Santa Barbara County News and Events

Fact check: Trump falsely claims the inflation rate was just 1.7% prior to the Iran war

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President Donald Trump speaks to the press before boarding Marine One on May 12.

By Daniel Dale, CNN

(CNN) — After newly released Consumer Price Index figures showed that the year-over-year inflation rate was 3.8% in April, the highest in nearly three years, President Donald Trump tried to reassure Americans about rising prices – in part by falsely claiming the inflation rate was just 1.7% prior to the war with Iran.

“If you go back to just before the war, for the last three months, inflation was at 1.7%,” Trump said Tuesday. Later in his comments to reporters, he said that “if you go from before, just before the war, we were, for the last three months, 1.7%, and now what you have is – as soon as this war is over, you’re going to see inflation go down to probably 1.5%.”

In reality, the inflation rate was not 1.7% in any of the three months before the war.

The year-over-year increase in the Consumer Price Index was 2.7% in November 2025, 2.7% in December 2025 and 2.4% in January 2026. The rate was 2.4% again in February 2026, for which nearly all the data was collected before the war that began on the last day of the month. It has not been as low as 1.7% since early 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, also wasn’t at 1.7% in any of these pre-war months. It was 2.8% in November 2025, 2.9% in both of December 2025 and January 2026, and 2.8% in February 2026. It jumped to 3.5% in March 2026; the April 2026 data hasn’t been released yet.

Trump has often spoken of core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rather than overall inflation. But he didn’t do so this time, and, regardless, core inflation was at least 2.5% in the Consumer Price Index and 2.8% in the Personal Consumption Expenditures index in each month from November 2025 through February 2026.

Asked for comment Tuesday on Trump’s “1.7%” claim, White House spokesperson Kush Desai responded with a Read more

College Of Engineering Launches UCSB’s First Fully Online Master’s Degree Program

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By Andrew Masuda, UCSB The Robert Mehrabian College of Engineering (COE) at UC Santa Barbara will launch the university’s first fully online master’s degree program, an expansion of UCSB’s engineering […]

The post College Of Engineering Launches UCSB’s First Fully Online Master’s Degree Program appeared first on edhat.

Lentejuelas, volantes y lunares 3D: los mejores looks del Festival de Cine de Cannes hasta ahora

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Por Leah Dolan, CNN

Las preguntas sobre qué esperar del Festival de Cine de Cannes 2026 hasta ahora se han centrado principalmente en dos cosas: el vacío con forma de Hollywood en la selección oficial y “The White Lotus”.

Este año, la histórica celebración del cine que se lleva a cabo en la Riviera Francesa tendrá un aire un poco menos “Misión: Imposible”, que se estrenó en la Croisette en 2025, y será un poco más internacional, ya que directores europeos y asiáticos como Pedro Almodóvar, Nicholas Winding Refn y Ryusuke Hamaguchi ocuparán el centro del escenario.

De las 22 películas en competencia por la Palma de Oro, solo dos son de autores estadounidenses: “The Man I Love” de Ira Sachs, protagonizada por Remi Malek, y “Paper Tiger” de James Gray, con Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver y Miles Teller. (España, en cambio, tiene por primera vez tres cintas en competencia: “Amarga Navidad”, de Pedro Almodóvar; “El ser querido”, de Rodrigo Sorogoyen; y “La bola negra”, de Javier Calvo y Javier Ambrossi).

Pero la noche de apertura del festival demostró que la alfombra roja no tendrá ese mismo vacío con forma de Hollywood. La moda ya es tan deslumbrante como siempre, con la miembro del jurado Demi Moore, junto con las actrices Jane Fonda y Maika Monroe, todas llegando a la noche de apertura cubiertas de lentejuelas.

Paralelamente a las actividades del festival, se está filmando la cuarta temporada de “The White Lotus”, la serie de HBO del guionista y actor Mike White que satiriza la vida de los ultrarricos; y que esta vez se desarrolla en el Festival de Cine de Cannes. Aunque aún está por verse cuán cerca llegará el elenco a la histórica alfombra roja.

A continuación se presentan los looks más distintivos, a medida que suceden, durante los 12 días del evento.

Nunca una persona tímida, Joan Collins aportó un sentido de drama a la noche de apertura con un vestido inspirado en orquídeas y guantes de ópera negros de Stéphane Rolland.

La actriz y miembro del jurado de Cannes, Ruth Negga, lució un diseño personalizado de Dior con joyas de Chopard en la ceremonia de apertura el 12 de mayo.

La directora de “Hamnet” y miembro del jurado de Cannes, Chloé Zhao, lució un diseño de Gabriela Hearst para la ceremonia de apertura.

El modelo, actor y bailarín Alton Mason dejó de lado la camisa y la corbata por un look desabotonado en la noche de apertura.

El jurado del Festival de Cine de Cannes está presidido este año por el director coreano Park Chan-wook e integrado por Demi Moore, Ruth Negga, Laura Wandel, Chloé Zhao, Diego Céspedes, Isaach de Bankolé, Paul Laverty y Stellan Skarsgård.

Jane Fonda con un Gucci negro de lentejuelas para la ceremonia de apertura el 12 de mayo.

También optó por lentejuelas de cuerpo entero Maika Monroe en Ashi Studio.

La actriz y modelo francesa Frédérique Bel lució un conjunto de Pierre Cardin que fusionaba vibras playeras y elegancia parisina con un doble ala y el abdomen al descubierto.

La modelo y actriz británica Poppy Delevingne llevó un vestido vintage de John Galliano, también en la ceremonia de apertura y proyección de la película “The Electric Kiss”.

La actriz francesa Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu lució un dramático vestido con volantes de Saint Laurent.

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The post Lentejuelas, volantes y lunares 3D: los mejores looks del Festival de Cine de Cannes hasta ahora appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

Trump administration pauses new hospice and home health providers’ enrollment in Medicare

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Mehmet Oz

By Tami Luhby, CNN

(CNN) — The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Wednesday that it is placing a six-month moratorium on new enrollment of health providers in Medicare — its latest effort to combat what it says is widespread fraud among hospice and home health providers.

“We’ve seen systemic and deeply troubling fraud in the hospice and home health space, with bad actors exploiting some of our most vulnerable Medicare patients and stealing money from the American taxpayer,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement.

“Today we’re shutting the door on fraud—preventing new bad actors from entering Medicare while we aggressively identify, investigate, and remove those already exploiting them.”

Oz, who is working with Vice President JD Vance’s Anti-Fraud Task Force, has made combatting fraud a top priority. The two are set to make a fraud-related announcement on Wednesday afternoon.

Vance is also traveling to Maine on Thursday to discuss the administration’s anti-fraud efforts, which have targeted the state. President Donald Trump referenced Maine as a hotbed of fraud in his State of the Union address in February.

Maine’s Senate race, where GOP Sen. Susan Collins is running for a sixth term, is expected to be among the most competitive of the November midterm election.

In addition to pausing Medicaid payments to Minnesota earlier this year, Oz has filmed videos and sent letters to governors seeking information and demanding they craft plans to improve the integrity of their programs and revalidate providers.

In February, Oz sent a letter to Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, citing concerns about the state’s Medicaid-funded treatment program for children with autism and demanding information about what the state is doing to identify and prevent fraud, as well as to recover stolen or misspent funds. Mills called the effort a “political attack.”

CMS also placed a similar six-month nationwide moratorium on certain companies that provide durable medical equipment, such as wheelchairs, hospital beds and oxygen equipment — an industry it says is also rife with fraud.

The administrator has focused his hospice anti-fraud efforts in the Los Angeles area. CMS says it has suspended $70 million payments to 773 hospices and 23 home health agencies suspected of fraud in the city.

CMS has also revoked or deactivated hundreds of hospices and home health agencies it says engaged in fraud or improper activity; increased oversight of new hospice providers in Arizona, California, Georgia, Ohio, Nevada and Texas; expanded reviews of home health agency claims in Florida, Illinois, Oklahoma, Ohio, North Carolina and Texas; and conducted hospice site visits.

However, the new moratorium could hurt legitimate providers of hospice services and limit patients’ access to care, the National Alliance for Care at Home said in a statement.

“An enrollment moratorium raises serious access-to-care concerns in areas where patient demand is growing or existing capacity is already strained, leading to longer wait times, reduced service availability, and fewer choices for patients – particularly in rural or underserved communities,” the alliance said.

The group added it and other national organizations have provided CMS with recommendations and targeted strategies f

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