Tag Archives: Los Angeles

Winds whip up wildfires, forcing mass evacuations in California

Winds whip up wildfires, forcing mass evacuations in California

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Hot, dry Santa Ana winds are expected to fan several relentless wildfires in southern California on Thursday, where hundreds of houses have burned and tens of thousands have fled their homes around Los Angeles, the second-largest U.S. city.

The winds, which blow westward from the California desert, were forecast to reach 75 mph (130 kph) on Thursday. That could stoke several blazes burning in the Los Angeles area that have already caused, according to local media, about 200,000 people to evacuate.

“Strong winds over night creating extreme fire danger,” said an alert sent by the countrywide emergency system in Los Angeles.

Video and photographs on social media showed flame-covered hillsides along busy roadways as commuters slowly made their way to work or home, rows of houses reduced to ash and firefighters spraying water on walls of fire as they tried to save houses.

“We are in the beginning of a protracted wind event,” Ken Pimlott, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), told the Los Angeles Times. “There will be no ability to fight fire in these kinds of winds.”

In the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles, the Creek Fire destroyed at least 30 homes, blackened more than 12,000 acres (4,800 hectares) and forced the evacuation of 2,500 homes and a convalescent center.

Another fire, known as the Rye Fire, threatened more than 5,000 homes and structures northwest of Los Angeles.

The Skirball Fire, which erupted early on Wednesday had burned about 500 acres (200 hectares) near large estates in the Bel-Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, was only 5 percent contained. Firefighters battled to save multimillion-dollar homes in the path of the flames.

“These are days that break your heart,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said during a news conference. “These are also days that show the resilience of our city.”

No civilian casualties or fatalities have been reported. Three firefighters were injured and hospitalized in stable condition, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

Dozens of schools across the area canceled classes on Thursday.

The largest blaze, the Thomas Fire, burned more than 90,000 acres (36,000 hectares) after it destroyed more than 150 homes and threatened thousands more in Ventura, about 50 miles (80 km) northwest on Los Angeles.

Additional evacuations were called for late on Wednesday in the Ventura area, where 50,000 people had already fled their homes over the last three days.

“The danger is imminent,” Cal Fire said in its evacuation notice.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee, editing by Larry King)

Thousands flee wildfire in Ventura County, north of Los Angeles

Thousands flee wildfire in Ventura County, north of Los Angeles

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (Reuters) – A rapidly spreading wildfire in the foothills north of Los Angeles threatened thousands of homes on Tuesday, forcing residents to evacuate after causing at least one death and power outages throughout the area, officials said.

Some 7,700 households in Ventura County, California, about 70 miles (115 km) northwest of Los Angeles, were told to leave as the 31,000-acre wildfire, known as the Thomas Fire, burned dry brush after erupting earlier on Monday evening, Ventura County officials said on Twitter.

One motorist was killed fleeing the blaze, a local ABC television affiliate reported. More than 250,000 homes lost power and at least two structures were destroyed, a local power company said on Twitter.

“We got my kids out first,” Melissa Grisales told ABC 7 in Los Angeles. “Pretty scary, really. I didn’t think it was going to come to that, but I am starting to get pretty concerned.”

About 500 firefighters battled the fire that destroyed multiple structures, officials said on the Ventura County website.

Strong eastern winds pushed the fire toward the cities of Santa Paula and Ventura, where about 140,000 people live, county officials said.

“We’re really just trying to catch it around the edges and just pinching it off as quickly as we possibly can,” Ventura County firefighter Jason Hodge told the Los Angeles Times.

The fire was stoked by wind gusts of up to 70 mph (115 kph) that were expected to remain in the area along with low humidity through the week, the National Weather Service forecast.

About 390 students at Thomas Aquinas College were evacuated as a precaution, the school said on Twitter.

Evacuation centers were opened at a high school and the county fairgrounds, media reported.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Catherine Evans and Jeffrey Benkoe)

Los Angeles police investigating allegation of drug planting

Los Angeles police investigating allegation of drug planting

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Los Angeles Police Department will investigate allegations of misconduct against at least one officer, the department said on Friday, after an attorney said video captured police putting cocaine in his client’s wallet before arresting him.

The allegations threaten to embarrass the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) at a time when civil rights activists, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, are pressuring it to more routinely release body-camera footage.

“The LAPD takes all allegations of misconduct seriously and, as in all cases, will conduct a thorough investigation to determine whether the alleged actions are supported by reliable evidence,” the department said in a statement.

Body-camera footage played in court on Thursday showed police planting drugs on an African-American man when they detained him after a vehicle collision in April, said Steve Levine, the man’s attorney.

The man, Ronald Shields, 52, was arrested and charged with possession of cocaine, illegally having a gun in his car and a hit-and-run vehicle collision, Levine said.

Local television station CBS 2 first reported the attorney’s allegation of drug planting and broadcast the footage.

In body-camera video from one officer, which was shown on CBS 2, the officer appeared to pick up a small bag of white powder from the street and tuck it into the suspect’s wallet.

The same officer could also be seen and heard approaching other officers to tell them cocaine was found in the wallet.

“I still don’t understand why he did it, other than maybe he just wanted to brag about it and move his career along at my client’s expense,” Levine said by phone.

The police report for the arrest said the cocaine was found in the suspect’s front pocket, not the wallet, according to CBS 2, which showed the document.

Levine could not provide the full name of the officer who he said was caught on video putting the bag of white powder in the suspect’s wallet. The attorney added he believes multiple officers were complicit.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League, a labor union for officers, disputed Levine’s allegations.

“A criminal defense attorney’s selective use of body worn camera footage does not tell the entire story,” it said. “We believe the truth will be uncovered upon the completion of the internal review and we believe the officers will be vindicated.”

In Baltimore this year, prosecutors re-examined dozens of cases and dismissed some after body-worn camera footage showed police officers apparently staging the discovery of evidence.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Stephen Coates)

Los Angeles fire spread halted, work to contain it continues

The La Tuna Canyon fire has burned 5,895 acres and is still at 10% contained in Burbank, California, September 3, 2017. REUTERS/Kyle Grillot

By Peter Szekely

(Reuters) – Fire officials said on Monday they had effectively stopped the uncontrolled spread of the largest wildfire in Los Angeles history, with a little help from cooler weather, but were still working to contain it.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said crews had cleared brush away from 30 percent of the perimeter of a fire that started four days earlier and has consumed more than 7,000 acres (2,800 hectares). But he stressed that firefighters were still largely at the mercy of the weather.

“There’s really no active fire left,” Terrazas told reporters. “That can change, though, with the wind. Our goal today is to continue to increase our containment percentage.”

Scattered rains, lighter winds, lower temperatures and higher humidity have helped more than 1,000 firefighters in the air and on the ground battle the blaze in the rugged northern edge of the city. The wildfire claimed four houses and caused minor injuries among six firefighters.

The La Tuna Fire, named after the canyon area where it erupted on Friday, forced the evacuation of more than 700 homes, as steady winds helped it tear through thick brush that has not burned in decades and temperatures hovered around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Sunday afternoon that 90 percent of the 1,400 people evacuated from their homes had returned and nearly all would be back by the end of the day. Officials also reopened a stretch of the 210 freeway that had been closed for days.

Terrazas said there was much work to be done, but stressed that officials had already mapped out the remaining 70 percent of the fire’s perimeter that firefighters and bulldozers need to clear to keep it fully contained.

“We know what we need to do now, we just have to do it,” he said.

Researchers believe the wildfire is the largest in terms of area in the city’s history, Terrazas said.

Los Angeles County, home to 10 million people and vast tracts of undeveloped mountainous land, has suffered much larger wildfires that have burned for weeks.

California Governor Jerry Brown on Sunday declared a state of emergency for the county, which will ease the path for state and federal help to fight the fire.

More than 400 miles (650 km) to the north, the so-called Ponderosa Fire has burned 4,000 acres, or 1,600 hectares, and destroyed 32 homes in Butte County since it started on Tuesday, prompting evacuation orders to residents of about 500 homes. The blaze was 64 percent contained on Sunday evening, up from 56 percent earlier in the day.

(Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by James Dalgleish)

Los Angeles ‘turns corner’ on largest wildfire in city history

Water is dropped above homes in Sun Valley during the La Tuna Canyon fire over Burbank, California, U.S., September 2,

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A smattering of rain and easing temperatures helped more than 1,000 firefighters battling the largest wildfire in Los Angeles history gain the upper hand on the blaze on Sunday, but officials warned that danger remains.

“We’ve turned the corner, but this is not over,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told reporters. “With winds this strong, anything can happen.”

Shifting winds could cause burning embers to spread the fire once more through the rugged northern edge of Los Angeles, said Garcetti.

The nearly 5,900-acre (2400-hectare) La Tuna Fire, named after the canyon area where it erupted on Friday, has destroyed three homes and damaged one. More than 700 homes were evacuated as the blaze tore through thick brush that has not burned in decades.

Firefighters evaluate houses in a voluntary evacuation zone during the La Tuna Canyon fire in Burbank, California, September 3, 2017. REUTERS/Kyle Grillot

Of the 1,400 people evacuated from their homes, 90 percent had returned by Sunday afternoon and Garcetti said nearly all would be back before the day was over.

The wildfire is the largest in terms of acreage in the city’s history, Garcetti said. It was considered 30 percent contained by late Sunday night, up from 10 percent Sunday morning.

“We do not have this fire contained,” Garcetti said, “but we do have a good sense of, in the next day or two, how we can bring this fire to rest.”

The stretch of the 210 freeway, a major thoroughfare that has been closed for several days, will reopen either Sunday night or Monday morning, Garcetti said.

Los Angeles County, home to 10 million people and vast tracts of undeveloped mountainous land, has suffered much larger wildfires that have burned for weeks.

California Governor Jerry Brown on Sunday declared a state of emergency for Los Angeles County, which will ease the path for state and federal help to fight the fire.

Temperatures in the area have hovered around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) in recent days. But the mercury was in the low 90s on Sunday, and the temperatures are expected to be moderate and the humidity higher in the coming days, positive signs for containing the fire, said Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas.

Garcetti said four firefighters had suffered dehydration or minor burns.

Flames above houses in Sun Valley during the La Tuna Canyon fire over Burbank, California, U.S., September 2, 2017.

Flames above houses in Sun Valley during the La Tuna Canyon fire over Burbank, California, U.S., September 2, 2017. REUTERS/ Kyle Grillot

More than 400 miles (644 km) to the north, the so-called Ponderosa Fire has burned 4,000 acres, or 1,620 hectares, and destroyed 32 homes in Butte County since it started on Tuesday, prompting evacuation orders to residents of about 500 homes. The blaze was 64 percent contained on Sunday evening, up from 56 percent earlier in the day.

 

(Writing by Gina Cherelus in New York and Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Editing by Mary Milliken and Clarence Fernandez)

 

Indigenous Peoples Day replaces Columbus Day in Los Angeles

(Reuters) – Indigenous Peoples Day will be celebrated in Los Angeles instead of the traditional Columbus Day after city leaders in the second largest U.S. city decided to recognize Native Americans instead of the Italian explorer.

Los Angeles joined several U.S. cities and states, including Minneapolis, Seattle, Alaska, Hawaii and Oregon that have replaced Columbus Day, a federal holiday celebrated on the first Monday in October to commemorate the anniversary of Christopher Columbus arriving in the Americas in 1492.

The Los Angeles city council voted 14-1 on Wednesday to make the change to commemorate indigenous, aboriginal and native people.

“The historical record is unambiguous and today is a moment where we took a step that is righteous, that is just, that is heeling and that is historically clear,” Councilman Mitch O’Farrell said after the vote.

Support for Indigenous Peoples Day has steadily risen in recent years, paralleling the growing perception that the wave of European settlement in the Western Hemisphere was genocidal to native populations.

The vote came after a contentious debate unfolded between Italian Americans and Native Americans over Christopher Columbus’ place in history versus that of Native Americans who were slain or driven from their land.

“Why don’t you stop picking on Christopher Columbus as though you’re picking on our people,” Beverly Hills resident John Giovanni Corda told a crowd of supporters and opponents of the measure during the meeting, according to the Los Angeles Times. “We never hurt you. We never wanted to hurt you.”

The federal government and about half of U.S. states give public employees paid leave on Columbus Day, according to the Council of State Governments. Schools and government offices are generally closed, but many private businesses remain open.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

U.S. sues Los Angeles over inadequate housing for disabled

A view of downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S. February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – The United States has joined a lawsuit accusing Los Angeles of failing to develop affordable housing for disabled people, despite accepting millions of dollars of federal funds for that purpose, the Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

The decision to intervene adds legal firepower to a whistleblower case brought by Los Angeles wheelchair user Mei Ling, and signals the government’s belief it has a greater chance of success than typical of False Claims Act lawsuits.

It also follows Los Angeles’ agreement last August to settle litigation by several advocacy groups by spending at least $200 million over a decade to provide 4,000 affordable apartments for people with disabilities.

A year earlier, the second most populous U.S. city committed to spending $1.3 billion over 30 years to fix broken sidewalks that critics called nightmares for wheelchair users.

A spokesman for Democratic City Attorney Mike Feuer, Rob Wilcox, in a statement said Los Angeles would “vigorously fight” the lawsuit, which threatens to “divert tens of millions more from L.A. taxpayers to the federal treasury – without housing a single person. This abuse of power cannot stand.”

The lawsuit accused Los Angeles of falsely certifying its compliance with the Fair Housing Act and other laws protecting the disabled, such as by setting aside 7 percent of multifamily units for people with impaired mobility, sight or hearing.

Such compliance was a condition for the city of 4 million to receive U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funds.

But the lawsuit said none of the HUD-funded multifamily housing in Los Angeles supported by CRA/LA, a city agency once called the Community Redevelopment Agency, had enough accessible units.

“Denying people with disabilities equal access to public housing deprives one of the most disadvantaged groups in society of fair housing opportunities,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad Readler of the Justice Department’s civil division.

The CRA/LA did not respond to requests for comment.

Ling’s lawyer, Scott Moore, said his client once spent three years in a homeless shelter because she could not find accessible housing, and even now cannot use her bathtub normally.

“This is monumental for my client,” Moore said in an interview. “If cities think they can take the money, and only then try to make amends, then the False Claims Act has no meaning.”

False Claims Act lawsuits let private whistleblowers sue on the government’s behalf, and share in recoveries.

The nonprofit Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley also sued on Ling’s behalf.

The case is U.S. ex rel Ling et al v City of Los Angeles et al, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 11-00974.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio, Bernard Orr and Jonathan Oatis)

May Day rallies across U.S. to target Trump immigration policy

U.S. President Donald Trump appears on stage at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S

By Jonathan Allen

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Labor unions and immigrant advocacy groups will lead May Day rallies in cities across the United States on Monday, with organizers expecting larger-than-usual turnouts to protest the immigration policies of President Donald Trump.

The demonstrations could be the largest by immigrants since Trump’s inauguration on January 20, activists say, and some immigrant-run businesses plan to shut down for some or all of the day to protest the administration’s crackdown on immigrants living in the country illegally.

“To me, it’s offensive the policies this president is trying to implement,” said Jaime Contreras, vice president of the Service Employees International Union’s 32BJ affiliate, which represents cleaners and other property service workers in 11 states.

“It’s a nation of immigrants, and separating immigrant families because of their immigration status, it goes against what we love about this wonderful country.”

May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, has typically been a quieter affair in the United States than in Europe, where it is a public holiday in many countries.

In New York City, immigrant-run convenience stores and taxi services in upper Manhattan will close during the morning rush hour between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., in a protest reminiscent of those staged on “A Day Without Immigrants.”

At lunchtime, fast-food workers will join elected officials at a rally outside a McDonald’s restaurant in midtown Manhattan, calling for more predictable work schedules.

In the early evening, organizers expect thousands of demonstrators to gather at a rally in Manhattan’s Foley Square for musical performances and speeches by union leaders and immigrants living in the country illegally.

In Los Angeles, organizers expect tens of thousands of people to gather in the morning at MacArthur Park before marching downtown to a rally before City Hall.

Heightened precautions were also in place in Seattle, where officials were on the lookout for incendiary devices and gun-carrying protesters after a January shooting outside a political event and an incident during May Day 2016 when a protester threw an unlit Molotov cocktail at police.

Some Trump supporters said they would also turn out on May Day. Activist Joey Gibson said he and other conservatives will travel to Seattle to defend against what he described as communist and anti-fascist groups who have in the past faced off with police in the evening, after the conclusion of the usually peaceful daytime marches.

“We’re going to go down there to help build courage for other people, especially conservatives,” Gibson said.

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York and Tom James in Seattle; Editing by Frank McGurty and Mary Milliken)

Police arrest 24 in California protest over off-duty officer shooting

(Reuters) – Two dozen people were arrested in Anaheim, California, during a protest calling for the arrest of an off-duty Los Angeles police officer who fired a gun during a scuffle with a teenager outside of his Anaheim home, police said on Thursday.

Nobody was wounded in the shooting incident, which occurred on Tuesday, local media reported.

Some of the 300 protesters threw rocks at police officers in riot gear, kicked squad cars and blocked intersections as they marched and chanted “hands up, don’t shoot” and “whose streets, our streets” on Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Some 24 people were arrested and face misdemeanor charges including failure to disperse, the Anaheim Police Department said on social media early on Thursday.

The incident that ignited the protest was captured on a cell phone video that appeared to show a man holding a teenager’s collar as they scuffled with each other in front of a house in a residential neighborhood.

The video, which was circulated on social media and local news, then showed a teenager tackling the man into a line of shrubs and then another teenager punching him.

As several young people began surrounding the man, who still had a hold of the teenager’s collar, he pulled a gun out of his waistband and fired it once, the footage showed.

A 13-year-old and 15-year-old were arrested after the incident, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The identities of the teenagers who were arrested and the officer have not been made public. The incident comes amid a national debate over the role of law enforcement officers and their use of sometimes deadly force against minorities.

The Los Angeles Police Department has placed the officer on administrative leave as it investigates the incident and reviews the video, the department said in a statement.

The confrontation began with “ongoing issues” involving a group of juveniles walking on the lawn of a Los Angeles Police Department officer’s home in Anaheim, police told the Times.

“The videos posted online do not depict the entire event,” the Anaheim Police Department said on Facebook.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Anti-Trump rallies crop up again on ‘Not My President’s Day’

Not My President's Day Protest

By Chris Francescani and Robert Chiarito

NEW YORK/CHICAGO (Reuters) – Renewed protests against U.S. President Donald Trump flared on the Presidents Day holiday on Monday, with grassroots activists vowing to take to the streets in dozens of cities in “Not My President’s Day” rallies.

Protest leaders had said they expected thousands to rally in about 28 cities ranging from Los Angeles and Chicago to Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the latest round of demonstrations to express displeasure with Trump’s policies and pronouncements.

In New York, hundreds of protesters stretching at least eight blocks chanted “He cheats, he lies, open up your eyes” near the Trump International Hotel on the edge of Central Park.

“I think he’s got a mean personality,” said marcher Edith Cresmer, a 78-year-old urban planner. “But the worst thing about him is how he incited peoples’ fears and pits them against each other.”

Luis Llobera, 38, and his wife and baby took a train from Westchester County north of the city attend the Trump protest.

“We are not American citizens but our son is,” he said as his wife cradled their 7-month-old, Atlas. “We want to make sure our son has a government that is right and good.”

Organizers of the New York rally said they opposed the Trump agenda, including proposed cuts in federal spending and construction of a wall along the border with Mexico.

“Donald Trump is literally our president, but figuratively, he has attacked every value New Yorkers embody and does not represent our interests,” organizers said on Facebook.

The idea for the Presidents Day protests originated in Los Angeles, where about 4,300 people had said on Facebook they would attend a City Hall rally, according to organizers, and it spread to other locales via social media.

In downtown Chicago, about 1,200 people gathered across the Chicago River from the Trump International Hotel and Tower. Signs spotted in the crowd included “My body My Choice” and “Jesus was a refugee,” references to Trump’s anti-abortion stance and his efforts to stop admission of refugees.

As people gathered, a group of 25 local musicians called themselves #SAHBRA, “Sousaphones Against Hate, Baritones Resisting Aggression,” played songs to lighten the mood.

With Monday being a day off for many schools, many parents brought their children to the protest.

Eileen Molony, a photographer from Oak Park, had her 12-year-old son and 9-year old daughter in tow.

“As an immigrant family we feel strongly against the ban,” she said. “We feel America is about inclusion, but everything Trump has shown is that he’s about division.”

Chicago police reported no arrests in the protest, the latest in a series since Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

Recent anti-Trump protests have included a “general strike” on Friday, a day after thousands of immigrants across the United States stayed away from work and school to highlight the contributions of foreign-born residents to the U.S. economy.

On Saturday, Trump staged a rally for supporters in Florida at a Melbourne aircraft hangar to attack the media and tout his accomplishments in office.

Presidents Day is the unofficial name of the holiday honoring the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, the first and 16th U.S. presidents, respectively.

(Additional reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)