Sheriff Bill Brown on the national stage
From Thin Mints to Adventurefuls
Santa Barbara County official now vice president of Major County Sheriffs of America - A2
Girls Scouts to sell their popular cookies at Santa Barbara Maritime Museum - B1
Our 166th Year
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T H U R S DAY, F E B RUA RY 10 , 2 0 2 2
COVID-19 sick leave reinstated By MADISON HIRNEISEN THE CENTER SQUARE STAFF REPORTER
(The Center Square) — Many California workers will be eligible for up to two weeks of paid time off to recover from COVID-19 under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday. The new law, which reinstates that employers must offer COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave, applies to businesses with 26 or more employees. It provides 40 hours of paid time off for workers experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, subject to quarantine requirements, caring for a sick family member or taking care of a child whose school or daycare is closed due to the virus. Employees can also get paid time off to attend a vaccine appointment or recover from vaccine-related symptoms, but businesses can limit the paid time to 24 hours. Workers can receive an additional 40 hours of paid leave if they show proof that either themselves or a family member has tested positive for COVID-19. The law applies retroactively beginning Jan. 1, 2022, and will run through the end of September. “Businesses cannot thrive in a world that’s failing,” Gov. Newsom said during a news conference in the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday. “That’s why sick leave is foundational —
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a state law reinstating COVID-19 sick leave for businesses with 26 or more employees.
keeping people healthy, keeping patrons safe is so important.” Gov. Newsom’s stamp of approval comes after labor organizations and advocates called on lawmakers in recent weeks to reinstate paid sick leave provisions amid surging COVID-19 cases throughout January. The California Budget & Policy Center estimates that the state saw a 320% increase in the number of people not working last month because they or a family member were Please see LEAVE on A3
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A sign inside the Santa Barbara Public Market on Thursday advises customers that masks are required.
Mask mandate continues Santa Barbara County’s indoor requirement remains in effect until March 3
By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
California’s indoor mask mandate is set to end Tuesday, but several counties are extending their local requirements. In Santa Barbara County, the local indoor mask mandate won’t end until March 3. And it could be extended for another month after that. “No modifications have been made to the local order, which doesn’t end till early March,” Jackie Ruiz, the public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, told the News-Press Wednesday. “Health officials are looking closely at the state’s decision and will share broadly if any changes are to be made to the local order.” The level of community transmission in Santa Barbara County is high, according to NPR. The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department on Wednesday reported 341 new COVID-19 cases and four deaths. That brings the county’s total to 82,208 cases, of which 2,701 are still infectious. The number of deaths is now 627. Last month the county was reporting higher daily case numbers. For example, the number of new cases on Jan. 9 was 1,167. Elsewhere, Los Angeles County is keeping its mandate in place
U.S. wins its first gold medal at Olympics Snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis earns medal
By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Travelers wear masks as they wait in line at the security checkpoint at the Santa Barbara Airport.
for the time being. However, according to the Los Angeles Times, the county will likely see the mandate lifted in the coming weeks, likely by the end of April at the latest, baring the emergence of a new variant. According to data from the
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, omicron accounts for almost 100% of new COVID-19 cases. “Local health officials are looking at the total landscape,” Ms. Ruiz told the News-Press. “Omicron is such a different
variant that it has changed the way health officials are looking at the landscape. “There isn’t one set measure of data for determining when to lift the mandate,” she explained. Please see MASKS on A4
A historic moment occurred for both the nation and the competitor when Lindsey Jacobellis, a U.S. snowboarder, won America’s first gold medal Wednesday at the Beijing Olympics.. The win came 16 years after Jacobellis crashed after failing an aerial trick. That cost her the inaugural Olympic women’s snowboard title in 2006. Despite the fall, Jacobellis took the silver that year. The 16-year stretch marks the longest gap between Olympic medals. In previous Olympic events, Jacobellis came in fifth in 2010, seventh in 2014 and fourth in 2018. On Wednesday, the veteran snowboarder led the event all the way, taking the gold ahead of France’s Chloe Trespeuch and
Meryeta Odine. Jacobellis is a five-time world champion, two-time Crystal Globe winner, and eight-time X Games champion, and an Olympic gold medal was the only thing missing from her repertoire. The 36 year-old arrived in Beijing as the most successful snowboard cross athlete of all time. Jacobellis became the world’s oldest snowboarder to win a gold medal. “It was never about redemption,” Jacobellis told Olympics.com about winning the gold 16 years after her fall. “I didn’t have that in my mind coming here. My thought going into this was, ‘It’s either going to happen or it’s not. It could be my day, or it could be another one of the ladies’ days.’ It just so happened that all the stars lined Please see GOLD on A3
INSIDE
L O T T E RY RESULTS
Classified................. B4 Life...................... B1-2 Obituaries............... A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Wednesday’s DAILY 4: 8-2-8-4
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 1-17-20-52-54 Meganumber: 2
Wednesday’s FANTASY 5: 4-6-17-23-25
Wednesday’s DAILY DERBY: 05-01-06 Time: 1:47.35
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Sudoku................... B3 Sports . .................... A3 Weather................. A4
Wednesday’s DAILY 3: 3-0-1 / Wednesday’s Midday 3-9-8