One year after Covid-19 began its deadly passage through America, killing more than half-a-million, shutting down businesses and transforming daily life, a wave of good news has finally arrived, as vaccination rates rise and infection rates decline.
In Santa Barbara this week, county businesses were poised to resume much normal economic activity, local governments eagerly awaited a new infusion of federal financial aid, students began returning to school and supplies of the vaccine were flowing -- and getting into the arms of local residents.
Josh Molina and Delaney Smith join the host with all the latest about how the vaccination campaign is working locally, with a special focus on students returning to classrooms in the Goleta Union and Santa Barbara Unified School districts.
The gang also breaks down a whirlwind week in the Santa Barbara mayor's race, as popular former council member and longtime restaurant owner Randy Rowse announced his candidacy, scrambling the race, while incumbent Cathy Murillo sought to manage several self-inflicted controversies that erupted from comments she made in a Newsmakers interview.
Plus: The strange tale of why SB school board members were forced to revisit in public embarrassing events they experienced as schoolgirls, part of an expensive and controversial consultant presentation about changing the way teachers administer and award grades.
If it's Friday, it's Newsmakers TV -- all here right now: Watch the show via YouTube below, or click through on this link. The podcast version is here.