latimes--2020-07-18--Column: Gasping, afraid, alone. What it's like to die a COVID-19 death

They beg for help .
They flail .
Their eyes fill with terror .
“ We have people that are sitting in bed and they ’ re breathing like they ’ re running a marathon at full speed , ” said Dr. Adupa Rao , a pulmonologist and critical care specialist at Keck Hospital of USC .
“ They ’ re breathing so fast and so deep , they ’ re trying to catch their breath , ” Rao said .
“ It ’ s almost like you ’ re watching a goldfish out of water , gasping to get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enough.
” Manny Khodadadi , an emergency room nurse at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital , described the scene there in nearly identical terms .
For patients , “ it ’ s like being under water and trying to swim toward the top and you can ’ t get your nose above the top of the water , ” Khodadadi said .
He ’ s been an ER nurse for 10 years after working as a paramedic and ambulance driver , but Khodadadi described the virus as an invisible enemy , with hospitals as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patients rushed in from convalescent homes .
Many of them were in foggy , altered states , unable to provide their names or other basics .
On some days the flow of patients is brisk and constant , some of them mildly ill and some in a panic .
“ They struggle , try to get out of bed , try to pull things off and leave .
… Some of them may even be saying , ‘ Help me , help me , help me .
I can ’ t breathe , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ They say , ‘ Save my life , now.
’ In so many words , and without words .
Just by the way they look at you .
They want to grab you , as if I have some magic medicine I could give them , and I wish I did.
” It didn ’ t have to be this way .
The United States has had nearly twice as many COVID-19 deaths as the next closest country after five months of failed national leadership , haphazard local policies on testing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public resistance to basic , simple precautions that could have saved lives .
The anticipated summer lull has instead become a summer surge , with record-setting numbers of new cases in California and elsewhere .
( Remember when President Trump predicted confidently that warm weather would kill the virus ? )
And yet we still see mind-boggling resistance to change .
Just a few days ago , in our own backyard , the Orange County Board of Education recommended that schools reopen without masks or distancing .
Would we act differently if more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if we cared about the risk we ’ re exposing healthcare workers to ?
Most who test positive end up recovering , which might be one reason for blase attitudes .
But would we take the pandemic more seriously if we knew what it ’ s like to die a COVID-19 death ?
Hard to say , but I asked healthcare providers to describe what they see each day in emergency rooms and intensive care units , and let me tell you , you don ’ t want to experience this virus .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re seeing in the ICU is that people are not getting better like we anticipate them to get better , ” Rao said .
That ’ s despite treatments that include high-dose oxygen , ventilators , lung-bypass machines , blood thinners to prevent clots that attack organs and cause great pain , and steroids to reduce inflammation in the lungs .
In advanced stages , the sickest patients at least have the mercy of being sedated .
“ I think the unspoken tragedy of this whole COVID experience has been the loss @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s life , ” Rao said .
“ We used to have the ability to be with our loved ones when they were passing away .
Now people are passing away in isolation.
” In one case , a dentist whose son is a physician colleague of Rao ’ s died of COVID-19 without his son getting a chance to hold his father ’ s hand or say goodbye face to face .
“ This last week , ” Rao said , “ I had to intubate a 56-year-old man with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intubation he was able to see his wife through the doorway , and you could see that in his eyes he was thinking , ‘ This may be the last time I get to speak to her.
’ ” I met with Rao outside Keck Hospital while he was on a short break from a 12-hour shift .
He said the COVID unit had seven critically ill patients at that moment , including a mother who gave birth two months ago and another who went into respiratory failure while delivering .
Of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 20s and the other five were in their 30s to 60s .
Rao said he also had six or seven COVID patients in somewhat less critical condition .
“ The experience of suffering takes on a completely new tenor ” with COVID , said Dr. Sunita Puri , a Keck palliative care specialist and author of “ That Good Night : Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour.
” “ Now we ’ re having to facilitate goodbyes over iPads.
” Ordinarily she explains the typical characteristics of disease and the benefits and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but that discussion is complicated by how little doctors know about the coronavirus .
All the more reason , Puri said , for families to have conversations — before it ’ s too late — about procedures patients are willing to endure and limitations they ’ re not willing to live with .
Palliative medicine strives to offer the most comfort and dignity possible for critically ill patients , but families still struggle to determine whether life is being extended or death is being prolonged .
Puri said some critical COVID patients @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an attempt to reoxygenate damaged lungs , but the side effects can be extreme .
“ The pressure buildup from fluids can cause parts of the face and other parts of the body to fluff off , ” Puri said .
It ’ s “ kind of grotesque , ” she added , and it ’ s difficult even for medical staff to witness .
Khodadadi told me about a convalescent home employee in his 30s who arrived by ambulance in full cardiac arrest .
“ We did CPR , we worked on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said Khodadadi , but the young man died .
“ We have to understand that we are at war here .
We are dealing with an enemy that is microscopic , something we can ’ t see , ” Khodadadi said .
“ If we were in World War II we could see the airplanes coming , see the tanks , see the people running through the fields shooting at us .
In this war we can ’ t see the enemy .
It ’ s a surprise attack and the tools we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , properly worn masks , and keeping our hands clean.
” Khodadadi said he fears getting exposed and taking the virus home to a young daughter with an autoimmune disease .
He said his best stress release valve is talking things through with front-line colleagues , such as a nursing buddy who recently had a particularly bad shift .
“ I asked him how he was doing and he said , “ Man , I just sat in the car and cried today .
I thought it wouldn ’ t end .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Puri described losing a female COVID patient whose daughter , a college student , was distraught that despite the loss she ’ d experienced , her friends were not taking basic precautions to limit the spread of the virus .
“ A lot of young folks don ’ t want to wear masks .
I think they forget that you can get COVID just like you can get into a car accident , ” Puri said , likening face covering to buckling a seat belt .
Rao , who is also a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life expectancy for people with that disease helps prepare patients and families somewhat for death .
COVID-19 , he said , “ hits like a ton of bricks.
” Death can come quickly , leaving loved ones in shock .
“ Sadly , it ’ s the same face every time .
It ’ s the face of denial , ” Rao said .
“ The face of utter this-can ’ t-be-happening , The blank look of , ‘ I know you ’ re telling me something , but it ’ s not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks of the pandemic , Rao stayed in dorms at Keck to avoid taking his exposure home to his family .
But avoiding work was not an option .
“ A part of the Hippocratic oath literally says I will go into the homes of the sick and I will take care of those who are the most sick , ” Rao said .
But we are in a national emergency that hasn ’ t been treated like one , he said , nor have we gotten the leadership the crisis screams out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our rights of free choice , but “ there ’ s also a social responsibility to your personal freedoms.
” When we were done talking , Rao walked up the hill and went back to work , lives in the balance all around , in the heat of a summer surge that didn ’ t have to happen .

Dr. Adupa Rao is a pulmonologist and critical care specialist at Keck Hospital of USC. “We have people that are sitting in bed and they’re breathing like they’re running a marathon at full speed,” he said.
They beg for help. They flail. Their eyes fill with terror.
“We have people that are sitting in bed and they’re breathing like they’re running a marathon at full speed,” said Dr. Adupa Rao, a pulmonologist and critical care specialist at Keck Hospital of USC.
“They’re breathing so fast and so deep, they’re trying to catch their breath,” Rao said. “It’s almost like you’re watching a goldfish out of water, gasping to get air, and it can never get enough.”
Manny Khodadadi, an emergency room nurse at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital, described the scene there in nearly identical terms.
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For patients, “it’s like being under water and trying to swim toward the top and you can’t get your nose above the top of the water,” Khodadadi said.
Verdugo Hills Hospital RN Manny Khodadadi says COVID surge has hit the ER. (Steve Lopez/Los Angeles Times)
He’s been an ER nurse for 10 years after working as a paramedic and ambulance driver, but Khodadadi described the virus as an invisible enemy, with hospitals as battlefields. He recalls one surge of patients rushed in from convalescent homes. Many of them were in foggy, altered states, unable to provide their names or other basics. On some days the flow of patients is brisk and constant, some of them mildly ill and some in a panic.
“They struggle, try to get out of bed, try to pull things off and leave. … Some of them may even be saying, ‘Help me, help me, help me. I can’t breathe, help me,’” Khodadadi said. “They say, ‘Save my life, now.’ In so many words, and without words. Just by the way they look at you. They want to grab you, as if I have some magic medicine I could give them, and I wish I did.”
It didn’t have to be this way. The United States has had nearly twice as many COVID-19 deaths as the next closest country after five months of failed national leadership, haphazard local policies on testing, tracing and reopening, and widespread public resistance to basic, simple precautions that could have saved lives.
The anticipated summer lull has instead become a summer surge, with record-setting numbers of new cases in California and elsewhere. (Remember when President Trump predicted confidently that warm weather would kill the virus?) And yet we still see mind-boggling resistance to change. Just a few days ago, in our own backyard, the Orange County Board of Education recommended that schools reopen without masks or distancing.
Would we act differently if more of us had lost someone, or if we cared about the risk we’re exposing healthcare workers to? Most who test positive end up recovering, which might be one reason for blase attitudes. But would we take the pandemic more seriously if we knew what it’s like to die a COVID-19 death?
Advertisement
Hard to say, but I asked healthcare providers to describe what they see each day in emergency rooms and intensive care units, and let me tell you, you don’t want to experience this virus.
“One of the unfortunate things we’re seeing in the ICU is that people are not getting better like we anticipate them to get better,” Rao said.
That’s despite treatments that include high-dose oxygen, ventilators, lung-bypass machines, blood thinners to prevent clots that attack organs and cause great pain, and steroids to reduce inflammation in the lungs. In advanced stages, the sickest patients at least have the mercy of being sedated.
“I think the unspoken tragedy of this whole COVID experience has been the loss of humanity toward the end of someone’s life,” Rao said. “We used to have the ability to be with our loved ones when they were passing away. Now people are passing away in isolation.”
Dr. Adupa Rao, right, with registered nurse Jacob Spruill at Keck Hospital of USC. “I think the unspoken tragedy of this whole COVID experience has been the loss of humanity toward the end of someone’s life,” Rao said. (Ricardo Carrasco III / Keck Hospital of USC)
In one case, a dentist whose son is a physician colleague of Rao’s died of COVID-19 without his son getting a chance to hold his father’s hand or say goodbye face to face.
“This last week,” Rao said, “I had to intubate a 56-year-old man with a kidney transplant, and prior to his intubation he was able to see his wife through the doorway, and you could see that in his eyes he was thinking, ‘This may be the last time I get to speak to her.’”
I met with Rao outside Keck Hospital while he was on a short break from a 12-hour shift. He said the COVID unit had seven critically ill patients at that moment, including a mother who gave birth two months ago and another who went into respiratory failure while delivering. Of the seven patients, two were in their 20s and the other five were in their 30s to 60s.
Rao said he also had six or seven COVID patients in somewhat less critical condition.
“The experience of suffering takes on a completely new tenor” with COVID, said Dr. Sunita Puri, a Keck palliative care specialist and author of “That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour.” “Now we’re having to facilitate goodbyes over iPads.”
Ordinarily she explains the typical characteristics of disease and the benefits and risks of medical procedures, Puri said, but that discussion is complicated by how little doctors know about the coronavirus. All the more reason, Puri said, for families to have conversations — before it’s too late — about procedures patients are willing to endure and limitations they’re not willing to live with.
Palliative medicine strives to offer the most comfort and dignity possible for critically ill patients, but families still struggle to determine whether life is being extended or death is being prolonged. Puri said some critical COVID patients are being pronated in special beds in an attempt to reoxygenate damaged lungs, but the side effects can be extreme.
“The pressure buildup from fluids can cause parts of the face and other parts of the body to fluff off,” Puri said. It’s “kind of grotesque,” she added, and it’s difficult even for medical staff to witness.
Khodadadi told me about a convalescent home employee in his 30s who arrived by ambulance in full cardiac arrest.
“We did CPR, we worked on him, we did everything,” said Khodadadi, but the young man died.
“We have to understand that we are at war here. We are dealing with an enemy that is microscopic, something we can’t see,” Khodadadi said. “If we were in World War II we could see the airplanes coming, see the tanks, see the people running through the fields shooting at us. In this war we can’t see the enemy. It’s a surprise attack and the tools we have to fight this are our masks, properly worn masks, and keeping our hands clean.”
Khodadadi said he fears getting exposed and taking the virus home to a young daughter with an autoimmune disease. He said his best stress release valve is talking things through with front-line colleagues, such as a nursing buddy who recently had a particularly bad shift.
“I asked him how he was doing and he said, “Man, I just sat in the car and cried today. I thought it wouldn’t end. It was like the ‘Twilight Zone.’”
Puri described losing a female COVID patient whose daughter, a college student, was distraught that despite the loss she’d experienced, her friends were not taking basic precautions to limit the spread of the virus.
“A lot of young folks don’t want to wear masks. I think they forget that you can get COVID just like you can get into a car accident,” Puri said, likening face covering to buckling a seat belt.
Rao, who is also a cystic fibrosis specialist, said a shorter life expectancy for people with that disease helps prepare patients and families somewhat for death. COVID-19, he said, “hits like a ton of bricks.” Death can come quickly, leaving loved ones in shock.
“Sadly, it’s the same face every time. It’s the face of denial,” Rao said. “The face of utter this-can’t-be-happening, The blank look of, ‘I know you’re telling me something, but it’s not registering.’”
For the first three weeks of the pandemic, Rao stayed in dorms at Keck to avoid taking his exposure home to his family. But avoiding work was not an option.
For the first three weeks of the pandemic, Dr. Adupa Rao stayed in dorms at Keck to avoid taking his exposure home to his family. But avoiding work was not an option. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
“A part of the Hippocratic oath literally says I will go into the homes of the sick and I will take care of those who are the most sick,” Rao said.
But we are in a national emergency that hasn’t been treated like one, he said, nor have we gotten the leadership the crisis screams out for. Rao told me he supports our rights of free choice, but “there’s also a social responsibility to your personal freedoms.”
When we were done talking, Rao walked up the hill and went back to work, lives in the balance all around, in the heat of a summer surge that didn’t have to happen.
steve.lopez@latimes.com


latimes--2020-07-18--An L.A. church seeks healing after a 'violent and racist' trauma

I went to church on Sunday , to St. Paul ’ s First Lutheran Church in North Hollywood — though I wasn ’ t sure if I ’ d be welcome there , given the strong words I ’ d just written about the deeply unwelcoming way several of its members had treated a Black woman who had sat down for a rest on the church lawn .
I don ’ t want to give you the false impression that what I ’ m about to tell you is all puppies and rainbows — problem raised , problem addressed .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ good part of the congregation still is in stunned disbelief about all the unwanted attention .
But I have to start by saying that I was warmly welcomed at St. Paul ’ s , as was Alex Marshall-Brown , who just a few days before had used her cellphone to film an older white man in the congregation telling her she was not welcome on the lawn , screwing a “ No Trespassing ” sign onto the trunk of the tree she ’ d chosen to sit under for shade and announcing to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” apropos of nothing she ’ d said .
All this after she ’ d broken the ice by speaking to him as he at first went about his business with the sign without saying one word to her .
Protesters also came to the church Sunday to support Marshall-Brown , holding their own signs , including ones that read “ Black Lives Matter ” and “ This church is racist ” and “ Love thy neighbor.
” Or quoted from the Bible , as in : “ Do not mistreat or oppress @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Egypt.
” Younger members of the church family wearing Black Lives Matters T-shirts welcomed the newcomers at a booth on the lawn , offering them free water , doughnuts , fruit and granola bars .
And I found the welcome mat out when I introduced myself to Santiago Botero , the acting principal of the church school , who has been the public voice of St. Paul ’ s since Marshall-Brown posted her account and recording of the incident on July 7 .
By Sunday , my email inbox was full of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staging a conflict and me of finding racist behavior where there was none .
Botero , for the record , immediately told me that I had written the truth .
He praised Marshall-Brown , with whom he ’ d met the day after the incident , and characterized the way church volunteers had treated her as “ violent and racist ” and “ utterly unacceptable , ” regardless of whether they understood that at the time or whether that had been their intent .
The three people in her video were church volunteers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ men in the video had resigned .
St. Paul ’ s earlier issued an apology on its Facebook page announcing the resignations and saying the incident “ was not handled in a way representative of the church or the school.
” It also posted an apology July 10 from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod , the 370,000-member , theologically conservative Lutheran denomination to which the church belongs , calling the church members ’ comments to Marshall-Brown “ disrespectful and insensitive ” and essentially acknowledging a racist tenor .
“ It is the position @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is not acceptable in the eyes of God or in the ministry of our synod , ” the synod ’ s president , Mark Schroeder , had written .
Marshall-Brown , an actress and stuntwoman , had been on the church lawn only briefly last Tuesday when people started making it clear to her they wanted her gone .
First came representatives from the local business improvement district , then someone checking to see that the church doors were locked , then the man with the sign accompanied by another older white man @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woman from the church preschool across the street .
That woman and the man putting up the sign alluded to problems they ’ d had in the past with homeless people — without using the word “ homeless.
” As they told Marshall-Brown about other people ’ s bad behavior , she kept politely asking them , to no avail , to tell her in what way she herself was misbehaving .
“ Alex felt threatened , ” Botero told me Sunday of the incident , which he said should never have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Not at his church .
Not by people devoted to God .
And some people within the church , he acknowledged , were now reacting as if they were the threatened ones , as they faced negative publicity , angry emails , comments and phone calls .
Botero told me that the church , with its quiet , formal services based on Scripture as the sole word of God , was not used to this sort of controversy and was struggling with it .
I had noticed that the church had password-protected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that was recently reversed ) and pulled down its Facebook page , containing the apologies .
And I knew from personal experience that no one had been answering church phones .
Botero , who is 26 and , as an immigrant from Colombia , acutely sensitive to treatment of strangers , said he ’ d been trying to encourage others in the church not to take a defensive stand .
He said he ’ d already gotten a commitment from church leaders to implement anti-racist training for church and school staff .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ homeless people vandalizing property and sometimes acting in ways that made staff members worry about the safety of kids at the school .
But he expressed hope that proper training would make the church community better able to assess those who came to it as individuals , instead of acting on generalized fear .
He confirmed my reporting that many in the church are older , and that some of those older people are uncomfortable with sudden upheaval .
Some , he said , were still trying to process outrage they didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a church that is traumatized , ” he told me .
“ Their boat took a very narrow curve , and it ’ s flipping , and they acknowledge that there is water inside of it , but they don ’ t know what to do with it yet.
” I wasn ’ t able , though I tried very hard , to get members of the congregation who are still grappling with these issues to talk to me this week .
But the sense I got from those who did speak to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over this country right now , the church boat will end up moving forward , pushed by the national current .
Strong voices within the congregation are demanding it .
Bettina Winfrey , a younger church member who with Botero met with Marshall-Brown last week , told me she reached out to women in the congregation on Facebook to join her new anti-racist book club , and seven have signed up so far .
She has two young children in the church school and said she is determined that the church not only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Outside the church Sunday , I also met Sonya Cole , who has gone to St. Paul ’ s for nearly 15 years and is one of its few Black members .
She was raised Lutheran in Milwaukee , she told me .
She loves St. Paul ’ s and its school , which her grown son attended .
She has always felt loved by her church family .
But she was so “ livid ” and “ appalled ” by the actions of people she knew in the video — and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ church immediately reached out to her when she let it be known how upset she was — that at first it made her question whether they truly accepted her as a Black person .
She has asked that church leaders let her express her feelings to them .
“ There needs to be a dialogue where we all get together and we have a conversation about how we can heal this — and there needs to be an exchange of ideas , ” she told me , with Black members ’ input valued @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that she ’ s willing to stick around to help .
She said as much in a very personal speech she gave after church Sunday in the park across the street , in which she expressed her desire to meet with the three church members who reacted to her out of misguided fear .
“ I ’ d love to connect with them in discussion of our trauma .
I think it could heal all of us , ” she said , as a crowd , including church members , cheered her on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some time , but know that I am willing .
This is an invitation to rebuild trust .
”

I went to church on Sunday, to St. Paul’s First Lutheran Church in North Hollywood — though I wasn’t sure if I’d be welcome there, given the strong words I’d just written about the deeply unwelcoming way several of its members had treated a Black woman who had sat down for a rest on the church lawn.
I don’t want to give you the false impression that what I’m about to tell you is all puppies and rainbows — problem raised, problem addressed. From what I can gather, a good part of the congregation still is in stunned disbelief about all the unwanted attention.
But I have to start by saying that I was warmly welcomed at St. Paul’s, as was Alex Marshall-Brown, who just a few days before had used her cellphone to film an older white man in the congregation telling her she was not welcome on the lawn, screwing a “No Trespassing” sign onto the trunk of the tree she’d chosen to sit under for shade and announcing to her, “All lives matter,” apropos of nothing she’d said. All this after she’d broken the ice by speaking to him as he at first went about his business with the sign without saying one word to her.
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Protesters also came to the church Sunday to support Marshall-Brown, holding their own signs, including ones that read “Black Lives Matter” and “This church is racist” and “Love thy neighbor.” Or quoted from the Bible, as in: “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.”
Younger members of the church family wearing Black Lives Matters T-shirts welcomed the newcomers at a booth on the lawn, offering them free water, doughnuts, fruit and granola bars.
And I found the welcome mat out when I introduced myself to Santiago Botero, the acting principal of the church school, who has been the public voice of St. Paul’s since Marshall-Brown posted her account and recording of the incident on July 7.
By Sunday, my email inbox was full of messages from people who accused Marshall-Brown of staging a conflict and me of finding racist behavior where there was none.
Botero, for the record, immediately told me that I had written the truth. He praised Marshall-Brown, with whom he’d met the day after the incident, and characterized the way church volunteers had treated her as “violent and racist” and “utterly unacceptable,” regardless of whether they understood that at the time or whether that had been their intent.
The three people in her video were church volunteers, he told me. The two men in the video had resigned.
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St. Paul’s earlier issued an apology on its Facebook page announcing the resignations and saying the incident “was not handled in a way representative of the church or the school.” It also posted an apology July 10 from the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, the 370,000-member, theologically conservative Lutheran denomination to which the church belongs, calling the church members’ comments to Marshall-Brown “disrespectful and insensitive” and essentially acknowledging a racist tenor.
“It is the position of WELS that racism in any form is not acceptable in the eyes of God or in the ministry of our synod,” the synod’s president, Mark Schroeder, had written.
Marshall-Brown, an actress and stuntwoman, had been on the church lawn only briefly last Tuesday when people started making it clear to her they wanted her gone. First came representatives from the local business improvement district, then someone checking to see that the church doors were locked, then the man with the sign accompanied by another older white man, soon joined by an older white woman from the church preschool across the street.
That woman and the man putting up the sign alluded to problems they’d had in the past with homeless people — without using the word “homeless.”
As they told Marshall-Brown about other people’s bad behavior, she kept politely asking them, to no avail, to tell her in what way she herself was misbehaving.
“Alex felt threatened,” Botero told me Sunday of the incident, which he said should never have been the case. Not at a church. Not at his church. Not by people devoted to God.
And some people within the church, he acknowledged, were now reacting as if they were the threatened ones, as they faced negative publicity, angry emails, comments and phone calls.
Botero told me that the church, with its quiet, formal services based on Scripture as the sole word of God, was not used to this sort of controversy and was struggling with it.
I had noticed that the church had password-protected its previously public website (a move that was recently reversed) and pulled down its Facebook page, containing the apologies. And I knew from personal experience that no one had been answering church phones.
Botero, who is 26 and, as an immigrant from Colombia, acutely sensitive to treatment of strangers, said he’d been trying to encourage others in the church not to take a defensive stand. He said he’d already gotten a commitment from church leaders to implement anti-racist training for church and school staff.
He said the church has had issues with homeless people vandalizing property and sometimes acting in ways that made staff members worry about the safety of kids at the school. But he expressed hope that proper training would make the church community better able to assess those who came to it as individuals, instead of acting on generalized fear.
He confirmed my reporting that many in the church are older, and that some of those older people are uncomfortable with sudden upheaval. Some, he said, were still trying to process outrage they didn’t quite understand.
“This is a church that is traumatized,” he told me. “Their boat took a very narrow curve, and it’s flipping, and they acknowledge that there is water inside of it, but they don’t know what to do with it yet.”
I wasn’t able, though I tried very hard, to get members of the congregation who are still grappling with these issues to talk to me this week.
But the sense I got from those who did speak to me was that, like institutions all over this country right now, the church boat will end up moving forward, pushed by the national current.
Strong voices within the congregation are demanding it.
Bettina Winfrey, a younger church member who with Botero met with Marshall-Brown last week, told me she reached out to women in the congregation on Facebook to join her new anti-racist book club, and seven have signed up so far. She has two young children in the church school and said she is determined that the church not only teach them Christian values but model them.
Outside the church Sunday, I also met Sonya Cole, who has gone to St. Paul’s for nearly 15 years and is one of its few Black members. She was raised Lutheran in Milwaukee, she told me. She loves St. Paul’s and its school, which her grown son attended. She has always felt loved by her church family.
But she was so “livid” and “appalled” by the actions of people she knew in the video — and so hurt that no one in the church immediately reached out to her when she let it be known how upset she was — that at first it made her question whether they truly accepted her as a Black person. She has asked that church leaders let her express her feelings to them.
“There needs to be a dialogue where we all get together and we have a conversation about how we can heal this — and there needs to be an exchange of ideas,” she told me, with Black members’ input valued.
Marshall-Brown also has made it clear that she’s willing to stick around to help. She said as much in a very personal speech she gave after church Sunday in the park across the street, in which she expressed her desire to meet with the three church members who reacted to her out of misguided fear.
“I’d love to connect with them in discussion of our trauma. I think it could heal all of us,” she said, as a crowd, including church members, cheered her on. “I understand if they need some time, but know that I am willing. This is an invitation to rebuild trust.”
Amen.


latimes--2020-07-19--Cannabis farmers in a poor California town want to go legit; instead, police crack down

Ronnie Bell ’ s prized possessions aren ’ t the collectible toys or bongs that clutter his ranch-style house .
What the 65-year-old values most is his extensive indoor marijuana grow .
Bell ’ s “ bachelor pad ” features a guest-bedroom-turned-nursery with a reflective grow-tent .
There are racks of marijuana plants in the next room .
This farmer , who served 21 years in the U.S. Marines and 21 years in the U.S .
Postal Service , is one of many unlicensed marijuana cultivators in the unincorporated township of Anza .
Over the 24 years Bell has grown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ times and arrested seven .
When he was arrested in May , Bell said , he suffered a torn rotator cuff .
His old friend , marijuana , made the pain bearable .
In the Inland Empire , Anza , population about 3,000 , is a small place with a big reputation — when it comes to weed .
If you smoked it and it didn ’ t come from a legal source , many locals said , it might well have come from Anza .
Drive into town and it seems impossible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t point you to a neighbor who grows cannabis ; said pointer may grow it too .
The town has the optimal microclimate for marijuana cultivation ; access to water , hot , dry summers .
And the sale of cannabis supplements the income of people who might otherwise live below the poverty line .
Riverside County supervisors have so far shown little inclination to support the small , thriving marijuana growers of Anza .
Meanwhile , the county Sheriff ’ s Department has conducted frequent raids in recent years .
“ Illegal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and community , ” said sheriff ’ s Sgt .
Albert Martinez .
“ The Riverside County Sheriff ’ s Department has responded to crimes of homicide , theft , robbery , kidnapping , the theft of utilities , illegal chemical waste dumping ( which ends up in the water table ) all associated with illegal grows.
” Since Proposition 64 took effect in 2017 , California residents have been allowed to grow up to six plants .
The year before , Riverside County passed an ordinance allowing qualified medical cannabis patients in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plants .
For households with two qualified patients , the number doubles to 24 .
But Anza ’ s zoning prevents most from growing and selling cannabis .
So there ’ s nothing legal about Bell ’ s operation .
His small cannabis grow helps supplement his income and supplies him with medicinal marijuana to treat a back injury , Bell said , and the onset of a pandemic-caused recession has made his operation all the more essential .
“ I ’ m just a peaceful farmer .
I want to give this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Bell said .
“ I ’ ve put everything I ’ ve got into this .
We ’ re not trying to make a million bucks , I ’ m just passionate about this plant and the people involved with it.
” For dozens of small growers in Anza , where the median household income sits at $ 41,200 , the cannabis farms are crucial , said Edison Gomez-Krauss , a founding member of the High Country Grower ’ s Assn.
, which advocates for laxer cannabis cultivation laws .
The sprawling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ greenhouses than local merchants .
Small markets , gas stations and the prized Dairy Queen are among the few signs of mainstream commerce .
Farming is the town ’ s life force , and the smell of marijuana is omnipresent .
Mondays are nervous times for Bell .
The Sheriff ’ s Department dubs them “ Marijuana Mondays ” because of the frequency of raids .
And so on Mondays , Bell ’ s attention is focused on the security cameras monitoring the front gate .
One recent Monday saw him slowly stripping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remaining greenhouses , which he said the Sheriff ’ s Department deemed a code violation .
On May 13 , Bell was one of 10 people busted by the Sheriff ’ s Department .
He was startled by the sound of deputies over a loudspeaker as they charged through his gate .
As he headed to the front porch , he shrank away from the guns pointed in his direction , he said .
Officers zip-tied his wrists , pulling his arms back farther than they could bend , he said .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heard crashing .
Deputies slashed through greenhouses that cost about $ 6,000 each , kicked down lights and confiscated 10 pounds of weed , a generator and 1,898 plants , according to the Sheriff ’ s Department property report .
He was slapped with a code enforcement violation for his greenhouses .
In total that day , authorities eradicated nearly 10,000 plants and collected 298 pounds of processed marijuana , according to Martinez .
Bell said he keeps half of the product he grows for personal medicinal use , and his son sells @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Dubbed “ OG Kush 371 , ” the plants are an homage to the road to Anza , Highway 371 .
Shaken by the most recent raid , Bell grows on a smaller scale and dedicates his time to the 10-month cultivation process .
In March , he starts by planting seeds or cloning plants .
After two months , his son or hired hands take the plants and move them into a greenhouse .
By September or October , Bell harvests the plants and hangs them to dry for 10 days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When finished , he places the product into a nylon bag and uses a hydraulic press to create cannabis oil .
Most mornings he inspects each plant for blemishes or seeds — a sign that the plant would be unsalable — and sets the large carbon dioxide tank to 1,015 parts per million .
The gas is directed through a series of tubes to a fan that blows it onto the plants for 12 hours a day .
He makes sure the grow lights are set to stay on for 12 hours .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the growing process .
Years back , he also tended a larger indoor nursery that allowed him to harvest year-round .
But now he spends more time raising baby chicks and fish .
Bell ran away from home at age 15 , hitchhiking from Kansas City , Mo.
, to Anaheim .
“ We was selling drugs and pills just to make enough to eat and stuff , ” he said .
“ I didn ’ t have the best childhood .
But eventually someone told us about a hippie commune up in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ across town , fellow HGCA founding member Kendall Steinmetz , 67 , contemplates putting up plywood to surround his legal outdoor grow with a note that reads : “ Civil forfeiture is unconstitutional.
” He starts the day at 9 a.m. trimming last year ’ s harvest — a laborious process that has taken him months — while watching the morning news .
He smokes the first of 10 joints and checks on his outdoor plants and fruit trees .
“ We ’ re like any other farmer , we ’ re just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
Anza residents are divided on the issue of cannabis cultivation .
While it has existed here for decades , legislation that has made enforcement less tough has led to tensions as the area became more attractive to prospective growers .
In 2016 , Take Back Anza was formed .
The group is concerned about the impacts of farming , including dips in water supply in the Santa Margarita Watershed , an increase in illegal operations and properties ruined by renters who leave after harvesting .
Take Back Anza founder Gary Worobec @ @ @ @ @ @ @ roads .
Worobec said the group is focused on removing large , illegal grows .
But small growers felt they have been targeted in the past .
In the last year , Martinez said , the Hemet sheriff ’ s station conducted or assisted in 31 raids , eradicating 163,704 plants and more than 41 tons of marijuana .
Martinez estimated $ 170 million in plants and processed marijuana were eradicated this year alone .
The station will likely double 2019 ’ s number of raids .
In their downtime , Bell and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ zoning policies to legalize small growing operations .
According to a report by the Anza Valley Municipal Advisory Council , 97 % of Anza residents live on rural residential or agricultural land , which prevents them from growing and selling cannabis but allows other commercial farming .
No permits have been granted to cannabis cultivators in Riverside County , said County Supervisor Chuck Washington , who oversees Anza Valley .
“ Admittedly our process is overly burdensome for the small growers , ” Washington said .
“ The licensing process by its nature @ @ @ @ @ @ @ becomes very expensive and out of reach .
We haven ’ t figured out a way to manage that.
” For Bell and Steinmetz , attempting to fit in the legal framework is a trip in itself .
“ This is the Napa Valley of marijuana cultivation , ” Bell said .
“ So much revenue comes in from this plant , and we just want to positively contribute to the revenue stream in Anza .
This town is asleep , and it ’ s begging for life .
”

Ronnie Bell, one of many unlicensed marijuana growers in Anza, Calif., cultivates young cannabis plants in a guest room.
Ronnie Bell’s prized possessions aren’t the collectible toys or bongs that clutter his ranch-style house. What the 65-year-old values most is his extensive indoor marijuana grow.
Bell’s “bachelor pad” features a guest-bedroom-turned-nursery with a reflective grow-tent. There are racks of marijuana plants in the next room. This farmer, who served 21 years in the U.S. Marines and 21 years in the U.S. Postal Service, is one of many unlicensed marijuana cultivators in the unincorporated township of Anza.
Over the 24 years Bell has grown marijuana, he has been raided eight times and arrested seven. When he was arrested in May, Bell said, he suffered a torn rotator cuff. His old friend, marijuana, made the pain bearable.
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Ronnie Bell smokes cannabis oil in his living room. The drug helps with back pain and a shoulder injury he suffered when deputies twisted his arm, Bell said. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
In the Inland Empire, Anza, population about 3,000, is a small place with a big reputation — when it comes to weed. If you smoked it and it didn’t come from a legal source, many locals said, it might well have come from Anza. Drive into town and it seems impossible to run into someone who can’t point you to a neighbor who grows cannabis; said pointer may grow it too.
The town has the optimal microclimate for marijuana cultivation; access to water, hot, dry summers. And the sale of cannabis supplements the income of people who might otherwise live below the poverty line.
Riverside County supervisors have so far shown little inclination to support the small, thriving marijuana growers of Anza. Meanwhile, the county Sheriff’s Department has conducted frequent raids in recent years.
“Illegal marijuana cultivation is harmful to the environment and community,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Albert Martinez. “The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has responded to crimes of homicide, theft, robbery, kidnapping, the theft of utilities, illegal chemical waste dumping (which ends up in the water table) all associated with illegal grows.”
Since Proposition 64 took effect in 2017, California residents have been allowed to grow up to six plants. The year before, Riverside County passed an ordinance allowing qualified medical cannabis patients in unincorporated townships like Anza to grow 12 plants. For households with two qualified patients, the number doubles to 24. But Anza’s zoning prevents most from growing and selling cannabis.
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So there’s nothing legal about Bell’s operation.
His small cannabis grow helps supplement his income and supplies him with medicinal marijuana to treat a back injury, Bell said, and the onset of a pandemic-caused recession has made his operation all the more essential.
“I’m just a peaceful farmer. I want to give this farm to my son one day,” Bell said. “I’ve put everything I’ve got into this. We’re not trying to make a million bucks, I’m just passionate about this plant and the people involved with it.”
For dozens of small growers in Anza, where the median household income sits at $41,200, the cannabis farms are crucial, said Edison Gomez-Krauss, a founding member of the High Country Grower’s Assn., which advocates for laxer cannabis cultivation laws.
The sprawling fields in Anza are home to more greenhouses than local merchants. Small markets, gas stations and the prized Dairy Queen are among the few signs of mainstream commerce. Farming is the town’s life force, and the smell of marijuana is omnipresent.
Mondays are nervous times for Bell. The Sheriff’s Department dubs them “Marijuana Mondays” because of the frequency of raids.
And so on Mondays, Bell’s attention is focused on the security cameras monitoring the front gate. One recent Monday saw him slowly stripping away at the skeleton of his two remaining greenhouses, which he said the Sheriff’s Department deemed a code violation.
On May 13, Bell was one of 10 people busted by the Sheriff’s Department. He was startled by the sound of deputies over a loudspeaker as they charged through his gate. As he headed to the front porch, he shrank away from the guns pointed in his direction, he said. Officers zip-tied his wrists, pulling his arms back farther than they could bend, he said. He watched investigators enter his house.
Bell heard crashing. Deputies slashed through greenhouses that cost about $6,000 each, kicked down lights and confiscated 10 pounds of weed, a generator and 1,898 plants, according to the Sheriff’s Department property report. He was slapped with a code enforcement violation for his greenhouses.
Ronnie Bell inside a greenhouse he said was damaged by Sheriff’s deputies during a raid. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
In total that day, authorities eradicated nearly 10,000 plants and collected 298 pounds of processed marijuana, according to Martinez.
Bell said he keeps half of the product he grows for personal medicinal use, and his son sells the other half to trusted black marketeers. Dubbed “OG Kush 371,” the plants are an homage to the road to Anza, Highway 371.
Shaken by the most recent raid, Bell grows on a smaller scale and dedicates his time to the 10-month cultivation process.
In March, he starts by planting seeds or cloning plants. After two months, his son or hired hands take the plants and move them into a greenhouse. By September or October, Bell harvests the plants and hangs them to dry for 10 days before starting the two-month trimming process.
When finished, he places the product into a nylon bag and uses a hydraulic press to create cannabis oil.
Despite raids and arrests by deputies, Bell continues to grow cannabis to supplement his income and supply himself for medicinal use. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Most mornings he inspects each plant for blemishes or seeds — a sign that the plant would be unsalable — and sets the large carbon dioxide tank to 1,015 parts per million. The gas is directed through a series of tubes to a fan that blows it onto the plants for 12 hours a day. He makes sure the grow lights are set to stay on for 12 hours. He has perfected this setup to speed the growing process.
Years back, he also tended a larger indoor nursery that allowed him to harvest year-round. But now he spends more time raising baby chicks and fish.
Bell ran away from home at age 15, hitchhiking from Kansas City, Mo., to Anaheim.
“We was selling drugs and pills just to make enough to eat and stuff,” he said. “I didn’t have the best childhood. But eventually someone told us about a hippie commune up in Idyllwild, so we went.”
Kendall Steinmetz of Anza, Calif., at his living room table, where he trims his cannabis buds. Steinmetz, too, has had several run-ins with law enforcement, but continues to grow. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Just across town, fellow HGCA founding member Kendall Steinmetz, 67, contemplates putting up plywood to surround his legal outdoor grow with a note that reads: “Civil forfeiture is unconstitutional.”
He starts the day at 9 a.m. trimming last year’s harvest — a laborious process that has taken him months — while watching the morning news. He smokes the first of 10 joints and checks on his outdoor plants and fruit trees.
Kendall Steinmetz checks on his cannabis. “We’re like any other farmer,” he said, “We’re just passionate about our plants.” (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“We’re like any other farmer, we’re just passionate about our plants,” Steinmetz said.
Anza residents are divided on the issue of cannabis cultivation. While it has existed here for decades, legislation that has made enforcement less tough has led to tensions as the area became more attractive to prospective growers. In 2016, Take Back Anza was formed.
The group is concerned about the impacts of farming, including dips in water supply in the Santa Margarita Watershed, an increase in illegal operations and properties ruined by renters who leave after harvesting.
Take Back Anza founder Gary Worobec said men brandishing guns have occasionally blocked roads. Worobec said the group is focused on removing large, illegal grows. But small growers felt they have been targeted in the past.
In the last year, Martinez said, the Hemet sheriff’s station conducted or assisted in 31 raids, eradicating 163,704 plants and more than 41 tons of marijuana.
Martinez estimated $170 million in plants and processed marijuana were eradicated this year alone. The station will likely double 2019’s number of raids.
In their downtime, Bell and Steinmetz work with HCGA to propose alternative zoning policies to legalize small growing operations. According to a report by the Anza Valley Municipal Advisory Council, 97% of Anza residents live on rural residential or agricultural land, which prevents them from growing and selling cannabis but allows other commercial farming.
A close-up of one of Kendall Steinmetz’s cannabis plants. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
No permits have been granted to cannabis cultivators in Riverside County, said County Supervisor Chuck Washington, who oversees Anza Valley.
“Admittedly our process is overly burdensome for the small growers,” Washington said. “The licensing process by its nature ... [is] bureaucratic. It becomes very expensive and out of reach. We haven’t figured out a way to manage that.”
For Bell and Steinmetz, attempting to fit in the legal framework is a trip in itself.
“This is the Napa Valley of marijuana cultivation,” Bell said. “So much revenue comes in from this plant, and we just want to positively contribute to the revenue stream in Anza. This town is asleep, and it’s begging for life.”


latimes--2020-07-19--Op-Ed: Serra's fall may further 'whiten'  America's already too-white history

Father Junípero Serra is fast losing ground in the literal and figurative American landscape .
Statues of the missionary have been destroyed , removed or tagged for potential banishment up and down the state .
On Wednesday , after hours of debate stretching over several evenings , the Ventura City Council voted to remove an iconic Serra statue that in one form or another had stood in the city center since 1936 .
The fall of the founder of California ’ s missions should surprise no one .
For generations , a divide has been growing between the historical Serra @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Catholicism , the suppression of individualism , and the renunciation of worldly things — and the modern state of California to which his legacy is bound .
Add to those incongruities a heightened awareness of the harm that indigenous people endured in the missions — where Franciscans assaulted their cultures and where diseases battered their communities — and it is no wonder that reminders of Serra ’ s life and work provoke pain , anger and calls for removal , especially in a time of fervent demands that those in power ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ held accountable for their wrongs .
And yet , we should consider what will be lost if his image and name disappear from the public square .
If we cancel Serra , we could further “ whiten ” American history , or at least the part of it we popularize .
Paradoxically , the desire to erase Serra may play into the hands of racists and white nationalists who seek to define America only in their own image .
Serra has endured until now as an icon in California because generation after generation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his likeness values deemed timeless and worthy of veneration .
Soon after his death , he was exalted by his co-religionists as the agent of a fearsome god , a miracle worker and a man of supreme virtue .
Others recast him as a promoter of agriculture , a protector of Native Americans , a Washington-esque Founding Father , and a humble immigrant from south of the border .
In 2015 , Pope Francis canonized him , making him the United States ’ first Hispanic saint .
Today , the mostly magical shapeshifting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power .
For many , he is just another unaccountable Columbus , a symbol of all the horrors inflicted on indigenous peoples since the onset of Spanish colonization 250 years ago .
Some facts from the historical record are in order .
Serra worked tirelessly to save indigenous souls for Christ .
To that end , he sought the eradication of most elements of native culture , and he condoned corporal punishment .
But he did not promote , practice or celebrate the killing of native Californians .
Nevertheless , tens of thousands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the missions that Serra initiated .
The powers he secured from the Spanish viceroy in Mexico City are sometimes characterized as a Native American Bill of Rights , yet they mainly strengthened the missionaries ’ control in California and diminished the military ’ s .
Serra protected native Californians from unscrupulous settlers and soldiers , and he opposed the execution of resistance leaders .
But he was no human rights activist .
In Serra ’ s age , human rights as a concept did not exist , and he didn ’ t preach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ equal in dignity , rights , and before the law .
The record also shows that Serra ( and other Spanish colonists ) deserves a place in our understanding of American history .
If by banishing Serra we obscure that fact , we not only falsify the narrative , we lose the opportunity to compare two threads of our heritage .
Most of the Protestant colonizers who led the European settlement of the East Coast , for example , could not conceive of sharing their world with people they dismissed as “ savages @ @ @ @ @ @ @ genocidal actions .
Serra went to war with native beliefs , but he never intended that the land should be swept of indigenous peoples .
The United States ’ historical landscape is already too white , too English and too Protestant to convey the complexity and diversity of our national origins .
Of the thousands of Spanish-speaking padres , soldiers and settlers who came to the Americas , nearly all have been forgotten , losers not so much in the contest for territory as in the subsequent battle with the heroes of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a place in the American imagination .
Calls for Serra ’ s cancellation can reinforce outdated notions that the settlement of North America was a natural , pre-ordained , westward-moving Protestant tide , even though much of the continent from Florida to California was colonized by Spanish-speaking Catholics who came north from the Caribbean or what is now Mexico .
The cultures and religion of these pobladores and their descendants shape our land in lasting ways .
Monuments to Serra have served as useful — if flawed and insensitive — markers for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Time is most likely up for Serra ’ s statues .
Their removal should be a reckoning for those inclined to wrongly romanticize the mission era .
However , we must consider not only what will replace Junípero Serra but how his absence may oversimplify our nation ’ s past .
This is no mere academic debate .
How we understand our history , who we celebrate and condemn , can have doleful consequences for our national definition of citizenship , our political rights and who does or doesn ’ t get @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of history Steven W. Hackel is the author of “ Children of the Coyote , Missionaries of St. Francis : Indian-Spanish Relations in Colonial California 1769-1850 ” and “ Junípero Serra : California ’ s Founding Father .
”

Father Junípero Serra is fast losing ground in the literal and figurative American landscape. Statues of the missionary have been destroyed, removed or tagged for potential banishment up and down the state. On Wednesday, after hours of debate stretching over several evenings, the Ventura City Council voted to remove an iconic Serra statue that in one form or another had stood in the city center since 1936.
The fall of the founder of California’s missions should surprise no one. For generations, a divide has been growing between the historical Serra — who devoted himself to the universalism of Catholicism, the suppression of individualism, and the renunciation of worldly things — and the modern state of California to which his legacy is bound.
Add to those incongruities a heightened awareness of the harm that indigenous people endured in the missions — where Franciscans assaulted their cultures and where diseases battered their communities — and it is no wonder that reminders of Serra’s life and work provoke pain, anger and calls for removal, especially in a time of fervent demands that those in power (now and in the past) be held accountable for their wrongs.
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And yet, we should consider what will be lost if his image and name disappear from the public square. If we cancel Serra, we could further “whiten” American history, or at least the part of it we popularize. Paradoxically, the desire to erase Serra may play into the hands of racists and white nationalists who seek to define America only in their own image.
Serra has endured until now as an icon in California because generation after generation of Catholic and civic leadership projected upon his likeness values deemed timeless and worthy of veneration. Soon after his death, he was exalted by his co-religionists as the agent of a fearsome god, a miracle worker and a man of supreme virtue. Others recast him as a promoter of agriculture, a protector of Native Americans, a Washington-esque Founding Father, and a humble immigrant from south of the border. In 2015, Pope Francis canonized him, making him the United States’ first Hispanic saint.
Today, the mostly magical shapeshifting that kept Serra popular has lost its power. For many, he is just another unaccountable Columbus, a symbol of all the horrors inflicted on indigenous peoples since the onset of Spanish colonization 250 years ago.
Some facts from the historical record are in order. Serra worked tirelessly to save indigenous souls for Christ. To that end, he sought the eradication of most elements of native culture, and he condoned corporal punishment. But he did not promote, practice or celebrate the killing of native Californians.
Nevertheless, tens of thousands of indigenous Californians died from disease in the missions that Serra initiated. The powers he secured from the Spanish viceroy in Mexico City are sometimes characterized as a Native American Bill of Rights, yet they mainly strengthened the missionaries’ control in California and diminished the military’s. Serra protected native Californians from unscrupulous settlers and soldiers, and he opposed the execution of resistance leaders. But he was no human rights activist. In Serra’s age, human rights as a concept did not exist, and he didn’t preach that all people were born free, equal in dignity, rights, and before the law.
The record also shows that Serra (and other Spanish colonists) deserves a place in our understanding of American history. If by banishing Serra we obscure that fact, we not only falsify the narrative, we lose the opportunity to compare two threads of our heritage. Most of the Protestant colonizers who led the European settlement of the East Coast, for example, could not conceive of sharing their world with people they dismissed as “savages”; hence their destructive, even genocidal actions. Serra went to war with native beliefs, but he never intended that the land should be swept of indigenous peoples.
The United States’ historical landscape is already too white, too English and too Protestant to convey the complexity and diversity of our national origins. Of the thousands of Spanish-speaking padres, soldiers and settlers who came to the Americas, nearly all have been forgotten, losers not so much in the contest for territory as in the subsequent battle with the heroes of the Revolutionary War and architects of the Constitution for a place in the American imagination.
Calls for Serra’s cancellation can reinforce outdated notions that the settlement of North America was a natural, pre-ordained, westward-moving Protestant tide, even though much of the continent from Florida to California was colonized by Spanish-speaking Catholics who came north from the Caribbean or what is now Mexico. The cultures and religion of these pobladores and their descendants shape our land in lasting ways. Monuments to Serra have served as useful — if flawed and insensitive — markers for Hispanic contributions to a diverse national fabric.
Time is most likely up for Serra’s statues. Their removal should be a reckoning for those inclined to wrongly romanticize the mission era. However, we must consider not only what will replace Junípero Serra but how his absence may oversimplify our nation’s past. This is no mere academic debate. How we understand our history, who we celebrate and condemn, can have doleful consequences for our national definition of citizenship, our political rights and who does or doesn’t get to be American.
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UC Riverside professor of history Steven W. Hackel is the author of “Children of Coyote, Missionaries of St. Francis: Indian-Spanish Relations in Colonial California 1769-1850” and “Junípero Serra: California’s Founding Father.”


latimes--2020-07-18--Los Angeles County COVID-19 cases continue to surge after a record-breaking week

After the worst week for new transmissions since the COVID-19 pandemic began , Los Angeles County reported an additional 2,770 positive cases and 37 deaths on Saturday .
For the fourth consecutive day , L.A. County saw more than 2,100 people hospitalized for COVID-19 , the Department of Public Health said .
Of those patients , 18 % are on ventilators and 28 % are in the intensive care unit .
Public health officials said they are particularly concerned that adults younger than 40 are being hospitalized at the highest rate yet during the pandemic .
Of the 37 people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were older than 65 , officials said .
Two of the victims were younger than 40 , both with underlying health conditions .
Cases have continued to surge unchecked across California , with more than 380,000 total confirmed cases Saturday .
Hospitalizations have more than doubled and deaths have nearly tripled since Gov .
Gavin Newsom began allowing businesses to reopen May 8 .
“ The simple truth of this fight is that this virus is affecting more and more of us every day , ” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Friday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Newsom closed bars in seven counties , including Los Angeles , on June 28 , and in-restaurant dining on July 1 .
Officials have said that it will take at least three weeks to learn whether those closures had an effect .
Health officials have asked residents to cover their faces when they leave their homes , and to avoid the “ three Cs ” of the pandemic : crowded places , confined spaces , and close contact with anyone not in their household .
If you think you have COVID-19 , stay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ possible and behave as if you have the virus until you receive your test results , officials say .
That means self-isolating for 10 days , and for three days after any symptoms subside .
“ We are all experiencing the frustration from this pandemic , ” Barbara Ferrer , L.A. County ’ s public health director , said in a prepared statement .
“ I ask that we each behave with kindness and consider that we can all prevent sickness and death.
” Residents of L.A. County still represent more than half @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases surge in other areas , the county ’ s share of the total number of cases is declining : about 40 % now , compared with about half in May .
In the last two weeks , cases have spread faster in several suburban counties — including Orange , Riverside and San Bernardino — than in L.A. County , according to a Times analysis .
Across California , transmission rates for coronavirus continued to rise .
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 375,000 Friday , and the number of deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to rise statewide , worrying experts because a steep surge in patients could overwhelm the healthcare system .
Meanwhile , in Orange County , health officials on Saturday reported 702 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and 25 additional deaths , as the overall number of cases continued to surge .
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases countywide stands at 29,011 , and 494 related deaths since the pandemic began .
The number of infections in Orange County has grown dramatically over the last month and is now second only to Los Angeles County ‘ @ @ @

Drivers receive COVID-19 testing kits at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in South Los Angeles on July 8.
After the worst week for new transmissions since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Los Angeles County reported an additional 2,770 positive cases and 37 deaths on Saturday.
For the fourth consecutive day, L.A. County saw more than 2,100 people hospitalized for COVID-19, the Department of Public Health said. Of those patients, 18% are on ventilators and 28% are in the intensive care unit.
Public health officials said they are particularly concerned that adults younger than 40 are being hospitalized at the highest rate yet during the pandemic.
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Of the 37 people whose deaths were reported Saturday, 25 were older than 65, officials said. Two of the victims were younger than 40, both with underlying health conditions.
Cases have continued to surge unchecked across California, with more than 380,000 total confirmed cases Saturday. Hospitalizations have more than doubled and deaths have nearly tripled since Gov. Gavin Newsom began allowing businesses to reopen May 8.
“The simple truth of this fight is that this virus is affecting more and more of us every day,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Friday.
After a spike in cases, Newsom closed bars in seven counties, including Los Angeles, on June 28, and in-restaurant dining on July 1. Officials have said that it will take at least three weeks to learn whether those closures had an effect.
Health officials have asked residents to cover their faces when they leave their homes, and to avoid the “three Cs” of the pandemic: crowded places, confined spaces, and close contact with anyone not in their household.
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If you think you have COVID-19, stay home, get tested as soon as possible and behave as if you have the virus until you receive your test results, officials say. That means self-isolating for 10 days, and for three days after any symptoms subside.
“We are all experiencing the frustration from this pandemic,” Barbara Ferrer, L.A. County’s public health director, said in a prepared statement. “I ask that we each behave with kindness and consider that we can all prevent sickness and death.”
Residents of L.A. County still represent more than half the deaths in California. But as cases surge in other areas, the county’s share of the total number of cases is declining: about 40% now, compared with about half in May.
In the last two weeks, cases have spread faster in several suburban counties — including Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino — than in L.A. County, according to a Times analysis.
Across California, transmission rates for coronavirus continued to rise. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 375,000 Friday, and the number of deaths exceeded 7,600.
Hospitalizations also have continued to rise statewide, worrying experts because a steep surge in patients could overwhelm the healthcare system.
Meanwhile, in Orange County, health officials on Saturday reported 702 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and 25 additional deaths, as the overall number of cases continued to surge.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases countywide stands at 29,011, and 494 related deaths since the pandemic began. The number of infections in Orange County has grown dramatically over the last month and is now second only to Los Angeles County‘s total.


latimes--2020-07-19--L.A. County continues dangerous coronavirus surge as Garcetti warns of new restrictions

Los Angeles County public health officials on Sunday reported 2,848 newly confirmed cases of the coronavirus , with the majority of those infected under the age of 41 , as related hospitalizations reached a new high .
There are currently 2,216 people hospitalized with the virus , the county health department reported .
This is the fifth consecutive day with hospitalizations higher than 2,100 and the first time hospitalizations have surpassed 2,200 .
Among those hospitalized , 26 % are in intensive care units and 19 % are on ventilators .
As the dangerous surge in infections continues , L.A. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sunday during an appearance on CNN that the city was “ on the brink ” of imposing new restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus .
But he did not elaborate .
The mayor has made similar comments before over the last two weeks , saying the city would act if cases continue to rise .
The county ’ s latest COVID-19 numbers also indicate that the disease has become most prevalent in the relatively young : 53 % of the 2,848 new cases occurred in people under 41 ; 52 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have occurred in that age group .
The latest report also includes 11 deaths , bringing the county ’ s total to 4,095 .
“ We continue to reach concerning milestones and today we are seeing the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations , ” Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said in a statement .
“ Right now , young adults are being hospitalized at a rate not seen before .
No matter how young you are , you are vulnerable to this virus .
I urge everyone to take collective responsibility — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t live with , properly wear a face covering when you are outside your home but stay home as much as possible.
” Even without Garcetti ’ s intervention , a series of state-imposed restrictions recently took effect , including a ban on indoor restaurant dining and the closing of bars , malls and other retailers in L.A. County and other counties on the state ’ s watch list .
California ’ s watch list includes all counties in Southern California .
Gov .
Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered K-12 campuses — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in these counties until a county has been off the watch list for 14 consecutive days .
The county has now tabulated more than 1.5 million tests , of which 10 % have come back positive .

Hospital workers respond to a coronavirus patient in need at Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital in Willowbrook earlier this year.
Los Angeles County public health officials on Sunday reported 2,848 newly confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with the majority of those infected under the age of 41, as related hospitalizations reached a new high.
There are currently 2,216 people hospitalized with the virus, the county Health Department reported. This is the fifth consecutive day with hospitalizations higher than 2,100 and the first time hospitalizations have surpassed 2,200.
Among those hospitalized, 26% are in intensive care units and 19% are on ventilators.
As the dangerous surge in infections continues, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti delivered a fresh warning Sunday during an appearance on CNN that the city was “on the brink” of imposing new restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus. But he did not elaborate.
The mayor has made similar comments before over the last two weeks, saying the city would act if cases continued to rise.
The county’s latest COVID-19 numbers also indicate that the disease has become most prevalent in the relatively young: 53% of the 2,848 new cases occurred in people younger than 41; 52% of cases to date in the county have occurred in that age group.
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The latest report also includes 11 deaths, bringing the county’s total to 4,095.
“We continue to reach concerning milestones and today we are seeing the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations,” Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said in a statement. “Right now, young adults are being hospitalized at a rate not seen before. No matter how young you are, you are vulnerable to this virus. I urge everyone to take collective responsibility — stay physically apart from people you don’t live with, properly wear a face covering when you are outside your home, but stay home as much as possible.”
Even without Garcetti’s intervention, a series of state-imposed restrictions recently took effect, including a ban on indoor restaurant dining and the closing of bars, malls and other retailers in L.A. County and other counties on the state’s watch list.
California’s watch list includes all counties in Southern California. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered K-12 campuses — public and private — to remain closed in these counties until a county has been off the watch list for 14 consecutive days.
The county has now tabulated more than 1.5 million tests, of which 10% have come back positive.


latimes--2020-07-19--Military teams sent to five California hospitals amid coronavirus staffing shortages

Active-duty U.S. Air Force doctors , nurses and other medical providers are being sent to work in California hospitals to assist with a steep rise in coronavirus cases that has strained some healthcare systems across the state .
The 100 healthcare professionals began work Friday in five hospitals experiencing severe staff shortages after a request for aid by the state .
An additional 60 providers will be deployed in the coming week , a military spokesman said .
The hospitals being served are Adventist Health Lodi Memorial in Lodi , Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno , Dameron Hospital in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mirage and Kaweah Delta Medical Center in Visalia , the spokesman said .
The move comes as some officials have described hospital staffing — not bed capacity — as the chief stumbling block when it comes to scaling up operations to accommodate more patients .
Dr. Alan E. Williamson , chief medical officer at Eisenhower Medical Center , said his team sent a request to the local public health department two weeks ago after exhausting the normal avenues for additional staff , such as hiring travel nurses , and failing to find enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ medical workers .
His hospital received a team of 21 airmen including three doctors , 12 nurses , three respiratory therapists , two liaison officers and a physician assistant .
The group is scheduled to work for 30 days .
“ We weren ’ t expecting a team like this , ” Williamson said .
“ They ’ ve been great to work with .
They ’ re very can-do .
They said , ‘ Just tell us what you need us to do and we ’ ll figure out how to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is at about 80 % capacity for beds but has no more available staff .
With about 70 COVID-19 patients , down from 90 earlier last week , his facility had among the highest number in Riverside County .
Col. Martin O ’ Donnell , a spokesman for U.S. Army North , said the state of California , in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency , will determine which areas have the greatest need for the remaining 60 personnel , with the possibility of more hospitals receiving the assistance .
Additional teams @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be deployed to COVID-19 hot spots throughout the state including Imperial County , ” Brian Ferguson , spokesman for the California Governor ’ s Office of Emergency Services , said Saturday in an email .
Imperial County has remained a persistent trouble spot : The most recent three-day average of daily hospitalizations represents an 18 % increase , according to The Times ’ coronavirus tracker , and available intensive care beds have dwindled to just six .
In San Joaquin County , which has so far received two military teams , officials said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % capacity but intensive care units had reached 114 % capacity .
A total of 198 COVID-19 patients were in the county ’ s seven hospitals and 63 were in intensive care , both numbers at their highest since the pandemic began , according to the county ’ s Office of Emergency Services .
At Adventist Health Lodi Memorial , which had 39 COVID-19 patients and six in intensive care , a clinical team of 21 doctors , nurses and respiratory therapists is helping to provide additional resources , spokeswoman Lauren Nelson said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also offer reinforcements for our medical professionals who have been on the front lines serving patients throughout our COVID-19 response , ” the hospital said in a statement .
The team will be there at least 30 days , though the arrangement has the potential to be extended , Nelson said .
Dameron Hospital in Stockton , which also received a military medical team , had 16 COVID-19 patients and five in intensive care as of Friday , according to the Office of Emergency Services .
Officials believe transmission of the virus began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people left their homes to go back to work , visit newly reopened businesses and attend social gatherings .
California has seen hospitalizations increase steadily since mid-June , on the heels of a surge in new cases that began earlier in the month .
Nearly 6,900 patients with confirmed coronavirus infections were in hospitals statewide Saturday .
That ’ s more than double the daily average in May , when about 3,000 people were hospitalized statewide with confirmed infections .

California has seen coronavirus hospitalizations increase steadily since mid-June, straining some systems across the state.
Active-duty U.S. Air Force doctors, nurses and other medical providers are being sent to work in California hospitals to assist with a steep rise in coronavirus cases that has strained some healthcare systems across the state.
The 100 healthcare professionals began work Friday in five hospitals experiencing severe staff shortages after a request for aid by the state. An additional 60 providers will be deployed in the coming week, a military spokesman said.
The hospitals being served are Adventist Health Lodi Memorial in Lodi, Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, Dameron Hospital in Stockton, Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage and Kaweah Delta Medical Center in Visalia, the spokesman said.
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The move comes as some officials have described hospital staffing — not bed capacity — as the chief stumbling block when it comes to scaling up operations to accommodate more patients.
Dr. Alan E. Williamson, chief medical officer at Eisenhower Medical Center, said his team sent a request to the local public health department two weeks ago after exhausting the normal avenues for additional staff, such as hiring travel nurses, and failing to find enough personnel because of the nationwide demand for medical workers. His hospital received a team of 21 airmen including three doctors, 12 nurses, three respiratory therapists, two liaison officers and a physician assistant. The group is scheduled to work for 30 days.
“We weren’t expecting a team like this,” Williamson said. “They’ve been great to work with. They’re very can-do. They said, ‘Just tell us what you need us to do and we’ll figure out how to do it.’”
Williamson said his hospital is at about 80% capacity for beds but has no more available staff. With about 70 COVID-19 patients, down from 90 earlier last week, his facility had among the highest number in Riverside County.
Col. Martin O’Donnell, a spokesman for U.S. Army North, said the state of California, in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will determine which areas have the greatest need for the remaining 60 personnel, with the possibility of more hospitals receiving the assistance.
Additional teams “are still being formed and will be deployed to COVID-19 hot spots throughout the state including Imperial County,” Brian Ferguson, spokesman for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said Saturday in an email. Imperial County has remained a persistent trouble spot: The most recent three-day average of daily hospitalizations represents an 18% increase, according to The Times’ coronavirus tracker, and available intensive care beds have dwindled to just six.
In San Joaquin County, which has so far received two military teams, officials said Friday that hospitals were operating at 75% capacity but intensive care units had reached 114% capacity. A total of 198 COVID-19 patients were in the county’s seven hospitals and 63 were in intensive care, both numbers at their highest since the pandemic began, according to the county’s Office of Emergency Services.
At Adventist Health Lodi Memorial, which had 39 COVID-19 patients and six in intensive care, a clinical team of 21 doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists is helping to provide additional resources, spokeswoman Lauren Nelson said in an email.
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“They will also offer reinforcements for our medical professionals who have been on the front lines serving patients throughout our COVID-19 response,” the hospital said in a statement.
The team will be there at least 30 days, though the arrangement has the potential to be extended, Nelson said.
Dameron Hospital in Stockton, which also received a military medical team, had 16 COVID-19 patients and five in intensive care as of Friday, according to the Office of Emergency Services.
Officials believe transmission of the virus began to increase in late May as more people left their homes to go back to work, visit newly reopened businesses and attend social gatherings.
California has seen hospitalizations increase steadily since mid-June, on the heels of a surge in new cases that began earlier in the month.
Nearly 6,900 patients with confirmed coronavirus infections were in hospitals statewide Saturday. That’s more than double the daily average in May, when about 3,000 people were hospitalized statewide with confirmed infections.


latimes--2020-07-19--San Diego beach areas use secret weapon to limit parking: illegally painted red curbs

The longtime San Diego battle between beachgoers and the neighborhoods where they park has risen to a new level this summer in La Jolla Shores , where someone illegally painted red a 150-foot stretch of curb to keep visitors from parking there .
City crews repaint 10 to 25 illegal red curbs each year , mostly in beach areas , but also in congested neighborhoods such as Hillcrest and North Park .
But it ’ s rare for residents frustrated by throngs of visitors to illegally paint the curb of an entire block red , as someone did on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ La Jolla Shores .
The Surfrider Foundation , which discovered the illegal paint job thanks to a tip from a surfer , says illegal red curbs have become an equity issue , because wealthy residents are making it harder for ordinary people to access the beach .
“ Just because you ’ re lucky enough to be an elite coastal homeowner doesn ’ t mean you have a right to better coastal access , ” said Kristin Brinner , a Surfrider volunteer .
“ There should be equitable access to the beach.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with beach-area residents whose neighborhoods get flooded with people who are sometimes discourteous , Brinner stressed that residents were aware of the proximity to the beach when they rented or bought there .
People who illegally paint red curbs — which typically happens secretly and late at night — often get away with it for long periods because the city hasn ’ t taken a proactive approach to enforcement .
Red curbs mean no parking at any time .
A city spokesman said San Diego typically responds only to complaints about illegally painted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ per year .
The lion ’ s share of complaints end up being erroneous , because the city hasn ’ t compiled maps of every curb that is legitimately painted red .
Such a map would allow residents to go online to determine when curbs have been illegally painted red .
City spokesman Anthony Santacroce said officials do keep careful track of where red curbs have been approved .
“ While there is no public-facing database or map currently being developed , the Transportation and Storm Water Department keeps an extensive records system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legality of the painted curbs , ” he said .
City crews repainted the illegal red curb on Camino del Collado last weekend , shortly after Surfrider alerted them to the situation .
But repainting can sometimes take as long as 90 says , Santacroce said .
Brinner said Surfrider estimates the curb was illegally red for roughly a month , shrinking the available beach parking in La Jolla Shores during one of the busiest times of the year .
Illegally painting a curb is a misdemeanor .
The city couldn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been for the activity .
There have been reports that some local stores specialize in providing paint that matches the shade of red that the city uses .
Santacroce said the illegal jobs can usually be spotted because they are less neatly done and the paint is fuzzier on the edges of the curb .
Brinner said she thinks it would be difficult for someone to tell the difference and have the confidence to park along a red curb , which typically leads to a car being towed , not just a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me , ” she said of the illegal red curb in La Jolla Shores .
A related issue , Brinner said , is the city approving more legitimate red curbs in coastal areas in response to resident requests .
One example , she said , is in La Jolla Farms near Black ’ s Beach , where Surfrider spent two years fighting what she characterized as an excessive number of red curbs .
The city recently restored 11 spots that had been painted red , but Brinner said the long and complex fight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California Coastal Commission .
“ I can see why people don ’ t bother , ” she said .
“ People in La Jolla are slowly chipping away at public parking .
”

An illegally painted red curb in La Jolla Shores. Last weekend, city crews painted over 154 feet of such curbs after receiving complaints.
The longtime San Diego battle between beachgoers and the neighborhoods where they park has risen to a new level this summer in La Jolla Shores, where someone illegally painted red a 150-foot stretch of curb to keep visitors from parking there.
City crews repaint 10 to 25 illegal red curbs each year, mostly in beach areas, but also in congested neighborhoods such as Hillcrest and North Park.
But it’s rare for residents frustrated by throngs of visitors to illegally paint the curb of an entire block red, as someone did on the north side of Camino del Collado in La Jolla Shores.
The Surfrider Foundation, which discovered the illegal paint job thanks to a tip from a surfer, says illegal red curbs have become an equity issue, because wealthy residents are making it harder for ordinary people to access the beach.
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“Just because you’re lucky enough to be an elite coastal homeowner doesn’t mean you have a right to better coastal access,” said Kristin Brinner, a Surfrider volunteer. “There should be equitable access to the beach.”
While it’s easy to empathize with beach-area residents whose neighborhoods get flooded with people who are sometimes discourteous, Brinner stressed that residents were aware of the proximity to the beach when they rented or bought there.
People who illegally paint red curbs — which typically happens secretly and late at night — often get away with it for long periods because the city hasn’t taken a proactive approach to enforcement.
Red curbs mean no parking at any time.
A city spokesman said San Diego typically responds only to complaints about illegally painted red curbs, which average about 200 per year.
The lion’s share of complaints end up being erroneous, because the city hasn’t compiled maps of every curb that is legitimately painted red. Such a map would allow residents to go online to determine when curbs have been illegally painted red.
City spokesman Anthony Santacroce said officials do keep careful track of where red curbs have been approved.
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“While there is no public-facing database or map currently being developed, the Transportation and Storm Water Department keeps an extensive records system that is used to check for the legality of the painted curbs,” he said.
City crews repainted the illegal red curb on Camino del Collado last weekend, shortly after Surfrider alerted them to the situation. But repainting can sometimes take as long as 90 says, Santacroce said.
Brinner said Surfrider estimates the curb was illegally red for roughly a month, shrinking the available beach parking in La Jolla Shores during one of the busiest times of the year.
Illegally painting a curb is a misdemeanor. The city couldn’t provide data on how many arrests there have been for the activity.
There have been reports that some local stores specialize in providing paint that matches the shade of red that the city uses.
Santacroce said the illegal jobs can usually be spotted because they are less neatly done and the paint is fuzzier on the edges of the curb.
Brinner said she thinks it would be difficult for someone to tell the difference and have the confidence to park along a red curb, which typically leads to a car being towed, not just a ticket.
“It would have fooled me,” she said of the illegal red curb in La Jolla Shores.
A related issue, Brinner said, is the city approving more legitimate red curbs in coastal areas in response to resident requests.
One example, she said, is in La Jolla Farms near Black’s Beach, where Surfrider spent two years fighting what she characterized as an excessive number of red curbs.
The city recently restored 11 spots that had been painted red, but Brinner said the long and complex fight was frustrating and required help from the California Coastal Commission.
“I can see why people don’t bother,” she said. “People in La Jolla are slowly chipping away at public parking.”
Garrick writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.