Not since Covid first struck in March have the economic, political and social impacts of the pandemic so dominated day-to-day life in Santa Barbara as during 2020's doleful holiday season.
In this week's episode of "Newsmakers: Journal of the Plague Year," Delaney Smith and Josh Molina join the host to look behind the press of news about the pandemic, as business owners and elected officials pushed back against Governor Gavin Newsom's latest stay-at-home diktat, viewing it as an overreach decree that disregards local conditions and wipes out crucial Christmastime commerce.
The gang breaks down the Board of Supervisors' long shot bid for relief from Prince Gavin's order -- partnering with San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties to plead for a waiver that would decouple the Central Coast from Los Angeles and population centers south in calculations of Covid data that determine the severity of shutdown regulations.
Looking back on a week in which SB council member Oscar Gutierrez revealed that he's contracted the virus -- and made a very personal plea for everyone to stay home -- the panel also examines the City Council's enactment of generous new eviction benefits for renters and the council's rejection of the City Administrator's request for a private consultant study of police department funding, prompted by last summer's Black Lives Matter protests. Plus the latest on a contentious new report by Sheriff Bill Brown about local law enforcement's interaction with federal immigration authorities.
If you're on the blog, you can watch the show via our YouTube channel below; if you're a subscriber to our newsletter (thank you!) click through on this link. And the podcast version is here.
If it's Friday, it's Newsmakers TV.
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