latimes--2020-03-01--Along a scenic highway, a road map of California's hopes and anxieties

For nearly 300 miles along dramatic curves and desolate straightaways , State Route 33 passes seamlessly through California ’ s interior , exposing the attitudes and interests that divide it .
A drive from the beaches of Ventura to the outskirts of Stockton , from Democratic strongholds into Trump country and back , reveals befuddlement over the state of politics in America .
There ’ s a common desire to come together , but no agreement on how to get there .
As California joins 13 other states in holding presidential primaries on Super Tuesday , many here are detached @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been unfolding for well over a year now , seeing little relevance to their own concerns or , worse , an assault on the way they ’ ve chosen to live .
The candidates ’ vows to end America ’ s dependence on fossil fuels , shut down private prisons and safeguard wildlife by regulating land use may play well in the state ’ s left-leaning coastal cities .
Inland , along the road where oil rigs bob among tumbleweeds , where razor wire coiled around state prisons glints in the sun and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , those promises sound more like misguided threats to jobs and economic growth .
The interchange with Highway 101 that marks Route 33 ’ s starting point lies only a few blocks in from a beach where surfers glide on the waves .
Downtown Ventura spreads out below the highway , a compact city of low-slung apartment complexes , restaurants , bars and beach shops .
“ We ’ re divided — what do we do ?
” Ken Andreasen says with a sigh as he sips his morning coffee at the Sandbox @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California 33 .
Along a corridor that ’ s home to beach dwellers , hippies , artists , ranchers , farm laborers , mom-and-pop business owners , retirees and weekend warriors roaring through on motorcycles , people aren ’ t always eager to broadcast their party affiliations .
Having to coexist with both nature and people who hold opposing views is a necessity of life along Route 33 , even if it ’ s not always an easy task .
Andreasen , an 80-year-old retired aerospace engineer , sees a glimmer of hope @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he goes to at a senior center in Ventura .
There , 25 to 30 people — staunch progressives , left-leaning independents like him and conservatives — come together to eat , play bridge , make art and attend Zumba classes .
“ There ’ s moments when the whole room there is friendship , ” Andreasen says .
“ If we can come together , maybe we can do it everywhere.
” About 15 miles into the drive , not far from the Mission-style arcades , New Age retreats and palm-studded citrus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ serves as the last pit stop before the road begins an hourlong , mile-high climb through Los Padres National Forest .
A faded poster on the wall by the bar sums up the mood of people who live along Route 33 .
Peter Fonda stares out over a barren desert landscape while wearing a leather biker jacket with an American flag on the back .
The image is from the 1969 film “ Easy Rider , ” which was shot during an earlier period of political and social upheaval .
The caption on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s here .
Where ’ s America ?
” From there , the highway swings around hairpin curves , passes through tunnels blasted into rocky outcroppings and winds though ravines that close in like walls .
Suddenly the landscape is all meadows of sage-colored brush , then blankets of pines rising up vertical ridges .
As Route 33 skirts the top of a ridge , it twists back on itself to reveal the peaks of the Channel Islands towering over a supertanker in the Pacific .
‘ This is what our grandparents had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the cellphone signal drops and there isn ’ t a soul in sight .
A turn-of-the-century cottage comes into view in a clearing by the road .
Mike Dawson and his father-in-law , Dudley Zoll , stand outside the house , which they recently bought as a wilderness retreat .
The men say they have no interest in discussing the election or politics in general .
Instead , as they linger in the shade of their matching straw hats , they relish the chance to talk about how it ’ s still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rural California ’ s isolated byways .
“ When you go off the road like this , you meet the heartbeat of America , ” says Dawson , 60 , who grew up on the coast in Carpinteria and owns a construction crane business in Ojai , where he lives .
“ These are the people that have worked hard down in the lowlands , and they come here and they buy a little homestead and they have a little weekly getaway .
They come and howl at the moon at night — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ listen to the wind , ” Dawson says .
“ We have no power .
We have no cellphones .
We have no texting .
This is it , man .
This is what our grandparents had.
” In the flatlands , another California About 50 miles north of its starting point , Route 33 catapults you back to those more optimistic days .
The road soars and dives through increasingly nerve-racking turns before coming to the edge of a sheer cliff .
Like curtains opening , the rocky hills that had hugged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the golden-hued , southern fringe of the Central Valley — 2,000 feet down .
In this California , people measure the acres they own in the tens of thousands — and the populations in many of their towns in the tens and hundreds .
“ The sign coming into town says 92 , but I ’ d be surprised if there were more than 15 people living here , ” says a server who didn ’ t want to give her name at the Place , the only spot to eat or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which is miles from any full-size town .
There ’ s pecan and blackberry pie on the menu , but no talk of politics .
Route 33 streams past rusted-out tractors by the side of the road and between treeless hills covered with oil rigs before passing the one-stoplight oil town of Taft , the proudly conservative heart of Trump territory .
Just one lonely “ Trump/Pence ” banner along the road declares the politics of this part of the state .
Some wonder how a state whose cities seem too crowded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high and whose land seems too imperiled by fire , rain or the lack of — and too threatened by what appears to them to be overbearing federal and state regulators — can sustain the rural lifestyle that many see slipping away .
Around here , people have learned to ride with the boom-and-bust rhythm of the oil business .
Times are especially hard in McKittrick , a blip of a town farther north that spans hardly one block , surrounded by oil rigs whose silhouettes resemble dinosaurs grazing on the plains in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ takes a back seat to the prospect that the town might go under .
Annie and Mike Moore first visited in 1961 as newlyweds .
McKittrick was booming then and Annie had relatives in town , but Mike wasn ’ t impressed .
“ Mike ’ s famous words were , ‘ Who in the hell would live in a godforsaken place like this ?
’ ” Annie says with a laugh as she gives a tour of Mike & Annie ’ s Penny Bar , the watering hole they opened two decades @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pennies , over a million of them , cover the bar ’ s walls .
Mike glued them in place one by one over the years .
Mike died in January .
Among the few times in recent memory when the place was standing-room-only was for his wake , says Annie , 77 .
The good times , captured in dozens of old photographs of smiling customers pinned to the front dining room walls , seem long gone .
“ Friday and Saturday nights , this was the place to be , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Penny Bar ’ s handful of employees .
Ballou , 55 , has worked here on and off for 13 years .
“ It ’ s hurting , ” Ballou says of the bar .
Both women say that restrictive state drilling regulations have led energy companies to downsize , and that meant a steep drop in customers .
Annie ’ s pessimistic about the future .
Financial problems and other issues have led her to consider shutting down for good .
“ I just keep praying , ” she says .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , passing cars are few and far between .
Then a familiar face appears in the distance at a gas station in Blackwells Corner , a junction about 40 miles north of McKittrick .
It ’ s a towering cutout of Hollywood legend James Dean , inspired by his movie “ Rebel Without a Cause.
” Dean wears a red jacket and blue jeans , with his legs crossed , and he stares down on the highway with a look that says he ’ s trouble .
This is thought to be the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alive on the afternoon of Sept. 30 , 1955 , as he made his way to a road race .
The Porsche 550 Spyder that Dean was driving collided with another car at a junction west of here , killing him .
For the next hour , Route 33 changes again , passing scrubland , fruit orchards and prisons before landing in Coalinga , a town of 13,300 set in a dewy valley .
In the mountains , the air fills with the scent of pine and brush , and on the plains @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funk of cow manure signals your arrival into one of the biggest cattle ranching regions on the West Coast .
Nearly 200 miles from where Route 33 started , this is also God ’ s country .
“ Jesus is Lord of Coalinga , ” a rainbow sign proclaims just outside town across the highway from a field where a herd of buffalo grazes .
The next morning , ranchers Teddy Den Hartog and Gary Jackson keep their cowboy hats on for their breakfast of hamburgers at Cafe 101 , a family-owned diner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the state ’ s fabled highways , Route 66 .
They ’ re more worried about the influence of the powers that be three hours north in the Democratic-controlled Legislature in Sacramento than the one exalted in the rainbow sign .
The men look uneasy at first as they gently rib a reporter from L.A. for living in what they consider to be a liberal cesspool , but they soon open up .
“ What makes us happy about living up here is being out of the Bay and L.A. , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than 20,000 acres of ranchland that ’ s been in his family since the 1860s .
As a solidly conservative community , far from urban centers whose problems attract more attention , “ we have no vote , ” the rancher says .
Den Hartog , 66 , says his roots may run deep here , but he feels out of place in today ’ s California , whose taxes and regulations he considers to be out of control and whose leaders he believes don ’ t value the voices and experiences @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m pulling the plug , ” he says .
The highway stretches on , past miles of nut and fruit orchards and past fields covered with solar-energy panels before reaching the tiny outpost of Santa Nella , home of Pea Soup Andersen ’ s , a Scandinavian-themed truck stop that has a giant windmill spinning by the parking lot .
Rudy Recile and his wife , Sally Castillo-Recile , sit in a booth eating pea soup .
He ’ s wearing a polo shirt with an image of the Declaration of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s wearing a red , white and blue T-shirt that says , “ Make some sparkle.
” “ I was feeling patriotic today , ” Sally says with a smile .
Rudy and Sally , both 51-year-old Army veterans , live in Vacaville in Northern California .
They were driving south along Interstate 5 , which merges with Route 33 in this part of the state , to attend a nephew ’ s graduation from Army boot camp in San Diego .
“ This place is awesome , and one of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s been here forever , ” Rudy says .
But he fears that other things — like family , community and the nation ’ s unifying principles — may not endure .
“ Life , liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
” Rudy , who preferred to describe himself as a conservative rather than identify which party he tends to vote for , says he reflects on that phrase in the Declaration of Independence every day .
He thinks it ’ s time for all Americans to renew their sense of shared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Everybody ’ s saying that we ’ re divided , that this is a bad country — but we ’ re all Americans , ” he says .
“ We live in the greatest , most prosperous country in the world .
Enjoy what you have.
” Route 33 straightens after Santa Nella as it heads north .
In the farming town of Patterson , locals were feeling pressures of their own .
California ’ s housing crunch has made the former “ Apricot Capital of the World ” both attractive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 80 miles west and increasingly costly for the longtime residents .
The town ’ s population has doubled to about 23,000 since 2000 , and encampments of the homeless have sprung up by the railroad tracks that run along Route 33 .
The Democratic presidential candidates have proposed bold plans to move the low-income families and the homeless into affordable housing .
Those plans can ’ t materialize soon enough for Julia Medina , one of about two dozen people who built dwellings in what locals refer to as “ the cages , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lot filled with metal-mesh storage containers next to the railroad tracks .
Medina , 62 , stood with tears in her eyes at her dwelling , a container the size of a walk-in closet that was designed to transport produce and now held her clothes , cookware and a small bed where her three dogs played .
Old cars , blankets and pots and pans littered the muddy area outside her shelter .
Sheriff ’ s deputies tried to get residents to leave because they were trespassing .
Medina , who has lived @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said she had nowhere else to go .
For her , the question of how to make a life in California isn ’ t political .
It ’ s deeply personal .
The container she transformed into a living space may not be much , but in a state that ’ s failed to solve its homelessness crisis , and in a country with a widening gap between rich and poor , this is home .
“ I don ’ t know how to live anywhere else , ” Medina says .
Route @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tangle of highways among orchards , cow pastures and clusters of suburban townhouses that look awkwardly out of place .
Even with all the challenges that communities face along the 290 miles of Route 33 — the boom-bust cycle , fires , floods and droughts , along with poverty , not everyone is ready to give up on California .

For nearly 300 miles along dramatic curves and desolate straightaways, State Route 33 passes seamlessly through California’s interior, exposing the attitudes and interests that divide it.
A drive from the beaches of Ventura to the outskirts of Stockton, from Democratic strongholds into Trump country and back, reveals befuddlement over the state of politics in America. There’s a common desire to come together, but no agreement on how to get there.
As California joins 13 other states in holding presidential primaries on Super Tuesday, many here are detached from the Democratic campaign that’s been unfolding for well over a year now, seeing little relevance to their own concerns or, worse, an assault on the way they’ve chosen to live.
The candidates’ vows to end America’s dependence on fossil fuels, shut down private prisons and safeguard wildlife by regulating land use may play well in the state’s left-leaning coastal cities.
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Inland, along the road where oil rigs bob among tumbleweeds, where razor wire coiled around state prisons glints in the sun and billboards call for the building of dams, those promises sound more like misguided threats to jobs and economic growth.
Ken Andreasen, 80, of Ventura greets Aida Turturro of New York and her dog outside the Sandbox Coffeehouse in Ventura. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
The route begins: Ventura County
The interchange with Highway 101 that marks Route 33’s starting point lies only a few blocks in from a beach where surfers glide on the waves.
Downtown Ventura spreads out below the highway, a compact city of low-slung apartment complexes, restaurants, bars and beach shops.
“We’re divided — what do we do?” Ken Andreasen says with a sigh as he sips his morning coffee at the Sandbox, a cafe near the onramp to California 33.
Along a corridor that’s home to beach dwellers, hippies, artists, ranchers, farm laborers, mom-and-pop business owners, retirees and weekend warriors roaring through on motorcycles, people aren’t always eager to broadcast their party affiliations.
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Having to coexist with both nature and people who hold opposing views is a necessity of life along Route 33, even if it’s not always an easy task.
(Paul Duginski / Los Angeles Times)
Andreasen, an 80-year-old retired aerospace engineer, sees a glimmer of hope for the nation in the afternoon socials he goes to at a senior center in Ventura.
There, 25 to 30 people — staunch progressives, left-leaning independents like him and conservatives — come together to eat, play bridge, make art and attend Zumba classes.
“There’s moments when the whole room there is friendship,” Andreasen says. “If we can come together, maybe we can do it everywhere.”
About 15 miles into the drive, not far from the Mission-style arcades, New Age retreats and palm-studded citrus groves of Ojai, the Deer Lodge serves as the last pit stop before the road begins an hourlong, mile-high climb through Los Padres National Forest.
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‘When you go off the road like this, you meet the heartbeat of America.’ — Mike Dawson, who grew up on the coast in Carpinteria
Dudley Zoll, left, and his son-in-law Mike Dawson on their property along State Route 33 in Ojai. In the background is a caretaker’s cabin, originally built in 1925. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
A faded poster on the wall by the bar sums up the mood of people who live along Route 33. Peter Fonda stares out over a barren desert landscape while wearing a leather biker jacket with an American flag on the back. The image is from the 1969 film “Easy Rider,” which was shot during an earlier period of political and social upheaval.
The caption on the poster reads: “God’s here. Where’s America?”
From there, the highway swings around hairpin curves, passes through tunnels blasted into rocky outcroppings and winds though ravines that close in like walls.
Suddenly the landscape is all meadows of sage-colored brush, then blankets of pines rising up vertical ridges.
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As Route 33 skirts the top of a ridge, it twists back on itself to reveal the peaks of the Channel Islands towering over a supertanker in the Pacific.
A bicyclist and dog make their way on a path running alongside State Route 33 in Avenal. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
‘This is what our grandparents had’
At an elevation of 5,100 feet, the cellphone signal drops and there isn’t a soul in sight.
A turn-of-the-century cottage comes into view in a clearing by the road.
Mike Dawson and his father-in-law, Dudley Zoll, stand outside the house, which they recently bought as a wilderness retreat.
Politics Who is the Democratic candidate for president? The field is down to Joe Biden now that Bernie Sanders ended his presidential campaign. Here is the Democrat heading for a battle with President Trump.
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The men say they have no interest in discussing the election or politics in general.
Instead, as they linger in the shade of their matching straw hats, they relish the chance to talk about how it’s still possible to live the American dream along rural California’s isolated byways.
“When you go off the road like this, you meet the heartbeat of America,” says Dawson, 60, who grew up on the coast in Carpinteria and owns a construction crane business in Ojai, where he lives.
“These are the people that have worked hard down in the lowlands, and they come here and they buy a little homestead and they have a little weekly getaway. They come and howl at the moon at night — have a beer and enjoy themselves and listen to the wind,” Dawson says. “We have no power. We have no cellphones. We have no texting. This is it, man. This is what our grandparents had.”
Farmworkers tend to iceberg lettuce in a field north of Coalinga. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
In the flatlands, another California
About 50 miles north of its starting point, Route 33 catapults you back to those more optimistic days.
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The road soars and dives through increasingly nerve-racking turns before coming to the edge of a sheer cliff.
Like curtains opening, the rocky hills that had hugged the road give way to a view of the golden-hued, southern fringe of the Central Valley — 2,000 feet down.
In this California, people measure the acres they own in the tens of thousands — and the populations in many of their towns in the tens and hundreds.
“The sign coming into town says 92, but I’d be surprised if there were more than 15 people living here,” says a server who didn’t want to give her name at the Place, the only spot to eat or drink in the tiny settlement of Ventucopa, which is miles from any full-size town.
There’s pecan and blackberry pie on the menu, but no talk of politics.
Jeff Carpenter, owner of Route 33 Sandwich Co. along State Route 33 in Taft, helps a customer with her takeout order. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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Motorcyclists travel along State Route 33 in Ventucopa. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Route 33 streams past rusted-out tractors by the side of the road and between treeless hills covered with oil rigs before passing the one-stoplight oil town of Taft, the proudly conservative heart of Trump territory. Just one lonely “Trump/Pence” banner along the road declares the politics of this part of the state.
Locals have more existential concerns.
Some wonder how a state whose cities seem too crowded, whose cost of living seems too high and whose land seems too imperiled by fire, rain or the lack of — and too threatened by what appears to them to be overbearing federal and state regulators — can sustain the rural lifestyle that many see slipping away.
Around here, people have learned to ride with the boom-and-bust rhythm of the oil business. Times are especially hard in McKittrick, a blip of a town farther north that spans hardly one block, surrounded by oil rigs whose silhouettes resemble dinosaurs grazing on the plains in the late-day sun.
The presidential primary takes a back seat to the prospect that the town might go under.
Annie and Mike Moore first visited in 1961 as newlyweds. McKittrick was booming then and Annie had relatives in town, but Mike wasn’t impressed.
The entrance to Mike & Annie’s Penny Bar in McKittrick. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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“Mike’s famous words were, ‘Who in the hell would live in a godforsaken place like this?’” Annie says with a laugh as she gives a tour of Mike & Annie’s Penny Bar, the watering hole they opened two decades ago after deciding to resettle here.
Pennies, over a million of them, cover the bar’s walls. Mike glued them in place one by one over the years.
Mike died in January. Among the few times in recent memory when the place was standing-room-only was for his wake, says Annie, 77.
The good times, captured in dozens of old photographs of smiling customers pinned to the front dining room walls, seem long gone.
Annie Moore, owner of Mike & Annie’s Penny Bar. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
“Friday and Saturday nights, this was the place to be,” says Jacqueline Ballou, one of the Penny Bar’s handful of employees.
Ballou, 55, has worked here on and off for 13 years.
“It’s hurting,” Ballou says of the bar.
Both women say that restrictive state drilling regulations have led energy companies to downsize, and that meant a steep drop in customers.
Annie’s pessimistic about the future. Financial problems and other issues have led her to consider shutting down for good.
“I just keep praying,” she says.
A cardboard cutout of actor James Dean at Blackwells Corner, near where the actor died in a traffic accident in 1955. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
James Dean, cow patties and Coalinga
As the sun goes down on Route 33, passing cars are few and far between. Then a familiar face appears in the distance at a gas station in Blackwells Corner, a junction about 40 miles north of McKittrick.
It’s a towering cutout of Hollywood legend James Dean, inspired by his movie “Rebel Without a Cause.” Dean wears a red jacket and blue jeans, with his legs crossed, and he stares down on the highway with a look that says he’s trouble.
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This is thought to be the last place anyone saw the 24-year-old actor alive on the afternoon of Sept. 30, 1955, as he made his way to a road race. The Porsche 550 Spyder that Dean was driving collided with another car at a junction west of here, killing him.
Michael Fiala and Sox, his Siberian husky, travel along State Route 33 near Blackwells Corner. Fiala, from Hawaii, said the two had traveled more than 90,000 miles together to 41 states and 31 national parks. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
For the next hour, Route 33 changes again, passing scrubland, fruit orchards and prisons before landing in Coalinga, a town of 13,300 set in a dewy valley.
In the mountains, the air fills with the scent of pine and brush, and on the plains, dust. Around Coalinga, the funk of cow manure signals your arrival into one of the biggest cattle ranching regions on the West Coast.
Nearly 200 miles from where Route 33 started, this is also God’s country.
“Jesus is Lord of Coalinga,” a rainbow sign proclaims just outside town across the highway from a field where a herd of buffalo grazes.
The next morning, ranchers Teddy Den Hartog and Gary Jackson keep their cowboy hats on for their breakfast of hamburgers at Cafe 101, a family-owned diner decorated with signs and memorabilia celebrating another of the state’s fabled highways, Route 66.
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A pedestrian walks along Coalinga’s Elm Street, part of State Route 33. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
They’re more worried about the influence of the powers that be three hours north in the Democratic-controlled Legislature in Sacramento than the one exalted in the rainbow sign.
The men look uneasy at first as they gently rib a reporter from L.A. for living in what they consider to be a liberal cesspool, but they soon open up.
“What makes us happy about living up here is being out of the Bay and L.A.,” says Den Hartog, who lives on more than 20,000 acres of ranchland that’s been in his family since the 1860s.
As a solidly conservative community, far from urban centers whose problems attract more attention, “we have no vote,” the rancher says.
Den Hartog, 66, says his roots may run deep here, but he feels out of place in today’s California, whose taxes and regulations he considers to be out of control and whose leaders he believes don’t value the voices and experiences of rural residents like him.
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He’s thinking of moving to Idaho.
“I’m pulling the plug,” he says.
Juan Lunas Lopez, left, and Inocencio Garcia prune pistachio trees in Coalinga. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Pea soup and principles
The highway stretches on, past miles of nut and fruit orchards and past fields covered with solar-energy panels before reaching the tiny outpost of Santa Nella, home of Pea Soup Andersen’s, a Scandinavian-themed truck stop that has a giant windmill spinning by the parking lot.
Rudy Recile and his wife, Sally Castillo-Recile, sit in a booth eating pea soup. He’s wearing a polo shirt with an image of the Declaration of Independence printed on it, and she’s wearing a red, white and blue T-shirt that says, “Make some sparkle.”
“I was feeling patriotic today,” Sally says with a smile.
Rudy and Sally, both 51-year-old Army veterans, live in Vacaville in Northern California. They were driving south along Interstate 5, which merges with Route 33 in this part of the state, to attend a nephew’s graduation from Army boot camp in San Diego.
“This place is awesome, and one of the reasons I love it is because it’s been here forever,” Rudy says.
But he fears that other things — like family, community and the nation’s unifying principles — may not endure.
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“Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Rudy, who preferred to describe himself as a conservative rather than identify which party he tends to vote for, says he reflects on that phrase in the Declaration of Independence every day.
He thinks it’s time for all Americans to renew their sense of shared responsibility for the country’s well-being.
“Everybody’s saying that we’re divided, that this is a bad country — but we’re all Americans,” he says. “We live in the greatest, most prosperous country in the world. Enjoy what you have.”
Emilia Gonzalez, 4, and her mother, Katelyn Anthenien, 31, near their home in Santa Nella. Behind them is Luis Romo, 48, and his dog, Beatrice. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Nearing the end
Route 33 straightens after Santa Nella as it heads north.
In the farming town of Patterson, locals were feeling pressures of their own.
California’s housing crunch has made the former “Apricot Capital of the World” both attractive to bargain-hunting outsiders from the Bay Area 80 miles west and increasingly costly for the longtime residents.
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The town’s population has doubled to about 23,000 since 2000, and encampments of the homeless have sprung up by the railroad tracks that run along Route 33.
The Democratic presidential candidates have proposed bold plans to move the low-income families and the homeless into affordable housing.
Those plans can’t materialize soon enough for Julia Medina, one of about two dozen people who built dwellings in what locals refer to as “the cages,” an unauthorized homeless encampment on a lot filled with metal-mesh storage containers next to the railroad tracks.
Medina, 62, stood with tears in her eyes at her dwelling, a container the size of a walk-in closet that was designed to transport produce and now held her clothes, cookware and a small bed where her three dogs played. Old cars, blankets and pots and pans littered the muddy area outside her shelter.
Sheriff’s deputies tried to get residents to leave because they were trespassing. Medina, who has lived in Patterson most of her life, said she had nowhere else to go.
For her, the question of how to make a life in California isn’t political. It’s deeply personal.
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The container she transformed into a living space may not be much, but in a state that’s failed to solve its homelessness crisis, and in a country with a widening gap between rich and poor, this is home.
“I don’t know how to live anywhere else,” Medina says.
A time-exposure image shows vehicles traveling south along State Route 33 north of Coalinga. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Route 33 ends near Stockton at an unremarkable tangle of highways among orchards, cow pastures and clusters of suburban townhouses that look awkwardly out of place.
Even with all the challenges that communities face along the 290 miles of Route 33 — the boom-bust cycle, fires, floods and droughts, along with poverty, not everyone is ready to give up on California.
Or the country.


latimes--2020-03-01--Jackie Lacey grew up in South L.A. But in a tough D.A.'s race, her opponents are encroaching on her

Jackie Lacey grew up in South L.A. But in a tough D.A.'s race, her opponents are encroaching on her home turf

Jackie Lacey doesn ’ t shy away from discussing her tough upbringing in South L.A. , and how those nerve-racking days helped shape the way she treats her role as L.A. County ’ s top prosecutor .
In a recent interview , Lacey recounted fearful walks to school past an apartment complex once known as The Jungle , concerned that she or her friends might be set upon by a gang member in high-crime 1970s Los Angeles .
Shortly after Lacey became a deputy district attorney , her father was shot in the Crenshaw District , supposedly after he ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He survived , but suffered a broken leg , and the crime was never solved .
“ That changed our family .
My dad didn ’ t cut the grass anymore .
We were always cautious whenever we went to visit them , ” she said .
“ If you ’ ve ever been the victim of any violent crime like that , it does have an impact on you .
You start to be fearful in places you shouldn ’ t be fearful.
” Lacey ’ s strong local ties and broad @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the county ’ s first female and first African American top prosecutor in 2012 .
Now some observers are wondering if Lacey has lost her home-field advantage as two challengers have stormed into the area hoping to pick up support by touting progressive criminal justice reform policies to the left of those backed by the more moderate district attorney .
Former San Francisco Dist .
Atty .
George Gascon and public defender Rachel Rossi have launched significant outreach efforts in South L.A. , hoping to change the minds of voters that might have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , an independent committee supporting Gascon , has promised to put $ 1 million toward a get out the vote effort in South L.A. Rossi has held a number of listening tour events in the area and personally appealed to political groups thatmight have otherwise supported Lacey , showing up in person to campaign and compete for endorsements while the incumbent sent surrogates .
“ The black and Latino vote [ in South L.A. ] is , I think , the most important vote in the county , ” said Paula Ramirez , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They are the people most affected by the criminal justice system.
” Lacey maintains that she has a “ broad base ” of support in South L.A. and again touted that she is the candidate most likely to stand up for people of color , who are disproportionately affected by violent crime .
“ I ’ ve dedicated my career to standing up for crime victims just like my father , and this fight is very personal to me as somebody who grew up in a community where inequality and crime were an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
In Leimert Park , there are those who still beam at the mention of Lacey ’ s name .
Seated inside the California Jazz & Blues Museum she founded on Degnan Boulevard , jazz vocalist Barbara Morrison recounted a time when Lacey entered the building with Mayor Eric Garcetti for a community event .
While she hasn ’ t decided whom she ’ s voting for next week , Morrison said she is likely to check a box for Lacey because of the district attorney ’ s strong ties to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of her , she seems to be a fair person .
I do know when I need to get something done , she ’ s a go-to person , ” Morrison said .
“ She ’ s a positive force in this community.
” Morrison ’ s take is one that Lacey ’ s critics , who include some of L.A. County ’ s most prominent black activists and organizations , would strongly disagree with .
Lacey ’ s refusal to bring charges in a number of controversial law enforcement use-of-force incidents has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demonstrators , who have also questioned her lack of appearances in South L.A. while in office .
Jasmyne Cannick , who led the chorus of voices criticizing Lacey ’ s handling of allegations that Democratic donor Ed Buck caused the overdose deaths of two black men , has served as communications director for Rossi ’ s campaign since late last year .
Community Coalition , a longtime South L.A.-based nonprofit , is also part of the outside committee trying to turn out voters for Gascon in the community .
While Gascon and Rossi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and shared debate stages in South L.A. and other areas in the run-up to Tuesday ’ s primary , Lacey has largely vanished from public view outside the occasional news conference at her office .
After protesters disrupted portions of a late January debate , she refused to attend future candidate forums .
Dermot Givens , a Los Angeles-based political consultant and attorney , noted that Lacey ’ s lack of outreach could be problematic , especially with Gascon and Rossi blitzing neighborhoods that might once have solidly supported her .
Some political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to that of former L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell , who was upset by Alex Villanueva in 2018 after the incumbent failed to put away his opponents during the primary .
“ She may have been born in South L.A. 50 years ago … but she ain ’ t done nothing for us after eight years in office , so why in the hell should I vote for her now ?
That ’ s the reality they ’ re facing , ” Givens said .
Lacey has amassed a blue wall of law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1.8 million in outside committee money from the unions representing rank-and-file L.A. police officers and sheriff ’ s deputies .
Givens said that kind of backing could also be a turnoff to South L.A. voters .
The unions have bought television ads deriding Gascon ’ s record in San Francisco , and a director with the Los Angeles Police Protective League has said social media advertising and direct mailers could be used in the future .
Lacey endorsements in the black community include the Los Angeles Sentinel , an African American-owned weekly ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson .
But for Lacey ’ s challengers , winning over South L.A. voters may be as much about getting them into a polling place as it is about earning their support .
A number of people approached by a Times reporter in Leimert Park , West Adams and Baldwin Village seemed fuzzy on the details of the race just days before the primary , unaware either that Lacey was up for re-election or who was running against her .
Linda Gomez , a volunteer with Imagine Justice who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ working phones for Gascon in South L.A. , said voter education has been a key part of the outreach .
“ We ’ re actually going to their doors and having those long conversations about not just Gascon , but the importance of what the D.A .
position is , ” she said .
Inside the South L.A. Cafe off Western Avenue , 30-year-old Nate Slaughter said he hadn ’ t been keeping tabs on the district attorney ’ s race but raised his eyebrows after hearing about the records of Lacey and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officers .
“ That is upsetting .
I ’ m gon na do my research , ” he said , before asking if anyone else was running .

Jackie Lacey doesn’t shy away from discussing her tough upbringing in South L.A., and how those nerve-racking days helped shape the way she treats her role as L.A. County’s top prosecutor.
In a recent interview, Lacey recounted fearful walks to school past an apartment complex once known as The Jungle, concerned that she or her friends might be set upon by a gang member in high-crime 1970s Los Angeles. Shortly after Lacey became a deputy district attorney, her father was shot in the Crenshaw District, supposedly after he’d painted over some gang graffiti. He survived, but suffered a broken leg, and the crime was never solved.
“That changed our family. My dad didn’t cut the grass anymore. We were always cautious whenever we went to visit them,” she said. “If you’ve ever been the victim of any violent crime like that, it does have an impact on you. You start to be fearful in places you shouldn’t be fearful.”
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Lacey’s strong local ties and broad support among black voters helped her become the county’s first female and first African American top prosecutor in 2012.
Now some observers are wondering if Lacey has lost her home-field advantage as two challengers have stormed into the area hoping to pick up support by touting progressive criminal justice reform policies to the left of those backed by the more moderate district attorney.
Former San Francisco Dist. Atty. George Gascon and public defender Rachel Rossi have launched significant outreach efforts in South L.A., hoping to change the minds of voters that might have once gone to Lacey.
Imagine Justice, an independent committee supporting Gascon, has promised to put $1 million toward a get out the vote effort in South L.A. Rossi has held a number of listening tour events in the area and personally appealed to political groups thatmight have otherwise supported Lacey, showing up in person to campaign and compete for endorsements while the incumbent sent surrogates.
“The black and Latino vote [in South L.A.] is, I think, the most important vote in the county,” said Paula Ramirez, Rossi’s campaign manager. “They are the people most affected by the criminal justice system.”
Lacey maintains that she has a “broad base” of support in South L.A. and again touted that she is the candidate most likely to stand up for people of color, who are disproportionately affected by violent crime.
“I’ve dedicated my career to standing up for crime victims just like my father, and this fight is very personal to me as somebody who grew up in a community where inequality and crime were an everyday fact of life,” she said.
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In Leimert Park, there are those who still beam at the mention of Lacey’s name. Seated inside the California Jazz & Blues Museum she founded on Degnan Boulevard, jazz vocalist Barbara Morrison recounted a time when Lacey entered the building with Mayor Eric Garcetti for a community event. While she hasn’t decided whom she’s voting for next week, Morrison said she is likely to check a box for Lacey because of the district attorney’s strong ties to the neighborhood.
“From what I know of her, she seems to be a fair person. I do know when I need to get something done, she’s a go-to person,” Morrison said. “She’s a positive force in this community.”
Morrison’s take is one that Lacey’s critics, who include some of L.A. County’s most prominent black activists and organizations, would strongly disagree with. Lacey’s refusal to bring charges in a number of controversial law enforcement use-of-force incidents has prompted weekly protests from Black Lives Matter demonstrators, who have also questioned her lack of appearances in South L.A. while in office.
Jasmyne Cannick, who led the chorus of voices criticizing Lacey’s handling of allegations that Democratic donor Ed Buck caused the overdose deaths of two black men, has served as communications director for Rossi’s campaign since late last year. Community Coalition, a longtime South L.A.-based nonprofit, is also part of the outside committee trying to turn out voters for Gascon in the community.
While Gascon and Rossi have held a number of public events and shared debate stages in South L.A. and other areas in the run-up to Tuesday’s primary, Lacey has largely vanished from public view outside the occasional news conference at her office. After protesters disrupted portions of a late January debate, she refused to attend future candidate forums.
Dermot Givens, a Los Angeles-based political consultant and attorney, noted that Lacey’s lack of outreach could be problematic, especially with Gascon and Rossi blitzing neighborhoods that might once have solidly supported her. Some political consultants have compared Lacey’s campaign to that of former L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell, who was upset by Alex Villanueva in 2018 after the incumbent failed to put away his opponents during the primary.
“She may have been born in South L.A. 50 years ago … but she ain’t done nothing for us after eight years in office, so why in the hell should I vote for her now? That’s the reality they’re facing,” Givens said.
Lacey has amassed a blue wall of law enforcement endorsements and financing, drawing $1.8 million in outside committee money from the unions representing rank-and-file L.A. police officers and sheriff’s deputies. Givens said that kind of backing could also be a turnoff to South L.A. voters.
The unions have bought television ads deriding Gascon’s record in San Francisco, and a director with the Los Angeles Police Protective League has said social media advertising and direct mailers could be used in the future. Lacey endorsements in the black community include the Los Angeles Sentinel, an African American-owned weekly; state Assemblyman Chris Holden; and Los Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson.
But for Lacey’s challengers, winning over South L.A. voters may be as much about getting them into a polling place as it is about earning their support. A number of people approached by a Times reporter in Leimert Park, West Adams and Baldwin Village seemed fuzzy on the details of the race just days before the primary, unaware either that Lacey was up for re-election or who was running against her.
Linda Gomez, a volunteer with Imagine Justice who’s been knocking on doors and working phones for Gascon in South L.A., said voter education has been a key part of the outreach.
“We’re actually going to their doors and having those long conversations about not just Gascon, but the importance of what the D.A. position is,” she said.
Inside the South L.A. Cafe off Western Avenue, 30-year-old Nate Slaughter said he hadn’t been keeping tabs on the district attorney’s race but raised his eyebrows after hearing about the records of Lacey and Gascon when it came to prosecuting police officers.
“That is upsetting. I’m gonna do my research,” he said, before asking if anyone else was running.


latimes--2020-03-01--First coronavirus death in U.S. heightens fears and underscores challenges for health officials

The death of a man in Washington state from the new coronavirus marks a milestone in the country ’ s fight against a disease that has already killed thousands around the world and points to the increasing likelihood of a deadly national outbreak , experts said .
For months , U.S. officials have watched nervously as cases of COVID-19 mounted in China , where the virus originated , and warned the illness could begin spreading here .
On Saturday , officials announced the nation ’ s first fatality : a man who appears to have caught the virus in his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has begun spreading locally .
“ We are facing a historic public health challenge , ” Dr. Nancy Messonnier , the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , said in a call with reporters Saturday .
“ While we still hope for the best , we continue to prepare for this virus to become more widespread in the U.S. ” In addition to 62 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. linked to travel abroad , officials have announced that eight people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appear to have contracted the virus in their communities .
An outbreak at a long-term care facility in Washington is expected to push that total higher in the coming days , officials said .
Though federal officials say the risk to the American public remains low , the latest developments raise the possibility that the virus will become entrenched in the U.S. and impossible to contain .
Closing schools and canceling events could become a public health necessity in communities where the virus takes hold , officials said .
For most people , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some who are infected do not even know they are sick .
The virus has been estimated to kill two of every 100 people who contract it , though the risk is lower for younger people and higher for the elderly , experts said .
The swift sweep of the virus , first in China and now in South Korea and Italy , raises alarm about how quickly infections could spread in the United States in the coming months .
“ I think we ’ re going to see many more deaths , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law .
“ You just have to look at the pattern of transmission in other countries and the rapid spread — going from a few cases in Korea and Iran to thousands , and then multiple thousands .
There ’ s no reason the virus is going to behave any differently in the U.S. ” Officials said Saturday that the man who died in Washington state was in his 50s and had underlying health conditions .
Officials said they do not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was admitted to EvergreenHealth Medical Center outside Seattle at the same time as at least one of the other COVID-19 patients in Washington .
Washington Gov .
Jay Inslee announced a state of emergency Saturday to respond to the outbreak .
Seattle-area officials said they would consider canceling public events if the situation worsened but asked residents meanwhile to wash their hands and stay home if they had symptoms of respiratory illness .
“ It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Our hearts go out to his family and friends .
We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus.
” In a news conference Saturday , President Trump stressed that “ there is no reason to panic ” and that the risk to the general public remains low .
At the same time , he announced new restrictions on travelers from Iran as well as additional screenings of those coming from Italy and South Korea , where there has been a jump in infections .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ countries .
Dr. Anthony Fauci , the director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases , appeared alongside Trump and agreed limiting travel was important .
He sought to reassure the public that the government is marshaling all available resources to combat the spread of the virus in the U.S. “ The country as a whole still remains at low risk , but this is an evolving situation , ” he said .
“ There will be additional cases , but we should not be surprised by that .
The challenge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The outbreak at Life Care Center , a long-term care facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland , is a major concern because of the vulnerable patients who live there , experts said .
A staff member in her 40s has been hospitalized with COVID-19 , as has a resident in her 70s who is in serious condition , said Seattle and King County public health officer Dr. Jeffrey Duchin .
Additionally , 27 residents and 25 staffers have symptoms such as pneumonia or other respiratory problems that match up with COVID-19 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 180 staffers at the facility in total , more people will probably test positive , he said .
“ We are very concerned about an outbreak in a setting where there are many older people , ” Duchin said in a call with reporters Saturday .
Duchin said a 10-member CDC team traveling to Washington on Saturday would conduct a meticulous investigation in search of the source of the coronavirus in Kirkland .
Members of the team , which may grow , will also determine who came in contact with the patients subsequently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will help identify , isolate and test Life Care residents who may be at risk , Duchin said .
Residents will remain at the facility unless they need hospitalization , he said , but will be segregated according to symptoms .
“ No mixing people who are sick with people who are not sick , ” he said .
Gostin , who is also a professor at Georgetown University , said the large numbers of cases in high-density settings in other countries suggested there would be outbreaks at places such as long-term care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it in hospitals in Korea , we ’ ve seen it in churches in Korea … in pilgrimage places in Iran ; we ’ ve seen it in prisons in China , in nursing homes … all of those places you ’ re seeing very rapid transmission , ” Gostin said .
“ You just have to look through the window.
” The rise in patients in the U.S. diagnosed with COVID-19 in recent days is probably due in part to increased testing .
Before last week , doctors were not allowed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a limited supply , for patients who did not have a history of travel to China or close contact with someone who had traveled there .
Physicians can now order tests for people who are hospitalized and very ill but have no travel history .
“ If we had the ability to test earlier , I ’ m sure we would ’ ve been able to identify patients earlier , particularly at hospitals , ” Duchin said .
Experts said the virus is most likely to start spreading in coastal hubs of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ York and Los Angeles typically receive the most passengers flying from Wuhan , China , where the outbreak began , on a daily basis .
In California , there are now three COVID-19 patients who did not recently travel outside the U.S. or come in contact with someone who did .
The state ’ s health department recently announced eight testing labs that can handle coronavirus , in Los Angeles , Orange , Ventura , San Diego , Contra Costa , Alameda , Santa Clara and Tulare counties .
Officials also announced the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal government .
The most recent California patient , announced Saturday , is a woman described as “ a household contact ” of a Santa Clara County patient who has underlying health conditions and whose diagnosis was made public Friday .
The county ’ s health department is working to identify any people the Santa Clara County woman may have come into contact with who may be at risk , officials said .
The other California patient is a woman who was hospitalized at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento and marked the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country .
The case led to 124 nurses and healthcare workers at the hospital being asked to self-quarantine , according to the California Nurses Assn .
Officials said it ’ s inevitable more test results will come back positive .
“ Definitely we will have more cases here , ” said Dr. Peter Beilenson , Sacramento County ’ s director of health services .
“ You shed virus before you are symptomatic , so it ’ s already out of the bag in a lot of ways .
It ’ s going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to spread.
” Karlamangla and Wigglesworth reported from Los Angeles , and Read from Seattle .

Soumya Karlamangla, Alex Wigglesworth, Richard Read

President Trump, surrounded by health officials, takes questions from reporters after speaking Saturday at the White House about the new strain of coronavirus.
The death of a man in Washington state from the new coronavirus marks a milestone in the country’s fight against a disease that has already killed thousands around the world and points to the increasing likelihood of a deadly national outbreak, experts said.
For months, U.S. officials have watched nervously as cases of COVID-19 mounted in China, where the virus originated, and warned the illness could begin spreading here. On Saturday, officials announced the nation’s first fatality: a man who appears to have caught the virus in his community, a sign that the virus has begun spreading locally.
“We are facing a historic public health challenge,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a call with reporters Saturday. “While we still hope for the best, we continue to prepare for this virus to become more widespread in the U.S.”
In addition to 62 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. linked to travel abroad, officials have announced that eight people, all on the West Coast, appear to have contracted the virus in their communities. An outbreak at a long-term care facility in Washington is expected to push that total higher in the coming days, officials said.
Though federal officials say the risk to the American public remains low, the latest developments raise the possibility that the virus will become entrenched in the U.S. and impossible to contain. Closing schools and canceling events could become a public health necessity in communities where the virus takes hold, officials said.
For most people, COVID-19 causes a mild sickness, and some who are infected do not even know they are sick. The virus has been estimated to kill two of every 100 people who contract it, though the risk is lower for younger people and higher for the elderly, experts said.
The swift sweep of the virus, first in China and now in South Korea and Italy, raises alarm about how quickly infections could spread in the United States in the coming months.
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“I think we’re going to see many more deaths,” said Lawrence Gostin, the director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National and Global Health Law. “You just have to look at the pattern of transmission in other countries and the rapid spread — going from a few cases in Korea and Iran to thousands, and then multiple thousands. There’s no reason the virus is going to behave any differently in the U.S.”
Officials said Saturday that the man who died in Washington state was in his 50s and had underlying health conditions. Officials said they do not know how he became ill, though he was admitted to EvergreenHealth Medical Center outside Seattle at the same time as at least one of the other COVID-19 patients in Washington.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced a state of emergency Saturday to respond to the outbreak. Seattle-area officials said they would consider canceling public events if the situation worsened but asked residents meanwhile to wash their hands and stay home if they had symptoms of respiratory illness.
“It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19,” Inslee said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to his family and friends. We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus.”
In a news conference Saturday, President Trump stressed that “there is no reason to panic” and that the risk to the general public remains low. At the same time, he announced new restrictions on travelers from Iran as well as additional screenings of those coming from Italy and South Korea, where there has been a jump in infections. He discouraged people from traveling to those countries.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, appeared alongside Trump and agreed limiting travel was important. He sought to reassure the public that the government is marshaling all available resources to combat the spread of the virus in the U.S.
“The country as a whole still remains at low risk, but this is an evolving situation,” he said. “There will be additional cases, but we should not be surprised by that. The challenge is how we deal with it.”
The outbreak at Life Care Center, a long-term care facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, is a major concern because of the vulnerable patients who live there, experts said. A staff member in her 40s has been hospitalized with COVID-19, as has a resident in her 70s who is in serious condition, said Seattle and King County public health officer Dr. Jeffrey Duchin.
Additionally, 27 residents and 25 staffers have symptoms such as pneumonia or other respiratory problems that match up with COVID-19, Duchin said. With 108 residents and 180 staffers at the facility in total, more people will probably test positive, he said.
“We are very concerned about an outbreak in a setting where there are many older people,” Duchin said in a call with reporters Saturday.
Duchin said a 10-member CDC team traveling to Washington on Saturday would conduct a meticulous investigation in search of the source of the coronavirus in Kirkland. Members of the team, which may grow, will also determine who came in contact with the patients subsequently diagnosed with the illness.
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The team will help identify, isolate and test Life Care residents who may be at risk, Duchin said. Residents will remain at the facility unless they need hospitalization, he said, but will be segregated according to symptoms. “No mixing people who are sick with people who are not sick,” he said.
Gostin, who is also a professor at Georgetown University, said the large numbers of cases in high-density settings in other countries suggested there would be outbreaks at places such as long-term care facilities.
“We’ve seen it in hospitals in Korea, we’ve seen it in churches in Korea … in pilgrimage places in Iran; we’ve seen it in prisons in China, in nursing homes … all of those places you’re seeing very rapid transmission,” Gostin said. “You just have to look through the window.”
The rise in patients in the U.S. diagnosed with COVID-19 in recent days is probably due in part to increased testing. Before last week, doctors were not allowed to order the tests, of which there is a limited supply, for patients who did not have a history of travel to China or close contact with someone who had traveled there. Physicians can now order tests for people who are hospitalized and very ill but have no travel history.
“If we had the ability to test earlier, I’m sure we would’ve been able to identify patients earlier, particularly at hospitals,” Duchin said.
Experts said the virus is most likely to start spreading in coastal hubs of international travel. San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles typically receive the most passengers flying from Wuhan, China, where the outbreak began, on a daily basis.
In California, there are now three COVID-19 patients who did not recently travel outside the U.S. or come in contact with someone who did. The state’s health department recently announced eight testing labs that can handle coronavirus, in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Diego, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara and Tulare counties. Officials also announced the arrival of 1,200 testing kits from the federal government.
The most recent California patient, announced Saturday, is a woman described as “a household contact” of a Santa Clara County patient who has underlying health conditions and whose diagnosis was made public Friday. The county’s health department is working to identify any people the Santa Clara County woman may have come into contact with who may be at risk, officials said.
The other California patient is a woman who was hospitalized at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento and marked the first announced case of community spread in the country. The case led to 124 nurses and healthcare workers at the hospital being asked to self-quarantine, according to the California Nurses Assn.
Officials said it’s inevitable more test results will come back positive.
“Definitely we will have more cases here,” said Dr. Peter Beilenson, Sacramento County’s director of health services. “You shed virus before you are symptomatic, so it’s already out of the bag in a lot of ways. It’s going to spread, it’s just going to spread.”
Karlamangla and Wigglesworth reported from Los Angeles, and Read from Seattle.


latimes--2020-03-01--Could the coronavirus hit California's homeless population? Health officials are worried

When a Solano County woman came down with a suspected viral infection and needed treatment , doctors chose to take her to one of the busiest hospitals in Sacramento , not realizing she would become the first person in the nation to be diagnosed with the novel coronavirus without a known cause .
The hospital , UC Davis Medical Center , has an emergency room that ’ s often filled with homeless patients , their immune systems battered from living in encampments along the capital city ’ s riverbanks and sidewalks .
The potential for an outbreak among that unsheltered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California — is beginning to concern some public health officials as the coronavirus spreads .
On Thursday , a student at UC Davis ’ main campus , about 30 miles from the hospital , was isolated after exhibiting mild symptoms of the virus .
On Friday , a second case of unknown origin was diagnosed in Santa Clara County .
And on Saturday , a man died of the coronavirus in Washington state , the first fatality in the U.S. “ I was thinking about it when I was in the … shower @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said Peter Beilenson , director of health services for Sacramento County , where preparations for a potential local outbreak began almost immediately after the Solano County woman was diagnosed .
“ We ’ ve been checking on the schools and on the nursing homes and on healthcare facilities , etc.
, and so I was thinking , ‘ What about the homeless ?
’ ” Beilenson and others said homeless people present unique risks and challenges for outbreaks of infectious diseases .
Though the number of coronavirus cases remains at only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , homeless people , in particular , for multiple reasons could be vulnerable to both a quick spread of the illness and to more severe cases .
People living outdoors often do so in close quarters and lack the ability to maintain basic hygiene , including precautions such as hand washing .
They may also face more danger from serious infection because of existing illnesses or frequent use of drugs or alcohol — factors with the potential to make a case of COVID-19 more severe .
Some homeless people also move often , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ treatment and potentially increasing the spread of the virus if they are carriers .
“ Unfortunately , we know that people living in crowded , unsanitary conditions are at increased risk for a variety of infectious diseases , ” said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner , professor of medicine and public health at UCLA .
“ This is definitely a population … with other chronic medical conditions , so should they acquire coronavirus , they are potentially at risk for more serious complications.
” With an unprecedented number of people living on the streets of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in urban areas , coronavirus has created a situation unlike that of previous outbreaks of communicable disease .
And that has led to an uncertain scenario in which planning is happening as the outbreak evolves and public health officials are dealing with the possible complexities of managing a pandemic in the middle of a homelessness crisis .
At the state level , however , the Department of Public Health has indicated that it does not see the homeless population as particular point of concern as of now .
“ Persons experiencing homelessness are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for COVID-19 related to international travel or exposure to recent travelers , ” the agency said Friday in a statement to The Times .
Jessica Lin , a researcher with the Georgetown Center for Global Health Science and Security who has worked with homeless people , said that if the coronavirus reaches homeless people , it would present a potentially fast-moving hazard — both to those living in encampments and to outreach workers , nearby residents and health providers .
Preparing for that contingency could help mitigate it , she said , if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ symptoms .
Not doing so , Lin said , “ puts all of them at risk.
” “ Maybe right now [ homeless people ] are not interacting with people who have traveled ... but once it spreads to the general or local population , it will be a concern , ” she added .
Some counties are being proactive about the health of their unsheltered residents by reaching out to homeless people to tell them about the coronavirus and screen them for infection .
In Sacramento , Beilenson said homeless outreach workers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ series of health questions in an attempt to identify people who might have COVID-19 .
But the plan was abandoned when it became clear that too many people had symptoms associated with many forms of illness , not just the coronavirus .
“ So many people are coughing and having other symptoms that could be anything , ” Beilenson said .
Still , he said , the county plans on being aggressive by bringing homeless residents who appear to be seriously ill into treatment centers that will be prepared to handle patients who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ concern if the virus reaches homeless people is where patients could be isolated to stem a wider outbreak .
“ If or when it spreads to that population , how do we find places to quarantine a population that we don ’ t now have space for in many cases ?
” Lin asked .
So far , public health officials in Solano and Sacramento counties are relying largely on home-based quarantines for those who may have been exposed .
Beilenson said the plan in Sacramento is to use a local motel if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shelters “ are not set up for that.
” In the past , motels have been used in suspected cases of tuberculosis .
In Los Angeles , the Department of Public Health planned to meet with homeless service providers and hold a briefing with the managers of shelters and other interim housing to discuss strategies for reducing the transmission of the virus and managing a quarantine if it becomes necessary .
And in San Francisco , homeless people are “ among the priority populations ” that have been deemed especially vulnerable to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ department , which declared an emergency this week , although it has not yet seen any local cases .
That declaration means “ the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing is now part of the city ’ s Emergency Operations Center and is actively involved in planning and preparation for the population of people experiencing homelessness , ” county officials said in a statement .
Beilenson said he believed the virus is nearly certain to hit more people in the general community .
“ It ’ s going to spread , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more cases here.
” Klausner , the UCLA doctor , said he believed it would be useful to be more proactive about giving flu shots to homeless people .
The flu , he pointed out , is much more prevelant than COVID-19 , and preventing those cases in the homeless community has the dual benefit of improving overall health and keeping flu cases out of emergency rooms .
“ On a day-to-day basis , they are at a much greater risk for influenza , ” he said .
But few doubt the overall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Last year , there was an outbreak of typhus in the squalor near skid row .
In other places , including San Diego , homeless residents have seen cases of hepatitis A , and Klausner said homeless people in Santa Monica recently had a few cases of trench fever , which is transmitted by body lice .
“ We are a confined community , ” said Edward Linwood , who lives in a single-occupancy hotel near skid row and added that many nearby neighbors are elderly or disabled .
“ If one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to spread ... Everything that has affected L.A. comes here .
”

A video monitor inside the Medical Health and Coordination Center at the California Department of Public Health in Sacramento shows the number of coronavirus COVID-19 cases around the world as of Thursday.
When a Solano County woman came down with a suspected viral infection and needed treatment, doctors chose to take her to one of the busiest hospitals in Sacramento, not realizing she would become the first person in the nation to be diagnosed with the novel coronavirus without a known cause.
The hospital, UC Davis Medical Center, has an emergency room that’s often filled with homeless patients, their immune systems battered from living in encampments along the capital city’s riverbanks and sidewalks.
The potential for an outbreak among that unsheltered population — both in Sacramento and across California — is beginning to concern some public health officials as the coronavirus spreads.
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On Thursday, a student at UC Davis’ main campus, about 30 miles from the hospital, was isolated after exhibiting mild symptoms of the virus. On Friday, a second case of unknown origin was diagnosed in Santa Clara County. And on Saturday, a man died of the coronavirus in Washington state, the first fatality in the U.S.
“I was thinking about it when I was in the … shower [on Thursday] morning, literally,” said Peter Beilenson, director of health services for Sacramento County, where preparations for a potential local outbreak began almost immediately after the Solano County woman was diagnosed. “We’ve been checking on the schools and on the nursing homes and on healthcare facilities, etc., and so I was thinking, ‘What about the homeless?’”
Beilenson and others said homeless people present unique risks and challenges for outbreaks of infectious diseases. Though the number of coronavirus cases remains at only a few dozen in the United States, homeless people, in particular, for multiple reasons could be vulnerable to both a quick spread of the illness and to more severe cases.
People living outdoors often do so in close quarters and lack the ability to maintain basic hygiene, including precautions such as hand washing. They may also face more danger from serious infection because of existing illnesses or frequent use of drugs or alcohol — factors with the potential to make a case of COVID-19 more severe.
Some homeless people also move often, making them both hard to reach for treatment and potentially increasing the spread of the virus if they are carriers.
“Unfortunately, we know that people living in crowded, unsanitary conditions are at increased risk for a variety of infectious diseases,” said Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, professor of medicine and public health at UCLA. “This is definitely a population … with other chronic medical conditions, so should they acquire coronavirus, they are potentially at risk for more serious complications.”
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With an unprecedented number of people living on the streets of California, and large encampments now common in urban areas, coronavirus has created a situation unlike that of previous outbreaks of communicable disease.
And that has led to an uncertain scenario in which planning is happening as the outbreak evolves and public health officials are dealing with the possible complexities of managing a pandemic in the middle of a homelessness crisis.
At the state level, however, the Department of Public Health has indicated that it does not see the homeless population as particular point of concern as of now.
“Persons experiencing homelessness are not likely to have any particular risk for COVID-19 related to international travel or exposure to recent travelers,” the agency said Friday in a statement to The Times.
Jessica Lin, a researcher with the Georgetown Center for Global Health Science and Security who has worked with homeless people, said that if the coronavirus reaches homeless people, it would present a potentially fast-moving hazard — both to those living in encampments and to outreach workers, nearby residents and health providers.
Preparing for that contingency could help mitigate it, she said, if only by training front-line providers to recognize symptoms.
Not doing so, Lin said, “puts all of them at risk.”
“Maybe right now [homeless people] are not interacting with people who have traveled ... but once it spreads to the general or local population, it will be a concern,” she added.
Some counties are being proactive about the health of their unsheltered residents by reaching out to homeless people to tell them about the coronavirus and screen them for infection.
In Sacramento, Beilenson said homeless outreach workers were told last week to ask a series of health questions in an attempt to identify people who might have COVID-19. But the plan was abandoned when it became clear that too many people had symptoms associated with many forms of illness, not just the coronavirus.
“So many people are coughing and having other symptoms that could be anything,” Beilenson said.
Still, he said, the county plans on being aggressive by bringing homeless residents who appear to be seriously ill into treatment centers that will be prepared to handle patients who might be contagious.
One point of concern if the virus reaches homeless people is where patients could be isolated to stem a wider outbreak.
“If or when it spreads to that population, how do we find places to quarantine a population that we don’t now have space for in many cases?” Lin asked.
So far, public health officials in Solano and Sacramento counties are relying largely on home-based quarantines for those who may have been exposed.
Beilenson said the plan in Sacramento is to use a local motel if homeless people need to be isolated because shelters “are not set up for that.” In the past, motels have been used in suspected cases of tuberculosis.
In Los Angeles, the Department of Public Health planned to meet with homeless service providers and hold a briefing with the managers of shelters and other interim housing to discuss strategies for reducing the transmission of the virus and managing a quarantine if it becomes necessary.
And in San Francisco, homeless people are “among the priority populations” that have been deemed especially vulnerable to the coronavirus, according to the county health department, which declared an emergency this week, although it has not yet seen any local cases.
That declaration means “the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing is now part of the city’s Emergency Operations Center and is actively involved in planning and preparation for the population of people experiencing homelessness,” county officials said in a statement.
Beilenson said he believed the virus is nearly certain to hit more people in the general community.
“It’s going to spread,” said Beilenson. “Definitely we will have more cases here.”
Klausner, the UCLA doctor, said he believed it would be useful to be more proactive about giving flu shots to homeless people. The flu, he pointed out, is much more prevelant than COVID-19, and preventing those cases in the homeless community has the dual benefit of improving overall health and keeping flu cases out of emergency rooms.
“On a day-to-day basis, they are at a much greater risk for influenza,” he said.
But few doubt the overall vulnerability of California’s homeless population. Last year, there was an outbreak of typhus in the squalor near skid row. In other places, including San Diego, homeless residents have seen cases of hepatitis A, and Klausner said homeless people in Santa Monica recently had a few cases of trench fever, which is transmitted by body lice.
“We are a confined community,” said Edward Linwood, who lives in a single-occupancy hotel near skid row and added that many nearby neighbors are elderly or disabled. “If one person gets it, it’s going to spread ... Everything that has affected L.A. comes here.”
Times staff writer Gale Holland contributed to this report.