Santa Barbara News-Press: February 16, 2021

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Pear trees in full bloom

The art of La Arcada Plaza Bronze sculptures greet visitors at State Street site - A3

Our 165th Year

They’re part of the beauty of Santa Barbara and Goleta - B1

75¢

T U E S DAY, F E B RUA RY 16 , 2 0 21

Flying cars

Retail heads toward pre-pandemic level Owners happy with foot traffic during holiday weekend

Goleta startup develops technology to propel future of air transportation

By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

The three-day weekend brought California day-trippers to downtown Santa Barbara, ready to hit State Street’s shops. Owners were excited at the foot traffic and hopeful that it’s a sign of the end of the pandemic’s economic lull. “The community feels they can get out safely now. With all the safeguards and protocols already practiced for so long, this was the weekend — almost on the cusp of spring — that they felt was the time to get out and enjoy,” Alan Howard, owner of

Antique Alley, told the NewsPress Monday. His store, located at 706 State St. in downtown Santa Barbara, had a steady flow of customers on Presidents’ Day and a small line forming at the cash registers. January was a slow month as rains dampened weekend business. Mr. Howard also attributes the insurrection at the Capitol to the lower consumer enthusiasm. “I think there’s optimism in the United States, or at least in California, with the new administration, the declining Please see RETAIL on A2

ANNELISE HANSHAW / NEWS-PRESS

Sam Zuzman, owner of Stabiles Boutique at 527 State St. in Santa Barbara, said business always picks up in the middle of February. He’s glad this year is no different. COURTESY PHOTO

LaunchPoint’s development of air propulsion generators help to power large drones and are paving the way for the future of air travel.

CDC says schools should be first to reopen

By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT

Picture this. You want to take a day trip to Los Angeles, but you don’t want to deal with the traffic. What if instead of driving, you could take an emission-free flying car? It might sound like something straight out of “The Jetsons,” but engineers say we could see flying cars on the market within the next two decades. In fact, LaunchPoint, an aerospace startup in Goleta, is already creating and testing highly technical air propulsion systems that will pave the way for the future of air transport. Situated in a small office space behind Habit Burger in downtown Goleta, LaunchPoint engineers are working to develop hybridelectric generators that can be used to power large cargo drones and, eventually, flying cars. “Our work is going to personally affect everybody by changing the paradigm for which goods and services and people are delivered,” CEO Rob Reali told the News-Press. “You really will see here, within 24-36 months, your Amazon package being silently delivered to your doorstep instead of a UPS person or a postal service person starting at 5:30 a.m. driving all over the city to drop off packages.” This futuristic technology has been developed by LaunchPoint engineers for more than a decade, and the company is in the process of selling its latest development, the HSP GenSet 40 kilowatt generator, to leading air mobility firms all over the world. LaunchPoint generators are

By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS

LaunchPoint’s executive staff from left to right: Brian J. Clark, director of engineering and program management; Christopher J. Greico, vice president of business development and sales; Cyrus Morici, chief financial officer; and Rob Reali, chief executive officer.

battery-powered, making them emission-free and efficient. The startup is currently distributing its first 10 prototypes to potential customers, with five already shipped to potential buyers. Mr. Reali told the NewsPress the startup is on the cusp of achieving the next level of success once their potential customers are satisfied with the prototype

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The company is already racking up grants from the Department of Defense for the development of larger generators that will power flying cars for future Air Force Missions. Just in the last six months, the company won two inaugural awards from the Air Force, providing it with over $1 million in grants to develop larger Please see launchpoint on A4

email: ahanshaw@newspress.com

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ins id e Classified............... B4 Life..................... B1-2

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development. Though the company only launched six months ago as a spinoff of the think tank LaunchPoint Technologies, it is already in contact with some of the top Fortune 500 companies all over the world. “Just one contract changes who we are in terms of growth and success,” Mr. Reali said.

The CDC says schools should be “the last settings to close” and “the first to reopen.” But to open, schools should layer their mitigation strategies, according to the Atlanta-based federal agency, which published guidance to schools Friday. In that report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasized mask wearing and social distancing. But the agency on Friday also released a study showing mixed mask usage in middle and high schools. Of a sample of 3,953 students surveyed, 65% said peers wore masks all the time. The CDC on Friday refreshed its chart for school decisionmaking, reducing the number of thresholds from five to four. Lowest and low transmission groups were merged. The color-coded tiers in the guidance differs from the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department’s tiers, which currently categorizes the county in the purple or “widespread” tier. Based on the CDC’s new guidelines, Santa Barbara County’s case rate (36.4 daily cases per 100,000 population) falls in the moderate transmission or yellow tier, which covers case rates of 10 to 49 daily cases per 100,000. But Santa Barbara County’s

test positivity rate of 10.2% is in the CDC’s high transmission or red tier, which includes test positivity rates of 10% and up. The CDC said schools measuring in two tiers should follow the more restrictive category. The CDC recommends elementary schools in communities with high transmission operate in hybrid learning or reduced attendance. The agency said middle and high schools should stay virtual unless they can follow all mitigation strategies with few cases. Sports and extracurricular activities should be online only in high transmission communities, according to the CDC. The agency recommends weekly COVID-19 testing of students and staff in almost all cases. If counties are in the low transmission tier, testing of students is not suggested. The guidance lists vaccines as one mitigation strategy but does not say that vaccination of teachers is required for inperson class. It upholds the Phase 1B categorization of teachers, though recommends teachers are prioritized within the 1B group. The CDC warns that the guidance may change if COVID-19 variants increase the rate of transmission.

Obituaries............. A4 Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4

Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 18-22-38-40-42 Meganumber: 13

Monday’s DAILY 4: 7-2-0-7

Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 5-14-24-25-27 Meganumber: 14

Monday’s FANTASY 5: 4-17-18-22-25

Monday’s DAILY DERBY: 03-06-01 Time: 1:40.22

Saturday’s POWERBALL: 20-28-33-63-68 Meganumber: 20

Monday’s DAILY 3: 0-1-2 / Sunday’s Midday 1-0-4


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