Santa Barbara County

About 20 miles beyond the red-tile roofs of downtown Santa Barbara, it begins: the rolling blond hills that go indecently green in spring, the massive estates and miniature horses, the sprawling vineyards and "Sideways" scenery, the dude ranch with 10,000 acres, the old stagecoach stop with boar on the menu and bikers in the parking lot .... Santa Barbara County's wine country has a lot to offer. The nine micro-itineraries that follow are a quick introduction for newcomers, part of our ongoing series of Southern California Close-Ups.

Sea lion pups have been washing up on Southern California beaches at an alarming rate and the situation has become serious enough for officials to declare an "unusual mortality event. " The severely underweight pups, some clinging to life, have been found stranded on beaches from Santa Barbara to San Diego at rates exponentially higher than in years past. In Los Angeles County, nearly 400 pups have been stranded since the beginning of the year. Last year, 36 were reported during that stretch.

A college student posing in a crowded elevator for a yearbook photograph with about 20 other students at the University of California, Santa Barbara, died when he "panicked" and tried to escape, Santa Barbara County authorities said Friday. James Michael Howard, 19, of Walnut Creek died Thursday night when his body became wedged in the elevator shaft, said C. D. Smith, an investigator for the Santa Barbara County coroner's office.

Federal marine wildlife officials said that a mass stranding of malnourished sea lion pups along the Southern California coast since January has intensified in recent weeks and researchers remain unsure of the cause. Officials declared an "unusual mortality event" for the California sea lion, a designation that prompts immediate federal response after a significant die-off of a marine mammal population. The declaration comes as sea lion pups have been found stranded on Southern California beaches -- from Santa Barbara to San Diego --  at rates exponentially higher than in years past.

Seeing images of their slain son's duct tape-bound body projected on a courtroom screen, the parents of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz sobbed Tuesday as a prosecutor urged a jury to find Jesse James Hollywood guilty in his death. "Justice has waited nine years," Joshua Lynn told the jurors. "The time has come." The dramatic moment came on the first day of closing arguments in the case, which was the basis for the 2007 film "Alpha Dog."

Santa Barbara County supervisors Tuesday handed the Chumash tribe a land-use victory that, according to some neighbors, may set a precedent for much larger fights to come. At issue was a 6.9-acre parcel owned by the tribe across Highway 246 from its busy Santa Ynez casino. Rejecting a request from anti-casino community groups, the supervisors chose not to appeal a federal ruling allowing annexation of the land to the Chumash reservation. Opponents feared a tribal win on 6.9 acres would pave the way for the reservation's proposed annexation of the 1,400-acre property known as Camp Four.

A 39-year-old man surfing off the Santa Barbara County coast was killed Tuesday in a shark attack that occurred off the same beach where a bodyboarder was killed two years ago. Francisco Javier Solorio Jr. of nearby Orcutt was dragged by a friend onto the beach after he suffered a massive bite on his upper torso that turned the water around him red, Santa Barbara County sheriff's officials said. He died at the scene. "His friend saw the shark bite him," said Sgt. Mark Williams.

Authorities in Santa Barbara County aim to deflate Floatopia, a mega-party set for Saturday that has exploded over the last few years with the aid of social media websites. Officials told county supervisors Tuesday that they plan to close access points to popular beaches in Isla Vista, near UC Santa Barbara, this weekend. Last year, as many as 12,000 revelers converged on the narrow strip of sand in a day of what county parks Director Dan Hernandez called "unmitigated chaos." Deputies handed out 78 citations for alcohol-related crimes and made 13 arrests, Sheriff Bill Brown said.

At the Tarzana restaurant where he worked as a waiter, Bernardo Alvarez was well-liked and reliable. When he didn't show up last month after not missing a single day in 10 years, his boss at the Greystoke Grill grew concerned and filed a missing-persons report. Authorities on Wednesday identified Alvarez as the man whose body was found burning next to the 101 Freeway in Santa Barbara County about 4 a.m. on July 15. At a news conference, officials from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department and the Los Angeles Police Department appealed to the public for clues into Alvarez's grisly death.

-- Supervisor District 1 -- -- 100% Precincts Reporting Votes % John B. Gostovich 9,524 65 Salud Carbajal 5,173 35 -- -- District 3 -- -- 100% Precincts Reporting Votes % Brooks Firestone 10,352 53 John Buttny 7,204 37 Steven Andrew Pappas 1,250 6 Slick Gardner 590 3 -- -- District 4 -- -- 100% Precincts Reporting Votes % Joni Gray 13,226 79 Gerry Niesen 3,563 21...

ORCUTT, Calif. - Small-town folks struggling to put up a monument to veterans: It sounds like something straight out of "Mayberry R.F.D.," but for residents of this Central Coast town, it feels more like "Catch-22. " After three years, the privately funded $60,000 monument, which is sponsored by the American Legion and would be placed on a sliver of land owned by the California Department of Transportation, is still unbuilt. The sticking point has been opposition from Caltrans to the monument's use of the American flag and the agency's apparent reluctance to allow the display of words - such as "United States" - on the monument's military emblems.

A Carpinteria youth pastor is accused of raping two teenage girls he met through his church work, authorities said Thursday. Louis Joseph Bristol, 28, is being held at Santa Barbara County Jail in lieu of $2-million bail, according to a news release from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office. Authorities said the girls, both juveniles, received "inappropriate" texts and photos from Bristol this year and in 2012. He raped each of them in vacant rooms at the Holiday Inn Express where he worked as an assistant manager, according to the release.

— A creeks cuts out of the Santa Ynez Mountains about 25 miles west of Santa Barbara. It follows a tight canyon from grass-covered foothills to the sea, passing an old adobe underneath a giant eucalyptus and grapevines planted when California was part of Mexico. There's the smell of sage. Deep quiet. Wind in the leaves. This is the Arroyo Hondo Preserve, known as "the jewel of the Gaviota Coast. " I don't know about that. The whole western skirt of the mountains, draping down to the ocean between Goleta and Point Conception, is mostly undeveloped God's country.

A 39-year-old man surfing off the Santa Barbara County coast was killed Tuesday in a shark attack that occurred off the same beach where a bodyboarder was killed two years ago. Francisco Javier Solorio Jr. of nearby Orcutt was dragged by a friend onto the beach after he suffered a massive bite on his upper torso that turned the water around him red, Santa Barbara County sheriff's officials said. He died at the scene. "His friend saw the shark bite him," said Sgt. Mark Williams.

Regarding "It's Ripening on the Vine," by Christopher Reynolds, Oct. 7: As a visitor to the Santa Ynez Valley before the days of Indian gambling, before Neverland Ranch and before vineyards and wineries, I always thought of Solvang as the Danish Tijuana. The original Hitching Post in Casmalia is a true gem. But it takes time and effort to get there. Your readers should be warned that just showing up without prior arrangements [especially on weekends] is a recipe for disappointment.

About 20 miles beyond the red-tile roofs of downtown Santa Barbara, it begins: the rolling blond hills that go indecently green in spring, the massive estates and miniature horses, the sprawling vineyards and "Sideways" scenery, the dude ranch with 10,000 acres, the old stagecoach stop with boar on the menu and bikers in the parking lot .... Santa Barbara County's wine country has a lot to offer. The nine micro-itineraries that follow are a quick introduction for newcomers, part of our ongoing series of Southern California Close-Ups.

Can a restaurant be too busy? In the case of Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos, Calif., the answer is maybe. That's because on weekend nights the place can pull in hundreds of people from all over the state and the world who are happy to wait in line for as long as two hours to get a taste of the restaurant's hyper-local, organic fare. Nestled in an idyllic sweet spot in the middle of Santa Barbara wine country, just off Highway 101 between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo, Full of Life is at the vortex of a well-traveled food-and-wine pilgrimage route.