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F R I DAY, J U LY 9, 2 0 21
Raising the big top
Lompoc police adds unit
Circus Vargas cautiously installs its new tent in Santa Barbara
Special Investigations Unit to address gang violence By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
Gov. Gavin Newsom held a press conference Thursday in response to growing drought conditions.
Drought emergency extended to SB County Governor asks Californians to reduce water usage 15% By ANNELISE HANSHAW
RAFAEL MALDONADO/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Circus Vargas co-owner Katya Arata-Quiroga chatted with the News-Press about the circus’s behind-the-scenes work.
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Gov. Gavin Newsom extended emergency drought declarations to nine additional counties, including Santa Barbara County, Thursday. Of the state’s 58 counties, 50 are under the emergency declaration — or around 42% of the state’s population. The only areas not included are San Francisco and most of Southern California. The governor also signed an executive order, urging all Californians to voluntarily cut their water usage 15%. The order extends beyond residences to commercial and agricultural settings as well. He gave examples of “common sense” reductions, like cutting back on irrigation to plants and only running the dishwasher when it’s full. More ideas are available at saveourwater.com. “We’re not trying to be Please see DROUGHT on A2
By ANNELISE HANSHAW
once the ropes are untied and the fabric is loose, it can act like a hot air balloon, said Circus Vargas’s coCircus Vargas was on the owner Katya Arata-Quiroga. brink of postponing tonight’s “If there’s wind, it can just fly performance after away. And there high winds in San goes your million To see streaming video dollar investment,” Luis Obispo held up GO TO the circus’s crew. she told the Newsnewspress.com Press at Earl Warren Santa Barbara is the show’s second Showgrounds. “Plus stop out of 26 cities people can get hurt, this year. The circus so we cannot take will be at the Earl the chance.” Circus Vargas will Warren Showgrounds be at the Earl Warren Safety is her top tonight through July consideration. Showgrounds through 19. “Just like in every July 19. For tickets Each move for business, sometimes and showtimes, see the circus requires things don’t go circusvargas.com. a long process of exactly as planned. And co-owner Katya removing the tent In this case, nature Arata-Quiroga talks more and deconstructing was stronger than about the circus and its supports. Then humans,” she said. founder Clifford E. Vargas, workers spend a day Mrs. Aratawho inspired this year’s and a half building Quiroga and her theme. See the story on B1. it again in the next husband Nelson location. Quiroga purchased When the tent the tent before last fabric is secured on its frame, it year’s tour — which was shut down can withstand 160 mph wind gusts by the pandemic after just six and 90 mph consistent wind. But Please see CIRCUS on A2 NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
FYI
The circus, located at Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara, is on its second stop this year.
The Lompoc Police Department will launch a new Special Investigations Unit in the coming weeks to address an uptick in violent crime and shootings. The team will consist of three officers — the supervisor who has been with the department for more than 15 years, an officer approaching a decade of working at the department and another officer with three years of experience with Lompoc Police Department. Capt. Kevin Martin emphasized the importance of not limiting the investigations to any specific kind of cases. “Whatever problems the community is experiencing at the time, the team will be addressing those problems,” Capt. Martin told the NewsPress Thursday. He said he hopes to see growth of the team, particularly more officers, in the future — but that is reliant on the city of Lompoc’s budget. He added that violent crime, such as shootings and gang violence, is up, so that will be the Special Investigations Unit’s top priority. “When we get this problem under control, they will no longer just be focused on gangs, and they will maybe do narcotics or human trafficking, anything that the community is experiencing,” Capt. Martin said. “We wanted to provide the community with an investigations unit that wasn’t just going to work on one thing and one thing alone. It will be multifaceted. “Our budget is what it is, so we have to kind of think outside the box and make sure we are addressing the problems the best way we can. And this is the route we’re going.” Identities and photos are not being publicized at this time, according to the department administration. The new unit is proof that there are enough staff members Please see NEW UNIT on A3
Economists discuss exodus of California businesses By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Economists from UCSB and UCLA took on the challenge Thursday afternoon of answering a complicated question: Why did California’s population decrease for the first time in history this year? The decrease from January 2020 to January 2021 was a 0.5% decrease, meaning a little more than 182,000 fewer California residents than the previous year. For 10 years straight in California, more domestic residents have left the state than
come in, and it’s happened for five years straight in Santa Barbara, UCSB economics professor Dr. Peter Rupert said. However, Santa Barbara’s population went down even more this year than the state’s did. From January 2020 to January 2021, the county’s population saw a 2.1% decrease. Dr. Rupert said people must keep in mind the declining birth rate, reductions in immigration and an increase in excess deaths from COVID-19. However, Dr. Lee Ohanion, an economics professor at UCLA and the director of the Ettinger Family Program in Macroeconomics Research at
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The economist cited the unprecedented amount of growth the state saw in 1960, when the state’s population went from 2% of the U.S. population to 9% of it, from 2 million to 16 million. The population was young, with half of its residents under 24 years of age, meaning relatively few taxpayers who managed to build schools, hospitals, roads and invest in water infrastructure and utilities. Dr. Ohanion said they were able to accomplish those feats because in the 1960s, capital investment was about 25% of the state budget. Now that investment is about 4% of the budget. The economics professor rattled
off statistics about the state’s current infrastructure, technology and housing needs, along with poverty assistance. Regarding infrastructure — in light of the national infrastructure package continuing to be tied up in Congress — California received a D+ grade on its infrastructure from the American Society of Civil Engineers. There are 1,680 dams in risky condition statewide; one of every 18 bridges in the state (around 6%) is structurally deficient; and the Society of Automobile Insurance estimated that the deficient roads in the state cost California drivers $27 billion (14% of last year’s complete
state government budget) annually in repairs and insurance premiums. In Los Angeles, Dr. Ohanion said, nearly 50% of all city sidewalks are not just cracked, but broken. The city faces 400 personal injury litigation cases per year solely from fall injuries that occur on its sidewalks. “The most important function of the government is to protect … These are basic functions that just aren’t getting done, and these numbers are alarming,” Dr. Ohanion said. Many of California’s major Please see WEBINAR on A4
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the university, said it could be for other reasons, too. He gave a presentation comparing economic and government policy outcomes in California over the years, starting in the 1960s and 70s up to now, in another webinar installment of Dr. Rupert’s Economic Forecast Project. “This is really going to be a story about a growing disconnect between what is expected of the government in terms of accountability and also a disconnect between the priorities of government and the priorities of its citizens,” Dr. Ohanion said to start off his presentation.
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Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 10-12-32-37-39 Meganumber: 18
Thursday’s DAILY 4: 0-9-3-5
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 18-47-63-68-69 Meganumber: 14
Thursday’s FANTASY 5: 7-13-25-36-39
Thursday’s DAILY DERBY: 06-05-07 Time: 1:41.27
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 8-21-30-49-57 Meganumber: 8
Thursday’s DAILY 3: 8-0-1 / Wednesday’s Midday 8-5-1