Appliance Repair in El Nido, CA

Medical calls, including a report of a female who fell from a roof, were keeping emergency personnel in Isla Vista busy on Saturday during the unsanctioned event dubbed “Deltopia.”

At approximately 1:15 p.m., crews were dispatched to the 6500 block of Del Playa Drive for a report of a fall victim, according to emergency dispatch reports.

Later Saturday afternoon, emergency personnel responded to a report of a fall from a second-story window on El Nido Lane.

By evening, firefighters had treated several people with major injuries, including broken bones.

Other calls midday Saturday, many for locations on Del Playa, were for reports of people who had possibly overdosed on alcohol or drugs.

Personnel from the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, the Sheriff’s Office, American Medical Response and other organizations were working in the area.

By afternoon, firefighters declared a mass casualty incident because of the number of patients with medical emergencies, Capt. Daniel Bertucelli said.

“It was real busy out there,” he added.

Adding to the worries related to the gathering with heavy crowds was the fact that “many balconies are overcrowded,” he said.

By 7:30 p.m., authorities rescinded the mass casualty incident declaration since the volume of calls had dropped to reasonable levels, Bertucelli added.

On Friday, law enforcement officers made three arrests, issued 20 citations, took seven reports and dealt with one traffic collision, according to Raquel Zick, Sheriff’s Office public information officer.

Numbers for Saturday’s tally were not available yet, but Zick noted, “Today has been much busier.”

“First responders became inudated with medical calls for service in #IslaVista and shifted to a triage system for medical emergencies at 3:30 p.m.,” she said.

The annual-but-unapproved street party known as Deltopia dates back to 2010, following a beach event, Floatopia, and occurs the first weekend after spring break.

In some years, Deltopia has attracted thousands of college students, leading to citations and arrests.

In addition to warning about the risks and impacts of heavy partying, reminders also were issued that the COVID-19 pandemic remains a concern despite the easing of public health-related measures.

“Isla Vista is a densely compacted area, and we need to remember that the start of spring is not the moment for us to go back on all the progress we have made on containing and slowing down the spread of this virus,” said Shannon Sweeney, UCSB’s Associated Students vice president for local affairs. “Please join us to Keep it Local, Keep it Safe in Isla Vista this weekend.”

To quell troubles, authorities have implemented beach closures, parking restrictions and noise limits, while urging “Keep it local. Keep it safe, Isla Vista!” for the weekend.

A number of alternative events organized for this weekend included a roller skating party, a community festival and a nighttime concert.

Mother Nature might have assisted authorities trying to tame Deltopia. A cloudy start to the day on the South Coast led some to complain on social media, but it apparently didn’t entirely deter the celebrating, which got underway early.

“I’m up earlier for Deltopia than for classes,” one partier said on Twitter.

Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.

This story was originally published April 2, 2022 6:51 PM.

There’s something about deep frying food that completely revolutionizes a recipe. Whether it is deep-fried ice cream, Oreos, or simple french fries, something magical happens with the additional layer of fat applied to food. The protective casing helps lock in the internal flavor while adding another layer of complexity to it. And while it might not be easy on the gut, it does wonders for taste buds. And now, the inventor of one of the most widely celebrated deep-fried foods is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

El Charro Cafe is widely believed to be the inventor of the chimichanga, which is nothing more than a deep-fried burrito. Now, there are a handful of other restaurants out there that say they created the fried dish, but none of the timelines add up.

El Charro Cafe officially opened its doors in Tucson back in 1922. This alone makes it the oldest continuously operated Mexican restaurant in the United States. The same year, Tia Monica Flin was working in the kitchen and preparing a ground beef burro. However, she dropped the burro into the deep fryer by mistake and, as the story goes, shouted “chimichanga,” which is roughly translated to “thingamajig” in Spanish. When she pulled the burro out of the deep fryer she discovered she had created something new. It had the filling of a burrito, but with a crispy, deep-fried tortilla around the exterior.

Now, there are others out there that attempt to lay claim to the creation of the food. Woody Johnson, the owner of Woody’s El Nido in Phoenix, said he created the food in 1946, which is a full 24 years after El Charro Cafe. Others have said Chinese immigrants that came to the United States through California invented the food, due to its close appearance to an egg roll, although there isn’t much in the way of substantial evidence or documentation to back up this claim.

As the most likely inventor of the chimichanga, El Charro Cafe in Tucson is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The restaurant is gearing up for a large celebration later in the year, but the restaurant has already started to comb together special offerings for patrons. On the El Charro Cafe website, the restaurant is requesting individuals to share their memories of the restaurant over the years. Winners will receive a $100 gift card to any of the three locations. Additionally, the restaurant is asking for “Margarita of the Century” recipe submissions.

To stay up to date on all the excitement regarding the 100th-anniversary celebration for El Charro (and with it the 100th anniversary of the chimichanga), make sure to follow the restaurant on Facebook.

Can you believe the first Girl Scout Troop in Merced was formed 100 years ago in 1922?

“Once a Girl Scout, always a Girl Scout!”

The 100-Year Celebration is set to take place at the Merced Open Air Theater in Applegate Park on Saturday, March 19, at 2 p.m. The event will host several activities, including singalong campfire songs, booths, color guard training, crafts, a silent auction — and of course — the last chance to buy Girl Scout cookies for the season.

Thanks to extensive research of lead Girl Scout volunteer, Kerry Clifford, new documentations of Girl Scouts in Merced have been uncovered and are the influence behind anniversary event.

“Troop 1 was a diverse group of girls,” said Lily Walker, a Girl Scout mom who explained the history behind the first-ever troop. “Some of them lived in the city, and some lived out on farms, like in El Nido. They did a lot of the same things that we do today. They went camping, sang songs, and did crafts.”

Troop 1 meetings were held at homes, churches, or other locations in the community of Merced. Documents do not mention how long Troop 1 was active, but they do suggest that a second troop was formed in 1942.

Since then, thousands of troops have formed and have been active in Merced County. And the troops have not only played a recreational role, they have also inspired community advocacy.

Today’s Troop 3003, for instance, used the profits made from a 2019 cookie sale to buy and donate oxygen pet masks to a local fire department. Later on, the department was able to revive a dog suffering from smoke intoxication after being saved from an apartment fire.

Other Girl Scout contributions to their communities include building Little Free Libraries in neighborhoods, helping out at local food banks, participating in “clean-up” days at town parks, and cooking meals for families at Valley Children’s Hospital.

Continually, March 12 is recognized as National Girl Scout Day — or the Girl Scouts birthday — and as tradition, the Merced troop gathers a baby basket together to gift to the first baby girl born on this day. The gift is then delivered to Merced’s Mercy Medical Center and given to the parents of the first baby girl.

“This month, to honor the 100-year anniversary of the first Girl Scout troop in Merced County, our girls have taken on the challenge to complete 100 Good Turns,” Lori Foster, troop leader, said. “Girls are leading a beautification project at Applegate Zoo and collecting supplies for local animal welfare organizations. They are also gathering gently used books to supply the Little Free Libraries, and plating trees with the City of Merced to support the Girl Scout Tree Promise of planting, protecting, and honoring five million trees by 2026.”

“100 Good Turns for 100 Years!”

Any and all Girl Scouts are encouraged to participate in the 100-year celebration of the sisterhood. Past and present Girl Scouts are encouraged to attend the event or RSVP for a chance to be honored at the event. You can email at: SU626Tioga@gmail.com.

The long-delayed upgrade of the John Latorraca Correctional Center — one of Merced County’s aging jails — is moving forward, and the enormous price tag is advancing along with it.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved an allocation of more than $30 million in matching funds to expand the jail off Sandy Mush Road near El Nido.

The planned expansion has been in the works for years, as the board first accepted $40 million in state grants for the project back in 2016.

Still, five years later, the expansion hasn’t happened — and the initial estimate to upgrade the jail has ballooned roughly 58% from $45 million to $71.3 million.

Because of the expanding cost, the county had to increase its matching funds Tuesday by roughly $25.8 million over the original match, in order for the state Department of Finance to green light the project.

The inflated price tag is blamed on “escalation costs,” county officials said.

Simply put, what the county was able to get for $40 million five years ago doesn’t go as far in 2021.

“There’s been several delays on the state level and locally to get this project started,” said Undersheriff Corey Gibson. “COVID played a role in that. It’s been very slow, but for the last couple months, we’ve actually taken some steps in the right direction to get this project moving.”

There’s not a set timeline for construction, but officials estimate it would take three to five years to complete once it starts.

The expansion would result in a 256-bed maximum-security facility at the John Latorraca Correctional Center. The existing facility houses up to 563 inmates at any given time.

A sheriff’s administration services facility would also be constructed at a site that is yet to be determined. The long-term goal would also be to close the Merced County Sheriff’s downtown Main Jail, which officials have said is outdated.

Merced County’s jails for years have had numerous issues, and inmate escapes have been a headache for successive generations of sheriff administrations.

Most recently, in January six inmates escaped from the Merced County Main Jail, and one more escapee broke out of the John Latoracca Correctional Center in April.

Although each of the escapees was recaptured, the jailbreaks were blamed on outdated infrastructure and staff failures.

“When (the John Latorraca Correctional Center) was built (in 1990), it was built for weekenders,” Supervisor Scott Silveira said.

“When prison realignment came, we were forced to reduce numbers and now you’re holding a lot more hard criminals than what the facility was originally designed to hold. We’re now at a point where we’re trying to correct that stuff with cinderblock walls, metal doors, things like that.”

When asked about why the project expansion has been subject to delays, Silveira cited the impacts of COVID-19, among other reasons -- including the slow pace of bureaucracy.

“We’re government, and things don’t always work at the speed of business,” Silveira told the Sun-Star on Tuesday. “The pandemic really slowed things down. People were working from home. You have to go back and find information, and there’s been an administration change in there, too. It’s a combination of all those things that lead up to delays.”

In terms of the ballooning cost of moving the project forward, Silveira said it’s not only the jail expansion — construction projects across the board have been impacted.

“Basically, the biggest portion of it is the cost of materials, the cost of doing business, wages, you add it all up, it’s caused the price tag to go up,” he said.

The long-delayed project — which is now projected to cost $71.3 million — will be funded partially from the $40 million grant awarded by Senate Bill 863 from the California Board of State and Community Corrections, which was accepted by the county in 2016.

County officials also identified more than $5 million in additional funds for the project from county long-term facility funds and tobacco funds, according to county documents.

Other sources of matching funding coming from the county includes $10.2 million from the county’s general fund, $6.5 million from additional tobacco funds, $3.2 million from a behavioral health fund and $5.9 million from a public health intergovernmental transfer fund.

In June, the Board of Supervisors approved a $1.35 million contract with CGL Companies, Inc., based in Sacramento, to provide construction services for the first phase of construction.

Survivors of domestic violence and become self-sufficient can go on to have happy lives.

Petitti is a development officer with the Interfaith Shelter Network and has worked in homeless services for the past 10 years. She lives in La Mesa.

Many domestic violence survivors, fearing for their lives, will flee with only their children and what they can carry. They’re traumatized and scared. They often don’t know where to go for help. They reach out to law enforcement or medical providers and get hotline numbers to call local services and emergency shelters.

Social workers accept them into services and perform needs assessments. Because the most dangerous time for survivors is when they leave their abuser, the need for secure housing is very high. Those whose safety may be threatened by their abuser are referred to domestic violence emergency shelter and transitional housing programs. Interfaith Shelter Network (ISN) provides one such program, our El Nido (“the nest” in Spanish) domestic violence transitional housing program.

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One survivor came to El Nido early last year after her husband of 15 years backed her up against a wall with a knife to her throat. Luckily, her neighbors heard her screaming for help and called law enforcement. When officers arrived, she was bleeding from a deep gash. Paramedics saved her life. Her husband was taken into custody and their children were taken to the Polinski Center by Child Protective Services. Because of safety and financial concerns, she was accepted with her three children into the El Nido program.

El Nido is one of eight site-based transitional housing programs for adults and families affected by domestic violence in San Diego County, providing 11 of the county’s 180 existing transitional housing units. These numbers are estimated to fall far short of the actual need. The FBI index logged 8,936 domestic violence offenses in the San Diego region during the first half of 2021. This is up 5 percent from the same period in 2020.

Some programs have waiting lists. Survivors can be forced to go from emergency shelter to shelter until a space opens up. Those who work are eligible for rapid re-housing assistance, which can be used to keep them safely in their homes by changing locks and adding other security.

Some of our families have complex needs to recover from the ravages of domestic violence. At El Nido, we concentrate on providing survivors with the knowledge, skills and services they need to achieve long-term self-sufficiency. Staff partners with survivors to create individual plans for recovery and move towards achieving them.

El Nido program participants receive on-site case management and psychological counseling, financial planning, housing search help, life skills classes and referrals to additional services, such as legal assistance programs, medical and dental services, educational programs such as ESL and GED classes, job training and employment readiness programs.

Children also receive counseling and services. They attend preschool or school and after-school and camp programs. What sets El Nido apart from the other programs is the fact that we are one of the few to accept undocumented women, and the only program to accept large families (with five-plus children), pregnant mothers and families with teens. Survivors and their children can stay in Interfaith Shelter Network’s El Nido program for up to 12 months.

El Nido is supported by a committee of community congregations and organizations, which provide furniture and household goods for the apartments and host special events for participants, such as a graduation ceremony where graduates share their successes with current program participants.

Interfaith Shelter Network has successfully provided case-managed, transitional housing to more than 250 homeless women with children fleeing domestic violence for the past 24 years. We serve about 45 people each week. Historically, more than 85 percent of participants have achieved their personal goals and successfully exited the program for permanent housing. Survivors who have recovered from the trauma of domestic violence and become self-sufficient can go on to have happy lives, raise their children, even enter healthy and safe relationships.

When asked how Interfaith Shelter Network had helped her, one El Nido program graduate responded with: “How did it NOT help me? ISN assisted in every way possible.” She wanted other victims of domestic violence to know, “There is help available. You can get out. For a long time, I did not think I could, but then I found Interfaith Shelter Network.”

If you would like to help, please visit interfaithshelter.org to learn more about us and the ways to support our programs.