Learning about Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum
Santa Barbara inspires Canadian artist
The Investigator discusses what he finds is being taught - A3
Libby Holland shows her creativity at Botanic Garden - B1
Our 165th Year
$2.00
S u n d a y , M AY 2 3 , 2 0 2 1
The Arlington’s alive with the sound of music Santa Barbara theater celebrates 90th anniversary with free organ concert
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Volunteers Sarah Evans, left, and Sabrina Humphrey unload a bag of food donations during a drive-through food donation drive at the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County warehouse in Goleta on Saturday.
Filling the Foodbank Drive-through donors divvy out dinners and dishes By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Like a well-oiled machine, the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County held a drive-through food and cookware drive, Fill the Foodbank!, Saturday. More than 7,400 pounds of food and 1,100 pounds of cookware were brought to Santa Barbara, and well over 100 cars pulled through. A handful of volunteers took on the task of removing boxes of kitchen utensils, appliances and non-perishable food items, making the process approximately a five-minute
pit stop for donors. Cars were already packed in the drivethrough line by 10:15 a.m., but the vehicles moved quickly. “What we’re hoping to accomplish is fill the gap that we’re seeing with not being able to do our May Postal Drive (Stamp Out Hunger),” Jordan Jenkins, the leader of Fill the Foodbank!, told the News-Press Saturday morning. She said that in 2019 — the last year the Foodbank was able to hold the big drive — they brought in nearly 60,000 pounds of food, which she said was “huge” for Please see FOODBANK on A5
Adam Aceto plays the organ for the audience at the Arlington Theatre, which recently celebrated its 90th anniversary.
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Santa Barbara’s treasured Arlington Theatre resounded with the deep, rich tune of the historic, 93-year-old pipe organ on Saturday afternoon. After a year of closure and uncertainty within the performing arts community, several dozen community members, many of whom were seniors, flocked to the red theater seats to enjoy the music. The free organ concert was open to the public, and attendees received complimentary popcorn and could come and go at their leisure. The event was dedicated to former Santa Barbara Mayor Hal Conklin, who died Friday at age 75 after a battle with brain cancer. “Gosh, to say it’s good to be back is an understatement,” Adam Aceto, the staff organist at the theater, told the News-Press before his performance. “You don’t realize as a performer how the audience is primarily doing nothing, but just their sheer being there, and how it influences you both in the performance aspect but also your mental aspect.” Although several rows are roped off in the iconic theater following COVID protocol, community members dressed in their best didn’t mind. They sat spaced out, talking amongst themselves, recording video, taking photos and simply enjoying their buttery popcorn and the exciting, majestic sounds of the large and complex instrument. Couples leaned on each other’s shoulders; fans hooted and hollered after each piece; and some attendees even rose to do
little dances to the bright, fanfarelike tunes. Ironically enough, the man behind the organ said that the pandemic was actually good for the historic instrument. Time off from performing allowed repair crews and members of the Santa Barbara Theatre Organ Society to perform much-needed tweaks and fixes on the nearly centuryold organ — 650 hours of repairs,
Unemployment rate improves in SB County By MITCHELL WHITE NEWS-PRESS ASSOCIATED EDITOR
“Gosh, to say it’s good to be back is an understatement,” Adam Aceto, the staff organist at the theater, told the News-Press before his performance.
0
The unemployment rate in Santa Barbara County was 6% in April 2021, down from a revised 6.6% in March 2021 and below the year-ago estimate of 14%. Statewide, California’s unemployment rate remained at 8.3% in April, as the state’s employers gained 101,800 nonfarm payroll jobs, according to data released Friday by the California Employment Development Department.
The statewide numbers come after March’s upwards-revised month-over gain of 132,400 jobs. Of the more than 2.7 million total nonfarm jobs lost in March and April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, California has now regained 1,302,100 jobs (48%), since May 2020. Santa Barbara County’s unemployment rate, which trended below 6% from December 2018 to February 2020, spiked to nearly 14% in April of 2020. The county’s Please see JOBS on A7
LOTTERY
i nsi d e Classified........... A7-8 Life..................... B1-4 Obituaries............. A4
66833 00150
everything works.” Saturday’s performance by Mr. Aceto — who is also a resident organist for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and a nationally renowned musicologist — was the organ’s first debut with all its repairs. He’s been a staff organist for around eight years now and is nearing two dozen silent movies for the Organ Please see arlington on a5
Community Engagement Coordinator Jordan Jenkins carries donated food items away from a car during the food donation drive Saturday.
FOLLOW US ON
6
to be precise. “Now, it’s pretty bulletproof, and we don’t have to come in before a concert to clean the keyboard contacts,” Bruce Murdock, the president of the Organ Society, told the News-Press. He shared that the society hires an organ company to come in every so often to make repairs, and one of the workers told him, “This is one of five organs in the world where
Sudoku................. B3 Sports ................... A6 Weather................ A6
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 26-38-39-41-44 Mega: 7
Saturday’s DAILY 4: 0-1-9-7
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 6-9-17-18-48 Mega: 8
Saturday’s FANTASY 5: 4-11-22-26-32
Saturday’s DAILY DERBY: 11-03-07 Time: 1:44.98
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 3-19-27-37-40 Meganumber: 8
Saturday’s DAILY 3: 9-4-6 / Midday 0-0-8