Santa Ynez Valley High School gets a face lift
Movies at drive-in to benefit One805
A new synthetic turf football field is near completion at Santa Ynez High. - A8
‘Grease,’ ‘Back to the Future’ screenings to raise money - A3
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Tax increase rejected Goleta City Council votes down to add tax measure to November ballot By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Thousand-plus butterflies T
he Goleta City Council split, 3-2, over a ballot measure to add a general one-cent sales tax Tuesday night, therefore, causing the proposal to fall short of being added to the November ballot, as a majority, or four votes, were needed in order to pass. The sales tax would have helped the city make up a significant amount of revenue --- an estimated $7 million --- as the city currently faces shortfalls in the projected amount of $8.6 million in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 fiscal years due to COVID-19. Councilmembers Roger Aceves and Stuart Kasdin, who voted against a similar measure in June, voted against the ballot measure on Tuesday night, citing how it would affect local citizens who are already facing enough issues due to the novel coronavirus. “People do not want to see a general sales tax in the middle of a recession … I think about those that are not working, those who have lost their jobs, maybe temporarily, maybe permanently. And many of
them are going to the food bank because they cannot put food on the table. And now we want to increase the sales tax?,” Coucilmember Aceves said. Councilmember Aveces added that while the city spent $60,000 on polling to see how to react to a sales tax, he has not talked to one person himself in favor of the decision. “We put our hat on the fact that our polling shows that there’s support for the measure. I talk to people every day. Not a single person has told me they support a sales tax, they think we’re crazy,” Counilmember Aceves said. “I could see us doing this, but not now, the timing is all wrong.” Councilmember Kasdin also alluded to the fact that the timing is wrong, but added that a general sales tax is regressive and would burden poor people more than anyone else. “Just because we’re spending money on good things, even if they are fine things, it’s still a regressive tax, that’s the nature of it. … The first thing I think should have been for us to look at alternatives and decide what type of tax we want,” Councilmember Kasdin said. Please see increase on A7
No end in sight Santa Maria struggles to stop the spread of COVID-19 by GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
RAFAEL MALDONADO/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
At top, you can see “Butterflies Alive,” an exhibit at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Above, “every summer when we do ‘Butterflies Alive,’ it’s hugely popular,” said Luke Swetland, museum president and CEO.
Special exhibit gets attention as Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s outdoor areas reopen to general public By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
V
isitors lined up outside the entrance of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History on Wednesday morning, as it reopened its outdoor areas to the general public for the first time since closing in March. Though it reopened to paying members last month as a way of thanking them for supporting the museum, Wednesday’s guests were its first nonmember visitors since COVID-19 restrictions started in the spring. According to museum president and CEO Luke Swetland, the museum initially planned on reopening all of its sections and its Sea Center on Stearns Wharf, but the recent spike in COVID19 cases led Gov. Gavin Newsom to issue an order that required museums to close indoor spaces. Sections of the Museum of Natural History currently open include its Sukinanik’oy Chumash
Ethnobotanic Garden, Museum butterflies in its chrysalides, Backyard, five-acre oak woodland which are then hot-glued to an and the Sprague Butterfly emergence chamber until the Pavilion housing one of its most insects emerge. After that, the popular exhibits, “Butterflies butterflies are put into a mesh bag Alive.” and released in the pavilion. “Butterflies Alive” contains Under normal circumstances, more than 1,000 butterflies museum guests would be able from a dozen different species to see the chrysalides develop like swallowtails, longwings, behind a special window in the Monarchs, and for museum’s indoor the first time since To see streaming video galleries. In the 2014, Malachites. meantime, however, GO TO Calling butterflies a Museum of newspress.com the “gateway drug to the Natural History natural world” that is sharing videos everyone enjoys, Mr. Swetland of the butterfly-raising process told the News-Press that watching on its social media accounts and butterflies in the pavilion is the YouTube channel. Also, pavilion “highlight” at the museum during manager Kim Zsembik has the summer months. started an Instagram account “Everybody loves butterflies. @butterflywrangler, which They’re just amazingly beautiful, features facts about butterflies it’s very contemplative to watch and photographs from inside the them, especially when there’s pavilion. more than a thousand of them In addition to “Butterflies fluttering around … So every Alive,” the museum is continuing summer when we do ‘Butterflies to feature owls and hawks in its Alive,’ it’s hugely popular,” he said. backyard area. Each week, the museum “Every one of those birds was receives between 200 and 300 injured, so badly injured that
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they can never be rereleased into the wild. So they will live out their lives here, but really as ambassadors,” Mr. Swetland said. In light of the pandemic, the museum has adopted health and safety protocols to keep guests safe, which according to a news release include hand washing and hand sanitizing stations throughout the outdoor areas, one-way flow for foot traffic throughout the museum to allow social distancing, and online reservations for attendance to limit the number of guests at the museum at one time. Currently open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the museum takes online reservations from up to 80 visitors for hour-long blocks of time. Those who make reservations can come to the museum anytime within the hour they sign up for and stay at the museum for as long as they wish. Tickets to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History can be purchased at sbnature.org.
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ommunity-wide concern and calls for action to stop the spread of COVID19 were present at the Santa Maria City Council meeting on Monday. Santa Maria is the coronavirus hotspot in Santa Barbara County, with 1572 confirmed positive cases as of Wednesday. The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department reported 73 new cases on Wednesday, along with 1331 recovered patients, 226 active cases and 16 deaths in Santa Maria. Santa Barbara County gained 121 cases total on Wednesday: 2 in the communities of Montecito, Summerland and Carpinteria; 11 in Santa Barbara; 4 in Goleta; 0 in Isla Vista; 1 in the area of Goleta Valley and Gaviota; 1 in the Santa Ynez Valley; 5 in Lompoc; 0 from the federal prison in Lompoc; 4 from Orcutt; and 9 in the areas of Sisquoc, Casmalia, Garey, Cuyama, New Cuyama and Guadalupe. There are now 3808 total cases in Santa Barbara County; 3335 total have recovered; 29 have died; and there are still 444 active cases in the county.
The director of the county Public Health Department, Van Do-Reynoso, attended the city council meeting to present statistics, the county’s current outreach efforts and recommendations from the department for the city of Santa Maria. Ms. Do-Reynoso reported that in comparison to COVID19 cases in other parts of the county, Latinos/Hispanics in Santa Maria represent a disproportionately higher number of cases. Santa Maria cases also have a higher percentage of household sizes between four and seven individuals and have more cases with individuals who are uninsured. The Public Health Department initiated the following partnerships to combat the spread in Santa Maria: a partnership to increase health insurance coverage and access to healthcare, a partnership to increase preventative messaging and a partnership with employers on preventative measures. They are also conducting the following outreach efforts: Latinx and Indigenous migrant COVID-19 response task force, Black American and Asian American community
Obituaries............. A8 Soduku................. A5 Weather................ A7
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 2-25-36-42-47 Meganumber: 6
Wednesday’s DAILY 4: 1-1-1-7
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 16-20-25-30-43 Meganumber: 18
Wednesday’s FANTASY 5: 11-13-24-27-32
Wednesday’s DAILY DERBY: 03-09-10 Time: 1:45.32
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 3-10-34-36-62 Meganumber: 5
Wednesday’s DAILY 3: 9-9-3 / Wednesday’s Midday 3-1-8