latimes--2020-12-16--Beds filling halls. Agonizing ER waits. Burned-out staff. Inside overloaded California hospitals

When Erick Fernandez ’ s alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m. , the stress begins .
As an emergency room nurse at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster , Fernandez said his 6 a.m. shift marks the start of a long day .
The hospital is home to one of the busiest ERs in the state , and like many , it has been overrun by COVID-19 .
“ The surge is definitely in full force , ” Fernandez said .
“ Sometimes we come in in the morning , and a lot of the areas are just full of COVID @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , California has averaged more than 32,000 coronavirus cases each day , according to .
That ’ s a 129 % increase from two weeks ago .
What ’ s more , those figures are also contributing to higher hospitalization rates than at during the pandemic .
To the outside world , the numbers may be little more than statistics , but inside Southern California ’ s hospitals , conditions are rapidly deteriorating as beds fill up and workers burn out .
Annel Meza , an emergency room nurse at Riverside University Health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quickly that staff has resorted to putting patients ’ beds in the hallway .
“ Sometimes there ’ s no beds at all , ” she said .
One patient , who was admitted Dec. 1 , was in the hall for four days .
Wait times in the emergency room have grown so long that some have given up and left , thinking if they had to wait that long , they must not be that sick , Meza said .
The number of patients has increased so steadily that the Riverside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ waiver to bypass state-mandated staff-patient ratios , spokeswoman Heather Jackson said .
More than 180 hospitals across the state have applied for staffing waivers , according to the California Department of Public Health — a testament to how radically the latest COVID-19 surge has upended operations .
Adding even one extra patient not only contributes to staff burnout , it also sets a dangerous precedent : The more patients a doctor or nurse has , the less care each gets .
One found that each additional patient a nurse has is associated with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ It ’ s definitely moving into that all-hands-on-deck period , ” said Dr. Joanne Spetz , director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at UC San Francisco , who studies nurse staffing .
“ Especially because , looking at these hospitalization numbers , the burnout and the stress for the workforce is probably not going to get better that rapidly.
” Staffing shortages are exacerbated by workforce dropout , Spetz said .
After gruelingly long shifts , healthcare workers ’ daily rituals include showers , laundry and disinfectant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their loved ones .
Spetz said many have left their jobs because they or family members have contracted COVID-19 or because they ’ re worried about the ongoing health risk .
Meza , who is 6 months pregnant , said she has had to weigh the need for work with concerns about her safety , as well as the safety of her husband and 11-year-old daughter .
“ Every day I see at least 10 people that have COVID , so I get a little bit more scared , ” she said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ across the state , where climbing caseloads have become such a cause for concern that all but two regions of California are under stay-at-home orders .
The Southern California region , which includes Los Angeles , Orange , Riverside and San Bernardino counties , has just 0.5 % of its ICU beds available , , down from 7 % just days ago .
As of Tuesday , Los Angeles County had fewer than 100 ICU beds , while Riverside County was at 0 % capacity .
At Dignity Health California Hospital Medical Center @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patients have arrived in the last two weeks that doctors ’ mid-morning rounds have been substantially shortened , said Dr. Simon Mates , the ICU ’ s co-director .
Instead of the usual five or 10 minutes spent with each patient , they ’ re down to two or three minutes apiece , he said .
In San Bernardino , the surge came so rapidly that county officials have limited , a decision prompted by skyrocketing ICU and hospital numbers .
At least one hospital in the county is already feeling the strain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bernardine Medical Center ’ s 47-bed ICU has been steadily filling in recent weeks and that the flood of COVID-19 patients is forcing some doctors to make difficult decisions .
“ There ’ s been times when we ’ ve had multiple patients having cardiac arrest at the same time , and we ’ ve had to really triage to figure out which patient to resuscitate first , ” said Reddy , the hospital ’ s intensivist medical director .
“ If there ’ s multiple emergencies , I try to gauge which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in.
” What ’ s happening now — the so-called of the pandemic — is far worse than what most hospitals experienced earlier this year , Reddy said .
COVID-19 patient volume is nearly double what St. Bernardine saw earlier this year .
And while most doctors and nurses say their understanding of the illness has improved and treatments are more effective , the virus still finds ways to shock and surprise .
The first wave was characterized by clusters , such as nursing home patients who became sick during outbreaks , Reddy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus in young people in their 20s and 30s , and quite often infecting entire families .
“ A universal factor in a lot of these patients is they typically had somebody in their family that had the disease as well , ” he said .
“ It ’ s spreading through the households.
” The family factor has been increasingly documented , with many experts pointing to as a flashpoint for the most recent surge .
Reddy is now hoping that people will heed health warnings come Christmas .
“ Everybody @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would love for any one of them to come live life in the day of a nurse or a respiratory therapist who has to go into a COVID room multiple times every hour , or just walk through the ICU to see how sick patients are , ” he said .
“ I think it would really change people ’ s opinions.
” Health experts also emphasize how the virus ’ spread can be prevented by social distancing and wearing masks .
Public resistance to such practices , said Cedars-Sinai Medical Center ICU @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disheartening .
“ You can spend the majority of your day really fighting to keep some of these patients alive , ” Pedraza said .
“ Seeing their suffering and their family ’ s suffering , and then walking out the door and listening to news about how this isn ’ t a big deal , and how wearing a mask is infringing on constitutional rights , and how this is a hoax … it takes its toll.
” Patient numbers in her unit have increased steadily .
A month ago , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
Now it ’ s closer to two-thirds .
Lately , much of her afternoons have been spent calling families to update them on the condition of their loved ones , whom they can not visit in person .
It ’ s a process that drives home how cruel the virus can be .
“ To see the fear in their faces , the isolation — I don ’ t think people understand what they ’ re in for if they develop severe COVID , ” she said .
Like many Americans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the widespread distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and see it as a potential sea change .
Mates , the ICU co-director at Dignity Health California Hospital Medical Center , even participated in the Pfizer trial , noting that he is eager to see the vaccine take some of the pressure off frontline workers .
But vaccinating all Californians will take time — the state ’ s is only about 327,000 doses — and experts say the general public likely won ’ t receive their shots until the spring or summer .
It feels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hospital system hanging by a thread and healthcare workers struggling to adapt to a rapidly worsening situation .
“ We saw what happened in New York when hospitals were overwhelmed because they didn ’ t have enough people or equipment , ” Pedraza said .
“ The limiting factor is really , are you reaching the maximum of your resources that are available ?
” With daily death tolls , many are bracing for the uncertainty of what comes next .

“The surge is definitely in full force,” says emergency room nurse Erick Fernandez, seen in front of Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster.
When Erick Fernandez’s alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m., the stress begins.
As an emergency room nurse at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, Fernandez said his 6 a.m. shift marks the start of a long day. The hospital is home to one of the busiest ERs in the state, and like many, it has been overrun by COVID-19.
“The surge is definitely in full force,” Fernandez said. “Sometimes we come in in the morning, and a lot of the areas are just full of COVID patients already.”
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In the last week, California has averaged more than 32,000 coronavirus cases each day, according to The Times tracker . That’s a 129% increase from two weeks ago. What’s more, those figures are also contributing to higher hospitalization rates than at any other point during the pandemic.
To the outside world, the numbers may be little more than statistics, but inside Southern California’s hospitals, conditions are rapidly deteriorating as beds fill up and workers burn out.
Annel Meza, an ER nurse at Riverside University Health Systems, is the mother of 11-year-old Naima Villa and is 26 weeks pregnant. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
Annel Meza, an emergency room nurse at Riverside University Health Systems, said hospitalizations are increasing so quickly that staff has resorted to putting patients’ beds in the hallway.
“Sometimes there’s no beds at all,” she said.
One patient, who was admitted Dec. 1, was in the hall for four days. Wait times in the emergency room have grown so long that some have given up and left, thinking if they had to wait that long, they must not be that sick, Meza said.
The number of patients has increased so steadily that the Riverside hospital has had to apply for a waiver to bypass state-mandated staff-patient ratios, spokeswoman Heather Jackson said.
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More than 180 hospitals across the state have applied for staffing waivers, according to the California Department of Public Health — a testament to how radically the latest COVID-19 surge has upended operations.
Adding even one extra patient not only contributes to staff burnout, it also sets a dangerous precedent: The more patients a doctor or nurse has, the less care each gets. One widely cited study found that each additional patient a nurse has is associated with a 7% increase in mortality.
“It’s definitely moving into that all-hands-on-deck period,” said Dr. Joanne Spetz, director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at UC San Francisco, who studies nurse staffing. “Especially because, looking at these hospitalization numbers, the burnout and the stress for the workforce is probably not going to get better that rapidly.”
Staffing shortages are exacerbated by workforce dropout, Spetz said. After gruelingly long shifts, healthcare workers’ daily rituals include showers, laundry and disinfectant at home in an attempt to protect their loved ones. Spetz said many have left their jobs because they or family members have contracted COVID-19 or because they’re worried about the ongoing health risk.
Meza, who is 6 months pregnant, said she has had to weigh the need for work with concerns about her safety, as well as the safety of her husband and 11-year-old daughter.
“Every day I see at least 10 people that have COVID, so I get a little bit more scared,” she said.
California With vaccine, California enters new phase in the coronavirus pandemic But while the vaccine offers promise, it comes as the U.S. is facing the darkest moment of the coronavirus crisis. On Monday, the U.S. death toll topped 300,000, and California, like much of the nation, is in the throes of the worst wave of the disease.
Similar scenes are playing out in hospitals across the state, where climbing caseloads have become such a cause for concern that all but two regions of California are under stay-at-home orders triggered by ICU capacity .
The Southern California region, which includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, has just 0.5% of its ICU beds available, according to state data , down from 7% just days ago. As of Tuesday, Los Angeles County had fewer than 100 ICU beds, while Riverside County was at 0% capacity.
Dr. Simon Mates is the co-director of the ICU at Dignity Health California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
At Dignity Health California Hospital Medical Center in downtown Los Angeles, so many patients have arrived in the last two weeks that doctors’ mid-morning rounds have been substantially shortened, said Dr. Simon Mates, the ICU’s co-director. Instead of the usual five or 10 minutes spent with each patient, they’re down to two or three minutes apiece, he said.
In San Bernardino, the surge came so rapidly that county officials have limited ambulance calls , a decision prompted by skyrocketing ICU and hospital numbers.
At least one hospital in the county is already feeling the strain: Dr. Hari Reddy said that St. Bernardine Medical Center’s 47-bed ICU has been steadily filling in recent weeks and that the flood of COVID-19 patients is forcing some doctors to make difficult decisions.
Intensivist Medical Director Dr. Hari Reddy regularly works 12-hour days, if not longer, five days a week at St. Bernardine Medical Center in San Bernardino. The 47-bed intensive care unit has been filling steadily in recent weeks, he said. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
“There’s been times when we’ve had multiple patients having cardiac arrest at the same time, and we’ve had to really triage to figure out which patient to resuscitate first,” said Reddy, the hospital’s intensivist medical director. “If there’s multiple emergencies, I try to gauge which patient I can make the most difference in.”
What’s happening now — the so-called third wave of the pandemic — is far worse than what most hospitals experienced earlier this year, Reddy said. COVID-19 patient volume is nearly double what St. Bernardine saw earlier this year.
And while most doctors and nurses say their understanding of the illness has improved and treatments are more effective, the virus still finds ways to shock and surprise. The first wave was characterized by clusters, such as nursing home patients who became sick during outbreaks, Reddy said. Now he’s seeing the virus in young people in their 20s and 30s, and quite often infecting entire families.
“A universal factor in a lot of these patients is they typically had somebody in their family that had the disease as well,” he said. “It’s spreading through the households.”
The family factor has been increasingly documented, with many experts pointing to Thanksgiving gatherings as a flashpoint for the most recent surge.
Reddy is now hoping that people will heed health warnings come Christmas.
“Everybody has their own beliefs, but I would love for any one of them to come live life in the day of a nurse or a respiratory therapist who has to go into a COVID room multiple times every hour, or just walk through the ICU to see how sick patients are,” he said. “I think it would really change people’s opinions.”
Health experts also emphasize how the virus’ spread can be prevented by social distancing and wearing masks.
Public resistance to such practices, said Cedars-Sinai Medical Center ICU director Dr. Isabel Pedraza, can be disheartening.
“You can spend the majority of your day really fighting to keep some of these patients alive,” Pedraza said. “Seeing their suffering and their family’s suffering, and then walking out the door and listening to news about how this isn’t a big deal, and how wearing a mask is infringing on constitutional rights, and how this is a hoax … it takes its toll.”
Patient numbers in her unit have increased steadily. A month ago, the Cedars-Sinai ICU was at half-capacity, Pedraza said. Now it’s closer to two-thirds.
Lately, much of her afternoons have been spent calling families to update them on the condition of their loved ones, whom they cannot visit in person. It’s a process that drives home how cruel the virus can be.
“To see the fear in their faces, the isolation — I don’t think people understand what they’re in for if they develop severe COVID,” she said.
Like many Americans, hospital workers are looking forward to the widespread distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and see it as a potential sea change. Mates, the ICU co-director at Dignity Health California Hospital Medical Center, even participated in the Pfizer trial, noting that he is eager to see the vaccine take some of the pressure off frontline workers.
But vaccinating all Californians will take time — the state’s initial allocation is only about 327,000 doses — and experts say the general public likely won’t receive their shots until the spring or summer.
It feels like a distant finish line for a hospital system hanging by a thread and healthcare workers struggling to adapt to a rapidly worsening situation.
“We saw what happened in New York when hospitals were overwhelmed because they didn’t have enough people or equipment,” Pedraza said. “The limiting factor is really, are you reaching the maximum of your resources that are available?”


latimes--2020-12-16--With a woman in prison for a stillbirth, California's murder law is tested

Adora Perez was two years into an 11-year prison sentence when she got a phone call .
From inside the women ’ s state prison in Chowchilla , Calif. , Perez listened as attorney Mary McNamara introduced herself , saying she had been looking into Perez ’ s case — and found it deeply flawed .
Perez was charged with murder after she delivered a stillborn baby at a hospital in California ’ s Central Valley , with authorities alleging methamphetamine use while pregnant was responsible .
Faced with the possibility of life in prison , Perez accepted a plea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ herself adjusting to the rhythms of time behind bars .
But to McNamara , the law in California was clear : A woman can not be convicted of killing her unborn child , and no woman before Perez had been sent to prison in such a case .
The 32-year-old inmate is now at the center of a high-stakes legal fight between a team of lawyers headed by McNamara and a district attorney who believes Perez and others like her are criminals .
If the prosecutor prevails , women ’ s rights advocates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to charges against any woman who suffers a miscarriage or stillbirth .
Before Perez ’ s arrest , it was settled law in California that women could not be prosecuted for killing their fetuses .
In 1970 , after California ’ s Supreme Court overturned the murder conviction of a man who beat his pregnant wife and killed her unborn child , legislators changed the state ’ s homicide law to make it possible to charge someone for the death of a fetus .
But a section in the law states it does @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aided , abetted , or consented to by the mother of the fetus , ” and attempts to convict women of killing their unborn children have been knocked down .
In one of the more extreme tests of the law , a municipal court judge in Santa Barbara ruled in 1973 that a woman who ended her pregnancy by shooting herself in the stomach could not be tried for murder .
( The woman , Claudia Tucker , pleaded guilty to performing an illegal abortion and was sentenced to probation . )
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the 1990s , prosecutors in three counties brought murder charges against women who were accused of killing their unborn children with drug use .
In each case , the charges were thrown out or withdrawn .
“ There have been no cases , ” McNamara said , “ where any woman has been successfully prosecuted in California as a result of her pregnancy outcome.
” Until Perez .
In her case , Kings County Dist .
Atty .
Keith Fagundes found a chance to challenge what he believed had been decades of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the face of logic , ” he said , “ that if the father of a fetus can kill a fetus , why can ’ t the mother of a fetus be responsible for killing a fetus ?
” Fagundes said he believed the exception for pregnant women written into the murder statute applies only to women who seek legal abortions .
McNamara said the language clearly includes exceptions for abortions as well as for acts performed by pregnant women .
“ That law did not go into effect to protect the mother @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fagundes continued .
“ It went into effect to protect the fetus and give the fetus rights.
” If allowed to stand , that interpretation would mark a profound shift in the law , McNamara and others say .
“ Expanding the law to criminalize pregnancy outcomes opens the door for women to be charged with murder for any behavior that could potentially harm their pregnancy , ” said attorney Jennifer Chou of the ACLU of Northern California , “ including things like jaywalking and working a physically demanding job.
” Perez grew @ @ @ @ @ @ @ old railroad town south of Fresno .
Her childhood was short .
She said she was molested repeatedly by a family friend and became pregnant by another man at 14 .
By 16 , she was smoking meth .
At 21 , she met the man who would become the father of eight of her children .
He beat her brutally throughout each of those pregnancies , said an aunt , Sabrina Perez , who helped raise her .
“ In her head she felt she deserved it , ” her aunt said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how to grow up , because he ’ s older than her.
” Perez tried to break the hold of her addiction many times , including during her most recent pregnancy , when she moved back in with her aunt and managed to stay clean for nearly three months , her aunt said .
But her success was undercut by the boyfriend , the aunt said .
He talked her into renting a hotel room , where her tenuous grip on sobriety slipped .
Perez delivered her stillborn son , Hades , at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 30 , 2017 .
A test came back positive for methamphetamine and a doctor told investigators he believed the drug use had caused the death , court records show .
Officers arrested her in the hospital ’ s birthing center two days later .
She struggles to find the words to describe the loss , but says she ’ s not a murderer .
“ I didn ’ t mean to intentionally hurt my child , ” Perez said .
“ You don ’ t know what it ’ s like to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on drugs.
” Perez had been sitting in jail for about three months when prosecutors offered her a deal : The murder charge would be dropped if she pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter — a lesser crime that carries a sentence of three to 11 years .
They presented the agreement as a way for Perez to avoid spending the rest of her life in prison .
And Perez says her attorneys didn ’ t tell her about the glaring problem with the deal : that the state ’ s laws don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woman to be charged with killing her fetus .
“ They made it sound like they were getting me a sweet deal , ” she said .
Perez took the plea bargain , but almost immediately regretted it .
“ I realized , ‘ Oh my God , I just pleaded guilty without pleading guilty , ’ ” she said , referring to the no-contest plea , which is tantamount to a conviction .
She and her family scraped together several thousand dollars to hire a private attorney in an attempt to withdraw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Court Judge Robert Burns refused to allow it .
Instead , in June 2018 , he sentenced Perez to the maximum time behind bars .
There was no money left to pay a lawyer to pursue an appeal .
A court-appointed attorney took the case , but failed to raise any specific legal challenges , said McNamara , who now is representing Perez .
When an appeals court upheld Perez ’ s plea in March 2019 , her case seemed shut for good .
Then another Kings County woman was arrested .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grew up in Hanford , struggled with methamphetamine addiction , and delivered a stillborn at Adventist Health nearly two years after Perez .
Hospital staff called authorities .
In November 2019 , Fagundes charged her with murder .
She was appointed the same public defender as Perez and appeared before the same judge .
Unable to make the $ 2-million bail the judge imposed , Becker is in Kings County Jail .
But unlike Perez ’ s case , Becker ’ s arrest received attention .
Her tear-streaked mugshot ran in newspapers and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ largely did not question the charges against her .
The publicity made lawyers aware of Becker , and a team backed by National Advocates for Pregnant Women took on her case .
Several women ’ s rights groups and medical associations signed on to a legal brief calling for her prosecution to be dropped .
Attorneys discovered Perez when a Los Angeles Times reporter , while writing about Becker , came across the case and asked lawyers at the ACLU about the validity of Perez ’ s conviction .
McNamara was asked to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and it didn ’ t take long for her to become convinced that the charges , the plea deal and the legal advice Perez received had all been faulty .
In the phone call to Perez in prison , she offered to take on her case at no charge .
“ I ’ m hoping that , in the end , I do get to go home , ” Perez said .
“ And when I do go home , I am going to seek rehab.
” For the last three months , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ treatment program , she said , and she feels like the haze that years of trauma and drug use cast over her mind is finally clearing .
“ I used to check in and check out whenever I wanted to , ” she said .
“ And now ...
I can ’ t check in or check out because I ’ m behind walls .
I want to be with my kids so bad.
” McNamara and attorneys assisting her have asked the appeals court to reopen the case .
They ’ ve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Gen. Xavier Becerra .
Although the attorney general typically fights alongside county district attorneys to uphold convictions , Becerra is trying to undo Fagundes ’ work .
He has said he supports Perez ’ s release , and wrote in a court filing that he would not oppose the effort to reopen her appeal .
“ We will continue to work to see our laws properly applied in order to end Ms. Becker and Ms. Perez ’ s imprisonments and protect women from similar prosecution in the future , ” Becerra said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to win Becker ’ s release , Becerra wrote in a court filing that the charges are based on a misinterpretation of the law , and urged the judge to dismiss the case .
More recently , Becerra issued a call for the state Supreme Court to intervene .
The court has until Christmas to decide whether to weigh in .
The involvement by the state ’ s top prosecutor has rankled Fagundes .
“ He is encouraging women to abuse their fetuses , and the next step from there is they ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re born , ” Fagundes said .
“ Because it appears there ’ s no limit to what people like Xavier Becerra will allow.
” It ’ s part of what the district attorney describes as a larger problem of “ liberal California politics ” and advocacy groups that he says prioritize political agendas over human life .
“ Through this process , I ’ ve seen scores of people coming to the aid of women who overdose their babies , but no one is coming to give a voice to this healthy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Perez ’ s stillborn son .
If lawyers for the women agree with Fagundes about anything , it is that the stakes are high .
“ Unless we win these cases , this is going to continue , ” McNamara said .
“ And that ’ s a thought that just keeps me up at night .
”

Tina Perez holds a photo of her daughter, Adora Perez, who is serving an 11-year prison sentence after prosecutors said drug use led her to deliver a stillborn baby.
Adora Perez was two years into an 11-year prison sentence when she got a phone call.
From inside the women’s state prison in Chowchilla, Calif., Perez listened as attorney Mary McNamara introduced herself, saying she had been looking into Perez’s case — and found it deeply flawed.
Perez was charged with murder after she delivered a stillborn baby at a hospital in California’s Central Valley, with authorities alleging methamphetamine use while pregnant was responsible. Faced with the possibility of life in prison, Perez accepted a plea deal, lost an appeal and busied herself adjusting to the rhythms of time behind bars.
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But to McNamara, the law in California was clear: A woman cannot be convicted of killing her unborn child, and no woman before Perez had been sent to prison in such a case.
The 32-year-old inmate is now at the center of a high-stakes legal fight between a team of lawyers headed by McNamara and a district attorney who believes Perez and others like her are criminals. If the prosecutor prevails, women’s rights advocates say, it will open the door to charges against any woman who suffers a miscarriage or stillbirth.
::
Before Perez’s arrest, it was settled law in California that women could not be prosecuted for killing their fetuses.
In 1970, after California’s Supreme Court overturned the murder conviction of a man who beat his pregnant wife and killed her unborn child, legislators changed the state’s homicide law to make it possible to charge someone for the death of a fetus.
But a section in the law states it does not apply to acts “solicited, aided, abetted, or consented to by the mother of the fetus,” and attempts to convict women of killing their unborn children have been knocked down. In one of the more extreme tests of the law, a municipal court judge in Santa Barbara ruled in 1973 that a woman who ended her pregnancy by shooting herself in the stomach could not be tried for murder. (The woman, Claudia Tucker, pleaded guilty to performing an illegal abortion and was sentenced to probation.)
And over the span of a few years in the 1990s, prosecutors in three counties brought murder charges against women who were accused of killing their unborn children with drug use. In each case, the charges were thrown out or withdrawn.
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“There have been no cases,” McNamara said, “where any woman has been successfully prosecuted in California as a result of her pregnancy outcome.”
Until Perez. In her case, Kings County Dist. Atty. Keith Fagundes found a chance to challenge what he believed had been decades of improper rulings.
“It flies in the face of logic,” he said, “that if the father of a fetus can kill a fetus, why can’t the mother of a fetus be responsible for killing a fetus?”
Fagundes said he believed the exception for pregnant women written into the murder statute applies only to women who seek legal abortions. McNamara said the language clearly includes exceptions for abortions as well as for acts performed by pregnant women.
“That law did not go into effect to protect the mother of the fetus at all,” Fagundes continued. “It went into effect to protect the fetus and give the fetus rights.”
If allowed to stand, that interpretation would mark a profound shift in the law, McNamara and others say.
“Expanding the law to criminalize pregnancy outcomes opens the door for women to be charged with murder for any behavior that could potentially harm their pregnancy,” said attorney Jennifer Chou of the ACLU of Northern California, “including things like jaywalking and working a physically demanding job.”
::
Perez grew up in Hanford, Calif., an old railroad town south of Fresno. Her childhood was short. She said she was molested repeatedly by a family friend and became pregnant by another man at 14. By 16, she was smoking meth.
At 21, she met the man who would become the father of eight of her children. He beat her brutally throughout each of those pregnancies, said an aunt, Sabrina Perez, who helped raise her.
“In her head she felt she deserved it,” her aunt said, “that he was teaching her how to grow up, because he’s older than her.”
Perez tried to break the hold of her addiction many times, including during her most recent pregnancy, when she moved back in with her aunt and managed to stay clean for nearly three months, her aunt said.
But her success was undercut by the boyfriend, the aunt said. He talked her into renting a hotel room, where her tenuous grip on sobriety slipped.
Sabrina Perez reflects on her niece, Adora Perez, who is in prison for the death of her stillborn child. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Perez delivered her stillborn son, Hades, at Adventist Health Hanford the night of Dec. 30, 2017. A test came back positive for methamphetamine and a doctor told investigators he believed the drug use had caused the death, court records show. Officers arrested her in the hospital’s birthing center two days later.
She struggles to find the words to describe the loss, but says she’s not a murderer.
“I didn’t mean to intentionally hurt my child,” Perez said. “You don’t know what it’s like to be on drugs unless you’ve been on drugs.”
Tina Perez, right, holds a photo of daughter Adora Perez as she sits with Sabrina Perez, Adora’s aunt, in Sabrina’s Hanford home. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
::
Perez had been sitting in jail for about three months when prosecutors offered her a deal: The murder charge would be dropped if she pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter — a lesser crime that carries a sentence of three to 11 years.
They presented the agreement as a way for Perez to avoid spending the rest of her life in prison. And Perez says her attorneys didn’t tell her about the glaring problem with the deal: that the state’s laws don’t include a provision for a woman to be charged with killing her fetus.
“They made it sound like they were getting me a sweet deal,” she said.
Perez took the plea bargain, but almost immediately regretted it.
“I realized, ‘Oh my God, I just pleaded guilty without pleading guilty,’” she said, referring to the no-contest plea, which is tantamount to a conviction.
She and her family scraped together several thousand dollars to hire a private attorney in an attempt to withdraw the agreement, but Kings County Superior Court Judge Robert Burns refused to allow it. Instead, in June 2018, he sentenced Perez to the maximum time behind bars.
There was no money left to pay a lawyer to pursue an appeal. A court-appointed attorney took the case, but failed to raise any specific legal challenges, said McNamara, who now is representing Perez.
When an appeals court upheld Perez’s plea in March 2019, her case seemed shut for good.
Then another Kings County woman was arrested.
::
The similarities were striking: Chelsea Becker also grew up in Hanford, struggled with methamphetamine addiction, and delivered a stillborn at Adventist Health nearly two years after Perez. Hospital staff called authorities. In November 2019, Fagundes charged her with murder.
She was appointed the same public defender as Perez and appeared before the same judge. Unable to make the $2-million bail the judge imposed, Becker is in Kings County Jail.
Jennifer Hernandez shows a cellphone image of daughter Chelsea Becker, with a tattoo of baby footprints on her chest. (Tomas Ovalle / For The Times)
But unlike Perez’s case, Becker’s arrest received attention. Her tear-streaked mugshot ran in newspapers and on national news broadcasts alongside stories that largely did not question the charges against her.
The publicity made lawyers aware of Becker, and a team backed by National Advocates for Pregnant Women took on her case. Several women’s rights groups and medical associations signed on to a legal brief calling for her prosecution to be dropped.
Attorneys discovered Perez when a Los Angeles Times reporter, while writing about Becker, came across the case and asked lawyers at the ACLU about the validity of Perez’s conviction.
McNamara was asked to look into Perez’s case, and it didn’t take long for her to become convinced that the charges, the plea deal and the legal advice Perez received had all been faulty. In the phone call to Perez in prison, she offered to take on her case at no charge.
“I’m hoping that, in the end, I do get to go home,” Perez said. “And when I do go home, I am going to seek rehab.”
For the last three months, she’s been going through a treatment program, she said, and she feels like the haze that years of trauma and drug use cast over her mind is finally clearing.
“I used to check in and check out whenever I wanted to,” she said. “And now ... I can’t check in or check out because I’m behind walls. I want to be with my kids so bad.”
::
McNamara and attorneys assisting her have asked the appeals court to reopen the case.
They’ve found a powerful ally in California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra. Although the attorney general typically fights alongside county district attorneys to uphold convictions, Becerra is trying to undo Fagundes’ work. He has said he supports Perez’s release, and wrote in a court filing that he would not oppose the effort to reopen her appeal.
“We will continue to work to see our laws properly applied in order to end Ms. Becker and Ms. Perez’s imprisonments and protect women from similar prosecution in the future,” Becerra said in a statement.
In backing efforts to win Becker’s release, Becerra wrote in a court filing that the charges are based on a misinterpretation of the law, and urged the judge to dismiss the case. More recently, Becerra issued a call for the state Supreme Court to intervene. The court has until Christmas to decide whether to weigh in.
The involvement by the state’s top prosecutor has rankled Fagundes.
“He is encouraging women to abuse their fetuses, and the next step from there is they’ll abuse their children once they’re born,” Fagundes said. “Because it appears there’s no limit to what people like Xavier Becerra will allow.”
It’s part of what the district attorney describes as a larger problem of “liberal California politics” and advocacy groups that he says prioritize political agendas over human life.
“Through this process, I’ve seen scores of people coming to the aid of women who overdose their babies, but no one is coming to give a voice to this healthy fetus,” he said, referring to Perez’s stillborn son.
If lawyers for the women agree with Fagundes about anything, it is that the stakes are high.
“Unless we win these cases, this is going to continue,” McNamara said. “And that’s a thought that just keeps me up at night.”


latimes--2020-12-16--During the pandemic, chaplains are a lifeline for inmates

Every day , Brother Dennis Gibbs sits by a window in the living room of his monastery in the San Gabriel Valley and pens a letter or two to people behind bars .
His “ friends on the inside , ” as the gray-haired monk calls them , have kept up a growing correspondence with Gibbs for more than nine months , sharing an intimate view into life in jails and state prisons during the pandemic .
Many have voiced worry about the coronavirus and “ the tenuous feeling of how it ’ s being managed in the jails , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ve admitted that some aren ’ t reporting symptoms for fear of being put in isolation .
Although sometimes left feeling powerless , Gibbs , who co-directs a restorative justice ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of L.A. and visited the county ’ s jails four days a week before the pandemic , has been uplifted by a surge in pen pals .
He also circulates a newsletter he began in June for inmates that features spiritual reflections and inspirational quotes .
“ Hopefully , all of this helps remind them that even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re still there with them , ” said Gibbs , who unlike some other chaplains decided not to enter the jails for fear of bringing the virus in .
“ There ’ s so much response , large and small , that says this is a lifeline.
” Since March , detention facilities have suspended public visits and quarantined those who may have been exposed to the virus , making an already stressful and lonely environment even more so .
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation , which continues to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ criticism for failing to protect inmates .
In L.A. County jails , and elsewhere across the state , chaplains say that they feel a greater responsibility to stay connected with inmates .
They are writing letters , or if they can , visiting in person , aiming to bring companionship and hope at a time when inmates are concerned about their safety and that of their families — and suffer directly from the virus ’ fatal toll .
“ Sometimes they ’ ll ask us , ‘ What ’ s going on on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really out there ?
’ ” said Frank Mastrolonardo , 64 , a Protestant chaplain in the L.A. jails and founder of a nonprofit prison ministry .
“ Many times , we ’ ve calmed their hearts because they think everything has been falling apart at the seams.
” In L.A. County , chaplains and spiritual volunteers have continued to walk jail floors with carts of religious material and “ have been deemed essential ” during the pandemic , Sheriff ’ s Department spokesman Lt. John Satterfield said .
It ’ s a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instituted harsher restrictions .
In Fresno , chaplaincy visits have been put on hold .
In San Bernardino , two contract chaplains may visit inmates but hundreds of religious volunteers can not .
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation , which is starting to roll out video visitation with the public in prisons , allows chaplains to conduct individual counseling .
It has also been providing virtual religious programing , including sermons broadcast throughout the week .
At a Kern County prison last month , one Jewish chaplain brought a kippah to an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be on suicide watch in an isolated cell because he was terrified of getting infected in a dorm .
“ When he saw me , he just smiled , ” said the rabbi , who requested anonymity because he wasn ’ t authorized to speak to reporters .
“ To acknowledge he ’ s not alone in fear and how he feels in general , that ’ s all we can do.
” Sgt .
Alex Gamboa , who works in the Religious and Volunteer Services unit for the L.A. County jails @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increase in requests to see a chaplain .
More than 100 chaplains and spiritual volunteers are active , Gamboa said .
In November , chaplains logged more than 6,000 mostly one-on-one visits with inmates , often meeting multiple times with the same person .
They ’ ve also hosted small communion services .
“ It never stopped , ” Gamboa said of the chaplaincy .
“ They ’ re really needed inside right now.
” The Archdiocese of L.A. , for example , which employs eight jail chaplains who visit inmates regularly , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Gonzalo De Vivero , director of its Office of Restorative Justice , said these sessions shot up from 342 in February to 2,550 in October .
Part of the reason , he said , is that chaplains spend more time walking cell rows to offer counseling now that they ’ re no longer holding large Masses .
That in turn has made inmates more comfortable speaking with the chaplains to ask for a prayer , books or a rosary .
Chaplains have helped console inmates who have lost family members to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the church ’ s chaplains , spends an average of three to 10 minutes per inmate at the Century Regional Detention Facility women ’ s jail in Lynwood , where she works five days a week .
A few months ago , she counseled a woman in her 20s who said several close relatives had died from the virus .
Ortiz , 62 , listened and then shared her own family ’ s story of grief and resilience .
She told the woman that her mother survived the loss of three sons and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her faith .
“ I could see her snapping a little bit out of her grief for me to empathize with me , ” Ortiz said .
“ We sort of put ourselves on the same level.
” When deciding whether to continue visiting the jails , Mastrolonardo , the Protestant chaplain , said he reflected on a letter that Martin Luther , the father of the Protestant Reformation , wrote when a plague hit his town of Wittenberg , Germany .
Luther had said that he would fumigate , help purify the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was not needed , but that he would go to a neighbor in need .
His ministry has distributed 30,000 cards to the jails , giving them to inmates to mail to their loved ones .
“ People were flying out of their bed , ” Mastrolonardo said , describing the enthusiasm as a group of chaplains and volunteers had walked by the dorms at North County Correctional Facility in Castaic to distribute the cards .
Like Ortiz , he ’ s comforted inmates who have suffered losses .
“ I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ women behind bars who haven ’ t had any visitations , no yard time in some cases , ” Mastrolonardo said .
“ They have family members dying on the outside .
Who is the one who is going to give them death notifications ?
It ’ s the chaplains .
Who is going to go and counsel ?
It ’ s the chaplains.
” Some former inmates say chaplains made a lasting difference .
Laurence Roth , a 31-year-old resident of North Hollywood who was discharged from an L.A. County jail in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recalled how he had not received visits because his then-girlfriend had been homeless and couldn ’ t get in touch with him and his family lived on the East Coast .
Roth said that his life was transformed when he heard Mastrolonardo one day preach about the forgiveness of sins .
The chaplain would sometimes visit him twice a week through the bars , he said .
“ It was so special for me because I had nobody , ” said Roth , a former drug addict who now works at a church @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ My life was falling apart… .
What they [ the chaplains ] offered me was relief from the guilt.
” Chaplains now ministering through letter-writing have maintained strong connections to inmates too .
Sister Greta Ronningen , who lives at the monastery with Gibbs and co-directs the restorative justice ministry , said that inmates are often exposed to trauma , loss and abuse , and that “ there ’ s a deep desire to get right — with their families , themselves , with God.
” She received a letter around Thanksgiving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ facility in Camarillo .
The woman had been looking forward to Thanksgiving week and was devastated because her dorm had been quarantined after a positive case of the virus .
Ronningen immediately ordered her materials on Amazon , including a teen novel and a daily meditation on self-worth , to cheer her up .
“ Everyone knows it will end , it ’ s just holding on and getting through it , ” she said of the pandemic .
On a recent afternoon , Gibbs sat down at the monastery to respond to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lay a notebook for logging his correspondence and paper cutouts with inspirational messages and haikus to slip into envelopes .
An inmate from Valley State Prison had sent him a commitment to become a “ divine companion ” of the monastery , joining a program in which inmates agree to follow certain principles , such as nonviolence , and build a relationship with the monks .
Gibbs had written him six letters throughout the pandemic .
In the letter the monk opened , the inmate voiced his gratitude , saying that Gibbs had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I ’ m glad I came to your church service that day because I may have killed the wrong person , ” he wrote .
“ I cry every time I think about that moment in time .
I never want to forget it because it helps me stay humble now .
It saved my life .
”

Brother Dennis Gibbs corresponds with inmates at the Community of Divine Love, an Episcopal monastery in San Gabriel, trying to give them hope at a time when they are living in more isolation.
Every day, Brother Dennis Gibbs sits by a window in the living room of his monastery in the San Gabriel Valley and pens a letter or two to people behind bars.
His “friends on the inside,” as the gray-haired monk calls them, have kept up a growing correspondence with Gibbs for more than nine months, sharing an intimate view into life in jails and state prisons during the pandemic.
Many have voiced worry about the coronavirus and “the tenuous feeling of how it’s being managed in the jails,” said Gibbs, 66. They’ve admitted that some aren’t reporting symptoms for fear of being put in isolation.
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Although sometimes left feeling powerless, Gibbs, who co-directs a restorative justice ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of L.A. and visited the county’s jails four days a week before the pandemic, has been uplifted by a surge in pen pals. He also circulates a newsletter he began in June for inmates that features spiritual reflections and inspirational quotes.
“Hopefully, all of this helps remind them that even if we’re not there physically we’re still there with them,” said Gibbs, who unlike some other chaplains decided not to enter the jails for fear of bringing the virus in. “There’s so much response, large and small, that says this is a lifeline.”
Since March, detention facilities have suspended public visits and quarantined those who may have been exposed to the virus, making an already stressful and lonely environment even more so. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which continues to deal with outbreaks, is also facing criticism for failing to protect inmates.
In L.A. County jails, and elsewhere across the state, chaplains say that they feel a greater responsibility to stay connected with inmates. They are writing letters, or if they can, visiting in person, aiming to bring companionship and hope at a time when inmates are concerned about their safety and that of their families — and suffer directly from the virus’ fatal toll.
“Sometimes they’ll ask us, ‘What’s going on on the outside? How bad is it really out there?’” said Frank Mastrolonardo, 64, a Protestant chaplain in the L.A. jails and founder of a nonprofit prison ministry. “Many times, we’ve calmed their hearts because they think everything has been falling apart at the seams.”
Gibbs holds some of the letters he’s received from inmates — he keeps each one. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
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In L.A. County, chaplains and spiritual volunteers have continued to walk jail floors with carts of religious material and “have been deemed essential” during the pandemic, Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. John Satterfield said. It’s a stark contrast with other counties that have instituted harsher restrictions. In Fresno, chaplaincy visits have been put on hold. In San Bernardino, two contract chaplains may visit inmates but hundreds of religious volunteers cannot.
The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which is starting to roll out video visitation with the public in prisons, allows chaplains to conduct individual counseling. It has also been providing virtual religious programing, including sermons broadcast throughout the week.
At a Kern County prison last month, one Jewish chaplain brought a kippah to an older inmate whom he believed had requested to be on suicide watch in an isolated cell because he was terrified of getting infected in a dorm.
“When he saw me, he just smiled,” said the rabbi, who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to reporters. “To acknowledge he’s not alone in fear and how he feels in general, that’s all we can do.”
Sgt. Alex Gamboa, who works in the Religious and Volunteer Services unit for the L.A. County jails, said he’s seen an increase in requests to see a chaplain. More than 100 chaplains and spiritual volunteers are active, Gamboa said. In November, chaplains logged more than 6,000 mostly one-on-one visits with inmates, often meeting multiple times with the same person. They’ve also hosted small communion services.
“It never stopped,” Gamboa said of the chaplaincy. “They’re really needed inside right now.”
The Archdiocese of L.A., for example, which employs eight jail chaplains who visit inmates regularly, has reported a rise in individual counseling. Gonzalo De Vivero, director of its Office of Restorative Justice, said these sessions shot up from 342 in February to 2,550 in October.
Part of the reason, he said, is that chaplains spend more time walking cell rows to offer counseling now that they’re no longer holding large Masses. That in turn has made inmates more comfortable speaking with the chaplains to ask for a prayer, books or a rosary.
An inmate sits with a chaplain at Men’s Central Jail in downtown L.A. prior to the pandemic. (Liz Moughon/Los Angeles Times)
Chaplains have helped console inmates who have lost family members to the virus.
Eve Ortiz, one of the church’s chaplains, spends an average of three to 10 minutes per inmate at the Century Regional Detention Facility women’s jail in Lynwood, where she works five days a week. A few months ago, she counseled a woman in her 20s who said several close relatives had died from the virus.
Ortiz, 62, listened and then shared her own family’s story of grief and resilience. She told the woman that her mother survived the loss of three sons and lived to be 91 while still keeping her faith.
“I could see her snapping a little bit out of her grief for me to empathize with me,” Ortiz said. “We sort of put ourselves on the same level.”
When deciding whether to continue visiting the jails, Mastrolonardo, the Protestant chaplain, said he reflected on a letter that Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation, wrote when a plague hit his town of Wittenberg, Germany. Luther had said that he would fumigate, help purify the air and avoid places where his presence was not needed, but that he would go to a neighbor in need.
His ministry has distributed 30,000 cards to the jails, giving them to inmates to mail to their loved ones.
“People were flying out of their bed,” Mastrolonardo said, describing the enthusiasm as a group of chaplains and volunteers had walked by the dorms at North County Correctional Facility in Castaic to distribute the cards.
Like Ortiz, he’s comforted inmates who have suffered losses.
“I’m seeing a lot of broken men and women behind bars who haven’t had any visitations, no yard time in some cases,” Mastrolonardo said. “They have family members dying on the outside. Who is the one who is going to give them death notifications? It’s the chaplains. Who is going to go and counsel? It’s the chaplains.”
Some former inmates say chaplains made a lasting difference.
Laurence Roth, a 31-year-old resident of North Hollywood who was discharged from an L.A. County jail in March after serving about four months, recalled how he had not received visits because his then-girlfriend had been homeless and couldn’t get in touch with him and his family lived on the East Coast.
Roth said that his life was transformed when he heard Mastrolonardo one day preach about the forgiveness of sins. The chaplain would sometimes visit him twice a week through the bars, he said.
“It was so special for me because I had nobody,” said Roth, a former drug addict who now works at a church and plans on becoming a pastor. “My life was falling apart…. What they [the chaplains] offered me was relief from the guilt.”
Sister Greta Ronningen writes Christmas cards to inmates from the dining room at the Community of Divine Love. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Chaplains now ministering through letter-writing have maintained strong connections to inmates too.
Sister Greta Ronningen, who lives at the monastery with Gibbs and co-directs the restorative justice ministry, said that inmates are often exposed to trauma, loss and abuse, and that “there’s a deep desire to get right — with their families, themselves, with God.”
She received a letter around Thanksgiving from a woman at a youth correctional facility in Camarillo. The woman had been looking forward to Thanksgiving week and was devastated because her dorm had been quarantined after a positive case of the virus.
Ronningen immediately ordered her materials on Amazon, including a teen novel and a daily meditation on self-worth, to cheer her up.
“Everyone knows it will end, it’s just holding on and getting through it,” she said of the pandemic.
Gibbs holds a haiku he wrote to slip in his letters to inmates. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
On a recent afternoon, Gibbs sat down at the monastery to respond to several letters. On his writing table lay a notebook for logging his correspondence and paper cutouts with inspirational messages and haikus to slip into envelopes.
An inmate from Valley State Prison had sent him a commitment to become a “divine companion” of the monastery, joining a program in which inmates agree to follow certain principles, such as nonviolence, and build a relationship with the monks.
Gibbs had written him six letters throughout the pandemic. In the letter the monk opened, the inmate voiced his gratitude, saying that Gibbs had once saved him from potential suicide.
“I’m glad I came to your church service that day because I may have killed the wrong person,” he wrote. “I cry every time I think about that moment in time. I never want to forget it because it helps me stay humble now. It saved my life.”


latimes--2020-12-16--Transportation secretary job is off the table. Where does that leave Eric Garcetti?

The waiting game continues for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Angelenos watching to see if he will serve out the remaining two years of his term .
President-elect Joe Biden ’ s team is announcing nominations for Cabinet positions , but the mayor ’ s name has yet to be called .
On Tuesday , former South Bend , Ind.
, Mayor Pete Buttigieg was announced as Biden ’ s nominee for Secretary of Transportation , a post for which Garcetti at one point was viewed as a contender .
It has been reported that Garcetti , who is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ co-chair of his presidential campaign , could be appointed a climate change advisor or to some other climate-related post .
But former Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy was reportedly tapped this week as Biden ’ s domestic climate coordinator , further whittling down the number of jobs available to Garcetti .
Others have suggested he could become ambassador to Mexico .
Garcetti hasn ’ t ruled out the possibility that he may join Biden , helping to stoke the speculation .
Garcetti , whose term ends in 2022 , said in October @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than not ” that he ’ ll be mayor in two years but also said he ’ s open to a role where he could “ help the most people.
” Asked Tuesday about Garcetti ’ s plans , his spokesman , Alex Comisar , said there were no updates .
Speaking at an event Wednesday , Garcetti said Buttigieg is going to be “ amazing ” as secretary of Transportation .
Garcetti has previously called himself an “ older , straighter Pete ” because of biographical similarities with Buttigieg .
Focus on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ L.A. faces multiple crises , including an alarming uptick in the number of coronavirus cases , rising homicides and a City Hall in financial peril .
Garcetti has been a regular presence throughout the COVID-19 pandemic , although in recent months he has reduced the frequency of his public briefings .
On Monday , he appeared alongside Gov .
Gavin Newsom at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center as the state ’ s first batch of COVID-19 vaccinations was delivered to local healthcare workers .
The pandemic triggered L.A. ’ s budget crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ City Hall about the state of the city ’ s finances .
Sales taxes , hotel taxes and other forms of revenue are much lower than in previous years , threatening basic public services .
The crisis is being exacerbated by rising employee costs — new raises and increased benefits approved by Garcetti and the City Council and provided to police officers , firefighters and other city workers .
Several city leaders have voiced hopes that a big federal bailout would address the crisis , but it ’ s unclear when any money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Los Angeles are up 29.3 % over last year , and shootings are up more than 33.4 % through Dec. 5 , mirroring increases in violence that are being seen across the country .
The uptick in violence is being highlighted by the city ’ s police union , which is criticizing City Hall officials for preparing a plan to lay off hundreds of police officers to help solve the city ’ s budget woes .
Speaking at a rally Tuesday in downtown Los Angeles to persuade Newsom to appoint a Black woman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Melina Abdullah , co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles , took a moment to gloat over the news that Garcetti wouldn ’ t lead the Transportation Department .
“ I ’ m having a challenge kind of containing myself , because we just won another victory , ” said Abdullah , who backed Biden ’ s nomination of Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge ’ s for Housing and Urban Development secretary .
Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and other groups are holding daily protests outside Getty House , the mayor ’ s official @ @ @ @ @ @ @ possible appointment to a job in the Biden administration .
A representative for the Biden transition team didn ’ t immediately respond to a request for comment about Garcetti .
Any Biden post requiring Senate confirmation could bring additional attention to a recent lawsuit filed against the city by Matthew Garza , Garcetti ’ s longtime bodyguard and a Los Angeles police officer .
Garza alleges that Garcetti ’ s longtime advisor Rick Jacobs sexually harassed him and that Garcetti saw the harassment and did nothing to stop it .
Jacobs denies harassing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ didn ’ t witness any harassment .
Attorneys for the police officer are pressing to take Garcetti ’ s deposition , and a court hearing on the matter is scheduled for Thursday .
Garcetti ’ s possible departure from L.A. for a job in the Biden administration would probably spur a special election for mayor .
Candidates who have already declared their intentions to run in 2022 are closely following Biden ’ s moves .
City Atty .
Mike Feuer , a candidate for mayor in 2022 , said last month that he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his plans .
“ I see the same speculation that you see , ” Feuer said .
“ And we ’ re all looking forward to knowing what President-elect Biden does with regard to his appointees to the Cabinet .
”

The waiting game continues for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Angelenos watching to see if he will serve out the remaining two years of his term.
President-elect Joe Biden’s team is announcing nominations for Cabinet positions, but the mayor’s name has yet to be called.
On Tuesday, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg was announced as Biden’s nominee for secretary of Transportation, a post for which Garcetti at one point was viewed as a contender.
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It has been reported that Garcetti, who is close to Biden and served as a co-chair of his presidential campaign, could be appointed a climate change advisor or to some other climate-related post.
But former Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy was reportedly tapped this week as Biden’s domestic climate coordinator, further whittling down the number of jobs available to Garcetti.
Others have suggested he could become ambassador to Mexico.
Garcetti hasn’t ruled out the possibility that he may join Biden, helping to stoke the speculation.
Garcetti, whose term ends in 2022, said in October that “it’s more likely than not” that he’ll be mayor in two years but also said he’s open to a role where he could “help the most people.”
Asked Tuesday about Garcetti’s plans, his spokesman, Alex Comisar, said there were no updates.
Speaking at an event Wednesday, Garcetti said Buttigieg is going to be “amazing” as secretary of Transportation. Garcetti has previously called himself an “older, straighter Pete” because of biographical similarities with Buttigieg.
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Focus on the mayor’s plans comes as L.A. faces multiple crises, including an alarming uptick in the number of coronavirus cases, rising homicides and a City Hall in financial peril.
Garcetti has been a regular presence throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, although in recent months he has reduced the frequency of his public briefings. On Monday, he appeared alongside Gov. Gavin Newsom at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center as the state’s first batch of COVID-19 vaccinations was delivered to local healthcare workers.
The pandemic triggered L.A.’s budget crisis, and there is ongoing alarm around City Hall about the state of the city’s finances. Sales taxes, hotel taxes and other forms of revenue are much lower than in previous years, threatening basic public services.
The crisis is being exacerbated by rising employee costs — new raises and increased benefits approved by Garcetti and the City Council and provided to police officers, firefighters and other city workers.
Several city leaders have voiced hopes that a big federal bailout would address the crisis, but it’s unclear when any money might arrive.
Meanwhile, killings in Los Angeles are up 29.3% over last year, and shootings are up more than 33.4% through Dec. 5, mirroring increases in violence that are being seen across the country. The uptick in violence is being highlighted by the city’s police union, which is criticizing City Hall officials for preparing a plan to lay off hundreds of police officers to help solve the city’s budget woes.
Speaking at a rally Tuesday in downtown Los Angeles to persuade Newsom to appoint a Black woman to replace outgoing Sen. Kamala Harris, Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, took a moment to gloat over the news that Garcetti wouldn’t lead the Transportation Department.
“I’m having a challenge kind of containing myself, because we just won another victory,” said Abdullah, who backed Biden’s nomination of Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge for Housing and Urban Development secretary.
Black Lives Matter Los Angeles and other groups are holding daily protests outside Getty House, the mayor’s official residence, to protest Garcetti’s possible appointment to a job in the Biden administration.
A representative for the Biden transition team didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about Garcetti.
Any Biden post requiring Senate confirmation could bring additional attention to a recent lawsuit filed against the city by Matthew Garza, Garcetti’s longtime bodyguard and a Los Angeles police officer.
Garza alleges that Garcetti’s longtime advisor Rick Jacobs sexually harassed him and that Garcetti saw the harassment and did nothing to stop it. Jacobs denies harassing Garza, and the mayor said he didn’t witness any harassment. Attorneys for the police officer are pressing to take Garcetti’s deposition, and a court hearing on the matter is scheduled for Thursday.
Garcetti’s possible departure from L.A. for a job in the Biden administration would probably spur a special election for mayor. Candidates who have already declared their intentions to run in 2022 are closely following Biden’s moves.
City Atty. Mike Feuer, a candidate for mayor in 2022, said last month that he hadn’t talked to Garcetti about his plans.
“I see the same speculation that you see,” Feuer said. “And we’re all looking forward to knowing what President-elect Biden does with regard to his appointees to the Cabinet.”
Times columnist Erika D. Smith contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-12-16--Sagging tamale sales could hint at fewer Christmas gatherings as COVID surges

It looked like business as usual on the assembly line .
Four men behind the counter of Tamales Liliana ’ s in Boyle Heights were scooping up masa with their hands and smearing it on opened corn husks .
Six women then filled them with slits of green chile and cheese before folding and wrapping them in baking paper .
Nearby , Juan Manuel Santoyo took stock of the ritual .
“ I spend a good amount of time making tamales to sell during the week of Christmas , ” the 67-year-old restaurant owner said .
“ It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through the year.
” For many Mexican and Central American families , a Christmas without tamales feels like culinary heresy .
The last month of the year is filled with Latino holiday traditions and festivities such as tamaladas ( tamale-making parties ) , the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Las Posadas , a reenactment of Mary and Joseph trying to find lodging in Bethlehem .
They are events that traditionally involve tamales — and what has become practically a four-letter word for health officials in this time of seething pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the signs are pointing to smaller celebrations that are bad for business , if not the spread of the coronavirus .
“ Our tradition is to gather with family .
And you may have four to five families at a home and so you might order 20 tamales , ” he said .
“ But that ’ s not happening .
You ’ re going to celebrate with your own family and , rather than ordering 20 tamales , you might order five.
” On average , Santoyo sells up to 40,000 tamales @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he saw a drop in sales .
“ I don ’ t even think I reached 20,000 , ” he said .
Tamaleros say they aren ’ t selling the same number as they did in years past , possibly meaning fewer family gatherings this year .
And while some still hope for a Christmas miracle , others say they ’ re pessimistic given the skyrocketing number of COVID-19 cases .
In Koreatown , holiday music blared from a tiny speaker sitting by the front entrance of Amalia ’ s , a Guatemalan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ waves , said owner Milbet Del Cid , whose eyes water when she sees the vacant dining room or thinks about the seven employees she laid off .
“ My mom opened this business in 1994 , and we ’ ve been through a lot .
We ’ ve had recessions , so many things , ” she said .
“ I sat down and started to think that for the first time in my life , I feel that we ’ re possibly going to have to close.
” Inside the small @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used a metal spoon to scoop masa from a bucket and place it on a banana leaf lying on a sheet of tin foil .
She poured a special sauce over it and placed a piece of chicken in the tamale .
Lopez then handed it to Del Cid , who added olive and a slit of red bell pepper before wrapping the tamale and placing it in a large pot .
Around this time in a normal year , said Del Cid , 51 , she would have orders for 1,500 tamales @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up to 3,500 , if not more .
Since Thanksgiving , she ’ s received orders for only about 100 tamales .
Del Cid said she ’ s tried contacting her usual customers but has had no luck reaching them .
“ The largest order was for 25 tamales , ” she said .
“ I ’ ve been here thinking : Lord , help … me stay strong .
Help us.
” Santoyo has had to cut employees ’ hours , though he hasn ’ t laid off any .
Born and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrived in the United States in 1990 with his wife and $ 50 in his pocket .
He worked for six months at his uncle ’ s bakery near Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Ford Boulevard as a way to get settled .
Soon he began selling tamales on the street .
He saved and eventually made his first major business investment— a $ 3,500 cart .
He and his wife later moved into a room at a friend ’ s house in South Gate , where they prepared their tamales out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Angeles .
“ My wife and I would take turns and sleep for two hours each , then go back out to sell tamales , ” he said .
The sacrifice paid off the following year when he opened his first restaurant at First and Indiana streets , naming it after his daughter , Liliana .
In 1998 , he opened a second location on Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and moved eight years later to a larger building on the same street .
In all that time , the success of his business @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that purchase tamales for Christmas and New Year .
He also receives large orders from schools , corporations and churches hosting religious or holiday events .
“ I mostly depend on families who get together and order two to three dozen tamales , ” Santoyo said .
“ But they ’ ve prohibited people from gathering and as a result , I won ’ t have any of those sales.
” Some people who sell out of brick-and-mortar shops express frustration when they see street vendors selling tamales not far from their hobbled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Park , street vendors say the pandemic is putting the “ mal ” in tamale .
They say most of their money goes to rent and bills , and they are left with little .
The pandemic has made their margins narrower than ever .
“ People are staying home , and if there ’ s no one around then we ’ re not selling anything , ” said Pancho Lopez , 43 .
“ Everyone is being impacted by the coronavirus.
” More than 20 miles away in Pacoima , Alicia Esparza @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Tamales , said there ’ s been a slight change this holiday season .
Business isn ’ t booming , but it hasn ’ t declined precipitously .
“ It ’ s been slow , I can tell you that , ” she said .
Her business typically sees individual customers coming in to buy one or two tamales .
She does big orders only Christmas week , and she often requires in-person purchases because sometimes customers fail to pick up their orders .
“ I ’ m not sure how it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
For Amapola Deli and Market , which is famous for its masa and has locations in cities with large Latino populations , business has been surprisingly healthy .
“ Thanksgiving was our dry run and we actually did well , ” said Carlos Galvan Jr. , vice president of Amapola .
“ Everything that is tied to tamales : the ingredients , the meats , the spices , we were seeing some increases in all that.
” He said the company saw a 10 % boost in sales , attributing it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who sell on the street .
Galvan Jr. , 54 , also believes some people suffering financial hardships know that they can make plenty of tamales to tide them over for a while .
When the sales were up during Thanksgiving week , Galvan began to hope that December would be a promising month .
But with rising coronavirus infections , hospitalizations and deaths came tighter business restrictions .
“ It couldn ’ t have come at a worse time for us , ” he said .
He said the stores now have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep employees safe .
He also doesn ’ t know if customers will show up and stand in line this year given the pandemic .
He hopes the weather will be kind too .
In 2016 , a bad batch of masa ruined Christmas meals for hundreds of Amapola customers .
The problem was that genetically modified corn used for fuel had been mixed in with the corn used to make the masa .
“ That was a bad year , but … nothing compared to what we ’ re dealing with now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There ’ s so much uncertainty this year.
” Outside Tamaleria La Doña in Compton , more than a dozen people stood in line to get inside and purchase batches of tamales .
Monica Rodriguez , 35 , said she planned to still gather with family regardless of the pandemic .
She said most of the family — eight of them — live in the same house , but she still plans to visit her sister-in-law .
“ I don ’ t care about what ’ s happening , I ’ m still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she said .
“ We ’ ll probably exchange gifts real quickly.
” Just ahead of her in line was Esther Medina , 33 , owner of a flooring business .
She said every year she comes to buy tamales to feed day laborers and the poor .
She also buys some for the company ’ s annual Christmas party and family holiday gatherings .
But this year , there ’ s little to celebrate .
Her company hasn ’ t seen much business and her workforce dropped from 18 to four people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tested positive for the coronavirus .
She said she ’ s going to spend Christmas only with immediate family this year .
“ Normally I ’ d order about 15 to 20 dozen tamales .
This time I ’ m just getting five dozen , ” she said .
“ The tamale is like the taco .
It ’ s just something you share .
It means family reunion to me .
”

It looked like business as usual on the assembly line.
Four men behind the counter of Tamales Liliana’s in Boyle Heights were scooping up masa with their hands and smearing it on opened corn husks. Six women then filled them with slits of green chile and cheese before folding and wrapping them in baking paper. Nearby, Juan Manuel Santoyo took stock of the ritual.
“I spend a good amount of time making tamales to sell during the week of Christmas,” the 67-year-old restaurant owner said. “It’s what we rely on to get us through the year.”
For many Mexican and Central American families, a Christmas without tamales feels like culinary heresy. The last month of the year is filled with Latino holiday traditions and festivities such as tamaladas (tamale-making parties), the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Las Posadas, a reenactment of Mary and Joseph trying to find lodging in Bethlehem.
They are events that traditionally involve tamales — and what has become practically a four-letter word for health officials in this time of seething pandemic: large gatherings.
For Santoyo, the signs are pointing to smaller celebrations that are bad for business, if not the spread of the coronavirus.
“Our tradition is to gather with family. And you may have four to five families at a home and so you might order 20 tamales,” he said. “But that’s not happening. You’re going to celebrate with your own family and, rather than ordering 20 tamales, you might order five.”
On average, Santoyo sells up to 40,000 tamales on Thanksgiving Day, but this year he saw a drop in sales.
“I don’t even think I reached 20,000,” he said.
Juan Manuel Santoyo looks on as workers including Maria Franco, center, make tamales at Tamales Liliana’s on Dec. 4. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Call it the unscientific “tamale poll.”
Tamaleros say they aren’t selling the same number as they did in years past, possibly meaning fewer family gatherings this year. And while some still hope for a Christmas miracle, others say they’re pessimistic given the skyrocketing number of COVID-19 cases.
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In Koreatown, holiday music blared from a tiny speaker sitting by the front entrance of Amalia’s, a Guatemalan restaurant. But the sadness comes in waves, said owner Milbet Del Cid, whose eyes water when she sees the vacant dining room or thinks about the seven employees she laid off.
“My mom opened this business in 1994, and we’ve been through a lot. We’ve had recessions, so many things,” she said. “I sat down and started to think that for the first time in my life, I feel that we’re possibly going to have to close.”
Milbet Del Cid makes traditional Guatemalan tamales at Amalia’s Restaurant in Los Angeles on Dec. 9. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Inside the small kitchen, Telma Lopez, 58, used a metal spoon to scoop masa from a bucket and place it on a banana leaf lying on a sheet of tin foil. She poured a special sauce over it and placed a piece of chicken in the tamale. Lopez then handed it to Del Cid, who added olive and a slit of red bell pepper before wrapping the tamale and placing it in a large pot.
Around this time in a normal year, said Del Cid, 51, she would have orders for 1,500 tamales. By Christmas, that would be up to 3,500, if not more. Since Thanksgiving, she’s received orders for only about 100 tamales. Del Cid said she’s tried contacting her usual customers but has had no luck reaching them.
“The largest order was for 25 tamales,” she said. “I’ve been here thinking: Lord, help … me stay strong. Help us.”
Milbet Del Cid, center, said she’s tried contacting her usual customers but has had no luck reaching them. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
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Santoyo has had to cut employees’ hours, though he hasn’t laid off any.
Born and raised in Zacatecas, Mexico, Santoyo arrived in the United States in 1990 with his wife and $50 in his pocket. He worked for six months at his uncle’s bakery near Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Ford Boulevard as a way to get settled. Soon he began selling tamales on the street.
He saved and eventually made his first major business investment— a $3,500 cart. He and his wife later moved into a room at a friend’s house in South Gate, where they prepared their tamales out of the garage to sell in East Los Angeles.
“My wife and I would take turns and sleep for two hours each, then go back out to sell tamales,” he said.
Juan Manuel Santoyo at his restaurant, Tamales Liliana’s, in Boyle Heights. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
The sacrifice paid off the following year when he opened his first restaurant at First and Indiana streets, naming it after his daughter, Liliana.
In 1998, he opened a second location on Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and moved eight years later to a larger building on the same street.
Advertisement
In all that time, the success of his business has been inextricably linked to the families that purchase tamales for Christmas and New Year. He also receives large orders from schools, corporations and churches hosting religious or holiday events.
“I mostly depend on families who get together and order two to three dozen tamales,” Santoyo said. “But they’ve prohibited people from gathering and as a result, I won’t have any of those sales.”
Hilario Rosales makes tamales at Tamales Liliana’s in Boyle Heights. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Some people who sell out of brick-and-mortar shops express frustration when they see street vendors selling tamales not far from their hobbled businesses. But in places like MacArthur Park, street vendors say the pandemic is putting the “mal” in tamale. They say most of their money goes to rent and bills, and they are left with little. The pandemic has made their margins narrower than ever.
“People are staying home, and if there’s no one around then we’re not selling anything, ” said Pancho Lopez, 43. “Everyone is being impacted by the coronavirus.”
More than 20 miles away in Pacoima, Alicia Esparza, 60, owner of Rosy’s Tamales, said there’s been a slight change this holiday season. Business isn’t booming, but it hasn’t declined precipitously.
“It’s been slow, I can tell you that,” she said.
Her business typically sees individual customers coming in to buy one or two tamales. She does big orders only Christmas week, and she often requires in-person purchases because sometimes customers fail to pick up their orders.
“I’m not sure how it will be this Christmas,” Esparza said.
For Amapola Deli and Market, which is famous for its masa and has locations in cities with large Latino populations, business has been surprisingly healthy.
Advertisement
Tamales at Tamales Liliana’s. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
“Thanksgiving was our dry run and we actually did well,” said Carlos Galvan Jr., vice president of Amapola. “Everything that is tied to tamales: the ingredients, the meats, the spices, we were seeing some increases in all that.”
He said the company saw a 10% boost in sales, attributing it to grocery sales as well as tamaleros who sell on the street. Galvan Jr., 54, also believes some people suffering financial hardships know that they can make plenty of tamales to tide them over for a while.
When the sales were up during Thanksgiving week, Galvan began to hope that December would be a promising month. But with rising coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths came tighter business restrictions.
“It couldn’t have come at a worse time for us,” he said.
He said the stores now have to consider capacity issues while continuing to keep employees safe. He also doesn’t know if customers will show up and stand in line this year given the pandemic. He hopes the weather will be kind too.
Galvan knows tamale-related heartache well.
In 2016, a bad batch of masa ruined Christmas meals for hundreds of Amapola customers. The problem was that genetically modified corn used for fuel had been mixed in with the corn used to make the masa.
“That was a bad year, but … nothing compared to what we’re dealing with now,” Galvan Jr. said. “There’s so much uncertainty this year.”
Outside Tamaleria La Doña in Compton, more than a dozen people stood in line to get inside and purchase batches of tamales.
Advertisement
Monica Rodriguez, 35, said she planned to still gather with family regardless of the pandemic. She said most of the family — eight of them — live in the same house, but she still plans to visit her sister-in-law.
“I don’t care about what’s happening, I’m still going to go see her,” she said. “We’ll probably exchange gifts real quickly.”
Just ahead of her in line was Esther Medina, 33, owner of a flooring business. She said every year she comes to buy tamales to feed day laborers and the poor. She also buys some for the company’s annual Christmas party and family holiday gatherings.
But this year, there’s little to celebrate. Her company hasn’t seen much business and her workforce dropped from 18 to four people; three of the employees have recently tested positive for the coronavirus.
She said she’s going to spend Christmas only with immediate family this year.
“Normally I’d order about 15 to 20 dozen tamales. This time I’m just getting five dozen,” she said. “The tamale is like the taco. It’s just something you share. It means family reunion to me.”


latimes--2020-12-17--Unions for teachers, nurses, grocery and hotel workers call for L.A. County shutdown in January

In a move that reflects the desperation of teachers , nurses , healthcare , grocery and hotel employees , their influential unions are calling for a strict month-long Los Angeles County shutdown in January to control the raging COVID-19 pandemic , save lives and ultimately allow for a quicker reopening of schools and the economy .
Evidence of mounting frustration and anxiety has also emerged in newly released surveys of teachers and parents as most campuses across L.A. County remain closed to in-person classes .
The union coalition called for what it described as a “ circuit breaker ” in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Board of Supervisors and in an online petition .
The letter demands stricter health orders , stronger enforcement and an infusion of aid from the state and federal government to keep workers and their employers afloat .
Federal officials appear likely to approve an aid package , but there ’ s deep debate about whether it would go far enough .
The proposed circuit breaker would resemble the near total shutdown in March and “ would lower cases to relieve the pressure on hospitals and healthcare workers , allow state and local health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system , and allow the system to work better to prevent future surges in viral transmission , ” according to the letter .
It was signed by United Teachers Los Angeles , Unite Here Local 11 , California Nurses Assn.
, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 and three other unions , several community groups and medical experts .
When the county board meets Tuesday , this push will represent a political counter to pressure from businesses and allied groups that want to limit commercial restrictions .
They ’ ve sued to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A main organizer of the union initiative was the teachers union , which also represents nurses , counselors and librarians in Los Angeles Unified , the nation ’ s second-largest school system .
” Let ’ s be clear — we are not in a real lockdown , ” said UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz .
“ While some people are able to stay home to work , the working-class and poor people of L.A. have to choose between risking their lives or putting food on the table for their families.
” A shutdown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ survival package for workers , ” she said .
“ Without that , it ’ s clear that elected leaders expect workers to risk their lives in order to pay rent.
” Until last week , L.A. Unified provided limited in-person services reaching less than 1 % of students .
A full campus shutdown began last week .
Supt .
Austin Beutner has not announced plans for January .
Some union members quickly echoed the call by their leaders .
Respiratory therapist Michael Rivera , who normally specializes in neonatal pediatrics , described @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Medical Center .
He ’ d just worked with a patient being moved into what he understood to be the hospital ’ s last available intensive-care-unit bed .
“ This dwarfs the L.A. riots , ” said Rivera , a member of the National Union of Healthcare Workers , who used to work in South Los Angeles .
“ It doesn ’ t even move the needle compared to the carnage we ’ re seeing now.
” Rivera was taking a 30-minute break in a shift he expected to last at least 12 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he worked a 24-hour shift .
Less than 1 % of ICU beds remain available across Southern California , according to state figures Wednesday .
More than 60,000 healthcare workers have contracted the virus and 230 have died , according to state figures provided by the California Nurses Assn.
, which has 100,000 members in California and 50,000 outside the state .
The letter from the union coalition , in essence , restates what the nurses association has long called for , said Stephanie A. Roberson , the union ’ s director of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been hit hard both by the virus and job losses , said Kurt Petersen , co-president of Unite Here Local 11 .
About 90 % of the union ’ s 30,000 members have lost their jobs in California and Arizona .
And in October — when infection rates were lower — 20 % of union members were testing positive for the virus , according to the union ’ s healthcare provider .
Petersen said he hears of a member dying every week .
Housekeeper Liliana Hernandez has managed to stay healthy so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at a Santa Monica hotel in March .
So did her husband , who buses tables at a restaurant .
He returned to work in July , only to be laid off again the week before Thanksgiving .
Previous government aid has allowed them to survive up till now .
She sees the call for a circuit breaker — and the possibility of new aid — as a lifeline .
“ I ’ m very worried because colleagues from other places , worked one or two weeks got sick and passed away , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s going to be better if people stay home.
” She ’ s also worried about her son , a senior at Bernstein High School in Hollywood , who is mired in distance learning .
He struggles to stay focused and has trouble getting the help he needs .
Their family ’ s experiences are mirrored in a just-released parent survey by the advocacy group Speak Up .
In the survey , 70 % of families reported problems keeping their children focused .
Three in 10 families have difficulty paying for internet and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ More than half of parents reported that their children are grappling with mental health issues ; nearly half reported students receiving lower grades .
Speak Up asserts that schools should be open to the extent possible under county health rules and that distance learning needs to be improved for those families who don ’ t wish to return to campus .
Teachers painted a similar picture of distance learning in a survey commissioned by Educators for Excellence-Los Angeles and USC Rossier School of Education .
More than half of over 500 Los Angeles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of access to high-speed internet presented a “ very serious ” challenge , increasing to two-thirds for those with students primarily from low-income households .
And 94 % of teachers reported low student engagement as a serious obstacle .
Teachers also reported that their schools have failed to meet the needs of the most vulnerable students : 10 % reported that their schools regularly met the needs of homeless students ; 34 % reported that their schools “ often ” support students from low-income households .
Lisa Bennett , a 2019 teacher of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is doing what she can as she works online with her class of students with disabilities , who would normally attend Van Gogh Elementary in Granada Hills .
“ I know that effective teaching happens best in a brick-and-mortar classroom , ” said Bennett , who has underlying health conditions that would put her at high risk for COVID-19 .
One student was going to grandma ’ s to do schoolwork because her mother had to work , Bennett said .
Then both the mother and grandmother were sick with COVID .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ package .
“ It ’ s a pandemic , ” she said .
“ This has never been seen in our lifetime .
”

Teacher Lisa Bennett, shown outside her Glendale home, supports a strict stay-at-home order to contain the coronavirus and allow her to return sooner to her classroom at Van Gogh Elementary in Granada Hills.
In a move that reflects the desperation of teachers, nurses, healthcare, grocery and hotel employees, their influential unions are calling for a strict month-long Los Angeles County shutdown in January to control the raging COVID-19 pandemic, save lives and ultimately allow for a quicker reopening of schools and the economy.
Evidence of mounting frustration and anxiety has also emerged in newly released surveys of teachers and parents as most campuses across L.A. County remain closed to in-person classes.
The union coalition called for what it described as a “circuit breaker” in a letter Wednesday night to the county Board of Supervisors and in an online petition. The letter demands stricter health orders, stronger enforcement and an infusion of aid from the state and federal government to keep workers and their employers afloat.
Advertisement
Federal officials appear likely to approve an aid package, but there’s deep debate about whether it would go far enough.
The proposed circuit breaker would resemble the near total shutdown in March and “would lower cases to relieve the pressure on hospitals and healthcare workers, allow state and local health agencies to strengthen the testing and tracing system, and allow the system to work better to prevent future surges in viral transmission,” according to the letter. It was signed by United Teachers Los Angeles, Unite Here Local 11, California Nurses Assn., United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 and three other unions, several community groups and medical experts.
When the county board meets Tuesday, this push will represent a political counter to pressure from businesses and allied groups that want to limit commercial restrictions. They’ve sued to overturn a ban on outdoor dining.
A main organizer of the union initiative was the teachers union, which also represents nurses, counselors and librarians in Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest school system.
”Let’s be clear — we are not in a real lockdown,” said UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz. “While some people are able to stay home to work, the working-class and poor people of L.A. have to choose between risking their lives or putting food on the table for their families.”
A shutdown must be accompanied by “a financial survival package for workers,” she said. “Without that, it’s clear that elected leaders expect workers to risk their lives in order to pay rent.”
Until last week, L.A. Unified provided limited in-person services reaching less than 1% of students. A full campus shutdown began last week. Supt. Austin Beutner has not announced plans for January.
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Some union members quickly echoed the call by their leaders.
Respiratory therapist Michael Rivera, who normally specializes in neonatal pediatrics, described a harrowing situation at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center. He’d just worked with a patient being moved into what he understood to be the hospital’s last available intensive-care-unit bed.
“This dwarfs the L.A. riots,” said Rivera, a member of the National Union of Healthcare Workers, who used to work in South Los Angeles. “It doesn’t even move the needle compared to the carnage we’re seeing now.”
Rivera was taking a 30-minute break in a shift he expected to last at least 12 hours. Within the last week, he worked a 24-hour shift.
Less than 1% of ICU beds remain available across Southern California, according to state figures Wednesday.
More than 60,000 healthcare workers have contracted the virus and 230 have died, according to state figures provided by the California Nurses Assn., which has 100,000 members in California and 50,000 outside the state.
The letter from the union coalition, in essence, restates what the nurses association has long called for, said Stephanie A. Roberson, the union’s director of government relations.
Hotel and restaurant workers have been hit hard both by the virus and job losses, said Kurt Petersen, co-president of Unite Here Local 11. About 90% of the union’s 30,000 members have lost their jobs in California and Arizona. And in October — when infection rates were lower — 20% of union members were testing positive for the virus, according to the union’s healthcare provider. Petersen said he hears of a member dying every week.
Housekeeper Liliana Hernandez has managed to stay healthy so far, but she lost her job at a Santa Monica hotel in March. So did her husband, who buses tables at a restaurant. He returned to work in July, only to be laid off again the week before Thanksgiving. Previous government aid has allowed them to survive up till now. She sees the call for a circuit breaker — and the possibility of new aid — as a lifeline.
“I’m very worried because colleagues from other places, worked one or two weeks got sick and passed away,” she said. “It’s going to be better if people stay home.”
She’s also worried about her son, a senior at Bernstein High School in Hollywood, who is mired in distance learning. He struggles to stay focused and has trouble getting the help he needs. Their family’s experiences are mirrored in a just-released parent survey by the advocacy group Speak Up.
In the survey, 70% of families reported problems keeping their children focused. Three in 10 families have difficulty paying for internet and close to half have inadequate service. More than half of parents reported that their children are grappling with mental health issues; nearly half reported students receiving lower grades.
Speak Up asserts that schools should be open to the extent possible under county health rules and that distance learning needs to be improved for those families who don’t wish to return to campus.
Teachers painted a similar picture of distance learning in a survey commissioned by Educators for Excellence-Los Angeles and USC Rossier School of Education.
More than half of over 500 Los Angeles public school teachers said that the lack of access to high-speed internet presented a “very serious” challenge, increasing to two-thirds for those with students primarily from low-income households. And 94% of teachers reported low student engagement as a serious obstacle.
Teachers also reported that their schools have failed to meet the needs of the most vulnerable students: 10% reported that their schools regularly met the needs of homeless students; 34% reported that their schools “often” support students from low-income households.
Lisa Bennett, a 2019 teacher of the year honoree in L.A. Unified, is doing what she can as she works online with her class of students with disabilities, who would normally attend Van Gogh Elementary in Granada Hills.
“I know that effective teaching happens best in a brick-and-mortar classroom,” said Bennett, who has underlying health conditions that would put her at high risk for COVID-19.
One student was going to grandma’s to do schoolwork because her mother had to work, Bennett said. Then both the mother and grandmother were sick with COVID. She supports the circuit breaker and an aid package.
“It’s a pandemic,” she said. “This has never been seen in our lifetime.”