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Conception boat captain indicted
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Former captain faces 34 counts of seaman’s manslaughter in 2019 fire that alleges he, as the captain and master of the vessel, “was responsible for the safety and security of the vessel, its crew and its passengers,” read a statement released by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Federal prosecutors informed Mr. Boylan’s attorneys of the indictment after it was filed. Authorities said he is expected to self-surrender to federal authorities “in the coming weeks.” The indictment accuses Mr. Boylan of causing the deaths of 33
By MITCHELL WHITE NEWS-PRESS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
The boat captain of the Conception, which caught fire last year near Santa Cruz Island and resulted in the deaths of 33 passengers and one crew member, was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on 34 counts of seaman’s manslaughter. Jerry Nehl Boylan, 67, of Santa Barbara, was named in the indictment returned Tuesday afternoon by a federal grand jury
passengers and one crew member by “his misconduct, negligence and inattention to his duties,” in what was one of California’s worst maritime disasters. Specifically, the indictment cites three notable safety violations: failing to have a night watch or roving patrol, which was required by the Code of Federal Regulations and for over 20 years was a requirement in the Conception’s Certificate of Inspection issued by the U.S. Coast Guard; failing to conduct sufficient fire drills, which are mandated in the Code of
Federal Regulations; and failing to conduct sufficient crew training, which was also required by the Code of Federal Regulations. The Conception was a 75-foot passenger vessel that docked at the Santa Barbara Harbor. During a Labor Day weekend dive trip last year, the boat carried 33 passengers and six crew members, including Mr. Boylan. During the early morning hours of Sept. 2, 2019, a fire broke out while the boat was anchored in Platt’s Harbor near Santa Cruz Island. The fire, which engulfed
the boat and led to its sinking, resulted in the death of 34 people who had been sleeping below deck. Five crew members, including Mr. Boylan, were able to escape and survived. “As a result of the alleged failures of Captain Boylan to follow well-established safety rules, a pleasant holiday dive trip turned into a hellish nightmare as passengers and one crew member found themselves trapped in a fiery bunkroom with no means of escape,” U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said in a statement. “The loss of
life that day will forever impact the families of the 34 victims. With this indictment and our commitment to vigorously prosecute the case, we seek a small measure of justice for the victims and their loved ones.” Added Kristi K. Johnson, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, “The FBI provided extensive investigative and technical resources to the joint investigation, including expert divers and evidence recovery assets. Our hope is that this indictment leads to the Please see indictment on A6
Waivers on hold due to COVID-19 Questions loom for Recent local surge in cases prevents district from applying
COVID-19 vaccines MORE INSIDE
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
RAFAEL MALDONADO/NEWS-PRESS
Franklin Elementary School, at 1111 E. Mason St. in Santa Barbara, is one of many schools impacted by Tuesday’s meeting of the Santa Barbara Unified school board. During the meeting, its principal Casie Killgore presented the school’s plan to keep classes separate.
By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The board of the Santa Barbara Unified School District was unable to move forward with an elementary school waiver application during a special meeting Tuesday night. Prior to the meeting, district administrators had completed a waiver application but did not submit it. Superintendent Hilda Maldonado was not in attendance, for unidentified reasons. Early in the meeting, Dr. Peggy Dodds, a pediatrician with the Santa Barbara County Public Health
Department, revealed that the health department will not be reviewing waivers to reopen elementary schools until the daily case rate drops. She was alerted of the department’s decision a “few hours” before the meeting. The case rate must be below 14 cases per 100,000 residents when averaged over the past seven days. Currently, the county is just over that line. Purple tier begins at seven cases per 100,000. Waivers were one of the only options for school districts in the purple tier. Only elementary schools were eligible for the process and had to be approved by local and state health
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Health, alluded to possible statewide changes. “I think it is more likely that Gov. Newsom and the state health department will be coming out with more strict public health recommendations, or perhaps even (more) restrictions and mandates,” she said. Despite negative projections, she encouraged administrators to seek a balance between precaution and education. “Even in the context of all this, even as a hospital-based health care worker, I would encourage you that in continuing to plan to safely resume in person learning for our Please see waivers on A8
test individuals. However, both vaccines produced similar mild to moderate vaccine reactions such as sore injection site, chills, mild fever, fatigue, etc., typically lasting one to two days. “This is expected and common with other vaccines,” Dr. Ansorg told the News-Press, citing shingles, measles and flu vaccines. “At this point, with the current data at hand, the risk from getting a severe case of COVID is much greater than experiencing a serious vaccine reaction.” Dr. Fitzgibbons echoed the importance of weighing the risks of contracting COVID-19 with potential risks from the vaccines. “When we think about the skilled nursing operations or long-term care, these individuals are mostly over the age of 70 and often with lots of complicated medical problems. We have to remember just how high risk they are to die of COVID-19 if they become infected,” she said. She said that medical officials, at this point, understand the risk of COVID-19 is worse than that of vaccine side effects, but it’s premature to say that conclusively. In terms of distribution, Dr. Fitzgibbons said it’s important to think about who’s at the highest risk of becoming infected, and considering not just the personal, but also the societal impacts of that group becoming infected. She mentioned essential workers and educators as subgroups that should be highpriority, but there are, again, too many groups to estimate. Another topic in question regarding the vaccine is the power of employers and businesses to require employee vaccinations. “People are already talking about showing proof of vaccination to allow them to travel with less restrictions,” Dr. Fitzgibbons said. “There are businesses that would consider this as either a strong recommendation or even a requirement, and if we have Please see vaccines on A2
L O T T E RY RESU LTS
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departments. The meeting was originally scheduled to decide whether to submit a waiver application to reopen elementary schools in January. But, because of the health department’s policy, the board had to table their decision. For now, small cohorts on campus may continue, though SB Unified will not be increasing the number of cohorts on campus. Other schools in the county that had reopened under waivers, or while the county was in the red tier, may remain open. Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons, an infectious disease specialist at Cottage
The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccinations are en route to end the nationwide recession and lockdown, but many questions still remain unanswered. One thing stands out about these vaccines versus those that came before — their speedy arrival. Cottage Health Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons told the News-Press Tuesday that there’s something to be said for the speed of this whole process and the predicted timeline in which vaccines will be rolled out. “I do think that the timeline, from what we know so far, sounds realistic, and really quite remarkable when we compare this experience to all vaccines before this,” she said. The first two vaccines are slated to come to Santa Barbara County by the end of December and/or early January, with four others likely available in February or March, according to Dr. Henning Ansorg, the County Public Health Officer. He told the News-Press the general population may expect to be able to receive a vaccine as early as March. “If everything goes very well, if we have no bumps with regard to distribution, administration or any kind of need to pause the vaccine for safety concerns, if everything goes perfectly, I think we’re well set up to give this vaccine to tens of millions of people in the coming weeks, which is very, very exciting,” Dr. Fitzgibbons said. “Vaccines are very likely to be our exit strategy from this entire pandemic. “All signals are very positive at this point.” Now, medical officials must focus on answering the question: Who gets this vaccine first? Locally, the first allotment will be offered to healthcare workers, first responders and elderly in skilled nursing facilities only, with the details still being discussed at state and federal levels. So far, both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been tested on a total of about 75,000 volunteers since late July, and no major reactions occurred in the
Board of Supervisors discuss vaccine rollout, A2.
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