latimes--2020-11-19--Black and Latino renters face eviction, exclusion amid police crackdowns in California

Three years after his release from prison following a cocaine dealing conviction , Terrance Stewart was accepted to UC Riverside and began searching for a place to live near campus with his wife and 3-month-old daughter .
He couldn ’ t find one .
Facing rejection after rejection , Stewart started to realize that posted around the apartment complexes he visited were gray signs with the stenciled outlines of three homes .
The logos , he later learned , meant those landlords took part in a police program that trains them how to refuse tenants with criminal histories .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Stewart said .
Kept out of Riverside and neighboring cities , Stewart ’ s family rented a room in a Lake Elsinore home , a 90-minute bus ride from campus .
Stewart didn ’ t know it at the time , but he was up against “ crime-free housing , ” a collection of policies that have expanded the power of the police to decide who can and can ’ t live in more than a thousand cities across the country .
The programs approved by cities vary , but are aimed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tenants who have had brushes with law enforcement .
Some cities have taken a strict approach , adopting laws requiring the eviction of tenants accused of breaking the law .
Others provide police training for landlords on criminal background checks and anticrime lease provisions .
The rules draw strong support from police , prosecutors and politicians who contend that they help keep neighborhoods safe , especially in areas with drug- and gang-related problems .
But a Times investigation has found the programs have disproportionately affected Black and Latino residents in California , making @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and leaving them at greater risk of eviction .
A map of the programs ’ expansion has left a distinct pattern : As Black people and Latinos moved to the suburbs in search of safer neighborhoods and cheaper housing , crime-free housing policies often came soon after .
Overall , at least 147 cities and counties in California have enacted a crime-free housing law or advertise crime-free housing training for landlords , The Times found , more than a quarter of all the local governments in the state .
Among the 20 California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residents since 1990 , 85 % have approved crime-free housing policies , a Times data analysis found .
Such communities include the fast-growing suburbs of Lancaster , Moreno Valley and Victorville .
For communities that saw the largest increases in Latino population , 75 % have approved the policies , including Fresno , Bakersfield and Ontario .
Black , Latino and other tenants of color also have been more likely to face eviction under crime-free housing than white tenants .
The Times reviewed five years of eviction data for one program that covers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Los Angeles , Long Beach , Oakland and Sacramento .
Nearly 80 % of those targeted for eviction from 2015 through 2019 were not white .
In Oakland , Black tenants faced eviction at twice their share of the city ’ s renter population .
Though descriptions of crime-free housing programs do not mention race , some supporters have used disturbing and thinly coded racist language to justify them .
One city councilman in Hesperia , said the purpose of his city ’ s ordinance was “ to correct a demographical problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this community.
” A resident at one raucous City Council meeting in Hemet cited “ some new elements that have moved into our town ” in pushing for the rules .
Criminals are referred to as “ weeds ” and “ the two-legged urban predator ” in a training manual used by many police departments in California .
Again and again , the specter of rising crime rates has been inaccurately used as justification for the housing policies .
In some suburbs , including Antioch , Hemet and Hesperia , police departments pursued @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actually stable or falling .
What was increasing in those communities was their Black and Latino populations .
The programs have continued to flourish despite legal crackdowns .
The U.S. Department of Justice in December sued Hesperia and the San Bernardino County Sheriff ’ s Department , contending that they intentionally singled out Black and Latino tenants for enforcement .
In 2013 , the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale were found to have teamed with the Los Angeles County Sheriff ’ s Department to drive out Black residents living in subsidized housing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Still , backers argue the programs can help the community if done right .
In Los Angeles , enforcement of such policies has been concentrated in Black and Latino neighborhoods in South Los Angeles .
City Atty .
Mike Feuer said residents appreciate the effort to address chronic crime problems .
“ The people who live in these communities who are African American and Latino , they deserve safety , too .
Just like people who live in more affluent neighborhoods who are white deserve that safety , ” Feuer said .
Nevertheless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of law enforcement in previously private dealings between landlords and tenants is leading to devastating results for communities of color — just as many housing policies have done in the past .
Segregationist-era practices like mortgage redlining and racial covenants in property deeds prevented Black residents from living in certain neighborhoods .
Deborah Archer , a co-director at the Center on Race , Inequality and the Law at New York University , believes the proliferation of crime-free housing programs represent a new form of government-sponsored racism akin to those efforts .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and housing policy in a way that is going to allow the racial biases of the policing system to infiltrate housing with really detrimental impacts for Black and brown communities , ” said Archer , who “ It is going to help facilitate and entrench racial segregation in housing.
” The Bay Area suburb of Antioch , in the early 2000s , had housing to spare .
The mortgage foreclosure crisis had turned new developments into ghost towns of suddenly unaffordable homes .
To fill them , homeowners began renting them out to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , many of whom were Black .
The promise of good schools , open spaces and more affordable housing drew so many people from Oakland and other cities that Antioch has experienced a bigger influx of Black residents than any other Northern California community over the past three decades .
But Antioch ’ s existing residents , especially in its whiter , wealthier enclaves , began complaining about violence and blight they said was accompanying the influx of low-income renters — though the city ’ s crime statistics did not bear out those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2006 by creating a special police unit that investigated Section 8 households .
Police officers repeatedly warned landlords that they could be held legally responsible for their tenants ’ actions , a tactic that often leads to evictions .
Two years later , civil rights attorneys filed suit , alleging that the Police Department systematically targeted Black renters , including those who reported domestic violence incidents .
To settle the case , Antioch officials pledged to not focus on tenants ’ race or Section 8 status in their policing efforts .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is finally resolved and that people will be watching to make sure Antioch doesn ’ t try to push out any other families like mine , ” said Santeya Williams , an Antioch tenant and plaintiff in the case , when the settlement was announced .
Antioch isn ’ t alone .
Crime-free housing policies have spread throughout California , especially in diversifying communities .
The programs first came about in the late 1980s when crime rates were surging , viewed as an effective way to target enforcement on crime-ridden hot spots like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ manual was first developed in 1992 by a Mesa , Ariz. , police officer who later founded an organization , the International Crime Free Assn.
, to promote the policies .
The guidelines ranged from gardening tips to detailed eviction explainers .
Police instructed landlords to increase lighting and keep trees trimmed .
And officers also showed them how to do criminal background checks and fast-track evictions by inserting anticrime lease terms in rent contracts .
Some cities have enacted laws that go beyond what the manual recommends .
One way has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the authority to fine landlords and push them to evict tenants — typically following incidents involving drugs or weapons .
Today , nearly 2,000 cities in the United States and elsewhere have crime-free housing policies , according to an estimate from the International Crime Free Assn .
The efforts continued to expand even as crime rates stabilized or dropped over the past three decades .
As in Antioch , some areas with rising Black and Latino populations carried out crime-free housing campaigns marred by veiled racist rhetoric and fear mongering .
In the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has seen California ’ s largest increase in Black residents since 1990 , city leaders joined with deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff ’ s Department to crack down on predominantly Black Section 8 voucher holders .
With guns drawn and decked out in SWAT team armor , deputies would appear at tenants ’ doors for what were supposed to be administrative compliance visits .
In 2008 , Lancaster took further measures , passing a crime-free housing law that threatened landlords with fines if they didn ’ t evict tenants following more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ complex .
The National Assn .
for the Advancement of Colored People sued over the law and similar practices in Lancaster and neighboring Palmdale , sparking the Justice Department ’ s investigation .
Federal officials concluded that police were motivated by unsubstantiated and racist beliefs that Black tenants on housing assistance were gang members bringing crime into the Antelope Valley .
In another city , a crime-free housing program was promoted on a massive tank-like vehicle at civic events .
Turned into a mobile billboard by police offers in the Riverside County city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ previously used by the department ’ s SWAT team .
As in Antioch , mortgage foreclosures had hit Hemet hard .
The headline in a 2010 Times article highlighting residents ’ complaints said that the city had turned “ From bucolic bliss to ‘ gated ghetto.
’ ” At the time , violent crime in Hemet was actually lower than it had been five years earlier .
What had changed was Hemet ’ s demographics .
Since 1990 , Hemet ’ s population has more than doubled to 84,000 , with the number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 300 to just over 6,000 .
The Latino population has increased by more than 30,000 .
The issues came to a head at City Council meetings in summer 2012 , called in response to Facebook groups spreading inaccurate rumors that officials were dumping probationers in Hemet , according to an account in the Riverside Press-Enterprise .
Outside the meetings , vendors hawked shirts that read “ Take Back Hemet.
” “ We ’ ve kicked this can of tolerance 25 years down the road , ” business owner Don Digby said at one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his employee ’ s cars had been stolen .
“ And we need to become intolerant .
That ’ s what it ’ s going to take.
” The crowd responded with sustained applause .
The crime-free housing law passed the City Council soon after .
A similar debate occurred a few years later in Hesperia , another Inland Empire suburb that had experienced sharp Black and Latino population increases .
Despite warnings from fair housing , landlord and criminal justice groups that its crime-free housing ordinance was illegal , the city barreled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ purpose of the law was to weed out criminal outsiders the same way “ you would call an exterminator to kill roaches.
” Enforcement was severe .
In one case , a woman and her three children were evicted from their apartment after she called 911 to report that her husband was beating her with a television cable , a federal Department of Housing and Urban Development investigation found .
Black tenants were almost four times as likely as white renters to be evicted under Hesperia ’ s law , the investigation determined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and police have denied the Justice Department ’ s allegations of racial discrimination .
Timothy Zehring , the founder of the International Crime Free Assn.
, declined to be interviewed .
Zehring ’ s manual , which is still widely used in California , emphasizes that racial discrimination is illegal .
But it also notes that those with criminal histories do not have special protection under federal law and can legally be turned away .
The manual advises that a strategy for avoiding lawsuits is for landlords to be careful with what they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suits are filed when managers say too much !
” the manual says .
The manual also includes the references to criminals as “ weeds ” and “ the two-legged urban predator.
” The association ’ s logo is what Stewart saw on apartment buildings while searching in Riverside .
Stewart ’ s room in Lake Elsinore was so small it didn ’ t have a stove .
When he returned home to cook dinner after classes at UC Riverside , Stewart would fry fish with a waffle iron .
Ultimately , Stewart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get into student housing .
But five years later , when he graduated with a master ’ s degree in higher education and policy administration , Stewart again found his family blocked from apartments in Riverside because of his then nearly decade-old drug conviction .
By then , Stewart and his wife had an infant son along with their daughter .
They ended up in a rundown apartment outside the city before a work connection found him a better place .
That experience scarred him so much that Stewart still keeps photos @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trapped in the old complex .
“ I became a man and started taking care of my family and one of the hardest things has been housing , ” said Stewart , now 40 and working at Californians for Safety and Justice , a criminal justice reform organization .
“ It wasn ’ t because I didn ’ t have the money .
Or I didn ’ t have good credit .
Or I didn ’ t have the education .
It was because I had this past conviction.
” The school dedicated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crime problems soon after it opened in Los Angeles ’ Harbor Gateway neighborhood in 2013 .
Across the street from the Environmental Charter Middle School were apartment buildings filled with tenants that often targeted the school .
Tenants threatened the boys with violence and harassed the girls , said Alison Diaz , then the school ’ s executive director .
The tenants also regularly broke into the school .
One time , during school hours , a stray bullet struck the building , pockmarking the exterior .
Diaz turned to the city attorney @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2015 , the city helped engineer the apartments ’ sale through one of its crime-free housing programs , and then kept tabs on the new owners .
Within a year , Diaz said , the problems went away , providing immense relief to parents .
“ They wanted their kids to be safe , ” Diaz said .
“ Everybody wants their children to be safe.
” Supporters of crime-free housing point to situations like these as evidence that the programs work .
The policies , they say , ensure that all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ live without fear of drugs or violence .
Greg Jones , who runs the program for the San Bernardino County Sheriff ’ s Department , tells the story of one complex in the city of San Bernardino that upgraded its security system , cut hedges and redid lighting .
“ It ’ s more family friendly , ” Jones said .
“ They ’ ve had more individuals requesting to become tenants because it ’ s a safe environment.
” Jones called the program an example of community-oriented policing that helps identify circumstances @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Currently , police departments in at least 35 local governments in California , including Fremont , Davis and San Diego , advertise crime-free housing training for landlords .
An additional 112 cities and counties in the state , according to the Times review of municipal codes , have passed versions of crime-free housing laws that allow police and code enforcement to sanction landlords and often urge them to evict tenants — usually following drug or gang incidents .
In the Bay Area suburb of Fairfield , the city can fine landlords up to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tenants to use drugs or commit acts of prostitution in an apartment .
In Los Angeles , the programs target properties that are known havens for those committing crimes , prosecutors say , like the ones outside the middle school in Harbor Gateway .
The city ’ s enforcement of crime-free housing efforts , however , is concentrated in certain neighborhoods .
Of the nearly 100 cases filed by the city between 2013 and 2018 under one program , three-quarters were in South L.A. , according to research by The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city attorney , said the number of cases in South L.A. reflects its acute dangers of drug and gang violence .
If the city attorney ’ s office was not taking action , he said , it could be rightfully accused of abandoning those neighborhoods .
The San Bernardino County Sheriff ’ s Department and the L.A. city attorney ’ s office provided anecdotal evidence that their policies had led to fewer police calls at properties where they took action .
Neither has done an analysis to determine the overall effectiveness of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Not long after taking office in 2018 , Adelanto City Councilwoman Stevevonna Evans came across the city ’ s crime-free housing law .
She couldn ’ t believe it .
“ The verbiage is very clear , ” Evans said .
“ If you are accused of a crime you have to be evicted.
” Fearing Adelanto residents would fall prey to the kind of prejudicial practices that plagued nearby Hesperia , Evans spearheaded a campaign to get rid of the policy .
The law was repealed by the City Council earlier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that more cities would follow suit , ” Evans said .
“ It ’ s just so discriminatory.
” Increasingly , elected officials and regulatory agencies are coming to similar conclusions .
But efforts to roll back crime-free housing policies aren ’ t always resulting in meaningful changes .
In 2016 , HUD recommended that cities repeal their crime-free housing programs to avoid running afoul of fair housing laws .
Two years ago , California legislators banned police response to domestic violence or emergency medical calls as a basis for evictions .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Employment and Housing prohibited policies that mandate evictions for broad-based criminal or nuisance activity .
The new regulations also target laws that stop landlords from renting to people with criminal histories .
So far , the department has not taken action against any city ’ s crime-free housing program .
Hesperia ’ s rules were revamped prior to the Justice Department ’ s lawsuit .
Last month , under pressure from HUD , the Hemet City Council repealed its crime-free housing law .
Council members were upset that the federal government was forcing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when reviewing the policy .
“ If I were to do some of the things that were listed in these ordinances , I would lose my license and potentially go to prison , ” said Hemet Councilman Michael Perciful , who is also a real estate broker .
Nevertheless , the policies continue to spread .
One of the most recent is in Canyon Lake , an Inland Empire suburb and , with 11,000 people , one of the largest gated communities in the country .
Canyon Lake ’ s law , passed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lease provision that states any criminal activity — on or off the property — is grounds for an eviction .
Evans , the councilwoman in Adelanto , said another reason she pressed so hard to repeal the city ’ s law was that she knew the San Bernardino County Sheriff ’ s Department would still offer voluntary training for landlords who wanted it .
The changes , however , don ’ t go far enough for some whose criminal records have made it difficult to find decent housing .
Three years ago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , following a couple decades of going in and out for felony car theft and other crimes .
He found work repairing appliances and now has enough money for housing for himself , his partner and their three children — the two youngest with autism .
But his search for housing in Hesperia , Adelanto and neighboring communities has been fraught with rejection .
“ When you get to these places they ’ re like , ‘ Crime-free , crime-free , crime-free , ’ ” said Nuñez , 43 .
“ I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is crime-free ?
’ And they ’ re like , ‘ If you have a criminal background , we can ’ t rent to you.
’ ” Nuñez ended up at a duplex in Adelanto .
But the place is filled with mold , and he ’ s had to throw out sets of living room and bedroom furniture because of bedbugs .
Occasionally , the septic tank overflows , forcing Nuñez ’ s family to bounce around hotels for weeks at a time .
He ’ s not giving up his search @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has to be something else , ” said Nuñez , who is Mexican American .
“ My kids deserve more .
These little ones with special needs .
They deserve a better place and I can ’ t give them a better place .
”

Terrance Stewart, left, with his children Terrance III, 4, and Taylor, 10, and wife, Tiffane, live in Colton.
Three years after his release from prison following a cocaine dealing conviction, Terrance Stewart was accepted to UC Riverside and began searching for a place to live near campus with his wife and 3-month-old daughter.
He couldn’t find one. Facing rejection after rejection, Stewart started to realize that posted around the apartment complexes he visited were gray signs with the stenciled outlines of three homes. The logos, he later learned, meant those landlords took part in a police program that trains them how to refuse tenants with criminal histories.
“It just made my world shrink,” Stewart said.
Kept out of Riverside and neighboring cities, Stewart’s family rented a room in a Lake Elsinore home, a 90-minute bus ride from campus.
Stewart didn’t know it at the time, but he was up against “crime-free housing,” a collection of policies that have expanded the power of the police to decide who can and can’t live in more than a thousand cities across the country.
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“That thing I did in my twenties is not who I am. I bring something positive for the community,” Terrance Stewart says. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
The programs approved by cities vary, but are aimed at empowering landlords to evict or exclude tenants who have had brushes with law enforcement.
Some cities have taken a strict approach, adopting laws requiring the eviction of tenants accused of breaking the law. Others provide police training for landlords on criminal background checks and anticrime lease provisions.
The rules draw strong support from police, prosecutors and politicians who contend that they help keep neighborhoods safe, especially in areas with drug- and gang-related problems.
But a Times investigation has found the programs have disproportionately affected Black and Latino residents in California, making it harder for them to rent apartments and leaving them at greater risk of eviction.
A map of the programs’ expansion has left a distinct pattern: As Black and Latino people moved to the suburbs in search of safer neighborhoods and cheaper housing, crime-free housing policies often came soon after.
Overall, at least 147 cities and counties in California have enacted a crime-free housing law or advertise crime-free housing training for landlords, The Times found, more than a quarter of all the local governments in the state.
Among the 20 California cities with the largest increases in Black residents since 1990, 85% have approved crime-free housing policies, a Times data analysis found. Such communities include the fast-growing suburbs of Lancaster, Moreno Valley and Victorville. For communities that saw the largest increases in Latino population, 75% have approved the policies, including Fresno, Bakersfield and Ontario.
Terrance Stewart helps his daughter, Taylor, with a math problem in their living room in Colton. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
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Black, Latino and other tenants of color also have been more likely to face eviction under crime-free housing than white tenants.
The Times reviewed five years of eviction data for one program that covers four of California’s largest cities: Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and Sacramento. Nearly 80% of those targeted for eviction from 2015 through 2019 were not white. In Oakland, Black tenants faced eviction at twice their share of the city’s renter population.
Though descriptions of crime-free housing programs do not mention race, some supporters have used disturbing and thinly coded racist language to justify them. One city councilman in Hesperia said the purpose of his city’s ordinance was “to correct a demographical problem with people that are committing crimes in this community.”
A resident at one raucous City Council meeting in Hemet cited “some new elements that have moved into our town” in pushing for the rules.
Criminals are referred to as “weeds” and “the two-legged urban predator” in a training manual used by many police departments in California.
Again and again, the specter of rising crime rates has been inaccurately used as justification for the housing policies. In some suburbs, including Antioch, Hemet and Hesperia, police departments pursued crime-free housing efforts when crime rates were actually stable or falling. What was increasing in those communities was their Black and Latino populations.
The programs have continued to flourish despite legal crackdowns.
The U.S. Department of Justice in December sued Hesperia and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, contending that they intentionally singled out Black and Latino tenants for enforcement.
In 2013, the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale were found to have teamed with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to drive out Black residents living in subsidized housing, according to a Justice Department investigation.
Still, backers argue the programs can help the community if done right.
In Los Angeles, enforcement of such policies has been concentrated in Black and Latino neighborhoods in South Los Angeles. City Atty. Mike Feuer said residents appreciate the effort to address chronic crime problems.
“The people who live in these communities who are African American and Latino, they deserve safety, too. Just like people who live in more affluent neighborhoods who are white deserve that safety,” Feuer said.
Nevertheless, some experts say the increasing involvement of law enforcement in previously private dealings between landlords and tenants is leading to devastating results for communities of color — just as many housing policies have done in the past.
Segregationist-era practices like mortgage redlining and racial covenants in property deeds prevented Black residents from living in certain neighborhoods.
Deborah Archer, a co-director at the Center on Race, Inequality and the Law at New York University, believes the proliferation of crime-free housing programs represents a new form of government-sponsored racism akin to those efforts.
“We are seeing an increasing meshing of policing and housing policy in a way that is going to allow the racial biases of the policing system to infiltrate housing with really detrimental impacts for Black and brown communities,” said Archer, who has studied crime-free housing programs. “It is going to help facilitate and entrench racial segregation in housing.”
A foreclosure sale sign stands in front of a home in Antioch, Calif., in 2007. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
The Bay Area suburb of Antioch, in the early 2000s, had housing to spare. The mortgage foreclosure crisis had turned new developments into ghost towns of suddenly unaffordable homes. To fill them, homeowners began renting them out to people receiving federal Section 8 housing assistance, many of whom were Black.
The promise of good schools, open spaces and more affordable housing drew so many people from Oakland and other cities that Antioch has experienced a bigger influx of Black residents than any other Northern California community over the past three decades.
But Antioch’s existing residents, especially in its whiter, wealthier enclaves, began complaining about violence and blight they said was accompanying the influx of low-income renters — though the city’s crime statistics did not bear out those claims.
Nevertheless, the city responded in 2006 by creating a special police unit that investigated Section 8 households. Police officers repeatedly warned landlords that they could be held legally responsible for their tenants’ actions, a tactic that often leads to evictions.
Two years later, civil rights attorneys filed suit, alleging that the Police Department systematically targeted Black renters, including those who reported domestic violence incidents. To settle the case, Antioch officials pledged to not focus on tenants’ race or Section 8 status in their policing efforts.
Weeds grow in the driveway of a foreclosed home in Antioch in 2009. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
“It’s a relief that this is finally resolved and that people will be watching to make sure Antioch doesn’t try to push out any other families like mine,” said Santeya Williams, an Antioch tenant and plaintiff in the case, when the settlement was announced.
Antioch isn’t alone. Crime-free housing policies have spread throughout California, especially in diversifying communities. The programs first came about in the late 1980s when crime rates were surging, viewed as an effective way to target enforcement on crime-ridden hot spots like specific apartment complexes.
A go-to training manual was first developed in 1992 by a Mesa, Ariz., police officer who later founded an organization, the International Crime Free Assn., to promote the policies. The guidelines ranged from gardening tips to detailed eviction explainers. Police instructed landlords to increase lighting and keep trees trimmed. And officers also showed them how to do criminal background checks and fast-track evictions by inserting anticrime lease terms in rent contracts.
Some cities have enacted laws that go beyond what the manual recommends. One way has been to grant police and code enforcement officers the authority to fine landlords and push them to evict tenants — typically following incidents involving drugs or weapons. Today, nearly 2,000 cities in the United States and elsewhere have crime-free housing policies, according to an estimate from the International Crime Free Assn.
The efforts continued to expand even as crime rates stabilized or dropped over the past three decades. As in Antioch, some areas with rising Black and Latino populations carried out crime-free housing campaigns marred by veiled racist rhetoric and fear mongering.
In the Los Angeles suburb of Lancaster, which has seen California’s largest increase in Black residents since 1990, city leaders joined with deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to crack down on predominantly Black Section 8 voucher holders.
With guns drawn and decked out in SWAT team armor, deputies would appear at tenants’ doors for what were supposed to be administrative compliance visits.
Lancaster city workers inspect a home in the Piute neighborhood in 2008. (Los Angeles Times)
In 2008, Lancaster took further measures, passing a crime-free housing law that threatened landlords with fines if they didn’t evict tenants following more than five police calls to an apartment complex.
The National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People sued over the law and similar practices in Lancaster and neighboring Palmdale, sparking the Justice Department’s investigation.
Federal officials concluded that police were motivated by unsubstantiated and racist beliefs that Black tenants on housing assistance were gang members bringing crime into the Antelope Valley.
In another city, a crime-free housing program was promoted on a massive tank-like vehicle at civic events. Turned into a mobile billboard by police offers in the Riverside County city of Hemet, the vehicle had been previously used by the department’s SWAT team.
As in Antioch, mortgage foreclosures had hit Hemet hard. The headline in a 2010 Times article highlighting residents’ complaints said that the city had turned “From bucolic bliss to ‘gated ghetto.’”
At the time, violent crime in Hemet was actually lower than it had been five years earlier.
A vehicle that had been previously used by the Hemet Police Department’s SWAT team serves as a mobile billboard to promote the city’s Restoring Our Community Strategy program. (City of Hemet)
What had changed was Hemet’s demographics. Since 1990, Hemet’s population has more than doubled to 84,000, with the number of Black residents increasing from fewer than 300 to just over 6,000. The Latino population has increased by more than 30,000.
The issues came to a head at City Council meetings in summer 2012, called in response to Facebook groups spreading inaccurate rumors that officials were dumping probationers in Hemet, according to an account in the Riverside Press-Enterprise. Outside the meetings, vendors hawked shirts that read “Take Back Hemet.”
“We’ve kicked this can of tolerance 25 years down the road,” business owner Don Digby said at one meeting, after noting that one of his employee’s cars had been stolen. “And we need to become intolerant. That’s what it’s going to take.” The crowd responded with sustained applause.
The crime-free housing law passed the City Council soon after.
A similar debate occurred a few years later in Hesperia, another high desert suburb that had experienced sharp Black and Latino population increases. Despite warnings from fair housing, landlord and criminal justice groups that its crime-free housing ordinance was illegal, the city barreled ahead.
Councilman Bill Holland said the purpose of the law was to weed out criminal outsiders the same way “you would call an exterminator to kill roaches.”
Enforcement was severe. In one case, a woman and her three children were evicted from their apartment after she called 911 to report that her husband was beating her with a television cable, a federal Department of Housing and Urban Development investigation found.
Black tenants were almost four times as likely as white renters to be evicted under Hesperia’s law, the investigation determined.
In court filings, the city and police have denied the Justice Department’s allegations of racial discrimination.
Timothy Zehring, the founder of the International Crime Free Assn., declined to be interviewed.
Zehring’s manual, which is still widely used in California, emphasizes that racial discrimination is illegal. But it also notes that those with criminal histories do not have special protection under federal law and can legally be turned away. The manual advises that a strategy for avoiding lawsuits is for landlords to be careful with what they say when screening tenants.
“Discrimination suits are filed when managers say too much!” the manual says.
The manual also includes the references to criminals as “weeds” and “the two-legged urban predator.” The association’s logo is what Stewart saw on apartment buildings while searching in Riverside.
Terrance Stewart washes the dishes with his wife, Tiffane, in the apartment where they have lived since 2019 in Colton. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Stewart’s room in Lake Elsinore was so small it didn’t have a stove. When he returned home to cook dinner after classes at UC Riverside, Stewart would fry fish with a waffle iron.
Ultimately, Stewart, who is Black, was able to get into student housing. But five years later, when he graduated with a master’s degree in higher education and policy administration, Stewart again found his family blocked from apartments in Riverside because of his then nearly decade-old drug conviction.
By then, Stewart and his wife had an infant son along with their daughter. They ended up in a rundown apartment outside the city before a work connection found him a better place. That experience scarred him so much that Stewart still keeps photos on his cellphone of giant rats he trapped in the old complex.
“I became a man and started taking care of my family and one of the hardest things has been housing,” said Stewart, now 40 and working at Californians for Safety and Justice, a criminal justice reform organization. “It wasn’t because I didn’t have the money. Or I didn’t have good credit. Or I didn’t have the education. It was because I had this past conviction.”
The school dedicated to teaching children about environmental sustainability faced crime problems soon after it opened in Los Angeles’ Harbor Gateway neighborhood in 2013.
Across the street from the Environmental Charter Middle School were apartment buildings filled with tenants who often targeted the school.
Tenants threatened the boys with violence and harassed the girls, said Alison Diaz, then the school’s executive director. The tenants also regularly broke into the school. One time, during school hours, a stray bullet struck the building, pockmarking the exterior.
Diaz turned to the city attorney’s office for help. And in 2015, the city helped engineer the apartments’ sale through one of its crime-free housing programs, and then kept tabs on the new owners. Within a year, Diaz said, the problems went away, providing immense relief to parents.
“They wanted their kids to be safe,” Diaz said. “Everybody wants their children to be safe.”
Supporters of crime-free housing point to situations like these as evidence that the programs work. The policies, they say, ensure that all residents no matter their racial background can live without fear of drugs or violence.
A San Bernardino apartment complex on Pumalo Street displays a crime-free housing sign on its gate. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Greg Jones, who runs the program for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, tells the story of one complex in the city of San Bernardino that upgraded its security system, cut hedges and redid lighting.
“It’s more family friendly,” Jones said. “They’ve had more individuals requesting to become tenants because it’s a safe environment.”
Jones called the program an example of community-oriented policing that helps identify circumstances that lead to crime and disorder.
Currently, police departments in at least 35 local governments in California, including Fremont, Davis and San Diego, advertise crime-free housing training for landlords.
An additional 112 cities and counties in the state, according to the Times review of municipal codes, have passed versions of crime-free housing laws that allow police and code enforcement to sanction landlords and often urge them to evict tenants — usually following drug or gang incidents. In the Bay Area suburb of Fairfield, the city can fine landlords up to $1,000 per incident if they allow tenants to use drugs or commit acts of prostitution in an apartment.
In Los Angeles, the programs target properties that are known havens for those committing crimes, prosecutors say, like the ones outside the middle school in Harbor Gateway. The city’s enforcement of crime-free housing efforts, however, is concentrated in certain neighborhoods.
Of the nearly 100 cases filed by the city between 2013 and 2018 under one program, three-quarters were in South L.A., according to research by The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, Los Angeles.
Feuer, the city attorney, said the number of cases in South L.A. reflects its acute dangers of drug and gang violence. If the city attorney’s office was not taking action, he said, it could be rightfully accused of abandoning those neighborhoods.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and the L.A. city attorney’s office provided anecdotal evidence that their policies had led to fewer police calls at properties where they took action. Neither has done an analysis to determine the overall effectiveness of the programs or whether they are racially biased.
Domingo Nuñez, who was released from jail three years ago, says that finding housing has been extremely challenging because of crime-free housing policies. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Not long after taking office in 2018, Adelanto City Councilwoman Stevevonna Evans came across the city’s crime-free housing law. She couldn’t believe it.
“The verbiage is very clear,” Evans said. “If you are accused of a crime, you have to be evicted.”
Fearing Adelanto residents would fall prey to the kind of prejudicial practices that plagued nearby Hesperia, Evans spearheaded a campaign to get rid of the policy. The law was repealed by the City Council earlier this year.
“I would hope that more cities would follow suit,” Evans said. “It’s just so discriminatory.”
Increasingly, elected officials and regulatory agencies are coming to similar conclusions. But efforts to roll back crime-free housing policies aren’t always resulting in meaningful changes.
In 2016, HUD recommended that cities repeal their crime-free housing programs to avoid running afoul of fair housing laws. Two years ago, California legislators banned police response to domestic violence or emergency medical calls as a basis for evictions.
In January, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing prohibited policies that mandate evictions for broad-based criminal or nuisance activity. The new regulations also target laws that stop landlords from renting to people with criminal histories.
So far, the department has not taken action against any city’s crime-free housing program.
Hesperia’s rules were revamped prior to the Justice Department’s lawsuit. Last month, under pressure from HUD, the Hemet City Council repealed its crime-free housing law. Council members were upset that the federal government was forcing their hand, but also expressed alarm when reviewing the policy.
“If I were to do some of the things that were listed in these ordinances, I would lose my license and potentially go to prison,” said Hemet Councilman Michael Perciful, who is also a real estate broker.
Nevertheless, the policies continue to spread. One of the most recent is in Canyon Lake, an Inland Empire suburb and, with 11,000 people, one of the largest gated communities in the country. Canyon Lake’s law, passed in January, requires landlords to include a lease provision that states any criminal activity — on or off the property — is grounds for an eviction.
Evans, the councilwoman in Adelanto, said another reason she pressed so hard to repeal the city’s law was that she knew the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department would still offer voluntary training for landlords who wanted it.
The changes, however, don’t go far enough for some whose criminal records have made it difficult to find decent housing.
Domingo Nuñez speaks to his therapist in Adelanto. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Three years ago, Domingo Nuñez was released from jail, following a couple decades of going in and out for felony car theft and other crimes. He found work repairing appliances and now has enough money for housing for himself, his partner and their three children — the two youngest with autism. But his search for housing in Hesperia, Adelanto and neighboring communities has been fraught with rejection.
“When you get to these places they’re like, ‘Crime-free, crime-free, crime-free,’” said Nuñez, 43. “I’m like, ‘What the hell is crime-free?’ And they’re like, ‘If you have a criminal background, we can’t rent to you.’”
Nuñez ended up at a duplex in Adelanto. But the place is filled with mold, and he’s had to throw out sets of living room and bedroom furniture because of bedbugs.
Occasionally, the septic tank overflows, forcing Nuñez’s family to bounce around hotels for weeks at a time. He’s not giving up his search for a new home.
“There has to be something else,” said Nuñez, who is Mexican American. “My kids deserve more. These little ones with special needs. They deserve a better place and I can’t give them a better place.”


latimes--2020-11-18--Hospitals could soon be overwhelmed by COVID patients, county officials say

The COVID-19 pandemic is hurtling toward crisis levels in Los Angeles County , with officials saying hospitals are in danger of being overwhelmed and significant new restrictions are possible .
The dire picture painted Wednesday illustrates the ferocity with which COVID-19 has roared back to life over the past few weeks , and underscores the grim consequences facing the county if that trend continues .
“ Clearly , we are at a crossroads in the COVID-19 pandemic again , and are at a dangerous place with respect to our overall cases and hospitalizations , ” Dr. Christina Ghaly , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , said during a briefing .
At top of mind for many is how the significant spike in cases will strike the county ’ s healthcare system .
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 countywide has shot up by more than 70 % over the past month — from 722 on Oct. 17 to 1,238 as of Tuesday .
Officials have long feared a wave of coronavirus patients large enough to overwhelm hospital and intensive care capacity , and Ghaly said that ’ s a distinct possibility if the current surge continues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quickly , “ demand for ICUs will outstrip the supply of beds , and hospitals will have to take drastic action to be able to meet the needs of those who require an ICU-level of care , whether it ’ s for COVID or non-COVID causes , ” she said .
“ The message is very clear : It is highly likely that we will experience the highest rates of hospitalizations that we have seen in the COVID-19 pandemic to date within the next month , unless we take action immediately to substantially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she said .
However , those immediate actions likely won ’ t yield immediate results , as there ’ s typically a lag of several weeks between when someone is infected and when they become ill enough to require professional care .
“ Even if we do take decisive action today , even if everyone does their part , we will continue to see an increase in hospitalizations for at least the next two to three weeks , ” Ghaly said .
While the hospitalization numbers may be alarming enough by themselves , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those figures represent “ real people — people , with families and loved ones , who are very , very sick.
” It ’ s also important to recognize that a beleaguered healthcare system has ramifications for everyone , not just those battling COVID-19 , according to Barbara Ferrer , L.A. County ’ s public health director .
“ For all of you out there that may be in a car accident or you may have a heart attack or you may , unfortunately , have a stroke or have a serious asthma @ @ @ @ @ @ @ overwhelmed , care for everyone gets seriously compromised , ” she said .
“ So we owe it to each other , we owe it to our healthcare workers most importantly , to not keep transmitting this infection.
” So far , the weeks-long surge that has sent shockwaves through the county shows no signs of slowing down .
According to The Times ’ independent tally , Los Angeles County recorded 3,795 cases Wednesday , the highest single-day total since late July and the fifth biggest total for a single day so far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ daily cases in the county over a five-day average has more than tripled in the last month , from about 930 cases a day to more than 3,100 for the five-day period that ended Wednesday , a Times analysis shows .
Should cases and hospitalizations continue to climb , county officials warn they may impose additional restrictions on businesses — and possibly even a new stay-at-home order — to thwart transmission .
“ The only effective path forward , ” Ferrer said , “ requires immediate action and , unfortunately , additional sacrifice.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ average of new daily coronavirus cases reaches 4,500 , officials said they will institute a stay-at-home order for at least three weeks , as well as a 10 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew that only exempts essential workers .
If cases continue to climb at the rate seen recently , Ferrer said the county could top an average of 4,000 per day by early December , a rate L.A. County has never seen before .
Hitting that threshold would force the closure of restaurant outdoor dining areas , forcing eateries to serve food by takeout @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t think it ’ s inevitable that we do get there , ” Ferrer said .
“ I hope with every single bone in my body that we don ’ t get there .
We put the thresholds out so that everyone knows what triggers additional actions .
The hope is that we do every single thing we can starting right now — we ’ re a little behind , to be honest.
” Officials and experts have said the recent surge striking L.A. County , California and the nation as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the steps they can take to prevent coronavirus transmission .
Those include wearing masks in public , regularly washing your hands and staying home when you ’ re sick ; as well as keeping physical distance from , and avoiding gatherings with , those outside your household .
That last point could be a particularly difficult pill to swallow with Thanksgiving and the rest of the winter holiday season just around the corner .
Officials and experts have recommended residents not travel for next week ’ s holiday , and instead make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t live with .
As part of a slate of new coronavirus-related measures announced earlier this week , L.A. County on Friday will begin to generally cap the number of people allowed at outdoor gatherings to 15 people who are from no more than three households .
Even in those limited circumstances , officials say attendees need to take precautions , such as physically distancing and wearing face coverings .
Indoor gatherings are not allowed .
Also on Friday , new rules will go into effect requiring restaurants operating outdoor dining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doors between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. ; pick-up and delivery services may continue outside those hours .
Though the prospect of skipping the food and fellowship that traditionally mark Thanksgiving may strike some as a bridge too far in a year already marred by sacrifice , Ferrer said the community needs to come together and , collectively , do what ’ s necessary to keep the pandemic from spiraling out of control .
“ This has been a community that has rallied before and done the right thing , ” she said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a time to get back to doing the right thing , it ’ s right now.
” Times staff writers Rong-Gong Lin II , Jaclyn Cosgrove and Alejandra Reyes-Velarde contributed to this report .

Nurses and a scrub tech prepare a pregnant patient for testing in an OB triage tent at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in July.
The COVID-19 pandemic is hurtling toward crisis levels in Los Angeles County, with officials saying hospitals are in danger of being overwhelmed and significant new restrictions are possible.
The dire picture painted Wednesday illustrates the ferocity with which COVID-19 has roared back to life over the past few weeks, and underscores the grim consequences facing the county if that trend continues.
“Clearly, we are at a crossroads in the COVID-19 pandemic again, and are at a dangerous place with respect to our overall cases and hospitalizations,” Dr. Christina Ghaly, the county’s director of health services, said during a briefing.
Advertisement
At top of mind for many is how the significant spike in cases will strike the county’s healthcare system.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 countywide has shot up by more than 70% over the past month — from 722 on Oct. 17 to 1,238 as of Tuesday.
Officials have long feared a wave of coronavirus patients large enough to overwhelm hospital and intensive care capacity, and Ghaly said that’s a distinct possibility if the current surge continues unabated.
Unless things change, and quickly, “demand for ICUs will outstrip the supply of beds, and hospitals will have to take drastic action to be able to meet the needs of those who require an ICU-level of care, whether it’s for COVID or non-COVID causes,” she said.
“The message is very clear: It is highly likely that we will experience the highest rates of hospitalizations that we have seen in the COVID-19 pandemic to date within the next month, unless we take action immediately to substantially reduce transmission within our communities,” she said.
However, those immediate actions likely won’t yield immediate results, as there’s typically a lag of several weeks between when someone is infected and when they become ill enough to require professional care.
Advertisement
“Even if we do take decisive action today, even if everyone does their part, we will continue to see an increase in hospitalizations for at least the next two to three weeks,” Ghaly said.
While the hospitalization numbers may be alarming enough by themselves, Ghaly said everyone should also remember that those figures represent “real people — people, with families and loved ones, who are very, very sick.”
Tracking the coronavirus in L.A. County The latest maps and charts on the spread of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, including cases, deaths, closures and restrictions.
It’s also important to recognize that a beleaguered healthcare system has ramifications for everyone, not just those battling COVID-19, according to Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County’s public health director.
“For all of you out there that may be in a car accident or you may have a heart attack or you may, unfortunately, have a stroke or have a serious asthma attack, when the hospital system is overwhelmed, care for everyone gets seriously compromised,” she said. “So we owe it to each other, we owe it to our healthcare workers most importantly, to not keep transmitting this infection.”
So far, the weeks-long surge that has sent shockwaves through the county shows no signs of slowing down. According to The Times’ independent tally, Los Angeles County recorded 3,795 cases Wednesday, the highest single-day total since late July and the fifth biggest total for a single day so far in the pandemic.
The number of daily cases in the county over a five-day average has more than tripled in the last month, from about 930 cases a day to more than 3,100 for the five-day period that ended Wednesday, a Times analysis shows.
Should cases and hospitalizations continue to climb, county officials warn they may impose additional restrictions on businesses — and possibly even a new stay-at-home order — to thwart transmission.
“The only effective path forward,” Ferrer said, “requires immediate action and, unfortunately, additional sacrifice.”
If the county’s five-day average of new daily coronavirus cases reaches 4,500, officials said they will institute a stay-at-home order for at least three weeks, as well as a 10 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew that only exempts essential workers.
If cases continue to climb at the rate seen recently, Ferrer said the county could top an average of 4,000 per day by early December, a rate L.A. County has never seen before. Hitting that threshold would force the closure of restaurant outdoor dining areas, forcing eateries to serve food by takeout and delivery only.
If L.A. County continues to see its current rate of increase in daily coronavirus cases, the region could see an average of 4,000 new coronavirus cases a day within three weeks, Barbara Ferrer, the director of public health, said, which would force outdoor restaurant dining areas to close. (Los Angeles County Department of Public Health)
“I don’t think it’s inevitable that we do get there,” Ferrer said. “I hope with every single bone in my body that we don’t get there. We put the thresholds out so that everyone knows what triggers additional actions. The hope is that we do every single thing we can starting right now — we’re a little behind, to be honest.”
Officials and experts have said the recent surge striking L.A. County, California and the nation as a whole should inspire residents to double down on the steps they can take to prevent coronavirus transmission.
Those include wearing masks in public, regularly washing your hands and staying home when you’re sick; as well as keeping physical distance from, and avoiding gatherings with, those outside your household.
That last point could be a particularly difficult pill to swallow with Thanksgiving and the rest of the winter holiday season just around the corner.
Officials and experts have recommended residents not travel for next week’s holiday, and instead make plans to celebrate virtually with those they don’t live with.
As part of a slate of new coronavirus-related measures announced earlier this week, L.A. County on Friday will begin to generally cap the number of people allowed at outdoor gatherings to 15 people who are from no more than three households.
Even in those limited circumstances, officials say attendees need to take precautions, such as physically distancing and wearing face coverings. Indoor gatherings are not allowed.
Also on Friday, new rules will go into effect requiring restaurants operating outdoor dining areas and nonessential stores to close their doors between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.; pick-up and delivery services may continue outside those hours.
Though the prospect of skipping the food and fellowship that traditionally mark Thanksgiving may strike some as a bridge too far in a year already marred by sacrifice, Ferrer said the community needs to come together and, collectively, do what’s necessary to keep the pandemic from spiraling out of control.
“This has been a community that has rallied before and done the right thing,” she said. “And if there ever was a time to get back to doing the right thing, it’s right now.”
Times staff writers Rong-Gong Lin II, Jaclyn Cosgrove and Alejandra Reyes-Velarde contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-11-18--Watch: L.A. Times Book Club explores the many worlds of Octavia E. Butler

This month , the L.A. Times Book Club is exploring the prolific writing and enduring legacy of science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler .
Watch journalist Lynell George , author of “ A Handful of Earth , A Handful of Sky , ” and Times reporter Julia Wick discuss Butler ’ s work .
The virtual book talk was livestreamed on The Times Facebook Page , YouTube and Twitter .
Whether you ’ re a longtime reader or just discovering Butler ’ s novels , here are five things to know about her work .
Southern California libraries helped shape @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the library her second home and wrote her first novel , “ Patternmaster , ” at the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles .
Here ’ s a map exploring of her literary life .
Butler said the novels in her “ Parable ” series were meant to be cautionary .
Her 1993 “ Parable of the Sower ” envisioned a Los Angeles ravaged by climate change and economic injustice , where people are just scraping by to survive .
Butler ’ s prescient work has surged in popularity , landing on both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Times bestseller lists this fall .
She began creating stories as a girl growing up in Pasadena .
“ Writing , for her , was never a part-time endeavor , even when she was forced to press it into the corners of her study time or her day-job schedule , ” George writes in this book excerpt .
“ She had gravitated toward science fiction as a genre because it lifted the ceiling and dissolved the walls .
“ Her path to publishing was hard .
Butler worked at many jobs , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , while trying to sell her writing .
She went on to publish 12 novels and became the first science fiction writer to win a MacArthur “ genius ” grant .
Expect to hear more about Octavia E. Butler .
Two TV series are in the works , based on her novels “ Wild Seed , ” from Viola Davis and Julius Tennon , and “ Dawn , ” from Victoria Mahony and Ava DuVernay .
The Huntington Library , Art Museum , and Botanical Gardens , which is home to Butler ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the author ’ s honor .

This month, the L.A. Times Book Club is exploring the prolific writing and enduring legacy of science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler.
Watch journalist Lynell George, author of “A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky,” and Times reporter Julia Wick discuss Butler’s work. The virtual book talk was livestreamed on YouTube and Twitter.
Whether you’re a longtime reader or just discovering Butler’s novels, here are five things to know about her work.
Advertisement
Southern California libraries helped shape Butler’s writing. She called the library her second home and wrote her first novel, “Patternmaster,” at the Central Library in downtown Los Angeles. Here’s a map exploring of her literary life.
Butler said the novels in her “Parable” series were meant to be cautionary. Her 1993 “Parable of the Sower” envisioned a Los Angeles ravaged by climate change and economic injustice, where people are just scraping by to survive. Butler’s prescient work has surged in popularity, landing on both the Los Angeles Times and New York Times bestseller lists this fall.
The L.A. Times Book Club explored the prolific writing and enduring legacy of science fiction writer Octavia E. Butlerwith journalist Lynell George, author of “A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky,” and Times reporter Julia Wick discussing Butler’s work at 7 p.m. PT Nov. 18. (Los Angeles Times)
She began creating stories as a girl growing up in Pasadena. “Writing, for her, was never a part-time endeavor, even when she was forced to press it into the corners of her study time or her day-job schedule,” George writes in this book excerpt. “She had gravitated toward science fiction as a genre because it lifted the ceiling and dissolved the walls. “
Her path to publishing was hard. Butler worked at many jobs, including telemarketer, potato chip inspector and dishwasher, while trying to sell her writing. She went on to publish 12 novels and became the first science fiction writer to win a MacArthur “genius” grant.
Expect to hear more about Octavia E. Butler. Two TV series are in the works, based on her novels “Wild Seed,” from Viola Davis and Julius Tennon, and “Dawn,” from Victoria Mahony and Ava DuVernay. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, which is home to Butler’s archives, announced a new fellowship in the author’s honor.


latimes--2020-11-18--Why the third wave of the coronavirus could be the most difficult for California

Faced with a third COVID-19 wave just as we enter the holiday season , it would be fair for Californians to pose some existential questions .
Why does this virus seem to be targeting us yet again ?
Why have we struggled to control it ?
Where did we go wrong ?
The simple answer is : We actually do know how to fight the virus .
We just got tired of doing it .
This third coronavirus wave is particularly troubling because “ we never got back down ” to a low baseline number of cases , said Dr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health officer and a key architect of the nation ’ s first regional stay-at-home order .
Even worse , this surge is happening during the traditional cold-and-flu season , exacerbated because people tend to stay indoors , where it ’ s easier to pass along germs .
“ We ’ re also facing this surge on the eve of what has traditionally been the greatest travel day of the year — and that ’ s the day before Thanksgiving , ” Cody said .
Moreover , California won ’ t be able to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the country .
“ Everyone is experiencing a surge at the same time , ” Cody said .
Many unknowns remain .
In general , deaths from COVID-19 have fallen since the spring as the infections hit a younger , healthier demographic and hospitals get better at treatments .
Some workplaces and institutions such as nursing homes have gotten better at protection measures .
But hospitals are beginning to fill up again , and the rate of increase in cases reached unprecedented levels across the state .
The average number of new daily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jumped by 108 % in the last two weeks , rising from 4,847 a day to 10,064 a day .
That pace is even faster than at the start of the summer , when the average number of new daily coronavirus cases jumped by 96 % , from 3,703 a day on June 21 to 7,264 a day on July 4 .
California on Thursday announced a limited nighttime stay-at-home order in most of the state , with certain exceptions , such as walking a dog or picking up takeout food .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ particularly hard hit by this latest wave , issued an order beginning Friday instructing restaurants and nonessential businesses to close by 10 p.m. , although takeout and delivery orders will be able to continue overnight .
L.A. County has warned that it may impose even further restrictions if infections continue at their current rate , and could order a shutdown of outdoor restaurant dining areas and even impose a new stay-at-home order .
There is also a psychological dimension to the third wave that is particularly devastating .
Many had hoped by now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ uncertainty and economic damage from the coronavirus , a chance to reconnect with family and friends , to do some in-person Christmas shopping and feel as if better times are ahead .
The news of successful vaccines is a boost .
But many enter the holiday season as anxious as ever .
Even in San Francisco , which has seen a relatively low number of deaths from COVID-19 , “ we are seeing an explosion of new cases throughout the city , ” warned Dr. Grant Colfax , the director of public health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ higher than ever before , ” Colfax said , adding that it ’ s possible that the city could run out of hospital beds and intensive care unit capacity .
“ The choices we ... make in the next two weeks will determine the remainder of this holiday season , ” Colfax said , urging people to cancel travel plans and stay home for Thanksgiving .
“ We have the ability to choose if we beat back the third surge , or if we fall victim to the surge , like we are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country.
” California was once a shining example of how a state can marshal itself to prevent the pandemic from becoming a full blown catastrophe .
With officials acting relatively early to impose a stay-at-home order , hospitals across the Golden State never became as overwhelmed as those in New York , which endured a wrenching death toll double that of California .
But California was not spared from a devastated economy , and that brought pressure to reopen from people desperate to save their businesses from ruin .
Attitudes also changed as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how a collective shrug , a lack of discipline and a yearning to quickly “ get back to normal ” can also result in a new season of death .
Loosened rules on restaurants and bars and a burst of social activity in the waning weeks of spring and the first weeks of summer resulted in California ’ s deadliest season of the pandemic , sabotaging efforts to reopen schools in time for fall .
Now , there ’ s fear that California is headed on that same path again , with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ winter holidays irresistible to some .
Mass fatigue and even resentment of the coronavirus are causing some people to defiantly hold dinner parties without masks and plan for holiday feasts .
The lure of social gatherings is strong : Gov .
Gavin Newsom recently apologized for attending a birthday dinner for his political advisor , who is also a registered lobbyist , at an exclusive Napa Valley restaurant .
And health officials are urging people to not think they can use testing to give themselves a free pass to hold parties without needing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so would be making the same mistake the Trump administration did when its testing strategy failed to protect President Trump from getting infected and allowed a super-spreading incident at a Rose Garden ceremony announcing his nominee to the Supreme Court .
Unless they ’ re canceled or dramatically scaled back , traditional social gatherings held amid the world ’ s worst pandemic in a century will lead to a season of heartbreak , overwhelmed hospitals and busy morgues as the weeks tick closer to Christmas .
Health officials are tracking this pattern across @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that reason they ’ re terrified of what may hit the state if nothing is done to shift from this trajectory .
Statewide , the current acceleration in cases is the fastest on record , Gov .
Gavin Newsom said on Monday .
It ’ s “ simply without precedent in California ’ s pandemic history , ” Newsom said .
In the late spring , scientists now believe , the rapid reopening of businesses that began in May and stories crowing about how California survived the pandemic better than the East Coast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after two months of following a strict stay-at-home order , it was OK to loosen up .
But birthday parties and celebrations soon became super-spreader events .
There was the story about a truck driver who , after months of diligently isolating , finally went to a barbecue party .
More than 10 people who attended the party ended up getting infected , and the driver , Tommy Macias , 51 , died on the second day of summer .
Then there was the story , later in the summer , of a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get married in the small town of Millinocket .
There were just 55 attendees at the wedding reception , but , over the next few weeks , 176 people would get infected , including a parent of a person who attended the wedding .
That parent worked at a long-term care facility , and is believed to have introduced the virus among its residents .
More than half of the facility ’ s residents were infected , and six of them ultimately died of COVID-19 .
In Los Angeles County , Barbara @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , has meticulously tracked key moments that preceded surges in coronavirus infections .
In hindsight , it ’ s now clear that L.A. County ’ s second surge in cases began to be detected on May 28 , three days after Memorial Day , leading to a peak in daily coronavirus cases that would crest on July 14 .
But the surge in hospitalizations would only begin on June 18 and peak July 20 .
The jump in deaths began June 30 and finally peaked on July 27 , and it would take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ low point .
A similar timeline with L.A. County ’ s current surge would possibly translate to a surge in deaths beginning in early December , and worsening through Christmas and New Year ’ s Day into early January .
That ’ s a similar timeline forecast by the University of Washington ’ s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation .
The institute ’ s scientists are forecasting daily deaths to begin rising in early December in California .
Daily COVID-19 deaths have already been rising nationwide for about a month , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ through through mid-January .
Increasing travel recently may be a reason why officials noticed a sudden uptick in coronavirus cases in the first few days of November , Cody said , with Silicon Valley residents traveling to areas with more infection , getting infected without knowing it , and bringing the virus back home .
Also , “ we see both accelerating transmission both within households and in private settings , and then in work sites , and back and forth , ” Cody said .
“ We need to redouble our efforts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is increasing public education , and emphasizing that people can be highly contagious with the virus without ever feeling sick — resulting in silent chains of viral transmission that result in a super-spreading incident , Cody said .
In fact , the idea that we could be facing several waves had been forecast ever since shortly after the pandemic began .
In a computer model developed by researchers at the Harvard T.H .
Chan School of Public Health and circulated in March , scientists suspected that a one-time effort at social distancing in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They forecast a situation in which we would need long periods of social distancing , perhaps with occasional periods of loosening , to keep the hospital system from being overwhelmed at any one time .
And they suggested one plausible scenario that said social distancing measures would only be able to be relaxed by early to mid-2021 , with the epidemic concluding by mid-2022 .
Experts now say it ’ s likely that the widespread availability of promising coronavirus vaccines to most of the public won ’ t happen until mid-2021 .
Times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contributed to this report .

Faced with a third COVID-19 wave just as we enter the holiday season, it would be fair for Californians to pose some existential questions.
Why does this virus seem to be targeting us yet again? Why have we struggled to control it? Where did we go wrong?
The simple answer is: We actually do know how to fight the virus. We just got tired of doing it.
Advertisement
This third coronavirus wave is particularly troubling because “we never got back down” to a low baseline number of cases, said Dr. Sara Cody, the Santa Clara County health officer and a key architect of the nation’s first regional stay-at-home order.
Even worse, this surge is happening during the traditional cold-and-flu season, exacerbated because people tend to stay indoors, where it’s easier to pass along germs.
“We’re also facing this surge on the eve of what has traditionally been the greatest travel day of the year — and that’s the day before Thanksgiving,” Cody said.
Moreover, California won’t be able to count on help from other parts of the country. “Everyone is experiencing a surge at the same time,” Cody said.
Many unknowns remain. In general, deaths from COVID-19 have fallen since the spring as the infections hit a younger, healthier demographic and hospitals get better at treatments. Some workplaces and institutions such as nursing homes have gotten better at protection measures.
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But hospitals are beginning to fill up again, and the rate of increase in cases reached unprecedented levels across the state.
The average number of new daily coronavirus cases over a seven-day period has jumped by 108% in the last two weeks, rising from 4,847 a day to 10,064 a day.
That pace is even faster than at the start of the summer, when the average number of new daily coronavirus cases jumped by 96%, from 3,703 a day on June 21 to 7,264 a day on July 4.
California on Thursday announced a limited nighttime stay-at-home order in most of the state, with certain exceptions, such as walking a dog or picking up takeout food. And Los Angeles County, which has been particularly hard hit by this latest wave, issued an order beginning Friday instructing restaurants and nonessential businesses to close by 10 p.m., although takeout and delivery orders will be able to continue overnight.
L.A. County has warned that it may impose even further restrictions if infections continue at their current rate, and could order a shutdown of outdoor restaurant dining areas and even impose a new stay-at-home order.
There is also a psychological dimension to the third wave that is particularly devastating. Many had hoped by now for a reprieve from the isolation, uncertainty and economic damage from the coronavirus, a chance to reconnect with family and friends, to do some in-person Christmas shopping and feel as if better times are ahead. The news of successful vaccines is a boost. But many enter the holiday season as anxious as ever.
Even in San Francisco, which has seen a relatively low number of deaths from COVID-19, “we are seeing an explosion of new cases throughout the city,” warned Dr. Grant Colfax, the director of public health.
“This rate of rise is higher than ever before,” Colfax said, adding that it’s possible that the city could run out of hospital beds and intensive care unit capacity.
“The choices we ... make in the next two weeks will determine the remainder of this holiday season,” Colfax said, urging people to cancel travel plans and stay home for Thanksgiving. “We have the ability to choose if we beat back the third surge, or if we fall victim to the surge, like we are seeing unfortunately in other parts of the country.”
California was once a shining example of how a state can marshal itself to prevent the pandemic from becoming a full blown catastrophe. With officials acting relatively early to impose a stay-at-home order, hospitals across the Golden State never became as overwhelmed as those in New York, which endured a wrenching death toll double that of California.
But California was not spared from a devastated economy, and that brought pressure to reopen from people desperate to save their businesses from ruin.
Attitudes also changed as the pandemic dragged on. California shows how a collective shrug, a lack of discipline and a yearning to quickly “get back to normal” can also result in a new season of death.
Loosened rules on restaurants and bars and a burst of social activity in the waning weeks of spring and the first weeks of summer resulted in California’s deadliest season of the pandemic, sabotaging efforts to reopen schools in time for fall.
Now, there’s fear that California is headed on that same path again, with the lure of Thanksgiving, Christmas and other winter holidays irresistible to some.
Mass fatigue and even resentment of the coronavirus are causing some people to defiantly hold dinner parties without masks and plan for holiday feasts.
The lure of social gatherings is strong: Gov. Gavin Newsom recently apologized for attending a birthday dinner for his political advisor, who is also a registered lobbyist, at an exclusive Napa Valley restaurant.
And health officials are urging people to not think they can use testing to give themselves a free pass to hold parties without needing face masks or social distancing. Doing so would be making the same mistake the Trump administration did when its testing strategy failed to protect President Trump from getting infected and allowed a super-spreading incident at a Rose Garden ceremony announcing his nominee to the Supreme Court.
Unless they’re canceled or dramatically scaled back, traditional social gatherings held amid the world’s worst pandemic in a century will lead to a season of heartbreak, overwhelmed hospitals and busy morgues as the weeks tick closer to Christmas.
Health officials are tracking this pattern across California, and it’s for that reason they’re terrified of what may hit the state if nothing is done to shift from this trajectory.
Statewide, the current acceleration in cases is the fastest on record, Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Monday.
It’s “simply without precedent in California’s pandemic history,” Newsom said.
In the late spring, scientists now believe, the rapid reopening of businesses that began in May and stories crowing about how California survived the pandemic better than the East Coast seemed to telegraph to people that, after two months of following a strict stay-at-home order, it was OK to loosen up.
But birthday parties and celebrations soon became super-spreader events.
There was the story about a truck driver who, after months of diligently isolating, finally went to a barbecue party. More than 10 people who attended the party ended up getting infected, and the driver, Tommy Macias, 51, died on the second day of summer.
Then there was the story, later in the summer, of a couple who traveled from California to Maine to get married in the small town of Millinocket. There were just 55 attendees at the wedding reception, but, over the next few weeks, 176 people would get infected, including a parent of a person who attended the wedding. That parent worked at a long-term care facility, and is believed to have introduced the virus among its residents. More than half of the facility’s residents were infected, and six of them ultimately died of COVID-19.
In Los Angeles County, Barbara Ferrer, the director of public health, has meticulously tracked key moments that preceded surges in coronavirus infections.
In hindsight, it’s now clear that L.A. County’s second surge in cases began to be detected on May 28, three days after Memorial Day, leading to a peak in daily coronavirus cases that would crest on July 14.
But the surge in hospitalizations would only begin on June 18 and peak July 20. The jump in deaths began June 30 and finally peaked on July 27, and it would take until early October before deaths hit a low point.
A similar timeline with L.A. County’s current surge would possibly translate to a surge in deaths beginning in early December, and worsening through Christmas and New Year’s Day into early January.
That’s a similar timeline forecast by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The institute’s scientists are forecasting daily deaths to begin rising in early December in California.
Daily COVID-19 deaths have already been rising nationwide for about a month, and the institute forecasts the pace will worsen through through mid-January.
Increasing travel recently may be a reason why officials noticed a sudden uptick in coronavirus cases in the first few days of November, Cody said, with Silicon Valley residents traveling to areas with more infection, getting infected without knowing it, and bringing the virus back home.
Also, “we see both accelerating transmission both within households and in private settings, and then in work sites, and back and forth,” Cody said. “We need to redouble our efforts on all fronts.”
Part of that is increasing public education, and emphasizing that people can be highly contagious with the virus without ever feeling sick — resulting in silent chains of viral transmission that result in a super-spreading incident, Cody said.
In fact, the idea that we could be facing several waves had been forecast ever since shortly after the pandemic began.
In a computer model developed by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and circulated in March, scientists suspected that a one-time effort at social distancing in the spring would never be enough.
They forecast a situation in which we would need long periods of social distancing, perhaps with occasional periods of loosening, to keep the hospital system from being overwhelmed at any one time. And they suggested one plausible scenario that said social distancing measures would only be able to be relaxed by early to mid-2021, with the epidemic concluding by mid-2022.
Experts now say it’s likely that the widespread availability of promising coronavirus vaccines to most of the public won’t happen until mid-2021.
Times staff writers Karen Kaplan and Stephanie Lai contributed to this report.