| New ‘rapid-response’ effort targets wildfire-related insurance fraud – Daily News |
| A new “rapid response” effort to prevent and prosecute insurance fraud targeting wildfire survivors is now operational, it was announced on Friday. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2025-01-17 |
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| Port of Long Beach CEO Cordero hails long list of ‘green’ victories in annual speech – Press Telegram |
| Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero, speaking before some 1,000 people, highlighted the 20th anniversary of the “Green Port” initiative Thursday, Jan. 16, at his annual State of the Port speech.
Along with the sold-out crowd of 900 at the Long Beach Convention Center, there were others watching the live-streamed event online. One of the most anticipated speeches of the year — the Port of Los Angeles will present its State of the Port talk on Jan. 23 — Cordero’s presentation, celebratory in nature and lasting more than an hour, drew frequent applause. [Article] |
| by , Long Beach Press Telegram. 2025-01-17 |
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| Fires Add Disaster to the Los Angeles Housing Crisis |
| One of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history, the fires in and around Los Angeles will rewrite the story of housing there. Accounts already abound of skyrocketing rents and price gouging as thousands of Angelenos, some of them monied, are forced into an emergency housing market after losing their homes. The cost and environmental impact of rebuilding thousands of lost homes is another thread entirely. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-01-17 |
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| Second Trump administration will put trans youth at further risk |
| When Andrew Joseph White, a 26-year-old transgender author, released his third novel, “Compound Fractures,” a young adult thriller, last fall, it became an instant New York Times, USA Today, and Indie bestseller. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-01-17 |
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| Palisades Residents, Concerned about Fires, Were Ignored | Circling The News |
| The devastating fire did not have to happen. Over the next few days, CTN will remind people of the warnings that we sent to officials, with no action taken. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-01-17 |
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| Health Matters | Avian influenza in Humboldt County? – Times-Standard |
| To date, we haven’t had any confirmed cases of avian flu in humans, dairy cows or poultry flocks in Humboldt County, but we have been preparing for the possibility since we started seeing wild birds test positive in 2022. Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Branch, the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Regional Veterinary Medical Officer and the Humboldt County Farm Bureau are all involved.
The Public Health Emergency Preparedness program has connected local dairies with PPE that will help keep their employees safer when we have an outbreak. Our communicable disease nurses have trained on how to collect eye swabs, which are better at diagnosing human bird flu infections than nose and throat swabs, and our Public Health Lab is prepared to test those swabs for the H5 variant influenza A viruses, so we can identify outbreaks more quickly. [Article] |
| by , Eureka Times-Standard. 2025-01-17 |
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| St. Elmo Village Receives Historic-Cultural Monument Designation – Los Angeles Sentinel |
| The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved Councilwoman Heather Hutt’s motion to designate St. Elmo Village as a Historic-Cultural Monument on Tuesday, Jan. 7. This milestone honors the nonprofit arts organization’s remarkable contribution to Los Angeles’ cultural landscape for over half a century. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-01-17 |
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| Why do some houses burn down and not others? | LAist |
| You’ve seen the pictures.
The gleaming white mansion on a Palisades hillside, completely surrounded by the rubble of burned homes. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-01-17 |
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| For childcare providers, wildfires are just one more crisis | LAist |
| In an instant, Blanca Carrillo and her daughter Aurys Hernandez lost everything.
Their home in Altadena was also the place they'd built a thriving daycare for young children. So when it burned in the Eaton Fire, they were left homeless and without work all at the same time. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-01-17 |
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| Burning Teslas, fried battery storage systems add to toxic mix hindering LA wildfire cleanup – Daily News |
| As the smoke clears from devastating Los Angeles wildfires, efforts to clean up the affected areas are being complicated by burnt-out electric and hybrid vehicles and home-battery storage systems.
Lithium batteries from Tesla Inc., along with those from other carmakers, have added to the mix of toxic materials requiring specialized removal in the wake of the fires, delaying the fire victims’ return to their properties. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2025-01-17 |
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| Port of LA to test emissions technology on two harbor craft with $31 million CARB grant – Daily News |
| In a boost to the ongoing push to reach low- and zero-emissions standards, the Port of Los Angeles has announced a $31 million grant from the California Air Resources Board that will begin emission-reduction technology demonstration projects for harbor craft, with Catalina Express and Harbor Breeze Cruises to take part.
The goal will be coming up with a comprehensive evaluation of next-generation, less-polluting harbor craft. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2025-01-17 |
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| Mayor Bass appoints Steve Soboroff to lead rebuilding efforts after LA wildfires – Daily News |
| Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Friday, Jan. 17, appointed longtime civic official, businessman and developer Steve Soboroff to lead rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of the devastating wildfire that destroyed much of Pacific Palisades and burned the surrounding areas. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2025-01-17 |
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| Wittingly or not, LA city, county officials chose fewer firefighters, more OT pay |
| Before we elicit insults and outrage, let’s acknowledge the givens: Firefighters do dangerous, difficult work and they should be paid well for it.
It’s unlikely heaven itself could have gotten in front of the wind-whipped fires that have ravaged L.A.
Problems with electricity and water pressure likely played a part in the devastation, as did “unhardened” homes and less-than-perfect planning and communications.
But today we’re going to look at something else: the tremendous reliance on firefighter overtime that the Los Angeles City Council and Los Angeles Board of Supervisors have embraced, in lieu of hiring more firefighters. [Article] |
| by , Pasadena Star News. 2025-01-17 |
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| Los Angeles County Board to Consider Expansion of Youth Diversion Program – Pasadena Now |
| The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is set to vote on a proposal to expand youth diversion programs, prioritizing pre-booking options for juvenile offenders. The measure, introduced by Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents Pasadena, and Supervisor Janice Hahn and aims to reduce youth involvement in the criminal justice system. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-01-17 |
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| Amid fire recovery, lessons may linger from Riordan’s ‘say-sorry-later’ Northridge quake mantra – Daily News |
| There’s a saying that the late L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan cited during his tenure when it came to government red tape, and it came in handy amid a catastrophe that, until last week, was a notch higher on the list of L.A.’s worst natural disasters.
“It is better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission.”
You can say sorry later, Riordan said.
From former council persons to aides, it’s a well-worn memory of a leader’s mantra, gleaned from the no-nonsense mayor, when making government work during and after an epic calamity. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2025-01-17 |
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| California insurance commissioner on the road to rebuilding - Marketplace |
| Current figures put the number of structures destroyed in the Southern California wildfires near 12,000 and the value of losses are in the tens of billions of dollars. While the fires continue to burn, many of the area’s displaced are beginning to turn their attention to rehousing and rebuilding. That involves insurance in most cases. [Article] |
| by , Marketplace - NPR. 2025-01-17 |
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| Track Expansion: Project will provide expanded accessibility | News | ladowntownnews.com |
| The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (Metro) plans for better transit include improvements at Los Angeles Union Station to address existing capacity constraints and improve connections between rail and bus services and future high-speed rail service. [Article] |
| by , . 2025-01-17 |
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| Pacific Palisades had fireworks problem. It may have caused fire |
| LOS ANGELES — Few recent Pacific Palisades Community Council meetings ended without residents in the fire-prone community complaining about teens launching fireworks into the sky over bone-dry vegetation and treacherous terrain.
Whether near the recreation center in town or on dirt trails in the mountains on the outskirts, residents would voice their frustrations over the nonchalant behavior in a community designated as among the state’s most hazardous by California fire officials.
“There have been problems lately with teens and firecrackers, and it seems to come up at almost every PPCC meeting,” said Sue Kohl, president of the council that meets a couple of times a month. Kohl and most of her neighbors lost their homes.
Now, what some residents saw as innocent teen hijinks could be at the heart of an investigation into a deadly inferno that killed at least eight people and destroyed at least 1,200 structures. The Chronicle reported Saturday how a Jan. 1 fire, ignited shortly after the New Year rang in at midnight, could have been sparked by fireworks, according to residents who heard and saw them that night in the same area.
Experts said that fire, despite Los Angeles Fire Department personnel spending almost a full day at the scene, could have smoldered over six days and reignited on Jan. 7 when the massive blaze touched off.
Residents are now asking whether concerns over fireworks should have been taken more seriously. And asking whether much more could have been done to stop the activity. All fireworks are illegal in Los Angeles.
On Monday, specialized Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents reached the hillside where the Palisades Fire sparked to begin an investigation into the cause that could take months. The agency, which includes fireworks oversight, has not started a probe into the other Los Angeles area fires.
ATF spokesperson Ginger Colbrun said it’s too early to say whether fireworks played a role in sparking the Pacific Palisades fire. [Article] |
| by , San Francisco Chronicle. 2025-01-17 |
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| LA County renters who take in people displaced by wildfires granted some eviction protections – Daily News |
| Renters who have taken in people displaced by the Los Angeles wildfires now have some eviction protections due to a new executive order.
The new order, from Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday, Jan. 17, prohibits landlords from evicting tenants who violate an occupancy provision of their lease because they are sheltering at least one person due to the ongoing emergency. [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2025-01-17 |
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| Investigators looking into whether Palisades fire kicked off by previous blaze – Daily News |
| Investigators are looking into whether a small blaze was not totally snuffed out and reignited to start the Palisades fire, the Los Angeles Fire Department’s chief said.
“We owe that to you, as a community, to understand where and how this happened, where and how this started,” Chief Kristin Crowley said during a virtual community meeting on Thursday night, Jan 16.
Assistant Fire Chief Joe Everett said firefighters patrolled the area following the New Year’s Day fire for more than 36 hours and kept a hose line on the Pacific Palisades hill.
“That fire was dead out,” he said. “If it is determined that was the cause, it would be a phenomenon.” [Article] |
| by , Los Angeles Daily News. 2025-01-17 |
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