latimes--2020-11-13--L.A. officials warn of more drastic restrictions, urge holiday travel quarantine, as COVID-19 surges

With coronavirus infections continuing to surge in California ahead of Thanksgiving , public health officials urged those who travel during the holiday to quarantine for 14 days and said more drastic restrictions could be necessary if case rates continue to rise .
The urgent warnings come after economic reopenings were rolled back in some parts of the state and it became clear that hard-hit places such as Los Angeles County would not see their restrictions eased for the foreseeable future amid the widespread COVID-19 pandemic .
After declining earlier in the fall , California ’ s weekly cases have doubled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ State is now averaging about 6,300 new cases a day over the past week , up from about 3,200 a month ago , according to a Times analysis .
COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen 50 % in the last month , and the coronavirus positive test rate has climbed by nearly 70 % , with 4.4 % of test results coming back positive over the past week , up from 2.6 % a month ago .
The state as a whole hit 1 million confirmed cases Thursday , another grim milestone in a year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the worsening conditions , the drive-through testing site at Dodger Stadium has been flooded with people in recent days .
If the surge continues in L.A. County , “ additional actions ” could become necessary to bring the rate of transmission back under control , Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Thursday .
Though she didn ’ t elaborate on what potential new measures could be implemented , Ferrer emphasized that L.A. County remains on a knife ’ s edge and that everyone needs to do their part to keep conditions from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ act now , ” she said during a media briefing .
“ The actions we take today , tomorrow and next week have tremendous impact on the health and well-being of many , many people across the county .
If , collectively , we fail to stop the acceleration of new cases , we will have no choice but to look at additional actions.
” There has been debate about whether California might need to impose further restrictions if COVID-19 continues to spread .
That would be bad news for retailers , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were hoping to finally see some relief during the typically busy holiday season .
Dr. John Swartzberg , an infectious-disease expert at UC Berkeley , said earlier this week that he believes the novel coronavirus is likely to swamp California in December and parts of the state economy will have to be shut down .
“ Within a month after Thanksgiving , the number of cases is going to be up significantly , ” Swartzberg said .
“ California is going to be very worried , and we will start to see things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that residents don ’ t travel out of state for the holiday and that if they do , they quarantine for 14 days upon their return .
“ If you are going to travel — which we are recommending you not do , we are actually recommending this Thanksgiving be a stay-at-home Thanksgiving — but if you are going to travel , we do ask when you come back that you quarantine for 14 days , ” Ferrer said .
“ And the tighter you can restrict your activities over those 14 days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Though the idea of not seeing family and friends after such a difficult year may strike some as untenable or unreasonable , health officials have repeatedly warned that gathering with those outside one ’ s immediate household heightens the risk of transmitting the disease .
Ferrer acknowledged it was a sacrifice , saying she won ’ t get to see her grandchildren for the holiday because they live in another state .
“ Like all of you , I wish things were really different .
But they ’ re not , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is I don ’ t want to be one of the people that ’ s contributing to not only increasing cases that restrict our ability to continue with our recovery journey , but increasing cases that could result in other people getting sick and even dying.
” California has generally banned large gatherings and says smaller ones of no more than three households may be held outdoors with limitations , including time limits and requirements that attendees physically distance and wear face coverings .
L.A. County , like California as a whole , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infections that shows no signs of dissipating .
As of Nov. 3 , the average number of daily cases in the county was 1,464 — up from 988 a month prior , Ferrer said .
Recent counts have been even higher .
On Thursday , Ferrer reported 2,533 new cases .
The county is also starting to see hospitalizations climb .
On Thursday , there were 953 COVID-19 patients in hospitals countywide — up from 777 on Nov. 2 , Ferrer said .
Given that it usually takes a few weeks for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ corresponding increase in hospitalizations and deaths , Ferrer said that “ we most likely haven ’ t yet seen the full consequence of the surge in cases we recently experienced.
” “ While we ’ ve made impressive strides in caring for people who are ill with the virus , this much of an increase in cases may very well result in tremendous suffering and tragic deaths down the road , ” she said .
So far , the county has not seen an uptick in deaths corresponding to the surge .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the average number of deaths per day in the county was 10 , which “ is the lowest number that we have seen since the very early days of the pandemic , ” Ferrer said .
Still , she emphasized , “ It ’ s going to take all of us to avoid increased heartbreak.
” Times staff writers Rong-Gong Lin II and Maura Dolan in San Francisco contributed to this report .

Los Angeles County residents line up in their cars for coronavirus tests at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.
With coronavirus infections continuing to surge in California ahead of Thanksgiving, state officials are urging residents not to travel out of state for the holiday and recommending that those who do quarantine when they return.
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the travel advisory Friday in conjunction with his counterparts in Oregon and Washington.
“California just surpassed a sobering threshold — 1 million COVID-19 cases — with no signs of the virus slowing down,” Newsom said in a statement. “Increased cases are adding pressure on our hospital systems and threatening the lives of seniors, essential workers and vulnerable Californians. Travel increases the risk of spreading COVID-19, and we must all collectively increase our efforts at this time to keep the virus at bay and save lives.”
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However, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Friday that the advisory is just that — “it isn’t a ban; it isn’t a restriction.”
But, he added, “certainly if there’s any indication that the travel advisory needs to be strengthened, we will consider that in the days and weeks to come.”
The state’s advisory encourages residents to stay local and avoid nonessential out-of-state travel. It also asks those who arrive from another state or country to self-quarantine for 14 days.
“We’re encouraging Californians to stay close to home, to avoid nonessential travel to other states, other countries and, frankly, across the state if that’s avoidable,” Ghaly said.
Essential travel, as defined by the advisory, is “for work and study, critical infrastructure support, economic services and supply chains, health, immediate medical care and safety and security,” according to Newsom’s office.
“COVID-19 does not stop at state lines. As hospitals across the West are stretched to capacity, we must take steps to ensure travelers are not bringing this disease home with them,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said in a statement. “If you do not need to travel, you shouldn’t. This will be hard, especially with Thanksgiving around the corner. But the best way to keep your family safe is to stay close to home.”
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The advisory comes after economic reopenings were rolled back in some parts of the state and it became clear that hard-hit places such as Los Angeles County would not see their restrictions eased for the foreseeable future amid the widespread COVID-19 pandemic.
In L.A. County, officials said this week that more drastic restrictions could be necessary if case rates continue to rise. On Friday afternoon, Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said Santa Clara County — Northern California’s most populous — would join San Francisco and order the closure of indoor dining. Other counties in the Bay Area are expected to follow suit.
“Every single action that people take is going to help keep people out of the hospital,” Cody said. “It’s going to keep us from needing to order up morgue space. And it’s going to enable our businesses to get back more quickly.”
Call it what you will — a spike, a surge, a wave — but there’s no doubt that coronavirus infections are climbing at an alarming rate in California.
After declining earlier in the fall, California’s weekly cases have doubled in the last month. The Golden State is now averaging about 6,300 new cases a day over the last week, up from about 3,200 a month ago, according to a Times analysis.
The rise has been startlingly steep of late. From Nov. 1 to 7, there was a 47.1% increase in daily case numbers statewide, according to data presented Friday.
Typically, “about 12% of those cases end up in the hospital,” Ghaly said, “and when you look at a high number of cases day over day, and that’s sustained, that’s exactly what we worry about in terms of overwhelming our hospital system.”
COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen 50% in the last month, and the coronavirus positive test rate has climbed by nearly 70%, with 4.4% of test results coming back positive over the last week, up from 2.6% a month ago.
The meteoric ascent has pushed coronavirus infections to unprecedented levels in some parts of the state. San Diego County broke a record this week with its highest single-day number of confirmed cases reported: 661.
In Santa Clara County, new daily coronavirus cases drifted slowly upward in October and then began to skyrocket around election day.
“It’s the steepness of that curve that concerns all of us. And that requires that we act swiftly,” Cody said.
The state as a whole hit 1 million confirmed cases Thursday, another grim milestone in a year full of them. In a sign of the worsening conditions, the drive-through testing site at Dodger Stadium has been flooded with people in recent days.
If the surge continues in L.A. County, “additional actions” could become necessary to bring the rate of transmission back under control, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Thursday.
Though she didn’t elaborate on what potential new measures could be implemented, Ferrer emphasized that L.A. County remains on a knife’s edge and that everyone needs to do their part to keep conditions from worsening.
“We all need to act now,” she said during a media briefing. “The actions we take today, tomorrow and next week have tremendous impact on the health and well-being of many, many people across the county. If, collectively, we fail to stop the acceleration of new cases, we will have no choice but to look at additional actions.”
In response to a follow-up inquiry from The Times, the Department of Public Health issued a statement Friday saying potential new measures — if necessary — could include “further reducing occupancy at sites that are open, limiting hours of operation at nonessential sectors and restricting higher-risk activities.”
“We would not want to return to stricter safer-at-home orders unless we anticipate a threat to our healthcare system,” the statement continued.
There has been debate about whether California might need to impose further restrictions if COVID-19 continues to spread. That would be bad news for retailers, who have been battered by the shutdowns and were hoping to finally see some relief during the typically busy holiday season.
“And whatever the hell you’re doing, don’t do Black Friday,” said Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist and infectious-diseases expert at UC San Francisco.
Dr. John Swartzberg, an infectious-disease expert at UC Berkeley, said earlier this week that he believes the novel coronavirus is likely to swamp California in December and parts of the state economy will have to be shut down.
“Within a month after Thanksgiving, the number of cases is going to be up significantly,” Swartzberg said. “California is going to be very worried, and we will start to see things close down.”
Reopening businesses and activities in California is guided by the state’s four-tiered, color-coded system— which it calls the Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The tiers begin with purple, the most restrictive, then shift to red, then orange, then yellow.
Despite the latest surge, Ghaly said the state plans to stick to the current roadmap, which categorizes counties based on their average daily number of new coronavirus cases for every 100,000 residents and the percentage of conducted tests that detect the virus.
Each tier carries its own limitations on what kinds of businesses can reopen, and how widely they can do so.
“It’s a tool not just to loosen but to tighten our restrictions as well,” Ghaly said. “And we believe that it’s helped us so far and that we will continue to count on it now.”
He said there is an “emergency brake” built into the system so the state can more rapidly respond to changing conditions.
For instance, counties typically regress if their metrics fall in the range of a more restrictive tier for two straight weeks. If the numbers merit, Ghaly said it’s possible the state could consider reclassifying them based on one week’s worth of data — or perhaps move them back multiple tiers at once.
However, he said the state is “not looking, today, at a statewide stay-at-home order.”
“All of that said, this is a quickly, rapidly evolving situation, and we will do whatever it takes to make sure that we appropriately protect the public health of California,” he said.
Santa Clara County is in the orange tier but expects to slide back into red next week.
Effective Tuesday, the county will order indoor restaurant dining closed. Capacity at indoor gyms will be reduced from 25% to 10%; outdoor bars will be ordered closed; wineries will be allowed to operate only outdoors; bowling alleys and other indoor family entertainment centers will be shut; and retail businesses will be subject to a 50% capacity restriction, instead of having no limit.
“Acting quickly helps bring things under control faster, and that’s generally true of something where you have an exponential growth curve, like we see with this virus,” County Counsel James Williams said Friday.
Travel & Experiences What to know before hitting the road for the holidays AAA says nearly 48 million people are expected to hop into their vehicles for the Turkey Day trek this year. If you’re getting on the road, keep hand sanitizer, gloves and masks fully stocked.
Prior to the state’s travel advisory, L.A. County was recommending that residents don’t travel out of state for the holiday and that if they do, they quarantine for 14 days upon their return.
“If you are going to travel — which we are recommending you not do, we are actually recommending this Thanksgiving be a stay-at-home Thanksgiving — but if you are going to travel, we do ask when you come back that you quarantine for 14 days,” Ferrer said. “And the tighter you can restrict your activities over those 14 days, the better off we all are.”
Though the idea of not seeing family and friends after such a difficult year may strike some as untenable or unreasonable, health officials have repeatedly warned that gathering with those outside one’s immediate household heightens the risk of transmitting the disease.
Ferrer acknowledged it was a sacrifice, saying she won’t get to see her grandchildren for the holiday because they live in another state.
“Like all of you, I wish things were really different. But they’re not,” she said. “And my feeling is I don’t want to be one of the people that’s contributing to not only increasing cases that restrict our ability to continue with our recovery journey, but increasing cases that could result in other people getting sick and even dying.”
California has generally banned large gatherings and says smaller ones of no more than three households may be held outdoors with limitations, including time limits and requirements that attendees physically distance and wear face coverings.
L.A. County, like California as a whole, is seeing a renewed surge in coronavirus infections that shows no signs of dissipating. As of Nov. 3, the average number of daily cases in the county was 1,464 — up from 988 a month prior, Ferrer said.
Recent counts have been even higher. On Thursday, Ferrer reported 2,533 new cases.
The county is also starting to see hospitalizations climb. On Thursday, there were 953 COVID-19 patients in hospitals countywide — up from 777 on Nov. 2, Ferrer said.
Given that it usually takes a few weeks for a crush of cases to result in a corresponding increase in hospitalizations and deaths, Ferrer said that “we most likely haven’t yet seen the full consequence of the surge in cases we recently experienced.”
“While we’ve made impressive strides in caring for people who are ill with the virus, this much of an increase in cases may very well result in tremendous suffering and tragic deaths down the road,” she said.
So far, the county has not seen an uptick in deaths corresponding to the surge. In fact, as of Nov. 2, the average number of deaths per day in the county was 10, which “is the lowest number that we have seen since the very early days of the pandemic,” Ferrer said.
Still, she emphasized, “It’s going to take all of us to avoid increased heartbreak.”
Times staff writer Maura Dolan in San Francisco contributed to this report.


latimes--2020-11-13--Earthquake: Magnitude 5.5 quake reported near Carson City, Nev.

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake was reported at 1:13 a.m. Friday 111 miles from Carson City , Nev. , according to @ @ @ @ @ At 1:14 a.m. , the U.S. Geological Survey reported a 5.2 earthquake near Ridgecrest , @ @ @ @ @ later retracted .
In the past 10 days , there has been one earthquake of @ @ @ @ @ nearby .
An average of five earthquakes with magnitudes between 5.0 and 6.0 occur per @ @ @ @ @ , according to a recent three-year data sample .
The earthquake occurred at a depth @ @ @ @ @ you feel this earthquake ?
Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS .
Find @ @ @ @ @ , and during , an earthquake near you by reading our five-step earthquake preparedness guide @ @ @ @ @ generated by Quakebot , a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the @ @ @ @ @ reviewed the post before it was published .
If you ’ re interested in learning @ @ @ @ @ visit our list of frequently asked questions .

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake was reported at 1:13 a.m. Friday 111 miles from Carson City, Nev., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
At 1:14 a.m., the U.S. Geological Survey reported a 5.2 earthquake near Ridgecrest, Calif., but it was later retracted.
In the past 10 days, there has been one earthquake of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.
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An average of five earthquakes with magnitudes between 5.0 and 6.0 occur per year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three-year data sample.
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 3.9 miles. Did you feel this earthquake? Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS.
Find out what to do before, and during, an earthquake near you by reading our five-step earthquake preparedness guide.
This story was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published. If you’re interested in learning more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.


latimes--2020-11-12--Mother of Saugus High School shooter will not be charged

The Los Angeles County district attorney ’ s office has declined to file charges against the mother of the Saugus High School student who opened fire on classmates before shooting and killing himself on Nov. 14 , 2019 .
The Los Angeles County Sheriff ’ s Department had presented two charges against Mami Matsuura-Berhow , mother of 16-year-old Nathaniel Tennosuke Berhow , the Signal reported Thursday .
“ We presented a case on Nathaniel Berhow ’ s mother to the district attorney ’ s office and they declined to file charges on her for [ contributing to ] the delinquency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a firearm , ” Sgt .
Guillermo Morales told the Signal .
“ There were firearms that were found in the residence that were not locked up , ” he added .
“ That was pretty much it.
” A spokesperson for the district attorney ’ s office told the Signal that there wasn ’ t enough evidence to pursue the case and it was rejected on Oct. 23 .
No additional charges are being considered .
After the shootings , which resulted in the deaths of 15-year-old Gracie Anne Muehlberger , 14-year-old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quick to focus on how Berhow obtained the .45-caliber handgun he used to carry out the attack .
Authorities said it was a “ ghost gun ” without a registration number that was assembled from parts .
The teenager ’ s late father was an avid hunter and owned several weapons , but it remained unclear how the teenager obtained the ghost gun .

A banner hanging outside Saugus High School thanks first responders and teachers on Nov. 18, 2019.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has declined to file charges against the mother of the Saugus High School student who opened fire on classmates before shooting and killing himself on Nov. 14, 2019.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had presented two charges against Mami Matsuura-Berhow, mother of 16-year-old Nathaniel Tennosuke Berhow, the Signal reported Thursday.
“We presented a case on Nathaniel Berhow’s mother to the district attorney’s office and they declined to file charges on her for [contributing to] the delinquency of a minor and criminal storage of a firearm,” Sgt. Guillermo Morales told the Signal.
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“There were firearms that were found in the residence that were not locked up,” he added. “That was pretty much it.”
A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office told the Signal that there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue the case and it was rejected on Oct. 23. No additional charges are being considered.
After the shootings, which resulted in the deaths of 15-year-old Gracie Anne Muehlberger, 14-year-old Dominic Blackwell and Berhow, investigators were quick to focus on how Berhow obtained the .45-caliber handgun he used to carry out the attack. Authorities said it was a “ghost gun” without a registration number that was assembled from parts.
The teenager’s late father was an avid hunter and owned several weapons, but it remained unclear how the teenager obtained the ghost gun.


latimes--2020-11-12--Proposition 14 to fund state stem cell research approved by California voters

California ’ s stem cell agency will receive an infusion of $ 5.5 billion in new research funding after voters approved Proposition 14 .
The ballot measure had been leading since the Nov. 3 election before it was called by the Associated Press on Thursday night .
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine , known as CIRM , will receive the additional funds for stem cell studies and trials .
California voters created CIRM in 2004 after approving a bond measure that year for $ 3 billion .
CIRM used that bond money for research grants , new laboratories and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out last year , prompting supporters of the agency to return to taxpayers for additional money .
Proponents raised more than $ 20 million to fill airwaves with stories of successful treatments stemming from the first bond measure .
The largest funder of the supporting campaign was real estate investor Robert Klein , who drafted the previous ballot measure and went on to be CIRM ’ s first chairman — a move that sparked criticism from lawmakers .
CIRM ’ s creation in 2004 was largely a state effort to counter then-President George @ @ @ @ @ @ @ off federal funding for stem cell research amid religious opposition to using human embryonic stem cells .
Under the 2004 measure , Proposition 71 , California created a state constitutional right to conduct stem cell research .
Religious objections to this year ’ s bond measure were largely absent , with little organized opposition or cash thrown into fighting Proposition 14 .
However , newspaper editorial boards , including those at and , opposed the measure .
Opponents included CIRM board member Jeff Sheehy , who argued that the state shouldn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ due to the COVID-19 pandemic .
With interest , Proposition 14 will cost the state $ 260 million per year , or $ 7.8 billion over the next 30 years , according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst ’ s Office .
The state is still paying off the $ 3-billion stem cell bond from 2004 , which will cost an additional $ 3 billion in interest .
Supporters of the measure said the bond will fill a void in crucial grant funding that could lead to new treatments and cures for chronic diseases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cord injuries , Alzheimer ’ s , Parkinson ’ s and heart disease .
They say the 2004 bond advanced research and treatments for more than 75 diseases , including two cancer treatments for fatal blood disorders that were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration .

Alysia Padilla-Vaccaro stands with her 8-year-old daughter, Evangelina Vaccaro, who was born with no immune system and a disorder commonly known as bubble baby disease. A previous stem cell bond measure in California helped pay for Evangelina’s treatment.
California’s stem cell agency will receive an infusion of $5.5 billion in new research funding after voters approved Proposition 14.
The ballot measure had been leading since the Nov. 3 election before it was called by the Associated Press on Thursday night.
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, known as CIRM, will receive the additional funds for stem cell studies and trials. California voters created CIRM in 2004 after approving a bond measure that year for $3 billion. CIRM used that bond money for research grants, new laboratories and training programs, but unallocated funds ran out last year, prompting supporters of the agency to return to taxpayers for additional money.
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Proponents raised more than $20 million to fill airwaves with stories of successful treatments stemming from the first bond measure. The largest funder of the supporting campaign was real estate investor Robert Klein, who drafted the previous ballot measure and went on to be CIRM’s first chairman — a move that sparked criticism from lawmakers.
CIRM’s creation in 2004 was largely a state effort to counter then-President George W. Bush’s decision to cut off federal funding for stem cell research amid religious opposition to using human embryonic stem cells. Under the 2004 measure, Proposition 71, California created a state constitutional right to conduct stem cell research.
Religious objections to this year’s bond measure were largely absent, with little organized opposition or cash thrown into fighting Proposition 14. However, newspaper editorial boards, including those at the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle , opposed the measure. Opponents included CIRM board member Jeff Sheehy, who argued that the state shouldn’t take on new debt while facing deficits due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With interest, Proposition 14 will cost the state $260 million per year, or $7.8 billion over the next 30 years, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. The state is still paying off the $3-billion stem cell bond from 2004, which will cost an additional $3 billion in interest.
Supporters of the measure said the bond will fill a void in crucial grant funding that could lead to new treatments and cures for chronic diseases and conditions, including cancers, spinal cord injuries, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and heart disease. They say the 2004 bond advanced research and treatments for more than 75 diseases, including two cancer treatments for fatal blood disorders that were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.


latimes--2020-11-12--Bigfoot's been found! Or at least a beloved statue of him missing from museum

Every day for the past 16 years , a squat , wooden sasquatch has stood by the side of the Bigfoot Discovery Museum entrance and greeted thousands of Bigfoot enthusiasts as they walked through the doors .
He ’ s made of redwood , is about 4 feet tall and has earned the nickname “ Danny ” due to his resemblance to actor Danny Devito .
He was made with a chainsaw by a woodcarver , with the help of Michael Rugg , the founder of the Felton , Calif. , museum .
Rugg established the beloved 400-square-foot museum in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first spotted a Bigfoot in a Santa Cruz forest — to educate the public about the mysterious creatures , investigate sightings and “ keep Santa Cruz weird.
” Rugg said he went to Santa Cruz to make his mortgage payment that day and thieves took the chance to take one of his most precious possessions .
“ I was kind of in a hurry , ” Rugg said .
“ I glanced back by the Bigfoot and saw a lock laying there .
It didn ’ t dawn on me that was the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chain .
When I got back , the Bigfoot was gone.
” He called the Santa Cruz County Sheriff ’ s Office immediately and they began investigating .
Ashley Keehn , spokeswoman for the Sheriff ’ s Department , said deputies believed the statue , as well as a wooden bear , had been stolen from the museum sometime between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m .
The Sheriff ’ s Office posted on social media asking the public to report the statue if they came across it .
“ Keep your eyes peeled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sheriff ’ s Office said on Facebook .
“ No seriously , please be on the lookout for the Bigfoot statue that was stolen from the Bigfoot Museum in Felton this week.
” And so the hunt began .
Of all his sasquatch statues , Rugg said Danny is special .
“ We made it because when I put the Bigfoot museum together , one of the things I did is I chose to make it look like one of those roadside attractions with redwood carvings outside , ” he said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my knowledge of it.
” Rugg has had a fascination with the mystery of Bigfoot since he was a child , when he said he saw one for the first time .
When he was 4 years old , his parents took him camping and one morning , protesting their fish breakfast , he wandered off on a trail along Eagle Creek .
“ I saw this jetty sticking out into the river , so I walked onto the sandbar and started looking upstream and downstream , ” he said .
Suddenly , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a gigantic hairy man standing there .
He had no clothes , except what looked like the remains of a tattered shirt on one shoulder.
” Rugg ran back to tell his parents about what he ’ d seen , but they dismissed him .
They told him he may have seen “ a tramp.
” The memory stayed with him and inspired him to open the Bigfoot Discovery Museum .
Through the years , visitors from all over the world have traveled to tell him stories about their own Bigfoot sightings , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ himself hasn ’ t been able to find a new one .
He spent his first 10 years in business looking for another Bigfoot in Santa Cruz .
He ’ s recorded their screams , made casts of footprints , but has been so far unsuccessful .
“ I ’ ve come close , ” he said .
Now , Rugg said his focus has shifted as the coronavirus pandemic has affected his museum like so many others .
The museum has always been free to enter , relying on generous donations from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rugg said he has a part-time job as a caregiver and Social Security benefits , but he still fears that if the pandemic shutdown continues for another six months , he won ’ t be able to maintain the museum .
The museum has so far survived , due in part to donations to a GoFundMe page Rugg established to “ Save the Bigfoot Discovery Museum.
” Calls from faraway Bigfoot lovers have kept Rugg ’ s spirits up .
They ask when he ’ ll be open again and commiserate with him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rugg finally got some good news .
Early in the morning , officers with the Scotts Valley Police Department “ responded to a suspicious figure in the roadway ” near Glen Canyon and Green Hills Road .
The statue stood there on the side of the road , unassuming and facing the sidewalk as police lights shone onto it .
“ Officers arrived and spotted Bigfoot !
” the Scotts Valley Police Department said on Facebook .
The statue was a little scratched up and now sports a chip in its forehead that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Rugg may not have found the sasquatch again ( yet ) , but at least he ’ s got Danny .

Santa Cruz County sheriff’s deputies responded to the Bigfoot Discovery Museum in Felton, Calif. after the owner reported a Bigfoot statue had been stolen.
Every day for the past 16 years, a squat, wooden sasquatch has stood by the side of the Bigfoot Discovery Museum entrance and greeted thousands of Bigfoot enthusiasts as they walked through the doors.
He’s made of redwood, is about 4 feet tall and has earned the nickname “Danny” due to his resemblance to actor Danny Devito. He was made with a chainsaw by a woodcarver, with the help of Michael Rugg, the founder of the Felton, Calif., museum.
Rugg established the beloved 400-square-foot museum in 2004 — decades after Rugg said he first spotted a Bigfoot in a Santa Cruz forest — to educate the public about the mysterious creatures, investigate sightings and “keep Santa Cruz weird.”
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On Monday, Danny went missing.
Rugg said he went to Santa Cruz to make his mortgage payment that day and thieves took the chance to take one of his most precious possessions.
“I was kind of in a hurry,” Rugg said. “I glanced back by the Bigfoot and saw a lock laying there. It didn’t dawn on me that was the lock that was on [his] chain. When I got back, the Bigfoot was gone.”
He called the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office immediately and they began investigating. Ashley Keehn, spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department, said deputies believed the statue, as well as a wooden bear, had been stolen from the museum sometime between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Officers with the Scotts Valley Police Department spotted “Danny” the sasquatch Thursday morning. (Scotts Valley Police Department)
The Sheriff’s Office posted on social media asking the public to report the statue if they came across it.
“Keep your eyes peeled for Bigfoot!” the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook. “No seriously, please be on the lookout for the Bigfoot statue that was stolen from the Bigfoot Museum in Felton this week.”
And so the hunt began.
Of all his sasquatch statues, Rugg said Danny is special.
“We made it because when I put the Bigfoot museum together, one of the things I did is I chose to make it look like one of those roadside attractions with redwood carvings outside,” he said. “It represents the building, Bigfoot and my knowledge of it.”
Rugg has had a fascination with the mystery of Bigfoot since he was a child, when he said he saw one for the first time. When he was 4 years old, his parents took him camping and one morning, protesting their fish breakfast, he wandered off on a trail along Eagle Creek.
“I saw this jetty sticking out into the river, so I walked onto the sandbar and started looking upstream and downstream,” he said.
Suddenly, he saw it.
“There was a gigantic hairy man standing there. He had no clothes, except what looked like the remains of a tattered shirt on one shoulder.”
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Rugg ran back to tell his parents about what he’d seen, but they dismissed him. They told him he may have seen “a tramp.”
The memory stayed with him and inspired him to open the Bigfoot Discovery Museum. Through the years, visitors from all over the world have traveled to tell him stories about their own Bigfoot sightings, something he has relished, since he himself hasn’t been able to find a new one.
He spent his first 10 years in business looking for another Bigfoot in Santa Cruz. He’s recorded their screams, made casts of footprints, but has been so far unsuccessful.
“I’ve come close,” he said.
A Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office deputy and a Scotts Valley Police Department officer pose next to “Danny,” the Bigfoot statue, after it was recovered this week. (Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office)
Now, Rugg said his focus has shifted as the coronavirus pandemic has affected his museum like so many others. The museum has always been free to enter, relying on generous donations from Bigfoot fans to keep it afloat.
Rugg said he has a part-time job as a caregiver and Social Security benefits, but he still fears that if the pandemic shutdown continues for another six months, he won’t be able to maintain the museum. The museum has so far survived, due in part to donations to a GoFundMe page Rugg established to “Save the Bigfoot Discovery Museum.”
Calls from faraway Bigfoot lovers have kept Rugg’s spirits up. They ask when he’ll be open again and commiserate with him, he said.
On Thursday, Rugg finally got some good news. Early in the morning, officers with the Scotts Valley Police Department “responded to a suspicious figure in the roadway” near Glen Canyon and Green Hills Road. The statue stood there on the side of the road, unassuming and facing the sidewalk as police lights shone onto it.
“Officers arrived and spotted Bigfoot!” the Scotts Valley Police Department said on Facebook.
The statue was a little scratched up and now sports a chip in its forehead that Rugg has dubbed a badge of honor.
Rugg may not have found the sasquatch again (yet), but at least he’s got Danny.


latimes--2020-11-13--Young Kim defeats Gil Cisneros in another victory for Republicans in Orange County

Republican candidate Young Kim has won a congressional seat in Orange County , according to the Associated Press , marking the second race in the county in which the GOP took back a district it had lost to Democrats during the 2018 “ blue wave.
” Kim defeated incumbent Democrat Gil Cisneros in Congressional District 39 , which spans Anaheim Hills to Buena Park and includes parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties .
Kim , who has secured Orange County ’ s final congressional seat that had yet to be called , will be among the first Korean @ @ @ @ @ @ @ along with the newly elected Michelle Steel , an Orange County Republican , and Marilyn Strickland , a Washington Democrat .
Steel defeated Rep. Harley Rouda ( D-Laguna Beach ) to take back a seat that the Democrats flipped in 2018 .
The Republican Party ’ s loss of Congressional District 39 in 2018 came as a surprise as Kim had held a lead over Cisneros on election night .
Days later , the race was called for Cisneros by 3.2 percentage points after mail-in ballots were counted .
Kim , 58 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fostered ties with the California Republican Party .
The La Habra resident ran on promises to change immigration and healthcare policies and simplify business regulations .
Kim started her career running a women ’ s apparel business and later organized community outreach projects for Rep. Ed Royce ( R-Fullerton ) , who represented the 39th District before Cisneros , with occasional stints as a host on Korean-language radio .
Seen as an underdog to Cisneros , a lottery winner-turned-philanthropist and politician , Kim also faced a disadvantage in voter registration as 37 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were affiliated with the Democratic Party as of October .
Republicans made up 32.5 % of registered voters and independents 28.7 % .
On Nov. 4 , the Associated Press called two other Orange County congressional races for incumbent Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Mike Levin .
Porter — more specifically her whiteboard — became a popular freshman representative for her pointed questions during House Oversight Committee hearings .
Porter raised nearly $ 15 million for her campaign , overshadowing her Republican opponent Greg Raths ’ $ 1.2 million .
“ We ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I thought we could pull it out , but it ’ s hard to run against an incumbent , and especially an incumbent that has 15-1 over me in terms of funding , ” Raths said in an interview .
“ It ’ s almost impossible.
” Republicans will now hold two of the seven congressional seats in Orange County .

Republican Young Kim will be among the first Korean American women to serve in Congress.
Republican candidate Young Kim has won a congressional seat in Orange County, marking the second race in the county in which the GOP took back a district it had lost to Democrats during the 2018 “blue wave.”
Kim defeated incumbent Democrat Gil Cisneros in the 39th Congressional District, which spans Anaheim Hills to Buena Park and includes parts of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.
Kim, who has secured Orange County’s final congressional seat that had yet to be called, will be among the first Korean American women to serve in Congress, along with the newly elected Michelle Steel, an Orange County Republican, and Marilyn Strickland, a Washington Democrat. Steel defeated Rep. Harley Rouda (D-Laguna Beach), who conceded Tuesday, to take back a seat that the Democrats flipped in 2018.
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The Republican Party’s loss of the 39th District in 2018 came as a surprise as Kim had held a lead over Cisneros on election night. Days later, the race was called for Cisneros by 3.2 percentage points after mail-in ballots were counted.
“Over the past two years, I’ve worked tirelessly to fight for the people of the 39th District” tackling issues such as healthcare and gun safety, Cisneros said in a statement Friday night after the Associated Press had called the race. “I’m sorry I won’t be able to continue that work in Congress this January. I called to congratulate Young Kim on her victory.”
Kim, 58, has served in the state Assembly and fostered ties with the California Republican Party. The La Habra resident ran on promises to change immigration and healthcare policies and simplify business regulations.
Kim started her career running a women’s apparel business and later organized community outreach projects for Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), who represented the 39th District for more than two decades before Cisneros, with occasional stints as a host on Korean-language radio.
Seen as an underdog to Cisneros, a lottery winner-turned-philanthropist and politician, Kim faced a disadvantage in voter registration as 37% of the district’s registered voters were affiliated with the Democratic Party as of October. Republicans made up 32.5% of registered voters and independents 28.7%.
Last week, the Associated Press called the five other Orange County congressional races for incumbent Democratic Reps. Linda T. Sanchez, Katie Porter, Lou Correa, Alan Lowenthal and Mike Levin.
Porter — more specifically her whiteboard — became a popular freshman representative for her pointed questions during House Oversight Committee hearings. Porter raised nearly $15 million for her campaign, overshadowing her Republican opponent Greg Raths’ $1.2 million.
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“We’ve been campaigning for two straight years. I thought we could pull it out, but it’s hard to run against an incumbent, and especially an incumbent that has 15 to 1 over me in terms of funding,” Raths said in an interview. “It’s almost impossible.”
Republicans will now hold two of the seven congressional seats in Orange County.


latimes--2020-11-13--Oakland ballots not counted after voters wrongly told they were receipts, civil rights groups say

A coalition of civil rights and voting advocacy groups lashed out Friday at Alameda County elections officials after poll workers wrongly told more than 150 voters that their paper ballot was only a receipt and that it could be taken home , leading to the votes not being counted .
The mistake , the groups allege , affected voters who visited one or more locations in Oakland to cast ballots in person between Oct. 31 and election day .
“ We spoke to some of the poll workers there who were really alarmed , ” said Angelica Salceda , an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Northern California .
The voting rights advocates said that some voters who showed up at a polling place on the campus of Mills College during the four-day period were told the ballot marking device they had used was keeping a digital record of their selections on federal , state and local races .
In reality , the device only makes marks on a paper ballot , which the voter then must submit to an election official .
Instead , poll workers “ incorrectly told voters ... that the printouts from the machines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should take with them , rather than official ballots that they should deposit in the ballot box , ” representatives of 15 civil rights and voting rights groups wrote in a letter Thursday to Tim Dupuis , the Alameda County registrar of voters .
“ In general , voters who cast their ballots at Mills College were disproportionately Black , and many of the voters who had been actively encouraged by poll workers to use the [ ballot marking devices ] were disabled or elderly.
” The voting rights groups said they believed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as 300 voters .
In a news release on Friday , Dupuis put the number of affected voters as no more than 160 and said that 22 of the ballots mistakenly taken home had been recovered by his staff .
“ So far , the number of ballots that may have been retained is not sufficient to determine the outcome of any race , ” Dupuis said in the statement .
But the ballot mistake shouldn ’ t be excused just because no close contest was affected , said Jonathan Mehta Stein , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Every single voter ’ s ballot is sacred and [ election officials ] have a responsibility to protect it , ” he said .
Ballot marking devices have been used in a number of California counties for voters who wanted to participate in person rather than by using the ballot they received in the mail .
In March , there were sporadic reports in Los Angeles County of voters who mistakenly thought the paper ballot was just a receipt .
Salceda said poll worker training appears to have been a problem in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the voting locations , she said , should have been told to compare the number of ballots on hand and the number of voters who had checked in at registration tables .
“ There ’ s a reconciliation process at the end of the day , ” Salceda said .
“ We do think there was a failure in terms of training.
” The voting rights groups also pointed to significant delays by Alameda County officials in the distribution of ballot drop boxes , a key component of election plans across California in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they alleged persistent training problems when it came to the requirement that in-person voting locations display a copy of the ballot in all required languages — known as a facsimile ballot — so that all voters know a ballot in their desired language is available .
For three days , the letter to Dupuis said , voting rights groups tried to report the lack of facsimile ballots in nine languages other than English at voting locations in the cities of Oakland and Hayward — and only received word of a solution from a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ While this matter was resolved in a way that was satisfactory enough to avoid litigation , your office ’ s failure to properly train poll workers exposes a deficiency in how your office runs elections , ” the groups wrote to Dupuis on Thursday .
The registrar ’ s initial news release did not address the criticism of missing display ballots in languages other than English .
A revised statement insisted that instructions in multiple languages were posted but that the decision to ensure county voters could vote at any location made @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the state requirement for displays of a ballot in every language .

Poll workers in Alameda County wrongly told more than 150 voters that their paper ballot was only a receipt and that it could be taken home, leading to the votes not being counted, civil rights groups and voting advocates allege.
A coalition of civil rights and voting advocacy groups lashed out Friday at Alameda County election officials after poll workers wrongly told more than 150 voters that their paper ballot was only a receipt and that it could be taken home, leading to the votes not being counted.
The mistake, the groups allege, affected voters who visited one or more locations in Oakland to cast ballots in person between Oct. 31 and election day.
“We spoke to some of the poll workers there who were really alarmed,” said Angelica Salceda, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.
The voting rights advocates said that some voters who showed up at a polling place on the campus of Mills College during the four-day period were told the ballot marking device they had used was keeping a digital record of their selections on federal, state and local races. In reality, the device only makes marks on a paper ballot, which the voter then must submit to an election official.
Instead, poll workers “incorrectly told voters ... that the printouts from the machines were ‘receipts’ that the voters should take with them, rather than official ballots that they should deposit in the ballot box,” representatives of 15 civil rights and voting rights groups wrote in a letter Thursday to Tim Dupuis, the Alameda County registrar of voters. “In general, voters who cast their ballots at Mills College were disproportionately Black, and many of the voters who had been actively encouraged by poll workers to use the [ballot marking devices] were disabled or elderly.”
The voting rights groups said they believed the mistake could have affected as many as 300 voters. In a news release on Friday, Dupuis put the number of affected voters as no more than 160 and said that 22 of the ballots mistakenly taken home had been recovered by his staff.
“So far, the number of ballots that may have been retained is not sufficient to determine the outcome of any race,” Dupuis said in the statement.
But the ballot mistake shouldn’t be excused just because no close contest was affected, said Jonathan Mehta Stein, executive director of California Common Cause.
“Every single voter’s ballot is sacred and [election officials] have a responsibility to protect it,” he said.
Ballot marking devices have been used in a number of California counties for voters who wanted to participate in person rather than by using the ballot they received in the mail. In March, there were sporadic reports in Los Angeles County of voters who mistakenly thought the paper ballot was just a receipt.
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Salceda said poll worker training appears to have been a problem in Alameda County. The volunteers who ran the voting locations, she said, should have been told to compare the number of ballots on hand and the number of voters who had checked in at registration tables.
“There’s a reconciliation process at the end of the day,” Salceda said. “We do think there was a failure in terms of training.”
The voting rights groups also pointed to significant delays by Alameda County officials in the distribution of ballot drop boxes, a key component of election plans across California in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. And they alleged persistent training problems when it came to the requirement that in-person voting locations display a copy of the ballot in all required languages — known as a facsimile ballot — so that all voters know a ballot in their desired language is available.
For three days, the letter to Dupuis said, voting rights groups tried to report the lack of facsimile ballots in nine languages other than English at voting locations in the cities of Oakland and Hayward — and only received word of a solution from a county attorney midafternoon on election day.
“While this matter was resolved in a way that was satisfactory enough to avoid litigation, your office’s failure to properly train poll workers exposes a deficiency in how your office runs elections,” the groups wrote to Dupuis on Thursday.
The registrar’s initial news release did not address the criticism of missing display ballots in languages other than English. A revised statement insisted that instructions in multiple languages were posted but that the decision to ensure county voters could vote at any location made it “not feasible” to comply with the state requirement for displays of a ballot in every language.


latimes--2020-11-13--Martin Fox, youth coach ensnared in college admissions scandal, sentenced to three months in prison

Martin Fox , a Texas youth sports coach who paid off university coaches and a test proctor in a cash-for-admissions scheme that defrauded some of the country ’ s most elite schools , was sentenced Friday to three months in prison and three months of home detention .
Fox was also ordered to pay a $ 95,000 fine , complete 250 hours of community service and remain on supervised release for 15 months after serving his prison term .
Fox , a resident of Houston , had pleaded guilty last November to racketeering conspiracy .
He admitted serving as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Newport Beach college consultant at the heart of the scheme , and several university coaches and a teaching assistant whom Singer sought to bribe .
In 2014 , Fox offered Michael Center , then a tennis coach at the University of Texas-Austin , $ 80,000 to $ 100,000 to recruit a child of one of Singer ’ s clients , despite the fact he didn ’ t play tennis competitively , a prosecutor wrote in a sentencing memo .
The client isn ’ t named in the memo , but The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a well-known venture capitalist .
Schaepe transferred more than $ 500,000 in stock to a foundation overseen by Singer , who paid Fox and Center $ 100,000 each .
Schaepe , who has since been ousted from his firm , Lightspeed Venture Partners , hasn ’ t been charged with a crime , and he has maintained he knew nothing of the illegal deal brokered between Singer , Fox and Center .
Singer and Center have pleaded guilty to various federal offenses ; Singer is awaiting sentencing , while Center served out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ helped Singer pull off a similar recruiting scam at the University of San Diego , the prosecutor , Kristen Kearney , wrote in her memo .
And in 2015 , the memo says , he introduced Singer to Lisa “ Niki ” Williams , a teaching assistant at Jack Yates High School in Houston .
Singer arranged for the children of his clients — most of whom lived in California — to get permission to take their ACT and SAT entrance exams in Williams ’ classroom .
In exchange for bribes , Williams @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to commit mail and wire fraud , allowed Singer ’ s Harvard-educated accomplice , Mark Riddell , to provide the children the right answers or to simply correct their responses after they ’ d finished .
Fox , Singer ’ s go-between with Williams , helped arrange four rigged tests , according to the prosecution memo .
For the first , he was paid $ 104,000 ; for the second , third and fourth , he was paid $ 25,000 each .
Yet he typically passed Williams just $ 5,000 to $ 10,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 21 .
On Friday , in a court appearance held via videoconference , Kearney described Fox as holding a “ vital role ” in Singer ’ s operation , complicit in both the athletic recruiting and the test-fixing scams .
“ He understood how the entire scheme worked , ” she said .
Kearney said that Fox , who mentioned to probation authorities about having a comfortable upbringing , took part in the scheme not out of necessity but greed .
He was previously convicted in state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scam involving Continental Airlines tickets , she wrote in the memo .
And he had asked Singer , in phone calls intercepted by the FBI , to lie to Internal Revenue Service agents performing an unrelated audit , the memo says .
For his part , Fox told U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani he was ashamed of his crimes and “ felt bad ” raising through his lawyers a host of health issues that they said were so dire he should be spared incarceration .
“ I don ’ t want people to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out of anything , ” he said in a slight Texas drawl .
Talwani , after reviewing confidential medical records for Fox , said she found his attorneys weren ’ t exaggerating the severity of his condition .
Still , noting Fox had previously been convicted of a felony and still hadn ’ t found “ the straight and narrow , ” Talwani decided his crimes merited a prison term , albeit one shorter than the six months the prosecution had requested .
“ This was an act of greed , ” she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only took steps to help himself , but took steps to entwine other people in this mess .
”

Martin Fox leaves a courtroom in Boston after his arraignment on March 25, 2019. He was sentenced Friday to three months in prison and three months of home confinement.
Martin Fox, a Texas youth sports coach who paid off university coaches and a test proctor in a cash-for-admissions scheme that defrauded some of the country’s most elite schools, was sentenced Friday to three months in prison and three months of home detention.
Fox was also ordered to pay a $95,000 fine, complete 250 hours of community service and remain on supervised release for 15 months after serving his prison term.
Fox, a resident of Houston, had pleaded guilty last November to racketeering conspiracy. He admitted serving as a middleman between William “Rick” Singer, the Newport Beach college consultant at the heart of the scheme, and several university coaches and a teaching assistant whom Singer sought to bribe.
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In 2014, Fox offered Michael Center, then a tennis coach at the University of Texas-Austin, $80,000 to $100,000 to recruit a child of one of Singer’s clients, despite the fact he didn’t play tennis competitively, a prosecutor wrote in a sentencing memo. The client isn’t named in the memo, but The Times previously identified him as Chris Schaepe, a well-known venture capitalist.
Schaepe transferred more than $500,000 in stock to a foundation overseen by Singer, who paid Fox and Center $100,000 each. Schaepe, who has since been ousted from his firm, Lightspeed Venture Partners, hasn’t been charged with a crime, and he has maintained he knew nothing of the illegal deal brokered between Singer, Fox and Center. Singer and Center have pleaded guilty to various federal offenses; Singer is awaiting sentencing, while Center served out a six-month prison in October.
Fox helped Singer pull off a similar recruiting scam at the University of San Diego, the prosecutor, Kristen Kearney, wrote in her memo. And in 2015, the memo says, he introduced Singer to Lisa “Niki” Williams, a teaching assistant at Jack Yates High School in Houston. Singer arranged for the children of his clients — most of whom lived in California — to get permission to take their ACT and SAT entrance exams in Williams’ classroom. In exchange for bribes, Williams, who has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud, allowed Singer’s Harvard-educated accomplice, Mark Riddell, to provide the children the right answers or to simply correct their responses after they’d finished.
Fox, Singer’s go-between with Williams, helped arrange four rigged tests, according to the prosecution memo. For the first, he was paid $104,000; for the second, third and fourth, he was paid $25,000 each. Yet he typically passed Williams just $5,000 to $10,000 per test, Kearney wrote. Williams is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 21.
On Friday, in a court appearance held via videoconference, Kearney described Fox as holding a “vital role” in Singer’s operation, complicit in both the athletic recruiting and the test-fixing scams.
“He understood how the entire scheme worked,” she said.
Kearney said that Fox, who mentioned to probation authorities about having a comfortable upbringing, took part in the scheme not out of necessity but greed. He was previously convicted in state court of a felony stemming from a scam involving Continental Airlines tickets, she wrote in the memo. And he had asked Singer, in phone calls intercepted by the FBI, to lie to Internal Revenue Service agents performing an unrelated audit, the memo says.
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For his part, Fox told U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani he was ashamed of his crimes and “felt bad” raising through his lawyers a host of health issues that they said were so dire he should be spared incarceration.
“I don’t want people to think I’m trying to get out of anything,” he said in a slight Texas drawl.
Talwani, after reviewing confidential medical records for Fox, said she found his attorneys weren’t exaggerating the severity of his condition. Still, noting Fox had previously been convicted of a felony and still hadn’t found “the straight and narrow,” Talwani decided his crimes merited a prison term, albeit one shorter than the six months the prosecution had requested.
“This was an act of greed,” she said. “Mr. Fox not only took steps to help himself, but took steps to entwine other people in this mess.”


latimes--2020-11-13--Gov. Gavin Newsom says he should have skipped outdoor dinner with other households as COVID-19 cases

Gov. Gavin Newsom says he should have skipped outdoor dinner with other households as COVID-19 cases soar

Gov .
Gavin Newsom said Friday that he should have stayed home and not attended a dinner with other households at an upscale Napa Valley restaurant as COVID-19 cases soar across the state .
“ While our family followed the restaurant ’ s health protocols and took safety precautions , we should have modeled better behavior and not joined the dinner , ” Newsom said in a statement .
Newsom and his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom attended a birthday party for his political advisor Jason Kinney at the French Laundry in Yountville on Nov. 6 , according to the San @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a total of at least a dozen people from more than three different households attended the gathering .
The governor ’ s office confirmed Newsom ’ s participation in the event and said the dinner was held outdoors at the restaurant .
“ This was a small , intimate , 12-person dinner held outdoors with family and a few close friends to celebrate a 50th birthday , ” said Molly Weedn , a spokeswoman for Kinney .
“ The restaurant was open for normal dining , consistent with state and county health guidance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were adhered to — and the guests followed those protocols.
” California ’ s COVID-19 safety guidelines limit the number of households at a private gathering , but do not explicitly impose those same rules on restaurant patrons .
State guidelines updated in November allow private gatherings of no more than three households in a park or outdoor space .
Rules for dining say restaurants should “ limit the number of patrons at a single table to a household unit or patrons who have asked to be seated together , ” without stating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that can sit at a table .
The revelation of Newsom ’ s restaurant outing came at a particularly awkward moment on the same day his administration issued new guidance calling for Californians to limit their exposure to those outside of their immediate family as the state grapples with another surge of the coronavirus .
To date , California has reported more than 1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 18,000 deaths — counts that officials fear could grow rapidly if families gather for the Thanksgiving holiday in two weeks .
Earlier this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restrictions in their communities increase as they were moved to the state ’ s “ purple ” tier , indicating greatest risk of coronavirus spread .
One of those counties was Sacramento , where the governor and his family live .
Dr. Mark Ghaly , the governor ’ s health and human services secretary , declined to specifically address Newsom ’ s decision to attend the birthday dinner with others on Friday .
“ We have the guidance and the tips for a reason , ” Ghaly said of the call for fewer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We believe they are the strategies to keep ourselves and our communities safe and we hope , and expect , people to take them seriously.
” The governor ’ s office did not immediately answer a question regarding Newsom ’ s plans for Thanksgiving .

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday that he should have stayed home and not attended a dinner with other households at an upscale Napa Valley restaurant as COVID-19 cases soar across the state.
“While our family followed the restaurant’s health protocols and took safety precautions, we should have modeled better behavior and not joined the dinner,” Newsom said in a statement.
Newsom and his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom attended a birthday party for his political advisor Jason Kinney at the French Laundry in Yountville on Nov. 6, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The paper wrote that a total of at least a dozen people from more than three different households attended the gathering.
The governor’s office confirmed Newsom’s participation in the event and said the dinner was held outdoors at the restaurant.
“This was a small, intimate, 12-person dinner held outdoors with family and a few close friends to celebrate a 50th birthday,” said Molly Weedn, a spokeswoman for Kinney. “The restaurant was open for normal dining, consistent with state and county health guidance. All of the restaurant safety protocols were adhered to — and the guests followed those protocols.”
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California’s COVID-19 safety guidelines limit the number of households at a private gathering, but do not explicitly impose those same rules on restaurant patrons.
State guidelines updated in November allow private gatherings of no more than three households in a park or outdoor space. Rules for dining say restaurants should “limit the number of patrons at a single table to a household unit or patrons who have asked to be seated together,” without stating any limits on the number of households that can sit at a table.
The revelation of Newsom’s restaurant outing came at a particularly awkward moment on the same day his administration issued new guidance calling for Californians to limit their exposure to those outside of their immediate family as the state grapples with another surge of the coronavirus. To date, California has reported more than 1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 18,000 deaths — counts that officials fear could grow rapidly if families gather for the Thanksgiving holiday in two weeks.
Earlier this week, several counties saw their COVID-19 restrictions in their communities increase as they were moved to the state’s “purple” tier, indicating greatest risk of coronavirus spread. One of those counties was Sacramento, where the governor and his family live.
Dr. Mark Ghaly, the governor’s health and human services secretary, declined to specifically address Newsom’s decision to attend the birthday dinner with others on Friday.
“We have the guidance and the tips for a reason,” Ghaly said of the call for fewer and more cautious group gatherings. “We believe they are the strategies to keep ourselves and our communities safe and we hope, and expect, people to take them seriously.”
The governor’s office did not immediately answer a question regarding Newsom’s plans for Thanksgiving.


latimes--2020-11-13--Riverside nurse dies after hiking accident strands her on Mt. Whitney for two nights

A 34-year-old nurse and mother died after a hiking accident left her stranded on Mt .
Whitney for two days .
Cassandra Bravo of Riverside was enjoying a day hike on the mountain Nov. 5 when she slipped and fell about 100 feet , according to her friend Luisa Moya .
After the fall , she spent two frigid nights in the wilderness with scant resources and little to keep her warm .
It was a grueling two days for her friends and family , Moya said .
Bravo was an experienced hiker , and when no one had heard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something wasn ’ t right .
Her parents reported her missing to the Inyo County Sheriff ’ s Office that night .
On Nov. 6 , a sheriff ’ s deputy found Bravo ’ s car parked near Mt .
Whitney Portal , a heavily wooded canyon about 13 miles west of Lone Pine , according to Sheriff ’ s Office spokeswoman Carma Roper .
“ Three or four carloads ” of Bravo ’ s friends and family members assisted with search efforts , Moya said , combing trails , ledges and ravines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ onto hope because they knew Bravo was resourceful .
“ She was a badass , ” Moya said , noting that in addition to being a single mom , Bravo helped coach her kids ’ soccer team , kept a garage full of tools and was a fierce advocate for her patients and friends .
But daylight dwindled quickly , and a storm was rolling in the day after she went missing .
A issued by the Sheriff ’ s Office the day before Bravo ’ s hike said temperatures would drop below @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Inyo County Search and Rescue team found Bravo on Saturday , she had crawled under a fallen tree for shelter , Roper said .
She was responsive but “ severely debilitated ” from her fall and from the cold .
“ Everyone was shocked she had survived that amount of time outside in the cold , ” her friend Sarah Wisniewski wrote on a GoFundMe page set up for Bravo ’ s family .
She was airlifted to Antelope Valley Hospital , where she died later that day .
“ Those of us @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fighter and strong , ” Wisniewski wrote .
“ We know she fought to stay alive.
” In a statement issued by Loma Linda University Medical Center , where Bravo worked as an urgent care and emergency room nurse , she was described as a hard worker who was devoted to her family and career .
“ Cassie was an incredible woman , mother , friend and nurse , ” said Connie Cunningham , executive director for emergency and trauma services .
“ She was passionate about nursing , and she was an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was a single mom who loved her children fiercely and has left a legacy that will always be remembered.
” Bravo leaves behind two young children , 10-year-old Jonathan and 7-year-old Prudence .
She had hoped to do a travel nursing program such as Doctors Without Borders when they were older , Moya said .
“ She sustained injuries that cost her her life , but she was able to stay alive for two whole nights , ” Moya said .
“ That just shows how strong her spirit was .
If her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strength to her body and her injuries , she ’ d still be here right now .
”

Cassandra Bravo, 34, is seen with her children, Jonathan and Prudence. Bravo was enjoying a day hike on Mt. Whitney when she slipped and fell about 100 feet.
A 34-year-old nurse and mother died after a hiking accident left her stranded on Mt. Whitney for two days.
Cassandra Bravo of Riverside was enjoying a day hike on the mountain Nov. 5 when she slipped and fell about 100 feet, according to her friend Luisa Moya. After the fall, she spent two frigid nights in the wilderness with scant resources and little to keep her warm.
It was a grueling two days for her friends and family, Moya said. Bravo was an experienced hiker, and when no one had heard from her by evening, they knew something wasn’t right. Her parents reported her missing to the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office that night.
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On Nov. 6, a sheriff’s deputy found Bravo’s car parked near Mt. Whitney Portal, a heavily wooded canyon about 13 miles west of Lone Pine, according to Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Carma Roper.
“Three or four carloads” of Bravo’s friends and family members assisted with search efforts, Moya said, combing trails, ledges and ravines and even using drones. They held onto hope because they knew Bravo was resourceful.
“She was a badass,” Moya said, noting that in addition to being a single mom, Bravo helped coach her kids’ soccer team, kept a garage full of tools and was a fierce advocate for her patients and friends.
But daylight dwindled quickly, and a storm was rolling in the day after she went missing. A weather warning issued by the Sheriff’s Office the day before Bravo’s hike said temperatures would drop below freezing over the weekend.
When the Inyo County Search and Rescue team found Bravo on Saturday, she had crawled under a fallen tree for shelter, Roper said. She was responsive but “severely debilitated” from her fall and from the cold.
“Everyone was shocked she had survived that amount of time outside in the cold,” her friend Sarah Wisniewski wrote on a GoFundMe page set up for Bravo’s family.
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She was airlifted to Antelope Valley Hospital, where she died later that day.
“Those of us that knew Cassandra knew she was a fighter and strong,” Wisniewski wrote. “We know she fought to stay alive.”
In a statement issued by Loma Linda University Medical Center, where Bravo worked as an urgent care and emergency room nurse, she was described as a hard worker who was devoted to her family and career.
“Cassie was an incredible woman, mother, friend and nurse,” said Connie Cunningham, executive director for emergency and trauma services. “She was passionate about nursing, and she was an incredible advocate for her patients. She was a single mom who loved her children fiercely and has left a legacy that will always be remembered.”
Bravo leaves behind two young children, 10-year-old Jonathan and 7-year-old Prudence. She had hoped to do a travel nursing program such as Doctors Without Borders when they were older, Moya said.
“She sustained injuries that cost her her life, but she was able to stay alive for two whole nights,” Moya said. “That just shows how strong her spirit was. If her spirit could have donated some of its strength to her body and her injuries, she’d still be here right now.”


latimes--2020-11-13--How should Thanksgiving be celebrated in a coronavirus pandemic? Officials urge staying home

How should Thanksgiving be celebrated in the middle of the worst global pandemic in a century ?
As safely as possible , experts say .
Think small , and stay at home .
Thanksgiving offers profound risks if large numbers of guests hailing from different households — especially those traveling from far away — gather .
Those who are elderly or have underlying medical conditions are at particular risk for severe illness or death should they be infected with the coronavirus .
Testing before Thanksgiving also isn ’ t a sure way to stave off the spread of the illness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after becoming infected and before the virus has reproduced enough copies of itself , a test could fail to detect the virus and produce a false negative result .
People can be highly contagious even when showing no signs of illness .
A negative test “ should not be used as a free pass to gather with others or to not follow the basic core public health measures that are essential to keeping us all healthy , ” said Dr. Christina Ghaly , Los Angeles County ’ s director of health services .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is to stick to your own household for the holiday this year , public health officials say .
“ I know everybody wants to know what to do for Thanksgiving , and the basic answer — to be the Grinch who stole Thanksgiving — is not to do it , ” Dr. George Rutherford , an epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at UC San Francisco , said at a recent campus town hall meeting .
“ It ’ s just going to be my wife and me .
I already told the kids @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Rutherford , who has six adult children .
Feel free to make a special dinner .
But to “ host , ” it ’ s safest to connect with extended friends and family through video calls or the telephone , while keeping in-person guests among only the members of your household .
California has seen significant jumps in coronavirus infections , hospitalizations and positive test rates , and officials expect deaths to rise too .
“ This much of an increase in cases may very well result in tremendous suffering and tragic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barbara Ferrer , the Los Angeles County director of public health .
On Friday , Gov .
Gavin Newsom issued a travel advisory encouraging residents to stay local and avoid nonessential out-of-state travel .
It also asks those who arrive from another state or country to self-quarantine for 14 days .
“ Please choose to be part of the solution because it ’ s going to take all of us to avoid increased heartbreak , ” Ferrer said .
“ We ’ re actually recommending this Thanksgiving be a stay-at-home Thanksgiving.
” Ferrer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this year for Thanksgiving to see her grandchildren , who live in a state that has a lot of coronavirus cases .
“ It ’ s just not good idea .
And I ’ ll be really sad about this .
Like all of you , I wish things were really different , but they ’ re not , ” Ferrer said .
“ I don ’ t want to be one of the people that ’ s contributing to ... increasing cases that could result in other people getting sick and even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immediate household means only those who currently live with you and share common spaces in your housing unit , officials say .
That doesn ’ t include college students or other family members who live elsewhere .
“ Obviously , the preference is for people not to be flying home for the holidays — for students or for others , ” Ferrer said .
Health officials and in continue to urge people to , which raises the risk of contracting and spreading the coronavirus .
“ What we don ’ t want to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flying across the country for four days and then fly back again .
That ’ s just unnecessary mixing , ” Rutherford said in a subsequent interview .
“ The basic advice is : Stay within your pod .
Stay within your bubble .
Stay within your household.
” If students do fly home , some colleges are recommending they don ’ t return to campus until after the new year , Ferrer said , “ so that you ’ re not really exposing lots more people when you come back here to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ person infected with the coronavirus on average to infect two to four more people .
One person can easily be responsible for the infection of more than 1,000 people after 10 cycles of virus transmission .
Public health experts are extremely concerned about large gatherings during Thanksgiving as the virus surges nationally to record levels , with more than 100,000 people infected every day .
The pandemic ’ s first global spread coincided with a holiday quite like Thanksgiving in China : the Lunar New Year .
proceeded in Wuhan , the global @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there were ample warnings the virus was spreading .
And it hitched a ride with travelers as they fled the region just before a quarantine was enforced .
Dinners have also been shown to be a big spreader of the coronavirus .
in Arizona who studied an outbreak tied to 60 people found that many of the cases likely stemmed from transmission at an indoor potluck dinner , where attendees did not wear masks , and a subsequent graduation dinner with more than two dozen attendees .
Two of those who fell ill @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and one required critical care .
This year , the American Automobile Assn .
estimates that 2.4 million Americans will still travel by air for Thanksgiving , a 48 % decline from last year , and about 48 million will travel by car , a 4 % drop .
If you are going to have guests , there are ways to make your celebration safer .
Dr. Sara Cody , the health officer for Santa Clara County and one of the key architects of the nation ’ s first regional stay-at-home order @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is in her 80s , over for Thanksgiving .
“ She will be outside , wrapped in blankets , greater than 10 feet from where I am .
So that ’ s one way to do it , ” Cody said .
While urging people to celebrate with only their immediate households , “ we also understand that after an extraordinarily difficult year , people want to come together and find some nourishment in the company of family and friends , ” Cody said .
“ We have guidelines for how to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to gather outdoors.
” California still generally prohibits large gatherings and has outlined the following : • Gatherings are limited to no more than three households and should be for a duration of no more than two hours .
• Gatherings are to be held outside in counties in the state ’ s most restrictive , or purple , tier .
• Gatherings in counties in the less restrictive tiers may occur indoors , although they ’ re still strongly discouraged .
Hosts should increase fresh air circulation by opening windows or doors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rooms where people are gathering .
• Attendees need to be able to maintain six feet of distance away from people not in their household .
• As much as possible , food or beverages should be served by someone who washes their hands often and wears a mask .
• Masks should be worn as often as possible , and removed only when eating or drinking .
• Higher-risk people , such as the elderly or those with chronic health conditions , should not attend gatherings .
But if they do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outside or near outside air flow ; wear a respirator or surgical mask instead of a cloth mask and minimize time at the event with the mask off ; and spend a shorter time at the gathering .
Los Angeles , San Diego , Riverside , San Bernardino and Imperial counties are among the counties in the purple tier in Southern California .
If three households are coming together , Rutherford said , one idea to keep things safer is to assign each group its own table .
“ This should not be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the father of the bride flits from table to table knocking over drinks and chatting everybody up.
” In California ’ s Yolo County , just west of Sacramento and home to UC Davis , health officials went a step further and specified in a health order issued last month that celebrations and get-togethers must be .
“ The more people interact and the longer they interact , the higher the risk of getting and spreading COVID-19 , ” the order says .
“ The Yolo County Health Officer strongly discourages gatherings of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you interact with should be kept stable , experts say .
Attending multiple gatherings over a short period increases your risk .
Another thing to consider when hosting a gathering is the rate of COVID-19 infection are in a guest ’ s home community , which can be using the peer-reviewed online , built by researchers at Georgia Tech .
Before the state issued its travel advisory Friday , L.A. County officials were recommending that residents who return from travel quarantine themselves for 14 days .
That means restricting your activities over those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and not going out to the grocery store or to restaurants , and relying on delivery .
“ You can go out by yourself and take a walk ; we don ’ t have a problem with that , ” Ferrer said .
“ But , no , we don ’ t want you going into restaurants and sitting and eating outside , and we don ’ t want you going into retail establishments either .
”

How should Thanksgiving be celebrated in the middle of the worst global pandemic in a century?
As safely as possible, experts say. Think small, and stay at home.
Thanksgiving offers profound risks if large numbers of guests hailing from different households — especially those traveling from far away — gather. Those who are elderly or have underlying medical conditions are at particular risk for severe illness or death should they be infected with the coronavirus.
Advertisement
Testing before Thanksgiving also isn’t a sure way to stave off the spread of the illness. If a person is tested shortly after becoming infected and before the virus has reproduced enough copies of itself, a test could fail to detect the virus and produce a false negative result.
People can be highly contagious even when showing no signs of illness.
A negative test “should not be used as a free pass to gather with others or to not follow the basic core public health measures that are essential to keeping us all healthy,” said Dr. Christina Ghaly, Los Angeles County’s director of health services.
That’s why the safest bet is to stick to your own household for the holiday this year, public health officials say.
“I know everybody wants to know what to do for Thanksgiving, and the basic answer — to be the Grinch who stole Thanksgiving — is not to do it,” Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at UC San Francisco, said at a recent campus town hall meeting.
“It’s just going to be my wife and me. I already told the kids, ‘Forget it,’” said Rutherford, who has six adult children.
Advertisement
Feel free to make a special dinner. But to “host,” it’s safest to connect with extended friends and family through video calls or the telephone, while keeping in-person guests among only the members of your household.
California has seen significant jumps in coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and positive test rates, and officials expect deaths to rise too. “This much of an increase in cases may very well result in tremendous suffering and tragic deaths down the road,” said Barbara Ferrer, the Los Angeles County director of public health.
On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a travel advisory encouraging residents to stay local and avoid nonessential out-of-state travel. It also asks those who arrive from another state or country to self-quarantine for 14 days.
“Please choose to be part of the solution because it’s going to take all of us to avoid increased heartbreak,” Ferrer said. “We’re actually recommending this Thanksgiving be a stay-at-home Thanksgiving.”
Ferrer said she won’t be driving this year for Thanksgiving to see her grandchildren, who live in a state that has a lot of coronavirus cases.
“It’s just not a good idea. And I’ll be really sad about this. Like all of you, I wish things were really different, but they’re not,” Ferrer said. “I don’t want to be one of the people that’s contributing to ... increasing cases that could result in other people getting sick and even dying.”
Limiting gatherings to within your immediate household means only those who currently live with you and share common spaces in your housing unit, officials say. That doesn’t include college students or other family members who live elsewhere.
“Obviously, the preference is for people not to be flying home for the holidays — for students or for others,” Ferrer said.
Health officials nationally and in California continue to urge people to avoid travel , which raises the risk of contracting and spreading the coronavirus.
“What we don’t want to have happen is have all these kids flying across the country for four days and then fly back again. That’s just unnecessary mixing,” Rutherford said in a subsequent interview. “The basic advice is: Stay within your pod. Stay within your bubble. Stay within your household.”
If students do fly home, some colleges are recommending they don’t return to campus until after the new year, Ferrer said, “so that you’re not really exposing lots more people when you come back here to finish out the semester.”
A person infected with the coronavirus on average goes on to infect two to four more people. One person can easily be responsible for the infection of more than 1,000 people after 10 cycles of virus transmission.
California California issues travel advisory ahead of holidays as COVID-19 surges The advisory encourages residents to avoid nonessential travel. It also asks those arriving from another state or country to quarantine for 14 days.
Public health experts are extremely concerned about large gatherings during Thanksgiving as the virus surges nationally to record levels, with more than 100,000 people infected every day.
The pandemic’s first global spread coincided with a holiday quite like Thanksgiving in China: the Lunar New Year. Celebrations proceeded in Wuhan, the global epicenter of the pandemic, even though there were ample warnings the virus was spreading. And it hitched a ride with travelers as they fled the region just before a quarantine was enforced.
Dinners have also been shown to be a big spreader of the coronavirus. Disease investigators in Arizona who studied an outbreak tied to 60 people found that many of the cases probably stemmed from transmission at an indoor potluck dinner, where attendees did not wear masks, and a subsequent graduation dinner with more than two dozen attendees. Two of those who fell ill had to go to an emergency room, and one required critical care.
This year, the American Automobile Assn. estimates that 2.4 million Americans will still travel by air for Thanksgiving, a 48% decline from last year, and about 48 million will travel by car, a 4% drop.
If you are going to have guests, there are ways to make your celebration safer. Dr. Sara Cody, the health officer for Santa Clara County and one of the key architects of the nation’s first regional stay-at-home order, will have her mother, who is in her 80s, over for Thanksgiving.
“She will be outside, wrapped in blankets, greater than 10 feet from where I am. So that’s one way to do it,” Cody said.
While urging people to celebrate with only their immediate households, “we also understand that after an extraordinarily difficult year, people want to come together and find some nourishment in the company of family and friends,” Cody said. “We have guidelines for how to do that safely: Chief among them is to gather outdoors.”
California still generally prohibits large gatherings and has outlined the following requirements :
Gatherings are limited to no more than three households and should be for a duration of no more than two hours.
Gatherings are to be held outside in counties in the state’s most restrictive, or purple, tier.
Gatherings in counties in the less restrictive tiers may occur indoors, although they’re still strongly discouraged. Hosts should increase fresh air circulation by opening windows or doors as much as possible, especially in the rooms where people are gathering.
Attendees need to be able to maintain six feet of distance away from people not in their household.
As much as possible, food or beverages should be served by someone who washes their hands often and wears a mask.
Masks should be worn as often as possible, and removed only when eating or drinking.
Higher-risk people, such as the elderly or those with chronic health conditions, should not attend gatherings. But if they do, they should spend as much time outside or near outside air flow; wear a respirator or surgical mask instead of a cloth mask and minimize time at the event with the mask off; and spend a shorter time at the gathering.
Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties are among the counties in the purple tier in Southern California.
If three households are coming together, Rutherford said, one idea to keep things safer is to assign each group its own table.
“This should not be like the sort of wedding reception where the father of the bride flits from table to table knocking over drinks and chatting everybody up.”
In California’s Yolo County, just west of Sacramento and home to UC Davis, health officials went a step further and specified in a health order issued last month that celebrations and get-togethers must be capped at 16 people .
“The more people interact and the longer they interact, the higher the risk of getting and spreading COVID-19,” the order says. “The Yolo County Health Officer strongly discourages gatherings of any size.”
The number of households you interact with should be kept stable, experts say. Attending multiple gatherings over a short period increases your risk.
Another thing to consider when hosting a gathering is the rate of COVID-19 infection in a guest’s home community, which can be checked using the peer-reviewed COVID-19 Risk Assessment Planning Tool online, built by researchers at Georgia Tech.
Before the state issued its travel advisory Friday, L.A. County officials were recommending that residents who return from travel quarantine themselves for 14 days. That means restricting your activities over those two weeks as much as possible — and not going out to the grocery store or to restaurants, and relying on delivery.
“You can go out by yourself and take a walk; we don’t have a problem with that,” Ferrer said. “But, no, we don’t want you going into restaurants and sitting and eating outside, and we don’t want you going into retail establishments either.”