Alternate view of 9/11 attacks
Dogs on display
Columnist Robert Eringer challenges official narrative surrounding terror attacks - A2
Rosewood Miramar Beach hosting charity dog show for Santa Barbara Humane - B1
Our 167th Year
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Vote on Modoc Multi-Use Path pushed to November
Serve Santa Maria puts in community work By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
On Saturday, Serve Santa Maria began at 8:30 a.m. as volunteers gathered and signed up at the Maldonado Youth Center to enjoy coffee (provided by Starbucks) along with juice and doughnuts. At 9 a.m. there was a short opening and participants picked up water and snacks as they headed to their projects.
“I think between 150-200 volunteers gathered and worked on projects across our community,” said Serve Santa Maria founder Pastor Carl Nielsen, who retired after serving 23 years as pastor of Bethel Lutheran Church in Santa Maria. One of those projects was painting over graffiti on the Santa Maria Bridge, which was also Please see SERVE on A5
California employers add 84,800 new hires; unemployment rate drops to 3.9% By SETH SANDRONSKY THE CENTER SQUARE CONTRIBUTOR
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
Patricia Escalera, left, and Eva Inbar stand near some of the eucalyptus and canary palm trees that could be scheduled for removal on Modoc Road in Santa Barbara on Thursday.
By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
In July, the News-Press reported on a petition to save 63 trees along Modoc Road that were in danger of being cut down by the Public Works Department for the construction of a class I bike path along Modoc Road. That class I bike path is now known as the Modoc Multi-Use Path. The petition and “Save the Modoc Trees” effort has been organized by the Community Association for the Modoc Preserve (CAMP). The path is funded by a grant awarded from the state of California to the county in 2019, known as the Active Transportation Program
grant. The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has pushed the vote on the Modoc Multi-Use Path from the Sept. 13 board meeting to November. A new Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) draft will be published in September 2022. “There will be an additional 30-day public comment period, and the updated MND will be considered by the County Board of Supervisors in November. The County is committed to minimizing the removal of trees,” according to a double confirmation from Lael Wageneck, PIO for Santa Barbara County Department of Public Works and Second District
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Supervisor Greg Hart. The original deadline for the grant is Oct. 1. Supervisor Hart told the News-Press that the board would be applying for a grant extension with the state of California. Earlier this week, the NewsPress was alerted to a petition from the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition to support the completion of the multi-use path. At the time of this writing the petition has over 900 signatures. Patricia Escalera, a CAMP volunteer and former bicyclist (due to an injury from a skiing accident) received a “Notice of Intent to Draft the Mitigated Negative Declaration For the Proposed Modoc Road Bike Path
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Project” from the County Public Works, Transportation division. She is a direct neighbor of the preserve on Vista Clara Rd. Up until this year, due to her injury from a skiing accident, Ms. Escalara was a member of the Bicycle Coalition for five years. Ms. Escalera believes that she is the only one on her street who received the notice. Ms. Escalera also told the News-Press that the notice came to one of her rental houses and not her residence. When she received the notice she alerted her neighbors. In 1999, she was one of the shareholders who “voted to save the land from selling it to Laguna Blanca and to keep it an Please see MODOC on A6
(The Center Square) – Employers in California added 84,800 nonfarm payroll jobs in July, an increase from an upward revised (+17,400) monthover gain of 37,300 new hires in June, according to the state Employment Development Department. In July, the Golden State’s unemployment rate dipped to 3.9% versus June’s 4.2%. “Californians are getting back to work with record low unemployment,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom in a prepared statement. “We have historic reserves and we’re putting money back in people’s pockets as we continue to lead the nation’s economic recovery.” Meanwhile, the nation’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.5% in July from 3.6% in June. U.S. employers added 528,000 new hires in July compared with 372,000 jobs in June. “Both total nonfarm employment and the unemployment rate have returned to their February 2020 prepandemic levels,” according to the federal BLS. Back in the Golden State, private employers have completely recovered from pandemic job losses, according to the state EDD. In contrast, government employment has not fully regained its pre-pandemic levels.
On July, 10 of California’s 11 industry sectors gained nonfarm payroll jobs. Topping the list are professional and business services, and education and health services, with each sector gaining 20,500 new hires in July, with year-over additions of 137,800 and 96,600 jobs, respectively. Leisure and hospitality services added 14,900 new hires in July, with a year-over increase of 172,600 jobs, to lead the way. This sector took a catastrophic hit to employment during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown that Gov. Newsom enacted in March 2020. Financial activities employment shed 1,900 month-over job losses in July. A reduction in insurance carriers is the culprit, according to the EDD. Farm employer payrolls grew in July by 1,400 jobs versus June, with a year-over change of 6,700 new hires since 2021, according to the EDD. In the meantime, Gov. Newsom has sounded an alarm on the impacts of worsening drought on California agriculture, a major employer. Meanwhile, California’s unemployment rate across its 58 counties varied, from a low of 1.9% in San Mateo County south of San Francisco to a high of 14.2% in Imperial County east of San Diego. The trend of California’s coastal communities having lower unemployment rates compared with inland areas continues.
Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 1-7-18-22-38 Mega: 4
Saturday’s DAILY 4: 2-5-0-9
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 33-35-41-45-51 Mega: 1
Saturday’s FANTASY 5: 12-13-16-18-29
Saturday’s DAILY DERBY: 06-03-09 Time: 1:45.33
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 5-9-11-16-66 Meganumber: 7
Saturday’s DAILY 3: 8-9-7 / Midday 1-8-8