In downtown L.A., coping with the hottest day ever

Despite the heat, life went on Monday.

Parents picked their kids up at school. Meter maids doled out tickets. And, this being Los Angeles, people protested. A march for immigration reform in downtown Los Angeles seemed slightly hampered by the heat.

Victor Quintero, 23, sweat dripping from his curly black hair, said that if the temperature hadn’t been so high, there might have been more people than the two dozen protesters who showed up. After several blocks of marching and shouting slogans in support of the Dream Act, Quintero tipped back his head and drank thirstily from a water bottle. He started laughing.

“It’s hot water!” he said. “It’s boiling hot water.”

Quintero spent the summer in Arizona, organizing people against the state’s recent anti-immigration law and “learning how to battle the heat and search for shade.” Although Monday’s heat was tough, Quintero said, “it’s not as bad as Arizona.”

On a street corner a few hundred feet away, Jim Root looked quizzically at the activists gathered in front of the Ronald Reagan State Building.

“What are they protesting?” Root asked two friends who, like him, were attorneys with the attorney general’s office. “That’s commitment.”

Root and his colleagues were wearing button-up dress shirts and slacks. “Our dress code policy has not yet incorporated cargo shorts,” he said.

Ed Skelly held up his tie, knotted tightly around his neck.

“It’s part of the job description,” he said.

The men, red-faced and damp with sweat, had taken precautions against the heat. Mike Whitaker was carrying a cup of water. “I don’t usually walk around with water,” he explained.

Just then a gust of hot air swept up the street. “It’s like a furnace blast!” Root said.

Then the men crossed the street and returned to the cool, air-conditioned sanctuary of their office.

-- Kate Linthicum in downtown L.A.

Photo: Jessica Ramirez, left, runs ahead of her friend Haydee Escalante, right, as they race through the music center fountain downtown. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Photos: Hottest day in L.A. ever … since 1877, anyway

Comments

[TheBigPicture]

How many names dose Victor use...

So, he goes around and attempts to organize the illegal people from other countries...organize to do what...some type of Coup...

Victor needs to attend labor camp behavior modification before being deported...

We need the military along the borders, so when you're deported, it's final...you can live the rest of your life in your god forsaken country...you want to organize a coup...standby...

[Dela]

This is an article about it being the hottest day of the year - and yet no mention at all of what the temperature was.

[imacobru]

At 2:55 pm on Violet and Mateo - 117 degrees F. The thermometer, analog. is always in the shade, North facing deck 30' above the ground, no wind. All previous readings, the guage has been accurate with NWS local temperatures. Absolutely awful!.

[Illegal Immigrants Don't Need No Education]

A Plan For A Real “American Dream Act” Bill & Counter Attack

First bring back our soldiers from this Afghanistan war that is costly and going nowhere. Middle Eastern and Asians love to see us waste money and go broke fighting for freedom when they don’t really want it. This is their main weapon and we keep falling into their trap. Then we need to regroup military troops and military force to invade/overthrow Mexico’s government turning it into a U.S territory.
The new land will be used as an industrial/business commerce zone. U.S citizens will be able to by property and have a dual citizenship between U.S and Mexico. Mexico will keep its current currency and there current government will be demoted to local municipal law enforcement as long as they surrender to the U.S.
The U.S will be in full control of all laws, finances, local law enforcement, military and our “Secondary Army of Illegal Soldiers/Enforcers” in Mexico. The path to dual citizenship will require the illegal immigrants living in the U.S to serve in the U.S Secondary South Boarder Military for teen years… Along with completing the invasion/overthrow of Mexican government to expand U.S lands, business, and revive our economy. For Mexico citizen requesting to come to the U.S temporary worker programs and legal paths to citizenship & residence will be granted to those who qualify.
This action is to liberate Mexico from its corrupt government that is destroying it self and the U.S slowly. It is also a test for them to redeem them selves for us to see, how much heart they have, how patriotic they are, and much they love this country including us, laws in all.

Pass It On To Congress & The President!!!