latimes--2020-09-14--Her sister was lost in a California firestorm. How they were finally reunited

After she left her pottery class that evening , she heard that residents of Berry Creek — a hilly area not far from Paradise Calif. , the town largely destroyed by flames in the 2018 Camp fire — had been ordered to evacuate .
She immediately dialed her sister ’ s landline .
“ I ’ m going to go up there , ” Rancour-Aldridge , 50 , said she thought to herself .
She was determined to find her sister , Kelly Burke , 49 .
She was one of many family members desperately trying to find loved ones @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Butte County that were burned by the North Complex fire .
The fire moved so fast that some people could not get out in time .
It burned hundreds of homes in hamlets such as Berry Creek .
The death toll Sunday rose to 14 as two more bodies were recovered .
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said seven people are still missing and officials are working to locate them .
Rancour-Aldridge hopped into her truck Tuesday and drove to the base of a nearby mountain , but a sheriff ’ s deputy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rancour-Aldridge thought , given the history of the area — the way Paradise turned into a deathtrap in 2018 .
Even as she evacuated from her own home in Palermo , about an hour south , around midnight Wednesday , her mind raced with thoughts of her sister .
“ All kinds of scenarios were playing out in my head , ” she said .
“ But I know my sister really well .
If she is told to leave , she leaves.
” Eventually , Rancour-Aldridge got hold of one of her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her she ’ d seen Burke evacuating from the area with a friend .
By Thursday , still without word from her sister , Rancour-Aldridge decided to return to pottery class to distract her racing mind , but she couldn ’ t stop thinking about her free-spirited sister .
She thought about the Berry Creek home Burke had lived in for 25 years , where she had raised seven children .
The next day , Rancour-Aldridge ’ s daughter had an epiphany : They had forgotten to call local hospitals .
When she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Burke had been admitted a few hours earlier — not for smoke inhalation or burns , but for kidney stones .
Rancour-Aldridge rushed to the hospital to see her sister , who , she later learned , had helped other neighbors prepare to evacuate before fleeing down the mountain .
Her sister told her an unpaid phone bill was the reason the landline wasn ’ t working .
But Burke has larger worries because her home , as well as the homes of two of her children , were ultimately lost to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to raise money toward rebuilding .
When she told her sister she ’ d started the account , Burke said she would do anything to return to her home in the mountains .
“ I don ’ t care if I live in a tent , ” her sister said .
“ Oh , Kelly , you can ’ t go back , ” she told her sadly .
“ That place is cooked .
”

For Michelle Rancour-Aldridge, the panic began Tuesday night.
After she left her pottery class that evening, she heard that residents of Berry Creek — a hilly area not far from Paradise , Calif., the town largely destroyed by flames in the 2018 Camp fire — had been ordered to evacuate. She immediately dialed her sister’s landline.
The phone was disconnected.
“I’m going to go up there,” Rancour-Aldridge, 50, said she thought to herself. She was determined to find her sister, Kelly Burke, 49.
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She was one of many family members desperately trying to find loved ones who lived in the rural communities of Butte County that were burned by the North Complex fire.
Kelly Burke, far right with family members from left; Barbara Breding, Amber Warren, Chelsea Vonarmfelt, and Burke. (Michelle Rancour-Aldridge)
The fire moved so fast that some people could not get out in time. It burned hundreds of homes in hamlets such as Berry Creek. The death toll Sunday rose to 14 as two more bodies were recovered.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said seven people are still missing and officials are working to locate them.
California Extraordinary heat, rare summer snow brought unprecedented West Coast firestorms To understand why so many fires are burning out of control in the West, you have to go back to Labor Day — and the freak snowstorm that hit Colorado.
Rancour-Aldridge hopped into her truck Tuesday and drove to the base of a nearby mountain, but a sheriff’s deputy stopped her. It made sense, Rancour-Aldridge thought, given the history of the area — the way Paradise turned into a deathtrap in 2018.
Still, Rancour-Aldridge was terrified.
Even as she evacuated from her own home in Palermo, about an hour south, around midnight Wednesday, her mind raced with thoughts of her sister.
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“All kinds of scenarios were playing out in my head,” she said. “But I know my sister really well. If she is told to leave, she leaves.”
Eventually, Rancour-Aldridge got hold of one of her sister’s neighbors, who told her she’d seen Burke evacuating from the area with a friend.
By Thursday, still without word from her sister, Rancour-Aldridge decided to return to pottery class to distract her racing mind, but she couldn’t stop thinking about her free-spirited sister. She thought about the Berry Creek home Burke had lived in for 25 years, where she had raised seven children.
The next day, Rancour-Aldridge’s daughter had an epiphany: They had forgotten to call local hospitals. When she dialed Oroville Hospital, she learned that Burke had been admitted a few hours earlier — not for smoke inhalation or burns, but for kidney stones.
Rancour-Aldridge rushed to the hospital to see her sister, who, she later learned, had helped other neighbors prepare to evacuate before fleeing down the mountain.
Her sister told her an unpaid phone bill was the reason the landline wasn’t working. But Burke has larger worries because her home, as well as the homes of two of her children, were ultimately lost to the fire, said Rancour-Aldridge, who started a GoFundMe account to raise money toward rebuilding. When she told her sister she’d started the account, Burke said she would do anything to return to her home in the mountains.
“I don’t care if I live in a tent,” her sister said.
“Oh, Kelly, you can’t go back,” she told her sadly. “That place is cooked.”


latimes--2020-09-14--Earthquake: Magnitude 3.4 quakes felt near Ukiah, Calif.

A magnitude 3.4 earthquake was reported at 7:15 a.m. Monday 47 miles from Ukiah , Calif. , according to the U.S. Geological Survey .
The earthquake occurred 62 miles from Red Bluff , Calif. , 62 miles from Fortuna , Calif. , 66 miles from Redding , Calif. , and 68 miles from Anderson , Calif. At 8:36 a.m. another magnitude 3.4 earthquake was reported in almost the exact same spot , this one 48 miles from Ukiah , according to the USGS .
In the last 10 days before Monday , there have been no earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes of 3.0 to 4.0 occur each year in California and Nevada , according to a recent three-year data sample .
The initial earthquake occurred at a depth of 3.6 miles ; the second one was at a depth of 3.7 miles .
Did you feel these earthquakes ?
Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS .
Even if you didn ’ t feel these small earthquakes , you never know when the Big One is going to strike .
Ready yourself by following our five-step earthquake preparedness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This story was automatically generated by Quakebot , a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS .
A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published .
If you ’ re interested in learning more about the system , visit our list of frequently asked questions .

A magnitude 3.4 earthquake was reported at 7:15 a.m. Monday 47 miles from Ukiah, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The earthquake occurred 62 miles from Red Bluff, Calif., 62 miles from Fortuna, Calif., 66 miles from Redding, Calif., and 68 miles from Anderson, Calif.
At 8:36 a.m. another magnitude 3.4 earthquake was reported in almost the exact same spot, this one 48 miles from Ukiah, according to the USGS.
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In the last 10 days before Monday, there have been no earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.
An average of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes of 3.0 to 4.0 occur each year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three-year data sample.
The initial earthquake occurred at a depth of 3.6 miles; the second one was at a depth of 3.7 miles. Did you feel these earthquakes? Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS.
Even if you didn’t feel these small earthquakes, you never know when the Big One is going to strike. Ready yourself by following our five-step earthquake preparedness guide and building your own emergency kit.
This story was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published. If you’re interested in learning more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.


latimes--2020-09-14--School campuses in affluent areas plan to open quicker than those in poor Latino ones

The Capistrano Unified School District is ready to go , preparing to start welcoming students back to class on Sept. 28 , soon after Orange County is expected to meet the state ’ s COVID-19 requirements for reopening schools .
But 25 miles northwest , Santa Ana Unified School District officials have laid out a more sobering timetable .
Elementary schoolchildren probably won ’ t be back to class until at least November .
High school students ?
Possibly not until early 2021 .
“ We have some of the highest COVID rates in all of Orange County , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We ’ re not going to reopen just because the state tells us it ’ s OK , or the county gives us the go-ahead.
” The recent decline of new coronavirus cases in California has freed 25 counties to reopen schools in the weeks ahead .
On Sept. 1 , San Diego County — home to the second-largest school district in the state — got the go-ahead .
Orange County is on track to reopen schools on Sept. 22 .
San Francisco , Santa Clara and Santa Cruz are also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and county clearance are only the first steps .
In sprawling and diverse Orange and San Diego counties — and in the future Los Angeles County — school district leaders face disparate situations and complicated decisions that must take into account neighborhood COVID-19 rates , the size of the district , parent opinions and negotiations with employee unions .
Across the nation , many school districts switched from campus-based classes to online-only just before the start of school in response to outbreaks , staffing issues and lack of preparedness .
Some schools that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amid outbreaks .
In Los Angeles County , where COVID-19 remains widespread , such decisions are months away as Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said last week that no schools will be allowed to open to all students until at least November .
Districts such as Santa Ana and San Diego County ’ s National Elementary — and others serving low-income majority-Latino neighborhoods hard hit by the coronavirus — say it ’ s still unsafe to reopen , adding yet another blow to the disproportionate hardship of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communities were more likely to have slower access to computers and high-speed internet at the onset of school closures .
As school started this fall online , their families were often unable to afford private tutors — and their parents are more likely to hold jobs as essential workers , making it difficult to offer support at home .
Now many of these students won ’ t have the option to return to campus as early as their peers in more affluent communities with lower infection rates .
“ The same children whose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from March to June are now least likely to have the face-to-face interactions and personalized supports they need to regain lost ground , ” said economist Emma García , who co-wrote a report released last week on COVID-19-related inequities for the Economic Policy Institute , based in Washington , D.C .
In districts serving more affluent households , such as Capistrano Unified , COVID-19 rates are lower and school leaders believe their hard-tooled planning will allow for safe reopening .
Tustin and Cypress in Orange County are among the districts readying classrooms for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in San Diego County opened on Sept. 8 .
Small districts , meanwhile , may have more agility to pivot quickly from distance learning to in-person education .
Big districts , including San Diego Unified , must factor in myriad circumstances given the expanse and diversity of the communities they serve .
In the National Elementary School District , just south of San Diego , cumulative infection rates for the community are among the highest in the county : 2,593 people per 100,000 residents .
The district is 84 % Latino and 8 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 5 students live in poverty .
Supt .
Leighangela Brady announced in mid-August that the district hoped to reopen its 11 schools by Oct. 19 , but that the date might have to be pushed back given that coronavirus case rates in the community remained high .
Christina Benson , a union leader and fifth-grade teacher at Central Elementary in the National district , said the virus has taken a tragic toll on some of her 28 students : Five have had a family member die of COVID-19 .
And she worries about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus .
Her school is large and her classroom windows face a busy street near a fire station and naval base , making it challenging to keep them open for proper ventilation because of noise .
“ To me , it doesn ’ t seem like we could open , ” she said , “ our infections rates are too high.
” Meanwhile , Del Mar Union Elementary District , located along the coast north of San Diego , 26 miles from the National district , opened its campuses Tuesday .
Del @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two ZIP Codes that have had among the lowest county rates of coronavirus infection over the course of the pandemic , according to San Diego County health data .
About 8 % of its students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch , putting it among the most affluent school communities in the county .
“ The variation in school openings is not surprising , ” said Isidro D. Ortiz , professor of Chicana and Chicano studies at San Diego State University .
It reflects “ historical disparities in resources and educational opportunity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the largest ethnic group in the county .
“ The crisis calls for stakeholders to rise to the occasion across all districts , ” Ortiz said .
“ But will they ?
Will we see an exacerbation of the disparities ?
” In Orange County ’ s Anaheim Elementary School District , where about 85 % of students are Latino and 84 % qualify for free or reduced-price lunch , officials say local transmission rates make it impossible to reopen soon .
“ When we ’ re actually at a safe number , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” district spokeswoman Iris Camacho said .
In a letter to families in late August , district officials noted that the schools ’ surrounding neighborhoods “ continue to have approximately twice the COVID-19 positivity rates in comparison to all of Orange County.
” Just eight miles away , however , Cypress School District officials have announced that students will be allowed to return starting Sept. 23 , as long as county case rates continue to decline .
About 34 % of students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch .
The total @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is 1,027 per 100,000 , according to county data .
Health officials in Orange and San Diego counties say they are encouraging districts to look closely at case rates , ZIP Code by ZIP Code , as they consider reopening , Orange County Health Officer Dr. Clayton Chau said .
“ We have had weekly meetings with our 27 districts and the O.C .
Department of Education about their reopening plans , ” Chau said .
“ This is a work in progress that necessitates ongoing updates , review and dialogue.
” The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consider the wide diversity of the communities they serve .
In June , San Diego Unified ’ s Board of Education voted to open for five-days-a-week , on-campus instruction as soon as possible .
But though it has the county ’ s OK to open , it still hasn ’ t set a date .
“ The county ’ s decision to allow schools to reopen does not mean it is safe for every school to do so , ” district spokeswoman Maureen Magee said .
Many of the district ’ s 123,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for school , as do district employees , increasing the danger of spreading the virus .
“ These are precisely the kinds of local factors that districts are required to examine , ” Magee said .
With a quick reopening unlikely , the San Diego school board approved a plan to offer appointment-based , in-person services to help younger students most at risk of learning loss .
In-person “ learning-loss sessions ” for an estimated 12,000 students will be conducted one-on-one or in small groups only in spaces “ with adequate air exchange @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ventilation units , ” according to the district .
Parents too are weighing the possibility of returning to campus on a smaller level — based on unique family circumstances : Is a family member at high risk of developing serious complications from the virus ?
How have their children taken to online learning ?
Do both parents work from home ?
State rules require schools that do reopen to continue offering a distance-learning option .
And some districts are allowing parents to choose between attending school 100 % in person , 100 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kim , whose two teenage sons attend high school in the San Diego Unified School District , said she is leaning toward a hybrid option .
“ For high school and middle school , everything is about your friends , ” she said .
But she feels most comfortable with a “ one foot in the door , one foot out ” option , she said .
Home distractions , arguments and a need for structure have convinced Fullerton mother Juana Serrato on a return to the classroom as soon as possible .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , César , 10 , and Alan , 8 — attend Pacific Drive Elementary ’ s virtual classes from their bedrooms and the living room , while Serrato and 4-year-old Ariel do preschool activities in the kitchen .
“ They ’ re learning and they ’ re working their hardest to do their homework , but ... it ’ s hard to ask them to stare at a screen for hours , ” she said .
“ When one gets bored , he distracts another .
And when I go see what ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fighting , and how can they learn like that ?
” Serrato said that as long as children take precautions — wearing masks , socially distancing and washing hands frequently — they should be allowed to return to campus .
“ You have to live and have faith that things will be fine , ” Serrato said .
Trang Lai , Fullerton School District ’ s director of educational services , says no reopening date has been set , but officials are looking at “ anywhere from the third week in September to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It just depends on the number of [ COVID-19 ] cases.
” Alondra Castellanos says online learning has been challenging for son Phoenix , 8 , who is on the autistic spectrum and attends Roosevelt-Walker Elementary School in Santa Ana .
Castellanos bounces in between Zoom classes with her son while watching her 4-year-old daughter and working from home in telecommunications .
Still , even if an on-campus option were available , Castellanos said she wouldn ’ t send her son back .
Santa Ana has among the highest total case rates in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to the county health agency .
“ It ’ s safest to continue distance learning until at least after the winter break , ” she said .
“ If the situation improves , then maybe we can think about getting back to class .
”

Paloma Esquivel, Howard Blume, Andrew J. Campa

Principal Ryan Stanley, left, welcomes second-grader Maeva Chappaz, with her mother, Amelie Chappaz, upon arrival for her first day of in-class instruction at Ocean Air School in the Del Mar Union School District.
The Capistrano Unified School District is ready to go, preparing to start welcoming students back to class on Sept. 28, soon after Orange County is expected to meet the state’s COVID-19 requirements for reopening schools.
But 25 miles northwest, Santa Ana Unified School District officials have laid out a more sobering timetable. Elementary schoolchildren probably won’t be back to class until at least November. High school students? Possibly not until early 2021.
“We have some of the highest COVID rates in all of Orange County,” Santa Ana district spokesman Fermin Leal said. “We’re not going to reopen just because the state tells us it’s OK, or the county gives us the go-ahead.”
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The recent decline of new coronavirus cases in California has freed 25 counties to reopen schools in the weeks ahead. On Sept. 1, San Diego County — home to the second-largest school district in the state — got the go-ahead. Orange County is on track to reopen schools on Sept. 22. San Francisco, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz are also cleared to soon open.
But state and county clearance are only the first steps. In sprawling and diverse Orange and San Diego counties — and in the future Los Angeles County — school district leaders face disparate situations and complicated decisions that must take into account neighborhood COVID-19 rates, the size of the district, parent opinions and negotiations with employee unions.
Across the nation, many school districts switched from campus-based classes to online-only just before the start of school in response to outbreaks, staffing issues and lack of preparedness. Some schools that did open had to quickly shut down amid outbreaks.
In Los Angeles County, where COVID-19 remains widespread, such decisions are months away as Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said last week that no schools will be allowed to open to all students until at least November.
Districts such as Santa Ana and San Diego County’s National Elementary — and others serving low-income majority-Latino neighborhoods hard hit by the coronavirus — say it’s still unsafe to reopen, adding yet another blow to the disproportionate hardship of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities of color.
Children in many of these communities were more likely to have slower access to computers and high-speed internet at the onset of school closures. As school started this fall online, their families were often unable to afford private tutors — and their parents are more likely to hold jobs as essential workers, making it difficult to offer support at home. Now many of these students won’t have the option to return to campus as early as their peers in more affluent communities with lower infection rates.
“The same children whose educations were most disrupted and learning interrupted from March to June are now least likely to have the face-to-face interactions and personalized supports they need to regain lost ground,” said economist Emma García, who co-wrote a report released last week on COVID-19-related inequities for the Economic Policy Institute, based in Washington, D.C.
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In districts serving more affluent households, such as Capistrano Unified, COVID-19 rates are lower and school leaders believe their hard-tooled planning will allow for safe reopening. Tustin and Cypress in Orange County are among the districts readying classrooms for their students. Del Mar Union Elementary in San Diego County opened on Sept. 8.
Small districts, meanwhile, may have more agility to pivot quickly from distance learning to in-person education. Big districts, including San Diego Unified, must factor in myriad circumstances given the expanse and diversity of the communities they serve.
Tough choices for schools
In the National Elementary School District, just south of San Diego, cumulative infection rates for the community are among the highest in the county: 2,593 people per 100,000 residents. The district is 84% Latino and 8% Filipino, and nearly 4 in 5 students live in poverty.
Supt. Leighangela Brady announced in mid-August that the district hoped to reopen its 11 schools by Oct. 19, but that the date might have to be pushed back given that coronavirus case rates in the community remained high.
Christina Benson, a union leader and fifth-grade teacher at Central Elementary in the National district, said the virus has taken a tragic toll on some of her 28 students: Five have had a family member die of COVID-19.
And she worries about whether schools are ready to protect against the virus. Her school is large and her classroom windows face a busy street near a fire station and naval base, making it challenging to keep them open for proper ventilation because of noise.
“To me, it doesn’t seem like we could open,” she said, “our infections rates are too high.”
Meanwhile, Del Mar Union Elementary District, located along the coast north of San Diego, 26 miles from the National district, opened its campuses Tuesday.
Del Mar’s eight schools operate in two ZIP Codes that have had among the lowest county rates of coronavirus infection over the course of the pandemic, according to San Diego County health data. About 8% of its students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch, putting it among the most affluent school communities in the county.
“The variation in school openings is not surprising,” said Isidro D. Ortiz, professor of Chicana and Chicano studies at San Diego State University. It reflects “historical disparities in resources and educational opportunity” for Latinos, who make up the largest ethnic group in the county.
“The crisis calls for stakeholders to rise to the occasion across all districts,” Ortiz said. “But will they? Will we see an exacerbation of the disparities?”
In Orange County’s Anaheim Elementary School District, where about 85% of students are Latino and 84% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, officials say local transmission rates make it impossible to reopen soon.
“When we’re actually at a safe number, then we’ll consider the reopening,” district spokeswoman Iris Camacho said.
In a letter to families in late August, district officials noted that the schools’ surrounding neighborhoods “continue to have approximately twice the COVID-19 positivity rates in comparison to all of Orange County.”
Just eight miles away, however, Cypress School District officials have announced that students will be allowed to return starting Sept. 23, as long as county case rates continue to decline. About 34% of students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch. The total case rate in the city of Cypress is 1,027 per 100,000, according to county data.
Health officials in Orange and San Diego counties say they are encouraging districts to look closely at case rates, ZIP Code by ZIP Code, as they consider reopening, Orange County Health Officer Dr. Clayton Chau said.
“We have had weekly meetings with our 27 districts and the O.C. Department of Education about their reopening plans,” Chau said. “This is a work in progress that necessitates ongoing updates, review and dialogue.”
The largest school districts, meanwhile, must consider the wide diversity of the communities they serve.
In June, San Diego Unified’s Board of Education voted to open for five-days-a-week, on-campus instruction as soon as possible. But though it has the county’s OK to open, it still hasn’t set a date.
“The county’s decision to allow schools to reopen does not mean it is safe for every school to do so,” district spokeswoman Maureen Magee said. Many of the district’s 123,000 students travel from one neighborhood to another for school, as do district employees, increasing the danger of spreading the virus.
“These are precisely the kinds of local factors that districts are required to examine,” Magee said.
With a quick reopening unlikely, the San Diego school board approved a plan to offer appointment-based, in-person services to help younger students most at risk of learning loss. In-person “learning-loss sessions” for an estimated 12,000 students will be conducted one-on-one or in small groups only in spaces “with adequate air exchange, including MERV-13 air filters and/or portable ventilation units,” according to the district.
Parents have differing opinions
Parents too are weighing the possibility of returning to campus on a smaller level — based on unique family circumstances:
Is a family member at high risk of developing serious complications from the virus? How have their children taken to online learning? Do both parents work from home? State rules require schools that do reopen to continue offering a distance-learning option. And some districts are allowing parents to choose between attending school 100% in person, 100% online or a hybrid.
Lee Ann Kim, whose two teenage sons attend high school in the San Diego Unified School District, said she is leaning toward a hybrid option.
“For high school and middle school, everything is about your friends,” she said. But she feels most comfortable with a “one foot in the door, one foot out” option, she said.
Home distractions, arguments and a need for structure have convinced Fullerton mother Juana Serrato on a return to the classroom as soon as possible.
Her three boys — Edgar, 11, César, 10, and Alan, 8 — attend Pacific Drive Elementary’s virtual classes from their bedrooms and the living room, while Serrato and 4-year-old Ariel do preschool activities in the kitchen.
“They’re learning and they’re working their hardest to do their homework, but ... it’s hard to ask them to stare at a screen for hours,” she said. “When one gets bored, he distracts another. And when I go see what’s going on, sometimes two are fighting, and how can they learn like that?”
Serrato said that as long as children take precautions — wearing masks, socially distancing and washing hands frequently — they should be allowed to return to campus.
“You have to live and have faith that things will be fine,” Serrato said.
Trang Lai, Fullerton School District’s director of educational services, says no reopening date has been set, but officials are looking at “anywhere from the third week in September to October,” she said. “It just depends on the number of [COVID-19] cases.”
Alondra Castellanos says online learning has been challenging for son Phoenix, 8, who is on the autistic spectrum and attends Roosevelt-Walker Elementary School in Santa Ana. Castellanos bounces in between Zoom classes with her son while watching her 4-year-old daughter and working from home in telecommunications.
“This all takes a toll,” Castellanos said.
Still, even if an on-campus option were available, Castellanos said she wouldn’t send her son back. Santa Ana has among the highest total case rates in Orange County: 2,848 per 100,000, according to the county health agency.
“It’s safest to continue distance learning until at least after the winter break,” she said. “If the situation improves, then maybe we can think about getting back to class.”
Times staff writer Ada Tseng contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-09-14--Does anyone in your child's classroom have coronavirus?  An LAUSD website will tell you.

Although students and parents will not be returning to their Los Angeles public school anytime soon , when campuses do reopen , L.A. Unified plans to operate a website that will provide detailed information about coronavirus outbreaks at an individual campus and even each classroom .
Under the plan — part of the district ’ s ambitious testing and contact tracing plan for all students , staff and their families — anyone could learn the number of positive cases to date and the number of active cases broken down by school , grade and by the small “ cohorts ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ together once campuses are able to reopen .
Students or staff would not be identified .
But parents could learn , for example , about a new case among the 12 first-graders in a particular cohort .
In that example , the public web page would note : “ All families of students in Cohort 1A are notified to stay home and students in 1A will participate in online learning until health guidelines allow their return.
” The online information also would allow parents to learn about what ’ s going on at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as how many schools nearby are open or closed and test results in the school community by age .
The age range starts at newborn to 5 and goes up to 71-plus , because the goal is to include information about infections among all family members .
Families would not be identified .
If the district ’ s testing , tracing and website plan unfolds as described , it could be one of the most detailed to date for a U.S. school district , involving nearly 500,000 students and 75,000 staff members .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Beutner said the district effort is part of a partnership that includes UCLA , Stanford and Johns Hopkins University , Microsoft , Anthem Blue Cross and HealthNet , among others — with a price tag of roughly $ 300 per student over a year , for close to $ 150 million .
The district has received hundreds of millions of dollars in coronavirus-related aid but has given few details of exactly how the testing would be paid for .
The website information could help schools to open and operate as safely as possible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
No campus in Los Angeles County will be allowed to reopen to all K-12 students until at least November , county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said late last week .
“ Don ’ t expect to see a decision about a return to school classrooms by students until the case rate in the area is significantly lower and remains there , ” Beutner said in remarks scheduled for broadcast Monday morning .
“ Los Angeles is purple on the state dashboard , the highest risk category , defined as widespread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ means it ’ s not appropriate for students to be back in classrooms.
” As of Monday , schools in Los Angeles County are permitted to open to serve small groups of students with special needs , such as students with disabilities and students learning English .
But the process for bringing students back involves extensive safety measures and negotiations with employee groups , notably the teachers union .
And most public schools in the county ’ s 80 districts do not appear ready to bring back immediately any groups of students for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the weeks or months ahead , Beutner sees the testing and tracing effort as a necessary component to reopening campuses .
As part of the ramp up , L.A. Unified on Thursday and Friday tested more than 5,000 staff members and their children .
Seven tests came back positive , six adults and one child , he said Monday .
Beutner added that , over the next several weeks , all staff and students will be provided with an initial , baseline test .
After this , “ there will be periodic testing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stanford , UCLA and Johns Hopkins .
The district also will provide testing for household members of students or staff who test positive for the coronavirus or who show symptoms .
In this way , the L.A. Unified initiative will feed into the larger county health program .
Beutner said that the district is prepared to test 5,000 people per day this week and that it soon hopes to test 20,000 per day .
As part of an official kickoff , Beutner was scheduled Monday morning to be tested at a school in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Richard Vladovic .
“ Testing at schools will be for all in the school community , including many from neighborhoods which have lacked access to testing , ” Beutner said .
“ We ’ ll also be including far more children in our testing effort.
” “ The information from this program , which is based on a school community , will be of value to researchers and policy makers as they develop plans to combat the virus and provide additional support to schools , ” he added .

A sample of a school “report card” for coronavirus cases that L.A. Unified hopes to use as part of its testing program.
When schools finally reopen, Los Angeles public school students and their parents will face one new admissions requirement: a negative coronavirus test.
All 80 school districts in Los Angeles County are closed to the general student population until at least November. But when the time comes, a coronavirus test will be a crucial part of the reopening process in the state’s largest school district, Los Angeles Unified. Families that do not agree can stick with online-only instruction.
“We are going out and we’re testing all of our employees and all of our students,” said school board President Richard Vladovic, speaking Monday at the testing site set up at Harry Bridges Span School in Wilmington. “That’s essential as we prepare to return to schools.”
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Vladovic said the district’s ambitious testing plan gives him hope that campuses could reopen soon in some form. Long Beach Unified, the county’s second-largest district, announced last week that the general student population would not return to campuses until January.
Besides mandatory testing, L.A. Unified is incorporating an unusual degree of transparency — setting up a website that will provide detailed information about coronavirus outbreaks at an individual campus and even each classroom.
LAUSD Supt. Austin Beutner announces a testing and contact tracing program. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times)
L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner said in an interview Monday that the groundbreaking initiative has to not only help make schools safe, but make them feel safe, which is why parents — and the public — will be able to look up a school and learn the number of positive cases to date and the number of active cases broken down by grade and by the small “cohorts” of students who will spend the day together once a campus is able to reopen.
Students or staff would not be identified. But parents could learn, for example, about a new case among the 12 first-graders in a particular cohort. In that example, the public web page would note: “All families of students in Cohort 1A are notified to stay home and students in 1A will participate in online learning until health guidelines allow their return.”
“If the rest of the school doesn’t know where the occurrence was, you’re not creating an environment where people feel it’s safe to come back,” Beutner said.
The online information also would allow parents to learn about what’s going on at L.A. Unified schools around them, such as how many schools nearby are open or closed and test results in the school community by age. The age range starts at newborn to 5 and goes up to 71-plus, because the goal is to include information about infections among all family members. Families would not be identified.
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The district’s massive undertaking will involve nearly 500,000 K-12 students, 75,000 staff members and thousands of preschool and adult school students. The district‘s partners include UCLA, Stanford, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, Anthem Blue Cross and HealthNet, among others — with a price tag of roughly $300 per student over a year, about $150 million.
The district has received hundreds of millions of dollars in coronavirus-related aid but released few details of how the testing would be paid for.
California School campuses in affluent areas plan to open quicker than those in poor Latino ones San Diego County has gotten the green light to reopen schools, and Orange County officials believe they’ll soon be allowed to follow. But the picture on a school district level is far more complicated.
County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, in a call Thursday with county school officials, expressed skepticism about the benefits of widespread school-based testing — unless it were done every other day with a fast turnaround for results. Better, she said, to focus on preventive measures and targeted testing and contact tracing. The district plan includes those elements.
As of Monday, schools in Los Angeles County are permitted to open to serve small groups of students with special needs, such as students with disabilities and students learning English. But the process for bringing students back involves extensive safety measures and negotiations with employee groups, notably the teachers union. And most public schools in the county, including L.A. Unified, do not appear ready to immediately bring back any groups of students for instruction.
As part of the L.A. Unified testing ramp up, more than 5,000 staff members and their children were tested late last week. Seven tests came back positive, six adults and one child, Beutner said Monday. The first group to be tested includes employees working at schools and some of their children. The first students are likely to be those referred by teachers for one-on-one, in-person tutoring, which will take place outside, but on campus.
Beutner added that, over the next several weeks, all staff and students will be provided with an initial, baseline test. After this, “there will be periodic testing based on advice from epidemiologists.”
The district also will provide testing for household members of students or staff who test positive or who show symptoms. In this way, the L.A. Unified initiative will feed into the larger county health program. Beutner said that the district hopes to build up to 5,000 tests per day this week, with the goal of soon reaching as many as 20,000 per day.


latimes--2020-09-14--Essay: From fires to pollution, smog has been California's dark companion for centuries

When I close my eyes and think about that day in the late 1970s , I ’ m struck by the colors .
The bright red of my favorite shirt .
The silvery gray of smog sifting through the trees .
The leaves , bleached by chemicals in the air , were soft-edged blobs of an indiscriminate dark hue .
I was in college and I ’ d driven from Northridge to Pasadena to visit the Norton Simon Museum .
I don ’ t remember the paintings .
What I do remember is the air pollution , thick and viscous @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about smog during this terrible mid-September .
California is on fire , millions of acres torched , tens of thousands of people evacuated .
The pall of smoke from Northern California ’ s flames has been visible from space .
The sky is an orangey tan in the San Gabriel Valley , cement gray-brown even at the beach .
Mountains have vanished behind the haze .
It ’ s like a memo from Southern California ’ s past , a dire reminder of the bad old days when smoke-belching cars rolled through the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was regularly obscured and we ’ d yet to figure out what made our eyes sting and our lungs burn .
The air was so bad this weekend that eight Los Angeles County parks were closed , and “ reopening is contingent on air quality and safety measures.
” The smoke forced a handful of county-run coronavirus test sites to close , one assault on our lungs making it harder for us to monitor another .
The Los Angeles Basin has a long , dark relationship with smog .
In 1542 , explorer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ La Bahia de los Fumos ” — the Bay of Smokes — because of the persistent , ground-hugging smoke from fires set by members of the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe as they hunted game on the hillsides .
There have been so many milestones since .
In 1901 , a particularly bad-air day was mistaken for an eclipse of the sun .
In July 1943 , thick , persistent smog in downtown Los Angeles shrank visibility to just three blocks .
That episode kicks off “ Smogtown : The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and William J. Kelly noted in the 2008 work , “ though nobody realized it then , the mystery cloudbank would rattle the planet — making ‘ green ’ a cause , not just a color — but first there was the suffering , a city full of it.
” And on Sept. 13 , 1955 , this car-loving sprawl of a city experienced the smoggiest day in its history , one that has not been equaled since .
The ozone level in downtown L.A. was a lung-damaging 0.68 parts per million .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ was the worst air day in a generation ; the ozone level spiked at just 185 parts per billion .
Sunday was the 65th anniversary of that smoggiest day ever , a reminder that , although there is much work to be done to make Southern California ’ s air more breathable , we still have come a long way .
If you celebrated by looking out the window , however , chances are you saw ... not very far .
On Saturday , Mary Nichols put off taking her dog for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mid-Wilshire area , and by late afternoon , she said , it hurt to breathe .
We are inhaling everything that burned , and it ’ s not just trees and brush .
“ It ’ s also houses and commercial buildings and other things that were in [ the fires ’ path ] , ” she said .
“ It ’ s undoubtedly got some unhealthy things in addition to just plain old carbon soot .
...
There ’ s going to be chemicals from burning tires , burning plastics , all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health.
” Nichols knows her smog and how air quality in the Golden State has improved through the decades .
She is chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board , first appointed to the job by then-Gov .
Jerry Brown in 1975 .
She has served in the same position on and off since , under Govs .
Arnold Schwarzenegger , Brown again and , now , Gavin Newsom .
Nichols took her first trip to Los Angeles in 1969 when she was a student at Yale Law School .
She and classmate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I remember descending into the basin , driving west toward Sunset Boulevard and being astonished by the peculiar color of the air , ” she told The Times in an early profile .
“ It was a kind of flaming orange — not a natural color , but a peculiar , day-glo , chemical kind of orange.
” Today , she has other sensory memories of when breathing in Los Angeles was a regular assault on the lungs .
“ I have a more vivid memory of the smell of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she said in an interview Saturday .
“ There were chemicals in use in those days that are no longer in use .
... You had both the ugly gray sky and the smell of the air.
” Nichols filed what is often described as the first lawsuit under the federal Clean Air Act , suing the state of California to force then-Gov .
Ronald Reagan to meet the requirements of the federal Environmental Protection Agency .
She won , but found out that making governments change is slow , hard work .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ quality , she said , was requiring catalytic converters on all new cars .
California pushed oil companies to formulate unleaded gasoline for use in the state .
The federal government followed later .
Another major improvement was requiring power plants to shift from oil to natural gas , she said ; they have since become cleaner still .
For all the gains , however , improvements have plateaued in recent years , and pollution levels have begun to creep back up .
One thing that worries air pollution attorney Adrian Martinez is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the smoggiest days of the 20th century .
And that gives a false sense of accomplishment .
“ We ’ re not going back to the levels of the ’ 60s and ’ 70s , but if your strategy is to make it safe to breathe , we need dramatic reductions in pollution , ” said Martinez , who is a staff attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice and tweets as @ LASmogGuy .
That means , he said , “ we need to go to zero emissions , ” and not just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ serious polluters such as ships and trains .
He does , however , see some hope .
As a country we ’ re talking more about environmental justice , about the need to clean the air where poorer people live , too , in neighborhoods crisscrossed by a lattice of freeways coursing with the exhaust of interminable traffic .
There may be an odd upside to our current gray skies .
“ If being in the pollution makes us realize how harmful it actually is , it could give us the impetus to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Martinez said .
“ Lots of lives will be saved .
That ’ s the big thing .
Air pollution is literally a life-or-death issue .
...
It ’ s a shame it took these fires and pandemic , but hopefully we can shift how we operate.
” My family moved from central New Jersey to Southern California in February 1969 , Cranbury Township to the San Fernando Valley .
I was a chubby , lost 9-year-old , a smog-earthquake-wildfire novice .
Growing up in Granada Hills and Northridge , I remember seeing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on a rare , clear day .
They were craggy , beautiful and so close .
They ’ d been hidden behind a mantle of smog .
I was stunned .
During my first fire season , I stood on our front lawn on Rinaldi Street , mid afternoon , dark as night .
Ash like fat snowflakes sifted down .
Evacuees drove by , their cars filled with belongings snatched in panic .
I vowed that , if God spared us , I would enter the convent .
And now , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rages on , I am parked at the western end of Rose Avenue in Venice , a block or so from the scruffy apartment building where I lived in the mid-1980s .
It is Saturday , 8:45 a.m .
The ocean is a slender , dark gray stripe , the horizon a mere suggestion .
Malibu has disappeared , ditto the Palos Verdes Peninsula .
The sun is a hazy , salmon-colored disc .
My eyes sting .
Looking east , there is nothing beyond Pacific Avenue .
You need memory to believe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the distance .
And faith to believe you will see them again .
In California , in 2020 , the first one is easy .

Wildfires have blanketed the Southland in an ashy haze. Above, a darkened sky outside Christ Cathedral last week in Garden Grove.
When I close my eyes and think about that day in the late 1970s, I’m struck by the colors. The bright red of my favorite shirt. The silvery gray of smog sifting through the trees. The leaves, bleached by chemicals in the air, were soft-edged blobs of an indiscriminate dark hue.
I was in college and I’d driven from Northridge to Pasadena to visit the Norton Simon Museum. I don’t remember the paintings. What I do remember is the air pollution, thick and viscous.
It is hard not to think about smog during this terrible mid-September. California is on fire, millions of acres torched, tens of thousands of people evacuated. The pall of smoke from Northern California’s flames has been visible from space.
Advertisement
The sky is an orangey tan in the San Gabriel Valley, cement gray-brown even at the beach. Mountains have vanished behind the haze. It’s like a memo from Southern California’s past, a dire reminder of the bad old days when smoke-belching cars rolled through the streets, unchastened, when City Hall was regularly obscured and we’d yet to figure out what made our eyes sting and our lungs burn.
The air was so bad this weekend that eight Los Angeles County parks were closed, and “reopening is contingent on air quality and safety measures.”
The smoke forced a handful of county-run coronavirus test sites to close, one assault on our lungs making it harder for us to monitor another.
The Los Angeles Basin has a long, dark relationship with smog. In 1542, explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo christened San Pedro Bay “La Bahia de los Fumos” — the Bay of Smokes — because of the persistent, ground-hugging smoke from fires set by members of the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe as they hunted game on the hillsides.
There have been so many milestones since.
Motorcycle messenger Frank Stone uses a gas mask while making deliveries Sept. 14, 1955. A day earlier, L.A. experienced the smoggiest day in its history. (Los Angeles Times Archive / UCLA)
In 1901, a particularly bad-air day was mistaken for an eclipse of the sun.
Advertisement
In July 1943, thick, persistent smog in downtown Los Angeles shrank visibility to just three blocks. That episode kicks off “Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles.” As authors Chip Jacobs and William J. Kelly noted in the 2008 work, “though nobody realized it then, the mystery cloudbank would rattle the planet — making ‘green’ a cause, not just a color — but first there was the suffering, a city full of it.”
And on Sept. 13, 1955, this car-loving sprawl of a city experienced the smoggiest day in its history, one that has not been equaled since. The ozone level in downtown L.A. was a lung-damaging 0.68 parts per million. In contrast, this Labor Day weekend was the worst air day in a generation; the ozone level spiked at just 185 parts per billion.
::
Sunday was the 65th anniversary of that smoggiest day ever, a reminder that, although there is much work to be done to make Southern California’s air more breathable, we still have come a long way.
If you celebrated by looking out the window, however, chances are you saw ... not very far.
On Saturday, Mary Nichols put off taking her dog for a morning walk. She lives in the Mid-Wilshire area, and by late afternoon, she said, it hurt to breathe. We are inhaling everything that burned, and it’s not just trees and brush.
“It’s also houses and commercial buildings and other things that were in [the fires’ path],” she said. “It’s undoubtedly got some unhealthy things in addition to just plain old carbon soot. ... There’s going to be chemicals from burning tires, burning plastics, all of which are more seriously harmful to health.”
Although California has made strides in air quality, pollution levels have begun to creep back up. Above, the smog near L.A. City Hall is so bad in 1953 that pedestrians carry rags to wipe tears. (R.L. Oliver / Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive at UCLA)
Nichols knows her smog and how air quality in the Golden State has improved through the decades. She is chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, first appointed to the job by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in 1975. She has served in the same position on and off since, under Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brown again and, now, Gavin Newsom.
Nichols took her first trip to Los Angeles in 1969 when she was a student at Yale Law School. She and classmate arrived in the city in late afternoon.
“I remember descending into the basin, driving west toward Sunset Boulevard and being astonished by the peculiar color of the air,” she told The Times in an early profile. “It was a kind of flaming orange — not a natural color, but a peculiar, day-glo, chemical kind of orange.”
Today, she has other sensory memories of when breathing in Los Angeles was a regular assault on the lungs.
“I have a more vivid memory of the smell of the air, especially around LAX,” she said in an interview Saturday. “There were chemicals in use in those days that are no longer in use. ... You had both the ugly gray sky and the smell of the air.”
Nichols filed what is often described as the first lawsuit under the federal Clean Air Act, suing the state of California to force then-Gov. Ronald Reagan to meet the requirements of the federal Environmental Protection Agency. She won, but found out that making governments change is slow, hard work.
The single biggest step toward improving air quality, she said, was requiring catalytic converters on all new cars. California pushed oil companies to formulate unleaded gasoline for use in the state. The federal government followed later. Another major improvement was requiring power plants to shift from oil to natural gas, she said; they have since become cleaner still.
For all the gains, however, improvements have plateaued in recent years, and pollution levels have begun to creep back up. One thing that worries air pollution attorney Adrian Martinez is that people often measure our progress against the smoggiest days of the 20th century. And that gives a false sense of accomplishment.
“We’re not going back to the levels of the ’60s and ’70s, but if your strategy is to make it safe to breathe, we need dramatic reductions in pollution,” said Martinez, who is a staff attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice and tweets as @LASmogGuy.
That means, he said, “we need to go to zero emissions,” and not just with cars, but also with more serious polluters such as ships and trains. He does, however, see some hope. As a country we’re talking more about environmental justice, about the need to clean the air where poorer people live, too, in neighborhoods crisscrossed by a lattice of freeways coursing with the exhaust of interminable traffic.
There may be an odd upside to our current gray skies.
“If being in the pollution makes us realize how harmful it actually is, it could give us the impetus to solve this air pollution problem,” Martinez said. “Lots of lives will be saved. That’s the big thing. Air pollution is literally a life-or-death issue. ... It’s a shame it took these fires and pandemic, but hopefully we can shift how we operate.”
::
Downtown L.A.’s skyline is shrouded in smog. “If your strategy is to make it safe to breathe, we need dramatic reductions in pollution,” an attorney says. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
My family moved from central New Jersey to Southern California in February 1969, Cranbury Township to the San Fernando Valley. I was a chubby, lost 9-year-old, a smog-earthquake-wildfire novice.
Growing up in Granada Hills and Northridge, I remember seeing the nearby foothills for the first time on a rare, clear day. They were craggy, beautiful and so close. They’d been hidden behind a mantle of smog. I was stunned.
During my first fire season, I stood on our front lawn on Rinaldi Street, mid afternoon, dark as night. Ash like fat snowflakes sifted down. Evacuees drove by, their cars filled with belongings snatched in panic.
I vowed that, if God spared us, I would enter the convent.
We were fine.
And now, as the worst fire season in California history rages on, I am parked at the western end of Rose Avenue in Venice, a block or so from the scruffy apartment building where I lived in the mid-1980s.
It is Saturday, 8:45 a.m. The ocean is a slender, dark gray stripe, the horizon a mere suggestion. Malibu has disappeared, ditto the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The sun is a hazy, salmon-colored disc. My eyes sting.
Looking east, there is nothing beyond Pacific Avenue.
You need memory to believe the San Gabriel Mountains still rise somewhere in the distance.
And faith to believe you will see them again.
In California, in 2020, the first one is easy.


latimes--2020-09-14--Extraordinary heat, rare summer snow brought unprecedented West Coast firestorms

The West Coast had just experienced a record-shattering heat wave when news came last week of a rare late-summer snowstorm in Colorado .
To those still sweltering in California , Oregon and Washington , it sounded like a dream come true .
In fact , it was an omen of a greater disaster to come .
As the blast of cold air in the Rocky Mountains sank , it searched for an escape — the lands of hotter weather farther west , toward the Pacific Coast .
That triggered furious winds that poured over the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over the entire Pacific Coast , where fires were already burning in crackling-dry brush and timber .
The result : an epic firestorm hopscotching from the Mexican to Canadian borders that has killed dozens of people , wiped out entire towns and caused some of the worst air pollution ever seen in the region .
For California , it ’ s the second time in a month that a host of unfortunate weather conditions have aligned in a way that has fueled a spread of wildfires at record speed .
The rapid spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ climate change , which not only makes temperatures hotter , but also is blamed by some scientists for causing while wet periods get wetter , making vegetation even more ripe for kindling .
In Oregon , too , where at least 10 have died and officials prepare for a “ mass fatality incident ” as they search for the missing , there was no precedent in the modern record for the sheer number and scale of the wildfires .
The fires in Washington have been the second worst in that state ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fires have burned more than 3.3 million acres in California , over 1 million acres in Oregon , and more than 625,000 acres in Washington state .
California last broke its record for its largest wildfire season just two years ago , when more than 1.8 million acres burned .
The unprecedented nature of the current fires has its origins in the extreme cold that began hitting the Rockies on Labor Day .
It caused cold air to sink , increasing air pressure at the surface ; at the same time , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ air to rise , lowering air pressure at the ground , according to Rebecca Muessle , meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Portland , Ore. And since winds flow from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure , that sent powerful winds screaming from the east to the west .
Many Californians know these downslope wind events as Santa Anas or Diablos ; Oregon and Washington forecasters call them offshore wind events or east winds .
Whatever its name , the wind event last week “ was particularly strong @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wind event , ” said meteorologist Connie Clarstrom of the National Weather Service office in Medford , Ore. “ That ’ s a very rare occurrence to see winds as strong as we had in that case.
” East-west valleys and canyons that channeled winds from the east transformed into blowtorches for wildfires .
In southern Oregon , gusts of up to 45 mph whipped into Jackson County ’ s Rogue Valley from the Cascade Mountains , spreading the Almeda fire , flattening the towns of Phoenix and Talent southeast of Medford , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ missing .
A 41-year-old man , Michael Jarrod Bakkela , has been arrested on suspicion of arson .
Southeast of the state capital of Salem , homes along the Santiam Canyon burned , resulting in at least four fatalities in Marion County — including the deaths of a 13-year-old boy and his 71-year-old grandmother in the town of Lyons — and 10 missing people .
The Beachie Creek fire had initially been small — fewer than 500 acres — and had been burning since Aug. 16 .
Only when the historic wind event @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than 131,000 acres .
East of Eugene , Ore. , the Holiday Farm fire in Lane County that charred the McKenzie River Valley has claimed at least one life in the town of Vida and razed sections of the town of Blue River .
On the northern edge of California , gusts of 63 mph hit the Slater fire in Siskiyou County ; two people died in the community of Happy Camp along the Klamath River in the Klamath National Forest , and 150 homes were destroyed .
In California , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Sierra Nevada sent gusts of up to 60 mph screaming through gaps in the state ’ s greatest mountain range .
That whipped up what had been the dying Bear fire — part of the North Complex fire zone in Butte , Plumas and Yuba counties — to begin spreading at an astonishing rate of 2,000 acres an hour .
“ When we get that downslope wind , it ’ s a very dry wind .
As the air goes down in elevation , it actually warms and dries .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cory Mueller , a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Sacramento .
And besides drying out , air rushing over peaks and down mountain slopes speeds up as it ’ s forced through narrow canyons and passes .
At least 14 deaths have been reported in Butte County , ravaged by the Bear fire .
That fire was one of many in California ignited by lightning in mid-August .
The Creek fire , which burned through the Sierra National Forest in Fresno and Madera counties , initially spread quickly for a different @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sept. 4 , when the fire started .
But the next day , “ that fire hit fuels that it liked ” and grew rapidly , creating a towering cloud — called a pyrocumulonimbus cloud — of smoke and moisture pushing skyward so enormous it resembled the giant clouds seen when a thunderstorm develops , according to Cindy Bean , meteorologist with the National Weather Service ’ s Hanford office .
At some point , that column of rising air and smoke got so heavy with the water vapor contained in it that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of air aimed at the ground and spreading winds rapidly out over the surface .
“ When that column collapses , ” Bean said , “ the wind comes straight down and then spreads out in all directions .
So that enabled the fire to spread in many directions at the same time.
” That rapid spread of the fire forced the evacuation of hundreds of campers by helicopter from the mountains , whose only way out by road was cut off by flames .
Then , after Labor Day , the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Oregon also came speeding through the canyons of the central Sierra .
In this part of California , they ’ re called Mono winds — because the winds blow from the area of Mono Lake — and they sent gusts of 40 mph from the northeast through the San Joaquin River canyon , helping to push the Creek fire toward the communities of Auberry and North Fork , Bean said .
In Los Angeles County , firefighters worried that the same Santa Ana winds from the northeast would send flames from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into foothill suburbs like Altadena , Arcadia , Bradbury , Duarte , Monrovia , Pasadena and Sierra Madre .
Late last week , the fire began to burn toward the north , away from the cities , although on Sunday , new evacuation orders were issued as dangerous wildfire conditions returned .
The Santa Ana winds , thankfully , ended up not being that strong around the El Dorado fire in San Bernardino County , a blaze sparked by a pyrotechnic device used during a gender reveal party in Yucaipa , nor the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said Brandt Maxwell , meteorologist for the National Weather Service ’ s San Diego office .
The location of the El Dorado fire happened to be sheltered from the Santa Ana winds by mountains , and the strongest winds in southern San Diego County just happened to miss where the Valley fire was burning , Maxwell said .
Strangely enough , the oppressive smoke fouling the skies is helping firefighters in some parts of California .
The smoke is so thick that a lot of sunlight can ’ t get down to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ layer of smoke in the air .
That has resulted in surface temperatures that are cooler , helping out firefighters in the Creek and Bobcat fires .
In the San Francisco Bay Area , a marine layer of low clouds and fog helped in recent days to keep dry , hot Diablo winds away from the region , which is close to containing the LNU , SCU and CZU lightning complex fires , said Rick Canepa , meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Monterey .
And the heavy smoke — which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ orange in the skies of San Francisco last week — drove down temperatures roughly 20 degrees below what they had been forecast .
Lin reported from San Francisco ; Serna from Clovis .
Times staff writers Hailey Branson-Potts , Anita Chabria , Paul Duginski , Melissa Etehad , Molly Hennessy-Fiske , Richard Read and Ruben Vives contributed to this report .

The West Coast had just experienced a record-shattering heat wave when news came last week of a rare late-summer snowstorm in Colorado. To those still sweltering in California, Oregon and Washington, it sounded like a dream come true. In fact, it was an omen of a greater disaster to come.
As the blast of cold air in the Rocky Mountains sank, it searched for an escape — the lands of hotter weather farther west, toward the Pacific Coast. That triggered furious winds that poured over the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges, acting as a giant bellows over the entire Pacific Coast, where fires were already burning in crackling-dry brush and timber.
The result: an epic firestorm hopscotching from the Mexican to Canadian borders that has killed dozens of people, wiped out entire towns and caused some of the worst air pollution ever seen in the region.
Advertisement
For California, it’s the second time in a month that a host of unfortunate weather conditions have aligned in a way that has fueled a spread of wildfires at record speed. The rapid spread of fire was worsened in part by climate change, which not only makes temperatures hotter, but also is blamed by some scientists for causing dry periods to get drier while wet periods get wetter, making vegetation even more ripe for kindling.
In Oregon, too, where at least 10 have died and officials prepare for a “mass fatality incident” as they search for the missing, there was no precedent in the modern record for the sheer number and scale of the wildfires. The fires in Washington have been the second worst in that state’s history.
So far this year, fires have burned more than 3.3 million acres in California, over 1 million acres in Oregon, and more than 625,000 acres in Washington state.
California last broke its record for its largest wildfire season just two years ago, when more than 1.8 million acres burned.
The unprecedented nature of the current fires has its origins in the extreme cold that began hitting the Rockies on Labor Day. It caused cold air to sink, increasing air pressure at the surface; at the same time, the heat on the West Coast caused hot air to rise, lowering air pressure at the ground, according to Rebecca Muessle, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Portland, Ore.
And since winds flow from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure, that sent powerful winds screaming from the east to the west.
Advertisement
Many Californians know these downslope wind events as Santa Anas or Diablos; Oregon and Washington forecasters call them offshore wind events or east winds. Whatever its name, the wind event last week “was particularly strong — much stronger than the usual offshore wind event,” said meteorologist Connie Clarstrom of the National Weather Service office in Medford, Ore. “That’s a very rare occurrence to see winds as strong as we had in that case.”
East-west valleys and canyons that channeled winds from the east transformed into blowtorches for wildfires.
In southern Oregon, gusts of up to 45 mph whipped into Jackson County’s Rogue Valley from the Cascade Mountains, spreading the Almeda fire, flattening the towns of Phoenix and Talent southeast of Medford, leaving at least four dead and one missing. A 41-year-old man, Michael Jarrod Bakkela, has been arrested on suspicion of arson.
Southeast of the state capital of Salem, homes along the Santiam Canyon burned, resulting in at least four fatalities in Marion County — including the deaths of a 13-year-old boy and his 71-year-old grandmother in the town of Lyons — and 10 missing people. The Beachie Creek fire had initially been small — fewer than 500 acres — and had been burning since Aug. 16. Only when the historic wind event began did the fire grow overnight to more than 131,000 acres. East of Eugene, Ore., the Holiday Farm fire in Lane County that charred the McKenzie River Valley has claimed at least one life in the town of Vida and razed sections of the town of Blue River.
On the northern edge of California, gusts of 63 mph hit the Slater fire in Siskiyou County; two people died in the community of Happy Camp along the Klamath River in the Klamath National Forest, and 150 homes were destroyed.
In California, the difference in air pressure on either side of the Sierra Nevada sent gusts of up to 60 mph screaming through gaps in the state’s greatest mountain range. That whipped up what had been the dying Bear fire — part of the North Complex fire zone in Butte, Plumas and Yuba counties — to begin spreading at an astonishing rate of 2,000 acres an hour.
“When we get that downslope wind, it’s a very dry wind. As the air goes down in elevation, it actually warms and dries. And fires love dry conditions,” said Cory Mueller, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Sacramento. And besides drying out, air rushing over peaks and down mountain slopes speeds up as it’s forced through narrow canyons and passes.
At least 14 deaths have been reported in Butte County, ravaged by the Bear fire. That fire was one of many in California ignited by lightning in mid-August.
The Creek fire, which burned through the Sierra National Forest in Fresno and Madera counties, initially spread quickly for a different reason.
The winds were normal on Sept. 4, when the fire started. But the next day, “that fire hit fuels that it liked” and grew rapidly, creating a towering cloud — called a pyrocumulonimbus cloud — of smoke and moisture pushing skyward so enormous it resembled the giant clouds seen when a thunderstorm develops, according to Cindy Bean, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Hanford office.
At some point, that column of rising air and smoke got so heavy with the water vapor contained in it that it collapsed downward, creating a downdraft of air aimed at the ground and spreading winds rapidly out over the surface. “When that column collapses,” Bean said, “the wind comes straight down and then spreads out in all directions. So that enabled the fire to spread in many directions at the same time.”
That rapid spread of the fire forced the evacuation of hundreds of campers by helicopter from the mountains, whose only way out by road was cut off by flames.
Then, after Labor Day, the same Santa Ana-style winds that affected Northern California and Oregon also came speeding through the canyons of the central Sierra. In this part of California, they’re called Mono winds — because the winds blow from the area of Mono Lake — and they sent gusts of 40 mph from the northeast through the San Joaquin River canyon, helping to push the Creek fire toward the communities of Auberry and North Fork, Bean said.
In Los Angeles County, firefighters worried that the same Santa Ana winds from the northeast would send flames from the Bobcat fire in the San Gabriel Mountains into foothill suburbs like Altadena, Arcadia, Bradbury, Duarte, Monrovia, Pasadena and Sierra Madre. Late last week, the fire began to burn toward the north, away from the cities, although on Sunday, new evacuation orders were issued as dangerous wildfire conditions returned.
The Santa Ana winds, thankfully, ended up not being that strong around the El Dorado fire in San Bernardino County, a blaze sparked by a pyrotechnic device used during a gender reveal party in Yucaipa, nor the Valley fire in southern San Diego County, said Brandt Maxwell, meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s San Diego office.
The location of the El Dorado fire happened to be sheltered from the Santa Ana winds by mountains, and the strongest winds in southern San Diego County just happened to miss where the Valley fire was burning, Maxwell said.
Strangely enough, the oppressive smoke fouling the skies is helping firefighters in some parts of California.
The smoke is so thick that a lot of sunlight can’t get down to the surface and is bouncing off the layer of smoke in the air. That has resulted in surface temperatures that are cooler, helping out firefighters in the Creek and Bobcat fires.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, a marine layer of low clouds and fog helped in recent days to keep dry, hot Diablo winds away from the region, which is close to containing the LNU, SCU and CZU lightning complex fires, said Rick Canepa, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Monterey. And the heavy smoke — which led to an apocalyptic-looking glow of dark orange in the skies of San Francisco last week — drove down temperatures roughly 20 degrees below what they had been forecast.
Lin reported from San Francisco; Serna from Clovis. Times staff writers Hailey Branson-Potts, Anita Chabria, Paul Duginski, Melissa Etehad, Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Richard Read and Ruben Vives contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-09-14--Shooting of L.A. deputies new flashpoint in a 'tinderbox moment'

The video showed a shooting that shocked the conscience : a cold-blooded attempt to kill two Los Angeles County sheriff ’ s deputies at close range in Compton .
Immediately , unequivocal condemnations flooded in from law enforcement officials , city leaders and the nation ’ s most prominent politicians .
President Trump called for the unknown shooter to receive the death penalty .
Trump ’ s opponent in the November presidential election , former Vice President Joe Biden , called for the gunman to face “ the full brunt of the law.
” Najee Ali , a longtime South @ @ @ @ @ @ @ joined in condemning the shooting .
But he also questioned why such swift calls for justice don ’ t come when it is the police who cause the injuries .
There were police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor , which helped spark weeks of demonstrations and unrest around the nation this summer .
And Ali also cited several controversial shootings by sheriff ’ s deputies that have given rise to recent protests .
“ I don ’ t agree with the shooting of anyone that ’ s unjustified , including deputies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sunday , adding that he plans to join other Black leaders this week to “ stand in full solidarity in condemning these actions.
” With the issues of racism , policing and public safety emerging as key issues in the upcoming presidential election , it was little surprise that the attack on the L.A. County deputies immediately became a flashpoint in the roiling debate .
Nothing in policing occurs in a vacuum in 2020 — even incidents that elicit tremendous sympathy for the police , and especially in a troubled agency like the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , where deputies have been accused of running their own gangs and the sheriff has been accused of harassment and mismanagement .
It didn ’ t help when deputies arrested a reporter outside the hospital where the deputies were being treated .
Within hours of the shooting , a small group of protesters had gathered there , enraging officials and law enforcement supporters .
Across Los Angeles and the nation , the shooting was swiftly transformed into a political talking point , with speculation swirling as to the possible motivation of the gunman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do with the anti-police messaging of recent protests .
“ Words have consequences , ” Sheriff Alex Villanueva said , apparently stoking that idea even though his department has not named a suspect or offered any motive for the attack .
Experts said the reactions were unsurprising but worthy of careful consideration , given their potential implications .
According to Dr. Sarah Vinson , a forensic psychiatrist and associate professor of psychiatry at Morehouse School of Medicine , “ all of us have confirmation bias , ” and people often contextualize a major @ @ @ @ @ @ @ preexisting ideas about a broader social issue .
That can exacerbate rifts between people in fraught situations .
It can also be dangerous , she said , because it can lead to incorrect conclusions — like that a single person deciding to shoot two deputies means people should stop protesting other shootings by law enforcement .
“ That ’ s a really , really important thing to point out , because you absolutely will get people who will spin this into meaning that these protests are causing problems , ” Vinson said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ protests are a response to the problem , not the cause : “ If there wasn ’ t injustice in the system , they wouldn ’ t be out in the streets.
” Erin Kerrison , an assistant professor at UC Berkeley ’ s School of Social Welfare who has studied police officers ’ feelings about the job and their perception in the communities they serve , said there is a correlation between officers ’ perceptions and how they operate in the street .
The less they feel like the community respects their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to use force and to buck department policies , according to her research .
And because of that , she worries the shooting of the deputies , in a “ tinderbox moment ” of growing distrust in institutions , will make officers feel as if they have a “ green light ” to use more deadly force to protect themselves .
“ It ’ s the precursor to the very behaviors that we as a collective want to put a stop to , which is police violence , ” she said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officers and on-the-ground folks who question them.
” Chuck Wexler , president of the Police Executive Research Forum , a Washington-based law enforcement think tank that works closely with police agencies nationwide , said that when he learned of what happened to the deputies , he immediately thought back to a similar incident in 2014 , when two New York Police Department officers were fatally shot in their vehicle .
At the time , New York had been experiencing intense protests over the police killing of Eric Garner .
In the aftermath , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were picked apart for clues as to his motivations , and some seized on posts in which he referenced Garner and foreshadowed the shooting as proof that he ’ d been motivated by the broader protest movement .
Many in law enforcement today want to know what motivated the L.A. shooter , too , Wexler said .
But they also have broader questions .
At recent protests , the “ level of vitriol ” toward police is much greater than in past years , and police are worried that will translate into more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t create that fear , but it will exacerbate it , Wexler said .
At the same time , there is growing recognition among police that the preservation of life , which they have always stressed when it comes to their fellow officers , also must be applied to the individuals they are arresting and confronting on the street .
In that way , they have some common ground with protesters , he said .
“ There ’ s legitimate concerns that everybody has , on both sides , for the sanctity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ It used to be that police would say , ‘ It ’ s important that the police officers go home at night.
’ In changing the culture , it ’ s more important that everybody go home safe at night.
” Laura E. Gómez , director of the Critical Race Studies Program at UCLA School of Law , said that when she heard Villanueva say “ words have consequences , ” it struck her that activists had used similar language after it came out that a white teenager charged with shooting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wis. , had a history of praising Trump — who has been accused of stoking tensions between police and protesters through his rhetoric .
“ Since words do matter , ” Gómez said , “ maybe all of us need to take a breath and consider the context a little bit more before we weigh in to inflame folks , to inflame our allies.
” Ali , the South L.A. activist , said he rejected those who had protested outside the hospital where the deputies were being treated .
( At least one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I hope they … die , ” a phrase that was criticized through the day in conservative media and became a trending topic on Twitter . )
But he wonders why there was not more mainstream condemnation in the cases of Andres Guardado , an 18-year-old Latino security guard who was fatally shot by a sheriff ’ s deputy in June , and Dijon Kizzee , a Black bicyclist who was killed while fleeing deputies last month .
Like the deputies who were shot while sitting in their patrol car , Ali @ @ @ @ @ @ @ targets of an unprovoked shooting , ” he said .
Both of those shootings are under investigation .
Ali said he would continue to advocate for protesters and the families of those killed by law enforcement officers in the region and to condemn the shooting of the deputies .
There ’ s no reason why both can ’ t be done at once , he said — and anyone who suggests otherwise should not have their voices amplified .
“ Cooler heads need to prevail and be listened to in this moment of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .

Sheriff Alex Villanueva speaks at a news conference outside the emergency room of St. Francis Medical Center, where two L.A. County sheriff’s deputies were being treated after being shot Saturday.
The video showed a shooting that shocked the conscience: a cold-blooded attempt to kill two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies at close range in Compton. Immediately, unequivocal condemnations flooded in from law enforcement officials, city leaders and the nation’s most prominent politicians.
President Trump called for the unknown shooter to receive the death penalty. Trump’s opponent in the November presidential election, former Vice President Joe Biden, called for the gunman to face “the full brunt of the law.”
Najee Ali, a longtime South L.A. activist, understood the anger and joined in condemning the shooting. But he also questioned why such swift calls for justice don’t come when it is the police who cause the injuries.
There were police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, which helped spark weeks of demonstrations and unrest around the nation this summer. And Ali also cited several controversial shootings by sheriff’s deputies that have given rise to recent protests.
“I don’t agree with the shooting of anyone that’s unjustified, including deputies but also civilians,” he said Sunday, adding that he plans to join other Black leaders this week to “stand in full solidarity in condemning these actions.”
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With the issues of racism, policing and public safety emerging as key issues in the upcoming presidential election, it was little surprise that the attack on the L.A. County deputies immediately became a flashpoint in the roiling debate.
Nothing in policing occurs in a vacuum in 2020 — even incidents that elicit tremendous sympathy for the police, and especially in a troubled agency like the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, where deputies have been accused of running their own gangs and the sheriff has been accused of harassment and mismanagement. It didn’t help when deputies arrested a reporter outside the hospital where the deputies were being treated.
Within hours of the shooting, a small group of protesters had gathered there, enraging officials and law enforcement supporters. Across Los Angeles and the nation, the shooting was swiftly transformed into a political talking point, with speculation swirling as to the possible motivation of the gunman — and whether it had anything to do with the anti-police messaging of recent protests.
“Words have consequences,” Sheriff Alex Villanueva said, apparently stoking that idea even though his department has not named a suspect or offered any motive for the attack.
Experts said the reactions were unsurprising but worthy of careful consideration, given their potential implications.
According to Dr. Sarah Vinson, a forensic psychiatrist and associate professor of psychiatry at Morehouse School of Medicine, “all of us have confirmation bias,” and people often contextualize a major event by applying to it their own preexisting ideas about a broader social issue.
That can exacerbate rifts between people in fraught situations. It can also be dangerous, she said, because it can lead to incorrect conclusions — like that a single person deciding to shoot two deputies means people should stop protesting other shootings by law enforcement.
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“That’s a really, really important thing to point out, because you absolutely will get people who will spin this into meaning that these protests are causing problems,” Vinson said.
In reality, she said, the protests are a response to the problem, not the cause: “If there wasn’t injustice in the system, they wouldn’t be out in the streets.”
Erin Kerrison, an assistant professor at UC Berkeley’s School of Social Welfare who has studied police officers’ feelings about the job and their perception in the communities they serve, said there is a correlation between officers’ perceptions and how they operate in the street.
The less they feel like the community respects their authority, the more likely they are to use force and to buck department policies, according to her research. And because of that, she worries the shooting of the deputies, in a “tinderbox moment” of growing distrust in institutions, will make officers feel as if they have a “green light” to use more deadly force to protect themselves.
“It’s the precursor to the very behaviors that we as a collective want to put a stop to, which is police violence,” she said. “I foresee some real tensions between on-the-ground officers and on-the-ground folks who question them.”
Chuck Wexler, president of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based law enforcement think tank that works closely with police agencies nationwide, said that when he learned of what happened to the deputies, he immediately thought back to a similar incident in 2014, when two New York Police Department officers were fatally shot in their vehicle.
At the time, New York had been experiencing intense protests over the police killing of Eric Garner. In the aftermath, the social media accounts of the shooter were picked apart for clues as to his motivations, and some seized on posts in which he referenced Garner and foreshadowed the shooting as proof that he’d been motivated by the broader protest movement.
Many in law enforcement today want to know what motivated the L.A. shooter, too, Wexler said. But they also have broader questions.
At recent protests, the “level of vitriol” toward police is much greater than in past years, and police are worried that will translate into more violence toward officers. This incident didn’t create that fear, but it will exacerbate it, Wexler said.
At the same time, there is growing recognition among police that the preservation of life, which they have always stressed when it comes to their fellow officers, also must be applied to the individuals they are arresting and confronting on the street. In that way, they have some common ground with protesters, he said.
“There’s legitimate concerns that everybody has, on both sides, for the sanctity of human life,” Wexler said. “It used to be that police would say, ‘It’s important that the police officers go home at night.’ In changing the culture, it’s more important that everybody go home safe at night.”
Laura E. Gómez, director of the Critical Race Studies Program at UCLA School of Law, said that when she heard Villanueva say “words have consequences,” it struck her that activists had used similar language after it came out that a white teenager charged with shooting and killing two protesters in Kenosha, Wis., had a history of praising Trump — who has been accused of stoking tensions between police and protesters through his rhetoric.
“Since words do matter,” Gómez said, “maybe all of us need to take a breath and consider the context a little bit more before we weigh in to inflame folks, to inflame our allies.”
Ali, the South L.A. activist, said he rejected those who had protested outside the hospital where the deputies were being treated. (At least one protester was heard on video saying, “I hope they … die,” a phrase that was criticized through the day in conservative media and became a trending topic on Twitter.)
But he wonders why there was not more mainstream condemnation in the cases of Andres Guardado, an 18-year-old Latino security guard who was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy in June, and Dijon Kizzee, a Black bicyclist who was killed while fleeing deputies last month.
Like the deputies who were shot while sitting in their patrol car, Ali saw Guardado and Kizzee as “innocent targets of an unprovoked shooting,” he said. Both of those shootings are under investigation.
Ali said he would continue to advocate for protesters and the families of those killed by law enforcement officers in the region and to condemn the shooting of the deputies.
There’s no reason why both can’t be done at once, he said — and anyone who suggests otherwise should not have their voices amplified.
“Cooler heads need to prevail and be listened to in this moment of crisis in L.A. County,” he said.