Rally to support abortion rights
‘Art in the Garden’
Planned Parenthood to host event at De la Guerra Plaza on Saturday - A2
Borg Gardens will be setting of art show this weekend - B1
Our 166th Year
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ExxonMobil sues SB County Company wants to overturn decision against temporary trucking plan By KAITLYN SCHALLHORN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit in federal court this week, seeking to vacate the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors’ denial of its temporary trucking plan for the Santa Ynez Unit. Exxon is arguing the board’s decision was “arbitrary, capricious and unlawful
prejudicial abuse of discretion, violates the United States and California’s constitutions and impairs ExxonMobil’s vested rights to restart and operate” the Santa Ynez Unit, Meghan Macdonald, an ExxonMobil spokesperson, told the NewsPress. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California Wednesday and first shared
with the News-Press. It asks the court to vacate and set aside the board’s denial and instruct it to reconsider. The Board of Supervisors nixed Exxon’s proposal to truck oil along area roads in a 3-2 vote in March. Some supervisors, including chair Joan Hartmann, expressed concerns about the environmental impact of the temporary trucking.
Exxon’s Santa Ynez Unit has three offshore platforms (Harmony, Heritage and Hondo) and an onshore processing center in Las Flores Canyon near Goleta. It shuttered operations in 2015 following the Plains All American Pipeline spill. Exxon then moved its remaining inventory to a Phillips 66 Santa Maria Pump Station (without incident, the company noted in its complaint), and
Dedicated nurses
spent about $100 million annually to maintain the Santa Ynez Unit. “ExxonMobil wants to bring its employees back to work and continue operating SYU to meet part of California’s energy needs in a safe and environmentally sound way,” the lawsuit said. A representative for the county did not Please see EXXONMOBIL on A3
ELECTION 2022
A Hart to heart talk Assembly candidate emphasizes importance of listening
Healthcare workers talk about their jobs during National Nurses Week
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“We all benefit from listening to others before we talk, and that guides me in so many ways in my life,” said Gregg Hart, who’s running for the new 37th District in the California Assembly.
Editor’s note: This is part of a series on candidates in advance of the June 7 primary. Democratic candidate Gregg Hart is running against Republican candidate Mike Stoker, who was previously interviewed by the News-Press, for the seat of the new 37th Assembly District. By KAITLYN SCHALLHORN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
Seen here at the Lompoc Health Care Center, Michelle Coleman-Tornquist, a supervising staff nurse with the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, said she strives each day to do the best job she can. Mrs. Coleman-Tornquist recently received the department’s Nursing Excellence Award.
By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Knowing they’ve made a positive impact on their patients is rewarding. That’s according to three dedicated nurses who are part of the profession being honored during National Nurses Week. Jennifer Fernandez, Michelle Coleman-Tornquist and Kelly Barragan are nurses who work in different areas at the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department. These three talked to the NewsPress, giving their take on public health, nursing in the pandemic, advice to current and future nurses, and their experience in nursing. Ms. Fernandez, a registered nurse for the department’s Santa Maria Health Care Center, graduated with her RN degree in 2013 from Allan Hancock College and has been working as a nurse since 2014. In 2001 Ms. Fernandez received her medical assistant certification from Allan Hancock College. Prior to working for the health department, Ms. Fernandez worked
for almost 20 years for Sansum Clinic, first in Santa Barbara in the endocrinology department and then in Lompoc, before the Lompoc location was bought out by Lompoc Valley Medical Center in 2018. Ms. Fernandez worked as a medical assistant for Sansum Clinic until 2014, when she transitioned to working as a procedure nurse. “I did my schooling at night while doing medical assisting full-time … Being a medical assistant has allowed me to become the nurse that I am today because I saw the work that it took,” Ms. Fernandez told the News-Press. She also received her bachelor’s in nursing from Western Governors University in 2022. Ms. Fernandez started working for the health department in April 2019. “We are such a good team, the communication and teamwork is so great,” said Ms. Fernandez. Ms. Fernandez explained what inspired her to become a nurse. “I have always had an affinity to help others, and I get so much joy in caring for others and making a difference. Please see NURSES on A4
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“I have always had an affinity to help others, and I get so much joy in caring for others and making a difference,” said Jennifer Fernandez, a registered nurse for the Public Health Department’s Santa Maria Health Care Center.
Gregg Hart is a lover of stories, he always has been. He can trace it back to as far as he can remember, growing up in Santa Barbara with a father who led the Lompoc and Santa Barbara libraries. His father would bring home books, sharing various authors and unique literary works. As life and technology and even literature has changed, so has Mr. Hart’s intake of stories. Now, he not only reads but listens to podcasts and hears from the community as a member of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. And he’s hoping to turn a page in his own tome, too, as he campaigns for a new 37th District Assembly District covering Santa Barbara County and part of San Luis Obispo County. “There are many different stories from many different people, and those unique voices all have something to contribute to the world,” the Democratic candidate said. “We all benefit from listening to others before we talk, and that guides me in so many ways in my life.” Supervisor Hart discussed his bibliophile nature during an interview about his Assembly
race. It’s that affinity for listening and promise to consider where others are coming from that he said would help him navigate the state legislature as politics are increasingly polarizing. Mr. Hart’s first chapter in politics came when a little-known teacher from Oxnard ran against Santa Barbara County winery owner Brooks Firestone in a 1982 Assembly race. Mr. Hart was just a political science major in college, but he joined an “army of UCSB student volunteers” who went door-to-door for Jack O’Connell. Mr. O’Connell won in a “tremendous upset.” (He would later serve as California’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction.) Mr. Hart was hooked. Two years later, he was hired to work in the assembly member’s district office. He deftly traversed through local government, from the Planning Commission to City Council to the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, working on transportation and housing policy as its deputy executive director. Mr. Hart served on the California Coastal Commission as an appointee of the governor and was elected to the Board of Supervisors where he serves the second district. “I’ve had a wide-ranging experience in local government in Santa Barbara County. I think that has prepared me to serve our community as a member of the state legislature,” Supervisor Hart, a Democrat, told the NewsPress. Mr. Hart said he didn’t plan Please see HART on A4
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Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 8-34-37-44-45 Mega: 3
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Thursday’s DAILY 3: 1-6-7 / Midday 1-0-4