Firestorm

Jan 8, 2025

Fires tear through Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Pasadena and Sylmar; gusts of up to 99 mph reported

LA Times' RONG-GONG LIN II, NOAH HAGGERTY, CONNOR SHEETS, RUBEN VIVES, JULIA WICK, HANNAH FRY, GRACE TOOHEY, NOAH GOLDBERG, REBECCA ELLIS, SUMMER LIN and TERRY CASTLEMAN: "Firefighters battled multiple blazes overnight as whipping winds, with gusts that reached up to 100 mph fueling three major wildfires.

 

Palisades fire: Burned more than 3,000 acres and numerous homes, businesses and landmarks in Pacific Palisades and westward along Pacific Coast Highway, toward Malibu.

 

Eaton fire: Burned more than 1,000 acres and many homes in Altadena and Pasadena.

 

Hurst fire: Burned more than 500 acres in the area around Sylmar."

 

READ M0RE about the Los Angeles fires: What it was like on the ground as the Pacific Palisades fire spread -- BRIANNA SACKS, Washington Post; Trying to escape the flames with only one road out -- JACEY FORTIN, New York Times; Maps: Tracking the Los Angeles wildfires -- New York Times; Fire video, Los Angeles Times; How a life-threatening California windstorm fueled the Palisades Fire and other blazes -- DIANA LEONARD, Washington Post; ‘If you go any further, you will die’ -- SUMMER LIN and THOMAS CURWEN, LA Times

 

Too wet and too dry: The crazy north-south gap in California’s rain

ALASTAIR BLAND, CalMatters: "A remarkably wet kickoff to Northern California’s rainy season has coincided with a desperately dry fall in Southern California — a huge disparity, perhaps unprecedented, between the haves and have-nots of rainfall. Los Angeles usually gets several inches of rain by now, halfway into the rainy season, but it’s only recorded a fifth of an inch downtown since July, its second driest period in almost 150 years of record-keeping. The rest of Southern California is just as bone-dry. 

 

At the same time, much of the northern third of the state has weathered nearly two months of storms, flooding and even tornadoes. Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco, has received more rain than nearly any other city in California — nearly two times its average rainfall to date. At the city’s airport, almost 7 inches fell on Nov. 20 alone, an all-time daily record."

 

Major California health insurer names new CEO, first female chief in its history

CATHERINE HO, Chronicle: "Oakland-based health insurer Blue Shield of California has named Lois Quam as its CEO, the first new leader in 12 years and the company’s first woman chief executive in its 86-year-history.

 

The move, announced Wednesday, is part of a broader corporate restructuring at Blue Shield, one of California’s largest health insurers, with about 5 million members. It is also one of Oakland’s largest employers, with roughly 1,300 workers at its corporate headquarters downtown."

 

Exxon escalates battle over plastics recycling with defamation suit against California AG

BOB EGELKO, Chronicle: "After Attorney General Rob Bonta and environmental groups filed a lawsuit accusing ExxonMobil of polluting landfills and waterways with plastics and lying about it, the oil giant has struck back with a suit in its home state of Texas, accusing Bonta and his allies of orchestrating a “smear campaign.”

 

“This is a case about a state office holder’s abuse of the public trust,” lawyers for ExxonMobil wrote in a lawsuit filed Monday in a Texas federal court. They said Bonta, organizations such as the Sierra Club and SF Baykeeper, and alleged “foreign interests” were motivated by “politics, publicity, and private gain” in trying to thwart the oil company’s efforts to recycle the plastics it produces."

 

Wildfire and climate programs are driving up California electricity bills, says state analyst

ARI PLACHTA, SacBee: "Wildfire prevention and climate programs have drastically raised Californians’ monthly electricity bills, potentially forcing state leaders to balance ambitious carbon emissions goals with affordability concerns, the state analyst said.

 

The report released Tuesday by the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office comes as state legislative leaders vow to tackle cost of living issues including high energy costs.

 

Biden has less than 2 weeks to approve these California rules

BLANCA BEGERT and ALEX NIEVES, Politico: "California is still waiting on the Biden administration to let it implement its emissions rules for trucks and trains before Donald Trump takes office — and those last two may be the toughest to get.

 

While Trump and congressional Republicans have focused most of their ire on the state’s zero-emission sales mandate for passenger cars, which the Environmental Protection Agency approved last month, the California Air Resources Board’s rules covering trains and trucks are the biggest from both industry and environmentalists’ perspective."

 

Gaming tribes request a restraining order against cardrooms in battle over ‘California Blackjack’

BRIAN JOSEPH, Capitol Weekly: "Just days after several gaming tribes filed suit to block “California Blackjack” and other Las Vegas-style games in cardrooms, the tribes requested a temporary restraining order on Tuesday to prevent the cardrooms from erasing any security videos of allegedly illegal games being played at their facilities.

 

Late last week, seven large gaming tribes filed a 153-page complaint against 96 cardrooms and related entities alleging that an arcane system cardrooms use to offer certain games is in violation of state law."

 

Northern California ranch established in Gold Rush era is up for sale. Take a look

DAVID CARACCIO, SacBee: "A historic 14,000-acre Northern California ranch established around the time of the Gold Rush has hit the real estate market for $16.9 million. The East Fork of the Scott River cuts through the Siskiyou County property, near the Oregon border, for eight miles.

 

There are seven homes on the land, six large barns and several outbuildings. Dubbed AP Ranch, the property is nearly the size of Manhattan, New York."

 

Crime in S.F. dropped to a two-decade low in 2024. Here’s where it fell the most

DANIELLE ECHEVERRIA, Chronicle: "Reported crime in San Francisco fell to a two-decade low in 2024, according to police data, dropping further than it did nationwide.

 

Both reported violent crimes and property crimes in the city last year were at their lowest level since 2001, according to a press release issued by Mayor London Breed’s office and verified by a Chronicle analysis of data from SFPD and the California Department of Justice."

 

Biden’s parting gift to Northern California: A new national monument in the remains of an ancient volcano

KURTIS ALEXANDER, Chronicle: "The Medicine Lake Highlands in Northern California, near towering Mount Shasta, has a long and storied past.

 

Its distinct lakes, lava beds and underground labyrinths rose from the blasts of what is the largest volcano, by volume, in the Cascade Range. The striking landscape has since drawn countless Native Americans seeking its professed healing powers. It has served as training grounds for NASA moon missions. It has sustained aquifers that help supply water to millions."