Newsletter: Today: Taming the HIV Epidemic

By offering comprehensive services, San Francisco is striving to eliminate new HIV infections.

TOP STORIES

Taming the HIV Epidemic

President Trump pledged in his State of the Union speech to “eliminate the HIV epidemic in the United States within 10 years.” San Francisco may beat that timeline. It’s on track to be the first city in the U.S. to eliminate new HIV infections — or at least come close with its Getting to Zero program, which offers comprehensive services for those who need them. Here’s how it became “a model for the rest of the nation,” as David C. Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, puts it.

A Question of Identity

While much attention has been paid to the Trump administration’s attempt to put a citizenship question on the census, there’s another question that has played out for decades but not generated nearly as many headlines: Are Arabs and Iranians white? The U.S. Census Bureau says yes, but many in those communities disagree and have lobbied the bureau to create a separate category for people of Middle Eastern or North African descent. Yet it hasn’t come to pass. “It’s as if we don’t count,” says the executive director of the Arab American Civic Council in Anaheim.

The Latest From Washington

-- Puerto Rico’s Gov. Ricardo Rosselló says Trump won’t meet about Hurricane Maria recovery.

-- Rep. Adam Schiff has doubled down on Trump despite the Russia report: “Undoubtedly there is collusion.”

-- What’s behind all those executive orders Trump loves to sign? Not much.

Would a $4 Toll Get L.A. Drivers Out of Their Cars?

Are you willing to pay a $4 toll to drive through the Sawtelle neighborhood or the rest of a 4.3-square-mile area of West Los Angeles and Santa Monica just west of the 405 Freeway? A first-of-its-kind study for Southern California suggests that charging drivers on the surface streets in that part of the Westside would significantly smooth out rush-hour traffic jams and speed commute times. It comes as L.A. is looking at congestion pricing as a way of dealing with the region’s notoriously bad traffic. But will anyone in the land of the freeways and home of the brave commuters stand for it?

More Fallout From the College Admissions Scheme

In Silicon Valley, pushing out a partner of a firm — especially one who founded it — is a rare and drastic move. It happened recently to Chris Schaepe of Lightspeed Venture Partners after he informed his colleagues that the mastermind of the college admissions scandal helped get his son into college. Schaepe has not been charged in the federal investigation. Meanwhile, a top private equity executive who was charged in the scandal and fired from his firm denies he paid any bribe to get his son into USC. Bill McGlashan, formerly of T-P-G Growth, said his son has a learning disability that warranted special testing provisions. USC, UCLA and Yale are some of the universities the U.S. Department of Education is now investigating.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

After wandering Europe, South America and the United States, Eiler Larsen settled in Laguna Beach in 1942. The native of Denmark waved to tourists and yelled a loud hello. Some residents wanted to have him silenced. Instead, then-Mayor William Martin named him the city’s official greeter. On this date in 1970, The Times profiled the bearded man in a red coat when he turned 80. Five years later, he would die.

Celebrating his 80th birthday in 1970, Eiler Larsen waves to tourists in Laguna Beach.

(Vince Streano / Los Angeles Times)

CALIFORNIA

-- The Orange County Sheriff’s Department will end its more than decade-long agreement with federal immigration officials to house some detainees in the county jail system. Sheriff Don Barnes said the action was taken to free up space for better treatment of mentally ill inmates.

-- Watch: Video shows L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Caren Carl Mandoyan trying to break into a woman’s home. Records show that officials determined Mandoyan repeatedly lied to investigators about the incident. After being fired, he was reinstated by Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

-- A new poll has found that Californians, by a 2-1 margin, support sentencing first-degree murderers to life in prison rather than the death penalty.

-- Authorities say two Inglewood police officers were shot when responding to reports of a man with a sword entering the Church of Scientology of Inglewood.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- “Abby’s” on NBC is shaking up the typical sitcom setting by shooting in the great outdoors.

-- A “Game of Thrones” event at an AT&T store? The night is dark and full of terrors indeed, writes columnist Mary McNamara.

-- WarnerMedia has begun offering buyouts to veteran Turner employees as part of a broader reorganization of the AT&T-owned media giant.

-- Rapper Cardi B is dealing with a resurfaced revelation that she drugged and robbed men she took to hotels back when she was a stripper.

NATION-WORLD

-- The Border Patrol plans to release large numbers of migrant families in multiple locations along the southern border in coming days, expanding a practice that began last week in south Texas.

-- Russia is dismissing a U.S. demand that it withdraw its military personnel from Venezuela, saying that their presence in the country is fully legitimate.

-- British Prime Minister Theresa May has offered up her job in exchange for her Brexit deal, telling colleagues she will quit within weeks if the agreement is passed and Britain leaves the European Union.

-- A law in South Africa would make hate speech punishable by jail time.

-- The Vatican is taking some heat after Pope Francis kept worshipers from kissing his ring in Loreto, Italy.

BUSINESS

-- Boeing Co. says it will modify the flight control system of its 737 Max jetliner so its software cannot send the aircraft into a series of uncontrolled dives, as it may have done in two crashes over the last five months.

-- When the U.S. and China got into a trade war, Mexico walked away richer.

-- The slowdown in Southern California home sales deepened in February, but agents see busier times ahead.

SPORTS

-- Lighter and healthier, Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen is brimming with confidence as the team has its regular season opener at home today. Lighter and healthier? That doesn’t describe most of the new food offerings at Dodger Stadium.

-- Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields might abolish the use of whips by jockeys, depending on a meeting in Arcadia this morning.

OPINION

-- Healthcare isn’t a game. Both parties need to stop playing political football with it.

-- Mueller’s finding on conspiracy is no excuse to pardon Trump’s campaign aides.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- This 9-year-old girl was detained at the border for 30 hours, despite being a U.S. citizen. (New York Times)

-- Local news in much of America is dying. (The Atlantic)

-- Changpu River Park in Beijing is a place for the divorced, middle-aged and elderly seeking dates and new partners. Here are three of their stories. (Roads and Kingdoms)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

“Make America Grate Again.” It’s not the latest misspelled missive from President Trump. Instead, it’s the motto of L.A. artist Cosimo Cavallaro, who is creating a wall of cheese next to the actual border in Tecate, Calif. The wall of cotija is already 5 feet tall and 30 feet long, with plans for more fermenting. This week, a Border Patrol agent walked by Cavallaro’s creation and gave a thumbs-up, adding: “Nice place for a picnic.”

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