News

News Brief: Sheriff’s Deputies Continue to Skirt Mask Mandate, IG Says

August 26, 2020 by Brian Champlin
Echo Park Lake
Echo Park Lake. Photo by Brian Champlin / We Like L.A.

On the docket today: Sheriff’s deputies without masks, more local protests against police violence, and the Space Force (maybe) is coming to Palmdale. Finally, the Natural History Museum is opening part of its campus for public visitors starting next month… yay! First, some news stuff.

Morning News Rundown

L.A. County Inspector General Max Huntsman recently penned a letter to the County Board of Supervisors warning that LASD deputies continue to ignore the mask-wearing mandate required by state and county orders. For his part, L.A. Sheriff Alex Villanueva says, “Department executives re-brief this requirement on a regular basis in an effort to maintain compliance.” Apparently, the message is not getting through. Huntsman said he’d previously written to Villanueva about the issue back in June, but received no response. [NBC Los Angeles]

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For the second night in a row, protests against police brutality were held in DTLA in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. On Tuesday evening, an estimated 50 to 75 demonstrators gathered outside Men’s Central Jail. Like Monday evening’s protest, things got ugly towards the tail end after LAPD declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and fired non-lethal rounds at the crowd. [ABC 7]

Would you send your children to school once campuses are green-lit to reopen? Parents of Long Beach Unified School District students are heavily divided on the issue, according to survey data recently released by LBUSD. [LB Post]

Another day, another plea deal. Yesterday, Morris Roland “Morrie” Goldman pled to felony bribery charges in connection with disgraced L.A. City Councilman Jose Huizar. Goldman helped form two political action committees that funneled money from developers towards Huizar’s campaign efforts in exchange for political favors. [The Eastsider]

Gov. Gavin Newsom has weighed in on the local District Attorney race, choosing to endorse former San Francisco Police Chief George Gascón over incumbent Jackie Lacey. [LA Mag]

“Get your hands off my damn insurance!” That’s the line from local leaders of SAG-AFTRA, who are threatening a lawsuit against changes to their health plan that could limit or exclude coverage for thousands of members and their families. Union trustees advocating for the changes say the current plan is projected to lose $141 million in 2020. [Deadline]

Could Palmdale be the new home of the United States Space Force? County Supervisor Kathryn Barger is spearheading an effort to make that happen. [ABC 7]

Butterfly in the Sky

Attractions are few and far between these days, but there’s now at least one more possibility. Yesterday, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles announced it is reopening the Butterfly Pavilion for public visitation (weekends only) starting on Sep. 11. Online reservations are required and tickets are $6 for non-museum members. [We Like L.A.]

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