Santa Barbara News-Press: December 28, 2022

Rain hits SB County

Moderate to heavy rainfall expected on New Year’s Eve

By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR

More than an inch of rain fell before nightfall Tuesday in North County, and the rest of Santa Barbara County saw its share as well.

The National Weather Service reported 1.16 inch of rain fell in Santa Maria and 1.28 inch in Lompoc. Elsewhere, 0.68 inch fell in Goleta, and a similar amount was experienced in Santa Barbara, where umbrellas dominated State Street.

New Cuyama experienced .33 inch of rain, but no measurable amount of rain was reported in Santa Ynez, according to the weather service.

The National Weather Service said skies today will be mostly

sunny throughout the county, but added there’s a chance of showers on Thursday and Friday. The weather service said there could be moderate to heavy rainfall on New Year’s Eve. The new year is expected to start with cloudy conditions on Sunday and Monday, followed by showers on Tuesday.

Rain or no rain, you’ll need your jacket. Throughout Santa Barbara County, highs are expected to land in the upper 50s to the low 60s. The lows will be in the lower to upper 40s.

Meanwhile, the improvements in downtown Santa Barbara parklets came just in time for the rain. Water was seen flowing down State Street and under a parklet.

email: dmason@newspress.com

Saturday’s

Supreme Court allows Title 42 to remain in effect

decision

By TOM GANTERT CENTER SQUARE MANAGING EDITOR

(The Center Square) — In a split decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed a Trump-era border enforcement policy to temporarily remain in effect.

The nation’s highest court said it will hear arguments on the case in February 2023.

The Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling allows the Title 42 public health policy to remain in effect after President Joe Biden planned to rescind it earlier this month.

At the beginning of the pandemic, President Donald Trump allowed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to suspend entry

of immigrants from certain countries to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The public health authority, known as Title 42, allowed Border Patrol agents to quickly expel foreign nationals, including asylum seekers. After the Biden administration announced Title 42 enforcement would end, more than a dozen states with Republican attorneys general filed suit, hoping to overturn the decision.

A lower district court ruled that Title 42 was invalid, “arbitrary and capricious” and ruled against the states that wanted to keep Title 42 in place.

The state of Arizona led an appeal that included 18 other

Restaurateur wants to bring State Street back to former glory

By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Restaurateur Warren Butler is suing the city again — only this time he’s suing for peace.

Mr. Butler spent years trying to convince the city of Santa Barbara to reassign a lease granted to the High Sierra Grill, where he worked as manager, to his own Flightline Restaurant and Lounge, located at Santa Barbara Airport where the Elephant Bar once stood. It didn’t happen. Instead, High Sierra Grill ended up closing in 2019.

Thwarted in his quest for a lease of his own, Mr. Butler spent years in court trying to get a lawsuit he filed against the city for damages in front of a jury.

That didn’t happen, either. Instead, both sides agreed to

settle the case last month for a $225,000 payout by the city.

Now Mr. Butler says he just wants to get along and fight alongside his former adversaries to bring State Street back to its former glory.

“The vitality of State Street is indeed a priority of the utmost urgency,” he told the NewsPress. “And it must be restored through a new commitment by the current governing administration and locals coming together.

“I include myself in this, as well as those interested in investing in exciting new establishments that serve our wonderful community and, very importantly, and perhaps most significantly, the irreplaceable support and

Split

permits Trump-era border policy to continue temporarily

Rain flows under a State Street parklet. At left, some people bundle up for the rain on State Street, while others felt fine with lighter clothing.

KENNETH SONG /NEWS-PRESS

Warren Butler and the city of Santa Barbara recently settled a suit over the city’s decision not to reassign a lease to Mr. Butler for this Santa Barbara Airport site for his Flightline Restaurant and Bar. Now Mr. Butler wants to turn his attention to State Street.

Southwest Airlines says it’s doing 33% of scheduled flights

By TOM GANTERT THE CENTER SQUARE MANAGING EDITOR

(The Center Square) — In the wake of a federal investigation into how the airline handled operations during the snowstorm, Southwest Airlines announced it would do just 33% of its scheduled flights for the rest of the holiday week.

“We have made the decision to continue operating a reduced schedule by flying roughly one third of our schedule for the next several days,” Southwest Airlines stated in a news release on its website. The airline said it is the largest carrier in 23 of the top 25 travel markets in the U.S.

Southwest Airlines canceled more than 70% of its flights on Monday and more than 60% on Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Transportation stated Dec. 26 on Twitter it would investigate the airlines’ practices during the winter storm.

“USDOT is concerned by Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays & reports of lack of prompt customer service,” the agency posted on Twitter.

“The Department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan.”

Southwest Airlines responded to the criticism with a statement on its website.

“With consecutive days of extreme winter weather across

our network behind us, continuing challenges are impacting our Customers and Employees in a significant way that is unacceptable,” the airline wrote. “And our heartfelt apologies for this are just beginning.”

On Tuesday, a Santa Barbara Airport representative declined to comment on Southwest Airlines specifically.

“In regard to all other delays or cancellations from the holiday weekend, we don’t have data in

Authorities still looking for Goleta man charged with molestation

By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

An 80-year-old Goleta man remains at large after breaking contact with probation and skipping a scheduled court appearance on a felony charge of molesting a young girl for four years, prosecutors said.

A no-bail arrest was issued for Samuel Camargo-Reyes after he lost contact with probation and failed to appear in court Dec. 12 for a conference to set a date for his preliminary hearing.

“As of this morning, he has not been booked,” Deputy District Attorney Sarah Barkley told the News-Press on Tuesday. “Again, I can’t comment on the ongoing investigation, but his warrant remains out.”

Mr. Reyes has been charged with a single count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, a felony, which carries a maximum sentence of 16 years in state prison, she said.

Neither she nor the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office would say whether they believe Mr. Camargo-Reyes remains in the area, in Goleta or Santa Barbara County, or whether they think he has fled the state.

On May 3, detectives began investigating a report of lewd acts with a child that allegedly occurred in Mr. Carmago-Reyes’ business in an unmarked office in the 200 block of Pine Avenue in Goleta.

As a result of their investigation into this report, sheriff’s detectives arrested Mr. CarmagoReyes — also known as Samuel Reyes-Camargo — on a warrant for lewd acts with a child under the age of 14, a felony. The Sheriff’s Office announced his arrest on Aug. 1.

The felony complaint filed against him alleges that he engaged in three or more acts of “substantial sexual conduct” or three or more acts of lewd or lascivious conduct with a child 14 or younger “while the defendant resided with, or had recurring access to, the child.”

Prosecutors put the girl’s age at between 5 and 9 at the time of the alleged offenses, which they alleged occurred between Jan. 22,

WaterWise contest

The Santa Barbara County Water Agency has announced the opening of applications for the 24th Annual WaterWise High School Video Contest.

Every year, students compete to create entertaining and

2015 and Jan. 22, 2019.

Mr. Carmago-Reyes pleaded not guilty at his Aug. 2 arraignment. The next day, Aug. 3, his original bail set at $500,000 was reduced to $40,000, a bond was posted and he was released from custody.

He met with his probation officer and appeared in court repeatedly to set a date for his preliminary hearing, and each time his case was continued.

Probation informed prosecutors that they lost contact with Mr. Camargo-Reyes on Nov. 27. His last scheduled court date was Dec. 12 when he failed to show up, prosecutors said.

Detectives believe the defendant had access to other children at his Goleta business, located in an unmarked office space at the corner of Pine Avenue and Gaviota Street where he sold nutritional supplements since approximately 2011.

Detectives encouraged anyone with knowledge of additional crimes allegedly associated with Mr. Carmago-Reyes or his business in Goleta to contact the sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division.

Santa Barbara County sheriff’s detectives are asking anyone with information about Mr. CamargoReyes’ current whereabouts to call Detective Swank at 805-6814150. Anyone who would like to remain anonymous can submit information at sbsheriff.org/home/ anonymous-tip or call 805-6814171.

email: nhartsteinnewspress@ gmail.com

informational 30-second videos that convey the importance of water use efficiency in Santa Barbara County. Student participants must submit their videos and complete the application packet online by 11:59 p.m. March 3 at www.waterwisesb. org/hsvc.

regard to the number of flights/ pax impacted, but we did see this happen at SBA,” Angelica Daus, the Santa Barbara Airport marketing coordinator, said in a statement to the News-Press.

“All members of our staff teams — Airport, Airline, Concessions, Rental Car, etc. — worked diligently and tirelessly to keep a clean and safe space for our passengers and provided the high quality level of service they were able to provide, given the

uncontrollable situation.

“We are still seeing Christmas travel and expecting a busy New Year’s holiday as well,” she said. “Our reminder to ‘Arrive Early and Be Prepared’ is still important, and all tips and advice related to this can be found on our social media and website, www. flysba.com.”

Library presents ‘Paws

SANTA MARIA — Kids will get to read books aloud to trained service dogs during “Paws to Read” today at the Santa Maria Public Library. The session will take place from 3:30-5 p.m. at the library’s Youth Services Altrusa Theater,

to Read’

421 South McClelland St., Santa Maria.

This program is open to children ages 6 through 12. Families can sign up at the library’s Youth Services Desk for a 15-minute time slot to read the books.

News-Press Managing Editor Dave Mason contributed to this story.

KENNETH SONG/ NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO

A Southwest Airlines jet rolls into Santa Barbara Airport in this file photo. Across the nation, Southwest is planning to operate just a third of its flights for the rest of this week.

COURTESY PHOTO

Samuel Camargo-Reyes

Strike ends at UC campuses

By SETH SADRONSKY THE CENTER SQUARE CONTRIBUTOR

(The Center Square) — On Friday, 19,000 teaching assistants, graders, readers and tutors in United Auto Workers Local 2865, and 17,000 student researchers in Student Researchers United-UAW ratified new labor contracts with the University of California. The vote tally for UAW 2865 was 11,386 to 7,097 in favor of the agreement. The SRUUAW vote was 10,057 to 4,640 for ratification. According to the terms of each agreement, the strike is finished. UAW workers can return to their employment with gains in compensation, childcare subsidies and paid leave, plus new protections against bullying and discrimination.

The strike involved campuses including UCSB.

“The University of California welcomes the ratification of these agreements with our valued graduate student employees,” according to Letitia Silas, executive director of system wide labor relations. “The university believed that the assistance of a third-party mediator

would help the parties reach agreement, which is why we are so grateful that the union accepted our invitation to mediation and partnered with us in selecting Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg to serve as the mediator.”

Mayor Steinberg was unable to comment on what was the key to mediating the 40-day strike. According to UC, it had made eight formal requests for neutral private mediation before the UAW agreed to engage with the capital city’s current mayor and former California Senate president pro tem, on Dec. 9.

“The dramatic improvements to our salaries and working conditions are the result of tens of thousands of workers striking together in unity,” said Rafael Jaime, president of UAW 2865, in a statement. “These agreements redefine what is possible in terms of how universities support their workers, who are the backbone of their research and education enterprise.

“They include especially significant improvements for parents and marginalized workers, and will improve the quality of life for every single academic employee at the

University of California.”

Within 90 days of ratification, UC teaching assistants and associate instructors will get a 7.5% pay hike.

Teaching fellows will get an 8.9% bump. Hourly academic student employees will get 5 to 8% increases. By Oct. 1, 2024, the minimum 9-month salary for teaching assistants with a 50% time appointment will be $34,000. And by Oct. 1, 2024, the minimum salary rate for UC Berkeley, UCSF and UCLA teaching assistants will reach $36,500.

Associate instructors and teaching fellows will receive a 16.7% increase.

Further, the union ratification of the two contracts also ends the Unfair Labor Practice complaints over violations of labor law that the UAW had filed against UC via California’s Public Employee Relations Board.

The two UAW contracts just ratified with UC will run through May 31, 2025. In the 10-campus UC system, UAW 5810 representing postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers ratified a new five-year agreement with the University in voting that ended on Dec. 9.

New Goleta school board member stresses student achievement and advocacy

By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

Emily Zacarias is the newest member of the Goleta Union School District board.

“My goal as a school board trustee is to keep the district focused on student learning and achievement, while advocating for the needs of students and families in the community,” said Ms. Zacarias, who defeated opponents Christy Lozano and Berty Haley in the District 3 race. “In addition, I hope to ensure clear, transparent communication with families to continue to build trust in the community.

“My goal as a board member is to hold the district accountable to their promises,” Ms. Zacarias, whose term started Dec. 9, told the News-Press. “Right now, mental health and well-being is front and center on everyone’s mind. The district has in place an evidence-based social-emotional learning curriculum, that teaches things like resiliency, conflict resolution, mindfulness, among other important social skills.

“We have a school psychologist on every campus that is trained in culturally responsive practices, as well as a new screening tool called the DESSA, which allows teachers and other school staff to assess students in areas like self-and social-awareness, relationships, personal responsibility, and goaldirected behavior,” she said. “I would love to see more training and implementation of restorative justice practices to help heal and repair wounds between students.” She added she would like to see “more training on traumainformed practices, which is happening right now with a partnership with UCSB, which is working with our school psychologists and administrators.” Another issue of concern to Ms. Zacarias is the achievement gap.

“As a governing board member, my role is to oversee the management of the district. We will be closely watching the academic data that comes in from this year and compare it to previous years, looking for growth and progress in all subgroups,” she told the News-Press.

“With the districts’ adoption of a Multi-Tiered System of Support, there is a way to more effectively monitor the students who are not progressing so we can address it student-by-student.

“Implementing high-quality English Language Development lessons is a high priority for the district,” Ms. Zacarias said. “I think the issue of bringing back summer school is something that we may need to look into, as that has been shown to be effective in bringing students up to

proficiency.”

As a teacher of special needs, Ms. Zacarias spoke to what she would like to see done for special needs students.

“I think we, as educators, are all doing the best we can with what we have. You don’t go into special education for the money, but for the passion you have helping kids with unique and challenging needs. I have witnessed firsthand the tireless work of teachers, paraeducators and service providers on behalf of their students in GUSD. I would love to see better understanding and communication between the district and all families of children with special needs, to prevent misunderstandings, mistrust, and disagreements, which can lead to unnecessary and costly litigation.”

According to CalMatters, only 47% of students met English Language Arts (ELA) standards and only 33% met math standards statewide in 2022. The NewsPress asked Ms. Zacarias what she would like to see done to improve test scores in Goleta Union School District, which serves more than 3,500 students in grades K-6 at nine schools.

“This is the $100,000 question. This is what the district as a whole — including principals, teachers, and staff — is constantly trying to solve on a daily basis.

“I don’t think there is a one-sizefits all answer that will work for every district, nor every student, beyond one-on-one instruction (which is not feasible for any public school system).

“We have all the right tools in place, but we still struggle with certain groups,” Ms. Zacarias said. “I think re-evaluating our assessment tools is useful, and focusing on inspiring teacherstudent relationships, because this is where you make those inroads for students who are struggling for various reasons.”

Beginning in 2023, Proposition 28 requires the state to provide additional funding to increase arts instruction and arts programs in public schools.

At least 80% of the funding is to be used to hire staff, and the remaining 20% can be used for training, supplies and arts educational programs.

The News-Press asked Ms. Zacarias how she would like to see Prop. 28 funding implemented in the Goleta Union School District.

“I’m so excited to see how school sites decide to spend this money, I am a huge proponent of music education, so this is my wheelhouse. But there are amazing opportunities for other types of arts — like dance, performance art-like acting, drama, and improv, culinary skills, film-making, coding …

The possibilities are endless. I’d love to see all students learning the basics of an instrument like keyboard, guitar or violin.

“Partnerships with local community groups/businessess — like UCSB’s Ethnomusicology program, Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation and SONOS would be really cool. I will say that I would love to see money spent on ways to expose students to other cultures through the arts, e.g. West African drumming, Japanese Kabuki theater, Polynesian hula dancing.

“All cultures have something to offer and we should celebrate that diversity!”

“I would like to ensure opportunities for a diverse range of views in the community to inform the board on issues that matter to students,” Ms. Zacarias added. “I think that the way our nation is heading is so polarized and just about any issue these days — especially in education — is politicized to the point of causing community members to turn on one another. This is not setting a good example for our kids, and I would like to prevent this from going too far, as has happened in other towns across the nation where school board members and superintendents are threatened.

“We are all adults and should take the job of educating our children very seriously, keeping religious and political agendas out of the board room.”

email: kzehnder@newspress.com

U.S. Customs detains Chinese products

By TOM GANTERT

THE CENTER SQUARE MANAGING EDITOR

(The Center Square) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection has detained products made by three Chinese companies that are believed to have used North Korean forced labor in their supply chains.

The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act prohibits goods manufactured by North Korean citizens unless there is clear evidence the goods were not made with “convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor

under penal sanctions,” according to the U.S. Customs.

The three companies whose merchandise was confiscated at all U.S. ports on Dec. 5 were Jingde Trading Ltd, Rixin Foods, Ltd., and Zhejiang

Sunrise Garment Group Co., according to a U.S. Customs’ news release.

Those companies have 30 days to produce “clear and convincing” evidence their products were not made in North Korean under forced-labor conditions, according to the release.

“CBP is committed to keeping

America’s supply chains free of goods produced with forced labor and to eliminating this horrific practice,” CBP Office of Trade Executive Assistant Commissioner AnnMarie R. Highsmith said in a news release.

“North Korea’s forced labor system operates both domestically and internationally and supports the North Korean government’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, and it is also a major human rights violation. Legally and morally, we cannot allow these goods into our commerce.”

COURTESY PHOTO

Emily Zacarias represents District 3 on the Goleta Union School District board.

BUTLER Continued from Page A1

strategic engagement from the city, Chamber of Commerce, and Downtown (Santa Barbara) Organization. An iron triangle, if you will, that will include downtown property owners, merchants, the city and our nonprofit partners in the advocacy sector, should be created and empowered post haste.”

“As some might know or recall, Flightline was going to be an aviation-themed restaurant on the physical grounds of the Santa Barbara Airport,” he said. “I had initially secured strong support and encouragement for this idea from the city’s governing administration. However, quite unfortunately, that support from the city eroded over time and precipitously to the point that the city was not going to honor the law and regulations that were in force, which resulted in our differences becoming irreconcilable, forcing a lengthy and costly lawsuit.

“The city’s ill-thought actions illustrated that administration’s disregard for nourishing local businesses and employees as well as the opportunity for the city to earn rewarding tax income, (and) taking a blight on the landscape and turning it into a wonderful, entertaining museum that serves delicious food within an engaging atmosphere that honors the history of not only the innovation of aviation but the brave, talented pilots from Santa Barbra who risked or gave their lives to keep us free.

“An absolutely fun, colorful and exciting location for the whole family to come and enjoy their tasty meals at a very reasonable price that engages kids on the history of their environment.

“That lawsuit was recently settled … not for what it should have been settled for, except that under the circumstances, I felt compelled to accept a settlement and move on to my next business adventure.”

According to his attorney, A. Barry Cappello, “Mr. Butler has gone on to do two more great restaurants, taking over management at Chase Restaurant and opening Courthouse Tavern.”

Now Mr. Butler wants to get involved in restoring State Street to its former greatness as a “historic and majestic corridor,” but not without first blasting its current state as a thoroughfare with “many empty stores,” a “downtrodden vestibule of the homeless and challenged,” claims made previously by some downtown restaurateurs, retailers and landlords.

“One issue most discussed, perhaps more than any other issue when it comes to our city, is the current ‘state’ of State Street,” Mr. Butler said. “Most would agree that State Street is a historic and majestic corridor — past and currently home to more fantastic restaurants and shops and other commercial venues than I can list in this limited space.

“Suffice it to say that for those working in the hospitality industry

or the visitor-serving sector, having a vibrant and dynamic commercial vibe up and down State Street — from Cabrillo to Mission Street — and beyond, is a vital goal.

“The current economic condition of our downtown isn’t acceptable for many, myself included.

“In fact, the many empty stores reflect an apparent lack of support, commitment and effort on the part of the past administration to revitalize what was once a regal and engaging commercial corridor to what is now, except for a few bright spots, a downtrodden vestibule of the homeless and challenged.

“The once bright light of Santa Barbara’s State Street is now at its lowest, barely dim.”

Despite his disappointment and frustration at not being able to bring his Flightline Restaurant dream to fruition, Mr. Butler said he remains “willing and eager to work with our city’s leaders and the administration to recreate a soaring spirit of free enterprise in Santa Barbara.”

The city has many advantages over other cities its size, he said.

STAGGS, Dwight Dee

It

Dwight

At a very young age Dwight knew what it meant to work hard and support his family. He worked for the Santa Barbara County Education

all-around G.O.A.T (greatest of all time).

Dwight loved music and had a large, unique collection of The Beatles records and fan memorabilia. In his younger years he even wrote his own song lyrics. Dwight collected many things, some of the coolest items being his records, Hot Wheels, and Neon Bar Signs. His collections could be seen and admired in his man cave at his house where you

his family, whether that was hosting a party where his family could sing and dance all night long or watching football with his brother Jimmy.

smile that could brighten anyone’s day.

He was a loving Father to Amanda Staggs, Dwight Staggs, Melissa Staggs, Andy Staggs, Steven Staggs, and step-daughter Heather Hoagland.

He was the proudest grandfather to Ashley Staggs, Travis Staggs, Anthony Marsango, Anika Measurall, Logan Staggs, Alora Measurall, and Ariana Staggs.

He was a dedicated great-grandpa to Breydon Soechting, Amesty Soechting, Layla Staggs, and Ellie Soechting.

Dwight was larger than life itself. This obituary doesn’t even begin to capture the man that he was cannot be expressed in words. He has left a permanent mark on the hearts A celebration of life will be held in January after the holidays to remember the G.O.A.T:

DAVE MASON /NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO

KENNETH SONG /NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO

indicting myself. This is what I do; after all, this is what I love to do. “And yet I have not succeeded these past few years in fulfilling my full dream of improving our city one successful business and restaurant at a time. I get it. Our society today is most complex. So many issues pull us and local government in a thousand different directions, from the cost of living to keeping our families safe and healthy, managing the competing challenges of work, kids and paying attention to civic affairs. Even dealing with the implacable issues such as homelessness and crime can drain substantial resources. All of these real-life concerns are constantly pushing and pulling at us.”

Restoring the economic vitality of Santa Barbara’s downtown is only one issue among many, he said.

“Having said that, I believe unequivocally everything I’ve said here is true. I also believe with every fiber of my being that a thriving downtown retail and commercial area, one that meets the high standards of the people of Santa Barbara, will help transform the overall quality of life in ways that are immeasurable.

“The multipliers, not financial multipliers, but economic multipliers, would be tremendous and beget other great and tremendous things, each of which would beget still more.

states. A Circuit Court denied their motion, but the Republican AGs then appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday vacates the lower court’s decision.

“Our office has been proud to lead the charge on this important issue,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a statement released on his website. “It’s disappointing the Biden administration is willing to sacrifice the safety of American families for political purposes.”

Border patrol agents encountered more than 3 million foreign nationals attempting to enter the country illegally in fiscal 2022, an all-time high.

Border patrol agents have told The Center Square they

expected a larger surge in border crossings once Title 42 is lifted.

The dissenting Supreme Court justices stated they didn’t discount the border states’ concerns with the drastic rise in illegal immigration since Biden took office. “Even the federal government acknowledges ‘that the end of the Title 42 orders will likely have disruptive consequences,’” the dissent opinion stated. “But the current border crisis is not a COVID crisis. And courts should not be in the business of perpetuating administrative edicts designed for one emergency only because elected officials have failed to address a different emergency. We are a court of law, not policymakers of last resort.”

“Our weather alone makes us a world-class destination. Our natural scenery and beauty allow us to capture the imaginations of travelers throughout the world. Our proximity to Los Angeles, the wine country to our immediate north, and of course our spectacular ocean, beaches, parks, museums, and even our system of hiking trails are second to none.

“So then, why don’t we realize our full potential? Why are we seeing stores go out of business and ‘for lease’ signs go up as often as signs for yard sales? The answer: past leadership failures. It really isn’t more complicated than that. And I say this not to indict anyone more than I’m

“This is the power of success, and it is how success breeds more success. And the more successful we are as a city and civil community, the better and hopefully more purpose driven our lives can be.

“I have no enmity in my heart for anyone due to the lawsuit or the circumstances leading up to it,” he said. “Instead, I am standing by, ready and willing to work with everyone and anyone to help change the negative trends we are witnessing on State Street.

“You have my promise and commitment to do exactly that until I have nothing left in me to give.”

email: nhartsteinnewspress@ gmail.com

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TODAY Partly sunny 62 64 43 46

INLAND COASTAL

THURSDAY Cool with rain and drizzle 56 59 49 51

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FRIDAY Cloudy with a touch of rain 62 61 51 51

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SATURDAY Rain; windy in the p.m. 62 59 44 47

SUNDAY Partly sunny and breezy 59 61 39 42

Today Thu.

City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W

Cuyama 52/36/pc 51/48/r

Goleta 63/46/pc 59/50/r

Lompoc 64/45/pc 57/50/r

Pismo Beach 65/46/pc 59/52/r

Santa Maria 62/45/pc 58/50/r

Santa Ynez 62/43/pc 56/49/r

Vandenberg 61/49/pc 57/53/r

Ventura 64/51/pc 59/54/r

Bakersfield 52/40/c 52/46/r

Barstow 64/42/pc 58/49/c

Big Bear 48/24/c 42/34/r

Bishop 54/27/c 50/31/c

Catalina 59/46/c 55/49/r

Concord 55/45/pc 53/49/r

Escondido 63/44/r 61/49/c

Eureka 55/45/r 55/51/r

Fresno 53/44/pc 51/46/r

Los Angeles 65/51/pc 58/52/r

Mammoth Lakes 34/11/sf 36/26/c

Modesto 54/43/pc 51/47/sh

Monterey 56/44/pc 57/52/r

Napa 57/43/pc 51/47/r

Oakland 55/45/pc 54/49/r

Ojai 63/45/pc 56/49/r

Oxnard 62/52/pc 57/51/r

Palm Springs 72/49/pc 63/47/c

Pasadena 64/49/pc 58/51/r

Paso Robles 57/44/pc 53/49/r

Sacramento 53/44/pc 51/47/sh

San Diego 63/51/r 61/54/c

San Francisco 55/46/pc 54/53/r

San Jose 56/46/pc 56/50/r

San Luis Obispo 65/46/pc 59/53/r

Santa Monica 66/51/pc 60/53/r

Tahoe Valley 36/21/c 37/34/sn

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46/41/c 45/42/sh Washington, D.C. 49/31/s 50/34/s

an urban environment. 63/43

53/40 64/46 Wind north at 4-8 knots becoming southwest today. Wind waves 5-9 feet with a west swell 5-9 feet at 13-second intervals. Visibility clear. Wind west-northwest 7-14 knots today. Waves 3-5 feet with a west swell 4-8 feet at 14 seconds. Visibility under 3 miles in morning rain. Wind west-northwest 7-14 knots today. Waves 3-5 feet with a west swell 4-8 feet at 14 seconds. Visibility under 3 miles in morning rain.

52/36

Dec. 28 2:13 a.m. 4.2’ 7:21 a.m. 2.4’ 1:04 p.m. 4.7’ 8:10 p.m. -0.1’ Dec. 29 3:08 a.m. 4.5’ 9:04 a.m. 2.2’ 2:26 p.m. 3.9’ 9:03 p.m. 0.5’ Dec. 30 4:00 a.m. 4.9’ 10:40 a.m. 1.6’ 4:03 p.m. 3.3’ 9:56 p.m. 1.1’ 52/34

INLAND COASTAL AT BRADBURY DAM, LAKE CACHUMA

Today Thu.

Beijing 36/16/s 36/12/s Berlin 47/45/c 54/41/c Cairo 68/53/s 69/54/s Cancun 79/73/pc 80/74/t London 53/44/r 49/42/c Mexico City 69/47/s 66/50/c Montreal 33/28/sn 41/37/r New Delhi 68/47/pc 70/51/pc Paris 53/48/r 53/41/sh

Rio de Janeiro 86/76/pc 80/74/r

Rome 63/47/pc 63/51/pc

Sydney 84/68/s 74/67/c

Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022 Storage 61,447 acre-ft. Elevation 692.95 ft. Evaporation (past 24 hours) 4.8 acre-ft. Inflow 38.0 acre-ft. State inflow 0.0 acre-ft. Storage change from yest. +0 acre-ft. Atlanta 57/39/s 62/42/s Boston 41/33/pc 49/38/pc Chicago 42/40/c 52/39/sh Dallas 67/59/pc 70/44/c Denver 46/23/sn 40/21/c Houston 74/64/pc 76/61/sh Miami 78/71/s 81/70/pc Minneapolis 38/32/c 36/18/sn New York City 44/34/pc 48/39/pc Philadelphia 45/30/pc 48/31/pc Phoenix 60/50/r 62/51/c Portland, Ore. 47/42/r 47/45/sh St. Louis 52/46/pc 61/45/sh Salt Lake City 40/26/sf 38/29/pc Seattle

SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL POINT ARENA TO POINT PINOS POINT CONCEPTION TO MEXICO LAKE LEVELS City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W W-weather, s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

Tokyo 53/42/pc 55/40/s

The Legend

is with great sadness we announce the passing of Dwight Dee Staggs (DD) at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital on November 17th, 2022. He was 65 years old.

was born on January 6th, 1957, in Seattle, Washington to Merryle Coy Pinkerton Beckham and James Clebert Staggs, Sr. As a boy, Dwight grew up in various places, such as West Covina, Hawaii, Las Vegas, San Diego, Argentina, Goleta, and Alabama. But he spent most of his life in Santa Barbara.

Natural Cafe CEO Kelly Brown decided against renewing his lease for his lower State Street business because of the problems in the 500 block. This Natural Cafe location will close in March, but chain’s other restaurants in Santa Barbara, Goleta and elsewhere will remain open.

‘The current economic condition of our downtown isn’t acceptable for many, myself included.’

TITLE 42 Continued from Page A1 VOICES HAVE YOUR SAY EVERY SATURDAY voices@newspress.com RADIO FOR HERE FROM HERE

Restaurateur Warren Butler

Managing Editor Dave Mason

Life theArts

CALENDAR

Keeping it LOCAL

By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR

In the early days of the pandemic, local musicians saw gig after gig canceled.

But they found ways to perform with each other, via Zoom, and later, in late 2020 and 2021, together in outdoor concerts at places such as Simon Knight’s garage in Santa Barbara. The garage door went up, and the garage became the stage; the driveway, an amphitheater for the audience.

As the musicians gathered, they talked with each other about what they would like to do next.

“We realized there was a need for an orchestra composed purely of local musicians,” said Sherylle Mills Englander, who along with Mr. Knight and Nancy Mathison, founded the Santa Barbara Chamber Players Orchestra. “There are very few ensembles that are staffed with purely local talent.

“We also hope to inspire the next generation of audiences,” Ms. Englander told the News-Press. “We like people to come and explore classical music.”

The Santa Barbara Chamber Players Orchestra, which was created by local musicians during the pandemic, will perform its first concert at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 28 at the First United Methodist Church, 305 E. Anapamu St. Emmanuel Fratianni, a Santa Barbara resident, will conduct the orchestra as it plays Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring,” Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7, and Ravel’s “Mother Goose Suite.”

Ms. Englander is the new

orchestra’s principal flutist. Mr. Knight is the principal bassoonist, and Ms. Mathison is the principal clarinetist.

The ensemble, which is twothirds strings and one-third winds, consists of about 60 musicians.

The Santa Barbara Chamber Players’ birth goes back to musicians feeling the need to connect with each other during the early days of the pandemic.

With gigs canceled, they had nowhere to perform.

“I was very depressed. I had no idea what to do with my flute,” Ms. Englander said. “Then I got a simple text from a colleague: ‘Want to play duets? Can we invite Simon and make it a trio?’”

At first, Ms. Englander and her friends first strictly performed Zoom concerts, “Then we expanded as health conditions improved,” she said. “The garage concert, the first live performance (with an inperson audience), was such an emotionally profound experience because we missed audiences so much.”

Organizers say the Santa Barbara Chamber Players is intended to fill the gap in the local community between professional and educational music events with affordable high quality concerts. All performances will feature local musicians.

“We came up with the idea of a chamber orchestra that would be performing with reasonably priced tickets — the cost of movie tickets,” said Ms. Englander, who has a degree in flute performance from the Eastman School of Music.

Tickets cost $16, and the orchestra consists of local musicians, from

Ventura to Santa Maria.

The orchestra includes people whose professions are music and those whose professions are in other areas.

For example, Ms. Englander’s day job is executive director of the California Nanosystem Institute at UCSB.

“There’s a surprising wealth of very profound music talent that are engineers and scientists

Santa Barbara Chamber Players Orchestra brings musicians together from Ventura to Santa Maria

and business executives,” Ms. Englander said. She added, “Because of the caliber of the musicians and the conductor, we’re able to put on ambitious works.”

Mr. Knight explained there’s another goal for the Santa Barbara Chamber Players.

“We wanted to involve high school players and allow them to play with experienced musicians

FYI

The Santa Barbara Chamber Players Orchestra will perform at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 28 at the First United Methodist Church of Santa Barbara, 305 E. Anapamu St. Tickets cost $16. To purchase, go to sbchamberplayers.org.

The calendar appears Mondays through Saturdays in the “Life & the Arts” section. Items are welcome. Please email them a full week before the event to Managing Editor Dave Mason at dmason@newspress.com.

TODAY 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Interlopings: Colors in the Warp and Weft of Ecological Entanglements” is an exhibit that runs through March 12 at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara.Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The exhibit features weavings dyed with pigments from non-native plants on Santa Cruz Island. The weavings were created by artists Helen Svensson and Lisa Jevbratt. For more information, see sbbotanicgarden.org.

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit “Parliament of Owls” runs through Feb. 5 at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays. For more information, go to www.sbnature.org.

DEC. 31

8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. The Santa Barbara Symphony will perform its annual New Year’s Eve concert, featuring music varying from The Beatles to James Bond to Broadway, at The Granada, 1214 State St., Santa Barbara. Pops conductor Bob Bernhardt will conduct the concert, which will feature renowned soprano Mela Sarajane Dailey. There will also be champagne, noise-makers and, of course, party hats. To purchase tickets, go to thesymphony.org or thegranadasb.org or call the symphony at 805-893-9386.

9 p.m. The Boogie Knights and Spazmatics will perform during the New Year’s Eve Disco Boogie Ball at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez. Tickets cost $50. To purchase, go to chumashcasino.com/ entertainment.

JAN. 3

10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Vitalant blood drive at the Marian Regional Medical Center, 1400 E. Church St., Santa Maria. For more information, go to vitalant.org.

7:30 p.m. The American Theatre Guild will present the North American tour of “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.,” a theatrical concert celebrating the music of Aretha Franklin, at The Granada, 1214 State St. Tickets cost $59 to $114. To purchase, go to granadasb.org.

JAN. 4

7:30 p.m. The American Theatre Guild will present the North American tour of “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.,” a theatrical concert celebrating the music of Aretha Franklin, at The Granada, 1214 State St. Tickets cost $59 to $114. To purchase, go to granadasb.org.

JAN. 5

1 to 5 p.m. Vitalant blood drive at the Lompoc Police Department, 107 Civic Center Plaza, Lompoc. For more information, go to vitalant.org.

JAN. 13

in a chamber music orchestra,” he told the News-Press.

Ms. Englander noted the ensemble is also inviting college players who are serious musicians.

The orchestra is rehearsing at the Music Academy of the West in Montecito and performing its concerts, as previously mentioned,

7 p.m. Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuéllar will perform a free concert at Isla Vista Elementary School, 6875 El Colegio Road, Goleta, as Viva el Arte de Santa Barbara resumes its programming.

JAN. 14

7 p.m.

Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuélla will perform a free concert at Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center, 1065 Guadalupe St., Guadalupe. The concert is presented by Viva el Arte de Santa Barbara.

COURTESY PHOTO UCSB Arts & Lectures will present mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and a music ensemble in “Eden” Jan. 24 at The Granada.

KENNETH SONG/ NEWS-PRESS

From left, the Santa Barbara Chamber Players Orchestra co-founders — Nancy Mathison, Sherylle Mills Englander and Simon Knight — pose for a photo at Mr. Knight’s house.

COURTESY PHOTO

These are some of the members in the Santa Barbara Chamber Players Orchestra, which consists of about 60 musicians and is two-thirds strings, one-third winds.

1970s, ’80s cover bands to ring in new year at Chumash Casino

SANTA YNEZ — The 1970s disco revival cover band, The Boogie Knights, and the ’80s new wave cover band, The Spazmatics, will perform Saturday during New Year’s Eve Disco Boogie Ball at the Chumash Casino Resort, 3400 State Route 246, Santa Ynez.

The concert will start at 9 p.m. in the resort’s Samala Showroom.

The Boogie Knights were originally formed in 1992 as a Halloween gag in Los Angeles. The group quickly became popular. Complete with choreography, polyester and ’70s hairdos, The Boogie Knights play the hits from Heatwave, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, The Bee Gees, Kool and

the Gang, the Village People, Rick James, Earth, Wind and Fire and many more.

Complete with skinny ties, Brylecreem hair and horn-rimmed glasses, The Spazmatics specializes in music from new wave favorites such as Duran Duran, Men at Work, The Knack, Thomas Dolby, Men Without Hats, Berlin, The Cure and Devo, among others.

Tickets cost $50.

To purchase, go to www.chumashcasino.com. The Chumash Casino Resort is a 21-and-older venue.

Shelters seek homes for pets

Local animal shelters and their nonprofit partners are looking for homes for pets.

For more information, go to these websites:

• Animal Services-Lompoc, countyofsb.org/phd/animal/home. sbc.

• Animal Shelter Assistance Program in Goleta, asapcats.org. ASAP is kitty corner to Santa Barbara County Animal Services.

• Bunnies Urgently Needing Shelter in Goleta, bunssb.org. BUNS is based at Santa Barbara County Animal Services.

• Companion Animal Placement

Assistance, lompoccapa.org and facebook.com/capaoflompoc.

CAPA works regularly with Animal Services-Lompoc.

• K-9 Placement & Assistance League, k-9pals.org. K-9 PALS works regularly with Santa Barbara County Animal Services.

• Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation, sbcanimalcare. org. (The foundation works regularly with the Santa Maria Animal Center.)

• Santa Barbara County Animal Services in Goleta: countyofsb.org/ phd/animal/home.sbc.

• Santa Barbara Humane (with

campuses in Goleta and Santa Maria), sbhumane.org.

• Santa Maria Animal Center, countyofsb.org/phd/animal/home. sbc. The center is part of Santa Barbara County Animal Services.

• Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society/DAWG in Buellton, syvhumane.org.

• Shadow’s Fund (a pet sanctuary in Lompoc), shadowsfund.org.

• Volunteers for Inter-Valley Animals in Lompoc: vivashelter. org.

Santa Barbara Women’s Health Coalition names leaders

By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

These are the committee chairs for the Santa Barbara Women’s Health Coalition.

— Adolescence through Young Adults Committee: Ashley Hollister.

Ms. Hollister is the COO at DeftEdge, a consulting firm that helps governments, multilateral institutions, nonprofits and businesses improve effectiveness through institutional reform.

As an international development professional, Ms. Hollister has worked to build the capacity of organizations and programs in East Africa, Latin America and East Asia to target and achieve social objectives around education, market inclusion for women, youth and refugees, and preventing and responding to gender-based violence.

As a trained social worker, she has worked in New York and Michigan as a counselor and advocate for child and adolescent mental health and youth violence prevention programs. Ms. Hollister is eager to merge these two perspectives as the chair of the Adolescence through Young Adults Committee.

— Chronic Health Conditions Committee: Kari Robinson.

Ms. Robinson works at UCSB as the associate director of Legal and Medical Humanities, initiatives that seek to train students aspiring toward careers in law and medicine. For her graduate studies, Ms. Robinson conducted research in Berlin on abortion pregnancy counseling at women’s health centers that also offered extensive care. Ms. Robinson’s eldest son had chronic health conditions throughout childhood, which together with her own experience navigating breast cancer, motivated her commitment to leading the Chronic Health Conditions Committee.

— Health Equity and Racial Health Disparities Committee: Megan Spencer and Emma Schuster.

Megan and Emma are both moms and PhD. students in feminist studies at UCSB. Ms. Spencer studies and teaches about black feminism and environmental politics. Ms. Schuster’s research focuses on reproductive justice and disability.

— LGBTQ+ Health Committee Chair: Cherise Lastra.

Ms. Lastra is the clinical research supervisor at RidleyTree Cancer Center. She works

closely with the research team, oncologists and other clinical staff to conduct safe and compliant clinical research.

Ms. Lastra was born and raised in Santa Barbara and currently lives in the Santa Ynez Valley with her family. She is passionate about collaborating with the community to improve how we serve women’s healthcare needs.

— Maternal Health Committee: Caitlin Jennings.

Ms. Jennings works remotely for Instacart as senior program manager, recently launching Instacart Health. Ms. Jennings is passionate about support for all moms, especially in the area of mental health. She plans on using her background in program management to guide the Maternal Health Committee through productive discussion and research.

To help guide the SBWHC in achieving its objectives, the SBWHC announces Ms. Jennings

is also serving as director of operations.

“I am continually impressed with the momentum behind the SBWHC movement and the growing network of professionals and community leaders that are dedicated to researching and identifying innovative solutions to address unmet needs,” Ms. Jennings said in a news release.

— Menopause and Aging Committee: Kathy Kelley, Sharon Byrne and Dr. Marie Claire Lamb. Ms. Kelly is the director of development and alumni relations at Montessori Center School. Ms. Byrne has a consulting practice in community organizing and political messaging. Additionally, she participates as a delegate for the U.N. Conference on the Status of Women. And Dr. Marie Claire Lamb is an internal medicine physician at Sansum Clinic. For more information about the SBWHC, visit sbwhc.org or contact sbwhc2022@gmail.com.

County Animal Services offers

adoptions

Since the start of this month, pets have been coming into the Santa Barbara County Animal Services shelters at a rate of about 14 a day.

To find homes for the large number, Animal Services is holding a “Name Your Price” adoption promotion through Saturday and encouraging fostering during the winter break.

“We believe that everyone would pay a million dollars for their family pet if they could, but it’s just not possible,” Animal

Services Director Sarah Aguilar said in a news release.

“We never want an adoption fee to be a barrier to experiencing the love of a furry friend,” Ms. Aguilar said.

About 150 pets are currently housed in foster homes and on their way to adoption.

“Fostering is the bridge between a pet’s past and future,” Ms. Aguilar said. “Foster families provide a safe and loving temporary home, in stark contrast to the isolation of a shelter kennel.”

As an added incentive, anyone who takes a pet home during December, whether as an adopter or foster, is entered into a drawing for raffle items.

To learn more about adoption or fostering, or to become a volunteer, visit linktr.ee/ sbcanimalservices.

Santa Barbara County Animal Services takes in about 5,000 pets annually at its shelters at 5473 Overpass Rd, Goleta, and 548 W. Foster Road, Santa Maria.

— Dave Mason

JAN. 15

7 p.m. Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuélla wlil perform a free concert at The Marjorie Luke Theatre at Santa Barbara Junior High School, 721 E. Cota St., Santa Barbara. The concert is presented by Viva el Arte de Santa Barbara.

JAN. 17

1:30 to 6:30 p.m. Vitalant blood drive at the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, 4436 Calle Real, Santa Barbara. For more information, go to vitalant.org.

JAN. 19 2 to 5:30 p.m. Vitalant blood drive at the Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara, 524 Chapala St., Santa Barbara. For more information, go to vitalant.org.

JAN. 21

7:30 p.m. The Santa Barbara Symphony will perform its “Plains, Trains & Violins” concert at The Granada, 1214

State St. The concert includes Miguel del Aguila’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, “The Journey of a Lifetime” (El viaje de una vida) with violin soloist Guillermo Figueroa and the concert world premiere of Elmer Bernstein’s “Toccata for Toy Trains.” The orchestra will also perform Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”). Tickets cost $35 to $175. To purchase, go to granadasb.org.

JAN. 22

3 p.m. The Santa Barbara Symphony will perform its “Plains, Trains & Violins” concert at The Granada, 1214 State St. The concert includes Miguel del Aguila’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, “The Journey of a Lifetime (El viaje de una vida)” with violin soloist Guillermo Figueroa and the concert world premiere of Elmer Bernstein’s “Toccata for Toy Trains.” The orchestra will also perform Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”). Tickets cost $35 to $175. To purchase, go to granadasb. org. 4 to 5 p.m. “Roy Dunn: Capturing Imagery of Our Wild Neighbors” will take

JAN. 24

2 to 6 p.m. Vitalant blood drive at Camino Real Marketplace, 7046 Marketplace Drive, Goleta. For more information, go to vitalant.org.

7 p.m. UCSB Arts & Lectures presents mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and a music ensemble in “Eden” at The Granada, 1214 State St. “Eden” explores the individual human connection with nature and features music from four centuries. Tickets cost $46 to $131 for general admission and $20 for UCSB students with ID, one hour before the performance, and youths 18 and younger. To purchase, go to granadasb. org.

JAN. 25

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Vitalant blood drive at Allan Hancock College, 800 S. College, Santa Maria. For more information, go to vitalant.org.

— Dave Mason

COURTESY PHOTO

The Boogie Knights, top row, and The Spazmatics, bottom row, will perform hits from the 1970s and ’80s respectively during a New Year’s Eve concert at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez.

— Katherine Zehnder

— Dave Mason

place at the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature, 1511-B Mission Drive, Solvang.

COURTESY PHOTOS

Caitlin Jennings Cherise Lastra

Dr. Marie Claire Lamb

Kari Robinson

Diversions

Thought for Today

HOROSCOPE

By Horoscope.com Wednesday, December 28, 2022

ARIES: Today you may be overcome by a current of humanist thought, Aries. Your consciousness is traveling, and you probably couldn’t care less about the details of the events going on around you. You’re freethinking, which is inspired by your spirit of fairness.

TAURUS: Even if you’re a good judge of character, Taurus, the people who know you say that you base your opinions on your personal feelings, which often affect your good judgment. Today your critics are wrong, and your judgments are as precise and objective as they can possibly be.

GEMINI: You tend to want to explain everything that goes on around you, Gemini. You rationalize everything in an instant, and group all your experiences into great theories. But you’ve been very quiet for quite some time now. It’s as if something is keeping you from speaking. Today you will get a few words in, so don’t worry.

CANCER: As a Cancer, you don’t really like to talk about things. Everyone has his/ her own role, and yours is to take action and create, not talk about doing it. However, the planetary positions today might make you utter a few very deep words.

LEO: Scientists seem to live in a world apart from the rest of us, Leo, and from the events in everyday life, because they’re so absorbed in other realities. This is a lot like your universe. If you were a scientist, you might do what they sometimes do — make parallels, like those learned men who apply their scientific reasoning to events in the world by analogy.

VIRGO: You’re often like a Zen master who doesn’t say anything to pupils for months, until the day the pupils begin to not believe any more and find themselves growing

indifferent to the whole thing.

LIBRA: It’s time to take some time out of your busy day for your personal life, Libra. One of your family members or friends may need to talk to you, and you need to listen attentively to what they have to say. You need to use all your wonderful energy to get down to the heart of the matter.

SCORPIO: Today is a good day to clarify your life, Scorpio. You may have understood lately that it’s useless to undertake anything new when you’re confused. You’ve figured out that all it takes to get out of that state is to take care of yourself, eat better, get more sleep, or take a vacation.

SAGITTARIUS: Are you going to be available to other people today? Someone in your entourage may need to confide in you. If the superficiality of the exchange bothers you, you will understand what the atmosphere of today is all about! Yes, you’re available, but not for just anything.

CAPRICORN: You may come in contact with someone today with whom you enjoy a highly emotional exchange. You may even fall in love! Be very attentive to your moods and everything going on inside you, Capricorn. They will be particularly strong, and they will help you understand what is changing in you. Just be careful to distinguish your feelings from those of your (future?) partner

AQUARIUS: It’s possible that you’re having some ups and downs in your love life at the moment. Someone may be asking you to play another role than you’re used to playing in your relationship.

PISCES: Today you may get the opportunity to feel proud of yourself. But don’t let things get too out of hand. It isn’t often that you allow yourself this little bit of narcissism. Everything you say will be pertinent, and people will let you know.

DAILY BRIDGE

By FRANK STEWART

Tribune Content Agency

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

A second-grade teacher gave her students the first part of a proverb and asked them to complete it. Some results she got: “You get out of something ... what is pictured on the box.”

“Strike while ... the bug is close.”

“It’s better to be safe than ... punch a fifth grader.”

And my favorite: “If at first you don’t succeed ... get new batteries.”

As declarer you may have two chances for your contract. Try both; but first try one that won’t irretrievably lose the contract if it fails.

EIGHT TRICKS

At 3NT South took the ace of spades and led a diamond to dummy’s queen. When East won and returned a spade, South was sunk. He had only eight tricks, and the defense would get in to run the spades.

South must lead a club to dummy at Trick Two and return a heart toward his king. If West had the ace, he would surely continue spades (and even if he returned a heart, the defense might win only four hearts). Then South could try for a ninth trick by finessing in diamonds.

You hold: 6 5 4 2 A Q J 2

J 9 8 3. Your partner opens one diamond, you respond one heart

and he bids two clubs. The opponents pass. What do you say?

ANSWER: You have enough high-card strength to invite game but not to force. Bid three diamonds if your partnership has agreed to treat this jump-preference as invitational. If three diamonds would be forcing, risk 2NT despite your lack of a spade stopper or underbid with two diamonds.

South dealer N-S

INSTRUCTIONS

SUDOKU

Fill in the grid so every row, every column and every 3-by-3 grid contains the digits 1 through 9. that means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box.

Sudoku puzzles appear on the Diversions page Monday-Saturday and on the crossword solutions page in Sunday’s Life section.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

CODEWORD PUZZLE

Answers to previous CODEWORD

How to play Codeword

Codeword is a fun game with simple rules, and a great way to test your knowledge of the English language.

Every number in the codeword grid is ‘code’ for a letter of the alphabet. Thus, the number 2 may correspond to the letter L, for instance.

All puzzles come with a few letters to start. Your first move should be to enter these letters in the puzzle grid. If the letter S is in the box at the bottom of the page underneath the number 2, your first move should be to find all cells numbered 2 in the grid and enter the letter S. Cross the letter S off the list at the bottom of the grid.

Remember that at the end you should have a different letter of the alphabet in each of the numbered boxes 1- 26, and a word in English in each of the horizontal and vertical runs on the codeword grid.

PUZZLE

David L.

Owner This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on 12/12/2022.

Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk 12/28/22, 1/4, 1/11, 1/18/23

CNS-3655222#

SANTA BARBARA NEWS-PRESS DEC 28 / 2022; JAN 4, 11, 18 / 2023 -- 58975

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No. FBN 2022-0002977

The following person(s) is doing business as: Wonder Wine Tours, 4750 8th St., Apt. C, Carpinteria, CA 93013 County of Santa Barbara. Richard Alvarez, 4750 8th St., Apt. C, Carpinteria, CA 93013

This business is conducted by an Individual.

The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on N/A /s/ Richard Alvarez

This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on 12/12/2022.

Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk 12/28/22, 1/4, 1/11, 1/18/23 CNS-3655331# SANTA BARBARA NEWS-PRESS DEC 28 / 2022; JAN 4, 11, 18 / 2023 -- 58977

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT

File No. FBN 2022-0002974

The following person(s) is doing business as: Industrial Control Systems, 345 Park Avenue Unit B, Orcutt, CA 93455, County of Santa Barbara. Brandon Michael Stoker, 345 Park Avenue Unit B, Orcutt, CA 93455

This business is conducted by an Individual. The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above on 09/30/2022 /s/ Brandon Michael Stoker, Owner This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on 12/12/2022. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk 12/28/22, 1/4, 1/11, 1/18/23 CNS-3655228# SANTA BARBARA NEWS-PRESS DEC 28 / 2022; JAN 4, 11, 18 / 2023 -- 58976

Advertising in the Classified Section really works. Email: classad@newspress.com or for additional information call 805-963-4391 and place your ad today!

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT, FBN No: 20220002895 First Filing. The following person (s) are doing business as RIVIERA RENOVATIONS: 253 3 STREET, APT D, SOLVANG, CA 93463 County of Santa Barbara.

Full Name(s) of registrants: JUSTIN STEHNO: 253 3 STREET, APT D, SOLVANG, CA 93463. This business is conducted by: AN INDIVIDUAL. This statement was filed in the office of JOSEPH E. HOLLAND, County Clerk-Recorder of SANTA BARBARA COUNTY on 11/30/2022 by E29, Deputy. The registrant commenced to transact business on: Nov 29, 2022. Statement Expires on: Not Applicable. NOTICE: This fictitious name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the County Clerk. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before that time. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state

business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (See Section 14400, ET SEQ., Business and Profession Code). (SEAL) DEC 07, 14, 21, 28 / 2022--58900

/

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: HELENE D. WILEY Case Number: 22PR00612

To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of: HELENE D. WILEY

A Petition for Probate has been filed by STEPHEN C. WILLEY in the SUPERIOR COURTOF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA.

The Petition for Probate requests that STEPHEN C. WILLEY be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

The Petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court.

The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)

The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Date: 02/09/2023 at Time: 9:00 AM, in Dept.: 5, located at SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101; PO Box 21107, Santa Barbara, CA 93121-1107, Anacapa Division.

If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

If you are a creditor or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor.

You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law.

You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Attorney for petitioner: TIMOTHY R. DEAKYNE Address: 317 EAST CARRILLO STREET, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93101 Phone: 805-963-8611 DEC 28 2022; JAN 04, 11 / 2023--58974

NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: JACQUELYN JO RAFTERY IMRICH; JACQUELYN RAFTERY IMRICH; JACQUELYN J. IMRICH Case Number: 22PR00617 To all heirs, beneficiaries, creditors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of:

JACQUELYN JO RAFTERY IMRICH; JACQUELYN RAFTERY IMRICH; JACQUELYN J. IMRICH A Petition for Probate has been filed by DOROTHY I. MULLIN in the SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA. The Petition for Probate requests that DOROTHY I. MULLIN be appointed as personal representative to administer the estate of the decedent.

The Petition requests the decedent’s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are available for examination in the file kept by the court.

The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal representative to take many actions without obtaining court approval. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to interested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.)

The independent administration authority will be granted unless an interested person files an objection to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority.

A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: Date: 02/09/2023 at Time: 9:00 AM, in Dept.: 5, located at SUPERIOR COURTOF CALIFORNIA COUNTYOF SANTA BARBARA 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101; PO Box 21107, Santa Barbara, CA 93121-1107 Anacapa Division.

If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney.

If you are a creditor or a contingent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative appointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or personal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the California Probate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Request for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inventory and appraisal of estate assets or of any petition or account as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk.

Attorney for petitioner: BRETT W. PIERSMA, MULLEN & HENZELLL. L. P. Address:112 E. VICTORIA STREET, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93101 Phone: (805) 966-1501 DEC 28 / 2022; JAN 04, 11 / 2023--58973

‘Twitter files’ allege Biden administration worked with Twitter to control COVID conversation

By CASEY HARPER THE CENTER SQUARE SENIOR REPORTER

(The Center Square) — A new batch of “Twitter files” released Monday indicates the Biden administration worked with Twitter to control the public conversation about COVID-19, which included censoring accounts skeptical of the vaccine.

This update is the latest in a string of internal Twitter revelations since billionaire Elon Musk took over Twitter and vowed to make public any wrongdoing previous to his ownership that might have gone on behind the scenes.

Since then, Mr. Musk has released a trove of troublesome information, including evidence federal law enforcement worked closely with the social media giant to censor Americans. The Biden administration has pushed back against these allegations, but the Twitter files are not the only source giving evidence to that collusion.

Mr. Musk shared a Twitter thread Monday posted by author and journalist David Zweig, where Mr. Zweig laid out some introductory points, though Mr. Musk said more details are coming soon.

Mr. Zweig said Twitter “rigged the COVID debate” by “censoring info that was true but inconvenient to U.S. govt. policy” and “by discrediting doctors and other experts who disagreed” as well as “suppressing ordinary users, including some sharing the CDC’s *own data*.”

“So far the Twitter Files have focused on evidence of Twitter’s secret blacklists; how the company functioned as a kind of subsidiary of the FBI; and how execs rewrote the platform’s rules to accommodate their own political desires,” he said. “The United States government pressured Twitter and other social media platforms to elevate certain content and suppress other content about Covid-19.”

Mr. Zweig, who says he personally reviewed internal documents, said both the Trump and Biden administrations participated in the collusion. He said Mr. Trump’s team were more worried about “panic buying” at grocery stores while Mr. Biden was interested in shutting down accounts skeptical of the vaccine.

“When the Biden admin took over, one of their first meeting requests with Twitter executives was on COVID. The focus was on ‘anti-vaxxer accounts,’” he said. “In the summer of 2021, President Biden said social media companies were ‘killing people’ for allowing vaccine misinformation.”

“But Twitter did suppress views — many from doctors and scientific experts – that conflicted with the official positions of the White House,” he added.

“As a result, legitimate findings and questions that would have expanded the public debate went missing.” The Twitter files have sparked calls for accountability.

ORCHESTRA

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at the First United Methodist Church of Santa Barbara.

Ms. Englander is looking forward to the Jan. 28 concert, which will feature Dvorak’s “7th Symphony,” first performed in London in 1885; Mr. Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, which tells stories of enchanted gardens, a Chinese empress, and “Beauty and the Beast” and Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring,” inspired by America and featured in many movie and TV soundtracks.

“It’s a very fun piece,” Ms. Englander said about “Appalachian Spring.” “For me personally, Aaron Copland is a very unique composer. He just captures the feel of open spaces and the soul of America as well.

“He is a composer that you can’t help but attach the landscapes of the country.”

Ms. Englander said the orchestra is performing works that excites its members and that will introduce audiences to a diversity of music.For example, Dvorak is a well-known composer who’s undoubtedly best-known for his “New World” symphony. “We picked the 7th Symphony, which is popular with musicians,” she said.

Added Mr. Knight, “We do want to play pieces that you’re less likely to hear.”

For example, Lao Schifrin

House Oversight Committee Republicans, who will have the majority come January, promised an investigation into the Twitter censorship and the Biden administration’s role earlier this month. This latest dump will likely only add fuel to that fire.

“Committee Republicans continue to investigate whether U.S. government officials have participated in suppression and censorship of lawful speech in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Reports continue to surface that social media companies acted on behest of government agencies and officials when removing, restricting, or disclaiming content,” the House Republicans wrote in a letter earlier this month. “The American people and their elected representatives must know the extent to which their government has engaged in prohibited censorship to expose and prevent this unlawful conduct.”

Critics have also lambasted the FBI after Mr. Musk’s document release appeared to show the FBI gave social media companies information leading them to believe the Hunter Biden story could be part of a disinformation campaign. Social media companies banned or shadow banned the Hunter Biden story just before the last presidential election. Two years later, more and more details of the Hunter Biden story have been verified by leading news outlets.

House Oversight Republicans launched an investigation last month into a “taxpayer funded censorship campaign” after media reports indicated the Department of Homeland Security had been pressuring big tech companies to censor certain viewpoints on several issues, including COVID.

The lawmakers sent a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas calling out DHS in particular, saying it “leverages partnerships with left-leaning private organizations – who have received millions of dollars in federal money – to identify and take action against political speech unfavorable to the administration.

will remain forever famous for composing the Grammy-winning theme to the original “Mission Impossible” series on CBS. Well, at the April concert at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Barbara and at a yetto-be-determined Santa Ynez Valley venue, the Santa Barbara Chamber Players will perform a different work by Mr. Schifrin, his Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra. Mr. Schifrin wrote the work for Gene Pokorny, principal tuba player for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who will play it with the Santa Barbara Chamber Players Orchestra in advance of his performances of the work this summer with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

In the fall, the Santa Barbara Chamber Players Orchestra plans to perform a concert celebrating Italy, with music by modern film composers Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone, along with Mendelssohn’s “Italian Symphony.”

The orchestra’s conductor, Maestro Fratianni has led orchestras around the world, such as the National Symphony Orchestra, the Mexican National Symphony, and the Beijing Opera and Performing Arts Orchestra.

“He’s done a lot of work in Hollywood and has conducted film scores, as well as video game music,” Mr. Knight said. “He has very broad experience.”

COURTESY PHOTO President Joe Biden