CalPERS gains more than 13% in investment returns in 2012

By Stuart Pfeifer, Los Angeles Times

January 15, 2013

California's massive public employee pension system gained more than 13% in investment returns last year, most of it from stocks and real estate, the agency said.

It was the best year for the California Public Employees' Retirement System since 2006, when the fund gained 15.7%. CalPERS investments were up 1.1% in 2011 as it struggled to regain its footing after the Great Recession.

With more than $250 billion in assets, CalPERS is the largest public employee pension fund in the U.S. The agency administers retirement benefits for more than 1.6 million current and retired state, school and local government employees and their families.

Though it released returns for the calendar year, CalPERS reports on a fiscal year ending June 30. And its returns in the first six months of its current fiscal year were 7.1%, slightly below the 7.5% it had assumed it would gain for the full fiscal year.

"We're definitely pleased," said Joe DeAnda, a CalPERS spokesman. "Our hopes are that the performance will continue along these lines."

Investment returns are significant because they help dictate the amount of money that government agencies have to contribute to provide retirement benefits for employees. The importance of the fund's investments was magnified in 2008, when it lost 28% amid the global economic crisis and recession.

Rob Feckner, president of the CalPERS board, said he remains optimistic about the fund's future.

"As we emerge from this recession, I am positive we will continue on the path of improved transparency, accountability and ethics," he said.

stuart.pfeifer@latimes.com

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'Les Miz,' 'Argo' win big at Golden Globes, but Jodie Foster is talk of show

The epic musical “Les Miserables” dominated the 70th annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night with three trophies, including one for best musical or comedy. But the evening belonged to Ben Affleck.

Affleck’s political thriller “Argo,” about a CIA plot to rescue Americans trapped in Iran in 1979-80, won for best dramatic film and director for Affleck. It was a bit of vindication, perhaps, for the filmmaker, who was surprisingly absent last week when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its Oscar nominations for director.

Since the Oscar snub Thursday, Affleck has not only won a Golden Globe but he also received a Critics’ Choice Movie Award for directing as well.

PHOTOS: Golden Globes 2013 red carpet

“Les Miz” was the most honored film of the ceremony held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel’s International Ballroom and telecast live on NBC. Besides best musical or comedy, it won lead actor for Hugh Jackman, who admitted in his acceptance speech that at one point he almost quit the project after a grueling rehearsal. And Anne Hathaway sang her way to a supporting actress win as the tragic Fantine.

With her pixie haircut and tasteful white gown, Hathaway was reminiscent of a young Audrey Hepburn.

“Thank you for this lovely blunt object,” Hathaway told the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. “I’ll forever use it as a weapon against self-doubt.”

PHOTOS: Nominees & winners | Red carpet | Best & Worst

The wins for “Les Miz” and “Argo” as well as the two Golden Globes for “Django Unchained” help give those films momentum leading to the Oscars on Feb. 24. But those honors do little to bring clarity to a topsy-turvy awards season that has seen plenty of outstanding movies to choose from — but few clear-cut front-runners.

For example, Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” went into the evening with seven Golden Globes nominations — more than any other film. Former President Bill Clinton even appeared to a standing ovation and thunderous applause to introduce the clip for the historical epic. But instead of “Lincoln” by a landslide, the film about the 16th president’s struggle to end the Civil War and slavery won only one honor: lead actor in a drama for Daniel Day-Lewis.

One of the most stunning moments came courtesy Jodie Foster, who took to the stage to give a ... retirement speech? A coming-out speech? It was hard to tell. She was receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement when she ramped up to confess that she was … single. And while she seemed to take pains to sidestep addressing her sexual orientation she did thank her ex-partner and co-parent of her two boys, Cydney Bernard.

PHOTOS: Golden Globes 2013 red carpet

Her speech was also a rant in favor of privacy that brought many people to its feet. Foster noted that she has lived virtually her entire life in the public eye yet wanted to keep some things private. “I have given everything up there from the time I was 3 years old,” she said. “That is reality enough.” Even backstage, talking face-to-face with the media, she was cryptic about what, exactly, she was trying to say with her speech. (Memo to Foster: Nothing will destroy an attempt at privacy like telling the world you want to keep your life private.)

In other film awards, Jessica Chastain won lead actress in a drama for her role as a CIA operative who helps track down Osama bin Laden in “Zero Dark Thirty.” Jennifer Lawrence won lead actress in a comedy or musical for “Silver Linings Playbook” for her performance as a widow in the quirky romantic comedy. “I beat Meryl!” Lawrence joked as she accepted the trophy. (Meryl Streep was nominated in the same category, for “Hope Springs.”) Among Lawrence’s thank-yous: “Thank you, Harvey Weinstein, for killing whoever you had to kill to get me up here.”

Christoph Waltz won for supporting actor for playing a bounty hunter in Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained.” The maverick filmmaker was a surprise screenplay winner for the controversial spaghetti Western set during the slavery era, beating out such favorites as the writers of “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Lincoln,” “Argo,” and “Silver Linings Playbook.”

PHOTOS: Highlights from the show

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting this,” said an effusive Tarantino. “I'm happy to be surprised.”

Austria’s “Amour” won foreign language film, and “Brave” won for animated film. Mychael Danna won for writing the score for Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi.” Original song went to pop singer Adele and Paul Epworth for “Skyfall,” the title tune for the latest James Bond installment.

On the TV side, the Golden Globes honored Showtime’s “Homeland” and HBO’s “Game Change” and "Girls" with multiple trophies.

Golden Globes 2013: List | Red Carpet | Winners | Ballot | Show moments | Quote

“Homeland,” the political thriller that counts President Obama as one of its biggest fans, won its second consecutive award for drama series. Claire Danes won her second-in-a-row Globe for lead dramatic actress in the series. Her co-star Damian Lewis took lead actor.

“Game Change,” the drama about then-Gov. Sarah Palin’s run for the vice presidency in 2008, also performed well. It snapped up three awards: miniseries or TV movie, supporting actor for Ed Harris, and lead actress for Julianne Moore for her uncanny channeling of Palin.

“Girls” won best comedy series while its young star and creator, Lena Dunham, won for lead actress. Don Cheadle won lead actor in a comedy series for Showtime’s “House of Lies.” Kevin Costner won lead actor in a miniseries or TV movie for History Channel’s “Hatfields & McCoys.” Maggie Smith won for supporting actress in a TV series, miniseries or movie for playing the acerbic dowager in PBS' “Downton Abbey.”

After a controversial three-year stint as host, Ricky Gervais turned over the emcee duties to Globe nominees Amy Poehler (“Parks & Recreation”) and Tina Fey (“30 Rock”). The pair were only slightly less irreverent, skewering Hollywood by poking fun of pill-popping Hollywood and “rat-faced” TV types and joking about the controversy surrounding Kathryn Bigelow's “Zero Dark Thirty.”

Cracked Poehler: “When it comes to torture, I trust the woman who spent three years married to James Cameron.”

ALSO:

PHOTOS: Moments from the show

VOTE: Play-at-home Globes ballot

PHOTOS: Red carpet fashion at the Golden Globes

susan.king@latimes.com and rene.lynch@latimes.com

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Iowa man, sister reunite thanks to boy, Facebook

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man and his sister have reunited 65 years after being separated in foster care thanks to a 7-year-old friend’s Facebook search.

Clifford Boyson of Davenport met his sibling, Betty Billadeau, in person Saturday. Billadeau drove up from her home in Florissant, Mo., with her daughter and granddaughter for the reunion at a hotel in Davenport.

Boyson, 66, and Billadeau, 70, both tried to find each other for years without success. They were placed in different foster homes in Chicago when they were children.

Then 7-year-old Eddie Hanzelin, who is the son of Boyson‘s landlord, got involved.

Eddie managed to find Billadeau by searching his mom’s Facebook account with Billadeau’s maiden name. He recognized the family resemblance when he saw her picture.

“Oh, my God,” Boyson said when he saw and hugged Billadeau.

“You do have a sister,” Billadeau said.

“You’re about the same height Mom was,” Boyson said.

Billadeau’s daughter, Sarah Billadeau, 42, and granddaughter, Megan Billadeau, 27, both wiped away tears and smiled during the reunion.

“He didn’t have any women in his life,” Sarah said. “We’re going to get that straightened out real fast.”

Boyson said he’s looking forward to visiting Billadeau near St. Louis and meeting more family.

“I’m hoping I can go and spend a week or two,” he said. “I want to meet the whole congregation. I never knew I had a big family.”

Eddie, who enjoys messing around with his family’s iPad, said he’s glad he was able to assist in making the reunion happen and that he learned about helping others at school.

“Clifford did not have any family, and family’s important,” the boy said.

Near the end of their tearful reunion Boyson and Billadeau presented Eddie with a $ 125 check in appreciation of his detective work.

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Justin Timberlake releases new song 'Suit and Tie'

NEW YORK (AP) — Mr. "SexyBack" is back.

Justin Timberlake released his new single, "Suit and Tie," late Sunday night. It features rapper Jay-Z.

The upbeat jam is the 31-year-old's first musical offering since 2006's critically acclaimed "FutureSex/LoveSounds." His third solo album, "The 20/20 Experience," will be out later this year.

In a letter posted on his website, Timberlake said he began recording music in June. He wrote that the "inspiration for this really came out of the blue."

Timberlake co-wrote and co-produced "Suit and Tie" with Timbaland, who produced much of the Grammy-winning "FutureSex/LoveSounds."

The buzz around the pop star's return to music kicked off Friday when he posted a video on his website that showed him walking into a studio, putting on headphones and saying: "I'm ready."

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Online:

http://www.justintimberlake.com

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Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Psychologist Who Studied Depression in Women, Dies at 53

Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, a psychologist and writer whose work helped explain why women are twice as prone to depression as men and why such low moods can be so hard to shake, died on Jan. 2 in New Haven. She was 53.

Andrew Sacks

Susan Nolen-Hoeksema at the University of Michigan in 2003. Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema's research showed that women were more prone to ruminate, or dwell on the sources of problems rather than solutions, more than men.

Her death followed heart surgery to correct a congenitally weak valve, said her husband, Richard Nolen-Hoeksema.

Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema, a professor at Yale University, began studying depression in the 1980s, a time of great excitement in psychiatry and psychology. New drugs like Prozac were entering the market; novel talking therapies were proving effective, too, particularly cognitive behavior therapy, in which people learn to defuse upsetting thoughts by questioning their basis.

Her studies, first in children and later in adults, exposed one of the most deceptively upsetting of these patterns: rumination, the natural instinct to dwell on the sources of problems rather than their possible solutions. Women were more prone to ruminate than men, the studies found, and in a landmark 1987 paper she argued that this difference accounted for the two-to-one ratio of depressed women to depressed men.

She later linked rumination to a variety of mood and behavior problems, including anxiety, eating disorders and substance abuse.

“The way I think she’d put it is that, when bad things happen, women brood — they’re cerebral, which can feed into the depression,” said Martin Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, who oversaw her doctoral work. “Men are more inclined to act, to do something, plan, beat someone up, play basketball.”

Dr. Seligman added, “She was the leading figure in sex differences in depression of her generation.”

Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema wrote several books about her research for general readers, including “Women Who Think Too Much: How to Break Free of Overthinking and Reclaim Your Life.” These books described why rumination could be so corrosive — it is deeply distracting; it tends to highlight negative memories — and how such thoughts could be alleviated.

Susan Kay Nolen was born on May 22, 1959, in Springfield, Ill., to John and Catherine Nolen. Her father ran a construction business, where her mother was the office manager; Susan was the eldest of three children.

She entered Illinois State University before transferring to Yale. She graduated summa cum laude in 1982 with a degree in psychology.

After earning a Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, she joined the faculty at Stanford. She later moved to the University of Michigan, before returning to Yale in 2004.

Along the way she published scores of studies and a popular textbook. In 2003 she became the editor of the Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, an influential journal.

Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema moved smoothly between academic work and articles and books for the general reader.

“I think part of what allowed her to move so easily between those two worlds was that she was an extremely clear thinker, and an extremely clear writer,” said Marcia K. Johnson, a psychology professor and colleague at Yale.

Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema lived in Bethany, Conn. In addition to her husband, a science writer, she is survived by a son, Michael; her brothers, Jeff and Steve; and her father, John.

“Over the past four decades women have experienced unprecedented growth in independence and opportunities,” Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema wrote in 2003, adding, “We have many reasons to be happy and confident.”

“Yet when there is any pause in our daily activities,” she continued, “many of us are flooded with worries, thoughts and emotions that swirl out of control, sucking our emotions and energy down, down, down. We are suffering from an epidemic of overthinking.”

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Apartment, retail complex underway in Palms

Work has begun on a $30-million apartment and retail complex in Palms near a planned station for the Expo Line that will connect downtown Los Angeles with Santa Monica.

Frost/Chaddock Developers of Los Angeles is building the five-story complex at 3425 Motor Ave., about a quarter mile from a light rail station at Motor and National Boulevard set to open in 2016.

The 115-unit project will house studio and one-bedroom apartments intended to appeal to young professionals.

"We believe the project will encourage pedestrian activity along Motor Avenue," said James Frost, a principal at Frost/Chaddock.

As designed by Killefer Flammang Architects, the street-level entrance will be flanked by shops or restaurants and lead to an interior courtyard. It will also have a rooftop garden for tenants and underground parking.

The project is to be finished by May 2014.

Palms is near Culver City — where Expo Line service from downtown currently ends — and is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The first Palms train station opened in 1875 and closed in 1953. The old depot was moved to Heritage Square Museum in Montecito Heights, where it is preserved.

Vacant downtown L.A. building for sale

A long-vacant 1920s office building in a recovering neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles has hit the market for almost $14 million as the city's historic core attracts new residents and investors.

The 13-story Commercial Exchange Building — which was once cut in half vertically and shrunk in size — has been mostly empty for at least two decades, real estate broker Phillip Sample of CBRE Group Inc. said. In recent weeks, however, more than 100 potential buyers have toured the property at 416 W. 8th St.

"We've got a lot of boutique hotels looking at this," Sample said.

Other possible buyers are considering turning it into apartments, creative offices or student housing.

The blocks east of Staples Center and the Los Angeles Convention Center have seen a flurry of real estate activity recently. More than 1,000 new apartment units are set for construction there over the next 30 months, and one of the largest planned retail and housing projects is across the street from the Commercial Exchange Building.

The building was completed in 1924 after that southern section of downtown Los Angeles was rezoned from an upscale residential neighborhood to commercial use, local historian Greg Fischer said.

"After World War I, the city fathers decided we needed a larger downtown," he said.

City officials decided to widen Olive Street in the mid-1930s, and the owners of the Commercial Exchange Building at 8th and Olive were obligated to remove a nearly 10-foot slice from the middle of the building. Engineers reunited the two pieces by sliding the western portion east, thereby opening up more space on Olive Street. The process cost $60,000, The Times reported in 1935.

Owl Drug Co. was once headquartered in the building, Sample said. Another occupant was "Tarzan" author Edgar Rice Burroughs, who operated his own publishing company.

That area of downtown fell out of favor in the decades after World War II as department stores followed their customers to the suburbs and white-collar businesses moved to newer offices closer to the 110 Freeway.

Selling the Commercial Exchange Building is a partnership called Spring Seventh Loft, Sample said. The sellers expect to arrange a deal by next month.

Burbank apartment building is sold

A 1970s Burbank apartment building with an expansive penthouse intended to be occupied by the owner has been purchased by Champion Real Estate Co. for $15.6 million.

The 62-unit complex at 600 E. Olive St. is mostly made up of two-bedroom, two-bath apartments, but it also has an 8,000-square-foot penthouse with a rooftop deck and private swimming pool, real estate broker Tyler Stevens of Lee & Associates said.

"It reflects an era gone by when builders constructed apartment buildings with an owner unit, and this particular owner unit was highly unusual," Stevens said.

The complex was built by August Bacchetta in 1973 and continued to be owned by his family until the sale. Champion plans an extensive renovation of the apartments, Stevens said.

Los Angeles-based Champion said it intends to acquire as much as $500 million worth of real estate in the next five years

roger.vincent@latimes.com

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Henry's Tacos stands down

Janis Hood got her start at Henry's Tacos when she was 10.

Her mother allowed her to fasten caps on the hot sauce and serve RC Cola to customers.

Through 51 years, the family business served ground beef tacos and burritos to customers. But on Saturday, the Studio City neighborhood treasure — a favorite of actor Elijah Wood and comedian George Lopez — closed its doors.

The shutting of Henry's Tacos, named for Hood's grandfather, Henry Comstock, came after a yearlong saga with the landlord that Hood said began when she applied for a historic designation. She said the application sparked conflict, and the landlord refused to renew her lease.

"It's a very emotional day for me," Hood said Saturday.

In recent weeks, news of the closure prompted thousands of fans to sign an online petition to save the restaurant and inspired a Twitter hashtag (#SaveHenrysTacos).

At one point, a financial consultant and a TV writer were in talks to purchase the restaurant to keep it open. "It all just took us back to our childhood," said Matt Pyken, a Studio City TV writer who grew up eating at the stand, explaining why he sought to buy it with his former middle-school buddy. "We wanted it to be the same place."

But in the end, Hood decided to work with longtime employee Omar Vega, who wants to relocate the shop but keep the name. Hood said she plans to eventually sell the business to Vega. A preservation group has offered to store the stand's signage, she said.

On Saturday, customers formed a line down the sidewalk for a last meal, and Hood said the stand would keep serving them until the food ran out. Cathy McCroskey, a longtime customer, posed for a picture in front of the stand and pantomimed wiping away a tear. "This is a neighborhood icon," she said.

McCroskey and her husband, Steve, both 55, have lived in the Tujunga Village area since the late 1980s and came to pay one last visit to the stand they'd enjoyed for years. They took photos and, of course, ordered a bean and cheese burrito. They said the stand's Googie-style architectural design and history made it a neighborhood gem.

Near them, a large sheet of paper had been taped to a wall of the stand for people to jot their goodbyes.

"Sacred ground. We have been coming for four generations. It was the first food I ate and my kids ate. It saved my sister ... it was all she would eat when she was sick. Please prevail," wrote Kathryn Vanderveen.

"Henry, please keep the sign and stay in Studio City, we love you," another message said.

Vega, a 21-year veteran of the stand, said he hopes to do just that. He would like to retain the old location's ambience by using the old sign and menu and even hopes to replicate the colorful lettering on the stand's outside wall that spells "Henry's Tacos."

"I hope everything goes well," Vega said.

For Hood, the closure is the end of an era. She said the restaurant is where she grew up and recalled going to elementary school blocks away. After school, she'd walk to the stand to see her mother and linger there.

"A lot of the customers took me under their wing and were helpful to me," she said.

After Hood's mother, LeVonne Eloff, died in 2009 at 82, longtime customers shared stories with Hood, some of which she said she had never known. They told her, for example, that her mother and stepfather had sometimes used the honor system with customers.

Now, Hood said she's acting in the same vein, "paying it forward" by helping Vega get his start running the business, a move she sees as continuing her family's legacy.

nicole.santacruz@latimes.com

ruben.vives@latimes.com

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Rovio has more monthly active users than Twitter

Rovio announced today it hit 263 million monthly active users in December 2012. This happened precisely three years after the first Angry Birds game debuted at the end of 2009. Incidentally, the somewhat better-known Twitter hit the 200 million monthly active user mark in December 2012. And since Twitter was launched in the summer of 2006, Rovio’s user growth has been notably brisker.

[More from BGR: Samsung cancels Windows RT plans in U.S.]

Rovio has recently been able to demonstrate it is a tad more than a flash in the pan. Angry Birds Star Wars has now remained the #1 paid iPhone app in America for 65 days. Angry Birds Space still clings to #6 slot nearly 300 days after its debut. And Bad Piggies is at #9 more than three months after the game was launched.

[More from BGR: LG reportedly halts Nexus 4 production to make way for new Nexus device]

Rovio thus holds three of the top 10 positions in the United States iPhone chart. Disney’s hottest title, the heavily promoted Where’s My Water has slumped to #24 after having a strong year in 2012. Three years in, Rovio has pulled off a remarkable fete: It’s been able to avoid boring consumers even as it saturation-bombs them with cutesy animals.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

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Brooklyn resident wins Miss America crown

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 23-year-old blonde from Brooklyn, N.Y., won the Miss America crown Saturday night after responding to a question about armed guards in schools, saying she opposed fighting violence with violence.

En route to her victory in the Las Vegas pageant, Mallory Hagan also tap danced to James Brown's "Get Up Off of That Thing," strutted down the runway in an asymmetrical white gown, and donned a revealing black string bikini.

She defeated Miss South Carolina Ali Rogers, who took second, and Miss Oklahoma Alicia Clifton, who finished third.

She wins a $50,000 college scholarship and gets the crown for one year. Her platform, the issue she will promote during her reign, is fighting child sexual abuse. She said the issue is close to her heart because the women in her family themselves grappled with sexual abuse.

The aspiring cosmetic company executive has been competing in beauty pageants for a decade, starting as a teen in the Miss Alabama's Outstanding Teen contest. She competed for Miss New York in 2010 and 2011 before winning last year.

She is the first Miss America from Brooklyn and the fourth from New York state. The previous winner from that state was actress Vanessa Williams, who became the first black winner when she took the crown in 1984.

Hagan said she moved to New York from Alabama with less than $1,000 in her pocket. She lives in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn and studies communications at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

She was good enough during preliminary Miss Universe contests to be chosen as one of 16 semifinalists who moved on to compete in the main show. Her bid lasted through swimsuit, evening wear, and talent competitions that saw cuts after each round.

Moments before she won, "Good Morning America" weatherman Sam Champion asked her if schools should hire armed guards in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. shooting.

"I don't think the proper was to fight violence is with violence," she replied. "I think the proper way is to educate people on guns and the ways we can use them properly. We can lock them up, we can have gun safety classes, we can have a longer waiting period."

Hagan defeated several competitors who grabbed headlines this year because of their backstories.

Miss District of Columbia plans to undergo a preventive double mastectomy to reduce her risk of breast cancer, which killed her mother and grandmother.

Miss Montana was the pageant's first autistic contestant. Miss Iowa has Tourette's syndrome. And Miss Maine lost more than 50 pounds before winning her state crown.

During the opening number, when all the queens gave short quips about their states, Hagan referenced last year's superstorm, saying, "Sandy may have been swept away our shores but never our spirit."

She is expected to spend her title reign on a nationwide speaking tour and raising money for the Children's Miracle Network, the organization's official charity.

The 92nd Miss America annual show held this year at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip is the culmination of a week of preliminary competitions and months of preparations for the titleholders from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The pageant, which started as little more than an Atlantic City bathing suit revue, broke viewership records in its heyday and bills itself as one of the world's largest scholarships programs for women.

But like other pageants, the show has struggled to stay relevant as national attitudes regarding women's rights and civil rights have changed.

More recently, the rise of reality television has provided a superabundance of options for Americans interested in seeing attractive young people in competitive pursuits.

___

Hannah Dreier can be reached at http://twitter.com/hannahdreier

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City Room: Cuomo Declares Public Health Emergency Over Flu Outbreak

With the nation in the grip of a severe influenza outbreak that has seen deaths reach epidemic levels, New York State declared a public health emergency on Saturday, making access to vaccines more easily available.

There have been nearly 20,000 cases of flu reported across the state so far this season, officials said. Last season, 4,400 positive laboratory tests were reported.

“We are experiencing the worst flu season since at least 2009, and influenza activity in New York State is widespread, with cases reported in all 57 counties and all five boroughs of New York City,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a statement.

Under the order, pharmacists will be allowed to administer flu vaccinations to patients between 6 months and 18 years old, temporarily suspending a state law that prohibits pharmacists from administering immunizations to children.

While children and older people tend to be the most likely to become seriously ill from the flu, Mr. Cuomo urged all New Yorkers to get vaccinated.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said that deaths from the flu had reached epidemic levels, with at least 20 children having died nationwide. Officials cautioned that deaths from pneumonia and the flu typically reach epidemic levels for a week or two every year. The severity of the outbreak will be determined by how long the death toll remains high or if it climbs higher.

There was some evidence that caseloads may be peaking, federal officials said on Friday.

In New York City, public health officials announced on Thursday that flu-related illnesses had reached epidemic levels, and they joined the chorus of authorities urging people to get vaccinated.

“It’s a bad year,” the city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley, told reporters on Thursday. “We’ve got lots of flu, it’s mainly type AH3N2, which tends to be a little more severe. So we’re seeing plenty of cases of flu and plenty of people sick with flu. Our message for any people who are listening to this is it’s still not too late to get your flu shot.”

There has been a spike in the number of people going to emergency rooms over the past two weeks with flulike symptoms – including fever, fatigue and coughing – Dr. Farley said.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Mr. Cuomo made a public display of getting shots this past week.

In a briefing with reporters on Friday, officials from the C.D.C. said that this year’s vaccine was effective in 62 percent of cases.

As officials have stepped up their efforts encouraging vaccinations, there have been scattered reports of shortages. But officials said plenty of the vaccine was available.

According to the C.D.C., makers of the flu vaccine produced about 135 million doses for this year. As of early this month, 128 million doses had been distributed. While that would not be enough for every American, only 37 percent of the population get a flu shot each year.

Federal health officials said they would be happy if that number rose to 50 percent, which would mean that there would be more than enough vaccine for anyone who wanted to be immunized.

Two other diseases – norovirus and whooping cough – are also widespread this winter and are contributing to the number of people getting sick.

The flu can resemble a cold, though the symptoms come on more rapidly and are more severe.

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