Santa Barbara News-Press: March 25, 2023

The news about Vladimir Putin

Columnist Robert Eringer reviews the headlines - A3

‘Women of Inspiration’

GIrls Inc. of Carpinteria to honor community leaders - B1

MARCH 25, 2023

Post-tornado cleanup

Habitat Santa Barbara provides help to Carpinteria homeowners

Santa Barbara company buys 65-room SLO hotel

By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS

Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County (Habitat Santa Barbara) mobilized a team of volunteers and staff Friday to assist Carpinteria homeowners impacted by Tuesday’s tornado.

“It went really well. We had about 22 people including staff and volunteers who came out to help with the project,” Susan Renehan, the nonprofit’s director of philanthropy and external affairs,

told the News-Press. “We were already working in the community with low-income homeowners. So when the tornado happened on Tuesday, we were already in a great position to come in and help with cleanup and debris removal.”

The volunteer work took place at the Sandpiper Mobile Home Village, which was directly in the path of the tornado. A rare event in Southern California, Tuesday’s wind event caused major damage to more than two dozen homes.

“Disaster recovery is an important part of the work of

Habitat for Humanity,” Jessica de L’Arbre, Habitat Santa Barbara’s CEO, said. “Building and repairing homes is at the heart of everything we do.

“Natural disasters often disproportionately impact lowincome community members, and we are grateful that we can be a part of the response to this extreme weather event,” she said.

“With the recent extreme weather, including Tuesday’s tornado, we have had a huge increase in calls from low-income households asking for assistance with roof

repairs.

“We are honored to respond to the call for help — for the individual homes as well as to revitalize the community as a whole with clean-up and safety improvements.”

Volunteers on Friday also assisted homeowners in learning about Habitat Santa Barbara’s Home Repair Program, which provides critical home repairs to low-income homeowners.

“Everyone was feeling really

‘It is

one of the gems of the Central Coast,’ says Andrew Firestone

By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Andrew Firestone and Jess Parker of the Santa Barbarabased hospitality development company StonePark Capital have announced their acquisition of Hotel Cerro, a 65-room hotel located in downtown San Luis Obispo (1125 Garden St.).

With a full-service restaurant and bar, state-of-the-art spa and wellness center, event space, and the only rooftop pool and bar in San Luis Obispo, Hotel Cerro is being promoted by the owners as the premier luxury destination for travelers to the Central Coast.

“We will be doing branding and design work on the interior, but we will not be touching the exterior,” Mr. Firestone told the News-Press Friday. “It’s a beautiful hotel with a cool combination of existing and new architecture. It fits so well into the downtown look and feel.

“It is open and operating; it is one of the gems of the Central Coast,” he said. “We will be welcoming guests with no interruption in service with upgrades. As we get into beautiful weather, we are heading into the busy travel season for San Luis Obispo and the Central Coast.”

Hotel Cerro will join the Autograph Collection Hotels, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio of 30 brands, with design and branding updates to begin

COURTESY PHOTO

Andrew Firestone and his wife Ivana stand outside Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo. Mr. Firestone and his business partner Jess Parker announced their company, Stone Capital, have acquired the luxury hotel.

immediately. This represents the third collaboration between Marriott International and StonePark Capital on the Central Coast . “This hotel is a hand-inglove fit with Marriott and the autograph collection,” said Mr.

Newsom wants Medi-Cal to pay rent for homeless

By TOM JOYCE THE CENTER SQUARE STAFF REPORTER

(The Center Square) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to use Medi-Cal funding for a new purpose: paying rent. Gov. Newsom has proposed using federal healthcare funds to cover at least six months of rent for homeless California residents and those close to losing their homes.

The governor asked President Joe Biden’s administration to approve a six-month “transitional rent” program under Medi-Cal, according to a report from Kaiser Health News.

California is modeling the program off of similar programs in Oregon and Arizona that have been previously approved by the federal government.

“I’ve been talking to the president,” Gov. Newsom told KHN. “We cannot do this alone.”

Proponents of the proposed program, including Gov. Newsom, argue that it will save taxpayers money since they will

Gov. Gavin

not have to pay as much for these people’s expenses in hospitals, nursing homes and prisons.

Bruce Alexander, a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services spokesperson, did not tell KHN if it plans to approve California’s plan.

Homelessness is a major issue in the state. California had

Please see NEWSOM on

STAFF WRITER

left, “We removed enough debris including plastic, corrugated plastic and metal to fill enough to fill an entire Dumpster plus a separate Dumpster of green waste that was on the roadways,” said Susan Renehan, Habitat Santa Barbara’s director of philanthropy and external affairs. At right, “Disaster

CLEAN-UP

Continued from Page A1

grateful to be there. We had longtime volunteers and some first-time volunteers. There was a lot of camaraderie and cooperation. People were feeling really grateful they could be there wanting to make sure homes and home owners were safe,” said Ms. Renehan.

“We removed enough debris including plastic, corrugated plastic and metal to fill enough to fill an entire Dumpster plus a separate Dumpster of green waste that was on the roadways. We also did general cleanup, cleaning up trash and debris in the community.”

Habitat Santa Barbara said mobile and modular home

communities are

a critical part of Santa Barbara’s affordable housing stock that must be preserved. The organization has provided repairs in this Carpinteria community for years prior to the 2023 wind event.

“We want people to know about how we are familiar with this community, our year-round critical home repair program is available to low-income homeowners throughout South County,” said Ms. Renehan.

email: kzehnder@newspress.com

FYI

To learn more about Habitat of Humanity for Southern Santa Barbara, go to sbhabitat.org or call 805-6922226.

At left, Hotel Cerro boasts the only rooftop pool in San Luis Obispo. At right, “It’s a beautiful hotel with a cool combination of existing and new architecture,” Andrew Firestone said about Hotel Cerro.

FIRESTONE

Continued from Page A1

Firestone.

StonePark currently owns five hotel projects on the Central Coast representing 365 guest rooms.

After opening their first hotel in 2019 in San Luis Obispo, Mr. Firestone and Ms. Parker have been eager to increase their investment in the area.

“The Hotel Cerro fits into the downtown and the architecture is unassuming. It has a very subtle profile from the lobby,” said Mr. Firestone.

“But inside it is a beautifully designed and decorated interior that is warm and welcoming,” he said. “There is a luxury sense and feel without being overly fancy. The welcoming and warm atmosphere blends with the restaurant and interior courtyard.

“The hotel is a full package

Continued from Page A1

171,000 homeless people last year, according to federal estimates. The state has 30% of the country’s homeless population. Statewide, 5% of Medi-Cal patients account for 44% of the program’s spending. The homeless population contributes to this spending with frequent

with a great indoor/outdoor event space. It is a unique design and the architecture makes it unique,” he told the NewsPress. “We are excited to welcome Marriott’s platform to the premier destination of the central coast.”

FYI

Hotel Cerro is located at 1125 Garden St. in San Luis Obispo. For more information, visit https:// HotelCerro.com, call 805-548-1000 or email info@hotelcerro.com.

expect farmto table menu options. It rotates all the time being able to have a woodfire pizza oven whatever is in season we can incorporate,” said Mr. Firestone.

Hotel Cerro has the only rooftop pool and bar in San Luis Obispo.

Capital, and we feel that Hotel Cerro is an outstanding addition to their growing portfolio.” said Mark Crisci, AZUL Hospitality chief investment officer and principal.

Noted Mr. Firestone, “I think it is a really interesting and unique offering to bring a luxury fullservice property that doesn’t feel stuffy. It feels very, very Central Coast. It blends perfectly with downtown and feels like it is supposed to be there.

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Hotel Cerro includes both a rooftop bar and a full service restaurant and bar. “Brasserie SLO, the full service restaurant and bar, has its own look and feel,” Mr. Firestone explained. “We have a woodfire pizza oven and an open oak grill. This allows us to do interesting menu combinations. We have a lot of toys in the kitchen to offer a variety of farm-to-table offerings.

“We live in wine country and in farm country. Our guests come to

emergency room visits, according to a report from the Public Policy Institute of California.

“California emergency departments (EDs) treated about 143,000 people experiencing homelessness in 2019, according to hospital discharge records,” the report reads. “Almost half of homeless patients visited the ED four or more times in the year.” Health insurers generally oppose the idea, according to

“You can go and sit and enjoy unobstructed views of mountains and Central Coast and have food and cocktails poolside. We also have an edible garden on the roof of the second floor,” Mr. Firestone said.

This project represents the third collaboration between StonePark and AZUL Hospitality, whose team will be taking over operations of the hotel, restaurant, and spa.

“We’re so pleased to expand our relationship with StonePark

KHN, arguing that it would not save money.

Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the University of CaliforniaSan Francisco’s Center for Vulnerable, supports the plan. However, she said the state needs more housing stock to make it a reality.

“We can design incredible Medicaid policies to alleviate homelessness and pay for all the necessary supportive services,

“We are excited about this property and our guest enjoying the hotel and everything in SLO,” Mr. Firestone said. “My wife Ivana is really excited about this hotel and the full service spa. It really speaks to her.

“We are thrilled to be the stewards of this property and maximize the potential to invite guests from the state and the world to this luxury hotel and to SLO.” email: kzehnder@newspress.com

but without the adequate housing, frankly, it’s not going to work,” Dr. Kushel told KHN.

If the Biden administration approves California’s plan, homeless people could start receiving rental assistance via Medi-Cal by 2025. The program would cost $117 million per year, according to KHN. Thus far, 11,000 people have already enrolled for Medi-Cal housing services.

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COURTESY PHOTOS

A rare event in Southern California, Tuesday’s tornado caused major damage to more than two dozen homes at Sandpiper Mobile Home Village.

KENNETH SONG /NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS

These are some of the 22 people who worked Friday on cleanup at Sandpiper Mobile Home Village in Carpinteria.

Can You Talk Horse?

News revue: Catching up on the headlines about Vladimir Putin

“ARREST WARRANT ISSUED FOR VLADIMIR PUTIN BY INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT OVER UKRAINE WAR”

The world just became a much smaller place for Mad Vlad. This warrant specifically pertains to the kidnapping of Ukraine’s children and transporting them to Russia for adoption into foster families and “re-education.” (Can you imagine if this happened to your children?)

Other indictments will follow.

Poisonous Putin is now subject to arrest in multiple countries.

Only Monaco, which has so far evaded the sanctioning of Russian oligarchs, would likely protect him in Europe — so long as he pays off the palace pirates.

Dmitry (“Drunkard”) Medvedev, deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, referred to the warrant as toilet paper and, indeed, it seems appropriate that toilet paper may one day lead to this chronic crapper’s arrest. The Drunkard also threatened to launch a hypersonic missile at The Hague, “so look carefully at the sky,” he warned. (Another quart of Stoli, Dmitry?)

Meanwhile, Vlad continues to hide out in his closeted cowardice quarters (dispatching doppelgangers to public events) and is whispered to be privately “devastated” by the indictment.

He must also be held to account for the hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers whose deaths he has caused in pursuit of egoistic Yertle the Turtle imperialism.

WASHINGTON WHISPER

Russian armed forces: 165,713 dead.

Russian private military force: 53,492 dead.

Russian Guard: 7,144 dead.

Total: 226,349 dead.

This has resulted in hundreds of thousands of unhappy widows, children, mothers and fathers — all of whom will all be happy to see Mr. Putin account for the loss of their loved ones.

“’SCARFACE OLIGARCH’ WHO SOLD HARRY & MEGHAN

THEIR HOME FOR $14.7 MILLION DIES IN MOSCOW”

Our own Montecito Russian oligarch, Sergey Grishin, is the latest in a growing number of mystery deaths, believed to be Putin hits in retaliation for criticizing his war on Ukraine.

Cause of death at age 56: “Circulatory problems in his brain.”

Translation: Poison.

Sergey was nicknamed “Scarface Oligarch”after he bought (in 2008) the Montecito mansion where Al Pacino filmed the 1983 cult movie, “Scarface” (not because his third wife, Anna Fedoseeva, once beat him up and, well… scarred his face).

He made his money by committing, he said, “the largest bank fraud scheme ever,” gleefully proclaiming that he almost brought about the collapse of the Russian banking system.

Why stomach-turning Sergey returned to Russia when he was “under fire by the criminal world of Russia and by top government officials of Russia too” (he said) is anyone’s guess.

Maybe he missed borscht and braised cabbage.

“LAWYER WARNS PRINCE HARRY’S DRUG USE COULD THREATEN HIS U.S. VISA AFTER HE ADMITTED TAKING COCAINE, CANNABIS & MAGIC MUSHROOMS IN HIS MEMOIR & TV INTERVIEWS”

Should-a been damned if he did (visa disqualification) but now damned if he didn’t (lying on a visa application is grounds for deportation).

Harried Harry just doesn’t

seem to understand that you can’t have it both ways. You don’t get privacy if you turn yourself into a public figure with a book and media appearances, and you don’t get to remain royal if you renounce your royal workload, your family and your homeland.

“AMERICANS HEAD TO EUROPE FOR THE GOOD LIFE ON THE CHEAP”

It’s not just blue state taxburdened residents running to red states. Americans in record numbers are fleeing to Europe, especially Portugal, the new go-to (used to be Prague in the Czech Republic) where “the weather is pleasant, the lunches are long” and the cost-of-living is a breath of fresh air compared to the everinflationary U.S.

“CDC BOUGHT ACCESS TO AMERICANS’ PHONE LOCATION DATA TO MONITOR COMPLIANCE WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING & MORE”

I sincerely hope the CDC discovered that I was NEVER in compliance with their ridiculous lockdown, social distancing and mask policies.

I flew to Whitefish, Mont., where restaurants and bars were open and life went on as normal.

And despite Gov. Gruesome’s travel ban, I drove to Prescott, Ariz., where life went on as normal.

And I flew to Portland, Ore., where everything was locked down except “Defund the Police” morons who amassed in the streets I strolled.

And I set up my own table and chairs outside a restaurant on Coast Village Road in Montecito so I could enjoy my “to go” onsite with others despite someone wanting to sic the police on us. Although this person waited for over an hour, no cops ever showed. Perhaps they had more important things to do than enforce California’s autocratic and hypocritical governor’s mandate.

Only sheeple comply with irrational, politically motivated authority based on fabricated facts.

And sorry to say, this country is full of them.

“BILL MAHER TORCHES SAN FRANCISCO’S ‘CRAZY’

REPARATIONS PLAN: ‘THIS IS MADNESS’”

Five million dollars for each black resident? Plus forgiveness on mortgages and credit card debt?

This is beyond madness, not to mention reckless, stupid, inequitable and utter total nonsense — especially in a state that never allowed slavery.

As U.K. columnist John Junor used to write, “Pass the sick bag, Alice.”

“CNN ANCHOR ERIN BURNETT ADMITS EVIDENCE OF CHINESE MONEY TO BIDENS ‘DOESN”T LOOK GOOD’”

Not only doesn’t it “look good.” It ISN’T good. It is bad, very bad. And reminds me of my column “A Rafter of Turkeys” over Thanksgiving 2021 when I reported the shenanigans of many Biden family members. Under Joe Biden’s presidency, the United States has come to resemble the widespread

dysfunction and corruption of his own kooky clan.

“It’s not true,” Joe says, referring to hard evidence that members of his family received more than million dollars from China (the first of many transactions to be uncovered).

Truth is, Joe wouldn’t recognize the truth if it slapped him across the face.

“KATHY HOCHUL’s PLAN TO FORCE NYC SUBURBS TO APPROVE MORE HOUSING SPARKS BATTLE”

Smart people wanted Mario’s little boy, Andrew Cuomo, out of the New York governor’s mansion. But be careful what you wish for. Because New York now has Princess Momby from “Return to Oz.”

Kind of like wanting Joe Biden to give up his pretense of being mentally sound (not to mention honest) and turning the White House over to the cackling Kamel. (Can anyone possibly imagine her up against Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping?)

“CLEANLINESS SEXIST & RACIST”

Professor Jenna Drenten of Loyola University (Chicago) declares that “cleanliness” should be canceled.

No, this is not an April Fool’s prank.

Writes Prof Drenten: “Cleanliness has historically been used as a cultural gatekeeping mechanism to reinforce status distinctions based on a vague understanding of ‘niceness’: nice people with nice yards, in nice houses, make for nice neighborhoods. What lies beneath this anti-messiness, proniceness stance is the history of classist, racist and sexist social structures.”

Chuckle, oink, barf.

“ELIZABETH WARREN CALLS FOR FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM PROBE & BLAMES WEAKENING REGULATIONS AFTER SILICON VALLEY BANK IMPLOSION”

I have never been a fan of Sen. Warren, D-Mass., but she is absolutely correct: Our nation’s banking system is little more than a legalized Ponzi scheme and should be thoroughly investigated, though this will never happen due to the overwhelming influence of bankers, their lobbyists and paidoff politicians.

Ask yourself: Why are many national and international (supposedly) solvent banks scurrying around like banshees to absolve regional involvement banks of their sins (gross mismanagement and disregard for their depositors)? Why should they be so concerned about the financial health of their competitors? Because the big boys are frightened of contagion, from which they are not immune.

When it comes to bankers, their first tactic always is to plead for a government (taxpayer) bailout. And if they get it, their executives celebrate by awarding themselves huge bonuses (your money). But if that fails (as it should) their mantra becomes “all for one, one for all,” lest their house of cards comes crumbling down, and we the people (mostly sheeple) discover, to our detriment, that our financial emperor has neither clothes nor the money we entrusted to their safekeeping. A run on banks is rhythmical, not isolated. Always keep enough cash on hand to see yourself through bank crises.

“STEVEN SEAGAL TO HELP SET UP INTERNATIONAL PRO-RUSSIA MOVEMENT” and “RUSSIA RECRUITS STEVEN SEAGAL TO TEACH MARTIAL ARTS TO ITS SOLDIERS”

For those who missed it, here

Please see ERINGER on A8

At Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center in the Santa Ynez Valley, Bruno, a handsome horse, goes into a hyperbolic chamber. Troy Herthel, DVM, explains how it works.

Michele Grace Morrow, the Animal Communicator, explains how she developed her ability to communicate with horses, dogs and even alligators. At Happy Endings Horse Sanctuary, C.C. Beaudette-Wellman explains what starting a nonpro t horse sanctuary entails.

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Vladimir Putin Prince Harry Meghan Markle

VAN WIE STONEY, Pamela

Well adored Santa Barbara educator, businesswoman, community volunteer, and devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend, Pamela Van Wie Stoney, passed away March 20, 2023, after a courageous and miraculous battle with CNS cancer for over 12 years. Pam was born June 1, 1940, in Glendale, CA to Marybelle and Ralph Spencer Van Wie where she enjoyed dancing and teaching ballet. She was a Golden Dragon! A loyal alumna of Glendale High School, she met annually with her High School friends. Attending UCSB brought her to Santa Barbara where she was an active sorority member and cheerleader, graduating in 1962 with a major in Elementary Education. She served her alma mater as a 6 year member of the UCSB Alumni Association Board of Directors and served as an advisor to her Chi Omega sorority chapter for many years. Pam was a teacher at Roosevelt School, St. Michael’s Nursery School, and Monte Vista School in addition to owning 2 Hallmark Shops. The Courthouse Docents, Assistance League, and P.E.O. Chapter IJ were supported by her leadership skills far into her retirement. She enjoyed travelling the globe with friends and family. Pam is lovingly survived by her husband John, son Todd (Sylvia) Stoney, daughter Lisa (Brendan) Busse, and grandchildren Shaye and Colton Busse and Sara Stoney. Special thanks to the staffs at Cottage Hospital, Sansum Clinic, and Serenity House, plus Dr. Mukul Gupta and Dr. Alois Zauner. In lieu of flowers please make donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Celebration of Life will be held April 13th, at Harry’s Plaza Cafe, Santa Barbara from 3-5 PM.

LONG, Elaine Gilbertson

12/16/1937 - 3/10/2023

Elaine Long passed away peacefully on March 10. One of two children, born Elaine Constance Gilbertson in Richland Center, Wisconsin to George and Harriet Gilbertson.

Elaine attended high school in Madison, Wisconsin where was elected Homecoming Queen her Senior year. Later she attended University of Wisconsin, Madison where she met her future husband, James. Elaine graduated college and worked for the County of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She married James on April 23, 1960 and later had two boys, James Jr and John. In 1966 Elaine and her family moved to Santa Barbara, then a few years later to Galveston, Texas for a couple of years, then back to Racine, Wisconsin.

In 1972 Elaine, James and her two boys came back to Santa Barbara, calling it home for the rest of her life. Elaine enjoyed the Santa Barbara weather and being able to play tennis year round. She was very active in the tennis community and served on the board of directors for the Santa Barbara Tennis Patrons.

Elaine was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, James. She is survived by her sister Edie, two sons, James Jr and John and 4 grandchildren, Stephen, Matthew, Emily and Christopher. The family would like to thank the wonderful caregivers, especially Aires for her loving attention, at the Casa Naomi where she spent the last three years of her life.

A private funeral service will be held on Wednesday, March 29, at 10am at the Santa Barbara Cemetery.

HEIDENRICH, Wilma M.

Wilma M. Heidenrich, 92, went to be with her loving Savior on Friday March 17, 2023, while still living at her home in Carpinteria, CA.

Wilma was born May 23, 1930, in Ypsilanti, Michigan to Clifford & Ola Smith. Wilma married Fred on May 28, 1949, in Wayne, Michigan. They moved to California in 1965 and lived in Carpinteria for 51 years. Fred died in 2005.

Wilma was a lifetime member of the W.E.L.S. and was currently a founding member at Our Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church in Santa Barbara. Wilma also attended church at Prince of Peace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thousand Oaks, CA with her daughter Janet.

Wilma worked at various places in food service while finally retiring in 1988, from Aliso Public School in Carpinteria. Wilma worked tirelessly as a volunteer for the Carpinteria Historical Museum as both a docent and a “hot dog wrapper”. She also volunteered weekly at Friends of the Library. In the past Wilma also helped at the Braille Institute, was a driver for H.E.L.P, and lead many bible lessons at a local nursing home. She was an active member of the Carpinteria Senior Group and loved playing Bunco.

Wilma leaves behind her 2 daughters; Janet Beilke of Ojai, CA and Charlotte (Rev Michael) Bater of Onsted, Michigan; 4 grandchildren Brittany (Adam) Dutter, Amanda (Philip) Gronholz, Rev Noah (Missy) Bater, and Dustin Beilke, as well as 9 great-grandchildren; Georgia, Brayden, Addison, Harper, Emersyn, Hudson, Chase, Thaddeus, & Finneas.

A memorial service will be held at Our Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church, 770 Vala Drive, Santa Barbara, CA on Thursday March 30, 2023, at 11am with Rev. J Prober & Rev. N Bater officiating. The service will also be live-streamed. www.orlcsb.net.

In lieu of flowers you may remember Wilma by making contributions to Our Redeemer and Prince of Peace Lutheran churches.

KELLY, Dorothy

“Auntie Dorothy loves us so much, that she makes us love ourselves.”

Dorothy Ireland was born October 2nd, 1925, in Liverpool, England to loving parents, Isaac and Mary Ireland. Her parents, known to everyone as Eric and Polly, raised her in a happy home with music, dancing and many warm family gatherings.

At age 13, Dorothy’s brother, John was born. She loved being his big sister. When their father passed away, she took on many extra responsibilities.

Dorothy vividly recalled World War II, the air raids, the time hiding in bomb shelters. Her memories were rich with stories of peril and camaraderie and moments of great levity that kept them going. She recalled family and friends as well as strangers truly being there for each other. They often gathered at each others’ homes and sang together. This love of music and gatherings stayed with her throughout her entire life.

As a young woman, Dorothy worked at Lockheed, where she met her husband, an American named Richard Kelly. They married, and moved to America, where she would settle in and bring her mother Polly and brother, John to join her, first in California, then Long Island, then back to Los Angeles, California. She had a successful career at AT&T as a manager and expertly ran her department. Dorothy didn’t have her own children but her maternal instincts were always evident as she absolutely adored every child she ever met. When her brother, John, and his wife, Barbara, became parents to three daughters, she poured her affection onto them for their entire lives. Dorothy and Richard moved to Santa Barbara in the 1980s after she retired. Her love has continued to flow into her great-nephews and nieces, and also to their children.

Dorothy did volunteer work including, AIDSCAP where she put her considerable cooking skills to work to lovingly feed people, and she and her friend Ron Johnson sang together and traveled to residential facilities. bringing joy and entertainment.

Dorothy had the heart to truly tune in to people and get to know them. She cared about others deeply with a genuine empathy that is rare. She also had the courage to stand up for what is right and stand against what is not. As early as the 1940s when she first came to America, she stood up against segregation and racism and was continually willing to do so at all costs. She came to the defense of people who were ostracized or mistreated and stood up to injustice her whole life.

Dorothy is known by her friends and family for her kindness and caring, her warm hugs, beautiful gardens, spirit of adventure, bright bold laughter, brilliant British wit, love of a good party whether as guest or stellar host, her ability to lend an ear or a hand, her love of children and good friends of all ages, and for her exuberant, endless gratitude.

Upon discovering she had stage four cancer in February, she boldly began making plans to live the end of her life as she had lived all along: with bravery, courage, grace, love, celebration and gratitude. She immediately began enjoying more chocolate! She hosted half a dozen parties in her home, so she could say her good-byes to her loved ones. She was grateful for her life and she was not afraid of death. She knew she would be in the loving arms of God for eternity. Dorothy passed away peacefully in her home on March 17, at age 97, surrounded by family and friends and abundant love.

Her faith in God was deep and strong. She walked the walk. We are all grateful for her. The people who are fortunate enough to know her can’t imagine a life without her, but we are fortunate because she showed us how to live. The impact she has had on our lives cannot be put into words, but our hearts hold volumes.

Dorothy is survived by her sister-in-law, Barbara, her nieces Mary, Kathy and Cynthia, her loving extended family and countless precious friends, many of whom are now “Family”. She was known to so many, affectionately as Auntie Dorothy.

We wish to thank Assisted Home Hospice for bringing a high level of care and dignity to her final days on earth and we would like to thank the angels who dedicated themselves by never leaving her side as she prepared for this next part of her journey.

If you wish to honor Dorothy, please consider the following:

Show kindness to a stranger.

Give real help, to someone who is in need.

Encourage someone. Tell them the good you see in them.

Be good to all creatures great and small.

Notice the beauty in the world.

Be brave enough to think for yourself and ask the hard questions.

Be grateful for something. Be grateful for someone.

DOBRESKI,

Carole Anne

Carole Anne Dobreski passed away on Saturday, March 11, 2023, after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was welcomed into Heaven by her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Carole was born in Rutland, VT and was raised in Worcester, MA where she met her husband, Art. After having their three children they moved to California, settling in her beloved Carpinteria.

Carole was the cherished wife to Art for over 60 years, mom to Michael Dobreski (Suzy), Kathy Sharp (Randy) and Maureen Learned (Jeff). She was also a wonderful gramma to Andrew and Kendall, Nathan and Grace, Michael, David, Benjamin, Shanna, Connor, Lacey, Mia, Jemma and Dawson and great-gramma to Parker.

Over the years, Carole cared for many children whether in her own home or as a teacher at El Montecito Early School. She delighted in teaching, playing, and singing to them. She was Gramma Carole to many.

Carole lived a life that exemplified love, service and generosity. She opened her home to many, extending love and kindness to all that entered. Carole loved her Savior, Jesus Christ and that inspired her in all areas of her life.

Carole was a blessing to those who knew her and she will be greatly missed.

A Celebration of Life will take place on Sunday, April 2, at Montecito Covenant Church at 1:30pm. In lieu of flowers please donate to Montecito Covenant Church Children’s Ministry.

LEWIS, Sally McIntyre

Sally McIntyre Lewis passed away peacefully at home on March 18, 2023.

She was born in Huntington, Long Island, New York, on June 11, 1928, the youngest child of Otto Everett McIntyre and Virginia Pomeroy McIntyre. She graduated from Rosemary Hall in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1945 and from Bryn Mawr College in 1949. She married J. Morgan Lewis in 1949. The Lewises and their four children moved to Santa Barbara in 1968. Morgan Lewis passed away in 1970. Sally was remarried to Edmond Jerome McKearnan in 1976. He died in 2015.

Sally was an artist who started drawing as a young child and continued through the last weeks of her life. She took classes at Silvermine School in New Canaan, Connecticut, the Art Institute of Chicago, and later at UC Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara City College. She also participated in private local drawing groups. Throughout her life, Sally drew and painted landscapes and abstracts and was particularly skilled at figure drawing and portraits. She also expressed herself visually by creating a nurturing, colorful home and garden.

Sally loved animals. As a teenager, she took her horse with her to boarding school. Later, she doted on family pets, rescued strays, kept bird feeders and birdbaths full, and contributed widely to wildlife charities.

She was a member of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Santa Barbara, and volunteered for many years in its Reading Room on State Street.

She is survived by four children (Maggie Lewis Thomas, Sara Lewis Murre, Susannah Lewis-O’Dea, and O. Evan Lewis), two stepdaughters (Layne McKearnan BenBen and Ann Cahill), nine grandchildren, and four step-grandchildren.

The family will gather privately to celebrate her later this spring. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to First Church of Christ, Scientist, Santa Barbara or the World Wildlife Fund.

YEE, Michael Barry

Santa Barbara native, Michael Barry Yee, passed away peacefully but unexpectedly with loved ones by his side on March 6, 2023.

He was the first son born to Katherine Grace Yee and James Thoon Yee. He attended and graduated from local schools, including Santa Barbara High, SBCC and UCSB. He moved to San Diego to study medicine but eventually left to be with his late wife, Diana, and stepdaughter Andrea in San Francisco. There he started a new career in law enforcement by joining the Police reserves in the Bay Area.

Later, the family lived in Tucson for several years. There Michael worked for several federal government agencies including Corrections, Border and Customs and later DEA. After suffering health issues, Diana left her medical practice and Michael retired from the government. Diana passed on while they were living with her daughter in Wisconsin.

After the death of his beloved wife, Michael moved back to Santa Barbara to spend time with his family. While living there, he renewed his passions for music, cooking, learning, and teaching. He also helped with some social groups. Through these pastimes, he met the new love of his life, Jo Anne. They spent 22 years together before his passing. Not being fully satisfied, he went back to school and completed a nursing degree. After working for a hospital, he went to Sansum clinic where he become Director of Nursing. He also was a clinical instructor for the nursing program at SBCC. After instructing for SBCC and working with the college Covid clinic, he retired. His proudest achievement was mentoring nurses and teaching future nurses for the community.

Michael left this world, having pursued several interests and passions and having loved, cared for and inspired many people from all walks of life.

Michael is survived by: his wife, Jo Anne Sciortino, his daughter Andrea Martin (Kelly), his brothers Leonard (Michelle) and Richard (Mary), and his nieces and nephews Jared, James, Katherine and Sara. Also by his extended family, Jennifer and Fabio Hidrobo, Janette, Ed, Alexa and Andrew Kennedy, and Loni, Daniel, Kieran, Declan, and Carly Babai.

Memories and condolences are invited to be shared at a memorial service on Friday, March 31, 2023, at 12:00 pm at McDermott-Crockett & Associates Mortuary, 2020 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara.

Obituary notices are published daily in the Santa Barbara News-Press and also appear on our website www.newspress.com

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Free Death Notices must be directly emailed by the mortuary to our newsroom at news@newspress.com. The News-Press cannot accept Death Notices from individuals.

Nearly 40% of veterans reported concerns about being able to pay medical bills

By BRETT ROWLAND THE CENTER SQUARE NVESTIGATIVE REPORTER

(The Center Square) — A new report from the National Center for Health Statistics found that nearly 40% of veterans reported concerns about being able to pay their medical bills.

Overall, the report found that 12.8% of veterans aged 25-64 had problems paying medical bills, 8.4% had forgone medical care and 38.4% were somewhat or very worried about being able to pay their medical bills if they got sick or had an accident.

However, the study by Robin Cohen and Peter Boersma found that veterans aged 25-64 with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health care only and veterans with Tricare “reported similar or decreased financial burden of care” than veterans with private insurance, with or without Veterans Affairs health care. Tricare is a Department of Defense healthcare program for uniformed service members, retirees and their families.

Many veterans rely on private insurance. Nearly 40% of

veterans have private insurance without Veterans Affairs health care, according to the report. Another 17.9% of veterans have private insurance with Veterans Affairs health care.

“Despite the increasing reliance on Tricare and Veterans Affairs health care among veterans, little data exists on the financial burden of medical care among veterans with Veterans Affairs health care or Tricare relative to veterans with either private insurance or other public coverage,” according to the report.

“After adjustment for race and Hispanic origin, family income, employment status, health status, and disability status, most measures of financial burden improved for veterans who relied only on Veterans Affairs for their health care,” according to the report. “Veterans covered by Veterans Affairs health care only were less likely than those with private insurance either with or without Veterans Affairs health care to have problems paying medical bills or any worry about paying medical bills.”

DEATH NOTICE

ROMINE, Edward K., 74, of Lompoc. Died March 18. The memorial service will be at 3 p.m. April 1 at the First United Methodist Church, 925 N. F St., Lompoc. Starbuck-Lind Mortuary in Lompoc (Starbucklind.com) is handling the arrangements.

Business/Real Estate

Reviving a classic Bowlus RV Showroom opens in Santa Barbara

By CALEB BEEGHLY NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT

The Bowlus is probably best recognized for its iconic teardrop shape, which has been around since 1934 when it was developed by Hawley Bowlus.

Today, the CEO of Bowlus, Geneva Long, carries on the company’s legacy of quality and comfort while updating the iconic brand.

One way that Miss Long has updated Bowlus is through her deep commitment to sustainability, inspiring Bowlus to release the first fully electric luxury RV, the Volterra.

In addition to the new RV, Bowlus is excited to announce the opening of its new Santa Barbara showroom. The Bowlus showroom offers a personalized sales experience for potential owners. An appointment can be requested at Bowlus.com, or inquiries can be made over the phone at 855-9555232.

Just like the original Bowlus, the Volterra is fully aluminum. This makes the Volterra much lighter than most RVs, weighing just 3,200 pounds. This allows for smaller cars (such as mid-size SUVs) to tow the Volterra. Even a Tesla Model X can pull the Volterra, and if the Tesla needs to be charged, it can use the Volterra battery, giving it an extra 60 miles of life.

The Volterra’s sophisticated Bowlus Power Management System generates 17 kWh of lithium iron phosphate power, which is charged via its two solar panels on the roof, providing energy for the onboard appliances and systems, allowing travelers to enjoy the comforts of home while off the grid and producing zero emissions.

For example, off grid, the Volterra can run air conditioning for 32 hours straight.

The iconic Bowlus design draws on Hawley Bowlus’ experience with air travel — he built the famous Spirit of St. Louis. While the outside design screams aerodynamic, the interior of the Volterra also evokes feelings of air travel: the feeling of being on a private jet.

Typical RVs use cheaper, plastic parts in the interior, earning cheap plastic parts the nickname, “RV parts.” This is why Bowlus is so proud to not have any “RV parts” in its Volterra. The interior features high-end materials such as handcrafted wood paneling, natural stone countertops, and leather upholstery. The living space includes a queen-size bed, a fully equipped kitchen with an induction cooktop, and heated floors.

The doors to the bathroom and shower can even swing outward to create a full private bathroom. The

lounge area also converts into a second bed.

The Volterra also has a convenient smart home system that can be accessed via phone, which can control and monitor the lighting, temperature, and entertainment systems in the RV. According to the company, that means that it is safe to leave pets in a Bowlus, and you ensure their comfort.

Ms. Long was inspired to reimagine the Bowlus and RVing experience because of a RV trip she took with her dad to Palm Springs in his restored 1935 Bowlus.

She had a great time, but she also noticed the attention that the RV’s iconic design received. Combining this with her drive for sustainability and innovation, Ms. Long worked to revolutionize the RV industry.

She is the first female CEO of an RV company, and she was placed on Forbes’ 2020 30 under 30.

The Volterra has Starlink compatibility, a rearview camera, an optional propane tank for grilling, and a pet bed and pet feeding station.

Bowlus employee Josh Ballard said Bowlus RVs are a reflection of the meticulous thought that goes into their design and production, making an RV that feels luxurious and will last a lifetime.

email: cbeeghly@newspress.com

The sun is starting to set on the Santa Barbara business Skin Deep, which is set to close

Skin Deep to close a er 42 years

SANTA BARBARA —Skin Deep, a Santa Barbara-based family business, is set to close after 42 years of operation.

Skin Deep has been a popular shopping destination for unique and eclectic gifts, cards, jewelry, and accessories in Santa Barbara, with a focus on natural ingredient products.

The owners are currently seeking an experienced retail and salon entrepreneur to take over the business.

“We look back with gratitude for the many years we have served our loyal customers, and

worked with our dedicated family of talented employees – but the time has come for my sisters and I to enjoy a little more free time during this chapter of our lives,” owner Tina Hasche said. “We are looking forward to finding a new owner who is an experienced and professional retail and salon entrepreneur — to continue for our customers and build upon Skin Deep’s many decades of success”

For more information or inquiries, visit skindeepsalon.com

— Caleb Beeghly

At left, solar panels grace the top of the Volterra, the fi rst fully electric luxury RV. At right, the iconic Bowlus design draws on Hawley Bowlus’ experience with air travel. He built the famous Spirit of St. Louis.

COURTESY PHOTOS

after 42 years.

Owner Tina Hasche said the time has come for her and her sisters to enjoy more free time.

Berberabe: ree-time All-American

Westmont athlete named to NAIA’s First Team

By RON SMITH WESTMONT SPORTS WRITER

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the third year in a row, Westmont’s Stefanie Berberabe has been named both a First Team NAIA Women’s Basketball All-American and a Women’s Basketball Coaches Association AllAmerican.

“I am grateful that Stef was recognized as a first-team AllAmerican both by the NAIA and the WBCA,” said Westmont’s head coach Kirsten Moore. “It is so welldeserved. She has been such an incredible player this year that contributed in so many ways.

“Her impact was multifaceted on the court. Not just scoring, but assisting, rebounding and steals. Most importantly are things that don’t show up on the stat sheet — the heart with which she played the game and the heart with which she loved her teammates. She has represented our program at the highest level of excellence as a basketball player, but also in her character and the way she carries herself.”

Known throughout the NAIA for her ball-handling ability, Berberabe’s 4.0 assist-to-turnover ratio led the NAIA among all starting players. She ranked eighth in the NAIA this year in steals per game at 3.1 and ninth in assists per game at 5.8.

“Even though our season ended sooner than we would want, there is no doubt that she is deserving of being a first team All-American,” expressed Moore. “Despite the number of season-ending injuries our team faced, I am super proud of the way Stef continued to battle and continued to lead, and I am grateful she is being honored in her last year in that way.”

WESTMONT COLLEGE PHOTO

“I am grateful that Stef (Berberabe) was recognized as a fi rst-team All-American both by the NAIA and the WBCA,” said Westmont’s head coach Kirsten Moore.

Berberabe figures prominently in the Westmont record books, placing in the top 10 in 16 statistical categories. She is Westmont’s all-time leading scorer with 1,752 career points, and ranks third in career points per game at 13.1. Somewhat surprisingly, unless one has watched her play, the 5-4 guard ranks fifth in career offensive rebounds with 260 and ninth in total rebounds. Not surprisingly, Berberabe is

second in both career assists (601)

and in career steals (325). She has played in more games (134) than any other Warrior and for more minutes (3,896).

“Stef changes the game defensively,” explained Moore. “She has a level of grit, hustle and toughness that creates a lot of steals, but there are a lot of plays she makes where she doesn’t end up getting credited with the steal. She deflects it to a teammate or chases someone down from

behind and pops the ball out. She makes so much happen on the defensive end of the floor that is uncomfortable for offensive players.”

As much as she is both admired and feared on the court for her basketball abilities, it is Berberabe’s character that sets her apart.

“One of the things that made Stef truly unique as a leader in this program is that there was such a purity of heart about her,” said Moore. “What she was doing was for the good of her teammates and the whole team. It wasn’t selfseeking, but It was always others focused.

“The ways that she served and gave of her energy and talents and efforts were always in striving toward our bigger team goals — not so she could receive personal accolades. There was not once that she asked me to see a stat sheet. It was just about doing everything she could to help our team be our best and help us maximize who we could be on the court.

“You see that selfless character in her assists — the one statistic you can look at. We needed and relied on her to score, but even when she was scoring, it was because she was trying to help our team do what it needed to do to come out on top, not because she was worried about her stats.

“On a team that is as close as ours, you can’t fake motivation. The purity of heart and that selfless love she has for others put her in a position to be such an impactful leader.”

Ron Smith is the sports information director at Westmont College.

email: sports@newspress.com

UCSB men’s tennis team to face formidable foe

By ERIC BOOSE UCSB SPORTS WRITER

The UCSB men’s tennis team has climbed to its highest national ranking of the season ahead of one of its toughest tests, as the 32nd-ranked Gauchos will host the 28th-ranked Cal Golden Bears at Arnhold Tennis Center on Sunday.

The Gauchos are riding a fivematch winning streak and have not lost at home all season, but they have never beaten Cal in a dual match.

The match is set for 1 p.m. Set and pits No. 32 UCSB (14-1, 1-0 Big West) vs. No. 28 Cal (9-4, 1-1 Pac-12) at the Arnhold Tennis Center.

UCSB will be looking for their first ever win over Cal on Sunday, with the Gauchos winless in 14 previous duals against the Golden Bears. UCSB’s most recent meeting with Cal was in April 2019 in Berkeley, with the Bears winning, 4-1.

Later in the week, the Gauchos will hit the road next, heading north to take on Oregon in Eugene on March 30. UCSB was originally scheduled to host the Ducks on Feb. 24, but wet weather that weekend forced a change of plans. First serve from Eugene is set for noon.

JORDAN EARNS SECOND BIG WEST WEEKLY HONOR (MARCH 8)

Phillip Jordan had a great weekend in San Diego and was recognized by The Big West for his performance, earning the conference’s Player of the Week award. Jordan clinched UCSB’s win over San Diego State on court one in singles to start the weekend, then helped the Gauchos to a shutout win at UC San Diego in their conference opener, winning on court one in doubles and court two in singles against the Tritons.

RANKING UP UCSB is home to some of the most talented collegiate tennis players in the nation, with Phillip Jordan and Kai Brady both earning spots in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s most recent national player rankings, checking in at 57th among all D-I doubles partnerships. As a team, the Gauchos are ranked No. 32 in the country.

JORDAN NAMED BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK (FEB. 8) Redshirt junior Phillip Jordan

earned his fourth career Big West Player of the Week award following strong performances against New Orleans and UTSA. The redshirt junior went 2-0 at the top singles position against the Privateers and Roadrunners to help UCSB extend their unbeaten run to seven dual matches.

GETTING BACK TO THE MOUNTAINTOP

After a bitter end to the 2022 season, the Gauchos will look to win one match more in 2023 and reclaim The Big West Championship crown. UCSB went 17-6 in 2022, winning all 10 of their home matches, but their season ended in defeat to UC Irvine in the final match of The Big West Championship. The Gauchos had won a record six consecutive Big West Championships, from 2015-2021, and will look to return to the mountaintop in 2023 with their seventh conference title in eight seasons.

FALL RECAP

A number of Gauchos took part in October tournaments, making multiple deep runs in both doubles and singles. Pablo Masjuan finished second overall

in singles at the UCSB Classic, where Gianluca Brunkow and Alexander Watanabe Eriksson took third in the doubles bracket. There was more doubles success to be had at the ITA Southwest Championships, with Phillip Jordan and Kai Brady reaching the semifinals. Masjuan was back on the podium at the UTSA SoCal Intercollegiate Championships, taking home the silver in singles and with Luka Mrsic in doubles. Masjuan came in at #77 in the ITA singles rankings in November.

MULLER READY FOR YEAR

TWO AT THE HELM

The 2023 season is Blake Muller’s second as head coach at UCSB and his ninth total with the program. The Santa Barbara native spent seven years as an assistant coach under Marty Davis, and was named head coach in August 2021, following Davis’s retirement. In 2019, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association named Muller the Southwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year.

Eric Boose is assistant director of athletic communications at UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com

UCSB women’s tennis team to play in Hawaii

By ERIC BOOSE UCSB SPORTS WRITER

The UCSB women’s tennis team will look to maintain its perfect conference record and build a winning streak as they head to Hawaii for the first match in a five-match road trip on Sunday.

The Gauchos come into the weekend at 2-0 in The Big West, having defeated UC San Diego in their last match. The Rainbow Wahine enter the weekend on a three-match winning streak and with a 4-1 Big West record.

The match is set for 5:30 p.m. Pacific time Sunday at the University of Hawai’i Tennis Center.

The Gauchos have won nine of their last 15 matches against the Rainbow Wahine and are on a three-match winning streak against Hawai’i coming into Sunday’s match. UCSB won on its last trip to the islands in 2021, 5-2, then knocked Hawai’i out of The Big West Championships with a 4-0 win that same season.

LAST TIME OUT

The Gauchos got back into the win column with their second Big West victory of the season

in their last match, taking down UC San Diego, 6-1, at the Arnhold Tennis Center. The Gauchos took the doubles point and won on the top five singles courts, with Marta Gonzalez Ballbe clinching the match on court five. Walk-on freshman Solaya Han made her collegiate debut against the Tritons and played well, despite not getting the win on court six.

UP NEXT UCSB will return from Hawaii but remain on the road for their next matches, as the Gauchos are set to take on UCLA March 30 and San Diego April 1 in a pair of road non-conference contests. UCSB’s next home match will be April 15, when they welcome UC Irvine to the Arnhold Tennis Center.

RANKING UP

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association released its newest player rankings on March 21, and UCSB’s Amelia Honer and Kira Reuter both were featured. Honer remains one of the most highly regarded singles players in the country, checking in at No.

61 in the most recent rankings. Honer and Reuter continue to form a formidable tandem in doubles as well, and remain in the top 25 partnerships in the country, checking in at No. 24.

HONER WINS BACK-TO-BACK BIG WEST

WEEKLY AWARDS, AGAIN (MARCH 8)

For the second time this season, Amelia Honer earned Big West Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks, winning the sixth weekly award of her career after a strong showing against Oklahoma State and Loyola Marymount, teams ranked No. 35 and No. 62 at the time.

Honer won both her singles matches against the Cowgirls and Lions in straight sets on court one, while also picking up a win on the top doubles court alongside Kira Reuter against Oklahoma State. The award is her fourth of the season, following back-to-back wins at the end of January and beginning of February Eric Boose is assistant director of athletic communications at UCSB.

email: sports@newspress.com

San Marcos swim defeats Buena

The Royals girls and boys swim teams had an impressive swim meet against Buena on March 23.

The San Marcos girls team beat Buena with a score of 118-52, and the boys beat Buena with a score of 119-51.

For the girls, Marina Brown, Lucy Haaland-Ford, Sierra Tallman, and Sophie Yonker came in first in the 200 medley relay. Taylor Steelman came in first in comfortable style in the 200 freestyle, finishing 16 seconds before the second-place finisher.

The boys 100 butterfly winner was Gavin Tallman. The 100 freestyle winner was Alexi Stapf. William Stuart was the winner in the 500 freestyle.

Bishop Diego boys volleyball beats St. Bonaventure

The Cardinals swept St. Bonaventure with scores of 25-21, 25-12, and 25-23 on March 23. This improves Bishop Diego to 4-1 in league and 10-5 overall.

Liam Flood led the team with 11 kills and 22 swings total.

Additionally, Braylon Katers added to the team totals with 10 kills.

“Tonight, we played a cleaner match, and we’re hoping this is a turning point in our season,” said Head Coach Dillan Bennett. Bishop Diego will host the Cardinal Classic tournament on March 25.

Santa Ynez boys golf competes at tournament

The Pirates competed in the Mountain League boys golf tournament at the San Luis Obispo Country Club. Santa Ynez placed fourth out of eight teams. Freshman Von Gordon led the team with a score of 81. Rye Winans and Jackson St. Denis were right behind Gordon with scores of 83. The total team score was 419.

Cate defeats Santa Barbara in lacrosse

The Rams boys lacrosse team competed at Santa Barbara and came away with the win. With a score of 18-4, this put the Rams at

2-0 overall on the season and 2-0 in league. Wade Nieman led the Rams with seven goals and one assist. Cody Mast and Harry McAdam also added to the Rams score with three goals themselves.

Goalie Barak Yanar was solid in the net, holding Santa Barbara to only one goal in the second half.

The Rams return to action Tuesday when they host the Oak Park Eagles.

Chargers girls beach beats Ventura

The Dos Pueblos girls beach volleyball team had a nice win against Ventura with a score of 4-1. Notably, the first team Chloe Hoffman and Lucy Speier won their match with a score of 21-9 and 21-12. Additionally, Makeila Cervantes and Maddy Jones won 21-18 and 21-15, Addison Low and Sonia Mancuso won 21-4 and 2112, and Layla McQuiggan and Ella Benson won 21-11 and 21-11.

“It was a good team win!” exclaimed Head Coach Mike Fitzgerald. “Makeila and Maddy steadied out after a slow start to win at the 3s. Addison and Sonia continued to dominate at the 4s. Ella and Layla played consistent volleyball throughout.”

Westmont’s Hofstadler named GSAC Player of the Week

By RON SMITH WESTMONT SPORTS WRITER

Westmont College athlete Shane

Hofstadler of Vista has been named the Baseball Player of the Week by the Golden State Athletic Conference after his performance in a three-game sweep of Vanguard last weekend.

The sophomore transfer from San Diego Mesa went five for 10 at the plate with two doubles and a home run. He also drove in seven runs.

“He has had big at bats all year long,” asserted Westmont’s head coach Tyler LaTorre. “I don’t think his numbers are what he wants them to be or reflective of his talent, but he had two big at bats that came at important moments. Good players have the ability to lock in when the time is necessary. Our goal is to get him to lock in every time.”

In Friday’s game, the righthanded catcher delivered the walkoff double, ending the game in the bottom of the 12th inning.

Daniel Patterson singled to lead off the inning, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Parker Zarbaugh. That’s when Hofstadler strolled to the plate and sent the ball to the warning track in right center field, driving in the winning run and giving Westmont a 8-7 victory.

“With the way the schedule is, playing on Fridays and Saturdays, you have to have a couple of catchers,” noted LaTorre. “He catches the bulk of the three-game weekends. The pitchers trust him and is someone our pitchers look to for confidence. He threw out a couple of guys this weekend, which is icing on the cake. He thinks the game well — holding runners or back picking, finding ways to get guys out of an inning, and making the right play.”

After catching 12 innings on March 17, Hofstadler did not start the first game on March 18. However, that did not keep him from making a dramatic contribution to the Warriors’ second win. Westmont was down six to three in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded and two away when LaTorre called upon Hofstadler to pinch hit. His towering fly ball to right field just cleared the fence for a grand slam, giving Westmont a 7-6 lead at the time.

The Warriors went on to win the game 9-6.

“He had the game winning hit

Carpinteria track defeats Malibu

Carpinteria boys and girls track teams defeated Malibu with the girls, beating them 83 to 53 and the boys 70-60. For the girls, Emily Ehlers won the 100m and 200m and Lela Roberts won the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles. The boy’s Ivan Vargas won the long jump, Rooke Juarez won the triple jump, and Israel Samaguey won the discus. Girls are 3-0 in league play and the boys are 2-1.

The Warriors play Cate and Foothill Tech next on Wednesday.

Dos Pueblos boys volleyball loses to San Marcos

The Dos Pueblos boys volleyball lost to San Marcos 1-3 in a league match. The scores of the sets were 19-25, 14-25, 25-19, and 14-25. Nick Schultz-Clifford had three kills and one block in the match. Grant Hughes also had an impressive stat line, with two kills,

one block, six digs, and 22 assists. Matthew Wilcox was helpful offensively with eight kills.

The Chargers play Ventura next on March 28.

San Marcos boys golf plays against Ventura and Pacifica

Due to recent rained-out games, the Royals split up their boys golf squad to play multiple matches to make up for the canceled games.

The first team played against Ventura at the Santa Barbara Golf Club that had a par of 70. Shams Jahangir-Arshad was a medalist with an under one score. Leo Metzger had over five, and Jeffrey Forster had over six. The Royals won with a final score of 382-502.

The second team played a ninehole match against Pacifica at River Ridge course. This course had a par of 35. Brody Ricci was a medalist with a score of over six.

Himmat Singh had over eight and Holdt Gore had over nine. The Royals also won this match 217276.

San Marcos track splits against Rio Mesa and Ventura

The Royals boys and girls track team played Rio Mesa and Ventura in an Oxnard meet. The Royals beat Rio Mesa but lost to Ventura.

On the boys side, Ethan Ball won both the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles 15.87 and 42.82. Evan Perez won the 100m with a time of 11.21 and second in the 200m with a time of 23.29.

The girls also had impressive scores for the meet. Kate Edgar won the long jump and triple jump and second in the 100 hurdles. Clara Tracewell won both the shot put and the discus. Makenzie Fauver won the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, second in the long jump and third in the high jump. “It was a long day down in Oxnard, but our athletes competed and represented the Royals well,” concluded Head Coach Marilyn Hantgin.

— Compiled by Annika Bahnsen

in the 12th and came back the next day and pinch hit and got a good pitch to hit,” observed LaTorre.

“He didn’t try to do too much with it. That was the key for him this weekend. It is also the key for us moving forward — to be who we are and not try to do too much.”

Back behind the plate for game three, Hofstadler continued to impress with his bat, going two for three with an RBI in a seveninning game. Westmont won the game 5-3.

“After having Simon Reid behind the plate the last three years, Shane has stepped in there and filled that role,” said LaTorre. “He has done it well and hasn’t

been intimidated by feeling like there are big shoes to fill. He has just been himself.” Westmont, which sits in first place in GSAC standings with a two and one-half game lead over Hope International, will play four nonconference games this weekend at Russ Carr Field. On Friday, the Warriors will host the flames in a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. Then on Saturday, the two teams will play another doubleheader with first pitch scheduled for noon. Ron Smith is the sports information director at Westmont College.

email: sports@newspress.com

Rams announce youth football camp at SBCC

SANTA BARBARA

— The Los Angeles Rams will host a youth football camp June 3 at Santa Barbara City College.

The goal of this program is to provide football fans across Southern California the opportunity to learn the game of football and hone their skills with the Rams.

This is the first time the team has hosted the camp since 2019. Other than Santa Barbara City College, the Rams will host three other camps at

Thousand Oaks High School, Carlsbad High School and Centennial High School. These are non-contact and coed camps designed for second through 12th grade students. It is open to all positions and skill levels.

Former NFL and collegiate athletes will lead each camp and teach basic football concepts, advanced positional skill development and football education. Each camp will include

giveaways, a live DJ, and appearances by Rams Cheerleaders and mascot Rampage, as well as photo opportunities with the Super Bowl LVI Trophy. All participants will receive a Rams-branded football camp T-shirt and more. The registration fee for each camp is $100. To register for the camp, visit therams.com/youthfootball.

— Annika Bahnsen

COURTESY PHOTO

Shane Hofstadler

Life theArts

CALENDAR

‘Women of Inspiration’

By MARILYN MCMAHON NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Jane Benefield, chair of the Carpinteria Planning Commission, and Jena Jenkins, programs specialist at the Carpinteria Library, will be honored at the Girls Inc. of Carpinteria “Women of Inspiration” event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 3 at the nonprofit’s campus, 5315 Foothill Road in Carpinteria.

The keynote speaker will be Katie Goodman, an award-winning musical comic, actress, director,

Girls Inc. of Carpinteria to honor Jane Benefield and Jena Jenkins

writer, author and speaker. She has been seen on Showtime’s “The Green Room,” on Current TV as a pundit and on TruTV in one of the most watched “Impractical Jokers” ever.

She is signed with Comedy Dynamics, North America’s largest independent record label, and her album, “Halfway Closer to Dead,” is available on Itunes. Her comedy music videos have amassed more than 2 million hits on Youtube and several more million on Facebook. Ms. Goodman is also a featured blogger for the Huffington Post, has contributed to O, the Oprah Magazine, and is

FYI

For more information or to purchase tickets for “Women of Inspiration,” call 805-684-6364 or visit girlsinc-carp.org.

the author of “Improvisation for the Spirit” and the funny children’s book, “The Night Our Parents Went Out.” She is a nationally touring keynote speaker on the topic of using the tools of improv comedy in everyday life. As the creator and headliner of “Broad Comedy,” an

internationally touring satirical musical show that she and her husband Soren Kisiel write and direct, she has raised more than $2 million for Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.

Her solo show, “The MidLife Crisis Tour,” has played off Broadway in New York City, where she received a Time Out New York Critics Pick for Best Cabaret. She and her husband were nominated for the EPIC Award from the White House Project and were also nominated for the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant for their extensive work in theater.

Ms. Benefield has served on the

Carpinteria Planning Commission for almost two decades. Before moving to Carpinteria, she worked for the city of Los Angeles and its planning department. Ms. Benefield now lends Carpinteria her wealth of planning knowledge and inspires the community through her bold voice and insightful perspective. A communications specialist whose heart lies in storytelling, Ms. Jenkins has a knack for bringing groups together and building understanding. In addition to her role at the Carpinteria Library,

Please see INSPIRATION on B2

Flamenco Arts Festival to take place in May in Santa Barbara

By MARILYN MCMAHON NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Flamenco Arts Festival returns to tradition for its 24th anniversary and brings worldrenowned flamenco artists from Spain and the U.S. to Santa Barbara.

The festival will kick off with a music concert May 6 with maestro Jose Luis de la Paz followed by two workshops on May 7.

“Jose Luis de la Paz en Concierto” with Adolfo Herrera, percussion; Magela Herrera, flute; and Ana Bermudez, cello, will begin at 7:30 p.m. May 6 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria St.

On May 7 at 11 a.m. Santa Barbara Dance Arts will offer “Intro to Flamenco Guitar Workshop with Jose Luis de la Paz.

“ It is limited to 15 participants and costs $15 and $20.

“Intro to Flamenco Cajón Workshop with Adolfo Herrera” will also begin at 11 a.m. May 7 at Santa Barbara Dance Arts, 531 E. Cota St. It is limited to 20 participants, ages 10 to adult, and costs $15 and $20.

“After a challenging pandemic and a very long hiatus, the Flamenco Arts Festival is proud to return to tradition with live programming and celebrate 24 years since the founding of the FAF,” said Vibiana, president of the Flamenco Arts Festival.

“We are also bringing back another tradition with flamenco performances at the Lobero during Fiesta week on Aug. 4 with Alfonso Losa Flamenco.

“We are returning with our tradition of annual programming and continuing our efforts to build

our music program to include flamenco music concerts and masterclasses.”

Since its inception, the FAF has provided accessible and affordable flamenco training to professionals, students and aficionados alike through its Access to the Arts initiative.

Jose Luis de la Paz is a guitarist from Spain who is based in the U.S.

He performed for the FAF in 2003 as the musical director for Doña Cristina Hoyos, a legend in the flamenco world, and is making his West Coast premiere with his own ensemble of three musicians for an evening of original compositions.

“The unique versatility of José Luis de La Paz allows him to navigate the dazzling ocean of flamenco, from the accompaniment

of singers and dancers to songwriting and solo performance. He was the musical director and composer for Ballet Cristina Hoyos (the star of Carlos Saura’s films) for 10 years and his collaborations with Siudy Garrido, José Mercé, Concha Buika, Belén Maya, Farruquito, Antonio Canales, Des Moines Symphony Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic speak

eloquently of his distinguished artistic personality and career,” said Vibiana.

José Luis de La Paz is currently the musical director and collaborator for the Siudy Garrido Dance Company. In 2015, he collaborated with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Maestro

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.

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. “Storytelling:

Native People Through the Lens of Edward S. Curtis” is on display through April 30 at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays. For more information, visit sbnature.org.

10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. “SURREAL

WOMEN: Surrealist Art by American Women” is on display through April 24 at Sullivan Goss: An American Gallery, 11 E. Anapamu St. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. For more information, www.sullivangoss.com.

1 to 3 p.m. : “Holly Hungett: Natural Interpretations” will open with a reception with the artist at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara’s gallery, 229 E. Victoria St., Santa Barbara. The exhibit will run through May 20. The gallery is open 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays and weekdays by appointment. For more information, call the foundation at 805-965-6307 or go to www.afsb. org.

4 p.m. Actor Max McLean will perform “C.S. Lewis on Stage: Further Up & Further In” at The Granada, 1214 State St., Santa Barbara. To purchase tickets, go to granadasb.org.

Noon to 5 p.m. “Clarence

Mattei: Portrait of a Community” is on view now through May at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, which is located in downtown Santa Barbara at 136 E. De la Guerra St. Admission is free.

Hours are currently from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and from noon to 7 p.m. Thursdays. For more information, visit www.sbhistorical. org.

7:30 p.m . Opera Santa Barbara’s Chrisman Studio Artists will perform “The Light in the Piazza,” an acclaimed musical by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas, at Center Stage Theater, upstairs at Paseo Nuevo, in Santa Barbara. To purchase tickets, go to centerstagetheater.org.

MARCH 26

2:30 p.m. Opera Santa Barbara’s Chrisman Studio Artists will perform “The Light in the Piazza,” an acclaimed musical by Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas, at Center Stage Theater, upstairs at Paseo Nuevo in Santa Barbara. To purchase tickets, go to centerstagetheater.org.

Managing Editor Dave Mason dmason@newspress.com

SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2023

— Dave Mason

COURTESY PHOTO Baritone-bass Elijah Cineas is part of the cast of “The Light in the Piazza,” which is being performed by Opera Santa Barbara’s Chrisman Studio Artists today and Sunday at Center Stage Theater.

Barton Goldsmith -B2

COURTESY PHOTOS

Jane Benefi eld, left, is chair of the Carpinteria Planning Commission. Jena Jenkins is the programs specialist at the Carpinteria Library.

COURTESY PHOTOS

At left, Jose Luis de la Paz, a guitarist from Spain who is based in the U.S., will perform during Flamenco Arts Festival in Santa Barbara. He will also teach a workshop. At right, cellist Ana Bermudez will perform with Mr. de la Paz.

Local students star in Regional Science Olympiad

By MARILYN MCMAHON NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Students and staff at Santa Barbara Unified’s junior high schools are celebrating a strong performance at the Regional Science Olympiad. Santa Barbara, La Cumbre and Goleta Valley junior high schools competed in the event on March 11 at UCSB.

The Regional Science Olympiad was in person for the first time since the pandemic.

The Science Olympiad is a national STEM competition featuring 6,000 teams at 425 tournaments in all 50 states.

Santa Barbara Unified students participated in the regional competition that included the Central and South Coast and Southern California.

SB Unified students earned 44 individual Science Olympiad medals at the competition.

La Cumbre won third place in the Fast Facts competition, the only school from Santa Barbara County to place in that event. The school also just missed medaling, fourth place, in Roller Coaster. Santa Barbara Junior High excelled in engineering events, winning silver medals in Bridge, Flight and Roller Coaster. The Condors also had solid showings

in their other two events, “Crime Busters” and “Write It, Do It.” Goleta Valley Junior High’s two teams earned medals in 18 events:

• Gold Medals: Crave the Wave, Experimental Design, Rocks and Minerals, Sounds of Music and Storm the Castle.

• Silver Medals: Can’t Judge a Powder, Crime Busters, Disease Detectives, Meteorology, Rocks and Minerals.

• Bronze Medals: Anatomy and Physiology, Bio Process Lab, Bridge, Flight, Solar System, Code Busters, Disease Detectives and Write It Do It.

“The success these students had in the Regional Science

Olympiad shows their hard work and dedication to STEM,” said Dr. Hilda Maldonado, superintendent. “As we prepare future engineers, scientists and mathematicians, these events inspire and contribute to bringing real-life lessons that their teachers and coaches deliver daily.” Ellen Barger, associate superintendent, curriculum and instruction of the Santa Barbara County Education Office, helped bring the event back to the region.

email: mmcmahon@newspress. com

My wife came downstairs this morning with some moisture patches on, under her eyes. They looked a little strange, but it’s a girl thing, and I get it, so I made a little joke and said, “Oh, maybe I should try those!”

The one second look in her eyes when she softly said, “Sure dear,” spoke volumes. I could hear what she wasn’t actually saying: “You have to be kidding me. These will not help those cargo bags under your eyes. You need a plastic surgeon, not plastic patches.” She lovingly tried to hide it, but I busted her and spoke every word I’d heard in my head. She almost fell over laughing. We both did. It was a very cool early spring morning here, and after coffee and our laugh fest, she suggested we take a walk, and I gave her my look and speech. “Honey, it’s 40 degrees outside, and you know I don’t do cold.” She came back at me with, “Just wear the right clothes.”

My retort was, “It doesn’t matter what I wear. Some people are just allergic to cold,” and she said, “I am too.”

Then I had to throw the challenge flag down.

I pointed out that she’s from Eastern Europe, and I made her admit that she has worn high heels in the snow. (The women there actually do that, I’ve seen it). So much for being allergic to cold, and we both laughed again. Being able to laugh with each other about real life is probably the best part of our day.

People are amusing much of the time, and if you can capture that, it makes life a little bit more enjoyable and fun.

The way adult couples play with each other changes over time, as it should. Sex becomes less important as you age, and physical touch becomes more important. Your connection and the knowledge that you are committed makes you feel empowered. That is true intimacy, and that is what your heart yearns for when you are in a committed relationship. I am fortunate enough to have this in my life — and my wife would like me to write her a letter of recommendation for being an outstanding partner, in case I ever fall off a cliff. She deserves one, but I avoid cliffs, and she’ll never need it. Finding someone who is a great person, who deserves that letter of recommendation, and who also loves you truly is better than winning the lottery, and it’s easier. But it does take some effort on both your parts.

Once you decide that being a good person is the most important attribute in a partner, you are on the right path to creating true intimacy in your own life. It is not luck or destiny but understanding that you have to always make good choices when it comes to the people you let into your heart. We all have made mistakes in this area, and the answer is simply not to make any more of them.

Dr. Barton Goldsmith is an award-winning psychotherapist and humanitarian. He is also a columnist, the author of eight books and a blogger for PsychologyToday. com with more than 34 million readers. He is available for video consults world-wide. Reach him at barton@bartongoldsmith.com. His column appears Saturdays and Mondays in the News-Press.

COURTESY PHOTO

In addition to playing with Jose Luis de la Paz, percussionist Adolfo Herrera will teach a workshop at the festival.

FLAMENCO

Continued from Page B1

Gustavo Dudamel, under the artistic direction of Siudy Garrido Company, in “El Amor Brujo.”

That same year, he debuted his first symphonic work, “Suite for Flamenco Guitar and Orchestra,” in collaboration with Alex Conde (arrangements) and Berto Boyd (guitar transcriptions). In 2020, he composed the music for “OléOlá,” the flamenco musical created by Cristina Hoyos, currently playing at the Teatro Eslava in Madrid.

For FAF 2003, he performed as

INSPIRATION

Continued from Page B1

she co-created the project “Gather for Good” to usher communities toward bonding through projectbased volunteerism and currently serves as vice president of the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District board of directors. She has a bachelor’s degree in social work and a master’s degree in counseling psychology.

The “Women of Inspiration” event will feature an all-new format this year. Held as a luncheon in previous years, it will feature a half-day retreat and networking lunch.

Attendees can join two breakout sessions in the morning, participating in smaller group workshops created to uplift, engage and inspire. They will then join the larger group for a community lunch in Girls Inc. of Carpinteria’s brand new courtyard, followed by the keynote presentation.

the musical director for “Ballet Cristina Hoyos” at the Lobero Theatre.

email: mmcmahon@newspress. com

FYI

Tickets for Jose Luis de la Paz are on sale online at newvictheater. com (link to store.ensembletheatre. com/17894). Tickets are $45 and $55 plus fees. Tickets for the cajón and guitar workshops are on sale online at Eventbrite at FAFworkshops523. eventbrite.com. Tickets are $15 and $20 plus fees. For more information, visit flamencoarts.org.

Workshop speakers include Sonia Aguila, National Teacher of the Year; Danielle Bordenave, owner of Spark45 Fitness; Lauren Bragg, goal coach and wellness vixen; and Marisol Alarcon, immigration attorney at Alarcon Legal.

Those who are unable to attend the half-day event but would like to participate in the luncheon portion honoring Ms. Benefield and Ms. Jenkins can contact Girls Inc. of Carpinteria at 805-684-6364 or girlsinc-carp.org.

Tickets are $200, and all proceeds support Girls Inc. of Carpinteria’s programs and mission to inspire girls to be strong, smart and bold. Girls Inc. of Carpinteria is a member of Girls Incorporated, a nonprofit organization. Girls Inc. of Carpinteria currently serves more than 1,100 youth in the Carpinteria Valley, from pre-K through 12th grade. To learn more, become a volunteer or offer support, visit www.girlsinc-carp.org/.

email: mmcmahon@newspress.com

COURTESY PHOTOS

Santa Barbara Unified School District students excel at the Regional Science Olympiad.

SUDOKU

Thought for Today

“Truth is strong, and sometime or other will prevail.”

— Mary Astell

HOROSCOPE

Horoscope.com

Saturday, March 25, 2023

ARIES — Recent successes have you feeling especially pressured to continue on your path, Aries. You may have to make some choices regarding your activities outside of career and family. You may have a lot of interests that all mean a lot to you, which makes it difficult to make choices. Don’t try to consider it today.

TAURUS — A letter or call from a relative could result in the prospect of an unexpected houseguest. You might be in a quandary as to what to do about it, Taurus. Your schedule could be crammed with other responsibilities. Don’t feel pressured into making any decisions today. Think about it for a day or so and list your options.

GEMINI — Travel plans might have you confused, Gemini. You may have a number of possibilities in mind, and all seem equally attractive. It probably isn’t feasible to go for them all. You may also face decisions regarding your education. You’re probably going to have to make a choice, but today isn’t the day to do it.

CANCER — New earning or investment possibilities could have you in a quandary over which one is the best for you, Cancer. There are a number of solutions - technology may be one of them - but this isn’t the time to make any important decisions. Everything may seem equally attractive to you! Professional advice might help, but even so, don’t feel you have to make a decision right away. Wait a few days.

LEO — Your life may seem to be at a crossroads, Leo. A number of different possibilities could be opening up to you. The only thing that seems certain now is that changes are on the horizon. You will be facing some choices, but today isn’t the day to consider them. Confusion reigns supreme.

VIRGO — Others’ attitudes toward you may seem to be changing. You may not be sure what this means. The fact is, Virgo, you’re changing, and some of your friends may like what you’re becoming and others may feel less comfortable. You can’t stop what’s happening. It’s going to be a very positive process in the long run.

LIBRA — A number of

By FRANK STEWART Tribune Content Agency

Saturday, March 25, 2023

“Simple Saturday” columns focus on basic technique and logical thinking.

New players often attribute magical powers to experts. I have had beginners ask me whether I can tell what everybody has right after the cards are dealt. An experienced declarer can visualize the defenders’ hands, based on the bidding and play; nothing about it is magic.

Today’s South reaches four hearts after West has tossed in a passedhand overcall of two diamonds. West cashes the K-Q of diamonds, then leads the ace. South ruffs, draws trumps and takes the top spades. How should declarer proceed to attack the clubs?

NINE POINTS

Declarer cashes the ace and leads the four. West plays the three and ten. South knows that West, who didn’t open the bidding, has shown nine points in diamonds, so he won’t hold the king of clubs. South plays low from dummy and makes his game when East must play the king.

“Card reading” is within the grasp of any player. Most of the inferences an expert draws are simple.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: Q 9 K Q J 10 2

A 7 5 4. Your partner opens one spade, you bid two hearts, he rebids two spades and you try

different and unexpected professional and personal possibilities might have you a bit confused about which way you want to go, Libra. You may face a choice of some kind, but right now you aren’t really sure about the direction you want to take. Don’t rush it. It isn’t necessary to do it all today. Wait a few days, consider your options and then make your decision.

SCORPIO — Today you might face a choice, Scorpio. You might be thinking in terms of relocating to advance your career, but you could be confused about your options. You might be grappling with several options. Input from family members isn’t likely to help at this time. Wait a few days and then think seriously about what you want to do.

SAGITTARIUS — An intellectual problem may prove confusing, Sagittarius, and reading and research reveal contradictory information. You might also hear some gossip that doesn’t seem quite right. This isn’t the day to believe everything you read or hear or to try to make sense of anything that has you befuddled.

CAPRICORN — Confusion about money might be on your mind today, Capricorn. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your finances are in chaos. Chances are that you face unfamiliar options concerning your financial future, and so you may be in no position to make any kind of decision. Don’t feel that you have to do it today. It would be best if you waited a few days until you’re a bit more focused to consider your options.

AQUARIUS — A relationship that you may have recently formed might have you in a dither today, Aquarius. This could be romantic or some other sort of acquaintance. You might not be sure about which way you want this involvement to develop. This isn’t the day to think much about it, as things probably won’t become clear today.

PISCES — You might be feeling somewhat under the weather, Pisces. You’re probably stressed and in need of rest. Work concerns could also be confusing. You might have a lot of tasks to do and not be certain where to start. Maybe you shouldn’t start today at all. Perhaps you need to take the day off to rest and then tackle it tomorrow when you’re feeling like yourself again. Think about it!

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-Saturday and on the crossword solutions page in Sunday’s Life section.

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

three clubs. Partner then bids three diamonds. What do you say?

ANSWER: Partner has something in diamonds; he could have bid 3NT but must have doubts about notrump. Bid three spades. Your spades could be no better when you didn’t raise earlier. If he has A K 10 6 5 4, 7 6, A 8 2, Q 3, he’ll be happy to hear about your support.

dealer N-S vulnerable

Truth to style matters greatly in Asian art

Today I received a call from a person in Honolulu who had lost four Chinese vessels in a move (the fault of the moving company).

Sadly, four are pieces of Chinese porcelain. He asked if I could help with a value and sent me photos. (A word of advice: if you have a moving claim, find an appraiser close so he/she can sign that she saw it in person.)

I found the client a colleague in Honolulu, but not before I explained something interesting and also challenging about Asian ceramics to this lovely client. (A note: I once wrote an article for the News Press about Asian art, and it has gone viral — even though I am NOT an expert in Asian art.)

Call or email me at elizabethappraisals@gmail.com, because I will inform you of the real experts, one of which lives here in Santa Barbara, Keith Moore!

The problem and the glory with Asian porcelain is that certain forms of ceramic have been around since the Song or Sung dynasty (906-1290) andwell before, into the Han dynasty (206-220). Such is the case with the Honolulu client who had four vases inherited from greatgrandparents who came to Hawaii from China in 1911 with the pieces. All were destroyed in a move.

The question is: How old are the pieces? And does age influence value?

The fine shade of difference in Asian art vs. Western art is that Asian art has classic shapes and forms that have not changed in 2,000 years. In fact, truth to the forms is the guide for value.

In Western art, it is often change and innovation that determine value, and often, if you are a student studying art history, your professor will call this the (Eurocentric) genius factor in Western (European) art. The great artists (white male European geniuses of art history) changed shapes, forms and styles because of their great geniuses, and made each era different. That is not the

same with Asian art of antiquity.

Thus, the opposite is true in Asian art from Western art. To stay close to your teacher‘s style is your mark of genius, albeit that your teacher lived 2,000 years ago. So that adherence to the truth of style, once perfected, is a mark of an artist’s genius throughout time in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean art of antiquity.

So the client in Hawaii had four vases that are in the Archaic Chinese style, which could be in 12th or 13th century or could be the work of a modern artist who followed the teaching of the Song dynasty — and these could be 20th century.

The glaze doesn’t help us much to date the pieces because the old glaze from the ancient ceramics of China are also classic and haven’t changed much in 2,000 years.

Likewise, the applied stylized handles have not changed, and the banded decoration — which is a doubly interesting feature — has not changed much.

There are two reasons for

banded decoration — and also for glazing. Glazing keeps the water out of a vessel. Banding strengthens. Strengthening a vessel with outside the banding of thicker clay makes the vessel stronger! And it is still used and loved today.

So what is the age of such pieces?

I would say that the Stylistic Age is Song in the 13th century, but the date of creation is the 20th century or perhaps late 19th century, and the values are, of course, different. For a Song piece, the value is $10,000 or more each.

Depending on an expert opinion (and I use I M Chait Auctions in Beverly Hills for anything Asian, or Keith Moore here in Santa Barbara), a 19th- or 20th-century version of a Song dynasty set of vessels is different in terms of value.

If 20th-century reproduction (in which “reproduction” is the wrong word because these were not reproduction pieces, but, in the homage style, memorials of Song

dynasty pieces), we are valuing each at $2,000 or more.

So, dear reader, use experts (not me) when dealing with Asian fabrics or ceramics because the aesthetics are different from how we (those of us trained in art history in the 1990s) have been trained to think about artistic innovation.

Try I M Chait auctioneers in Beverly Hills for the very top expert opinions — and they can write appraisals and give auction estimates as well. Or call me for Mr. Moore’s email, and he can help with anything Asian.

Dr. Elizabeth Stewart’s “Ask the Gold Digger” column appears Saturdays in the News-Press. Written after her father’s COVID-19 diagnosis, Dr. Stewart’s book “My Darlin’ Quarantine: Intimate Connections Created in Chaos” is a humorous collection of five “what-if” short stories that end in personal triumphs over presentday constrictions. It’s available at Chaucer’s in Santa Barbara.

COURTESY PHOTOS

Elisabeth Fowler Joe Howell

Santa Barbara Foundation announces its Persons of the Year

won the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Santa Barbara County Philanthropist of the Year award in 2021 and has been an active supporter of several nonprofits focused on health care, conservation, and education.

to perform at Lobero

SANTA BARBARA — Tom Russell, a UCSB graduate and award-winning singer/ songwriter, will perform March 31 at the Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St.

This Santa Barbara concert will mark Mr. Russell’s third performance in a world tour spanning North America, the United Kingdom and Europe.

Russell’s latest recording of original compositions, October in the Railroad Earth, has received critical acclaim, and Elton John’s lyricist Bernie Taupin cited it as “the best record of the year.” Tickets for the show are available now at lobero.org.

Mr. Howell is co-founder of Howell Moore & Gough, LLP: HMG Law and has been in active service to the Santa Barbara-area business, education, and athletic communities for 50 years. Luncheon tickets cost $80 and are available at sbfoundation.org at $80.

— Caleb Beeghly

— Caleb Beeghly

Tom Russell

PHOTO UCSB graduate Tom Russell’s music has been praised by people such as Elton John’s lyricist Bernie Taupin.

COURTESY PHOTO

These vases are in the Archaic Chinese style, which means they could be from the 12th or 13th century or could be the work of a 20th-century artist who followed the teaching of the Song dynasty.

e economic curse of Biden- ation

President’s cavalier spending creates banking crises and financial chaos

‘Balancing the budget is like protecting your virtue; you have to learn to say no!”

— Ronald Reagan

Liberal media is searching for explanations why the Silicon Valley Bank collapsed when the reasons are on President Joe Biden’s back.

In two years in office, our national debt has grown by $3.8 trillion. Since 1929, it took the U.S. 61 years to amass that much debt. While big spenders are Democrats, President Biden has the temerity to blame the GOP for the fiscal chaos that his cavalier spending created.

The collapse of major financial institutions is only beginning since President Biden’s reckless spending and historic inflation have caused financial havoc across America and the world. And he is castigating the economic policies of the last two decades for this financial mess.

Yet it was Joe Biden and Barack Obama who gave us Dodd-Frank and an alphabet of regulations to prevent a repeat of the crisis of 2008.

Contrary to President Biden’s rhetoric, he inherited an economic recovery in “overdrive” from Donald Trump. It was Mr. Biden’s policy bungling that drove America backward into a brick wall of malaise and stagflation.

Is this happening in your community under the disguise of “progress”?

Think about it. How many transportation program outcomes have failed in terms of their goals?

Over 40 years ago, it was bicycles will replace the auto and people will “get it.”

Over 40 years ago, the city of Santa Barbara hired MIG, and they narrowed State Street “because it will increase business.”

Over 40 years ago, the Metropolitan Transit District was formed to “replace” auto use, and it would attract car drivers off the streets.

Over 40 years ago, the failed

It was Mr. Biden’s unnecessary COVID checks that resulted in too many dollars chasing far too few retail products.

“I am not responsible for this economic crisis. It was left at my doorstep.”

— Joe Biden

When news reached Wall Street that Silicon Valley Bank went belly up, stock prices plummeted for more than 20 regional banks. America’s four largest banks — Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citigroup and JP Morgan — took huge hits on the stock market.

Hedge fund guru Bill Ackman predicted doom and gloom for the economy if the Fed doesn’t bail out these regional banks and all of their investors.

President Biden said his advisers will conduct an investigation into these historic bank failures and hold those accountable for this unprecedented financial crisis. The first place he should look is in the mirror. His lunatic spending and demand for corporate diversity hiring is responsible for this fiscal mess.

In 2021, former Clinton and Obama economic consultant Larry Summers warned us that Biden’s $1.9 trillion spending spree, the American Rescue Plan, was a severe economic threat and called it the worst economic policy in 40

State Street narrowing was excused because Old Town did not have a shopping mall.

Over 40 years ago, corner extensions called “bulbouts” were started because they would make pedestrians safer and more would walk.

Did any of these major and very expensive programs work? Are there more bikes?

Walkers? Bus riders? Old Town shoppers? The answer by the city of Santa Barbara is a very reluctant NO. The pain inflicted upon businesses, the middle class, and working poor of all of the above listed projects was and is acute.

years. Economist Steven Rattner said it was U.S. financial suicide and a gift he’d regret.

“Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.”

— James Madison

President Biden’s economic advisers as well as foreign economists recognized his profligate spending of tax dollars would trigger runaway inflation and a huge increase in debt. They told him he’d destroy the economy and the Fed would be forced to raise interest rates sky-high to bail him out.

President Biden ignored these experts and spent trillions of tax dollars on programs to fulfill numerous campaign promises.

His American Rescue plan fiasco was followed by an infrastructure and green energy spending bill he sold to Congress and the voters as an “Inflation Reduction Act?” Again, this was nothing more than political payback to the electric car companies and environmentalists in progressive California.

“By the year 2035, we plan to make all gas-powered cars obsolete in California.”

— Gov. Gavin Newsom

California’s Silicon Valley Bank was the first to fail from

So who did this? If politicians backed it and they failed, at the least they are rogues and failures by definition. As supposed defenders of the “people,” backers of policies that are stupid at the best, and criminal at the least, when they fail, do they own up to it?

What has been the profit for these elected officials and the groups they backed after facing repeated failures? Simple, it is hubris: Greek history, it is pride that is in defiance of nature or the gods. You have seen them sitting behind desks with a 3-minute limit on speakers (“next”), and

Biden’s slipshod spending and its resulting inflation. It’s hard to ignore that SVB is in the heart of liberal California, whose investors also bankrolled President Biden’s campaign. And they have been forced to withdraw millions from SVB to pay expenses and meet payroll since Biden-Flation has drastically increased wages and their cost of doing business.

When Biden overheated the economy with money and paid people not to work, this was a recipe for disaster. Liberal big tech companies flooded SVB with deposits, and in turn they invested them in low yield treasury bonds. What seemed like easy money at the time became “financial harakiri.”

While the Federal Reserve kicked back and watched inflation grow higher than Jack’s magic bean stock, the cost of everything grew with it. When inflation didn’t just go away as President Biden predicted, the Fed finally had to raise interest rates to tame raging inflation. Tech sector investments soon dried up and SVB’s holdings tanked. SVB’s embarrassed chief risk officer abruptly resigned in May 2022.

It took nine months for SVB to find a chief risk officer. By then, new deposits flattened out and more cash was going out than in. SVB’s president, a far left liberal advocate for diversity and reducing global warming, was more focused on achieving

continuity with President Biden’s social mandates than his bank’s business. He didn’t realize the extent of their financial exigency until it was too late to try to fix it.

“When a man is out of sight, it is not too long before he is out of mind.”

— Victor Hugo

According to Bloomberg, SVB was the highest-paying publicly traded bank in 2020. In total, their employees averaged bonuses of $250,683 a year. Just hours before bank assets were seized by the Federal Banking Commission, employees received their yearly bonus checks. The size of each bonus could not be determined, but associates averaged $12,000 and managers about $140,000.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council was crafted after the 2008 financial crisis to monitor the financial status of American banks and sound the alarm if they anticipated threats to their solvency. The nation’s top financial wizards — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Gary Gensler of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — are the directors and officers.

At the council’s last meeting, there was no discussion of

Please see HAUPT on C4

transportation

sovereign immunity (we cannot be held personally responsible).

If people understood how much has been stolen (tax dollars and quality of life/ business), there would be riots in the streets. It would make the criminals of Black Lives Matter, Anitifa nd more look like kindergarten recess.

But wait why is CAB being so hard on these people and supporters of failure?

They by definition, knowing the outcomes, and repeatedly doing what has failed, make them villains. You know, the Silent Picture Villains who stroked the mustache and snarled not caring as long as they “got theirs.” How many ran

DID YOU KNOW?

Bonnie Donovan

Let’s protect our neighborhoods

Did You Know thinks that the La Cumbre Plaza project for over two thousand residential units must be subjected to rigorous CEQA public examination before any concrete actions by the city of Santa Barbara can begin.

People of the greater San Roque area, you are about to be invaded.

There are plans to build thousands of apartments in your area. There will be 2,000 apartment units alone in La Cumbre Plaza. That means at least 4,000 additional people and 2,000 additional cars a day spilling onto already overcrowded State Street.

Remember, Chick-fil-A blocked State Street with only 10 cars. How do you feel about 2,000 cars blocking State Street every morning and evening?

You do know that they will be removing one lane in each direction of State Street as part of the 2016 Bicycle Master Plan?

The city approved a “maximum” of one parking space per development, so will they tell you that the 4,000 tenants won’t be allowed parking with their units? As though that will prevent them from owning a vehicle. Common sense tells you otherwise.

The invasion of people will be accompanied by a car parking invasion along all your residential streets. We have seen this elsewhere already in Santa Barbara, so we know it will come to you if you don’t organize and fight back against this politically designed destruction of beautiful San Roque (aka upper State Street). At the very minimum, demand an independent, environmental report and even better set up the organization and funding to produce your own. Do it now! If you wait, it will be too late for you to gain control of your own destiny.

We can add the idea that without all the details, it’s clear that Santa Barbarans will soon have no choice in the matter of how their city looks if they don’t wake up and take notice and object to what’s happening. Look around upper State Street. You have the Marc, Grace Village, Hope Gardens and La Estancia to name a few. Now go downtown, where you thought everything was going to stay and not destroy your neighborhood: 835 E. Canon Perdido, 634 and 618 Anacapa, 700 Santa Barbara St, 510 Salsipuedes , 604 Cota St. and the 400 block of Chapala Street. Now for the approved and not completed yet, you have 219 E. Haley, 35 Guterriez, 425 Santa Barbara St., 425 Garden St., 500 block of Garden St., Funk Zone, 701 Milpas St. and 600 block of Chapala St. Jus wait. New hotels approved include 517 Chapala St., 302 W. Montecito St., 311 W. Montecito St., 328 Castillo St., Cabrillo Boulevard, Milpas Street, 900 State, Mission Street, 800 Garden St. and 35 Anacapa St.

And that’s just the latest 10 developments.

for office with pronouncements of “protecting the workers”?

CAB’s singular focus is transportation. Transportation has an effect on “every” aspect of life. Transportation planning that interferes with private business, and destruction of family life makes politicians, and their hired henchmen stating we “just need more time — or it just needs to be bigger” criminals.

Something to think about with Easter and Passover coming. Are you willing to condone these types when decades of fact prove them wrong? Why?

Is it their celebrity status and your backing them more important than the truth?

Other cities have pushed back. The state is not as powerful as they appear. We’re acting like sheep before the wolves. Making it easy for them. Carmel pushes back, and even our little hamlet of Solvang pushes back. Huntington beach is fighting back, and nobody is joining them, sad because if the state and elected officials saw citizens fighting back it could budge some change.

There is also a group of fed-up neighbors that are

Please see DONOVAN on C4

We don’t need this kind of ‘progress’ for

COURTESY PHOTO

“Economists worldwide told President Joe Biden his unbridled spending would be disastrous for America,” writes columnist WIlliam Haupt III.

Wendy McCaw Arthur von Wiesenberger Co-Publisher Co-Publisher

GUEST OPINION

Stop trashing Homer

I read an article by Frank Sanitate who argued that Homer’s “The Iliad” was trash (“The Iliad” Is Trash — and Other Thoughts About Education,” News-Press March 11). I’ll refrain from being frank by not describing the quality of his article.

Sins of omission, commission and emissions!

The truth is out there — just offshore of the aptly named Coal Oil Point.

That is where the second most prolific oil and gas seeps in the world are begging to be included in the Santa Barbara County Climate Action Plan. The climate action plan is, of course, ostensibly nothing less than a war against the production and consumption of fossil fuels, according to a theory that posits that fossil fuels must be eliminated to save the planet.

The inconvenient truth as it relates to Santa Barbara County?

Fossil fuel production actually cleans our air and water of pollutants that are naturally occurring by way of these oil and gas seeps off the coast of UCSB while also reducing greenhouse gasses. Contrary to the blathering of politicians and activists, decades of research by bonafide scientists have produced data that empirically proves that oil and gas production decreases the seeps that happen to be the largest source of the most potent greenhouse gas, methane, which is 25 times more potent than CO2.

The routinely described air pollution inventory for all sources of air pollution conveniently omits the pollution emanating from these and other natural sources as if there is no abating the same. However, an alternative approach does exist, and it offers multiple benefits! That is, permitting oil and gas operations will save our economy from energy-related inflation and abate both air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, not to mention eliminating globs of oil on our beaches.

We know this for certain, by way of the published study correlating oil and gas production and its effect on seeps by a team of research scientists from UCSB and Tufts University, among others.

As a way of background, for the past 50 years or so, regulators have been trying to clean our air of various pollutants. The efforts that paid off had to do with emissions from transportation sources, the

Biden’s first veto raises questions

The recent headline proclaiming “President Biden issued his first veto” caught my attention for several reasons, including why it took over two years for his first veto.

largest manmade source of air pollution. By way of emission controls, such as catalytic converters and the like, along with changes in the fuels we use, California smog is mostly a thing of the past, except in those places where smog is trapped by weather-induced inversion layers.

Relatedly, the seep pollution is so large it exceeds the emissions from all the traffic on the 101 freeway every day, which is, once again, the largest source of air pollution in our region. The efforts that had little to no effect? Never-ending emission controls on manufacturing and industry.

The ugly truth is we did not reduce emissions from most of these sources. Instead, we drove these industries out of state or offshore because the technology to reduce the emissions didn’t exist or the cost was too much to bear.

Moreover, if you couple the emissions from transportation and offshore seeps, locally, in the aggregate, emissions from industrial sources are less than 1% of the emission inventory, meaning they are no longer worth further regulating.

Although air quality in Southern California has vastly improved over the decades, the regulators and activists will never admit that things are clean enough as they would be out of power and out of a job. Moreover, the effort to label greenhouse gas emissions as a form of air pollution is one of the biggest lies out there. The truth is, carbon in the atmosphere is as important to life itself as is oxygen., It is not pollution. Feel free to exhale all you want.

Moreover, speaking of existential threats, life on planet earth will cease to exist if carbon levels get too low. And moreover, proving once again that correlation is not causation, increased carbon levels in the atmosphere to this day have no proven direct relationship with climate change despite all the bloviation to the contrary.

However, as a student who studied classic literature in high school and now in a liberal arts college, I believe Frank represents most critics of this style of writing. They tend to not understand and therefore underappreciate what’s actually being expressed and why it’s important that it be transmitted down the ages.

Critics like Frank often point to the battles as lengthy and dull, the Greek gods as chaotic, and the work being outdated.

First, it’s a mistake to think that Homer’s works are read today just because they are ancient. From it, we learn about Greek culture: what they believed, why they believed it, how it affected the way they approached life, and more.

Homer heavily influenced western literary tradition. His works have allowed us to expand our minds and question the goodness, truth and beauty of nature and humanity. While one does not have to agree with everything presented in this work, there are attributes that are still admirable, such as nobility, bravery and responsibility. When taught and approached correctly, Homer can influence young and old readers to seek out truth, goodness and beauty.

I once had an assignment where I had to find something

outside and write a lengthy description on it. After submitting the assignment, the professor contrasted my description as abstract and bland compared to the way the Greeks were able to see the same beauty in nature.

Because of my professor’s guidance through Greek literature, I’ve become a more independent thinker. I now appreciate with enthusiasm the ideas, themes, and questions of morality addressed throughout the epic poem.

Furthermore, Homer has influenced many other works throughout western classical tradition such as “The Aeneid,” “The Divine Comedy,” “Ulysses” and more. It is hard to picture the ancient world and not think of Homer’s works. He has been a basis in representing Greek thought, religion, and customs.

Without his work, there would be no basis for even the modern heroic tale, which we find in many literary genres — most of which are directly and indirectly inspired and attributed to him.

Barbara Najera

Santa Barbara

Editor’s note: Barbara Najera is a graduate of Saint Therese Classical Academy in Santa Barbara and is an English literature major at the University of Dallas.

Evictions ordinance raises questions

T his week the Santa Barbara City Council passed 7-0 an ordinance that safe, decent, sanitary housing is a human necessity and a “right.” A right is a power or privilege

held by the general public as the result, and it gives people a legally enforceable claim.

Now that housing is a “right,” how will the City Council meet the necessity? Beyond limiting just cause evictions, where will the city put units to meet this new local right to housing?

Will the council finally prohibit Santa Barbara City College from admitting non-district residents to free up housing?

Santa Barbara has one of the highest per capita numbers of public housing rental units in the country. Safety is a huge factor with only one highway in and out, which has been closed due to weather and disasters. Water and topography are other limitations to increasing densities.

The City Council based its decision to expand renter protections on the 2015 Housing Element, which claims 50% of local renters overpay for housing, compared to statewide rents — as do homeowners. Let’s compare coastal Santa Barbara housing costs and rents only to other California coastal communities. They are comparable: pricey.

Council put in place rights for renters without regard to the present value costs to own here and the rights of property owners.

Ask yourself:

• Is living under City Council control of private property desired?

• Do contractual agreements between two parties no longer provide adequate protections?

• Will the City Council require empty bedrooms be rented to meet local rights to housing?

Denice Spangler Adams Montecito

School choice is the new civil rights movement

In 1957, the eyes of the nation were focused on Arkansas, when Democratic Gov. Orval Faubus refused to allow nine black students to attend Little Rock Central High School three years after the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which ended public school segregation based on race.

Eventually, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division to ensure the black students, who became known as the “Little Rock Nine,” were safely admitted to the previously “whites only” high school. With this, the era of public school segregation came to an end, as black students were finally able to enroll in public schools that had hitherto been open solely to whites.

Unfortunately, more than six decades after this monumental step in the civil rights movement, far too many American children — and black students in particular — are facing a much different problem. Now they are stuck in unsafe, poorly performing public schools simply based on their zip codes.

To solve this problem, many states are embracing a commonsense solution that also happens to be overwhelmingly popular among broad swathes of the American electorate: school choice.

On March 8, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the newly elected Republican governor of Arkansas, signed into law a universal school choice bill, joining Arizona, Iowa, West Virginia and Utah as states that offer education savings accounts so that families can choose whichever type of school — public, privat or charter — their children shall attend.

According to the State Policy Network, “The Arkansas LEARNS Act will give Arkansas families $6,600 per student per year to pay for education expenses, such as textbooks, tutoring and private school tuition. The program will have income requirements in the first three years, but by 2025 the program will be open to all families. The legislation will also increase the base salary for teachers from $36,000 to $50,000.”

As mentioned above, school choice is one of the rare issues that blurs political, racial, generational and socio-economic lines. As recent polling shows, among registered voters, 72% of all Americans “support” school choice. What’s more, 72% of whites, 70% of blacks, 77% of Hispanics and 66% of Asians support the concept of school choice.

And, perhaps most telling, 68% of Democrats, 82% of Republicans and 67% of independents agree that parents should have “the right to use the tax dollars designated for their child’s education to send their child to the public or private school which best serves their needs.”

In many ways, school choice is the new battleground for the modern civil rights movement.

Whereas in the 1950s, only certain people could attend certain schools based on their race, we now live in a time wherein only certain people can attend certain schools based on the location of their home and amount of money at their disposal.

Like it or not, this is the state of the American education system. Yet, this system is fundamentally flawed, hopelessly outdated, and in dire need of immediate and wholesale reform.

Myriad data demonstrate that our public education system, as currently constructed, is simply failing to educate and keep our children safe. While it is true that these problems became more evident during the pandemic, when the vast majority of public

Please see TAIGO on C4

The answer was that the president’s and Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s agendas were the same and the only ones she permitted Congress to consider, such as the Jan. 6, 2021 stuff and climate change, but never scheduling anything important to Republicans, such as the border.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, with the help of Vice President Kamala Harris, a California Democrat, controlled the Senate.

What were the president’s agendas?

President Joe Biden followed his inauguration speech proclaiming he was the “great uniter” with an executive order for federal agencies to “search and destroy” any actions taken during Donald Trump’s presidency without considering whether they helped the American people. He set another agenda item by prioritizing climate change issues.

His federal agencies implementing these two priorities led to the veto.

The federal agencies during the term of President Trump issued a rule that required the plan administrators under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act prioritize the congressional intent of “to protect the pensions and retirement savings from mismanagement and abuse by clarifying that those in charge of the savings be held to a high standard with the best interest of the plan participants.” Their rules limited the ability for plan fiduciaries for “mismanagement and abuse” by only allowing them to weigh the economical effects of climate change and other ESG — environmental, social and governance — considerations as long as the effects are relevant to the “risk-and-reward” economical analysis, and clarified that those in charge be held to a high standard with the best interest of plan participants.

How did this lead to a veto?

Well, the “search and destroy” executive order from President Biden and his fixation with climate change caused the heads of the federal agencies that administer ERISA — the Labor Department headed by Marty Walsh, the former union president, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, whose credibility faded with her prediction that this inflation was “transitory” — to alter the Trump rules that followed the congressional intent of ERISA. The federal agencies are requiring fiduciaries to invest in accordance with ESG considerations to “safeguard the economy from climaterelated risks that may threaten the pensions and life savings of working Americans and their families.”

What was it about ERISA that led to its being the subject of the first veto?

This young lawyer’s adventures with ERISA began when I was asked — OK, ordered — by Art Vangeli, the regional attorney in charge of the 1 Presidential Boulevard, Bala Cynwyd, Penn. law department office of my new employer, Gulf Oil Co. Mr. Vangeli “asked” me to become the company “expert” in ERISA that had just been

Andy Caldwell is the COLAB executive director and host of “The Andy Caldwell Show,”

Andy Caldwell

Chris Taigo

The author is with The Heartland Institute

COURTESY PHOTO Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Henry

Biden’s job is running the U.S., not Israel

Widely reported in the press is that President Joe Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express his concern about judicial reforms that are currently being considered in Israel.

We must wonder why President Biden, who demonstrably cannot run our own country, feels behooved to tell others, particularly one as successful as Israel, how to run theirs.

Looking into President Biden’s own backyard, per latest Gallup polling, a paltry 20% of Americans say they are satisfied with the direction of their country.

The White House reported that President Biden told the Israeli prime minister that “democratic values” are “a hallmark of the U.S.Israel relationship, that democratic societies are strengthened by genuine checks and balances, and that fundamental changes should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support.”

But Israel is governed under a parliamentary system that ties the government, on a day-to-day basis, to popular sentiment more closely than our own system.

On any given day, in Israel’s parliamentary system, a vote of no-confidence can bring down the government.

And, indeed, as a result of a deeply divided electorate, Israel has had five elections within four years. As the only democracy in their part of the world, it doesn’t seem like democracy and elections are subjects on which Israel needs tutorials from President Biden.

Really what is going on is not a problem with democracy but a problem with those who are unhappy with the results that democracy produces. It happens that Israelis, in their last election, returned to power Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has put together a right-of-center government that does not please Israel’s left or America’s left-wing president, who

has been recruited to put in his two cents.

President Biden touting the importance of democracy and checks and balances is more than a little ironic as he waits for the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of his unilateral move to wipe out $400 billion of student loans. Most assessments point to the likelihood that Mr. Biden’s move will be found unconstitutional.

Regarding the importance of the “broadest base of popular support,” the U.S. banking system is now teetering, already with several bank failures, with others looking for support. Banks have been ravaged by interest rate increases, the direct result of inflation caused by trillions spent by the Biden administration.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and the $735 billion Inflation Reduction Act both passed the House and Senate

without a single Republican vote and were signed into law by President Biden.

We might recall that the U.S. healthcare system was overhauled when Mr. Biden was vice president. The Affordable Health Care Act — “Obamacare” — was passed in the House and the Senate without a single Republican vote and signed into law by President Barack Obama.

Despite the love affair with political systems, we must appreciate that human beings ultimately produce the realities under which we live, not any system.

The founders of our country, and the drafters of our Constitution, would never believe that the beautiful system they designed, conceived to limit government and protect individual liberty, would someday see government at all levels taking almost half our gross national product, generating massive deficits and national debt larger than our nation’s entire economy.

Nor would they believe that the courts have been used to remove all vestige of religion from public life or that Supreme Court justices felt it was their job to redefine marriage.

The percentage of Americans that have a “great deal/quite a lot” of confidence in their major institutions, reported by Gallup last July, are as follows: the presidency, 23%; U.S. Supreme Court, 25%; Congress, 7%; public schools, 28%; newspapers, 16%; criminal justice system, 14%; television news, 11%.

Please, Mr. Biden, do your own job and let Israelis run their own country.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show “Cure America with Star Parker.” To find out more about Star Parker and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators. com.

Copyright 2023 by Creators.com.

Ron DeSantis joins the fight for sanity

said, in the context of everelusive Israeli-Palestinian peace, that “the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” For the blobsters who were seething last week at the fact both presumptive frontrunners for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination now oppose their agenda in Ukraine, we might say they never miss an opportunity to intervene further and blow up (or screw up) more things abroad. The blob’s post-Cold War track record of supported foreign interventions is positively abysmal.

Diversity training disaster

All big American companies now require DEI training: diversity, equity and inclusion.

All big companies!

Really.

It sounds responsible. But it turns out DEI courses are often useless and sometimes racist.

First comes groveling.

My new video about DEI shows a conference that begins with a “land acknowledgement.”

A Microsoft employee apologizes for taking land from “the Sammamish, the Duwamish, Snoqualmie, Suquamish, Muckleshoot” and more.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ written statement to Tucker Carlson heard around the world last week on the Russia-Ukraine war has caused nothing short of a fullscale meltdown from the arrogant, consistently wrong-thinking, military-industrial complexaddled band of bipartisan dunderheads who collectively comprise the American ruling class’s foreign policy “blob.”

The reality is that the governor, also a likely 2024 presidential

candidate, should wear the blob’s dripping scorn as a badge of honor.

These “blobsters,” oftentimes think tank and punditry Boomers or Gen Xers who came of political age during the Cold War, typically suffer from a first principles-level delusion about whether America’s triumphalist post-Cold War unipolar moment still exists. (It does not).

Accordingly, blobsters know one modus operandi only: more intervention and more escalation.

Abba Eban once famously

Iraq is now an Iranian satrapy, Afghanistan is now run by the Taliban, and Libya, over a decade post-Samantha Power/Hillary Clinton-led intervention, is still riven by a jihadist civil war. In most vocational settings, a track record of such obvious repeated failures gets you fired and perhaps blacklisted. For Beltway blobsters, such prognostications can merit a promotion, at least when Boeing or Northrop Grumman has something to say about it.

Seriously: Outside the corridors of Beltway groupthink, who in their right mind would still listen to these people for sage foreign policy counsel?

Apparently not Ron DeSantis. The Sunshine State governor, in his statement to Mr. Carlson, bemoaned the extent to which America’s increasingly weaponsentrenched, rhetorically absolutist and fiscally incontinent posture in Ukraine distracts from urgent problems at home, such as the

horrific drug overdose epidemic inflicted upon our nation’s youth by a wide-open southern border and the vicious drug cartels that operate with impunity in northern Mexico. Even worse, from the blobsters’ blinkered perspective, Gov. DeSantis had the temerity to — egad! — reject the notion that further American entrenchment in a “territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia” represents a “vital national interest” for the U.S. For that, declasse Beltway neoconservatives and liberal humanitarian interventionists have derided Gov. DeSantis as a “Putin apologist” or, as befits a group of people unable to process a foreign conflict outside a dichotomous World War II paradigm of full-scale war pitting absolutist good against absolutist evil, as a reincarnation of Neville Chamberlain. But Gov. DeSantis’ statement to Mr. Carlson is emphatically correct.

Toward the beginning of the conflict, there was indeed a real threat of Vladimir Putin toppling the Volodymyr Zelensky regime.

But despite the lingering presence of intermittent rocket fire in and around Kyiv, the overwhelming majority of the fighting since last May — when Russian tanks that had encircled Kyiv in anticipation for a possible final assault on Zelensky largely retreated — has been relegated to far-flung provinces in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine and Crimea.

As this column has repeatedly noted and as has been documented ad nauseam more

generally by anyone willing to listen, the Donbas region is composed of towns and enclaves of decidedly mixed Russian and Ukrainian ethnic backgrounds. The specific national borders drawn there today, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, are simply arbitrary. Crimea, for its part, has spent most of the past few hundred years under Russian control.

So with the Zelensky regime secure from being toppled — especially secure, as of late, due to Europe’s recently increased arms shipments — and with the main question now pertaining to the precise boundaries and contours of an ultimate settlement, how exactly is the conflict not a “territorial dispute”? And what exactly is the “vital national interest” for the U.S. in ensuring Ukraine retains every single square foot of disputed territory, even if some of those square feet in the Ukrainian far east are — heaven forfend! — Russianspeaking towns that may well want to be part of Russia? Is poking the world’s largest nuclear arsenal as much as we have already done, and as much as the blob still want to do, seriously worth “upholding international norms,” or whatever other unthinking drivel the blobsters regurgitate?

The truth is that the vitriolic reaction to Gov. DeSantis last week says everything about the blob’s debilitating personal and vocational insecurities, and nothing about Gov. DeSantis’ call for measured prudence in Eastern Europe. Gov. DeSantis’ critics — besides the obvious kneejerk Democratic partisans — are

Japan and South Korea reach important accord

Japan and South Korea, increasingly powerful nations, have reached an important agreement with far-reaching positive implications.

On March 16, Prime Ministers

Fumio Kishida of Japan and Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea shared food and fellowship in a Tokyo restaurant, where they reached a remarkable understanding.

They agreed bilateral visits, suspended in 2018, will resume, reconfirmed sharing of intelligence information, and put an end to a rather charged, tense four-year trade dispute.

They also agreed on sustained collaboration regarding security.

Additionally, in early March, South Korea’s foreign minister, Park Jin, announced that a foundation funded by Korean companies would compensate victims of forced labor during Japan’s occupation of Korea.

U.S. President Joe Biden immediately praised this generous South Korea initiative.

The two nations share a complex, difficult history. Japan’s long-term occupation of Korea in the 20th century, which continued until 1945, included forced prostitution of Korean women and more general exploitation of the population. Totalitarianism has now faded, but legacies and painful memories continue.

South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that a

comprehensive settlement of wartime compensation claims, reached in 1965, does not prevent individuals from seeking reparations. This opened the door for individuals to sue Japanese companies for compensation.

In reaction, Japan announced that special trade relations with South Korea would end.

Japanese companies would have to make formal applications, which can be quite cumbersome, for any technology-related deals with South Korea. South Korea retaliated.

This dispute has ended.

The two economies are world leaders in scale, production and

overall effectiveness, but are notable for remaining surprisingly separate from another. This directly reflects their extremely difficult history.

South Korea’s earlier chief executive, President Moon Jaein, helped encourage the current progress. In August 2019, he took the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the death of South Korea’s great leader Kim Dae-jung to underscore the importance of a 1998 Joint Declaration between Japan and South Korea, and the fundamental need for partnership. President Kim’s effectiveness in fighting South Korea’s earlier

harsh dictatorship marked him as a special target, and he survived at least five attempts on his life. One of the most dramatic incidents occurred in 1973, when South Korea government agents kidnapped him from a Tokyo hotel and took him to a ship, where they intended to kill him at sea.

Donald Gregg, the highly experienced CIA station chief in South Korea, acted decisively.

After a U.S. helicopter flew low over the ship and Mr. Gregg intervened personally and forcefully, the kidnappers reluctantly released President Kim.

Mr. Gregg, whose intelligence

career dates back to training commandos during the Korean War, later served as U.S. ambassador to Seoul during the George H.W. Bush administration and more recently provided outstanding professional leadership to the Korea Society based in New York City.

Ambassador Gregg was also national security adviser to Vice President George Bush. Most of Mr. Gregg’s career was spent with the CIA. He personified the commitment and dedication of career professionals crucial to our success in the Cold War.

Mr. Kim’s courage and commitment to representative government were rewarded when this great leader was elected president of the Republic of Korea in 1997. Without hesitation, he moved to begin détente with the North Korea regime. This culminated in a dramatic summit meeting in 2000 with the leader of North Korea, beginning the fitful interchange with Pyongyang.

Kim Dae-jung received the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership, which resonates well beyond Korea.

Preoccupation with China should not distract from remarkable, positive developments in Asia.

Arthur I. Cyr is author of “After the Cold War - American Foreign Policy, Europe and Asia” (NYU Press and Palgrave/Macmillan). He is also the director of the Clausen Center at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisc., and a Clausen Distinguished Professor. He welcomes questions and comments at acyr@carthage.edu.

I guess it’s a nice gesture. But they aren’t giving the land back! Companies go through the motions.

“They feel like they have to,” says York College professor Erec Smith. “They have to signal to the world that they’re doing something.”

They hope it will protect them from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and lawsuits.

Dr. Smith was once a diversity officer. He left the position because he thought it was “useless.”

Or worse.

“It makes people less likely to interact with people unlike them,” he says. “It’s a minefield now.”

At diversity trainings, employees learn about “microaggressions,” speech that’s subtly biased.

“If you ask somebody what they do for a living, somehow that’s racist,” says Dr. Smith. “If you learn that, then why would you take a chance? ... ‘I’m going to silence myself’ ... not talk to black people.”

A Coca-Cola diversity training tells employees, “Be less white.” “Being white” includes being “oppressive, arrogant, defensive, ignorant.”

“That is by no means a white thing,” says Dr. Smith. “The point is to demonize the other side.”

Worst of all, despite the $3 billion spent on DEI training by American companies today, DEI trainings don’t do what they’re supposed to do.

A Harvard professor analyzed studies of them and says, “Sadly

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John

Josh Hammer

Star Parker The author is with the Center for Urban Renewal and Education

COURTESY PHOTO

Gov. Ron DeSantis

Arthur I, Cyr

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South Korea and Japan have ended an intense, four-year trade dispute.

America’s economic issues caused by inflation. No board members identified “one” financial or banking risk that was a true threat to U.S. financial stability. Their biggest concern was the enormous expense of reversing global warming.

“Sometimes it requires government intervention to make everything work properly.”

— Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Plato told us, “The greatest tragedy is men who refuse to see the light.” Economists worldwide told President Joe Biden his unbridled spending would be disastrous for America. They said it would infect the social and economic health of other nations. America’s financial markets are in turmoil along with other global nations. Biden-flation is contagious

and life has gotten more expensive around the world. Big Tech does its best to limit what news you see, and none of them blew the whistle on SVB even though they saw signs that the bank was failing a year ago. Since they benefited most by President Biden’s spending, they took the money and ran with it. California

Gov. Gavin Newsom praised Mr. Biden for giving billions in support of their electric car industry. Now taxpayers nationwide are paying dearly for it.

President Biden destroyed the American and global economies when they were rebounding nicely from the pandemic. The longer he is in office the more damage he’ll do until taxpayers shred his checkbook.

“The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.”

— Thomas Sowell

We can have new housing without even more traffic gridlock

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fighting back: Our Neighborhood Voices. They have a meeting each Saturday at 6 p.m., and you can join in on Zoom. Below are a few paragraphs from their webpage. https://ourneighborhoodvoices. com.

Join us as we stand up, fight back and win!

The politicians and developers have had their say. Now it is our turn! We will be working to give every California voter the chance to speak out about what is happening in their own neighborhoods. Our measure takes away the blank check to developers and restores a process that allows neighborhoods to be heard.

We will bring back balance, so our towns and cities don’t get stuck with massive bills. And we must tell the politicians: We need real solutions to our housing problems, not a blank check to developers and bills that silence our neighborhood voices.

The developers make billions.

We pay the bill.

What is so dangerous about the giveaway to developers is

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passed in 1974. He was in a hurry because our Lewis Oil subsidiary was waiting for me to bring their pension plan into compliance.

I quickly learned that I needed great concentration, the type not available in an active law department, to tackle this 500-page monster.

The next several days I could be heard talking to myself in the Philadelphia Bar library as I read the first 250 pages dealing with that law that would be administered by the U.S. Labor Department. This somewhat polite self-conversation turned ugly while I sometimes not too silently cursed the next 250 pages of tax law that was to be administered by the U.S. Treasury Department. It was full of convoluted sentences. To prevent nodding off every couple of sentences, I risked overdosing on coffee while selecting a seat near the men’s room.

But I did learn something.

I learned that the scope of ERISA is to govern the administration of private employers’ pension and savings plans. That includes 401(k) plans, which employers may contribute a matching sum of their choice, which is frequently in their own stock.

There are penalties for withdrawals before a certain age with, of course, hardship exemptions.

I also learned (1) why I was not

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Donald Trump treated unfairly

T he Democratic Party is out of control. It has brought about chaos in our streets, our economy and is making a mockery of our justice system. Is there a two-tier tier justice system in America today?

How are the Democrats mucking-up our justice system?

A radical, Soros-backed, Trumphating Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg plans to pursue bogus felony charges against Donald Trump. According to law professor Jonathan Hurley, the case is “legally pathetic.”

Mr. Bragg is struggling to twist state laws to effectively prosecute a federal case long ago rejected by the Justice Department against

not just that it will take away our neighborhood voice. It will leave every California family with a significant new bill.

The two laws passed by Sacramento do not require developers to contribute one new cent to roads, transit, schools, parks, police and fire protection, new water sources, or any other service.

They profit.

We pay!

That’s just one of the reasons neighbors from every corner of California are joining us and fighting back.

We can have new housing without even more traffic gridlock.

There are solutions, but the politicians gave their developer donors the ability to build marketrate, multi-story projects in every neighborhood and took away our ability to speak out about projects that are being built literally right next door to us.

It isn’t affordable housing! It’s massive profits for developers.

The politicians say they took away our neighborhood’s voice because we need to lower the cost of housing. But their two bills create NO new affordable housing.

a tax attorney, (2) that the labor provisions were controlled by the secretary of labor and the tax ones by the treasury secretary, (3) how to work with a fiduciary to bring the Lewis Oil pension plan into compliance with ERISA, (4) how to draft a pension plan for another subsidiary and (5) that I would never have the time nor the interest in becoming an expert in all ERISA issues.

Instead,I would have to rely on the congressional intent as I had no hope of remembering all the ERISA in addition to all the rules governing my responsibilities for the employment laws from recruitment-to-retirement for the 54,000 employees at Gulf Oil, where there were also experts in the tax and investment issues under ERISA.

My approach worked until as chief employment counsel for Hercules, I “inherited” the responsibility for ERISA for the 26,000 employees when a lawyer resigned.

This did provide an opportunity for me to counsel our treasurer to add additional investment choices for our plan participants to choose in our 401(k) plan.

How did my adventures with ERISA influence the issues involved in the veto?

The Trump changes followed the legislative intent by the requirements to limit the ability for fiduciaries for “mismanagement and abuse” by only allowing them to weigh the economical effects of climate change and other ESG — environmental, social and

Mr. Trump over his payment of “hush money” to former stripper Stormy Daniels (2018).

The case was already thrown out by the court, and Stormy was ordered to pay Trump $300,000 for filing the junk lawfare case against Trump. Furthermore, according to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), the Biden Department of Justice is coordinating with the Manhattan district attorney to charge, prosecute and arrest Donald Trump.

As an American, I am horrified over what is happening to Donald Trump.

Is this not selective, political persecution? Is there not a twotier tier justice system in America today?

And was this a distraction? It was released a day after proof was released that showed the Biden family was paid millions by China in secured deals. What was the money for?

There are zero requirements to build new affordable housing. The developers will make billions, and the facts show that these two state laws will create massive displacement — forcing working families out of their own communities.

Stop the blank check to developers!

Instead of actually working to create new housing without traffic gridlock, sprawl and environmental damage, Sacramento politicians handed a blank check to developers to build what they want, where they want, without contributing to new transit, schools or roads — and without our ability to speak out.

After accepting tens of millions of dollars in contributions from for-profit developers, this year the Sacramento politicians passed SB 9 and SB 10 — two damaging laws that essentially tell us to “sit down and shut up” about what is happening right next door to our homes while developers demolish single-family homes and build multi-story, multi-unit projects. We will not sit down — and we are speaking out! We are standing up to overturn these damaging laws by passing a statewide

governance — considerations as long as the effects are relevant to the “risk-and-reward” economical analysis and as long as those in charge be held to a high standard with the best interest of plan participants.

The Republicans argued that when investment philosophies are mingled with the political and social causes of ESG, by diversifying the leadership based on race and sex, the results distract from profitability, as just happened at Silicon Valley Bank who had an executive in diversity but not one in risk management. The same under-performance happened at the ESG-oriented funds last year, which are prejudiced against energy companies because of their carbon emissions.

The legislative intent of the Democratic Congress and Republican president in passing ERISA in 1974 was to “protect the retirement pensions and retirement savings of working Americans and their families by preventing the fiduciaries from mismanagement and abuse by requiring them to consider the “risk-and-reward” for the plan participants. Why did the Trump team feel compelled to restate the congressional intent?

The team saw the ObamaBiden team trying to alter the congressional intent by interjecting climate change as a priority. The Trump team introduced the consideration of climate change within the general objectives of ERISA based on the

Wake up, America. This is what happens in communist countries. Is America becoming a banana Republic? We all need to voice our opinions about this corruption. Only then will our republic survive.

Diana Thorn Carpinteria Government leaders need to show commitment

A nyone watching the athletes participating in March college basketball madness cannot help but notice the supreme effort and enthusiasm put out by these young men and women and their devotion to the instruction of their coaches. The question that comes to my mind is, “Why don’t we see a

initiative in 2024 that restores our neighborhood voice and sanity to our planning process. We can’t turn our local planning over to developers. The result will be gentrification, displacement, traffic gridlock, environmental damage, higher taxes and sprawl.

The politicians are taking away our ability to speak out when developers damage and gentrify our neighborhoods.

A series of recently passed laws allow developers to build multistory, multi-unit buildings right next door to single-family homes and deny our ability to fight back.

We are a coalition of thousands of California neighborhood leaders creating an initiative for the 2024 ballot that would bring back our ability to speak out about what happens in our own neighborhoods. Help us fight back and win for our neighborhoods

Please consider a donation to Our Neighborhood Voices: ourneighborhoodvoices.com.

Bonnie Donovan writes the “Did You Know?” column in conjunction with a bipartisan group of local citizens. It appears Saturdays in the Voices section.

reasons stated herein.

President Biden once again relied on his standard of blaming the MAGA — Make America Great Again — Republicans for limiting the risks of climate change for his veto. Sadly his speech writers once again emulated the theme from Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence” in why they felt compelled to alter the legislative intent of the Democrats who passed ERISA or the plan participants who had relied on that intent since 1974. Nor did his speech contain any factual evidence supporting any economical benefits from any climate change issues.

It appears that my approach of relying on the intent of the law enables my summary of these complex issues to be summarized with the following question. Did the president’s first veto increase, or decrease, the legislative intent of “protecting the retirement pensions and savings provisions that the plan participants had relied on since 1974? That’s the question to ponder. Brent E. Zepke is an attorney, arbitrator and author who lives in Santa Barbara. His website is OneheartTwoLivescom.wordpress. com. Formerly, he taught law and business at six universities and numerous professional conferences. He is the author of six books: “One Heart-Two Lives,” “Legal Guide to Human Resources,” “Business Statistics,” “Labor Law,” “Products and the Consumer” and “Law for NonLawyers.”

similar passion and commitment coming out of our politicians and government leaders today?”

Here is what we deserve to see from candidates and leaders in the three branches of government.

First, there should be an obvious and continuing effort to bring people together, to obtain consensus.

Second, there should be incredible effort to research and champion workable policies.

Third, there should be a monumental effort made to do government according to the plain principles of the American Constitution. These things are not happening today. We need to throw out our sedentary leaders, and train new ones committed to working hard and working smart.

Kimball Shinkoskey Woods Cross, Utah (Former Goleta resident)

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enough, I did not find one single study which found that diversity training leads to more diversity.”

A different Harvard Business Review study analyzed data from 800 companies and found that five years after diversity training, the share of black women managers decreased by 9%.

“It is not about data,” says Dr. Smith. “It’s about a power grab.”

One that starts in schools.

Dr. Smith attended a conference of rhetoric professors where the conference leader, Asao Inoue, declared it racist to grade students on traditional English.

“If you use a single standard to grade your students’ language, you engage in racism. ... White language supremacy.”

Dr. Smith sent a group email in response, saying it’s a disservice to minority kids not to teach standard English. Instead of addressing Dr. Smith’s point, other professors attacked him, calling him racist.

“Do you enjoy using Western modes of argument to invalidate people of color?” “I hope for the day that folks like you will learn how to check their privilege.”

“We are professors in communication,” Dr. Smith told me. “I thought we could communicate. I was so wrong. ... They saw in me a threat. ... a black person saying it’s OK to teach black students standardized English.”

An academic named Eve accused Dr. Smith of “perpetuating harm.” Other academics joined in to praise the “tremendous labor” Eve spent writing the email.

“They’re victims!” I say,

bewildered.

“That’s the point,” Dr. Smith responds. “Perpetuate the victimhood.”

“This isn’t even logical! Has academia gone insane?” I ask.

Dr. Smith laughs. “Yes, it has gone insane.”

Today some sensible people are pushing back. Education reformer Chris Rufo proposes a DEI alternative called “EMC.” EMC stands for equality, merit and colorblindness.

Sounds good to me, but woke college activists say “colorblindness” is evil because it denies that racism exists.

“Merit” is bad because the way it’s measured must be biased, because the results show racial disparity.

This is why some colleges have dropped admission tests and why many high schools eliminated honors classes.

“If you wanted to hold down a group of people,” says Dr. Smith, “... this ‘woke’ thing is a good strategy.”

The achievement gap between black and white students has been widening lately.

A better solution, says Dr. Smith, is to ignore the censors. Debate.

“People don’t say what they feel because they don’t want to get canceled, get called racist. People are censoring. We have to stop doing that.”

Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Mr. Stossel posts a new video about the battle between government and freedom. He is the author of “Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media.”

Copyright 2022 BY JFS Productions Inc.

Money (or lack thereof) is not the problem

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schools remained closed and resorted to remote learning while private and charter schools remained open for inperson learning, the reality is that the system has been in a state of decay for decades.

In fact, on an apples-toapples comparison, US News & World Report recently found that “Research has consistently shown that private school students tend to perform better in standardized tests.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is often referred to as ‘the nation’s report card,’ assesses both public and private school students in subjects such as math, reading, science and writing. The most recent NAEP data shows what other research has found: Private school students score better in almost all subjects. On college entry tests such as the SAT, NAIS found that students in private schools consistently outperformed their public school peers in all subject areas.”

Over the past few years, the disparity in educational quality between private and public schools has grown by leaps and bounds. This is especially evident when one compares average inner-city public schools to suburban schools and/or private schools located in the same urban neighborhoods.

At this point, we know that

money (or lack thereof) is not the problem. In general, the cost to educate a child at a private school is significantly less than the amount needed to fund the average public school student. Make no mistake, the education bureaucrats are well aware that their public schools are failing to properly educate millions of students whose families cannot afford to pay for a private school out of their own pocket. These same people are also totally alert to the fact that the public schools they oversee are corrupt and unsafe.

Could it be that these people — which includes the usual suspects: teacher union officials, leftist politicians, social justice warriors, etc. — favor the modern form of education segregation in which only the wealthy can afford to provide their kin with a solid education and therefore a more hopeful and successful future? If this is the case, which I think it is, we must do as we did before. We must demand equality of opportunity in the education realm. It goes by the name of school choice, and hopefully all Americans will have access to it in their state or neighborhood sooner than later.

Chris Talgo (ctalgo@heartland. org) is a former public high school teacher and editorial director at The Heartland Institute. This commentary was provided to the News-Press by The Center Square, a nonprofit dedicated to journalism.

What is needed is more statesmen

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largely composed of two groups of people: those who grew up in a world that simply no longer exists, and those who are compelled to criticize his stance for purposes of retaining sinecures or maintaining professional relevance.

The first group, namely the “BoomerCons” (Boomer conservatives), matured in a “mutually assured destruction” Cold War setting wherein framing foreign policy as full of binary choices about dueling moral abstractions, such as “freedom versus authoritarianism,” might have been more apt or better resonated; and crucially, when we think of abstract values clashing on the geopolitical chessboard, American society back then had

also not yet fully degenerated into its present decadence. The second group, composed of intellectually homogenous journalists, think tankers and academics, depend upon the propagation and acceptance of blob orthodoxy for their very livelihoods.

The blob will likely have many 2024 GOP presidential contenders to choose from: Nikki Haley, Mike Pompeo and Mike Pence perhaps chief among them. What is needed is more statesmen who have the courage to defy the blob, and to instead side with the American people. Ron DeSantis has again led the way.

To find out more about Josh Hammer and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www. creators.com.

Copyright 2022 by Creators.com.

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When news reached Wall Street that Silicon Valley Bank went belly up, stock prices plummeted for more than 20 regional banks.