Los Angeles Times - 07.03.2020

CALIFORNIA

SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2020::LATIMES.COM/CALIFORNIA

B

Twenty-one people on

the Grand Princess off the

San Francisco coast have

tested positive for the novel

coronavirus, Vice President

Mike Pence said Friday, an

announcement that an-

gered and deflated many

passengers on the cruise

ship.

Pence said the federal

government is working with

the state of California to

bring the cruise ship into a

noncommercial port over

the weekend and quarantine

those aboard as necessary.

Those testing positive in-

cluded 19 crew and two pas-

sengers.

“All passengers will be

tested,” the vice president

said several hours after test-

ing kits were delivered to the

ship. “Those that need to be

quarantined will be quaran-

tined.”

A state source described

conversations about moving

passengers and crew mem-

bers as fluid and said talks

between the state and fed-

eral government will resume

Saturday. A representative

for Princess Cruises said

that the ship would not dock

A CREWaboard a helicopter approaches the Grand Princess to lower test kits onto the cruise ship Thursday off the California coast.

California National Guard

21 on cruise ship test positive

A day that started with
hope ended with anger and
frustration as passengers on
the Grand Princess learned
that some on the ship tested
positive for coronavirus,
bringing the specter of a
quarantine at sea.
More than 3,500 people
are aboard the vessel, which
is holding off the coast of San
Francisco in international
waters as officials decide
where — or if — it should
dock now that two passen-
gers and 19 crew members
have tested positive for
COVID-19.
“We are doing a bit of
Trump bashing, having a
glass of wine, trying to cancel
airplane reservations, trying
to figure out what to do with
my dog and get her out of the
kennel tomorrow, canceling
hotel reservations for to-
morrow night,” said Debbi
Loftus, a Wisconsin passen-
ger who is traveling with her
elderly parents. “The nor-
mal stuff anyone does on a
Friday afternoon.”
Loftus was not the only
one unhappy with the ad-
ministration. Vice President
Mike Pence announced the
positive cases during a news
conference Friday after-
noon, before passengers had

Passengers

show anger,

worry over

coronavirus

Facing wait

with wine

and ‘Trump

bashing’

By Anita Chabria

[SeeWait,B4]

By Anita Chabria,

Melody Gutierrez,

Noam N. Levey

and Richard Winton

Blood banks say

donations down

Officials worry that

the spread of the

coronavirus could

affect supply. B

In anticipation

of precipitation

Moisture-rich

atmospheric river is

expected to bring

widespread rain. B

NHL legend

won 11 titles

Henri Richard, who

holds the record for

most Stanley Cup

victories, dies at 84. B

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

A lot of us see
the great need
all around and
we want to do
something
useful but we’re
not sure how.
What can we do
for someone who has lost a
job and lost housing? For
someone who is teetering on
the edge?
This is a story about how
help need not be huge to be
hugely helpful, and about
how helping often helps the
helpers too.
This is also a story about
Corgis, those dogs famously
fit for a queen.
Corgis are sweet and
smart and known for the
utter devotion they show to,
and inspire in, their people.
Let me start by saying that
Ted and Sandy Rogers
loved their Corgi as much as

it is possible to love.

I know this because I’ve

known Ted for years on

Twitter, and he used to post

as many proud photos of the

dog as he did entries on his

well-read blog about biking.

I came to know and love “the

Corgi” from a distance

through Ted’s photos and

descriptions. I smiled when

I saw her showing off her

belly and wearing her

bandannas and costumes. I

was proud of her for the way

she took care of Ted.

When diabetes walloped

Ted about five years ago, the

Corgi somehow learned just

how to help him. He de-

scribed how she watched

over him and prodded him

and licked him when his

blood sugar plunged dan-

gerously low. He credited

these attentions on multiple

occasions with saving him

from the ER.

CITY BEAT

More than one rescue for a Craigslist Corgi

A DEVOTED CORGI staying with a foster couple in Hollywood nuzzles up to his

visiting owner, who is homeless, jobless and trying to get back on his feet.

Jason ArmondLos Angeles Times

NITA LELYVELD

[SeeCity Beat,B6]

California regulators are

ordering AllenCo Energy to

plug wells and decommis-

sion an oil drilling site whose

neighbors once complained

of nosebleeds, headaches

and other ailments, perma-

nently closing the South Los

Angeles facility.

In the order, State Oil

and Gas Supervisor Uduak-

Joe Ntuk declared that

AllenCo Energy had “desert-

ed” the facility and failed to

properly fix leaks that

showed that wells were dete-

riorating.

Last month, one of the

company’s executives told

state regulators that it

would no longer be spending

“further capital” on the

South L.A. site. Ntuk said in

his order that the company

must decommission the fa-

cility in accordance with

state law.

The decision marks the

latest turn in a lengthy saga

over the site near USC,

which became the focus of a

flurry of neighborhood pro-

tests and government inves-

tigations. AllenCo Energy

agreed to suspend

operations there in Novem-

ber 2013 after complaints

about headaches and other

ailments suffered by neigh-

bors.

By that time, federal and

local investigations had

been launched and an envi-

ronmental team touring the

site had been sickened by

toxic fumes. Then- Sen. Bar-

bara Boxer called on the

company to suspend opera-

tions. Los Angeles City Atty.

Mike Feuer then sued and

obtained a court order re-

quiring AllenCo Energy to

follow new requirements if it

wanted to restart opera-

tions. Environmental and

neighborhood activists ar-

gued it should never be al-

lowed to do so.

The latest move by the

California Geologic Energy

Management Division, for-

merly known as the Division

of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal

Resources, heartened com-

munity activists who had

called for the site to be per-

manently closed.

“This has been a long

time coming and we’re ex-

tremely grateful” to the state

agency, said Nancy Halpern

Ibrahim, executive director

of the nonprofit Esperanza

Community Housing, which

raised concerns about

health effects from the well

site.

Ibrahim credited Ntuk,

who previously served as pe-

troleum administrator for

the city of Los Angeles, for

being “very, very familiar

with how devastating the

emissions from AllenCo

FIRM IS

TOLD TO

CLOSE

UNUSED

OIL SITE

AllenCo Energy idled

South L.A. facility in

2013 after complaints

about emissions.

By Emily Alpert Reyes

[SeeAllenCo,B5]

Jenny Reyes didn’t think about the

coronavirus until she stepped out of

her friend’s car at Disneyland’s parking

garage in Anaheim, the second most-

visited theme park in the world.

On the escalator, the Boston resi-

dent took notice of the handrail. “Don’t

touch that, don’t touch that,” she told

herself.

But the moment was fleeting. At the

bottom of the escalator, her friend

Anna Maltez of Long Beach snapped a

photo of Reyes standing by a globe

structure shaped like Mickey Mouse’s

ears.

Concerns about the coronavirus,

and California’s declaration of a state

of emergency, were not going to stop

Reyes from visiting the “Happiest

Place on Earth.”

“It’s more about trying to be con-

scious of the things you touch,” Reyes

said.

As the number of coronavirus cases

rises in the United States and more

conferences and public events are can-

celed, thousands

INSIDE THE“Happiest Place on Earth,” there were only the most

subtle hints that people were thinking about coronavirus.

Allen J. SchabenLos Angeles Times

Disneyland visitors

pour in, focus on fun

They don’t let virus fears dampen their visit

By Ruben Vives

[SeePark,B2] [SeeCruise ship,B4]