Defeat from the jaws of victory
Pendants to benefit ocean organization Former resident creates jewelry to benefit Project Zero - A4
Our 165th Year
UC Davis pulls away in the second half to down UCSB - A7
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Storm cleanup underway
Johnson & Johnson announces new COVID-19 vaccine By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The United States could be receiving a third COVID-19 vaccine as soon as next month. Johnson & Johnson announced Friday that its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine was shown to be 66% effective in preventing moderate and severe disease in a global Phase 3 trial, but 85% effective against severe disease, according to national media reports. The preliminary statement says the vaccine was 72% efficacious in preventing COVID-19 in the U.S. population, but only 57% efficacious in preventing COVID-19 in South Africa, where a new mutation, B.1.351, is now the dominant virus strain. The company plans to apply for U.S. Food and Drug Administration emergency-use authorization on Feb. 5, and at that time, the complete set of
trial data will be made available for review by experts as well as the medical community and the public. The authorization could be granted as soon as Feb. 12. The vaccine requires only one shot, and can be stored in a refrigerator for three months and stay viable under those conditions. Johnson & Johnson has produced 7 million doses as of Friday, and is slated to have 30 million by the end of April. “Providing the FDA EUA is granted in mid-February, I am excited to see another vaccine to become available in the near future,” Dr. Henning Ansorg, Santa Barbara County’s public health officer, told the NewsPress. “The simplicity of the one shot regimen and the less complicated storage requirements will make it a preferred vaccine option for certain situations (smaller practices, use in mobile Please see VACCINE on A8
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Following the first significant rainfall of the year, many creeks began moving for the first time in several months. This led to some debris build up, as shown here in Mission Creek at East Beach.
City picks up trash and debris mobilized by rain storm By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
As per usual with rain storms in Santa Barbara, the downpours over the week moved around a lot of trash and debris throughout the city. The city’s Creeks Division, along with many other city departments and nonprofits, is working to clean it all up and prevent any further runoff into the ocean. The fact that this was the first significant rain storm in several months means that the creeks began moving for the first time in several months as well. According to Creeks Division Manager Cameron Benson, there’s always a certain amount of debris when the creeks get moving. “The thing I’ve seen most down at the beaches is woody debris, branches and tree trunks, that kind of thing,” he told the NewsPress. “There’s some kelp you get when you have high surf and storm situations and that’s mostly what I see.” Regarding trash scattered around, Mr. Benson said other than picking it up after the storm, litter must be prevented before the storm occurs. The city’s prevention efforts include providing public service announcements and sufficient trash receptacles for the public. In addition, city crews ensure all creek channels are cleared of any trash as the rainy season approaches, in addition to the city’s street sweeping program, 1,200 storm drains and a full-time contractor that goes out four to five days a week to clean trash out of creeks and along the beaches. Mr. Benson said that 80% of Santa Barbara’s curb miles are cleaned through the street sweeping program, picking up more than 4 million pounds of debris every year. The Creeks
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
GameStop’s stock skyrocketed this week as amateur investors waged war on hedge-fund short-sellers. Shown here is the exterior of the GameStop store in Paseo Nuevo.
Amateur investors take on Wall Street By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
The city’s Creeks Division, along with many other city departments and nonprofits, is working to clean up all the debris and prevent any further runoff into the ocean.
Division crews remove more than 50 tons of trash every year from the creeks and ditches. “I have a crew out on the beach today that’s picking up trash,” Mr. Benson said on Friday. “Mostly what I saw down there around creek mouths and beaches was plastic bottles, bottle caps, some glass bottles, bits of styrofoam. It’s generally small, pollutable stuff like that.” He added that not all of what ends up on Santa Barbara beaches came from Santa Barbara or its creeks; rather, it comes from up the coast. Those cleaning up this time around have encountered additional problems with trash from homeless encampments, which could be attributed to the Centers for Disease Control and
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Prevention guidance that advises leaving encampments alone so as to avoid the spread of COVID-19. “It definitely became a bigger issue this year than it had in the past as a result of that (guidance),” Mr. Benson said. “There’s trash, garbage and human waste there, and that’s a very serious pollution issue and contamination issue. “There’s also a human safety issue for people who are camping down there. Not only all their stuff is washed away, but people could be washed away.” He said that towards the end of 2020, the Creeks Division focused on removing encampments from the creeks, and it took several weeks. “You’ve got two public safety things pushing against each
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other,” Mr. Benson said. “We can’t have people using the creeks as a latrine… The city is working to ensure the public health and safety, and not just blindly plowing ahead and letting those other public health hazards develop.” However, he said the good news is the forecast indicates that the bulk of the rain has passed, and the creeks are now flowing. “I went out to check out our projects and where we’ve had issues in the past,” Mr. Benson said. “I didn’t see any new issues, but a lot of parents and kids were coming out and standing on the bridges, watching the creeks fill up with water. “It’s really nice to see that and I encourage people to get out and Please see debris on A8
It’s been nothing short of an eventful week on Wall Street, as amateur investors sought to overthrow hedge-fund shortsellers by taking GameStop stock to unfathomable heights. In just a matter of days, shares of GameStop surged up to 1,600% as individual investors rapidly purchased stocks in an effort to short-squeeze hedge fund investors. During the week, individual investors sought to catch hedge-fund short-sellers on other fronts by purchasing mass amounts of AMC Entertainment Holdings and Nokia stock as well. “It’s a situation that just got crazy,” Scott Teter, wealth management partner at Channel Wealth in Santa Barbara, told the News-Press. Short-selling can be a risky business, but it is a bet a lot of hedge-fund investors are willing to make due to its moneymaking potential. Essentially, when an investor wants to shortsell, they borrow shares from another investor and sell them immediately. Then, when the price of the stock goes down, they repurchase the shares and keep the difference.
Oftentimes, hedge-fund investors will short-sell with stocks they believe are going to drop in price. In the case of what has happened on Wall Street this week, many hedge fund investors had been betting against GameStop, assuming it was going to decrease in price. Being aware of this, amateur investors began buying GameStop stock in mass amounts to drive up the price of the stock, exposing short selling hedge funds to monumental losses. Many of these amateur investors were spurred by a Reddit page called r/wallstreetbets, where users are colluding to wage war on Wall Street. “Friends, we’ve done good,” one Reddit user wrote on the page. “We’re writing history, doing incredible things. Brokers are on their knees. Short selling hedge funds are over.” Though many individual investors are riding on a high now, stockbrokers and analysts suspect the mass purchasing of these stocks will lead to huge losses in the end for many individuals. “Although I think there are some individuals who made a ton of money from (GameStop stock), there’s a lot of people who are Please see gamestop on A3
Obituaries............. A8 Sudoku................. A6 Weather................ A8
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 9-10-16-30-46 Meganumber: 13
Friday’s DAILY 4: 2-1-2-4
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 4-44-58-59-70 Meganumber: 3
Friday’s FANTASY 5: 3-6-14-17-32
Friday’s DAILY DERBY: 07-06-11 Time: 1:45.46
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 17-33-35-42-52 Meganumber: 9
Friday’s DAILY 3: 3-1-1 / Sunday’s Midday 0-4-0