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Congregation B’nai B’rith welcomes participants for Mitzvah Day - A3
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Our 167th Year
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W E D N E S DAY, D E C E M B E R 14 , 2 0 2 2
Biden signs gay marriage bill New law protects same-sex and interracial marriages
By CASEY HARPER THE CENTER SQUARE SENIOR REPORTER
DAVE MASON/NEWS-PRESS
Mayor Randy Rowse watches Visit Santa Barbara’s video promoting the area for tourism during the Santa Barbara City Council meeting.
Tourism success proclaimed
(The Center Square) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed into law the Respect for Marriage Act, a bill codifying protections for same-sex and interracial marriages. “Today is a good day,” President Biden said. “A day America takes a vital step toward equality, for liberty and justice, not just for some but for everyone.” The signing took place after a ceremony and string of performances from gay entertainers. The bill, which received support from nearly 40 House Republicans last week to send it to the president, repeals the federal Defense of Marriage Act that was signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996. As The Center Square previously reported, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., helped lead the effort in the Senate, where the bill was first passed. Her office said the legislation would “require the federal government to recognize a marriage between two individuals if the marriage was valid in the state where it was performed.” The legislation would also guarantee that “valid marriages between two individuals are given full faith and credit, regardless of the couple’s sex, race, ethnicity or national origin, but the bill would not require a state to issue a marriage license contrary to state law.” The U.S. Supreme Court ruled
Visit Santa Barbara tells city council that Santa Barbara is doing better than other entities By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Santa Barbara outperformed the county, state and even the nation in terms of growth in revenue per available hotel/motel room, the head of Visit Santa Barbara told the city council on Tuesday in the group’s annual presentation. The numbers show the city has more than rebounded since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down many businesses and damaged the local economy, said Kathy Janega-Dykes, president and CEO of Visit Santa Barbara. “Our crowning success is that in many ways this outpaces that of our competitors,” she told the Santa Barbara City Council during its meeting. “Growth in revenue per available was an astonishing 44%” — more than the average for Santa Barbara County, California and the country as a whole — “while the state is working to get back even.” During her presentation, Ms. Janega-Dykes provided a look back on the Fiscal Year 2022 tourist industry performance, and a look ahead to Visit Santa Barbara’s sales and marketing plans to attract visitors to Santa Barbara, known as “the American Riviera.” “Santa Barbara has the upper hand in terms of brand,” she said. “It checks all the boxes for our
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visitors.” At the same time, she said her group’s efforts are not just on behalf of tourists but “for the community here, our residents, your constituents.” “The challenge remains the same pre- and post-COVID,” she said. “The city and Visit Santa Barbara do our best work together to protect our reputation as a beautiful destination.” Whether it’s COVID or another
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Kathy Janega-Dykes, left, president and CEO of Visit Santa Barbara, told the Santa Barbara City Council that Santa Barbara is outperforming Santa Barbara County, California and the U.S. in growth in revenue per available hotel/motel room. The city council on Tuesday appointed Sarah Knecht, right, as the city attorney.
obstacle, “our community has a way of coming out on top.” She said that even during the pandemic, Visit Santa Barbra stayed on top of the tourist market aggressively so that when restrictions were lifted, “from day one, our hotel occupancy rebounded,” increasing the city’s transient occupancy taxes dramatically. Despite the group’s success in promoting Santa Barbara and
attracting visitors, Visit Santa Barbara’s mission remains the same: to put Santa Barbara on the map. “Certainly the pandemic has taught us lessons that last a lifetime, to maximize the moment at hand” while acknowledging that change is inevitable, she said. “The bottom line is that we have to continue to market aggressively. We’ve had to since day one and we have to continue for the days to come.” Councilmember Kristen Sneddon asked why Santa Barbara continues to do so much better than its competitors. “We were in the market immediately,” launching an advertising campaign to put the city on people’s radar “and keeping our fingers crossed,” Ms. Janega-Dykes said. “We were very hyper-focused and used cell phone data to identify prospective customers,” updating the group’s website continuously “to make sure it stays fresh and contains all the information visitors are looking for. And it worked.” Councilmember Mike Jordan agreed the group and city need to continue their marketing efforts to pitch Santa Barbara as the choice place to visit. “If we sit on our hands and Please see SUCCESS on A4
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President Joe Biden
in 2015 on the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges to make same-sex marriage the law of the land nationwide. That ruling required states to allow same-sex unions under law. The high court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade earlier this year as well as comments made by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas raised concerns that the court could do the same to the Obergefell ruling. “Passing the Respect for Marriage Act wasn’t just the right thing to do for America,” Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “It was personal to us, to our staff, and to our families.” Casey Harper works at The Center Square’s Washington, D.C., bureau.
Breakthrough reported in nuclear fusion Progress reported in efforts for clean power By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
A breakthrough in nuclear fusion — seen as a major step in the progress toward clean power — was announced Tuesday by the federal government. The U.S. Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration reported the achievement of fusion ignition at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif. This is seen as a major scientific breakthrough that has been decades in the making, and the Department of Energy says it will pave the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power. On Dec. 5, a team at LLNL’s National Ignition Facility conducted the first controlled fusion experiment in history to reach this milestone. It’s known as a scientific energy breakeven, meaning it produced more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it. The Department of Energy says this historic, first-of-its kind achievement will provide insights
into the prospects of clean fusion energy, which the department said would be a game-changer for efforts to achieve President Joe Biden’s goal of a net-zero carbon economy. “This monumental scientific breakthrough is a milestone for the future of clean energy,” said Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., in a news release. “While there is more work ahead to harness the potential of fusion energy, I am proud that California scientists continue to lead the way in developing clean energy technologies. I congratulate the scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for their dedication to a clean energy future, and I am committed to ensuring they have all of the tools and funding they need to continue this important work.” Praise also came from Jennifer M. Granholm, the U.S. secretary of energy. “This is a landmark achievement for the researchers and staff at the National Ignition Facility, who have dedicated their careers to seeing fusion ignition become a reality, and this Please see FUSION on B4
INSIDE
L O T T E RY RESULTS
Classified................. B4 Life...................... B1-2 Obituaries............... A4
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 13-18-19-22-38 Meganumber: 11
Tuesday’s DAILY 4: 6-0-0-6
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Tuesday’s FANTASY 5: 6-15-21-29-38
Tuesday’s DAILY DERBY: 11-08-03 Time: 1:47.26
Monday’s POWERBALL: 16-31-50-55-61 Meganumber: 9
Sudoku................... B3 Sports . .................... A4 Weather................. A8
Tuesday’s DAILY 3: 0-2-1 / Wednesday’s Midday 7-3-1