latimes--2020-03-12--Trump suspends travel from Europe to battle coronavirus; NBA suspends season

The world ’ s coronavirus crisis entered a new phase Wednesday when a cascade of restrictions , cancellations and revelations worked to further upend everyday life , with more economic ramifications expected Thursday .
The NBA said Wednesday it is suspending its season until further notice after a player tested positive for the novel coronavirus .
The announcement came less than an hour after President Trump imposed stringent new travel restrictions , barring most travelers from Europe from entering the country for a 30-day period beginning Friday .
That was followed by Gov .
Gavin Newsom ’ s directive that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because of the risk of spreading infections .
Similar orders had come from governors in Washington state and New York , states hard hit by relatively large numbers of COVID-19 cases .
Trump ’ s new travel restrictions exclude the United Kingdom and a few other European nations and make other exceptions for healthy Americans .
“ The European Union failed to take the same precautions ” as the United States in barring travel from China , he said , claiming that U.S. clusters of the disease caused by the virus were “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ NBA ’ s announcement stunned the sports world and will surely add to the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus outbreak , an issue Trump touched upon in his televised address .
Trump said he is instructing the Small Business Administration to provide new low-interest loans for some businesses hurt by the outbreak and asked Congress to approve $ 50 billion in additional funding for that purpose .
He also asked Congress again to approve payroll tax relief , a proposal that neither party on Capitol Hill has favored .
“ We are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against the virus , ” he said , while still claiming the risk to most Americans remains low .
The travel ban applies to foreign nationals traveling from 26 Europe countries and does not affect travel by U.S. citizens , permanent residents or immediate family members of U.S. citizens , according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security .
It applies to any foreign national who has been in those European countries during the 14 days prior to their scheduled arrival in the U.S. and does not not apply to trade @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emergency , as some had suggested he would , which could have clashed with his previous , repeated calls for calm .
“ The virus will not have a chance against us ” if Americans take precautions , he said , downplaying dire warnings from his public health officials who say the spread of the virus is inevitable .
Later in the evening , the U.S. State Department issued an advisory urging citizens to reconsider traveling abroad because of the virus and the potential that other countries may unexpectedly limit mobility .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ toll continued to mount in California , especially in the Bay Area , where nearly 100 cases have been confirmed .
But Southern California is also seeing the virus spread , affecting churches , LA suburbs and celebrities .
On Wednesday , the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed its first coronavirus-related death and nine new cases , bringing the county ’ s total to 29 , including four cases in Long Beach and one new case in Pasadena .
A pair of famous Southern California residents , actors Tom Hanks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ announced they had tested positive for the virus in Australia and are in isolation at a hospital .
L.A. County ’ s first coronavirus fatality was a woman older than 60 who had underlying health issues , said Dr. Barbara Ferrer , the county health department ’ s director .
The patient was not an L.A. County resident but had been visiting after extensive travel over the last month , including a long layover in South Korea .
“ Shortly after being hospitalized , she unfortunately passed , ” Ferrer said .
Ferrer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ included the county ’ s second instance of community spread .
That individual is hospitalized .
Three individuals are household contacts of an L.A. County resident previously confirmed to have the virus .
One of those people is currently hospitalized .
To date , the county ’ s public health lab has completed 72 tests for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 .
That number does not include those performed by commercial labs .
Elsewhere in Southern California , Pasadena confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus in a resident , Ventura County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Riverside County its seventh .
In Beverly Hills , a church announced that its rector had fallen ill with the virus .
As the outbreak continued its rapid spread across the globe , the World Health Organization for the first time referred to the outbreak as a pandemic .
“ This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus , ” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said .
“ We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear.
” Coronaviruses typically cause the common cold , but deadly illnesses SARS and MERS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emphasized that countries could still take aggressive steps to beat back the spread of the new coronavirus and said he believed united action could effectively combat the spreading illness .
The pandemic classification does not change the WHO ’ s strategy for slowing the outbreak nor should it affect how countries are tackling cases , Tedros said .
“ There has been so much attention on one word , and let me give you some other words that matter much more , and are much more actionable , ” Tedros said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health , political leadership and , most of all , people… .
We ’ re in this together to do the right things with calm and protect the citizens of the world.
” Unlike a public health emergency — which is declared based on specific international-law criteria — there is no formal WHO process that governs whether the organization refers to a global outbreak as a pandemic .
Instead , the heightened rhetoric simply reflects the worsening trends that officials have been observing for some time , officials said .
On Wednesday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prepare and protect homeless Californians and service providers from the virus , which included ensuring they had enough health and personal protective equipment on hand , identifying areas to isolate individuals suffering mild symptoms and seeking out the people most vulnerable to the disease .
In Northern California , an elderly patient died in an assisted living facility of the novel coronavirus , sparking fears of an outbreak among other residents there and renewing concerns about statewide availability of testing kits .
The patient , in her 90s , was Sacramento County ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ announced Tuesday .
The woman was among about 140 patients of the facility in Elk Grove , the same suburb where all public schools were closed this week after two members of a household with students at multiple campuses tested positive for the coronavirus .
Tuesday , the district announced that an elementary-school-age student in that family had also tested positive .
Dr. Peter Beilenson , Sacramento County ’ s director of health services , said Tuesday that all patients in the nursing home would be tested for the virus , but that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ test kits .
He said the county had access to only 20 tests per day and was having to ration those among possible cases in the community and medical professionals who might have been exposed .
“ It has been very frustrating because we have been stuck now for a couple of weeks with just 20 tests a day , ” Beilenson said .
The city of Alameda on Wednesday said a firefighter had tested positive for the virus , and Stanislaus County confirmed its first two positive cases .
Seventeen others in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
Officials have continued to take precautionary measures in an attempt to contain the spread of the illness .
A growing number of colleges and universities , most recently Cal State Long Beach , Cal State L.A. and Pepperdine , have suspended in-person classes in favor of online instruction .
Stanford University announced Wednesday two more coronavirus cases have been confirmed on its campus , making that three overall for the school .
San Francisco announced a ban on group events of 1,000 or more people .
“ We know that this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an important step to support public health , ” said Mayor London Breed , noting that city officials were following advice from state officials .
In San Mateo County , officials issued a legal order barring unauthorized visitors and nonessential personnel from licensed skilled nursing facilities , which includes family members .
The county has 15 of the Bay Area ’ s 105 COVID-19 patients .
Officials in other states have also taken action .
Washington state has banned gatherings of 250 or more people as cases continue to rise in Seattle ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of more than 30 .
In Texas , where more than 20 cases have been confirmed , local officials canceled the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo because of concerns about the spread of the virus .
It ’ s the first time the indoor rodeo — billed as the largest in the world — has been canceled since 1932 .
The National Collegiate Athletic Assn .
also announced that its upcoming men ’ s and women ’ s basketball tournaments will be played before “ only essential staff and limited family attendance.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 177 confirmed coronavirus cases .
The United States has surpassed 1,300 coronavirus cases , with most in Washington state , New York and California .
Gov .
Gavin Newsom said more than 1,075 Californians had been tested for the coronavirus at 18 labs across the state .
The state was monitoring an additional 10,300 individuals who had returned to California on international flights and might have been exposed , he said .
Many others who have interacted with infected people are being advised to self-monitor and quarantine at home .
The largest outbreak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County , where more than 40 cases have been confirmed .
Public health officials in Placer and Yolo counties , meanwhile , have announced a shift from trying to contain the virus to accepting that it is spreading too fast for widespread quarantining measures .
Seven people in Placer County have tested positive , including a Rocklin man who died last week .
Yolo County has one confirmed case .
Under the new recommendations in Placer and Yolo counties , which are effective through March 31 , individuals who have come in contact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus will no longer be required to be quarantined for 14 days .
Instead , people with cold-like symptoms , regardless of whether they have the coronavirus or flu , are asked to self-quarantine and manage their symptoms with over-the-counter drugs .
The counties also said that although they had tests for COVID-19 , they would be reserved for people with more serious symptoms , because mild symptoms are treated the same regardless of the diagnosis .
The counties urged businesses to allow employees to telecommute where possible and for large events to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Placer County ’ s public health director , said the county would continue to do some tracing of those who had come in contact with the virus but that it would screen only for high-risk situations , such as a person who visited a nursing home or came in contact with an immunocompromised individual .
A change in strategy is needed , she and other health officials said .
If counties keep quarantining healthcare workers for potential exposure , she said , “ we wouldn ’ t have any healthcare workers left.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Taryn Luna , Melody Gutierrez , Tony Barboza , Molly Hennessy-Fiske , Ruben Vives and Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report .

Colleen Shalby, Soumya Karlamangla, Anita Chabria, Joseph Serna, Noah Bierman

The world’s coronavirus crisis entered a new phase Wednesday when a cascade of restrictions, cancellations and revelations worked to further upend everyday life, with more economic ramifications expected Thursday.
The NBA said Wednesday it is suspending its season until further notice after a player tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The announcement came less than an hour after President Trump imposed stringent new travel restrictions, barring most travelers from Europe from entering the country for a 30-day period beginning Friday.
That was followed by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s directive that large gatherings should be canceled across California because of the risk of spreading infections. Similar orders had come from governors in Washington state and New York, states hard hit by relatively large numbers of COVID-19 cases.
Trump’s new travel restrictions exclude the United Kingdom and a few other European nations and make other exceptions for healthy Americans.
“The European Union failed to take the same precautions” as the United States in barring travel from China, he said, claiming that U.S. clusters of the disease caused by the virus were “seeded by travelers from Europe.”
The NBA’s announcement stunned the sports world and will surely add to the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus outbreak, an issue Trump touched upon in his televised address.
Trump said he is instructing the Small Business Administration to provide new low-interest loans for some businesses hurt by the outbreak and asked Congress to approve $50 billion in additional funding for that purpose. He also asked Congress again to approve payroll tax relief, a proposal that neither party on Capitol Hill has favored.
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“We are at a critical time in the fight against the virus,” he said, while still claiming the risk to most Americans remains low.
The travel ban applies to foreign nationals traveling from 26 Europe countries and does not affect travel by U.S. citizens, permanent residents or immediate family members of U.S. citizens, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security. It applies to any foreign national who has been in those European countries during the 14 days prior to their scheduled arrival in the U.S. and does not not apply to trade.
Trump did not declare a national emergency, as some had suggested he would, which could have clashed with his previous, repeated calls for calm.
“The virus will not have a chance against us” if Americans take precautions, he said, downplaying dire warnings from his public health officials who say the spread of the virus is inevitable.
Later in the evening, the U.S. State Department issued an advisory urging citizens to reconsider traveling abroad because of the virus and the potential that other countries may unexpectedly limit mobility.
Sports NBA suspends season indefinitely over coronavirus pandemic The NBA on Wednesday moved to suspend the season indefinitely amid the coronavirus pandemic, which included Utah’s Rudy Gobert contracting COVID-19.
The dual travel announcements come as the coronavirus toll continued to mount in California, especially in the Bay Area, where nearly 100 cases have been confirmed. But Southern California is also seeing the virus spread, affecting churches, LA suburbs and celebrities.
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On Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed its first coronavirus-related death and nine new cases, bringing the county’s total to 29, including four cases in Long Beach and one new case in Pasadena. A pair of famous Southern California residents, actors Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, announced they had tested positive for the virus in Australia and are in isolation at a hospital.
L.A. County’s first coronavirus fatality was a woman older than 60 who had underlying health issues, said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the county health department’s director. The patient was not an L.A. County resident but had been visiting after extensive travel over the last month, including a long layover in South Korea.
“Shortly after being hospitalized, she unfortunately passed,” Ferrer said.
Ferrer said that one of the new cases included the county’s second instance of community spread. That individual is hospitalized.
Three individuals are household contacts of an L.A. County resident previously confirmed to have the virus. One of those people is currently hospitalized.
To date, the county’s public health lab has completed 72 tests for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. That number does not include those performed by commercial labs.
Elsewhere in Southern California, Pasadena confirmed its first case of the novel coronavirus in a resident, Ventura County its second, Orange County its sixth and Riverside County its seventh. In Beverly Hills, a church announced that its rector had fallen ill with the virus.
As the outbreak continued its rapid spread across the globe, the World Health Organization for the first time referred to the outbreak as a pandemic.
“This is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear.”
Coronaviruses typically cause the common cold, but deadly illnesses SARS and MERS were also caused by coronaviruses. Tedros emphasized that countries could still take aggressive steps to beat back the spread of the new coronavirus and said he believed united action could effectively combat the spreading illness.
The pandemic classification does not change the WHO’s strategy for slowing the outbreak nor should it affect how countries are tackling cases, Tedros said.
“There has been so much attention on one word, and let me give you some other words that matter much more, and are much more actionable,” Tedros said. “These are prevention, preparedness, public health, political leadership and, most of all, people…. We’re in this together to do the right things with calm and protect the citizens of the world.”
Unlike a public health emergency — which is declared based on specific international-law criteria — there is no formal WHO process that governs whether the organization refers to a global outbreak as a pandemic. Instead, the heightened rhetoric simply reflects the worsening trends that officials have been observing for some time, officials said.
On Wednesday, the state released guidelines on how to prepare and protect homeless Californians and service providers from the virus, which included ensuring they had enough health and personal protective equipment on hand, identifying areas to isolate individuals suffering mild symptoms and seeking out the people most vulnerable to the disease.
In Northern California, an elderly patient died in an assisted living facility of the novel coronavirus, sparking fears of an outbreak among other residents there and renewing concerns about statewide availability of testing kits. The patient, in her 90s, was Sacramento County’s first fatality from COVID-19, officials announced Tuesday.
The woman was among about 140 patients of the facility in Elk Grove, the same suburb where all public schools were closed this week after two members of a household with students at multiple campuses tested positive for the coronavirus. Tuesday, the district announced that an elementary-school-age student in that family had also tested positive.
A resident of Carlton Senior Living in Elk Grove, Calif., has died of COVID-19. (Daniel Kim / Sacramento Bee)
Dr. Peter Beilenson, Sacramento County’s director of health services, said Tuesday that all patients in the nursing home would be tested for the virus, but that effort was delayed by a lack of test kits. He said the county had access to only 20 tests per day and was having to ration those among possible cases in the community and medical professionals who might have been exposed.
“It has been very frustrating because we have been stuck now for a couple of weeks with just 20 tests a day,” Beilenson said.
The city of Alameda on Wednesday said a firefighter had tested positive for the virus, and Stanislaus County confirmed its first two positive cases.
Seventeen others in Stanislaus County are awaiting results, officials said.
Officials have continued to take precautionary measures in an attempt to contain the spread of the illness.
A growing number of colleges and universities, most recently Cal State Long Beach, Cal State L.A. and Pepperdine, have suspended in-person classes in favor of online instruction. Stanford University announced Wednesday two more coronavirus cases have been confirmed on its campus, making that three overall for the school.
San Francisco announced a ban on group events of 1,000 or more people.
“We know that this order is disruptive, but it is an important step to support public health,” said Mayor London Breed, noting that city officials were following advice from state officials.
In San Mateo County, officials issued a legal order barring unauthorized visitors and nonessential personnel from licensed skilled nursing facilities, which includes family members.
The county has 15 of the Bay Area’s 105 COVID-19 patients.
Officials in other states have also taken action.
Washington state has banned gatherings of 250 or more people as cases continue to rise in Seattle’s suburbs, reaching a death toll of more than 30.
In Texas, where more than 20 cases have been confirmed, local officials canceled the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo because of concerns about the spread of the virus. It’s the first time the indoor rodeo — billed as the largest in the world — has been canceled since 1932.
The National Collegiate Athletic Assn. also announced that its upcoming men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will be played before “only essential staff and limited family attendance.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, California had 177 confirmed coronavirus cases. The United States has surpassed 1,300 coronavirus cases, with most in Washington state, New York and California.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said more than 1,075 Californians had been tested for the coronavirus at 18 labs across the state. The state was monitoring an additional 10,300 individuals who had returned to California on international flights and might have been exposed, he said. Many others who have interacted with infected people are being advised to self-monitor and quarantine at home.
The largest outbreak of the illness is in Santa Clara County, where more than 40 cases have been confirmed.
Barbara Ferrer is director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Public health officials in Placer and Yolo counties, meanwhile, have announced a shift from trying to contain the virus to accepting that it is spreading too fast for widespread quarantining measures. Seven people in Placer County have tested positive, including a Rocklin man who died last week. Yolo County has one confirmed case.
Under the new recommendations in Placer and Yolo counties, which are effective through March 31, individuals who have come in contact with a confirmed or suspected case of coronavirus will no longer be required to be quarantined for 14 days. Instead, people with cold-like symptoms, regardless of whether they have the coronavirus or flu, are asked to self-quarantine and manage their symptoms with over-the-counter drugs.
The counties also said that although they had tests for COVID-19, they would be reserved for people with more serious symptoms, because mild symptoms are treated the same regardless of the diagnosis. The counties urged businesses to allow employees to telecommute where possible and for large events to be postponed or canceled.
Placer County Public Health Officer Aimee Sisson at a news conference in Auburn, Calif. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)
Aimee Sisson, Placer County’s public health director, said the county would continue to do some tracing of those who had come in contact with the virus but that it would screen only for high-risk situations, such as a person who visited a nursing home or came in contact with an immunocompromised individual. A change in strategy is needed, she and other health officials said.
If counties keep quarantining healthcare workers for potential exposure, she said, “we wouldn’t have any healthcare workers left.”
Times staff writers Emily Baumgaertner, Taryn Luna, Melody Gutierrez, Tony Barboza, Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Ruben Vives and Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-03-11--Coronavirus protection on planes: Avoid eating, keep cleaning

If you must fly during the coronavirus outbreak , how might you protect yourself ?
That ’ s one of the tips suggested by Dr. Barbara Ferrer , director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health , at a recent news conference : • If it ’ s a short trip , consider not eating .
When you eat , you often put your hands in your mouth .
And if your hands have touched a virus-infected surface , such as the seat tray , you don ’ t want to be putting your unwashed hands in your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where you ’ re sitting on a plane .
Bleach-based wipes and solutions with at least 60 % alcohol can kill the coronavirus .
• Wash your hands frequently .
Scrub for at least 20 seconds with soap , remembering to lather the backs of the hands , between the fingers and under the nails .
• Use hand sanitizer — with at least 60 % alcohol — frequently .
Hand sanitizer is helpful when you can ’ t wash your hands , but it doesn ’ t work on all types of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seated next to a person actively coughing , ask to be relocated .
• Under all circumstances , stop touching your face with unwashed hands .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said airline crew should report to the CDC any traveler who has had a fever for more than 48 hours or has a fever and one of the following symptoms — cough , difficulty breathing or an obviously unwell appearance .
Any such passengers should be moved as far away as possible from other passengers and crew , ideally by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ distance that virus-studded droplets from a person ’ s cough or sneeze can travel before falling to the ground .
The flight crew should then offer a face mask if available and if the passenger can tolerate it .
If not available , the sick person should be asked to cover their mouth and nose with tissues when coughing and sneezing , the CDC said .
In past pandemics , flight crews were not always aware of federal guidelines .
During the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic , flight attendants did not follow those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Times journalists ; some crew members said they had no masks to offer .
This coronavirus can be given to other people through the saliva of an infected person being coughed or sneezed into the wet areas of a person ’ s face , like the eyes , nose or mouth .
It can also be transmitted through a person using their hands to touch an infected surface , like droplets of saliva coughed onto a seatback pocket , and then touching their face with their unwashed fingers .

Wipe down the area where you’re sitting on a plane. Bleach-based wipes and solutions with at least 60% alcohol can kill the coronavirus.
If you must fly during the coronavirus outbreak, how might you protect yourself?
Don’t eat on the plane.
That’s one of the tips suggested by Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, at a recent news conference:
If it’s a short trip, consider not eating. When you eat, you often put your hands in your mouth. And if your hands have touched a virus-infected surface, such as the seat tray, you don’t want to be putting your unwashed hands in your mouth.
Wipe down the area where you’re sitting on a plane. Bleach-based wipes and solutions with at least 60% alcohol can kill the coronavirus.
Wash your hands frequently. Scrub for at least 20 seconds with soap, remembering to lather the backs of the hands, between the fingers and under the nails.
Use hand sanitizer — with at least 60% alcohol — frequently. Hand sanitizer is helpful when you can’t wash your hands, but it doesn’t work on all types of germs.
If you’re seated next to a person actively coughing, ask to be relocated.
Under all circumstances, stop touching your face with unwashed hands.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said airline crew should report to the CDC any traveler who has had a fever for more than 48 hours or has a fever and one of the following symptoms — cough, difficulty breathing or an obviously unwell appearance.
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Any such passengers should be moved as far away as possible from other passengers and crew, ideally by at least 6 feet — the maximum distance that virus-studded droplets from a person’s cough or sneeze can travel before falling to the ground.
The flight crew should then offer a face mask if available and if the passenger can tolerate it. If not available, the sick person should be asked to cover their mouth and nose with tissues when coughing and sneezing, the CDC said.
In past pandemics, flight crews were not always aware of federal guidelines. During the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, flight attendants did not follow those guidelines on a number of flights taken by Times journalists; some crew members said they had no masks to offer.
This coronavirus can be given to other people through the saliva of an infected person being coughed or sneezed into the wet areas of a person’s face, like the eyes, nose or mouth.
It can also be transmitted through a person using their hands to touch an infected surface, like droplets of saliva coughed onto a seatback pocket, and then touching their face with their unwashed fingers.


latimes--2020-03-11--Some Grand Princess passengers will be quarantined on Monterey Peninsula

Up to two dozen passengers of the Grand Princess will head to a California state beach on the Monterey Peninsula for a mandatory 14-day quarantine after they disembark from the cruise ship — where at least 21 people have tested positive for the coronavirus , officials said .
During their temporary stay at the Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove , the individuals will be housed in a cluster of buildings “ removed from visitors and the public , and will not interact with other Asilomar guests , employees or the general public , ” according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Office of Emergency Services .
“ Public health and safety is the responsibility of every level of government , ” Pacific Grove City Councilwoman Amy Tomlinson said in a statement .
“ Pacific Grove is working closely with our state and federal partners to ensure the highest level of safety is provided for our community.
” Though none of those who will be moved to Asilomar are known to have contracted the novel coronavirus , officials said they will continue to be monitored and tested by medical professionals .
All of those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials said , but because they have mild symptoms that do not require hospitalization , they can ’ t be quarantined at Travis Air Force Base in Solano County , another housing location to isolate California residents who were aboard the Grand Princess .
“ These residents have endured a lot of stress in the last few days , and our top priority is to protect their health — and the public health of California — until they can return to their homes , ” state Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We understand people across California are concerned about novel coronavirus , and that ’ s why we ’ re collaborating with our federal partners to ensure that the community surrounding Asilomar is not impacted.
” California State Parks Director Lisa Mangat said her agency “ is ready to step up and support these Americans who need our assistance , and we continue to make the health and safety of visitors , employees and the public our top priority.
” The Grand Princess docked in Oakland on Monday and began the painstaking process @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of whom were potentially exposed to the coronavirus .
Wednesday marks the third day of disembarkment .
Gov .
Gavin Newsom previously said most of the 962 California residents aboard the ship who did not need immediate medical attention would be taken to Travis Air Force Base for 14 days of quarantine , with a smaller number going to the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego County .
The other American passengers would be sent to military bases in Texas and Georgia , while foreign passengers would be flown to their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The nation and indeed the rest of the world is watching how our community reacts to this situation , ” Monterey County District 5 Supervisor Mary Adams said in a statement .
“ We have an opportunity to provide an example of a compassionate humanitarian response .
”

A woman gestures as medical personnel help load passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship onto airplanes at Oakland International Airport on Tuesday.
Up to two dozen passengers of the Grand Princess will head to a California state beach on the Monterey Peninsula for a mandatory 14-day quarantine after they disembark from the cruise ship — where at least 21 people have tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said.
During their temporary stay at the Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, the individuals will be housed in a cluster of buildings “removed from visitors and the public, and will not interact with other Asilomar guests, employees or the general public,” according to a statement from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
“Public health and safety is the responsibility of every level of government,” Pacific Grove City Councilwoman Amy Tomlinson said in a statement. “Pacific Grove is working closely with our state and federal partners to ensure the highest level of safety is provided for our community.”
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Though none of those who will be moved to Asilomar are known to have contracted the novel coronavirus, officials said they will continue to be monitored and tested by medical professionals.
All of those being moved have already been screened, officials said, but because they have mild symptoms that do not require hospitalization, they can’t be quarantined at Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, another housing location to isolate California residents who were aboard the Grand Princess.
“These residents have endured a lot of stress in the last few days, and our top priority is to protect their health — and the public health of California — until they can return to their homes,” state Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said in a statement. “We understand people across California are concerned about novel coronavirus, and that’s why we’re collaborating with our federal partners to ensure that the community surrounding Asilomar is not impacted.”
California State Parks Director Lisa Mangat said her agency “is ready to step up and support these Americans who need our assistance, and we continue to make the health and safety of visitors, employees and the public our top priority.”
The Grand Princess docked in Oakland on Monday and began the painstaking process of unloading thousands of passengers, all of whom were potentially exposed to the coronavirus. Wednesday marks the third day of disembarkment.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom previously said most of the 962 California residents aboard the ship who did not need immediate medical attention would be taken to Travis Air Force Base for 14 days of quarantine, with a smaller number going to the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego County. The other American passengers would be sent to military bases in Texas and Georgia, while foreign passengers would be flown to their home countries, officials said.
“The nation and indeed the rest of the world is watching how our community reacts to this situation,” Monterey County District 5 Supervisor Mary Adams said in a statement. “We have an opportunity to provide an example of a compassionate humanitarian response.”


latimes--2020-03-11--Harvey Weinstein gets 23-year prison sentence in his New York trial

As soon as New York Supreme Court Judge James Burke said “ 20 , ” an audible gasp cut through the courtroom where Harvey Weinstein ’ s fate was being determined .
Tarale Wulff , who accused Weinstein of raping her in his Manhattan apartment in 2005 , said she dropped her head to her hands as she realized what Burke was saying .
“ I couldn ’ t believe what I was about to hear , ” she told reporters later .
“ No one thought we ’ d be here today.
” For Wulff , the wait was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was longer .
But accusations by more than 80 women in four countries came to a head Wednesday morning , when Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison , potentially ensuring the former Hollywood titan will die as a resident of a New York state prison cell .
Weinstein , 67 , was convicted last month of committing a criminal sexual act and third-degree rape .
He faced a maximum of 29 years in prison .
Burke handed down a 20-year sentence for a 2006 attack the mogul committed against former production @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an additional three years in prison for raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel in 2013 .
The sentences will run consecutively .
The Miramax co-founder has denied all wrongdoing and plans to appeal .
“ We thank the court for imposing a sentence that puts sexual predators and abusive partners in all segments of society on notice .
We thank the survivors for their remarkable statements today and indescribable courage over the last two years , ” Manhattan Dist .
Atty .
Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ an army of spies to keep them silent .
But they refused to be silent , and they were heard.
” Weinstein ’ s legal troubles may yet worsen .
The Los Angeles County district attorney ’ s office said Wednesday that it would begin the process of extraditing him to California , where he is charged with multiple counts of sexual assault stemming from alleged attacks against two women in 2013 .
A court date in Los Angeles has not been set .
Before he was sentenced , Weinstein spoke in court @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He had declined to testify at trial , but Weinstein told Burke on Wednesday that media scrutiny and the risk of earning scorn in Hollywood had actually silenced his defenders , not the victims .
“ People losing their jobs over the fact that they testified for me , ” he said , “ or people being afraid they are going to lose their jobs , is not the right atmosphere for the United States of America.
” Sitting less than two miles from the site of the Sept. 11 , 2001 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the gallery that he had led philanthropic efforts that raised millions of dollars for New York police and firefighters .
He also downplayed his ability to use his Hollywood stature to silence his victims .
“ I couldn ’ t blackball anybody , ” he said , “ cause if I said don ’ t use that actress , guys at Warner Bros. would have said , ‘ I ’ m gon na use her just to spite that bastard.
’ ” Six women testified against Weinstein during the trial , describing interactions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mentally draining .
Mann , who said she had a consensual but abusive relationship with Weinstein that turned violent whenever she refused his advances , had to be helped from the stand and was led out of court sobbing in the midst of three days of marathon testimony last month .
Mann began her remarks at Wednesday ’ s proceedings by addressing that moment .
“ The day my uncontrollable screams were heard from the witness room was the day my whole voice came back into my power , ” she said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ couldn ’ t make the day Weinstein attacked her .
Mann criticized Weinstein ’ s attorneys for trying to paint her relationship with him as “ loving , ” while imploring Burke to consider the long-term effects of Weinstein ’ s attack on her .
“ I live in a body that has become unsafe .
...
The recurring nightmare of how I feel is just as real as the day it happened , ” she said .
Haley said she “ lived in fear and paranoia on a daily basis ” after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2017 .
She routinely suffered panic attacks , and a private investigator began questioning her friends after she came forward , she said .
In asking Burke to hand down the near-maximum sentence , the case ’ s lead prosecutor , Joan Illuzzi-Orbon , emphasized a narrative the prosecution sought to establish at every step of the trial : that Weinstein used his power first to entrap his victims and then to silence them .
“ How did he use that power ?
He got drunk on the power , ” she said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him .
No limit to what he could take .
No desire he could not grant himself .
The young , struggling dreamers were not even people to him.
” Weinstein was arrested and led into a New York City Police Department precinct in 2018 .
Prosecutors charged him with multiple counts of sexual assault involving Mann , Haley and actress Annabella Sciorra , who said Weinstein forced his way into her Manhattan apartment and assaulted her in the early 1990s .
Sciorra ’ s case was too old to prosecute on its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it as the basis for two counts of predatory sexual assault .
If convicted of those counts , which would have required jurors to believe Weinstein raped Sciorra and either Mann or Haley , he would have faced a minimum of 25 years in prison and a maximum life sentence .
Weinstein was wheeled into court Wednesday morning wearing a light blue blazer and a white shirt , open at the collar .
Over the course of the trial , he walked to and from court with the aid of a walker , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year .
Shortly after Weinstein was convicted , his lead attorney , Donna Rotunno , told Burke that her client needed injections to prevent losing his eyesight .
Weinstein was also hospitalized for heart palpitations the day the verdict came down , delaying his eventual trip to Rikers Island .
In an 11-page memo filed last week , prosecutors asked Burke to impose a sentence that would reflect the “ total lack of remorse ” Weinstein had shown for his crimes .
The document outlined a litany of uncharged allegations against Weinstein , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and harassment , some of which were previously unknown .
Weinstein ’ s attorneys pounced on the document in court Wednesday .
Damon Cheronis asked Burke not to consider the memo , as it laid out allegations that hadn ’ t been scrutinized in court , marking a de facto due process violation for Weinstein .
Burke seemingly agreed with that , though he appeared annoyed that three of Weinstein ’ s lawyers wanted to speak on their client ’ s behalf .
The defense team also argued that the average sentence for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was roughly 8 ½ years .
Rotunno requested that Burke sentence her client to the minimum , given his deteriorating health and her assertion that no jury could be impartial given the years of intense media coverage around Weinstein .
“ Mr .
Weinstein came in with the forces of the media , the forces of the world , pushing against the chance to have a real , impartial jury in this case , ” she said .
After hearing Burke ’ s decision , Rotunno said she was “ overcome with anger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his mind long before Wednesday .
“ I think it was very clear nothing we did or said today was going to make a difference , ” she said .
Illuzzi-Orbon , the lead prosecutor , did not mince words about what fate she thought Weinstein deserved , reeling off a number of quotes from former employees and confidants of the mogul as if they were blurbs for an upcoming feature film .
Weinstein , Illuzzi-Orbon said , had been described as a “ frightening power addict , ” a liar and , @ @ @ @ @ @ @

As soon as New York Supreme Court Judge James Burke said “20,” an audible gasp cut through the courtroom where Harvey Weinstein’s fate was being determined.
Tarale Wulff, who accused Weinstein of raping her in his Manhattan apartment in 2005, said she dropped her head to her hands as she realized what Burke was saying.
“I couldn’t believe what I was about to hear,” she told reporters later. “No one thought we’d be here today.”
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For Wulff, the wait was 15 years. For others, it was longer. But accusations by more than 80 women in four countries came to a head Wednesday morning, when Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison, potentially ensuring the former Hollywood titan will die as a resident of a New York state prison cell.
Weinstein, 67, was convicted last month of committing a criminal sexual act and third-degree rape. He faced a maximum of 29 years in prison. Burke handed down a 20-year sentence for a 2006 attack the mogul committed against former production assistant Mimi Haley. Weinstein must serve an additional three years in prison for raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel in 2013. The sentences will run consecutively.
The Miramax co-founder has denied all wrongdoing and plans to appeal.
“We thank the court for imposing a sentence that puts sexual predators and abusive partners in all segments of society on notice. We thank the survivors for their remarkable statements today and indescribable courage over the last two years,” Manhattan Dist. Atty. Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement. “Harvey Weinstein deployed nothing less than an army of spies to keep them silent. But they refused to be silent, and they were heard.”
Weinstein’s legal troubles may yet worsen. The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said Wednesday that it would begin the process of extraditing him to California, where he is charged with multiple counts of sexual assault stemming from alleged attacks against two women in 2013. A court date in Los Angeles has not been set.
Before he was sentenced, Weinstein spoke in court for the first time during the proceedings. He had declined to testify at trial, but Weinstein told Burke on Wednesday that media scrutiny and the risk of earning scorn in Hollywood had actually silenced his defenders, not the victims.
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“People losing their jobs over the fact that they testified for me,” he said, “or people being afraid they are going to lose their jobs, is not the right atmosphere for the United States of America.”
Sitting less than two miles from the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Weinstein also reminded the gallery that he had led philanthropic efforts that raised millions of dollars for New York police and firefighters. He also downplayed his ability to use his Hollywood stature to silence his victims.
“I couldn’t blackball anybody,” he said, “cause if I said don’t use that actress, guys at Warner Bros. would have said, ‘I’m gonna use her just to spite that bastard.’”
Six women testified against Weinstein during the trial, describing interactions with him as both brutally violent and mentally draining. Mann, who said she had a consensual but abusive relationship with Weinstein that turned violent whenever she refused his advances, had to be helped from the stand and was led out of court sobbing in the midst of three days of marathon testimony last month.
Mann began her remarks at Wednesday’s proceedings by addressing that moment.
“The day my uncontrollable screams were heard from the witness room was the day my whole voice came back into my power,” she said, describing the howls as the cries she couldn’t make the day Weinstein attacked her.
Mann criticized Weinstein’s attorneys for trying to paint her relationship with him as “loving,” while imploring Burke to consider the long-term effects of Weinstein’s attack on her.
“I live in a body that has become unsafe. ... The recurring nightmare of how I feel is just as real as the day it happened,” she said.
Haley said she “lived in fear and paranoia on a daily basis” after coming forward with accusations against Weinstein in 2017. She routinely suffered panic attacks, and a private investigator began questioning her friends after she came forward, she said.
In asking Burke to hand down the near-maximum sentence, the case’s lead prosecutor, Joan Illuzzi-Orbon, emphasized a narrative the prosecution sought to establish at every step of the trial: that Weinstein used his power first to entrap his victims and then to silence them.
“How did he use that power? He got drunk on the power,” she said. “He saw no authority over him. No limit to what he could take. No desire he could not grant himself. The young, struggling dreamers were not even people to him.”
Weinstein was arrested and led into a New York City Police Department precinct in 2018. Prosecutors charged him with multiple counts of sexual assault involving Mann, Haley and actress Annabella Sciorra, who said Weinstein forced his way into her Manhattan apartment and assaulted her in the early 1990s.
Sciorra’s case was too old to prosecute on its own, but New York prosecutors used it as the basis for two counts of predatory sexual assault. If convicted of those counts, which would have required jurors to believe Weinstein raped Sciorra and either Mann or Haley, he would have faced a minimum of 25 years in prison and a maximum life sentence.
Weinstein was wheeled into court Wednesday morning wearing a light blue blazer and a white shirt, open at the collar. Over the course of the trial, he walked to and from court with the aid of a walker, the result of spinal decompression surgery last year. Shortly after Weinstein was convicted, his lead attorney, Donna Rotunno, told Burke that her client needed injections to prevent losing his eyesight. Weinstein was also hospitalized for heart palpitations the day the verdict came down, delaying his eventual trip to Rikers Island.
In an 11-page memo filed last week, prosecutors asked Burke to impose a sentence that would reflect the “total lack of remorse” Weinstein had shown for his crimes. The document outlined a litany of uncharged allegations against Weinstein, including 16 different claims of sexual assault and harassment, some of which were previously unknown.
Weinstein’s attorneys pounced on the document in court Wednesday. Damon Cheronis asked Burke not to consider the memo, as it laid out allegations that hadn’t been scrutinized in court, marking a de facto due process violation for Weinstein. Burke seemingly agreed with that, though he appeared annoyed that three of Weinstein’s lawyers wanted to speak on their client’s behalf.
The defense team also argued that the average sentence for the top count Weinstein was convicted of was roughly 8 ½ years. Rotunno requested that Burke sentence her client to the minimum, given his deteriorating health and her assertion that no jury could be impartial given the years of intense media coverage around Weinstein.
“Mr. Weinstein came in with the forces of the media, the forces of the world, pushing against the chance to have a real, impartial jury in this case,” she said.
After hearing Burke’s decision, Rotunno said she was “overcome with anger” and believed Burke had made up his mind long before Wednesday.
“I think it was very clear nothing we did or said today was going to make a difference,” she said.
Illuzzi-Orbon, the lead prosecutor, did not mince words about what fate she thought Weinstein deserved, reeling off a number of quotes from former employees and confidants of the mogul as if they were blurbs for an upcoming feature film.
Weinstein, Illuzzi-Orbon said, had been described as a “frightening power addict,” a liar and, bluntly, “the devil.”


latimes--2020-03-11--In a California town called Cool, gentrification means a Dollar General store

Pondering the future of this blip of a Gold Rush town in the Sierra Nevada foothills , Carolyn Loomis leaned on a well-worn line about its name .
“ I want Cool to stay cool , ” she said .
And what isn ’ t cool , in her opinion , is for a Dollar General store to move into the heart of Cool , population 3,900 .
Buoyed by American families tightening their spending during the Great Recession , Tennessee-based Dollar General Corp. has thrived in recent years .
The retailer has aggressively targeted withering rural communities overlooked by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plain , boxy stores now outnumber McDonald ’ s restaurants in the United States .
Townspeople like Loomis , a 76-year-old retired teacher , fear the chain could ring up the end for mom-and-pop businesses .
In fast-changing neighborhoods in California ’ s urban enclaves , battles over gentrification and community identity have centered on more bourgeois newcomers : vegan restaurants in Silver Lake , art galleries in Boyle Heights , pricey new apartment complexes in South Los Angeles .
In Cool , the specter of gentrification takes the form of a far-from-hip @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 5 boxes of Cheez-Its .
Residents worry that a Dollar General would create traffic gridlock in a town so small its residents brag that there is no need for street lights .
“ This is about preserving rural America , ” said resident Susan Yewell , 74 .
“ We feel vulnerable .
We don ’ t want big-box stores to come in because the beauty of the place is more important to us than buying some cheaply built something.
” Another cause for concern among Cool residents : more than 200 proposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Recreation Area , which could bring tens of thousands more people traipsing through this ridge-top El Dorado County town every year , raising fears of a catastrophic wildfire .
An hour ’ s drive northeast of Sacramento , the unincorporated town — named , according to local lore , for an itinerant Gold Rush-era preacher named Peter Cool — is known mostly for endurance competitions like the Way Too Cool 50K Endurance Run and the Tevis Cup 100-mile horse ride .
A sign on the edge of town tells visitors to “ Have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a small group of local activists revived a long-defunct community group , the Cool-Pilot Hill Advisory Committee , to discuss ways to fight the proposed Dollar General and campsites .
The group had been dormant for about two decades — ever since it beat down a plan for a major residential development .
At a meeting last month in the Holiday Market grocery store , Loomis pointed to a mural depicting the nearby American River , with gold miners clutching pans and modern-day hikers and mountain bikers .
“ That ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she said .
“ I don ’ t see a Dollar General !
” Dollar General anticipates making a final decision on whether to open a store in Cool this spring , said Mary Kathryn Colbert , a company spokeswoman .
“ Our customers are at the center of all that we do , and meeting customers ’ needs is Dollar General ’ s top priority when choosing store locations , ” Colbert said in an email .
A Cool store would employ between six and 10 people .
As of November , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nationwide , including about 200 in California , Colbert said .
In December , the company announced that it planned to open 1,000 new stores in 2020 .
“ There ’ s a significant portion of the rural population that see Dollar General as a good thing , ” said David Procter , director of the Rural Grocery Initiative at Kansas State University .
“ The pro-Dollar General people say businesses in small towns are closing all over the U.S. , that these towns are literally dying , and you have a business @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to build and hire people and pay taxes and would be a sign of growth for your town , and why wouldn ’ t you want that ?
” Most towns that have tried to put up a fight have been unsuccessful , he said .
El Dorado County Supervisor Lori Parlin said she believes Dollar General ’ s “ business model is to use their mass purchasing power to undercut the prices of competitors , which makes it difficult for mom-and-pop stores to compete.
” When she was running for office in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residents who successfully fought a proposed Dollar General in unincorporated Georgetown , a Gold Rush hamlet 12 miles east of Cool .
That entire town is a California historic landmark , a designation that helped locals who sued the developer and county , saying the store would destroy the character of Georgetown .
But in Cool , residents have not been able to find a policy that could be used to stop the project , which would be built on property zoned for commercial development , Parlin said .
At the meeting of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Adams , 82 , urged attendees to contact county officials and relay concerns about issues like traffic congestion , an overtaxing of the town ’ s water supply and competition with local businesses .
“ We have to get past ‘ We don ’ t want the damn thing ’ and give them the reasons , ” she said .
Adams attended a one-room schoolhouse in Cool in the 1940s .
She cherishes memories of those simpler times , when the teacher would take students outside to pick wildflowers .
Back then , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stop sign .
At Cool Florist and Gifts , the shelves were stacked high with Cool-themed tchotchkes , locally made salsas and jams , and T-shirts that owner Rosie Borba , 73 , screen-printed herself .
Borba ’ s shop is across the street from the site of the proposed Dollar General , which , she fears , would drive her out of business .
She opened her store 20 years ago .
She knows most of her customers and has provided free flower arrangements to grieving families who can ’ t afford @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here , embracing the slow , small-town lifestyle alongside people who don ’ t lock their doors and lean on each other in good times and bad .
All that feels like it ’ s slipping away , she said .
“ It ’ s so different up here , ” Borba said .
“ It ’ s like life should be.
” Borba and others say the ridge-top town ’ s infrastructure can not accommodate a large influx of people .
They also worry about a proposal by California State Parks and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ add up to 235 individual and five group campsites to the Auburn State Recreation Area .
Cool is seven miles east of Auburn , population 14,000 , which lies across the recreation area .
The towns are connected by the two-lane Highway 49 , a slow , steep drive with hairpin curves that hang over the American River canyon .
That dangerous stretch and the two-lane Highway 193 are Cool ’ s main evacuation routes in case of wildfire or other calamity .
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has given @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with its steep canyons and rugged terrain , its most extreme fire danger rating .
Cool residents say more campsites would increase the fire risk .
“ We ’ re not anti-development , ” said Curt Kruger , a member of the American River Community Coalition , a group of residents fighting the project .
“ What we are opposed to are things that will kill us.
” He ticked off recent , deadly wildfires : the Camp fire in Paradise , the Tubbs fire in Santa Rosa and the Carr fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ events , and they have all happened in the last three years , ” he said .
“ More people are living [ in ] and going into forested areas , and that equals more people at risk of starting fires.
” In a statement , California State Parks said visitation to the 30,000-acre Auburn State Recreation Area has increased by about 400 % over the last three decades .
The area currently has 36 campsites ; the plan to add more , which has not been finalized , is an attempt to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Bureau of Reclamation “ understand that some nearby communities may have concerns about wildfires , but it is important to note that most of the wildfires that started in the recreation area over the last several decades were caused by fireworks , illegal campfires or other similar activities away from developed campgrounds and day-use areas , ” the statement says .
Residents say that home values have plummeted and that insurers recently hiked or canceled some homeowner policies , citing fire risk and proximity to campsites .
( In December , California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ several wildfire-hit areas ; El Dorado County was not included . )
Lorna Dobrovolny , a former State Parks employee who lives in Cool , said the town is feeling the strain of population growth in nearby Sacramento and its suburbs .
In 2018 , Sacramento had the largest percentage gain in population among California ’ s 10 biggest cities , with 1.5 % growth , or 7,400 new residents , according to state figures .
For those urbanites , Dobrovolny said , Cool and the Auburn State Recreation Area are an easy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and now the boonies are getting too crowded .
“ You can ’ t invite more people in until you do something to reduce the fire danger , ” she said .
Back at Cool Florist and Gifts , Borba said the town could not handle a huge increase in campers , who , she said , probably wouldn ’ t help the local economy because they “ bring their own stuff.
” Adding to the danger of a possible fire or even a snake bite at those new campsites , she said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no hospital or urgent care facility .
“ Those are things we need , ” she said .
“ Not a Dollar General .
”

Rosie Borba, who owns Cool Florist and Gifts in Cool, Calif., is worried that a Dollar General store proposed for a lot across the street could put her out of business.
Pondering the future of this blip of a Gold Rush town in the Sierra Nevada foothills, Carolyn Loomis leaned on a well-worn line about its name.
“I want Cool to stay cool,” she said.
And what isn’t cool, in her opinion, is for a Dollar General store to move into the heart of Cool, population 3,900.
Buoyed by American families tightening their spending during the Great Recession, Tennessee-based Dollar General Corp. has thrived in recent years. The retailer has aggressively targeted withering rural communities overlooked by major retailers like Walmart, and its plain, boxy stores now outnumber McDonald’s restaurants in the United States.
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Townspeople like Loomis, a 76-year-old retired teacher, fear the chain could ring up the end for mom-and-pop businesses.
In fast-changing neighborhoods in California’s urban enclaves, battles over gentrification and community identity have centered on more bourgeois newcomers: vegan restaurants in Silver Lake, art galleries in Boyle Heights, pricey new apartment complexes in South Los Angeles.
Cool, Calif., is in the western Sierra Nevada foothills. (Hailey Branson-Potts / Los Angeles Times)
In Cool, the specter of gentrification takes the form of a far-from-hip retailer known for deals like three-for-$5 boxes of Cheez-Its. Residents worry that a Dollar General would create traffic gridlock in a town so small its residents brag that there is no need for street lights.
“This is about preserving rural America,” said resident Susan Yewell, 74. “We feel vulnerable. We don’t want big-box stores to come in because the beauty of the place is more important to us than buying some cheaply built something.”
Another cause for concern among Cool residents: more than 200 proposed new campsites at the adjacent Auburn State Recreation Area, which could bring tens of thousands more people traipsing through this ridge-top El Dorado County town every year, raising fears of a catastrophic wildfire.
An hour’s drive northeast of Sacramento, the unincorporated town — named, according to local lore, for an itinerant Gold Rush-era preacher named Peter Cool — is known mostly for endurance competitions like the Way Too Cool 50K Endurance Run and the Tevis Cup 100-mile horse ride. A sign on the edge of town tells visitors to “Have a Cool day!”
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This year, a small group of local activists revived a long-defunct community group, the Cool-Pilot Hill Advisory Committee, to discuss ways to fight the proposed Dollar General and campsites. The group had been dormant for about two decades — ever since it beat down a plan for a major residential development.
Aloha Adams revived a defunct advisory committee to address residents’ concerns about a proposed Dollar General store in Cool and a plan to add more than 200 campsites to the nearby Auburn State Recreation Area. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
At a meeting last month in the Holiday Market grocery store, Loomis pointed to a mural depicting the nearby American River, with gold miners clutching pans and modern-day hikers and mountain bikers.
“That’s us then and us now,” she said. “I don’t see a Dollar General!”
Dollar General anticipates making a final decision on whether to open a store in Cool this spring, said Mary Kathryn Colbert, a company spokeswoman.
“Our customers are at the center of all that we do, and meeting customers’ needs is Dollar General’s top priority when choosing store locations,” Colbert said in an email. A Cool store would employ between six and 10 people.
As of November, there were nearly 16,100 Dollar General stores nationwide, including about 200 in California, Colbert said. In December, the company announced that it planned to open 1,000 new stores in 2020.
“There’s a significant portion of the rural population that see Dollar General as a good thing,” said David Procter, director of the Rural Grocery Initiative at Kansas State University. “The pro-Dollar General people say businesses in small towns are closing all over the U.S., that these towns are literally dying, and you have a business that wants to come in and wants to build and hire people and pay taxes and would be a sign of growth for your town, and why wouldn’t you want that?”
Most towns that have tried to put up a fight have been unsuccessful, he said.
El Dorado County Supervisor Lori Parlin said she believes Dollar General’s “business model is to use their mass purchasing power to undercut the prices of competitors, which makes it difficult for mom-and-pop stores to compete.”
When she was running for office in 2018, Parlin touted her support of residents who successfully fought a proposed Dollar General in unincorporated Georgetown, a Gold Rush hamlet 12 miles east of Cool. That entire town is a California historic landmark, a designation that helped locals who sued the developer and county, saying the store would destroy the character of Georgetown.
But in Cool, residents have not been able to find a policy that could be used to stop the project, which would be built on property zoned for commercial development, Parlin said.
At the meeting of the Cool-Pilot Hill Advisory Committee, Aloha Adams, 82, urged attendees to contact county officials and relay concerns about issues like traffic congestion, an overtaxing of the town’s water supply and competition with local businesses.
“We have to get past ‘We don’t want the damn thing’ and give them the reasons,” she said.
Adams attended a one-room schoolhouse in Cool in the 1940s. She cherishes memories of those simpler times, when the teacher would take students outside to pick wildflowers. Back then, Cool didn’t even have a stop sign.
Cool, Calif., attracts visitors from the adjacent 30,000-acre Auburn State Recreation Area, where new campsites are proposed. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
At Cool Florist and Gifts, the shelves were stacked high with Cool-themed tchotchkes, locally made salsas and jams, and T-shirts that owner Rosie Borba, 73, screen-printed herself.
Borba’s shop is across the street from the site of the proposed Dollar General, which, she fears, would drive her out of business.
She opened her store 20 years ago. She knows most of her customers and has provided free flower arrangements to grieving families who can’t afford them. Borba raised her two children here, embracing the slow, small-town lifestyle alongside people who don’t lock their doors and lean on each other in good times and bad. All that feels like it’s slipping away, she said.
“It’s so different up here,” Borba said. “It’s like life should be.”
Traffic backs up on Highway 49 leading to Cool, Calif. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Borba and others say the ridge-top town’s infrastructure cannot accommodate a large influx of people. They also worry about a proposal by California State Parks and the United States Bureau of Reclamation to add up to 235 individual and five group campsites to the Auburn State Recreation Area.
Cool is seven miles east of Auburn, population 14,000, which lies across the recreation area. The towns are connected by the two-lane Highway 49, a slow, steep drive with hairpin curves that hang over the American River canyon. That dangerous stretch and the two-lane Highway 193 are Cool’s main evacuation routes in case of wildfire or other calamity.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has given much of the Auburn State Recreation Area, with its steep canyons and rugged terrain, its most extreme fire danger rating. Cool residents say more campsites would increase the fire risk.
“We’re not anti-development,” said Curt Kruger, a member of the American River Community Coalition, a group of residents fighting the project. “What we are opposed to are things that will kill us.”
He ticked off recent, deadly wildfires: the Camp fire in Paradise, the Tubbs fire in Santa Rosa and the Carr fire in Redding.
Lorna Dobrovolny has been actively fighting proposed campsites at Auburn State Recreation Area. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
“These were once-in-a-generation events, and they have all happened in the last three years,” he said. “More people are living [in] and going into forested areas, and that equals more people at risk of starting fires.”
In a statement, California State Parks said visitation to the 30,000-acre Auburn State Recreation Area has increased by about 400% over the last three decades. The area currently has 36 campsites; the plan to add more, which has not been finalized, is an attempt to manage that growth.
State Parks and the Bureau of Reclamation “understand that some nearby communities may have concerns about wildfires, but it is important to note that most of the wildfires that started in the recreation area over the last several decades were caused by fireworks, illegal campfires or other similar activities away from developed campgrounds and day-use areas,” the statement says.
Residents say that home values have plummeted and that insurers recently hiked or canceled some homeowner policies, citing fire risk and proximity to campsites. (In December, California temporarily banned insurers from dropping policies in several wildfire-hit areas; El Dorado County was not included.)
Tom Judy said his insurer canceled his longtime homeowner policy, citing fire risk. When he complained, he said, the company gave him this backpack with a flashlight, first aid kit and thin emergency shelter. (Hailey Branson-Potts / Los Angeles Times)
Lorna Dobrovolny, a former State Parks employee who lives in Cool, said the town is feeling the strain of population growth in nearby Sacramento and its suburbs. In 2018, Sacramento had the largest percentage gain in population among California’s 10 biggest cities, with 1.5% growth, or 7,400 new residents, according to state figures.
For those urbanites, Dobrovolny said, Cool and the Auburn State Recreation Area are an easy jaunt to “the boonies” — and now the boonies are getting too crowded.
“You can’t invite more people in until you do something to reduce the fire danger,” she said.
Back at Cool Florist and Gifts, Borba said the town could not handle a huge increase in campers, who, she said, probably wouldn’t help the local economy because they “bring their own stuff.”
Adding to the danger of a possible fire or even a snake bite at those new campsites, she said, is the fact that Cool has no hospital or urgent care facility.
“Those are things we need,” she said. “Not a Dollar General.”


latimes--2020-03-11--Column: For Councilman Englander, what happened in Vegas didn't stay in Vegas

I don ’ t know what former L.A. City Councilman Mitch Englander and his buddies were thinking when they went to Las Vegas in 2017 .
A councilman , two city staffers , a businessperson , a real estate developer and a lobbyist travel to Sin City .
Knowing how L.A. works , what would you guess they were up to ?
I don ’ t think so , and neither does the U.S. attorney .
You probably know by now that on Monday , Englander — who in 2018 abruptly and somewhat mysteriously quit his job as the L.A. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Valley — surrendered to federal authorities in connection with what happened on that Vegas trip .
He was slapped with seven criminal charges related to an ongoing City Hall corruption probe .
If the indictment is accurate , it ’ s hard to believe the arrogance of Englander and his pals .
It ’ s not like they had traveled to Mongolia ; they were just a few hours from home , where someone might have spotted them .
All I can figure is that they thought they ’ d run into David @ @ @ @ @ @ @ invisible for a few days .
The feds say Englander and the gang partied in Sin City on the dime of an unnamed businessman who was “ seeking to increase his business opportunities in the city.
” The booze flowed , casino chips were free , female escorts were part of the package and Englander was handed an envelope stuffed with cash .
The federal grand jury indictment of Englander begins with a reference to “ multiple suspected pay-to-play schemes ” at City Hall involving “ multiple city officials , developers , investors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ close associates working in furtherance of the potentially illegal schemes.
” If that ’ s not engraved on a wall at City Hall , it should be .
The fact that Englander was the first to get jammed up on the feds ’ corruption probe came as a surprise to many , given that they raided the home and office of Councilman Jose Huizar way back in 2018 .
No charges have been filed against Huizar , but the federal search warrant at the time had investigators looking at possible bribery , extortion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city officials and business figures .
The striking thing about the Englander indictment is his apparent stunning lack of sophistication , which seems to have made him an easy mark for federal investigators .
Englander , by the way , was a self-touted public safety advocate and former LAPD reserve police officer .
So Officer Dum-Dum , according to the indictment , went to Vegas on June 1 , 2017 .
He was a member of a powerful City Council committee that vets development proposals , and went with the aforementioned pals , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proposal in mind ?
Are these the only knuckleheads in the world who believed that line about how what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas ?
The indictment alleges that in a casino bathroom , Englander accepted an envelope from a businessperson , and it was stuffed with $ 10,000 in cash .
The same businessperson — whose identity I ’ d love to know , so call me if you know who he or any of the others are — gave Englander $ 1,000 in casino chips and covered a $ 2,481 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high-rollers then allegedly went to another hotel , where the same businessperson covered a $ 24,000 “ bottle service ” tab .
And then the developer in the group paid another $ 10,000 for “ bottle service and alcohol ” at a party that ran into the next morning .
So that ’ s $ 34,000 for one night of spirits .
How is that possible ?
I called former Las Vegas mayor and longtime mob attorney Oscar Goodman , who once nearly got me killed at a party celebrating a mob murder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ story .
“ What month was it ?
” Goodman asked of the Englander junket .
“ I don ’ t know whether it was in summer , but they have these little beach parties at various hotels … .
Sometimes people from the entertainment world drop a hundred thousand dollars on a Sunday night , and that ’ s without gambling.
” Goodman , who owns Oscar ’ s Steakhouse in Vegas , told me price depends on taste .
“ If you ’ re drinking the equivalent of Dom Perignon … @ @ @ @ @ @ @ run up a bill real fast , ” Goodman said .
Or it was one heck of a lot beer , and if this did indeed happen at one of those beach parties , remind me to never enter a swimming pool in Las Vegas .
According to the indictment , a night of drinking was not the end of the party .
The next morning , the businessperson allegedly paid for and sent a female escort to Englander ’ s hotel room .
According to Goodman , this kind of thing is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Now let ’ s jump ahead a few days to June 10 , 2017 .
That ’ s when hardworking Councilman Englander went to a golf tournament at the Morongo Casino Hotel & Resort in Palm Springs , according to the indictment , where he stepped into the bathroom , and imagine his luck — the same businessperson he hung with in Vegas was in the john with another envelope stuffed with cash .
This time the jackpot was $ 5,000 .
So where does the pay to play part come in ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ A week later , said the indictment , “ defendant Englander , Businessperson A , and Developer B had lunch so that defendant Englander would introduce Businessperson A and his company and product to Developer B.
” I am shocked , shocked , shocked that things might happen this way .
According to the indictment , when Englander began feeling the heat , he tried to cover his tracks , apparently unaware that the sleazy businessperson with all the cash was by then working with the feds and relaying conversations in which Englander @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Later , Englander allegedly did his own lying when investigators asked him about all of this .
Now he ’ s looking at three counts of witness tampering , three counts of making false statements and one count of scheming to falsify facts .
Englander pleaded not guilty and was released on $ 50,000 bail , but the former public safety candidate could be looking at years behind bars if convicted .
This case stands as a reminder that the perception exists for some people in the Los Angeles business world that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what you want out of City Hall .
Of course , most people who need a favor are smart enough to realize campaign finance laws are so toothless , they can buy influence without breaking the law .
It ’ s worth noting that one of the city officials along on the Vegas trip was John Lee , who worked as Englander ’ s chief of staff and is now the councilman for the same district .
Some folks are calling for Lee to step down over the Vegas incident , but Lee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ unaware of any illegal activities ” and has cooperated with investigators .
He said he “ did everything in my power to pay for and reimburse expenses related to this trip.
” So why did Lee go on the trip , why were there any expenses to reimburse , and isn ’ t “ everything in my power ” a curious choice of words ?
Lee , by the way , is running for reelection and leads his challenger , Loraine Lundquist .
But a full week after the election , county @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an abacus you can send to the county registrar ?
On another note , city attorney Mike Feuer this week announced his run for mayor just eight months after FBI agents raided the office he runs , serving warrants in an investigation of two lawsuits related to the disastrous DWP billing scandal .
My advice is that you stay tuned , stay healthy , and think twice about rolling the dice in Vegas .
One day , hopefully sooner than later , we ’ ll knock down the new coronavirus that ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no vaccine for the virus that infects City Hall .

I don’t know what former L.A. City Councilman Mitch Englander and his buddies were thinking when they went to Las Vegas in 2017.
A councilman, two city staffers, a businessperson, a real estate developer and a lobbyist travel to Sin City.
Knowing how L.A. works, what would you guess they were up to?
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They’re big fans of Carrot Top?
I don’t think so, and neither does the U.S. attorney.
You probably know by now that on Monday, Englander — who in 2018 abruptly and somewhat mysteriously quit his job as the L.A. City Councilman representing the Northwestern San Fernando Valley — surrendered to federal authorities in connection with what happened on that Vegas trip. He was slapped with seven criminal charges related to an ongoing City Hall corruption probe.
If the indictment is accurate, it’s hard to believe the arrogance of Englander and his pals. It’s not like they had traveled to Mongolia; they were just a few hours from home, where someone might have spotted them. All I can figure is that they thought they’d run into David Copperfield and he’d make them invisible for a few days.
The feds say Englander and the gang partied in Sin City on the dime of an unnamed businessman who was “seeking to increase his business opportunities in the city.” The booze flowed, casino chips were free, female escorts were part of the package and Englander was handed an envelope stuffed with cash.
The federal grand jury indictment of Englander begins with a reference to “multiple suspected pay-to-play schemes” at City Hall involving “multiple city officials, developers, investors, consultants, lobbyists, and other close associates working in furtherance of the potentially illegal schemes.”
If that’s not engraved on a wall at City Hall, it should be.
The fact that Englander was the first to get jammed up on the feds’ corruption probe came as a surprise to many, given that they raided the home and office of Councilman Jose Huizar way back in 2018. No charges have been filed against Huizar, but the federal search warrant at the time had investigators looking at possible bribery, extortion, kickbacks and money laundering involving several city officials and business figures.
The striking thing about the Englander indictment is his apparent stunning lack of sophistication, which seems to have made him an easy mark for federal investigators. Englander, by the way, was a self-touted public safety advocate and former LAPD reserve police officer.
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So Officer Dum-Dum, according to the indictment, went to Vegas on June 1, 2017. He was a member of a powerful City Council committee that vets development proposals, and went with the aforementioned pals, who just might have had a development proposal in mind?
Are these the only knuckleheads in the world who believed that line about how what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?
The indictment alleges that in a casino bathroom, Englander accepted an envelope from a businessperson, and it was stuffed with $10,000 in cash. The same businessperson — whose identity I’d love to know, so call me if you know who he or any of the others are — gave Englander $1,000 in casino chips and covered a $2,481 dinner tab for the group.
The high-rollers then allegedly went to another hotel, where the same businessperson covered a $24,000 “bottle service” tab. And then the developer in the group paid another $10,000 for “bottle service and alcohol” at a party that ran into the next morning.
So that’s $34,000 for one night of spirits. How is that possible?
I called former Las Vegas mayor and longtime mob attorney Oscar Goodman, who once nearly got me killed at a party celebrating a mob murder acquittal, but that’s another story.
“What month was it?” Goodman asked of the Englander junket. “I don’t know whether it was in summer, but they have these little beach parties at various hotels …. Sometimes people from the entertainment world drop a hundred thousand dollars on a Sunday night, and that’s without gambling.”
Goodman, who owns Oscar’s Steakhouse in Vegas, told me price depends on taste.
“If you’re drinking the equivalent of Dom Perignon … or Louis XIII cognac, anyone can run up a bill real fast,” Goodman said.
Or it was one heck of a lot beer, and if this did indeed happen at one of those beach parties, remind me to never enter a swimming pool in Las Vegas.
According to the indictment, a night of drinking was not the end of the party. The next morning, the businessperson allegedly paid for and sent a female escort to Englander’s hotel room. According to Goodman, this kind of thing is not unknown to happen in Vegas.
Now let’s jump ahead a few days to June 10, 2017. That’s when hardworking Councilman Englander went to a golf tournament at the Morongo Casino Hotel & Resort in Palm Springs, according to the indictment, where he stepped into the bathroom, and imagine his luck — the same businessperson he hung with in Vegas was in the john with another envelope stuffed with cash. This time the jackpot was $5,000.
So where does the pay to play part come in? I’m glad you asked.
A week later, said the indictment, “defendant Englander, Businessperson A, and Developer B had lunch so that defendant Englander would introduce Businessperson A and his company and product to Developer B.”
I am shocked, shocked, shocked that things might happen this way.
According to the indictment, when Englander began feeling the heat, he tried to cover his tracks, apparently unaware that the sleazy businessperson with all the cash was by then working with the feds and relaying conversations in which Englander repeatedly told him to lie to investigators.
Later, Englander allegedly did his own lying when investigators asked him about all of this. Now he’s looking at three counts of witness tampering, three counts of making false statements and one count of scheming to falsify facts. Englander pleaded not guilty and was released on $50,000 bail, but the former public safety candidate could be looking at years behind bars if convicted.
This case stands as a reminder that the perception exists for some people in the Los Angeles business world that there’s a price for getting what you want out of City Hall. Of course, most people who need a favor are smart enough to realize campaign finance laws are so toothless, they can buy influence without breaking the law.
It’s worth noting that one of the city officials along on the Vegas trip was John Lee, who worked as Englander’s chief of staff and is now the councilman for the same district. Some folks are calling for Lee to step down over the Vegas incident, but Lee said in a statement that he was “unaware of any illegal activities” and has cooperated with investigators. He said he “did everything in my power to pay for and reimburse expenses related to this trip.”
So why did Lee go on the trip, why were there any expenses to reimburse, and isn’t “everything in my power” a curious choice of words?
Lee, by the way, is running for reelection and leads his challenger, Loraine Lundquist. But a full week after the election, county officials were still counting. Anybody have an abacus you can send to the county registrar?
On another note, city attorney Mike Feuer this week announced his run for mayor just eight months after FBI agents raided the office he runs, serving warrants in an investigation of two lawsuits related to the disastrous DWP billing scandal.
My advice is that you stay tuned, stay healthy, and think twice about rolling the dice in Vegas.
One day, hopefully sooner than later, we’ll knock down the new coronavirus that’s got people rattled. But there is no vaccine for the virus that infects City Hall.
Steve.lopez@latimes.com


latimes--2020-03-11--Banks: To assuage coronavirus fears, we need softness and strength. In other words: Toilet paper

I could see the frustration building on my neighborhood NextDoor page : Costco had run out of toilet paper — again .
How are we supposed to survive COVID-19 without 60 rolls of toilet paper socked away in the closet ?
Thank goodness Costco seems to restock every morning .
And since managing a medical crisis by hoarding toilet paper made no sense to me , I joined the hordes at my local Costco last weekend to see what I was missing .
I got there a few minutes before the store opened , and every single space in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had been queuing up for hours , desperate for a chance to purchase the two giant packages of toilet paper that each shopper was allowed .
“ Why do we do this ?
It ’ s a panic , ” said the stylish woman I approached in the parking lot as she and her husband were cramming their haul into the back seat of their Lexus .
Like most people I talked to , she knew others might consider them foolish or selfish , so didn ’ t want to give her name @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the worst , ” she said as her husband tried to wave me off .
“ If nothing happens , well … ” She shrugged and let the thought die .
She told me she wasn ’ t worried about getting the virus , but about the prospect of long-term quarantines .
“ We ’ re scared , ” she said as her husband hustled her into the car .
It was clear to me as I wandered the parking lot that the fear was real .
And all around the world , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way .
In just about every country with coronavirus cases , stores are struggling to keep toilet paper on the shelves .
We ’ re in the next phase now When you really think about it , the rush to stock up , and the hoarding that occurs , is not as strange as it might seem .
This is not about prevention anymore .
We ’ re in the next phase now : preparation for catastrophe .
People are looking ahead — to when schools close down and kids are home and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the house for weeks because somebody at your church , or on your flight , or behind you in the Costco line tested positive for COVID-19 .
“ The news says you may have to be prepared for several weeks of quarantine , ” said Tina Wilson as she unloaded a few essentials — but no toilet paper — from her cart .
There ’ s an “ overload of information [ that ] heightens the sense of being scared.
” She and partner Jennifer Best are “ old school , ” she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ roll with whatever comes .
“ Our kids are more worried than we are , ” said Best .
They hadn ’ t expected Costco to be so jammed .
But the crowd soon thinned .
Even with a two-package limit , the store sold out of both toilet paper and water in the first hour .
That held a certain kind of irony for Best .
The store can ’ t keep up with the demand for toilet paper , “ but the shelves with the hand-washing soap , they ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ What does that tell you ?
” It tells me that , in the face of an unpredictable epidemic , toilet paper has become an unlikely totem of order and cleanliness , a way to outlast a dreaded disease and be comfortable as you attend to life ’ s most basic needs .
Psychologists who study consumers in crisis explain it like this : Uncertainty around the virus drives us into panic mode , and we look for a way to stifle the anxiety that provokes .
We fixate on toilet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but also because accumulating an overload — imagine a tower of toilet paper packages in your garage — provides a reassuring visual cue : You ’ re equipped for a long quarantine .
As people begin to raid the stores , the contagion feeds on itself .
The sight of all those empty toilet paper shelves begins to stoke a new wave of panic in those of us who haven ’ t loaded up .
Or as London behavioral science professor Dimitrios Tsivrikos cast it for Britain ’ s Sky News : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for panic , it would be a traffic warning sign with a toilet paper roll in the middle.
” Anxiety and relief in the Costco line That sign would have suited the scene outside Costco in Northridge last Saturday .
People queued up for toilet paper and water were like lines of traffic merging onto the freeway , steered into the proper lanes by Costco employees .
Inside , there was a line for toilet paper and another for water ; employees guarded the intersection of aisles , so no one could cut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t want toilet paper or water , you just had to wait and watch as their carts rolled by .
At the rear of the store , managers with walkie-talkies policed the “ distribution sites.
” I had never seen the store so crowded or the shoppers so intense .
But the whole process seemed remarkably well organized and orderly .
I could feel the anxiety rise as shoppers neared the distribution points and eyed shrinking supplies .
I could see relief in customers ’ faces as they pushed now-packed carts past empty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I roamed the aisles , my mind flashed back to the aftermath of the 1994 Northridge earthquake , when I was too panicked by aftershocks to return with my daughters to our damaged house .
We lined up with countless others in the park for bottled water and a bag of provisions that were supposed to restore a sense of normalcy .
I don ’ t recall if toilet paper was in that bag .
But I do know now that the best talisman in a period of crisis may be the inexorable @ @ @ @

Customers wait in line to buy water and other supplies at a Costco in Burbank on Friday.
I could see the frustration building on my neighborhood NextDoor page: Costco had run out of toilet paper — again. How are we supposed to survive COVID-19 without 60 rolls of toilet paper socked away in the closet?
Thank goodness Costco seems to restock every morning. And since managing a medical crisis by hoarding toilet paper made no sense to me, I joined the hordes at my local Costco last weekend to see what I was missing.
I got there a few minutes before the store opened, and every single space in the parking lot was already taken. People had been queuing up for hours, desperate for a chance to purchase the two giant packages of toilet paper that each shopper was allowed.
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“Why do we do this? It’s a panic,” said the stylish woman I approached in the parking lot as she and her husband were cramming their haul into the back seat of their Lexus.
Shelves for toilet paper and water are barren at Costco in Alhambra. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Like most people I talked to, she knew others might consider them foolish or selfish, so didn’t want to give her name. “We’re preparing for the worst,” she said as her husband tried to wave me off. “If nothing happens, well …” She shrugged and let the thought die.
She told me she wasn’t worried about getting the virus, but about the prospect of long-term quarantines. “We’re scared,” she said as her husband hustled her into the car.
It was clear to me as I wandered the parking lot that the fear was real.
And all around the world, people are responding in much the same way. In just about every country with coronavirus cases, stores are struggling to keep toilet paper on the shelves.
Advertisement
We’re in the next phase now
When you really think about it, the rush to stock up, and the hoarding that occurs, is not as strange as it might seem.
This is not about prevention anymore. We’re in the next phase now: preparation for catastrophe.
People are looking ahead — to when schools close down and kids are home and nobody is allowed to step foot outside the house for weeks because somebody at your church, or on your flight, or behind you in the Costco line tested positive for COVID-19.
“The news says you may have to be prepared for several weeks of quarantine,” said Tina Wilson as she unloaded a few essentials — but no toilet paper — from her cart. There’s an “overload of information [that] heightens the sense of being scared.”
She and partner Jennifer Best are “old school,” she said. They feel prepared and will roll with whatever comes. “Our kids are more worried than we are,” said Best.
They hadn’t expected Costco to be so jammed. But the crowd soon thinned. Even with a two-package limit, the store sold out of both toilet paper and water in the first hour.
That held a certain kind of irony for Best. The store can’t keep up with the demand for toilet paper, “but the shelves with the hand-washing soap, they’re still very full,” she said. “What does that tell you?”
It tells me that, in the face of an unpredictable epidemic, toilet paper has become an unlikely totem of order and cleanliness, a way to outlast a dreaded disease and be comfortable as you attend to life’s most basic needs.
Psychologists who study consumers in crisis explain it like this: Uncertainty around the virus drives us into panic mode, and we look for a way to stifle the anxiety that provokes.
We fixate on toilet paper not just for its utilitarian value, but also because accumulating an overload — imagine a tower of toilet paper packages in your garage — provides a reassuring visual cue: You’re equipped for a long quarantine.
As people begin to raid the stores, the contagion feeds on itself. The sight of all those empty toilet paper shelves begins to stoke a new wave of panic in those of us who haven’t loaded up.
Or as London behavioral science professor Dimitrios Tsivrikos cast it for Britain’s Sky News: “If we had an international sign for panic, it would be a traffic warning sign with a toilet paper roll in the middle.”
Anxiety and relief in the Costco line
That sign would have suited the scene outside Costco in Northridge last Saturday. People queued up for toilet paper and water were like lines of traffic merging onto the freeway, steered into the proper lanes by Costco employees.
Inside, there was a line for toilet paper and another for water; employees guarded the intersection of aisles, so no one could cut the lines. If you didn’t want toilet paper or water, you just had to wait and watch as their carts rolled by. At the rear of the store, managers with walkie-talkies policed the “distribution sites.”
I had never seen the store so crowded or the shoppers so intense. But the whole process seemed remarkably well organized and orderly.
I could feel the anxiety rise as shoppers neared the distribution points and eyed shrinking supplies. I could see relief in customers’ faces as they pushed now-packed carts past empty shelves in their single-file line.
As I roamed the aisles, my mind flashed back to the aftermath of the 1994 Northridge earthquake, when I was too panicked by aftershocks to return with my daughters to our damaged house. We lined up with countless others in the park for bottled water and a bag of provisions that were supposed to restore a sense of normalcy.
I don’t recall if toilet paper was in that bag. But I do know now that the best talisman in a period of crisis may be the inexorable passage of time.