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It’s wine o’clock somewhere Funk Zone tasting rooms anticipate a busy summer
SM approves automated license plate readers By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
More than two dozen new cameras with the ability to automatically capture photos of vehicle license plates will be installed across Santa Maria in the upcoming weeks. The installation comes after the Santa Maria City Council approved a request for updated camera technology from the Santa Maria Police Department. In a 4-1 decision during a meeting April 20, council members voted in favor of acquiring 31 Automated License Plate Reader cameras from Flock Safety. The new technology will cost the city around $240,000 to implement and will be installed on street poles, street lights and attached to police vehicles. Gloria Soto, the councilwoman from district three, voted against the measure but did not provide an explanation. Officials from the Santa Maria Police Department anticipate the new technology will aid criminal investigations and reduce crime rates, particularly vehicle thefts.
The new technology will cost the city around $240,000 to implement and will be installed on street poles, street lights and attached to police vehicles. Between 2019 and 2020, SMPD saw a 66% increase in car thefts and estimated that about 70% of crimes involve the use of a vehicle, Police Chief Marc Schneider told the council. “The license plate readers support the city’s philosophy of ‘smart city, safe city,’” Chief Schneider said. “Leveraging this technology will afford the police Please see PLATES on A3
County expands vaccination efforts By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
After a long 13 months of back-and-forth openings and closings, the county entered the orange tier last week, and wineries can now operate indoors at 25% capacity.
By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Wine tasting rooms in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone are predicting that local residents and wine lovers all over the nation will be “champagne” at the bit to go wine tasting this summer. After a long 13 months of back-and-forth openings and closings, the county entered the orange tier last week, and wineries can now operate indoors at 25% capacity. For wineries that were able to weather the storm — many thanks to directto-consumer bottle sales — employees in the industry are saying summer 2021 will bring back much needed revenue with a wave of vaccinated consumers. “We already have a huge flux of people coming on the weekends, so it’s probably going to get even crazier for the summer,” Mars Wakefield, a sales associate at Melville Winery’s tasting room on State Street near the Funk Zone’s entrance, told the NewsPress Thursday afternoon. He said that Melville tends to attract mostly tourists, and he’s had customers from Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Texas, Chicago and even Arkansas. “People are starting to travel more, which is great,” Vincent McGranahan, another sales associate at Melville, told the News-Press. “We’re starting
Sales associates at Melville Winery’s tasting room say that they anticipate a busy summer now that people are traveling more.
to see people from all over the country, which is awesome … Even before the orange tier, people would come up from Los Angeles all the time, every weekend. They spill into Santa Barbara, and we love them.”
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Mr. McGranahan said Melville’s loyal wine club members helped keep the tasting room running throughout the closures, and while some members had to cancel their memberships, many have re-signed up after the worst
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and six new cases were reported in Lompoc and the North County unincorporated areas of Sisquoc, Casmalia, Garey, Cuyama and New Cuyama and Guadalupe Friday. Goleta reported four new cases and all other areas reported fewer than three new cases. Of the 38 new cases Friday, 14 were among adolescents age 17 and under. With kids going back to school, Dr. Van Do-Reynoso said officials are noticing a slight uptick in cases among 12 to 17 year olds, but the county is not anywhere close to the case rates they saw in January, February or March. At Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, 10 ventilators are currently in use and 101 remain available. Cottage Health is currently treating three patients with COVID-19, according to a news release. email: mhirneisen@newspress.com
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i n s i de Classified.............. B4 Life..................... B1-2 Obituaries............. A4
parts of the pandemic. “We have a very substantial amount of wine club members, so we were still sending out shipments. People were still buying wine when they could, Please see WINE on A4
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department held its first walk-up clinic at the Earl Warren Showgrounds Thursday, offering community members an opportunity to receive a vaccine without needing an appointment. Public health officials have expanded their walk-up clinic options in recent weeks, hoping to address barriers to vaccination. Last week, the department held a walk-up clinic at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria. During an appearance on a local television network, Dr. Van Do-Reynoso, the public health director, said anyone who wants to get a vaccine can just show up to one of the walk-up clinics and health officials “will gladly offer you a vaccine.” The department is also ramping its vaccination efforts in the county by providing a mobile vaccination clinic on UCSB’s campus this Thursday. Public Health officials will park their mobile clinic in Lot 25 next to the Student Health Service Building and provide vaccines exclusively to students on campus. Appointments are limited and students can register through their Student Health Services portal. As of Friday, 46.6% of county residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 32.9% are fully vaccinated. Across the county, 38 new cases of COVID-19 and one new death was reported Friday. The individual who died resided in a congregate care site in the Santa Ynez Valley, was over the age of 70 and had underlying conditions. Nine new cases were reported in Santa Barbara, seven new cases were reported in Santa Maria
Dr. Van DoReynoso, the public health director, said anyone who wants to get a vaccine can just show up to one of the walk-up clinics and health officials “will gladly offer you a vaccine.”
Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 14-18-19-33-37 Mega: 19
Friday’s DAILY 4: 4-0-3-6
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 8-19-26-48-49 Mega: 5
Friday’s FANTASY 5: 1-3-4-5-16
Friday’s DAILY DERBY: 05-03-12 Time: 1:47.22
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 16-18-35-39-53 Meganumber: 21
Friday’s DAILY 3: 9-7-9 / Midday 7-0-0