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UCSB’s Daniel Marella raises over $12,000 for COVID relief planning the charity swim for a couple months with a goal to raise $10,000. He already eclipsed that total, raising over $12,000 which will help fund COVID Home Kits and support Cottage employees. “The idea was 10 (miles) for 10,000 (dollars) but I’ve never done something like this before so I didn’t really know if that was possible or if that was too little or anything like that. But we ended up raising over $12,000 which is just $2,000 over the goal which is awesome,” Mr. Marella said. He hopes that more people will donate over the next few days after seeing that he accomplished the tough feat.
By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Many people might wake up a bit sore or exhausted this morning, but chances are Daniel Marella will have the better excuse. The 20-year-old UCSB swimmer swam 10 miles Saturday for charity, raising money in support of COVID-19 relief for Cottage Hospital. “I am definitely a lot more fatigued than I have been since coronavirus started,” Mr. Marella said with a laugh. “But it’s kind of nice to feel tired from a swimming related event.” The upcoming junior has been
Mr. Marella’s Saturday started very early — at 5:30 a.m. “Caffeine,” he said with a laugh. “I knew I needed to get some coffee in my system and definitely get a good breakfast. And it really didn’t hit me until this morning that I was actually going to do this swim.” By 7:15 a.m., the co-captain of the UCSB swim team was in the water surrounded by some teammates and friends who followed him through his journey, cheering him on. The journey started in Isla Vista, near El Embarcadero Road, and ended at the Santa Barbara Please see SWIM on A3
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Daniel Marella had never swam 10 miles in the ocean before Saturday’s charity swim, which raised $12,000 for COVID-19 relief for Cottage Hospital.
An outdoor experience Sea Center reopens outdoors to provide a safe, fun learning environment
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center reopened Saturday for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.
By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
With an intense heat wave rushing through California, people were out in bunches at the beach near Stearns Wharf, hoping to catch a breeze and find some relief. Luckily, while doing so, many also formed a line to enter the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center, which reopened Saturday for the first time since the beginning of this pandemic. “It’s an exciting day for us to kind of finally be open and find a way for us to do that safely,” Richard Smalldon, director for the Sea Center, told the News-Press. “We’re excited the whole team has been able to pull together and set up an outdoor experience that kind of mimics our indoor experience.” The Sea Center received permission to open its outdoor
Baby swell sharks swim about in their little pool during the reopening.
spaces to the public and will now be open every weekend from noon to 4:00 p.m. Some of the places that are open include the wet deck for exploring life beneath Stearns Wharf, as well a few exhibits set up outside.
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Those small exhibits include touch-friendly swell sharks, sea anemones, sea stars, and other aquatic life from the Intertidal Wonders exhibit. Some remotely operated underwater vehicles are also placed outside which allow
people to catch a glimpse of the ocean floor at depths up to 300 feet. “There are a lot of people, it seems like, that want to experience this out here and so we’re glad to finally be back doing what we love which is sharing information about the ocean,” Mr. Smalldon said. He added that the reopening was not too tough, as the Sea Center had been preparing to reopen in July before the current spike in coronavirus cases forced the reclosure of most indoor operations. “We are part of the museum, so we have seen them re-open the butterfly experience outside, and we are glad we can follow suit with our aquatic exhibits out here,” Mr. Shelldon said. Saturday was also the perfect day for the Sea Center to reopen, as the warm, breezy conditions produced plenty of foot traffic on Please see sea center on A3
Webinar offers tips to replenish workforce By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
With many people out of work due to COVID-19, the Workforce Development Board of Santa Barbara County met via zoom on Thursday to showcase its new Workforce Programs. The goal of the event was to provide information to the general public about eight local programs that aim to get folks working again. The board partnered with Equus Workforce Solutions, Goodwill Industries of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, Santa Barbara County United Way, Transitions-Mental Health Association, and the Santa Barbara County Probation Department to explain how these organizations are offering help to those looking for work. Additionally, Allan Hancock College, Lompoc Adult Education and Santa Barbara City College all presented workforce training opportunities. The webinar opened with the COVID-19 National Dislocated Worker Grant, made in partnership with the Workforce Development Board and the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County. The grant aims to help job seekers who have been laid off because of the pandemic. This includes self-employed people who have lost their business, as well as those who have seen a reduction in work hours. The goal is to give them temporary employment. “The United Way will manage the outreach and intake of participants. Using CalJOBS, it will do this in partnership with the Workforce Development Board and will also provide for the day-to-day supervision of the participants and importantly we will ensure that at least 23 of the participants move on to Phase 2,” said Eddie Taylor, the CEO of Northern Santa Barbara County United Way. “Temporary job components will have access to immediate employment at $17 an hour for 17 hours per week for up to 20 weeks, along with some supportive services that may be available to them.” The next phase would include helping these people partner with local resources for job training, case management services and other similar practices. Osvaldo Sotelo, who works for Goodwill Industries of Ventura
and Santa Barbara counties, spoke about its new program, which launches Monday, aimed at assisting veterans with employment. It will serve veterans countywide that are honorably discharged. “Individuals who participate in our programs are able to receive 170 hours of good work experience at $17 an hour,” Mr. Sotelo said. They would also receive supportive services, such as help obtaining certificates, going back to school or other essential job preparation, such as interview prep. Kelsey Smith and Helen Foxworthy spoke on behalf of Transitions-Mental Health and its program, The Breaking Barriers to Employment which seeks to help those who are mentally ill attain jobs. “And by completing this training, you will gain support to follow your new career for one year, and this program will prove the concept that people with serious mental illness can be productive members of our community and when offered professional customized supportive paid training with wraparound employment services,” Ms. Foxworthy said. The goal is to provide training to 105 people to help them develop the resiliency, and also the skills, needed to successfully enter the job market. “It’s very competitive and very different from what we have known in the past so this is going to help by doubling the number of successful community job placements,” Mr. Smith said. Luis Servin, who works for the county board, presented a prison to employment program, which could launch in a couple of weeks. “The services also include softskills training and vocational training. There’s going to be paid work experience that participants are going to be able to work for a business and the program will pay their salaries while they’re doing that,” Mr. Servin said. The webinar also included information on youth services provided to those hoping to work or have been hurt by the pandemic. A replay of the webinar will be available at some point this week at www.sbcwdb.org. The site will also include links to the various services offered. email: jmercado@newspress.com
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LOTTERY
Comics.............. C1-4 Classified............... A5 Life.................... B1, 4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 14-18-21-42-45 Meganumber: 26
Saturday’s DAILY 4: 1-7-5-3
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 3-24-29-42-47 Meganumber: 13
Saturday’s FANTASY 5: 25-32-34-36-38
Saturday’s DAILY DERBY: 05-04-08 Time: 1:43.33
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 5-12-34-45-56 Meganumber: 3
Obituaries............. A8 Soduku................. B2 Weather................ A5
Saturday’s DAILY 3: 5-9-7 / Sunday’s Midday 8-2-5
