Global shock and horror over the massacre of more than 1,300 Israeli civilians by Hamas echoed in Santa Barbara this week, in mass displays of emotion, both heart-breaking and alarming.
Amid growing anguish about Israel's deadly military response, a bid to root out the terror group in Gaza, Josh Molina, on this week's edition of Newsmakers TV, reprises his coverage of, and his reactions to, a pair of very different events stemming from the Mideast crisis:
First, a solemn and moving remembrance of the Jewish victims last Sunday night in De La Guerra Plaza, followed by a Thursday night street corner rally, where participants highlighted the deaths and plight of Palestinian civilians trapped in Gaza. The latter demonstration quickly drew a pro-Israel counter-protest across State Street, and triggered a series of hostile verbal exchanges uncommon in Santa Barbara for their depth of virulence and venom.
The Independent's Ryan P. Cruz checks in with the latest in the case of Jeanne Umana, the Upper East Side woman caught on a cell phone video flinging racist insults at a construction worker on her block, behavior that now has led to the District Attorney to file two misdemeanor charges against her.
And KEYT's Lily Dallow returns with a preview of her latest multi-media project, a look at what's behind the sudden, against-all-odds emergence of flag football, featuring high-profile competition in girl's leagues, as a breakthrough sport on the crowded local youth sports calendar.
Plus: why the Santa Barbara Foundation's big housing report matters; yet another plot twist in our civic soap opera over restaurant outdoor dining; and the return from media self-exile of developer Ed. St. George, who has thoughts about the City Planning Commission.
Not to mention the genial host's wistful recollection on the 50th anniversary of Richard Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre," which, as political scandals go these days, seems quaint, naive and twee.
All this and more, right here, right now, on Newsmakers TV.
JR
You can watch the new edition via YouTube below or by clicking through this link. The podcast version is here. TVSB, Cox Cable Channel 17, broadcasts the show every weeknight at 8 p.m., and at 9 a.m. on weekends. KCSB, 91.9 FM, airs Newsmakers on Mondays at 5:30 p.m.
Image: A circle of candles at Oct. 15 vigil in De La Guerra Plaza in remembrance of victims of Hamas pogrom in Israel (Josh Molina photo).
CARTOON OF THE WEEK
New Yorker cartoon by David Sipress.