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Environmental activists protest Exxon trucking proposal
CDC backs boosters for millions of Americans By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
Over a hundred environmental activists marched through State Street on Friday to protest ExxonMobil’s proposal to truck oil along the Central Coast. Above, members from the Society of Fearless Grandmothers hold a sign saying “Stop Exxon Trucking.”
By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
A crowd of over a hundred environmental activists rallied on Friday to oppose ExxonMobil’s proposal to truck oil along the Central Coast. Activists from the Society of Fearless Grandmothers, the Santa Barbara County Action Network, 350 Santa Barbara, the UCSB Environmental Affairs Board, Sunrise Movement Santa Barbara and other environmental justice groups marched from the County Administration Building to De la Guerra Plaza as part of a peaceful protest on Friday. The group rallied to urge the county’s Planning Commission to deny an oil trucking proposal from ExxonMobil, which the commission will consider during a public hearing this Wednesday. ExxonMobil’s proposal seeks to truck up to 70 oil tankers per day from its Las Flores Canyon facility to its Santa Maria Pump Station via Highway 101 and to the Pentland Terminal in Kern County via State Route 166. The company has also proposed a phased reboot of three offshore drilling platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel, which were shut down after the Refugio Oil Spill in 2015. Current county policy only allows the company to transport oil via pipeline. In order to begin trucking, ExxonMobil must receive approval from the county to begin trucking until another pipeline can be built or the Plains Pipeline can be restored. Activists who gathered on Friday said approval of this trucking project would accelerate the climate crisis and threaten the county’s ecosystems if a spill were to occur. Some of their concerns were supported by an
Police Officers Association endorses Rowse, Reed and Johnson By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Activists held signs with messages like “Climate Action Now” and “Protect Our Beautiful Planet” during Friday’s march.
environmental review completed by the county’s Planning and Development Department last month, which revealed that an accidental oil spill as a result of the trucking would have an “unavoidable” impact if the project is approved. “Exxon’s trucking plan is reckless, it is audacious and it is knowingly endangering life to make a profit,” Alyssa Nazari Jain, a political team
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leader with Sunrise Movement Santa Barbara, told the crowd on Friday. “And it is a duty of the Planning Commission to reject this project.” She told the crowd that Exxon’s tankers are “accidents waiting to happen,” noting that a spill would pollute ancestral Chumash lands, habitats of several endangered species and “threaten the safety of us all.” “We all have a right to clean air
and clean water and a livable future,” she continued. “If the Planning and Development Department won’t protect that right, if ExxonMobile won’t respect that right, then it’s up to us to fight for it.” The group of activists marched down State Street on Friday, reciting chants like “Exxon be gone” and “Keep that oil Please see PROTEST on A6
With just under six weeks left until the Nov. 2 city council election, the Santa Barbara Police Officers Association endorsed Randy Rowse, Barrett Reed and Nina Johnson on Friday. The association endorsed Mr. Rowse for mayor, Mr. Reed for District 4 and Ms. Johnson for District 6 in a letter sent out Friday by SBPOA Executive Director Eric Beecher. In the endorsement letter, the association said Mr. Rowse’s experience as a former city councilmember gives him the “experience and ability to make Santa Barbara a better place to live and work.” The letter also acknowledged Mr. Reed and Ms. Johnson as strong supporters of public safety and said the candidates’ backgrounds and experiences would make them each a good fit for the council. Of Mr. Reed, the association said he has the “skill set and forward thinking Santa Barbara needs” from his background as lifelong resident and local businessman. And of Ms. Johnson, the organization wrote that she Please see ENDORSEMENT on A3
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention backed Pfizer booster shots for millions of older and vulnerable Americans on Friday, paving the way for swaths of the population to receive additional protection from COVID-19. The CDC is now recommending that people ages 65 and older, residents of long-term care facilities, and people ages 50 to 64 years with underlying medical conditions receive a Pfizer booster shot six months after being fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech series. The agency also endorsed the Pfizer booster shot for people ages 18 to 49 who have underlying health conditions and want a booster shot. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky split from a CDC advisory group on Friday by also endorsing boosters for people ages 18 to 64 who are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 from where they work and want the extra shot. The CDC advisory panel voted against offering booster shots to workers with occupational hazards after lengthy deliberations on Thursday. The director’s decision on Friday aligned with the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization from earlier this week, which recommended booster shots be offered to people at high risk of contracting COVID-19 in the workplace. In a statement, Dr. Walensky said the CDC is tasked with the job of analyzing “complex, often imperfect data” to make public health decisions that will “do the greatest good.” “I believe we can best serve the nation’s public health needs by providing booster doses for the elderly, those in long-term care facilities, people with underlying medical conditions and for adults at high risk of disease from occupational and institutional exposures to COVID-19,” Dr. Walensky said in the statement. “This aligns with the FDA’s booster authorization and makes these groups eligible for a booster shot.” She added that the agency will address the recommendations for Moderna and Johnson & Johnson booster shots as soon as data becomes available. Please see BOOSTERS on A2
Sudoku................. b3 Weather................ a6
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 4-6-26-39-41 Mega: 12
Friday’s DAILY 4: 1-8-9-4
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 17-21-27-43-56 Mega: 15
Friday’s FANTASY 5: 2-3-15-16-31
Friday’s DAILY DERBY: 04-11-02 Time: 1:44.88
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 20-40-47-55-63 Meganumber: 5
Friday’s DAILY 3: 3-6-1 / Midday 4-5-5