Rotary Club of Santa Barbara North

Bi-weekly Newsletter

🎙️ Main Program 🎙️

The Return of the Santa Barbara News-Press

Speaker: Josh Molina, Editor of the Santa Barbara News-Press

This week, we were thrilled to welcome award-winning journalist and Goleta native Josh Molina. Josh has been a journalism instructor at Santa Barbara City College since 2009 and hosts the popular local podcast "Santa Barbara Talks". He joined us to discuss his new role as the Editor of the recently revived Santa Barbara News-Press.

Key Takeaways from Josh's Presentation:

  • A Storied History: Josh began his career at the News-Press two decades ago, experiencing firsthand the infamous 2006 "meltdown" when former editor Jerry Roberts and several staff members resigned over ownership interference.

  • The Resurrection: After the paper eventually filed for bankruptcy, local community leaders—including Jason Yardi and Ben Romo—purchased the publication's name and archives.

  • A New Era: Hired in December, Josh is leading the charge to provide unbiased, straight-down-the-middle local journalism.

  • Looking Ahead: The News-Press is currently an online-only platform sending out newsletters twice a week, but there are hopes to eventually introduce a physical weekend print edition.
Click Me!

🌟 Special Presentation 🌟
Student Visionaries of the Year

We were deeply moved by a presentation from Jack Hyatt, Sebastian Fabio, and Tessa Schrock—a team of local high school students representing the "Blood Cancer United" campaign for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

  • The Goal: The team is on an ambitious mission to raise $200,000 by March 20th to fund life-saving blood cancer research and clinical trials.

  • The Impact: Tessa and Sebastian shared touching personal stories of their own grandparents' battles with cancer. Jack emphasized that due to funded research, survival rates for these diseases have remarkably improved from 14% to 68%.
Click Me!

📢 Club Business & Announcements 📢

  • Welcome Guests: A warm Rotary welcome to this week's guests: Dina Richardson, Matt Quinto from CADA, Lawrence, and President Jim's wife, Kim.

  • PETS Update: Gil provided a report on the recent President-Elect Training Seminar (PETS), stating it is one of the best training conferences available and highly recommending it to future leaders.

  • Young Leaders Initiative: The club is actively trying to fill three open membership slots. This tier is available for just $35 a month to encourage young professionals to join Rotary.

  • Committee Volunteers: Thank you to Julian for stepping up to join the Membership Committee! The club is still actively searching for a chair.

member spotlight

Anthony Clark took the hot seat this week for "Two Truths and a Lie". He shared three incredible facts with the club:

  1. He comes from a long lineage of produce salesmen.

  2. His children are sixth-generation Santa Barbarans on their mother's side.

  3. He secretly had his wife's engagement ring sewn into his shoe by his mother before proposing to her on a Ferris wheel in Budapest.

Can you guess which one is the lie?
Click Me!
MEGA BUCKS

  • Tom: Donated a Mega Buck in honor of his wife, who has spent the last two weeks hard at work remodeling the interior of their home.

  • Lawrence's Visit: A Mega Buck was happily given to celebrate guest Lawrence being in attendance today.

  • Jim: President Jim contributed a Mega Buck because he was thrilled his wife, Kim, could join the meeting.