Santa Barbara News-Press: June 11, 2020

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Our 165th Year

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T H U R S DAY, J U N E 11, 2 0 2 0

Going inside the L.A. riots

SB County’s Lt. Brian Olmstead discusses local law enforcement’s efforts to help By PAUL GONZALEZ NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS

Chumash Casino Resort opened its doors back up Wednesday at noon.

Place your bets Chumash Casino welcomes guests back with excitement

By: GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT

T

he No. 1 source of revenue for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians reopened Wednesday at noon after three long months of closure. The Chumash Casino Resort opened its doors with the intention to tread lightly, with plenty of precautions and a gradual move toward opening all the amenities. The following was implemented to ensure safety among all guests and employees: a noncontact thermometer in the lobby, more than 1,000 plastic shields separating slot machines, floor dots to enforce social distancing, a four-person limit on elevators, additional hand sanitizing units, a mask requirement for all common areas and mandatory Safe + Well training sessions for team members prior to reopening. “The biggest effort here is just to make sure everybody understands the new normal,” said Kenneth Kahn, the local Chumash tribal chairman since 2016. “We are opening very slowly — not all of the amenities are offered. They’re based on the health of our region as some of the like entities open

up.” Although the new normal will include wellness stickers for all healthy guests, plexiglass barriers and numerous hand-washing reminders, Chairman Kahn said he’s excited to welcome guests back and help lift spirits. “We’ve built quite a family throughout the years,” he said. “We opened our doors in 1994 and never imagined we’d be closing them again.” With the casino as the primary source of revenue, the closure amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic created a huge financial challenge for the region. Not only did the resort itself provide for the community, but the tourism financially lifted mom and pop businesses right up along with it. “We’re excited to be able to provide for our people again,” Chairman Kahn said. “We’re proud of the positive economic impact that we have on the overall community.” Luckily, Chumash Casino underwent a $165 million expansion only four years ago. Ironically, this provides a lot of opportunities and overall space for social distancing. Chairman Kahn said the casino is “taking use of Please see casino on A2

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of each other. Since we’re coming down as one team, we try to keep it together, but it really depends on what assignment they give us,” Lt. Olmstead said. “For accountability, we want to keep everyone together, but we have supervisors and managers that go down to keep track of everything,” He explained that during the first few hours of civil unrest Please see riots on A8

Letter alleging criminal negligence against Public Health Department over COVID-19 testing in nursing homes sent to Grand Jury and district attorney By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

RAFAEL MALDONADO/NEWS-PRESS

The casino welcomes guests back after a three-month closure.

COURTESY PHOTOS

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NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO

Lt. Brian Olmstead of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office talked about the experiences of local law enforcement, who responded to Los Angeles County’s request for help during protests in West Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Hollywood.

Negligence alleged over COVID-19 testing in nursing homes

At left, guests wearing masks play slot machines while being separated by plastic barriers at the Chumash Casino Resort. At right, a security guard conducts a temperature check on a guest before they enter the Chumash Casino Resort.

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Protesters continue to storm the streets across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the knee of the former Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin. Most are peaceful, but some channel their angst into looting, graffiti and vandalism. On May 30, 53 Santa Barbara County law enforcement officers answered Los Angeles County’s request for mutual aid backup from nearby law enforcement agencies. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office coordinated the response and assembled sheriff’s deputies and officers from the Santa Barbara Police Department, Santa Maria Police Department and Guadalupe Police Department. Lt. Brian Olmstead, a 30-year Sheriff’s Office veteran, said the group patrolled areas in West Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Hollywood through June 2. The Santa Barbara County contingent arrived in Los Angeles at 10 p.m. on May 30 and were immediately deployed to West Los Angeles. Lt. Olmsted said the Santa Barbara County officers usually stuck together in the field, providing support for local law enforcement agencies. “We for the most part stuck together within a couple blocks

The Santa Barbara County Grand Jury and Santa Barbara District Attorney Joyce Dudley received a letter alleging that the Santa Barbara Public Health Department was criminally negligent by failing to test individuals in nursing homes for COVID-19 fast enough in response to the state’s March 30 order, which required such facilities accept people suspected of having the virus. On Wednesday morning, Ms. Dudley told the News-Press that she was consulting with County Chief Investigator Patrick Clouse, Civil Prosecutor Chris Dalbey, and a district attorney from another county who she chose not to name regarding the letter. In particular, they were discussing which venue, be it law enforcement, the DA’s office, or Grand Jury, would be best suited to look into the letter’s allegations should they be found worthy of investigation. By Wednesday afternoon, Ms. Dudley told the News-Press that she had notified Mr. Caldwell that the Grand Jury is the right venue. “Given the nature of the allegations… his allegations were correctly sent to the Grand Jury.

Now it is up (to) them to proceed,” she said. Written by Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business Executive Director and congressional candidate Andy Caldwell, the letter accuses the Public Health Department of allowing a “cataclysmic failure to provide comprehensive testing in senior care facilities, demonstrably the greatest concentration of people-atrisk under the Public Health Department’s responsibility.” He elaborated that the department completing COVID19 testing by the end of June, as Public Health Department Director Dr. Von Do-Reynoso said would be the case during a June 8 press briefing, is three months after the State demanded these care facilities admit COVID-19 patients and far too long a wait for testing patients and staff. “In light of the fact that the State was put in lock down back in March it is unconscionable that it would have taken this department more than 3 months to prioritize the Governor’s order pertaining to testing, tracing and isolating these patients and staff members,” he said. Please see negligence 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: 3-11-20-25-46 Meganumber: 21

Wednesday’s DAILY 4: 3-6-1-4

Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 1-5-9-10-23 Meganumber: 22

Wednesday’s FANTASY 5: 2-9-12-14-19

Wednesday’s DAILY DERBY: 03-10-01 Time: 1:48.59

Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 10-33-41-52-54 Meganumber: 18

Obituaries............. A8 Soduku................. A5 Weather................ A8

Wednesday’s DAILY 3: 8-6-7 / Evening 9-7-4


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