NEWS-PRESS CHARGES: The Santa Barbara News-Press may not have much of a newsroom staff left, but it is certainly keeping plenty of lawyers working overtime from here to Washington, D.C. The paper just got hit with a dozen or so new charges by the National Labor Relations Board.

“The News Press has continued to act outside of the law,” complained Ira Gottlieb, attorney for the Teamsters Union, which represents the newsroom. But News-Press attorney A. Barry Cappello implied that the NLRB is showing favoritism toward the union. “The tactics of the NLRB, in throwing whatever the Teamsters request up against the wall, will be vigorously opposed.”

The federal agency has scheduled a hearing on the new charges at the Ventura College of Law at 1 p.m. on May 11, before an administrative law judge. But Cappello said he might seek a continuance while studying the fresh accusations.

Not surprisingly, the NLRB is accusing the News-Press of bad-faith bargaining, dragging its feet during contract negotiations for the past year-plus. Additionally, the NLRB accused the NP of failing to provide information, hiring temp workers to undermine the union, illegally laying off employees, and other labor-law violations. Meanwhile, the NLRB’s board, shorthanded and awaiting appointments by President Barack Obama, is still considering the News-Press appeal of a 2007 court decision that ordered the paper to rehire eight illegally fired reporters. And a decision is awaited from the 9th Circuit federal appeals court on immediately putting the reporters back to work.

Not long ago, the News-Press published huge ads proclaiming that the Teamsters were guilty of “illegal secondary boycotts” by distributing leaflets supporting the journalists outside local businesses. The practice has long been approved by courts. The NLRB recently tossed out the NP charges.

LADY DETECTIVE: She’s not your average, slim beauty queen, but Precious (Jill Scott) is sure to win your heart in the HBO series that began Sunday, The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. It was shot in Botswana, Africa, and is based on Alexander McCall Smith’s books. The first show was low-key and charming, and of course Precious solved all problems without violence.

WOMEN SEEKING MEN: It may not be the cool thing to do, but I hear that some Santa Barbara women are getting their kicks at work by signing in as men and taking an Internet gander at men-seeking-men sites.

A DEAL ON BREAD: Laura Knight, owner of Pascucci Restaurant (729 State St.), has long been a solid supporter of the Solstice Parade. Now she’s selling loaves of her special bread for $5 (normally $7), with all proceeds going to Solstice. You can pick them up ready to eat or heat them at home. Call Solstice at 965-3396 for tickets.

THE BABE’S CANDY? After I wrote last week about a candy bar being named for famed Yankee slugger Babe Ruth, I got comments contending I was wrong. Baby Ruth, one of my favorites throughout the years, was actually named for another Ruth, the daughter of President Grover Cleveland, readers claimed. So I checked and found that the Curtiss Candy Company came out with the nutty bar in 1921, at the height of Ruth’s fame. And this was long after Cleveland left the White House — and 15 years after daughter Ruth had died. They came out with a candy bar named for a long-dead child? Many suspected that the company made up a bogus story to avoid having to pay royalties to The Babe.

TWO WOMEN, MANY CHARACTERS: In the Continuum, now on the boards at Ensemble Theatre, puts us in the hearts and minds not only of two women but others in their troubled worlds. Tiffany Adams, playing Abigail in Zimbabwe, and Julia Pace Mitchell, portraying Nia, in South Central, L.A., share the stage but never speak to one another. Yet they face similar, heart-wrenching problems, chiefly revolving around men. The play, by Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter, is beautifully written and movingly acted.

SCOFFLAWS: Sorry to report that Santa Barbara’s voter-approved law banning gas-powered dirt blowers is as widely violated as the one prohibiting drivers from using hand-held cell phones. Whenever I approach a guy using a dirt blower, he shrugs his shoulders and says he knows nothing of any such law. Police have been handed the duty of enforcing the ban, but that hasn’t worked. Cops are too busy and have other priorities. How about switching enforcement, maybe to the creek antipollution task force, which has vehicles to make rapid responses?

CHUCK AND LOVELY RITA: Reporter Chuck Schultz, who fled the News-Press turmoil a couple of years ago, has found marital bliss with the former Rita Proffitt. They tied the knot last week in the Santa Barbara Courthouse Mural Room, with Superior Court Judge Clifford Anderson III presiding. (Yes, there’s life and love after the NP newsroom.)

HIT-AND-RUN ON OUR HEARTS: Our hearts go out to the family of Montecitan Adrianna Bachan, the USC student killed by that hit-and-run driver last weekend. She attended Montecito Union School and Santa Barbara High. “She was a beautiful person,” said one mother who knew her. I predict they’ll nail the driver.

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