On March 5, Delaney Smith, Josh Molina and Nick Welsh joined Mr. Cranky Pants for a special post-election edition of “Newsmakers TV.” Recorded and produced at the Eastside studios of TV Santa Barbara, the show featured the panel dissecting the results of balloting two days earlier in the 37th Assembly District, the Board of Supervisors First and Third Districts, as well as a batch of statewide measures.
One story skipped over amid all the big political news. The, uh, coronavirus global pandemic.
No one knew it at the time, but that would be the last time the Newsmakers gang would be together, in the studio or anywhere else, for…who knows how long.
As a wave of Covid-19 warnings and then shutdown and stay-at-home orders emerged in the days and weeks that followed, most workplaces in Santa Barbara, including TVSB, across the nation and around the world were forced to close, as the journalists scattered to report on an outsize crisis, operating under new rules, like social distancing, and using new tools, like Zoom.
On Friday, Delaney, Josh, Nick and Jerry reunited, using the popular video conferencing platform, to talk about the massive impacts of the pandemic on Santa Barbara, a free-for-all discussion ranging from City Hall, the county and the closure of the Nordstrom store to the public schools, the Lompoc federal prison and the closure -- or opening? -- of State Street.
Don't miss the surprise ending.
JR
You can watch the whole show by clicking below. The podcast version is here.
Image: (L-R) Nick Welsh, Josh Molina, Delaney Smith and Jerry Roberts on the set at TV Santa Barbara, March 5, 2020 (Hap Freund).