Carpinteria gallery to present ‘Beauty and Sorrow’
An ale with a cause Santa Maria Brewing Co. to donate half of its profits from new beer to help veterans, first responders’ families and Gold Star families - B4
Our 166th Year
Juried art show is inspired by a CD and the 20th anniversary of 9/11 - B1
75¢
T H U R S DAY, S E P T E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 21
Planning panel considers ExxonMobil trucking plan By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The ExxonMobil trucking proposal that spurred last week’s protest in Santa Barbara went before the county’s Planning Commission on Wednesday, where dozens of public commenters voiced opposition to the project because of environmental and safety concerns. Commissioners engaged in an all-day meeting, where they heard from Exxon officials, representatives from the county’s Planning and Development Department and about 60 public commenters regarding Exxon’s proposal to begin trucking oil out of its Los Flores Canyon facility. The Planning
Mail-in ballots to stay in California
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed voting legislation this week.
By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Mail-in ballots will become a mainstay of California’s election process now that Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 37. The bill requires a mailin ballot be mailed to each registered voter. AB-37, which became law Tuesday, was part of a stack of bills signed by the governor aimed at amending voting laws. “Last year we took unprecedented steps to ensure all voters had the opportunity to cast a ballot during the pandemic and today we are making those measures permanent after recordbreaking participation in the 2020 presidential election,” Gov. Newsom said in a news release. Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber said mail-in ballots have “significantly increased participation of eligible voters.” “Voters like having options for returning their ballot whether by mail, at a secure drop box, a voting center or at a traditional polling station. And the more people who participate in elections, the stronger our democracy and the more we have assurance that elections reflect the will of the people of California,” she said. Wednesday, the governor targeted homeless legislation in another round of signatures. email: ahanshaw@newspress.com
Commission is tasked with providing a recommendation to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors about whether to approve or deny the project. The Supervisors will issue the official decision. After deliberating at length on Wednesday, commissioners directed Planning and Development staff to return at a later date with drafted findings that support the commission’s recommended denial of the project before the proposal is heard by the Board of Supervisors. Staff is expected to return to the Planning Commission on Nov. 3 with additional findings to support the project denial. The brunt of Wednesday’s hearing centered on the
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to “adverse but not significant.” In a Supplemental Environmental Impact Review (SEIR) released last month, the county found that one Class 1 unavoidable impact of the project would be oil spills or truck fires associated with the transportation of hazardous materials, which officials say could impact “biological, water and cultural resources at Los Flores Canyon and along the trucking routes.” The SEIR also identified air quality and greenhouse gas emission impacts as “significant and mitigatable” impacts of the project. In response to the environmental concerns, the county proposed a modified version of the project on
Wednesday that would limit trucking to the Santa Maria Pump Station. The modified plan would also prohibit trucking during rainy periods and would allow daily trucking to increase to from 70 trucks to 78 trucks per day to “catch up” from rainy days off. And the modified project includes provisions for the closure of the SMPS. If this were to occur, the county would allow Exxon to redirect oil trucking to the Pentland Terminal via State Route 166 with a daily maximum of 68 trucks per day. If this modified project is approved, officials from the Planning and Development Department estimate that the risk of an accident would be reduced by 33%.
Las Cafeteras at UCSB East Los Angeles band performs free concert
By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
ExxonMobil officials also weighed in on the environmental impacts of the project during Wednesday’s meeting, telling commissioners that the company plans to submit a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan that would detail how the company plans to limit emissions from the project. Officials also claimed that bringing Exxon’s crude oil back to California is an environmentally friendly choice because it would reduce the amount of oil shipped into the state from foreign sources. According to the California Energy Commission, the state received 47.5% of its oil from foreign sources in 2020, and 58.4% from foreign sources in 2019. These foreign oil producers Please see EXXONMOBIL on A3
Candidate presents ‘S.A.F.E.’ plan for SB Deborah Schwartz discusses her ideas as mayoral election approaches
Las Cafeteras, a band from East Los Angeles, performed a free concert at noon Wednesday in front of UCSB Storke Tower. A small crowd gathered for the Storke Plaza program, which was presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures. Las Cafeteras is known for its Afro-Mexican beats and its blend of folkloric son jarocho music, hip hop, rock and rancheras. The band has performed with artists varying from the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra to an American folk rock band — Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. “Las Cafeteras use music as a vehicle to build bridges among different cultures and communities, and create ‘a world where many worlds fit,’ ” according to lascafeteras.com. Wednesday’s concert was the second free one presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures to welcome students back. Fall classes began last week. This fall, Arts & Lectures is back to presenting in-person programming. For a schedule, see artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.
COURTESY PHOTO
Deborah Schwartz, the Santa Barbara mayoral candidate and Planning Commission chair, is one of six candidates in the Nov. 2 election.
By ANNELISE HANSHAW
email: dmason@newspress.com More photos on B4
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Las Cafeteras performs Wednesday at UCSB Storke Plaza.
The band is known for its blend of son jarocho music, hip hop, rock and rancheras. Wednesday’s concert was the second free one that UCSB Arts & Lectures presented to welcome back students. UCSB resumed classes last week.
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environmental and safety impacts of ExxonMobil’s proposal to truck oil from its Los Flores Canyon facility to the Santa Maria Pump Station via Highway 101 and to the Pentland Terminal in Kern County via State Route 166. The project proposes sending 70 trucks per day to the SMPS and 68 trucks per day to the Pentland Terminal. Exxon has also proposed a phased restart of three offshore drilling platforms in its Santa Ynez Unit, which have not been operational since the Plains All American Pipeline oil spill in 2015. During Wednesday’s hearing, the Planning and Development Department discussed several environmental impacts of the project, which range in severity from “significant and unavoidable”
Santa Barbara mayoral candidate Deborah Schwartz announced a plan Wednesday she believes would help the city address its vulnerabilities. Ms. Schwartz, who’s also the Santa Barbara Planning Commission chair, sat down with the News-Press to explain her new “Santa Barbara S.A.F.E.” plan. She describes Santa Barbara as “an island of a city confined to the ocean and the mountains with one major corridor in and out.” She believes strategic planning (the “S” in S.A.F.E.) is the key to safeguarding the American Riviera. “Our entire way of planning needs to be integrated. It’s not just housing; it’s not just the environment; it’s not just transportation,” she told the News-Press Wednesday. Please see SCHWARTZ on A4
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Classified................. B4 Life...................... B1-2 Obituaries............... A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Wednesday’s DAILY 4: 4-2-5-2
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 18-30-43-68-69 Meganumber: 22
Wednesday’s FANTASY 5: 4-14-23-28-38
Wednesday’s DAILY DERBY: 07-04-08 Time: 1:44.48
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Sudoku................... B3 Weather................. A4
Wednesday’s DAILY 3: 4-4-8 / Wednesday’s Midday 1-7-9