$2.75 DESIGNATED AREAS HIGHER © 2021 D THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 latimes.com POWER Calls for VACUUM vaccines IN HAITI grow as AFTER cases on KILLING the rise Assassination of the State sees uptick as president leaves the Delta variant spreads, island nation without increasing push for designated successor. more inoculations. By Kate Linthicum By Luke Money and Rong-Gong Lin II MEXICO CITY — Even in a country with a grim his- After months of steady tory of coups, dictatorships declines, coronavirus infec- and foreign interventions, tions are once again on the Haiti’s political turmoil over Neal Waters Anadolu Agency rise in California as the state the last several months struggles with slowing daily stood out for its violence and HEAT WAVE WILL BOOST FIRE DANGER vaccination rates and the volatility. spread of the highly infec- The Salt fire, which began June 30 in Shasta County, burns Sunday. The blaze held steady Wednesday at The president, Jovenel tious Delta variant. Moise, had been ruling by 25% containment. Meanwhile, the Southland faces record heat and elevated fire risk. CALIFORNIA, B1 While it’s too soon to say decree despite a legal con- whether the upticks are a sensus that his term had ex- trend or a blip, health ex- pired — triggering wide- perts and state officials ex- spread pro-democracy pro- pressed confidence that Cal- tests. ifornia’s reopening and the Meanwhile, armed gangs return of something resem- were broadening their bling normality were not in power, kidnapping and MS-13 ‘destroyer’ a place jeopardy. killing with abandon. Every “This is the call to anyone day seemed to bring news of who hasn’t been vaccinated: another massacre, more Get vaccinated,” Gov. Gavin heartache for a nation al- Newsom said during a brief- ready struggling to contain to sleep, party — and kill ing Wednesday. “What more soaring inflation and the re- evidence do you need?” lentless spread of COVID-19. There is widespread sci- That pressure cooker ap- entific consensus that fully peared to burst early Court is told of vacant L.A. building where 3 were slain vaccinated people have an Wednesday when assassins excellent chance of being stormed the president’s By Matthew Ormseth protected from severe illness home in the hills of Port-au- or death from any corona- Prince under the cover of It looked like just another tired apartment build- Mara Salvatrucha, the gang widely known as MS-13, virus strain, including Delta. darkness and shot him to ing on Rampart Boulevard. and they had turned the abandoned building into a In both Los Angeles and San death. Emptied of its tenants so a development company place to sleep, party, host meetings, peddle drugs — Diego counties over the past The killing of Moise, 53, a could pursue plans to knock the place down and put “clandestine things they don’t want to hold out in the half-year, 99.8% of people wealthy banana exporter up a high-rise, the building’s windows were smashed open,” a Los Angeles police detective explained in who died from COVID-19 who took office in 2017 after out of their frames and its doors pulled off their court. had not been inoculated. elections marred by allega- hinges. Thieves stripped the place of its fixtures. The gang has a name for places like this. The build- Overall levels of corona- tions of fraud, could plunge Then a group of teenagers and young men slipped ing had become a “destroyer.” virus cases and hospitali- the Caribbean island nation inside. They announced their illicit occupancy in The destroyer on Rampart was also a place to kill. zations remain at histori- into deeper chaos. white spray paint on the green canvas stretched Three people were slain within its blighted rooms in cally low levels, and Califor- The country’s interim across a chain-link fence that had been put up: “MS 2017 and 2018, detectives testified at a hearing last nia has one of the highest prime minister declared 15 CLCS.” month in the case of two alleged MS-13 members vaccination rates in the na- days of martial law. Late They were from the Coronado Lil’ Cycos clique of charged with the murders. [See ‘Destroyers,’ A7] tion, in a country that has Wednesday, Leon Charles, one of the fastest vaccina- the interim national police tion rates in the world. The chief, announced that police number of COVID-19 deaths had encircled the killers and reported daily in California were engaged in a gun battle. remain among the lowest He said police killed four of over the past 15 months — [See Haiti, A4] it’s down to 18 deaths a day, down from a peak of 537 deaths a day for the seven- day period ending Jan. 27. Over the past seven days, in L.A. County, COVID-19 deaths have dropped to four a day; the San Francisco Bay Area, 1.5 a day; Orange County, 0.6 a day and San Diego County, 0.3 a day. California averaged about 1,143 new daily co- ronavirus cases over the sev- en-day period that ended Dieu Nalio Chery AP Tuesday, a 30% increase THE ASSASSINATION from mid-June. It’s part of of President Jovenel an uptick that began shortly Moise, 53, could plunge after the state fully reopened Haiti into deeper chaos. its economy on June 15. The lowest average number of cases since March 2020 oc- Haiti’s history of curred during the seven-day coups, calamities period ending June 24, when Jason Armond Los Angeles Times there were 881 a day re- President’s slaying is the PEOPLE pass an empty lot once the site of a “destroyer,” or vacant building, on Rampart Boule- ported. Still, the latest num- country’s latest chapter vard in L.A. where detectives say alleged MS-13 gang members killed three people in 2017 and 2018. bers are more than 97% in a tale of struggle and lower than the peak of the tumult. WORLD, A3 [See Virus, A6] COLUMN ONE Hope of finding survivors dims L.A.’s script is totally ’80s Search at Florida site shifts into recovery Tips from a COVID mode as the death toll City rides wave of throwback fantasy with new logo rises. NATION, A5 long hauler: Push New scrutiny of CAROLINA A. received a refresh after police shootings MIRANDA nearly a decade. Gone is the reticent Atty. Gen. Bonta plans Los Angeles white script that read “Los back and take notes teams to probe killings has a new Angeles” and was outlined of unarmed civilians. logo. Like in blue — a font that was CALIFORNIA, B1 me, you may Los Angeles Tourism trying hard not to be the & Convention Board By Sandhya Kambhampati have two logo for Los Angeles maga- Shohei Ohtani’s reactions to A SUNSET? Check. A zine, and a blue that was was just relaxing, sitting on the couch watching dream season this news. tropical palette? Check. trying hard not to be Dod- “Friends,” but I knew something was wrong. My His is the best one by The first: I L.A.’s new (old) image. ger-y. heartbeat was fast and abnormal. I started wheez- any baseball player in didn’t know L.A. had a logo. It has now been replaced I ing and felt breathless. history, Bill Plaschke Followed closely by, Who d by a much punchier script, I checked my oxygen and heartbeat and both writes. SPORTS, B10 needs a logo when you have delivered in a tropical pal- were unusual — 90% and 150 beats per minute — so on Dodgers gear? Flaming palm tree ette of gradient colors — what had been a normal Thursday evening, Oct. 28, 2020, Weather But L.A. does indeed turquoise, pink and gold — I called my family. Then I called 911. Partly sunny. have a logo — one devised by is a sad symbol all placed beneath the im- The ambulance tech said, “Oh, honey, you’re just L.A. Basin: 90/70. B6 the Los Angeles Tourism & Fireworks and fronds are age of a setting sun. The old having an anxiety attack.” I might have been anxious, Convention Board for the a dangerous combination logo no doubt held its own but I knew there was something deeper going on. purpose of raising our that can spread flames on a piece of letterhead; the And I had dealt with skepticism before. A week earli- town’s profile among, well, and kill people. Maybe new one comes ready to slap er, and five months before that, doctors had told me I was tourists and convention- neither belongs here. on sherbet-y beach tees. too emotional. I had overcome [See COVID, A12] eers. Last month, the logo CALENDAR, E1 [See Logo, A12] BUSINESS INSIDE: Would permanent outdoor dining save L.A. restaurants’ bacon? A8 A2 THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2021 LATIMES.COM PERSPECTIVES Even in hospital, a pope still in charge By design, a power transfer occurs with death or resignation, not illness or incapacitation clares simply that when the By Nicole Winfield Holy See is “vacant or en- tirely impeded,” nothing can ROME — The Vatican be altered in the governance has detailed laws, rituals of the church. But it doesn’t and roles to ensure the say what it means for the transfer of power when a Holy See to be “entirely im- pope dies or resigns. But peded” or what provisions none of them apply when he might come into play if it is sick or even unconscious, ever were. and there are no specific “Really, we have no rules norms governing what hap- for this,” Cafardi said.