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COVID-19 killed at least 3 million people worldwide, reported the World Health Organization. I contracted it myself three times. The first was quite bad, the others like a medium cold. A friend ended up in the ICU for a week.
Yet here are four good developments to come from the coronavirus pandemic.Our American system of liberties was tested, and held firm.
In Jan. 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out President Biden’s mandate for 84 million American workers to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The court ruled on technical grounds the Occupational Safety and Health Administration exceeded the authority given it by Congress.
I should point out that, although I didn’t get the COVID vax because I thought it was developed too quickly, I am not an “anti-vaxxer,” and in recent years have been jabbed for shingles, pneumonia, the flu and Hepatitis-B.
But I have Canadian friends who were forced to get the COVID vax to keep their jobs. That’s no freedom. For Americans, COVID was a freedom test we passed.
2. Telehealth reforms advanced. Formerly called telemedicine, the federal government’s own website, telehealth.hhs.gov, lists some of the post-COVID changes, such as, “There are no geographic restrictions for originating site for behavioral/mental telehealth services.”
In California, on April 3, 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-43-20, which relaxed regulations on “the use of telehealth services to engage in the provision of medical, surgical, or other health care services,” as well as for mental health.
Unfortunately, it didn’t last. In January this year, the Los Angeles-based Reason Foundation released its 3rd Annual State Policy Agenda of Telehealth Innovation. California scored “improvements needed” in most areas. The best area was allowing “telehealth by any mode”; the worst was maintaining barriers to telehealth across state lines.
Co-author Vittorio Nastasi told me, “In 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1369, allowing cross-state telehealth services under very limited circumstances. This was a good step, but other states like Florida have gone much further.”
3. The economy survived a strong shock. Four years ago, federal and state policies shut down almost the entire U.S. economy, with most of the world following. The price of a barrel of oil fell below $0. On April 14, 2020 the International Monetary Fund branded it the “worst economic downturn since the Great Depression” of the 1930s. It warned, “April World Economic Outlook projects global growth in 2020 to fall to -3 percent.” President Trump and Congress spent $4 trillion on keeping the economy afloat – all of it borrowed money we’re still paying for.
But as soon as the shutdowns lifted, the economy came roaring back. Why? As horrible as COVID was, it wasn’t the Black Death of 1346-1353, which killed one-third to two-thirds of Europeans, depending on locality.
U.S. taxes remained relatively low. No vast new regulations were imposed. Industries weren’t socialized on the Soviet model. Although Trump got some new tariffs passed before the pandemic hit, they weren’t very high. America’s capitalist system quickly adapted to the new realities. That’s what markets do. It was another stress test America passed fairly well.
4. School choice advanced. Libertarians like me writing on education have long criticized the dumbing down and radicalization of public-school curriculums caused by the power teachers’ unions. With their kids at home taking classes online, many parents were shocked at what they saw.
Last May a Reason summary of research found, “The COVID-19 national emergency might be over, but parents’ desire to continue homeschooling is holding strong.” From 2019 to May 2023, the number of students homeschooled almost doubled from 2.8% to 5.4% by May 2023.
School choice also thrived. Future Ed recently tallied just four new private-school scholarship programs among the states in 2018-20, but 20 from 2021-23. None was in California. Yet here, too, parents want choice, not teacher-union dictates.
In sum, COVID was a terrible time. But we Americans made the best of it. It’s too bad California, supposedly the center of global innovation, continues to lag in many areas.
John Seiler is on the SCNG Editorial Board and blogs at johnseiler.substack.com
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Tennis fans did not love-love the bee-zarre turn at Indian Wells on Thursday when a swarm of bees disrupted a quarterfinal match of the BNP Paribas Open.
Umpire Mohamed Lahyani said play would be halted due to “bee invasion” at Stadium 1, after which video showed him being stung. He then fled for the locker room, according to Tennis Majors, as did Spanish pro tennis player Carlos Alcaraz and his German opponent, Alexander Zverev.
“First time for everything,” the announcer could be heard saying.
The bees were thick on the court as Alcaraz dashed about, trying not to get stung, and they collected on the spider cam, a camera suspended by cables.
The insects claimed victory, at least temporarily.
Alcaraz, the BNP Paribas Open defending champion, was playing against Zverev, who defeated Alcaraz in their last match at the Australian Open.
Alcaraz won 6-3 against Fabian Marozsan Tuesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open.
Rabbi Yossi Mintz Co-Founder / Executive Director Friendship Foundation
Rabbi Yossi Mintz is a renowned communal leader, spiritual guide, and co-founder of the Friendship Foundation, originally known as The Friendship Circle. Born in Brooklyn N.Y. he studied in prestigious Rabbinical Colleges in Brooklyn and Florida before receiving his Rabbinical Ordination with honors.Upon moving to the South Bay of Los Angeles with his wife Sara in 1995, Rabbi Yossi established the Jewish Community Center of the South Bay which quickly grew into the largest Community Center of its kind in the area. Together they have 5 children.
Rabbi Yossi has always had a unique place in his heart for children with special needs,leading him to establish the Friendship Circle (now, Foundation) in 2007, an organization that provides for children and families living with special needs.He strongly believes that every child and young adult deserves equal access to education and the opportunity to develop their unique ability and place in society.Rabbi Yossi Mintz serves as the Executive Director of the Friendship Foundation. Through his leadership the organization has grown from serving 8 individuals with special needs and 22 volunteers,to over 5,000 participants and volunteers combined.
The Friendship Foundation has Friendship School Clubs in over 72 public schoolsthroughout Los Angeles County (and 2 other states), including 21 different school districts.In addition, the foundation offers over 60 programs a month for ages 8-35+. Theannual Skechers Pier 2 Pier Friendship Walk, in partnership with the Skechers Foundation, is the largest such event in California, bringing together over 20,000+ children and adults of all backgrounds to walk for inclusion, friendship, mentoring, and anti-bullying. Since the inception of the walk, in 2014, over $25 Million has been donated to public schools and the Friendship Foundation.
Mintz is also the visionary behind the Friendship Campus, a $55 Million campus in Southern California that broke ground in August of 2022 and will open in Fall 2025. The Friendship Campus will be a home away from home for all teens and young adults as a space for children and young adults to come together regardless of their background or challenges that they face. The programming for the new campus is being developed to
be a safe and inspirational place where children and young adults on the spectrum will engage with others to develop life skills, interpersonal relations, personal interests, vocational training and gain a career in the mainstream workforce.
Albert Pujols has sold his 9,200-square-foot mansion in Irvine’s Shady Canyon for $8.8 million, after initially asking $9.98 million.
The retired first baseman and 11-time MLB All-Star sold the Mediterranean-style villa at 25 Cactus, in gated Shady Canyon, Realtor.com reported. The buyer was undisclosed.
The slugger known as “The Machine” bought the five-bedroom, eight-bathroom house in 2012 for $5.55 million after he signed a 10-year, $240 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels.
The property was relisted and removed for that price in March, June and August, with a contingent deal in October, then removed in February at $9.98 million. It sold on March 5 in an apparent off-market deal for $1.18 million less.
The two-story, red-tiled mansion, built in 2010, has a double-height foyer with a curved wooden staircase and white tiled floors. There’s a luxury kitchen, multiple living rooms, a formal dining room and a laundry room.
The home comes with two offices, a movie theater, a wet bar and a meditation room. There’s also a bonus room that could be turned into a wine cellar, kid’s playroom or home gym, according to Realtor.com.
The kitchen has a marble center island, wood cabinets, a walk-in pantry and a breakfast nook. A formal dining room has a coffered ceiling and doors that open to the backyard. Sitting areas have stone fireplaces, beamed ceilings and wooden shutters.
The master bedroom has a wall of windows, a spa-style bathroom with a center tub, two walk-in closets and a laundry room.
Outside, there’s a resort-style pool with a Baja step, a rock slide grotto and a waterfall, plus a Jacuzzi, fire pit and patios surrounded by gardens, with a four-car garage. The monthly HOA fee is $725.
Brokers Charisse Okamoto and Carrie English of Caliber Real Estate held the listing.
Shady Canyon features 300 homes on nearly 1,100 acres. The large lots coupled with a sense of privacy has prompted athletes, executives and others to call Shady Canyon home, including best-selling author Dean Koontz and Alteryx Executive Chairman Dean Stoecker.
Pujols, a native of the Dominican Republic, was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1999, and went on to play for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the L.A. Dodgers before retiring as a Cardinal in 2022, having won two World Series, two Golden Glove Awards and socked 703 home runs.
LOS ANGELES – In an incident caught on surveillance security video this past weekend at the Precinct DTLA queer bar located at 357 South Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, two men are seen walking into the alcove of the employee entrance to the bar and urinating on the door.
One of the men on the video was later identified as Chris Kilpatrick, an elected member of the Crescenta Valley Town Council. In an interview with KABC 7 Eyewitness News, Jeremy Lucido, bar’s general manager said:
“I was walking to my car on the sidewalk, noticed two guys, drunk with their full cocktails,” Lucido said. “I recognized the glasses from our bar so I knew they (had been) inside. I told them ‘whatsup! You can’t have your drinks out here’ and I went to grab one of the cups and the tall dude pushed me and I flew back.”
Lucido said that when he later reviewed the surveillance security video, he realized that they were the same men he had the altercation with. He told KABC 7 that he posted the video to the bar’s Instagram account which then racked up over 5,000 views and reactions.
“Two bros walk into a bar. Last Saturday night, these two party boys decided to show everyone what not to do at Precinct. They first left the bar with full cocktail glasses in hand, then decided to go to our employee entrance, whip out their and piss all over it together. When done, they rounded the corner where one of the managers spotted the drinks and tried to take them away; the big one reacted by physically assaulting him, throwing him to the ground. Precinct is a safe space for all; let’s have a good time. Don’t be a d*ck. oh, yeah, we also have several bathrooms.”
KABC 7 reported that the video has racked up nearly 1,000 comments. Many commenters identified one of the men as Kilpatrick.
“The comments just grew very fast with different stories, other parties and party hosts, and bar managers, like ‘oh yeah, we know them’,” Lucido told KABC 7.
An attorney for Kilpatrick in a statement to KABC claimed that Lucido did not identify himself as a bar employee. He says Kilpatrick acted in self-defense, believing he was going to be gay-bashed.
The attorney’s statement read in part: “…public urination is not a criminal offense. It is an infraction under the Los Angeles Municipal Code and one can be cited to pay a fine for this violation. Battery is a misdemeanor offense including an unlawful touching as exhibited by individual one, who grabbed my client first. Pushing back is an affirmative defense if done to defend oneself or others.”
Sparks flew from a stolen car that led the Los Angeles Police Department on a pursuit after the driver crashed the vehicle into the center divider of the 405 Freeway.
The chase began sometime before 8:45 p.m. Thursday after LAPD’s West Division responded to a report of a stolen vehicle. Details on how the car was obtained were not immediately available.
Leading police on a pursuit through surface streets and freeways, the driver crashed into the center divider of the 405 Freeway near Wilshire Boulevard, rendering the car useless. Shortly after the crash, the driver surrendered to law enforcement.
The identity of the driver was not immediately released. It is unclear what charges they may face.
A swift response by the Burbank Police Department to a possible residential burglary in the serene 3600 block of Viewecrest Dr. led to the arrest of five individuals in a dramatic late-night operation just before midnight on March 12. The operation showcased the effectiveness of law enforcement collaboration and the crucial role of police K-9 units.
Officers were dispatched to the scene following reports of suspicious activity. Upon arrival, they encountered two suspects in a vehicle, poised for a quick getaway. These individuals were apprehended without incident, signaling the beginning of a broader operation to secure the area and locate additional suspects believed to be involved.
The situation escalated when it was determined that three more suspects had fled on foot into the neighborhood, prompting a comprehensive search operation. Officers from both the Burbank and Glendale Police Departments, along with three K-9 units — two from Burbank and one from Glendale — were deployed to track down the suspects along with a Pasadena police helicopter.
The three individuals, once located, refused to surrender, leading to a confrontation with the police K-9s. The dogs subsequently bit the suspects after failing to comply with the officer’s demands and, after receiving medical treatment at the scene by the Burbank Fire Department, including three paramedic units, were transported to a local medical facility. They, along with the two suspects detained earlier, were booked for residential burglary.
The suspects have been identified as 19-year-old Robert Holt, a Los Angeles resident; 20-year-old Trista Manuel, a Los Angeles resident; 19-year-old Anthony Regalado, a Los Angeles resident; 21-year-old Henry Thomas, a Los Angeles resident; and 23-year-old Kameron Wilson, a resident of Moreno Valley.
“The Burbank Police Department wishes to thank our partners from the Glendale Police Department and Pasadena Police Department for their assistance in making these arrests.” said Sgt. Steven Turner in a press release.
Formal charges are pending review by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
A UPS seasonal worker delivers packages on Cyber Monday in New York on Nov. 27, 2023.
Stephanie Keith | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Just before midnight on May 4, 2023, police were called to an Amazon warehouse in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to investigate a reported theft.
They were met by a loss prevention employee, who directed them to a warehouse worker named Noah Page, the suspected culprit, according to a police report of the incident that was obtained by CNBC.
When confronted by police, according to the report, Page admitted that he’d marked a customer’s order in Amazon’s internal system as returned even though the products were never actually sent back to the company. Page received $3,500 for his part in the scheme, the report said.
Page didn’t know the customer but had chosen to call him “Ralph,” the report said. Ralph, it turned out, was part of a group named Rekk, an expansive refund fraud organization that targeted major retailers and recruited company employees by promising them a cut of the profits, Amazon alleged in a lawsuit.
Refund fraud, which involves tricking retailers into refunding a customer for a purchase without an item being physically returned, has become so pervasive that groups now market their services on Reddit, TikTok and Telegram. Type in “refund method” — or “r3fund,” to skirt content moderators —on TikTok and videos will pop up of users showing off piles of cash, sneakers and iPhones. One video has the caption, “me after realizing you can get a refund on any Rick Owens if the ‘package never came,’” referring to the minimalist fashion brand. The clip shows a hand endlessly tossing shoes to the ground.
Fraud groups are taking advantage of retailers’ lenient return policies, experts told CNBC, which often include unlimited free returns and sometimes even a preference that customers keep the items. It’s ballooned into a massive problem for retailers, costing them more than $101 billion last year, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation and Appriss Retail. The figure includes multiple forms of fraud, such as sending back clothing after it’s been worn, known as “wardrobing,” and returning shoplifted merchandise, the survey said.
In December, Amazon filed a lawsuit against Page and 47 other people across the globe with alleged ties to Rekk, accusing them of conspiring to steal millions of dollars worth of products in a refund fraud operation. Amazon described these services as “illegitimate ‘businesses’” that look to “exploit the refund process for their own financial gain to the detriment of honest consumers and retailers who must bear the brunt of increased costs, decreased inventory, and service disruption that impacts genuine customers.”
Amazon also suffered more than $700,000 in losses at the hands of another alleged fraud ring in which 10 people were indicted last year, according to documents from a suit filed in 2023.
Robots transport goods to the employees in warehouse at Amazon fulfillment center in Eastvale on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021.
the Riverside Press-enterprise | Medianews Group | Getty Images
An Amazon spokesperson said the company is addressing the issue “head on” through specialized teams and machine learning tools that detect and prevent refund fraud. Amazon says its work with law enforcement has led to arrests, the dismantling of organized retail crime groups and civil lawsuits.
“We continue to make progress in identifying and stopping fraud before it happens, as well as dismantling the groups that attempt to damage the integrity of our store and the stores of retailers across the retail industry,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Here’s how it works: A shopper buys a product online and sends the order information to a group such as Rekk, which then poses as the customer in requesting a refund. Amazon refunds the money to the customer, who then pays the fraud group usually between 15% and 30% of the refund amount, often via PayPal or with bitcoin. That means the customer ends up buying the product for what amounts to a huge discount.
The fraud group then pays the conspiring employee at the retailer, typically a certain amount for a batch of packages the employee scans as returned.
Retailers and law enforcement agencies are catching onto the trend. In September, a 25-year-old man in Michigan, Sajed Al-Maarej, was arrested and charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and mail fraud after he allegedly ran a return fraud service called Simple Refunds that targeted more than 50 retailers. The following month, 10 men were indicted in Oklahoma, and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud for allegedly operating a refund fraud service named Artemis Refund Group. And a 24-year-old U.K. man was convicted of fraud in December after running the KeptSecrets refund service, which targeted retailers including Amazon, Walmart and Wayfair, according to court documents.
Following the Rekk scheme, Page was arrested when police showed up at the Chattanooga warehouse in May, and he was charged with theft of property worth more than $60,000. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in November to three years of probation, as well as ordered to pay Amazon $5,000.
For every refund fraud service shut down by law enforcement, swarms of similar groups remain open for business.
CNBC viewed several active refund fraud services on encrypted messaging app Telegram, each with thousands of followers. Updates are posted almost daily of new stores on their services, or new retailers that have been successfully targeted. Amazon and Apple are frequently hit, along with Nike, eBay, Saks Fifth Avenue and Ralph Lauren. Some groups even offer their services for DoorDash and Uber Eats orders, claiming users can “eat for free.”
The groups are highly organized and run like businesses, providing customer service, cataloging orders and creating fake shipping labels. Some sell how-to guides.
A Google form from an active refund fraud service explaining which stores it targets and how much it charges customers.
Source: Google
Fraudsters employ multiple strategies. A common one is to claim a package never arrived so that the retailer issues a refund. According to Amazon’s lawsuit, a Rekk user received a full refund for two MacBook Air laptops after filing a police report falsely claiming the products never arrived.
Mail-in fraud involves a user filling out a company’s return form, but instead of sending back the purchased product, users will mail an empty box or a package filled with junk. In the case of Simple Refunds, Al-Maarej, the man who allegedly operated the group, sent an unnamed retailer “an envelope filled with plastic toy frogs” instead of the tools he claimed he was returning, prosecutors said.
Al-Maarej also recruited employees at UPS and the U.S. Postal Service who either manipulated a package’s tracking history or input false “return to sender” notices to fool the retailer into thinking an item couldn’t be delivered or that it was sent to the wrong address, according to court documents.
Chris Black, an attorney for Al-Maarej, declined to comment. Amazon said its own internal investigation identified Al-Maarej’s scheme and contributed to the eventual indictment.
The company didn’t respond to questions specifically about how it monitors and handles bribery of its employees by ORC and refund fraud groups.
Rekk allegedly used bribes, offering Amazon staffers thousands of dollars a day to approve customer returns for products that were never sent back.
In a text message last year to Page, a Rekk representative said they’d been working with two other Amazon employees for about two months and offered them $4,000 for 30 orders marked as returned, according to court documents.
“They usually do 30 scans per day per shift,” the Rekk user wrote. “Sometimes they choose to do more. So at least 12k a week.”
According to the complaint, Rekk also recruited one of Page’s colleagues at CHA1, Amazon’s name for the Chattanooga facility. Between February 2023 and May 2023, the CHA1 employee allegedly approved product returns for 76 orders at Rekk’s request, causing Amazon to refund over $100,000 to customers, and netting $3,500 from the scheme.
A refund fraud service claims to have access to Amazon insiders in a Telegram post.
Source: Telegram
Amazon said it has tried to address the bribery problem. In its lawsuit against Rekk, the company said it has an internal customer protection and enforcement team made up of attorneys, former prosecutors, and analysts investigating organized crime schemes such as refund fraud. The company has also reportedly fired employees who were allegedly bribed to leak confidential data on third-party sellers.
Cyril Noel-Tagoe, a cybersecurity expert who has studied refund fraud extensively, said the economic incentive for low-wage workers to get involved with these schemes creates a perpetual challenge for retailers.
“If you’re offering an employee much more than they’re getting paid, then it’s quite hard to combat that,” Noel-Tagoe, who works as a principal security researcher at bot detection software company Netacea, told CNBC.
Those on the lookout for moneymaking opportunities will find no shortage of promotional videos across social media. For a fee, you can learn how to play the game.
One TikTok video on the topic shows bags of Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Apple products and reads, “[Point of view]: You mastered the art of r3funding and started to teach others.” TikTok clips often serve as advertisements for a user’s Telegram channel that’s linked in the bio of their account.
Similar tactics are used on Reddit.
In the “Illegal Life Pro Tips” forum on Reddit, which is no longer active but counts 1.1 million members, refund scammers shared their tips and tricks. In recent days, Reddit banned an offshoot of that subreddit, called “illegallifeprotips2,” saying it violates the site’s rules “against transactions involving prohibited goods or services.” Users quickly resurfaced on a new subreddit, “ELegalLifeProTips.” After CNBC flagged “ELegalLifeProTips,” Reddit took down the subreddit for violating its ban evasion policy.
In the past, such illicit behavior ran rampant on the dark web and required VPNs and a special browser, said Brittany Allen, a trust and safety architect at fraud detection software company Sift. These days the perpetrators regularly discuss their activities openly on forums and in messaging apps, which Allen described as the “democratization of fraud.”
“You don’t need to be that specialist that can figure out how to find these deep web groups,” Allen said. “All you need is to have a phone that can go to Reddit, or a TikTok account you’re already on, and you’ll potentially be exposed to fraud that doesn’t take as much uplift to participate in.”
Remi Vaughn, a spokesperson for Telegram, told CNBC in an email that the company moderates “harmful content” on its platform, including posts that promote fraud. “Moderators use a combination of proactive moderation on public parts of the platform and accept user reports in order to remove content which breaches Telegram’s terms,” Vaughn added.
A Reddit spokesperson said it uses a combination of automated tooling and human moderators to enforce its content policies, which prohibit users from soliciting or facilitating any transaction that involves fraudulent services.
After CNBC provided TikTok with examples of videos about refund fraud, the company said it removed them for violating its community guidelines. It said it also blocked hashtags that were used to promote refund fraud.
The use of mainstream apps in these schemes has made it easier for investigators to do their work. Noel-Tagoe referenced a case in which a retailer was able to track down an individual whose email address was in an Instagram post.
Allen said she’s been able to identify fraudsters through “vouches,” or screenshots of successful fraudulent returns. Some of the images show order numbers, store pickup locations or cart items, according to Allen, all useful intel for retailers investigating return fraud.
David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations at the National Retail Federation, said an increasing number of companies are “tightening up their return policies” in response to customer abuse and fraudulent activity.
Delivery workers, for example, are encouraged to photograph a package once it reaches its destination, and retailers are looking more closely for suspicious behavior in analyzing returns.
“There are some retailers that monitor the number of returns you make in-store, and if you return too much too frequently, they might put you on pause,” Johnston said. “We’re starting to see more of that now on the e-commerce side.”
The next time a city of Los Angeles public official or homeless-bureaucracy staffer gets the urge to say something, or write something, or pass a law about something related to the decades-long tragedy of homelessness on their streets, they need to stifle the urge.
Stop talking, writing, passing laws. Instead, do something. Anything.
Or, take the few successful physical manifestations of projects that in fact do something about homelessness, and replicate them. Go check out the Eagle Rock Tiny Home Village that opened two years ago with 48 8-by-8 prefab houses that provide beds every night to 93 people, many of whom used to live in tents on the sidewalk just down the block on Figueroa Street at the 134 Freeway underpass. The houses were built on a little-used former parking lot owned by Los Angeles County, the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks and Southern California Edison. It’s not fancy. But it’s working.
Last week, a little-seen report on the city’s much-vaunted homelessness enforcement policy aimed at getting people off the streets and into shelter was leaked. It claims the city “has failed in key goals to keep areas clear of encampments and get people housed,” as LAist reports. The policy is known in bureaucratese as 41.18, a city ordinance that allows council members themselves to designate areas in their district where unhoused people can’t camp.
Actually, in many respects, from simple observation, the policy is clearly working. Homeless encampments have been cleared, and, contrary to the report, compiled by the perhaps conflicted LAHSA agency, are staying cleared. And thus the kerfuffle in City Hall about the City Council commissioning the report and then slow-walking its release.
But, lawmakers, stop talking about the crisis of homelessness and create more housing instead. Spend your time, and the time of your myriad staffers, on actually securing land such as the Eagle Rock parking lot, buying tiny homes and opening them up to people without homes.
The good part of 41.18 is major nuisance camps throughout the city are being broken up and their residents sent packing. The bad part is that it it creates no cheap housing for the homeless to move into. Let’s work both sides of the problem better than we do.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) — It’s been nearly 20 years since Stephen Patterson went to prison for a crime he did not commit. On Wednesday, he walked out a free man.
Patterson was declared factually innocent and ordered to be released from custody after his murder conviction was overturned for a 16-year-old boy’s killing in South Los Angeles in 2005.
He was wrongfully convicted of a gang shooting and murder in 2007 after he was incorrectly identified by a witness as one of the shooters.
“This was the only evidence that was available at the time,” L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón said to media as Patterson stood by his side. “There was no physical evidence. There were other witnesses that actually contradicted or were not able to identify Mr. Patterson.”
Despite having an alibi, he was convicted and spent nearly two decades in prison.
His mother hired a private investigator until the Innocence Center took up the case.
“If you know the truth then you stand by them because my family – good people and so is my son,” Patterson’s mother Joann Pryor said.
Patterson has always maintained his innocence.
“This was a long time coming,” Patterson told reporters. “I had a lot that I wanted to say today, especially for the people still waiting on their turn to be free who have been falsely imprisoned.”
Now he says hopes to find a job and spend more time with his family.
“My life was given back to me,” he said.
The exoneration is the 13th under Gascón’s administration.
The Innocence Center says they’ve identified two men who committed the murder and submitted that information to the DA’s office.
Sixteen members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team were injured Wednesday afternoon in an explosion at an FBI training facility in Irvine, according to authorities.
The explosion occurred around 1 p.m. in a small building at the Jerry Crowe Regional Tactical Training Facility, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Frank Gonzalez.
The SWAT team was conducting its annual joint training with a bomb squad at the time, he said. The FBI wasn’t involved and had lent them the facility for the exercise.
Fifteen people were taken to hospitals. One person sustained a leg injury that will require surgery but is not life-threatening. Two others have superficial wounds, including back and leg injuries. The 13 other people went to the hospital as a precaution because of dizziness and ringing in their ears, but many have already been discharged.
Celebrity Chef Alisa Reynolds is looking to inspire the next generation of chefs in honor of Women’s History Month.
Reynolds has cooked for President Barack Obama and many A-List stars. The chef is about to open her third restaurant and just released a documentary on soul food from around the world.
My 2 Cents on Pico Boulevard in Mid-City has been delighting guests with its reimagined soul food for over a decade. Reynolds honors her Southern roots with a healthy twist. Driven by her love for food, the chef says it took hard work and determination to get here.
“It’s like stepping into a hug or stepping into your grandmother’s house in a modern way. The food speaks for itself. I put my love into the menu,” said Reynolds. “Being a woman, being an African American, Black woman, you don’t see often, you don’t see thousands and millions of Black restaurants.”
It’s a huge accomplishment for Reynolds as she reflects on where she started her journey more than 25 years ago.
“I want people to understand that if you are passionate about something to follow your dreams, and that’s what we do here at My 2 Cents every day, it’s very hard but it’s so rewarding,” said Reynolds.
Reynolds released her eight-series documentary “Searching for Soul Food” last summer, which explores connections cultures share when it comes to food.
“Food brings you together, and I think that if we sit down and start to talk more, we can inspire us to be great,” said Reynolds.
Chef Reynolds was nominated for a James Beard Award for the Best Chef in California category just as the second My 2 Cents location opens on Friday, March 16.
Amaarae has shared a new music video for her Fountain Baby single “Angels in Tibet.” The richly-colored visual takes place on stage and in various palatial settings, and stars dancers Hamly and Beaulexx alongside Amaarae. Check out the Yavez Anthonio-directed clip below.
Last year’s Fountain Baby marked the Ghanaian American musician’s Interscope debut, following her 2020 LP The Angel You Don’t Know. Amaarae shared the singles “Reckless & Sweet,” “Co-Star,” “Wasted Eyes,” and “Princess Going Digital” from her new full-length.
Cain International has scored a $2 billion financing package led by JP Morgan for a 17.5-acre luxury megaproject now under construction in Beverly Hills.
The London-based developer, which is the majority partner in the deal, landed the loans for their One Beverly Hills project at 9850, 9876, 9900 and 9988 Wilshire Boulevard, Bloomberg reported.
The $2 billion project, approved in 2021 for a triangular site between Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards next to the Los Angeles Country Club, will link the Waldorf Astoria and a restored Beverly Hilton hotel with the first Aman luxury hotel on the West Coast.
Render of One Beverly Hills at 9850, 9876, 9900, and 9988 Wilshire Boulevard (Foster + Partners, Kerry Hill Architects)
The site, once occupied by a Robinsons-May department store and a gas station, will contain up to 200 luxury condominiums across two towers of up to 32 stories, surrounded by eight acres of botanical gardens and water features. It will also contain a retail pavilion and conference center.
Other partners in the project include Alagem Capital Group, Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries, based in Greenwich, Conn., and Vlad Doronin’s OKO Group, based in Miami.
The financing deal was led by a $500 million senior loan from New York-based JP Morgan, according to Bloomberg. The remaining lenders behind $1.5 billion in loans were not disclosed.
The new loans replace and supplement $500 million secured in 2021 from Aareal Capital and Goldman Sachs Group, both based in New York.
The deal comes as many banks have stepped back from commercial real estate, with higher interest rates and construction costs raising the risk of loan defaults, and reduced profitability for lenders.
“We’re hopeful we’ve gotten through the worst of the rate rises and that we’ll see rates going our way during the course of this project,” Jonathan Goldstein, CEO of Cain International, told Bloomberg. “It’s best to keep the momentum going on a site that’s unique like this.”
The money will help pay the cost of renovations at the Beverly Hilton, owned by Cain, Eldridge and Alagem. The hotel, which opened in 1955, hosts such events as the Milken Institute’s annual global conference and the Golden Globe Awards.
A groundbreaking ceremony for One Beverly Hills was held last month, nearly two decades after developers first envisioned the luxury project.
The land passed through a series of owners, including Christian and Nick Candy, Carlos Slim and Dalian Wanda Group, before the current partners bought the site in 2018 for $445 million.
Before marrying my husband Benjamin, I had a habit of setting New Year’s resolutions of lofty goals-turned-faded letdowns. From publishing books to running marathons, those big dreams led to late nights, missed deadlines and self-inflicted exhaustion. A realist at heart, Benjamin taught me to crumple date-induced ambitions and simply find motivation in myself rather than a flip of the calendar.
That is until recently.
Tiptoeing toward us was 2024 holding a mirror of tired reflections. Coffee was my fuel and bedtime was my bestie, as we juggled four jobs between the two of us. Oddly enough, we’re wired that way, taking on more than we should because we’re driven by ourselves.
And so, we ironed out that crumpled sheet of blankness and wrote in bold letters: “Relax. Rest. Recover. Reconnect. Rejuvenate. Restore.”
That was our goal, to get away for four days and come back new and improved.
Enter Arizona. The proximity to San Diego made the spontaneous getaway uncomplicated, not to mention, we heard of two properties that had the power to push the reset button on life.
Tucked into the untamed Sonoran Desert, CIVANA Wellness Resort & Spa would start our path to wholeness, followed by Castle Hot Springs which would continue our journey to healing in the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains. Two nights at each resort are what we dedicated to unplug from the world and reconnect to ourselves.
The 22,000 sq-ft spa is the heartbeat of CIVANA. (Benjamin Myers/TNS)
Simplicity was our priority, not budget. And so, we flew via JSX hop-on jet service. As first timers, we learned that the public charter traveled to 40-plus destinations including Scottsdale. Gone were the security lines, the crowded terminals and the hidden fees, meaning we could park and arrive just 20 minutes before takeoff. Included in the $279 ticket price were cocktails, Wi-Fi, business-class legroom, and oversized baggage. Trust me, we were carrying some serious baggage (figuratively, of course).
The past year wrung us out, and now Arizona was hanging us out to dry with a bad start.
Somehow the rental car agency had “sold out” of vehicles. For over two hours, we stood in line hoping for a set of wheels that would take us to utopia.
Mentally, I was at a dangerous place and on the verge of getting ugly, the type where my husband walks away and pretends I’m a stranger. Stepping out of line, I went directly to the parking garage and showed an attendant our reservation. To my surprise, he handed us a set of keys and we were off — that is until we were stopped five minutes later for potential car theft.
Back to the airport we went, waiting another 45 minutes for a vehicle we hadn’t reserved, costing double the original price. And of course, things got ugly. That’s when a text message arrived from our house sitter, informing me that my pet turkey had gone missing.
Teetering between anger and sadness, I had nothing to say. Traffic was at a standstill, we hadn’t eaten all day, and my pre-booked meditation class was starting in five minutes.
And so, I bit down on my knuckles and screamed.
“Well, this is certainly off to a good start,” Benjamin said.
Everything I had aimed to quell was boiling at the surface, and now all I wanted to do was wash away the day.
A $40 million renovation turned this 1960s hotel into a wellness retreat. (Benjamin Myers/TNS)
Somehow, CIVANA sensed that, greeting me with a pool where I swam laps alone at sunset.
Within minutes, I could feel the stress dripping off my body. The setting certainly helped, a 1960’s mid-century modern hotel in a town appropriately named Carefree.
Originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s understudy, Joe Wong, the property resurrected in 2018 as CIVANA Wellness Resort. The $40 million dollar facelift was tight, with 144 neutral-toned rooms in stone, wood, and glass reflective of the desert.
Never did I expect cactuses to be so esthetically soothing, saluting the marbled sky and fading into the starry night. Webbing out from the 20-acre resort were pebble-framed trails that led to the café, restaurant, fitness studios and 22,000-sqare-foot spa.
Boldly launching during the pandemic, CIVANA is clearly the cool kid on the block, luring wellness-focused millennials with its price point and mindset that self-love is okay.
Apparently, women got the memo. Bachelorette parties, girls getaways and sister retreats left my husband saying, “I feel very alone.”
In my opinion, that was actually the point, for us to be (or at least feel) alone in our united solidarity. CIVANA went out of its way to do that through their pillars of discovery and nourishment. Starting with the latter, we dined at Terras with mouths-wide-open during dinner of eggplant hummus, seared scallops and Faroe Island salmon.
A seasonal menu delivers farm-to-fork cuisine at Castle Hot Springs. (Benjamin Myers/TNS)
“I think I need some carbs,” I whispered.
The veggie-forward menu had gluten free, grain free, dairy free and other “free” (not to be confused with “complementary”) options; an entrée alone runs about $50, but throw in the resort perks, and the price tag doesn’t seem so heavy.
Included in the $500+/- nightly rate are bikes, hiking trails wellness guides, aqua therapy and over 100 movement, personal growth and spiritual classes. I opted for yoga, cardio strength and “Band and Buns” while Benjamin zenned out with breathwork, meditation and sound-healing.
In true “us” form, we packed our schedules with classes and spa treatments. Of course, there were gardens and labyrinths to quiet the mind, open the heart and ground the body. Benjamin explored them. I did not, because I was too busy running to my next class. Like students on campus, we would wave in passing or meet up for lunch over smoothies and antioxidant bowls.
Shaking my empty water bottle, I tapped my forehead.
“I already feel so hydrated. … Oh, look, they have hard Kombucha!”
Despite our resolutions, we were on vacation after all — a time to let go, raise a glass, and toast to the fact we were reaping the benefits of our environment. Others got it, eating breakfast in bathrobes, sipping post-spa margaritas and ditching workouts when suffering and leisure no longer aligned.
I was sad to leave CIVANA, having just awakened the 2.0 version of myself. As we packed the car for Castle Hot Springs, I felt healthy, alive and poised for what was next. During the hourlong drive, we passed spiny saguaro cactuses, wild donkeys and a world of Winnebagos. Tumbleweeds rolled across desert plains, as if each one had a destination and a deadline.
“Is this where they filmed ‘Breaking Bad’?” I asked.
My husband didn’t respond, but rather mumbled something about our rental car being put to the test. In our wake was a plume of dust, leaving behind any sign of civilization. Thoughts of his tire-changing skills crossed my mind, along with my sudden desire to adopt a burro.
And then, there it was, an oasis thriving in the barrenness. Greeting us at parking was a valet who whisked us via golf cart through a private gate, down a palm tree-lined pathway, to Arizona’s first luxury resort. At the center of the 1,200-acre property were pools and ponds dotting manicured gardens and vibrant lawns so perfect, you’d swear you were living in an AI post.
A seven-mile dusty road leads to the lush oasis of Castle Hot Springs. (Benjamin Myers/TNS)
Castle Hot Springs existed to help people come up, and then slow down with mindful activities, rugged nature, and soft adventure. While rates were three times that of CIVANA, it was one-size-fits-all with an inclusive experience covering tours, meals, gratuities, resort fees, in-room amenities, valet, cart service and endless activities. Hiking, archery, paddleboarding, biking, horseback riding, pickleball, gardening, stargazing, wine-tasting, yoga — you name it, and they had a personal guide to take you from adventure to relaxation.
The diamonds of this jewelry box, however, are the hot springs that have been replenishing souls since 1896. From the Yavapai Tribe who soaked for medicinal purposes, to the prospectors who sold the land to the Murphy brothers for development, word spread of the healing waters and fertile soil in the Bradshaw Mountains.
The Rockefellers, Wrigleys, Vanderbilts and Roosevelts all escaped to this sanctuary of well-being, which pioneered Arizona’s first tennis courts, golf course and telephone. In 1943, it served as a military rehabilitation center for injured veterans, including future president, John F. Kennedy.
Despite its curative properties, Castle Hot Springs went up in flames in 1975. For over 40 years, the charred resort sat desolate, ready for someone to resuscitate its heart so that it might once again breathe life into others. Along came Cindy and Mike Watts, who first spotted the land while flying over during quail-hunting season. For around $2 million, they purchased the skeleton resort with only three buildings remaining. After a five-year historic restoration, Castle Hot Springs finally had the resurrection it deserved, today earning accolades matching some of the best hotels in the world.
Understandably so. Designed with luxury and relaxation in mind, 30 bungalows and cottages boast stone tubs, covered decks, telescopes and indoor-outdoor fireplaces. Each room is strategically located at the water’s edge so you can fall asleep to the sound of the babbling creek.
Clearly, we had found our healing place. Pulling back the curtains, my husband inhaled deeply and closed his eyes.
“Oh look, a hiking trail,” I clapped behind him.
Reaching new heights at Arizona’s only Via Ferrata Adventure Course, at Castle Hot Springs. (Benjamin Myers/TNS)
Alas, it was, and 17 of them to be exact. From aerial walkways and agave farms to canyon caves and mountain summits, we explored as many as we could in between yoga, massages, biking, rock climbing and farm tours. The latter ignited an unparalleled appreciation for the kitchen, where the chef and farmer work in unison; so much so, that they create the daily 4-course tasting menu together.
During our tour through the “living pantry,” we tasted leafy greens and fragrant herbs that made their way from farm-to-fork later that night. With over 3-acres under cultivation, the team of agronomists harvest more than 150 varieties of crops each season. Nova Scotia halibut with beluga lentils or Colorado lamb with pistachio butter and sweet potato fondant? Choices, choices.
If only we had more time and doggie bags to take home the feeling of Castle Hot Springs every time life turned south. It was the type of place that coated you in experiences over accommodations, memories over moments. We felt it during our bike tour, cruising down a network of single-track trails, mining roads and narrow canyons. It hit us again during our multiple soaks in the thermal pools.
Hot springs can vary in temperature up to 106 degrees Fahrenheit. (Benjamin Myers/TNS)
We slept deep that night, so deep in fact, that we awakened, and it was time to go … at noon.
Driving back to the airport, we once again sat in silence. Only this time, I wasn’t thinking about rental cars and traffic and the meditation class I was about to miss.
Instead, I was thinking about the miracle of an oasis that withstood the flames of the past to now extinguish the pain of the present. I thought about how those restorative waters had the power to plunge me out of exhaustion and emerge me anew with a deeper understanding and appreciation of loving myself. I thought about how cultivating wellness — from the food that I eat to the hours that I sleep — is a purposeful journey, not a prescribed destination. I thought about how two resorts in the Arizona desert revealed the importance of staying aligned in 2024, versus reaching a point of pushing reset.
Grabbing my husband’s hand, I gave it little squeeze. “Well,” I said, “this is certainly off to a good start.”
____
Marlise Kast-Myers (marlisekast.com) is an author and journalist based in San Diego. She and her husband live at the historic Betty Crocker Estate where they run Brick n Barn (bricknbarn.com)
Burroughs went three sets with Arcadia and was swept in a Pacific League match. (Photo by Rick Assad)
By Rick Assad
Nine points stood as the difference between host Burroughs High and Arcadia in a Pacific League boys’ volleyball match.
Powered by hitting sprees and also finesse, the Apaches edged the Bears 25-23, 26-24, 25-20 on Tuesday afternoon.
Burroughs played fairly decent well but couldn’t get over the hump against a strong Arcadia squad.
It’s likely that Burroughs, Arcadia and defending league champion Crescenta Valley will battle for the top spot.
“The difference was Arcadia did a great job of making us extend rallies with their great defense,” Burroughs coach Joel Brinton said. “We struggled to put the ball away and it led to a bunch of hitting errors on our side. Tough to win when you aren’t efficient at hitting. We weren’t and Arcadia deserves credit.”
The first two games were nip-and-tuck throughout and saw the Bears pull ahead 2-1 on a kill from Gavin Arnold in the opening set.
The Apaches (9-1 and 2-0 in league) marched in front 7-6 on a kill from Darren Yang, but Charlie Gerard’s winner saw Burroughs tie it at 8-8.
The Bears (6-5 and 1-1 in league) outscored the Apaches 6-1 and during that stretch Benji Ly added two kills for Burroughs which made it 12-9 and 13-9.
The Bears led 14-9 on a hitting error from Arcadia’s Caleb Lee and Ryder Tafoya’s stuff handed Burroughs an 18-12 advantage.
Arnold’s kill made it 20-17, but the Apaches evened it at 21-21 on a push from Lingesh Dhamotharan as the Bears needed a time out.
A kill from Henry Carlin evened it at 22-22, but a block from Arcadia’s Isaiah McMahon pushed the lead to 23-22 as Burroughs requested a stoppage in play.
The Bears played fairly well versus the Apaches, but came up just a little bit short. (Photo by Rick Assad)
McMahon’s tapper made it 24-22 and McMahon’s stuff secured the opening game for the Apaches.
The second game began well for Arcadia which led 3-0 on an ace from Adrian Pun.
The Bears bounced back to even it at 6-6 on Gerard’s block and Carlin’s kill tied it at 7-7.
An ace from Arcadia’s Thomas Shi leveled it at 10-10 but Skyy Alston’s dagger for the Bears tied it at 12-12.
Burroughs surged in front 19-15 on three straight service aces from Ly and kills from Jae Kung to make it 18-15 and a push from Gerard to make it 19-15.
From this point, Arcadia went on an 11-5 blitz and captured the second set with key points made by Dhamotharan that tied it at 21-21 and an ace that made it 26-24.
The match-sealer saw Burroughs race to a 7-1 lead as Ly had kills to make it 1-1, 4-1 and 6-1.
The Bears led 10-3 on a block from Arnold, but the Apaches rallied and evened it at 12-12 on Gerard’s hitting miscue.
McMahon’s push made it 18-15 in favor of Arcadia but the Bears roared back to within 19-17 on a tapper from Ly as the Apaches asked for a rest.
Arcadia led 23-19 on a service winner from Kevin Nakaishi and McMahon’s block made it three straight games.
SHERMAN OAKS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — At least three homes in Sherman Oaks were impacted by a landslide, prompting some people to be evacuated overnight.
Firefighters responded to N. Ventura Canyon Avenue around 2:51 a.m. Wednesday after reports of a large tree and wires down in the backyard of a residence, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
They discovered a large portion of the hillside had slid down toward homes in the area.
A home that was under construction sustained the most damage and will be red-tagged, officials said. One of the other homes was yellow-tagged.
LAFD’s Cody Weireter described the damage that was left behind.
“You have a large debris of mud, vegetation, trees… and rocks and concrete just come down into one of the homes that was under construction,” he told Eyewitness News. “A portion of one of the homes’ outdoor pool area has actually separated form that main foundation, and so obviously that’s one of our biggest concerns right now.”
Video from the scene shows a pool house and pool that sustained significant damage with large cracks on the ground. Crews pumped the water out of the pool to reduce the stress on the hillside.
There were people inside two of the homes at the time of the landslide. They all safely evacuated. No injuries were reported.
DEVELOPING: We will add more details to this report as they become available.
Burbank’s police department has been addressing a wide array of criminal activities across the city, from theft and burglary to assaults and DUI offenses. The following is a summary of incidents reported, highlighting the persistent challenge faced by the community and law enforcement.
March 4, 2024
Fraud at 2000 block of N Kenneth Rd, 8:00 AM.
Fraud at 600 block of E Harvard Rd, 12:55 PM.
March 5, 2024
Drugs/Alcohol Violations at 1300 block of N Victory Pl, 9:59 PM.
Assault at 500 block of S Buena Vista St, 9:00 PM.
Theft/Larceny at 2000 block of N Valley St, 10:19 AM.
March 6, 2024
DUI at 1400 block of N Naomi St, 10:44 PM.
Drugs/Alcohol Violations at 1000 block of S San Fernando Bl, 8:05 PM.
Burglary at 300 block of S Lomita St, 1:30 PM.
Motor Vehicle Theft at 500 block of S Main St, 1:16 PM.
Fraud at 1300 block of N Victory Pl, 6:35 PM.
Theft/Larceny at 1600 block of N Victory Pl, 5:30 PM and 12:30 PM.
Fraud at 2600 block of W Olive Av, 2:30 PM.
March 7, 2024
Assault at 3300 block of N Glenoaks Bl, 4:43 PM, and 1500 block of N Rose St, 6:51 AM.
Burglary at 3200 block of Scott Rd, 7:14 PM, and 1100 block of W Olive Av, 6:15 PM.
Drugs/Alcohol Violations across various locations including 1700 block of N Victory Pl, 2:37 PM.
Theft/Larceny at 2400 block of W Victory Bl, 5:59 PM, 400 block of W Alameda Av, 5:35 PM, and more.
March 8, 2024
Drugs/Alcohol Violations at locations including W Alameda Av/N Cordova St, 1:51 AM, and W Alameda Av/S Lake St, 12:54 AM.
DUI at W Empire Av/Valpreda St, 2:23 PM.
Theft/Larceny incidents occurred at several locations, including 1600 block of N Victory Pl, 1:04 PM, and 1800 block of W Verdugo Av, 3:23 PM.
March 9, 2024
DUI on the 1700 block of W Olive Av, 6:45 AM.
Fraud at W Burbank Bl/N Whitnall HW, 7:29 PM.
Theft/Larceny at 1600 block of N Victory Pl, 2:50 PM, and 11:44 AM.
These incidents paint a picture of the varied and complex landscape of criminal activity within Burbank. From property crimes to substance abuse and violence, each report underscores the ongoing efforts by local authorities to address and mitigate these challenges, ensuring the safety and security of the community.
In her bid for a second term, Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman pulled above 50% for the first time since vote counting began in last week’s primary election, increasing her prospects of avoiding a Nov. 5 runoff.
The latest batch of returns, released Tuesday, showed Raman with 50.2% of the vote, compared with 39% for her nearest opponent, Deputy City Atty. Ethan Weaver. In third place was software engineer Levon “Lev” Baronian, who had about 11%.
In a statement, Raman said she’s still waiting for all the votes to be counted. Nevertheless, she called the latest batch of results “very exciting.”
“It’s been the honor of my life to serve this incredible city as a member of its council, and I very much hope to see what more we can accomplish with four more years of work,” she said.
Vote counting is expected to resume Wednesday. Raman and her two challengers were competing to represent a district that straddles the Hollywood Hills, stretching from Silver Lake in the east to the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Reseda in the west.
Raman was running for a second four-year term in a district that is significantly different from the one that elected her in 2020. A year after she took office, the City Council redrew about 40% of the district, taking out such areas as Hancock Park and Park La Brea and adding all or part of Encino, Studio City and other neighborhoods.
Under the city’s election rules, any council candidate who receives more than 50% in the primary election wins outright.
Weaver, in a statement, said his campaign “always knew it was going to be a close race.”
“I do want to say thank you to all the thousands of people who rallied to our campaign,” he said, “and I’m asking for them to be patient while the remaining votes are counted.”
Weaver, who spent several years as a neighborhood prosecutor, had sought to make major issues of public safety and homelessness. He received huge financial support from unions that represent police officers and firefighters, as well as landlords, business groups and other donors, which spent a combined $1.35 million on his behalf.
Raman worked to turn that huge outside spending into a negative for Weaver, saying it showed that special interests were unhappy with her votes in support of new tenant protections and against police raises and digital billboards. Her supporters portrayed the race as one that would determine the future of progressive politics at City Hall.
Raman’s progress on her reelection bid took place on the same day that Ysabel Jurado, another candidate backed by the city’s political left, pulled into first place in her race against Councilmember Kevin de León.
Like Raman, Jurado had been increasing her share of the vote in each of the county’s daily updates. Jurado now appears to be headed to a Nov. 5 runoff election in that Eastside district.
Election officials said they have an estimated 126,000 ballots left to count countywide.
Last Saturday night, these two party boys decided to show everyone what not to do at Precinct. They first left the bar with full cocktail glasses in hand, then decided to go to our employee entrance, whip out their 
and piss all over it together. 
When done, they rounded the corner where one of the managers spotted the drinks and tried to take them away; the big one reacted by physically assaulting him, throwing him to the ground. Precinct is a safe space for all; let’s have a good time. Don’t be a d*ck. 
oh, yeah, we also have several bathrooms.”
