Our 166th Year
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S AT U R DAY, DE C E M BE R 25, 2 021
Celebrating the birth of Jesus
Hundreds of Christmas Eve flights canceled Santa Barbara Airport remains largely unaffected By DAN MCCALEB THE CENTER SQUARE EXECUTIVE EDITOR
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
A nativity scene remains a popular tradition in front of the Santa Barbara Mission as people locally and around the world celebrate Christmas today. For photos of religious and secular Christmas decorations at residents’ homes, see Page B1.
(The Center Square) — A surge in COVID-19 cases among airline workers led to more than 500 canceled flights across the U.S. and over 2,000 worldwide. According to the airline tracking website FlightAware, 544 flights within, into or out of the U.S. were canceled on Christmas Eve. United Airlines has canceled 181 flights; Delta, 158; JetBlue, 72; American, 13; Spirit, 11; and Southwest, 2. More than 6,000 flights worldwide have experienced delays — more than 1,300 of them within, into or out of the U.S. But in the midst of hundreds of Christmas Eve flights being canceled due to omicron, flights to and from Santa Barbara have remained largely unaffected. Santa Barbara Municipal
Airport has had no cancellations due to the omicron variant, Deanna Zachrisson, airport business development manager, told the News-Press Friday. One flight arriving from Phoenix was canceled, but Ms. Zachrisson didn’t attribute that to the omicron variant. All other incoming flights from Phoenix arrived as scheduled, and other flights came in as expected from cities such as San Francisco. “According to United Airlines, the impact has been largely on the East Coast,” Ms. Zachrisson said. She added that there have been no COVID-positive cases among Santa Barbara Airport staff. Elsewhere in the nation, the omicron variant, the dominant coronavirus variant currently infecting people in the U.S., is being blamed for much of the staffing shortages at airlines. Please see FLIGHTS on A3
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
Travelers stroll inside Santa Barbara Municipal Airport this week. While the omicron variant was blamed for cancellations across the nation and around the world, the variant didn’t lead to cancellations at the Santa Barbara Airport.
Foodbank gives supplies to about 300 families at special event By FORREST MCFARLAND NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County provided food and other supplies to approximately 300 families at a Christmas Eve distribution event. The Foodbank partnered with Franklin Elementary School to distribute healthy food items, diapers and at-home COVID-19 tests in a drive-through with the help of volunteers and community leaders. A steady line of cars was seen between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Friday in front of the Santa Barbara school, where the food was brought to recipients’ vehicles. “We’re all about feeding people Turkeys were among the food being given away.
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DAVE MASON / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County helped approximately 300 families during a distribution event Friday in front of Franklin Elementary School in Santa Barbara.
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Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 11-16-20-21-26 Mega: 5
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Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 16-17-25-36-37 Mega: 16
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Friday’s DAILY 3: 5-4-6 / Midday 2-1-2