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W E D N E S DAY, F E B RUA RY 8 , 2 0 2 3
Attempted murder suspect appears in SB court
Aid for Turkey, Syria Goleta-based Direct Relief mobilizes medical assistance, $200,000 funding to earthquake responders
By NEIL HARTSTEIN
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The man charged with attempted murder for allegedly stabbing a homeless man in the neck last month in downtown Santa Barbara had his case continued for two weeks following his appearance in Santa Barbara County Superior Court on Tuesday. The defendant, Mitchell Grant Grote, 27, was scheduled Tuesday to have a date set for his preliminary hearing, but the case continued to Feb. 21, Senior Deputy District Attorney Kevin Weichbrod said after the Santa Barbara courtroom appearance. Mr. Grote pleaded not guilty at his Jan. 31 arraignment. He remains in custody on more than $1 million bail. Prosecutors charged him with two felony counts: attempted murder and assault with personal use of a deadly weapon. Mr. Grote “did unlawfully and with malice aforethought attempt to murder a human being,” prosecutors said. They identified the injured man as W. Vankoppen. They charged the defendant’s alleged offenses were serious and violent felonies, and that his actions were “willful, deliberate and premeditated.” The charges carry with them special allegations of use of a deadly weapon, a knife, and causing great bodily injury. Prosecutors also listed aggravating factors, including that Mr. Grote’s alleged actions disclosed a “high degree of cruelty, viciousness or callousness.” Santa Barbara police arrested Mr. Grote on Jan. 29 after responding earlier in the day to calls reporting an injured and bleeding man near Anacapa and De La Guerra streets. They located the victim, who they described as a middleaged homeless man. He was suffering from a stab wound to the neck and was quickly transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital by medics. Patrol officers began their investigation, and detectives were called in to assist. Officers from the Community Action Team were able to assist and advance the investigation rapidly due to their relationships with people in the Santa Barbara community who are suffering from homelessness. With information provided by community members, C.A.T Officers identified Mr. Grote as a suspect, and probable cause was developed to make an arrest, police said. He was found later on Milpas Street and arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide. email: nhartsteinnewspress@ gmail.com
KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
The Cachuma Reservoir, for all intents and purposes, is full to the point of potentially spilling over, said Dakota Corey, the new Santa Barbara water supply and services manager.
Storms leave SB with more water Supplies can now meet demands for several years By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
BREA BURKHOLZ/DIRECT RELIEF
At its headquarters in Goleta, Direct Relief prepares shipments of emergency aid for Turkey and Syria following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the region on Monday, Items include medication and supplies to treat people with injuries and pre-existing medical conditions, such as field medic packs, antibiotics and other essential medicines, as well as oral rehydration solutions and hygiene items for those displaced from their homes.
By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Within hours of the 7.8-magnitude earthquake Monday that caused widespread damage across Turkey and northern Syria, the Turkish government requested international assistance, and Goleta-based Direct Relief began mobilizing its response. Direct Relief has committed $100, 000 each to two different
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people often become ill due to their lack of shelter, compromised water and sanitation systems, lack of refrigeration, and untreated injuries. These circumstances can lead to bacterial infections and disease outbreaks among people who are forced into temporary shelters. People also frequently lose access to the medicine they need to Please see DIRECT RELIEF on A4
Santa Barbara-based nonprofit ShelterBox responds with relief efforts after 7.8 earthquake By CALEB BEEGHLY NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Santa Barbara-based ShelterBox USA is helping with relief efforts after Monday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake near Gaziantep, Turkey. The earthquake and its aftershocks have impacted Turkey and Syria, which led to the response from ShelterBox, which provides shelters and other humanitarian relief for regions in crisis. According to Kerri Murray, president of ShelterBox USA, the hardest part about this humanitarian crisis is that “So many people are already displaced … The region is already home to millions of refugees and IDPs (internally displaced persons) from the decade-long civil war in Syria. For many of the Syrian survivors of the earthquake, this is just the latest in a series of unthinkable tragedies. It is a true crisis within a crisis. ”
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organizations — the AKUT and the Syrian American Medical Society. Earthquakes typically cause blunt trauma and orthopedic injuries, such as broken bones, lacerations, and crush syndrome from being trapped under heavy debris. An overwhelming number of injuries in the initial moments of an emergency can create an acute need for health personnel, medical supplies, blood, and medicines. In an earthquake’s aftermath,
Last week the Santa Barbara City Council voted to terminate the state of emergency prompted by the huge rainstorm that dumped 5 inches of water on Santa Barbara in two days, flooding the streets and clogging them with debris. On Tuesday, the council focused on the flip side of the heavy rainfall: The city’s available water supplies are now sufficient to meet demands for at least the next three years. Council members heard this from city water officials who provided a water supply update that showed just how big a dent the massive January storm made in the state’s drought status, improving it from”extreme” to “abnormally dry.” “It’s much, much better than it was three weeks ago,” Joshua Haggmark, the city’s water resources manager, said. “We went from a very dry state to a much improved, wetter state,” added Dakota Corey, the city’s new water supply and services manager. The city-owned and operated Gibraltar Reservoir, which ended Water Year 2022 at a below average 68% full, now stands at 272% above average, she said. “It’s full and began spilling over on Jan. 5.” The Cachuma Reservoir, for
all intents and purposes, is full to the point of potentially spilling over, Ms. Corey said. “Anytime it’s spilling, we get free water because that’s not deducted from our Cachuma allocation,” she said. Just last year, the city was only allowed to use 5% of its maximum allocation of 3,300 acre feet, but now that figure has jumped to 30%, or 990 acre feet, she said. At the same time, because of the rain, the city now can rely more on its Gibraltar Reservoir and other water resources to meet its needs instead of relying so much on Lake Cachuma like it did last year. This means the city of Santa Barbara will be able to “bank” the extra water it doesn’t need from Lake Cachuma for later use if necessary. In fact, the city now has so much “banked” water on hand in the San Luis Reservoir that it’s been able to pay back all its “water debt” to the state, and in the future will be able to purchase water outright if necessary instead of having to go back into debt, Ms. Corey said. “The community is using its water resources very efficiently,” she said. “We have one of the most diverse water supply portfolios in the state. We’re not stuck relying on one.” Desalinated water continues Please see COUNCIL on A4
COURTESY SHELTER BOX
ShelterBox prioritizes the most vulnerable, often women and children, in the world’s worst conflict zones including Syria.
The civil war in Syria has killed 75,000 people and displaced tens of thousands. Before the earthquakes, around 4.1 million people in northwest Syria already relied on humanitarian aid. In addition to this, Turkey has
had seven earthquakes over a magnitude of 7.0 in the last 25 years. However, due these strings of crises, ShelterBox USA has Please see SHELTERBOX on A4
The city-owned and operated Gibraltar Reservoir, which ended Water Year 2022 at a below average 68% full, now stands at 272% above average.
INSIDE
L O T T E RY RESULTS
Classified................. B4 Life...................... B1-2 Obituaries............... A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 6-15-16-24-35 Meganumber: 14
Wednesday’s DAILY 4: 6-4-8-8
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Wednesday’s FANTASY 5: 2-22-29-30-39
Wednesday’s DAILY DERBY: 05-01-09 Time: 1:46.98
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 5-11-22-23-69 Meganumber: 7
Sudoku................... B3 Weather................. A4
Wednesday’s DAILY 3: 0-2-6 / Wednesday’s Midday 7-9-6