Jackson Friedman’s 2024 in Review
Our Associate Editor’s Favorite Stories of the Year
The Santa Barbara Independent’s associate editor, Jackson Friedman, shares some of his favorite reads of the year, which covered everything from ketamine therapy and great whites to tattoos and sonic booms.
Callie Fausey’s vulnerable, humorous, and elucidating firsthand account of trying ketamine therapy is one of my favorite cover stories of the year (and is complemented in print by Ben Cicatti’s wonderful, Alice in Wonderland–inspired cover illustration). Here’s the story — Down the Rabbit Hole — in which Callie takes a psychedelic trip into the world of ketamine therapy.
Callie’s story on the Indy news team’s freewheelin’ but whale-free whale-watching trip aboard the Condor Express led to a hot tip about a great white shark sighting during the following day’s cruise, resulting in our most-read story of the year: ‘Huge’ Great White Shark Spotted Eating Elephant Seal in Santa Barbara Channel, in which Condor Express passengers get a front-row seat to a brutal buffet.
Ryan P. Cruz and Xavier Pereyra joined forces on this cover story commemorating Santa Barbara’s first tattoo convention. Ryan covers the affecting backstory of how tattoo artist JJ Ortiz battled through cancer to bring the convention to town, while Xavier shares his own personal experience of getting his first tattoo from Ortiz. (Ingrid Bostrom’s portraits of Ortiz are also terrific.)
Smell the Roses: Behind Santa Barbara’s First Tattoo Convention
JJ Ortiz pushes through his cancer battle to bring the Rose Garden Tattoo Convention to the Community Arts Workshop.
by Ryan P. Cruz & Xavier Pereyra
Tyler Hayden extracts anecdotes and advice on life, aging, and surfing from Andy Neumann, the acclaimed Santa Barbara architect and celebrated surfer, for this reflective story that ran in our annual Active Aging issue.
Seventy-Seven and Still Surfing with Style
Mostly retired architect Andy Neumann rides the long wave of life.
by Tyler Hayden
Tyler has been following Cora Vides’s story since she was first arrested for stabbing her Laguna Blanca classmate, Georgia Avery, in the neck at the Vides family’s Mesa home on Valentine’s Day in 2021. In this story covering Vides’s criminal trial this summer, Tyler recounts Avery’s testimony on the stand as she relives her harrowing near-death experience, making for one of the most gripping, unsettling reads of the year. (Vides was ultimately found guilty but legally insane at the time of the crime and sent to a state psychiatric hospital.)
‘She Counted Down from Three, Then She Stabbed Me in the Neck’
Santa Barbara woman stands trial for attempted murder of high school friend.
by Tyler Hayden
Nick Welsh weaves together the histories of Santa Barbara’s movie-house monopoly and its once-fledgling film festival in a way only he could in this cover story about the opening of the new Santa Barbara Film Center at the site of the former Fiesta 5 theater.
SBIFF Gives Fiesta 5 a New Lease on Life
The State Street movie theater will be transformed into the Santa Barbara Film Center.
by Nick Welsh
For those starting to get sick of the increasing “cadence” of sonic booms rattling their windows, this Angry Poodle column by Nick is sure to make your blood boil.
In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream
Concerns over SpaceX’s planned rocket launch expansion at Vandenberg fall on deaf and absent ears.
by Nick Welsh
Mickey Flacks Fund Fellow Christina McDermott accomplished her own Mission: Impossible with this cover story that almost no one wanted to go on the record for.
Mission: Implausible? Eight-Story Housing Project Proposed Behind Santa Barbara Mission
Developers look to build a giant residential building under California’s “builder’s remedy” law.
by Christina McDermott
Jean Yamamura aims for the heart with this uplifting story about the opening of Buena Tierra, a former Super 8 motel that was converted into new permanent housing for people who were once homeless.
No Longer Homeless in Goleta
Buena Tierra debuts in the Goodland.
by Jean Yamamura
Our newest staff reporter, Margaux Lovely, already has numerous bylines to her name, including as part of her vital, ongoing coverage — along with Nick Welsh — of Sable’s plans to restart oil production on Santa Barbara County’s coast. But she’s also demonstrated her chops outside of the newsroom, including her great Burrito Week blurb and this first foray into concert reviewing for us.
Review | It’s Nothing but Blue Skies for Sturgill Simpson
Sturgill Simpson a k a Johnny Blue Skies brings an appealing mix of covers and originals to the Santa Barbara Bowl.
by Margaux Lovely
