More than 30 years after a woman died violently at the hands of the “Happy Face Killer,” Riverside County investigators are close to a breakthrough in identifying her — but they’re seeking the public’s help.
The serial killer, whose name is Keith Hunter Jesperson, boasted of killing the woman and seven other female victims in the early 1990s, sending letters to the press about his exploits that he signed with a smiling face.
He referred to the woman he killed in Riverside as “Claudia,” but investigators have never been able to confirm her identity, according to the Riverside County district attorney’s office.
“Our goal is to identify this victim and provide closure to her family, wherever they may be,” Dist. Atty. Mike Hestrin said in a statement. “We are hopeful someone hearing any of these details may remember anything that could help us reunite this woman with the family who may have been looking for her for over three decades.”
Jesperson has been in custody since 1995 and pleaded guilty to murdering this Jane Doe in 2010, according to authorities. In his confession, Jesperson said he met the victim in August 1992 at a brake check area along Highway 15 south of Victorville.
Jesperson had been working as a long-haul truck driver. The woman hitched a ride with him, saying she was going to Los Angeles, but Jesperson had been headed southeast toward Arizona on his truck route.
He drove her south to Cabazon and then a rest stop in the Coachella Valley, where Jesperson killed her in his truck after a dispute about money, he said. He then drove seven miles north of Blythe along Highway 95 and disposed of the woman’s body on the side of the road. Her remains were discovered on Aug. 30, 1992.
The woman was described by Jesperson as in her 20s, about 5-foot-6 and 140 to 150 pounds. She had shaggy blond hair and a tattoo of two dots on the left side of the thumb on her right hand. She was wearing a T-shirt with a motorcycle on it when her body was found.
Forensic investigators using DNA evidence and genealogists have determined the woman’s biological father, now dead, hailed from Cameron County in Texas. Her mother remains unidentified but could have been from Louisiana or southeastern Texas. Investigators have contacted several people they believe to be half-siblings of the woman, though they told investigators they were not aware of her and could not identify her.
Anyone with potential leads can contact the Riverside County district attorney’s cold case hotline at (951) 955-5567 or by emailing coldecaseunit@rivcoda.org.
Federal officials have pledged up to $1 billion for an elevated train connecting SoFi Stadium and other venues to the Crenshaw Line, marking a major milestone for a marquee project that could open ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games.
The Federal Transit Administration commitment would finance half of the project’s $2-billion price tag.
To lock down the award, the city of Inglewood and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority must clear several more hurdles, including securing the other half of the money and making substantial progress to prepare the project for construction.
“It’s going to improve the fan experience,” said Inglewood Mayor James Butts, who has championed the project. “Fans, our residents and the employees deserve affordable and efficient transit options. This system will be good for the environment. It will again create jobs.”
Known as the Inglewood Transit Connector, the fully automated three-stop people mover will roll through Inglewood’s downtown and ferry fans to the city’s growing list of entertainment venues, which include the Kia Forum and the soon-to-be opened Inuit Dome. It’s expected to ease traffic during major events.
The city and Metro, which together form the project’s joint powers authority, say they have secured about 85% of the total $2-billion tab, counting the federal commitment. Although that commitment is not finalized, officials say it signals the viability of an ambitious project they aim to open before the 2028 Olympic Games.
“This federal support is a force multiplier on our momentum and an endorsement of all levels of government working together to benefit the public. We will get the next step done,” said Lisa Trifiletti, who is overseeing the project for the authority.
And although officials hope the people mover will be running by 2028, Federal Transit Administration documents show that it isn’t expected to open until 2030 and will cost $33 million a year to operate.
If the connector does open in time for the Olympics, Inglewood, a city of about 104,000, would be center stage, starting with the opening ceremonies at SoFi Stadium. Transit officials plan on creating a car-free Olympics and have been using events at SoFi, including Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, as a testing ground for not only the Olympics but how to deal with changing ridership patterns.
Backers say the elevated people mover and the tourists it brings will also help revitalize downtown Inglewood. But dozens of business will be forced to relocate to make room for it. And transportation experts question whether the people mover, which has increased in price by more than half a billion dollars over the last few years, is worth the cost and will deliver on its promises.
On a busy weekday, hundreds come through the door of Fiesta Martin Bar & Grill at Florence Avenue and Market Street. Esaul Martin, who runs the downtown Inglewood restaurant with his sister, is among those who will be forced to relocate.
“We don’t have a choice in what to do,” he said. The outside patio is teeming on weekends, and he has a steady local clientele.
Though his family owns several restaurants in town, he said, this is the most successful.
“Most people aren’t happy about it,” Martin said about other businesses nearby. “The options that they are giving us doesn’t come close. Either it doesn’t have parking, it’s too small, or the rent is four times this.”
Martin has hired a lawyer. But, he said, no relocation fee can replicate what he has created here. And he worries about his 45 employees.
Butts said change is hard, but the relocation packages are generous.
“This is major progress in the evolution of the city. Things are not going to be the way they are,” he said. “The benefits of this project far outweigh the angst of displacement, because everyone in Inglewood wins.”
Transit experts say the other big winners are people like Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
The $5-billion SoFi Stadium, home to the Rams and Chargers, opened in 2020. It had bypassed the lengthy environmental review process typically required in California, which would have quantified the traffic, pollution and noise that would come with a 70,000-seat stadium. Often, the developer must mitigate those impacts.
Instead, the project was approved six weeks after it was announced.
“There is definitely a good case to be made that at least there should be some financial contribution from the stadium owners,” said Jacob Wasserman, a research project manager at UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies. “It is going to serve the customers there who pay money to go see events and games. All transit serves businesses, and it’s a public service, but I think that this is disproportionately focused on these event venues.”
Butts said providing transportation is the job of municipalities.
The authority estimates that the people mover will have 4 million boardings in 2028 and nearly 8 million by 2078, which Wasserman said is likely overly optimistic.
Environmental studies show regular weekdays will be much quieter, bringing 414 passengers during peak hours and carrying 11,450 riders the hour after games.
Three pre-qualified teams are now preparing bids for the project, and the authority expects to choose one this summer.
Is it worth it?
James Moore, founding director of the USC Transportation Engineering Program, said it probably isn’t. He pointed to the half billion dollars it cost to connect the Oakland Airport to BART, which, he said, ended up having no measurable effect on either airport traffic or BART ridership.
“The bus was doing just fine,” he said. “If the goal is to connect riders from the event generator to the rail line, this is an expensive way to do it.”
Dangerous winds continued to thrash Southern California on Sunday, causing some power outages in Los Angeles neighborhoods and triggering warnings that Interstate 5 near the Grapevine could be shut down because of snow and ice.
A wind advisory remained in effect across Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties until 7 p.m. Sunday, with gusts ranging from 25 mph to 50 mph across the region. Gusts of up 70 mph are possible in mountain areas, said meteorologist Robbie Munroe of the National Weather Service.
Wind advisories remained in effect in San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties until Sunday at noon, officials said. There is also a slight chance of rain Sunday night in the coastal and valley regions.
Temperatures across the region ranged from the low to mid-50s on Sunday and were expected to drop into the 40s overnight, according to the weather service. Valley areas could see temperatures dip to the low 30s, Munroe said.
“Take extra care with pets and plants,” he said.
The cold air has also brought snowfall, icy conditions and fog along Interstate 5 near the Grapevine, which has made for hazardous driving conditions, prompting authorities to warn drivers about delays and possible closure of the busy roadway. A crash involving dozens of vehicles on a foggy stretch of Interstate 5 near Bakersfield on Saturday left two people dead and nine others injured.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported power outages throughout its service area on Sunday affecting more than 2,500 customers, according to its website. Southern California Edison’s website reported 17 outages in Los Angeles County affecting more than 3,600 customers, and three outages affecting 384 customers in Orange County.
Although the latest cold front might remind Southern Californians of last year’s massive winter storm, Munroe said that current conditions decrease the odds of witnessing a similar white winter.
“This is a pretty cold system, but it lacks the combination of cold and moisture that we saw last year,” he said.
A string of tents and makeshift shelters sat for years west of the 110 Freeway, across the street from an elementary school in the Vermont Vista neighborhood.
Then, one day in February, workers cleared the encampment, which stretched about four blocks from Colden Avenue to Century Boulevard, movingdozens of people indoors.
Today, a single tent remains, along with about five people living in a pedestrian tunnel under the freeway.
Longtime residents said the neighborhood is quiet again, and the sidewalks are clean.
“It was an ugly sight, but now things are better,” said Andrea Ceron, 59. “We still deal with other problems, like police chases and prostitution.”
Intake worker Maria Ajtun, right, takes down information from a client for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program at All Peoples Community Center in Los Angeles.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
South L.A. has been a rare bright spot amid the city’s homelessness crisis.
While homelessness increased in other parts of the city, South L.A. had 10% fewer unhoused people than the previous year, according to the annual point-in-time count conducted last January.
Officials and service providers attributed the drop to the hard work they have put in for years coming to fruition, with the help of funding infusions, in an area where most residents are Latino or Black and many live below the poverty line.
Mayor Karen Bass’ signature homelessness initiative, Inside Safe, has also made a dent, with more encampment cleanups in South L.A. — including the one in Vermont Vista — than in any other part of the city.
While Inside Safe has cleared long-standing encampments, most who lived in them are still in temporary housing or are back on the street. The problem remains vast, with nearly 13,000 unhoused people in South L.A., according to the point-in-time count.
Bass took office in December 2022, so the progress made by Inside Safe isn’t reflected in the 10% drop from the point-in-time count. But her supporters say the program, as well as her sense of urgency on homelessness, is setting up South L.A. for more success.
Homelessness outreach workers from 2nd Call visit Olga V. Romero, who lives in her car with her 23-year-old son.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
City Councilmember Curren Price, who represents large parts of South L.A., credited the drop in homelessness to increased collaboration among elected officials and a willingness to try different strategies. Bass, he said, has “set a very positive and inclusive tone” and worked well with county supervisors.
But backsliding is all too easy, he warned.
“That 10% is a nice number to throw around, but we know it could go back up easily, and so we can’t get complacent,” he said. “We know we have to keep identifying the financial resources, because these properties need to be built and services need to be provided, and if that stops, then all of our efforts are going to be for nothing.”
Nearly 70% of South L.A. residents are renters, and the median household income is $47,692, compared with more than $76,000 citywide.
Amid rising rents, inflation and the end of pandemic renter protections, more people are at risk of becoming homeless as eviction cases work their way through the courts.
“A lot of folks are one check away from being in real trouble,” Price said. “They can’t make the car payment, they can’t pay their rent or house payment, kids need clothes, food, medicine, etc. So it’s a very delicate situation that we’re in.”
Karen McGee of 2nd Call checks in with a woman sleeping outside a McDonald’s in South Los Angeles.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Karen McGee, a homelessness outreach worker with the South L.A. nonprofit 2nd Call, said many of the people she helps are families or senior citizens who couldn’t keep up with rising rents. Most are desperate to get off the streets.
“They want any help they can get,” she said.
In February, in addition to Vermont Vista, Inside Safe cleared a large encampment at 88th Street and Western Avenue, where people lived near a vacant lot surrounded by a chain-link fence. Since then, no tents have reappeared at the site.
Many of the large encampments in South L.A. targeted by Inside Safe were along the 110 Freeway’s underpasses and overpasses. A few tents have returned, but as of December, most areas remained clear.
“We had to rely on the police,” said Mary Action, 86, who lives near the former Vermont Vista encampment. “It was a real mess. There was drug use, fighting and a shooting.”
Chontae Peters, right, who is living in her car, reacts as Teanna Mosqueda, an ambassador with 2nd Call, provides her with information on how to get help.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
Valentin Gonzalez, another Vermont Vista resident, said that for two weeks, a homeless man lived up in a tree outside his home.
“I ended up cutting the branches off to get him to leave,” said Gonzalez, 61. “It was really bad here.”
Getting people off the streets is an arduous and time-consuming process. Sometimes, outreach workers speak with unhoused people frequently to earn their trust so they will accept help.
“We go to the same areas, whether the encampments are there or not,” McGee said. “Sometimes we show up, and people have either moved or got the help they needed.”
The South L.A. planning area, as defined by the point-in-time count and other homelessness measures, includes not only neighborhoods like Crenshaw and Watts but cities such as Compton, Lynwood and Paramount.
The area is riddled with social problems that include overcrowded housing, gang violence, drug use and inadequate access to healthcare, some of it with roots in discriminatory practices such as redlining. Service providers have historically had a hard time getting funding.
“You have organizations in the Westside and Hollywood that have been around for decades and have strong boards and these private funding networks that support them as well,” said Katie Hill, deputy director of HOPICS, the lead homeless services agency in the area. “We hardly have any private fundraising at all to help us with this issue, because the community doesn’t have money.”
But the $1.2-billion city bond measure Proposition HHH and the quarter-percent county sales tax Measure H have brought an infusion of cash.
The additional funding helped boost HOPICS’ annual budget to $105 million. About 15% of the money goes to subcontractors who provide homeless services, and at least 30% goes to financial assistance for low-income families.
HOPICS has expanded its payroll to more than 430 employees and increased its outreach teams, which provide services that include housing and street medicine, from four members to 22.
Juana Romero, who works on a HOPICS outreach team, attributes the decrease in homelessness to this street-level expansion, as well as to programs like Inside Safe.
“It’s all very helpful,” she said. “The resources are there to pull people off the streets and bring them inside.”
Hundreds of new public housing units have been built, or are in the process of being built, in South L.A. And residents are being prioritized for permanent housing over people from outside the area, said Veronica Lewis, director of HOPICS.
Since 2015, the number of emergency shelters in the South L.A. area has increased from 60 to 205, and permanent supportive housing projects went from 20 to 71, according to city records.
City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, whose district includes portions of South L.A., said that when the Measure H money arrived, nonprofits that had been working on homelessness in the area were ready to step up.
“When there’s availability of resources, you have people who know what to do with those resources and are prepared to carry it out,” he said.
Harris-Dawson added that residents of South L.A. are more supportive of housing developments than those from other parts of L.A. County.
“And then I think our social service agencies are pretty strong and are doing a really good job of keeping track of folks that are on the street, so that when units do become available, they can find them and get them in,” he said.
Programs that prevent people from falling into homelessness have also been vital in South L.A.
Children play at the All Peoples Community Center, which provides various services for South Los Angeles residents such as rental assistance, financial coaching and tax preparation. It is one of several in South L.A. that has played a key role in reducing homelessness.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
At All Peoples Community Center in Historic South-Central, about 90% of clients are in need of emergency rental assistance, said Julio Ramos, director of the Family Resource Center, one of 16 centers that help low-income families, many of whom are on the verge of homelessness. The centers, which are run by nonprofits and receive city funding, also provide financial education and other services.
“We’re getting clients that are 25 months behind on rent,” Ramos said. “Utilities as well, especially when they’re included with the rent.”
Last year, the City Council approved funding for four additional centers.
Neery Montes, 40, who has two sons, was in a panic when she arrived at the All Peoples center last winter. She had lost her job at a bakery and was seven months behind on rent and utilities, owing about $9,600 for a small one-bedroom in South Los Angeles.
Nerry Montes recounts being threatened with eviction while seven months pregnant to a counselor at All Peoples Community Center.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Her new landlord was threatening to evict her and had raised her rent, despite the pandemic-related rental freeze and eviction moratoriums.
“It was a very difficult time for me,” she said. “I was dealing with anxiety and depression.”
Montes said she worried about ending up homeless, as she had been before, when she fled from her husband.
Case manager Jessica Sanabria-Rosales signed up Montes for several food programs as well as emergency rental assistance. Montes was able to stay in her apartment and pay off 83% of the past rent. The center created a payment plan for the balance.
With more outreach workers on the streets, the labor-intensive work of earning a homeless person’s trust continues.
As a HOPICS team stopped at the site of the former encampment in Vermont Vista, LeAndre Hewitt rode up on his bicycle.
Outreach Services coordinator Mychal Johnson had placed Hewitt, 34, in shelters several times. Each time, Hewitt, who has struggled with drug and mental health issues, was kicked out, Johnson said.
This time, in a first, Hewitt was initiating the conversation and requesting shelter.
The HOPICS workers found a spot for Hewitt at Safe Landing, an interim housing facility with beds and 24/7 clinical care that opened about a year ago.
The group discussed what to do with Hewitt’s bicycle, which didn’t fit in the van.
Finally, Hewitt threw his bike on the curb and hopped in the van.
An Alaska Airlines flight bound for Southern California was forced to turn around and make an emergency landing after a hole opened in the side of the plane shortly after taking off Friday night.
Flight 1282 left Portland International Airport in Oregon around 5 p.m. headed toward Ontario, with 171 passengers and six crew members on board, according to the airline.
While the plane was gaining altitude, a window and part of the plane’s wall blew out, according to social media reports. Alaska Airlines described the event as “an incident” and said the plane turned around and safely landed back in Portland.
“The safety of our guests and employees is always our primary priority, so while this type of occurrence is rare, our flight crew was trained and prepared to safely manage the situation,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement Friday night. “We are investigating what happened and will share more information as it becomes available.”
A video posted to TikTok by a passenger on the flight showed a panel on the left side of plane missing, with insulation foam visible. Oxygen masks were deployed from the ceiling.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.
Even if you didn’t feel the ground move beneath your feet during Friday morning’s 4.2 magnitude SoCal earthquake, or the 4.1 shaker that rattled nerves (if not windows) on New Year’s Day, you might have felt those quakes — in an emotional sense — precisely because you missed out on them entirely. And that could mean you’re a “never-feeler.” That’s what we’re calling residents of the Southland who don’t realize when the earth is moving beneath their feet.
We know you’re out there, and we’re reminded of your curious existence every time we head to our social media feeds for a post-quake group freakout and you’re over in the corner dutifully reporting “#earthquake — didn’t feel it.” Is it a skill? A learned condition? Wizardry? We want to know more.
To that end, we’re hoping that all you still-earthers and quake-nots out there will take a few minutes to fill out the form below to tell us how you feel about not feeling the earthquake everyone else felt — even the person in the next room. How do you react when that happens? What do you do when you realize you didn’t feel a quake? Do you consider this a blessing, a curse or a medical malady?
We may share your experiences in a future story, so be sure to include your name. Now let’s get shaking!
An elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo died this week, the second in about a year and just days before a vigil is set to be held by animal activists at the zoo to mourn elephants who have died in captivity.
Shaunzi, a 53-year-old female Asian elephant, was euthanized early Wednesday morning, according to zoo officials.
Around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Shaunzi was seen lying down in the exhibit she shared with the zoo’s other female elephant, Tina, and appeared unable to get up. Zoo veterinarians and care staff evaluated her condition, but efforts to help her were unsuccessful. She was sedated and subsequently put down.
“The decision to euthanize Shaunzi was a consensus decision made by her care team based on several factors including prognosis and welfare,” zoo officials said in an email. “These factors include her age, past medical history, her inability to right herself with supportive efforts to raise her” and other concerns.
“As a result, it was deemed the best for her welfare to let her go,” the statement concluded.
Shaunzi is the second L.A. Zoo elephant to die in about a year after Jewel, a 61-year-old female, was euthanized in January 2023 due to what zoo officials said was her declining quality of life. Asian elephants typically have a lifespan of 60 to 70 years in the wild, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The L.A. Zoo has two Asian elephants remaining: Tina, 58, who arrived at the zoo in 2010, and Billy, a 39-year-old male who has been at the zoo since 1989.
Shaunzi was born in 1970 in Thailand, where she lived for about a year before she was captured and used in circus work in the United States. In 1983, she was given to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, where she lived before being transferred to the L.A. Zoo in 2017.
“Shaunzi lived a full life and was an ambassador for her species,” the zoo said in a statement on her passing. “She helped Angelenos learn about her wild counterparts and the challenges they face in their native range.”
Shaunzi’s death comes days before a group of animal welfare activists are set to hold the annual International Candlelight Vigil for Elephants outside the L.A. Zoo. The event is meant to honor the elephants who died in captivity over the last year at zoos and sanctuaries around the world, as well as highlight the host of problems they face compared with elephants in the wild, including medical issues such as arthritis and the bone infection osteomyelitis.
“The lack of space alone is extremely cruel, because their brains and their bodies are meant for walking huge distances,” said Courtney Scott, an elephant consultant for In Defense of Animals, one of the groups behind the event.
The vigil is set to take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Saturday outside the Los Angeles Zoo, at 5333 Zoo Drive. Zoo officials said they were aware of the event but declined to comment further.
Los Angeles Police Department detectives are searching for a man who is suspected of shooting and killing a 4-month-old puppy.
The Los Angeles Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating David Sumlin, a man suspected of domestic violence and of killing the victim’s pet.
(Los Angeles Police Department)
The suspect, David Sumlin, 32, shot the dog near downtown L.A. on Jan. 2 after an intense verbal exchange with the dog’s owner, according to police.
The LAPD said that Sumlin stated, “It’s either you or the dog,” before he held a pillow over the dog and shot two rounds into the puppy. Police officials arrived on the scene and transported the dog to a local animal shelter where it later died.
“The investigation is ongoing and the suspect has not been found yet,” LAPD Officer Roman John said.
Detectives released a photo of the suspect, whom police described as a Black man with black hair and brown eyes. He is 6 feet tall and weighs 200 pounds. Sumlin is a transient who frequents the area of 7th Street and Stanford Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, according to police. The firearm used remains outstanding. Anyone who spots Sumlin is asked to call 911.
Under the cover of darkness, law enforcement officers converged on People’s Park and cleared activists from the green space early Thursday in preparation for construction of a housing complex for students.
Some resisters holed up for hours in a makeshift treehouse and on the roof of a single-story building in the park.
Police were met by protesters, chanting “Long live People’s Park” along with shouts of “Fight back!”
Activists protesting the clearing of People’s Park refused for hours to come down from a treehouse in the park but finally relented.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
A law enforcement officer points a weapon into a kitchen where activists were holed up at People’s Park.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
Some protesters retreated to the roof of a building in the park before later agreeing to come down.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
Authorities made multiple arrests as they cleared People’s Park in Berkeley.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
UC Berkeley police and other authorities clear People’s Park.
(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)
At one point during the operation early Thursday morning, protesters ripped down police barriers and confrontations with law enforcement intensified.
A massive contingent of law enforcement officers converged on People’s Park in the wee hours of Thursday morning, intent on clearing the way for crews to wall off the storied green space near the UC Berkeley campus in preparation for construction of a much-contested housing complex for students.
The university launched the extraordinary operation — designed to double-stack metal cargo containers around the entire park perimeter — around 12 a.m.
On their arrival, police surrounded the park. Inside, they were met by several dozen protesters, chanting “Long live People’s Park” along with shouts of “Fight back!” Some were holed up in a makeshift treehouse and on the roof of a single-story building in the park.
By starting the exercise under the cover of darkness and during students’ winter break, university leaders hoped to minimize a conflict with activists adamant the park should remain open space, a living tribute to free speech and student activism. The university planned to install the cargo containers over several days, banking on the massive metal structures to provide a more formidable barrier than the fences protesters have easily breached in the past.
The university acknowledged that construction of the housing, ensnared in a legal dispute, cannot begin unless the state Supreme Court agrees that the Berkeley campus has completed an adequate environmental review of the project. The proposed development would create a dormitory with space for 1,100 students in a college town with a dire shortage of affordable housing. In addition, it would include permanent supportive housing for 125 people living homeless. About 60% of the site would remain green space, with commemorative exhibits about the park’s history.
“Given that the existing legal issues will inevitably be resolved, we decided to take this necessary step now in order to minimize the possibility of disorder and disruption for the public and our students when we are eventually cleared to resume construction,” Chancellor Carol Christ said in a prepared statement.
The university said it intended to keep streets around the park, and at least one block to the north and east, closed for three or four days.
“Unfortunately, our planning and actions must take into account that some of the project’s opponents have previously resorted to violence and vandalism,” Christ said, adding that this was “despite strong support for the project on the part of students, community members, advocates for unhoused people, the elected leadership of the City of Berkeley, as well as the legislature and governor of the state of California.”
Activists intent on preserving the park were tipped off several days in advance that the university would try to cordon off the site while students were on break. They called the incursion by law enforcement and work crews an “attack” that would destroy a legacy to people-powered activism.
Nicholas Alexander was among the activists standing watch over People’s Park on Wednesday evening, prepared to protest efforts to wall off the site.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Nicholas Alexander was among a small group standing watch over the park Wednesday evening around sunset. Alexander, once unhoused, praised the park as a place that needy people have been able to go for decades to find assistance. He said he was part of the group that helped tear down a university-erected fence in 2022. “This park has always helped the counterculture and the disenfranchised,” he said, “and it’d be a shame if it was taken from us now, because where else will we go?”
Another member of the group watching the park, Sylvia Tree, said she had graduated from Berkeley in 2021. She described the conflict as “a struggle based on the land.”
“It’s about a place where people who don’t own any land can have a little piece of it, a piece that you can grow things on, that you can have sunshine on, that you can meet your friends on,” said Tree, 25. “There’s nobody who controls it. There’s nobody who’s selling you something.”
Such passionate advocacy has become a perennial rite at the small patch of green just south of the campus and a few paces east of Telegraph Avenue.
It began more than half a century ago, in 1969, when the UC system’s founding campus announced its plan for development on what was then an empty lot. Hundreds of students and community activists had another idea, dragging sod, trees and flowers to the lot and proclaiming it People’s Park. The university responded by erecting a fence.
The student newspaper, the Daily Californian, urged students to “take back the park.” More than 6,000 people marched down Telegraph, where they were confronted by law enforcement. In the clash that followed, one man died and scores were injured.
In the decades since, the university has made repeated efforts to reclaim the property, once attempting to construct a parking lot on the edge of the park. A new generation of demonstrators arrived, with shovels and picks, to uproot the asphalt and restore plant life.
In the early 1990s, a young machete-wielding activist infuriated by the university’s construction of volleyball courts at the park was shot and killed by police after she broke into the campus residence of then-Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien. Police said they found a note in the teenager’s bag. It read: “We are willing to die for this piece of land. Are you?”
The push for the university to develop the property gained new life after Christ became chancellor in 2017 amid a student housing crisis. With Berkeley providing housing to a lower percentage of its students than any other UC campus, Christ promised to double the number of beds within a decade. She made it clear that she considered People’s Park — long a “third rail” that campus leaders avoided — a good location for housing.
The tensions over UC Berkeley’s efforts to develop People’s Park have spawned more than half a century of activism and debate.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Opponents of the housing development contend that UC Berkeley has not done enough to study alternative sites. Their cause got a boost in December, when a unit of the National Trust for Historic Preservation wrote a letter calling for “exploring all possible opportunities” for preservation of the park.
The university counters that its plan does acknowledge the historic nature of the park while also trying to resolve problems that have plagued the site and nearby streets in recent years, including homeless encampments, open drug use, petty theft and violence. UC Police Chief Yogananda Pittman characterized this week’s action as necessary to provide members of the community with “the safety and security they need and deserve.”
The university released results of a survey in 2021 that showed students favor the project by 56% to 31%. More recently, in an effort to address complaints that the proposed development would displace unhoused people living in the park, the university hired a full-time social worker and said most park denizens had been relocated to a Quality Inn and offered support services.
But the project suffered a setback early last year when a state appellate court ruled that UC had not properly complied with the California Environmental Quality Act, a decades-old lawknown as CEQA, whichrequires state and local governments to consider the environmental impacts of certain construction and housing projects. The court found the university had not properly addressed the issue of noise — specifically the noise generated by students who might drink and hold “unruly parties,” as some neighbors asserted in documents submitted to the court.
The court also ruled that the campus had not properly justified its decision not to consider alternative locations for the housing development. UC attorneys have said that because the project’s aim is to repurpose the park, no alternative would suffice.
The university appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court and also turned to the Legislature. Lawmakers passed a law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, designed to make it easier for universities to build housing and overcome lawsuits from residents who raise noise concerns as a potential problem.
All parties in the dispute await a decision by the high court, and the new law presumably will factor into its deliberations.
The last concerted effort by UC to take control of the park for construction came in August 2022. Just hours after an Alameda County judge issued a tentative ruling that the university could begin clearing the park, construction machinery moved into place. But the 2 a.m. operation soon drew protesters who confronted construction crews, toppling a newly erected chain-link fence and streaming into the park, where they were tackled by California Highway Patrol officers.
By day’s end, the university ended the standoff by suspending its effort to take control of the park.
Berkeley City Councilmember Kate Harrison issued a public letter this week calling on police involved in any new go-round with protesters to “follow the City of Berkeley’s rules concerning use of ‘less-lethal’ weapons and tactics,” which include a ban on the use of pepper spray and tear gas. Harrison added: “These rules, established to protect human life and people’s first amendment rights, are core to our City’s value.”
Staff photographer Jason Armond contributed to this report.
On the day California lawmakers returned to Sacramento for the new year, hundreds of protesters convened at the state Capitol on Wednesday and shut down the Assembly with calls for Israel to stop its war against Hamas.
Legislators filed out of the Assembly chamber as at least 250 demonstrators chanted, “Cease fire now.” Filling the Capitol rotunda, protesters unfurled a banner stating “No U.S. Funding for Israel’s Genocide in Palestine” and made paper flowers representing more than 22,000 Palestinians killed in the war that began after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 240 others hostage.
“We hear them, we support them, however we have to make sure that the legislative business is done for the entire state of California,” Assemblyman Mike Gipson (D-Carson) said as the demonstrators’ chants echoed throughout the halls.
“This just stopped what we needed to do,” he said.
On the other end of the state Capitol, the Senate continued with business as usual above the din of shouting protesters outside the chamber. Gov. Gavin Newsom was in Los Angeles for the day to promote his ballot measure to fund mental health care and a new research center at UCLA.
Hundreds of Jewish organizers calling for a cease-fire in Gaza assembled in the California Capitol in Sacramento on Wednesday, interrupting the first week of the legislative session.
(Mackenzie Mays / Los Angeles Times)
Wednesday’s protests thrust the complicated politics of the war into the California Capitol, which has been quiet while the Legislature was on recess for the fall. The U.S. response to the war has triggered a generational divide in the California electorate and a schism among Democrats, while polling shows California Republicans largely want the U.S. to support Israel.
Also on Wednesday, Assembly Republicans introduced a resolution condemning Hamas and the Legislature’s Jewish Caucus sent a seven-page letter to lawmakers describing a searing sense of fear among Jewish Californians amid an “explosion of hate directed at our community.”
The letter asked legislative leaders to form a special committee on antisemitism in California. It also called on lawmakers to address “the toxic anti-Jewish environment” on some public university campuses, proposed legislation enshrining Holocaust education in public schools and proposed expanding a grant program that helps institutions at risk of hate crimes pay for security upgrades.
“I think there’s a lot of people in our community that feel trapped between the far right and the far left,” said Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino), a co-chair of the caucus.
“Though the far right and the far left in America view each other as existential threats to everything that they hold dear and holy, the one thing that they seem to agree on is that Jews are uniquely evil, and that Jews are responsible for the world’s problems,” Gabriel said.
While Gabriel and Jewish caucus co-chair Sen. Scott Wiener addressed reporters in a Capitol hallway, protesters in the rotunda chanted, “Scott Wiener, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.”
“That’s disgusting and false,” Wiener said. “Apparently supporting Israel’s existence is enough for them to say that we’re supporting genocide, and that is really problematic.”
The protest was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow, and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network. Organizers said the demonstration included about 400 to 500 people, about half of whom are Jewish.
Jennifer Esteen, a nurse who is running for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, took part in the protest, calling on state lawmakers to issue a resolution to demand a cease-fire.
“These decisions that we can make here in California will absolutely change federal policy,” Esteen said as organizers chanted, “Free Palestine.”
“California leads the way … when the Legislature of the fourth-largest economy of the world pays attention and makes a statement, it will lead this country.”
The demonstration ended peacefully after about two hours. Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (Yuba City), released a statement criticizing “pro-Hamas radicals” for “shouting down government proceedings and bullying people into silence.”
“We must stand up to this extremism,” Gallagher said. “People have a right to protest, but they don’t have the right to prevent elected representatives from doing the people’s business.”
A 63-year-old woman died Tuesday after an Amtrak train struck her vehicle in Camarillo.
The incident was reported just after 10:35 a.m. at the railroad crossing near the intersection of Upland and Somis roads.
An Amtrak Surfliner headed northbound crashed into a four-door passenger vehicle with one female occupant, the Ventura County Fire Department said.
The vehicle had been traveling west on Upland Road when it stopped on the railroad tracks, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Tuesday.
The engineer saw the vehicle and applied the emergency brakes but was not able to stop the train.
The locomotive struck the vehicle, pushing it into the crossing arm control box, authorities said.
The woman was pulled from the vehicle in critical condition and flown by helicopter to a trauma center, where she later died. Her name has not been released.
Video posted to X, formerly Twitter, by the Fire Department showed the crumpled remains of the vehicle lying near the stopped train.
The collision did not cause the train to derail, and no injuries were reported on board. The crash remains under investigation.
“In a world of different cultures, beliefs, hopes, and dreams, one language unites us all — music,” Alex Aghajanian, president of the Tournament of Roses, said in a statement. “The sound, texture, rhythm, form, harmony, and expression meld together to move, soothe, excite and delight the world.”
(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
The LAUSD All-City Honor Band
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
The City of Alhambra float won the Fantasy Award for most outstanding display of fantasy and imagination.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
U.S. Marine Corps West Coast Composite Band Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego and Camp Pendleton.
(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)
Rose Parade Grand Marshall and Singer Audra McDonald, left, smiles for the crowd.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Zoe Dotts-Brown, a senior Michigan Twirler, puts on lipstick to prepare for the 135th annual Rose Parade.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
The University of Alabama Crimsonettes receive Mylar blankets to stay warm before the parade.
(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)
North Carolina A&T University dancers perform.
(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
The San Diego Zoo’s “It All Started with a Roar” float, which won the Sweepstakes award.
(Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)
Jackie Ventura and Monserrat Zavala hold Emilo Grimaldo as they wait for the parade on Colorado Boulevard.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Cal Poly Universities’ “Shock N’ Roll: Powering the Musical Current” float.
(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Rose Queen Naomi Stillitano, a senior at Arcadia High School, and members of the 2024 Royal Court wave from their float.
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Jay L. Clendenin, Francine Orr, Michael Blackshire
Two people were killed and eight others were wounded in a shooting at an underground New Year’s Eve celebration in downtown Los Angeles early Monday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Shortly before 1 a.m. on New Year’s Day, officers received a radio call of a shooting in the area of 15th Street and Santa Fe Avenue. When they arrived at the cross streets they heard gunshots coming from nearby Porter Street and Santa Fe Avenue. A large crowd was fleeing the area, and several wounded people were lying on the street and sidewalk, police wrote in a news release.
A man and woman were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Authorities initially reported three people had been wounded early Monday, but in an afternoon update said eight were injured in addition to the two who were killed. The wounded individuals were treated at hospitals, but police did not provide an update on their conditions.
The shooting victims were attending a New Year’s Eve party in the 2300 block of Porter Street. Authorities believe a dispute between people at the gathering led to the shooting. No information on any suspects was immediately available.
Authorities are asking anyone with information to call Det. Justin Howarth at (213) 996-4143. Anonymous tips can be directed to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS or www.lacrimestoppers.org.
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake was reported offshore Monday morning at 8:27 a.m. Pacific time 11 miles from Rancho Palos Verdes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The earthquake occurred 12 miles from Palos Verdes Estates, 13 miles from Rolling Hills Estates, 13 miles from Los Angeles and 15 miles from Torrance.
In the past 10 days, there has been one earthquake of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.
An average of five earthquakes with magnitudes between 4.0 and 5.0 occur per year in the greater Los Angeles area, according to a recent three-year data sample.
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 7.0 miles. Did you feel this earthquake? Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS.
Find out what to do before, and during, an earthquake near you by signing up for our Unshaken newsletter, which breaks down emergency preparedness into bite-sized steps over six weeks. Learn more about earthquake kits, which apps you need, Lucy Jones’ most important advice and more at latimes.com/Unshaken.
This story was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published. If you’re interested in learning more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.
Back-to-back storms off the Pacific Ocean will bring rain and snow to Southern California this week, along with the potential for another round of big waves.
The swells that closed beaches and piers up and down the California shore eased up over the weekend, but high surf advisories remained in place in several counties as officials warned the public to avoid swimming or walking on rocks near the beach.
Public health officials in Los Angeles County also issued a warning about high levels of bacteria from storm runoff at some local beaches, including parts of Malibu, Santa Monica, Venice and Redondo Beach.
The Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard saw 12-foot waves on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. The area was pounded last week by waves, including large swells in Ventura that injured several onlookers who had to scramble to safety after ocean water surged over barriers and into the streets.
In the town of Capitola in Santa Cruz County, several seaside restaurants were damaged Thursday when the rising waters swept in. It’s the second time in less than a year that Capitola has been damaged by flooding. In January, large waves and high tides destroyed parts of the town’s wharf.
The waves are “trending down, it will continue to trend down through Tuesday,” said Ryan Kittell, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard.
At the popular surfing break known as Mavericks near Half Moon Bay, the waves were smaller Sunday after swells that reached highs of 30 feet last week, according to the National Weather Service.
“We’re coming down pretty good,” said weather service meteorologist Dalton Behringer, who noted that waves from Sonoma County to Monterey County were about 10 to 11 feet Sunday.
Rain is expected in Southern California and the Central Coast, with scattered showers arriving by Sunday afternoon and widespread rain arriving Tuesday night and Wednesday.
Also, people headed to the Rose Parade in Pasadena on Monday may want to pack a raincoat or umbrella in case of possible showers. It is expected to be partly cloudy with a 20% chance of rain in the morning, according to the National Weather Service.
Snow will fall later in the week, with mountain areas above 5,000 feet in L.A. and Ventura counties expected to get 4 to 8 inches of snow, according to the weather service.
The weather could impact traffic. Lower elevations, including the Grapevine area along Interstate 5, could see an inch or 2 of snow, Kittell said.
Another round of big waves in L.A. and Ventura counties could start Jan. 7, Kittell said.
Workers at two Pasadena hotels went on strike Sunday, picketing for better wages and increased staffing, as preparations were underway for the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day.
Members of Unite Here Local 11, which represents a range of hotel workers including housekeepers and cooks, walked out at dawn Sunday and will continue to strike Monday at the Hilton Pasadena and the Hyatt Place Pasadena, said union spokesperson Maria Teresa Kamel.
As of Sunday morning, dozens of people were picketing outside the two hotels, chanting “Si se puede!” — “Yes we can” — and tents were set up for some protesters planning to camp overnight.
The union chose this weekend for the walkout because “it’s probably the biggest tourist event in Pasadena,” she said. Workers decided that “if they’re expected to work on such a busy weekend, they should be compensated with a fair contract.”
Unite Here is calling for an immediate $5-an-hour hike in wages and for a return to “pre-pandemic staffing levels,” which have not rebounded despite a resurgence in hotel business, Kamel said.
“We have a lot of workers doing the work of two or three people for the same wages as they were getting before,” she said. The union has also raised concerns about pensions.
The Hilton Pasadena is among several hotels involved in talks with the union that are operated by Aimbridge Hospitality, which said in a statement that it was “continuing conversations with the union and remain[s] focused on reaching an agreement that puts our associates and their best interests at the center.”
“While these conversations are ongoing, the hotel has processes in place to limit disruptions and ensure consistent service and exceptional guest experiences at all times,” Aimbridge said in its statement.
Hyatt Place Pasadena is owned and operated by private equity firm Ensemble. Hyatt and Ensemble did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Sunday on the walkout and the union demands.
Joseph Co, general manager at Hyatt Place Pasadena, told the Pasadena Star-News that the hotel has been “actively engaged in talks with the union” and “continues to honor the expired union contract and its union employees as it seeks to reach a new agreement.”
A representative for the Hotel Assn. of Los Angeles declined to comment.
Housekeeper Andrea Zepeda, who has worked more than a year and a half at Hyatt Place Pasadena, said she had struggled to make ends meet on roughly $18 an hour. She cares for two of her grandchildren and pays $1,800 in rent for a one-bedroom apartment, she said.
“The money doesn’t go far enough,” she said in Spanish. “Everything is very expensive — food, bills — and the costs are going up.” Zepeda also said that skimpy staffing had piled on pressure at her job to clean as many as 15 rooms before the end of her shift without being offered overtime.
Pasadena hotels fill up each year for the Rose Parade, which began in 1890 as a promotional event by a local social club and has evolved into a beloved tradition. Hundreds of campers flock the day before to find curbside seating available on a first-come, first-served basis along the parade route. Those working on floats or participating in the parade look for breakfast spots in the wee hours of the morning on Jan. 1.
Although workers don’t plan to picket at the Rose Bowl itself, the proximity of the hotels means picket lines probably will be noticeable to parade attendees, union officials said. Dozens of other hotels have reached tentative agreements with Unite Here Local 11 since their contracts expired in July, but these two have not, Kamel said.
“Our beef isn’t with the Rose Bowl,” she said. But “private equity groups have been harder to negotiate with than other hotels.”
Times staff writer Suhauna Hussain contributed to this report.
One woman was killed and five other people were injured in a shooting early Sunday near a Hawthorne strip mall, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The shooting happened around 12:27 a.m. in the 14100 block of Crenshaw Boulevard, said Lt. Art Spencer with the sheriff’s Homicide Bureau. The Hawthorne Police Department arrived and found a man suffering from gunshot wounds, who was taken to a hospital and stabilized, Spencer said.
Spencer said that as Hawthorne police continued to investigate, they learned that five other people had been shot in the same incident. One of them, a woman, died of her injuries at a hospital. Among the remaining victims, one was in critical condition and the rest were stable, he said.
“It looks like they were congregating in the strip mall and the shooting occurred,” Spencer said.
No suspect has been identified and no motive for the shooting has been determined at this time.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which is assisting Hawthorne police with the investigation, is encouraging anyone with information about the shooting to contact their Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500 or provide information anonymously at (800) 222-TIPS (8477).
Just as the trees have begun to lose their leaves in Granite City, Ill., and fall begins to take on the early shades of winter, Victoria Boyd feels the pull of California.
Just as the Santa suit goes off to the cleaners, boots polished and stored in the closet of his home in neighboring Madison, David Becherer feels the pull of California.
But the California that the two longtime friends are drawn to is not a land of palm trees, blue skies and sunny waves on the beach.
Instead it’s a land of glue and make-believe in a drafty warehouse next to the 210 Freeway in Irwindale, where pink flamingos are as tall as blossoming yuccas, butterflies have the wingspan of condors and lotus flowers are the size of hubcaps.
Victoria Boyd, left, and David Becherer, who’s also from Illinois, work on a float at Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
If they see the sun, it will be during a break. The beach is not on their itinerary, and if they’re looking for a moment of rest, it will be when they get back home.
They have a job to do and a deadline to meet. Dec. 31 waits for no one, especially for volunteers like Boyd and Becherer who put in the 12-hour days and double shifts to complete the work on floats for the Rose Parade.
They have made this annual pilgrimage from the frozen Midwest for more than three decades. As a former part-time florist, Becherer used to watch the parade on television, intrigued by the elaborate arrangements and the artistry piled on these rolling platforms, and when he learned he could be part of the spectacle, he jumped. Boyd soon followed.
Her streak has been unbroken since 1987; he took a little time off to care for his family. Their devotion to this annual celebration of camp is unwavering, their commitment close to an obsession.
“How long am I going to be doing this?” asks Victoria Boyd, left. “Well, as long as I can. I don’t think I can stay home. I don’t think I cannot be here.” She is pictured with an unidentified woman.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
“Unless I’m too tired and full of glue, I feel that I didn’t get my money’s worth,” said Boyd, 79, who sees no end to this tradition.
“How long am I going to be doing this?” she asks. “Well, as long as I can. I don’t think I can stay home. I don’t think I cannot be here.”
On Thursday afternoon, Boyd and Becherer, both former teachers, sit at a small table gluing minced safflower petals onto a string of Styrofoam beads as large as softballs that will soon be placed on the neck of a Hopi butterfly dancer rising from the middle of the float.
They belong to a unique confederacy of nearly 1,000 volunteers who arrive each day at Fiesta Parade Floats, the last week of the year, to begin and end the meticulous and tedious task of chopping flowers, carting supplies, climbing scaffolding, spreading glue, and applying flowers, seeds, bark and spices to an unwieldy contraption of steel, plywood, burlap and polyurethane.
Let others here and across the country take in the polish and perfection of the Rose Parade for a few hours on New Year’s Day. These workers prefer the weeklong company of like-minded devotees dedicated to bringing to life scenes spun from the imagination, from nature and storybooks, from fairy tales and myth.
“We’re part of a cult that comes out here every year, and Dave and I are charter members,” said Boyd, who counts friends from Maine, Louisiana and Michigan. More than a tenth of the workforce arrives from out of state and out of country, some from as far as New Zealand and England, according to a spokesperson with Fiesta, and all on their own dime.
Boyd estimates that she will spend about $2,500 this year — flights, motel, car rental — for the opportunity to work on these “magnificent, awesome” works of art and “to be out of the cold Midwest for a week.”
“That’s a bonus too,” she said.
Barbara Hill may not be a member of any decorating cult, but her dedication is no less intense. For three days last week, she climbed aboard the Torrance Rose Float Assn.’s yellow school bus at 7:45 a.m. for the hourlong ride to Irwindale.
Barbara Hill, center, a resident of Torrance, has volunteered as a Rose Parade float decorator for 43 years. Petra Orozco, left, another volunteer, admires the patches on Hill’s jacket signifying the years she’s worked on floats.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Hill, 72, a retired purchaser for Northrop Grumman (think F-18s and B-2s), decorated her first float in 1980, and today she’s focused on flying hummingbirds, having woven together grapevine and moss to create a nest as large as a hot tub.
Though every detail of every float is scripted in advance — specifications listing material, texture and application — the volunteers are given leeway to make sure the execution is effective, the illusion believable. If it means modifying ingredients — and permission is granted — then so be it.
Though this creativity appeals to Hill, the heart of the experience is the friendships, she said, that form over these few days.
“That is the finest thing,” she said. “They assign you to someone whom you’ve never met, and you find a way to work together to get this float done. And in the end, we smile and say, ‘See you again next year.’ ”
And when they do, they will reminisce over their successes and failures. Like the time they created the most realistic mane for a lion — cypress branches coated with paprika — or the time their shaggy dog made of pampas grass caught fire just minutes before the start of the parade.
Or when they won the Sweepstakes Trophy — the parade’s top prize based on floral design, presentation and entertainment — as Boyd and Becherer’s float did last January for the sinuous red and yellow Chinese dragon and lanterns they crafted.
Victoria Boyd estimates that she will spend about $2,500 on her current visit to Southern California — flights, motel, car rental — for the opportunity to work on these “magnificent, awesome” works of art and “to be out of the cold Midwest for a week.”
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
They’re hoping for a repeat and are feeling confident as they check out the competition.
“We’re not so competitive, as we are territorial,” said Boyd, who looks at one float that seems far behind schedule. “I’m not sure how they’ll get it done in time.”
But with only five floats in the Fiesta warehouse, the statistical sample is small. Thirty-six others — under constructed at sites elsewhere — will participate in the parade, each interpreting this year’s theme: “Celebrating a World of Music: The Universal Language.”
At the moment, however, the language is more discordant: a steady din of voices amid sporadic sounds of vacuum cleaners, welding torches, hair dryers and blenders. The air smells of flowers tinged with the essence of glue, of which there are the three varieties — white, sticky and rubber. Boyd is well versed in each.
Fellow Illinoisans Victoria Boyd and David Becherer apply cuttings of safflower on an ornamental piece for a Rose Parade float at Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Her fingertips are stained orange from crushed flowers stuck to the skin. She tries to wash it off, but the effort is futile. “After Day 3, my phone doesn’t recognize me because I no longer have fingerprints,” she said. “That is a badge of honor.”
As she and Becherer finish their choker for the Hopi butterfly dancer, they get ready to start on a pendant and earrings. Boyd likes the detail work, though she would prefer to be handling whole flowers, not the shredded ones. She calls it “petaling,” the application of individual petals from carnations, irises, gladiolas and the like.
“It’s more intricate,” she said, and under-appreciated because float designers “just haven’t seen a good petal job.”
They know their work is ephemeral, that their efforts will age and wither and dry. “I try not to focus on that,” Boyd said. “It’s sad to think it doesn’t last.”
But Becherer, the seasonal Santa, sees it differently. “It’s just like Christmas,” he said. “You enjoyed it when it was here, then it’s over and you get to start all over again in a year.”
When their work is done, they might pitch in on other floats, but come Sunday, all volunteers at Fiesta disperse.
Hill will head back to home in the South Bay, eager for a hot bath and a soft bed. She will wake up at 8 on New Year’s Day to watch the parade, making sure her float goes by without mishap, and then go back to sleep and wait 51 weeks.
On Monday, Boyd and Becherer will head to the parade route to admire their handiwork. Like newcomers to the experience, they will sit in their chairs, possibly the bleachers, and exclaim when the Hopi butterfly dancer draws near.
Victoria Boyd, center, David Becherer, left, and Gee Wong chat during a lunch break at Fiesta Parade Floats. “When we see our float,” said Becherer, recalling the feeling over the years, “we swell with pride. We let everyone around us know that we did that.”
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
“When we see our float,” said Becherer, recalling the feeling over the years, “we swell with pride. We let everyone around us know that we did that.”
For Boyd, nothing comes close to the Rose Parade. She has seen similar processions elsewhere — Louisiana, Oregon, New York City — but is spoiled by the size and scope and scale of what comes down Colorado Boulevard each year.
“It’s beautiful,” Becherer agrees. “It brings a lot of people together, not only those watching from the street but everyone who worked on the floats. It’s a joy to be around people like that. There is so much division in this world today; no one can agree on anything. Now’s the time for people to come together.”
