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Our 165th Year
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S AT U R DAY, SE P T E M BE R 12 , 2 0 2 0
WE REMEMBER
Senate hopefuls introduce platforms at candidate forum By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS
As Sheriff Bill Brown watches, Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig leads a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at 4410 Cathedral Oaks Road.
Santa Barbara County Fire Department honors heroic first responders with flag-lowering ceremony By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department lowered the flag Friday to honor first responders who gave their lives to rescue others on 9/11. Their sacrifices saved people during the terrorist attacks that shook America on Sept. 11, 2001. Around 9 a.m. Friday, county fire chief Mark Hartwig took to a podium in front of the fire department’s Firefighters Memorial statue to deliver remarks to the media.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley also attended the short ceremony at the statue, which is at 4410 Cathedral Oaks Road. Chief Hartwig paid tribute to the 343 firefighters, 37 Port Authority police officers and 23 New York Police Department officers, who died while trying to rescue people from the burning World Trade Center, as well as 27 former firefighters who died from illnesses related to their service that day. The Fire Department of the City of New York recently added those 27 names to its
World Trade Center Memorial Wall, making a total of 227 firefighters who have died from 9/11 health problems related to Ground Zero rescues. Citing the sacrifice that was made on that day by the FDNY’s then highest ranking firefighter, chief Peter J. Ganci Jr., Chief Hartwig called 9/11 an event “that was no respecter of rank or persons.” “On that day, that morning, Peter J. Ganci Jr. was chief of the 15,000-member Fire Department of New York. He died that day, putting his life between danger and those who Please see CEREMONY on A3
Local couple recalls surviving Ground Zero By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
On Sept. 11, 2001, Bob and Margie Neihaus barely made it out of Manhattan alive, and every day since, they’ve thought about those who didn’t. Mr. Neihaus is an economist, and together, the couple founded a consulting firm in 1983. Mrs. Neihaus serves as a corporate officer of the firm and is also a self-employed interior designer. The Santa Barbara natives were visiting for work and pleasure, staying in the Marriott Hotel which connected the Twin Towers on the 17th floor. Mr. Neihaus was attending a conference with Mrs. Neihaus tagging along, and the two planned on a vacation after business. Mr. Neihaus attended a breakfast meeting at 8 a.m. in the hotel lobby that morning, on what he called “a beautiful Tuesday morning” where “the sky was absolutely crystal clear.” As far as he knew, his wife was in the hotel room when Please see GROUND ZERO on A3
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“I climbed underneath the table where I had my breakfast and my initial thought was, ‘I didn’t think I would die like this,’” Margie Neihaus told the audience Thursday Young America’s Foundation “9/11: Never Forget” project on Thursday. She and her husband, Bob, left, shared their experience living through the attacks at Ground Zero.
Two candidates vying to replace current Sen. HannahBeth Jackson had their opportunity to stake their claims Thursday night. Current Assemblymember Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara, and Gary Michaels, R-Santa Maria, took part in a candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Santa Barbara. The candidates delivered their best opening pitch to the public for the 37th District Senate seat as they seek to take over for Sen. Jackson, who has served in the Senate since 2012. Sen. Jackson’s term is set to expire this year. Ms. Limón, who currently represents the 37th Assembly District, said during her opening remarks that her current experience in the Assembly has her feeling confident for any situation thrown at her. “I certainly feel that over the last four years, they’ve been tough but we’ve been there working hard on behalf of this district, whether it’s making sure we have money to have our fire personnel, ready to go with pre-positioning for any wildfire, whether it’s to generate money for public libraries like Fillmore and Goleta or to get clean water… I’ve been there working hard, and I look forward to the next four years as your representative in the State Senate,” Ms. Limón said. For 14 years, Ms. Limón worked in education at the community college level, the UC system, and helping high
schoolers go to college. “Those 14 years, I think, is what inspired me to run for office,” Ms. Limón said. “This is not something that I always planned on doing but something that I was involved with given the work that I did with students and family in this very community.” Throughout the pandemic, Ms. Limón said one of the roles she had was to make sure the public was getting important information, which is why she hosted virtual town halls with local leaders to help small businesses, the general public, and others. When asked about taxes, Ms. Limón said that she hopes to continue following in the steps of Sen. Jackson. “I think that one of the most important things and I was very supportive, that our senator did is to ask for a revision of all our tax credits and also our taxes to look at that in a comprehensive way in the state of California before deciding how and when to move forward,” Ms. Limón said, adding that the public will have the opportunity to vote on important tax credits come Nov. 3. On environmental issues, specifically the wildfires plaguing California, Ms. Limón said climate change and the current wildfires are “absolutely connected.” “The increased dry conditions, lack of rain, have all had an impact on the intensity of wildfires, not just in our country, but in our state and Please see forum on A9
Live performers propose socially distanced shows By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Live performers in Santa Barbara are challenging the current countywide ban on public performances, indoor and outdoor. According to the Health Officer Order implemented in early May, businesses that were required to close physical locations included amphitheaters, concert halls, performing arts centers, dance halls or studios, live performance venues, music events and concerts. These businesses have not yet reached the point of reopening or been able to obtain a safe reopening plan. Members of the performing community, and musicians themselves, have voiced opposition to the ban, and question why they cannot obtain regulations and adapt like other businesses have. “It really doesn’t make a lot of sense that we can have outdoor food services but not outdoor concerts,” Kostis Protopapas, the artistic and general director of Opera Santa Barbara, told the News-Press. “We can apply all the safety rules the government has put to other industries to our own industry. We would like to
have the discussion too.” Mr. Protopapas, along with several other employees in the live performance industry, has spearheaded the Public Performance Revitalization Proposal, which calls for an ad hoc committee to develop and propose strict protocols for review and approval by the Santa Barbara City Council. More than 20 community members volunteered themselves to serve the cause in some capacity, including on the ad hoc committee. Mr. Protopapas said many other jurisdictions all over the country have navigated holding public performances safely. “The ban basically puts an entire class of workers to indefinite unemployment,” he said. “While we understand that bringing people back into theaters may have to wait, there’s no reason why we can’t have some activities that will be sanctioned and regulated by county health with limited numbers, social distancing and mandatory masks with controlled ingress and egress.” He said he wonders “if the county is regulating our industry because it’s not safe or we’re not essential.” “The opportunity for safe Please see shows on A4
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LOTTERY
Comics................. A8 Classified............... A9 Life.................... A5-6
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 8-22-34-37-39 Meganumber: 22
Friday’s DAILY 4: 8-9-5-0
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Friday’s DAILY DERBY: 06-07-04 Time: 1:47.98
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Obituaries........... A10 Soduku................. A7 Weather.............. A10
Friday’s DAILY 3: 7-0-7 / Sunday’s Midday 0-5-6