latimes--2020-01-10--Body found inside U-Haul truck identified as 29-year-old Anaheim woman

A body wrapped in plastic and cardboard that was discovered inside a moving truck Wednesday night in Fullerton has been @ @ @ @ @ Anaheim police identified the body as that of Ashley Manning , 29 , of Anaheim @ @ @ @ @ Facebook post shared by her sister , Manning had not been heard from or seen @ @ @ @ @ Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport in mid-November .
Her family received @ @ @ @ @ LAX , and had been working with police to pull video footage to see which @ @ @ @ @ The cause of Ashley ’ s death has yet to be determined pending toxicology results @ @ @ @ @ Manning ’ s body was found inside a U-Haul truck that had been abandoned .
@ @ @ @ @ at Orangethorpe Avenue and State College Boulevard made the discovery and contacted Fullerton police about @ @ @ @ @ said .
The U-Haul truck had been rented in Anaheim , so police there took @ @ @ @ @ Anaheim Police Sgt .
Shane Carringer .

A body wrapped in plastic and cardboard that was discovered inside a moving truck Wednesday night in Fullerton has been identified.
On Friday, Anaheim police identified the body as that of Ashley Manning, 29, of Anaheim. According to a December Facebook post shared by her sister, Manning had not been heard from or seen after boarding a plane from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport in mid-November.
Her family received confirmation that she landed at LAX, and had been working with police to pull video footage to see which car she entered.
“The cause of Ashley’s death has yet to be determined pending toxicology results,” police said.
Manning’s body was found inside a U-Haul truck that had been abandoned. Employees at the U-Haul location at Orangethorpe Avenue and State College Boulevard made the discovery and contacted Fullerton police about 1 p.m. Wednesday, police said.
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The U-Haul truck had been rented in Anaheim, so police there took over the investigation, said Anaheim Police Sgt. Shane Carringer.
City News Service contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-01-10--Pete Buttigieg faces Black Lives Matter protesters from South Bend during Watts visit

Pete Buttigieg has left South Bend , but South Bend hasn ’ t left him .
Activists from the Indiana city are making sure his hometown problems follow him around .
When the Democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend , Ind.
, mayor visited a homeless shelter in Watts on Friday morning , he got two very different receptions , symbolizing his challenge in attracting nonwhite voters .
Buttigieg was greeted warmly inside A Bridge Home project shelter , where Angelenos , many of whom were black , told him their stories of struggle in South L.A. Buttigieg is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end homelessness for families with children .
“ For him to even take the time out [ to visit ] … .
If he becomes president , could you imagine ?
What he could do if he really listened ?
” shelter resident and former nurse LaVerne Green said .
She spoke tearfully about how becoming homeless over the last year had taken away her identity as a self-sufficient professional .
“ I wish people could see me as LaVerne Green again.
” She gave Buttigieg a hug after they talked .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the shelter by a wall , a small group of about a dozen Black Lives Matters protesters loudly heckled Buttigieg as “ anti-black and anti-poor ” over his record in South Bend , where his eight years as mayor ended Jan. 1 .
Residents there have given both positive and outright hostile reviews of his tenure .
Three of the Black Lives Matters demonstrators outside the shelter said they had traveled from South Bend to protest Buttigieg .
They criticized the former mayor ’ s handling of South Bend ’ s homelessness problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Anthony Young , a 44-year-old man who , according to local news reports , died of hypothermia outside on a downtown path in mid-December , while Buttigieg was still in office .
“ We haven ’ t seen Mayor Pete in a while .
I ’ m surprised he ’ s here at a shelter [ in Los Angeles ] and not in South Bend at a shelter .
We miss his face , ” Kahmiil Middleton , 22 , of South Bend said in an interview .
Shecriticized Buttigieg for not returning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Young ’ s death .
“ We understand that he ’ s campaigning , but when you ’ re mayor , you have a job to do .
He did not make that his priority.
” Buttigieg told reporters at the homeless shelter that Young had died “ after declining to come into a shelter.
” Buttigieg then added to shelter staff who were nearby , “ perhaps you ’ ve had the experience of asking somebody to come in and they ’ ve not been willing or able to do it ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being able to bring a pet into a shelter .
Buttigieg ’ s campaign defended his record on homelessness and expanding shelter access in South Bend , citing federal statistics showing that homelessness had declined by a quarter in the greater South Bend region during his tenure .
( Federal city-level statistics were not available . )
At the demonstration outside , Middleton was joined by fellow South Bend protesters Anthony Thomson , 22 , and Katheryn Redding , who said she was also protesting over South Bend police issues .
Redding , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coverage as a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont , said she wants South Bend to create a civilian police review board with subpoena power .
Middleton vowed to continue the protests : “ Wherever he goes , we ’ ll go , because we don ’ t want to be forgotten.
” The activists apparently got help in traveling to Los Angeles from Indiana .
Redding said in an interview that “ there was an organization that paid for us to come.
” “ I was told not to release that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when asked who funded the travel to protest Buttigieg .
She described the source as “ another revolutionary group ” and not another presidential campaign ( and not Sanders ’ similarly named “ Our Revolution ” group ) .
“ It wasn ’ t presidentially paid for at all , or anyone that ’ s running.
” After a version of this story was published online , Redding said the trip was funded by Black Lives Matter South Bend , not a different group .
A spokesman for Buttigieg ’ s campaign declined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was visiting the shelter with L.A. City Councilman Joe Buscaino , who told the candidate that Los Angeles hoped for greater federal support in grappling with the city ’ s enormous homelessness problem .
“ This is a good time to remember that the crisis of homelessness , the crisis facing unhoused people , touches communities of every size and every climate and every part of the country , ” Buttigieg said .

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, center, and L.A. City Councilman Joe Buscaino talk to Arnita Hunter, a resident of A Bridge Home project, during a tour of the women’s facility in Watts on Friday.
Pete Buttigieg has left South Bend, but South Bend hasn’t left him. Activists from the Indiana city are making sure his hometown problems follow him around.
When the Democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend, Ind., mayor visited a homeless shelter in Watts on Friday morning, he got two very different receptions, symbolizing his challenge in attracting nonwhite voters.
Buttigieg was greeted warmly inside A Bridge Home project shelter, where Angelenos, many of whom were black, told him their stories of struggle in South L.A. Buttigieg is vowing to build more affordable housing and end homelessness for families with children.
“For him to even take the time out [to visit]…. If he becomes president, could you imagine? What he could do if he really listened?” shelter resident and former nurse LaVerne Green said. She spoke tearfully about how becoming homeless over the last year had taken away her identity as a self-sufficient professional. “I wish people could see me as LaVerne Green again.” She gave Buttigieg a hug after they talked.
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But on a sidewalk outside, separated from the shelter by a wall, a small group of about a dozen Black Lives Matters protesters loudly heckled Buttigieg as “anti-black and anti-poor” over his record in South Bend, where his eight years as mayor ended Jan. 1. Residents there have given both positive and outright hostile reviews of his tenure.
Three of the Black Lives Matters demonstrators outside the shelter said they had traveled from South Bend to protest Buttigieg. They criticized the former mayor’s handling of South Bend’s homelessness problem and focused on the recent death of Anthony Young, a 44-year-old man who, according to local news reports, died of hypothermia outside on a downtown path in mid-December, while Buttigieg was still in office.
“We haven’t seen Mayor Pete in a while. I’m surprised he’s here at a shelter [in Los Angeles] and not in South Bend at a shelter. We miss his face,” Kahmiil Middleton, 22, of South Bend said in an interview. Shecriticized Buttigieg for not returning to South Bend last month to address Young’s death. “We understand that he’s campaigning, but when you’re mayor, you have a job to do. He did not make that his priority.”
Buttigieg told reporters at the homeless shelter that Young had died “after declining to come into a shelter.” Buttigieg then added to shelter staff who were nearby, “perhaps you’ve had the experience of asking somebody to come in and they’ve not been willing or able to do it” for reasons of battling addiction or not being able to bring a pet into a shelter.
Buttigieg’s campaign defended his record on homelessness and expanding shelter access in South Bend, citing federal statistics showing that homelessness had declined by a quarter in the greater South Bend region during his tenure. (Federal city-level statistics were not available.)
Black Lives Matter protesters Anthony Thomson, left, Kahmiil Middleton and Katheryn Redding traveled from South Bend, Ind., to protest Pete Buttigieg in Los Angeles. (Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times)
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At the demonstration outside, Middleton was joined by fellow South Bend protesters Anthony Thomson, 22, and Katheryn Redding, who said she was also protesting over South Bend police issues. Redding, who has been identified in previous news coverage as a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, said she wants South Bend to create a civilian police review board with subpoena power.
Middleton vowed to continue the protests: “Wherever he goes, we’ll go, because we don’t want to be forgotten.”
The activists apparently got help in traveling to Los Angeles from Indiana. Redding said in an interview that “there was an organization that paid for us to come.”
“I was told not to release that information,” Redding told The Times when asked who funded the travel to protest Buttigieg. She described the source as “another revolutionary group” and not another presidential campaign (and not Sanders’ similarly named “Our Revolution” group). “It wasn’t presidentially paid for at all, or anyone that’s running.”
After a version of this story was published online, Redding said the trip was funded by Black Lives Matter South Bend, not a different group.
A spokesman for Buttigieg’s campaign declined to comment on the protesters.
Buttigieg was visiting the shelter with L.A. City Councilman Joe Buscaino, who told the candidate that Los Angeles hoped for greater federal support in grappling with the city’s enormous homelessness problem.
“This is a good time to remember that the crisis of homelessness, the crisis facing unhoused people, touches communities of every size and every climate and every part of the country,” Buttigieg said.


latimes--2020-01-11--What causes dangerous tule fog in California's Central Valley, and why is it becoming less common?

Opaque tule fog , a staple of winter in California ’ s Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys , is the bane of motorists because it can reduce visibility to zero and cause massive freeway pileups .
But it is also beloved by growers of crops such as almonds , apricots , cherries , peaches and pistachios because it helps the trees to satisfy the dormancy requirement necessary to produce flowers and fruit .
The trees need this rest period to produce high yields during the growing season .
And in the dry Central Valley , it ’ s a natural @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or hate it , a study a few years ago by researchers at UC Berkeley found that the trend is for less and less of the pea-soup fog .
Why is it called tule fog ?
Tule fog is thought to arise from wetlands full of tules , Schoenoplectus acutus , a reed or rush common to marshes in California .
A Spanish army officer , Commandante Pedro Fages , discovered a huge freshwater lake in the southern San Joaquin Valley while searching for deserters in 1772 .
The sloughs and marshes around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with these rushes , so he named it Los Tules .
The name comes from a Nahuatl word , tullin , for similar reeds in the marshes around Mexico City .
Fages is the same explorer who found thickets of wild grapevines in a canyon in the Tehachapis and named it Cañada de las Uvas , or Grapevine Canyon .
Tullin is the root from which Tulare Lake , Tulare County and the town of Tulare derive their names .
A tulare is a tule marsh .
But Tulare Lake , once one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , has dried up because the streams and rivers that fed it were diverted and the water is used for agriculture and municipalities .
Many Native American groups used tules to make baskets , bowls , mats , hats , shelters , boats and even duck decoys .
To say something is “ out in the tules ” is a common expression roughly equivalent to “ out in the boondocks.
” The Central Valley ’ s thick tule fog is a type of radiation fog that forms on calm , clear nights , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Earth gives up its heat — radiates its heat like a radiator — into space .
Note that this happens on clear , starry nights , not when there ’ s cloud cover forming a cozy blanket that holds in the planet ’ s warmth .
Fog can also form near any water , such as lakes , streams and aqueducts .
1 .
Fog forms when pale winter sun , however weak , warms the ground during the day , and is followed by a clear night with winds less than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the ground into space , cooling the air near the surface .
This nighttime cooling can get an assist from cold air sinking into the valley when winds are light .
3 .
As air near the ground cools to the dew point , or saturation point , moisture condenses around minuscule particles of dust , pollen or pollutants ( condensation nuclei ) , forming tiny droplets of water that make up the fog , which is simply a cloud near the ground .
4 .
As the fog layer deepens , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radiates heat directly into space .
But radiational cooling continues at the top of the fog layer , causing it to grow thicker and deeper .
The droplets of water in the fog are extremely tiny — less than one thousandth of an inch in diameter — and it would take 10,000 of them to cover the head of a pin .
The fog usually reaches its peak density at 7 a.m. , according to Stephen LaDochy , a professor in the Geosciences and Environment Department at Cal State L.A .
The fog @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of convection in the morning hours .
“ In the dry Central Valley , plants , especially native plants , love the extra water that this fog provides , ” said Bill Patzert , former climatologist at NASA ’ s Jet Propulsion Laboratory .
Agriculture in the Central Valley , which accounts for 95 % of U.S. fruit and nut production , also depends on the winter chill to promote the proper development of buds , flowers and fruit .
To achieve high yields , fruit trees need the sustained periods with temperatures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ periods of tule fog .
Researchers Dennis Baldocchi and Eric Walter reported in 2014 that , based on satellite data , the number of winter fog days has decreased by an average of 46 % over the last 32 winters .
They hypothesize that the decrease in winter fog is occurring along with and contributing to a reduction in winter chill .
Winter chill is likely to decrease further with global warming .
Warming because of climate change , in addition to the effects of urban heat islands and air-pollution control , may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said LaDochy , the Cal State L.A. professor .
Pollution becomes a factor in fog formation because soot , dust and vehicle exhaust provide the tiny airborne particles , or condensation nuclei , around which water vapor condenses to form clouds , fog and haze .
But if population growth and urbanization continue in the Central Valley , the reduction in air pollution may not last , LaDochy warns .
Pileups involving more than 100 vehicles have occurred in the San Joaquin Valley .
One of the worst such fog-caused chain-reaction accidents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 99 for more than 12 hours in November 2007 .
The collision unfolded over 10 minutes , and resulted in two fatalities and 40 injuries .
Collisions such as this prompted Caltrans to develop a $ 12-million detection system to alert motorists of thick fog along an especially accident-prone section of Highway 99 south of Fresno .
The California Highway Patrol suggests that , if possible , drivers postpone trips until the fog lifts .
Those driving in foggy conditions should drive with lights on low beam , the CHP says .
Drivers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vehicles and should avoid crossing traffic lanes .
Visibility can be reduced to 10 feet , and the fog can be disorienting , causing motorists to drive faster than they realize .
Drivers should not stop on highways except in emergencies .
Drivers and passengers should move away from disabled vehicles .
Drivers are urged to watch for CHP pace vehicles to guide cars through the fog .
All this shows that , although tule fog may come on little cat feet , it has a surprisingly bigfooted effect on California ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safety .

This collision involving six semi trucks was blamed on extremely dense fog on Highway 99 south of Merced, Calif., in 2002.
Opaque tule fog, a staple of winter in California’s Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, is the bane of motorists because it can reduce visibility to zero and cause massive freeway pileups.
But it is also beloved by growers of crops such as almonds, apricots, cherries, peaches and pistachios because it helps the trees to satisfy the dormancy requirement necessary to produce flowers and fruit. The trees need this rest period to produce high yields during the growing season.
And in the dry Central Valley, it’s a natural part of the ecology.
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Love it or hate it, a study a few years ago by researchers at UC Berkeley found that the trend is for less and less of the pea-soup fog.
A satellite photo shows California’s Central Valley socked in with thick, white tule fog. (NASA / Los Angeles Times)
Why is it called tule fog?
Tule fog is thought to arise from wetlands full of tules, Schoenoplectus acutus, a reed or rush common to marshes in California.
A Spanish army officer, Commandante Pedro Fages, discovered a huge freshwater lake in the southern San Joaquin Valley while searching for deserters in 1772. The sloughs and marshes around the lake’s shores were lined with these rushes, so he named it Los Tules. The name comes from a Nahuatl word, tullin, for similar reeds in the marshes around Mexico City.
Fages is the same explorer who found thickets of wild grapevines in a canyon in the Tehachapis and named it Cañada de las Uvas, or Grapevine Canyon.
Tullin is the root from which Tulare Lake, Tulare County and the town of Tulare derive their names. A tulare is a tule marsh. But Tulare Lake, once one of the largest lakes in the West, has dried up because the streams and rivers that fed it were diverted and the water is used for agriculture and municipalities.
Many Native American groups used tules to make baskets, bowls, mats, hats, shelters, boats and even duck decoys.
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A pair of Native American men construct a boat, called a balsa, using tule bulrushes in California, in the late 1920s or early 1930s. (Bobbi Onia / Underwood Archives / Getty Images)
To say something is “out in the tules” is a common expression roughly equivalent to “out in the boondocks.”
How does tule fog form?
The Central Valley’s thick tule fog is a type of radiation fog that forms on calm, clear nights, usually after a soaking rain, when the Earth gives up its heat — radiates its heat like a radiator — into space. Note that this happens on clear, starry nights, not when there’s cloud cover forming a cozy blanket that holds in the planet’s warmth. Fog can also form near any water, such as lakes, streams and aqueducts.
1. Fog forms when pale winter sun, however weak, warms the ground during the day, and is followed by a clear night with winds less than 5 mph.
2. Heat radiates from the ground into space, cooling the air near the surface. This nighttime cooling can get an assist from cold air sinking into the valley when winds are light.
3. As air near the ground cools to the dew point, or saturation point, moisture condenses around minuscule particles of dust, pollen or pollutants (condensation nuclei), forming tiny droplets of water that make up the fog, which is simply a cloud near the ground.
4. As the fog layer deepens, the ground is blanketed and no longer radiates heat directly into space. But radiational cooling continues at the top of the fog layer, causing it to grow thicker and deeper. The droplets of water in the fog are extremely tiny — less than one thousandth of an inch in diameter — and it would take 10,000 of them to cover the head of a pin.
The fog usually reaches its peak density at 7 a.m., according to Stephen LaDochy, a professor in the Geosciences and Environment Department at Cal State L.A. The fog may continue to thicken as a result of convection in the morning hours.
“In the dry Central Valley, plants, especially native plants, love the extra water that this fog provides,” said Bill Patzert, former climatologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Agriculture in the Central Valley, which accounts for 95% of U.S. fruit and nut production, also depends on the winter chill to promote the proper development of buds, flowers and fruit. To achieve high yields, fruit trees need the sustained periods with temperatures below about 44 degrees Fahrenheit during prolonged periods of tule fog.
Researchers Dennis Baldocchi and Eric Walter reported in 2014 that, based on satellite data, the number of winter fog days had decreased by an average of 46% over the last 32 winters. They hypothesize that the decrease in winter fog is occurring along with and contributing to a reduction in winter chill. Winter chill is likely to decrease further with global warming.
Warming because of climate change, in addition to the effects of urban heat islands and air-pollution control, may decrease the frequency of tule fog events, said LaDochy, the Cal State L.A. professor.
Pollution becomes a factor in fog formation because soot, dust and vehicle exhaust provide the tiny airborne particles, or condensation nuclei, around which water vapor condenses to form clouds, fog and haze.
But if population growth and urbanization continue in the Central Valley, the reduction in air pollution may not last, LaDochy warns.
Driving in the fog
Pileups involving more than 100 vehicles have occurred in the San Joaquin Valley. One of the worst such fog-caused chain-reaction accidents involved 108 vehicles and closed Highway 99 for more than 12 hours in November 2007. The collision unfolded over 10 minutes and resulted in two fatalities and 40 injuries.
Collisions such as this prompted Caltrans to develop a $12-million detection system to alert motorists of thick fog along an especially accident-prone section of Highway 99 south of Fresno.
The California Highway Patrol suggests that, if possible, drivers postpone trips until the fog lifts. Those driving in foggy conditions should drive with lights on low beam, the CHP says. Drivers should not follow too closely behind other vehicles and should avoid crossing traffic lanes. Visibility can be reduced to 10 feet, and the fog can be disorienting, causing motorists to drive faster than they realize. Drivers should not stop on highways except in emergencies. Drivers and passengers should move away from disabled vehicles. Drivers are urged to watch for CHP pace vehicles to guide cars through the fog.
(Paul Duginski / Los Angeles Times)
All this shows that, although tule fog may come on little cat feet, it has a surprisingly bigfooted effect on California’s environment, agriculture, commerce and public safety.


latimes--2020-01-11--Police shoot man while responding to report of armed person in Palms

Los Angeles police shot a man Saturday afternoon while responding to a report of a person with a gun in @ @ @ @ @ radio call reporting a man with a gun on Venice Boulevard between Sepulveda Boulevard and @ @ @ @ @ p.m. , said Officer Drake Madison , an LAPD spokesman .
Officers responded to the @ @ @ @ @ the man , and shortly before 1 p.m. , one or more of them opened @ @ @ @ @ least once , Madison said .
The man was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical @ @ @ @ @ Daniel Dobbs of the Culver City Fire Department .
Information about his condition wasn ’ @ @ @ @ @ is closed between Sepulveda Boulevard and Globe Avenue until further notice .
Motorists were advised @ @ @ @ @ police investigated .

Los Angeles police shot and killed a man in Palms on Saturday afternoon while responding to a report of a person with a gun.
Police received a radio call at 12:40 p.m. saying that an armed person was on Venice Boulevard between Sepulveda Boulevard and the 405 Freeway, said Officer Drake Madison, an LAPD spokesman. The man was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was declared dead.
The man was described as Latino, age unknown, Madison said. He was struck at least once by gunfire.
Venice Boulevard was closed between Sepulveda Boulevard and Globe Avenue while the LAPD’s Force Investigation Division investigated the shooting.


latimes--2020-01-11--Newsom's budget includes $900 million to address California teacher shortage

Gov .
Gavin Newsom ’ s proposed state budget includes $ 900 million to recruit and retain teachers , part of a plan to attack a critical statewide shortage of instructors , especially in math , sciences and for students with disabilities .
The plan , included in his $ 222.2-billion budget unveiled Friday in Sacramento , was among a range of education measures that also includes the creation of an early childhood development department , significantly more money to cover the costs of teaching students with disabilities and a funding boost to the school lunch program , a hedge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Overall , permanent funding increases were modest as Newsom relied on one-time spending as a safeguard against potential leaner revenue in future years .
Higher education and K-12 schools combine to represent about half the state ’ s general fund spending .
The final budget must be approved by the Legislature and will be updated in May .
The governor expressed disappointment with student achievement levels , noting that Latino and black students continue to score on the low end of an unacceptable achievement gap .
Despite some measurable performance gains , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are naive , and none of us are spiking the ball.
” Newsom ’ s proposals would make it more affordable to become a teacher and offer more pay for them to serve where most needed .
One proposal would provide $ 100 million to fund a $ 20,000 bonus for teachers who work four years in a high-need subject at a high-need school .
The governor said 75 % of state school districts face a shortage of fully trained teachers , especially in high school math and science and at all grade @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools have three times as many under-prepared teachers , he said .
In a 2017 survey , two thirds of principals serving schools with high proportions of students of color and students from low-income families reported that they had to leave teaching positions vacant or hire teachers on substandard credentials , according to research from the Palo Alto-based Learning Policy Institute .
Statewide , the number of teachers working on an “ emergency-style ” permit increased more than five-fold from 2013 to 2017 , according to research from the institute .
Between 2002 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ declined about 70 % , and it ’ s barely budged upward since .
Newsom ’ s proposed budget includes more than $ 400 million toward teacher training programs , including those aimed at bringing in more minority teachers .
“ A teacher that looks like you , ” Newsom said .
“ That ’ s incredibly important.
” “ We have got to focus on recruitment , ” he said , “ and the special subject matters where we are seeing deep systemic underrepresentation.
” Newsom said his advisors looked at comparatively @ @ @ @ @ @ @ performance in states such as New Jersey — and the necessity to bolster the teaching force became obvious .
“ It ’ s not all that damn complicated , ” he said .
“ It seems self evident that we should focus and concentrate our efforts in those areas.
” He did not bring up strategies that make it easier to fire bad teachers or rate teachers to improve academic results , which have been key elements of education policy in many states and at the federal level .
“ The governor , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that you can ’ t get accountability just by measuring and punishing , ” said state Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond , a Newsom appointee .
“ You have to get accountability and productivity by investing in people ’ s capacity to do the job.
” UC Berkeley sociologist and education professor Bruce Fuller commended the creation of a new office for early childhood , calling it a “ clear nod toward good , more-efficient government .
These funding streams are now scattered among many agencies , like tributaries splitting off during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lauded the addition of 10,000 additional slots in the state ’ s funding for preschool .
In his remarks , Newsom noted the connection between poverty and student performance and listed measures to address it .
These include $ 300 million in grants for school districts to provide “ wrap-around ” services , such as healthcare .
More broadly , Newsom made connections between the cumulative needs of students and families and government services targeting healthcare , criminal justice and homelessness .
Advocates , including Children ’ s Defense Fund-California , praised the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or total financial commitment .
“ We are pleased with the governor ’ s continued investment in community schools , Medi-Cal and transforming the juvenile justice system , ” the organization said in a statement .
“ With that said , poverty is a significant underlying cause of the poor outcomes and challenges facing California ’ s children , particularly children of color , and this budget proposal does not fully the address the economic inequities across the state.
” While expressing appreciation for the gains , L.A. schools Supt .
Austin Beutner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ woefully underfunded.
” “ This budget proposal does not go far enough in funding supports for our most vulnerable students , including students whose families are experiencing homelessness and students with special needs , ” Beutner said in a statement .
Newsom said he had to balance legitimate needs with budget limitations .
He pegged the overall increase in funding for kindergarten through community college at about 3 % .
Newsom also said he would set aside new funding to help school systems pay down pension debts , which have the potential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the next decade or so .
The University of California and Cal State systems would see a 5 % rise — and a cumulative increase of 12 % over two years .
His higher education proposal also included expanded education opportunities in prisons , more grants for low-income students and resources for immigrant students .
Los Angeles Unified is not as hard-hit as many other districts — especially in rural areas and the Bay Area — for teachers .
But it is stretched to fill all classrooms with a fully credentialed instructor .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ its special-education classrooms had a fully qualified teacher , although another 10 % were in training to earn their credential .
The district already is benefiting from previous state grants that offset the cost of earning a teaching credential and provide mentoring from a veteran teacher .
Such support can be important in retaining teachers .
The district also has a program to help teacher aides become fully credentialed instructors , which the new state money also would support .
“ We have many communities that are building these programs that recruit people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the wing of a great teacher for a year while they ’ re getting their credential from a university , ” Darling-Hammond said .
“ Their retention rates are very high .
Their effectiveness is high .
They become part of the long-term solution , rather than part of the revolving door of people in and out .
”

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed state budget includes $900 million to recruit and retain teachers, part of a plan to attack a critical statewide shortage of instructors, especially in math, sciences and for students with disabilities.
The plan, included in his $222.2-billion budget unveiled Friday in Sacramento, was among a range of education measures that also includes the creation of an early childhood development department, significantly more money to cover the costs of teaching students with disabilities and a funding boost to the school lunch program, a hedge against possible reductions at the federal level.
Overall, permanent funding increases were modest as Newsom relied on one-time spending as a safeguard against potential leaner revenue in future years. Higher education and K-12 schools combine to represent about half the state’s general fund spending.
The final budget must be approved by the Legislature and will be updated in May.
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The governor expressed disappointment with student achievement levels, noting that Latino and black students continue to score on the low end of an unacceptable achievement gap. Despite some measurable performance gains, Newsom said, “none of us are naive, and none of us are spiking the ball.”
Newsom’s proposals would make it more affordable to become a teacher and offer more pay for them to serve where most needed. One proposal would provide $100 million to fund a $20,000 bonus for teachers who work four years in a high-need subject at a high-need school.
The governor said 75% of state school districts face a shortage of fully trained teachers, especially in high school math and science and at all grade levels for students with disabilities. High-need schools have three times as many under-prepared teachers, he said.
In a 2017 survey, two thirds of principals serving schools with high proportions of students of color and students from low-income families reported that they had to leave teaching positions vacant or hire teachers on substandard credentials, according to research from the Palo Alto-based Learning Policy Institute.
Statewide, the number of teachers working on an “emergency-style” permit increased more than five-fold from 2013 to 2017, according to research from the institute. Between 2002 and 2013, enrollment in teacher-education programs declined about 70%, and it’s barely budged upward since.
Newsom’s proposed budget includes more than $400 million toward teacher training programs, including those aimed at bringing in more minority teachers.
“A teacher that looks like you,” Newsom said. “That’s incredibly important.”
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“We have got to focus on recruitment,” he said, “and the special subject matters where we are seeing deep systemic underrepresentation.”
Newsom said his advisors looked at comparatively high achievement levels in Massachusetts and improving performance in states such as New Jersey — and the necessity to bolster the teaching force became obvious.
“It’s not all that damn complicated,” he said. “It seems self evident that we should focus and concentrate our efforts in those areas.”
He did not bring up strategies that make it easier to fire bad teachers or rate teachers to improve academic results, which have been key elements of education policy in many states and at the federal level.
“The governor, through his budget, is definitely saying that you can’t get accountability just by measuring and punishing,” said state Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond, a Newsom appointee. “You have to get accountability and productivity by investing in people’s capacity to do the job.”
UC Berkeley sociologist and education professor Bruce Fuller commended the creation of a new office for early childhood, calling it a “clear nod toward good, more-efficient government. These funding streams are now scattered among many agencies, like tributaries splitting off during a downpour.”
The group Education Trust-West lauded the addition of 10,000 additional slots in the state’s funding for preschool.
In his remarks, Newsom noted the connection between poverty and student performance and listed measures to address it. These include $300 million in grants for school districts to provide “wrap-around” services, such as healthcare. More broadly, Newsom made connections between the cumulative needs of students and families and government services targeting healthcare, criminal justice and homelessness.
Advocates, including Children’s Defense Fund-California, praised the approach, but not necessarily the execution or total financial commitment.
“We are pleased with the governor’s continued investment in community schools, Medi-Cal and transforming the juvenile justice system,” the organization said in a statement. “With that said, poverty is a significant underlying cause of the poor outcomes and challenges facing California’s children, particularly children of color, and this budget proposal does not fully the address the economic inequities across the state.”
While expressing appreciation for the gains, L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner called the state’s school system “woefully underfunded.”
“This budget proposal does not go far enough in funding supports for our most vulnerable students, including students whose families are experiencing homelessness and students with special needs,” Beutner said in a statement.
Newsom said he had to balance legitimate needs with budget limitations. He pegged the overall increase in funding for kindergarten through community college at about 3%.
Newsom also said he would set aside new funding to help school systems pay down pension debts, which have the potential to cripple funding for student programs over the next decade or so.
The University of California and Cal State systems would see a 5% rise — and a cumulative increase of 12% over two years. His higher education proposal also included expanded education opportunities in prisons, more grants for low-income students and resources for immigrant students.
Los Angeles Unified is not as hard-hit as many other districts — especially in rural areas and the Bay Area — for teachers. But it is stretched to fill all classrooms with a fully credentialed instructor. In November, about 85% of its special-education classrooms had a fully qualified teacher, although another 10% were in training to earn their credential.
The district already is benefiting from previous state grants that offset the cost of earning a teaching credential and provide mentoring from a veteran teacher. Such support can be important in retaining teachers. The district also has a program to help teacher aides become fully credentialed instructors, which the new state money also would support.
“We have many communities that are building these programs that recruit people in, and then put them under the wing of a great teacher for a year while they’re getting their credential from a university,” Darling-Hammond said. “Their retention rates are very high. Their effectiveness is high. They become part of the long-term solution, rather than part of the revolving door of people in and out.”


latimes--2020-01-11--Column: This immigration attorney understands her clients. She's undocumented, too

On Friday morning , attorney Lizbeth Mateo went to immigration court in downtown Los Angeles to represent a client with whom she has something in common .
Mateo wore a navy blue suit , carried a binder stuffed with court records and announced herself to the immigration judge conducting a hearing .
She has no more protection from arrest and deportation than any of her clients , but that ’ s not something she thinks about on the job .
Mateo explained to the judge that her client — a middle-aged man who has lived in the U.S. for three @ @ @ @ @ @ @ becoming a naturalized citizen and has agreed to sponsor her father .
The man also has a long-pending asylum case .
The judge , whose calendar is jammed , set a court date for next January .
The case backlog in California was 178,000 as of last November , with more than 1 million cases stacked up nationally .
Mateo says her own status does not come up in court , and she ’ s never sure whether judges or other lawyers know that the polished , savvy 34-year-old woman advocating on behalf @ @ @ @ @ @ @ status herself .
“ I ’ m a walking contradiction , ” Mateo had told me a day earlier in her Wilmington law office .
I ’ d heard about Mateo and decided this would be a good time to pay a visit .
With Donald Trump in the White House and an election year upon us , immigration is going to remain at the center of national political debate in 2020 .
And California will continue to be derided by critics as a carnival of soft-headed , pro-immigration liberals run amok .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ undocumented can be a lawyer , thanks in part to a state Supreme Court ruling in 2014 .
And even serve on a state commission .
“ While Donald Trump fixates on walls , California will continue to concentrate on opportunities , ” Kevin de León said in March of 2018 when , as Senate president pro tem , he appointed Mateo to an unpaid post on a state advisory committee studying ways to help underserved students go to college .
De León said at the time that Mateo “ embodies California values @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he called her “ a courageous , determined and intelligent young woman who at great personal risk has dedicated herself to fight for those seeking their rightful place in this country.
” Two people took a lot of heat for that appointment .
“ I got death threats , the whole bit , ” says De León , who is now running for Los Angeles City Council .
He said he still stands by Mateo , though , and that she is “ living the courage of her convictions ” by being open @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the shadows .
“ There were some really angry people who said really nasty things , ” said Mateo , whose critics found her on social media and called her office with tirades and physical threats .
“ They said ICE is coming , they ’ re going to report me and they hope Trump sends the Army.
” But Mateo is not the type who ’ s easily shaken , and her story helps explain her spirit .
She grew up in a time and place , in southern Mexico , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but she was determined to break through .
Some of her aunts tried to steer her toward cooking and tortilla making , but she was more interested in hanging out at the library .
In sixth grade , a teacher handed back a math test and told Mateo she had flubbed it .
She was walking away when the teacher asked if she really believed she got the answers wrong .
No , Mateo said .
And she was right .
“ When someone tells you something is wrong and you know it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the teacher saying , “ you have to defend your work.
” In her heart , even at such a young age , she knew she wanted to be a lawyer .
She was 14 when her parents decided to risk a border crossing in pursuit of greater opportunity for Mateo and her two brothers .
She says they had lots of relatives in California , some of them here legally .
She was under the impression the plan was for her parents to make some money and then move everyone back home @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Lizbeth went to Venice High , struggled with English , couldn ’ t make sense of L.A. , and was miserable at first .
“ I couldn ’ t stand being in school , didn ’ t understand things and felt isolated and very stupid .
In Mexico , I was outgoing and always raising my hand and answering questions , ” Mateo said .
“ I remember one day I came home crying and told my mom I wanted to go back to Oaxaca and live with my grandmother .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you back if that ’ s what you want .
But you have to wait because we don ’ t have any money.
” But she stuck it out , with her father telling her school was all that mattered , and before long she was taking college prep classes .
Her heart was broken when she realized her college options might be limited because she was undocumented , and she briefly considered enlisting in the U.S. Navy .
But after Venice High she went to Santa Monica College , then got a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be discouraged again when she discovered that her job prospects and grad school opportunities were limited by her status .
“ For a long time I was angry and there was a lot of resentment , ” Mateo said , but she channeled all that energy into a cause .
She linked up with other undocumented students to lobby for the doomed Dream Act , which would have provided a pathway to citizenship for undocumented youths who were brought to the U.S. as children .
In 2013 , Mateo and eight other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dream 9 — made headlines by traveling south of the border and then coming back north to protest immigration policy and 9 million deportations during the Obama administration .
Some immigration reform activists cheered , while others feared the tactic could sabotage the chances of reform .
Mateo and the others were arrested and Mateo was locked up for two weeks before being released back into the U.S .
It was just in time for her to begin classes at the Santa Clara University , where she had been accepted into the law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school can be brutally difficult and the materially dreadfully dry , said professor Michelle Oberman , who taught Mateo ’ s contract law class .
Mateo , the professor recalled , wasn ’ t sure law school was for her despite a desire “ to pursue justice , ” as if it were her moral obligation .
“ There was a level of determination that is very rare and inspirational and … what was amazing was that she led others , ” said Oberman .
“ She ’ s a hero of mine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she ’ s quite centered .
… It ’ s all in the service of others and it ’ s not about her .
That ’ s what ’ s most singularly impressive.
” Mateo got her law degree , she passed the bar , she worked at a nonprofit defending immigrant victims of wage theft , and she opened her own law office in Wilmington two years ago , where about a third of her cases involve immigration .
The Dream Act never made it , but DACA ( Deferred Action for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Obama in 2012 .
In an ironic twist , Mateo ’ s application for DACA protection was denied because leaving the country for the Dream 9 protest disqualified her .
Luis Angel Reyes Savalza , the San Francisco attorney who has represented Mateo ’ s fight for DACA protection , is himself undocumented .
But he has DACA protection , and said he knows of only one other attorney in the United States besides Mateo who is undocumented and has no DACA protection .
“ Any of us with DACA owe Lizbeth and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I asked if he feared that in this fevered political climate , Mateo could be deported .
“ I wouldn ’ t say I worry about her .
I ’ d say I ’ m very much inspired by her , and she ’ s inspired many others in her outspokenness and her activism , ” Reyes Savalza said .
“ I do think she ’ s taking a very calculated risk , and I think it speaks to the kind of person she is that she puts community first.
” Mateo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s focus , as a candidate , on people living illegally in the U.S. , or on his blaming immigrants for some of the country ’ s woes .
She was disappointed , though , by Democratic candidates who didn ’ t respond more forcefully .
She wants to believe there will be a pathway to citizenship someday for people like her , people who have struggled , contributed , dreamed .
She wants to believe there is a future for her here , where she has lived for most of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not be perfect , Mateo said , “ but it provides opportunities .
So much so that someone like me , who came from a tiny town in Oaxaca — with parents who only finished sixth grade , nothing more — could make it and become an attorney .
”

Lizbeth Mateo, an immigration attorney who herself is undocumented, is photographed on her way to immigration court in downtown Los Angeles. “I’m a walking contradiction,” she says.
On Friday morning, attorney Lizbeth Mateo went to immigration court in downtown Los Angeles to represent a client with whom she has something in common.
She’s undocumented, too.
Mateo wore a navy blue suit, carried a binder stuffed with court records and announced herself to the immigration judge conducting a hearing. She has no more protection from arrest and deportation than any of her clients, but that’s not something she thinks about on the job.
Mateo explained to the judge that her client — a middle-aged man who has lived in the U.S. for three decades — has a daughter who is becoming a naturalized citizen and has agreed to sponsor her father. The man also has a long-pending asylum case. The judge, whose calendar is jammed, set a court date for next January. The case backlog in California was 178,000 as of last November, with more than 1 million cases stacked up nationally.
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Mateo says her own status does not come up in court, and she’s never sure whether judges or other lawyers know that the polished, savvy 34-year-old woman advocating on behalf of her clients does not have legal status herself.
“I’m a walking contradiction,” Mateo had told me a day earlier in her Wilmington law office.
I’d heard about Mateo and decided this would be a good time to pay a visit. With Donald Trump in the White House and an election year upon us, immigration is going to remain at the center of national political debate in 2020. And California will continue to be derided by critics as a carnival of soft-headed, pro-immigration liberals run amok.
A place where someone who’s undocumented can be a lawyer, thanks in part to a state Supreme Court ruling in 2014.
And even serve on a state commission.
“While Donald Trump fixates on walls, California will continue to concentrate on opportunities,” Kevin de León said in March of 2018 when, as Senate president pro tem, he appointed Mateo to an unpaid post on a state advisory committee studying ways to help underserved students go to college.
De León said at the time that Mateo “embodies California values and the American dream,” and he called her “a courageous, determined and intelligent young woman who at great personal risk has dedicated herself to fight for those seeking their rightful place in this country.”
Advertisement
Two people took a lot of heat for that appointment.
“I got death threats, the whole bit,” says De León, who is now running for Los Angeles City Council. He said he still stands by Mateo, though, and that she is “living the courage of her convictions” by being open about her status rather than cowering in the shadows.
Lizbeth Mateo says her own status does not come up in court, and she’s never sure whether judges or other lawyers know that the polished, savvy woman advocating on behalf of her clients does not have legal status herself. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
“There were some really angry people who said really nasty things,” said Mateo, whose critics found her on social media and called her office with tirades and physical threats. “They said ICE is coming, they’re going to report me and they hope Trump sends the Army.”
But Mateo is not the type who’s easily shaken, and her story helps explain her spirit.
She grew up in a time and place, in southern Mexico, in which few women went to college, but she was determined to break through. Some of her aunts tried to steer her toward cooking and tortilla making, but she was more interested in hanging out at the library.
In sixth grade, a teacher handed back a math test and told Mateo she had flubbed it. She was walking away when the teacher asked if she really believed she got the answers wrong.
No, Mateo said. And she was right.
“When someone tells you something is wrong and you know it’s right,” Mateo recalls the teacher saying, “you have to defend your work.”
In her heart, even at such a young age, she knew she wanted to be a lawyer.
She was 14 when her parents decided to risk a border crossing in pursuit of greater opportunity for Mateo and her two brothers. She says they had lots of relatives in California, some of them here legally. She was under the impression the plan was for her parents to make some money and then move everyone back home two years later.
But they stayed. Lizbeth went to Venice High, struggled with English, couldn’t make sense of L.A., and was miserable at first.
“I couldn’t stand being in school, didn’t understand things and felt isolated and very stupid. In Mexico, I was outgoing and always raising my hand and answering questions,” Mateo said. “I remember one day I came home crying and told my mom I wanted to go back to Oaxaca and live with my grandmother. She said OK, we’ll send you back if that’s what you want. But you have to wait because we don’t have any money.”
But she stuck it out, with her father telling her school was all that mattered, and before long she was taking college prep classes. Her heart was broken when she realized her college options might be limited because she was undocumented, and she briefly considered enlisting in the U.S. Navy.
But after Venice High she went to Santa Monica College, then got a degree at Cal State Northridge, only to be discouraged again when she discovered that her job prospects and grad school opportunities were limited by her status.
“For a long time I was angry and there was a lot of resentment,” Mateo said, but she channeled all that energy into a cause. She linked up with other undocumented students to lobby for the doomed Dream Act, which would have provided a pathway to citizenship for undocumented youths who were brought to the U.S. as children.
Maria Peniche, left, Lizbeth Mateo and Adriana Gil Diaz, who staged a risky protest with five others at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2013, greet immigrant rights organizers in Tucson shortly after federal officials released them from immigration detention. (Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times)
In 2013, Mateo and eight other activists — they were known as the Dream 9 — made headlines by traveling south of the border and then coming back north to protest immigration policy and 9 million deportations during the Obama administration.
Some immigration reform activists cheered, while others feared the tactic could sabotage the chances of reform. Mateo and the others were arrested and Mateo was locked up for two weeks before being released back into the U.S.
It was just in time for her to begin classes at the Santa Clara University, where she had been accepted into the law school.
The first year of law school can be brutally difficult and the materially dreadfully dry, said professor Michelle Oberman, who taught Mateo’s contract law class. Mateo, the professor recalled, wasn’t sure law school was for her despite a desire “to pursue justice,” as if it were her moral obligation.
“There was a level of determination that is very rare and inspirational and … what was amazing was that she led others,” said Oberman. “She’s a hero of mine and in this day of big egos she’s quite centered. … It’s all in the service of others and it’s not about her. That’s what’s most singularly impressive.”
Mateo got her law degree, she passed the bar, she worked at a nonprofit defending immigrant victims of wage theft, and she opened her own law office in Wilmington two years ago, where about a third of her cases involve immigration.
Lizbeth Mateo, left, who staged a risky border protest with eight others at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2013, shares a smile with Benito Miller Deale in Tucson, minutes after she was released from immigration detention. (Cindy Carcamo / Los Angeles Times)
The Dream Act never made it, but DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) became law under President Obama in 2012. In an ironic twist, Mateo’s application for DACA protection was denied because leaving the country for the Dream 9 protest disqualified her.
Luis Angel Reyes Savalza, the San Francisco attorney who has represented Mateo’s fight for DACA protection, is himself undocumented. But he has DACA protection, and said he knows of only one other attorney in the United States besides Mateo who is undocumented and has no DACA protection.
“Any of us with DACA owe Lizbeth and the movement,” said Reyes Savalza.
I asked if he feared that in this fevered political climate, Mateo could be deported.
“I wouldn’t say I worry about her. I’d say I’m very much inspired by her, and she’s inspired many others in her outspokenness and her activism,” Reyes Savalza said. “I do think she’s taking a very calculated risk, and I think it speaks to the kind of person she is that she puts community first.”
Mateo told me she was not surprised by Trump’s focus, as a candidate, on people living illegally in the U.S., or on his blaming immigrants for some of the country’s woes. She was disappointed, though, by Democratic candidates who didn’t respond more forcefully.
She wants to believe there will be a pathway to citizenship someday for people like her, people who have struggled, contributed, dreamed. She wants to believe there is a future for her here, where she has lived for most of her life.
The United States may not be perfect, Mateo said, “but it provides opportunities. So much so that someone like me, who came from a tiny town in Oaxaca — with parents who only finished sixth grade, nothing more — could make it and become an attorney.”
steve.lopez@latimes.com


latimes--2020-01-11--Sea lions are cash cows in the Bay Area. Farther south, fishermen say, 'Shoot 'em'

Sea lions are increasingly living in parallel universes along the California coast , a disparity best observed amid the noisy , stinking spectacle that rolls out daily at San Francisco ’ s Pier 39 shopping center .
There , hundreds of these enormous , mostly male California sea lions bark , defecate , urinate and regurgitate , but are immensely popular with tourists .
As a result , the blubber boys are treated like royalty .
“ The sea lions are a godsend : a natural attraction that ’ s phenomenal for business , ” Sheila Chandor , Pier 39 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as tourists snapped selfies against a backdrop of sea lions piled up like cordwood on docks .
Elsewhere in California , sea lions are pariahs .
The animals that head south for their summer breeding season are sometimes welcomed with arrows , harpoons , electric cattle prods , gunfire , bombs and fish laced with chemicals .
“ The general attitude in the fishing community is this : ‘ Shoot ‘ em , ’ ” said Paul O ’ Berry , 31 , a commercial squid fisherman based in San Pedro .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ d be hauled to jail for that.
” These clashing perceptions overlap in coastal currents where sea lions , once hunted nearly to extinction for their pelts , have flourished under the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act .
In 1964 , the California sea lion population was about 30,000 .
They now number a tad over 257,000 in an environment that scientists say can only sustain about 300,000 .
While San Francisco touts the resilience and popularity of these creatures , harbor communities from Seattle to San Diego decry their voracious appetites @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the jaw power of multiple Dobermans .
Let a sea lion get a flipper in the door , marina operators contend , and they ’ ll take over the place .
Several Southern California fishermen have been convicted and fined for killing sea lions .
Sea lions all too often wash ashore shot to death or suffering bullet wounds .
Officials in Washington , Oregon and Idaho are so irate at marauding sea lions that they have asked for federal permission to shoot certain ones identified as feasting on salmon and steelhead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2013 , residents in La Jolla sued to force San Diego to clean up sea lion excrement near their affluent community .
The poop mound was blamed for champion boxer Floyd Mayweather ’ s decision that year to abandon after 15 minutes two villas and six rooms he and his entourage had at the La Valencia Hotel .
The sea lions ’ preference for pungent anchovies “ makes the smell much worse than it might otherwise be , ” argued the lawsuit filed by a group calling itself Citizens for Odor Nuisance Abatement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ indicated in his 2015 ruling that the droppings were a fact of nature and not comparable to a broken sewer pipe or overflowing trash dump that the city would have an obligation to fix .
Megan Pagnini , 13 , is a survivor of an apparent sea lion assault .
On June 14 , she was posing for photos in the surf at Pismo Beach when suddenly , “ I saw this big brown blob thing on my leg that ’ s attacking me , ” she told ABC News .
“ All @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was rushed to a local hospital for treatment with antibiotics .
In 2015 , in Mission Bay , a few miles south of La Jolla , a 62-year-old man was posing for pictures with a fish he ’ d caught when a sea lion leaped onto the boat , then dragged him to the bottom of the bay for an estimated 20 seconds .
Suffering several bites , the man was able to get away and rise to the surface , where his companions pulled him aboard , lifeguards said .
California Department @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like these are extremely rare .
But it hasn ’ t been easy persuading harbor cities to provide sanctuaries for growing numbers of the marine mammals .
So far , only San Francisco , Oceanside , Redondo Beach and Morro Bay have installed floating guest docks designed , in part , to keep invading sea lions off piers and pleasure boats .
Activists are urging Dana Point Harbor Partners , the consortium behind the new $ 330-million renovation of Dana Point Harbor , to include special sea lion accommodations in their plans for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and more than 2,000 boat slips .
But Ralph Grippo , a principal in Bellwether Financial of Newport Beach , a member of the partners group , said that ’ s out of the question .
“ We have no intention of building a flotation platform for sea lions to hang out on , ” he said .
“ Our goal instead is to find a way to deter these large animals from getting up on boats and docks in a way that protects both property and humans.
” After teetering on extinction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of the most impressive recoveries of all marine mammals .
It ’ s a rebound that has triggered bitter conflicts among environmentalists , the commercial and sportfishing industry and seaside business owners , with federal and state agencies trying to satisfy all sides .
“ With the robust population has come some big management challenges , ” said Justin Viezbicke , the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ’ s marine mammal stranding coordinator for California .
“ We ’ re facing extremely strong , mixed feelings about sea lions up and down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the future of sea lion conservation may well lie in a better understanding of how their complex family groups , behavior and movements are driven by evolutionary pressure and the availability of prey .
Male sea lions are bigger and need more energy , so they spend a lot of time in more biologically productive , colder northern waters during the winter months , scientists say .
Females , which have less blubber and take care of their pups for almost 11 months , tend to stay close to Central and Southern California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one San Diego enclave .
“ The situation in La Jolla is a real mess , ” said Sharon Melin , a biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service , “ because it is pitting female sea lions and pups against people with a lot of power and wealth.
” The size of the overall California sea lion population is controlled by the availability of food and oceanic conditions .
They are opportunistic predators that typically feed on mackerel , sardines , rockfish , herring and squid .
But their numbers are periodically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dearth of fish and squid and a naturally occurring neurotoxin called domoic acid , which can trigger strandings and mortality events .
Malnourished , stranded and wounded adult sea lions and pups that are rescued , however , have a high rate of survival after they are provided nutrition and hydration at rehabilitation facilities such as the nonprofit Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach .
A month ago , however , the facility euthanized a young female sea lion that had been suffering from pellet gun wounds in the ribs .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pier 39 several months after the Bay Area was hit by 1989 ’ s devastating Loma Prieta earthquake , which was responsible for 67 deaths and about $ 7 billion in damage .
Initially , merchants and marina officials regarded the mammals with great long whiskers and big brown eyes as a quirky nuisance .
But soon they were joined by hundreds of their brethren , which swarmed the docks , damaged the pier , chased away boat owners and raised a shocking stink .
Suggestions for repelling the invaders included borrowing a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used in Australia .
The robot predator proposal was scrapped when word got out that live sharks had tried to mate with it .
Another brainstorm , quickly dismissed by harbor officials , called for covering sea lion hangouts with broken glass , on the theory that the animals would learn a painful lesson as they slid across the docks .
What happened next was unforeseen — and remarkable .
Tourists who had avoided the area since the earthquake returned in droves for a glimpse of sea lions .
With some business owners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 40 % , dozens of boat slips were relocated in order to make room for them .
Today , visiting sea lions enjoy an easy life at Pier 39 , where they bask and bulk up on fish and squid behind the protection of a shark-proof breakwater .
The docks are power-washed on a weekly basis .
Veterinarians tend to their ailments .
A low-voltage electric barrier prevents sea lions from venturing into the waterfront visited by about 15 million people each year .
The nearby Aquarium of the Bay has announced plans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 60,000-square-foot “ Ecotarium ” featuring a new domed building , submarines on tracks leading into the bay and thousands of exhibits of local species including visiting sea lions .
“ We plan to use the sea lions as living symbols of a healthy marine environment , ” said spokesman Peter Nakamoto .
On Thursday the aquarium plans to celebrate the sea lions ’ 30th winter layover by inviting visitors to paint 3,000 mini-statues of the mammals in hopes that Guinness World Records will certify the event as the largest gathering of statues in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people gathered at Pier 39 on a recent weekday to ogle , snap photos and even bark back at the sea lions was Isaac Lomeli , 29 , and his partner Kirsten Mallard , 30 , both from Yorba Linda .
“ I ’ ve been coming here every year since I was 8 years old , ” Isaac said .
“ Dad felt it was a big deal that actual nature had returned in a big way to one of the most heavily industrialized harbors on Earth.
” Farther south , San @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sea lions are taking a bite out of his livelihood .
“ There are simply too many sea lions out there these days , said O ’ Berry , adding the creatures have a feeding strategy of “ following close behind bait barges and fishing vessels .
”

Sea lions are increasingly living in parallel universes along the California coast, a disparity best observed amid the noisy, stinking spectacle that rolls out daily at San Francisco’s Pier 39 shopping center.
There, hundreds of these enormous, mostly male California sea lions bark, defecate, urinate and regurgitate, but are immensely popular with tourists. As a result, the blubber boys are treated like royalty.
“The sea lions are a godsend: a natural attraction that’s phenomenal for business,” Sheila Chandor, Pier 39 harbormaster, said on a recent weekday as tourists snapped selfies against a backdrop of sea lions piled up like cordwood on docks.
Male California sea lions sunbathe on the docks at Pier 39 in San Francisco. “The sea lions are a godsend: a natural attraction that’s phenomenal for business,” said Pier 39’s harbormaster. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
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Elsewhere in California, sea lions are pariahs. The animals that head south for their summer breeding season are sometimes welcomed with arrows, harpoons, electric cattle prods, gunfire, bombs and fish laced with chemicals.
“The general attitude in the fishing community is this: ‘Shoot ’em,’” said Paul O’Berry, 31, a commercial squid fisherman based in San Pedro. “But we don’t because we’d be hauled to jail for that.”
These clashing perceptions overlap in coastal currents where sea lions, once hunted nearly to extinction for their pelts, have flourished under the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. In 1964, the California sea lion population was about 30,000. They now number a tad over 257,000 in an environment that scientists say can only sustain about 300,000.
While San Francisco touts the resilience and popularity of these creatures, harbor communities from Seattle to San Diego decry their voracious appetites and habit of wrenching fish off hooks with the jaw power of multiple Dobermans.
Let a sea lion get a flipper in the door, marina operators contend, and they’ll take over the place.
Several Southern California fishermen have been convicted and fined for killing sea lions. Sea lions all too often wash ashore shot to death or suffering bullet wounds.
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Officials in Washington, Oregon and Idaho are so irate at marauding sea lions that they have asked for federal permission to shoot certain ones identified as feasting on salmon and steelhead, a prized oceangoing trout.
In 2013, residents in La Jolla sued to force San Diego to clean up sea lion excrement near their affluent community. The poop mound was blamed for champion boxer Floyd Mayweather’s decision that year to abandon after 15 minutes two villas and six rooms he and his entourage had at the La Valencia Hotel.
The sea lions’ preference for pungent anchovies “makes the smell much worse than it might otherwise be,” argued the lawsuit filed by a group calling itself Citizens for Odor Nuisance Abatement.
But Superior Court Judge Timothy Taylor indicated in his 2015 ruling that the droppings were a fact of nature and not comparable to a broken sewer pipe or overflowing trash dump that the city would have an obligation to fix.
Megan Pagnini, 13, is a survivor of an apparent sea lion assault. On June 14, she was posing for photos in the surf at Pismo Beach when suddenly, “I saw this big brown blob thing on my leg that’s attacking me,” she told ABC News. “All I could do was scream.”
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Pagnini was rushed to a local hospital for treatment with antibiotics.
In 2015, in Mission Bay, a few miles south of La Jolla, a 62-year-old man was posing for pictures with a fish he’d caught when a sea lion leaped onto the boat, then dragged him to the bottom of the bay for an estimated 20 seconds. Suffering several bites, the man was able to get away and rise to the surface, where his companions pulled him aboard, lifeguards said.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials say attacks like these are extremely rare.
But it hasn’t been easy persuading harbor cities to provide sanctuaries for growing numbers of the marine mammals.
So far, only San Francisco, Oceanside, Redondo Beach and Morro Bay have installed floating guest docks designed, in part, to keep invading sea lions off piers and pleasure boats.
Activists are urging Dana Point Harbor Partners, the consortium behind the new $330-million renovation of Dana Point Harbor, to include special sea lion accommodations in their plans for a new hotel, restaurants, shops and more than 2,000 boat slips.
But Ralph Grippo, a principal in Bellwether Financial of Newport Beach, a member of the partners group, said that’s out of the question.
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“We have no intention of building a flotation platform for sea lions to hang out on,” he said. “Our goal instead is to find a way to deter these large animals from getting up on boats and docks in a way that protects both property and humans.”
A tour boat offers passengers a close-up look at California sea lions on the docks at Pier 39. After teetering on extinction, the species has made one of the most impressive recoveries of all marine mammals. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
After teetering on extinction, the California sea lion has made one of the most impressive recoveries of all marine mammals. It’s a rebound that has triggered bitter conflicts among environmentalists, the commercial and sportfishing industry and seaside business owners, with federal and state agencies trying to satisfy all sides.
“With the robust population has come some big management challenges,” said Justin Viezbicke, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s marine mammal stranding coordinator for California. “We’re facing extremely strong, mixed feelings about sea lions up and down the coast of California.”
Biologists say the future of sea lion conservation may well lie in a better understanding of how their complex family groups, behavior and movements are driven by evolutionary pressure and the availability of prey.
Male sea lions are bigger and need more energy, so they spend a lot of time in more biologically productive, colder northern waters during the winter months, scientists say. Females, which have less blubber and take care of their pups for almost 11 months, tend to stay close to Central and Southern California.
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And therein lies the pickle for one San Diego enclave.
“The situation in La Jolla is a real mess,” said Sharon Melin, a biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, “because it is pitting female sea lions and pups against people with a lot of power and wealth.”
The size of the overall California sea lion population is controlled by the availability of food and oceanic conditions.
Sea lions are opportunistic predators that typically feed on mackerel, sardines, rockfish, herring and squid. But their numbers are periodically culled by El Niño-like conditions. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
They are opportunistic predators that typically feed on mackerel, sardines, rockfish, herring and squid. But their numbers are periodically culled by El Niño-like conditions, a dearth of fish and squid and a naturally occurring neurotoxin called domoic acid, which can trigger strandings and mortality events.
Malnourished, stranded and wounded adult sea lions and pups that are rescued, however, have a high rate of survival after they are provided nutrition and hydration at rehabilitation facilities such as the nonprofit Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach.
A month ago, however, the facility euthanized a young female sea lion that had been suffering from pellet gun wounds in the ribs.
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California The ‘Guests From Hell’ : Sea Lions Have Quickly Worn Out Their Welcome on San Francisco’s Waterfront When the first dozen sea lions began hanging around a dock near Fisherman’s Wharf six weeks ago, merchants and marina officials were delighted with the rowdy, all-male herd.
The first dozen sea lions hauled out at Pier 39 several months after the Bay Area was hit by 1989’s devastating Loma Prieta earthquake, which was responsible for 67 deaths and about $7 billion in damage.
Initially, merchants and marina officials regarded the mammals with great long whiskers and big brown eyes as a quirky nuisance. But soon they were joined by hundreds of their brethren, which swarmed the docks, damaged the pier, chased away boat owners and raised a shocking stink.
Suggestions for repelling the invaders included borrowing a mechanical great white shark that had been used in Australia. The robot predator proposal was scrapped when word got out that live sharks had tried to mate with it.
Another brainstorm, quickly dismissed by harbor officials, called for covering sea lion hangouts with broken glass, on the theory that the animals would learn a painful lesson as they slid across the docks.
What happened next was unforeseen — and remarkable.
Tourists who had avoided the area since the earthquake returned in droves for a glimpse of sea lions. With some business owners reporting sales increases of as much as 40%, dozens of boat slips were relocated in order to make room for them.
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Today, visiting sea lions enjoy an easy life at Pier 39, where they bask and bulk up on fish and squid behind the protection of a shark-proof breakwater. The docks are power-washed on a weekly basis. Veterinarians tend to their ailments. A low-voltage electric barrier prevents sea lions from venturing into the waterfront visited by about 15 million people each year.
The nearby Aquarium of the Bay has announced plans to transform into a $260-million, 60,000-square-foot “Ecotarium” featuring a new domed building, submarines on tracks leading into the bay and thousands of exhibits of local species including visiting sea lions.
“We plan to use the sea lions as living symbols of a healthy marine environment,” said spokesman Peter Nakamoto.
On Thursday the aquarium plans to celebrate the sea lions’ 30th winter layover by inviting visitors to paint 3,000 mini-statues of the mammals in hopes that Guinness World Records will certify the event as the largest gathering of statues in one location.
Among a crowd of people gathered at Pier 39 on a recent weekday to ogle, snap photos and even bark back at the sea lions was Isaac Lomeli, 29, and his partner Kirsten Mallard, 30, both from Yorba Linda.
“I’ve been coming here every year since I was 8 years old,” Isaac said. “Dad felt it was a big deal that actual nature had returned in a big way to one of the most heavily industrialized harbors on Earth.”
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Farther south, San Pedro fisherman O’Berry lamented how sea lions are taking a bite out of his livelihood.
“There are simply too many sea lions out there these days, said O’Berry, adding the creatures have a feeding strategy of “following close behind bait barges and fishing vessels.”


latimes--2020-01-11--How can we help the homeless? Let's start by asking them

I had some questions I needed answered so I went in search of experts , not in nonprofit or government offices but on a dirt slope beside the southbound 101 , in an alley off Fairfax Avenue , at a scraggly encampment on a trash-strewn block in Van Nuys .
The giant numbers keep flashing in my head : At last count , more than 36,000 homeless people were living in Los Angeles , nearly 59,000 in the county .
So many efforts of so many kinds are underway to help , but you don ’ t have to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t enough outreach workers to reach every person .
I keep saying that we , as individuals , have to jump in with direct help too .
But how ?
How to start ?
What is useful ?
What comforts ?
What nuts-and-bolts , practical aid can we offer ?
Readers keep asking me these questions .
I keep asking them of myself .
It only makes sense , my own gut and people who already do this tell me , to pose the questions to those living and hoping not to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nuys Boulevard , I asked a too-thin woman , too thinly clothed for the cool day , and waited it out as her too-rapid thoughts flitted and flickered , like fireflies in the dark .
She was wearing a tank top , a very light cardigan , worn-out jeans .
Her bare feet were in flip flops .
When she finally landed on my questions , she was blunt .
She said she doesn ’ t understand why people donate their clothes to thrift shops , which sell them , instead of bringing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nothing .
“ Is there not something I need ?
Look at me .
It ’ s January .
Do you have a sweater ?
A jacket ?
Some boots ?
Give something , ” said Denise Mulloy , 54 .
Middle-class people , she said , get themselves new cars every few years .
“ Just give us the clothes you don ’ t wear.
” On the Laurel Canyon off-ramp of the 101 , a 67-year-old holding a cardboard sign that read , “ Homeless , Every little bit helps ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ want to weep as she responded to my inquiries and I watched the drivers of Mercedes and Porsches stare straight ahead , eyes flat , avoiding any contact with her .
What kind of help helps her most ?
What helps least ?
Do many people offer her aid ?
Are they kind ?
On a practical front , said this woman born in Brooklyn , N.Y. , who asked that I only use her first name , please spare her the Clif Bar passed out the car window .
“ I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They taste like cardboard , ” Patti told me .
Granola bars are better , she said , but not with hard peanuts .
She ’ s missing too many teeth .
She ’ s often wary of the home-cooked leftovers , handed over — probably with the best intentions — by a stranger .
And what ’ s she going to do with the giant trays left over from parties sometimes dumped in her underpass ?
Excess is hard with no refrigerator .
Perishable food starts to rot .
Honestly , she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gift card to pick up a meal , say at Subway or McDonald ’ s .
She ’ d appreciate the creature comforts of Camel 99s — she ’ s smoked for 57 years and isn ’ t quitting now , she said — and packets of cherry Kool-Aid to flavor her water .
“ And blankets are good in the winter and even in the summer , to lay on , ” she said .
“ I don ’ t know if you ever slept on cement .
It ’ s kind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ am an individual .
I have individual needs .
Unhoused people have them too .
Start to ask them and they ’ ll tell you .
They ’ ll be specific .
Pet food for a dog .
Sanitary pads .
Loaded TAP cards to help them travel to the welfare office or a nonprofit that can provide them with showers and fresh clothes and a meal .
On a larger scale , toilets and trash cans to help them live on the streets in a cleaner , more civilized way .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what they don ’ t want and don ’ t need from you .
Sitting on the sidewalk outside a newsstand on Fairfax , Shannon Soole , 44 , who might look tough at first glance but has sweet eyes and likes to crochet afghans , told me a lot of things that would be useful to her : medicine for headaches and colds and stomachaches .
“ A lot of us have trouble with our teeth .
We need aspirin , ” she said .
Cans of tuna and chili are good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the proselytizing people “ who try to stomach punch you with AA.
” She ’ s frank about her vices — mainly crystal meth — and not eager to face her current existence without them .
“ Don ’ t hand me a piece of Bible literature .
I ’ m quite aware of where I stand there , ” Mulloy told me in Van Nuys .
“ I don ’ t need to read the Bible .
I want an apartment .
I want my own set of towels.
” Housing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for most people .
We ’ re getting more of it now — but it has been so slow and it won ’ t be able to keep up .
We clearly have to advocate for more of it , faster , and for more structural and legal changes that will keep people from losing their shelter in the first place .
To that end , I watch with interest the efforts of Everyone In , a United Way-led campaign to get all Angelenos involved in the fight to solve our crisis of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the new grass-roots groups springing up around Los Angeles that both advocate for major societal change and go out on the streets week after week to try to make life better in smaller ways for those who won ’ t be seeing that big help anytime soon .
I ’ m hoping that people will look at the models of such community groups as Ktown for All and the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition and be inspired to launch similar efforts in their own neighborhoods .
I recently watched a video of Ktown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of their own neighborhood , making contact with unhoused people , offering them help , listening to their needs .
I was moved by how frankly they spoke about once being bystanders and then realizing they had to take individual action .
The video was made by Mark Horvath , who once was homeless on Hollywood Boulevard , and who started a nonprofit called Invisible People 11 years ago to document the stories of homeless people as a way to try to humanize , educate and shift perceptions and policy .
It was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to simultaneously ask about help and offer some .
I drove around the city with photographer Gabriella Angotti-Jones , and we piled her back seat with bottles of water and granola bars and wet wipes and dozens of pairs of white crew socks .
Horvath brings white crew socks with him everywhere .
Homeless people need fresh socks , he points out , to keep their feet warm and free from infections .
And offering them socks is a shorthand way to indicate that you comprehend some of their experience .
For years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ joyful people often are to get the socks — which I never doubted but didn ’ t fully get until I gave them to people this week .
“ This is perfect , ” said a young man in the alley off of Fairfax , whose eyes were very bloodshot and whose smell was rank .
He had nothing , not a tent or a sleeping bag .
He told me he just hid out at night in the bushes .
Horvath recently put together a primer about handing socks out , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tips is one which I also would like to emphasize : “ If you don ’ t feel safe , don ’ t engage with someone.
” The young man off Fairfax was very high but gentle and exuding sadness .
I know a lot of people in the city have fears about homeless people — who in general live lives far more vulnerable than those of us with roofs over our heads .
But there are certainly people on our streets who are unstable and behave erratically .
Drugs and delusions and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can do that .
I approached people politely and stated my aims clearly .
I gave them space to decide whether or not they wanted to engage .
Some clearly didn ’ t .
Most did .
Being homeless and ignored by many , after all , can be so lonely .
It isn ’ t so often , I kept being told , that people want to hear about your thoughts and your life .
“ This is the most talking I ’ ve done in so long , ” Patti on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about how she was an executive secretary for 26 years ( 103 words per minute on an electric typewriter , 65 on a manual ) and about the guy who once drove behind her for blocks as she looked for cans and bottles at gas stations , handing her $ 280 in cash along the way because he said God had told him to .
She told me there ’ s competition for her off-ramp and she often doesn ’ t get to hold on to her spot for more than 45 minutes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in $ 1.50 .
She told me about the guy who likes to drive by her underpass very early in the morning and shout “ GET UP !
” and the people who routinely shout out their windows , “ Get a job !
” “ It ’ s nice to have somebody on my side , ” she told me .
“ We don ’ t all throw bricks through your windows.
” At the start of our listening tour , Angotti-Jones and I were on the 101 , taking in all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in on the slopes above the freeway .
We backtracked to find one right near the Hollywood Bowl , in a fenced-off area at the end of a cul-de-sac that was anchored by a large , expensive Spanish-style home .
Beyond a hole in the fence , we found Mark Bizzarri , 61 , who grew up in Montebello and used to have a trucking business before things went bad for him .
He ’ s been out on the street since he was 50 , he said , waiting on a list @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he hides his outdoor home out of sight behind the green fabric used for construction sites and cooks good meals , for himself and for some of the area ’ s younger denizens .
On the wish list of this man who describes himself as “ houseless not homeless , because the world is my home ” : real ingredients for cooking , things like potatoes and meat .
Toilet paper .
Full-time access to a nearby toilet .
I have my own lists now too .
I plan to carry socks and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wear in my car .
More specifically , I need to go out and get food from the farmers market for Bizzarri , aspirin and wool for Soole , Kool-Aid and a soft blanket for Patti .
They used to be unknown to me , just those giant , flashing numbers .
Now they ’ re people I can talk to and listen to and learn from and try to help .

I had some questions I needed answered so I went in search of experts, not in nonprofit or government offices but on a dirt slope beside the southbound 101, in an alley off Fairfax Avenue, at a scraggly encampment on a trash-strewn block in Van Nuys.
The giant numbers keep flashing in my head: At last count, more than 36,000 homeless people were living in Los Angeles, nearly 59,000 in the county. So many efforts of so many kinds are underway to help, but you don’t have to be good at math to know there aren’t enough outreach workers to reach every person.
I keep saying that we, as individuals, have to jump in with direct help too.
Advertisement
But how? How to start? What is useful? What comforts? What nuts-and-bolts, practical aid can we offer? Readers keep asking me these questions. I keep asking them of myself.
It only makes sense, my own gut and people who already do this tell me, to pose the questions to those living and hoping not to die on our streets.
On Van Nuys Boulevard, I asked a too-thin woman, too thinly clothed for the cool day, and waited it out as her too-rapid thoughts flitted and flickered, like fireflies in the dark. She was wearing a tank top, a very light cardigan, worn-out jeans. Her bare feet were in flip flops. When she finally landed on my questions, she was blunt.
She said she doesn’t understand why people donate their clothes to thrift shops, which sell them, instead of bringing them to people like her who have nothing.
Shannon Soole shows a blanket she crocheted herself outside a Fairfax district newsstand. She said crocheting is theraputic for her. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones/Los Angeles Times)
“Is there not something I need? Look at me. It’s January. Do you have a sweater? A jacket? Some boots? Give something,” said Denise Mulloy, 54.
Advertisement
Middle-class people, she said, get themselves new cars every few years. “Just give us the clothes you don’t wear.”
On the Laurel Canyon off-ramp of the 101, a 67-year-old holding a cardboard sign that read, “Homeless, Every little bit helps” made me alternately burst out laughing and want to weep as she responded to my inquiries and I watched the drivers of Mercedes and Porsches stare straight ahead, eyes flat, avoiding any contact with her.
What kind of help helps her most? What helps least? Do many people offer her aid? Are they kind?
On a practical front, said this woman born in Brooklyn, N.Y., who asked that I only use her first name, please spare her the Clif Bar passed out the car window. “I’ve never tasted anything so bad. They taste like cardboard,” Patti told me. Granola bars are better, she said, but not with hard peanuts. She’s missing too many teeth.
She’s often wary of the home-cooked leftovers, handed over — probably with the best intentions — by a stranger. And what’s she going to do with the giant trays left over from parties sometimes dumped in her underpass? Excess is hard with no refrigerator. Perishable food starts to rot. Honestly, she said, she’d prefer a gift card to pick up a meal, say at Subway or McDonald’s.
She’d appreciate the creature comforts of Camel 99s — she’s smoked for 57 years and isn’t quitting now, she said — and packets of cherry Kool-Aid to flavor her water. “And blankets are good in the winter and even in the summer, to lay on,” she said. “I don’t know if you ever slept on cement. It’s kind of hard, you know.”
I am an individual. I have individual needs. Unhoused people have them too. Start to ask them and they’ll tell you. They’ll be specific. Pet food for a dog. Sanitary pads. Loaded TAP cards to help them travel to the welfare office or a nonprofit that can provide them with showers and fresh clothes and a meal. On a larger scale, toilets and trash cans to help them live on the streets in a cleaner, more civilized way.
They’ll also tell you very clearly what they don’t want and don’t need from you.
Shannon Soole, 44, at a Fairfax district newsstand. Among the things she would find useful: medicine for headaches and colds. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones/Los Angeles Times)
Sitting on the sidewalk outside a newsstand on Fairfax, Shannon Soole, 44, who might look tough at first glance but has sweet eyes and likes to crochet afghans, told me a lot of things that would be useful to her: medicine for headaches and colds and stomachaches. “A lot of us have trouble with our teeth. We need aspirin,” she said. Cans of tuna and chili are good.
But she’s not into the proselytizing people “who try to stomach punch you with AA.” She’s frank about her vices — mainly crystal meth — and not eager to face her current existence without them.
“Don’t hand me a piece of Bible literature. I’m quite aware of where I stand there,” Mulloy told me in Van Nuys. “I don’t need to read the Bible. I want an apartment. I want my own set of towels.”
Housing, of course, is first and foremost for most people. We’re getting more of it now — but it has been so slow and it won’t be able to keep up. We clearly have to advocate for more of it, faster, and for more structural and legal changes that will keep people from losing their shelter in the first place.
To that end, I watch with interest the efforts of Everyone In, a United Way-led campaign to get all Angelenos involved in the fight to solve our crisis of homelessness.
I admire the longtime nonprofits and the new grass-roots groups springing up around Los Angeles that both advocate for major societal change and go out on the streets week after week to try to make life better in smaller ways for those who won’t be seeing that big help anytime soon. I’m hoping that people will look at the models of such community groups as Ktown for All and the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition and be inspired to launch similar efforts in their own neighborhoods.
I recently watched a video of Ktown for All volunteers out on the streets of their own neighborhood, making contact with unhoused people, offering them help, listening to their needs. I was moved by how frankly they spoke about once being bystanders and then realizing they had to take individual action.
The video was made by Mark Horvath, who once was homeless on Hollywood Boulevard, and who started a nonprofit called Invisible People 11 years ago to document the stories of homeless people as a way to try to humanize, educate and shift perceptions and policy.
It was from Horvath that I got the idea to simultaneously ask about help and offer some. I drove around the city with photographer Gabriella Angotti-Jones, and we piled her back seat with bottles of water and granola bars and wet wipes and dozens of pairs of white crew socks.
Horvath brings white crew socks with him everywhere. Homeless people need fresh socks, he points out, to keep their feet warm and free from infections. And offering them socks is a shorthand way to indicate that you comprehend some of their experience.
For years, he’s talked about how joyful people often are to get the socks — which I never doubted but didn’t fully get until I gave them to people this week. “This is perfect,” said a young man in the alley off of Fairfax, whose eyes were very bloodshot and whose smell was rank. He had nothing, not a tent or a sleeping bag. He told me he just hid out at night in the bushes.
Horvath recently put together a primer about handing socks out, which contains useful advice. Among the key tips is one which I also would like to emphasize: “If you don’t feel safe, don’t engage with someone.” The young man off Fairfax was very high but gentle and exuding sadness.
I know a lot of people in the city have fears about homeless people — who in general live lives far more vulnerable than those of us with roofs over our heads. But there are certainly people on our streets who are unstable and behave erratically. Drugs and delusions and anger fueled by the hardness of life can do that.
I approached people politely and stated my aims clearly. I gave them space to decide whether or not they wanted to engage. Some clearly didn’t. Most did. Being homeless and ignored by many, after all, can be so lonely. It isn’t so often, I kept being told, that people want to hear about your thoughts and your life.
“This is the most talking I’ve done in so long,” Patti on the off-ramp told me after sharing stories about how she was an executive secretary for 26 years (103 words per minute on an electric typewriter, 65 on a manual) and about the guy who once drove behind her for blocks as she looked for cans and bottles at gas stations, handing her $280 in cash along the way because he said God had told him to.
She told me there’s competition for her off-ramp and she often doesn’t get to hold on to her spot for more than 45 minutes and sometimes her day of pan-handling brings in $1.50. She told me about the guy who likes to drive by her underpass very early in the morning and shout “GET UP!” and the people who routinely shout out their windows, “Get a job!”
“It’s nice to have somebody on my side,” she told me. “We don’t all throw bricks through your windows.”
At the start of our listening tour, Angotti-Jones and I were on the 101, taking in all the tents and lean-to’s tucked in on the slopes above the freeway. We backtracked to find one right near the Hollywood Bowl, in a fenced-off area at the end of a cul-de-sac that was anchored by a large, expensive Spanish-style home.
Mark Bizzarri, 61, has been homeless since he was 50. On his wish list: real ingredients for cooking, such as potatoes and meat. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones/Los Angeles Times)
Beyond a hole in the fence, we found Mark Bizzarri, 61, who grew up in Montebello and used to have a trucking business before things went bad for him. He’s been out on the street since he was 50, he said, waiting on a list for housing for years.
Meanwhile, he hides his outdoor home out of sight behind the green fabric used for construction sites and cooks good meals, for himself and for some of the area’s younger denizens.
On the wish list of this man who describes himself as “houseless not homeless, because the world is my home”: real ingredients for cooking, things like potatoes and meat. Toilet paper. Full-time access to a nearby toilet.
I have my own lists now too. I plan to carry socks and TAP cards and clothes I no longer wear in my car.
More specifically, I need to go out and get food from the farmers market for Bizzarri, aspirin and wool for Soole, Kool-Aid and a soft blanket for Patti.
They used to be unknown to me, just those giant, flashing numbers. Now they’re people I can talk to and listen to and learn from and try to help.