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28 new COVID-related deaths reported By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Residents and visitors have shared stories of large groups of bikers ignoring the signs to dismount in the 500 block of State Street, doing wheelies and creating potential danger for pedestrians on the narrowed street.
Bicyclists ignoring dismount signs create potential danger for pedestrians By GRAYCE MCCORMICK
At left, a skateboarder cruises through the block despite the signs that say not to, performing tricks. Below, a bicyclist obeys signage and dismounts to walk his bike and avoid running into other pedestrians.
NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
As the city of Santa Barbara tries to regulate the State Street promenade, maintain social distancing and enforce maskwearing, another problem has been added on top: bicyclists. Residents and city leadership alike have seen, and dodged, large groups of bikers coasting down the promenade, sometimes doing wheelies. The city put multiple signs in the 500 block of State Street marking a “dismount zone,” where bicyclists have to get off and walk their bikes through the area with parklets. However, many have been ignoring the signs and getting away with it. Ann Katheryn is a hostess and server at Holdren’s Steaks & Seafood at 512 State St. “When I was hosting the other night in front, a biker almost hit me,” she told the News-Press. “He was doing a wheelie and turned his wheel at the last second so it didn’t hit my face.” The hostess added one of her coworkers said the bicyclists have almost gotten into fights, and she’s seen people along the street get “really annoyed.” Jennifer Earwood is one of three managers at Holdren’s, and said she, the staff and customers saw a physical fight break out between a teenager doing a wheelie and an older man who almost got hit.
“Obviously, that doesn’t really make for the best dining environment,” she told the NewsPress. “You see wheelies and stuff all the time. It would be nice if they would just dismount. It’s very dangerous, especially for people that can’t move away as fast or aren’t paying attention, especially tourists.” Justin Fitzgerald, the manager of The Cruisery at 501 State St., said he sees bikers riding through the 500 block “like 60 times a day.” “They just go up and down State Street, just back and forth and it’s the same group of kids,” the Please see BIKES on A8
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The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department revealed 28 previously unreported COVID-19 deaths Friday afternoon. The department, citing a data error on its end, said the new deaths were not reported from June 22 to July 27. There have now been 60 COVID-19 related deaths in Santa Barbara County. The department’s error did not impact the normal notification process to families, according to Dr. Van Do-Reynoso, the county’s public health director. “This delay in reporting happened because of a process error as we transitioned from a manual process for disease investigation to the state’s CalConnect platform for investigation and contact tracing,” Dr. Do-Reynoso said. “To rectify this going forward, we have established improved processes to ensure accurate COVID-19 death counts.” Moving forward, the county will now report deaths directly from death certificates as they received them. “As such, we anticipate that death reporting will likely be delayed for a few days due to processing time and, in situations where death is a coroner’s case, we may not have confirmation for several months,” Dr. Do-Reynoso said. The additional deaths do not play a role in the county being on the state’s monitoring list. “While these stats and the increasing numbers are serious, they are not considered as part of the state monitoring metrics. The six include positivity rates, testing numbers, case rate, as well as hospital capacity in ICU and
ventilators. They do not include death rates,” Dr. Do-Reynoso said. The problem was first identified on Wednesday and, over the next 48 hours, the county was able to confirm the additional 28 deaths. Of those, 16 of them came from Santa Maria, which now has 34 total deaths. No other city in the county has more than six deaths. The cities of Santa Barbara and Lompoc each reported three additional deaths. Each city has reported a total of six deaths due to the coronavirus, according to the county data. Broken down by race demographic, 22 were listed as hispanic and six were listed as causasion. Additionally, 16 of those deaths were in people over the age of 70, nine came from the 50-69 age range, two came from the 30-49 age range and one came from the 18-29 age range. Nineteen of the newly reported deaths came within the first three weeks of July. The county reported five deaths in the last week of July. Twenty of the deaths are reported from the hospital, two died at their homes and six passed away from care facilities. “The county is committed to ensuring we are providing accurate, transparent and timely information about the coronavirus in our community… We’re being fully transparent about this issue. There is no way to sugarcoat this news,” 2nd District Supervisor Gregg Hart said. “This new information underscores the severity of COVID-19. There’s a strong link between the increasing number of cases, increasing hospitalizations and increasing deaths. This disease is very dangerous to Please see covid on A7
COURTESY PHOTO
Insomnia Cookies delivers a sweet treat to customers and has built its brand on staying open until 3 a.m. every night.
‘Another option for a late-night snack’ Insomnia Cookies to provide new late night treat for local community By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
A new warm delight is making its way to Santa Barbara later this month and it’s one that local community members can enjoy in the morning or at night. Insomnia Cookies, a rapidly expanding night-life bakery, is opening its first location in
beautiful Santa Barbara, right in the heart of downtown at 430 State St. “I think we are always looking for opportunities on the West Coast and Santa Barbara has a perfect mix of local students and tourism, so it’s kind of the perfect place to introduce our brand,” Adriana Palombit, the marketing Please see INSOMNIA on A8
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Comics................. A6 Classified............... A7 Life.................... A3-4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 2-16-20-21-34 Meganumber: 20
Friday’s DAILY 4: 6-5-5-4
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 12-35-46-48-69 Meganumber: 23
Friday’s FANTASY 5: 1-11-14-16-28
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Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 7-29-35-40-45 Meganumber: 26
Obituaries............. A8 Soduku................. A5 Weather................ A8
Friday’s DAILY 3: 7-4-5 / Sunday’s Midday 4-6-1