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Painting for peace
City of SB faces criticism over Floyd issue People tell mayor, council they should have showed more support at protest By BRIAN MACKLEY NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
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ension rose Tuesday during the first Santa Barbara City Council meeting since the murder of George
Floyd. People attending the meeting criticized Mayor Cathy Murillo for not taking a knee during a protest Sunday in Santa Barbara. They were also critical of other council members for failing to be at the protest. But before people voiced their concerns during the public comments period, Ms. Murillo took a knee in Mr. Floyd’s honor during the meeting’s Pledge of Allegiance. Ms. Murillo also read a statement: “I would like to open this meeting with a moment of silence for George Floyd, who lost his life in a brutal manner at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis on Memorial Day. “Mr. Floyd, we are thinking of you, and I want you to know that I pledge to do everything that I can to reject and eliminate institutionalized racism in our society,” Ms. Murillo said. “I honor the work of our local Black Lives Matter group and the regional NAACP. And I look forward to connecting with you all and anyone who’s committed to social justice work.” Ms. Murillo gave other city
council members time to express their thoughts about the murder of Mr. Floyd. “The protests this weekend were justified,” Mayor Pro Tempore Kristen Sneddon said. “They didn’t come from a singular tragedy. A singular tragedy is what lit the fuse, a fuse that has been building for generations and decades.” Ms. Sneddon continued by calling racism “a public health crisis” and said that it’s a dark time when “an innocent human can be killed in broad daylight, complicit with law enforcement.” “I want to say that I acknowledge that black lives are not safe, black voices are not heard, black income is not equitable, black lives are more heavily impacted by COVID, more at risk for infection, more at risk of job loss,” Ms. Sneddon said. Councilwoman Meagan Harmon said she wants to, “elevate the voices of our black neighbors” inside the Santa Barbara community. Ms. Harmon then expressed her support for a civilian complaint review board as well as a slight change to the City Council’s agenda reports that would add a discussion on socio-economic impacts. Ms. Harmon believes that the small change to the council agenda report would help hold Please see criticism on A2
RAFAEL MALDONADO/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Artists Chadillac Green and XGriffinX painted a mural on EOS Lounge to raise awareness of the murder of George Floyd. KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
Santa Barbara mural of George Floyd draws viewers By: GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
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his is art. It’s not graffiti.” That’s the reaction as a large mural on the corner of Haley and Anacapa streets stops passersby in their tracks. The work of art is raising awareness of the death of George Floyd, the man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minn. Painted on the eastern wall of EOS Lounge, the mural depicts a large portrait of Mr. Floyd. Next to his face reads the words: “Please, I can’t breathe,” the words Mr. Floyd cried out while he was suffocating. The other side reads: “Rest in peace.” The artists, who tagged themselves “@chadillac_green” and “@xgriffinx”, started painting Monday and finished up Tuesday. The vivid colors and letters have attracted numerous
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Santa Ynez Valley Union High School graduates celebrate at their 2019 commencement. This year’s graduation will be celebrated with a car parade.
It’s a wrap!
onlookers who snap photos or just pause for a minute to reflect on it. “Say his name, keep him alive, keep everything alive, keep it going,” said Chadillac Green, one of the artists who painted the letters. “We’re not good with words so this is how we express how we feel of what’s going on.” Bix Kaufman owns EOS Lounge and gave the artists permission to paint the mural. “This is a house that doesn’t accept anything except equal rights for everyone,” Mr. Kaufman said. “Someone’s doing something a little more colorful than a march that lasts one day and goes away. This is art. It’s not graffiti.” He added that he will keep it on the wall for as long as he legally can. Public Information Officer Anthony Wagner of the Santa Barbara Police Department said the department has no comment at this time regarding the legality of the mural, and that it is likely a civil matter and outside the scope of law enforcement. Please see floyd on A10
Car parade planned for Santa Ynez graduation
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
S XGriffinX poses in front of the portrait he painted of George Floyd.
anta Ynez Valley Union High School is joining high schools nationwide celebrating the graduating class of 2020 while following social distancing guidelines and keeping its students safe. On Friday, which would have been the seniors’ graduation day, a Senior Celebration Day will take place with a car parade and professional photos. Beginning in Buellton and travelling through all five towns in the valley, each vehicle may only hold one graduate and no more than four immediate family members. Once the
graduates reach the high school, they’ll cruise through the stadium, and their photo will be taken by a professional, all while remaining in their cars. “Nothing will be handed out, and there will not be any speeches or other typical trappings of a graduation ceremony,” said Mark Swanitz, SYVU’s principal. In addition, the SYVU community is hoping for a traditional in-person ceremony on the tentative date of July 24. In a survey sent out to graduates and parents in late April, 73 percent voted to postpone the in-person graduation. “If an in-person ceremony cannot be held, then a decision will be made whether to hold a Please see gradS on A10
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L O T T E RY R ESU LT S
Comics................. A8 Classified.............. A9 Life.................... A 4-5
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 6-13-21-36-38 Meganumber: 25
Tuesday’s DAILY 4: 3-8-1-6
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 9-20-23-26-29 Meganumber: 8
Tuesday’s FANTASY 5: 5-7-20-24-33
Tuesday’s DAILY DERBY: 08-05-10 Time: 1:48.16
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 13-32-41-58-60 Meganumber: 14
Obituaries........... A10 Soduku................. A6 Weather.............. A10
Tuesday’s DAILY 3: 8-8-5 / Evening 6-9-1