latimes--2020-04-24--Former FBI agent charged with pocketing bribes from organized crime figure

An organized crime figure paid an FBI agent $ 10,000 a month in exchange for sensitive law enforcement information , according to a court documents charging the agent , Babak Broumand , in a conspiracy to bribe a public official .
Broumand was arrested Friday at a market near his home in Lafayette , according to Laura Eimiller , a spokeswoman for the FBI .
He retired in January 2019 , one month after agents served search warrants at his home and businesses .
Broumand worked at the bureau for 20 years , most recently in national security investigations .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the bars of luxurious Beverly Hills hotels , Broumand rubbed shoulders with organized crime figures and their corrupt associates in law enforcement , according to a 40-page affidavit signed by FBI special agent Michael Torbic .
In September 2014 , at the Grand Havana cigar lounge in Beverly Hills , Broumand met a lawyer who noticed the agent had expensive tastes .
Seeing Broumand was wearing a gold Rolex and sported a Gucci belt , the lawyer later told investigators he saw “ an opportunity to recruit ” the agent , the affidavit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t named in the affidavit , is described as an associate of Lev Aslan Dermen , a petroleum magnate convicted last month of conspiring to plunder a half-billion dollars in renewable energy credits from the U.S. Treasury .
The lawyer is cooperating with investigators in hopes of receiving leniency for his crimes , which include bank fraud , making false statements and bribing two federal agents , according to Torbic ’ s affidavit .
His relationship with Broumand turned corrupt in 2015 , when he talked with the agent about his salary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ do something on the side , ” the affidavit said .
In exchange for $ 10,000 a month , paid in $ 100 bills , Broumand queried the lawyer ’ s name and others in secret law enforcement databases , which can disclose subjects of investigations conducted by the FBI and other agencies , the affidavit said .
This story will be updated .

In smoky, members-only cigar lounges and the bars of luxurious Beverly Hills hotels, Babak Broumand rubbed shoulders with organized crime figures and their corrupt associates in law enforcement, according to a 40-page affidavit signed by FBI Special Agent Michael Torbic.
An organized crime figure paid an FBI agent $10,000 a month in exchange for sensitive law enforcement information, according to court documents charging the agent, Babak Broumand, in a conspiracy to bribe a public official.
Broumand was arrested Friday at a market near his home in Lafayette, according to Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI. He retired in January 2019, one month after agents served search warrants at his home and businesses. Broumand worked at the bureau for 20 years, most recently in national security investigations for the FBI’s San Francisco field office. It couldn’t be determined Friday if he’d retained a lawyer.
In smoky, members-only cigar lounges and the bars of luxurious Beverly Hills hotels, Broumand rubbed shoulders with organized crime figures and their corrupt associates in law enforcement, according to a 40-page affidavit signed by FBI special agent Michael Torbic.
In September 2014, at the Grand Havana cigar lounge in Beverly Hills, Broumand met a lawyer who noticed the agent had expensive tastes. Seeing Broumand sporting a gold Rolex and a Gucci belt, the lawyer later told investigators he saw “an opportunity to recruit” the agent, the affidavit said.
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The lawyer, who wasn’t named in the affidavit, is described as an associate of Lev Aslan Dermen, a petroleum magnate convicted last month of conspiring to plunder a half-billion dollars in renewable energy credits from the U.S. Treasury. The lawyer is cooperating with investigators in hopes of receiving leniency for his crimes, which include bank fraud, making false statements and bribing two federal agents, according to Torbic’s affidavit.
His relationship with Broumand turned corrupt in 2015, when he talked with the agent about his salary and asked if he was willing to “do something on the side,” the affidavit said. In exchange for $10,000 a month, paid in $100 bills, Broumand queried the lawyer’s name and others in secret law enforcement databases, which can disclose subjects of investigations conducted by the FBI and other agencies, the affidavit said.
In addition to this monthly retainer, the lawyer told investigators he also purchased for Broumand the services of an escort and feted him in Las Vegas, which they flew to by private jet. In all, Broumand accepted bribes and perquisites worth more than $200,000, according to investigators.
“While these are disturbing allegations, we found no evidence to suggest this went beyond an isolated incident,” Paul Delacourt, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said in a statement. “The agents who investigated this case did so with professionalism and objectivity.”
The lawyer told investigators he leveraged Broumand’s position as an FBI agent in incidents both trivial and with national security implications.
Pulled over in 2016, he told a Burbank police officer his black Escalade had no license plates because it was a law enforcement vehicle and flashed Broumand’s parking placard. He used the placard to park at a red curb outside his office, he told investigators.
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The lawyer also asked Broumand to vet a member of the Qatari royal family, for whom he was planning to purchase a Lamborghini, a Porsche and opioid pain medications, according to the affidavit. The lawyer said he wanted to be sure the royal — unnamed in the affidavit — wasn’t involved in terrorism and terrorist financing. After Broumand reported the royal was “okay,” the lawyer bought the agent a Ducati motorcycle, helmet and accessories for about $36,000, the affidavit said.
Broumand told the lawyer an FBI source was working with a Libyan general, who was trying to launder $1 billion to $2 billion in funds taken from Libya, according to the affidavit. Torbic, the affidavit’s author, said he has reviewed FBI reports showing a source told Broumand that Moammar Kadafi, the late leader of Libya, had directed $2.5 billion to be smuggled out of the country before the Arab Spring.
Broumand wanted to use the lawyer’s private jet for the operation and siphon some money off for themselves, the lawyer told investigators. After the FBI decided against the operation, which it deemed too risky, Broumand told the lawyer they could pull it off themselves with the jet and some armed security, the lawyer told investigators. In the end, the agent decided such a mission was too dangerous, the affidavit said.
In 2015, the lawyer arranged a meeting between Broumand and Dermen at the Ten Pound Bar in the Montage Beverly Hills hotel, the affidavit said. He had previously asked the agent to query Dermen’s name in law enforcement databases.
Dermen, previously named Levon Termendzhyan, has been investigated by an array of law enforcement agencies for decades, but until the guilty verdict last month in his tax fraud case, he had never been convicted of a felony.
The lawyer later told investigators Dermen was “intimidated” that he’d corrupted an FBI agent, because despite Dermen’s history of suborning law enforcement officers, he “did not have a FBI special agent on his payroll.”
Mark Geragos, who has represented Dermen for more than a decade, said federal prosecutors had withheld information in Torbic’s affidavit throughout his client’s two-month trial in the federal courthouse in Salt Lake City.
“It’s clear that the Main Justice lawyers were playing hide the ball,” Geragos said, referring the the Department of Justice, which dispatched attorneys specializing in tax crimes to prosecute Dermen. “All of this was kept from me, and Levon Termendzhyan is going to get a new trial.”
Dermen was close with two law enforcement figures: John Saro Balian, a former Glendale narcotics detective, and Felix Cisneros Jr., a former Homeland Security Investigations agent. Both were convicted of public corruption charges and sentenced to 21 months and 12 months, respectively, in federal prison.
In 2016, Broumand queried an FBI database for Cisneros, who was under investigation at the time for helping Dermen’s business partner travel illegally between the United States and Mexico, the affidavit said.
Broumand told the case agent, Brian Adkins, he’d run into Cisneros at a party at the Grand Havana cigar lounge for the lawyer, who was celebrating his admission to the California bar. He told Adkins he’d queried Cisneros in the database out of a “sixth sense,” but Akins was suspicious.
After this encounter, the affidavit said, Cisneros turned cold toward Santiago Garcia Gutierrez, a business partner of Dermen’s and confidential human source for the FBI, who was secretly recording his conversations with the Homeland Security agent. In subsequent meetings with Garcia Gutierrez, Cisneros used counter-surveillance tactics and made “false exculpatory statements,” as if he knew he was being recorded, the affidavit said.
After the party at the cigar lounge, Broumand told the lawyer he could no longer collect cash payments because he was “in trouble with the FBI,” the affidavit said.


latimes--2020-04-24--National Guard sent to Los Angeles-area nursing homes in battle to slow coronavirus outbreaks

Medical teams from the California National Guard have been dispatched to five nursing homes in Los Angeles County , bolstering staff and resources in facilities that are especially hard-hit by coronavirus outbreaks .
It ’ s part of a larger effort by state and local officials to slow the spread of coronavirus in nursing homes , which have been particularly hard hit .
In Los Angeles County alone , 40 % of the more than 800 deaths have been at these facilities .
The teams arrived at nursing homes earlier this week , and the sites include Pasadena Meadows Nursing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Television Country House in Woodland Hills , as well as nursing homes in Hollywood , Gardena and El Monte , according to Lt. Col. Jonathan Shiroma , public affairs director for the California National Guard .
Each support team includes about five military medics , an administrative sergeant , and a physicians assistant or licensed nurse .
“ They ’ ll augment the current staff at the respective skilled nursing facility , ” said Shiroma , adding that the teams will remain on-site as long as they are needed .
Barbara Ferrer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Friday that the deployment came in response to a request from the county Department of Public Health that the state help with staffing at nursing homes .
“ As we ’ ve identified staff that are sick or staff that are positive with COVID-19 , they need to stay out of the workplace for an extended period of time , and in places where there are outbreaks , that can mean there are dozens of employees that are appropriately not coming to work , ” Ferrer said .
“ So we do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where we ’ ve had significant outbreaks.
” Gov .
Gavin Newsom said Friday that the National Guard would “ help support the efforts to isolate , conduct tests and to make sure that we ’ re sharing best practices and protocols within the system.
” The National Guard ’ s assistance comes as health authorities have renewed their focus on nursing homes and assisted living facilities in L.A. and across the state .
“ In terms of the vulnerable populations , the first priority has to be the skilled nursing facilities , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ services director for L.A. County .
“ That ’ s where the majority of the outbreaks have occurred.
” On Friday , Ferrer announced a new order that requires all congregate living facilities , including nursing homes , to limit entry to employees only and to end all communal dining .
Staff will be required to wear surgical masks and personal protective equipment , and residents will also be required to wear surgical masks or a cloth face covering .
Congregate living facilities will also be required to test both asymptomatic and symptomatic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s become really clear that asymptomatic people are in fact , both infected with the virus and capable of shedding the virus , and that means they ’ re capable of infecting others , ” Ferrer said .
“ So in places where we have a lot of vulnerable people who reside — and that ’ s our nursing homes , all of our long-term care facilities — it ’ s really important to acknowledge ... this new reality .
”

Matt Hamilton, Alex Wigglesworth, John Myers, Melanie Mason

National Guard Sgt. Joseph Schlitz enters the Hollywood Premier Healthcare Center, which has seen 25 coronavirus cases among staff and 29 among residents.
For weeks, public health officials have struggled to slow the deadly spread of coronavirus through nursing homes.
At one facility in Tulare County, 15 have now died. The death toll has reached 18 at a Yucaipa nursing home, 14 at a Pasadena facility and 17 at a convalescent hospital in Bell. And nursing homes account for an increasing share of deaths in Los Angeles County: more than 40% of the 851 who have died countywide.
On Friday, state and local officials announced new measures aimed at tackling the surging fatality rate through more aggressive regulations and help from the California National Guard, which will go into nursing homes to boost staffing levels.
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Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the county’s public health director, touted an order that expands testing to both symptomatic and asymptomatic staff and residents, bans visitors, suspends communal dining, and requires staff and residents alike to wear protective equipment. The moves are designed to get a better sense of how many people inside the homes have contracted the novel coronavirus and to limit access to outsiders who could either bring in the virus or acquire it themselves.
The deployment of California National Guard teams is aimed at bolstering staff, as more and more healthcare workers become infected, are scared to come to work, or are sidelined by self-isolation.
So far, the National Guard had only been dispatched to five nursing homes in L.A. County with plans to deploy to four more, but it was a potent symbol of how unprecedented the pandemic has become for long-term care institutions, and the depth of the challenges they face.
“As we’ve identified staff that are sick or staff that are positive with COVID-19, they need to stay out of the workplace for an extended period of time, and in places where there are outbreaks, that can mean there are dozens of employees that are appropriately not coming to work,” said Ferrer, whose office requested the help.
The actions underscore how much nursing facilities have become the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in California and across the nation.
“In terms of the vulnerable populations, the first priority has to be the skilled nursing facilities,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, health services director for L.A. County. “That’s where the majority of the outbreaks have occurred.”
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Molly Davies, who runs L.A. County’s ombudsman program, which investigates concerns in long-term care, said she had received complaints about lack of staffing but also heard directly from facilities about their needs.
“We have general staffing shortages. Some who are sick and need to quarantine. Some who are scared to come in,” Davies said. “It’s nice to have this other option.”
The announcement of the National Guard conjured images of a convoy of armed soldiers descending on homes for the elderly and infirm. Advocates said there was no indication that the National Guard was imposing its presence in facilities; the military force’s aid was accepted on a voluntary basis.
Lt. Col. Jonathan Shiroma, public affairs director for the state National Guard, said typically teams of eight people, including five medics, a nurse and an administrative sergeant, arrive to help with basic nursing needs.
“They’ll augment the current staff at the respective skilled nursing facility,” said Shiroma, adding that the teams will remain onsite as long as they are needed.
The teams started assisting nursing homes earlier this week. The sites include Pasadena Meadows Nursing Center in Pasadena, where 18 residents have tested positive for the coronavirus and one person died, as well as the Motion Picture and Television Country House in Woodland Hills, where five residents have died and nine staff and 17 residents tested positive, according to county data.
The criteria for deployment remained unclear. For example, Eastland Subacute and Rehabilitation Center, a 139-bed facility in El Monte, received National Guard help. However, Liz Tyler, a spokeswoman for the facility, said no residents or staff had tested positive for COVID-19. Tyler contended there was no shortage of staff, the minimum staffing requirements were met, and she said Eastland’s actual staff was not being diverted to other facilities with pressing needs.
“The National Guard is helpful and extra hands are always appreciated,” said Tyler. “But this wasn’t a crisis spot.”
Neither the state nor county health departments responded to questions about why Eastland received National Guard assistance.
Maj. Chris Scott, medical operations director for the California National Guard’s skilled nursing teams, said his teams were still assessing each facility and working with the leadership and directors at each site to develop accurate information and data.
“There could be tests that are coming back today and tomorrow, and those things are in flux right now,” Scott said.
1 / 83 Socially distanced bikers and walkers, against a backdrop of the Queen Mary, make their way along pedestrian and beach bike path on the first day that Long Beach reopened the path on Monday May 11, 2020. The city of Long Beach eased a few of its public health restrictions, allowing under certain guidelines the reopening of pedestrian and beach bike paths, tennis centers and courts. Beach bathrooms are also reopening, but the parking lots and beaches still remain closed. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times) 2 / 83 Traffic remains light on the southbound 110 Freeway headed toward downtown Los Angeles on April 28. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 83 Dominique Barrett, center, known as “King Vader” to his 2.4 million TikTok followers, prepares to shoot a video on April 30 in Glendora. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 83 Cody Purcell of Redondo Beach rides a wave, glowing from the bioluminescence, in Hermosa Beach, CA, after midnight Friday morning, May 8. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times) 5 / 83 Friends play spikeball, a game perfect for social distancing on an open but restricted San Buenaventura State Beach. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 83 The majority of golfers are wearing masks while hitting balls on the driving range at Van Buren Executive Golf Course in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 83 Beaches including Harbor Cove Beach were open but beachgoers were not supposed to be sitting on the sand. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 83 Tango instructor Yelizaveta Nersesova leads a Zoom tango event from her Los Angeles home April 27 that brought together hundreds of dancers from around the world. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 83 Grocery store workers, joined by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 770 representatives and community members, hold a rally in support of strict social distancing on May 1 at a Ralphs store in Hollywood where 19 employees have tested positive for COVID-19. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 83 Mostly masked commuters keep their distance from one another on a Metro bus in downtown Los Angeles on April 29. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) 11 / 83 Gregory Kuhl, 69, heads home after a shopping trip in Hollywood on April 28. Big cracks in the street, cars parked in driveways blocking sidewalks and uneven pavement levels make navigating his route difficult. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) 12 / 83 Tenants and their supporters from across Los Angeles gather at city hall to call on L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, the L.A. City Council and California Gov. Gavin Newsom to cancel rent and mortgage payments during the COVID-19 crisis. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 13 / 83 Aerial view of over 100 vehicles lined up at the West Valley COVID-19 testing center at Warner Center in Woodland Hills. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 14 / 83 Senior Mason Wise, left, helps his sister, Mackenzie, a sophomore, clean out her PE locker at El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills. School officials were allowing no more than five students at a time on campus to take home their belongings. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 15 / 83 Shuttered storefront businesses in the garment district of Los Angeles. California’s unemployment rate has skyrocketed since the statewide coronavirus shutdown took effect. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 83 Healthcare workers celebrate as Claudia Martinez is discharged from the ICU after she recovered from COVID-19 at Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 83 Carson residents Kaeli Burks, 3, left, and her cousin Bailey Watson, 5, look out the window of their car after their mothers helped them with self-testing at a new drive-up testing site for COVID-19 in Carson. Free COVID-19 testing is available to all city residents thanks to a partnership between the city and US Health Fairs. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 83 Norm and Tracy Kahn enjoy eating dinner outside on a small cafe table sitting in blue chairs on their side yard during the coronavirus pandemic on April 27 in Riverside. “During this pandemic, eating outside offers us an opportunity to change surrounding and appreciate the calmness of being outdoors among trees, scents from nature and the sounds of birds,” she said. Also adding, “Mixing up where we eat puts variety into our days and takes away the sameness of feeling trapped at home.” (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 83 Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center nurses carry supplies outside the hospital. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 83 Tom Sean Foley pauses on a walk with his kids, Cathelen Claire, “C.C.,” 3, and Timothy Joseph, 4, to take a photo in front of the “Love Wall,” mural by artist Curtis Kulig, outside of Smashbox Studios in Culver City. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 83 Protesters stand along Mission Blvd. in Pacific Beach during A Day of Liberty rally on April 26. The protesters were against the government shutdown due to the coronavirus. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune) 22 / 83 People make orders at a food truck along Shoreline Avenue in Long Beach. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 83 Medical staff, wearing protective gear, work inside a COVID-19 isolation area inside the emergency department at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, where patients with the virus are being treated. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 24 / 83 Neighbors practice social distancing while enjoying the nice weather near The Strand in Hermosa Beach. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) 25 / 83 Counter-protesters attend a protest to call on state and local officials to reopen the economy in downtown Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) 26 / 83 A group of protesters cheer on cars during a vehicle caravan protest to call on state and local officials to reopen the economy in downtown Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) 27 / 83 Cedar Mountain Post Acute Rehabilitation staff member Navi Cavaltera waters a flower pot put up by the community to show their support for the nursing staff of the facility in Yucaipa. Eighteen of 20 coronavirus-related deaths in Yucaipa were residents of the skilled nursing facility. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 28 / 83 A pedestrian wearing a protective mask passes a mural on a store on Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 29 / 83 Jonte Florence, a freestyle dancer, does a handstand on a mostly empty Hollywood Walk of Fame. Florence said he normally performs for hundreds of tourists along the busy street. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 83 The Tyrannosaurus rex overlooking the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue wears a protective mask while practicing social distancing. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 31 / 83 Businesses are shuttered and pedestrians are few and far between on Hollywood Boulevard. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 32 / 83 Daniel Rogerson wears a vintage military gas mask while riding a bike along the beach path in Santa Monica, which is closed to enforce social distancing because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 83 A face mask seller in colorful dress appears to be part of a mural behind a bus stop on Soto Street in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 34 / 83 Life around Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard and Soto Street has slowed down as California officials extended stay-at-home orders into May and residents entered Easter weekend with unprecedented limits on their movements. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 35 / 83 UC Irvine Medical Center health care workers return their gratitude as about 25 Orange County first responder vehicles participate in a drive-by parade of gratitude as they battle COVID-19 at the hospital. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 36 / 83 Billy Budd, 55, of Hollywood, walks along Hollywood Boulevard with a protective face covering. Budd is a scenic artist for movies and television who is currently out of work due to the coronavirus outbreak. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 37 / 83 Stuart Reyes and his sister, Stephanie, sell masks for $5 each on the 3000 block of West Century Boulevard in Inglewood. Stuart Reyes said he is selling masks to support his mother. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 38 / 83 A jogger runs on a closed trail past dozens of pieces of caution tape, torn off by hikers and mountain bikers at El Escorpion Canyon Park in West Hills. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 39 / 83 Alex Herron and nurse Mercy Pineda at a blood drive sponsored by USC athletics and the American Red Cross at USC’s Galen Center. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 40 / 83 Los Angeles City Hall displays blue lights to show support for healthcare workers and first responders. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 41 / 83 After being indoors for several days because of rainy weather and coronavirus stay-at-home orders, Olivia Jacobs, 4, and her mom, Cia Jacobs, enjoy a warm and sunny afternoon making chalk drawings on the sidewalk in front of their home in West Hills. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 42 / 83 An Oceanview Plaza security guard sports a whimsical mask while on patrol. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 43 / 83 Jacob De Wilde, left, and Lesli Lytle load a car with food during a food distribution organized to mark Good Friday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 44 / 83 As a late season storm continues to make its way across the Southland, a young basketball player dribbles along an alley through an Elysian Park neighborhood in Los Angeles. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) 45 / 83 People are silhouetted in a window of an apartment building in Hollywood, where a stay-at-home order remains in effect to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 46 / 83 The Wilshire Grand Center display blue lights and a heart to show support for healthcare workers and first responders. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 47 / 83 Women wear masks as they stroll along Highland Avenue in Hollywood. Wearing masks while outdoors is mandatory in the city of Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 48 / 83 Patients are removed from Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center after 39 tested positive for the coronavirus and nursing staff was not showing up to work. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 49 / 83 A specimen is turned in at the new mobile testing site for people with symptoms of the coronavirus at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in South Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) 50 / 83 Hippie Kitchen in Los Angeles hands out food, water and toiletries to homeless people and residents of skid row. Additionally, masks were offered to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) 51 / 83 Nurses pose for a fun photo during a break in drive-through public testing for the coronavirus at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 52 / 83 A woman shows a notice from her doctor that allows her to obtain a test for coronavirus at a new drive-up testing site in a parking lot at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 53 / 83 A person who wishes to remain anonymous strikes from her car to support McDonald’s employees who are demanding the company cover healthcare costs of any worker or immediate family member who gets sick from COVID-19 in Los Angeles. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times) 54 / 83 Cassidy Roosen, with Beach Cities Health District, holds up a sign that says, “We’re All in This Together,” while waiting to direct cars at a drive-through, appointment-only coronavirus testing location at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 55 / 83 Juliann Hartman, center, and her husband, Butch, wave signs they created to cheer up people on Calabasas Road in Calabasas during the pandemic. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 56 / 83 Grace Carter, 15, of Riverside, practices a dance routine at home after dance classes and school were canceled. She has to use the Zoom app on her iPhone to practice with her dance group. “It’s hard,” she said. “My bedroom is a smaller space. I miss all my friends at the studio.” (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 57 / 83 A man works from his home in Long Beach. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) 58 / 83 A San Bernardino County healthcare worker takes a sample at a coronavirus drive-through testing site at the county fairgrounds in Victorville. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 59 / 83 A Metro general service employee disinfects a bench in Boyle Heights. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 60 / 83 A runner jogs past the Pottery Barn in Pasadena. Some businesses in the area have boarded up their stores. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 61 / 83 Raquel Lezama and daughter Monica Ramos collect meals for their family at Manual Arts High School. Lezama was laid off from her $17.76-an-hour job at a Beverly Hills hotel. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 62 / 83 The Iron City Tavern in San Pedro tries an incentive to lure takeout customers. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 63 / 83 Healthcare workers gather outside UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center to call for further action from the federal government in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) 64 / 83 Kristen Edgerle, of Victorville, collects information from a blood donor before drawing blood at The Richard Nixon Presidential Library blood drive during the coronavirus pandemic in Yorba Linda. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) 65 / 83 Shauna Jin, of Los Angeles, with her dog, Bodhi, practices social distancing with John Kiss, of Los Angeles, at the entrance of Runyon Canyon Park in Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 66 / 83 A lending library had some additional useful items, including a roll of toilet paper and cans of beans and corn, in a Hermosa Beach neighborhood. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) 67 / 83 Protesters drive by the Getty House, the home of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, in Hancock Park. Tenant advocates are demanding a total moratorium on evictions during the coronavirus crisis. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 68 / 83 Venice residents Emily Berry and Gavin Kelley take a break at Venice Beach. Berry, a cocktail waitress at Enterprise Fish Co., lost her job due to the coronavirus outbreak. Kelley, a manager at a performing arts school with a focus on music, said that he still has a job and that classes at the school will resume online this coming Monday. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 69 / 83 The JW Marriott at L.A. Live is sharing a message of hope with red lights in 34 windows, creating a 19-story display on the hotel’s north side. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) 70 / 83 Juan Diaz Jr., a lifelong Dodgers fan, prays that the season will start by May in front of Dodger Stadium on what would have been opening day. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 71 / 83 Hayley, CEO and founder of Love My Neighbor Foundation, right, dances with Crystal Armster, 51, while she and her colleagues continue to feed the homeless on skid row amid the pandemic. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 72 / 83 A masked passenger on a Metro bus in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 73 / 83 Dede Oneal waits for a coronavirus test at the Crenshaw Christian Center in South Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 74 / 83 A man in a mask passes a closed restaurant along Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 75 / 83 Artist Corie Mattie paints a mural on the side of a pop-up store as a man takes a picture in West Hollywood. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 76 / 83 Medical assistant Zoila Villalta works with Rosie Boston, 32, of Glendale, who is donating blood for her first time at L.A. Care Health Plan downtown. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) 77 / 83 A couple wait for a bus outside the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) 78 / 83 With all Los Angeles schools closed until further notice, LAUSD buses sit idle in Gardena. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 79 / 83 A lone traveler makes his way to catch a flight in Tom Bradley International Terminal. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) 80 / 83 Denise Young looks on as her daughter, Allison, 9, a fourth-grader at EARThS (Environmental Academy of Research Technology and Earth Sciences) Magnet School in Newbury Park, receives a Chromebook. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 81 / 83 Hollywood Boulevard is devoid of the usual crowds. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) 82 / 83 Michael Ray, 11, plays before a movie at the Paramount Drive-In. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 83 / 83 Isabella Leader, 15, counts how many flags have been left for World War II veteran Lt. Col. Sam Sachs who was celebrating his 105th birthday at the Mom & Dad’s House, an assisted living facility, in Lakewood. Lt. Col. Sachs appealed to the public for birthday cards after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of a big celebration and wound up receiving thousands, including a letter and photo from President Trump. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday that the National Guard was deployed “to help support the efforts to isolate, conduct tests and to make sure that we’re sharing best practices and protocols within the system, particularly for those sites that we identify as more acute, in need.”
Newsom said sites were identified through the state’s admittedly “old-fashioned” method of data collection: “daily check-in calls” to California’s 1,224 skilled nursing facilities.
The governor focused on the statewide effort to reinforce homes, including hiring 600 nurses and contracting temporary staffing agencies to handle case surges.
In Los Angeles County, the number of coronavirus cases in nursing homes and other institutional settings soared to 3,847 residents and 1,492 staff at 293 facilities, said Ferrer, the health director. The rise coincides with an increase in testing in those facilities, leading to infections identified among asymptomatic people.
Ferrer said that the number of asymptomatic cases among staff and residents was a wake-up call. In an order issued Friday, nursing homes and assisted living centers will have expanded testing of residents and staff, but the frequency would be determined for each facility by working with the county health department.
“It’s become really clear that asymptomatic people are in fact, both infected with the virus and capable of shedding the virus, and that means they’re capable of infecting others,” Ferrer said. “So in places where we have a lot of vulnerable people who reside — and that’s our nursing homes, all of our long-term care facilities — it’s really important to acknowledge ... this new reality.”
The new health order also required congregate living facilities, including nursing homes, to limit entry to employees only. Staff will be required to wear surgical masks and personal protective equipment, and residents will also be required to wear surgical masks or a cloth face covering.
A few hours after Ferrer’s order, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced “a companion emergency order” that will require the mandatory offering of monthly COVID-19 tests for residents, employees and contractors at the city’s 80 skilled nursing facilities.
Garcetti said he could mandate facilities to offer tests, but had no authority to actually force residents or workers to be tested.
Times staff writers Andrew Campa and Richard Winton contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-04-24--This is what it will take for L.A. County to lift stay-at-home orders, officials say

Los Angeles County officials are developing a plan to slowly ease stay-at-home orders , but four key benchmarks must first be met in the battle against the coronavirus .
“ We don ’ t want to undo all the good we ’ ve done and accomplished so far , ” Supervisor Kathryn Barger said Friday .
“ We are not yet on the other side of this pandemic and we don ’ t want to prematurely ease restrictions.
” She said that the county will first need to make sure that its hospitals maintain capacity to treat both people who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needs .
That includes ensuring the hospitals are adequately staffed , have enough resources to perform testing , and have a sufficient number of ventilators and other medical supplies to handle routine care as well as possible influxes of COVID-19 patients .
Second , the county will need to make sure that protections are in place for those who are most vulnerable , including the elderly , homeless people and those who live in institutional settings or don ’ t have access to services .
Third , the county must have the capacity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those who are ill , as well as to conduct surveillance to prevent further spread .
And fourth , the county must maintain physical distancing and infection control measures , including by providing businesses with educational materials and guidance to ensure that the rules can be followed when they reopen .
“ Ultimately , we want to make sure that as many people return to work as safely and as quickly as possible , ” Barger said .
“ If we meet the guidelines I shared , we can prevent or limit the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ distancing measures.
” The guidelines are similar to those outlined by top state officials .
Gov .
Gavin Newsom said this week that most of the six milestones he set to consider loosening the stay-home order he issued last month have not been met .
The only change the governor has made is to allow some elective surgeries to again be scheduled in hospitals , citing sufficient capacity .
The six goals include the ability to closely monitor and track potential cases , prevent infection of high-risk people , prepare hospitals to handle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ensure schools , businesses and child-care facilities can support social distancing , and develop guidelines for when to ask Californians to stay home again if necessary .
Experts have said lifting social distancing rules will be a long and deliberate process , with some businesses coming back before others .
For example , restaurants might be able to reopen with strict social distancing , but big events would be harder to restart anytime soon .
Some California communities have pressed Newsom to ease restrictions in areas where the coronavirus has not appeared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has resisted .
COVID-19 remains a serious and growing health threat and loosening his statewide order prematurely could lead to a second wave of infections and fatalities , he said .
On Friday , Barbara Ferrer , director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health , said repeatedly that the beaches must remain closed to prevent an overflow of visitors who might be carrying the potentially deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus .
She has asked L.A. residents not to crowd beaches in other counties .
“ We have high rates of illness and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who are dying .
We know it ’ s best right now for us Angelenos to stay home , or stay outside [ in ] your own yard or your own neighborhood , ” Ferrer told the media Wednesday .
To do otherwise , she said , would increase the risk of bringing the infection to L.A. “ And we absolutely don ’ t need that .
”

People sit on a hill overlooking Dodger Stadium on what was supposed to be Major League Baseball’s opening day, postponed due to the coronavirus, on March 26 in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles County officials are developing a plan to slowly ease stay-at-home orders, but four key benchmarks must first be met in the battle against the coronavirus.
“We don’t want to undo all the good we’ve done and accomplished so far,” Supervisor Kathryn Barger said Friday. “We are not yet on the other side of this pandemic and we don’t want to prematurely ease restrictions.”
She said that the county will first need to make sure that its hospitals maintain capacity to treat both people who are sick and those with standard medical needs. That includes ensuring the hospitals are adequately staffed, have enough resources to perform testing, and have a sufficient number of ventilators and other medical supplies to handle routine care as well as possible influxes of COVID-19 patients.
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Second, the county will need to make sure that protections are in place for those who are most vulnerable, including the elderly, homeless people and those who live in institutional settings or don’t have access to services.
Third, the county must have the capacity to test, isolate and quarantine all those who are ill, as well as to conduct surveillance to prevent further spread.
And fourth, the county must maintain physical distancing and infection control measures, including by providing businesses with educational materials and guidance to ensure that the rules can be followed when they reopen.
“Ultimately, we want to make sure that as many people return to work as safely and as quickly as possible,” Barger said. “If we meet the guidelines I shared, we can prevent or limit the spread of COVID-19 when we loosen physical distancing measures.”
The guidelines are similar to those outlined by top state officials.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom said this week that most of the six milestones he set to consider loosening the stay-home order he issued last month have not been met. The only change the governor has made is to allow some elective surgeries to again be scheduled in hospitals, citing sufficient capacity.
The six goals include the ability to closely monitor and track potential cases, prevent infection of high-risk people, prepare hospitals to handle surges, develop therapies to meet demand, ensure schools, businesses and child-care facilities can support social distancing, and develop guidelines for when to ask Californians to stay home again if necessary.
Experts have said lifting social distancing rules will be a long and deliberate process, with some businesses coming back before others. For example, restaurants might be able to reopen with strict social distancing, but big events would be harder to restart anytime soon.
Some California communities have pressed Newsom to ease restrictions in areas where the coronavirus has not appeared to spread dramatically.
But the governor has resisted. COVID-19 remains a serious and growing health threat and loosening his statewide order prematurely could lead to a second wave of infections and fatalities, he said.
On Friday, Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said repeatedly that the beaches must remain closed to prevent an overflow of visitors who might be carrying the potentially deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus. She has asked L.A. residents not to crowd beaches in other counties.
“We have high rates of illness and a lot of people in our county who are dying. We know it’s best right now for us Angelenos to stay home, or stay outside [in] your own yard or your own neighborhood,” Ferrer told the media Wednesday. To do otherwise, she said, would increase the risk of bringing the infection to L.A. “And we absolutely don’t need that.”


latimes--2020-04-24--Chicano Park 50 years later: Coronavirus delays celebration but historic moment still matters

A college student watched as construction crews and machinery descended on a parched piece of land beneath the enormous highway pillars of a freeway intersection in Barrio Logan , or Logan Heights , the historical heart of the Mexican American community in San Diego .
The workers had been sent to lay down a parking lot for a future substation of the California Highway Patrol .
But the neighborhood had already suffered a double bifurcation , first , by the construction of the 5 Freeway and then by the completion of the swooping Coronado Bridge in 1969 .
An estimated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or destroyed .
Barrio Logan , cut in half , then halved again , was now riddled with junkyards .
For the student , Mario Solis , the sight of construction machinery hit like a cruel insult .
The community had long been promised a park , not a CHP station .
He headed straight to the classroom of a Chicano studies course at San Diego City College and sounded the alarm .
Word spread and on that day , April 22 , 1970 , locals collectively descended onto the land under the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their own park — Chicano Park — without permission .
“ The next step was really fast — everything started going just like that , ” recalls Logan Heights native Josie Talamantez , snapping her fingers , in the 1988 documentary “ Chicano Park ” by Red Bird Films .
She was in the classroom when Solis — later dubbed “ the Paul Revere of Chicano Park ” — just burst in .
“ We came down , came into the park , we made human chains around the tractors.
” The students @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 12 days , clearing the ground and planting flowers and nopales until the city agreed to buy the land from the state and build a park .
Fifty years later , the incident remains one of the most impactful yet frequently overlooked episodes in the history of social struggles in Southern California , the state and perhaps nationally .
Chicano Park became a locus for mural artists , part of the renaissance of Chicano and resistance murals of the 1960s , ’ 70s and ’ 80s .
Soon , all the freeway pillars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history of the local people to Baja California and Mexico ’ s northern states , and deeper , to the founding of the Aztec Empire , reflecting the cultural flurry that accompanied the ethnic nationalism movements of the period .
“ It was literally a left-over space , a throwaway space , and the community took it , ” said Alexandro Gradilla , associate professor of Chicana/o studies at Cal State Fullerton and a San Diego native .
And now , “ The community has literally fused with that space.
” On Saturday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Southwest were expected to descend upon Chicano Park once more for the annual Chicano Park Day .
This year ’ s 50th observance was going to be the biggest ever , drawing bands , vendors , dance troupes and lowrider vehicles , as well as the scents of BBQ wafting from the neighborhood streets .
But the coronavirus pandemic has halted the anniversary celebration .
The festival will be postponed , according to a statement by the Chicano Park Steering Committee , although a new date has not yet been set .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the dedicated adherents of old-school Chicano culture who gather there : the fist-raising Brown Berets , the danzantes , the cholos , the lowriders , the veteranos and veteranas who rep that distinct barrio style of Pendleton shirts , derby hats , classic tattoos and a smooth dose of attitude .
“ Chicano Park reminds us that if we gather together and we fight for something , it is possible for us to win , ” said artist Soni López-Chávez of the local La Bodega Gallery .
“ Everyone was super excited @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not be able to gather as one is really sad .
It ’ s crushing.
” The San Diego tradition , held on the weekend nearest to April 22 , had increasingly drawn visitors from L.A. , Orange County and the Inland Empire .
For now , artists and surviving activists from the era are still finding creative ways to honor the heritage of Chicano Park on its golden anniversary .
The Steering Committee all week organized live online screenings and history sessions .
On Wednesday , the anniversary of the founding , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their descendants gathered , wearing masks and adhering to social distancing guidelines , to re-raise their founding flag .
“ I can feel them here , people who were here with us for the takeover of this land , for Chicano Park , ” said Tomasa “ Tommie ” Camarillo , the committee chair , of Wednesday ’ s flag-raising .
“ I know they ’ re watching us with these big ole smiles , saying , ‘ See ?
I knew you guys wouldn ’ t give up , you guys would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ And hopefully every generation will be the same.
” Chicano Park ’ s 50-year celebration is crowded into an eventful anniversary year in resistance and environmental justice history .
On the same day that the park ’ s occupation began , Earth Day was declared , largely in response to the devastation of the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill .
On Aug. 29 , the Chicano Moratorium would end in the law-enforcement melee and shootings that led to the death of trailblazing L.A. Times journalist Ruben Salazar .
Over time , Chicano @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by local , state and federal preservation authorities , culminating in a prestigious National Historic Landmark designation in January 2017 .
Enrique Morones , a longtime San Diego border activist and organizer , said he ’ s been going to Chicano Park since high school .
To honor the 50th anniversary , he is hosting interviews with veteran members of the founding generation on a podcast , “ .
” This week ’ s episode featured founding member Rigo Reyes .
“ A lot of people are leaving us now , their age @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ So it ’ s very important to record their history.
” Other longtime attendees are honoring the park in their own ways .
La Bodega Gallery ’ s López-Chávez created a that she ’ s been distributing through Instagram .
Local artist is putting together a visual history book of Chicano Park Day memories .
Online , friends have been sending messages of honor and affection to the Chicano Park community from near and sometimes very far .
“ I wish I was there , I wanted to have my 2nd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t come true , ” wrote one user on the park ’ s general Facebook page .
“ Much love from Far East Side , Japan.
” Yet there are signs of strain on the community from the wave of attention , or inattention .
The murals have faced bouts of deterioration and neglect .
In more recent years , far-right provocateurs have tried to spark confrontations at Chicano Park Day .
And now a looming threat is the gentrification of Logan Heights .
La Bodega , for example , had to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rent increase .
“ We ’ ve seen a lot of residents be kicked out or businesses closed because rent was raised , ” López-Chávez said .
The formation of Chicano Park also is considered a precursor to many of the community-led actions over green space and garden land in Latino urban centers that followed .
Yvette Lopez-Ledesma , an L.A. native , experienced planner and advocate for green space in the San Fernando Valley , spent much of her childhood and teen years in San Diego County , where her parents still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the park in terms of the standard for equity that it set for environmental justice movements that reverberate today .
“ It still warms my heart to see how that park is really by the community and for the community , and it hasn ’ t been easy , ” Lopez-Ledesma said .
“ Anything dealing with land in this country is a struggle , especially when you have the pressures of displacement and gentrification.
” She said her mother would go to Logan Heights ’ Our Lady of Guadalupe Church because it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Angeles .
In recent years , Lopez-Ledesma and other L.A. residents said they ’ ve noticed more people from the Los Angeles metro region taking time to visit or honor Chicano Park .
It may become even more of a draw with the forthcoming opening of a Chicano Park Museum .
“ Latinos [ are ] finding more spaces to put their voices out there , ” Lopez-Ledesma said .
“ There ’ s this kind of reclaiming and resurgence , or Chicano culture coming back up , feeling proud.
” A YouTube @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Park ” is available available here .
Listen to the classic song by legendary locals Ramon “ Chunky ” Sanchez and Ricardo Sanchez , a.k.a .
Los Alacranes , telling the Chicano Park story in song .

A college student watched as construction crews and machinery descended on a parched piece of land beneath the enormous highway pillars of a freeway intersection in Barrio Logan, or Logan Heights, the historical heart of the Mexican American community in San Diego. The workers had been sent to lay down a parking lot for a future substation of the California Highway Patrol.
But the neighborhood had already suffered a double bifurcation, first, by the construction of the 5 Freeway and then by the completion of the swooping Coronado Bridge in 1969. An estimated 5,000 homes or businesses had been razed or destroyed. Barrio Logan, cut in half, then halved again, was now riddled with junkyards.
For the student, Mario Solis, the sight of construction machinery hit like a cruel insult. The community had long been promised a park, not a CHP station. He headed straight to the classroom of a Chicano studies course at San Diego City College and sounded the alarm. Word spread and on that day, April 22, 1970, locals collectively descended onto the land under the intersection, raised a flag and instituted their own park — Chicano Park — without permission.
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“The next step was really fast — everything started going just like that,” recalls Logan Heights native Josie Talamantez, snapping her fingers, in the 1988 documentary “Chicano Park” by Red Bird Films. She was in the classroom when Solis — later dubbed “the Paul Revere of Chicano Park” — just burst in. “We came down, came into the park, we made human chains around the tractors.”
The students and community members occupied the site for 12 days, clearing the ground and planting flowers and nopales until the city agreed to buy the land from the state and build a park.
Fifty years later, the incident remains one of the most impactful yet frequently overlooked episodes in the history of social struggles in Southern California, the state and perhaps nationally.
Chicano Park became a locus for mural artists, part of the renaissance of Chicano and resistance murals of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. Soon, all the freeway pillars were adorned with artwork that traced the history of the local people to Baja California and Mexico’s northern states, and deeper, to the founding of the Aztec Empire, reflecting the cultural flurry that accompanied the ethnic nationalism movements of the period.
Behind Joel Castillo of Ventura County is the mural titled “Colossus,” by Mario Torero, Mano Lima and Laurie Manzano. To the right is a mural titled “Indian Dancer,” and a second named “Tree of Life.” (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“It was literally a left-over space, a throwaway space, and the community took it,” said Alexandro Gradilla, associate professor of Chicana/o studies at Cal State Fullerton and a San Diego native. And now, “The community has literally fused with that space.”
Advertisement
On Saturday, Mexican Americans from across the U.S. Southwest were expected to descend upon Chicano Park once more for the annual Chicano Park Day. This year’s 50th observance was going to be the biggest ever, drawing bands, vendors, dance troupes and lowrider vehicles, as well as the scents of BBQ wafting from the neighborhood streets.
But the coronavirus pandemic has halted the anniversary celebration.
The festival will be postponed, according to a statement by the Chicano Park Steering Committee, although a new date has not yet been set.
The temporary cancellation has been a gut punch to the dedicated adherents of old-school Chicano culture who gather there: the fist-raising Brown Berets, the danzantes, the cholos, the lowriders, the veteranos and veteranas who rep that distinct barrio style of Pendleton shirts, derby hats, classic tattoos and a smooth dose of attitude.
“Chicano Park reminds us that if we gather together and we fight for something, it is possible for us to win,” said artist Soni López-Chávez of the local La Bodega Gallery. “Everyone was super excited to celebrate, and for us to not be able to gather as one is really sad. It’s crushing.”
A mural on a freeway pillar at Chicano Park. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
The San Diego tradition, held on the weekend nearest to April 22, had increasingly drawn visitors from L.A., Orange County and the Inland Empire. For now, artists and surviving activists from the era are still finding creative ways to honor the heritage of Chicano Park on its golden anniversary.
The Steering Committee all week organized live online screenings and history sessions. On Wednesday, the anniversary of the founding, surviving members of the original band and their descendants gathered, wearing masks and adhering to social distancing guidelines, to re-raise their founding flag.
“I can feel them here, people who were here with us for the takeover of this land, for Chicano Park,” said Tomasa “Tommie” Camarillo, the committee chair, in a video of Wednesday’s flag-raising. “I know they’re watching us with these big ole smiles, saying, ‘See? I knew you guys wouldn’t give up, you guys would stay there and finish what we started.’ And hopefully every generation will be the same.”
Chicano Park’s 50-year celebration is crowded into an eventful anniversary year in resistance and environmental justice history. On the same day that the park’s occupation began, Earth Day was declared, largely in response to the devastation of the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. On Aug. 29, the Chicano Moratorium would end in the law-enforcement melee and shootings that led to the death of trailblazing L.A. Times journalist Ruben Salazar.
Over time, Chicano Park was acknowledged for its historical importance by local, state and federal preservation authorities, culminating in a prestigious National Historic Landmark designation in January 2017.
A painting by Grossmont College students of an early concept for a mural at Chicano Park. (Courtesy of Victor Ochoa / San Diego Union Tribune)
Enrique Morones, a longtime San Diego border activist and organizer, said he’s been going to Chicano Park since high school. To honor the 50th anniversary, he is hosting interviews with veteran members of the founding generation on a podcast, “ Buen Hombre/Magnificent Mujer .” This week’s episode featured founding member Rigo Reyes.
“A lot of people are leaving us now, their age and so forth,” Morones said. “So it’s very important to record their history.”
Other longtime attendees are honoring the park in their own ways. La Bodega Gallery’s López-Chávez created a Chicano Park coloring sheet that she’s been distributing through Instagram. Local artist Bob Dominguez is putting together a visual history book of Chicano Park Day memories.
Online, friends have been sending messages of honor and affection to the Chicano Park community from near and sometimes very far. “I wish I was there, I wanted to have my 2nd trip to Califas, but it couldn’t come true,” wrote one user on the park’s general Facebook page. “Much love from Far East Side, Japan.”
Yet there are signs of strain on the community from the wave of attention, or inattention. The murals have faced bouts of deterioration and neglect. In more recent years, far-right provocateurs have tried to spark confrontations at Chicano Park Day. And now a looming threat is the gentrification of Logan Heights. La Bodega, for example, had to close and change locations due to a rent increase. “We’ve seen a lot of residents be kicked out or businesses closed because rent was raised,” López-Chávez said.
The formation of Chicano Park also is considered a precursor to many of the community-led actions over green space and garden land in Latino urban centers that followed. Yvette Lopez-Ledesma, an L.A. native, experienced planner and advocate for green space in the San Fernando Valley, spent much of her childhood and teen years in San Diego County, where her parents still live.
Our Lady of Guadalupe parish members with Father John Authur in 2019 during the annual Palm Sunday celebration held at Chicano Park in Barrio Logan. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / San Diego Union-Tribune)
She described the significance of the park in terms of the standard for equity that it set for environmental justice movements that reverberate today.
“It still warms my heart to see how that park is really by the community and for the community, and it hasn’t been easy,” Lopez-Ledesma said. “Anything dealing with land in this country is a struggle, especially when you have the pressures of displacement and gentrification.”
She said her mother would go to Logan Heights’ Our Lady of Guadalupe Church because it reminded her of her home in Los Angeles. In recent years, Lopez-Ledesma and other L.A. residents said they’ve noticed more people from the Los Angeles metro region taking time to visit or honor Chicano Park. It may become even more of a draw with the forthcoming opening of a Chicano Park Museum.
“Latinos [are] finding more spaces to put their voices out there,” Lopez-Ledesma said. “There’s this kind of reclaiming and resurgence, or Chicano culture coming back up, feeling proud.”
MORE ON CHICANO PARK
A YouTube post of the 1988 documentary “Chicano Park” is available available here.
Listen to the classic song by legendary locals Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez and Ricardo Sanchez, a.k.a. Los Alacranes, telling the Chicano Park story in song.


latimes--2020-04-24--Here is the latest list of Orange County communities with coronavirus cases

Orange County health officials on Friday announced 33 new coronavirus-related cases , bringing the total to 1,845 .
Officials did @ @ @ @ @ fatalities , which stand at 36 .
The Orange County Healthy Agency reported 150 hospitalizations @ @ @ @ @ in intensive care .
Countywide , 22,083 tests have been administered to date , with @ @ @ @ @ Friday , according to the agency .
Note : The “ other ” category includes @ @ @ @ @ are preliminary and subject to change as the county receives new information .

Orange County sheriff’s deputies wear protective masks as they keep an eye on a Laguna Woods protest on April 4.
Orange County health officials on Friday announced 33 new coronavirus-related cases, bringing the total to 1,845.
Officials did not report any additional COVID-19-related fatalities, which stand at 36.
The Orange County Healthy Agency reported 150 hospitalizations, with 63 of those in intensive care.
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Countywide, 22,083 tests have been administered to date, with 1,267 new tests reported on Friday, according to the agency.
Age breakdown of cases
0-17 — 33
18-24 — 144
25-34 — 300
35-44 — 266
45-64 — 717
65+ — 384
Age breakdown of deaths
25-34 — 2
35-44 — 2
45-64 — 11
65+ — 21
Cases by community
Aliso Viejo — 17
Anaheim — 247
Brea — 19
Buena Park — 69
Costa Mesa — 33
Coto de Caza — 5
Cypress — 39
Dana Point — 18
Fountain Valley — 25
Fullerton — 60
Garden Grove — 75
Huntington Beach — 162
Irvine — 120
La Habra — 42
La Palma — 12
Ladera Ranch — 10
Laguna Beach — 36
Laguna Hills — 17
Laguna Niguel — 32
Laguna Woods — 8
Lake Forest — 26
Los Alamitos — 9
Mission Viejo — 39
Newport Beach — 91
Orange — 68
Placentia — 44
Rancho Mission Viejo — 6
Rancho Santa Margarita — 14
San Clemente — 43
San Juan Capistrano — 22
Santa Ana — 211
Seal Beach — 10
Stanton — 16
Trabuco Canyon — 10
Tustin — 34
Villa Park — 6
Westminster — 32
Yorba Linda — 44
Other — 6
Unknown — 68
Note: The “other” category includes unincorporated areas. Daily updates are preliminary and subject to change as the county receives new information.


latimes--2020-04-24--Here's when stay-at-home orders are expiring in each of California's 58 counties

While all Californians are currently living under a statewide stay-at-home order implemented in response to the coronavirus outbreak , some counties have also crafted additional or more-targeted local regulations aimed at stemming the disease ’ s spread .
The county-level orders vary , as do their expiration dates .
Some of the measures are in place until a specified date , others until further notice .
Generally , local health officials can issue guidance that ’ s stricter , but not more lenient , than the state ’ s .
As COVID-19 continues to spread in California , some communities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and allow residents to resume some semblance of pre-pandemic activity .
Others , though , warn that relaxing too many restrictions too quickly could lead to a spike in infections .
Here ’ s the latest information for how long stay-at-home orders are currently in effect for each of California ’ s 58 counties : Alameda County : In effect through May 3 .
Alpine County : Unspecified .
The county is exploring “ a phased rational relaxation of the physical distancing measures , which we have taken based on data , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and “ will have more definitive information and decisions in the coming weeks.
” Butte County : The county ’ s Public Health Department is following the state ’ s stay-at-home order , which does not have a set end date .
Calaveras County : Unspecified .
The stay-at-home order will remain in place until the state ’ s “ is rescinded , unless it is extended , terminated or modified ” by the county health officer before then .
Colusa County : In effect through May 8 .
Contra Costa County : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Norte County : Unspecified .
The county public health officer has directed “ all citizens , organizations and establishments [ to ] follow orders and guidance related to COVID-19 as established by federal government and state of California public health authorities.
” Fresno County : The county Department of Public Health ’ s website references the state order , which does not have a set end date .
The city of Fresno has its own order , which is in effect through May 6 .
Glenn County : The county is following the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a set end date .
Kern County : In effect until further notice .
Kings County : In effect until further notice .
Lake County : A recently modified order is in effect through June 1 .
Lassen County : The county COVID-19 website references the state order , which does not have a set end date .
Los Angeles County : The county ’ s “ Safer at Home ” order will be in place through at least May 15 .
Madera County : The county is following the state order , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ date .
Marin County : In effect through May 3 .
Mariposa County : The county is following the state order , which does not have a set end date .
Mendocino County : A recently revised order is in effect until May 10 .
Merced County : In effect until it is rescinded , superseded or amended .
Modoc County : The county ’ s COVID-19 website links to the state order , which does not have a set end date .
Mono County : The county is following the state order @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end date .
Monterey County : In effect through May 3 .
Napa County : A recently revised order is in effect until otherwise amended or rescinded .
Orange County : The county is following the state order , which does not have a set end date .
Placer County : In effect through May 1 .
Plumas County : The county is following the state order , which does not have a set end date .
Sacramento County : In effect through May 1 .
San Benito County : In effect until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effect through May 3 .
San Luis Obispo County : In effect until May 16 .
San Mateo County : In effect through May 3 .
Santa Barbara County : In place until further notice .
Santa Clara County : In effect through May 3 .
Santa Cruz County : In effect until May 3 .
Shasta County : The county is following the state order , which does not have a set end date .
Sierra County : The county is following the state order , which does not have a set @ @ @ @ @ @ @ county is following the state order , which does not have a set end date .
Sonoma County : In effect through May 3 .
Sutter County : In effect through May 3 .
Tehama County : The county is following the state order , which does not have a set end date .
Trinity County : The county is following the state order , which does not have a set end date .
Tulare County : The county is following the state order , which does not have a set end date @ @ @ @ @ @ @ following the state order , which does not have a set end date .
Ventura County : The county ’ s “ stay well at home ” order was recently revised and is in effect through May 15 .
Yolo County : In place through May 1 .
Yuba County : In effect through May 3 .

Isabella Leader, 15, counts how many flags have been left for World War II veteran Lt. Col. Sam Sachs who was celebrating his 105th birthday at the Mom & Dad’s House, an assisted living facility, in Lakewood. Lt. Col. Sachs appealed to the public for birthday cards after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of a big celebration and wound up receiving thousands, including a letter and photo from President Trump. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Denise Young looks on as her daughter, Allison, 9, a fourth-grader at EARThS (Environmental Academy of Research Technology and Earth Sciences) Magnet School in Newbury Park, receives a Chromebook. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
A lone traveler makes his way to catch a flight in Tom Bradley International Terminal. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
With all Los Angeles schools closed until further notice, LAUSD buses sit idle in Gardena. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
A couple wait for a bus outside the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Medical assistant Zoila Villalta works with Rosie Boston, 32, of Glendale, who is donating blood for her first time at L.A. Care Health Plan downtown. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Artist Corie Mattie paints a mural on the side of a pop-up store as a man takes a picture in West Hollywood. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Dede Oneal waits for a coronavirus test at the Crenshaw Christian Center in South Los Angeles. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Hayley, CEO and founder of Love My Neighbor Foundation, right, dances with Crystal Armster, 51, while she and her colleagues continue to feed the homeless on skid row amid the pandemic. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Juan Diaz Jr., a lifelong Dodgers fan, prays that the season will start by May in front of Dodger Stadium on what would have been opening day. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
The JW Marriott at L.A. Live is sharing a message of hope with red lights in 34 windows, creating a 19-story display on the hotel’s north side. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Venice residents Emily Berry and Gavin Kelley take a break at Venice Beach. Berry, a cocktail waitress at Enterprise Fish Co., lost her job due to the coronavirus outbreak. Kelley, a manager at a performing arts school with a focus on music, said that he still has a job and that classes at the school will resume online this coming Monday. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Protesters drive by the Getty House, the home of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, in Hancock Park. Tenant advocates are demanding a total moratorium on evictions during the coronavirus crisis. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
A lending library had some additional useful items, including a roll of toilet paper and cans of beans and corn, in a Hermosa Beach neighborhood. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Shauna Jin, of Los Angeles, with her dog, Bodhi, practices social distancing with John Kiss, of Los Angeles, at the entrance of Runyon Canyon Park in Los Angeles. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Kristen Edgerle, of Victorville, collects information from a blood donor before drawing blood at The Richard Nixon Presidential Library blood drive during the coronavirus pandemic in Yorba Linda. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Healthcare workers gather outside UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center to call for further action from the federal government in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Iron City Tavern in San Pedro tries an incentive to lure takeout customers. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Raquel Lezama and daughter Monica Ramos collect meals for their family at Manual Arts High School. Lezama was laid off from her $17.76-an-hour job at a Beverly Hills hotel. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
A runner jogs past the Pottery Barn in Pasadena. Some businesses in the area have boarded up their stores. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
A San Bernardino County healthcare worker takes a sample at a coronavirus drive-through testing site at the county fairgrounds in Victorville. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Grace Carter, 15, of Riverside, practices a dance routine at home after dance classes and school were canceled. She has to use the Zoom app on her iPhone to practice with her dance group. “It’s hard,” she said. “My bedroom is a smaller space. I miss all my friends at the studio.” (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Juliann Hartman, center, and her husband, Butch, wave signs they created to cheer up people on Calabasas Road in Calabasas during the pandemic. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Cassidy Roosen, with Beach Cities Health District, holds up a sign that says, “We’re All in This Together,” while waiting to direct cars at a drive-through, appointment-only coronavirus testing location at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
A person who wishes to remain anonymous strikes from her car to support McDonald’s employees who are demanding the company cover healthcare costs of any worker or immediate family member who gets sick from COVID-19 in Los Angeles. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
A woman shows a notice from her doctor that allows her to obtain a test for coronavirus at a new drive-up testing site in a parking lot at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Nurses pose for a fun photo during a break in drive-through public testing for the coronavirus at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Hippie Kitchen in Los Angeles hands out food, water and toiletries to homeless people and residents of skid row. Additionally, masks were offered to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
A specimen is turned in at the new mobile testing site for people with symptoms of the coronavirus at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in South Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Patients are removed from Magnolia Rehabilitation and Nursing Center after 39 tested positive for the coronavirus and nursing staff was not showing up to work. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Women wear masks as they stroll along Highland Avenue in Hollywood. Wearing masks while outdoors is mandatory in the city of Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
The Wilshire Grand Center display blue lights and a heart to show support for healthcare workers and first responders. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
People are silhouetted in a window of an apartment building in Hollywood, where a stay-at-home order remains in effect to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
As a late season storm continues to make its way across the Southland, a young basketball player dribbles along an alley through an Elysian Park neighborhood in Los Angeles. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Jacob De Wilde, left, and Lesli Lytle load a car with food during a food distribution organized to mark Good Friday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
After being indoors for several days because of rainy weather and coronavirus stay-at-home orders, Olivia Jacobs, 4, and her mom, Cia Jacobs, enjoy a warm and sunny afternoon making chalk drawings on the sidewalk in front of their home in West Hills. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles City Hall displays blue lights to show support for healthcare workers and first responders. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)
Alex Herron and nurse Mercy Pineda at a blood drive sponsored by USC athletics and the American Red Cross at USC’s Galen Center. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
A jogger runs on a closed trail past dozens of pieces of caution tape, torn off by hikers and mountain bikers at El Escorpion Canyon Park in West Hills. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Stuart Reyes and his sister, Stephanie, sell masks for $5 each on the 3000 block of West Century Boulevard in Inglewood. Stuart Reyes said he is selling masks to support his mother. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Billy Budd, 55, of Hollywood, walks along Hollywood Boulevard with a protective face covering. Budd is a scenic artist for movies and television who is currently out of work due to the coronavirus outbreak. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
UC Irvine Medical Center health care workers return their gratitude as about 25 Orange County first responder vehicles participate in a drive-by parade of gratitude as they battle COVID-19 at the hospital. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Life around Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard and Soto Street has slowed down as California officials extended stay-at-home orders into May and residents entered Easter weekend with unprecedented limits on their movements. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
A face mask seller in colorful dress appears to be part of a mural behind a bus stop on Soto Street in Los Angeles. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Daniel Rogerson wears a vintage military gas mask while riding a bike along the beach path in Santa Monica, which is closed to enforce social distancing because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Businesses are shuttered and pedestrians are few and far between on Hollywood Boulevard. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The Tyrannosaurus rex overlooking the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue wears a protective mask while practicing social distancing. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Jonte Florence, a freestyle dancer, does a handstand on a mostly empty Hollywood Walk of Fame. Florence said he normally performs for hundreds of tourists along the busy street. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A pedestrian wearing a protective mask passes a mural on a store on Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Cedar Mountain Post Acute Rehabilitation staff member Navi Cavaltera waters a flower pot put up by the community to show their support for the nursing staff of the facility in Yucaipa. Eighteen of 20 coronavirus-related deaths in Yucaipa were residents of the skilled nursing facility. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
A group of protesters cheer on cars during a vehicle caravan protest to call on state and local officials to reopen the economy in downtown Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Counter-protesters attend a protest to call on state and local officials to reopen the economy in downtown Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Neighbors practice social distancing while enjoying the nice weather near The Strand in Hermosa Beach. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
Medical staff, wearing protective gear, work inside a COVID-19 isolation area inside the emergency department at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, where patients with the virus are being treated. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Protesters stand along Mission Blvd. in Pacific Beach during A Day of Liberty rally on April 26. The protesters were against the government shutdown due to the coronavirus. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Tom Sean Foley pauses on a walk with his kids, Cathelen Claire, “C.C.,” 3, and Timothy Joseph, 4, to take a photo in front of the “Love Wall,” mural by artist Curtis Kulig, outside of Smashbox Studios in Culver City. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Norm and Tracy Kahn enjoy eating dinner outside on a small cafe table sitting in blue chairs on their side yard during the coronavirus pandemic on April 27 in Riverside. “During this pandemic, eating outside offers us an opportunity to change surrounding and appreciate the calmness of being outdoors among trees, scents from nature and the sounds of birds,” she said. Also adding, “Mixing up where we eat puts variety into our days and takes away the sameness of feeling trapped at home.” (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Carson residents Kaeli Burks, 3, left, and her cousin Bailey Watson, 5, look out the window of their car after their mothers helped them with self-testing at a new drive-up testing site for COVID-19 in Carson. Free COVID-19 testing is available to all city residents thanks to a partnership between the city and US Health Fairs. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Healthcare workers celebrate as Claudia Martinez is discharged from the ICU after she recovered from COVID-19 at Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Shuttered storefront businesses in the garment district of Los Angeles. California’s unemployment rate has skyrocketed since the statewide coronavirus shutdown took effect. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Senior Mason Wise, left, helps his sister, Mackenzie, a sophomore, clean out her PE locker at El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills. School officials were allowing no more than five students at a time on campus to take home their belongings. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Aerial view of over 100 vehicles lined up at the West Valley COVID-19 testing center at Warner Center in Woodland Hills. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Tenants and their supporters from across Los Angeles gather at city hall to call on L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, the L.A. City Council and California Gov. Gavin Newsom to cancel rent and mortgage payments during the COVID-19 crisis. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
Gregory Kuhl, 69, heads home after a shopping trip in Hollywood on April 28. Big cracks in the street, cars parked in driveways blocking sidewalks and uneven pavement levels make navigating his route difficult. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Mostly masked commuters keep their distance from one another on a Metro bus in downtown Los Angeles on April 29. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
Grocery store workers, joined by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 770 representatives and community members, hold a rally in support of strict social distancing on May 1 at a Ralphs store in Hollywood where 19 employees have tested positive for COVID-19. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
Tango instructor Yelizaveta Nersesova leads a Zoom tango event from her Los Angeles home April 27 that brought together hundreds of dancers from around the world. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Beaches including Harbor Cove Beach were open but beachgoers were not supposed to be sitting on the sand. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
The majority of golfers are wearing masks while hitting balls on the driving range at Van Buren Executive Golf Course in Riverside. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Friends play spikeball, a game perfect for social distancing on an open but restricted San Buenaventura State Beach. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Cody Purcell of Redondo Beach rides a wave, glowing from the bioluminescence, in Hermosa Beach, CA, after midnight Friday morning, May 8. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
Dominique Barrett, center, known as “King Vader” to his 2.4 million TikTok followers, prepares to shoot a video on April 30 in Glendora. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Traffic remains light on the southbound 110 Freeway headed toward downtown Los Angeles on April 28. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Socially distanced bikers and walkers, against a backdrop of the Queen Mary, make their way along pedestrian and beach bike path on the first day that Long Beach reopened the path on Monday May 11, 2020. The city of Long Beach eased a few of its public health restrictions, allowing under certain guidelines the reopening of pedestrian and beach bike paths, tennis centers and courts. Beach bathrooms are also reopening, but the parking lots and beaches still remain closed. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
While all Californians are currently living under a statewide stay-at-home order implemented in response to the coronavirus outbreak, some counties have also crafted additional or more-targeted local regulations aimed at stemming the disease’s spread.
The county-level orders vary, as do their expiration dates. Some of the measures are in place until a specified date, others until further notice.
Generally, local health officials can issue guidance that’s stricter, but not more lenient, than the state’s.
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As COVID-19 continues to spread in California, some communities are itching to open things back up and allow residents to resume some semblance of pre-pandemic activity. Some counties have petitioned Gov. Gavin Newsom to relax the statewide restrictions, while others have released road maps for how their local businesses can operate once they’re able to reopen.
Others, though, warn that lifting too many restrictions too quickly could lead to a spike in infections.
Here’s the latest information for how long stay-at-home orders are in effect for each of California’s 58 counties, as of April 30:
Alameda County: A revised order was released this week and is in effect through May.
Alpine County: Unspecified. “No one likes living under lockdown, and that is not sustainable,” officials wrote in an April 23 update. “We need to move toward a gradual easing of the ‘do nots’ with great caution. That means physical distancing, face coverings when unable to maintain adequate space and compulsive hand hygiene.”
Amador County: In effect through April 30. If that order lapses, Amador County would still remain under the state order, officials said this week.
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Butte County: The county is following the state’s stay-at-home order, which does not have a set end date. While the county “does not currently have authority to modify or lift the state order to be less restrictive in regards to staying home, social distancing and essential operations,” officials there have begun crafting a reopening plan for when the time comes, according to a statement Monday.
Calaveras County: Unspecified. The stay-at-home order will remain in place until the state’s “is rescinded, unless it is extended, terminated or modified” by the county health officer before then.
Colusa County: In effect through May 8.
Contra Costa County: A revised order was released this week and is in effect through May.
Del Norte County: The county is following the state’s stay-at-home order, which does not have a set end date. “The rules set in place by the governor remain in place until the governor takes them away,” County Public Health Officer Dr. Warren Rehwaldt wrote in a letter Monday. “We don‘t have authority to remove them at a local level — we are legally bound to enforce them.”
El Dorado County: In effect through April 30, and County Public Health Officer Dr. Nancy Williams has said she will let it expire then. “Going forward, residents will be guided primarily by the governor’s order,” she said in a statement Tuesday. “I will remain vigilant and am prepared to reinstate county-level restrictions if necessary to protect our health care systems and our residents.”
Fresno County: The county Department of Public Health’s website references the state order, which does not have a set end date. The city of Fresno has its own order, which is in effect through May 6.
Glenn County: The county is following the state order, which does not have a set end date.
Humboldt County: Effective until rescinded.
Imperial County: Effective until rescinded.
Inyo County: Effective until rescinded. “Residents are advised that an Inyo County COVID-19 Reopening Team is in place and developing a plan with objectives of reviewing regional statistics, analyzing local resources and assets and keeping a pulse-check on our ability to effectively and safely handle a potential surge in COVID-19 cases,” officials said on April 23.
Kern County: In effect until further notice.
Kings County: The county rescinded its shelter-in-place directive Tuesday, but “restrictions mandated by the state will continue until the state ends its stay-at-home order,” officials said.
Lake County: In effect until May 3, though a recent addendum won’t expire until June 1.
Lassen County: The county is subject to the state order, which does not have a set end date. Officials on Tuesday unveiled a proposed “recovery plan to reopen Lassen County as soon as statewide orders have been modified or lifted,” which they say “will be executed gradually and within multiple phases.”
Los Angeles County: The county’s “Safer at Home” order will be in place through at least May 15.
Madera County: The county is following the state order, which does not have a set end date.
Marin County: A revised order was released this week and is in effect through May.
Mariposa County: The county is following the state order, which does not have a set end date.
Mendocino County: A recently revised order is in effect until May 10.
Merced County: In effect until it is rescinded, superseded or amended.
Modoc County: The county’s COVID-19 website links to the state order, which does not have a set end date. However, officials there have unveiled a strategic plan that would allow all businesses — even those deemed nonessential — to reopen starting May 1, provided they follow specified guidelines. “We want the option to be given to business owners so that, when they feel the time is right, they can make that decision,” the county Sheriff’s Office wrote on Facebook on Tuesday. “Business owners know their staff, they know their customers and they will know when they both feel safe enough to resume services. We need to do this in a smart and strategic way to keep us all healthy.”
Mono County: The county is following the state order, which does not have a set end date.
Monterey County: In effect through May 3.
Napa County: In effect until otherwise amended or rescinded.
Nevada County: In effect until May 15.
Orange County: The county is following the state order, which does not have a set end date.
Placer County: In effect through May 1. After that, residents will be guided by the governor’s order. “This transition will allow a local focus on planning for a phased reopening in partnership with local governments, healthcare, business and other stakeholders, as well as regional and state partners,” the county said in a statement Wednesday.
Plumas County: The county is following the state order, which does not have a set end date. Officials there released a plan Sunday “to make sure we can reopen as soon as it is safe and legal to do so” — adding in a statement that though they are “eager for the governor’s order to be relaxed” so that residents can get back to work, “to let our guard down now would be a big mistake.”
Riverside County: In effect through June 19 after an extension Wednesday. Residents must wear face coverings when outside and continue practicing social distancing until that date.
Sacramento County: The order was recently extended through May 22. “While there has been some relaxation of rules as they relate to recreational activities, it is absolutely vital that we maintain social distancing,” Director of Health Services Dr. Peter Beilenson said in a statement Wednesday.
San Benito County: In effect until May 3.
San Bernardino County: In effect until rescinded.
San Diego County: Has been extended indefinitely, officials announced Wednesday.
San Francisco: A revised order was released this week and is in effect through May.
San Joaquin County: In effect until rescinded.
San Luis Obispo County: In effect until May 16.
San Mateo County: A revised order was released this week and is in effect through May.
Santa Barbara County: The county’s “Stay Well at Home” order is in place until May 31.
Santa Clara County: A revised order was released this week and is in effect through May.
Santa Cruz County: In effect until May 3.
Shasta County: The county is following the state order, which does not have a set end date.
Sierra County: The county is following the state order, which does not have a set end date.
Tracking the coronavirus in California The latest maps and charts on the spread of COVID-19 in California.
Siskiyou County: The county is following the state order, which does not have a set end date.
Solano County: In effect through May 17.
Sonoma County: In effect through May 3.
Stanislaus County: In place until rescinded.
Sutter County: In effect through May 3.
Tehama County: The county is following the state order, which does not have a set end date.
Trinity County: The county is following the state order, which does not have a set end date.
Tulare County: The county is following the state order, which does not have a set end date.
Tuolumne County: The county is following the state order, which does not have a set end date.
Ventura County: The county’s “stay well at home” order was recently revised and is in effect through May 15.
Yolo County: In place until May 1.
Yuba County: In effect through May 3.