latimes--2020-07-30--California nears 9,000 coronavirus-related deaths after 2 days of record-setting fatalities

California is approaching another coronavirus milestone : 9,000 deaths after a major surge in infections .
The rising death toll comes as officials are trying to slow outbreaks across the state that followed the reopening of the economy in late May and early June .
As of Thursday , California had recorded at least 8,913 deaths and at least 485,831 cases .
Los Angeles County now has a cumulative death toll from the coronavirus of at least 4,518 and at least 183,456 confirmed cases .
The Golden State set single-day records twice this week for the number of coronavirus-related deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its daily record , with 174 deaths on Tuesday and 189 deaths on Wednesday .
L.A. County confirmed a single-day record of 91 deaths Wednesday , attributing the high number to a backlog in data reporting from July 23 to Sunday .
L.A. County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis on Thursday stressed the need for businesses to comply with the county ’ s health orders during a news briefing Thursday afternoon .
That includes reporting any outbreak of three or more cases of the virus to the county and alerting all workers who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with a known case , he said .
“ Businesses have a corporate and moral responsibility to their employees , ” Davis said .
The county is currently investigating the deaths of two former employees at Mission Foods Corp. in Commerce .
Mission Foods was one of three food businesses that the county shut down last week after more than 40 employees tested positive .
All three businesses have since reopened .
Davis said the two Mission employees were believed to have had COVID-19 at the time of their deaths .
None of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contacted the county about the initial cases , Davis said .
Instead , officials were alerted via anonymous complaints .
The Department of Public Health is currently investigating more than 1,000 outbreaks of the virus and is receiving 2,000 to 3,000 weekly complaints about businesses .
Davis encouraged residents to come forward with information about businesses that may be in violation of the health order .
“ I encourage all members of the public to report suspected outbreaks , ” Davis said .
“ Actions of individual businesses and communities have an effect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” The health officer also implored places of worship to host only outdoor services and refrain from holding any indoor events — instructions mandated in the county ’ s health order that went into effect in mid-July .
In late May , the state and county allowed for mass gatherings of religious worship and political protest .
In the time since , indoor gatherings have been prohibited throughout the county and much of the state as the spread of the virus poses a greater threat inside close quarters .
Officials in L.A. County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public follows social distancing rules and wears masks in public to slow the spread .
“ I know we ’ re all eager and anxious to see our lives return to normal , ” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said .
“ We do have the tools at hand to make this a reality in the future .
But we need compliance with our directives.
” Health officials say the public ’ s more careful social behavior , along with newly reissued restrictions on public life , has led to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hospitalizations , the seven-day average for positive infections , and the projected transmission rate .
But more cases and deaths continue to be reported each day .
“ When we let our guard down , the virus spreads , ” county Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly said .
In the San Joaquin Valley , an eight-county region of the Central Valley stretching from Stockton to Bakersfield , pandemic conditions have deteriorated dramatically .
In the week-long period that ended on Memorial Day , 42 residents there died of COVID-19 ; in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residents had died .
Deaths also are on the upswing in the seven-county Sacramento region .
Over the same time period , weekly deaths rose from four to 25 .
The nine-county San Francisco Bay Area has seen its weekly death toll nearly triple in the same time period — from 20 to 57 ; San Diego County ’ s weekly death toll almost doubled over the same time period , from 28 to 55 .
The five-county Southern California area — L.A. , Orange , Riverside , San Bernardino and Ventura counties @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 357 to 493 in that same time period , an increase of 38 % .
There are some signs that California ’ s most recent surge — while still growing — has started to slow down .
For the week that ended Tuesday , the state recorded an average of 9,157 new confirmed cases daily , a 2 % increase from the previous week .
That ’ s a much slower increase than what happened in the week that ended July 14 , when the daily average of new cases was 8,902 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ week .
In addition , the rate at which coronavirus tests are coming back positive has been stable in recent weeks statewide .
A Times analysis found that California ’ s seven-day coronavirus positive test rate has generally stayed between 7 % and 8 % since July 5 .
Also , the effective transmission rate of the coronavirus statewide is to be 1.02 — meaning every infected person , on average , transmits the virus to 1.02 other people .

Colleen Shalby, Rong-Gong Lin II, Iris Lee

Workers at a COVID-19 testing site in the parking lot at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.
California has passed another coronavirus milestone: 9,000 deaths after a major surge in infections.
The rising death toll comes as officials are trying to slow outbreaks across the state that followed the reopening of the economy in late May and early June.
As of Thursday evening, California had recorded at least 9,016 deaths and 493,140 cases. Los Angeles County now has a cumulative COVID-19 death toll of at least 4,559 and at least 186,036 confirmed cases.
The Golden State set single-day records twice this week for the number of coronavirus-related deaths. On consecutive days, California broke its daily record, with 174 deaths on Tuesday and 189 deaths on Wednesday. L.A. County confirmed a single-day record of 91 deaths Wednesday, attributing the high number to a backlog in data reporting from July 23 to Sunday.
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L.A. County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis stressed the need for businesses to comply with the county’s health orders during a news briefing Thursday afternoon. That includes reporting any outbreak of three or more cases of the virus to the county and alerting all workers who may have been exposed to a person with a known case, he said.
“Businesses have a corporate and moral responsibility to their employees,” Davis said.
The county is currently investigating the deaths of two former employees at Mission Foods Corp. in Commerce. Mission Foods was one of three food businesses that the county shut down this week after more than 40 employees tested positive. All three businesses have since reopened. Davis said the two Mission employees were believed to have had COVID-19 at the time of their deaths.
None of the businesses that were closed this week contacted the county about the initial cases, Davis said. Instead, officials were alerted via anonymous complaints.
The Department of Public Health is currently investigating more than 1,000 outbreaks of the virus and is receiving 2,000 to 3,000 weekly complaints about businesses. Davis encouraged residents to come forward with information about businesses that may be in violation of the health order.
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“I encourage all members of the public to report suspected outbreaks,” Davis said. “Actions of individual businesses and communities have an effect on each and every one of us.”
The health officer also implored places of worship to host only outdoor services and refrain from holding any indoor events — instructions mandated in the county’s health order that went into effect in mid-July. In late May, the state and county allowed for mass gatherings of religious worship and political protest. In the time since, indoor gatherings have been prohibited throughout the county and much of the state as the spread of the virus poses a greater threat inside close quarters.
Officials in L.A. County reiterated Wednesday that it is essential the public follows social distancing rules and wears masks in public to slow the spread.
“I know we’re all eager and anxious to see our lives return to normal,” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “We do have the tools at hand to make this a reality in the future. But we need compliance with our directives.”
Health officials say the public’s more careful social behavior, along with newly reissued restrictions on public life, has led to a recent decline in some numbers, including hospitalizations, the seven-day average for positive infections, and the projected transmission rate. But more cases and deaths continue to be reported each day.
“When we let our guard down, the virus spreads,” county Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly said.
In the San Joaquin Valley, an eight-county region of the Central Valley stretching from Stockton to Bakersfield, pandemic conditions have deteriorated dramatically. In the weeklong period that ended Memorial Day, 42 residents there died of COVID-19; in the seven-day period that ended Monday, 105 residents had died.
Deaths also are on the upswing in the seven-county Sacramento region. Over the same time period, weekly deaths rose from four to 25.
The nine-county San Francisco Bay Area has seen its weekly death toll nearly triple in the same time period — from 20 to 57; San Diego County’s weekly death toll almost doubled over the same time period, from 28 to 55.
The five-county Southern California area — L.A., Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties — has seen weekly deaths increase from 357 to 493 in that same time period, an increase of 38%.
There are some signs that California’s most recent surge — while still growing — has started to slow down. For the week that ended Tuesday, the state recorded an average of 9,157 new confirmed cases daily, a 2% increase from the previous week. That’s a much slower increase than what happened in the week that ended July 14, when the daily average of new cases was 8,902, a 20% jump from the previous week.


latimes--2020-07-30--Men are less likely to wear masks. They are also dying of coronavirus at higher rates in L.A. County

That is the view of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and health officials , who are urging guys to cover their faces in public to slow the spread of the coronavirus .
Men outside of institutional facilities are dying from COVID-19 at a higher rate than women in Los Angeles County , and recent polling has found that American men are less likely to always wear masks than women .
“ Men : Mask up .
Men : Wash your hands .
Clean your surfaces .
Men : Don ’ t get together with other households , ” Garcetti said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say face coverings are a key element if California and the rest of the world are going to conquer the pandemic .
But in America , masks have become a political issue , with conservatives more likely to oppose government orders people to wear masks .
Places like Huntington Beach have emerged as symbols of mask resistance , with many refusing to cover their faces .
During a briefing Wednesday evening , Garcetti said that of the roughly 2,000 coronavirus-related deaths in the county that have occurred outside of institutional living facilities — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — two-thirds have been men .
“ Let us lead to make sure we as men acknowledge that we are the most vulnerable and dying outside of our institutional settings at twice the rate in L.A. County of women , ” Garcetti said .
Overall , slightly more COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in women than men , according to figures from the L.A. County Department of Public Health .
In total , men account for 57 % of coronavirus-linked fatalities in the county , including those in institutionalized settings .
From the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have noted that men tended to die from COVID-19 at a higher rate than women .
A number of possible explanations have been floated : including that men worldwide are much more likely to smoke cigarettes , which damages their lungs and creates other health issues ; that there ’ s something about estrogen that protects against the ravages of coronaviruses ; or that testicles may actually increase the risk of longer , more severe illness .
Although the science is still out on COVID-19 specifically , it ’ s not entirely unexpected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ women .
“ If you look at the pandemics in the past , it ’ s a trend that we are familiar with , ” said Neha Nanda , medical director of infection prevention and a healthcare epidemiologist at the USC Keck School of Medicine .
One contributor , Nanda said , could be that certain underlying health conditions that can increase a person ’ s risk for severe illness if they ’ re infected by the coronavirus — like hypertension or cardiovascular disease — tend to be more prevalent in men .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ virus , I think just time will tell , ” she said .
Garcetti ’ s plea to men comes as health officials and policymakers continue to call on residents to do their part to stymie the spread of COVID-19 amid an ongoing surge in infections and unprecedented daily death tolls .
Often-urged practices include regular hand-washing , keeping physical distance from those you don ’ t live with and wearing a face covering when in public .
While recent public polling shows there is fairly wide support nationwide for wearing and requiring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that men are still more resistant than women .
According to a July 13 Gallup poll , 34 % of men said they always wear a mask when outside their homes , and 29 % said they did so very often .
Meanwhile , 54 % of women surveyed said they always wear masks , while 27 % reported doing so very often .
A fifth of the men surveyed said they never wear masks outside , compared with only 8 % of women .
While a number of factors likely play into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up , one study released in May found that “ men less than women believe that they will be seriously affected by the coronavirus , and this partly mediates gender differences in intentions to wear a face covering.
” Another factor , according to researchers Valerio Capraro of London ’ s Middlesex University and Hélène Barcelo of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley , was that “ men more than women agree that wearing a face covering is shameful , not cool , a sign of weakness and a stigma.
” California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ghaly said Tuesday that widespread public mask wearing — which has been required in California for weeks — could cut coronavirus transmission in half .
“ Having that mask on or handy is a very important tool as we continue to see the evidence grow that it can help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and not only protect our families and communities but help us move on the road of economic recovery , help us get closer to across the state , ” Ghaly said .
Throughout the pandemic , there have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in California , according to The Times ’ tracker .
Nearly 9,000 Californians had died as of Thursday morning .
L.A. County alone has reported more than 183,000 cases and 4,500 deaths .
“ We all need to wear a mask and wash our hands , physically distance and not gather with folks we don ’ t live with , ” Garcetti said .
“ That ’ s simple .
It ’ s what the scientists have shown us ; it ’ s what successful countries are demonstrating — those are facts .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ we stay on the same page and we stay together and stay vigilant .
”

Men have a mask problem.
That is the view of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and health officials, who are urging guys to cover their faces in public to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Men outside of institutional facilities are dying from COVID-19 at a higher rate than women in Los Angeles County, and recent polling has found that American men are less likely to always wear masks than women.
“Men: Mask up. Men: Wash your hands. Clean your surfaces. Men: Don’t get together with other households,” Garcetti said.
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The call comes as health officials say face coverings are a key element if California and the rest of the world are going to conquer the pandemic. But in America, masks have become a political issue, with conservatives more likely to oppose government orders for people to wear masks. Places such as Huntington Beach have emerged as symbols of mask resistance, with many refusing to cover their faces.
During a briefing Wednesday evening, Garcetti said that of the roughly 2,000 coronavirus-related deaths in the county that have occurred outside of institutional living facilities — like nursing homes, jails and shelters — two-thirds have been men.
“Let us lead to make sure we as men acknowledge that we are the most vulnerable and dying outside of our institutional settings at twice the rate in L.A. County of women,” Garcetti said.
Overall, slightly more COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in women than men, according to figures from the L.A. County Department of Public Health. In total, men account for 57% of coronavirus-linked fatalities in the county, including those in institutionalized settings.
From the earliest days of the pandemic, researchers have noted that men tended to die from COVID-19 at a higher rate than women.
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A number of possible explanations have been floated: including that men worldwide are much more likely to smoke cigarettes, which damages their lungs and creates other health issues; that there’s something about estrogen that protects against the ravages of coronaviruses; or that testicles may actually increase the risk of longer, more severe illness.
Although the science is still out on COVID-19 specifically, it’s not entirely unexpected that men would have higher morbidity than women.
“If you look at the pandemics in the past, it’s a trend that we are familiar with,” said Neha Nanda, medical director of infection prevention and a healthcare epidemiologist at the USC Keck School of Medicine.
One contributor, Nanda said, could be that certain underlying health conditions that can increase a person’s risk for severe illness if they’re infected by the coronavirus — such as hypertension or cardiovascular disease — tend to be more prevalent in men.
“Because it’s a novel virus, I think just time will tell,” she said.
Garcetti’s plea to men comes as health officials and policymakers continue to call on residents to do their part to stymie the spread of COVID-19 amid an ongoing surge in infections and unprecedented daily death tolls.
Often-urged practices include regular hand-washing, keeping physical distance from those you don’t live with and wearing a face covering when in public.
While recent public polling shows there is fairly wide support nationwide for wearing and requiring masks in public, some surveys show that men are still more resistant than women.
According to a July 13 Gallup poll, 34% of men said they always wear a mask when outside their homes, and 29% said they did so very often. Meanwhile, 54% of women surveyed said they always wear masks, while 27% reported doing so very often.
A fifth of the men surveyed said they never wear masks outside, compared with only 8% of women.
While a number of factors probably play into men’s comparative reluctance to cover up, one study released in May found that “men less than women believe that they will be seriously affected by the coronavirus, and this partly mediates gender differences in intentions to wear a face covering.”
Another factor, according to researchers Valerio Capraro of London’s Middlesex University and Hélène Barcelo of the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, was that “men more than women agree that wearing a face covering is shameful, not cool, a sign of weakness and a stigma.”
California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Tuesday that widespread public mask wearing — which has been required in California for weeks — could cut coronavirus transmission in half.


latimes--2020-07-30--'Pension spiking' is not protected by California law, top court rules

The California Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld a provision in a 2013 law that forbade many county employees from padding their future pensions by cashing in years of vacation or sick pay or working longer hours before retirement .
The practice , known as pension spiking , can lead to a more lucrative retirement income than the pay an employee earned while working .
In a decision written by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye , the court said the state law was enacted “ for the constitutionally permissible purpose of closing loopholes and preventing abuse of the pension system.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a worker ’ s highest year of earnings .
Prior to the 2013 law , some county employees were able to inflate their pay , usually at the end of their career .
Unions and public employee groups challenged the ban on spiking , contending it conflicted with decades of court decisions that created what is known as the California Rule .
It guarantees government workers the pension they would be due under the rules that were in place on the day they were hired .
Courts ruled that pensions were contracts .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ be changed only in a way that was neutral or advantageous to the worker , except for new hires , courts said .
Some business groups had urged the court to use the case to modify the California Rule , which would have affected public employees across the state .
The court refused , writing instead a narrow decision .
“ We have no jurisprudential reason to undertake a fundamental reexamination of the rule , ” the court said .
David E. Mastagni , who represented Alameda County employees in the case , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ glad the rule protecting public pensions survived .
Although Thursday ’ s decision could be perceived as a “ chipping away ” of the rule , he said , he believed the court would limit rollbacks of pension benefits to “ narrowly tailored modifications just to address perceived abuses or loopholes.
” Former Gov .
Jerry Brown championed the new pension laws , which were designed to alleviate a shortfall or hundreds of billions of dollars in state and local government pension systems .
Unions quickly challenged the laws .
In Thursday ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ must have the authority , discretion , and flexibility ” to address such issues as pension spiking .
Requiring the government to offer a benefit to offset the elimination of pension padding would “ significantly undermine ” the Legislature ’ s efforts to close loopholes .
The decision directly affects 20 counties that administer their pension plans under the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937 , which the 2013 law amended .
Both the city and county of Los Angeles have separate pension systems .
In a unanimous decision last year , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could reduce pension benefits without running afoul of the California Rule .
The court upheld California ’ s 2012 repeal of an “ air time ” benefit that allowed state workers to buy credits toward retirement service .

For two decades, it was a treasured perk for some county employees across California: the ability to boost their pensions by cashing out unused vacation or sick leave, or working extra hours, at the end of their careers.
In some cases, workers received more in pension payments than they earned while working.
But with the state’s economy struggling and a pension crisis looming, then-Gov. Jerry Brown backed a sweeping reform measure in 2013 that prohibited county workers from “pension spiking.” Labor unions sued to overturn the new law.
On Thursday, in one of several closely watched pension cases, the California Supreme Court sided with the state, unanimously upholding a provision of the 2013 law that prohibited pension spiking by county workers.
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In a decision written by Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, the court said the law that ended pension spiking for county employees was enacted “for the constitutionally permissible purpose of closing loopholes and preventing abuse of the pension system.”
It was the second time in less than two years that the justices weighed in on a pension issue without touching a broader question of extreme significance to workers as well as governments — the fate of the so-called California Rule, a 65-year-old legal doctrine that strongly protects public pensions for all government workers except new hires.
David E. Mastagni, who represented Alameda County employees in the case, said he was disappointed for them but glad the California Rule survived.
Thursday’s decision could be perceived as a “chipping away” of the rule, he said, but it indicated the court would limit rollbacks of pension benefits to narrow “modifications just to address perceived abuses or loopholes.”
Public pensions are calculated based on a worker’s highest year of earnings, and some public pension plans allowed spiking.
California California Supreme Court curbs a pension benefit but preserves ‘California Rule’ The California Supreme Court made it clear Monday that state and local governments may reduce pension costs by repealing certain benefits without running afoul of constitutional protections for public pensions.
Unions and public employee groups contended that the anti-spiking provision conflicted with decades of court decisions upholding the California Rule. It made California’s public pension protections among the strongest in the country.
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The rule guarantees workers the pension they would be due under the benefit package in place on the day they were hired. Pensions are considered constitutionally protected contracts.
The formula for calculating retirement income could be changed only in a way that was neutral or advantageous to the worker, according to the rule.
Some business groups and others had urged the court to use the legal challenges to Brown’s pension package as a vehicle for weakening the California Rule, which would have affected public employees across the state. The court refused, writing instead a narrow decision.
“We have no jurisprudential reason to undertake a fundamental reexamination of the rule,” the court said.
In the ruling, the court said that lawmakers “must have the authority, discretion, and flexibility” to address such issues as pension spiking.
Requiring the government to offer a benefit to offset the elimination of pension padding would “significantly undermine” the Legislature’s efforts to close loopholes, the court said.
California Supreme Court decision on ‘pension spiking’ The decision upheld a state law barring the practice of pension spiking.
The decision on spiking applies to 20 counties that administer their pension plans under the County Employees Retirement Law of 1937, which the 2013 law amended. L.A., Orange, San Bernardino and San Diego counties are among them. The city of Los Angeles has a separate pension system.
Most state employees can still use accumulated sick leave to buy additional service credit, said Michael Jarvis, managing labor relations consultant for the law firm of Mastagni Holstedt. The 2013 pension law did not change that. At California State University, Jarvis said, it takes 250 days of sick leave to get one additional year of service credit, raising the employee’s pension from 1.5% to 3% a year.
Timothy K. Talbot, who represented the employees of Contra Costa and Merced counties in Thursday’s case, said the ruling would be “very disappointing and devastating” to his clients because “they were relying on that benefit,” which he called “vacation cash-out.”
The benefit was part of court-approved settlements dating to the late 1990s and was used by the counties to lure people to work for them, he said.
Ted Toppin, chairman of Californians for Retirement Security, a 1.6-million-member coalition of public employees and retirees, expressed relief that the decision “unequivocally” upheld the California Rule and protected “the retirement security of California public servants … working on the front lines to protect Californians during the pandemic.”
But he said the ruling did “seem to undermine the retirement security of Alameda County sheriff deputies,” one of the groups of employees who filed suit.
“Their employer and retirement system made a promise to them that the court decision now allows them to break,” Toppin said. “That is unfair and unfortunate. If public employers make a pension commitment to their workers, they should keep it.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose office argued in favor of the 2013 law, did not comment on the ruling.
In another unanimous pension decision last year, the state high court said the government could reduce pension benefits without running afoul of the California Rule.
The court in that case upheld California’s 2012 repeal of an “air time” benefit that allowed state workers to buy credits toward retirement service.


latimes--2020-07-30--Hollywood-backed activist endangered pets by treating them with his own products, veterinarians say

The accounts of the veterinarians echo each other and stretch back as long as seven years : Marc Ching , founder of a Hollywood-backed animal rescue charity , persuaded their clients to abandon a prescribed treatment regimen and instead give their ailing dogs and cats products he sells at his for-profit pet food store in Sherman Oaks .
More than a dozen Los Angeles-area veterinarians and others who care for animals told The Times that Ching ’ s actions threatened to harm — and in several cases did harm — pets they were treating for conditions such as kidney disease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the care providers said they complained about Ching to the California Veterinary Medical Board , alleging he was practicing veterinary medicine at his store without a license .
Ching , who describes himself as a fourth-generation herbalist and nutritionist , is not a veterinarian .
The vets said the board either immediately rebuffed them or took no action .
Emilie Chaplow , a Studio City veterinarian , said she complained to the board after a client told her that Ching recommended giving a diabetic dog a steroid medication that could have killed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % wrong , ” Chaplow said .
“ I tell people if they use him , I will not see them as clients because he is so dangerous.
” Natalia Soto , a veterinary surgeon who works with Chaplow , said two years ago she was treating a dog that needed surgery to remove bladder stones .
She said the dog ’ s owner told her Ching had advised that the stones would dissolve if she gave the pet his supplements .
Soto , who was an occasional volunteer with Ching ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to return the supplements and authorize the surgery .
“ I ’ m like , ‘ These stones are not dissolvable , ’ ” she recounted .
“ ‘ If they are dissolvable , the person to find that out would be a millionaire.
’ ” Ching did not respond to emailed questions from The Times for this article .
The California Veterinary Medical Board , which licenses vets and investigates complaints against them , has never taken any action against Ching , a board spokeswoman said .
She said the board ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In response to a Times inquiry , the California Department of Public Health recently launched an investigation of a 2018 complaint that Ching was selling pet food without the proper labels required by law .
Ching , an ex-convict who transformed himself into one of the most prominent leaders in the animal rights community here and abroad , was the subject of a Times investigation in May that found evidence contradicting claims he made about his efforts to rescue dogs and cats from Asian meat markets and the authenticity of some of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tortured and killed .
The investigation also raised questions about the financial practices and fundraising methods of his charity , the Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation , which has collected millions of dollars in donations with the help of celebrities such as Joaquin Phoenix , Bill Maher and Whitney Cummings .
In an earlier interview and in emailed statements , Ching and his attorneys said he has always been truthful about his work overseas , the videos were genuine and he never misused foundation funds or harmed animals .
In April , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ false or deceptive claims that an herbal supplement he was selling could treat COVID-19 and that some of his other products could treat cancer .
Ching denied doing anything wrong .
Earlier this month , he agreed to a settlement in which he is barred from making baseless claims that his products can treat COVID-19 or cancer .
The veterinarians ’ allegations center on what clients told them about their encounters with Ching at the Petstaurant , his boutique food and supplement store in Sherman Oaks .
( Ching recently opened a second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doctors said they are open to alternative approaches to treatment , but not if they are therapeutically unsound and pushed by someone without the required training .
That ’ s where Ching crosses the line , the veterinarians said .
They said some of their clients referred to Ching as “ Dr .
Ching ” or “ Dr .
Marc , ” in the belief he is a veterinarian .
The homepage of the Petstaurant website promotes its products as providing “ the best in health care ” for skin and food allergies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ailments .
Peter Weinstein , a veterinarian who is executive director of the Southern California Veterinary Medicine Assn.
, a professional organization , said he mailed a complaint about Ching to the California Veterinary Medical Board in 2014 .
The complaint said some content on the Petstaurant website “ could be considered to be offering a diagnosis and suggested treatment.
” Weinstein said he received “ the typical response — ‘ we ’ ll take it under advisement , ’ ” and never heard from the board again .
Mark Nunez , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the California Veterinary Medical Board since 2013 , said several of his clients whose dogs had skin disorders had turned to Ching for help .
According to Nunez , Ching put the dogs on a diet of his food and said it would eliminate the maladies .
Nunez said the dogs did not improve and the owners came to him in frustration .
“ It ’ s misleading to a consumer who is assuming that Marc Ching has medical knowledge that he really doesn ’ t , ” Nunez said .
“ That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a pet is needlessly suffering.
” Nunez added that he encouraged three or four veterinarians who called him with complaints about Ching to report their concerns to the board .
He never filed a complaint himself and did not know whether board staff had investigated any formal complaints about Ching .
None of them ever reached him at the board level , he said .
The board employs four staff members to conduct investigations of complaints .
If an investigation determines that someone who is unlicensed violated California ’ s veterinarian laws , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the authority to issue citations that can include a fine and an order to cease and desist .
The agency also has the authority to refer complaints to county district attorneys for possible prosecution , a board spokeswoman said in an email to The Times .
“ At this time , the board has not issued any citations or fines against Marc Ching , ” she said .
“ You may wish to check back with the board at a later date to inquire whether any citation or fine has been issued.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asked that their names not be published because they feared retaliation by Ching , whose foundation has sued two former volunteers for the charity and its former executive director after they criticized him .
The foundation ’ s tax returns show that the Petstaurant has sold at least $ 59,000 in food and supplements to the charity .
The California attorney general ’ s office has notified the foundation that it was conducting an audit of the charity ’ s books .
One doctor who requested anonymity said she complained to the board @ @ @ @ @ @ @ L.A .
The board-certified internal medicine specialist was treating a dog for acute liver failure .
The dog was discharged and the owner continued oral treatment at home .
A few days later at a checkup , the owner told her that Ching recommended stopping the medication and feeding the dog a Petstaurant diet .
The doctor advised that Ching ’ s course of action was inappropriate and asked to speak to Ching .
The doctor said her client called Ching and handed the phone to her .
She said Ching initially told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ After the doctor questioned him on his training and experience , he admitted he was not and said he was actually a human nutritionist , she said .
“ I tell all the interns , residents , new doctors I know not to trust him or his advice , ” the doctor said of Ching .
The doctor said that when she called the board and complained that Ching was impersonating a veterinarian , a representative told her the agency “ couldn ’ t do anything ” because she had no written proof @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spokeswoman said written material is not required to initiate an investigation .
She said “ all complaints are taken seriously ” but the most effective ones “ contain firsthand verifiable information.
” A second veterinarian who asked not to be identified said she was treating a dog for lymphoma about a year and a half ago when Ching urged the owners to abandon the prescribed chemotherapy and steroids in favor of his supplements .
“ One was liquid and it didn ’ t even have a list of ingredients , ” the veterinarian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ owner to stay with her course of treatment and stop giving the dog the supplements .
The dog lived longer than average for a lymphoma patient , the doctor said .
She said Ching more recently told a second client to place a cat with kidney disease on a high-protein diet , which could have killed the animal .
The veterinarian said the client heeded her warning not to do so and the cat survived .
Another veterinarian who spoke on condition she not be named said she sent a complaint to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ching was “ harming animal health ... as well as defrauding consumers with false and misleading claims.
” She said she did not recall receiving any response from the board .
The veterinarian said one of her clients allowed Ching to put her dog on a Petstaurant diet .
The dog became emaciated and “ was at death ’ s door , ” the veterinarian said .
She said she persuaded her client to place the dog on a normal diet and it recovered .
Two veterinarians who also requested anonymity said their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take dogs off medications for heart disease and replace them with a Petstaurant diet and supplements .
One of the doctors said , “ The dog came back to me coughing uncontrollably and in heart failure .
I hospitalized the dog that day .
My client was shocked.
” The other veterinarian said her client ’ s dog had a damaged heart valve .
After a week or so on Ching ’ s supplements , “ the dog had increased panting , more respiratory effort , ” she said .
She said she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would you ever listen to someone who sells food ?
’ She put him back on the medication and the dog was fine.
” A veterinarian who also asked not to be named said she hears from clients about Ching every couple of weeks , often involving cases in which he persuades them to take their dogs off prescribed flea medications and put them on his diets .
“ One dog got sick from a flea-borne disease , ” recalled the veterinarian , who said she treated the animal about two years ago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of her clients a letter he wrote in email form exempting a dog from a rabies vaccine .
( The Times has reviewed the letter . )
She said such exemptions are rarely requested by veterinarians and generally only in cases in which the vaccine could kill the dog .
The exemptions are used by pet owners when they don ’ t have a vaccine certification required by kennels or groomers .
Ching wrote the letter “ as if he were a veterinarian , ” the doctor said .
She said it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health risk.
” Laurel Kinder is not a veterinarian , but she runs a low-cost pet clinic in North Hollywood where Ching brought rescue dogs for treatment .
She said a clinic veterinarian advised Ching to take a dog with a blood disorder to a specialist for medication .
Instead , Kinder said , Ching allowed a woman to adopt the dog and told her to give it iron supplements .
The woman later brought the dog back to the clinic for a teeth cleaning under anesthesia , still suffering from the disorder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had put that dog under , it would have died , ” she said .
The veterinarian who complained to the state Department of Public Health in 2018 about the labeling of some of the Petstaurant food also asked not to be named .
The labels lacked information required by law , the veterinarian said .
In the emailed complaint , which The Times reviewed , she said the Petstaurant sold her client the food to treat allergies .
The veterinarian said she had to send several emails to receive any response from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ follow up with her .
A department spokesman said the agency hadn ’ t acted on the doctor ’ s allegations because “ there was a delay due to improper entry ” in the complaint system but had recently reached out to the veterinarian .

Natalia Soto, with her dog Moo, is a veterinary surgeon who says Marc Ching gave bad medical advice to a client whose dog was suffering from bladder stones.
The accounts of the veterinarians echo each other and stretch back as long as seven years: Marc Ching, founder of a Hollywood-backed animal rescue charity, persuaded their clients to abandon a prescribed treatment regimen and instead give their ailing dogs and cats products he sells at his for-profit pet food store in Sherman Oaks.
More than a dozen Los Angeles-area veterinarians and others who care for animals told The Times that Ching’s actions threatened to harm — and in several cases did harm — pets they were treating for conditions such as kidney disease, heart failure and cancer.
Five of the care providers said they complained about Ching to the California Veterinary Medical Board, alleging he was practicing veterinary medicine at his store without a license. Ching, who describes himself as a fourth-generation herbalist and nutritionist, is not a veterinarian. The vets said the board either immediately rebuffed them or took no action.
Emilie Chaplow, a Studio City veterinarian, said she complained to the board after a client told her that Ching recommended giving a diabetic dog a steroid medication that could have killed the animal.
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“It was 100% wrong,” Chaplow said. “I tell people if they use him, I will not see them as clients because he is so dangerous.”
Natalia Soto, a veterinary surgeon who works with Chaplow, said two years ago she was treating a dog that needed surgery to remove bladder stones. She said the dog’s owner told her Ching had advised that the stones would dissolve if she gave the pet his supplements.
Soto, who was an occasional volunteer with Ching’s foundation, said she persuaded the woman to return the supplements and authorize the surgery.
“I’m like, ‘These stones are not dissolvable,’” she recounted. “‘If they are dissolvable, the person to find that out would be a millionaire.’”
Soto’s client confirmed the vet’s account.
Ching did not respond to emailed questions from The Times for this article.
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The California Veterinary Medical Board, which licenses vets and investigates complaints against them, has never taken any action against Ching, a board spokeswoman said. She said the board’s complaints and investigations are confidential.
In response to a Times inquiry, the California Department of Public Health recently launched an investigation of a 2018 complaint that Ching was selling pet food without the proper labels required by law.
Ching, an ex-convict who transformed himself into one of the most prominent leaders in the animal rights community here and abroad, was the subject of a Times investigation in May that found evidence contradicting claims he made about his efforts to rescue dogs and cats from Asian meat markets and the authenticity of some of the gruesome videos he shot of animals being tortured and killed.
Marc Ching at a 2015 fundraiser. (Angela Weiss / Getty Images)
The investigation also raised questions about the financial practices and fundraising methods of his charity, the Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation, which has collected millions of dollars in donations with the help of celebrities such as Joaquin Phoenix, Bill Maher and Whitney Cummings.
In an earlier interview and in emailed statements, Ching and his attorneys said he has always been truthful about his work overseas, the videos were genuine and he never misused foundation funds or harmed animals.
In April, the Federal Trade Commission accused Ching of making false or deceptive claims that an herbal supplement he was selling could treat COVID-19 and that some of his other products could treat cancer. Ching denied doing anything wrong. Earlier this month, he agreed to a settlement in which he is barred from making baseless claims that his products can treat COVID-19 or cancer.
The veterinarians’ allegations center on what clients told them about their encounters with Ching at the Petstaurant, his boutique food and supplement store in Sherman Oaks. (Ching recently opened a second Petstaurant on the Westside.)
The doctors said they are open to alternative approaches to treatment, but not if they are therapeutically unsound and pushed by someone without the required training. That’s where Ching crosses the line, the veterinarians said.
They said some of their clients referred to Ching as “Dr. Ching” or “Dr. Marc,” in the belief he is a veterinarian.
The homepage of the Petstaurant website promotes its products as providing “the best in health care” for skin and food allergies, arthritis, ear infections and other ailments.
Peter Weinstein, a veterinarian who is executive director of the Southern California Veterinary Medicine Assn., a professional organization, said he mailed a complaint about Ching to the California Veterinary Medical Board in 2014. The complaint said some content on the Petstaurant website “could be considered to be offering a diagnosis and suggested treatment.”
California Animal rescue charity with star-studded support has ‘troubling’ financial practices, experts say A whistleblower and watchdogs raise concerns over cash withdrawals, allegedly deceptive solicitations and other financial practices at the Animal Hope & Wellness Foundation. The charity denies misleading donors or misusing money.
Weinstein said he received “the typical response — ‘we’ll take it under advisement,’” and never heard from the board again.
Mark Nunez, a West Hollywood veterinarian who has served on the California Veterinary Medical Board since 2013, said several of his clients whose dogs had skin disorders had turned to Ching for help. According to Nunez, Ching put the dogs on a diet of his food and said it would eliminate the maladies. Nunez said the dogs did not improve and the owners came to him in frustration.
“It’s misleading to a consumer who is assuming that Marc Ching has medical knowledge that he really doesn’t,” Nunez said. “That’s a period of time that a pet is needlessly suffering.”
Nunez added that he encouraged three or four veterinarians who called him with complaints about Ching to report their concerns to the board. He never filed a complaint himself and did not know whether board staff had investigated any formal complaints about Ching. None of them ever reached him at the board level, he said.
The board employs four staff members to conduct investigations of complaints. If an investigation determines that someone who is unlicensed violated California’s veterinarian laws, the board’s executive officer has the authority to issue citations that can include a fine and an order to cease and desist. The agency also has the authority to refer complaints to county district attorneys for possible prosecution, a board spokeswoman said in an email to The Times.
“At this time, the board has not issued any citations or fines against Marc Ching,” she said. “You may wish to check back with the board at a later date to inquire whether any citation or fine has been issued.”
Several veterinarians who spoke to The Times asked that their names not be published because they feared retaliation by Ching, whose foundation has sued two former volunteers for the charity and its former executive director after they criticized him.
The foundation’s tax returns show that the Petstaurant has sold at least $59,000 in food and supplements to the charity. The California attorney general’s office has notified the foundation that it was conducting an audit of the charity’s books.
One doctor who requested anonymity said she complained to the board after an encounter with Ching in West L.A. The board-certified internal medicine specialist was treating a dog for acute liver failure. The dog was discharged and the owner continued oral treatment at home.
A few days later at a checkup, the owner told her that Ching recommended stopping the medication and feeding the dog a Petstaurant diet. The doctor advised that Ching’s course of action was inappropriate and asked to speak to Ching.
The doctor said her client called Ching and handed the phone to her. She said Ching initially told her he was a veterinary nutritionist. After the doctor questioned him on his training and experience, he admitted he was not and said he was actually a human nutritionist, she said.
“I tell all the interns, residents, new doctors I know not to trust him or his advice,” the doctor said of Ching.
The doctor said that when she called the board and complained that Ching was impersonating a veterinarian, a representative told her the agency “couldn’t do anything” because she had no written proof to support her complaint.
The board spokeswoman said written material is not required to initiate an investigation. She said “all complaints are taken seriously” but the most effective ones “contain firsthand verifiable information.”
A second veterinarian who asked not to be identified said she was treating a dog for lymphoma about a year and a half ago when Ching urged the owners to abandon the prescribed chemotherapy and steroids in favor of his supplements.
“One was liquid and it didn’t even have a list of ingredients,” the veterinarian said.
She said she persuaded the owner to stay with her course of treatment and stop giving the dog the supplements. The dog lived longer than average for a lymphoma patient, the doctor said.
She said Ching more recently told a second client to place a cat with kidney disease on a high-protein diet, which could have killed the animal. The veterinarian said the client heeded her warning not to do so and the cat survived.
Another veterinarian who spoke on condition she not be named said she sent a complaint to the veterinary board in 2013, alleging that Ching was “harming animal health ... as well as defrauding consumers with false and misleading claims.” She said she did not recall receiving any response from the board.
The veterinarian said one of her clients allowed Ching to put her dog on a Petstaurant diet. The dog became emaciated and “was at death’s door,” the veterinarian said. She said she persuaded her client to place the dog on a normal diet and it recovered.
Two veterinarians who also requested anonymity said their clients followed Ching’s advice to take dogs off medications for heart disease and replace them with a Petstaurant diet and supplements. One of the doctors said, “The dog came back to me coughing uncontrollably and in heart failure. I hospitalized the dog that day. My client was shocked.”
The other veterinarian said her client’s dog had a damaged heart valve. After a week or so on Ching’s supplements, “the dog had increased panting, more respiratory effort,” she said. She said she told her client, “‘Why would you ever listen to someone who sells food?’ She put him back on the medication and the dog was fine.”
Marc Ching speaks at the 2017 Circle V Festival in Los Angeles. (Tommaso Boddi / Getty Images)
A veterinarian who also asked not to be named said she hears from clients about Ching every couple of weeks, often involving cases in which he persuades them to take their dogs off prescribed flea medications and put them on his diets.
“One dog got sick from a flea-borne disease,” recalled the veterinarian, who said she treated the animal about two years ago.
The veterinarian said Ching also gave one of her clients a letter he wrote in email form exempting a dog from a rabies vaccine. (The Times has reviewed the letter.) She said such exemptions are rarely requested by veterinarians and generally only in cases in which the vaccine could kill the dog. The exemptions are used by pet owners when they don’t have a vaccine certification required by kennels or groomers.
Ching wrote the letter “as if he were a veterinarian,” the doctor said. She said it was “blatantly illegal and a human health risk.”
Laurel Kinder is not a veterinarian, but she runs a low-cost pet clinic in North Hollywood where Ching brought rescue dogs for treatment. She said a clinic veterinarian advised Ching to take a dog with a blood disorder to a specialist for medication. Instead, Kinder said, Ching allowed a woman to adopt the dog and told her to give it iron supplements.
The woman later brought the dog back to the clinic for a teeth cleaning under anesthesia, still suffering from the disorder, Kinder said.
“If I had put that dog under, it would have died,” she said.
The veterinarian who complained to the state Department of Public Health in 2018 about the labeling of some of the Petstaurant food also asked not to be named. The labels lacked information required by law, the veterinarian said.
In the emailed complaint, which The Times reviewed, she said the Petstaurant sold her client the food to treat allergies. The veterinarian said she had to send several emails to receive any response from the department and it ultimately failed to follow up with her.
A department spokesman said the agency hadn’t acted on the doctor’s allegations because “there was a delay due to improper entry” in the complaint system but had recently reached out to the veterinarian.


latimes--2020-07-30--The Los Angeles River as you've never seen it — in augmented reality

Fifty-one miles of territory .
Thousands of years of evolution .
How to grasp the complexity of the Los Angeles River , its history and its geological diversity in a single sitting ?
Well , there ’ s an app for that .
“ Rio de Los Angeles ” is a new augmented reality app produced by RYOT , a production studio run by Verizon Media that specializes in interactive and immersive experiences , in collaboration with digital studios Vrai Pictures and Superbright .
The app is an interactive experience for iPhone and iPad that walks a viewer through some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pre-historic era to the present .
Point it at a flat surface , and a 3-D map of the Los Angeles Basin materializes on the screen .
From there , a menu of options walks you through the river ’ s history , from the shifting waterway on a broad flood plain to the channelized water body encased in concrete .
With the touch of a finger , the viewer can make rain fall or access vintage video of historic Los Angeles floods — including the deadly flood of 1938 that killed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ washed away homes and bridges .
That flood ’ s ferocity led the city to implement measures such as channelization — hence today ’ s apocalyptic river in a concrete chute .
Jessica Brillhart , founder of Vrai Pictures , a studio that has worked on virtual reality projects in the cultural arena — including a cosmic visualization of Beethoven ’ s Fifth Symphony with London ’ s Philharmonia Orchestra — says she was intrigued by the story of the L.A. River after paying a visit to architect Frank Gehry ’ s studio @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work on the river master plan .
“ These mediums have the potential to show data sets in a whole new ways , ” she says of augmented reality .
“ As an augmented reality project you could understand the river on so many different levels.
” The app was built using data from a variety of sources , including historic archives and the LA River Index , a research database assembled by River LA , one of the many groups involved in the planned redevelopment of the river .
Jake Sally , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ focuses on creating immersive content , saw an educational opportunity in the project — taking assembled information but finding a fresh way to present it .
“ The L.A. River is amazing , but it ’ s also hundreds of pages and graphs and data sets , and they are not accessible , ” he says .
“ So can we build a depth of understanding ?
... How can people who are in the immediate proximity to the river have a greater understanding of how their small piece fits into the larger @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is free , also helps make augmented reality experiences accessible to the everyday user ; all you need is your phone .
“ It ’ s about how do we democratize these new technologies ?
” says Sally .
“ How can we create these one-of-a-kind experiences that connect the digital and physical worlds ?
” “ Rio de Los Angeles ” had a soft launch earlier this month and is available for download on the Apple app store .

A still from “Rio de Los Angeles,” a new augmented reality app about the L.A. River.
Fifty-one miles of territory. Thousands of years of evolution. How to grasp the complexity of the Los Angeles River, its history and its geological diversity in a single sitting?
Well, there’s an app for that.
“Rio de Los Angeles” is a new augmented reality app produced by RYOT, a production studio run by Verizon Media that specializes in interactive and immersive experiences, in collaboration with digital studios Vrai Pictures and Superbright.
The app is an interactive experience for iPhone and iPad that walks a viewer through some of the river’s history from the pre-historic era to the present. Point it at a flat surface, and a 3-D map of the Los Angeles Basin materializes on the screen. From there, a menu of options walks you through the river’s history, from the shifting waterway on a broad flood plain to the channelized water body encased in concrete.
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With the touch of a finger, the viewer can make rain fall or access vintage video of historic Los Angeles floods — including the deadly flood of 1938 that killed dozens of people, inundated roads and washed away homes and bridges. That flood’s ferocity led the city to implement measures such as channelization — hence today’s apocalyptic river in a concrete chute.
VIDEO | 00:43 Rio de Los Angeles augmented reality app trailer
Jessica Brillhart, founder of Vrai Pictures, a studio that has worked on virtual reality projects in the cultural arena — including a cosmic visualization of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony with London’s Philharmonia Orchestra — says she was intrigued by the story of the L.A. River after paying a visit to architect Frank Gehry’s studio and learning about his firm’s work on the river master plan.
“These mediums have the potential to show data sets in a whole new ways,” she says of augmented reality. “As an augmented reality project you could understand the river on so many different levels.”
The app was built using data from a variety of sources, including historic archives and the LA River Index, a research database assembled by River LA, one of the many groups involved in the planned redevelopment of the river.
Jake Sally, head of development at RYOT, which focuses on creating immersive content, saw an educational opportunity in the project — taking assembled information but finding a fresh way to present it. (Full disclosure: The Times has a partnership with RYOT as part of the Yahoo News XR Partner Program.)
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“The L.A. River is amazing, but it’s also hundreds of pages and graphs and data sets, and they are not accessible,” he says. “So can we build a depth of understanding? ... How can people who are in the immediate proximity to the river have a greater understanding of how their small piece fits into the larger context?”
The app, which is free, also helps make augmented reality experiences accessible to the everyday user; all you need is your phone.
“It’s about how do we democratize these new technologies?” says Sally. “How can we create these one-of-a-kind experiences that connect the digital and physical worlds?”
“Rio de Los Angeles” had a soft launch earlier this month and is available for download on the Apple app store.


latimes--2020-07-30--After missing DACA, she resented her U.S.-born siblings. Trump ruined her second chance

Beatriz Basurto ’ s father is quick to point out that she — the 19-year-old middle child — is the most responsible of his children .
She ’ s the one with a well-paying job as a Mixtec interpreter for farmworkers in Oxnard while attending college full time .
She ’ s the one who picks up the tab when they go out for lunch and shoves $ 20 into his pocket because she figures he could use it more than she can .
But she ’ s also the one with perhaps the most uncertain future and greatest disadvantage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ago , Basurto missed her chance to apply for immigration relief under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program , better known as DACA .
The Obama-era program allows immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and are currently without legal status the opportunity to live and work legally in the U.S. Basurto ’ s youngest brother and sister are U.S.-born citizens .
Her older brother and sister , born in Mexico , like her , managed to obtain DACA before Trump began to unwind the program in 2017 .
Basurto @ @ @ @ @ @ @ apply — and suddenly , DACA was done .
At the time , Basurto confided in her father in their native Mixtec , the indigenous language spoken in the Mexican states of Oaxaca , Puebla and Guerrero .
“ It ’ s too bad I wasn ’ t born here , Papa.
” “ There ’ s nothing we can do about that , ” he replied .
“ Don ’ t give up.
” Basurto is among tens of thousands of immigrant youth whom the Trump administration has effectively kept out of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their lives .
Their lack of DACA status has altered relationships , bred resentment and sparked awkward silences between family members who have legal status and those who don ’ t .
It has led to heightened pressure to excel and guilt among those who were bolstered by the program .
It ’ s even prompted children to question the decisions their parents made long ago to migrate to the U.S .
In June , Basurto thought she had been given a second chance when the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” manner in its attempt to shut down DACA .
The decision cleared the path to accepting new applications from a previously excluded group of more than 65,000 children now eligible to apply for DACA for the first time , according to the Migration Policy Institute—a nonpartisan D.C.-based immigration think tank .
But Basurto ’ s hopes were dashed Tuesday when Trump announced he would not accept new DACA applications .
The move defies the Supreme Court decision and a federal District Court ruling in Maryland ordering immigration officials to accept new applications @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likely will face renewed legal challenges in the courts .
As Basurto watches DACA open opportunities for her older siblings and peers , she has seen her own prospects dwindle .
At the same time , she has noticed complacency set in among some DACA recipients , while her own hardship bred resilience , motivation and social activism .
“ I have a life outside of DACA , ” Basurto said .
“ DACA does not define who I am.
” Still , she had plans to apply for DACA as soon as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accept new applicants — mostly to give her parents peace of mind .
“ You can ’ t really translate DACA in Mixtec , ” she said .
“ For them , it just means I ’ m protected and don ’ t have to return to Mexico.
” California is home to the largest number of DACA recipients in the nation and led the legal challenge to the Trump administration ’ s efforts since 2017 to do away with the program .
The University of California , under the guidance of President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policy as U.S .
Homeland Security secretary — was a lead plaintiff along with the state and other California entities and individuals in the Supreme Court case .
Young people who have aged into DACA eligibility over the last two-and-half-years but have been unable to apply represent an acutely vulnerable group , said Roberto Gonzales , a Harvard University sociologist who wrote a book based on a 12-year project following 150 young people and DACA recipients around the L.A. area .
“ They have come of age under DACA , ” Gonzales said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ siblings receive driver ’ s licenses , take after-school jobs , and plan for their futures .
But at a time when their citizen friends are participating in these important rites of passage , their progress has been stalled.
” Initially , Basurto and her parents were afraid of handing government officials the family ’ s personal information , as required as part of the application process , which confused them .
They decided to test the waters with her two older siblings , allowing them to apply before submitting Basurto ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ started her application .
Then Trump made his first move to end the program .
The missed opportunity left Basurto feeling like an outcast and resentful about her place within her family , she said .
Her ambivalence was especially strong toward her U.S.-born siblings—a 10-year-old brother and 12-year-old sister—whom she said she loved dearly but couldn ’ t bear to be close to any longer .
She stopped talking to them .
“ I just felt a lot of anger during that time , ” Basurto said .
They were too young @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being born in the U.S. gave them more leverage and opportunities than Basurto .
Other immigrant youth , like Rotzely , directed their anger toward their parents .
Rotzely , who gave only her first name because she is in the country without legal status , was three months shy of turning 15 when she got the last document to complete her DACA application in 2017 .
“ I got it , ” Rotzely called and told her mother .
“ I finally got the letter that we ’ ve been waiting for.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ told her : “ It ’ s too late.
” Her father ’ s side of the family had tried to persuade her mother to leave Mexico for the U.S. before she gave birth to Rotzely .
But she was nine months ’ pregnant and feared complications along the journey .
The lost opportunity weighed heavily on Rotzely , who is now 17 .
“ She decided to wait until after I was born .
I resented her.
” Rotzely was 3 months old when she and her mother made the trek north @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with her mother and grew distant from her family .
She still did her chores , kept up her grades and ate dinner with them almost every day , but would find any chance to retreat into her room and into herself .
Her mother enrolled her in a youth program at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles , where Rotzely found others who had also missed qualifying for DACA .
Eventually , her anger faded .
Rotzely , who earns stellar grades , said she ’ s hunted for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year to help her save for college .
But her lack of legal status has made it tough .
“ I see how all my friends easily just go to a restaurant or like a known place like Starbucks or McDonald ’ s and work there and I have to find all these special jobs that will just pay me cash , ” she said .
“ It ’ s just a constant reminder that I wasn ’ t born here and that this country won ’ t see me the same as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , sisters Lisette and Kathy are a California success story : Lisette , 21 , attends UCLA , and Kathy , 18 , UC Santa Barbara .
Though they ’ re close in age , Lisette said she grew up taking care of Kathy .
Their parents — who brought them illegally to the U.S. from Central America when they were 6 and 3 years old , respectively — had to work odd jobs nonstop to make ends meet .
Lisette asked to keep their last name and certain identifying details out to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The sisters are close , quick to laugh and echo each other .
But there ’ s a big divide : Lisette is a DACA recipient ; Kathy was just shy of being able to apply .
Their little brother , roughly a decade behind , is a U.S. citizen .
“ I never got upset my parents were always at work , ” Lisette said .
“ Eventually I started to understand that my responsibility was to take care of my siblings.
” When an uncle found out about DACA , Lisette @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about college and working to support her family .
She applied .
“ It meant the world to have it , ” she said .
But Kathy struggled with feelings of guilt and frustration when she went days at a time without seeing her older sister because Lisette worked such long hours , on top of school .
“ There was just the glaring fact I couldn ’ t ignore , ” Kathy said : Lisette had DACA ; she didn ’ t .
“ It would ’ ve been easier if I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her , but I just couldn ’ t , ” Kathy said .
Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer , associate clinical professor of law at Cornell law school , said she has represented a number of clients with DACA whose younger siblings “ just barely missed the cutoff ” when the program was put on hold , and who are again left insecure .
“ Those who do have DACA feel the arbitrariness of a system that blessed them with the ability to work lawfully and not be afraid in their day-to-day lives , and yet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this limbo , ” she said .
“ It creates a lot of anxiety for the person who has to be the one DACA recipient holding that load for the family.
” Luckily , Lisette and Kathy ’ s little brother , age 10 , doesn ’ t seem too aware of the tension — he cares only about video games , they joked .
“ I am just extremely glad he won ’ t have to go through what we have to go through , ” Lisette said .
Back in Oxnard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go of the resentment toward her U.S.-citizen siblings .
She told herself , “ I have to pick myself up and pick up my own community because nobody else is going to do it.
” She started to volunteer as a Mixtec interpreter .
She provided translation services and helped create food drives for Mixtec farmworkers impacted by the 2017 Thomas Fire in Ventura County .
It became a full-time job ; she didn ’ t need DACA to make a living .
Although federal law prohibits employers from hiring someone residing in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ law prohibiting such a person from starting a business or becoming an independent contractor like Basurto .
Her older siblings who qualified for the program moved on with their lives .
Her brother travels the state making artwork for buildings and her sister has an office job and cares for her children .
Unlike Basurto , they never got involved in advocating for their community .
“ My older siblings live normal lives .
They go to work and back home to their families , ” she said .
“ I think outside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t have confidence or the safety to advocate for themselves.
” Sometimes Basurto ponders what her life would have been like with DACA .
She thinks of the DACA recipients pacified by their new entry into something resembling an American life .
In a way , she believes , DACA stunted the same youth-led nationwide activism that won DACA protections in the first place .
“ I know folks who ended up getting DACA and forgot that there are folks who fought for it and those who are still undocumented , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had gotten DACA , I would have most likely become one of those folks.
” The end of DACA could be seen as a blessing , Basurto argued .
It reawakened a movement .

Beatriz Basurto’s father is quick to point out that she — the 19-year-old middle child — is the most responsible of his children.
She’s the one with a well-paying job as a Mixtec interpreter for farmworkers in Oxnard while attending college full time. She’s the one who picks up the tab when they go out for lunch and shoves $20 into his pocket because she figures he could use it more than she can.
But she’s also the one with perhaps the most uncertain future and greatest disadvantage of all the siblings.
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Three years ago, Basurto missed her chance to apply for immigration relief under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, better known as DACA. The Obama-era program allows immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and are currently without legal status the opportunity to live and work legally in the U.S.
Basurto’s youngest brother and sister are U.S.-born citizens. Her older brother and sister, born in Mexico, like her, managed to obtain DACA before Trump began to unwind the program in 2017. Basurto, then 16, was about to apply — and suddenly, DACA was done.
At the time, Basurto confided in her father in their native Mixtec, the Indigenous language spoken in the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Puebla and Guerrero. “It’s too bad I wasn’t born here, Papa.”
“There’s nothing we can do about that,” he replied. “Don’t give up.”
Basurto is among tens of thousands of immigrant youth whom the Trump administration has effectively kept out of DACA, radically changing the trajectory of their lives. Their lack of DACA status has altered relationships, bred resentment and sparked awkward silences between family members who have legal status and those who don’t.
Beatriz Basurto gives food to Elvira Gavarie Urenda, 80, at a food giveaway in Oxnard on July 19. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
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It has led to heightened pressure to excel and guilt among those who were bolstered by the program. It’s even prompted children to question the decisions their parents made long ago to migrate to the U.S.
In June, Basurto thought she had been given a second chance when the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner in its attempt to shut down DACA. The decision cleared the path to accepting new applications from a previously excluded group of more than 65,000 children now eligible to apply for DACA for the first time, according to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan D.C.-based immigration think tank.
But Basurto’s hopes were dashed Tuesday when Trump announced he would not accept new DACA applications. The move defies the Supreme Court decision and a federal District Court ruling in Maryland ordering immigration officials to accept new applications, experts and lawmakers say. It probably will face renewed legal challenges in the courts.
As Basurto watches DACA open opportunities for her older siblings and peers, she has seen her own prospects dwindle. At the same time, she has noticed complacency set in among some DACA recipients, while her own hardship bred resilience, motivation and social activism.
A food giveaway in Oxnard on July 19. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
“I have a life outside of DACA,” Basurto said. “DACA does not define who I am.”
Still, she had plans to apply for DACA as soon as she got word that the government would accept new applicants — mostly to give her parents peace of mind.
“You can’t really translate DACA in Mixtec,” she said. “For them, it just means I’m protected and don’t have to return to Mexico.”
California is home to the largest number of DACA recipients in the nation and led the legal challenge to the Trump administration’s efforts since 2017 to do away with the program. The University of California, under the guidance of President Janet Napolitano — who crafted the DACA policy as U.S. Homeland Security secretary — was a lead plaintiff along with the state and other California entities and individuals in the Supreme Court case.
Young people who have aged into DACA eligibility over the last two and a half years but have been unable to apply represent an acutely vulnerable group, said Roberto Gonzales, a Harvard University sociologist who wrote a book based on a 12-year project following 150 young people and DACA recipients around the L.A. area.
“They have come of age under DACA,” Gonzales said. “They’ve seen older siblings receive driver’s licenses, take after-school jobs and plan for their futures. But at a time when their citizen friends are participating in these important rites of passage, their progress has been stalled.”
Initially, Basurto and her parents were afraid of handing government officials the family’s personal information, as required in the application process, which confused them. They decided to test the waters with her two older siblings, allowing them to apply before submitting Basurto’s application. When they qualified, Basurto started her application. Then Trump made his first move to end the program.
“I have a life outside of DACA,” Beatriz Basurto said. “DACA does not define who I am.” (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
The missed opportunity left Basurto feeling like an outcast and resentful about her place within her family, she said. Her ambivalence was especially strong toward her U.S.-born siblings — a 10-year-old brother and 12-year-old sister — whom she said she loved dearly but couldn’t bear to be close to any longer.
She stopped talking to them.
“I just felt a lot of anger during that time,” Basurto said.
They were too young to understand how the sheer luck of being born in the U.S. gave them more leverage and opportunities than Basurto.
Other immigrant youth, like Rotzely, directed their anger toward their parents.
Rotzely, who gave only her first name because she is in the country without legal status, was three months shy of turning 15 when she got the last document to complete her DACA application in 2017.
“I got it,” Rotzely called and told her mother. “I finally got the letter that we’ve been waiting for.”
Her mother hesitated. Then she told her: “It’s too late.”
Her father’s side of the family had tried to persuade her mother to leave Mexico for the U.S. before she gave birth to Rotzely. But she was nine months pregnant and feared complications along the journey.
The lost opportunity weighed heavily on Rotzely, who is now 17. “She decided to wait until after I was born. I resented her.”
Rotzely was 3 months old when she and her mother made the trek north.
The teen didn’t talk with her mother and grew distant from her family. She still did her chores, kept up her grades and ate dinner with them almost every day, but would find any chance to retreat into her room and into herself.
Her mother enrolled her in a youth program at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, where Rotzely found others who had also missed qualifying for DACA. Eventually, her anger faded.
Rotzely, who earns stellar grades, said she’s hunted for a part-time, after-school job since last year to help her save for college. But her lack of legal status has made it tough.
“I see how all my friends easily just go to a restaurant or like a known place like Starbucks or McDonald’s and work there, and I have to find all these special jobs that will just pay me cash,” she said. “It’s just a constant reminder that I wasn’t born here and that this country won’t see me the same as other people.”
Just outside Los Angeles, sisters Lisette and Kathy are a California success story: Lisette, 21, attends UCLA, and Kathy, 18, UC Santa Barbara.
Though they’re close in age, Lisette said she grew up taking care of Kathy. Their parents — who brought them illegally to the U.S. from Central America when they were 6 and 3 years old, respectively — had to work odd jobs nonstop to make ends meet. Lisette asked to keep their last name and certain identifying details private to protect her family from potential retaliation.
The sisters are close, quick to laugh and echo each other. But there’s a big divide: Lisette is a DACA recipient; Kathy was just shy of being able to apply. Their little brother, roughly a decade behind, is a U.S. citizen.
“I never got upset my parents were always at work,” Lisette said. “Eventually I started to understand that my responsibility was to take care of my siblings.”
When an uncle found out about DACA, Lisette let herself think for the first time about college and working to support her family. She applied. “It meant the world to have it,” she said.
But Kathy struggled with feelings of guilt and frustration when she went days at a time without seeing her older sister because Lisette worked such long hours, on top of school. “There was just the glaring fact I couldn’t ignore,” Kathy said: Lisette had DACA; she didn’t.
“It would’ve been easier if I could’ve shared the burden with her, but I just couldn’t,” Kathy said.
Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer, associate clinical professor of law at Cornell law school, said she has represented a number of clients with DACA whose younger siblings “just barely missed the cutoff” when the program was put on hold, and who are again left insecure.
“Those who do have DACA feel the arbitrariness of a system that blessed them with the ability to work lawfully and not be afraid in their day-to-day lives, and yet their siblings or their parents are in this limbo,” she said. “It creates a lot of anxiety for the person who has to be the one DACA recipient holding that load for the family.”
Luckily, Lisette and Kathy’s little brother, age 10, doesn’t seem too aware of the tension — he cares only about video games, they joked.
“I am just extremely glad he won’t have to go through what we have to go through,” Lisette said.
Back in Oxnard, Basurto said that she eventually let go of the resentment toward her U.S.-citizen siblings.
She told herself, “I have to pick myself up and pick up my own community because nobody else is going to do it.”
She started to volunteer as a Mixtec interpreter. She provided translation services and helped create food drives for Mixtec farmworkers affected by the 2017 Thomas fire in Ventura County.
It became a full-time job; she didn’t need DACA to make a living.
Although federal law prohibits employers from hiring someone residing in the country illegally, there is no law prohibiting such a person from starting a business or becoming an independent contractor like Basurto.
Her older siblings who qualified for the program moved on with their lives. Her brother travels the state making artwork for buildings, and her sister has an office job and cares for her children. Unlike Basurto, they never got involved in advocating for their community.
“My older siblings live normal lives. They go to work and back home to their families,” she said. “I think outside myself. I speak for folks who don’t have confidence or the safety to advocate for themselves.”
Sometimes Basurto ponders what her life would have been like with DACA. She thinks of the DACA recipients pacified by their new entry into something resembling an American life. In a way, she believes, DACA stunted the same youth-led nationwide activism that won DACA protections in the first place.
“I know folks who ended up getting DACA and forgot that there are folks who fought for it and those who are still undocumented,” Basurto said. “If I had gotten DACA, I would have most likely become one of those folks.”
The end of DACA could be seen as a blessing, Basurto argued. It reawakened a movement.