Unincorporated areas
recycle landmark amount
SB
County
Residents
and businesses in the unincorporated areas of Santa Barbara County have
achieved a 69 percent recycling rate, the highest ever in county history,
according to the county’s diversion rate numbers for 2006.
“Congratulations
are due to our residents and businesses for doing such and outstanding job with
recycling,” said 1st District Supervisor Salud Carbajal.
In
1989, the State of California required all counties to meet and maintain a
recycling rate of at least 50 percent by 2000. Santa Barbara County has
increased its diversion from 11 percent in 1990 to 69 percent in 2006.
Diversion
programs include recycling of residential and commercial materials and green
waste, construction and demolition debris and electronics.
The
county also produces a county-wide Resource Recycling Guide. For more
information on the county’s recycling programs, visit
http://www.lessismore.org.
Ventura educators
rally against budget cuts
Ventura
A
number of Ventura educators, some parents, students and Assemblyman Pedro Nava,
D-Santa Barbara, held a rally at 4 p.m. on April 18 at Buena High School Quad,
in Ventura, to protest the governor’s proposed education budget cuts. “It’s
important for the community to express their opposition to the proposed state
budget cuts and the consequences to our schools,” Nava said. “It’s
unconscionable that we are facing cuts to education when California has fallen
to the 46th in the nation in per pupil spending.”
State
Street Bank and Trust robbed
Santa
Barbara
The
Santa Barbara Police Department is still investigating a robbery that took
place at the Santa Barbara Bank and Trust, located at 3910 State St., on April
18. The robbery was reported at 2:05 p.m. According to Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte,
public information officer for the SBPD, the victim teller reported that a
white adult male, described as being about six-foot one-inch and weighing about
190 pounds entered the bank and demanded money. The suspect also was reported
wearing a long-sleeved white shirt; blue jeans; an orange and blue baseball
cap; sunglasses and a fake beard.
SBPD
officers, detectives, crime lab technicians and the FBI responded to the
robbery. No one was injured, and the suspect got away with an undisclosed
amount of cash.
County adopts new
fire code
SB
County
The
Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors adopted a new fire code April 15. The
new code includes changes to defensible place and new building and retrofit
requirements that include equipping structures with fire resistant construction
features and new sprinkler systems. The new code does not affect already built
developments and structures.
“It’s
all in the name of recognizing that we need to do a little more to help the
public prevent fires in high hazard areas,” said Eli Iskow,
public information officer for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
For
more information, or to view the new fire code, visit www.sbfire.com.
County fire station
21 moves to Orcutt
SB
County
The
Santa Barbara County Fire Department crew for fire station 21 moved from the
Santa Maria Airport to Orcutt April 21. The crew
includes four fire fighters. In exchange the Santa Maria City Fire Department
will be located at the airport. The two fire departments also have shifted some
of their response area; the county fire department has shifted a little farther
north and the Santa Maria fire department has shifted a little south.
The
move is part of the Automatic Aid Agreement.
For
the next three months the county fire department will be staffing the station
to help with the transition.
Sheriff’s department
gets new high-tech dispatch system
SB
County
The
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department received a new state-of-the-art
computer aided dispatch system on March 12.
The
new system provides the Sheriff’s department more options for dispatchers to
communicate with people in the field, including police officers and medical
responders.
The
system enhances the way in which officers obtain information on criminal
history. It also allows dispatchers to receive more information about received
emergency calls.
“It’s
a great system. I enjoy it,” said Sgt. Alex Tipolt,
public information officer for the county Sheriff’s department. “It allows for
easier communications and provides more information for people out in the
field, plus its user friendly.”
County honors SBCC President
John Romo
Santa
Barbara
The
Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors honored retiring SBCC President John Romo April 22.
John
Romo has served as city college’s
president since 2002 and will be retiring on June 30. Romo
also has worked as an educator and administrator for more than 30 years.
“I’m
very appreciative of the board of supervisors recognizing me for the job I’ve
done at city college,” Romo
said. “It’s with a little bit of sadness but a lot of happiness [that I am
leaving] because it’s time for me to have more time for family, fun things and my self.”
Romo
said he felt that he had accomplished a great deal of success at the college
and added that he looks forward to taking classes.