The art of hitting
Earth day in Santa Barbara
Ventura artist creates comic book covers honoring baseball heroes - B1
Four exhibits open today to honor the planet - B4
Our 166th Year
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Thousands expected for return of Earth Day festival
Cruise ship in Santa Barbara
By MARILYN MCMAHON NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Discovery Princess docks off Santa Barbara Harbor Thursday, and the cruise ship’s passengers disembark for their visit to the American Riviera. It was the ship’s second visit this year to Santa Barbara. Today the Viking Orion is scheduled to visit Santa Barbara on its first visit this year, followed by the MS Zuiderdam’s first 2022 stop here on Saturday.
Most Californians concerned about air pollution, extreme heat By KAITLYN SCHALLHORN NEWS-PRESS STAFF-WRITER
California creates task force to combat declining enrollment By KAITLYN SCHALLHORN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
With public school enrollment across California declining, including in the Santa Barbara area, state officials launched a new task force to study the impacts and needs of schools across the system. “I am committed to supporting the needs of all our schools and school districts, and while each school and community has its own unique history and conditions, declining enrollment is something that we are facing together,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said. “For many communities, this is not a new challenge, but after two years of a pandemic, the
impacts feel amplified and the future seems daunting,” Mr. Thurmond continued. “I want this task force to be intentional about understanding the why behind the drops and the sharing of ideas and local efforts that we may contemplate scaling to make a real difference.” The task force will offer support and technical assistance to districts struggling amid the decreased enrollment. It will also analyze data to understand enrollment trends and the movement of students. The task force is led by Dr. Lande Ajose, a vice president at the Public Policy Institute of California; Jeff Freitas, president of the California Federation of Teachers; Dr. Edgar Zazueta,
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executive director of the Association of California School Administrators; and Tatiana Davenport, CEO of the California Association of School Business Officials. Enrollment in California’s public schools has plunged to below 6 million students, and the Santa Barbara community is not exempt from the decline. In Santa Barbara County, 67,137 students were enrolled in the 2021-2022 school year, a decrease from 67,470 students in 2020-2021 and 69,006 students in 2019-2020. For the 2018-2019 academic year, 69,379 students were enrolled, and 69,752 students were enrolled for the 2017-2018 school Please see ENROLLMENT on A4
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
Dr. Hilda Maldonado
Most Californians believe air pollution and extreme heat are serious threats to their health, a recent survey found. In fact, 64% of voters surveyed by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies pointed to extreme heat as a serious threat to their safety as well as to their family’s health. And 63% listed air pollution. The poll found Democrats were significantly more likely than Republicans to cite extreme heat or air pollution as serious health threats. Latinos, especially in the Inland Empire and San Joaquin Valley, were also more likely to say extreme heat is a “very serious” health threat. Whether California should place new limitations on the agriculture industry’s use of water was more evenly divided: 47% of voters overall favored this idea, and 42% were opposed. The split was greater regionally, however. The majority of voters in Los Angeles County and the San Francisco Bay area (more urban areas) supported this idea, but the majority of voters in the Central Valley regions opposed it. The poll also found 68% of California voters favored a new law requiring residents to compost their food waste. In comparison, only 24% of those surveyed opposed it. “The poll’s findings suggest that growing concerns about the impact of climate change are leading Californians to
reconsider some of their longheld policy views about nuclear power as a potential energy source, although considerable uncertainty persists among many voters,” said Eric Schickler, the Berkeley IGS codirector. The poll found 44% of those surveyed were in favor of building more nuclear power plants whereas 37% opposed the idea and 19% were not sure. According to the Berkeley IGS Poll, this result is in contrast with other statewide surveys following the nuclear power plant accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979. Additionally, 39% of those surveyed said they are now opposed to shuttering the Diablo Canyon power plant in 2025 whereas 33% are in favor of closing it. And 28% of voters are still undecided. Republicans were most likely to signal support for building more nuclear plants. Democrats and nonpartisan voters were more evenly split, although Democrats leaned more toward opposition and no-party voters were more supportive. The survey was conducted online in English and Spanish from March 29-April 5. It polled 8,676 registered voters in California with funding provided by the Los Angeles Times. The poll has a margin of error of about 2 percentage points. The survey and its results can be found at escholarship.org/uc/ item/73c708p0. email: kschallhorn@newspress.com
LOTTERY
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The community will gather in person for the first time since 2019 to celebrate Earth Day. The Community Environmental Council is hosting the free one-day event, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, in and around the Arlington Theatre. 1317 State St., Santa Barbara. An evening concert, a separate ticketed event, will begin at 7:30 p.m. According to a news release, Earth Day 2022 will highlight the critical role CEC has played across the region for more than 50 years, shining a light on details such as the individual action needed to address climate change. Key to this is the annual Climate Leadership Summit, which starts at 3 p.m. The summit will feature actions that organizations and individuals are undertaking throughout the region. Eric Cardenas, CEO of LOACOM, will act as the program’s emcee and is cofacilitating the event with Sigrid Wright, the CEC’s CEO. The community is encouraged to ride and bike to the event, as well as bring reusable water
bottles as water stations will be provided. Here’s the schedule. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Outside the Arlington Theatre, there will be interactive table displays presented by more than 30 organizations and businesses. Spanish speaking table hosts will be identified with ‘Hablo Español’ buttons. In addition, several elected officials will be speaking with constituents at one of the tables. They will vary from U.S. Rep.Salud Carbajal, DSanta Barbara, to Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte. The annual Green Car Show will feature electric vehicles and will feature a Ride & Drive event, where members of the public can get behind the wheel of an electric vehicle or e-bike. Inside the Arlington Theatre, the festival will begin at 10 a.m. with welcoming remarks by Mr. Cardenas, CEO of LOACOM. After that, the schedule will include: 10:15 a.m.: Chumash Blessing by Art Cisneros. 10:45 a.m.: Community Environmental Council’s Reverse, Repair, Protect mission presented by Ms. Wright and Michael Chiacos, CEC policy Please see EARTH DAY on A4
Sudoku................. B3 Sports ................... A3 Weather................ A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 2-29-36-40-47 Mega: 11
Thursday’s DAILY 4: 5-2-5-7
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 2-9-33-47-53 Mega: 24
Thursday’s FANTASY 5: 5-10-13-16-18
Thursday’s DAILY DERBY: 09-08-07 Time: 1:40.36
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 20-30-45-55-56 Meganumber: 14
Thursday’s DAILY 3: 8-7-8 / Midday 7-0-4