Important Takeaways:
- A significant earthquake just hit the Los Angeles area, striking two miles southwest of Pasadena, California.
- According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the earthquake was magnitude 4.4 and felt through the nearby counties.
- The tectonic plate responsible for the LA quake is the same one responsible for the Japan quake last Thursday, sparking fears of a ‘megaquake.’
- Emergency response groups have warned residents to “be prepared for aftershocks.” The quake caused no injuries or major damage, and the National Weather Service said a tsunami was not expected.
- The quake comes less than a week after a 5.2 magnitude temblor hit southern California and was also widely felt in Los Angeles.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Los Angeles earthquake follows cluster of California temblors: ‘Almost don’t believe it’
- A magnitude 4.4 earthquake rumbled underneath Los Angeles on Monday, less than a week after a bigger one jolted much of Southern California.
- The U.S. Geological Survey placed the epicenter of Monday’s quake near the Highland Park neighborhood in the city’s northeast and three miles from Pasadena, California, site of the New Year’s Day Rose Parade. The tremor, which struck about 12:20 p.m. PT, was felt as far north as Bakersfield, California, and further south in San Diego, both more than 100 miles from Los Angeles.
- “No significant infra/structure damage or injuries have been noted within the city”, the Los Angeles Fire Department said after conducting a survey.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- The worst of the storm occurred on Monday, but rainfall is still forecast for major cities across California
- A firehose of rain has parked over Southern California, worsening the risk of flooding. At least two people have died as a result of falling trees and more than 16 million people are under a rare high risk of excessive rainfall, with downtown Los Angeles receiving 75% of its annual rainfall in only the second month of 2024.
- The storm is impacting travel and power in the Golden State. The Pacific Coast Highway, a major north-south thoroughfare, closed in two locations on Monday, as thousands of flights in or out of the state were canceled or delayed. More than 200,000 California power customers are facing outages.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Deadly storm pummeling California with more than a foot of rain threatens to burst banks of LA River after killing three across state – as flash floods rip through Malibu and cause more than 120 mudslides – putting A-listers homes on red alert
- A deadly Pacific storm, the second ‘Pineapple Express’ weather system to pummel the West Coast in less than a week, dumped torrential rain over Southern California on Monday, leading to streets being flooded and triggering more than 120 mudslides.
- On Monday afternoon, LA Mayor Karen Bass issued a state of emergency declaration because of the flooding.
- President Joe Biden spoke to California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Bass, pledging to provide federal aid to areas hit hard.
- The deluge raised concerns for the region’s large population of homeless people, many of whom set up encampments along the river and on small dirt outcroppings and brush-covered islands.
- Winds gusting to 75 miles per hour on Sunday downed trees and utility lines across the San Francisco Bay Area and California’s Central Coast, knocking out power to roughly 875,000 homes at the storm’s peak in that region.
- About 215,000 people statewide were without power late on Monday night.
- The greatest flash-flooding threat on Monday centered on Southern California, the NWS said, as the system slowly pivoted and pushed farther into the interior of California, but forecasters said ‘catastrophic’ impacts were unlikely.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Catastrophic flooding swamps Los Angeles area as deadly atmospheric river slams California
- NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center has placed about 14 million people in Southern California, including Los Angeles, under a rare “high risk” of flash flooding as the storm has already dumped several inches of rain, with much more to come.
- The “high risk” is the highest rung on NOAA’s flash flood threat scale and is only issued under the most dire of flooding forecasts. “Life-threatening flash and urban flash flooding possible in the high risk area,” the WPC said.
- Los Angeles picked up 4.10 inches of rain on Sunday, which far exceeded the daily rainfall record for that date set in 1927, which was 2.55 inches.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a State of Emergency for several counties in California to help support storm response and recovery efforts.
- The state had mobilized and prepositioned a record 8,500 emergency responders ready to respond to flooding, landslides and travel emergencies, according to the governor’s office.
- The State of Emergency included Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
- The atmospheric river storm had also prompted emergency officials in several areas to order evacuations and open emergency shelters for residents.
- Several schools in the area were also closed because of the extreme weather event
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Shoplifting surged 64% in NYC — more than any other US city in past 4 years
- New York City has led the US with the sharpest increase in the number of reported shoplifting incidents since before the pandemic, according to a study.
- The Big Apple saw a 64% increase in reported incidents of retail theft during the four-year period between mid-2019 and June of this year, while Los Angeles experienced a 61% surge in the same metric, according to the Council on Criminal Justice.
- A New York Police Department spokesperson pointed to crime statistics showing that there were more than 93,000 incidents of petty larceny so far this year — which is 29% higher compared to the same period two years ago but 5% lower compared to the same period last year.
- LA, meanwhile, saw a 109% increase in reported retail theft incidents in the first six months of this year — the highest in the country, the report found.
- Dallas was second with a 73% bump in the number of reported shoplifting incidents in the first half of 2023.
- Virginia Beach, Dallas, Raleigh, Boston, and Pittsburgh are the other cities that saw a spike in the number of shoplifting incidents that were reported over the course of the last four years
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Shoplifting up 73% in Dallas as retailers rush to put merchandise out of reach
- Shopping experience in Dallas is starting to change as retail theft increased 73% through the first six months of this year, according to a report released Tuesday.
- Dallas and Los Angeles, where shoplifting increased 109%, experienced the highest reported retail theft in the first half of this year, according to an analysis of 24 major cities by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice
- At a Walmart in northeast Dallas flashing lights frame a camera above an aisle of locked cases holding men’s underwear, socks and wallets. It comes with a warning: “Security camera in use.” Electric toothbrushes are also behind locked cases. The electric razors are behind lock and key at a nearby Target.
- Kroger has added security gates to some Dallas stores to prevent quick exits of full shopping carts of consumables such as laundry detergent. Tide and Oxi are behind new locked cases at a Kroger on Mockingbird Lane. A box asks shoppers to press the button if they need help. Armed guards in uniform are more visible in Dallas stores and malls.
- Gary Huddleston, grocery industry consultant at the Texas Retailers Association, said it’s more than shoplifting. Texas is seeing an increase in “organized retail crime,” or the coordinated theft and reselling of merchandise for profit by criminal groups.
- Based on national estimates, the annual loss to Texas retailers has reached more than $2.5 billion, Huddleston said. The National Retail Federation estimated total shrinkage — or loss from employee theft, shoplifting, errors, vendor fraud and damage — was over $112.1 billion last year in the U.S., up from $93.9 billion in 2021.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- RIP Beverly Hills: Startling video shows how once-thriving shopping mecca is now a desolate wasteland as high-end shops, banks, and restaurants shutter their doors amid economic woes and crime
- The closed shops, which also include convenience retailers like Rite Aid and Chipotle, and even popular workout class option SoulCycle, have shuttered their doors on Wilshire Boulevard, leaving the area bereft of its former appeal. Their sad decline marks a departure from the area’s lengthy heyday…
- The reasons for the ample number of closures vary, as many brands see a decrease in demand for in-person retail experiences, while others pivot business strategies following acquisitions by other brands. The downturned economy has also negatively impacted most brands, but especially those marketing luxury products.
- Businesses in Beverly Hills, and Los Angeles in general, are also in the midst of contending with a major spike in crime that has left many stores defenseless against mobs of robbers.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Thugs brutally attack street vendor in front of his special needs daughter, 8, steal all his money; single dad already was struggling to keep them both afloat
- A group of masked males brutally attacked a street vendor in front of his 8-year-old special needs daughter and stole all his money in south Los Angeles over the weekend, KTLA-TV reported.
- The robbers made off with some of Carbajal’s merchandise, but they also stole $2,200, his car registration, his passport, and his debit card, which the robbers used to purchase gas, KTLA reported.
- Carbajal and his daughter are living in a hotel, the station said, adding that he said he was saving up for an apartment.
- The robbery, however, has forced him to start from scratch, KTLA reported.
- Some good news
- The station noted that individuals have been reaching out to Carbajal and making donations through a GoFundMe campaign; the goal was $1,000 — but as of Tuesday afternoon, the total has exceeded $32,300.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Revelations 13:16-18 “Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.”
Important Takeaways:
- Disaster: Homelessness Skyrockets in Los Angeles; Over 75,000 on Streets in L.A. County
- The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday:
- Homelessness continued to rise dramatically, increasing by 9% in Los Angeles County and 10% in the city of Los Angeles last year, in a stark illustration of the challenges faced by officials trying to reduce the number of people living on the streets.
- The count, conducted by thousands of volunteers during a three-day period in January, projected that 75,518 people were living in interim housing or a tent, car, van, RV, tent or makeshift shelter in Los Angeles County, compared with 69,144 the previous year.
- Almost all the growth came from the Westside and Harbor areas of Los Angeles, with each seeing increases of just over 2,000 people, or about 45%.
Read the original article by clicking here.
