Our 164th Year
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W E DN E S DAY, M AY 13 , 2 0 2 0
County’s letter to Newsom
Board of Supervisors votes to ask governor to separate Lompoc prison’s COVID-19 cases By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
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PHOTOS COURTESY UCSB ATHLETICS
Sierra Altmeyer, a UCSB senior and a three-time All-Big West infielder, might play another season if academic circumstances permit. Gaucho seniors have received another season of eligibility after their season was cut short by COVID-19.
A second chance Gauchos get another shot at their senior season
he Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to send a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, requesting he make special considerations for the county in meeting the requirements for the second half of Phase 2 reopening. The special considerations are related to the large number of COVID-19 cases in the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc. As stated in the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting, the board will request that the governor exclude the prison’s caseload from that of the greater county. Recent additions to Santa Barbara County’s number of coronavirus infections are mostly due to a large amount of new cases at the correctional facility. A recent press release from the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department stated that of the 54 new COVID-19 cases reported in the county on Monday, 40 of them were at the prison. On Tuesday, the department reported 10 new cases, three of which were at the prison. The hope is that excluding the prison’s cases will prevent that outbreak from delaying economic recovery for the rest of
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
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By MARK PATTON NEWS-PRESS SENIOR WRITER
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ollege senior athletes face a different set of pomp and circumstances this graduation year: To return or not return? That is the question now dogging several of UCSB’s top athletes. The NCAA recently offered an extra year of eligibility to seniors who had their spring seasons halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision to leave or stay could make a huge difference for several Gaucho teams that were on the
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verge of national success this year. MEN’S VOLLEYBALL: No team had grander senior moments this year than coach Rick McLaughlin’s Gauchos. They had soared to a No. 3 national ranking with a 14-2 record when their season was cut short on March 12. Four of McLaughlin’s eight seniors received All-America honors: First-team setter Casey McGarry, second-team opposite hitter Randy DeWeese and middle Keenan Sanders, and honorable mention outside hitter Roy McFarland. “They really worked their butts off for four years,” McLaughlin
said. All four have indicated a desire to return next season. McLaughlin, however, has seven freshman recruits arriving next fall, creating a dilemma with roster size and scholarship limits. “I’m waiting to hear more from the administration regarding all of these questions,” he said. “I think both the Big West and each university are still trying to sort it out. I do know that retaining seniors won’t be easy, budget-wise, for any of the schools.” BASEBALL: The Gauchos appeared equipped to repeat their College World Series run of 2016,
winning eight straight games to improve to 13-2 when the season was ended. They ranked No. 17 in the NCAA’s official Ratings Percentage Index. Their only two seniors were key players. Shortstop McClain O’Connor batted .325 as a junior, and he was tops in runs scored (15) and second in RBIs (12) this season. Dand had a team-best two saves in five relief appearances with an earned run average of 1.23. Both were expecting to be selected in the June 10 Amateur Please see UCSB on A8
Please see LETTER on A2
SB City Council ties eviction ordinance to Newsom’s stayat-home order By CHRISTIAN WHITTLE
At left, UCSB’s No. 1 tennis player, Joseph Guillin, is opting for another senior year. Center, Felisha Noriega, the ace of UCSB’s softball pitching staff, has announced she will return. At right, Gaucho shortstop McClain O’Connor has received an option to return with another scholarship.
the county. Board Chair and Second District Supervisor Gregg Hart told the News-Press that even discounting the prison, the number of coronavirus cases in Santa Barbara County still exceeds the reopening requirement of having no more than one case per 100,000 residents for the past 14 days. When counting the prison’s numbers, however, Mr. Hart remarked that it “just blows us out of the water.” Additionally, Mr. Hart and his colleagues intend on negotiating with the governor to ease the reopening requirement of having no COVID-19 deaths in the past 14 days, as this hasn’t happened once throughout the pandemic. “Both of those criteria won’t work for us, and we want the governor to consider that,” Mr. Hart told the News-Press. Many other elected officials representing Santa Barbara are on board with considering the Federal Correctional Institution’s outbreak as separate from cases in the wider county. Mayor Cathy Murillo spoke to the News-Press about a letter she wrote on behalf of the city’s business community to Santa Barbara County Public Health Department director Van Do-Reynoso. The letter expressed the concerns of local stakeholders to be relayed by the
he Santa Barbara City Council made several amendments to its Temporary Eviction Moratorium Ordinance Tuesday, adding a provision to extend the moratorium if state stay-at-home orders remain in place and setting terms for repayment of deferred rents from April and May. In a unanimous vote, the council has made the moratorium concurrent with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order which suspended state law preempting local power to regulate evictions. If Gov. Newsom chooses to extend his executive order beyond May 31, Santa Barbara’s eviction moratorium would remain in effect. The council also created a minimum and maximum payback period for deferred rents of six and 12 months. Landlords and tenants may negotiate shorter payback terms if they wish, with payments planned monthly and in equal amounts.
Tenants and landlords will have the opportunity to mediate from the city if requested by either party. On March 24, the council unanimously enacted the Temporary Eviction Moratorium Ordinance as an emergency measure. The ordinance prevents eviction of commercial and residential tenants through May 31, with the requirement that on or before April 21, any tenant who wishes to take advantage to provide a detailed written notice to their property owner demonstrating their inability to make rent payments due to COVID-19. The council and city staff deemed the moratorium necessary as the city’s economy has been massively disrupted, causing many businesses to close and workers to lose their jobs. “We know that many tenants have or will be experiencing dramatic reductions to their income as a result of COVID-19. Evictions resulting from that, certainly on the residential side, are going to cause sick people to be on Please see EVICTIONS on A2
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LOTTERY RESULTS
Comics................. A6 Local................. A 2-8 Obituaries............. A8
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 4-19-24-39-45 Meganumber: 14
Monday’s DAILY 4: 3-1-8-7
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 5-20-22-61-70 Meganumber: 4
Monday’s FANTASY 5: 6-12-16-28-33
Monday’s DAILY DERBY: 12-11-10 Time: 1:43.72
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 12-18-42-48-65 Meganumber: 19
Soduku................. A5 Weather................ A8
Monday’s DAILY 3: 5-1-8 / Midday 4-4-2