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Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation plans virtual fundraising Santa Barbara-based nonprofit continues to serve families during pandemic - A3
Our 165th Year
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Why we are again endorsing Donald Trump for president
Revamping The Biltmore
By WENDY McCAW
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NEWS-PRESS CO-PUBLISHER
n 2016 we were the first, and, for months, the only daily newspaper to endorse Donald Trump because we believed that the nation was in dire need for a change. He promised to make many changes, among them, tax reform, creating new jobs, bringing businesses back to the U.S., reversing bad international deals like NAFTA and the TPP made by prior administrations. And he has made good on those promises. He has traveled the globe, restoring America’s prominence; ended wars, created new relationships with North Korea, made good on prior administrations’ empty promises to move Israel’s capital to Jerusalem, and garnered a peace deal with the Arab states and Israel. He has been tough with China on its hegemony in the Pacific. Because of his leadership and action, ISIS is no more. He has rolled back costly and stifling regulations and has worked with law enforcement to protect American communities by enforcing immigration laws, by prioritizing the targeting of gang members, especially MS-13, all of which has made our country safer from external threats. The president took on drug abuse and opioid addiction with a comprehensive strategy to battle the crisis. He has ensured our country’s commitment to the veterans by streamlining the process of disability claims and signed the VA Mission Act, thereby modernizing VA health care and giving those veterans comparable health care to those outside the military, something sorely lacking in previous administrations. He has rebuilt and modernized the military, protecting America and its allies by defeating terrorist organizations and confronting rogue nations. Under President Trump, the U.S. has become, for the first time, energy independent — the U.S. is now the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world surpassing Saudi Arabia and Russia. Prior to the Wuhan virus pandemic, President Trump created the greatest prosperity this country has ever seen with the lowest unemployment numbers and the highest stock exchange values. He was proactive when the virus was still in its infancy closing the borders to China and Europe, saving countless lives. Reading the Biden/Sanders manifesto (no, this is not a mistake, Biden has taken Sander’s mandates as his own), we realize how much trouble our nation and we as individuals, would be in when such draconian totalitarian policies were enacted, as they surely would be. President Trump is a man who respects law and order, unlike the Democratic governors and mayors who persist in allowing rampant looting, anarchy and lawlessness in their states and towns, and unlike the Democratic candidates who continue to want to defund, or “reallocate the money for” the police — and who not only accept the violence and mayhem in these states and cities but are using these crises as blackmail — saying all will stop after they are elected. Basically it boils down to freedom and opportunity versus dictatorship and socialism — the government in every area of our lives versus the constitutional freedoms we now enjoy. This is not an election of personalities — it’s an election to save the country from those forces that want to “transform” it into something that is the antithesis of this country’s founding, changing for the worst the most wonderful country on Earth.
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Sexual harassment bill passes SB 493 intended to improve process for students By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara is to undergo deferred maintenance repairs and updates while closed due to COVID-19.
Montecito hotel undergoes updates and deferred maintenance before reopening next year
California schools will now provide a transparent and fair process for all students involved in a sexual assault allegation, according to a bill that passed Sunday in the State Assembly and won the Senate’s concurrence vote 31 to 8. State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, is the author of SB 493, titled “Gender Equity in Education: Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence.” It requires state-funded colleges and universities to adopt “commonsense processes that ensure a fair, transparent, consistent response to reports of sexual violence.” To do that, the bill will make it easier for students to report sexual harassment and violence by educating students on their rights and how to report. The bill also requires schools to respond to off-campus incidents that could interfere with students’ education. In addition, the bill will prohibit “courtroomstyle direct cross-examination of survivors by their assailants or attorneys,” something Please see BILL on A8
NEWS-PRESS EXCLUSIVE
By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara is exploring what protocols it should implement to prevent the spread of COVID-19 upon reopening.
While closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara is using its time without guests to repair and revamp the hotel. According to Ty Warner Hotels and Resorts project development manager Bill Medel, these changes will largely consist of deferred maintenance and updates that will help the hotel prevent the spread of COVID-19 when it does reopen. In a statement, Biltmore owner Ty Warner Please see BILTMORE on A8
COURTESY DIRECT RELIEF
“Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman enjoys a friendly meeting with Madina Rahman, the deputy minister of health in Sierra Leone, in 2015 at Direct Relief in Goleta.
Ventura County Transit continues to serve essential workers
Chadwick Boseman helped Direct Relief’s efforts
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK
NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
By DAVE MASON
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Although ridership on public transit has waned since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ventura County Transportation Commission continues to bring essential workers from Ventura to Santa Barbara. Ridership is down 67% for the Coastal Express routes 80-89 northbound to Santa Barbara, according to Darrin Peschka, a VCTC spokesperson in government and community relations. “One of the things we see is the nature of the riders on the Coastal Express. Many of them are essential workers in Santa Barbara, so they’re still using public transit,” Ms. Peschka told the News-Press. “The best way to attract ridership is to give people peace of mind so that they feel safe riding public transit.” She said the VCTC has taken a number of steps to do this, including: requiring that masks be worn and
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RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS
Ventura County Transit has successfully continued to bring essential workers up to Santa Barbara from Ventura even during the pandemic. Here, a Ventura County Bus stops at the 700 block of Anacapa Street near Santa Barbara City Hall.
providing masks if a passenger does not have one; limiting the number of passengers on vehicles for social distancing; increasing the cleaning and disinfecting of vehicles; waiving fares to limit points of contact between passengers and drivers; and having drivers disembark the vehicle as passengers board to limit contact. Ms. Peschka said these steps ensure riders have that peace of mind using
Coastal Express and all other routes of VCTC. To learn more about VCTC’s response to COVID-19, visit goventura. org or call 1-800-438-1112. email: gmccormick@newspress.com
A year before he first played a superhero, Chadwick Boseman was already saving the world. The “Black Panther” star, who died Friday at age 43 after a four-year battle with colon cancer, came to Goleta in 2015 to promote Direct Relief and its international efforts. “Mr. Boseman visited Direct Relief to participate in a meeting on the West Africa Ebola epidemic at Direct Relief with Sierra Leone’s deputy health minister and researchers from UCSB,” Thomas Tighe, president and CEO of Direct Relief, told the News-Press Monday. “He could not have been more gracious, empathetic, curious and supportive. His passing truly is a great loss.” Direct Relief’s photos show Mr. Boseman during a friendly meeting with Madina Rahman, Sierra Leone’s deputy minister of health. Accompanying the actor was Taylor Simone Ledward, his longtime girlfriend, whom he quietly married during his final months. Please see BOSEMAN on A2
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