Los Angeles Times - 23.08.2019

CALIFORNIA

F RIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2019::L ATIMES.COM/CALIFORNIA

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As the number of electric scooters
across Los Angeles has spiked, so has
the number of tickets issued to their
riders.
The Los Angeles Police Depart-
ment wrote 800 tickets to riders on the
zippy electric vehicles between Janu-
ary of 2018 and mid-July, and cited
them for more than 900 violations, ac-
cording to city data analyzed by The
Times.
The ticketing rate rose sharply
this summer as police officers tar-
geted riders on the city’s narrow and
sometimes crowded sidewalks, the
data show. In June, officers wrote 249

citations, a 1,815% increase compared

with the same time last year. Nearly

two-thirds of the violations cited a

California law that bans motorized

vehicles on sidewalks.

“If you are riding a scooter on a

sidewalk, you will get a ticket,” Paul

Koretz, the most outspoken critic of

scooterson the Los Angeles City

Council, said at a news conference

Thursday in the Fairfax district. “It’s

time to stop.”

Bird, Lime and other companies

have added stickers on the base-

boards of their vehicles that say, “No

riding on sidewalks.” But the practice

is still the norm in L.A., where cars can

often move at 35 mph or faster on city

streets.

AN LAPD OFFICERwarns two men about riding scooters on the sidewalk near Fairfax High School. A
citation for riding on the sidewalk in Los Angeles costs $197 plus fees, and police are writing more of them.

Kent NishimuraLos Angeles Times

Taking it to the street

Electric scooters are banned from sidewalks, a law most users ignore;

L.A. is writing more tickets so riders will scoot over to the asphalt

By Mark Puente
and Laura J. Nelson

[SeeScooters,B6]

249

Citations in June, a 1,815%

increase compared with the

same period last year.

197

Dollar amount of the face value

of a sidewalk riding citation.

36,

Number of scooters registered

to eight companies across

Los Angeles.

In the fifth episode of the
final season of Netflix’s “Or-
ange Is the New Black,” the
character Maritza, who has
been languishing in an im-
migrant detention center,
finds out about a toll-free
hotline she can call to get a
free lawyer. As she’s rejoic-
ing, another character, Glo-
ria, cuts her off.
Gloria warns Maritza:
“You have to be careful,
though. Apparently if they
figure out that you’re using
the hotline, Big Brother
shuts it down.”
That’s exactly what hap-
pened, advocates say. Immi-
gration and Customs
Enforcementshut down a
real hotline for detained im-
migrants run by the Califor-
nia group Freedom for
Immigrantsless than two
weeks after it was promi-
nently featured on the show.
Freedom for Immi-
grants, which runs visitation
programs in detention cen-
ters across the country,
responded Thursday with
a cease-and-desist letter
charging that the termina-
tion is a violation of free
speech and amounts to re-
taliation by the government
in an attempt to silence one
of its prominent critics.
Six actors from “Orange
Is the New Black” and more

ICE ends

hotline

featured

on TV

Service offering legal

help to detainees ends

after ‘Orange Is the

New Black’ episode.

By Andrea Castillo

[SeeHotline, B4]

Los Angeles County

could soon become the na-

tion’s largest jurisdiction to

ban the sales of flavored to-

bacco — a move aimed at

fighting what public health

officials increasingly call an

epidemic of e-cigarette use

among teenagers.

Under a proposed ordi-

nance that the Board of Su-

pervisors is expected to con-

sider next month, stores in

unincorporated areas would

no longer be able to offer any

tobacco products with a fla-

vor in any form.

That includes e-ciga-

rettes with fruity pods of liq-

uid nicotine, traditional

menthol cigarettes, mint

chewing tobacco and cream

cigars, among other prod-

ucts.

The plan also would re-

quire new or existing to-

bacco shops to get business

licenses, according to a draft

of the ordinance viewed by

The Times.

The new rules would be

enforced starting in Febru-

ary 2020. Businesses that

don’t comply could have

their licenses suspended.

Public health advocates

praised the county’s plan,

saying it could help cut the

alarming amount of e-ciga-

rettevaping by young peo-

ple.

“It’s a tremendous

undertaking to make such a

sweeping change in legisla-

tion,” said Jessica Sims, a

healthcare administrator

who is on the board of the

American Heart Assn. in

Los Angeles. “It’s the right

thing to do. It will protect

kids and reverse a trend.”

While less harmful for

adults than regular ciga-

rettes, the long-term health

effects of e-cigarettes re-

main unclear, according to

the U.S. Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention.

However, research shows

that nicotine use by young

people — including by vap-

ing devices — can affect

APROPOSALgoing before the L.A. County Board of Supervisors would outlaw

the sale of flavored nicotine juice for e-cigarettes, among other tobacco products.

Nam Y. HuhAssociated Press

L.A. County weighs ban

on flavored tobacco sales

[SeeTobacco,B4]

Plan could reduce teen vaping, health advocates say

By Matt Stiles

A proposed law that

would require all California

high school students take an

ethnic studies course is on

hold for this year after the

draft curriculum prompted

weeks of escalating contro-

versy from diverse groups

whose members said they

were misrepresented or ex-

cluded.

The Thursday decision

by the bill’s author quells

weeks of critiques from lead-

ers of pro-Israel organiza-

tions, who challenged the

lack of teaching about anti-

Semitism, and organiza-

tions representing Armeni-

ans, Greeks, Hindus and Ko-

reans, whose members want

lessons about their people to

be taught.

Meanwhile, a broad coali-

tion of student groups and

educators, mainly people of

color, rallied in support of

the current draft. In the

midst of the critiques, state

educators announced that

the first draft of curriculum

fell short and would be sub-

stantially revised.

Assemblyman Jose Me-

dina (D-Riverside), the au-

thor, said he remains com-

mitted to making ethnic

studies a graduation re-

quirement, but problems

and disagreements with the

draft curriculum need “am-

ple time” to be worked out.

“I strongly believe in the

tenets of ethnic studies and

continue to assert that it is

time for California to make

the subject a requirement

for all students,” Medina

said in a statement.

“It is not a question of

whether the subject itself is

necessary but rather, how

do we ensure the curriculum

is comprehensive, rigorous,

and inclusive enough. This

underscores the importance

of taking the time necessary

to ensure we get the curricu-

lum right.”

Medina’s action turned

Assembly Bill 331 into a

“two-year bill,” which allows

him to postpone a vote in the

current session without

killing it. Lawmakers often

choose the two-year path in

an attempt to resolve con-

troversies or rally the neces-

sary support.

Despite his support for

ethnic studies, Medina had

joined other members of the

War of words

delays ethnic

studies bill

An ethnic studies

requirement for all

high school students

in California is

placed on hold.

By Howard Blume

and Nina Agrawal

ASTUDENT’S display this month at Camino Nuevo

Charter Academy Miramar Campus in Los Angeles.

Kent NishimuraLos Angeles Times

[SeeEthnic studies,B4]

History made

with LAPD

watchdog group

Eileen Decker and

Shane Goldsmith will

be the first women to

lead the panel in its

100-year existence. B

A pioneer of

the digital age

Danny Cohen, a

distinguished computer

scientist who helped

develop a visual flight

simulator, dies at 81. B

Lottery.........................B

San Francisco’s Board of

Supervisors wants to sani-

tize language in the criminal

justice system.

In a proposal to the city

and county of San Fran-

cisco, words such as “felon,”

“offender,” “convict” and

“parolee” would be swapped

for what’s described as peo-

ple-first language — phrases

that strip any objectification

or pejorative descriptions

for more neutral and pos-

itive descriptors.

Some examples include

changing “felon” and “of-

fender” to “returning resi-

dent” or “formerly incarcer-

ated person.” A “parolee”

could be described as a “per-

son under supervision.”

“Convict” could be referred

to as a “currently incarcer-

ated person,” while a “ju-

venile offender” or “delin-

quent” would be described

as a “young person impacted

by the justice system.”

The board noted that

about 1 in every 5 Califor-

nians has a criminal record

and the language that often

accompanies those records

can dehumanize and deval-

ue the individual.

“Language shapes the

ideas, perceptions, beliefs,

attitudes and actions of indi-

viduals, societies and gov-

ernments,” the proposal

states. “People-first lan-

guage places the individual

before the criminal record by

using neutral, objective, and

non-pejorative language.”

‘Convicts’ and

‘felons’ no more

S.F. supervisors want

to use language that

downplays a person’s

criminal record.

By Colleen Shalby

LONDON BREED, San

Francisco’s mayor, hasn’t

signed the proposal on

“people-first language.”

Jeff ChiuAssociated Press

[SeeLanguage,B4]