latimes--2020-12-21--Column: Reports of California's demise are greatly exaggerated. Lawmakers should care anyway

Ever since the middle of May , it has been the same thing over here on the Westside of Los Angeles .
Multiple times a week , I hear the telltale sound of a moving truck backing into the loading area of my building , accompanied by the occasional crash and shout .
At this point , I ’ ve lost track of just how many of my neighbors , as well as others on my block , have moved out their mostly patio-less condos and apartments .
One told me that he and his wife were packing up and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the presumably remote Sierra .
Another said he was moving to the cheaper desert pastures of Arizona .
Yet another left the state — headed back to the Midwest , I think — to be closer to family .
So it wasn ’ t at all surprising to read the latest report from the California Department of Finance , which found that population growth in the state had slowed to a crawl as fewer people moved here , more people moved away and fewer people were born .
California had a net gain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2019 and July 2020 .
Anyone who remembers the last recession knows that migration is cyclical .
But the growth rate , according to the report , is at 0.05 % — a percentage so paltry that it hasn ’ t been recorded since 1900 .
Los Angeles , the state ’ s most populous county , logged the biggest net loss with about 40,000 fewer residents .
So cue the hot takes about California ’ s coming demise .
I can already imagine the overwrought headlines , especially after the collection of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Elon Musk , Oracle ’ s Larry Ellison and Dropbox ’ s Drew Houston — who have moved themselves and , in some cases , their companies to Texas .
“ If a team has been winning for too long , they do tend to get a little complacent , a little entitled , and then they don ’ t win the championship anymore , ” Musk recently told the Wall Street Journal .
“ California ’ s been winning for a long time .
And I think they ’ re taking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I hate to give megalomaniacs more reasons to feel good about themselves , but Musk does have a point .
The population trends highlighted in the Department of Finance ’ s report aren ’ t new , but they are accelerating .
And although there is no mass “ exodus ” — roughly 40 million people still live in California — lawmakers returning to Sacramento this month would be wise to address their complacency about the state ’ s high housing costs and other affordability issues .
Now is the time to stop @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something substantial .
So far , though , the rhetoric has been mostly disappointing .
Asked to explain the slowing population growth , state officials blamed low birth rates and wildfires .
But above all , they pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic for killing thousands of Californians and also presumably keeping thousands of other would-be Californians from moving here .
I am not entirely convinced of that .
Neither is Dowell Myers , a professor and director of the Population Dynamics Research Group at USC .
“ I hope they do not see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he said .
“ Because then they ’ ll think , ‘ Ah , a vaccine !
We ’ ve got that covered now.
’ That ’ s the danger .
COVID is what ’ s newsworthy , but COVID is not what ’ s going on in this report.
” And yet , state officials pointed to the hundreds of thousands of mostly well-off people who continue to move here as proof that there is still strong demand to live in California .
Indeed , ever since the Great Recession , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ higher incomes while those leaving tend to have lower incomes .
Today , home prices are hovering at record levels in California , with would-be buyers who can afford a bigger living space engaging in bidding wars in what is already a tight market .
Interest rates on mortgages have dropped that low , even as the unemployment rate has remained in double digits and surging coronavirus cases have shut down parts of the economy again .
The only thing that COVID-19 is actually doing — other than overloading hospitals and causing mass @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chasm of income inequality .
Is that really the kind of state that we want ?
For California to be a place where the only residents are wealthy people and poor people who , even if they wanted to , couldn ’ t afford to leave ?
Or a state where even a bigger slice of the rich own multiple homes while others own nothing ?
Another , perhaps more pressing , question for state lawmakers is how long this will last .
With herd immunity from COVID-19 still months away and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lot longer than that for many people , the temptation to move out of California will remain — especially as long as living here means fighting over a two-bedroom bungalow going for close to $ 1 million .
This is increasingly true even for people with higher incomes who call the Bay Area and Southern California home , said David Garcia , policy director at UC Berkeley ’ s Terner Center for Housing Innovation .
“ Even though they may make a pretty significant salary in California , I think they realize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be going to housing where in other places that may not , ” he said .
“ Just because they can afford to live here doesn ’ t mean anything.
” So a lot is riding on what the Legislature can accomplish .
The last session , cut short by COVID-19 , was a bit of a bust for housing bills , including Senate Bill 50 , which would have dramatically increased home building , and Senate Bill 1120 , which would have essentially ended single-family zoning by allowing duplexes on most lots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Part of the strategy moving forward , ” Garcia said , “ has to be about how do we continue to move the pipeline of housing forward ?
”

Ever since the middle of May, it has been the same thing over here on the Westside of Los Angeles.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
Multiple times a week, I hear the telltale sound of a moving truck backing into the loading area of my building, accompanied by the occasional crash and shout. At this point, I’ve lost track of just how many of my neighbors, as well as others on my block, have moved out their mostly patio-less condos and apartments.
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One told me that he and his wife were packing up and heading to their second home somewhere in the presumably remote Sierra. Another said he was moving to the cheaper desert pastures of Arizona. Yet another left the state — headed back to the Midwest, I think — to be closer to family.
So it wasn’t at all surprising to read the latest report from the California Department of Finance, which found that population growth in the state had slowed to a crawl as fewer people moved here, more people moved away and fewer people were born.
California had a net gain of a just 21,200 residents between July 2019 and July 2020. Anyone who remembers the last recession knows that migration is cyclical. But the growth rate, according to the report, is at 0.05% — a percentage so paltry that it hasn’t been recorded since 1900.
Los Angeles, the state’s most populous county, logged the biggest net loss with about 40,000 fewer residents.
So cue the hot takes about California’s coming demise. I can already imagine the overwrought headlines, especially after the collection of wealthy tech executives — including SpaceX’s Elon Musk, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Dropbox’s Drew Houston — who have moved themselves and, in some cases, their companies to Texas.
“If a team has been winning for too long, they do tend to get a little complacent, a little entitled, and then they don’t win the championship anymore,” Musk recently told the Wall Street Journal. “California’s been winning for a long time. And I think they’re taking them for granted a little bit.”
I hate to give megalomaniacs more reasons to feel good about themselves, but Musk does have a point. The population trends highlighted in the Department of Finance’s report aren’t new, but they are accelerating.
And although there is no mass “exodus” — roughly 40 million people still live in California — lawmakers returning to Sacramento this month would be wise to address their complacency about the state’s high housing costs and other affordability issues. Now is the time to stop nipping around the edges and finally do something substantial.
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So far, though, the rhetoric has been mostly disappointing.
Asked to explain the slowing population growth, state officials blamed low birth rates and wildfires. But above all, they pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic for killing thousands of Californians and also presumably keeping thousands of other would-be Californians from moving here.
I am not entirely convinced of that. Neither is Dowell Myers, a professor and director of the Population Dynamics Research Group at USC.
“I hope they do not see it as a symptom of COVID,” he said. “Because then they’ll think, ‘Ah, a vaccine! We’ve got that covered now.’ That’s the danger. COVID is what’s newsworthy, but COVID is not what’s going on in this report.”
It’s about affordability, Myers added.
And yet, state officials pointed to the hundreds of thousands of mostly well-off people who continue to move here as proof that there is still strong demand to live in California. Indeed, ever since the Great Recession, those migrating here have tended to have higher incomes while those leaving tend to have lower incomes.
Today, home prices are hovering at record levels in California, with would-be buyers who can afford a bigger living space engaging in bidding wars in what is already a tight market. Interest rates on mortgages have dropped that low, even as the unemployment rate has remained in double digits and surging coronavirus cases have shut down parts of the economy again.
The only thing that COVID-19 is actually doing — other than overloading hospitals and causing mass suffering — is widening the already yawning chasm of income inequality.
Is that really the kind of state that we want? For California to be a place where the only residents are wealthy people and poor people who, even if they wanted to, couldn’t afford to leave? Or a state where even a bigger slice of the rich own multiple homes while others own nothing?
Another, perhaps more pressing, question for state lawmakers is how long this will last.
With herd immunity from COVID-19 still months away and the prospect that working from home will continue a lot longer than that for many people, the temptation to move out of California will remain — especially as long as living here means fighting over a two-bedroom bungalow going for close to $1 million.
This is increasingly true even for people with higher incomes who call the Bay Area and Southern California home, said David Garcia, policy director at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation.
“Even though they may make a pretty significant salary in California, I think they realize that a lot of their income may be going to housing where in other places that may not,” he said. “Just because they can afford to live here doesn’t mean anything.”
So a lot is riding on what the Legislature can accomplish.
The last session, cut short by COVID-19, was a bit of a bust for housing bills, including Senate Bill 50, which would have dramatically increased home building, and Senate Bill 1120, which would have essentially ended single-family zoning by allowing duplexes on most lots. This session must be different.
“Part of the strategy moving forward,” Garcia said, “has to be about how do we continue to move the pipeline of housing forward?”


latimes--2020-12-21--California quelled virus surge with March stay-at-home order. Why isn't this one working?

California ’ s first coronavirus lockdown order , in the spring , produced benefits within a month .
By April , Gov .
Gavin Newsom was able to crow that the state had “ arguably flattened ” the curve on infections .
It has been two weeks since a second stay-at-home order was issued , and no such flattening has yet occurred across most of California .
This may be because restrictions are looser than those in the spring , and because many Californians are so fatigued by public health orders — or militantly resistant to them — that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ households .
But experts say the most pertinent explanation has to do with the amount of the coronavirus in the community .
The latest orders came after the virus was already raging out of control , in part because of Thanksgiving travel — a difference experts say will make the current surge much harder to corral .
“ The virus is unforgiving and relentless , and there is just so much community transmission , ” said Dr. Tomás Aragón , who next month will take over as director of the California Department of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ counts reach more than 20 per 100,000 people , “ it becomes really difficult to control the infections , ” said Aragón , who has helped lead San Francisco ’ s pandemic response as the county ’ s health officer .
California ’ s daily case rates are soaring way beyond that number .
Los Angeles County ’ s daily case rate last week was 153.6 per 100,000 residents , Aragón said .
The state ’ s count was 82.2 per 100,000 residents , compared with a national average of 64.6 .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” said Aragón , “ it is not like you can fine-tune it with levers.
” The new stay-at-home order is making some difference , though .
GPS data from cellphones show that people in California are moving around less , Newsom has said .
Greater rates of movement have been associated with higher case counts throughout the pandemic .
Health experts interviewed by The Times said the situation would be even more dire without the new stay-at-home order .
But their predictions of when cases might stabilize or dip — if only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week to after the holidays .
Meanwhile , intensive care units at many hospitals are filled , and medical providers are being more selective about which patients are admitted .
The crush is expected to get worse before it gets better .
Experts say the lack of hospital space and shortage of staff will lead to more deaths , not just for COVID-19 patients but also for people with other ailments who should have been hospitalized but were not able to gain admittance .
The state has ordered thousands of body bags and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Contrast this misery with the state ’ s success in the spring , when California reaped nationwide praise for flattening the curve by shutting down in March , closing all schools and nonessential retail .
But the number of infections then , while rising , was only a fraction of what the state faces today .
“ There is no precedent for how well a lockdown will work when you are having as many cases as we are currently having , ” said Dr. John Swartzberg , an infectious-disease expert at UC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ UCLA medical epidemiologist , likened the spread of the virus early in the pandemic to “ lighted matches being thrown into the forest , which occasionally resulted in flare-ups.
” The March shutdown flattened the curve in three weeks , he said .
Now , there is a “ full-blown , raging , viral wildfire , ” and “ it ’ s just going to take longer ” to bring it under control .
The match that ignited the fire was Thanksgiving .
Many who traveled or gathered with people from outside their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Additionally , cooler weather has have made the environment more hospitable for the coronavirus , which thrives in low humidity and spreads more easily indoors .
Several experts said the surge from Thanksgiving may ebb by Christmas , with a flattening or even a dip in new cases .
But gatherings for Christmas and New Year ’ s Eve may bring another wave of infections .
“ I don ’ t think we will see a substantial drop in cases until sometime in the third week of January , ” Swartzberg said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people must follow them , and compliance in some places has been spotty .
Inside the Promenade Temecula mall last week , business appeared brisk .
Shopper Josie Cardenas , 23 , a resident of Perris , said she had not expected the mall to be so busy and wished people would take the health orders more seriously .
“ This is nothing like the past orders , ” said the laid-off health worker .
“ Everything is open still , and people are going out.
” Fatima Tomlinson , 21 , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that were unavailable online , said the stay-at-home order should be stricter .
“ People are partying around us , they aren ’ t really abiding by the rules , and now they have an excuse to go out in public for the holidays , ” said the Perris resident .
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has called the stay-at-home order “ flat-out ridiculous.
” He said in a video this month that his department would not enforce it .
Riverside County , which includes Temecula and Perris , had some of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of California ’ s 58 counties in the last week — even worse than hard-hit L.A. County .
In Northern California , at the Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek , a popular open-air shopping destination usually jammed before Christmas , masked shoppers strolled the streets in vastly fewer numbers than in past years .
Lines of about half a dozen masked people formed outside Lululemon .
Santa Claus waved from an outdoor perch .
A masked elf said Santa had a mask under his white whiskers , but children could forgo face coverings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County , unions for teachers , nurses and grocery and hotel workers have called for stricter health orders , including a shutdown in January .
They implored the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for tougher action and started an online petition drive .
“ Let ’ s be clear , ” said United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz .
“ We are not in a real lockdown.
” Despite the frustration , none of the health experts interviewed by The Times said the state should have imposed a stay-at-home order as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , when nonessential retailers were barred from even curbside sales .
This time , Swartzberg said , “ I think we have done it more intelligently.
” UCLA ’ s Kim-Farley noted that people flocked to big-box stores during the spring shutdown because they carried groceries and could stay open .
Now , shoppers are spread out more evenly among many stores , which are limited in the number of customers they can allow inside .
Aragón said there is no easy answer .
“ You need to have some economic activity for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said .
He believes many transmissions are coming from within households .
An infected person , he said , is likely to spread the virus to 30 % of others in the home .
“ A few weeks ago , ” Aragón added , “ I would have sworn to you we could manage this.
” Now that ICUs are filled , he is no longer so confident .
Barbara Ferrer , Los Angeles County ’ s public health director , showed the strain of her job during a Dec. 9 appearance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ toll had exceeded 8,000 in L.A. County , she had to stop and swallow sobs .
“ Sorry , ” she said .
Since then , an additional 800 L.A. County residents have died of COVID-19 .
Dr. Grant Colfax , San Francisco ’ s public health director , has resorted to asking residents to think about the fact that their parents , grandparents or children may be denied a hospital bed or adequate care because of overwhelmed hospitals .
“ Would you want that ?
” he asked last week .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said the rate of new virus cases in San Francisco slowed a bit last week .
If people heed the painful lessons learned from Thanksgiving , the number of new cases may yet diminish , he said .
Ferrer said that “ if all goes well , ” she would expect to see a stabilization or even a decrease in the number of new daily cases by Christmas .
“ I ’ ve spoken to a lot of people who say , you know , for the first time , they are taking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ very worried about what ’ s happening in our hospitals , and that they ’ re making some significant changes , ” she said .
Stay-at-home orders work in part because they effectively relay a message to the public about rising risks , said Dr. Robert Wachter , professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at UC San Francisco .
“ It is impossible to prove that the new orders are doing something , ” Wachter said , “ but I think without them , it is highly likely that we would @ @ @ @ @ @

Maura Dolan, Rong-Gong Lin II, Stephanie Lai

California’s first coronavirus lockdown order, in the spring, produced benefits within a month. By April, Gov. Gavin Newsom was able to crow that the state had “arguably flattened” the curve on infections.
It has been two weeks since a second stay-at-home order was issued, and no such flattening has occurred across most of California. This may be because restrictions are looser than those in the spring, and because many Californians are so fatigued by public health orders — or militantly resistant to them — that they are mixing with people from outside their households.
But experts say the most pertinent explanation has to do with the amount of the coronavirus in the community. The latest order came after the virus was already raging out of control, in part because of Thanksgiving travel — a difference experts say will make the current surge much harder to corral.
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“The virus is unforgiving and relentless, and there is just so much community transmission,” said Dr. Tomás Aragón, who next month will take over as director of the California Department of Public Health.
When new daily case counts reach more than 20 per 100,000 people, “it becomes really difficult to control the infections,” said Aragón, who has helped lead San Francisco’s pandemic response as the county’s health officer.
California’s daily case rates are soaring way beyond that number. Los Angeles County’s daily case rate last week was 153.6 per 100,000 residents, Aragón said. The state’s count was 82.2 per 100,000 residents, compared with a national average of 64.6.
“Once the rates get really high,” said Aragón, “it is not like you can fine-tune it with levers.”
The new stay-at-home order is making some difference, though. GPS data from cellphones show that people in California are moving around less, Newsom has said. Greater rates of movement have been associated with higher case counts throughout the pandemic.
Health experts interviewed by The Times said the situation would be even more dire without the new stay-at-home order. But their predictions of when cases might stabilize or dip — if only briefly — varied, ranging from a week to after the holidays.
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Meanwhile, intensive care units at many hospitals are filled, and medical providers are being more selective about which patients are admitted.
California Supermarkets in L.A. County see unprecedented coronavirus infection rates Grocery stores and other essential businesses have been hit hard by the coronavirus surge, further straining services that must stay open despite the stay-at-home order.
The crush is expected to get worse before it gets better. Experts say the lack of hospital space and shortage of staff will lead to more deaths, not just for COVID-19 patients but also for people with other ailments who should have been hospitalized but were not able to gain admittance. The state has ordered thousands of body bags and refrigerated storage units to handle the dead.
Contrast this misery with the state’s success in the spring, when California reaped nationwide praise for flattening the curve by shutting down in March, closing all schools and nonessential retail. But the number of infections then, while rising, was only a fraction of what the state faces today.
“There is no precedent for how well a lockdown will work when you are having as many cases as we are currently having,” said Dr. John Swartzberg, an infectious-disease expert at UC Berkeley.
Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, a UCLA medical epidemiologist, likened the spread of the virus early in the pandemic to “lighted matches being thrown into the forest, which occasionally resulted in flare-ups.”
The March shutdown flattened the curve in three weeks, he said. Now, there is a “full-blown, raging, viral wildfire,” and “it’s just going to take longer” to bring it under control.
The match that ignited the fire was Thanksgiving. Many who traveled or gathered with people from outside their households got sick, then infected others. Additionally, cooler weather has made the environment more hospitable for the coronavirus, which thrives in low humidity and spreads more easily indoors.
Several experts said the surge from Thanksgiving may ebb by Christmas, with a flattening or even a dip in new cases. But gatherings for Christmas and New Year’s Eve may bring another wave of infections.
“I don’t think we will see a substantial drop in cases until sometime in the third week of January,” Swartzberg said.
For health orders to work, people must follow them, and compliance in some places has been spotty.
Inside the Promenade Temecula mall last week, business appeared brisk. Shopper Josie Cardenas, 23, a resident of Perris, said she had not expected the mall to be so busy and wished people would take the health orders more seriously.
“This is nothing like the past orders,” said the laid-off health worker. “Everything is open still, and people are going out.”
Fatima Tomlinson, 21, who went to the mall to buy hoodies that were unavailable online, said the stay-at-home order should be stricter.
“People are partying around us, they aren’t really abiding by the rules, and now they have an excuse to go out in public for the holidays,” said the Perris resident.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has called the stay-at-home order “flat-out ridiculous.” He said in a video this month that his department would not enforce it.
Riverside County, which includes Temecula and Perris, had some of the highest per capita case and death rates of California’s 58 counties in the last week — even worse than hard-hit L.A. County.
(Los Angeles Times)
In Northern California, at the Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek, a popular open-air shopping destination usually jammed before Christmas, masked shoppers strolled the streets in vastly fewer numbers than in past years.
Lines of about half a dozen masked people formed outside Lululemon. Santa Claus waved from an outdoor perch. A masked elf said Santa had a mask under his white whiskers, but children could forgo face coverings while being photographed.
In Los Angeles County, unions for teachers, nurses and grocery and hotel workers have called for stricter health orders, including a shutdown in January. They implored the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for tougher action and started an online petition drive.
“Let’s be clear,” said United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz. “We are not in a real lockdown.”
Despite the frustration, none of the health experts interviewed by The Times said the state should have imposed a stay-at-home order as strict as the one in the spring, when nonessential retailers were barred from even curbside sales.
This time, Swartzberg said, “I think we have done it more intelligently.”
UCLA’s Kim-Farley noted that people flocked to big-box stores during the spring shutdown because they carried groceries and could stay open. Now, shoppers are spread out more evenly among many stores, which are limited in the number of customers they can allow inside.
Aragón said there is no easy answer.
“You need to have some economic activity for society to have social health,” he said. He believes many transmissions are coming from within households. An infected person, he said, is likely to spread the virus to 30% of others in the home.
“A few weeks ago,” Aragón added, “I would have sworn to you we could manage this.” Now that ICUs are filled, he is no longer so confident.
Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County’s public health director, showed the strain of her job during a Dec. 9 appearance. After matter-of-factly reciting that the death toll had exceeded 8,000 in L.A. County, she had to stop and swallow sobs. “Sorry,” she said.
Since then, an additional 800 L.A. County residents have died of COVID-19.
Dr. Grant Colfax, San Francisco’s public health director, has resorted to asking residents to think about the fact that their parents, grandparents or children may be denied a hospital bed or adequate care because of overwhelmed hospitals.
“Would you want that?” he asked last week.
But there are glimmers of hope.
Colfax said the rate of new virus cases in San Francisco slowed a bit last week. If people heed the painful lessons learned from Thanksgiving, the number of new cases may yet diminish, he said.
Ferrer said that “if all goes well,” she would expect to see a stabilization or even a decrease in the number of new daily cases by Christmas.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of people who say, you know, for the first time, they are taking it more seriously, they’re very worried about what’s happening in our hospitals, and that they’re making some significant changes,” she said.
Stay-at-home orders work in part because they effectively relay a message to the public about rising risks, said Dr. Robert Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at UC San Francisco.
“It is impossible to prove that the new orders are doing something,” Wachter said, “but I think without them, it is highly likely that we would be even worse off.”
Times staff writer Howard Blume contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-12-21--Amid a crushing pandemic, this party van is a lifeline for California farmworkers

The van rattling down a field road stood out even in a cloud of dust , its paint job the colors of birthday cake frosting , Christmas tree lights , red-purple-yellow-blue confetti .
A party van helps when trying to reach farmworkers in dark pandemic times .
But Ricardo Castorena , 47 , found that out by accident .
He ’ d only been trying to get free gas when he made the deal with the radio station .
In March , when the pandemic first closed bars and festivals , the sales manager of Radio Lazer KLUN-FM 103.1 feared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a name announced in promos by a galloping telenovela voice backed with the sounds of a laser-gun battle .
He knew that Castorena went to the fields each day with his small nonprofit group , Binational of Central California , and that he had a witty , outgoing personality .
The manager told Castorena , who was teaching Chicano and Latino studies at Fresno Pacific University , that if he would promote the station , it would provide the van and an unlimited gas card .
Castorena became the radio host El Profe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the van since March .
Once he ditched his organization ’ s old white van — which screamed “ feds ” and alarmed workers and farmers alike — he found a warmer welcome .
For decades , Spanish-language radio stations have hosted morning coffee in the fields .
Now that Castorena carried giant speakers , people stopped asking him to explain his presence .
At the beginning , his goal was to deliver 50,000 masks provided through a state grant .
But being in the fields , he can start conversations , looking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what people give is not always what ’ s desperately needed .
Most workers have coats ; socks and gloves wear out faster .
When Castorena conducted a survey asking workers about their needs , the top answer was toothbrush and toothpaste , followed by a toy for their children .
He tries to get balls and dolls to keep it simple .
He keeps the initial conversations light .
He ’ s good at a quick laugh and icebreaker .
“ Hey compadre — let me give you the mask with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrong with polka dots.
” People joke back .
“ Hey there , good to see you , Quinceañera , ” they tease him .
On this day , Castorena started at a food giveaway in Riverdale , a community some 20 miles south of Fresno .
Bright yellow crop dusters roared low over the parking lot where volunteers packed cheddar cheese , vegetable oil and canned goods .
Isabel Solorio said she asked Castorena to come because the prior week ’ s giveaway “ truthfully felt depressing.
” Most of the volunteers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and fruit donated by a local grower , were short on groceries themselves .
The people who signed up for the boxes were given numbers so they didn ’ t have to wait .
But there had been a line of vehicles before the gates opened because people feared the food would run out .
On this day , vehicles , mostly pickup trucks , were lined up to the end of the road and Solorio was still trying to figure out how to get food to volunteers too proud to ask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( as well as masks ) .
Latin superstar Bad Bunny thumped over the speakers .
How could 20-year-old Galilea Tafoya , who was administering free coronavirus tests , not move her feet ?
Castorena noticed .
With a wink , he said , “ Let ’ s see her really dance.
” He put on “ La Chona ” by Los Tucanes de Tijuana , an anthem for a generation of kids of Mexican heritage who grew up being told baila , mijo — dance , my child — when the song @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , shielded , gloved — turned up her energy .
Her yellow disposable isolation gown twirled around her .
In September , the clinic where she works as a medical assistant had asked for volunteers to be coronavirus testers , warning the work could be dangerous .
A month into the job , she fell ill and could barely rise from her bed for more than a week .
“ You ’ re at risk every day out here , ” she said , still dancing .
“ But you have to turn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I just want to try to be that light.
” Solorio danced too .
And the man bagging potatoes and the people behind their steering wheels moved to the music .
“ I get a lot of joy out of this , ” Castorena said .
“ Someone can say , ‘ Hey , that ’ s my song ’ and forget their worries for three minutes .
All we can do is try to create a little joy and laughter amid all the drama.
” He walked the line of trucks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complimented Alondra Aguilar on her mask embroidered with intricate flowers .
The mask didn ’ t hide her smile .
Aguilar , 33 , waits tables at a restaurant in Lemoore .
Two of her cousins died of COVID-19 this year .
She worries when she ’ s at work ; she also worries during the times the restaurant is shut down .
She has an 18-month-old daughter to support .
Last month , Aguilar collapsed , gasping for breath .
She thought it was her heart .
But an emergency doctor said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the last of the food was distributed , Castorena packed the speakers and drove north to the fields outside Selma .
Turning off the public road , he drove between rows of pear trees espaliered on slanting trellises , framing the horizon as a blue triangle .
He was on his way to meet a particular crew .
But when he saw a group of women pruning , he stopped to joke around and hand out masks in children ’ s sizes .
Farther on , he stopped to visit a crew taking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The men seemed uneasy when he approached .
Slowly he got the group talking and laughing , except one man sitting on the fender of a car , who never raised his eyes .
Castorena pointed to the phone number painted on the van and told the men that if they had questions or needed help — or , hey , wanted to hear a particular song — to call or text .
Out of their earshot , he predicted that he would get a message from the silent man within 15 minutes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ linked to his phone .
He said that when someone doesn ’ t interact , he can sense whether they just want to be left alone or are in such despair that they can ’ t lift their head .
Back in the van , he phoned a mother and daughter making burritos for him to take to the field , coordinating a day for pickup .
They were not part of an organization , just two women who wanted to help .
Some of the masks he was giving away were from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from pillowcases she bought , ironing them and putting them in separate plastic bags .
Within 10 minutes , the text he had predicted came .
Castorena pulled over to message that he would call within the hour .
The workers he had been looking for were clearing a field .
They were in the distance , dwarfed by bulldozed earth .
Castorena walked with them as they picked up roots and rocks .
He threw out questions with the chattiness of a late-night host and got them to smile for selfies .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Castorena to meet them and give masks to his co-workers .
Lozano has lived in Fresno since he was 10 , always hiding because he isn ’ t a citizen .
For a while he had a successful recycling business .
But a few years ago the price of metal suddenly dropped , and a truckload that would have brought $ 200 was worth $ 10 .
He went to work in the fields .
He had met Castorena at a free cookout in the fields earlier in the month .
One of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , had told Lozano , “ Thank you for putting food on my table.
” “ That was the best part , ” he said .
“ We don ’ t hear ‘ thank you ’ very often.
” Back in his van , Castorena called the man who had reached out .
The man had come from Washington in March with his family , following the crops .
At first , the usual jobs were unavailable as crews were cut to skeleton staffing during the pandemic .
Only recently had he found @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had a wife and two children , one autistic .
The family had run out of food days ago and was facing an eviction notice .
Castorena filled out the paperwork for the man to receive an emergency grant of $ 250 , from a fund that ’ s near depletion and one of the only sources of public aid for workers living in the U.S. illegally .
The money would arrive in a week .
He brought the family bags of food .
It was mostly snacks , but it was all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hopefully would hold them over .
That day , after dropping off the food , Castorena came to a decision on a dilemma he ’ d been grappling with .
He would quit his teaching job .
His organization has become a bridge between people in the fields and bigger organizations and anyone else trying to help .
If he had not been in the field that day , he asked himself , what would have happened to this family ?
He has taken the van to the fields six days a week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ return to teaching next semester , it would drop to three days .
His wife , Claudia , is a partner in the enterprise .
They get up at 5 each morning to have coffee together , but also so she can ask him whom he was exposed to and plot that day ’ s trips .
Nine years ago he was treated for testicular cancer , which puts him at high risk if he gets COVID-19 .
He always wears a mask and spritzes hand sanitizer as if it were cologne .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ abandoned children selling Chiclets to tourists at the border .
Castorena said if anyone ever had a reason to turn out mean , it was his father .
But instead , he said , his father is the kindest person he has ever met .
His father , also named Ricardo Castorena , now manages a big farm near Fresno but still does field work .
He was the first in their family to become a U.S. citizen .
Castorena was the first to go to college .
Now their extended clan includes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Some of them don ’ t think much of Castorena ’ s plan .
“ They think I ’ m going back to the fields , ” he said .
“ But every day I feel like I can help the kid my dad used to be.
” He can switch languages and cultures quick as a blink , one moment sounding like a professor , the next joking around in the slang and rhythms of the fields .
He said he knows his wife is worried about the cut to their income @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over , I feel like I don ’ t have a choice , ” he said .
In the fields of the San Joaquin Valley during the pandemic , a party van is one of the few beacons of light .

The van rattling down a field road stood out even in a cloud of dust, its paint job the colors of birthday cake frosting, Christmas tree lights, red-purple-yellow-blue confetti.
A party van helps when trying to reach farmworkers in dark pandemic times. But Ricardo Castorena, 47, found that out by accident. He’d only been trying to get free gas when he made the deal with the radio station.
In March, when the pandemic first closed bars and festivals, the sales manager of Radio Lazer KLUN-FM 103.1 feared the station would lose name recognition — a name announced in promos by a galloping telenovela voice backed with the sounds of a laser-gun battle.
He knew that Castorena went to the fields each day with his small nonprofit group, Binational of Central California, and that he had a witty, outgoing personality. The manager told Castorena, who was teaching Chicano and Latino studies at Fresno Pacific University, that if he would promote the station, it would provide the van and an unlimited gas card.
Castorena became the radio host El Profe. He has put 25,000 miles on the van since March.
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Ricardo Castorena, left, next to the Radio Lazer 103.1 van, plays Latin songs to keep the vibe festive at a food giveaway in Riverdale. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Once he ditched his organization’s old white van — which screamed “feds” and alarmed workers and farmers alike — he found a warmer welcome. For decades, Spanish-language radio stations have hosted morning coffee in the fields. Now that Castorena carried giant speakers, people stopped asking him to explain his presence.
At the beginning, his goal was to deliver 50,000 masks provided through a state grant. But being in the fields, he can start conversations, looking for how best to help. Because what people give is not always what’s desperately needed.
Most workers have coats; socks and gloves wear out faster. When Castorena conducted a survey asking workers about their needs, the top answer was toothbrush and toothpaste, followed by a toy for their children. He tries to get balls and dolls to keep it simple.
He keeps the initial conversations light. He’s good at a quick laugh and icebreaker.
“Hey compadre — let me give you the mask with the polka dots. You can never go wrong with polka dots.”
People joke back. “Hey there, good to see you, Quinceañera,” they tease him.
A child watches as his mother looks over free clothing and books at the weekly food giveaway at the Lenare Community Center in Riverdale. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
On this day, Castorena started at a food giveaway in Riverdale, a community some 20 miles south of Fresno. Bright yellow crop dusters roared low over the parking lot where volunteers packed cheddar cheese, vegetable oil and canned goods.
Isabel Solorio said she asked Castorena to come because the prior week’s giveaway “truthfully felt depressing.”
Most of the volunteers who had handed out the government staples, and fruit donated by a local grower, were short on groceries themselves. The people who signed up for the boxes were given numbers so they didn’t have to wait. But there had been a line of vehicles before the gates opened because people feared the food would run out.
On this day, vehicles, mostly pickup trucks, were lined up to the end of the road and Solorio was still trying to figure out how to get food to volunteers too proud to ask. But Castorena had brought the party (as well as masks).
“You’re at risk every day out here. But you have to turn on a light in a dark room. I just want to try to be that light.” — Galilea Tafoya, medical assistant administering coronavirus tests
Ricardo Castorena records video of medical assistant Galilea Tafoya dancing to the music at a food giveaway. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Latin superstar Bad Bunny thumped over the speakers. How could 20-year-old Galilea Tafoya, who was administering free coronavirus tests, not move her feet?
Castorena noticed. With a wink, he said, “Let’s see her really dance.”
He put on “La Chona” by Los Tucanes de Tijuana, an anthem for a generation of kids of Mexican heritage who grew up being told baila, mijo — dance, my child — when the song would come on.
Tafoya — masked, shielded, gloved — turned up her energy. Her yellow disposable isolation gown twirled around her.
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In September, the clinic where she works as a medical assistant had asked for volunteers to be coronavirus testers, warning the work could be dangerous. A month into the job, she fell ill and could barely rise from her bed for more than a week.
“You’re at risk every day out here,” she said, still dancing. “But you have to turn on a light in a dark room. I just want to try to be that light.”
Solorio danced too. And the man bagging potatoes and the people behind their steering wheels moved to the music.
“I get a lot of joy out of this,” Castorena said. “Someone can say, ‘Hey, that’s my song’ and forget their worries for three minutes. All we can do is try to create a little joy and laughter amid all the drama.”
Ricardo Castorena, left, gives masks to members of the community who showed up for the weekly food giveaway in Riverdale. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
He walked the line of trucks handing out masks and jokes. He complimented Alondra Aguilar on her mask embroidered with intricate flowers. The mask didn’t hide her smile.
Aguilar, 33, waits tables at a restaurant in Lemoore. Two of her cousins died of COVID-19 this year. She worries when she’s at work; she also worries during the times the restaurant is shut down. She has an 18-month-old daughter to support.
Last month, Aguilar collapsed, gasping for breath. She thought it was her heart. But an emergency doctor said it was a panic attack.
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After the last of the food was distributed, Castorena packed the speakers and drove north to the fields outside Selma.
Turning off the public road, he drove between rows of pear trees espaliered on slanting trellises, framing the horizon as a blue triangle. He was on his way to meet a particular crew. But when he saw a group of women pruning, he stopped to joke around and hand out masks in children’s sizes.
Farther on, he stopped to visit a crew taking a break next to cherry trees. The men seemed uneasy when he approached. Slowly he got the group talking and laughing, except one man sitting on the fender of a car, who never raised his eyes.
Farmworkers thank Ricardo Castorena after he delivered PPE to help them ward off the coronavirus in Selma. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Castorena pointed to the phone number painted on the van and told the men that if they had questions or needed help — or, hey, wanted to hear a particular song — to call or text.
Out of their earshot, he predicted that he would get a message from the silent man within 15 minutes. The number on the van is linked to his phone. He said that when someone doesn’t interact, he can sense whether they just want to be left alone or are in such despair that they can’t lift their head.
Back in the van, he phoned a mother and daughter making burritos for him to take to the field, coordinating a day for pickup. They were not part of an organization, just two women who wanted to help. Some of the masks he was giving away were from a woman in Fresno who sewed them from pillowcases she bought, ironing them and putting them in separate plastic bags. Within 10 minutes, the text he had predicted came. Castorena pulled over to message that he would call within the hour.
The workers he had been looking for were clearing a field. They were in the distance, dwarfed by bulldozed earth. Castorena walked with them as they picked up roots and rocks. He threw out questions with the chattiness of a late-night host and got them to smile for selfies.
Advertisement
Jose Lozano, 34, had asked Castorena to meet them and give masks to his co-workers. Lozano has lived in Fresno since he was 10, always hiding because he isn’t a citizen. For a while he had a successful recycling business. But a few years ago the price of metal suddenly dropped, and a truckload that would have brought $200 was worth $10. He went to work in the fields.
Volunteers pray before the weekly food giveaway at the Lenare Community Center in Riverdale. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
He had met Castorena at a free cookout in the fields earlier in the month. One of the volunteers, a woman from L.A., had told Lozano, “Thank you for putting food on my table.”
“That was the best part,” he said. “We don’t hear ‘thank you’ very often.”
Back in his van, Castorena called the man who had reached out.
The man had come from Washington in March with his family, following the crops. At first, the usual jobs were unavailable as crews were cut to skeleton staffing during the pandemic. Only recently had he found work pruning. At home, he had a wife and two children, one autistic. The family had run out of food days ago and was facing an eviction notice.
Castorena filled out the paperwork for the man to receive an emergency grant of $250, from a fund that’s near depletion and one of the only sources of public aid for workers living in the U.S. illegally. The money would arrive in a week. He brought the family bags of food. It was mostly snacks, but it was all that he had left to give and hopefully would hold them over.
Ricardo Castorena was teaching Chicano and Latino studies at Fresno Pacific University and Fresno Adult School before committing fully to outreach work. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
That day, after dropping off the food, Castorena came to a decision on a dilemma he’d been grappling with. He would quit his teaching job. His organization has become a bridge between people in the fields and bigger organizations and anyone else trying to help. If he had not been in the field that day, he asked himself, what would have happened to this family?
He has taken the van to the fields six days a week since March. If he were to return to teaching next semester, it would drop to three days.
His wife, Claudia, is a partner in the enterprise. They get up at 5 each morning to have coffee together, but also so she can ask him whom he was exposed to and plot that day’s trips.
Nine years ago he was treated for testicular cancer, which puts him at high risk if he gets COVID-19. He always wears a mask and spritzes hand sanitizer as if it were cologne.
His father was once one of the abandoned children selling Chiclets to tourists at the border. Castorena said if anyone ever had a reason to turn out mean, it was his father. But instead, he said, his father is the kindest person he has ever met.
His father, also named Ricardo Castorena, now manages a big farm near Fresno but still does field work. He was the first in their family to become a U.S. citizen. Castorena was the first to go to college. Now their extended clan includes nurses and lawyers and other professionals.
Some of them don’t think much of Castorena’s plan.
Ricardo Castorena kicks up dust while driving down a dirt road to deliver PPE to the farmworkers in Selma. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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“They think I’m going back to the fields,” he said. “But every day I feel like I can help the kid my dad used to be.”
He can switch languages and cultures quick as a blink, one moment sounding like a professor, the next joking around in the slang and rhythms of the fields.
He said he knows his wife is worried about the cut to their income.
“But until this thing is over, I feel like I don’t have a choice,” he said.
In the fields of the San Joaquin Valley during the pandemic, a party van is one of the few beacons of light.


latimes--2020-12-21--'We're going to be New York': L.A. hospitals brace for the worst

There is a growing sense of dread in hospitals across Los Angeles County and the rest of California that the already grim conditions are about to get much worse and that the coming holidays could bring yet another surge of COVID-19 patients .
There were 16,843 COVID-19 patients in California hospitals Saturday , and 3,614 of them were in intensive care units , according to data released Sunday by the state — a huge increase from two months ago , when there were 2,291 patients and 657 in ICUs .
On Saturday , Los Angeles County hospitals were treating the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with 1,175 in ICUs .
Availability of ICU beds in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley Sunday .
A doctor at an L.A. County public hospital said the number of COVID-19 patients is “ increasing exponentially , without an end in sight.
” Many parts of that hospital are being converted to COVID-19 wards , and ICU teams are being staffed up with workers from other departments that are temporarily halting services .
The doctor , who was not authorized to speak to the media and requested anonymity , said it appears @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will have to begin rationing care .
“ We ’ re going to be New York , with bodies piling up .
Wouldn ’ t be surprised if L.A. rings in the new year as the COVID capital of the world , ” the physician said .
“ I don ’ t know how many ways to explain to people to isolate and stay home , short of bringing a camera to the ICU and [ emergency department ] to show them the mess of what we ’ re experiencing.
” Dr. Timothy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agreed that L.A. County is on a dangerous path .
“ I have yet to see any clear signals that things are slowing down , and I ’ m very concerned about the next two months , ” he said .
He worries that any precautions being taken now will loosen in late December , as people gather for Christmas and New Year ’ s Eve , adding to the current surge .
Already , UCLA Health is scheduling multiple infectious-disease doctors to be on call at any time , due to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he said .
The biggest issue is that hospitals may quickly run out of providers who can administer ICU-level care and will be forced to draft doctors from other specialties .
“ I haven ’ t done ICU medicine since I was a resident — you don ’ t want me adjusting your ventilator , ” he said .
“ That ’ s the challenge , actually — it isn ’ t so much space , it ’ s staff .
It ’ s the physicians , the nurses , the respiratory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do that highly specific work that you can ’ t just pull out of a hat.
” Patient volume is expected to increase , as new infections are occurring more quickly than at any other point during the pandemic and often take two to three weeks to result in hospitalization .
L.A. County public health officials announced Saturday that the county , an especially troubling development given that it arrived only eight days after the county reached 500,000 .
By comparison , after L.A. County Aug. 6 , it took 80 days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to climb , L.A. County 36 days after that , on Nov. 30 .
Just 11 days later , the county .
On Sunday , the county recorded 12,763 new cases and 53 deaths , bringing its totals to 623,670 cases and 8,875 deaths , according to an independent tally by The Times .
New case numbers are often lower on the weekends , when some laboratories don ’ t report results .
The share of tests coming back positive for the virus each day has also risen sharply , topping 16 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Sunday .
The positivity rate — which helps analysts determine whether more new cases are being identified due to increased transmission or because more people are being tested — during the height of the last surge , in mid-July , then in October .
Many hospitals are preparing for the possibility of rationing care in the coming weeks as the number of patients exceeds their staffs ’ abilities to care for them .
A document obtained by The Times , outlining how to allocate resources in a crisis situation , was recently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ run by Los Angeles County .
The guidelines call for a shift in mindset that is unfamiliar to many medical providers .
Instead of trying everything to save a patient , the goal during a crisis is to save as many patients as possible , meaning those less likely to survive will not receive the level of care they would have otherwise .
In other words , doctors will no longer be pulling out all the stops to save a life but , instead , will be strategizing about how to keep as @ @ @ @ @ @ @

A patient who survived a code blue is rushed to the ICU last week at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica.
There is a growing sense of dread in hospitals across Los Angeles County and the rest of California that the already grim conditions are about to get much worse and that the coming holidays could bring yet another surge of COVID-19 patients.
There were 16,843 COVID-19 patients in California hospitals Saturday, and 3,614 of them were in intensive care units, according to data released Sunday by the state — a huge increase from two months ago, when there were 2,291 patients and 657 in ICUs. On Saturday, Los Angeles County hospitals were treating the largest share of patients: 5,709, with 1,175 in ICUs.
Availability of ICU beds in Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley remained at zero Sunday.
A doctor at an L.A. County public hospital said the number of COVID-19 patients is “increasing exponentially, without an end in sight.”
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Many parts of that hospital are being converted to COVID-19 wards, and ICU teams are being staffed up with workers from other departments that are temporarily halting services. The doctor, who was not authorized to speak to the media and requested anonymity, said it appears that by early January, the hospital will have to begin rationing care.
“We’re going to be New York, with bodies piling up. Wouldn’t be surprised if L.A. rings in the new year as the COVID capital of the world,” the physician said. “I don’t know how many ways to explain to people to isolate and stay home, short of bringing a camera to the ICU and [emergency department] to show them the mess of what we’re experiencing.”
Dr. Timothy Brewer, an epidemiologist at UCLA, agreed that L.A. County is on a dangerous path.
“I have yet to see any clear signals that things are slowing down, and I’m very concerned about the next two months,” he said.
He worries that any precautions being taken now will loosen in late December, as people gather for Christmas and New Year’s Eve, adding to the current surge.
Already, UCLA Health is scheduling multiple infectious-disease doctors to be on call at any time, due to the unprecedented numbers of COVID-19 patients needing hospitalization, he said. The biggest issue is that hospitals may quickly run out of providers who can administer ICU-level care and will be forced to draft doctors from other specialties.
“I haven’t done ICU medicine since I was a resident — you don’t want me adjusting your ventilator,” he said. “That’s the challenge, actually — it isn’t so much space, it’s staff. It’s the physicians, the nurses, the respiratory therapists, all of the trained people to do that highly specific work that you can’t just pull out of a hat.”
Patient volume is expected to increase, as new infections are occurring more quickly than at any other point during the pandemic and often take two to three weeks to result in hospitalization.
L.A. County public health officials announced Saturday that the county had surpassed 600,000 total coronavirus cases , an especially troubling development given that it arrived only eight days after the county reached 500,000.
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By comparison, after L.A. County surpassed 200,000 reported cases Aug. 6, it took 80 days to reach 300,000 . As the transmission rate began to climb, L.A. County reported its 400,000th case 36 days after that, on Nov. 30. Just 11 days later, the county topped 500,000 .
On Sunday, the county recorded 12,763 new cases and 53 deaths, bringing its totals to 623,670 cases and 8,875 deaths, according to an independent tally by The Times . New case numbers are often lower on the weekends, when some laboratories don’t report results.
The share of tests coming back positive for the virus each day has also risen sharply, topping 16% over the last seven days, officials said Sunday. The positivity rate — which helps analysts determine whether more new cases are being identified due to increased transmission or because more people are being tested — reached 10% during the height of the last surge, in mid-July, then fell to around 3% in October.
Many hospitals are preparing for the possibility of rationing care in the coming weeks as the number of patients exceeds their staffs’ abilities to care for them. A document obtained by The Times, outlining how to allocate resources in a crisis situation, was recently circulated among doctors at the four hospitals run by Los Angeles County.
The guidelines call for a shift in mindset that is unfamiliar to many medical providers. Instead of trying everything to save a patient, the goal during a crisis is to save as many patients as possible, meaning those less likely to survive will not receive the level of care they would have otherwise. In other words, doctors will no longer be pulling out all the stops to save a life but, instead, will be strategizing about how to keep as many people as possible from perishing.


latimes--2020-12-21--Yes, there was good news in 2020 too

Yes, there was good news in 2020 too

The year had moments of virus-inspired kindness : Musicians staged porch concerts , animal shelters saw more dog and cat adoptions .
There was invention : With movies and TV shows stalled for a time , costumers sewed face masks .
And there was silliness : Brad Pitt as Dr. Anthony Fauci on “ Saturday Night Live.
” It was the year an 85-year-old man , forced to leave USC a few units shy of graduation because of financial trouble , was able to complete his degree 64 years late .
In Highland Park , patrons of a beloved elotero @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say farewell when word spread that he was returning Mexico to marry his school sweetheart .
The always financially struggling Homeboy Industries , which has helped so many leave the gang life , received $ 2.5 million from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation .
Manna from heaven , indeed .
And who could have guessed our delight with MSNBC ’ s Steven Kornacki and CNN ’ s John King , who dazzled us with their command of charts showing election results ?
A new word was born too : chartthrobs .
Smiles have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had some .
This month a family in Australia came home to discover a koala perched in their plastic Christmas tree .
A viral , skateboarding TikTok star tripled sales of Fleetwood Mac ’ s “ Dreams.
” And from the natural world came a reminder that life goes on .
Israeli researchers celebrated the harvest of dates produced by palms grown from seeds recovered from archeological sites .
The seeds were more than 2,000 years old .
The dates were likened in taste to honey .
Even in 2020 , something sweet @

It wasn’t all bad.
The year had moments of virus-inspired kindness: Musicians staged porch concerts, animal shelters saw more dog and cat adoptions. There was invention: With movies and TV shows stalled for a time, costumers sewed face masks. And there was silliness: Brad Pitt as Dr. Anthony Fauci on “Saturday Night Live.”
Namiko Ishii-Danganan, center, with daughters Miya, left, and Ami Ishii, are fostering Sky, a year-old blue-nose pit bull, at their Downey home. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
It was the year an 85-year-old man, forced to leave USC a few units shy of graduation because of financial trouble, was able to complete his degree 64 years late. In Highland Park, patrons of a beloved elotero — a corn vendor — flocked to say farewell when word spread that he was returning to Mexico to marry his school sweetheart.
Andres Santos, 59, an elotero — a street corn vender — with his daughter Andrea Santos. He is leaving Highland Park after more than 20 years and is returning to Mexico to start over. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
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The always financially struggling Homeboy Industries, which has helped so many leave the gang life, received $2.5 million from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Manna from heaven, indeed.
And who could have guessed our delight with MSNBC’s Steven Kornacki and CNN’s John King, who dazzled us with their command of charts showing election results? A new word was born too: chartthrobs.
Smiles have been few, but we’ve had some. This month a family in Australia came home to discover a koala perched in their plastic Christmas tree. A viral, skateboarding TikTok star tripled sales of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.”
Polo’s Pantry LA founder Melissa Acedera distributes meals and supplies to one of her contacts, Harvey, on Olvera Street. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
And from the natural world came a reminder that life goes on. Israeli researchers celebrated the harvest of dates produced by palms grown from seeds recovered from archeological sites. The seeds were more than 2,000 years old. The dates were likened in taste to honey.
Even in 2020, something sweet.


latimes--2020-12-21--Column: Picking two senators is too much. Here's how Newsom could handle the situation

Critics pressuring U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein to retire so she can be replaced by someone who ’ s younger , liberal and more combative ought to think twice .
Is it really a good idea for one man — Gov .
Gavin Newsom — to handpick both senators who will represent 40 million Californians ?
Newsom is already going to select one senator — the replacement for Vice President-elect Kamala Harris .
But two would be too much power for one politician .
Senate seats are elective offices that belong to the public , not one individual or any group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be unprecedented for a California governor to choose both senators on his own .
“ When you have two rather than one it seems a little excessive , ” former state Atty .
Gen. Bill Lockyer told me .
Lockyer was also state treasurer and leader of the state Senate .
But the Democrat says he would expect Newsom to also name Feinstein ’ s replacement if she did retire before her term expired at the end of 2024 .
The governor has that power and , like any politician , wouldn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lockyer said .
There ’ s another way a resigned senator can be replaced : The governor can call a special election .
But that would take months .
And Democrats will need every Senate vote they can get in the next Congress .
They ’ d be weaker against Republicans while waiting for a special election .
Critics argue — disrespectfully — that the 87-year-old moderate Democrat has stayed too long in the Senate seat she has occupied for 28 years .
There are two main allegations .
One is that her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ short-term memory loss .
The second is that she ’ s a Republican pushover too eager to compromise with the enemy .
“ I don ’ t feel my cognitive abilities have diminished , ” she told me last week , as I wrote then .
“ No , not really .
Do I forget something sometimes ?
Quite possibly.
” “ We do get things done and we do pass bills , ” she added .
“ You do get older , that ’ s true .
But I have been productive.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ still is — because , as she said : “ People are willing to work with me across the aisle .
… I think civility and bipartisanship mean something.
” It ’ s why Feinstein has been one of the most effective California senators in history — arguably the most effective .
“ Her centrist , pragmatic , collaborative style was a bad match for the Trump era , but it better aligns with the Biden approach , ” says Jerry Roberts , a former San Francisco Chronicle top editor and political writer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s tenure as San Francisco mayor .
“ People should think about which presumed replacement would be more effective as a practical matter in delivering for California , despite her lack of red-hot rhetoric and lefty passion.
” Some critics think Feinstein should step aside and make way for a Latino or Black senator to be appointed by Newsom .
“ How about electing one ?
” Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo asked rhetorically after calling me to praise Feinstein .
“ We just had an election [ in 2018 ] .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s a progressive on the ballot .
People made a choice .
She won significantly .
We ought to respect elections.
” Feinstein defeated challenger Kevin de León , a former state Senate leader and now an L.A. city councilman .
Cedillo endorsed Feinstein , who won by 8.4 percentage points .
It ’ s generally expected that Newsom will appoint Secretary of State Alex Padilla , 47 , to fill Harris ’ Senate seat .
He would be California ’ s first Latino senator .
Padilla is a longtime political pal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Latinos now are the largest ethnic group in the state , representing 40 % of the population .
Padilla is a former state senator and L.A. City Council member who got his first big political break when Feinstein hired him as a Senate staff member .
If Newsom picks Padilla , the governor also will be able to nominate his replacement as secretary of state , subject to legislative confirmation .
In addition , Newsom will select the next state attorney general to replace Xavier Becerra if he ’ s confirmed by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services .
So that ’ s at least three big jobs the governor could fill .
It ’ s a lot of power for one man .
He shouldn ’ t also be filling California ’ s other Senate seat if Feinstein decides she has had enough and retires .
To avoid her being replaced by the governor , there ’ d need to be a special election .
But one couldn ’ t be called unless the seat was actually vacant .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seat empty for months .
The solution would be for Newsom to appoint a “ caretaker ” who promised not to run for the job and would hold it only until voters chose a replacement at the next regular election .
Perhaps Lockyer , 79 , who ’ s practicing law in Irvine .
Or ex-state Sen. Art Torres , 74 , a former state Democratic chairman who ’ s a leader in California stem cell research .
Maybe just-retired state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson , 70 , of Santa Barbara .
Other possibilities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ congressman , White House chief of staff and defense secretary ; former Gov .
Jerry Brown , 82 ; or Willie Brown , 86 , former San Francisco mayor and legendary state Assembly speaker .
Feinstein told me she hasn ’ t thought about retiring soon .
But that was last week .
On April 13 , she will become the longest-serving senator in California history .
She ’ d obviously like to complete her term .
But I wouldn ’ t be surprised if she left early — if she felt it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being shoved .
And she shouldn ’ t be .

Gov. Gavin Newsom will select California’s Senate replacement for Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. If Sen. Dianne Feinstein were to retire, he could choose her successor as well.
Critics pressuring U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein to retire so she can be replaced by someone who’s younger, liberal and more combative ought to think twice.
Is it really a good idea for one man — Gov. Gavin Newsom — to handpick both senators who will represent 40 million Californians?
Don’t think so.
Newsom is already going to select one senator — the replacement for Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. But two would be too much power for one politician.
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Senate seats are elective offices that belong to the public, not one individual or any group — political or demographic.
It would be unprecedented for a California governor to choose both senators on his own.
“When you have two rather than one it seems a little excessive,” former state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer told me. Lockyer was also state treasurer and leader of the state Senate.
But the Democrat says he would expect Newsom to also name Feinstein’s replacement if she did retire before her term expired at the end of 2024. The governor has that power and, like any politician, wouldn’t want to give it up, Lockyer said.
There’s another way a resigned senator can be replaced: The governor can call a special election. But that would take months. And Democrats will need every Senate vote they can get in the next Congress. They’d be weaker against Republicans while waiting for a special election.
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Critics argue — disrespectfully — that the 87-year-old moderate Democrat has stayed too long in the Senate seat she has occupied for 28 years.
There are two main allegations. One is that her cognitive abilities have declined; she has short-term memory loss. The second is that she’s a Republican pushover too eager to compromise with the enemy.
“I don’t feel my cognitive abilities have diminished,” she told me last week, as I wrote then. “No, not really. Do I forget something sometimes? Quite possibly.”
“We do get things done and we do pass bills,” she added. “You do get older, that’s true. But I have been productive.”
Feinstein has been productive — and still is — because, as she said: “People are willing to work with me across the aisle. … I think civility and bipartisanship mean something.”
It’s why Feinstein has been one of the most effective California senators in history — arguably the most effective.
“Her centrist, pragmatic, collaborative style was a bad match for the Trump era, but it better aligns with the Biden approach,” says Jerry Roberts, a former San Francisco Chronicle top editor and political writer who wrote a book about Feinstein’s tenure as San Francisco mayor.
“People should think about which presumed replacement would be more effective as a practical matter in delivering for California, despite her lack of red-hot rhetoric and lefty passion.”
Some critics think Feinstein should step aside and make way for a Latino or Black senator to be appointed by Newsom.
“How about electing one?” Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo asked rhetorically after calling me to praise Feinstein.
“We just had an election [in 2018]. There was a person of color who’s a progressive on the ballot. People made a choice. She won significantly. We ought to respect elections.”
Feinstein defeated challenger Kevin de León, a former state Senate leader and now an L.A. city councilman. Cedillo endorsed Feinstein, who won by 8.4 percentage points.
It’s generally expected that Newsom will appoint Secretary of State Alex Padilla, 47, to fill Harris’ Senate seat. He would be California’s first Latino senator.
Padilla is a longtime political pal of Newsom. But importantly for California, Latinos now are the largest ethnic group in the state, representing 40% of the population.
Padilla is a former state senator and L.A. City Council member who got his first big political break when Feinstein hired him as a Senate staff member.
If Newsom picks Padilla, the governor also will be able to nominate his replacement as secretary of state, subject to legislative confirmation.
In addition, Newsom will select the next state attorney general to replace Xavier Becerra if he’s confirmed by the U.S. Senate as President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of Health and Human Services.
So that’s at least three big jobs the governor could fill. It’s a lot of power for one man. He shouldn’t also be filling California’s other Senate seat if Feinstein decides she has had enough and retires.
To avoid her being replaced by the governor, there’d need to be a special election. But one couldn’t be called unless the seat was actually vacant. And Senate Democrats would hate to leave that seat empty for months.
The solution would be for Newsom to appoint a “caretaker” who promised not to run for the job and would hold it only until voters chose a replacement at the next regular election.
The caretaker? Some retired, quality politician.
Perhaps Lockyer, 79, who’s practicing law in Irvine. Or ex-state Sen. Art Torres, 74, a former state Democratic chairman who’s a leader in California stem cell research. Maybe just-retired state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, 70, of Santa Barbara.
Other possibilities: Leon Panetta, 82, former congressman, White House chief of staff and defense secretary; former Gov. Jerry Brown, 82; or Willie Brown, 86, former San Francisco mayor and legendary state Assembly speaker.
Feinstein told me she hasn’t thought about retiring soon. But that was last week. On April 13, she will become the longest-serving senator in California history.
She’d obviously like to complete her term. But I wouldn’t be surprised if she left early — if she felt it was her idea and wasn’t being shoved. And she shouldn’t be.


latimes--2020-12-21--Gov. Gavin Newsom will enter quarantine again after coronavirus exposure

Gov .
Gavin Newsom will go into quarantine again for 10 days after being exposed to a staff member who @ @ @ @ @ , a representative said in a statement Sunday night .
Newsom tested negative but will @ @ @ @ @ , in accordance with state public health guidelines .
Other staffers in the governor ’ @ @ @ @ @ to the infected individual also tested negative .
They will begin 10-day quarantines , the @ @ @ @ @ comes as much of California is under a stay-at-home order while COVID-19 is spreading with @ @ @ @ @ averaged more than 40,000 new coronavirus cases a day over the last week .
Across @ @ @ @ @ in intensive care units remained at 0 % .
Statewide , 16,843 people are hospitalized @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 , according to data tracked by The Times .
The pandemic ’ s death @ @ @ @ @ 22,666 .
Over Thanksgiving , Newsom and his family went into quarantine after his children @ @ @ @ @ incidents to someone who had tested positive for the coronavirus .

California Gov. Gavin Newsom holds up a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center last week.
Gov. Gavin Newsom will go into quarantine again for 10 days after being exposed to a staff member who tested positive for the coronavirus, a representative said in a statement Sunday night. Newsom tested negative but will enter quarantine as a precaution, in accordance with state public health guidelines.
Other staffers in the governor’s office who were exposed to the infected individual also tested negative. They will begin 10-day quarantines, the representative said.
The news comes as much of California is under a stay-at-home order while COVID-19 is spreading with astonishing speed. The state averaged more than 40,000 new coronavirus cases a day over the last week. Across Southern California, bed availability in intensive care units remained at 0%.
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Statewide, 16,843 people are hospitalized with a confirmed case of COVID-19, according to data tracked by The Times. The pandemic’s death toll across California is now 22,666.
Over Thanksgiving, Newsom and his family went into quarantine after his children were exposed in two separate incidents to someone who had tested positive for the coronavirus.


latimes--2020-12-20--Writer and adventurer Roy Wallack dies after mountain biking accident

Writer and adventurer Roy M. Wallack has died after a mountain biking accident in the Santa Monica Mountains .
Wallack , 64 , was a longtime contributor to the Los Angeles Times , focusing on fitness and the outdoors , and the author of sports and fitness books .
He was an avid hiker , runner and cyclist who completed extreme challenges such as the 750-mile Paris-Brest-Paris bike tour and the Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley .
Wallack was biking with friends on the Guadalasca Trail , a popular route in Point Mugu State Park , when he crashed while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his head on a large rock about 9:30 a.m. Saturday , said Capt .
Eric Buschow of the Ventura County Sheriff ’ s Office .
Friends who were at the scene said he might have had a medical issue that caused him to fall .
They and an EMT and a cardiologist who happened on the scene performed CPR until a helicopter arrived , the friends said .
Rescuers attempted to save him , but he died at the scene , Buschow said .
Wallack ’ s work for The Times spanned barre @ @ @ @ @ @ @ L.A. Marathon and more .
He penned a column on gear for many years , keeping fitness fans in the loop about the hottest must-haves .
He began a 2016 piece : “ Hiking the Grand Canyon was not on my bucket list .
A marathon , yes .
Bike 200 miles in a day , yes .
Ironman triathlon , absolutely .
But for some reason , a mere day hike , even in one of the world ’ s most spectacular natural wonders , was never on my radar.
” Wallack @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 15-mile trek , describing it as “ an otherworldly journey into a land before time ” and “ a true bucket-list adventure.
” Last year , he wrote with humor and love about getting a personal trainer for his 89-year-old father .
“ My father had no disabilities and comes from a long line of centenarians .
To me , the problem was obvious : his Easy Boy chair .
Remote in hand , he hadn ’ t left it in 30 years ( except for Costco and cleaning up in the backyard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote .
Wallack ’ s crusade to keep his father physically active continued , said a friend , Terry Harmon .
Wallack enlisted Harmon to call his father , pretending to be a hired trainer and urging the older man , housebound by COVID-19 , to get on the treadmill .
Wallack had recently finished a book about Richard Long , co-founder of GT Bicycles Inc. , and was looking for a publisher , Harmon said .
“ I ’ m thinking of the last person he spoke poorly of , and I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ person , ” she said .
“ He loved everyone and everything .
He was optimistic and encouraging .
He was my cheerleader.
” Another friend , Gordon Wright , wrote on Twitter : “ One of the greatest characters in my life and a beacon of passion for all things outdoors .
We had many adventures together and he died just how he would have wanted to : flying down a mountain on a bike.
” Wallack is survived by his father , Norm ; wife , Elsa ; brother , Marc @ @ @ @ @ @ @ son , Joey .

Roy M. Wallack, seen above in 2005, was an adventurer, endurance athlete and writer.
Writer and adventurer Roy M. Wallack has died after a mountain biking accident in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Wallack, 64, was a longtime contributor to the Los Angeles Times, focusing on fitness and the outdoors, and the author of sports and fitness books.
He was an avid hiker, runner and cyclist who completed extreme challenges such as the 750-mile Paris-Brest-Paris bike tour and the Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley.
Wallack was biking with friends on the Guadalasca Trail, a popular route in Point Mugu State Park, when he crashed while riding down a steep trail and hit his head on a large rock about 9:30 a.m. Saturday, said Capt. Eric Buschow of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. Friends who were at the scene said he might have had a medical issue that caused him to fall.
They and an EMT and a cardiologist who happened on the scene performed CPR until a helicopter arrived, the friends said. Rescuers attempted to save him, but he died at the scene, Buschow said.
Wallack’s work for The Times spanned barre classes, triathlons, kayaking, the L.A. Marathon and more. He penned a column on gear for many years, keeping fitness fans in the loop about the hottest must-haves.
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He began a 2016 piece: “Hiking the Grand Canyon was not on my bucket list. A marathon, yes. Bike 200 miles in a day, yes. Ironman triathlon, absolutely. But for some reason, a mere day hike, even in one of the world’s most spectacular natural wonders, was never on my radar.”
Wallack ended up being won over by the 15-mile trek, describing it as “an otherworldly journey into a land before time” and “a true bucket-list adventure.”
Last year, he wrote with humor and love about getting a personal trainer for his 89-year-old father.
“My father had no disabilities and comes from a long line of centenarians. To me, the problem was obvious: his Easy Boy chair. Remote in hand, he hadn’t left it in 30 years (except for Costco and cleaning up in the backyard after the dogs),” Wallack wrote.
Wallack’s crusade to keep his father physically active continued, said a friend, Terry Harmon.
Wallack enlisted Harmon to call his father, pretending to be a hired trainer and urging the older man, housebound by COVID-19, to get on the treadmill.
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Wallack had recently finished a book about Richard Long, co-founder of GT Bicycles Inc., and was looking for a publisher, Harmon said.
“I’m thinking of the last person he spoke poorly of, and I can’t think of a single person,” she said. “He loved everyone and everything. He was optimistic and encouraging. He was my cheerleader.”
Another friend, Gordon Wright, wrote on Twitter: “One of the greatest characters in my life and a beacon of passion for all things outdoors. We had many adventures together and he died just how he would have wanted to: flying down a mountain on a bike.”
Wallack is survived by his father, Norm; wife, Elsa; brother, Marc; two sisters; and an adult son, Joey.


latimes--2020-12-20--Friends mourn man who touched many lives while living in L.A. River encampment

He was “ ebullient , ” “ effervescent , ” maybe a bit “ childish , ” friends said .
The seizures that he had were the penalty of a past life he was trying to renounce .
His new path brought him into a circle of friends from the congregants of his church to the community volunteers who spent years trying to bring him indoors .
Those friends gathered Sunday in a sliver of a park on Los Feliz Boulevard to recall the life of Jeffrey Pereira , 54 , who died Friday in his encampment nearby on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was one of the more than 1,200 people who died on the streets of Los Angeles in 2020 .
Unlike so many , he was neither unknown nor alone .
“ I really loved Jeffrey , ” said his pastor , Kyle Joachim of the Silverlake Community Church .
“ My wife and I had him over to our house .
We tried to have him house-sit .
Gave him a key .
He just never showed up .
We weren ’ t mad at him because he ’ s just such a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council , Pereira “ represented the conundrum that the unhoused struggle with and our struggle as activists and service providers and allies of the unhoused.
” Pereira was originally from Oklahoma but had lived in the L.A. River homeless community as long as anyone remembered .
He stood out among the dozens of people who make their home in the river — either along its sandy and wooded shore where it runs from Griffith Park toward downtown or beside the bike path above its concrete bank .
Partly it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Church .
Pastor Kyle , as Joachim is known , said religion was central to his transition from the youth nicknamed “ Animal ” who had been in and out of jail .
“ At some point he had a conversion experience that was pretty powerful and made him want to get away from the ‘ old me , ’ the person he used to be , a person he described as being very violent and volatile , ” Joachim said .
“ He attributed to me he wanted to leave that ‘ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ faith.
” The seizures were a lasting effect of head trauma from a fight years ago , Joachim said .
Though he never officially joined , Pereira became a regular at the church , helping Joachim set up in the morning and bringing others from the river to the Saturday food banks held by the church and SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition , a volunteer group that conducts outreach in the river encampment and elsewhere in Los Angeles .
“ He became like our ambassador , ” said Dorit Dowler-Guerrero , a veteran social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ acronym for the group ’ s turf — Silver Lake , Echo Park , Los Feliz , Atwater and Hollywood .
“ He was someone who tried to connect people to the outside even though he didn ’ t connect to the outside as he should.
” The ceremony was simple , incorporated into one of SELAH ’ s regular “ grab and go ” potlucks for the river residents .
Under an oak tree , Danielle Bond of the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council ’ s outreach and engagement committee sang “ Ave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in her arms .
Batistick , also a SELAH volunteer , remembered Pereira as the glue of the neighborhood .
“ He ’ s that guy on the corner that has information on what was going on in the neighborhood , ” he said .
“ Suddenly it feels like a giant light has been extinguished.
” Pereira ’ s neighbors from the encampment posted memories on sticky notes .
Like others , Ty Hart , 58 , who sat with his miniature spaniel mix Rocky , said he had known Pereira for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a crew who migrated to the river from Hollywood after it became overcrowded with “ outdoor ” people .
“ I ’ m not homeless , ” Hart said , capturing a sentiment that others echoed .
“ I consider myself an outdoorsman .
I like it outside .
I look for what I need today .
I meet those goals .
Tomorrow ’ s not here yet.
” Robin “ Country ” Boatner , 62 , who has recently obtained a nearby apartment , said he comes back to see his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homeless , to be honest with you , ” Boatner said .
“ I ’ ll probably keep a camp down here and camp out all summer even though I got a place to go .
Where I ’ m at now is boring .
But I got a TV and a bed.
” After the ceremony , Justin Szlasa and Celeste Voce , SELAH volunteers who do outreach along the river , walked across the Los Feliz bike bridge to the tent camp , consisting of about a dozen tents squeezed between @ @ @ @ @ @ @ onramp to the 134 Freeway .
There , Pereira was remembered as a complex figure .
Over the years , he had been in and out of jail , in and out of housing and , finally , in and out of the hospital .
He struggled with sobriety .
He had been close to getting housing once , but declined because his pit bull Ace couldn ’ t go with him .
He was one of the first accepted into the new city shelter on Riverside Drive , but left , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was doing voodoo on him .
Camp resident James A .
Hall , showing off a lump under his right ear , said it was a BB received from Animal in a dispute over cookies .
Nonetheless , Hall said , he performed CPR on Pereira , to no avail , when he had a seizure and turned blue in a friend ’ s tent .
Unable to reach Pereira ’ s mother , thought to live in Orange County , Hall said , members of the community had distributed his things and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including the tent .
Next to its charred remains “ RIP Jeff ” was painted on the bike path .
Pastor Kyle , who was unable to attend the memorial pending results of a coronavirus test , said he connected with a side of Pereira that others didn ’ t see .
“ My relationship changed when I realized that he really in some ways was an 11- or 12-year-old boy in a giant man ’ s body , ” he said .
“ When I started treating him with empathy and firmness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 11-year-old boy , my love of him started to grow.
” Joachim is planning a more formal memorial for Pereira on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at Silverlake Community Church , located at 2930 Hyperion Ave. in Los Angeles .

Cynthia Caldwell, a neighbor of Jeffrey “Animal” Pereira in the homeless encampment along the Los Angeles River in Atwater Village, reaches out to touch his photo on Sunday during a vigil at Bond Park.
He was “ebullient,” “effervescent,” maybe a bit “childish,” friends said. The seizures that he had were the penalty of a past life he was trying to renounce. His new path brought him into a circle of friends from the congregants of his church to the community volunteers who spent years trying to bring him indoors.
Those friends gathered Sunday in a sliver of a park on Los Feliz Boulevard to recall the life of Jeffrey Pereira, 54, who died Friday in his encampment nearby on the banks of the L.A. River.
Pereira was one of the more than 1,200 people who died on the streets of Los Angeles in 2020. Unlike so many, he was neither unknown nor alone.
A photo of Jeffrey “Animal” Pereira, posted on a tree during a memorial at Bond Park in Atwater Village on Sunday. Pereira, who was living in a tent along the Los Angeles River, died Friday after having a seizure. (Nick Agro / For The Times)
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“I really loved Jeffrey,” said his pastor, Kyle Joachim of the Silverlake Community Church. “My wife and I had him over to our house. We tried to have him house-sit. Gave him a key. He just never showed up. We weren’t mad at him because he’s just such a sweet guy.”
To Mike Batistick of the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council, Pereira “represented the conundrum that the unhoused struggle with and our struggle as activists and service providers and allies of the unhoused.”
Pereira was originally from Oklahoma but had lived in the L.A. River homeless community as long as anyone remembered.
Friends of Jeffrey Pereira, members of SELAH and the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council join together for a memorial at Bond Park in Atwater Village on Sunday. (Nick Agro / For The Times)
He stood out among the dozens of people who make their home in the river — either along its sandy and wooded shore where it runs from Griffith Park toward downtown or beside the bike path above its concrete bank.
Partly it was his involvement with the Silverlake Community Church. Pastor Kyle, as Joachim is known, said religion was central to his transition from the youth nicknamed “Animal” who had been in and out of jail.
“At some point he had a conversion experience that was pretty powerful and made him want to get away from the ‘old me,’ the person he used to be, a person he described as being very violent and volatile,” Joachim said. “He attributed to me he wanted to leave that ‘old me’ behind for his Christian faith.”
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The seizures were a lasting effect of head trauma from a fight years ago, Joachim said.
Though he never officially joined, Pereira became a regular at the church, helping Joachim set up in the morning and bringing others from the river to the Saturday food banks held by the church and SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition, a volunteer group that conducts outreach in the river encampment and elsewhere in Los Angeles.
The tent where Jeffrey Pereira died along the Los Angeles River in Atwater Village is seen on Sunday. (Nick Agro / For The Times)
“He became like our ambassador,” said Dorit Dowler-Guerrero, a veteran social worker and co-founder of SELAH, an acronym for the group’s turf — Silver Lake, Echo Park, Los Feliz, Atwater and Hollywood. “He was someone who tried to connect people to the outside even though he didn’t connect to the outside as he should.”
The ceremony was simple, incorporated into one of SELAH’s regular “grab and go” potlucks for the river residents. Under an oak tree, Danielle Bond of the Atwater Village Neighborhood Council’s outreach and engagement committee sang “Ave Maria” with her mini poodle Poppy in her arms.
Batistick, also a SELAH volunteer, remembered Pereira as the glue of the neighborhood.
“He’s that guy on the corner that has information on what was going on in the neighborhood,” he said. “Suddenly it feels like a giant light has been extinguished.”
Pereira’s neighbors from the encampment posted memories on sticky notes.
Like others, Ty Hart, 58, who sat with his miniature spaniel mix Rocky, said he had known Pereira for about 20 years. They were part of a crew who migrated to the river from Hollywood after it became overcrowded with “outdoor” people.
“I’m not homeless,” Hart said, capturing a sentiment that others echoed. “I consider myself an outdoorsman. I like it outside. I look for what I need today. I meet those goals. Tomorrow’s not here yet.”
Robin “Country” Boatner, 62, who has recently obtained a nearby apartment, said he comes back to see his friends.
“I still like being homeless, to be honest with you,” Boatner said. “I’ll probably keep a camp down here and camp out all summer even though I got a place to go. Where I’m at now is boring. But I got a TV and a bed.”
After the ceremony, Justin Szlasa and Celeste Voce, SELAH volunteers who do outreach along the river, walked across the Los Feliz bike bridge to the tent camp, consisting of about a dozen tents squeezed between the bike path and the Los Feliz onramp to the 134 Freeway.
There, Pereira was remembered as a complex figure. Over the years, he had been in and out of jail, in and out of housing and, finally, in and out of the hospital. He struggled with sobriety.
He had been close to getting housing once, but declined because his pit bull Ace couldn’t go with him. He was one of the first accepted into the new city shelter on Riverside Drive, but left, he told others, because a woman there was doing voodoo on him.
Camp resident James A. Hall, showing off a lump under his right ear, said it was a BB received from Animal in a dispute over cookies.
Nonetheless, Hall said, he performed CPR on Pereira, to no avail, when he had a seizure and turned blue in a friend’s tent.
Unable to reach Pereira’s mother, thought to live in Orange County, Hall said, members of the community had distributed his things and burned what wasn’t taken, including the tent. Next to its charred remains “RIP Jeff” was painted on the bike path.
Pastor Kyle, who was unable to attend the memorial pending results of a coronavirus test, said he connected with a side of Pereira that others didn’t see.
“My relationship changed when I realized that he really in some ways was an 11- or 12-year-old boy in a giant man’s body,” he said. “When I started treating him with empathy and firmness and love that you would treat an 11-year-old boy, my love of him started to grow.”
Joachim is planning a more formal memorial for Pereira on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at Silverlake Community Church, located at 2930 Hyperion Ave. in Los Angeles.