latimes--2020-11-25--Are L.A. County's new COVID restrictions really necessary? We talk to the experts

A new “ Safer at Home ” proposal that would further restrictions .
With coronavirus spiking , California — and particularly Los Angeles County — has been ramping up new restrictions on gatherings and venues where people mix with one another .
The moves are far less severe than the stay-at-home orders of the spring .
But after months of the pandemic , they ’ re a step backward for a state that is backsliding into its worst surge of coronavirus yet .
The ban on outdoor restaurant dining in L.A. County has sparked a backlash with owners and others @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and will devastate an already struggling industry .
L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said such measures would “ further devastate local businesses and employees who have been asked to shoulder an unfair burden this year.
” Health officials and epidemiologists say the dangerous trajectory of COVID-19 has given them no choice , and that dithering on actions to keep people from transmitting the virus could worsen the crush of hospital patients in the coming weeks and possibly fuel a higher death toll by Christmas .
One influential model forecasts that , based on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic death toll will double , to more than 37,000 dead , by the end of winter .
In the last seven weeks , L.A. County has more than quadrupled its number of average daily coronavirus cases recorded over a seven-day period , a Times analysis has found , from fewer than 1,000 cases a day to more than 4,000 a day .
COVID-19 hospitalizations have doubled in just three weeks , from about 800 on Halloween to 1,700 on Monday .
And daily deaths have tripled since election day , to an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a seven-day period .
“ Los Angeles is on a very dangerous path , ” Mayor Eric Garcetti said this week .
“ And if we don ’ t make changes soon to our day-to-day lives , we ’ ll have more infections , more suffering , more hospitalizations and , yes , more death.
” L.A. County is contemplating a new version of a “ Safer at Home ” order to further discourage gatherings and situations where people from different households interact , which officials say is needed to halt the alarming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the right path ?
Here are some answers , and some perspective , from epidemiologists and health officials on the coronavirus surge in Los Angeles County .
A : Daily average California coronavirus cases are growing at an exponential rate , with officials reporting larger numbers of cases than at any other point in the pandemic , said Dr. Robert Kim-Farley , medical epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health .
“ With this rapidly increasing number of cases , we are seeing what could be described @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Kim-Farley said , “ in that the size of the snowball , i.e .
community transmission , as it rolls down the hill is graining momentum and speed , and becoming alarmingly large.
” Another indicator of the reality of the current surge is the broadening transmission .
“ We now have widespread community transmission , so transmission is occurring at a number of different venues , ” whether it be within homes , restaurants or other workplaces , Kim-Farley said .
Although there ’ s no one single driver of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contributing , and Kim-Farley said more efforts needed to be taken in multiple areas to get the disease transmission rates down .
Q : L.A. County is closing outdoor restaurant dining areas for at least three weeks starting Wednesday night .
What ’ s the reasoning behind that ?
A : Restaurants have been identified around the world as a danger spot for transmitting COVID-19 .
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found that adults with positive coronavirus test results were about twice as likely to have reported dining at a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The CDC study did not distinguish between indoor and outdoor restaurant settings .
Although outdoor settings are safer than indoor settings , you can still get infected with the coronavirus while sitting at an outdoor restaurant , as diners don ’ t wear masks while eating and the virus can spread through talking and even breathing .
“ You ’ re sitting across the table from them — and you don ’ t have a mask on , ” Dr. George Rutherford , epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at UC San Francisco said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s all about mixing.
” Eating outside can result in disease transmission just as occurred in the White House Rose Garden ceremony announcing President Trump ’ s nominee to the Supreme Court .
Another concern among some public health experts is people often come from different households to gather at outdoor restaurant dining tables .
A safer approach would be to keep dining parties limited to members of one household at each table , experts say , but such an effort has been impossible to enforce .
Q : Are there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ food-related facilities are seeing increased disease transmission ?
A : Outbreaks more than tripled between Halloween and Nov. 14 at a category of businesses that includes restaurants , bottling plants , food processing facilities , grocery stores and other food-related businesses , said the L.A. County director of public health , Barbara Ferrer .
There has also been a significant number of violations recently around physical distancing protocols at restaurants , breweries and wineries in L.A. County , Ferrer said .
“ This leads to overcrowding , ” Ferrer said , “ and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sites where most people are just not wearing face coverings.
” In the first 15 days of November , of 86 citations issued by the county to businesses out of compliance with COVID-19 health orders , 31 were at restaurants .
Critics — including some eatery owners — have demanded the county show stronger evidence that restaurants have been a significant spreader of coronavirus .
They noted that restaurants had been following the county ’ s own rules .
Q : Is the cooler weather altering how outdoor dining is managed , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A .
Those in the know say it ’ s possible .
Because it ’ s cooling down , some restaurants have begun to erect tent walls to shelter diners from the chill .
At one restaurant recently visited by Kim-Farley , an outdoor dining area was surrounded on three sides by plastic sheeting , with the fourth side bordering the exterior of the restaurant .
“ It was outside in one respect , but it really wasn ’ t because of the fact that they were using plastic shields — otherwise it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people , ” Kim-Farley said .
“ In a sense , it really is becoming an enclosed area inside the restaurant .
It was no longer , quote , ‘ outdoors.
’ ” Surrounding a dining area with plastic sheeting helps keep the coronavirus floating inside what ’ s basically a tent , instead of the tiny respiratory particles being blown away by the wind .
That makes it increasingly likely that other people will breathe in larger quantities of the virus and be infected by their dining companions .
L.A. County rules @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by a canopy and have one side border the restaurant ’ s wall .
But the three other sides of the area must be open .
Having three open sides to an outdoor dining area provides “ a lot better airflow , ” Ferrer said , “ and that ’ s able to , obviously , dissipate virus.
” Q : Are small social gatherings really responsible for much of the surge in cases ?
A .
Social gatherings are believed to be a factor in the spread of the virus .
Experts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ result in transmission of disease .
Rutherford said that in Napa County , it ’ s estimated that 30 % of viral transmission occurred in households ; 20 % in community settings that included restaurants ; and 10 % at worksites .
Relatively modest social gatherings have been documented to be superspreader incidents .
in Arizona who studied an outbreak tied to 60 people found that many of the cases probably stemmed from transmission at an indoor potluck dinner , attended by roughly 15 people , and a subsequent graduation dinner with about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people were found to be infected with the coronavirus .
Two of those who fell ill had to go to an emergency room , and one required critical care .
There are also anecdotal reports in which modest social gatherings have been associated with coronavirus transmission .
A truck driver , Tommy Macias , 51 , of Lake Elsinore , spent months diligently isolating , then went to a barbecue party with some friends , one of whom had tested positive for COVID-19 , showed no symptoms but still attended the gathering despite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who attended tested positive for the virus , and Macias died .
Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke in August wrote about how he let his guard down after months of fastidiously wearing a mask , refusing to attend cul-de-sac cocktail parties , and avoiding even the grocery store .
The weekend before he became ill , he said he briefly let his guard down and met friends at two dinners at two socially distanced patio tables ; neither he nor his dining partners wore masks while they were at the table .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ contracted the virus .
Q : So who exactly is to blame for the rise in transmission ?
A : A blame game is not particularly helpful , said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo , chair of the UC San Francisco Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics .
“ We have to accept the fact that community transmission is going up , ” Bibbins-Domingo said .
“ And that means all these activities that we were doing earlier safely while there was less virus around us , we now have to take seriously that we all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do that in a large place like L.A. where there ’ s a lot of people , “ you want to be figuring out how to be more cautious before you ’ re in a part of that rise in cases where you have to take even more drastic measures , ” Bibbins-Domingo said .
“ Everyone has to do a little bit more now because we ’ re just in a riskier time right now.
” Q : California has imposed a limited overnight stay-at-home order in most areas of California hit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ orders work ?
A : In Europe , curfews have been used in combination with broader shutdowns of certain business sectors in recent weeks , and they ’ ve cumulatively been able to dramatically reduce the daily number of cases .
In France , for instance , improvement was seen in a matter of weeks after daily case rates roughly quadrupled .
“ It completely turned the corner , ” Rutherford said .
“ The rates are dropping .
...
They did this , and it seemed to work.
” Q : Any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be worse ?
A : There has been a huge increase in the number of healthcare workers infected with the coronavirus .
Ferrer said that this week there were an additional 842 new cases among them .
“ This is the highest number of weekly cases we have seen in a very , very long time , ” Ferrer said .
“ And it ’ s a troubling increase.
” Q : What ’ s the cause of the overall increase in cases ?
A : There are likely a lot of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ celebrations such as Halloween ; celebrations of the Lakers and Dodgers winning the NBA Finals and World Series ; people going out more because they ’ re fatigued with dealing with the coronavirus ; increased travel by people coming from or returning from areas with high transmission rates ; and cooler weather , which tends to result in people staying indoors more often , making it easier to transmit the virus .
Q : With the leap in cases , is a surge in deaths expected ?
A : Yes .
During the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ L.A. County just after Memorial Day , it took two months before the region experienced a peak in deaths , in late July , and a little over two more months before daily deaths hit a low point .
That means that the summertime COVID-19 surge had a four-month lifespan .
Based on what happened in the wave , the surge happening now , which began in late October and rapidly accelerated after election day , could result in a peak in deaths around Christmastime or into the new year .
Dr. Mark @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Services secretary , said he expected daily COVID-19 deaths to go up — possibly to a level that California has never seen before .
“ Certainly , the numbers of deaths will likely go up , ” he said .
“ Just as we are exceeding our highest-ever numbers of cases , and beginning to see our hospital systems pressed with COVID beyond where they ’ ve ever been pressed before , the idea that the numbers of deaths could exceed where we ’ ve been before is also real and true.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ showing up simply because more people are getting tested ?
A : No .
There ’ s a real increase in disease , because not only are more tests being done , the percentage of people testing positive for the virus is also increasing .
`` That shows there is real increased community transmission , ” Kim-Farley said .
In L.A. County , the number of coronavirus tests reported daily is roughly double what it was in August .
Between late October and mid-November , the daily reported coronavirus positive test rate has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around Halloween to more than 6 % by Nov. 15 .

Rong-Gong Lin II, Sean Greene, Luke Money

Supporters and business owners of area restaurants and businesses listen to a press conference held by the California Coalition for Safe Reopening at The Abbey on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020 in West Hollywood, CA. L.A. County restaurant owners fear they won’t survive another COVID-19 shutdown.
A limited nightime curfew.
Suspending outdoor restaurant dining in Los Angeles County.
A new “Safer at Home” proposal that would further restrictions.
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With coronavirus cases spiking, California — and particularly Los Angeles County — has been ramping up new restrictions on gatherings and venues where people mix with one another. The moves are far less severe than the stay-at-home orders of the spring. But after months of the pandemic, they’re a step backward for a state that is backsliding into its worst surge of coronavirus yet.
The ban on outdoor restaurant dining in L.A. County has sparked a backlash with owners and others who say it’s too harsh and will devastate an already struggling industry. L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said such measures would “further devastate local businesses and employees who have been asked to shoulder an unfair burden this year.”
Health officials and epidemiologists say the dangerous trajectory of COVID-19 has given them no choice, and that dithering on actions to keep people from transmitting the virus could worsen the crush of hospital patients in the coming weeks and possibly fuel a higher death toll by Christmas. One influential model forecasts that, based on current policies, California’s cumulative pandemic death toll will double, to more than 37,000 dead, by the end of winter.
In the last seven weeks, L.A. County has more than quadrupled its number of average daily coronavirus cases recorded over a seven-day period, a Times analysis has found, from fewer than 1,000 cases a day to more than 4,000 a day.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have more than doubled in just three weeks, from about 800 on Halloween to about 1,900 on Wednesday. And daily deaths have tripled since election day, to an average of 29 fatalities a day over a seven-day period.
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“Los Angeles is on a very dangerous path,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said this week. “And if we don’t make changes soon to our day-to-day lives, we’ll have more infections, more suffering, more hospitalizations and, yes, more death.”
L.A. County is contemplating a new version of a “Safer at Home” order to further discourage gatherings and situations where people from different households interact, which officials say is needed to halt the alarming spike in new cases.
Tracking the coronavirus in California The latest maps and charts on the spread of COVID-19 in California.
Is this the right path?
Here are some answers, and some perspective, from epidemiologists and health officials on the coronavirus surge in Los Angeles County.
Q: What’s the current data?
A: Daily average California coronavirus cases are growing at an exponential rate, with officials reporting larger numbers of cases than at any other point in the pandemic, said Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, medical epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
“With this rapidly increasing number of cases, we are seeing what could be described as a ‘snowball effect,’” Kim-Farley said, “in that the size of the snowball, i.e. community transmission, as it rolls down the hill is gaining momentum and speed, and becoming alarmingly large.”
Another indicator of the reality of the current surge is the broadening transmission.
“We now have widespread community transmission, so transmission is occurring at a number of different venues,” whether it be within homes, restaurants or other workplaces, Kim-Farley said.
Although there’s no one single driver of the surge, all of those settings are contributing, and Kim-Farley said more efforts needed to be taken in multiple areas to get the disease transmission rates down.
Q: Starting Wednesday night, L.A. County ordered the closure of outdoor restaurant dining areas for at least three weeks. What’s the reasoning behind that?
A: Restaurants have been identified around the world as a danger spot for transmitting COVID-19. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found that adults with positive coronavirus test results were about twice as likely to have reported dining at a restaurant than those who tested negative.
The CDC study did not distinguish between indoor and outdoor restaurant settings. Although outdoor settings are safer than indoor settings, you can still get infected with the coronavirus while sitting at an outdoor restaurant, as diners don’t wear masks while eating and the virus can spread through talking and even breathing.
“You’re sitting across the table from them — and you don’t have a mask on,” Dr. George Rutherford, epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at UC San Francisco said of potentially coronavirus-carrying dining companions. “It’s all about mixing.”
Eating outside can result in disease transmission just as occurred in the White House Rose Garden ceremony announcing President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court.
Another concern among some public health experts is people often come from different households to gather at outdoor restaurant dining tables. A safer approach would be to keep dining parties limited to members of one household at each table, experts say, but such an effort has been impossible to enforce.
Q: Are there any data suggesting that restaurants and other food-related facilities are seeing increased disease transmission?
A: Outbreaks more than tripled between Halloween and Nov. 14 at a category of businesses that includes restaurants, bottling plants, food processing facilities, grocery stores and other food-related businesses, said the L.A. County director of public health, Barbara Ferrer.
There has also been a significant number of violations recently around physical distancing protocols at restaurants, breweries and wineries in L.A. County, Ferrer said. “This leads to overcrowding,” Ferrer said, “and makes it easier for infection transmission in sites where most people are just not wearing face coverings.”
In the first 15 days of November, of 86 citations issued by the county to businesses out of compliance with COVID-19 health orders, 31 were at restaurants.
Critics — including some eatery owners — have demanded the county show stronger evidence that restaurants have been a significant spreader of coronavirus.
Q: Is the cooler weather altering how outdoor dining is managed, and whether it might worsen disease transmission?
A. Those in the know say it’s possible. Because it’s cooling down, some restaurants have begun to erect tent walls to shelter diners from the chill. At one restaurant recently visited by Kim-Farley, an outdoor dining area was surrounded on three sides by plastic sheeting, with the fourth side bordering the exterior of the restaurant.
“It was outside in one respect, but it really wasn’t because of the fact that they were using plastic shields — otherwise it would’ve been too cold for people,” Kim-Farley said. “In a sense, it really is becoming an enclosed area inside the restaurant. It was no longer, quote, ‘outdoors.’”
Surrounding a dining area with plastic sheeting helps keep the coronavirus floating inside what’s basically a tent, instead of the tiny respiratory particles being blown away by the wind. That makes it increasingly likely that other people will breathe in larger quantities of the virus and be infected by their dining companions.
L.A. County rules allow outdoor dining areas to be covered by a canopy and have one side border the restaurant’s wall. But the three other sides of the area must be open. Having three open sides to an outdoor dining area provides “a lot better airflow,” Ferrer said, “and that’s able to, obviously, dissipate virus.”
Q: Are small social gatherings really responsible for much of the surge in cases?
A. Social gatherings are believed to be a factor in the spread of the virus.
Experts say any gathering where people mix can result in transmission of disease. Rutherford said that in Napa County, it’s estimated that 30% of viral transmission occurred in households; 20% in community settings that included restaurants; and 10% at worksites.
Relatively modest social gatherings have been documented to be superspreader incidents. Disease investigators in Arizona who studied an outbreak tied to 60 people found that many of the cases probably stemmed from transmission at an indoor potluck dinner, attended by roughly 15 people, and a subsequent graduation dinner with about 25 attendees. In all, 60 people were found to be infected with the coronavirus. Two of those who fell ill had to go to an emergency room, and one required critical care.
There are also anecdotal reports in which modest social gatherings have been associated with coronavirus transmission.
A truck driver, Tommy Macias, 51, of Lake Elsinore, spent months diligently isolating, then went to a barbecue party with some friends, one of whom had tested positive for COVID-19, showed no symptoms but still attended the gathering despite the diagnosis. More than 10 others who attended tested positive for the virus, and Macias died.
Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke in August wrote about how he let his guard down after months of fastidiously wearing a mask, refusing to attend cul-de-sac cocktail parties, and avoiding even the grocery store. The weekend before he became ill, he said he briefly let his guard down and met friends at two dinners at two socially distanced patio tables in outdoor restaurant dining areas; neither he nor his dining partners wore masks while they were at the table. That’s where he thinks he contracted the virus.
“When you go to restaurants and you sit outdoors, you take your masks off at the table. So I spent basically four hours without wearing a mask at a dinner table,” Plaschke said in a video interview aired on the news program L.A. Times Today. “None of my companions tested positive. But people came by — waiters, owners — came by to say hello, things like that. That’s where I’m just convinced I got it.”
Q: So who exactly is to blame for the rise in transmission?
A: A blame game is not particularly helpful, said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, chair of the UC San Francisco Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
“We have to accept the fact that community transmission is going up,” Bibbins-Domingo said. “And that means all these activities that we were doing earlier safely while there was less virus around us, we now have to take seriously that we all have to do something more.”
To do that in a large place like L.A. where there’s a lot of people, “you want to be figuring out how to be more cautious before you’re in a part of that rise in cases where you have to take even more drastic measures,” Bibbins-Domingo said. “Everyone has to do a little bit more now because we’re just in a riskier time right now.”
Q: California has imposed a limited overnight stay-at-home order in most areas of the state hit hard by the virus. Do such orders work?
A: In Europe, curfews have been used in combination with broader shutdowns of certain business sectors in recent weeks, and they’ve cumulatively been able to dramatically reduce the daily number of cases. In France, for instance, improvement was seen in a matter of weeks after daily case rates roughly quadrupled.
“It completely turned the corner,” Rutherford said. “The rates are dropping. ... They did this, and it seemed to work.”
Q: Any other reasons for concern that this wave will be worse?
A: There has been a huge increase in the number of healthcare workers infected with the coronavirus. Ferrer said that this week there were an additional 842 new cases among them.
“This is the highest number of weekly cases we have seen in a very, very long time,” Ferrer said. “And it’s a troubling increase.”
Q: What’s the cause of the overall increase in cases?
A: There are likely a lot of factors, experts say, including holiday celebrations such as Halloween; celebrations of the Lakers and Dodgers winning the NBA Finals and World Series; people going out more because they’re fatigued with dealing with the coronavirus; increased travel by people coming from or returning from areas with high transmission rates; and cooler weather, which tends to result in people staying indoors more often, making it easier to transmit the virus.
Q: With the leap in cases, is a surge in deaths expected?
A: Yes. During the surge that began to be detected in L.A. County just after Memorial Day, it took two months before the region experienced a peak in deaths, in late July, and a little over two more months before daily deaths hit a low point. That means that the COVID-19 surge in warmer weather had a four-month lifespan.
Based on what happened in the wave, the surge happening now, which began in late October and rapidly accelerated after election day, could result in a peak in deaths around Christmastime or into the new year.
Dr. Mark Ghaly, the California Health and Human Services secretary, said he expected daily COVID-19 deaths to go up — possibly to a level that California has never seen before.
“Certainly, the numbers of deaths will likely go up,” he said. “Just as we are exceeding our highest-ever numbers of cases, and beginning to see our hospital systems pressed with COVID beyond where they’ve ever been pressed before, the idea that the numbers of deaths could exceed where we’ve been before is also real and true.”
Q: Is the increase in cases showing up simply because more people are getting tested?
A: No. There’s a real increase in disease, because not only are more tests being done, the percentage of people testing positive for the virus is also increasing.”That shows there is real increased community transmission,” Kim-Farley said.
In L.A. County, the rate at which coronavirus tests are coming back positive is now 6.6%, nearly double what it was in late October.
Times staff writer Stephanie Lai contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-11-25--L.A.'s annual Thanksgiving traffic jam might look a little different this year

In L.A. , nothing signifies the start of the holiday season like those twinkling red and white lights .
No , not the Christmas tree kind : the freeway kind .
Every year , the 405 Freeway ’ s bumper-to-bumper traffic on Thanksgiving eve becomes a symbol of America ’ s holiday travel mayhem .
Headlights and taillights snake across the asphalt and disappear beyond the horizon .
News helicopters hover overhead and photographers perch on overpasses to capture the familiar glow of city folks en route to Grandma ’ s house , or returning from whence they came .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ a little different : State officials are pleading with people to stay home and avoid holiday travel amid an alarming surge of cases of COVID-19 .
Los Angeles County is also set to tighten restrictions Wednesday with a new ban on outdoor dining , and may soon implement additional “ safer-at-home ” measures .
All of that adds up to a predicted 13.5 % drop in Thanksgiving trips across the region , according to the Auto Club of Southern California , the largest year-over-year drop since 2008 .
But after decades of bemoaning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outlets across the country pointing to it as an insane , hellish nightmare that further exemplifies why no one would ever want to live in L.A. — might we actually…miss it ?
Hear us out .
So much has gone wrong in 2020 : The year began with a global pandemic and went on to add wildfires , earthquakes , hurricanes and floods , not to mention civil unrest and turmoil in the White House .
Nothing about this year has felt normal , and the thought of cars breezing down the 405 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reminder of how weird things have become .
Don ’ t get us wrong : We endorse public health guidelines and strongly encourage people to follow the CDC ’ s travel recommendations this year .
But there are many losses to mourn this year , including birthdays spent alone , graduations canceled , holidays missed and , most importantly , more than 250,000 Americans dead from COVID-19 .
Here ’ s hoping that in 2021 , we ’ ll once again find ourselves blissfully not moving on the offbound ramp , bathed in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forward to Black Friday .

In 2017, traffic streams past the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX on Thanksgiving eve. This year traffic is expected to be reduced due to coronavirus restrictions.
In L.A., nothing signifies the start of the holiday season like those twinkling red and white lights.
No, not the Christmas tree kind: the freeway kind.
Every year, the 405 Freeway’s bumper-to-bumper traffic on Thanksgiving eve becomes a symbol of America’s holiday travel mayhem. Headlights and taillights snake across the asphalt and disappear beyond the horizon. News helicopters hover overhead and photographers perch on overpasses to capture the familiar glow of city folks en route to Grandma’s house, or returning from whence they came.
This year, the freeway may look a little different: State officials are pleading with people to stay home and avoid holiday travel amid an alarming surge of cases of COVID-19.
Los Angeles County is also set to tighten restrictions Wednesday with a new ban on outdoor dining, and may soon implement additional “safer-at-home” measures.
All of that adds up to a predicted 13.5% drop in Thanksgiving trips across the region, according to the Auto Club of Southern California, the largest year-over-year drop since 2008.
But after decades of bemoaning that infernal traffic jam — of news outlets across the country pointing to it as an insane, hellish nightmare that further exemplifies why no one would ever want to live in L.A. — might we actually…miss it?
Advertisement
Hear us out. So much has gone wrong in 2020: The year began with a global pandemic and went on to add wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, not to mention civil unrest and turmoil in the White House. Nothing about this year has felt normal, and the thought of cars breezing down the 405 just before Thanksgiving is just one more reminder of how weird things have become.
Don’t get us wrong: We endorse public health guidelines and strongly encourage people to follow the CDC’s travel recommendations this year.
But there are many losses to mourn this year, including birthdays spent alone, graduations canceled, holidays missed and, most importantly, more than 250,000 Americans dead from COVID-19.
Here’s hoping that in 2021, we’ll once again find ourselves blissfully not moving on the offbound ramp, bathed in the red glow of taillights and looking forward to Black Friday.


latimes--2020-11-25--L.A. County moves to create new juvenile justice system focused on 'care,' not punishment

After years of incremental reform , Los Angeles County is moving to dismantle the largest youth justice system in the country in favor of a “ care-first ” model that would look less like prison and would emphasize emotional support , counseling and treatment .
The plan calls for children and young adults who have committed crimes to be served in home-like settings , and includes 24/7 youth centers and support teams that establish relationships with young people who might otherwise be locked in facilities far from home .
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday took the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a proposed new Department of Youth Development , in a three-phase approach that will take at least five years .
Similar approaches have been tried in San Francisco ; Houston ; New York City ; King County , Wash. ; and Oregon .
Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Mark Ridley-Thomas said in their motion that , despite the board ’ s best efforts to reform a system plagued by controversy and abuse investigations , it has become clear a new approach is required .
“ The current youth justice model in the county remains @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that is simply the nature of any model rooted in the principles of probation and law enforcement systems , ” the supervisors said in their motion .
Interim Chief Probation Officer Ray Leyva , who was unavailable Tuesday for an interview , said in a letter to the board that he rejected the notion by advocates who he said want to “ defund and discard ” his agency and have focused much attention on its past weaknesses , rather than its “ track record of recent reforms.
” He said there are substantial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that youth advocates want to see , including a lack of county housing options and the lack of a robust network of community services and supports .
He also raised concerns about redirecting “ substantial work from dedicated and committed county staff to private agencies , without sustainable infrastructures.
” The union that represents about 3,400 detention service officers has similar concerns .
Hans Liang , president of the AFSCME Local 685 union , said his hope is that the county supervisors make good on their promise that his union ’ s members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Department of Youth Development .
Many probation officers already have advanced degrees , such as master ’ s of social work , he said .
Liang said he hopes to see the supervisors create a “ hybrid type ” model , creating a youth development division within the probation department , rather than a new agency .
Young people in custody need to be held accountable for their actions , but it ’ s equally important that they receive treatment and rehabilitative services to ensure they can be successful adults , Liang @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we can create those specific outcomes and specific models that are being advocated by these youth groups , ” he said .
The county ’ s Probation Department has been plagued in recent years by scandal and abuse investigations .
A Times investigation last year found that , as use of pepper spray by officers on children and young adults in custody has spiked in recent years , prompting recent calls for reform , so too have on-staff assaults .
In 2004 , the county Probation Department was put under federal oversight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ revealed unsafe and abusive conditions in its juvenile halls .
Four years later , a similar investigation found widespread civil rights violations in its then 19 probation camps .
Since then , the Board of Supervisors has worked to shrink the juvenile justice system .
About 500 young people are being held in the county ’ s locked facilities , including two juvenile halls and six probation camps , according to Kuehl ’ s office .
Kuehl , who has two years left in her term , said that if it were up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people in custody would not be kept in locked facilities .
“ Now , we will always have young people that need to be isolated from the community because they ’ re dangerous and it ’ s [ best for ] public safety , ” said Kuehl , who isn ’ t planning to run for reelection .
“ So , there will be locked facilities , but I don ’ t believe that we want to see them look like prisons with barbed wire.
” Youth advocates point out that the system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ L.A. County are over six times more likely to be arrested and 25 times more likely to be incarcerated than their white peers , according to California Department of Justice data analyzed by county researchers .
And the children and young adults in custody often have serious mental health issues , further complicated by significant childhood trauma , including physical , emotional and sexual abuse .
Over the next several months , county officials must determine how the new department would be created and financed , and whether any state laws would keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forward .
The plan approved unanimously by the supervisors Tuesday calls for a gradual wind-down of the probation department ’ s juvenile operations and an initial $ 75 million investment in the Department of Youth Development in the next county budget , which is approved in June .
A new mentality is needed to better serve young people in custody , the supervisors said in their motion .
“ The county must resist a narrative about these young people that does not leave space for hope and healing , and insist on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rehabilitation at all costs , ” Kuehl and Ridley-Thomas wrote .
Ridley-Thomas later said it more bluntly : “ Our youth can ’ t get well in a cell .
”

A new arrival at Camp Kenyon Scudder has her handcuffs removed at the girls detention center in 2013. The camp is implementing a new health screening program that is trying to address the problems females might face coming into L.A. County’s juvenile justice system and flag girls who might need additional help.
After years of incremental reform, Los Angeles County is moving to dismantle the largest youth justice system in the country in favor of a “care-first” model that would look less like prison and would emphasize emotional support, counseling and treatment.
The plan calls for children and young adults who have committed crimes to be served in home-like settings, and includes 24/7 youth centers and support teams that establish relationships with young people who might otherwise be locked in facilities far from home.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday took the first steps to transition juvenile probation to a proposed new Department of Youth Development, in a three-phase approach that will take at least five years. Similar approaches have been tried in San Francisco; Houston; New York City; King County, Wash.; and Oregon.
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Politics California probation chiefs brace for changes to the juvenile justice system When Lee Seale became Sacramento County’s chief probation officer in 2013, officials at his juvenile hall were grappling with how to prevent probation officers from using force against young detainees after multiple lawsuits, the resignation of a prior leader and a judge’s decree.
Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Mark Ridley-Thomas said in their motion that, despite the board’s best efforts to reform a system plagued by controversy and abuse investigations, it has become clear a new approach is required.
“The current youth justice model in the county remains hyper-focused on punishment and forced accountability because that is simply the nature of any model rooted in the principles of probation and law enforcement systems,” the supervisors said in their motion.
Interim Chief Probation Officer Ray Leyva, who was unavailable Tuesday for an interview, said in a letter to the board that he rejected the notion by advocates who he said want to “defund and discard” his agency and have focused much attention on its past weaknesses, rather than its “track record of recent reforms.”
He said there are substantial challenges ahead in carrying out the overhaul that youth advocates want to see, including a lack of county housing options and the lack of a robust network of community services and supports.
He also raised concerns about redirecting “substantial work from dedicated and committed county staff to private agencies, without sustainable infrastructures.”
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The union that represents about 3,400 detention service officers has similar concerns.
Hans Liang, president of the AFSCME Local 685 union, said his hope is that the county supervisors make good on their promise that his union’s members would have first dibs on jobs in the Department of Youth Development. Many probation officers already have advanced degrees, such as master’s of social work, he said.
Liang said he hopes to see the supervisors create a “hybrid type” model, creating a youth development division within the probation department, rather than a new agency.
Young people in custody need to be held accountable for their actions, but it’s equally important that they receive treatment and rehabilitative services to ensure they can be successful adults, Liang said.
“Within the current framework, we can create those specific outcomes and specific models that are being advocated by these youth groups,” he said.
The county’s Probation Department has been plagued in recent years by scandal and abuse investigations.
A Times investigation last year found that, as use of pepper spray by officers on children and young adults in custody has spiked in recent years, prompting recent calls for reform, so too have on-staff assaults.
In 2004, the county Probation Department was put under federal oversight after a U.S. Department of Justice investigation revealed unsafe and abusive conditions in its juvenile halls. Four years later, a similar investigation found widespread civil rights violations in its then 19 probation camps.
Since then, the Board of Supervisors has worked to shrink the juvenile justice system. About 500 young people are being held in the county’s locked facilities, including two juvenile halls and six probation camps, according to Kuehl’s office.
Kuehl, who has two years left in her term, said that if it were up to her, the majority of young people in custody would not be kept in locked facilities.
“Now, we will always have young people that need to be isolated from the community because they’re dangerous and it’s [best for] public safety,” said Kuehl, who isn’t planning to run for reelection. “So, there will be locked facilities, but I don’t believe that we want to see them look like prisons with barbed wire.”
Youth advocates point out that the system includes startling inequities. Black youth in L.A. County are over six times more likely to be arrested and 25 times more likely to be incarcerated than their white peers, according to California Department of Justice data analyzed by county researchers.
And the children and young adults in custody often have serious mental health issues, further complicated by significant childhood trauma, including physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
Over the next several months, county officials must determine how the new department would be created and financed, and whether any state laws would keep the county’s plan from moving forward.
The plan approved unanimously by the supervisors Tuesday calls for a gradual wind-down of the probation department’s juvenile operations and an initial $75 million investment in the Department of Youth Development in the next county budget, which is approved in June.
A new mentality is needed to better serve young people in custody, the supervisors said in their motion.
“The county must resist a narrative about these young people that does not leave space for hope and healing, and insist on a structure that promotes positive youth development and rehabilitation at all costs,” Kuehl and Ridley-Thomas wrote.
Ridley-Thomas later said it more bluntly: “Our youth can’t get well in a cell.”
Times staff writer Matt Stiles contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-11-25--What are foehn winds? Fires in the Eastern Sierra were fueled by Santa Ana-like gusting

Strong southwesterly downslope winds fed fires in the Eastern Sierra last week , including one that devastated the town of Walker , near the California-Nevada border .
Winds gusted to 40 mph for 12 to 16 hours , according to Marvin Boyd , a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno .
Like Washoe Zephyrs , the winds that fanned the Pinehaven and Mountain View fires , blew from west to east .
But that ’ s where the similarity ends .
Washoe Zephyrs , described by Mark Twain in “ Roughing It , ” are westerly winds that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eastern side of the Sierra during the summer .
Washoe Zephyrs usually arise in the late afternoon and evening and gust at about 20 to 30 mph , kicking up dust across the arid landscape .
The destructive winds in the Eastern Sierra last week were foehn winds .
California ’ s best-known ill winds , the Santa Anas , are also foehn winds , but they blow downslope in the opposite direction , from the northeast toward the southwest .
The Diablo winds and Mono winds are also foehn winds , coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ often referred to as offshore winds .
Mono winds , which barrel down the western slopes of the Sierra from the area around Mono Lake , were implicated in the massive Creek fire in Fresno and Madera counties .
Santa Anas , Diablos and Mono winds have a common source : high pressure in the deserts to the east .
Moderate Santa Ana winds are expected to again visit Southern California , bringing low humidity and elevated to critical fire weather conditions though the Thanksgiving holiday weekend .
Last week ’ s wind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pretty remarkable wind-driven fires that show the power of the wind in November , ” said Alex Hoon , an incident meteorologist , also with the National Weather Service in Reno .
Multiple destructive wildfires were spread by winds that were “ like a freight train , ” he said .
“ Winds of this magnitude are uncontainable.
” A foehn wind is defined as a strong , warm , dry wind that flows down into the valleys when stable , high-pressure air is forced down the lee slopes of a mountain range @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Group .
As the air was lifted up the windward side and passed over the summit of the Sierra Nevada , the moisture in it was wrung out in the form of precipitation .
The air then descended and was warmed — at a rate of about 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit per 1,000 feet — and dried , producing critical fire weather conditions as it hurtled toward the California-Nevada border .
That flow was supported by a low-level jet stream , Boyd explained .
A stable , pre-frontal layer of air over the top @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right spot , forcing the winds downslope .
The strong winds and low humidity acted like a bellows on the fast-moving , plume-dominated Mountain View fire that consumed more than 28,000 acres and burned about 90 homes in Walker , jumping from home to home and forcing frantic evacuations , and resulting in a fatality .
When the incoming weather front arrived the following morning , it brought rain and snow that doused the fires .
Strong downslope foehn winds often disrupt the atmospheric conditions necessary for formation of pyrocumulus clouds like the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fire , and very strong winds tend to bend the plume more horizontally than vertically , according to Nick Nauslar of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise , Idaho .
But , in rare cases , a pyrocumulonimbus cloud can form in spite of strong winds , as was the case with the Bear fire , part of this summer ’ s North Complex fire in Northern California , he said .
In the case of Southern California ’ s Santa Anas , the high-pressure air is usually pooled in the Great @ @ @ @ @ @ @ winds blow downslope toward lower pressure at the California coast .
As they drain toward the coast they speed up as they funnel through passes and canyons , seeking a route of least resistance .
Foehn winds occur in a number of places around the globe .
Chinook winds are a well-known example .
They occur on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains , and also blow from west to east , producing dramatic changes in temperature and weather .
Chinook winds , which can gust up to 80 mph , are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can vaporize snow before it has a chance to melt .
This process is called sublimation .
The air is so dry that the snow goes directly from its frozen state to vapor — evaporation that bypasses the liquid or melted state entirely .
For Boyd , the weather service meteorologist , even though the Reno area had just received 6 inches of snow a few days before the winds kicked up , the Eastern Sierra infernos provided a dramatic illustration of how dry fuels and low humidity with extremely strong winds can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Walker is at about a 5,400-foot elevation , and Reno is at about 4,500 feet , Santa Ana winds descend mountain slopes all the way to sea level in Los Angeles , allowing for that much more compression heating and drying .
That ’ s why Santa Ana winds can make you feel like you ’ re being blasted with an electric hair dryer .
Over Thanksgiving weekend , winds are expected to peak Thursday night and Friday morning , according to the National Weather Service , with critical fire weather conditions into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relative humidity in the L.A. area will be as low as the single digits .
Very dry air and fire weather concerns will linger through Sunday .
This time of year , the air mass in the Great Basin starts off much cooler , so temperatures won ’ t reach the 90s as they might with Santa Ana winds earlier in the season , said Rich Thompson , a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard .
But readings in the 70s and lower 80s are possible in coastal locations as the Santa Ana @ @ @

A car makes its way along Highway 395 in Mono County as the Mountain View fire burns in the background.
Strong southwesterly downslope winds fed fires in the Eastern Sierra last week, including one that devastated the town of Walker, near the California-Nevada border.
Winds gusted to 40 mph for 12 to 16 hours, according to Marvin Boyd, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Reno.
Like Washoe Zephyrs, the winds that fanned the Pinehaven and Mountain View fires, blew from west to east. But that’s where the similarity ends.
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Washoe Zephyrs, described by Mark Twain in “Roughing It,” are westerly winds that are almost a daily occurrence on the eastern side of the Sierra during the summer. Washoe Zephyrs usually arise in the late afternoon and evening and gust at about 20 to 30 mph, kicking up dust across the arid landscape.
Fires in the Eastern Sierra last week. (Paul Duginski / Los Angeles Times)
The destructive winds in the Eastern Sierra last week were foehn winds. California’s best-known ill winds, the Santa Anas, are also foehn winds, but they blow downslope in the opposite direction, from the northeast toward the southwest. The Diablo winds and Mono winds are also foehn winds, coming from the same direction. These are often referred to as offshore winds. Mono winds, which barrel down the western slopes of the Sierra from the area around Mono Lake, were implicated in the massive Creek fire in Fresno and Madera counties.
Santa Anas, Diablos and Mono winds have a common source: high pressure in the deserts to the east.
Moderate Santa Ana winds are expected to again visit Southern California, bringing low humidity and elevated to critical fire weather conditions though the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Last week’s wind event in the Eastern Sierra created “pretty remarkable wind-driven fires that show the power of the wind in November,” said Alex Hoon, an incident meteorologist, also with the National Weather Service in Reno. Multiple destructive wildfires were spread by winds that were “like a freight train,” he said. “Winds of this magnitude are uncontainable.”
Advertisement
A foehn wind is defined as a strong, warm, dry wind that flows down into the valleys when stable, high-pressure air is forced down the lee slopes of a mountain range, according to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group.
As the air was lifted up the windward side and passed over the summit of the Sierra Nevada, the moisture in it was wrung out in the form of precipitation.
The air then descended and was warmed — at a rate of about 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit per 1,000 feet — and dried, producing critical fire weather conditions as it hurtled toward the California-Nevada border.
The winds that fed the Mountain View fire. (Paul Duginski / Los Angeles Times)
That flow was supported by a low-level jet stream, Boyd explained. A stable, pre-frontal layer of air over the top of the mountains was in just the right spot, forcing the winds downslope.
The strong winds and low humidity acted like a bellows on the fast-moving, plume-dominated Mountain View fire that consumed more than 28,000 acres and burned about 90 homes in Walker, jumping from home to home and forcing frantic evacuations, and resulting in a fatality.
When the incoming weather front arrived the following morning, it brought rain and snow that doused the fires.
Strong downslope foehn winds often disrupt the atmospheric conditions necessary for formation of pyrocumulus clouds like the one that developed with the Mountain View fire, and very strong winds tend to bend the plume more horizontally than vertically, according to Nick Nauslar of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. But, in rare cases, a pyrocumulonimbus cloud can form in spite of strong winds, as was the case with the Bear fire, part of this summer’s North Complex fire in Northern California, he said.
In the case of Southern California’s Santa Anas, the high-pressure air is usually pooled in the Great Basin of Nevada and Utah, and winds blow downslope toward lower pressure at the California coast. As they drain toward the coast they speed up as they funnel through passes and canyons, seeking a route of least resistance.
This is the typical setup for Santa Ana winds. (Paul Duginski / Los Angeles Times)
Foehn winds occur in a number of places around the globe. Chinook winds are a well-known example. They occur on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, and also blow from west to east, producing dramatic changes in temperature and weather. Chinook winds, which can gust up to 80 mph, are called “snow eaters” because they can vaporize snow before it has a chance to melt. This process is called sublimation. The air is so dry that the snow goes directly from its frozen state to vapor — evaporation that bypasses the liquid or melted state entirely.
For Boyd, the weather service meteorologist, even though the Reno area had just received 6 inches of snow a few days before the winds kicked up, the Eastern Sierra infernos provided a dramatic illustration of how dry fuels and low humidity with extremely strong winds can make an explosive combination.
But while Walker is at about a 5,400-foot elevation, and Reno is at about 4,500 feet, Santa Ana winds descend mountain slopes all the way to sea level in Los Angeles, allowing for that much more compression heating and drying. That’s why Santa Ana winds can make you feel like you’re being blasted with an electric hair dryer.
Over Thanksgiving weekend, winds are expected to peak Thursday night and Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service, with critical fire weather conditions into Friday evening. By Friday morning, relative humidity in the L.A. area will be as low as the single digits.
Very dry air and fire weather concerns will linger through Sunday.
This time of year, the air mass in the Great Basin starts off much cooler, so temperatures won’t reach the 90s as they might with Santa Ana winds earlier in the season, said Rich Thompson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard. But readings in the 70s and lower 80s are possible in coastal locations as the Santa Ana winds subside.


latimes--2020-11-25--Airports become a surreal oasis from COVID fears, warnings as determined holiday travelers take flig

Airports become a surreal oasis from COVID fears, warnings as determined holiday travelers take flight

It ’ s Thanksgiving week at Los Angeles International Airport , and you could almost forget a pandemic is raging , aside from the masks obscuring travelers ’ faces .
On Monday morning , people shuffled through check-in lines less than six feet apart and clustered around luggage conveyors awaiting their bags .
Their presence defied both logic and health guidelines : governors and public officials have been for people to stay home amid a rapid surge of coronavirus cases .
But for some , the temptation to be with loved ones at the tail end of a trying year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plague is too great .
“ I weighed my options and felt that where I was going and who I would be with , I ’ d be safe , ” said Kim Motz , who arrived on a Southwest flight from San Antonio to visit her daughter and 1-year-old grandson .
Motz , 57 , had planned to visit during Halloween but “ freaked out and canceled , ” she said .
Not wanting to miss another opportunity to be with her family , she decided to forge ahead this time , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long , the news was saying , ‘ If you travel for Thanksgiving , you ’ re going to die .
You ’ ll have a funeral at Christmas , ’ ” she said .
“ I finally just had to turn it off.
” An office manager at an engineering firm , Motz has co-workers and friends who have contracted the virus , though none have died .
Her family plans to spend Thanksgiving delivering food to healthcare workers at the hospital where her daughter-in-law works as an emergency room nurse .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ masks and that she felt “ very safe.
” Despite the public health warnings to avoid Thanksgiving plane travel , some people are taking the risk .
Ahead of one of the biggest holidays of the year , L.A.-area airports feel surreal , an oasis of seeming normalcy amid masks , hand sanitizer stations and social distancing rules that sometimes crumble with the crowds , as if the pandemic were no match for the pull of tradition .
Travelers , after considering the trade-offs , have decided not to let 2020 upend their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ perfectly safe .
Others are worried but can not take the isolation and have prioritized the need to connect with family or friends .
Philip Carney was on the same flight from San Antonio as Motz .
He said he also weighed his options before deciding to fly with his daughter , Jacquie , 7 , to visit family in San Clemente .
“ We were a little concerned , but not too much — we ’ re from Texas , ” he said , laughing .
His mother , Donna Vidrine , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and scooped Jacquie into a big bear hug .
It was the kind of moment many are dreaming of , yet sacrificing , this year .
All around them , the airport swirled with passengers who had made similar calculations .
“ This was planned back in June , and we still wanted to come , ” said Mike Fetalsana , arriving on a Southwest flight from Dallas .
Fetalsana said everyone on his flight wore masks , and he took his own mask off only for quick sips of water .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and is more aware of the risks than most people .
“ I know what I need to do , and it ’ s stuff we should all be doing all along , ” said Fetalsana , who is in his 40s .
“ Wash your hands and wear a mask.
” In L.A. , Fetalsana will be staying in an Airbnb and limiting his contacts to close family members .
He said he won ’ t get tested for COVID-19 while he ’ s here but will do so when he gets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lisa George flew to L.A. from Las Vegas and has been traveling back-and-forth between the two cities for months to care for her sick mother .
George said she is more concerned about “ hotheads and gangbangers with guns ” than about the virus .
“ I ’ m not scared , ” she said .
But not everyone was so carefree .
Alberto , who is 44 and declined to give his last name , was sitting outside the Delta departure terminal wearing two masks .
He was on a three-hour layover @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and his destination in Jalisco , Mexico , and said he preferred to stay outside , where he felt safer .
He ’ ll be spending Thanksgiving with friends but said he agonized over the decision and still questions whether it was right .
“ What if I ’ m carrying [ the virus ] and I don ’ t know ?
” he said .
“ I ’ m still feeling terrible about it.
” Alberto has spent the last seven months alone in his apartment , where he teaches college students @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interactions during the pandemic have been “ transactional , ” he said , and the isolation was beginning to weigh on him .
“ It ’ s a choice between seeing your friends and going nuts , ” he said .
As he sat on the bench , alone on a cool misty morning , a couple pulled up to the curb in front of him and embraced in a long goodbye — a moment of near-normalcy .
Despite the throng of travelers , whose justifications for flying Monday were as varied as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far less busy than usual this year , LAX spokesman Heath Montgomery said .
So far in November , passenger traffic is down about 30 % compared with the same period last year , he said .
LAX will likely average about 846 flights per day through Nov. 30 , compared with 1,638 during that period in 2019 , he said .
Still , airlines are flying more this week than through most of the pandemic .
Montgomery said passenger traffic dropped by 95 % in March and has slowly increased since then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around both the Thanksgiving and winter holidays , the recent and recommendations against nonessential travel could foreshadow a reversal , Montgomery said .
Starting Wednesday , travelers arriving at LAX , Van Nuys Airport or Union Station from out of state must sign a form acknowledging the state of California ’ s advisory to quarantine for 14 days .
LAX recently launched , with results coming back within 24 hours at $ 150 each .
Next month , the airport is planning to open a mobile testing unit that will provide results in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ existing test sites have been busy and getting busier , said Elizabeth Cameros , a healthcare worker at one of the LAX sites .
Wearing a gown , face mask and shield , Cameros administered nasal swabs to Angela Buckley and Wade Hopkins , who had just come off a flight from Salt Lake City .
Both in their 30s , the two were getting tested so they could continue to Hawaii , which is of all travelers .
“ The optics definitely make it seem like L.A. is more shut down than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after finishing his test .
“ People there are still going to clubs and bars .
It feels very different.
” Buckley , his girlfriend , said she knew people who had contracted the virus .
But their symptoms weren ’ t serious , mostly “ like a severe cold , ” she said .
She has been going to the office for her engineering job , while Hopkins mostly works from home .
Neither found the decision to fly to Hawaii for Thanksgiving too difficult .
“ We don ’ t come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so we feel OK about it , ” Hopkins said .
Buckley and Hopkins will confine themselves to a hotel in Los Angeles until they receive their test results by email .
While LAX was buzzing , it was a different scene at Long Beach Airport .
Only a handful of travelers stood outside late Monday morning awaiting pickup .
Leslie Freeman said her flight from Phoenix was “ very pleasant ” and that she had no concerns about traveling as she hopped into a ride-hail car and sped away .
Inside , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nearly empty .
Airport spokeswoman Marlene Arrona said there is typically an early morning rush and a lull in the afternoon .
Long Beach is prepared for a 25 % uptick in travelers around the November and December holidays , but , like LAX , the airport ’ s numbers will be substantially lower this year , Arrona said .
The holidays may bring a slight bump , but the airport ’ s overall bookings are down substantially , from roughly 525,000 passengers in November 2019 to a forecasted 112,000 in 2020 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Velasco , waiting for her flight back home to the Seattle area , was one of the few travelers there Monday afternoon .
She said she visited Las Vegas and L.A. on a pleasure trip after restaurants in Washington state , including an IHOP where she works as a server , shut down .
“ I wanted to take advantage of that time off , ” said Velasco , 28 , who stayed at a Marriott hotel in Santa Monica this week .
She is hoping her job will resume next month .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ at least until her COVID-19 test comes back negative , which means she will not be spending Thanksgiving with her family .
She doesn ’ t want to expose her older relatives to any coronavirus risk , she said .

It’s Thanksgiving week at Los Angeles International Airport, and you could almost forget a pandemic is raging, aside from the masks obscuring travelers’ faces.
On Monday morning, people shuffled through check-in lines less than six feet apart and clustered around luggage conveyors awaiting their bags. Their presence defied both logic and health guidelines: governors and public officials have been pleading for weeks for people to stay home amid a rapid surge of coronavirus cases.
For the record: An earlier version of this article said passenger traffic at Los Angeles International Airport so far in November was down about 30% compared with the same period last year. Traffic was about 30% of last year’s levels. The article also said passenger traffic dropped by 95% in March. That statistic was for April, not March.
But for some, the temptation to be with loved ones at the tail end of a trying year of fire, flood, politics and plague is too great.
“I weighed my options and felt that where I was going and who I would be with, I’d be safe,” said Kim Motz, who arrived on a Southwest flight from San Antonio to visit her daughter and 1-year-old grandson.
Motz, 57, had planned to visit during Halloween but “freaked out and canceled,” she said. Not wanting to miss another opportunity to be with her family, she decided to forge ahead this time, despite the risk.
“All week long, the news was saying, ‘If you travel for Thanksgiving, you’re going to die. You’ll have a funeral at Christmas,’” she said. “I finally just had to turn it off.”
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Jacquie Carney, 7, of San Antonio, runs to hug her grandmother, Donna Vidrine of San Clemente, upon her arrival at LAX to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
An office manager at an engineering firm, Motz has co-workers and friends who have contracted the virus, though none have died. Her family plans to spend Thanksgiving delivering food to healthcare workers at the hospital where her daughter-in-law works as an emergency room nurse.
She said everyone on her flight wore masks and that she felt “very safe.”
Despite the public health warnings to avoid Thanksgiving plane travel, some people are taking the risk.
Ahead of one of the biggest holidays of the year, L.A.-area airports feel surreal, an oasis of seeming normalcy amid masks, hand sanitizer stations and social distancing rules that sometimes crumble with the crowds, as if the pandemic were no match for the pull of tradition.
Travelers, after considering the trade-offs, have decided not to let 2020 upend their holiday plans.
Advertisement
Some say they feel perfectly safe. Others are worried but cannot take the isolation and have prioritized the need to connect with family or friends.
Travel & Experiences Your guide to traveling this holiday season How to travel this holiday season by plane, train and car, and how to safely stay in a hotel or a rental. If you’re staying local, we have ideas for how to spend the time.
Philip Carney was on the same flight from San Antonio as Motz. He said he also weighed his options before deciding to fly with his daughter, Jacquie, 7, to visit family in San Clemente.
“We were a little concerned, but not too much — we’re from Texas,” he said, laughing.
His mother, Donna Vidrine, arrived at the curb outside Terminal 1 and scooped Jacquie into a big bear hug. It was the kind of moment many are dreaming of, yet sacrificing, this year.
All around them, the airport swirled with passengers who had made similar calculations.
A traveler waits for a ride after arriving at LAX. The airport has been far less busy than usual this year, a spokesman said. So far in November, passenger traffic is down about 30% compared with the same period last year. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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“This was planned back in June, and we still wanted to come,” said Mike Fetalsana, arriving on a Southwest flight from Dallas.
Fetalsana said everyone on his flight wore masks, and he took his own mask off only for quick sips of water. He said he works in the healthcare system and is more aware of the risks than most people.
“I know what I need to do, and it’s stuff we should all be doing all along,” said Fetalsana, who is in his 40s. “Wash your hands and wear a mask.”
Travel & Experiences The CDC’s latest travel guidelines, explained As you’re thinking about traveling this holiday season, you might ask yourself: What’s the infection level in your community? How many people are gathering? We have answers.
In L.A., Fetalsana will be staying in an Airbnb and limiting his contacts to close family members. He said he won’t get tested for COVID-19 while he’s here but will do so when he gets home.
Others were less concerned. Lisa George flew to L.A. from Las Vegas and has been traveling back-and-forth between the two cities for months to care for her sick mother.
George said she is more concerned about “hotheads and gangbangers with guns” than about the virus.
“I’m not scared,” she said.
Starting Wednesday, travelers arriving at LAX, above, Van Nuys Airport or Union Station from out of state must sign a form acknowledging the state of California’s advisory to quarantine for 14 days. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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But not everyone was so carefree. Alberto, who is 44 and declined to give his last name, was sitting outside the Delta departure terminal wearing two masks.
He was on a three-hour layover between his home in the Bay Area and his destination in Jalisco, Mexico, and said he preferred to stay outside, where he felt safer.
He’ll be spending Thanksgiving with friends but said he agonized over the decision and still questions whether it was right.
“What if I’m carrying [the virus] and I don’t know?” he said. “I’m still feeling terrible about it.”
Alberto has spent the last seven months alone in his apartment, where he teaches college students using Zoom. All of his human interactions during the pandemic have been “transactional,” he said, and the isolation was beginning to weigh on him.
“It’s a choice between seeing your friends and going nuts,” he said.
Advertisement
As he sat on the bench, alone on a cool misty morning, a couple pulled up to the curb in front of him and embraced in a long goodbye — a moment of near-normalcy.
Despite the throng of travelers, whose justifications for flying Monday were as varied as their destinations, the airport has been far less busy than usual this year, LAX spokesman Heath Montgomery said.
A pilot walks through LAX, where holiday travelers shuffle through check-in lines less than six feet apart and cluster around luggage conveyors awaiting their bags. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
So far in November, passenger traffic is down about 30% compared with the same period last year, he said.
LAX will likely average about 846 flights per day through Nov. 30, compared with 1,638 during that period in 2019, he said.
Still, airlines are flying more this week than through most of the pandemic. Montgomery said passenger traffic dropped by 95% in March and has slowly increased since then.
While the airport anticipates more travelers around both the Thanksgiving and winter holidays, the recent increase in coronavirus cases and recommendations against nonessential travel could foreshadow a reversal, Montgomery said.
Starting Wednesday, travelers arriving at LAX, Van Nuys Airport or Union Station from out of state must sign a form acknowledging the state of California’s advisory to quarantine for 14 days.
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LAX recently launched three coronavirus testing sites , with results coming back within 24 hours at $150 each. Next month, the airport is planning to open a mobile testing unit that will provide results in as little as three hours.
The existing test sites have been busy and getting busier, said Elizabeth Cameros, a healthcare worker at one of the LAX sites.
Wearing a gown, face mask and shield, Cameros administered nasal swabs to Angela Buckley and Wade Hopkins, who had just come off a flight from Salt Lake City.
Healthcare worker Elizabeth Cameros administers a nasal swab to Wade Hopkins, who had arrived from Salt Lake City, at Los Angeles International Airport, which recently launched three coronavirus testing sites. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Both in their 30s, the two were getting tested so they could continue to Hawaii, which is requiring negative COVID-19 tests of all travelers.
“The optics definitely make it seem like L.A. is more shut down than Salt Lake City,” Hopkins said after finishing his test. “People there are still going to clubs and bars. It feels very different.”
Buckley, his girlfriend, said she knew people who had contracted the virus. But their symptoms weren’t serious, mostly “like a severe cold,” she said.
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She has been going to the office for her engineering job, while Hopkins mostly works from home. Neither found the decision to fly to Hawaii for Thanksgiving too difficult.
“We don’t come into contact with too many people, so we feel OK about it,” Hopkins said.
Buckley and Hopkins will confine themselves to a hotel in Los Angeles until they receive their test results by email.
Long Beach Airport is preparing for a 25% uptick in travelers during the holiday season, but passenger numbers will be much lower this year, a spokeswoman says. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
While LAX was buzzing, it was a different scene at Long Beach Airport. Only a handful of travelers stood outside late Monday morning awaiting pickup.
Leslie Freeman said her flight from Phoenix was “very pleasant” and that she had no concerns about traveling as she hopped into a ride-hail car and sped away.
Inside, the terminal at the regional airport was nearly empty. Airport spokeswoman Marlene Arrona said there is typically an early morning rush and a lull in the afternoon.
Long Beach is prepared for a 25% uptick in travelers around the November and December holidays, but, like LAX, the airport’s numbers will be substantially lower this year, Arrona said.
A traveler wearing a mask makes her way through John Wayne Airport in Orange County. The desire to be with loved ones at Thanksgiving has its risks but is too great for some plane passengers to pass up. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Hollywood Burbank Airport was similarly quiet.
The holidays may bring a slight bump, but the airport’s overall bookings are down substantially, from roughly 525,000 passengers in November 2019 to a forecasted 112,000 in 2020, said airport spokeswoman Nerissa Sugars.
Angela Velasco, waiting for her flight back home to the Seattle area, was one of the few travelers there Monday afternoon.
She said she visited Las Vegas and L.A. on a pleasure trip after restaurants in Washington state, including an IHOP where she works as a server, shut down.
“I wanted to take advantage of that time off,” said Velasco, 28, who stayed at a Marriott hotel in Santa Monica this week. She is hoping her job will resume next month.
Once back home, she will quarantine at least until her COVID-19 test comes back negative, which means she will not be spending Thanksgiving with her family.
She doesn’t want to expose her older relatives to any coronavirus risk, she said.
A traveler at John Wayne Airport. Though coronavirus cases have risen across the U.S., some people have decided not to let 2020 upend their holiday plans. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)


latimes--2020-11-25--This South Los Angeles business is weathering the pandemic, one pie at a time

The bakery on this bustling corner in South Los Angeles was born the year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional .
The sign on a lamppost tells people who walk by : “ 27th Street Bakery Shop ; Est .
1956.
” Inside the bakery — known for its homemade sweet potato pies — are remnants of a distant past juxtaposed with modernity : a black Blodgett oven and cash registers from the 1950s sit behind a credit card chip reader ; on a wall hang framed photos of awards , accolades and newspaper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radial phones perch atop a pastry display case .
And nearby and everywhere , it seems , are reminders of the all-too-present deadly virus lurking all about : plexiglass barriers surround the register ; a sign below reads , “ Protect Yourself and Others from COVID-19.
” COVID-19 has brought plenty of hardships to small businesses like this bakery on the corner of Central Avenue and 27th Street .
In South L.A. , business at cafes and restaurants plummeted by up to 70 % by the end of March .
Across the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by the pandemic .
According to a university study published in May , 41 % of Black-owned businesses shut down between February and April , compared with 17 % of white-owned ones .
Experts attribute the disparity to less access to capital , including Paycheck Protection Program loans , a lack of support from banks and funding disparities exacerbated by the pandemic .
So being around for 64 years and counting is something to be proud of .
At 27th Street Bakery Shop , sales sank when 50 % of the mom-and-pop shops @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that stayed open slashed their orders in half .
Grocery store panic buying was rampant , so ingredients were hard to come by .
“ I remember going to three different stores in one day to look for supplies , ” said Jeanette Bolden-Pickens , 60 , the bakery ’ s owner .
“ I would wake up early in the morning and go to the store .
If you woke up any later you couldn ’ t find anything.
” Even then , waiting in line for hours didn ’ t guarantee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Demand was high , and stores limited how much of one product customers could buy .
Eggs were so scarce that Bolden-Pickens went searching for them beyond county lines .
She dispatched her sister and a friend to Riverside — a 90-minute drive — to an egg farm to fetch some .
“ When we could find something , the prices had nearly tripled , ” said Bolden-Pickens through a blue mask .
“ You ’ re fighting the loss of sales , now you ’ re fighting to make sure you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stay safe , ” she added .
Even as the bakery and its employees dealt with one pandemic-induced blow after another , other curveballs made life — and work — harder .
The bakery ’ s pie press machine broke down .
“ We were resuscitating it every time , giving it CPR and it just got worse and worse , ” Bolden-Pickens said .
But just when things began to feel disheartening , some luck : After successive failures , the bakery finally got a $ 10,000 PayPal Empowerment Grant — part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black-owned businesses in partnership with the Assn .
for Enterprise Opportunity .
Bolden-Pickens used the money to buy a shiny new pie press machine .
It allowed the bakery to produce twice as many desserts and came just in time for the launch of vegan and sugar-free sweet potato pies and the holiday-season rush .
“ We all have one goal : to pump out as many pies as we can , ” Bolden-Pickens said .
On Thanksgiving eve , the shop expected to make 900 to 1,400 nine- and five-inch pies .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ out of the question , more people are ordering smaller pies .
Through it all , the community has had her back .
Orders in April increased when small businesses were being left out of federal financial support .
Once , a woman even bought a $ 2.25 pie and left $ 100 ; she didn ’ t want her change .
That support has helped the bakery stay open .
Still , with coronavirus cases surging again and normality still a distant dream , the future feels tenuous .
Harry and Sadie @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from Louisiana in the 1940s to Central Avenue , the heart of Black L.A .
It was a cultural oasis , home to landmarks such as the Dunbar Hotel and the Downbeat , which hosted Black jazz luminaries including Nat King Cole , Charlie Parker and Dinah Washington .
The couple steadily nourished a loyal base of sweet-toothed customers hungry for their cakes , cobblers and sweet potato pies .
In time , the business evolved from a restaurant to the bakery it is today , establishing itself as a household name in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to local mom-and-pop shops and stocks the pie shelves of supermarket chains such as Ralphs and Smart & Final .
In 1980 , Alberta Cravin and Gregory Spann , Bolden-Pickens ’ mother and brother , took over the business and with it came a slew of challenges .
After the 1992 L.A. civil unrest erupted , 27th Street Bakery Shop hit rock bottom .
Small businesses the bakery supplied pies to had been burned down .
Half the businesses ’ commercial customers evaporated .
But the family persisted .
As a teen and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ track-and-field athlete who would eventually win the gold medal in the 400-meter relay in the 1984 Summer Olympics in L.A. , Bolden-Pickens helped at the bakery .
In high school , friends would often tease her .
“ ‘ Remember when you used to pick us up in your mother ’ s station wagon with pies rolling around in the back seat on our way to track practice ?
’ ” Bolden-Pickens recalled a friend saying .
Her mother had made a pact with her : If she wanted to drive the car @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deliver pies .
“ I learned that no matter what ’ s going on in your life , you can achieve your goal , you ’ re just going to have to focus , ” Bolden-Pickens said .
“ Through the ups and through the downs , you have to stay focused.
” She clung to those lessons years later after a series of family tragedies : Her mother had a stroke in 2001 — the same weekend coach Bolden-Pickens and her UCLA team won a NCAA championship .
Then Spann , her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2002 .
In 2004 , her younger brother Lavance was caught in a gang crossfire and shot to death .
And in 2007 , while Bolden-Pickens was in Japan gearing up for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing , her mother died .
After 25 years of coaching , Bolden-Pickens ’ focus shifted toward the bakery .
She took it over with her husband and sister .
“ We have to keep this going , ” she told herself .
For the community .
For her son and daughter ; her nephews , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Armon , her 2-year-old grandson .
Christine Tello had wondered about the bakery across the street from her clinic for a while .
On this particular day , she decided to finally pop in .
“ I stumbled upon it and thank God I did , ” said the 53-year-old Compton resident .
She walked out smiling and clutching to her chest a white paper bag with a sweet potato pie and red velvet and German chocolate cakes .
“ I know good cakes and pies when I see them , ” Tello @ @ @ @ @ @ @ walks through the doors of the 27th Street Bakery Shop is greeted with a smile .
It ’ s something Bolden-Pickens said her mother , brother and grandparents did .
“ We try to make people who come in here feel like this is a part of home , ” she said .
It ’ s not easy for businesses to survive in normal times .
But great customer service makes it easier to do that , Bolden-Pickens said .
People remember nice gestures .
But tradition also goes a long way .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the way her grandfather did more than 60 years ago .
Only four people know the recipe for the sweet potato pie .
“ People are really happy when they come here , and I think it ’ s because we help them remember when they were growing up , ” Bolden-Pickens said .
“ So many places where you grew up aren ’ t there anymore .
They ’ ve been replaced by a franchise or an apartment building .
But here , you have a taste of tradition .
”

Rita Spencer pushes a cart of freshly baked pies from 27th Street Bakery Shop for delivery to 25 businesses in Gardena. The coronavirus crisis has brought many hardships to small businesses like this bakery, but owner Jeanette Bolden-Pickens has persevered.
The bakery on this bustling corner in South Los Angeles was born the year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. The sign on a lamppost tells people who walk by: “27th Street Bakery Shop; Est. 1956.”
Inside the bakery — known for its homemade sweet potato pies — are remnants of a distant past juxtaposed with modernity: a black Blodgett oven and cash registers from the 1950s sit behind a credit card chip reader; on a wall hang framed photos of awards, accolades and newspaper clippings from 1980 to 2018; two radial phones perch atop a pastry display case.
And nearby and everywhere, it seems, are reminders of the all-too-present deadly virus lurking all about: plexiglass barriers surround the register; a sign below reads, “Protect Yourself and Others from COVID-19.”
Advertisement
COVID-19 has brought plenty of hardships to small businesses like this bakery on the corner of Central Avenue and 27th Street. In South L.A., business at cafes and restaurants plummeted by up to 70% by the end of March. Across the country, Black-owned businesses have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. According to a university study published in May, 41% of Black-owned businesses shut down between February and April, compared with 17% of white-owned ones. Experts attribute the disparity to less access to capital, including Paycheck Protection Program loans, a lack of support from banks and funding disparities exacerbated by the pandemic.
So being around for 64 years and counting is something to be proud of.
At 27th Street Bakery Shop, sales sank when 50% of the mom-and-pop shops they supplied pies to closed. Those that stayed open slashed their orders in half. Grocery store panic buying was rampant, so ingredients were hard to come by.
Jeanette Bolden-Pickens, owner of 27th Street Bakery Shop in South L.A., prepares pies. The bakery was founded by her grandparents in 1956. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
“I remember going to three different stores in one day to look for supplies,” said Jeanette Bolden-Pickens, 60, the bakery’s owner. “I would wake up early in the morning and go to the store. If you woke up any later you couldn’t find anything.”
Even then, waiting in line for hours didn’t guarantee you’d snag what you needed. Demand was high, and stores limited how much of one product customers could buy. Eggs were so scarce that Bolden-Pickens went searching for them beyond county lines. She dispatched her sister and a friend to Riverside — a 90-minute drive — to an egg farm to fetch some.
“When we could find something, the prices had nearly tripled,” said Bolden-Pickens through a blue mask.
“You’re fighting the loss of sales, now you’re fighting to make sure you stay safe and your employees and customers stay safe,” she added.
Advertisement
Even as the bakery and its employees dealt with one pandemic-induced blow after another, other curveballs made life — and work — harder. The bakery’s pie press machine broke down.
“We were resuscitating it every time, giving it CPR and it just got worse and worse,” Bolden-Pickens said.
Jeanette Bolden-Pickens, left, delivers a pie order to customer Clarence Ellis. When the pandemic struck, Bolden-Pickens says bakery sales sank 50%. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
But just when things began to feel disheartening, some luck: After successive failures, the bakery finally got a $10,000 PayPal Empowerment Grant — part of a $10-million grant program for Black-owned businesses in partnership with the Assn. for Enterprise Opportunity. Bolden-Pickens used the money to buy a shiny new pie press machine. It allowed the bakery to produce twice as many desserts and came just in time for the launch of vegan and sugar-free sweet potato pies and the holiday-season rush.
“We all have one goal: to pump out as many pies as we can,” Bolden-Pickens said. On Thanksgiving eve, the shop expected to make 900 to 1,400 nine- and five-inch pies. This year, with large family gatherings out of the question, more people are ordering smaller pies.
Through it all, the community has had her back. Orders in April increased when small businesses were being left out of federal financial support. Once, a woman even bought a $2.25 pie and left $100; she didn’t want her change. That support has helped the bakery stay open. Still, with coronavirus cases surging again and normality still a distant dream, the future feels tenuous.
::
Harry and Sadie Patterson, Bolden-Pickens’ grandparents, moved from Louisiana in the 1940s to Central Avenue, the heart of Black L.A. It was a cultural oasis, home to landmarks such as the Dunbar Hotel and the Downbeat, which hosted Black jazz luminaries including Nat King Cole, Charlie Parker and Dinah Washington.
The couple steadily nourished a loyal base of sweet-toothed customers hungry for their cakes, cobblers and sweet potato pies. In time, the business evolved from a restaurant to the bakery it is today, establishing itself as a household name in Black L.A. It now supplies pies to local mom-and-pop shops and stocks the pie shelves of supermarket chains such as Ralphs and Smart & Final.
In 1980, Alberta Cravin and Gregory Spann, Bolden-Pickens’ mother and brother, took over the business and with it came a slew of challenges. After the 1992 L.A. civil unrest erupted, 27th Street Bakery Shop hit rock bottom. Small businesses the bakery supplied pies to had been burned down. Half the businesses’ commercial customers evaporated. But the family persisted.
As a teen and then a young adult training as a track-and-field athlete who would eventually win the gold medal in the 400-meter relay in the 1984 Summer Olympics in L.A., Bolden-Pickens helped at the bakery.
In high school, friends would often tease her.
Guadalupe Valdovinos, left, who has been working at 27th Street Bakery Shop for 40 years, packs pies. The bakery’s specialty? Homemade sweet potato pies. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
“‘Remember when you used to pick us up in your mother’s station wagon with pies rolling around in the back seat on our way to track practice?’” Bolden-Pickens recalled a friend saying. Her mother had made a pact with her: If she wanted to drive the car to track practice, she had to deliver pies.
“I learned that no matter what’s going on in your life, you can achieve your goal, you’re just going to have to focus,” Bolden-Pickens said. “Through the ups and through the downs, you have to stay focused.”
She clung to those lessons years later after a series of family tragedies: Her mother had a stroke in 2001 — the same weekend coach Bolden-Pickens and her UCLA team won a NCAA championship. Then Spann, her brother, died suddenly of pneumonia in 2002. In 2004, her younger brother Lavance was caught in a gang crossfire and shot to death. And in 2007, while Bolden-Pickens was in Japan gearing up for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, her mother died.
After 25 years of coaching, Bolden-Pickens’ focus shifted toward the bakery. She took it over with her husband and sister.
“We have to keep this going,” she told herself. For the community. For her son and daughter; her nephews, nieces and their kids; and for Armon, her 2-year-old grandson.
::
Christine Tello had wondered about the bakery across the street from her clinic for a while. On this particular day, she decided to finally pop in.
“I stumbled upon it and thank God I did,” said the 53-year-old Compton resident. She walked out smiling and clutching to her chest a white paper bag with a sweet potato pie and red velvet and German chocolate cakes.
“I know good cakes and pies when I see them,” Tello said, laughing.
Every customer who walks through the doors of the 27th Street Bakery Shop is greeted with a smile. It’s something Bolden-Pickens said her mother, brother and grandparents did.
“We try to make people who come in here feel like this is a part of home,” she said.
Jeanette Bolden-Pickens fills James Chong’s pie order at 27th Street Bakery Shop. When times got hard during the pandemic, a grant of $10,000, plus community support, helped Bolden-Pickens keep the bakery afloat. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
It’s not easy for businesses to survive in normal times. But great customer service makes it easier to do that, Bolden-Pickens said. People remember nice gestures. But tradition also goes a long way. She said the pies are still made the way her grandfather did more than 60 years ago. Only four people know the recipe for the sweet potato pie.
“People are really happy when they come here, and I think it’s because we help them remember when they were growing up,” Bolden-Pickens said. “So many places where you grew up aren’t there anymore. They’ve been replaced by a franchise or an apartment building. But here, you have a taste of tradition.”