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Our 165th Year
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Mission spreads holiday cheer
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The Santa Barbara Municipal Airport is expected to see 30% of its usual holiday business this year, according to officials.
Travel at a minimum this year Santa Barbarans continue to stay home for holidays By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
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The traditional Nativity scene at the Santa Barbara Mission was scaled down this year, as volunteers who typically put the crèche together weren’t able to come together.
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The holiday season this year looks like no other year before it. However, Mission Santa Barbara is still hoping to spread Christmas cheer to those who need it in 2020, with dozens of
wreaths, multiple Christmas trees, red and green lighting towers and 500 feet of garland. Visitors or passersby may have noticed that the traditional Nativity scene at the Mission is scaled down. The crèche is actually handled through the Santa Barbara
Parish and separate from the Mission, according to Suzy Plott, the community development and marketing director at the Mission. She said that the stripped down version is pandemic-related. “The group of volunteers who normally put the crèche together were impacted this year
because a lot of them either didn’t feel safe coming out and being around other people or were just quarantining,” Ms. Plott told the News-Press. “They normally have a pretty good group of volunteers and parishioners. Their normal
The Santa Barbara Municipal Airport is calm this holiday season, a rarity for December, according to airport spokeswoman Deanna Zachrisson. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the airport has operated at 30% of its usual business. “We are expecting a lot less travel for the holiday season than we saw in 2019,” she said. “It’s definitely slow, and this typically is a busy time of the year.” She expects travel to be especially low during January and February, a typically slow season. Business-related travel is down 85%, she said. She predicts that most travelers are flying to
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see family. “We’re doing everything in our facility with our mask requirements, cleaning requirements, et cetera,” she said. “We are prepared for those that will be traveling with the precautions we are taking.” The state of California issued a travel advisory and encourages Californians to avoid nonessential travel. The California Department of Public Health recommends those entering California or returning from travel to self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival. “The folks that are traveling are taking every precaution that you would expect,” Ms. Zachrisson said. “From our perspective, it seems like everyone is being cautious.” Please see travel on A4
President vetoes defense bill By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Mission Santa Barbara is still hoping to spread Christmas cheer to those who need it in 2020, with dozens of wreaths, multiple Christmas trees, red and green lighting towers and 500 feet of garland.
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Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara, said he intends on voting to override President Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act.
Earlier this month, President Trump had threatened to veto the bill if Congress didn’t repeal Section 230, which protects websites from responsibility for content posted by users. Please see veto on A8
L O T T E RY RESU LTS
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President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed the defense bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act. The bill had passed Congress with a veto-proof majority. The bill, which sets the 2021 budget for the U.S. Department of Defense, contained the Small Passenger Vessel Safety Act which was proposed by Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbar, after the Conception boat fire. “Once again, President Trump is recklessly undermining our national security to serve his own self-interest. This is not a game,” Rep. Carbajal said in a statement to the NewsPress. “Unlike the President, I actually served in the military, so I know what this bill means for our country, our veterans, and our troops. “The NDAA passed the House and Senate with vetoproof, bipartisan majorities and I look forward to casting my vote to override this veto.”
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