With the English Premier League schedule taking a weeklong break for domestic Cup games, Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A offer the most compelling televised soccer matchups from Europe this weekend.

La Liga: Surprising Sevilla (10-4-4), which has lost just once in La Liga since the first week of October, can match second-place Real Madrid on points in the Spanish standings with a home win Friday over Athletic Club (BeIN Sports, noon PT). But Athletic Club has been almost as hot, losing just once in its last eight games. On Saturday there will be a lot on the line at both ends of the standings in the Catalan Derby (BeIN Sports, noon PT). Behind Lionel Messi’s league-leading 13 goals and six assists, which are tied for the league lead, Barcelona (12-3-3) enters the new year in first place with a two-point edge over Real Madrid. Espanyol, meanwhile, is last and seems headed for relegation for the first time since 1993. Messi has more goals by himself than Espanyol (2-12-4) has as a team, and the 34 goals Barcelona’s second team has allowed is also worst in the league. But wait, it gets worse: Espanyol is 0-16-4 against Barcelona in their last 20 league matches dating to 2009, failing to score in 15 of them.

Serie A: Fourth-place Roma (10-2-5) remains in the center of an 11-team battle for a European tournament berth, but the Giallorossi, who have lost one league match since September, are thinking bigger than that heading into Sunday’s game with visiting Torino (6-8-3) (ESPN Deportes, ESPNews, 11:30 a.m. PT) . Roma hasn’t won a Serie A title since 2001 but it returns from Italy’s holiday break fourth in the standings, seven points back of Inter Milan. And Sunday’s match offers a golden opportunity to close that gap since Roma has lost just two of its last 32 Serie A meetings with Torino.

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SAN DIEGO — 

Half a dozen lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego accusing now-deceased clergy of sexually abusing 20 men and women decades ago were filed in Superior Court on Thursday, one day after a new state law lifting the legal time limit on when such lawsuits can be filed went into effect.

The lawsuits are the first of what will likely become a swarm of legal action in the coming months against churches and other institutions such as the Boy Scouts of America over long-ago sexual abuse of minors. Irwin Zalkin, the San Diego lawyer who filed the six lawsuits Thursday, said at a news conference that he plans to file another 60 cases over the next several months against the diocese.

“This is only the beginning,” said Zalkin, the lawyer who spearheaded a $198-million settlement of sexual abuse claims against the diocese in 2007. Those lawsuits, filed under a previous state law that opened a one-year window for claims against institutions for abuse that had occurred years earlier, drove the diocese to declare bankruptcy.

The new wave of litigation is made possible by AB 218, sponsored by San Diego Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez. The law expands the maximum age at which someone can bring a claim for sexual abuse from 26 years old to 40. It also opened a three-year window for those of any age to revive past claims that may have been prohibited from being filed as lawsuits because the legal time limit to bring such claims, known as the statute of limitations, had run out.

The suits filed by Zalkin target six clergy members who worked at parishes in the diocese in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. For part of that time the San Diego diocese included churches in Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino counties until 1978, when Riverside and San Bernardino became a separate diocese.

Each of the suits allege that the diocese knew that the priests were abusing minors but took no action to halt them — and instead, quietly moved the offending priests from parish to parish — without informing the members of the new parish of the danger the priest posed.

The cover-up allegation is a key element in the suits because the new law allows monetary damages up to three times the amount of any compensatory damages.

The six deceased clergy members named in the lawsuits are:

• Robert Koerner, who worked at St. Patrick’s parish in Calipatria and is named in a suit filed by five men who said he abused them separately from 1965 through the late 1980s. Koerner previously had been named in three lawsuits in 2003, and Zalkin said there were four other settlements involving the priest.
• Anthony Rodrigue who served in La Jolla, Lakeside, Encinitas, Poway and other locations in Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties. Zalkin said at the news conference that Rodrigue admitted previously in depositions he had molested 150 children during his time and called him “one of the worst” abusive priests in the diocese. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading no contest in 1998 to molesting a child in San Bernardino County a year earlier. He left the priesthood in 1992. Five men say in the lawsuit he molested them at parishes in Calexico, El Centro and Ontario in the 1960s and 1970s.
• Alexander Pinter, who worked at St. Francis in Vista. One man says he was molested there in 1964 while he served as an altar boy.
• Joseph Rossell, a priest at St. Anthony’s in National City from 1956 to 1972 when he retired. Two women say he molested them in catechism class; the lawsuit does not give a time when this is alleged to have occurred. Rossell has been named in previous lawsuits.
• Gregory Sheridan, who served in San Diego, Ramona, and Fallbrook. Five men and women say in their lawsuit they were molested at St. Jude’s Shrine in San Diego starting in 1957 and stretching to 1970. Zalkin said there were credible allegations of abuse against him previously and records from the diocese show they had settled at least one previous claim involving him.
• Peter Marron, a member of the Augustinian order who worked at St. Patrick’s in North Park from 1970 to 1975. Two women are suing and say he molested them from 1976 through 1977 or 1978.

In a statement Kevin C. Eckery, the vice chancellor and spokesman for the diocese, said that of the six priests, two — Koerner and Marron— belonged to religious orders and were not diocesan priests. Pinter came from a diocese in Ohio, where Zalkin said allegations of molestation had been made against him, and was in San Diego briefly, and during that time no allegation was made against him to the diocese in San Diego.

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The statement expressed sympathy and apologized to the victims, most of whom were not identified in the lawsuits and sued under Jane Doe or John Roe pseudonyms.

“The sexual abuse of minors is evil, regardless of when it happens, but as a result of various reforms in 2002 and earlier, including mandatory Safe Environment training for clergy and all church workers, annual age-appropriate safety training for students in Catholic schools and religious education, enhanced criminal background checks and enhanced awareness and vigilance, no new incidents of abuse have been reported to the diocese in nearly two decades,” the statement said.

The diocese also invited victims to participate in an Independent Compensation Program. That is a funded program set up last fall, before the law went into effect, that tried to settle claims against the diocese instead of suing. Zalkin said there was “nothing independent about the funds,” and said his clients had gone through it and were given an offer of $200,000 to settle the claims, which they rejected. He said that was “pennies on the dollar” for the abuse the clients have suffered.

He was joined at the news conference by four men, ages 63, 70, 71 and 72, who are all suing. Only one spoke and agreed to be identified.

Edward Ortega, now 72 years old, said he was victimized by Sheridan when he was 11 to 13 years old. He said he was violently raped repeatedly. “When something like that happens, something inside of you dies and you never get it back,” he said.

Churches were not the only target of the new law.

At least one lawsuit was filed Thursday in San Diego County accusing the Boy Scouts organization of a longstanding practice of failing to take reasonable steps to shield children from being sexually abused, as well as actively concealing widespread abuse.

The lawsuit points out the Boy Scouts’ so-called “perversion files,” internal records on thousands of Scout leaders who’d been the subject of reports of molestation over the decades. Some of those files have been made public in recent years as a result of separate litigation.

Plaintiff Keith D., who asked to be referred to by his first name and last initial, alleges that former Boy Scout leader Thomas R. Wood — who is named in the Boy Scout files — used his position of trust to groom and eventually sexually abuse the youth at roughly the age of 12 or 13 in the early 1980s.

Boy Scout documents show Wood was placed on the ineligible volunteer list in 1991 following reports of molestation.

Attempts to reach Wood by phone Thursday were not successful.

The law firms representing Keith — PCVA and Panish Shea & Boyle — expect to file six more lawsuits against the Boy Scouts in San Diego, with two in the next week.

Another coalition of law firms that calls itself Abused in Scouting has about 1,500 clients nationwide, including 21 in San Diego County, and is expecting to file suits locally in the near future, an attorney said Thursday.

In a statement Thursday addressing the overall litigation, Boy Scouts of America apologized to any victims who were harmed during their time as Scouts. “We are outraged that there have been times when individuals took advantage of our programs to abuse innocent children. We believe victims, we support them, we pay for unlimited counseling by a provider of their choice, and we encourage them to come forward.”

How the Boy Scouts will handle the coming litigation is still unknown, with speculation continuing as to whether the nonprofit will file for bankruptcy protection. As of Jan. 1, membership dues were increased to cover rising costs required to continue operating, notably liability insurance.

Staff writer Kristina Davis contributed to this report.

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A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was reported Thursday evening at 9:48 p.m. seven miles from Ridgecrest, Calif., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The earthquake occurred 35 miles from California City, 63 miles from Tehachapi, 67 miles from Rosamond and 68 miles from Barstow.

In the past 10 days, there have been four earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.

An average of 234 earthquakes with magnitudes between 3.0 and 4.0 occur per year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three year data sample.

The earthquake occurred at a depth of 2.2 miles. Did you feel this earthquake? Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS.

Even if you didn’t feel this small earthquake, you never know when the Big One is going to strike. Ready yourself by following our five-step earthquake preparedness guide and building your own emergency kit.

This story was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published. If you’re interested in learning more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.

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Editor’s note: This is the fourth story in a series examining homelessness in Orange County, including the cities of Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach.

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Spend enough time in Orange County and you’re bound to hear the words “fair share.”

Elected officials and their staffers will say their cities are willing to do their “fair share” to address homelessness — or tout efforts that they say prove they’re already doing it. Residents of one city might worry that residents and officials from other cities aren’t doing their “fair share,” saddling them with a disproportionate burden of getting people into housing.

As Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem John Stephens put it: “If everybody did their fair share, then you wouldn’t have to worry about that issue of … one city’s homeless folks being attracted to another city.”

But what exactly does a fair share look like? How much is enough?

The answer depends on who you ask.

For some, it means each city developing shelters to serve its own homeless population. Others contend that it makes more sense to develop larger shelters with the support of multiple cities. But shelters might be only part of the equation.

Is it also necessary for cities to create permanent supportive housing? And what of more affordable housing?

And then there are the thorniest questions of all: Who should determine a city’s fair share? And what consequences should there be for cities that don’t meet it?

Times Community News reporters posed these and other related questions to every city council member in Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach. Some issued joint responses. Others declined to answer. Still others did not respond at all.

When asked what their fair share should be, the responses from city leaders were, for the most part, general. Many emphasized a need for more regional cooperation, while arguing that cities also must have the latitude to tailor their efforts to their specific needs.

“A city’s fair share should reflect point-in-time counts [of homeless people], total population and fiscal capacity of each city,” said Huntington Beach Councilman Patrick Brenden. “But individual cities should determine their fair share, not the courts or the state or even the county.”

A trio of Newport Beach council members — Will O’Neill, Brad Avery and Joy Brenner — argued homelessness is not an issue that stops at any municipal boundary. “Responsibility exists at both local and regional levels,” they wrote.

Some of their counterparts in Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley agreed.

“I don’t think any one place has the answer, and I think it takes a team working together to solve,” said Laguna Beach Mayor Pro Tem Steve Dicterow.

But the devil is in the details.

Fountain Valley Councilwoman Kim Constantine said “the county should work with cities, as it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution.”

Huntington Beach Councilwoman Barbara Delgleize said she doesn’t like the concept of a defined fair share. “Each city should be encouraged to address its residents’ — housed as well as homeless — needs as it sees fit, without threat,” she said.

What happened in Costa Mesa could be a model for sharing fairly.

In response to a lawsuit over homeless people who were cleared from an encampment along the Santa Ana River, the city agreed to provide enough beds to serve 60% of its unsheltered homeless population, as determined by in the 2017 point-in-time count.

Using that metric, Costa Mesa had to open 62 beds, 50 of which are now provided in a shelter at Lighthouse Church of the Nazarene. The other 12 were secured through a partnership with College Hospital.

Applying that metric to other cities in Orange County, Fountain Valley would need 17 beds, Huntington Beach would need 71, Laguna Beach would need six and Newport Beach would need 23. Almost every city in the county would have to provide some number of beds.

Also, because every city except Fountain Valley reported an increase in its unsheltered homeless population last year, the bed requirements would be higher using the more recent numbers — in some cases, markedly so.

Though some homeless advocates have stopped short of calling for shelters in every Orange County city, many have emphasized the need for every city to have skin in the game.

Another idea is to develop larger, more centralized shelters and supportive housing. One site often proposed for such a facility is the Fairview Developmental Center, on 114 acres owned by the state in Costa Mesa.

The center, which is shutting down soon, currently provides services for 14 people with mental and developmental disabilities. It has the infrastructure to house hundreds of people, but complaints from neighboring residents have kept the plan from moving forward.

Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Laguna Beach) has said the state should instead devote resources to support more locally based solutions.

“As state leaders, I think the most powerful role that we can play is to use our capacity to amplify the work of the groups that are already getting results on the ground,” she said.

One advantage of a regional shelter or service center is that it could spread the cost to multiple cities, including giving those who are reluctant to cut a ribbon on a shelter within their borders the option of just cutting a check. A coalition of north Orange County cities, for instance, has come together to develop regional shelters and service centers in Buena Park and Placentia.

Fountain Valley Councilman Steve Nagel said it could be that the best model deliberately has more services in some cities and less in others.

“I think the county can work out a plan to determine where they should best locate resources to create an effective and efficient regional network to best serve the homeless population,” he said. “Many factors such as site cost, site availability [and] close access to supportive services should all be assessed before determining where to site any new services.”

Brenden, the Huntington Beach councilman, agreed that cities certainly need to be partners in efforts led by the county.

Susan Price, former Orange County director of care coordination, has said that homelessness is “really turning a corner” in terms of participation and collaboration.

“It’s a safe bet to get on board with solutions, because there’s so much of that happening right now,” said Price, now Costa Mesa’s assistant city manager. “It’s not OK to leave this situation to solve itself, because it won’t.”

Becks Heyhoe, director of the United to End Homelessness initiative for Orange County United Way, said it’s important to educate city leaders and residents about shelters and supportive housing — particularly in cities that have been on the fence, if not outright resistant, to providing homeless resources.

“No one city wants 15 acres turned into thousands upon thousands of units of permanent supportive housing, and I think that’s fair and valid,” Heyhoe said. “I do think this needs to be a regional approach … where people’s homelessness can end across the entire county.”

Local leaders in every city surveyed by Times Community News said they believe their cities are doing their fair share.

Costa Mesa officials cited the city’s recently opened homeless shelter and its commitment to opening a more permanent facility near John Wayne Airport. Officials in Laguna Beach pointed to its homeless shelter, which has been open for more than a decade.

Officials in other cities highlighted their staffing — which in many cases includes resource officers or other personnel geared toward helping homeless people — or their collaborative efforts with nonprofits or faith-based service providers.

But few said whether others were doing their fair share.

“My focus is on my city,” said Fountain Valley’s Constantine, “and I don’t know specifics about what other cities are doing.”

Money, Pinho and Davis write for Times Community News. Vega is a Times staff writer. Times Community News staff writers Lilly Nguyen and Julia Sclafani contributed to this report.

Los Angeles police released surveillance video showing a suspect in the fatal stabbing of a downtown L.A. restaurant patron on New Year’s Day.

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Homer Garcia, 56, was killed in the attack, which took place about 8:40 a.m. inside Margarita’s Place in the 100 block of East 7th Street.

Police said the suspect stabbed Garcia multiple times after the two got into an argument. Garcia died at a local hospital.

Video footage from inside the restaurant released by police on Thursday shows the suspect sitting at a counter as another man approaches him, and the two appear to start arguing. The 20-second clip ends with the suspect getting up and turning toward the man.

The suspect, described as a man about 5 feet 10 between the ages of 40 and 50, was last seen walking on 7th Street toward Los Angeles Street, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact LAPD Det. Martinez at (213) 484-3642 or Det. Chung at (213) 484-3643.

The first few movies in Japanese filmmaker Takashi Shimizu’s “Ju-On” series (a.k.a. “The Grudge”) helped popularize the now-familiar early 2000s J-horror motifs: the pale, long-haired child-ghosts; the deep shadows concealing unimaginable terrors; the guttural clicking noises on the soundtrack; and the concept of an inescapable evil which drives victims to suicidal madness before it passes on to someone else.

Writer-director Nicolas Pesce’s new American version of “The Grudge” — a long-in-the-works reboot of an earlier English-language “Grudge” franchise — doesn’t reinvent the formula. Andrea Riseborough plays Detective Muldoon, a newly widowed cop investigating the violent history of a house in the small town she’s recently moved to with her young son. As she discovers the house is cursed, Muldoon begins experiencing the effects of that curse herself.

This new “Grudge” copies Shimizu’s non-chronological structure. Muldoon’s investigation leads to stories within stories — all about hauntings and murders — which Pesce weaves together with the help of an impressive cast that includes John Cho, Betty Gilpin, Lin Shaye, Jackie Weaver and Frankie Faison. “The Grudge” is like three interconnected short films, cut together to illustrate how one person’s sins can keep ruining peoples lives years later.

Fans of Pesce’s idiosyncratic indie horror films “The Eyes of My Mother” and “Piercing” may be disappointed by how he toes the line here. His “Grudge” is truer to the original franchise than it is to his own more disturbing visions.

But Pesce’s “The Grudge” is distinctively sour: from the way its characters look exhausted and hollow-eyed to the fact that so many have had loved ones who’ve suffered from cancer, dementia or some other devastating medical condition. This is not a “fun” horror picture. It’s about miseries both supernatural and mundane.

And, yes, it’s scary. Pesce’s art-film roots are evident in the movie’s slow-burn first hour. But in the final third, “The Grudge” piles on the explicit gore and jump scares — all leading to a final scene and final shot as terrifying as anything in the original series. If the angry, vengeful “Ju-On” ghosts must endure, they might as well be deployed by someone who knows how to make their attacks bruising.

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NEW YORK — 

“Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek says he’s already rehearsed what he’s going to say to the audience on his final show, whenever that may be.

Trebek, host of the popular game show since 1984, announced in March that he’d been diagnosed with stage-4 pancreatic cancer but will continue his job while still able.

In an interview on ABC broadcast in prime time Thursday night, Trebek said he’ll ask the director to leave him 30 seconds at the end of his last taping.

“I will say my goodbyes and I will tell people, ‘Don’t ask me who’s going to replace me because I have no say whatsoever. But I’m sure that if you give them the same love and attention and respect that you have shown me … then they will be a success and the show will continue being a success,” he said. “And until we meet again, God bless you and goodbye.”

Trebek has said in the past that he will stay “as long as my skills have not diminished,” but told ABC’s Michael Strahan that the process had already begun. He did not specify what he meant.

If there is a target date for his exit, he isn’t letting on. “Jeopardy!” tapes each show weeks in advance.

Trebek and his wife, Jean, sat for the interview to promote a special tournament featuring three of the show’s best and best-known contestants: Brad Rutter, Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer.

That tournament starts airing Tuesday.

A lot of people believe that abstract paintings are supposed to be big, bold and decisive — stunning improvisations by geniuses who bowl you over with the magnitude of their derring-do.

Andy Giannakakis’ abstract paintings at Park View/Paul Soto gallery do not behave in such clichéd ways. Small, subtle and so elusive that they seem unresolved — if not unfinished or given up on — the L.A. painter’s seven oils on panel chart their own course. That pays off in spades. Visitors to “Country Paintings” are the beneficiaries of Giannakakis’ go-it-alone ingenuity.

In contrast to works of contemporary art that treat the present as if it were the be-all and end-all, Giannakakis’ endlessly reworked compositions look as if they’d rather be anywhere but right here, right now.

Immediacy is not their goal. The present is overrated, Giannakakis’ paintings silently insist, no match for the past or the future — and certainly not for the moments when those spans of time are combined in the works of a painter who loves slow-brewed developments.

On first glance, each of Giannakakis’ smudgy, rough-and-tumble panels looks as if it’s been abandoned. Blurry shapes, smudged colors, unbalanced compositions, over-painted passages and scraped-away sections make you think his works need more work if they are to look complete and feel resolved.

But if you give any of them a few minutes, you begin to see things differently. Each appears to be dissolving, its shapes and spaces disappearing, just like the real world seems to do when thick fog rolls in.

At the same time, each of Giannakakis’ atmospheric abstractions appears to be congealing, its diaphanous colors, vague shapes and indistinct textures gaining substance, clarity and tactility. Blobs begin to become figures. Spaces start to transform themselves into landscapes. Blurry smudges and abstract smears begin to resemble recognizable objects with weight and presence.

But neither endpoint is ever reached. A here-it-comes, there-it-goes dynamic animates Giannakakis’ paintings, which seem as if they are breathing, deeply and slowly. Looking at them is a lot like daydreaming in real time and in reverse, watching intuitions nearly come into focus and then nearly fade into nothingness.

Showing rather than telling, Giannakakis’ paintings make a virtue of patience — and make patience its own reward.

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Lots of folks are familiar with the San Diego County town of Julian, known for its fall leaves, apple harvest and, especially, apple pies. But what about the rest of the year? Eager to get a little mountain time, my wife, Julie, and I headed south for a long weekend last winter. Julian got its start about 1850, then went boom in 1869 when an African American former slave discovered gold in a nearby creek. Prospectors, general stores, cafes and hotels sprang up, followed by an influx of ranchers and farmers, some of whom planted apple trees that thrived in the cool mountain air and that still draw tourists today. The tab: $650 for two nights’ lodging and $115 for meals.

THE BED

Orchard Hill Country Inn is enough off the beaten path to feel disconnected from Julian, although it’s only a 10-minute walk to the center of town. The inn has 10 rooms in its main Craftsman-style lodge building, starting at $215 a night, and 12 cottage rooms, starting at $325, in outbuildings on a wooded hillside. In the evenings, our hosts provided a hearth warmed by a generous log fire in the river rock fireplace and a happy hour assortment of wines, fresh-pressed apple juice and appetizers. A full breakfast, included in the price of the room, offered fresh quiche, strong coffee and baked goods. And more of that amazing apple juice.

THE MEAL

In previous visits, we had contented ourselves with Main Street mainstays such as Julian Café and Bakery and Miner’s Diner. But in wandering the area, we stumbled across Cuyamaca Lake Restaurant & Store. This outfitters’ establishment, nine miles from downtown Julian, carries supplies for fishermen and campers enjoying the nearby lake. The casual café’s kitchen prepares several Austrian specialties —Tyrolean Skillet breakfast, Tyrolrean sausages and even Wiener schnitzel — although there is nothing especially Austrian about the décor or surrounding geography. But the café is known for its pies, savory and sweet. We had an amazing homemade chicken pot pie followed by a slice of mountain berry pie, one of the best we’d ever encountered, made from a mixture of fruits grown in the area. Good thing the restaurant closed at 8 p.m., or we might have stayed, had another cup of coffee and another slice of pie. Or several.

THE FIND

About 30 miles down the mountain from Julian is the immense Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which boasts some of the most fascinating geography in California. We drove out California 78 to the turnoff for Slot Canyon — maps are available through the California Department of Parks and Recreation at parks.ca.gov — and did a wonderful hike up this narrow fissure. The walls, worn smooth by flowing water, rise 30 feet in places and are close enough that you can touch both sides as you walk. Stay away if wet weather is forecast; otherwise, this otherworldly hike is a bonus.

THE LESSON LEARNED

We’d hoped to meet a friend in Julian, but snow was forecast. She said Julian would be swarming with snow-seeking day-trippers and that the traffic would be horrible. We thought, “OK, but how bad could it be?” A few hours later, we understood her trepidation. There are only two routes into town, and both are narrow, winding, single-lane roads. Clog those roads with several hundred sedans, SUVs and family vans, many without snow tires or chains, and … . It took us 90 minutes to drive the last two miles into town. Note to self: Don’t do that again.

Orchard Hill Country Inn, 2502 Washington St., Julian; (760) 765-1700. Two wheelchair-accessible rooms.

Cuyamaca Lake Restaurant & Store, 15027 California 79, Julian; (760) 765-0700.
Open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily . Wheelchair accessible.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, 200 Palm Canyon Drive, Borrego Springs;
(760) 767-4205. Some trails wheelchair accessible.

The quest for a Real ID, the federally compliant driver’s license that can be used as identification by air travelers to board domestic flights starting Oct. 1, has hit another bump. The passport you might try to use as proof of your identity in the application process sometimes is rejected, the State Department has said.

That means many U.S.-born residents in California and elsewhere must rely on an original or certified birth certificate to apply for Real ID.

For the record:

2:50 PM, Jan. 02, 2020
An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the last name of Jaime Garza of the California Department of Motor Vehicles as Ruiz.

And if you have married and chosen to take your spouse’s name, you must also have a marriage license besides that birth certificate. If you’ve married several times, you must have every marriage license, said Jaime Garza of the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Of course, if you have a current passport, you won’t need Real ID to board a domestic flight when the new requirement takes effect in the fall. Other acceptable forms of identification, including a passport card, a Global Entry, Nexus, Sentri card and many others, can be used. The Transportation Security Administration has a list of alternate identification that it will accept.

Note that you still must carry a passport for an international flight.

The State Department is aware of the issue with some states’ licensing agencies. “We’re aware that state offices and Departments of Motor Vehicles (DMVs) are informing some customers that their valid U.S. passports cannot be verified when they apply for Real ID,” a State Department spokesman said in an email.

A system known as U.S. Passport Verification Services “provides a pass/fail verification of U.S. passports,” the spokesman said. “Some records cannot be verified by USPVS even after multiple attempts. When a constituent’s record cannot be verified, he or she may be informed by the state office or DMV that their U.S. passport cannot be used to obtain” a Real ID.

The system, the State Department said, is owned by the Assn. of American Motor Vehicle Administrators through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, but as of this moment there is no fix. “At this time, we’re unsure what’s causing the data quality issues,” the State Department spokesman said.

The road to getting the Real ID license has been littered with problems in California and elsewhere. The license is part of legislation that grew out of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations and became law almost 15 years ago. Problems with implementing the license requirement have slowed its introduction.

California began issuing the license in Jan. 22, 2018, and more than 2.3 million licenses had been issued by early fall of that year when the Department of Homeland Security said that California’s methods of verifying proof of residence didn’t comply with federal standards, after previously saying its methods were fine. (Wisconsin also was caught up in that issue.)

In spring 2019, those early adopters received (or should have received) letters from the California DMV asking them to re-verify their home addresses.

In mid-fall of 2019, a survey released by U.S Travel Assn. showed that more than 70% of Americans either don’t know what Real ID is or aren’t sure whether they have one. (California Real ID licenses have a gold bear and a white star in the upper-right corner.) It is working with various organizations to spread the word, partly because an estimated 80,000 people could be denied boarding, resulting in more than $40 million in lost spending — and that’s just on Oct. 1, the first day of the requirement.

To learn more about getting a California Real ID, go to the DMV website. For a list of FAQs from Homeland Security, go to the DHS Real ID pages.