California Today: Should Unaccompanied Adults Be Barred From Playgrounds?
Good morning.
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Let’s turn it over to Adam Nagourney, our Los Angeles bureau chief, for today’s introduction.
There is no shortage of wonderful outdoor things to do in Los Angeles. But one thing is in decidedly short supply, particularly in the denser part of the cities: public parks.
So a recent proposal by a Los Angeles City Council member to bar unaccompanied adults from children’s playgrounds has struck a nerve. The proposal was put forward by Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, who said he was simply trying to add public playgrounds to the list of places — such as schoolyards — that, under state law, are already off limits to adults who are not there with children.
“As city leaders, we owe this to our youngest Angelenos to create safe spaces for them,” he said in a letter to constituents. “Our park facilities should be a safe haven, and we must do our part to provide the proper shelter for our kids.”
The letter was sent out as Mr. O’Farrell faces questions about whether his proposal was an overreach, impeding the activities of law-abiding adults who don’t have children and who might want to enjoy the pleasure of sitting in a playground.
“If you are worried that somebody is going to molest children, there are laws to prevent that,” said Peter Eliasberg, the chief counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. “You can’t just assume that because you’re an adult you don’t enjoy the sound of kids or watching kids in a playground.”
Mr. O’Farrell asked the city’s department of law to draft an ordinance based on his proposal. It would have to come to the City Council for approval before it could take effect.
Casey Revkin, a mother of a 2-year-old son who lives over in Silver Lake, said she supported Mr. O’Farrell’s initiatives. “I believe we can have sections of our parks designated for children and still have vibrant, diverse public spaces and communities,” she said
Others disagreed.
“Who wouldn’t want to ban creepy activity or creepy people from playgrounds?” The Los Angeles Times asked in an editorial. “But what O’Farrell is proposing goes far beyond targeting worrisome activities that, in most cases, are already outlawed.”
California Online
(Please note: We regularly highlight articles on news sites that have metered paywalls.)
• An outsider was named to lead the Oakland Police Department. The new police chief, Anne Kirkpatrick, is tasked with ushering in an era of accountability. [East Bay Times]
• The University of California proposed its first tuition increase in six years. [Los Angeles Times]
• The Obama administration vowed to move full speed ahead on California’s Delta tunnels project. [The Mercury News]
• A California congressman who has been a defender of President Vladimir Putin said he was planning to lead a delegation to Russia. [The Washington Post]
• There are more white men named Jim in the California Legislature than black and Asian-American women — combined. [Calmatters]
• A for-profit college in Riverside County abruptly shut down, leaving hundreds of students in the lurch. [The Press-Enterprise]
• President-elect Donald J. Trump’s tough talk of deportation has spurred California farmers into action. [The Associated Press]
• The making of virtually real art, with Google’s Tilt Brush. [The New York Times]
• Most computer science majors in the United States are men. Not so at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont. [Los Angeles Times]
• The San Francisco-based publisher Medium laid off 50 employees — a third of its staff. [The New York Times]
• Examining the decision facing the Chargers: Stay in San Diego, or move to Los Angeles? [Los Angeles Times]
• Some in Hollywood see a double standard in the awards season treatment of Casey Affleck and Nate Parker. [The New York Times]
• Tamara Mellon, a founder of Jimmy Choo, is starting fresh in Los Angeles. [The New York Times]
• A California man became a YouTube sensation by leaping from tall structures into water. In his latest stunt, he broke his feet. [Los Angeles Times]
And Finally ...
The rain and snow bearing down on the state is starting to look like too much of a good thing.
After a week of severe storms, an atmospheric river is now forecast to move over Central and Northern California early Saturday and unleash intense precipitation through Monday.
The National Weather Service said the storm could be the most severe in at least 10 years, causing rivers to breach, roadways to flood and burn areas to face mudslides.
Up to five inches of rain was forecast along parts of the Central Coast, the San Joaquin Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area and much of the northern half of the state.
In the Sierra Nevada, where several feet of snow has already fallen, meteorologists said higher elevations could see even greater totals. At lower elevations, a foot or more of rain could fall, engorging rivers flowing out of the mountains.
Perhaps most disconcerting were predictions that the Merced River, which flows through Yosemite National Park, could rise as high as 23 feet, more than double the flood stage.
Officials said in a statement that they were considering closing the park.
In 1997, a surge of a similar scale in the Merced River caused an estimated $178 million in damage.
California Today goes live at 6 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes.com.
The California Today columnist, Mike McPhate, is a third-generation Californian — born outside Sacramento and raised in San Juan Capistrano. He lives in Davis. Follow him on Twitter.
California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and attended U.C. Berkeley.
P.C: http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/05/us/california-today-los-angeles-playgrounds-proposed-ban.html
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