Hicks is Man of Year

Stephen M. Hicks has been named Santa Barbara Man of the Year, and concurrently has been honored by the Board of Supervisors for his services to the community.

He was given the title by the Santa Barbara Foundation and received the plaudits of the Supervisors on March 11.

Hicks was recognized for his labor as board member, committee chair and board president of the Scholarship Foundation, where he initiated the 2001 Strategic Plan, helped to secure and implement a $1 million anonymous gift for graduate and medical scholarships, contributed to leadership transition and the growth of the scholarship program.

He also worked with Child Abuse Listening and Mediation, Inc. (CALM), the Museum of Natural History, Channel Islands YMCA, Family Service Agency, Education Foundation, Noah’s Anchorage, Rotary Club and Cate School.

The Supervisors’ Resolution commended him as 2007 Man of the Year, recognizing “a lifetime of outstanding leadership and dedicated service to his community.”

 

Carole Doane honored

Carole Doane, Santa Barbara County’s Woman of the Year for the Santa Barbara Foundation, also has been praised by the County Board of Supervisors.

Her selection as Woman of the Year and the commendation from the supervisors focused on her contributions to a number of groups:

The Junior League of Santa Barbara, chairing the Dr. Charlotte Elmott’s Child Guidance Study for City Schools; working with the Girls Club, contributed to the Mental Health Assn., founded and worked with the Hospital League.

 

Police K9 dies suddenly

Ignaz, an award-winning canine officer with the Santa Barbara Police Dept., died on March 9 when he suffered the sudden onset of an intestinal malady.

The 4½-year-old German shepherd died of mesmeric torsion, a disorder of the intestine, the department announced. Mesmeric torsion is almost invariably fatal to dogs who are stricken, according to an Internet veterinarian site.

Ignaz had been with the department for three years, and was the partner of Officer Michael Claytor. The canine was recognized for his work in the Goleta Post Office shooting of 2006, and for apprehending a violent robber in 2007.

In announcing his death, the department stated, “K-9 Ignaz will be deeply missed not only by the Claytor family, but by the entire department and community as well.”

 

Housing funds now on tap

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced the availability of $72 million in state funds to assist communities with low-income housing.

The only community in Santa Barbara County that is eligible to apply for state help with low income housing is Guadalupe, according to Pat Gabel, manager of housing development for the county.

Other cities in the county do not have the poverty and low-income housing needs of larger counties such as those in the Central Valley.

However, county towns such as Solvang and Buellton in the Santa Ynez Valley do qualify for Federal funds through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Gabel said.

“Cities in the county have formed a Housing Consortium,” she said, “and they’re eligible for $1.592 million in HUD funds.”

 

Drug suspects nabbed

A 24-year-old man and a juvenile accomplice have been arrested by Santa Barbara police on charges of cocaine dealing and child endangerment.

Officers reported that they obtained a search warrant for the home of Elsen Tapia, and found about an ounce of powder cocaine, $4,494 in cash, scales, packaging materials and a five-year-old child on the premises, at 551 West Pueblo St., No. 3.

The police report said the cocaine “was found on the dining room table, easily accessible by the five-year-old.”

They arrested Tapia and a juvenile companion, and charged them with possession of cocaine for sale and child endangerment.

Tapia also was charged with adult using a minor for sale of the drug.

He was booked into the county jail and the juvenile was booked into Juvenile Hall.

 

Kunkle retires, is honored

County: After 27 years of service, Lieutenant Gerald Kunkle of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department retired on March 9.

Kunkle, who worked mainly as a corrections officer, was commended by the Board of Supervisors for “his faithful and distinguished service to the citizens of Santa Barbara County.”

 

Buellton’s police chief retires

Buellton Police Chief Leland Bentley retired from the Buellton Police Department after 30 years of working in the law enforcement.

He served as the department’s chief for the past five years.

Bentley was born and raised in the Solvang. Marc Bierdzinski, director of the Planning Department for the City of Buellton, said Bentley will be missed.

“It will be sad to loose [him] because [he’s] been a good partner to work with,” he said.

Sandra Brown, community resource officer for the Buellton Police Department also will be leaving the department, as she is set for a promotion to Sergeant.