Elections left in the hands of states
Santa Barbara Humane’s success stories
President Biden’s effort to federalize voting laws appears to be over - A4
Nonprofit ends 2021 and begins 2022 with good news - B1
Our 166th Year
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F R I DAY, J A N UA RY 21, 2 0 2 2
Staffed ICU beds at a low Healthcare worker shortage, COVID-19 threaten staffed capacity By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
There are just three available staffed intensive-care-unit beds countywide, and surge beds are beginning to be utilized, as of Thursday, as factors converge on an already stretched-thin healthcare staff. According to Santa Barbara
County Public Health data, there are 67 staffed ICU beds in use of the 70 available in the county. And six surge beds are in use. Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons, chair of the infectious disease division at Cottage Health, told the NewsPress that surge beds are not necessarily in hallways or in conference rooms. At Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, they
are normal beds the hospital doesn’t have the capacity to serve to usual standards. There are 14 COVID-19 patients in intensive care. The other patients have nonpandemic acute care needs. “Hospitalizations do generally bulge in the winter but not with Please see BEDS on A4
KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS
Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital is treating 55 COVID-19 patients. Of those, six are critically ill, says Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons.
Flea market grows slowly
The Kimpton Goodland sold
Vendors make the trek Thursdays to Earl Warren Showgrounds for a swap meet with a community feel
AWH Partners acquires 158-key Goleta hotel
By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Earl Warren Showgrounds Flea Market is one of few places in Santa Barbara where shoppers can buy vintage rugs, collectible trinkets, plants, gems and fresh fruit all at the same place. Vendors are waiting for the Thursday market to catch more eyes as they look for places to sell their finds. Artemis Newton is one of those loyal vendors staying patient for more people to try the swap meet she says feels like home. She drives every week to the flea market in Santa Barbara from Los Angeles and says she feels different the moment she can see the water along Highway 101. The swap meet held Wednesdays in Ventura is better-known, but she is hopeful for the slowly growing Santa Barbara market. “It’s a family-oriented area, but, I mean, people come here from all walks of life,” she said. Ms. Newton likes the community feel and even knows the names and ages of the other vendors’ dogs, she said, pointing at a neighboring van with a puppy. She used to sell at flea markets periodically while selling in a storefront in Los Angeles, but the pandemic’s constraints made the shop infeasible, she said. Glenn Corning, another one of Thursday’s vendors, also once sold in a store. It was called “Random,” but now he does something he calls “Vandom” — where his collection roams with him in his cargo van. He also sells in Ventura on Wednesdays, and he is a regular at Santa Clarita’s flea market, too. And Sunday he’s going to try out the Topanga Vintage Market at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, which is known to amass over 180 dealers. “That’s where I take my good stuff,” he said. Thursday, he set out rows of books in front of his van: a book on Shakespeare, women’s erotica, a kid’s Spanish learning book and “Gone with the Wind.” He priced them at $1-$3.
COURTESY KIMPTON HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS
The Kimpton Goodland, a Goleta hotel, has been sold to AWH Partners.
By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
ANNELISE HANSHAW/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Lisa Mathiasen volunteers for the Animal Shelter Assistance Program (ASAP Cats) by selling donated goods Thursday at the Earl Warren Showgrounds Flea Market.
At left, Artemis Newton arranges jewelry in velvet-lined display cabinets. She sees more and more customers looking for vintage jewelry. At right, Glenn Corning sells recycled books and more out of his van every Thursday at the Earl Warren Showgrounds Flea Market.
Mr. Corning wasn’t shy about the source of his books: recycling bins. He said many recycling plants don’t take books, so he gets stacks of them for free. He’s a history buff, so perhaps
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books were a natural commodity for him. But they also provided helpful income when smartphones interrupted his dominance in auctions. The markets provide enough
for him to live and explore, but COVID-19 put a pause to swap meets for months. During that time, he’d set up shop in front of Please see MARKET on A2
AWH Partners announced Thursday that the real estate investment firm recently acquired The Kimpton Goodland, a hotel in Goleta. The 158 key-hotel will be fully rebranded and managed by the AWH affiliate Spire Hospitality, according to a news release. The hotel is AWH’s fifth acquisition in 2021. These five transactions have a combined total purchase price of more than $240 million. The other acquisitions include Villa Florence Hotel in San Francisco, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Anaheim, Hilton Garden Inn, Fremont Milpitas and Hilton Garden Inn, Portland/ Lake Oswego. According to AWH Partners, all of these West Coast acquisitions were located in robust long-term growth markets, with significant leisure demand in the region. Spire Hospitality is currently in the process of transitioning management of The Kimpton Goodland and has begun the rebranding process of the hotel. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. “AWH is thrilled to diversify our expanding portfolio of attractive hotel properties and deepen our exposure to highgrowth West Coast markets with the addition of the Goodland Goleta hotel, another asset acquired at an extremely attractive basis we would never have been able to achieve pre-
pandemic,” Russell Flicker, cofounder and managing partner of AWH Partners, said in the news release. “With minimal new supply, a general lack of available sites and costly land prices, the Santa Barbara market has high barriers to entry, and we are pleased to have found this attractive opportunity, which was never offered to the public on the same terms. We look forward to renovating the lifestyle hotel and welcoming guests to this highly accessible leisure destination,” Mr. Flicker said. Chad Cooley, co-founder and managing partner of AWH Partners, said, “Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we made an intense effort to stabilize our portfolio so that we could focus our attention on what we do best – investing in complicated, distressed and unique hospitality assets. We made a substantial financial commitment to keep our leadership team together and incentivized, and we poured resources into technology and data to super-charge our acquisition efforts in 2021. Looking back, our investment activity speaks for itself, and we are thrilled with how we are positioned heading into 2022.” Jon Rosenfeld, co-founder and managing partner of AWH Partner, said the firm was formed during “a global financial crisis, with much of our initial portfolio acquired Please see GOODLAND on A3
INSIDE
L O T T E RY RESULTS
Classified................. B4 Life...................... B1-2 Obituaries............... A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 8-25-27-46-47 Meganumber: 24
Thursday’s DAILY 4: 4-4-6-8
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 4-19-39-42-52 Meganumber: 9
Thursday’s FANTASY 5: 1-8-14-31-36
Thursday’s DAILY DERBY: 07-10-05 Time: 1:41.48
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 11-15-43-55-61 Meganumber: 10
Sudoku................... B3 Sports . .................... A3 Weather................. A4
Thursday’s DAILY 3: 1-8-6 / Wednesday’s Midday 7-2-3