A high school graduate with a stellar grade point average, near perfect test scores, and a tech startup he founded when he was a sophomore, was rejected by dozens of colleges, including state schools. Then he landed a job at Google.

When Stanley Zhong, who graduated from Gunn High School in Palo Alto, California, in 2023, was rejected by 14 of the 18 colleges and universities to which he applied, he and his advisers were dumbfounded.

Zhong was a standout student: He had an unweighted 3.96 grade point average and scored 1590 on his SATs. He had also been a finalist in multiple global computer coding contests and founded a free electronic signature startup called RabbitSign.

Zhong was rejected by his first-choice school, Stanford, which wasn’t all too surprising, he said. But he did not expect the rejection letters he received from some of the state schools he had applied to, including University of California, Davis; University of California, Santa Barbara; and California Polytechnic State University.  

“No one can say they expect to get into Stanford, Berkeley or MIT, but I applied to a few state schools where I thought I had a better chance,” Zhong told CBS MoneyWatch.

No reasons given, just “you’re rejected”

With no elucidation provided from colleges and universities on their decision-making, all he could do was speculate as to why he had received so many rejections.

“I didn’t get any feedback from any admissions offices. You don’t get reasons, you just get ‘you’re rejected,'” Zhong said. “For some of them it was expected. For a lot of them I felt frustrated in the sense of, ‘What do you want from me?’ I feel like as students, we deserve to know what we should be doing in order to get into these colleges.”

Zhong and his family reached out to the Asian American Coalition for Education (AACE), a nonprofit organization that advocates for Asian-American children’s education rights, “to try to push for transparency in college admissions decisions,” he said.

 AACE founding president Yukong Mike Zhao raised Zhong’s case at a hearing of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on race-based college admissions decisions last month. 

“He is a talent in programming — everybody says computer science is the future for the 21st century,” Zhao said.

“It’s appalling for the colleges to ignore this kind of talent,” he added.

Google application

A total of four schools offered admission to Zhong, including the University of Texas at Austin.

Not one to wallow in disappointment, Zhong decided to matriculate at UT Austin. He also applied to a software engineer opening at Google “as a moonshot,” he said.

“I decided to go for a full-time job as well to see what happened. I figured worst case, I would get interview experience and see what the process was like and maybe I would get lucky,” Zhong said. 

He did.

Earlier this month, 18-year-old Zhong started working as a software development engineer at Google, a role that doesn’t require a college degree. 

Google has many job roles for which “equivalent practical experience” counts in lieu of a college degree, and others that don’t have any degree requirements. Zhong did not disclose how much the job pays.

Plans to attend college?

College is still on the table for Zhong, but not until 2024 at the earliest.

“I am very lucky to have this opportunity and right now, I will stick with it for at least a year. From there I will think about, ‘Am I am making good contributions and doing good work?’ If that’s the case, I will stay until I don’t feel like I am or that I am really missing out on a lot by not going to college,” Zhong said.

He said he’s a self-taught programmer, but still sees value in higher education. 

“In computer science, from a purely educational standpoint, a lot of what colleges teach, can also be found online if you’re willing to learn it. Most of my computer science knowledge is from looking things up, reading articles, things like that,” Zhong said. “But there is also a social and networking aspect to college.”

San Francisco Wine School’s 12th Anniversary Celebration Benefits Glancy Wine Education Foundation on Saturday, November 11, 2023

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — On Saturday, November 11th from 3:30-8pm, San Francisco Wine School invites the public to join their 12th Anniversary Celebration and Scholarship Auction featuring their signature Somm Olympics event benefiting the Glancy Wine Education Foundation, which provides scholarships to wine & hospitality professionals from diverse communities demonstrating financial need.

Blind Tasting Competition | Wine Knowledge Challenge | Decanting Race | Sparkling Wine Relay | Food Pairing Competition | Global Wine Tasting Bazaar | Silent Online Auction

This year’s Anniversary Celebration will have options for both in-person and online participation and includes the wildly popular Somm Olympics, a Global Wine Tasting Bazaar with a plentitude of international and upscale fare, plus a silent auction full of unique wine items and experiences. Co-owners of San Francisco Wine School, Master Sommelier David Glancy and Chief Operating Officer Kristin Campbell will host this important and inspiring event.

The Somm Olympics includes five signature events each year: a jeopardy style wine knowledge challenge, a blind tasting competition, a Riedel serpentine decanter race, a sparkling wine relay, and a mouthwatering food pairing competition. Online guests will sip right alongside the contestants for the first three events with their own Wine Tasting Party Kit – available for delivery in 43 states. In-person guests will go on to enjoy the remaining competitions tasting and sipping through the Global Wine Bazaar. No tickets are required to bid in the silent online auction.

This year San Francisco Wine School welcomes two long-time San Francisco sommeliers to the competitor’s stage, Cara Patricia, Co-Founder of DecantSF and Tonya Pitts, Wine Director of San Francisco’s One Market Restaurant and Wine Enthusiast’s 2022 Wine Star Awards winner of Wine Director of the Year!

All proceeds from this exciting event will benefit the Glancy Wine Education Foundation. To date, San Francisco Wine School Anniversary events have contributed to over 200 scholarships totaling over $350,000 in tuition support to their students in need. 97% of applicants earn less than the “living wage” benchmarks.

More information and tickets can be found at: https://sanfranciscowineschool.com/products/special-event-anniversary-celebration-scholarship-auction

ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO WINE SCHOOL:

San Francisco Wine School strives to open the world of wine to serious students and enthusiasts everywhere, helping people of all levels break into the wine industry, advance their career, or simply pursue their passions. Founded by Master Sommelier and Certified Wine Educator David Glancy, San Francisco Wine School is the largest wine school in the U.S., offering the most thoughtful approach to wine study. Their inspired educational programs and workshops are taught in their state-of-the-art Wine Education and Events Center and their cutting-edge virtual classroom by industry-leading instructors from all major educational disciplines.

San Francisco Wine School’s curriculum features the best content in the business: expert course materials, carefully conceived wine flights, and in-depth blind tasting exercises designed to engage students, illuminate course content and enhance learning. Their beautiful sunlight-filled Wine Education and Event Center is conveniently located just 5 minutes from San Francisco International Airport. Located inside South San Francisco’s historic Town Social Hall, the contemporary design boasts 4,000 square feet of flexible space with 16-foot coved ceilings, 12-foot arched windows throughout, and 180-degree views of the San Bruno Mountains, City Hall and the San Francisco Bay. It’s the perfect place to enjoy classes, industry seminars, tastings and a wide variety of private experiences. Online students can join live classes with custom tasting kits available for delivery in 43 states.

ABOUT GLANCY WINE EDUCATION FOUNDATION:

The Glancy Wine Education Foundation was established in 2020 to continue the wine education scholarship and fundraising work initiated by the San Francisco Wine School in 2016 through the Glancy Wine Education Fund at Scholarship America. This eight-member volunteer board is dedicated to providing scholarships to students wanting to start or advance a career in the wine or hospitality industry using education and certifications in their field. Awards are based upon financial hardship, economic need, and career and educational goals. The Glancy Wine Education Foundation is a not-for-profit, tax exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Learn More: https://sanfranciscowineschool.com/

This version of news story was published on and is Copr. © 2023 California Newswire® (CaliforniaNewswire.com) – part of the Neotrope® News Network, USA – all rights reserved.

Information is believed accurate but is not guaranteed. For questions about the above news, contact the company/org/person noted in the text and NOT this website.

LA Sports Council and the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) unveil third annual analysis of economic impact of sports at the Metro LA Sports Innovation Conference Presented by Hollywood Park

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /California Newswire/ — LA Sports Council, the region’s premier sports trade association, and the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) released “Sports in the Los Angeles Basin: The 2023 Economic Impact Analysis” at the Metro LA Sports Innovation Conference on Tuesday, detailing a region charging back with more growth on the horizon.

Analysis shows significant growth and resurgence in the region’s sports industry, surpassing both 2021 and pre-pandemic levels of economic activity and benchmarks in employment, labor income and total output.

“Los Angeles has always been a resilient city, and the resurgence and growth of our sports industry is testament to that. We didn’t just recover to pre-pandemic levels, we surged past them,” said Los Angeles Deputy Mayor of Business and Economic Development Rachel Freeman. “This is a testament to our sports ecosystem, the professional and collegiate teams, business, venues, fans, and the enduring spirit of our community. It’s not just about numbers, it’s a roadmap to leveraging a vital sector for the city’s economic, social, and cultural prosperity.”

The economic impact of sports in 2022 totaled $8.9 billion, increasing by $1.9 billion since 2021. Direct revenues surged by more than $717 million from 2021 to 2022, up $340 million for collegiate sports and $377 million for professional sports – resulting in significantly larger economic impacts. Total jobs also increased to 83,000, more than doubling both 2021 and 2018 figures. Total labor income was $6.9 billion, compared to $4 billion in 2021 and $3.6 billion in 2018.

“COVID-related disruptions are thankfully in the rear-view mirror for both professional and collegiate sports, and we’ve experienced tremendous growth and economic activity since last year’s analysis. We can expect an even more robust sports economy in the years ahead,” said Stephen Cheung, President and CEO of LAEDC. “Understanding our region’s continued economic growth in sports helps us to see the ongoing need to invest in infrastructure, especially community-centered infrastructure. These investments will be critical as the Los Angeles Region continues to be home to national champion sports teams and hosting upcoming global events such as the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Attendance grew an average of 4% across teams in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS, underscoring the enthusiasm for the return of in-person sporting events. Angel City Football Club played their debut season in the National Women’s Soccer League in 2022 with average attendance at home games exceeding 19,000, leading Sportico to name them the most valuable national women’s soccer league franchise.

“Sports is back and thriving and with it a high level of economic impact across the region,” said David Siegel, President of LA Sports Council. “We are thrilled that the region has experienced tremendous growth and expect an even larger impact as Los Angeles prepares to welcome high profile global events and athletes from around the world in the coming years.”

This report is the third in a series of economic studies commissioned by the LA Sports Council and released at its annual LA Sports Innovation Conference, a day-long forum for industry leaders from across Southern California’s sports ecosystem. It is the only study of its kind to quantify the economic activity and impact of the sports industry in the Los Angeles Basin, which includes Los Angeles and Orange counties.

To download “Sports in the Los Angeles Basin: The 2023 Economic Impact Analysis,” visit: https://www.lasports.org/economic-impact-report.

The two previous studies commissioned by LA Sports Council and prepared by LAEDC include: “Sports in the Los Angeles Basin: An Economic Impact Study,” released November 2022, and “Sports in Los Angeles and Orange Counties: An Economic Impact Analysis,” released June 2019.

About LA Sports Council:

Founded in 1988, the LA Sports Council is the premier sports trade association in the Los Angeles region. As champions of the Southern California sports community, the LA Sports Council serves as the connective thread of the industry through year-round programming and initiatives, including the LA Sports Awards, LA Sports Innovation Conference, and Ready, Set, Gold!, a non-profit program that unites Olympians and Paralympians with schools to promote healthy and active lifestyles.

For more information, visit: https://www.lasports.org/.

About Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC):

LAEDC drives action in support of a reimagined Los Angeles regional economy that is growing, equitable, sustainable and resilient, and provides a healthy and high standard of living for all. A public-benefit nonprofit celebrating its 42nd year of working collaboratively to improve the lives of people through economic inclusion, LAEDC is a trusted leader working on behalf of the Los Angeles County region.

Learn More: https://www.lasports.org/

This version of news story was published on and is Copr. © 2023 California Newswire® (CaliforniaNewswire.com) – part of the Neotrope® News Network, USA – all rights reserved.

Information is believed accurate but is not guaranteed. For questions about the above news, contact the company/org/person noted in the text and NOT this website.

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IRVINE — Dane Warren of Beckman shouted the surprising goalie switch to his fellow defenders as the Portola offense emerged from its timeout in the closing seconds of regulation Thursday.

Trailing by one goal with 12 seconds left, reigning Orange County boys water polo coach of the year Kate Avery of Portola moved highly-scoring Ryder Tonkovich to goalie and then sent him across mid-pool to lead the Bulldogs’ 7-on-6 attack permitted the last few years under new rules.

“Smart idea,” Beckman coach Tijmen Egtberts said.

The Patriots’ defense was pretty clever, too.

Beckman sent two defenders at Tonkovich as the ball quickly rotated back to the point, forcing the junior to pass the ball to his left. Zander Huynh anticipated the pass and grabbed the steal to seal the Patriots’ 12-11 victory at Portola High.

“We had a defense prepared for a man-down like that,” Egtberts said, “so we knew what to do, and we ran it perfectly. … Just high-IQ defense.”

Beckman capped its regular season in the Pacific Coast League with a 7-0 record and secured the No. 1 seed for the league tournament next week.

Portola, the defending Pacific Coast champion, fell to 6-1 in league and will be the No. 2 seed.

The CIF-SS Division 2 contenders exchanged friendly “See you next week” remarks during the postgame handshake.

“Same time next week, I think we’ll go head to head for the league title at Woodbridge,” Avery said. “Beckman is a good team. They’ve got solid players. They’ve got great energy.”

Portola, the runner-up last season in Division 3, also displayed those qualities as it chased Beckman in the fourth period.

The Bulldogs trimmed a three-goal to one and a pair of two-goal deficits to a single goal. But Beckman senior Bradley Eisman scored the eventual game-winning goal by netting a perimeter shot with 2:58 left for a 12-10 lead.

Eisman, who started the season on the junior varsity, scored both of his goals in the fourth from about 6 meters as he capitalized on Portola’s dropping defense.

Tonkovich answered with his seventh goal on a power-play chance with 2:11 remaining but Beckman’s defense held from there.

“The last three defensive possessions we had in this game was the best defense we’ve played all year,” Egtberts said. “If we do that, we win.”

Goalie Vi Leus made six of his seven blocks in the second half for Beckman.

AJ Sexton paced the Patriots’ offense with four goals while Eisman and Warren added two apiece.

Portola goalie Asher Wettstein dueled with Leus by making six saves.

THOUSAND OAKS — Last week, Myles Gaskin got a call from his parents.

The veteran running back had spent the first five weeks of the season bouncing back and forth between the Minnesota Vikings’ active roster and practice squad, after a year of limited use in Miami. His parents weren’t used to him not playing, and they wanted to check up on him and make sure he was holding up all right.

“Them just trying to tell me to keep my head up for this journey. This is what I always wanted since I was a kid, so just the ups and downs of it,” Gaskin said. “They always keep it real with me. They just told me to keep my head up, stay true to your process. My dad is always huge, but my mom is always speaking life into me.”

And speaking good things into existence for her son, too. A week later, Gaskin got the call that, after a pair of running back injuries, the Rams wanted to sign him to their active roster.

It’s an ideal situation for Gaskin. The chance to earn some snaps while Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers recover from injury. A return to the West Coast for a Seattle native.

“My eyes lit up, just very excited to be back on the West Coast, close to family,” Gaskin said. “This is a great organization and I’m just excited to help and do what I can. Being back on an active roster is very much a blessing.”

Gaskin was a productive player in his first three seasons in Miami. He gained 972 total yards in 2020 and scored seven touchdowns the following season. But a crowded backfield led to him playing in just four games in 2022, carrying the ball in two of those contests.

As he navigated that disappointment and the inability to find a spot on an active roster this preseason, he looked to former teammates like journeyman Vince Biegel for inspiration.

“The biggest thing I took away from that was just stay true to your process, stay true to your work,” Gaskin said. “That’s what got you to the league and that’s what’s going to keep you in the league.”

When he got the call early Monday morning that he was going to be a Ram, Gaskin began to pack immediately.

“I was like let’s get this going, let’s get up out of Minnesota,” Gaskin said. “I love Minnesota, I appreciate everything over there but I was excited to come to L.A. and the opportunity I’ve been afforded.”

Gaskin has some familiarity with the Rams’ offensive system. Head coach Sean McVay and his Miami counterpart Mike McDaniel stem from the same coaching tree, while Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell was the Rams’ offensive coordinator from 2020-2021.

After a blistering summer of record heat, raging wildfires and unpredictable storms, federal scientists on Thursday said a warm, wet winter driven by El Niño is in store for California and much of the rest of country.

The first winter outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that a strong El Niño will remain in place through at least the spring, with further strengthening possible over the next couple of months.

El Niño is the warm phase of the El Niño-La Niña Southern Oscillation pattern — sometimes referred to as ENSO — and is a major driver of temperature and precipitation patterns across the globe.

“The anticipated strong El Niño is the predominant climate factor driving the U.S. winter outlook this year,” said Jon Gottschalck, chief of the operational prediction branch at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

Aggressive and impactful reporting on climate change, the environment, health and science.

Temperature forecasts for December, January and February favor warmer-than-average conditions across the northern tier of the U.S. and much of the West, with the highest chance of above-normal temperatures expected in Northern California, the Pacific Northwest and northern New England. Odds are tilted toward warmth in Central and Southern California as well.

The forecast also favors wetter-than-average conditions in many regions of the country, including nearly all of California, the southern Plains, Texas and the Southeast. Widespread drought will persist across much of the central and southern U.S., but not in California, where the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay area have the highest odds in the state of above-normal rainfall.

Warmer-than-average temperatures are favored across the northern tier of the U.S. and West Coast, according to a new winter outlook from NOAA.

(NOAA)

The outlook conjures the specter of another soggy season for the Golden State, which was pummeled by 31 atmospheric river storms, deadly floods and record-setting snow last winter.

Gottschalck said the combination of wetness and warmth means more precipitation is likely to fall as rain instead of snow. But he and other experts also said it’s too soon to say whether California will see a repeat of the atmospheric rivers it experienced at the start of this year.

Wetter-than-average conditions are likely across much of California, as well as the central Rockies, the southern Plains, Gulf Coast, Southeast and lower-mid-Atlantic and northern Alaska, according to a new winter outlook from NOAA.

“It’s important to stress that even though we see these general patterns during El Niño and La Niña years, there is still a lot of variability and not every event is going to follow the general pattern,” Julie Kalansky, a climate scientist at the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said in a recent El Niño update.

Kalansky noted that last year’s La Niña was a perfect example, as the state received a deluge of moisture despite the pattern’s association with drier conditions in Southern California.

“So, the declaration of an El Niño doesn’t guarantee that Southern California is going to have a wet, stormy winter, but it does stack the deck in that direction,” she said.

The wet outlook follows the planet’s hottest summer ever recorded.

Global average surface temperatures in June, July, August and September were the highest they’ve ever been, marked by sizzling heat waves in Europe, China and the southwestern U.S. — including a record 31 consecutive days of high temperatures at or above 110 degrees in Phoenix.

September was so hot — 2.59 degrees above the 20th century average of 59 degrees — that it also broke the record for the highest monthly global temperature anomaly, or the largest difference from the long-term average, NOAA officials said.

Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at the nonprofit Berkeley Earth, called the month’s temperature data “absolutely gobsmackingly bananas.”

Timothy Koelkebeck hikes an Eaton Canyon trail as temperatures reach 100 degrees and above.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The September data and winter forecast make it 99% certain that 2023 will end up as the planet’s hottest year on record, according to Gavin Schmidt, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Currently, 2016 and 2020 are tied for that record.

Schmidt said this year’s monthly heat records are particularly remarkable because they are occurring before the peak of the current El Niño event. Other hot periods, including in 2016 and 2020, happened after the peak of El Niño.

That doesn’t bode well for what might be in store next spring, he said.

“I would anticipate that 2024 is still going to be warmer than 2023, even given the ‘gobsmackingly bananas’ anomalies that we’ve had this summer,” Schmidt said. “What we would predict for next year, based just effectively on the long-term trend and the predicted level of ENSO going into next year, is that it will be warmer again — and by quite a lot.”

Schmidt said he was surprised by the unusually high temperatures this summer. Persistent climate warming driven by the burning of fossil fuels is to be expected, as are warmer global temperatures linked to El Niño, but scientists are still seeking answers about why 2023 has been so off-the-charts.

Some theories include a recent change to shipping regulations concerning aerosols, which reduced the upper limit of sulfur in fuels. The change was geared toward cleaner air in ports and coastal areas but may have had an unintended planetary warming effect because the aerosols were reflecting sunlight away from Earth.

A dearth of Saharan dust, possibly linked to weakened trade winds from El Niño, could also be a warming factor since the dust normally has a cooling effect on the North Atlantic, Schdmit and other researchers said.

Residents check out the damage after the fast-moving and swollen Tule River crumbled parts of Globe Drive in Springville, Calif., in March.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Additionally, the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in 2022 shot record-breaking amounts of water vapor into the stratosphere, which can act as a heat-trapping greenhouse gas.

“But all of the quantitative estimates of how big those effects are are way too small to explain what’s going on,” Schmidt said. “This is not a neat story. It could be the long-term trends, plus ENSO, plus a little bit from the volcano, plus a little bit from the marine shipping emission changes, plus quite a large chunk of internal variability.”

Indeed, he said that while the long-term trends point to continued warming, there are likely to be years in the future that are cooler than 2023.

What is indisputable, though, is that people are already experiencing the effects of warmer temperatures — including extreme rainfall, extended droughts, heat waves and sea level rise — through their impacts on infrastructure, coral reefs, fishing, crop yields and other sectors, Schmidt said.

NOAA experts said this year’s El Niño probably won’t be as severe as the one in 2015-16, which ranked as a “very strong El Niño,” but that it would still be wise for the West Coast to ready itself for more El Niño-fueled moisture. This month, state officials said they are taking steps to prepare for such a possibility, including assembling flood control material and sandbags, and providing funds for critical levee repairs.

Though the winter storms significantly eased drought conditions in California, the soggy winter was among dozens of billion-dollar climate disasters in the U.S. this year, with flooding in the state between January and March causing about $4.2 billion in damage, according to NOAA. In August, Tropical Storm Hilary dropped more than a year’s worth of rain in a single day in several regions of the state.

Other billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. include major flooding in New York, Hurricane Idalia in Florida and a devastating firestorm in Hawaii.

“So far this year we’ve had 24 confirmed billion-dollar disasters, which is already a record-breaking amount,” said Tom Di Liberto, a climate scientist with NOAA. “And we still have October, November and December to go.”

A few days after arriving in Los Angeles, Joaquin Hurtado walked into a cafe in Studio City, asked for a manager, then recited one of the few phrases he’d memorized in English: “I’m looking for a job.”

If he would work for $2.60 an hour — then 30 cents below the minimum wage — the manager said, they could use a busboy.

That was 1979, and the then-17-year-old, who grew up on a ranch in central Mexico, had landed his first job in the U.S. It was followed, in years to come, by stints at other restaurants, a supermarket and a fiberglass factory, and as a day laborer.

Often working alongside other immigrants, Hurtado quickly noticed a through-line: It wasn’t uncommon, he said, for bosses to yell at them, short them on pay, schedule them for undesirable shifts or stiff them on raises.

“You just take it and take it,” Hurtado said. “It’s the way it is. They know they can do what they want.”

Hurtado’s employment situation improved drastically after President Reagan’s 1986 amnesty granted him legal status in the country and thus a pathway to a stable, union career as a garbage truck driver for the last three decades.

But his early work experiences are emblematic of the scope and frequency of on-the-job discrimination that immigrants to the U.S. continue to face.

The widespread nature of employment discrimination was a key finding of an unprecedented, nationwide poll of more than 3,000 immigrants conducted earlier this year by The Times in partnership with KFF, the nonprofit formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Of the working immigrants surveyed, nearly half — 47% — reported being paid less than U.S.-born workers to do the same job, not being paid for all their hours worked, being given fewer opportunities for promotions or raises, getting worse shifts or having less control over their hours, or being harassed or threatened in the workplace because they were immigrants.

Many said they had experienced multiple forms of discrimination. Among those whom the survey identified as likely to be undocumented — immigrants who reported that they were not citizens and did not have a valid green card or visa — two-thirds reported workplace mistreatment. So did 55% of those who said they didn’t speak English well, according to the poll, which surveyed immigrants with a wide range of careers and statuses under U.S. law.

“There’s a lot of racism,” said an immigrant in Texas who has worked in produce warehouses and who participated in one of several focus groups done alongside the survey. “Because we were undocumented, we worked more and earned less.”

Joaquin Hurtado at home with daughter Monica Espinoza Pasillas. When he began working in the U.S., he quickly noticed that bosses tended to short him and other immigrants on pay, schedule them for undesirable shifts or stiff them on raises. “It’s the way it is.”

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

In interviews, several immigrants who participated in the poll, including Hurtado, described contentment with aspects of the lives they’d built, but also nostalgia and sometimes exhaustion. Others spoke of a sense of gratitude tempered by the feeling that, at least in the workplace, they often weren’t seen or rewarded for their full potential.

For several years, that’s how HeeKap Lee felt.

After emigrating from South Korea in his early 30s, he earned a doctorate in education at Indiana University Bloomington and eventually moved to rural Kentucky for an associate professorship at a small Christian university.

HeeKap Lee, a professor at Azusa Pacific University, emigrated from South Korea in his early 30s. During his time teaching in rural Kentucky, he says, “I always felt like an outsider.”

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

“I was the first nonwhite faculty since the school started,” Lee said, sighing as he recounted the way people stared at him on campus and around town. “I always felt like an outsider.”

He once found several dead birds tossed into his front yard; another time, Lee said, he walked outside to find his mailbox smashed. He tried to convince himself it was an accident, but, if so, wouldn’t someone have left a note?

He prayed, asking God to send him somewhere else, and eventually moved to a small university in Ohio. Although it was better, Lee said, he twice was passed over for a promotion from associate professor to full professor. He had plenty of research experience, he said, and remembers thinking it didn’t feel fair.

“I didn’t lack anything,” he said.

His situation improved drastically in 2009 when he moved to Southern California for a job at Azusa Pacific University, where he still works as a professor.

“In L.A.,” he said, “I’m part of all the diversity.”

Lee, 58, who co-authored a book titled “Multiculturalism,” said he feels proud of the work he’s doing now, knowing that, as an immigrant, his perspective helps shape his students who go on to become teachers themselves, working with students from all different cultures.

HeeKap Lee, now 58, co-authored a book titled “Multiculturalism” and says his perspective as an immigrant helps his students, some of whom go on to become teachers themselves.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

“The power of this country,” he said, “is to embrace diversity as our driving force.”

Although Lee and Hurtado have spent decades in the U.S., a third immigrant, who participated in a focus group in L.A. as part of the Los Angeles Times/KFF research, arrived seven years ago, fleeing death threats in her native Honduras.

Now 20, Sharon, who requested her surname be withheld for privacy, grew up in a coffee-growing region on the western edge of the country. As a girl, she plucked mangoes from trees when food ran scarce, sliced them and sold them to students at her school.

When she was 13, her father received word that members of a rival gang planned to kill him but intended to target his daughters first to make him suffer. Almost immediately, Sharon and her younger sister, then 8, boarded a bus headed north.

Sharon, 20, emigrated at 13 from Honduras when her family received death threats. She is the mother of two young children.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

They eventually arrived in Texas, she said, and spent several weeks in migrant detention facilities with other unaccompanied minors, receiving English lessons where the adults insisted on being addressed as “Teacher.”

The habit stuck and, once reunited with her mother in L.A., she forced herself to participate in her seventh-grade classes despite knowing very little English. While other students addressed teachers as either “Mr.” or “Miss,” she started her questions the way she had learned in Texas.

Other students taunted her, nicknaming her “Teacher Girl.” Already discouraged, she soon got a call saying her father was missing, and then a text from a relative in Honduras with a picture of a lifeless body in a red sack tossed in a dry creek bed. Only his legs were showing, but Sharon immediately recognized his jeans.

She screamed so much that she fainted and, for months felt despondent, skipping school to sleep or wander the city. Deeply apathetic, she began pulling out of her blinding depression only after learning that she was pregnant.

“My daughter saved me,” she said. “She became my motivation.”

Sharon began looking for work, but knew it would be hard without legal work documents or English skills. The owner of a 99 cents store where she sometimes shopped in South L.A. needed someone to run the cashier for 11-hour shifts Monday through Friday.

The pay was $400 a week.

That was far below minimum wage, Sharon knew, but it felt like her only option. The owner hadn’t asked for work documents and told her she could bring her baby with her during her shifts. She worked there for several months, but quit after the store was robbed at gunpoint while she was eight months pregnant with her second daughter.

Sharon, who asked that her last name not be used for privacy, saw her situation improve two years ago when she received paperwork allowing her to work legally in the U.S. But she still struggles as a young mother.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

In the years since, she has pieced together work, packaging orders at a corner store, delivering for UberEats, disinfecting an office building during the pandemic and cleaning the drink-crusted floors of a nightclub near Koreatown.

She also worked Friday and Saturday nights cleaning the bar and serving drinks at the club, although she was limited to delivering beverages without alcohol since she wasn’t yet 21. Almost every shift, she said, a customer propositioned her.

“You’re an immigrant, right?” she recalled one man saying. “Don’t you want to make more money?”

“When you’re done here,” another man said, “I’ll give you $500 to meet me.”

“No, sorry,” she told them. “I don’t do that.”

She felt exhausted and guilty that, in her rare downtime, she had little energy to play with her daughters. At a temporary office cleaning gig, she had a backpack vacuum strapped to her small frame for eight hours, and it got so hot it often left a red mark on her back.

She was often given more work than she could finish during her allotted hours, she said, and although she stayed to finish she was never paid for the extra hours. When she explained the situation to a boss and mentioned she might contact a workers’ rights group, she stopped getting scheduled for shifts.

“They’ve never taken me seriously at my jobs,” she said. “They think I’m just a little doll. They don’t know what I’m capable of.”

Her situation improved somewhat in 2021, when she got paperwork allowing her to work legally in the U.S. But she still has two big hurdles. She needs something with enough flexibility that, if her daughters’ daycare calls, she can pick them up within an hour, and she needs to improve her English.

After inquiring about work at a McDonald’s in the Pico-Union neighborhood, she was told she needed to know a bit more English — a reality, she said, that makes her feel defeated, questioning if she could’ve tried harder to learn the language when she arrived.

“Maybe it’s my own fault?” she says, pausing before growing more definitive. “It is my fault.”

Then she pauses again, reflecting on how young and deeply depressed she was at the time, and her voice cracks.

“But I was just a girl.”

Growing up in the Mexican state of Zacatecas, Hurtado lived miles from the nearest secondary school.

There was no bus and it was too far to walk, so as a teenager, he moved to his grandfather’s ranch and spent his days helping him herd cattle and gather firewood. At 17, he did what many teenagers in his family and town had done: He headed to the U.S.

After arriving in Los Angeles on July 4, 1979, he quickly landed the busboy job in Studio City, but it lasted only a week. When a customer asked for a glass of water in English, he didn’t understand and, making a guess and hoping for the best, took them a cup of coffee. The manager told him he could come back if he learned more English.

Next came a dishwashing gig at a spot called Pizzeria Numero 1, where he worked his way up to food prep and then chef. By the early 1980s, not long after getting married and learning his wife was pregnant, he had a job waxing the floors at a Hughes supermarket in the San Fernando Valley.

During one of his shifts, he asked a co-worker to cover for him while he took his lunch break, Hurtado recalled, and during that time a customer shattered a jar of mayonnaise on the floor and someone slipped on it. The person made a complaint, Hurtado said, and his boss insisted that, since it had happened during his shift, it was his fault and that he was being fired.

He explained to his boss that he’d asked for coverage, Hurtado said, but he could tell his boss had made up his mind. It was an injustice, Hurtado said, but one he couldn’t dwell on long because he needed to focus on finding a job before his baby was born. He eventually found work at a fiberglass factory in Sylmar, earning around $3 an hour.

“I can’t live like this,” he recalled thinking. “I need a higher salary.”

He started taking English classes at night and, after the 1986 amnesty, became one of the roughly 3 million undocumented immigrants, many in California, granted legal status. He finally had some bargaining power.

“How much will you pay me?” he’d ask potential employers. “That’s not enough, I’m not interested.”

Joaquin Hurtado lives with his family in a rented two-bedroom home in North Hills and hopes to retire in a few years.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Around that time, a friend who worked as a garbage truck driver offered to help train him for the same role. After six months of studying, he got his license and found a job making $16 an hour. For years, he hadn’t saved much of anything and now, in a single year, he amassed $38,000, enough for a down payment on a four-bedroom home in Sylmar.

“A beautiful house,” he said proudly. “My own house.”

A devotee to the world of Mexican rodeo known as charrería, Hurtado, who said nothing melts away his stress like riding a horse in the open air, soon saved enough to buy a sprawling property in Acton, as well as a horse and trailer.

Eventually, he separated from his wife, and she kept the home in Sylmar. For a while, he lived with his elderly parents in their mobile home nearby and went on to marry Yadira Pasillas Alamillo, an elementary school teacher he knew from back in Zacatecas.

Earlier this summer, she and her two youngest daughters, Monica Espinoza Pasillas, 12, and Deicy Espinoza Pasillas, 18, who Hurtado considers his own, left Mexico and moved in with him in a 2-bedroom home he’s renting in North Hills.

The family planted pink flowers and a small olive tree outside, and inside Hurtado’s wife has tacked up blue post-its to remind her and the girls of the English words and pronunciations — “wall (gual),” one reads. Monica recently enrolled in seventh grade, and Deicy and their mother are taking an immersive English course three hours a day, five days a week.

On a recent afternoon, all three lounged on the couch, updating each other on what they’d learned recently.

Deicy, who hopes to become a plastic surgeon, said that, with the help of a TikTok video, she could finally hear the difference between “tree” and “three.”

Deicy Espinoza Pasillas, 18, assists her mother, Yadira Pasillas Alamillo, with English homework. Deicy hopes to become a plastic surgeon.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Her mother, who plans to return to teaching or pursue a nursing degree once she’s learned more English, said she’d learned the phrase “the big cheese,” which frustratingly, she noted, didn’t translate to anything related to cheese but rather to el pez gordo (the fat fish).

Monica, who teared up as she spoke about her friends back in Mexico, said that some students from her new school from Guatemala and Colombia had helped her when she couldn’t understand their teacher.

Her mother wrapped her in a tight hug and Hurtado handed her a blue handkerchief, saying he knew that feeling of nostalgia, but was proud of her for the progress she’d made in just a few weeks.

“You’re getting into a rhythm,” he told her. And it was something he was eager to do himself.

Off work to recover from a shoulder surgery in August, the 61-year-old now fills his days with physical therapy appointments and twice-a-day, at-home mobility exercises.

Joaquin Hurtado does his physical therapy following shoulder surgery in August. He says he still enjoys his job driving a garbage truck, especially the interactions with customers.

(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

Hurtado, who now makes $32 an hour and hopes to retire in about three years, said he still enjoys his shifts at the wheel of his truck, especially the interactions with customers. When he’s working, he wakes around 4 a.m., picks up his truck and then a treat from a corner store — a juice or ice cream — and traces a route that often winds through Alhambra, Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge.

“I like what I’m doing,” he said. “I love my job.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Gemini Trust Co. and Digital Currency Group, accusing the  companies of defrauding more than 230,000 cryptocurrency investors of $1.1 billion.

Crypto exchange operator Gemini and DCG’s Genesis Global Capital unit allegedly did not disclose financial risks to those investing in Earn, a crypto-lending program they began in 2021, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday by the state’s top law enforcement officer. The program went belly up last year amid bankruptcies including San Bankman-Fried’s FTX. 

Founded by Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss, Gemini allegedly deceived customers about the risk of the loans in the venture with Genesis and also failed to reveal that at one time, nearly 60% of its third-party loans were to Bankman-Fried’s crypto trading firm, Alameda Research, James claims.

The lawsuit also claims Genesis failed to adequately audit its borrower, Three Arrows Capital, which defaulted on billions in loans in June 2022.

James is seeking to ban Gemini, Genesis and DCG from the financial investment industry as well as looking for restitution for investors.

According to the lawsuit, some of those investors lost their life savings.

“On November 29, 2022, one New Yorker pleaded with Gemini for the return of her $199,000 investment, writing ‘Are you going to be able to give us our money any time soon? I am crying all day. I am 73 years old and without that money I am doomed.'”

None of the defendants has returned any investor’s asset since the Earn program closed in November, with Genesis and its related entities instead declaring bankruptcy in January, the suit stated.

“These cryptocurrency companies lied to investors and tried to hide more than a million dollars in losses, and it was middle-class investors who suffered as a result,” James said in a news release.”This fraud is yet another example of bad actors causing harm through the under-regulated cryptocurrency industry.”

James in May proposed legislation that would mandate public audits of crypto exchanges, prohibit some ownership arrangements to curtail conflicts of interest and increase oversight of the industry.

Gemini responded on social media, posting that James’ lawsuit “confirms what we’ve been saying all along — that Gemini Earn users and other creditors were the victims of a massive fraud and systematically ‘lied to’ by these parties about Genesis’s financial condition,'” the company said. Still, it took issue with being named in the filing: “Blaming a victim for being defrauded and lied to makes no sense,” it said.

DCG vowed to fight the claims, saying in an email that the company was “blindsided by the filing of the complaint, and there is no evidence of any wrongdoing by DCG.”

“I am shocked by the baseless allegations,” DCG founder and CEO Barry Silbert stated. “Last year, my and DCG’s goal was to help Genesis weather the storm caused by the collapse of Three Arrows and position Genesis going forward.”

Genesis did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Securities and Exchange Commission in January charged Gemini and Genesis with offering unregistered securities and compiling billions in digital assets from hundreds of thousands of investors without the required disclosures. Gemini is also looking at proposed class-action lawsuits on behalf of investors in Earn.

HUNTINGTON BEACH — The Huntington Beach girls volleyball team had to come from far behind to win an extended first set against Alemany in the opening round of pool play in Division 1 of the CIF SS playoffs on Wednesday at Huntington Beach High School.

The comeback seemed to ignite the No. 3 seed Oilers, who then went on to sweep the No. 6 Warriors, 28-26, 25-16, 25-14.

Huntington Beach (28-7), which plays in Pool B, will play host to Surf League rival Los Alamitos, the No.7 seed, on Tuesday.

The Oilers swept the Griffins in their first match on Sept. 15 at Huntington Beach and came from two sets down to defeat the Griffins again on Oct. 3 at Los Alamitos.

The Warriors (23-8), who finished in second place in the Mission League, will take on No. 2 Mira Costa on Tuesday at Mira Costa.

“There’s always a concern,” Oilers coach Craig Pazanti said about his team trailing for nearly the entire first set. “But at the same time, this is a pretty veteran group. I mean, a lot of kids who have started for us for three years and I kind of give them a little bit more leeway than I would a young group. So I let them kind of find it and make their adjustment and they did a good job doing that.”

Kills delivered mostly by Havyn Rolle helped the Warriors take a 19-14 lead in the opening set.

The Oilers then went on a 6-2 run to get to within one point.

Ellie Esko’s kill tied the score for Huntington Beach and then Kylie Leopard’s block gave the Oilers their first lead at 23-22.

Huntington Beach then came within a point of losing the set twice before Haylee La Fontaine scored on a dump shot and then delivered a kill to the back row to win the first set for the Oilers.

“Actually, after the game I went up to (Taylor Ponchak) and I said that was pretty clutch that we won (the first set),” said La Fontaine, who led all players with 18 kills. “Because if we didn’t win that, it would have been a longer game. So I think it was very important to win that first one.”

Esko and Ponchak each had 11 kills for the Oilers and Ponchak assisted on four blocks.

Setter Dani Sparks contributed to the victory with 40 assists.

Rolle, Alanah Clemente and Gabi Pulishuk had eight kills each for the Warriors.

The winner of Pool B will play the winner of Pool A for the Southern Section Division 1 championship on Nov. 4 at Cerritos College.

If two teams finish in a tie, head-to-head result will be used to determine the winner.

If there is a three-way tie, the total number of sets won divided by the total number of sets played in pool play would determine the winner.

“That’s why that first-set win was important,” Pazanti said.

RIVERSIDE — The Hillcrest girls volleyball team has many strengths. Unpredictability would not rank high on the list, however.

It’s no real secret that a majority of sets from the hands of Isabel Wold and Khloe Prescott are headed one direction: the left pin. And even though opposing teams are aware of this, outside hitters Sandie Souza and Kaitlyn Eugene still can put the ball away.

Souza and Eugene combined to record all but two of Hillcrest’s kills Wednesday evening as the Trojans cruised to a 25-8, 25-14, 25-17 sweep of California in a CIF Southern Section Division 5 first-round playoff match.

“They are such versatile players, and they have been working all season on expanding their range of the court,” Trojans coach Robyn Hubbard of her outside hitters. “They have good court awareness and vision and can hit all of the shots.”

Souza, a freshman, had 21 kills in her postseason debut. Eugene, a junior, tallied 13 kills and added four aces.

The duo combined for 70 of the team’s 84 attacking attempts (83.3%) Wednesday. That meant Souza and Eugene faced multiple blockers on most of their swings. Eugene and Souza still finished the match with .462 and .364 hitting percentages, respectively.

“We’re just looking for open spots on the court and making sure we’re always communicating with our setters,” Eugene said.

Hillcrest (20-6 overall) raced to a 12-4 lead in the first set, with Souza getting eight of those points via kills. When Souza went back to the service line, Eugene rotated into the front row and proceeded to put away three kills as the Trojans extended their lead to 17-7. Eugene later served up three of her aces to help Hillcrest close out the set.

Souza picked up seven kills in the second game, while Eugene added three more to her total. The workload between the two hitters was more balanced in the final set, with Eugene recording seven kills and Souza adding six more.

Souza is a highly-rated beach player in her age group, but her freshman season at Hillcrest marks the first time Souza has played primarily as an outside hitter. She typically sets the ball when playing for her indoor club team. Even though she has played in big matches on the beach and indoors, Souza admitted to having some early nerves Wednesday.

“It was my first playoff match ever, so that’s going to happen,” Souza said. “Once we won that first set and got that momentum going, the nerves started to go away… We kept things going and carried it all the way to the end.”

Hillcrest did have a bit of a hiccup in the final frame. The Trojans grabbed a 13-7 lead, but California (7-15) rallied and leveled the score at 16 and 17. Hillcrest answered back and won the last eight points, the final three coming on kills by Eugene.

“I think it was a good lesson for us. It shows you can never get too comfortable, no matter what the score is,” Hubbard said.

Hillcrest registered 12 aces in the match. Senior middle blocker Joanna Halias led the way with five, three in the final game.

The Trojans will be back in action Saturday evening for a second-round playoff match. Hillcrest will either host No. 4-seeded Northwood (25-5) or make the trip to Cypress to take on Oxford Academy (23-8).

With each passing day, clashing narratives put forth by Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas about their bloodiest war to date have diverged ever more dramatically.

But a dozen days into the conflict, after a lethal conflagration in the Gaza Strip, these dueling realities presented the starkest contrast yet — and underscored the danger that an already chaotic and unpredictable war could widen regionally.

In the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank and across the Arab world, furious condemnation of Israel erupted over the deadly blast Tuesday night on the grounds of a Gaza hospital packed with Palestinians driven from their homes. Hamas blamed an Israeli airstrike.

In Tel Aviv on Wednesday, a visiting President Biden firmly backed Israel’s contention that its forces did not cause the carnage at the Ahli Arab Hospital, one of Gaza City’s preeminent medical centers, although Israeli forces had for days been waging an intensive campaign of airstrikes across the coastal enclave.

President Biden, right, is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after arriving in Tel Aviv on Oct. 18, 2023.

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

Israel’s military said detailed evidence indicated that the powerful explosion and fireball, which left burned-out husks of cars and bodies and body parts scattered throughout the hospital compound, was caused by an errant rocket fired by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, which is fighting alongside Hamas.

Biden’s vocal support for the Israeli version of events surrounding the hospital blast strengthened as his daylong visit went on. And throughout it, his expressions of solidarity in the wake of Hamas’ devastating Oct. 7 attack on Israel — its biggest one-day loss of life ever — were explicit and heartfelt.

“You are not alone,” he told Israelis.

Shortly after touching down at Israel’s international airport, where airspace was closed to make way for his arrival, Biden said it appeared the “other team” was responsible for the hospital blast, but added that more information was needed.

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, on Oct. 18, 2023.

(Francisco Seco / Associated Press)

By day’s end, his tone was far less equivocal, citing a U.S. military evaluation of the explosion, which Palestinians said killed hundreds. American officials also pointed to intelligence including satellite and infrared data that implicated Palestinian fighters.

Across the Arab world, however, that message was largely dismissed — a sign of deep fissures over the conflict between Israel’s allies and its neighbors.

From diplomatic suites to the seething streets of West Bank refugee camps, Israel was universally blamed for the hospital deaths, with many voicing incendiary anger over its ongoing campaign of retaliatory air and artillery strikes on Gaza.

Street demonstrations broke out across the region — in Morocco, Jordan, Turkey, Tunisia, Lebanon and Iran — with protesters chanting slogans, burning Israeli flags and expressing bitter scorn for Israel and the United States alike.

Hundreds of Palestinians gather at a square in Ramallah, in the West Bank, to march toward the presidential compound to denounce Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas’ rule and for not defending the Palestinians on Oct. 18, 2023.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Even governments that had flirted with rapprochement with Israel, including those of Saudi Arabia and Turkey, brushed aside Israeli denials of responsibility for the hospital deaths.

In the West Bank, protesters hurled rocks and shattered windows in the administrative capital, Ramallah, after the Gaza hospital was hit, and in predominantly Palestinian East Jerusalem, a crowd threw firebombs at Israeli police. Palestinian officials called a general strike Wednesday, and most people stayed inside, with shops and businesses locked tight.

Sitting by his son’s grave in the Jenin refugee camp’s cemetery in the northern West Bank, a Palestinian named Nabil abu Sabbah vented bitterness at the mere mention of the visiting U.S. president.

“Look at the Israelis, what they’re doing to us, and the Americans are helping them!” he said. “The Israelis do it, and they blame us? And Biden believes them immediately?”

The bloody events that ignited the war were less subject to dispute — in part because Hamas fighters who breached Israel’s border fence with Gaza on Oct. 7 recorded their violent assaults on Israeli civilians and gleefully touted the gruesome killings on social media.

Four family members, ranging in age from 49 to 76, are mourned during a funeral on Oct. 18, 2023, in Hod HaSharon, Israel. They were killed at a kibbutz when Hamas militants attacked Oct. 7.

(Alexi J. Rosenfeld / Getty Images)

The Hamas attack left at least 1,400 dead on the Israeli side, more than 1,000 of them civilians, and marked the deadliest day for Israel since the country’s war of independence.

But among Palestinians, the emphasis swiftly pivoted to Israel’s punishing airstrikes in Gaza. In combination with a cutoff of electricity and fuel and a critical shortage of food, medicine and water in a territory where movement of goods and people has long been restricted, the bombardment swiftly escalated widespread misery.

Against that backdrop of desperation, the hospital tragedy propelled the conflict into a dangerous new phase, causing the largest single loss of Palestinian civilian lives since the start of the war and bringing the total to nearly 3,400, according to Gazan officials.

In keeping with a grim pattern in past Israeli wars with Hamas, concentrations of Gazans seeking refuge are often the most vulnerable and proved so again.

By the time the hospital was hit, Israeli calls for the evacuation of northern Gaza before a potential ground invasion had sent hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians fleeing for hoped-for havens — with hospitals a favored destination. At the time of Tuesday night’s blast, the tree-shaded compound of the hospital that was hit was packed with displaced Gazans.

Harrowing accounts of the carnage at the compound quickly spread in videos and via witness accounts. The multistory building was engulfed by fire, with blackened, mutilated corpses, including those of children, scattered about its courtyard.

Bodies of Palestinians killed by an explosion at the Ahli Arab Hospital are gathered at the front yard of the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

(Abed Khaled / Associated Press)

“We were operating in the hospital. There was a strong explosion and the ceiling fell on the operating room,” Ghassan abu Sittah, a doctor with the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, wrote in an account on Facebook. “This bloodshed must stop. Enough is enough.”

The Biden visit ended with a pledge by Israel that it would allow Egypt to deliver some humanitarian aid to Gaza, but in limited quantities.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the step was taken at Biden’s behest. However, Egypt had not yet said whether it would allow deliveries through the crossing at its border, and Israel warned that any provisions bound for Hamas would be “thwarted.”

But if the gesture was meant to calm the waters, the mood among both Israelis and Palestinians remained ominously vengeful.

Or Tzuk, whose parents were killed in the southern Israeli community of Otef, told Israel’s Channel 13 that Gazans were not deserving of relief.

“My parents were not granted a humanitarian corridor,” he said.

After nightfall Wednesday, Palestinian demonstrators, mainly young men, assembled in Ramallah’s main square, one of them waving a green Hamas flag. None was willing to entertain the idea that anyone but Israel was at fault for the Gaza bloodletting.

“I came here for Gaza,” said a 20-year-old named Ahmed. “For the martyrs.”

Hundreds of Palestinians gather near a square in the West Bank city of Ramallah for a demonstration on Oct. 18, 2023. Protest have erupted across the West Bank after a strike on a Gaza hospital, with Israel and Hamas each blaming the other for the killings of hundreds of people.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

A 35-year-old protester who identified himself only as Ibrahim carried his 6-year-old son, Jad, on his shoulders.

“The Americans are lying,” he said, as his other son, 9-year-old Jihad, looked on.

“They always lie. I don’t believe them in anything.”

Bulos reported from Ramallah and King from Jerusalem. A special correspondent in Gaza, who cannot be named for security reasons, contributed to this report.

A fight broke out Sunday among a group of adults at Disneyland, according to authorities and video of the incident.

The brawl involving at least five participants was captured on video that shows a woman and man throwing punches at each other and wrestling before others join in. At least two young children were caught up in the mayhem, which sent stroller-pushing parents scrambling for safety.

The fight took place in front of the Storybook Land Canal Boats and across from the Mad Tea Party ride in the park’s Fantasyland section.

It was not clear what led to the theme park skirmish, but park security responded and removed the instigator of the fight from the Disney resort, according to Disneyland officials. No injuries were reported, and Disneyland security notified the Anaheim Police Department of the brief fight.

“The initial investigation revealed the fight involved several people. No arrests were made and the incident remains under investigation,” said Sgt. Jonathan McClintock, a spokesman for the Anaheim Police Department.

Episodic fights — including one 2019 brawl and a 2022 fight — have become fairly common at “The Happiest Place on Earth.” At the end of last year, officials for the park even put a new “courtesy” section on their website reminding visitors to treat each other with respect.

Rite Aid customers in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties are losing neighborhood stores, among 154 locations in 15 states that the pharmacy chain is shutting down as part of its bankruptcy process.

With 31 stores slated for closing, California has more on the list than any other state, according to court documents filed Monday in Rite Aid’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings as the company restructures its debt. Rite Aid had previously said it could close 400 to 500 locations.

“Many of the stores on this list have already closed and received ample notice of the closure, while some will close in the coming weeks,” company spokesperson Alicja Wojczyk wrote in an email.

In Los Angeles, stores in Glassell Park, Mar Vista and Mid-Wilshire were listed on the company’s chopping block, according to court documents.

Throughout L.A. County, Alhambra, Burbank, Covina, Downey, La Mirada, La Puente and Long Beach’s Bixby Knolls locations are also slated for closures.

Orange County has six stores closing, in Costa Mesa, Dana Point, Irvine, Laguna Niguel, Santa Ana and Yorba Linda.

Ontario’s South Archibald Avenue location is the only store in the Inland Empire closing. Ventura County’s Oxnard store and one of the final two Ventura locations are closed.

The reduction drops the number of Rite Aids in Los Angeles to 15, according to the company’s store tracker. In comparison, there are 66 CVS locations in the city, according to data company ScrapeHero.

The closure of Alhambra’s store marks a retreat from the city; Rite Aid will have closed its last two locations there within the last 24 months.

“It’s definitely a loss for this community to lose two stores that have been there for something like 40, 50 years,” Alhambra Mayor Ross Maza said. “It’s certainly an adjustment, but the good thing in regards to prescriptions is that we have a couple of CVSs and one Walgreens within a mile or two of the location.”

Maza said an equal concern was the void left by a vacant building. Larger retail locations are more challenging to replace tenants, he said, pointing to the previous Rite Aid that closed toward the end of 2022, and that still remains vacant.

“Dark windows and vacant storefronts are always an issue, but we’re working toward filing that spot and hopefully we’ll have luck with whatever happens at this Rite Aid,” he said.

Burbank, Covina, Dana Point, Downey, La Mirada, La Puente, Laguna Niguel, Oxnard and Yorba Linda will also be left without any Rite Aid stores after the latest closures.

Rite Aid’s bankruptcy has raised concerns of so-called pharmacy deserts among some experts who say the planned closures could hurt access to medicine, especially in lower-income Black and Latino communities. Such neighborhoods, with more people on Medicaid and other government-funded healthcare, tend to be targeted by drugstore chains when they decide to close stores, USC pharmacy professor Dima Qato told the Associated Press.

“A decision to close a store is one we take very seriously and is based on a variety of factors, including business strategy, lease and rent considerations, local business conditions and viability, and store performance,” Wojczyk said.

Wojczyk did not say how many employees were ultimately being affected by the closures, only noting, “we will also strive to transfer associates to other Rite Aid locations where possible.”

Company files list Rite Aid employing 45,000 workers nationwide with just over 2,000 stores, including more than 400 in California.

The company owns approximately $4 billion in funded debt, while making roughly $200 million in annual interest payments, according to Rite Aid financials, which has led to an unstable capital structure.

Rite Aid noted that record inflation, elevated labor costs, declining reimbursement rates and reduced need of COVID-19 vaccine and affiliated merchandise has led to a $750-million operating cost for the 2023 fiscal year.

More Americans are taking prescription drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, which suppress appetites, and some kinds of consumption too. But the hunger suppressors also have the potential to boost demand for healthier foods and activities like going to the gym.

Enough people are now taking the drugs that major food retailers say they have already seen the trend take a bite out of consumption. 

“We definitely do see a slight change compared to the total population, we do see a slight pullback in overall basket,” Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner told Bloomberg this month. “Just less units, slightly less calories.”

Morgan Stanley Research analysts estimate in a recent report that 24 million people, or 7% of the U.S. population, will be using the drugs by 2035. Given the anticipated widespread adoption, corporations are examining their own exposure to loss because of the drugs.

Reduced demand for “high-fat” options

“The food, beverage and restaurant industries could see softer demand, particularly for unhealthier foods and high-fat, sweet and salty options,” Morgan Stanley tobacco and packaged food analyst Pamela Kaufman said in the report on the impact of obesity medications on consumer demand and the food ecosystem.

Given the newness of the drugs, any impact on consumer spending will likely be minimal in the immediate-to-near future, according to the report.

“We acknowledge that the impact in the near term is likely to be limited given drug adoption will grow gradually over time, but we could see a longer-term impact as drug prevalence increases,” Kaufman said in a note. “Moreover, we expect companies to adapt to changes in consumer behavior through innovation and portfolio reshaping efforts.”

Increased adoption of weight loss drugs will likely shift demand patterns, as opposed to universally suppress consumption.

“Conceivably, it might reduce demand for some kinds of food but increase demand for other kinds of foods,” Columbia Business School Professor of Healthcare Management Frank Lichtenberg told CBS MoneyWatch. “There could be an offsetting effect.” 

Ability to rebrand

If food preferences shift substantially, companies can change menu options or even rebrand to cater to consumer tastes over time. 

“If this was going to come in two to three years, it would be harder to adapt to. If it’s over a decade, companies can shift what items they offer,” Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Harbour told CBS MoneyWatch. 

Restaurants’ appeal also extends beyond the food items they serve. 

“Restaurants don’t sell just food. They sell convenience in the case of fast food, or service in full-service restaurants, and that element isn’t going away. That’s why this is not an existential risk for these concepts,” Harbour added. “You may have to shift the menu over time. It may be a taller task for a company tailored to a specific product, like a pizza chain.”

Reduced demand for health care?

If more people start eating healthier, weight loss drugs could lead to reduced stain on the health care system overtime. 

“It seems like the most immediate impact would be on food and also health care,” Lichtenberg said. “If it causes weight loss and improved health, gradually this could reduce demand for health care and so that’s a possible consequence of this as well.” 

Ozempic and others in booming class of so-called GLP-1 agonist medications, however, have been linked to serious side effects including a blockage in the intestines.

Could be a plus for gyms, fitness centers

Increased gym and fitness center usage could also occur in tandem with adoption of the drugs. 

Morgan Stanley Research analysts found that respondents to a survey exercised more after they started taking anti-obesity medications. The percent of respondents who said they exercised weekly doubled from 35% pre-medication to 71% after.

Harbour explained the relationship between the drugs and exercise, saying in a research note, “… perhaps as patients lose weight, they simply feel both more physically able and more mentally motivated to exercise more to compound the benefits they are seeing from weight loss medications.”

In that scenario, gym chains would be a beneficiary, according to his analysis.

Halloween or any time of year, tourists who are too relaxed while on vacation may be subject to more tricks than treats due to evil that walks among us or lurks in the shadows. As sure as well wishes of “safe travels” by loved ones cannot be guaranteed in this topsy-turvy world, a momentary lapse of awareness in the presence of unsavory souls can be the difference between a trip as sweet as Skittles or as sour as Lemonheads.

Still in our Debbie Downer costume, we must note that cruise vacations are not exempt from holiday hazards at the hands of heisters, or worse. While it’s almost always smooth sailing for passengers onboard, conditions onshore can get choppy if one isn’t cautious.

Whether arriving by land, air or sea, tourists are prime targets for crime because they typically carry fat wallets and other personal valuables while being distracted. Lacking in the local landscape, language or culture adds to a visitor’s vulnerability. Those coming by ship can be more at risk because they are typically less likely to report an incident so not to eat into their fleeting time in port.

Scary stuff, but consulting with a travel advisor named Uncle Sam in advance of your trip could quell some nerves. The U.S. Department of State offers country-specific safety and security information at www.travel.state.gov/destination. The Bureau of Consular Affairs’ travel alerts and advisories are especially beneficial when choosing a cruise itinerary. Looking at voyages to the Caribbean that include calls to Roatan and Puerto Quetzal? Popular as these stops in Honduras and Guatemala are, respectively, the U.S. government strongly suggests you think otherwise as rampant crime is a chief reason both countries at press time were at Level 3, the tier that comes with the warning of “reconsider travel.”

Not everything is “irie” in Jamaica, either, as the local slang for “all right” contradicts alarming crime statistics that earn the home of three of the most popular ports in the Western Caribbean — Montego Bay, Falmouth and Ocho Rios — the second-most severe level. Jamaica is notorious for its reckless drivers, sketchy tour guides and aggressive vendors whose wares aren’t necessarily the kind allowed back on the ship.

The fact that cruise lines go where trouble follows, sometimes several times a day at a single port considered high risk by the U.S. government, isn’t lost on maritime lawyer and TikTok star Spencer Aronfeld (www.aronfeld.com).

“Cruise lines have an obligation to keep passengers safe, and yet they still make calls in countries and port neighborhoods deemed dangerous to visit by the State Department,” said the Miami-based Aronfeld. “Every season, tens of thousands of passengers are dropped off in ports in Level 3 countries without warning. What the cruise lines are doing in the process is lulling people with a false sense of security.”

There is no specter of sugarcoating where the current fighting between Israeli and Hamas forces is involved. Since the latest war in the Middle East broke out on Oct. 7, cruise lines making calls to the Israeli ports of Ashdod and Haifa have either canceled voyages outright or altered itineraries to send ships elsewhere in the Mediterranean. Celebrity, Holland America, MSC, Norwegian, Oceania, Princess and Regent Seven Seas are among the cruise lines that have announced schedule changes effective through at least November, if not the indefinite future.

While no place is 100% safe, dozens of cruise favorites around the globe are in solid standing with the bureau and other influencers that publicly track crime statistics. Level 1 countries that roll out the welcome mat on gangways include Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Curacao, French Polynesia, French West Indies, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Singapore and Sint Maarten/Saint Martin (so, the Dutch and French sides of the island).

With more than a million visitors in post-pandemic 2022, nearly 75% arriving by ship, George Town in Cayman Islands is the busiest international cruise port in a Level 1 country. And why not? Cayman has stunning tropical beaches, world-class luxury resorts, superb food and extremely low crime that many contribute to the nation’s high quality of life. At the Westin Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach Resort & Spa, for example, a perfectly sunny day this past summer was made even more idyllic when not a single peddler or suspicious character shared the white sandy shore with us holiday makers — a rarity in the Caribbean, where on most beaches the wise don’t all go into the ocean together; someone must always stay back to mind the stuff.

Destinations given Level 2 status come with an “exercise increased caution” advisory. Mexico is on that sublist mostly due to such violent crime as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking and robbery, which the U.S. government says is “widespread and common” south of the border. Turkey also was at Level 2 at press time, but for different reasons; the government considers it a target for terrorism. The average tourist, however, is more likely to encounter snatching and pickpocketing within the country’s economic and cultural capital of 16 million people; frenetic Istanbul is a common stop on Mediterranean cruise itineraries. Venice is in the same gondola. Petty crime against visitors is a big issue there, which makes wearing a money belt as smart as getting gelato where the longest lines are. Rome, Florence, Pisa, Naples and even Vatican City are other havens for unsaintly activity in and around Italy. Infamous as Italy is for its petty crime on tourists, the main reason the country is at Level 2 is, like Turkey, the threat of terrorism.

Not all nations share the same dangers, of course, but each does have its good and bad sections — something that the State Department’s travel advisories don’t often factor in. After all, if the United States was listed, would it be fair for Honolulu, considered the safest American city with over 300,000 people, to be lumped in with St. Louis, supposedly the most dangerous? If it were, all of America would likely be at Level 2 or 3. The U.S. Department of State does issue a warning for one domestic cruise destination: While in Puerto Rico, travelers are advised to take necessary precautions to avoid such petty crimes as theft and muggings. Like on the mainland, PR also has its share of public protests, something else to avoid.

The U.S. government’s one-size-fits-all approach for its advisories effects cruise mainstay Haiti as well. The country is assigned to the same Level 4 (“do not travel”) category as Russia, Ukraine, North Korea, Iraq and Iran, but several cruise lines operate private destinations there. These private islands, as they’re called, are regarded as some of the safest places in the world for shore excursions. That why it’s probably best to heed these travel advisories, but not as gospel. To wit, Jeddah is an up-and-coming cruise port in Saudi Arabia — the region is rich in UNESCO World Heritage archaeological sites — and while reported crime on tourists is low there, the country, itself, is at Level 3. Justification for the harsh ranking is an apparent threat of missile and drone attacks on civilian facilities, but the hot zones indicated by the State Department are far from Jeddah and likely inconsequential to cruise ships.

“I know it might be hard for Americans to believe, but Jeddah is one of the world’s safest ports,” said maritime lawyer Aronfeld. “They don’t have the same day-to-day crime that tarnishes so many otherwise amazing cruise destinations.”

Whether traveling to Montego Bay, Newport Bay or anywhere on holiday, taking a few precautions can make a globetrotting world of difference. Here are some common-sense tips for safekeeping:

• Be extra cautious where and when risks are moderate to high.
• Avoid isolated areas and travel in groups when possible.
• Leave valuables in your stateroom or hotel safe, and what you do wear or carry should always be secured, if not inconspicuous.
• Two words: money belt.
• Two more words: drink responsibly.
• Go on YouTube and TikTok to familiarize yourself with local scams.
• Have local emergency numbers handy including your country’s nearest embassy or consulate.
• When personal safety could be at risk, ask yourself, “Is it worth it?”
• Trust your instincts.

Safe travels!

When Oliver came into my life at only 2-months-old, he looked and smelled like a puppy — but had the soul and demeanor of an old, grumpy grandpa.

He didn’t like to run and play. He chose leisurely naps over rough-housing in the backyard. He was only interested in going for walks if someone carried him the whole way. He preferred air conditioning and belly rubs to chasing sticks.

His bark had the low raspy tones of a seasoned chain smoker.

While his gorgeous creme coat billowing in the wind gave him the appearance of bubbly, blond bombshell, he had the slow lumbering gait and sluggish temper of an exhausted sloth.

He embodied the phrase, “I can’t be bothered.” He was never in a rush (unless it was to eat).

He walked through life with such an easy, slow pace. A sweet soul who didn’t seem to mind the company of the (literally) hundreds of animals I’ve saved throughout the years. I guess that’s why I didn’t really think this day would come.

He lived life slowly, patiently, gently. So slowly, that I thought he’d just keep lumbering along for another 18 years, in no particular rush to see what was on the other side of the “rainbow bridge.”

Late this summer though, he let us know that he was ready to finally see what’s on the other side. So we honored the promise we made to him that he wouldn’t know a life of suffering.

Now he’s with his sister, Madeline, and brother, Bailey…doing what they all loved to do best, napping.

I can’t quite articulate what it meant to lose Oliver. He was my friend and companion for much of my adult life. I had 18 wonderful years with him — and the very sudden loss of him has been a great deal harder on me than I expected.

I felt an immediate emptiness at the loss of our routines. Ollie was deaf and blind (and had been for the last 10 years of his life), which meant he fell into the “special needs” category of animal care. My husband and I saw to every one of those special needs for so many years, that the sudden loss of them was palpable.

It hit me really, really hard.

I’m very fortunate to work in the animal welfare industry, where my colleagues understand what this kind of loss feels like — and organizationally we have systems in place to support each other through it both emotionally and practically.

I was able to take a few days off after his passing because I didn’t quite trust myself in those first few days. I was raw and emotionally unpredictable. I wasn’t sure I could keep from sobbing at the most inappropriate times.

Because I worked for an animal shelter at the time, we had pet bereavement benefits which allowed us to take paid time off to deal with the loss of a pet, deal with a pet’s acute health crisis, and paid time off for vet visits.

When I first transitioned into the animal welfare space from the human health care industry, I remember being really impressed by these benefits because I wasn’t used to having them.

With my recent loss though, I was reminded of just how critical they were for my mental health and wellness. It wasn’t just a “nice to have,” it was a “must have” benefit; one that I truly needed to move through this.

Tragically though, most employers don’t offer these types of benefits to employees in America — which says a lot about our out-dated values as it relates to our relationship with our animal friends.

Our society still largely views our pets as property (and they are technically considered property in the eyes of the law, too, by the way). So when we experience the loss of a pet, our friends and colleagues have the tendency to minimize the magnitude of our grief.

We’ve all said, or heard someone say “It’s only a dog. Just get another one!”

Many don’t seem to realize how reductive and insensitive that is.

So it’s no wonder that our employers haven’t stepped up to the plate to provide better pet-support to their employee benefits packages. Employees aren’t getting these benefits because they simply aren’t asking for them.

I think we can do better. We must do better. Employers should recognize that the human-animal bond is growing stronger by the day, and that our employee benefit packages should reflect the space our pets occupy in our lives.

Things like pet bereavement, veterinary assistance, and pet insurance are all benefits that could and should be afforded to all employees.

We’re making progress though. There are some organizations that are starting to pay attention and offer more pet support for employees. Scripps Health in San Diego, for example, offers pet insurance benefits and discounts for their employees.

Also, there is an organization called Airvet that provides packages to employers to offer veterinary telemedicine benefits for their employees.

According to their website, 70% of the workforce has at least one pet at home. They also state that 94.5% of pet parents surveyed indicated that having access to this benefit “saved them valuable time, resulting in a more productive and engaged workforce.”

Our pets are our family. So when they get sick, or they pass away, it’s important to normalize being open about our grief in the workplace and have better systems in place to support us when illness or loss happens.

I want to live in a world where my grief over the loss of my dog isn’t minimized or dismissed because he’s “just a dog.”

Because he wasn’t just a dog to me. He was my friend. He loved me ferociously and unconditionally every day of his life. He made me laugh. He drove me crazy. He healed me.

I’m fortunate I had an employer that honored the bigness of that loss with benefits to support me through it.

If you don’t have that with your employer, you should. You deserve it.

As a child, Jack Hagerman founded and operated his own make-shift animal rescue — taking in stray cats, injured birds, and the occasional bunny. As an adult, he co-founded a critically endangered livestock conservancy on his farm in the Midwest, where he cared for and rehabilitated more than 400 animals in 17 different critically endangered livestock species. He formerly worked with Pasadena Humane and the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society. When he isn’t working with animals, he’s writing about them — hoping to create a better world for our animal friends, one witty tangent at a time.

Major Arab allies of the United States say they do not support Hamas or its brutal assault on Israel but that they also oppose the U.S. agenda that unreservedly backs Israel in a massive counteroffensive likely to cost the lives of thousands of Palestinian civilians.

In Cairo this week, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi told U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken that the Israeli response already “has gone beyond self-defense” and reached the level of the “collective punishment” — the punishment of a population for the crimes of a few and a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

As for the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, in which its militants slaughtered more than 1,000 Israeli civilians and took scores of hostages, Sisi said: “We can unequivocally condemn it, but we need to understand that this is the result of accumulated fury of hatred over four decades, when the Palestinians have no hope to find a solution.”

Many of the region’s countries have allowed the Palestinian cause to fade in recent years. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalized relations with Israel in 2020, joining Egypt and Jordan as the only countries in the region with which it has formal diplomatic ties. Saudi Arabia had been considering a similar move.

But a crisis of this proportion has refocused the attention of many Arab governments and especially their citizens, while underscoring the gulf between the United States and its Arab allies.

That was the takeaway as Blinken traveled to seven countries in four days to drum up support for Israel.

In capital after capital, he publicly emphasized the deadly horrors of the Hamas attack and advocated on behalf of, as he put it, “Israel’s right — indeed its obligation — to defend itself” as it launches massive retaliatory airstrikes and possibly a land invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Further down his list of remarks, Blinken added the need to protect Palestinian civilians, who are already dying in Israeli airstrikes — casualties the secretary also blamed principally on Hamas, because its initial barrage of atrocities set the current events in motion.

However, many of the leaders Blinken sat down with across the Arab world had a different top priority: de-escalating violence, protecting the 2.2 million people of Gaza and opening up humanitarian aid channels to the Gaza Strip after Israel cut off food, water and electricity to the enclave. While the Biden administration has said it does not want to see more civilian deaths, it has not been willing to publicly advocate restraint or a cease-fire.

This sharp difference has hobbled Blinken’s efforts to win broad regional support for a plan to avert a war that spills far beyond the Gaza Strip. It has also stymied his ability to negotiate an opening of the Rafah crossing point on the Gaza Strip’s southern border with Egypt to let out Palestinian civilians and let in desperately needed humanitarian supplies.

At U.S. urging, Egypt promised to open Rafah, and Israel promised to turn on the water spigot to Gaza. Neither happened.

The issues are certain to be on the agenda for President Biden’s scheduled visit to Israel on Wednesday, although talks with Arab leaders were canceled after blasts at a Gaza hospital killed hundreds of people. Hamas says Israel struck the hospital; Israel blames the militant group Islamic Jihad.

As he made his diplomatic foray, Blinken may have miscalculated how strong the pro-Palestinian sentiment on the Arab “street” remained, or how cautiously some regional leaders would feel compelled to react to the Hamas rampage and the much-anticipated Israeli onslaught.

“There was pressure for a reality check” for the U.S., said Merissa Khurma, Middle East program director at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington. “A very, very strong Israel response … empowers extremist voices, with Palestinian civilians paying the hefty price.”

Several Arab governments in recent years have given little more than lip service to the importance of the Palestinian fight for independence and have allowed it to fall off the regional agenda, especially among the handful of gulf and Muslim countries that — under U.S. pressure — chose to recognize Israel to enhance business ties.

And though the gulf nation of Qatar, home to a major U.S. military base, allows Hamas leaders to reside there, few regional leaders have much love lost for the militant group.

Two of Hamas’ formative allies are anathema to much of the Arab world: Iran, a principal sponsor and arms-supplier for Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood, which Hamas grew out of more than 30 years ago. Shiite Iran is a top rival to the region’s Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, and the Muslim Brotherhood is an old Islamic organization that Sisi considered a threat to his authority and has driven underground through repression and arrests.

Still, regional leaders cannot be seen to be turning their back on the broader fight for Palestinian independence, because for many ordinary Arabs, the cause remains sacrosanct.

In his meeting with Blinken, King Abdullah II of Jordan, one of the United States’ closest allies in the region, also raised the specter that Israel was carrying out “collective punishment” on the people of Gaza.

Saudi Arabia expressed alarm over “unprecedented escalation between Palestinian factions and Israeli occupation forces” but was tepid in public condemnation of Hamas, to the disappointment of U.S. officials. The kingdom notified Blinken that it was suspending talks to open diplomatic ties with Israel, a historic rapprochement that the U.S. has been pushing actively for months and that had been gaining momentum. And Saudi King Salman convened an emergency meeting of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation for Wednesday.

“The kingdom recalls its repeated warnings of the dangers of the situation exploding as a result of the continued occupation, the Palestinian people being deprived of their legitimate rights and the repetition of system provocations against” them by Israel, the Saudi foreign ministry said.

After visiting Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, Blinken returned to Israel for marathon meetings with Netanyahu and others to focus on the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

“At our request, the United States and Israel have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organizations to reach civilians in Gaza — and them alone — including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians our of harm’s way,” Blinken said. “It is critical that aid begin flowing into Gaza as soon as possible.”

Israel resists opening the border because it says it does not want weapons to be smuggled in with aid.

Egypt resists opening its section of border with Gaza because it does not want to be flooded with tens of thousands of Palestinians, especially after Israel ordered the evacuation of the northern half of Gaza.

As they made clear to Blinken, leaders in both Egypt and Jordan fear that if Gazans leave, they would never be allowed to return — a latter-day repeat of the 1948 emptying of scores of Palestinian villages that made way for the creation of the Israeli state.

Palestinians then were either forced out of homes by Israel or urged to leave by Arab leaders but then never allowed to return, creating a population of refugees that persists to this day.

You’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead, so that explains the hosannas swirling around for Bishop Tod D. Brown.

The former head of the Catholic Diocese of Orange died Sunday at age 86 from lymphoma. Obituaries — including in this paper — noted his role in purchasing the former Crystal Cathedral in 2011 to make it a new base for Orange County’s 1.3 million Catholics. Online testimonials from the faithful praised his passion for Christ, his humor and his collaborative approach in leading a sprawling, multicultural diocese.

They also touched on Brown’s role in the sex abuse scandal that has permanently scarred the Catholic Church.

In 2004, as the bishop faced dozens of civil lawsuits filed by people who claimed that diocesan employees — priests, principals, lay teachers, school counselors —had sexually abused them over the past six decades, he published the Covenant With the Faithful. This was a set of promises posted in every parish that stated, in part, “We will be open, honest and forthright in our public statements to the media, and consistent and transparent in our communications with the Catholics of our Diocese.”

Then-Bishop Tod D. Brown nails his “Covenant with the Faithful” at Holy Family Cathedral in the city of Orange in 2004. The act was meant as public penance for the church’s role in its sex abuse crisis.

(Karen Tapia / Los Angeles Times)

A year later, the diocese settled 90 lawsuits for $100 million, also releasing documents that proved most of the sex abuse allegations and the complicity of church officials in covering them up. At the time, it was the largest such payout in the history of the Catholic Church in the U.S., but it has since been — sadly — eclipsed many times over.

The Orange diocese website characterizes Brown’s moves during that era as “groundbreaking” and “unprecedented.” Brown, for his part, thought of himself as brave.

“I decided to settle because I was very concerned about the victims,” he told Orange County Catholic, the Orange diocese’s official publication, in 2021, claiming that other bishops criticized his actions. “I made the decision in the context of prayer and consultation, and I have no regrets whatsoever. I believe I made the right decision.”

Spare me these hosannas. Congratulating Brown is like congratulating someone for towing their car after wrapping it around a pole.

The Orange diocese sex abuse scandal was the first big story I worked on as a reporter. Through most of my mid-20s, I wrote multiple stories documenting how O.C.’s Catholic leaders not only knew that priests and employees were molesting children but frequently transferred them to poorer parishes and rarely bothered to alert law enforcement.

At the center of this scandal was Brown.

Most of the more notorious cases happened before he came to the Orange diocese in 1998. But Brown allowed priests who had admitted to molesting children to remain in ministry. Worse, the people who covered up for those molesters kept their jobs even after Brown took over — and were frequently promoted.

Take John Urell. He was the chief investigator for sex abuse claims in the Orange diocese under Brown and his predecessor, Norm McFarland. In 2008, when Urell suffered a breakdown during a deposition grilling him about what he knew and why he had stayed quiet for so long, Brown shipped him off to Canada for six months of treatment for “acute anxiety disorder.” Afterward, Urell landed at a wealthy parish in South Orange County, where he remained as pastor until his retirement last year.

Then there was Jaime Soto. Brown consecrated the Stanton native as Orange County’s second Latino auxiliary bishop in 2000 even though Soto had pleaded for leniency in the 1986 case of Andrew Christian Andersen, who faced at least 56 years in prison for molesting altar boys in Huntington Beach. The judge agreed and let Andersen enter a treatment program in New Mexico, where he escaped, then was arrested for kidnapping and attempting to molest a 14-year-old boy.

Soto? He went on to become bishop at the Diocese of Sacramento in 2008 and remains in that position.

Brown’s 14-year run featured stumble after stumble, yet apologists always tried to portray him as the antithesis of Cardinal Roger Mahony, whose mishandling of the sex abuse scandal in Los Angeles was so grave that L.A. Archbishop José H. Gomez stripped him of all public duties a decade ago. But Brown in some ways was worse even than Mahony.

While Mahony consistently stood by Latino parishioners, Brown shut down historic schools and parishes in Latino neighborhoods, which forced congregants to attend Vietnamese- and white-majority parishes.

When Mahony was accused in 2002 of sexually abusing a high school female student in Fresno during the 1970s, he didn’t shy away from the matter, which law enforcement officials eventually determined was unfounded. When I broke the story that the Kern County Sheriff Department once investigated a claim against Brown, he claimed there was no reason to disclose it.

His rationale? “The ‘Covenant With the Faithful’ does not require the disclosure of allegations which have no credible or factual basis,” a diocesan press release stated — never mind that Brown himself had outed priests who were wrongfully accused.

Even Mahony didn’t have a case as preposterous as that of John Lenihan, a popular priest at St. Edward the Confessor in Dana Point. Brown let Lenihan stay in his position even though the priest had admitted to molesting a teenage girl in the 1990s, a scandal I remember very well because I was a teenager and Lenihan was the pastor at my home parish of St. Boniface in Anaheim at the time.

When Lenihan anonymously admitted to my colleague Steve Lopez in 2001 that he had repeatedly broken his celibacy vows, Brown forced him to resign within weeks, telling parishioners in an open letter that Lenihan’s admission was “a cause of scandal to many in the Church, and it is a cause of great concern to me.”

In Brown’s world, molesting an underage girl was redeemable — but having consensual sexual relationships with adult women was unforgivable. Remind me again why some Orange County Catholics are remembering Brown as a hero?

Few know the truth about Brown better than John Manly, the attorney who has won more than a billion dollars worth of sex abuse settlements — against the Catholic Church as well as USC, former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar and the Los Angeles Unified School District. Manly represented multiple plaintiffs in the 2005 Orange diocese settlement and got his start in 2001 by helping to secure a $5.2-million settlement — at the time, one of the largest individual cases against the Catholic Church — and a zero-tolerance vow by Brown.

Soon after, a priest was caught with child pornography on his laptop, but Brown allowed him to stay until a church whistleblower talked to the media two years later. His reasoning? The priest hadn’t technically molested anyone and thus didn’t violate the Orange diocese’s zero-tolerance policy.

“The diocese settlements with survivors were done at the point of a legal gun,” said Manly, who is now representing plaintiffs in 28 civil suits against the Orange diocese. “They were not the result of some saintly largess of Bishop Brown, as is now suggested.” If the cases that settled had gone to jury trials, the financial rewards could have been even larger.

It’s been years since I thought about all the stories I wrote about Brown, maybe because they’re painful. When I started reporting on the sex abuse scandal, I was a church-going Catholic who thought most of the allegations against priests were made by money-hungry heretics. When I discovered the gravity of the situation, I felt confident that Brown would clean house and change his ways.

When none of that happened, I stopped attending Mass. To this day, I only go to church for funerals and the occasional wedding.

You’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead, so I guess I should say something nice about the late Orange County Catholic leader. But that would be hypocritical. That would be Bishop Tod D. Brown.

California’s labor commissioner on Tuesday ordered the Hyatt Regency Long Beach to pay nearly $4.8 million in fines for failing to offer jobs to workers who had been laid off during COVID-19 shutdowns.

The hotel did not offer job positions in a timely manner to 25 employees, including restaurant servers, bartenders, housekeepers, cashiers and stewards, according to a Tuesday news release by the office of Lilia García-Brower, the state labor commissioner. The fine will be paid to the affected employees.

The citation comes under California’s “right to recall” law, which mandates that employers in hospitality and building services industries, as their business operations come back online and return to pre-pandemic levels, offer available job openings first to those who had been laid off during the pandemic.

The law, Senate Bill 93, went into effect in spring 2021 but was intended to end on Dec. 31, 2024. On Oct. 10, Gov. Newsom signed SB 723, which extends the right of recall for employees in the hospitality and building services industries until Dec. 31, 2025. Building services jobs include janitorial, building maintenance and security services.

“Some of these employees had as much as 24 years of experience, and were suddenly out of work due to a public health emergency,” García-Brower said in the Tuesday release. “The employer failed to offer them their old jobs back in compliance with the law.”

A general manager overseeing the Hyatt’s Long Beach properties did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Unite Here Local 11, the union representing workers at the Hyatt Regency location, said the fine is the largest issued under the right to recall law to date. The union has said the law, which requires jobs be offered in order of seniority, prevents businesses from using the pandemic shutdown to replace older workers — including many women and people of color — with younger, lower-paid staff.

The labor commissioner’s office said its investigation — which began in September 2022 after receiving complaints from Hyatt Regency Long Beach workers — included subpoenaing the hotel, interviewing workers, and conducting depositions of human resources managers.

The law allows damages of $500 per worker for each day the employer does not follow recall rights afforded to employees by the law. In the Hyatt Regency case, the state determined there had been 8,983 total days of violations.

The state issued its first right to recall citation in March 2022, to the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, ordering $3.3 million in fines. Terranea appealed the fines, saying the law was vaguely worded. Several months later, in July, the upscale hotel reached a settlement with the state, agreeing to pay $1.52 million without admitting wrongdoing.

Tuesday’s citation represents just the latest dispute between the Hyatt Regency Long Beach and its workers. In February, two housekeepers filed what is intended to be a class-action lawsuit against the hotel, claiming they weren’t paid double-time in accordance with a local ordinance and often missed their legally required 10-minute breaks because of heavy workloads.

It was the first lawsuit to be brought under such local ordinances in Long Beach and other California cities backed by Unite Here Local 11 and other unions that seek to regulate hotel working conditions — requiring housekeeper access to panic buttons and more compensation for heavier workloads. The litigation is pending.

This week’s top story: How to protect yourself from student loan scams as bills resume. In other news: Increased commuting costs, how Disney turned Halloween into a money-making machine, and 3 steps to booking holiday travel.

How to Protect Yourself From Student Loan Scams as Bills Resume
If you get a random text or call about your student loans, it’s likely a scam.

Commuter Snapshot: Most Workers Hit the Roads as Costs Increase
Lower relative wages make increased commuting costs tough to handle.

How Disney Turned Halloween Into a Money-Making Machine
With after-hours parties and seasonal treats, Disney has thoroughly capitalized on the spooky season.

Ask a Travel Nerd: 3 Steps to Booking Holiday Travel
Book in October and consider traveling on off days to avoid high prices and overwhelming crowds.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — The Mortgage Collaborative (TMC), the nation’s largest independent cooperative network serving the mortgage industry, today announced its 2024 Board of Directors and Advisory Council.

“I’m proud that we’ve assembled a remarkably talented and diverse Board at TMC – industry veterans and thought leaders all,” said TMC CEO and co-founder David Kittle, CMB. “With the guidance and support from these outstanding leaders in our industry, I am confident that TMC can help our lender members and partner stay innovative and profitable for years to come.”

TMC 2024 Board members:

* Chairman: Jim Park, Partner (Co-Founder)

* CEO: David Kittle, CMB, Partner (Co-Founder)

* John Robbins, CMB, Partner (Co-Founder)

* Melissa Langdale, President & COO

* David Liechtfuss, CPA, Audit Committee Chairman

* Brian Montgomery, Chairman and Founding Partner Gate House Strategies, Former HUD Deputy Secretary

* Julie Piepho, CMB, President & CEO, Milestone Leadership Consulting

* Arthur Prieston, CMB, Chairman Prieston & Associates, LLC

* Debra Still, CMB, Vice Chair Pulte Financial Services

TMC 2024 Advisory Council:

* Patty Arvielo, Co-Founder and CEO New American Funding

* Irv Dennis, Former Partner EY / CFO HUD

About The Mortgage Collaborative:

Based in San Diego, California, The Mortgage Collaborative was founded in 2013 by four notable industry leaders and is the nation’s largest independent mortgage cooperative network. TMC is singularly focused on creating an environment of collaboration and innovation for small to mid-size mortgage lenders across the country to reduce cost, increase profitability, and better serve the dynamic and changing consumer base in America.

For more information, visit: http://www.mortgagecollaborative.com/

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Learn More: https://www.mortgagecollaborative.com

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