Los Angeles Times 11/26/2020

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I

couldn’t think of a
better day to tell you
about my friend Don
Hunt.
He has been gone
almost 10 years now and it
still hurts, just as it does
sometimes to look at my
mother’s pictures. She died
in 2015, three years after
suffering a paralyzing
stroke.
This is a story about love
and friendship. And a re-
minder to all on this
Thanksgiving Day to be
grateful for those who touch
us in profound and unex-
pected ways. Don and my
mother never met, but they
would be linked in ways I
could never imagine.
Don and I sat next to
each other as editors on the
Times Metro desk and
quickly bonded as fellow
Texans who loved Willie
Nelson, the Hill Country
and mesquite barbecue. To
this day I’ve never known
anyone who could consume
so much pulled pork in one
sitting.
We shared other traits. A
mutual friend once declared
us both “profoundly cheap.”
We used to joke about whose
well-worn wallet had the
most adhesive tape, whose
shoes the most holes and
who drove the oldest car. My
Toyota Corolla was 15 years
old, his Honda Accord five
years older.

COLUMN ONE

Death

didn’t

stop his

giving

A writer’s mother and

his friend never met,

but they would be

connected in an

astonishing way.

By Carlos Valdez
Lozano

[SeeGift,A9]

A dozen bleary-eyed chil-

dren bundled in sweaters,

jackets and knit caps trickle

into the motel carport, tak-

ing seats at metal desks

evenly spaced atop the gaso-

line-stained concrete. Dia-

grams of the alphabet and

solar system are taped to the

beige stucco wall.

“How are we feeling to-

day?” a tutor asks two little

boys as they take their seats.

“Sleepy?”

The younger boy nods yes

as he pulls a blue mask deco-

rated with Dalmatians over

his face. A 4-year-old wear-

ing socks, flip-flops and a

hot-pink Minnie Mouse coat

bounds over to her desk and

plops into her chair.

The school day is about

to begin for these children,

who amid the COVID-

pandemic are sheltering

with their families at the Hy-

land Motel in Van Nuys. Ev-

ery Monday and Tuesday

since mid-August, these

homeless students — as few

as five or as many as 12 —

have congregated in the car-

port, where volunteers help

them navigate hours-long

Zoom classes.

They are just a fraction of

the L.A. Unified School Dis-

trict’s estimated 11,

homeless students, who, ac-

cording to data, are espe-

cially vulnerable to the pan-

demic’s learning impacts:

lower grades, attendance

rates and online participa-

tion.

Coronavirus-forced

school closures didn’t just

THE PANDEMIChas been especially hard on LAUSD’s estimated 11,000 homeless students, who may

suffer from low grades and attendance. Above, volunteer Elyse Stelford helps a 6-year-old first-grader.

Photographs by Mel MelconLos Angeles Times

Help for homeless students

For kids taking Zoom classes from a Van Nuys motel, a

new city of L.A. program provides tutors — and snacks

By Laura Newberry

VOLUNTEERJill Ause helps a 5-year-old

kindergartner with the letters of the alphabet. [SeeStudents, A14]

Los Angeles County was

rapidly running out of time

to prevent hospitals filling

up with COVID-19 patients

in the coming weeks as the

novel coronavirus continued

an unprecedented surge and

the Thanksgiving weekend

presented perilous risks of

further infections.

Officials had been hoping

to enter the holiday with

some signs that the latest

surge was beginning to slow.

But the virus continues to

spread at alarming rates, in-

creasing the chances of

more widespread transmis-

sion as people gather with

family and friends.

Beginning Wednesday

night, restaurants in much

of L.A. County were to sus-

pend outdoor dining. More

restrictions could be coming

as county elected officials re-

view recommendations by

the Department of Public

Health.

L.A. County was report-

ing a seven-day average of

nearly 4,300 new coronavirus

cases a day as of Wednesday,

the third consecutive day

that number has hit a new

high. Unless something

dramatic is done to slow

transmission, that number

is on track to double within

two weeks and quadruple in

a month, said Dr. Christina

Ghaly, L.A. County’s direc-

tor of health services.

Officials said hospitals

could see a shortage of beds

— especially in intensive

care units — over the next

two to four weeks if these

trends continue. Hospitals

are better equipped now

than they were in the spring

County

faces

perilous

moment

on virus

Infection rates are at

‘most alarming’ levels

yet, official says, as

holiday heightens risk.

By Rong-Gong Lin II

and Luke Money

[SeeCOVID-19,A14]

A

mop-haired boy from a

Buenos Aires slum, Diego Ar-

mando Maradona dribbled

and dazzled his way to world

fame, becoming one of the

greatest soccer players of all time and

achieving a godlike status in his home-

land when he led Argentina to victory in

the 1986 World Cup.

But he also was one of the most self-

destructive, a volatile man of prodigious

appetites whose excesses landed him in

the hospital again and again.

Never far from the spotlight he chased

with such fury, Maradona died Wednes-

day of a heart attack, the Associated

Press confirmed. He was 60.

Maradona had been plagued by

health issues in recent years and was

recently released from a Buenos Aires

hospital after suffering a subdural

hematoma, which required brain surgery.

As the news of Maradona’s death cir-

culated around the world Wednesday, Ar-

gentine President Alberto Fernandez

called for three days of national mourn-

ing, while UEFA, soccer’s governing body

in Europe, announced there would be a

minute of silence before its Champions

League and

Carlo FumagalliAssociated Press

AT THE PINNACLE

Diego Maradona holds the World Cup trophy in triumph in 1986 after

Argentina defeated West Germany, 3-2, to claim the championship.

DIEGO MARADONA, 1960 - 2020

Argentine soccer hero

lived a life of extremes

[SeeMaradona,A4]

By Hector Tobar

WILMINGTON, Del. —
As President Trump contin-
ued to downplay an out-of-
control virus that is taking
more than 2,000 American
lives a day, President-elect
Joe Biden sought to step
into the leadership void
Wednesday by delivering a
solemn appeal for Ameri-
cans to put politics aside
and unite to beat the pan-
demic.
Biden’s Thanksgiving
eve address signaled a new
phase of the official transi-
tion, one in which he is buck-
ing tradition and moving

early to claim the bully pulp-

it and reset the tone of the

presidency.

While he didn’t mention

Trump by name, Biden said

Americans deserve “to al-

ways hear the truth” from

the president, a clear con-

trast to Trump’s daily

stream of mistruths.

For his part, Trump

spent the day focused on his

false claims of election fraud.

He phoned in to a meeting

hosted by Pennsylvania Re-

publicans to voice more

baseless charges, and said

the election results must be

invalidated.

Trump also issued a par-

don to Michael Flynn, the

only White House aide

charged in the special coun-

sel investigation into Rus-

sian meddling in the 2016

election.

Flynn served less than a

Biden gives U.S.

a Thanksgiving

message of hope

President-elect strives

to reassure and unite a

COVID-weary nation

in leadership vacuum.

By Evan Halper

PRESIDENT-ELECTJoe Biden’s Thanksgiving eve
address signaled he is claiming the bully pulpit early.

Carolyn KasterAssociated Press

[SeeBiden,A8]

APPRECIATION:Unpredictability made Maradona lovable. SPORTS, B

MORE COVERAGE

Out of isolation,

into a pandemic

Conservationists leave

after months on remote

island to find a changed

world. NATION, A

L.A. County’s high

infection rates

Estimates show that

1 in 145 Angelenos

may be contagious with

COVID-19. CALIFORNIA, B

■■■ ELECTION 2020■■■

Trump pardons

ex-aide Flynn

President rewards his

first national security

advisor, a loyalist who

pleaded guilty to lying

to the FBI. NATION, A

LAUSD ramps

up food relief

The school district

expected to distribute

1.5 million meals,

enough to last the

week. CALIFORNIA, B

Weather

Mostly sunny, windy.

L.A. Basin: 67/45. B

7 85944 10300 9

Associated Press