Today’s Headlines: Warnings before a tragedy in Reseda

Authorities received repeated warnings before three young siblings were slain.

TOP STORIES

Warnings Before a Tragedy in Reseda

In the months before three young siblings were slain inside a Reseda apartment, the alarms about Liliana Carrillo’s ability to care for the kids grew louder and louder.

The mother was “extremely paranoid” and erratic, according to her boyfriend’s account in court papers. “I am afraid for my children’s physical and mental well-being,” the kids’ father, Erik Denton, told a Tulare County judge last month before he was granted physical custody.

The warnings reached officials in Los Angeles County as well. The county’s child welfare agency and the Los Angeles Police Department were alerted, on numerous occasions, that Carrillo was a danger to the young children, according to interviews by The Times with Denton and his family along with court records and sources familiar with the ongoing investigation.

L.A. County’s Department of Children and Family Services had received at least two separate reports involving the family. But despite repeated conversations with the children’s father and family and a court order from a Tulare County judge that restricted the mother’s custody, social workers opted to keep the children with their mother, according to records and interviews.

The Killing of Daunte Wright

The police shooting of a Black man in a Minneapolis suburb — a short drive from the courthouse where a former Minneapolis police officer is on trial, accused of murdering George Floyd — further devastated a community already facing persistent headlines about police brutality.

On Monday, the police chief of Brooklyn Center, Minn., north of Minneapolis, said the officer who shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop the day before may have intended to use a Taser, not a firearm.

“It is my belief that the officer had their intention to deploy the Taser but instead shot Mr. Wright with a single bullet,” said Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon, adding that he believes this was an “accidental discharge.” The officer, he said, has been placed on administrative leave.

The shooting of Wright yet again ignited tensions in Minneapolis and a nation torn and rising in the streets in a call for racial justice and an end to police brutality.

A Deal to Address the Homelessness Crisis?

The Los Angeles City Council appears to be heading toward a settlement of a federal lawsuit by agreeing to provide new housing or shelter for thousands of homeless people, while being able to use anti-camping laws to clear anyone remaining on the streets.

The new beds would be spread across the city, based on the number of homeless people estimated to be living in each City Council district in 2020, and could require every council member to find locations for hundreds of new beds.

It’s not clear how much the city might have to spend to fund this ambitious expansion, although it’s a question council members have asked city finance officials. It’s also not clear what the balance would be between permanent housing and homeless shelters, which are designed to be temporary stops. And that’s not all that needs to be worked out.

LAUSD’s Reopening Playbook

The Los Angeles Unified School District today is set to unfold a gradual and partial reopening plan.

L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner has hailed the reopening as a nation-leading model for school safety that is sensitive to families in low-income communities hardest hit by illness and death during the pandemic. But the approach has also generated criticism from those who say the quantity and quality of instruction for 465,000 students have been sacrificed this year as a result of union concerns.

The key safety provisions — including mandatory coronavirus testing for students and staff as well as six-foot distancing between desks — go beyond what health authorities require. The distancing policy has resulted in a half-time on-campus classroom schedule. The timing of reopening was set to allow teachers and other district staff to achieve maximum vaccine immunity.

But the choices of Beutner and the school board have come with tradeoffs.

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More Top Coronavirus Headlines

— Federal health officials said Tuesday that they were urging a pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine after reports of six serious blood clots. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has scheduled an emergency meeting for Wednesday.

— Are herd immunity and the California coronavirus variant preventing a West Coast spring surge?

— One shot of a vaccine may be enough to protect COVID-19 survivors, an emerging body of evidence suggests.

— L.A. residents this week will have several new options for obtaining a COVID-19 vaccine, including a new clinic in Chinatown and a site in East Los Angeles offering doses without appointments.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

During World War II, the Hollywood Canteen was the place to be. Actor Bette Davis and other industry names collaborated to open the space on Cahuenga Boulevard in 1942. Sailors and soldiers on leave could come and mingle with celebrities who had volunteered to spend time with them.

At the time, military members had flooded the city and businesses sprung up to accommodate them and boost morale. The canteen and similar establishments helped build the model for the USO clubs that famously entertained soldiers, The Times reported.

April 12, 1945. Betty Hutton, seated on the piano, and other aspiring starlets entertain troops at the Hollywood Canteen.

(Los Angeles Times)

CALIFORNIA

— The 13-month suspension of trials in the federal court system’s Central District of California has disrupted the prosecution of hundreds of cases and clogged the courts, creating an unprecedented backlog.

— Across the state, from San Diego to the northern border, enrollments at many community colleges have plummeted during the pandemic, threatening the future of some campuses.

— Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on 11 counts of sexual assault in Los Angeles County and could be extradited to answer those charges later this month, attorneys said.

— The driver of an SUV crammed with 25 people pulled into the path of a big rig at an intersection in a collision that left more than a dozen people dead, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

NATION-WORLD

— President Biden began to fill the top posts at the Homeland Security Department, ranks hollowed out by his predecessor amid unprecedented politicization and record vacancies. Almost all have California ties.

— The Biden White House is amplifying the push for its $2.3-trillion infrastructure package with the release of state-by-state breakdowns that show the dire shape of roads, bridges, the power grid and housing affordability.

— La Soufriere volcano fired an enormous amount of ash and hot gas in the biggest eruption yet since volcanic activity began on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent late last week.

— Iran blamed Israel for a sabotage attack on its underground Natanz nuclear facility that damaged the centrifuges it uses to enrich uranium there, warning that it would avenge the assault.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— “Emancipation,” Apple’s upcoming film directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Will Smith as a man fleeing slavery, will no longer shoot in Georgia in response to the state’s controversial new voting law.

— You’ll have to wait to find out the Oscar winners. But if you want a peek at the strongest contenders: three anonymous Oscar voters share their super-secret ballot choices in key categories.

— Up for her eighth Oscar nomination, Glenn Close finds a common humanity with the larger-than-life Mamaw character that earned her the nod.

— Arriving as the rare game to celebrate Ramadan, indie game “Good Lookin’ Home Cookin’” explores the struggles of running a small business with the microaggressions faced by people of color, writes game critic Todd Martens.

BUSINESS

— In a blow to moviegoers in Southern California, the owner of Pacific Theatres and ArcLight Cinemas said the cinema locations will not reopen as Hollywood struggles to recover from the pandemic.

— A consortium of leaders of major U.S. corporations are discussing ways to push for greater voting access. Among the options: reevaluating donations to candidates and investments in states that act to limit voting.

SPORTS

— On April 13, 2016, Kobe Bryant played a 60-point, 50-shot masterpiece that perfectly encapsulated him as a player. Those who were there share their memories in an oral history of his last professional game.

— UCLA’s men’s basketball team provided more compelling stories than any beat writer could have imagined, Times staff writer Ben Bolch writes. He offers an inside look at the Bruins’ run to the Final Four.

OPINION

— Even as more Asian Americans become doctors, workplace bias against them is flourishing, writes Pauline W. Chen, a Boston surgeon.

— Part of a storied era in California politics, longtime Democratic lawmaker James Mills, who died March 27, helped preserve the state and its history, writes columnist George Skelton.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

— The cruelty of the 2000s celebrity gossip industry is getting a fresh — and critical — look. Two of the era’s biggest names offer differing approaches to reckoning with the past. (BuzzFeed News)

— The late screenwriter Billy Wilder’s newspaper days. (The Paris Review)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

So you want to make campground reservations in California? Get in line. “We have approximately 13,000 campsites available,” according to California State Parks, “and each year, on average, more than 6.5 million visitors camp in our popular state parks.” So what are some secrets to grabbing a open spot? One expert starts her search not online, but with an “old-fashioned California state atlas.”

Comments or ideas? Email us at headlines@latimes.com.