The National Labor Relations Board unanimously rejected a challenge by owners of the Santa Barbara News-Press and ruled that the union vote by newsroom staffers last year was proper. The ruling means that the Graphics Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters now can bargain for the news staff.

Meanwhile, a hearing on NLRB charges that Wendy McCaw and friends improperly fired eight reporters continues and may last out the month. The News-Press has subpoenaed most of the dozens of editors and reporters who quit over McCaw's antics or were fired since the paper melted down last summer. This was Friday's Steve Greenberg cartoon in the Ventura County Star: