Santa Barbara News-Press: April 01, 2023

Rincon Brewery fully reopened

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Homes for the unsheltered on the horizon with $736M in funding

By RIA ROEBUCK JOSEPH THE CENTER SQUARE

(The Center Square) - Californians

experiencing homelessness can expect more options for housing in the near future. Approximately $736 million in Homekey third round funding for local governments, to build or purchase housing has been made available, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced.

Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez said

“With this new investment we are one step closer to housing and supporting Californians that lack a decent, safe and dignified place to call home.”

Among other things, BCSH works through the Department of Housing and Community Development to prevent and end homelessness and facilitate safe, affordable housing.

By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

After closing in December, the Rincon Brewery — a popular spot in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone — reopened this week with its full bar and kitchen.

The Rincon Brewery originally planned to open early in 2022 with its full bar and kitchen, but due to COVID-19, only the taproom re-opened.

“We closed in December to build the kitchen and just reopened on Monday,” Pixie Saavedra, the brewery’s operations manager, told the News-Press.

In addition to the Funk Zone, the Rincon Brewery has locations in Carpinteria and Ventura. Both locations have the full menu, which is now available at the Funk Zone site that reopened Monday.

New to the Rincon Brewery and exclusive to the Funk Zone location is a nine-item breakfast menu.

Rincon Brewery is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays at 205 Santa Barbara St., Suite 1B, in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone. For more information, see rinconbrewery.com or contact Rincon Brewery at 805-869-6627 or info@ rinconbrewery.com.

The website also has

on

The Homekey model uses virtually every manner and opportunity to provide a broad range of housing options to state, regional and local public entities to renovate buildings, acquire property and develop residential units. Homes are created from hotels, motels, hostels, and commercial properties and other existing buildings into permanent or interim housing for those most in need. The program also provides for the building of single-family homes, multifamily apartments, adult residential facilities, and manufactured housing.

“At a time when more housing is desperately needed, Homekey is proving that we can build faster, and at a fraction of conventional construction costs,” Gov. Newsom advised.

Across the state, the Homekey program has created 12,774 permanent and interim homes through 210 housing projects.

“Homekey continues to demonstrate California’s commitment to work with local partners to expand the housing supply and build new homes for our most vulnerable neighbors,” Mr. Castro Ramirez said.

HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez commented, “Adding more interim and permanent homes faster than ever before is crucial to ending and preventing homelessness. State and local collaboration have been key to the success of Homekey, and we must continue to act with urgency to accelerate housing production at all income levels and affirmatively further fair housing.”

The estimated $736 million is part of a larger package which allocated $3.4 billion for use at the local level through the Homekey program.

California’s cities continue to be ranked among the top ten for having the highest populations of homeless individuals.

Many entities subscribe to the Homekey program to provide housing to their communities. The Governor encouraged eligible applicants to submit applications to HCD as soon as possible to be considered for funding through July 28 2023.

“My administration has made available an unprecedented $3.4 billion to date for Homekey to use at the local level to address housing and homelessness. I look forward to seeing more communities use this latest round of funding to boost housing around the state,” the governor said.

Persons of the Year discuss community

Elisabeth Fowler, Joe Howell talk about their passion for helping others

used to describe how it feels to be chosen as the Santa Barbara Foundation’s 80th Persons Of The Year.

“I am surprised and humbled,”

That was the word that both Elisabeth Fowler and Joe Howell

Please see AWARDS on A3

Juana ‘Jenny’ Cue discusses life, 70-year career at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital - B1

SB couple opens Fieldside at the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club - A5

Elisabeth Fowler and Joe Howell

KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS Rincon Brewery Operations Manager Pixie Saavedra, left, and owner Mark Hyatt stand in front of the brewery’s Funk Zone location in Santa Barbara. The Funk Zone site reopened this week with a full bar and kitchen.

Chef Rafael Flores cooks lunch at the new kitchen inside Rincon Brewery in the Funk Zone.

Here are some of the brews at Rincon Brewery.

FYi

Encounters with Van Gogh, past and present

Vincent van Gogh, the world’s most famous artist, turned 170 this past Thursday. About 20 years ago I rolled into Provence in southern France looking for Vincent’s spirit. Inspired by the region’s sunlight and color, which suited his palette, the Dutch artist settled in Arles, a city along the Rhone River, during 1888-89 for 18 months. It was here that he briefly shared a little yellow house with fellow artist Paul Gauguin before their bickering sent Gauguin packing to Tahiti and spoiling Van Gogh’s dream of creating an artists’ salon.

Their final altercation took place the day before Christmas Eve. Vincent reacted by slicing off a piece of his ear (though some believe Gauguin made the cut with his sword then quickly left town to evade arrest). Vincent walked bleeding into the heart of town, to Café de l’Alcazar, and offered it to his favorite gal, Rachel, a prostitute who lived upstairs.

(Rachel fainted.)

Back then, Arles was a bullfighting town. Its Roman coliseum, Les Arenes, is still around. but the city these days is known for Vincent, who has long overshadowed the once-famous Spanish matadors who passed through to torment and kill bulls.

(At the end of a fight the matador would cut an ear from the bull and gift it to his favorite lady, thus partly explaining Van Gogh’s bizarre behavior.)

In January, Arles is chilly and dank and smells of onions. A constant drizzle pushed me to take refuge in a matador-themed café where, over cappuccino, I pondered the absence of Vincent’s spirit in a town whose citizens exploit his fame seven days a week.

Souvenir shops and kiosks on every street and alley peddle posters and postcards and booklets of Van Gogh’s paintings — the same images that their great-great grandparents despised 140 years ago. Café de l’Alcazar, which Vincent painted and made famous as “The Night Cafe,” is now called Café Vincent van Gogh. (Such irony.)

The Arlesians called him “Fou Rou”(Crazy Redhead) — and after the ear incident they circulated a petition calling for him to be run out of town. Caving to their diagnosis, Vincent committed himself to St-Paul-de-Mausole, an asylum. There in the garden he furiously painted a nocturne of swirling stars over St-Remy, a masterpiece and iconic image famously known as “The Starry Night.”

Following his discharge 18 months later, Vincent returned to his native Holland and slaked his thirst for life by killing himself at age 37. (It is believed by some he may have been murdered by 16 year-old Rene Secretan. but this theory has been largely debunked.)

Part of the old asylum is still a psych ward, for women only. The older wing, where Vincent lived, is a museum open to the public for a few euros’ admission.

Thinking this was where I might find Vincent’s spirit, away from the crass commercialism of Arles, I toured Vincent’s quarters: the

bed where he slept, the bathtub where they locked him down for hours at a time because shrinks back then believed such prolonged bathing cured insanity.

An onsite gift shop featured art created by their patients, and there I sprang for a papier-mâché bar relief of a ghostly white figure with shaven head and mad eyes, one arm raised high the other dangling low to signify bipolar disorder.

A LIVELY NIGHT

On the other side of the Alpilles (rocky hills) sits a perched medieval village called Les-Bauxde-Provence and, beyond that La Cabro d’Or, an 18th-century stone farmhouse, now an inn with a Michelin star restaurant.

Their three-course supper is superb, bested only by a fullbodied Bordeaux followed by vintage Armagnac, the perfect setup for a good night’s sleep. And thus, I settle into my cozy, cavelike room and prepare for bed, enjoying the still of night until lulled to sleep by CNN … Bang!

A huge explosion to my right jolts me from deep slumber. I lurch upward, no clue where I am during my first few seconds of consciousness. I twist my head right, expecting to see a big hole in the wall from whatever bomb just blew. But the wall is intact, along with a small radiator, which I’d earlier turned off.

So what was the loud noise? A radiator burp, magnified beyond reason by the silent countryside? I get up and peek through a window at the very bright full wolf moon hanging low in the sky. I check the time on the digital alarm clock by my bedside table: Just past 2 a.m.

So I slide undercover and fall into another deep sleep… until a hand grabs my right arm, just below my elbow — a real physical grip.

I awaken with a start certain that someone (a doctor, perhaps?) is standing beside me to explain my circumstances. Although anyone’s presence would warrant a serious explanation, I’m astounded to find no one there.

I rise, drink Evian water and gaze out the window to see a bright full moon, hanging lower than before. Shaken- – literally, having been shaken awake — I note the time (3:45 a.m.) and turn the TV on, intending to avoid slumber.

But CNN, as usual, induces sleep… until…

A knock on my door. I rise, walk to the door and open it. An expressionless human form stands in front of me. It is carrying an easel, wearing a floppy straw hat. Slowly, it backs away while motioning with its arm to follow it out into the darkness.

I awaken from this dream, then fall back to sleep … until my mind wakes up, but my body remains asleep — one of those sleep paralysis numbers where you want to open your eyes and move but your muscular system and every other part of your body refuses to cooperate and won’t budge.

EXIT STAGE LEFT

It takes about two minutes to snap out of this, and though it is only 5:15 and still pitch dark

ROBERT ERINGER

outside, I want out of there. I quickly pack my things and hoof it to the main building where staff are cranking up for the day.

“I need to check out,” I say.

I’m told the woman who handles checkouts has wandered off.

“Wandered off where?”

“Would you like coffee while you wait?” A very un-French offer because complimentary anything is unheard of in these parts.

“No,” I say, wanting to leave ASAP, not wanting to be delayed by coffee, not even free coffee.

“My room is haunted. A spirit or a ghost or something tried to eject me from my room.”

“Really?” This is followed by an expulsion of air akin to blowing a raspberry. Very French.

“Not only. First it woke me up with a loud explosion and then, when I wouldn’t take the hint

and leave, it grabbed my arm, as if to say, time to go. And then it knocked on my door in my dream and motioned me to leave my room. So can I please check out?”

The coffee guy shrugs. “She must come soon.”

“She must.”

The check-out lady finally appears and prints an invoice. I scan the charges. “Yeah, everything’s fine.”

She runs my Amex card. It doesn’t work. She tries again. No authorization.

“OK,” I say, “If Amex doesn’t want the commission, give it to MasterCard.”

She runs MasterCard then regards me with suspicion. “Non.”

“Impossible.” Now I blow a raspberry. “That card always works. OK, here’s what we do,” I dig into my pocket. “Cash money.” I count out four hundred euros. “I must make you a receipt,” she says.

“Not necessary.” I fly out the door, throw my luggage into the car and, beneath a setting wolf moon, approach the electronic gate. It is supposed to sense a vehicle exiting and open automatically… but does not. I wait a full minute. Nothing. I alight and trot back to reception.

Please see ERINGER on A6

WENDY McCAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . Co-Publisher

ARTHUR VON WIESENBERGER . . . . .Co-Publisher

YOLANDA APODACA . . . . . . . . . . . Director of Operations

DAVE MASON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Managing Editor

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VOL. 167 NO.

www.newspress.com Newspress.com is a local virtual community network providing information about Santa Barbara, in addition to the online edition of the News-Press.

Café de l’Alcazar, which Vincent painted and made famous as “The Night Cafe,” is now called Café Vincent van Gogh.

‘The idea was to bring more food options to the Funk Zone’

BREWERY

Continued from Page A1

Among the offerings is a chicken and waffles dish and vegan “oat boat” — a hot oatmeal dish with organic berries and agave. Also on the breakfast menu are the Chila’ Chilaquiles and the East Beach Omelette.

The breakfast menu is available from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday and Sundays.

“We hope to eventually offer breakfast during the week as well,” said Ms. Saavedra. “The idea was to bring more food options to the Funk Zone.” Vegan and vegetarian options are available on both menus.

“So far people are trickling in,” she said. “Our immediate neighbors are excited we are back, and other people are excited not to have to drive to Carpinteria.”

Rincon Brewery takes great pride in sourcing high quality ingredients for its dishes. The

There’s a lot on tap at Rincon Brewery.

brewery’s policy is to always serve hormone- and antibiotic-free beef, poultry and pork. And Rincon Brewery said its fresh seafood is always on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch “Best Choice” or “Good Alternative” lists. The brewery is proud to be a Platinum Level Certified Ocean Friendly Restaurant. Lettuces

A dog, a horse and a kitten walk into a…

are always organic as well as a “whenever possible” approach to the rest of produce.

The brewery emphasizes local sources whenever possible.

“We are excited to reopen and be part of the Funk Zone community,” said Ms. Saavedra. email: kzehnder@newspress.com

Fowler, Howell to receive awards on April 19

AWARDS

Continued from Page A1

Ms. Fowler told the News-Press. “This is an esteemed group of folks who I know do so much in our community. I derive pleasure from the volunteer work I do. I am deeply appreciative of the recognition.”

“It is really humbling because when I look at the list of past recipients going way back, I know so many of them,” Mr. Howell told the News-Press. “Many are friends, and I know how much each person I know has done to be given the award. That group choosing me to join their ranks is humbling.

“That is the best single word to describe it,” Mr. Howell said.

Ms. Fowler and Mr. Howell will receive their award at the foundation’s luncheon 11 a.m. April 19 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort rotunda, 633 E. Cabrillo Blvd.

Ms. Fowler and Mr. Howell discussed their work for the community during News-Press interviews.

Ms. Fowler talked about her emphasis on education.

“Education is crucial whether you are a student, a teacher or a citizen,” Ms. Fowler said. “I have been involved in first-generation college scholarships and supported mental health programs.”

Mr. Howell spoke about his emphasis on local athletes.

“Besides supporting my own kids, I was drawn to the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table as my son got into high school. The Athletic Round Table does a remarkable job of supporting student athletes, teams and schools in local high schools and colleges on a shoestring with no paid staff and an all volunteer board. I got involved in the early ’90s, and I stayed involved due to the board’s reach in terms of supporting coaches and athletes at every level. And it’s a lot of fun.”

Ms. Fowler discussed her interest in the natural world and how that impacts her work. “I am from the Northwest and have spent a lot of time outdoors in my home state of Alaska: hiking, biking, fishing and swimming. It is a place of rejuvenation and surrender for me. The preservation, restoration and conservation go along with how I was raised and my early experiences.”

“My husband and I have four children and I believe in being home with them and exposing them to the natural world and helping out with what is needed,” said Ms. Fowler.

She previously worked as a policy analyst in the Washington state Senate.

“I worked with senators on bills and did research and grant work to prepare legislation,” said Ms. Fowler.

The News-Press asked Ms. Fowler about her passion for Freedom For Youth.

“I have been involved with a number of projects in Santa Barbara, and it is full of amazing work and opportunities. With Freedom for Youth, I brought in my own perspective. It is a distinctive project working with incarcerated and recently incarcerated youth to shift the trajectory of their lives. There are so many conditions that lead people to making the wrong choices. This project makes sure the youth are supported in incarceration for a better step forward when they come out.”

The News-Press asked Mr. Howell about his support of the Partners in Education program known as Computers for Families.

“In the late ’90s, someone came up with the idea of addressing the issue in our community of the digital divide. A student at elementary level without access to a computer at home was equivalent to a student not having books and a pencil and paper in the previous century. It is fundamental to student

Falcon 9 launch rescheduled for today

SpaceX has delayed its launch again at Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to take off sometime today from Space Launch Complex 4E. The launch was originally

success. Computers for families were born out of this need; the idea was collaborative.”

The program provides used computers to a student or family in need, and a basic training exercise is included, Mr. Howell said. “The environmental community loves it because it keeps computers out of landfills. Computers are donated by local businesses (when they upgrade) and individuals.”

He said Computers for Families coordinates its work with Cox Communications, who offers low-cost internet connection for those students or families.

“To go to a distribution night and see the faces of families getting a computer and an internet connection 100% free is amazing,” Mr. Howell said. “If the computer is having problems or not functioning, call us, and we will fix or replace it. Over 15,000 computers have been distributed to families on the South Coast.”

Mr. Howell said he tries to be selective about the organizations he joins, but once he becomes involved, he’s passionate about the cause.

Ms. Fowler said she wants to continue fundraising — a skill she’s developed during the last 15 years.

“I will continue fundraising for Freedom for Youth, the (Santa Barbara) Museum of Natural History, Laguna Blanca School, Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics, White Buffalo Land Trust, etc.,” she said. “I will continue to learn more about these organizations and get involved with new initiatives. I want to get more involved with North County including the Lompoc Teen Center.

“I’ve really focused on education in a lot of organizations,” Ms. Fowler said.

Among them is Mission Scholars, a three- or fouryear-old organization founded by three women: Cassie Lancaster, Kim Phillips and Katie Kinsella.

“All three of these women have been involved in assisting high schoolers in the college interest process,” Ms. Fowler said. “They had the idea to serve the vast underserved group of high-performing low-income students and started the concept and found students with outstanding resumes and high school records to help prepare applications on where and how to apply for scholarships.

“Mission Scholars supports them in college with mentors etc., to be assured of success. Students have gotten incredible support. Many of them have over 90% of education costs covered.

“I spoke with these women before they started the organization, and I now serve on the advisory board. I love the energy and enthusiasm of people with a new idea, creating it and watching it flourish.”

Ms. Fowler said she always learns something when she works on a project. “I look for how the organization raises awareness and demonstrates viable solutions to the challenges in our midst.”

Mr. Howell said he’s proud to receive the Person of the Year and is humbled by receiving it.

“I very much realize that I receive it as a representative of every organization of which I have been a part. All of them are sharing in the award. It’s not just about me.”

email: kzehnder@newspress.com

FYI

The Santa Barbara Foundation’s 80th Persons Of The Year luncheon will take place at 11 a.m. April 19 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort rotunda, 633 E. Cabrillo Blvd., Santa Barbara. Tickets cost $80.To purchase, go to sbfoundation.org/news-events/pyawards.

scheduled for Thursday, then rescheduled for Friday, then postponed again.

SpaceX did not give a time for the launch at its website, spacex. com, where the launch will stream live.

The launch — whenever it happens — will bring the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0 mission to low-Earth orbit. The mission involves space vehicles that will serve as part of the agency’s Proliferated Warfighter

Space Architecture. That’s a new layered network of satellites and supporting elements that will provide for global military communication and missile warning, indication and tracking capabilities, according to SpaceX.

After the launch’s stage separation, the first stage booster will land on Landing Zone 4.

— Dave Mason

Michele Grace Morrow, the Animal Communicator, talks with Mira Shiga, who fostered hard to adopt rescue dogs in New York City. She recently adopted Sunny, a senior dog, and Michele taps into his health issues which center around his kidneys.

At Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center, Troy Herthel, DVM, explains how his father, Doug started the center in 1972. Being around his Dad ignited his passion for helping equines as it filtered down through the generations. He demonstrates the Samsung CT diagnostic equipment.

At Santa Barbara Humane, CEO Kerri Burns and Dori, the COO, introduce us to a kitten named Stevie, a new arrival and one of several dozen that arrived from Los Angeles. The ASPCA transfers animals to Santa Barbara Humane from overcrowded shelters in California and other areas.

KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS

Celebrity Solstice stops in SB

Biden on Trump indictment: ‘No Comment’

By CASEY HARPER THE CENTER SQUARE

(The Center Square) –President Joe Biden responded to reporters Friday when asked about former President Donald Trump’s historic indictment.

“I have no comment on Trump,” he told reporters as he was leaving Washington, D.C. for Mississippi. When asked a follow up about whether he is worried about potential protests over the indictment, President Biden said, “No. I’m not going to talk about the Trump indictment.”

A New York grand jury indicted Mr. Trump on Thursday.

As The Center Square previously reported, prosecutors presented evidence that Mr. Trump allegedly paid hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels through a lawyer seven years ago and illegally covered it up as a legal expense before being elected president.

Joe Tacopina, Mr. Trump’s attorney, said the former president likely will be arraigned early next week.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the indictment political and said he would not cooperate with any efforts to extradite Mr. Trump to New York from Florida, where Mr. Trump lives. Mr. Trump is expected to voluntarily agree to attend his arraignment without an

FIVE-DAY FORECAST

extradition fight.

Mr. Trump has expressed his outrage in a string of messages on TruthSocial. He posted again Friday morning, calling the case a “witch hunt.”

While President Biden is remaining largely silent on the issue, members of both parties are speaking out. Republicans were quick to blast the indictment, calling it the politicization of the justice system.

Democrats have fired back, saying Mr. Trump got what he deserved.

Mr. Trump has already announced he is running again for president in 2024, and an indictment won’t prohibit him from running. This is the first time a sitting or former president has been indicted. The New York Police Department is working with federal law enforcement to beef up security throughout the city over the coming days as some fear a Trump arrest could spark protests.

Mr. Trump has other investigations on his plate as well, including allegations that he incited the Jan. 6 riots, plus an investigation in Georgia over allegations he illegally attempted to overturn the 2020 election results. He also faces an investigation over classified documents found at his Florida home from his time in the White House.

LACY, Richard James

Richard James Lacy passed away January 15th, 2023, after a long struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. He is survived by his wife Catherine, 6 children, 16 grandchildren and 11 great-grand children. A funeral mass will be offered at St. Joseph’s Church, 298 S. Thompson Ave, Nipomo CA on April 21st, @ 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers please make donations to American Parkinson’s Disease Association. Condolences may be sent to 889 Oak Park Blvd, Pismo Beach CA. 93449.

DUNDAS, Marjorie Copher

Marjorie died from complications from a fall in Santa Barbara, CA on Feb. 7, 2023, at 93 years of age. Marj was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Marjorie Hulsizer Copher and Dr. Glover Hancock Copher on July 23, 1929. Both worked at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis; her mother was the Head Dietician, and her father was a world-famous surgeon. Marj went to Community School and John Burroughs School in St. Louis. For college, she attended Vassar, and later received a Theater Arts degree from Stephens College.

Marj and Charles A. White were married in 1956 in St. Louis, and had a daughter, Meg White, and later were divorced. In 1973, Marj and Meg went on safari to East Africa with zoologist Marlin Perkins. It was there she met Ian Nigel Dundas, a safari guide on their trip. Marj and Ian were married in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1973. The couple moved to Hope Ranch in Santa Barbara, CA in 1976 where Meg attended college. Marj and Ian travelled extensively, played tennis at Birnam Wood Golf Club, and rode her horses on the local trails and beaches. Ian died in 1997. In 2013, Meg and her husband moved from St. Louis to Santa Barbara to be near her mother Marj.

At her request, she was buried in Troy, Missouri alongside her beloved parents, uncles and aunt. Her daughter Meg, and son-in-law Mark Ellinwood, accompanied her to her final resting place.

ROGERS, Catherine Raymond Butts

December 2, 1926 - March 14, 2023

Catherine passed away peacefully at home on March 14th, at the age of 96 with her son at her bedside.

She was born in Boise, Idaho to Hubert Nelson Raymond and Florence Schweppe Raymond, moving at age 10 with her mother and younger brother Richard to Pueblo Colorado. At 14 they moved to Riverside California where Cathie graduated from Riverside High School and Junior College. After one year at UCLA Cathie moved to San Francisco where, the late 1940s and 1950s she was one of the city’s top fashion models. She met John H. Butts Sr. from Wichita Kansas whom she married and moved to Phoenix, Arizona where their two children, Kelsey and Phillip were born.

The family settled in Montecito in 1961. Cathie was active in the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Women’s Guild at All Saints-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church and Garden Club of America Santa Barbara where she won many awards for her floral arrangements. She was an avid golfer at the Valley Club of Montecito. After John passed in 1993 she married General F. Michael Rogers who predeceased her in 2014.

Catherine is survived by her son Phillip Butts and daughter Kelsey Butts Desmond (Daniel) of Mathews Virginia, four grandchildren, Cameron Desmond of Sacramento California, Carolyn Desmond Angelini (Nick) of Boston Mass., Megan Desmond Wells (Stephen) of Davidson N.C. and Daniel Desmond Jr (Tara) of Mosley Virginia and five great grandchildren. Catherine also is survived by four stepchildren from Michael Rogers and is preceded in death by two stepsons from John Butts.

Catherine will be laid to rest in a private ceremony next to her husband John Butts in the Santa Barbara Cemetery between the ocean and the mountains of Montecito which they both loved.

In lieu of flowers, friends may remember Cathie through their favorite charity.

CHELINI, Edward Frank Sr.

February 11th, 1935 - October 2nd, 2022

Preceded in Death by wife Lita Chelini (Anderson 2013) and son David Chelini (1980)

Survived by his large extended family: Son Edward F. Chelini Jr and daughter in-law Janice Marie Chelini (Ware), grandsons and their wives: Anthony and Angela Chelini (Williams), Garrett and Aleta Chelini (Walsh), and Kristopher and Dana Chelini (Rodriquez), greatgrandchildren: Charlotte, Ashton, Sydney, Alexander, Thomas, Benjamin, and Alijah Chelini.

Edward was born in Santa Barbara California to parents; Josephine Chelini (Cota) and Georgio Chelini, an immigrant from Lucca Italy. He was the youngest of the family of seven children. He went to Franklin Elementary School, Santa Barbara Junior High, and Santa Barbara High School. He later graduated from California Polytechnic San Luis Obispo (BS Printing). He served in the Army Reserves and was honorably discharged after graduating from college. He returned to Santa Barbara where he met his wife, got married, and worked for various local printing companies such as Channel Lithograph and Haagen Printing. He spent most of his career at Haagen where he eventually became President after the employee purchase of the business. During his life he spent a lot of years volunteering in various organizations. He was a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) and was President in 1968. He also was a member of the Santa Barbara Boys Club, where he was introduced to printing, which became his profession after graduating from Cal Poly. He volunteered for the Santa Barbara Fiesta organization and became El Presidente (Old Spanish Days) in 1978. Later he served on the Board of Directors of the West Side Boys Club. With his older brother, George Chelini (Executive Director of United Boys Club), they showed the deep commitment to the local Boys Club organization in Santa Barbara. He lived a full life and loved Santa Barbara, which he called home, for his entire life. Many thanks to his fine caregiver, Darlene Leavitt, whose help made it possible for Edward to live out the rest of his life in his own home. He leaves a large loving family as his legacy. In lieu of any flowers we ask for donations in his name to the United Way Boys and Girls Club, PO Box 1485, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.

THORNTON, Shirley A.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Shirley A. Thornton on March 19, 2023, at the age of 85. Shirley was born on December 7, 1937, in Santa Barbara, CA and was a lifelong resident of Montecito. Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Shirley was a proud graduate of Santa Barbara High School, and her school spirit never waned. She was a dedicated member of the alumni association and always enjoyed planning events and reconnecting with her former classmates.

Before retirement, Shirley worked at the GTE phone company for 30 years. She loved her job and the people she worked with. She was known for her strong work ethic and her willingness to lend a helping hand.

Outside of work, Shirley had many passions. She loved to garden and spent countless hours tending to her beautiful flowers and plants. She also enjoyed taking walks with her friends around her neighborhood, where she was known for her warm smile and friendly demeanor. Shirley was an avid reader and loved nothing more than getting lost in a good book. She was also a true cat lover and always had a feline companion by her side.

Shirley is survived by her devoted daughter Sherri Favela, her son Anthony Thornton, her sister Marylou Armstrong, and her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her mother Mary Baratto, father Frank Acquistapace, and younger brother Ronald Acquistapace.

Shirley will be remembered for her kind heart, generosity, and her unwavering dedication to her family and friends. She will be deeply missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing her.

A celebration of Shirley’s life will be held at a later date, and her family requests that any donations in her memory be made to the Santa Barbara Humane Society.

KESTEL, John

John Kestel, a long time resident of Goleta, passed away at 89 on February 25, 2023 at home surrounded by his wife of 59 years and their three children. He was born in Storm Lake, Iowa on October 24,1933, and grew up on a hard-working farm with his family raising hogs, chickens, cattle, and corn. He attended a oneroom school house, grades 1 - 4, then St. Mary’s Catholic school, and on to Iowa State University in ROTC where he graduated with a civil engineering degree in 1956. He received a commission in the U S Army and served in El Paso, Texas where friends touted California as the place to be. After a move to Pasadena and an engineering job, he later met his wife, Mary Ellen (Choate), a teacher from Virginia; they were married in 1964, in Long Beach. John went on to receive his license as a Structural Engineer and spent thirty good years with Peter Ehlen (Ehlen, Spiess & Haight) in Santa Barbara. His drawings were done by hand and calculations with a slide rule or mechanical calculators - before computers! In addition to his diligence at the office, he loved working with wood - his craftsmanship now evident throughout his home.

The Kestel kids, with Dad at the helm, enjoyed years of sailing and camping with Santa Barbara Sea Shells, summer weeks at Big Sur Lodge and visits to a special cabin at Hume Lake, fishing, boating, and swimming, walks around Lake Los Carneros. Solvang’s Theaterfest introduced them to live theater at early ages, always with picnic suppers. Special memories are of John teaching each kid how to drive in his prized 1967 red Camaro on the road to Mr. Doty’s Ranch. He loved playing basketball with Mark and board games where his patient nature and organized mind were wonderful examples to follow. His kids still marvel at how he always had time for them, especially at homework hour after a day at work. In their younger years, the grandchildren were always happy to be around their grandpa, playing games or helping him pick oranges in the back yard; he was very close to these five as they provided many welcomed, delightful moments in his later years.

He was a member of St. Raphael’s Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus.

Strong in his faith and his belief in freedom, he was a supporter of Young America’s Foundation. John and Mary Ellen made many trips abroad, walking trips in Provence, Ireland and Tuscany, cruises, and several tours with close friends to Eastern Europe and twice to Russia. He was a good listener and despite his quiet demeanor, he could tell the best stories ever with his dry humor and perfect timing!

Preceding John in death were his parents, his brother Bill and sister Dorothy. John is survived by his wife and three children: son Mark Kestel of San Diego, daughter Karen Connor (Jon) and their son, Jack of Point Loma; and daughter Laura Drabkin (Mike) and their four children: Alex, Gabrielle, Andrew, and Mia of San Clemente.

A memorial service will be held Monday, May 15, 10:00 A M at St. Raphael’s Church, Goleta, followed by a reception at Glen Annie Golf Club. John’s ashes will be interred at Goleta Cemetery in October to honor his 90th birthday. Donations may be made to the Cancer Foundation of 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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Shown is today's weather. Temperatures are today's highs and tonight's lows.

amount of water consumed annually by 10 people in an urban environment.

KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS

While the “Boy on a Seahorse” sculpture watches over the Santa Barbara Harbor, Celebrity Solstice, operated by Celebrity Cruises, anchors offshore Friday as its passengers make landfall to explore the South Coast.

Business/Real Estate

The culinary debut of Fieldside

Santa Barbara couple opens new restaurant at polo club

FYI

Located at 3300 Via Real, Carpinteria, Fieldside is open Wednesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner (11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 8:30 p.m. respectively). The Amadors recommend making reservations before coming, which can be done at www. opentable.com.

By CALEB BEEGHLY NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT

Near the base of the Santa Ynez Mountains, the historic Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club welcomes a new restaurant to its clubhouse: Fieldside.

Overlooking the Carpinteria polo fields, Fieldside was opened by a local restaurateur couple, Michael and Lisa Amador.

With more than 30 years of experience in the Santa Barbara restaurant industry, Mr. Amador has made a name for himself by being committed to the quality of his food and to his customers. He even started a grocery shopping service during the pandemic for his customers at his old restaurant, Uncorked.

Seeing this quality of customer service and having tasted Mr. Amador’s food led the manager of the polo club to think of the Amadors when the club was looking for new restaurant owners.

The Amadors wanted to create a menu of comfortable food at the highest quality at a good price while keeping the preparation simple. And being inspired by their proximity to the ocean and the need for a steakhouse in Carpinteria, the Amadors decided on a “coastal steakhouse” theme. Alongside its menu that is full of delicious steak and seafood options, Fieldside has a classic look with a comfortable and cozy atmosphere.

One delicious seafood dish is the woven salmon and halibut with a basil pesto beurre blanc, which Mr. Amador came up with himself, saying he “wanted the best of both worlds” — and it just so happens to be Mrs. Amador’s favorite dish.

For Mrs. Amador, starting Fieldside feels very “full circle” because when she first moved to Santa Barbara and opened her matchmaking business, now called Amador Matchmaking, she held her first event at the polo

club. And Mr. Amador brings to the restaurant his experience as the food and beverage manager at San Ysidro Ranch and La Cumbre Country Club, collectively, for

Regulation and investment policies result in today’s banking crisis

The banking crisis of the “Great Recession” was a result of poor lending policies and poor investment decisions on Wall Street.

Leading up to the crisis, lenders were approving mortgage loans for any borrower who could breathe! Adding to the easy approval process were “negative amortization loans,” where the borrower paid only a portion of the interest while the unpaid interest portion was added to the loan balance, putting the borrower further and further behind each month.

It wasn’t long before Wall Street got into this “lending fiasco.” The “Wizards of Wall Street” came up with the idea of bundling these loans and selling them as “conservative investments” to institutions and regular retail investors. They were anything but conservative. It didn’t take long for these “collateralized mortgage obligations” to unravel.

Not only did a huge percentage of these mortgages default, but worse yet, the bundled mortgages fell apart as well.

Bear Stearns, a longtime global investment bank, went bankrupt and was sold to JP Morgan Chase for $2 a share in March 2008, down from $170 a share earlier that year.

In addition to Bear Stearns, some of the big corporations that went through bankruptcies during this very difficult time were Lehman Brothers, AIG, Washington Mutual, General Motors, CIT Group, Chrysler and many others. It was the most significant financial crisis since the Great Depression of 19291939.

Our current banking crisis is very different from what we saw in 2008.

The problems the banks are going through today are a result of regulation and investment policies. Several banks, such as Silicon Valley Bank, took in millions of dollars worth of deposits and invested those monies in fixed, long-term

government bonds. Through the COVID years the interest rates were at “zero-pointnothing” (0.01%). Throughout 2022, inflation became a huge concern for the marketplace, economy and the Fed.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors (the Fed) is charged with overseeing the Federal Reserve Banks and with helping implement the monetary policy of the United States. Raising interest rates is the tool the Fed uses to tame inflation. When interest rates go up, the cost of loaning money rises as well as the cost of financing real estate, and, unfortunately, this causes bond values to decline.

This process reduces business expansion and puts pressure on the housing markets, which in turn will dampen an overheated economy and hopefully will reduce inflation, but at a cost.

2022 was an awful year for U.S. bonds. The 12 months through October ranked as the worst ever recorded for the bond market. The lending market was mostly inactive in 2022 so many companies had to draw down their bank deposits.

As a result, these banks were forced to sell long-term Treasury bonds at a significant loss.

For the past three decades, the bond market has been the “Steady Eddie” of the investment marketplace. Bonds were thought of as boring investments that could be counted on for stability and steady income.

In 2022, however, as inflation

and interest rates soared, the bond market has been anything but reliable. The Fed has indicated that interest rates will continue to go up through 2023. Rising yields may not be a problem if you buy a security for the income it provides and hold until maturity. But if you trade a portfolio of bonds, or hold shares in a bond mutual fund or ETF, falling bond prices bring significant risk.

When Silicon Valley Bank reported a big loss on its Treasury and mortgage holdings, the market and many of SVB depositors removed funds from the bank. Withdrawals took place in anticipation of SVB not being able to make good on deposits, since FDIC insurance covered only up to $250,000. This led to a bank run and forced SVB into receivership.

It later became known that SVB did not adequately manage its interest rate risk, hoping to ride out higher rates and simply wait for their fixed income securities to mature. This resulted in their unrealized losses swamping the available capital, putting far below adequate levels of capitalization compared to its peers. SVB also had a far greater percentage of deposits beyond $250,000 (uninsured by FDIC), making it more vulnerable to a bank run.

The SVB investment management team should have invested in such a way as to mitigate interest rate risk. Shorter term debt and “floating rate” investments would have been much more appropriate.

And bank regulators should have been well aware of the significant risk of the SVB long-term fixed bond portfolio. Hopefully … lessons learned!

Regardless of what this market and economy may bring, remember just how important it is to stay the course!

Tim Tremblay is president of Tremblay Financial Services in Santa Barbara (www. tremblayfinancial.com).

20 years. During his career, Mr. Amador has learned what works. Whether it was being exposed

Please see FIELDSIDE on A6

KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS Above, the Pacific Coast Open Trophy is displayed inside the dining room at Fieldside, a steakhouse located inside the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club in Carpinteria. At right, Michael and Lisa Amador decided on a “coastal steakhouse” theme for their restaurant.

REMINDER PROPERTY TAX DEADLINE

All property owners, especially those who purchased property after January 1, 2022, are reminded that the 2022-2023 secured property tax second installment is now due and payable. Any property owner not receiving a 2022-2023 property tax statement should contact the office of the Treasurer-Tax Collector:

Santa Barbara Santa Maria

105 E. Anapamu St., Room 109 511 E. Lakeside Parkway Telephone: (805) 568-2920 Telephone: (805) 346-8330

FAILURE TO RECEIVE A PROPERTY TAX BILL DOES NOT RELIEVE THE TAXPAYER OF THE RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE TIMELY PAYMENTS

Second installment payments must be paid or U.S. postmarked on or before April 10, 2023. Thereafter a 10% penalty, plus a $30.00 cost will be added to prepare the delinquent tax records and to give notice of the delinquency.

Payment mailed through the United States Postal Service must be mailed to:

HARRY E. HAGEN TREASURER-TAX COLLECTOR COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA P.O. BOX 579 SANTA BARBARA, CA 93102-0579

Credit card and electronic check payments may be made by phone or online at www.sbtaxes.org . A convenience fee will apply to payments made by credit card. Electronic check payments are free. If paying by phone, please call (805) 724-3008 Local or (877) 399-8089 Toll-Free.

Payments may also be made in person at the County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Offices between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. , Monday through Friday, holidays excepted, at the addresses listed above.

HARRY E. HAGEN, CPA TREASURER-TAX COLLECTOR

Design Santa Barbara

6:30PM ON

On this episode, we are visiting Edinburgh Scotland with your host

Michael Kourosh

This weeks Antiquity — African Bronze Statues. These Antique statues represent the last king and queen of Benin Kingdom known as Oba & Efe.

Santa Ynez competes at Lompoc track meet

The Santa Ynez Pirates had an impressive performance Thursday at the Lompoc track meet. There were many first-place finishers for the Pirates. For the girls, Gabriela Robles came in first for the pole vault, high jump and long jump. Madison Dewett finished first in the shot put and discus. Brooke Phelan also had successful finishes in her 1600m and 800m races. For the sprinters, Samara Perez came in first for the 100m and 200m, and Opal Vander Vliet finished first in the 400m. For the boys, Vincent Casey finished first in the long jump and high jump. Josue Salinas finished his race in first place in the 1600m.

The Pirates’ next meet is April

Club membership not required to dine at restaurant

FIELDSIDE

Continued from Page A5 to new foods and wines, which helped build Mr. Amador’s palate and develop his appreciation for good food and wine — he now does the wine tasting for Fieldside — or cultivating relationships within the community, Mr. Amador uses his experience to help Fieldside reach the next level.

When the food came out, so it could be photographed for the News-Press, Mr. Amador saw that the garnish wasn’t spread out enough, so he spread it out. The garnish didn’t look bad, but once Mr. Amador rearranged the garnish, it was clear that the dish looked better.

Mr. Amador knows what he wants for Fieldside, and he is willing to do the work to get there.

Although Fieldside is located in the polo club, you do not need a club membership to dine at Fieldside because they are separate entities.

The Amadors say that their relationship with the polo club is perfect because the club loves to host events, and they love to cook food for the events.

When the polo season kicks off in May, Fieldside will provide the food for the polo matches as well. (Tickets are available at sbpolo. com.)

There is restaurant patio seating, and people will be able to order food from their seats during the match, allowing them to satisfy the medieval royalty urge to be entertained while they eat.

There are alternative options for vegetarians and vegans, and the kitchen is more than happy

This Antique Shirvan Rug is made with high quality sheep wool from the high mountains of Azerbaijan. It is one of a kind and you can find a very similar one in the Markarian Album.

I want to thank YOU, the YTS Productions, the featured Interior Designers and my hard working crew for making the last 18 seasons a wonderful experience for me and the viewers from around the world. With appreciation, Michael Kourosh

15 in Carpinteria at the 103rd Russell Cup.

Bishop Diego defeats

Foothill Tech

The Bishop Diego boys volleyball team played Thursday against the Dragons of Foothill Tech at Cabrillo Middle School.

The Cardinals won 3-1, with scores of 25-17, 18-25, 25-15 and 25-18.

“It was a heated competition tonight and our guys came out on top,” said Bishop Diego head coach Dillan Bennett.

Freshman John Michael Flint stood out on the court, with 13 kills and five digs.

Coach Bennett explained that Flint was “our most consistent player tonight and played solid for a freshmen in a tough environment.”

The Cardinals will compete next at the Surf City Invitational in Santa Cruz on April 1.

Santa Ynez beats Arroyo Grande

The Pirates girls beach volleyball team remains undefeated in league play after its win Wednesday over Arroyo Grande.

The final score was 2-1.

“Our girls did a fantastic job of controlling the ball and staying focused on our game plans today,” said Santa Ynez head coach Melissa Rogers.

The two wins came from Gianna Pecile and Kaki Allen with a score of 21-13 and 21-19, as well as Sadie Lishman Helina Pecile with a score of 21-18 and 21-10.

The Pirates will play against San Luis Obispo on April 3.

— Compiled by Annika Bahnsen

to try and accommodate dietary needs and restrictions for the other dishes.

And be on the lookout for happy hour and brunch, which are coming to Fieldside soon.

Not to mention, Mrs. Amador is always looking to make use of the Club’s truly serene setting by thinking of fun event ideas

that Fieldside can host, such as live music on the patio or line dancing, which are both potential upcoming events. If you would like Fieldside to host an event, the Amadors are open to inquiries (contact michael@sbpolo.com).

email: news@newspress.com

for Van

Gogh’s ghost and found it’

ERINGER

Continued from Page A2

“The gate won’t open!”

Two French women glare at me. “Impossible,” snaps one. The other blows a raspberry.

“I’m not lying,” I say. “It really won’t open.” One of them hands me a magnetic strip card. “Use this.”

I see. Let’s have fun with the jumpy American after we’ve spooked him all night.

I gallop to the gate, run the card, nothing happens. Again. Same result. And again. (Conventional wisdom suggests that the truest definition of insanity is when someone does the same thing

over and over again expecting a different result.)

I return to reception and thrust the card in their faces. “It does not work. Let me out. Now.”

They look at me like I’m not only a stupid American but crazy to boot. One of them rolls her eyes, follows me out and runs a magnetic card through the slot. Doesn’t work. She opens a small metal box at the side of the gate and presses a button. Nothing happens.

By now I’m too desperate to gloat. She blows another raspberry, stumped, says irritably, “This never happens,” as if it is MY fault.

“What now?” I groan in

desperation.

“I go see.” She stomps off.

“Go see WHAT?” I holler after her.

A few minutes later she returns with a new magnetic card, swipes it and — voila! — the gate finally slides open and I’m set free.

It is clear what happened, of course.

I went looking for Van Gogh’s ghost and found it, presumably haunting the asylum). His spirit then trailed me to La Cabro d’Or, where it tried (three times) to evict me from his old stomping grounds — and when I didn’t get the message, tried to hold me prisoner. (I suspect Vincent took umbrage at my exploration of his asylum bathtub.)

And don’t expect me to say, “April Fool’s Day!”

Because it truly happened. No joke.

KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS

Above, Lisa Amador’s favorite dish is this woven salmon and halibut with a basil pesto beurre blanc. Below, Fieldside’s dishes include this shrimp/seared scallop/Parmesan risotto blend.

Robert Eringer is a longtime Montecito author with vast experience in investigative journalism. He welcomes questions or comments at reringer@gmail. com.

‘I went looking

His spirit then trailed me to La Cabro d’Or, where it tried (three times) to evict me from his old stomping grounds — and when I didn’t get the message, tried to hold me prisoner.

Life theArts

100 years young

Juana ‘Jenny’ Cue talks about her long life and long career at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital

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 in Montecito. 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., Santa Barbara. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. For more information, www.sullivangoss.com.

11 a.m.: Voctave, an 11-member a cappella ensemble, will perform a family-friendly concert at the Music Academy of the West’s Hahn Hall, 1070 Fairway Road, Montecito. Youths 17 and younger will be admitted free. The regular tickets for 18 and older is $10. To purchase, go to musicacademy.org. By appointment on weekdays: “Holly Hungett: Natural Interpretations” is on view through May 20 at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara’s gallery, 229 E. Victoria St., Santa Barbara. 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.

Noon to 5 p.m. “Clarence Mattei:

By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Juana “Jenny” Cue started working at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in 1953 when she was 30 years old.

And she continued working there right up to March 22 of this year.

That’s when she turned 100 and retired after 70 years. The hospital honored her that day with a special celebration that included her family.

“I started working with Cottage in the laundry/linen processing department,” Ms. Cue told the News-Press. “I was part of a staff that worked really hard and met our deadlines, yet we were able to enjoy our work.

“On Fridays, we would all have a potluck lunch together as a reward and when each of our birthdays came up, we would have a small pinata with candy and treats and would treat each other to lunch,” she said. “I was later promoted to Central Supply, where I packed linens and instruments for every department at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital..”

Ms. Cue said what she loved about working at Cottage was “working with all of my coworkers, which became part of my family and being the luckiest employee because all of my managers, supervisors and coworkers were always kind and made my job easier.”

Ms. Cue said the highlight of her career was “meeting so many people from different walks of life and being able to witness how much the staff truly cares for all of their patients and staff. I was able to be part of the growth of Cottage Hospital and feel confident that the establishment where I was employed would give me the opportunity to advance.”

Ms. Cue talked about her favorite memories of working at the hospital. “Spending the majority of my life with my co-workers and appreciating every aspect of our relationship among each other and with Cottage. The elaborate employee recognition parties. Ron

Werft, president and CEO of Cottage Heath, who always acknowledged me and went along with our inside joke that I had a penthouse at the top of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.”

The News-Press asked Ms. Cue how the hospital has changed during her 70 years there. “I recall that Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital was basically a one-story building with

painted lumber for portions of the facade, and across the street was Knapp College of Nursing. Floors were tile and cement,” she said. “There were two to four beds in a room. The building had a different feeling, more institutional.

“Over the years, the hospital has transitioned into an awardwinning, beautiful building, inside and out. It has valet parking, amazing landscape and a friendly environment. It’s

professionalism at its best,” she said.

“Within this beautiful, welldesigned building, there’s the most amazing staff work. They always keep in mind the best care for all patients,” said Ms. Cue.

“When I started, I washed and ironed linens, gowns, kitchen towels, tablecloths, doctors’ coats. I would personally embroider the doctors’ names and initials on their hospital

coats. We would deliver all linens to their respective departments. Those services have been updated and my job evolved.

“During my time at Cottage, retirement plans were introduced for all employees, bus passes were made available, and a child care center was created for employee families.”

In her retirement Ms. Cue is

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.

2 and 7 p.m.: Rubicon Theatre of Ventura will perform “Dark of the Moon: A New Musical” on Wednesdays at 2 and 7 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at the theater, 1006 E. Main St., Ventura. Prices are $30 to $69.50 with special discounts for students, seniors, military and Equity members. To purchase tickets, go to rubicontheatre.org.

8 p.m. “The Magical Music of Motown” will feature the Superband performing hits varying from “Stop in The Name of Love” to “My Girl” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” at Lobero, 33 E. Canon Perdido St. Tickets cost $48 and $58 for general admission and $78 for VIP seats. To purchase, go to lobero.org.

APRIL 2

2 p.m.: Rubicon Theatre of Ventura will perform “Dark of the Moon: A New Musical” on Wednesdays at 2 and 7 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at the theater, 1006 E. Main St., Ventura. Prices are $30 to $69.50 with special discounts for students, seniors, military and Equity members. To purchase tickets, go to rubicontheatre.org.

APRIL 4 7 p.m.: The Wynton Marsalis Septet will perform a variety of jazz music at The Granada, 1214 State St., Santa Barbara. Tickets cost $46 to $131 for general admission and $20 for UCSB students with ID. To purchase, go to www.artsandlecturesucsb.edu or call Arts and Lectures at 805-8933535. You can also buy tickets at www.granadasb.org or by calling The Granada at 805-899-2222.

APRIL 5

7:30 p.m. Singer-songwriter Colin Hay, the former lead vocalist for Men at Work, will perform at the Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon Perdido St., Santa Barbara. The concert will feature his songs varying from “Now and the Evermore” to “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself.” The evening will also feature special guest Lazlo Bane. Tickets cost $59 and $69 for general admission and $106 for VIP seats, which include a pre-show reception. To purchase, go to lobero. org or call the Lobero at 805-963-0761 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays or 1-888-456-2376.

— Dave Mason

SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 2023

Jenny Cue is surrounded by her family during a recent Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital gathering in her honor.

COURTESY PHOTOS

Juana “Jenny” Cue, who turned 100, is looking forward to getting to sleep in after retiring from her 70-year career at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.

Are you the CEO of your life?

Managing your life can be challenging, especially when you let other people run it. Some will try to be the boss of you.

Perhaps it’s time to look at how you can become the CEO of your own life. This is about being your own boss, which means being in charge of your own life. It doesn’t mean being the boss of your personal relationships or, for that matter, being the boss at work.

Figuring out how to manage your own life is not something most people think about. Most people are too busy running around doing what needs to be done. Sometimes you may be extremely efficient, and sometimes life may be pure drudgery with a dash of boredom and a bunch of mishaps thrown in. The latter days happen more than any of us would like.

Keeping it all in order may be as much of an emotional challenge as a practical one. Here are some tools that can help you keep your daily challenges balanced and more manageable. This will help to

put you in charge.

• Make a to-do list. Lists don’t have to be long and involved, but they need to be done. The most successful and balanced people I know and have worked with make a list of what they have to do every day, because life changes every day.

And this simple exercise that takes only five minutes can save you hours of wasted time while wondering what to do next. Hint: After you write your list, reread it twice.

• Put your list on hold if an opportunity or a crisis arises. Follow through on the opportunity or do whatever needs to be done to deal with the crisis, and then return to your list. If overtaken by the unexpected, you can save your to-do list for the end of the day.

Accomplishing and checking off items on the list is more interesting and more fulfilling than watching television. Personally, I do whatever I need to do while sitting on the couch next to my wife as she reads her

Vitalant to present

By MARILYN MCMAHON NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

In honor of National Donate Life Month in April, Vitalant urges all eligible donors to make an appointment to give and ensure every patient who needs blood can be treated without delay.

Every day, nonprofit Vitalant needs nearly 500 donations along the Central Coast to support local patients, including those undergoing organ or blood marrow transplants. A single liver transplant surgery can require 20 or more units of blood.

Vitalant is thanking all blood donors who give now through May 15 with a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card redeemable by email. Donors who give Friday through

blogs. This way we can stay close and connected, even though we are both doing our own thing.

• Get counseling before (or after) making a life-altering move.

Making big changes in your world is bound to be stressful, and you want to make wise decisions, so it’s fine to ask for help. Now before you freak out at the thought of what hiring a life coach or business adviser would cost you, there are some great alternatives.

Consider taking a friend, who has some knowledge in this area, out for coffee. Or invite an expert or professional out for lunch and interview them.

There’s no harm in asking, “What would you do if…?” Or look into finding a mentor through SCORE (the Service Corps of Retired Executives).

There’s a SCORE office in almost every town, or you can go online.

• Do your own investing and don’t live beyond your means.

If you really do need investment advice, talk to your

accountant, and do your best to avoid stockbrokers. They’re expensive and rarely right. Statistically, the monkey with the darts did better than 95% of them.

Once you trust your own ability to invest and your money is making money, you will feel much more empowered. No, you probably won’t become Warren Buffett, but you will be a stronger person, and it feels great to create a safety net for your family.

Being in charge of your own life is just a dream for most people. This is not a path for the timid, but those who brave it can reap great rewards and peace of mind.

Barton Goldsmith, Ph.D., 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 28 million readers. He is available for video consults worldwide. Reach him at barton@bartongoldsmith. com. His column appears Saturdays and Mondays in the News-Press.

gift cards to blood donors

Sunday will receive a total of $20 in Amazon.com Gift Cards.

Vitalant noted blood and platelet transfusions save lives every day, providing patients battling various medical conditions with the necessary blood components to get better.

Vitalant added that platelets are crucial for patients with cancer or blood disorders who may require chemotherapy or radiation therapy, which can damage their bone marrow and decrease platelet production.

Donations of all blood types are critical, and especially type O, because it is transfused the most often, Vitalant said. O-negative blood can help patients with any blood type, including premature babies.

Upcoming blood drives in

Santa Barbara County include the following:

• Wednesday, noon to 5 p.m.:

CSUCI, 5383 Hollister Ave., Goleta.

• Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.:

Carpinteria High School, 4810 Foothill Road, Carpinteria.

• April 10, 1:30 to 6 p.m.:

Foursquare Church, 125 N. C

Street, Lompoc.

• April 11, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.:

Santa Barbara City College, 721

Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara.

• April 12, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.:

Community West Bank, 445 Pine Ave., Goleta

April 12, 1 to 4 p.m.: Deckers

Outdoor, 6601 Hollister Ave., Goleta.

• April 14, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.:

Lompoc Valley Medical Center, 1515 E. Ocean Ave., Lompoc.

• April 15, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Born to Run Marathon, 4155 Figueroa Mountain Road, Los Olivos.

• April 20, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.: Anderson Recreation Center, 125 W. Walnut, Lompoc.

• April 23, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Valley of Flowers Half Century Club, 341 N. N St., Lompoc.

• April 24, 2 to 6 p.m.: Camino Real Center, 7046 Marketplace Drive, Goleta. Eligible donors can also give at any Vitalant donation center including in Santa Barbara, 4213 State St. Restrictions apply; see amazon.com/gc-legal.

To learn more and make an appointment to give, go to vitalant.org or call 877-258-4825. email: mmcmahon@newspress. com

Tech Help” at Santa Maria Library

SANTA MARIA — The Santa Maria Public Library will offer the next two sessions of “Tech Help” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today and April 15. Participants meet one-onone with library staff for a 25-minute session to learn more about accessing library resources on a personal smart device. Sessions are available by appointment only by calling

the library at 805-925-0994, ext. 8562. The library is located at 421 S. McClelland St., Santa Maria. Participants can learn how to access and download ebooks and audiobooks using apps available for free with a library card. They are encouraged to bring their own devices to learn how to enjoy library resources at home.

Library users can receive guidance on technology topics like installing apps, creating email accounts and best practices to ensure online privacy.

The program will not include assistance with hardware repairs, virus removal, financial transactions or applications that require users to input sensitive information.

Follow the library on social media for updates on programming, resources and services. Facebook: Santa Maria Public Library and Instagram: @santamaria_ publiclibrary. For more information, call the library’s Information Desk, 805-9250994. ext. 8562.

— Marilyn McMahon

Teen Job Fair planned for Santa Maria

SANTA MARIA — The Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department, as well as the Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Safety, invites Santa Maria Valley employers to participate in the Teen Job Fair on April 13.

This free event, targeting high school students ages 15 through 18, will take place at the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center, 600 S McClelland St., Santa Maria.

An objective of the Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Safety is “employing teens as a deterrent strategy to prevent them from engaging in juvenile crime and gang involvement.” This event will provide teens with the opportunity to find jobs in the

area, which according to the event organizers, will “enhance the quality of life of community teens.”

Employers represented at the event will be offered free ad-space in the Summer Recreation Guide. Additionally, a pre-event mixer will be held for the employers catered by the McClelland Street Market.

If employers register by March 31, they will be entered into a drawing for a free picnic for 10 people at an upcoming Concerts in the Park series event in the city. Employers interested in participating can register online at www.bit.ly/TJRF2023.

— Annika Bahnsen

Book club to meet April 8

SANTA MARIA — The Valley

Reads Book Club will meet at 2 p.m. April 8 at the Santa Maria Public Library in the Learning Loft, 421 S. McClelland St., Santa Maria.

The club will discuss “Verity” by Colleen Hoover, a romantic thriller that focuses on a journalist tasked

with finishing a famous author’s work. Registration is required. To register, call 805-925-0994 or visit www.cityofsantamaria.org/library. Questions can be directed to the library’s Information Desk, 805925-099, ext. 8562.

— Marilyn McMahon

SUDOKU

Thought for Today

HOROSCOPE

Horoscope.com

Saturday, April 1, 2023

ARIES — Look for answers to your question today, Aries. The good news is that the answers are now out there and easily accessible. Seek the truth and you will find it. Make sure you probe more deeply than you might think to do. Instead of just asking for the answer, seek to find the full mechanics behind the problem.

In this way, you’re much more likely to find ultimate success.

TAURUS — You may not necessarily approve of the behavior of the people around you, Taurus, but that doesn’t mean you need to make their lives miserable. Be more accepting of others. Don’t feel like you need to teach people a lesson simply because you don’t understand their ways of life. You may be jumping to conclusions without taking the time to understand the situation.

GEMINI — You have an extra amount of physical vitality to work with now, Gemini, so take advantage of it to give your body a good workout. Eat well and avoid fatty, salty foods. Fuel yourself with carbohydrates, protein, and fresh fruits and vegetables. With high energy, you can get a tremendous amount accomplished.

CANCER — You may keep having the same thoughts over and over in your head, Cancer. Each day you may work out a different scenario for the way it comes to an end. You know that you will get to this critical decision at some point in your life, so why not experiment with all the solutions now? Stay calm and turn to others when you get into a bind along the way.

LEO — You may feel like you’re on the run in some way or other today, Leo. It may even seem like someone is chasing you. They’re right on your heels and you’re doing everything in your power to stay one step ahead. Have confidence in yourself. You will accomplish everything you need to do and still finish in front of the pack. VIRGO — Every day is a new start and new chance, Virgo. Don’t get upset or angry over past events. Don’t dwell on things you can’t change. Your whole life can turn around in a day, so start every morning with a positive

outlook. As you wash your face in the morning, think of it as a renewal. Clean off the debris from yesterday while welcoming the freshness of a new day.

LIBRA — You’re apt to move in and out of sync with people today, Libra. At first it may seem quite natural and easy to be in your situation, then the next minute you feel alone and uncomfortable. Understand that it’s fine to have two conflicting feelings at the same time. Learn to relate to and embrace both frames of mind.

SCORPIO — You may feel as if you’re the only one who picks up on the nuances of conversations and actions around you, Scorpio. Your reaction to things is more than likely quite strong and will have a much greater impact on you now. Use this day to turn things around. It’s time for you to create a stir.

SAGITTARIUS — You may feel emotionally on fire today, Sagittarius. One conversation with someone will suddenly spark a discussion of some sort that proves extremely valuable to you in the long run. Expand your mind. You can learn a great deal by opening yourself up to the truth. Making connections with others will help pave the way toward your success.

CAPRICORN — Bring more of your feelings into the open today, Capricorn. Don’t be so paranoid about what other people think. At times you may feel as if you’re in some sort of spy movie with you playing the lead role. The people around you are other players in the game, and you may feel that sometimes they can’t be trusted.

AQUARIUS — Have fun today, Aquarius, but make sure you’re always professional and polite. Appearance and a good-natured demeanor will get you far. Avoid rude comments or dirty jokes when in large groups of people. You may get a chuckle from those around you, but realize that this sort of behavior isn’t always looked upon kindly.

PISCES — Today may be filled with conflict when your legs carry you one way while your heart tugs you in a completely different direction, Pisces. Don’t get caught in an uncomfortable situation like this. If you move around on automatic pilot all the time, you may end up missing out on the things your heart truly longs for.

DAILY BRIDGE

By FRANK STEWART

Tribune Content Agency

Saturday, April 1, 2023

Mark Dahl of Richmond, VA, was declarer in today’s deal from a crucial match in the Mixed Swiss Teams at the Fall NABC. (West’s two clubs showed length in both majors; North’s two spades showed club length plus a spade stopper.

Dahl’s 3NT was bold.)

West led a low heart, and East took the king and returned the jack. When Dahl’s queen covered, West played low to keep communication.

Declarer next led a club to dummy’s ace, getting the bad news; West threw a spade, so Dahl couldn’t profit by setting up the clubs. Instead, he led a club to his king, cashed four spade tricks and exited with his last heart. West took three hearts but then had to lead a diamond from his king. Making three!

OTHER TABLE

At the other table, West led a spade against 3NT, and declarer got home with less difficulty. At Dahl’s table, the contract could have been defeated: East needed to play his jack of hearts at Trick One.

Dahl’s good play helped his team to a second-place finish in the event.

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

spades. What do you say?

ANSWER: Don’t bother to mention your clubs. Bid 3NT. Once in a great while, your partner will fail at 3NT when your side could have made a game — or at least gotten a plus score — at a club contract, but the nine-trick game is most likely to succeed, especially when you have semi-balanced pattern and a trick in spades.

East dealer Both sides vulnerable

“We have all the light we need, we just need to put it in practice.” — Albert Pike

Here’s a look at the history, artistry and majesty of swans

T.Y. sent me a pink blown glass swan and a green blown glass swordfish, about 12 inches tall each.

The swan is Italian (Murano), and the swordfish is Mexican “end of day” glass. “End of day” is the glass left over after a glass blower does the day’s work in colors, and the mixture of colors of left-over glass in the swordfish piece gives that “end-of-day quality” away. Not worth much.

I would like to focus on the swan, as the swan has been a symbol in the material world for ages and in many cultures. In fact, my grandmother from Hamburg, Germany, had a small collection of glass swans in her New York home because she remembered them on the Alster River in 1910-1920s.

Firstly, any creature that is a “passage” creature, partaking of two elements (snake: earth and air and water, swan: earth and air and water), has meaning.

In the Hindu culture, it is said that the swan can suck the milk out of a milk-water mix (earth and water), and the swan, because of the plumage of pure white is the closest creature to the world soul.

When a swan flies, it is an example of the release from the cycle of birth and death (samsara), because when a swan flies, it is a mighty thing to see.

The swan, especially the male, is huge. With its length of up to 6 feet, its weight of 30 pounds and its six-foot wingspan, its taking to the sky is inspiring. And let us not forget the sexual symbolism of the swan due to both the size of the male and the length and aggressive nature of the neck

looking forward to “spending more time with my immediate family including my daughter and son and their spouses, my grandchildren, my great grandchildren, my great great granddaughter, nieces/nephews, friends and former co-workers.”

She is also looking forward to, after a 70-year career at the hospital, “sleeping in and enjoying the life that God has given me.”

“I truly believe that my career experiences at Cottage have made me a better person,” Ms. Cue said. “I met so many kind and encouraging people at Cottage. Because of that I also moved forward and accomplished attaining my cosmetology license, and on Saturdays and Sundays I would donate my time and go to the rest homes and give haircuts to various elderly patients.

“This was my way of giving back to our community. I was able to accomplish this because of the opportunity that Cottage gave me.”

email: kzehnder@newpress.com

and beak.

In the arguably most sexualized era of France, the Second Empire (sex was rampant but never discussed and was undercover in 1870-1890), perhaps the most famous sculpture was “Leda and the Swan,” after the myth of Leda and Zeus. (Zeus desired the lowborn maiden Leda, and he devised a way to not be an aggressive human male but a beautiful animal male swan.)

The maquette was created in 1870 by the sculptor Carrier-Belleuse and reproduced in the thousands.

My grandmother was from Hamburg, the city of the Alster Swans, but my grandfather was from Leipzig, the area known for porcelain in the 18th century, and I visited the Meissen Museum there looking for the famous Meissen Swan Service.

I know it is hard to believe, but before the 18th century, Europe did not know how to make or fire porcelain.

It (the recipe) was discovered in the early 18th century in Meissen/ Dresden area of Germany, and the most famous of all porcelain artists of the time was Johann Joachim Kaendler, who created the most famous of all “dinner party tableware sets,” the 2,200-piece (1737-42) Swan service for a Polish nobleman named Henrich von Bruhl, director of the Meissen Porcelain works in the early 18th century.

Why a swan service? Because the name “Bruhl” in German refers to a swamp (swans are creatures of earth, water and air — as are swamplands) and if nothing else, the 18th century was a time of allegory. Kaendler

knew this and visited the Dresden Natural History Museum to sketch the swan.

Only a few pieces of the Swan Service remain today — which were a beautiful depiction of two relief swans in “white on white” porcelain on each dinner plate, cup, and tureen, platter, and candelabra and sconce, because at the end of World War II, when the Red Soviet army invaded Poland, where the Bruhl Castle was located (the service was in the basement), they used the pieces for target practice.

Swans in material culture are symbols that still live. Insult a Hamburg swan by yelling, and under a 17th-century law you will be fined, because if you harm a Hamburg swan, you harm Hamburg’s right to be free and prosperous. A “Swan Father” — who has been in charge of Hamburg swans for 20 years, or his father, in charge for 46 years — will be on you in true German fashion.

The myth of the Hamburg swan: When the world is good, the swans will come, and during the French Siege of Hamburg in 1813, only two swans existed, and after 1919, 16 swans survived. Today there are 120, of which the eldest is 24 years.

The Murano Glass Swan was created by the legendary midcentury artist Seguso and is worth $800.

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 PHOTO

The green swordfish isn’t worth much, but the Murano Glass Swan is a different story.

JUANA

Continued from Page B1

COURTESY PHOTO

Jenny Cue said her favorite memories from her long career include “Ron Werft, president and CEO of Cottage Heath, who always acknowledged me and went along with our inside joke that I had a penthouse at the top of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.”

Janet Yellen’s lack of credibility

Treasury secretary makes outrageous statements and plays word games

The words used by her party, the Democrats, describe Janet Yellen have been amazingly consistent over the years. Ironically, in retrospect almost eerily, the introductions always followed the pattern of the Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, of “I’m pleased to announce Janet Yellen as first woman to become the — fill in the blank — which for Mr. Biden was “treasury secretary.” Notice the difference between that sentence and the one never spoken of “Based on her record of achievement of — fill in the blanks — as a — fill in the blanks — I am proud to nominate her as the first woman

…”

Here are a few recent examples that might have been avoided with this sentence.

Recently Treasury Secretary Yellen said, “The $80 billion for the 87,000 IRs agents will be used to audit small family businesses and tip earners” after campaigning for it to be passed with “The $80 billion and 87,0000 IRS agents will only be used to audit billionaires.”

It is doubtful that a person with accomplishments would either mistakenly, or intentionally, have been so dishonest.

Recently Secretary Yellen said, “I wish I knew,” to U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan’s question, “Why was the IRS visiting the home of reporter Taibbi as he was addressing my committee on the data that Elon Musk gave him from Twitter files on the DOJ’s weekly efforts to block the coverage of Hunter Biden’s lap top until after the 2020 elections?”

“She wishes she knew” is not credible as the IRS, which reports to her, was obviously trying to intimidate a congressional witness testifying to her party’s attempts to influence an election. A person with any integrity would have added, “But I will find out.”

Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, asked Secretary Yellen if the proposed Biden budget she was supporting contained $4.7 trillion in tax increases. That led to Secretary Yellen’s response of “It does contain some increases,” followed by Sen. Kennedy saying “$4.7 trillion,” to which Yellen said “Something like that.” Really?

Secretary Yellen’s career began when Harvard University, long before it announced Elizabeth Warren would be its first Native American faculty member, announced Janet Yellen would be the second woman to be employed by their Economics Department after she was awarded a Ph.D. from Yale University. She joined the first woman in writing several academic papers.

She next joined the Federal Reserve as a staff economist and met her husband, economist George Akerlof, who she followed to the London School of Economics before following him to the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, where she became the “second woman” to earn tenure while teaching undergraduates and MBA students instead of the graduate students taught by renowned

scholars.

President Bill Clinton nominated Ms. Yellen as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (1994-1997) and then chair of his Council of Economic Advisors (1997-1999), where after she said, “Inequality has risen to the point that it seems to me worthwhile for the U.S. to seriously consider taking the risk of making our economy more rewarding for

more of the people,” President Clinton ordered that 25% of all new mortgages be issued to minorities who did not qualify.

In 2001, Ms. Yellen’s husband George Akerlof shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science for their “analysis of markets with asymmetric information.” It is speculation about whether his fame assisted Janet’s becoming the “first woman” to be appointed president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (2004), where she so favored Mary C. Daly that in Mary’s words her career “exploded upward,” leading to her becoming the head of the San Francisco Federal Reserve in 2018.

Unfortunately, when President George W. Bush increased the quota from 25% to 50% of new mortgages required to go to minorities who otherwise did not qualify, the lenders — Washington Mutual, Countrywide and others — got even more creative by not even requiring any documents to indicate the ability to make the payments. When Wall Street leveraged these “no docs,” the market crash of 2008 resulted.

Enter President Obama, who nominated Ms. Yellen to be the “second woman” to be the vice chair of the Federal Reserve, despite a senator who voted against her appointment saying “Yellen has an inflationary bias.”

President Obama nominated Ms. Yellen to be the chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve in February 2014 after she testified that she did not believe that a so-called “everything bubble” was forming. During her term , the Federal Reserve kept interest rates at almost zero to help the Obama-Biden economy.

In February 2018, President Trump made her the first chair in nearly 40 years not to be nominated for a second term and replaced her with Jerome Powell.

in November 2020, Presidentelect Biden said he would nominate Ms. Yellen to be his treasury secretary as she continued her Keynesian approach of “the state has a duty to tackle poverty and inequality” with her focus on “race and sex” by appointing Janis Bowdler, described as a “Latina activist, as the “first-ever” counselor for racial equity.

Secretary Yellen then insisted that the inflation in the Biden economy was “transitory” without offering any reasons why she

Re-examining the transgender explosion

Nearly two years ago, I wrote a column on what I called the Transgender Explosion and wondered how it was that so many boys and girls, young men, and young women, seemed obsessed with the idea of “transitioning” to the opposite sex.

I proffered that what we were witnessing has a lot in common with lobotomy, a procedure that enjoyed some prominence when it first appeared. From 1949 to 1952 — its heyday — some 50,000 prefrontal lobotomies were performed. It was seen by many as a medical miracle used to “cure” difficult patients. By the mid 1960s, and after some 60,000 lobotomies, the procedure had been completely discredited.

The “operation” (originally called a “leucotomy”) was invented by Egas Moniz, a Portuguese neurologist, who performed the very first such operation by drilling two holes in a patient’s skull and injecting pure alcohol through those holes into the frontal lobe of the patient’s brain, destroying tissue and nerves. Mr. Moniz was awarded a Nobel Prize in Medicine for his inventive procedure.

A year later, Dr. Walter Jackson Freeman, an American physician, began using the procedure and

soon modified it. His method was less time-consuming but just as effective. He would insert an ice pick into the inside crease between the eye and the bridge of the nose of a patient, then slowly turn it as the device reached the brain, destroying tissues and nerves. His new “lobotomy” took 10 minutes, as opposed to the one-hour or more Moniz’s “leucotomy” took.

Lobotomy became so popular that Dr. Freeman toured psychiatric hospitals, demonstrating the remarkable results of the simple operation to crowds of astonished and gullible mental health professionals, ready and eager to try their hands at the procedure. With the birth and popularity of social media, something similar has taken place in the world of sexual instability.

Soothing descriptions of “gender affirming care” and “gender transition surgery” are given space to promote the “transitioning” process and offer positive reinforcement, and encouragement to confused and vulnerable youngsters.

According to a June 2019 report cited in the National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine from the American Society for Plastic Surgeons, sexreassignment surgery was the highest growing surgery in 20162017.

My column delved into a little history of “gender dysphoria” but stopped short of describing the actual “gender transition” operation and what is involved.

I’m doing that now because it’s increasingly difficult to find a social-media site that offers anything other than positive and transgender-affirming psychological advice.

Once on this transgender road, it is extremely difficult to get off. Powerful drugs and hormones, along with regular and frequent doctor visits, become a part of everyday existence for anyone who’s chosen to “transition,” even non-surgically.

Records indicate that up to 25% of people who identify as transgender eventually opt for the complete surgical route.

Because of that, here are the facts about surgeries offered to men and women looking to change genders.

The first thing one notices about so many of these sites is how soft the introductory language is. For example: “Transgender and intersex people follow many different paths to realize their gender expression (including chest reconstruction and facial feminization surgery),” reads a London hospital website that specializes in these kinds of surgeries. You’ll be advised that people in search of realizing their gender expression “may also decide that bottom surgery

DID YOU KNOW?

Bonnie Donovan

Elected o cials are failing community

What makes Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara? It isn’t our university (UCSB), our community college (SBCC), our beautiful beaches, our mountain and island views. It isn’t State Street, Lotusland nor the Santa Barbara Mission, the iconic Santa Barbara County Courthouse, Fiesta nor the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, the marina or Stearns Wharf. Nor is it Harry’s Cafe, Joe’s Cafe, nor the Palace. It isn’t El Encanto or the theaters such as the Lobero, the Arlington, the Granada. Nor is it Earl Warren Showgrounds. Nor is it De la Guerra Plaza.

Santa Barbara is the sum total of each one of these venues and more!

And it’s time we all stand up and protect her, because “they” never stop trying to demolish our city .... piece by piece. Soon she will be history! The history others have worked so hard to preserve and “mindfully” create, which is why Santa Barbara is known worldwide as a beautiful and special town.

We ask who are “these” people, and how does this happen? Who is at fault in all of this really?

Many players are in the mix with more in line to take over. Emphasis on “to take over.”

Why will our elected officials not represent us, and they themselves be held accountable?

Instead, their emphasis appears to be on their next election cycle. Why are so many in the position to lord over and tell the populace that they “know better?” The audacity and the foolishness that they should decide and think for the masses. Because we have let them — out of fear, complacency, a lack of commitment and caring about our own selves and our own country. “They are the experts” … but they are not! For instance, a teacher‘s love for their student is unmatched by the love the parent holds for their child.

Yet the Santa Barbara Unified School District board dictates that it knows what is better for children than the parents. However, the love the teachers have for their protective unions it appears is unsurpassed.

It’s obvious the emphasis on control executed by increased government to prevent social discourse, demands the eradication of freedom of speech. The best outcomes are found when people are free to speak. If we have a crisis/emergency, eradicate what is causing the crisis until a solution is attained. Now anything the government wants to control or take more advantage of, they call the situation a crisis and even label anything a health crisis. The result is more rules, regulations and government entities to clamp down on society’s freedoms. In the words of Winston Churchill and used by Rahm Emmanuel, in more recent times, the “Never let a good crisis go to waste” credo has reached enormous proportions.

If the topic is not labeled a crisis, it is an “insecurity,” as in food insecurity, housing insecurity or job insecurity. And government officials have decided that it is their job to fix all these things for the people “they” govern. They forget the people elected them. Pushback is needed — not bowing down to these script readers we put in charge.

Speaking of the housing crisis, over a year ago UCSB

James Buckley

PURELY POLITICAL

U.S. TREASURY PHOTO

Janet Yellen

Brent E. Zepke

The author lives in Santa Barbara.

Wendy McCaw Arthur von Wiesenberger Co-Publisher Co-Publisher

GUEST OPINION

Private schools choose their students

Re: “School Choice is the New Civil Rights Movement,” by Chris Talgo, News-Press, March 25.

Pompous persecution and prosecution comes back around!

After decades of pompously persecuting and prosecuting various business interests throughout the county for mere accidents and happenstance, Santa Barbara County itself is finding out the hard way that what goes around comes around.

While county supervisors have historically liked to claim the moral high ground as protectors of the environment, via sanctimonious proclamations at press conferences, and litigation, now it is the county that is lawyering up for their own misfortune.

This time around, because there was no press conference, we must surmise the details of two incidents that have prompted the county to hire the law firm of Perkins Coie. (Yes, that is the same firm that Hillary Clinton used to launch her dirty tricks campaign against Donald Trump ala the fake Russian dossier.) The lawyers from Perkins Coie are trying to get the county out of hot water as it affects two cases of hazardous chemical contamination.

The first case has to do with a somewhat natural oil seep in Toro Canyon that has been leaking for decades. Years ago, the federal government came in and cleaned up a huge mess in the canyon and then handed responsibility for future seeps to the very reluctant county of Santa Barbara. Due to the happenstance of a wildland fire that burned through the area, the equipment the feds placed there got damaged while nobody from the county bothered to monitor and maintain the equipment. As a result, hundreds of gallons of oil flowed freely down the canyon. The county is being prosecuted accordingly.

The second case is in Santa Maria where there is alleged contamination of the aquifer at the site of the former Semco company. Albeit most people believe that most of the contamination originated long before Semco located there by way of a Department of Defense World War 2 air training base that had no less than 250 tanks of all sorts of bad stuff including, of course, various aviation fluids. In this case, the Regional Water Quality

Banning guns isn’t the answer

Guns, guns, guns. It’s always about the guns. An inert object that does absolutely nothing on its own. A bunch of metal. Guns don’t breathe. They don’t eat. They don’t think. They don’t move.

The only thing required for a gun to do something, is a human finger.

Control Board is trying to force Santa Barbara County, the city of Santa Maria and the Santa Maria Airport to fork out tens of millions of dollars via a cleanup and abatement order. This, despite the fact that nobody, including the water board, has any reason to believe these three local government entities had anything whatsoever to do with the contamination.

This is par for the course for the tyrannical and abusive water board, which answers to no one. Whereas a sympathetic audience might feel sorry for Santa Barbara County for finding itself in the middle of lawsuits for pollution it did not technically create, in my opinion, the county deserves the karma because it has done similar things to countless others in the past.

The county has been oh so happy in numerous times past to turn businesses in to the water board (and other agencies) for matters that were legacy issues from long ago that the current owner had nothing to do with. In one instance, the county went after a fuel distributor for ground contamination, whereupon further investigation the contamination had come from a county operation.

The most infamous case of abuse ever? Instead of building houses on ground that had been slated for development, Peter Adam (years before he became a county supervisor) and family instead purchased the land to farm it. The county subsequently fabricated a wetland designation on the property and got caught redhanded doing it. The county was fined by a jury for $7 million as a result, because the land was never a wetland to begin with. The fine got thrown out on a technicality, but the finding of “fraud, malice and oppression” stands.

“Fraud, malice and oppression” sounds like somebody’s de facto mission statement, if you ask me.

W hile I prefer to ignore most of the propaganda that currently passes for political discourse, as a retired public school teacher, I feel compelled to respond to the recent editorial characterizing school choice as the new civil rights movement. The article — and virtually all like it promoting school choice — leaves out one very important difference between public and private schools: the choice that schools have.

I’m quite sure that testing outcomes in private schools are substantially higher than those of public schools. Of course they are. Private schools get to choose their students whereas public schools must accept anyone within their boundaries. That includes students with emotional and physical disabilities (excuse me, differences) for whom it can be incredibly expensive to provide appropriate care and who are unlikely to be academically high functioning.

Students must be enrolled regardless of their language skills with dozens of languages other than English represented in California and nationally. Students with behavioral issues or low academic potential must be accepted by public schools when they enroll and their needs must be addressed regardless of the extra cost and drain on district resources. Private schools can reject any of these potential applicants, and they do reject them. Is it any wonder their outcomes appear superior?

So to all proponents of school choice, let’s make this fair. Give parents their checks for education expenses, but require any school to which they apply to accept

their children with no additional fees. Do that, and I predict the differences between the educational outcomes of private and “failing” public schools will disappear in a heartbeat.

Robert Lindsay Santa Barbara

The proper regard for money

Re: Frank Sanitate’s column, “SVB Board, Executives Became Greedy,” News-Press.

I enjoyed Frank Sanitate’s article on March 18. It made me think of the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 2, verses 1-11. Many view the Bible as the word of God others see it as a good book with some good stories. The book of Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon, who, if our understanding is correct, was one of the wisest men to ever walk the earth.

Those verses in chapter 2 outline all the riches and pleasures he was able to accumulate in massive amounts.

What I have always found interesting is what he wrote in verse 11 concerning riches. “But when I reflected on all the works that my own hands had done and all the hard work that I toiled to accomplish, I saw that everything was futile, a chasing after the wind, there was nothing of real value under the sun.”

If the Bible is the word of God, it is interesting He had these verses written down for us to meditate on the proper place money and things should be in our lives. Thanks for your writing, Frank.

Jay Gretchen Santa Barbara

We can do better

I think it’s pretty obvious that the U.S. is a mess: drugs out of control, Southern border

destroyed, gender confusion, governmental spending, one-way justice, reverse racism, green new deal and problems with national strength, education and spiritual values — and the many “byproducts” of all of this.

Crime is rampant, along with inflation, as we head into our own destruction.

We have forgotten the pillars and lives that brought us to 2020. It’s all about money and power.

Our last presidential election remains very dubious,and was won out of hate for the opposition, which continues to this day, as we head for 2024. There are too many people who will refuse to acknowledge an unwise decision. Presidential candidates often choose running mates for their own tenure ”insurance.”

I still remain hopeful that, as a nation, things will turn around for us again. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again! Love this country. There is nothing better!

Randy Rosness Solvang

Let’s act to prevent school shootings

School shootings. It is a shocking travesty that those two words can occur next to each other!

We all feel helpless in the face of evil. However, I believe it is a multi-faceted problem, and until all three problems are addressed, the carnage of the innocents will continue.

The United (I prefer Untied) States of America is the only country where children are murdered, and homicides are through the roof. I hosted a student from Belgium for a semester, who asked if it was safe to go to school or would he possibly be shot. They think our country is completely nuts in Europe and Canada for electing crazy people and allowing assault

Please see LETTERS on C4

Universal charitable deduction helps people address local needs

Don’t itemize your taxes but still want to streamline your H&R Block experience this tax season? You’re in luck.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., introduced a bill earlier this month that would let you do just that.

If enacted, the Charitable Act would allow charitable givers who don’t itemize — so, don’t deduct things like mortgage interest and medical expenses from their taxable income – to nonetheless claim a charitable deduction and get money back on their taxes beginning in the 2023 tax year. Lawmakers should support this common-sense legislation.

guarantees a broader array of givers a voice in our country’s philanthropic future, creating a nonprofit ecosystem that is more inclusive and that better reflects the charitable vision of all Americans.

Carolyn Bolton

American philanthropy is increasingly a thing reserved for the wealthy – a top-down system for mega-donors to direct and execute their charitable vision.

The author is with Donors Trust

Creating a universal deduction would create more of a bottom-up system of philanthropy that better represents American values.

The kitchen and its nonprofit were founded after restaurateurs Diane and Rob Perez identified a troubling pattern of recovering employees falling back into the cycle of drug abuse after only a couple of weeks on the job.

Mr. Perez said last year in his testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship that he and his wife “lost 10 of (their) employees to fatal overdoses” in the eight years preceding the start of their charitable enterprise.

The recent shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville was a powerful gut punch. Our thoughts can’t help but run through images of what happened from the deaths to the ensuing aftermath for those who survived. The photo of the girl in the bus with her agonizing expression brought instant tears. We’re helpless to offer any comfort.

Yet before the dead were even driven from the school, once again the liberal agenda, which uses these terrible events against guns, was in our face. In this case, some of the ammunition was taken away because the shooter was identified as a trans. This threw the left for a curve.

And as irony would have it, there’s even a trans group formed who are learning how to shoot and using AR’s. The reason? Self-protection.

Let’s put that aside because it is totally irrelevant. So is the immediate magnetic pull toward the guns and the political agenda and motivation to take them away. Never does the left — and our president — ever first focus on the fact that it was a crazy person who pulled the trigger. Not the guns. A human, with obvious mental defects, in all cases, is responsible for the shootings. Humans are the reason; they are the story. As of this writing, the recent shooter’s reason wasn’t released, and we can only speculate why.

You can ban every gun you want, but that doesn’t fix the heads of the shooters. Normal people don’t kill. Millions of normal people have guns, and they will not turn them on another human.

Banning anything in this country won’t change a thing. Drugs used to be illegal, and our streets run red from their abuse. Fentanyl can waltz right into America, and I don’t see a single lawmaker stopping it. President Joe Biden can call for the banning of weapons all he wants, but he turns his back on the open border, allowing the deaths of hundreds of thousands with not a trigger pulled.

California is taking sides with Mexico who are suing American gun manufacturers because they’re blaming them for too many Mexicans being killed. Now that’s rich. How those guns get there I can’t answer. But those triggers are pulled by Mexican killers who have zero regard for life. It also raises another question for me, “Why don’t we sue Mexico for all the drugs they send us used to kill Americans?”

As the bill’s primary sponsor, Sen. Lankford said in a statement earlier this month, “Our nonprofits provide our neighborhoods and families vital job training, compassionate homeless assistance, food in times of crisis, and spiritual counsel during our best and worst days.”

The Charitable Act rewards philanthropic givers with a tax incentive and, ultimately,

This bill does just that, freeing all people to give to the nonprofits that tackle issues in their own community like, for example, DV8 Kitchen Vocational Training Foundation, a Kentucky charity that provides job training for those struggling with addiction.

The charity helps those actively recovering from drug and alcohol abuse earn foodservice certifications and learn valuable skills that make them the perfect candidates for jobs at DV8 Kitchen, a for-profit eatery that employs graduates of the nonprofit vocational-training program.

The couple knew something had to change. Lives were on the line. That’s when people – not profits – became Diane and Rob’s focus. So, the couple reimagined their business model and started their nonprofit.

DV8 helps those struggling with addiction communicate honestly about their vice, which opens the door to building a support system, something Harvard University researchers say is key to climbing out of drug dependency.

Already, the eatery employs nearly 30 people, 95% of whom are in recovery and graduates of the DV8 nonprofit. Its turnover rate is 70% – a seemingly big number but one that’s actually low for the industry. The average

Please see BOLTON on C4

The horrific school shootings are enough to make us puke, but the massive drug deaths are nothing more than statistics on the news when they feel obligated to show the numbers. People are dying every single day. Show those faces too. When was the last time you heard President Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris or any lefty Democrat stand up and shout that eight black kids were killed last night in Chicago? Or 10 in Baltimore? Or 20 were shot in Washington, D.C.? When was the last time you heard that guns should be taken away from the gang members/drug dealers or the cartels taking over our streets?

You can ban all the guns you want, and all that ends up happening is that the innocent people become defenseless. The government takes over and puts the criminals in charge. With all the liberal district attorneys

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

Andy Caldwell

A nation committing suicide

Historian Arnold Toynbee observed “an autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.”

It’s hard not to think about this, reading the results of the latest Wall Street Journal-NORC poll, appearing under the headline “America Pulls Back From Values That Once Defined It.”

Only 38% of Americans now say patriotism is “very important,” compared to 70% in 1998. Thirtynine percent say religion is “very important,” compared to 62% in 1998. And 30% say having children is “very important,” compared to 59% in 1998.

The results that follow from these attitudes are not surprising.

Marriage rates are way down. Birth rates are way down.

In 1990, 67% of American adults between the ages of 25-54 were married. This was down to 51% in 2021.

In 2020, there were 56 births in the U.S. for every 1,000 women ages 15-44. In 1990, there were 70.9.

And among the births we do

have, in 2021, 40% of our babies were born to unmarried mothers.

Not surprisingly, our population is hardly growing. In 2022, the U.S. population increased 0.4%, a modest increase from the 0.1% increase in 2021, the lowest annual population growth since the founding of the nation.

Looking at the same polling data results among the youngest sector of our population, the picture looks even more dismal.

Among those under 30, just 23% say patriotism is “very important” to them, 31% say religion is “very important,” and 23% say having children is “very important.”

What is important to Americans today?

Although 70% say marriage is either “very important” or “somewhat important,” 65% say belief in God is “very important” or “somewhat important,” 73% say patriotism is “very important” or “somewhat important,” 91% say self-fulfillment is “very important” or “somewhat important,” and 90% say money is “very important” or “somewhat important.”

The devaluing of marriage, children and patriotism, and the focus on “self-fulfillment” and money are, of course, signs of a culture sunk into egotism and materialism, with a loss of a sense of being part of something larger

than oneself. It is not an encouraging picture for a country that hopes to have a future.

Our health care and retirement systems depend on a growing population. Stagnant population growth means more and more retirees per each individual in the workforce. It’s why our Social Security system is bankrupt.

Zero population growth means an aging population and increasing health-care costs. In 2019, 56% of all health-care costs

were in age groups 55 and above. The overall burden of health-care costs will continue to increase as the percentage of the population over 55 increases. There are also implications on national security of attitudes that devalue patriotism and national service.

We now have a volunteer military. This can’t work with a population of young people who feel no sense of identity and obligation to their nation.

Again, the results are

predictable. In 2022, the Army fell 15,000 short of its recruiting goal.

National defense spending is 3% of GDP, very low by historical standards.

The Wall Street Journal reports our Navy’s fleet of ships will shrink to 291 by 2028 from 297 today. And the number of aircrafts in the Air Force is diminishing.

Only 21% of those surveyed say that our country “stands above all countries in the world.”

But our country is only the product of its citizenry. A free nation under God becomes less free, and less great, as the Creator is traded in for materialism and egotism.

We have elections coming in 2024. President Joe Biden, assuming he runs, will run on more of what is destroying our nation. It is up to Republicans to run on principles and ideals, in hope that we can mend our rapidly sinking ship of state.

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

Candidate Nikki Haley slams defeatists

aggression.

The Ukrainians are willing to put their lives on the line to accomplish both of these tasks. It therefore is in America’s critical self-interest to give them all the arms they need to get the job done.

The response of the Biden administration to this vital imperative has been feckless. It has decided to send some arms to Ukraine. But instead of sending arms to them as fast as possible, it has chosen to send them as slowly as possible — and in very limited amounts.

For example, President Joe Biden has decided to send Ukraine tanks, but only 31 out of the more than 6000 M1 Abrams tanks the U.S. has available.

My COVID experience

When I swallow, knives cut my throat. I cough and sometimes can’t stop. That’s frightening. I caught COVID. Dodged it three years. But this week, I suddenly felt lousy, and a home test said: “positive.”

The world is currently divided by a power struggle between a free world Western alliance led by the United States and an authoritarian Eurasian Axis led by China.

The Ukrainian army is aligned with the West. The Russian army is aligned with China. It is therefore very much in America’s interest that the Ukrainian army be preserved and that Russia’s army should be destroyed.

Furthermore the defense of Ukraine is not just a fight on behalf of American power. It is also a defense of an essential principle of American foreign policy, that of deterrence.

America has sacrificed vast amounts of blood and treasure since 1945 to uphold this principle — and rightly so, because it is the line in the sand that has prevented another world war for the past eight decades. It must be defended. This can only be done by denying Russia any fruit from its

And even those won’t be delivered until the fall. Essential arms, such as fighter aircraft and long range ATACM missiles, are being denied completely.

This is an absurd policy, but President Biden has been able to get away with it because up until now his loudest critics have been members of a Republican Party faction who have been demanding that even the limited aid Mr. Biden has been offering should be cut off.

As this policy would ensure not merely stalemate, but total Russian victory, its GOP adherents, led by former President Donald Trump but also including such luminaries as U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Matthew Gaetz ( R-Fla.), can fairly be called Putin Republicans. In a statement provided to the ardently proKremlin Tucker Carlson and read on out the air on March 13, likely presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also entered this asylum by declaring that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a mere eastern European

“territorial dispute” in which the United States supposedly has no vital interest.

In the face of blazing criticism, Gov. DeSantis subsequently chose to cut his stay in the Putin fan club short by providing a second interview to Piers Morgan in which he stated that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was “wrong,” and that he viewed President Vladimir Putin as “a war criminal” for launching it. However, he added, “I just don’t think that’s a sufficient interest for us to escalate more involvement.”

On March 24, Gov. DeSantis amplified his incoherency further by advancing the ludicrous argument that we should not send weapons to Ukraine because we need all of them here — for example the 6,000 tanks currently adorning army bases or otherwise in storage — to defend the American homeland.

But there is a third candidate in the race, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, and she is neither a Putin Republican or a Code Pink Republican. No, Ms. Haley is a Reagan Republican.

It will be recalled that Ronald Reagan defined his policy toward the Soviet Union as “We win, they lose.” That is where Ms. Haley stands on dealing with the Eurasian Axis. On March 20, 2023, she cut loose on both the weakkneed Biden and the Republican defeatists who would do even worse.

Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Ms. Haley said:

“Beijing has set its sights on overtaking the U.S. militarily, economically and culturally. Mr. Xi is in Moscow because supporting Mr. Putin advances his dark vision.

“Why are many American politicians blind to this? Why don’t they want Ukraine to beat China’s

ally? Victory for Kyiv would make the U.S. safer without putting a single American soldier in harm’s way.

“Mr. Biden says the U.S. stands with Ukraine, but he has consistently let Russia seize the initiative. He encouraged the invasion by surrendering in Afghanistan and by saying a ‘minor incursion’ into Ukraine would be OK. He has failed to send Kyiv the support it needs, when it needs it.

“Mr. Biden’s hemming and hawing is consistent with his history on national security. More surprising is the weakness from some on the right. They say the U.S. shouldn’t care about Ukraine because this war isn’t our fight. Some call it a mere ‘territorial dispute.’ They say we should ignore Ukraine so we can focus on China.

“This has it backward. China loses if Ukraine wins. Nobody knows that better than Mr. Xi. He wants America to shift attention from Ukraine in the short run, because it would give Russia and China an edge in the long run — in Europe, Asia and world-wide. Yet the U.S. can stifle China’s ambitions now by helping Ukraine, and we can do it without sending a blank check or risking American troops ….

“We need to stand strong with our friends in Kyiv, not least because their victory over Russia would have effects extending far beyond Ukraine. Messrs. Xi and Putin know it, which is why they’re meeting in Moscow this week. The U.S. needs a leader who knows it too, and does what needs to be done to protect the American people and the freedom we hold dear.”

Not leaving matters with that, Ms. Haley expanded her offensive against both President Biden and the Putin Republicans by doing a number of interviews on national

television in which she put what is at stake in the war before the American public in the plainest terms possible.

For example, here she is on Fox TV March 22. “A win for Russia is a win for China,” she says, debunking those who claim their lack of willingness to stand up to the Eurasian Axis in Ukraine is part of some grand strategy to stop it elsewhere. “It is a critical mistake to view the Russian and Chinese threats separately …

“This is not the time to get weak in the knees on Russia. We have to finish this. Make no mistake. This is no ‘territorial dispute.’ This is a fight for freedom, and it is one that we have to win. If we don’t win this war in Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics are next. Putin has said that. We are trying to prevent a world war.”

She is a hundred percent on target. The future of the world is at stake. Up till now, those wishing for action commensurate with the threat could only watch this disaster unfold.

But Americans now have a choice. If they support global victory for the Eurasian Axis, they should vote for Donald Trump. If they don’t particularly care which side wins, Ron DeSantis is their man.

But if they want the West and all it stands for to prevail, they now have a candidate.

Give ‘em hell, Haley.

Robert Zubrin is an aerospace engineer. His next book, “The Case for Nukes: How We Can Beat Global Warming and Create a Free, Open, and Magnificent Future,” will be published by Polaris Books on Monday. Mr. Zubrin’s commentary was provided to the News-Press by The Center Square, a nonprofit dedicated to journalism.

France demonstrations disturbing in troubled time

demonstrations have turned into violent clashes between enraged workers and the police. The unrest is continuing.

The source of the ongoing unrest is the effort by President Macron to increase the retirement age in the nation. The change raises the retirement age from 62 to 64 and requires people to work for 43 years to qualify for a full pension.

President Macron decided to make these significant shifts through executive order rather than a vote in parliament.

The constitution of the Fifth Republic, instituted by President Charles de Gaulle, provides considerable power to the chief executive.

important given the important role of France in the European Union, and the continuing war in Ukraine. Britain has postponed a planned visit by King Charles to France.

These dramatic developments are occurring only 11 months after Macron’s impressive reelection to office. Last April, he received just over 58% of the vote, against just under 42% for opponent Marine Le Pen. This margin, while decisive, is narrower than in 2017 when these same two candidates competed for the presidency.

Years of weak ineffective governments followed Allied liberation of France in 1944.

Gen. Charles de Gaulle, the exceptional leader of the Free French during the war, returned as leader of France in 1958. He succeeded in stabilizing the nation’s politics, and finally reestablished effective national authority and legitimacy.

President de Gaulle’s constitution creates a powerful presidency, key to long-term stability. A referendum in 1962 confirmed direct election of the president through universal suffrage. In 2000, a referendum reduced the presidential term from seven to five years.

The thermometer said: 101.8. No big deal, I thought. Almost everyone gets COVID. Lots of people say it’s no worse than a cold. I’m multi-vaccinated and boosted. My fever’s not super high. I’m fit. This will give me a chance to lie around. But then came the knives to my throat, and the cough that makes it hard to breathe. Darn. This is much worse than any flu I’ve had. I feel miserable. It hurts so much to talk that I just text. I think, “COVID still kills several hundred Americans every day.” Will I be one? I do feel like I might die. But COVID mostly kills old people. Wait, that’s me!

Actually, I’m very old. 76. I didn’t think about being so old last week when I rode my bike and played volleyball. I felt like a kid. Now everything is different. Half of American men don’t even make it to 73. I forget that when I feel good. I check what hospital I should go to if I have trouble breathing. My doctor calls in a Paxlovid prescription.

DAY 2

Paxlovid leaves a nasty metallic taste. Someone is mining silver in my mouth. Ibuprofen knocked my fever down, but it’s still above normal. The knives and strangling cough are still there. Will I die? Short of that, will I have to go to the emergency room? Will they put me on a ventilator? I’m scared of that. I shouldn’t have looked it up on Google.

Google makes everything scarier. Will I get long COVID? Have brain fog? Get COVID pneumonia? I’ve got to stop Googling.

But at least I’m not getting worse.

DAY 4

I’m getting better! Crisis over!

President Emmanuel Macron and the people of France are facing a significant challenge to government authority, social stability and the future of the nation. Massive sustained protest

Protestors have set fire to uncollected garbage in Paris. There has been sporadic fighting with police. Separate from the pension protests, protesters near the village of Sainte-Soline in western France have clashed with police over a projected water reservoir, which is opposed by environmentalists.

The massive displays of public hostility are particularly

Most important is that the presidential election seemed to reconfirm the stability of France’s domestic political structures and institutions of government. This is no small matter.

Instability previously characterized France.

The decisive, stunning military defeat of the large, well-armed but woefully weak army of France in the spring of 1940 by the fast-moving blitzkrieg of Nazi Germany began four years of brutal humiliating occupation.

In this century, France’s alliance with the U.S. has been strong. Immediately after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, French aircraft joined those of other NATO allies in patrolling the skies over North America. The struggle against al Qaeda and the Taliban represents a comprehensive collective enterprise, authorized and supported by the United Nations as well as the NATO alliance President De Gaulle was in power during President Dwight

Eisenhower’s second term. Ike developed good working rapport with the difficult French leader during World War II. While planning the Normandy invasion, some American and British air commanders argued against heavy bombing, which would kill many civilians.

Gen. Eisenhower was able to turn to Gen. de Gaulle to support the heavy bombing.

The Kennedy and Johnson administrations clashed with President de Gaulle’s nationalist policies. In 1966, France withdrew from NATO. Fortunately, in 2009 the nation rejoined the alliance.

Current unrest in France has significant international implications.

To learn more, see “In Search of France,” edited by Stanley Hoffmann.

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.

Your opinions are valuable contributions to these pages. We welcome a variety of views. Letters must be exclusive to the News-Press. In most cases, first priority for immediate publication goes to those submitted by 6 p.m. Tuesdays. We encourage brevity, and shorter letters have a better chance of being printed immediately.

We edit all submissions for length, clarity and professional standards.

We do not print submissions that lack a civil tone, allege illegal wrongdoing or involve consumer complaints. We also may decide not to print letters or op-eds for other reasons.

Limit your letters to one every 30 days. All letters must include the writer’s address and telephone number for verification. We cannot acknowledge unpublished letters.

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Direct questions to Managing Editor Dave Mason at 805-5645277 or dmason@newspress.com.

Star Parker

The author is with the Center for Urban Renewal and Education

Robert Zubrin

The author is a Center Square contributor Arthur I, Cyr

Elected officials will do anything for a vote

DONOVAN

Continued from Page C1

was sued by the city of Goleta for not fulfilling the university’s 2010 agreement, which was to expand the student population to 25,000 from 20,000 only if UCSB built adequate housing. Why aren’t our officials demanding the enrollment be cut if not enough housing exists?

The student population for 20212022 is 26,314.

Local officials got in the mix after three apartment buildings in Isla Vista were sold for $91 million, and the tenants were informed their leases would not be renewed or given a 60-day notice.

The renovations by various landlords in Santa Barbara caused an uproar. Shouldn’t the situation in Isla Vista cause an uproar?

An ad seen on Next Door to sublet a bed at Beach City across from Santa Barbara City College, was lowered to $750 for an $850 per month lease. This $850 allows you to rent one bed in a room furnished with three beds each rented individually to college students. This complex has 297 units — one and two-bedrooms.

So if there are three in each room, the owner makes either $757,350 or $1,136,025.00 per month.

We all have the choice not to renew our lease, and the owners/

landlords have the same. Equal choice to stay or go. Renovations cost money and time without income. When the government charges a new fee or increases utilities, landlords can’t automatically add the increase to the rent.

We question why everyone can vote on a bond and raise property taxes by those who are not paying property taxes. Otherwise, when these bonds are passed, why can’t the financial cost of the bond be automatically part of a rent increase to tenants?

Again, we suggest decreasing the enrollment allotment, and we will no longer have a housing crisis. When schools were closed during COVID, no housing crisis existed. Our elected officials in concert with the schools and the runaway out-of-state tuition have caused the residents of Santa Barbara to be pushed out of their homes while their landscape and livability is diminished.

Santa Barbara City Council is responsible for the lack of housing due to the over-enrollment at Santa Barbara City College. While every elected official should have a position on the burdens the universities put on the housing stock, we don’t see it. The exception is the Goleta City Council, who took a stand and sued UCSB.

The fall school term is around the corner. Cut the enrollment now.

Those who should be held accountable for this housing shortage are our elected officials — this includes U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara; state Sen. Monique Limon, D-Santa Barbara; Assemblyman Gregg Hart, D-Santa Barbara: the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, and the city councils in both Goleta and Santa Barbara. Elected officials will do anything for a vote, as they ponder their election cycle. They allowed both UCSB and SBCC to exceed the enrollment limits.

The 2010 agreement for UCSB is that the university must provide sufficient housing, but it has not.

When residents complained about out-of-state and out-ofcountry students attending our Santa Barbara City College, because of the additional demands for limited housing, SBCC decreased the enrollment and removed Kaplan International Language Studies from the SBCC campus, lowering the numbers. However, Kaplan International is back on campus. Kaplan is a springboard to attending SBCC or any university.

On that note, we propose that schools follow the military rule and that students should vote in their hometown elections.

Speaking of Congressman Carbajal’s area of concern, there’s the reported rise in overdose deaths from fentanyl in Santa

Barbara County. In 2020, of 113 overdoses, 37 were related to fentanyl. In 2021, of 133 overdose deaths, 78 were from fentanyl, In 2022, of 168 total overdose deaths,115 were from fentanyl.

Fentanyl is in many drugs.

Recently, four kids died from smoking a fentanyl-laced marijuana cigarette. This week Narcan became available from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office, followed by the Santa Barbara Police Department, has created a Fentanyl Task Force.

Yet Rep. Carbajal voted against fentanyl being reclassified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance. At his handler’s direction, we suppose. This IS a crisis — and it is at the border that we hear Rep. Carbajal has yet to visit.

Whenever the government wants more money or to distract you, they cause or claim we have a crisis. Remember this is how State Street was closed.

“We are protected by the enormity of your stupidity.”

— Claude Rains in the film “Notorious”

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

The FDA’s delays are a reason drugs cost so much. STOSSEL

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Every swallow still hurts, but my cough no longer scares me. I no longer fear I’m going to die.

Thank you, Paxlovid!

Was it Paxlovid that made the difference? No way to know. But three cheers for America’s much-vilified free market. Pfizer invented and produced this drug in just a year.

Pfizer did tests in which Paxlovid reduced deaths so much that the company was advised to stop the clinical trials and just give subjects the drug.

Still, the Food and Drug Administration wouldn’t let the rest of us take it for another three months.

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— also known as genital surgery, sex reassignment surgery (SR), or preferably, gender confirmation surgery (GCS) — is the right choice for them (italics added).”

The right choice?

Sounds like a harmless prescription medication commercial rather than what it really is: an irreversible, allinclusive surgical procedure that will change your life forever and turn you into a ward of a team of doctors and fill your life with various medicines, surgeries and a plethora of doctor visits.

But you are also reassuringly advised that “many individuals view transfeminine bottom surgery as a necessary step toward alleviating their gender dysphoria (italics added).”

Oh, by the way, “the possible risks of transfeminine bottom surgery include, but are not limited to, bleeding, infection, poor healing of incisions,

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weapons to be purchased like candy.

Studies show children today, especially high school students, suffer terrible mental health anxiety and fear from the “school shooter drills” they must endure. We can eliminate those by implementing common sense strategies.

The problems as this unqualified regular person sees it are:

• Kids should be screened for mental health issues at school.

If someone is diagnosed as dangerous, even though this is politically incorrect and difficult for parents, there should be an option mandated for home schooling until they are in psychotherapy and cleared as safe.

• It is outrageous that assault weapons are legal for anyone to purchase. There may be an age limit, but of course, we know that is easy to get around, and people can order online or make their own. I understand the philosophy of the “right” (no pun intended) to own a small gun for selfprotection of your family. Owning an assault rifle designed for a

Secretary Yellen joined the ‘word game’

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thought the two reasons for inflation, the cost of energy and wages, were transitory. Does anyone think that people will accept reducing their wages in order to reduce inflation?

When the Biden economy had two consecutive quarters of negative GDP, the definition of a “recession,” Secretary Yellen joined the “word game” by redefining the word “recession” despite its being previously endorsed by the White House advisor Brian Deese.

Meanwhile, the previously mentioned Mary Daly focused the San Francisco Federal Reserve on ESG (environmental, social and governance) and climate change while ignoring her duties as a regulator to pay attention to the warnings about Silicon Valley Bank, whose “claim to fame” was a “diverse” board that focused on ESG and loaning too much unsecured money to Biden supporters for climate change issues.

The withdrawal of money by a few depositors caused the “Daly groups” party to crash and expose their fiasco — unless quick action could try to hide it.

Enter Treasury Secretary

Yellen to the rescue. She held an interview contradicting Chair Powell by saying the FDIC would break with its policy and pay tens of billions of dollars to the ESGclimate change Biden supporters to “prevent” systematic bank failures even though Silicon Valley Bank could not ever trigger it.

As if this was not bad enough, now she is saying we need more federal oversight instead of facing the truth: The “Daly group” failed to do their job!

Think of how much harm could have been prevented if Presidents Clinton, Obama and Biden had said, “I’m pleased to announce that based on her achievements of — fill in the blanks — my new blank, who happens to be a woman ...” 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.”

Government kills people by delaying approval of life-saving drugs.

Yes, we want to be sure any new drug is safe, and delaying months is a big improvement over the 10 years they usually take. But it’s still too long!

My brother’s potentially lifesaving drug, gelsolin, has been inching through the review process for almost 10 years.

The FDA’s delays are a reason drugs cost so much.

At least during the pandemic, the FDA loosened regulations to get some medicines to people faster. Great.

But of course, once government is involved with anything, lots of things become more difficult.

Health and Human Services decided that they would distribute

hematoma, nerve injury, stenosis of the vagina, inadequate depth of the vagina, injury to the urinary tract, abnormal connections between the urethra and the skin, painful intercourse and anesthesia risks.”

No need to worry, as “the final results of transfeminine bottom surgery can help alleviate the feelings of gender dysphoria that some individuals may experience.”

There is more: “over time, the new vagina will settle into position and the scar lines will improve, although they’ll never disappear completely. There are trade-offs, but most trans women feel these are small compared to the large improvement in their quality of life and the ability to look and feel like a woman.”

Oh, and doctors do not remove a transgender woman’s prostate gland, and because they don’t. “careful monitoring of prostate health through exam is essential to your long-term health.”

Oh, and “if you experience shortness of breath, chest pains, or

massive bloodbath is not what our forefathers intended. THIS MUST STOP. Our votes can reflect this ideology.

• Every airport, most hospitals and public event spaces have robust security. You can’t go to a baseball game or even a concert without going through security. Yet our school campuses are completely open for any psychopath to walk right into.

I was amazed at my granddaughter’s school, where anyone could walk onto the playground at any time. It is not that hard to have a gate and security. If we can do it at the Santa Barbara Bowl, surely we can do it to protect our precious innocent children.

This is not the “Little House on the Prairie” days when 10 children from close knit communities could skip to school whistling the “Lassie” theme and not even think about safety. The common theme of every school shooting (I cringe saying those two words together again!!) is access. Access to weapons and access to schools.

Sadly, we need to secure our schools until people learn to stop murdering each other.

Barbra Valentine Santa Barbara

the pills.

One result: I can’t get Paxlovid delivered from my local pharmacy.

CVS says it delivers, but its phone system hangs up when I ask for that. I send my son to pick it up.

The cost? Zero dollars, proudly printed on the label.

When government pays for things, common sense often goes away.

Paxlovid comes with 19 pages of detailed ... instructions?

There is nonsense like “important notice related to privacy,” telling me to sign and return a paper to CVS acknowledging “I have received CVS/Pharmacy Notice of Privacy.”

That’s another government

unusual heartbeats, seek medical attention immediately. Should any of these complications occur, you may require hospitalization and additional treatment.”

Ready for your “bottom surgery?”

Here goes:

First, you’ll be completely sedated.

Then your testicles are removed, and after several surgical steps involving the removal of penile tissue, a new vagina is created.

Easy, right?

There is no turning back from this but, hey, it may be “right for you.” There are a number of additional surgical procedures that may also be “right for you.” They include thyroid cartilage reduction (Adam’s Apple), forehead reduction/contouring, jawline/chin contouring, rhinoplasty, voice surgery, and, well as they say in the commercials, lots more.

It’s ugly and deforming but, again, you are warmly reassured

End prejudice against breeds of dogs

M y dog Sol was the nicest, most trustworthy dog you could imagine. He was gentle with children as he helped teach how to meet a dog safely. He helped train a multitude of pups we brought home to foster from the shelter.

He and Boss, his pitbull BFF, played together on the beach at Summerland like two silly goofs. He functioned like a therapy dog for many years, and was an ambassador for C.A.R.E.4Paws until his death at the ripe old age of 19.

And yet, Sol could easily have ended up back in the shelter where I got him, if my homeowners insurance company had denied me coverage because he looked like part Great Dane, and his BFF Boss’ family could have had the same problem. That’s what’s happening to dog owners around the country, as insurance companies ban a range of large breed dogs — from German shepherds to chows to Danes and more — simply based on their breed.

Our assembly member, Gregg

complication, a HIPAA privacy rule. Government’s obsession with paperwork and rules deters medical research and forces all of us to lie, (c’mon, you’ve done it), claiming we read fine print almost no one reads.

I’m glad I’m not dead. I’m grateful to Pfizer for creating Paxlovid. I’m grateful I live in America.

But more and more, I hate the intrusions of our ever-growing government.

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.”

that “Gender Confirmation Surgery of the Genitalia works by immediately correcting the gender you were assigned with at birth, thereby ensuring your body is perfectly aligned with your gender identity. For many transgender men, having a body that corresponds to the way they feel about themselves is incredibly profound.”

I guess it’s good to be God.

There is also phalloplasty for women who want to be men, and that is equally deforming, if not more so.

If asked, I’ll send a description. Otherwise, though I’m not a doctor and don’t claim to be one, my advice would be to learn to live with what you’ve got.

Please.

James Buckley is a longtime Montecito resident. He welcomes questions or comments at jimb@ substack.com. Readers are invited to visit jimb.substack.com, where Jim’s Journals are on file. He also invites people to subscribe to Jim’s Journal.

Hart, has introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of dog breed in decisions about housing insurance coverage since there is no science to back up such prejudice. The CDC, American Veterinary Medical Assn, and the American Bar Association (which handles lawsuits over dog-related injuries) all say as much. Blanket breed bans in insurance coverage are simply a form of profiling and discrimination.

It’s important that California have laws that prohibit any use of breed as the basis of determining coverage. Specific acts by a dog? Sure. Irresponsible conduct by the owner? Go for it. But there is no appropriate or supportable place in any insurance regulation for decisions based on the apparent breed of a dog, even if it’s just one of several criteria.

Sol, his friend Boss and the many thousands of wonderful dogs like them, should not be at risk of losing their homes and people because of unscientific prejudice. And owners like me should not have to choose between having housing and keeping a beloved dog. Let your representatives know.

Elizabeth Reed Santa Barbara

We can’t treat all the mentally ill

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running major cities, criminals need nothing to worry about.

Some may get arrested and hours later they’re back doing the very thing they were arrested for. They may be evil creatures to the human race, but they’re not stupid. They have admitted as much. They know nothing will happen to them.

So why don’t we focus on where the real problem is, our own government. We can’t fix all the mentally ill who have a death wish. We can’t find them. We can’t know what triggers them. We can’t place an entire country on the watch list for the few who do snap.

You can’t use guns to advance a political agenda. But you can enforce the laws. You can put and keep criminals in jail, no matter the skin color. You can put a ban on assault rifles if it satisfies your political ambitions, but it won’t stop a single shooter who’s mentally unstable from losing it.

Maybe by making it more

difficult to purchase an AR you could possibly/maybe slow down the date of a potential shooting, but you won’t stop it. We already tried that for 10 years. Where do all the criminals in the major cities get their guns? Cities with very strict gun laws. Where do they get their drugs? America is Swiss cheese these days. Our laws are full of holes. In places like Santa Barbara, laws are still taken seriously, but crime keeps rising. Shootings in Lompoc and Santa Maria. Stabbings. Even the once quiet Santa Ynez Valley is taking a turn for the worse. On a popular online app, there are reports almost daily now of cars stolen, robberies, lives threatened. So go ahead, politicians, and use shootings to advance your political agenda, but keep in mind your bloviating won’t accomplish a damn thing. We have some serious problems that go much deeper than what kind of gun is used.

Henry Schulte welcomes questions or comments at hschulteopinions@gmail.com.

The drug epidemic is a problem nationwide

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fast-food turnover rate, for example, was a whopping 144% in 2021.

DV8’s success shows the importance of equipping locals with enhanced charitable-giving powers because locals are most likely to uncover and address the unique needs of their community.

Outsiders from states not plagued by the drug crisis aren’t as motivated to reverse the problem.

And, though the drug epidemic is a problem nationwide, overdose deaths are of particular concern to those in the Bluegrass State, as residents struggle with addiction to prescription drugs, heroin, fentanyl and other controlled substances at a greater rate than residents of other states.

In 2020, the most recent year for which CDC numbers are available, Kentucky’s drug

overdose mortality rate – 49 deaths per 100,000 people – was second only to West Virginia, making this issue deeply personal to those in the state whose loved ones struggle with addiction.

Lawmakers must empower Americans to fund nonprofits like DV8 and, ultimately, craft a philanthropic infrastructure nimble enough so everyone, regardless of itemization status, has a voice in the direction of our charitable programming and can address needs in their backyard.

Carolyn Bolton is the communications and marketing manager for DonorsTrust, a giving-account provider in Alexandria, Va. Her views are her own and not necessarily that of her employer. And she is a former News-Press staff writer. Her commentary was provided to the News-Press by The Center Square, a nonprofit dedicated to journalism.