Santa Barbara News-Press: February 06, 2023

Another milestone

Romantic ranch

nEWs-PRE ss EXCLU siVE

Taliban seize land for s anta Barbara dentist’s clinic

Dr. James Wolfe seeks donations to help with relocation cost for facility for the poor in Afghanistan

By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

The Taliban have taken control of the land for a Kabul clinic built by a Santa Barbara dentist.

About a month ago, the Taliban closed the Afghanistan Dental Relief Project in Kabul and seized the land given to the project by the former Afghan government.

The dental project has provided free

dental care for more than 200,000 poor Afghans during its 20 years of operation.

Dr. James Wolfe, a Santa Barbara dentist, built the Kabul clinic that the Taliban seized. He is now seeking donations to help with the clinic’s relocation.

Dr. Wolfe told the News-Press how his involvement began. “In 2003, I went to Wardak province and was working with a bunch of orphan

boys who had seven or eight abscess teeth each,” Dr. Wolfe said. “The Wardak province is about the size of Connecticut, and there is no dentist in the whole province. The only option was a local barber with unsterile instruments and no anesthetic.”

Dr. Rolfe returned to Santa Barbara and constructed a modern three-chair dental clinic from a 40-foot shipping container, completely self-contained

with its own generator, and sent it to Afghanistan. Then he hired an Afghan dentist and nurse and trained them to use it, and started a school to train dental technicians from poor young Kabul residents.

Dr. Rolfe continued to build more dental clinics from shipping containers during the following years, going there many times during the last 20 years.

sneddon: Council should look at s tate s t. bike usage

FYi

To become a monthly supporter or make a one-time donation for the Afghanistan Dental Relief Project, go to adrpinc.org and select “donate.” Or contact Dr. Rolfe at his Santa Barbara office — adrp@verizon.net or 805-963-2329.

By NEIL HARTSTEIN

NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

One of the most frequent — and frustrating — complaints about problems on State Street concern speeding bicyclists and the safety threat they pose to people walking in the downtown Pedestrian Promenade.

Some fear it’s just a matter of time before these riders lose control of their hurtling bikes and hit one or more unsuspecting people out for a leisurely stroll along the city’s main artery.

While the city has tried several approaches to address the problem, on its own and in concert with others, at least one city council member says more needs to be done — sooner than later.

“Whether it is perception of safety, or actual safety, people do not feel comfortable walking down the promenade in its current configuration with bikes,” Councilmember Kristen Sneddon told the News-Press.

“There are a lot of ideas about what to try, and I just think it’s time to start trying them,” she said. “This will help people feel comfortable now and will inform

the Master Plan of what can work.”

She tried to raise the issue at a recent council meeting during a discussion on the State Street Master Plan, but was told she couldn’t because it wasn’t on the agenda; that current

problems on lower State Street must be governed by interim city guidelines/requirements for the promenade.

She’s in an ideal position to do that, because not only is she a council member but she’s the chair of the

council ad hoc subcommittee charged with making interim recommendations to address current downtown conditions, from parklets to security to lighting — to bicyclist/pedestrian safety.

Please see TALIBAN on A2

Hundreds walk in iV to support Jewish community

By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR

Several hundred Jewish and non-Jewish people walked together Sunday afternoon in Isla Vista to protest against antiSemitism and for a better world where diversity is embraced.

The short walk began at Santa Barbara Hillel, an organization that serves Jewish students in Isla Vista and at neighboring UCSB, and it culminated at Little Acorn Park, where speakers varied from Jewish student leaders to state Sen. Monique Limón, DSanta Barbara. There was also a stop halfway during the walk for another round of speeches.

The talks included biographies of Holocaust victims.

Jan. 27 was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The walk was co-organized by the UCSB Jewish fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, and Santa Barbara Hillel.

Sunday’s walk came just after a week of widespread anti-Semitic acts in the Santa Barbara area.

The acts consisted of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli comments found Monday of the chalkboard of a UCSB Israeli politics class, antiJewish and anti-Israeli comments posted Monday on the bulletin board at UCSB’s Jewish Studies Department, anti-Jewish fliers found Tuesday in Isla Vista and the discovery of a swastika attached to a pole at the Dos Pueblos High School stadium in Goleta.

The Jewish community and its supporters on Sunday reacted to those acts with a walk featuring a large number of people — mostly college-age but there were some middle-age people and seniors in the group, along with some

elected officials such as Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps and Santa Barbara City Council member Oscar Gutierrez. And the students and others spoke in support of the Jewish community, in remembrance of the Holocaust and for the vision of a future where anti-Semitism isn’t tolerated.

Tessa Veksler, one of the Jewish student leaders and a member of the Senate at UCSB’s College of Letters and Sciences, told the crowd at Little Acorn Park that her parents emigrated from Ukraine in 1990 to escape from anti-Semitism.

“They came here with the hope that they would never be prosecuted for being Jewish,” Miss Veksler said. “Now they have to live here knowing their daughter is facing the same exact thing they fled.

“This week has been difficult, to say the least, for the UCSB Jewish community and the Jewish community at large,” she said, urging people to “show up for the Jewish community before antiSemitism happens.”

Sen. Limón told the crowd that she stood in solidarity with others to end hatred of Jews and all hatred.

“I stand in solidarity to ensure our learning environments are safe, to understand when it (hate) happens to any brother or sister of any background, it can happen and will happen to all of us,” Sen. Limón said.

Jamie Orseck, co-president of the student board at Santa Barbara Hillel and one of the speakers, told the News-Press

Rabbi Evan Goodman, the executive director of Santa Barbara Hillel (which is behind him), told the News-Press he was happy with the turnout at the Isla Vista walk. Please see PROTEST on A4

DAVE MASON / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS

Tessa Veksler, one of the Jewish student leaders at UCSB, talks to the audience at Little Acorn Park in Isla Vista about the need to “show up for the Jewish community before anti-Semitism happens.”

KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS

Bicyclists ride on State Street in Downtown Santa Barbara on Friday.

Councilmember Kristen Sneddon says some pedestrians feel unsafe on State Street “in its current configuration with bikes.”

Ceremony to recognize new elected county officials

By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Santa Barbara County will recognize newly installed elected officials in a ceremony at the Board of Supervisors on Feb. 7 at 10 a.m.

Traditionally, the county’s ceremony of elected officials is organized by the incoming chair of the Board of Supervisors.

This year’s chair, First District Supervisor Das Williams, has created a program that will include a musical presentation by local artist Kelsey Klein, an invocation from Rabbi Daniel Brenner and a keynote address from California’s Chief Service Officer Josh Fryday. The ceremony was

originally planned for Jan. 10, but had to be postponed due to the county’s response to the Jan. 9 storm. “During my time on the County Board of Supervisors, our county has had too many unprecedented disasters. We have continued to respond and persevere as a community, and this ceremony is an opportunity to celebrate our resilience while acknowledging how much work there is to do to protect future generations from even greater challenges than we have faced,” said Supervisor Williams in a press release. “We are very fortunate to have Chief Service Officer Fryday join us and inform us of the role we all have to play.”

Mr. Fryday serves as California’s chief service officer within the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom, leading service, volunteer and civic engagement efforts throughout California. As a part of the state’s comprehensive strategy to address the climate crisis, the Office of the Governor created the California Climate Action Corps, the country’s first state-level climate service corps intended to empower all Californians to take meaningful action to safeguard the climate.

“When it comes to the climate crisis, we are not powerless. We all have an important role to play to be a part of a solution,” said Mr. Fryday in a press release. “I’m so honored to celebrate and

collaborate with the leaders of Santa Barbara County who are on the frontlines of addressing the climate crisis.”

Elected Officials to be recognized include

2nd District Supervisor Laura Capps, 5th District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino, Superintendent of Schools Susan Salcido, Sheriff Bill Brown, District Attorney John Savrnoch, Treasurer-Tax Collector Harry Hagan, Auditor-Controller Betsy Shaeffer and Clerk, Recorder, and Assessor Joe Holland.

The ceremony will conclude with a reception.

email: kzehnder@newspress.com

Utility work to begin on Goleta road projects

By KATHERINE ZEHNDER

NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Two highly anticipated City Capital Improvement Projects, the Ekwill Street and Fowler Road Extensions and Hollister Avenue Bridge Relocation projects, are getting closer

to becoming a reality. Today construction work will begin to relocate utilities that are in conflict with the projects.

When completed, the Ekwill Street and Fowler Road Extensions and Hollister Avenue Bridge Relocation projects will provide new east-west access

across Old Town Goleta, two roundabouts on Hollister Avenue at the interchange with State Route 217 and complete flood control capacity improvements. With the upcoming utility relocation work, there will be traffic impacts on Hollister Avenue between State Route

217 and S. Kellogg Avenue for approximately four weeks beginning today. Alternating eastbound and westbound lane closures will be necessary to facilitate the relocation work. Construction work will take place Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Motorists

TRAFFIC, CRIME AND FIRE BLOTTER

Body recovered from Santa Ynez River

LOMPOC — Santa Barbara County firefighters/rescue workers were busy Sunday afternoon assisting the Lompoc Police Department and Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office with the recovery of a body along the Santa Ynez River near Santa Lucia Canyon Road in Lompoc Valley.

are reminded to drive cautiously through the work zones and are encouraged to use alternate routes if possible.

More information about these projects can be found on the city website. For questions on the upcoming utility work, please contact Assistant Engineer Melissa Angeles at mangeles@ cityofgoleta.org.

email: kzehnder@newspress.com

Parking changes coming to Old Town Goleta

By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

The city of Goleta has announced councilapproved parking changes coming soon to Old Town Goleta. In an effort to improve parking turnover and availability, new 90-minute parking restrictions will begin this spring. The city is also installing red and yellow curbs in several locations.

90 MINu TE PAR k IN g

Parking on Old Town Hollister Avenue and on the first block of side streets, not otherwise designated, will be restricted to 90 minutes between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Drivers must move their vehicle at least one block at the end of each 90-minute

period in order to avoid a parking citation. Signs will be posted prior to the restrictions going into place this spring.

NO PAR k IN g Z ONE s

To improve sight distance for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists, no parking zones marked by red curbs will be added at these seven intersections:

• Hollister and Orange Avenue;

• Hollister and Magnolia Avenue;

• Hollister and Pine/Nectarine Avenue;

• Hollister and Tecolote Avenue;

• Hollister and Rutherford Avenue;

• Magnolia Avenue and Gaviota Street;

• Pine Avenue and Gaviota Street. While the additional red curb will result in a loss of thirteen parking spaces, those will be

recovered with the angled parking planned to be installed as a part of the Old Town Hollister Avenue Interim Striping Project in summer 2023.

COMMERCIAL L OADIN g/ uNLOADIN g Z ONE s

A yellow curb marking commercial loading and unloading zones will be placed on portions of the curb on Pine Avenue, Tecolote Avenue and Rutherford Street.

Exact dates of when the timed parking restrictions will take effect in Old Town will be provide by the city as the changes get closer. For questions, contact Derek Rapp, contract traffic engineer at drapp@cityofgoleta.org or (805) 770-0205.

email: kzehnder@newspress.com

Relocation estimated to take six months and cost more than $10,000

TALIBAN

Continued from Page A1

Taliban officials have forcibly closed the Kabul clinic, preventing its four dentists and technical staff members from treating the hundreds of poor Kabul residents from accessing it, Dr. Rolfe told the News-Press.

Closure of the Kabul Stomatology Hospital, which employed 25 dentists and treated nearly a thousand patients a day, has forced thousands of poor Kabul residents to access the free services of the dental project that Dr Rolfe founded.

“The Taliban took over Afghanistan and promptly interfered with the rights of the Afghan people, even though they said they would not do that,” Dr. Rolfe said. “As a result, other world countries withdrew their financial support from Afghanistan, removing about three-fourths of the regular fiscal support for the economy. This caused massive cuts in spending to fund the government.

“Taliban are not good government people in the first place, so they are not able to efficiently run the government and have too much expense

even if they had the money,” Dr. Wolfe said. “Three-quarters of the hospitals are closed because they cannot afford to heat the hospitals. In the remaining hospitals, doctors have not been paid for over a year, and patients must bring in all of the medicines and bandaging needs themselves, as the hospitals have none of this.”

The Taliban are forcing the project off the land, violating its contract to use the land for free, and demanding that the project relocate elsewhere, Dr. Wolfe said. He explained that no other land or support has been offered to help with the relocation, which is estimated to take six months and cost more than $10,000. In addition, the project must find a way to support the staff during the relocation period.

Dr. Wolfe added that the Taliban are forcing the dental project off the land because it has thousands of vendors’ carts on the streets. The Taliban wants to use the land for the vendors and get their carts off the streets.

“Much of the commerce of Kabul is done by poor people who sell produce and other items on four-wheeled carts that are pushed along the Kabul streets,” Dr. Rolfe said. “The Taliban are

making push-carts illegal now, and will force push-cart vendors to purchase stalls in marketplaces built on government land. This will not help make more money, as most push-cart vendors are poor and will just be forced out of business.”

When the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, repressive actions were taken to remove basic human rights for Afghan citizens. This caused philanthropic nations and organizations to withdraw financial support for Afghanistan, and resulted in three-fourths of the Afghan fiscal budget disappearing.

As a result, many hospitals and other basic services of the government have ceased to be available to the Afghan people.

The Afghanistan Dental Relief Project is faced now with finding new land to rent, in addition to moving expenses and costs of supporting its staff during the transition.

“Our project manager had an interview with the Taliban Affairs Department three days ago. That is the highest level where we have recourse,” Dr. Wolfe said. “We need to hear from the Taliban Affairs Committee. If they make us move the project, we have to start packing and disassembling

equipment. “Clinics were built in shipping containers because we anticipated this might happen. It takes about 10 truckloads to move everything,” Dr. Wolfe said. “We also have to support staff and secure the locations with fencing around the perimeter. The whole process will probably take about six months. We have about $250,000 worth of equipment over there, and it costs about $10,000 to relocate.”

The need is critical, Dr. Wolfe said.

Ninety percent of Afghans face food insecurity. Most are unemployed. Now the poor will have no access to free them from the pain of dental problems, Dr. Wolfe said.

He added that the dental project can only continue if people come forward to support the relocation of the facility.

“I have put about $2 million of my own money into this,” said Dr. Rolfe.

“We are trying to raise $10,000 to fund moving to other land,” he said. “If we are unable to find land, continue to pay our staff,and afford to move, the Taliban will seize everything we have there, clear the land. And it will be over.” email: kzehnder@newspress.com

McMorris Rodgers drops RELIEVE Act to close major VA coverage loophole for vets

By TIMOTHY SCHUMANN

CONTRIBUTOR

THE CENTER SQUARE

(The Center Square) – A bill introduced by eastern Washington U.S. Rep. Kathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, in Congress is aimed at closing a loophole that affects many veterans’ ability to access healthcare when they need it.

“No veteran should ever be kept up at night wondering how they will pay their medical bills after receiving emergency care in the community. But thanks to a loophole in the VA’s coverage policies, that’s exactly what’s

happening in Eastern Washington,” said Rep. McMorris Rodgers in a statement.

The Removing Extraneous Loopholes Insuring Every Veteran Emergency Act, or RELIEVE Act, is a bipartisan piece of legislation also sponsored by Rep. Chris Pappas, D-NH, and Rep. Jack Bergman, R-MI.

The text of the bill is short, coming in at a total of just 14 lines, three of which are the title. Yet those 14 lines could mean tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to unlucky veterans.

“Assisting Veterans as they transition between DOD and VA’s care coverage is a

Two adults in kayaks discovered the body of a missing male in the river, according to Mike Eliason, a SBC Fire public information officer. They alerted authorities around 12:52 p.m.

“Resources still on scene,” he said in his original tweet at about 1:52 p.m. His tweets had been updated as of 6 p.m. No other information was available from Santa Barbara County Fire, the Lompoc Police Department or Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.

— Neil Hartstein

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top priority for me in Congress,” said Rep. Bergman in a statement. “The RELIEVE Act is a much-needed bridge to span that gap and eliminate a dangerous loophole that could impose crippling debt on a recently separated servicemember who sought emergency care.”

Rep. Bergman is no stranger to the transition from DOD to VA care. He rose to the rank of three star general in the United States Marine Corps where he served for 40 years before retiring in 2009.

The law the bill is amending, as it currently

Please see RELIEVE on A4

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When completed, the Ekwill Street and Fowler Road Extensions and Hollister Avenue Bridge Relocation projects will provide new east-west access across Old Town Goleta, two roundabouts on Hollister Avenue at the interchange with State Route 217 and complete flood control capacity improvements.

sports@newspress.com

Sports

Lane enters record books as UCSB women’s basketball beats CSUN

By ERIC BOOSE UCSB SPORTS

Thanks to Alexis Tucker and Ila Lane, UCSB women’s basketball (15-6, 8-3 Big West) held a 10-point lead with four minutes left in their Saturday afternoon game against CSUN (4-18, 3-9 Big West). The Gauchos then had to hold on for dear life, as that lead turned from 10 into one in the game’s final seconds.

UCSB forced a timely turnover and hit enough free throws in the final seven seconds to hold on to a 64-61 win and complete a regular-season sweep of the Matadors.

Tucker and Lane both finished with 16 points, with Lane coming one rebound shy of her ninth double-double on the season.

However, the center still etched her name into the UCSB record books. Lane’s nine rebounds Saturday give her 813 career

boards, the tenth most in Gaucho women’s basketball history. She is two away from ninth all-time.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Before the game, the Gauchos celebrated Alexis Tucker and Ila Lane, who each scored the 1000th points of their career in their last home game, January 26 against Hawaii. Right after the game tipped off, it was the visiting Matadors who were celebrating scores, racing out to a six-point lead by the first media timeout. But then the Ila Lane show rolled into the Thunderdome. The center scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half alone, helping the Gauchos take a 33-29 lead into the break.

In the second half, Tucker took over the scoring duties, with help from Alyssa Marin and Anya Choice. Tucker scored 11 of her 16 points in the second half, with

Marin celebrating her birthday by adding six in the third quarter. It was in that third quarter that Lane hauled in her fourth rebound of the game, putting her ahead of Kayte Christensen and into tenth on the Gauchos’ alltime list. The next Gauchos ahead of Lane are Becky Brown (814) and Legend of the Dome, Kristen Mann (820).

In the fourth quarter, Tucker kept on scoring, with Choice adding four points in the frame to balloon the UCSB lead to 10. After that lead vanished, it was Tucker who iced the game, hitting three of four free throws in the final seven seconds.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Sophomore Kennedy Johnson had one of her best games of the season, scoring eight points off the bench, the most by any Gaucho substitute and as many as the entire CSUN bench combined.

• UCSB shot 52.1% from the field Saturday afternoon, their most efficient performance in conference action this season.

• Alexis Tucker and Ila Lane scored their 16 points the exact same way: six two-point field goals, plus four free throws.

UP NEXT

The Gauchos will play at the Thunderdome again on Thursday, Feb. 9 as they host Long Beach State. The Beach is currently in first place in The Big West after taking down previous conference leaders UC Irvine. As part of Black History Month, UCSB will be celebrating Black history at Thursday night’s game. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be live on ESPN+.

Eric Boose writes about sports for UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com

UCSB men’s basketball falls to CSUN

By KRISTEN KELLER UCSB SPORTS

The UCSB men’s basketball team (18-4, 92 Big West) made the day trip to Northridge to take on the CSUN Matadors. After 16 lead changes and a very physical game, it was the Matadors who came out on top as the Gauchos lost 72-67 on the road.

“We got really good looks and they didn’t go down,” UCSB Coach Joe Pasternack said. “But when you don’t make shots, you have to be able to defend for two halves. We only defended for one. Basketball is a game of percentages; you have to play two halves. We didn’t do that the last two games.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was a slow start in the Premier America Credit Union Arena as the Gauchos and the Matadors began this Saturday night battle. Between these two teams, they exchanged the lead six times halfway through the first. After back-to-back three’s from Josh Pierre-Louis, the Gauchos were able to keep themselves

ahead for a short period of time before the Matadors put up a last second three for the 3837 lead at the half.

Pierre-Louis’s 100 percent shooting from beyond the arc helped him get to 11 points as the Gauchos went to the locker room. Andre Kelly was close behind his teammate with nine points while grabbing six boards.

The second half started as the first half ended, with CSUN coming back on the court with the same momentum. They grew their one-point lead to seven before Miles Norris made a huge push. He scored seven points in just four minutes to close the gap and bring his team back into this game. Once that happened, the Gauchos went on their own run until the Matadors used their arena to their advantage. Not only did they close the gap, but CSUN took the lead again and didn’t let it go as the Gauchos dropped this road game 72-67 to the Matadors.

LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Norris had the best game for the Gauchos tonight, finishing with a team-high 17 points

and nine rebounds. Of those rebounds, five were offensive. Along with that, Norris added on a block.

• Kelly registered his sixth double-double of the season as he ended his time in Northridge with 10 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out of the game.

• Also helping on offense was Ajay Mitchell and Calvin Wishart, who were tied for the most assists on the team with three each.

Koat Keat Tong contributed nine rebounds in this game, with seven of those being offensive boards.

UP NEXT

The Gauchos will be on the road yet again, this time taking on Long Beach State at Walter Pyramid on Thursday, Feb. 9. Tipoff will be at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.

Kristen Keller is the associate athletic director for communications and digital strategy at UCSB.

email: sports@newspress.com

Westmont men’s basketball explodes offensively against Hope International

By JACOB NORLING WESTMONT SPORTS WRITER

After a frustrating stretch of GSAC games Westmont Men’s Basketball (13-10, 6-8 GSAC) took out their frustrations on the bottom of the rim on Saturday afternoon. Against the Hope International Royals (16-8, 9-6 GSAC), the Warriors came out victorious by a score of 105-75. “Everybody brought in tonight,” said Westmont head coach Landon Boucher. “I’m really proud of the team for bouncing back the way they did. To have a game like this where we put up a record number of threes with a ton of assists was phenomenal.

“That’s what Westmont Basketball has been built on, finding teammates.”

Whereas in recent games Westmont’s threepoint shooting had let them down in big moments, the Warriors’ efforts from downtown on Saturday ensured there would be no such issue. In the first half alone Westmont converted eight of 14 shots from three-point range, with Cade Roth leading the club with a trio.

Westmont in total converted 18 of 34 from the field during the opening period, where the Royals shot just 12 of 32 without converting a single 3pointer. By halftime, the Warriors hot shooting had put the club up 51-29.

At halftime of the game the Murchison Gym crowd remained in their seats for a special celebration honoring the 1971-72 Men’s Basketball team, which is remembered historically for being the last team in the tenure of Coach Tom Byron. Saturday night marked the 51-year anniversary of the night that Westmont hosted NCAA Div. I #13 Hawaii on the day after Byron’s passing. Led by Fred DeVaughn’s 34-point effort, the Warriors banded together amidst a mourning community to upset Hawaii 90-89 in one of the most famous games in Westmont College history.

DeVaughn was in attendance for the ceremony, along with several of his Warrior teammates. Joining the leading scorer was Charles Anderson, Don Bregante, Andrew Hill, Charlie Meh, lRich Prehn, and Tim Walton. Coaches from the team in attendance were Ron Mulder and Dave Bregante, as well as Byron’s children, Tom Byron Jr. and

UCSB men’s tennis wins sixth straight dual match

By ERIC BOOSE UCSB SPORTS

Annie Byron Harris.

Also in attendance was team manager Don Volle, who is well known for writing a moving recollection of the events.

“It was great to have the ’72 team here tonight,” offered Boucher. “I hope we made them proud with how we handled ourselves and how we competed after such a frustrating stretch.”

Back on the court in the second half the Warriors did not slow down. After making eight 3-pointers in the first half, Westmont followed it up with another 11 in the second. With 19 threes, Westmont converted the second-most triples in single-game program history. Putting the Warriors over the century mark with 1:35 remaining was Cly Griffith Jr. with Westmont’s 18th 3-pointer of the night.

Ninety-five seconds later, the Warriors finished off a feel-good 105-77 victory. The Warriors ended the evening with seven scorers in double-figures, with both Drew Ramirez and Zeke Viuhkola leading the way with 18 points each.

“There was a sober feeling after the San Diego Christian loss,” acknowledged Boucher. “With that, the way we carried ourselves in practice and in shoot-around, I knew today was going to be different. I’m really proud of the guys for coming out and just putting that loss behind us.

“Collectively, this was probably our best game all year.”

The Warriors return to the court next Thursday in southern California, when they go head-to-head with the Vanguard Lions.

Jacob Norling is the sports information assistant at Westmont College.

email: sports@newspress.com

The UCSB men’s tennis team continued their white-hot start to the season on Saturday, taking down the University of New Orleans Privateers, 5-2, to win their sixth straight dual match. The Gauchos will play this weekend’s hosts, UTSA, Sunday morning to round out the road trip.

The action on all three doubles courts was close, but all favored New Orleans, putting the Gauchos behind on the scoreboard for only the second time all season. But a 10 lead would not be enough for the Privateers, and UCSB roared back in singles play. Phillip Jordan and Pablo Masjuan won their matches on courts one and two in straight sets, and their teammates gutted out three more wins across the next three courts to clinch victory.

Gianluca Brunkow bounced back after losing a second-set tiebreaker to win on court three, as did Luka Mrsic on court five. Kai Brady nearly made it a clean six wins from six in singles, but lost the decisive third set on court six, 7-6, after a 22-point tiebreaker.

UCSB will round out this trip to Texas on Sunday, as the Gauchos take on the hosting UTSA Roadrunners. First serve is set for 9 a.m. Pacific from the UTSA Tennis Center in San Antonio.

Eric Boose writes about sports for UCSB.

email: sports@newspress.com

“Everybody brought in tonight. I’m really proud of the team for bouncing back the way they did.”

Landon Boucher, Westmont head coach

‘Anti-Semitism is among the most despicable, most outrageous types of behavior’

protest

Continued from Page A1

that the point of the walk was education. “We want to make sure everyone is educated on this issue.”

She said last week’s fliers denying the Holocaust happened are hurtful. But she also said,’ We wanted to stand together and show the community that we are not a presence that can be intimidated. We are all here to be proud of being Jewish and to stand together.”

Six million Jews were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, a dark chapter in the history of World War II.

In arguably the day’s most enthusiastic speech, former state Sen. Hanneth Beth-Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, pointed out achievements by Jewish individuals such as Jonas Salk, who created the vaccine for polio. The crowd cheered as she pointed out that Jews created advances in the treatments of cancer and

AIDS and excelled in fields such as music and art.

“We must educate others that we have been a critical component in the advancement of the world,” she said.

Ms. Beth-Jackson also denounced anti-Semitism.

“We have to recognize that anti-Semitism is among the most despicable, most outrageous types of behavior on this planet,” she said.

She urged her audience to stand up to hatred, to prevent it from repeating itself.

After the walk, Rabbi Evan Goodman, the executive director of Santa Barbara Hillel and one of the speakers, told the NewsPress he thought the turnout was excellent.

“I’m sad that it took something like this (anti-Semitic acts) to bring us together, but I’m pleased and proud that the students organized a march that brought so many people rallying against antiSemitism.”

email: dmason@newspress.com

Very few collisions reported despite increase in bike usage

Continued from Page A1

Asked if she intends to bring it up at a future subcommittee meeting, she answered with an emphatic yes.

“I think not enough has been done to date and it is time to start implementing some of these trials as soon as possible,” she said.

Perhaps the most well-known — certainly the most visible — effort by the city to address the bicycle/ pedestrian safety issue was the green bike lane painted down the middle of State Street, which was designed to separate people on wheels from people on legs.

“The purpose of the green markings was to channel cyclists to the center of the street and pedestrians to the sides of the street so user movements were more predictable,” Councilmember Sneddon said.

It didn’t work out as planned.

“In October 2022, the green bike markings on the State Street Promenade were removed,” she said. “While the green markings were effective positioning cyclists near the center of the street, the green markings were less effective positioning pedestrians to the sides of the street.

“Because of this, the city removed the green markings, and continues to explore interim options for cyclists and pedestrians to coexist in the promenade.”

The city is not alone in its efforts, focusing with others to increase bicyclists’ awareness of how to behave when riding in public — and enforcing good behavior when necessary.

“The city has been working with our regional and state partners, MoveSBC (formerly SBBIKE+COAST), the Police Department, and stakeholders downtown and throughout the city to discuss concerns about ebike and regular bike riders, both young and old, riding unsafely or disrespectfully, and have been implementing strategies to try and curb these behaviors along the State Street Promenade and throughout the city,”

Councilmember Sneddon said.

“Over the summer, the city released a Stay Safe on State video with the message targeted to all road users to be respectful, stop at red lights, keep a safe

track competes at New Mexico Collegiate Classic

By KRISTEN KELLER UCSB SPORTS

Two days of competition at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic have finished at the Albuquerque Convention Center where the UCSB women’s indoor track and field team competed against some of the top track and field programs in the country.

This meet at the University of New Mexico was highlighted by Mariana Lanz as she set a new standard in multiple events this weekend. On Friday, she went and beat the indoor 200-meter record with a time of 24.32. This time was good enough for her to have the best finish out of all Big West runners in this event, earning 16th out of 97 runners.

Along with that, Lanz topped the school record in the 400-meter dash with a time of 55.20.

Jessica Swalve competed in the pentathlon during this meet, coming in eighth out of 20 competitors. The only people to beat her came from Colorado, USC, Texas State and Kansas State. Madelyn Conte also had a great performance in the 60meter hurdles. The freshman finished the race in 10th with a time of 8.83 seconds.

Not only did these three have good meets, but other Gauchos

competed well against these top programs. Jessica Boyd had a great showing in the 60meter dash, coming across the finish line with a time of 7.75 seconds. Lanz not only did well in her sprints, but also in the triple jump with freshman teammate Kennedy Johnson. The two finished with jumps of 11.79 meters and 11.84 meters, respectively. Emma Barthel’s performance in the long jump is also one to brag about as she finished in 27th out of 69 jumpers with a distance of 5.65 meters.

The Gauchos will have next week off from competition before they head to Flagstaff, Arizona to compete in the NAU Tune-Up hosted by Northern Arizona on Friday, Feb. 17. Kristen Keller is the associate athletic director for communications and digital strategy at UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com

MORE INSIDE

For more Sports, see page B4.

distance, be alert and watch speed,” she said.

At the same time, she noted, the Santa Barbara Police Department has a continued presence on State Street to curb these behaviors.

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments has gotten involved as well.

Its Traffic Solutions Division put on its first ever E-bike Awareness Day on Jan. 19, and the city collaborated with Traffic Solutions to produce a 5-minute e-bike safety video. On Traffic Solutions’ website, residents are encouraged to take the E-Bike Safety Pledge and learn more about e-bike safety tips.

MoveSBC, meanwhile, will hold a community-wide e-bike safety event on Sunday, Feb. 12

“MoveSBC continues to offer bike and pedestrian safety instruction K-12 within Santa Barbara County, including the Santa Barbara Unified School and Hope School Districts, and are including in their curriculum e-bike safety tips, too,” Councilmember Sneddon said.

In addition, the California Highway Patrol is working on e-bike safety messaging and curriculum for the entire state, she said.

Whether these efforts are paying off, or it’s something else, the number of reported bicycleand pedestrian-related accidents appears to be dropping — even as the number of people riding regular bikes and e-bikes is rising.

“Over the past few years, State Street has had more people of various ages and abilities riding e-bikes and regular bikes,” Councilmember Sneddon said.

“There has been more bike-riding citywide, too. As the link between Downtown, Waterfront, Eastside and Westside neighborhoods, State Street functions as the spine of the city’s bicycle network, which was identified in the 2016 Bicycle Master Plan.”

Yet despite this increase in ridership, “since the opening of State Street Promenade to pedestrians and bicyclists in May 2020, we have seen a decrease in pedestrian- and bicyclerelated collisions,” she said. “Prepandemic, State Street averaged around 12 vehicle-only collisions per year and during the pandemic the number of vehicle-only collisions decreased to two.”

This despite the dramatic increase in the number of people riding e-bikes.

“Since the city launched the public bikeshare program with BCycle in 2021, there have been 33,293 riders with over 801,000 miles traveled on BCycle EBikes, with 226 e-bikes and 452 docks/racks in circulation (as of December 31, 2022),” she said.

Yet in the 801,000 miles traveled, “there have (only) been four documented collisions (one rider fell off the bike when it was stationary on the State Street Promenade).”

This seems remarkable given the lack of restrictions for riding Class 1 or Class 2 e-bikes under California law, aside from helmet requirements for those 18 and under. These e-bikes can be ridden on multi-use paths and city streets, and users are not required to have a driver’s license to operate them. A Class 3, which can go up to 28 mph, does require that the user is 16 or older and all riders need to wear a helmet.

“While the numbers are encouraging there is always room for improvement,” Councilmember Sneddon said. “I brought it up at Council because I feel we need to be moving more quickly.”

email: nhartsteinnewspress@ gmail.com

through hoops to have their health care covered’

re LI e V e

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appears in Title 38 Section 1725 of US Code, requires that a veteran be both enrolled in the veterans health care system, as well as have “received care under this chapter within the 24-month period.”

It’s that last clause that’s causing trouble for many veterans.

Under the current law, a veteran could be

actively enrolled in care, on the way to their first appointment with the VA, get into a car accident, and be held personally liable for the entirety of their medical bills.

The RELIEVE Act would eliminate this loophole by adding a 60-day grace period between enrollment and requirement for that “received care under this chapter within the 24-month period” clause kicking in.

“It is unacceptable that veterans have to jump through hoops to have their health care covered by VA, especially in the case

of an emergency,” said Rep. Pappas in a statement. “No veteran should ever think twice about seeking the care they need during an emergency, and no veteran should be faced with costly medical bills due or bureaucratic challenges for receiving that care.”

While the RELIEVE Act, if adopted into law, would close that loophole for veterans under care of the VA, it wouldn’t address the 1.53 million uninsured veterans highlighted in a recent report from the Cambridge Health Alliance of Harvard Medical School.

holds 188,030 acre-feet. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons, equivalent to the amount of water consumed annually by 10 people in an urban environment.

DAVE MASON / NEWS-PRESS

A large number of people show up to walk through Isla Vista in support of the Jewish community.

‘It is unacceptable that veterans have to jump

Some State Street pedestrians have expressed concern about bike usage on the Promenade.

Life theArts

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2023

‘Loveair’

CALENDAR

The calendar appears Mondays through Saturdays in the “Life & the Arts” section. Items are welcome. Please email them a full week before the event to Managing Editor Dave Mason at dmason@newspress.com.

TODAY

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Entangled: Responding to Environmental Crisis,” runs through March 25 at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art. The museum is open from 10 a.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. It’s closed on Sundays and college holidays. For more information, call 805-565-6162 or visit westmont.edu/museum.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Interlopings: Colors in the Warp and Weft of Ecological Entanglements” is an exhibit that runs through March 12 at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The exhibit features weavings dyed with pigments from non-native plants on Santa Cruz Island. The weavings were created by artists Helen Svensson and Lisa Jevbratt. For more information, see sbbotanicgarden.org.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Coast artist and London native Annie Hoffman’s exhibit “Seeing Ourselves in Colour” will be displayed through Feb. 28 at Gallery Los Olivos, 2920 Grand Ave., Los Olivos. For more information, visit anniehoffmann. com.

San Ysidro Ranch has romantic offerings for Valentine’s Day

By MARILYN MCMAHON NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Love is in the air at San Ysidro Ranch. This Valentine’s Day, Executive Chef Matt Johnson and his team will be serving a four-course fine dining experience at the Stonehouse Restaurant. A vegetarian pre-fixe menu is also available.

Standout dishes include Snake River Farms Wagyu Striploin Tataki; Beetroot and Elderflower Gin Cured Steelhead Trout; Sweet Corn and Lemongrass Bisque; Herb Crusted Colorado Rack of Lamb and Seared Maine Diver Scallops. The cost is $250 per person, and the four-course vegetarian meal is $200 per person. Wine pairings are $150 per person.

For a truly decadent day of pampering, the Romance Package at the salon and spa can be booked for $950 for two guests, which includes exclusive use of the Love Birds treatment room featuring a state-of-the-art chromotherapy soaking tub and steam shower.

The experience begins with a full body aromatic exfoliation treatment, followed by a custom mineral bath with champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries. Guests will then enjoy a 60-minute massage with chocolate-infused coconut oil along with relaxing scalp and facial massage.

In addition, a champagne and chocolate-covered strawberry or red wine and cheese board, welcome amenities and a romantic turndown with champagne, rose petals and rose/lavender bath bomb are available.

Romantic activities include gourmet picnic baskets, incottage champagne and caviar tasting and an in-cottage dining menu featuring a meal of delectable aphrodisiacs. email: mmcmahon@newspress.com

FYI

Lompoc celebrating 135th anniversary of founding

By MARILYN MCMAHON NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

The city of Lompoc is kicking off its 135th birthday celebration this year with the unveiling of a special birthday logo inspired by designs from local high school students.

Themed “Honoring Our Legacy, Launching into our Future,” Lompoc is celebrating its long history since its founding in 1888. The centerpiece of the year-long recognition will be the city’s 135th birthday logo, created by using elements of two winning design pieces selected from the 14 logo designs submitted by local high school students.

Makaylah June and Alyssa Lazos tied for first place in

the design contest, and Diane Custodio came in second and Guillermo Olguin, third.

Elizabeth Alvarez, visual arts teacher at Lompoc High School, encouraged a number of the student artists to participate in the logo contest.

The student submissions, which inspired the logo, will be posted soon at www. cityoflompoc.com/community/ city-of-lompoc-135th-birthdaylogo-design-contest.

Details will be forthcoming about the city’s 135th birthday celebration. In addition, the Lompoc Electric Division is holding its centennial celebration this year.

The city of Lompoc was founded as a town in 1874 and incorporated as a city on Aug. 13, 1888. Before the city’s establishment, the building of

La Purisima Mission in 1787 marked the earliest European settlement in the Lompoc Valley.

Growth in the Lompoc Valley was sparked by the 1901 completion of the coastal railroad between San Francisco and Los Angeles, which included the extension of a spur into Lompoc.

The Lompoc Valley is home to Vandenberg Space Force Base, the first missile base of the U.S. Air Force. Today, Lompoc is a travel destination known for its downtown mural program, local wines and acclaimed cuisine, historic landmarks, parks and nearby beaches. For more information, visit www.cityoflompoc.com. email: mmcmahon@newspress. com

10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. “The Search for the Modern West,” an exhibit, continues through Feb. 20 at Sullivan Goss: An American Gallery, 11 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. For more information, see sullivangoss.com or call the gallery at 805-730-1460.

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit “Parliament of Owls” runs through Feb. 5 at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays. For more information, go to www.sbnature.org.

FEB. 8

8 p.m. The Santa Barbara International Film Festival opens with “Miranda’s Victim” at the Arlington Theatre, 1317 State St. See sbiff.org.

8 p.m. Transform Through Arts will present 10 dance companies in “Colors of Love” at the Center Stage Theater, upstairs at Paseo Nuevo in Santa Barbara. General admission costs $30 in advance and $35 at the door. Tickets are $25 for students. To purchase, go to www. centerstagetheater.org.

FEB. 10

8 p.m. Ensemble Theatre Company will perform “Selling Kabul” at the New Vic Theatre, 33 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara, The play is about an Afghan man hiding from the Taliban in his sister’s home in Kabul. Tickets cost $40 to $84. To purchase, go to etcsb.org or call 805965-5400.

FEB. 11

8 p.m. Ensemble Theatre Company will perform “Selling Kabul” at the New Vic Theatre, 33 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara, The play is about an Afghan man hiding from the Taliban in his sister’s home in Kabul. Tickets cost $40 to $84. To purchase, go to etcsb.org or call 805965-5400.

FEB. 12

Noon. Participants in Ted Nash’s workshop will go on stage at the Mary Craig Auditorium, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State St. The free program is called “Transformation: Personal Stories of Change, Acceptance and Evolution” and will feature student composers, performers and writers from Mr. Nash’s workshop.

FEB. 14

6 to 7:30 p.m. Nicole Lvoff and Joe Woodard will perform on Valentine’s Day at the Crush Bar & Tap, 1129 A State St., Santa Barbara. Their music varies from Beatles songs to jazz standards. For more information, go to crushbarsb.com.

FEB. 16

7 p.m. “The River Bride,” the story of folklore, love, regret and two sisters who struggle to be true to each other and their hearts will be presented by PCPA (Pacific Conservatory Theatre) from Feb. 16 through March 5 in Santa Maria.

Managing Editor Dave Mason dmason@newspress.com

The Romance Package at the San Ysidro Ranch’s salon and spa can be booked for $950 for two guests.

San Ysidro Ranch is located at 900 San Ysidro Lane in Montecito. For more information, visit www.sanysidroranch.com.

COURTESY PHOTOS Stonehouse Restaurant at San Ysidro Ranch is offering a special fi ne dining experience at Valentine’s Day — complete, of course, with chocolate and champagne.

Love addiction expert to speak at Chaucer’s Books

By MARILYN MCMAHON NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Chaucer’s will host an instore book talk and signing with Dr. Cortney Warren, author of “Letting Go of Your Ex: CBT Skills to Heal the Pain of a Breakup and Overcome Love Addiction,” at 6 p.m. Feb. 21.

The talk will be at the store at 3321 State St., Santa Barbara.

Written by a psychologist and leading love addiction expert, “Letting Go of Your Ex” offers evidence-based skills and techniques to help you combat the overwhelming symptoms of love addiction, get unstuck from the past, and start focusing on what makes you happy.

Dr. Warren’s talk will include how and why love can function like an addiction. She will also discuss how to change the harmful beliefs that keep you stuck on your ex, how childhood experiences affect adult romantic relationships and how to avoid recreating old dynamics in a new relationship.

“Love addiction is real, and just like any addiction, it can leave you in a constant state of craving, withdrawal and hopelessness. But there is hope for recovery. Using the tools in this compassionate and nonjudgmental guide, you can start moving toward the life you deserve,” according to Dr. Warren, a board-certified clinical psychologist and former

Walk away from toxic people

Sometimes you can experience so much toxicity from other socalled human beings that you can actually become numb to it (or not notice it until after the fact). The realization that you are not supported by your peers or that someone actively tried to hurt you should be enough to get you to move on.

COURTESY PHOTOS

“Love addiction is real, and just like any addiction, it can leave you in a constant state of craving, withdrawal and hopelessness. But there is hope for recovery,” said Dr. Cortney Warren, author of “Letting Go of Your Ex.”

associate professor of psychology at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

Having won numerous professional awards for her research, Dr. Warren is an expert on addictions, eating pathology, self-deception and the practice of psychotherapy from a crosscultural perspective.

In addition to her academic work, she is a speaker, author and coach with a passion for bringing psychological tools to the public. She earned her doctorate from Texas A&M University after

Poppies Book Club to focus on banned books

OJAI — Poppies Book Club will meet at 6 p.m. Feb. 28 at a private home in Ojai.

During 2023, the group is reading books that have been banned in some locales.

Members will discuss “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison. Her award-winning novel follows a victimized black girl who obsesses over not having blue eyes, a standard of beauty in her fragile mind. This book was banned for sexual content.

The group discussion is free and open to interested adults. Participants are asked to

read the book before coming to the discussion. Email tireswingstudio@gmail.com for details, address or to be added to the book club mailing list.

Poppies Art and Gifts, 323 E. Matilija St. in Ojai, carries locally made jewelry, photography of Ojai and other places, paintings, pottery, décor, books by local authors and more. Store hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For more information, visit poppiesartandgifts.com.

— Marilyn McMahon

completing a clinical internship at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School in 2006.

email: mmcmahon@newspress. com

FYI

Dr. Cortney Warren, author of “Letting Go of Your Ex,” will give a talk at 6 p.m. Feb. 21 at Chaucer’s Books, 3321 State St. in Loreto Plaza in Santa Barbara. For more information, call 805-682-4067 or visit www. chaucersbooks.com.

Unfortunately, if you carry deep wounds from years of emotional abuse, realizing that you are being mistreated can take a while. Realizing that you are not emotionally supported and are living or working in a toxic environment can take longer. But once you realize it, there is no going back.

I was asked to send a half-dozen copies of my book “Emotional Fitness at Work” to a company as a pre-presentation exercise, so the leaders could each pick a chapter that we could focus on.

Apparently they dove into the book immediately as a group and decided that their work environment was very emotionally unfit. They presented that realization to the owner, who promptly fired them all. Wow.

I guess they were right, and apparently they all found new, hopefully less toxic, positions at other companies. That being said, I seriously doubt I will be asked to do a presentation for that company.

Dysfunction abounds in the work environment, and the best thing you can do for yourself is to find work in a healthier environment. Most unfortunately, volunteer organizations can fall into the same trap; it doesn’t have to involve money.

One of the most dysfunctional organizations I have ever been involved with was an homeowners association in a neighborhood that was much nicer than the people on the HOA board deserved. The politics made the last national election look like child’s play, and for what?

Actually, it’s what we used to call a power trip, but it’s really just the need to be righteous and lord over other people.

I watched a beefy man in his 40s lambast an older woman in an open neighborhood meeting. He was literally standing over her and yelling in her face.

No one said a thing, until I popped off with something like, “Dude, that is so inappropriate; grow up.” I also suggested that she report him to adult protective services, but the woman who was his victim didn’t want that. I walked out and resigned.

I got lots of emails, texts and letters asking me to stay, telling me that this guy was “just that way,” and now I understand he is suing the association he is

volunteering for. This is becoming a suburban nightmare worthy of a Stephen King novel. I did stay in the group for a while longer, but the energy didn’t change. In the last meeting, I was attacked and slandered by the mean guy’s wife. I guess it must be a family dynamic. I don’t release my anger on other people for two reasons: first, the average Girl Scout could beat me to a pulp with a box of thin mints, and second, it’s not nice, and I like to be a nice guy. It’s also a waste of time and energy.

Toxic people who want to get their way, no matter what, are manipulative, mean, and they lie like a rug. They will dedicate their lives to finding a way to achieve their goal — right, wrong, or indifferent. And hurting people in the process doesn’t matter to them. My advice is just to walk away. Putting so much negative energy into the world for such small things is what is dividing us. It is sad that neighbors can’t get along, but even sadder to be with people who treat you badly.

Dr. Barton Goldsmith is a psychotherapist in Westlake. He’s the author, most recently, of “100 Ways to Boost Your Self-Confidence — Believe in Yourself and Others Will Too.” Email him at Barton@ BartonGoldsmith.com. Follow his daily insights at www.twitter.com/ BartonGoldsmith. His column appears Saturdays and Mondays in the News-Press.

Santa Maria hospital offers innovative cardiac procedure

By MARILYN MCMAHON NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria is now offering qualified patients the innovative cardiac procedure of transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

COURTESY IMAGE

“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison will be discussed at the next Poppies Book Club meeting.

Marian interventional cardiologists, cardiac surgeons and cardiologists recently performed the first TAVR procedure. TAVR involves replacing an aortic valve that is not opening properly to better allow the heart to pump blood to the body. Before the FDA’s approval of TAVR, the only way to do this was through open heart surgery, and patients with narrowed aortic valves who did not wish to undergo surgery or were considered to be high risk for surgery had limited options.

“TAVR is a minimally invasive procedure that replaces the aortic valve in patients with severe aortic stenosis, a type of heart valve disease,” said Dr. Mansoor Arain, Marian Regional Medical Center interventional cardiologist. “This disease becomes more prevalent as we age, and TAVR can be an effective option not only to improve quality of life but to prolong life in such patients.

“Most patients are able to return home safely the next day, and the recovery is very straightforward. We have a great team with a lot of prior experience and are pleased

to be able to offer this procedure to our community.”

Traditional open heart surgery to replace an aortic valve involves cutting open the chest. TAVR provides a much less invasive option with no opening of the chest necessary. TAVR uses a catheter to deliver a collapsible replacement valve to the site of the narrowed valve through a roughly quarter-inch incision in the groin. When the new valve has been expanded, it pushes the old valve leaflets out of the way and takes over regulating blood flow.

“The recent addition of TAVR to our already comprehensive

cardiac program aligns with our commitment to providing stateof-the-art care to our community, and mitigates the need for heart patients to travel,” said Sue Andersen, Marian president and CEO. “In addition, we are able to provide a minimally invasive option for patients, which reduces recovery time and offers them improved survival rates and quality of life.” For more information, visit www.dignityhealth.org/ marianregional.

email: mmcmahon@newspress. com

Shelters seek homes for pets

Local animal shelters and their nonprofit partners are looking for homes for pets.

For more information, go to these websites:

• Animal Services-Lompoc, countyofsb.org/phd/animal/home. sbc.

• Animal Shelter Assistance Program in Goleta, asapcats.org. ASAP is kitty corner to Santa Barbara County Animal Services.

• Bunnies Urgently Needing Shelter in Goleta, bunssb.org. BUNS is based at Santa Barbara County Animal Services.

• Companion Animal Placement

CALENDAR

Continued from Page B1

Assistance, lompoccapa.org and facebook.com/capaoflompoc.

CAPA works regularly with Animal Services-Lompoc.

• K-9 Placement & Assistance League, k-9pals.org. K-9 PALS works regularly with Santa Barbara County Animal Services.

• Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation, sbcanimalcare. org. (The foundation works regularly with the Santa Maria Animal Center.)

• Santa Barbara County Animal Services in Goleta: countyofsb.org/ phd/animal/home.sbc.

• Santa Barbara Humane (with

no cover. For more information, go to crushbarsb.com.

Feb. 19 4 p.m. The Takács Quartet will perform an all-Beethoven concert at St. Mark’s-in-the-Valley Episocpal Church, 2901 Nojoqui Ave., Los Olivos. Tickets cost $20 for general admission. To purchase, go to smitv.org/syvconcert-series. Tickets for students are free. For more information, contact Linda Burrows at 805-705-0938 or syvconcerts@smitv.org.

campuses in Goleta and Santa Maria), sbhumane.org.

• Santa Maria Animal Center, countyofsb.org/phd/animal/home. sbc. The center is part of Santa Barbara County Animal Services.

• Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society/DAWG in Buellton, syvhumane.org.

• Shadow’s Fund (a pet sanctuary in Lompoc), shadowsfund.org.

• Volunteers for Inter-Valley Animals in Lompoc: vivashelter. org.

— Dave Mason

admission costs $25 in advance and $30 cash on the day of the show. To purchase or get a dinner reservation, go to www.sohosb.com.

FEB. 18 7 to 9 p.m. The Nicole Lvoff Jazz Trio will perform at Crush Bar & Tap, 1129 A State St., Santa Barbara. There’s

7 p.m. Singers Ken Stacy and Claire Khodara will perform at SOhO Restaurant and Music Club, 1221 State St., Suite 205, Santa Barbara. General

March 9 7 p.m. Pianist Jerome Lowenthal, who served as a Music Academy of the West teaching artist for half a century, will perform a concert, “Lowenthal’s Legend,” at the academy’s Hahn Hall, 1070 Fairway Road, Montecito. Tickets are $55 for general admission and free for ages 7-17. To purchase, go to musicacademy.org to call the academy’s box office at 805-969-8787.

— Dave Mason

play is being performed at the Severson Theatre at Allan Hancock College, 870 S. Bradley Road. Curtain rises at 7 p.m. Feb. 16-18,

25, and 1:30 p.m. Feb. 26. Tickets are $49. To purchase, visit www.pcpa.org or call the box office at 805-922-8313.

Marian Regional Medical Center is offering a new cardiac procedure.

Diversions

Thought for Today

“Nothing will work unless you do.”

— MayaAngelou

HOROSCOPE

By Horoscope.com

Monday, February 6, 2023

Aries: If you’ve been investing, look for it to pay off big. Or you could execute a new contract, settle a claim, or even win something. Expect the unexpected where money is concerned. It might have you reeling. In the past few weeks you’ve been releasing a lot of negative energy and clearing the way for today’s good fortune.

Taurus: Plans for a social event that you were going to host in your home may have to be changed at the last minute. Even so, it should go very well. You’re feeling exceptionally sociable now, Taurus, not to mention romantic and sexy. If you aren’t presently involved, expect to meet more than one possibility. If you are involved, anticipate events that will bring you closer to your partner.

Gemini: An unexpected letter or call could totally turn your working situation in a new direction. This can be disconcerting, Gemini, but it’s a very positive and fortunate development. Relations with colleagues should involve new respect and enthusiasm. By the end of the day, you will likely feel very good about the way your life is going.

Cancer: For you, Cancer, relationships with other people should be going so well that you feel more loved than ever. A new friend or perhaps an old one you haven’t seen in a while could suddenly become a powerful part of your life. You’re probably feeling exceptionally innovative and more likely to make a success of whatever new ideas you have. Prepare for a busy and satisfying day.

Leo: An unexpected opportunity could temporarily throw your life into disorder, Leo, but you will see from the start that this is a definite stroke of good luck that you shouldn’t let pass. It could involve money, a chance to move to your dream home, or relationships in some way.

Virgo: A lot of letters, calls, and other communications could skyrocket you into a new and unexpected space, Virgo. If you’ve been thinking of trying your hand at writing or speaking, this is the day to work on it. All signs indicate good fortune will come your way at this time, though it might sneak up on you and leave

you a bit disconcerted.

Libra: Good fortune continues to come your way, Libra, and your life may finally seem to be moving in the direction you wanted. Today, however, you may feel frustrated by a lot of minor, if somewhat bizarre, upsets. Dropping things, losing objects you just had in your hand, forgetting names - just about anything could happen.

Scorpio: All the planets are very fortunately aligned for you, and the coming weeks should be great, Scorpio. Minor irritations today could make you wonder, though. You might worry that this good fortune won’t last. Don’t work yourself into a panic. This all continues through the next six months. However, you may need to focus sufficient effort if you’d like to make it last for a long time.

Sagittarius: You may wonder why increased intuition has seemed to replace your usual logical self. An unexpected intellectual, spiritual, or metaphysical insight might come to you from another realm. It may seem so profound that you wonder if it really came from you. Write it down in detail.

Capricorn: You should feel especially sociable today, Capricorn. You might attend one or more events, or perhaps you will choose another type of group activity. Relationships of all kinds should prove satisfying and comforting. Expect to grow closer to the friends you have and meet new friends with whom you share many interests.

Aquarius: Today an important goal might reach a point you’ve been aiming at for a long time. All those in your entourage have new respect for you. In fact, Aquarius, relationships of all kinds are warm, open, and honest, and you will probably enjoy the company of others immensely now. Romance, in particular, goes well.

Pisces: Your focus today is likely to be on learning. Something you’ve wanted to study for a long time may finally be within your grasp. Perhaps money makes this possible, or you’ve finally settled on a workable course of action. Travel might be involved. If you’ve been thinking about going back to school, get everything started today. If you do, you will probably attain what you want.

DAILY BRIDGE

By FRANK STEWART Tribune Content Agency

Monday, February 6, 2023

“Your honor,” the district attorney stated, “we will prove that South committed a felony. He lost a cold vulnerable game.” “Proceed,” the judge instructed, and the court kibitzed the evidence.

“Against 3NT,” the DA began, “West led the ten of clubs. South won with the jack and took the A-K of spades. When West threw a club, South went to the ace of hearts and returned a diamond to his queen. The finesse won, and when he led the ace and a third diamond, the suit broke 3-3. But then East led the jack of hearts, and the defense took three hearts, plus West’s ace of clubs and East’s queen of spades. Down two.”

BLAMELESS?

“My client is blameless,” South’s counsel roared. “East could have held the king of hearts.”

Was South guilty of a misplay?

After South takes the top spades, he can lead a low diamond. East wins and shifts to the jack of hearts: five, seven, ace. Then South can lead a diamond to his queen, take the ace and lead the king of clubs. He is sure of nine tricks.

You hold:

Your partner opens one heart, you bid one spade and he

SUDOKU

CODEWORD PUZZLE

INSTRUCTIONS

Fill in the grid so every row, every column and every 3-by-3 grid contains the digits 1 through 9. that means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box. Sudoku puzzles appear on the Diversions page Monday through Saturday.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Answers to previous CODEWORD

How to play Codeword

Codeword is a fun game with simple rules, and a great way to test your knowledge of the English language. Every number in the codeword grid is ‘code’ for a letter of the alphabet. Thus, the number 2 may correspond to the letter L, for instance. All puzzles come with a few letters to start. Your first move should be to enter these letters in the puzzle grid. If the letter S is in the box at the bottom of the page underneath the number 2, your first move should be to find all cells numbered 2 in the grid and enter the letter S. Cross the letter S off the list at the bottom of the grid. Remember that at the end you should have a different letter of the alphabet in each of the numbered boxes 1- 26, and a word in English in each of the horizontal and vertical runs on the codeword grid.

PUZZLE

jumps to three diamonds. What do you say?

ANSWER: A few players would have passed one heart, but the modern tendency is to scrape up a response with any excuse. Partner’s jump-shift is forcing, so to pass would be a system violation. Bid three hearts.

Your ace of hearts and doubleton diamond may be all he needs to have a chance at game. South dealer

Classified

Gauchos snag a pair of wins on second day of Triton Invite

By ERIC BOOSE UCSB SPORTS

The 16th-ranked UCSB women’s water polo team (10-3, 0-0 Big West) notched wins against Concordia University Irvine (1-3, 0-0 GCC) and No. 22 Loyola Marymount University (2-6, 00 GCC) at the Triton Invitational on Saturday.

Nina Munson was a major contributor to the team’s success, clocking four goals for the day, while Juju Amaral followed up yesterday’s strong performance with three more total points to the fight. Saturday’s successes bring the Gauchos’ record to 10-3 on the season, with hopes to continue the streak on the final day of the tournament. UCSB is slated to play #12 UC

Westmont baseball sweeps

Embry-Riddle

By RON SMITH WESTMONT SPORTS WRITER

Westmont Baseball, ranked #13 in the NAIA, finished off a four-game sweep of Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) by taking both ends of a doubleheader Saturday at Russ Carr Field. The Warriors (6-1) won 4-3 in the first game, then used a nine-run second inning to prevail 10-3 over the Eagles (3-5) in the second.

Classified Deadlines

After scoring 26 runs in Friday’s doubleheader without leaving the yard, all of the Warriors’ runs in the first game came via the long ball. In the first inning, Robbie Haw led off for the Warriors and was hit by a pitch. Haw advanced to second when Brady Renck was walked. That brought up Ryan DeSaegher who deposited the ball over the left-field fence for his first home run of the year.

Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth with one away, Shane Hofstadler provided the difference maker when he belted a home run to left.

Chase Goddard started for the Warriors on the bump and picked up his first win of the year. Goddard went six innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, striking out three and issuing just one walk. Gabe Arteaga pitched the remaining three innings, earning the first Westmont save of the year. The right-hander did not allow a run or a hit, he struck out two and walked two.

In the second game, starter Christopher Ceballos did not allow a run in three innings of work.

Ceballos allowed just one hit.

Lucien Wechsberg, Parker O’Neil, Aidan Holly and Carlos Moreno each pitched an inning in relief in the seven-inning game. O’Neil was awarded the win, his second of the year.

With one away in the second, David Martinez started the scoring with a home run to right center. After that, a carousel of Warriors circled the bases. Daniel Patterson and Johan Paez were walked before Kaden Tsuji singled down the right field line, driving in Patterson and advancing Paez to third.

Luke Tillitt was walked to load the bases before Haw came to the plate. A wild pitch moved the runners up, bringing Paez home. Haw was also walked, reloading the bases for Renck who singled to right field, driving in Paul Mezurashi who had taken over running for Tsuji.

With the sacks still full of Warriors, DeSaegher pinch hit and received another walk, earning an RBI. Then Bryce McFeely walked to bring in the sixth run of the inning. One out later, Renck scored on a wild pitch with DeSaegher and McFeely also advancing a base. Then Patterson singled to center field, driving in both runners and making it a 9-0 game.

The Eagles scored twice in the fourth and once more in the fifth to pull within six (9-3), but that was all they would get. In the bottom of the sixth, Westmont’s Trey Dunn hit a solo shot, producing his first collegiate home run and the game’s final score.

Next weekend, Westmont will take on Oregon Tech (2-1) in a final tune-up before the start of Golden State Athletic Conference play. Doubleheaders are on tap for both Friday and Saturday with the Hustlin’ Owls, with first pitch scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on both days. Oregon Tech comes into the series after taking two out of three games from Jessup (2-4) this weekend.

Ron Smith is the sports information director at Westmont College.

email: sports@newspress.com

Davis in the tournament’s ninth-place game Sunday afternoon.

#16 UCSB 14, ConCordia irvine 3

The Gauchos showed the Golden Eagles what they were made of this morning, handing them an 11-point defeat. Keeping the defense on lock, the Gauchos only allowed three goals across four quarters. On offense, both Nina Munson and Delaney Palmer notched hat tricks to contribute to the Gaucho goal-fest.

#16 UCSB 8, #22 LMU 6

The Gauchos’ victory over the Lions was a team-wide effort. A myriad of players put points on the board and managed to keep the

LMU offense at bay. The game remained tight, within a one point differential, for the majority of play. But the Gauchos found their flow and slammed home a win in the fourth quarter, notching two goals in the frame to secure the end result.

UP ne XT

The Gauchos will take on #12 UC Davis in tomorrow’s game for ninth place at the Triton Invitational. It’s all set to go down at 12:50 p.m. at the Canyonview Aquatic Center in La Jolla.

Eric Boose writes about sports for UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com

Westmont women’s tennis falls to Point Loma

By JACOB NORLING

WESTMONT SPORTS WRITER

Westmont Women’s Tennis (0-5) continued their pre-GSAC schedule on Saturday, when they went head-to-head with the Point Loma Sea Lions. The Sea Lions controlled the match from the start, first taking the doubles point before cruising in singles to a 7-0 victory.

“I’ve got mixed feelings about today,” said Westmont head coach Cade Pierson. “Obviously we were playing a tough opponent today, but these are the kinds of opponents we need to get comfortable playing. We started strong in doubles and had really good energy, but the fact is we didn’t maintain it.

“They elevated their intensity and we didn’t elevate ours. I wouldn’t say our energy went completely downhill, but you need to be able to raise your efforts as the match goes on, and we didn’t.”

In doubles the Sea Lions took matches on courts three and one, claiming the first point of the day. On three, Faith Pearson and Joelle Lanz defeated Sabina Salva and Logan Jackson 6-2, and on one, Arianna Audelo and Amanda Letzring beat Arden Samuels and Liska Knight 6-3.

In singles play the clubs elected to play all six

By RIA ROEBUCK JOSEPH THE CENTER SQUARE CONTRIBUTOR

(The Center Square) - San Francisco’s blueprint for building 82,069 housing units over the next eight years received state certification, confirming the Housing Element Plan created by the city, complied with state law.

More than half the planned units are designated as affordable to low- and moderate-income units in a scheme that triples the annual build of the previous ten years.

In 2019, Executive Order N-06-19 was issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom to identify urbanized state-owned property that could be used for housing development. The Department of General Services (DGS) was tasked with creating a database of such properties.

Working together with the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), a program to develop state housing began in Sep. 2019, prompting the legislature to pass Assembly Bill 1255.

City councils determined which parcels of land, meeting the requirements of AB1255, would be included in their housing elements and were suitable for residential development. Failure to identify land areas for affordable housing developments resulted in state penalties.

“San Francisco is moving forward aggressively with not only getting our Housing Element approved, but doing the critical work to reform our laws and processes to get rid of barriers to housing and deliver the homes our city badly needs. This is essential for our economy to recover, for working people to be able to afford to live near their jobs, for families to grow and thrive, and for government to tackle critical issues like homelessness and climate change, ” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

Gov. Newsom said, “Through stringent state mandates with real consequences for failing to meet their obligation, San Francisco is showing what is possible when you stop kicking the can down the road and start to face the difficult decisions it takes to tackle the housing needs of Californians.”

San Francisco’s Planning Department staff meet with HCD teams to ensure compliance in their housing element plans.

A statement released by the governor’s office revealed “The plan includes midterm assessments and if the City does not permit 29,000 homes within four years, they pledge to immediately rezone additional sites.

Additionally, if the City’s housing production for lower-income residents falls behind, San Francisco will specifically rezone additional sites that are adequate to meet the housing needs for lower-income households and other supportive programs. These strategies are part of a larger constraint reduction package intended to increase certainty and accelerate housing production.”

The Newsom administration, through its agencies, will continue to analyze “the patterns that created years of costly building delays in San Francisco.”

Gov. Newsom congratulated San Francisco’s Mayor London Breed and city leaders for their collaboration. “I hope this model of cooperation

matches through, with Sea Lions sweeping their way to victory. Rachel Whittington got the Sea Lions on the board first, making quick work of Knight on court six by a score of 6-0, 6-1. Point Loma followed up the court six victory with wins on three and two, where Angelique Friedrich and Lanz defeated Samuels and Sophia Ostovany.

With the official clincher, Thelma Sepulveda defeated Justie Spitzer 6-1, 6-3 on five.

“Nothing was broken, but it just wasn’t as good as it needed to be today,” reflected Pierson. “We did a good job of resetting in singles, but they did the simple things better than we did. They were more disciplined in their shot selection, and didn’t do anything we wouldn’t expect, but they just executed in a way we didn’t.

“It was a tough day. Some people played some tough matches, but some other people just didn’t play as well as they could have. We know what we have to get better at.”

The Warriors return to action on Thursday, Feb. 9, when they travel down south to battle UC Riverside.

Jacob Norling is the sports information assistant at Westmont College.

email: sports@newspress.com

continues going forward, and that other cities take advantage of the resources and technical assistance made available by HCD towards housing element compliance. As the City works to untangle an antiquated and stubborn system that impedes production of housing for every income level, HCD will continue to monitor closely, investigate, and provide any technical assistance that can help them meet the 82,069-unit goal over the next eight years,” the governor said.

The San Francisco Housing Element, having been certified, will have to remain compliant by meeting implementation milestones and program commitments and will be monitored by the Department of Housing and Community Development.

“These efforts will take strong partnerships between our local and state governments, and we are ready to continue working with the Governor, the Legislature, and the State Department of Housing and Community Development to make a real difference on housing in San Francisco, the Bay Area and California,” Mayor Breed stated.

According to Matt Lewis, Director of Communications at California Yimby, an organization dedicated to making California an affordable place to live, work and raise a family, the San Francisco housing plan can produce results if there are regulation reforms and the governor holds them accountable to see it to completion.

“A hundred percent of the new homes in San Francisco will be affordable to somebody, and that’s actually a really important clarification,” Mr. Lewis said.

Mr. Lewis believes that San Francisco first needs to address the rules that make it prohibitive to build affordable housing for the city’s plan to succeed.

“San Francisco has a lot of very high income earners and what has happened in cities like San Francisco is the same thing that has happened in cities around the country and around the state, because the city has been so slow to develop housing at all, in fact a state audit found that San Francisco has the worst housing approval process in the state of California, it is the slowest most expensive process…it takes almost three years to get a single house approved…the idea is you need to be building a lot of housing across the income spectrum not just the limit of the income spectrum in order to maintain affordable housing stock.”

San Francisco’s Housing element went through several drafts and reviews by HCD before certification. The housing plan for 2022-2030 is “the first one that will center on racial and social equity. It will include policies and programs that express our collective vision and values for the future of housing in San Francisco,” the planning site stated.

“I do hope the governor sticks to his word and really holds San Francisco’s feet to the fire while building this housing. I think that’s really important… I think it (housing) is necessary. I think there is a chance that they’ll actually pull off building all these homes. I think it is possible, yes. Realistic? I think they’re going to have to really go at all the stops. I think they’ll have to work really hard and really focus on getting out of their own way,” Mr. Lewis concluded.

San Francisco’s Housing Plan gets certification to build over 82,000 new homes