latimes--2020-03-25--Uber sues L.A. over real-time location data for scooters and bikes

For nearly a year , Uber has been fighting a rule that requires all companies to share real-time data on each scooter and shared bicycle trip taken in the city of Los Angeles .
The Silicon Valley giant , which owns the scooter and bike company Jump , escalated that battle on Tuesday by suing the city in federal court .
Uber ’ s 44-page complaint argues that L.A. 's data-sharing requirements violate the protections against unreasonable search and seizure in the 4th Amendment and the California Constitution .
The lawsuit has the potential to shape how cities across the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as shared bicycle and scooter companies proliferate .
The framework that Los Angeles created to track scooters and bicycles locally has since been adopted by more than a dozen other cities , including Austin , Seattle and San Jose .
Los Angeles officials have said collecting detailed data is necessary to determine which scooter companies are flouting new rules .
They have also argued that the companies can not be trusted to regulate themselves .
Uber has said that the city can achieve those goals without real-time data , and that sharing data @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reveal where people live , work , socialize or worship .
The Transportation Department , which oversees the city ’ s scooter permit program , can not comment on “ active litigation , ” spokeswoman Connie Llanos said Wednesday .
“ This is unfortunate timing on the part of Uber , as the city ’ s resources are consumed by responding to the pandemic , ” Llanos said in an email .
During the city ’ s one-year pilot program , eight companies had permits to operate , managing a fleet of about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1 million trips per month .
Each company was required to share real-time data on the start point , end point and travel time of each trip .
Uber had been providing the information on a 24-hour delay , but is now in compliance with the city ’ s rules , Llanos said .
Los Angeles suspended Uber ’ s permit in October after six months of conflict over the rule .
Uber lost its appeal last month .
The appeal ’ s hearing officer said that both sides had weak points in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did not provide examples of scooter data being used to personally identify a rider , and the city did not explain what problems could be prevented or solved with data reported within five seconds .
The Transportation Department has to adopt a similar model for trips made in Uber and Lyft cars , which would reveal vast amounts of information on their operations statewide — data , but that the companies have jealously guarded .
Uber ’ s lawyers asked a federal judge to prevent the Transportation Department from “ taking any actions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ requirements , including “ any actions to deny , withhold , withdraw or cancel a permit for Jump to operate in the city .
”

Jump, owned by the ride-hailing company Uber, offers electric bicycles and scooters for rent in Los Angeles.
For nearly a year, Uber has been fighting a rule that requires all companies to share real-time data on each scooter and shared bicycle trip taken in the city of Los Angeles.
The Silicon Valley giant, which owns the scooter and bike company Jump, escalated that battle on Tuesday by suing the city in federal court.
Uber’s 44-page complaint argues that L.A.’s data-sharing requirements violate the protections against unreasonable search and seizure in the 4th Amendment and the California Constitution.
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The lawsuit has the potential to shape how cities across the United States balance oversight with user privacy as shared bicycle and scooter companies proliferate.
Uber’s federal lawsuit against Los Angeles Uber’s federal lawsuit against Los Angeles
The framework that Los Angeles created to track scooters and bicycles locally has since been adopted by more than a dozen other cities, including Austin, Seattle and San Jose.
Los Angeles officials have said collecting detailed data is necessary to determine which scooter companies are flouting new rules. They have also argued that the companies cannot be trusted to regulate themselves.
Uber has said that the city can achieve those goals without real-time data, and that sharing data on riders in real time could easily reveal where people live, work, socialize or worship.
The Transportation Department, which oversees the city’s scooter permit program, cannot comment on “active litigation,” spokeswoman Connie Llanos said Wednesday.
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“This is unfortunate timing on the part of Uber, as the city’s resources are consumed by responding to the pandemic,” Llanos said in an email.
During the city’s one-year pilot program, eight companies had permits to operate, managing a fleet of about 32,000 scooters and bikes that see about 1 million trips per month.
Each company was required to share real-time data on the start point, end point and travel time of each trip. Uber had been providing the information on a 24-hour delay, but is now in compliance with the city’s rules, Llanos said.
Los Angeles suspended Uber’s permit in October after six months of conflict over the rule. Uber lost its appeal last month.
The appeal’s hearing officer said that both sides had weak points in their arguments: Uber’s attorneys did not provide examples of scooter data being used to personally identify a rider, and the city did not explain what problems could be prevented or solved with data reported within five seconds.
The Transportation Department has urged California regulators to adopt a similar model for trips made in Uber and Lyft cars, which would reveal vast amounts of information on their operations statewide — data cities badly want to review , but that the companies have jealously guarded.
Uber’s lawyers asked a federal judge to prevent the Transportation Department from “taking any actions to implement or enforce” the geolocation requirements, including “any actions to deny, withhold, withdraw or cancel a permit for Jump to operate in the city.”


latimes--2020-03-25--Students with disabilities deprived of crucial services because of coronavirus closures

Nine-year-old Trevor de la Torre was home with a migraine when his parents got word that his school was closing in response to the coronavirus emergency — and his critically needed hands-on therapies would effectively stop , too .
His one-on-one reading specialist , gone .
His speech therapy , gone .
His occupational therapist who is teaching him how to write letters , gone .
His one-on-one classroom aide is no longer by his side to help him understand assignments and break down lessons into more manageable parts .
Trevor was born with a rare brain malformation called hemimegalencephaly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was 6 months old to stop life-threatening seizures .
He has only half of his vision and his mobility , as well as visual , auditory , speech and developmental delays , his mother , Kelly de la Torre , said .
Now the expert support team provided by the Poway Unified School District is only permitted by the district to wave a virtual hello and check in on video chat — and Kelly de la Torre is everything to her son .
“ It ’ s a ton to be balanced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and I don ’ t usually struggle with anxiety , ” said de la Torre , who also has children who are 2 and 10 years old .
Students with disabilities and their parents , like the de la Torre family , were dealt a particularly harsh blow when the coronavirus emergency shut down California schools .
Overnight , the intense hands-on assistance required for their children ’ s education and physical needs was no longer available , and in many cases not suitable for online learning .
Under federal education and civil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to provide equal educational resources to students with disabilities .
School districts that do not meet the individual needs promised in personalized education plans could be at risk of losing federal funding .
Statewide , 767,560 California students , about 12 % of the total , received special education services in 2017-18 , according to the National Center for Education Services .
In Los Angeles .
public schools alone , there are about 70,000 special education students , according to the superintendent .
State educators offered a sobering assessment last week after district-level @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go about equally serving disabled students .
“ We ’ re not likely able to physically provide those supports and services that we ’ re all so used to , to the same degree that we have previously , ” said Kristin Wright , director of the CDE ’ s special education division .
“ So the first sentiment I want to reinforce is — do what you can.
” The pressure on parents , many attempting to juggle their own jobs from home , is great .
“ All of a sudden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ m the aide , ” said El Segundo parent April Bucknell , a special education attorney who has two sons with special needs , only one of whom is receiving all of his promised services .
Her 11-year-old sixth grader is supposed to have one-on-one tutoring every morning for his reading skills , half-hour sessions weekly with a school psychologist , and speech therapy .
He has dyslexia , ADHD and is bipolar , she said .
“ It ’ s very discouraging that it ’ s the child that needs the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” she said after a week out of school .
But , unlike many other schools , by Tuesday the district had provided an online replacement for one of those services and had plans in place for the rest to be provided virtually by next week , she said .
Some districts , like Poway Unified , decided to stop providing new instruction to all students during the first weeks of school closures , in part because they could not guarantee that students with disabilities would receive equitable services .
They are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the future .
The U.S. Department of Education said in its coronavirus guidance for special education that the early actions taken by districts like Poway go too far .
“ We need schools to educate all students out of principle , rather than educate no students out of fear .
These are challenging times , but we expect schools to rise to the occasion , and the department stands ready to assist you in your efforts , ” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Saturday in a statement accompanied by a fact sheet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Education Department said there is some flexibility , student with disabilities still need services .
Jeeva John , an Oakland High School special education teacher , said that for new lessons , many of her students need a specialized joystick mouse to navigate a specially programmed computer that moves the cursor at slower speeds .
Multiple students in class require a teacher or aide next to them offering individual support throughout the day .
With the school shut down , her students have neither .
Instead , John and another special education @ @ @ @ @ @ @ students ’ families a “ menu of suggested activities ” based on what they would do in the classroom , with guidance for caretakers .
“ We have very communication-heavy classrooms that are heavily dependent on adult support , ” Mandic said .
She has 10 students and two para-educators who tend to the overall needs of the class , which includes four students who require one-to-one support from registered behavior technicians .
“ It ’ s an extraordinary demand that we ’ re asking parents to engage in , ” Mandic said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new guidance from the district since Monday .
But neither she nor John blames district officials ; standardizing distance learning for students with disabilities is an extremely difficult task , particularly because each student ’ s needs are different , often vastly .
“ How do we grapple with the complexity of the situation and provide solutions in such a short amount of time ?
” John asked .
She doesn ’ t have the answer .
But there are worries that parents and teachers , John and Mandic included , have about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s stress about them losing skills , ” Mandic said , and “ a lot of our students really thrive with a high level of structure and routine , especially our students on the autism spectrum.
” The disruptions in their learning and daily pattern may set students back more so than general education students , she said .
Kelly de la Torre worries that Trevor will regress , even as she wants his team to take the time they need to prepare for some distance learning .
Friends try to reassure her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t worry , kids are resilient and they ’ re going to catch up , ” but that might not be true for Trevor .
“ It ’ s harder for him to ... catch up , so the gap just gets bigger , ” she said .
Kathleen Mortier , an assistant professor of special education at San Francisco State University , is especially worried about families who have students with disabilities and are also low-income or English learners , or whose parents do not speak English .
“ My biggest concern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t have access to the technology , who live in tight quarters , who don ’ t speak English — how are they going to be supported ?
” Mortier said .
In L.A. Unified , deaf students and parents had difficulties following along with Supt .
Austin Beutner ’ s addresses because there was no sign language interpreter and not everyone can read the online transcript , said Evelyn Peña , a South L.A. parent and president of the nonprofit Deaf Latinos y Familias .
She ’ s also unhappy with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Her younger son , Darlin Peña , has cerebral palsy and attends Banneker Career and Transition Center in Willowbrook , which offers classes for students with disabilities after they age out of high school .
Darlin , 19 , was sent home with a paper packet with reading on topics like personal banking and how to get a job , which don ’ t connect directly to subjects like e-commerce and cooking that he was learning .
He can ’ t fill out the packet because he does not have enough motor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The school did not send the packet virtually or upload it onto his district-administered device , he said .
Tuesday was first time Evelyn heard from a teacher in the week and a half that he ’ s been out of school , after Evelyn reached out .
“ I want to learn more , but they don ’ t have anything for me to do , ” Darlin said .
Both L.A. County and the California Department of Education have said they are convening working groups or periodic virtual meetings of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and best practices .
Beutner has moved swiftly to provide meals and to secure computers and WiFi connections for students who need them .
But his staff has not yet figured out how to adequately serve students with disabilities .
“ You have to start with the child and figure out what ’ s best and work your way back , ” he said .
“ And to do that , one by one by one , it ’ s going to take a little bit of time , we have people working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vidarte , a special education teacher at Thomas Starr King Middle School in Los Feliz , said she still has not introduced any new concepts to her homebound students .
“ I can ’ t expect for learning to be happening , ” Vidarte said , despite her efforts “ to provide all of what I can to help them ...
I don ’ t think I can expect students to fully engage with the content when everything around them is setting on fire .
”

Nine-year-old Trevor de la Torre was home with a migraine when his parents got word that his school was closing in response to the coronavirus emergency — and his critically needed hands-on therapies would effectively stop, too.
His one-on-one reading specialist, gone. His speech therapy, gone. His occupational therapist who is teaching him how to write letters, gone. His one-on-one classroom aide is no longer by his side to help him understand assignments and break down lessons into more manageable parts.
Trevor was born with a rare brain malformation called hemimegalencephaly — half his brain was removed when he was 6 months old to stop life-threatening seizures. He has only half of his vision and his mobility, as well as visual, auditory, speech and developmental delays, his mother, Kelly de la Torre, said.
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Now the expert support team provided by the Poway Unified School District is only permitted by the district to wave a virtual hello and check in on video chat — and Kelly de la Torre is everything to her son.
“It’s a ton to be balanced. I felt very anxious this week and I don’t usually struggle with anxiety,” said de la Torre, who also has children who are 2 and 10 years old.
Heaven and Richard Peña play toss while Darlin Peña watches outside of their home in Los Angeles. Darlin’s school closed to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus and he is home with very little guidance on how to focus his learning. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
Students with disabilities and their parents, like the de la Torre family, were dealt a particularly harsh blow when the coronavirus emergency shut down California schools. Overnight, the intense hands-on assistance required for their children’s education and physical needs was no longer available, and in many cases not suitable for online learning.
Under federal education and civil rights law, public schools are required to provide equal educational resources to students with disabilities. School districts that do not meet the individual needs promised in personalized education plans could be at risk of losing federal funding.
Statewide, 767,560 California students, about 12% of the total, received special education services in 2017-18, according to the National Center for Education Services. In Los Angeles public schools alone, there are about 70,000 special education students, according to the superintendent.
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In a webinar for special education teachers and administrators Thursday, officials from the California Department of Education and schools around the state said while they have started offering virtual services for students with disabilities, many are still trying to adapt. Hundreds of questions have poured in from schools about how to maintain these services for students, said Kristin Wright, director of CDE’s special education division.
“We understand the urgency as you continue to plan and implement, how to discuss, deliver and document what you’re doing to serve our students with disabilities in some very new and innovative ways,” said Wright, who also has a child with disabilities. “As we’ve been working as a state on increasing inclusion in our schools and in our communities, this temporary departure to a virtual world, into our homes, is extremely challenging.”
The pressure on parents, many attempting to juggle their own jobs from home, has been great.
“All of a sudden I’m the teacher and I’m the aide,” said El Segundo parent April Bucknell, a special education attorney who has two sons with special needs. Initially, only one of them was receiving all of his promised services.
Her 11-year-old sixth-grader is supposed to have one-on-one tutoring every morning for his reading skills, half-hour sessions weekly with a school psychologist and speech therapy. He has dyslexia, ADHD and is bipolar, she said.
“It’s very discouraging that it’s the child that needs the most help who is not getting it,” she said after a week out of school.
But, unlike many other schools, this week the district had provided virtual replacement for all of his services.
Some districts, like Poway Unified, decided to stop providing new instruction to all students during the first weeks of school closures, in part because they could not guarantee that students with disabilities would receive equitable services. They are planning to launch distance learning for all in the future.
The U.S. Department of Education said in its coronavirus guidance for special education that the early actions taken by districts like Poway go too far.
“We need schools to educate all students out of principle, rather than educate no students out of fear. These are challenging times, but we expect schools to rise to the occasion, and the department stands ready to assist you in your efforts,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said in a statement accompanied by a factsheet on serving students with disabilities.
While the Education Department said there is some flexibility, student with disabilities still need services.
Jeeva John, an Oakland High School special education teacher, said that for new lessons, many of her students need a specialized joystick mouse to navigate a specially programmed computer that moves the cursor at slower speeds. Multiple students in class require a teacher or aide next to them offering individual support throughout the day.
With the school shut down, her students have neither. Instead, John and another special education teacher, Carmen Mandic, sent their students’ families a “menu of suggested activities” based on what they would do in the classroom, with guidance for caretakers.
“We have very communication-heavy classrooms that are heavily dependent on adult support,” Mandic said. She has 10 students and two para-educators who tend to the overall needs of the class, which includes four students who require one-to-one support from registered behavior technicians.
“It’s an extraordinary demand that we’re asking parents to engage in,” Mandic said.
Mandic said she had not received new guidance from the district since Monday. But neither she nor John blames district officials; standardizing distance learning for students with disabilities is an extremely difficult task, particularly because each student’s needs are different, often vastly.
“How do we grapple with the complexity of the situation and provide solutions in such a short amount of time?” John asked. She doesn’t have the answer.
But there are worries that parents and teachers, John and Mandic included, have about students’ needs.
“There’s stress about them losing skills,” Mandic said, and “a lot of our students really thrive with a high level of structure and routine, especially our students on the autism spectrum.” The disruptions in their learning and daily pattern may set students back more so than general education students, she said.
Kelly de la Torre worries that Trevor will regress, even as she wants his team to take the time they need to prepare for some distance learning.
Friends try to reassure her by saying things like “Don’t worry, kids are resilient and they’re going to catch up,” but that might not be true for Trevor. “It’s harder for him to … catch up, so the gap just gets bigger,” she said.
Kathleen Mortier, an assistant professor of special education at San Francisco State, is especially worried about families who have students with disabilities and are also low-income or English learners, or whose parents do not speak English.
“My biggest concern is also for students who don’t have access to the technology, who live in tight quarters, who don’t speak English — how are they going to be supported?” Mortier said.
Evelyn Pena and her 19-year-old son, Darlin Pena, who has cerebral palsy and attends Banneker Career and Transition Center in LAUSD, at home in Los Angeles. Evelyn is on the phone with Darlin’s teacher, talking through the lesson plan since Darlin’s school closed to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
Evelyn Peña, a South L.A. parent and president of the nonprofit Deaf Latinos y Familias, said she was unhappy with the accommodations for students with disabilities. Her younger son, Darlin Peña, has cerebral palsy and attends Banneker Career and Transition Center in Willowbrook, which offers classes for students with disabilities after they age out of high school.
Darlin, 19, was sent home with a paper packet with reading on topics like personal banking and how to get a job, which don’t connect directly to subjects like e-commerce and cooking that he was learning.
He couldn’t fill out the packet because he does not have enough motor control to write well, he said. The school did not send the packet virtually or upload it onto his district-administered device, he said. School was out for week before she heard from a teacher — and only after she reached out.
“I want to learn more, but they don’t have anything for me to do,” Darlin said last week. At the end of the week, the school provided Darlin a new device, but he still can’t use the apps for his learning, Evelyn said.
Both L.A. County and the California Department of Education have said they are convening working groups or periodic virtual meetings of special education experts to discuss these issues and best practices.
L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner has moved swiftly to provide meals and to secure computers and Wi-Fi connections for students who need them. But his staff has not yet figured out how to adequately serve students with disabilities.
“You have to start with the child and figure out what’s best and work your way back,” he said. “And to do that, one by one by one, it’s going to take a little bit of time, we have people working around the clock on it.”
Leaders from other districts shared similar sentiments.
Poway Unified staff are “moving as fast as we can to craft a thoughtful, equitable distance learning experience that will support all students,” and will begin providing some remote services to students with disabilities next week, said Greg Mizel, associate superintendent for student support services. El Segundo Unified Supt. Melissa Moore said her schools, too, have moved quickly to continue special education services.
Adalia Vidarte, a special education teacher at Thomas Starr King Middle School in Los Feliz, said she waited two weeks to introduce any new concepts to her homebound students.
“I can’t expect for learning to be happening,” Vidarte said last week, despite her efforts “to provide all of what I can to help them … I don’t think I can expect students to fully engage with the content when everything around them is setting on fire.”
Times staff writer Howard Blume contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-03-25--Nearly half of all patients at one Kaiser hospital believed to have coronavirus

About half of Kaiser Permanente ’ s San Jose hospital has been filled with patients confirmed or suspected to have the new coronavirus , a hospital vice president said in an interview with a medical journal .
There have been so many patients that Kaiser San Jose has had to boost its staffing , Dr. Stephen Parodi , a Kaiser executive vice president , infectious disease expert and incident commander for the health system ’ s COVID-19 response nationally , told the Journal of the American Medical Assn .
“ Our San Jose facility in California actually has almost half @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or persons under investigation , ” Parodi told JAMA .
“ So we ’ ve literally had to revamp the hospital to make sure that we ’ ve got enough capacity from a personnel standpoint .
Because to provide the care to these patients requires resource intensive personnel.
” Silicon Valley has been one of the areas hardest hit by COVID-19 .
As of Tuesday , Santa Clara County had the highest numbers of deaths of any county in California , with 16 fatalities .
The county reported 375 cases , second to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases .
Kaiser , based in Oakland , cares for 12 million patients , operating 39 hospitals and 706 medical offices across the country , with facilities in Oregon , Washington state , Hawaii , Colorado , Georgia , Washington , D.C. , Virginia and Maryland .
Parodi was unavailable for a followup interview earlier this week .
Here are the key points of what he told JAMA on Friday : Younger adults also unable to breathe on their own It ’ s not just the elderly who have deteriorated clinically , Parodi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adults who are unable to breathe on their own and require being placed on a mechanical ventilator , in which a tube is placed into the throat of a patient so the machine can push oxygen directly into the lungs .
“ I think the jury ’ s still out about who is actually going to end up being the cohort that ends up in the hospitals .
We have people that are as young as in their 30s and 40s who have clinically deteriorated and required mechanical ventilation , ” Parodi said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the other cohort , the older cohort , in their 80s and 70s that are also in our ICUs , ” Parodi said .
Big increases in coronavirus positive tests in NorCal and Washington Kaiser has been seeing significant increases in the number of patients confirmed positive in its hospitals , particularly in Washington state and Northern California .
“ Those appear to be the current hot spot , ” Parodi said .
The number of calls Kaiser is receiving from patients complaining of cold-like symptoms has been rising dramatically .
Typically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kaiser gets about 4,000 calls daily complaining of cough and cold ; on Friday , they were getting 14,000 to 15,000 calls a day .
And that comes as positive flu tests have been significantly dropping .
“ That tells me we ’ ve got COVID circulating .
I can ’ t tell you what percentage of those calls are actually COVID positive .
But I can tell you that this is the most calls we ’ ve ever gotten , period , writ large , over the last 10 years that I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Parodi said .
An intensive care unit just for COVID patients “ Essentially we have filled one entire ICU just with COVID patients , which means that we have had to repurpose another unit to take care of the regular ICU patients as well , ” Parodi said .
Of Kaiser ’ s two hospitals in Santa Clara County — San Jose and Santa Clara — “ about a quarter of the patients are in the ICU relative to the others that are not , ” Parodi said .
Once in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 10 to 14 days of mechanical ventilation , Parodi said .
“ So this is a long-term proposition , in terms of vent days , ICU days and personnel days , ” he said .
“ And I am concerned about planning for having enough ventilators — I ’ m talking about across the country — to be able to have this level of response.
” There can be a sudden increase in intensive care patients .
“ This thing can come on very quickly .
So when you go from zero to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us ... in the ICU within one week , ” Parodi said .
“ So you ’ ve got to be prepared for that level of surge.
” Planning for running out of ventilators That means planning for an unthinkable situation , where the hospital may have to choose who gets a ventilator and who doesn ’ t .
The experience in Italy suggests that the hospital would have to do mass triage , and determine “ who are the best patients that need mechanical ventilation , who are the patients that may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those who end up in the intensive care unit actually come in as outpatients a week earlier before they need ICU care , Parodi said .
“ They were relatively doing well , ” Parodi said .
“ They had a cold and cough .
And then they rapidly deteriorated the second week.
” The deterioration can be rapid — within hours .
And patients suffering from difficulty breathing can suddenly need a breathing tube inserted into their throat and need to be hooked up to a mechanical ventilator to push oxygen into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ slow .
Most areas across the country are still limited by manual testing , Parodi said .
Depending on the state you ’ re in , it can take one to two days before a test for an in-patient test result to come back , and five days or longer for an outpatient .
How to deal with N95 mask shortages To deal with the national shortage of tightly fitting N95 masks , also known as respirators , that are designed to filter out 95 % of airborne particles , Kaiser is moving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from a national strategic stockpile , some of which have expired .
N95 masks are particularly important when healthcare workers do procedures that aerosolize a patient ’ s saliva into tiny airborne particles that can float in the air , which happens when a breathing tube is inserted down a throat to hook up the patient to a mechanical ventilator to help them breathe when they can no longer do so .
Kaiser ’ s cancellation of elective surgeries earlier in March is also helping preserve masks and other personal protective equipment .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ patients in the hospital by 15 % , Parodi said , and instead of having just five to 10 days on hand of personal protective equipment , that ’ s increased to more than 30 days of supply .
Kaiser is also resorting to unorthodox measures — “ literally going to hardware stores ” to pick up personal protective equipment and finding “ different vendors local to us to be able to provide masks and literally surgical masks , sewing them together , [ and ] getting the face shields made from hardware @ @ @ @

The coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease COVID-19.
About half of Kaiser Permanente’s San Jose hospital has been filled with patients confirmed or suspected to have the new coronavirus, a hospital vice president said in an interview with a medical journal.
There have been so many patients that Kaiser San Jose has had to boost its staffing, Dr. Stephen Parodi, a Kaiser executive vice president, infectious disease expert and incident commander for the health system’s COVID-19 response nationally, told the Journal of the American Medical Assn.
“Our San Jose facility in California actually has almost half of the hospital filled either with COVID-confirmed or persons under investigation,” Parodi told JAMA. “So we’ve literally had to revamp the hospital to make sure that we’ve got enough capacity from a personnel standpoint. Because to provide the care to these patients requires resource intensive personnel.”
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Silicon Valley has been one of the areas hardest hit by COVID-19. As of Tuesday, Santa Clara County had the highest numbers of deaths of any county in California, with 16 fatalities. The county reported 375 cases, second to Los Angeles County, which has 662 cases.
Kaiser, based in Oakland, cares for 12 million patients, operating 39 hospitals and 706 medical offices across the country, with facilities in Oregon, Washington state, Hawaii, Colorado, Georgia, Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland.
Parodi was unavailable for a followup interview earlier this week. Here are the key points of what he told JAMA on Friday:
California How Silicon Valley became California’s epicenter of the coronavirus The drivers of Santa Clara County’s economy — tech companies, foreign travel and close human interaction — made it a ripe target for the coronavirus.
Younger adults also unable to breathe on their own
It’s not just the elderly who have deteriorated clinically, Parodi said; it’s also younger adults who are unable to breathe on their own and require being placed on a mechanical ventilator, in which a tube is placed into the throat of a patient so the machine can push oxygen directly into the lungs.
“I think the jury’s still out about who is actually going to end up being the cohort that ends up in the hospitals. We have people that are as young as in their 30s and 40s who have clinically deteriorated and required mechanical ventilation,” Parodi said.
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“There is, of course, the other cohort, the older cohort, in their 80s and 70s that are also in our ICUs,” Parodi said.
Big increases in coronavirus positive tests in NorCal and Washington
Kaiser has been seeing significant increases in the number of patients confirmed positive in its hospitals, particularly in Washington state and Northern California. “Those appear to be the current hot spot,” Parodi said.
The number of calls Kaiser is receiving from patients complaining of cold-like symptoms has been rising dramatically. Typically, at this time of year, Kaiser gets about 4,000 calls daily complaining of cough and cold; on Friday, they were getting 14,000 to 15,000 calls a day.
And that comes as positive flu tests have been significantly dropping.
“That tells me we’ve got COVID circulating. I can’t tell you what percentage of those calls are actually COVID positive. But I can tell you that this is the most calls we’ve ever gotten, period, writ large, over the last 10 years that I’ve been following the data,” Parodi said.
Tracking the coronavirus in California The latest maps and charts on the spread of COVID-19 in California.
An intensive care unit just for COVID patients
“Essentially we have filled one entire ICU just with COVID patients, which means that we have had to repurpose another unit to take care of the regular ICU patients as well,” Parodi said.
Of Kaiser’s two hospitals in Santa Clara County — San Jose and Santa Clara — “about a quarter of the patients are in the ICU relative to the others that are not,” Parodi said.
A two-week stay in the ICU
Once in the ICU, patients typically need somewhere between 10 to 14 days of mechanical ventilation, Parodi said.
“So this is a long-term proposition, in terms of vent days, ICU days and personnel days,” he said. “And I am concerned about planning for having enough ventilators — I’m talking about across the country — to be able to have this level of response.”
Preparing for a sudden surge in ICU patients
There can be a sudden increase in intensive care patients. “This thing can come on very quickly. So when you go from zero to having 10 patients — that happened for us ... in the ICU within one week,” Parodi said. “So you’ve got to be prepared for that level of surge.”
Planning for running out of ventilators
That means planning for an unthinkable situation, where the hospital may have to choose who gets a ventilator and who doesn’t.
The experience in Italy suggests that the hospital would have to do mass triage, and determine “who are the best patients that need mechanical ventilation, who are the patients that may not benefit from it.”
A sudden deterioration after a week of mild illness
Some of those who end up in the intensive care unit actually come in as outpatients a week earlier before they need ICU care, Parodi said.
“They were relatively doing well,” Parodi said. “They had a cold and cough. And then they rapidly deteriorated the second week.”
The deterioration can be rapid — within hours. And patients suffering from difficulty breathing can suddenly need a breathing tube inserted into their throat and need to be hooked up to a mechanical ventilator to push oxygen into their lungs.
Slow coronavirus tests
Current testing is a slow. Most areas across the country are still limited by manual testing, Parodi said. Depending on the state you’re in, it can take one to two days before a test for an in-patient test result to come back, and five days or longer for an outpatient.
How to deal with N95 mask shortages
To deal with the national shortage of tightly fitting N95 masks, also known as respirators, that are designed to filter out 95% of airborne particles, Kaiser is moving toward reusing them, and getting some from a national strategic stockpile, some of which have expired.
N95 masks are particularly important when healthcare workers do procedures that aerosolize a patient’s saliva into tiny airborne particles that can float in the air, which happens when a breathing tube is inserted down a throat to hook up the patient to a mechanical ventilator to help them breathe when they can no longer do so.
Kaiser’s cancellation of elective surgeries earlier in March is also helping preserve masks and other personal protective equipment. Doing so has reduced the number of patients in the hospital by 15%, Parodi said, and instead of having just five to 10 days on hand of personal protective equipment, that’s increased to more than 30 days of supply.
Kaiser is also resorting to unorthodox measures — “literally going to hardware stores” to pick up personal protective equipment and finding “different vendors local to us to be able to provide masks and literally surgical masks, sewing them together, [and] getting the face shields made from hardware store material.”


latimes--2020-03-25--1 million Californians file for unemployment;  homeowners hurt by coronavirus will get a break

Several major banks and financial institutions have agreed to delay foreclosures and provide mortgage relief to California homeowners who are struggling to make their monthly payments due to the novel coronavirus outbreak , Gov .
Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday .
The assistance comes as more than 1 million Californians have applied for unemployment benefits this month due to layoffs or reduced hours amid the pandemic , Newsom said .
Eligible homeowners would be able to defer mortgage payments for at least three months and perhaps longer if they suffer hardship due to the pandemic .
Any late payments would not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said the mortgage relief package was negotiated with four of the nation ’ s largest banks — Wells Fargo , U.S. Bank , CitiBank and J.P. Morgan Chase — as well as 200 state-chartered banks and credit unions .
“ We still have people that are struggling to get back to where they were before the Great Recession , ” Newsom said of the financial struggles Californians have experienced , now exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak .
“ People are older and still struggling .
And so these are individuals that once again @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” At a news conference to announce the homeowner assistance , Newsom noted that Bank of America agreed only to allow customers to defer mortgage payments for one month , but said he is hopeful the institution “ will do the right thing ” in the near future .
Bank of America disputed Newsom ’ s assertion that it was resistant to providing more generous mortgage relief to homeowners .
“ Bank of America is deferring mortgage payments on a monthly basis until the crisis is over , ” said spokesperson Bill Halldin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the California Credit Union League , the trade association for credit unions in the state , said “ we are always first to reach out to our members and do whatever we can to help them when they have financial difficulties.
” The governor ’ s announcement on Wednesday came a week after Newsom ordered all California residents to stay at home to help stem the spread of the virus , with limited exceptions for essential workers — including doctors , nurses , grocery store employees and truckers .
Residents are permitted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such as trips to supermarkets and to see the doctor , and to go outside for recreation , but are urged to keep a safe distance from others .
Thousands of Californians have lost their jobs or have seen their working hours dramatically reduced , particularly in the hospitality and service industry .
Newsom praised the bipartisan deal in Washington to increase unemployment benefits and help Americans struggling during the outbreak ’ s devastating blow to the economy , saying that assistance is desperately needed in California .
“ We just passed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of [ unemployment ] claims just since March 13 , ” Newsom said .
“ One million Californians have now claimed the need to get unemployment insurance , so this can not happen soon enough.
” Along with the mortgage assistance , Newsom is urging banks and other lenders to provide financial relief to small businesses and student loan recipients “ in the days and weeks to follow , ” according to a recent email sent to financial institutions by state Department of Business Oversight Commissioner Manuel P. Alvarez .
“ As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health front , we must also brace ourselves for a financial crisis that is only beginning , ” Alvarez said in the email .
“ Now is the time for all institutions , public and private , to do our part in staving off a tsunami of financial harm barreling toward California consumers.
” Millions of Californians were already struggling to make mortgage and rent payments in a state where housing prices and rent payments have skyrocketed in recent years , putting them at risk of losing their homes due to a sudden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ measures were put in place for homeowners in response to the Great Recession , when housing markets crashed and millions of Americans lost their homes to foreclosure .
The federal government earlier this month announced that Americans with loans backed by the government-sponsored agencies Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac would be eligible to defer mortgage payments and be shielded from foreclosure if they could not afford to make payments due to the outbreak .
The financial relief that the governor announced for homeowners is significantly more than renters across the state are receiving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has not implemented a statewide ban on evictions and has offered no comprehensive deferral of rent payments — even though California has a lot more renters than elsewhere in the U.S .
The state ’ s 55 % homeownership rate is one of the nation ’ s lowest , according to U.S. Census Data .
The majority of people in L.A. County are renters , with just 46 % of households own their home .
Last week , Newsom issued an executive order asking — but not mandating — cities and counties to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ affected by coronavirus , something Los Angeles and other local governments were already doing .
But only a fraction have done so .
More than 30 state lawmakers sent a letter to the governor on Wednesday asking him to do more .
The letter said that only 50 of the state ’ s 539 cities and counties have put their own temporary eviction bans in place .
“ With many renters suddenly out of work and the rent due the first week of April , it ’ s critical that the state act @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not be evicted , ” the letter said .
The letter follows a similar plea to Newsom last week from more than 140 housing advocacy , civil liberties , student and labor groups asking him for greater relief from evictions .
At Wednesday ’ s news conference , the governor indicated that he was frustrated that few cities had passed eviction bans .
“ We are very concerned about what ’ s happening — or not happening — at the local level , ” Newsom said .
While Newsom said he still could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he was hesitating due to unspecified legal issues unique to the state .
The governor ’ s office did not respond to a request for more details about those concerns .
Last week , John Sprankling , an expert in property law and a professor at the University of the Pacific ’ s McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento , that the state had significant power to enact an temporary eviction ban during an emergency .
“ There would undoubtedly be litigation about this , ” Sprankling said .
“ Some landlords @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of money .
But it ’ s pretty easy to predict that courts are going to say they ’ re not entitled to compensation from the state.
” As of Wednesday morning , Newsom said 2,535 people in the state had tested positive for COVID-19 , including 37 children under the age of 17 .
Newsom also said that the state has now tested more than 66,800 people but is still stymied by slow results .
Dr. Mark Ghaly , secretary of California ’ s Health and Human Services agency , said cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to four days in California , and a surge in hospitalizations is predicted to happen in one to two weeks under current conditions .
Times Staff Writers Anita Chabria and Ben Poston contributed to this report .

Gov. Gavin Newsom gives an update on the state’s response to the coronavirus at the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services earlier this month.
Several major banks and other financial institutions have agreed to delay foreclosures and provide mortgage relief to California homeowners who are struggling to make their monthly payments due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday.
The assistance comes as more than 1 million Californians have applied for unemployment benefits this month due to layoffs or reduced hours amid the pandemic, Newsom said.
Eligible homeowners would be able to defer mortgage payments for at least three months and perhaps longer if they suffer hardship due to the pandemic. Any late payments would not be reported to credit agencies.
Newsom said the mortgage relief package was negotiated with four of the nation’s largest banks — Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, CitiBank and J.P. Morgan Chase — as well as 200 state-chartered banks and credit unions.
“We still have people that are struggling to get back to where they were before the Great Recession,” Newsom said of the financial struggles Californians have experienced, now exacerbated by the coronavirus outbreak. “People are older and still struggling. And so these are individuals that once again are disproportionately being impacted by this moment.”
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Politics Senate passes $2-trillion economic stimulus package Senate approves the stimulus package created in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Trump says he will sign it.
At a news conference to announce the homeowner assistance, Newsom noted that Bank of America agreed only to allow customers to defer mortgage payments for one month, but said he is hopeful the institution “will do the right thing” in the near future.
Bank of America disputed Newsom’s assertion that it was resistant to providing more generous mortgage relief to homeowners.
“Bank of America is deferring mortgage payments on a monthly basis until the crisis is over,” said spokesperson Bill Halldin.
Diana Dykstra, president and CEO of the California Credit Union League, the trade association for credit unions in the state, said “we are always first to reach out to our members and do whatever we can to help them when they have financial difficulties.”
The governor’s announcement on Wednesday came a week after Newsom ordered all California residents to stay at home to help stem the spread of the virus, with limited exceptions for essential workers — including doctors, nurses, grocery store employees and truckers. Residents are permitted to leave the house for necessities, such as trips to supermarkets and to see the doctor, and to go outside for recreation, but are urged to keep a safe distance from others.
Thousands of Californians have lost their jobs or have seen their working hours dramatically reduced, particularly in the hospitality and service industry.
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Tracking the coronavirus in California The latest maps and charts on the spread of COVID-19 in California.
Newsom praised the bipartisan deal in Washington to increase unemployment benefits and help Americans struggling during the outbreak’s devastating blow to the economy, saying that assistance is desperately needed in California.
“We just passed the 1 million mark in terms of the number of [unemployment] claims just since March 13,” Newsom said. “One million Californians have now claimed the need to get unemployment insurance, so this cannot happen soon enough.”
Along with the mortgage assistance, Newsom is urging banks and other lenders to provide financial relief to small businesses and student loan recipients “in the days and weeks to follow,” according to a recent email sent to financial institutions by state Department of Business Oversight Commissioner Manuel P. Alvarez.
“As we continue the battle on the public health front, we must also brace ourselves for a financial crisis that is only beginning,” Alvarez said in the email. “Now is the time for all institutions, public and private, to do our part in staving off a tsunami of financial harm barreling toward California consumers.”
Millions of Californians were already struggling to make mortgage and rent payments in a state where housing prices and rent payments have skyrocketed in recent years, putting them at risk of losing their homes due to a sudden loss of income.
Similar mortgage relief measures were put in place for homeowners in response to the Great Recession, when housing markets crashed and millions of Americans lost their homes to foreclosure.
The federal government earlier this month announced that Americans with loans backed by the government-sponsored agencies Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac would be eligible to defer mortgage payments and be shielded from foreclosure if they could not afford to make payments due to the outbreak.
The financial relief that the governor announced for homeowners is significantly more than renters across the state are receiving.
Unlike some other states, California has not implemented a statewide ban on evictions and has offered no comprehensive deferral of rent payments — even though California has a lot more renters than elsewhere in the U.S.
The state’s 55% homeownership rate is one of the nation’s lowest, according to U.S. Census Data. The majority of people in L.A. County are renters, with just 46% of households own their home.
Last week, Newsom issued an executive order asking — but not mandating — cities and counties to place temporary bans on evictions for renters affected by coronavirus, something Los Angeles and other local governments were already doing .
But only a fraction have done so. More than 30 state lawmakers sent a letter to the governor on Wednesday asking him to do more. The letter said that only 50 of the state’s 539 cities and counties have put their own temporary eviction bans in place.
California How to care for someone with COVID-19 Has someone in your household tested positive for the coronavirus? Here’s guidance on how to care for them and how self-isolation can work in a shared home.
“With many renters suddenly out of work and the rent due the first week of April, it’s critical that the state act now to assure tenants that they will not be evicted,” the letter said.
The letter follows a similar plea to Newsom last week from more than 140 housing advocacy, civil liberties, student and labor groups asking him for greater relief from evictions.
At Wednesday’s news conference, the governor indicated that he was frustrated that few cities had passed eviction bans.
“We are very concerned about what’s happening — or not happening — at the local level,” Newsom said.
While Newsom said he still could implement a statewide moratorium, he noted that he was hesitating due to unspecified legal issues unique to the state. The governor’s office did not respond to a request for more details about those concerns.
Last week, John Sprankling, an expert in property law and a professor at the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, told The Times that the state had significant power to enact an temporary eviction ban during an emergency.
“There would undoubtedly be litigation about this,” Sprankling said. “Some landlords are going to lose a significant amount of money. But it’s pretty easy to predict that courts are going to say they’re not entitled to compensation from the state.”
As of Wednesday morning, Newsom said 2,535 people in the state had tested positive for COVID-19, including 37 children under the age of 17. Newsom also said that the state has now tested more than 66,800 people but is still stymied by slow results.
Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of California’s Health and Human Services agency, said cases of the virus are doubling every three to four days in California, and a surge in hospitalizations is predicted to happen in one to two weeks under current conditions.
Times Staff Writers Anita Chabria and Ben Poston contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-03-25--How L.A. radio is responding to the coronavirus crisis

The coronavirus pandemic has sent millions of people around the globe daily , if not hourly , to their computers and smartphones for news updates , for entertainment and for a sense of connection and community with family members and friends in a time of ever-expanding government directives for sheltering at home .
For a significant audience , however , those options are not available , because many lack either the technology , or the desire , to be part of the virtual world of the internet .
For them , a key ally remains one of the first avenues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I get into my car , and KUSC [ FM classical music radio ] takes me to a better place ( psychologically , if not physically ) immediately thank you !
” Pasadena resident Loren A. Roberts wrote last week in appreciation to the USC-owned classical music station ( 91.5 ) .
Like many broadcasting operations in Southern California and around the world , the station has hastily arranged for its on-air personalities to continue their daily shows from home studios .
That goes for news operations including KNX-AM ( 1070 ) , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 102.7 ) and KROQ-FM ( 106.7 ) , noncommercial stations such as Santa Monica-based KCRW-FM ( 89.9 ) and Pasadena ’ s KPCC-FM ( 89.3 ) and talk-radio channels including KFI-AM ( 640 ) and sports stations like KLAC-AM ( 570 ) .
It ’ s too early to have broadcast ratings information , but most stations are seeing increased listenership as the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 has prompted more and more people to stay closer to home .
At KNX , the round-the-clock news station , “ listening is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up 55 % compared to the prior two-week average , ” according to John Pacino , senior vice president of product for Entercom Communications Corp. , of which both KNX and KROQ are part of a network of 235 stations in 48 states .
The increases are based on their streaming numbers , Pacino said .
Like nearly all broadcast radio stations today , Entercom ’ s member stations also stream their content , making it available to an audience far beyond the reach of its broadcast signal that covers most of Los @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thing that ’ s impressed me the most , ” said KNX News Radio brand manager Ken Charles , “ is the number of calls coming in from listeners saying , ‘ Thank you for being out there and doing what you do.
’ Most of the time you only hear from people when it ’ s something negative .
This has been ... ‘ heartwarming ’ is the only word that comes to mind , to hear positive messages from listeners who are appreciative of the efforts our staff is making.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crave and appreciate even more than the news and other relevant information stations provide , or the diversion music and other non-news content allows , is the feeling of connection and stability during chaotic times .
“ Our station motto is ‘ Live and Local , ’ and that ’ s what we ’ re doing , ” said Isabel Gonzalez , content and brand director for reggaeton station Cali 93.9 , part of the Burbank-based Meruelo Media group that also operates L.A. hip-hop station Power106 , rock station KLOS-FM ( 95.5 ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 93.5 ) .
She cited a segment on Cali 93.9 ’ s morning drive show in which local business owners are invited to call in , discuss their situations and encourage patrons to continue their support however they can during this time of social distancing .
“ In the Hispanic community , we wear our emotions on our sleeves , ” she said .
“ We are there for people to call in and explore how they ’ re feeling and what they ’ re going through.
” The same is true in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ What people are looking for even more than music to comfort them is connection , and that ’ s what they get from the voices and the personalities they know , ” KUSC President Judy McAlpine said .
“ KUSC ’ s Facebook page this week over last week showed a 479 % increase in reach , and 2,565 % increase in engagement .
People need to engage with each other .
“ They are also finding that the calming impact of classical music , paired with the human connection of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now , ” McAlpine said .
KUSC has been upfront with its listening audience , as are many other broadcasters .
KUSC announcers such as Rich Capparela , Alan Chapman , Brian Lauritzen , John Van Driel , Dianne Nicolini , Jennifer Miller and others have uploaded photos or videos of themselves working in makeshift quarters in their homes .
In turn , listeners who are working from home , students who are out of school and parents looking for ways to keep their children engaged and comforted through a global crisis have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Thank you for keeping KUSC going amid this challenging time , ” Los Angeles resident Cloe Yun wrote on the station ’ s Facebook page .
“ I ’ m happy that we have music to listen to and all you guys ’ comforting human voices .
: ) Stay healthy !
” The connection between radio listeners and station personnel can cut both ways .
KROQ-FM brand manager Mike Kaplan spoke of the powerful impact on the staff when they learned that a longtime listener well-known at the station recently died @ @ @ @ @ @ @ director at National Public Radio affiliate KPCC said news content remains the station ’ s primary focus for now .
“ We find our role as being a guide to helping everyone to understand what ’ s happening so quickly .
L.A. specifically has been given a lot of information , ” LoCurto said of measures instituted across the metropolis by Mayor Eric Garcetti .
“ We are setting records with engagement and email questions.
” During the coronavirus crisis , some stations are digging deeper into their vaults for programs such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in-studio performances they ’ ve hosted .
One of the ways radio stations are adapting to the new safer-at-home reality is the morphing of public station KCRW ’ s 5 Things To Do This Week list of event recommendations .
“ We ’ ve reconfigured that , ” KCRW President Jennifer Ferro said .
“ Lindsay Preston Zappas , our art commentator , is normally talking about what ’ s going on in art galleries ; now she ’ s doing things like , ‘ Here ’ s an art project you can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reformulating how we connect with people.
” KCRW has a trove of in-studio music specials it has hosted with artists from Los Lobos and Tom Jones to Nashville indie singer-songwriter Soccer Mommy and experimental jazz musician Nate Mercereau that Ferro said the station is serving up as home quarantining and social distancing practices continue .
Mostly , however , she stressed the importance of the human connection .
“ The thing I love most about radio is that live , real-time connection with a human voice , ” she said .
“ At @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a bunch of stuff .
We are live , we ’ re talking to you , and letting you know that we ’ re having the same experience you are.
” It ’ s a refrain that ’ s being heard across the board in radio .
“ We ’ re in the friendship business , and that ’ s kind of what we ’ re maximizing right now , ” said Tom Poleman , chief programming officer for iHeartMedia , the nation ’ s largest conglomerate of radio stations with 850 outlets @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its L.A. properties .
“ Radio has always served our communities in times of need , whether that ’ s with information , companionship or escape from the world with entertainment , ” said Poleman .
“ Now with people locked in their homes , we find they ’ re craving any sort of human interaction even more ; they ’ re craving hearing voices that are familiar.
” That ’ s evident numerically , he said , in digital measurements showing usage for iHeart stations overall has increased 30 % over smart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ website and 22 % through smart TV apps .
Social engagement with on-air personalities has increased 19 % and sharing of iHeart content over social media is up 97 % , Poleman said .
“ We ’ re putting artists and celebrities on the air constantly and listeners are hearing the same kinds of stories on how they ’ re coping with loneliness , changes of venue , how to pass the time , ” Poleman said .
“ It reminds me a lot of how we were broadcasting after 9/11 , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you didn ’ t have a rule book .
“ What seems to work best is just being honest , ” he said , “ and having regular conversations showing that you ’ re as vulnerable as your listeners .
”

KUSC announcers such as Brian Lauritzen have uploaded photos or videos of themselves working out of makeshift studios in their homes.
The coronavirus pandemic has sent millions of people around the globe daily, if not hourly, to their computers and smartphones for news updates, for entertainment and for a sense of connection and community with family members and friends in a time of ever-expanding government directives for sheltering at home.
For a significant audience, however, those options are not available, because many lack either the technology, or the desire, to be part of the virtual world of the internet. For them, a key ally remains one of the first avenues of mass communication: radio.
For the record: An earlier version of this post incorrectly included KNX-AM among the L.A. stations that are part of the iHeartMedia group. KNX is one of Entercom Communications Corp.’s L.A. radio outlets.
“I get into my car, and KUSC [FM classical music radio] takes me to a better place (psychologically, if not physically) immediately thank you!” Pasadena resident Loren A. Roberts wrote last week in appreciation to the USC-owned classical music station (91.5). Like many broadcasting operations in Southern California and around the world, the station has hastily arranged for its on-air personalities to continue their daily shows from home studios.
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That goes for news operations including KNX-AM (1070), powerhouse music outlets such as KIIS-FM (102.7) and KROQ-FM (106.7), noncommercial stations such as Santa Monica-based KCRW-FM (89.9) and Pasadena’s KPCC-FM (89.3) and talk-radio channels including KFI-AM (640) and sports stations like KLAC-AM (570).
It’s too early to have broadcast ratings information, but most stations are seeing increased listenership as the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 has prompted more and more people to stay closer to home.
At KNX, the round-the-clock news station, “listening is up 44% this week, and up 55% compared to the prior two-week average,” according to John Pacino, senior vice president of product for Entercom Communications Corp., of which both KNX and KROQ are part of a network of 235 stations in 48 states. The increases are based on their streaming numbers, Pacino said.
Like nearly all broadcast radio stations today, Entercom’s member stations also stream their content, making it available to an audience far beyond the reach of its broadcast signal that covers most of Los Angeles and Orange counties.
“The thing that’s impressed me the most,” said KNX News Radio brand manager Ken Charles, “is the number of calls coming in from listeners saying, ‘Thank you for being out there and doing what you do.’ Most of the time you only hear from people when it’s something negative. This has been... ‘heartwarming’ is the only word that comes to mind, to hear positive messages from listeners who are appreciative of the efforts our staff is making.”
Officials at many stations said what listeners crave and appreciate even more than the news and other relevant information stations provide, or the diversion music and other non-news content allows, is the feeling of connection and stability during chaotic times.
“Our station motto is ‘Live and Local,’ and that’s what we’re doing,” said Isabel Gonzalez, content and brand director for reggaeton station Cali 93.9, part of the Burbank-based Meruelo Media group that also operates L.A. hip-hop station Power106, rock station KLOS-FM (95.5), and old-school hip-hop outlet KDAY-FM (93.5).
She cited a segment on Cali 93.9’s morning drive show in which local business owners are invited to call in, discuss their situations and encourage patrons to continue their support however they can during this time of social distancing.
“In the Hispanic community, we wear our emotions on our sleeves,” she said. “We are there for people to call in and explore how they’re feeling and what they’re going through.”
Advertisement
The same is true in other corners of the radio community.
“What people are looking for even more than music to comfort them is connection, and that’s what they get from the voices and the personalities they know,” KUSC President Judy McAlpine said. “KUSC’s Facebook page this week over last week showed a 479% increase in reach, and 2,565% increase in engagement. People need to engage with each other.
“They are also finding that the calming impact of classical music, paired with the human connection of our hosts, is a welcome respite right now,” McAlpine said.
KUSC has been upfront with its listening audience, as are many other broadcasters. KUSC announcers such as Rich Capparela, Alan Chapman, Brian Lauritzen, John Van Driel, Dianne Nicolini, Jennifer Miller and others have uploaded photos or videos of themselves working in makeshift quarters in their homes.
In turn, listeners who are working from home, students who are out of school and parents looking for ways to keep their children engaged and comforted through a global crisis have posted expressions of empathy and solidarity.
“Thank you for keeping KUSC going amid this challenging time,” Los Angeles resident Cloe Yun wrote on the station’s Facebook page. “I’m happy that we have music to listen to and all you guys’ comforting human voices. :) Stay healthy!”
KUSC host Alan Chapman at his home studio. (KUSC)
The connection between radio listeners and station personnel can cut both ways.
KROQ-FM brand manager Mike Kaplan spoke of the powerful impact on the staff when they learned that a longtime listener well-known at the station recently died of coronavirus.
Sal LoCurto, program director at National Public Radio affiliate KPCC said news content remains the station’s primary focus for now.
“We find our role as being a guide to helping everyone to understand what’s happening so quickly. L.A. specifically has been given a lot of information,” LoCurto said of measures instituted across the metropolis by Mayor Eric Garcetti. “We are setting records with engagement and email questions.”
During the coronavirus crisis, some stations are digging deeper into their vaults for programs such as vintage interview segments, concert specials and in-studio performances they’ve hosted.
One of the ways radio stations are adapting to the new safer-at-home reality is the morphing of public station KCRW’s 5 Things To Do This Week list of event recommendations.
“We’ve reconfigured that,” KCRW President Jennifer Ferro said. “Lindsay Preston Zappas, our art commentator, is normally talking about what’s going on in art galleries; now she’s doing things like, ‘Here’s an art project you can do at your house.’ We are reformulating how we connect with people.”
KCRW has a trove of in-studio music specials it has hosted with artists from Los Lobos and Tom Jones to Nashville indie singer-songwriter Soccer Mommy and experimental jazz musician Nate Mercereau that Ferro said the station is serving up as home quarantining and social distancing practices continue.
Mostly, however, she stressed the importance of the human connection.
“The thing I love most about radio is that live, real-time connection with a human voice,” she said. “At KCRW, we don’t program a bunch of stuff. We are live, we’re talking to you, and letting you know that we’re having the same experience you are.”
It’s a refrain that’s being heard across the board in radio.
“We’re in the friendship business, and that’s kind of what we’re maximizing right now,” said Tom Poleman, chief programming officer for iHeartMedia, the nation’s largest conglomerate of radio stations with 850 outlets, including KIIS-FM and KLAC 570 among its L.A. properties.
“Radio has always served our communities in times of need, whether that’s with information, companionship or escape from the world with entertainment,” said Poleman. “Now with people locked in their homes, we find they’re craving any sort of human interaction even more; they’re craving hearing voices that are familiar.”
That’s evident numerically, he said, in digital measurements showing usage for iHeart stations overall has increased 30% over smart speakers, 20% over the iHeart website and 22% through smart TV apps. Social engagement with on-air personalities has increased 19% and sharing of iHeart content over social media is up 97%, Poleman said.
“We’re putting artists and celebrities on the air constantly and listeners are hearing the same kinds of stories on how they’re coping with loneliness, changes of venue, how to pass the time,” Poleman said. “It reminds me a lot of how we were broadcasting after 9/11, which was another one of those times when you didn’t have a rule book.
“What seems to work best is just being honest,” he said, “and having regular conversations showing that you’re as vulnerable as your listeners.”


latimes--2020-03-25--Pandemic lockdown backs 'Clueless': Everywhere in L.A. does take 20 minutes

In “ Clueless , ” the 1995 teen-queen classic starring Alicia Silverstone , her father catches her in a lie when she ’ s late to come home .
“ Everywhere in L.A. takes 20 minutes , ” he scolds her over the phone , using their Beverly Hills home as the center of all things .
Actually , Silverstone ’ s character , Cher Horowitz , was partying in the Valley , hardly 20 minutes from anything .
In 1995 , Beverly Hills may have seemed 20 minutes from almost everywhere .
Not anymore .
Or is it ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Amid the bad news and the worry , the open roads provide a tiny break for those headed to the pharmacy , physical therapy or just to clear their head with a long , soothing drive .
Welcome to my three-hour tour .
My launch point is Doughn-t Hut , a landmark Burbank doughnut stand at the corner of Magnolia Boulevard and Keystone Street , a scone ’ s throw from John Burroughs High School .
Great coffee and a generous roster of pastries .
I invest in an apple fritter , heavy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coffee .
At noon on Monday , March 23 , I ’ m heading west out of Toluca Lake on the 134 .
Traffic is super light , zooming along at 70 .
As I will learn , 70 is the new minimum in Los Angeles , though some drivers will never be satisfied with less than 80 .
In 14 minutes , I ’ m exiting Coldwater Canyon in Studio City .
After 19 miles , my coffee is still piping hot .
Instead of the usual roller coaster , Coldwater is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mustard is starting to bloom .
There are 300 shades of green .
Eleven minutes later , up over the hump , I ’ m in Beverly Hills .
It is deeply leafy here , and the birds speak fluent French .
The clouds are imported .
Yes , we ’ re in Beverly Hills .
The dining room at the Polo Lounge is closed , of course .
But you can place a to-go order ( [ 310 ] 887-2170 ) , drive to the door , and staff will bring the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s right : The famed Polo Lounge is almost a drive-thru .
Menus are online and the choices are plentiful — and pricey .
For example , the Polo Lounge Club is $ 34 , a very exclusive club .
There are two psycho trigger points for L.A. drivers — the 405 and LAX .
Not these days .
That godless stretch of the 405 from Sunset to the 10 Freeway ?
Less than 10 minutes .
I ’ m starting to think that life at 70 mph might be like being rich @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rest of your life remembering what it was like being rich .
Oops , bad metaphor , or at least an untimely one .
I ’ m now seeing airplanes in the distance approaching LAX .
I spot my first Uber sticker of the day .
I begin to worry for Uber .
Without them , who will cut me off at lights ?
The exits whiz past .
They come up so quickly I almost miss them .
Wow , was that Hughes Parkway ?
At 12:59 , I ’ m @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the starting gate for LAX and the seven stages of death that make up the terminal complex .
Yes , it ’ s a ghost airport .
Where are all the shuttle buses ?
How come no one is honking ?
Just the sight of the ocean gives me a boost , so I take Imperial Highway to the beach , where RVs are lined up at Dockweiler State Beach as emergency shelters .
There goes the boost .
The lot just south is open , though .
I stop .
I check @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I consider a quick nap .
But I ’ ve got to get to Manhattan Beach , where Pages bookstore is offering curbside pickup for call-in orders .
How it works : You call the shop [ ( 310 ) 318-0900 ] , place your order , and the book will be waiting in a bag in the alley .
It ’ s a literary speakeasy , at a time when libraries are locked and most bookstores are closed .
Across the empty street , Ercoles tavern is serving the best cheeseburger in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ window on the sidewalk .
It ’ s open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the week , and maybe weekends — they ’ re waiting to see how it works out .
At “ Erks , ” they grill the burgers till they are pink like Easter , just east of done .
They fall apart in your fingers and drip down your elbows , to your knees and around your ankles .
It ’ s almost a form of seduction .
I feel a boost .
If you ’ ve not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you waiting for , the end of the world ?
I ’ m on a roll now .
Back on the 405 south , I hit Torrance , then Carson .
I can smell the belch of the refineries .
I can see the planes taking off from John Wayne Airport .
Life flies by at cartoon speed .
I feel like private eye Philip Marlowe chasing a dirty , lying cheat .
Thirty minutes from Manhattan Beach , I am at the Orange County line .
By 3 p.m. , a half-hour @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Los Angeles and am passing USC , an unheard-of pace .
Driving in L.A. is almost too easy .
Best of all , I have been on the road since noon and I have not seen a single accident nor witnessed one rude gesture .
As Cher Horowitz once said : “ This is California , not Kentucky ?
”

In “Clueless,” L.A. travel times were a hot-button issue for Cher (Alicia Silverstone, left, with Stacey Dash).
In “Clueless,” the 1995 teen-queen classic starring Alicia Silverstone, her father catches her in a lie when she’s late to come home.
“Everywhere in L.A. takes 20 minutes,” he scolds her over the phone, using their Beverly Hills home as the center of all things.
Actually, Silverstone’s character, Cher Horowitz, was partying in the Valley, hardly 20 minutes from anything.
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In 1995, Beverly Hills may have seemed 20 minutes from almost everywhere. Not anymore.
Or is it? L.A. freeways are deserted these days. Amid the bad news and the worry, the open roads provide a tiny break for those headed to the pharmacy, physical therapy or just to clear their head with a long, soothing drive.
Welcome to my three-hour tour.
Traffic is alarmingly light on the Harbor Freeway heading north out of downtown Los Angeles, usually a choke point for L.A. drivers.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Burbank to Beverly Hills, 25 minutes
My launch point is Doughn-t Hut, a landmark Burbank doughnut stand at the corner of Magnolia Boulevard and Keystone Street, a scone’s throw from John Burroughs High School. Great coffee and a generous roster of pastries. I invest in an apple fritter, heavy as a brick, and a small coffee.
At noon on Monday, March 23, I’m heading west out of Toluca Lake on the 134. Traffic is super light, zooming along at 70. As I will learn, 70 is the new minimum in Los Angeles, though some drivers will never be satisfied with less than 80. In 14 minutes, I’m exiting Coldwater Canyon in Studio City. After 19 miles, my coffee is still piping hot.
Instead of the usual roller coaster, Coldwater is a Joni Mitchell song. The wild mustard is starting to bloom. There are 300 shades of green.
Eleven minutes later, up over the hump, I’m in Beverly Hills.
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The entrance to the Beverly Hills Hotel, where the famed Polo Lounge is almost a drive-thru. (Matt Sayles / Associated Press)
The Polo Lounge does takeout
It is deeply leafy here, and the birds speak fluent French. The clouds are imported. Yes, we’re in Beverly Hills.
The dining room at the Polo Lounge is closed, of course. But you can place a to-go order ([310] 887-2170), drive to the door, and staff will bring the order to your car.
That’s right: The famed Polo Lounge is almost a drive-thru.
Menus are online and the choices are plentiful — and pricey.
For example, the Polo Lounge Club is $34, a very exclusive club.
UCLA to LAX, 20 minutes
There are two psycho trigger points for L.A. drivers — the 405 and LAX.
Not these days. That godless stretch of the 405 from Sunset to the 10 Freeway? Less than 10 minutes. I’m starting to think that life at 70 mph might be like being rich, losing your money, then spending the rest of your life remembering what it was like being rich.
Oops, bad metaphor, or at least an untimely one.
I’m now seeing airplanes in the distance approaching LAX. I spot my first Uber sticker of the day. I begin to worry for Uber. Without them, who will cut me off at lights?
The exits whiz past. They come up so quickly I almost miss them. Wow, was that Hughes Parkway?
At 12:59, I’m at the light at Sepulveda Boulevard, the starting gate for LAX and the seven stages of death that make up the terminal complex.
Yes, it’s a ghost airport. Where are all the shuttle buses? How come no one is honking?
Seven minutes later, I leave LAX.
That’s LAX? Yes. The airport at 1 p.m. on March 23. (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times)
A book and a burger
Just the sight of the ocean gives me a boost, so I take Imperial Highway to the beach, where RVs are lined up at Dockweiler State Beach as emergency shelters. There goes the boost.
The lot just south is open, though. I stop. I check messages. I ponder the Pacific. I consider a quick nap.
But I’ve got to get to Manhattan Beach, where Pages bookstore is offering curbside pickup for call-in orders. How it works: You call the shop [(310) 318-0900], place your order, and the book will be waiting in a bag in the alley.
It’s a literary speakeasy, at a time when libraries are locked and most bookstores are closed.
Across the empty street, Ercoles tavern is serving the best cheeseburger in the area, out of a little window on the sidewalk. It’s open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the week, and maybe weekends — they’re waiting to see how it works out.
At “Erks,” they grill the burgers till they are pink like Easter, just east of done. They fall apart in your fingers and drip down your elbows, to your knees and around your ankles. It’s almost a form of seduction. I feel a boost.
If you’ve not had an Ercoles burger, what are you waiting for, the end of the world?
Double oops.
The juicy burgers at Ercoles in Manhattan Beach are cooked just east of done. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Orange County, here I come
I’m on a roll now. Back on the 405 south, I hit Torrance, then Carson. I can smell the belch of the refineries. I can see the planes taking off from John Wayne Airport.
Life flies by at cartoon speed. I feel like private eye Philip Marlowe chasing a dirty, lying cheat.
Thirty minutes from Manhattan Beach, I am at the Orange County line. By 3 p.m., a half-hour later, I’ve doubled back to Los Angeles and am passing USC, an unheard-of pace. Driving in L.A. is almost too easy.
Best of all, I have been on the road since noon and I have not seen a single accident nor witnessed one rude gesture.
Total elapsed time: three hours (including the 45-minute book-and-burger break).
Total driving distance: 121 miles, just under a mile a minute.
As Cher Horowitz once said: “This is California, not Kentucky?”


latimes--2020-03-25--Column: Here's what's wrong with Gov. Newsom's stay-at-home order: It's a legal mess

There is little doubt about the overall wisdom of Gov .
Gavin Newsom ’ s response to the coronavirus pandemic : On March 19 , he ordered Californians to stay home for everyone ’ s good .
But the order ’ s legal adequacy is another matter .
In fact , legally speaking , it ’ s something of a mess .
As it drags on , it will chafe and even cripple many Californians .
Some of them will react for their own good : They ’ ll sue .
And they may prevail .
For starters , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is the most expansive , even breathtaking , assertion of government power in at least 50 years in the U.S .
It directly impinges on a series of fundamental constitutional rights , including the rights of association , travel and assembly .
Indeed , we colloquially call the order a “ quarantine , ” but in legal terms , quarantine refers to the isolation of people who have already been infected with a communicable disease .
Newsom ’ s edict is far broader .
It ’ s not that the government can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can .
But it has to be able to to show that it has a “ compelling interest ” for doing so , and that its action is the “ least restrictive ” means for achieving it .
This is the doctrine of strict scrutiny , which law professors like to call “ strict in theory , fatal in fact ” because it is so difficult for the government to satisfy .
California surely has a compelling interest for acting to protect the health and safety of its citizens .
The challenge for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the “ least restrictive ” question .
And here California ’ s burden will be more difficult because , for totally understandable reasons , the governor ’ s order was hastily drafted , and its slapdash quality shows .
The Newsom order doesn ’ t even set out the terms of its shelter-in-place command .
It rather consists of three prefatory paragraphs and an order to comply with a separate order of the state public health officer .
That order , in turn , says that Californians must stay home “ except @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” in 16 areas of federal infrastructure identified in yet another document issued by the Department of Homeland Security .
Turning to that document , we find a list of sectors such as “ chemical ” “ commercial facilities ” and “ healthcare ” that themselves are far from precisely delineated .
What does it matter that the order is so circuitous and so fuzzy at the edges ?
For one , it means that Californians are genuinely uncertain about what activities may transgress it .
By its terms , the order allows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 16 critical sectors .
But that can ’ t be all that ’ s intended .
Indeed , the governor ’ s public statements and the information posted by the state take pains to permit activities not specified in the order .
People can leave home to exercise , or walk their dogs , or buy supplies ( as long as they maintain social distancing ) .
Meanwhile , police departments throughout the state have moved to reassure citizens that they actually don ’ t intend to enforce the order , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those who don ’ t obey .
Sound public policy perhaps , but there ’ s something wrong with a law that the police say they won ’ t enforce from the start .
We ’ ve already seen litigation in the current crisis .
Last month , the city of Costa Mesa sued California to prevent the use of a former assisted living center to house and quarantine infected evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship .
The authorities backed away from the plan , though the two sides are back in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ National Security Project on March 13 advised that it “ will be watching closely to make sure any use of emergency powers in response to the pandemic is grounded in science and public health , not politics or discrimination.
” Such suspicion and even resistance to state actions for “ everyone ’ s good ” is the contemporary American way .
There are a handful of court cases ( including the well known example of Mary Mallon , a.k.a .
Typhoid Mary , in the early 1900s ) in which challenges to quarantine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bygone times .
Since then , the courts have developed a large battery of individual rights , and Americans have learned to deploy them with relish .
And government no longer commands a high level of fealty .
We can look , for instance , to New Jersey ’ s “ abundance of caution ” efforts in 2014 to quarantine a nurse who it believed had been exposed to the Ebola virus .
She sued after being detained for three days .
The courts sided with her : She posed no threat because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s just been a week since Newsom sent us all home from work and play , and the governor has a strong tailwind behind his order .
Along with Gov .
Andrew Cuomo in New York , he is perceived as providing steady leadership to fill the vacuum that the Trump administration has created with its dithering and lack of candor about COVID-19 .
But in coming weeks , or months , someone will go to court over it .
The judges and justices should approach those claims with considerable deference to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But they can ’ t simply rewrite legally deficient orders .
That means there is one more “ essential ” activity not covered by the California edict : A lawyer in the state attorney general ’ s office had better get working to clarify its terms , and put in on the firmest possible legal ground , before the lawsuits start flying .
Harry Litman is a former U.S. attorney and host of the Talking Feds podcast .
This is his first weekly column on legal affairs for The Times ’ Opinion section @ @ @

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a news conference last month in Sacramento about the state’s response to the coronavirus.
There is little doubt about the overall wisdom of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s response to the coronavirus pandemic: On March 19, he ordered Californians to stay home for everyone’s good.
But the order’s legal adequacy is another matter. In fact, legally speaking, it’s something of a mess. As it drags on, it will chafe and even cripple many Californians. Some of them will react for their own good: They’ll sue.
And they may prevail.
For starters, the order, like others around the country, is the most expansive, even breathtaking, assertion of government power in at least 50 years in the U.S. It directly impinges on a series of fundamental constitutional rights, including the rights of association, travel and assembly.
Indeed, we colloquially call the order a “quarantine,” but in legal terms, quarantine refers to the isolation of people who have already been infected with a communicable disease. Newsom’s edict is far broader.
Advertisement
It’s not that the government can never infringe on constitutional rights. It can. But it has to be able to to show that it has a “compelling interest” for doing so, and that its action is the “least restrictive” means for achieving it.
This is the doctrine of strict scrutiny, which law professors like to call “strict in theory, fatal in fact” because it is so difficult for the government to satisfy.
California surely has a compelling interest for acting to protect the health and safety of its citizens. The challenge for the state will be convincing the courts on the “least restrictive” question. And here California’s burden will be more difficult because, for totally understandable reasons, the governor’s order was hastily drafted, and its slapdash quality shows.
The Newsom order doesn’t even set out the terms of its shelter-in-place command. It rather consists of three prefatory paragraphs and an order to comply with a separate order of the state public health officer.
That order, in turn, says that Californians must stay home “except as needed to maintain continuity of operations” in 16 areas of federal infrastructure identified in yet another document issued by the Department of Homeland Security. Turning to that document, we find a list of sectors such as “chemical” “commercial facilities” and “healthcare” that themselves are far from precisely delineated.
Advertisement
What does it matter that the order is so circuitous and so fuzzy at the edges?
For one, it means that Californians are genuinely uncertain about what activities may transgress it. By its terms, the order allows only activity necessary to maintain operations of the 16 critical sectors. But that can’t be all that’s intended.
Indeed, the governor’s public statements and the information posted by the state take pains to permit activities not specified in the order. People can leave home to exercise, or walk their dogs, or buy supplies (as long as they maintain social distancing).
Meanwhile, police departments throughout the state have moved to reassure citizens that they actually don’t intend to enforce the order, which provides for misdemeanor violations or fines for those who don’t obey. Sound public policy perhaps, but there’s something wrong with a law that the police say they won’t enforce from the start.
We’ve already seen litigation in the current crisis. Last month, the city of Costa Mesa sued California to prevent the use of a former assisted living center to house and quarantine infected evacuees from the Diamond Princess cruise ship. The authorities backed away from the plan, though the two sides are back in negotiations.
And the ACLU’s National Security Project on March 13 advised that it “will be watching closely to make sure any use of emergency powers in response to the pandemic is grounded in science and public health, not politics or discrimination.”
Such suspicion and even resistance to state actions for “everyone’s good” is the contemporary American way. There are a handful of court cases (including the well known example of Mary Mallon, a.k.a. Typhoid Mary, in the early 1900s) in which challenges to quarantine orders were rejected. But they represent bygone times.
Since then, the courts have developed a large battery of individual rights, and Americans have learned to deploy them with relish. And government no longer commands a high level of fealty.
We can look, for instance, to New Jersey’s “abundance of caution” efforts in 2014 to quarantine a nurse who it believed had been exposed to the Ebola virus. She sued after being detained for three days. The courts sided with her: She posed no threat because she wasn’t symptomatic.
It’s just been a week since Newsom sent us all home from work and play, and the governor has a strong tailwind behind his order. Along with Gov. Andrew Cuomo in New York, he is perceived as providing steady leadership to fill the vacuum that the Trump administration has created with its dithering and lack of candor about COVID-19.
But in coming weeks, or months, someone will go to court over it. The judges and justices should approach those claims with considerable deference to the state’s emergency powers. But they can’t simply rewrite legally deficient orders.
That means there is one more “essential” activity not covered by the California edict: A lawyer in the state attorney general’s office had better get working to clarify its terms, and put in on the firmest possible legal ground, before the lawsuits start flying.
Harry Litman is a former U.S. attorney and host of the Talking Feds podcast. This is his first weekly column on legal affairs for The Times’ Opinion section. @harrylitman