Tag: COVID-19

Margaret Sowma, 105, community activist
Margaret Sowma, 105, died Jan. 10 at St. John of God assisted living, after a battle with COVID-19. The longtime Windsor Square resident had been a block captain for the Windsor Square Association, an alternate director on the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council and a labor and community activist. Born in Connecticut, as a child she […]

Will the pandemic gobble up Thanksgiving get-togethers?
Thanksgiving is second only to Christmas as America’s favorite holiday. This family gorge-fest has been widely celebrated since Sarah Josepha Hale, founder of “American Ladies Magazine” and writer of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” convinced President Abraham Lincoln to declare it a national holiday in 1863. With this country in a second and perhaps third […]

Safer alternatives to trick-or-treating advised: Wear a costume and enjoy a safe, spooky holiday
Halloween during the COVID-19 pandemic does not need to mean “all dressed up and nowhere to go.” Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health offer suggestions for how to enjoy a low-risk spooky holiday. Although not explicitly banned, traditional trick-or-treating and the modern […]

Pods to the rescue? Learning or activity type, or both?
Virtual school started for students across the county as of the printing of this issue. While the construct of this is uniform, the experience of it certainly won’t be. Pods, “podding” or “pod learning” offer an opportunity for some children to do their virtual learning together. But is it a viable solution for everyone? My […]

Residents come together to save ducks: ‘It was instantly clear the mom was in distress’
In the lonely days of the pandemic quarantine, June Street resident Ed Redlich last month discovered some surprising new company in the neighborhood. A mother duck and four of her ducklings had become hopelessly lost, wandering north on the west side of June Street between Rosewood and Clinton. “It was instantly clear that the mom […]