History can fit this vase
Art of serenity
Sullivan Goss presents ‘Peace & Quiet’ exhibit - B1
Our 165th Year
‘Ask the Gold Digger’ columnist tells about Chinese porcelain creation - B2
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MON DAY, J A N UA RY 18 , 2 0 21
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Goleta Union board to meet honored virtually Wednesday
Community organizations commemorate civil-rights leader
Discussion topics include learning loss, systemic racism, Measure M By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The board of the Goleta Union School District meets at 6:30 Wednesday to discuss learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, address systemic racism and update the community on Bond Measure M. Santa Barbara Unified School District established a new grading policy to mitigate the effects of learning loss. Based on the slides uploaded to the meeting agenda, Goleta Union seeks more support staff to assist struggling students. To quantify the need for more, the district will present the students’ STAR 360 assessment scores. The slides show an increased participation in the STAR 360 program, but more students are struggling. Superintendent Dr. Donna Lewis will address institutional
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
The Eternal Flame, a monument dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is usually lit the weekend before MLK Jr. Day. But, this year, the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Santa Barbara moved its events online.
By ANNELISE HANSHAW
One of Cold Spring School’s kindergarten students wears his shirt personalized with his dream, an activity inspired by MLK Jr.
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Santa Barbara honors Rev. Dr. King annually on the third Monday in January and the preceding weekend. This year, the committee is honoring him through a robust virtual program from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, livestreamed on mlksb.org and the MLKCommitteeSB Facebook page. The weekend usually begins with the lighting of UCSB’s Eternal Flame, a monument dedicated to MLK Jr. But this year, the committee chose to forego all inperson activities. A video montage of 2008-2020’s events will show the tradition. Dr. Anna Everett and Rev. Richard A. Lawrence will speak during the program. Dr. Everett is an emeritus professor at UCSB, a recently elected SBCC trustee and a volunteer on the Santa Barbara County Commission for Women. She advocates for marginalized groups as a leader in many organizations. Rev. Lawrence, of San Diego, is a retired United Methodist clergyman who seeks social justice in his ministry. He knew Dr. King personally as an advocate in the civil rights movement. He led an interracial group of students from Chicago to Selma for the Selma-to-Montgomery march in 1965. When Dr. King visited Chicago, Rev. Lawrence helped him organize a demonstration. He is a leader in dozens of organizations including Operation Breadbasket and Black United Funds in Chicago and New York City. Performances from previous years will be featured, such as: the combined choirs of B’nai B’rith Choir and Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara Choir, directed by the late Ken Ryals, World Dance for Humanity, Dance Institute of Santa Barbara, Inner Light Gospel Choir and Coastal West Community Choir. Students ages 6-18 participated in an essay and poetry competition held by MLKSB and Santa Barbara’s AntiDefamation League. Schools from throughout the South Coast encourage students to enter. Please see MLK on A2
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Santa Barbara City Council to discuss revitalizing urban core By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
In a special meeting on Thursday, Jan. 21, the Santa Barbara City Council will receive a presentation from the Santa Barbara Chapter of American Institute of Architects on the lessons learned through the 2020 Community Design Charrette. The purpose of the charrette was to explore strategies and opportunities to reimagine Downtown Santa Barbara through housing, enhancements to the promenade, paseos, open spaces and public private partnerships. It was held during the summer of 2020 in response to the critical need for housing, a rise of vacant buildings and the creation of the State Street promenade. The project included video meetings, distanced meetings on the street, a survey on the desirability of living downtown with almost 5,000 responses, 16 volunteer design teams made up of 160 participants and many meetings of architects, landscape architects, engineers, artists, event planners, interior designers, students and other local experts. The teams were asked to provide the following: “solutions for the incorporation of housing through adaptive reuse of existing buildings and new buildings at opportunity sites such as open parking lots, solutions for the outdoor spaces within the designated two-block area including State Street
(i.e. 400 block), detailed project statistics to demonstrate the feasibility and development potential and recommendations about regulatory adjustments to incentivize the new vision for housing and open space,” according to the staff report. According to the survey that included 5,000 participants, 77% of whom said they currently reside in Santa Barbara, around 84% of them said they want to see State Street closed to all vehicular traffic permanently. Around 56% supported the idea of the street being shared by pedestrians and cyclists, with 35% supporting pedestrians only on the street. Approximately 64% of people said there should be more housing in the downtown State Street area, and 57% of them said they’d like to see small, one to two bedroom rental apartments there. When asked about building heights, 54% of people said they think the appropriate height for buildings downtown is three stories, rather than four, five or higher. In addition, 63% said that if they could live downtown, they’d need a car near their home, and 91% said they would prefer to pay additional for a parking space in their building. The special meeting will begin at 4 p.m. on Thursday, and can be viewed in English and Spanish on City TV Channel 18 or streamed live at www. SantaBarbaraCA.gov/CAP. email: gmccormick@newspress.com
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ins id e Classified............... B4 Life..................... B1-2
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racism and educational inequities and discuss the district’s efforts with board members.This agenda item is common for districts after Tony Thurmond, the California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, called for schools to have conversations regarding racism. Dr. Lewis will provide an update on the anti-bias pilot, present resources for talking to children about violence and summarize the enrollment for the dual-language-immersion program for the 2021-2022 school year. Conrad Tedeschi, assistant superintendent of fiscal services, will update the board on the Measure M Bond and GUSD facilities. To observe the meeting, join with the Zoom Webinar ID 850 6253 9690 and enter the password “3m0ixP” when prompted.
Obituaries............. A4 Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 4-13-15-23-31 Meganumber: 10
Sunday’s DAILY 4: 7-2-5-0
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 3-11-12-38-43 Meganumber: 15
Sunday’s FANTASY 5: 1-11-16-23-28
Sunday’s DAILY DERBY: 11-04-03 Time: 1:45.19
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 14-20-39-65-67 Meganumber: 2
Sunday’s DAILY 3: 5-6-1 / Sunday’s Midday 7-6-7