The Brief

Fire survivors who lost their homes have until April 15 to decide whether to join a government program to clear their lots, or to opt out and hire a private contractor to do the job instead.

FEMA recently extended that deadline, which was March 31, and expanded eligibility to include condos and multi-family homes. The goal is to get people who haven't yet signed up to do so.

County officials are urging everyone who is on the fence to join the program, emphasizing that property owners can always pull out later. And the vast majority of eligible residents have done so — nearly 9,800 out of more than 12,000 eligible land parcels as of the latest count.

But questions about cleanup and concerns about insurance money remain for homeowners.

How is the debris removal going? 

The government program is led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Their "Phase 2" clean up is now 7% complete, according to an online tracker that reports 949 properties have had their debris removal completed.

Col. Eric Swenson said Friday that the Corps of Engineers has cleared visible debris from 1,850 land parcels, with a few final steps remaining.

" This program is the safest, fastest and most cost-effective way to ensure that your property is cleared for rebuilding, and I would recommend you sign up for our program," he said at a news conference on the fire debris removal program.

A process with many steps

Residents Frank Figueroa and Melissa Dowd-Figueroa lost their home in the Eaton Fire and have signed up for the government cleanup. They said it took weeks for the county to approve the forms they filled out to opt in to debris removal, and that the Corps of Engineers has cleaned up neighbors' plots but not their own.

" Our timeline is dictated by the bureaucracy of the county," Figueroa said. "However long they take to do each process is how long we have to stay in another living space. And if they don't complete that in a timely manner, we have to sell this property."

The Corps of Engineers has a multi-step process for clearing debris from a property after it receives and accepts "right of entry" forms from L.A. County, according to Swenson. First there's an assessment on the site that checks for hazardous trees and asbestos. When necessary, then there's asbestos abatement. After that, the primary debris clearing starts.

Swenson said his goal is to have teams working on more houses in the same neighborhood at once, and that a barrier to doing that has been that houses are on different timelines in the cleanup process. He said as more lots get through asbestos abatement, it will be easier to assign crews to more lots on the same block.

" We don't like to move crews, but I also can't have a crew sit idle because there's no more properties that are ready for debris removal on that street," he said.

Insurance questions and concerns

L.A. county officials say a big reason people have opted out or not decided on the government program is insurance.

The fire debris removal program is meant to be free, but L.A. County will try to recoup insurance money once the cleanup is complete.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' contractors are not removing structures like pools, patios and driveways from properties, meaning some homeowners may need to hire a private contractor to finish the job.

The county's fire recovery website says that property owners can use their insurance money to do cleanup that is not covered by the government program, and that the county will only collect insurance money that remains after that process is complete.

"The county may later request a portion of the remaining insurance proceeds, but only after your home is rebuilt or all debris has been cleared," L.A. County Public Works Chief Deputy Director Angela George-Moody said Friday.

What it takes to 'opt out'

Altadena resident Lara Lund opted to have her private insurance remove the debris of her home, which she said cleared her whole property including her driveway at the same time.

Those that choose to opt out of the government cleanup need to submit a form and then apply for a fire debris removal permit — a process Lund described as frustrating.

L.A. County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger said Friday that she was concerned about residents' stories that getting those permits was challenging. But she also said the permitting process for private contractors is necessary to ensure debris is properly handled.

"My biggest concern is that we're gonna get contractors up here who are not licensed who are gonna end up taking it up to the Antelope Valley and dumping it in the desert," she said. "So I want to make sure that we are ensuring that whoever is opting out is using a licensed contractor. ... It should not be difficult to get a permit."

Questions about rebuilding

The debris clearing process is just the beginning of a lengthy journey for families who want to rebuild in fire zones.

Barger said Friday that for the area affected by the Eaton Fire, LA County's Department of Regional Planning has approved just 23 of 132 applications for rebuilding. The Department of Public Works has approved building permits for two of those 23 applications.

" Of the two permits approved, they are both still pending clearance, one for debris removal and the other for clearances from other departments such as fire," she said. "These numbers are simply not acceptable. We must move faster with a sense of urgency."

Raymundo Baltazar and his husband are planning to rebuild after losing their home in the Eaton Fire. He said they've signed up for the government debris removal program.

Now, they're waiting for the call that it's their turn for cleanup.

" The timeline has been OK," he said. "But we want to go home."

After the Department of Justice issued a wide-ranging subpoena to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles last June, the records of more than 3,000 patients now will be protected until at least February 2029 under a settlement reached between patient families and the federal government.

What the federal government was seeking

The DOJ wanted to pull a wide swath of information from CHLA’s records related to hormone therapy prescriptions, including the identities and social security numbers of the people it was prescribed to. Lawyers for CHLA patient families said the broad request also included details of patients’ sexual health data and records of their mental health and said the inquiry violated their constitutional rights.

What CHLA’s lawyers are saying

“This is a massive victory for every family that refused to be intimidated into backing down,” said Khadijah Silver, director of gender justice and health equity at Lawyers for Good Government. “The government's attempt to rifle through children's medical records was unconstitutional from the start.”

Silver also noted that DOJ confirmed it had not received any sensitive patient data under the parts of the subpoena that had been struck down.

What’s in the settlement

Under the agreement, which was first reported by Reuters, the federal government has withdrawn its requests for personal information like social security numbers, prescription records and “documents relating to the clinical indications, diagnoses or assessments that formed the basis for prescribing puberty blockers or hormone therapy.”

The government cannot make new requests of this type to CHLA until February 2029. The settlement also establishes a process for the DOJ to continue to pursue seeking some limited redacted medical records from CHLA.

What it means for parents and children

In the aftermath of the subpoenas, many advocates were worried that families would face federal prosecution for seeking gender-affirming care for their children.

However, according to the settlement, the DOJ said it “is not currently aware of information that would support the federal prosecution of parents or guardians who have sought and consented to receiving gender-related care for their children at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.”

What the hospital and DOJ say about the win

LAist has reached out for comment to both entities and has not heard back.

The backstory

The subpoenas were issued on or about June 11, 2025, according to the settlement. They were made public in July, though many patient families remained in the dark about whether they were affected. CHLA announced it planned to close its clinic for trans youth June 12.

Judges have ruled against similar requests and struck down subpoenas seeking records from other hospitals, like Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Boston Children’s Hospital.

Los Angeles voters could soon get another chance to weigh in on Measure ULA, better known as the city’s “mansion tax.”

First approved by voters in November 2022, the measure has taxed real estate selling for more than $5 million. It funds tenant protection programs and affordable housing construction.

But economists have found that because the tax also applies to apartments — not just mansions — housing developers are pulling back on building in the city compared to other parts of L.A. County. One UCLA study concluded the city would have more low-income units on balance if the tax did not apply to new apartments.

Now, there’s a new effort brewing at City Hall to change how the “mansion tax” works.

City Councilmember Nithya Raman, chair of the council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, introduced a motion Friday to place a new measure on the June ballot. The ballot measure would ask voters to exempt recently constructed apartment buildings from the tax, among other changes.

“We've seen some real pressures on the market as a result of ULA,” Raman told LAist. “It was sold to voters and talked about as a mansion tax. I don't think it was intended to slow the construction of new apartments in a city with an acknowledged and widespread housing crisis.”

Supporters of the tax say it’s working as intended. They dispute claims that ULA is responsible for slower housing growth in the city.

No council votes have yet been taken.

Local reform effort follows failed state bill

Supporters say the tax has funded eviction defense and rent relief programs. It has also produced the city’s largest-ever pot of money for low-income housing development, though less than 200 apartments have been completed and leased so far.

Joe Donlin, director of the group United to House L.A., called the latest reform effort “irresponsible.”

The proposed tax exemption for apartments built within the last 15 years would be “a tax break for developers and billionaires,” Donlin said.

“That would be giving money away from ULA programs that are protecting renters, that are keeping people from falling into homelessness, and building affordable housing,” he said.

Raman’s motion would also cancel the tax on homeowners affected by the Palisades Fire. Another change would restructure certain financing terms in order to attract traditional lenders to participate in ULA-funded affordable housing projects.

Many of the changes are similar to those proposed by state lawmakers in a bill that failed to advance at the tail end of last year’s legislative session in Sacramento.

Dueling effort at repeal is underway 

But those who support reform say without some changes, the tax could soon be thrown out entirely. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is collecting signatures for a separate ballot measure that would overturn not just Measure ULA, but similar taxes across the state.

Mott Smith, a reform proponent and the co-author of a UCLA study that found the tax had sharply reduced high-end real estate sales, said this is shaping up to be a tough political fight.

“I commend Councilmember Raman for doing her best to turn Measure ULA into something that might actually work before it goes away,” Smith said.

Some L.A. council members have already signaled opposition to the push for reform.

Alejandra Alarcon, a spokesperson for Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, said in a statement to LAist that Jurado opposes the motion as written.

“Voters overwhelmingly supported ULA to help build and sustain diverse communities,” the statement read. “Any changes to the measure should be made with community advocates at the table, not without them.”

What’s next?

The new City Council effort has a long way to go before any changes are made to the tax.

If a majority of the council approves it for the June ballot, a majority of local voters would need to sign off on changing a measure that received nearly 58% support from voters back in November 2022.

The eagle (egg) has landed.

Southern California's famous bald eagle couple, known as Jackie and Shadow, appear to have something new to take care of, as seen on the popular YouTube livestream run by Friends of Big Bear Valley that has captivated thousands of people.

Jackie laid the first egg of the season around 4:30 p.m. Friday in the nest overlooking Big Bear Lake, according to organization records, as more than 14,000 people watched the livestream.

In recent months, the birds were seen working on their "nestorations"— bringing in fresh sticks and fluff furnishings to the top of the Jeffrey pine tree they’ve claimed as their home, according to the nonprofit.

Last year, Jackie laid the first egg of that season around the same time, following up with a second and third a few days later.

Fans are once again eagerly watching the eagles for signs of more eggs in the clutch, which refers to the eggs laid in each nesting attempt, usually three days apart.

Jenny Voisard, the organization’s media and website manager, told LAist the Big Bear bald eagle fan community grew when the couple successfully raised two bald eagle chicks, Sunny and Gizmo, last season.

“The building of the nest, the bonding, the flirting, the mating, the bickering, the moving the sticks around, defending against intruders, you know, that's all been new for a lot of people,” she said.

“People are all kind of like nervous aunties and uncles,” she continued. “So we just try to keep everybody calm.”

As always, Jackie and Shadow are in charge. Fans will have to wait and see what this season will bring, Voisard said.

What to watch for

Friends of Big Bear Valley has been keeping track of the nesting season milestones, including a new daily record of at least 28 sticks delivered to the nest in November. The eagles’ previous single-day stick record was 25, according to the organization.

Other milestones include Shadow dropping off the first fluff in December, and the first mating a few weeks later.

“Pancaking” is a term Friends of Big Bear Valley uses to describe when the eagles lay flat in their nest bowl, before the eggs have arrived, for increasingly longer stretches of time.

The organization said Jackie had her longest “pancake session” of the season so far this week, laying in the nest for a little more than a half hour.

“That activity is a sign that we're getting closer to egg-laying,” Voisard said. “[Jackie’s] doing a few things, she's making the shape and she's testing it out.”

Jackie will likely also eat more fish from the nest so she has enough energy for the egg-laying process, Voisard said. Last January, the eagles brought two fish to the nest in the hours before the first egg was laid and three fish a day earlier, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley records.

When eggs are imminent, she said Jackie will “pancake” on the nest for long periods of time before rousing and puffing up her feathers. Then, Jackie typically makes a high-pitched, whistling tea kettle noise as she has contractions, according to the organization.

On Friday, Jackie made the tea kettle noise about three minutes before the first egg was laid, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley records.

“She looks almost royal, because all of her feathers are out and it's just — I cry,” Voisard said with a laugh. “It's usually pretty amazing.”

The eagles know best

While there are signs of new life coming to the nest, every season is different for Jackie and Shadow, and Friends of Big Bear Valley is encouraging people to be patient.

It was unseasonably warm in the area this past fall, and last season was the first time Jackie and Shadow successfully raised two chicks to fly away from the nest instead of just one. The organization has said both factors could delay this season’s egg-laying timeline.

“I'm sure [two] was a lot more work than with just one,” Sandy Steers, executive director of the organization, told LAist previously. “So I think that had something to do with them needing a longer break.”

And some seasons have ended with an empty nest, including in 2024 and 2023 when both sets of eggs didn’t hatch after weeks of waiting.

Voisard said while we can’t predict what’s going to happen this year, fans don’t have to watch in fear or let human emotions get in the way of enjoying the eagle experience.

“We feel all of the feels with Jackie and Shadow … happiness, laughter, we get worried, we feel joy, we felt sorrow,” she said. “It's all OK, and Jackie and Shadow move forward, no matter what.”

Jackie and Shadow in Big Bear's famous bald eagle nest on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.

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Friends of Big Bear Valley

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YouTube

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