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Santa Barbara company buys 65-room SLO hotel ‘It is one of the gems of the Central Coast,’ says Andrew Firestone By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
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Volunteers from Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County help with Friday debris removal and cleanup at Sandpiper Mobile Home Village, which was hit by a tornado earlier this week.
Post-tornado cleanup Habitat Santa Barbara provides help to Carpinteria homeowners
Andrew Firestone and Jess Parker of the Santa Barbarabased hospitality development company StonePark Capital have announced their acquisition of Hotel Cerro, a 65-room hotel located in downtown San Luis Obispo (1125 Garden St.). With a full-service restaurant and bar, state-of-the-art spa and wellness center, event space, and the only rooftop pool and bar in San Luis Obispo, Hotel Cerro is being promoted by the owners as the premier luxury destination for travelers to the Central Coast. “We will be doing branding and design work on the interior, but we will not be touching the exterior,” Mr. Firestone told the News-Press Friday. “It’s a beautiful hotel with a cool combination of existing and new architecture. It fits so well into the downtown look and feel. “It is open and operating; it is one of the gems of the Central Coast,” he said. “We will be welcoming guests with no interruption in service with upgrades. As we get into beautiful weather, we are heading into the busy travel season for San Luis Obispo and the Central Coast.” Hotel Cerro will join the Autograph Collection Hotels, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio of 30 brands, with design and branding updates to begin
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Andrew Firestone and his wife Ivana stand outside Hotel Cerro in San Luis Obispo. Mr. Firestone and his business partner Jess Parker announced their company, Stone Capital, have acquired the luxury hotel.
immediately. This represents the third collaboration between Marriott International and StonePark Capital on the Central Coast . “This hotel is a hand-inglove fit with Marriott and the autograph collection,” said Mr. Please see FIRESTONE on A2
Newsom wants Medi-Cal to pay rent for homeless By TOM JOYCE THE CENTER SQUARE STAFF REPORTER
At left, “We removed enough debris including plastic, corrugated plastic and metal to fill enough to fill an entire Dumpster plus a separate Dumpster of green waste that was on the roadways,” said Susan Renehan, Habitat Santa Barbara’s director of philanthropy and external affairs. At right, “Disaster recovery is an important part of the work of Habitat for Humanity,” Jessica de L’Arbre, Habitat Santa Barbara’s CEO, said.
By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara County (Habitat Santa Barbara) mobilized a team of volunteers and staff Friday to assist Carpinteria homeowners impacted by Tuesday’s tornado. “It went really well. We had about 22 people including staff and volunteers who came out to help with the project,” Susan Renehan, the nonprofit’s director of philanthropy and external affairs,
told the News-Press. “We were already working in the community with low-income homeowners. So when the tornado happened on Tuesday, we were already in a great position to come in and help with cleanup and debris removal.” The volunteer work took place at the Sandpiper Mobile Home Village, which was directly in the path of the tornado. A rare event in Southern California, Tuesday’s wind event caused major damage to more than two dozen homes. “Disaster recovery is an important part of the work of
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Habitat for Humanity,” Jessica de L’Arbre, Habitat Santa Barbara’s CEO, said. “Building and repairing homes is at the heart of everything we do. “Natural disasters often disproportionately impact lowincome community members, and we are grateful that we can be a part of the response to this extreme weather event,” she said. “With the recent extreme weather, including Tuesday’s tornado, we have had a huge increase in calls from low-income households asking for assistance with roof
repairs. “We are honored to respond to the call for help — for the individual homes as well as to revitalize the community as a whole with clean-up and safety improvements.” Volunteers on Friday also assisted homeowners in learning about Habitat Santa Barbara’s Home Repair Program, which provides critical home repairs to low-income homeowners. “Everyone was feeling really Please see CLEAN-UP on A2
(The Center Square) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to use Medi-Cal funding for a new purpose: paying rent. Gov. Newsom has proposed using federal healthcare funds to cover at least six months of rent for homeless California residents and those close to losing their homes. The governor asked President Joe Biden’s administration to approve a six-month “transitional rent” program under Medi-Cal, according to a report from Kaiser Health News. California is modeling the program off of similar programs in Oregon and Arizona that have been previously approved by the federal government. “I’ve been talking to the president,” Gov. Newsom told KHN. “We cannot do this alone.” Proponents of the proposed program, including Gov. Newsom, argue that it will save taxpayers money since they will
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Gov. Gavin Newsom
not have to pay as much for these people’s expenses in hospitals, nursing homes and prisons. Bruce Alexander, a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services spokesperson, did not tell KHN if it plans to approve California’s plan. Homelessness is a major issue in the state. California had Please see NEWSOM on A2
INSIDE
L O T T E RY RESULTS
Business/Real Estate A5 Classified................. A8 Life...................... B1-4 Obituaries............... A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 15-20-27-37-41 Meganumber: 16
Friday’s DAILY 4: 5-7-6-5
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Friday’s FANTASY 5: 3-5-7-12-31
Friday’s DAILY DERBY: 09-10-07 Time: 1:40.30
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 27-28-37-50-57 Meganumber: 5
Sudoku................... B3 Sports . .................... A7 Weather................. A4
Friday’s DAILY 3: 3-7-0 / Wednesday’s Midday 3-4-2