90 years young
The Montecito Club reopens
Magic Castle founder has star-studded virtual party - B4
Historic landmark resumes operations with new name, amenities - B1
Our 165th Year
City officials: SB is drought ready Region enters severe drought, rain forecast for Sunday night
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
As of Thursday, Santa Barbara County is officially in a state of moderate to severe drought and half the state is in extreme drought conditions, but city officials say Santa Barbara’s water supply is in good shape compared to the last seven-year dry spell. Water conservation efforts in the community are to thank for that, considering it has been a decade since Lake Cachuma spilled, and it typically spills every three years. The South Coast’s main reservoir is currently at 60.7% capacity, which is a decrease of more than 26,000 acre-feet from last year, according to the county Public Works Department. During the worst of the drought, around 2016 and 2017, there was less than 25,000 acrefeet of water in the reservoir in total, but supply has increased with small hiccups since then, currently sitting at close to 125,000 acre-feet of water. Josh Haggmark, the city’s acting public works director, said that the fact that it has been this long without the lake spilling is “unprecedented,” but he remains optimistic about its current state. “I feel like we’re in a much different place than we were in 2012 and 2013,” he told the NewsPress. “We have a community that stepped up and is really doing a fantastic job with water conservation, so that has drastically put us in a different position than we were then.” Mr. Haggmark said the city is preparing for the worst case scenario, such as conditions similar to 2015, even though rain is expected early next week, according to David Sweet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. Mr. Sweet told the NewsPress there’s a 50% chance of rain Sunday afternoon, and the chance increases to 80% to 90% Sunday night. There’s also a 50% chance of rain early Monday. “There’s still a little bit of doubt about how fast this system will come through,” Mr. Sweet said, adding that some predict the system will pass over quickly in one day, while other models predict the system will linger over the county with a 20% chance of rain into Monday evening. “The rainfall amounts don’t look too impressive, with anywhere from a quarter to half an inch of rain in the lowlands and higher amounts, up to an inch of rain, in the mountains.” He said meteorologists are looking at equal chances of rain in all parts of the county. In addition, temperatures for the weekend will be cooler with the highs in the 50s and 60s and lows in the 40s, and mostly cloudy conditions. Thus, despite the incoming drizzle, the city is working on the status update of its water supply, which will be presented to the Santa Barbara City Council in
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Concerns raised over 5G facilities By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Several Santa Barbara residents are voicing concerns over the installation of small cell wireless facilities near their homes, urging local officials to use whatever power is available to slow site developers from expanding the new technology in residential areas. The proposed small cell wireless facilities are the newest development in the latest wireless innovation boom. The technology builds upon existing 4G infrastructure to install what developers say is the next level in wireless connectivity — 5G. Though 5G is still under development by cell carriers, the small cell facilities pave the way for the new technology to be deployed once it is finalized. While developers do acknowledge that wireless
installations radiate electromagnetic and radio frequencies, telecommunication officials say the radiation emissions are under control and safe to the general public based on regulations set by the Federal Communications Commission. However, community members across Santa Barbara are raising concerns over the potential impacts of consistent exposure to RF from the wireless facilities. Sage Shingle, a Santa Barbara resident who lives on Arroyo Road, is opposing the installation of a small cell wireless facility on a telephone pole that is 15 feet from his bedroom. His main concern centers on the unknown health impacts of being in close proximity to RF emitting from the facility. “I think that the concern maybe is that over the years we’ve come up with this new, latest Please see 5G on A6
CDC: J&J vaccine use to resume in the U.S. By: MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
As Santa Barbara County enters severe drought conditions and high fire season, city officials say they’re comforted knowing there’s 2.5 years worth of water supply in Lake Cachuma.
May. Currently, Santa Barbara is in a stage one water supply condition, meaning the water supply is adequate to meet no more than 90% of projected demands. At this time, the city has seven different water sources: Lake Cachuma, recycled water, desalination, Gibraltar/ Mission Tunnel, the conservation program, the State Water Project and groundwater. “We haven’t finished our analysis, but we’ll be taking a look at the groundwater basin,” Mr. Haggmark said. “Certain portions are doing better than others, but we may be able to restore that. We’ll be looking at it holistically to see what we need to do. “Cachuma’s in bad shape, but the amount of water that’s in Cachuma that belongs to the city right now is significant, and the reason for that is the operations of the desal plant have allowed us to bank that water in Cachuma instead of using that water from Cachuma.” Santa Barbara has roughly 2.5 years of water from Cachuma alone, he said, which sets the city up well for the coming drought. The city of Santa Maria began providing 100% groundwater supplies to customers ahead of the drought, but Cathy Taylor, the city of Santa Barbara’s water supply and services manager, told the News-Press that this doesn’t mean the city is “in any dire straits as far as water supply goes.” “It’s worthy of noting that (Santa Maria) is shifting to groundwater but they’re sitting on multiple years, if not decades, of groundwater they can use,” she said. “They’ve done a good job of managing their water supply.” Another factor working in Santa Barbara’s favor is the start of construction of the conveyance pipeline project, which could Please see DROUGHT on A3
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According to city water officials, Lake Cachuma hasn’t spilled over for a decade, and it used to spill over every three years.
“Cachuma’s in bad shape, but the amount of water that’s in Cachuma that belongs to the city right now is significant and the reason for that is the operations of the desal plant have allowed us to bank that water in Cachuma instead of using that water from Cachuma,” said Josh Haggmark, Santa Barbara’s acting public works director.
The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine will once again be distributed in the United States after an 11-day pause in distribution based on several instances of rare blood clots. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee met Friday and advised clinics to resume the distribution of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine following a thorough review of rare instances of blood clots among half a dozen women who received the shot. According to a Food and Drug Administration press release, a total of 15 women are known to have developed blood clots after receiving the vaccine, and three have died. Despite these cases, officials from the FDA and CDC said in a statement that the “potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks.” “Above all else, health and safety are at the forefront of our decisions,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky said in a statement. “Our vaccine safety systems are working. We identified exceptionally rare events — out of millions of doses of the Janssen COVID-19 administered — and we paused to examine them more carefully. As we always do, we will continue to watch all signals closely as more Americans are vaccinated. I continue to be encouraged by the growing body of real-world evidence that the authorized COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and they protect people from disease, hospitalization, and death.” Officials said Friday that anyone receiving the J&J singledose shot will also receive an information sheet discussing the risks and describing the rare blood clotting disorder in further detail. Officials said the risk remains low and they will continue to monitor new developments. With the news breaking late
in the afternoon Friday, Dr. Henning Ansorg, the county’s public health officer, said he was unsure of when the distribution of the Johnson & Johnson shot would officially resume in Santa Barbara County. Prior to the pause, the vaccine only accounted for about 5% of the state’s total allocation of vaccines, and therefore, the 11-day break did not have a significant impact on the county’s vaccine rollout, Dr. Ansorg said. During Friday’s news conference, Dr. Ansorg discussed misinformation surrounding the vaccines, assuring the public that all of them are safe for pregnant women, have no impact on infertility and have shown no evidence of long term effects. “It is true the speed by which the COVID vaccines were developed is astounding,” Dr. Ansorg said. “But keep in mind, the underlying biotechnology has been studied for at least a decade and no corners were cut in completion of the mandatory phases necessary.” According to data from the County’s Public Health Department, 42% of Santa Barbara County residents have received at least one shot, and 27% are fully vaccinated. For those who are fully vaccinated, Dr. Ansorg said, it is safe to gather unmasked with other vaccinated people. On Friday, the Public Health Department reported 23 new cases of COVID-19 and one new death. The individual who died was between the ages of 50 and 69 and had underlying conditions. The South County unincorporated area reported six new cases Friday, Santa Barbara and Isla Vista reported five new cases, Santa Maria reported three new cases and Lompoc reported two new cases. The county has 153 total cases that are still infectious. In addition, the Sheriff’s Office reported Friday the Main Jail has no active cases of COVID-19 at this time, according to a press release. email: mhirneisen@newspress.com
INSIDE
L O T T E RY RESULTS
Classified.............. B4 Life..................... B1-2 Obituaries............. A6
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 3-12-17-41-42 Meganumber: 23
Friday’s DAILY 4: 2-6-1-6
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 4-28-29-30-60 Meganumber: 25
Friday’s FANTASY 5: 3-11-22-30-34
Friday’s DAILY DERBY: 07-05-01 Time: 1:45.73
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 21-25-32-63-67 Meganumber: 6
Soduku................. B3 Weather................ A6
Friday’s DAILY 3: 6-9-2 / Midday 7-1-5