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T H U R S DAY, A PR I L 29, 2 0 21
New mural near Paseo Nuevo President Biden introduces plan for families
“Nurture our Mother” completed just in time to wrap up Earth Day
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
In his first address to a joint session of Congress Wednesday night, President Joe Biden called for the country to turn “crisis into opportunity,” and outlined his new $1.8 trillion plan for families, children and students. The president summarized his first 100 days in office, touching on vaccination efforts and his American Rescue Plan, and called for the need for economic growth to compete with China. “We all know life can knock us down, but in America, we never, ever stay down,” he said. “Americans always get up. Today, that’s what we’re doing. America is rising anew, choosing hope over fear, truth over lies and light over darkness.” The commander-in-chief listed key legislation he has put forward since coming into office and called on Congress to act on it, from the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan to raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour to lowering prescription drug costs and deductibles for working families. The American Families Plan includes $1 trillion for education and child care over 10 years and $800 billion in tax credits aimed at middle- and lowincome families. In addition, the plan includes $200 billion for free, universal preschool and $109 billion for free community college regardless of income for two years. The plan would be funded by raising the top marginal tax rate for the wealthiest Americans to 39.6% from its current 37%, according to national media reports. “It’s time for corporate America and the wealthiest, the 1%, to just begin to pay their fair share,” President Biden said. He also mentioned the
RAFAEL MALDONADO/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
A mural of colorful Earth Day-inspired images debuted Saturday near the Museum of Contemporary Art at the Arts Terrace parking deck. The mural, “Nurture our Mother,” was created by Santa Barbarabased artist Claudia Borfiga and Goleta-based artist Adriana Arriaga.
By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
A massive, multi-colored mural debuted just in time to wrap up Earth Day. Depicting images of Earth and Mother Nature at the Arts Terrace parking deck near the Museum of Contemporary Art, the mural was made possible thanks to a collaboration between two local artists. Santa Barbara-based artist Claudia Borfiga and Goletabased artist Adriana Arriaga collaborated to create a piece titled “Nurture our Mother,” which features a collection of images in multicolored blocks, including an Arroyo Toad, California Poppies, a mushroom and a massive portrait of a woman breastfeeding her baby. The piece, which debuted Saturday, was created for an Earth Day Mural project spearheaded by the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Community Environmental Council, Paseo Nuevo, The Arts Fund and Santa Barbara BCycle. The organizers asked local artists to develop a mural concept that would express the importance of climate leadership and recognizing the impacts of climate change. Out of 27 submissions, Ms. Borfiga and Ms. Arriaga’s concept was chosen as the winning design. With the massive canvas provided through the mural project, both artists desired to communicate the importance of nurturing the Earth and passing down good practices to the next generation. “We’re on borrowed land, and the Earth itself, we don’t own it, yet that’s kind of the way we go
about living on it a lot of the time,” Ms. Borfiga told the News-Press on Wednesday. “And thinking about the fact that we’re just one part of an ecosystem, and there are all these other parts of an ecosystem and all of them need to exist for us to thrive, so we have a duty to protect them.” Each piece of the mural symbolizes an aspect of the artist’s theme of nourishing and protecting the Earth. While tying in elements native to the Central Coast, such as the Arroyo Toad, the California Poppies and the Monarch Butterflies, the artists also drew inspiration from indigenous culture, exemplified through the painting of an ear of corn and a hummingbird. The mural also features human elements, such as the depiction of hands handing over soil, representing the importance of sharing knowledge with the next generation about safe environmental practices. The largest element of the piece, the portrait of the mother breastfeeding her baby, represents Mother Earth and stands as a testament to the lifegiving power women have to nourish another human being, Ms. Arriaga explained. “I think the way she’s portrayed is a way to kind of say thank you to a lot of people in my life who have inspired me to take care of the land and shared knowledge with me on how and why we should protect the land,” Ms. Arriaga told the News-Press. “And I thought it was really important for her to have no brown skin because for me, I know in my other work, a lot of people will reach out and Please see MURAL on A4
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City bed taxes up in March By MITCHELL WHITE NEWS-PRESS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
At top, a striking portrait of a mother breastfeeding her child is the largest element of the mural and stands as a testament to the lifegiving power women hold and also represents Mother Nature, artist Adriana Arriaga explained. Above, the Arroyo Toad is a local species found on the Central Coast that the artists decided to include in their Earth Day-inspired mural.
The city of Santa Barbara collected $1,262,304 in transient occupancy taxes for March 2021, 119% above March collections last year — the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to March 2019, the revenues collected in March 2021 were lower by 12%. “The local travel industry is beginning to see increases in demand for rooms relative to recent months that is likely to continue throughout the spring into the summer months as the State has lifted travel advisories and as access to vaccinations has become more available,” Jennifer Tomaszewski, finance and treasury manager for the city, said in a news release. “However, TOT revenues have still not recovered to typical pre-
pandemic levels, as there is still public concern with potential new strains of the virus, efficacy of the vaccines and the impacts to the economy.” The city has collected $9.6 million through the first nine months of the city’s fiscal year, which runs through June 30. The city’s adopted TOT budget is $17.2 million. TOT is projected to end the fiscal year at approximately $14.5 million, which is 16% below budget. Transient Occupancy Tax, also known as bed tax, is charged to guests at shortterm rentals such as hotels and motels. In fiscal year 2019-20, the city collected $15.1 million in Transient Occupancy Taxes, nearly $5 million less than the anticipated budgeted amount. email: mwhite@newspress.com
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I N S ID E Classified.............. B4 Life.................... B-1-2 Obituaries............. A4
need to continue defending America’s interests to other countries, such as standing up to unfair trade practices and human rights abuses, and encouraged Congress to pass his immigration legislation. Furthermore, he called on Congress to enact policing reform, gun control legislation, the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and more. “It’s never been a good bet to bet against America, and it still isn’t,” President Biden said. “... After 100 days of rescue and renewal, America’s ready for a takeoff, in my view.” Following the president’s address, U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, held a virtual press conference to share his reaction to the president’s address. He referred to the address as “a very positive, robust speech with a very robust vision.” “I appreciated that he was nonpartisan,” Rep. Carbajal said. “He talked about working together, both Republicans and Democrats, working toward the betterment of our country and the betterment of all the residents of our country. “Not once did he divide us, not once did he do anything to put anyone down. He appealed to the best of us Americans how we can and should work together in a bipartisan fashion to do what’s best for our country.” The congressman praised both the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan, saying that the families plan is a “once in a generation opportunity to address many of the inequalities and disparities that have come to grow in our country.” “We’re doing everything possible to continue to address climate change, bring about
Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 14-18-19-33-37 Meganumber: 19
Wednesday’s DAILY 4: 1-4-3-5
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 15-22-30-41-42 Meganumber: 25
Wednesday’s FANTASY 5: 2-11-19-27-37
Wednesday’s DAILY DERBY: 12-01-07 Time: 1:47.64
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 16-18-35-39-53 Meganumber: 21
Wednesday’s DAILY 3: 6-3-3 / Wednesday’s Midday 4-9-1