An apparent 4th wave of COVID-19 is centered in the East. Will it hit California?
Luke Money, Maura Dolan and Rong-gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times
April 4, 2021
FacebookTwitterEmail
People enjoy lunch hour in Union Square, Friday, March 26, 2021, in New York. A year after becoming a global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, New York and New Jersey are back atop the list of U.S. states with the highest rates of infection.Mary Altaffer/AP
What appears to be a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has struck Michigan, the New York region and New England, and experts are uncertain if it will remain contained.
Los Angeles County moves into California s COVID-19 orange tier
Mark J. Terrill/AP
and last updated 2021-04-05 14:18:39-04
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles County eased its coronavirus restrictions Monday, joining Orange County in enacting looser regulations now that both are in the orange tier of the state s monitoring system.
That means movie theaters, restaurants, churches, museums, zoos and aquariums can go from 25% to 50% of capacity, while gyms are increased from 10% to 25%. Card rooms and family entertainment centers can resume indoor operations at 25% of capacity.
The county will still enforce certain rules that are more strict than what the state allows. Most notably, bars that don t serve food which are being permitted to reopen outdoors only are able to operate only from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., with a required 8-foot distance between outdoor tables.
Throughout the month of April, deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are encouraging drivers to give the phone a “break” while driving.
As Distracted Driving Awareness Month begins, the sheriff’s department plans on having additional deputies patrolling the roads and looking for drivers who violate the state’s hands-free phone law, officials said.
“When you are driving, give the phone a rest,” said Sergeant Robert Hill. “A driver’s number one focus should be on the road. Anything that distracts you from the task of driving, especially a phone, puts yourself and others at risk.
Current law states that drivers are not allowed to hold a phone or any other electronic device while driving, and drivers under the age of 18 cannot use a phone for any reason, including a hands-free phone.
The indictment alleges that the drug ring was headed by Rigoberto Sanchez Martinez, 36, of Perris, who obtained wholesale quantities of narcotics, oversaw their storage, and coordinated distribution of the drugs to locations that included the states of Washington and New York.
Martinez was one of the eight defendants arrested Thursday.
The first major seizure in the investigation, according to the indictment, was on May 25, 2018, when authorities recovered about 120 pounds of meth, nearly 2.2 pounds of cocaine and more than 55 pounds of marijuana from a stash house near Whittier High School that was allegedly maintained by defendants Rogelio Barajas, 39, who is a fugitive, and Irene Equigua, 40, who was arrested Thursday.
Updated on March 17, 2021 at 9:37 pm
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said Tuesday his office would review past prosecutions that involved a retired LAPD homicide detective, who was apparently recorded on cell phone video in Valencia using a racial slur during an argument that followed a minor traffic collision.
“The video in question is disturbing and involves a former homicide detective exhibiting racist tendencies,” Gascon said via Twitter. He said the DA’s office, “is taking immediate action and has identified several cases where this individual was a witness.”
Download our NBC DFW mobile app for Apple or Android to get alerts for local breaking news and weather.