Cleaning out the camps
‘Design Excellence’
Supervisors allocate funds to respond to homeless encampment concerns - A2
Architectours focuses on forward-looking buildings - B1
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W E DN E SDAY, S E P T E M BE R 1, 2 021
Biden defends U.S. withdrawal President says 90% of Americans who wanted to leave Afghanistan have done so By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
“I was not going to extend this forever war, and I was not extending a forever exit,” President Joe Biden said Tuesday about his decision to withdraw forces by the Aug. 31 deadline.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday defended his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan by the Aug. 31 deadline. “Leaving Aug. 31 is not due to an arbitrary deadline. It was designed to save American lives,” Mr. Biden told the nation during an address televised from the White House. “The bottom line is that there is no evacuation from the end of a war that you can run without the kind of complexities, challenges and threats that we faced. None.”
He also said, “I was not going to extend this forever war, and I was not extending a forever exit.” President Biden has faced bipartisan criticism for how the evacuation was handled, particularly its sequence. Critics have said Americans, Afghan allies and military equipment should have been all withdrawn before U.S. troops left. Polls have shown Americans agreeing with the decision to leave Afghanistan after a nearly 20-year war, the longest one in U.S. history, but disagreeing with how the Biden administration carried out the withdrawal.
Break from the heat A mix of clouds and moderate highs forecast through Labor Day weekend
During his address, President Biden said 90% of Americans who wanted to leave Afghanistan did so and that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will continue to work to bring the rest home. “For those remaining Americans, there is no deadline,” President Biden said. “We remain committed to get them out.” He said 100 to 200 Americans remain in Afghanistan. “Most of those who remain are dual citizens, longtime residents who earlier decided to stay because of family roots in Afghanistan,” President Biden said. Please see AFGHANISTAN on B4
Vaccine/testing mandate for county workers approved
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to approve a vaccine and testing requirement for all county employees on Tuesday.
By MADISON HIRNEISEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG / NEWS-PRESS
A tree is illuminated by the overcast sky at Carpinteria State Beach on Tuesday.
By DAVE MASON NEWS-PRESS MANAGING EDITOR
The sun hid most of Tuesday in Santa Barbara County. And the forecast calls for clouds today through the Labor Day weekend, except for a sunny Sunday. But sun or no sun, there’s a good reason to be happy. Things aren’t too hot. The Santa Barbara Airport and Goleta saw a high of 71 on a cloudy day. Things were a bit warmer at the Santa Barbara City Fire Department, which recorded a high of 77, according to the National Weather Service.
Other highs were 75 in Santa Maria, 77 in Lompoc and 82 in Santa Ynez. The hottest spot in Santa Barbara County remains New Cuyama, which had a sizzling high of 95 Tuesday. The National Weather Service is forecasting today to be mostly cloudy in Santa Barbara, with highs of 75 at UCSB and 78 in Santa Barbara. It’ll be partly cloudy Thursday and Friday with highs in the mid- to upper 70s. Santa Maria and Lompoc are forecast to be partly cloudy today through the Labor Day weekend, with highs in the low 70s through Saturday. Things will get a few degrees warmer on Sunday. Santa Ynez is expected to be partly cloudy through Saturday, but highs will be in the low
to mid 80s through Friday. Then on Saturday, Santa Ynez will be hot with highs of 89 on Sunday, 90 on Sunday and 89 on Monday and Tuesday. Sunday is supposed to be sunny throughout the county, according to the National Weather Service. But the weather will be partly cloudy again Monday and Tuesday. And Cuyama? Hot, hot and hot. The forecast calls for highs of 89 today and Thursday, then 92 on Friday, then the mid 90s all the way through Tuesday. But at least Cuyama will have sunny skies today through the entire weekend. The sun can’t hide everywhere. email: dmason@newspress.com
‘Beliefs’ added as vaccination exemption at Allan Hancock College By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Allan Hancock College Board of Trustees voted to include sincerely held beliefs and antibodies from prior COVID-19 infection exemptions to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate during a special meeting Tuesday evening. Further, they decided those unvaccinated will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test every three days. Administrators have ordered rapid test kits for the campus. Trustees Hilda Zacarias and Alejandra Enciso Medina were opposed to including sincerely held beliefs as an exemption. Ms. Zacarias considers the issue
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an emotional one, she said, as an immunocompromised student and caregiver of two loved ones in hospice. “I don’t have immunity, and even the vaccine has to be given to me more regularly because it does not work in my body system,” she said. “Does that mean now I am not a candidate for additional education, that I have to drop my goal of being able to get my degree that I’ve been seeking for the last year?” Mr. Medina thought the exemption wasn’t strict enough, but she also struggled with drawing the line at what is a valid belief. “I feel like we would be opening the doors for everyone,” she said. “And like all of us said, none of us want to take the burden of deciding which are religious or personal beliefs. And so
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i n s ide Classified.............. B4 Life..................... B1-2 Obituaries............. A4
that’s really hard for me to take in, especially because I know that my freedom ends when it affects someone else’s health or, personally, safety.” The board chose the language of “sincerely held belief” without further specifying religious beliefs, as those are included in sincerely held beliefs. Superintendent/President Kevin G. Walthers noted that there were “a lot of mixed opinions” from students, faculty and other stakeholders. “We don’t want to be the arbiters of sincere religious beliefs. We think that that is a slippery slope,” he said. Public comments were mixed but respectful. One student was frustrated that he didn’t Please see HANCOCK on A4
All Santa Barbara County employees will be required to be fully vaccinated or undergo weekly testing according to a new policy approved by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. The new measure, which was approved in a 4-1 vote, will require all county staff, extrahelp employees, contractors on payroll, volunteers and interns to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. Board Chair Bob Nelson voted against the measure. The new policy will likely apply to the 30.4% of county employees who have not reported their vaccine status to the county’s Human Resources Department. According to the latest data from the HR Department, 59% of county employees have verified their vaccination status, and 10.6% have self-attested their status. To verify vaccination, employees can show their COVID-19 vaccination card, a photo of the card, documentation from a healthcare provider or a digital record with a QR code. Employees who choose not to be vaccinated will undergo weekly PCR nasal swab testing that will be self-administered at a department or county site. Employees will then be notified within 24 hours of their test results. The supervisors’ stamp of approval on the measure came after a 2-hour public comment
period on Tuesday, where community members voiced both support and opposition to the requirement. Those opposed to the requirement claimed that the measure would be an overreach into the realm of individual rights and freedoms, while those in favor said the requirement was necessary to protect public safety. Many public commenters on Tuesday questioned the need for a vaccine requirement when fully vaccinated people can spread the virus. In response, Supervisor Gregg Hart — who proposed the vaccine/ testing requirement during the board’s Aug. 24 meeting — reminded the commenters of what public health officials have said for weeks now — the vaccines protect against severe hospitalization and death, while also reducing transmission. Given the threat of COVID-19 to the county’s most vulnerable populations, Mr. Hart said the vaccine and testing requirement is needed to keep the community safe and prevent more hospitalizations in the county’s already strained healthcare system. “The way I see it, we have an obligation to protect each other from a dangerous, highly infectious disease that has killed in only 18 months more Americans than died in the four years of the Civil War — the bloodiest war in our nation’s history,” Mr. Hart said. “When I proposed this vaccine or testing requirement at last week’s board Please see BOARD on A2
Sudoku................. B3 Weather................ A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 6-17-29-30-45 Mega: 5
Tuesday’s DAILY 4: 3-6-4-2
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 8-14-31-58-68 Mega: 15
Tuesday’s FANTASY 5: 9-18-19-26-27
Tuesday’s DAILY DERBY: 09-11-12 Time: 1:45.98
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 12-22-26-46-59 Meganumber: 26
Tuesday’s DAILY 3: 0-0-9 / Midday 0-4-8