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Two dead in railroad car smuggling event 17 almost suffocate after illegally entering the U.S. in Uvalde, Texas a family member or one of the migrants who were locked in the shipping container.” “There were more people than (The Center Square) — At we had ambulances (currently) least two people are dead and available in Uvalde,” he added. 17 nearly suffocated after they “We called them in from illegally entered the U.S. and everywhere – Kerrville, San hid inside a railroad car to be Antonio, Hondo and locally in smuggled into the U.S. Uvalde.” On Friday, the Uvalde Union Pacific railroad and Police Department issued a Department of Homeland statement saying its office had Security are investigating the received a 9-1-1 call from an incident. anonymous caller stating there This isn’t the first time foreign were numerous illegal foreign nationals have been found nationals “suffocating” inside of hiding inside of train cars to be a train car. smuggled into the U.S. Border U.S. It’s a common Patrol agents were practice – Border informed of the call Patrol agents are and stopped the See related stories on A4. regularly positioned train roughly two to along the railroad three miles east of tracks that run Knippa, Texas, in parallel to Highway 90, The Uvalde County. Center Square has observed. On Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed The tracks pass through multiple counties along the border. With 17 people were hiding inside a the national news increasingly rail car including 15 men and reporting on smuggling two women. Two men were events, this incident received pronounced dead when agents greater publicity than previous arrived. apprehensions involving rail Officers closed part of cars. Highway 90 between Knippa Border Patrol agents and and Sabinal to allow helicopters sheriff’s deputies regularly to land, which brought EMTs apprehend human smugglers in to treat severely dehydrated the southwest border counties of survivors. Four were taken to Uvalde, Kinney and Val Verde. area hospitals. Smugglers use railroad cars Uvalde Mayor Don to transport people. “Coyotes” McLaughlin told Texas Public follow train tracks, pipelines Radio that the train had been and power lines as they bring sitting on the tracks for about three hours. He said, “9-1-1 got a call – don’t know if it was from Please see SMUGGLING on A2 By BETHANY BLANKLEY
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Former Goleta councilmember Roger Aceves (left) and Paul Clayton — wearing a yellow vest to represent the Rotary Club of Goleta — search and collect litter on Gaviota Street in Old Town Goleta. Mr. Aceves launched the first Beautify Goleta event as the founder in 2016 while he was in the Goleta City Council.
‘Beautify Goleta’ Nearly 50 volunteers pick up more than 250 pounds of trash
By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The community showed up Saturday to “Beautify Goleta.” The city of Goleta hosts several of these cleanup events each year, and Saturday’s event brought out volunteers to clean up the city. Each event spotlights a different neighborhood in Goleta, and the numbers show the results. In 2022, there were 366 volunteers, 4,872 pounds of trash picked up, and 23,010 pounds of bulky items collected. “Today we ended up with 48 volunteers who collected over 250 pounds of trash,” Dan Rowell, environmental services specialist for the public works department of the city of Goleta, told the News-
Press. “Our bulky item collection ended up with 14 vehicle drop-offs. It was a good turnout at each each site.” On Saturday, the spotlight was turned onto Hollister Avenue and surrounding neighborhoods in Old Town Goleta. Residents had access to a free bulky item drop off from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Community West Bank parking lot. The parking lot also served as the meeting place for the community cleanup from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and it was open to anyone who wanted to come help pick-up litter. Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County (aka Habitat Santa Barbara) hosted the spotlight location in Old Town. The other locations for
this event were Evergreen Acres Park with event captain Susan Klein-Rothschild and Jonny D. Wallis Neighborhood Park with event captain Jerry Lucera from Waypoint Church The Goleta Rotary Club also partnered with the city to support this event. “Habitat Santa Barbara partners with the city of Goleta throughout the year to identify areas where home repair projects are needed and work together to identify homeowners in need of ‘A Brush With Kindness.’ an exterior maintenance and beautification program. When the city asked if we wanted to partner with them for the event, we were happy to take a leadership role in recruiting volunteers and providing staff
leadership,” Susan Renehan, director of philanthropy and external affairs for Habitat Santa Barbara, told the News-Press. Mr. Rowell saw Saturday’s cleanup as successful. “We were able to support and inspire people in Goleta to get out and take ownership over the environment in Goleta. The trash would have otherwise polluted creeks, waterways and the ocean environment. We are getting people inspired and preventing pollution from getting into the natural environment and waterways,” said Mr. Rowell. “The atmosphere is energetic and positive; it’s a great way to start the weekend by getting up early. Please see CLEANUP on A2
At left, volunteers pick up litter along Carson Street in Old Town Goleta. At right, Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County Community Engagement Coordinator Amanda Cobb (left) uses a map to guide incoming volunteers to specific zones in Goleta that need cleaning.
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Pearl Chase Society announces de Forest series Speakers to discuss subjects close to the heart of Santa Barbara researcher and preservationist By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Pearl Chase Society will kick off the Kellam de Forest Speaker Series April 14 in honor of its founding member who did a lot to further the cause of historic preservation and community action in Santa Barbara. He also did much for “Star Trek.” He was a researcher and technical adviser for the original series in the 1960s. After his passing, the society said, it received many generous donations in his name. After careful consideration, the board decided the creation of an ongoing series would provide the community with great educational and inspirational benefit — something the society said Mr. de Forest would have embraced with his characteristic enthusiasm. This free series is scheduled for 6 to 7 p.m. on the second Friday of each month beginning April 14 at the Carrillo Recreation Center, 100 East Carrillo St. Refreshments will be served afterward. This series is being
spearheaded by Claudi Schou, who joined the board of directors about three months ago. “They are a dynamic group of individuals passionate about preserving Santa Barbara historic architecture. Coming from Long Beach and having lived in a neighborhood of craftsmen that had pride in architecture, it was nice to come to this town and see a similar pride,” said Ms. Schou concerning the Pearl Chase Society. “My interest was to help spearhead this speaker series, having hosted other lectures on local history in the last year,” Ms. Schou said. “It is an honor to have this opportunity to be asked to organize a speaker series on behalf of someone who was so greatly admired for his preservation work. “If Kellam were around, I would want his approval.” The committee for the speaker series includes Claudia Schou, Dennis Whelan, Cheri Rae and Steven Dowty. “When planning the speaker Please see SERIES on A2
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L O T T E RY RESULTS
Classified...............AB4 Life...................... B1-2 Obituaries............... A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 4-12-13-42-47 Meganumber: 1
Sunday’s DAILY 4: 2-3-8-7
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 14-17-33-42-66 Meganumber: 15
Sunday’s FANTASY 5: 2-10-27-32-36
Sunday’s DAILY DERBY: 05-04-01 Time: 1:41.40
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 15-17-18-47-57 Meganumber: 19
Sudoku................... B3 Sports . .................... A3 Weather................. A4
Sunday’s DAILY 3: 7-2-6 / Wednesday’s Midday 2-4-8