Luck and love
Musk’s cause
The Theatre Group at SBCC to launch 2023-24 season with ‘Guys and Dolls’ - B1
Columnist William Haupt III says Twitter owner needs help to end online censorship - C1
Our 167th Year
$2.00
S AT U R DAY, J U N E 2 4 , 2 023
U.S. charges Chinese companies, executives with fentanyl trafficking By BRETT ROWLAND THE CENTER SQUARE
(The Center Square) – Top prosecutors filed charges Friday against several Chinese companies and their executives for illicit fentanyl production, a new tactic to stem the flow of the powerful drug into the United States. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of two people and unsealed three indictments in New York charging China-based companies and their employees with crimes related to fentanyl production, distribution. and sales resulting from precursor chemicals. “We have charged, for the first time ever, four chemical companies based in China and eight Chinese nationals for the
Nation’s largest public pension fund compromised by cybersecurity breach By RIA JOSEPH THE CENTER SQUARE CONTRIBUTOR
(The Center Square) – The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) was recently informed of a cybersecurity breach, which allowed an unauthorized third party to download its data. Personal information for retirees of the state, public agencies, school districts and retirees of the Judges’ Retirement System and Legislators’ Retirement System was accessed when the MOVEit Transfer Application used by PBI Research Services/ Berwyn Group (“PBI”) was compromised on June 6. It included full names, social security numbers and names of former employees and their family members. CalPERS announced the breach on June 21. The MOVEit Transfer Application encrypts data and is used by CalPERS to facilitate accuracy in payments to retirees and beneficiaries and prevent instances of overpayments or other errors. PBI provides MOVEit Transfer services to CalPERS. It also verifies benefit information. The MOVEit Transfer app is used by thousands of organizations worldwide that were also impacted by the breach. PBI has since resolved the vulnerability affecting CalPERS retirees and their survivors and reported the incident to law enforcement. CalPERS’ information systems were not affected by the breach. Still, CalPERS has implemented new security protocols for its website, call centers and offices. Monthly pension payments will continue in accordance with member preferences. CalPERS has partnered with Experian to offer a two-year credit monitoring and identity restoration service to members whose information was stolen. Impacted members were sent a letter detailing instructions on how to access the services. If you have not received this letter and believe you have impacted personal information, please call 833-919-4735. The hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. PT and Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT (excluding major holidays). Additionally, CalPERS advises its members to regularly review and monitor their accounts and credit history for signs of unauthorized transactions or activity and contact local police if they suspect fraud or identity theft. Additional information on recovering from identity theft can be accessed at FTC consumer advice online. CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension fund, serving more than 2 million members in the retirement system and administering benefits for more than 1.5 million members and their families.
FOLLOW US ON
trafficking of fentanyl precursor chemicals into the United States,” United States Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference. “These companies and their employees knowingly conspired to manufacture deadly fentanyl for distribution in the United States.” U.S. authorities arrested two of the eight Chinese nationals. Prosecutors said the companies took steps to disguise the precursor chemicals at the molecular level and provided instructions to recipients on how to change the chemicals back upon arrival. “They add what are known as masking molecules to their fentanyl precursor chemicals,” Mr. Garland said. “Once these masking molecules are added, the chemical signature of the precursor is changed. That
66833 00150
0
chemical company Hubei Amarvel Biotech Co. Ltd., which is also known as AmarvelBio, and its executives and employees Qingzhou Wang, 35; Yiyi Chen, 31; and Fnu Lnu with fentanyl trafficking, precursor chemical importation, and money laundering offenses. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency arrested Mr. Wang and Mr. Chen after they were expelled from Fiji on June 8, officials said. Mr. Wang and Mr. Chen were detained in Honolulu and will appear in Manhattan federal court when they get to New York. Mr. Yang remained at large as of Friday afternoon. Amarvel Biotech, a chemical manufacturer based in the city of Wuhan, Please see FENTANYL on A3
Defector Yeonmi Park tells her story, warns about the dangers of today’s ‘woke left’ By LIAM HIBBERT NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
The Young America’s Foundation hosted its meeting for high school students around the country to learn about conservative ideology and get a chance to listen to Yeonmi Park, the famous North Korean defector. The meeting at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort invited roughly 250 high school students from around the country — although mostly from California — to listen to Yeonmi Park tell the story of when her family fled from North Korea. She used the story as a warning for the United States to turn into a dictatorship if the “woke left” gained power. “I was abducted at birth. Before I was born in my mother’s tummy, they decided what my life would be,” said Ms. Park on what it was like to be born in North Korea. “There’s really no limit to what lies governments can create to control people,” Ms. Park said during the Wendy P. McCaw Reagan Ranch Roundtable Series luncheon. The talk was part of the June High School Conference at the Reagan Ranch. The conference, which started Wednesday, concludes today. The speaker on Friday, Ms. Park, escaped North Korea in 2007 and faced unimaginable hardship before and after defecting, which included being sold into slavery in China. After she lived in South Korea for a few years, she went to New York to write her widely successful memoir “In Order to Live.” She then attended the Ivy League Columbia University, which she now denounces. “The professors at Columbia University were teaching the exact same things that my teachers in North Korea were teaching,” Ms. Park told the high school students at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. “I heard professors saying that humans are a disease.” The criticism of Columbia University and other left-leaning institutions is relatively new in Ms. Park’s speeches. A popular public speaker since her time in South Korea, Ms. Park has begun Please see PARK on A6
COURTESY PHOTO
United States Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Escape from North Korea
Art Without Limits closes in Montecito By LIAM HIBBERT NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
ARTHUR VON WIESENBERGER / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
“There’s really no limit to what lies governments can create to control people,” said Yeonmi Park, the famous North Korean defector, during a talk before the Young America’s Foundation in Santa Barbara.
Art Without Limits closed permanently this week after a tough couple of years during the pandemic. The Montecito art store focused on mentorships for artists looking to hone their skills and turn professional, as well as programs to get the interest of younger kids in the arts. Jodi McLeod, the executive director and daughter of the founder, announced the shop had officially ended on Thursday. “It’s been a couple years since it’s actually been running because COVID hit so hard,” Mrs. McLeod told the News-Press Friday. “Helping the artists was in me, helping to continue my mom’s legacy.” Art Without Limits started back in 2009 when Julie McLeod, a former Broadway performer and Jodi’s mother, established the shop to help get artists’ careers on the way. “She wanted to help artists and she came up with many programs — oneon-one mentorships, where we would pair artists that needed help in getting their career going,” said Mrs. McLeod. “We also did BizArt, which were conferences on different areas of art, business-wise.” Like many small service businesses, Art Without Limits closed largely because of the pandemic. However, there is still a chance that it might not be closed for good. “I’m sad to see it go, but it might not. Someone is possibly interested in taking it over,” Mrs. McLeod said. “I want to make sure they’re in line with what we did with it and carry on my mother’s dream.” email: lhibbert@newspress.com
LOTTERY
i n s i de Classified.............. A8 Life..................... B1-4 Obituaries............. A4
6
means when it is shipped, it appears to be a new, non-fentanyl precursor substance.” When the companies’ clients received the products, the companies provided instructions for the buyer to easily change it back into the fentanyl precursor, Mr. Garland said. “The Justice Department will not rest or relent in investigating and prosecuting every link of the fentanyl supply chain, including the [People’s Republic of China] companies and executives who produce and export vast quantities of the precursor chemicals the drug cartels need to peddle their poison,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said at the news conference. “There can be no safe haven.” In the Southern District of New York, prosecutors charged the China-based
Sudoku................. B3 Business . ............. A5 Weather................ A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 15-26-30-35-41 Mega: 17
Friday’s DAILY 4: 1-7-8-7
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 13-62-65-67-69 Mega: 14
Friday’s FANTASY 5: 7-11-15-19-23
Friday’s DAILY DERBY: 02-04-12 Time: 1:45.20
Wednesay’s POWERBALL: 5-11-33-35-63 Meganumber: 14
Friday’s DAILY 3: 0-8-6 / Midday 0-6-2