latimes--2020-10-11--California kept prison factories open. Inmates worked for pennies an hour as COVID-19 spread

While much of California shut down this spring , Robbie Hall stitched masks for 12 hours a day in a sewing factory at a women ’ s prison in Chino .
For several weeks , Hall and other women said , they churned out masks by the thousands but were forbidden from wearing them .
The incarcerated seamstresses at the California Institution for Women grew increasingly worried : The fabric they used came from the nearby men ’ s prison , where an outbreak ended up killing 23 inmates .
And their boss regularly visited both institutions .
“ Are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and coming back here ?
” Hall remembered asking her co-workers as they sewed .
In early May , COVID-19 broke out in the sewing factory , sickening at least four incarcerated workers , including Hall .
She spent weeks in the hospital struggling to breathe .
California ’ s prison system has taken drastic measures to combat the coronavirus , halting rehab programs , religious services and educational classes .
But correctional authorities kept one type of operation running through much of the last six months : prison factories .
Hall was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stayed on the job in high-risk positions during the pandemic , making wages that ranged from 8 cents to $ 1 an hour .
They cooked the food .
They walked from cell to cell delivering meals .
They cleaned everything from communal showers to COVID-19 units in prison hospitals .
And they labored in prison factories making products , such as masks , hand sanitizer and furniture , that were sold to state agencies for millions of dollars .
Amid the drive for production , factories continued to operate even as infections @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interviews with more than 30 inmates at the women ’ s prison in Chino and at Avenal State Prison for men , including some who became infected with the coronavirus .
The factories brought together inmates who were housed in different units , heightening the risk of spreading the virus to other areas inside the prisons , The Times found .
Factory staff , they said , warned that workers would lose their jobs — their only source of income — if they missed a day .
Some said they were threatened with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ release from prison if they refused to work because of COVID-19 fears .
At the Chino prison , workers said , supervisors kept raising the daily quotas , from 2,000 to 3,000 to 3,500 masks .
Seven days a week , the women cranked out masks until their bodies ached , and all they could do at night was collapse asleep in their cells .
It was “ like a slave factory , ” Hall said .
“ The more you give them , the more they want.
” The Times sent detailed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of state agencies responsible for prison conditions , but officials responded through representatives .
Michele Kane , a spokeswoman for the California Prison Industry Authority , which oversees the factories , said in a statement that “ essential critical enterprises , ” such as food , laundry and the manufacture of masks and hand sanitizer , have continued operating during the pandemic .
The agency acknowledged that goods like furniture were made “ when deemed safe ” but declined to say what other factories remained open .
Kane said the agency reduced inmate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and decided when to close or reopen operations in consultation with the corrections department and the court-appointed federal receiver overseeing healthcare inside California ’ s prisons .
Dana Simas , a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation , said in a statement that the agency follows isolation and quarantine protocols approved by the federal receiver .
The statement said the agency has taken “ extraordinary measures to address COVID-19 ” in prisons , such as providing staff and inmates with protective equipment .
But interviews with incarcerated workers paint a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic : meager wages , questionable infection control and the threat of more time in prison looming over their heads .
Supporters of prison labor say the practice helps defray costs of incarceration , provides job skills and reduces recidivism rates .
But legal scholars and civil rights advocates have long criticized prison labor as exploitative and part of the historical legacy of slavery — a deep injustice , they say , only magnified by COVID-19 .
“ It is a bureaucratic decision to keep people working for pennies an hour during a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ director of policy at the Justice Collaborative , a national organization that advocates for criminal justice reform .
“ This should appall everyone who wants to live in a civilized society.
” The California Prison Industry Authority , a state agency known as CALPIA , oversees roughly 7,000 incarcerated workers statewide .
Through CALPIA , prison labor makes everything from U.S. flags , license plates and packaged snickerdoodles to furniture found in the offices of nearly every state agency .
Fabric is CALPIA ’ s biggest moneymaker in manufacturing , bringing in $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with furniture not far behind at $ 16.9 million , according to a recent audit .
The state prison system is CALPIA ’ s biggest customer , accounting for about two-thirds of sales .
Other major customers include the DMV , the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection , and the Department of Health Care Services .
On April 1 , the 11-member Prison Industry Board met and agreed to pay prison laborers overtime — though one board member worried that inmates would slow down production “ just to get into the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ acknowledged in the meeting that he couldn ’ t justify keeping factories open to produce “ non-mission-critical ” goods like shoes , furniture or snowplows for Caltrans .
Walker said he had been “ struggling with this for days ” as he thought of “ requiring people to come to work during this process to build a desk.
” Walker concluded the agency should “ maybe err on the side of the medical knowledge and say , ‘ Hey , stop .
Stop all this nonessential traveling across the yard , commingling in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stuff , ’ ” according to a transcript of the meeting .
The furniture factory was closed at Avenal State Prison in Kings County the very next day .
But not for long .
The factory was back up and running just 27 days later , on April 29 .
The first inmates and staff at Avenal State Prison tested positive for the coronavirus in mid-May .
Around the third week of May , an incarcerated worker in the furniture factory tested positive and was put in isolation , according to two workers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fear of retribution .
They had all been exposed to the man , the workers said .
But a supervisor announced that if they didn ’ t report to the factory the next day , they ’ d get a write-up — a serious form of discipline that is a black mark when petitioning the parole board for release .
“ It prevents us from going home early , ” one explained .
“ A bunch of us went back to work .
And a bunch of us contracted the virus.
” He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Kane , the CALPIA spokeswoman , said the agency had not received complaints alleging furniture factory workers were threatened with discipline for refusing to work during the pandemic .
The factory didn ’ t shut down until May 28 , according to CALPIA .
The shutdown came in response to an outbreak on the factory floor , workers said .
The factory reopened June 18 , Kane said , but then closed for two weeks in July .
That was following another outbreak , workers said .
By the end of July @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surpassed 1,400 and five inmates had died .
“ Why is money more important than human lives ?
” asked David Burke , who is incarcerated at Avenal State Prison .
“ Inmates are just a business.
” As chairman of his yard ’ s Inmate Advisory Council , Burke receives internal reports on prison operations , including coronavirus matters .
He said that , as of mid-August , 83 % of inmates had been infected with the coronavirus in the yard that staffs the furniture factory .
Burke said the prison had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in May by allowing workers from four different housing units into the furniture factory after one of them had tested positive .
Even operating with a skeleton crew for half of July , the factory produced more than $ 300,000 of furniture that month , inmates said .
Kane said the Avenal furniture factory has been working on an order for a substance abuse program that prison officials hope to launch .
She said CALPIA currently uses only inmates from housing units where infections were “ deemed resolved and workers from the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and recreating together.
” In late September , two more Avenal inmates died at outside hospitals , bringing the total to seven .
As of Friday , 296 staffers and 2,931 inmates at the prison had been infected .
Many legal scholars and civil rights advocates argue that contemporary prison labor is a form of slavery allowed by the 13th Amendment , which banned slavery and involuntary servitude “ except as a punishment for crime.
” The language was a compromise — a way to preserve slavery in a different configuration , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professor of law at UC Irvine .
“ This amendment says , ‘ Go at it !
It ’ s OK !
’ We have given the state authority to do this form of slavery [ in which ] people can do unpaid or minimally paid labor , ” Goodwin said .
In the decades after the Civil War , Southern states passed laws targeting Black people for frivolous crimes such as vagrancy .
Imprisoned in droves , they were forced to work for private industry in coal mines , brickyards , plantations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system under which prison officials often reaped the profits .
Today , racial disparities behind bars remain stark .
Black people make up about 6.5 % of California ’ s population but comprised more than 28 % of its prisoners at the end of 2018 , the most recent date for which figures are available .
By law , “ any able-bodied inmate ” can be required to “ perform any work deemed necessary ” for prison operations .
Though the prison can take into account individual wishes — for example , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — it doesn ’ t have to .
Once on the job , those who refuse work or fail to perform “ within the inmate ’ s abilities ” face disciplinary action , which can lead to denial of parole .
Several prison cleaners and kitchen staffers told The Times they were scared of becoming infected at work but couldn ’ t jeopardize their release dates .
“ I am just trying to make it out alive , ” said Sheri Hughes , a worker in the Chino prison kitchen , where inmates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have become infected with the coronavirus .
“ I was not sentenced to death in prison.
” Incarcerated workers in California and other states are not classified as employees .
They can ’ t get unemployment , sick leave or paid time off .
The pay scale is set by state law , with many jobs paying 8 cents an hour and the CALPIA jobs paying more — from 35 cents to $ 1 an hour .
Because of the slightly higher starting pay , the factory jobs are sought after , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , low wages make it impossible to support family members or build up savings .
Many leave prison deeply in debt from court-imposed fees .
The work cooking , cleaning and producing furniture is essential for operating the state ’ s prisons , which currently confine about 100,000 people at an annual cost of $ 81,000 each .
If incarcerated workers were paid minimum wage , the system as it exists today would collapse , said Chatfield , the policy director at the Justice Collaborative .
“ If the price tag got so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we would really have to reconsider how many people we incarcerate.
” Hall , 58 , grew up in South Los Angeles and has been in prison for 35 years .
She is serving a 15-year-to-life sentence for murdering a man she says raped her and tried to kill her when she was 23 .
Since 1994 , she has been denied parole repeatedly .
Hall would like to hire an attorney to make a renewed case that her crime was in self-defense , but she can ’ t afford to .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was physically and sexually abused .
In California state prisons , 25 % of women are Black , like Hall , according to the corrections department , and 92 % have experienced abuse , according to the American Civil Liberties Union .
Before the pandemic , Hall was known in prison as a peer counselor and a church praise dancer , spending her Sundays raising her arms to the sky , leading worshipers in songs that promised a brighter tomorrow .
She is a proud grandmother to eight and a great-grandmother to four @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is crucial .
But it hasn ’ t been easy to do that .
Sending a single email costs about 26 cents to buy a “ stamp ” from JPay , the company that runs the system .
She also relies on her 60-cent-an-hour wages to pay for basic necessities like soap and food , which are sold at the prison canteen at premium prices .
Hall has held many jobs in prison including kitchen server , ambulance driver and painter .
When the hours at the sewing factory kept getting longer and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
She and the other workers felt they had little choice .
Supervisors told them they ’ d be replaced if they refused overtime , Hall said .
As March turned into April , prison sewing factories across the state made more than 1.4 million masks .
They primarily went to prisons for use by inmates and staffers , but dozens of state agencies also put in orders .
At the Correctional Training Facility near Salinas , the sewing factory ran 14 hours a day , seven days a week , according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who sewed masks in the Chino factory said they felt they were doing important work to help save lives .
They were proud of their hard labor , even as they criticized the conditions .
Although CALPIA insisted the agency issued protective equipment from the start , seven incarcerated workers said supervisors told them in the first few weeks that they ’ d get in trouble for wearing the masks they made .
It wasn ’ t until about mid-April that the whole prison , including the factory , got masks , workers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the factory were terrified when they learned of an enormous outbreak that began in March at the nearby California Institution for Men .
Among the group was a woman in her 70s who used a walker .
Whenever the truck from the men ’ s prison arrived with more fabric , the supervisors didn ’ t want to go anywhere near the driver “ because she had been exposed over there , ” said Kellie Chivrell , the fabric cutter in the factory .
And so unloading the heavy fabric fell on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a CALPIA employee at the men ’ s prison , never wore a mask and told Chivrell she hadn ’ t been given any .
It wasn ’ t long before Chivrell tested positive for the coronavirus and spent weeks in the prison infirmary .
At one point , Chivrell said , the prison bungled her test results , mistakenly giving her a negative result and releasing her from isolation .
She said she spent 24 hours circulating in the general population before prison staff realized the error .
( A corrections department @ @ @ @ @ @ @ privacy . )
Responding to detailed questions from The Times , a CALPIA representative said overtime hours were voluntary .
The spokesperson acknowledged that goods were transported between the prisons and that two managers had visited both institutions in April to provide “ critical support , ” but the agency denied “ the generalization that we had staff continually going back and forth.
” The outbreak at the Chino women ’ s prison — which has claimed the lives of one inmate and a staffer — can ’ t be attributed to any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and their advocates have criticized officials for waiting until May to do mass testing , as well as guards ’ failure to comply with a statewide mask requirement .
“ Put your mask on , sir !
” Hall called out to an officer during a phone interview .
Whatever the reason , the sewing factory proved fertile ground for the virus .
From there , workers said , COVID-19 spread through the prison .
It was a neighbor who found Hall sprawled across the floor in her cell , gasping for breath @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she flailed her hands trying to signal “ 222 ” — prison code for an emergency .
On May 8 , paramedics rushed Hall to Riverside Community Hospital .
She spent weeks in and out of consciousness , fighting COVID-19-related pneumonia .
When Hall was discharged from the hospital , she returned to prison with an oxygen tank .
She had also developed a painful case of shingles and needed a walker to get around .
In total , 352 inmates and 85 staffers have been infected with the coronavirus at the Chino @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prison authorities say they do not track infections of incarcerated workers separately from the general population , so it is unclear how many of the 15,121 inmates who have tested positive worked in factories or other jobs .
To be sure , there are many factors in the spread of COVID-19 .
State prisons are over capacity , and crowded dorms and cells make social distancing impossible .
“ What keeps prisons safer ?
Having fewer people in them , ” said Dr. Stefano Bertozzi , professor of health policy and management at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We need to accelerate releases.
” Although she still had trouble breathing and feared reinfection , Hall needed money for toothpaste and shampoo and tried to return to work one day .
But she felt too weak and had to leave .
As temperatures soared this summer inside the non-air-conditioned prison , Hall used the last of her earnings to buy a $ 49 fan , which broke almost immediately .
Without a job , she can ’ t buy another .
The factory stopped making masks in the spring , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been sewing the orange pants and shirts worn by California ’ s inmate firefighters .
As Hall sees it , the pandemic only deepened her understanding of the way things are .
The prison system , she said , “ keeps us as a money tree .
”

Robbie Hall earned 60 cents an hour sewing masks at a factory in a women’s prison in Chino. She was hospitalized with a serious case of COVID-19 in May after an outbreak there.
While much of California shut down this spring, Robbie Hall stitched masks for 12 hours a day in a sewing factory at a women’s prison in Chino. For several weeks, Hall and other women said, they churned out masks by the thousands but were forbidden from wearing them.
The incarcerated seamstresses at the California Institution for Women grew increasingly worried: The fabric they used came from the nearby men’s prison, where an outbreak ended up killing 23 inmates. And their boss regularly visited both institutions.
“Are we safe with her going over there and coming back here?” Hall remembered asking her co-workers as they sewed.
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Then it happened.
In early May, COVID-19 broke out in the sewing factory, sickening at least four incarcerated workers, including Hall. She spent weeks in the hospital struggling to breathe.
California’s prison system has taken drastic measures to combat the coronavirus, halting rehab programs, religious services and educational classes. But correctional authorities kept one type of operation running through much of the last six months: prison factories.
Hall was one of thousands of incarcerated workers who stayed on the job in high-risk positions during the pandemic, making wages that ranged from 8 cents to $1 an hour. They cooked the food. They walked from cell to cell delivering meals. They cleaned everything from communal showers to COVID-19 units in prison hospitals. And they labored in prison factories making products, such as masks, hand sanitizer and furniture, that were sold to state agencies for millions of dollars.
It was “like a slave factory. The more you give them, the more they want.” — Robbie Hall
Amid the drive for production, factories continued to operate even as infections increased inside prison walls, according to interviews with more than 30 inmates at the women’s prison in Chino and at Avenal State Prison for men, including some who became infected with the coronavirus. The factories brought together inmates who were housed in different units, heightening the risk of spreading the virus to other areas inside the prisons, The Times found.
Robbie Hall contracted COVID-19 in a Chino prison and spent weeks in the hospital. (Robbie Hall)
Factory staff, they said, warned that workers would lose their jobs — their only source of income — if they missed a day. Some said they were threatened with discipline that could jeopardize their chances for release from prison if they refused to work because of COVID-19 fears.
At the Chino prison, workers said, supervisors kept raising the daily quotas, from 2,000 to 3,000 to 3,500 masks. Seven days a week, the women cranked out masks until their bodies ached, and all they could do at night was collapse asleep in their cells.
It was “like a slave factory,” Hall said. “The more you give them, the more they want.”
The Times sent detailed questions and requested interviews with the heads of state agencies responsible for prison conditions, but officials responded through representatives.
Michele Kane, a spokeswoman for the California Prison Industry Authority, which oversees the factories, said in a statement that “essential critical enterprises,” such as food, laundry and the manufacture of masks and hand sanitizer, have continued operating during the pandemic. The agency acknowledged that goods like furniture were made “when deemed safe” but declined to say what other factories remained open.
Kane said the agency reduced inmate staffing at factories, imposed social distancing and decided when to close or reopen operations in consultation with the corrections department and the court-appointed federal receiver overseeing healthcare inside California’s prisons.
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Dana Simas, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said in a statement that the agency follows isolation and quarantine protocols approved by the federal receiver. The statement said the agency has taken “extraordinary measures to address COVID-19” in prisons, such as providing staff and inmates with protective equipment.
But interviews with incarcerated workers paint a disturbing picture of prison labor during the pandemic: meager wages, questionable infection control and the threat of more time in prison looming over their heads.
Supporters of prison labor say the practice helps defray costs of incarceration, provides job skills and reduces recidivism rates. But legal scholars and civil rights advocates have long criticized prison labor as exploitative and part of the historical legacy of slavery — a deep injustice, they say, only magnified by COVID-19.
“It is a bureaucratic decision to keep people working for pennies an hour during a pandemic,” said Kate Chatfield, director of policy at the Justice Collaborative, a national organization that advocates for criminal justice reform. “This should appall everyone who wants to live in a civilized society.”
::
“Why is money more important than human lives? Inmates are just a business.” — David Burke, an inmate at Avenal State Prison
The California Prison Industry Authority, a state agency known as CALPIA, oversees roughly 7,000 incarcerated workers statewide. Through CALPIA, prison labor makes everything from U.S. flags, license plates and packaged snickerdoodles to furniture found in the offices of nearly every state agency.
Fabric is CALPIA’s biggest moneymaker in manufacturing, bringing in $23.7 million in revenues in 2019, with furniture not far behind at $16.9 million, according to a recent audit. The state prison system is CALPIA’s biggest customer, accounting for about two-thirds of sales. Other major customers include the DMV, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and the Department of Health Care Services.
On April 1, the 11-member Prison Industry Board met and agreed to pay prison laborers overtime — though one board member worried that inmates would slow down production “just to get into the overtime.”
CALPIA General Manager Scott Walker acknowledged in the meeting that he couldn’t justify keeping factories open to produce “non-mission-critical” goods like shoes, furniture or snowplows for Caltrans. Walker said he had been “struggling with this for days” as he thought of “requiring people to come to work during this process to build a desk.”
Walker concluded the agency should “maybe err on the side of the medical knowledge and say, ‘Hey, stop. Stop all this nonessential traveling across the yard, commingling in a factory and just run the essential stuff,’” according to a transcript of the meeting.
The furniture factory was closed at Avenal State Prison in Kings County the very next day.
But not for long. The factory was back up and running just 27 days later, on April 29.
The first inmates and staff at Avenal State Prison tested positive for the coronavirus in mid-May.
Around the third week of May, an incarcerated worker in the furniture factory tested positive and was put in isolation, according to two workers who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. They had all been exposed to the man, the workers said. But a supervisor announced that if they didn’t report to the factory the next day, they’d get a write-up — a serious form of discipline that is a black mark when petitioning the parole board for release.
“It prevents us from going home early,” one explained. “A bunch of us went back to work. And a bunch of us contracted the virus.” He said he became deathly ill with COVID-19.
Kane, the CALPIA spokeswoman, said the agency had not received complaints alleging furniture factory workers were threatened with discipline for refusing to work during the pandemic.
The factory didn’t shut down until May 28, according to CALPIA. The shutdown came in response to an outbreak on the factory floor, workers said. The factory reopened June 18, Kane said, but then closed for two weeks in July. That was following another outbreak, workers said.
By the end of July, coronavirus cases at the prison had surpassed 1,400 and five inmates had died.
“Why is money more important than human lives?” asked David Burke, who is incarcerated at Avenal State Prison. “Inmates are just a business.”
As chairman of his yard’s Inmate Advisory Council, Burke receives internal reports on prison operations, including coronavirus matters. He said that, as of mid-August, 83% of inmates had been infected with the coronavirus in the yard that staffs the furniture factory. Burke said the prison had increased the risk of spreading the virus in May by allowing workers from four different housing units into the furniture factory after one of them had tested positive.
Even operating with a skeleton crew for half of July, the factory produced more than $300,000 of furniture that month, inmates said.
Kane said the Avenal furniture factory has been working on an order for a substance abuse program that prison officials hope to launch. She said CALPIA currently uses only inmates from housing units where infections were “deemed resolved and workers from the same cohorts who are already living, eating, and recreating together.”
In late September, two more Avenal inmates died at outside hospitals, bringing the total to seven. As of Friday, 296 staffers and 2,931 inmates at the prison had been infected.
::
“I am just trying to make it out alive. I was not sentenced to death in prison.” — Sheri Hughes, a worker in the Chino prison kitchen
Many legal scholars and civil rights advocates argue that contemporary prison labor is a form of slavery allowed by the 13th Amendment, which banned slavery and involuntary servitude “except as a punishment for crime.” The language was a compromise — a way to preserve slavery in a different configuration, said Michele Goodwin, chancellor’s professor of law at UC Irvine.
“This amendment says, ‘Go at it! It’s OK!’ We have given the state authority to do this form of slavery [in which] people can do unpaid or minimally paid labor,” Goodwin said.
In the decades after the Civil War, Southern states passed laws targeting Black people for frivolous crimes such as vagrancy. Imprisoned in droves, they were forced to work for private industry in coal mines, brickyards, plantations and elsewhere — a “convict-leasing” system under which prison officials often reaped the profits.
Today, racial disparities behind bars remain stark. Black people make up about 6.5% of California’s population but comprised more than 28% of its prisoners at the end of 2018, the most recent date for which figures are available.
By law, “any able-bodied inmate” can be required to “perform any work deemed necessary” for prison operations. Though the prison can take into account individual wishes — for example, a preference for an educational program over work — it doesn’t have to. Once on the job, those who refuse work or fail to perform “within the inmate’s abilities” face disciplinary action, which can lead to denial of parole.
Several prison cleaners and kitchen staffers told The Times they were scared of becoming infected at work but couldn’t jeopardize their release dates.
The California Institution for Women in Chino, site of a coronavirus outbreak. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune)
“I am just trying to make it out alive,” said Sheri Hughes, a worker in the Chino prison kitchen, where inmates come from different housing units and several have become infected with the coronavirus. “I was not sentenced to death in prison.”
Incarcerated workers in California and other states are not classified as employees. They can’t get unemployment, sick leave or paid time off. The pay scale is set by state law, with many jobs paying 8 cents an hour and the CALPIA jobs paying more — from 35 cents to $1 an hour.
Because of the slightly higher starting pay, the factory jobs are sought after, and workers apply for positions. Even so, low wages make it impossible to support family members or build up savings. Many leave prison deeply in debt from court-imposed fees.
The work cooking, cleaning and producing furniture is essential for operating the state’s prisons, which currently confine about 100,000 people at an annual cost of $81,000 each. If incarcerated workers were paid minimum wage, the system as it exists today would collapse, said Chatfield, the policy director at the Justice Collaborative.
“If the price tag got so steep,” she said, “we would really have to reconsider how many people we incarcerate.”
::
Hall, 58, grew up in South Los Angeles and has been in prison for 35 years.
She is serving a 15-year-to-life sentence for murdering a man she says raped her and tried to kill her when she was 23. Since 1994, she has been denied parole repeatedly. Hall would like to hire an attorney to make a renewed case that her crime was in self-defense, but she can’t afford to.
Robbie Hall pictured with her daughter. She has been in prison for 35 years, and in that time has become a grandmother and a great-grandmother. (Robbie Hall)
As a child, Hall said, she was physically and sexually abused. In California state prisons, 25% of women are Black, like Hall, according to the corrections department, and 92% have experienced abuse, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Before the pandemic, Hall was known in prison as a peer counselor and a church praise dancer, spending her Sundays raising her arms to the sky, leading worshipers in songs that promised a brighter tomorrow.
She is a proud grandmother to eight and a great-grandmother to four, so keeping in touch with family is crucial. But it hasn’t been easy to do that. Sending a single email costs about 26 cents to buy a “stamp” from JPay, the company that runs the system. She also relies on her 60-cent-an-hour wages to pay for basic necessities like soap and food, which are sold at the prison canteen at premium prices.
Hall has held many jobs in prison including kitchen server, ambulance driver and painter.
When the hours at the sewing factory kept getting longer and longer, Hall didn’t object. She and the other workers felt they had little choice. Supervisors told them they’d be replaced if they refused overtime, Hall said.
As March turned into April, prison sewing factories across the state made more than 1.4 million masks. They primarily went to prisons for use by inmates and staffers, but dozens of state agencies also put in orders. At the Correctional Training Facility near Salinas, the sewing factory ran 14 hours a day, seven days a week, according to corrections records.
A number of women who sewed masks in the Chino factory said they felt they were doing important work to help save lives. They were proud of their hard labor, even as they criticized the conditions.
Although CALPIA insisted the agency issued protective equipment from the start, seven incarcerated workers said supervisors told them in the first few weeks that they’d get in trouble for wearing the masks they made. It wasn’t until about mid-April that the whole prison, including the factory, got masks, workers said.
The 40 women who worked in the factory were terrified when they learned of an enormous outbreak that began in March at the nearby California Institution for Men. Among the group was a woman in her 70s who used a walker.
Whenever the truck from the men’s prison arrived with more fabric, the supervisors didn’t want to go anywhere near the driver “because she had been exposed over there,” said Kellie Chivrell, the fabric cutter in the factory.
And so unloading the heavy fabric fell on Chivrell. She said the driver, a CALPIA employee at the men’s prison, never wore a mask and told Chivrell she hadn’t been given any. It wasn’t long before Chivrell tested positive for the coronavirus and spent weeks in the prison infirmary.
At one point, Chivrell said, the prison bungled her test results, mistakenly giving her a negative result and releasing her from isolation. She said she spent 24 hours circulating in the general population before prison staff realized the error. (A corrections department spokesperson declined to comment, citing patient privacy.)
Responding to detailed questions from The Times, a CALPIA representative said overtime hours were voluntary. The spokesperson acknowledged that goods were transported between the prisons and that two managers had visited both institutions in April to provide “critical support,” but the agency denied “the generalization that we had staff continually going back and forth.”
The outbreak at the Chino women’s prison — which has claimed the lives of one inmate and a staffer — can’t be attributed to any one cause. Women in the prison and their advocates have criticized officials for waiting until May to do mass testing, as well as guards’ failure to comply with a statewide mask requirement.
“Put your mask on, sir!” Hall called out to an officer during a phone interview.
Whatever the reason, the sewing factory proved fertile ground for the virus. From there, workers said, COVID-19 spread through the prison.
::
It was a neighbor who found Hall sprawled across the floor in her cell, gasping for breath and unable to talk. She said she flailed her hands trying to signal “222” — prison code for an emergency.
On May 8, paramedics rushed Hall to Riverside Community Hospital. She spent weeks in and out of consciousness, fighting COVID-19-related pneumonia.
When Hall was discharged from the hospital, she returned to prison with an oxygen tank. She had also developed a painful case of shingles and needed a walker to get around.
Robbie Hall was found sprawled across the floor in her cell, gasping for breath. She was hospitalized with COVID-19. (Robbie Hall)
In total, 352 inmates and 85 staffers have been infected with the coronavirus at the Chino women’s prison. Statewide, prison authorities say they do not track infections of incarcerated workers separately from the general population, so it is unclear how many of the 15,121 inmates who have tested positive worked in factories or other jobs.
To be sure, there are many factors in the spread of COVID-19. State prisons are over capacity, and crowded dorms and cells make social distancing impossible.
“What keeps prisons safer? Having fewer people in them,” said Dr. Stefano Bertozzi, professor of health policy and management at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. “We need to accelerate releases.”
Although she still had trouble breathing and feared reinfection, Hall needed money for toothpaste and shampoo and tried to return to work one day. But she felt too weak and had to leave.
As temperatures soared this summer inside the non-air-conditioned prison, Hall used the last of her earnings to buy a $49 fan, which broke almost immediately. Without a job, she can’t buy another.
The factory stopped making masks in the spring, workers said. More recently the women have been sewing the orange pants and shirts worn by California’s inmate firefighters.
As Hall sees it, the pandemic only deepened her understanding of the way things are.
The prison system, she said, “keeps us as a money tree.”


latimes--2020-10-10--La Niña may signal scant relief from California's seemingly endless loop of hot, dry weather

After a brief interlude of mild temperatures Saturday , a warm-up is forecast to begin Sunday as upper-level high pressure builds into California , the National Weather Service said .
High temperatures will climb by several degrees on Sunday .
California just recorded its hottest September on record , according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , and the state looks to be stuck in a nearly endless loop of hot , dry weather .
With a strong La Niña developing , the dry pattern is looking ever harder to break , and could be settling in to stay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the upcoming week is seasonably Santa Ana-ish , and does nothing to contradict that supposition .
Gusty winds are expected to develop below passes and canyons in the Santa Ynez Range of southern Santa Barbara County on Sunday night .
North to northeast winds will also affect the Interstate 5 corridor and valleys of eastern Ventura County as well as northern and western L.A. County .
Dry , northerly winds will also arise in the San Francisco Bay area on Sunday , possibly growing stronger in the hills by midweek , raising potential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
In Southern California , warm , dry conditions may be accompanied by weak Santa Ana winds Monday through Thursday , leading to elevated to locally critical fire weather conditions .
Heat advisories may be issued for triple-digit temperatures in the inland valleys , and readings in the upper 80s closer to the coast Tuesday through Thursday .
After the aforementioned respite , during which hoped-for rain didn ’ t materialize in Northern California , the theme of hot , dry conditions continues in California and the West , expanding the drought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Drought Monitor issued Thursday .
Arizona and California experienced their warmest April-to-September period in 126 years , the Drought Monitor reported .
New Mexico and Nevada had their second-warmest such period .
With the monsoon season essentially a no-show this year , Utah and Arizona recorded their driest period ever during that same six-month stretch .
New Mexico had its second-driest and Colorado had its third-driest .
Arizona ’ s newly established statewide precipitation record came in more than 2 inches drier that the previous record .
As a result of such infernal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and extreme drought expanded in coverage throughout the West , according to the Drought Monitor .
Meanwhile , NOAA said on Thursday that La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific continue to develop , and forecasters now are expecting a stronger La Niña with about an 85 % chance of it persisting through the winter .
A La Niña occurs when the sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific are below average .
Easterly winds over that region strengthen , and rainfall usually decreases over the central and eastern tropical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Indonesia and the Philippines .
There are numerous global climate factors involved in predicting precipitation , but La Niñas are typically associated with colder , stormier-than-average conditions and increased precipitation across the northern parts of the United States , and warmer , drier and less stormy conditions in the southern portions of the country .
If this scenario unfolds , it would exacerbate drought conditions in Arizona , Colorado , Utah and California and worsen the wildfire outlook for the remainder of 2020 and into 2021 .
California is already experiencing its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 4 million acres burned — more than double the state ’ s previous record .
In addition , La Niñas usually weaken wind shear in the Caribbean and tropical Atlantic , contributing to increased hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin .
NOAA ’ s Climate Prediction Center factored the development of La Niña conditions into its prediction in August that an “ extremely active ” hurricane season was possible in the Atlantic .
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30 , peaking from late August through the end of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being borne out as the 2020 season is turning out to be among the worst in history for Atlantic hurricanes .
“ Looking at the damage from the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico , tornadoes and storms in the country ’ s midsection , and the fires and heat waves in the West , it has been a punishing and heart-breaking six months , ” says climatologist Bill Patzert .
“ Weather forecasters across the county are sounding like the grim reaper these days .
”

After a brief interlude of mild temperatures Saturday, a warm-up is forecast to begin Sunday as upper-level high pressure builds into California, the National Weather Service said. High temperatures will climb by several degrees on Sunday.
California just recorded its hottest September on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the state looks to be stuck in a nearly endless loop of hot, dry weather.
With a strong La Niña developing, the dry pattern is looking ever harder to break, and could be settling in to stay for a while. The forecast for the upcoming week is seasonably Santa Ana-ish, and does nothing to contradict that supposition.
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Gusty winds are expected to develop below passes and canyons in the Santa Ynez Range of southern Santa Barbara County on Sunday night. North to northeast winds will also affect the Interstate 5 corridor and valleys of eastern Ventura County as well as northern and western L.A. County.
Dry, northerly winds will also arise in the San Francisco Bay area on Sunday, possibly growing stronger in the hills by midweek, raising potential fire weather concerns, the weather service said.
In Southern California, warm, dry conditions may be accompanied by weak Santa Ana winds Monday through Thursday, leading to elevated to locally critical fire weather conditions. Heat advisories may be issued for triple-digit temperatures in the inland valleys, and readings in the upper 80s closer to the coast Tuesday through Thursday.
After the aforementioned respite, during which hoped-for rain didn’t materialize in Northern California, the theme of hot, dry conditions continues in California and the West, expanding the drought, according to the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor issued Thursday.
Arizona and California experienced their warmest April-to-September period in 126 years, the Drought Monitor reported. New Mexico and Nevada had their second-warmest such period. With the monsoon season essentially a no-show this year, Utah and Arizona recorded their driest period ever during that same six-month stretch. New Mexico had its second-driest and Colorado had its third-driest. Arizona’s newly established statewide precipitation record came in more than 2 inches drier that the previous record.
As a result of such infernal weather, areas of moderate, severe and extreme drought expanded in coverage throughout the West, according to the Drought Monitor.
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Sea surface temperatures show a strengthening La Niña. (Paul Duginski / Los Angeles Times)
Meanwhile, NOAA said on Thursday that La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific continue to develop, and forecasters now are expecting a stronger La Niña with about an 85% chance of it persisting through the winter.
A La Niña occurs when the sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific are below average. Easterly winds over that region strengthen, and rainfall usually decreases over the central and eastern tropical Pacific and increases over the western Pacific, Indonesia and the Philippines.
There are numerous global climate factors involved in predicting precipitation, but La Niñas are typically associated with colder, stormier-than-average conditions and increased precipitation across the northern parts of the United States, and warmer, drier and less stormy conditions in the southern portions of the country.
If this scenario unfolds, it would exacerbate drought conditions in Arizona, Colorado, Utah and California and worsen the wildfire outlook for the remainder of 2020 and into 2021.
California is already experiencing its worst fire season on record, surpassing 4 million acres burned — more than double the state’s previous record.
Historically, how La Niña has affected North America. (Paul Duginski / Los Angeles Times)
In addition, La Niñas usually weaken wind shear in the Caribbean and tropical Atlantic, contributing to increased hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center factored the development of La Niña conditions into its prediction in August that an “extremely active” hurricane season was possible in the Atlantic. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30, peaking from late August through the end of September.
NOAA’s outlook is being borne out as the 2020 season is turning out to be among the worst in history for Atlantic hurricanes.
“Looking at the damage from the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, tornadoes and storms in the country’s midsection, and the fires and heat waves in the West, it has been a punishing and heart-breaking six months,” says climatologist Bill Patzert. “Weather forecasters across the county are sounding like the grim reaper these days.”


latimes--2020-10-10--L.A. County health officials report 1,285 new coronavirus cases and an additional 28 deaths

Twenty-eight more people have died of COVID-19 across Los Angeles County and 1,285 new coronavirus infections have been confirmed , officials said Saturday .
The numbers , reported by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health , bring the countywide pandemic death toll to 6,768 people , with 281,165 confirmed cases .
In 72 % of the new cases , those who tested positive were under 50 years old , the department said .
Of the 28 deaths , the department said , 22 people had underlying health conditions .
One of the fatalities involved a person between 18 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people were between 30 and 49 , seven were between 50 and 64 , nine were between 65 and 79 , and nine were over 80 , the department said .
“ Please remember that even young people can have serious illness if infected with this virus and have severe outcomes , ” county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a news release .
Ferrer recommend the use of masks , social distancing and avoiding nonessential activities .
The department said 93 % of the fatalities involve people with underlying health problems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ include Pasadena , where the reported deaths are now 129 , and Long Beach , where the number is 249 .
The department urged bars and restaurants that might be airing sports not to allow customers to congregate around the televisions .
Experts say it is too soon to characterize the increase in cases in Los Angeles County as a surge , of the kind that accompanied rapid business reopenings over the summer .
The state is now relying on a tiered reopening strategy , and in L.A. County , where businesses such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to reopen outdoors , the high case count has kept it at Tier 1 .
Across the country , some 40,000 new cases of COVID-19 are reported every day .
Dr. Anthony Fauci , the U.S. government ’ s top infectious-diseases expert , said this week that the pandemic could get worse in the winter and persist through much of next year .
He warned that a vaccine won ’ t return the country to pre-pandemic conditions but predicted “ some degree of normality ” in the second half of 2021 .

A sign tells customers to wear masks at the Westfield Santa Anita mall in Arcadia on Wednesday, the first day L.A. County malls were allowed to reopen at limited capacity.
Twenty-eight more people have died of COVID-19 across Los Angeles County and 1,285 new coronavirus infections have been confirmed, officials said Saturday.
The numbers, reported by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, bring the countywide pandemic death toll to 6,768 people, with 281,165 confirmed cases.
In 72% of the new cases, those who tested positive were under 50 years old, the department said.
Of the 28 deaths, the department said, 22 people had underlying health conditions. One of the fatalities involved a person between 18 and 29 years old, while two people were between 30 and 49, seven were between 50 and 64, nine were between 65 and 79, and nine were over 80, the department said.
“Please remember that even young people can have serious illness if infected with this virus and have severe outcomes,” county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said in a news release. Ferrer recommend the use of masks, social distancing and avoiding nonessential activities.
The department said 93% of the fatalities involve people with underlying health problems. The LA County numbers do not include Pasadena, where the reported deaths are now 129, and Long Beach, where the number is 249.
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The department urged bars and restaurants that might be airing sports not to allow customers to congregate around the televisions.
Experts say it is too soon to characterize the increase in cases in Los Angeles County as a surge, of the kind that accompanied rapid business reopenings over the summer. The state is now relying on a tiered reopening strategy, and in L.A. County, where businesses such as breweries and wineries have been allowed to reopen outdoors, the high case count has kept it at Tier 1.
Across the country, some 40,000 new cases of COVID-19 are reported every day. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious-diseases expert, said this week that the pandemic could get worse in the winter and persist through much of next year. He warned that a vaccine won’t return the country to pre-pandemic conditions but predicted “some degree of normality” in the second half of 2021.


latimes--2020-10-11--Officials discover 3,000 pounds of meth at Otay Mesa Port of Entry

Authorities discovered 3,000 pounds of methamphetamine , plus heroin and fentanyl , in a semi-trailer at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry .
The drugs , worth an estimated $ 7.2 million , were found Friday bundled up in cardboard boxes and tucked in the trailer along with boxes of medical lab supplies , U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said .
Authorities said it was the second-largest meth bust in the federal agency ’ s history .
The agency did not provide any information about the biggest methamphetamine bust .
The incident unfolded about 9:45 a.m. , after the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and claimed the cargo contained medical supplies , officials said .
Customs officers used an imaging system to scan the big rig , noticing what officials described as anomalies in the rear of the trailer .
They sent the big-rig to a dock , where a drug-sniffing dog alerted them to the cardboard boxes in the trailer , officials said .
Packed in the boxes were more than 1,800 bundles , containing about 3,000 pounds of meth , 64 pounds of heroin , 29 pounds of fentanyl powder and 37 pounds of fentanyl @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The driver , a 47-year-old Mexican national , was arrested and turned over to a team of investigators with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement , Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration , officials said .
“ This massive seizure is testament of what law enforcement agencies can do when we combine forces — prevent over $ 7 million worth of deadly drugs from entering our country ; thus , saving countless lives from addiction and overdose deaths , ” said DEA Special Agent in Charge John Callery .
“ We will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trafficking organizations at every opportunity we are given .
”

Customs and Border Protection officers found bundles of meth, fentanyl and heroin in a semi-trailer at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry on Friday.
Authorities discovered 3,000 pounds of methamphetamine, plus heroin and fentanyl, in a semi-trailer at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
The drugs, worth an estimated $7.2 million, were found Friday bundled up in cardboard boxes and tucked in the trailer along with boxes of medical lab supplies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said.
Authorities said it was the second-largest meth bust in the federal agency’s history. The agency did not provide any information about the biggest methamphetamine bust.
The incident unfolded about 9:45 a.m., after the driver pulled up to the border crossing and claimed the cargo contained medical supplies, officials said.
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Customs officers used an imaging system to scan the big rig, noticing what officials described as anomalies in the rear of the trailer.
They sent the big-rig to a dock, where a drug-sniffing dog alerted them to the cardboard boxes in the trailer, officials said. Packed in the boxes were more than 1,800 bundles, containing about 3,000 pounds of meth, 64 pounds of heroin, 29 pounds of fentanyl powder and 37 pounds of fentanyl pills.
Officers seized the drugs. The driver, a 47-year-old Mexican national, was arrested and turned over to a team of investigators with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration, officials said.
“This massive seizure is testament of what law enforcement agencies can do when we combine forces — prevent over $7 million worth of deadly drugs from entering our country; thus, saving countless lives from addiction and overdose deaths,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge John Callery. “We will continue to work together to disrupt drug trafficking organizations at every opportunity we are given.”
Hernandez writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune


latimes--2020-10-11--L.A. County reports 971 new coronavirus cases, 3 deaths

Los Angeles County public health officials on Sunday reported 971 new coronavirus cases and three related deaths .
The number of new cases and deaths is usually lower on Sundays and Mondays because of laboratory reporting delays .
The county now has logged a total of 282,135 cases of the virus , and 6,771 people have died .
Officials continued to report encouraging signs of progress in the county ’ s fight against the virus .
There were 693 people with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in county hospitals as of Saturday , down from more than 2,200 at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ L.A. County last week saw a slight uptick in the number of new coronavirus cases reported each day , on Wednesday reporting its highest daily count of infections since Aug. 22 , but experts said it ’ s too early to say whether it represents the start of a larger surge in infections .
Even so , the percentage of tests that came back positive for the virus each day declined slightly over the course of the week , from a seven-day average of 3.2 % Monday to 3 % Sunday , officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helps officials determine whether more new cases are being identified because of increased transmission or because more people are being tested , has hovered around 3 % for several weeks , officials said .
In July , about 8 % of tests were coming back positive .
The positivity rate is one of several metrics officials are keeping an eye on to gauge whether transmission of the virus is increasing and weigh whether more businesses should be allowed to reopen .
The state also recently created an equity metric that establishes specific positive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meet in their poorer cities and neighborhoods .
L.A. County remains in the strictest tier of the state ’ s four-tier reopening system — Tier 1 , or purple — because it continues to report more than 7 cases per 100,000 residents each day .
That means that many nonessential businesses remain closed for indoor operations .
Officials have said they plan to proceed cautiously through the stages , directing business sectors to reopen slowly and in a staggered manner to avoid a surge in new infections that could threaten to overwhelm hospitals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were permitted to resume outdoor operations Monday and indoor shopping malls were allowed to reopen at limited capacity Wednesday .

Los Angeles County public health officials on Sunday reported 971 new coronavirus cases and three related deaths.
The number of new cases and deaths is usually lower on Sundays and Mondays because of laboratory reporting delays.
The county now has logged a total of 282,135 cases of the virus, and 6,771 people have died.
Officials continued to report encouraging signs of progress in the county’s fight against the virus.
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There were 693 people with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in county hospitals as of Saturday, down from more than 2,200 at the peak of the crisis in mid-July.
L.A. County last week saw a slight uptick in the number of new coronavirus cases reported each day, on Wednesday reporting its highest daily count of infections since Aug. 22, but experts said it’s too early to say whether it represents the start of a larger surge in infections.
Even so, the percentage of tests that came back positive for the virus each day declined slightly over the course of the week, from a seven-day average of 3.2% Monday to 3% Sunday, officials said. The positivity rate, which helps officials determine whether more new cases are being identified because of increased transmission or because more people are being tested, has hovered around 3% for several weeks, officials said. In July, about 8% of tests were coming back positive.
The positivity rate is one of several metrics officials are keeping an eye on to gauge whether transmission of the virus is increasing and weigh whether more businesses should be allowed to reopen.
The state also recently created an equity metric that establishes specific positive case rate numbers that larger counties must meet in their poorer cities and neighborhoods.
L.A. County remains in the strictest tier of the state’s four-tier reopening system — Tier 1, or purple — because it continues to report more than 7 cases per 100,000 residents each day. That means that many nonessential businesses remain closed for indoor operations.
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Officials have said they plan to proceed cautiously through the stages, directing business sectors to reopen slowly and in a staggered manner to avoid a surge in new infections that could threaten to overwhelm hospitals. Most recently, casino card rooms were permitted to resume outdoor operations Monday and indoor shopping malls were allowed to reopen at limited capacity Wednesday.


latimes--2020-10-11--Another L.A. County child diagnosed with rare COVID-related syndrome

Another Los Angeles County child has been diagnosed with a rare , potentially deadly syndrome believed to be related to the coronavirus , according to the county Health Department , bringing the total number of children with the ailment in the region to 41 .
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said all of the children in the county diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome since the beginning of the pandemic had been hospitalized .
The department said in a written statement Friday that 70 % of the children with MIS-C were Latino , reflecting the high incidence of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the children reported to have the condition in Los Angeles County have died , nearly half have been sick enough to be admitted to the intensive care unit .
Children with the syndrome may have a fever and other symptoms including stomach pain , vomiting , diarrhea , rash , bloodshot eyes and exhaustion .
The syndrome can cause different parts of the body to become inflamed , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
“ MIS-C is a new syndrome , and many questions remain about why some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 illness or contact with someone with COVID-19 while others do not , ” the CDC says .
As of Oct. 1 , the CDC has reported 1,027 cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children ; 20 of the children with the ailment have died .
Cases have been confirmed in 44 states and Washington , D.C. Arizona , California , New York , New Jersey , Florida and Georgia are among the 10 states reporting the highest number of cases .
Just days before the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case , federal health officials reported that multisystem inflammatory syndrome began to show up in adults in the United States and the United Kingdom in June .
Friday ’ s “ Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report ” from the federal agency cited 27 adult cases and acknowledged that the data were limited .
The CDC called it “ an emerging syndrome ” in adults and said more research was needed .
Like the childhood version of the ailment , MIS-A seems to affect Latino and Black people more than other populations .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ usually does not .
“ All but one of the patients with MIS-A described in this report belonged to racial or ethnic minority groups , ” the CDC reported .
“ The majority ( 24 of 27 ) of patients with MIS-A survived , similar to those with MIS-C , associated with receiving care in acute , often intensive , health care settings .
”

Another Los Angeles County child has been diagnosed with a rare, potentially deadly syndrome believed to be related to the coronavirus, according to the county Health Department, bringing the total number of children with the ailment in the region to 41.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said all of the children in the county diagnosed with multisystem inflammatory syndrome since the beginning of the pandemic had been hospitalized. The department said in a written statement Friday that 70% of the children with MIS-C were Latino, reflecting the high incidence of COVID-19 among Latinos overall.
Although none of the children reported to have the condition in Los Angeles County have died, nearly half have been sick enough to be admitted to the intensive care unit.
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Children with the syndrome may have a fever and other symptoms including stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, bloodshot eyes and exhaustion. The syndrome can cause different parts of the body to become inflamed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“MIS-C is a new syndrome, and many questions remain about why some children and adolescents develop it after a COVID-19 illness or contact with someone with COVID-19 while others do not,” the CDC says.
As of Oct. 1, the CDC has reported 1,027 cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children; 20 of the children with the ailment have died. Cases have been confirmed in 44 states and Washington, D.C.
Arizona, California, New York, New Jersey, Florida and Georgia are among the 10 states reporting the highest number of cases.
Just days before the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced the county’s 41st MIS-C case, federal health officials reported that multisystem inflammatory syndrome began to show up in adults in the United States and the United Kingdom in June.
Friday’s “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” from the federal agency cited 27 adult cases and acknowledged that the data were limited. The CDC called it “an emerging syndrome” in adults and said more research was needed.
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Like the childhood version of the ailment, MIS-A seems to affect Latino and Black people more than other populations. And, although it can kill, it usually does not.
“All but one of the patients with MIS-A described in this report belonged to racial or ethnic minority groups,” the CDC reported. “The majority (24 of 27) of patients with MIS-A survived, similar to those with MIS-C, associated with receiving care in acute, often intensive, health care settings.”


latimes--2020-10-11--3 arrested after stabbing on Santa Monica Pier, police say

Three people were arrested after a stabbing at the Santa Monica Pier wounded three men Saturday night , police said @ @ @ @ @ report of a fight on the pier at about 8:30 p.m. and found there had @ @ @ @ @ .
Saul Rodriguez of the Santa Monica Police Department said in a statement .
Three @ @ @ @ @ The most seriously injured man was in stable condition , Rodriguez said .
Two men @ @ @ @ @ in connection with the incident , he said .
Their identities were not released .
@ @ @ @ @ clear what prompted the fight .

The Santa Monica Pier, shown during a coronavirus-related closure earlier this year, was the site of a stabbing Saturday.
Three people were arrested after a stabbing at the Santa Monica Pier wounded three men Saturday night, police said.
Officers responded to a report of a fight on the pier at about 8:30 p.m. and found there had been a stabbing, Capt. Saul Rodriguez of the Santa Monica Police Department said in a statement.
Three men suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The most seriously injured man was in stable condition, Rodriguez said.
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Two men and a woman were arrested in connection with the incident, he said. Their identities were not released.
It wasn’t immediately clear what prompted the fight.


latimes--2020-10-11--How L.A.'s Armenian food community has banded together to support their homeland

Early on the morning of Sept. 30 , Armen Martirosyan ’ s mother came to him with some news .
Cousins in Armenia were joining the fight against Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh .
The territory , a mountainous area a little larger than Rhode Island , is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan .
The enclave , however , is self-governed and populated by ethnic Armenians , who fought off attacks by various empires over the last 2,000 years .
They continued to control the area , despite being made part of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic by Josef Stalin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of September , more than 100 people have been killed in the region , referred to as Artsakh by ethnic Armenians .
Both sides accuse the other of escalating the violence .
Russia brokered a cease-fire Saturday , but each side has accused the other of violating the agreement .
“ My family is so far from Armenia , so I had to think , what can we do from here ?
” said Martirosyan , 31 , who along with his parents owns and operates Mini Kabob restaurant in Glendale .
His @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s proceeds to humanitarian efforts in Nagorno-Karabakh .
Within minutes , he logged on to the restaurant ’ s Instagram account and posted a message to its 27,000 followers : “ All of the proceeds today at Mini Kabob will be sent to Armenia… .
We love you Armenia we are with you every step of the way.
” The rippling effects of a conflict raging more than 7,000 miles away are felt deeply by members of the Armenian diaspora in Southern California , many of whom are descendants of survivors of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915 .
Turkey has vowed to support its longtime ally Azerbaijan ; the two countries have strong ethnic and cultural ties .
Martirosyan has more than 20 cousins living in Armenia ; at least eight of them , he said , have already joined the fight .
For him , what ’ s happening in Nagorno-Karabakh is personal .
He was able to raise $ 3,000 to send to organizations that support Armenia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh , including the Armenia Fund @ @ @ @ @ @ @ humanitarian projects that benefit Armenia and the Armenian diaspora .
“ We ’ re going to donate every day as much as I can , ” he said .
“ I won ’ t drive my car or put gas in my car to know the Armenia people are getting that money.
” Mini Kabob is one of the many Armenian-owned food businesses in Los Angeles using its platform to raise funds for and awareness of the deadly conflict in the South Caucasus .
For them , it ’ s an effective means @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history of and current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh .
Artur Kasabyan , who owns Bird Box fried chicken restaurant in North Hollywood , said he tries to strike up a conversation with customers when they walk in .
“ I ask them if they have heard about the recent news with what ’ s been going on with Armenia , ” Kasabyan said .
“ I explain to them that it ’ s a disputed land issue that ’ s been going on for years and that Armenia just wants peace.
” Rather than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he thought soliciting donations through his restaurant could also help spread awareness among non-Armenian customers .
After announcing his donation campaign on Instagram , Kasabyan said he received about 62 more orders than the previous Saturday and was able to donate $ 3,500 to the Armenia Fund .
Armen Piskoulian , the chef-owner of Oui Melrose and Tony Khachapuri in Hollywood , is also using his position as a food business owner to encourage support for Armenia .
His great-grandparents were survivors of the Armenian genocide .
For him , the recent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I usually don ’ t mix politics with business , but this is so personal that I would feel like a fool if I didn ’ t contribute back to my people , ” he said .
On Monday , Piskoulian used the # ArtsakhStrong hashtag and announced via Instagram that he was donating that day ’ s profits to the Armenia Fund .
He says many customers , both Armenian and not , showed up to buy food .
The hashtag has been used more than 93,000 times .
Carousel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ similar campaign .
In addition to pledging 25 % of the sales when a customer mentions Azerbaijan , she and her husband donated $ 5,000 to the Armenia Fund in the restaurant ’ s name .
“ We ’ re using social media and all the hashtags and verbal communication with the servers to help bring awareness to the guests , ” she said .
She tells her servers to let the customers know about the promotion and is brainstorming how else she can give diners a visual reminder .
Though she doesn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she does not use any Turkish products in the restaurant , despite feeling that some of them are more “ high quality ” than options from elsewhere .
“ When our vendors bring food from the Middle East , the salesperson will say this is red pepper from Turkey and this is one from Syria or Beirut , and you can see the difference , ” she said .
“ But it ’ s a sacrifice that we will make.
” The refusal to use or sell Turkish products is another way Armenian-owned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a show of both economic and symbolic rebellion against all things Turkey .
Jons Fresh Marketplace , a chain of Armenian-owned grocery stores with two dozen locations in Los Angeles , announced on Oct. 1 that it was pulling all Turkish products off its shelves .
“ Although Jons Fresh Marketplace is a corporation with no political affiliation , we do make decisions with the benefit of the communities we serve in mind , ” read a company-issued statement from market President Jack Berberian .
“ As a result , Jons Fresh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as ‘ Product of Turkey ’ from our shelves .
Jons is sensitive to the conflict , and we feel this is the best decision for our communities and our employees.
” Piskoulian is making a similar effort .
Though it ’ s something he ’ s done for years , he feels refusing to use Turkish products is especially important now .
If he can ’ t find something such as a pepper paste , and the only alternative is Turkish , he ’ ll rework the recipe .
“ I can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stuff and use it knowing that money is going to a government through taxation , that ultimately wants the demise of my people , ” he said .
At Garni Meat Market in Pasadena , a sign out front proudly proclaims a Turkish-product-free zone .
The market is on a stretch of Washington Boulevard heavily populated with Armenian-owned businesses and residents .
“ We are doing our part to make our community Turkey Free Zone !
We do not carry or use Turkish Products , ” reads the sign .
It prompts readers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or Instagram .
The social media account has an active presence online , posting photos of markets that sell Turkish products .
Harout Khachoyan , whose father , Alex , owns the butcher shop , said people from the @ TurkishProductFreeZone group recently visited the market and inquired about the use of Turkish products .
When the Khachoyans said they hadn ’ t sold Turkish products for more than 20 years , the group members offered the market a sign to put out front .
Khachoyan recently announced via social media that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the remainder of the month to the Armenia Fund .
Papillon International Bakery owner Jack Torosian has vowed to donate $ 5,000 a week to the Armenia Fund , but he ’ s also taking a more hands-on approach with his efforts .
Torosian was one of the first people to demonstrate in front of the CNN Los Angeles headquarters Oct. 3 , demanding more media coverage of the fighting .
Early that morning , he and some friends started texting everyone they knew , letting them know to gather in front @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Everyone who came down brought something with them , ” he said .
“ It ’ s just our culture .
Blankets , food , there were grandmas making coffee in the corner.
” Around 10 p.m. , Torosian organized a delivery of about 600 pastries .
His bakery handed out ponchicks ( a type of filled doughnut ) and perashkis ( a savory filled pastry ) to feed the protesters throughout the night .
“ You want to fight and yell and do anything , but what can you do ?
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everything we can and providing food.
” Torosian was born in Yerevan and fled Armenia during the Nagorno-Karabakh War in the early ’ 90s .
He ’ s making banners to give to any business , Armenian or not , that donates $ 5,000 or more to the Armenia Fund .
“ Our [ five ] bakeries have more than 50 % customers from other nationalities coming in , ” he said .
“ It gives us access to them to educate them and for them to know us .
”

Armen Martirosyan, center, with his father, Hovik, and mother, Alvard, own and operate Mini Kabob in Glendale.
Early on the morning of Sept. 30, Armen Martirosyan’s mother came to him with some news. Cousins in Armenia were joining the fight against Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The territory, a mountainous area a little larger than Rhode Island, is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. The enclave, however, is self-governed and populated by ethnic Armenians, who fought off attacks by various empires over the last 2,000 years. They continued to control the area, despite being made part of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic by Josef Stalin in the 1920s.
Since the end of September, more than 100 people have been killed in the region, referred to as Artsakh by ethnic Armenians. Both sides accuse the other of escalating the violence. Russia brokered a cease-fire Saturday, but each side has accused the other of violating the agreement.
“My family is so far from Armenia, so I had to think, what can we do from here?” said Martirosyan, 31, who along with his parents owns and operates Mini Kabob restaurant in Glendale. His immediate reaction? Donate a day’s proceeds to humanitarian efforts in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Within minutes, he logged on to the restaurant’s Instagram account and posted a message to its 27,000 followers: “All of the proceeds today at Mini Kabob will be sent to Armenia…. We love you Armenia we are with you every step of the way.”
The rippling effects of a conflict raging more than 7,000 miles away are felt deeply by members of the Armenian diaspora in Southern California, many of whom are descendants of survivors of the Armenian genocide, when nearly 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915. Turkey has vowed to support its longtime ally Azerbaijan; the two countries have strong ethnic and cultural ties.
Martirosyan has more than 20 cousins living in Armenia; at least eight of them, he said, have already joined the fight. For him, what’s happening in Nagorno-Karabakh is personal. He was able to raise $3,000 to send to organizations that support Armenia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, including the Armenia Fund. The Glendale nonprofit works on various humanitarian projects that benefit Armenia and the Armenian diaspora.
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“We’re going to donate every day as much as I can,” he said. “I won’t drive my car or put gas in my car to know the Armenia people are getting that money.”
Armen Martirosyan puts up a sign at his Glendale restaurant, Mini Kabob, showing his support for the Armenians in the region known to them as Artsakh. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Mini Kabob is one of the many Armenian-owned food businesses in Los Angeles using its platform to raise funds for and awareness of the deadly conflict in the South Caucasus. For them, it’s an effective means to introduce many non-Armenian customers to the history of and current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Artur Kasabyan, who owns Bird Box fried chicken restaurant in North Hollywood, said he tries to strike up a conversation with customers when they walk in.
“I ask them if they have heard about the recent news with what’s been going on with Armenia,” Kasabyan said. “I explain to them that it’s a disputed land issue that’s been going on for years and that Armenia just wants peace.”
Rather than make a single, personal monetary contribution, he thought soliciting donations through his restaurant could also help spread awareness among non-Armenian customers. After announcing his donation campaign on Instagram, Kasabyan said he received about 62 more orders than the previous Saturday and was able to donate $3,500 to the Armenia Fund.
Armen Piskoulian, the chef-owner of Oui Melrose and Tony Khachapuri in Hollywood, is also using his position as a food business owner to encourage support for Armenia. His great-grandparents were survivors of the Armenian genocide. For him, the recent fighting echoes the killings of the genocide.
“I usually don’t mix politics with business, but this is so personal that I would feel like a fool if I didn’t contribute back to my people,” he said.
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On Monday, Piskoulian used the #ArtsakhStrong hashtag and announced via Instagram that he was donating that day’s profits to the Armenia Fund. He says many customers, both Armenian and not, showed up to buy food. The hashtag has been used more than 93,000 times.
Carousel restaurant co-owner Rosalie Tcholakian recently announced a similar campaign. In addition to pledging 25% of the sales when a customer mentions Azerbaijan, she and her husband donated $5,000 to the Armenia Fund in the restaurant’s name.
“We’re using social media and all the hashtags and verbal communication with the servers to help bring awareness to the guests,” she said.
She tells her servers to let the customers know about the promotion and is brainstorming how else she can give diners a visual reminder.
Though she doesn’t advertise it, Tcholakian said she does not use any Turkish products in the restaurant, despite feeling that some of them are more “high quality” than options from elsewhere.
“When our vendors bring food from the Middle East, the salesperson will say this is red pepper from Turkey and this is one from Syria or Beirut, and you can see the difference,” she said. “But it’s a sacrifice that we will make.”
The refusal to use or sell Turkish products is another way Armenian-owned businesses are demonstrating support for Armenia, in a show of both economic and symbolic rebellion against all things Turkey. Jons Fresh Marketplace, a chain of Armenian-owned grocery stores with two dozen locations in Los Angeles, announced on Oct. 1 that it was pulling all Turkish products off its shelves.
A sign posted at Garni Meat Market in Pasadena proclaims the butcher shop is a Turkish-product-free zone. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times)
“Although Jons Fresh Marketplace is a corporation with no political affiliation, we do make decisions with the benefit of the communities we serve in mind,” read a company-issued statement from market President Jack Berberian. “As a result, Jons Fresh Marketplace has decided to remove items labeled as ‘Product of Turkey’ from our shelves. Jons is sensitive to the conflict, and we feel this is the best decision for our communities and our employees.”
Piskoulian is making a similar effort. Though it’s something he’s done for years, he feels refusing to use Turkish products is especially important now. If he can’t find something such as a pepper paste, and the only alternative is Turkish, he’ll rework the recipe.
“I can’t knowingly go out and buy stuff and use it knowing that money is going to a government through taxation, that ultimately wants the demise of my people,” he said.
At Garni Meat Market in Pasadena, a sign out front proudly proclaims a Turkish-product-free zone. The market is on a stretch of Washington Boulevard heavily populated with Armenian-owned businesses and residents.
“We are doing our part to make our community Turkey Free Zone! We do not carry or use Turkish Products,” reads the sign. It prompts readers to interact with @TurkishProductFreeZone on Facebook or Instagram. The social media account has an active presence online, posting photos of markets that sell Turkish products.
Harout Khachoyan, whose father, Alex, owns the butcher shop, said people from the @TurkishProductFreeZone group recently visited the market and inquired about the use of Turkish products. When the Khachoyans said they hadn’t sold Turkish products for more than 20 years, the group members offered the market a sign to put out front.
Khachoyan recently announced via social media that the shop would donate 20% of profits for the remainder of the month to the Armenia Fund.
Papillon International Bakery owner Jack Torosian has vowed to donate $5,000 a week to the Armenia Fund, but he’s also taking a more hands-on approach with his efforts. Torosian was one of the first people to demonstrate in front of the CNN Los Angeles headquarters Oct. 3, demanding more media coverage of the fighting. Early that morning, he and some friends started texting everyone they knew, letting them know to gather in front of the Sunset Boulevard building.
“Everyone who came down brought something with them,” he said. “It’s just our culture. Blankets, food, there were grandmas making coffee in the corner.”
Around 10 p.m., Torosian organized a delivery of about 600 pastries. His bakery handed out ponchicks (a type of filled doughnut) and perashkis (a savory filled pastry) to feed the protesters throughout the night.
“You want to fight and yell and do anything, but what can you do?” he asked. “We are doing everything we can and providing food.”
Torosian was born in Yerevan and fled Armenia during the Nagorno-Karabakh War in the early ’90s. He’s making banners to give to any business, Armenian or not, that donates $5,000 or more to the Armenia Fund.
“Our [five] bakeries have more than 50% customers from other nationalities coming in,” he said. “It gives us access to them to educate them and for them to know us.”