Popular prayer breakfast
Jefferson Starship to land in Ojai
More than 350 attend the first public event since March 2020 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort - A3
Original member David Freiberg talks to the News-Press about the rock band’s past and present - B1
Our 166th Year
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Tenant protections to stay through March By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The statewide eviction moratorium ended at midnight, but remaining protections will delay any changes in the current landlord-tenant status quo through March. With over a billion dollars in state assistance untapped, there is still time for tenants to pay bills and landlords to access funds. Tenants who have submitted an application for rental assistance and not been rejected are protected under state law.
“Tenants who owe back rent or who will have trouble paying rent on the first of the month should not wait to apply for rent relief,” Department of Housing and Community Development Department Director Gustavo Velasquez said in a news release. “The sooner they apply for rent relief, the sooner they will be protected from eviction for nonpayment of rent.” Santa Barbara County residents can apply for help from the state’s program or the county’s grants, which are offered through United Way of
Santa Barbara County. Tenants who make 80% or less of their area’s median income are eligible for both the state and county programs. For a single-person household in Santa Barbara County, the income limit is $70,050. Landlords can apply for rental assistance from the state and must apply and be denied before they can file an eviction. Another prerequisite for evictions is proof the tenant has not filed for rent relief. A tenant has 15 days from when they receive a nonpayment
eviction notice to open an application. If an eviction notice includes a document titled “Declaration of COVID-19 related financial distress,” tenants who fill out and return the document within 15 days have a stronger argument for protection. The California COVID-19 Rent Relief program has received 2,238 applications from Santa Barbara County residents. The program has fulfilled 546 of those requests with an average of $9,661 in assistance. In total, the state has paid
almost $5.275 million of the more than $23 million requested in the county. The program tracks the demographics of applicants, including their income level. More than 63% of Santa Barbara County applicants make just 30% of the area’s median income. Statewide, the program has spent $650 million with an additional $850 million pending. The state is preparing to spend another $1.5 billion in a second round of assistance. Over 4,750 households have secured assistance from Santa
Barbara County and United Way’s joint effort. The program has provided $2.2 million of the $5.6 million in assistance. Both the state and county sources provide utility grants and three months’ prospective rent in some circumstances. Beginning Nov. 1, landlords can sue for unpaid rent. To apply for the state’s program, go to housing.ca.gov/ covid_rr. For the county’s assistance, go to unitedwaysb. org/rent. email: ahanshaw@newspress.com
ParentSquare marks 10 years Santa Barbara engineer’s platform has helped parents with school communications By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Ten years ago, Santa Barbarabased computer engineer and parent Anupama “Anu” Vaid developed a vision. A vision for a platform where school communications would be centralized — where parents could receive all school correspondence in one place and have the option to communicate with teachers and administrators in a simplified way. That vision became a reality 10 years ago when Ms. Vaid created ParentSquare, a unified platform that provides all school-based communications in a single, digital location. With ParentSquare, parents receive all school messages in a centralized location and access their online portal through text, email, voice or through the mobile app. Parents have access to messages and notifications in their ParentSquare online account, which provides student information such as absences, tardies, progress reports and lunch account balances. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform expanded to include a Health Screening Form on its app and website in August 2020. This has given parents and administrators easy access to daily student screenings and a way to track symptoms among the student body. Since launching at Peabody Charter School a decade ago, the Santa Barbara-based company has expanded nationwide and is currently being utilized in half of California’s schools and in 44 states. Reflecting on the company’s founding 10 years ago, Ms. Vaid Please see VAID on A4
By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS
ParentSquare President Anupama Vaid founded the school communications platform a decade ago.
Coleman pleads not guilty for children’s murder By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Matthew Taylor Coleman pled not guilty during his arraignment Wednesday at the U.S. District Court in San Diego. Deputy Federal Public
Defender Elena Sadowsky was assigned to his case Thursday. The Santa Barbara surf school owner is charged with transporting his two young children to Rosarito, Mexico, and killing them. The charges are eligible for the death penalty.
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Hospitals report high vaccine rates among staff
A federal complaint filed in Los Angeles says Mr. Coleman believes he is “enlightened” by QAnon and Illuminati conspiracies. He told an FBI special agent he thought he was “saving the world from monsters” by killing
his children. He said they possessed “serpent DNA.” Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce E. Dudley said the not guilty plea is to be expected — even with the FBI agent’s testimony. “A confession isn’t the same as
an admission of guilt,” she told the News-Press. To be represented by a public defender, one must show proof of financial need. email: ahanshaw@newspress. com
Thursday marked the state’s deadline for California health care workers employed at general acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other health care centers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The California Department of Public Health order, which was issued Aug. 5, required that all staff working in hospitals, doctor’s offices, dialysis centers, nursing homes, substance use treatment centers and other health care settings be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30. The order made California the first state in the nation to enact a vaccination requirement in health care settings. Health care workers who did not receive the Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine will be placed on administrative leave today until they comply with the mandate, according to state guidelines. In Santa Barbara County, the region’s three largest hospital systems — Cottage Health, Lompoc Valley Medical Center and Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria (part of Dignity Health) — reported high rates of vaccination among employees on Thursday. At LVMC, 93.2% of the 843 staff at the acute care hospital, the Comprehensive Care Center and Lompoc Health sites were fully vaccinated as of Thursday, according to Nora Wallace, the public relations coordinator for the hospital. Ms. Wallace Please see VACCINE on A3
INSIDE
L O T T E RY RESULTS
Classified................. B4 Life...................... B1-2 Obituaries............... A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 12-13-16-17-22 Meganumber: 6
Thursday’s DAILY 4: 7-3-9-5
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 18-30-43-68-69 Meganumber: 22
Thursday’s FANTASY 5: 7-14-15-25-33
Thursday’s DAILY DERBY: 08-03-06 Time: 1:44.16
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 2-7-11-17-32 Meganumber: 11
Sudoku................... B3 Weather................. A4
Thursday’s DAILY 3: 8-6-4 / Wednesday’s Midday 2-8-7