latimes--2020-11-12--California hits 1 million coronavirus cases as L.A. County urges travel quarantine

Coronavirus infections in California are racing upward at a level not seen since the summer , with the state surpassing 1 million cases on Thursday , and health officials are warning dire action must be taken to stop the spread of the illness .
If the surge continues in Los Angeles County , “ additional actions ” could become necessary to bring the rate of transmission back under control , Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said .
Though she didn ’ t elaborate on what potential new measures could be implemented , Ferrer emphasized that L.A. County remains on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needs to do their part to keep conditions from worsening .
The warning comes as California joins Texas in becoming the only two states to have officially surpassed 1 million infections .
“ We all need to act now , ” she said during a briefing .
“ The actions we take today , tomorrow and next week have tremendous impact on the health and well-being of many , many people across the county .
If , collectively , we fail to stop the acceleration of new cases , we will have no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Thanksgiving is shaping up to be a particularly painful choice .
The county is recommending that residents don ’ t travel out of state for the holiday and , if they do , that they quarantine for 14 days upon their return .
“ If you are going to travel — which we are recommending you not do , we are actually recommending this Thanksgiving be a stay-at-home Thanksgiving — but if you are going to travel , we do ask when you come back that you quarantine for 14 days , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tighter you can restrict your activities over those 14 days , the better off we all are.
” Though the idea of not seeing family and friends after such a difficult year may strike some as untenable or unreasonable , health officials have repeatedly warned that gathering with those outside your household heightens the risk of transmitting the disease .
Ferrer acknowledged it was a sacrifice , saying she won ’ t get to see her grandchildren this year because they live in another state .
“ Like all of you , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they ’ re not , ” she said .
“ And my feeling is I don ’ t want to be one of the people that ’ s contributing to not only increasing cases that restrict our ability to continue with our recovery journey , but increasing cases that could result in other people getting sick and even dying.
” California has generally banned large gatherings , and says smaller ones of no more than three households may be held outdoors with limitations , including time limits and requirements that attendees physically distance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , like California as a whole , is seeing a renewed spike in coronavirus infections that currently shows no signs of dissipating .
As of Nov. 3 , the average number of daily cases in the county was 1,464 — up from 988 a month prior , Ferrer said .
Recent counts have been even higher .
On Thursday , Ferrer reported 2,533 new cases .
The county is also starting to see hospitalizations climb .
On Thursday , there were 953 COVID-19 patients in hospitals countywide — up from 777 on Nov. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it usually takes a few weeks for a crush of cases to result in a corresponding increase in hospitalizations and deaths , Ferrer said that “ we most likely haven ’ t yet seen the full consequence of the surge in cases we recently experienced.
” “ While we ’ ve made impressive strides in caring for people who are ill with the virus , this much of an increase in cases may very well result in tremendous suffering and tragic deaths down the road , ” she said .
So far , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in deaths corresponding to the surge .
In fact , as of Nov. 2 , the average number of deaths per day in the county was 10 , which “ is the lowest number that we have seen since the very early days of the pandemic , ” Ferrer said .
Still , she emphasized , “ it ’ s going to take all of us to avoid increased heartbreak.
” California ’ s weekly cases have doubled in the past month .
The Golden State has averaged about 6,300 new cases a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number was about 3,200 a month ago .
The proportion of tests coming back positive has also crept up to 4.4 % over the last seven days , a rate not seen “ since the end of August , early September , ” California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said this week .
Hospitalizations are up too .
The number of COVID-19 patients statewide is 3,300 , up roughly 50 % in the last month , according to state data .
There are 913 patients in intensive care , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days .
An average of 42 Californians have died each day over the last week , and the state ’ s total death toll now exceeds 18,100 .
California ’ s climb comes as a coronavirus wave of unprecedented size crashes over the United States .
The country as a whole reported more than 144,000 new cases on Wednesday , an all-time high , according to the COVID Tracking Project .
Hospitalizations have also reached record levels nationwide and , on average , more than 1,000 Americans have fallen victim to the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ John Swartzberg , an infectious disease expert at UC Berkeley , likened humans to fuel and the virus to fire .
“ As long as there is fuel around , the virus is going to get there , ” he said .
“ The virus doesn ’ t know whether it is Nevada , California or Wisconsin .
… You are going to see this virus go everywhere , and there is plenty of fuel in California.
” He said he believes the coronavirus is likely to swamp California in December and parts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be shut down .
“ Within a month after Thanksgiving , the number of cases is going to be up significantly , ” Swartzberg said .
“ California is going to be very worried , and we will start to see things close down.
” Eleven counties regressed to more restrictive tiers in California ’ s coronavirus reopening system just this week — subjecting them to tighter limitations on businesses and other public facilities .
Ghaly said more are at risk of backsliding if conditions don ’ t improve .
“ We anticipate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are , that between this week and next week , over half of California counties will have moved into a more restrictive tier , ” he said during a briefing Tuesday .
“ And so that certainly is an indication that we ’ re concerned and that we have to keep a close watch on what ’ s happening.
” In Alameda County — which was not among those that moved into a more restrictive tier this week — officials said they would hold off on additional reopenings , citing increases in COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exercise caution and prepare to move quickly to protect our residents and hospitals from rising cases of COVID-19 , ” county Health Officer Dr. Nicholas Moss said in a statement .
“ We continue to closely monitor the situation .
If necessary , we will restrict activities that are higher risk for spreading COVID , including those in which people gather indoors without masks.
” Health officials and experts have said residents need to use all the infection-prevention tools available to keep California ’ s surge from reaching the skyscraping heights seen elsewhere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , regularly washing your hands , keeping physical distance from those you don ’ t live with and staying home when you ’ re sick .
It also means , as Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said this week , that residents should “ for God ’ s sake , stop gathering.
” Officials have increasingly pointed to gatherings as a major potential source of infections , as residents are less likely to take precautions when they ’ re around people they know and trust .
That ’ s particularly worrying with the holidays @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a statement posted on Twitter that “ it will be harder to resist gathering as the days get cold and dark ” and that “ we are up against the holidays , up against friend and family traditions to be together.
” But he issued a challenge to residents of Sacramento County , which moved this week into the state ’ s most restrictive reopening tier : “ Make new traditions , find safe new ways to be together virtually , to be safe and to be patient.
” “ We have it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” he said .
“ There is everything right about redefining what holiday cheer means in 2020 .
It means putting public health first .
Everything else we cherish depends on this .
”

Orange County Health Care Agency personnel conduct testing at the drive-through COVID-19 testing site at the Orange County Fair & Events Center on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020 in Costa Mesa.
Coronavirus infections in California are racing upward at a level not seen since the summer, with the state surpassing 1 million cases on Thursday, and health officials are warning dire action must be taken to stop the spread of the illness.
If the surge continues in Los Angeles County, “additional actions” could become necessary to bring the rate of transmission back under control, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.
Though she didn’t elaborate on what potential new measures could be implemented, Ferrer emphasized that L.A. County remains on a knife’s edge and that everyone needs to do their part to keep conditions from worsening. The warning comes as California joins Texas in becoming the only two states to have officially surpassed 1 million infections.
Advertisement
“We all need to act now,” she said during a briefing. “The actions we take today, tomorrow and next week have tremendous impact on the health and well-being of many, many people across the county. If, collectively, we fail to stop the acceleration of new cases, we will have no choice but to look at additional actions.”
Thanksgiving is shaping up to be a particularly painful choice. The county is recommending that residents don’t travel out of state for the holiday and, if they do, that they quarantine for 14 days upon their return.
“If you are going to travel — which we are recommending you not do, we are actually recommending this Thanksgiving be a stay-at-home Thanksgiving — but if you are going to travel, we do ask when you come back that you quarantine for 14 days,” Ferrer said. “And the tighter you can restrict your activities over those 14 days, the better off we all are.”
Though the idea of not seeing family and friends after such a difficult year may strike some as untenable or unreasonable, health officials have repeatedly warned that gathering with those outside your household heightens the risk of transmitting the disease.
Ferrer acknowledged it was a sacrifice, saying she won’t get to see her grandchildren this year because they live in another state.
Advertisement
“Like all of you, I wish things were really different. But they’re not,” she said. “And my feeling is I don’t want to be one of the people that’s contributing to not only increasing cases that restrict our ability to continue with our recovery journey, but increasing cases that could result in other people getting sick and even dying.”
California has generally banned large gatherings, and says smaller ones of no more than three households may be held outdoors with limitations, including time limits and requirements that attendees physically distance and wear face coverings.
L.A. County, like California as a whole, is seeing a renewed spike in coronavirus infections that currently shows no signs of dissipating. As of Nov. 3, the average number of daily cases in the county was 1,464 — up from 988 a month prior, Ferrer said.
Recent counts have been even higher. On Thursday, Ferrer reported 2,533 new cases.
The county is also starting to see hospitalizations climb. On Thursday, there were 953 COVID-19 patients in hospitals countywide — up from 777 on Nov. 2, Ferrer said.
Given that it usually takes a few weeks for a crush of cases to result in a corresponding increase in hospitalizations and deaths, Ferrer said that “we most likely haven’t yet seen the full consequence of the surge in cases we recently experienced.”
“While we’ve made impressive strides in caring for people who are ill with the virus, this much of an increase in cases may very well result in tremendous suffering and tragic deaths down the road,” she said.
So far, the county has not seen an uptick in deaths corresponding to the surge. In fact, as of Nov. 2, the average number of deaths per day in the county was 10, which “is the lowest number that we have seen since the very early days of the pandemic,” Ferrer said.
Still, she emphasized, “it’s going to take all of us to avoid increased heartbreak.”
California’s weekly cases have doubled in the past month. The Golden State has averaged about 6,300 new cases a day over the last week; that number was about 3,200 a month ago.
The proportion of tests coming back positive has also crept up to 4.4% over the last seven days, a rate not seen “since the end of August, early September,” California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said this week.
Hospitalizations are up too. The number of COVID-19 patients statewide is 3,300, up roughly 50% in the last month, according to state data. There are 913 patients in intensive care, a 39% increase over the last 14 days.
An average of 42 Californians have died each day over the last week, and the state’s total death toll now exceeds 18,100.
California’s climb comes as a coronavirus wave of unprecedented size crashes over the United States. The country as a whole reported more than 144,000 new cases on Wednesday, an all-time high, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
Hospitalizations have also reached record levels nationwide and, on average, more than 1,000 Americans have fallen victim to the virus daily over the last week.
Dr. John Swartzberg, an infectious disease expert at UC Berkeley, likened humans to fuel and the virus to fire.
“As long as there is fuel around, the virus is going to get there,” he said. “The virus doesn’t know whether it is Nevada, California or Wisconsin. … You are going to see this virus go everywhere, and there is plenty of fuel in California.”
He said he believes the coronavirus is likely to swamp California in December and parts of the state economy will have to be shut down.
“Within a month after Thanksgiving, the number of cases is going to be up significantly,” Swartzberg said. “California is going to be very worried, and we will start to see things close down.”
Eleven counties regressed to more restrictive tiers in California’s coronavirus reopening system just this week — subjecting them to tighter limitations on businesses and other public facilities. Ghaly said more are at risk of backsliding if conditions don’t improve.
“We anticipate, if things stay the way they are, that between this week and next week, over half of California counties will have moved into a more restrictive tier,” he said during a briefing Tuesday. “And so that certainly is an indication that we’re concerned and that we have to keep a close watch on what’s happening.”
In Alameda County — which was not among those that moved into a more restrictive tier this week — officials said they would hold off on additional reopenings, citing increases in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
“We must exercise caution and prepare to move quickly to protect our residents and hospitals from rising cases of COVID-19,” county Health Officer Dr. Nicholas Moss said in a statement. “We continue to closely monitor the situation. If necessary, we will restrict activities that are higher risk for spreading COVID, including those in which people gather indoors without masks.”
Health officials and experts have said residents need to use all the infection-prevention tools available to keep California’s surge from reaching the skyscraping heights seen elsewhere. Those include wearing masks in public, regularly washing your hands, keeping physical distance from those you don’t live with and staying home when you’re sick.
It also means, as Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said this week, that residents should “for God’s sake, stop gathering.”
Officials have increasingly pointed to gatherings as a major potential source of infections, as residents are less likely to take precautions when they’re around people they know and trust.
That’s particularly worrying with the holidays on the horizon.
Steinberg acknowledged in a statement posted on Twitter that “it will be harder to resist gathering as the days get cold and dark” and that “we are up against the holidays, up against friend and family traditions to be together.”
But he issued a challenge to residents of Sacramento County, which moved this week into the state’s most restrictive reopening tier: “Make new traditions, find safe new ways to be together virtually, to be safe and to be patient.”
“We have it in our power to reverse this trend,” he said. “There is everything right about redefining what holiday cheer means in 2020. It means putting public health first. Everything else we cherish depends on this.”
Times staff writer Maura Dolan contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-11-12--Thanksgiving travel will be light, with most Southern Californians driving

Fear of the coronavirus probably will be responsible for the biggest drop in Thanksgiving holiday travel by Southern Californians since the Great Recession of 2008 , dealing another blow to already beleaguered travel industries .
During the upcoming five-day holiday travel period , 3.86 million Southern Californians will take trips — down 13.5 % from 4.46 million in 2019 — according to a forecast by the Auto Club of Southern California .
That represents the largest year-over-year drop since 2008 , when Thanksgiving travel slumped 26 % .
Of the Southern Californians who do plan to travel , 92 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ car , up from 86 % in 2019 , according to the Auto Club .
One thing that might ease their way : Gas prices are down .
On Thursday , the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area was $ 3.156 , according to AAA , down from $ 4.071 at this time last year .
With coronavirus cases on the rise in California and nationwide , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that if people choose to have holiday gatherings , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stay outdoors and keep members of different households at least six feet apart .
The Auto Club forecast spelled more doom for the already struggling airline industry , projecting that air travel for the holiday will drop about 47 % in California and the U.S. compared with last year ’ s extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend .
Air travel demand on U.S.-based airlines has been down about 65 % in recent weeks compared with the same period last year , according to Airlines for America , a trade group for the country ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has reported pretax loss of $ 36 billion for the first nine months of the year .
At Los Angeles International Airport , one of the nation ’ s busiest , carriers are scheduled to offer as many as 150,000 seats on flights landing and taking off during the Thanksgiving holiday period of Nov. 19 though Nov. 30 , down from nearly 300,000 seats offered in the same period last year , Los Angeles International Airport spokesman Heath Montgomery said .
But predicting how many travelers will fill those airlines seats is “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ noting that many states and international destinations have imposed travel restrictions because of the pandemic .
Some airline executives are holding out hope that travelers may book last-minute trips .
“ During the Thanksgiving holiday , we will increase our flying by approximately 15 % compared to the rest of the month , from an average of 3,500 daily flights to more than 4,000 flights per day , ” American Airlines spokesman Curtis Blessing said .
Nationwide , the rate of hotel rooms that are occupied was 44.4 % for the week that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % the same week last year , according to travel research firm STR .
To generate a profit , most budget hotels must fill at least half of their rooms , while full-service hotels must fill as much as 80 % , according to hotel industry experts .
More than half of the nation ’ s hotels report that they have already cut staffing by more than half .
The American Hotel and Lodging Assn.
, a trade group , predicts that unless the government provides additional financial aid , 74 % of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This holiday season will be an especially difficult time for all Americans , and our industry is no exception , ” Chip Rogers , president and chief executive of the hotel trade group , said in a statement .
“ Fewer people will be traveling , and business travel remains nearly nonexistent.
” On Thursday , the group released a survey of 2,200 adults that showed 21 % of Americans are likely to travel for Thanksgiving and 24 % are likely to travel for the Christmas holiday .
It did not release similar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
One of the most iconic Thanksgiving Day traditions will also be dramatically altered , though people outside New York City may not notice .
The Macy ’ s Thanksgiving Day parade is eliminating the crowds along its traditional 2.5-mile parade route and instead putting on a television-broadcast-only production staged in front of Macy ’ s flagship store on 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan .

Nationwide, about 10% fewer people than usual will travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, and most of those who do plan a trip plan to drive rather than fly, according to an Auto Club forecast.
Fear of the coronavirus probably will be responsible for the biggest drop in Thanksgiving holiday travel by Southern Californians since the Great Recession of 2008, dealing another blow to already beleaguered travel industries.
During the upcoming five-day holiday travel period, 3.86 million Southern Californians will take trips — down 13.5% from 4.46 million in 2019 — according to a forecast by the Auto Club of Southern California. That represents the largest year-over-year drop since 2008, when Thanksgiving travel slumped 26%.
Of the Southern Californians who do plan to travel, 92% aim to get out of town by car, up from 86% in 2019, according to the Auto Club. One thing that might ease their way: Gas prices are down. On Friday, the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area was $3.156, according to AAA, down from $4.063 at this time last year.
With coronavirus cases on the rise in California and nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that if people choose to have holiday gatherings, they should limit the number of attendees, stay outdoors and keep members of different households at least six feet apart.
Advertisement
Gov. Gavin Newsom joined the governors of Washington and Oregon in issuing a travel advisory Friday, urging against nonessential out-of-state travel as coronavirus cases surge. “Travel increases the risk of spreading COVID-19, and we must all collectively increase our efforts at this time to keep the virus at bay and save lives,” Newsom said in a statement.
The Auto Club forecast spelled more doom for the already struggling airline industry, projecting that air travel for the holiday will drop about 47% in California and the U.S. compared with last year’s Thanksgiving holiday long weekend.
Air travel demand on U.S.-based airlines has been down about 65% in recent weeks compared with the same period last year, according to Airlines for America, a trade group for the country’s air carriers. It said the industry has reported pretax loss of $36 billion for the first nine months of the year.
At Los Angeles International Airport, one of the nation’s busiest, carriers are scheduled to offer as many as 150,000 seats on flights landing and taking off during the Thanksgiving holiday period of Nov. 19 through Nov. 30, down from nearly 300,000 seats offered in the same period last year, LAX spokesman Heath Montgomery said.
But predicting how many travelers will fill those airline seats is “basically impossible,” he said, noting that many states and international destinations have imposed travel restrictions because of the pandemic.
Some airline executives are holding out hope that travelers may book last-minute trips.
Advertisement
“During the Thanksgiving holiday, we will increase our flying by approximately 15% compared to the rest of the month, from an average of 3,500 daily flights to more than 4,000 flights per day,” American Airlines spokesman Curtis Blessing said.
The hotel industry predicts a bleak holiday season.
Nationwide, the rate of hotel rooms that are occupied was 44.4% for the week that ended Oct. 31, down from 62.6% the same week last year, according to travel research firm STR.
To generate a profit, most budget hotels must fill at least half of their rooms, while full-service hotels must fill as much as 80%, according to hotel industry experts.
More than half of the nation’s hotels report that they have already cut staffing by more than half. The American Hotel and Lodging Assn., a trade group, predicts that unless the government provides additional financial aid, 74% of hotels will proceed with further layoffs.
“This holiday season will be an especially difficult time for all Americans, and our industry is no exception,” Chip Rogers, president and chief executive of the hotel trade group, said in a statement. “Fewer people will be traveling, and business travel remains nearly nonexistent.”
On Thursday, the group released a survey of 2,200 adults that showed 21% of Americans are likely to travel for Thanksgiving and 24% are likely to travel for the Christmas holiday. It did not release similar surveys for Thanksgiving or Christmas of 2019.
One of the most iconic Thanksgiving Day traditions will also be dramatically altered, though people outside New York City may not notice. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is eliminating the crowds along its traditional 2.5-mile parade route and instead putting on a television-broadcast-only production staged in front of Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan.


latimes--2020-11-12--Santa Cruz boardwalk reopens for a weekend, then promptly closes rides again as COVID surges

After opening for a single weekend , rides and most other attractions at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk have been closed amid a countywide increase in coronavirus cases .
Santa Cruz County on Tuesday reverted to the red tier of the state ’ s color-coded reopening system — indicating a substantial risk of infection — after spending two weeks in the more moderate orange tier .
“ The number of active cases has doubled in recent weeks , ” public health officials said , “ with a weekend increase in case counts that appears related to Halloween.
” The boardwalk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and indoor arcades , as well as its bowling alley and Neptune ’ s Kingdom entertainment center , on Wednesday .
Boardwalk spokesman Kris Reyes said officials were disappointed but not surprised by the decision .
“ We anticipated the likelihood Santa Cruz County might move back and forth within tiers , and have prepared to adjust our operations accordingly , ” he said , noting that the health and safety of guests and staff remains their top priority .
The state had in October allowing small theme parks to reopen outdoors only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The parks are required to offer a reservation system , and masks are mandatory .
The boardwalk — California ’ s oldest amusement park , built in 1907 — was the state ’ s first to reopen during the pandemic .
Parks in other orange-tier counties are also eligible for reopening .
But Santa Cruz ’ s backslide is reflective of a larger , alarming trend across the state : 10 other counties moved into more restrictive tiers this week as a new surge of infections left California on the brink of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thursday , the state had reported just over 995,600 cases , according to the Los Angeles Times ’ tracker , including 4,697 new cases Wednesday .
More than 18,000 people in California have died of COVID-19 .
“ We are entering an especially dangerous period of the pandemic , ” Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said , “ and we ask everyone to meet this challenge by taking measures to protect one another.
” Newel said many of the new cases were among young adults who might experience only mild @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to remember , ” she said , “ that they can transmit the disease to others , with potentially severe consequences.
” Under state guidelines , counties in the red tier must close amusement parks and substantially reduce indoor operations at restaurants , places of worship and other businesses .
People on the beach boardwalk ’ s Facebook page reacted to news of the closures with both sadness and support .
“ The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is a California icon , ” said Bay Area resident Paul Nakamoto , who added that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one in line ” when it was safe to reopen .
“ Such a bummer !
” said Laura Hull of Santa Cruz .
“ We went last weekend and had such a great time.
” Reyes said that although rides and most attractions at the boardwalk were closed , the colonnade and main plaza remain open for the time being .
Guests with upcoming ride reservations will be automatically refunded , officials said .

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, shown in May 2020, is mostly closed again amid a countywide increase in coronavirus cases.
After opening for a single weekend, rides and most other attractions at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk have been closed amid a countywide increase in coronavirus cases.
Santa Cruz County on Tuesday reverted to the red tier of the state’s color-coded reopening system — indicating a substantial risk of infection — after spending two weeks in the more moderate orange tier.
“The number of active cases has doubled in recent weeks,” public health officials said, “with a weekend increase in case counts that appears related to Halloween.”
Advertisement
The boardwalk announced the closure of rides, mini-golf and indoor arcades, as well as its bowling alley and Neptune’s Kingdom entertainment center, on Wednesday. Boardwalk spokesman Kris Reyes said officials were disappointed but not surprised by the decision.
“We anticipated the likelihood Santa Cruz County might move back and forth within tiers, and have prepared to adjust our operations accordingly,” he said, noting that the health and safety of guests and staff remains their top priority.
The state had released new guidelines in October allowing small theme parks to reopen outdoors only, with visitors restricted to county residents. The parks are required to offer a reservation system, and masks are mandatory.
The boardwalk — California’s oldest amusement park, built in 1907 — was the state’s first to reopen during the pandemic. Parks in other orange-tier counties are also eligible for reopening.
But Santa Cruz’s backslide is reflective of a larger, alarming trend across the state: 10 other counties moved into more restrictive tiers this week as a new surge of infections left California on the brink of 1 million coronavirus cases.
Advertisement
As of Thursday, the state had reported just over 995,600 cases, according to the Los Angeles Times’ tracker, including 4,697 new cases Wednesday. More than 18,000 people in California have died of COVID-19.
“We are entering an especially dangerous period of the pandemic,” Santa Cruz County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said, “and we ask everyone to meet this challenge by taking measures to protect one another.”
Newel said many of the new cases were among young adults who might experience only mild symptoms.
“It’s important to remember,” she said, “that they can transmit the disease to others, with potentially severe consequences.”
Under state guidelines, counties in the red tier must close amusement parks and substantially reduce indoor operations at restaurants, places of worship and other businesses.
People on the beach boardwalk’s Facebook page reacted to news of the closures with both sadness and support.
“The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is a California icon,” said Bay Area resident Paul Nakamoto, who added that he’d be “the first one in line” when it was safe to reopen.
“Such a bummer!” said Laura Hull of Santa Cruz. “We went last weekend and had such a great time.”
Reyes said that although rides and most attractions at the boardwalk were closed, the colonnade and main plaza remain open for the time being.
Guests with upcoming ride reservations will be automatically refunded, officials said.


latimes--2020-11-12--Pilot killed when small plane crashes near Pacoima homes, setting cars on fire

The pilot of a small plane was killed after crashing onto a suburban street near Whiteman Airport in Pacoima on Thursday morning , officials said .
Video from KTLA-TV Channel 5 showed a fiery wreck involving the plane and several vehicles in the 10600 block of Sutter Avenue .
A large plume of black smoke could be seen spewing into the sky following the crash .
Preliminary information indicates the plane , a single-engine Cessna 172 , was approaching the runway when it crashed , according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor , who said the pilot was the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was “ beyond medical help , ” Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Nicholas Prange said .
No other injuries were reported .
At least three cars were damaged in the crash , and a power pole clipped by the plane brought electrical lines down with it , Prange said .
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was shutting off power to the area to eliminate electrical hazards .
Officials from the Fire Department , the Los Angeles Police Department and the FAA are at the scene , and the National Transportation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crash , Prange said .
The cause remains under investigation .
The crash occurred around 11:45 a.m. , according to the Fire Department , and by 1:30 p.m. , the flames had been extinguished .

Los Angeles City Fire put out a fire after a small plane crashed into vehicles parked on Sutter Street near Pierce Street in Pacoima on Thursday.
The pilot of a small plane was killed after crashing onto a suburban street near Whiteman Airport in Pacoima on Thursday morning, officials said.
Video from KTLA-TV Channel 5 showed a fiery wreck involving the plane and several vehicles in the 10600 block of Sutter Avenue. A large plume of black smoke could be seen spewing into the sky following the crash.
Preliminary information indicates the plane, a single-engine Cessna 172, was approaching the runway when it crashed, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor, who said the pilot was the only person on board.
The pilot was “beyond medical help,” Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Nicholas Prange said. No other injuries were reported.
At least three cars were damaged in the crash, and a power pole clipped by the plane brought electrical lines down with it, Prange said. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was shutting off power to the area to eliminate electrical hazards.
Advertisement
Officials from the Fire Department, the Los Angeles Police Department and the FAA are at the scene, and the National Transportation Safety Board has been notified of the crash, Prange said. The cause remains under investigation.
The crash occurred around 11:45 a.m., according to the Fire Department, and by 1:30 p.m., the flames had been extinguished.


latimes--2020-11-12--Snowplow driver finds bodies of Burbank couple on side of road near Yosemite

A snowplow driver clearing a remote stretch of highway near Yosemite uncovered the bodies of a man and a woman who officials say were killed .
According to a statement from the Mono County Sheriff ’ s Office , the Caltrans driver made the grisly discovery on the shoulder of Highway 395 near Bridgeport shortly before dawn Monday .
The highway was immediately closed as officials from the California Highway Patrol and Sheriff ’ s Office were called in to investigate .
On Thursday , officials identified the victims as husband and wife William Adrian Larsen , 35 , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Burbank .
Sheriff ’ s Office spokeswoman Sarah Roberts could not confirm whether the couple had been killed by the side of the highway or if their bodies had been dumped there , but she said she was “ pretty positive ” the deaths had occurred where the pair were found .
Bridgeport is about 40 miles north of Yosemite Valley , near the Nevada border in the eastern Sierra .
“ It ’ s been pretty cold and icy , ” Roberts said Thursday .
“ We ended up getting a lot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ area , maybe a foot.
” The crime appears to be specific and targeted , the Sheriff ’ s Office said , and there is no threat to the community of Bridgeport .
Caltrans spokeswoman Christine Knadler said it ’ s not unusual for workers to be at scenes of crashes or other violent incidents along California ’ s roads .
“ It ’ s often that Caltrans workers are the first at an incident on state highways , ” she said .
“ They go through a lot.
” Knadler said the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be identified , returned to work the following morning .
As is customary in critical incidents , the driver is being offered stress management support , which will be provided by Caltrans District 9 Region Manager Greg Miller , a trained peer diffuser .
“ I ’ ve been on the job 39 years and can still see incidents on Day One , ” Miller said .
“ I still remember them all.
” Officials are asking anyone with information to call the Mono County Sheriff ’ s Office at ( 760 @ @ @

A Caltrans worker found the bodies of a man and a woman on the shoulder of Highway 395 shortly after dawn Monday. Officials are investigating the deaths as a double homicide.
A snowplow driver clearing a remote stretch of highway near Yosemite uncovered the bodies of a man and a woman who officials say were killed.
According to a statement from the Mono County Sheriff’s Office, the Caltrans driver made the grisly discovery on the shoulder of Highway 395 near Bridgeport shortly before dawn Monday. The highway was immediately closed as officials from the California Highway Patrol and Sheriff’s Office were called in to investigate.
On Thursday, officials identified the victims as husband and wife William Adrian Larsen, 35, and Yesenia Larsen, 30, both from Burbank.
Advertisement
Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Sarah Roberts could not confirm whether the couple had been killed by the side of the highway or if their bodies had been dumped there, but she said she was “pretty positive” the deaths had occurred where the pair were found.
Bridgeport is about 40 miles north of Yosemite Valley, near the Nevada border in the eastern Sierra.
“It’s been pretty cold and icy,” Roberts said Thursday. “We ended up getting a lot of snow over the weekend in that area, maybe a foot.”
The crime appears to be specific and targeted, the Sheriff’s Office said, and there is no threat to the community of Bridgeport.
Caltrans spokeswoman Christine Knadler said it’s not unusual for workers to be at scenes of crashes or other violent incidents along California’s roads.
“It’s often that Caltrans workers are the first at an incident on state highways,” she said. “They go through a lot.”
Advertisement
Knadler said the snowplow driver, who did not want to be identified, returned to work the following morning. As is customary in critical incidents, the driver is being offered stress management support, which will be provided by Caltrans District 9 Region Manager Greg Miller, a trained peer diffuser.
“I’ve been on the job 39 years and can still see incidents on Day One,” Miller said. “I still remember them all.”
Officials are asking anyone with information to call the Mono County Sheriff’s Office at (760) 932-7549.


latimes--2020-11-12--When virus assistance program ends, there's a good chance this Pasadena restaurant will too

After barely hanging in for months amid a multitude of pandemic-related challenges thrown at restaurants , the husband-and-wife team behind Hope Cafe & Catering in Old Town Pasadena might throw in the towel .
Pasadena city officials announced this week that they would be winding down a restaurant assistance program , called Great Plates Deliver , given strained local financial resources .
It is set to run until early February .
The program “ is literally the only thing keeping us afloat , ” said Ann Lancaster , who owns Hope along with her husband , Tony .
The couple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nine years ago and said they ’ d never faced an existential crisis like this .
Other cities and counties are also eyeing an end date for the statewide program , even as coronavirus restrictions continue to hamper restaurant businesses across California .
Orange County ’ s program , which is at capacity , is slated to end at the end of this month .
Launched by Gov .
Gavin Newsom in April , the program pays restaurants to deliver meals to needy seniors , with the intent of helping those most vulnerable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ struggling businesses .
State and federal agencies are supposed to fund the majority of the program , but Pasadena city staff said they weren ’ t sure when that money would arrive .
So far , the city has shelled out nearly $ 2.3 million — which equates to $ 466,000 a month — to keep the program running .
About 235 seniors in Pasadena depend on the program , along with 21 restaurants , according to a city report prepared by Brenda Harvey-Williams , Pasadena ’ s director of community services .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ transferred to Los Angeles County ’ s version of the program , it ’ s uncertain if the restaurants can follow suit , Harvey-Williams said at a City Council meeting on Monday , noting that there ’ s a waiting list for restaurants wanting to join the county ’ s program .
Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek intends to write a letter to county officials urging them to take on the restaurants as well , said Lisa Derderian , a spokesperson for the city .
“ That ’ s a big part of keeping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ not just for our vulnerable population , which is a priority , but also keeping our doors open for restaurants that would otherwise not be able to sustain.
” County officials did not immediately reply to a request for comment .
Besides the businesses themselves , there ’ s restaurant staff to think about .
Since the Great Plates program was introduced , the 21 participating restaurants hired back 110 employees , according to the Pasadena report .
Without a clear answer on what ’ s next , some restaurants see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ name of the Lancasters ’ catering business , Hope stands for “ help one person every day , ” a pre-recorded voice says on their order line .
But hope , the feeling , is starting to wear thin .
“ This could be the last straw , ” Lancaster said of potentially losing the support of the program .
Last year was a good one , business-wise , she said .
The pandemic has undone that , wiping out 85 % of their catering business and forcing the closure of a downtown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ municipal building .
To keep going , the Lancasters pivoted , adjusted — and readjusted .
With large events out of the question , they focused on catering office lunches .
Losing the option of indoor dining , the duo began offering patio dining closer to their main kitchen .
When the weather started to cool , they lugged out heat lamps to lure back cold-averse Californians .
Despite the maneuvering , “ we ’ re not even covering our expenses , ” Lancaster said .

Ann Lancaster, co-owner of Hope Cafe & Catering, inside her Old Town Pasadena restaurant. Only the outdoor patio area is open for in-person dining.
After barely hanging in for months amid a multitude of pandemic-related challenges thrown at restaurants, the husband-and-wife team behind Hope Cafe & Catering in Old Town Pasadena might throw in the towel.
Pasadena city officials announced this week that they would be winding down a restaurant assistance program, called Great Plates Deliver, given strained local financial resources. It is set to run until early February.
For the record: An earlier version of this article said Pasadena Mayor-elect Victor Gordo intended to write to L.A. County officials regarding the assistance program. Mayor Terry Tornek plans to write that letter.
The program “is literally the only thing keeping us afloat,” said Ann Lancaster, who owns Hope along with her husband, Tony. The couple launched their restaurant and catering business about nine years ago and said they’d never faced an existential crisis like this.
Advertisement
Other cities and counties are also eyeing an end date for the statewide program, even as coronavirus restrictions continue to hamper restaurant businesses across California. Orange County’s program, which is at capacity, is slated to end at the end of this month.
Launched by Gov. Gavin Newsom in April, the program pays restaurants to deliver meals to needy seniors, with the intent of helping those most vulnerable to the coronavirus while providing stimulus to struggling businesses.
State and federal agencies are supposed to fund the majority of the program, but Pasadena city staff said they weren’t sure when that money would arrive. So far, the city has shelled out nearly $2.3 million — which equates to $466,000 a month — to keep the program running.
About 235 seniors in Pasadena depend on the program, along with 21 restaurants, according to a city report prepared by Brenda Harvey-Williams, Pasadena’s director of community services.
Although Pasadena’s seniors can be transferred to Los Angeles County’s version of the program, it’s uncertain if the restaurants can follow suit, Harvey-Williams said at a City Council meeting on Monday, noting that there’s a waiting list for restaurants wanting to join the county’s program.
Advertisement
Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek intends to write a letter to county officials urging them to take on the restaurants as well, said Lisa Derderian, a spokesperson for the city.
“That’s a big part of keeping this program going,” Derderian said, “not just for our vulnerable population, which is a priority, but also keeping our doors open for restaurants that would otherwise not be able to sustain.”
County officials did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Besides the businesses themselves, there’s restaurant staff to think about. Since the Great Plates program was introduced, the 21 participating restaurants hired back 110 employees, according to the Pasadena report.
Without a clear answer on what’s next, some restaurants see a lifeline in limbo.
As the name of the Lancasters’ catering business, Hope stands for “help one person every day,” a pre-recorded voice says on their order line. But hope, the feeling, is starting to wear thin.
“This could be the last straw,” Lancaster said of potentially losing the support of the program.
Last year was a good one, business-wise, she said. The pandemic has undone that, wiping out 85% of their catering business and forcing the closure of a downtown Los Angeles space they ran inside a municipal building.
To keep going, the Lancasters pivoted, adjusted — and readjusted.
With large events out of the question, they focused on catering office lunches. Losing the option of indoor dining, the duo began offering patio dining closer to their main kitchen. When the weather started to cool, they lugged out heat lamps to lure back cold-averse Californians.
Despite the maneuvering, “we’re not even covering our expenses,” Lancaster said.


latimes--2020-11-12--In Burbank schools, a book-banning debate over how to teach antiracism

During a virtual meeting on Sept. 9 , middle and high school English teachers in the Burbank Unified School District received a bit of surprising news : Until further notice , they would not be allowed to teach some of the books on their curriculum .
Five novels had been challenged in Burbank : Harper Lee ’ s “ To Kill a Mockingbird , ” Mark Twain ’ s “ The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , ” John Steinbeck ’ s “ Of Mice and Men , ” Theodore Taylor ’ s “ The Cay ” and Mildred D. Taylor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Roll of Thunder , Hear My Cry.
” The challenges came from four parents ( three of them Black ) for alleged potential harm to the public-school district ’ s roughly 400 Black students .
All but “ Huckleberry Finn ” have been required reading in the BUSD .
The ongoing case has drawn the attention of free-speech organizations across the country , which are decrying it as the latest act of school censorship .
The charge against these books — racism — has been invoked in the past , but in contrast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this one is heavily inflected by an atmosphere of urgent reckoning , as both opponents and defenders of the novels claim the mantle of antiracism .
The debate within the district comes after a summer of mass protests calling for an end to the unjust treatment of Black people .
As a result , many institutions and school districts like BUSD are taking a hard look at themselves , their policies , curriculums and practices , in many cases publishing antiracist statements .
And while book banning has a long history in America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a sundown town that practiced racial segregation — is freshly complicated .
In the abstract , it ’ s a dispute about the meaning of free speech and who gets heard .
More specifically , it ’ s about what should be taught to the district ’ s roughly 15,200 enrolled students — who are 47.2 % white , 34.5 % Latino , 9.2 % Asian and 2.6 % Black — and how Burbank can move forward on race boldly but sensitively .
And at its root , it stems from a painful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 15 and in high school , recently told her mom about an incident that took place when she was a student at David Starr Jordan Middle School .
According to Destiny ’ s mother , Carmenita Helligar , a white student approached Destiny in math class using a racial taunt including the N-word , which he ’ d learned from reading “ Roll of Thunder , Hear My Cry.
” Another time , Helligar added , a different boy went up to Destiny and other students and said : “ My family used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ want a dollar from each of you for the week.
” When the principal was notified , the boy ’ s excuse was that he had read it in class — also in “ Roll of Thunder , Hear My Cry.
” Helligar believed the principal was dismissive of the incident .
“ My daughter was literally traumatized , ” said Helligar .
“ These books are problematic … you feel helpless because you can ’ t even protect your child from the hurt that she ’ s going through.
” Helligar is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But as the books were put on hold and the review process inched forward , a diverse group of teachers and students came out against the novels ’ removal , arguing that their teaching was essential .
A report to the superintendent is due from a 15-member review committee on Nov. 13 , but that will only be the beginning of a long debate — in Burbank and beyond .
A week after teachers learned of the removal , the National Coalition Against Censorship ( NCAC ) sent a letter to BUSD @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the books while the challenges are under review .
On Oct. 14 , PEN America released a petition calling for the same .
“ [ W ] e believe that the books … have a great pedagogical value and should be retained in the curriculum , ” read letter from the NCAC .
Books written by or featuring people of color are “ disproportionately likely to be banned , ” said James Tager , PEN ’ s deputy director of free expression research and policy .
“ That is a decades-long trend that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has a long history in America .
Such challenges have sometimes been rooted in bigotry .
Harriet Beecher Stowe ’ s “ Uncle Tom ’ s Cabin ” is cited by many historians as the first book to be banned on a national scale .
Published in 1852 , it was barred by the Confederacy for its abolitionist agenda .
A century and a half later , Khaled Hosseini ’ s bestseller “ The Kite Runner ” was challenged for , among other reasons , allegedly promoting Islam and inspiring terrorism .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people who are concerned about the books ’ challenge to established order , ” said Alaina Morgan , assistant professor of history at USC .
It ’ s what makes the situation at BUSD “ novel , ” she said .
“ I think that for Black parents in these districts , there is a very long history of them dealing with microaggressions ... and now they ’ re seeing their children go through the same things in an allegedly more racially just society , ” Morgan said .
Although she believes cancel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ I think there ’ s a difference between the gut reaction that cancel culture is — which is people saying , ‘ Oh they said something racist they ’ re [ canceled ] now ’ — and what ’ s happening here , ” she said .
None of the five novels in dispute is openly supportive of segregation or bigotry .
All were flagged for words we now find offensive .
But the parents ’ objections are not merely over language .
They also worry about the way these books @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might impart to modern readers .
“ The Cay ” and “ Huckleberry Finn ” feature white children learning from the suffering and wisdom of older Black men .
“ To Kill a Mockingbird ” stars Atticus Finch , a white lawyer who defends a Black man accused of raping a white woman .
Its white-savior story line reads much differently nearly 60 years after its publication .
“ Roll of Thunder , Hear My Cry ” may have instigated Helligar ’ s complaint , but it is something of an outlier .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ up in the South during the Great Depression and Jim Crow era , it ’ s the only novel on the list by a Black author .
Notably , the BUSD ’ s reading list hasn ’ t been revised in three decades .
“ For over 30 years , ” said Helligar , “ these books have been on this list .
The true ban is that there aren ’ t other books of other voices that could ever be on there.
” Nadra Ostrom , another Black parent who filed a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ badly in need of an update .
“ The portrayal of Black people is mostly from the white perspective , ” said Ostrom .
“ There ’ s no counter-narrative to this Black person dealing with racism and a white person saving them.
” And that , she said , is doing more harm than good .
“ The education that students are basically getting is that racism is something in the past , ” she added .
“ And that ’ s not the conversation that we should be having in 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trained to teach these texts through an antiracist lens , they are probably reinforcing racism rather than dismantling it.
” Others believe that changed lens is not only feasible but necessary — that the books remain essential to helping frame in-class discussions about contemporary racism .
Rather than ban the books , they argue , the district should reevaluate how they ’ re being taught .
For one Burbank High School teacher who also asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation , the Black Lives Matter protests only amplify these books ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mockingbird ’ was written 60 years ago , and we read it with horror at the unfairness and terrors of a segregated society , ” she said .
“ It ’ s set in the 1930s , and we look at how things were then and how we feel like we ’ ve come a long way , but we can note the serious inequities that still exist.
” Plenty of district students agree .
On Oct. 22 , Sungjoo Yoon , a sophomore at Burbank High School , launched a petition to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on antiracist books.
” As of Nov. 11 , more than 2,600 people had signed it .
Some 80 students also sent personal statements of protest to district officials .
Yoon , 15 , started the petition because he remembered the impact the books had on him .
“ I didn ’ t know much about race relations or anything regarding critical race theory when I was younger , ” he said , “ and when I read ‘ Roll of Thunder , Hear My Cry , ’ that was my first glimpse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” He hopes students can continue to have the “ breakthrough moment ” he did .
“ There are people who have actively been harmed by some of these books in the past , ” Yoon acknowledges .
“ I ’ ve been in classrooms where teachers , white teachers specifically , unconditionally say the N-word without anybody ’ s concern or single out a single African American student to become the spokesperson for the entire class .
I think that ’ s where the harm is coming from.
” Chloe Bauer remembers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Roll of Thunder , Hear My Cry ” in her seventh grade English class at John Muir Middle School .
Bauer , now 14 , called the novel her first lesson in America ’ s “ bloody and gruesome ” past .
When she heard that teachers were told to pause instruction of the book , she felt “ confused , ” “ frustrated ” and “ saddened.
” She thought of her sister , a sixth-grader at John Muir .
So Bauer wrote an email to Sharon Cuseo , Burbank ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ describing her experience .
She felt Cuseo ’ s response was dismissive , so she went to the board of education .
During a Sept. 17 school board meeting , Bauer spoke up : She said the novel had taught her and her peers how “ disgusting ” the slurs were .
“ This is an incredibly important lesson to learn at age 13 , when seventh-graders are being exposed to music , TV , films and pop culture with conflicting messages about using offensive language , specifically the N-word.
” Helligar doesn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the core message being taught is that racism is an artifact of history .
“ They get to read about racism whereas my children have to experience it .
That is the privilege that they get to walk around in.
” She told the review committee that the incidents she reported were themselves proof the books had failed in their mission : “ You ’ re not doing well as an education system if the people you have educated still haven ’ t learned empathy.
” Some Black parents in the district see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Parker , a Black mother of fourth- and seventh-grade students , empathizes with the parents who ’ ve complained .
“ But I think our kids now don ’ t know how the [ N-word ] came about , how it was used , the history of it .
They hear it in rap music and they think it ’ s OK to say , and it ’ s not .
They need to know why and where it came from , ” she said .
They need to learn it in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what exactly to do with the challenged books in Burbank has not only divided the community but caused frustration over the district ’ s procedures for handling complaints .
The process in Burbank can be long and complicated , involving five stages consisting of complaints ( formal and informal ) , an ad hoc committee and multiple appeals .
Although it seems to be designed to ensure that parents are heard , the rulebook doesn ’ t address the core issue of how to improve teaching practices .
Some parents and teachers were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decision to pause instruction of the books before a formal , written complaint was even made .
Four official complaints have since been filed .
Under district policy AR 1312.2 , “ challenged material may remain in use until a final decision has been reached , ” with children given the chance to opt out from the reading .
Asked why the district removed the books right away , BUSD Superintendent Matt Hill told The Times : “ Given the nature of the complaint , the fact that we would have to ask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their class and receive an alternative assignment — I did not think that was the most prudent approach .
I thought it would be better for us to work together and see if we can get to a resolution.
” The five books in question are currently at step four of the district ’ s process .
The review committee has until Nov. 13 to make a recommendation to Hill , who will make a decision that can then be appealed to the board of education .
Its last meeting was Nov. 4 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We are not removing books from our classrooms or schools , ” Hill said ; they ’ ll remain in libraries and on optional reading lists .
“ What we are doing is looking at our reading list and our core novels to identify : Are there concerns with these books ?
Are these the best books ?
” While some teachers and parents believe the superintendent is acting in good faith , they are troubled by the process .
“ It seems to have gone directly from an experiences at one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prohibition , ” said a Burbank middle school teacher who asked to remain anonymous .
He and several colleagues felt excluded from the review .
“ A lot of teachers were unaware of these concerns and didn ’ t get the ability to address their practices or ... respond until the decision was made , ” he said .
He believes the superintendent “ did not take steps to include a broader net of parents , students and community members in making this decision.
” It certainly is easier to make top-down , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ district in the difficult business of how to teach old books in new times .
If “ Roll of Thunder , Hear My Cry ” and the other novels make their way back to the curriculum , the most difficult challenge might be to ensure that students of all backgrounds can find in these books what Bauer and Yoon did .

The Burbank Unified School District has removed five books from instruction: “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Cay” and “Of Mice and Men.”
During a virtual meeting on Sept. 9, middle and high school English teachers in the Burbank Unified School District received a bit of surprising news: Until further notice, they would not be allowed to teach some of the books on their curriculum.
Five novels had been challenged in Burbank: Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men,” Theodore Taylor’s “The Cay” and Mildred D. Taylor’s Newbery Medal-winning young-adult classic “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.”
The challenges came from four parents (three of them Black) for alleged potential harm to the public-school district’s roughly 400 Black students. All but “Huckleberry Finn” have been required reading in the BUSD.
Advertisement
The ongoing case has drawn the attention of free-speech organizations across the country, which are decrying it as the latest act of school censorship. The charge against these books — racism — has been invoked in the past, but in contrast to earlier fights across the country, this one is heavily inflected by an atmosphere of urgent reckoning, as both opponents and defenders of the novels claim the mantle of antiracism.
The debate within the district comes after a summer of mass protests calling for an end to the unjust treatment of Black people. As a result, many institutions and school districts like BUSD are taking a hard look at themselves, their policies, curriculums and practices, in many cases publishing antiracist statements. And while book banning has a long history in America, the situation in Burbank — once a sundown town that practiced racial segregation — is freshly complicated.
In the abstract, it’s a dispute about the meaning of free speech and who gets heard. More specifically, it’s about what should be taught to the district’s roughly 15,200 enrolled students — who are 47.2% white, 34.5% Latino, 9.2% Asian and 2.6% Black — and how Burbank can move forward on race boldly but sensitively.
Books Conservative youth group will offer Burbank students free copies of sidelined books Young America’s Foundation announced Monday that it would provide students in the Burbank Unified School District free copies of five books recently removed from the curriculum.
And at its root, it stems from a painful personal story. Destiny Helligar, now 15 and in high school, recently told her mom about an incident that took place when she was a student at David Starr Jordan Middle School. According to Destiny’s mother, Carmenita Helligar, a white student approached Destiny in math class using a racial taunt including the N-word, which he’d learned from reading “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.”
Another time, Helligar added, a different boy went up to Destiny and other students and said: “My family used to own your family and now I want a dollar from each of you for the week.” When the principal was notified, the boy’s excuse was that he had read it in class — also in “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.” Helligar believed the principal was dismissive of the incident.
Advertisement
“My daughter was literally traumatized,” said Helligar. “These books are problematic … you feel helpless because you can’t even protect your child from the hurt that she’s going through.”
Helligar is one of the parents who filed complaints. But as the books were put on hold and the review process inched forward, a diverse group of teachers and students came out against the novels’ removal, arguing that their teaching was essential. A report to the superintendent is due from a 15-member review committee on Nov. 13, but that will only be the beginning of a long debate — in Burbank and beyond.
Destiny Helligar, right, and her mother, Carmenita Helligar. An incident at school prompted the mom to take action. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
A week after teachers learned of the removal, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) sent a letter to BUSD urging the district to allow teaching of the books while the challenges are under review. On Oct. 14, PEN America released a petition calling for the same.
“[W]e believe that the books … have a great pedagogical value and should be retained in the curriculum,” read letter from the NCAC.
Books written by or featuring people of color are “disproportionately likely to be banned,” said James Tager, PEN’s deputy director of free expression research and policy. “That is a decades-long trend that advocates and observers have seen.”
NEW: PEN America calls upon the Burbank Unified School district to lift the temporary ban on several books dealing with the subject of race in America and allow these books to be taught in Burbank classrooms. Sign our petition today: https://t.co/RQKsZynnu6. — PEN America (@PENamerica) October 14, 2020
Book-banning has a long history in America. Such challenges have sometimes been rooted in bigotry. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is cited by many historians as the first book to be banned on a national scale. Published in 1852, it was barred by the Confederacy for its abolitionist agenda.
A century and a half later, Khaled Hosseini’s bestseller “The Kite Runner” was challenged for, among other reasons, allegedly promoting Islam and inspiring terrorism.
“Typically these book bans come down from people who are concerned about the books’ challenge to established order,” said Alaina Morgan, assistant professor of history at USC. It’s what makes the situation at BUSD “novel,” she said.
“I think that for Black parents in these districts, there is a very long history of them dealing with microaggressions ... and now they’re seeing their children go through the same things in an allegedly more racially just society,” Morgan said.
Although she believes cancel culture plays a role in the debate, “I think there’s a difference between the gut reaction that cancel culture is — which is people saying, ‘Oh they said something racist they’re [canceled] now’ — and what’s happening here,” she said.
None of the five novels in dispute is openly supportive of segregation or bigotry. All were flagged for words we now find offensive. But the parents’ objections are not merely over language. They also worry about the way these books portray Black history and the lessons they might impart to modern readers.
“The Cay” and “Huckleberry Finn” feature white children learning from the suffering and wisdom of older Black men. “To Kill a Mockingbird” stars Atticus Finch, a white lawyer who defends a Black man accused of raping a white woman. Its white-savior story line reads much differently nearly 60 years after its publication.
“Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” may have instigated Helligar’s complaint, but it is something of an outlier. Narrated by a young Black girl growing up in the South during the Great Depression and Jim Crow era, it’s the only novel on the list by a Black author.
Notably, the BUSD’s reading list hasn’t been revised in three decades. “For over 30 years,” said Helligar, “these books have been on this list. The true ban is that there aren’t other books of other voices that could ever be on there.”
Nadra Ostrom, another Black parent who filed a complaint, agrees that the perspectives are badly in need of an update. “The portrayal of Black people is mostly from the white perspective,” said Ostrom. “There’s no counter-narrative to this Black person dealing with racism and a white person saving them.”
And that, she said, is doing more harm than good. “The education that students are basically getting is that racism is something in the past,” she added. “And that’s not the conversation that we should be having in 2020. … Unless teachers have been specifically trained to teach these texts through an antiracist lens, they are probably reinforcing racism rather than dismantling it.”
Others believe that changed lens is not only feasible but necessary — that the books remain essential to helping frame in-class discussions about contemporary racism. Rather than ban the books, they argue, the district should reevaluate how they’re being taught.
For one Burbank High School teacher who also asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, the Black Lives Matter protests only amplify these books’ relevance.
“‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ was written 60 years ago, and we read it with horror at the unfairness and terrors of a segregated society,” she said. “It’s set in the 1930s, and we look at how things were then and how we feel like we’ve come a long way, but we can note the serious inequities that still exist.”
Plenty of district students agree. On Oct. 22, Sungjoo Yoon, a sophomore at Burbank High School, launched a petition to stop what he called a “ban on antiracist books.” As of Nov. 11, more than 2,600 people had signed it. Some 80 students also sent personal statements of protest to district officials.
Yoon, 15, started the petition because he remembered the impact the books had on him. “I didn’t know much about race relations or anything regarding critical race theory when I was younger,” he said, “and when I read ‘Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry,’ that was my first glimpse, and it really did touch me.” He hopes students can continue to have the “breakthrough moment” he did.
Books ‘American Dirt’ and the tradition of the moral parable From ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ to ‘The Birth of a Nation,’ stories that flatten usually falter
“There are people who have actively been harmed by some of these books in the past,” Yoon acknowledges. “I’ve been in classrooms where teachers, white teachers specifically, unconditionally say the N-word without anybody’s concern or single out a single African American student to become the spokesperson for the entire class. I think that’s where the harm is coming from.”
Chloe Bauer remembers being in tears when she first read “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” in her seventh grade English class at John Muir Middle School.
Bauer, now 14, called the novel her first lesson in America’s “bloody and gruesome” past. When she heard that teachers were told to pause instruction of the book, she felt “confused,” “frustrated” and “saddened.” She thought of her sister, a sixth-grader at John Muir.
Chloe Bauer and Sungjoo Yoon have defended the books being considered for removal, saying they learned valuable lessons from them about racism. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
So Bauer wrote an email to Sharon Cuseo, Burbank’s assistant superintendent of instructional services, describing her experience. She felt Cuseo’s response was dismissive, so she went to the board of education.
During a Sept. 17 school board meeting, Bauer spoke up: She said the novel had taught her and her peers how “disgusting” the slurs were. “This is an incredibly important lesson to learn at age 13, when seventh-graders are being exposed to music, TV, films and pop culture with conflicting messages about using offensive language, specifically the N-word.”
Helligar doesn’t buy that. She believes the core message being taught is that racism is an artifact of history. “They get to read about racism whereas my children have to experience it. That is the privilege that they get to walk around in.”
She told the review committee that the incidents she reported were themselves proof the books had failed in their mission: “You’re not doing well as an education system if the people you have educated still haven’t learned empathy.”
Some Black parents in the district see both sides of the argument.
Dawn Parker, a Black mother of fourth- and seventh-grade students, empathizes with the parents who’ve complained. “But I think our kids now don’t know how the [N-word] came about, how it was used, the history of it. They hear it in rap music and they think it’s OK to say, and it’s not. They need to know why and where it came from,” she said. They need to learn it in a “safe environment.”
Books 13 great books about the Black experience in America Memoirs by Kiese Laymon and John Edgar Wideman; essays by Darryl Pinckney and Mikki Kendall; masterpieces from Michelle Alexander and Claudia Rankine.
A controversial process
The question of what exactly to do with the challenged books in Burbank has not only divided the community but caused frustration over the district’s procedures for handling complaints.
The process in Burbank can be long and complicated, involving five stages consisting of complaints (formal and informal), an ad hoc committee and multiple appeals. Although it seems to be designed to ensure that parents are heard, the rulebook doesn’t address the core issue of how to improve teaching practices.
Some parents and teachers were initially troubled by the superintendent’s decision to pause instruction of the books before a formal, written complaint was even made. Four official complaints have since been filed. Under district policy AR 1312.2, “challenged material may remain in use until a final decision has been reached,” with children given the chance to opt out from the reading.
Asked why the district removed the books right away, BUSD Superintendent Matt Hill told The Times: “Given the nature of the complaint, the fact that we would have to ask for Black children to opt out of their class and receive an alternative assignment — I did not think that was the most prudent approach. I thought it would be better for us to work together and see if we can get to a resolution.”
Books Karen Finley, Banned Books Week and the responsibilities of art It’s only fitting that the 25th anniversary edition of Karen Finley’s “Shock Treatment” (City Lights: 144 pp., $15.95 paper) should come out in time for Banned Books Week, the literary holiday about which I feel most consistently ambivalent.
The five books in question are currently at step four of the district’s process. The review committee has until Nov. 13 to make a recommendation to Hill, who will make a decision that can then be appealed to the board of education. Its last meeting was Nov. 4, but no consensus was reached.
“We are not removing books from our classrooms or schools,” Hill said; they’ll remain in libraries and on optional reading lists. “What we are doing is looking at our reading list and our core novels to identify: Are there concerns with these books? Are these the best books?”
While some teachers and parents believe the superintendent is acting in good faith, they are troubled by the process.
“It seems to have gone directly from an experiences at one of the schools to becoming a district-wide prohibition,” said a Burbank middle school teacher who asked to remain anonymous. He and several colleagues felt excluded from the review. “A lot of teachers were unaware of these concerns and didn’t get the ability to address their practices or ... respond until the decision was made,” he said. He believes the superintendent “did not take steps to include a broader net of parents, students and community members in making this decision.”
It certainly is easier to make top-down, yes-or-no decisions than engage a sprawling school district in the difficult business of how to teach old books in new times. If “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” and the other novels make their way back to the curriculum, the most difficult challenge might be to ensure that students of all backgrounds can find in these books what Bauer and Yoon did.


latimes--2020-11-12--California faces winter of misery as coronavirus spreading like 'fire'

Coronavirus is again on the rise in California , and the big question is : How bad it will get ?
With the holidays approaching , state officials have already rolled back reopenings in some counties as case numbers surge .
Officials now fear more hospitalizations and deaths , and they are debating whether more intense measures will be needed to slow the infection rate .
California is approaching 1 million cases , although the spread remains slower in the state than in other hot spots across the country .
What is the next indicator ?
The state has averaged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last week , Times data show , including 8,307 on Tuesday .
That rate — far higher than a month ago — puts California on pace to surpass the 1-million mark by Thursday .
Officials say they are particularly concerned about what may come next .
Hospitalizations and deaths are lagging indicators of coronavirus spread and can reflect exposure to the virus that occurred weeks earlier .
Those who have been infected during the latest spike “ won ’ t become patients in hospitals for another two to three weeks , ” according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dr. Mark Ghaly .
There were 3,224 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in California as of Tuesday — an increase of roughly 38 % from two weeks ago , according to the latest state data .
The number of infected patients in intensive care , 889 , is up 34 % from two weeks ago .
What are experts saying ?
A UC Berkeley infectious disease expert said he believes the coronavirus is likely to swamp California in December and parts of the state economy will have to be shut down .
Dr. John Swartzberg @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is spreading through travel from states where it is out of control , and California will not be spared .
“ Within a month after Thanksgiving , the number of cases is going to be up significantly , ” Swartzberg said .
“ California is going to be very worried , and we will start to see things close down.
” He said requiring quarantines for travelers to and from states with high infection rates would probably discourage travel , but there might be a backlash from Californians already angry at the number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fuel and the virus to fire .
“ As long as there is fuel around , the virus is going to get there , ” he said .
“ The virus doesn ’ t know whether it is Nevada , California or Wisconsin .
… You are going to see this virus go everywhere , and there is plenty of fuel in California.
” He said the state may have to start enforcing its mask mandate with fines .
He cited a theory published in a medical journal that said people may not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disease until they know someone who has died .
By the article ’ s count , that may not happen until March 1 , when 500,000 Americans may have died of COVID-19 .
“ By that point , everybody will know somebody who died , ” Swartzberg said , citing the August report by Dr. Ahmad Mourad in the Annals of Internal Medicine .
What about the holidays ?
As temperatures fall and the holiday season approaches , experts have warned residents not to put themselves in high-risk situations where the virus can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are lengthy indoor activities in which people don ’ t wear masks or observe physical distancing .
Participating in gatherings with those outside your household — even family members or trusted friends — can heighten the risk for coronavirus transmission , officials warn .
“ Just because they ’ re close to us personally doesn ’ t mean that they have a lower risk of either passing COVID onto you or having COVID come from you to them , ” Ghaly said .
“ So we want to be very careful , not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know from outside of our household , but even those that we know quite well.
” What does this mean for the economy ?
As case counts continue to shoot upward , officials on Tuesday announced that 11 counties had moved back to more restrictive tiers in California ’ s .
Among them , Sacramento and Stanislaus counties , all of which moved into the purple tier , the strictest category .
Many businesses , such as restaurants , gyms and movie theaters , will now have to move their operations outdoors — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have already been walloped by coronavirus-related restrictions .
With the three new additions to the purple tier , nearly one-quarter of California counties find themselves living under the most stringent coronavirus-related regulations .
The others are Los Angeles , Riverside , San Bernardino , Imperial , Monterey , Tulare , Madera , Sonoma , Tehama and Shasta counties .
A sharp rise in cases in San Francisco Tuesday to ramp up restrictions , meaning that indoor dining will be suspended , capacity at gyms and theaters will be reduced and the city ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to reopen .

Natalie Robles gets tested for the coronavirus Wednesday at Union Station in Los Angeles.
Coronavirus is again on the rise in California, and the big question is: How bad it will get?
With the holidays approaching, state officials have already rolled back reopenings in some counties as case numbers surge.
Officials now fear more hospitalizations and deaths, and they are debating whether more intense measures will be needed to slow the infection rate.
Advertisement
California is approaching 1 million cases, although the spread remains slower in the state than in other hot spots across the country.
What is the next indicator?
The state has averaged 6,377 new cases per day over the last week, Times data show, including 8,307 on Tuesday. That rate — far higher than a month ago — puts California on pace to surpass the 1-million mark by Thursday.
Officials say they are particularly concerned about what may come next.
Hospitalizations and deaths are lagging indicators of coronavirus spread and can reflect exposure to the virus that occurred weeks earlier.
Those who have been infected during the latest spike “won’t become patients in hospitals for another two to three weeks,” according to California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly.
Advertisement
There were 3,224 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in California as of Tuesday — an increase of roughly 38% from two weeks ago, according to the latest state data. The number of infected patients in intensive care, 889, is up 34% from two weeks ago.
What are experts saying?
A UC Berkeley infectious disease expert said he believes the coronavirus is likely to swamp California in December and parts of the state economy will have to be shut down.
Dr. John Swartzberg said in an interview that the virus is spreading through travel from states where it is out of control, and California will not be spared.
“Within a month after Thanksgiving, the number of cases is going to be up significantly,” Swartzberg said. “California is going to be very worried, and we will start to see things close down.”
He said requiring quarantines for travelers to and from states with high infection rates would probably discourage travel, but there might be a backlash from Californians already angry at the number of restrictions.
Swartzberg likened humans to fuel and the virus to fire.
“As long as there is fuel around, the virus is going to get there,” he said. “The virus doesn’t know whether it is Nevada, California or Wisconsin. … You are going to see this virus go everywhere, and there is plenty of fuel in California.”
He said the state may have to start enforcing its mask mandate with fines.
He cited a theory published in a medical journal that said people may not fully respond to the threat of the disease until they know someone who has died. By the article’s count, that may not happen until March 1, when 500,000 Americans may have died of COVID-19.
“By that point, everybody will know somebody who died,” Swartzberg said, citing the August report by Dr. Ahmad Mourad in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
What about the holidays?
As temperatures fall and the holiday season approaches, experts have warned residents not to put themselves in high-risk situations where the virus can more easily spread.
Of particular concern are lengthy indoor activities in which people don’t wear masks or observe physical distancing.
Participating in gatherings with those outside your household — even family members or trusted friends — can heighten the risk for coronavirus transmission, officials warn.
“Just because they’re close to us personally doesn’t mean that they have a lower risk of either passing COVID onto you or having COVID come from you to them,” Ghaly said. “So we want to be very careful, not just with those we don’t know from outside of our household, but even those that we know quite well.”
What does this mean for the economy?
As case counts continue to shoot upward, officials on Tuesday announced that 11 counties had moved back to more restrictive tiers in California’s coronavirus reopening system .
Among them were San Diego , Sacramento and Stanislaus counties, all of which moved into the purple tier, the strictest category.
Many businesses, such as restaurants, gyms and movie theaters, will now have to move their operations outdoors — an unwelcome and potentially untenable limitation for sectors that have already been walloped by coronavirus-related restrictions.
With the three new additions to the purple tier, nearly one-quarter of California counties find themselves living under the most stringent coronavirus-related regulations. The others are Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial, Monterey, Tulare, Madera, Sonoma, Tehama and Shasta counties.


latimes--2020-11-12--Garcetti, facing daunting challenges in L.A., could seek exit in Biden White House

Less than two years ago , Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti took the stage at an L.A. Live club to announce a tourism milestone : A record number of visitors were coming to the L.A. region , flocking to the city for its restaurants , art museums and hip neighborhoods .
It marked a high point not just for the city but also for its mayor , who had won a landslide reelection and was riding a wave of interest in L.A. that had Garcetti pitching himself as a possible presidential contender .
Today , the nightclub remains closed because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Angeles Convention Center , which has doubled this year as a field hospital and a staging ground for the National Guard , is now being eyed as a homeless shelter .
Tourism has dried up , homicides are rising , and Garcetti and other political leaders are grappling with plunging revenues for City Hall and the possibility of layoffs of city workers .
While the city is in crisis , Garcetti is also facing a personal crossroads .
If he leaves L.A. for a possible position in President-elect Joe Biden ’ s administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might — the mayor would exit the city at a moment of profound crisis .
But if he stays put — and finishes out his two years in office — he could be giving up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work alongside Biden , a longtime friend .
A move to Washington would give him new opportunities for advancement yet also affect his legacy at home .
“ It ’ s risky , ” Steven P. Erie , professor emeritus of political science at UC San Diego , said of a situation in which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ll look like he ’ s abandoning ship .
But people do have short memories .
People tend to forget , especially if he goes on to bigger and better things .
People will blame his successor ” for L.A. ’ s problems .
If presented with an offer , Garcetti would make his choice amid a leftward shift in L.A. politics .
He was seen as a progressive who hiked the city ’ s minimum wage to $ 15 during his first term .
But in recent years , Garcetti has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a variety of issues including police funding and policies on homelessness and the environment .
And if he stays , those conflicts are only expected to intensify .
Garcetti , who served as a co-chair of Biden ’ s presidential campaign , appears to have few options for higher office in the near future .
He isn ’ t perceived to be close to Gov .
Gavin Newsom , who will select a replacement in the U.S. Senate for Vice President-elect Kamala Harris , and for Sen. Dianne Feinstein if she were to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t respond to a question about the mayor and a possible Biden appointment .
“ Mayor Garcetti is focused on the urgent work of our city to stop the spread of COVID-19 , confront homelessness and bring back L.A. ’ s economy , ” Garcetti spokesman Alex Comisar said Wednesday .
Garcetti himself has remained coy , telling KCRW-FM radio listeners this week that he ’ s “ not looking for a new job ” but that he ’ ll “ always talk to Joe.
” “ He would be foolish not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jaime Regalado , professor emeritus of political science at Cal State L.A. Regalado also could see Garcetti working out a deal with Biden to join his administration in 2022 after the mayor ’ s term ends — a scenario “ that depends on how much Biden wants Garcetti and if Garcetti is willing to wait.
” Garcetti is dealing with criticism over his handling of allegations involving a top aide , Rick Jacobs , who is accused of sexually harassing a police officer .
Three other men have also said Jacobs touched them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consent .
Jacobs has denied harassing the officer , and Garcetti has said he didn ’ t witness any harassment .
The police officer ’ s lawyer is seeking to take Garcetti ’ s deposition , and it is unclear how long the case will go on .
Garcetti was reelected with 81 % of the vote three years ago , a time when L.A. was undergoing a cultural renaissance and was on an economic upswing .
That optimistic chapter feels far away today , blotted out by a pandemic that has ravaged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homelessness .
City Hall faces a dire financial picture that ’ s been exacerbated by generous labor contracts approved by Garcetti and the Los Angeles City Council .
One city report expects a projected revenue gap of up to $ 600 million , and it ’ s unclear whether federal aid will arrive .
The City Council has already offered buyouts to some employees and is setting the stage for furloughs for others in January .
Given the magnitude of the financial and health crises facing the city , “ If I were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conflicted , ” said former City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter , who served on the council from 1987 to 2003 , representing parts of South L.A. , the Westside and the San Fernando Valley .
“ I would feel obligated to the city , ” she said , adding , “ I ’ m not sure I ’ d feel obligated to sacrifice an opportunity that looks very attractive and goes beyond the two years I have left.
” The mayor is serving a longer-than-usual second term because of a one-time change in election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him to exit early , Erie said .
No L.A. mayor in recent years has managed to vault to higher office .
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa lost his 2018 bid to become governor , and Mayor Tom Bradley failed twice in his effort to get the office in the 1980s .
Meanwhile , the next L.A. mayor ’ s race is already underway , with candidates such as City Atty .
Mike Feuer raising money .
Galanter said that as candidates begin jostling for attention next year , Garcetti ’ s status may diminish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be paying too much attention to him , ” Galanter said .
“ He ’ s not going to have a lot of maneuvering room .
He already doesn ’ t because of the financial crisis , but it ’ s going to be worse.
” To be sure , a broad spectrum of people would like to see Garcetti move on .
Activists want new leadership on the homelessness crisis and transportation , while his allies say that having him in a Biden administration could help Los Angeles .
At the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appears to be shifting .
Dermot Givens , a political consultant , pointed to the wins by progressive candidates in last week ’ s local elections .
The mayor is now seen as more of a centrist Democrat , Givens said .
Garcetti backed Councilmen David Ryu and Herb Wesson , who both lost their races to more progressive opponents for City Council and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors , respectively .
Garcetti switched his endorsement to former San Francisco Dist .
Atty .
George Gascón after backing incumbent L.A. County Dist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ primary , a shift that happened after nationwide protests calling for criminal justice reforms .
“ The losses really put a question mark on his future political power , ” Givens said .
“ He ’ s got to see which way the wind is blowing , like we all do .
”

Less than two years ago, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti took the stage at an L.A. Live club to announce a tourism milestone: A record number of visitors were coming to the L.A. region, flocking to the city for its restaurants, art museums and hip neighborhoods.
It marked a high point not just for the city but also for its mayor, who had won a landslide reelection and was riding a wave of interest in L.A. that had Garcetti pitching himself as a possible presidential contender.
Today, the nightclub remains closed because of the pandemic. The nearby Los Angeles Convention Center, which has doubled this year as a field hospital and a staging ground for the National Guard, is now being eyed as a homeless shelter.
Advertisement
Tourism has dried up, homicides are rising, and Garcetti and other political leaders are grappling with plunging revenues for City Hall and the possibility of layoffs of city workers.
While the city is in crisis, Garcetti is also facing a personal crossroads.
If he leaves L.A. for a possible position in President-elect Joe Biden’s administration — as there is widespread speculation he might — the mayor would exit the city at a moment of profound crisis.
But if he stays put — and finishes out his two years in office — he could be giving up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work alongside Biden, a longtime friend. A move to Washington would give him new opportunities for advancement yet also affect his legacy at home.
“It’s risky,” Steven P. Erie, professor emeritus of political science at UC San Diego, said of a situation in which Garcetti leaves for Washington. “It’ll look like he’s abandoning ship. But people do have short memories. People tend to forget, especially if he goes on to bigger and better things. People will blame his successor” for L.A.’s problems.
If presented with an offer, Garcetti would make his choice amid a leftward shift in L.A. politics.
He was seen as a progressive who hiked the city’s minimum wage to $15 during his first term. But in recent years, Garcetti has faced growing attacks from the left for a variety of issues including police funding and policies on homelessness and the environment. And if he stays, those conflicts are only expected to intensify.
Garcetti, who served as a co-chair of Biden’s presidential campaign, appears to have few options for higher office in the near future.
He isn’t perceived to be close to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will select a replacement in the U.S. Senate for Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and for Sen. Dianne Feinstein if she were to step down early.
A potential run for governor couldn’t happen until 2026.
Garcetti aides didn’t respond to a question about the mayor and a possible Biden appointment. “Mayor Garcetti is focused on the urgent work of our city to stop the spread of COVID-19, confront homelessness and bring back L.A.’s economy,” Garcetti spokesman Alex Comisar said Wednesday.
Advertisement
Garcetti himself has remained coy, telling KCRW-FM radio listeners this week that he’s “not looking for a new job” but that he’ll “always talk to Joe.”
“He would be foolish not to go to D.C.,” said Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State L.A.
Regalado also could see Garcetti working out a deal with Biden to join his administration in 2022 after the mayor’s term ends — a scenario “that depends on how much Biden wants Garcetti and if Garcetti is willing to wait.”
Garcetti is dealing with criticism over his handling of allegations involving a top aide, Rick Jacobs, who is accused of sexually harassing a police officer. Three other men have also said Jacobs touched them or tried to touch them without their consent. Jacobs has denied harassing the officer, and Garcetti has said he didn’t witness any harassment.
The police officer’s lawyer is seeking to take Garcetti’s deposition, and it is unclear how long the case will go on.
Garcetti was reelected with 81% of the vote three years ago, a time when L.A. was undergoing a cultural renaissance and was on an economic upswing.
That optimistic chapter feels far away today, blotted out by a pandemic that has ravaged low-income neighborhoods and threatened more Angelenos with homelessness.
City Hall faces a dire financial picture that’s been exacerbated by generous labor contracts approved by Garcetti and the Los Angeles City Council.
One city report expects a projected revenue gap of up to $600 million, and it’s unclear whether federal aid will arrive. The City Council has already offered buyouts to some employees and is setting the stage for furloughs for others in January.
Given the magnitude of the financial and health crises facing the city, “If I were Garcetti, I’d feel really conflicted,” said former City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who served on the council from 1987 to 2003, representing parts of South L.A., the Westside and the San Fernando Valley.
“I would feel obligated to the city,” she said, adding, “I’m not sure I’d feel obligated to sacrifice an opportunity that looks very attractive and goes beyond the two years I have left.”
The mayor is serving a longer-than-usual second term because of a one-time change in election dates, making it more acceptable for him to exit early, Erie said.
No L.A. mayor in recent years has managed to vault to higher office. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa lost his 2018 bid to become governor, and Mayor Tom Bradley failed twice in his effort to get the office in the 1980s.
Meanwhile, the next L.A. mayor’s race is already underway, with candidates such as City Atty. Mike Feuer raising money. Galanter said that as candidates begin jostling for attention next year, Garcetti’s status may diminish.
“No one is going to be paying too much attention to him,” Galanter said. “He’s not going to have a lot of maneuvering room. He already doesn’t because of the financial crisis, but it’s going to be worse.”
To be sure, a broad spectrum of people would like to see Garcetti move on. Activists want new leadership on the homelessness crisis and transportation, while his allies say that having him in a Biden administration could help Los Angeles.
At the same time, the political landscape around Garcetti appears to be shifting.
Dermot Givens, a political consultant, pointed to the wins by progressive candidates in last week’s local elections.
The mayor is now seen as more of a centrist Democrat, Givens said.
Garcetti backed Councilmen David Ryu and Herb Wesson, who both lost their races to more progressive opponents for City Council and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, respectively. Garcetti switched his endorsement to former San Francisco Dist. Atty. George Gascón after backing incumbent L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey in the primary, a shift that happened after nationwide protests calling for criminal justice reforms.
“The losses really put a question mark on his future political power,” Givens said. “He’s got to see which way the wind is blowing, like we all do.”