latimes--2020-05-13--Coronavirus is stalling air quality, pollution rules, even in eco-minded California

As experts warn that exposure to pollution can increase the risk of dying from COVID-19 , an array of powerful industries is pressuring California regulators to delay or roll back air quality and climate regulations due to the coronavirus outbreak .
The trucking industry wants to stall new emissions-reduction rules .
Oil companies want looser enforcement of existing regulations .
Port and shipping interests are pushing to delay rules on ocean vessels as they become Southern California ’ s largest source of smog-forming pollution .
Will Barrett , clean air advocacy director for the American Lung Assn .
in California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ brazen attempt to use the COVID pandemic as a justification for long-held policy complaints about clean air programs in California ” and accused industry of using the crisis “ as cover to roll back or delay programs that will save lives.
” The breadth of requests presents a conundrum for regulators who , even in eco-minded California , have been open about the need to grant some measure of relief from environmental requirements in response to the pandemic .
While officials say their commitment to fighting climate change and air pollution remains @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deadlines and delaying pollution-reduction rules .
To minimize the effects on air quality and climate goals , officials said they are considering such requests on a case-by-case basis and trying to separate those specifically related to the coronavirus from those seeking to capitalize on the crisis for long-sought regulatory relief .
Kate Gordon , Gov .
Gavin Newsom ’ s senior advisor on climate , said that some of the requests “ are very understandable and really have to do with the fact of the current crisis , and in some cases they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a kind of a thorn in the side to certain industries and they just are using ... the moment to try to dispute them.
” Gordon said there was no blanket answer as to where the administration would draw the line .
“ There ’ s a million regulations and they all have to be looked at individually , ” she said , adding “ we ’ re emphatic that we ’ re not rolling everything back .
We ’ re not taking advantage of this moment.
” Officials at the California Air @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in crafting regulations to cut pollution from trucks , ships and other vehicles that generate the bulk of the state ’ s emissions .
While field inspections have been temporarily halted , some meetings canceled or postponed and public comment deadlines extended , officials said they have not pushed back their timeline for adopting new regulations due to COVID-19 .
“ The only thing slowing CARB down at this point is that we have people working from home and that ’ s less efficient , ” Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Southern California , where records show regulators tasked with cleaning the nation ’ s smoggiest region have delayed consideration of more than 10 new or updated rules , citing COVID-19 .
The proposed rules being postponed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District target powerful and heavily polluting industries , including oil refineries , warehouse logistics centers and metal-finishing operations .
Officials for the South Coast district said delays in adopting rules aren ’ t unusual , and were commonplace even before the pandemic .
They acknowledged COVID-19 had pushed back timelines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ months , but blamed those delays largely on stay-at-home orders , telecommuting , and other coronavirus-related restrictions , rather than industry pressure .
“ We ’ re still trying to move as hard and as fast as we can , ” South Coast AQMD Executive Officer Wayne Nastri said .
Environmental groups and some elected officials are urging air quality regulators to stay the course , especially while the state confronts a virus that poses a heightened risk to people with the same underlying health problems , such as asthma and heart disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ air .
State Assemblywoman Eloise Reyes ( D-San Bernardino ) and dozens of other state legislators wrote Newsom on April 27 raising concerns that regulated industries “ are using this public health emergency as an attempt to stop , delay , or otherwise weaken California ’ s environmental and public health protections.
” They urged the administration to “ resist efforts to roll back any current protections ” and “ move forward on critical rulemakings.
” Community groups fear regulators will bend to industry demands and further delay long-planned rules targeting ports , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nearby residents complain they are paying for inaction with their health .
“ People are in a very vulnerable place job-wise , health-wise , and it ’ s incredible that this is another thing they have to add to their list , ” said Andrea Vidaurre , policy analyst at the Riverside County-based Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice .
“ We need the government to step in and hold the line.
” The requests for relief from current and future regulations have streamed in from entities big and small across the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shops and rendering plants struggling to make payroll to the powerful oil and shipping industries .
“ Protect our members from unintended , unanticipated , and otherwise unavoidable state penalties and fines as ocean carriers provide the essential services necessary to keep the international supply chain up and running during this emergency , ” Pacific Merchant Shipping Assn .
President John McLaurin wrote in a March 30 letter to Newsom .
“ All bus companies are just dead at this time and with CARB pushing enforcement of regulations , we can not recover @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tours wrote in an April 2 email seeking a three-year rule suspension .
“ We ’ re struggling to pay our bills.
” As an indication of how it ’ s responding , the Air Resources Board provided documents showing “ examples of the kinds of regulatory flexibility CARB is considering based on specific industry requests , ” including extended reporting deadlines and “ emergency event ” designations .
At least one state lawmaker called on officials to go further .
State Assembly Transportation Chairman Jim Frazier ( D-Fairfield ) urged the Air @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to “ suspend the development and implementation of all proposed regulations ” until 2021 , and “ examine the need to delay existing milestones in adopted regulations as we grapple with the long-term recovery of the COVID-19 crisis.
” William A. Burke , who chairs the South Coast air district ’ s governing board , said some of the loudest calls to slow down regulations came from the metal-finishing industry , which produces a lot of parts for the aerospace industry .
“ I think that the district should be sensitive to both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of any rule that goes forward at any time , ” Burke said .
“ But this is the most unusual circumstance of anyone who ’ s alive ’ s lifetime .
So I think we take it on a case-by-case by basis.
” Air district staff said they held regular phone calls with metal-finishing industry representatives who begged for more time as they dealt with layoffs , travel restrictions and other challenges related to the pandemic .
“ They just don ’ t have the bandwidth , ” said Susan Nakamura , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ South Coast district .
“ They ’ re struggling just to survive right now .
Make payroll .
Keep their business running.
” The air district ultimately postponed its consideration of planned rules to reduce the industry ’ s toxic air pollution .
Jerry Desmond , with the Metal Finishing Assn .
of Southern California , expressed appreciation to South Coast air board members at a May 1 public meeting .
Metal-finishing facilities have seen a 30 % to 40 % reduction in their operations , he said , and are “ really @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the moment.
” California ’ s approach still stands in sharp contrast with the Trump administration , which has moved forward with environmental rollbacks during the health crisis and has suspended enforcement of a broad array of health and environmental protections in response to the pandemic .
Nichols , of the Air Resources Board , said the push to get rid of regulations is something that happens every time there ’ s an economic downturn , including the financial crisis more than a decade ago , “ when we faced some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ roll back environmental regulations that we are today.
” Richard Frank , a professor of environmental practice at UC Davis School of Law , said he doesn ’ t expect significant erosion to California ’ s environmental protections because they have such broad public support .
“ The commitment to environmental values in California is pretty deeply baked into the state ’ s social fabric and political DNA , ” Frank said .
“ And I hope that ’ s not too naive a perspective .
I don ’ t think it is @ @

The Phillips 66 refinery looms over homes in the neighborhood of Wilmington of Los Angeles in March 2016. Oil companies, shipping interests and the trucking industry are among those asking California regulators to delay or relax air quality rules due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As experts warn that exposure to pollution can increase the risk of dying from COVID-19, an array of powerful industries is pressuring California regulators to delay or roll back air quality and climate regulations due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The trucking industry wants to stall new emissions-reduction rules. Oil companies want looser enforcement of existing regulations. Port and shipping interests are pushing to delay rules on ocean vessels as they become Southern California’s largest source of smog-forming pollution.
Will Barrett, clean air advocacy director for the American Lung Assn. in California, said the lobbying effort is a “brazen attempt to use the COVID pandemic as a justification for long-held policy complaints about clean air programs in California” and accused industry of using the crisis “as cover to roll back or delay programs that will save lives.”
The breadth of requests presents a conundrum for regulators who, even in eco-minded California, have been open about the need to grant some measure of relief from environmental requirements in response to the pandemic. While officials say their commitment to fighting climate change and air pollution remains unshaken, they are nonetheless postponing compliance deadlines and delaying pollution-reduction rules.
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To minimize the effects on air quality and climate goals, officials said they are considering such requests on a case-by-case basis and trying to separate those specifically related to the coronavirus from those seeking to capitalize on the crisis for long-sought regulatory relief.
× Environmental factors including deforestation, air pollution and urbanization contribute to the severity of pandemics like COVID-19. Experts warn that if we continue to destroy the environment, future pandemics could become more common.
Kate Gordon, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s senior advisor on climate, said that some of the requests “are very understandable and really have to do with the fact of the current crisis, and in some cases they’re regulations that had already been a kind of a thorn in the side to certain industries and they just are using ... the moment to try to dispute them.”
Gordon said there was no blanket answer as to where the administration would draw the line. “There’s a million regulations and they all have to be looked at individually,” she said, adding “we’re emphatic that we’re not rolling everything back. We’re not taking advantage of this moment.”
Officials at the California Air Resources Board said they are forging ahead in crafting regulations to cut pollution from trucks, ships and other vehicles that generate the bulk of the state’s emissions. While field inspections have been temporarily halted, some meetings canceled or postponed and public comment deadlines extended, officials said they have not pushed back their timeline for adopting new regulations due to COVID-19.
“The only thing slowing CARB down at this point is that we have people working from home and that’s less efficient,” Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols said.
It’s another story in Southern California, where records show regulators tasked with cleaning the nation’s smoggiest region have delayed consideration of more than 10 new or updated rules, citing COVID-19.
The proposed rules being postponed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District target powerful and heavily polluting industries, including oil refineries, warehouse logistics centers and metal-finishing operations.
Advertisement
Officials for the South Coast district said delays in adopting rules aren’t unusual, and were commonplace even before the pandemic. They acknowledged COVID-19 had pushed back timelines for adopting some rules by a few months, but blamed those delays largely on stay-at-home orders, telecommuting, and other coronavirus-related restrictions, rather than industry pressure.
“We’re still trying to move as hard and as fast as we can,” South Coast AQMD Executive Officer Wayne Nastri said.
Environmental groups and some elected officials are urging air quality regulators to stay the course, especially while the state confronts a virus that poses a heightened risk to people with the same underlying health problems, such as asthma and heart disease, that are worsened by breathing dirty air.
State Assemblywoman Eloise Reyes (D-San Bernardino) and dozens of other state legislators wrote Newsom on April 27 raising concerns that regulated industries “are using this public health emergency as an attempt to stop, delay, or otherwise weaken California’s environmental and public health protections.” They urged the administration to “resist efforts to roll back any current protections” and “move forward on critical rulemakings.”
Community groups fear regulators will bend to industry demands and further delay long-planned rules targeting ports, warehouses and other pollution hot spots where nearby residents complain they are paying for inaction with their health.
“People are in a very vulnerable place job-wise, health-wise, and it’s incredible that this is another thing they have to add to their list,” said Andrea Vidaurre, policy analyst at the Riverside County-based Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. “We need the government to step in and hold the line.”
The requests for relief from current and future regulations have streamed in from entities big and small across the state, from transportation firms, metal shops and rendering plants struggling to make payroll to the powerful oil and shipping industries.
“Protect our members from unintended, unanticipated, and otherwise unavoidable state penalties and fines as ocean carriers provide the essential services necessary to keep the international supply chain up and running during this emergency,” Pacific Merchant Shipping Assn. President John McLaurin wrote in a March 30 letter to Newsom.
“All bus companies are just dead at this time and with CARB pushing enforcement of regulations, we cannot recover,” Pat Burriel of Fresno-based JSS Tours wrote in an April 2 email seeking a three-year rule suspension. “We’re struggling to pay our bills.”
As an indication of how it’s responding, the Air Resources Board provided documents showing “examples of the kinds of regulatory flexibility CARB is considering based on specific industry requests,” including extended reporting deadlines and “emergency event” designations.
At least one state lawmaker called on officials to go further.
State Assembly Transportation Chairman Jim Frazier (D-Fairfield) urged the Air Resources Board in a March 27 letter to “suspend the development and implementation of all proposed regulations” until 2021, and “examine the need to delay existing milestones in adopted regulations as we grapple with the long-term recovery of the COVID-19 crisis.”
William A. Burke, who chairs the South Coast air district’s governing board, said some of the loudest calls to slow down regulations came from the metal-finishing industry, which produces a lot of parts for the aerospace industry.
“I think that the district should be sensitive to both the environmental side and the business side of any rule that goes forward at any time,” Burke said. “But this is the most unusual circumstance of anyone who’s alive’s lifetime. So I think we take it on a case-by-case by basis.”
Air district staff said they held regular phone calls with metal-finishing industry representatives who begged for more time as they dealt with layoffs, travel restrictions and other challenges related to the pandemic.
“They just don’t have the bandwidth,” said Susan Nakamura, an assistant deputy executive officer at the South Coast district. “They’re struggling just to survive right now. Make payroll. Keep their business running.”
The air district ultimately postponed its consideration of planned rules to reduce the industry’s toxic air pollution.
Jerry Desmond, with the Metal Finishing Assn. of Southern California, expressed appreciation to South Coast air board members at a May 1 public meeting. Metal-finishing facilities have seen a 30% to 40% reduction in their operations, he said, and are “really embroiled in compliance with COVID-19 safe practices at the moment.”
California’s approach still stands in sharp contrast with the Trump administration, which has moved forward with environmental rollbacks during the health crisis and has suspended enforcement of a broad array of health and environmental protections in response to the pandemic.
Nichols, of the Air Resources Board, said the push to get rid of regulations is something that happens every time there’s an economic downturn, including the financial crisis more than a decade ago, “when we faced some of the same knee-jerk requests to suspend or roll back environmental regulations that we are today.”
Richard Frank, a professor of environmental practice at UC Davis School of Law, said he doesn’t expect significant erosion to California’s environmental protections because they have such broad public support.
“The commitment to environmental values in California is pretty deeply baked into the state’s social fabric and political DNA,” Frank said. “And I hope that’s not too naive a perspective. I don’t think it is.”


latimes--2020-05-13--S. David Freeman, public power chief and energy advisor, dies at 94

S. David Freeman , who steered the nation ’ s largest public electric utilities with a commanding and at times uncompromising vision and was an early advocate of renewable energy , has died .
Freeman died Tuesday at a hospital in the Washington , D.C. , suburbs after suffering a heart attack , his daughter Anita Hopkins said .
He was 94 .
As president of the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners , Freeman oversaw a push in the 2000s to clean up the air in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach .
Industry executives and labor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , saying they would drive down profits and eliminate jobs , But Freeman “ was a steamroller , ” recalled Jerilyn López Mendoza , who served with him on the commission .
“ He would charm you , talk circles around you , until he had you convinced his way was the right way.
” After leading the port commission , Freeman served as then-L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa ’ s deputy mayor for energy and the environment .
In an interview Wednesday , Villaraigosa , who met Freeman as a state assemblyman while @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Carl Moyer Program , called him “ a force of nature.
” “ Public service was in his bones , in his DNA , ” Villaraigosa said .
“ He ’ s given people ideas that made them millions , and he didn ’ t care .
He just wanted to change the world , and he did.
” Freeman was not without detractors .
When Gov .
Gray Davis nominated him to lead the state power authority , Republican lawmakers assailed his tenure at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during the 2000-01 energy crisis , brought on by a disastrous deregulation of the state ’ s power market .
Electricity costs rocketed , and power outages rolled across the state as a result of the crunch .
V. John White , a clean-energy advocate , clashed with Freeman over what he called the “ gun to the head ” contracts Freeman signed for electricity for California during the crisis .
“ He signed $ 40 billion worth of contracts in 30 days , and on the whole , I told Dave we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ And he completely defended them and said : You don ’ t know what you ’ re talking about.
” Over his seven decades shaping energy policy and leading local and state power authorities , Freeman would embrace cleaner , renewable sources of energy .
Freeman told the historian Harry Kreisler that he remained “ pretty conventional about nuclear power and the whole power business ” until the day two women from New Hampshire came to his office in the White House .
There were plans to build a nuclear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told him , but they had done some research and figured that if people in their area simply conserved energy , there was no need for nuclear power .
“ I listened to them , and I checked it out , and they were right , ” Freeman recalled .
“ All of a sudden , it was like a light bulb went off in my head that we were just wasting a tremendous amount of electricity , and we didn ’ t need to build as many plants as we thought we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s cheaper to conserve.
” The son of an umbrella repairman , Freeman was born Jan. 14 , 1926 , in Chattanooga , Tenn. A high school teacher took a look at his math scores and told him to study engineering , his son Stanley said , and so Freeman enrolled at Georgia Tech .
He took a job after graduation with the Tennessee Valley Authority , the sprawling federal corporation established during President Franklin D. Roosevelt ’ s New Deal .
But Freeman was less interested in engineering than policy and advocacy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ five years of designing power plants and hydroelectric stations , he enrolled in the University of Tennessee ’ s law school .
After earning a law degree , he returned to the TVA as an attorney .
Freeman followed his boss , the general counsel of the TVA , to the nation ’ s capital , where over the next two decades he advised Presidents Johnson , Nixon and Carter and the Senate Commerce Committee on energy policy .
At the request of President Carter , Freeman returned to Tennessee in 1977 to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a roving , three-decade tour that took him through Texas , New York , Sacramento and Los Angeles and to the top ranks of the nation ’ s three largest public utilities — the TVA , the New York Power Authority and the Los Angeles DWP , which he led from 1997 to 2001 .
“ He believed in institutions , ” said White , who met Freeman when Freeman took over the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District in 1990 and guided it through the closure of a nuclear plant .
“ That was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the place to be.
” Freeman steered those institutions toward his vision , often without compromise or patience for opposing points of view , López Mendoza said .
Freeman remained fiery into his 10th decade , White said , recalling Freeman ’ s 90th birthday party in Sacramento .
After the party , he insisted on attending a board meeting of the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District , the utility he had led two decades earlier .
White said Freeman stood up and told the utility ’ s directors : “ You ain ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re resting on your laurels !
” A week after his 93rd birthday , Freeman flew from his Washington , D.C.-area home to Los Angeles , where he urged Mayor Eric Garcetti ’ s appointees to the DWP Board of Commissioners to abandon plans to invest billions of dollars in three coastal gas plants .
Committing that much money to fossil fuels would make the board members “ intelligent deniers ” of climate change , Freeman insisted .
“ I know you ’ re not .
I know you ’ ll do the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
A few weeks later , Garcetti changed course and promised to shut down the gas plants .
In his later years , Freeman became known as the “ Green Cowboy , ” both for his advocacy and his trademark hat .
His daughter said he picked up the hat while working for the Lower Colorado River Authority in Austin , Texas , after a dermatologist told Freeman he needed to keep out of the sun .
He would wear a cowboy hat until the day , last week , when he was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The hat , a gray one , is still in her home .
Freeman is survived by his daughter , two sons , nine grandchildren and a great-grandson .

S. David Freeman, who steered the nation’s largest public electric utilities with a commanding and at times uncompromising vision and was an early advocate of renewable energy, has died.
Freeman died Tuesday at a hospital in the Washington, D.C., suburbs after suffering a heart attack, his daughter Anita Hopkins said. He was 94.
As president of the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners, Freeman oversaw a push in the 2000s to clean up the air in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Industry executives and labor groups fiercely contested aspects of the plan, saying they would drive down profits and eliminate jobs,
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But Freeman “was a steamroller,” recalled Jerilyn López Mendoza, who served with him on the commission. “He would charm you, talk circles around you, until he had you convinced his way was the right way.”
After leading the port commission, Freeman served as then-L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s deputy mayor for energy and the environment. In an interview Wednesday, Villaraigosa, who met Freeman as a state assemblyman while drafting air quality legislation that created the Carl Moyer Program, called him “a force of nature.”
“Public service was in his bones, in his DNA,” Villaraigosa said. “He’s given people ideas that made them millions, and he didn’t care. He just wanted to change the world, and he did.”
Freeman was not without detractors. When Gov. Gray Davis nominated him to lead the state power authority, Republican lawmakers assailed his tenure at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, saying he had ripped off ratepayers during the 2000-01 energy crisis, brought on by a disastrous deregulation of the state’s power market. Electricity costs rocketed, and power outages rolled across the state as a result of the crunch.
V. John White, a clean-energy advocate, clashed with Freeman over what he called the “gun to the head” contracts Freeman signed for electricity for California during the crisis. “He signed $40 billion worth of contracts in 30 days, and on the whole, I told Dave we kind of got rolled,” White said. “And he completely defended them and said: You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Over his seven decades shaping energy policy and leading local and state power authorities, Freeman would embrace cleaner, renewable sources of energy.
Advertisement
Freeman told the historian Harry Kreisler that he remained “pretty conventional about nuclear power and the whole power business” until the day two women from New Hampshire came to his office in the White House. There were plans to build a nuclear power plant near their homes, they told him, but they had done some research and figured that if people in their area simply conserved energy, there was no need for nuclear power.
“I listened to them, and I checked it out, and they were right,” Freeman recalled. “All of a sudden, it was like a light bulb went off in my head that we were just wasting a tremendous amount of electricity, and we didn’t need to build as many plants as we thought we needed to build, because it’s cheaper to conserve.”
The son of an umbrella repairman, Freeman was born Jan. 14, 1926, in Chattanooga, Tenn. A high school teacher took a look at his math scores and told him to study engineering, his son Stanley said, and so Freeman enrolled at Georgia Tech. He took a job after graduation with the Tennessee Valley Authority, the sprawling federal corporation established during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.
But Freeman was less interested in engineering than policy and advocacy, his son said, and after five years of designing power plants and hydroelectric stations, he enrolled in the University of Tennessee’s law school. After earning a law degree, he returned to the TVA as an attorney.
Freeman followed his boss, the general counsel of the TVA, to the nation’s capital, where over the next two decades he advised Presidents Johnson, Nixon and Carter and the Senate Commerce Committee on energy policy. At the request of President Carter, Freeman returned to Tennessee in 1977 to lead the TVA.
The move began a roving, three-decade tour that took him through Texas, New York, Sacramento and Los Angeles and to the top ranks of the nation’s three largest public utilities — the TVA, the New York Power Authority and the Los Angeles DWP, which he led from 1997 to 2001.
“He believed in institutions,” said White, who met Freeman when Freeman took over the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District in 1990 and guided it through the closure of a nuclear plant. “That was his whole mind-set: Public power was the place to be.”
Freeman steered those institutions toward his vision, often without compromise or patience for opposing points of view, López Mendoza said.
Freeman remained fiery into his 10th decade, White said, recalling Freeman’s 90th birthday party in Sacramento. After the party, he insisted on attending a board meeting of the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District, the utility he had led two decades earlier. White said Freeman stood up and told the utility’s directors: “You ain’t doing enough, and you’re resting on your laurels!”
A week after his 93rd birthday, Freeman flew from his Washington, D.C.-area home to Los Angeles, where he urged Mayor Eric Garcetti’s appointees to the DWP Board of Commissioners to abandon plans to invest billions of dollars in three coastal gas plants. Committing that much money to fossil fuels would make the board members “intelligent deniers” of climate change, Freeman insisted.
“I know you’re not. I know you’ll do the right thing,” he told them. A few weeks later, Garcetti changed course and promised to shut down the gas plants.
In his later years, Freeman became known as the “Green Cowboy,” both for his advocacy and his trademark hat. His daughter said he picked up the hat while working for the Lower Colorado River Authority in Austin, Texas, after a dermatologist told Freeman he needed to keep out of the sun. He would wear a cowboy hat until the day, last week, when he was admitted to the hospital, Hopkins said. The hat, a gray one, is still in her home.
Freeman is survived by his daughter, two sons, nine grandchildren and a great-grandson.
Times staff writer Sammy Roth contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-05-13--Most California voters say coronavirus is increasing inequality, especially among blacks, poll finds

A strong majority of California voters believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased inequality in the United States , with many noting that the crisis has had the greatest impact on black people , according to a new poll .
The poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies documents the hardship caused by the pandemic and the economic disruption surrounding it .
The survey found that 70 % of registered voters in the state somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that COVID-19 is increasing inequality , while less than 1 % strongly disagreed and 8 % disagreed .
Most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were racial disparities in the virus ’ effect on different ethnic communities .
Some 59 % either somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that the coronavirus “ impacts black people more than other groups.
” But Californians ’ perceptions of inequality varied along party lines , as well as along education levels and by region .
Those with more education , and respondents living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles , perceived inequality at much higher rates than their counterparts .
The poll suggests a deep ideological divide around how Californians @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republicans — especially staunch supporters of President Trump — were more likely to believe that the coronavirus does not have an outsize effect on particular groups , whereas Democrats and those who disapprove strongly of Trump were much more likely to see the pandemic as exacerbating inequality , and racial inequality in particular .
Democrats were more than three times as likely as Republicans — 51 % compared with 15 % — to strongly agree that the outbreak is increasing inequality .
Democrats were also more than four times as likely as Republicans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a disproportionate effect on blacks .
Tianna Paschel , an associate professor of sociology and African American studies at UC Berkeley , said that the findings made sense given the large proportion of Democrats in the state .
More surprising , she said , is that Latinos were the least likely to believe that blacks were disproportionately affected , with only 18 % strongly agreeing , and 27 % somewhat agreeing .
“ Latino folks and black folks are competing for material and political resources .
There ’ s job competition , housing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who worked on the poll .
“ What I was surprised about was how large those numbers were .
If you compare them , Latinos had higher numbers than Trump supporters.
” Latinos were also most likely to strongly disagree that blacks are harder hit by the pandemic — 9 % of them felt that way , while the percentage of whites , blacks and Asians to strongly disagree with that statement was either 0 % or near zero .
“ With monolingual Spanish speaking households , they tend to look to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the focus there is predominantly focused on the COVID-19 impact in their specific community , ” said Victor Narro , project director for the UCLA Labor Center .
“ I have seen places like South Los Angeles , however , where in many mixed neighborhoods residents are able to come together and have a better understanding of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic across diverse communities.
” Extensive are emerging among victims of the coronavirus in Los Angeles County , and officials attribute the trend in part to systemic inequities .
Last week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rate of 89 deaths per 100,000 people among native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders and 18 per 100,000 among black people .
The rate was 15.5 for Latinos , 12 for Asians and nine for white people .
A Times data analysis found that younger than 50 are dying of the coronavirus in significantly greater numbers than other groups , including whites .
Experts believe one reason is that many work in “ essential ” service jobs that require them to leave home , putting them at Camille Busette , director of the Race @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Brookings Institution , said that the IGS findings could be a function of population levels .
There are more Latinos in California than black people , especially in counties such as Los Angeles , she said , and that could influence perceptions of how the virus affects them .
“ You ’ re most likely in your community , working with people in your community , and so everyone you see around you is Latino .
We know that rates are high among Latinos , ” she said .
“ The perception @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t see blacks getting sick , so I don ’ t know much about that , but I do know the people in my community are falling.
’ ” Latino men were the most likely to strongly disagree that COVID-19 affects blacks more than other groups .
At the same time , 67 % of Latinos surveyed believed that the virus exacerbates inequality , and Latinos were also the most likely group to strongly agree with the statement “ COVID-19 affects everyone equally.
” Researchers said that Latino respondents may see the unequal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than racial terms .
Another explanation , they said , may be that Latinos do perceive racial disparities , but believe that they themselves are affected more than blacks ; the Latino population in California is more than seven times the black population in the state .
The poll surveyed a random sample of 8,800 of the state ’ s registered voters from April 16 to 20 .
It was conducted online in English and Spanish .

A portrait of The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. overlooks a new mobile testing site for coronavirus at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in South Los Angeles.
A strong majority of California voters believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased inequality in the United States, with many noting that the crisis has had the greatest impact on black people, according to a new poll.
The poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies documents the hardship caused by the pandemic and the economic disruption surrounding it. The survey found that 70% of registered voters in the state somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that COVID-19 is increasing inequality, while less than 1% strongly disagreed and 8% disagreed.
Most of those surveyed also agreed that there were racial disparities in the virus’ effect on different ethnic communities. Some 59% either somewhat agreed or strongly agreed that the coronavirus “impacts black people more than other groups.”
But Californians’ perceptions of inequality varied along party lines, as well as along education levels and by region. Those with more education, and respondents living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles, perceived inequality at much higher rates than their counterparts.
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The poll suggests a deep ideological divide around how Californians view the effect of the virus. Republicans — especially staunch supporters of President Trump — were more likely to believe that the coronavirus does not have an outsize effect on particular groups, whereas Democrats and those who disapprove strongly of Trump were much more likely to see the pandemic as exacerbating inequality, and racial inequality in particular.
Democrats were more than three times as likely as Republicans — 51% compared with 15% — to strongly agree that the outbreak is increasing inequality. Democrats were also more than four times as likely as Republicans to strongly agree that the virus has a disproportionate effect on blacks.
Tianna Paschel, an associate professor of sociology and African American studies at UC Berkeley, said that the findings made sense given the large proportion of Democrats in the state. More surprising, she said, is that Latinos were the least likely to believe that blacks were disproportionately affected, with only 18% strongly agreeing, and 27% somewhat agreeing.
“Latino folks and black folks are competing for material and political resources. There’s job competition, housing and political representation,” said Paschel, who worked on the poll. “What I was surprised about was how large those numbers were. If you compare them, Latinos had higher numbers than Trump supporters.”
Latinos were also most likely to strongly disagree that blacks are harder hit by the pandemic — 9% of them felt that way, while the percentage of whites, blacks and Asians to strongly disagree with that statement was either 0% or near zero.
“With monolingual Spanish speaking households, they tend to look to Spanish-language media for their news source and the focus there is predominantly focused on the COVID-19 impact in their specific community,” said Victor Narro, project director for the UCLA Labor Center. “I have seen places like South Los Angeles, however, where in many mixed neighborhoods residents are able to come together and have a better understanding of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic across diverse communities.”
Extensive racial and economic disparities are emerging among victims of the coronavirus in Los Angeles County, and officials attribute the trend in part to systemic inequities.
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Last week, Los Angeles County officials reported a rate of 89 deaths per 100,000 people among native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders and 18 per 100,000 among black people. The rate was 15.5 for Latinos, 12 for Asians and nine for white people.
A Times data analysis found that blacks and Latinos younger than 50 are dying of the coronavirus in significantly greater numbers than other groups, including whites. Experts believe one reason is that many work in “essential” service jobs that require them to leave home, putting them at a higher risk of infection.
Camille Busette, director of the Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion Initiative at the Brookings Institution, said that the IGS findings could be a function of population levels. There are more Latinos in California than black people, especially in counties such as Los Angeles, she said, and that could influence perceptions of how the virus affects them.
“You’re most likely in your community, working with people in your community, and so everyone you see around you is Latino. We know that rates are high among Latinos,” she said. “The perception could be, ‘I don’t see blacks getting sick, so I don’t know much about that, but I do know the people in my community are falling.’”
Latino men were the most likely to strongly disagree that COVID-19 affects blacks more than other groups. At the same time, 67% of Latinos surveyed believed that the virus exacerbates inequality, and Latinos were also the most likely group to strongly agree with the statement “COVID-19 affects everyone equally.”
Researchers said that Latino respondents may see the unequal effect of the pandemic in economic rather than racial terms. Another explanation, they said, may be that Latinos do perceive racial disparities, but believe that they themselves are affected more than blacks; the Latino population in California is more than seven times the black population in the state.
The poll surveyed a random sample of 8,800 of the state’s registered voters from April 16 to 20. It was conducted online in English and Spanish.


latimes--2020-05-13--Column: They're trapped, and the killer virus knows where to find them in California

There are two places in California where , as the pandemic rages , you do not want to be .
An astounding 49 % of all COVID-19 deaths in California were linked to elder care facilities as of last week , with more than 1,200 cases , along with hundreds more infected patients and employees .
Meanwhile , 886 inmates at the federal prison in Lompoc ( almost 70 % ) have been infected with the virus ; 396 infections , including five deaths , were reported at the state prison in Chino ; and there have been 709 infections @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pen in San Pedro .
Family members protested at the San Pedro facility last week and Congresswoman Nanette Barragán , who represents the area , told the Times ’ Richard Winton she felt the warden was not doing enough to protect inmates with medical conditions .
She said she reported the situation to Trump administration health official Dr. Anthony Fauci , who “ seemed a little alarmed.
” I think he might want to be a lot alarmed .
Tiffani Fortney ’ s father was at Terminal Island serving a 26-month sentence for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her nails at her home in Arizona .
Her dad had diabetes and heart issues that made him a sitting duck in the tight confines of a communal setting .
“ It was hell , ” she said about trying to get information on her father ’ s welfare .
“ I talked to him on Easter and he told me one person there had the virus and they were separating everybody.… He told me he ’ d call in a few days and he never did.
” Unbeknown to Fortney , her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Apple Valley , got sick .
Very sick .
And Fortney said she did not learn until the end of last month that her father had been hospitalized in mid-April with COVID-19 symptoms .
“ I tried calling the prison but couldn ’ t get answers .
I left a message sometimes , but other times I couldn ’ t even get to the message thing , ” she said .
On May 1 , the federal public defender ’ s office filed an emergency application for the release of medical records and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
According to the filing , Fortney ’ s brother Scott was informed on April 29 that their father had been hospitalized and intubated .
The next day , Fortney got a call from a prison staff member saying her father was “ not doing well.
” Fortney told me she and her brother were able to speak to him by phone and say goodbye , thanks to the “ amazing staff ” at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance .
On Saturday , May 9 , Cutting became the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ serving time at the aptly named Terminal Island .
“ No one deserves to die like that , ” Fortney said .
“ I don ’ t care if they ’ re criminals or not.
” A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons declined my request for an interview , but sent a long list of steps taken since the pandemic began .
“ We are deeply concerned for the health and welfare of those inmates who are entrusted to our care , and for our staff , their families , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said the spokesperson , adding that the bureau is doing “ everything we can to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our facilities.
” Across the country , thousands of prisoners have been released early to stem the spread of the virus to inmates and jail staff , and in L.A. County some jail inmates are even suspected of trying to infect themselves with the virus thinking that might get them sprung early .
Civil rights attorneys and relatives of inmates have argued for broader release of elderly or sick inmates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ measures .
But despite support from public health experts , that ’ s not an easily winnable argument given resistance from top federal officials , says Mark Rosenbaum of Public Counsel .
“ The responsibility is mistakenly placed on the officials who run these facilities , but it ’ s the government that is defending ” the status quo , said Rosenbaum .
“ It is punitive and it is a means of saying these are subhuman individuals and what happens to them and their communities does not matter.
” That same societal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in some elder care facilities , which is one reason they ’ ve become such deathtraps .
“ People are really shocked that this has happened , but I ’ m not surprised , ” said Charlene Harrington , 78 , an emeritus UC San Francisco nursing professor who has spent decades fighting for stricter nursing home regulations and more oversight .
“ Even before the virus hit , three-fourths of nursing homes didn ’ t have adequate staffing and did not meet what we would consider to be reasonable standards.
” You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being particularly deadly for older people , Harrington said , nursing facilities would have gotten a higher priority when it came to testing and doling out protective equipment for staff .
Part of the problem , she says , is a shift in the nursing home industry as independently owned mom and pop operations have given way to big chains and private equity investors .
“ They squeeze out every cent that they can , ” Harrington said , paying “ the lowest possible wages , ” often to minorities and immigrants , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sick leave .
That raises the possibility of employees reporting to work when they ’ re sick , or getting sick at work and then infecting friends and relatives outside the facility .
So why can ’ t a civilized society do a more humane job of caring for grandma and grandpa ?
As we ’ ve been reminded in recent weeks , some people seem to think old folks — especially those already warehoused —are expendable .
But the more accurate answer involves money and politics .
The nursing homes wield tremendous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taxpayers cover the majority of the cost of care through Medicare and Medicaid , Harrington said , “ nursing homes have gotten away with minimal enforcement for over 20 or 30 years , so they were ripe for disaster.
” And Harrington said that just as with the other COVID-19 hot-spots — jails and prisons — we can ’ t be entirely sure what ’ s going on behind closed doors .
For nursing homes , she said , there ’ s an incentive for under-playing the number of cases to families that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In fact , one source directed me to discrepancies between what one L.A. County nursing facility has acknowledged about COVID-19 infections and deaths among patients and staff , and the much larger numbers listed on the L.A. County Health Department website .
This virus doesn ’ t play fair .
It goes after the trapped , the poor and the elderly , and the mounting list of casualties is unacceptable .
If you know an inmate or prison staffer who got sick or died , or if you know an elder care facility @ @ @ @ @ @ @ died , I ’ d like to hear your story .

Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro) speaks during a news conference after touring the federal penitentiary at Terminal Island to inquire about the high number of COVID-19 cases among inmates and prison staff.
There are two places in California where, as the pandemic rages, you do not want to be.
Prisons and elder care facilities.
An astounding 49% of all COVID-19 deaths in California were linked to elder care facilities as of last week, with more than 1,200 cases, along with hundreds more infected patients and employees.
Meanwhile, 886 inmates at the federal prison in Lompoc (almost 70%) have been infected with the virus; 396 infections, including five deaths, were reported at the state prison in Chino; and there have been 709 infections and seven deaths at Terminal Island federal pen in San Pedro.
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Family members protested at the San Pedro facility last week and Congresswoman Nanette Barragán, who represents the area, told the Times’ Richard Winton she felt the warden was not doing enough to protect inmates with medical conditions. She said she reported the situation to Trump administration health official Dr. Anthony Fauci, who “seemed a little alarmed.”
I think he might want to be a lot alarmed.
Tiffani Fortney’s father was at Terminal Island serving a 26-month sentence for tax-related crimes, and she was biting her nails at her home in Arizona. Her dad had diabetes and heart issues that made him a sitting duck in the tight confines of a communal setting.
“It was hell,” she said about trying to get information on her father’s welfare. “I talked to him on Easter and he told me one person there had the virus and they were separating everybody.… He told me he’d call in a few days and he never did.”
Unbeknown to Fortney, her father, 70-year-old Scott Douglas Cutting of Apple Valley, got sick. Very sick. And Fortney said she did not learn until the end of last month that her father had been hospitalized in mid-April with COVID-19 symptoms.
“I tried calling the prison but couldn’t get answers. I left a message sometimes, but other times I couldn’t even get to the message thing,” she said.
On May 1, the federal public defender’s office filed an emergency application for the release of medical records and for prison compliance with family notification policies. According to the filing, Fortney’s brother Scott was informed on April 29 that their father had been hospitalized and intubated. The next day, Fortney got a call from a prison staff member saying her father was “not doing well.”
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Fortney told me she and her brother were able to speak to him by phone and say goodbye, thanks to the “amazing staff” at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance. On Saturday, May 9, Cutting became the seventh inmate to die of COVID-19 while serving time at the aptly named Terminal Island.
“No one deserves to die like that,” Fortney said. “I don’t care if they’re criminals or not.”
A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons declined my request for an interview, but sent a long list of steps taken since the pandemic began.
“We are deeply concerned for the health and welfare of those inmates who are entrusted to our care, and for our staff, their families, and the communities we live and work in,” said the spokesperson, adding that the bureau is doing “everything we can to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our facilities.”
Across the country, thousands of prisoners have been released early to stem the spread of the virus to inmates and jail staff, and in L.A. County some jail inmates are even suspected of trying to infect themselves with the virus thinking that might get them sprung early.
Civil rights attorneys and relatives of inmates have argued for broader release of elderly or sick inmates, and for more testing and protective measures. But despite support from public health experts, that’s not an easily winnable argument given resistance from top federal officials, says Mark Rosenbaum of Public Counsel.
“The responsibility is mistakenly placed on the officials who run these facilities, but it’s the government that is defending” the status quo, said Rosenbaum. “It is punitive and it is a means of saying these are subhuman individuals and what happens to them and their communities does not matter.”
That same societal judgment has been made about those living in some elder care facilities, which is one reason they’ve become such deathtraps.
“People are really shocked that this has happened, but I’m not surprised,” said Charlene Harrington, 78, an emeritus UC San Francisco nursing professor who has spent decades fighting for stricter nursing home regulations and more oversight. “Even before the virus hit, three-fourths of nursing homes didn’t have adequate staffing and did not meet what we would consider to be reasonable standards.”
You’d think that with the virus being particularly deadly for older people, Harrington said, nursing facilities would have gotten a higher priority when it came to testing and doling out protective equipment for staff.
Part of the problem, she says, is a shift in the nursing home industry as independently owned mom and pop operations have given way to big chains and private equity investors.
“They squeeze out every cent that they can,” Harrington said, paying “the lowest possible wages,” often to minorities and immigrants, usually with no healthcare insurance and no sick leave. That raises the possibility of employees reporting to work when they’re sick, or getting sick at work and then infecting friends and relatives outside the facility.
So why can’t a civilized society do a more humane job of caring for grandma and grandpa?
As we’ve been reminded in recent weeks, some people seem to think old folks — especially those already warehoused —are expendable. But the more accurate answer involves money and politics.
The nursing homes wield tremendous influence over policymakers. And even though taxpayers cover the majority of the cost of care through Medicare and Medicaid, Harrington said, “nursing homes have gotten away with minimal enforcement for over 20 or 30 years, so they were ripe for disaster.”
And Harrington said that just as with the other COVID-19 hot-spots — jails and prisons — we can’t be entirely sure what’s going on behind closed doors. For nursing homes, she said, there’s an incentive for under-playing the number of cases to families that are now barred from visiting facilities.
In fact, one source directed me to discrepancies between what one L.A. County nursing facility has acknowledged about COVID-19 infections and deaths among patients and staff, and the much larger numbers listed on the L.A. County Health Department website.
This virus doesn’t play fair. It goes after the trapped, the poor and the elderly, and the mounting list of casualties is unacceptable.
If you know an inmate or prison staffer who got sick or died, or if you know an elder care facility patient or employee who got sick or died, I’d like to hear your story.
Steve.lopez@latimes.com


latimes--2020-05-13--A patient's return to hospital COVID-19 unit underscores uncertainty to come

She sat in a corner of the hospital room , breathing into a tube designed to prevent pneumonia or the collapse of her lungs .
It was the fourth week of April , and the last two months had been so long and so monotonous that Janice Brown started counting the cars rolling by her window — just for something to do .
The janitor and the nurses had become old acquaintances .
So , it seemed , had the coronavirus .
In the short annals of the Desert Valley Hospital ’ s COVID-19 unit , Brown is a person @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a notoriety that no one would want — but sometimes in life you don ’ t get to pick what makes you special .
Or how .
Brown , 66 , was the first patient at Desert Valley to test positive for the coronavirus .
One of the first to be released .
She thought she was in the clear , spending weeks — masked but confident — walking around her sister ’ s home and backyard in Rancho Cucamonga .
Her doctor , Imran Siddiqui , certainly thought he ’ d seen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days after he discharged her on April 3 , she told Siddiqui that she was feeling great .
Two weeks after that follow-up call , Siddiqui spotted her name on the patient list .
She had tested positive a second time .
The story of Janice Brown , two-time coronavirus patient , parallels the story of the hospital that treated her .
Both narratives are built around a hope that the worst is in the past .
Or , at the least , not waiting on the horizon .
By the time Siddiqui @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Group , watched Brown leave for the second time , he dared to hope that the COVID-19 unit of the hospital could soon be dismantled .
On Saturday , April 25 , Siddiqui unzipped the plastic separating the rest of the hospital from the East wing , where a sign outside read “ Novel Respiratory Isolation.
” Trailed by a reporter and a photographer , he stepped inside the “ donning ” area to “ gown up , ” putting on the standard uniform : blue apron , shoe covers , a mushroom-cap @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mask over his N95 .
Reaching the COVID unit felt a little like the scene from “ E.T .
the Extra-Terrestrial , ” Steven Spielberg ’ s 1982 classic movie , in which Elliott walks through a huge plastic tube to reach his new best friend who ’ s been sequestered in a medical van .
Siddiqui passed a station where a handful of nurses monitored their patients ’ vitals on computer screens .
The RNs had volunteered to work in the unit , creating an informal staff so other nurses would not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ observed Maria Quintero as she did a “ terminal ” — or deep — clean on a patient room that had been vacated earlier in the day .
Quintero , a member of the janitorial staff who works in the unit , used bleach to scrub the walls .
Finally , Siddiqui headed to the end of the hall , signing his name into the log outside room 238 before he stepped inside .
“ Hello my dear , how are you today ?
” he asked .
“ Not good , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to her chest , where it felt as though it had been burning inside all day .
It had nothing to do with COVID , Siddiqui reassured her — it was just gastritis .
The day before she ’ d had a temperature of 101 , he said , but her numbers were getting better .
It was the fourth day of her second hospitalization .
Brown was anticipating her birthday three days later , on April 28 , and yearned to celebrate somewhere other than the hospital .
His patient hesitated before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ m in good spirits.
” Over the course of her life , Brown has dealt with cancer , two strokes , two heart attacks , renal failure and congestive heart failure .
She has been on dialysis for over a year .
With her age and host of underlying health issues , she is exactly the kind of person that COVID-19 chews up and spits out .
The coronavirus , Brown said , with a touch of irony , just felt like “ the icing on the cake.
” It all started @ @ @ @ @ @ @ After two weeks , Brown thought she was on the mend .
She ’ s been pastoring for 25 years , and gave a sermon at her Fontana church telling her flock , “ No matter what comes , trust in God.
” “ I didn ’ t know I was preaching to myself , ” she said .
In a matter of days , Brown grew so sick she couldn ’ t stand .
On March 24 , she landed in the Desert Valley emergency room and tested positive for COVID-19 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ thought she was going to die .
The hospital ’ s COVID unit was set up soon after she was admitted , in order to conserve protective equipment .
Brown was its first resident and Siddiqui her doctor for the 10 days before her April 3 discharge .
The CDC recommends ending “ transmission-based precautions ” after a patient goes 72 hours with no symptoms , or has two negative tests 24 hours apart .
The hospital follows a symptom-based strategy .
After Brown went three days with no fever — without the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saw an improvement in her respiratory symptoms , she was discharged .
When Brown walked out , she thought she had escaped the clutches of the dreaded virus .
“ I thought it was over , ” Brown said .
“ Everybody thought it was over.
” Then , during dialysis on April 21 , her blood pressure dropped precipitously and her temperature spiked .
An ambulance took her back to the hospital , where she tested positive again .
In recent weeks , China and South Korea have reported that some patients @ @ @ @ @ @ @ again in follow-up visits .
In extreme cases , patients in the Chinese city of Wuhan , where the outbreak began late last year , reportedly tested positive 70 days after recovery .
Doctors in both countries said they didn ’ t believe the patients had been reinfected , a worrisome possibility because of its implications for building widespread immunity to a disease for which there is no vaccine .
`` [ Brown ] was the first patient that came back to the hospital that tested positive again , ” Siddiqui said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ same infection ?
We don ’ t know.
” On April 29 , eight days after Brown had been readmitted , about 30 people gathered in the conference room for a COVID-19 task force meeting .
They talked about the state ’ s four-phase reopening plan and the need to stay vigilant .
Experts have warned against a broad reopening of the U.S. amid the pandemic , but dozens of states have reopened their economies in some capacity .
“ We ’ re just trying to avoid hitting that second wave , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and head of the COVID-19 response , told the doctors .
“ Let ’ s not get lax.
” During the meeting , members of the task force talked about plans to reopen labs and clear backlogs of tests that had been postponed due to the virus .
A white board showed that 289 people at the hospital had been tested for the virus and 25 had been discharged .
Only two COVID-positive patients , including Brown , were in the East wing .
Another two were on ventilators in the intensive care @ @ @ @ @ @ @ glad we only have two patients in our COVID unit .
That ’ s a good sign , ” said Fred Hunter , chief executive officer of Desert Valley Hospital and Desert Valley Medical Group .
“ As we reopen this hospital for elective surgeries and elective procedures , let ’ s not make a mistake.
” He worried , he said , “ that if we should open it up too soon , that these numbers could change in the wrong direction.
” After the meeting , Siddiqui headed upstairs with three @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mark the occasion of Brown ’ s birthday — a day earlier .
Inside the COVID unit , Becca Diaz wrote “ Happy Birthday !
You are an amazing patient , ” on a card that had been signed by the unit ’ s workers .
Diaz , a registered nurse , works in the unit three times a week and recalled how depressing it was when Brown tested positive a second time .
“ It was almost like , is anything helping , ” Diaz said .
Diaz joined a small crowd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everyone in full protective equipment — holding a cake and singing happy birthday .
“ I want to say thank you guys so much , ” Brown said , growing teary eyed .
“ It ’ s the least we could have done for you , ” Siddiqui said .
“ You guys have done more than enough .
Put your lives on the line — for me , ” she said .
There had , indeed , been sacrifices .
Diaz used a designated “ COVID bathroom ” in her home to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spent weeks away from loved ones to protect them .
“ I truly thank you , because you don ’ t know about the virus , I don ’ t know about it , ” Brown said .
“ For you to put your lives on the line — truly from the depths of my heart I say thank you.
” That afternoon , Diaz wheeled Brown out of the hospital so she could reunite with her family — leaving just one person in the COVID unit .
Hospital staff wondered whether it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Then , a few days after Brown left the hospital for the second time , Desert Valley received a surge of patients who doctors thought might be infected with the coronavirus .
One by one , they tested them — with only one positive result .
As of Tuesday , one person remained in the unit .
But the hospital wouldn ’ t shut it down .
At least not yet .
It was hard to envision what might happen in the future .
Testing is increasing in California , which could lead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In addition , various counties in the state , including San Bernardino , are easing some restrictions .
Face coverings in public , while “ strongly recommended , ” are no longer required .
“ We ’ re basically living day by day , ” Siddiqui said .
“ Who knows what ’ s going to happen tomorrow ?
”

She sat in a corner of the hospital room, breathing into a tube designed to prevent pneumonia or the collapse of her lungs.
It was the fourth week of April, and the last two months had been so long and so monotonous that Janice Brown started counting the cars rolling by her window — just for something to do. The janitor and the nurses had become old acquaintances.
So, it seemed, had the coronavirus.
In the short annals of the Desert Valley Hospital’s COVID-19 unit, Brown is a person of some distinction. It’s a notoriety that no one would want — but sometimes in life you don’t get to pick what makes you special. Or how.
Janice Brown was the first patient at Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville to test positive for COVID-19. Brown was placed in the hospital’s COVID unit. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
Brown, 66, was the first patient at Desert Valley to test positive for the coronavirus. One of the first to be released. She thought she was in the clear, spending weeks — masked but confident — walking around her sister’s home and backyard in Rancho Cucamonga.
Her doctor, Imran Siddiqui, certainly thought he’d seen the last of Janice Brown. Just days after he discharged her on April 3, she told Siddiqui that she was feeling great.
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Two weeks after that follow-up call, Siddiqui spotted her name on the patient list. She had tested positive a second time.
The story of Janice Brown, two-time coronavirus patient, parallels the story of the hospital that treated her. Both narratives are built around a hope that the worst is in the past. Or, at the least, not waiting on the horizon.
By the time Siddiqui, medical director of Desert Valley Medical Group, watched Brown leave for the second time, he dared to hope that the COVID-19 unit of the hospital could soon be dismantled.
::
Dr. Imran Siddiqui talks to Brown. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
On Saturday, April 25, Siddiqui unzipped the plastic separating the rest of the hospital from the East wing, where a sign outside read “Novel Respiratory Isolation.” Trailed by a reporter and a photographer, he stepped inside the “donning” area to “gown up,” putting on the standard uniform: blue apron, shoe covers, a mushroom-cap hair cover, gloves and a surgical mask over his N95.
Dr. Imran Siddiqui enters the COVID unit with balloons for his patient. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
Reaching the COVID unit felt a little like the scene from “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic movie, in which Elliott walks through a huge plastic tube to reach his new best friend who’s been sequestered in a medical van.
Siddiqui passed a station where a handful of nurses monitored their patients’ vitals on computer screens. The RNs had volunteered to work in the unit, creating an informal staff so other nurses would not have to be exposed.
The doctor observed Maria Quintero as she did a “terminal” — or deep — clean on a patient room that had been vacated earlier in the day. Quintero, a member of the janitorial staff who works in the unit, used bleach to scrub the walls.
‘For you to put your lives on the line and then have to go back home to take care of your families — truly from the depths of my heart I say thank you.’ — COVID-19 patient Janice Brown
Finally, Siddiqui headed to the end of the hall, signing his name into the log outside room 238 before he stepped inside.
“Hello my dear, how are you today?” he asked.
“Not good,” Brown responded. She held a hand to her chest, where it felt as though it had been burning inside all day.
Brown hooked up to a dialysis machine in the COVID-19 unit isolation room. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
It had nothing to do with COVID, Siddiqui reassured her — it was just gastritis.
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The day before she’d had a temperature of 101, he said, but her numbers were getting better. It was the fourth day of her second hospitalization.
Brown was anticipating her birthday three days later, on April 28, and yearned to celebrate somewhere other than the hospital.
“You’re in good spirits, right?” Siddiqui asked.
His patient hesitated before she responded, “Yeah, I’m in good spirits.”
Over the course of her life, Brown has dealt with cancer, two strokes, two heart attacks, renal failure and congestive heart failure. She has been on dialysis for over a year. With her age and host of underlying health issues, she is exactly the kind of person that COVID-19 chews up and spits out.
The coronavirus, Brown said, with a touch of irony, just felt like “the icing on the cake.”
::
Maria Quintero makes sure the COVID-19 unit is clean at Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
It all started with a cold in early March. After two weeks, Brown thought she was on the mend. She’s been pastoring for 25 years, and gave a sermon at her Fontana church telling her flock, “No matter what comes, trust in God.”
“I didn’t know I was preaching to myself,” she said.
In a matter of days, Brown grew so sick she couldn’t stand. On March 24, she landed in the Desert Valley emergency room and tested positive for COVID-19.
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The pain was so great, she thought she was going to die.
The hospital’s COVID unit was set up soon after she was admitted, in order to conserve protective equipment. Brown was its first resident and Siddiqui her doctor for the 10 days before her April 3 discharge.
Column One A showcase for compelling storytelling from the Los Angeles Times. More stories
The CDC recommends ending “transmission-based precautions” after a patient goes 72 hours with no symptoms, or has two negative tests 24 hours apart. The hospital follows a symptom-based strategy. After Brown went three days with no fever — without the use of fever-reducing medications — and doctors saw an improvement in her respiratory symptoms, she was discharged.
When Brown walked out, she thought she had escaped the clutches of the dreaded virus.
“I thought it was over,” Brown said. “Everybody thought it was over.”
Then, during dialysis on April 21, her blood pressure dropped precipitously and her temperature spiked. An ambulance took her back to the hospital, where she tested positive again.
Brian Lugo, head of the COVID-19 response, holds a daily staff meeting at Desert Valley Hospital. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
In recent weeks, China and South Korea have reported that some patients who had recovered from COVID-19 tested positive again in follow-up visits. In extreme cases, patients in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began late last year, reportedly tested positive 70 days after recovery.
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Doctors in both countries said they didn’t believe the patients had been reinfected, a worrisome possibility because of its implications for building widespread immunity to a disease for which there is no vaccine.
“[Brown] was the first patient that came back to the hospital that tested positive again,” Siddiqui said. “Is it a reinfection or the same infection? We don’t know.”
::
On April 29, eight days after Brown had been readmitted, about 30 people gathered in the conference room for a COVID-19 task force meeting. They talked about the state’s four-phase reopening plan and the need to stay vigilant.
Experts have warned against a broad reopening of the U.S. amid the pandemic, but dozens of states have reopened their economies in some capacity.
Fred Hunter, chief executive officer of Desert Valley Hospital and Desert Valley Medical Group. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
“We’re just trying to avoid hitting that second wave,” Brian Lugo, director of emergency preparedness and head of the COVID-19 response, told the doctors. “Let’s not get lax.”
During the meeting, members of the task force talked about plans to reopen labs and clear backlogs of tests that had been postponed due to the virus.
A white board showed that 289 people at the hospital had been tested for the virus and 25 had been discharged. Only two COVID-positive patients, including Brown, were in the East wing. Another two were on ventilators in the intensive care unit.
“I’m so glad we only have two patients in our COVID unit. That’s a good sign,” said Fred Hunter, chief executive officer of Desert Valley Hospital and Desert Valley Medical Group. “As we reopen this hospital for elective surgeries and elective procedures, let’s not make a mistake.”
He worried, he said, “that if we should open it up too soon, that these numbers could change in the wrong direction.”
Brown is pleasantly surprised by Dr. Siddiqui, center, and nurses who brought her balloons, a card and cake to celebrate her birthday. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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After the meeting, Siddiqui headed upstairs with three balloons and a small pink cake to mark the occasion of Brown’s birthday — a day earlier.
Inside the COVID unit, Becca Diaz wrote “Happy Birthday! You are an amazing patient,” on a card that had been signed by the unit’s workers. Diaz, a registered nurse, works in the unit three times a week and recalled how depressing it was when Brown tested positive a second time.
“It was almost like, is anything helping,” Diaz said.
Diaz joined a small crowd headed into Brown’s room — everyone in full protective equipment — holding a cake and singing happy birthday.
“I want to say thank you guys so much,” Brown said, growing teary eyed.
“It’s the least we could have done for you,” Siddiqui said.
“You guys have done more than enough. Put your lives on the line — for me,” she said.
There had, indeed, been sacrifices. Diaz used a designated “COVID bathroom” in her home to shower when she finished work; others spent weeks away from loved ones to protect them.
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A recovered Brown leaves the Desert Valley Hospital. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
“I truly thank you, because you don’t know about the virus, I don’t know about it,” Brown said. “For you to put your lives on the line — truly from the depths of my heart I say thank you.”
That afternoon, Diaz wheeled Brown out of the hospital so she could reunite with her family — leaving just one person in the COVID unit. Hospital staff wondered whether it was almost time to dismantle it.
Then, a few days after Brown left the hospital for the second time, Desert Valley received a surge of patients who doctors thought might be infected with the coronavirus. One by one, they tested them — with only one positive result. As of Tuesday, one person remained in the unit.
But the hospital wouldn’t shut it down. At least not yet.
It was hard to envision what might happen in the future. Testing is increasing in California, which could lead to an influx of new patients. In addition, various counties in the state, including San Bernardino, are easing some restrictions. Face coverings in public, while “strongly recommended,” are no longer required.
“We’re basically living day by day,” Siddiqui said. “Who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow?”
Times staff photographer Irfan Khan contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-05-12--Democrat Christy Smith concedes to Republican Mike Garcia in election to fill Katie Hill's seat

Democrat Christy Smith has conceded to Republican Mike Garcia in the election to fill former Rep. Katie Hill ’ s seat , marking the first time the GOP has flipped a blue California congressional district since 1998 .
Garcia , a defense industry executive , was ahead of Smith , a state Assemblywoman from Santa Clarita , by double digits in early returns .
“ While it ’ s critical that we ensure every vote is counted and recorded , we believe that the current tally shows Mike Garcia is the likely victor in the May 12 special election , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Facebook .
“ As such , I ’ d like to congratulate him.
” The final tally in the nearly all mail-in ballot contest won ’ t be available for several days — ballots postmarked by Tuesday and received by end of day Friday will be counted .
The 25th Congressional District includes Palmdale , Porter Ranch , Santa Clarita , Simi Valley and part of Lancaster .
The district was in Republican hands for decades until the 2018 midterm election , when a blue wave netted Democrats 40 seats nationwide .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so far , and look forward to hopefully declaring victory very soon , ” Garcia said on a call with supporters and the media on Tuesday night .
In the weeks leading up to the election , both parties acknowledged the race would be competitive , despite Democrats ’ 6.6-point voter registration advantage .
Lower turnout elections like Tuesday ’ s runoff tend to draw an older and whiter electorate , usually to the advantage of Republicans .
The coronavirus outbreak also put an end to traditional campaigning and get out the vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Both candidates have alluded to the pandemic in their ads : Garcia accused Smith of failing to use her position leading an emergency management committee in Sacramento to respond to COVID-19 , and Smith criticized his opposition to the Affordable Care Act and tied him to President Trump , who endorsed him , and his response to the virus .
Garcia will go to Washington to complete Hill ’ s term , which ends in January 2021 , while also campaigning for the Nov. 3 general election for a new term .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ race as well .
Hill resigned in October 2019 after nude photos of her were leaked and she was accused of having an affair with a congressional staffer , a violation of House ethics rules .
She has denied the allegation .
There were seven in-person vote centers in Los Angeles County and two in Ventura County , as well as more than two dozen vote-by-mail drop boxes .
By mid-afternoon Tuesday only 200 voters had visited the in-person voting centers at the Simi Valley Public Library and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will fare better in November , when the presidential election will boost turnout .
But even as Democrats expressed confidence about November , some said the party ’ s complacency blew a chance to win the seat Tuesday and put Garcia back on his heels .
“ No excuses , ” said Bob Mulholland , a veteran California political strategist and member of the Democratic National Committee .
Democrats , he said , “ were too full of themselves ” and “ they let Christy Smith down.
” That said , Mulholland went @ @ @ @ @ @ @ come the fall , giving Democrats the chance for a do-over of sorts .
“ By October , Garcia will have a Trump tattoo on his forehead , ” Mulholland said , and — given the president ’ s overwhelming unpopularity in the state — “ Democrats had better not fail.
” Smith , a former school board member , quickly became the party ’ s favorite to take Hill ’ s place .
In 2018 she beat a Republican incumbent to win her assembly district , which overlaps with 60 percent of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crowded Democratic field in the March 3 primary , she easily advanced to the May 12 runoff .
Garcia beat Knight to come in second .
In the weeks leading up to the race , both candidates have been backed by prominent figures in their parties .
Smith has been endorsed by former President Obama , Hillary Clinton and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren .
In addition to Trump , Garcia has been backed by former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield .

Republican Mike Garcia and Democrat Christy Smith were competing in a congressional race that both sides rated a toss-up.
Democrat Christy Smith has conceded to Republican Mike Garcia in the election to fill former Rep. Katie Hill’s seat, marking the first time the GOP has flipped a blue California congressional district since 1998.
Garcia, a defense industry executive, was ahead of Smith, a state Assemblywoman from Santa Clarita, by double digits in early returns.
“While it’s critical that we ensure every vote is counted and recorded, we believe that the current tally shows Mike Garcia is the likely victor in the May 12 special election,” Smith wrote in statement posted to Facebook. “As such, I’d like to congratulate him.”
The final tally in the nearly all mail-in ballot contest won’t be available for several days — ballots postmarked by Tuesday and received by end of day Friday will be counted. The 25th Congressional District includes Palmdale, Porter Ranch, Santa Clarita, Simi Valley and part of Lancaster.
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The district was in Republican hands for decades until the 2018 midterm election, when a blue wave netted Democrats 40 seats nationwide.
“I’m proud of the results so far, and look forward to hopefully declaring victory very soon,” Garcia said on a call with supporters and the media on Tuesday night.
In the weeks leading up to the election, both parties acknowledged the race would be competitive, despite Democrats’ 6.6-point voter registration advantage. Lower turnout elections like Tuesday’s runoff tend to draw an older and whiter electorate, usually to the advantage of Republicans.
Politics During the pandemic, Republicans see a rare political opportunity in California For the first time in over 20 years, the GOP could flip a California House district — and vote-by-mail may benefit the Republican in Tuesday’s special election for the seat vacated by Katie Hill.
The coronavirus outbreak also put an end to traditional campaigning and get out the vote efforts such as door knocking and rallies. Both candidates have alluded to the pandemic in their ads: Garcia accused Smith of failing to use her position leading an emergency management committee in Sacramento to respond to COVID-19, and Smith criticized his opposition to the Affordable Care Act and tied him to President Trump, who endorsed him, and his response to the virus.
Garcia will go to Washington to complete Hill’s term, which ends in January 2021, while also campaigning for the Nov. 3 general election for a new term. Smith and Garcia are competing in that race as well.
Hill resigned in October 2019 after nude photos of her were leaked and she was accused of having an affair with a congressional staffer, a violation of House ethics rules. She has denied the allegation.
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There were seven in-person vote centers in Los Angeles County and two in Ventura County, as well as more than two dozen vote-by-mail drop boxes. By mid-afternoon Tuesday only 200 voters had visited the in-person voting centers at the Simi Valley Public Library and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Ventura County.
Do you live within CA-25 district boundaries but you’re not registered? Head over to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley to #registerthenvote! #VCElections will be here until 8pm. More than 100 voters have cast their vote curbside today. 🗳 pic.twitter.com/9VjhpLF1HN — VC Clerk Recorder (@VCClerkRecorder) May 12, 2020
Democrats say Smith will fare better in November, when the presidential election will boost turnout.
But even as Democrats expressed confidence about November, some said the party’s complacency blew a chance to win the seat Tuesday and put Garcia back on his heels.
“No excuses,” said Bob Mulholland, a veteran California political strategist and member of the Democratic National Committee. Democrats, he said, “were too full of themselves” and “they let Christy Smith down.”
That said, Mulholland went on, the dynamic will be different come the fall, giving Democrats the chance for a do-over of sorts. “By October, Garcia will have a Trump tattoo on his forehead,” Mulholland said, and — given the president’s overwhelming unpopularity in the state — “Democrats had better not fail.”
California Millions skipped California’s 2020 primary. Will coronavirus change who votes in November? In all, 46.89% of registered voters cast ballots in the March 3 primary, which was moved up from June with hopes that turnout would be high and presidential candidates would be forced to address issues mattering most to Californians.
Smith, a former school board member, quickly became the party’s favorite to take Hill’s place. In 2018 she beat a Republican incumbent to win her assembly district, which overlaps with 60 percent of the 25th Congressional District. Despite a crowded Democratic field in the March 3 primary, she easily advanced to the May 12 runoff. Garcia beat Knight to come in second.
In the weeks leading up to the race, both candidates have been backed by prominent figures in their parties. Smith has been endorsed by former President Obama, Hillary Clinton and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. In addition to Trump, Garcia has been backed by former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield.


latimes--2020-05-12--60 businesses charged with violating stay-at-home rules

The owners of 60 businesses across Los Angeles , including car washes , gyms and hair salons , that have been deemed nonessential by the city but still remain open are now facing criminal charges for violating the mayor ’ s stay-at-home order .
Los Angeles City Atty .
Mike Feuer revealed the latest round of the crackdown on businesses flouting Mayor Eric Garcetti ’ s Safer at Home order by staying open .
Dozens of businesses have been identified by Los Angeles police — investigators have turned over evidence against at least 79 identified by the department .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s order has risen steadily as the shutdown drags on and many small-business owners struggle to stay afloat .
Although Gov .
Gavin Newsom has approved of some phased reopening of the local economy , L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer has said the county ’ s stay-at-home orders will “ with all certainty ” be extended for the next three months .
City Atty .
Feuer on Tuesday said Garcetti had made it clear that only essential businesses , such as healthcare providers , grocery stores and organizations serving vulnerable populations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emergency .
The prosecutor said there was danger , as noted by Dr. Anthony Fauci , the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , in reopening early — and , Feuer said , illegally in these cases .
“ As Dr. Fauci warned this morning , all our hard work to slow the spread of COVID-19 could be squandered if businesses violate the rules and open prematurely , ” Feuer said .
“ Of course all of us want to get back to work and return to our routines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with businesses that are struggling so much right now .
But we will get our economy going sooner if all of us have the discipline to follow the rules now .
“ So as we begin the task of carefully reopening Los Angeles , ” Feuer added , “ my office will continue to be vigilant in enforcing the Safer at Home Order , ensuring that nonessential businesses open only after our health experts say it ’ s safe to do so.
” Each owner of the 60 businesses faces a criminal misdemeanor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their licenses to operate .
Among them is a San Fernando Valley Harley-Davidson dealer , an Egyptian artifacts store and a dozen smoke shops .

L.A. City Atty. Mike Feuer revealed the latest round of businesses targeted in a crackdown on those that flout the city’s Safer at Home order.
The owners of 60 businesses across Los Angeles, including car washes, gyms and hair salons, that have been deemed nonessential by the city but still remain open are now facing criminal charges for violating the mayor’s stay-at-home order.
Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer revealed the latest round of the crackdown on businesses flouting Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Safer at Home order by staying open. Dozens of businesses have been identified by Los Angeles police — investigators have turned over evidence against at least 79 identified by the department.
The number of businesses seemingly ignoring Garcetti’s order has risen steadily as the shutdown drags on and many small-business owners struggle to stay afloat. Although Gov. Gavin Newsom has approved of some phased reopening of the local economy, L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer has said the county’s stay-at-home orders will “with all certainty” be extended for the next three months.
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City Atty. Feuer on Tuesday said Garcetti had made it clear that only essential businesses, such as healthcare providers, grocery stores and organizations serving vulnerable populations, could remain open during the COVID-19 emergency. The prosecutor said there was danger, as noted by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in reopening early —
and, Feuer said, illegally in these cases.
“As Dr. Fauci warned this morning, all our hard work to slow the spread of COVID-19 could be squandered if businesses violate the rules and open prematurely,” Feuer said. “Of course all of us want to get back to work and return to our routines, and I’m extremely sympathetic with businesses that are struggling so much right now. But we will get our economy going sooner if all of us have the discipline to follow the rules now.
“So as we begin the task of carefully reopening Los Angeles,” Feuer added, “my office will continue to be vigilant in enforcing the Safer at Home Order, ensuring that nonessential businesses open only after our health experts say it’s safe to do so.”
Each owner of the 60 businesses faces a criminal misdemeanor charge, and the businesses could lose their licenses to operate. Among them is a San Fernando Valley Harley-Davidson dealer, an Egyptian artifacts store and a dozen smoke shops.