Sponsored by Crane Country Day School
CHILDREN’S BOOKS TO LOVE AND SHARE Isabel Baker Marla Frazee
Early literacy educator, The Book Vine for Children Two-time Caldecott Award winning author/illustrator
April 28, 2014 • 7:00 pm Crane Country Day School Cate Hall/Barbakow Family Theatre 1795 San Leandro Lane • Montecito
FREE ADMISSION For more information contact Debbie Williams at 805-969-7732 x105
pulitzer prize winning musical drama
the
consul by gian-carlo menotti
friday
sunday
apr
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7:30pm
2:30pm
25 27 tickets information: 899–2222 the granada theatre / operasb.org photo: Kevin Steele / location: MUNICIPAL WINEMAKERS 12
THE INDEPENDENT
aPrIl 17, 2014
News of theWeek
CONT’D
TB Outbreak Kept Quiet
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BY T Y L E R H AY D E N anta Barbara health officials have been quietly working for months to contain a tuberculosis (TB) outbreak and are now ramping up suppression efforts after publicly announcing that a Santa Maria High School student has the infectious disease. While the single diagnosis is a cause for concern, prompting both a community meeting last Friday and mass screenings at the school this week, the County of Santa Barbara Public Health Department’s grander ground plan has been actively kept under the radar for the past six months due to fears of alienating an already marginalized population and concerns about political backlash. In 2013, 26 Santa Barbara residents were diagnosed with TB — 16 from North County, nine of Oaxacan descent — along with 10 more so far this year. At least one person died in 2013 from TB, which typically attacks the lungs, and many were experiencing the advanced, more contagious stages. Three children younger than 10 years old were diagnosed last year, and one was left permanently disabled. Though 20 or so people get TB every year in Santa Barbara County, the recent outbreak is noteworthy because the cases involved more kids, later stages of progression, and stronger resistance to medication. Five of the Oaxacan cases have similar genetic patterns, meaning they are from the same transmission chain. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declares an outbreak when three or more cases display that genetic link, and last week’s high school student case was connected to the chain. The Public Health Department is currently conducting
genetic testing of each new case to determine if they’re related. In February, the Public Health Department’s Dr. Charity Thoman alerted North County doctors to the problem, particularly within the Oaxacan population, and she said that in recent weeks, Public Health nurses have been combing North County communities “day and night” in search of signs of the disease. It’s challenging, said Thoman, because some of the Oaxacans may be undocumented and harbor a distrust of government workers. Plus, many of them only speak Mixteco. When nurses make house calls, they are trained to listen for coughs coming from back rooms, Thoman said, noting that rough estimates put the North County Oaxacan population at anywhere between 10,000 and 30,000. “When we address each case, that’s routine,” Thoman said. “But when we started looking at how they were linked, we became concerned about ongoing transmission. It was no longer business as usual.” Though she’s working with state officials on “creative ways to stop the spread,” Thoman expects more cases from Santa Maria High School. Because the TB is airborne, students sitting close together in tight classrooms are especially susceptible. Those experiencing coughs, fever, night sweats, and weight loss for more than two weeks should immediately ask their doctor for a TB test. While an estimated three million California residents carry the bacteria that causes the disease, only about 10 percent of them will come down with active TB, which can be cured with an intensive 6- to 18-month ■ regime of antibiotics.
Edgy Drought Frustration
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BY N I C K W E L S H
decided tone of “edgy frustration” crept into the Santa Barbara City Council discussion about efforts to respond to the driest and most sudden drought in Santa Barbara’s history, to quote Councilmember Gregg Hart, as councilmembers wondered with evident impatience why more isn’t being done faster. Although City Hall has set aside $3.3 million to buy new water, efforts to secure additional supplies have yet to bear fruit. The most promising proposal — to buy water from Vandenberg Air Force Base — is iffy at best and would hardly be enough. By contrast, Central Valley rice farmers are offering 10,000 acre-feet — a major amount — and at relatively affordable prices, but as much as 75 percent of that could be lost in carrying charges to offset environmental damages already inflicted on the San Joaquin Delta, through which it must pass. Likewise, efforts to begin construction on a new reclaimed-water system has been set back twice now by bid protests filed by prospective contractors. Making matters worse, the Coastal Commission has just expressed serious questions about the validity of City Hall’s permits for the mothballed desalination plant. The desal plant has long been regarded as City Hall’s ace in the hole if the drought persists. But with $20 million in restart costs, the sticker shock has proved prohibitive. As other supplies have dwindled, Councilmembers Bendy White and Gregg Hart have grown increasingly impa-
tient that City Hall be ready to go with the desal plant, just in case. A Coastal Commission planner took exception with the desal plant’s “old-school” water-intake valve located on the ocean floor. The commission has required more recent desal proposals to “drill” water from beneath the ocean floor — in deference to the health of aquatic biota. In the meantime, the council conceptually approved plans to dramatically increase — by 103 percent — how much it charges residents who use the most water, scaling back the rate hikes such that that “lifeline” consumers — who use the least — will experience only a bump of 40 cents a month. The hope is to give customers a financial incentive to cut back consumption by 20 percent. They’ve already achieved a 15 percent reduction since the drought was declared two months ago. City Hall is paying residents to replace their backyard vegetation with drought-tolerant varieties. In the last three months, City Hall conservation specialists have visited 221 households to provide water efficiency assistance. The new water rates, which will be formally introduced later this month, will go into effect July 1. For the hypothetical “average” household, monthly water bills will increase by $10.64. That will help offset the $8 million revenue shortfall City Hall experiences because of reduced water sales and droughtimposed costs. ■