Newsmakers Panel: First Take on SB School Board Race --Plus Pods, Pot & Pandemic Blunder

As the deadline closes today for candidates to file papers for the November election, the Newsmakers TV panel goes around-the-horn with instant analysis on the SB school race.

The gang breaks down the implications of this-just-in news that the local Democratic Party on Thursday night endorsed the trio of de facto incumbents running for three seats, handicaps the chances of several newcomers best positioned to challenge them and discusses some key issues in the contest.

Delaney Smith explains her cover story in this week's Independent, reporting how some parents, distressed and overwhelmed by the drawbacks and demands of distance learning, are banding together in educational pods to provide in-person learning for their kids.

Then Josh Molina deconstructs his big scoop that the pot company holding one of three precious permits to own and operate a retail operation in Santa Barbara has sold the asset to a Canadian cannabis behemoth -- which came as news to the Mayor and council members who allegedly, um, oversee city government.

The panel also revisits the shocking disclosure that county public health officials undercounted -- by nearly 100 percent -- the number of deaths inflicted on the community by the Covid pandemic and previews some upcoming big local stories.

If it's Friday, it's Newsmakers TV -- right here, right now and...the podcast version is here.

Image: The Dobie Gillis Show (1959-63), L-R: Zelda, Dobie, Maynard G. Krebs.