latimes--2020-02-11--What's known, and unknown, about moments before Kobe Bryant helicopter crash

One witness described the Calabasas hillside as being “ surrounded by mist ” on a quiet Sunday morning last month .
Then he heard a sound from above , growing louder and louder .
When he looked up , he saw a blue-and-white helicopter amid the thick fog , moving fast before rolling to the left .
A second or two later , it slammed into the hill .
Minutes after the crash , other witnesses photographed the scene .
One image showed smoke billowing from the hillside in the distance .
Another , taken much closer , showed flames @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down .
This is the narrative that has emerged from the National Transportation Safety Board ’ s preliminary report on the crash of the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant and eight others .
The 1991 Sikorsky S-76B was transporting to a youth basketball game at Bryant ’ s Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks on Jan. 26 .
The others who perished in the fiery crash were Bryant ’ s 13-year-old daughter , Gianna ; Christina Mauser ; Payton and Sarah Chester ; John , Keri and Alyssa Altobelli ; and pilot Ara Zobayan .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ answers some key questions , but others have yet to be answered .
WHAT WE KNOW The engine : The preliminary report found no evidence of engine failure before the crash .
“ Viewable sections of the engines showed no evidence of an uncontained or catastrophic internal failure .
The No .
2 engine first-stage compressor blades exhibited tip curl in the direction opposite of rotation , consistent with powered rotation at the time of impact , ” the report said .
The weather : This continues to be a key part of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ videos and photos from the public “ depict fog and low clouds obscuring the hilltops.
” The preliminary report repeatedly noted that the pilot had struggled with a low cloud ceiling .
The report included several photos , including one showing the chopper flying under cloudy conditions shortly before it struck the hill in Calabasas .
Rapid descent : NTSB member Jennifer Homendy has said the helicopter , which lacked a , was at 2,300 feet when it lost communication with air traffic controllers .
It was about 100 feet below the top @ @ @ @ @ @ @ NTSB .
Eight seconds after losing communication , the helicopter was plummeting at a rate of descent “ increasing to over 4,000 feet per minute , ” the report stated .
The helicopter was traveling about 184 mph on impact .
WHAT WE DON ’ T KNOW Communication : The pilot had told an air traffic controller he was planning to climb to 4,000 feet , but logs indicate he turned left in the clouds at 2,300 feet .
The pilot had lost contact with air traffic control at the very end , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Times , but it ’ s unclear why .
The pilot : It ’ s clear weather was a major concern for the pilot , Zobayan .
He requested special visual flight rules , or VFR , which allow pilots to fly in controlled airspace when ceilings are less than 1,000 feet or when visibility is less than three miles .
As weather conditions deteriorated on the trip from Orange County to Ventura County , the pilot requested “ flight following , ” a process in which controllers are in regular contact with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In recorded radio communications , the air traffic control tower is heard telling the pilot the chopper is too low for flight following .
Radar data indicate Zobayan , who had been a licensed commercial helicopter pilot for 19 years , guided the copter to 2,300 feet and then began a left turn .
That ’ s when the rapid descent began .
The reason for the pilot ’ s final moves remains unclear .

A helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant and eight others burst into flames after crashing in Calabasas in January.
One witness described the Calabasas hillside as being “surrounded by mist” on a quiet Sunday morning last month.
Then he heard a sound from above, growing louder and louder. When he looked up, he saw a blue-and-white helicopter amid the thick fog, moving fast before rolling to the left.
A second or two later, it slammed into the hill.
Minutes after the crash, other witnesses photographed the scene. One image showed smoke billowing from the hillside in the distance. Another, taken much closer, showed flames along a trail where the chopper went down.
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This is the narrative that has emerged from the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report on the crash of the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant and eight others. The 1991 Sikorsky S-76B was transporting parents, coaches and players to a youth basketball game at Bryant’s Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks on Jan. 26. The others who perished in the fiery crash were Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna; Christina Mauser; Payton and Sarah Chester; John, Keri and Alyssa Altobelli; and pilot Ara Zobayan.
The NTSB report, released Friday, answers some key questions, but others have yet to be answered.
WHAT WE KNOW
The engine: The preliminary report found no evidence of engine failure before the crash. “Viewable sections of the engines showed no evidence of an uncontained or catastrophic internal failure. The No. 2 engine first-stage compressor blades exhibited tip curl in the direction opposite of rotation, consistent with powered rotation at the time of impact,” the report said.
The weather: This continues to be a key part of the investigation. The NTSB noted that videos and photos from the public “depict fog and low clouds obscuring the hilltops.” The preliminary report repeatedly noted that the pilot had struggled with a low cloud ceiling. The report included several photos, including one showing the chopper flying under cloudy conditions shortly before it struck the hill in Calabasas.
Rapid descent: NTSB member Jennifer Homendy has said the helicopter, which lacked a terrain warning system , was at 2,300 feet when it lost communication with air traffic controllers. It was about 100 feet below the top of the clouds, according to the NTSB. Eight seconds after losing communication, the helicopter was plummeting at a rate of descent “increasing to over 4,000 feet per minute,” the report stated. The helicopter was traveling about 184 mph on impact.
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WHAT WE DON’T KNOW
Communication: The pilot had told an air traffic controller he was planning to climb to 4,000 feet, but logs indicate he turned left in the clouds at 2,300 feet. The pilot had lost contact with air traffic control at the very end, according to radio recordings reviewed by The Times, but it’s unclear why.
The pilot: It’s clear weather was a major concern for the pilot, Zobayan. He requested special visual flight rules, or VFR, which allow pilots to fly in controlled airspace when ceilings are less than 1,000 feet or when visibility is less than three miles. As weather conditions deteriorated on the trip from Orange County to Ventura County, the pilot requested “flight following,” a process in which controllers are in regular contact with an aircraft and can help navigate. In recorded radio communications, the air traffic control tower is heard telling the pilot the chopper is too low for flight following. Radar data indicate Zobayan, who had been a licensed commercial helicopter pilot for 19 years, guided the copter to 2,300 feet and then began a left turn. That’s when the rapid descent began. The reason for the pilot’s final moves remains unclear.


latimes--2020-02-11--Evacuees celebrate as coronavirus quarantine ends at Riverside County military base

After flying halfway around the world to flee a deadly viral outbreak and then spending two weeks quarantined at a California military base , a group of Americans evacuated from China couldn ’ t help but celebrate Tuesday morning .
Following a series of final screenings , all 195 Americans quarantined amid the coronavirus outbreak were cleared to leave March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County , where they had been confined the last 14 days .
Everyone in the group , which arrived at the base aboard a charter plane on Jan. 29 , tested negative for the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a.m .
The evacuees , which included American diplomats who had fled Wuhan , China , with their families , were then free to leave .
But before goodbyes were said , a group photo was in order .
Like students flinging graduation caps , the Americans triumphantly tossed their face masks into the air .
Jamie Fouss , the U.S. consul general in Wuhan , broke down in tears while describing how his fellow evacuees , bonded by a journey that began aboard a cargo aircraft in China , parted amid hugs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Today , as we took off our masks and were given the clean bill of health , we realized we had gone through the experience together .
We made good friends .
We kept ourselves busy ” with Zumba and art classes , school for children on base and trivia games .
“ We tried to have as normal a life as we could , ” he said .
Two days after the travelers arrived from Wuhan , the U.S. government issued a mandatory quarantine order — the first in more than 50 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ base for 14 days , the incubation period of the virus .
“ The passengers are very appreciative of the support and services but excited to get home and get back to their normal lives , ” said Kim Saruwatari , director of public health for Riverside County .
The scene was a happy one , she said .
Saruwatari said county health officials helped arrange transportation to local airports where travelers would continue to their final destinations .
Two people who were transported to the base from Los Angeles International Airport and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will remain on base until at least Sunday , when their quarantines are scheduled to end , officials said .
During a news conference Tuesday , health officials emphasized that no one released from the quarantine poses a risk to the larger community .
“ I don ’ t want someone to be attacked , ostracized or outed for being part of this testing group , ” said Cameron Kaiser , public health officer for Riverside County .
There have been 13 confirmed U.S. cases of coronavirus — what the World Health Organization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in California .
Most recently , an evacuee in San Diego County who has been quarantined with 231 others at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar tested positive for the virus .
In Riverside County , none of those quarantined acquired the pathogen , although two children developed fevers during the quarantine , health records show .
The quarantines are one of the few tools available to health workers trying to contain the spreading virus because a vaccine scientists are working on is not expected to be available for 18 months .
But the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of misinformation .
Fear of contracting the virus had led to “ unacceptable ” treatment of some who work at the Riverside County base , Kaiser said in an open letter to the community Monday .
Workers at March Air Reserve Base and their families have been verbally attacked in person and on social media by people fearing their proximity to those under quarantine at the base , officials said .
“ Please understand that people on and off the base are not at increased risk for exposure to the new virus , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who don ’ t actually pose any risk , ” said Kaiser , who noted that some base workers were accosted while in uniform .
“ They have had no contact with the evacuees , whose area is fully separated from base personnel .
You do not need to exclude household or family members of [ base ] personnel , nor do you need to require them to obtain unnecessary ‘ clearance letters ’ from a physician or health authority .
They pose no greater risk than anyone else.
” Officials reiterated Kaiser @ @ @ @ @ @ @ discrimination has become problematic over the course of the quarantine .
“ We are doing everything we can to educate our evacuees , provide them with information on how to access mental health services should they be needed , and educate the communities , ” said Rear Adm. Nancy Knight of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
“ These people do not have novel coronavirus.
” Hundreds of evacuees in the past two weeks were flown to military bases in California , Texas and Nebraska , where many are still quarantined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ report .

After flying halfway around the world to flee a deadly viral outbreak and then spending two weeks quarantined at a California military base, a group of Americans evacuated from China couldn’t help but celebrate Tuesday morning.
Following a series of final screenings, all 195 Americans quarantined amid the coronavirus outbreak were cleared to leave March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, where they had been confined the last 14 days.
Everyone in the group, which arrived at the base aboard a charter plane on Jan. 29, tested negative for the virus in the final screenings shortly before 9:30 a.m. The evacuees, which included American diplomats who had fled Wuhan, China, with their families, were then free to leave.
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But before goodbyes were said, a group photo was in order. Like students flinging graduation caps, the Americans triumphantly tossed their face masks into the air.
Jamie Fouss, the U.S. consul general in Wuhan, broke down in tears while describing how his fellow evacuees, bonded by a journey that began aboard a cargo aircraft in China, parted amid hugs and a promise to reunite.
“Today, as we took off our masks and were given the clean bill of health, we realized we had gone through the experience together. We made good friends. We kept ourselves busy” with Zumba and art classes, school for children on base and trivia games. “We tried to have as normal a life as we could,” he said.
Two days after the travelers arrived from Wuhan, the U.S. government issued a mandatory quarantine order — the first in more than 50 years — which kept them on the base for 14 days, the incubation period of the virus.
“The passengers are very appreciative of the support and services but excited to get home and get back to their normal lives,” said Kim Saruwatari, director of public health for Riverside County. The scene was a happy one, she said.
Saruwatari said county health officials helped arrange transportation to local airports where travelers would continue to their final destinations.
Two people who were transported to the base from Los Angeles International Airport and were not part of the larger group will remain on base until at least Sunday, when their quarantines are scheduled to end, officials said.
During a news conference Tuesday, health officials emphasized that no one released from the quarantine poses a risk to the larger community.
Advertisement
“I don’t want someone to be attacked, ostracized or outed for being part of this testing group,” said Cameron Kaiser, public health officer for Riverside County.
There have been 13 confirmed U.S. cases of coronavirus — what the World Health Organization has officially named COVID-19 — including seven in California. Most recently, an evacuee in San Diego County who has been quarantined with 231 others at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar tested positive for the virus. In Riverside County, none of those quarantined acquired the pathogen, although two children developed fevers during the quarantine, health records show.
The quarantines are one of the few tools available to health workers trying to contain the spreading virus because a vaccine scientists are working on is not expected to be available for 18 months. But the actions have stirred panic and the spread of misinformation. Fear of contracting the virus had led to “unacceptable” treatment of some who work at the Riverside County base, Kaiser said in an open letter to the community Monday.
Workers at March Air Reserve Base and their families have been verbally attacked in person and on social media by people fearing their proximity to those under quarantine at the base, officials said.
“Please understand that people on and off the base are not at increased risk for exposure to the new virus, and we don’t restrict people who don’t actually pose any risk,” said Kaiser, who noted that some base workers were accosted while in uniform.
“They have had no contact with the evacuees, whose area is fully separated from base personnel. You do not need to exclude household or family members of [base] personnel, nor do you need to require them to obtain unnecessary ‘clearance letters’ from a physician or health authority. They pose no greater risk than anyone else.”
Officials reiterated Kaiser’s points Tuesday and said that discrimination has become problematic over the course of the quarantine.
“We are doing everything we can to educate our evacuees, provide them with information on how to access mental health services should they be needed, and educate the communities,” said Rear Adm. Nancy Knight of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “These people do not have novel coronavirus.”
Hundreds of evacuees in the past two weeks were flown to military bases in California, Texas and Nebraska, where many are still quarantined.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-02-11--Review: 'Prison Truth' takes readers inside San Quentin's inmate-run newspaper

California operated just eight prisons for men in 1970 , when William J. Drummond , a pioneering young African American investigative journalist at the Los Angeles Times , published a groundbreaking piece on racial tensions behind bars .
Days earlier , a shootout at the Marin County courthouse had left four people dead , sending the FBI on a manhunt for activist Angela Y. Davis and spurring what became a nationwide boom in mass incarceration .
By 2016 , California housed 160,000 inmates at 35 prisons — many of them a major source of employment for small towns in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had more prison guards than it had prisoners in 1970 .
Drummond , now a UC Berkeley professor , is still on the prison beat .
Since 2012 , he has been an adviser to the San Quentin News , a newspaper published by inmates at California ’ s oldest prison and the subject of his new book , “ Prison Truth.
” The book chronicles Drummond ’ s past , along with the remarkable efforts by San Quentin Prison inmates to document their circumstances — and in so doing , achieve rehabilitation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , after five decades imprisoned for a double murder in Oakland , created a play , “ Lifer , ” about his experiences .
Juan Haines , a bank robber-turned-reporter who first invited Drummond to advise the newspaper , developed a network of contacts outside prison walls to inform his journalism .
Richard “ Bonaru ” Richardson , who spent more time in prison for robbery than many who have committed murder , rose from operating a prison press used to print the calendars that adorn state offices to becoming the editor in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — Larry “ Watani ” Stiner , a former Black Panther , and Kevin Sawyer , a crusading journalist in the model of Mumia Abu-Jamal — whose deep reflections on race and injustice in America are evocative of the prison writings of Malcolm X .
Perhaps most heroic of all was Arnulfo T. Garcia , a heroin addict sentenced to 60 years to life under California ’ s three-strikes law after a burglary conviction .
His emergence as an editor in chief , diplomat , negotiator , coach and mentor is worthy of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Garcia never lived to write .
Released early for good behavior in 2017 , García died two months later in a car crash .
The publication of “ Prison Truth ” comes at a time when the debate around incarceration has been rapidly shifting , fueled as much by the exorbitant cost of confining inmates as by concerns about reconciliation and rehabilitation .
In California , prison reform has been spurred by a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling .
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy — a Sacramento native — found that the prison @ @ @ @ @ @ @ care to prisoners with serious medical and mental health problems and produced needless suffering and death , ” violating the 8th Amendment ’ s ban against cruel and unusual punishment .
New interest in prisons also has been spurred by societal forces , including the Netflix series “ Orange Is the New Black ; ” law professor Michelle Alexander ’ s book “ The New Jim Crow ; ” the podcast “ Ear Hustle ; ” and the establishment of the Marshall Project , an investigative news site focused on criminal justice issues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Quentin in 2012 , teaching a 15-week introductory journalism class for 18 inmates , the prison ’ s population has shrunk substantially .
The publication of the San Quentin News — reincarnated in 2008 after it had been shut down in the 1980s — is itself an irony .
The decade of its revival was one in which layoffs , buyouts , budget cuts — all brought about by the digital media transformation , declining advertising revenue and , in some cases , rapacious corporate ownership — left American newsrooms weakened and depleted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inmate newspaper , but ultimate control resides with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation .
Drummond acknowledges that the newspaper is nothing like the The Angolite , the hard-hitting magazine published at the Louisiana State Prison at Angola that has been celebrated for its investigations .
“ The San Quentin News took a different path , one that emphasized healing , reconciliation and personal responsibility , ” Drummond says .
He notes that state-imposed limits on the newspaper ’ s editorial independence “ begs the question of whether journalism can achieve meaningful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Yet the San Quentin News has had its moments of editorial courage .
In 2013 , the warden suspended publication for 45 days after an editor ran an unapproved photograph — showing prisoners and an actress , lying down , and later dubbed “ the yoga photo.
” The resulting publicity , including a journalism award , was an unexpected boon .
“ Suddenly in the estimation of big media around the country , the motley crew had become a beleaguered bunch of prisoner/journalists standing up for the First Amendment , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ urging , students from UC Berkeley ’ s Haas School of Business helped the school draw up a business plan , forming an unlikely consulting arrangement between MBAs and inmates who typically had at best a GED earned behind bars .
The book is most revealing in its examination of race and public policy .
It reminds us that reformist impulses guided prison management within living memory and changed — at least in California — when the racial and ethnic composition of inmates changed .
The prisoners in “ Duffy of San Quentin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ humanitarian San Quentin warden Clinton T. Duffy , are nearly all white .
But as a crime wave besieged America in the 1960s , the prisons quickly became warehouses for black and brown bodies , the ultimate outcome of society ’ s failures to provide decent education , juvenile justice , mental health and addiction treatment services .
Drummond concludes with a call to turn prison into colleges and urges universities to help reverse the school-to-prison pipeline , as Berkeley has done .
Unfortunately , the book suffers from disorganization .
Its most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as one of the only African American reporters at The Times , then owned by the Chandler family .
In the mid-1960s , when Drummond joined The Times from the Louisville Courier-Journal , the paper ’ s staff was nearly entirely composed of white men , so much so that the newsroom enlisted a black classified advertising manager , Robert Richardson , to help cover the Watts riots .
Drummond richly describes newsroom characters like the reflective William F. Thomas , a metro editor who was later the paper ’ s chief editor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ salty night city editor .
Drummond ’ s achievements — an interview with Eldridge Cleaver , a pivotal role in the front-page story chronicling Robert F. Kennedy ’ s assassination — are recounted at a brisk pace .
But the book ’ s most devastating moment — a succinct account of his mother ’ s murder by a spurned lover in 1957 , when Drummond was 12 — deserves more than the six pages devoted to it .
One hopes that Drummond , having helped others to tell their stories , will find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his own .
Prison Truth : The Story of the San Quentin News

California operated just eight prisons for men in 1970, when William J. Drummond, a pioneering young African American investigative journalist at the Los Angeles Times, published a groundbreaking piece on racial tensions behind bars. Days earlier, a shootout at the Marin County courthouse had left four people dead, sending the FBI on a manhunt for activist Angela Y. Davis and spurring what became a nationwide boom in mass incarceration.
By 2016, California housed 160,000 inmates at 35 prisons — many of them a major source of employment for small towns in the Central Valley. By 2018, California had more prison guards than it had prisoners in 1970.
Drummond, now a UC Berkeley professor, is still on the prison beat. Since 2012, he has been an adviser to the San Quentin News, a newspaper published by inmates at California’s oldest prison and the subject of his new book, “Prison Truth.”
Advertisement
The book chronicles Drummond’s past, along with the remarkable efforts by San Quentin Prison inmates to document their circumstances — and in so doing, achieve rehabilitation through introspection and expression.
Glenn Bailey, after five decades imprisoned for a double murder in Oakland, created a play, “Lifer,” about his experiences. Juan Haines, a bank robber-turned-reporter who first invited Drummond to advise the newspaper, developed a network of contacts outside prison walls to inform his journalism. Richard “Bonaru” Richardson, who spent more time in prison for robbery than many who have committed murder, rose from operating a prison press used to print the calendars that adorn state offices to become the San Quentin News’ editor in chief.
Readers also meet two inmates — Larry “Watani” Stiner, a former Black Panther, and Kevin Sawyer, a crusading journalist in the model of Mumia Abu-Jamal — whose deep reflections on race and injustice in America are evocative of the prison writings of Malcolm X.
Perhaps most heroic of all was Arnulfo T. Garcia, a heroin addict sentenced to 60 years to life under California’s three-strikes law after a burglary conviction. His emergence as an editor in chief, diplomat, negotiator, coach and mentor is worthy of a book of its own — one that Garcia never lived to write. Released early for good behavior in 2017, Garcia died two months later in a car crash.
The publication of “Prison Truth” comes at a time when the debate around incarceration has been rapidly shifting, fueled as much by the exorbitant cost of confining inmates as by concerns about reconciliation and rehabilitation.
In California, prison reform has been spurred by a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy — a Sacramento native — found that the prison system had “failed to deliver minimal care to prisoners with serious medical and mental health problems and produced needless suffering and death,” violating the 8th Amendment’s ban against cruel and unusual punishment.
New interest in prisons also has been spurred by societal forces, including the Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black”; law professor Michelle Alexander’s book “The New Jim Crow”; the podcast “Ear Hustle”; and the establishment of the Marshall Project, an investigative news site focused on criminal justice issues.
Since Drummond began volunteering at San Quentin in 2012, teaching a 15-week introductory journalism class for 18 inmates, the prison’s population has shrunk substantially.
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The publication of the San Quentin News — reincarnated in 2008 after it had been shut down in the 1980s — is itself an irony. The decade of its revival was one in which layoffs, buyouts, budget cuts — all brought about by the digital media transformation, declining advertising revenue and, in some cases, rapacious corporate ownership — left American newsrooms weakened and depleted.
Professional journalists like Drummond advise the inmate newspaper, but ultimate control resides with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Drummond acknowledges that the newspaper is nothing like The Angolite, the hard-hitting magazine published at the Louisiana State Prison at Angola, which has been celebrated for its investigations.
“The San Quentin News took a different path, one that emphasized healing, reconciliation and personal responsibility,” Drummond says. He notes that state-imposed limits on the newspaper’s editorial independence “beg the question of whether journalism can achieve meaningful reform without exposés that reveal shocking facts.”
Yet the San Quentin News has had its moments of editorial courage. In 2013, the warden suspended publication for 45 days after an editor ran an unapproved photograph — showing prisoners and an actress, lying down, and later dubbed “the yoga photo.” The resulting publicity, including a journalism award, was an unexpected boon. “Suddenly in the estimation of big media around the country, the motley crew had become a beleaguered bunch of prisoner/journalists standing up for the First Amendment,” Drummond writes.
At Drummond’s urging, students from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business helped the school draw up a business plan, forming an unlikely consulting arrangement between MBAs and inmates who typically had at best a GED earned behind bars.
The book is most revealing in its examination of race and public policy. It reminds us that reformist impulses guided prison management within living memory and changed — at least in California — when the racial and ethnic composition of inmates changed. The prisoners in “Duffy of San Quentin,” a 1954 melodrama about the humanitarian San Quentin warden Clinton T. Duffy, are nearly all white. But as a crime wave besieged America in the 1960s, the prisons quickly became warehouses for black and brown bodies, the ultimate outcome of society’s failures to provide decent education, juvenile justice, mental health and addiction treatment services.
Drummond concludes with a call to turn prison into colleges and urges universities to help reverse the school-to-prison pipeline, as Berkeley has done.
Unfortunately, the book suffers from disorganization. Its most telling chapters recount Drummond’s days as one of the only African American reporters at The Times, then owned by the Chandler family. In the mid-1960s, when Drummond joined The Times from the Louisville Courier-Journal, the paper’s staff was nearly entirely composed of white men, so much so that the newsroom enlisted a black classified advertising manager, Robert Richardson, to help cover the Watts riots.
Drummond richly describes newsroom characters like the reflective William F. Thomas, a metro editor who was later the paper’s chief editor, and Glen A. Binford, a salty night city editor. Drummond’s achievements — an interview with Eldridge Cleaver, a pivotal role in the front-page story chronicling Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination — are recounted at a brisk pace.
But the book’s most devastating moment — a succinct account of his mother’s murder by a spurned lover in 1957, when Drummond was 12 — deserves more than the six pages devoted to it. One hopes that Drummond, having helped others to tell their stories, will find it in him to tell more of his own.
Prison Truth: The Story of the San Quentin News
William J. Drummond
University of California Press: 334 pages; $26.95


latimes--2020-02-11--L.A. is radically altering the way we vote. Get ready for big changes, possible problems

Voters are about to get their first peek at the future of balloting in Los Angeles County , where officials have spent years building a new voting system .
As next month ’ s presidential primary election approaches , officials are putting the finishing touches on a $ 300-million overhaul of a system that hasn ’ t had major upgrades in decades .
Scrutiny and expectations will be high in the wake of the botched vote counting in the Iowa caucuses .
While the changes run the gamut , from expanded voting schedules to modernized balloting devices , the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as many residents go to vote .
That ’ s because the number of polling places has been dramatically reduced from the last presidential primary , from more than 4,500 to about 960 .
But while many voters will discover that their traditional polling place has closed , they will also have more voting options .
Under the new system , voters who live in L.A. County are no longer limited to one polling place .
They are able to cast their ballot at any voting center from Long Beach to Lancaster , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ county .
The new center addresses were recently made public .
Most of the locations are in quasi-public spaces familiar to voters : schools , community buildings , parks and fire houses .
But a few are in unexpected places , such as the Sherman Oaks Galleria , the Hollywood Hotel , and a youth center on Dockweiler Beach .
Also making the list were a French restaurant in Santa Clarita and an auto dealership in Burbank .
Once inside , voters will experience several innovations .
The ballot machines of the past @ @ @ @ @ @ @ devices .
Ballots will have larger type and clear design , and they will be offered in 13 different languages .
There will be audio headsets available for the voters with disabilities , or for those who prefer to listen in a different language .
And residents will be able to cast their votes up to 11 days before the March 3 election .
Hundreds of the centers begin opening for early voting on Feb. 22 .
The modernization plan came about due to the Voter ’ s Choice Act , a state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mail balloting while also offering a more flexible experience for those wishing to cast ballots in person .
The county has about 5.4 million registered voters , and roughly 3.4 million of them have been mailed a ballot .
County officials and voting rights advocates say they are working hard to avoid confusion and ensure the public understands their new options .
“ You ’ re not tied into only being able to vote in one specific voting place , as you were before , ” said Justin Levitt , a political science @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Of course , for voters going to these centers , this is going to be a new experience.
” This is the first election cycle in which L.A. County — which has a relatively high percentage of Election Day voters compared to other counties across the state — will open centers in the weeks before and the day of the March 3 primary .
Anyone can vote in the centers , even if they received — but haven ’ t yet submitted — a mail ballot already .
Party switching and on-site @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shift to new voting centers , thousands of historically familiar polling places will not be used this election .
In the June 2016 primary , for example , Long Beach had 247 polling locations .
This election , it will have 33 , according a Times analysis .
In Santa Clarita , there were 92 four years ago .
Now there are 18 , the data show .
Despite this , officials said the new system ’ s flexibility will provide voters with plenty of convenient options .
“ I live in Whittier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voting center in downtown L.A. , I would get a Whittier ballot , ” Dean Logan , the registrar-recorder/county clerk , who has led the county ’ s ambitious effort to overhaul its voting system , told the Board of Supervisors last month .
“ There are no longer wrong places to vote in L.A. County .
Every voting location is the right place to vote.
” The new locations have been spread out relatively evenly across the county .
In deciding which locations to select , the county considered neighborhoods ’ proximity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vehicle ownership .
Another key factor was historic rate of mail voting .
More locations are open in areas in the center of the county , such as Los Angeles , which has lower mail voting rates .
Areas with high mail voting adoption — Malibu , for example — have fewer .
Ahead of the election , the centers will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. About 75 % of the centers will be open four days , from Feb. 29 to March 2 .
The rest will be open @ @ @ @ @ @ @ March 2 .
All of them will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on March 3 , the day of the primary .
Once inside the centers , voters will use new electronic devices to mark a newly designed ballot , with larger typography and options for different languages and accessibility .
The devices aren ’ t connected to the internet , and ballots will still be cast on paper , allowing for an audit later .
In the run-up to the change , voting rights advocates have worried that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ past experience off guard .
County officials working with community groups have held hundreds of public meetings and presentations in an effort to get the word out .
“ There was very poor attendance .
Maybe more could have been done to have promoted those meetings a little bit more , ” said Marilu Guevara , executive director of the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles , which helped inform residents of the new centers .
She supports the changes to the system but worries about educating the public , particularly older @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ll find the the extra days that the centers will be open useful .
“ There ’ s more concern around finding ways to reach a lot of those communities , ” she said .
In addition to its media marketing , Logan ’ s office is sending three direct mailings to voters .
One recently went out to all 3.5 million postal consumers in the county with a small-type list of voter centers .
Some have been added since that mailing .
For some voters , the shift to voting centers might @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Middle School on Braddock Drive in Los Angeles , which was a polling place in past elections , will remain a voting center , for example .
Hundreds of other former precinct polling places have been converted to voting centers .
But most former polling places will be closed , and voting officials say they plan to place signs at those locations to remind the public about new locations .
It remains unclear whether the fewer number of centers will be able to accommodate a crush of last-minute voters .
“ I hope @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Levitt said .
“ I ’ m certain there will be challenges , because L.A. County is going to have a harder time predicting how many people will show up at each vote center .
”

L.A County is planning to open more than 950 vote centers, starting on Feb. 22, ahead of the March 3 presidential primary election. Find one using our interactive map below.
Voters are about to get their first peek at the future of balloting in Los Angeles County, where officials have spent years building a new voting system.
As next month’s presidential primary election approaches, officials are putting the finishing touches on a $300-million overhaul of a system that hasn’t had major upgrades in decades. Scrutiny and expectations will be high in the wake of the botched vote counting in the Iowa caucuses.
While the changes run the gamut, from expanded voting schedules to modernized balloting devices, the most significant change will be apparent as soon as many residents go to vote.
That’s because the number of polling places has been dramatically reduced from the last presidential primary, from more than 4,500 to about 960.
But while many voters will discover that their traditional polling place has closed, they will also have more voting options.
Under the new system, voters who live in L.A. County are no longer limited to one polling place. They are able to cast their ballot at any voting center from Long Beach to Lancaster, regardless of where they live in the county. The new center addresses were recently made public.
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Most of the locations are in quasi-public spaces familiar to voters: schools, community buildings, parks and fire houses. But a few are in unexpected places, such as the Sherman Oaks Galleria, the Hollywood Hotel, and a youth center on Dockweiler Beach. Also making the list were a French restaurant in Santa Clarita and an auto dealership in Burbank.
Once inside, voters will experience several innovations.
The ballot machines of the past have been replaced with modern touch-pad ballot-marking devices. Ballots will have larger type and clear design, and they will be offered in 13 different languages. There will be audio headsets available for the voters with disabilities, or for those who prefer to listen in a different language. And residents will be able to cast their votes up to 11 days before the March 3 election. Hundreds of the centers begin opening for early voting on Feb. 22.
The modernization plan came about due to the Voter’s Choice Act, a state law which encouraged counties to invest in mail balloting while also offering a more flexible experience for those wishing to cast ballots in person. The county has about 5.4 million registered voters, and roughly 3.4 million of them have been mailed a ballot.
County officials and voting rights advocates say they are working hard to avoid confusion and ensure the public understands their new options.
“You’re not tied into only being able to vote in one specific voting place, as you were before,” said Justin Levitt, a political science professor at Cal State Long Beach. “Of course, for voters going to these centers, this is going to be a new experience.”
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California Sweeping change is coming for L.A. County voters. This man is overseeing the effort. Starting in spring, some 5.2 million Los Angeles County residents will change the way they vote. If the plan goes awry — either in the March primary or in the November election, in which President Trump is likely to be on the ballot — blame will likely fall on Dean Logan, Los Angeles County’s registrar-recorder and clerk.
This is the first election cycle in which L.A. County — which has a relatively high percentage of Election Day voters compared to other counties across the state — will open centers in the weeks before and the day of the March 3 primary. Anyone can vote in the centers, even if they received — but haven’t yet submitted — a mail ballot already. Party switching and on-site registration is also possible.
With the shift to new voting centers, thousands of historically familiar polling places will not be used this election. In the June 2016 primary, for example, Long Beach had 247 polling locations. This election, it will have 33, according a Times analysis. In Santa Clarita, there were 92 four years ago. Now there are 18, the data show.
Despite this, officials said the new system’s flexibility will provide voters with plenty of convenient options.
“I live in Whittier, but if I went to a voting center in downtown L.A., I would get a Whittier ballot,” Dean Logan, the registrar-recorder/county clerk, who has led the county’s ambitious effort to overhaul its voting system, told the Board of Supervisors last month. “There are no longer wrong places to vote in L.A. County. Every voting location is the right place to vote.”
The new locations have been spread out relatively evenly across the county. In deciding which locations to select, the county considered neighborhoods’ proximity to mass transit, household income and vehicle ownership. Another key factor was historic rate of mail voting.
More locations are open in areas in the center of the county, such as Los Angeles, which has lower mail voting rates. Areas with high mail voting adoption — Malibu, for example — have fewer.
Ahead of the election, the centers will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. About 75% of the centers will be open four days, from Feb. 29 to March 2. The rest will be open 11 days, from Feb. 22 to March 2. All of them will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on March 3, the day of the primary.
Once inside the centers, voters will use new electronic devices to mark a newly designed ballot, with larger typography and options for different languages and accessibility. The devices aren’t connected to the internet, and ballots will still be cast on paper, allowing for an audit later.
In the run-up to the change, voting rights advocates have worried that the centers might catch voters accustomed to the past experience off guard. County officials working with community groups have held hundreds of public meetings and presentations in an effort to get the word out.
Politics What you need to know before voting in the primary election How do I vote? Will I get a ballot in the mail? A new procedure will change how some Californians cast ballots. Here’s how to vote in the California primary election.
“There was very poor attendance. Maybe more could have been done to have promoted those meetings a little bit more,” said Marilu Guevara, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles, which helped inform residents of the new centers.
She supports the changes to the system but worries about educating the public, particularly older voters, though she hopes they’ll find the the extra days that the centers will be open useful.
“There’s more concern around finding ways to reach a lot of those communities,” she said.
In addition to its media marketing, Logan’s office is sending three direct mailings to voters. One recently went out to all 3.5 million postal consumers in the county with a small-type list of voter centers. Some have been added since that mailing.
For some voters, the shift to voting centers might be less jarring. Marina Del Rey Middle School on Braddock Drive in Los Angeles, which was a polling place in past elections, will remain a voting center, for example. Hundreds of other former precinct polling places have been converted to voting centers.
But most former polling places will be closed, and voting officials say they plan to place signs at those locations to remind the public about new locations. It remains unclear whether the fewer number of centers will be able to accommodate a crush of last-minute voters.
“I hope that the county is prepared,” Levitt said. “I’m certain there will be challenges, because L.A. County is going to have a harder time predicting how many people will show up at each vote center.”


latimes--2020-02-11--Rising seas already overwhelm the Bay Area. Time is running out for California to act

When Jeff Moneda first started working for Foster City , where trails wind along the town ’ s scenic lagoons and the nicest homes perch along its picturesque canals , he received an email from federal emergency officials that jolted him into action .
“ The first thing in my inbox was a letter from FEMA that said , ‘ You need to raise your levee or we ’ re going to place the entire city in a flood zone , ’ ” said Moneda , the city manager .
“ Talk about stress.
” For a city of 34,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ San Francisco Bay , the future hinges on the strength of an eight-mile-long levee that for decades has held back the rising sea .
But with every tide and storm , the water keeps trying to move back and reclaim the town .
Flood maps , even in more moderate scenarios , show much of the city inundated if nothing is done .
The fate of Foster City and the rest of the Bay Area was front and center last week as state lawmakers grappled with the many threats California must confront as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ special committee of state lawmakers gathered — for the second time in two months after years without meeting — to reignite a much-needed discussion on how to better prepare communities up and down the coast from devastating loss .
Homes are flooding and critical roads and infrastructure are already mere feet from toppling into the sea , they said , but cities up and down the coast have been paralyzed by the difficult choices ahead .
More than $ 150 billion in property could be at risk of flooding by 2100 — the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state ’ s worst earthquakes and wildfires .
Failure to act will result in lost opportunities to be proactive — and much higher costs , according to scientists , local officials and legislative analysts who spoke before the state Assembly ’ s Select Committee on Sea Level Rise and the California Economy .
Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath ( D-Encinitas ) , who revived the committee last year , acknowledged just how much is at stake and said the Legislature needs to act fast and figure out what to prioritize .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issue , ” she said , “ and there are options that are slipping away from us as we postpone a very difficult conversation.
” These remarks come at a time when more officials across the state are waking up to the social , economic and environmental catastrophe of sea level rise .
The Ocean Protection Council , an advisory body tasked with guiding the state ’ s coastal policies , is now pushing California to be prepared for at least 3.5 feet of sea level rise by 2050 .
Legislative analysts , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the case that any action — or lack of action — within the next 10 years could determine the fate of the California coast .
For those in the Bay Area — where millions of people rely on major roads and infrastructure at risk of chronic flooding — fighting against the sea has been a costly and overwhelming challenge .
With just 2 feet of flooding around the Bay Area , as many as 90,000 people could be left homeless , one official said .
Keeping the island city of Alameda above water @ @ @ @ @ @ @ another said , but would avert $ 8 billion in damage .
Infrastructure engineers made the case for better sea walls to protect the San Francisco and Oakland airports — both built on bay fill and barely supported by aging dikes .
In Foster City , property owners ended up agreeing — by a more than 80 % vote — to tax themselves $ 90 million to raise the levee many feet higher .
Officials hope to start construction as early as this summer .
The barrier , mostly earthen , currently curves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Saturday , the morning of the annual king tide — a period when the sun , moon and Earth are aligned closest together and create a higher-than-high tide — water levels rose as high as 9 feet , according to the nearest tide gauge .
Across the bay , groups of people gathered on piers and harbors , beaches and estuaries , to witness the water creeping up bridges and pushing into wetlands and low-lying roads .
These extreme tides , coastal scientists say , will eventually become the new normal .
Compounding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flooding as the ocean moves farther inland — what some researchers call “ the sea beneath us.
” As the ocean rises , that pressure pushes freshwater up from beneath our feet , said Kristina Hill , whose research at UC Berkeley focuses on this less-talked-about sea level rise issue .
Basements and underground foundations will heave , brackish water could corrode sewer pipes , toxic contaminants buried in the soil could bubble up and spread .
“ We could spend hundreds of billions of dollars and still have flooding on the inland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hill told the sea level rise committee , showing a map of areas where the water is already leaking out of the ground .
“ We ’ re very concerned about human health and the health of the bay.
” Solutions , experts say , depend on more cities , transportation officials and property owners working together across regions .
Too many are still jostling for money and approvals to defend what ’ s theirs — rather than seeing the much bigger picture .
Rising tides and former marshes do not heed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , and the action of one jurisdiction may affect another down the coast .
There needs to be more coordination , officials agreed , to restore wetlands and rethink critical infrastructure that serves more than any one community .
San Mateo County , for example , recently formed a cross-jurisdictional sea level rise resiliency district that is funded even by its inland communities .
Officials say this new flood control approach allows the region to plan for all its shoreline needs in a way that can not be done on a city-by-city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worried that these new regional efforts could hurt their communities at the cost of protecting those with more political sway and power .
Will the city of Millbrae , one official asked , be paying to protect more influential cities — while absorbing much of the environmental impact ?
Mark Stechbart , a resident of Pacifica , called on state lawmakers to not give up on sea walls .
In his town , where bluffs are crumbling and waves often overtop roads , a push by some officials to consider relocating inland has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he said , should be “ afforded the same protections as SFO and Google headquarters , which we desperately need ; otherwise , very serious amounts of property value are going to go in the water.
” Warner Chabot , who heads the San Francisco Estuary Institute , said more pilot projects will help make the case for sharing resources and ideas across boundaries .
He has spent years encouraging the Bay Area ’ s many different agencies to think about the shoreline beyond parcel by parcel , town by town .
With @ @ @ @ @ @ @ urged lawmakers , California ’ s coastal communities can be “ a national model of how urban regions , at the edge of the sea , can provide bold , equitable and inclusive solutions to climate change .
”

When Jeff Moneda first started working for Foster City, where trails wind along the town’s scenic lagoons and the nicest homes perch along its picturesque canals, he received an email from federal emergency officials that jolted him into action.
“The first thing in my inbox was a letter from FEMA that said, ‘You need to raise your levee or we’re going to place the entire city in a flood zone,’” said Moneda, the city manager. “Talk about stress.”
For a city of 34,000 that was built on filled-in marshland along San Francisco Bay, the future hinges on the strength of an eight-mile-long levee that for decades has held back the rising sea. But with every tide and storm, the water keeps trying to move back and reclaim the town. Flood maps, even in more moderate scenarios, show much of the city inundated if nothing is done.
The fate of Foster City and the rest of the Bay Area was front and center last week as state lawmakers grappled with the many threats California must confront as the ocean pushes farther inland. A special committee of state lawmakers gathered — for the second time in two months after years without meeting — to reignite a much-needed discussion on how to better prepare communities up and down the coast from devastating loss.
(Thomas Suh Lauder / Los Angeles Times)
Homes are flooding and critical roads and infrastructure are already mere feet from toppling into the sea, they said, but cities up and down the coast have been paralyzed by the difficult choices ahead. More than $150 billion in property could be at risk of flooding by 2100 — the economic damage far more destructive than from the state’s worst earthquakes and wildfires.
Failure to act will result in lost opportunities to be proactive — and much higher costs, according to scientists, local officials and legislative analysts who spoke before the state Assembly’s Select Committee on Sea Level Rise and the California Economy.
Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath (D-Encinitas), who revived the committee last year, acknowledged just how much is at stake and said the Legislature needs to act fast and figure out what to prioritize.
“We are already 10 years late to this issue,” she said, “and there are options that are slipping away from us as we postpone a very difficult conversation.”
Advertisement
These remarks come at a time when more officials across the state are waking up to the social, economic and environmental catastrophe of sea level rise. The Ocean Protection Council, an advisory body tasked with guiding the state’s coastal policies, is now pushing California to be prepared for at least 3.5 feet of sea level rise by 2050.
Legislative analysts, in an unprecedented report, recently made the case that any action — or lack of action — within the next 10 years could determine the fate of the California coast.
For those in the Bay Area — where millions of people rely on major roads and infrastructure at risk of chronic flooding — fighting against the sea has been a costly and overwhelming challenge.
With just 2 feet of flooding around the Bay Area, as many as 90,000 people could be left homeless, one official said. Keeping the island city of Alameda above water could cost almost $1 billion, another said, but would avert $8 billion in damage. Infrastructure engineers made the case for better sea walls to protect the San Francisco and Oakland airports — both built on bay fill and barely supported by aging dikes.
In Foster City, property owners ended up agreeing — by a more than 80% vote — to tax themselves $90 million to raise the levee many feet higher. Officials hope to start construction as early as this summer.
Advertisement
The barrier, mostly earthen, currently curves along the bay for miles. On Saturday, the morning of the annual king tide — a period when the sun, moon and Earth are aligned closest together and create a higher-than-high tide — water levels rose as high as 9 feet, according to the nearest tide gauge.
Across the bay, groups of people gathered on piers and harbors, beaches and estuaries, to witness the water creeping up bridges and pushing into wetlands and low-lying roads. These extreme tides, coastal scientists say, will eventually become the new normal.
Compounding the problem in this region is groundwater flooding as the ocean moves farther inland — what some researchers call “the sea beneath us.”
As the ocean rises, that pressure pushes freshwater up from beneath our feet, said Kristina Hill, whose research at UC Berkeley focuses on this less-talked-about sea level rise issue. Basements and underground foundations will heave, brackish water could corrode sewer pipes, toxic contaminants buried in the soil could bubble up and spread.
“We could spend hundreds of billions of dollars and still have flooding on the inland side of all those levees,” Hill told the sea level rise committee, showing a map of areas where the water is already leaking out of the ground. “We’re very concerned about human health and the health of the bay.”
Solutions, experts say, depend on more cities, transportation officials and property owners working together across regions. Too many are still jostling for money and approvals to defend what’s theirs — rather than seeing the much bigger picture.
Rising tides and former marshes do not heed to city boundaries or property lines, they said, and the action of one jurisdiction may affect another down the coast. There needs to be more coordination, officials agreed, to restore wetlands and rethink critical infrastructure that serves more than any one community.
San Mateo County, for example, recently formed a cross-jurisdictional sea level rise resiliency district that is funded even by its inland communities. Officials say this new flood control approach allows the region to plan for all its shoreline needs in a way that cannot be done on a city-by-city basis.
Still, some last week worried that these new regional efforts could hurt their communities at the cost of protecting those with more political sway and power. Will the city of Millbrae, one official asked, be paying to protect more influential cities — while absorbing much of the environmental impact?
Mark Stechbart, a resident of Pacifica, called on state lawmakers to not give up on sea walls. In his town, where bluffs are crumbling and waves often overtop roads, a push by some officials to consider relocating inland has angered many property owners.
Pacifica, he said, should be “afforded the same protections as SFO and Google headquarters, which we desperately need; otherwise, very serious amounts of property value are going to go in the water.”
Warner Chabot, who heads the San Francisco Estuary Institute, said more pilot projects will help make the case for sharing resources and ideas across boundaries. He has spent years encouraging the Bay Area’s many different agencies to think about the shoreline beyond parcel by parcel, town by town.
With more support from the state, he urged lawmakers, California’s coastal communities can be “a national model of how urban regions, at the edge of the sea, can provide bold, equitable and inclusive solutions to climate change.”


latimes--2020-02-11--Kevin de León moves campaign event following complaints from homeless activists

Los Angeles City Council candidate Kevin de León dropped plans on Monday for an upcoming campaign event after activists complained that it had been scheduled at the family home of a man accused of torching a homeless encampment .
Jonathan Underland , spokesman for De León , said his boss is searching for a new location in Eagle Rock for the upcoming meet-and-greet , following criticism from homeless advocates and other community activists about the venue .
De León , a former state senator running to replace Councilman Jose Huizar , had invited voters to attend a Sunday afternoon event @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president of the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce .
Nogueira , a De León supporter , is the father of Daniel Nogueira , who was arrested last summer on suspicion of attempted homicide .
At the time , police accused Nogueira ’ s son and another man of setting a fire at a homeless encampment that grew into a brush fire threatening scores of homes .
Charges in the case have not been filed .
Underland said De León had not been aware that the younger Nogueira lives at his father ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Eagle Rock home , he said , would have prevented residents from having a productive discussion with De León .
“ When longtime community leaders like Michael are generous enough to open up their home to the neighborhood , and we get a sense there might be attacks on his family , we do what we can to defuse the situation , ” Underland said .
“ In this case , we believe the best option is to simply move the meet-and-greet to another venue.
” Underland said it would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , adding that his boss is pursuing solutions to homelessness that “ keep people safe.
” Although Sunday ’ s meet-and-greet will be moved to another location , Nogueira will remain as an event host , he added .
De León is one of five candidates running in the March 3 election to represent an Eastside district that includes downtown , Boyle Heights and El Sereno .
Nogueira , in an interview , said his son was not involved in planning the De León event , which was not intended as a campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the public .
The businessman also said more than five months have passed without charges being filed against his son .
Activists angry about the Nogueira event posted the phone number for De León ’ s campaign office on social media Monday , urging their allies to complain .
Jane Nguyen , co-founder of the homeless advocacy group Ktown for All , said her organization has not taken a position on the De León event .
But she said she personally thought the candidate ’ s decision to hold an event at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ tone deaf to the increasing violence that unhoused Angelenos are facing.
” “ I ’ m not saying that the son ’ s crime should be transferred to the father , ” she said .
“ But I just think it ’ s very poor optics on Kevin De Leon ’ s part.
” Eagle Rock resident Felicia Garcia , who supports rival candidate Cyndi Otteson , said she too thought De León should not have scheduled an event with Nogueira .
Garcia , a co-founder of the pro-transit group Equitable Eagle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just by the allegations against Nogueira ’ s son , but Nogueira ’ s opposition to plans for a dedicated bus lane on Colorado Boulevard .
Nogueira , who owns an event rental business in Eagle Rock , said he thinks the bus lane should run along the 134 Freeway , not through the heart of Eagle Rock ’ s business district .
And he compared his son ’ s situation to that of Richard Jewell , the security guard named in media as a potential suspect in the 1996 bombing at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ The old saying is that you ’ re innocent until proven guilty , ” Nogueira said .
“ But it ’ s really the other way around.
” Daniel Nogueira and a second suspect were arrested Aug. 31 .
Fire Department officials said last year that they had zeroed in on the two men after analyzing burn patterns , witness statements and surveillance videos .
Prosecutors later referred the case back to detectives for further investigation .
“ A case has not been presented again to our office regarding this matter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Dist .
Atty .
Jackie Lacey .
An attorney for Daniel Nogueira had no comment on his client ’ s case .

Los Angeles City Council candidate Kevin de León dropped plans on Monday for an upcoming campaign event after activists complained that it had been scheduled at the family home of a man accused of torching a homeless encampment.
Jonathan Underland, spokesman for De León, said his boss is searching for a new location in Eagle Rock for the upcoming meet-and-greet, following criticism from homeless advocates and other community activists about the venue.
De León, a former state senator running to replace Councilman Jose Huizar, had invited voters to attend a Sunday afternoon event at the home of Michael Nogueira, president of the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce.
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Nogueira, a De León supporter, is the father of Daniel Nogueira, who was arrested last summer on suspicion of attempted homicide. At the time, police accused Nogueira’s son and another man of setting a fire at a homeless encampment that grew into a brush fire threatening scores of homes.
Charges in the case have not been filed.
Underland said De León had not been aware that the younger Nogueira lives at his father’s residence. Keeping the meet-and-greet at Nogueira’s Eagle Rock home, he said, would have prevented residents from having a productive discussion with De León.
“When longtime community leaders like Michael are generous enough to open up their home to the neighborhood, and we get a sense there might be attacks on his family, we do what we can to defuse the situation,” Underland said. “In this case, we believe the best option is to simply move the meet-and-greet to another venue.”
Underland said it would be irresponsible to comment during an ongoing investigation, adding that his boss is pursuing solutions to homelessness that “keep people safe.” Although Sunday’s meet-and-greet will be moved to another location, Nogueira will remain as an event host, he added.
De León is one of five candidates running in the March 3 election to represent an Eastside district that includes downtown, Boyle Heights and El Sereno.
Nogueira, in an interview, said his son was not involved in planning the De León event, which was not intended as a campaign fundraiser, and would have been open to the public. The businessman also said more than five months have passed without charges being filed against his son.
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Activists angry about the Nogueira event posted the phone number for De León’s campaign office on social media Monday, urging their allies to complain.
Jane Nguyen, co-founder of the homeless advocacy group Ktown for All, said her organization has not taken a position on the De León event. But she said she personally thought the candidate’s decision to hold an event at Nogueira’s home showed he is “tone deaf to the increasing violence that unhoused Angelenos are facing.”
“I’m not saying that the son’s crime should be transferred to the father,” she said. “But I just think it’s very poor optics on Kevin De Leon’s part.”
Eagle Rock resident Felicia Garcia, who supports rival candidate Cyndi Otteson, said she too thought De León should not have scheduled an event with Nogueira. Garcia, a co-founder of the pro-transit group Equitable Eagle Rock, said she was troubled not just by the allegations against Nogueira’s son, but Nogueira’s opposition to plans for a dedicated bus lane on Colorado Boulevard.
Nogueira, who owns an event rental business in Eagle Rock, said he thinks the bus lane should run along the 134 Freeway, not through the heart of Eagle Rock’s business district. And he compared his son’s situation to that of Richard Jewell, the security guard named in media as a potential suspect in the 1996 bombing at the Atlanta Olympics, who was later cleared.
“The old saying is that you’re innocent until proven guilty,” Nogueira said. “But it’s really the other way around.”
Daniel Nogueira and a second suspect were arrested Aug. 31. Fire Department officials said last year that they had zeroed in on the two men after analyzing burn patterns, witness statements and surveillance videos.
Prosecutors later referred the case back to detectives for further investigation. “A case has not been presented again to our office regarding this matter,” said Greg Risling, spokesman for Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey.
An attorney for Daniel Nogueira had no comment on his client’s case.
Times staff writer James Queally contributed to this report


latimes--2020-02-11--This 26-year-old became a small-town California mayor. Then a jet dumped fuel on her snakebit city

Elizabeth Alcantar was at work when she began receiving a swarm of Twitter and Google alerts about a jet dumping fuel on her city .
She immediately texted her boss and said she had to go .
Her day job was as a coordinator for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles .
But a week earlier , the 26-year-old had been appointed mayor of the small city of Cudahy .
Alcantar rushed to City Hall , navigating around fire engines and police cars .
Then she began trying to figure out just what had happened to her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ struggled in the past with political corruption and environmental pollution .
Several nearby cities — Whittier , Pico Rivera , Downey and South Gate — were doused with fuel by a Delta airplane overhead .
But it was in Cudahy where almost two dozen students at Park Avenue Elementary School got splashed by the fuel .
Soon , TV trucks and reporters descended on the city .
Anger rose from the confusion .
“ There were a lot of thoughts running through my mind , ” Alcantar said .
“ Why our city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ drop , Alcantar organized a town hall where hundreds of raucous residents voiced anger toward Delta Air Lines in a cramped room .
A Delta spokeswoman was booed and heckled .
Jessica Barragan , a 30-year-old Cudahy resident whose 5-year-old daughter attends asked the Delta representative : “ Why did it only hit where Latinos live ?
” “ This is environmental racism !
” another resident shouted from the back of the room .
Since then , four teachers have sued the airline seeking compensatory damages for the emotional and physical distress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a statement , Delta said : “ We deeply regret any impact this may have had on you and your families .
We mean it when we say we are an airline led by our values ... and we will continue to work with community leaders to assist those affected by Flight 89.
” The Delta fuel drop struck a nerve in Cudahy , a small working-class and immigrant community that has been no stranger to environmental problems .
The city is one of Los Angeles County ’ s smallest but densest .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ paltry 1.2 square miles .
Cudahy sits along the cargo truck-choked 710 Freeway corridor .
In 2015 , when the Exide battery recycling plant in the nearby industrial town of Vernon was shut down after spewing arsenic and lead into southeast L.A. communities , Cudahy was one of the most affected cities .
Though the city doesn ’ t lie in the 1.7-mile Exide cleanup zone , blood samples from children in Cudahy tested positive for high amounts of lead .
Twenty years before the Jan. 14 Delta fuel dump , Park Avenue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It turned out the school had been built on toxic waste .
Officials discovered the playground was contaminated by petroleum .
For eight months , students were bused to schools outside of Cudahy .
Los Angeles County has 88 cities , including L.A. and other large ones such as Long Beach , Glendale and Pasadena .
Being the mayor of the vast majority of them does not confer substantial power in any broad sense .
What politicians in cities like Cudahy can do is relatively limited , especially in the face of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end up transcending their borders .
In many ways , what local politicians like Alcantar can best do is act as a bridge between residents and officials with more legislative might and authority , to help channel frustrations and to give an audience for them .
To help the people they represent feel as though they are being heard .
Derek Humphrey , a California political consultant , said Cudahy council members can use their “ bully pulpit ” to draw attention to the Delta fuel drop and other environmental injustices .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an airplane dumping fuel on schoolchildren , in order to get media attention , ” Humphrey said .
“ This is a community that ’ s used to environmental injustices , and I think [ Alcantar ] did a good job of mirroring the outrage of residents.
” In the weeks since the Delta fuel incident , Alcantar ’ s first agenda item was securing healthcare services from Delta for affected residents .
When the airline finally offered three days of free healthcare at Alta Med clinics , she pushed for more .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ care , more than a week after the dump .
Alcantar said that growing up in Huntington Park and Cudahy , two working-class majority Latino towns , has given her a perspective on the haves and have-nots of L.A. County cities .
Cudahy , she said , is firmly in the latter category .
“ It ’ s environmental racism , it ’ s environmental classism , ” she said .
“ It ’ s a whole slew of things we ’ re affected by because we have less money in our pockets.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ her neighbors as Cudahy ’ s council collapsed amid allegations that city officials attended meetings while intoxicated , rigged elections and were part of an illegal sex business , among other claims .
In 2012 , two council members and a city official were arrested by federal agents and charged with bribery .
“ I starkly remember the image of our mayor at the time being called out of his hiding in a store with his hands above his head and the police calling him out , ” she said .
“ That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my head forever.
” As a field deputy in county Supervisor Hilda Solis ’ office , Alcantar accompanied dozens of southeast L.A residents to Sacramento to campaign for funds to clean up the mess left by Exide , which closed in 2015 .
This history has informed the frustration of residents not only in Cudahy , but other surrounding cities .
Since the jet fuel dump , she and her colleagues have asked for soil sampling in people ’ s backyards and gardens .
They have asked for Delta representatives to go door @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happened and have demanded they release information about additives in the fuel that was dumped , so they can better assess long-term health effects .
Delta has either dragged its feet in providing services or offered no answers at all , citing an ongoing investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration , Alcantar said .
Alcantar points to the 2015 gas leak in affluent Porter Ranch , when residents were given vouchers to five-star hotels .
The mayor said there ’ s no reason why Delta , a multibillion-dollar company , can ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a sense of urgency and we are conveying that … but it doesn ’ t seem like it ’ s reciprocated from Delta ’ s side , ” Alcantar said .
The council is preparing a reimbursement proposal to Delta asking that the airline create a fund that would cover fuel drop-related claims as well as workforce development programs to assist residents in securing employment with the company .
In a statement , the airline said : “ For Delta , safety always comes first — this includes the safety of customers onboard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the communities we serve.
” In recent weeks , the news cycle has moved on : to the death of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant , his daughter and seven other people in a helicopter crash ; the spread of the coronavirus ; the impeachment hearings .
But Alcantar said her small town remains determined to keep the jet fuel dump in the forefront .
“ When I became mayor , I definitely did not expect that , seven days later , I would have to fully jump into action , ” she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expect it .
But I ’ m grateful I ’ m in a position to help my community in a time of dire need .
”

Cudahy Mayor Elizabeth Alcantar presides over a City Council meeting on Feb. 4. Alcantar, who a week into her term had to deal with a Delta jet dumping fuel on her city, represents hope for residents after years of corruption scandals.
Elizabeth Alcantar was at work when she began receiving a swarm of Twitter and Google alerts about a jet dumping fuel on her city.
She immediately texted her boss and said she had to go. Her day job was as a coordinator for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. But a week earlier, the 26-year-old had been appointed mayor of the small city of Cudahy.
Alcantar rushed to City Hall, navigating around fire engines and police cars. Then she began trying to figure out just what had happened to her town — a snakebit place that has struggled in the past with political corruption and environmental pollution. Several nearby cities — Whittier, Pico Rivera, Downey and South Gate — were doused with fuel by a Delta airplane overhead.
But it was in Cudahy where almost two dozen students at Park Avenue Elementary School got splashed by the fuel. Soon, TV trucks and reporters descended on the city. Anger rose from the confusion.
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“There were a lot of thoughts running through my mind,” Alcantar said. “Why our city?”
The week of the fuel drop, Alcantar organized a town hall where hundreds of raucous residents voiced anger toward Delta Air Lines in a cramped room. A Delta spokeswoman was booed and heckled. Jessica Barragan, a 30-year-old Cudahy resident whose 5-year-old daughter attends Park Avenue Elementary, asked the Delta representative: “Why did it only hit where Latinos live?”
“This is environmental racism!” another resident shouted from the back of the room.
Since then, four teachers have sued the airline seeking compensatory damages for the emotional and physical distress they and their students suffered.
In a statement, Delta said: “We deeply regret any impact this may have had on you and your families. We mean it when we say we are an airline led by our values ... and we will continue to work with community leaders to assist those affected by Flight 89.”
The Delta fuel drop struck a nerve in Cudahy, a small working-class and immigrant community that has been no stranger to environmental problems. The city is one of Los Angeles County’s smallest but densest. About 24,000 people are squeezed over a paltry 1.2 square miles. Cudahy sits along the cargo truck-choked 710 Freeway corridor.
In 2015, when the Exide battery recycling plant in the nearby industrial town of Vernon was shut down after spewing arsenic and lead into southeast L.A. communities, Cudahy was one of the most affected cities. Though the city doesn’t lie in the 1.7-mile Exide cleanup zone, blood samples from children in Cudahy tested positive for high amounts of lead.
Twenty years before the Jan. 14 Delta fuel dump, Park Avenue Elementary students saw its ground bubbling up. It turned out the school had been built on toxic waste. Officials discovered the playground was contaminated by petroleum. For eight months, students were bused to schools outside of Cudahy.
Los Angeles County has 88 cities, including L.A. and other large ones such as Long Beach, Glendale and Pasadena. Being the mayor of the vast majority of them does not confer substantial power in any broad sense. What politicians in cities like Cudahy can do is relatively limited, especially in the face of events that, by their scale, end up transcending their borders.
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Cudahy Mayor Elizabeth Alcantar in front of City Hall. “When I became mayor, I definitely did not expect that, seven days later, I would have to fully jump into action,” she said. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
In many ways, what local politicians like Alcantar can best do is act as a bridge between residents and officials with more legislative might and authority, to help channel frustrations and to give an audience for them. To help the people they represent feel as though they are being heard.
Derek Humphrey, a California political consultant, said Cudahy council members can use their “bully pulpit” to draw attention to the Delta fuel drop and other environmental injustices.
“Sometimes it takes something awful, like an airplane dumping fuel on schoolchildren, in order to get media attention,” Humphrey said. “This is a community that’s used to environmental injustices, and I think [Alcantar] did a good job of mirroring the outrage of residents.”
In the weeks since the Delta fuel incident, Alcantar’s first agenda item was securing healthcare services from Delta for affected residents. When the airline finally offered three days of free healthcare at Alta Med clinics, she pushed for more. Delta agreed to two extra days of care, more than a week after the dump.
Alcantar said that growing up in Huntington Park and Cudahy, two working-class majority Latino towns, has given her a perspective on the haves and have-nots of L.A. County cities. Cudahy, she said, is firmly in the latter category.
“It’s environmental racism, it’s environmental classism,” she said. “It’s a whole slew of things we’re affected by because we have less money in our pockets.”
Years ago, she watched with her neighbors as Cudahy’s council collapsed amid allegations that city officials attended meetings while intoxicated, rigged elections and were part of an illegal sex business, among other claims. In 2012, two council members and a city official were arrested by federal agents and charged with bribery.
“I starkly remember the image of our mayor at the time being called out of his hiding in a store with his hands above his head and the police calling him out,” she said. “That image, it’s ingrained into my head forever.”
As a field deputy in county Supervisor Hilda Solis’ office, Alcantar accompanied dozens of southeast L.A residents to Sacramento to campaign for funds to clean up the mess left by Exide, which closed in 2015.
This history has informed the frustration of residents not only in Cudahy, but other surrounding cities.
Since the jet fuel dump, she and her colleagues have asked for soil sampling in people’s backyards and gardens. They have asked for Delta representatives to go door to door and inform residents about what happened and have demanded they release information about additives in the fuel that was dumped, so they can better assess long-term health effects.
Delta has either dragged its feet in providing services or offered no answers at all, citing an ongoing investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, Alcantar said.
Alcantar points to the 2015 gas leak in affluent Porter Ranch, when residents were given vouchers to five-star hotels. The mayor said there’s no reason why Delta, a multibillion-dollar company, can’t reimburse Cudahy.
“We absolutely have a sense of urgency and we are conveying that … but it doesn’t seem like it’s reciprocated from Delta’s side,” Alcantar said.
The council is preparing a reimbursement proposal to Delta asking that the airline create a fund that would cover fuel drop-related claims as well as workforce development programs to assist residents in securing employment with the company.
In a statement, the airline said: “For Delta, safety always comes first — this includes the safety of customers onboard our aircraft, our employees and those in the communities we serve.”
In recent weeks, the news cycle has moved on: to the death of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven other people in a helicopter crash; the spread of the coronavirus; the impeachment hearings. But Alcantar said her small town remains determined to keep the jet fuel dump in the forefront.
“When I became mayor, I definitely did not expect that, seven days later, I would have to fully jump into action,” she said. “You don’t expect it. But I’m grateful I’m in a position to help my community in a time of dire need.”
Times staff writer Ruben Vives contributed to this report.