best in the nation. At UCSB, big-league-level hurlers have become increasingly common, from 2020 Cy Young winner Shane Bieber to last year’s top-drafted pitcher, Tyler Bremner.
Now, UCSB baseball (@ucsb_baseball) has a new ace in Jackson Flora, a right-handed junior whose 100-mile-an-hour fastball has caught the attention of major-league scouts, many of whom expect Flora to follow Bremner as the first pitcher selected in next year’s draft.
To read the full cover story, click on the link in our bio, visit independent.com/cover-stories, or check out your nearest newsstand.
Out of town and can't get to a newsstand in Santa Barbara County? We put our weekly issue online each week, so you can have the print experience from anywhere.
📸: UCSB/Jeff Liang
🎨: Xavier Pereyra

“Good pitching is an equalizer,” says Andrew Checketts, UC Santa Barbara’s head baseball coach and the guru behind a long line of major-league pitching prospects to come out of the Gauchos program in recent years.
This philosophy has led to the development of Cy Young Award winners, first-round draft picks, and million-dollar arms that made their ways through the bullpen at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara.
Any college program that produces a major-league pitcher can be considered a success. But a school that manages to churn out multiple top-ranked prospects in the span of a decade can be counted among the best in the nation. At UCSB, big-league-level hurlers have become increasingly common, from 2020 Cy Young winner Shane Bieber to last year’s top-drafted pitcher, Tyler Bremner.
Now, UCSB baseball (@ucsb_baseball) has a new ace in Jackson Flora, a right-handed junior whose 100-mile-an-hour fastball has caught the attention of major-league scouts, many of whom expect Flora to follow Bremner as the first pitcher selected in next year’s draft.
To read the full cover story, click on the link in our bio, visit independent.com/cover-stories, or check out your nearest newsstand.
Out of town and can't get to a newsstand in Santa Barbara County? We put our weekly issue online each week, so you can have the print experience from anywhere.
📸: UCSB/Jeff Liang
🎨: Xavier Pereyra

“Good pitching is an equalizer,” says Andrew Checketts, UC Santa Barbara’s head baseball coach and the guru behind a long line of major-league pitching prospects to come out of the Gauchos program in recent years.
This philosophy has led to the development of Cy Young Award winners, first-round draft picks, and million-dollar arms that made their ways through the bullpen at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara.
Any college program that produces a major-league pitcher can be considered a success. But a school that manages to churn out multiple top-ranked prospects in the span of a decade can be counted among the best in the nation. At UCSB, big-league-level hurlers have become increasingly common, from 2020 Cy Young winner Shane Bieber to last year’s top-drafted pitcher, Tyler Bremner.
Now, UCSB baseball (@ucsb_baseball) has a new ace in Jackson Flora, a right-handed junior whose 100-mile-an-hour fastball has caught the attention of major-league scouts, many of whom expect Flora to follow Bremner as the first pitcher selected in next year’s draft.
To read the full cover story, click on the link in our bio, visit independent.com/cover-stories, or check out your nearest newsstand.
Out of town and can't get to a newsstand in Santa Barbara County? We put our weekly issue online each week, so you can have the print experience from anywhere.
📸: UCSB/Jeff Liang
🎨: Xavier Pereyra

Looking for the latest SB news delivered directly to your inbox in the new year? Look no further than the Indy Today — your daily source of happenings in and around Santa Barbara County.
Subscribe to the Indy Today and explore all of our newsletters at independent.com/support or at the link in our bio.

Since opening its doors, first in soft opening fashion and now in full flower, the new venue known as The Grand on State (@thegrandonstate) has already generated a sizable buzz. Here is an actual jazz-based venue, founded and run by keyboard master Brian Mann (with ample grand piano and accordion aplomb) and his wife, Jenna Berg, in a prominent spot on State Street, next to The Granada Theatre.
Can it work? So far, so good. They built it, and people are coming, and listening … and eating fine cuisine. And on Saturday, May 23, things bump up in cultural profile with a late-breaking booking of the notable jazz artists Tom Scott (@tomscottjazzman), saxophone, and pianist Roger Kellaway in duo.
For the full story from Senior Writer Josef Woodard, click on the link in our bio or visit Independent.com.
📸: Courtesy

Santa Barbara County has among the highest arrest rates in California, a draft planning document released by the Department of Behavioral Wellness shows.
The county’s adult arrest rate is 3,214 per 100,000 people, while the statewide rate is 2,440, representing a 27 percent difference.
For juveniles, those figures are 744.2 and 371.5, respectively, for a 67 percent disparity. The report notes Santa Barbara County has the fourth highest juvenile arrest rate in California.
Adult arrest rates were disproportionately male (5,910 per 100,000) compared to females (1,568). The largest racial disparity was between Black and white residents (9,280 vs. 2,628). Hispanic residents accounted for the largest share of arrests (58.5 percent).
For the full story from Senior Editor Tyler Hayden, click on the link in our bioor visit Independent.com.
📸: Paul Wellman / Santa Barbara Independent

Santa Barbara High’s baseball team rallied from an early three-run deficit to defeat Paramount 12-5 on Tuesday at Eddie Mathews Field, advancing to the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoffs.
After falling behind 3-0 in the second inning, the Dons responded with an avalanche of offensive production and key defensive plays to regain control of the game.
For the full story from Sports Editor Victor Bryant, click on the link in our bio or visit Independent.com.
📸: Gary Kim / Santa Barbara Independent

He’s seen fire, he’s seen rain. He’s seen sunny days he thought would never end, and lonely times when he could not find a friend. And James Taylor (@jamestaylor_com) is in the ongoing journey of a career spanning six decades and stoking a reputation as a pioneer singer-songwriter known for hiring a good band and putting on an engaging live show.
And we got another one at the Santa Barbara Bowl (@sbbowl) last Wednesday, confirming what we know of his profound artistry, even if not breaking any new ground.
For the full story from Senior Writer Josef Woodard, click on the link in our bio or visit Independnent.com.
📸: Carl Perry (@carlperryphoto) / Santa Barbara Independent

After erupting on May 15, the wildfire burning on Santa Rosa Island had blackened more than 16,942 acres — nearly a third of the island — and was 26 percent contained by Wednesday morning.
The fire has closed the island to visitors, prompted the evacuation of 11 Channel Islands National Park Staff, and destroyed three structures while threatening other historic buildings and rare and endangered plant species found only on the island and nowhere else in the world.
It reportedly started after a 67-year-old mariner crashed his sailboat into the rocks around the island and fired an emergency flare, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, but authorities say the “human-caused” outbreak is still “under investigation.”
For the full story from reporter Callie Fausey, click on the link in our bio or visit Independent.com.
📸: Courtesy

Part of the Cuyama Valley is under evacuation orders after a small fire that started around 4 p.m. on a hot and windy Tuesday blew to more than 250 acres by 8 p.m., headed toward Castro Canyon. Called the Foothill Fire, the grassland blaze reached 462 acres by midnight, and had destroyed one structure, according to Santa Barbara County Fire. As of Wednesday morning, the fire remained estimated at 462 acres with 10 percent containment. Firefighters from S.B. and Kern counties and Los Padres National Forest are onsite, as are two helicopters and a retardant-dropping tanker.
Sixty-six people are under evacuation order, while another 163 are in the warning area, said Jackie Ruiz, spokesperson for the county’s Office of Emergency Management. The evacuation order is for an area north of Castro Canyon, east of Perkins Road, and west of the Cuyama River; also south of the Cuyama Valley, north of Big Pine Mountain, and west of Highway 33. A warning was issued for areas of Foothill Road south of the county line, east of the Cuyama River, and west of Quatal Canyon. The warning means to be ready to leave. An order means to leave immediately.
Road closures are of Bell Street at Highway 166, Kirschenmann at the 166, and Foothill at Highway 33.
For the full story from reporter Jean Yamamura, click on the link in our bio or visit Independent.com.
📸: Santa Barbara County Fire Department

Teenagers with fireworks are suspected of starting a small blaze along Farren Road on Tuesday night that grew to an acre by the time it was put out and being mopped up around midnight.
A 19-year-old Goleta teenager, Alex Karim Henin, and the younger teens were leaving the scene in a vehicle that matched the description given by the individual who reported the fire. Illegal fireworks were found in the vehicle, and three were missing from the package.
For the full story from reporter Jean Yamamura, click on the link in our bio or visit Independent.com.
📸: Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office

Anna Vocino (@annavocino) is a multi-hyphenate. A comedian and voiceover actress, she turned a Celiac diagnosis into a grocery business. Her company, @eathappykitchen, offers gluten-free, no-sugar-added sauces, spices, and cheese bite snacks that can be found in grocery stores around the country. Vocino maintains the business, along with an active recipe blog and social following, which has catapulted her into culinary stardom that includes partnerships with Gelson’s, Ralphs, and Pavilions.
In a year that will inevitably go down in her history books, Vocino added another title to her already overfilled résumé: voicing Mrs. Potato Head for 'Toy Story 5,' which debuts in theaters June 19.
For the full story from Meaghan Clark Tiernan, click on the link in our bio or visit Independent.com.
📸: Courtesy

Goleta and Buellton police officers celebrated National Distracted Driving Awareness Month by ticketing 157 drivers in April.
According to Sergeant Noel Rivas, driving while texting or even looking at one’s phone elicits the same behavior as “someone who is intoxicated.” The law does not allow drivers to hold their phone or other electronic devices while driving, not even if the light is red.
For the full story from Executive Editor Nick Welsh, click on the link in our bio or visit Independent.com.
📸: bernardbodo / Adobe Stock

A growing vegetation fire continues to blacken Santa Rosa Island, stretching northeast. By Tuesday morning, the fire had scorched 16,600 acres and was still 0 percent contained.
Due to steady winds and dry conditions on Monday, the fire remained active overnight. Officials confirmed on Tuesday morning that it burned through the island’s rare Torrey pines grove, one of only two places in the world where the trees grow naturally. The extent of the damage, however, is yet to be determined.
“Grasses on the island continue to be receptive to fire with the dry winds, low humidity, and warm days,” officials said in a Tuesday morning update (Inciweb). “The fire has moved through the Torrey Pines area on the east side of the island and continues to have a northward progression.”
For the full story from Callie Fausey, click on the link in our bio or visit Independent.com.
📸: US Coast Guard
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