latimes--2020-05-28--Reopening California could easily backfire into second wave without masks and distancing, officials

Reopening California could easily backfire into second wave without masks and distancing, officials warn

Los Angeles County , which has been hit harder than any other part of California by the COVID-19 pandemic , is rapidly beginning to reopen its economy .
Just this week , officials said churches and many more retail businesses could reopen with strict social distancing rules .
And there is hope L.A. County could soon join surrounding areas in allowing limited in-person dining at restaurants .
But health officials have stressed that with the easing of stay-at-home orders comes potential dangers .
Preventing new outbreaks depends on people wearing masks , avoiding crowded spaces and keeping at least six @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lot at stake as we reopen , ” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Wednesday .
“ More people being around one another can result in more transmission of COVID-19 — just more cases and likely more hospitalizations and deaths .
This is why it couldn ’ t be more important for us to take care of each other when we ’ re out of our homes.
” Ferrer ’ s comments echo those of health officials in the Bay Area , who also have been slowly reopening the economy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deteriorate if people don ’ t follow the rules .
Dr. Sara Cody , health officer for Santa Clara County and a key architect of the nation ’ s first coronavirus shelter-in-place order , this week criticized California ’ s of lifting stay-at-home restrictions .
Cody expressed concerns that California risks a if it reopens too many sectors of society too quickly .
Reopening so fast , she said , means there isn ’ t enough time to implement new procedures to make reopened activities safe .
Since early May , “ the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ model and has made significant modifications with increasing frequency , ” Cody said .
“ The pace at which the state has made these modifications is concerning to me.
” Santa Clara County was once the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in California .
But that has since shifted to Los Angeles County , which has recorded more than 2,200 deaths and now is home to the lion ’ s share of COVID-19 cases .
Ferrer said Wednesday she thinks the reopenings that L.A. County is undertaking make public health sense — as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But she stressed the stakes are high : “ If there are 2 million more people going to offices , stores and houses of worship now , and even 2 % are infected with COVID-19 , we would have 40,000 people moving about that are capable of spreading this virus , ” she said .
“ And if each infected person transmits to even just one other person , there could be 80,000 people infected over a couple of weeks.
” Health experts have made the same point .
“ Without having social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see some increased spikes and transmission occurring .
That ’ s definitely going to happen , ” said Dr. Robert Kim-Farley , epidemiologist and infectious-disease expert at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health .
At a briefing Wednesday , Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva urged people to wear masks and practice social distancing so the gradual reopening of the county can continue without setbacks .
The Sheriff ’ s Department surveyed the coast from Santa Monica to Malibu over Memorial Day weekend and found that beachgoers were adhering to social distancing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Overall , people were respectful , ” Villanueva said .
But in Pasadena ’ s Eaton Canyon , it was another story .
Because of overcrowding , the popular trail will be closed until June .
Hikers should take advantage of L.A. 's vast network of trails and adjust their plans to avoid crowds , Villanueva said .
“ If it looks too crowded where you ’ re going , just turn around and go somewhere else , ” he said .
Gov .
Gavin Newsom said that 47 of California ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s regional standards to , which include preparations to increase hospital capacity , testing and supplies of personal protective equipment .
That has allowed retailers in most of the state , as well as hair salons and barbershops , to open .
In Los Angeles County , these are the areas covered by the modified order issued Tuesday by health officials .
• can resume services , with the number of congregants limited to 25 % of the building ’ s capacity or a maximum of 100 people , whichever is lower .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in indoor and outdoor shopping centers , can open for business at 50 % capacity ; flea markets , swap meets and drive-in movie theaters can also resume operations .
• Pools , hot tubs and saunas that are in a multiunit residence or part of a homeowners association can open .
• In-person protests are permitted as long as attendance is limited to 25 % of the area ’ s maximum occupancy or a maximum of 100 attendees , whichever is lower .
• People 65 or older and all people with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residences as much as possible , health experts say .
People in these categories should leave their residences only to seek medical care , exercise or obtain food or other necessities .
Telecommuting should continue as much as possible .
These businesses are still covered by the county ’ s stay-at-home order : • Personal grooming businesses such as hair and nail salons

Hannah Fry, Rong-Gong Lin II, Cindy Chang

Daniela Prieto, an employee at Deportes Prieto in Boyle Heights, disinfects inside the store, which is currently allowing customers to preorder merchandise. The business reopened Monday for curbside pickup only.
Los Angeles County, which has been hit harder than any other part of California by the COVID-19 pandemic, is rapidly beginning to reopen its economy.
Just this week, officials said churches and many more retail businesses could reopen with strict social distancing rules. And there is hope L.A. County could soon join surrounding areas in allowing limited in-person dining at restaurants.
But health officials have stressed that with the easing of stay-at-home orders comes potential dangers. Preventing new outbreaks depends on people wearing masks, avoiding crowded spaces and keeping at least six feet apart.
“There is a lot at stake as we reopen,” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Wednesday. “More people being around one another can result in more transmission of COVID-19 — just more cases and likely more hospitalizations and deaths. This is why it couldn’t be more important for us to take care of each other when we’re out of our homes.”
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Ferrer’s comments echo those of health officials in the Bay Area, who also have been slowly reopening the economy while warning that health conditions could quickly deteriorate if people don’t follow the rules.
Dr. Sara Cody, health officer for Santa Clara County and a key architect of the nation’s first coronavirus shelter-in-place order, this week criticized California’s increasingly fast pace of lifting stay-at-home restrictions.
Cody expressed concerns that California risks a surge in cases if it reopens too many sectors of society too quickly. Reopening so fast, she said, means there isn’t enough time to implement new procedures to make reopened activities safe.
Since early May, “the state has shifted away from the stay-at-home model and has made significant modifications with increasing frequency,” Cody said. “The pace at which the state has made these modifications is concerning to me.”
Santa Clara County was once the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in California. But that has since shifted to Los Angeles County, which has recorded more than 2,200 deaths and now is home to the lion’s share of COVID-19 cases.
Ferrer said Wednesday she thinks the reopenings that L.A. County is undertaking make public health sense — as long as the rules are followed.
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But she stressed the stakes are high: “If there are 2 million more people going to offices, stores and houses of worship now, and even 2% are infected with COVID-19, we would have 40,000 people moving about that are capable of spreading this virus,” she said. “And if each infected person transmits to even just one other person, there could be 80,000 people infected over a couple of weeks.”
Health experts have made the same point.
“Without having social distancing, we are going to definitely see some increased spikes and transmission occurring. That’s definitely going to happen,” said Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, epidemiologist and infectious-disease expert at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
At a briefing Wednesday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva urged people to wear masks and practice social distancing so the gradual reopening of the county can continue without setbacks.
The Sheriff’s Department surveyed the coast from Santa Monica to Malibu over Memorial Day weekend and found that beachgoers were adhering to social distancing rules.“It was a success. Overall, people were respectful,” Villanueva said.
But in Pasadena’s Eaton Canyon, it was another story. Because of overcrowding, the popular trail will be closed until June.
Hikers should take advantage of L.A.’s vast network of trails and adjust their plans to avoid crowds, Villanueva said.
“If it looks too crowded where you’re going, just turn around and go somewhere else,” he said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said that 47 of California’s 58 counties have met the state’s regional standards to ease his stay-at-home order , which include preparations to increase hospital capacity, testing and supplies of personal protective equipment. That has allowed retailers in most of the state, as well as hair salons and barbershops, to open.
California California reopening speeds up even as state hits 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases From barber shops to shopping malls to restaurants, many businesses shuttered for months began to come back to life this week as government officials rapidly lifted stay-at-home orders that helped slow the spread of coronavirus.
In Los Angeles County, these are the areas covered by the modified order issued Tuesday by health officials.
Faith-based organizations can resume services, with the number of congregants limited to 25% of the building’s capacity or a maximum of 100 people, whichever is lower.
All retail establishments, including those in indoor and outdoor shopping centers, can open for business at 50% capacity; flea markets, swap meets and drive-in movie theaters can also resume operations.
Pools, hot tubs and saunas that are in a multiunit residence or part of a homeowners association can open.
In-person protests are permitted as long as attendance is limited to 25% of the area’s maximum occupancy or a maximum of 100 attendees, whichever is lower.
People 65 or older and all people with underlying health conditions should remain in their residences as much as possible, health experts say. People in these categories should leave their residences only to seek medical care, exercise or obtain food or other necessities. Telecommuting should continue as much as possible.
These businesses are still covered by the county’s stay-at-home order:
Bars and nightclubs
Gyms and fitness centers
Movie theaters
Live venues , sports stadiums, arenas, festival spaces, etc.
Bowling alleys
Public piers
Public pools
Personal grooming businesses such as hair and nail salons
Indoor museums


latimes--2020-05-28--'I had to do something': Black barbers and stylists go underground as L.A. salons stay shut

Dondae Settles felt he had no other choice .
State and local officials had forced him to shutter his South Los Angeles barbershop to slow the spread of the coronavirus .
With rent on his commercial spaces due on the first of the month , the 44-year-old said he needed to find a way to bring in money .
So under cover of night in late March , Settles and a friend hauled a heavy salon chair up two flights of stairs , squeezed it through a narrow walkway and installed it behind a plastic tarp among the printing equipment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ T-shirt shop .
Now , he secretly cuts hair there twice a week .
“ Man , my pockets were touching , ” Settles said , describing his empty wallet as he shaped up Mychael Jamal .
“ I had to do something.
” On Tuesday , Gov .
Gavin Newsom announced that counties that met certain guidelines would be allowed to reopen hair salons and barbershops — with some restrictions .
Barbers and hair stylists in South L.A. thought political leaders had heard their pleas .
Then they learned that hair shops @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The uncertainty has left many hair stylists from Santa Monica to Diamond Bar hanging in the balance and unsure of their futures .
In black communities , barbershops and salons are cultural institutions where people come together for community support , political organizing and , in recent years , even for health services .
In addition to threatening the livelihoods of small-business owners , the coronavirus pandemic has robbed black communities of sacred spaces , said Jahmil Lacey , founder of TRAPMedicine , a South L.A.-based nonprofit that trains black barbers to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Historically , barbershops have been spaces where black men go to release , to be in community with other black men , to get their hair cut , to look good and feel good , ” Lacey said .
“ When you disconnect that , it ’ s another form of self-care that we don ’ t have access to.
” Across South L.A. , buildings that house barbershops and beauty shops sit dark .
Bars cover the windows of some .
Signs are posted on the doors of others announcing a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ salon-owners and hair stylists petitioned state and local officials last week , asking for permission to return to work .
They promised to conduct temperature checks , require social distancing and masks , and submit to additional inspections .
But L.A. County , which accounts for more than half of the state ’ s reported coronavirus-related deaths , was one of 11 counties that failed to meet Newsom ’ s requirements for reopening .
The news was another blow to L.A. hair stylists , including those in South L.A. , who say the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the deeper in debt they go .
Settles , who accepts enough clients to keep the lights on and pay his bills at home , said he will decide soon if he will close his barbershop and T-shirt store .
He doesn ’ t want the $ 2,200 monthly rent for the commercial spaces to pile up for months .
Lately , he ’ s been considering transporting cars across the country to make money , a job that will take him away from his family .
Some stylists complain that government aid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to arrive .
Others say the structure of the hair-grooming business has prevented them from qualifying for the federal Paycheck Protection Program under the CARES Act .
“ Many African-American-owned salons didn ’ t qualify for the PPP loan because they rent booths to their stylists and barbers , and didn ’ t have the payroll numbers to give banks to qualify , ” South L.A. community activist Najee Ali wrote in a letter sent to elected officials .
Ali said many of the businesses that have already been allowed to reopen , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well-positioned backers lobbying for them .
Black barbers and hair stylists worried that they lacked such influence .
In fact , one interest group has been advocating on behalf of the beauty industry .
Earlier this month , the Professional Beauty Federation of California , a nonprofit that represents licensed beauty professionals , filed a federal lawsuit against Newsom urging him to reopen the industry .
The lawsuit argues that stylists , cosmetologists and barbers already are required to complete sanitation and hygiene training .
Local leaders say that businesses in South L.A. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ downturns .
In the hair care industry here , stylists are less likely to own the building or business where they work and often earn just enough to get by .
Ali said he spoke to dozens of barbers and cosmetologists during the past month whose savings are now depleted .
“ When Los Angeles catches a cold , black Los Angeles catches pneumonia , ” he wrote in the letter .
There is fear that the dire financial circumstances of some black stylists will push even more of the industry underground , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that is already getting sick and dying from it at disproportionate rates .
Some stylists say the money is not worth the risk of contracting COVID-19 .
“ Yes , we need to work , ” Lynette Baker , who has owned a salon in Lancaster for two decades , wrote on social media .
“ It ’ s not safe right now .
People have to be right in your face , especially my barbers.
” But others say it is a risk worth taking .
They are inviting clients into their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , making house calls and setting up shop in even more clandestine places .
In March , after Mayor Eric Garcetti deemed hair salons across Los Angeles nonessential businesses and ordered them to close , Diamond Rose and her two daughters initially covered the windows of their Mid-City hair salon and quietly continued accepting clients .
Then a neighbor reported them to authorities .
Police cited the salon ’ s owner , Rose ’ s 36-year-old daughter Tia , giving her a ticket to appear in court in August on a misdemeanor charge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 1,000 fine or both .
Hers is among 60 businesses being prosecuted by City Atty .
Mike Feuer for violating the city ’ s closure orders .
“ They act like we ’ re selling drugs or something , ” Diamond Rose , 60 , said .
“ What are you supposed to do ?
If that ’ s your only source of income , how do you eat ?
” They applied for a small business loan and “ received a nice little letter , but no money , ” she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up their hair tools and took their hair braiding business on the road .
They began booking short-term rentals on the weekends , moving from one rental home to the next to avoid detection .
They know what they are doing is considered wrong in the eyes of local law enforcement .
But the mother-daughters team say they are just trying to earn a living .
“ Despite the pressure of not being able to work [ legally ] , now I have the pressure of a criminal case filed against me for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rose , who owns Studio 5526 , the famous salon where Prince used to get his hair done .
“ I still have to feed my children.
” Tia Rose still owes $ 5,200 in May rent for the salon , and the payment for June is due in a few days .
Feuer said his office has made roughly 1,800 phone calls in response to complaints about business owners defying stay-at home orders .
The LAPD has issued warrants to those whose businesses were reported a second time .
“ I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including in the beauty industry , who need to get up and running as fast as possible , ” Feuer said .
“ But everybody ’ s health and safety depends on us adhering to what our public health experts tell us is required and that ’ s embedded in the safer at home order.
” The Roses make sure they and their clients cover their faces and ask everybody to spray themselves head-to-toe with disinfectant before service .
In Settles ’ makeshift barbershop , neither he nor his customers wear a mask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while wearing one , he said .
And he can ’ t line up clients ’ beards or shape their hairlines with a mask looped around the ears and stretched across their faces , Settles said .
His best protection , he said , is a strict cleaning routine .
He only takes a few clients and he questions all of them .
The day Settles cut Jamal ’ s hair , his client rubbed his hand over his fresh waves and checked himself out in the mirror .
“ I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Jamal exclaimed as Settles stepped back and admired his work .
Jamal climbed out of the chair , ready for a modeling gig .
Settles grabbed a tub of disinfecting wipes and began cleaning his chair for his next client .

Unable to open their Mid-City salon, hair stylists Tia Rose of North Hollywood and Christina Rose of West Covina turned to styling hair in a rented Airbnb to earn a living.
Dondae Settles felt he had no other choice.
State and local officials had forced him to shutter his South Los Angeles barbershop to slow the spread of the coronavirus. With rent on his commercial spaces due on the first of the month, the 44-year-old said he needed to find a way to bring in money.
So under cover of night in late March, Settles and a friend hauled a heavy salon chair up two flights of stairs, squeezed it through a narrow walkway and installed it behind a plastic tarp among the printing equipment in his second business, a custom T-shirt shop. Now, he secretly cuts hair there twice a week.
“Man, my pockets were touching,” Settles said, describing his empty wallet as he shaped up Mychael Jamal. “I had to do something.”
On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that counties that met certain guidelines would be allowed to reopen hair salons and barbershops — with some restrictions. Barbers and hair stylists in South L.A. thought political leaders had heard their pleas.
Marquis Johnson has his face shaved by Dondae Settles. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
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Then they learned that hair shops in Los Angeles County would remain closed.
The uncertainty has left many hair stylists from Santa Monica to Diamond Bar hanging in the balance and unsure of their futures.
In black communities, barbershops and salons are cultural institutions where people come together for community support, political organizing and, in recent years, even for health services. In addition to threatening the livelihoods of small-business owners, the coronavirus pandemic has robbed black communities of sacred spaces, said Jahmil Lacey, founder of TRAPMedicine, a South L.A.-based nonprofit that trains black barbers to address health issues and run workshops.
“Historically, barbershops have been spaces where black men go to release, to be in community with other black men, to get their hair cut, to look good and feel good,” Lacey said. “When you disconnect that, it’s another form of self-care that we don’t have access to.”
Across South L.A., buildings that house barbershops and beauty shops sit dark. Bars cover the windows of some. Signs are posted on the doors of others announcing a permanent closure.
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A coalition of black salon-owners and hair stylists petitioned state and local officials last week, asking for permission to return to work. They promised to conduct temperature checks, require social distancing and masks, and submit to additional inspections.
But L.A. County, which accounts for more than half of the state’s reported coronavirus-related deaths, was one of 11 counties that failed to meet Newsom’s requirements for reopening.
The news was another blow to L.A. hair stylists, including those in South L.A., who say the longer the stay-at-orders remain in place, the deeper in debt they go.
Settles, who accepts enough clients to keep the lights on and pay his bills at home, said he will decide soon if he will close his barbershop and T-shirt store. He doesn’t want the $2,200 monthly rent for the commercial spaces to pile up for months. Lately, he’s been considering transporting cars across the country to make money, a job that will take him away from his family.
Some stylists complain that government aid to help small businesses has been slow to arrive. Others say the structure of the hair-grooming business has prevented them from qualifying for the federal Paycheck Protection Program under the CARES Act.
“Many African-American-owned salons didn’t qualify for the PPP loan because they rent booths to their stylists and barbers, and didn’t have the payroll numbers to give banks to qualify,” South L.A. community activist Najee Ali wrote in a letter sent to elected officials.
Ali said many of the businesses that have already been allowed to reopen, including flower shops and bookstores, had well-positioned backers lobbying for them. Black barbers and hair stylists worried that they lacked such influence.
In fact, one interest group has been advocating on behalf of the beauty industry. Earlier this month, the Professional Beauty Federation of California, a nonprofit that represents licensed beauty professionals, filed a federal lawsuit against Newsom urging him to reopen the industry. The lawsuit argues that stylists, cosmetologists and barbers already are required to complete sanitation and hygiene training.
Local leaders say that businesses in South L.A. tend to be hit harder during economic downturns. In the hair care industry here, stylists are less likely to own the building or business where they work and often earn just enough to get by. Ali said he spoke to dozens of barbers and cosmetologists during the past month whose savings are now depleted.
“When Los Angeles catches a cold, black Los Angeles catches pneumonia,” he wrote in the letter.
There is fear that the dire financial circumstances of some black stylists will push even more of the industry underground, potentially spreading the coronavirus in a community that is already getting sick and dying from it at disproportionate rates.
Some stylists say the money is not worth the risk of contracting COVID-19.
“Yes, we need to work,” Lynette Baker, who has owned a salon in Lancaster for two decades, wrote on social media. “It’s not safe right now. People have to be right in your face, especially my barbers.”
But others say it is a risk worth taking. They are inviting clients into their homes and shuttered businesses, like Settles, making house calls and setting up shop in even more clandestine places.
In March, after Mayor Eric Garcetti deemed hair salons across Los Angeles nonessential businesses and ordered them to close, Diamond Rose and her two daughters initially covered the windows of their Mid-City hair salon and quietly continued accepting clients. Then a neighbor reported them to authorities.
Police cited the salon’s owner, Rose’s 36-year-old daughter Tia, giving her a ticket to appear in court in August on a misdemeanor charge punishable by six months in jail, $1,000 fine or both. Hers is among 60 businesses being prosecuted by City Atty. Mike Feuer for violating the city’s closure orders.
Tia Rose sections off her client’s hair. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
“They act like we’re selling drugs or something,” Diamond Rose, 60, said. “What are you supposed to do? If that’s your only source of income, how do you eat?”
They applied for a small-business loan and “received a nice little letter, but no money,” she said.
So the three women packed up their hair tools and took their hair braiding business on the road. They began booking short-term rentals on the weekends, moving from one rental home to the next to avoid detection. They know what they are doing is considered wrong in the eyes of local law enforcement. But the mother-daughters team say they are just trying to earn a living.
“Despite the pressure of not being able to work [legally], now I have the pressure of a criminal case filed against me for trying to survive,” said Tia Rose, who owns Studio 5526, the famous salon where Prince used to get his hair done. “I still have to feed my children.”
Tia Rose still owes $5,200 in May rent for the salon, and the payment for June is due in a few days.
Feuer said his office has made roughly 1,800 phone calls in response to complaints about business owners defying stay-at home orders. The Los Angeles Police Department has issued warrants to those whose businesses were reported a second time.
“I’m extremely empathetic with local businesses, including in the beauty industry, who need to get up and running as fast as possible,” Feuer said. “But everybody’s health and safety depends on us adhering to what our public health experts tell us is required and that’s embedded in the safer at home order.”
The Roses make sure they and their clients cover their faces and ask everybody to spray themselves head-to-toe with disinfectant before service.
In Settles’ makeshift barbershop, neither he nor his customers wear a mask. It’s hard to breathe while wearing one, he said. And he can’t line up clients’ beards or shape their hairlines with a mask looped around the ears and stretched across their faces, Settles said.
Dondae Settles gives Marquis Johnson a shave. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
His best protection, he said, is a strict cleaning routine. He takes only a few clients, and he questions all of them.
The day Settles cut Jamal’s hair, his client rubbed his hand over his fresh waves and checked himself out in the mirror.
“I’m back in the game, boy,” Jamal exclaimed as Settles stepped back and admired his work.
Jamal climbed out of the chair, ready for a modeling gig. Settles grabbed a tub of disinfecting wipes and began cleaning his chair for his next client.


latimes--2020-05-28--Vandalism during heated L.A. protest over George Floyd death sparks concern from police

Authorities are expressing concern over a large protest Wednesday evening in downtown Los Angeles that left two California Highway Patrol cars vandalized and one demonstrator hurt .
Protesters gathered to express outrage over , a black man killed Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground with his knee .
The demonstrators marched through the streets of downtown L.A. without much incident , and at one point blocked the 101 Freeway .
But eventually the protest turned more violent .
Two California Highway Patrol cars were vandalized during the confrontation , and one demonstrator was injured @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it drove away .
That protester received medical attention ; the person ’ s condition was not released .
Later , anti-police graffiti was sprayed at LAPD headquarters .
In a statement , the LAPD said : “ We hear your anger & your pain .
We will always facilitate freedom of speech .
Period .
All we ask is that protests are held in a safe & legal manner.
” Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Wednesday night that he was also “ troubled by the violence on the freeway.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a statement calling the video in the Floyd case disturbing and said it tarnished the badge .
“ The actions I watched in the video were incredibly disturbing and go against the basic law enforcement principle of preservation of life , ” he said .
L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva responded to the downtown protest on Facebook : “ Violence is unwarranted and takes away from the message .
I urge all of us to protest peacefully for the sake of everyone ’ s public safety , ” he said .
On Thursday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tweet that Angelenos should “ follow their conscience in response to the pain and senselessness of this horror , ” but he cautioned that protests should remain peaceful .
“ I will always believe in expressing ourselves powerfully , peacefully , and safely , ” the mayor said on Twitter .
“ George Floyd was killed before our eyes — and we have every reason to be angry , to cry out for justice , to say never again.
” Jaime Carter , who demonstrated with a charred American flag , said he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the blocked freeway realized a traffic jam was “ a lot less of an inconvenience than me losing my life , than me not living a life of dignity.
” Carter , a student at Cal State L.A. , said he came to protest not only the death of Floyd but of many black men and children who died an unjust death .
“ It ’ s , it ’ s , ” he said .
“ It ’ s every one of them.
” Charlie Morales , who also took part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a CHP cruiser drove by trying to scatter the demonstrators and that some demonstrators converged on the vehicle .
Morales , 27 , said he hopes the “ small inconvenience ” to commuters leaving downtown has made them consider “ a matter of life or death to black and brown people.
” Police brutality happens “ every week , ” he said , “ but nothing changes until you start interrupting , until you start putting it directly in the minds of people who aren ’ t affected by it.
” The Floyd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The mayor of Minneapolis on Wednesday called for criminal charges to be filed against the white police officer seen on the video kneeling on Floyd ’ s during his arrest , even after Floyd said he couldn ’ t breathe and stopped moving .

An injured man gets up with the help of emergency workers during a protest May 27 in downtown L.A. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
A protester lies hurt on the 101 Freeway near downtown Los Angeles on May 27. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
During a May 29 protest, Los Angeles police patrol the 110 after having moved protesters off the freeway. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Police officers assume a defensive stance as a protester approaches them on the 110 Freeway on May 29. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Protesters climb over a barrier during the May 29 protest in downtown L.A. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Protesters are arrested by Los Angeles police in front of City Hall on Saturday. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
A protester remains defiant after being pushed to the ground by police on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Police fire percussion rounds to clear protesters from Grand Avenue in in downtown Los Angeles on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Protesters gather around a fire in the middle of a downtown L.A. street on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Cecelia Rosales, who said she was homeless, walks past a line of police officers in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Sake House employee Jared Settles can’t bear to watch as the restaurant burns in Santa Monica on Sunday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Gilbert Haro and sons Richard, 8, and James, 6, help clean up in Santa Monica. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Volunteers help clean up the mess left by looters in Long Beach. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
People out after curfew are arrested Monday at Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Arrests are made of those out after curfew in Hollywood. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
AJ Lovelace, director and writer, tries to stop looters from breaking into a Walgreens in Hollywood. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
A demonstrator, injured while trying to flee the firing of nonlethal rounds, lies on the ground in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Demonstrators in Riverside retreat as county sheriff’s deputies fire nonlethal rounds on Monday after law enforcement announced an unlawful assembly. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
AJ Lovelace, a director and writer, and others keep potential looters from entering a dry cleaning store as they attempt to march peacefully. “We need peace and we need someone to talk to each other,” he said after the looters fled the scene. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Khalil Mitchell speaks to protesters kneeling near a police line, preaching calm and working to preserve a peaceful protest on Monday. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
LAPD Cmdr. Gerald Woodyard takes a knee with protesters and L.A. clergy during a march in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times)
Thousands of protesters march down Spring Street in Los Angeles Wednesday night to demonstrate for justice in the killing of George Floyd. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
A protester confronts National Guardsmen as thousands of protesters march down Spring Street in Los Angeles to demonstrate for justice in the George Floyd murder by cop case Wednesday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
Protestors turn on their cell phone flashlights at Los Angeles City Hall at 9 pm on Wednesday as part of a silent protest against the death of George Floyd. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
Protesters stand on top of a bus stop at the Los Angeles Civic Center to demonstrate for justice Wednesday night. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
Authorities are expressing concern over a large protest Wednesday evening in downtown Los Angeles that left two California Highway Patrol cars vandalized and one demonstrator hurt.
Protesters gathered to express outrage over the death of George Floyd , a black man killed Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground with his knee. The demonstrators marched through the streets of downtown L.A. without much incident, and at one point blocked the 101 Freeway.
But eventually the protest turned more violent. Two California Highway Patrol cars were vandalized during the confrontation, and one demonstrator was injured after falling off a CHP cruiser as it drove away. That protester received medical attention; the person’s condition was not released.
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Later, anti-police graffiti was sprayed at LAPD headquarters.
In a statement, the LAPD said: “We hear your anger & your pain. We will always facilitate freedom of speech. Period. All we ask is that protests are held in a safe & legal manner.”
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Wednesday night that he was also “troubled by the violence on the freeway.”
Earlier in the day, he issued a statement calling the video in the Floyd case disturbing and said it tarnished the badge.
“The actions I watched in the video were incredibly disturbing and go against the basic law enforcement principle of preservation of life,” he said.
L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva responded to the downtown protest on Facebook: “Violence is unwarranted and takes away from the message. I urge all of us to protest peacefully for the sake of everyone’s public safety,” he said.
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On Thursday, Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a tweet that Angelenos should “follow their conscience in response to the pain and senselessness of this horror,” but he cautioned that protests should remain peaceful.
“I will always believe in expressing ourselves powerfully, peacefully, and safely,” the mayor said on Twitter. “George Floyd was killed before our eyes — and we have every reason to be angry, to cry out for justice, to say never again.”
Jaime Carter, who demonstrated with a charred American flag, said he hoped the motorists forced to a standstill on the blocked freeway realized a traffic jam was “a lot less of an inconvenience than me losing my life, than me not living a life of dignity.”
Carter, a student at Cal State L.A., said he came to protest not only the death of Floyd but of many black men and children who died an unjust death.
“It’s Emmett Till , it’s LaQuan McDonald ,” he said. “It’s every one of them.”
Charlie Morales, who also took part in the freeway protest, said that a CHP cruiser drove by trying to scatter the demonstrators and that some demonstrators converged on the vehicle.
Morales, 27, said he hopes the “small inconvenience” to commuters leaving downtown has made them consider “a matter of life or death to black and brown people.”
Police brutality happens “every week,” he said, “but nothing changes until you start interrupting, until you start putting it directly in the minds of people who aren’t affected by it.”
The Floyd case has gotten national attention and has sparked several protests.
The mayor of Minneapolis on Wednesday called for criminal charges to be filed against the white police officer seen on the video kneeling on Floyd’s during his arrest, even after Floyd said he couldn’t breathe and stopped moving.


latimes--2020-05-28--Coronavirus ravages poorer L.A. communities while slowing in wealthier ones, data show

A major shift was already underway last month as coronavirus deaths were rising across Los Angeles County and officials were trying desperately to prevent a surge in cases .
In mid-April , while officials urged people to stay home , limit shopping trips and wear masks , infection rates in poor communities for the first time overtook wealthy ones , a Times analysis of county health data shows .
Confirmed cases per capita diverged on April 17 and the gap has kept growing since .
The analysis found the virus is increasingly ravaging predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods with higher @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enclaves that initially reported some of the highest infection rates see much slower growth .
Infection rates across South and Central Los Angeles and the Eastside have increased sharply and now lead all regions in the county , exceeding 600 infections per 100,000 people , the analysis shows .
Poorer areas such as Pico-Union and Westlake in Central L.A. , and Vermont Square in South L.A. , all reported low infection rates in early April , but now rank among the top 10 communities out of more than 300 countywide .
The Times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % of the population was living below the poverty line — defined by the Census Bureau as a family of four making less than $ 26,000 a year — to those in which the poverty rate was lower than 5 % .
The shift shows the surge feared by public health officials did come to pass , but was largely concentrated in the poorest , most crowded neighborhoods — areas with a lot of essential workers , more crowded housing and higher rates of underlying health conditions such as asthma , diabetes and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , health officials and experts warned that numbers showing higher infection rates on the Westside in predominately white , affluent neighborhoods such as Bel-Air , Beverly Crest and Brentwood were skewed by uneven testing that masked the true spread of COVID-19 .
Those areas have seen their fortunes improve after months of social distancing and economic disruption .
“ We ’ re not seeing a decline in infection rates yet in Central and South L.A. , ” said Jim Mangia , chief executive of St. John ’ s Well Child and Family Center @ @ @ @ @ @ @ areas and other predominantly low-income communities of color .
“ I think it speaks to the history of health disparities ... the lack of access to social distancing and the fact that many of our residents have to continue to work in high-risk situations.
” Diana , a 19-year-old college student who lives with her parents in Westlake , said that early on , they didn ’ t know anyone in their neighborhood who was infected .
But Diana worried from the start .
She read articles about the wealthy and celebrities getting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the Westside , and watched helplessly as her father continued to go to work packaging essential goods without protective gear .
She thought it was only a matter of time before the virus trickled into their neighborhood .
Sure enough , Diana began experiencing symptoms on April 15 ; her father on April 27 .
They both tested positive , and on May 5 , he was hospitalized for six days .
“ He would call us and it felt like he was saying his goodbyes , ” said Diana , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saying she wanted to protect her parents , who are in the country illegally .
“ I don ’ t know if I ’ ll make it out alive , ” Diana recalled her father saying from the hospital .
L.A. County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said the rise in infection rates in low-income communities and the gap compared to wealthier areas is so pronounced that it can ’ t be caused by increased access to testing alone .
She thinks there are other factors driving it , including higher @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ If we ’ re not careful , and we don ’ t pay a lot of attention to this , ” Ferrer said , “ the disproportionality could become even greater , even if you flatten the curve.
” John Kim , executive director of the Advancement Project of California , a civil rights and public policy group that has been studying coronavirus trends in L.A. County , said he thinks the surge in poorer and non-white neighborhoods might represent the “ second phase of the virus.
” The group released a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of black or Latino residents are seeing more coronavirus cases while areas with a higher share of white residents have less .
Also , they found that neighborhoods with higher poverty rates are reporting more COVID-19 cases compared to less impoverished areas .
Dr. Coco Auerswald , associate professor at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health , said L.A. County ’ s early numbers reflected a nationwide trend of people of wealthier people being first in line for testing .
“ The rich and famous were getting tested first because they had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ environment where testing was scarce , ” she said .
Since the outbreak began , Travis Longcore has been working remotely from his Beverly Crest home , ordering food and other items online .
“ There is the luxury of being able to stay home and perhaps continue to make a living , ” said Longcore , former president of the Bel-Air/Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council .
“ To be able to pay other people to take on the risk of going to the store and exposing themselves to many more people than you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ‘ two Americas ’ story in that respect.
” An associate adjunct professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability , Longcore said the pandemic has exposed the country ’ s deep-seated economic and racial disparities .
“ It ’ s just laid bare the structural inequalities of the country .
It couldn ’ t be better designed to fillet open the inequality of the country because of the two completely different experiences , ” he said .
County health officials , elected leaders and healthcare providers are looking to neighborhood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ areas for increased testing and to amplify public information campaigns about wearing masks and social distancing .
They say it underscores the need to protect frontline workers who face higher risk of infection .
In his South L.A. district , City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson has heard concerns from his constituents that the disproportionate impact there will be overlooked because it ’ s a lower-income area with a larger share of disenfranchised black and Latino residents .
“ I think people here are poised for the larger society to say ‘ we are going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s in that community ’ and I think people here are geared up for a fight to make sure that doesn ’ t happen , ” Harris-Dawson said .
Before the novel coronavirus was known to have reached American shores , South L.A. resident Yolanda Davidson-Carter described the disease to friends and listeners of her podcast as nothing more than the seasonal flu .
As the early coronavirus numbers rolled in , showing the spread in white , wealthier communities , Davidson-Carter said she felt some solace that the disease seemed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she grew nervous when the county released data that showed black people had a higher rate of infection and death .
“ I didn ’ t think for a minute there would be so many cases in South Los Angeles , ” said the 47-year-old Hyde Park resident .
Early on in the outbreak , test kits were so scarce that health clinics and hospitals serving low-income communities struggled to get them .
While testing in low-income communities has improved significantly , it has still not caught up to wealthier areas , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Diana and her father had wanted to get tested when they first got sick , but they didn ’ t know where to go .
They had heard of a drive-in testing site nearby , but the family doesn ’ t own a car .
So they weren ’ t tested until after April 29 , when Mayor Eric Garcetti announced all residents could access free testing .
Diana ’ s father was discharged from the hospital and is now recovering from the virus , both of them isolating in one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ living in the two-bedroom apartment , making it challenging to quarantine .
She wonders if her father ’ s hospitalization could have been prevented had he been tested sooner .
St. John ’ s went from testing a few dozen people a day in March to more than 500 in May .
But Mangia worries that progress could be squandered if the country reopens too quickly .
Many of the poorer neighborhoods now suffering the highest infection rates tend to have larger immigrant populations with a greater share of residents living in crowded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pastor .
Some of those areas also lead the nation in overcrowding , including Pico-Union and Westlake , where more than a third of housing units are classified as crowded — meaning there is more than one person per room , excluding bathrooms .
A recent Times report found that Los Angeles County has five of the 10 most crowded ZIP Codes in the United States , and public health officials said such housing conditions can accelerate the spread of the virus .
Those neighborhoods have also seen the most COVID-19 deaths in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the virus had killed 71 people in Westlake and 56 in Pico-Union , and both have death rates among the top 10 in the county .
Councilman Harris-Dawson said the county ’ s stay-at-home order has been especially challenging for residents in his district because so many are essential frontline workers who don ’ t have the option to work remotely .
“ You can ’ t stay home and you ’ re in a dense housing situation .
So you have one person in that household that ’ s going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they can ’ t really socially distance .
I just think that can ’ t be stated enough , ” he said .
Hilda Lopez , 46 , a garment worker from Koreatown , said the virus seemed like a faraway threat until her brother fell ill in March , eventually landing in the hospital and in a medically induced coma for 21 days .
Lopez said her brother , Alejandro Valeriano , 44 , was discharged in May and is relying on an oxygen tank and physical therapy to help get him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it feels as though a second wave of the virus has targeted her community , Lopez said .
She knows plenty of friends and acquaintances who have been affected now , including mothers , like her , who only want to provide for their families .
Lopez hasn ’ t had steady work since early February , has missed two rent payments and worries she ’ ll be evicted soon if she doesn ’ t find work .
“ I ask myself a lot why there is more sickness where we are , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tell my brother : This virus was created to eliminate us.
” Times staff writers Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Angel Jennings contributed to this report .

Maria Banderas, left, answers questions from medical assistant Dolores Becerra before being tested for COVID-19 at St. John’s Well Child and Family Center in South L.A.
A major shift was already underway last month as coronavirus deaths were rising across Los Angeles County and officials were trying desperately to prevent a surge in cases.
In mid-April, while officials urged people to stay home, limit shopping trips and wear masks, infection rates in poor communities for the first time overtook wealthy ones, a Times analysis of county health data shows.
Confirmed cases per capita diverged on April 17 and the gap has kept growing since. The analysis found the virus is increasingly ravaging predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods with higher poverty levels, while wealthier, majority-white enclaves that initially reported some of the highest infection rates see much slower growth.
Clemente Gomez cooks carne asada on the grill outside a food truck in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
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Infection rates across South and Central Los Angeles and the Eastside have increased sharply and now lead all regions in the county, exceeding 600 infections per 100,000 people, the analysis shows.
Poorer areas such as Pico-Union and Westlake in Central L.A., and Vermont Square in South L.A., all reported low infection rates in early April, but now rank among the top 10 communities out of more than 300 countywide.
The Times compared neighborhoods in which more than 25% of the population was living below the poverty line — defined by the Census Bureau as a family of four making less than $26,000 a year — to those in which the poverty rate was lower than 5%.
The shift shows the surge feared by public health officials did come to pass, but was largely concentrated in the poorest, most crowded neighborhoods — areas with a lot of essential workers, more crowded housing and higher rates of underlying health conditions such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease.
Early in the outbreak, health officials and experts warned that numbers showing higher infection rates on the Westside in predominately white, affluent neighborhoods such as Bel-Air, Beverly Crest and Brentwood were skewed by uneven testing that masked the true spread of COVID-19. Those areas have seen their fortunes improve after months of social distancing and economic disruption.
“We’re not seeing a decline in infection rates yet in Central and South L.A.,” said Jim Mangia, chief executive of St. John’s Well Child and Family Center, which operates 18 clinics in those areas and other predominantly low-income communities of color. “I think it speaks to the history of health disparities ... the lack of access to social distancing and the fact that many of our residents have to continue to work in high-risk situations.”
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Diana, a 19-year-old college student who lives with her parents in Westlake, said that early on, they didn’t know anyone in their neighborhood who was infected.
But Diana worried from the start. She read articles about the wealthy and celebrities getting access to early testing as cases spiked on the Westside, and watched helplessly as her father continued to go to work packaging essential goods without protective gear. She thought it was only a matter of time before the virus trickled into their neighborhood.
Sure enough, Diana began experiencing symptoms on April 15; her father on April 27. They both tested positive, and on May 5, he was hospitalized for six days.
“He would call us and it felt like he was saying his goodbyes,” said Diana, who did not provide a last name, saying she wanted to protect her parents, who are in the country illegally.
“I don’t know if I’ll make it out alive,” Diana recalled her father saying from the hospital.
L.A. County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said the rise in infection rates in low-income communities and the gap compared to wealthier areas is so pronounced that it can’t be caused by increased access to testing alone. She thinks there are other factors driving it, including higher levels of exposure among frontline workers.
“If we’re not careful, and we don’t pay a lot of attention to this,” Ferrer said, “the disproportionality could become even greater, even if you flatten the curve.”
John Kim, executive director of the Advancement Project of California, a civil rights and public policy group that has been studying coronavirus trends in L.A. County, said he thinks the surge in poorer and non-white neighborhoods might represent the “second phase of the virus.”
The group released a study that shows areas with higher percentages of black or Latino residents are seeing more coronavirus cases while areas with a higher share of white residents have less. Also, they found that neighborhoods with higher poverty rates are reporting more COVID-19 cases compared to less impoverished areas.
Dr. Coco Auerswald, associate professor at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, said L.A. County’s early numbers reflected a nationwide trend of wealthier people being first in line for testing.
“The rich and famous were getting tested first because they had the means to get tested in an environment where testing was scarce,” she said.
Since the outbreak began, Travis Longcore has been working remotely from his Beverly Crest home, ordering food and other items online.
“There is the luxury of being able to stay home and perhaps continue to make a living,” said Longcore, former president of the Bel-Air/Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council. “To be able to pay other people to take on the risk of going to the store and exposing themselves to many more people than you are — it’s a real ‘two Americas’ story in that respect.”
An associate adjunct professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Longcore said the pandemic has exposed the country’s deep-seated economic and racial disparities.
“It’s just laid bare the structural inequalities of the country. It couldn’t be better designed to fillet open the inequality of the country because of the two completely different experiences,” he said.
County health officials, elected leaders and healthcare providers are looking to neighborhood infection data to help target the hardest-hit areas for increased testing and to amplify public information campaigns about wearing masks and social distancing. They say it underscores the need to protect frontline workers who face higher risk of infection.
In his South L.A. district, City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson has heard concerns from his constituents that the disproportionate impact there will be overlooked because it’s a lower-income area with a larger share of disenfranchised black and Latino residents.
“I think people here are poised for the larger society to say ‘we are going to look the other way now that it’s in that community’ and I think people here are geared up for a fight to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Harris-Dawson said.
Before the novel coronavirus was known to have reached American shores, South L.A. resident Yolanda Davidson-Carter described the disease to friends and listeners of her podcast as nothing more than the seasonal flu.
As the early coronavirus numbers rolled in, showing the spread in white, wealthier communities, Davidson-Carter said she felt some solace that the disease seemed to largely skip South L.A.
But she grew nervous when the county released data that showed black people had a higher rate of infection and death.
“I didn’t think for a minute there would be so many cases in South Los Angeles,” said the 47-year-old Hyde Park resident.
California California reopening speeds up even as state hits 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases From barber shops to shopping malls to restaurants, many businesses shuttered for months began to come back to life this week as government officials rapidly lifted stay-at-home orders that helped slow the spread of coronavirus.
In April, people line up outside a store in Westlake, which has one of Los Angeles County’s highest coronavirus infection rates and leads the nation in levels of overcrowded housing. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Early on in the outbreak, test kits were so scarce that health clinics and hospitals serving low-income communities struggled to get them.
While testing in low-income communities has improved significantly, it has still not caught up to wealthier areas, according to county health officials.
In Westlake, Diana and her father had wanted to get tested when they first got sick, but they didn’t know where to go. They had heard of a drive-in testing site nearby, but the family doesn’t own a car. So they weren’t tested until after April 29, when Mayor Eric Garcetti announced all residents could access free testing.
Diana’s father was discharged from the hospital and is now recovering from the virus, both of them isolating in one of their bedrooms. There are five people living in the two-bedroom apartment, making it challenging to quarantine. She wonders if her father’s hospitalization could have been prevented had he been tested sooner.
St. John’s went from testing a few dozen people a day in March to more than 500 in May. But Mangia worries that progress could be squandered if the country reopens too quickly.
Many of the poorer neighborhoods now suffering the highest infection rates tend to have larger immigrant populations with a greater share of residents living in crowded conditions, said USC sociology professor Manuel Pastor.
Some of those areas also lead the nation in overcrowding, including Pico-Union and Westlake, where more than a third of housing units are classified as crowded — meaning there is more than one person per room, excluding bathrooms. A recent Times report found that Los Angeles County has five of the 10 most crowded ZIP Codes in the United States, and public health officials said such housing conditions can accelerate the spread of the virus.
Those neighborhoods have also seen the most COVID-19 deaths in Los Angeles. As of May 26, the virus had killed 71 people in Westlake and 56 in Pico-Union, and both have death rates among the top 10 in the county.
Councilman Harris-Dawson said the county’s stay-at-home order has been especially challenging for residents in his district because so many are essential frontline workers who don’t have the option to work remotely.
“You can’t stay home and you’re in a dense housing situation. So you have one person in that household that’s going to work and when that person gets home they can’t really socially distance. I just think that can’t be stated enough,” he said.
Hilda Lopez, 46, a garment worker from Koreatown, said the virus seemed like a faraway threat until her brother fell ill in March, eventually landing in the hospital and in a medically induced coma for 21 days. Lopez said her brother, Alejandro Valeriano, 44, was discharged in May and is relying on an oxygen tank and physical therapy to help get him walking normally again.
Since then, it feels as though a second wave of the virus has targeted her community, Lopez said.
She knows plenty of friends and acquaintances who have been affected now, including mothers, like her, who only want to provide for their families. Lopez hasn’t had steady work since early February, has missed two rent payments and worries she’ll be evicted soon if she doesn’t find work.
“I ask myself a lot why there is more sickness where we are,” Lopez said. “Sometimes I tell my brother: This virus was created to eliminate us.”
Times staff writers Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Angel Jennings contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-05-28--California requires universal testing at nursing homes, overruling L.A. County

California ’ s health department has issued new instructions to all skilled nursing facilities to test everybody in their facilities in hopes of slowing the spread of the coronavirus , a move that overrules a more lax testing policy allowed by Los Angeles County .
Nursing homes have become ground zero for the COVID-19 pandemic because elderly people with underlying health conditions living in close quarters provide an almost perfect breeding ground for the lethal new virus .
A Times data analysis earlier this month found that about half of all coronavirus deaths in California occurred in skilled nursing or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new testing guidelines for skilled nursing facilities come as health officials in states across the country , including New York , New Jersey , Florida and Texas , have concluded that the best way to get a handle on the unfolding tragedy is to test both residents and staff in nursing homes and isolate anyone who is positive , especially asymptomatic employees who sometimes work at multiple homes and can easily spread the virus from facility to facility .
But the devil has been in the details : finding enough test kits , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who will pay for it all .
State health officials sent a letter to all skilled nursing facilities in California instructing them to test all residents and staff at least once .
If a home shows no cases , it must continue to test 25 % of residents and healthcare workers on a weekly basis and ensure that all staff members are tested once per month .
That goes much further than guidance from L.A. County , which , as the Times reported last week , had instructed homes with no cases that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only 10 % of residents weekly .
“ Nursing home residents , and the healthcare personnel who care for them , are among our most vulnerable for COVID-19 infections , ” said California ’ s health and human services secretary , Dr. Mark Ghaly , after the state issued the new instructions .
“ Mandatory testing will provide the knowledge we all need to make informed care decisions.
” The testing directive comes as officials are demanding health agencies do more to reduce the crisis in nursing homes .
On Tuesday , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unanimously to appoint an independent inspector general to look into the county ’ s oversight of nursing homes , including the county health department ’ s slow testing .
“ What ’ s been most frustrating for me is that time and time again , when we listen to the death count that this horrible virus has caused , all roads lead back to our skilled nursing facilities , ” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger before the vote .
Tens of thousands of residents in elder care homes have died of the disease in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have died in LA County alone , accounting for about half of the COVID-19 deaths in the county .
As nursing homes in the United States first began to grapple with the coronavirus in early February , most were testing only residents who showed symptoms .
If they found someone was positive , the homes quarantined them from other residents and also banned visits from friends and family .
As outbreaks multiplied , it became clear that at least some were being sparked by staff — who could pick up the virus at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at one of the other nursing homes where they worked .
So facilities started testing symptomatic employees as well .
Then , in late April , as the COVID-19 death toll approached 300 in L.A. County nursing homes — a relatively modest toll compared to where it stands now — Los Angeles County health director Barbara Ferrer announced an aggressive new plan to test everyone inside nursing homes in an effort to turn the grim tide .
The move was necessary because it had become clear the virus was spread by people who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ So last week , advocates for the elderly were shocked when The Times reported that L.A. County health officials were still far behind in their pledge to test everyone in nursing homes , having completed the process in only about a third of the facilities in the county .
They were also surprised to learn county officials had sent a letter advising homes with no confirmed cases to test only a small sample of residents — not staff — on a weekly basis .
Ferrer defended the policy change as a “ wise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ focus efforts on facilities with the worst outbreaks , but many critics were unimpressed .
“ There are undoubtedly more people who have died because of that inaction , ” said Dr. Michael Wasserman , president of the California Assn .
of Long Term Care Medicine , which represents doctors , nurses and others working in long-term care facilities .
“ It ’ s disgraceful that the county would take a step backward on testing at a time when dozens of nursing home residents are dying from the coronavirus almost every day , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform .
At her daily briefing on Wednesday , Ferrer said the county would comply with the new guidance from the state .
She also noted that of the 30 healthcare workers who have died of COVID-19 in L.A. County , 22 were employees at skilled nursing facilities — by far the highest toll among healthcare professionals .
Ferrer came under fire this week from local political leaders for her department ’ s handling of the coronavirus outbreak .
Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said the high death rate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ result ” of inattention and a lack of appropriate oversight of nursing homes that predates the pandemic .
“ The suffering , the misery , the low quality of care ” in nursing homes all should have been addressed before the crisis began , he said .

California’s health department has issued new instructions to all skilled nursing facilities to test everybody in their facilities in hopes of slowing the spread of the coronavirus, a move that overrules a more lax testing policy allowed by Los Angeles County.
Nursing homes have become ground zero for the COVID-19 pandemic because elderly people with underlying health conditions living in close quarters provide an almost perfect breeding ground for the lethal new virus. A Times data analysis earlier this month found that about half of all coronavirus deaths in California occurred in skilled nursing or assisted living facilities.
California’s new testing guidelines for skilled nursing facilities come as health officials in states across the country, including New York, New Jersey, Florida and Texas, have concluded that the best way to get a handle on the unfolding tragedy is to test both residents and staff in nursing homes and isolate anyone who is positive, especially asymptomatic employees who sometimes work at multiple homes and can easily spread the virus from facility to facility.
But the devil has been in the details: finding enough test kits, determining how frequently to test and deciding who will pay for it all.
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State health officials sent a letter to all skilled nursing facilities in California instructing them to test all residents and staff at least once. If a home shows no cases, it must continue to test 25% of residents and healthcare workers on a weekly basis and ensure that all staff members are tested once per month.
That goes much further than guidance from L.A. County, which, as the Times reported last week, had instructed homes with no cases that they could skip testing staff and test only 10% of residents weekly.
“Nursing home residents, and the healthcare personnel who care for them, are among our most vulnerable for COVID-19 infections,” said California’s health and human services secretary, Dr. Mark Ghaly, after the state issued the new instructions. “Mandatory testing will provide the knowledge we all need to make informed care decisions.”
The testing directive comes as officials are demanding health agencies do more to reduce the crisis in nursing homes.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to appoint an independent inspector general to look into the county’s oversight of nursing homes, including the county health department’s slow testing.
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“What’s been most frustrating for me is that time and time again, when we listen to the death count that this horrible virus has caused, all roads lead back to our skilled nursing facilities,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger before the vote.
Tens of thousands of residents in elder care homes have died of the disease in the United States. Nearly a thousand have died in LA County alone, accounting for about half of the COVID-19 deaths in the county.
As nursing homes in the United States first began to grapple with the coronavirus in early February, most were testing only residents who showed symptoms. If they found someone was positive, the homes quarantined them from other residents and also banned visits from friends and family.
As outbreaks multiplied, it became clear that at least some were being sparked by staff — who could pick up the virus at home, on the bus, or at one of the other nursing homes where they worked. So facilities started testing symptomatic employees as well.
Then, in late April, as the COVID-19 death toll approached 300 in L.A. County nursing homes — a relatively modest toll compared to where it stands now — Los Angeles County health director Barbara Ferrer announced an aggressive new plan to test everyone inside nursing homes in an effort to turn the grim tide.
The move was necessary because it had become clear the virus was spread by people who had no symptoms, Ferrer said.
So last week, advocates for the elderly were shocked when The Times reported that L.A. County health officials were still far behind in their pledge to test everyone in nursing homes, having completed the process in only about a third of the facilities in the county.
They were also surprised to learn county officials had sent a letter advising homes with no confirmed cases to test only a small sample of residents — not staff — on a weekly basis.
Ferrer defended the policy change as a “wise move” that allowed the county to focus efforts on facilities with the worst outbreaks, but many critics were unimpressed.
Politics Family separation returns under cover of the coronavirus Three children are fighting government efforts to take them from their father and deport them to El Salvador to no one. They’re far from alone.
“There are undoubtedly more people who have died because of that inaction,” said Dr. Michael Wasserman, president of the California Assn. of Long Term Care Medicine, which represents doctors, nurses and others working in long-term care facilities.
“It’s disgraceful that the county would take a step backward on testing at a time when dozens of nursing home residents are dying from the coronavirus almost every day,” said Michael Connors, a spokesman for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform.
At her daily briefing on Wednesday, Ferrer said the county would comply with the new guidance from the state.
She also noted that of the 30 healthcare workers who have died of COVID-19 in L.A. County, 22 were employees at skilled nursing facilities — by far the highest toll among healthcare professionals.
Ferrer came under fire this week from local political leaders for her department’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said the high death rate in nursing homes is “directly a result” of inattention and a lack of appropriate oversight of nursing homes that predates the pandemic.
“The suffering, the misery, the low quality of care” in nursing homes all should have been addressed before the crisis began, he said.


latimes--2020-05-28--California reopening speeds up even as state hits 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases

Even as California surpassed 100,000 on Wednesday , many communities continued to push forward with reopening the economy with the hope that social distancing and other safety measures would prevent new outbreaks .
From barber shops to shopping malls to restaurants , many businesses shuttered for months began to come back to life this week as government officials rapidly lifted stay-at-home orders that helped slow the spread of the novel coronavirus .
Gov .
Gavin Newsom said Wednesday and fitness centers could be coming soon , another milestone .
In San Diego , Seaworld , Legoland and other tourist attractions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In Los Angeles , the signs of rebirth were both big and small .
The Los Angeles Archdiocese plans to begin gradually reopening churches , with measures to prevent crowding and physical contact , as soon as next week .
The wildly popular — and photographed — Runyon Canyon Park has reopened , in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus .
Park officials have reduced how many people can enter at one time , installed cameras and electric counters to monitor crowds , added additional staff and converted the trail into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remains about how quickly people will feel comfortable returning to any park , church or business .
And health officials stressed that without masks , social distancing and crowd control , the reopened economy could result in new infections .
“ There is a lot at stake as we reopen , ” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said .
“ More people being around one another can result in more transmission of COVID-19 , which is ... likely more hospitalizations and deaths .
This is why it couldn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ care of each other when we ’ re out of our homes.
” California is the fourth state to surpass 100,000 confirmed cases .
New York leads with more than 300,000 cases .
California has recorded more than 3,800 deaths , far fewer than New York , which has 29,000 ; New Jersey , which has 11,000 ; and Massachusetts , which has recorded 6,400 .
The rising case numbers don ’ t necessarily mean outbreaks are spreading .
California has dramatically increased testing , which some officials credit for the rise in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new coronavirus infections Tuesday — the most reported in a single day since the onset of the pandemic , and a spike that officials attribute to a lag in reporting over the holiday weekend .
About 57 % of those new cases were reported in Los Angeles County , which has struggled as the setting for an outsized number of infections and deaths statewide .
L.A. County health officials also reached a new daily record Tuesday , reporting 1,852 new cases of COVID-19 .
On Wednesday , L.A. County health officials reported , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of infections to 48,700 .
The county also reported 53 new virus-related fatalities , bringing its death toll to 2,195 .
Ferrer said the decline in COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations as well as the county ’ s rate of infection per 100,000 people signal to her that the region is ready to move ahead with reopening , albeit with regulations .
Newsom on Wednesday said his administration will release guidelines “ in a week or so ” for allowing gyms , yoga studios and other fitness facilities to reopen , though stringent safeguards @ @ @ @ @ @ @ customers .
Newsom cautioned that the state directives will be tailored to the unique characteristics of each business , from large fitness chains to small studios , and will rely heavily on the advice of public health officials in each county .
The governor made the comments during an online roundtable with fitness professionals and business owners Wednesday morning , saying he hopes to allow them to be back in business as soon as possible .
“ We also recognize your sector is multifaceted and we don ’ t want to be naive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s bland and that doesn ’ t meet your unique criteria and your unique considerations , ” Newsom said .
He said that 47 of California ’ s 58 counties had met the state ’ s regional standards to , which include preparations to increase hospital capacity , testing and supplies of personal protective equipment .
That has allowed retailers in most of the state to open , as well as hair salons and barbershops .
The governor ‘ s chief of staff , Ann O ’ Leary , said that the draft @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being reviewed by state public health officials and that she expects those directives to be released within a week .
Adam Attia , owner of Fitness Rangers in Sacramento , told the governor that the closure , put in place in March to stem the spread of the coronavirus , has been financially and personally devastating .
He told Newsom that he needs to reopen soon — within a week or so — if he hopes to stay in business .
“ We ’ re desperate .
We want to go back into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everything we can to keep our members engaged , ” Attia told Newsom during the meeting , which streamed on YouTube .
“ We ’ re at a point where I ’ m going to have to lay everyone off .
I may have to close my doors permanently if we can ’ t reopen soon .
We really need your support.
” Francesca Schuler , chief executive of In-Shape Health Clubs , also emphasized how essential the fitness industry is to Californians .
“ We ’ re one of the only industries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the community so impacted by COVID-19 .
Many of them are individuals who struggle with chronic illnesses , usually , diabetes , high blood pressure , ” Schuler told the governor .
Willon reported from Sacramento , Fry from Los Angeles .
Times staff writers Luke Money and Cindy Chang in Los Angeles contributed to this report .

Even as California surpassed 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, many communities continued to push forward with reopening the economy with the hope that social distancing and other safety measures would prevent new outbreaks.
From barber shops to shopping malls to restaurants, many businesses shuttered for months began to come back to life this week as government officials rapidly lifted stay-at-home orders that helped slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that a decision on reopening gyms and fitness centers could be coming soon, another milestone. In San Diego, Seaworld, Legoland and other tourist attractions began talking with local officials about a potential July 1 reopening.
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In Los Angeles, the signs of rebirth were both big and small.
The Los Angeles Archdiocese plans to begin gradually reopening churches, with measures to prevent crowding and physical contact, as soon as next week. The wildly popular — and photographed — Runyon Canyon Park has reopened, with additional measures in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Park officials have reduced how many people can enter at one time, installed cameras and electric counters to monitor crowds, added additional staff and converted the trail into a one-way loop.
But the question remains about how quickly people will feel comfortable returning to any park, church or business. And health officials stressed that without masks, social distancing and crowd control, the reopened economy could result in new infections.
“There is a lot at stake as we reopen,” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “More people being around one another can result in more transmission of COVID-19, which is ... likely more hospitalizations and deaths. This is why it couldn’t be more important for us to take care of each other when we’re out of our homes.”
California is the fourth state to surpass 100,000 confirmed cases. New York leads with more than 300,000 cases. California has recorded more than 3,800 deaths, far fewer than New York, which has 29,000; New Jersey, which has 11,000; and Massachusetts, which has recorded 6,400.
The rising case numbers don’t necessarily mean outbreaks are spreading. California has dramatically increased testing, which some officials credit for the rise in confirmed cases.
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The state recorded 3,215 new coronavirus infections Tuesday — the most reported in a single day since the onset of the pandemic, and a spike that officials attribute to a lag in reporting over the holiday weekend.
About 57% of those new cases were reported in Los Angeles County, which has struggled as the setting for an outsized number of infections and deaths statewide. L.A. County health officials also reached a new daily record Tuesday, reporting 1,852 new cases of COVID-19.
On Wednesday, L.A. County health officials reported 933 new cases of COVID-19 , pushing the region’s total number of infections to 48,700. The county also reported 53 new virus-related fatalities, bringing its death toll to 2,195.
Ferrer said the decline in COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations as well as the county’s rate of infection per 100,000 people signal to her that the region is ready to move ahead with reopening, albeit with regulations.
Newsom on Wednesday said his administration will release guidelines “in a week or so” for allowing gyms, yoga studios and other fitness facilities to reopen, though stringent safeguards will need to be adopted to protect customers.
Newsom cautioned that the state directives will be tailored to the unique characteristics of each business, from large fitness chains to small studios, and will rely heavily on the advice of public health officials in each county.
The governor made the comments during an online roundtable with fitness professionals and business owners Wednesday morning, saying he hopes to allow them to be back in business as soon as possible.
“We also recognize your sector is multifaceted and we don’t want to be naive and just put out something that’s bland and that doesn’t meet your unique criteria and your unique considerations,” Newsom said.
He said that 47 of California’s 58 counties had met the state’s regional standards to ease his stay-at-home order , which include preparations to increase hospital capacity, testing and supplies of personal protective equipment. That has allowed retailers in most of the state to open, as well as hair salons and barbershops.
The governor‘s chief of staff, Ann O’Leary, said that the draft guidelines to reopen the fitness industry are being reviewed by state public health officials and that she expects those directives to be released within a week.
Adam Attia, owner of Fitness Rangers in Sacramento, told the governor that the closure, put in place in March to stem the spread of the coronavirus, has been financially and personally devastating. He told Newsom that he needs to reopen soon — within a week or so — if he hopes to stay in business.
“We’re desperate. We want to go back into the gym. We’re doing everything we can to keep our members engaged,” Attia told Newsom during the meeting, which streamed on YouTube. “We’re at a point where I’m going to have to lay everyone off. I may have to close my doors permanently if we can’t reopen soon. We really need your support.”
Francesca Schuler, chief executive of In-Shape Health Clubs, also emphasized how essential the fitness industry is to Californians.
“We’re one of the only industries that’s really in preventive healthcare of the community so impacted by COVID-19. Many of them are individuals who struggle with chronic illnesses, usually, diabetes, high blood pressure,” Schuler told the governor.
Willon reported from Sacramento, Fry from Los Angeles. Times staff writers Luke Money and Cindy Chang in Los Angeles contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-05-27--Assemblyman William Brough loses committee assignments after sexual misconduct investigation

Assemblyman William Brough ( R-Dana Point ) was removed from all committee assignments Wednesday after a state investigation found he made inappropriate comments and engaged in unwanted touching with an unidentified woman who filed a complaint with the Legislature .
Brough was notified of the findings of the Workplace Conduct Unit panel by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon ( D-Lakewood ) , who said the alleged conduct was “ detrimental to the professional environment of the Assembly and to its employees.
” “ I categorically deny harassing or offering political favors to anyone , ” Brough said in a statement Wednesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ training .
I also want to apologize to my family , friends and supporters for putting them through this unfair process .
We are looking at legal options.
” Brough , 53 , was vice chairman of the Assembly Business and Professions Committee and the Revenue and Taxation Committee .
He also was a member of the Assembly Budget and Appropriations committees , among others .
The Republican legislator was told that he must undergo training in workplace harassment prevention , and that more disciplinary action is possible as legislators confer on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an Orange County supervisor , have accused Brough of unwanted touching and other misconduct , The Times reported in September .
Brough failed to qualify for the November ballot , placing fourth in the primary election , after the California Republican Party withheld its endorsement of his reelection campaign .
On Wednesday , he disputed the panel ’ s determination that he had violated the Legislature ’ s policy on appropriate workplace conduct .
“ I disagree with the findings and the politically motivated process .
I do not believe the WCU did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ completely dismissed many of the collaborated , factual elements , ” Brough said in his statement .
Rendon ’ s letter to Brough and to the woman who filed the complaint redacted the woman ’ s name .
“ This letter is to notify you that the WCU concluded its investigation of complaints alleging that on more than one occasion you engaged in inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature , ” Rendon wrote .
“ The complaints also included an allegation that on one occasion you impliedly offered political favors in exchange for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ After considering all of the allegations and facts and based upon a preponderance of the evidence , the panel found that on two occasions you engaged in inappropriate conduct towards [ the woman ] , once verbally and on the second occasion both verbally and physically by placing your hand on the small of [ her ] back.
” “ The panel also found that on one of these two occasions you insinuated that you would provide political help to [ the woman ] if [ she ] went to your apartment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adding that “ conduct of such a nature can not , and will not be tolerated in the Legislature.
” Rendon also sent separate letters to two people saying an investigation of their complaints substantiated that Brough engaged in inappropriate conduct .
Brough , who is married , said his opponents “ used taxpayer dollars on investigations to remove me from office.
” He said he was targeted for proposing legislation to restrict toll road expansion in Orange County , which he said was followed by a decision to stop planning for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Other Republicans were critical of Brough on Wednesday .
Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron of Escondido said she respects the outcome of the investigation .
“ The behavior outlined in the investigation can not be tolerated , ” Waldron said in a statement .
“ Mr .
Brough has been removed from his positions on Assembly committees and I am working with the speaker on next steps.
” California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said it was “ truly disheartening and distressing ” to learn the results of the investigation .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Times last year that she ’ d had a negative encounter with the lawmaker in which he allegedly propositioned and “ attacked ” her at an official event in 2011 when they were both on the Dana Point City Council .
“ The fact that [ he ] was first ousted by the voters and is now being held accountable by his peers not only delivers justice for his victims , but also hope for others who may be unsure about coming forward , ” Bartlett said in a statement Wednesday .

Assemblyman William Brough (R-Dana Point) talks with Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron (R-Escondido) in 2016. An investigation has found that Brough engaged in inappropriate conduct with an unidentified woman.
Assemblyman William Brough (R-Dana Point) was removed from all committee assignments Wednesday after a state investigation found he made inappropriate comments and engaged in unwanted touching with an unidentified woman who filed a complaint with the Legislature.
Brough was notified of the findings of the Workplace Conduct Unit panel by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), who said the alleged conduct was “detrimental to the professional environment of the Assembly and to its employees.”
“I categorically deny harassing or offering political favors to anyone,” Brough said in a statement Wednesday. “I will take the recommended training. I also want to apologize to my family, friends and supporters for putting them through this unfair process. We are looking at legal options.”
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Brough, 53, was vice chairman of the Assembly Business and Professions Committee and the Revenue and Taxation Committee. He also was a member of the Assembly Budget and Appropriations committees, among others.
The Republican legislator was told that he must undergo training in workplace harassment prevention, and that more disciplinary action is possible as legislators confer on the investigative findings.
Four women, including an Orange County supervisor, have accused Brough of unwanted touching and other misconduct, The Times reported in September.
Brough failed to qualify for the November ballot, placing fourth in the primary election, after the California Republican Party withheld its endorsement of his reelection campaign.
On Wednesday, he disputed the panel’s determination that he had violated the Legislature’s policy on appropriate workplace conduct.
“I disagree with the findings and the politically motivated process. I do not believe the WCU did a complete and fair investigation; they completely dismissed many of the collaborated, factual elements,” Brough said in his statement.
Rendon’s letter to Brough and to the woman who filed the complaint redacted the woman’s name.
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“This letter is to notify you that the WCU concluded its investigation of complaints alleging that on more than one occasion you engaged in inappropriate conduct of a sexual nature,” Rendon wrote. “The complaints also included an allegation that on one occasion you impliedly offered political favors in exchange for sexual activity.”
The letter continued: “After considering all of the allegations and facts and based upon a preponderance of the evidence, the panel found that on two occasions you engaged in inappropriate conduct towards [the woman], once verbally and on the second occasion both verbally and physically by placing your hand on the small of [her] back.”
“The panel also found that on one of these two occasions you insinuated that you would provide political help to [the woman] if [she] went to your apartment with you,” Rendon wrote, adding that “conduct of such a nature cannot, and will not be tolerated in the Legislature.”
Rendon also sent separate letters to two people saying an investigation of their complaints substantiated that Brough engaged in inappropriate conduct.
Brough, who is married, said his opponents “used taxpayer dollars on investigations to remove me from office.”
He said he was targeted for proposing legislation to restrict toll road expansion in Orange County, which he said was followed by a decision to stop planning for a $1-billion extension he termed “unnecessary.”
Other Republicans were critical of Brough on Wednesday.
Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron of Escondido said she respects the outcome of the investigation.
“The behavior outlined in the investigation cannot be tolerated,” Waldron said in a statement. “Mr. Brough has been removed from his positions on Assembly committees and I am working with the speaker on next steps.”
California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said it was “truly disheartening and distressing” to learn the results of the investigation.
Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett told The Times last year that she’d had a negative encounter with the lawmaker in which he allegedly propositioned and “attacked” her at an official event in 2011 when they were both on the Dana Point City Council.
“The fact that [he] was first ousted by the voters and is now being held accountable by his peers not only delivers justice for his victims, but also hope for others who may be unsure about coming forward,” Bartlett said in a statement Wednesday.