The Brief

As a reporter for over 20 years, I’ve covered too many tragedies, too many natural disasters, far too many mass shootings.

Being in such close proximity to the news, you can’t help but imagine the worst-case scenario happening in your community. And yet I wasn’t ready for when the Eaton Fire ripped through our beautiful town of Altadena in the foothills and took our home and neighborhood.

The wood-bench amphitheater in Farnsworth Park led up to a stone community building built during the Depression era.

(

Josie Huang

/

LAist

)

I know in the aftermath of the Eaton and Palisades fires many are feeling deep pain, regret — maybe guilt about not being prepped or warning their loved ones. Maybe the shock hasn't worn off yet. Maybe the anger is setting in.

I get it. Days before the fire, I was in the weekend host chair reading forecasts about the Santa Ana winds hurtling our way. Then I headed home and went about life, unaware of the chaos about to be unleashed on tens of thousands of us across Los Angeles.

A night of evacuations

The night of the fire, a Tuesday, I was chopping up tofu and garlic for dinner when the power went out for a second time that day. It was after 6 p.m. By then, my husband and I had watched the news about the fire engulfing the Palisades.

To be on the safe side, he took the kids to our friends’ place in Sierra Madre. I put the ingredients in the fridge for dinner for another night and stayed behind to pack clothes to get us through what I thought might be a day or two of being evacuated.

Dusk falls over a baseball field used by Little League teams at Farnsworth Park.

(

Josie Huang

/

Last

)

After I left the house, I didn’t head straight to our friends’ place. There’s something about emergencies that activate a part of a reporter’s brain. I made detours to take video and photos like I always have covering fires in the past.

But this fire was so close to home, and getting closer.

Not long after joining my family in Sierra Madre, we ended up leaving with our friends for Monrovia to the southeast.

Altadena is home to 43,000 people, with generations of the same family living near each other.

(

Michael Blackshire

/

Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

)

On the way out of town, I spoke with a group of people gathered on a street corner watching the fire race down a mountain ridge under an orange sky filled with smoke.

One man whose house was tucked up in the foothills wiped away tears, saying he was “probably saying goodbye” to his home that night.

Little did I know, the winds were blowing embers toward our part of Altadena, west of Lake Avenue.

Going home 

We think our block burned down sometime after 3 a.m. Wednesday based on what the last neighbor to leave saw.

A friend confirmed it the next day with a photo. Not of our house, so as to not traumatize us but of a gargoyle from our neighbor’s yard, intact and still grimacing amid the rubble.

Altadena is known for its spectacular hikes, including Henniger Flats from where you can see the town below.

(

Anacleto Rapping

/

Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

)

The day after, we drove to Altadena to see with our own eyes because I was having a hard time fathoming that our neighborhood was gone. This was before the National Guard came to reinforce checkpoints.

Going down our street, I took video of burned-out lots, charred cars with molten aluminum pooled by where tires used to be. A news crew had set up for a live shot on a corner where every home had been flattened. In my stunned state, I could acknowledge it was, visually, a great choice.

We passed by the one house that was still standing on our block of some 30 homes. Amazing.

People often rode their horses down Altadena's residential streets.

(

Josie Huang

/

LAist

)

A few doors down, we saw our house, or what was left of it.

I scanned the rubble of the room the kids shared. My daughter used to rotate the stuffed animals who slept next to her. My son kept his prized baseball gear in a box near the door.

When it would rain hard or the wind howled, I always told them how lucky we were to have this little house protect us.

From where our back yard once stood, my husband came towards me, holding out scraps of paper scorched around the edges. They were from a catalog and a coloring book.

I couldn’t believe that’s what we were left with, not the photos of my late mom, or the urns of my cat and dog. Not my hard drives holding thousands of hours of recordings of almost everyone I interviewed.

Every year, community volunteers string lights on the tall deodar cedars of Christmas Tree Lane.

(

Genaro Molina

/

Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

)

Cinema production trucks and trailers are a common sight in Altadena.

(

Gina Ferazzi

/

Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

)

Afterward, we drove around town, taking photos and videos for friends who hadn’t been able to see their homes yet. Some had evacuated many cities away.

We would be on the move too, going from friends to friends, who fed and sheltered us.

We just made it to our fifth and last spot for a while, a rental about a 35-minute drive from home.

Back to reporting

These days, the news is hitting different. The profiles of the 17 people in Altadena who lost their lives, those were my neighbors.

Stories about how to talk to children about loss are giving me a new and needed vocabulary.

Last week, I reported from Altadena for the first time since the fire. It was hard to keep emotions in check because as you’ve probably heard by now, Altadena is a very special place, full of people with big hearts and lots of chill, all enjoying their piece of heaven in the foothills.

A 50-foot tall waterfall draws hikers to the base of the San Gabriel Mountains near Altadena.

(

Mel Melcon

/

Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

)

As I walked along Lincoln Avenue near the Super King, I saw a young couple bring avocados from their yard to a National Guard member.

It was their first time back in Altadena since the fire. Their house had survived, but to escape the smoke and ash they were staying in the South Bay, which they found too fast-paced and the people too impatient. They would be coming back and would be here to stay.

And they said they hoped I’d come back too. When you do, the man said, as he gestured down the street toward his house, you have us — your neighbors.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

(

J.W. Hendricks

/

The LA Local

)

In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.