Our 164th Year
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T H U R S DAY, J U N E 4 , 2 0 2 0
Resolution condemns excessive use of force Carbajal joins House’s effort against police brutality
By PAUL GONZALEZ NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
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KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTO
San Marcos graduating senior Sam Armes and her family celebrate in their cars during a drive-in commencement ceremony on Wednesday.
Class of 2020 celebrates Horns honk in parking lots after socially distant graduation at San Marcos High By JOSH GREGA
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NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
ars colorfully festooned with balloons and “Class of 2020” emblazoned on their windshields amassed Wednesday in the parking lots of San Marcos High School as seniors and their families celebrated their graduation, though not the way they would have if there hadn’t been COVID-19. At the start of the 2019-20 school year, San Marcos seniors probably didn’t think they would end up celebrating graduation by tuning into a radio broadcast in their family’s car. But the pandemic’s restrictions on crowd sizes required the graduates and their families to stay in their vehicles while hearing words of farewell by student speakers and Principal Kip Glazer. The socially distant graduation followed strict guidelines from the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department: only one
car per graduate and only five people allowed, including the graduate, in each vehicle. All who attended were required to stay in their vehicles at all times as access to restrooms and the campus as a whole was prohibited. To enforce these strict guidelines, a surprising number of security personnel was present. One security member told the NewsPress that the tight security was put in place to ensure social distancing requirements were observed, and to serve as a safeguard against potential rioting. The latter was a concern due to the widespread unrest that has erupted in cities around the U.S. in the wake of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis. Around 5 p.m., the graduation began with speeches from student speakers: graduates Madai Mendoza, Bobby Carroll, and Meghan Downing. While Ms. Mendoza and Ms. Downing’s speeches were pre-recorded, Mr. Carroll’s was recited live from a podium in the
school auditorium, where the entire broadcast was beamed out. Dr. Glazer then took to the podium to give a tearful speech to her first ever graduating class at San Marcos. Looking back on the difficulty of the latter part of the school year due to COVID-19, the principal expressed appreciation for how her students checked in on her and asked how she was dealing with the situation. “Even though you had your own disappointments, you checked in with me,” she recalled as she choked back tears. She then quoted Maya Angelou’s quote, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” Dr. Glazer added, “I will never ever forget how you made me feel to be part of this amazing school community… For that and so much more I am eternally grateful.” Following her speech, the students of San Please see SAN MARCOS on A8
Dos Pueblos High School serenades graduates with Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ By MITCHELL WHITE NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
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he stars come out at night, and there was no exception Wednesday evening at Dos Pueblos High School. The Class of 2020 was able to convene for what may be the final time, rekindling friendships and exchanging pleasantries as they celebrated their high school commencement. While the now former students were ecstatic to join together once again, they received words of wisdom from some pretty famous alumni. As Principal Bill Woodard finished up his remarks, Katy Perry’s hit song “Firework” blared through the speakers for the nearly 450 graduates and their families. Ms. Perry, who attended DP for one semester as a freshman, offered remarks to the graduates. In between student speeches, current Chicago White
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Sox catcher James McCann also shared sentiments before music star Jack Johnson greeted the class. The parking lot at the high school was practically at capacity, with some vehicles spilling over to the teachers’ lot, as the class convened for a parade around campus prior to the ceremony. Hundreds of vehicles lined Alameda Avenue up to an hour before the parade, as the friends and families of the Class of 2020 anxiously awaited the chance to cap off an accomplishment that’s been years in the making. After driving through campus, many students exited their vehicles to say hello or pose for pictures. A large majority of the drivers let their car horns provide their feelings of congratulations to the seniors. Most vehicles were decorated with balloons strewn across the hood or a sentimental message Please see DP on A8
S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Boston, and Ilhan Omar, D-Minneapolis, introduced a congressional resolution Tuesday against police brutality, racial profiling and excessive use of force. U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, signed onto the resolution, according to a staffer. “For too long black and brown bodies have been profiled, surveyed, policed, lynched, choked, brutalized,” Ms. Pressley said during a speech at the Massachusetts State House in Boston on Tuesday. According to a CBS affiliate in Boston, the resolution called for the House of Representatives to adopt reforms and policies including “efforts to improve oversight and independent investigations to hold individual law enforcement officers and police departments accountable.” The resolution also called for civilian review boards to investigate police misconduct and for the adoption of policies at all levels of government that “reduce the disparate
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal
impact of police brutality racial profiling and use of force on black and brown people, and other historically marginalized communities.” It also asked the Department of Justice to investigate individual cases of police violence. “The Congressman (Mr. Carbajal) is considering all possible legislative solutions to the underlying inequalities prevalent in our criminal justice system. As a first step, he’s signed onto Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s resolution condemning racial profiling Please see RESOLUTION on A2
RAFAEL MALDONADO/NEWS-PRESS
Danny Meza painted a mural with a quote from Nelson Mandela on the north wall of Brownie’s Market on Haley and De la Vina streets.
Painting for positivity More murals pop up in Santa Barbara By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
M KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTO
Graduating Dos Pueblos High School seniors listen to a speech from a fellow classmate being projected on a wall while sitting in their cars in the campus parking lot
ore artists in Santa Barbara are starting to use their talents as a voice of the movement to honor the memory of George Floyd, the man who was murdered by Minneapolis police. The works of art protest police brutality against black people. A new mural now resides on the northern wall of Brownie’s Market on Haley and De la Vina streets. Two hands, one black and one white, are holding each other. Next to the hands is the famous
Nelson Mandela quote: “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” Brownie’s Market is owned by Viran Singh and his family. His son, Vir Singh, hatched the idea for the mural on one of the three businesses owned by the Singhs: Brownie’s, Mesa Pizza Co. and La Bamba Market. It was approved for both Brownie’s and La Bamba, and Mr. Singh said that Please see positivity on A8
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L O T T E RY R ESU LT S
Comics................. A6 Classified.............. A7 Life.................... A 3-4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 7-17-26-36-42 Meganumber: 3
Wednesday’s DAILY 4: 3-7-5-2
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 9-20-23-26-29 Meganumber: 8
Wednesday’s FANTASY 5: 5-12-18-19-23
Wednesday’s DAILY DERBY: 10-05-01 Time: 1:48.67
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 1-3-26-41-64 Meganumber: 17
Obituaries............. A8 Soduku................. A5 Weather................ A6
Wednesday’s DAILY 3: 3-1-8 / Evening 7-2-8