Nick Welsh, Author at The Santa Barbara Independent

Angry Poodle By Nick Welsh | Thu May 31, 2007 | 12:10pm

A Watchdog, Not a Lapdog

ANNIE GET YOUR GUN: When the phone rings in our house after 10 p.m., it means one of two things: Either somebody just died or Annie Bardach is on the horn. Annie tends to call from places like Miami, where she’s dredging up some of the nastiest political corruption practiced anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. As a reporter, Bardach is famous for her tick-like tenacity, which has landed her not one, but two interviews with Fidel Castro and one-on-ones with a host of other high-profile also-rans.

Living By Nick Welsh | Mon May 28, 2007 | 10:05pm

Shoot-Out at the Roundabout Corral

As temporary roundabouts become permanent, opponents allege sloppy design and half-truths from city staff. Here’s a 3,500-word report on what happened at last week’s City Council meeting and why it’s not quite as simple as neighborhoods versus City Hall.

News By Nick Welsh | Mon May 28, 2007 | 12:25pm

News-Press Fires at Lou Cannon

The esteemed journalist and Ronald Reagan biographer is viciously attacked for his L.A. Times opinion piece. The News-Press shows that it can, in fact, go even deeper into the previously uncharted bowels of journalism.

News By Nick Welsh | Thu May 24, 2007 | 12:00pm

Pay Now or Pay Later

Two months have elapsed since a 15-year old Westside resident named Luis Angel Linares was stabbed to death on State Street during a sprawling after-school brawl between rival gangs. Much of the soul-searching, chest-thumping, and finger-pointing attending Linares’s death have likewise subsided, but they’ve hardly disappeared.

Angry Poodle By Nick Welsh | Thu May 24, 2007 | 12:00pm

The Dog Who Cried ‘Woof!’

HE WHO SMELT IT, DEALT IT: Let me admit that I wouldn’t know a Delta Smelt if one bit me on the ass. And neither, I’m guessing, would most of you. But that doesn’t mean I want to be a party to their annihilation from planet Earth. What, after all, did a smelt ever do to me?

Angry Poodle By Nick Welsh | Thu May 17, 2007 | 12:00pm

Please, Don’t Conflate the Dog

GOIN’ TO BROWNSVILLE: Now when I hear the word “village,” I reach for my gun. And few things get my trigger finger twitching so fast as the word “sustainability.” The words themselves are not so bad; the people who use them, however, should be presumed dangerous. “Village” first became the victim of gross overuse back when the mantra “it takes a village to raise a child” was fashionable.

Angry Poodle By Nick Welsh | Mon May 14, 2007 | 5:38pm

All the Snooze Too Fat to Print

Nick Welsh ponders what must be going on behind the scenes everyday at the News-Press in his first-ever online only Angry Poodle Barbecue.

Living By Nick Welsh | Fri May 11, 2007 | 9:58am

Judge Brings Hammer Down in ‘Caged Kids’ Case

Sylvia Vasquez is sentenced to jail with 10 year suspended sentence.

Angry Poodle By Nick Welsh | Thu May 10, 2007 | 12:00pm

Spider DogZ

SMILE WHEN YOU SAY THAT: Contrary to popular wisdom, it turns out patriotism is not necessarily the last refuge available to scoundrels; that distinction belongs to selective amnesia. But in the case of our memory-challenged Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, both appear to be true.

Business By Nick Welsh | Thu May 10, 2007 | 12:00pm

Cut Down to Size

What started with an audacious bang as a plan to cut the building height limit in downtown Santa Barbara by one-third ended with a whimper on the floor of the City Council chambers late Tuesday afternoon, capping a nearly three-hour debate over the scale and pace of growth. Rather than pass an amendment to the city’s charter-as first proposed-or an interim ordinance to reduce the height limit from 60 feet to 40, the council opted for a meeting of City Hall’s main review agencies to discuss the tools they already have to limit building size.

Author: Nick Welsh