Fire reported in Simi Valley, north-west of LA, as mandatory evacuation orders were issued for over 20,000 residents
A fast-growing brush fire ignited on Monday morning in southern California, prompting evacuation orders and damaging at least one home.
The Sandy fire was reported just after 10am in Simi Valley, a city in Ventura county about 30 miles north-west of Los Angeles.
Continue reading...Passengers evacuated safely after person jumped perimeter fence and walked on to runway, airport spokesperson says
A Frontier Airlines plane hit and killed a person on the runway of Denver’s international airport during takeoff, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate, authorities said.
The plane, headed to Los Angeles, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff” at about 11.19pm on Friday, the Denver airport’s official X account wrote.
Continue reading...Justice department targets MacArthur Park, which has long struggled with fentanyl use, overdoses and homelessness
Federal authorities arrested 18 people in Los Angeles in a crackdown on drugs in MacArthur Park, the Department of Justice announced on Wednesday.
The DoJ said it was targeting an “open-air drug market” in the park near downtown, which has long struggled with fentanyl use and overdoses and has at times had large encampments of unhoused people.
Continue reading...State’s top insurance regulator says insurance company violated law while handling claims from 2025 wildfires
California is seeking millions of dollars in penalties from State Farm after an investigation found the insurance company was slow to investigate and underpaid claims from the 2025 Los Angeles-area wildfires, regulators announced on Monday.
State Farm violated the law hundreds of times in a sampling of 220 cases, the state’s insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, said. The maximum penalty amount allowed by law would be about $4m if State Farm is found to be “willful” in violating state law. Regulators may also temporarily suspend the company’s license, effectively prohibiting the state’s largest home insurer from writing new policies for a year in California.
Continue reading...Musician has been charged after the dismembered and decomposing body of Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found in abandoned Tesla
The singer D4vd has been charged with the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, the teenage girl whose dismembered and decomposed body was found in the artist’s apparently abandoned Tesla in September.
The Los Angeles county district attorney’s office said the 21-year-old, whose legal name is David Burke, was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Rivas Hernandez, who was reported missing by her family in 2024, when she was 13. Authorities say she was 14 when she died.
Continue reading...Federal prosecutor says woman is suspected of dealing weapons to Africa on behalf of Iranian government
A California woman was arrested at Los Angeles international airport after allegedly trafficking weapons on behalf of the Iranian government to contacts in Africa, including Sudan.
Shamim Mafi, 44, of Woodland Hills was detained on Saturday night by federal agents, according to the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles.
Continue reading...State investigated claims of bear attacks on cars, unconvincingly backed up by video of person in bear suit
When it comes to the California department of insurance, don’t poke the bear.
That is the lesson three individuals in Los Angeles learned recently when they were sentenced to jail time for an insurance fraud scheme in which they staged attacks on high-end vehicles by having a person dress up in a bear costume – then pretending that person was an actual bear.
Continue reading...The American propelled ahead of frontrunner Michael Kimani Kamau by a fraction of a second
In the final moments of the Los Angeles marathon last weekend, the announcers were already narrating frontrunner Michael Kimani Kamau’s finish when Nathan Martin suddenly propelled forward, shocking newscasters and spectators.
The 36-year-old Martin prevailed in a single stride, stepping across the finish line an almost imperceptible fraction of a second before Kamau and becoming the first Black American to win the contest. He had challenged himself in the final miles of the race to keep putting his all into it, despite physical exhaustion, and finished the 26.2-mile race in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 18 seconds.
Continue reading...American Express and Blackbird cut ties with restaurant after René Redzepi accused of abusing his staff
After allegations emerged this week that René Redzepi had abused his staff at Noma, once considered the world’s best restaurant, sponsors on Tuesday announced they would end their support for the chef’s upcoming events in Los Angeles.
The New York Times reported that American Express and the hospitality company Blackbird have cut ties with Noma ahead of the Copenhagen restaurant’s four-month pop-up in LA, which was set to kick off this week.
Continue reading...Trustees unanimously voted to place Alberto Carvalho on leave and appointed Andres Chait in the interim
Two days after the FBI searched the headquarters of the Los Angeles unified school district and the home of its superintendent, the district board of education placed Alberto Carvalho on administrative leave.
The board met in closed session meetings for several hours on Thursday and Friday to discuss Carvalho’s employment with the nation’s second largest school district. The trustees unanimously voted Friday to place Carvalho on paid leave, and appointed another high ranking district official, Andres Chait, to serve as interim superintendent.
Continue reading...Southern California residents shared disastrous effects of Trump’s immigration crackdown at a congressional hearing
The Trump administration’s ICE raids across southern California have had disastrous effects on the region’s immigrants and swept up US citizens in the process, community leaders and residents said at a congressional hearing in Los Angeles on Monday.
Andrea Velez, an American arrested by US immigration officials over the summer, described how she was accosted by masked agents while on her way to work. She said she was charged with assaulting an officer and held for two days in a federal detention center, where detainees had to pay for a cup in order to have water. The charges against her were ultimately dismissed due to what her attorney described as a lack of evidence.
Continue reading...Southern California residents shared disastrous effects of Trump’s immigration crackdown at a congressional hearing
The Trump administration’s ICE raids across southern California have had disastrous effects on the region’s immigrants and swept up US citizens in the process, community leaders and residents said at a congressional hearing in Los Angeles on Monday.
Andrea Velez, an American arrested by US immigration officials over the summer, described how she was accosted by masked agents while on her way to work. She said she was charged with assaulting an officer and held for two days in a federal detention center, where detainees had to pay for a cup in order to have water. The charges against her were ultimately dismissed due to what her attorney described as a lack of evidence.
Continue reading...Fire-resistant upgrades are included in replacement structure less than a year after fires destroyed 13,000 homes
Less than a year after the Palisades fire destroyed nearly 7,000 structures in Los Angeles, the first completed rebuilt home is being celebrated in Pacific Palisades.
In a statement, mayor Karen Bass confirmed that the Los Angeles department of building and safety had issued the certificate on Friday, certifying that the home had passed inspection and was ready for occupancy.
Continue reading...Lingering thunderstorms pose risk of mudslides in areas around Los Angeles recently ravaged by wildfires
A powerful atmospheric river weather system has mostly moved through California but not before causing at least seven deaths and dousing much of the state.
Among the dead was a seven-year-old girl who was swept into the ocean by waves estimated up to 20ft at a state beach on Friday. The girl’s father, 39-year-old Yuji Hu, of Calgary, Alberta, was killed while trying to save his daughter.
Continue reading...Charlotte, North Carolina, has the most cancellations – at 120 – as industry experts say other sectors might also feel effects
US airlines canceled 1,460 flights on Saturday, the second day of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) order to reduce air traffic because of the government shutdown.
So far, the slowdown at many of the nation’s busiest airports hasn’t caused widespread disruptions. But it has deepened the impact felt by what is now the nation’s longest federal shutdown.
Continue reading...‘Devastated’ family demands answers after two-year-old driven by armed agents from LA Home Depot parking lot
Masked, heavily armed federal immigration agents arrested a US citizen in the parking lot of a Los Angeles Home Depot store, then entered his car and drove away with his toddler, who is also a US citizen, in the backseat.
The child’s grandmother said the incident had left the whole family shaken. “I am devastated by what has happened to my son and demand an explanation,” she said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Shooting at vehicle in Ontario comes as Trump officials attempt to step up deportation operations across US
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were involved in a shooting in southern California on Thursday, prompting a federal investigation.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement that ICE officers were conducting a vehicle stop in Ontario when another driver, who was not the target, approached. Officers ordered the driver to leave the area, according to the statement.
Continue reading...Investigation after federal officers shot at man during ‘targeted traffic stop’ and agent was hit by ricochet bullet
An investigation is ongoing after a man and a deputy US marshal were shot and injured on Tuesday morning during an immigration enforcement operation that took place in south Los Angeles, police said.
Reports from the Los Angeles police department said the incident was reported shortly before 9am and involved a federal agent being shot.
Continue reading...Move will allow county board of supervisors to provide rent relief for tenants amid immigration crack down on city
Los Angeles county officials voted Tuesday to declare a state of emergency that gives them power to provide assistance for residents they say have suffered financially from ongoing federal immigration raids.
The move allows the LA county board of supervisors to provide rent relief for tenants who have fallen behind as a result of the crackdown on immigrants. A local state of emergency can also funnel state money for legal aid and other services.
Continue reading...Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, allegedly used ChatGPT to create scenes of a city burning and to confide an obsession with fires
Just after midnight on New Year’s Day, a 29-year-old Uber driver named Jonathan Rinderknecht allegedly ignited what became the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles history.
Nearly 10 months after the disaster, Rinderknecht’s arrest this week brought some closure to residents. Investigators say he was a troubled young man obsessed with fire, who tried to hide his role after setting a small blaze that reignited days later into a deadly inferno.
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