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SB County to lift mask mandate Face coverings won’t be required of vaccinated people in most indoor settings in Tri-Counties By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
DAVE MASON/NEWS-PRESS
Dr. Henning Ansorg, the Santa Barbara County public health officer, said the county is now on the downslope of the COVID-19 surge.
Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties are ending their indoor mask mandates, effective Wednesday. Public health departments in the Tri-Counties announced Thursday they were aligning themselves with the state, which decided its California-wide indoor mask mandate would expire Tuesday. That means as of Wednesday, there will be no state or local indoor mask mandates for vaccinated individuals in most indoor public settings.
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department explained that it decided it could end the mask mandate because of recent data trends and the characteristics of the omicron variant. While omicron has proven to be more transmissible than other variants, it has resulted in shorter periods of illness, a lower death count and fewer hospitalizations for fully vaccinated residents, according to the health department. The number of new COVID-19 cases has fallen since early January, when Santa Barbara County reported around 1,000
MORE INSIDE Santa Barbara County reports 244 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths. A2. Los Angeles County reportedly remains weeks away from lifting its indoor mask mandate, but restrictions are being eased in the San Francisco Bay Area. A4. The Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement that truckers protesting vaccine mandates could disrupt the Super Bowl. A4.
new cases a day. By contrast, the health department reported 244 new
cases Thursday. Dr. Henning Ansorg, the Santa Barbara County public health officer, said the county is now on the downslope of the recent COVID-19 surge, as shown by the decreasing case rates, lower test positivity and stable hospitalizations. “We have considered how the dominant variant circulates and what effects it has, and have determined we are in a place to be able to lift the universal indoor masking requirement,” Dr. Ansorg said in a statement. Dr. Van Do-Reynoso, the Santa Barbara County public Please see MASKS on A4
NEWS-PRESS EXCLUSIVE
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Dr. Van Do-Reynoso, the Santa Barbara County public health director, credits vaccinations, booster shots and testing for diminishing the spread of COVID-19.
David Karpeles remembered for legacy, famous manuscript collection
New York, New York Carpinteria High School students get a surprise: an all-expense paid trip
By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS
Carpinteria High School business students react with surprise at the news that their upcoming trip to New York City is being covered by a grant from HSBC Bank USA. The Virtual Enterprises students will compete at summit there in April.
By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
When the surprise came Thursday morning, Carpinteria High School business students cheered and applauded — and for good reason. They’re getting an all-expensepaid trip to New York City. That’s where the hard-working students in the Virtual Enterprises course will compete in April at VE’s Youth Business Summit. The students knew they were going to the Big Apple. They didn’t know that HSBC Bank USA had decided to give them a grant to cover the costs. Teri Jones, the Northridgebased VE regional director, told the students the good news while their teacher and school
administrators, who all knew about the surprise before the students, listened. “I know you guys applied for a recent grant. That grant is offering free airfare, hotel and other accommodations for two chaperones and eight students,” Mrs. Jones said. “There was only one grant that they (HSBC Bank USA) gave this whole side of the United States, leading all the way from Texas over to California. “And you guys got it.” The students immediately cheered, and their teacher said she was relieved that she could finally talk about the grant. The students worked hard and quickly to apply for the grant, and instructor Julie Shamblin had to wait until Thursday for them to get Please see TRIP on A4
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Julie Shamblin, the instructor in the Virtual Enterprises class, talks about the program.
David Karpeles, who co-founded the Karpeles Manuscript Library, was a Santa Barbara historian, scholar and entrepreneur, known for accomplishments that benefited Santa Barbara County and the nation. His life began at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where he was born Jan. 26, 1936. He died there 86 years later, almost to the day, on Jan. 19, 2022. “He led a fascinating and remarkable life that had a positive effect on everyone he met,” his family said in an email to the News-Press. “His intelligence, analytical abilities, creativity and humor was a gift to everyone who knew him,” His family moved in 1942 from Santa Barbara to Duluth, Minn. He graduated from Denfeld High School in Duluth at age 17 and continued on to study at the University of Minnesota at Duluth, majoring in both mathematics and physics. He served as a substitute instructor at age 19 at the University in Duluth. He graduated cum laude in 1956 at the University of Minnesota Duluth, completing his studies for his bachelor’s in three years. He continued in mathematics as a master’s student at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, while serving as a graduate instructor in the department. Mr. Karpeles met his wife Marsha, while teaching in Minneapolis “He got invited on a double date and agreed to go,” his son, Mark Karpeles, told the NewsPress during a phone interview. “When they went to pick her up, it was dark outside. After talking with her parents for a few minutes, they left, but my dad really hadn’t gotten a look at her yet. “As they walked away from the door my dad said to himself, ‘I need to see what I got,’ ” Mark
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David Karpeles co-founded the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum with his wife Marsha.
recalled. “As he looked at her, he said, ‘She was the most beautiful woman I ever saw, and I knew I wanted to marry her right away.” “They were married for 63 years. But they were so opposite in so many ways,” Mark told the News-Press. David Karpeles moved back to Santa Barbara as a research analyst for General Electric Tempo division in 1963 and began to teach mathematics at Santa Barbara City College and Westmont College while starting to work toward a doctorate at the University of California. David received his doctorate in Biblical historicity and doctorate in history from Atlantic International University. He also received an honorary doctorate from State University New York. While at General Electric, David proposed the use of the first operating optical character recognition program for handwriting. He also developed an artificial intelligence program, allowing personnel to question a computer using unrestricted Please see KARPELES on A3
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Classified................. B4 Life...................... B1-2 Obituaries............... A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 20-35-37-39-44 Meganumber: 2
Wednesday’s DAILY 4: 4-5-4-2
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 1-17-20-52-54 Meganumber: 2
Wednesday’s FANTASY 5: 4-11-27-30-32
Wednesday’s DAILY DERBY: 01-08-03 Time: 1:47.02
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 2-17-33-51-63 Meganumber: 26
Sudoku................... B3 Sports . .................... A3 Weather................. A4
Wednesday’s DAILY 3: 2-7-2 / Wednesday’s Midday 6-6-4