latimes--2020-11-16--Hundreds of towering giant sequoias killed by the Castle fire — a stunning loss

Kristen Shive glanced around the blackened forest and started counting .
She stopped at 13 — the number of giant sequoias she spotted with charred trunks , scorched crowns and broken limbs .
The towering trees had grown on this Sierra Nevada ridge top for well over 500 years .
They had lived through many wildfires and droughts .
But they could not survive the Castle fire , which swept into the Alder Creek Grove in the early hours of Sept. 13 .
One of the monster wildfires birthed by California ’ s August lightning blitz , the Castle fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sequoia groves on the western slopes of the Sierra , the only place on the planet they naturally grow .
Sequoia experts may never know how many of the world ’ s most massive trees died in the Castle fire , but judging by what they have seen so far , they say the number is certainly in the hundreds — and could easily top 1,000 .
“ This fire could have put a noticeable dent in the world ’ s supply of big sequoias , ” said Nate Stephenson , a research @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Castle fire is just the latest in a string of wildfires since 2015 that have fried monarch sequoias — trees that nature designed to not only withstand fire but thrive with it .
They are armored with thick bark .
Their high branches are out of reach of most flames .
Their cones — no larger than a chicken egg — release seeds when exposed to a burst of heat .
The problem is that the wildfires chewing through sequoia groves these days are not the kind that the long-lived giants evolved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the 2012-16 drought and rising temperatures have combined to produce more intense fires that are taking an alarming toll on the copper-hued behemoths .
Shive had been watching the growth of the Castle fire since it started Aug. 19 with a lightning strike on the edge of the Golden Trout Wilderness in the Sequoia National Forest .
By the weekend of Sept. 12 , it had spread westward to the doorstep of the 530 acres of the privately owned Alder Creek grove that the Save the Redwoods League purchased less than a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were in the clear ; the fire was on the other side of the ridge , ” said Shive , the conservation group ’ s science director .
But the fire made a major run that Sunday morning , blasting down drainages as 60-mph winds pushed flames into the grove ’ s southern end .
Shive spent much of the day on the phone , gathering information about fire behavior and studying maps .
She knew the Castle fire had burned extremely hot in places and figured they ’ d lost some monarchs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s dirt roads a few weeks later , she was shocked by what she saw in some places .
Old sequoias can survive even if just 5 % of their crowns remain green and unscorched by a fire ’ s heat .
There was no green on the sequoias Shive counted on the ridge west of Jordan Peak .
Their broccoli tops were roasted .
One giant was decapitated , the upper trunk and branches strewn at its base in a tangled heap .
There were more bleak scenes elsewhere .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Castle fire killed at least 80 monarchs , ranging in age from 500 years old to well over 1,000 years old .
“ We shouldn ’ t have lost so many .
I think it ’ s unacceptable , ” said Shive , a former fire ecologist with the National Park Service .
In Sequoia Crest , a small vacation-home community developed in the grove in the 1960s , chimneys and foundations are all that remain of about a third of its 104 houses .
It wasn ’ t all doom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that much of the league ’ s Alder Creek land didn ’ t burn in the Castle fire or experienced light fire that will do some ecological good .
One of those good burns was in the vicinity of the grove ’ s star , the 3,000-year-old Stagg tree , the fifth-largest giant sequoia on record .
As tall as a 25-story building and wider than a two-lane road , the Stagg remained untouched with the help of a hose sprinkler system laid around its base by firefighters .
Near the Stagg , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forest housekeeping , burning undergrowth , young white fir trees and incense cedars .
Seventy feet of black trunk traced the path of flame on a younger sequoia , but “ I don ’ t think it will even notice , ” Shive said .
At another spot in the grove , Shive pointed to little sequoia seeds that newly opened cones had showered on the ash-coated ground .
“ I suspect we ’ re going to have a lot of regeneration , ” she said .
Technically considered part of the SQF @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , small lightning fire , the Castle fire burned almost all of the fire complex ’ s 171,000 acres .
Three-quarters of that acreage was in the Giant Sequoia National Monument and Sequoia National Forest , which surround the Alder Creek grove .
About 19,000 acres are in the southern edge of Sequoia National Park , which abuts the monument .
“ Nobody was really worried ” about the Castle fire in its first weeks , said Christy Brigham , science chief of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks .
“ We have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was not overly concerned.
” In early September , the Castle fire made some major runs toward the parks .
“ At that point , we started to think it could get into some of our sequoia groves , ” Brigham said .
“ But I still had the mental model that these trees are very fire adapted.… This is going to be OK from the sequoia perspective.
” That notion began to fade as she heard more about the Castle fire ’ s erratic behavior .
Then , last month , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , sent Brigham an aerial drone photo of a badly burned grove called Homers Nose .
Caprio had marked it with little red dots : They were giants whose entire crowns had been incinerated .
“ To see those giant sequoia , monarch , blackened toothpicks was a gut punch , ” Brigham recalled .
When big sequoias die in a wildfire , it is usually because heat has scorched all their needles , which are still on the tree .
This was different .
All-consuming flame had turned the giants into sequoia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ Stephenson heard of combusted sequoia tops was in the 2015 Rough fire , another big lightning blaze in the Sierra that burned into sequoia groves .
Char marks in the tree-ring corings of ancient sequoias show that before the arrival of settlers in the mid-1800s and the government ’ s 20th century anti-wildfire policies , low- to moderate-intensity fires ignited by lightning and Native Americans skipped through the groves every 10 to 30 years .
At times they flared into small , high-intensity burns that created openings for a new generation of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ monarch died .
The big exception to that pattern was 1297 , a year that stands out in the sequoia tree-ring record as a time of high-severity fire .
It was during the Medieval Warm Period , an era of hotter temperatures in some parts of the world , including the Sierra .
The 2020 Castle fire , Stephenson said , is probably worse than 1297 .
He cites two main causes : climate change , which exacerbates fire conditions , and the banishment of regular flame , which has left Sierra forests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s both , ” he said .
“ If fire hadn ’ t been excluded from those groves for so long , the fire effects probably would have been a lot less severe .
Just that buildup of fuel .
“ We could see a lot more of this severe fire behavior in the future , ” he warned .
“ That has really shaken me up and shaken others up into thinking we have to do a much better job of protecting these groves.
” How ?
By ramping up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thinning thick young stands of white fir and incense cedar near communities and roads .
As evidence of how that helps , he described a trail in Kings Canyon park that runs through a portion of the Grant Grove that burned five years ago in the Rough fire .
On the side of the trail where the park had conducted controlled burns , one giant died in the Rough fire .
On the other side , where no prescribed burning had occurred , the fire killed more than 15 big sequoias .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agency to recognize the ecological harm of fire exclusion , and Sequoia-Kings Canyon staff have been lighting controlled fires in the groves since the 1960s .
But they had never gotten to the relatively remote park groves that burned the hottest in the Castle fire — Homers Nose , Board Camp and Cedar Flat .
Brigham has known since she arrived in Sequoia-Kings Canyon five years ago that the parks ’ average of 1,000 acres a year of controlled burns is not enough .
Now she has a new sense of urgency , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t get prescribed fire in those groves that have not had any for 100 years , we lose 2,000-year-old monarchs in a fire.
” Eric La Price and George Powell turned off Highway 190 and parked on a dirt road .
The thumping of a lone helicopter overhead broke the eerie quiet .
There were no sounds of life on this fire-ravaged mountainside in the McIntyre Grove , one of the monument areas hardest hit by the Castle fire .
The charred corpse of a giant sequoia poked into the smoky haze .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ruins of 50- to 70-year-old conifers that Powell guessed had grown in after an old logging operation .
“ To us , this is atypical that we ’ d have areas that burned so severely and were so large in size , ” said Powell , the Sequoia National Forest ecosystem manager .
Black oaks will re-sprout , but with no surviving green conifers to drop seeds , he predicted the slope would turn into shrub fields .
“ Every year we talk about how we need to do more work in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Sequoia National Forest ’ s Western Divide District ranger .
Then he ticked off the reasons why they didn ’ t .
The forest doesn ’ t have the money or the staff .
“ We barely have a budget to keep the lights on , ” he said .
He noted the more than $ 100 million it has cost the government to fight the Castle fire .
“ Imagine if we had $ 107 million to do reforestation , thinning and prescribed fire , ” he said wistfully .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ There ’ s little market for the smaller trees in most need of thinning .
And then there ’ s the public ’ s dislike of smoke from controlled burns .
People don ’ t just complain to him , La Price said .
They call up their congressional offices , which then tell the forest : Don ’ t let the burns go on too long .
But one way or another , there ’ s going to be smoke in the Sierra .
“ More and more fire is going to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ We need to decide what kind of fire we want .
Do we want fire that is healthy and restorative in our ecosystems , or what we had this year ?
”

Kristen Shive glanced around the blackened forest and started counting.
She stopped at 13 — the number of giant sequoias she spotted with charred trunks, scorched crowns and broken limbs.
The towering trees had grown on this Sierra Nevada ridge top for well over 500 years. They had lived through many wildfires and droughts. But they could not survive the Castle fire, which swept into the Alder Creek Grove in the early hours of Sept. 13.
The Castle fire was different from previous wildfires as all-consuming flames turned the giant trees into sequoia skeletons. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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One of the monster wildfires birthed by California’s August lightning blitz, the Castle fire burned through portions of roughly 20 giant sequoia groves on the western slopes of the Sierra, the only place on the planet they naturally grow.
Sequoia experts may never know how many of the world’s most massive trees died in the Castle fire, but judging by what they have seen so far, they say the number is certainly in the hundreds — and could easily top 1,000.
“This fire could have put a noticeable dent in the world’s supply of big sequoias,” said Nate Stephenson, a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
The Castle fire is just the latest in a string of wildfires since 2015 that have fried monarch sequoias — trees that nature designed to not only withstand fire but thrive with it.
Kristen Shive of the Save the Redwoods League leads a group around the base of the 3,000-year-old Stagg tree, the fifth-largest giant sequoia on record. The tree survived the Castle fire with the help of a hose sprinkler system laid around its base. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
They are armored with thick bark. Their high branches are out of reach of most flames. Their cones — no larger than a chicken egg — release seeds when exposed to a burst of heat.
The problem is that the wildfires chewing through sequoia groves these days are not the kind that the long-lived giants evolved with.
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A century of fire suppression, the 2012-16 drought and rising temperatures have combined to produce more intense fires that are taking an alarming toll on the copper-hued behemoths.
Shive had been watching the growth of the Castle fire since it started Aug. 19 with a lightning strike on the edge of the Golden Trout Wilderness in the Sequoia National Forest.
Becky Bremser, director of land protection for the Save the Redwoods League, walks through the base of the 3,000-year-old Stagg tree. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
By the weekend of Sept. 12, it had spread westward to the doorstep of the 530 acres of the privately owned Alder Creek grove that the Save the Redwoods League purchased less than a year ago.
“We thought we were in the clear; the fire was on the other side of the ridge,” said Shive, the conservation group’s science director.
But the fire made a major run that Sunday morning, blasting down drainages as 60-mph winds pushed flames into the grove’s southern end.
Shive spent much of the day on the phone, gathering information about fire behavior and studying maps. She knew the Castle fire had burned extremely hot in places and figured they’d lost some monarchs.
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The sunset is obscured by smoke in late October near the Alder Creek Grove, where giant sequoia trees have grown for centuries. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
But when she drove the grove’s dirt roads a few weeks later, she was shocked by what she saw in some places.
Old sequoias can survive even if just 5% of their crowns remain green and unscorched by a fire’s heat. There was no green on the sequoias Shive counted on the ridge west of Jordan Peak.
Their broccoli tops were roasted. One giant was decapitated, the upper trunk and branches strewn at its base in a tangled heap.
There were more bleak scenes elsewhere. The league estimates that on its property alone, the Castle fire killed at least 80 monarchs, ranging in age from 500 years old to well over 1,000 years old.
When big sequoias die in a wildfire, it is usually because heat has scorched all their needles. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
“We shouldn’t have lost so many. I think it’s unacceptable,” said Shive, a former fire ecologist with the National Park Service.
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In Sequoia Crest, a small vacation-home community developed in the grove in the 1960s, chimneys and foundations are all that remain of about a third of its 104 houses.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom. Remote-sensing satellite images indicate that much of the league’s Alder Creek land didn’t burn in the Castle fire or experienced light fire that will do some ecological good.
One of those good burns was in the vicinity of the grove’s star, the 3,000-year-old Stagg tree, the fifth-largest giant sequoia on record.
In Sequoia Crest, Calif., a small vacation-home community, chimneys and foundations are all that remain of about a third of its 104 houses. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
As tall as a 25-story building and wider than a two-lane road, the Stagg remained untouched with the help of a hose sprinkler system laid around its base by firefighters.
Near the Stagg, the Castle fire did a bit of forest housekeeping, burning undergrowth, young white fir trees and incense cedars. Seventy feet of black trunk traced the path of flame on a younger sequoia, but “I don’t think it will even notice,” Shive said.
At another spot in the grove, Shive pointed to little sequoia seeds that newly opened cones had showered on the ash-coated ground. “I suspect we’re going to have a lot of regeneration,” she said.
Suzanne Moss, left, campaign director for the Save the Redwoods League, and Becky Bremser, director of land protection, look at some of the giant sequoias killed by wildfire. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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Technically considered part of the SQF Complex fire because it started near another, small lightning fire, the Castle fire burned almost all of the fire complex’s 171,000 acres. Three-quarters of that acreage was in the Giant Sequoia National Monument and Sequoia National Forest, which surround the Alder Creek grove.
About 19,000 acres are in the southern edge of Sequoia National Park, which abuts the monument.
“Nobody was really worried” about the Castle fire in its first weeks, said Christy Brigham, science chief of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. “We have a lot of lightning fires. I was not overly concerned.”
The remains of 50- to 70-year-old conifers stand in the Sequoia National Forest. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
In early September, the Castle fire made some major runs toward the parks.
“At that point, we started to think it could get into some of our sequoia groves,” Brigham said. “But I still had the mental model that these trees are very fire adapted.… This is going to be OK from the sequoia perspective.”
That notion began to fade as she heard more about the Castle fire’s erratic behavior. Then, last month, the parks’ fire ecologist, Tony Caprio, sent Brigham an aerial drone photo of a badly burned grove called Homers Nose.
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Caprio had marked it with little red dots: They were giants whose entire crowns had been incinerated.
Smoke rises from the trunk of a long dead giant sequoia in the McIntyre Grove.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
“To see those giant sequoia, monarch, blackened toothpicks was a gut punch,” Brigham recalled.
When big sequoias die in a wildfire, it is usually because heat has scorched all their needles, which are still on the tree. This was different. All-consuming flame had turned the giants into sequoia skeletons.
The first time the USGS’ Stephenson heard of combusted sequoia tops was in the 2015 Rough fire, another big lightning blaze in the Sierra that burned into sequoia groves.
Char marks in the tree-ring corings of ancient sequoias show that before the arrival of settlers in the mid-1800s and the government’s 20th century anti-wildfire policies, low- to moderate-intensity fires ignited by lightning and Native Americans skipped through the groves every 10 to 30 years.
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Eric La Price, the Sequoia National Forest’s Western Divide District ranger, surveys damage in the Camp Nelson area, which was not as severely burned by the Castle fire. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
At times they flared into small, high-intensity burns that created openings for a new generation of sequoias to take hold. Occasionally a monarch died.
The big exception to that pattern was 1297, a year that stands out in the sequoia tree-ring record as a time of high-severity fire. It was during the Medieval Warm Period, an era of hotter temperatures in some parts of the world, including the Sierra.
The 2020 Castle fire, Stephenson said, is probably worse than 1297.
He cites two main causes: climate change, which exacerbates fire conditions, and the banishment of regular flame, which has left Sierra forests denser than they were pre-settlement.
Becky Bremser, director of land protection for the Save the Redwoods League, photographs a giant sequoia that was decapitated. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s both,” he said. “If fire hadn’t been excluded from those groves for so long, the fire effects probably would have been a lot less severe. Just that buildup of fuel.
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“We could see a lot more of this severe fire behavior in the future,” he warned. “That has really shaken me up and shaken others up into thinking we have to do a much better job of protecting these groves.”
How? By ramping up controlled burns, he said, and thinning thick young stands of white fir and incense cedar near communities and roads.
As evidence of how that helps, he described a trail in Kings Canyon park that runs through a portion of the Grant Grove that burned five years ago in the Rough fire.
Becky Bremser, left, director of land protection for the Save the Redwoods League, and campaign director Suzanne Moss look at cones of a sequoia. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
On the side of the trail where the park had conducted controlled burns, one giant died in the Rough fire. On the other side, where no prescribed burning had occurred, the fire killed more than 15 big sequoias.
The National Park Service was the first federal agency to recognize the ecological harm of fire exclusion, and Sequoia-Kings Canyon staff have been lighting controlled fires in the groves since the 1960s.
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But they had never gotten to the relatively remote park groves that burned the hottest in the Castle fire — Homers Nose, Board Camp and Cedar Flat.
Brigham has known since she arrived in Sequoia-Kings Canyon five years ago that the parks’ average of 1,000 acres a year of controlled burns is not enough.
George Powell, left, Sequoia National Forest ecosystem manager, and Eric La Price, the forest’s Western Divide District ranger, walk through the fire-ravaged mountainside in the McIntyre Grove. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Now she has a new sense of urgency, realizing that “if we don’t get prescribed fire in those groves that have not had any for 100 years, we lose 2,000-year-old monarchs in a fire.”
Eric La Price and George Powell turned off Highway 190 and parked on a dirt road. The thumping of a lone helicopter overhead broke the eerie quiet.
There were no sounds of life on this fire-ravaged mountainside in the McIntyre Grove, one of the monument areas hardest hit by the Castle fire.
The charred corpse of a giant sequoia poked into the smoky haze. All around it were black sticks, the ruins of 50- to 70-year-old conifers that Powell guessed had grown in after an old logging operation.
Forest officials say controlled burns could help stave off widespread destruction of giant sequoias. People living in the Sierra often complain of smoke from the burns, but one way or another, there will be smoke in the mountains. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
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“To us, this is atypical that we’d have areas that burned so severely and were so large in size,” said Powell, the Sequoia National Forest ecosystem manager.
Black oaks will re-sprout, but with no surviving green conifers to drop seeds, he predicted the slope would turn into shrub fields.
“Every year we talk about how we need to do more work in the groves,” said La Price, the Sequoia National Forest’s Western Divide District ranger. Then he ticked off the reasons why they didn’t.
The forest doesn’t have the money or the staff. “We barely have a budget to keep the lights on,” he said.
He noted the more than $100 million it has cost the government to fight the Castle fire. “Imagine if we had $107 million to do reforestation, thinning and prescribed fire,” he said wistfully.
Money is not the only problem. There’s little market for the smaller trees in most need of thinning. And then there’s the public’s dislike of smoke from controlled burns.
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People don’t just complain to him, La Price said. They call up their congressional offices, which then tell the forest: Don’t let the burns go on too long.
But one way or another, there’s going to be smoke in the Sierra.
“More and more fire is going to happen on the landscape,” Shive said. “We need to decide what kind of fire we want. Do we want fire that is healthy and restorative in our ecosystems, or what we had this year?”


latimes--2020-11-16--Column: As Trump leaves office, we talk about 'bridging divides.' Is that really possible?

When concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in the Salton Sea exceed 30 parts per billion , toxic compounds from agricultural and manufacturing runoff sometimes interact to produce a chemical reaction that is best described as a fart .
The flatulence of the inland sea smells like rotten eggs and rancid water , and winds can carry it all across the Southland , causing widespread chaos , confusion and disgust .
Scientists and air quality officials run around testing dumpsters , landfills and cleanup sites until everyone realizes that , well , it ’ s just the Salton Sea farting again .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump news cycle has reminded me of the Salton Sea ’ s flatulence : confusing , disgusting , and I can ’ t think of much else to say besides , “ This smells absolutely awful.
” I haven ’ t said much about Trump these past four years .
Not on Twitter , not in person , not even after becoming a columnist whose job was to weigh in on the day ’ s news .
My silence was less of an attempt at objective restraint and more a distaste for crowds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be said had been said , posted , hashtagged and perhaps even screen-printed onto T-shirts and tote bags .
Trump hate was its own entire industry , with its own podcasts , talk shows and commentators .
Entire careers were made out of coming up with the most viral reply to Trump ’ s latest tweet .
I , too , believed that Trump was destroying much of what I find valuable about this country , but I had no desire to line up and pour water into the ocean .
And as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I regularly interview Trump supporters and I needed them to feel like I ’ d hear them out .
It ’ s a tradition that newspapers see themselves as a public square for different ideas , and it was in that tradition that our editorial page devoted an entire section to Trump supporters last week .
In their letters , Trump supporters criticized charged leftist rhetoric , scolded journalists for not being objective , bemoaned a general overemphasis on race and even pointed the finger at Los Angeles Times columnists like myself .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ for publishing veiled defenses of white supremacy , noted that newspapers have endlessly profiled Trump supporters and complained that the letters revealed nothing new .
As a journalist , I deeply believe in the principle that hearing out all sides is important before rendering judgement on any issue .
But as an Asian American , I have to point out the reality : Newspapers have never come close to truly being a public square , especially for people of color and immigrants in Los Angeles .
Our task is not to regain that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the first place .
I balk at the idea of “ reaching out to the other side ” because it means conceding that there is only one other side .
And having observed various political disagreements up close , I don ’ t believe that we will reform our ideological opponents by beaming our good intentions , Care Bear-style , at people who live vastly different lives from us and thus make different choices .
And frankly , as an Asian American who has seen Trump ’ s rhetoric revive a strain of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t see myself ever agreeing with those who think we ’ ve talked about racism too much .
It wasn ’ t lost on me that nearly every Trump letter we printed was from a white person .
I spend a lot of time thinking about why people think the things they think .
Divisive political rhetoric is the norm for me as a 32-year-old who came of voting age after 9/11 , not the exception .
I don ’ t see this changing unless we radically change the stories we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not simply lively exchanges of ideas and reasoned debate — they are no-holds-barred battles of interests , ideology , technology and wealth .
Division in society is not a rhetorical failure by one political party , or a mysterious disease in the public discourse to diagnose .
It is a technological feature of the commercial information platforms we now rely on to shape our worldviews .
An algorithm is not a fence you can reach over or an aisle you can cross .
By looking at Trump supporters as wayward apples who just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we fail to see that there are many trees , a whole forest even .
We need to stop blaming the leaves and the branches for being so far apart and look at where the roots took hold .
So although Trump ’ s enduring support has sparked something of an identity crisis among some in the Democratic Party , I wasn ’ t surprised by the results .
A commercial conservative media , run by billionaires with specific self-interests , created a different factual reality , and people voted according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communities , I run into Trump supporters more often than you would think .
The most recent was Mou Anitema , a cab driver with a booming laugh I met at LAX last month .
Mou , a Tongan immigrant who came to the country with his uncle in 1997 , was a proud Trump supporter because he believed that Trump would do a good job at running the economy .
I asked Mou how he felt about Trump ’ s cruelty at the border , his botching of the pandemic , how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white supremacist groups .
Mou was against those things , but they were distant to him .
Mou thought of himself as a shareholder in America , and the president as his CEO .
He needed to vote his wallet .
Voting on ideals and principles , for Mou and a lot of other immigrants , is seen as naive .
I liked Mou a lot .
He made me laugh several times , offered me some of his beans and rice and introduced me to other cab drivers .
We left on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , neither having convinced the other of a single thing .

When concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in the Salton Sea exceed 30 parts per billion, toxic compounds from agricultural and manufacturing runoff sometimes interact to produce a chemical reaction that is best described as a fart.
The flatulence of the inland sea smells like rotten eggs and rancid water, and winds can carry it all across the Southland, causing widespread chaos, confusion and disgust. Scientists and air quality officials run around testing dumpsters, landfills and cleanup sites until everyone realizes that, well, it’s just the Salton Sea farting again.
For these last four years, every Trump news cycle has reminded me of the Salton Sea’s flatulence: confusing, disgusting, and I can’t think of much else to say besides, “This smells absolutely awful.”
I haven’t said much about Trump these past four years. Not on Twitter, not in person, not even after becoming a columnist whose job was to weigh in on the day’s news.
Advertisement
My silence was less of an attempt at objective restraint and more a distaste for crowds. I felt like everything that could be said had been said, posted, hashtagged and perhaps even screen-printed onto T-shirts and tote bags.
Trump hate was its own entire industry, with its own podcasts, talk shows and commentators. Entire careers were made out of coming up with the most viral reply to Trump’s latest tweet. I, too, believed that Trump was destroying much of what I find valuable about this country, but I had no desire to line up and pour water into the ocean.
And as a journalist, I also knew that I regularly interview Trump supporters and I needed them to feel like I’d hear them out. It’s a tradition that newspapers see themselves as a public square for different ideas, and it was in that tradition that our editorial page devoted an entire section to Trump supporters last week.
In their letters, Trump supporters criticized charged leftist rhetoric, scolded journalists for not being objective, bemoaned a general overemphasis on race and even pointed the finger at Los Angeles Times columnists like myself.
Online, many liberal readers castigated us for publishing veiled defenses of white supremacy, noted that newspapers have endlessly profiled Trump supporters and complained that the letters revealed nothing new.
As a journalist, I deeply believe in the principle that hearing out all sides is important before rendering judgement on any issue. But as an Asian American, I have to point out the reality: Newspapers have never come close to truly being a public square, especially for people of color and immigrants in Los Angeles. Our task is not to regain that status, but to earn it in the first place.
I balk at the idea of “reaching out to the other side” because it means conceding that there is only one other side. And having observed various political disagreements up close, I don’t believe that we will reform our ideological opponents by beaming our good intentions, Care Bear-style, at people who live vastly different lives from us and thus make different choices.
Advertisement
And frankly, as an Asian American who has seen Trump’s rhetoric revive a strain of anti-Asian xenophobia this past year, I don’t see myself ever agreeing with those who think we’ve talked about racism too much. It wasn’t lost on me that nearly every Trump letter we printed was from a white person.
I spend a lot of time thinking about why people think the things they think. Divisive political rhetoric is the norm for me as a 32-year-old who came of voting age after 9/11, not the exception. I don’t see this changing unless we radically change the stories we tell ourselves about elections.
Elections are not simply lively exchanges of ideas and reasoned debate — they are no-holds-barred battles of interests, ideology, technology and wealth. Division in society is not a rhetorical failure by one political party, or a mysterious disease in the public discourse to diagnose. It is a technological feature of the commercial information platforms we now rely on to shape our worldviews. An algorithm is not a fence you can reach over or an aisle you can cross.
By looking at Trump supporters as wayward apples who just happened to fall far from the tree, we fail to see that there are many trees, a whole forest even. We need to stop blaming the leaves and the branches for being so far apart and look at where the roots took hold.
So although Trump’s enduring support has sparked something of an identity crisis among some in the Democratic Party, I wasn’t surprised by the results. A commercial conservative media, run by billionaires with specific self-interests, created a different factual reality, and people voted according to that reality. And reporting on immigrant communities, I run into Trump supporters more often than you would think.
The most recent was Mou Anitema, a cab driver with a booming laugh I met at LAX last month. Mou, a Tongan immigrant who came to the country with his uncle in 1997, was a proud Trump supporter because he believed that Trump would do a good job at running the economy.
I asked Mou how he felt about Trump’s cruelty at the border, his botching of the pandemic, how he encouraged and supported the rise of white supremacist groups. Mou was against those things, but they were distant to him. Mou thought of himself as a shareholder in America, and the president as his CEO. He needed to vote his wallet. Voting on ideals and principles, for Mou and a lot of other immigrants, is seen as naive.
I liked Mou a lot. He made me laugh several times, offered me some of his beans and rice and introduced me to other cab drivers. We left on good terms, after a pleasant conversation, neither having convinced the other of a single thing.


latimes--2020-11-16--Pandemic has led to steep decline in international student enrollment, report says

California remains a popular destination for foreign students , but international student enrollment at colleges and universities nationwide declined sharply this fall amid the pandemic , according to data released Monday .
The enrollment of new international students at U.S. higher education institutions was down by 43 % this fall , and 90 % of campuses reported that foreign students deferred attendance to a future term , according to a report released by the Institute of International Education .
The brief study offered a national snapshot of the effects of COVID-19 on international student enrollment based on data from more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fall data were released in conjunction with the institute ’ s annual Open Doors report , which provides a more comprehensive look at international student enrollment for the 2019-20 school year .
Gaurav Khanna , an assistant professor of economics at UC San Diego , said the last several months had led to significant declines in the number of visas issued to international students , who were stymied by the closure of U.S. consulates and visa restrictions imposed by the federal government amid the pandemic .
Total international student enrollment at U.S institutions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the report .
Enrollment numbers include students studying remotely at U.S. schools while living outside the country .
The Open Doors report , which looked at foreign student enrollment last year , shows that , before the pandemic , the number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities had dipped by only about 1.8 % .
That decline was driven in part by decreases in the number of students from countries including India , South Korea and Saudi Arabia , said Mirka Martel , head of research , evaluation and learning for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prior-year declines , she said , were “ likely due to a combination of factors — increased competition for international students , changes in government scholarship programs , expanding educational capacity at home and changing demographics.
” Still , international students last year made up about 5.5 % of higher education enrollment , as they did during the 2018-19 and 2017-18 school years .
The U.S. had 1,075,496 international students last year , according to the report .
The total number of foreign students in California fell slightly last year , by 0.7 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most popular destination in the country for foreign students , with 160,592 .
The top three destination schools were USC , UCLA and UC San Diego , the report said .
About 44 % of international students in California were from China , about 13 % were from India , and about 5 % were from South Korea .
USC , which was the No .
1 destination for foreign students in California last year , has also seen a drop in international students this year , said Anthony Bailey , who oversees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at USC .
Last year , the university added about 1,000 international students .
This fall , the number of international degree-seeking students is down by 16 % .
“ That ’ s a significant impact , ” Bailey said .
But he added that he expected those numbers to bounce back next fall .
“ What we ’ re seeing is heavily COVID-related , ” he said .

USC was the top destination for foreign students in California last year.
California remains a popular destination for foreign students, but international student enrollment at colleges and universities nationwide declined sharply this fall amid the pandemic, according to data released Monday.
The enrollment of new international students at U.S. higher education institutions was down by 43% this fall, and 90% of campuses reported that foreign students deferred attendance to a future term, according to a report released by the Institute of International Education.
The brief study offered a national snapshot of the effects of COVID-19 on international student enrollment based on data from more than 700 colleges and universities. The fall data were released in conjunction with the institute’s annual Open Doors report, which provides a more comprehensive look at international student enrollment for the 2019-20 school year.
Gaurav Khanna, an assistant professor of economics at UC San Diego, said the last several months had led to significant declines in the number of visas issued to international students, who were stymied by the closure of U.S. consulates and visa restrictions imposed by the federal government amid the pandemic.
Total international student enrollment at U.S institutions was down 16%, according to the report. Enrollment numbers include students studying remotely at U.S. schools while living outside the country.
The Open Doors report, which looked at foreign student enrollment last year, shows that, before the pandemic, the number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities had dipped by only about 1.8%. That decline was driven in part by decreases in the number of students from countries including India, South Korea and Saudi Arabia, said Mirka Martel, head of research, evaluation and learning for the Institute of International Education.
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Those prior-year declines, she said, were “likely due to a combination of factors — increased competition for international students, changes in government scholarship programs, expanding educational capacity at home and changing demographics.”
Still, international students last year made up about 5.5% of higher education enrollment, as they did during the 2018-19 and 2017-18 school years. The U.S. had 1,075,496 international students last year, according to the report.
The total number of foreign students in California fell slightly last year, by 0.7%, though the state remained the most popular destination in the country for foreign students, with 160,592. The top three destination schools were USC, UCLA and UC San Diego, the report said. About 44% of international students in California were from China, about 13% were from India, and about 5% were from South Korea.
USC, which was the No. 1 destination for foreign students in California last year, has also seen a drop in international students this year, said Anthony Bailey, who oversees the Office of Strategic and Global Initiatives at USC.
Last year, the university added about 1,000 international students. This fall, the number of international degree-seeking students is down by 16%.
“That’s a significant impact,” Bailey said. But he added that he expected those numbers to bounce back next fall.
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“What we’re seeing is heavily COVID-related,” he said.


latimes--2020-11-16--Earthquake: Magnitude 3.5 quake strikes near Loma Linda

A magnitude 3.5 earthquake was reported 1:28 a.m. Monday near Loma Linda , according to the U.S. Geological Survey .
The earthquake occurred less than a mile from Redlands , one mile from San Bernardino and two miles from Colton .
In the last 10 days , there have been no earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby .
An average of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur per year in California and Nevada , according to a recent three-year data sample .
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 9.8 miles .
Did you feel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ felt to the USGS .
Even if you didn ’ t feel this small earthquake , you never know when the Big One is going to strike .
Ready yourself by following our five-step earthquake preparedness guide and building your own emergency kit .
This story was automatically generated by Quakebot , a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS .
A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published .
If you ’ re interested in learning more about the system , visit our list of frequently @ @ @

A map of an earthquake reported 1:28 a.m. Monday in Loma Linda, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A magnitude 3.5 earthquake was reported 1:28 a.m. Monday near Loma Linda, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The earthquake occurred less than a mile from Redlands, one mile from San Bernardino and two miles from Colton.
In the last 10 days, there have been no earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.
An average of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur per year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three-year data sample.
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The earthquake occurred at a depth of 9.8 miles. Did you feel this earthquake? Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS.
Even if you didn’t feel this small earthquake, you never know when the Big One is going to strike. Ready yourself by following our five-step earthquake preparedness guide and building your own emergency kit.
This story was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published. If you’re interested in learning more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.


latimes--2020-11-16--Column: With the COVID-19 pandemic and a battered economy, California voters said no to more taxes

California voters rejected an ambitious state ballot initiative to substantially raise business property taxes .
But they approved many local tax and bond measures .
Why the distinction ?
One reason is that voters are suspicious of Sacramento politicians .
The public may not especially trust local officials either , but they ’ re closer and can be better watched and held accountable .
Another reason is that voters this year are very anxious about the economy as the pandemic takes a toll on businesses , jobs and retirement savings .
They didn ’ t want to unleash a major @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cripple the California economy .
This is a deep-blue state with strong Democratic leanings .
But on the landmark property tax proposal , Proposition 15 , many Democrats voted like Republicans .
Democratic leaders and strategists apparently underestimated national surveys that showed there was one issue on which President Trump usually outpolled Joe Biden .
It was on the question of which candidate would be best at handling the economy .
“ People were incredibly nervous about their personal economic situations , ” Democratic consultant Gale Kaufman says .
“ It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money when they ’ re nervous about their own economic lot… .
They didn ’ t want to screw up their 401 ( k ) s. ” Another steep hurdle for Proposition 15 was that it asked voters to dramatically change Proposition 13 , the historic 1978 property tax cut that ’ s viewed by many as sacrosanct .
Residential property would not have been affected , but many voters feared a camel ’ s nose under their tent .
They suspected the tax-and-spenders would be coming after their homeowner tax breaks next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would have been reassessed at market value every three years .
Currently , that reassessment comes only when the property changes hands .
And that ’ s almost never for big corporations using Proposition 13 loopholes .
Socking it to corporations is one thing .
But a problem for 15 was that many small businesses lease their store sites and offices , and they would have been smacked .
Under standard leases , the business owner is liable for the tax hikes .
“ It ’ s time for the proponents [ of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Californians know the importance of Proposition 13 , ” says Robert Gutierrez , president and chief executive of the California Taxpayers Assn .
But consultant Larry Grisolano , the chief strategist for Proposition 15 , says the measure ’ s close vote sends the opposite message .
“ It ’ s indisputable that there ’ s an underlying demand in the California electorate for big corporations to pay their fair share , ” he says .
OK , but the next time anti-13 forces launch an assault on the iconic law , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be extra careful to exclude small businesses , even if the total tax take is smaller .
Proposition 15 , sponsored by the California Teachers Assn .
and the Service Employees International Union , would have raised up to $ 11.5 billion annually .
The money would have been split 60 % to local governments and 40 % to K-12 schools and community colleges .
Business interests spent roughly $ 72 million to defeat the initiative .
At this writing , voters had rejected it by roughly 52 % to 48 % .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ local tax increases and bond issues .
And under California ’ s stringent supermajority rules , most local tax increases require a two-thirds vote because of Proposition 13 .
School bonds need 55 % .
Among proposed local sales tax increases , 53 were approved and 9 rejected , according to an early report by the California Taxpayers Assn .
Several other measures were too close to call .
Of parcel tax proposals , 23 won and 13 lost .
Forty school bond measures were approved , requiring property tax hikes .
Only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s early look .
So why did these local measures pass — but Proposition 15 fail ?
There was an early warning sign .
In the March primary , a hefty $ 15-billion school construction bond measure proposed by Gov .
Gavin Newsom and the Legislature was rejected by voters .
It was the first defeat of a state school bond measure since 1994 , a very Republican year .
“ In local school districts , voters know what ’ s going on , ” Gutierrez says .
“ They understand what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used for .
There ’ s a local connection to the community.
” That ’ s not the case with voters and Sacramento .
Proposition 15 was not placed on the ballot by the Legislature and governor .
It was labor ’ s doing .
And the billions raised would not have flowed into the state treasury .
The money would have gone to local governments and schools .
But it was strongly supported by Democratic leaders and the governor .
The state ’ s brand was on the measure .
“ People @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blank check , ” says Rob Lapsley , president of the California Business Roundtable , a leading opponent of Proposition 15 .
“ They are willing to support taxes on the local level .
We were glad to see some of these local things pass because the communities needed funds , whether they were from parcel taxes or bonds.
” “ Local governments are more trusted , ” says former Democratic consultant Darry Sragow , who publishes the California Target Book , which chronicles legislative and congressional races .
“ They feel that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them.
” Grisolano says the pandemic both helped and hurt Proposition 15 .
Voters saw the need for raising more money to improve local public healthcare and education , he says .
“ But it ’ s a hard time for people to contemplate major reforms when they ’ re right in the middle of something as profound as the pandemic , ” he says .
“ The economic considerations that weighed on people ’ s minds certainly helped drive a ‘ no ’ vote.
” Yes .
And voters also sent Sacramento @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increases .

California voters rejected an ambitious state ballot initiative to substantially raise business property taxes. But they approved many local tax and bond measures. Why the distinction?
One reason is that voters are suspicious of Sacramento politicians. The public may not especially trust local officials either, but they’re closer and can be better watched and held accountable.
Another reason is that voters this year are very anxious about the economy as the pandemic takes a toll on businesses, jobs and retirement savings. They didn’t want to unleash a major new property tax hike that might further cripple the California economy.
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This is a deep-blue state with strong Democratic leanings. But on the landmark property tax proposal, Proposition 15, many Democrats voted like Republicans.
Democratic leaders and strategists apparently underestimated national surveys that showed there was one issue on which President Trump usually outpolled Joe Biden. It was on the question of which candidate would be best at handling the economy.
“People were incredibly nervous about their personal economic situations,” Democratic consultant Gale Kaufman says. “It’s really difficult to get people to spend money when they’re nervous about their own economic lot…. They didn’t want to screw up their 401(k)s.”
Another steep hurdle for Proposition 15 was that it asked voters to dramatically change Proposition 13, the historic 1978 property tax cut that’s viewed by many as sacrosanct.
Residential property would not have been affected, but many voters feared a camel’s nose under their tent. They suspected the tax-and-spenders would be coming after their homeowner tax breaks next.
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Under Proposition 15, commercial property would have been reassessed at market value every three years. Currently, that reassessment comes only when the property changes hands. And that’s almost never for big corporations using Proposition 13 loopholes.
Socking it to corporations is one thing. But a problem for 15 was that many small businesses lease their store sites and offices, and they would have been smacked. Under standard leases, the business owner is liable for the tax hikes.
“It’s time for the proponents [of 15] to accept the premise that Californians know the importance of Proposition 13,” says Robert Gutierrez, president and chief executive of the California Taxpayers Assn.
But consultant Larry Grisolano, the chief strategist for Proposition 15, says the measure’s close vote sends the opposite message.
“It’s indisputable that there’s an underlying demand in the California electorate for big corporations to pay their fair share,” he says.
OK, but the next time anti-13 forces launch an assault on the iconic law, they should focus narrowly on big corporations and be extra careful to exclude small businesses, even if the total tax take is smaller.
Proposition 15, sponsored by the California Teachers Assn. and the Service Employees International Union, would have raised up to $11.5 billion annually. The money would have been split 60% to local governments and 40% to K-12 schools and community colleges.
Business interests spent roughly $72 million to defeat the initiative. At this writing, voters had rejected it by roughly 52% to 48%.
But voters signed off on lots of local tax increases and bond issues. And under California’s stringent supermajority rules, most local tax increases require a two-thirds vote because of Proposition 13. School bonds need 55%.
Among proposed local sales tax increases, 53 were approved and 9 rejected, according to an early report by the California Taxpayers Assn. Several other measures were too close to call.
Of parcel tax proposals, 23 won and 13 lost. Forty school bond measures were approved, requiring property tax hikes. Only four were rejected, based on CalTax’s early look.
So why did these local measures pass — but Proposition 15 fail? There was an early warning sign.
In the March primary, a hefty $15-billion school construction bond measure proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature was rejected by voters. It was the first defeat of a state school bond measure since 1994, a very Republican year.
“In local school districts, voters know what’s going on,” Gutierrez says. “They understand what the money may or may not be used for. There’s a local connection to the community.”
That’s not the case with voters and Sacramento.
Proposition 15 was not placed on the ballot by the Legislature and governor. It was labor’s doing. And the billions raised would not have flowed into the state treasury. The money would have gone to local governments and schools. But it was strongly supported by Democratic leaders and the governor. The state’s brand was on the measure.
“People are not willing to give Sacramento a blank check,” says Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, a leading opponent of Proposition 15. “They are willing to support taxes on the local level. We were glad to see some of these local things pass because the communities needed funds, whether they were from parcel taxes or bonds.”
“Local governments are more trusted,” says former Democratic consultant Darry Sragow, who publishes the California Target Book, which chronicles legislative and congressional races. “They feel that local officials are less likely to betray them.”
Grisolano says the pandemic both helped and hurt Proposition 15. Voters saw the need for raising more money to improve local public healthcare and education, he says.
“But it’s a hard time for people to contemplate major reforms when they’re right in the middle of something as profound as the pandemic,” he says. “The economic considerations that weighed on people’s minds certainly helped drive a ‘no’ vote.”
Yes. And voters also sent Sacramento Democrats a message: Forget huge tax increases.


latimes--2020-11-15--Off-duty L.A. County sheriff's deputy is wounded in gunfight

An off-duty Los Angeles Sheriff ’ s deputy was wounded in a gunfight early Sunday in unincorporated East Los Angeles @ @ @ @ @ the Sheriff ’ s Department said the deputy , who was not identified , was @ @ @ @ @ the 800 block of North Hazard Avenue about 2:25 a.m. when he was approached by @ @ @ @ @ years old .
The man fired at the deputy with a handgun , and the @ @ @ @ @ statement said .
The deputy was struck one time in the lower body and drove @ @ @ @ @ treatment .
His wound was not life-threatening .
The suspect , who ran , was @ @ @ @ @ red sweatshirt and black shorts .
The deputy ’ s two passengers were not injured @

An L.A. County sheriff’s deputy was shot in unincorporated East Los Angeles early Sunday morning.
An off-duty Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputy was wounded in a gunfight early Sunday in unincorporated East Los Angeles.
A statement released by the Sheriff’s Department said the deputy, who was not identified, was driving with two passengers in the 800 block of North Hazard Avenue about 2:25 a.m. when he was approached by a Latino man about 20 years old.
The man fired at the deputy with a handgun, and the deputy returned fire, the statement said.
The deputy was struck one time in the lower body and drove himself to a hospital for treatment. His wound was not life-threatening.
The suspect, who ran, was reported to be wearing a red sweatshirt and black shorts.
The deputy’s two passengers were not injured.


latimes--2020-11-15--L.A. County sheriff's deputies fatally shoot a man they say was waving a gun near Inglewood

Los Angeles County sheriff ’ s deputies shot and killed a man who they said was brandishing a handgun in @ @ @ @ @ Inglewood early Sunday .
Responding to a call at about 1:50 a.m. , the deputies @ @ @ @ @ Ness Avenue and Van Wick Street who they reported was pointing a revolver at a @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Department statement said .
According to the statement , two deputies left their @ @ @ @ @ to drop the weapon .
He then turned and pointed it in the deputies ’ @ @ @ @ @ , “ a deputy-involved shooting occurred , ” but did not say whether both officers @ @ @ @ @ suspect was taken to a hospital , where he was pronounced dead .
His identity @ @ @ @ @ Los Angeles County coroner .
A revolver belonging to the suspect was recovered at the @ @ @ @ @ .

L.A. County sheriff’s deputies early Sunday killed a man who was pointing a revolver at a passing vehicle and then pointed the weapon at the deputies when they ordered him to drop it, the Sheriff’s Department said.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a man who they said was brandishing a handgun in the unincorporated area east of Inglewood early Sunday.
Responding to a call at about 1:50 a.m., the deputies encountered a man at Van Ness Avenue and Van Wick Street who they reported was pointing a revolver at a passing vehicle, a Sheriff’s Department statement said.
According to the statement, two deputies left their vehicle and ordered the man to drop the weapon. He then turned and pointed it in the deputies’ direction.
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The statement said, “a deputy-involved shooting occurred,” but did not say whether both officers fired their weapons.
The suspect was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His identity will be determined by the Los Angeles County coroner.
A revolver belonging to the suspect was recovered at the scene, the statement said.
Sheriff’s Department homicide investigators are seeking additional information.


latimes--2020-11-15--Yes, it was hot in L.A. but not a record. Monday could be different

Sunday was hot , but not that hot .
The high of 85 degrees at the downtown weather station was 12 degrees above normal for the day , but nowhere near the record , according to the National Weather Service .
The hottest Nov. 15 was 93 degrees , set in 2008 .
Tomorrow could be different .
The warming trend is forecast to continue Monday , and , by a quirk of history , Nov. 16 has the lowest record for mid-November , said National Weather Service meteorologist Kathy Hoxsie .
“ Through the rest of the month until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all in the 90s , ” Hoxsie said .
“ Tomorrow just happens to be an unusually low record .
But maybe we ’ ll change that tomorrow.
” The hottest Nov. 16 on record was also in 2008 when the mercury dipped five degrees from the previous day to 88 degrees , Hoxsie said .
The forecast for Monday is 87 .
But Sunday ’ s high climbed above the forecast .
“ The fact that today was a couple degrees warmer than we had expected , I ’ d say 87 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hoxsie said .
Even with the mid-month heat wave , November is not shaping up to be a fourth month of record average temperatures .
Another cooling trend is coming .
The forecast for the days ahead is 75 on Tuesday , 71 on Wednesday and 70 on Thursday , falling below normal .
“ I think most people would say we ’ re not going to set a monthly record , ” Hoxsie said .
“ My hesitation is I ’ ve seen some amazing things in weather .
I have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If we suddenly have a big heat wave , things can change , but we ’ re not consistently above normal like we were for August , September and October.
” If a new record comes Monday , it will still be unusual for this time of year .
The record for Nov. 14 is 93 , set all the way back in 1933 .
Tuesday ’ s record is 92 and Wednesday ’ s 94 , Hoxsie said .
“ Records are fun to look at , ” Hoxsie said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ”

Forecasters say L.A. could break hot weather records on Monday, Nov. 16. Above, passengers arrive at LAX on Friday.
Sunday was hot, but not that hot. The high of 85 degrees at the downtown weather station was 12 degrees above normal for the day, but nowhere near the record, according to the National Weather Service.
The hottest Nov. 15 was 93 degrees, set in 2008.
Tomorrow could be different. The warming trend is forecast to continue Monday, and, by a quirk of history, Nov. 16 has the lowest record for mid-November, said National Weather Service meteorologist Kathy Hoxsie.
“Through the rest of the month until the 29th, the record highs are all in the 90s,” Hoxsie said. “Tomorrow just happens to be an unusually low record. But maybe we’ll change that tomorrow.”
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The hottest Nov. 16 on record was also in 2008 when the mercury dipped five degrees from the previous day to 88 degrees, Hoxsie said. The forecast for Monday is 87. But Sunday’s high climbed above the forecast.
“The fact that today was a couple degrees warmer than we had expected, I’d say 87 to 89 is probably likely,” Hoxsie said.
Even with the mid-month heat wave, November is not shaping up to be a fourth month of record average temperatures. Another cooling trend is coming. The forecast for the days ahead is 75 on Tuesday, 71 on Wednesday and 70 on Thursday, falling below normal.
“I think most people would say we’re not going to set a monthly record,” Hoxsie said. “My hesitation is I’ve seen some amazing things in weather. I have a hard time saying absolutely not.
“If we suddenly have a big heat wave, things can change, but we’re not consistently above normal like we were for August, September and October.”
If a new record comes Monday, it will still be unusual for this time of year. The record for Nov. 14 is 93, set all the way back in 1933. Tuesday’s record is 92 and Wednesday’s 94, Hoxsie said.
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“Records are fun to look at,” Hoxsie said. “You get some oddities like this.”


latimes--2020-11-15--Weekend COVID-19 surge alarms L.A. officials amid talk of curfew, more actions

A fresh surge of coronavirus cases on Saturday and Sunday has alarmed Los Angeles County officials , who say they may consider imposing a curfew and other health measures in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19 .
New cases topped 3,000 for two consecutive days over the weekend .
County public health officials recorded 3,780 new cases of the virus Saturday , the highest one-day total since the peak of the crisis in mid-July .
On Sunday , officials reported 3,061 new cases and three deaths .
Amid the increase , the county Department of Public Health is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Board of Supervisors this week .
“ Potential options could be instituting a curfew so businesses do not have to completely close down again , but are more limited to essential activities , ” Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said Sunday in a statement .
Barbara Ferrer , L.A. County ’ s public health director , said two possibilities are a curfew or a limitation on businesses ’ hours of operation .
The county is looking to other cities and states that instituted similar measures to see how they worked out there , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ makes sense to do everything we can to encourage people not to be out and about , not to be mingling with others , ” she said .
“ And if we can ’ t make those choices ourselves , you ’ re forced to sort of look at , structurally , how do you make it harder for people to intermingle , particularly in activities where we know there ’ s going to be spread.
” L.A. County remains in the strictest , or purple , tier of the state ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ must remain closed for indoor operations .
Still , officials relaxed some rules over the last couple of months , including permitting hair salons and barbershops to operate indoors with certain precautions and allowing family entertainment centers to reopen outdoors .
The increase in new cases could jeopardize those gains .
A curfew is one of the few alternatives to restricting business operations even more heavily , Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said .
“ After people drink for a while , perhaps they lose inhibition and judgment and so possibly a curfew might help @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we would have to see if it worked in other jurisdictions .
That might help us keep our businesses open so long as they are perfectly compliant.
” Other options include reducing occupancy levels in places where people are indoors , dedicating more resources to ensuring businesses follow public health orders and encouraging certain safety measures , such as telling everyone who can work from home to go back to doing so , Ferrer said .
“ I think there are a lot of things that are available for us to look at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still pleading with the public to voluntarily take the proper precautions in the hopes that more rules won ’ t be necessary .
Those include wearing face coverings , washing hands frequently and staying away from people in different households .
“ I think we have an opportunity still , ” Ferrer said .
“ Our cases are super high and we have to get them back down .
But we still have an opportunity to get our cases to go down to not overwhelm the healthcare system .
And if we can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restrictions or additional modifications , that ’ s to everyone ’ s advantage.
” The seven-day average of new cases has nearly doubled in recent weeks , with the county reporting about 2,371.9 new cases each day over the last week compared with 1,241.9 cases two weeks before that , according to a Los Angeles Times analysis .
Although hospitalizations haven ’ t yet reached the level seen during the summer , when there were more than 2,200 confirmed coronavirus patients in county hospitals , the number has shot up from a low @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patients as of Saturday , raising concerns the increase could outpace the number of available intensive care beds .
More people are getting tested — 340,636 during the week ending Nov. 8 , the highest weekly total since the start of the pandemic , according to data from the county .
But a larger share of those tests are also coming back positive , which officials say indicates that transmission of the virus has increased .
The positivity rate had been holding at about 4 % since late August but ticked up to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I think it ’ s sounding an alarm for all of us , ” L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis said Sunday .
“ We don ’ t want to go back .
We don ’ t want to have to shut everything down but if we don ’ t have cooperation , that ’ s where we ’ re headed.
” L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said the rising numbers are a cause for concern and that officials will have to consider additional interventions “ if nothing else is working.
” “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hospitals will reach a breaking point and will be forced to make difficult decisions , ” he said in a statement .
The prospect of a new , countywide curfew elicited a variety of responses from people Sunday .
East Los Angeles resident Olivia Sanchez said she thinks a countywide curfew is a good idea , if that ’ s what is needed to slow the spread of the coronavirus .
Sanchez , 57 , said she ’ s eaten at a restaurant once in the last eight months — and that time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s .
Sanchez , a bus driver , said she plans to stay home “ as long as I have to , ” cooking for her family and barbecuing in the backyard .
“ Whatever it takes , ” she said .
“ I ’ ve got my Lysol .
I ’ ve got my wipes.
” Officials have blamed several factors for the rise in new cases , which has mirrored a trend felt across the United States .
The weather has gotten colder , bringing more people inside .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sending more people out to the streets .
More people have been attending small gatherings with family and friends , and there ’ s an overall sense of fatigue when it comes to observing public health restrictions , officials say .
“ It is clear that ten months into this pandemic , more people are letting their guard down with tragic consequences , ” county Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement .
“ Our public health experts are giving us guidance on what steps we can take and how we can avoid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really need is for people to buckle down again , ” said Hahn , whose district stretches from Diamond Bar to Marina del Rey .
There ’ s also been an uptick of outbreaks in workplaces , including several large manufacturing plants , Ferrer said .
The Department of Public Health is handling 450 active outbreak investigations in institutional settings , up from 380 a couple of weeks ago .
Many are worksite related , she said .
“ I can ’ t stress enough that what you do in your private and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a worksite and vice versa , ” Ferrer added .
Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger said most businesses have been complying with health orders .
“ These businesses should be allowed to remain in operation under the current public health guidelines , ” she said in a statement .
Hancock Park resident Mat Estrada said he worries that a new curfew could trigger a public backlash , with some deciding that county health officials have gone too far .
If that happens , he said , residents may disregard other health measures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home , he said .
“ Everyone is so exasperated , because it ’ s gone on for so long and been so debilitating , ” said the 55-year-old financial planner .
“ With any new restriction , for a certain number of people , it ’ s going to be too much for them.
” Estrada , who went to Hollywood on Sunday to get a coronavirus test , said he and his partner plan to stay at home this Thanksgiving , cooking without guests and possibly having a Zoom call with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other parts of the state .
The risk of having them traveling , he said , is not worth it .
“ There ’ s just no reason to do it now , ” he said .
Stuart Waldman , president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn.
, said it ’ s not immediately apparent that there ’ s a heavy demand for later business hours at restaurants and outdoor bars anyway .
Many dining spots have already scaled back their operations as a result of the outbreak , serving patrons in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said .
“ If we have to adjust , we have to adjust , ” Waldman said .
“ I think a curfew would be a minor inconvenience .
”

A fresh surge of coronavirus cases on Saturday and Sunday has alarmed Los Angeles County officials, who say they may consider imposing a curfew and other health measures in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19.
New cases topped 3,000 for two consecutive days over the weekend. County public health officials recorded 3,780 new cases of the virus Saturday, the highest one-day total since the peak of the crisis in mid-July. On Sunday, officials reported 3,061 new cases and three deaths.
Amid the increase, the county Department of Public Health is expected to submit a series of recommendations to the Board of Supervisors this week.
“Potential options could be instituting a curfew so businesses do not have to completely close down again, but are more limited to essential activities,” Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said Sunday in a statement.
Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County’s public health director, said two possibilities are a curfew or a limitation on businesses’ hours of operation. The county is looking to other cities and states that instituted similar measures to see how they worked out there, she said.
“I think it makes sense to do everything we can to encourage people not to be out and about, not to be mingling with others,” she said. “And if we can’t make those choices ourselves, you’re forced to sort of look at, structurally, how do you make it harder for people to intermingle, particularly in activities where we know there’s going to be spread.”
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Tracking the coronavirus in L.A. County The latest maps and charts on the spread of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, including cases, deaths, closures and restrictions.
L.A. County remains in the strictest, or purple, tier of the state’s four-phase reopening plan, meaning many businesses must remain closed for indoor operations. Still, officials relaxed some rules over the last couple of months, including permitting hair salons and barbershops to operate indoors with certain precautions and allowing family entertainment centers to reopen outdoors.
The increase in new cases could jeopardize those gains. A curfew is one of the few alternatives to restricting business operations even more heavily, Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said.
“After people drink for a while, perhaps they lose inhibition and judgment and so possibly a curfew might help,” Kuehl said. “But we would have to see if it worked in other jurisdictions. That might help us keep our businesses open so long as they are perfectly compliant.”
Other options include reducing occupancy levels in places where people are indoors, dedicating more resources to ensuring businesses follow public health orders and encouraging certain safety measures, such as telling everyone who can work from home to go back to doing so, Ferrer said.
“I think there are a lot of things that are available for us to look at,” she said.
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Officials are still pleading with the public to voluntarily take the proper precautions in the hopes that more rules won’t be necessary. Those include wearing face coverings, washing hands frequently and staying away from people in different households.
“I think we have an opportunity still,” Ferrer said. “Our cases are super high and we have to get them back down. But we still have an opportunity to get our cases to go down to not overwhelm the healthcare system. And if we can do that without having a lot more restrictions or additional modifications, that’s to everyone’s advantage.”
A horse-drawn carriage leads a funeral procession down Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena on Sunday in memory of the victims of COVID-19 as part of the Visual Artists Guild event. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The seven-day average of new cases has nearly doubled in recent weeks, with the county reporting about 2,371.9 new cases each day over the last week compared with 1,241.9 cases two weeks before that, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis.
Although hospitalizations haven’t yet reached the level seen during the summer, when there were more than 2,200 confirmed coronavirus patients in county hospitals, the number has shot up from a low of 687 in late September to 1,049 patients as of Saturday, raising concerns the increase could outpace the number of available intensive care beds.
More people are getting tested — 340,636 during the week ending Nov. 8, the highest weekly total since the start of the pandemic, according to data from the county.
But a larger share of those tests are also coming back positive, which officials say indicates that transmission of the virus has increased. The positivity rate had been holding at about 4% since late August but ticked up to roughly 6% over the last week.
“I think it’s sounding an alarm for all of us,” L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis said Sunday. “We don’t want to go back. We don’t want to have to shut everything down but if we don’t have cooperation, that’s where we’re headed.”
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said the rising numbers are a cause for concern and that officials will have to consider additional interventions “if nothing else is working.”
“Unless Angelenos do their part, our hospitals will reach a breaking point and will be forced to make difficult decisions,” he said in a statement.
The prospect of a new, countywide curfew elicited a variety of responses from people Sunday.
East Los Angeles resident Olivia Sanchez said she thinks a countywide curfew is a good idea, if that’s what is needed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Sanchez, 57, said she’s eaten at a restaurant once in the last eight months — and that time it was outside, at a Denny’s.
Sanchez, a bus driver, said she plans to stay home “as long as I have to,” cooking for her family and barbecuing in the backyard.
“Whatever it takes,” she said. “I’ve got my Lysol. I’ve got my wipes.”
Officials have blamed several factors for the rise in new cases, which has mirrored a trend felt across the United States. The weather has gotten colder, bringing more people inside. The Dodgers and Lakers won back-to-back championships, sending more people out to the streets. More people have been attending small gatherings with family and friends, and there’s an overall sense of fatigue when it comes to observing public health restrictions, officials say.
“It is clear that ten months into this pandemic, more people are letting their guard down with tragic consequences,” county Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement.
“Our public health experts are giving us guidance on what steps we can take and how we can avoid shutting down businesses, but what we really need is for people to buckle down again,” said Hahn, whose district stretches from Diamond Bar to Marina del Rey.
There’s also been an uptick of outbreaks in workplaces, including several large manufacturing plants, Ferrer said. The Department of Public Health is handling 450 active outbreak investigations in institutional settings, up from 380 a couple of weeks ago. Many are worksite related, she said.
“I can’t stress enough that what you do in your private and personal life, you then take to a worksite and vice versa,” Ferrer added.
Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger said most businesses have been complying with health orders.
“These businesses should be allowed to remain in operation under the current public health guidelines,” she said in a statement.
Hancock Park resident Mat Estrada said he worries that a new curfew could trigger a public backlash, with some deciding that county health officials have gone too far. If that happens, he said, residents may disregard other health measures, such as wearing masks and staying home, he said.
“Everyone is so exasperated, because it’s gone on for so long and been so debilitating,” said the 55-year-old financial planner. “With any new restriction, for a certain number of people, it’s going to be too much for them.”
Estrada, who went to Hollywood on Sunday to get a coronavirus test, said he and his partner plan to stay at home this Thanksgiving, cooking without guests and possibly having a Zoom call with his two sons, who live in other parts of the state. The risk of having them traveling, he said, is not worth it.
“There’s just no reason to do it now,” he said.
Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., said it’s not immediately apparent that there’s a heavy demand for later business hours at restaurants and outdoor bars anyway. Many dining spots have already scaled back their operations as a result of the outbreak, serving patrons in parking lots and other outdoor spaces, he said.
“If we have to adjust, we have to adjust,” Waldman said. “I think a curfew would be a minor inconvenience.”
Times staff writer Ben Welsh contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-11-13--How should Thanksgiving be celebrated during the pandemic? Officials urge staying home

How should Thanksgiving be celebrated in the middle of the worst global pandemic in a century ?
As safely as possible , experts say .
Think small , and stay at home .
Thanksgiving offers profound risks if large numbers of guests hailing from different households — especially those traveling from far away — gather .
Those who are elderly or have underlying medical conditions are at particular risk for severe illness or death should they be infected with the coronavirus .
Testing before Thanksgiving also isn ’ t a sure way to stave off the spread of the illness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after becoming infected and before the virus has reproduced enough copies of itself , a test could fail to detect the virus and produce a false negative result .
People can be highly contagious even when showing no signs of illness .
A negative test “ should not be used as a free pass to gather with others or to not follow the basic core public health measures that are essential to keeping us all healthy , ” said Dr. Christina Ghaly , Los Angeles County ’ s director of health services .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is to stick to your own household for the holiday this year , public health officials say .
“ I know everybody wants to know what to do for Thanksgiving , and the basic answer — to be the Grinch who stole Thanksgiving — is not to do it , ” Dr. George Rutherford , an epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at UC San Francisco , said at a recent campus town hall meeting .
“ It ’ s just going to be my wife and me .
I already told the kids @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Rutherford , who has six adult children .
Feel free to make a special dinner .
But to “ host , ” it ’ s safest to connect with extended friends and family through video calls or the telephone , while keeping in-person guests among only the members of your household .
California has seen significant jumps in coronavirus infections , hospitalizations and positive test rates , and officials expect deaths to rise too .
“ This much of an increase in cases may very well result in tremendous suffering and tragic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barbara Ferrer , the Los Angeles County director of public health .
On Friday , Gov .
Gavin Newsom issued a travel advisory encouraging residents to stay local and avoid nonessential out-of-state travel .
It also asks those who arrive from another state or country to self-quarantine for 14 days .
“ Please choose to be part of the solution because it ’ s going to take all of us to avoid increased heartbreak , ” Ferrer said .
“ We ’ re actually recommending this Thanksgiving be a stay-at-home Thanksgiving.
” Ferrer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this year for Thanksgiving to see her grandchildren , who live in a state that has a lot of coronavirus cases .
“ It ’ s just not a good idea .
And I ’ ll be really sad about this .
Like all of you , I wish things were really different , but they ’ re not , ” Ferrer said .
“ I don ’ t want to be one of the people that ’ s contributing to ... increasing cases that could result in other people getting sick and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your immediate household means only those who currently live with you and share common spaces in your housing unit , officials say .
That doesn ’ t include college students or other family members who live elsewhere .
“ Obviously , the preference is for people not to be flying home for the holidays — for students or for others , ” Ferrer said .
Health officials and in continue to urge people to , which raises the risk of contracting and spreading the coronavirus .
“ What we don ’ t want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kids flying across the country for four days and then fly back again .
That ’ s just unnecessary mixing , ” Rutherford said in a subsequent interview .
“ The basic advice is : Stay within your pod .
Stay within your bubble .
Stay within your household.
” If students do fly home , some colleges are recommending they don ’ t return to campus until after the new year , Ferrer said , “ so that you ’ re not really exposing lots more people when you come back here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ person infected with the coronavirus on average to infect two to four more people .
One person can easily be responsible for the infection of more than 1,000 people after 10 cycles of virus transmission .
Public health experts are extremely concerned about large gatherings during Thanksgiving as the virus surges nationally to record levels , with more than 100,000 people infected every day .
The pandemic ’ s first global spread coincided with a holiday quite like Thanksgiving in China : the Lunar New Year .
proceeded in Wuhan , the global @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there were ample warnings the virus was spreading .
And it hitched a ride with travelers as they fled the region just before a quarantine was enforced .
Dinners have also been shown to be a big spreader of the coronavirus .
in Arizona who studied an outbreak tied to 60 people found that many of the cases probably stemmed from transmission at an indoor potluck dinner , where attendees did not wear masks , and a subsequent graduation dinner with more than two dozen attendees .
Two of those who fell ill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and one required critical care .
This year , the American Automobile Assn .
estimates that 2.4 million Americans will still travel by air for Thanksgiving , a 48 % decline from last year , and about 48 million will travel by car , a 4 % drop .
If you are going to have guests , there are ways to make your celebration safer .
Dr. Sara Cody , the health officer for Santa Clara County and one of the key architects of the nation ’ s first regional stay-at-home order @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is in her 80s , over for Thanksgiving .
“ She will be outside , wrapped in blankets , greater than 10 feet from where I am .
So that ’ s one way to do it , ” Cody said .
While urging people to celebrate with only their immediate households , “ we also understand that after an extraordinarily difficult year , people want to come together and find some nourishment in the company of family and friends , ” Cody said .
“ We have guidelines for how to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to gather outdoors.
” California still generally prohibits large gatherings and has outlined the following : • Gatherings are limited to no more than three households and should be for a duration of no more than two hours .
• Gatherings are to be held outside in counties in the state ’ s most restrictive , or purple , tier .
• Gatherings in counties in the less restrictive tiers may occur indoors , although they ’ re still strongly discouraged .
Hosts should increase fresh air circulation by opening windows or doors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rooms where people are gathering .
• Attendees need to be able to maintain six feet of distance away from people not in their household .
• As much as possible , food or beverages should be served by someone who washes their hands often and wears a mask .
• Masks should be worn as often as possible , and removed only when eating or drinking .
• Higher-risk people , such as the elderly or those with chronic health conditions , should not attend gatherings .
But if they do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outside or near outside air flow ; wear a respirator or surgical mask instead of a cloth mask and minimize time at the event with the mask off ; and spend a shorter time at the gathering .
Los Angeles , San Diego , Riverside , San Bernardino and Imperial counties are among the counties in the purple tier in Southern California .
If three households are coming together , Rutherford said , one idea to keep things safer is to assign each group its own table .
“ This should not be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the father of the bride flits from table to table knocking over drinks and chatting everybody up.
” In California ’ s Yolo County , just west of Sacramento and home to UC Davis , health officials went a step further and specified in a health order issued last month that celebrations and get-togethers must be .
“ The more people interact and the longer they interact , the higher the risk of getting and spreading COVID-19 , ” the order says .
“ The Yolo County Health Officer strongly discourages gatherings of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you interact with should be kept stable , experts say .
Attending multiple gatherings over a short period increases your risk .
Another thing to consider when hosting a gathering is the rate of COVID-19 infection in a guest ’ s home community , which can be using the peer-reviewed online , built by researchers at Georgia Tech .
Before the state issued its travel advisory Friday , L.A. County officials were recommending that residents who return from travel quarantine themselves for 14 days .
That means restricting your activities over those two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not going out to the grocery store or to restaurants , and relying on delivery .
“ You can go out by yourself and take a walk ; we don ’ t have a problem with that , ” Ferrer said .
“ But , no , we don ’ t want you going into restaurants and sitting and eating outside , and we don ’ t want you going into retail establishments either .
”

How should Thanksgiving be celebrated in the middle of the worst global pandemic in a century?
As safely as possible, experts say. Think small, and stay at home.
Thanksgiving offers profound risks if large numbers of guests hailing from different households — especially those traveling from far away — gather. Those who are elderly or have underlying medical conditions are at particular risk for severe illness or death should they be infected with the coronavirus.
Advertisement
Testing before Thanksgiving also isn’t a sure way to stave off the spread of the illness. If a person is tested shortly after becoming infected and before the virus has reproduced enough copies of itself, a test could fail to detect the virus and produce a false negative result.
People can be highly contagious even when showing no signs of illness.
A negative test “should not be used as a free pass to gather with others or to not follow the basic core public health measures that are essential to keeping us all healthy,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, Los Angeles County’s director of health services.
That’s why the safest bet is to stick to your own household for the holiday this year, public health officials say.
“I know everybody wants to know what to do for Thanksgiving, and the basic answer — to be the Grinch who stole Thanksgiving — is not to do it,” Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at UC San Francisco, said at a recent campus town hall meeting.
“It’s just going to be my wife and me. I already told the kids, ‘Forget it,’” said Rutherford, who has six adult children.
Advertisement
Feel free to make a special dinner. But to “host,” it’s safest to connect with extended friends and family through video calls or the telephone, while keeping in-person guests among only the members of your household.
California has seen significant jumps in coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and positive test rates, and officials expect deaths to rise too. “This much of an increase in cases may very well result in tremendous suffering and tragic deaths down the road,” said Barbara Ferrer, the Los Angeles County director of public health.
On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a travel advisory encouraging residents to stay local and avoid nonessential out-of-state travel. It also asks those who arrive from another state or country to self-quarantine for 14 days.
“Please choose to be part of the solution because it’s going to take all of us to avoid increased heartbreak,” Ferrer said. “We’re actually recommending this Thanksgiving be a stay-at-home Thanksgiving.”
Ferrer said she won’t be driving this year for Thanksgiving to see her grandchildren, who live in a state that has a lot of coronavirus cases.
“It’s just not a good idea. And I’ll be really sad about this. Like all of you, I wish things were really different, but they’re not,” Ferrer said. “I don’t want to be one of the people that’s contributing to ... increasing cases that could result in other people getting sick and even dying.”
Limiting gatherings to within your immediate household means only those who currently live with you and share common spaces in your housing unit, officials say. That doesn’t include college students or other family members who live elsewhere.
“Obviously, the preference is for people not to be flying home for the holidays — for students or for others,” Ferrer said.
Health officials nationally and in California continue to urge people to avoid travel , which raises the risk of contracting and spreading the coronavirus.
“What we don’t want to have happen is have all these kids flying across the country for four days and then fly back again. That’s just unnecessary mixing,” Rutherford said in a subsequent interview. “The basic advice is: Stay within your pod. Stay within your bubble. Stay within your household.”
If students do fly home, some colleges are recommending they don’t return to campus until after the new year, Ferrer said, “so that you’re not really exposing lots more people when you come back here to finish out the semester.”
A person infected with the coronavirus on average goes on to infect two to four more people. One person can easily be responsible for the infection of more than 1,000 people after 10 cycles of virus transmission.
California California issues travel advisory ahead of holidays as COVID-19 surges The advisory encourages residents to avoid nonessential travel. It also asks those arriving from another state or country to quarantine for 14 days.
Public health experts are extremely concerned about large gatherings during Thanksgiving as the virus surges nationally to record levels, with more than 100,000 people infected every day.
The pandemic’s first global spread coincided with a holiday quite like Thanksgiving in China: the Lunar New Year. Celebrations proceeded in Wuhan, the global epicenter of the pandemic, even though there were ample warnings the virus was spreading. And it hitched a ride with travelers as they fled the region just before a quarantine was enforced.
Dinners have also been shown to be a big spreader of the coronavirus. Disease investigators in Arizona who studied an outbreak tied to 60 people found that many of the cases probably stemmed from transmission at an indoor potluck dinner, where attendees did not wear masks, and a subsequent graduation dinner with more than two dozen attendees. Two of those who fell ill had to go to an emergency room, and one required critical care.
This year, the American Automobile Assn. estimates that 2.4 million Americans will still travel by air for Thanksgiving, a 48% decline from last year, and about 48 million will travel by car, a 4% drop.
If you are going to have guests, there are ways to make your celebration safer. Dr. Sara Cody, the health officer for Santa Clara County and one of the key architects of the nation’s first regional stay-at-home order, will have her mother, who is in her 80s, over for Thanksgiving.
“She will be outside, wrapped in blankets, greater than 10 feet from where I am. So that’s one way to do it,” Cody said.
While urging people to celebrate with only their immediate households, “we also understand that after an extraordinarily difficult year, people want to come together and find some nourishment in the company of family and friends,” Cody said. “We have guidelines for how to do that safely: Chief among them is to gather outdoors.”
California still generally prohibits large gatherings and has outlined the following requirements :
Gatherings are limited to no more than three households and should be for a duration of no more than two hours.
Gatherings are to be held outside in counties in the state’s most restrictive, or purple, tier.
Gatherings in counties in the less restrictive tiers may occur indoors, although they’re still strongly discouraged. Hosts should increase fresh air circulation by opening windows or doors as much as possible, especially in the rooms where people are gathering.
Attendees need to be able to maintain six feet of distance away from people not in their household.
As much as possible, food or beverages should be served by someone who washes their hands often and wears a mask.
Masks should be worn as often as possible, and removed only when eating or drinking.
Higher-risk people, such as the elderly or those with chronic health conditions, should not attend gatherings. But if they do, they should spend as much time outside or near outside air flow; wear a respirator or surgical mask instead of a cloth mask and minimize time at the event with the mask off; and spend a shorter time at the gathering.
Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties are among the counties in the purple tier in Southern California.
If three households are coming together, Rutherford said, one idea to keep things safer is to assign each group its own table.
“This should not be like the sort of wedding reception where the father of the bride flits from table to table knocking over drinks and chatting everybody up.”
In California’s Yolo County, just west of Sacramento and home to UC Davis, health officials went a step further and specified in a health order issued last month that celebrations and get-togethers must be capped at 16 people .
“The more people interact and the longer they interact, the higher the risk of getting and spreading COVID-19,” the order says. “The Yolo County Health Officer strongly discourages gatherings of any size.”
The number of households you interact with should be kept stable, experts say. Attending multiple gatherings over a short period increases your risk.
Another thing to consider when hosting a gathering is the rate of COVID-19 infection in a guest’s home community, which can be checked using the peer-reviewed COVID-19 Risk Assessment Planning Tool online, built by researchers at Georgia Tech.
Before the state issued its travel advisory Friday, L.A. County officials were recommending that residents who return from travel quarantine themselves for 14 days. That means restricting your activities over those two weeks as much as possible — and not going out to the grocery store or to restaurants, and relying on delivery.
“You can go out by yourself and take a walk; we don’t have a problem with that,” Ferrer said. “But, no, we don’t want you going into restaurants and sitting and eating outside, and we don’t want you going into retail establishments either.”


latimes--2020-11-11--Your guide to rental housing in Southern California

What you can do before , during and after your tenancy to get as much of your security deposit back @ @ @ @ @ to do in case of a dispute with your landlord .

What you can do before, during and after your tenancy to get as much of your security deposit back as possible, plus what to do in case of a dispute with your landlord.