Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, June 13, 2020

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, June 13, 2020 


LOS ANGELES COUNTY 

COVID-19 UPDATE


REP. SCHIFF 

OFFERS 

REFLECTIONS 
ON RACISM IN 
AMERICA

Los Angeles, CA – In response 
to the murder of 
George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, 
and other Black Americans 
by police officers, and 
the widespread uprising of 
protesters demanding an 
end to police brutality, Rep. 
Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) 
released a video over the week-end offering his reflections on 
racism in America.

 

This is a most painful and difficult time in the life of our nation.

 

For months, in cities and towns across America, a virus – COVID-
19 – has literally robbed us of our breath. When infected, 
we may be brought low, made feverish and struggle to fill our 
lungs with air. Without the help of a ventilator, and sometimes 
even with its assistance, we are robbed of our ability to breathe.

 

And although this virus can strike anyone and has infected the 
young and old alike, the pow-erful and the powerless, it is proving 
most devastating to communities of color and those in disadvantaged 
communities, and particularly black Americans.

 

This makes sense. A shocking, grim sense. Because while the virus 
itself does not discriminate, our system certainly does.

 

Doctors speak of co-morbidities, and for black Americans, COVID-
19 has been made excep-tionally lethal by the presence of 
another virus that long proceeded it. Only this second path-ogen 
does not inhabit the patient, but sometimes his or her doctor or 
nurse, his neighbor or her employer, the local emergency department 
— or the local police department.

 

I speak, of course, of the virus of racism.

 

Racism is the original sin of our nation. Our ancestors brought 
it with them to the new world, where settlers stripped the native 
inhabitants of their land and a new government wiped out whole 
populations.

 

Racism fueled our drive to send ships to the West African coast 
and other destinations, turn-ing precious human lives into cargo 
and making slaves of fellow human beings.

 

Throughout the course of our history, we have fought the virus 
of racism through a bloody civil war, a civil rights movement, 
generations of peaceful protest and progressive legislation. We 
have made progress, but only haltingly and at great cost.

 

For racism is always with us. Sometimes out in the open, sometimes 
not. But always present, changing and mutating, occasionally 
seeming to lay dormant only to recur with a frightful 
intensity.

 

And in Minneapolis on May 25, when a police officer put his 
knee on the neck of George Floyd and kept it there for 8 minutes 
and 46 seconds, racism was at the heart of that murderous 
depravity.

 

For almost six years, and before I entered politics, I served as a 
federal prosecutor in Los An-geles. As I entered the courtroom 
each day, I was proud to introduce myself as appearing on behalf 
of the United States. And although I helped to prosecute crooked 
cops and other cor-rupt officials, I believed most of law enforcement 
to be good, well-intentioned, and coura-geous people. I 
still do. It is heartening to see many law enforcement officers 
marching today, arm in arm with protestors, or taking a knee 
to express their solidarity with those calling for an end to racial 
injustice.

 

As President Obama recently said, these police officers are an 
important part of the conversa-tion, and it is heartening, to 
quote the former President, that “so many young people have 
been galvanized and activated and motivated and mobilized.” 
That should make us all hopeful. We are witnessing a truly historic 
moment in which a diverse array of people from all walks of 
life are standing up, speaking out, and peacefully protesting for a 
desperately needed change in this country.

 

And yet, we have so far to travel. As a prosecutor, I was not naïve 
enough to believe that there wasn’t racism in our criminal 
justice system. But I believed that we were making real progress 
combatting discrimination. It is difficult for me to have that confidence 
now. Not today. There is so much work to be done.

 

The crushing and suffocating reality of police brutality against 
black Americans is, tragically, everywhere. On country roads 
and city streets, in the dead of night and in broad daylight. Cit-
ies across America have become synonymous with unspeakable 
violence against people of col-or and all genders, but predominately 
black men and boys. Cities like Ferguson, Decatur, Chi-
cago, Memphis, Baltimore, Oakland, Miami, Dallas, Durham, 
Cincinnati, Tulsa, Los Angeles. And now Minneapolis.

 

It should not have been a revelation to me. I should not have 
needed to see it with my own two eyes, these terrible images 
from cell phones and body cams over more than a decade, of 
men like Ahmaud Arbery, shot while jogging, women like Rekia 
Boyd gunned down in a park or like Breonna Taylor in her own 
home, or men like Eric Garner and George Floyd, strug-gling to 
breathe until choked to death by bigotry in a uniform. And so, 
so many more.

 

The virus of racism persists in part because we can never fully 
understand what it is like to stand in someone else’s shoes. I can 
never fully understand what it means to be stopped while walking 
down the street, or while driving, just because of the color 
of my skin. I can never fully understand what it means to have a 
talk with my child about how to survive a police encounter. We 
see each other but dimly, even with both eyes open.

 

And yet, we must try. We must not turn away. We must acknowledge 
our own implicit biases. We must join together, not stand 
apart or stay silent. And use our voices to lift up, rather than 
divide.

 

For more than two decades I have been a legislator. I believe in 
the power of corrective action through collective action, in the 
ability of the law to address injustice, and the courts to ef-fectuate 
it. I believe in the power of oversight in Congress, in our state 
legislatures, through police commissions and through public inquiry 
and protest.

 

Many Americans, including those who cannot breathe and live 
in fear of the police, do not see these levers of power as protecting 
them, or even representing them. And rightfully so. The 
same offices that can be used for good, can and have been used 
to oppress. That must change.

 

We can and must do better for those suffocating on our city 
streets whether under the knee of a racist cop or from a system 
of justice that has perpetuated inequality and injustice.

 

And we must do so with a sense of urgency. Because Black Lives 
Matter. It shouldn’t be diffi-cult for white Americans to say so, 
such a fundamental truth. Black Lives Matter. Period.

 

What can Congress do to help, and not hurt? To lift up, and to 
combat systemic bias and rac-ism?

 

Soon, we will be introducing a broad legislative package in the 
House to begin to address a discriminatory system that continues 
to victimize black Americans, with bills conceptualized and 
drafted by the Congressional Black Caucus.

 

But changes in the law are not enough. Changes in procedure 
and training alone will not do. Changes in how we address each 
other will not suffice.

 

We must dig deeper if we are to understand and combat this 
plague. Last week, we witnessed a miracle of human achievement 
as America once again launched its astronauts into space 
with a massive and controlled explosion. At times it seems we 
can conquer the heavens, and yet there is still so much on the 
ground that we are incapable of achieving or even under-standing. 
For these answers, we cannot look to the unfathomable distances 
between the stars, but to the uncomfortable truths within 
and the sometimes unbridgeable distances be-tween each of us 
here on earth.

 

I believe in America. I believe in its ideals and its future. Even at 
times like this. If black Ameri-cans who have had to endure so 
much, have never given up hope, if they believe that America can 
be a more perfect union and are willing to fight for that future, as 
they have shown time and time again as they take to the streets, 
then who am I to lose faith? And for those who have lost hope, 
how can we, together, restore it?

 

My job now is to lift up, and do what I can to help heal. In times 
like these, we often turn to those who have led our nation in the 
past, to those who have spoken to our better angels and to our 
highest ideals.

 

At the time of another unfathomable act of hatred and death, 
the bombing death of four lit-tle children in the Sixteenth Street 
Baptist Church, Martin Luther King, Jr. imagined what those 
four angels might have to say to a divided and grieving nation:

 

“They say to each of us,” he said “black and white alike, that we 
must substitute courage for caution. They say to us that we must 
be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about 
the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the 
murderers. Their death says to us that we must work passionately 
and unrelentingly for the realization of the American dream.”

 

Amen. And let us do so, with the fierce urgency of now.

As of Friday, June 12, 2020, To date, Public Health has identified 
70,476 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and 
a total of 2,832 deaths. Ninety-three percent of people who died had 
underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about 
race and ethnicity is available for 2,629 people (99 percent of the cases 
reported by Public Health) 41% of deaths occurred among Latino/
Latinx residents, 29% among White residents, 17% among Asian 
residents, 11% among African American residents, 1% among Native 
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and residents identifying with other races. 
Upon further investigation, 32 cases and one death reported earlier 
were not LA County residents. As of Friday, 7,250 people who tested 
positive for COVID-19 (11% of positive cases) have been hospitalized 
at some point during their illness. There are 1,389 people who are currently 
hospitalized, 29% of these people are in the ICU and 20% are on 
ventilators. Testing capacity continues to increase in LA County, with 
testing results available for over 761,000 individuals and 8% of people 
testing positive. 

 Public Health continues to track disproportionality in health outcomes 
by race, ethnicity and income level data of people who have 
been tested, hospitalized and died from COVID-19. This data is analyzed 
as rates per 100,000 people to make comparisons with other 
groups across the County and to understand which groups are disproportionately 
affected. Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders have a 
death rate of 52 per 100,000, African Americans have a death of 33 per 
100,000, Latinos/Latinxs have a death of 32 per 100,000, Asians have 
a death rate of 23 per 100,000, and Whites have a death rate of 17 per 
100,000. People who live in areas with high rates of poverty have almost 
four times the rate of deaths for COVID-19 with 51 per 100,000 
people, compared with communities with very low poverty levels who 
had a death rate of 15 per 100,000. Public Health and the Health Integration 
Alliance continues collaboration with community, healthcare, 
and philanthropic partners to increase access and use of COVID-19 
testing, connection to care and services, awareness and support of 
contact tracing activities, and direct linkages to in-language, culturally 
responsive supportive resources, like food, housing, and other 
benefits to communities experiencing these inequitable outcomes. 

A modified Health Officer Order and directives for the reopening of 
additional businesses was issued yesterday with an effective date of today, 
June 12. The Health Officer Order allows for the following sectors 
to reopen once they implement the required protocols for infection 
control and distancing: 

Gyms and fitness facilities 

Pro-league arenas without live audiences 

Day camps 

Museums, galleries, zoos and aquariums 

Campgrounds, RV parks and outdoor recreation 

Music, film and television production 

Hotels for leisure travel

As with all businesses that are permitted to reopen, the Health Officer 
Order contains protocols for reopening to ensure it is done as safely 
as possible for employees, customers and residents. Employees and 
visitors to these businesses will need to wear a cloth face covering 
when around other people and practice physical distancing of at least 
6 feet at all times. 

 If anyone has been in a crowded setting, where people are congregating 
who are not using face coverings or distancing, or if you had close 
contact (within 6 feet for greater than 15 minutes) with non-household 
members who were not wearing face coverings please consider 
the following: 

Remain in your residence, away from others, in quarantine for 14 
days. 

If you live with persons who are elderly or have high risk conditions, 
you should also maintain a six-foot distance and wear a face covering 
when you are with them at home, avoid preparing food for others, 
sharing utensils, bedding and towels, and increase cleaning and disinfecting 
of common surfaces. 

Consider getting tested for COVID-19 if you have been exposed to 
someone that is positive or likely positive. Testing negative for COVID-
19 right after being exposed does not mean you can't become 
infected later during the incubation period. 

If anyone was possibly exposed to someone with COVID-19, and the 
test result is negative, they should remain at home for 14 days to prevent 
spreading illness to others.

For more information on how to get tested, visit: covid19.lacounty.
gov/testing. The Health Officer Order, Reopening Protocols, COVID-
19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, 
Recovery Dashboard, and additional things you can do to protect 
yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health 
website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov. 

 The best protection against COVID-19 continues to be to wash your 
hands frequently, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with 
unwashed hands, self-isolate if you are sick, practice physical distancing 
and wear a clean face covering when in contact with others from 
outside your household. People who have underlying health conditions 
remain at much greater risk for serious illness from COVID-19, 
so it will continue to be very important for the County's vulnerable 
residents to stay at home as much as possible, to have groceries and 
medicine delivered, and to call their providers immediately if they 
have even mild symptoms. 

LOS ANGELES COUNTY EMERGENCY 

OPERATIONS CENTER COVID-19 UPDATE 
6/12/2020 3:30pm

LOS ANGELE COUNTY 

 Total Cases 70,476

 Deaths 2,832

STATS BY CITY Population Cases Deaths 

Pasadena 14,1371 1023 84

Uninc- East Pasadena 6,403 4 0

City of Arcadia 57,754 105 6

Uninc. - Arcadia 7.981 12 1

City of Bradbury 1,069 4 0

City of Duarte 22,016 144 17

Uninc.- Duarte 4,428 18 1

City of Monrovia 38,800 .. 185 25

Uninc - Monrovia 3,881 23 0

 

City of Sierra Madre 10,989 15 2

City of So.Pasadena 26,053 138 -20

Uninc.- Altadena 43,260 178 6

For updated information go to: http://dashboard.publichealth.
lacounty.gov/covid19_surveillance_dashboard/ 

TABLE FOR TWO by Peter Dills

thechefknows@yahoo.com


So ? What happened to the rush to go to a restaurant, it’s been 
officially two weeks now that restaurants have been open. I for 
one haven’t seen a rush to go out have you witnessed the same 
thing? I have been out at least five times and haven’t seen one 
restaurant with eve near half capacity

 Recently, I was the benefactor of an exceptional question from a 
reader named Tony. It appears that Rodeo Drive and their wine 
list may have immigrated to a location near us. I dream of a day 
when a poor wine critic may soothe his many worries with an 
exception glass of wine and not be required to carry a bag of 
gold dust as payment. Like the majority of us, Tony strikes me 
as a regular consumer of wine; a person who is not cheap but 
searches for value when he is dining out. To be more explicit, it 
appears that Tony has some difficulty in partaking of the wine 
experience when he perceives that he has been taken advantage 
of, or possibly robbed by a very kind and wholly inoffensive 
waiter... one who surgically extracts substantial sums of money 
through the use of a corkscrew.

The hero of our tragic story, Tony, recently went to a Pasadena 
restaurant and ordered a glass of house cabernet. He liked the 
initial selection and ordered a second glass. The bill arrived and 
Tony was shocked to discover that each glass of wine was $14. 
His night went from a great evening to one of disappointment 
and incredulity. Tony asked me to investigate the practice 
of mark-ups at restaurants. He also did some research and 
discovered the same bottle for $15 at Vons. The waiter told 
Tony it was $52 to purchase the whole bottle and they pour five 
glasses per bottle. 

I reached out to my many sources in the industry and this is 
what I found out. Fast Eddie, bartender at the Langham, said, 
“$14 is common for a good glass of wine and the math works 
out to $52 for 
the full bottle 
at that price.” 
Many chain 
restaurants use 
a Libby wine 
glass that costs 
them a couple 
of bucks, while upscale restaurants will use a higher quality 
glass; this also affects the cost of a glass of wine. My next call 
was to Bobby who owns Avanti Bar and Bistro restaurant on 
Sierra Madre. He tells me that his wine purveyors suggest this: 
Triple the cost of the bottle. Thus if you see a bottle for $30 at 
your favorite restaurant the rule of the thumb is that they paid 
$10 for it. My suggestion to Tony and my readers is it to never 
let the server blindly pick the wine.

How about corkage fees? Most restaurants charge $4-$15 for 
this service because, yes, they still have to open your bottle and 
clean the glasses. It is unacceptable to bring in a bottle of wine 
that is already listed on the restaurant’s menu. If it is an owner-
occupied restaurant, often it is a good gesture to let the owner 
sample the wine that you have brought in. Erudite wine guy 
Robert Ramirez offers this insightful advice, “Always have the 
wine list when ordering, and I do not recommend asking the 
servers for a wine recommendation unless you do not have any 
issues with the price.” I hope this helps. I learned something 
as well.

Become a fan of Peter Dills on Facebook, and read about events 
and restaurants not covered here. Email me your suggestions 
to the chefknows@yahoo.com. Listen to his wine tips on Dining 
with Dills Sunday Morning at 8 AM on Go Country 105

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com