latimes--2020-08-02--Earthquake: Magnitude 3.1 quake hits near San Jose

A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was reported Sunday morning at 5:40 a.m. Pacific time less than a mile from San Jose , according to the U.S. Geological Survey .
The earthquake occurred four miles from Milpitas , Calif. , eight miles from Fremont , Calif. , and 10 miles from Santa Clara , Calif .
In the last 10 days , there has been one earthquake of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby .
An average of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur per year in California and Nevada , according to a recent three-year data sample .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 4.9 miles .
Did you feel this earthquake ?
Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS .
Even if you didn ’ t feel this small earthquake , you never know when the Big One is going to strike .
Ready yourself by following our five-step earthquake preparedness guide and building your own emergency kit .
This story was automatically generated by Quakebot , a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS .
A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published .
If you ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , visit our list of frequently asked questions .

A quake Sunday struck less than a mile from San Jose, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was reported Sunday morning at 5:40 a.m. Pacific time less than a mile from San Jose, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The earthquake occurred four miles from Milpitas, Calif., eight miles from Fremont, Calif., and 10 miles from Santa Clara, Calif.
In the last 10 days, there has been one earthquake of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.
An average of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur per year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three-year data sample.
Advertisement
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 4.9 miles. Did you feel this earthquake? Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS.
Even if you didn’t feel this small earthquake, you never know when the Big One is going to strike. Ready yourself by following our five-step earthquake preparedness guide and building your own emergency kit.
This story was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published. If you’re interested in learning more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.


latimes--2020-08-02--'They can't silence us.' Instagram accounts recount racism at L.A.'s elite private schools

Black at Harvard-Westlake .
Dear Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy .
Black at Oakwood School .
Oaks Christian Stories .
Dear Polytechnic School .
These are among the Instagram accounts linked to some of L.A. 's most elite private schools — but created by students and alumni who are going public with personal stories of racism that have otherwise gone unheard .
In an outpouring born of the national Black Lives Matter movement , these private school letter-writers talk of their encounters with bias , exclusion and microaggressions at schools where annual tuition can run as high as $ 40,000 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as 15 students .
Their comments offer an unsparing counterpoint to the guarded reputations and carefully curated images of diversity and inclusion that independent schools display on websites and marketing brochures and have forced rare public apologies from top school leaders who pledge to make changes .
“ These pages are the most authentic racial data and racial audit that a school would ever receive , ” said Ralinda Watts , a private Los Angeles diversity practitioner who works with schools .
“ Now , a school can ’ t say they don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , most of which are anonymous , are shared on accounts that can have thousands of followers — offshoots of similar social media campaigns among students and alumni nationwide who are calling out racial injustices on their campuses .
“ We are at a position where we don ’ t have anything to lose , ” said DeShawn Samad , a 2011 alum of Flintridge-Sacred Heart Academy , an independent Catholic school in La Cañada-Flintridge .
“ They can ’ t silence us ... because we ’ re no longer at those schools.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ first-person experiences involving other students , faculty and parents .
On @ blackathw , linked to Harvard-Westlake in Los Angeles , one post describes the writer attending their first basketball game as a freshman : “ I waited in line at Taper Gym , only to be accused of stealing my ticket by the athletic director.
” On @ blackatcampbell , for Campbell Hall in Studio City , one writer notes , “ I had a white teacher say that living in Hollywood was like living in the ghetto.
” Archer School , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Campbell Hall , Mayfield Senior School , Marymount High School , Marlborough School , Oakwood School , and Westridge School are among the campuses where such Instagram accounts have emerged .
Several were created in protest after the schools made public announcements in support of the Black Lives Matter movement — words that rang hollow for students who felt the institutions don ’ t do enough to address racism within their own walls .
Samad sees her involvement in the Flintridge Sacred Heart account as a duty to support current and future Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Floyd , Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery , she participated in Black Lives Matter protests and took a hard look at the responses of institutions in her life .
Following the protests , the first public statement from her high school called for prayers for racial reconciliation through a Facebook and Instagram photo , which she found lacking .
“ You can ’ t pray away racism , ” said Samad , an environmental engineer in Los Angeles .
“ You can ’ t solve racism with multi-ethnic heart hands.
” Some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use of the N-word by non-Black students or faculty .
One post cited a group reading at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy : “ Dear FSHA , the head of the English department shouldn ’ t be forcing students to read aloud the N-word.
” An Instagram reply showed a response from a user who wrote : “ The head of the English Department does nothing of the sort .
I leave the verbalization of that slur up to each individual reader , finding it presumptuous as a white person to edit the work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In comments to The Times , officials from Archer , Brentwood , Campbell Hall , Mayfield and Marlborough did not dispute the stories — they expressed dismay about students ’ experiences .
School administrators responded on social media , school websites and emails to their communities , announcing town halls , action plans and new measures such as anti-bias training for faculty and curricula reviews .
Sister Carolyn McCormack , president of FSHA , said the school is listening and apologized on Instagram .
“ We want to acknowledge to all of you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ institution , is not perfect ; we have made mistakes and we ask your forgiveness , ” she wrote .
“ Please know that we are committed to doing all we can to educate ourselves to become better agents of change.
” Throughout the accounts , students of color repeatedly report being mistaken for other students or stereotyped based on their race : “ Dear Mayfield , A coach said that we needed the Black girls on our team because they were good sprinters .
We were all too afraid of him to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the pursuit of marketing : “ During my time at Brentwood , I was more of a prop than a student .
To be seen and not heard.
” In a post on @ dear_marlborough , a writer said , “ The parent community is racist , snobby , cliquey : the warm welcome is reserved for white people of wealth.
” While at the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks , Dana Nichols said she faced harmful stereotypes from classmates and was part of a new affinity group for Black women that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ After graduating in 2010 , she studied English in college and wrote to Buckley about their English curriculum , which she said hurt students of color who did not see themselves represented in the texts .
She said only one Black faculty member acknowledged it .
A decade later , she discovered students at her alma mater were still having similar experiences .
This time , she decided to go public and created the @ BlackatBuckley Instagram account .
Head of School Alona Scott said the testimonies were heartbreaking .
“ It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commitment to additional professional development , to revisions in our curriculum and our instructional practice and to holding ourselves at a greater level of accountability going forward , ” she said .
Nick Richard-Craven graduated in June from Pasadena ’ s Polytechnic School , which he has attended since kindergarten and where he said he was frequently mistaken for the other three Black male students in his grade .
In a class this year , a teacher discussing racist themes in a novel compared racism to a “ bad habit.
” As one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ class , Richard-Craven felt pressure to speak up .
“ I said that I disagreed with that comparison , ” he said .
“ I ’ d say racism is much more than just a bad habit.
” Telling a person of authority that they are wrong was stressful and uncomfortable , he said .
But in a recent English class , his teacher selected multiple novels by authors of color , which “ opened up the discussion for people who aren ’ t of color to talk , ” a positive example @ @ @ @ @ @ @ curriculum , he said .
John Bracker , Head of School at Poly , said in an email he respects the courage of students and alumni who have shared their stories .
“ Their honesty humbles us as they make it clear that past efforts to mitigate institutional racism were not enough , ” said Bracker .
Among other actions , he said the school will hire a senior-level administrator to help advance the school ’ s work on equity and inclusion .
One creator of the @ blackatoakwood account , Sikkiim Hamilton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a white faculty member used the N-word multiple times while referring to explicit music another student was playing in class .
“ I didn ’ t know what to do at all , ” she said .
“ I just left the classroom and started crying.
” She reported the incident during her senior year but said she never received a satisfactory response .
The head of school at Oakwood , Jaime Dominguez , said that the administration investigated and resolved the incidents , but actions were not clear to students due to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obvious to me now that the mechanism we have didn ’ t provide a way for us to adequately get back to the student to create closure for them.
” Among other initiatives , the school is now working to develop a protocol that allows them to share responses to such incidents .
He said that the school began a conversation with students , alumni , faculty and parents as soon as the account was started .
Watts said that the challenge for independent schools will be ongoing work and accountability to students @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ They have now learned this information , they ’ ve now learned that they have to do more , ” she said .
“ Now the question is how do you move from learning to growth ?
”

Sikkiim Hamilton helped create the @blackatoakwood Instagram account, highlighting racism at North Hollywood’s Oakwood School, where she was once a student.
Black at Harvard-Westlake. Dear Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy. Black at Oakwood School. Oaks Christian Stories. Dear Polytechnic School. These are among the Instagram accounts linked to some of L.A.’s most elite private schools — but created by students and alumni who are going public with personal stories of racism that have otherwise gone unheard.
In an outpouring born of the national Black Lives Matter movement, these private school letter-writers talk of their encounters with bias, exclusion and microaggressions at schools where annual tuition can run as high as $40,000, and class sizes can be as low as 15 students.
For the record: A photo caption on this story incorrectly says that DeShawn Samad helps run the dear_fsha Instagram account. Samad is involved in diversity efforts at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, but the account was created and is run by Maya Richard-Craven.
Their comments offer an unsparing counterpoint to the guarded reputations and carefully curated images of diversity and inclusion that independent schools display on websites and marketing brochures and have forced rare public apologies from top school leaders who pledge to make changes.
“These pages are the most authentic racial data and racial audit that a school would ever receive,” said Ralinda Watts, a private Los Angeles diversity practitioner who works with schools. “Now, a school can’t say they don’t know.”
Advertisement
The Instagram posts, most of which are anonymous, are shared on accounts that can have thousands of followers — offshoots of similar social media campaigns among students and alumni nationwide who are calling out racial injustices on their campuses.
“We are at a position where we don’t have anything to lose,” said DeShawn Samad, a 2011 alum of Flintridge-Sacred Heart Academy, an independent Catholic school in La Cañada-Flintridge. “They can’t silence us... because we’re no longer at those schools.”
DeShawn Samad, who helps run @dear_fsha, an Instagram account that highlights racism at her old high school, Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
The stories include a range of first-person experiences involving other students, faculty and parents. On @blackathw, linked to Harvard-Westlake in Los Angeles, one post describes the writer attending their first basketball game as a freshman: “I waited in line at Taper Gym, only to be accused of stealing my ticket by the athletic director.”
On @blackatcampbell, for Campbell Hall in Studio City, one writer notes, “I had a white teacher say that living in Hollywood was like living in the ghetto.”
Archer School, Brentwood School, the Buckley School, Campbell Hall, Mayfield Senior School, Marymount High School, Marlborough School, Oakwood School, and Westridge School are among the campuses where such Instagram accounts have emerged. Several were created in protest after the schools made public announcements in support of the Black Lives Matter movement — words that rang hollow for students who felt the institutions don’t do enough to address racism within their own walls.
Advertisement
Samad sees her involvement in the Flintridge Sacred Heart account as a duty to support current and future Black students. After the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, she participated in Black Lives Matter protests and took a hard look at the responses of institutions in her life. Following the protests, the first public statement from her high school called for prayers for racial reconciliation through a Facebook and Instagram photo, which she found lacking.
“You can’t pray away racism,” said Samad, an environmental engineer in Los Angeles. “You can’t solve racism with multi-ethnic heart hands.”
Some of the posts at various schools involve the use of the N-word by non-Black students or faculty. One post cited a group reading at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy:
“Dear FSHA, the head of the English department shouldn’t be forcing students to read aloud the N-word.” An Instagram reply showed a response from a user who wrote: “The head of the English Department does nothing of the sort. I leave the verbalization of that slur up to each individual reader, finding it presumptuous as a white person to edit the work of a black author by omission.”
In comments to The Times, officials from Archer, Brentwood, Campbell Hall, Mayfield and Marlborough did not dispute the stories — they expressed dismay about students’ experiences. School administrators responded on social media, school websites and emails to their communities, announcing town halls, action plans and new measures such as anti-bias training for faculty and curricula reviews.
Sister Carolyn McCormack, president of FSHA, said the school is listening and apologized on Instagram.
“We want to acknowledge to all of you that Flintridge Sacred Heart, as an institution, is not perfect; we have made mistakes and we ask your forgiveness,” she wrote. “Please know that we are committed to doing all we can to educate ourselves to become better agents of change.”
Throughout the accounts, students of color repeatedly report being mistaken for other students or stereotyped based on their race: “Dear Mayfield, A coach said that we needed the Black girls on our team because they were good sprinters. We were all too afraid of him to say anything.”
Others describe being tokenized in the pursuit of marketing: “During my time at Brentwood, I was more of a prop than a student. To be seen and not heard.” In a post on @dear_marlborough, a writer said, “The parent community is racist, snobby, cliquey: the warm welcome is reserved for white people of wealth.”
While at the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, Dana Nichols said she faced harmful stereotypes from classmates and was part of a new affinity group for Black women that other students called “reverse racist.” After graduating in 2010, she studied English in college and wrote to Buckley about their English curriculum, which she said hurt students of color who did not see themselves represented in the texts. She said only one Black faculty member acknowledged it.
A decade later, she discovered students at her alma mater were still having similar experiences. This time, she decided to go public and created the @BlackatBuckley Instagram account.
Head of School Alona Scott said the testimonies were heartbreaking.
“It’s leading us to double-down on our commitment to additional professional development, to revisions in our curriculum and our instructional practice and to holding ourselves at a greater level of accountability going forward,” she said.
Nick Richard-Craven graduated in June from Pasadena’s Polytechnic School, which he has attended since kindergarten and where he said he was frequently mistaken for the other three Black male students in his grade.
In a class this year, a teacher discussing racist themes in a novel compared racism to a “bad habit.” As one of two students of color in the class, Richard-Craven felt pressure to speak up.
“I said that I disagreed with that comparison,” he said. “I’d say racism is much more than just a bad habit.”
Telling a person of authority that they are wrong was stressful and uncomfortable, he said. But in a recent English class, his teacher selected multiple novels by authors of color, which “opened up the discussion for people who aren’t of color to talk,” a positive example of what needs to happen across the curriculum, he said.
John Bracker, Head of School at Poly, said in an email he respects the courage of students and alumni who have shared their stories.
“Their honesty humbles us as they make it clear that past efforts to mitigate institutional racism were not enough,” said Bracker. Among other actions, he said the school will hire a senior-level administrator to help advance the school’s work on equity and inclusion.
Sikkiim Hamilton helped create the @blackatoakwood Instagram account. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
One creator of the @blackatoakwood account, Sikkiim Hamilton, wrote that during her sophomore year a white faculty member used the N-word multiple times while referring to explicit music another student was playing in class.
“I didn’t know what to do at all,” she said. “I just left the classroom and started crying.”
She reported the incident during her senior year but said she never received a satisfactory response. The head of school at Oakwood, Jaime Dominguez, said that the administration investigated and resolved the incidents, but actions were not clear to students due to privacy concerns.
“It’s obvious to me now that the mechanism we have didn’t provide a way for us to adequately get back to the student to create closure for them.”
Among other initiatives, the school is now working to develop a protocol that allows them to share responses to such incidents. He said that the school began a conversation with students, alumni, faculty and parents as soon as the account was started.
Watts said that the challenge for independent schools will be ongoing work and accountability to students and parents in years to come.
“They have now learned this information, they’ve now learned that they have to do more,” she said. “Now the question is how do you move from learning to growth?”


latimes--2020-08-02--Manhattan Beach was once home to Black beachgoers, but the city ran them out. Now it faces a reckoni

Manhattan Beach was once home to Black beachgoers, but the city ran them out. Now it faces a reckoning

Anthony Bruce could barely talk about the beach that bears his family ’ s name without feeling a sharp pain , a tug at the heart .
More than a century ago , his ancestors had turned this small corner of Manhattan Beach into a popular resort — one where Black people could dip their toes in the sand and bask in their own slice of the California dream .
But their white neighbors , in this very white town , ran them all away .
“ This is our legacy , this beach , ” Bruce said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Today , most see Bruce ’ s Beach as a pretty park with jasmine and coastal live oak overlooking the sea .
In this affluent town of 35,000 — known for its manicured homes , the community fair , the Strand by the sea — few know of this racist past .
Others would prefer to gloss over the uncomfortable details in a community where Black residents make up less than 1 % of the population .
But as protesters across the nation continue to fill the streets calling for a more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demanding that the city atone for past wrongs .
Like the many towns , institutions and universities that have been forced into similar reckonings since the death of George Floyd , Manhattan Beach must confront its own history .
The truth , after all , was buried for generations — then rewritten over the years to fit preferred narratives .
“ Bruce ’ s Beach was an injustice in our town ’ s history , ” said Gary McAulay , president of the Manhattan Beach Historical Society .
“ The facts are tragic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years since then , the facts have often been corrupted in the retelling.
” The story of Bruce ’ s Beach begins with the Tongva , who roamed the dunes and gathered seafood along this windy stretch of coast .
Then came the Spanish , and by the early 1900s , George Peck and others developed what is known today as Manhattan Beach .
In 1912 , Willa Bruce purchased for $ 1,225 the first of two lots along the Strand between 26th and 27th streets .
While her husband , Charles , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ train running between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles , Willa ran a popular lodge , cafe and dance hall — providing Black families a way to enjoy a weekend on the coast .
Many referred to this area as Bruce ’ s Beach .
A few more Black families bought and built their own cottages by the sea .
A community was born .
“ They were pioneers .
They came to California , bought property , enjoyed the beach , made money , ” said Alison Rose Jefferson , a historian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the California Dream : African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era.
” “ They did what every other Californian was doing during that time.
” But white neighbors resented Bruce ’ s growing popularity .
Tires were slashed .
The Ku Klux Klan purportedly set fire to a mattress under the main deck and torched a Black-owned home nearby .
Fake “ 10 minutes only ” parking signs were posted to deter Black out-of-town folk .
To reach the ocean , visitors had to walk an extra half mile around property @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it with security and “ No Trespassing ” signs .
This hostility was not uncommon at the time .
Another popular area in Santa Monica was referred to as the Inkwell .
In Huntington Beach , the Black-owned Pacific Beach Club mysteriously burned the day before it was scheduled to open .
When harassment failed to drive the Black beach-going community out of town , city officials condemned the neighborhood in 1924 and seized more than two dozen properties through eminent domain .
The reason , they said , was an urgent need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and three other Black families sued , citing racial prejudice , according to Robert Brigham , a longtime resident and historian who , in 1956 , sought to tell the real story of Bruce ’ s Beach in his master ’ s thesis at Fresno State College .
The Bruces sought $ 120,000 in compensation — $ 70,000 for their two lots and $ 50,000 in damages .
Another couple asked for $ 36,000 .
After years of litigation , the Bruces received $ 14,500 .
The other families , Black and white @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 4,200 per lot .
Most found other property in Manhattan Beach , but the city made it impossible for the Bruces to move their seaside business anywhere else in town .
So they packed up and went inland , where they served as chefs for other business owners for the remainder of their lives .
“ The part that entrenches this whole idea of white privilege in the law and in our culture , that people don ’ t realize the full effect , is this idea of generational wealth , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Commission ’ s environmental justice commissioner .
She noted how eminent domain was once also used to take property from interned Japanese Americans and to dispossess Latino families of their properties to build a public housing project that ultimately became Dodger Stadium .
“ It is mind boggling to think about how many opportunities are missed when the government intercedes to prevent certain people from building wealth , ” said Turnbull Sanders , who has worked for 20 years in land-use law .
“ Generations of wealth building have been eliminated for so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Bruce ’ s Beach was razed and remained vacant for decades .
In the 1950s , city officials began to worry that family members might sue to regain their land unless it was used for the purpose for which it had been originally taken .
City Park was born , and later renamed Beachfront , then Bayview Terrace Park .
In 1974 , it was named after a sister city in Mexico , Parque Culiacan .
By 2006 , after a summer of intense debate , the City Council voted 3-2 to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — largely because of an appeal by Councilman Mitch Ward , the city ’ s first Black elected official .
But the commemorative sign , many say , reinforced the white way of seeing the world : “ In 1912 , Mr. George Peck , one of our community ’ s co-founders , made it possible for the beach area below this site to be developed as Bruce ’ s Beach , the only beach resort in Los Angeles County for all people , ” the statement begins .
Anthony Bruce , many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to tear his family apart .
His grandfather Bernard , born a few years after the condemnation , was obsessed with what happened and lived his life “ extremely angry at the world.
” “ How would you feel if your family owned the Waldorf and they took it away from you ?
” Bernard said in a 2007 interview with The Times .
Growing up in South L.A. , he said when he told school friends that his family once owned a beach , they would laugh at him .
Bernard ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Anthony ’ s father to become a lawyer so that he could keep fighting to right these wrongs , Anthony said .
Instead , his father took the kids and left California .
Today , Anthony , 37 , is a security supervisor in Florida and teaches English online .
He ’ s the only Bruce who can manage to talk publicly about the beach , but even he feels worn out .
He ’ s heartened by the new movement of people championing the cause .
“ People are out there because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” he said .
“ They know that what happened to Charles and Willa is still happening every day in different parts of the world.
” Kavon Ward , who moved to Manhattan Beach three years ago with her newborn daughter , said she knew she wasn ’ t welcome when a woman at Polliwog Park asked which family she was nannying for .
At the local Ralph ’ s , she was called a terrorist for wearing a Black Panthers T-shirt .
The local Facebook group for moms , she said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Matter .
But Ward was appalled when she heard about Bruce ’ s Beach .
She and a few moms started their own group , Anti-Racist Movements Around the South Bay , and did everything they could to shake their neighbors , city leaders and state legislators into action .
They reclaimed the park as a space to honor Black lives — including a Juneteenth celebration and memorials for Breonna Taylor and Emmett Till .
“ It ’ s like : You kicked the Bruces out , but you ’ re not going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ So if I ’ m not leaving , I ’ ve got to fight to make it better.
” Another resident started a petition , which has gathered 9,500 signatures , demanding that the city make a new plaque , issue a public statement and give the land back to the Bruce family “ and provide restitution for loss of revenue for 95 years and monetary damages for the wanton violation of their civil rights.
” These demands have forced an uncomfortable conversation for many in the community .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ News , Russ Lesser , a 76-year-resident of Manhattan Beach who served as mayor in the 1980s , questioned how returning the land would even work .
The park itself , he noted , was not the two parcels that the Bruces actually owned down by the Strand , where the county lifeguard station sits today .
Current fair market value for the entire area would be at least $ 75 million , he estimated .
How would taxpayers come up with this money ?
“ What happened was wrong , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with teaching the history of Bruce ’ s Beach , but if you only teach what happened nearly one hundred years ago , and do not teach about the progress we have made in those hundred years , then it seems to me the goal is to create hatred and divisiveness.
” City Mayor Richard Montgomery said he is open to redoing the plaque and has said as early as 14 years ago that an apology was long overdue .
“ We all agree there were some things that happened in the past @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” he said .
“ But the temperament and the people and the times have changed .
We ’ re a different city today than we were 100 years ago.
” As for the demand for restitution , Montgomery said the city needed to first get the facts straight before deciding how to proceed .
The City Council is seeking historians , he said , to teach the community what really happened .
Duane Shepard Sr. , a 62-year-resident of South L.A. and designated Bruce family representative , said he ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parcels , and how many , Charles and Willa actually owned .
Shepard , a Bruce cousin on his mother ’ s side , imagines the land could be used for a historical center , the money perhaps used to establish a scholarship foundation .
He smiled as he described a reunion held at the park in 2018 , where about 150 family members had gathered for the first time .
“ It was very spiritual for us to come together as a family , ” said Shepard , who is a Pocasset @ @ @ @ @ @ @ father ’ s side .
“ I declared the land sacred that day and promised that I would do everything I could in the world to get justice for our family .
”

A century ago, Bruce’s Beach in Manhattan Beach was one of the most prominent Black-owned resorts by the sea.
Anthony Bruce could barely talk about the beach that bears his family’s name without feeling a sharp pain, a tug at the heart.
More than a century ago, his ancestors had turned this small corner of Manhattan Beach into a popular resort — one where Black people could dip their toes in the sand and bask in their own slice of the California dream.
But their white neighbors, in this very white town, ran them all away.
Advertisement
“This is our legacy, this beach,” Bruce said. “It has haunted my family for ages.”
Today, most see Bruce’s Beach as a pretty park with jasmine and coastal live oak overlooking the sea.
In this affluent town of 35,000 — known for its manicured homes, the community fair, the Strand by the sea — few know of this racist past. Others would prefer to gloss over the uncomfortable details in a community where Black residents make up less than 1% of the population.
The sun sets on Bruce’s Beach at 26th Street and Highland Avenue in Manhattan Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
But as protesters across the nation continue to fill the streets calling for a more equitable society, a new generation is demanding that the city atone for past wrongs. Like the many towns, institutions and universities that have been forced into similar reckonings since the death of George Floyd, Manhattan Beach must confront its own history.
The truth, after all, was buried for generations — then rewritten over the years to fit preferred narratives.
“Bruce’s Beach was an injustice in our town’s history,” said Gary McAulay, president of the Manhattan Beach Historical Society. “The facts are tragic enough, but in the nearly 100 years since then, the facts have often been corrupted in the retelling.”
Advertisement
::
The story of Bruce’s Beach begins with the Tongva, who roamed the dunes and gathered seafood along this windy stretch of coast. Then came the Spanish, and by the early 1900s, George Peck and others developed what is known today as Manhattan Beach.
In 1912, Willa Bruce purchased for $1,225 the first of two lots along the Strand between 26th and 27th streets. While her husband, Charles, worked as a dining-car chef on the train running between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, Willa ran a popular lodge, cafe and dance hall — providing Black families a way to enjoy a weekend on the coast.
By setting up a beachside community, Charles and Willa Bruce “did what every other Californian was doing during that time,” a historian says. (Anthony Bruce)
Many referred to this area as Bruce’s Beach. A few more Black families bought and built their own cottages by the sea. A community was born.
“They were pioneers. They came to California, bought property, enjoyed the beach, made money,” said Alison Rose Jefferson, a historian and author of the book “Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era.” “They did what every other Californian was doing during that time.”
But white neighbors resented Bruce’s growing popularity. Tires were slashed. The Ku Klux Klan purportedly set fire to a mattress under the main deck and torched a Black-owned home nearby. Fake “10 minutes only” parking signs were posted to deter Black out-of-town folk. To reach the ocean, visitors had to walk an extra half mile around property owned by Peck, who had lined it with security and “No Trespassing” signs.
This hostility was not uncommon at the time. Another popular area in Santa Monica was referred to as the Inkwell. In Huntington Beach, the Black-owned Pacific Beach Club mysteriously burned the day before it was scheduled to open.
When harassment failed to drive the Black beach-going community out of town, city officials condemned the neighborhood in 1924 and seized more than two dozen properties through eminent domain. The reason, they said, was an urgent need for a public park.
The Bruces and three other Black families sued, citing racial prejudice, according to Robert Brigham, a longtime resident and historian who, in 1956, sought to tell the real story of Bruce’s Beach in his master’s thesis at Fresno State College. The Bruces sought $120,000 in compensation — $70,000 for their two lots and $50,000 in damages. Another couple asked for $36,000.
After years of litigation, the Bruces received $14,500. The other families, Black and white, received between $1,200 and $4,200 per lot.
Most found other property in Manhattan Beach, but the city made it impossible for the Bruces to move their seaside business anywhere else in town. So they packed up and went inland, where they served as chefs for other business owners for the remainder of their lives.
“The part that entrenches this whole idea of white privilege in the law and in our culture, that people don’t realize the full effect, is this idea of generational wealth,” said Effie Turnbull Sanders, the California Coastal Commission’s environmental justice commissioner.
She noted how eminent domain was once also used to take property from interned Japanese Americans and to dispossess Latino families of their properties to build a public housing project that ultimately became Dodger Stadium.
“It is mind boggling to think about how many opportunities are missed when the government intercedes to prevent certain people from building wealth,” said Turnbull Sanders, who has worked for 20 years in land-use law. “Generations of wealth building have been eliminated for so many folks of color in California history.”
Bruce’s Beach was razed and remained vacant for decades.
In the 1950s, city officials began to worry that family members might sue to regain their land unless it was used for the purpose for which it had been originally taken. City Park was born, and later renamed Beachfront, then Bayview Terrace Park. In 1974, it was named after a sister city in Mexico, Parque Culiacan.
By 2006, after a summer of intense debate, the City Council voted 3-2 to rename the beach after the Bruce family — largely because of an appeal by Councilman Mitch Ward, the city’s first Black elected official.
But the commemorative sign, many say, reinforced the white way of seeing the world: “In 1912, Mr. George Peck, one of our community’s co-founders, made it possible for the beach area below this site to be developed as Bruce’s Beach, the only beach resort in Los Angeles County for all people,” the statement begins.
Anthony Bruce, many generations later, says this history continues to tear his family apart. His grandfather Bernard, born a few years after the condemnation, was obsessed with what happened and lived his life “extremely angry at the world.”
“How would you feel if your family owned the Waldorf and they took it away from you?” Bernard said in a 2007 interview with The Times. Growing up in South L.A., he said when he told school friends that his family once owned a beach, they would laugh at him.
Bernard’s marriage suffered, and he wanted Anthony’s father to become a lawyer so that he could keep fighting to right these wrongs, Anthony said. Instead, his father took the kids and left California.
Today, Anthony, 37, is a security supervisor in Florida and teaches English online. He’s the only Bruce who can manage to talk publicly about the beach, but even he feels worn out. He’s heartened by the new movement of people championing the cause.
“People are out there because they want to see justice too,” he said. “They know that what happened to Charles and Willa is still happening every day in different parts of the world.”
::
Kavon Ward, who moved to Manhattan Beach three years ago with her newborn daughter, said she knew she wasn’t welcome when a woman at Polliwog Park asked which family she was nannying for. At the local Ralph’s, she was called a terrorist for wearing a Black Panthers T-shirt. The local Facebook group for moms, she said, kept deleting her posts about Black Lives Matter.
But Ward was appalled when she heard about Bruce’s Beach. She and a few moms started their own group, Anti-Racist Movements Around the South Bay, and did everything they could to shake their neighbors, city leaders and state legislators into action. They reclaimed the park as a space to honor Black lives — including a Juneteenth celebration and memorials for Breonna Taylor and Emmett Till.
“It’s like: You kicked the Bruces out, but you’re not going to run me out,” Ward said. “So if I’m not leaving, I’ve got to fight to make it better.”
A man and woman work out with boxing gear outside the Los Angeles County Lifeguard Training Center, just below Bruce’s Beach park, in Manhattan Beach. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Another resident started a petition, which has gathered 9,500 signatures, demanding that the city make a new plaque, issue a public statement and give the land back to the Bruce family “and provide restitution for loss of revenue for 95 years and monetary damages for the wanton violation of their civil rights.”
These demands have forced an uncomfortable conversation for many in the community.
In an editorial in the local Easy Reader News, Russ Lesser, a 76-year-resident of Manhattan Beach who served as mayor in the 1980s, questioned how returning the land would even work.
The park itself, he noted, was not the two parcels that the Bruces actually owned down by the Strand, where the county lifeguard station sits today. Current fair market value for the entire area would be at least $75 million, he estimated. How would taxpayers come up with this money?
“What happened was wrong,” he said. “I have no problem with teaching the history of Bruce’s Beach, but if you only teach what happened nearly one hundred years ago, and do not teach about the progress we have made in those hundred years, then it seems to me the goal is to create hatred and divisiveness.”
City Mayor Richard Montgomery said he is open to redoing the plaque and has said as early as 14 years ago that an apology was long overdue.
“We all agree there were some things that happened in the past that we’re not proud of,” he said. “But the temperament and the people and the times have changed. We’re a different city today than we were 100 years ago.”
As for the demand for restitution, Montgomery said the city needed to first get the facts straight before deciding how to proceed. The City Council is seeking historians, he said, to teach the community what really happened.
Descendants of Charles and Willa Bruce gather at Bruce’s Beach for a family reunion in 2018. (Patricia Bruce-Carter)
Duane Shepard Sr., a 62-year-resident of South L.A. and designated Bruce family representative, said he’s been building a case and researching which parcels, and how many, Charles and Willa actually owned.
Shepard, a Bruce cousin on his mother’s side, imagines the land could be used for a historical center, the money perhaps used to establish a scholarship foundation. He smiled as he described a reunion held at the park in 2018, where about 150 family members had gathered for the first time.
“It was very spiritual for us to come together as a family,” said Shepard, who is a Pocasset Wampanoag chief and tribal elder from his father’s side. “I declared the land sacred that day and promised that I would do everything I could in the world to get justice for our family.”


latimes--2020-08-01--Protests at Mayor Garcetti's home continue after arrest of demonstrators

Three people were taken into custody and two were cited over the weekend outside the Windsor Square home of Mayor Eric Garcetti , where hundreds of protesters converged to demand the mayor cancel rents , according to an LAPD spokesman .
After the arrests on Saturday , protesters demonstrated outside Garcetti ’ s home on Sunday , in part to protest plans to build a Community Safety Partnership Bureau within the Police Department .
Joshua Rubenstein of the Los Angeles Police Department on Saturday said one person was arrested on suspicion of battery on a police officer , a second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and a third was arrested on suspicion of trying to free an arrestee .
In addition , two others were cited and released for being a “ pedestrian in a roadway , ” Rubenstein said .
Rubenstein said that toward the end of a largely peaceful demonstration , some people continued to block parts of the roadway , “ creating a hazardous situation , ” and officers began to enforce traffic laws after warnings .
“ When one of the traffic violators was stopped and advised he was going to be cited @ @ @ @ @ @ @ occurred and the violator was taken into custody , ” Rubenstein said in a statement .
“ Other suspects became aware of the detention by the officers and attempted to surround the officers and additional assaults were committed against additional officers.
” Protesters disputed that account , saying there was no warning before the arrests and that people had not attacked officers .
Demonstrators at the Saturday event said that one of the people detained was a teenager who was dangling a doughnut on a string in front of officers .
Ian Carr @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ground Game LA , said that officers grabbed and handled the teenager roughly after he ran backwards away from them , then held the youth down in the back of a vehicle .
Carr said he did not see the teen hurt any officers .
“ People were screaming that he was epileptic , ” said Jordan Blakeman , a protester who writes for the website Knock.LA , which is affiliated with Ground Game LA .
“ He was absolutely being hurt , from the pitch of his screaming.
” Protester Devon Young @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what was happening to the teenager before being detained .
Young said that one of her friends was beaten with batons and that at one point an officer knelt on her neck , leaving her vomiting afterward .
They were loaded into a van with a third friend before Young was released with a citation , she said .
Young said that her two friends who were taken into custody were not violent toward officers .
“ I have it all on film — and the only thing I have is police brutalizing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said in his statement that assaults on officers “ caused the response of additional officers to bring the situation under control.
” The people who were detained were taken to the LAPD ’ s Olympic Station , Rubenstein said .
A Garcetti spokesman did not immediately provide comment Saturday on the demonstration or the arrests .
The Saturday demonstration was one in a string of protests outside Garcetti ’ s home .
Demonstrators with the People ’ s City Council , which includes activists from groups such as the Los Angeles Tenants Union @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , toted banners and signs and brought mariachi musicians to play outside the mayoral residence , demanding that the city impose a blanket ban on evictions , cancel rents and commandeer hotels for homeless people .
During the protest , activists posted a “ 3-Day Notice to Cancel Rent or Quit ” on a gate outside the home .
At one point , demonstrators blocked a nearby stretch of Wilshire Boulevard , according to videos of the event posted on Twitter .
Tenant rights activists have urged city leaders to take additional action @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and sliding into homelessness , fearing a wave of evictions as expanded unemployment benefits expire .
The state court system is considering lifting its emergency restrictions on processing eviction cases later this month .
The Los Angeles city attorney ’ s office has warned against canceling rents , advising council members in a memo that it would violate the law and could cost the city more than a billion dollars in compensation to landlords .
The council voted narrowly in April against imposing a broader ban on evictions after a city attorney argued @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
On Sunday , the demonstrations continued with dozens of protesters showing up early at the mayor ’ s Windsor Square residence to denounce his policing initiative .
Video posted on social media showed protesters gathered in front of the house , banging on anything they could find to make a racket and chanting expletives at the mayor .
Activists said they were incensed by Garcetti ’ s use of the words “ reimagining public safety ” to announce a new Community Safety Partnership Bureau , saying that the mayor co-opted words from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instead announce a new police initiative .
Under the program , officers from the new bureau would help neighborhood residents come up with “ sports , recreation , and other programs ” intended to curb crime in their communities , according to a city statement .
It would also assist in connecting people with employment training , counseling and other resources .
Activists said their “ People ’ s Budget ” calls for defunding the Police Department .
Under their plan , they said , the money would be shifted to similar programs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As long as the community continues to be assailed in this way and as long as he refuses to listen to us , we ’ re going to go to places where he has to listen , including his house , ” said Melina Abdullah , a leader with Black Lives Matter Los Angeles .
Another activist who goes by the name of Akili and who attended Sunday ’ s rally agreed .
“ We don ’ t want social workers with guns , ” he said .
“ And the capacity to @ @ @ @ @ @

The home of Mayor Eric Garcetti has been the scene of weekend protests by demonstrators calling for a moratorium on rents and by opponents of a plan to create a Community Safety Partnership Bureau within the LAPD.
Three people were taken into custody and two were cited over the weekend outside the Windsor Square home of Mayor Eric Garcetti, where hundreds of protesters converged to demand the mayor cancel rents, according to an LAPD spokesman.
After the arrests on Saturday, protesters demonstrated outside Garcetti’s home on Sunday, in part to protest plans to build a Community Safety Partnership Bureau within the Police Department.
Joshua Rubenstein of the Los Angeles Police Department on Saturday said one person was arrested on suspicion of battery on a police officer, a second was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest, and a third was arrested on suspicion of trying to free an arrestee.
In addition, two others were cited and released for being a “pedestrian in a roadway,” Rubenstein said.
Advertisement
Rubenstein said that toward the end of a largely peaceful demonstration, some people continued to block parts of the roadway, “creating a hazardous situation,” and officers began to enforce traffic laws after warnings.
“When one of the traffic violators was stopped and advised he was going to be cited, a battery on a police officer occurred and the violator was taken into custody,” Rubenstein said in a statement. “Other suspects became aware of the detention by the officers and attempted to surround the officers and additional assaults were committed against additional officers.”
Protesters disputed that account, saying there was no warning before the arrests and that people had not attacked officers. Demonstrators at the Saturday event said that one of the people detained was a teenager who was dangling a doughnut on a string in front of officers.
Ian Carr, an organizer with the progressive group Ground Game LA, said that officers grabbed and handled the teenager roughly after he ran backwards away from them, then held the youth down in the back of a vehicle. Carr said he did not see the teen hurt any officers.
“People were screaming that he was epileptic,” said Jordan Blakeman, a protester who writes for the website Knock.LA, which is affiliated with Ground Game LA. “He was absolutely being hurt, from the pitch of his screaming.”
Protester Devon Young said she and her friends began filming what was happening to the teenager before being detained. Young said that one of her friends was beaten with batons and that at one point an officer knelt on her neck, leaving her vomiting afterward. They were loaded into a van with a third friend before Young was released with a citation, she said.
Advertisement
Young said that her two friends who were taken into custody were not violent toward officers. “I have it all on film — and the only thing I have is police brutalizing them,” she said.
Rubenstein said in his statement that assaults on officers “caused the response of additional officers to bring the situation under control.” The people who were detained were taken to the LAPD’s Olympic Station, Rubenstein said.
A Garcetti spokesman did not immediately provide comment Saturday on the demonstration or the arrests.
The Saturday demonstration was one in a string of protests outside Garcetti’s home. Demonstrators with the People’s City Council, which includes activists from groups such as the Los Angeles Tenants Union, Ktown for All and NOlympics LA, toted banners and signs and brought mariachi musicians to play outside the mayoral residence, demanding that the city impose a blanket ban on evictions, cancel rents and commandeer hotels for homeless people.
During the protest, activists posted a “3-Day Notice to Cancel Rent or Quit” on a gate outside the home. At one point, demonstrators blocked a nearby stretch of Wilshire Boulevard, according to videos of the event posted on Twitter.
Tenant rights activists have urged city leaders to take additional action to prevent people from losing their apartments and sliding into homelessness, fearing a wave of evictions as expanded unemployment benefits expire. The state court system is considering lifting its emergency restrictions on processing eviction cases later this month.
The Los Angeles city attorney’s office has warned against canceling rents, advising council members in a memo that it would violate the law and could cost the city more than a billion dollars in compensation to landlords. The council voted narrowly in April against imposing a broader ban on evictions after a city attorney argued it was unlikely to survive in court.
On Sunday, the demonstrations continued with dozens of protesters showing up early at the mayor’s Windsor Square residence to denounce his policing initiative. Video posted on social media showed protesters gathered in front of the house, banging on anything they could find to make a racket and chanting expletives at the mayor.
Activists said they were incensed by Garcetti’s use of the words “reimagining public safety” to announce a new Community Safety Partnership Bureau, saying that the mayor co-opted words from their campaign to defund the police to instead announce a new police initiative.
Under the program, officers from the new bureau would help neighborhood residents come up with “sports, recreation, and other programs” intended to curb crime in their communities, according to a city statement. It would also assist in connecting people with employment training, counseling and other resources.
Activists said their “People’s Budget” calls for defunding the Police Department. Under their plan, they said, the money would be shifted to similar programs, but without police involvement.
“As long as the community continues to be assailed in this way and as long as he refuses to listen to us, we’re going to go to places where he has to listen, including his house,” said Melina Abdullah, a leader with Black Lives Matter Los Angeles.
Another activist who goes by the name of Akili and who attended Sunday’s rally agreed.
“We don’t want social workers with guns,” he said. “And the capacity to kill and arrest you.”
Times staff writer Liam Dillon contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-07-31--Apple fire near Banning grows to 20,000 acres, prompting evacuation of thousands of homes

Firefighters on Sunday continued to battle the Apple fire that has burned 20,000 acres in Cherry Valley and surrounding areas of Riverside and San Bernardino counties , destroying one home and prompting evacuations of thousands of others .
More than 370 firefighters , assisted by several helicopters and air tankers , responded to the fire , which began Friday and sent billowing clouds of smoke hundreds of feet into the air that could be seen for miles .
Firefighters were battling the blaze in triple-digit temperatures that prompted the National Weather Service to issue an extreme heat warning .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ zero percent contained .
Evacuation orders remain in place for residents north of Dutton Street and east of Oak Glen Road , south of the San Bernardino-Riverside county line .
They also include residents north of Gilman Street in the Banning Bluff area .
New evacuation orders were put in place Saturday in Banning for residents north of Wilson Street , east of Sunset Avenue and west of Hathaway Street .
Fire officials said residents can check whether their address is in an evacuation zone through the RivCoReady.org website .
An evacuation warning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for San Bernardino County residents of the Potato Canyon area west to Raywood Flat .
A warning was in place farther to the east for residents north of Morongo Road , east of Millard Canyon Road and west of Whitewater Canyon Road .
April Newman , a public information officer with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Riverside County Fire Department , said Saturday afternoon that roughly 7,800 residents in over 2,500 households had been ordered to evacuate .
An evacuation center was opened at Beaumont High School for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was reported at 4:55 p.m. Friday in the 9000 block of Oak Glen Road , according to the Riverside County Fire Department .
Another department spokesperson , Fernando Herrera , said Friday that open land with thick vegetation has provided “ quite a bit of fuel for that fire to continue to burn [ and ] have a lot of intensity.
” He said the fire was burning very close to homes .
“ A lot of people ’ s backyards were on fire , ” Herrera said .
“ It ran in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ definitely was very threatening .
We could have lost homes , but we brought in a massive amount of ground resources to do structure defense , protect the life and property of all these residents.
” The cause of the fire is under investigation .
In Los Angeles County , a 150-acre brush fire was burning around Castaic Lake , north of Santa Clarita , according to the county Fire Department .
No structures were threatened .

San Gorgonio Mtns, Sunday, August 2, 2020 - The Apple Fire continues to burn thousands of acres North of Banning. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
A statue of Smokey Bear is enveloped in smoke from the Apple fire at the Oak Canyon Conservation Camp near Beaumont. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
A firefighter battles the Apple fire at the Oak Canyon Conservation Camp near Beaumont. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
A firefighter from Carpinteria monitors a huge plume of smoke from the Apple fire along Bluff Street, north of Banning. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The Apple fire consumes a tree at the Oak Canyon Conservation Camp near Beaumont. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
The Apple fire burns in the San Bernardino Mountains above Beaumont on Saturday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
San Gorgonio Mtns, Sunday, August 2, 2020 - Riverside/CAL firefighter Anthony Vierra cools hot spots after fire swept through the Whitewater Preserve Trail, East of the Apple Fire. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
A plane drops fire retardant over a home as the out-of-control Apple fire burns around it in Cherry Valley, Calif. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
A firefighter sets back fires as the leading edge of the Apple fire rages towards the Oak Canyon Conservation Camp near Beaumont. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
A sign with Smokey Bear is enveloped in smoke from the Apple fire at the Oak Canyon Conservation Camp near Beaumont. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
A slow camera exposure shows the movement of the Apple fire as it continues to burn into the night in the San Bernardino National Forest just above Bluff Street in Cherry Valley. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters set back fires as the leading edge of the Apple fire rages towards the Oak Canyon Conservation Camp near Beaumont on Saturday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
A shell of a burned car sits along Avenida Miravilla days after the Apple fire rushed through on its way to the nearby San Bernardino National Forest. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
A sign of gratitude along Oak Glen Road, not far from the presumptive source of the Apple fire, where investigators say they believe a spark from a diesel engine ignited dry brush. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Apple fire continues to burn thousands of acres with little containment. A helicopter hits a hot spot north of Banning. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Apple fire continues to burn thousands of acres north of Cabazon. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
A shell of a burned car sits along Avenida Miravilla days after the Apple fire rushed through on its way to the nearby San Bernardino National Forest, where it has burned more than 26,000 acres. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters on Sunday continued to battle the Apple fire that has burned 20,000 acres in Cherry Valley and surrounding areas of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, destroying one home and prompting evacuations of thousands of others.
More than 370 firefighters, assisted by several helicopters and air tankers, responded to the fire, which began Friday and sent billowing clouds of smoke hundreds of feet into the air that could be seen for miles. Firefighters were battling the blaze in triple-digit temperatures that prompted the National Weather Service to issue an extreme heat warning.
As of early Sunday, the fire was zero percent contained.
Evacuation orders remain in place for residents north of Dutton Street and east of Oak Glen Road, south of the San Bernardino-Riverside county line. They also include residents north of Gilman Street in the Banning Bluff area.
New evacuation orders were put in place Saturday in Banning for residents north of Wilson Street, east of Sunset Avenue and west of Hathaway Street. Fire officials said residents can check whether their address is in an evacuation zone through the RivCoReady.org website.
An evacuation warning was upgraded to an order Saturday evening for San Bernardino County residents of the Potato Canyon area west to Raywood Flat. A warning was in place farther to the east for residents north of Morongo Road, east of Millard Canyon Road and west of Whitewater Canyon Road.
Advertisement
ALERT RIVCO MESSAGE #AppleFire NEW EVACUATION ORDERS issued north of Wilson St, east of Sunset Ave and west of Hathaway St. Interactive map is now available at https://t.co/wMWj2KQQ7e @CALFIRERRU @RSO @CityofBanning @BanningPolice pic.twitter.com/WtnRDUx6Cx — RivCoReady (@RivCoReady) August 1, 2020
April Newman, a public information officer with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Riverside County Fire Department, said Saturday afternoon that roughly 7,800 residents in over 2,500 households had been ordered to evacuate.
An evacuation center was opened at Beaumont High School for people and animals.
The vegetation fire was reported at 4:55 p.m. Friday in the 9000 block of Oak Glen Road, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
Another department spokesperson, Fernando Herrera, said Friday that open land with thick vegetation has provided “quite a bit of fuel for that fire to continue to burn [and] have a lot of intensity.”
He said the fire was burning very close to homes.
The pyrocumulus plume from the Apple fire rises about 32,000 feet into the atmosphere and is visible from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s GOES West satellite. The image was taken at 6 p.m. Saturday. (NOAA and Los Angeles Times)
“A lot of people’s backyards were on fire,” Herrera said. “It ran in between homes and around homes. It definitely was very threatening. We could have lost homes, but we brought in a massive amount of ground resources to do structure defense, protect the life and property of all these residents.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
In Los Angeles County, a 150-acre brush fire was burning around Castaic Lake, north of Santa Clarita, according to the county Fire Department. No structures were threatened.


latimes--2020-08-03--California unemployment agency workers say internal problems are stalling claims process

As California grapples with a deluge of requests for unemployment benefits amid the COVID-19 pandemic , some state workers processing claims say they are buckling under pressure , hampered by outdated technology , bureaucratic red tape and a shortage of trained , experienced staff .
The state Employment Development Department is so overwhelmed that Gov .
Gavin Newsom acknowledged last week that nearly 1 million unpaid claims may be eligible for payment but require more information , with estimates that the backlog won ’ t be eliminated until the end of September .
Inside the EDD , full-time employees and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hours , including weekends , but often feel helpless to resolve problems for desperate Californians who have been out of work for months and often call crying or angry .
In interviews with The Times and testimony during a legislative hearing last week , current and former EDD workers say they have been hindered in assisting those who have lost jobs .
Some EDD workers are so frustrated with the process that they have quit .
Laura Stewart , who has worked for the state for almost 25 years , most recently in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , was among the state workers transferred to the EDD in a bid by the agency to address its ongoing issues .
She said she “ saw it as an opportunity to help my fellow Californians.
” But she was unprepared for what she walked into , she said in an interview .
Stewart underwent training that was conducted completely online because of COVID-19 .
She was given an 800-page instruction manual that contained numerous possible scenarios for unemployment claims and said she was left to fend for herself .
When she started @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s old computer system and confusing regulations made work difficult .
She was promised a mentor but never received one , she said , and her supervisors changed every week .
She said many were unwilling to give her the time on the phone she needed to resolve problems .
In some cases , claims stalled because of a small error .
One person filing a claim with the correct date of birth saw their claim stall when the date was somehow changed after it arrived at the EDD .
Stewart said that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unable to pull up claims she had on the screen of her state-issued computer at her Sacramento-area home .
As a result , she had to send them a screenshot and make changes herself based on their instructions — if they could figure out what was wrong .
“ I know I ’ m part of the problem because I don ’ t know what I am doing , ” Stewart said .
“ I really feel bad for anyone trying to deal with EDD — particularly if they obviously do qualify for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inefficient on so many levels.
” As a result , Stewart decided to quit late last month after nine weeks at the EDD and said she plans to go to another state agency where things are less dysfunctional .
“ I just got so frustrated with their technology , their antiquated systems they are trying to use , and the whole training program that was ridiculous , ” Stewart said .
Samuel Kihagi , an amateur filmmaker , voiced similar concerns to The Times before he quit his job Tuesday .
He was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ EDD through a staffing agency for $ 16 an hour .
Kihagi , who was hired in June for an assignment to run through at least August , said he does not believe the six days of training he received were adequate and noted he was severely limited in what he could do on his home computer .
For example , Kihagi said , he was not given access to purge or lift certain disqualifications to resolve claims for people who called .
As a result , he had to rely on information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can access , and fact sheets to answer general questions and inform callers about the rules .
He was often forced to end a call without resolving issues that were stalling payments .
“ I feel frustrated , ” Kihagi said .
“ When we have someone who hasn ’ t had their money for months and they are calling this line , and they get me and all I can do is tell them , ‘ Your payment is pending and I can ’ t do anything for you , ’ that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kihagi said that the system allowed him to forward problem claims to specialists but that technical flaws prevented him from including notes identifying the problem , potentially delaying resolution .
Callers have cried when they realized he didn ’ t have access to the system to look at their account , he said .
Others have gotten angry .
In order to avoid being yelled at by frustrated callers , “ I have told them someone will contact them about their claim in a few days when I know that couldn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kihagi said .
The EDD currently has a four- to six-week wait time for workers to call back customers with problems , according to agency officials .
Department veterans also say they are being pushed to their limit .
Tracie Kimbrough , who has worked at the EDD for 10 years , told lawmakers at a hearing Thursday that she and many of her co-workers “ have to take breaks to go away and shed a few tears when hearing heartbreaking stories from other Californians.
” “ Many times we are not able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our claimants [ because of ] outdated technology , limits on what we are allowed to do , ” said Kimbrough , who answers phone calls from jobless people seeking help with their claims .
“ We are not empowered , even if we have the skill set to do what is needed in order to help our claimants.
” Charles Tate , who was redirected from another state assignment to work in the EDD ’ s virtual call center , said he sometimes works 10 to 12 hours a day , seven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and outdated technology really stands in the way of EDD providing customer service during this time of crisis , ” Tate told lawmakers .
Some EDD workers are so frustrated that they have advised callers to seek help elsewhere .
“ Constituents have called the EDD helpline and were told that they should call their elected officials to help with their claims , ” Assemblyman Tom Lackey ( R-Palmdale ) complained to EDD Director Sharon Hilliard during the hearing .
“ I ’ m sorry that has happened , ” Hilliard responded .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to make sure that doesn ’ t happen in the future .
That is not our policy.
” The director acknowledged last week that the EDD was unprepared for the unprecedented 9.3 million claims from people who lost jobs or work hours since the pandemic began in March , more than double the number of claims filed during the worst year of the Great Recession .
With relatively low unemployment before the coronavirus struck , the EDD in March had just 20 workers assigned to the task of verifying the identity of people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ process claims — including 350 claims experts who answered calls from applicants for four hours a day , from 8 a.m. to noon .
In response to the surge in new claims , the EDD redirected 626 of its employees to help with claims processing and brought in 700 workers from other state agencies .
The department also is hiring 5,300 other workers to help out .
Even so , many unemployed Californians say they have had to make hundreds of calls a day to the EDD before someone answers , only to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helped .
Frustration has sometimes boiled over into anger at department officials , including in other states where employment systems have been overwhelmed .
Nevada has seen three top officials with the state Department of Employment , Training and Rehabilitation step down in recent months .
The Nevada agency ’ s interim director left her job June 19 “ due to threats to her personal safety , ” according to the Nevada governor ’ s office .
California EDD workers are continuing to process claims “ despite the bombardment of negative sentiment , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ EDD employee who was redirected to help with the Work Sharing program that helps employers avoid layoffs by paying part of the wages of employees .
She noted that the program still relies on paper forms that must be mailed back and forth to employers and employees .
Fales said part of the problem is the mass hiring through private contractors , which she said has resulted in “ poor performance by low-paid workers with inadequate training ” and a lack of experience .
“ We understand we are the lifeline for many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and underfunded , ” she said .
State officials say they are acting on many of the concerns they have heard about the unwieldy system and lack of training .
“ We continue to enhance the skills of our folks every day , ” Hilliard said .
“ We have people coming out of training every week that are fully trained for claims processing.
” More trained workers will be incorporated into a merged call center system that , starting in mid-October , will route calls to agents who specialize in the problems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ created a “ strike team ” to develop a plan in 45 days for improvements at the EDD , including fixes and eventual replacement of the computer system .
Though millions of claims have been processed and improvements have been made , “ too many Californians who may be eligible for benefits have not been paid , ” Labor Secretary Julie Su wrote in a letter to the Legislature last week .
“ We must do better .
”

Brenda Bermudez came looking for information about her unemployment claim in May but found the California Employment Development Department office in Canoga Park closed.
As California grapples with a deluge of requests for unemployment benefits amid the COVID-19 pandemic, some state workers processing claims say they are buckling under pressure, hampered by outdated technology, bureaucratic red tape and a shortage of trained, experienced staff.
The state Employment Development Department is so overwhelmed that Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged last week that nearly 1 million unpaid claims may be eligible for payment but require more information, with estimates that the backlog won’t be eliminated until the end of September.
Inside the EDD, full-time employees and temporary hires say they are working long hours, including weekends, but often feel helpless to resolve problems for desperate Californians who have been out of work for months and often call crying or angry.
In interviews with The Times and testimony during a legislative hearing last week, current and former EDD workers say they have been hindered in assisting those who have lost jobs. Some EDD workers are so frustrated with the process that they have quit.
Advertisement
Laura Stewart, who has worked for the state for almost 25 years, most recently in purchasing at the Department of Veterans Affairs, was among the state workers transferred to the EDD in a bid by the agency to address its ongoing issues. She said she “saw it as an opportunity to help my fellow Californians.”
But she was unprepared for what she walked into, she said in an interview.
Stewart underwent training that was conducted completely online because of COVID-19. She was given an 800-page instruction manual that contained numerous possible scenarios for unemployment claims and said she was left to fend for herself.
When she started working on claims, the agency’s old computer system and confusing regulations made work difficult. She was promised a mentor but never received one, she said, and her supervisors changed every week. She said many were unwilling to give her the time on the phone she needed to resolve problems.
In some cases, claims stalled because of a small error. One person filing a claim with the correct date of birth saw their claim stall when the date was somehow changed after it arrived at the EDD.
Stewart said that whenever she needed help, supervisors were unable to pull up claims she had on the screen of her state-issued computer at her Sacramento-area home. As a result, she had to send them a screenshot and make changes herself based on their instructions — if they could figure out what was wrong.
“I know I’m part of the problem because I don’t know what I am doing,” Stewart said. “I really feel bad for anyone trying to deal with EDD — particularly if they obviously do qualify for unemployment funds. The system is so inefficient on so many levels.”
As a result, Stewart decided to quit late last month after nine weeks at the EDD and said she plans to go to another state agency where things are less dysfunctional.
“I just got so frustrated with their technology, their antiquated systems they are trying to use, and the whole training program that was ridiculous,” Stewart said.
Samuel Kihagi, an amateur filmmaker, voiced similar concerns to The Times before he quit his job Tuesday. He was brought in to answer phones for the EDD through a staffing agency for $16 an hour.
Kihagi, who was hired in June for an assignment to run through at least August, said he does not believe the six days of training he received were adequate and noted he was severely limited in what he could do on his home computer. For example, Kihagi said, he was not given access to purge or lift certain disqualifications to resolve claims for people who called.
As a result, he had to rely on information on the EDD website, which callers can access, and fact sheets to answer general questions and inform callers about the rules. He was often forced to end a call without resolving issues that were stalling payments.
“I feel frustrated,” Kihagi said. “When we have someone who hasn’t had their money for months and they are calling this line, and they get me and all I can do is tell them, ‘Your payment is pending and I can’t do anything for you,’ that to me is kind of pointless.”
Kihagi said that the system allowed him to forward problem claims to specialists but that technical flaws prevented him from including notes identifying the problem, potentially delaying resolution.
Callers have cried when they realized he didn’t have access to the system to look at their account, he said. Others have gotten angry.
In order to avoid being yelled at by frustrated callers, “I have told them someone will contact them about their claim in a few days when I know that couldn’t be further from the truth,” Kihagi said.
The EDD currently has a four- to six-week wait time for workers to call back customers with problems, according to agency officials.
Department veterans also say they are being pushed to their limit. Tracie Kimbrough, who has worked at the EDD for 10 years, told lawmakers at a hearing Thursday that she and many of her co-workers “have to take breaks to go away and shed a few tears when hearing heartbreaking stories from other Californians.”
“Many times we are not able to do what is needed to assist our claimants [because of] outdated technology, limits on what we are allowed to do,” said Kimbrough, who answers phone calls from jobless people seeking help with their claims. “We are not empowered, even if we have the skill set to do what is needed in order to help our claimants.”
Charles Tate, who was redirected from another state assignment to work in the EDD’s virtual call center, said he sometimes works 10 to 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
Advertisement
“The understaffing and outdated technology really stands in the way of EDD providing customer service during this time of crisis,” Tate told lawmakers.
Some EDD workers are so frustrated that they have advised callers to seek help elsewhere.
“Constituents have called the EDD helpline and were told that they should call their elected officials to help with their claims,” Assemblyman Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale) complained to EDD Director Sharon Hilliard during the hearing.
“I’m sorry that has happened,” Hilliard responded. “We have clarified with our staff to make sure that doesn’t happen in the future. That is not our policy.”
The director acknowledged last week that the EDD was unprepared for the unprecedented 9.3 million claims from people who lost jobs or work hours since the pandemic began in March, more than double the number of claims filed during the worst year of the Great Recession.
With relatively low unemployment before the coronavirus struck, the EDD in March had just 20 workers assigned to the task of verifying the identity of people filing unemployment claims and 1,250 staffers to process claims — including 350 claims experts who answered calls from applicants for four hours a day, from 8 a.m. to noon.
In response to the surge in new claims, the EDD redirected 626 of its employees to help with claims processing and brought in 700 workers from other state agencies. The department also is hiring 5,300 other workers to help out.
Even so, many unemployed Californians say they have had to make hundreds of calls a day to the EDD before someone answers, only to be told they can’t be helped.
Frustration has sometimes boiled over into anger at department officials, including in other states where employment systems have been overwhelmed. Nevada has seen three top officials with the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation step down in recent months. The Nevada agency’s interim director left her job June 19 “due to threats to her personal safety,” according to the Nevada governor’s office.
California EDD workers are continuing to process claims “despite the bombardment of negative sentiment,” said Barbara Fales, a longtime EDD employee who was redirected to help with the Work Sharing program that helps employers avoid layoffs by paying part of the wages of employees.
She noted that the program still relies on paper forms that must be mailed back and forth to employers and employees.
Fales said part of the problem is the mass hiring through private contractors, which she said has resulted in “poor performance by low-paid workers with inadequate training” and a lack of experience.
“We understand we are the lifeline for many struggling Californians, but we are understaffed and underfunded,” she said.
State officials say they are acting on many of the concerns they have heard about the unwieldy system and lack of training.
“We continue to enhance the skills of our folks every day,” Hilliard said. “We have people coming out of training every week that are fully trained for claims processing.”
More trained workers will be incorporated into a merged call center system that, starting in mid-October, will route calls to agents who specialize in the problems affecting the callers.
Newsom last week created a “strike team” to develop a plan in 45 days for improvements at the EDD, including fixes and eventual replacement of the computer system.
Though millions of claims have been processed and improvements have been made, “too many Californians who may be eligible for benefits have not been paid,” Labor Secretary Julie Su wrote in a letter to the Legislature last week. “We must do better.”


latimes--2020-08-03--This L.A. hunter killed an elephant. Now he's a PETA target in bid to end trophy hunting

In mid-December , Aaron Raby shot and killed an elephant .
Hours later , he had a piece of it for dinner , with a side of sliced tomato and avocado .
A self-described “ blue-collar ” Los Angeles crane operator , Raby paid more than $ 30,000 for the once-in-a-lifetime experience — traveling more than 10,000 miles to South Africa to shoot and kill the tusked pachyderm .
He then paid roughly $ 10,000 to have its head preserved as a souvenir of his adventure .
Yet Raby may never receive his trophy — which is still in South @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if California enacts new legislation , Senate Bill 1175 .
The legislation , which has passed the state Senate and is expected to pass the Assembly on Tuesday , would prohibit the importation and possession of animal parts from a list of endangered and threatened African species , including elephants , lions and rhinos .
“ It ’ s time to wake up and realize that we ’ re in the middle of a mass extinction event , ” said Sen. Henry Stern ( D-Canoga Park ) , who wrote and shepherded the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ passed both the Assembly and Senate two years ago but was ultimately vetoed by then-Gov .
Jerry Brown , who called the trophy ban “ unenforceable.
” Stern said circumstances have since changed , and is confident the current governor , Gavin Newsom , will sign this year ’ s bill .
For Raby , the consequences of his latest kill are just starting to unfold .
After the hunt , he posted images of his trophy on Facebook , YouTube and AfricaHunting.com , a website for hunters .
People for the Ethical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activist organization , independently obtained video of the elephant shooting , which it released Monday and plans to use in a late-session campaign to ensure passage of Stern ’ s legislation .
Raby said he has faced threats and online harassment before , such as when he posted an image of himself with a lion he had killed .
But the PETA campaign is sure to bring him a new notoriety , and deepen the debate about trophy hunting .
“ I don ’ t understand why this is anybody ’ s business @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ What I did is legal .
I didn ’ t break a law .
They ’ re going to place a ban because a bunch of ... crybabies that don ’ t like hunting.
” California has become a focus of the trophy fight partly because the federal government has vacillated on banning such imports .
This year , the Trump administration approved the import of a lion trophy from Tanzania , the first since lions began receiving protections in January 2016 as a threatened species .
Fearing the administration may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are hoping California will provide a line of defense .
For years , trophy hunting has also quietly divided conservation biologists .
Last fall , that split became publicly acerbic within the pages of the prestigious research journal Science .
Some experts argue the practice provides funding for local communities , raises money for wildlife management and gives people who live near dangerous or destructive animals — such as lions and elephants — an incentive to conserve them instead of kill them .
Others say there is no evidence that trophy hunting provides @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it did , they question whether killing and dismembering such creatures justifies those ends .
The scope of the imports is vast .
In 2017 alone , more than 650,000 wildlife trophies were imported to the United States , including species considered internationally rare or threatened , according to a report from the Congressional Research Service .
Last winter , after years of diligently saving , Raby embarked on a two-week hunting expedition in South Africa , led by a pair of experienced safari guides .
A video of the hunt , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a startled elephant facing the hunter and his phalanx of guides and trackers .
As the young male pachyderm looks on — his ears widening — the guides set up a tripod upon which Raby places his rifle .
Raby shoots , and the bullet hits the elephant in its head .
The elephant crumbles to his knees .
Over the next 2½ minutes , Raby shoots the elephant four more times — three more hitting the animal ’ s head .
The footage shows the elephant breathing heavily , groaning , bleeding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s guides continue to encourage him to get a cleaner shot .
They never offer or attempt to intercede to quickly end the animal ’ s suffering .
The video cuts off before the elephant dies , although later footage — which Raby posted on YouTube and his Facebook page — shows crews skinning and deboning the elephant .
Raby has killed hundreds of animals across North America , as well as in Europe , Africa and Russia .
Photos of his forays can be viewed on his public Instagram page , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and another in which he is hugging a dead leopard .
The elephant was the culmination of Raby ’ s African “ Big Five ” quest .
He ’ d already killed a lion , rhinoceros , Cape buffalo and leopard .
Raby said he hunts not for the kill , but for the experience and adventure of the hunt — living outdoors , cooking around a campfire , tracking an animal and immersing himself in the wild .
He also notes that lions regularly kill agricultural and pastoral animals — and occasionally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and crops .
“ We pay a lot of money to hunt these animals , ” Raby said .
“ If we didn ’ t hunt , that land would be converted into cattle ranches and there ’ d be poaching .
They don ’ t want lions killing their cattle or elephants destroying their crops.
” Mike Axelrad , a trophy hunter from Texas , said hunting provides financial incentives that prevent poaching .
He said animals are often poisoned if considered a nuisance — a painful and often prolonged death .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ director of the University of Minnesota ’ s lion research center , said there are examples of successful trophy-hunting conservation preserves in countries such as Namibia and Zimbabwe — in which the proceeds from international hunting expeditions have provided funding to conserve wildlife habitat and employ people from local communities .
Unfortunately , he said , in most places , these reserves don ’ t translate into the desired outcomes because the money spent by hunters — a lion hunt can range from $ 20,000 to $ 70,000 — doesn ’ t come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to conserve biodiversity and manage habitat .
Or employ enough people to have a meaningful effect on a community .
In addition , corruption in many countries and regions often makes it impossible to know where the money is going , to whom , and how the hunts are regulated .
“ Many of these hunting preserves are fly-by-night operations .
Business owners swoop in , sell big takes , and leave .
They aren ’ t in it for the long term , ” he said .
“ The emperor has no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a conservation biologist at the University of Wisconsin and director of the Carnivore Coexistence Laboratory .
Treves says there are no concrete data supporting the idea that hunting promotes biodiversity , habitat conservation or local employment and engagement .
Proponents tend to repeatedly cite the few studies that bolster the argument for hunting , creating a body of research that boils down to “ self-citation , ” he said .
An even bigger issue , said Chelsea Batavia , a conservation biologist at Oregon State University , is ethics .
“ We know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emotional capacity and they have complicated social lives , ” she said .
Even if proponents could demonstrate that trophy hunting benefits conservation , she added , “ do the ends justify the means ?
” The debate , she said , needs to be seen in the context of colonialism , in which European traditions were and still are imposed upon Africans .
What is needed , she said , are alternative conservation measures that aren ’ t issued from the top or from outside , but supported and embraced by local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from South Africa investigate Raby ’ s hunt and , in particular , the prolonged death of the elephant .
In a letter to officials at the Balule preserve , Jared Goodman , PETA ’ s vice president and deputy general counsel , said the kill violated the preserve ’ s requirement that animals are provided with “ ethical and humane ” treatment and that its guides comply “ with the highest moral and ethical standards in recognition of a reverence for life and good sportsmanship.
” As for Raby , he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s legislation becomes law .
“ We ’ re not all bloodthirsty , psycho machines that people make us out to be , ” he said .
“ I promise you , I can read an animal better than someone who is against hunting .
They say they like animals , but they don ’ t know anything about them .
”

In mid-December, Aaron Raby shot and killed an elephant. Hours later, he had a piece of it for dinner, with a side of sliced tomato and avocado.
A self-described “blue-collar” Los Angeles crane operator, Raby paid more than $30,000 for the once-in-a-lifetime experience — traveling more than 10,000 miles to South Africa to shoot and kill the tusked pachyderm. He then paid roughly $10,000 to have its head preserved as a souvenir of his adventure.
Yet Raby may never receive his trophy — which is still in South Africa being prepared by a taxidermist — if California enacts new legislation, Senate Bill 1175.
Advertisement
The legislation, which has passed the state Senate and is expected to pass the Assembly on Tuesday, would prohibit the importation and possession of animal parts from a list of endangered and threatened African species, including elephants, lions and rhinos.
“It’s time to wake up and realize that we’re in the middle of a mass extinction event,” said Sen. Henry Stern (D-Canoga Park), who wrote and shepherded the bill through the Senate.
Similar legislation passed both the Assembly and Senate two years ago but was ultimately vetoed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, who called the trophy ban “unenforceable.” Stern said circumstances have since changed, and is confident the current governor, Gavin Newsom, will sign this year’s bill.
For Raby, the consequences of his latest kill are just starting to unfold. After the hunt, he posted images of his trophy on Facebook, YouTube and AfricaHunting.com, a website for hunters.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an animal rights activist organization, independently obtained video of the elephant shooting, which it released Monday and plans to use in a late-session campaign to ensure passage of Stern’s legislation.
Raby said he has faced threats and online harassment before, such as when he posted an image of himself with a lion he had killed. But the PETA campaign is sure to bring him a new notoriety, and deepen the debate about trophy hunting.
“I don’t understand why this is anybody’s business but my own,” Raby said. “What I did is legal. I didn’t break a law. They’re going to place a ban because a bunch of ... crybabies that don’t like hunting.”
California has become a focus of the trophy fight partly because the federal government has vacillated on banning such imports. This year, the Trump administration approved the import of a lion trophy from Tanzania, the first since lions began receiving protections in January 2016 as a threatened species.
Fearing the administration may approve more trophy imports, wildlife advocates are hoping California will provide a line of defense.
Advertisement
For years, trophy hunting has also quietly divided conservation biologists. Last fall, that split became publicly acerbic within the pages of the prestigious research journal Science.
Some experts argue the practice provides funding for local communities, raises money for wildlife management and gives people who live near dangerous or destructive animals — such as lions and elephants — an incentive to conserve them instead of kill them.
Others say there is no evidence that trophy hunting provides these benefits, and, even if it did, they question whether killing and dismembering such creatures justifies those ends.
The scope of the imports is vast. In 2017 alone, more than 650,000 wildlife trophies were imported to the United States, including species considered internationally rare or threatened, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service.
Last winter, after years of diligently saving, Raby embarked on a two-week hunting expedition in South Africa, led by a pair of experienced safari guides.
A video of the hunt, which PETA shared with The Times, shows a startled elephant facing the hunter and his phalanx of guides and trackers. As the young male pachyderm looks on — his ears widening — the guides set up a tripod upon which Raby places his rifle.
Raby shoots, and the bullet hits the elephant in its head. The elephant crumples to his knees. Over the next 2½ minutes, Raby shoots the elephant four more times — three more hitting the animal’s head. The footage shows the elephant breathing heavily, groaning, bleeding and struggling to get up.
Raby’s guides continue to encourage him to get a cleaner shot. They never offer or attempt to intercede to quickly end the animal’s suffering.
The video cuts off before the elephant dies, although later footage — which Raby posted on YouTube and his Facebook page — shows crews skinning and deboning the elephant.
Raby has killed hundreds of animals across North America, as well as in Europe, Africa and Russia. Photos of his forays can be viewed on his public Instagram page, including one that shows a dead wolverine and another in which he is hugging a dead leopard.
The elephant was the culmination of Raby’s African “Big Five” quest. He’d already killed a lion, rhinoceros, Cape buffalo and leopard.
Raby said he hunts not for the kill, but for the experience and adventure of the hunt — living outdoors, cooking around a campfire, tracking an animal and immersing himself in the wild.
He also notes that lions regularly kill agricultural and pastoral animals — and occasionally people — while elephants can destroy homes and crops.
“We pay a lot of money to hunt these animals,” Raby said. “If we didn’t hunt, that land would be converted into cattle ranches and there’d be poaching. They don’t want lions killing their cattle or elephants destroying their crops.”
Mike Axelrad, a trophy hunter from Texas, said hunting provides financial incentives that prevent poaching. He said animals are often poisoned if considered a nuisance — a painful and often prolonged death.
Craig Packer, a biology professor and director of the University of Minnesota’s lion research center, said there are examples of successful trophy-hunting conservation preserves in countries such as Namibia and Zimbabwe — in which the proceeds from international hunting expeditions have provided funding to conserve wildlife habitat and employ people from local communities.
Unfortunately, he said, in most places, these reserves don’t translate into the desired outcomes because the money spent by hunters — a lion hunt can range from $20,000 to $70,000 — doesn’t come close to the kind of money needed to conserve biodiversity and manage habitat. Or employ enough people to have a meaningful effect on a community.
In addition, corruption in many countries and regions often makes it impossible to know where the money is going, to whom, and how the hunts are regulated.
“Many of these hunting preserves are fly-by-night operations. Business owners swoop in, sell big takes, and leave. They aren’t in it for the long term,” he said.
Others dispute Packer’s examples of hunting’s benefits.
“The emperor has no clothes,” said Adrian Treves, a conservation biologist at the University of Wisconsin and director of the Carnivore Coexistence Laboratory.
Treves says there are no concrete data supporting the idea that hunting promotes biodiversity, habitat conservation or local employment and engagement. Proponents tend to repeatedly cite the few studies that bolster the argument for hunting, creating a body of research that boils down to “self-citation,” he said.
An even bigger issue, said Chelsea Batavia, a conservation biologist at Oregon State University, is ethics.
“We know these animal are intelligent, they have emotional capacity and they have complicated social lives,” she said. Even if proponents could demonstrate that trophy hunting benefits conservation, she added, “do the ends justify the means?”
The debate, she said, needs to be seen in the context of colonialism, in which European traditions were and still are imposed upon Africans. What is needed, she said, are alternative conservation measures that aren’t issued from the top or from outside, but supported and embraced by local communities.
PETA is requesting that officials from South Africa investigate Raby’s hunt and, in particular, the prolonged death of the elephant.
In a letter to officials at the Balule preserve, Jared Goodman, PETA’s vice president and deputy general counsel, said the kill violated the preserve’s requirement that animals are provided with “ethical and humane” treatment and that its guides comply “with the highest moral and ethical standards in recognition of a reverence for life and good sportsmanship.”
As for Raby, he said he’d leave California if Stern’s legislation becomes law.
“We’re not all bloodthirsty, psycho machines that people make us out to be,” he said. “I promise you, I can read an animal better than someone who is against hunting. They say they like animals, but they don’t know anything about them.”