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The show must go on Congressman announces grant program for live venues
RAFAEL MALDONAO/NEWS-PRESS
Local law enforcement agencies issued multiple search warrants and arrested three Carpinteria residents Thursday morning in connection with the fatal shooting of two local teenagers.
Three arrested in fatal shooting Warrants served Thursday in Jan. 3 case By MITCHELL WHITE NEWS-PRESS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
RAFAEL MALDONADO/NEWS-PRESS
Rep. Salud Carbajal announced at the Santa Barbara Bowl Thursday that live venues can now apply for grants through the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program.
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Help is on the way for live music venues in Santa Barbara County. U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, announced Thursday at a press conference at the Santa Barbara Bowl that local venue operators can now apply for grants from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program. The program was established through the COVID-19 relief package passed in December 2020, and Rep. Carbajal helped secure additional funding for it through the American Rescue Plan, totaling more than $16 billion to help venues stay afloat.
Previously, venues were unable costs, rent and utility payments, to apply for both the SVOG worker protection expenditures program grants and the Paycheck and more. Eligible applicants Protection Program loans, but the include: live venue operators or American Rescue Plan removed promoters; theatrical producers; that hurdle. live performing arts organization “I don’t think you operators; relevant could live in this museum operators, To see streaming video zoos and aquariums region and not know GO TO what a treasure we who meet specific newspress.com criteria; motion have in this facility (the Bowl),” Rep. picture theater Carbajal said at operators; talent the press conference. “But this representatives; and each facility is also symbolic of so many business entity owned by an other venues that, day in and eligible entity that also meets the day out, enrich our culture and eligibility requirements. our communities with art and “The grant program will have entertainment.” a direct benefit for our local Grants may be used for payroll economy no doubt,” Rep. Carbajal
siad. “I stand with our small businesses, which I recognize are a major employer and economic driver of the Central Coast.” Applicants may qualify for grants equal to 45% of their gross earned revenue, with the maximum amount available for a single grant award of $10 million. Bowl officials said they were unsure of how much money they would receive in the grant, but that the U.S. Small Business Administration determines the need. Rick Boller, the executive director of the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation, said the venue Please see SB BOWL on A8
Three Carpinteria residents have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 3 fatal shooting of two local teenagers, police said. The Santa Barbara Police Department, joined by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team, served warrants Thursday morning at three South Coast locations. Angel Eduardo Varela, 26, Oscar Martin Trujillo-Gutierrez, 25, and Emilio Perez, 18, were arrested on suspicion of murder. The three were also arrested on suspicion of special circumstances of committing more than one murder, special circumstances of murder committed by an active participant in a gang to further the activities of the gang, as well as special allegations of using a gun in association
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Biden administration Thursday announced a handful of executive orders to address what it called “the gun violence public health epidemic,” highlighting the recent mass shootings in Boulder and Atlanta. President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass legislation to reduce gun violence, such as closing loopholes in the gun background check system, along with “boyfriend” and stalking loopholes that allow people found by the courts to be abusers to
possess firearms. He demanded Congress go further and ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, repeal gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability and invest in evidence-based community violence interventions. In addition, he called for a national red flag law and legislation to incentivize states to pass red flag laws of their own. Red flag laws allow family members or law enforcement to petition for a court order temporarily barring people in crisis from accessing firearms if they present a danger to
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the Department of Justice 30 days to issue a rule to help stop the proliferation of “ghost guns,” which are unregistered, selfassembled firearms without serial numbers that are largely untraceable. The DOJ will also have 60 days to issue a proposed rule to reduce access to stabilizing braces, which the suspected shooter in the Boulder tragedy used to make his firearm more stable and accurate. President Biden called on the DOJ to publish model red flag legislation for states and Please see GUNS on A2
NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
After a rocky pandemic year for businesses, local Chamber of Commerce officials are hopeful economic recovery may be on the way for the Central Coast now that Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared June 15 as a targeted date to dissolve the state’s tier system. Gov. Newsom announced Tuesday that the state could do away with the multicolored tier system by mid-June if vaccine efforts increase and hospitalizations remain low. This would mean businesses could operate without capacity limitations while maintaining “common sense” measures such as mask wearing, the governor said. For business sectors across Santa Barbara County, Chamber officials say reopening with fewer limitations is the shot in the arm businesses need to move
toward an economic comeback. “Reopening the economy is just the first step in a long road to recovery,” Amber Wilson, president and CEO of the Lompoc Chamber of Commerce told the News-Press, in an email. “It’s a start, and we’re all ready to start moving in the right direction.” Throughout the pandemic, various industries were forced to cope with unpredictable reopenings, closures and tier shifts that often decimated both their staff and their income. Now that there is a targeted date in mind, Kristen Miller, the CEO of the South Coast Chamber of Commerce, believes businesses will be prepared for a robust reopening with safety plans in place. “Having a targeted date to reopen provides even more hope for our state and county residents,” Ms. Miller told Please see CHAMBERS on A8
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themselves or others, according to the fact sheet on the actions released by the administration. “Gun violence in this country is an epidemic, and it is an international embarrassment,” President Biden said as he made remarks in the Rose Garden. “The idea is just bizarre to suggest some of the things we are recommending is contrary to the Constitution.” He stressed that the administration will not wait for Congress to act on its own. Instead he presented six executive orders aimed to curb gun violence. The first is that he is giving
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Chambers hopeful for economic recovery By MADISON HIRNEISEN
President Biden unveils executive actions on gun control
with a criminal street gang and committing a felony in association with a criminal street gang, Lt. Shawn Hill, police spokesman, said in a news release. The three suspects are also accused of attempted murder with premeditation and deliberation, authorities said. The warrants were served around 8:30 a.m. at a pair of residences in the 1000 block of Cramer Road in Carpinteria, as well as a residence under construction in the 2300 block of Golden Gate Avenue in Summerland. The Sheriff’s Office issued a shelter-in-place for residents in the immediate area of Carpinteria Avenue and Cramer Road on Thursday morning. Barney Melekian, interim police chief for the Santa Barbara Police Department,
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