‘Blackface’ TikTok media post shakes up San Marcos High School

Good morning, Santa Barbara ☀️

Here’s what we have for you today:

Washington Elementary School Principal Arielle Curry placed on administrative leave. Reporter Julianna Lozada has the scoop.
Driver pulled from car in Gaviota Coast rollover crash. Reporter Tom Schultz saw it firsthand and reported from the scene.
‘Blackface’ TikTok media post shakes up San Marcos High School; SMHS principal comments on the situation.
And shoutout to News-Press reporter Tom Schultz for pulling the car over and taking some photos and doing some reporting after watching a rollover crash on Highway 101 in Gaviota.

Tom and I are old pros. We love breaking news reporting and can do it without trepidation. We come from an era when it was mandatory for the job. In addition to reporting throughout the week, we worked weekend shifts by ourselves and learned to keep your nose to the ground to find news. We had to report on whatever was happening. It wasn’t a choice.

We grew up with scanners on our desks and our homes. It’s great to see him spring into action as a reporter even though he wasn’t expecting to at the time. Reporters should always be ready. A journalist does not have the privilege of taking the journalistic hat on and off. A story is always a story, even if you are cruising home on a Monday afternoon. Tom took some excellent photos and wrote up a sharp news story—quickly.

We pick our spots when it comes to breaking news at the News-Press. We are a small, but growing staff, and have to make decisions about resources. But we do know that readers care about breaking news and they look to news outlets for information. We are a newspaper after all. So, expect more breaking news from our scrappy team as we grow and into 2027. We will continue to get better at it, and it’s great to have a team of experienced and new reporters who can work together to provide coverage now and in the future.

Joshua Molina

News-Press Editor

Stories you should know about

Gov. Gavin Newsom signs fire insurance reforms but vetoes two bills addressing complaints by wildfire victims (Los Angeles Times)

Trump personally helped orchestrate taxpayer-funded ads promoting himself and his policies, source says (CNN)

OpenAI reportedly ditches model over safety concerns; new model reportedly “showed higher levels of deception” (TechCrunch)

AI headlines

Trump will pitch an AI ‘golden age’ to a wary nation, flanked by industry leaders (Washington Post)
Trump’s push for data center expansion puts some G.O.P. lawmakers in a bind (New York Times)
Pope Leo zays AI safety fears are not “fake news” and criticizes Nvidia’s billionaire CEO (Forbes)

From the archives

A story from 25 years ago about Santa Barbara City Council fundraising. It’s all about the money.

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