Ready for her last shot
A noteworthy cause Steppenwolf front man to perform at Lobero Theatre - A3
Our 165th Year
UCSB’s Danae Miller ready for senior season - A7
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DAVE MASON/NEWS-PRESS
Democratic candidate Joe Biden, left, is leading in the presidential race against incumbent President Donald Trump.
Biden still leading in presidential race By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS
San Marcos High School, along with the other schools in the Santa Barbara Unified School District, will open its campus on Jan. 19 to teach students in-person in a hybrid model.
In-person learning SB Unified hopes to start hybrid model Jan. 19
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Representatives from the Santa Barbara Unified School District and the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department reviewed the methods of creating a safe school environment for inperson learning and answered questions in a virtual town hall Thursday. There were two town halls, one at noon in English with Spanish interpretation and one at 6 p.m. in Spanish with English interpretation. This week, parents of students in the district must designate whether they’d like to enroll their students in the hybrid model or stay online starting Jan. 19. They have the option to change their minds next week if they would like. “If we’re in the red tier, we will open Jan. 19,” Superintendent Hilda Maldonado said. She said that the district will hold a meeting on Jan. 5 to revisit and continue to monitor, where “we will know more and make different decisions if we need to.” The district’s hybrid model groups students into A, B and C. Group A attends campus Monday and Thursday; group B attends on Tuesday and Friday; and group C is always at home. All groups will meet together remotely on Wednesdays. Three high school students in the district spoke at the town hall, saying that as long as students remain safe and follow guidelines, returning to in-person learning will be good for students’ mental health. The Public Health Department requires the following for inperson learning: a reopening plan for every school, face coverings worn at all times by students and staff, physical distance inside and outside the classroom, hygiene measures being taught and
reinforced, frequent cleaning procedures, daily monitoring of signs and symptoms, and a plan in place if a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19. While there will be more specific youth sports guidance in the next few weeks, students currently will not be able to participate in close contact sports such as basketball, football, volleyball and etc., according to Public Health officials. Only physical conditioning and fitness is allowed, where students can maintain the six-foot distance. Dr. Van Do-Reynoso, the director of the Public Health Department, said the county is working to increase available days at the Goleta testing site, obtain a traveling team to visit different schools and expand the existing three Public Health testing sites.
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Please see schools on A8
email: jgrega@newspress.com
California passes five propositions By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
RAFAEL MALDONADO/NEWS-PRESS
During a virtual town hall Thursday, students said returning to class in person at schools such as Santa Barbara High School will benefit young people’s mental health.
California voters have approved five of the 12 statewide propositions. That’s according to the unofficial numbers with the majority of the ballots having been processed. Election results are still subject to change throughout the canvass period as vote-by-mail ballots, provisional ballots (including conditional voter registration provisional ballots) and other ballots are tallied. However, as of Thursday, California passed propositions 14, 17, 19, 22 and 24. Santa Barbara County voted “yes” to three of those five: 17, 22 and 24. Proposition 17 restores voting rights upon completion of a prison term to individuals who have been disqualified from voting while serving a prison term.
The statewide results showed approximately 59% of the state voting in favor of Proposition 17, with 6,984,786 “yes” votes. In Santa Barbara County, more than 60% voted for it, with 91,932 “yes” votes. Proposition 22 classifies appbased drivers (such as Uber and Lyft) as “independent contractors” rather than “employees,” providing independent-contractor drivers other compensation, unless certain criteria are met. There were 6,876,616 “yes” votes statewide, accounting for 58% of voters, and 79,891 Santa Barbara County voters voted “yes,” accounting for 53%. Finally, Proposition 24 permits consumers to prevent businesses from sharing personal information, correct inaccurate personal information and limit businesses’ use of “sensitive personal information,” including precise geolocation, race, ethnicity Please see propositions on A8
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why this is happening,” she said. “While we won’t be Draconian, we are going to provide safety.” For students with severe medical needs who may not be able to wear a mask or learn properly with one, Dr. Wageneck said that they will work in smaller cohorts and that the district will address those issues on a case-bycase basis. Superintendent Maldonado said that for the most part, kids feel natural wearing a mask and understand it’s a part of life now. A question was asked regarding specific data released per school. Paige Batson, the deputy director of Public Health, said while the department will provide specific data on outbreaks, it won’t specifically name people,
SB County approved three of them
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Children in third grade and above are required to wear face coverings all day except when eating or exerting themselves in physical activity, and younger children are strongly encouraged to wear them. If students do not comply, they are not permitted to remain at school, but school district officials said they want to make sure students understand why they need to wear them before consequences are enforced. Dr. Frann Wageneck, the assistant superintendent for student services for Santa Barbara Unified, said mask exemptions will be “very, very rare events” requiring medical approval. “We have to work with our students to have them understand the importance and really look at
Former Vice President and Democratic candidate Joe Biden is leading in the presidential race against incumbent President Donald Trump. As of Thursday night, Mr. Biden had received 253 electoral votes, according to Reuters, compared to Mr. Trump’s 214. The Associated Press’ map shows Mr. Biden with 264 votes as the AP has already called Arizona for the former vice president. However, a reporting error from Wednesday claiming that 98% of Arizona’s votes had been counted was later shown to be incorrect, throwing the state’s status into question. As of 5:50 p.m. PST Thursday, Reuters had Mr. Biden ahead in Arizona with a lead of two percentage points and 88% of votes counted. Nevada is also a close race with Mr. Biden leading by .9% with 89% of the vote counted. Mr. Trump’s advantageous spread in Georgia has closed dramatically to the point where
he and Mr. Biden were practically neck and neck. With 99% of the votes counted, Mr. Trump has 49.4% while Mr. Biden is only a tenth of a percentage point behind him at 49.3%. The president currently holds a more comfortable lead in North Carolina, holding 50% of the vote compared to Mr. Biden’s 48.6% with 99% of the votes counted. Pennsylvania is currently leaning in President Trump’s favor by .7%, with 94% of the state’s votes counted, and is also one of a number of states in which the president’s campaign has filed lawsuits. According to Reuters, the president’s campaign lost court rulings in Georgia and Michigan. The campaign alleged in the Georgia case that 53 late-arriving ballots were mixed with ontime ballots and in the Michigan case requested that votes stop being counted until Republican poll watchers were granted “meaningful access” to watch the votes get tabulated.
Soduku................. A5 Sports ................... A7 Weather................ A8
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 8-28-30-41-42 Meganumber: 8
Thursday’s DAILY 4: 6-9-7-4
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 7-31-44-45-55 Meganumber: 12
Thursday’s FANTASY 5: 3-13-24-25-38
Thursday’s DAILY DERBY: 05-02-07 Time: 1:45.50
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 23-32-33-45-49 Meganumber: 14
Thursday’s DAILY 3: 5-5-2 / Thursday’s Midday 9-2-0