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Demanding Answers Biltmore employees protest silence from hotel, owner
Extension granted for oil pipeline By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission granted a one-year extension to TerraCore for the development of its Foxen Petroleum Pipeline. The commission voted 3-2 in favor of the extension during its Wednesday meeting. The extension goes to August 2021. First District commissioner C. Michael Cooney and 3rd District commissioner John Parke voted in opposition of the extension. The commissioners felt the 2015 environmental impact report, drafted when the project was first approved, didn’t take into account Cat Canyon’s western spadefoot toad population, which was recently found to include a previously undiscovered subspecies. The Foxen Petroleum Pipeline would extend 2.9 miles from the Cantin tank battery in the Cat Canyon oilfield and connect with the Phillips 66 pipeline that ends at the Santa Maria refinery. The new pipeline would replace the current practice of transporting
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newspress.com By JORGE MERCADO
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Hundreds of employees from the Four Seasons Biltmore Resort gathered Thursday morning and marched around Montecito, eventually ending at the hotel they work at, demanding answers from their workplace and owner, Ty Warner. “We are asking to just be heard and listened to and receive what we deserve as employees,” said Maria Svenson, who has worked for 21 years at the Biltmore. “We work for the Four Seasons resorts and hotels, so we asked them, please, the corporate, please help us, and Mr. Warner, please help us take care of us. “We’ve all worked really, really hard for so many years. We have a total of 6,000 years of service to Four Seasons just in this property and we have created the most amazing work environment. We are five stars now, five diamonds and this resort would not be that without the employees.” The Biltmore closed its doors due to the pandemic in midMarch and has not opened since. As a result, hundreds of employees have been left with no word as to when they will work again. Additionally, while workers were using their vacation time to get them through, that paid time off has since run out, resulting in the employees losing access to key essentials, such as healthcare
crude oil produced in Cat Canyon by truck. According to a staff report from Wednesday’s meeting, ERG applied to go forward with the pipeline project on March 11, 2015, but the company’s assets were acquired by TerraCore on June 28, 2019. As TerraCore’s focus since the acquisition has been on transitioning ERG’s facilities over to its company, construction on the pipeline has fallen behind schedule, necessitating a request for a one-year time extension. While Mr. Parke said he believes transporting oil via pipeline is a safer and more environmentally friendly method than oil trucking, he wants to see further environmental review given that new information has been discovered regarding the spadefoot toad population. “My paramount concern always seems to be the biological resources, the critters and the plants that don’t speak up for themselves. And I want to protect them,” he said. In Mr. Parke’s opinion, the Please see oil on A4
RAFAEL MALDONADO/ NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Hundreds of protesters walked along on Channel Drive toward the Four Seasons Biltmore Resort Thursday morning in Montecito.
benefits. “With the situation with COVID, we understand that a lot of businesses were hurt, however, there was very minimal communication between Four Seasons and ownership. We were told at first we were going to open up on April 15, and then kept postponing and for the past couple months, we don’t need to know when the hotel is going to
reopen,” said one worker, who asked to remain anonymous. “So there are about 600 employees that are affected and we haven’t had insurance since the end of June, and for a lot of employees, including me, if we got laid off, we have no assurance that we will receive severance payment.” Gabriel Peña, a worker at the Biltmore for 25 years as a
bartender and banquet server, also shared his concerns due to the fact they have received no answer from their owner. “It isn’t frustrating, we just want to know if we are going to get our job back,” Mr. Peña said. Carlos Martin, a worker at the Biltmore for nearly 16 years, explained that the employees Please see protest on A8
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
Employees said they just want answers as to what the future of their jobs and the hotel will be, as many of them have been without health benefits since June. A number of protesters held signs while walking, many of whom had the number of years they have worked at the hotel.
Former News-Press social reporter, Beverley Jackson, dies By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Former doyenne of Montecito and former News-Press society writer, Beverley Jackson, died Thursday morning. The partygoer spent time with numerous celebrities, royalty, authors, artists and local personalities and documented the occasions for 25 years in the NewsPress. After a trip to China with Jayne Meadows and Steve Allen, she began collecting antique Chinese clothing, donning vibrant,
colorful robes. She started one of the major collections of antique Chinese clothing in the United States and became the Santa Barbara Historical Museum’s curator of Asian art. The Pasadena native read more than 600 books on China, and eventually wrote seven nonfiction books, self-publishing her first novel, “The Beautiful Lady was a Palace Eunuch.” On her website, beverleyjackson. com, some of her most popular blog posts include “Sure I Cooked
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Dinner for Julie Child: Often and Unafraid,” “There Are A Lot Of Dragons Around My House” and “Sadly Diana Nyad Couldn’t But I Was With Florence Chadwick The Night She Did.” The sensational writer fully experienced Santa Barbara’s social scene during the 1970s and 80s, and provided that perspective in vivid detail to her readers. Full coverage on the gossip columnist’s life will be published in Sunday’s News-Press. email: gmccormick@newspress.com
As the number of positive COVID-19 cases increases in Santa Barbara County, the Latinx and Indigenous Migrant COVID19 Response Task Force has been focusing on farmworker communities to address their specific needs and ensure all individuals have access to protective equipment and health care. Government officials recommend people should wash their hands for at least 30 seconds.
An equity-oriented approach COVID-19 task force focuses on Latinx and Indigenous Migrants By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
Beverley Jackson, former society reporter for the News-Press, died Thursday morning. The vivacious reporter and author was known for traveling often and collecting antique Chinese clothing.
With more than 60 participating organizations and 150 individual participants, the Latinx and Indigenous Migrant COVID-19 Response Task Force has been working since March to identify and address the health concerns of marginalized communities.
The task force is in direct dialogue with the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department and other community-based organizations, health service providers and policy partners to help share resources and problem solve. Regions of northern Santa Barbara County, particularly Please see covid-19 on A7
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Comics................. A6 Classified.............. A7 Life.................... A 3-4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 2-4-5-40-47 Meganumber: 16
Thursday’s DAILY 4: 2-9-8-4
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Thursday’s FANTASY 5: 7-15-16-29-36
Thursday’s DAILY DERBY: 12-7-10 Time: 1:46.79
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 7-14-17-57-65 Meganumber: 24
Obituaries............. A8 Soduku................. A5 Weather................ A8
Thursday’s DAILY 3: 5-0-4 / Thursday’s Midday 5-9-1