latimes--2020-11-11--California Democrats poised to make historic gains in state Senate, expand control of Legislature

Buoyed by another blue wave , Democrats are awaiting election results in four races that , if won , could mean historic gains in the state Senate and further pad their supermajority in the California Legislature .
If Democrats prevail in three of those Senate races that have not yet been called , the party will have 32 of the 40 seats in the upper house .
That would be the most Democrats in the state Senate since 1883 , said Alex Vassar , communications manager at the California State Library .
Democrats have never held more than 32 seats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are ahead in two of the four close races in the Senate as vote counting continues .
“ Who knew California could be more blue ?
” said Robin Swanson , a veteran Democratic communications consultant .
Democrats in both houses entered the election with a supermajority , a two-thirds voting threshold that enables them to pass most legislation without Republican help .
But with more blue comes more challenges , Swanson added .
Adding Democrats means more competition for coveted committees .
It also means there will be a wider range in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fiscally moderate to ultra-liberal .
“ All Democrats are not the same , ” Swanson said .
“ It ’ s not a voting bloc monolith .
The party has to figure out how to be an even bigger tent .
Don ’ t get me wrong ; that ’ s a high-quality problem to have.
” Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins ( D-San Diego ) said her caucus knew early on which candidate and race to prioritize during the election : former state Sen. Josh Newman ( D-Fullerton ) in Senate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Los Angeles , Orange and San Bernardino counties .
Newman was unseated in his freshman term in a 2018 recall campaign led by Republicans that upended Democrats ’ supermajority .
“ That seat was a priority , ” Atkins said .
“ We feel that seat was taken from us unfairly.
” Newman won the seat in 2016 by narrowly defeating Diamond Bar Republican Ling Ling Chang .
After Democrats including Newman voted in favor of a gas tax in 2018 , Republicans targeted what was viewed as the most vulnerable seat in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him .
Now , this year ’ s rematch has Newman leading Chang in election returns .
“ His recall was viewed as an unwarranted act of partisan hackery , and Senate Democrats really wanted to right that wrong , ” said Jason Kinney , a former spokesman for Senate Democrats .
In Orange County , Irvine law professor Dave Min , a Democrat , is leading incumbent Republican state Sen. John Moorlach in Senate District 37 .
Although Min has declared victory , the race has not yet been called by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican when Moorlach won in 2015 , but voter registrations have since leaned toward Democrats , with a large bloc of voters registered as having no party preference .
Orange County is on track for a historic 85 % voter turnout in the election .
Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove ( R-Bakersfield ) , who has posted tweets backing President Trump ’ s unfounded claims of election fraud , said close races had yet to be decided and urged voters to be patient .
The latest count released Tuesday by the California secretary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1.5 million ballots were still being counted by counties .
“ Californians need to remember with millions of ballots left to count , we are still days and weeks away from finding out the final results , ” Grove said in a statement .
Republicans are leading Democrats in two other close races .
In Senate District 21 , located in parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties , incumbent state Sen. Scott Wilk ( R-Santa Clarita ) was holding a slight lead over Democrat Kipp Mueller .
And in nearby Senate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bogh leads San Bernardino Democrat Abigail Medina .
Sen. Mike Morrell ( R-Rancho Cucamonga ) currently holds the seat but is being forced out by term limits .
Atkins said Senate Democrats were also focused on ensuring their caucus did not lose the Central Valley seat in Senate District 5 , where Sen. Cathleen Galgiani ( D–Stockton ) has also termed out .
Assemblywoman Susan Eggman ( D-Stockton ) defeated former Modesto Mayor Jim Ridenour , a Republican .
“ Those seats in the Central Valley are difficult , ” Atkins said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ all the races .
The national environment gave us an opportunity with Trump to have a better shot than we ordinarily would have.
” In the Assembly , Democrats lost one seat previously held by Christy Smith of Santa Clarita , who is running to represent the 25th congressional district .
Two Republicans finished in the top two spots during the primary , ensuring Democrats could not regain the district .
Suzette Martinez Valladares defeated Lucie Lapointe Volotzky in that race .
Entering the election , Democrats held 61 of the 80 seats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also closely watching Assembly District 74 , where incumbent Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris ( D-Laguna Beach ) narrowly leads Newport Beach Republican Diane Dixon .
Assemblyman Chad Mayes ( I-Rancho Mirage ) , who dropped his Republican Party affiliation last year , defeated Republican San Jacinto Mayor Andrew Kotyuk .
Mayes becomes the first person elected to the Legislature without a party affiliation since Sen. Quentin Kopp was reelected in 1994 .
In San Jose , 25-year-old Alex Lee , a Democrat , will be the youngest state legislator to assume office in more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bob Brunton for Assembly District 25 , which encompasses San Jose , Santa Clara and Fremont .
The seat was previously held by Democrat , who left to run for Santa Clara County supervisor .
“ I ’ m feeling ecstatic , ” Lee said .
“ We won in a landslide victory , and I ’ m incredibly proud of that .
”

Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, being congratulated by Sen. Scott Wiener in 2017, says her caucus is focused on several races that could flip from the GOP.
Buoyed by another blue wave, Democrats are awaiting election results in two races that, if won, could mean historic gains in the state Senate and further pad their supermajority in the California Legislature.
Democrats learned Thursday that they picked up two seats in the Senate that had been held by Republicans. If they prevail in one additional race, the party will have 32 of the 40 seats in the upper house.
That would be the most Democrats in the state Senate since 1883, said Alex Vassar, communications manager at the California State Library. Democrats have never held more than 32 seats, Vassar said.
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“Who knew California could be more blue?” said Robin Swanson, a veteran Democratic communications consultant.
Democrats in both houses entered the election with a supermajority and will retain that two-thirds voting threshold, which allows them to pass most legislation without Republican help. But with more blue comes more challenges, Swanson added.
Adding Democrats means more competition for coveted committees. It also means there will be a wider range in the types of Democrats elected, from fiscally moderate to ultra-liberal.
“All Democrats are not the same,” Swanson said. “It’s not a voting bloc monolith. The party has to figure out how to be an even bigger tent. Don’t get me wrong; that’s a high-quality problem to have.”
Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) said her caucus knew which candidate and race to prioritize during the election: former state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) in Senate District 29, which encompasses parts of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties. Newman was unseated in his freshman term in a 2018 recall campaign led by Republicans that upended Democrats’ supermajority.
“That seat was a priority,” Atkins said. “We feel that seat was taken from us unfairly.”
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Newman won the seat in 2016 by narrowly defeating Diamond Bar Republican Ling Ling Chang. After Democrats, including Newman, voted in favor of a gas tax in 2018, Republicans targeted what was viewed as the most vulnerable seat in a successful ouster that saw Chang replace him.
On Thursday, Newman was projected the winner by the Associated Press in his rematch against Chang.
“His recall was viewed as an unwarranted act of partisan hackery, and Senate Democrats really wanted to right that wrong,” said Jason Kinney, a former spokesman for Senate Democrats.
In Orange County, Irvine law professor Dave Min, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican state Sen. John Moorlach in Senate District 37.
The district was solidly Republican when Moorlach won in 2015, but voter registrations have since leaned toward Democrats, with a large bloc of voters registered as having no party preference. Orange County is on track for a historic 86% voter turnout in the election.
Senate Republican Leader Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield), who has posted tweets backing President Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud, said close races had yet to be decided and urged voters to be patient. The latest count released Thursday by the California Secretary of State’s office showed roughly 1 million ballots were still being counted.
“We are still days and weeks away from finding out the final results,” Grove said in a statement.
Republicans are leading Democrats in two other close races.
In Senate District 21, located in parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, incumbent state Sen. Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) was holding a slight lead over Democrat Kipp Mueller. And in nearby Senate District 23, Yucaipa Republican Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh leads San Bernardino Democrat Abigail Medina. Sen. Mike Morrell (R-Rancho Cucamonga) holds the seat but is being forced out by term limits.
Atkins said Senate Democrats were also focused on ensuring their caucus did not lose the Central Valley seat in Senate District 5, where Sen. Cathleen Galgiani (D–Stockton) has also termed out. In that race, Assemblywoman Susan Eggman (D-Stockton) defeated former Modesto Mayor Jim Ridenour, a Republican.
“Those seats in the Central Valley are difficult,” Atkins said. “We started early and looked at all the races. The national environment gave us an opportunity with Trump to have a better shot than we ordinarily would have.”
In the Assembly, Democrats lost one seat previously held by Christy Smith of Santa Clarita, who is running to represent the 25th congressional district. Two Republicans finished in the top two spots during the primary, ensuring Democrats could not regain the district. Suzette Martinez Valladares defeated Lucie Lapointe Volotzky in that race.
Entering the election, Democrats held 61 of the 80 seats in the lower house. They are also closely watching Assembly District 74, where incumbent Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach) narrowly leads Newport Beach Republican Diane Dixon.
Assemblyman Chad Mayes (I-Rancho Mirage), who dropped his Republican Party affiliation last year, defeated Republican San Jacinto Mayor Andrew Kotyuk. Mayes becomes the first person elected to the Legislature without a party affiliation since Sen. Quentin Kopp was reelected in 1994.
In San Jose, 25-year-old Alex Lee, a Democrat, will be the youngest state legislator to assume office in more than 80 years. Lee defeated Republican Bob Brunton for Assembly District 25, which encompasses San Jose, Santa Clara and Fremont. The seat was previously held by Democrat Kansen Chu , who left to run for Santa Clara County supervisor.
“I’m feeling ecstatic,” Lee said. “We won in a landslide victory, and I’m incredibly proud of that.”


latimes--2020-11-09--O.C.'s John Wayne Airport will add clinic with COVID testing

Orange County ’ s John Wayne Airport is teaming with Hoag health officials to open a clinic next spring that will include rapid COVID-19 testing , flu shots and telehealth appointments .
The 850-square-foot Fly Well Clinic is being designed to serve travelers and airport employees , airport officials said in a release .
It will be staffed daily by physicians or physicians ’ assistants who are able to prescribe medication .
In a prepared statement Hoag President and Chief Executive Robert T. Braithwaite said , “ The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world ’ s travel habits , shining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ health and travel safety.
” In the meantime , airport and Hoag officials on Monday opened a pop-up health fair in Terminal B offering free flu vaccinations as well as nutrition and exercise tips .
Hoag , a nonprofit healthcare network , operates Hoag Hospital Newport Beach and Hoag Hospital Irvine along with nine health centers and 13 urgent-care centers .
Its airport clinic is expected to offer rapid COVID-19 testing ( no further details available yet ) , treatment of cold and flu symptoms , vaccinations , demonstrations , telehealth appointments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ access to physicians in person and by video .
LAX does not have a clinic but has paramedics and a first aid station on the upper level of its Tom Bradley International Terminal .
For nonemergency needs , LAX ’ s website refers travelers to the 24-hour Reliant Medical Center , 5901 W. Century Blvd.
, whose services include COVID-19 testing .

Santa Ana’s John Wayne Airport plans to open a health clinic in spring that will include COVID-19 testing. As seen in this image from March 24, the pandemic has dramatically reduced air travel.
Orange County’s John Wayne Airport is teaming with Hoag health officials to open a clinic next spring that will include rapid COVID-19 testing, flu shots and telehealth appointments.
The 850-square-foot Fly Well Clinic is being designed to serve travelers and airport employees, airport officials said in a release. It will be staffed daily by physicians or physicians’ assistants who are able to prescribe medication.
In a prepared statement Hoag President and Chief Executive Robert T. Braithwaite said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world’s travel habits, shining a spotlight brighter than ever on passengers’ health and travel safety.”
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In the meantime, airport and Hoag officials on Monday opened a pop-up health fair in Terminal B offering free flu vaccinations as well as nutrition and exercise tips.
Hoag, a nonprofit healthcare network, operates Hoag Hospital Newport Beach and Hoag Hospital Irvine along with nine health centers and 13 urgent-care centers. Its airport clinic is expected to offer rapid COVID-19 testing (no further details available yet), treatment of cold and flu symptoms, vaccinations, demonstrations, telehealth appointments, blood pressure and other screenings and access to physicians in person and by video.
LAX does not have a clinic but has paramedics and a first aid station on the upper level of its Tom Bradley International Terminal. For nonemergency needs, LAX’s website refers travelers to the 24-hour Reliant Medical Center, 5901 W. Century Blvd., whose services include COVID-19 testing.


latimes--2020-11-13--Column: The story you haven't heard about that viral image of Kamala Harris and Ruby Bridges

Gordon Jones rattles off , in an almost perfunctory tone , the many things that he has been in life : a boat captain .
A private pilot .
A marketing representative for Xerox in Houston .
A caregiver for his dying father in Sacramento .
Jones doesn ’ t yet have a name for his newest thing .
What he does have , though , is a story — one that he tends to tell from the middle , starting on the Saturday morning when it became clear that Joe Biden would be our next president .
Shortly afterward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from his cousin in Michigan .
“ She said : ‘ You better get up .
There are a lot of things going on .
There ’ s 50,000 likes and this and that and so on , ’ ” Jones recounted with hearty laugh over Zoom .
“ I ’ m like , ‘ What are you talking about ?
’ ” A powerful photo illustration of newly minted Vice President-elect Kamala Harris walking alongside the shadow of civil rights trailblazer Ruby Bridges was being shared at a furious pace on Twitter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the daughter of the Rev .
Martin Luther King Jr. , tweeted it as a way to celebrate Harris becoming the first Black person , first South Asian and first woman to become vice president .
Jones recognized the photo illustration immediately .
He had helped create it for his fledgling online brand , Good Trubble .
In fact , the illustration — named “ That Little Girl Was Me , ” referencing the rhetorical swipe over busing that Harris took at Biden during a Democratic primary debate — had been posted on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It ’ s just that not that many people noticed .
Jones , still in shock , texted his collaborator , San Francisco artist Bria Goeller , that Saturday morning : “ ‘ Oh my god !
’ I think that ’ s all I said.
” Goeller shook her head .
Shooting Jones an amused glance over Zoom , she told me he said something different : “ Bria , check it out .
We ’ re going viral.
” Jones and Goeller are a bit of an odd couple .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Goeller is 23 years old and white .
The story of how they ended up stuck together is even odder .
It begins at a little pub in Sausalito .
It was 2016 , and Donald Trump had just been elected president .
Jones had recently returned to his native California after living for several years in the U.S. Virgin Islands .
He remembers ripping into his friends over drinks one night .
“ I said , this is crazy !
” Jones said .
“ How did you guys let this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a family of activists from Palo Alto , he quickly went from anger to figuring out how he could contribute to the newly formed resistance .
Tapping into his marketing background , Jones came up with a pithy slogan : “ I ’ m not anti American .
I ’ m just anti-stupid.
” He decided to put it on T-shirts and sell them on the cheap at protests .
The shirts sold out .
Then , as Trump was trying to ban travel to the U.S. from several majority Muslim countries , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ You in danger , girl.
” This time , he commissioned an artist to bring it to life , putting the words next to the Statue of Liberty .
He sold the T-shirts under his newly created online business , WTF America , the predecessor to Good Trubble .
Then Jones really got busy .
He tracked down Sirron Norris , the San Francisco muralist and illustrator known for his work on the TV series “ Bob ’ s Burgers.
” Jones wanted his help .
“ I said , I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deadpanned .
Norris , understandably busy , instead referred Jones to his assistant , Goeller .
Originally from Louisiana , she has lived in multiple states and countries and only landed in the Bay Area in January .
The COVID-19 pandemic has made networking hard and getting paid for making art even harder .
“ But I met Gordon and it has been so wonderful , ” she told me .
“ Gordon has made it so that now I can do art for a living officially.
” The idea to do an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He wanted to empower little Black girls by showing the arc of progress , from a 6-year-old girl facing down an angry mob to desegregate a school in Louisiana to Harris strutting in heels to her office as vice president .
“ I had this idea because I ’ m a child of the ’ 60s , ” Jones said .
“ In Palo Alto , we didn ’ t have busing , but I have a lot of friends , a lot of my peers who are my age experienced it .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ only about three years older than me — I knew what was going on.
” Jones and Goeller settled on using the silhouette of Bridges , as shown in the 1963 Norman Rockwell painting “ The Problem We All Live With.
” Goeller said she used several photos to build composite image of Harris , looking extremely powerful and confident .
“ I wanted some swag to it , ” Jones said .
The end of this story has yet to be determined .
Earlier this week , Jones shipped a bunch of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Was Me ” illustration to former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown , in hopes of getting them to the Harris camp .
Good Trubble also has reached out to the Ruby Bridges Foundation in hopes of getting her to sign a limited number of prints to sell and raise money for the nonprofit .
Not long after the photo illustration went viral , Bridges shared it with a comment on Instagram .
“ I am Honored to be a part of this path and Grateful to stand alongside you , ” she wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as we step into this Next Chapter of American History !
” A few days later , she announced that her mother , Lucille Bridges , who dutifully walked her daughter to school every day alongside federal marshals , had died — making this week of progress for Black women a little bittersweet .
As for Jones , he ’ s got big plans for the future at Good Trubble .
He ’ s pushing Geoller to stick around as the brand ’ s main artist .
“ I ’ m trying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said .
“ We went from zero to 1,000 , and I ’ m just hanging on .
But we have a good team.
” Geoller , however , is a bit cautious of what that would mean .
“ I definitely want to get as involved in this as I can .
I ’ m trying to be careful , too , though , ” she explained .
“ I know that as a white woman , I want it to maintain a Black-owned and -operated team .
And so I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bit.
” But she also knows Jones is not the kind of person to take no for an answer .
“ It feels fantastic , obviously , to be able to not be struggling , ” Goeller said .
“ Although I ’ m not really profiting much from this , I think that I have the platform now to be able to really reach people with the art that I ’ m doing and that ’ s all I could have asked for.
” But , she added , “ I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ”

A photo illustration of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris walking alongside the shadow of civil rights trailblazer Ruby Bridges went viral after the announcement that the Biden campaign had won the 2020 presidential election. It was created by an artist working with the Sacramento-based company Good Trubble.
Gordon Jones rattles off, in an almost perfunctory tone, the many things that he has been in life: a boat captain. A private pilot. A marketing representative for Xerox in Houston. A caregiver, sadly, for his dying father in Sacramento.
Jones doesn’t yet have a name for his newest thing. What he does have, though, is a story — one that he tends to tell from the middle, starting on the Saturday morning when it became clear that Joe Biden would be our next president.
Shortly afterward, he got a frantic phone call from his cousin in Michigan.
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“She said: ‘You better get up. There are a lot of things going on. There’s 50,000 likes and this and that and so on,’” Jones recounted with hearty laugh over Zoom. “I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
A powerful photo illustration of newly minted Vice President-elect Kamala Harris walking alongside the shadow of civil rights trailblazer Ruby Bridges was being shared at a furious pace on Twitter and Instagram. Even Bernice King, the daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., tweeted it as a way to celebrate Harris becoming the first Black person, first South Asian and first woman to hold the post.
Jones recognized the photo illustration immediately. He had helped create it for his fledgling online brand, Good Trubble.
In fact, the illustration — named “That Little Girl Was Me,” referencing the rhetorical swipe over busing that Harris took at Biden during a Democratic primary debate — had been posted on Good Trubble’s website for weeks. It’s just that not that many people had noticed.
Jones, still in shock, texted his collaborator, San Francisco artist Bria Goeller, that Saturday morning: “‘Oh my god!’ I think that’s all I said.”
Goeller shook her head. Shooting Jones an amused glance over Zoom, she told me he said something different: “Bria, check it out. We’re going viral.”
::
Jones and Goeller are a bit of an odd couple. Jones is 62 years old and Black. Goeller is 23 years old and white.
The story of how they ended up stuck together is even odder. It begins at a little pub in Sausalito.
Advertisement
It was 2016, and Donald Trump had just been elected president. Jones had recently returned to his native California after living for several years in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He remembers ripping into his friends over drinks one night.
“I said, this is crazy!” Jones said. “How did you guys let this happen?”
Gordon Jones, the co-founder of Good Trubble, lived in the U.S. Virgin Islands for years before returning to California and moving to Sacramento. (Good Trubble)
As the child of a family of activists from Palo Alto, he quickly went from anger to figuring out how he could contribute to the newly formed resistance. Tapping into his marketing background, Jones came up with a pithy slogan: “I’m not anti-American. I’m just anti-stupid.” He decided to put it on T-shirts and sell them on the cheap at protests. The shirts sold out.
Then, as Trump was trying to ban travel to the U.S. from several majority Muslim countries, Jones came up with another slogan: “You in danger, girl.” This time, he commissioned an artist to bring it to life, putting the words next to the Statue of Liberty. He sold the T-shirts under his newly created online business, WTF America, the predecessor to Good Trubble.
Then Jones really got busy.
He tracked down Sirron Norris, the San Francisco muralist and illustrator known for his work on the TV series “Bob’s Burgers.” Jones wanted his help. “I said, I’m your biggest fan,” he deadpanned.
Norris, understandably busy, instead referred Jones to his assistant, Goeller.
Originally from Louisiana, Goeller has lived in multiple states and countries and only landed in the Bay Area in January. The COVID-19 pandemic has made networking hard and getting paid for making art even harder.
“But I met Gordon and it has been so wonderful,” she told me. “Gordon has made it so that now I can do art for a living officially.”
Bria Goeller is the artist behind the much-celebrated photo illustration of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris walking alongside the shadow of civil rights trailblazer Ruby Bridges. Goeller is based in San Francisco and works with Good Trubble. (Good Trubble)
The idea to do an illustration featuring Harris came from Jones. He wanted to empower little Black girls by showing the arc of progress — from a 6-year-old Bridges facing down an angry mob to desegregate a school in Louisiana to a 56-year-old Harris strutting in heels, perhaps on her way to her office as vice president.
“I had this idea because I’m a child of the ’60s,” Jones said. “In Palo Alto, we didn’t have busing, but I have a lot of friends, a lot of my peers who are my age experienced it. Even as a 5-year-old — Ruby is only about three years older than me — I knew what was going on.”
Jones and Goeller settled on using the silhouette of Bridges, as shown in the 1963 Norman Rockwell painting “The Problem We All Live With.” Goeller said she used several photos to build a composite image of Harris, looking extremely powerful and confident.
“I wanted some swag to it,” Jones said.
::
The end of this story has yet to be determined.
Earlier this week, Jones shipped a bunch of shirts with the “That Little Girl Was Me” illustration to former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, in hopes of getting them to the Harris camp. Good Trubble also has reached out to the Ruby Bridges Foundation in hopes of getting her to sign a limited number of prints to sell and raise money for the nonprofit.
Not long after the photo illustration went viral, Bridges shared it with a comment on Instagram. “I am Honored to be a part of this path and Grateful to stand alongside you,” she wrote. “Together with Our fellow Americans, as we step into this Next Chapter of American History!”
A few days later, she announced that her mother, Lucille Bridges, who dutifully walked her daughter to school every day alongside federal marshals, had died — making this week of progress for Black women a little bittersweet.
Lucille Bridges poses next to the original 1964 Norman Rockwell painting, “The Problem We All Live With,” showing her daughter Ruby, inside the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston on July 20, 2006. Bridges, a Hurricane Katrina evacuee and Houston resident after the storm, looked for the first-time at the Rockwell original capturing her oldest daughter, Ruby, as she was escorted by U.S. marshals into an all-white New Orleans school during integration nearly a half-century earlier. (Steve Ueckert/AP)
As for Jones, he’s got big plans for the future at Good Trubble. He’s pushing Geoller to stick around as the brand’s main artist.
“I’m trying to pull her in more,” he said. “We went from zero to 1,000, and I’m just hanging on. But we have a good team.”
Yet Geoller, however grateful, also is a bit cautious of what that would mean.
“I definitely want to get as involved in this as I can. I’m trying to be careful, too, though,” she explained. “I know that as a white woman, I want it to maintain a Black-owned and -operated team. And so I’m struggling with that a little bit.”
But she also knows Jones isn’t really the kind of person to take no for an answer.
“It feels fantastic, obviously, to be able to not be struggling,” Goeller said. “Although I’m not really profiting much from this, I think that I have the platform now to be able to really reach people with the art that I’m doing and that’s all I could have asked for.”
But, she added, “I’m also so ready to hide.”


latimes--2020-11-13--Column: 'Machete' for U.S. Senate? The bold choice for California Gov. Gavin Newsom

With a date-flavored horchata in one hand and a notebook in the other , I stood outside Trejo ’ s Coffee and Donuts in Hollywood with a modest proposal to anyone who passed by : Danny Trejo for U.S .
Senator .
Yes , that Danny Trejo .
Craggy-faced , mustachioed .
Nicknamed after a handy agricultural instrument that has starred in many a horror flick .
Really , who ’ s better than “ Machete ” to replace the outgoing Sen. Kamala Harris ?
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla ?
Nice , but he ’ ll be too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Elena Durazo ?
Too progressive for the moderates .
Atty .
Gen. Xavier Becerra ?
Too good at his job for us to lose him to a place where he ’ ll be one of a hundred votes instead of his current role as a — yep — machete for justice .
( Besides , President-elect Joe Biden might snag Becerra for his Cabinet . )
No , nah , and not until Orange County is finally , truly blue .
Besides , I mentioned all those politicians to the hip , multicultural @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Coffee on a recent morning for delicious donuts and last-minute breakfast burritos .
California ’ s Democratic superstars didn ’ t register with them at all .
Everyone whom I talked to quickly smiled , thought about it for a bit — then smiled some more .
A group of TikTok talent sat in the bed of a Toyota Tundra in the Trejo ’ s parking lot .
They enthusiastically offered their endorsement in between chomps of donut holes .
“ A wise man and logistic-rical , if that ’ s a word @ @ @ @ @ @ @ knows what the people want , ” mumbled out a third .
“ He opened a taco spot and a donut spot.
” ( They identified themselves with names that turned out to be a collection of Internet memes , thinking they could pull one over this Gen X reporter .
Ah , youth ) .
Outside Trejo ’ s , Raul Niebles of Long Beach took a selfie with what looked like a maple bar .
“ He ’ s the man !
” said the 32-year-old mechanic .
He mentioned Trejo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and speeches to high-schoolers .
“ Like , you get what you see with him .
He got big , but he ’ s never let it get to him.
” London Thompson , a 21-year-old visual merchandiser , walked out with a bright-pink box emblazoned with Trejo ’ s silhouetted smirk .
“ I respect the hell out of the man , ” she said .
“ He has genius in him.
” Her friend from Oklahoma , Kameron Swift , was more skeptical .
“ Celebrity swings the popular vote , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s more like , ‘ We get to say we elected a celebrity , ’ than an actual learned person .
But I appreciate the idea.
” “ That would be better than the alternative : politicians , ” Thompson retorted .
Inside , 29-year-old barista Luke Bellwood whipped up drinks .
A notice taped to the door read “ Facemasks coverings are mandatory ” with a picture of Trejo brandishing a scowl and a machete .
“ He ’ s an icon of Los Angeles , ” said Bellwood , an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the community , and a wonderful boss .
Him being senator would be cool.
” If only California politicos were as enthusiastic about my idea .
I asked for a comment from Gov .
Gavin Newsom , who gets to pick Harris ’ replacement ; his spokesperson sent along a YouTube clip of a Nov. 9 press conference where Newsom said that “ the process is just beginning to unfold ” but that it will be “ inclusive.
” I got no response from Rep. Tony Cardenas , who was there to show @ @ @ @ @ @ @ friend when the Los Angeles City Council declared that Jan. 31 was Danny Trejo Day .
When I asked National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals CEO Gary Acosta for his thoughts , his response was merely “ there is no shortage of qualified Latino Californians.
” Way to spoil the fiesta .
They might ’ ve thought I was joking .
You , gentle readers , probably do .
Newsom ’ s choice to replace Harris is going to be one of the most monumental of his career — and one that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
That ’ s why we need a unity candidate , someone all Californians can rally around in these divided times .
And the more that I weeded through Newsom ’ s long list of hopefuls , the more I thought about Trejo .
He ’ s the epitome of someone who pulled themselves up from their proverbial bootstraps and showed anything is possible if you just grind .
Stints in prison and decades of sobriety offer Trejo personal insight to criminal justice and addiction , two major California issues .
He ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taco empire who knows how to balance a ledger and understands that government can be both friend and foe .
The San Fernando Valley native would be the state ’ s first U.S. senator born and raised in Southern California in over 50 years ( last one ?
Republican Sen. Thomas Kuchel , the pride of my hometown of Anaheim ) .
Trejo has long advocated that his fans engage in politics , participating in get-out-the-vote efforts and even selling red-white-and-blue donuts in the lead-up to Election Day .
He is someone that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because who can possibly hate him , the most likable Angeleno since Huell Howser ?
He doesn ’ t have the ego of previous celebrities-turned-politicians like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Donald Trump , so we don ’ t have to worry about a showman with nothing to show at the end of their term .
His command of the screen and podium makes Ronald Reagan seem as well-spoken as Dan Quayle .
And , oh yeah , Trejo is Latino and would be the first-ever U.S. senator from California of Mexican descent .
Trejo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was unavailable to even offer a statement for this column — he ’ s filming a project .
Just my type of politician : responsible to his tasks .
I ’ m not the first person to think he should run for higher office , by the way .
In 2017 , Anthony Bourdain told me on his CNN show , Parts Unknown , that Trejo should run for president .
“ He looks good with his shirt off , ” the late author said .
“ Donald Trump can ’ t say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say that.
” Later in the episode , Bourdain went to Trejo ’ s Cantina off Cahuenga to praise his prospective presidente .
“ Everything good that has happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else , ” he told Bourdain .
“ Everything.
” I doubt Newsom will even think to consider Trejo .
But he should .
Politics shouldn ’ t always be about insiders or lifers , or people who feel they deserve a position just because they ’ ve put in the time or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Our democracy needs continuous jolts from commoners to keep the political class honest .
Or the best one : Newsom Picks Most Qualified Candidate to Become California ’ s Next Senator .

Actor Danny Trejo, right, and chef John-Carlos Kuramoto cook up their vegan cauliflower taco at Trejo’s Cantina in Hollywood.
With a date-flavored horchata in one hand and a notebook in the other, I stood outside Trejo’s Coffee and Donuts in Hollywood with a modest proposal to anyone who passed by:
Danny Trejo for U.S. Senator. Yes, that Danny Trejo. Craggy-faced, mustachioed. Nicknamed after a handy agricultural instrument that has starred in many a horror flick.
Really, who’s better than “Machete” to replace the outgoing Sen. Kamala Harris?
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California Secretary of State Alex Padilla? Nice, but he’ll be too moderate for progressives. State Sen. Maria Elena Durazo? Too progressive for the moderates. Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra? Too good at his job for us to lose him to a place where he’ll be one of a hundred votes instead of his current role as a — yep — machete for justice. (Besides, President-elect Joe Biden might snag Becerra for his Cabinet.)
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia? Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis? Orange County Rep. Katie Porter?
No, nah, and not until Orange County is finally, truly blue.
Besides, I mentioned all those politicians to the hip, multicultural crowd who streamed into Trejo’s Coffee on a recent morning for delicious donuts and last-minute breakfast burritos. California’s Democratic superstars didn’t register with them at all.
But Trejo?
Everyone whom I talked to quickly smiled, thought about it for a bit — then smiled some more.
A group of TikTok talent sat in the bed of a Toyota Tundra in the Trejo’s parking lot. They enthusiastically offered their endorsement in between chomps of donut holes.
“He’s a low-key baller,” one said.
“A wise man and logistic-rical, if that’s a word,” said another.
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“He knows what the people want,” mumbled out a third. “He opened a taco spot and a donut spot.”
(They identified themselves with names that turned out to be a collection of Internet memes, thinking they could pull one over this Gen X reporter. Ah, youth).
Outside Trejo’s, Raul Niebles of Long Beach took a selfie with what looked like a maple bar. “He’s the man!” said the 32-year-old mechanic. He mentioned Trejo’s toy drives for kids, and speeches to high-schoolers. “Like, you get what you see with him. He got big, but he’s never let it get to him.”
London Thompson, a 21-year-old visual merchandiser, walked out with a bright-pink box emblazoned with Trejo’s silhouetted smirk.
“I respect the hell out of the man,” she said. “He has genius in him.”
Her friend from Oklahoma, Kameron Swift, was more skeptical.
“Celebrity swings the popular vote,” said the 21-year-old. “It’s more like, ‘We get to say we elected a celebrity,’ than an actual learned person. But I appreciate the idea.”
“That would be better than the alternative: politicians,” Thompson retorted.
Inside, 29-year-old barista Luke Bellwood whipped up drinks. A notice taped to the door read “Facemasks coverings are mandatory” with a picture of Trejo brandishing a scowl and a machete.
“He’s an icon of Los Angeles,” said Bellwood, an East Hollywood resident. “Man of the community, and a wonderful boss. Him being senator would be cool.”
If only California politicos were as enthusiastic about my idea.
I asked for a comment from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who gets to pick Harris’ replacement; his spokesperson sent along a YouTube clip of a Nov. 9 press conference where Newsom said that “the process is just beginning to unfold” but that it will be “inclusive.”
I got no response from Rep. Tony Cardenas, who was there to show support earlier this year for his personal friend when the Los Angeles City Council declared that Jan. 31 was Danny Trejo Day.
When I asked National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals CEO Gary Acosta for his thoughts, his response was merely “there is no shortage of qualified Latino Californians.”
Way to spoil the fiesta.
They might’ve thought I was joking. You, gentle readers, probably do.
I’m not.
Newsom’s choice to replace Harris is going to be one of the most monumental of his career — and one that will upset everyone except the new senator. That’s why we need a unity candidate, someone all Californians can rally around in these divided times.
And the more that I weeded through Newsom’s long list of hopefuls, the more I thought about Trejo.
His candidacy contains multitudes.
He’s the epitome of someone who pulled themselves up from their proverbial bootstraps and showed anything is possible if you just grind.
Stints in prison and decades of sobriety offer Trejo personal insight to criminal justice and addiction, two major California issues.
He’s a small-business owner with a growing taco empire who knows how to balance a ledger and understands that government can be both friend and foe.
The San Fernando Valley native would be the state’s first U.S. senator born and raised in Southern California in over 50 years (last one? Republican Sen. Thomas Kuchel, the pride of my hometown of Anaheim).
Trejo has long advocated that his fans engage in politics, participating in get-out-the-vote efforts and even selling red-white-and-blue donuts in the lead-up to Election Day.
He is someone that Democrats and Republicans alike would support, because who can possibly hate him, the most likable Angeleno since Huell Howser?
He doesn’t have the ego of previous celebrities-turned-politicians like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Donald Trump, so we don’t have to worry about a showman with nothing to show at the end of their term. His command of the screen and podium makes Ronald Reagan seem as well-spoken as Dan Quayle.
And, oh yeah, Trejo is Latino and would be the first-ever U.S. senator from California of Mexican descent.
Trejo is so committed to work that he was unavailable to even offer a statement for this column — he’s filming a project.
Just my type of politician: responsible to his tasks.
I’m not the first person to think he should run for higher office, by the way. In 2017, Anthony Bourdain told me on his CNN show, Parts Unknown, that Trejo should run for president.
“He looks good with his shirt off,” the late author said. “Donald Trump can’t say that. Bill Clinton can’t say that.”
Later in the episode, Bourdain went to Trejo’s Cantina off Cahuenga to praise his prospective presidente.
Trejo, ever the humble man, deflected.
“Everything good that has happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else,” he told Bourdain. “Everything.”
I doubt Newsom will even think to consider Trejo. But he should. Politics shouldn’t always be about insiders or lifers, or people who feel they deserve a position just because they’ve put in the time or proved loyal to a party or person. Our democracy needs continuous jolts from commoners to keep the political class honest.
Besides, Gavin: Imagine the headlines.
Mr. Machete Goes to Washington.
Make California Machete Again.
Or the best one:
Newsom Picks Most Qualified Candidate to Become California’s Next Senator.


latimes--2020-11-13--It started with one sick woman in San Jose. Now, 1 million Californians have COVID-19

Back in January , when Patricia Dowd became sick with flu-like symptoms and had to cancel plans to go to a funeral , it would be impossible to fathom what her illness foretold for California and the rest of the nation .
Dowd , a 57-year-old manager for a Silicon Valley semiconductor company , seemed to recover .
But within about a week , Dowd ’ s daughter found her mother dead at her San Jose home .
It was Feb. 6 , and Dowd is believed to be the first person to die of COVID-19 on American soil .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s death wasn ’ t publicly known , coronavirus seemed to be a distant , contained outbreak posing little threat .
Something that might be held in check by keeping a cruise ship filled with infected passengers in limbo off the coast of San Francisco , or by aggressively screening flights coming in from China .
Today , COVID-19 is everywhere .
As of Thursday — 10 months after Dowd fell ill — more than 1 million Californians have been confirmed to be infected .
Among those who became sick , more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more who survived are suffering long-term consequences of the illness .
Trying to stave off additional infections has also resulted in millions losing their jobs , with unemployment reaching record highs in the state .
Even for those spared the worst , the pandemic has upended their lives .
California hit this latest milestone as the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are both on the rise in California , echoing increases nationwide .
Many dispirited Californians are rethinking plans to gather with loved ones on Thanksgiving , making yet another sacrifice in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dark winter , ” in the words of President-elect Joe Biden .
But much like the promise of two-week stay-at-home orders and warm summer weather vanquishing the virus , the days of a clean narrative about California ’ s experience with the pandemic are far behind us .
The inescapability of the virus is clear , but so are California ’ s persistent efforts to trudge through .
The record number of cases speaks to several early lapses in testing and pandemic preparation .
It reveals both the lack of a national , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state ’ s efforts to compensate with stricter measures and millions of dollars of resources .
But it also highlights recent improvements in medical treatments and precautions to protect the most vulnerable .
It shows how Californians have sacrificed and suffered .
More than eight months into the pandemic , the state remains nowhere near reaching Gov .
Gavin Newsom ’ s projection on March 19 that 25 million Californians could fall ill with COVID-19 , even taking into account that many cases have probably been missed .
California moved quickly to put @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make masking mandatory , preventing its hospital system from being overwhelmed .
The nightmarish scenes from New York of dying patients lined up in hallways and refrigerated trucks waiting outside for bodies never materialized here .
California ’ s COVID-19 cases and deaths rank lower than most states when population is taken into account .
With 1 million cases , approximately 2.5 % of Californians have had COVID ; that rate is higher in 36 states .
The picture appears much less favorable when you look outside the United States .
The rate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ took a lax approach to the pandemic , is lower than in California .
In South Korea , whose population exceeds California ’ s by 10 million , just 28,000 people have tested positive for the virus .
UCLA epidemiologist Dr. Timothy Brewer said California ’ s higher numbers show how challenging it is for states to try to control a pandemic without an overarching federal response .
He added that improvements could be on the horizon with Biden taking office next year .
“ It ’ s very difficult to try to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; we don ’ t have the levers available to us , ” he said .
“ California has managed to slow things down relative to other places , but we can ’ t do it alone.
” Since the pandemic began , our knowledge of the virus has deepened dramatically .
We have learned that masking works , that many people are asymptomatic , that poorly ventilated indoor environments are particularly dangerous .
In many ways , the pandemic feels far different from how it did in the spring .
Yet , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resulted in less spread of the virus .
It would turn out that a lack of understanding of COVID-19 would be only one reason it could not be sufficiently controlled .
Over the summer , in an attempt to jump-start the ailing economy , state and county leaders rushed to reopen businesses far faster than health experts had advised .
The public , fatigued by unprecedented restrictions on their lives , interpreted these changes as a sign that life could return to some normalcy .
The bigger-than-ever surge fueled by these factors accounts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s COVID-19 cases .
Those trends also brought a shift in who was falling ill and concentrated illnesses in people under 50 .
That lowered the death rate , since younger people are less likely to die of the virus , but it did not eliminate the risk that one of those people may infect a more vulnerable neighbor or parent .
The state began to experience a reprieve in September , but the virus still circulated .
There is an argument that the metaphor of waves is not accurate for COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state ’ s surges crest , they do not abate .
There has not been a single day in California since March that a death from COVID-19 has not been reported .
Predictably , in the past few weeks , the spread of the virus has intensified again .
There are currently 3,300 Californians in the hospital sickened with the virus , up 50 % in the last month , according to state data .
This comes as the nation as a whole hit an all-time high in hospitalizations this week .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to limit holiday travel .
The current surge in the state is largely driven by social gatherings , even small ones , as people tire of isolation or even develop “ COVID resentment , ” said California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly .
He said people tend to be less careful around their family and friends because they feel close to them .
But like so much of the pandemic , staying safe requires keeping distance from loved ones .
“ Our guard may have come down , but we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Ghaly said this week .
On Tuesday , state officials forced 11 counties to tighten restrictions on businesses and to switch most to fully outdoor operations .
But after so many months , it is unclear whether tinkering with business regulations will change people ’ s behavior .
Combined with holiday traditions that push people indoors , the direction things are headed as the state hits 1 million COVID cases “ is not good — it is of serious concern , ” said Bradley Pollock , chairman of the Department of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He said he was particularly concerned about the arrival of chillier weather .
Californians have been able to comfortably gather outdoors during an unusually warm fall while people in other parts of the country may have been forced indoors , but that may soon become untenable .
“ Thanksgiving is going to be a very fearful time in my book , because people feel they just have to get together , ” he said .
“ I worry what ’ s going to happen afterward .
”

Back in January, when Patricia Dowd became sick with flu-like symptoms and had to cancel plans to go to a funeral, it would be impossible to fathom what her illness foretold for California and the rest of the nation.
Dowd, a 57-year-old manager for a Silicon Valley semiconductor company, seemed to recover. But within about a week, Dowd’s daughter found her mother dead at her San Jose home. It was Feb. 6, and Dowd is believed to be the first person to die of COVID-19 on American soil.
In those early days, when Dowd’s death wasn’t publicly known, coronavirus seemed to be a distant, contained outbreak posing little threat. Something that might be held in check by keeping a cruise ship filled with infected passengers in limbo off the coast of San Francisco, or by aggressively screening flights coming in from China.
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Today, COVID-19 is everywhere. As of Thursday — 10 months after Dowd fell ill — more than 1 million Californians have been confirmed to be infected.
Among those who became sick, more than 18,100 have died, and even more who survived are suffering long-term consequences of the illness. Trying to stave off additional infections has also resulted in millions losing their jobs, with unemployment reaching record highs in the state. Even for those spared the worst, the pandemic has upended their lives.
California hit this latest milestone as the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are both on the rise in California, echoing increases nationwide. Many dispirited Californians are rethinking plans to gather with loved ones on Thanksgiving, making yet another sacrifice in an already tough year. A “dark winter,” in the words of President-elect Joe Biden.
But much like the promise of two-week stay-at-home orders and warm summer weather vanquishing the virus, the days of a clean narrative about California’s experience with the pandemic are far behind us. The inescapability of the virus is clear, but so are California’s persistent efforts to trudge through.
The record number of cases speaks to several early lapses in testing and pandemic preparation. It reveals both the lack of a national, coordinated response to the pandemic and the state’s efforts to compensate with stricter measures and millions of dollars of resources.
Advertisement
But it also highlights recent improvements in medical treatments and precautions to protect the most vulnerable. It shows how Californians have sacrificed and suffered.
More than eight months into the pandemic, the state remains nowhere near reaching Gov. Gavin Newsom’s projection on March 19 that 25 million Californians could fall ill with COVID-19, even taking into account that many cases have probably been missed. California moved quickly to put in place a stay-at-home order and to make masking mandatory, preventing its hospital system from being overwhelmed.
The nightmarish scenes from New York of dying patients lined up in hallways and refrigerated trucks waiting outside for bodies never materialized here.
California’s COVID-19 cases and deaths rank lower than most states when population is taken into account. With 1 million cases, approximately 2.5% of Californians have had COVID; that rate is higher in 36 states.
The picture appears much less favorable when you look outside the United States. The rate of infection in Sweden, which famously took a lax approach to the pandemic, is lower than in California. In South Korea, whose population exceeds California’s by 10 million, just 28,000 people have tested positive for the virus.
UCLA epidemiologist Dr. Timothy Brewer said California’s higher numbers show how challenging it is for states to try to control a pandemic without an overarching federal response. He added that improvements could be on the horizon with Biden taking office next year.
“It’s very difficult to try to protect a state within a federal system; we don’t have the levers available to us,” he said. “California has managed to slow things down relative to other places, but we can’t do it alone.”
Since the pandemic began, our knowledge of the virus has deepened dramatically. We have learned that masking works, that many people are asymptomatic, that poorly ventilated indoor environments are particularly dangerous. In many ways, the pandemic feels far different from how it did in the spring.
Yet, frustratingly, more information has not always resulted in less spread of the virus. It would turn out that a lack of understanding of COVID-19 would be only one reason it could not be sufficiently controlled.
Over the summer, in an attempt to jump-start the ailing economy, state and county leaders rushed to reopen businesses far faster than health experts had advised. The public, fatigued by unprecedented restrictions on their lives, interpreted these changes as a sign that life could return to some normalcy. The bigger-than-ever surge fueled by these factors accounts for more than half of the state’s COVID-19 cases.
Those trends also brought a shift in who was falling ill and concentrated illnesses in people under 50. That lowered the death rate, since younger people are less likely to die of the virus, but it did not eliminate the risk that one of those people may infect a more vulnerable neighbor or parent.
The state began to experience a reprieve in September, but the virus still circulated. There is an argument that the metaphor of waves is not accurate for COVID-19, particularly in California. Though the state’s surges crest, they do not abate. There has not been a single day in California since March that a death from COVID-19 has not been reported.
Predictably, in the past few weeks, the spread of the virus has intensified again. There are currently 3,300 Californians in the hospital sickened with the virus, up 50% in the last month, according to state data. This comes as the nation as a whole hit an all-time high in hospitalizations this week.
In California, officials are pleading with residents to limit holiday travel. The current surge in the state is largely driven by social gatherings, even small ones, as people tire of isolation or even develop “COVID resentment,” said California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly.
He said people tend to be less careful around their family and friends because they feel close to them. But like so much of the pandemic, staying safe requires keeping distance from loved ones.
“Our guard may have come down, but we have to put it right back up,” Ghaly said this week.
On Tuesday, state officials forced 11 counties to tighten restrictions on businesses and to switch most to fully outdoor operations. But after so many months, it is unclear whether tinkering with business regulations will change people’s behavior.
Combined with holiday traditions that push people indoors, the direction things are headed as the state hits 1 million COVID cases “is not good — it is of serious concern,” said Bradley Pollock, chairman of the Department of Public Health Sciences at UC Davis.
He said he was particularly concerned about the arrival of chillier weather. Californians have been able to comfortably gather outdoors during an unusually warm fall while people in other parts of the country may have been forced indoors, but that may soon become untenable.
“Thanksgiving is going to be a very fearful time in my book, because people feel they just have to get together,” he said. “I worry what’s going to happen afterward.”


latimes--2020-11-13--Schools could face a hard shutdown if the COVID-19 surge worsens, officials warn

Campuses at public and private schools in Los Angeles County could once again be forced to shut down completely for in-person instruction if the current COVID-19 spike continues to worsen , health officials warned school leaders Thursday .
Officials in the county ’ s 80 public school districts , which serve more than 1.43 million students , had hoped to open campuses for general instruction by January , if not sooner .
Even in the best-case scenario , it would be extremely unlikely that campuses could reopen to all students for at least six weeks , based on state health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Health Director Barbara Ferrer .
The schools discussion took place on a day when coronavirus infections in California surpassed 1 million cases , with county rates surging and hospitalizations climbing .
School leaders are being asked to prepare for the worst , even while they ready reopening plans .
“ I need to ask that every school be prepared for virtual learning , distance learning , in January , ” Ferrer said in a call .
“ I hope we never get to the point where our healthcare system is so compromised and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ backwards in time to severe restrictions and additional closures , but I don ’ t want to rule it out.
” L.A. County ’ s health data place it firmly in the state ’ s purple tier — the worst category — which means that community transmission of the coronavirus is widespread .
Campuses can not reopen for all students until a county has entered and remained in the next — or red tier — for two weeks .
In response to skyrocketing infections nationwide , many school districts , including in Wichita @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on reopening campuses or have shut down again , as in Minneapolis and Boston .
Others , including Philadelphia ’ s school system , have delayed reopening campuses — indefinitely in some instances .
Other school systems , including in Florida , remain open or are reopening gradually .
Neither the federal government nor California is collecting comprehensive reopening data .
Brown University researchers have said that so far , the danger of transmission on campus appears minimal — provided that a school is following recommended safety precautions .
However , that research @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expert said it might be unwise to reopen a campus in an area with widespread community transmission of COVID-19 .
Ferrer said she ’ s not encouraged by what she ’ s seeing .
“ As rough as it ’ s been for us in the summer months , if we look around the rest of the country , particularly to what ’ s happening in states where it ’ s already gotten a lot colder and we look across the world … we are seeing an explosion of cases — like everywhere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be “ foolhardy ” not to plan for the potential of another total campus shutdown .
However , Ferrer also asked education leaders to prepare for an opposite scenario : a rapid drop in cases that would allow schools to accelerate reopening .
In that alternate reality , county waivers could be expanded so that elementary schools could open for all grades .
There also could be an expansion in the number of other students allowed to return to campus .
Currently , students with special needs can receive services in person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campus ’ enrollment .
Ferrer spoke to school leaders in two calls Thursday and The Times obtained a recording of one briefing .
Education officials told The Times that Ferrer ’ s update added more uncertainty to a difficult year .
“ If you ’ re a proponent of more restrictive policy regarding school reopening , then you heard that the county could be headed for another lockdown , ” said Supt .
Alex Cherniss of Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified .
“ If you ’ re an advocate for more expansive reopening policy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the county would be relaxing guidelines for K-12 schools to reopen.
” Oliver Unaka , a spokesman for Pomona Unified , said the district anticipates “ continued updates and changes in the weeks and months ahead.
” L.A schools Supt .
Austin Beutner said the district wants “ students to return to school as soon as possible in the safest way possible .
... We ’ re not going to compromise the health and safety of anyone in the school community .
So we ’ re going to be deliberate and we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Rules that change — we need time to digest , ” he said .
“ Rules that are in conflict — we ’ re going to err on the side of caution and safety.
” Beutner had already announced that campuses in L.A. Unified , the nation ’ s second-largest school system , would not reopen before January at the earliest .
In the meantime , a small percentage of students are receiving tutoring and the district also is organizing groups of three students at a time for in-person services .
So @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases , a tiny fraction of the county ’ s 3,185 public and private schools , said Dr. Robert Gilchick , the Child and Adolescent Health Section chief for the county health department .
At the affected schools , which were not identified , 169 staff members and 63 students were infected , he said .
The county has opened “ outbreak investigations ” at 13 schools .
The county defines a potential outbreak as three or more cases .
Virtually all of the affected schools were reporting three or four cases , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from the case information , because no campuses have fully reopened in the county and many have not opened at all .
Tens of thousands of students with special needs have gradually returned to campus for services since early October , as have an estimated 8,000 students at schools that received waivers to open for transitional kindergarten through second grade .
The vast majority of students are managing most or all of their academic work from home .
For students and parents , Ferrer ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The repetitive routine of waking up and being on a computer from 8 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon then only to work on homework or another two to four hours takes its toll , ” said Luis Castro-Limon , an 11th-grader and student activist at Diamond Ranch High School .
“ It ’ s been eight months of uncertainty , loss of wages , depression , anxiety , fear , illness and loss of education for our children , ” she said .
“ How much more can our community @ @ @

A first-grader works behind a shield in a classroom at St. Maria Goretti Catholic School in Long Beach on the first day of in-person instruction under a waiver.
Campuses at public and private schools in Los Angeles County could once again be forced to shut down completely for in-person instruction if the current COVID-19 spike continues to worsen, health officials warned school leaders Thursday.
Officials in the county’s 80 public school districts, which serve more than 1.43 million students, had hoped to open campuses for general instruction by January, if not sooner. Even in the best-case scenario, it would be extremely unlikely that campuses could reopen to all students for at least six weeks, based on state health guidelines, said Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
The schools discussion took place on a day when coronavirus infections in California surpassed 1 million cases, with county rates surging and hospitalizations climbing.
School leaders are being asked to prepare for the worst, even while they ready reopening plans.
Advertisement
“I need to ask that every school be prepared for virtual learning, distance learning, in January,” Ferrer said in a call. “I hope we never get to the point where our healthcare system is so compromised and so threatened that we have to look backwards in time to severe restrictions and additional closures, but I don’t want to rule it out.”
L.A. County’s health data place it firmly in the state’s purple tier — the worst category — which means that community transmission of the coronavirus is widespread. Campuses cannot reopen for all students until a county has entered and remained in the next — or red tier — for two weeks.
In response to skyrocketing infections nationwide, many school districts, including in Wichita, Kan., have imposed new limits on reopening campuses or have shut down again, as in Minneapolis and Boston. Others, including Philadelphia’s school system, have delayed reopening campuses — indefinitely in some instances. Other school systems, including in Florida, remain open or are reopening gradually.
Neither the federal government nor California is collecting comprehensive reopening data.
Brown University researchers have said that so far, the danger of transmission on campus appears minimal — provided that a school is following recommended safety precautions. However, that research has critics and even Brown’s expert said it might be unwise to reopen a campus in an area with widespread community transmission of COVID-19.
Ferrer said she’s not encouraged by what she’s seeing.
“As rough as it’s been for us in the summer months, if we look around the rest of the country, particularly to what’s happening in states where it’s already gotten a lot colder and we look across the world … we are seeing an explosion of cases — like everywhere,” Ferrer said adding that it would be “foolhardy” not to plan for the potential of another total campus shutdown.
However, Ferrer also asked education leaders to prepare for an opposite scenario: a rapid drop in cases that would allow schools to accelerate reopening. In that alternate reality, county waivers could be expanded so that elementary schools could open for all grades. There also could be an expansion in the number of other students allowed to return to campus. Currently, students with special needs can receive services in person, up to 25% of a campus’ enrollment.
Ferrer spoke to school leaders in two calls Thursday and The Times obtained a recording of one briefing.
Advertisement
Education officials told The Times that Ferrer’s update added more uncertainty to a difficult year.
“If you’re a proponent of more restrictive policy regarding school reopening, then you heard that the county could be headed for another lockdown,” said Supt. Alex Cherniss of Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified. “If you’re an advocate for more expansive reopening policy, then you heard that the state and the county would be relaxing guidelines for K-12 schools to reopen.”
Oliver Unaka, a spokesman for Pomona Unified, said the district anticipates “continued updates and changes in the weeks and months ahead.”
L.A schools Supt. Austin Beutner said the district wants “students to return to school as soon as possible in the safest way possible. ... We’re not going to compromise the health and safety of anyone in the school community. So we’re going to be deliberate and we’re going to be careful.”
“Rules that change — we need time to digest,” he said. “Rules that are in conflict — we’re going to err on the side of caution and safety.”
Beutner had already announced that campuses in L.A. Unified, the nation’s second-largest school system, would not reopen before January at the earliest. In the meantime, a small percentage of students are receiving tutoring and the district also is organizing groups of three students at a time for in-person services.
So far, 164 schools have reported coronavirus cases, a tiny fraction of the county’s 3,185 public and private schools, said Dr. Robert Gilchick, the Child and Adolescent Health Section chief for the county health department.
At the affected schools, which were not identified, 169 staff members and 63 students were infected, he said. The county has opened “outbreak investigations” at 13 schools. The county defines a potential outbreak as three or more cases. Virtually all of the affected schools were reporting three or four cases, Gilchick said on the call.
It’s difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from the case information, because no campuses have fully reopened in the county and many have not opened at all. Tens of thousands of students with special needs have gradually returned to campus for services since early October, as have an estimated 8,000 students at schools that received waivers to open for transitional kindergarten through second grade. The vast majority of students are managing most or all of their academic work from home.
For students and parents, Ferrer’s warning was one more frustration.
“The repetitive routine of waking up and being on a computer from 8 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon then only to work on homework or another two to four hours takes its toll,” said Luis Castro-Limon, an 11th-grader and student activist at Diamond Ranch High School.
Ana Laura Portillo, mother of two Pomona students, expressed similar exasperation.
“It’s been eight months of uncertainty, loss of wages, depression, anxiety, fear, illness and loss of education for our children,” she said. “How much more can our community take?”


latimes--2020-11-13--Detective's 'end run' to seal autopsy deepens divisions between L.A. County sheriff and coroner

A Los Angeles County Sheriff ’ s Department homicide detective quietly approached a Superior Court judge late last month with an unusual request : He wanted the judge to bar the county ’ s coroner from releasing the autopsy report on a man killed by sheriff ’ s deputies .
In normal times , a judge would have had no reason to get involved .
The office of the medical examiner-coroner had always kept reports secret whenever investigators from the Sheriff ’ s Department or any other police agency asked .
But these are not normal times in L.A. County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in an increasingly hostile power struggle with county officials who accuse him of undoing critical reforms , shunning transparency and rebuffing efforts to hold him accountable .
The friction has spilled over in recent months to the office of the medical examiner-coroner , where senior staffers have made it clear that the old rules no longer apply when it comes to killings by sheriff ’ s deputies .
The judge signed off on the gag order , setting in motion a legal tussle that has further isolated the sheriff from other county leaders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The current skirmish with the coroner stems from a clash in mid-July , when the coroner broke ranks with the Sheriff ’ s Department by releasing the autopsy report of Andres Guardado , confirming that the 18-year-old was shot by a deputy five times in the back .
Sheriff ’ s Department investigators had asked the coroner to keep the report under wraps , saying the information about how Guardado died could taint their investigation if it was made public .
Such requests are not unusual in high-profile cases , including those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police officer .
The result is that information about cases can remain cloaked in secrecy for months or , in some cases , years .
Villanueva was incensed by the coroner ’ s move to release the report , which he believed could jeopardize the investigation into the deputy ’ s actions .
He suggested that , going forward , his investigators would have to seek court orders to make the coroner adhere to the information blackouts , which are referred to as security holds .
Since Guardado ’ s report was released @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have fatally shot five other people , according to information compiled by the department .
The one that would lead to the legal battle with the coroner was the shooting of Dana Young in the early morning hours of Oct. 15 .
Deputies responded to a call of a woman being kidnapped at gunpoint in South L.A. , according to a news release from the Sheriff ’ s Department .
Young forced a woman into his SUV and fled , the release said .
At one point , the driver of the SUV @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s friend , who had given chase .
The woman managed to escape , and as deputies closed in , the SUV crashed into a gate at the end of a cul-de-sac .
Young was running when deputies opened fire , the department said .
There were no details on what prompted the shooting .
Young died at the scene .
A gun was recovered .
As is done with all killings by deputies , sheriff ’ s detectives began investigating the shooting .
Intent on not having the coroner ’ s office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Det .
Jason Marx went to Superior Court Judge Kerry L. White on Oct. 29 and came away with an order that barred the coroner from releasing Young ’ s autopsy report for 60 days .
Later that day , Marx presented it to the coroner ’ s office .
Coroner ’ s officials objected .
In a declaration filed in court , Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner Dr. Jonathan Lucas said that no one from the Sheriff ’ s Department had requested a security hold on Young ’ s autopsy and that Marx @ @ @ @ @ @ @ office beforehand about his plan to seek a court order .
Lawyers for the county , who typically go to court to defend the Sheriff ’ s Department , not oppose it , asked the judge to throw out the order , arguing that it was void because the coroner ’ s office wasn ’ t given notice and that it “ impermissibly restricted ” the county ’ s ability to operate as intended .
In an apparent reference to the Guardado case , the lawyers argued Marx “ decided to make an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s office because “ he may have been unhappy ” that it had defied a security hold in an unrelated case , according to the filing .
“ Detective Marx simply had no factual or legal basis to apply for the Order , and the Court had no basis to grant it , ” county attorneys wrote in their filing .
Marx and an attorney who appeared in court on his behalf did not return calls for comment , but a Sheriff ’ s Department spokesman said investigators were “ concerned with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Guardado case and so went to the judge .
“ Transparency is a goal , however , it can not come at the expense of the integrity of the investigation , ” Lt. John Satterfield said in a statement .
White , the judge who signed the initial order , declined to comment through his court clerk .
Ultimately , another judge decided the issue .
It ’ s unclear why White did not .
At a hearing Tuesday at the East L.A .
Courthouse , Judge Lucy Armendariz vacated White ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Detective Jason Marx nor anyone from the Los Angeles County Sheriff ’ s Department may rely upon or transmit or cite the order to anyone as an extant order.
” The court filings also reveal new details about the Guardado case and the heated back-and-forth between the coroner ’ s office and the Sheriff ’ s Department that ended with the release of the autopsy report .
In July , three weeks after the 18-year-old was killed , sheriff ’ s investigators still had not formally interviewed the deputy who had opened fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had released the results of an independent autopsy that concluded he had been shot five times in the back .
His death had generated national attention and large protests , adding to a summer of unrest across the country over police brutality .
Homicide Bureau Capt .
Kent Wegener , whose detectives were conducting the criminal investigation , sent a letter to the coroner , asking him to keep the official autopsy report from the public so that those who hadn ’ t yet been interviewed would not be influenced by the results @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family of Andres Guardado has released selected excerpts of their private examination ; however , we have no control over this , ” he wrote in the letter , a copy of which was filed in court .
“ Regardless , I will not submit to releasing this confidential information from the County autopsy , contributing to a breach of confidentiality within this criminal investigation.
” Lucas , the chief medical examiner , gave the captain until the next morning to provide “ specific factual information ” that supported the need for secrecy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more do you need ?
” he said , according to emails in the court filing .
“ If we provide details of the injuries to the purported witnesses , we are feeding them information which they could include in their statement .
There are people asserting that [ they ] witnessed the encounter , including the shooting .
If so , we want the details of what they witnessed before we tell them what was discovered.
” Wegener could not be reached for comment .
Lucas weighed his options and ultimately decided @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two days later .
“ I believe that government can do its part by being more timely and more transparent in sharing information that the public demands and has a right to see , ” he said at the time .
Just this week , the coroner ’ s office announced that it would conduct an independent inquest , the first of its kind in nearly 30 years , into Guardado ’ s death .
It will allow the coroner ’ s office to subpoena witnesses and present documents to an independent hearing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the cause and manner of death , ” according to a statement issued by the agency .

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has clashed often with other county officials who accuse him of undoing reforms, shunning transparency and resisting accountability for law enforcement.
A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department homicide detective quietly approached a Superior Court judge late last month with an unusual request: He wanted the judge to bar the county’s coroner from releasing the autopsy report on a man killed by sheriff’s deputies.
In normal times, a judge would have had no reason to get involved. The office of the medical examiner-coroner had always kept reports secret whenever investigators from the Sheriff’s Department or any other police agency asked.
But these are not normal times in L.A. County, where Sheriff Alex Villanueva is locked in an increasingly hostile power struggle with county officials who accuse him of undoing critical reforms, shunning transparency and rebuffing efforts to hold him accountable. The friction has spilled over in recent months to the office of the medical examiner-coroner, where senior staffers have made it clear that the old rules no longer apply when it comes to killings by sheriff’s deputies.
The judge signed off on the gag order, setting in motion a legal tussle that has further isolated the sheriff from other county leaders and deepened the feud with the coroner.
The current skirmish with the coroner stems from a clash in mid-July, when the coroner broke ranks with the Sheriff’s Department by releasing the autopsy report of Andres Guardado, confirming that the 18-year-old was shot by a deputy five times in the back.
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Sheriff’s Department investigators had asked the coroner to keep the report under wraps, saying the information about how Guardado died could taint their investigation if it was made public. Such requests are not unusual in high-profile cases, including those in which someone is killed by a police officer. The result is that information about cases can remain cloaked in secrecy for months or, in some cases, years.
Villanueva was incensed by the coroner’s move to release the report, which he believed could jeopardize the investigation into the deputy’s actions. He suggested that, going forward, his investigators would have to seek court orders to make the coroner adhere to the information blackouts, which are referred to as security holds.
Since Guardado’s report was released, L.A. County sheriff’s deputies have fatally shot five other people, according to information compiled by the department. The one that would lead to the legal battle with the coroner was the shooting of Dana Young in the early morning hours of Oct. 15.
Deputies responded to a call of a woman being kidnapped at gunpoint in South L.A., according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Department.
Young forced a woman into his SUV and fled, the release said. At one point, the driver of the SUV stopped and fired at the woman’s friend, who had given chase.
The woman managed to escape, and as deputies closed in, the SUV crashed into a gate at the end of a cul-de-sac.
Young was running when deputies opened fire, the department said. There were no details on what prompted the shooting.
Young died at the scene. A gun was recovered.
As is done with all killings by deputies, sheriff’s detectives began investigating the shooting. Intent on not having the coroner’s office once again go public with its findings, Det. Jason Marx went to Superior Court Judge Kerry L. White on Oct. 29 and came away with an order that barred the coroner from releasing Young’s autopsy report for 60 days. Later that day, Marx presented it to the coroner’s office.
Coroner’s officials objected. In a declaration filed in court, Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner Dr. Jonathan Lucas said that no one from the Sheriff’s Department had requested a security hold on Young’s autopsy and that Marx had not notified the coroner’s office beforehand about his plan to seek a court order.
Lawyers for the county, who typically go to court to defend the Sheriff’s Department, not oppose it, asked the judge to throw out the order, arguing that it was void because the coroner’s office wasn’t given notice and that it “impermissibly restricted” the county’s ability to operate as intended.
In an apparent reference to the Guardado case, the lawyers argued Marx “decided to make an end run” around the coroner’s office because “he may have been unhappy” that it had defied a security hold in an unrelated case, according to the filing.
“Detective Marx simply had no factual or legal basis to apply for the Order, and the Court had no basis to grant it,” county attorneys wrote in their filing.
Marx and an attorney who appeared in court on his behalf did not return calls for comment, but a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said investigators were “concerned with the precedent” the coroner had set in the Guardado case and so went to the judge.
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“Transparency is a goal, however, it cannot come at the expense of the integrity of the investigation,” Lt. John Satterfield said in a statement.
White, the judge who signed the initial order, declined to comment through his court clerk.
Ultimately, another judge decided the issue. It’s unclear why White did not. At a hearing Tuesday at the East L.A. Courthouse, Judge Lucy Armendariz vacated White’s order, deciding that “neither Detective Jason Marx nor anyone from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department may rely upon or transmit or cite the order to anyone as an extant order.”
The court filings also reveal new details about the Guardado case and the heated back-and-forth between the coroner’s office and the Sheriff’s Department that ended with the release of the autopsy report.
In July, three weeks after the 18-year-old was killed, sheriff’s investigators still had not formally interviewed the deputy who had opened fire.
Attorneys representing Guardado’s family had released the results of an independent autopsy that concluded he had been shot five times in the back. His death had generated national attention and large protests, adding to a summer of unrest across the country over police brutality.
Homicide Bureau Capt. Kent Wegener, whose detectives were conducting the criminal investigation, sent a letter to the coroner, asking him to keep the official autopsy report from the public so that those who hadn’t yet been interviewed would not be influenced by the results.
“I am aware that the family of Andres Guardado has released selected excerpts of their private examination; however, we have no control over this,” he wrote in the letter, a copy of which was filed in court. “Regardless, I will not submit to releasing this confidential information from the County autopsy, contributing to a breach of confidentiality within this criminal investigation.”
Lucas, the chief medical examiner, gave the captain until the next morning to provide “specific factual information” that supported the need for secrecy, the records show.
Wegener wrote back about 20 minutes later.
“What more do you need?” he said, according to emails in the court filing. “If we provide details of the injuries to the purported witnesses, we are feeding them information which they could include in their statement. There are people asserting that [they] witnessed the encounter, including the shooting. If so, we want the details of what they witnessed before we tell them what was discovered.”
Wegener could not be reached for comment.
Lucas weighed his options and ultimately decided to publicly disclose the Guardado autopsy report two days later.
“I believe that government can do its part by being more timely and more transparent in sharing information that the public demands and has a right to see,” he said at the time.
Just this week, the coroner’s office announced that it would conduct an independent inquest, the first of its kind in nearly 30 years, into Guardado’s death. It will allow the coroner’s office to subpoena witnesses and present documents to an independent hearing officer who “will make findings related to the cause and manner of death,” according to a statement issued by the agency.