latimes--2020-01-06--Man confesses to killing father in Northern California and leads deputies to grave, officials say

A 20-year-old man was charged with murder after authorities say he confessed to killing his father and burying him in a shallow grave in Northern California on New Year ’ s Day .
Sean Purdy , 20 , was arrested Thursday in Nevada on suspicion of killing his father , 52-year-old Lance Purdy , after a days-long manhunt that ended when authorities tracked his phone to the east shore of Lake Tahoe .
He was booked in the Washoe County jail in Nevada and is expected to be extradited to California .
Purdy has not entered a plea and appears @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , according to court records .
Amador County , Calif. , sheriff ’ s deputies spent four hours on Friday interviewing Purdy in jail before obtaining a confession and the location of his father ’ s body , authorities said .
That night , deputies began scouring a rural area in Pioneer — about 6 miles from the family ’ s home — where authorities suspected the man had been buried .
Roughly five hours later , deputies found a freshly dug , shallow grave with Lance Purdy ’ s remains , sheriff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ began days earlier — on Jan. 1 — when deputies received a call from a woman who said she was out of state , but was concerned about her husband who had flown home to check on their son earlier that day and had never called her .
When deputies responded to the family ’ s home in Pine Grove , a town of roughly 2,200 people nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada about an hour outside of Sacramento , they found what they described as the scene of a homicide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ authorities they also witnessed Sean Purdy leaving the family home quickly in a blue Subaru Outback and a pool of blood was discovered inside and around the home , sheriff ’ s officials said .
Authorities are still searching for evidence used in the killing .
However , they did not elaborate on what type of evidence they are seeking .
Sheriff ’ s officials have not said how they suspect Lance Purdy was killed or whether they have determined a motive in the slaying .
The Associated Press contributed to this report @

A 20-year-old man was charged with murder after authorities say he confessed to killing his father and burying him in a shallow grave in Northern California on New Year’s Day.
Sean Purdy, 20, was arrested Thursday in Nevada on suspicion of killing his father, 52-year-old Lance Purdy, after a days-long manhunt that ended when authorities tracked his phone to the east shore of Lake Tahoe. He was booked in the Washoe County jail in Nevada and is expected to be extradited to California. Purdy has not entered a plea and appears to be representing himself in the case, according to court records.
Amador County, Calif., sheriff’s deputies spent four hours on Friday interviewing Purdy in jail before obtaining a confession and the location of his father’s body, authorities said. That night, deputies began scouring a rural area in Pioneer — about 6 miles from the family’s home — where authorities suspected the man had been buried. Roughly five hours later, deputies found a freshly dug, shallow grave with Lance Purdy’s remains, sheriff’s officials said.
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The investigation began days earlier — on Jan. 1 — when deputies received a call from a woman who said she was out of state, but was concerned about her husband who had flown home to check on their son earlier that day and had never called her. When deputies responded to the family’s home in Pine Grove, a town of roughly 2,200 people nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada about an hour outside of Sacramento, they found what they described as the scene of a homicide.
A neighbor in the area told authorities they also witnessed Sean Purdy leaving the family home quickly in a blue Subaru Outback and a pool of blood was discovered inside and around the home, sheriff’s officials said.
Authorities are still searching for evidence used in the killing. However, they did not elaborate on what type of evidence they are seeking. Sheriff’s officials have not said how they suspect Lance Purdy was killed or whether they have determined a motive in the slaying.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-01-06--On eve of Manhattan sex assault trial, Harvey Weinstein charged with 2013 attacks on women in Los An

On eve of Manhattan sex assault trial, Harvey Weinstein charged with 2013 attacks on women in Los Angeles

Just hours after he entered a Manhattan courtroom where he will stand trial for sexual assault , Harvey Weinstein was charged with four more counts of rape and sexual battery in Los Angeles , deepening the legal peril faced by the fallen Hollywood mogul who is often seen as the archvillain of the # MeToo movement .
The new charges stem from accusations brought by two women who say Weinstein attacked them in hotels in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills in 2013 , Dist .
Atty .
Jackie Lacey said during a downtown news conference Monday .
Court documents show @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dozens of other accusations made against Weinstein across the globe in recent years .
Both women said the Miramax co-founder assaulted them or exposed himself inside a hotel room after an industry event or business meeting , according to filings made public Monday .
“ We believe the evidence will show that the defendant used his power and influence to gain access to his victims and then commit crimes against them , ” Lacey said in a statement .
“ I want to commend the victims who have come forward and bravely recounted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ repeatedly denied any wrongdoing .
His defense attorneys in New York and Los Angeles declined comment Monday .
Lacey said she did “ not want to interfere ” with the case in New York , suggesting the trial there would proceed first .
A spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney ’ s office declined to comment .
Weinstein was charged in Los Angeles County with forcible rape , forcible oral copulation , sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint , prosecutors said in a statement .
Neither of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the women is a former model and actress who described Weinstein ’ s alleged assault to The Times in 2017 , according to her attorney , David Ring .
She said the first assault took place at the Mr. C Beverly Hills hotel in February 2013 , after she met Weinstein briefly at the Los Angeles Italia Film , Fashion and Art Fest .
Weinstein “ became very aggressive and demanding ” while asking her to disrobe , the woman previously told The Times .
The woman said that she showed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him to stop .
“ He grabbed me by the hair and forced me to do something I did not want to do , ” she said .
In a motion asking a judge to set Weinstein ’ s bail in Los Angeles at $ 5 million , prosecutors said the woman did not immediately report the assault to police because Weinstein threatened to kill her after the alleged rape .
She did report the alleged attack to three close confidantes in 2013 , however , including her priest , law enforcement sources @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allegation from the Italian model surfaced , Weinstein ’ s attorneys have vigorously denied that he was at the hotel that night .
He has also denied ever being alone with the accuser .
Just days later , the second accuser said she had a business meeting with Weinstein and another woman at a hotel in West Los Angeles when the mogul convinced them to visit his hotel suite , according to the bail motion .
Once upstairs , the victim “ unwittingly ” followed Weinstein into a bathroom and the other woman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , court records show .
At that point , Weinstein allegedly disrobed and showered briefly before undressing her , according to the motion .
Prosecutors accused Weinstein of groping the woman while masturbating , court records show .
In all , Lacey said , the district attorney ’ s office reviewed eight allegations against Weinstein .
Prosecutors declined to bring charges in three cases because the statute of limitations had expired .
Those cases involved an alleged rape in Hollywood in the 1970s , an incident where Weinstein was accused of exposing himself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Beverly Hills in 2011 and an allegation of sexual battery on Christmas Eve in 2015 , court records show .
Three other cases remain under review for possible charges , Lacey said .
The L.A. County charges come as Weinstein prepares to face trial in Manhattan on five counts of sexual assault .
Jury selection was expected to begin in New York Tuesday .
In New York , Weinstein is charged with first-degree rape , two counts of predatory sexual assault , one count of first-degree sexual assault and one count of third-degree @ @ @ @ @ @ @ production assistant for Weinstein ’ s company , has accused him of assaulting her in 2006 .
A second unidentified woman also told police Weinstein attacked her in New York in 2013 .
A number of other women who have accused Weinstein of assaulting them in hotel rooms , including actress Annabella Sciorra and the model who accused the mogul of rape at Mr. C ’ s Beverly Hills hotel in 2013 , are expected to testify at his New York trial .
If Weinstein faces trial in Los Angeles , Lacey said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ testify whose accusations didn ’ t result in charges , under California laws that allow witnesses to testify to a defendant ’ s “ prior bad acts.
” Lacey has often faced criticism for her perceived reticence to prosecute powerful individuals , most notably in the case of Democratic donor Ed Buck .
Asked why it took years to charge Weinstein since the accusers came forward in 2017 , Lacey said prosecutors needed time to win both victims ’ complete trust .
“ It was very challenging to get those victims to open @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to tell us , ” she said .
“ For some , it was very embarrassing , terrifying ... the bottom line is we had been working on this case quite diligently in the last couple of years and turns out that coincidentally our case was ready to go this year and this was the first business day we could get everyone together that we needed in order to do this.
” Dmitriy Shakhnevich , a criminal defense attorney who now teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the day before jury selection began in Manhattan “ very strange and coincidental.
” The fact that one of the accusers in the Los Angeles case will first testify in New York also puts prosecutors in Los Angeles at a disadvantage , he said , since Weinstein ’ s defense team will have time to pick apart her testimony between trials .
“ There are going to be cross-examinations lasting hours , if not days , of these witnesses , so good lawyers , expensive lawyers , are going to go through those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ You could tell the same story to numerous parties , and it could be the truth , and I promise you I ’ ll find places where it looks like you ’ re not telling the same story twice.
” Others suggested Lacey timed the announcement for political gain .
As she seeks her third term as district attorney , Lacey is facing stiff challenges from former San Francisco Dist .
Atty .
George Gascon and former public defender Rachel Rossi in a March 2020 primary .
“ Jackie Lacey @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than a cheap publicity stunt designed to spark interest in her floundering reelection campaign , ” said Deputy Dist .
Atty .
Richard Ceballos , who launched a failed bid to oust Lacey last year .
“ If she genuinely believed in the case against Mr. Weinstein , she should have filed charges months ago.
” Ceballos dropped out of the primary last year and endorsed Gascon .
He is not directly involved in the prosecution of the Weinstein case .
The charges against Weinstein are the first to stem from a task @ @ @ @ @ @ @ review sexual abuse allegations against high-profile entertainment figures .
The task force has reviewed 40 cases against alleged predators in the last two years , but declined to prosecute in almost every instance because “ the alleged crimes were too old to prosecute , or there was insufficient credible evidence to file , ” Lacey said .
Weinstein has become inextricably linked to the # MeToo movement since 2017 , when more than 80 women began making sexual battery and assault accusations against him .
A group of 25 of those accusers whose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — now calling themselves the “ Silence Breakers ” — hailed Monday ’ s developments as “ a clear indication that the risks we took and the consequences we subsequently faced were not in vain.
” “ More than 80 of us came forward with our stories — at tremendous risks to our personal and professional lives — to make it clear that the kind of sexual assault , bullying and abuses of power Harvey Weinstein perpetuated for years can not and will not be tolerated , ” the group , which includes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mira Sorvino , said in a statement .

Just hours after he entered a Manhattan courtroom where he will stand trial for sexual assault, Harvey Weinstein was charged with four more counts of rape and sexual battery in Los Angeles, deepening the legal peril faced by the fallen Hollywood mogul who is often seen as the archvillain of the #MeToo movement.
The new charges stem from accusations brought by two women who say Weinstein attacked them in hotels in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills in 2013, Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey said during a downtown news conference Monday.
For the record: An earlier version of this article described Dmitriy Shakhnevich as a former prosecutor. He was not a prosecutor.
Court documents show the incidents described in Southern California resemble dozens of other accusations made against Weinstein across the globe in recent years. Both women said the Miramax co-founder assaulted them or exposed himself inside a hotel room after an industry event or business meeting, according to filings made public Monday.
“We believe the evidence will show that the defendant used his power and influence to gain access to his victims and then commit crimes against them,” Lacey said in a statement. “I want to commend the victims who have come forward and bravely recounted what happened to them.”
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Weinstein has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. His defense attorneys in New York and Los Angeles declined comment Monday.
Lacey said she did “not want to interfere” with the case in New York, suggesting the trial there would proceed first. A spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment.
Weinstein was charged in Los Angeles County with forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint, prosecutors said in a statement.
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Neither of the accusers has been identified publicly, though one of the women is a former model and actress who described Weinstein’s alleged assault to The Times in 2017, according to her attorney, David Ring.
She said the first assault took place at the Mr. C Beverly Hills hotel in February 2013, after she met Weinstein briefly at the Los Angeles Italia Film, Fashion and Art Fest. Weinstein “became very aggressive and demanding” while asking her to disrobe, the woman previously told The Times.
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The woman said that she showed Weinstein pictures of her children and begged him to stop.
“He grabbed me by the hair and forced me to do something I did not want to do,” she said.
In a motion asking a judge to set Weinstein’s bail in Los Angeles at $5 million, prosecutors said the woman did not immediately report the assault to police because Weinstein threatened to kill her after the alleged rape. She did report the alleged attack to three close confidantes in 2013, however, including her priest, law enforcement sources previously told The Times.
Since the allegation from the Italian model surfaced, Weinstein’s attorneys have vigorously denied that he was at the hotel that night. He has also denied ever being alone with the accuser.
Just days later, the second accuser said she had a business meeting with Weinstein and another woman at a hotel in West Los Angeles when the mogul convinced them to visit his hotel suite, according to the bail motion. Once upstairs, the victim “unwittingly” followed Weinstein into a bathroom and the other woman closed the door, trapping her inside, court records show.
At that point, Weinstein allegedly disrobed and showered briefly before undressing her, according to the motion. Prosecutors accused Weinstein of groping the woman while masturbating, court records show.
In all, Lacey said, the district attorney’s office reviewed eight allegations against Weinstein. Prosecutors declined to bring charges in three cases because the statute of limitations had expired.
Those cases involved an alleged rape in Hollywood in the 1970s, an incident where Weinstein was accused of exposing himself to a producer during a meeting in Beverly Hills in 2011 and an allegation of sexual battery on Christmas Eve in 2015, court records show.
Three other cases remain under review for possible charges, Lacey said.
Actress Louise Godbold, who has accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct, speaks to reporters outside a courthouse on Monday in New York City. (Kena Betancur / Getty Images)
The L.A. County charges come as Weinstein prepares to face trial in Manhattan on five counts of sexual assault. Jury selection was expected to begin in New York Tuesday.
In New York, Weinstein is charged with first-degree rape, two counts of predatory sexual assault, one count of first-degree sexual assault and one count of third-degree rape. Mimi Haleyi, a former production assistant for Weinstein’s company, has accused him of assaulting her in 2006. A second unidentified woman also told police Weinstein attacked her in New York in 2013.
A number of other women who have accused Weinstein of assaulting them in hotel rooms, including actress Annabella Sciorra and the model who accused the mogul of rape at Mr. C’s Beverly Hills hotel in 2013, are expected to testify at his New York trial.
If Weinstein faces trial in Los Angeles, Lacey said she also planned to call women to testify whose accusations didn’t result in charges, under California laws that allow witnesses to testify to a defendant’s “prior bad acts.”
Lacey has often faced criticism for her perceived reticence to prosecute powerful individuals, most notably in the case of Democratic donor Ed Buck. Asked why it took years to charge Weinstein since the accusers came forward in 2017, Lacey said prosecutors needed time to win both victims’ complete trust.
“It was very challenging to get those victims to open up and tell us what they needed to tell us,” she said. “For some, it was very embarrassing, terrifying ... the bottom line is we had been working on this case quite diligently in the last couple of years and turns out that coincidentally our case was ready to go this year and this was the first business day we could get everyone together that we needed in order to do this.”
Dmitriy Shakhnevich, a criminal defense attorney who now teaches at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, called Lacey’s decision to file the day before jury selection began in Manhattan “very strange and coincidental.”
The fact that one of the accusers in the Los Angeles case will first testify in New York also puts prosecutors in Los Angeles at a disadvantage, he said, since Weinstein’s defense team will have time to pick apart her testimony between trials.
“There are going to be cross-examinations lasting hours, if not days, of these witnesses, so good lawyers, expensive lawyers, are going to go through those transcripts with fine-tooth combs,” Shakhnevich said. “You could tell the same story to numerous parties, and it could be the truth, and I promise you I’ll find places where it looks like you’re not telling the same story twice.”
Others suggested Lacey timed the announcement for political gain. As she seeks her third term as district attorney, Lacey is facing stiff challenges from former San Francisco Dist. Atty. George Gascon and former public defender Rachel Rossi in a March 2020 primary.
“Jackie Lacey’s announcement today is nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt designed to spark interest in her floundering reelection campaign,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Ceballos, who launched a failed bid to oust Lacey last year. “If she genuinely believed in the case against Mr. Weinstein, she should have filed charges months ago.”
Ceballos dropped out of the primary last year and endorsed Gascon. He is not directly involved in the prosecution of the Weinstein case.
The charges against Weinstein are the first to stem from a task force formed by Lacey in 2017 to review sexual abuse allegations against high-profile entertainment figures. The task force has reviewed 40 cases against alleged predators in the last two years, but declined to prosecute in almost every instance because “the alleged crimes were too old to prosecute, or there was insufficient credible evidence to file,” Lacey said.
Weinstein has become inextricably linked to the #MeToo movement since 2017, when more than 80 women began making sexual battery and assault accusations against him.
A group of 25 of those accusers whose claims did not result in criminal charges — now calling themselves the “Silence Breakers” — hailed Monday’s developments as “a clear indication that the risks we took and the consequences we subsequently faced were not in vain.”
“More than 80 of us came forward with our stories — at tremendous risks to our personal and professional lives — to make it clear that the kind of sexual assault, bullying and abuses of power Harvey Weinstein perpetuated for years cannot and will not be tolerated,” the group, which includes actresses Rosanna Arquette, Rose McGowan and Mira Sorvino, said in a statement.


latimes--2020-01-06--Chaotic moments escalate to gunfire at Yard House in Northridge

Video from inside the Yard House restaurant in Northridge shows the chaotic moments when a bar brawl escalated into gunfire , causing panicked patrons to duck under tables for cover .
The video shows a group of people arguing during the Sunday night incident and a man wearing a Dallas Cowboys jacket running up to confront another man .
The two begin throwing punches .
Officers responded to reports of a shooting inside the restaurant at 9301 Tampa Ave. shortly after 8 p.m .
When authorities arrived , they found a 26-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expected to survive , said LAPD Officer Lizeth Lomeli .
Joshua Collins , who was eating at the restaurant with his girlfriend when the incident occurred , pulled out his phone and started recording .
After the men began trading punches , a man in a gray sweatshirt pulled out a handgun and fired a single shot , Collins told KTLA .
“ It was right next to my table , ” Collins said .
“ First , we got under the table .
As soon as I heard the gunshot , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Investigators believe the shooting may have been gang related but did not provide additional details .
The man suspected in the shooting , described as 25 to 30 years old , fled before authorities arrived and had not yet been apprehended , Lomeli said .

Video from inside the Yard House restaurant in Northridge shows the chaotic moments when a bar brawl escalated into gunfire, causing panicked patrons to duck under tables for cover.
The video shows a group of people arguing during the Sunday night incident and a man wearing a Dallas Cowboys jacket running up to confront another man. The two begin throwing punches.
Officers responded to reports of a shooting inside the restaurant at 9301 Tampa Ave. shortly after 8 p.m. When authorities arrived, they found a 26-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to a hospital and was expected to survive, said LAPD Officer Lizeth Lomeli.
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Joshua Collins, who was eating at the restaurant with his girlfriend when the incident occurred, pulled out his phone and started recording. After the men began trading punches, a man in a gray sweatshirt pulled out a handgun and fired a single shot, Collins told KTLA.
“It was right next to my table,” Collins said. “First, we got under the table. As soon as I heard the gunshot, I got my girlfriend under the table.”
Investigators believe the shooting may have been gang related but did not provide additional details. The man suspected in the shooting, described as 25 to 30 years old, fled before authorities arrived and had not yet been apprehended, Lomeli said.


latimes--2020-01-06--Man dead after being shot multiple times in East L.A., police say

A man was killed in a possible gang-related shooting Monday morning in East Los Angeles , a sheriff ’ s @ @ @ @ @ the East Los Angeles Station responded to a report of an assault with a deadly @ @ @ @ @ the 900 block of South Duncan Avenue , where they found a man in his @ @ @ @ @ .
The man was taken to a hospital , where he was pronounced dead .
@ @ @ @ @ arrived and is still at large , authorities said .
No description was provided .
@ @ @ @ @ shooting can call the department ’ s Homicide Bureau at ( 323 ) 890-5500 .
@ @ @ @ @ to ( 800 ) 222-TIPS ( 8477 ) .

A man was killed in a possible gang-related shooting, police said.
A man was killed in a possible gang-related shooting Monday morning in East Los Angeles, a sheriff’s spokesperson said.
Deputies from the East Los Angeles Station responded to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon at 1:19 a.m. in the 900 block of South Duncan Avenue, where they found a man in his 30s suffering from gunshot wounds.
The man was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The shooter fled before authorities arrived and is still at large, authorities said. No description was provided.
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Anyone with information about the shooting can call the department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Anonymous tips can be sent to (800) 222-TIPS (8477).


latimes--2020-01-06--Powerful Santa Ana winds could topple trees, down power lines across L.A., forecasters warn

Strong Santa Ana winds that carry the potential to unleash damage across Southern California are expected to continue Monday .
The strongest winds will be centered in the Los Angeles County mountains with speeds ranging from 25 to 35 mph and isolated gusts up to 65 mph .
The San Fernando Valley is expected to see winds up to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph .
Winds ranging from 15 to 30 mph in downtown Los Angeles won ’ t be quite as severe but could still cause some downed trees and power lines , said David Sweet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Service in Oxnard .
The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for the Los Angeles County mountains through Tuesday morning .
Advisories warning of gusty winds that could blow around unsecured objects and make driving difficult in the San Fernando Valley and downtown Los Angeles are expected to expire about 3 p.m. Monday .
With strong winds usually comes the potential for large brush fires across Southern California .
Forecasters said , however , that recent rain in the region likely will help keep fire danger down .
Downtown Los Angeles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since October , about 2.5 inches more precipitation than normal for the area , Sweet said .
“ With all that rain , the fire danger has gone down .
Fuels are not so dry , ” he said .
“ But I don ’ t urge anyone to test that theory .
You can ’ t be absolutely sure.
” Winds began over the weekend , with the strongest gusts in the region on Sunday in the Los Angeles County mountains .
Whitaker Peak in Angeles National Forest saw wind speeds up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speeds in Malibu Hills in the Santa Monica Mountains reached up to 55 mph .
Temperatures in Los Angeles are expected to linger in the low to mid 70s until Wednesday , when the mercury will drop back to the mid-60s .
A slight chance of rain is in the forecast for Thursday , but radar doesn ’ t show any significant precipitation until the weekend .
Even then , forecasters said , the prospects for a storm are relatively low .

Strong Santa Ana winds that carry the potential to unleash damage across Southern California are expected to continue Monday.
The strongest winds will be centered in the Los Angeles County mountains with speeds ranging from 25 to 35 mph and isolated gusts up to 65 mph. The San Fernando Valley is expected to see winds up to 30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph. Winds ranging from 15 to 30 mph in downtown Los Angeles won’t be quite as severe but could still cause some downed trees and power lines, said David Sweet, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for the Los Angeles County mountains through Tuesday morning. Advisories warning of gusty winds that could blow around unsecured objects and make driving difficult in the San Fernando Valley and downtown Los Angeles are expected to expire about 3 p.m. Monday.
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With strong winds usually comes the potential for large brush fires across Southern California. Forecasters said, however, that recent rain in the region likely will help keep fire danger down. Downtown Los Angeles has received nearly 7 inches of rain since October, about 2.5 inches more precipitation than normal for the area, Sweet said.
“With all that rain, the fire danger has gone down. Fuels are not so dry,” he said. “But I don’t urge anyone to test that theory. You can’t be absolutely sure.”
Winds began over the weekend, with the strongest gusts in the region on Sunday in the Los Angeles County mountains. Whitaker Peak in Angeles National Forest saw wind speeds up to 96 mph on Sunday while wind speeds in Malibu Hills in the Santa Monica Mountains reached up to 55 mph.
Temperatures in Los Angeles are expected to linger in the low to mid 70s until Wednesday, when the mercury will drop back to the mid-60s. A slight chance of rain is in the forecast for Thursday, but radar doesn’t show any significant precipitation until the weekend. Even then, forecasters said, the prospects for a storm are relatively low.


latimes--2020-01-06--Financial troubles and a shocking suicide have upended this tiny L.A. school district

Word reverberated through the Lennox School District in early June that former Supt .
Kent Taylor was found dead in his home — shocking news that followed the popular leader ’ s abrupt resignation in April without public explanation .
Taylor had recently certified the financial good health of the Lennox district , which he promoted as a model of innovative programs in engineering , dentistry and online studies .
Viewed as bold and charismatic , he was well known where he lived in Colton — winning five local school board elections .
A product of Inglewood public schools , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his supporters as the hometown boy made good .
But in the months since his death , later ruled a suicide , deep troubles have been unmasked in this tiny school district that serves mostly low-income Latino students , 93 % of whom qualify for free lunches and whose academic achievement is below state standards .
The rapid-fire revelations have included the near financial insolvency of the district , allegations against Taylor of sexual misconduct , possible credit card misuse by at least four current and former district officials and an internal investigation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taken a toll on this system of five elementary , one middle and three charter schools in the shadow of LAX flight paths .
The district ’ s troubles have forced more than $ 5.4 million in budget cuts , leading to reductions in staff , services and education programs — and the fallout from ongoing investigations is not yet known .
A state official last week indicated that a further review of questionable activity in Lennox could result in funds being withheld .
The new superintendent , Scott Price , former financial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , insists that insolvency has been averted .
“ We have turned the corner , ” Price said .
“ We feel confident in our direction.
” On the financial brink Shortly after Taylor ’ s departure , the Los Angeles County Office of Education criticized Lennox for squandering a once-healthy reserve through “ deficit spending and failure to maintain adequate reserves and fund balances , inability to accurately estimate the ending fund balance ” and “ lack of monitoring of cash.
” Following Taylor , more than half a dozen senior staff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ top budget , facilities and personnel managers , according to school district records and interviews .
After Price came on board in September , the county approved an $ 11-million loan to keep the district ’ s $ 71-million budget afloat .
It must be repaid by July 2020 , which Price has pledged to do .
The district has avoided teacher layoffs but has ended its dentistry program and after-school Mandarin-language instruction , and trimmed back engineering training .
Many elementary students will no longer take field trips to a college campus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been cut in the small school system at a time when test scores have been rising .
In 2019 , 36 % of students met state standards in math and 43 % in English .
“ We have demonstrated a united commitment to reductions that reestablish our fiscal responsibility and least affect students , ” Price said .
Davon Dean , former communications officer for the Lennox district , filed a sexual harassment claim against the district in August , after sending a letter to the district outlining the allegations several days before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Taylor pressured him into a sexual relationship , insisting on a “ minimum of three long , body hugs per day ” during which Taylor would grope him and simulate sex behind closed office doors .
Dean also alleges that Taylor would insist that they share a hotel room after school board meetings , conventions and other events to engage in sexual activity , the claim said .
The discomfort of the relationship ultimately compelled Dean to quit his job , said Jon Webster , the attorney representing Dean .
An attorney representing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ relationship as consensual .
When the harassment allegations surfaced , Madruga arranged for an outside firm to investigate for the district .
That inquiry later expanded to include credit card use and the work of consultants , Price said .
The district has declined to release the results of its internal investigation into the harassment allegations to the public , citing the possibility of litigation .
Taylor authorized credit cards for board members and had a $ 10,000 monthly limit on his own district card .
The Times reviewed his charges for 2017 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he spent $ 8,299 , $ 8,577 and $ 6,304 .
Three other months approached $ 5,000 .
That year , Taylor charged close to $ 44,000 , including some expenses on three work-related trips to San Diego , two to Palm Springs , and visits to San Antonio , Denver and New York City .
The charges also included at least 14 stays at hotels near Lennox , about 70 miles from his home , totaling more than $ 4,600 .
He received a salary of about $ 200,000 a year .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ agreed to turn over an internal investigation and the credit card records of four officials named in a records request from the county district attorney , which opened its review in response to a complaint , a spokeswoman for the district attorney ’ s office said .
The request , reviewed by The Times , sought records for accounting supervisor Leticia Gomez , current board member Angela Fajardo and former board member Shannon Thomas-Allen .
None of the three responded to email and telephone requests from The Times for comment .
Taylor ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The district has declined to release the results of its internal credit card investigation , with Price citing the ongoing review by the district attorney ’ s office .
In a memo reviewed by The Times , Price also advised board members to decline interview requests from the news organization .
Board members Fajardo , Sergio Hernández Jr. and Marisol Cruz did not respond to multiple interview requests and emailed questions about their credit card use and other district issues .
Angeles Gonzalez , who was elected to the board in 2018 and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , also did not respond .
Board member Alexis Aceves , a community activist who also was elected in 2018 , said she refused Taylor ’ s offer of a district-funded credit card , seeing it as unnecessary for an elected official in a district as small as Lennox .
“ Offers and encouragement to spend were expected anytime I was with Kent , ” she said of her interaction with Taylor .
Serving on the board is a part-time voluntary role , with a stipend of about $ 300 a month plus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obtained through the state Public Records Act show that Hernández , Fajardo and Cruz traveled several times a year since 2017 , apparently to education-related conferences , although the purpose of every trip could not be determined from the statements .
In 2017 and 2018 , Hernández ’ s card , for example , listed charges in Denver , San Francisco , Sacramento , San Diego , Phoenix , Washington and Portland , Ore. Fajardo , who has identified herself on social media as a Spanish teacher for L.A. Unified , spent nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to local office supply stores .
She also spent $ 214.03 at Lakeshore Learning , which sells teaching supplies , and $ 299.55 at the USC Bookstore .
Among current board members , Cruz charged the most : $ 7,743 in 2017 and $ 9,893 in 2018 .
She also had travel-related costs and spent at office supply stores and retailers .
On Oct. 20 , 2017 , she spent $ 410.13 at Costco .
Cruz also charged at local restaurants , including $ 200 at the Cheesecake Factory on Jan. 14 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s on May 5 , 2018 .
Her spending also took in self-help and motivational seminar costs , including the Conscious Life Expo in February 2018 near Los Angeles International Airport .
Charges during that period included the expo ( $ 170 ) , the Health Spectrum ( $ 134.06 ) and two at Hilton Hotels LAX ( $ 310.04 and $ 525.64 ) .
She also subscribed to self-help materials from online personal development coach Jesse Elder and a site called LearnDoBecome.com .
Fajardo , Hernández and Cruz have turned in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Price said .
The district ’ s recently approved budget has eliminated funding for conference travel for both board and community members .
The portion of the internal investigation that dealt with consultants looked closely at the work of Ben Leavitt , a key advisor behind one of Taylor ’ s most controversial initiatives : a project to enroll tuition-paying Catholic school students — many from more than 100 miles away — into Lennox through a newly created Lennox Virtual Academy .
After The Times published an investigation of the arrangement , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to shut down the online academy and did so as of July 1 .
In an emailed response to questions from The Times , Leavitt defended the academy .
“ As a general rule , ” Leavitt said , “ the parents of private school students contribute to the public school system through tax dollars , same as the parents of public school students , but receive a small fraction of services from the public school system.
” Leavitt also noted that the state appeared to recognize the academy ’ s legitimacy by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Catholic school students .
Although the administration of previous state schools Supt .
Tom Torlakson permitted the funding , current officials appear to be troubled .
“ We are deeply concerned about allegations that public funds were misused by the Lennox School District and we are looking into it , ” said Deputy Supt .
Kindra Britt , who joined the California Department of Education under current state Supt .
Tony Thurmond .
During the 2018-19 school year , Lennox received about $ 2.8 million in state funds for its academy students @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state provides transition money for districts that face a sudden , steep drop in enrollment , the state is paying a one-year allotment of $ 2.8 million in the 2019-20 school year to make up for the loss of the Catholic school students .
Britt said the state routinely provides such one-time funding to aid school districts that experience enrollment declines .
However , if enrollment “ was not appropriately reported , we will take all necessary actions including , if needed , adjusting funding accordingly , ” she said .
Another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the district has come under scrutiny .
Leavitt is a partner in CWDL , a San Diego-based accounting firm that had various contracts with the school system totaling more than $ 1 million .
CWDL provided management services for the nutrition and Associated Student Body accounts , and other areas as requested by the district , district officials said .
However , Lennox ’ s internal inquiry found some invoices to be “ vague , lacking detail and clarity , ” Price said .
Lennox ’ s internal review of consulting contracts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the district attorney , he said .
Leavitt said his firm did extensive work for Lennox , all properly submitted and approved .
Another vendor that came under district review was A-Team Security , which received more than $ 1.2 million annually for the last three full years of Taylor ’ s tenure .
Price said that the company provided services as charged but that they were nonessential .
The firm , for example , was providing a neighborhood patrol , security for the district office and services at night and over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ received strong support from community members and union leaders , several of whom he promoted and approved for extra paid work assignments .
Beatriz Torres , who represents most non-teaching Lennox employees as president of Local 575 of the California School Employees Assn.
, broke with Taylor last spring , shortly before his resignation .
She went public with a union analysis that listed costly consulting contracts and a surge in overtime payments , including nearly $ 40,000 in 2017 to Dean , the communications director alleging harassment .
His regular pay that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Transparent California , which tracks public salaries .
Lennox Teachers Assn .
President Priscilla Avila , who was recently elected , said that anyone found to have engaged in improper conduct should be held accountable and that the district ’ s troubles have unfairly tarnished the excellent work of its employees .

Officials hope that students at Lennox Middle School won’t pay the price of alleged mismanagement that put the Lennox school system on the brink of insolvency.
Word reverberated through the Lennox School District in early June that former Supt. Kent Taylor was found dead in his home — shocking news that followed the popular leader’s abrupt resignation in April without public explanation.
Taylor had recently certified the financial good health of the Lennox district, which he promoted as a model of innovative programs in engineering, dentistry and online studies. Viewed as bold and charismatic, he was well known where he lived in Colton — winning five local school board elections. A product of Inglewood public schools, Taylor, 54, was seen by his supporters as the hometown boy made good.
But in the months since his death, later ruled a suicide, deep troubles have been unmasked in this tiny school district that serves mostly low-income Latino students, 93% of whom qualify for free lunches and whose academic achievement is below state standards. The rapid-fire revelations have included the near financial insolvency of the district, allegations against Taylor of sexual misconduct, possible credit card misuse by at least four current and former district officials and an internal investigation of costly contracts.
The turmoil has taken a toll on this system of five elementary, one middle and three charter schools in the shadow of LAX flight paths. The district’s troubles have forced more than $5.4 million in budget cuts, leading to reductions in staff, services and education programs — and the fallout from ongoing investigations is not yet known. A state official last week indicated that a further review of questionable activity in Lennox could result in funds being withheld.
The new superintendent, Scott Price, former financial chief for the L.A. Unified School District, insists that insolvency has been averted.
“We have turned the corner,” Price said. “We feel confident in our direction.”
On the financial brink
Shortly after Taylor’s departure, the Los Angeles County Office of Education criticized Lennox for squandering a once-healthy reserve through “deficit spending and failure to maintain adequate reserves and fund balances, inability to accurately estimate the ending fund balance” and “lack of monitoring of cash.”
Following Taylor, more than half a dozen senior staff and longtime employees resigned, including the top budget, facilities and personnel managers, according to school district records and interviews.
After Price came on board in September, the county approved an $11-million loan to keep the district’s $71-million budget afloat. It must be repaid by July 2020, which Price has pledged to do.
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The headquarters of Lennox School District, which comprises five elementary, one middle and three charter schools. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The district has avoided teacher layoffs but has ended its dentistry program and after-school Mandarin-language instruction, and trimmed back engineering training. Many elementary students will no longer take field trips to a college campus. In all, 24 positions have been cut in the small school system at a time when test scores have been rising. In 2019, 36% of students met state standards in math and 43% in English.
“We have demonstrated a united commitment to reductions that reestablish our fiscal responsibility and least affect students,” Price said.
Sexual harassment claim
Davon Dean, former communications officer for the Lennox district, filed a sexual harassment claim against the district in August, after sending a letter to the district outlining the allegations several days before Taylor resigned. The claim alleges that Taylor pressured him into a sexual relationship, insisting on a “minimum of three long, body hugs per day” during which Taylor would grope him and simulate sex behind closed office doors.
Former Lennox schools Supt. Kent Taylor is seen in 2012. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
Dean also alleges that Taylor would insist that they share a hotel room after school board meetings, conventions and other events to engage in sexual activity, the claim said.
The discomfort of the relationship ultimately compelled Dean to quit his job, said Jon Webster, the attorney representing Dean.
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An attorney representing Lennox, Tom Madruga, described the relationship as consensual.
When the harassment allegations surfaced, Madruga arranged for an outside firm to investigate for the district. That inquiry later expanded to include credit card use and the work of consultants, Price said.
The district has declined to release the results of its internal investigation into the harassment allegations to the public, citing the possibility of litigation.
Possible credit card misuse
Taylor authorized credit cards for board members and had a $10,000 monthly limit on his own district card. The Times reviewed his charges for 2017, and they included months in which he spent $8,299, $8,577 and $6,304. Three other months approached $5,000. That year, Taylor charged close to $44,000, including some expenses on three work-related trips to San Diego, two to Palm Springs, and visits to San Antonio, Denver and New York City.
The charges also included at least 14 stays at hotels near Lennox, about 70 miles from his home, totaling more than $4,600. He received a salary of about $200,000 a year.
In October, Lennox school board members agreed to turn over an internal investigation and the credit card records of four officials named in a records request from the county district attorney, which opened its review in response to a complaint, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said.
The request, reviewed by The Times, sought records for accounting supervisor Leticia Gomez, current board member Angela Fajardo and former board member Shannon Thomas-Allen. None of the three responded to email and telephone requests from The Times for comment. Taylor’s records also are under review.
The district has declined to release the results of its internal credit card investigation, with Price citing the ongoing review by the district attorney’s office. In a memo reviewed by The Times, Price also advised board members to decline interview requests from the news organization. Board members Fajardo, Sergio Hernández Jr. and Marisol Cruz did not respond to multiple interview requests and emailed questions about their credit card use and other district issues. Angeles Gonzalez, who was elected to the board in 2018 and did not receive a district credit card, also did not respond.
Board member Alexis Aceves, a community activist who also was elected in 2018, said she refused Taylor’s offer of a district-funded credit card, seeing it as unnecessary for an elected official in a district as small as Lennox.
“Offers and encouragement to spend were expected anytime I was with Kent,” she said of her interaction with Taylor.
Serving on the board is a part-time voluntary role, with a stipend of about $300 a month plus reimbursement for expenses.
Credit card statements obtained through the state Public Records Act show that Hernández, Fajardo and Cruz traveled several times a year since 2017, apparently to education-related conferences, although the purpose of every trip could not be determined from the statements. In 2017 and 2018, Hernández’s card, for example, listed charges in Denver, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego, Phoenix, Washington and Portland, Ore.
Fajardo, who has identified herself on social media as a Spanish teacher for L.A. Unified, spent nearly $1,000 in 2017 over six visits to local office supply stores. She also spent $214.03 at Lakeshore Learning, which sells teaching supplies, and $299.55 at the USC Bookstore.
Among current board members, Cruz charged the most: $7,743 in 2017 and $9,893 in 2018. She also had travel-related costs and spent at office supply stores and retailers. On Oct. 20, 2017, she spent $410.13 at Costco. Cruz also charged at local restaurants, including $200 at the Cheesecake Factory on Jan. 14, 2018, and $227.34 at Truxton’s on May 5, 2018.
Her spending also took in self-help and motivational seminar costs, including the Conscious Life Expo in February 2018 near Los Angeles International Airport. Charges during that period included the expo ($170), the Health Spectrum ($134.06) and two at Hilton Hotels LAX ($310.04 and $525.64). She also subscribed to self-help materials from online personal development coach Jesse Elder and a site called LearnDoBecome.com.
Fajardo, Hernández and Cruz have turned in their cards over the last several months, Price said.
The district’s recently approved budget has eliminated funding for conference travel for both board and community members.
Costly contracts
The portion of the internal investigation that dealt with consultants looked closely at the work of Ben Leavitt, a key advisor behind one of Taylor’s most controversial initiatives: a project to enroll tuition-paying Catholic school students — many from more than 100 miles away — into Lennox through a newly created Lennox Virtual Academy. After The Times published an investigation of the arrangement, Lennox came under pressure from the county to shut down the online academy and did so as of July 1.
Leavitt’s firm, School Management Solutions, collected per-student fees totaling $752,205. Lennox paid the Catholic schools $165 a month per student.
St John Chrysostom Catholic School in Inglewood was among several Catholic schools that enrolled its students in the Lennox Virtual Academy, which then claimed state public school funding for the students. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
In an emailed response to questions from The Times, Leavitt defended the academy.
“As a general rule,” Leavitt said, “the parents of private school students contribute to the public school system through tax dollars, same as the parents of public school students, but receive a small fraction of services from the public school system.”
Leavitt also noted that the state appeared to recognize the academy’s legitimacy by continuing to provide funding to Lennox for the Catholic school students.
Although the administration of previous state schools Supt. Tom Torlakson permitted the funding, current officials appear to be troubled.
“We are deeply concerned about allegations that public funds were misused by the Lennox School District and we are looking into it,” said Deputy Supt. Kindra Britt, who joined the California Department of Education under current state Supt. Tony Thurmond.
During the 2018-19 school year, Lennox received about $2.8 million in state funds for its academy students, according to district records. Because the state provides transition money for districts that face a sudden, steep drop in enrollment, the state is paying a one-year allotment of $2.8 million in the 2019-20 school year to make up for the loss of the Catholic school students.
Britt said the state routinely provides such one-time funding to aid school districts that experience enrollment declines. However, if enrollment “was not appropriately reported, we will take all necessary actions including, if needed, adjusting funding accordingly,” she said.
Another element of Leavitt’s business ties to the district has come under scrutiny.
Leavitt is a partner in CWDL, a San Diego-based accounting firm that had various contracts with the school system totaling more than $1 million. CWDL provided management services for the nutrition and Associated Student Body accounts, and other areas as requested by the district, district officials said.
However, Lennox’s internal inquiry found some invoices to be “vague, lacking detail and clarity,” Price said. Lennox’s internal review of consulting contracts was among the materials turned over to the district attorney, he said.
Leavitt said his firm did extensive work for Lennox, all properly submitted and approved.
Another vendor that came under district review was A-Team Security, which received more than $1.2 million annually for the last three full years of Taylor’s tenure. Price said that the company provided services as charged but that they were nonessential. The firm, for example, was providing a neighborhood patrol, security for the district office and services at night and over the weekends.
Throughout his tenure, Taylor received strong support from community members and union leaders, several of whom he promoted and approved for extra paid work assignments.
Beatriz Torres, who represents most non-teaching Lennox employees as president of Local 575 of the California School Employees Assn., broke with Taylor last spring, shortly before his resignation. She went public with a union analysis that listed costly consulting contracts and a surge in overtime payments, including nearly $40,000 in 2017 to Dean, the communications director alleging harassment. His regular pay that year was $55,709, according to Transparent California, which tracks public salaries.
Lennox Teachers Assn. President Priscilla Avila, who was recently elected, said that anyone found to have engaged in improper conduct should be held accountable and that the district’s troubles have unfairly tarnished the excellent work of its employees.


latimes--2020-01-06--Activist Courtney Everts Mykytyn, who challenged white parents to integrate schools, dies at 46

A Los Angeles mom who was troubled by the state of her neighborhood schools , Courtney Everts Mykytyn mobilized a local and then national effort that challenged white parents like herself to integrate schools assertively — and then resist the urge to take over .
Everts Mykytyn died Dec. 30 after she was struck by a car while standing near her Highland Park home talking to a neighbor , an apparent accident caused when a driver mistakenly hit the accelerator while attempting to park .
She was 46 .
Everts Mykytyn , who left high school without a diploma but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ engaged in the painstaking work of winning over one white parent at a time , while also finding a way to partner with other constituencies .
Her nonprofit , Integrated Schools , survived on her boundless volunteer efforts and those of other volunteers who ’ ve opened 19 chapters across the country .
“ In a time when millions and millions were spent creating new charter schools and magnet programs for parents to feel comfortable sending their kids to public schools , Courtney asked parents to instead examine why they were uncomfortable in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ L.A. school board president Steve Zimmer .
“ More than anyone else in L.A. over the past decade , Courtney moved parents from ‘ I ’ d like to send my kid to my neighborhood school , but ... ’ to ‘ I am sending my kid to my neighborhood public school.
’ ” Everts Mykytyn began her own intellectual evolution as a new mom in her gentrifying Highland Park neighborhood .
In playgrounds and grocery store lines , other white moms would talk about how the local schools were not the right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ students from low-income minority families and recent immigrants .
She began to see things differently and led a small group that sought to improve local schools by creating a high-quality , academic offering .
Working with school district officials , she and other parents were the driving force behind creating and sustaining a dual-language program , which paired English-only students with native Spanish speakers to make all students fully bilingual .
Their first try was at Yorkdale Elementary , which wasn ’ t receptive .
The program instead took hold at Aldama Elementary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Everts Mykytyn was instrumental in developing a middle school follow-up program on the campus of nearby Franklin High School .
The Aldama effort was an important early spark for dual-language programs that have now expanded substantially across the nation ’ s second-largest school system .
Despite this success , there were critics who said such programs were frequently conceived as a way for the children of white parents to learn Spanish , with less attention focused on the needs of the participating Latino children .
Everts Mykytyn soon had her own misgivings as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , friends and collaborators — interact with the school and the families of color who had preceded them on campus .
“ It wasn ’ t about integration , ” Everts Mykytyn said in a 2018 interview with the publication The 74 .
“ It wasn ’ t about equity .
It wasn ’ t about coming together as a community .
It was entirely about , ‘ This is really great , what I get for my kid .
I ’ d like more.
’ I don ’ t know how else @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hoarding.
’ ” Everts Mykytyn did not see enrolling in neighborhood schools as either a sacrifice or as merely a strategy for white children to benefit from diversity , but as part of a community building effort that would benefit all .
She wanted to avoid the colonizing mind-set , where white parents would , for example , immediately insist on installing an organic garden .
Everts Mykytyn gradually developed ties with researchers , academics , thinkers , community leaders and like-minded parents .
In 2015 , this network became her L.A.-based nonprofit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ followers and her podcasts on integration have been downloaded more than 70,000 times , said Stephan Blanford , the board chair of Integrated Schools .
“ We were unapologetic about saying the problem of segregated schools is not a problem of black and brown folks but by and large of middle-class white folks and in many cases middle-class white women who for one reason or another have not lived up to the values they espouse , ” said Blanford , who served recently as an elected director of the Seattle public school system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she shared the mind-set of white moms in her neighborhood , including that her choice of school would make or break her children ’ s lives .
“ I changed my mind after lots of two-hour conversations with Courtney , ” she said .
Courtney Everts was born May 17 , 1973 , in Woodbridge , Va. , the older of two children of an engineer and a homemaker .
After her parents ’ divorce , Courtney split her time and schooling between the East and West coasts .
She left North Hollywood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GED and worked various jobs in retail and restaurants while earning college credits .
A mid-1990s brush with medicine as a volunteer led to a young emergency medical technician , Roman Mykytyn .
They were married within a year .
He would move on to become a television editor .
She completed her education at USC , earning a doctorate in 2008 in medical anthropology , looking at modern-day medical quackery , said Roman Mykytyn .
Unable to find a tenure track position locally , she focused on raising her children , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be going to school .
Besides her husband , Everts Mykytyn is survived by two children who attend local public schools ; her mother , J. Paulette Westphal , and her brother , Christof Ian Everts .

A Los Angeles mom who was troubled by the state of her neighborhood schools, Courtney Everts Mykytyn mobilized a local and then national effort that challenged white parents like herself to integrate schools assertively — and then resist the urge to take over.
Everts Mykytyn died Dec. 30 after she was struck by a car while standing near her Highland Park home talking to a neighbor, an apparent accident caused when a driver mistakenly hit the accelerator while attempting to park. She was 46.
Everts Mykytyn, who left high school without a diploma but went on to earn a doctorate, engaged in the painstaking work of winning over one white parent at a time, while also finding a way to partner with other constituencies. Her nonprofit, Integrated Schools, survived on her boundless volunteer efforts and those of other volunteers who’ve opened 19 chapters across the country.
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“In a time when millions and millions were spent creating new charter schools and magnet programs for parents to feel comfortable sending their kids to public schools, Courtney asked parents to instead examine why they were uncomfortable in the first place,” said former L.A. school board president Steve Zimmer. “More than anyone else in L.A. over the past decade, Courtney moved parents from ‘I’d like to send my kid to my neighborhood school, but ...’ to ‘I am sending my kid to my neighborhood public school.’”
Everts Mykytyn began her own intellectual evolution as a new mom in her gentrifying Highland Park neighborhood. In playgrounds and grocery store lines, other white moms would talk about how the local schools were not the right fit for their children — filled with students from low-income minority families and recent immigrants. She began to see things differently and led a small group that sought to improve local schools by creating a high-quality, academic offering.
Working with school district officials, she and other parents were the driving force behind creating and sustaining a dual-language program, which paired English-only students with native Spanish speakers to make all students fully bilingual.
Their first try was at Yorkdale Elementary, which wasn’t receptive. The program instead took hold at Aldama Elementary, opening in 2008. Later, Everts Mykytyn was instrumental in developing a middle school follow-up program on the campus of nearby Franklin High School.
The Aldama effort was an important early spark for dual-language programs that have now expanded substantially across the nation’s second-largest school system.
Despite this success, there were critics who said such programs were frequently conceived as a way for the children of white parents to learn Spanish, with less attention focused on the needs of the participating Latino children.
Everts Mykytyn soon had her own misgivings as she watched white parents — her allies, friends and collaborators — interact with the school and the families of color who had preceded them on campus.
“It wasn’t about integration,” Everts Mykytyn said in a 2018 interview with the publication The 74. “It wasn’t about equity. It wasn’t about coming together as a community. It was entirely about, ‘This is really great, what I get for my kid. I’d like more.’ I don’t know how else to say it other than ‘opportunity hoarding.’”
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Everts Mykytyn did not see enrolling in neighborhood schools as either a sacrifice or as merely a strategy for white children to benefit from diversity, but as part of a community building effort that would benefit all. She wanted to avoid the colonizing mind-set, where white parents would, for example, immediately insist on installing an organic garden.
Everts Mykytyn gradually developed ties with researchers, academics, thinkers, community leaders and like-minded parents. In 2015, this network became her L.A.-based nonprofit. Its Facebook group has about 2,000 followers and her podcasts on integration have been downloaded more than 70,000 times, said Stephan Blanford, the board chair of Integrated Schools.
“We were unapologetic about saying the problem of segregated schools is not a problem of black and brown folks but by and large of middle-class white folks and in many cases middle-class white women who for one reason or another have not lived up to the values they espouse,” said Blanford, who served recently as an elected director of the Seattle public school system.
Los Angeles parent Anna Lodder said she shared the mind-set of white moms in her neighborhood, including that her choice of school would make or break her children’s lives.
“I changed my mind after lots of two-hour conversations with Courtney,” she said.
Courtney Everts was born May 17, 1973, in Woodbridge, Va., the older of two children of an engineer and a homemaker. After her parents’ divorce, Courtney split her time and schooling between the East and West coasts.
She left North Hollywood High School early, got her her GED and worked various jobs in retail and restaurants while earning college credits. A mid-1990s brush with medicine as a volunteer led to a young emergency medical technician, Roman Mykytyn. They were married within a year.
He would move on to become a television editor. She completed her education at USC, earning a doctorate in 2008 in medical anthropology, looking at modern-day medical quackery, said Roman Mykytyn. Unable to find a tenure track position locally, she focused on raising her children, and ultimately, on where they’d be going to school.
Besides her husband, Everts Mykytyn is survived by two children who attend local public schools; her mother, J. Paulette Westphal, and her brother, Christof Ian Everts.


latimes--2020-01-06--Shyong: Here's how HiFi, or Historic Filipinotown, got its name

Raven Castro , 21 , recently moved to an apartment in Historic Filipinotown two blocks from his childhood home .
A lot feels familiar , like the slope of the pavement under his feet as he walks the route he and his mother used to take to his elementary school , or the chlorine stench at Echo Park Pool , where his father taught him to swim as a child .
But so much has changed .
A disproportionate number of his neighbors are white people who own Volkswagen Jettas .
As a kid he would often describe his neighborhood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ any other name , but last September , Historic Filipinotown was named the fifth coolest neighborhood in the world by Time Out magazine .
And lately the neighborhood has started to go by a new name : HiFi .
I first encountered HiFi , a shortening of Historic Filipinotown , six years ago as a Snapchat location filter — an illustrated icon you can use to decorate your posts when you ’ re using the app in a certain location .
Soon HiFi was all over my social media feeds and hashtags , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in tattoos .
And last year , the restaurant HiFi Kitchen opened in the neighborhood , started by a restaurateur who was born and raised there .
So I started to wonder : Where did the name HiFi come from ?
Neighborhoods in L.A. often have multiple names , official and unofficial .
Westlake , which contains Historic Filipinotown , is an incredible maze of them .
Some names express pride and intimacy , like P-town , or Fil-town .
Other unofficial names took their significance from local landmarks , like “ Tommy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the beloved late-night chili burger spot , or “ around Bahay Kubo , ” the longtime Filipino restaurant on Temple Street , or “ MacArthur Park , ” a reference to the park named for WWII Gen. Douglas MacArthur in the neighborhood ’ s southern part .
Other names are aspirational , like those you might encounter in real estate listings for the area : “ South Silver Lake , ” or “ South Echo Park.
” A recently proposed aesthetic plan for the area has seemingly established a new unit of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ names in Los Angeles are often the product of narrow political or historical considerations and subject to manipulation by special interests .
They only occasionally have meaning to the current residents of those neighborhoods .
And yet names often set our expectations about neighborhoods , especially ethnic neighborhoods .
We hear Koreatown , Thai Town , and Little Armenia and we expect a neighborhood in which a majority of residents are people of that background , engaged daily in the cultural practices of their homelands , voluntarily clustering in that neighborhood because of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you take a step back , these assumptions form a bizarre and rigid template that ethnic communities almost never fit .
It ’ s like expecting all movie stars to live in Hollywood , right along Hollywood Boulevard .
These assumptions can prevent us from truly understanding what ’ s at stake when these communities change .
Names , especially new ones like HiFi , can also signal change .
And Historic Filipinotown is changing .
So this week , I ’ ll look at how Historic Filipinotown , or HiFi , got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ll write about how changes are coming to the neighborhood .
Historic Filipinotown was recognized officially in 2002 .
But when Castro ’ s family first settled in the neighborhood in 2004 , they never heard anyone call it that .
They just knew it as a place where Filipinos could get help starting their lives in the U.S. Castro ’ s mother had just $ 100 in savings when she arrived , and the Filipino community around them became their safety net .
Friends helped his dad , Ruel , find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mom , Lyn , found a job as a nurse at Silver Lake Medical Center , back when it was called City of Angels Medical Center .
“ It didn ’ t feel like anything .
It was just a Filipino neighborhood .
It just felt normal , ” Castro said .
For those who have needed it to exist , the neighborhood has never really had an official name .
For more than a century , the hills east of downtown Los Angeles have been known to immigrants as a place where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a community organization might help you get on your feet .
Like most ethnic enclaves in Los Angeles , it didn ’ t form by choice — the area was one of the few places in the city where nonwhite people could buy and rent homes , and offered a necessary shelter from racism and targeted police brutality .
Filipinos began to buy houses in large numbers there in the 1950s , after the historic Little Manila community in downtown was displaced by a city-led “ revitalization effort.
” Little Manila businesses like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hangout of the Filipino poet Carlos Bulosan , moved farther west along Temple Street to what is now Historic Filipinotown .
Conversations about an official designation for Historic Filipinotown began in the 1970s .
Filipino investors banded together to build a Filipinotown business district .
Filipino grocery stores , office complexes , schools and restaurants went up .
Community leaders began to lobby in earnest for the creation of an officially designated Filipino neighborhood , modeled after Chinatown , Koreatown and Little Tokyo .
Many of their concerns were practical .
Ethnic groups @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power by redistricting and other forces , often sought officially designated neighborhoods as a way of gaining political and economic visibility .
A designation would help the neighborhood attract investment and serve as a focal point for acquiring political influence .
And an ethnic district would help employ recent immigrants or give them a place to start their own business .
But for some , establishing a Filipinotown in L.A. ’ s mosaic was also an important status symbol .
The lifting of immigration quotas meant that in the 1980s Filipinos would become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States , with more than 219,000 Filipinos living in Los Angeles County alone .
The absence of a vibrant , thriving Filipino enclave — especially as Chinatown , Little Tokyo and Koreatown had by then obtained official recognition — was seen as a sign of cultural invisibility and political impotence .
Critiques even came from the Philippines .
When Rodolfo Vera Quizon , one of the most famous comedians in the Philippines , came to Los Angeles in 2008 to accept an award , he took the opportunity to scold the Filipino @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political and economic clout .
“ We Filipinos need to unite .
Why is there a Chinatown , Japantown , and Koreatown here in L.A. , but no Filipinotown here or anywhere in the U.S. ?
” Quizon said in his acceptance speech .
“ We are invisible here !
” In 2002 , when then-Councilman Eric Garcetti sponsored a bill officially designating the area as Historic Filipinotown , many saw it as the reward for a long struggle and an important measure of how far Filipinos had come in America .
While @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the suburbs , they had stayed , enduring crime and economic decline .
“ It was a sign to everyone that Filipinos in America , we have arrived , ” said Cecilia Ramos , who with her husband financed and developed two apartment complexes along Temple Street and a double-decker strip mall , Luzon Plaza , named for the largest and most populous island in the Philippines .
Historic Filipinotown gave the neighborhood a name and identity , and brought much-needed visibility to the community .
But once visibility came , it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the people intimately involved in the designation effort have begun to wonder if Historic Filipinotown ’ s naming would ultimately benefit the community it was named for .
George Villanueva , who oversaw the 2002 designation push as a field deputy in Garcetti ’ s office , was born and raised in Historic Filipinotown .
About four years ago , he retired from a 15-year career in city government , disillusioned with the effects of some of his work .
Villanueva became an assistant communications professor at Loyola University Chicago .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in an academic journal assessing and analyzing his regrets about his work in city government , styled as a letter to his past selves .
He was proud that the Historic Filipinotown effort had given the community unprecedented access to political power .
Several Filipino Americans were appointed to city commissions , and more would later take positions in Garcetti ’ s administration when he became mayor .
But the designation had also , in Villanueva ’ s view , helped turn the community into a target for gentrification .
He worried that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ process during which , he wrote , “ the original celebration of community ethnic identity and support for existing low-income resident needs slowly fades away in favor of exploiting racial difference for capitalist profit.
” Villanueva still believes that the visibility brought by the designation has created positive change in the neighborhood .
But now he worries that the community he helped organize will be replaced by a new one .
“ I continue to wonder why such revitalization never turns out the way I hoped .
Why don ’ t low-income people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neighborhoods and benefit from these investments , instead of giving way to gentrifying classes ?
” Before it existed as a designation , the idea of a Filipinotown fueled Joe Bernardo ’ s teenage fantasies of belonging .
Bernardo ’ s family lived in Historic Filipinotown briefly when they first arrived in America but soon moved to a predominantly white suburb of the San Fernando Valley .
His friends were largely Japanese , Korean and Chinese kids , all of whom had experiences or connections to Little Tokyo , Chinatown or Koreatown .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ larger feeling of cultural invisibility that stemmed from a lifetime of being mistaken for Latino or excluded from Asian American circles .
“ There was a kind of unspoken link between ethnic identity and urban space , particularly in the ‘ 90s when youth culture was arguably more racially segregated , ” Bernardo said .
Bernardo fantasized about a Filipino neighborhood where everyone looked like him , a place where he could take outsiders to share and celebrate his culture .
In high school , he sketched out his fantasy with a pencil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ computer paper .
Bernardo ’ s Filipinotown had restaurants , a cockfighting pit , streets named after national heroes like José Rizal , and even a neighborhood named for Lapu Lapu , the Filipino ruler who resisted Spanish colonization and defeated Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in battle in 1521 .
For Bernardo , Filipinotown was not just a passing teenage fantasy .
After Villanueva left his position in Garcetti ’ s office , Bernardo took over his role .
He helped direct city funds to pay for signs and banners marking Historic Filipinotown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ World War II Veterans memorial in Lake Street Park .
In graduate school , he wrote a doctoral dissertation about the history and origins of Historic Filipinotown , and he argues that for immigrant communities , ethnic enclaves were a necessary precursor to political and economic advancement .
Filipinotown was important to Bernardo as a child , but he isn ’ t sure if other Filipinos agree .
Because Filipino immigrants often arrive with high levels of education and English ability , he says they tend to form more assimilated communities in places @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Covina .
A recent episode of “ This Filipino American Life , ” a podcast he hosts with friends , returns to the subject with more skepticism .
“ Filipino ethnic enclaves : Do they exist ?
Do we need them ?
” It ’ s a natural question to ask , one that I ’ ve heard a lot and asked myself over the last few years .
Many enclaves formed as vital shelters for immigrants , and when immigration flows changed , the enclaves inevitably changed as well .
Sons and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bigger cities , abandoning family businesses and selling off inherited properties .
But if this is progress , why does it feel like we ’ re losing so much ?
Ultimately it ’ s up to the second generation to decide what future ethnic enclaves will have .
So I asked Castro why he ’ s moving back to Historic Filipinotown after all these years .
He said that his family has always gone there to start their lives , and it just made sense .
Like a few years ago , when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Honda mechanic downtown and his parents filed for divorce , his father moved back in Historic Filipinotown .
Ruel couch-surfed with friends until he eventually landed in a tiny back house with room for a twin-sized bed and a desk , empty besides a small framed photo of his son .
There , he began to study for nursing school and rebuild his life .
Castro spent weekends in that back house , studying for the SAT by the light of a tiny lamp and sharing the small bed with his father , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sometimes his father would turn to him and say , “ Look at me , son .
This is why you have to do better .
You don ’ t want to end up like this.
” His father got his nursing degree and eventually moved out of Historic Filipinotown .
Castro got into USC , joined a Filipino culture club and eventually became its president .
He often found himself back in Historic Filipinotown , volunteering with community organizations , attending open mic nights or having dinner with friends at the Park @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the neighborhood ’ s history and began to see its connections to his own .
When he graduated a few months ago and got a job offer from an accounting firm downtown , Historic Filipinotown was the first place he looked for an apartment .
He likes — and sometimes uses — the name HiFi , actually .
And he ’ s proud to see so much interest in the neighborhood , even if the characters and settings of his childhood are fading .
Whatever happens next , he ’ s just hoping @ @ @ @ @ @ @

The area in Westlake known as Historic Filipinotown was officially recognized in 2002, though conversations about its designation began decades earlier.
Raven Castro, 21, recently moved to an apartment in Historic Filipinotown two blocks from his childhood home.
A lot feels familiar, like the slope of the pavement under his feet as he walks the route he and his mother used to take to his elementary school, or the chlorine stench at Echo Park Pool, where his father taught him to swim as a child.
But so much has changed. A disproportionate number of his neighbors are white people who own Volkswagen Jettas. As a kid he would often describe his neighborhood as Echo Park because no one knew any other name, but last September, Historic Filipinotown was named the fifth coolest neighborhood in the world by Time Out magazine. And lately the neighborhood has started to go by a new name: HiFi.
I first encountered HiFi, a shortening of Historic Filipinotown, six years ago as a Snapchat location filter — an illustrated icon you can use to decorate your posts when you’re using the app in a certain location.
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Soon HiFi was all over my social media feeds and hashtags, stitched onto snapback hats and even inked in tattoos. And last year, the restaurant HiFi Kitchen opened in the neighborhood, started by a restaurateur who was born and raised there.
So I started to wonder: Where did the name HiFi come from?
Neighborhoods in L.A. often have multiple names, official and unofficial. Westlake, which contains Historic Filipinotown, is an incredible maze of them.
Some names express pride and intimacy, like P-town, or Fil-town. Other unofficial names took their significance from local landmarks, like “Tommy’s district,” a reference to the beloved late-night chili burger spot, or “around Bahay Kubo,” the longtime Filipino restaurant on Temple Street, or “MacArthur Park,” a reference to the park named for WWII Gen. Douglas MacArthur in the neighborhood’s southern part.
Other names are aspirational, like those you might encounter in real estate listings for the area: “South Silver Lake,” or “South Echo Park.” A recently proposed aesthetic plan for the area has seemingly established a new unit of geography, “North Westlake.”
Official names in Los Angeles are often the product of narrow political or historical considerations and subject to manipulation by special interests. They only occasionally have meaning to the current residents of those neighborhoods.
And yet names often set our expectations about neighborhoods, especially ethnic neighborhoods. We hear Koreatown, Thai Town, and Little Armenia and we expect a neighborhood in which a majority of residents are people of that background, engaged daily in the cultural practices of their homelands, voluntarily clustering in that neighborhood because of the comforts of community.
But when you take a step back, these assumptions form a bizarre and rigid template that ethnic communities almost never fit. It’s like expecting all movie stars to live in Hollywood, right along Hollywood Boulevard. These assumptions can prevent us from truly understanding what’s at stake when these communities change.
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Names, especially new ones like HiFi, can also signal change. And Historic Filipinotown is changing.
So this week, I’ll look at how Historic Filipinotown, or HiFi, got its name. And next week I’ll write about how changes are coming to the neighborhood.
::
Filipinos began moving in large numbers to the area that came to be known as Historic Filipinotown in the 1950s, after the Little Manila community in downtown was displaced by a city-led “revitalization effort.” (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Historic Filipinotown was recognized officially in 2002. But when Castro’s family first settled in the neighborhood in 2004, they never heard anyone call it that. They just knew it as a place where Filipinos could get help starting their lives in the U.S.
Castro’s mother had just $100 in savings when she arrived, and the Filipino community around them became their safety net. Friends helped his dad, Ruel, find a job installing satellite dishes. His mom, Lyn, found a job as a nurse at Silver Lake Medical Center, back when it was called City of Angels Medical Center.
“It didn’t feel like anything. It was just a Filipino neighborhood. It just felt normal,” Castro said.
For those who have needed it to exist, the neighborhood has never really had an official name. For more than a century, the hills east of downtown Los Angeles have been known to immigrants as a place where a friend, a family member or a community organization might help you get on your feet. Like most ethnic enclaves in Los Angeles, it didn’t form by choice — the area was one of the few places in the city where nonwhite people could buy and rent homes, and offered a necessary shelter from racism and targeted police brutality.
Filipinos began to buy houses in large numbers there in the 1950s, after the historic Little Manila community in downtown was displaced by a city-led “revitalization effort.” Little Manila businesses like Traveler’s Cafe, a favorite hangout of the Filipino poet Carlos Bulosan, moved farther west along Temple Street to what is now Historic Filipinotown.
Conversations about an official designation for Historic Filipinotown began in the 1970s. Filipino investors banded together to build a Filipinotown business district. Filipino grocery stores, office complexes, schools and restaurants went up. Community leaders began to lobby in earnest for the creation of an officially designated Filipino neighborhood, modeled after Chinatown, Koreatown and Little Tokyo.
Many of their concerns were practical. Ethnic groups in Los Angeles, deprived of political power by redistricting and other forces, often sought officially designated neighborhoods as a way of gaining political and economic visibility. A designation would help the neighborhood attract investment and serve as a focal point for acquiring political influence. And an ethnic district would help employ recent immigrants or give them a place to start their own business.
But for some, establishing a Filipinotown in L.A.’s mosaic was also an important status symbol.
The lifting of immigration quotas meant that in the 1980s Filipinos would become the largest Asian American group in the United States, with more than 219,000 Filipinos living in Los Angeles County alone. The absence of a vibrant, thriving Filipino enclave — especially as Chinatown, Little Tokyo and Koreatown had by then obtained official recognition — was seen as a sign of cultural invisibility and political impotence.
Critiques even came from the Philippines. When Rodolfo Vera Quizon, one of the most famous comedians in the Philippines, came to Los Angeles in 2008 to accept an award, he took the opportunity to scold the Filipino American community on their perceived lack of political and economic clout.
“We Filipinos need to unite. Why is there a Chinatown, Japantown, and Koreatown here in L.A., but no Filipinotown here or anywhere in the U.S.?” Quizon said in his acceptance speech. “We are invisible here!”
In 2002, when then-Councilman Eric Garcetti sponsored a bill officially designating the area as Historic Filipinotown, many saw it as the reward for a long struggle and an important measure of how far Filipinos had come in America. While their friends bought bigger homes out in the suburbs, they had stayed, enduring crime and economic decline.
“It was a sign to everyone that Filipinos in America, we have arrived,” said Cecilia Ramos, who with her husband financed and developed two apartment complexes along Temple Street and a double-decker strip mall, Luzon Plaza, named for the largest and most populous island in the Philippines.
Historic Filipinotown gave the neighborhood a name and identity, and brought much-needed visibility to the community. But once visibility came, it was hard to control. And even some of the people intimately involved in the designation effort have begun to wonder if Historic Filipinotown’s naming would ultimately benefit the community it was named for.
George Villanueva, who oversaw the 2002 designation push as a field deputy in Garcetti’s office, was born and raised in Historic Filipinotown. About four years ago, he retired from a 15-year career in city government, disillusioned with the effects of some of his work.
Villanueva became an assistant communications professor at Loyola University Chicago. And last year, he published a paper in an academic journal assessing and analyzing his regrets about his work in city government, styled as a letter to his past selves.
He was proud that the Historic Filipinotown effort had given the community unprecedented access to political power. Several Filipino Americans were appointed to city commissions, and more would later take positions in Garcetti’s administration when he became mayor.
But the designation had also, in Villanueva’s view, helped turn the community into a target for gentrification. He worried that his work had begun an inexorable economic process during which, he wrote, “the original celebration of community ethnic identity and support for existing low-income resident needs slowly fades away in favor of exploiting racial difference for capitalist profit.”
Villanueva still believes that the visibility brought by the designation has created positive change in the neighborhood. But now he worries that the community he helped organize will be replaced by a new one.
“I continue to wonder why such revitalization never turns out the way I hoped. Why don’t low-income people of color get to stay in their neighborhoods and benefit from these investments, instead of giving way to gentrifying classes?”
::
Restaurateur Justin Foronda last year opened HiFi Kitchen in Historic Filipinotown, where he was born and raised. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Before it existed as a designation, the idea of a Filipinotown fueled Joe Bernardo’s teenage fantasies of belonging.
Bernardo’s family lived in Historic Filipinotown briefly when they first arrived in America but soon moved to a predominantly white suburb of the San Fernando Valley. His friends were largely Japanese, Korean and Chinese kids, all of whom had experiences or connections to Little Tokyo, Chinatown or Koreatown.
The absence of a Filipinotown fed a larger feeling of cultural invisibility that stemmed from a lifetime of being mistaken for Latino or excluded from Asian American circles.
“There was a kind of unspoken link between ethnic identity and urban space, particularly in the ‘90s when youth culture was arguably more racially segregated,” Bernardo said.
Bernardo fantasized about a Filipino neighborhood where everyone looked like him, a place where he could take outsiders to share and celebrate his culture. In high school, he sketched out his fantasy with a pencil and a ruler on a sheet of computer paper.
Bernardo’s Filipinotown had restaurants, a cockfighting pit, streets named after national heroes like José Rizal, and even a neighborhood named for Lapu Lapu, the Filipino ruler who resisted Spanish colonization and defeated Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in battle in 1521.
For Bernardo, Filipinotown was not just a passing teenage fantasy. After Villanueva left his position in Garcetti’s office, Bernardo took over his role. He helped direct city funds to pay for signs and banners marking Historic Filipinotown, and helped erect the first Filipino World War II Veterans memorial in Lake Street Park.
In graduate school, he wrote a doctoral dissertation about the history and origins of Historic Filipinotown, and he argues that for immigrant communities, ethnic enclaves were a necessary precursor to political and economic advancement.
Filipinotown was important to Bernardo as a child, but he isn’t sure if other Filipinos agree. Because Filipino immigrants often arrive with high levels of education and English ability, he says they tend to form more assimilated communities in places like Eagle Rock, Carson and West Covina. A recent episode of “This Filipino American Life,” a podcast he hosts with friends, returns to the subject with more skepticism.
“Filipino ethnic enclaves: Do they exist? Do we need them?”
It’s a natural question to ask, one that I’ve heard a lot and asked myself over the last few years. Many enclaves formed as vital shelters for immigrants, and when immigration flows changed, the enclaves inevitably changed as well. Sons and daughters move on to better jobs in bigger cities, abandoning family businesses and selling off inherited properties. But if this is progress, why does it feel like we’re losing so much?
Ultimately it’s up to the second generation to decide what future ethnic enclaves will have.
So I asked Castro why he’s moving back to Historic Filipinotown after all these years. He said that his family has always gone there to start their lives, and it just made sense.
Like a few years ago, when his father lost his job at a Honda mechanic downtown and his parents filed for divorce, his father moved back in Historic Filipinotown.
Ruel couch-surfed with friends until he eventually landed in a tiny back house with room for a twin-sized bed and a desk, empty besides a small framed photo of his son. There, he began to study for nursing school and rebuild his life.
Castro spent weekends in that back house, studying for the SAT by the light of a tiny lamp and sharing the small bed with his father, who would study for nursing school. Sometimes his father would turn to him and say, “Look at me, son. This is why you have to do better. You don’t want to end up like this.”
His father got his nursing degree and eventually moved out of Historic Filipinotown. Castro got into USC, joined a Filipino culture club and eventually became its president. He often found himself back in Historic Filipinotown, volunteering with community organizations, attending open mic nights or having dinner with friends at the Park’s Finest. He learned about the neighborhood’s history and began to see its connections to his own.
When he graduated a few months ago and got a job offer from an accounting firm downtown, Historic Filipinotown was the first place he looked for an apartment.
He likes — and sometimes uses — the name HiFi, actually. And he’s proud to see so much interest in the neighborhood, even if the characters and settings of his childhood are fading.
Whatever happens next, he’s just hoping to be a part of it.