A royal return
Garden delight
Homeowners earn awards for droughttolerant gardens and landscapes - B1
Former San Marcos player returns to coach at alma mater - A6
Our 165th Year
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W E DN E S DAY, SE P T E M BE R 2 3 , 2 0 2 0
Back in the saddle Annual SLOPOKE Art of West event this weekend at Flag Is Up Farms
Audit: UC wrongly admitted students UCSB among four UC schools that conducted inappropriate admissions By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Four University of California schools were found to have unethically admitted 64 students between 2013 and 2019 that favored wealthy or well-connected students over others, according to a state audit released Tuesday. UCSB is found to have enrolled four students as student-athletes inappropriately after the auditors conducted research into at least six sports teams on the campus. UCSB did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The report, which was conducted by California State Auditor Elaine Howle, reviewed admissions practices at UCSB, UCLA, UC San Diego and
UC Berkeley, finding that the campuses failed to evaluate students fairly and to develop adequate and standardized admissions processes. Of the total 64 students to be enrolled improperly, UC Berkeley admitted 42 of them, 13 of which as student-athletes. Additional information also revealed that most of the improperly admitted students were white, and at least half of them came from families who earned at least $150,000 per year. “By admitting 64 noncompetitive applicants, the university undermined the fairness and integrity of its admissions process and deprived more qualified students of the Please see admissions on A6
SB County still in purple tier Current conditions qualify for red tier, though case rates must continue for another week By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
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The 10th annual SLOPOKE Art of the West event will be held this weekend at Flag Is Up Farms, 901 E. State Route 246 in Solvang. Among the art that will be featured is “The Irish Cowboy,” shown here.
By MARILYN MCMAHON NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
SLOPOKE Art of the West Exhibition and Sale will have its 10th annual show in a safe and socially distanced way from Friday through Sunday at Flag Is Up Farms, an openair ranch in Solvang. The live art show celebrates the American
West, its scenery, wildlife, ranch life and history and offers guests an opportunity to meet the artists. The event begins with an artist reception and awards ceremony from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday and continues from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the 100-acre thoroughbred horse ranch located at 901 E. State Route 246 in Solvang.
Three prominent artists will unveil their most recent sculptures to the public at SLOPOKE. They are Errol Gordon, Dino Mehaffie and Pat Roberts. Each piece will be a new limited-edition bronze fresh from the foundries. Mr. Gordon’s piece is titled “Conchita,” a sculpture of Conceptión Cintrón Verrill, who Please see ART on a4
EFP takes a deep dive into residential economy By JORGE MERCADO NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Most every industry in the United States, and even worldwide, have been hit hard by the novel coronavirus. And yet, while those industries continue doing what they can just to make ends meet, there is one market doing substantially well during this time: the residential real estate market. “I feel a little conflicted because we are so busy and I acknowledge that there are so many industries that are suffering,” said Karen Chackel, vice president and county manager at First American Title. Ms. Chackel was one of three speakers to address the big boom the real estate market is seeing, especially here in Santa Barbara, during UCSB’s Economic Forecast Project virtual forum hosted by Dr. Peter Rupert. “I honestly have not seen this type of boom, instant boom, in this market since 2005, and it’s all aspects in the market,” Ms. Chackel said. When COVID first hit in midMarch, Ms. Chackel remembered that she was given a directive to send 70% of her staff across the country to work from home.
While that was going on, Ms. Chackel experienced something she never had before despite the multiple recessions she has been through in her time working in the field. “I had never seen an instant stop to the market,” she said. “We actually lost 50% of all of our transactions that were in the pipeline, so that was pretty horrific. All I could see on the horizon was massive layoffs in all aspects of the industry.” They were all worried about what was going to happen in the coming weeks. Then, the boom. “Come toward the end of May, it was like a boom. It was like somebody turned on the faucet,” Ms. Chackel said. While housing sales were dormant in March, April and May, refinances were still happening across the board. Oddly enough, 2019 was already one of the best financial years locally in the real estate market, and 2020, while it might not reach that high, is also still doing very well. That doesn’t mean, however, everything has been easy over the last six months. Some of the big changes meant going to digital on everything, even
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difficult things like notary signings. Renee Grubb, owner of the Montecito-based real estate firm Village Properties, highlighted how at the beginning of the pandemic, no one was interested in purchasing a house, in large part because of the virus. “A lot of properties were falling out of escrow. A lot of sellers were pulling their houses off the market as well. Buyers were concerned about looking at properties and sellers were nervous having people in their homes,” she said. Knowing this, Ms. Grubb quickly implemented new safety precautions for showing properties and conducting real estate transactions to reduce any risk of virus spread and help buyers and sellers feel more safe. And even as restrictions get lifted, she and her team remain committed to sticking to those safety precautions. “Our protocol, our guidelines have really not changed. I think that it’s important for everyone to know that, you know, we’re continuing to do all the proper things out there to show property,” Ms. Grubb said. She added that she is not sure why the boom took place, but she was “thankful,” and said she
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Renee Grubb, owner of the Montecito-based real estate firm Village Properties, was among those who participated in the most recent UCSB Economic Forecast Project webinar. She highlighted the highs and lows of the real estate market during the COVID-19 pandemic.
thinks it was fueled by people wanting to leave the cities. Last August, Ms. Grubb noted that there were 107 closings. This August, 200 total homes and condominiums were able to be closed. Please see efp on b6
Santa Barbara County’s COVID-19 conditions currently qualify for the red tier, the second lowest of the state’s four-tier colorcoded system. However, these conditions must remain in the county for another week before the county changes from the lowest purple tier, signifying “widespread” COVID-19 transmission, to the red tier signifying “substantial” transmission. During an update at the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, Santa Barbara County Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso reported that much of the county is experiencing a downward trend in new COVID-19 cases. Though localities like Santa Maria and Lompoc have started to experience this decrease in new cases, there is a slight uptick in areas like Goleta, Isla Vista, and Santa Ynez, Dr. Do-Reynoso said. From the week of Sept. 6 to Sept. 12, Santa Barbara County’s seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases per day per 100,000 people was 6.5, and its positivity rate 4.3%. Under the state’s color-coded, four-tier system, the former metric ranks under the red “substantial” tier and the latter under the secondbest orange tier, signifying “moderate” transmission. Despite this, a county’s tier ranking is based on whichever metric is most severe, and a county can only change tiers once it has been in a less restrictive tier’s conditions for a minimum of two weeks. According to Dr. Do-Reynoso, if these conditions hold or improve, Santa Barbara would enter the red tier on Sept. 29. Santa Barbara County would have to be assigned to the red tier for 14 days before schools can reopen, making Oct. 13 the earliest possible date for this to happen. As of Monday, Santa Barbara County has had a total of 8,930 cases with 8,669 of them
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Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino participated in Tuesday’s meeting via Zoom video chat due to a member of his staff testing positive for COVID-19. Though he said he tested negative, he was asked to quarantine and not attend the meeting personally.
recovered. The 141 active cases are still infectious, and 23 of them are currently hospitalized with five in the Intensive Care Unit. The county Public Health Department announced 25 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday. One additional COVID-related death was announced. The victim was over 70, had underlying health conditions and resided in the unincorporated area of Goleta. With a total 111 COVID-19 deaths, Santa Barbara County’s death rate is about 1.2%. According to a press release from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, all but one of the inmates in the Santa Barbara County Jail who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered. The remaining COVID-19 positive inmate is being medically isolated in a negative pressure cell. A total of 84 inmates tested positive for COVID-19, including seven who contracted the virus before being booked and 77 who contracted COVID-19 within the facility, authorities said. Fifth District Supervisor Steve Please see supervisors on A2
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LOTTERY
Comics................. B4 Classified............... B5 Life..................... B1-2
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 4-5-13-22-23 Meganumber: 24
Tuesday’s DAILY 4: 8-9-2-5
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 36-43-44-55-68 Meganumber: 12
Tuesday’s FANTASY 5: 7-10-17-19-27
Tuesday’s DAILY DERBY: 06-11-04 Time: 1:45.00
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 11-14-23-47-57 Meganumber: 14
Obituaries............. A6 Soduku................. B3 Weather................ A6
Tuesday’s DAILY 3: 8-8-9 / Sunday’s Midday 3-3-0