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Storm leaves icy roads
Local party chairs react to Biden’s speech By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Local chairs of both the Democratic and Republican parties believe that the promises made by President Joe Biden on Thursday night can be accomplished. During Mr. Biden’s first national address since taking office, he promised vaccine eligibility for every adult by May 1, the ability to celebrate July 4 with family members, and 100 million vaccines administered by his 60th day in office. Darcel Elliot, the newly elected chair of the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party, told the News-Press that she thought the president’s speech was “very promising and exciting.” “I think that there may be some trepidation from people because we had the previous president make many comments all the time about setting goals for the country to reopen and all that stuff and none of those were met,” Ms. Elliot said. “I think the difference is that this includes a pretty concrete plan and also funding to go along with the plan. There might be some folks a little traumatized from the last four years, but it looks really promising and feels RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOs
A mid-week storm system left icy conditions on Santa Barbara roadways Wednesday, causing poor driving conditions and traffic near East Camino Cielo.
More rain possible Sunday night, Monday By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
The forecast is calling for a sunny and dry weekend following mid-week storms that dropped rain and ice and even capped the mountains with snow in Santa Barbara County. Wednesday’s storm system capped Santa Barbara County mountains with snow, while leaving wet and slushy conditions on county roads and freeways. The storm system made its way across Santa Barbara from Tuesday evening through
Thursday afternoon, with showers tapering off Thursday evening. Storms rolled through parts of Santa Barbara County Friday afternoon, bringing rain showers across the county. The brunt of the storm came Wednesday, bringing rain across the county and leaving icy conditions on State Route 154, leading to road closures and an eight-car pile-up near Cold Spring Bridge Wednesday morning. Snow and hail created slippery conditions on a northbound Highway 101 ramp
at Arrellaga Street Wednesday night, leading to a pile-up on the highway. Total accumulations for the storm reached 1.57 inches of rain in Santa Barbara, 1.31 inches in Montecito and 0.82 inches in Goleta, according to National Weather Service data. The highest rain total in the county was 1.70 inches recorded at Tecolote Canyon. Today’s forecast calls for a high in the mid 60s with sunny skies. With the exception of patchy low clouds and fog along local beaches late Friday, conditions
are expected to remain clear through Sunday. The National Weather Service is calling for a 30% chance of rain Sunday night through Monday morning. According to Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert from AccuWeather, rain accumulations will likely stay under a tenth of an inch during Monday morning rain showers. Conditions are expected to clear up by Monday night and remain clear throughout the week. email: mhirneisen@newspress.com
The recent storm left small amounts of snow in the Los Padres National Forest, as seen here east of State Route 154 on Thursday morning.
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Royal Family responds to Prince Harry, Meghan allegations By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Multiple members of the royal family are breaking their silence after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey sent shockwaves around the world and alleged damaging claims against the Royal Family. The ex-royals met with their Montecito neighbor Ms. Winfrey in an interview that aired Sunday night. The interview exposed various claims about the royal family, including an alleged conversation on race that shocked Ms. Winfrey and millions watching alike. During the interview, the Montecito residents claimed a member of the royal family raised concerns over “how dark the skin color” of the couple’s unborn child would be prior to the birth of their son, Archie. In a four-sentence statement released Tuesday, Queen Elizabeth II issued a response that called these claims “concerning.” “The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” the Queen said in her statement. “The issues raised, particularly of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much-loved members of the family.” After Sunday’s interview, Prince
Harry and Ms. Markle told Ms. Winfrey they wanted her to clarify that the comments about the baby’s skin color were not made by either the Queen or by Prince Phillip, but by another unnamed member of the family. Prince William, Harry’s brother and the Duke of Cambridge, responded to the issue during an interview with reporters Thursday, becoming the first royal to publicly reject the allegations mentioned in Sunday’s interview. “We’re very much not a racist family,” William told reporters Thursday after leaving an event at a London school. He later added that he has not spoken to Prince Harry since the interview, but he plans to. With the eyes of millions on the royal family, experts are unsure of what comes next or how this will impact the royal’s reputation in the long run. “The monarchy’s response was so brief as to be dismissive,” Erika Rappaport, head of UCSB’s history department and expert in Modern British history, told the News-Press in an email. “It didn’t mention support for mental health treatment, more general support for opposition to racism no matter where it occurs, nor did it more generally condemn racism. I would have really loved to see a statement in which the monarchy said something about how we want to celebrate the religious, racial, etc. diversity that makes Modern Britain a great country.” Please see ROYALS on A6
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ins id e Classified............... B4 Life..................... B1-2
really promising.” She said she believes his vaccine promise is “absolutely possible if we stay on track,” taking into account a steady increase in vaccines locally for the past two weeks and the addition of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Regarding the commander in chief’s American Rescue Plan that he recently signed into law, Ms. Elliot said she thinks the $1,400 stimulus payments to residents is “nowhere near enough for folks who are really struggling.” “I think it’s important for people to recognize that in addition to the direct payments, there’s also rental assistance and unemployment benefits, so that’s not the only funding mechanism,” she said. “There’s other relief available, they just require a little more jumping through hoops. My preference would be to make it as easy as possible for people to be able to survive this financially, but I do think it’s important to note that that’s not the only form of financial aid available for people.” Bobbi McGinnis, chair of the county’s Republican Party, told the News-Press that she thought President Biden “looked better than I’ve seen him look since Please see biden on A6
Obituaries............. A6 Sudoku................. A3 Weather................ A6
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 5-6-20-40-42 Meganumber: 27
Friday’s DAILY 4: 5-5-9-6
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 2-24-25-31-65 Meganumber: 18
Friday’s FANTASY 5: 4-16-24-29-38
Friday’s DAILY DERBY: 02-09-08 Time: 1:48.91
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 17-18-37-44-53 Meganumber: 18
Friday’s DAILY 3: 4-6-8 / Sunday’s Midday 2-7-1