Biden administration sued over mandate
Exclusive interview with Francis Gary Powers Jr.
Various plaintiffs contend vaccination requirement for private sector is illegal - A3
Military Ball guest speaker talks about his father, the famous U-2 pilot during the Cold War - B1
Our 166th Year
75¢
F R I DAY, N OV E M B E R 5 , 2 0 21
Rowse elected Santa Barbara mayor New leader says his nonpartisan message appealed to voters By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
Randy Rowse is heading back to City Hall — this time as mayor. Results from the Santa Barbara County Elections office Thursday showed that with 100% of the precincts reporting, Mr. Rowse, a former Santa Barbara City Council member and former Paradise Cafe owner, kept his lead in the Santa Barbara mayoral race. On Thursday, he had 38.6% or 10,037 of the 26,071 votes cast. That’s just down a few percentage points from where he stood on election night Tuesday. “Well, it’s official .... we did it!”
Mr. Rowse wrote in an email to supporters. “Everyone of you on this mailing list had a part in getting us across the line. “I am extremely proud of the campaign we ran, seizing and holding the high ground throughout. Our message was straightforward and simple: A return of focus and priority to our city and away from partisan politics!” Mr. Rowse said. “That message clearly resonated with voters to help us prevail and direct us to change the tone and direction of City Hall. James Joyce III remained in second place with 27.41% or 7,125 votes. Mayor Cathy Murillo was third
with 25.2% or 6,551 votes. Mayor Murillo issued a concession statement shortly after results were posted Thursday afternoon at countyofsb.org/care/elections/ results. “It has been an honor and a joy to serve Santa Barbara as its mayor, and I’m proud of the 10 years of public service making budget and policy decisions for our beautiful full-service city,” Mayor Murillo said in an email to the News-Press. “I am especially gratified for my work supporting our libraries and after-school enrichment programs, assisting working families and at-risk youth, and
always advocating for affordable housing, tenants rights and solutions for homelessness. “I contacted incoming Mayor Randy Rowse on election night, expressing congratulations and offering my assistance in transitioning to a new City Council,” she said. “I am committed to doing what’s best for our City in this transition after the Nov. 2 election. Much gratitude and respect for our city staff, my colleagues on the City Council, and all of our community partners that make Santa Barbara a wonderful and special city.” Please see ELECTION on A4
KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS
Thursday’s results confirmed that Randy Rowse kept his lead in the Santa Barbara mayoral race.
End of an era
Haobsh texts: ‘They found everything’
Little Alex’s will close Nov. 22, ending a 30-year-plus chapter in Mexican food in Montecito
Detective reveals evidence found two days after triple homicide By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
After serving Montecito for more than 30 years, Little Alex’s will close Nov. 22.
By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Little Alex’s has long served as “A Taste of Mexico’ in Montecito. It’s been a popular Coast Village Road restaurant, known for its fajitas, burritos, tacos, enchiladas and more, and fans continue to rave about this taste of Mexico. And Little Alex’s gets high marks on Yelp with a 4.3 rating. What’s more, Little Alex’s has been family-owned and -operated for more than 30 years by the Briner family, whose Spanish roots date back to Santa Barbara over 200 years ago. But now a chapter in the history of Montecito dining is ending. Little Alex’s will close Nov. 22. “It has been our pleasure to serve the Montecito community for almost 33 years,” said a notice at littlealexs.com. “All of our
patrons have truly become part of our family. “We have been given notice to vacate our location and will be closing Nov. 22. Thank you all for your unwavering support for over three decades. We appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts and will miss you all.” The restaurant opened in 1989 when the Briners worked with Alex, who introduced them to the Santamaria family from Morelita, Mexico. The Briners and the Morelita families partnered to create fresh, quality Mexican food. “The Montecito community is a family, and over the years we have become part of that family,” Aaron Briner, son of owners Dan and Lynette Briner, told the News-Press. “We have made it through recessions, floods, fires Please see ALEX’S on A4
FOLLOW US ON
6
66833 00050
3
The restaurant has been a popular Coast Village Road venue for decades.
During day four of the Santa Barbara trial of Pierre Haobsh, prosecutors continued playing a recording of Mr. Haobsh’s interview the day he was arrested — showing when detectives revealed that they believed he was lying. Sgt. Jeff McDonald of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office (who was a detective at the time of questioning, days away from promotion to sergeant) began the interview with easy questions. Some questions, like asking his favorite casino game, may seem strange to some, but Mr. Haobsh answered every question. Sgt. McDonald peppered in tenser questions about Mr. Haobsh’s relationship with Dr. Henry Han or what he did that week, all the while keeping suspicion out of his tone. Mr. Haobsh’s story was inconsistent at times, but Sgt. McDonald changed his method after seeing blood in Mr. Haobsh’s ear without a wound. He began asking about Emily Han, who would’ve turned 6 years old the day after Mr. Haobsh’s arrest. He inquired about her hobbies, if she liked to draw and if he talked to her when he saw the Han family. Mr. Haobsh answered “no,” “sure,” or “I don’t know” to all the questions — seemingly detaching himself from Emily. Sgt. McDonald knew some of the answers to his questions. Emily’s drawings were everywhere in the Han family home, but Mr. Haobsh, who said he routinely stayed at the house, didn’t acknowledge the pictures. He remained emotionless, and Sgt. McDonald asked him about the texts sent to Thomas “TJ” Derida the day the Han family was found dead in their garage. One text read: “Am screwed. They just found everything. My life is over. Only if I got to it all sooner like this morning.” Mr. Haobsh maintained the
COURTESY PHOTO
Pierre Haobsh
texts were about his energy technology business. He said someone stole his generators from a storage unit. He couldn’t provide the full name of the friend who checked on the storage unit nor the general address of the unit. Sgt. McDonald said Mr. Derida, a business associate of Mr. Haobsh, told detectives that the text messages were about the Han family murders. Mr. Derida said Mr. Haobsh killed the family but couldn’t fit all three bodies into his car, so he cleaned up the scene and drove to Mr. Derida’s house in Thousand Oaks for help. Mr. Haobsh accused Mr. Derida of lying. Sgt. McDonald disclosed another discrepancy detectives caught: Mr. Haobsh said he’d been staying at the Han home on Greenhill Way for four years, but Dr. Han had only bought the house from his parents a year prior after their deaths. Mr. Haobsh maintained that he visited that house over the years. Sgt. McDonald returned to the blood in the ear: “Would you be surprised if the blood in your ear came back to belong to Henry, Jennie or Emily? (sic)” When he caught him in Please see TRIAL on A3
INSIDE
L O T T E RY RESULTS
Classified................. B4 Life...................... B1-2 Obituaries............... A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 14-15-37-40-47 Meganumber: 4
Thursday’s DAILY 4: 8-3-4-6
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 5-10-26-58-65 Meganumber: 9
Thursday’s FANTASY 5: 6-11-15-29-31
Thursday’s DAILY DERBY: 10-01-12 Time: 1:40.44
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 1-2-24-50-57 Meganumber: 26
Sudoku................... B3 Sports . .................... A4 Weather................. A4
Thursday’s DAILY 3: 6-2-9 / Wednesday’s Midday 2-0-8