The Covid death toll reached 285 in Santa Barbara County this week, as residents, public health officials and politicians alike navigated pandemic-related controversies over vaccinations, tenant evictions and the return of classroom learning.
Josh Molina, Delaney Smith and Nick Welsh join the host for a new episode of Newsmakers TV to update, deconstruct and analyze all the latest in the coronavirus siege, from reports of a below-the-radar market in Covid vaccinations to the state Legislature's 11th hour extension of an eviction moratorium for renters and renewed, long shot efforts by the Santa Barbara Unified School District to get some elementary school kids back in classrooms before the end of the semester.
The gang also tackles the sorry spectacle of the SB city council's latest kowtowing to unions which reciprocate by channeling big bucks to their campaign funds -- viz. its 6-to-1 passage of a sweetheart Project Labor Agreement policy , over the objections of city contractors and the honorable, if singular, opposition of Mike Jordan, a case study of shameless pay-to-play politics; alas the discussion caused the host's head to explode, releasing some choice, venomous words for certain other council members.
If it's Friday, it's Newsmakers TV -- all here, right now. Watch the show via YouTube below, or by clicking through this link. The podcast version is here.