Los Angeles Times - 02.10.2019

LATIMES.COM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2019B

CITY & STATE

The operator of the Con-

ception dive boat, which

burned in a Labor Day fire

that killed 34 people, an-

nounced Tuesday that it was

suspending all operations as

the investigation into the

deadly blaze continued.

The company has come

under scrutiny since the fire,

with the FBI and other agen-

cies spending several days

searching its Santa Barbara

offices and at least one of its

other boats. Despite the in-

tense inspections, U.S.

Coast Guard officials say

there are no restrictions on

Truth Aquatics operating

its vessels.

“With the continued calls

and request for tours, we

want to announce that we

are officially suspending all

operations of our Truth

Aquatic fleet for a to-be-de-

termined amount of time,”

Truth Aquatics said in an In-

stagram post. “Right now we

feel it’s important [to] dedi-

cate our entire efforts to

make our boats models of

new regulations that we will

continue to work on with the

NTSB and Coast Guard.”

The National Trans-

portation Safety Board’s

preliminary report found

that the crew was asleep be-

fore the fire was discovered

and that the Conception did

not have a roaming night

watchman, as required by

the U.S. Coast Guard for ves-

sel certification.

The NTSB inquiry is con-

tinuing, and it’s possible in-

vestigators could return to

inspect the salvaged vessel,

a board spokesman said.

Those who died in the

inferno were sleeping below

deck and could not escape

the flames. Crew members

above deck were able to

jump overboard to safety.

Federal investigators last

week concluded their exami-

nation of the charred wreck-

age, but officials said Friday

that the investigation into

the origins and cause of the

blaze was far from over.

The Bureau of Alcohol,

Tobacco, Firearms and Ex-

plosives completed a pains-

taking examination of the

burned-out Conception,

which was hauled to a Ven-

tura County dock from the

ocean floor on Sept. 12.

Experts have worked to

piece together the remains

of the boat, and parts of the

vessel were sent to high-tech

laboratories. Authorities

also have scoured the sea-

bed for missing pieces.

But a month after the fire

— the deadliest boat fire in

modern California history —

authorities still have not de-

termined the cause of the

blaze, according to two law

enforcement sources famil-

iar with the investigation.

Sources say, however, that a

forensic examination is

likely to reveal the origin.

Charter

dive boat

operator

suspends

business

Truth Aquatics

announces its decision

as inquiries continue

into Conception fire.

By Richard Winton

CANNABIS CAFE OPENS

Brian van der BrugLos Angeles Times

Richard Eastman smokes a joint at the Lowell Cafe in West Hollywood, which opened Tuesday as a cannabis restaurant and bar.

Billed as the first of its kind, the Lowell Cafe serves food and weed. Patrons may smoke pot inside the cafe and on a rear patio.

All Los Angeles restau-
rants are now required to
withhold plastic straws un-
less a customer requests
one, under a law that took
full effect Tuesday.
The move marks the sec-
ond phase of a city ordi-
nance that went into effect
for businesses with more
than 26 employees in April,
aiming to limit the availabili-
ty of single-use straws. The
law now applies to restau-
rants of all sizes.
The City Council in
March voted to prohibit L.A.
restaurants from offering or
providing disposable plastic
straws to customers who are

dining in or taking food to go

unless patrons request

them. The initiative is an at-

tempt to reduce single-use

plastic waste from littering

beaches and waterways,

said Councilman Mitch

O’Farrell.

“As a coastal community,

we have a heightened re-

sponsibility to remove as

much single-use plastic

from the waste stream as

possible,” O’Farrell said.

“Restaurants across the city

are already switching to al-

ternatives that are biode-

gradable, while more Ange-

lenos are using reusable

straws and by extension par-

ticipating in helping to clean

our environment.”

The city’s definition of

plastic straws includes

those that are not biode-

gradable.

California has already

passed similar rules govern-

ing straws at dine-in restau-

rants, but the Los Angeles

“straws on request” law goes

further because it also im-

poses restrictions on fast-

food chains. Unlike San

Francisco or Malibu, howev-

er, L.A. has not completely

banned plastic straws — at

least for now.

O’Farrell cited a report

from the nonprofit Lonely

Whale campaign called

Strawless Ocean, which

stated Americans throw

away 500 million plastic

straws each day. Worldwide,

plastic straws are among the

top 10 marine debris items,

according to the environ-

mental advocacy group.

Plastic straws were the

sixth-most-collected item

on California Coastal Clean-

up days from 1988-2016, be-

hind cigarettes, food pack-

aging, caps and lids, plastic

bags, and plastic utensils

and dishes, according to a

city report.

However, disability

rights advocates have voiced

concerns over the issue, say-

ing existing alternatives to

plastic straws are not always

practical or functional for

people who need straws to

drink.

City News Service

contributed to this report.

Second phase of plastic straw ban kicks in at all L.A. restaurants

By Hannah Fry

RESTAURANTSof all sizes in L.A. are now barred

from giving out straws unless diners request them.

Mike KempGetty Images

Five schools, including
three charters, share the
Westchester High School
campus, making for a poten-
tial headache when it comes
to drop-off and pickup, serv-
ing food and using the li-
brary and athletic fields.
A plan unanimously ap-
proved Tuesday by the Los
Angeles Board of Education
won’t fix all the logistics at
schools like Westchester, but
it offers $5.5 million to make
sharing campuses more
manageable and collegial.
The funding works out to
about $100,000 for each of the
55 campuses that host one
or more charters in the na-
tion’s second-largest school
system.
The funding represents a
notable collaboration be-
tween board members Nick
Melvoin, a charter ally, and
Jackie Goldberg, a charter
critic. It comes just one week
after an unrelated but key
compromise between the
same two camps over con-
troversial fees that senior
district officials want to col-
lect from charters.
These recent actions
show that board members
can work together on divi-
sive issues. They also under-
score the importance of up-
coming school board elec-
tions, especially with new
rules that give school boards
more authority to reject new
charters.
No one likes this sharing
between charters and dis-

trict schools, said Melvoin,

“but we can do more to pro-

vide support to our district

schools by easing the burden

of sharing a campus. We can

help the day-to-day opera-

tions run a little smoother,

and maybe even promote a

new spirit of collaboration.”

“I made substantial

changes to Nick’s original

motion and he accepted all

of them,” said Goldberg,

who added that the end re-

sult should be smoother

lunch lines, easier student

drop-offs and better play

spaces.

The complications

around sharing campuses

are not all logistical. In some

cases, a new charter school,

which is run by a nonprofit

board of directors, has re-

cruited students by calling

the existing local school a

failure, because of low stu-

dent test scores, for exam-

ple. If students sign up, the

charter can request avail-

able classroom space from

L.A. Unified. The charter

sometimes ends up on the

same campus as the district-

run school that it criticized.

And, in an era of declining

enrollment, the two schools

are sometimes competing

head to head for students —

and survival.

Supporters of Catskill El-

ementary in Carson went

house to house in the spring

opposing recruiting efforts

by Ganas Academy, which

was set to open for business

this fall on the Catskill cam-

pus. Round 1 has gone to

Catskill after Ganas was un-

able to recruit enough stu-

dents and will not open this

year.

Overall, however, little

has impeded the growth of

charters in L.A. Unified,

which has had limited au-

thority to reject them; char-

ters enroll close to 1 in 5 dis-

trict students. Charters au-

thorized by the state or

county also can claim dis-

trict space. And on many

campuses, including West-

chester, sharing arrange-

ments are worked out with

little acrimony.

The Melvoin-Goldberg

resolution could offer more

help. The grants must be

spent on a facility-related

need that the charter and

district school agree on —

and $100,000 goes only so far.

The money comes from vot-

er-approved school con-

struction bonds set aside for

charters, said Mark Hovat-

ter, who heads the facilities

division.

One possibility for the

Westchester campus is a

new sound system for the

auditorium. At the Helen

Bernstein High School cam-

pus in Hollywood two of the

principals agree that a back

gate needs to be fixed.

Melvoin and Goldberg,

and their supporters, have

different imperatives for

promoting harmony.

Charter supporters are a

key constituency for Melvoin

— and he can be counted on

to speak up for families that

choose charters. Goldberg

ran for the board this year as

a charter critic. It bothered

her that the program at a

district-run school could be

undermined by having to

give up rooms and facilities,

such as a computer lab, to a

charter. She can’t legally

stop the sharing, but she can

show she’s fighting to get a

better deal for the district

program.

She waged another battle

on that front last week over

fees billed to charters. The

district has the right to col-

lect a usage fee whether a

charter uses a requested

space or not. And if a charter

requests more space than

it’s entitled to — if it overesti-

mated its enrollment, for ex-

ample — the charter is sub-

ject to an additional penalty.

The district has failed to

collect those fees for years.

But under recent pressure

from Goldberg, with sup-

port from Supt. Austin

Beutner, billing letters went

out in September. Officials

said 42 charters owed close

to $7 million covering the last

three years.

Four of those charters

were up for their five-year re-

newals last week, and Gold-

berg wanted to withhold ap-

proval until they paid up.

Three charters pledged pay-

ment. The fourth immedi-

ately cut a $58,205 check.

It remains to be seen

whether other charters will

settle quickly or initiate yet

another lawsuit between

charters and L.A. Unified.

Although the four charters

got their renewals, they were

on the defensive, a contrast

with two years ago, when a

more charter-friendly ma-

jority approved rules to

make district oversight of

charters less onerous.

Money for schools sharing a campus

MAGNOLIA SCIENCE ACADEMY 3,a charter school, and Curtiss Elementary

School, a public school, share a campus. The students mingle on the playground.

Nick AgroFor The Times

Two L.A. Unified

trustees, a charter ally

and a critic, cooperate

to make shared spaces

more manageable.

By Howard Blume