Feinstein’s name could soon grace an airport terminal and a Navy ship
It’s Monday. A trail near you may soon be named after Dianne Feinstein. In addition, a state agency dropped allegations against video game maker Activision Blizzard in a $54 million settlement.
Soon, countless parts of Feinstein’s home state could be named after her: a bike path along Lake Tahoe where she cycled as a youngster; Diamond Valley Lake in Southern California; the Elk River Trail in Humboldt County.
“There were things we felt needed to be done to honor her,” said Jim Lazarus, who worked for Ms. Feinstein in various capacities, including as her deputy mayor in the 1980s. “I would have preferred some of this to have been done while she was still alive.”
Her former aides in Washington are discussing with the secretary of the Navy the possibility of naming a ship after her, said Jim Gonzalez, a special assistant to Feinstein in the 1980s.
But the priority for a group of local celebrities who call themselves the Dianne Feinstein 100-Plus Committee — because the group already had 117 members six weeks after her death — is the international terminal at San Francisco International Airport. The group has filed a name change application with the Airport Commission, which will hold a public hearing on the issue next month.
“I’m fighting for this to be the first, rather than a trail in Humboldt County,” Gonzalez said with a laugh.
John Martin, the retired director of San Francisco International Airport, said he first came up with the idea 25 years ago, but airport rules only allow such awards for people who have died or have been retired for at least two years are. Feinstein worked until the end, casting a vote in the Senate to keep the government funded about twelve hours before her death.
Martin said that as mayor, Feinstein helped settle a dispute between airlines and the city, a deal that contributed to the airport’s expansion and long-term financial success.
She regularly used the airport for business and personal travel and, as in the city, regularly reported what needed repairs. In one case, Martin said, he changed the detention schedule after she noticed the airport looked dirty in the middle of the afternoon.
As campaigns to pay tribute to Feinstein gain traction, her family has begun to resolve parts of a dispute over her estate. A Stinson Beach vacation home that caused controversy last summer sold last month for $9.1 million, $600,000 above asking price — a striking figure even in the exorbitant world of Northern California coastal real estate. The family remains in mediation as it settles the rest of the assets that belonged to Feinstein and her husband, Richard Blum, a wealthy financier who died in 2022.
Efforts are also underway to preserve Feinstein’s papers. After Feinstein’s death, her aides had 60 days, under congressional rules, to vacate her offices in Washington, San Francisco, Fresno, Los Angeles and San Diego.
Joanne Hayes-White, a former San Francisco fire chief who served as Feinstein’s Northern California director during her final 18 months in the Senate, said aides sent 100 boxes of Feinstein’s papers and other items to Stanford University, where Feinstein attended in 1955. graduated. Stanford does not contribute to the San Francisco Historical Society.
The university did not respond to a request for comment, but did post a message various vacancies for archivists to work on the Feinstein Papers Project. Hayes-White said the senator and Stanford entered into a records agreement several years ago.
“She was a huge inspiration to me,” Hayes-White said. “I know that naming an airport or an institution should not be taken lightly, but I think it is a no-brainer.”
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Seniors in East Los Angeles this fall celebrated the reopening of a local senior center — a milestone for the community — after the center was closed for more than three years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Senior Center in Lincoln Heights has long been an essential part of the daily lives of older residents. After the pandemic forced the center to close for an extended period, those who missed it rallied their councilors to get it up and running again. Many noted the importance of the center’s trips, classes and social services.
Three years after its initial closure, that dream came true: the Lincoln Heights Senior Center officially reopened in October with a celebration that drew more than 100 people and included a ribbon-cutting ceremony, balloons and plenty of merriment.
“This is what it was about before Covid,” Vera Padilla, a community member, told KABC-TV of the value of the senior center. “Now they have a place where they can express themselves and talk.”
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PS Here it is today’s mini crossword.
Soumya Karlamangla, Maia Coleman and Briana Scalia contributed to California Today. You can reach the team via CAtoday@nytimes.com.
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