OC judge rules mentally ill killer will not be released to outpatient facility

• October 6, 2023

An Orange County judge ruled late Thursday that a drifter who bludgeoned a Huntington Harbour woman to death on a beachside road nearly 30 years ago will not be released from a state mental hospital to an outpatient facility due to concerns that he remains a potential danger to the community.

Leonard Patton never went to prison for the 1994 killing of Jessica Uniack, a 47-year-old mother of two who Patton attacked with a tire iron and struck more than 20 times in the head and body. Instead, Patton was found not guilty by reason of insanity and has spent the vast majority of the decades since the killing receiving treatment in a locked state mental hospital.

Doctors treating Patton recently determined that he was ready to move to move to an outpatient facility, concluding that the psychosis that led to the killing and Patton’s social phobia and severe social anxiety issues were under control due to medication and Patton’s acceptance of his condition and his crimes.

That led to an outcry by Uniack’s family and pushback from prosecutors, who noted that a similar release in 2006 to Leisure Towers Guest Home — a facility in Orange — ended with Patton repeatedly violating the terms of his release and being sent back to a state hospital.

After a series of recent hearings, Orange County Superior Court Judge Erin Rowe on Thursday denied the request to move Patton to an outpatient facility, finding that he still poses an undue risk to the community. Along with citing his past “knowing” rule violations, the judge also noted that Patton’s “baseline state” is one of severe social phobia that can lead to impulsive decisions and aggressive thoughts.

“The court is concerned about Mr. Patton’s ability to cope,” Rowe said.

A group of around two dozen Uniack’s family members and supporters embraced outside the Santa Ana courtroom following the ruling. Most wore green in honor of Uniack, who was born on St. Patrick’s Day.

“There is obviously some relief,” said Alex Uniack, one of Jessica’s sons. “It is not something you want to celebrate, it is not like everything is ok. It is nice to have a good day in court, but in the back of my head I know it will come up again.”

Patton, who was not in the courtroom but participated through video conferencing, is currently housed at the Sylmar Health and Rehabilitation Center. Had the judge approved his request there was talk that he could have been housed at Leisure Towers again, though the facility apparently revoked that possibility after Patton’s potential move was reported in the media, according to testimony.

During Patton’s time at Leisure Towers in 2006, DA investigators followed Patton to an auto parts store in Riverside County and watched him purchase a tool that could be used as a knife. A search of his room also turned up knife blades and other sharp objects, court records show, and Patton was moved back to a locked facility.

Dr. Nicole Caceres testified that Patton’s past violations during his treatment was self-sabotaging behavior related to his social phobia. The doctor said Patton has made significant strides in treatment, has accepted his condition, acknowledges the behaviors he needs to avoid and is ready to move to an outpatient facility for his next step in reintegrating into the community.

“Mr. Patton has evidenced the ability to withstand a very stressful situation and not self-sabotage,” the doctor said of his progress.

Deputy Public Defender Shawn McDonald noted it has been more than 15 years since Patton’s last stint in an outpatient facility. McDonald argued such a move now would be safe for the community and beneficial to Patton’s treatment.

“We had concerns over the years and the concerns have been addressed,” McDonald told the judge. “He has been treated, slowly and deliberately.”

Deputy District Attorney Kimberly Wah argued that the doctor had acknowledged during her testimony that if Patton were to stop taking his medication he could “decompress” quickly and suffer psychotic symptoms. The prosecutor noted that with Leisure Towers no longer an option it wasn’t clear where Patton would be housed, if released, and what the rules would be.

“This court, and the community, cannot take that risk,” Wah said.

At the time of his arrest, Patton’s family expressed relief that he had been captured, after they had tried unsuccessfully to get him committed to a mental health facility prior to the killing.

On Dec. 8, 1994, according to court filings, voices in Patton’s head persuaded him to take a plane from his home in Minnesota to Los Angeles. He rented a car, drove to Orange County and got in a fender bender with Jessica Uniack along Pacific Coast Highway in Seal Beach.

As Uniack got out of her car to exchange information Patton immediately attacked her, killing her. Patton abandoned his rental car, instead stuffing Uniack’s body onto the passenger floor of her own vehicle and driving to a nearby hospital emergency room. He then stole a truck, and was found by police wandering around Newport Beach.

In comments to the judge, Alex Uniack said that at the time of the not guilty by reason of insanity verdict, “We were told the man who murdered my mom would spend the rest of his life where he belongs — in a locked state hospital.” The son described the recent hearings as a “grueling process” in which doctors helped Patton make sure he was dealing with the stress of the legal process while “the families are left on their own.”

“Please don’t allow him the freedom to do this again,” the son told the judge.

Orange County DA Todd Spitzer indicated he was pleased with the ruling.

“A convicted murderer who bludgeoned an innocent 47-year-old mother of two after a traffic accident will remain in a locked facility as a result of vigorous advocacy by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office to prevent him from being released back to the community,” Spitzer said in a written statement. “We will never stop fighting to protect public safety and we are relieved that the victims’ loved ones can sleep soundly knowing the man who murdered their mother will not be allowed to live freely among the rest of society.”

Staff writer Tony Saavedra contributed to this report.

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein honored at memorial service as leader with integrity

• October 6, 2023

By JANIE HAR

SAN FRANCISCO — The late U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein was toasted Thursday at a memorial service as a leader with uncommon integrity and a defender of American values — as well as a talented artist and a grandmother who gave crooked haircuts in her kitchen.

President Joe Biden, who sent recorded remarks, was among the short list of speakers who praised Feinstein at the private memorial service outside San Francisco City Hall. Vice President Kamala Harris, herself a product of San Francisco politics, and other national leaders spoke in person to send off the first female mayor of San Francisco and longest-serving woman in the U.S. Senate.

“She was always tough, prepared, rigorous, compassionate. She always served the people of California and our nation for the right reasons,” Biden said. “God bless a great American hero. She was something else, and she was a dear friend.”

The service marked the end of two days of events in the city that launched Feinstein’s political career amid tragedy. Hundreds of everyday people streamed into City Hall on Wednesday to pay their respects to the woman who shattered numerous glass ceilings.

On Thursday, it was time for national leaders and Feinstein’s family to share tributes to the woman they knew. They did so with personal and warm anecdotes that reflected Feinstein’s kindness, wit, and passion for the city in which she was born and raised, California and the country.

Eileen Mariano recalled how Feinstein, her grandmother, created the AMBER Alert program and protected California’s deserts. But she was also a woman who hated losing at chess, cut hair crookedly and sang Mariano to sleep with “You Are My Sunshine.”

She taught Mariano to put in the work and to keep going no matter what.

“That, and she would also say to me, if you ever go out of town, no matter where you’re going, it doesn’t matter if you’re going to a city or the desert or a beach or the mountains, always pack a black pantsuit. There is no occasion to which you can’t wear a black pantsuit,” Mariano said.

About 1,500 people were invited to the private memorial, where two large outdoor screens showed photos of Feinstein over the years. Guests seated in white chairs sweltered on an unseasonably hot day as the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight team soared overhead, occasionally interrupting speakers with the roar of their jets.

The flight demonstration squadron is in the city as part of Fleet Week, an annual San Francisco celebration started by Feinstein in 1981 when she was mayor.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor, and former Gov. Jerry Brown were in the audience, though neither offered remarks. Feinstein was the officiant at Brown’s 2005 wedding to his wife, Anne Gust, a matchmaking effort referenced by former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, another San Franciscan, in her remarks.

More than three dozen U.S. senators and representatives attended the service.

Several speakers reflected on Feinstein’s dedication to the job.

Harris said after she was sworn in as a U.S. senator, Feinstein congratulated her with a glass of California chardonnay and a binder full of her legislative initiatives.

The vice president also recalled being a young prosecutor on Nov. 3, 1992, when she drove from Oakland into San Francisco to celebrate Feinstein and Barbara Boxer winning election to the U.S. Senate — making California the first state to send two women to the chamber. Harris then reflected on her journey back to San Francisco for Thursday’s memorial, this time on Air Force Two.

“Dianne, the women of America have come a long way. Our country has come a long way. And you helped move the ball forward and our nation salutes you,” she said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, meanwhile, recalled Feinstein fracturing her ankle on a walk in Lake Tahoe and, instead of going to the doctor, proceeding with a planned summit to talk about policy issues related to the prized natural resources straddling California and Nevada.

He said one of his proudest moments was working with Feinstein to pass legislation banning the manufacturing and sale of certain types of semi-automatic guns. The legislation expired a decade later, in 2014. But he said he was also indebted to her as a father of two daughters.

“Because of Dianne, my daughters grew up in a world that’s a little bit fairer, a little more just and more accepting of women in leadership,” he said.

Feinstein, who died last week at her home in Washington, D.C., of natural causes, spent much of her career in the U.S. Senate but will be known as the forever mayor of San Francisco, a role she inherited in tragedy.

She was president of the Board of Supervisors in November 1978 when a former supervisor assassinated Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the city’s first openly gay supervisor, at City Hall. Feinstein, who found Milk’s body, became acting mayor and won election twice to serve as mayor until 1988.

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Trump allegedly discussed nuclear secrets with Mar-a-Lago member

• October 6, 2023

By Kaanita Iyer | CNN

Former President Donald Trump allegedly discussed potentially sensitive information about US nuclear submarines with a member of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, following his presidency, ABC reported Thursday.

Sources told ABC that the member is Anthony Pratt, an Australian billionaire who allegedly went on to share the information he received from the former president during an April 2021 meeting with “more than a dozen foreign officials, several of his own employees, and a handful of journalists.”

ABC also reported that according to sources, a former Mar-a-Lago employee told investigations that he was “bothered” by the former president disclosing such information to someone who is not a US citizen. He added that he heard Pratt sharing potentially sensitive information minutes after his meeting with the former president, sources told ABC.

These allegations were not included in special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of Trump over his handling of classified documents. But the incident was reported to and investigated by Smith’s team, according to ABC.

A Trump spokesperson slammed ABC’s report, telling CNN that the claims “lack proper context and relevant information.”

“The Department of Justice should investigate the criminal leaking, instead of perpetrating their baseless witch-hunts while knowing that President Trump did nothing wrong, has always insisted on truth and transparency, and acted in a proper manner, according to the law,” the spokesperson said.

CNN has reached out to Pratt and the special counsel’s office for comment.

Pratt allegedly told investigators that after he told Trump that Australia should buy submarines from the US, the former president went on to share how many nuclear warheads US submarines carry and “how close they can get to a Russian submarine without being detected,” sources told ABC. But Pratt told investigators that he was not shown any government documents, the sources said.

CNN previously obtained an audio of a July 2021 meeting Trump had in his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, during which the former president acknowledged that he held on to a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran. The audio, exclusively reported by CNN, was a critical piece of evidence in the special counsel’s indictment.

Trump is facing 40 counts in the classified documents case, including willful retention of national defense information and conspiracy to obstruct justice. It is one of four cases in which the former president has been indicted.

Trump, who is seeking to return to the White House and remains the GOP front-runner, asked the judge presiding over the case late Wednesday to delay the trial until after the 2024 elections. A similar request was previously denied.

​ Orange County Register 

$88 million excavation project to prepare more space in Prima Deshecha landfill

• September 29, 2023

The $88 million excavation contract the OC Board of Supervisors has approved for the Prima Deshecha Landfill will extend its lifespan by decades, officials said.

By expanding the landfill’s capacity, the project will help meet the waste disposal needs of south Orange County through 2102, said Tom Koutroulis, director of OC Waste and Recycling. The current zone where waste is being accepted is set to reach capacity in 2050; officials have been preparing the east side of the property for future needs.

The project, to be led by Sukut Construction, will excavate 7 million cubic yards of dirt and rock and construct a protective liner that will preserve the health of the surrounding watershed, Koutroulis said. Additionally, the project will also install a landfill gas collection and facility drainage control system.

The construction will take place within 65 acres of the current landfill property in San Juan Capistrano and will provide approximately 12.3 million cubic yards of landfill capacity, according to Koutroulis.

He said construction is expected to begin in October and be finished around November 2025.

“These improvements will provide OC Waste and Recycling the opportunity to operate and serve the public more efficiently,” he said.

Fifth District Supervisor Katrina Foley, who represents part of south Orange County including the landfill, also emphasized “this investment will serve many future generations.”

At the conclusion of the construction, Koutroulis said some customers could be routed to the new zone for dumping. And, as the current zone in use reaches final capacity, all customers will be routed through tunnels under Avenida La Pata to the newly developed areas.

Last year, there was a shift of more traffic from the county’s other landfills to the Prima Deshecha facility, where, in March of 2022, construction was approved to redesign the entrance and build new flares that trap methane produced by the landfill. The construction also relocated the energy plant that converts some of the gas into energy – enough to power about 6,000 homes. That work cost about $22.5 million.

The Prima Deshecha landfill opened in 1976 – the county operates it along with the  Frank R. Bowerman Landfill in Irvine and the Olinda Alpha Landfill in Brea.

Prima Deshecha currently takes about 70% of its waste from the public and the rest is from commercial. The landfill receives an average of 2,735 tons of solid waste per day and an average of 854 waste hauling vehicles per day, according to Koutroulis.

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Apple iPhone 15 Pro users complain the device gets too hot to handle

• September 29, 2023

By Mark Gurman | Bloomberg

Some of the first owners of Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are complaining that the new devices get too hot during use or while charging, a potential setback for the company’s flagship product.

The gripes have spread across Apple online forums and social media networks, including Reddit and X. Customers say that the back or side of the phone becomes hot to the touch while gaming or when conducting a phone call or FaceTime video chat. For some users, the issue is more prominent while the device is plugged in to charge.

Also see: Apple’s $59 fake-suede ‘FineWoven’ iPhone case is its biggest dud of 2023

Apple technical support staffers have been fielding calls about the issue as well. They’ve referred customers to an old support article on how to handle an iPhone that feels too hot or cold. The notice says overheating could occur when using intensive apps, charging or setting up a new device for the first time.

A representative for Cupertino-based Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The iPhone accounts for about half of Apple’s revenue, and new models are closely scrutinized for any potential flaws. Sometimes problems crop up that have to be addressed by Apple — with software updates or other fixes — but often the concerns fade on their own.

More iPhone news: The new Action Button is more than a one-trick pony

Apple also has a rigorous testing process in place that’s meant to catch any pitfalls before the iPhone goes into mass production.

Having devices get warm is not an unusual phenomenon, especially given the supercharged processors that power modern gadgets. The question this time is whether the heat problem persists and goes beyond what consumers think is acceptable.

The issue could be caused or compounded by the iPhone setup process. When users get a new phone, re-downloading all of their apps, data and photos from iCloud can be a long and processor-intensive procedure. Some users say they believe the issue could also be triggered by certain apps running in the background, such as Instagram or Uber.

More tech: A fitness tracker, a goal and 110 photos are taken of life in Orange County

Several people have posted videos of them checking the phone’s temperature with a thermometer. “iPhone 15 Pro Max gets really hot easily,” according to one post. “I’m just browsing social media, and it’s burning up.” Another said that the device got hot enough to be felt through a carrying case.

But it’s not a universal issue. Other iPhone 15 Pro owners have said they aren’t experiencing the problem or that the heat is in line with prior models. For some customers, putting the iPhone in a case at least stopped the device from feeling hot to the touch.

Also see: Apple exec defends tech giant’s decision to make Google default search engine

One user complained that the iPhone 15 Pro Max got hot enough to switch off during a call and then took a few minutes to come back on. Apple’s devices do occasionally shut themselves off when they overheat or are exposed to the sun for too long.

The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max include a new A17 chip with a more powerful graphics engine. That component, which is meant to help improve gaming performance, could be a contributing factor. The latest iPhone models also have a titanium frame, a switch from the stainless-steel design used since 2017.

The issue comes on the heels of customers complaining about the FineWoven material used in the latest iPhone 15 cases. That fabric, which replaces leather as part of Apple’s environment push, is prone to scratches and gets dirty more easily, some customers have said. 

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USC, Colorado bring similar rebuilds into titanic Saturday matchup

• September 29, 2023

In appearance, in public persona and style, the architects behind two of the most visible programs in college football couldn’t possibly be more different.

One is an oft-described football genius with a light Southern drawl and heavy weight on his shoulders, who’s made waves helming two national contenders but earned heavy backlash in the process, who often approaches the public with cards tucked carefully against his chest.

One is a bona fide marketing genius who’s led an entire city – scratch, that, country – to rally behind cowboy hats and shades, inspiring collegiate football hope in a town of Boulder, Colorado, where there was little, so self-aware of his own incendiary charisma that he’ll show his cards to anyone who asks and dare ‘em to raise the pot.

The process by which Lincoln Riley and Deion Sanders have approached respective rebuilds at USC and Colorado, though, is much the same. Ignore the criticism, and unabashedly blitz the portal in lieu of an extended recruiting rebuild – Riley bringing in 20 transfers in his first year in Southern California to reignite Trojans glory, Sanders going so far as to tell returners to skedaddle and welcoming in an unprecedented 51 transfers this year to the Buffs. Build a dynamic offense behind explosive quarterbacks – Caleb Williams and Sanders’ son Shedeur – they both brought from previous stops.

So Sanders and Riley have waxed poetic about the job the other’s done in pre-week availability, a far cry from Colorado’s recent opponents

“I see right where he’s coming from,” Riley said Tuesday.

Yes, their approaches are radically different. But Sanders has been genuine in that approach, Riley said. And leadership, Riley expressed later in the week, thrives on authenticity.

“When I’ve seen, in my opinion, guys fail or mess up or maybe not hit the mark, it’s been like – guys try to be something they’re not,” Riley told media Thursday. “And then the people they’re leading typically see through that.”

The trajectories of two of the most vaunted leaders – and interesting personalities – collide Saturday at Folsom Field, a game that Trojans and Buffs fans have had circled and the national media have licked their chops over since Sanders began dominating college football headlines.

USC and Colorado walk in with something to prove: hype around the Buffs throttled in a 42-6 loss to Oregon last Saturday, and the Trojans left with a laundry list of issues to correct after a sloppy 42-28 win over Arizona State. And the spectacle at Folsom on Saturday (will Lil Wayne lead Colorado out of the tunnel again? Will rumored guests DJ Khaled, Will Ferrell and Snoop Dogg share a suite together? Will Buffs fans rush the field even after their athletic director wagged his finger?) will be a sight to behold.

When Colorado has the ball

Through three weeks, Jackson State transfer Shedeur Sanders was generating considerable Heisman buzz. That vanished in the span of four quarters and a single touchdown at Oregon. Only so much a man can do, though, when he ends up on his backside seven times; the quarterback has thrived in spite of a flimsy line, completing 77% of his passes with 11 touchdowns.

“That’s phenomenal,” Deion Sanders said of his son in pre-week media availability, “considering what we’ve given up sack-wise and pressures.”

It doesn’t get any easier for the Buffs on Saturday, as USC enters tied for second in the nation in sacks. If Solomon Byrd and Bear Alexander can continue dominant play generating pressure, it’ll take plenty of pressure off a highly inconsistent secondary – particularly as Colorado’s two best receivers in Xavier Weaver and Travis Hunter may be out.

When USC has the ball

The main area emerging for USC to correct last Saturday – of many – was pre-snap issues. The Trojans racked up six penalties in the first quarter alone, the offensive line looking so out of sync at times in a roaring ASU atmosphere that Justin Dedich accidentally snapped a ball directly into an unsuspecting Williams’ groin.

“It probably was somewhat disappointing, that we’ve been practicing crowd noise since day three of camp,” Trojans offensive line coach Josh Henson said Wednesday. “So we didn’t handle it very well. We’re going to handle it better.”

If the line can keep Buffs like Jordan Domineck – whom Henson pointed to as a “talented guy” – out of Williams’ hair, he should rain hail on Colorado’s secondary, which has struggled with injury.

NO. 8 USC (4-0, 2-0 Pac-12) AT COLORADO (3-1, 0-1)

When: Saturday, 9 a.m. PT

Where: Folsom Field, Boulder, Colo.

TV/radio: FOX (Ch. 11)/790 AM

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Bob Crow, an LGBTQ leader and last living founder of Long Beach Pride, dies at 78

• September 29, 2023

Bob Crow, a local Long Beach LGBTQ legend and the last living founder of the city’s annual Pride Parade, has died. He was 78.

State Sen. Lena Gonzalez, D-Long Beach, announced his death on social media on Friday, Sept. 29. Tony Almeida-Crow, his husband, confirmed the icon’s death at their Long Beach home in a Friday interview.

Crow died of Stage 4 lung cancer, Almeida-Crow said.

He had been diagnosed with the disease in 2018 and underwent several rounds of surgery, chemotherapy and other treatments. After those treatments failed, he entered an experimental clinical trial earlier this year.

“We spent 29 years together — 10 years of legal marriage — and I was here with him in the end,” Almeida-Crow said on Friday. “He was a fighter for the gay community and he kept fighting all the way until the end.”

Crow, along with Judith Doyle and Marylin Barlow, founded Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Inc. — now simply known as Long Beach Pride — in 1983. The nonprofit then organized the city’s inaugural Pride Parade & Festival the following year.

The trio launched what, over the past four decades, has become one of the largest and most popular LGBTQ Pride celebrations in the country. The Long Beach Pride nonprofit celebrated its 40th anniversary this year.

“Today, we lost a Long Beach legend, a pioneer who paved the way for generations to express their authentic lives,” Gonzalez wrote on Twitter. “(Crow) was an example of dedication and leadership that brought equality and diversity to many communities throughout Long Beach and California.”

Crow himself was actively involved in organizing the festival until last year, when he decided to finally take a break to tend to his health issues. And he was the last living founder of Long Beach Pride until his death on Friday.

Co-founders Barlow and Doyle died in 2015 and 2022, respectively.

“Bob was beloved in our community and was an incredible leader,” Rep. Robert Garcia, who represents California’s 42nd Congressional District and formerly served as Long Beach’s mayor, said in a Friday statement. “His work to start and grow Long Beach Pride will always be celebrated and remembered. I will miss Bob’s friendship and mentorship. It’s a huge loss.”

Bob Crow was born on Aug. 29, 1945, in Alabama. He lived in Alabama for much of his early life — but didn’t come out until he moved to Mobile, which had more of a gay scene than any other city he’d lived in up until then.

In Mobile, Crow worked as a florist and met a boyfriend who wanted to move out to California — so they did.

But Crow and his then-partner broke up shortly after the move to Long Beach, which, he said previously, allowed him to meet other people and start learning more about the city’s gay community.

He later met Barlow while working at a bar in Long Beach called The Executive Suite after two floral shops he’d been working at closed.

The Executive Suite’s owner, Fred Kovelle, gave the three Pride founders a sum of money to work on their idea for a Pride parade specific to Long Beach — which they’d come up with after realizing a bulk of the floats in the Los Angeles Pride Parade were from Long Beach anyways.

“(Kovelle) gave me a grant to start with,” Crow told the Southern California News Group previously. “I got Judi (Judith Doyle) involved, then we put the word out to a lot of people to come to a meeting at The Executive Suite. So we met every Wednesday afternoon upstairs at the bar — and in less than a year, we had a festival.”

The first Long Beach Pride Parade took place along Shoreline Drive in 1984, a year after Crow, Doyle and Barlow established Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Inc. — which was recently redubbed Long Beach Pride to be more inclusive — the nonprofit that would organize the city’s pride parades and festivals over the next four decades.

About 600 people marched in the inaugural Long Beach Pride Parade, which lasted about 30 minutes, according to Q Voice News, an LGBTQ news publication. Nearly 5,000 people showed up to the two-day festival along Shoreline Drive —  with a few protestors shouting their disagreement.

Now, 40 years after its founding, Pride has changed in more ways than just its name — but its significance to LGBTQ people and the city remains just as large.

Thousands of people attend the annual event, a crucial expression of self that moved to August this year. Pride’s importance has come to the forefront even more in recent years as the LGBTQ community continues to confront a dramatic spike in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and legislation.

“(Crow) devoted his life to advancing the causes of equality, justice and dignity for all people,” Mayor Rex Richardson said in a statement. “(His) legacy has made Long Beach a better place for everyone. His absence will be felt deeply by many.”

Crow received the Person of the Year award from the Consolidated Association of Pride in 2018 for his decades of advocacy for the LGBTQ community and his continued commitment to Long Beach Pride.

He, Doyle and Barlow also received keys to the city from former Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster in 2013.

Foster actually presided over Crow and Almeida’s marriage in 2013, which took place during a special ceremony at Long Beach’s Harvey Milk Promenade Park shortly after Proposition 8, a voter-approved ballot measure that would have outlawed gay marriage was overturned by a federal court.

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The Book Pages: What you can do for Banned Books Week 2023

• September 29, 2023

They weren’t burning the books. Yet.

After a video went viral this month showing two Missouri state senators torching a pile of boxes using flamethrowers, a clarification was issued that, no, they weren’t burning books. Apparently, the fired-up crowd came to “celebrate freedom by burning some empty boxes,” according to one of the participants.

So despite its resemblance to an old-fashioned book burning, it was just an immolation demonstration directed at some freedom-hating boxes – all in the fiery spirit of our flammable founders.

Does that mean the books were safe? Well, no. “But let’s be clear, you bring those woke, pornographic books to Missouri schools to try to brainwash our kids, and I’ll burn those too – on the front lawn of the governor’s mansion,” threatened state Sen. Bill Eigel in a statement.

That statement raises any number of questions – Which books? Who decides? And honestly, why would you set the governor’s lawn on fire? – but it’s probably more useful to focus on the fact that books are at risk now more than ever.

Banned Books Week begins Oct. 1, and the yearly campaign has become even more relevant as books featuring characters who are LGBTQ and persons of color are targeted.

“Banned Books Week is a celebration of the right to read, a celebration of representation in books – diversity that helps us see ourselves and also learn about experiences different from our own – and a celebration of reading,” says Allison K. Hill, the CEO of the American Booksellers Association and former book columnist for this newspaper. “This year, it’s more important than ever.”

There’s been a steep increase in school book challenges – a 33 percent increase over the past year –  but the actual number of people objecting is minuscule: The Washington Post reported that 11 people were responsible for 60 percent of the 1,065 school district book challenges in 2021-2022. The Post this week published a piece on a Virginia parent who has filed 71 challenges in the last year against books by authors such as Toni Morrison, Allen Ginsberg and Jodi Picoult.

(In a separate case, a single individual who objected to L.A. native Amanda Gorman’s poem for President Joe Biden’s inauguration got it pulled from a Florida elementary school. That same person shared a different text on social media – an antisemitic load of garbage – and later apologized for it.)

But rather than focus on book banners’ rhetoric, let’s look at ways that readers and book lovers can counter attempts to smother free expression. I spoke with banned novelist Elana K. Arnold, the Los Angeles Public Library’s John Szabo and best-selling crime writer S.A. Cosby about book bans.

Elana K. Arnold is the author of a number of books, including “The Blood Years.” (Photo by Arielle Gray / Courtesy of Harper Collins)

She’s one of the most banned authors

Long Beach resident and National Book Award finalist Elana K. Arnold, author of a number of books for kids and young adults – including her upcoming “The Blood Years,” out on Oct. 9 – is the second most-banned author on PEN America’s most recent list with 26 instances. (Novelist Ellen Hopkins – with 89! – holds the top position.)

I asked Arnold how she responds to her work being challenged. The former Huntington Beach resident says she makes time to speak up at public meetings on behalf of books, libraries and librarians, including at a June Huntington Beach City Council meeting.

“It was important for me to show up and speak out,” she says, adding that it’s not enough to sign petitions or repost things on social media. “People need to actively support the things they care about and that literally means putting their bodies there. So if you care about libraries, you have to know what’s going on in your library, you have to know what’s going on in your city and show up for meetings. It’s boring, it’s awful, and I hate it. And we have to do it.”

Arnold says readers need to be as organized as those seeking to restrict access to books.

“It is strange to be caught up in the middle of it, sometimes it feels laughable,” she says, managing to be both formidable and funny in the face of censorship. “It’s so clear that it’s not about the books; it’s about control and identity politics.”

One of her books, “A Boy Called Bat,” about a child on the autism spectrum and an orphaned baby skunk, was included on a recommended list of diverse reads before later getting banned. …Wait, why?

“A group had decided that just the fact these books were all on a list called ‘diverse’ was enough reason to pull them all. So, they didn’t read the books. It was just the word ‘diverse’ was such a trigger to this group … It’s such an absurd thing,” says Arnold, who was tested as an adult and found to be on the autism spectrum. “It’s not good for any of us when our books are banned.”

Arnold mentions her picture book collaboration with Linda Davick, “What Riley Wore,” and the reasons that book was banned. “It’s just a book about dressing for the occasion and wearing what feels good and it has no pronouns at all attributed to Riley. It’s been banned in places,” says Arnold. “It’s very clear to me that these people who are banning and restricting books just don’t want the language even to be out there … for people to understand themselves.”

In the afterward of her upcoming “The Blood Years,” which is Arnold’s first historical novel and one based on her grandmother’s experience as a Jewish teenager in Romania during the Holocaust, the author says she addresses the topic of banning books.

“It is so much easier to destroy than it is to create, right? … It can take all day long and a whole group of people to build a sandcastle, and then all it takes is one bully to come along and kick at it and destroy it in a matter of seconds. I think that’s what’s going on here: there’s joyful glee of destruction,” she says. “Must feel powerful to know you’re causing that big of a ruckus.”

Arnold is scheduled to launch “The Blood Years” on Oct. 9 in Long Beach at the Barbara and Ray Alpert Jewish Community Center. 

John F. Szabo is the City Librarian of the Los Angeles Public Library. (Courtesy of the Los Angeles Public Library)

The library is for everyone

John Szabo is City Librarian of the Los Angeles Public Library, overseeing 73 branches and the largest and most diverse population of any public library in the country – more than four million people. He says Banned Books Week is a yearly event at the library, because the libraries want to draw people’s attention to the ongoing issue.

“Public libraries are one of the most trusted institutions in the country, and that is a position and a place that’s been earned over decades … We are an institution that truly is committed to serving everyone, people from all political backgrounds, all socio-economic backgrounds,” he says, adding that there are books that he doesn’t want to read on the shelves, too – and that’s just fine.

“I will defend those books being available to you and everyone else and to stay on that shelf. It’s important to help people understand that commitment to intellectual freedom that libraries have,” he says.

Szabo, who was recently featured in a terrific piece by the Los Angeles Times’ Jeffrey Fleishman, wants to remind people that librarians are defending people’s freedom, not the ones trying to take it away.

“These organized efforts to not only remove content from libraries, but to take that professional responsibility away from librarians around the country is an attack on libraries and it’s an attack on intellectual freedom,” he says. “There’s no other way than to see it as an attack on LGBTQ community and persons of color because virtually all of the material that is getting challenged are books that tell the stories of and the experiences of those communities.”

Everyone, he stresses, is welcome at the library.

“The public library stretches its arms out wide every morning and welcomes everyone … whether you’re roaming our stacks at Central Library or one of our branches or whether you’re exploring our digital catalog and downloading an audiobook or a book on your device. We encourage that exploration,” says Szabo. “We also support families to come to the library together and to make decisions on what to check out based on their own values as well. The library is here to have materials that help tell everyone’s story.”

“All the Sinners Bleed” author S.A. Cosby talks about his latest novel. (Photo credit Sam Sauter / Courtesy of Flatiron Books)

Here’s what a crime novelist sees

S.A. Cosby talked about book bans when I interviewed him earlier this year about his novel “All the Sinners Bleed,” especially that “there are people who are twisting themselves in a knot to ban books about LGBTQ, African Americans, or people of color,” but said there isn’t similar distress about high capacity magazines and school shootings.

“They want to control the past, they want to create a sort of homogenized idealized version of America that never existed,” he says.

As much as he objects to book bans, he also said he doesn’t think they will have the intended effect the banners want.

“They can ban books; it’s not going to change. It’s not going to stop kids from finding their identity as a gay man or a gay woman or as a trans man or trans woman or nonbinary person,” he said.

“We live in the information age. It’s almost quaint that they think, Oh, by banning these books, the kids will never learn about it,” he said. “It’s ultimately fruitless. I think deep down inside, those people know it. Sometimes people like to do things so people see them doing them, not because they have any long-lasting effect.

“Knowledge is like water; it just takes a trickle. It will come out. You can build all the dams you want; it’s still going to make its way out.”

For more about Banned Book Week and what you can do, check out Pen America, Unite Against Book Bans, American Booksellers Association, your local library or one of the 100 independent bookstores in California that will be participating in events.

What have you been reading? Please email me at epedersen@scng.com with “ERIK’S BOOK PAGES” in the subject line and I may include your comments in an upcoming newsletter.

And if you enjoy this free newsletter, please share it with other book lovers and consider getting a digital subscription to support local coverage.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

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On the next installment Oct. 20 at 5 p.m., Amy Ferris and Chuck Palahniuk join host Sandra Tsing Loh and my colleague Samantha Dunn to talk about their new books. Sign up for free now.

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