latimes--2020-09-06--For L.A. Latinos, Whittier Boulevard is still a crossroads of change and hope

Fifty years ago , a coalition of Mexican American activists solidified a landmark East L.A. thoroughfare as the epicenter of the Chicano Movement .
On Aug. 29 , 1970 , thousands of people , some from as far away as San Francisco and San Diego , gathered to march down the core shopping area of Whittier Boulevard to press for Latino civil rights and denounce the Vietnam War machine , which was being powered with thousands of Black and Mexican American bodies .
For decades , the boulevard had served as a hub of Latino life , commerce and culture @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for an emerging , immigrant-rich middle class that had been redlined out of other neighborhoods .
It was a teen hangout where rival Garfield and Roosevelt students gathered after football games to split a soda at A & W Root Beer , snog at drive-in theaters or catch Little Richard shrieking ecstatically at Sebby ’ s , on the corner of Whittier and Soto .
Some spent the week detailing their classic cars and bicycles .
Come Friday night , throngs of lowriders cruised the boulevard , blasting Chicano soul .
“ Let @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Boulevard !
” `` ¡Arriba , Arriba !
” shouts local act Thee Midniters before ripping into “ Whittier Boulevard , ” their 1965 surf-guitar-driven instrumental tribute to East L.A. ’ s main street mythos .
“ I ’ m from La Habra , and we had family connections in East L.A. and Montebello and Pico , and driving back and forth Whittier Boulevard was not just a commute or a daily practice , but it was literally what connected us across space and time , ” said Jerry González , associate professor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at San Antonio and director of the UTSA Mexico Center .
Then suddenly , in the spasm of one late-summer afternoon , Whittier Boulevard took on yet another layer of identity — as a space for political action .
The historic Chicano Moratorium march began as a celebration of community pride and solidarity but ended with cops beating protesters while buildings went up in flames .
Eastside native Frank Villalobos , a 23-year-old recent graduate of Cal Poly Pomona , was among those bearing witness a half-century ago .
He remembers the shuttered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tear gas on the crowd , and local merchants handing him a Dixie cup filled with water to stay hydrated during the march .
“ I wasn ’ t one of the guys in front , but one of the participants running down the street with everyone else , ” says Villalobos , 74 , president of the nonprofit Barrio Planners , an Eastside architectural firm .
But the demonstration did more than sharpen the community ’ s political conscience , Villalobos said .
It also marked a new evolutionary stage for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while adapting to a changing Los Angeles : surviving economic blight and violent street-gang clashes , refurbishing its central business area in the late 1980s , enduring as a cultural hub of Latino L.A. Today , the heart of 14-mile Whittier Boulevard , from Eastern Avenue on the west to Atlantic Boulevard on the east , is facing a new host of challenges — including the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic meltdown , as well as creeping gentrification .
But for many , this faded but resilient avenue remains an axis of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is an icon , ” Villalobos said .
“ It seems dead right now because of COVID .
But Whittier Boulevard is really a survivor of all the things that happened in the past.
” From East L.A. into the peripheral cities of Orange County , the boulevard ’ s character shifts with the changing demographic landscape .
But the main shopping corridor between Eastern Avenue and Atlantic Boulevard has made Whittier Boulevard a community rallying point in good times and bad — such as the present moment .
According to the L.A. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in L.A. County with 5,617 as of Aug. 27 .
The toll on Whittier ’ s main commercial strip has been ominous .
This slice of the boulevard was nearly vacant except for a few families walking down the street during a recent afternoon visit .
Scores of mom-and-pop shops were closed , barred with black steel gates .
A few already have gone out of business , and more casualties of the economic downturn are likely in coming months .
Foot traffic has fallen drastically .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kern Avenue and Whittier Boulevard , a mother and son gazed at the fluffy white dresses displayed along the wall behind giant Plexiglas .
Farther east , a couple perused a shop whose mishmash of baby clothes , toilet paper and party supplies spilled onto the sidewalk .
Across the street , a group of five older men wearing surgical masks congregated in front of a liquor store before dispersing to catch the 720 Metro Rapid bus .
Even before the coronavirus outbreak , the boulevard for decades hadn ’ t received sufficient @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said Tony DeMarco , a pawn shop owner and president of the Whittier Boulevard Merchants Assn.
, a collective of about 250 businesses along the drag .
As an unincorporated enclave of Los Angeles County , East L.A. never has fully shared in the region ’ s prosperity or resources , many residents believe .
Few long-standing shops that were around even before the Chicano Moratorium remain .
“ We ’ re all struggling .
I don ’ t know how many will be back , ” said DeMarco , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % during the pandemic .
Other ongoing problems have kept the boulevard from reaching its full potential , DeMarco suggested .
He laments the lack of new commercial investment , a shortage of parking structures , and the way that a glut of unlicensed sidewalk vendors has hurt established restaurants and caricatured the neighborhood .
When the L.A. Times writes an article about East L.A. , he said , “ it shows a picture of a poor immigrant pushing the cart.
” Gentrification also has taken a toll on the community .
Those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two decades ago have seen their property values increase by an average of $ 338,910 within the 90022 ZIP Code , according to data from Zillow .
But for the average East Los Angeles resident , who generally rents and earns a median annual income of $ 43,879 , home ownership is out of reach .
Many businesses along Whittier have not been spared as mom-and-pop retailers — furniture stores , shoe shops and hardware stores — have been replaced by corporate giants such as Nike .
“ All the businesses have changed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , third-generation owner of Wenger Furniture and Appliances , whose current neighbors include a barbershop , a church , a Nike store and a cafe .
Established in 1947 on the corner of South McBride Avenue and Whittier Boulevard , Wenger Furniture joined a cluster of family business at a time when the boulevard served as the main commercial center for a growing Latino middle class .
“ I think we ’ re the last business left that ’ s been here from the ’ 40s and ’ 50s , ” Wenger said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contrast with its lofty past .
Historians contend that the boulevard had been part of El Camino Real , the “ Royal Road ” or “ King ’ s Highway , ” and was used by Spanish missionaries during the colonial period .
The roadway area remained undeveloped for decades , surrounded by agriculture , until nearby industrial jobs prompted real estate companies to establish housing tracts .
“ It was , like , the [ crummy ] part of town because the river would flood over there , so it was like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mexicans and the Chinese and the Jews , they can all live in that part , ’ ” said artist Al Guerrero Jr. , who grew up on South Kern , a half-block south of the boulevard .
Gradually , many Jewish and Asian people moved away , and the area became overwhelmingly Chicano .
Cities such as Montebello , Pico Rivera , Whittier , La Habra and Brea — all of which are carved by Whittier Boulevard — began as exclusively white communities but have grown to become Latino and Mexican American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ University of Texas professor .
Pico Rivera made the quickest leap , with 90 % of its population identifying as Hispanic or Latino , with Montebello not far behind with 78 % , according to 2018 U.S. Census data .
In the decades before and after World War II , Whittier became a shopping district and , later still , a teenage oasis centered around cruising culture .
“ Cruising is free , you just need money for gas , ” said Luis Nuño , Cal State L.A. assistant professor of sociology .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Disneyland or going to a place where you have to spend money.
” At that time , major retailers , movie theaters , dress shops , record stores and restaurants thrived in the densely populated , somewhat insular community .
Many residents ’ first language was Spanish ; their U.S.-born children sometimes were reprimanded for not speaking English in school .
Back in the day , Guerrero recalled , East L.A. was a “ homogenous community ” that felt somewhat protected from white-majority Los Angeles , a place where you were “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on a day-to-day basis.
” When he went with his father to L.A. , he could sense strangers ’ suspicious , hostile stares .
Families didn ’ t need to travel far to get the essentials .
Garfield and Roosevelt high schools were only a few miles away .
JonSons Markets employed folks from the neighborhood .
A Número Uno market recently took its place as the community grocery store .
Teens worked summer jobs at Thrifty , local movie theaters or the family business .
Wenger , 58 , started working at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was about 8 .
During lunch breaks , his family always would go out to eat at new restaurants , but Marcel and Jeanne ’ s French Cafe was his favorite for their soups .
Wenger also remembers helping his dad board up the store ’ s windows with wooden panels to prevent damage during the 1970 demonstration .
Several other marches were held throughout 1970 , but the one in August left a bittersweet feeling .
What started out as a festive and peaceful protest among an estimated 20,000 attendees quickly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police intervened .
Businesses were set ablaze , scores were injured and arrested , and L.A. Times columnist Rubén Salazar was killed after police fired a tear gas canister into a bar .
The demonstration helped bring Mexican Americans together politically and culturally , but perceptions of the protest and its aftermath , particularly among outsiders , also tainted the area .
The boulevard deteriorated economically and visually .
It gained the reputation of a “ war zone ” ; police erected barricades between Atlantic Boulevard and Eastern Avenue every weekend night to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , many Latinos started taking their business to rival commercial centers in Montebello and to Pacific Boulevard in Huntington Park that featured major chains such as JCPenney .
Villalobos , the architect , contends this also led to the annexation of a portion of the boulevard to neighboring City of Commerce , which he said later made it almost impossible for East Los Angeles to push for its own separate cityhood .
Merchants along the commercial hub grasped the seriousness of the moratorium .
They realized that the demonstrators embodied their clientele , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to cooperate more with each other .
They banded together to fight for their deteriorating street .
In the late 1970s , they started connecting with then-L.A. County Supervisor Ed Edelman and , later , Supervisor Gloria Molina , to beautify the area and boost its comeback .
In the 1980s , merchants tapped into their own savings and secured funding from state and county officials to help refurbish the boulevard with sidewalk and building improvements , Mexican fan palm trees , a “ Latino Walk of Fame , ” and , their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ centerpiece displaying the boulevard ’ s name .
Locals flocked to the revived boulevard for the annual Christmas parade , featuring celebrities and local officials .
Merchants implemented a robust graffiti removal program and hung seasonal lights and banners during the holidays .
We ’ re “ a community that tries to revitalize itself all the time , ” said Wenger .
He believes that adding major retailers such as Apple could help beef up the boulevard .
“ We are constantly trying to grow.
” But for others , humble mom-and-pops that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ retain a place in the boulevard ’ s future .
Connie Molina , 27 , remembers frequenting the area with her family when she was in high school .
They would board the 18 or 720 bus to catch a movie or play at the arcade .
Molina said she ’ d visit a clothing boutique to get an outfit for a Friday night backyard party .
Now the small business owner said she only visits the area to buy baking supplies and groceries from her neighborhood ’ s Número Uno market .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chicano history , but her memories of bustling arcades and packed movie houses are fading .
“ It ’ s nowhere near alive as it used to be , ” she said .
The boulevard ’ s roots aren ’ t forgotten , it ’ s just “ there are so many things going on in this world , ” said Carlos Cortez .
The 20-year-old recently has made a habit of visiting the area every Sunday with his girlfriend and baby to sell his homemade lemonade raspados from his makeshift cart .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ history — “ There ’ s a lot of Chicano roots that are still there ” — but thinks it ’ s time for a new generation to reinvent the boulevard once again .
“ When we think about changes in the landscape , a lot of folks will reference the Whittier Boulevard of their time .
At the same time , somebody is making new memories of their time , ” González said .
“ Its significance for the future of the Latinx community is still there .
It ’ s going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ L.A. , but how this country , reckons with this really horrific practices against Latino immigrants , Mexicanos and Mexican Americans , because it ’ s always been there.
” For Guerrero , the evolving boulevard remains part of the “ fabric of his childhood.
” He doesn ’ t plan to abandon it anytime soon despite more possible changes on the horizon .
Now a West Adams resident , he feels the old , fond memories return whenever he revisits East L.A and the boulevard .
“ I can walk around here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at me.
” He no longer recognizes parts of it , he said , “ but I can still connect to the spirit of it.
” He regularly makes the drive from his West Adams home to walk the street , grab a bite to eat at his favorite childhood restaurant , Porky ’ s , for their carne deshebrada burrito drenched in “ picoso but flavorful ” red sauce .
And he waits for new sights and new sounds to revive the old memories .

The sun sets on Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles. The 14-mile thoroughfare has served as a hub of Latino life, commerce and culture for decades.
Fifty years ago, a coalition of Mexican American activists solidified a landmark East L.A. thoroughfare as the epicenter of the Chicano movement.
On Aug. 29, 1970, thousands of people, some from as far as San Francisco and San Diego, gathered to march down the core shopping area of Whittier Boulevard to push for Latino civil rights and denounce the Vietnam War machine, which was being powered with thousands of Black and Mexican American bodies.
For decades, the boulevard had served as a hub of Latino life, commerce and culture. It was an affordable shopping district for an emerging, immigrant-rich middle class that had been redlined out of other neighborhoods. It was a teen hangout where rival Garfield and Roosevelt students gathered after football games to split a soda at A&W Root Beer, snog at drive-in theaters or catch Little Richard shrieking ecstatically at Sebby’s, on the corner of Whittier and Soto Street.
Some spent the week detailing their classic cars and bicycles. Come Friday night, throngs of lowriders cruised the boulevard, blasting Chicano soul.
Small shops and restaurants line Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles. The affordable shopping district and surrounding neighborhoods were fertile ground for an emerging, immigrant-rich middle class. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
“Let’s take a trip down Whittier Boulevard!” “¡Arriba, Arriba!” shouts local act Thee Midniters before ripping into “Whittier Boulevard,” their 1965 surf-guitar-driven instrumental tribute to East L.A.’s main street mythos.
“I’m from La Habra, and we had family connections in East L.A. and Montebello and Pico, and driving back and forth [on] Whittier Boulevard was not just a commute or a daily practice, but it was literally what connected us across space and time,” said Jerry González, associate professor of history at the University of Texas at San Antonio and director of the UTSA Mexico Center.
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Then suddenly, in the spasm of one late-summer afternoon, Whittier Boulevard took on yet another layer of identity — as a space for political action.
Frank Villalobos, an architect for Barrio Planners and an Eastside native, is reflected on the window of a car making its way along Whittier Boulevard in East L.A. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
The historic Chicano Moratorium march began as a celebration of community pride and solidarity but ended with sheriff’s deputies beating protesters while buildings went up in flames. Eastside native Frank Villalobos, a 23-year-old recent graduate of Cal Poly Pomona, was among those bearing witness a half-century ago. He remembers the shuttered and shattered storefronts, the police raining tear gas on the crowd, and local merchants handing him a Dixie cup filled with water to stay hydrated during the march.
50 years later: How the Chicano Moratorium changed L.A. 50 years ago, the Chicano Moratorium made an indelible impact on L.A. culture and civil rights. Explore the LA Times project.
“I wasn’t one of the guys in front, but one of the participants running down the street with everyone else,” says Villalobos, 74, president of the nonprofit Barrio Planners, an Eastside architectural firm.
But the demonstration did more than sharpen the community’s political conscience, Villalobos said. It also marked a new evolutionary stage for the boulevard, which has constantly reinvented itself while adapting to a changing Los Angeles: surviving economic blight and violent street-gang clashes, refurbishing its central business area in the late 1980s, enduring as a cultural hub of Latino L.A.
Today, the heart of 14-mile Whittier Boulevard, from Eastern Avenue on the west to Atlantic Boulevard on the east, is facing a new host of challenges — including the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic meltdown, as well as creeping gentrification. But for many, this faded but resilient avenue remains an axis of change and hope.
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“The street is an icon,” Villalobos said. “It seems dead right now because of COVID. But Whittier Boulevard is really a survivor of all the things that happened in the past.”
A family shops along Whittier Boulevard. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on local businesses. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
From East L.A. into the peripheral cities of Orange County, the boulevard’s character shifts with the changing demographic landscape.
But the main shopping corridor between Eastern and Atlantic has made Whittier Boulevard a community rallying point in good times and bad — such as the present moment. According to the L.A. Times’ coronavirus tracker, East L.A. had the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in L.A. County with 5,617 as of Aug. 27. The toll on Whittier’s main commercial strip has been ominous.
This slice of the boulevard was nearly vacant on a recent afternoon except for a few families walking down the street. Scores of mom-and-pop shops were closed, barred with black steel gates. A few already have gone out of business, and more casualties of the economic downturn are likely to follow in coming months. Foot traffic has fallen drastically.
Inside a First Communion store, near Kern Avenue and Whittier Boulevard, a mother and son gazed at the fluffy white dresses displayed along the wall behind giant Plexiglas. Farther east, a couple perused a shop whose mishmash of baby clothes, toilet paper and party supplies spilled onto the sidewalk. Across the street, a group of five older men wearing surgical masks congregated in front of a liquor store before dispersing to catch the 720 Metro Rapid bus.
Even before the coronavirus outbreak, the boulevard for decades hadn’t received sufficient attention from “the powers that be,” said Tony DeMarco, a pawn shop owner and president of the Whittier Boulevard Merchants Assn., a collective of about 250 businesses along the drag. As an unincorporated enclave of Los Angeles County, East L.A. never has fully shared in the region’s prosperity or resources, many residents believe. Few long-standing shops that were around even before the Chicano Moratorium remain.
“We’re all struggling. I don’t know how many will be back,” said DeMarco, who estimates that his business has dropped 60% during the pandemic.
Other ongoing problems have kept the boulevard from reaching its full potential, DeMarco suggested. He laments the lack of new commercial investment, a shortage of parking structures, and the way that a glut of unlicensed sidewalk vendors has hurt established restaurants and caricatured the neighborhood. When the L.A. Times writes an article about East L.A., he said, “it shows a picture of a poor immigrant pushing the cart.”
Gentrification also has taken a toll on the community. Those fortunate to have purchased homes more than two decades ago have seen their property values increase by an average of $338,910 within the 90022 ZIP Code, according to data from Zillow. But for the average East Los Angeles resident, who generally rents and earns a median annual income of $43,879, home ownership is out of reach.
Many businesses along Whittier have not been spared as mom-and-pop retailers — furniture stores, shoe shops and hardware stores — have been replaced by corporate giants such as Nike.
James Wenger is the owner of Wenger Furniture and Appliances on Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
“All the businesses have changed over time,” said James Wenger, third-generation owner of Wenger Furniture and Appliances, whose current neighbors include a barbershop, a church, a Nike store and a cafe.
Established in 1947 on the corner of South McBride Avenue and Whittier Boulevard, Wenger Furniture joined a cluster of family business at a time when the boulevard served as the main commercial center for a growing Latino middle class. “I think we’re the last business left that’s been here from the ’40s and ’50s,” Wenger said.
The street’s current challenges contrast with its lofty past.
James Wenger, whose family has run a furniture store on Whittier Boulevard for three generations, shares old photographs of East L.A. community leaders. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Historians contend that the boulevard had been part of El Camino Real, the “Royal Road” or “King’s Highway,” and was used by Spanish missionaries during the colonial period. The roadway area remained undeveloped for decades, surrounded by agriculture, until nearby industrial jobs prompted real estate companies to establish housing tracts.
“It was, like, the [crummy] part of town because the river would flood over there, so it was like, ‘Let’s let the Mexicans and the Chinese and the Jews, they can all live in that part,’” said artist Al Guerrero Jr., who grew up on South Kern, half a block south of the boulevard. Gradually, many Jewish and Asian people moved away, and the area became overwhelmingly Chicano.
Cities such as Montebello, Pico Rivera, Whittier, La Habra and Brea — all of which are carved by Whittier Boulevard — began as exclusively white communities but have grown to become Latino and Mexican American neighborhoods, according to González, the University of Texas professor. Pico Rivera made the quickest leap, with 90% of its population identifying as Hispanic or Latino, with Montebello not far behind with 78%, according to 2018 U.S. Census data.
In the decades before and after World War II, Whittier became a shopping district and, later still, a teenage oasis centered around cruising culture.
“Cruising is free, you just need money for gas,” said Luis Nuño, Cal State L.A. assistant professor of sociology. “It’s not going out to Disneyland or going to a place where you have to spend money.”
At that time, major retailers, movie theaters, dress shops, record stores and restaurants thrived in the densely populated, somewhat insular community. Many residents’ first language was Spanish; their U.S.-born children sometimes were reprimanded for not speaking English in school.
Back in the day, Guerrero recalled, East L.A. was a “homogenous community” that felt somewhat protected from white-majority Los Angeles, a place where you were “not exposed to direct discrimination or racism on a day-to-day basis.” When he went with his father to L.A., he could sense strangers’ suspicious, hostile stares.
Families didn’t need to travel far to get the essentials. Garfield and Roosevelt high schools were only a few miles away. JonSons Markets employed folks from the neighborhood. A Número Uno market recently took its place as the community grocery store. Teens worked summer jobs at Thrifty, movie theaters or the family business.
Wenger, 58, started working at his family’s furniture store when he was about 8. During lunch breaks, his family always would go out to eat at new restaurants, but Marcel and Jeanne’s French Cafe was his favorite for their soups.
Wenger also remembers helping his dad board up the store’s windows with wooden panels to prevent damage during the 1970 demonstration.
Several other marches were held throughout 1970, but the one in August left a bittersweet feeling. What started out as a festive and peaceful protest of about 20,000 attendees quickly turned into a fury of chaos when the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department intervened.
Businesses were set ablaze, scores were injured and arrested, and Times columnist Rubén Salazar was killed when a deputy fired a tear gas canister into a bar, striking his skull.
Artist Al Guerrero Jr., a native of East Los Angeles, stands along Whittier Boulevard. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
The demonstration helped bring Mexican Americans together politically and culturally, but perceptions of the protest and its aftermath, particularly among outsiders, also tainted the area.
A day of rage and racist neglect in East L.A. A 1970 anti-war protest is remembered for the death of newsman Ruben Salazar. But far more happened the day 20,000 people spoke up for Mexican American rights.
The boulevard deteriorated economically and visually. It gained the reputation of a “war zone”; police erected barricades between Atlantic Boulevard and Eastern Avenue every weekend night to stop lowrider cruising. Feeling pushed out, many Latinos started taking their business to rival commercial centers in Montebello and to Pacific Boulevard in Huntington Park, which featured major chains such as JCPenney.
Villalobos, the architect, contends this also led to the annexation of a portion of the boulevard to neighboring City of Commerce, which he said later made it almost impossible for East Los Angeles to push for its own separate cityhood.
Merchants along the commercial hub grasped the seriousness of the moratorium. They realized that the demonstrators embodied their clientele, spurring a desire among the business folk to cooperate more with each other.
Fast-food restaurants line a stretch of Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
They banded together to fight for their deteriorating street. In the late 1970s, they started connecting with then-L.A. County Supervisor Ed Edelman and, later, Supervisor Gloria Molina, to beautify the area and boost its comeback.
In the 1980s, merchants tapped into their own savings and secured funding from state and county officials to help refurbish the boulevard with sidewalk and building improvements, Mexican fan palm trees, a Latino Walk of Fame and, their pride and joy, a 65-foot-long arch centerpiece displaying the boulevard’s name.
Locals flocked to the revived boulevard for the annual Christmas parade, featuring celebrities and local officials. Merchants implemented a robust graffiti removal program and hung seasonal lights and banners during the holidays.
We’re “a community that tries to revitalize itself all the time,” Wenger said. He believes that adding major retailers such as Apple could help beef up the boulevard. “We are constantly trying to grow.”
But for others, humble mom-and-pops that know their customers by name also must retain a place in the boulevard’s future.
Connie Molina, 27, remembers frequenting the area with her family when she was in high school. They would board the 18 or 720 bus to catch a movie or play at the arcade. Molina said she’d visit a clothing boutique to get an outfit for a Friday night backyard party.
Now the small-business owner said she visits the area only to buy baking supplies and groceries from her neighborhood’s Número Uno market. She reminisces about the boulevard’s Chicano history, but her memories of bustling arcades and packed movie houses are fading.
“It’s nowhere near alive as it used to be,” she said.
Traffic streams past the old Golden Gate Theater on Whittier Boulevard in East L.A. The theater is now a CVS drugstore. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
The boulevard’s roots aren’t forgotten, it’s just “there are so many things going on in this world,” said Carlos Cortez. The 20-year-old recently has made a habit of visiting the area every Sunday with his girlfriend and baby to sell his homemade lemonade raspados from his makeshift cart. He appreciates the area’s rich history — “There’s a lot of Chicano roots that are still there” — but thinks it’s time for a new generation to reinvent the boulevard once again.
“When we think about changes in the landscape, a lot of folks will reference the Whittier Boulevard of their time. At the same time, somebody is making new memories of their time,” said González, the San Antonio professor.
“Its significance for the future of the Latinx community is still there. It’s going to be central to not only how L.A., but how this country, reckons with these really horrific practices against Latino immigrants, Mexicanos and Mexican Americans, because it’s always been there.”
For Guerrero, the evolving boulevard remains part of the “fabric of his childhood.” He doesn’t plan to abandon it anytime soon despite more possible changes on the horizon. Now a West Adams resident, he feels the old, fond memories return whenever he revisits East L.A and the boulevard. “I can walk around here and Karens are not going to look at me.” He no longer recognizes parts of it, he said, “but I can still connect to the spirit of it.”
He regularly makes the drive from his West Adams home to walk the street and grab a bite to eat at his favorite childhood restaurant, Porky’s, for its carne deshebrada burrito drenched in “picoso but flavorful” red sauce.
And he waits for new sights and new sounds to revive the old memories.


latimes--2020-09-05--3.8 earthquake shakes the Santa Barbara area

A magnitude 3.8 earthquake was reported Saturday at 6:48 p.m. PDT 11 miles from Goleta , Calif. , according to @ @ @ @ @ The earthquake was centered 13 miles from Santa Barbara and 22 miles from Lompoc , @ @ @ @ @ of 7.1 miles .
An average of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 @ @ @ @ @ and Nevada , according to a recent three-year data sample .
This story was automatically @ @ @ @ @ computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS .
A Times editor @ @ @ @ @ was published .
If you ’ re interested in learning more about the system , @ @ @ @ @ asked questions .

A magnitude 3.8 earthquake was reported Saturday at 6:48 p.m. PDT 11 miles from Goleta, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The earthquake was centered 13 miles from Santa Barbara and 22 miles from Lompoc, Calif., at a depth of 7.1 miles.
An average of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur per year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three-year data sample.
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This story was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published. If you’re interested in learning more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.


latimes--2020-09-05--Massive Sierra fire traps people at Mammoth Pool; 10 injured, rescue operation underway

A brush fire in the Sierra National Forest exploded Saturday , consuming more than 36,000 acres , threatening local communities and trapping 150 near a popular reservoir .
The fast-moving Creek fire cut off evacuation routes to Mammoth Pool Reservoir , according the Madera County sheriff ’ s office .
All of the people were reported safe but 10 of them suffered some type of injury , the sheriff ’ s office said .
The California National Guard assisted in a major rescue operation Saturday night , using a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to help airlift people trapped by the fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to General Daniel Hokanson , chief of the National Guard Bureau .
Hokanson said in a tweet that people had been taken to CalGuard facilities & were met by medics & civilian first responders .
The Fresno Fire Dept .
said late Saturday that several military helicopters had rescued 63 people and taken them to Fresno Yosemite International Airport .
Injuries were severe for two people and moderate for 10 others , while 51 people had minor or no injuries , fire officials said in a tweet .
Aircraft were returning to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the tweet said , how many more people needed to be evacuated .
Sierra National Forest spokesman Dan Tune said those trapped in the reservoir area were not in imminent danger since the fire front has moved past them and was headed north .
But people have been advised to shelter in place while strike teams of engines and hand crews try to clear evacuation routes and contain the fast-moving flames .
The blaze is still 0 % contained .
Tune said firefighting resources — “ as much as we can spare ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The fire is also threatening a number of structures and power lines .
“ The priority right now is community and life safety , ” he said .
Residents of Huntington Lake , Camp Sierra and Big Creek in Central California were ordered to evacuate , and portions of Highway 168 were shut down , the Fresno County Sheriff ’ s Office said .
Shaver Lake was closed .
Later Saturday afternoon , evacuation orders were issued for the Kinsman Flat area in North Fork , the Madera County Sheriff ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to door notifying residents of the danger .
The Rock Creek and Fish Creek campgrounds were also being evacuated , officials said .
In total , about 2,000 structures were threatened , authorities said .
The American Red Cross was setting up a temporary evacuation point at Foothill Elementary School in Prather .
A second temporary evacuation point was being established at North Fork Elementary in North Fork .
The Creek fire started about 6:45 p.m. Friday in the Big Creek drainage between Shaver Lake , Big Creek and Huntington Lake , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It had grown to about 2,000 acres by Saturday morning and by the afternoon , it was at 5,000 acres , officials estimated .
About 450 firefighters were fighting the blaze with 20 engines , two helicopters and three air tankers , the Forest Service said .
The cause of the fire was under investigation .
The fire was burning in steep and rugged terrain amid high temperatures , with much of the region in the grips of a potentially record-breaking heat wave .
Authorities were asking that anyone scheduled to visit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make alternate plans .

The fast-moving Creek fire in the Sierra National Forest is threatening numerous mountain communities, prompting authorities to issue evacuation orders, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office said.
A brush fire in the Sierra National Forest exploded Saturday, consuming more than 36,000 acres, threatening local communities and trapping 150 near a popular reservoir.
The fast-moving Creek fire cut off evacuation routes to Mammoth Pool Reservoir, according the Madera County sheriff’s office. All of the people were reported safe but 10 of them suffered some type of injury, the sheriff’s office said.
The California National Guard assisted in a major rescue operation Saturday night, using a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to help airlift people trapped by the fire, including some who are injured, according to General Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau. Hokanson said in a tweet that people had been taken to CalGuard facilities & were met by medics & civilian first responders.
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The Fresno Fire Dept. said late Saturday that several military helicopters had rescued 63 people and taken them to Fresno Yosemite International Airport . Injuries were severe for two people and moderate for 10 others, while 51 people had minor or no injuries, fire officials said in a tweet. Aircraft were returning to continue operations but it was unclear, the tweet said, how many more people needed to be evacuated.
Sierra National Forest spokesman Dan Tune said those trapped in the reservoir area were not in imminent danger since the fire front has moved past them and was headed north. But people have been advised to shelter in place while strike teams of engines and hand crews try to clear evacuation routes and contain the fast-moving flames.
The blaze is still 0% contained. Tune said firefighting resources — “as much as we can spare” — are being redeployed to the area.
The fire is also threatening a number of structures and power lines.
“The priority right now is community and life safety,” he said.
Residents of Huntington Lake, Camp Sierra and Big Creek in Central California were ordered to evacuate, and portions of Highway 168 were shut down, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said. Shaver Lake was closed.
Later Saturday afternoon, evacuation orders were issued for the Kinsman Flat area in North Fork, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office said. Deputies were going door to door notifying residents of the danger. The Rock Creek and Fish Creek campgrounds were also being evacuated, officials said.
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In total, about 2,000 structures were threatened, authorities said.
The American Red Cross was setting up a temporary evacuation point at Foothill Elementary School in Prather. A second temporary evacuation point was being established at North Fork Elementary in North Fork.
The Creek fire started about 6:45 p.m. Friday in the Big Creek drainage between Shaver Lake, Big Creek and Huntington Lake, the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement.
It had grown to about 2,000 acres by Saturday morning and by the afternoon, it was at 5,000 acres, officials estimated.
California Fast-moving fire threatening communities in Yucaipa; evacuations underway The El Dorado fire in San Bernardino County is threatening communities in Yucaipa and is moving at a high rate of speed, officials said. Part of Oak Glen, Mountain Home Village, the Yucaipa bench area and Forest Falls were under an evacuation order.
About 450 firefighters were fighting the blaze with 20 engines, two helicopters and three air tankers, the Forest Service said. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
The fire was burning in steep and rugged terrain amid high temperatures, with much of the region in the grips of a potentially record-breaking heat wave.
Authorities were asking that anyone scheduled to visit the area during the holiday weekend to make alternate plans.


latimes--2020-09-05--Intense heat wave breaks numerous records, fuels dangerous fires across California

An intense heat wave broiled large swaths of California on Saturday , shattering numerous records , causing thousands to lose power and fueling several brush fires that were threatening communities from Yucaipa to the Sierra foothills .
Forecasters had predicted historic high temperatures , and they were proved right .
Dozens of communities set records for the day , and a few appeared to record all-time highs , according to the National Weather Service .
In Woodland Hills , the mercury climbed to 117 degrees by 3 p.m. Saturday , making it the hottest day ever recorded there in September @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 1979 .
Burbank reached 113 , tying its monthly record set in 1971 .
Van Nuys hit 115 .
The mercury soared even higher to the east , with Palm Springs hitting 122 and Indio 121 .
Officials said at least three areas tied or topped all-time record highs : Alpine ( 113 ) , El Cajon ( 114 ) and Idyllwild ( 103 ) .
The weather service said Burbank appeared to tie an all-time record at 114 degrees .
The temperatures were expected to climb even higher in some places @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Woodland Hills , 114 in Pasadena and 110 in Simi Valley , said David Sweet , a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard .
“ Some of these temperatures could be the all-time record for the location , ” Sweet said .
The heat , combined with bone-dry conditions , helped several huge fires explode out of control Saturday , with firefighters struggling to keep up .
A brush fire in the Sierra National Forest exploded Saturday , consuming more than 36,000 acres , threatening local communities and trapping 150 people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Creek fire cut off evacuation routes to Mammoth Pool Reservoir , according to the Madera County sheriff ’ s office .
All of the people were reported safe but 10 of them suffered some type of injury , the sheriff ’ s office said .
The California National Guard assisted in a major rescue operation Saturday night , using a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to help airlift people trapped by the fire , including some who are injured , said Gen. Daniel Hokanson , chief of the National Guard Bureau .
Hokanson said in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to CalGuard facilities and were met by medics and civilian first responders .
The Fresno Fire Department said late Saturday that several military helicopters had rescued 63 people and taken them to Fresno Yosemite International Airport .
Injuries were severe for two people and moderate for 10 others , while 51 people had minor or no injuries , fire officials said in a tweet .
Aircraft were returning to continue operations but it was unclear , the tweet said , how many more people needed to be evacuated .
Sierra National Forest spokesman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reservoir area were not in imminent danger since the fire front has moved past them and was headed north .
But people have been advised to shelter in place while strike teams of engines and hand crews try to clear evacuation routes and contain the fast-moving flames .
The fire is also threatening a range of structures and power lines .
“ The priority right now is community and life safety , ” he said .
Residents of Huntington Lake , Camp Sierra and Big Creek in Central California were ordered to evacuate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ burned more than 1,500 acres and forced evacuations in numerous mountainside communities in San Bernardino County .
Dubbed the , the blaze began about 10:30 a.m. in the 37000 block of Oak Glen Road , forcing the evacuation of Oak Glen , Forest Falls , Mountain Home Village and parts of eastern Yucaipa .
The blaze also closed a portion of the San Gorgonio Wilderness , according to San Bernardino National Forest officials .
In San Diego County , a 1,500-acre fire in the rural Japatul Valley area threatened homes and forced evacuations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ firefighters continued to fight 22 large fires that have together scorched more than 1.5 million acres since they were sparked by a series of dry lightning strikes last month .
The National Weather Service has issued a red-flag warning , which indicates critical fire weather conditions , for the valleys and mountains of Southern California that will be in effect from 6 p.m. Sunday to 10 p.m. Monday , Sweet said .
In Santa Barbara County , a red-flag warning is in effect for the mountains and South Coast from 6 p.m. Saturday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heat , low humidity and gusty “ sundowner ” winds , forecasters said .
The forecast prompted Gov .
Gavin Newsom to issue an emergency proclamation aimed at shoring up California ’ s energy capacity and staving off the kind of power outages and rolling blackouts that left tens of thousands of residents in the dark during the last big heat wave .
The California Independent System Operator , which runs the power grid for most of the state , has issued a statewide flex alert — calling for residents to voluntarily cut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 9 p.m. Saturday through Monday .
Southern California Edison reported about three dozen outages spread out over the region Saturday afternoon .
They ranged in size from one or two customers to more than 1,900 , according to the utility ’ s website .
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power spokesman Joe Ramallo said that utility ’ s crews were dealing with a handful of outages Saturday afternoon , but that only 550 of its 1.5 million customers citywide were affected .
“ Our crews are working as fast as they can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Our system is holding up very well right now.
” September heat waves are nothing new for Southern California , said climatologist Bill Patzert .
But they ’ ve become hotter , longer-lasting and more frequent , a trend that ’ s all but certain to persist , he said .
“ This is definitely a trailer of the feature , ” he said .
Over the last century , the average temperature in Los Angeles over the entire year has increased by about 5 degrees , Patzert said .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ August and September has increased by 8 to 9 degrees , he said .
“ That ’ s not warming up , that ’ s heating up , ” he said .
He attributes the rise to a combination of a slow increase in global temperatures and a faster heating of Southern California due to the buildup of heat-absorbing infrastructure , with a population that ’ s quadrupled since the 1950s .
“ We created this great megalopolis from the San Fernando Valley to the Inland Empire to the ocean , and what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ million people into it , and we ’ ve created an awful lot of infrastructure that tends to absorb the heat , ” he said .
“ So not only are we living in a warmer world due to global heating , we ’ re creating our own heat.
” On top of that , he said , while one- to two-day heat waves were the norm in the middle of the century , “ now we see one-week heat waves.
” And they ’ re hotter , as evidenced by the falling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much about low temperature records , they ’ re , like , in the rearview mirror , ” Patzert said .
“ Whenever there ’ s a record , it ’ s always a new high.
” The triple-digit temperatures coincide with Labor Day weekend , which is typically one of the busiest beach days of the summer even absent a record-breaking heat wave .
At 9:30 a.m Saturday , hundreds of beachgoers dotted the shore in Marina del Rey .
Despite the morning hour , parking spots were hard to find , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all while carrying plastic buckets , beach towels and umbrellas .
Boaters and kayakers zipped along the water , while several games of beach volleyball were underway .
In the parking lot of the San Gabriel Mission , where temperatures hit 106 degrees around 1:30 p.m. , dedication was tested , but healing services and rituals were ultimately performed .
About 70 family and friends of parishioner Magdalena Lopez , who died on Aug. 14 at the age of 65 , gathered to honor her in a socially distanced outdoor funeral held under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ musician Ralph Mohutsky Jr. said he was “ concerned ” about the extreme heat before leaving his Alhambra home , but he didn ’ t hesitate to play that afternoon .
“ The sense of duty of wanting to give a family peace and closure overrode my fear of overheating , ” Mohutsky Jr. , 54 , said .
“ I made sure to prepare as best as I could to be outside.
” The heat was doubly concerning for Los Angeles resident Isabel Romero , who runs a white-dove release business specifically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the one-hour service shortly before its conclusion with two crates of 20 birds .
The doves were handed to family members after the service .
The group of mourners formed a circle and jointly released the birds into the air .
The trained doves circled around the canopies and adjoining cemetery and mission en route to the company ’ s coop in Montebello .
“ I really hope they all make it back , ” said Romero , 46 , who has been running the business with her husband , Manuel , for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like heavy rain or heat , sometimes they all don ’ t make it back.
” In the Mojave Desert town of Baker , home to the world ’ s tallest thermometer , the temperature ticked up from 117 to 118 degrees just after 2 p.m .
Miles down the road , northbound traffic on Interstate 15 was slowed to a crawl as firefighters extinguished a burning car .
Times staff writers Joseph Serna , Kevin Rector , Dakota Smith and Luke Money contributed to this report .

Alex Wigglesworth, Kim Christensen, Andrew J. Campa, Teresa Watanabe

A man sits on the San Gabriel River jetty in Long Beach ahead of a heat wave that began Saturday.
An intense heat wave broiled large swaths of California this Labor Day weekend, shattering numerous records, causing thousands to lose power and fueling several brush fires that were threatening communities from Yucaipa to the Sierra foothills.
Forecasters had predicted historic high temperatures, and they were proved right. Dozens of communities set records Saturday, and a few appeared to record all-time highs, according to the National Weather Service.
In Woodland Hills, the mercury climbed to 117 degrees by 3 p.m., making it the hottest day ever recorded there in September, breaking the record of 115 set in 1979. Burbank reached 113, tying its monthly record set in 1971. Van Nuys hit 115.
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The mercury soared even higher to the east, with Palm Springs hitting 122 and Indio 121. Officials said at least three areas tied or topped all-time record highs: Alpine (113), El Cajon (114) and Idyllwild (103). The weather service said Burbank appeared to tie an all-time record at 114 degrees.
The temperatures were expected to climb even higher in some places on Sunday, reaching 119 degrees in Woodland Hills, 114 in Pasadena and 110 in Simi Valley, said David Sweet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
“Some of these temperatures could be the all-time record for the location,” Sweet said.
The heat, combined with bone-dry conditions, helped several huge fires explode out of control Saturday, with firefighters struggling to keep up.
A brush fire in the Sierra National Forest exploded Saturday, consuming more than 36,000 acres, threatening local communities and trapping 150 people near a popular reservoir.
The fast-moving Creek fire cut off evacuation routes to Mammoth Pool Reservoir, according to the Madera County sheriff’s office. All of the people were reported safe but 10 of them suffered some type of injury, the sheriff’s office said.
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The California National Guard assisted in a major rescue operation Saturday night, using a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to help airlift people trapped by the fire, including some who are injured, said Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau. Hokanson said in a tweet that people had been taken to CalGuard facilities and were met by medics and civilian first responders.
Right now, the @CalGuard is airlifting patients trapped by wildfire to a location where they will be met by @AirNatlGuard medics and local first responders. As this situation develops, the National Guard will continue to support our partner agencies and communities. #CreekFire https://t.co/mQBhuS8bnW — General Daniel Hokanson (@ChiefNGB) September 6, 2020
The Fresno Fire Department said late Saturday that several military helicopters had rescued 63 people and taken them to Fresno Yosemite International Airport . Injuries were severe for two people and moderate for 10 others, while 51 people had minor or no injuries, fire officials said in a tweet. Aircraft were returning to continue operations but it was unclear, the tweet said, how many more people needed to be evacuated.
Sierra National Forest spokesman Dan Tune said those trapped in the reservoir area were not in imminent danger since the fire front has moved past them and was headed north. But people have been advised to shelter in place while strike teams of engines and hand crews try to clear evacuation routes and contain the fast-moving flames. The fire is also threatening a range of structures and power lines.
“The priority right now is community and life safety,” he said.
Residents of Huntington Lake, Camp Sierra and Big Creek in Central California were ordered to evacuate.
Near Yucaipa, another fire had burned more than 1,500 acres and forced evacuations in numerous mountainside communities in San Bernardino County. Dubbed the El Dorado fire , the blaze began about 10:30 a.m. in the 37000 block of Oak Glen Road, forcing the evacuation of Oak Glen, Forest Falls, Mountain Home Village and parts of eastern Yucaipa.
The blaze also closed a portion of the San Gorgonio Wilderness, according to San Bernardino National Forest officials.
In San Diego County, a 1,500-acre fire in the rural Japatul Valley area threatened homes and forced evacuations.
The new blazes came as 12,400 firefighters continued to fight 22 large fires that have together scorched more than 1.5 million acres since they were sparked by a series of dry lightning strikes last month.
The National Weather Service has issued a red-flag warning, which indicates critical fire weather conditions, for the valleys and mountains of Southern California that will be in effect from 6 p.m. Sunday to 10 p.m. Monday, Sweet said.
In Santa Barbara County, a red-flag warning is in effect for the mountains and South Coast from 6 p.m. Saturday through 10 p.m. Monday because of the heat, low humidity and gusty “sundowner” winds, forecasters said.
The forecast prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to issue an emergency proclamation aimed at shoring up California’s energy capacity and staving off the kind of power outages and rolling blackouts that left tens of thousands of residents in the dark during the last big heat wave.
The California Independent System Operator, which runs the power grid for most of the state, has issued a statewide flex alert — calling for residents to voluntarily cut back their electricity consumption from 3 to 9 p.m. Saturday through Monday.
Southern California Edison reported about three dozen outages spread out over the region Saturday afternoon. They ranged in size from one or two customers to more than 1,900, according to the utility’s website.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power spokesman Joe Ramallo said that utility’s crews were dealing with a handful of outages Saturday afternoon, but that only 550 of its 1.5 million customers citywide were affected.
“Our crews are working as fast as they can under extreme temperatures,” he said. “Our system is holding up very well right now.”
September heat waves are nothing new for Southern California, said climatologist Bill Patzert. But they’ve become hotter, longer-lasting and more frequent, a trend that’s all but certain to persist, he said.
“This is definitely a trailer of the feature,” he said.
Over the last century, the average temperature in Los Angeles over the entire year has increased by about 5 degrees, Patzert said. But the average temperature for the months of August and September has increased by 8 to 9 degrees, he said.
“That’s not warming up, that’s heating up,” he said.
He attributes the rise to a combination of a slow increase in global temperatures and a faster heating of Southern California due to the buildup of heat-absorbing infrastructure, with a population that’s quadrupled since the 1950s.
“We created this great megalopolis from the San Fernando Valley to the Inland Empire to the ocean, and what we’ve done is cram 20 million people into it, and we’ve created an awful lot of infrastructure that tends to absorb the heat,” he said. “So not only are we living in a warmer world due to global heating, we’re creating our own heat.”
On top of that, he said, while one- to two-day heat waves were the norm in the middle of the century, “now we see one-week heat waves.” And they’re hotter, as evidenced by the falling records.
“You never read very much about low temperature records, they’re, like, in the rearview mirror,” Patzert said. “Whenever there’s a record, it’s always a new high.”
The triple-digit temperatures coincide with Labor Day weekend, which is typically one of the busiest beach days of the summer even absent a record-breaking heat wave.
At 9:30 a.m Saturday, hundreds of beachgoers dotted the shore in Marina del Rey. Despite the morning hour, parking spots were hard to find, forcing families to walk multiple blocks, all while carrying plastic buckets, beach towels and umbrellas.
Boaters and kayakers zipped along the water, while several games of beach volleyball were underway.
In the parking lot of the San Gabriel Mission, where temperatures hit 106 degrees around 1:30 p.m., dedication was tested, but healing services and rituals were ultimately performed.
About 70 family and friends of parishioner Magdalena Lopez, who died on Aug. 14 at the age of 65, gathered to honor her in a socially distanced outdoor funeral held under three giant white canopies.
Thirty-year church musician Ralph Mohutsky Jr. said he was “concerned” about the extreme heat before leaving his Alhambra home, but he didn’t hesitate to play that afternoon.
“The sense of duty of wanting to give a family peace and closure overrode my fear of overheating,” Mohutsky Jr., 54, said. “I made sure to prepare as best as I could to be outside.”
The heat was doubly concerning for Los Angeles resident Isabel Romero, who runs a white-dove release business specifically catering to funerals.
She arrived at the one-hour service shortly before its conclusion with two crates of 20 birds.
The doves were handed to family members after the service. The group of mourners formed a circle and jointly released the birds into the air. The trained doves circled around the canopies and adjoining cemetery and mission en route to the company’s coop in Montebello.
“I really hope they all make it back,” said Romero, 46, who has been running the business with her husband, Manuel, for 20 years. “In extreme weather like heavy rain or heat, sometimes they all don’t make it back.”
In the Mojave Desert town of Baker, home to the world’s tallest thermometer, the temperature ticked up from 117 to 118 degrees just after 2 p.m.
Miles down the road, northbound traffic on Interstate 15 was slowed to a crawl as firefighters extinguished a burning car.
Times staff writers Joseph Serna, Kevin Rector, Dakota Smith and Luke Money contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-09-07--California begins sending extra $900 to those unemployed due to COVID-19

As California ’ s economy continues to struggle amid the COVID-19 pandemic , state officials will mark the Labor Day holiday by sending a $ 900 supplemental unemployment benefit to jobless residents — but many will not get the assistance right away , and nearly 200,000 people are not expected to get it at all .
The lump-sum payment covers three weeks of benefits retroactive to the week that ended Aug. 1 at the rate of $ 300 per week and is paid for by the federal government .
An earlier federal program provided a $ 600 weekly supplemental benefit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but that program expired in July .
With Congress deadlocked over a proposal to extend that $ 600 benefit , an executive order by President Trump last month authorized $ 300 in weekly supplements , but with no guarantee of continuing beyond three weeks .
The latest payment “ will provide much-needed relief ” for California ’ s unemployed workers , said Dana Hadl , directing attorney for Bet Tzedek Legal Services in Los Angeles , but she said more is needed .
“ Despite the fact that this supplement will begin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they will not be able to house and feed their families , it does not fully replace the $ 600 from the [ Coronavirus Aid , Relief , and Economic Security ] Act , and Congress still needs to act to protect our country ’ s vulnerable low-wage workers , ” Hadl said .
The state Employment Development Department said it is starting to send the $ 900 in federal supplements out Monday to 3.1 million people who have been receiving at least $ 100 in weekly unemployment benefits from the state and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a COVID-19-related reason .
The EDD said it will take “ a couple of weeks ” to send out all of those benefits , with agency-issued debit card holders getting a lump-sum payment and those getting benefits by check being issued separate checks .
An additional 1.2 million claimants still need to certify eligibility that their joblessness is COVID-19 related and will be notified by the EDD starting Sept. 15 of the need to do so .
However , some 192,000 unemployed Californians will not receive the extra $ 300 benefit because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 100 in state benefits , the threshold set by the federal government for participation , according to researchers at UCLA ’ s California Policy Lab .
The average state benefit received for those who are ineligible is $ 68 per week , according to an analysis by the lab .
Being left out of the new benefit “ adds insult over injury , especially since no strong justification has been provided for why they are excluded , ” said Till von Wachter , a coauthor of the report , UCLA economics professor and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ analysis found that those not qualifying for the benefit are disproportionately younger , female and workers who achieved a lower education level , state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo ( D-Los Angeles ) said .
The formula for qualifying “ perpetuates an immense economic hardship for those on the brinks of being evicted , not having food on the table , or not being able to attain employment because they are essential workers whose jobs disappeared with the onset of COVID-19 , ” Durazo said .
But even a majority of those who get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ benefits below the poverty level , with the total benefits averaging $ 575 per week , the report said .
Seeing the amount provided by the federal government cut in half is disappointing to some unemployed Californians , including Michelle Safransky , who has struggled to get claims for benefits approved because of EDD ’ s ongoing problems in processing applications .
“ It will definitely be more difficult to make ends meet , and I ’ m not sure that it ’ s enough for many unemployed people , including myself , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but added , “ anything will be better than nothing.
” The $ 4.5-billion initial allocation to California may last up to four weeks , the professor said , but “ it ’ s unclear if there will be any funding beyond this first allocation.
” The EDD is in the process of applying for additional federal funding to continue providing supplemental help , spokesman Aubrey Henry said .

People seek employment opportunities at a JobTrain office in Menlo Park before the pandemic. On Monday, the state begins sending out an extra $900 in federally funded benefits to unemployed Californians.
As California’s economy continues to struggle amid the COVID-19 pandemic, state officials will mark the Labor Day holiday by sending a $900 supplemental unemployment benefit to jobless residents — but many will not get the assistance right away, and nearly 200,000 people are not expected to get it at all.
The lump-sum payment covers three weeks of benefits retroactive to the week that ended Aug. 1 at the rate of $300 per week and is paid for by the federal government.
On Monday, California Labor Secretary Julie A. Su announced that the state has received federal approval for an additional two weeks, or $600, bringing the total benefit to $1,500. A representative said the benefit announced Monday will go out later than this week’s initial payment.
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An earlier federal program provided a $600 weekly supplemental benefit on top of normal state unemployment checks, but that program expired in July.
With Congress deadlocked over a proposal to extend that $600 benefit, an executive order by President Trump last month authorized $300 in weekly supplements, but with no guarantee of continuing beyond three weeks.
The latest payment “will provide much-needed relief” for California’s unemployed workers, said Dana Hadl, directing attorney for Bet Tzedek Legal Services in Los Angeles, but she said more is needed.
“Despite the fact that this supplement will begin to alleviate many workers’ fears that they will not be able to house and feed their families, it does not fully replace the $600 from the [Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security] Act, and Congress still needs to act to protect our country’s vulnerable low-wage workers,” Hadl said.
The state Employment Development Department said it is starting to send the first $900 in federal supplements out Monday to 3.1 million people who have been receiving at least $100 in weekly unemployment benefits from the state and previously certified that they were unemployed due to a COVID-19-related reason.
The EDD said it will take “a couple of weeks” to send out all of those benefits, with agency-issued debit card holders getting a lump-sum payment and those getting benefits by check being issued separate checks.
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An additional 1.2 million claimants still need to certify eligibility that their joblessness is COVID-19 related and will be notified by the EDD starting Sept. 15 of the need to do so.
However, some 192,000 unemployed Californians will not receive the extra $300 benefit because they have been receiving less than $100 in state benefits, the threshold set by the federal government for participation, according to researchers at UCLA’s California Policy Lab.
The average state benefit received for those who are ineligible is $68 per week, according to an analysis by the lab.
Being left out of the new benefit “adds insult over injury, especially since no strong justification has been provided for why they are excluded,” said Till von Wachter, a coauthor of the report, UCLA economics professor and faculty director at the lab.
The analysis found that those not qualifying for the benefit are disproportionately younger, female and workers with a lower education level, state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) said.
The formula for qualifying “perpetuates an immense economic hardship for those on the brinks of being evicted, not having food on the table, or not being able to attain employment because they are essential workers whose jobs disappeared with the onset of COVID-19,” Durazo said.
But even a majority of those who get the $300 supplemental payment will have benefits below the poverty level, with the total benefits averaging $575 per week, the report said.
Seeing the amount provided by the federal government cut in half is disappointing to some unemployed Californians, including Michelle Safransky, who has struggled to get claims for benefits approved because of EDD’s ongoing problems in processing applications.
“It will definitely be more difficult to make ends meet, and I’m not sure that it’s enough for many unemployed people, including myself,” Safransky said of the $300. But, she added: “Anything will be better than nothing.”


latimes--2020-09-07--This sex trafficking victim is behind bars, suicidal. She seeks Newsom's clemency

Keiana Aldrich has struggled to keep herself alive inside the California Institution for Women for months , anxious about the coronavirus , scared of retaliation for reporting alleged sexual abuse and fighting the urge to kill herself .
“ Being locked in a room 24 hours a day except to shower sucks , ” Aldrich wrote in an August email from the Riverside County prison .
She has too much time to think , she said , “ and it makes me go crazy.
” Last week , after being cut off from communication with the outside world for weeks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her wrists and neck with razor blades , then swallowed two of them , according to a source with knowledge of the situation .
State authorities declined to give specifics about Aldrich , citing medical privacy laws .
Though Aldrich did not die , those closest to her say the attempt on her own life , and the scant information they are able to glean from prison authorities , is another breakdown in a system that has continually failed Aldrich , first sexually abused at age 4 , then imprisoned at age 17 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trafficked for sex .
They petitioned Gov .
Gavin Newsom for a commutation of her sentence in July , but have heard little back .
“ There are so many wrongs in this case , ” said Peggy Fava , Aldrich ’ s mentor and executive director of a nonprofit that helps sex trafficking victims .
“ And it continues to go wrong.
” Aldrich is one of about 30,000 inmates with mental health conditions who lawyers and advocates say are being left largely without help as prisons scramble to contain COVID-19 outbreaks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ works on prison mental health issues but is not involved in Aldrich ’ s case , said that lockdowns have curtailed access to mental health treatment , leaving vulnerable inmates at greater risk .
Before her suicide attempt , Aldrich said her access to a therapist had been cut back , leaving her with one five-minute session a week , with the counselor standing outside her metal cell door .
She has been clear she wants her history , including her suicide attempts , made public .
The California Department of Corrections and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is still providing necessary mental health treatment even at facilities with outbreaks .
The agency added it understands “ how vitally important it is to deliver comprehensive mental health services within our institutions at all times , but especially during these extraordinary times of heightened uncertainty.
” As the prison system rushes to free thousands of medically fragile and elderly inmates to reduce the risk of transmission , Bien is arguing in court that mental health should also be considered a risk factor for early release .
“ The were problems with mental @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Bien said .
“ In the midst of the emergency , mental health concerns have been postponed.
” Fava said she believes Aldrich ’ s current mental health crisis is the result of oft-repeated abuse and authorities , from police to prosecutors to prison officials , who treated her as a “ throwaway.
” Fava first met Aldrich when the teen was brought into Sacramento ’ s juvenile detention facility as a runaway at about age 13 , she said .
Aldrich ’ s mother , Tracey Aldrich , said her daughter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ age 12 after witnessing an abusive boyfriend beat her mother for years .
“ It bothered her a lot , ” said Tracey Aldrich .
“ She felt like she was helpless , so she would leave.
” Though she is no longer in an abusive relationship , the elder Aldrich said she didn ’ t understand her daughter ’ s behavior at the time and they fought .
Once , Tracey Aldrich said , she broke her arm trying to stop her daughter from climbing out a window .
“ I would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leaving to go have fun , ” Tracey Aldrich said .
“ I felt hurt.
” Keiana Aldrich said her relationship with her mother hurt her , too .
“ She would call me names , bitch and ho and slut , and she would tell me I am not good , like she hated me or something , ” she said .
She added that her mom is “ trying to work on it now ” and is one of the most important people in her life .
Tracey Aldrich had Keiana @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was 18 .
Like Keiana , Tracey Aldrich had run away from home multiple times before she was a teen , she said .
She had repeated nightmares and her parents would spank her for refusing to sleep in her room , she said , “ so I would run away , run away , run away because I didn ’ t think my parents cared.
” At 14 , Tracey Aldrich was living on the streets , “ eating out of garbage cans.
” She met Keiana ’ s father , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her in when she was about 18 , she said .
When Keiana was 5 , her father was convicted of sexually molesting her .
Fava said Aldrich still has difficult memories of walking alone down the court hallway as a child on her way to testify against him .
Aldrich said that by 12 , she was being sexually exploited by people she met on the streets .
Fava said between the ages of 14 and 17 , Aldrich was brought into juvenile hall a half dozen times for running away .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ intervention , but little was provided beyond Fava ’ s support , she said , though in intervening years , the mental health program at the facility has greatly expanded .
“ I distinctly remember her hitting the door and screaming for a few days straight , ” Fava said .
“ At that time , they thought , ‘ Oh we are not going to cave in to her .
She is just trying to get attention.
’ ” At 16 , Aldrich was arrested with a 26-year-old female pimp and agreed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Sacramento County prosecutors would give her counseling and safe housing in exchange , she said .
But that help never materialized despite testimony that led to the pimp ’ s conviction with a sentence of nearly nine years .
“ She was treated like she did something wrong , ” Tracey Aldrich said .
“ They didn ’ t offer no counseling , no nothing .
Here , come testify and that ’ s it , that ’ s the last I ever heard of from those people.
” In 2012 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back out on the street .
A gang-related family took her in , and one of the female family members began trafficking Aldrich , she said .
The woman answered an online ad to sell Aldrich to two men who wanted to make pornography .
But after meeting the men , the pimp pulled a gun and robbed them , putting one in the trunk of a car to transport him to a store where , prosecutors argued in court filings , Aldrich and her exploiter forced the man to buy goods and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ caught on a surveillance camera .
Aldrich was charged as an adult and , facing decades in prison for kidnapping and false imprisonment , took a plea deal that resulted in a sentence of nearly 10 years .
Neither of the men who attempted to solicit her was charged .
Two years later , California began changing laws around what had been considered willful child prostitution , ending the practice of treating exploited minors as criminals .
Fava and Aldrich ’ s lawyer say she probably wouldn ’ t have faced charges if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ You can ’ t arrest a minor for their own sexual exploitation today , ” said Maggy Krell , a former state prosecutor who has taken Aldrich ’ s case pro bono .
“ She ’ s very much a victim but also a survivor.
” Aldrich said her time behind bars has also been marked by sexual exploitation .
She filed complaints against three civilian staff members and one guard at the California Institute for Women who she alleges individually coerced her into sex acts or sexually molested her .
One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation last week after an investigation , and the case was referred to the San Bernardino County district attorney , CDCR said in a statement .
The department said it has a “ zero tolerance ” policy on sexual misconduct and “ investigates each allegation thoroughly.
” The San Bernardino County district attorney ’ s office would not immediately say if it had filed charges in the case .
The three civilian staffers whom Aldrich reported for alleged abuse have all left state employment , according to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pro bono lawyer , filed a civil suit against three of the men and CDCR officials for their handling of the incidents .
In one instance detailed in the legal complaint , Aldrich claimed that a civilian supervisor brought her into a closet where he coerced her into oral sex .
Afterward , Aldrich found “ she had a piece of [ the supervisor ’ s ] pubic hair in her mouth , ” which she put on a napkin and gave to prison investigators that day , the claim contends .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she is “ disgusting , ” she said , enough that she tried to kill herself earlier this year by ingesting pencils .
Another time , she tried to hang herself .
Aldrich said she believes she has been retaliated against for making the reports , including being put in “ administrative segregation , ” which many describe as similar to solitary confinement , and losing her job in the prison hospital , where she was paid 45 cents an hour — money she needed to buy personal items such as tampons and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a statement it was diligent about enforcing its policies against retaliation and , like sexual abuse , finds “ any instance of it completely unacceptable , ” adding that such complaints are “ vigorously investigated and staff are held accountable.
” Aldrich is steadfast in her determination to tell her story as she sees it .
She would like to be a peer counselor when she is released , and thinks coming forward may help other women and give a purpose to the pain she feels .
“ It ’ s terrifying and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t know what ’ s going to happen next to you just for opening your mouth , ” Aldrich said in August .
“ I don ’ t want it to happen to any more women .
...
It ’ s my turn to get a light shed on it in prison .
I want to be the one to get a light shed on it.
” A few weeks after that communication , Fava , Krell and Aldrich ’ s mother stopped hearing from her , and have not been able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks , they said .
A spokesman for Newsom said the governor was unable to comment on specific requests for clemency , and has received an unusually high number of petitions since the coronavirus hit — 50 to 80 each week .
The spokesman added that “ each application receives careful and individualized consideration.
” In June , the governor granted 34 commutations and pardons , two forms of clemency , for people who had committed crimes , including murder and arson .
“ I am just really scared for her , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ want people to know that my daughter is not a criminal .
She is a victim who made the wrong decision in her childhood , her adolescence , and was sentenced as an adult .
And she is a good kid , she is .
She is a sweetheart.
” Aldrich had a simpler message in one of her last conversations with a reporter before reportedly slashing her throat and ingesting the blades .
“ I am a woman who has been through a lot of abuse in my life , ” she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to stop .
”

Keiana Aldrich has struggled to keep herself alive inside the California Institution for Women for months, anxious about the coronavirus, scared of retaliation for reporting alleged sexual abuse and fighting the urge to kill herself.
“Being locked in a room 24 hours a day except to shower sucks,” Aldrich wrote in an August email from the Riverside County prison. She has too much time to think, she said, “and it makes me go crazy.”
Last week, after being cut off from communication with the outside world for weeks, Aldrich, 25, reportedly slashed her wrists and neck with razor blades, then swallowed two of them, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. State authorities declined to give specifics about Aldrich, citing medical privacy laws.
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Though Aldrich did not die, those closest to her say the attempt on her own life, and the scant information they are able to glean from prison authorities, is another breakdown in a system that has continually failed Aldrich, first sexually abused at age 4, then imprisoned at age 17 for a crime related to her being trafficked for sex.
They petitioned Gov. Gavin Newsom for a commutation of her sentence in July, but have heard little back.
“There are so many wrongs in this case,” said Peggy Fava, Aldrich’s mentor and executive director of a nonprofit that helps sex trafficking victims. “And it continues to go wrong.”
Aldrich is one of about 30,000 inmates with mental health conditions who lawyers and advocates say are being left largely without help as prisons scramble to contain COVID-19 outbreaks.
Michael Bien, a lawyer who works on prison mental health issues but is not involved in Aldrich’s case, said that lockdowns have curtailed access to mental health treatment, leaving vulnerable inmates at greater risk. Before her suicide attempt, Aldrich said her access to a therapist had been cut back, leaving her with one five-minute session a week, with the counselor standing outside her metal cell door. She has been clear she wants her history, including her suicide attempts, made public.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement that it is still providing necessary mental health treatment even at facilities with outbreaks. The agency added it understands “how vitally important it is to deliver comprehensive mental health services within our institutions at all times, but especially during these extraordinary times of heightened uncertainty.”
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As the prison system rushes to free thousands of medically fragile and elderly inmates to reduce the risk of transmission, Bien is arguing in court that mental health should also be considered a risk factor for early release.
“There were problems with mental health in the prisons before COVID,” Bien said. “In the midst of the emergency, mental health concerns have been postponed.”
Fava said she believes Aldrich’s current mental health crisis is the result of oft-repeated abuse and authorities, from police to prosecutors to prison officials, who treated her as a “throwaway.”
Fava first met Aldrich when the teen was brought into Sacramento’s juvenile detention facility as a runaway at about age 13, she said. Aldrich’s mother, Tracey Aldrich, said her daughter began escaping to the streets at about age 12 after witnessing an abusive boyfriend beat her mother for years.
“It bothered her a lot,” said Tracey Aldrich. “She felt like she was helpless, so she would leave.”
Though she is no longer in an abusive relationship, the elder Aldrich said she didn’t understand her daughter’s behavior at the time and they fought. Once, Tracey Aldrich said, she broke her arm trying to stop her daughter from climbing out a window.
“I would be angry because I thought she was leaving to go have fun,” Tracey Aldrich said. “I felt hurt.”
Keiana Aldrich said her relationship with her mother hurt her, too.
“She would call me names, bitch and ho and slut, and she would tell me I am not good, like she hated me or something,” she said. She added that her mom is “trying to work on it now” and is one of the most important people in her life.
Keiana Aldrich at age 7. (Courtesy of Tracey Aldrich)
Tracey Aldrich had Keiana, her second child, when she was 18. Like Keiana, Tracey Aldrich had run away from home multiple times before she was a teen, she said. She had repeated nightmares and her parents would spank her for refusing to sleep in her room, she said, “so I would run away, run away, run away because I didn’t think my parents cared.” At 14, Tracey Aldrich was living on the streets, “eating out of garbage cans.”
She met Keiana’s father, a 35-year-old minister, after a cousin took her in when she was about 18, she said. When Keiana was 5, her father was convicted of sexually molesting her. Fava said Aldrich still has difficult memories of walking alone down the court hallway as a child on her way to testify against him.
Aldrich said that by 12, she was being sexually exploited by people she met on the streets. Fava said between the ages of 14 and 17, Aldrich was brought into juvenile hall a half dozen times for running away. Fava saw that she needed mental health intervention, but little was provided beyond Fava’s support, she said, though in intervening years, the mental health program at the facility has greatly expanded.
“I distinctly remember her hitting the door and screaming for a few days straight,” Fava said. “At that time, they thought, ‘Oh we are not going to cave in to her. She is just trying to get attention.’”
At 16, Aldrich was arrested with a 26-year-old female pimp and agreed to testify against the woman, believing that Sacramento County prosecutors would give her counseling and safe housing in exchange, she said. But that help never materialized despite testimony that led to the pimp’s conviction with a sentence of nearly nine years.
“She was treated like she did something wrong,” Tracey Aldrich said. “They didn’t offer no counseling, no nothing. Here, come testify and that’s it, that’s the last I ever heard of from those people.”
In 2012, when she was 17, Aldrich was back out on the street. A gang-related family took her in, and one of the female family members began trafficking Aldrich, she said. The woman answered an online ad to sell Aldrich to two men who wanted to make pornography.
But after meeting the men, the pimp pulled a gun and robbed them, putting one in the trunk of a car to transport him to a store where, prosecutors argued in court filings, Aldrich and her exploiter forced the man to buy goods and give them money. The incident was caught on a surveillance camera.
Aldrich was charged as an adult and, facing decades in prison for kidnapping and false imprisonment, took a plea deal that resulted in a sentence of nearly 10 years. Neither of the men who attempted to solicit her was charged.
Two years later, California began changing laws around what had been considered willful child prostitution, ending the practice of treating exploited minors as criminals. Fava and Aldrich’s lawyer say she probably wouldn’t have faced charges if the incident had happened more recently.
“You can’t arrest a minor for their own sexual exploitation today,” said Maggy Krell, a former state prosecutor who has taken Aldrich’s case pro bono. “She’s very much a victim but also a survivor.”
Aldrich said her time behind bars has also been marked by sexual exploitation. She filed complaints against three civilian staff members and one guard at the California Institute for Women who she alleges individually coerced her into sex acts or sexually molested her. One, the guard, was terminated from California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation last week after an investigation, and the case was referred to the San Bernardino County district attorney, CDCR said in a statement.
The department said it has a “zero tolerance” policy on sexual misconduct and “investigates each allegation thoroughly.”
The San Bernardino County district attorney’s office would not immediately say if it had filed charges in the case.
The three civilian staffers whom Aldrich reported for alleged abuse have all left state employment, according to the CDCR.
Krell, Aldrich’s pro bono lawyer, filed a civil suit against three of the men and CDCR officials for their handling of the incidents. In one instance detailed in the legal complaint, Aldrich claimed that a civilian supervisor brought her into a closet where he coerced her into oral sex. Afterward, Aldrich found “she had a piece of [the supervisor’s] pubic hair in her mouth,” which she put on a napkin and gave to prison investigators that day, the claim contends.
The alleged abuse has left her feeling that she is “disgusting,” she said, enough that she tried to kill herself earlier this year by ingesting pencils. Another time, she tried to hang herself.
Aldrich said she believes she has been retaliated against for making the reports, including being put in “administrative segregation,” which many describe as similar to solitary confinement, and losing her job in the prison hospital, where she was paid 45 cents an hour — money she needed to buy personal items such as tampons and shampoo.
The corrections department said in a statement it was diligent about enforcing its policies against retaliation and, like sexual abuse, finds “any instance of it completely unacceptable,” adding that such complaints are “vigorously investigated and staff are held accountable.”
Aldrich is steadfast in her determination to tell her story as she sees it. She would like to be a peer counselor when she is released, and thinks coming forward may help other women and give a purpose to the pain she feels.
“It’s terrifying and it’s draining because you don’t know what’s going to happen next to you just for opening your mouth,” Aldrich said in August. “I don’t want it to happen to any more women. ... It’s my turn to get a light shed on it in prison. I want to be the one to get a light shed on it.”
A few weeks after that communication, Fava, Krell and Aldrich’s mother stopped hearing from her, and have not been able to contact her for more than two weeks, they said.
A spokesman for Newsom said the governor was unable to comment on specific requests for clemency, and has received an unusually high number of petitions since the coronavirus hit — 50 to 80 each week.
The spokesman added that “each application receives careful and individualized consideration.” In June, the governor granted 34 commutations and pardons, two forms of clemency, for people who had committed crimes, including murder and arson.
“I am just really scared for her,” Tracey Aldrich said. “I just want people to know that my daughter is not a criminal. She is a victim who made the wrong decision in her childhood, her adolescence, and was sentenced as an adult. And she is a good kid, she is. She is a sweetheart.”
Aldrich had a simpler message in one of her last conversations with a reporter before reportedly slashing her throat and ingesting the blades.
“I am a woman who has been through a lot of abuse in my life,” she said. “And I want it to stop.”