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T H U R S DAY, J A N UA RY 2 8 , 2 0 21
Wet weather arrives More heavy rain expected today increasing threat of debris flow, flooding
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By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
More precipitation from Wednesday’s winter rainstorm is expected to hit Santa Barbara County through tonight. The National Weather Service in Oxnard is calling for another one to three inches of moderate to heavy rainfall across the county today, bringing total storm accumulations to two to six inches. The main front of the storm hovered over San Luis Obispo County Wednesday, but today the storm is expected to “slide down the coast” and drop precipitation over Santa Barbara County for most of the day, Meteorologist Joe Sirard told the News-Press. Some areas on the Central Coast of San Luis Obispo County saw up to six inches of rain on Wednesday, according to weather officials. As the storm system shifts, heavier rains are expected in Santa Barbara this afternoon. “(San Luis Obispo County) got hammered, absolutely hammered with rain up there,” Mr. Sirard said. Despite consistent rain showers throughout today, weather officials say the chance of mudslides remains Please see weather on A8
U.S. SPACE FORCE PHOTO BY MICHAEL STONECYPHER
Members at Vandenberg Air Force Base launched the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite on Nov. 21, 2020, from VAFB. The Sentinel-6 is the first of two identical satellites to head into Earth’s orbit five years apart to continue sea level observations for at least the next decade.
County aims to boost space operations at VAFB By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
RAFAEL MALDONADO/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Mission Creek under West Mason Street was a popular feeding spot for Mandarin ducks on Wednesday as a light rain fell overhead.
Santa Barbara County has officially signed on to the regional partnership to develop a thriving commercial space industry at Vandenberg Air Force Base and the surrounding area. Members of the County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to join the existing memorandum of understanding between REACH, Cal Poly, Deloitte, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and the 30th Space Wing to support development of a Phase 1 master plan for commercial space on the Central Coast. The master plan is expected to be completed by spring with the help of Santa Barbara County. “It’s an important milestone in the county’s economic
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday marked the first rain event of the calendar year for Santa Barbara, and the city of Santa Barbara Public Works Department was ready for anything. As of Wednesday, around 2,000 sandbags were picked up from the two city locations offering them, Fire Station 7, 2411 Stanwood Drive, and the annex yard at 401 E. Yanonali St., according to the acting public works director, Joshua Haggmark. The city’s street and water resources staff is out on rotation around the clock making sure all areas have coverage in the event of a major downpour. “A lot of the planning for this actually happens in the six to nine
months leading up to this,” Mr. Haggmark told the News-Press. “This is just kind of game day. We’ve been prepping for it.” He said city street crews have been proactively cleaning out storm drains and making sure all the grates are cleared going into this storm. In addition, city crews are roaming certain areas looking for any potential issues. The city also temporarily opened its Emergency Operations Center to handle an influx of calls. No street closures or debris cleanups were reported in the city on Wednesday, but the forecast indicates that the more intense rain event is likely to occur today. Mr. Haggmark added that the city is keeping a close eye on Sycamore Creek, including the vegetation growing in it, to ensure
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to monitor radio and TV, and visit the city’s website, www. santabarbaraca.gov, for updates and announcements. Upon visiting the sandbag station, residents should bring their own gloves and shovels and be prepared to fill the bags they need. In addition, they should only fill the bags halfway so they’re not too heavy to lift and will stack properly. Each resident may take 20 sandbags per trip. Pre-filled sandbags are also available through the county, and those interested can call 805-5683440. To receive mobile alerts from local agencies on fire or flood warnings, text your zip code to 888777. email: gmccormick@newspress.com
By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Santa Barbara Unified School District’s board clerk Wendy Sims-Moten partnered with new board member Virginia Alvarez to create a board resolution “affirming the district’s commitment to justice through equity-driven policies, procedures and practices.” It was passed unanimously by the board Tuesday evening. “I do want to point out the why of this resolution, it is directly tied to the why of the district, and the why of the district the mission is to educate kids,” Ms. Alvarez said. “There’s one phrase that Wendy and I talked about when we were working on this resolution. And this really resonates with me, when it says achieving equity is when students’ identity does not predetermine their success in
school,” she said. Ms. Sims-Moten also spoke to the importance of including every student across school policies. “Equity is a fundamental principle, that must be part of what we do,” she said. “It gives us the guidelines, it gives us the base, and the foundation as we go through all of our systems. “When we look through our budget, when we look through communication, are we communicating in an equitable way? Or what we are doing isn’t really getting at the heart, as Ms. Alvarez said, the education of our students.” The resolution states that its intent is to “publicly commit to accelerate our efforts around diversity, inclusion, and racial equity through equity-driven allocation of resources; safe, rigorous, and affirming learning environments and supplemental Please see equity on A2
L O T T E RY RESU LTS
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debris breaks loose and doesn’t get plugged downstream, and the watershed above the Gibraltar Reservoir. Staff is also keeping an eye on State Street and all the parklets along the corridor, ensuring they don’t block any storm flows in the street. Contingency planning is available if issues arise. He said that community members living in potential mudslide areas should already be aware of safety precautions. “I’m not anticipating a huge problem,” Mr. Haggmark said. “It’s dependent on the intensity as to how much of an impact it’s going to have, but I think we’ll be fine. “I’m not worried yet. If we get another major event on top of this, that might increase my concerns.” Residents can pick up sandbags free of charge and are encouraged
Please see vafb on A8
SB Unified board members push for equity
At left, light rains fell over Mission Creek in Oak Park Wednesday afternoon. At right, the Santa Ynez River collected puddles from Wednesday’s rainstorms.
City staff monitoring streets during rain event
development efforts,” 2nd District Supervisor Gregg Hart said at the meeting. “These are very high-paying jobs that have real potential in regards to economic development in Santa Barbara County, and we want to be an active partner and participant in this planning effort so that we can help deliver good-paying jobs to the residents of Santa Barbara County.” The MOU aims to clarify goals and objectives for the industry, facilitate regional economic growth and provide for national security strategic interests through the increased resilience of VAFB assured access to space mission architecture. VAFB could support more spacerelated activities with companies across the industry, as it already maintains active launch capabilities.
Sudoku................. A5 Sports ................... A7 Weather................ A8
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 9-10-16-30-46 Meganumber: 13
Wednesday’s DAILY 4: 8-8-0-5
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 29-49-56-66-67 Meganumber: 24
Wednesday’s FANTASY 5: 8-10-21-26-32
Wednesday’s DAILY DERBY: 11-03-10 Time: 1:46.72
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 17-33-35-42-52 Meganumber: 9
Wednesday’s DAILY 3: 0-0-1 / Wednesday’s Midday 5-3-7