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County ICU patients trend downward Board of Supervisors discusses vaccine hesitancy, herd immunity By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
For the first time since the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department began tracking in April 2020, there were no patients receiving care in the Intensive Care Units of local hospitals due to COVID-19 as of Monday. Dr. Van Do-Reynoso, the Public Health director, shared the news to the County
Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. “The last time it was this low was when we had one patient at the end of October 2020, so this is, indeed, really good news, encouraging news, that perhaps we are turning the corner,” she told the board. She added that there are good data trends for the county, including decreases in both new cases and active cases across the county. The health department reported a total
of three ICU patients Tuesday. However, Dr. Do-Reynoso shared that the county will still remain in the orange tier this week, with a 3.5 adjusted case rate for tier assignment and 4.1 new cases per day per 100,000. The county’s positivity rate sits at 1.4, with the health equity metric at 1.8. The county’s case rate needs to be below two cases per 100,000 for two weeks before it can reach the yellow tier.
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In addition, now that Pfizer’s vaccine just received emergency-use authorization approval for youths 12 and older from the Food and Drug Administration Monday, Dr. Do-Reynoso said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Independent Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will be meeting today and is expected to vote by noon. In anticipation of a vote of approval,
SB Museum of Art reopens Grand reopening planned for summer
For more information on Tuesday’s daily case count, please see A2. she said the county has been planning for school-based clinics and will be ready to implement them as soon as next week. County officials are also in planning stages with local pharmacies and other Please see ICU on A2
SB Unified expands vaccination efforts
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
During Tuesday’s meeting, the Santa Barbara Unified school board unanimously approved the proposed names for the track and tunnel Santa Barbara High School’s Peabody Stadium: Cunningham Track and Hutton Parker Foundation Tunnel.
District approves names of Peabody Stadium features By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art, at 1130 State St. in Santa Barbara, reopened Tuesday, but not every gallery is ready for viewing. The main entrance is currently closed during the museum’s renovation.
By ANNELISE HANSHAW
To see streaming video GO TO
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s permanent collection is back on display after a partial reopening Tuesday. The museum, which is currently undergoing extensive renovation, will hold a grand reopening this summer. The construction was years in the making and with the museum closed anyway, staff took the opportunity to reconfigure some of the galleries and rehang the art. “We needed to do extensive work. But we thought as long as we were going to do such an extensive project, we might as well do other things we wanted,” Larry Feinberg, the Robert and Mercedes Eichholz director and CEO, told the News-Press Tuesday. The renovations mainly focused on the structural integrity of the building, sealing it from leaks and replacing its temperature
newspress.com and humidity controls. The newly renovated galleries have LED lighting, natural light from skylights and a fresh flow of air. A new contemporary art gallery and the reconfiguration of Ludington Court will allow curators to display works that have “not seen the light of day in decades,” Mr. Feinberg said. “There will be more of the museum’s permanent collection on view than (at) any time in the museum’s history,” he said. This year, which commemorates the museum’s 80th anniversary, is dedicated to the permanent collection. “People will really be able to see the range and depth of our collection,” he said. In the meantime, visitors can get a sampling of the museum’s diversity. Less than half of the gallery space is currently open.
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Deborah Kerner and Richard Waxberg, artists from Ojai, hadn’t been to the museum in more than a year. They like to visit periodically and view the collection.
“This museum is varied in terms of having pieces from Japan, China, all over the world and, of course, the European paintings and American paintings,” Deborah Kerner, who was visiting the galleries, told the News-Press.
Ms. Kerner and her husband Richard Waxberg, both artists from Ojai, came to see the museum Tuesday after more than a year since their last visit. The couple said it is one of their Please see MUSEUM on A4
The Hutton Parker Foundation Tunnel had been painted with its name prior to official board approval.
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i n s i de Classified.............. B4 Life..................... B1-2 Obituaries............. A4
The Santa Barbara Unified School District will be expanding its vaccine bussing service to include students ages 12-15 following the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency-use authorization of the Pfizer-manufactured COVID19 vaccine. The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department will hold vaccination clinics at school sites in the late afternoon to serve students and families, with a start date yet to be determined, Public Health’s school liaison Susan Klein-Rothschild
announced during the district’s board meeting Tuesday evening. Since the last meeting of the board, the district has tracked 12 new COVID-19 cases on campus, 10 of which were in students. In the action agenda, the board unanimously approved the proposed names for the track and tunnel Santa Barbara High School’s Peabody Stadium: Cunningham Track and Hutton Parker Foundation Tunnel. Prior to the board’s decision, a public hearing was held. The only commenter, Monie de Witt, thought the names should reflect underrepresented student groups rather than the highest Please see SBUSD on A4
Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 10-12-21-22-28 Mega: 12
Tuesday’s DAILY 4: 5-7-0-3
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 7-8-20-36-39 Mega: 22
Tuesday’s FANTASY 5: 7-13-19-30-39
Tuesday’s DAILY DERBY: 09-05-08 Time: 1:46.23
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 12-17-20-21-26 Meganumber: 8
Tuesday’s DAILY 3: 8-4-5 / Midday 4-7-2