HAPPY NEW YEAR! Our 166th Year
The path away from ‘The Twilight Zone’
New year brings new laws into effect California legislation covers everything from zoning to minimum wage By FORREST MCFARLAND NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
New California laws begin to take effect today as the new year starts. The nonprofit newsroom CalMatters reported that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 770 new laws in 2021. While the timeline for these laws varies, there are several major laws taking effect at the turn of the year. The minimum wage in California is officially changing. As of today, businesses
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News-Press Co-Publisher Wendy McCaw.
By WENDY MCCAW NEWS-PRESS CO-PUBLISHER
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or the past two years, I’ve heard numerous people comment that the world today is like an episode from the “Twilight Zone.” Everything seems to be upside down. The things we assumed were dependable have unraveled. The rules we followed have been broken. The leaders we believed in have failed. Like the “Twilight Zone,” the future looks unpredictable. Unlike the “Twilight Zone,” there are no commercial breaks where we can run to the kitchen and get a reprieve from the drama (as well as a snack). Unfortunately, there is no Rod Serling to guide us through this realm. We’ve seen the macabre twists, but the moral of this never-ending saga is yet to appear. Like the episode where that bank teller who yearns to have more time to read and gets his wish when he becomes the sole survivor of a nuclear holocaust, have we as a people wanted more free time and now have that wish granted? Except freedom really isn’t part of the formula. Yes, we now have lots of time to read at home but we are no longer a free people. We are captive to bureaucratic baloney. One week we have to follow this mandate or that and the next it has all changed. The ever-moving goal posts of not knowing what or whom to believe makes one distrustful of those who are in power. In Santa Barbara, we have been witness to a depressing descent into hopelessness. How many businesses on State Street and other oncethriving thoroughfares have gone dark? How many hard-working shopkeepers, restaurateurs and service providers have disappeared? Our streets are littered with debris, our walls are defaced with graffiti, and the transient population has taken over our once-pristine piece of paradise. As a community, we have created numerous rescue services and welfare programs at great cost to taxpayers, but it hasn’t worked. In fact, it seems to encourage bad behavior and a reliance upon handouts instead of inspiring transients to become contributors to our society. Where is that guardian angel of Santa Barbara who can find a solution? There is one thing that the “Twilight Zone” offered in many episodes: hope. That is what we now need to hold onto tightly. With hope we can cause change. By striving to be better driven by the spirit of hope, things around us will also become better. If you are fortunate to have Please see TWILIGHT on A2
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amount of clothing a worker produces. Prior to this, garment workers were effectively getting paid as low as $3 an hour, according to CalMatters. The new law also holds big-box retailers accountable for garment workers’ wages rather than just the third-party manufacturers where the retailers outsource labor. And to address the California housing crisis, lawmakers passed new laws allowing builders to develop duplexes or several houses on properties that were previously zoned as “single-family.”
Additionally, smaller apartment buildings are now able to be built near public transit, allowing developments to skip environmental review. These new zoning laws do not apply to areas deemed historically significant or environmentally sensitive. While ideally this provides more affordable housing for lower-income individuals, critics argue this law may disproportionately benefit big-name Please see LAWS on A6
Mask mandate extended SB County requires indoor face coverings through Feb. 1 By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
A coyote pauses while on the prowl on the fields off Farren Road this week in western Goleta.
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department has extended the indoor mask mandate for another month. The extension will last until 5 p.m. Feb. 1 unless it’s extended again or revised. The order requires all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, to wear face coverings when indoors in public settings, with limited exceptions. Earlier, Dr. Henning Ansorg, the county public health officer, told the News-Press that each extension is for one month. As of Dec. 20, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have categorized the COVID-19 community transmission level as “high” in California and Santa Barbara County. Since Dec. 25, the county has had a case rate of 33.5 cases per 100,000 people and a test positivity of 9.5%, according to the public health department. Before the mask mandate can be ended, the county case rate should be seven cases per 100,000 people for three consecutive weeks, according to the public health department. Additionally, hospitalizations should be low and stable for at least three days, the department said in a news release. Local health officials said they will consider these metrics, along with factors such Please see MASKS on A2
TRIBUTE
Known for characters on shows such as “The Golden Girls” and “Hot in Cleveland,” Betty White died Friday. She was 99.
Betty White dies just short of her 100th birthday Star knew how to make viewers laugh with her memorable characters By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
Sue Ann Nivens knew how to leave Lou Grant speechless. No wonder. The “Mary Tyler Moore Show” character, who had the “Happy Homemaker” show on WJM-TV, was played by a comedic actress who knew how to effectively show Sue Ann’s unwavering crush on Lou. The character
also liked to cheerfully (and mercilessly) tease Mary Richards with a twinkle in her eye before she walked out of the newsroom gracefully. That was Betty White, a forever young actress whose characters got the last word. Or at least the last laugh. That certainly was the case on NBC’s “The Golden Girls,” in which Ms. White, with the twinkle still in her eye, played
the scatterbrained Rose Nylund and made her lovable. Decades later on TV Land’s “Hot in Cleveland,” the Emmy-winning actress played Elka Ostrovsky, who spoke her mind and made the studio audience (and people watching at home) laugh. Ms. White has left the world her legacy of comedy. Please see WHITE on A2
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with 26 or more employees are required to pay at least $15 an hour. Businesses with fewer employees are required to pay $14 an hour this year, but will be required under this law to increase it to $15 an hour in 2023. Tangentially, the Garment Worker Protection Act was passed, cracking down on how manufacturers pay garment workers. The law was reintroduced by state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, D-Madera, and makes employers pay an hourly wage rather than paying according to the
Coyote near Farren Road
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Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A6
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 1-29-30-43-47 Mega: 3
Friday’s DAILY 4: 1-0-5-5
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 2-5-30-46-61 Mega: 8
Friday’s FANTASY 5: 8-30-31-35-36
Friday’s DAILY DERBY: 12-08-05 Time: 1:47.38
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 2-6-9-33-39 Meganumber: 11
Friday’s DAILY 3: 1-1-9 / Midday 5-7-9