The Newsmakers TV gang convened on Friday amid the sad news circulating in the community that former Mayor Hal Conklin had passed a few hours before.
Mr. Conklin, who waged a brave battle against brain cancer, was 75.
Amid the breaking news of his death, panelists offered some fond recollections and appreciative assessments of his long career as a community hero, political leader, environmental pioneer and civic visionary.
Jade Martinez-Pogue, Josh Molina and Nick Welsh also joined the host with updates and commentary on other top local stories of the week, beginning with the news that the position of former Santa Barbara Police Department spokesman Anthony Wagner has been eliminated from the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
It's the latest twist in the tale of that notorious -- and notoriously wrong -- Los Angeles Magazine story that falsely insinuated Wagner had corrupted the process of awarding retail cannabis licenses in the city -- and came just days after an independent investigation had cleared him of the allegations.
We also discussed the latest on homelessness (a proposed "Sit-lie" ordinance for Milpas Street); housing (Council members Kristen Sneddon and Meagan Harmon clash over the best strategy for meeting state demands); and health care (UCLA moves into Santa Barbara with several small but lucrative clinics while poaching several top oncologists from the Ridley-Tree Cancer Center).
If it's Friday, it's Newsmakers TV -- all here, right now.
JR
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