Trump’s Timeline of Failure and Deception T
[See Timeline, p. 14]
The Sun Rises on Climate Change Reform and a New Candidate By Jordan Darling, Editorial Intern
percent of adults felt that climate change should be a top priority for the legislature. With the 2020 election cycle quickly approaching, it is a hot button topic for a lot of voters, especially those feeling the effects of living in a community centered around oil refineries. Wilmington and Carson fall under District 64, which encompasses parts of Southern Los Angeles and the South Bay. The candidate standoff is between Fatima IqbalZubair who took 32.5 percent of the vote and incumbent Mike Gipson, who took 67.5 percent. [See Sun Rises, p. 2]
COVID-19 and the Climate Crisis:
At Length:
Curtain Call:
Rolling on Meal Deliveries:
By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor p. 6
By James Preston Allen, Publisher p. 8
By Greggory Moore p. 11
By Katrina Guevara p. 12
Lessons to Be Learned
An Infectious Stupidity or Conspiracy of Idiots
Theater in the Time of Pandemic
San Pedro Meals on Wheels Provides Real Service
April 16 - 29, 2020
Assembly candidate for the 64th District, Fatima Iqbal-Zubai. Photo by Raphael Richardson
air over communities in the United States with 100 refineries in California and 11 throughout Southern California. The most at risk are people in poor socioeconomic areas, mainly minorities. Toxins released from refineries can increase the chance of cancer and other detrimental health concerns. The fight between climate change activists and refineries continues to be a prevalent topic as communities push to have refineries moved away from neighborhoods and homes. In a 2019 study, PEW Research recorded that 56
When you Google “How many oil refineries are there in Wilmington and Carson,” Google Maps opens a drawn screenshot of the area and 11 red tags pop up clustered together between San Pedro and Compton. “Refineries reported approximately 22,000 tons of hazardous air pollution to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2010,” EarthJustice, an environmental coalition based in San Francisco, states in its website. That is 22,000 tons of toxins released into the
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
In an effort to place current events of this magnitude in perspective, this timeline of events untangles some of the chaos and confusion surrounding the pandemic now known as the COVID-19. Many of you may feel that remembering what happened at the beginning of this year is like trying to remember two years ago. The following are dates and events that are taken from readily available sources to better explain just how this disease became a crisis. — The Publisher
Graphic by Suzanne Matsumiya
By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
he United States and South Korea both reported their first cases of COVID-19 within 24 hours of each other — Korea on Jan. 20, the United States the next day. Even though South Korea is much closer to China, and thus much more exposed, as of April 14, 222 people died of the virus in South Korea compared to a death toll of 25,658 in the United States. Adjusting for population, the United States had 24,224 deaths that it might not have had if it had reacted as quickly and effectively as South Korea did. Put another way, 17 of every 18 Americans who have died would not have died if the U.S. had responded as South Korea did. And you can’t say we weren’t warned. Donald Trump’s own Council of Economic Advisors told him that up to half a million Americans could die in a pandemic, as did his trade representative Peter Navarro. “The U.S. response will be studied for generations as a textbook example of a disastrous, failed effort,” Ron Klain, who led the 2014 fight against Ebola, told a
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Committed to Independent Journalism in the Greater LA/LB Harbor Area for More Than 40 Years
Barragán Hosts Town Hall, Addresses COVID-19 Pandemic
April 16 - 29, 2020
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
By Hunter Chase, Reporter Rep. Nanette Barragán hosted a phone town hall meeting April 9, as part of a series of weekly meetings designed to inform the public on the latest news about the COVID-19 pandemic. During the meeting, Barragán said that $1,200 stimulus checks will be sent to taxpayers starting on the week of April 12. The Internal Revenue Service will be making direct deposit payments to people who filed 2018 or 2019 taxes using the direct deposit information that people have provided for their returns. People who pay for their taxes with paper checks or who are on social security will be in the second round of stimulus checks, which will start coming out 10 days later. In addition, Congress is working on a second stimulus package, Barragán said. “We are talking about things like extending loan forgiveness; we’re talking about extending unemployment time for benefits; we’re talking about trying to get additional stimulus checks because one is not going to be enough,” Barragán said. “$1,200 is not going to cover the rent; it’s not going to pay your bills up for the length of this.” Worldwide, there are about 1.5 million cases of COVID-19 that have been diagnosed, said Dr. Jan King from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. However, because of a lack of testing, the actual number of cases is probably much higher. “What we’re going to see over the next couple of weeks is that these numbers are going to continue to rise until hopefully we reach a plateau and then over time it will decrease,” King said. In Los Angeles County, there have been 10,047 diagnosed cases as of April 14. There have been 360 related deaths. There are disparities among the people that are infected, King said. African-Americans are seeing a higher rate of death from COVID-19 when compared to other races. AfricanAmericans make up 9% of the population of Los Angeles County, but are 17% of the people
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who die from the virus. Other cities, like Chicago and Detroit, have seen similar disparities. It is really important that African-Americans that do become ill speak to their physicians and get tested quickly, King said. King said that African-Americans who have chronic underlying diseases need to follow the safer at home orders to avoid spreading the virus. “The best way to avoid a really bad outcome and dying is not to get COVID at all,” King said. “Stay in communication, because communication is really important with friends and family, but
do that electronically.” About 340 healthcare workers in the county have been diagnosed with COVID-19, King said. Nurses have been infected the most. Two healthcare workers have died from the virus. The county is trying to prevent this by ensuring that healthcare workers have proper personal protective equipment. As of April 10, Mayor Eric Garcetti ordered Angelenos to wear masks in places of business. All non-medical essential employees must wear a face covering. This includes retail workers, take-
[Sun Rises, from p. 1]
Sun Rises on Harbor Area Iqbal-Zubair is a public school science teacher working in Watts, a community advocate and a member of the Watts Rising Leadership Council. Her main concern is providing basic needs for the community and everything that encompasses. “Basic needs is clean water everywhere, basic needs are good air quality, also clean food everywhere and eliminating food deserts [in] neighborhoods,” Iqbal-Zubair said. “Stopdrilling that is three to 10 feet away from a home. It is reducing emissions, banning fracking and any new fracking. Creating a 2,500 buffer zone between any drilling and places where people live, pray or work.” Iqbal-Zubair said that she wants to support new green infrastructure and work with the solar industry. She said that part of the reason she is running for political office is that her opponent has received money from refineries and she hopes that she can make the refineries change their unsafe practices by holding them accountable and eventually supporting the transition to renewable energy. Iqbal-Zubair was born and raised in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and completed her undergraduate work at the Ramapo College in
Assembly candidate, Fatima Iqbal-Zubai, took 32.5 percent of the vote and is in the run-off with incumbent Mike Gipson. Photo by Raphael Richardson
New Jersey in 2005 before moving to the West Coast and completing her graduate work through Sint Eustatius School of Medicine and California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2016. She has been a member of the community for the past 10 years after she and her family settled into a house in Carson. Iqbal-Zubair fell in love with the diversity of the area and wanted to do her part as a teacher and advocate in Watts. Her inspiration and passion to pursue socioeconomic change in the community was inspired by her work as a chemistry teacher at Animo
out restaurant employees, gas station employees and hotel and motel workers. In addition, the order requires that businesses allow employees to wash their hands every 30 minutes, Barragán said. She encouraged people to call her office at 310-831-1799, if their place of work is not complying with these rules. “You have a right to be protected at work,” Barragán said. “Businesses also have a right to turn you away if you’re a customer who’s not wearing a face mask.” [See Town Hall, p.3]
Preparatory Academy in Watts, California. IqbalZubair introduced the school’s robotics club before leaving the world of education to make changes on a government scale. “Knowing my students’ stories and putting it together with community representation, clean water, clean streets and clean air made me angry and passionate,” Iqbal-Zubair said. “[It] made me want to do it the right way. No special interest money, talk the talk and walk the walk.” Iqbal-Zubair has a bit of experience in local government as a member of the Watts Rising Leadership Council, a group of people chosen by the community to represent the interests of the residents of Watts and connecting those voices to the Los Angeles City Council. She has already fought for environmental change on a local level. “It is about bringing the New Green Deal to Watts,” Iqbal-Zubair said. “Twenty-five projects, electric buses, new affordable housing with solar technology. It is making sure there is community engagement and the right questions are being asked to make the community better and make sure it is what the community wants and you’re not displacing them.” In October of 2019, Iqbal-Zubair became involved with Sunrise Movement Los Angeles through another activist. Iqbal-Zubair said that there was a mutual agreement to work with the [See Sunrise, p. 4]
[Town Hall, from p. 2]
Town Hall
These masks do not have to be medical grade. People who are asymptomatic can still be carriers and still infect other people, King said. Garcetti’s order to wear face masks is to prevent people from unknowingly spreading the virus. “It’s really critical that as we move forward that we are protecting ourselves but at the same time as protecting the rest of the community,”
King said. Michael Romero, superintendent for the Local District South of the Los Angeles Unified School District, was also present at the meeting. He said that his district, which has 150 schools and almost 100,000 students, sent all students home on March 13 with two weeks of instructional material that could be done with pencil and paper. During the following week, the staff and faculty had to quickly plan how they would teach virtually.
On March 30, online instruction began. “All teachers are currently teaching online to the best of their abilities,” Romero said. “This is all new to everybody and they’re growing daily and getting better.” All teachers have one virtual office hour three days a week, Romero said. In addition, all the electronic devices at the school that could be used for online work were sent home with the students. “Our general superintendent Austin Beutner has made a $100 million investment in devices,”
Romero said. “They’re coming currently and they’re being shipped to our elementary schools.” On April 13, the schools began distributing the devices, Romero said. Principals communicated with families and coordinated when they could pick them up. This was done using masks and six-foot distances. “A lot of our families did not have devices, nor internet access,” Romero said. “So we have Charter Spectrum, Comcast, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, there’s a lot of providers that have come through with free internet.”
Community Announcements:
Harbor Area Wilmington Senior Center Blood Drive, Sign Up to Donate Blood
There is a critical blood shortage across California. To donate you must sign up for an appointment in advance at www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/ find-drive and use code WilmingtonSeniorCenter or WilmingtonJaycees. Complete the Red Cross Rapid Pass before you arrive at your appointment. Visit RedCrossBlood.org/ RapidPass after you have booked your appointment. Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 23 Venue: 1371 Eubank Ave., Wilmington
Free Food Delivery Available
Los Angeles County has just launched a new free delivery service for older adults aged 60-plus and individuals with disabilities who are unable to leave their home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This program will help vulnerable individuals get groceries, household items and other necessities they need during this time without having to leave the safety of their homes. Delivery will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at no extra cost. No application process is required but items must be prepaid and ready for pickup. Deliveries can be scheduled between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Details: 888-863-7411
Mental Health Services Available
The Guidance Center is still providing mental health services to children and families. If you need help, call 562-595-1159. The Guidance Center is providing services remotely. Details: tgclb.org.
The Pacific Gateway Workforce Links to Companies Hiring Now
Harbor Neighborhood Relief Fund
The Harbor Neighborhood Relief Fund is meant to serve as a central resource to support the most vulnerable populations in our community as they traverse this pandemic. Details: https://www.feedandbefed.org/harborrelief-fund
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
Companies are hiring are in several sectors, including advanced manufacturing, construction/ utilities, government/non-profit, food/retail, healthcare/technology and transportation/goods movement. Details: 562-570-3700; www.pacific-gateway.org/hiringnow
COVID-19 Testing Sites in South Bay
April 16 - 29, 2020
As of April 3, there are several new COVID-19 drive-thru testing sites now open in Los Angeles County. One of these is at the parking lot of the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach. At this time, tests are limited to Los Angeles County’s most vulnerable residents. You can be tested if you meet at least one of the following criteria: • You have symptoms and are 65 and older • You have symptoms and have chronic health conditions • You are subject to a mandatory 14 day quarantine period due to a confirmed COVID-19 exposure (with more than 7 days of quarantine remaining) Make sure to book an appointment online before going. Details: https://lacovidprod.service-now.com/ rrs, https://covid19.lacounty.gov/testing
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Indonesians Say, ‘No More Plastic from U.S.’ By Mark Friedman, Environmental Reporter
In a powerful presentation by Indonesian environmentalists, Prigi Arisandi, the executive director of ECOTON and his daughter, Thara Bening of River Warriors, members of the #breakfreefromplastic movement appealed to Los Angeles environmentalists at a Los Angeles coalition meeting of the Plastic Pollution Coalition. Prigi is a scientist turned activist whose dedication to protecting people and biodiversity within a 300 kilometer stretch of river that runs through Surabaya earned him a Goldman Environmental Prize.
These young activists spoke before a crowd of nonprofits, small businesses and concerned environmentalists including Natural Resources Defense Fund, Friends of the Earth, Santa Monica High School students, Algalita, Oceana, Surfrider and Zero Waste. “Indonesia is the second biggest source of marine pollution after China, with diapers being the primary problem, representing 20% of all the river pollution,” said Thara. “People burn or dispose of their trash in the river because the government has not provided any garbage collection. 99% of our rivers are polluted, by
the amazing number of 1.5 million diapers, 40% of which enter our rivers.” She continued to explain how only 30% of the population has garbage collection. So, she formed an organization based in high schools called REWIND (River Warriors Indonesia) and is leading a “diaper brigade” to reduce disposable diaper pollution in rivers across Java. The organization is also pushing the government to ban single-use plastics and
ECOTON executive director, Prigi Arisandi. File photo [Sunrise, from p. 2]
April 16 - 29, 2020
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
Sunrise Movement
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Sunrise Movement, she applied for endorsement through their political committee and then the movement sent her a questionnaire to see how they could help her campaign. The Sunrise Movement is a Washington D.C.based super political action committee that relies on grassroots youth-led movements to push for climate reform. The PAC has 290 hubs throughout the United States all focused on fighting for reform by uniting people across the board. “We build our people’s power by talking to people,” the Sunrise Movement website states. “We also grow our people’s power through escalated moral protest.” The movement has a five-part plan they would like to see implemented. “STAGE 1, 2017: Launch the movement; STAGE 2, 2018: Make climate change matter
to provide waste collection. They organize river cleanups and have also discovered microplastics in 80% of the fish collected. Prigi explained, “Indonesia imports paper for recycling. However, the paper brokers, including those from Los Angeles, are stuffing plastic illegally into the bales of paper and we don’t want your plastic anymore! It is hurting our paper recycling and creating tons of waste we cannot dispose of.” Michael Doshi, representing Algalita, added that, “There are 340 U.S. material recovery facilities. The waste brokers are private businesses and they dress up the bales to appear as if they are all paper and contain no plastics. These bales are being sent from the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach. More than 20 villages depend on picking through the plastic and paper as jobs. Plastic is sold to a tofu factory for fuel because it is 10 times cheaper than burning wood. But the problem is the dioxin and other poisonous chemicals that are emitted thru burning. Plastic ‘farmers’ are paid two dollars a day to pick through the plastic looking for high value items such as bottles.” For more information on this and campaigns such as the Last Plastic Straw visit: www. plasticpollutioncoalition.org. Plastic Pollution Coalition a growing global alliance of more than 1,000 organizations, businesses and thought leaders in 60 countries working toward a world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impact on humans, animals, waterways, the ocean and the environment. in the midterm election; STAGE 3, 2019: Make the entire country feel the urgency of the crisis; STAGE 4, 2020: Win governing power by bringing it home through the 2020 general election; STAGE 5, 2021: Engage in mass noncooperation to interrupt business as usual and win a Green New Deal,” Sunrise Movement’s website said. Part of implementing their plan is working with candidates like Iqbal-Zubair, who support the Green New Deal and are pushing for reform. “The main thing for endorsement [is working with] candidates we are familiar with,” Ricci Sergienko, a political activist with the Los Angeles Hub for the Sunrise Movement said. “It’s one thing to have the rhetoric that they believe in climate change, it is another thing to actually get involved and come out and support the movements that are on the ground in their local area.” Iqbal-Zubair’s work within her community and her pledge to “talking the talk and walking the walk” make her a prime candidate to work with Sunrise Movement. “She supports the Green New Deal, that will push California to be 100% green by 2030, investing in public schools and housing,” Sergienko said. “The person she is running against, Mike Gipson, has been taking money from oil companies … Communities are heavily impacted by oil and gas companies, especially the Port of Los Angeles. The incumbents will feel the pressure from the candidates we’ve endorsed.” The Green New Deal is a 10-year plan to make the push to have 100 percent renewable clean energy by 2030. It promises to create 20 million jobs by focusing on 100 percent renewable energy and investing in public transit and sustainable agriculture. Iqbal-Zubair said she is in full support of the campaign and hopes to work with fellow legislatures to implement it. “I am running not because I planned to run. [I am] authentically running for the community, [this is] not a stepping stone,” Iqbal-Zubair said.
SA Recycling takes pride in its storm water treatment system, as it is among the very best in the metal recycling industry and serves as a model for industry standards.
SA Recycling operates on half Megawatt Solar System, located at our Anaheim facility that produces enough energy to power 120 homes for a year. In 2016, SA Recycling replaced their diesel mobile crane with a new all-electric mobile crane that runs solely on electricity in the Port of Los Angeles.
Metal recycling reduces pollutants, eliminates significant manufacturing and mining waste and contributes to an overall greener planet. SA Recycling uses extensive dust control systems such as sprinkler systems and water trucks to maintain a clean environment by using their own recycled facility water.
Harmful chemicals and toxins that could pose a risk to human all metals.
Recycling steel cuts greenhouse gases by 90%. Making SA Recycling a vital component to help the port meet their zero-emission goals.
April 16 - 29, 2020
Happy Earth Day!
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and environmental health are safely removed prior to recycling
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COVID-19, the Climate Crisis:
Lessons To Be Learned By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
What does the climate crisis have to do with the COVID-19 pandemic? Not a lot… and absolutely everything. It doesn’t have a lot to do with the climate crisis in the sense of direct causality. “As with nearly everything we talk about in our Global Weirding episodes, the question is not ‘Did climate change cause something? [but] did climate change make it worse?” explained climate scientist Katherine Hayhoe on her Global Weirding podcast. But that’s just one way of correcting our focus. There are also common factors driving both, and getting in the way of a quick, lifesaving response, as well as common lessons to be learned.
Once we set aside the simple-minded all-or-nothing, “What caused it?” there’s a great deal to be learned — including how we can respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in ways that can help us make dramatic progress in dealing with the climate crisis — rather than stall us or even take us backward. One big-picture lesson is clear, environmental scientist and author Dana Nuccitelli told Random Lengths News. “With both coronavirus and climate change, conservative politicians and pundits in the U.S. denied the problem early on rather than heading it off,” he said. “By waiting until outbreaks of
impacts were upon us to react, much of the response has instead been in the form of damage control.” This is far more costly and less helpful than prevention. But there’s one significant difference. “The coronavirus pandemic has unfolded on a much more compressed timeframe, we have the opportunity to learn from our mistakes and apply them to climate change by accelerating the deployment of solutions before the crisis grows too dire,” Nuccitelli said.
SoCal Does Cash for Clunkers By Nick Vu, Editorial Intern
April 16 - 29, 2020
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If you live in Los Angeles, you can retire your old car for $9,500 towards a more fuelefficient vehicle. Many have already done so through Replace Your Ride, a program funded and operated by South Coast Air Quality Management District. The Replace Your Ride program offers a financial incentive to Californians living in metropolitan areas to retire their old vehicles and buy newer, lower-emitting vehicles. “I have an older car that I’ve been thinking about upgrading,” said Rick Jimenez, a musician from San Pedro who had not heard of Replace Your Ride. “It sucks that they’re not advertising the program as they should.” The SCAQMD founded the program in 2015 and hosted promotional events for a few years, but none for the past two. Despite the lack of exposure, interest in the program has remained high. On average, eligible applicants wait four months to receive their vehicles. More than 5,500 California residents have replaced their old vehicles with the assistance of Replace Your Ride and Clean Cars 4 All, a similar program in San Joaquin Valley. So far, the state has handed out $41 million in vouchers to residents in Los Angeles and other major urban cities. “For the 2018-19 fiscal year, SCAQMD received a total of $13.4 million in grants from the California Air Resources Board for the Replace Your Ride Program,” said SCAQMD representative Bradley Wittaker. “South Coast AQMD expects to receive an additional $13 million by the end of 2020.” The Replace Your Ride program serves Los Angeles County and its neighboring counties. There are similar programs in operation throughout California under different names. The objective is to reduce air pollution in urban areas, where air quality is persistently poor. It is part of an overarching strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, as outlined in the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, or Senate Bill 32. “The principle behind the program makes a lot of sense,” said Troy Hardy, sales director at Toyota of Norwalk. “These are people who 6
would normally purchase a used car, but with the government providing additional incentive they can get into a more fuel-efficient vehicle so their month-to-month cost is going to be lower and it will help the environment in the long run.” As of September 2019, Replace Your Ride has scrapped 4,669 vehicles in Greater Los Angeles and a total of 6,868 throughout California. The average model year of the scrapped vehicles is 1999. To be eligible, the trade-in car must be model year 2007 or older and participants must be residents of Greater Los Angeles, which includes San Pedro and Long Beach. The amount of the award depends upon family income and the type of vehicle purchased. For example, a low-income household of four making less than $57,938 can receive $5,000 towards a fuel-efficient gas engine vehicle, or the full $9,500 towards a zeroemissions producing electric vehicle, such as a Toyota Prius Prime or any Tesla vehicle. Moderate and high-income families can participate too, but the voucher is less at $7,500 for the gas burner and $5,500 for the electric. Toyota of Norwalk sells about 15 cars per month in participation with the program and appreciates the extra business. However, many dealerships won’t accept Replace Your Ride customers because the program takes so long to process each purchase. The excitement of picking out a vehicle and striking a deal starts the clock—actually, the calendar—on a wait of four to six weeks until the customer gets the car and the dealership gets the money. Hardy said there is a Honda dealership that is currently sitting on a million dollars in stock, waiting for the SCAQMD to release the funds. For Jimenez, the wait is not a concern. “I’m going to do my little research on it,” he said. “I have a couple friends that have switched over to electric vehicles, Teslas. It’s a lot cheaper to maintain than a regular car and it helps out the environment. Thumbs up for that.” To find a participating car dealership, check eligibility, or learn how to apply for the Replace Your Ride program, visit replaceyourride.com.
David Wallace-Wells, author of The Uninhabitable Earth, which appeared in New York Magazine. File photo
Nuccitelli and Hayhoe are two of seven coauthors of a 2015 paper, Learning from Mistakes in Climate Research, a replication study of ‘contrarian’ research that “reveals a number of methodological flaws, and a pattern of common mistakes ... that is not visible when looking at single isolated cases.” That study’s examination of systematically flawed thinking and how to make sense of it epitomizes the challenge facing us today. A third co-author, Stephan Lewandowsky, provided some additional thoughts, as did Julia May, a senior scientist with Communities for Better Environment, and RL Miller, founder of Climate Hawks Vote, a grassroots super-PAC, who sees things much the same as Nuccitelli. “What I think, and hope, we will learn from the coronavirus is basic respect for science,” Miller said. “The early warnings from public health experts were scorned by Trump, for economic reasons, much as the climate scientists’ warnings have been scorned. And now, the public is paying the price. So, we are learning, painfully and slowly, that science must be respected.” Surveying a range of recent publications, four themes stood out: 1. Climate change drives both the spread and the evolution of potential pandemic diseases, along with other threats to human health and well-being. “The virus is a terrifying harbinger of future pandemics that will be brought about if climate change continues to so deeply destabilize the natural world: scrambling ecosystems, collapsing habitats, rewiring wildlife and rewriting the rules that have governed all life on this planet for all of human history,” wrote David Wallace-Wells,
author of The Uninhabitable Earth, in New York Magazine. “Yes, clearly — no question,” Lewandowsky agreed, as did Hayhoe in her podcast. While it’s too early to say anything specific about this pandemic, she said, global warming generally will affect infectious disease spread by vectors. “Insects or animals that carry the disease,” Hayhoe said. “As it gets [warmer], their geographic range can expand,” In some cases, such as Dengue fever, they simply shift. Thus, whatever specific connection global warming may or may not turn out to have, COVID-19 is a five-alarm wake-up call to one devastating kind of effect that global warming may contribute to increasingly in the years ahead — one that was rarely focused on in the past. May noted the role of habitat destruction, which generally goes hand-in-hand with global warming. “People think China is the only place where pandemics start, but the intensive farming methods in the U.S. are not immune,” she said, pointing to a PBS article about an outbreak in a turkey flock in South Carolina, discovered on April 6. “It has killed 1,583 turkeys and the remainder of the 32,577 birds in the flock were euthanized,” There’s no evidence of human transmission, but the potential is obvious. 2. Both are problems of runaway growth against a limited capacity to cope. Our ways of thinking contribute to that lack of capacity. This perspective was summed up by Vijay Kolinjivadi, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Development Policy at the University of Antwerp, writing for Al Jazeera English. The modern industrial process, driven by market logic. “[It] depletes the natural ability of the environment to balance itself and disrupts ecological cycles (for example deforestation leads to lower CO2 absorption by forests), while at the same time, it adds a large amount of waste (for example CO2 from burned fossil fuels),” he wrote. “This, in turn, is leading to changes in the climate of our planet. … This same process is also responsible for COVID-19 and other outbreaks. The need for more natural resources has forced humans to encroach on various natural habitats and expose themselves to yet unknown pathogens.” The failure to internalize environmental costs in the market allows these sorts of “logical” developments to far overshoot the capacity of the natural world that they ignore … until that world starts to collapse. At first, Lewandowsky wasn’t so sure. “COVID has nothing to do with runaway growth: we could have had the same thing happening in a fossil-fuel free economy,” Lewandowsky said. Indeed, pandemics have been with us for thousands of years. But they do have a way of undermining far-flung civilizations, as pointed out by cultural anthropologist Peter Turchin. Turchin studies cyclic dynamics in human history. In a recent blog post referencing a prescient 2008 article, he discussed previous waves of “globalization.” “The early ones are better called ‘continentalizations’ as they primarily affected Afro-Eurasia, rather than the whole world,” he noted. “There is a very strong (although not perfect) statistical association between these globalizations, general crises and pandemics, from the Bronze Age to the Late Medieval Crisis.” What’s more, the article’s introduction notes
[See Lessons, p. 10]
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April 16 - 29, 2020
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An Infectious Stupidity or Conspiracy of Idiots By James Preston Allen, Publisher
There’s not a whole lot you can do with a man who doesn’t listen or learn from his mistakes and one who continues talking from a point of ignorance during a time of crisis against overwhelming evidence. Such is this president. His now daily briefings have become even more irrational than ever and his changing positions and blame-gaming are enough to make your head spin — if you were to take what he says seriously. But how can one not? Oh what I would do for just one opportunity to be a part of the Washington Press Corp and show them just how to ask just the right questions and how not to back down from a bully.
What happens when people who don’t believe in government govern Donald Trump is a symptom of an infection worse than the coronavirus. This infection has been spreading since before President Ronald Reagan said “Government is not the solution to our problem … government is the problem,” in his first inaugural speech. That comment seemed to just roll off his tongue like a line from one of his old B-movies, delivered with smooth confidence as if it were a common man’s truth. Sure, no one likes a government that interferes with our liberties up until there’s an epidemic that kills you or your family. The hypocrisy of this common belief was first exposed in how Reagan handled the response to the AIDS virus in the early 1980s. Though the Centers for Disease Control discovered all major routes of disease transmission, including that female partners of AIDS-positive men could be infected, in 1983, the public considered AIDS a gay disease. It was even called the “gay plague” for many years after. And because of this designation and because of Reagan’s religiously anti-homosexual politics, his administration did nothing to prevent the spread of the disease until it was too late to stop it. The best read on this era is a 1987 book, And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic by journalist Randy Shilts. The title is a reference to the musicians on the Titanic, who reputedly kept playing as the ship sank. This is perhaps a bit like the opera singers in Italy singing from their balconies as the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across their land. Then, as now, America was woefully unprepared to deal with the HIV/ AIDS epidemic. Yet, America has ever since the 1940s been researching biochemical warfare agents and defenses to them. And there are a few dozen agencies that have increasingly focused on the science of protecting this country from both Publisher/Executive Editor James Preston Allen james@randomlengthsnews.com
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
Trump: “Allen,” as he points to me. Allen: “Mr. Trump, you certainly have now made America great again. In fact, we’re number one in the entire world.” Trump smiles. Allen: “And you’ve done it almost single handedly.” Trump grins and likes how this sounds initially. Allen: “We now have the highest rate of COVID-19 infections in the entire world, with more deaths than Italy and China and yet, you and your advisors knew about the possibility of this epidemic weeks, maybe even months, before the rest of us did and you did nothing to prepare for it. Congratulations! Is that how you intended to make America great again?” Trump: “Well, that’s a nasty question, from a nasty reporter of fake news.” Allen: “Nasty questions are reserved for particularly nasty idiots who believe they can lie with impunity and get away with it in public.” The president then explodes in unrestrained blather, he loses his cool on national TV, which only further proves my point. He then storms off the podium ending the press conference early. The Secret Service swoops in and escorts me out of the White House briefing room, with the advice never to return. The mainstream media are stunned at how a reporter from a news organization they’ve never heard of had the audacity to stand up to the ridicule of this president. When asked, I respond, “This is something all of you should have done long ago only you all have something to lose by speaking truth to a liar, I don’t!”
For weeks afterwards I become aware that all my movements are being surveilled by agents in dark suits in cars with government plates. I assume they are tapping my phone, email and scrutinizing our reporting. I’m cautiously amused at having some new readers. It’ll soon be over in November if the election isn’t stolen again and I can only wish that the blind hand of this infection visits the White House in a manner commensurate to the pain that they have inflicted upon the nation.
April 16 - 29, 2020
Assoc. Publisher/Production Coordinator Suzanne Matsumiya
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“A newspaper is not just for reporting the news as it is, but to make people mad enough to do something about it.” —Mark Twain Vol. XLI : No. 8
Published every two weeks for the Harbor Area communities of San Pedro, RPV, Lomita, Harbor City, Wilmington, Carson and Long Beach. Distributed at over 350 locations throughout the Harbor Area.
Managing Editor Terelle Jerricks editor@randomlengthsnews.com Senior Editor Paul Rosenberg paul.rosenberg@ randomlengthsnews.com
biochemical weapons attacks and epidemics. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2016 required high-level officials across the federal government to create a national biodefense strategy together. As a result, in 2018 the National Biodefense Strategy was released by none other than President Donald J. Trump. And yet, this very same administration that has had every opportunity to prepare a response to something like the COVID-19 outbreak but reacts with all the surety of a Keystone Cops episode, all the while deflecting any responsibility for the house burning down. Former Vice President Joe Biden perhaps said it best last January. “The possibility of a pandemic is a challenge Donald Trump is unqualified to handle as president. I
remember how Trump sought to stoke fear and stigma during the 2014 Ebola epidemic. He called President Barack Obama a “dope” and “incompetent” and railed against the evidencebased response our administration put in place — which quelled the crisis and saved hundreds of thousands of lives — in favor of reactionary travel bans that would only have made things worse. He advocated abandoning exposed and infected American citizens rather than bringing them home for treatment.” That is the difference between those who believe government has a role to protect and serve and those who think government should be strangled in the bathwater. Suddenly a national health care plan isn’t so unimaginable anymore.
COVID-19 Report from London, 5 April By Michael Berlin Yesterday was the warmest day of the year. London experienced achingly beautiful cloudless skies, trees in blossom and the air full of bird song. Over six hundred people died in one day of COVID-19, including a 9-year-old child, the highest daily count so far. It is just over two weeks since British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a national emergency. Johnson himself has been infected with the virus and is in quarantine at Number 10 Downing Street with his pregnant partner. Britons are slowing, trying to adjust to the absurdities and anxieties of the new situation. Like America, the health care system, the National Healthcare Service, once thought of as one of the best in the world, is being overwhelmed. Ten years of government-imposed cutbacks and failed attempts at market driven reforms have resulted in a woeful lack of basic
Columnists/Reporters Andrea Serna Arts Writer Melina Paris Staff Reporter Hunter Chase Staff Reporter Send Calendar Items to: 14days@randomlengthsnews.com Photographers Terelle Jerricks, Raphael Richardson, Chris Villanueva Contributors Michael Berlin, Mark L. Friedman, Katrina Guevara, Greggory Moore, Gretchen Williams Cartoonists Andy Singer, Jan Sorensen, Matt Wuerker
safety equipment. Just as the UK was on the verge of supposedly regaining its independence via Brexit, people have come to realise how dependent we all are on immigrants who care for our sick. The underlying xenophobia of Brexiteers is shamed into silence by the first deaths of NHS doctors and nurses, Nigerian, Sudanese, Pakistani, who have served selflessly alongside their British colleagues. In the popular imagination, the NHS has become the equivalent of the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain. Attempts at piecemeal dismantling of the NHS by the [conservative] Tories have been put back decades. But invocations of a wartime Blitz spirit, of a plucky island nation withstanding the onslaught of a new unseen attempted invasion are wide off the mark. The pandemic has come here not like an armed force but like a slow-motion [See London, p. 9]
Design/Production Suzanne Matsumiya, Brenda Lopez
Address correspondence regarding news items and tips to Random Lengths News, P.O. Box 731, San Pedro, CA 90733-0731, or email: editor@randomlengthsnews.com.
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Annual subscription is $40 for 27 issues. Back issues are available for $3/copy while supplies last. Random Lengths News presents issues from an alternative perspective. We welcome articles and opinions from all people in the Harbor Area. While we may not agree with the opinions of contributing writers, we respect and support their 1st Amendment right. Random Lengths News is a member of Standard Rates and Data Services and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. (ISN #0891-6627). All contents Copyright 2020 Random Lengths News. All rights reserved.
Community Alert Public Meeting on New Development
The Los Angeles City Planning Commission is inviting all interested persons to attend the meeting where you may listen, ask questions, and/or present testimony regarding the new development project at 13091331 S. Pacific Ave., San Pedro. The project is the construction of a four story, 45-foot, 5-inch tall residential building comprising 102 dwelling units, including 12 very low income units. The project will provide 127 parking spaces in two subterranean levels. Developer for the mixed-use project is RKD 13 PAC., LP. The company’s representatives will be in attendance. Due to current Stay at Home and social distancing measures, the meeting will be conducted entirely on Zoom. The meetings telephone number and access code will be provided no later than 72 hours before the meeting on the meeting agenda published on City Planning commission’s website, www.planning.lacity.org/ about/commissions-boardshearrings Time: 8:30 a.m., April 23 Details: cpc@lacity.org, if you have any questions
RANDOMLetters Voting by Mail
Voting by mail should replace voting at the polls in its entirety. The two institutions that can definitely be trusted are the County Board of Elections and the United States Postal Service. The money saved by eliminating the need for poll workers could be used to offer free postage on the envelopes used to vote by mail. The person voting would also have more time to consider what they are voting for and would not be confined to the hours of the polling place. It would also prevent unwanted entry to schools and churches from anyone trying to harm someone. In addition, the voter would not be harassed by someone trying to place unsolicited campaign literature into their hands. The additional revenue would boost the Postal Service and perhaps keep it afloat until we as a country are able to vote online. Voting by mail would solve the registered voter problem and guarantee safe passage of the ballots to the County Board of Elections. Joe Bialek Cleveland, OH
Port Issues
The answer to efforts to use the pandemic disaster to undermine clean air rules should be: No way. This is disgraceful opportunism from the port, shippers and labor. They should be ashamed of themselves. Worst of all is the cynicism and hypocrisy. The people whose
[London, from p. 8]
London
April 16 - 29, 2020
[See London, p. 16]
the goods movement industry externalizing their costs on all us. Yes, we need the jobs and the goods, but the industry must go electric, plug-in the ships and not fall for the false promise of using drilled gas to power the trucks. Peter M. Warren San Pedro & Peninsula Homeowners Coalition
and one daily act of exercise. Gatherings of three or more, except by members of the same household, are banned. In the city parks, where playgrounds and outdoor exercise machines are locked, groups of young people furtively try to socialise. The situation is particularly difficult for families with children who live in the big blocks of flats that dominate parts of Britain’s inner cities. The supermarkets have instigated social distancing, with tape lines at two-metre intervals and limited entry. The British used to queue patiently for most things and this fine old tradition has been revived, though it is difficult to engage in the banter at six-foot intervals. The food suppliers have said that shortages of Eastern European labour (Brexit again) means that the crops may rot in the fields. The restrictions have turned everyone into a nation of troglodytic consumers. We watch, listen, read, clean and eat. New invented traditions have spring up of online drinking parties, video conferenced yoga sessions, mask sewing bees and virtual pub quizzes. We make endless lists of favourite films, albums, tourist views and artworks and share them online. The emergency has bought out the best and the worst in people. In some places the police have been accused of overreacting. In one beauty spot in the mountainous Peak District a local force used drones to harry dog walkers. There have been some weird and troubling incidents of anti-social behaviour. Eight ambulances at an NHS depot in Kent were vandalised, their tires drilled through. There have also been the almost inevitable spate of racist attacks on Chinese and
can see what the vista across San Pedro Bay to Newport Beach was like in Old Time California. The air is crystal clear and the pollution is diminished. People are and will be healthier for it. When this is over, we find a way to remind people this can be true again. It should ring a fivebell alarm about the true cost from
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tidal wave. At first far off in the horizon, now about to break with full force. As the shoreline wavelets recede just as the big surge begins, all sorts of hidden working parts of society have been revealed. The first weeks of the crisis saw panic buying of toilet paper, pasta and rice. But the chain stores, fast food joints and pubs that dominate the high street remained open. At first the government recommended that the public avoid public places and mass gatherings. All travel was to be limited to work journeys only. Fewer London [mass transit] tubes ran and stations were closed. There then followed a gloriously sunny spring weekend and people flocked to the parks and beauty spots. The Monday morning rush hour saw tube trains packed with commuters rushing to work in offices. Up to that point the government had adopted a laissez faire policy of allowing the virus to ‘wash through’ the population and, in some weird Darwinian experiment, allow the population to develop ‘herd immunity.’ But new projections of mass deaths led Boris Johnson to make a dramatic televised announcement of a new series of restrictions with legislation giving police and local authorities to clamp down on all public movement. It was when the government reluctantly ordered the pubs to close that we knew the emergency had started. The pubs hadn’t even closed during the Second World War. Now only shops selling food and drug stores (“chemists”) are open. Movement outside the home is restricted to shopping for food or medicine
health is damaged most by goods movement pollution — those with underlying lung, asthma, heart, cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure — are the very people who are most susceptible to COVID-19, and those most likely to die from it. Rather than seeking to protect the most vulnerable, we have social Darwinism that seeks to sacrifice environmental justice communities for profit by corporations and further cynicism by pointing to EJ community workers as the “beneficiaries” of trickle down from subsidizing the goods movement. There is no connection between these environmental regulations and the decline in business. You could cut regulations and permit fees to the bone today and it would not improve the recession in shipping nor the global recession, which are caused by a worldwide pandemic. The fix is not in easing regulation. It is in defeating the virus. This cynicism from the goods movement folks is to be expected. It is part of disaster capitalism that exploits every major catastrophe and rumor to externalize more costs and subsidize industry at the expense of people’s health and lives. These very same business voices have always opposed these regulations. This simply exploits the disaster to push their long standing opposition to regulations that save lives. If the patient has bladder cancer, does the doctor do a knee replacement to fix it?
One has nothing to do with the other. While it is hard to find the silver lining in the pandemic. There are things that call us to our better angels and tell us to use this to take a better path, to build a greener future. Every day I take a walk on Paseo del Mar in San Pedro and I
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[Lessons, from p. 6]
Lessons
April 16 - 29, 2020
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
that the first true globalization — the 16th Century “Age of Discovery,” in Eurocentric accounts was followed by the Crisis of the Seventeenth Century, which was also truly global in nature, with populations declines from Spain to China, while the Native American population may have declined to perhaps 10 percent of the preColumbian level. Still, Lewandowsky’s point is obviously true: simply decarbonizing our economy would not prevent a pandemic. “Globalization also increases our capability to respond to pandemics,” he noted. “Think of all the science going on now all around the world with seamless exchange of data.” Countries like New Zealand and South Korea seem to have COVID-19 under control. “Just because we are bad at it doesn’t mean globalization is all bad,” he said. But there’s something else I was driving at. Both processes involve exponential growth that humans are poorly prepared to deal with conceptually: viral spread in the case of COVID-19 and tipping points and systemic interactions in the case of global warming. Put like that, Lewandowsky readily agreed. “Indeed, humans are awful at understanding exponential processes and this is what’s hitting us hard now with COVID,” he said. “In climate change, things are a little different because it’s not (just) exponential growth we have to worry about but also people’s inability to understand stock-and-flow problems — i.e., the fact that CO2 accumulates so cutting a little bit will not make any difference.” 3. The coronavirus holds lessons about how to respond to the climate crisis. (This includes
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lessons about our blind-spots, about the need for swift action and social solidarity, etc.) “Indeed it does,” Lewandowky said “Putting aside causes, COVID-19 is climate change on steroids in time lapse photography. And, the usual operators are doing the usual thing e.g. deny the risk or calling it a hoax and altogether failing to prepare for it when there is time to do so.” Miller saw two cited “two related themes” flowing from the lessons of COVID-19. “The first is the obvious — willingness to take the warnings more seriously,” Miller said. “The second will be in the economic recovery. During the last major recession, conservatives hammered the ‘jobs or the environment’ line, and people failed to prioritize climate, and the tea party happened and you know the rest of that sad story. “But that recession was, of course, completely unrelated to science in its cause,” she noted. “Here, there’s a pretty strong case to be made that failure to listen to experts caused the mess; and failure to listen to experts regarding the cures (social distancing, fake cures, Donald Trump hyping hydroxychloroquine) is making things worse…. So when experts tell us that climate is serious, but there’s one valid “cure” — renewable energy — we need to listen to them.” 4. We can respond to the coronavirus pandemic in ways that help us make dramatic progress in dealing with the climate crisis. Lewandowsky agreed again. “COVID is a global ‘ctrl-alt-delete’ that gives us the opportunity to re-invent the world, for better or worse,” Lewandowsky said. In fact, he has a related study under way right now. Ecological economist Simon Mair has described four possible post-COVID futures: “a descent into barbarism, a robust state capitalism, a radical state socialism and a transformation into a big society built on mutual aid.” Lewandowsky’s study aims at finding out which outcome people prefer, which they think most likely and which they think most other people prefer — both in their own country and around the world. “[This design] would allow us to detect potential pluralistic ignorance – that is, a state in which people who hold the majority opinion feel they are in the minority,” a description of the study explains. “This can happen if loud voices in society are overshadowing the quieter majority.” There are also some immediate impacts to consider. “While a lot of the air pollution cuts and refinery production decreases associated with COVID-19 are temporary, they give people a vision of what it looks like to have clear skies,” May said. “A taste of clean air can help build the thirst for clean energy, although the transition to clean requires investment - hard to do in a health and economic crisis. “I also think there are a lot of hopeful signs of people adjusting. Our organizers are working hard to make sure elders have food, to give people information about eviction proceedings, and many people all over are starting to garden (if they have access to space). We are all in for it big time economically, but the only way out is for people to help each other.” Nothing is certain, except for one thing: The future is not predetermined. We have it in our power to alter the course of history. One worldwide catastrophe can help us to avoid another — if we are wise enough, compassionate enough and bold enough to take the right kind of action.
Hard Reality for Local Theater in the Time of Pandemic By Greggory Moore, Curtain Call Columnist
April 16 - 29, 2020
[See Curtain Call, p. 13]
show from its 2020 season. And while management hopes to reschedule the remaining dates of Dead Man’s Cell Phone, (which opened Feb. 27) as of now it’s crossed off their website calendar. Becky’s New Car (scheduled to open April 9) and a one-off event slated for April 26 have also been cancelled. Even if the following play, Stop Kiss, opens as scheduled on May 21, the damage will be done. “We spent a little over $10,000 [to mount and promote] Dead Man’s Cell Phone and [on top of that] have taken a hit of just over $1,600 in refunds,” Dean reports, “[and] pre-paid royalties for will be another $625 loss if [the licensor] won’t refund.” An additional $5,200 has already been spent on Becky’s New Car, she says, which began rehearsals March 1. All this for a company that may not show a profit in the best of years. “We operate on very slim margins,” she says. “Some productions finish in the red and a show like Pick of the Vine or whatever we have over Christmastime helps ease the overall loss. When we have unexpected facility costs — as we did in 2019, with a costly plumbing issue or the years before with new chairs and renovations ¯ we were very in the red.” The best news Dean reports is that Little Fish’s landlord “is responsive to our situation, [and] I am optimistic we’ll come to an arrangement that will assist our situation for the immediate time period.”
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I
t may be different on Broadway and for a handful of behemoths in major media markets. For the vast majority of theater companies, however, plying their trade is mostly or even completely a labor of love, where even sold-out runs come up short of a profit, let alone the kind of money to make ends meet without a day job. Imagine, then, what life in the time of COVID-19 is for theater folk ‘round here. Not only are they dealing with the same battery of issues plaguing the rest of us, but they are doing it while having to cancel shows into which they’ve invested blood, sweat and production expenses. As the name implies, Little Fish Theatre is not one of the biggies. Founded in 2002, the Little Fishers lovingly converted San Pedro’s old city tow yard into a quirky theater with an upstairs lounge, an unusually long stage space for a black box and tiered seating on three sides for 65 total. Despite the single stage, they put on about a dozen plays per year, not including their annual opener, Pick of the Vine, a compilation of nine short plays culled from hundreds of submissions. Throw in a few one-night-only events and these are the busiest bees in area theater. That crowded schedule is likely to cost them dearly during the pandemic shutdown. According to associate artistic and development director Suzanne Dean, at best Little Fish will be forced to cut one
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I
Rolling on Meal Deliveries:
San Pedro Meals on Wheels Provides Real Service By Katrina Guevara, Contributor
San Pedro Meals on Wheels volunteer Carol Covey. Photo by Terelle Jerricks
several calls per day to receive free meals,” Speth said. “Our service is $7.50 a day. Therefore, regardless of whether the county program kicks in, we are beginning a donation campaign so people can help feed someone in need. For example, $150 will feed someone for one month and $450 will feed someone for three months.” The majority of the clients are seniors ages 70 to 100 years old, but San Pedro Meals on Wheels serves anyone from those who are recovering at home from surgery to those who are temporarily infirmed. One of their longest clients has been Della, who is 104 years-old and has been receiving
April 16 - 29, 2020
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PappysSeafood.com
or call 424-224-5444 for Curbside Pick-Up
[See Meals, p.13]
How to Get Meals on Wheels
San Pedro Meals On Wheels 731 S Averill Ave, San Pedro 310-832-7335 www.sanpedromealsonwheels.org Harbor Interfaith Services 670 W. 9th St., San Pedro 310-831-0603 www.harborinterfaith.org Volunteers of America Los Angeles 3600 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1500, Los Angeles 213-389-1500 | TDD: 213-388-8280 info@voala.org; https://voala.org
Wilmington Jaycees Foundation 1371 Eubank Ave, Wilmington 310-518-4533 http://wilmingtonjayceesfoundation.yolasite. com
Order all your Favorites for delivery at
meals for decades. Meals on Wheels volunteer, Carol Covey, is a retiree who joined the nonprofit organization six months ago. Covey said she always wanted to give back to her community by helping older people. When asked if her work has taken on more urgency since Safe at Home restrictions due to the novel coronavirus, she said “not more than usual.” Fellow volunteer and retiree, Mike Bodlovich, agreed. “It makes me feel really good to provide something that people really need and appreciate,” Bodlovich said. Bodlovich has been volunteering with Meals on Wheels for the past two years. Bodlovich noted that the work has taken on more significance due to COVID-19. “I definitely think this is a service that people really need and that people really appreciate right now under these conditions,” Bodlovich said. Covey noted that Meals on Wheels has always rendered an important service. Covey expressed that she’s surprised that they hadn’t got more new clients. She was expecting more of a surge than the several more clients Speth talked about. Covey suspected that this was due to more people cooking for themselves at home, fearful
RLN staff has compiled a listing of the Harbor area Meals on Wheels locations to help you find a location close to you and those you may know who are in need of food security.
Torrance-Lomita Meals On Wheels 3525 Maricopa St, Torrance 310-542-3434 http://tlmow.org
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s San Pedro on lockdown? You wouldn’t be able to tell from the volunteers at San Pedro Meals on Wheels, who are still rocking the kitchen and rolling the results to hungry mouths five days a week, serving an average of 40 clients with 80 meals a day. If anything, the arrival of COVID-19 has pushed the pace and the unpredictability of the well-known nonprofit by spurring a wave of new donors, said Sue Speth, president of the board of San Pedro Meals on Wheels. Local bakeries, restaurants and hotels have jostled the rhythm of the regular order and delivery from the restaurant supply company, U.S. Foods. Speth recounted the weekend in March when Babouch, the Morrocan restaurant, donated a carton of eggplant, which switched Monday’s hot meal from meatballs to baked eggplant parmesan. And, how the arrival of a car full of produce and dairy products — an unexpected donation from the DoubleTree Marina Hotel — inspired Chef Mike Caccavalla to create a delicious vegetable frittata, accompanied by wilted greens, fresh green beans and a country roll. Now, San Pedro Meals on Wheels, which has prepared and delivered more than one million meals since its founding in 1972, appears to be on the verge of a significant expansion funded by several private grants and donations. Additionally, San Pedro Meals on Wheels is in discussions with Los Angeles County to respond to COVID-19 by quadrupling its current production-and-delivery numbers. The need is there, said Speth, and while nourishment is a very basic need, the volunteers at San Pedro Meals on Wheels — six on-site and four in the kitchen — have seen how often it is overlooked. San Pedro Meals on Wheels volunteers said that for the most part their clients are unable to take care of their nutrition needs alone. The organization assists them with that basic necessity. In addition, it provides peace of mind to family members who know their loved one is being looked in on. “In the last two weeks, we’ve received
Houghton Park - HSA 6301 Myrtle Ave, Long Beach 562-428-6538 http://www.longbeach.gov/park/park-andfacilities/directory/houghton-park/ Long Beach Senior Center - HSA 1150 E. 4th St, Long Beach 562-570-3520 http://www.longbeach.gov/park/park-andfacilities/directory/long-beach-senior-center/ El Dorado Park - HSA 2800 N. Studebaker Road, Long Beach 562-429-4283 www.longbeach.gov/park/park-and-facilities/ directory/el-dorado-park-west Meals on Wheels of Long Beach, Inc. PO Box 15688, Long Beach, CA 90815 562-439-5000 https://mowlb.org
[Curtain Call, from p. 10]
Curtain Call
In any case, Dean says that, one way or the other, Little Fish intends to honor the contracts of cast and crew for Dead Man’s Cell Phone and Becky’s New Car, regardless of what comes. “We’re seeking donations to be able to keep paying the handful of staff and monthly bills as long possible during the shutdown [because] we have miniscule reserves, [enough for] a few weeks only,” Across the bridge in Long Beach, an even smaller fish is the Garage Theatre, which for the last 20 years has shown the gumption to stage ¯ in a space that maxes out around 50; everything from Shakespeare, DeLillo and Ionesco to melodrama and farce to newish hotbutton works (climate change, queer culture) to a Trey Parker/Matt Stone musical and a world-premiere staging of a Tom Stoppard radio play so good that the man himself dispatched people from England to grant his official stamp of approval. Forced to halt their season opener, Psycho Beach Party, early in its run after spending over $5,000 to get it going and with only four other shows scheduled for the season, this is a company with no margin to cope with [Meals, from p. 12]
Roll On Meals
of coming into contact with the infections from persons outside the home. “It’s also a scary time for us,” said Covey as she motioned to Bodlovich, highlighting the risk they face as members of a vulnerable population to the coronavirus. “Sometimes I wonder if I should stop doing this because I’m over 65 and so is he.” Speth is conscious of the dilemma the coronavirus poses to the Meals on Wheels operations. “This could become an issue in the near future, but right now it is not,” Speth said. What is absolutely clear is that the needs remain, therefore the work continues. Details: www.sanpedromealsonwheels.org
the impacts of this pandemic. “We really rely on our first production to get us back to a place of financial security for the rest of the season, especially for when we throw out some of our more challenging productions later in the year,” says Managing Director Eric Hamme. “We don’t have a reserve fund and everything we did have was put into getting the season up and running. We also thought we were making a smart decision in remodeling our bathroom over the break and that set us back around $600; and our box office software broke down at the end of last year so that had to be replaced for about $400. Then there is the $1,300 a month overhead (rent and utilities), concessions purchased and facility supplies such as tools, paint, toilet paper, etc. Relatively small numbers, but it adds up quick. […] I haven’t spoken to our landlords, but there will need to be a discussion on the 31st, because right now we can maybe squeak into April — but after that, we are tapped. If Panndora Productions’ [i.e., a troupe to whom the Garage occasionally sublets] performance doesn’t happen [May 2–17] and we lose that revenue, we won’t have the resources necessary to get us to our next production [Stephen Aldy Guirgis’s The Motherfucker with the Hat] in mid-July.” With even less reserves than Little Fish, should Psycho Beach Party be fully cancelled, Hamme holds out hope that the COVID-19 crisis may pass in time “to sneak in a few more performances, [… but] a lot of chess pieces [would] need to be moved around.” The Garage will not even be able to provide crew members with their usual small stipend (“basically gas money,” Hamme says, “but they appreciate it”). Garage actors are paid purely through donations to a Feed the Actors fund that amounts to even less. The only big hit the Garage won’t take is on refunds. “Our audience is notorious for buying last-minute, and we love them for that,” Hamme says. “[… Plus], it’s only a month between our season announcement and opening night, so it always takes a little time for ticket sales to start to ramp up. This show is also scheduled for a sixweek run (as opposed to our typical five weeks), which gives people more time to put it off.”
Hamme is every bit as appreciative of Garage supporters as was the vociferous (as in: I had to wear earplugs — literally), overflow (extra chairs set up against a wall) audience for the opening night of Psycho Beach Party. “So far ticket-buyers for about half the cancelled shows have been willing to donate the money rather than request a refund,” he says. “[…] I just want to say for the record that I think that we have the best audience and the best support system of any theater in Long Beach. We feel like we have a personal relationship with everyone who walks through our door. We may not have the wealthiest audience, but in the past when we have run into trouble, our subscribers and donors have always stepped up and helped pull us up out of the ditch. I have no doubt that somehow, someway we will make it through this, but it will require help. We are always happy to accept donations— no donation is too small. We are a 501(c)3, so [donations] are 100% tax-deductible, and every dime goes into the theater.”
Maybe the biggest fish around is Musical Theatre West, which each year typically stages five big-budget productions — as in roughly $600K a pop. But although a whale shark like Musical Theatre West has deeper pockets than a minnow, the shutdown will not have to last all that long for this nonprofit to find itself in financial difficulty even though it doesn’t carry the overhead on the lavish Carpenter Center (which it rents per performance). For example, while it has rescheduled Mame (originally slated to open March 27) for August, should the COVID-19 crisis extend through summer, Musical Theatre West will lose not just the ticket sales from both Mame and Treasure Island (July 10–26), but it will be out the $50,000 to $70,000 it has already put into the former, plus refunds for ticket sales, 55 percent of which are season subscribers, with nonsubscribers having already snapped up an additional 11 percent of the seats for Mame. “Because we could reschedule Mame, [See Curtain Call, p. 16]
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Timeline of Failure and Deception
[Timeline, from p. 1]
April 16 - 29, 2020
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
declining funding for global health initiatives and lack of Georgetown University panel on March 19. “What’s happened in domestic resources threaten the continued progress against Washington has been a fiasco of incredible proportions.” health threats,” and that “A novel or reemerging microbe that is Not all of that difference is due to Donald Trump’s failed easily transmissible between humans and is highly pathogenic leadership; America’s privatized health care system results in remains a major threat because such an organism has the potential thousands of needless deaths each year. But Trump’s actions, to spread rapidly and kill millions.” It specifically warns that, inaction and his cacophony of false, conflicting and confusing “Threats such as avian influenza and Middle East Respiratory statements have contributed enormously. Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have pandemic potential.” Because so many of his claims—such as “this is just a normal Similar warnings are repeated in 2018, 2019 and 2020, though the Chinese ophthalmologist Dr. Li Wenliang who sounded the early flu” or “this is being politicized to attack Trump”—have not just last one remains classified. All have been ignored. (2) served to excuse Trump’s responsibility; they’ve contributed to alarm, before and after he contracted COVID-19. He later died from those deaths by spreading paralyzing confusion and distrust, and • May 23, 2017: Despite the Worldwide Threat Assessment, the disease. File photo counterproductive misinformation when clear direction and unity the first Trump budget calls for huge cuts to science, medical medicine WeChat group. He is subsequently interrogated by of purpose could have saved thousands of lives. research and disease prevention, including a 17% cut to the security police who give him a warning notice and censure him Psychologists and psychiatrists have long warned that Trump Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Americans would for “making false comments on the internet.” is a malignant narcissist, incapable be less safe,” former CDC director Dr. Psychologists and psychiatrists have of considering or caring about the • Dec. 31, 2019: China confirms the existence of a new virus. Tom Freiden warns on Twitter. Congress welfare of others. There’s substantial long warned that Trump is a malignant ultimately rejects the cuts, but Trump • Jan. 1, 2020: The CDC begins developing reports for the evidence that leaders like him make narcissist, incapable of considering keeps making them each budget year, Department of Health and Human Services about the situation. pandemics both more likely and more even in the midst of the COVID-19 or caring about the welfare of others. • Jan. 3: A Chinese official officially informs CDC Director deadly. pandemic. (1) Robert Redfield of the outbreak of a respiratory illness in the Dr. Frederick Burkle, a leading There’s substantial evidence that city of Wuhan. Redfield later relayed the information to Health international public health expert, leaders like him make pandemics both • May 8, 2018: The National Security Council’s pandemic response team is and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. Azar informs the explained this in a paper published in more likely and more deadly. disbanded in a reorganization overseen by White House National Security Council. early March. Bolton. The top official responsible for overseeing pandemic “Trump has mimicked other autocratic leaders’ positions in • Jan 8: Li Wenliang contracts COVID-19 (not yet named.) response, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, leaves the administration. managing any serious outbreak,” Burkle noted. “He has praised • Jan. 8: The CDC issues its first public warning about the As a result, when experts within the administration grow alarmed President Xi’s rulings and failed to comment on the Chinese ruler’s outbreak in China, saying at the COVID-19 decision to punish physicians for grossly delaying international that it is monitoring the outbreak in January and warnings and calling attention to the public health threat for which situation and that people February this year, there Xi was totally responsible.” should take precautions was no responsible body Trump’s failed response falls into three broad phases. when traveling to Wuhan. for them to turn to. (1) Mis-preparation. Even before taking office, Trump and his minions have not just ignored pandemic threats, but significantly • Jan. 17: The CDC • January to August undermined our capacity to deal with them. begins monitoring major 2019: The U.S. Denial. When the outbreak began, Trump initially portrayed airports for passengers Department of Health America as invulnerable (anything to contrary might hurt the arriving from China. and Human Services economy and thus his re-election chances); he trusted the words of conducts a pandemic • Jan. 18: Azar, who has Xi and anyone else who supported him, rather than experts trained training simulation been trying to speak to to understand what was happening. involving a disease Trump about the virus, is Blame-shifting. When he could no longer ignore the disaster striking similar to Rear Adm. Timothy Zeimer left the NSC’s pandemic response team in 2018. finally able to talk with him, (due to its impact on Wall Street) he switched gears, claiming the COVID-19 virus. Health and Human Services Sec. Alex Azar tried to get Trump’s attention. but Trump first interjects to he’d known all along the tough fight we were in for and turned to Problems encountered ask when flavored vaping blaming everyone but him—another common trait of autocratic are strikingly similar to the ones we experience in real life. A products would be back on the market. malignant narcissists. draft report summarizing the problems they identified is simply • Jan. 20: The World Health Organization reports cases in The following timeline highlights a small fraction of Trump’s ignored, rather than being acted on. (2) China, Thailand, Japan and South Korea. failures of leadership during this crisis, a record that has left so • July 2019: The CDC’s Beijing chief is not replaced. This was many Americans needlessly dead. It includes: • Jan. 21: The first confirmed coronavirus case arrives in the not an isolated incident. Over the past three years, a CDC team 1. actions taken to weaken our response, United States, in Seattle. WHO says the virus risk globally is working on global health security in China has been reduced 2. actions not taken to protect us, high. from 50 people to 14. (1) 3. warnings ignored • Jan. 22: A reporter asks if there are worries about a pandemic. • September 2019: Trump’s own Council of Economic Advisers 4. the lies he’s told that have endangered people’s lives, at Trump responds with his first comments about the coronavirus, issues a report, “Mitigating the Impact of Pandemic Influenza risk, as well as saying he is not concerned about a pandemic. “No. Not at all. And through Vaccine Innovation,” warning about the dangers of 5. the lies he’s told to avoid blame and/or shift it onto we have it totally under control. … It’s going to be just fine.” He pandemic—as opposed to seasonal—flu and the reasons why others. continues some variation of this narrative until March 11. Two the market will not work to generate the capacity to protect Numbers at the end of each timeline event corresponds to days later, he abruptly declares a “national emergency.” (4) against it. It warns that “Fatalities in the most serious scenario the actions outlined above. • Jan. 23: Chinese officials take the drastic step of shutting would exceed half a million people in the United States.” (2) down Wuhan. The timeline begins with the time that was wasted while • October 2019: The Trump administration refuses to renew he deliberately ignored the pandemic threat, which eerily • Jan. 24: Trump tweets, “It will all work out well.” (4) funding for PREDICT, a pandemic early warning system that resembles the way the George Bush administration ignored Al was funded for two previous 5-year cycles, thus effectively • Jan. 27: Concerned White House aides meet with then-acting Qaeda prior to 9/11. Trump, like Bush, ignored warnings from ending the initiative. PREDICT worked with 60 different chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to get senior officials to pay the Democratic administration before him and the death toll foreign laboratories, including the lab in Wuhan, China that more attention to the issue. Joe Grogan, the head of the White this time is already dramatically much higher. identified COVID-19. (1) House Domestic Policy Council, argues it could cost Trump his • January 2017: Before Trump’s inauguration, officials of reelection and says the virus is likely to dominate life in the • Dec. 1, 2019: This is the earliest date of symptom onset, the outgoing Barack Obama administration brief Trump’s United States for many months. according to a study in the journal Lancet. team on the best practices for confronting a pandemic, using • Jan. 29: A memo from Peter Navarro warns of 500,000 or more • Dec. 8, 2019: A patient in the city of Wuhan seeks medical the model of respiratory virus originating in Asia. It literally American deaths and says it is “unlikely the introduction of the help for pneumonia-like symptoms. comes with a handbook. Although Trump’s Homeland coronavirus into the U.S. population in significant numbers will • Dec. 29, 2019: Local hospitals in Hubei report the first four Security advisor, Tom Bossert, takes it seriously, the mimic a ‘seasonal flu’ event with relatively low contagion and cases of a “pneumonia of unknown etiology.” U.S. medical pandemic handbook is ignored by Trump’s team as a whole. mortality rates.” intelligence analysts reportedly note these developments in (2) In 2018, Bossert was fired by Trump’s National Security • Jan 29: The White House forms a coronavirus response task December, but the extent of what they know or do is not yet Advisor John Bolton. (1) force, initially led by HHS Secretary Azar. known. • May 11, 2017: Trump’s director of National Intelligence,
14
Dan Coats, delivers the Worldwide Threat Assessment to Congress, including the warning that “Stagnating or
• Dec. 30, 2019: Dr. Li Wenliang posts messages about the appearance of seven confirmed SARS-like cases in a clinical
• Jan. 30: WHO declares a global health emergency, as China
[Continued on following page]
[From previos page]
expanded the lockdown beyond Wuhan to the entire province of Hubei. That day, Trump says: “We only have five people. Hopefully, everything’s going to be great.”
what happens, but I think it’s going to work out fine.” (4)
• Feb. 20: WHO reports nearly 77,000 cases worldwide in 27 countries.
• Feb. 23: Another Navarro memo warns of an “increasing • Jan. 30: Trump blocks travel from China after three major probability of a full-blown COVID-19 pandemic that could airlines announce they had halted infect as many as 100 million Americans, flights. But it was too little, too late; “When you have 15 people — and the with a loss of life of as many as 1-2 and worse, it convinces him he’d million souls.” 15 within a couple of days is going done everything necessary. In the to be down to close to zero — that’s a • Feb. 23: Italy begins to see evidence coming months Trump repeatedly of a major outbreak in the Lombardy cites this as early decisive action. pretty good job we’ve done.” region. President Donald Trump, Feb. 26, 2020 • “I do think we were very early, but • Feb. 24: As Iran becomes a hot spot, I also think that we were very smart, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warns because we stopped China,” he says on March 31, adding “That of a possible pandemic. “There is a lot of speculation about was probably the biggest decision we made so far.” whether this increase means that this epidemic has now become • But on April 4, the New York Times reported that 430,000 a pandemic,” he says. people had entered the United States from China since the • Feb. 24: The stock market plummets as the Dow Jones coronavirus surfaced, with 1,300 direct flights to 17 cities industrial average falls more than 1,000 points. before the travel restrictions and 40,000 entering after it. In addition, there are thousands of other flights from Italy and • Feb. 24: Trump tweets: “The Coronavirus is very much under Spain, both especially hard hit, ABC News reports on April 7; control in the USA. … Stock Market starting to look very good and on April 8, the New York Times reports that the coronavirus to me!” (4) • Feb. 26: The first case emerges in California with no clear source, an example of community spread indicating that containment has failed.
• Feb. 26: Trump says, “When you have 15 people — and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero — that’s a pretty good job we’ve done.” (4) There is zero evidence to support his wishful thinking.
Passengers and crew of the Diamond Princess was quarantined off the coast of Yokohama, Japan. File photo
began circulating in the New York area by mid-February, with the majority of cases coming from European strains of the virus. • Jan. 30: Trump says of the threat: “We think it’s going to have a very good ending for it. So that I can assure you.” (4) • Feb. 2: Trump tells Fox News host Sean Hannity, “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.” (4)
• Feb. 5: Trump’s impeachment trial ends with his acquittal by the Republican-controlled Senate. • Feb. 5: CDC begins shipment of test kits to the states.
• Feb. 7: Donald Trump and Xi Jinping speak about the coronavirus, with Trump praising China’s efforts and pledging support. The same day, Li Wenliang, the whistleblowing doctor admonished for “making false statements on the internet,” dies from the coronavirus.
• Feb. 7 (approximately): By early February, the “majority of the intelligence reporting” in daily DNI and CIA briefings and digests are about the coronavirus, according to the Washington Post.
• Feb. 11: WHO names the new disease COVID-19.
• Feb. 12: The CDC admits that its test kits were flawed and will have to be replaced.
• Feb. 19: Trump says: “I think it’s going to work out fine. I think when we get into April, in the warmer weather, that has a very negative effect on that and that type of a virus. So let’s see
• March 15: Trump says, “This is a very contagious—this is a very contagious virus. It’s incredible. But it’s something that we have tremendous control of.”
• March 16: Trump for the first time publicly reflects on the gravity of the situation. Asked about his repeated comments
• Feb. 28: Cases rise across Europe, including Italy, Germany, France, England, Switzerland and Belarus.
• Feb. 28: Trump says: “It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.” (4) He also accuses Democrats of “politicizing the coronavirus,” saying, “this is their new hoax.” (5) • Feb. 29: The Food and Drug Administration eases guidelines to speed the broader use of testing.
• Feb. 29: The United States records its first coronavirus death and announces new travel restrictions for Iran, Italy and South Korea.
• March 3: The CDC lifts restrictions on coronavirus testing, allowing states and private companies to produce their own. • March 4: The House of Representatives passes a $8.3 billion emergency bill, aimed mainly at the immediate health response to the virus.
• March 4: Trump tries to blame testing failures on Obama: “The Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what we’re doing. And we undid that decision a few days ago so that the testing can take place in a much more accurate and rapid fashion.” But experts contacted by Factcheck.org say that no such decision or rule existed. (5) • March 6: Grand Princess cruise ship with more than 2,000 passengers waits to dock off the California coast.
• March 6: Trump assures Americans, “Anybody that wants a test can get a test. That’s what the bottom line is.” Politifact rates it a “Pants on Fire” lie. (4)
• March 6: Trump calls Washington Gov. Jay Inslee “a snake” after Inslee tweets that he told Vice President Mike Pence “our work would be more successful if the Trump administration stuck to the science and told the truth.” • March 10: Trump says: “Just stay calm. It will go away.” (4)
• March 11: The White House suspends travel from most European countries, as the WHO declares a global pandemic. • March 11: Trump says, “I think we’re going to get through it very well.” (4)
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmore and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo have been public with their criticism of Trump’s slow response to the pandemic and their states have paid a price. File photos
“No, I don’t take responsibility at all. Because we were given a — a set of circumstances, and we were given rules, regulations and specifications from a different time.” President Donald Trump, March 13, 2020 saying the situation was “under control,” he says: “If you’re talking about the virus, no, that’s not under control for any place in the world. [False: See New Zealand & Taiwan] … I was talking about what we’re doing is under control, [Also false, obviously] but I’m not talking about the virus.” (5)
• Mar. 16: Trump tells governors they’re on their own in a conference call: “Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment—try getting it yourselves.” Afterwards Trump tweets: “Just had a very good tele-conference with Nations’s Governors. Went very well. Cuomo of New York has to ‘do more’.” • March 17: Trump says for the next two weeks, “We’re asking everyone to work at home, if possible, postpone unnecessary travel and limit social gatherings to no more than 10 people.”
• Mar. 17: Trump tweets, “Failing Michigan Governor must work harder and be much more proactive,” after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appeared on MSNBC and accurately says, “The federal government did not take this seriously early enough and now it is on us to make sure we’re doing everything we can based on the best facts and science available.” • March 18: Trump says he considers himself “a wartime president.” He tells reporters, “I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.” (5) [See Failure, page 16]
April 16 - 29, 2020
• Feb. 10: Trump says, “I think the virus is going to be — it’s going to be fine.” (4)
• March 13: Trump refuses to accept any responsibility for the slow rate of coronavirus testing in the United States, blaming Obama once again: “No, I don’t take responsibility at all. Because we were given a — a set of circumstances, and we were given rules, regulations and specifications from a different time.” However, the Obama administration tested 1 million people for H1N1 in the first month after the first diagnosed case, compared to less than 10,000 tested when Trump spoke, more than 50 days after the first case. (5)
• Feb. 10: Trump submits a 2020 budget calling for CDC cuts of about 16%, similar to sharp cuts in past Trump budgets, along with deep cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, totaling $2.24 trillion over 10 years, violating his campaign pledge not to cut Medicare or Medicaid. (2)
• March 13: Trump declares a national emergency.
Real News, Real People, Really Effective
• Feb. 4: Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantines in Yokohama, Japan. It has more than 2,600 guests and over 1,000 crew. Within two days, over 40 people test positive for COVID-19, including eight Americans.
• Feb. 27: Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a Republican from North Carolina who has received briefings on the threat, tells a private luncheon that the coronavirus is “much more aggressive in its transmission than anything that we have seen in recent history” and is “is probably more akin to the 1918 [influenza] pandemic,” in which 50 million or more people died worldwide.
President Trump has turned the White House press briefings on the pandemic into thinly veiled campaign rallies. File photo
15
[London, from p. 9]
London
other Asian Britons. A Vietnamese art curator was dropped as an assistant for an exhibit of contemporary fine art by an art dealer who explained the presence of a Vietnamese curator “would unfortunately create hesitation on the part of the audience to enter the exhibition space.” A particularly troubling and bizarre series of incidents have arisen around the installation of the new 5G cell phone network. Telecoms engineers have been attacked after rumours circulated on the internet that the new network was somehow linked to the spread of the virus. In one instance [Curtain Call, from p. 13]
Curtain Call
April 16 - 29, 2020
Real News, Real People, Totally Relevant
the damage was not as bad,” says Executive Director Paul Garman. “But if we have to cancel the show, that will be a major problem.” Garman highlights how difficult cancellations will be for the people who do the work to bring the shows to life. “The reality for the [actors and crew] who live paycheck to paycheck is that this is definitely going to hurt them, because they won’t be paid until the show actually happens,” he says, noting that a show like Mame contracts over 50 people, plus 14 Carpenter Center employees (ushers, etc.) paid hourly wages for each performance. “Most theater people live
16
a new relay tower was deliberately burned. As the weather improves people are beginning to chafe at the restrictions. Some London parks have been closed due to crowding. There is some fear of social unrest if the restrictions are enforced strictly through the summer. Neighbours have formed mutual aid groups which buy and deliver food supplies for the vulnerable. Half a million people volunteered in 48 hours to work for the NHS. People are looking out for each other, trying to crack jokes and keep spirits up. Children have taken to drawing rainbows and putting them up in windows. Each week on a Thursday at 8 p.m. for the past fortnight we stand at our windows hand-to-mouth, so closing down … is especially detrimental to them because they can’t go out and find other [theater] work, since there are no other theaters open. Many [theater people] work as waiters or waitresses or bartenders, that type of stuff— but they can’t really do that, because those are closed.” Dean presumably speaks not just for Little Fish but for the Garage and every theater company around when she says, “Even though we are each sheltering in place, we’re not taking this lying down. We’ll fight to the last gasp. […] The future […] hinges on two things: a public outpouring of contributions and the length of time we’re closed.” Garman voices the obvious conundrum here: “With people losing money in the stock market and being off work, are they going to be willing to donate to nonprofits like [us]?” There’s only one way to find out. And find out we will. To donate to any or all of the theater companies kind enough to open up about their current difficulties for this article, visit: www.littlefishtheatre.org; www. thegaragetheatre.org; www.musical.org
and doorways clapping hands and beating pots and pans in salute to the NHS, a somewhat cacaphonic imitation of the beautiful Italian balcony singing. London and other cities have never seemed so beautiful in the spring sunshine. The air is fresh and clear and there are birds and foxes and other wildlife. A herd of wild goats has
invaded a Welsh sea-side town. We are living through a great social experiment and no one is sure how it will turn out.
London resident Michael Berlin holds a Ph.D from Oxford University and is a lecturer in history at Birkbeck, University of London. He was born and raised in Los Angeles.
[Failure, from p. 15]
Failure to Respond
• March 19: The Senate unveils a $1 trillionplus economic stimulus package. California Gov. Gavin Newsom orders lockdown for 40 million residents. • March 20: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo orders all non-essential businesses to keep their workers home. Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio, Illinois and many other states issue similar restrictions.
• March 24: Having tweeted on the economic shutdown that “we cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself,” Trump says in a Fox News town hall he would “love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter.”
• March 27: Trump signs a $2.2 trillion emergency spending bill. • March 29: Trump reverses course on relaxing strict stay-at-home guidance by Easter and extends the period to the end of April. • March 30: Cases top 163,000. The number of tests crossed the 1 million mark, still far behind what’s needed. • March 31: Trump asks Americans to be prepared for the “hard days that lie ahead.”
• April 4: Trump attacks Obama for his own testing failure with a new lie: “The ones that we inherited, they were broken, they were obsolete, they were not good tests. But that’s what we got stuck with. We’ve developed
Cars line up at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank held at the Inglewood Forum April 14. File photo
“The Obama administration made a decision on testing that turned out to be very detrimental to what we’re doing. ” President Donald Trump, March 4, 2020 some incredible tests.” But there were no inherited tests, since COVID-19 didn’t exist until almost three years after Obama left office. It was Trump’s own administration that turned down World Health Organization tests, developed its own faulty ones, then dragged its heels in allowing others to develop their own tests. (5) • April 7: COVID-19 deaths pass 10,000, with 10,680 recorded, out of 361,331 cases.
• April 12: Trump retweets a call to fire Anthony Fauci after Fauci says earlier measures “could have saved lives.”
Easter arrives and most of the country is still on lockdown and most churches are either closed for services or go to virtual ones.
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PETS PEDRO PET PALS is the only group that raises funds for the City Animal Shelter and FREE vaccines and spay or neuter for our community. (310) 991-0012
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DBA FILINGS Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2020049280 The following person is doing business as: (1) Agualuna Studio, 1440 Brett Place #57, San Pedro, CA 90732, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Luna Vasquez, 1440 Brett Place #57, San Pedro, CA 90732. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 12/2014. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Luna Vasquez, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Feb. 27, 2020. Notice--In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 where it expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other
than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 03/05/20, 03/19/20, 04/02/20, 04/16/20
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2020047600 The following person is doing business as: (1) Ulloth Graphics, (2) Greenlight Transit, 24680 Piuma Road, Malibu, CA 90265, Los Angeles County. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 7232, Van Nuys, Ca 91409,. Registered owners: John Jay Ulloth, 24680 Piuma Road, Malibu, CA 90265. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 06/2015. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant
ACROSS
1 School that won 10 NCAA basketball championships in 12 years 5 Planetarium projections 10 Section of music that’s repeated 14 Thing on stage 15 Banned practice? 16 Earth Day subj. 17 *Bowlful on the specials list 19 “Trapped in the Drive-___” (Weird Al song) 20 Beaker’s spot 21 Goose formations 23 Nursery schooler 24 “Grown-up” cereal ingredient 27 *Italian veal dish 29 “Deep Space Nine” constable 30 Tap takeover unit 33 Hypnotic state 34 Mess up 36 Aragon-born artist 39 “So help me!” 40 *”I Am the Walrus” refrain 43 Even so 45 24-karat, gold-wise 46 Tabby tooth 49 Believer of sorts 51 It takes night deposits 53 Arthur of “Maude” and “The Golden Girls” 54 *Department of Labor training program who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. John Jay Ulloth, owner.
This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Feb. 26, 2020. Notice-In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 where it expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 03/05/20, 03/19/20,
04/02/20, 04/16/20
57 Seemingly bottomless pit 59 Gold, to Cortez 60 Christmastime 61 Addr. on a business card 62 Accumulation 64 *Bands like AKB48 and Babymetal (but not BTS--that’s a different letter) 69 Cop on a bust 70 “... to fetch ___ of water” 71 1952 Winter Olympics city 72 Laundromat lather 73 Mary Poppins, for example 74 Late infomercial pitchman Billy
DOWN
1 “What can Brown do for you?” company 2 ___-Magnon man 3 Actor Diamond Phillips 4 iPad Pro maker 5 Ticket souvenir 6 Blues guitarist ___ Mahal 7 From the beginning, in Latin 8 Rakish sorts 9 Most in need of a massage 10 Terrier treater 11 1991 U2 album featuring the song “One” 12 Fez’s country 13 Demoted (like a former planet) 18 Nightfall 22 Kevin who played Hercules on TV 24 Driving visibility problem 25 “___ believe ...” Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2020047598 The following person is doing business as: (1) DB Holistic, (2) Divine Serenity, 430 W. 8th Street #4, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Mailing Address: 1536 W. 25th Street #424, San Pedro, CA 90732. Registered owners: Myrian Talbott, 430 W. 8th Street #4, San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above:N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Myrian Talbott owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Feb. 26, 2020. Notice--In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 where it expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in
26 Wave rider’s accessory 28 ___ Pigs Invasion (1961 event) 31 Quail ___ omelet 32 Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand 35 B vitamin acid 37 TTYL part 38 “Slumdog Millionaire” city 41 Kaitlin of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” 42 Hot tub nozzle 43 Capital of Newfoundland and Labrador 44 “Walden” writer 47 “Duck Hunt” platform 48 Oxygen, for one 50 One fooled by a wooden horse 52 Ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny 55 Pig blamed for causing American kids to affect British accents 56 Alfred P. ___ Foundation (NPR benefactor) 58 Result in flowers 61 Unpleasant, as a situation 63 Laptops or desktops, e.g. 65 Alley figure 66 Home of Rome and Moscow 67 What the P in TP doesn’t stand for 68 Oceanic distress signal the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 03/05/20, 03/19/20, 04/02/20, 04/16/20
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2020047598 The following person is doing business as:(1) High Performance Addiction, 1022 W. 18th Street #2, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Frank Trutanich, 1022 W. 18th Street #2, San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious
[continued on p. 18]
April 16 - 29, 2020
PLEASE HELP! The animals at the Harbor Animal Shelter have ongoing need for used blankets, comforters, pet beds.* Drop off at Harbor Animal Shelter 957 N. Gaffey St.,San Pedro • 888-452-7381, x 143
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DBA/LEGAL FILINGS [from p. 17] business name or names listed above:N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Frank Trutanich owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on Feb. 26, 2020. Notice--In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 where it expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 03/05/20, 03/19/20, 04/02/20, 04/16/20
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2020046144
The following person is doing business as: (1) Compagnon Wine Bistro, 335 West 7th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731, Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Compagnon Wine Bistro LLC/AI#201807210596, 335 West 7th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. This Business is conducted by a Limited Liability Company. The date registrant
started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 03/2018. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Thomas Gregory Compagnon, Managing Member. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on 02/25/20. Notice--In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920 where it expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration. The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 03/19/20, 04/02/20, 04/16/20, 04/30/20
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2020065867 The following person is doing business as: (1) Defining Moments Video, (2) Beach Villa Organic Dry Cleaner, Inc., 1110 W 9th Street, San Pedro CA 90731. Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Mark J Doddy, 1110 W 9th Street, San
Pedro CA 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: N/A. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Mark J Doddy, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on March 20, 2018. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920, were it to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 04/02/2020, 04/16/2020, 04/30/2020, 05/14/2020
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2020058175 The following person is doing business as: Coastline Coatings, 1279 W 24th Street #1, San Pedro CA 90731. Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Dimitrios Tsikiniadopoulos, 1279
under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 04/16/2020, 04/30/2020, 05/14/2020, 05/30/20
W 24th Street #1, San Pedro CA 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 1/2004. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Dimitrios Tsikiniadopoulos, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on March 9, 2018. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name
statement generally expires at the end of five years from the date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920, were it to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another
Fictitious Business Name Statement File No. 2020065869 The following person is doing business as: Rudy’s Construction, 1279 W 24th Street #1, San Pedro CA 90731. Los Angeles County. Registered owners: Dimitrios Tsikiniadopoulos, 1279 W 24th Street #1, San Pedro CA 90731. This Business is conducted by an individual. The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: 1/2004. I declare that all information in this statement is true and correct. (A registrant who declares as true information which he or she knows to be false is guilty of a crime.) S/. Dimitrios Tsikiniadopoulos, owner. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Los Angeles on March 9, 2018. Notice--In Accordance with subdivision (a) of section 17920. A fictitious name statement generally expires at the end of five years from the
date on which it was filed in the office of the county clerk, except as provided in subdivision (b) of section 17920, were it to expire 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement pursuant to section 17913 other than a change in the residence address of a registered owner. A new fictitious business name statement must be filed before the expiration.The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a fictitious business name in violation of the rights of another under federal, state, or common law (see section 1411 ET SEQ., Business and Professions code). Original filing: 04/16/2020, 04/30/2020, 05/14/2020, 05/30/20
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