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Our 167th Year
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W E D N E S DAY, J U LY 6 , 2 0 2 2
REVIEW
Texas judges declare invasion at southern border
Sounds of success Prime Time Band proves to be worthy successor to West Coast Symphony with Monday’s Fourth of July concert
By BETHANY BLANKLEY THE CENTER SQUARE CONTRIBUTOR
(The Center Square) — Judges from multiple Texas counties have issued declarations of invasion in response to unprecedented challenges they’re experiencing as a result of escalated illegal immigration under the Biden administration. County officials made the announcement at an afternoon news conference held at the Kinney County Civic Center in Brackettville, Texas. Leading the judges is Kinney County Judge Tully Shahan, who was the first judge to issue a disaster declaration last year over the negative impacts of illegal immigration on his county, prompting other judges to also issue similar declarations. Gov. Greg Abbott later issued a disaster declaration for multiple counties as well. Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith also has requested that the governor and Attorney General Ken Paxton take steps to act under Article 1 of the Constitution, as have conservative leaders in the state. Their announcement Tuesday
DAVE MASON/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
The Prime Time Band of Santa Barbara performs its Independence Day concert in front of a large and appreciative audience at the Sunken Gardens at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse.
By GREG BISHOP
By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
With community band members snapping their fingers behind her, vocalist Anikka Abbott threw the right amount of jazz into a classic, “Fever.” The soloist then turned around and showed another side of her talent with the sweet “Moon River” from the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Known locally as a weather reporter for Santa Barbara’s KEYTTV and its sister stations, Ms. Abbott later wowed the audience with “God Bless America.” Her beautiful rendition inspired many to stand during the Prime Time Band of Santa Barbara’s patriotic concert Monday in the Sunken Gardens at the Santa Barbara
County Courthouse. three-fourths full, which allowed The performance introduced for a comfortable amount of space the community to the musical side among the lawn and beach chairs of Ms. Abbott, who earlier had a and blankets. As the band played career in musical John Phillip Sousa’s theater and opera. “Stars and Stripes And the concert, Forever,” one man which also featured and a little girl did For photos of Montecito’s vocal soloist Gary some spontaneous Fourth of July parade, see A3. Johnson singing the marching and National Anthem, dancing. Other marked the first time audience members the 27-year-old Prime Time Band clapped to the beat of the famous played a Fourth of July concert in march. the Sunken Gardens. At other times, audience The band consists of musicians in members enthusiastically waved their 40s to 90s. small flags or simply stood because The ensemble played beautifully of the patriotic nature of the music. and did a great job in succeeding And veterans from various the West Coast Symphony, which branches of the service stood when formerly played the Independence they heard the branch’s theme song Day concerts at the outdoor venue. during “The Armed Forces Salute.” On Monday, the venue was about The concert, which had an
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informal, fun spirit, was performed in conjunction with the Santa Barbara-based Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation, which was represented by its founder, former Navy Lt. John Blankenship of Montecito. (His home, by the way, contains the foundation’s detailed museum of wartime artifacts.) During the band’s break, Lt. Blankenship, standing under the giant American flag that graced the courthouse, told people about Mr. Claeyssens, who, shortly before his death, wrote a check for $1 million in Mr. Blankenship’s name to start the veterans foundation. In addition to patriotism, the concert was a celebration of music that helped to define America, Please see BAND on B4
Please see INVASION on A4
Suspect in parade mass shooting charged with seven counts of first degree murder THE CENTER SQUARE STAFF REPORTER
At left, vocal soloist Anikka Abbott performs while Dr. Paul Mori leads the Prime Time Band of Santa Barbara. At right, this was one of many audience members who waved flags at Monday’s concert.
comes after Gov. Abbott has taken measures to thwart criminal activity at the border through Operation Lone Star. Since OLS launched last March, state and local law enforcement efforts, working with U.S. Border Patrol, have helped apprehend more than 270,400 illegal immigrants and made more than 16,700 criminal arrests, with more than 14,000 felony charges reported, the governor’s office says. More than 5,600 weapons and $42.8 million in currency have also been seized, and more than 22,700 people attempting to enter Texas illegally have been turned back to Mexico, his office says. “Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden administration’s refusal to secure the border,” Gov. Abbott said last week. “Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Biden’s open border policies.”
(The Center Square) — The suspect in the mass shooting that killed seven and injured dozens more Monday at a Chicago suburb’s Independence Day parade is being charged with seven counts of first-degree murder, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said Tuesday evening. Mr. Rinehart called the shootings in Highland Park a premeditated attack. More charges are coming against 21-year-old Robert Crimo, who was identified Monday as a person of interest in the shootings before he was apprehended by authorities about nine hours after they occurred. “There will be dozens of more charges against Mr. Crimo,” State’s Attorney Rinehart said. The investigation continues to be open and active. The charges were announced after Highland Park police say they had two prior encounters with Mr. Crimo more than two years ago. In the first, police responded after it was reported that Mr. Crimo threatened suicide. The charges were announced after Highland Park police say they had two prior encounters with Mr. Crimo more than two years ago. In the first, police responded after it was reported that Mr. Crimo threatened suicide.
“The second occurred in September of 2019, a family member reported that Mr. Crimo said he was going to kill everyone and Crimo had a collection of knives,” Lake County Major Crimes Task Force spokesperson Chris Covelli said. “The police responded to the residents. The police removed 16 knives, a dagger and a sword from Crimo’s home.” Mr. Covelli said there was nothing that led to further police action at that time and local police notified Illinois State Police. He said after that, Crimo legally purchased five guns over two years. To purchase firearms or ammunition in Illinois requires a valid Illinois State Police-issued Firearm Owner’s Identification Card. ISP Master Sergeant Delilah Garcia said there wasn’t anything to act upon in 2019 when local police reported the Crimo incident. “He didn’t have a pending (FOID) application so there was nothing to review at that time when we got that notification,” Sgt. Garcia told reporters. “We didn’t know that a few months later something else would happen.” More details on that process are expected. Police on Tuesday also said Mr. Crimo had planned the attack over several weeks and fired more than 70 shots Monday from a nearby rooftop. A seventh person has died Please see SHOOTING on A4
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L O T T E RY RESULTS
Classified................. B4 Life...................... B1-2 Obituaries............... A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 4-11-15-25-42 Meganumber: 18
Tuesday’s DAILY 4: 3-3-6-1
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Tuesday’s FANTASY 5: 13-24-26-36-37
Tuesday’s DAILY DERBY: 04-07-05 Time: 1:47.89
Monday’s POWERBALL: 15-16-24-31-56 Meganumber: 4
Sudoku................... B3 Weather................. A4
Tuesday’s DAILY 3: 1-7-6 / Wednesday’s Midday 4-7-8