Our 165th Year
75¢
MON DAY, J U N E 15, 2 0 2 0
NEWS-PRESS EXCLUSIVE
Fiesta spirits announced 2020 Spirit Alena Velasco and Junior Spirit Alexandra Nocker see their names on the marquee of the Arlington Theatre
COURTESY PHOTOS
A Santa Barbara County Air Support helicopter makes a water drop on the south flank of the Drum Fire.
Brush fire burns 600 acres Blaze west of Buellton at 10% containment By MITCHELL WHITE NEWS-PRESS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
A wind-driven two-alarm brush fire that broke out Sunday afternoon burned an estimated 600 acres off State Route 246 west of Buellton, authorities said. The Drum Fire was reported at 12:53 p.m. in the 7300 block of the 246 near Domingos Road. Santa Barbara County Fire
Department crews arrived on scene and found the fire burning east at a rapid rate of spread with multiple structures threatened, according to fire officials. An evacuation order was issued for a time north of the 246 and east of Domingos Road to Highway 101, which included the Bobcat Springs area north Please see FIRE on A2
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Alena Velasco, 18, reacts after learning she would be the 2020 Spirit of Fiesta on Sunday. Ms. Velasco is a recent graduate of Lompoc High.
By PAUL GONZALEZ NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Political unrest and public health concerns faded into the background for one Sunday afternoon as two young women took on the mantle of Old Spanish Days spirits. Recent Lompoc High School graduate Alena Velasco, 18, is the 2020 Spirit of Fiesta and Vieja Valley Elementary School fourth grader Alexandra Nocker, 10, is the Junior Spirit. This year’s El Presidente Erik Davis met the girls and their families in front of the theater fountain to give them the good news in person. The News-Press got an exclusive first look at the announcement event. When Ms. Velasco turned the corner into the theatre, Mr. Davis and his wife, Old Spanish Days spokeswoman Angelique Davis greeted her. Ms. Velasco bent over with emotion as Mr. and Mrs. Davis presented her with a bouquet of flowers and her Spirit of Fiesta sash. The Spirit and Junior Spirit of Fiesta are the public faces of the event and represent the “charm and beauty of the culture” of Old Spanish Days. After an emotional moment with her parents and a quick photo shoot, Mr. and Mrs. Davis took Ms. Velasco to the front of the theater so she could see her name emblazoned on the marquee. “I’m really happy because I’ve been working for this for a long time,” she told the News-Press. “I tried out two years ago in my sophomore year and it was a really good experience. I took a break for my junior year and I wanted to do it again this year because I’ve fought a lot to be where I am. My sophomore year I had no confidence. This year I had more and I’m glad I did and I believed in myself.” Ms. Velasco earned a 4.0 GPA for every semester of her high school career and will attend Allan Hancock College in the fall to study cosmetology. She has been a dancer for 14 years and performed everything from flamenco routines for Garcia Dance Studio to hip-hop sets for her school dance team. She also pursued choreography and singing and volunteers at local elementary schools and convalescent homes. “In high school I started to appreciate it (dance) more. I realized it was an outlet for me to express myself and get out all my frustrations. It’s always been there for me and I’m very grateful for dance. It just means being happy and expressing yourself.” Ms. Velasco said it wasn’t always easy to balance her classwork and extracurricular Please see FIESTA on A7
A Calfire S-2 makes a Phos-Check drop Sunday afternoon on the south flank of the Drum Fire, which was burning off State Route 246 west of Buellton.
SB Council to discuss budget changes By MITCHELL WHITE NEWS-PRESS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Newly minted 2020 Junior Spirit Alexandra Nocker, 10, is all smiles as Old Spanish Days spokeswoman Angelique Davis puts on her sash. Alexandra is a Vieja Valley Elementary School fourth grader.
Ms. Velasco, left, and Alexandra pose in front of the Arlington Theatre.
The Santa Barbara City Council will hold a special meeting tonight to review adjustments to the fiscal year 2021 recommended budget. After preparing the recommended budget, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a substantial impact to local revenues, with current estimates showing a revenue loss of $26.5 million for fiscal year 2020, $24 million for fiscal year 2021. The impact to the city’s general fund is estimated to be $12.5 million in FY 20 and $10 million in FY 2021. It remains unclear if the city will receive any state or federal relief, according to the staff report. To close the budget gap, the city is using a four-pronged approach, which includes service reductions at the department level, deferring capital expenditures, labor concessions and use of reserves. Department reductions in the amount of $6.5 million are proposed. The general fund capital budget has been cut in half, currently proposed at
$400,000, down from the original $800,000. This includes changes to ADA-related projects, though city staff believes these projects will still be accomplished using Measure C funds, which are projected to be reduced from $26.8 million to $22.8 million, according to the staff report. The reduction plan estimates approximately $1.6 million in salary budget reductions via labor concessions. “It is likely that most of the contingency reserves will be used to fill the gap in Fiscal Year 2020 as a result of revenue losses from COVID-19,” the staff report reads. “One of the balancing measures will be to utilize additional contingency reserves and possibly some disaster reserves, to fill the remaining gap.” The recently merged Santa Barbara and Goleta Chamber of Commerce is submitting an economic development and business recruitment proposal, which would help establish a new economic development division to oversee and manage multiple revitalization efforts. Please see BUDGET on A8
ins ide
LOTTERY
Comics................. A6 Local................. A 2-8 Obituaries............. A8
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 21-25-30-34-42 Meganumber: 18
Sunday’s DAILY 4: 9-8-5-2
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 9-14-57-67-70 Meganumber: 2
Sunday’s FANTASY 5: 4-9-16-29-39
Sunday’s DAILY DERBY: 03-09-06 Time: 1:44.67
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 2-12-32-50-65 Meganumber: 5
Soduku................. A5 Weather................ A8
Sunday’s DAILY 3: 7-4-2 / Midday 6-1-3