Elections! Voter Guide & 'Ballots & Bites'

Good morning, Santa Barbara ☀️

Here’s what we have for you today:

Voter Guide: Understand the local measures on your California general election ballot
Santa Barbara County District Attorney speaks out on assault on Santa Maria High School student by ICE
Los Padres Forest approves large scale Wildfire Risk Reduction Project
And shoutout to reader Karen Kawaguchi, who correctly answered “Hilda Maldonado” as the news of the week question! Great job. Keep reading the News-Press and please forward this newsletter to someone you know and ask them to subscribe! 😊

Joshua Molina

News-Press Editor

Stories you should know about

At least 64 killed in train crash in Spain, officials say (New York Times)
Desperate mom-and-pops turn to risky cash advances in tough economy — and can get burned (Los Angeles Times)
What’s gone up even faster than gas or rent? The cost of caregiving (NPR)

News-Press, CalMatters to host Ballots & Bites

Today’s the day: The Santa Barbara News-Press & CalMatters will host Ballots & Bites, a public election workshop from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., tonight at the Louise Lowry Davis Center, 111 W. Victoria St.

The Ballots & Bites workshop is part of CalMatters’ statewide effort to partner with local newsrooms on voter education ahead of the election.

The event will run about 90 minutes and feature presentations by CalMatters CEO, Neil Chase, and staff of the News-Press, followed by a workshop in which attendees discuss statewide and local matters in small mixed groups.

The event is free but please RSVP here.

From the News-Press archives

Long before we were talking about State Street, we were talking about State Street. The downtown La Entrada project shook up the city for years and the man behind the original project was the late Bill Levy.

At the time, Levy was looking to build timeshares downtown, and he became somewhat of a lightning rod in local politics because of it. He pulled together a team of investors to build the project, while many local residents said the city was embracing a deal for tourists instead of locals.

After years of back-and-forth, the project was eventually approved by the City Council, but by that time the investments fell through (which sparked a lot of litigation behind the project).

It was eventually purchased by Michael Rosenfeld who turned part of the site into a rebuilt Californian Hotel. Below is a story about how the activists of the time were calling on anyone who would listen not to vote for candidates who accepted contributions from Levy or his team. Cancel culture. Exhausting.

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