Bass beats Caruso in L.A. mayoral race
‘Wisdom of the Water, Earth and sky’
Former Assembly speaker is city’s first female mayor - A2
SB Symphony to perform work inspired by nature, Chumash - B1
Our 167th Year
75¢
F R I DAY, NOV E M BE R 18 , 2 02 2
UCSB strike continues Academic workers demand better pay and benefits
District 27 win tips House balance of power to GOP By MADISON HIRNEISEN THE CENTER SQUARE
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
UCSB academic workers and students picket on campus this week. The strike, which began Monday at all 10 UC campuses, is continuing.
By JARED DANIELS NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
As the University of California continues to stare down the largest strike to occur at an academic institution in recorded history, strikers and their supporters at the system’s Santa Barbara campus showed no signs of letting up in their demands as the labor action entered its fourth day on Thursday. The strike is affecting all 10 UC campuses, with 48,000 workers on strike throughout the system. Organizers at UCSB estimate that there are close to 2,500 people engaged locally in the labor action. Several hundred academic workers — such as teaching and research assistants — along with their undergraduate supporters came together Thursday at UCSB for a faculty-led rally and march, during which tenured professors voiced solidarity with the strikers’ demands. The academic workers, who are represented by United Auto Workers, are demanding increased pay, a cost of living agreement, the removal of outof-state tuition cost differences, and increased childcare and transportation benefits. The march advanced through the ocean-side campus Thursday afternoon, with spirited call-andresponse slogans echoing across the grounds that contributed to an electric atmosphere within the crowd. Onlookers and passersby often paused to record or take photos of the large column of marchers, while many others gave signs of support to those involved in the labor action. The strike arrived almost exactly one year after the University of California headed off a proposed strike by non-tenured UC lecturers by brokering an agreement with concessions two days before the labor action was set to begin. It also comes on the heels of a
By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
UCSB faculty join academic workers and students Thursday during picketing on campus.
series of unauthorized wildcat strikes at UC Santa Cruz in 2019 and 2020, during which graduate student TAs withheld 20% of the quarter’s final grades to pressure the university to implement cost of living adjustments in order to address the astronomical cost of housing in the region. Leading up to and during the current strike, the University of California has consistently asserted that it has been working in good faith with the academic workers to implement a new contract. UC President Michael Drake said during Wednesday’s UC Board of Regents meeting that the university’s offers were “generous and fair.” “We offer this kind of support not only because it is the right thing to do, but because we want to continue to attract and retain the top students from across California and around the world to our graduate programs,” Dr. Drake said during the meeting. “I am confident that we can achieve
a fair and equitable contract soon.” Janna Haider, a fourthyear history doctorate student at UCSB who serves as the recording secretary for UAW 2065-Santa Barbara Unit and is helping organize strike activities at the campus, strongly disagreed with Dr. Drake’s assertions that the university was bargaining in good faith. “Michael Brown should be very grateful for his rights under the First Amendment, because that has not been our experience of bargaining at all,” Ms. Haider told the News-Press prior to Thursday’s action. “We have had to file 28 unfair labor practice claims against the University of California … I probably wouldn’t say that I’m not doing something wrong if I had been sued for doing it 28 times, but that’s just me.” Ms. Haider said the two primary causes for the claims include the University of California failing to respond to
3
COURTESY PHOTO
affordable healthcare, improving public education and defending abortion rights. Mr. Garcia, who was endorsed by Donald Trump in 2020, focused on the state of the economy, jobs and taxes throughout his campaign. Mr. Garcia declared victory on Nov. 9, the day after the election and more than a week before the race was called by the AP and other media outlets. “The people of CA-27 have spoken, and I’m honored to be reelected to serve another two years in Congress,” Mr. Garcia said in a statement Nov. 9. There are still a few U.S. House races left to call in California, including a closely-watched race in Orange County between incumbent Democratic Rep. Katie Porter and Republican challenger Scott Baugh.
public information requests, as well as accusations that individual departments have been circumventing the bargaining process by engaging in direct negotiations with their unionized academic workers to deflate support for the strike. She also pointed to the fact that a scheduled bargaining session for Thursday morning had been repeatedly pushed back by the university until it was delayed indefinitely. The University of California has also strongly pushed back on worker demands for cost of living adjustments to address the high cost of housing in areas where UC campuses are situated. The university said in a Nov. 15 statement that implementing such changes “could have overwhelming financial impacts on the University,” pointing to a review of the union’s demand that indicated the proposal would cost “at least several hundred Please see STRIKE on A4
A Santa Maria man has been sentenced to more than two decades in state prison for killing two young women after he ran a red light in town while driving drunk and crashing into their Jeep at a speed of more than 90 mph, prosecutors said. Defendant Javier Artemio Cortes Cortes “was sentenced to a much-deserved term of 21 years to life for second degree murder and felony DUI with a special allegation of causing great bodily injury,” Deputy District Attorney Stephen F. Wagner told the NewsPress. He pleaded guilty last month. Mr. Cortes, while speeding and driving under the influence, ran the red light at the downtown intersection of Donovan and Miller streets at 3 a.m. March 16, 2019, hitting a Jeep Cherokee, killing Madison Coleman and Monica Gonzalez and gravely injuring Makayla Everhart and Kimberly Olivo, Under California law, a driver can be charged with murder under these circumstances when the evidence supports they acted with knowledge and reckless disregard for human life. “He showed an utter and complete disregard for public safety and demonstrated complete callousness by taking to the streets and making the decision to drive what must be described as a deadly weapon, which is the appropriate name given to an automobile when the driver is
impaired/under the influence,” DDA Wagner told Judge John McGregor before the judge pronounced sentence. “The deadly weapon label is even more apt in this case due to the outrageously excessive speed of the defendant,” the prosecutor said. “He had many opportunities to abort his decision to drive; the first coming at a party/gathering where the party host announced that all guests had a place to stay.” Mr. Cortes drank alcohol at the party, and by all appearances had too much to drink, prosecutors said. “The second opportunity was when he got a ride to his home and then set out driving to follow his girlfriend, who was in another car,” DDA Wagner told the judge. “Moreover, the defendant had experienced first hand the ramifications of DUI when he witnessed a relative being arrested for impaired driving,” he added. “This was yet another brick in the notice and awareness of risk pile. According to prosecutors, Madison Coleman was driving a Jeep Cherokee with her three friends inside — Ms. Gonzalez, Ms. Everhart and Ms. Olivo. She proceeded slowly into the intersection on a green light when she was broadsided by the defendant, prosecutors said. Despite wearing seatbelts, Ms. Gonzalez and Ms. Olivo were ejected from the Jeep. Ms. Gonzalez, 20, died at the scene. Ms. Coleman, 17, was transported to Marian Regional Medical Please see SENTENCE on A3
LOTTERY
i n s i de Classified.............. B4 Life..................... B1-2 Obituaries............. A4
66833 00050
Rep. Mike Garcia
Man sentenced to 21 years for fatal DUI crash
FOLLOW US ON
6
(The Center Square) – Rep. Mike Garcia, R-CA, won reelection in California’s 27th congressional district Wednesday night, handing control of the U.S. House of Representatives over to Republicans. Mr. Garcia’s re-election pushed the GOP to the 218 seats needed to take control of the U.S. House more than a week after the Nov. 8 election. The Associated Press called the race Wednesday evening. The latest tally showed Garcia had 54.2% of the vote. Mr. Garcia, a former Navy fighter pilot, was first elected to represent California’s old 25th congressional district in a special election in May 2020. He then won a full term to represent the 25th district in the 2020 general election. Following redistricting, Mr. Garcia ran against Democratic challenger Christy Smith, a former state assemblywoman, this election cycle for the seat in the 27th congressional district in Southern California. During the campaign, Ms. Smith released several ads criticizing Mr. Garcia’s stance on abortion and his votes against gun restrictions and lowering the costs of prescription drugs. Ms. Smith’s campaign platform highlighted her support for expanding
Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 12-16-25-28-45 Mega: 23
Thursday’s DAILY 4: 1-9-5-6
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 6-19-28-46-61 Mega: 18
Thursday’s FANTASY 5: 10-19-29-32-38
Thursday’s DAILY DERBY: 03-11-08 Time: 1:43.87
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 28-34-51-53-56 Meganumber: 11
Thursday’s DAILY 3: 8-8-7 / Midday 2-6-4