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The season for kissing under the mistletoe has arrived, and you can get a permit to harvest your own white berries in our local forests.
Why it matters: We associate mistletoe with romance, but it’s actually a parasitic plant that can harm our forest’s trees — severe infestations can even kill them. That’s why the Angeles and San Bernardino national forests require permits to harvest mistletoe.
Keep reading... to learn how to get a permit and safely harvest mistletoe.
The season for kissing under the mistletoe has arrived, and if you want to harvest those white berries yourself in our local forests, you're going to need a permit
We may associate mistletoe with romance, but it’s actually a parasitic plant that can harm our forest’s trees — severe infestations can even kill them. That’s why the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests require permits to harvest mistletoe.
Found on oaks and pines, the plant siphons nutrients and water. While healthy trees can coexist with mistletoe — and mistletoe can provide a source of food and nesting for local birds and small wildlife — too much of it can weaken trees, especially if they’re already stressed by other impacts such as drought or disease.
There are different types of mistletoe, but dwarf mistletoe tends to be the most threatening variety (though it's not as pretty as the typical mistletoe you might catch a smooch under).
To get a permit for the Angeles or San Bernardino national forests, you’ll need to call your nearest district office (here’s the list for the Angeles, and here’s the list for San Bernardino) and schedule an appointment.
There’s a $20 minimum fee to harvest mistletoe in the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, but there are no fees associated with harvesting mistletoe from the rest of the Angeles Forest, if the mistletoe will be used for personal use.
When you get your permit, the resource officer will give you ideas for the closest areas to find mistletoe. Some of those places include:
(Be sure to stay out of areas closed due to the Bridge Fire or other forest orders.)
Be sure not to cut whole limbs off trees to collect your mistletoe. Just pluck it by hand. Mistletoe can also be sticky, so it’s a good idea to bring gloves. And always keep mistletoe away from pets and children — it’s poisonous if eaten.
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Two of the three hikers found dead last week at Mt. Baldy have been identified.
The backstory: Their bodies were discovered when a search-and-rescue crew was dispatched to search for another missing hiker, who was reported to have fallen 500 feet near Devil’s Backbone Trail.
What's next: Trails on and around Mt. Baldy are still closed after the discovery of the three bodies.
Two of the three hikers found dead last week at Mt. Baldy have been identified.
They are Juan Sarat Lopez, 37, and Bayron Pedro Ramos Garcia, 36, according to authorities on Saturday. Both men are Guatemalan nationals living in Los Angeles.
Investigators believe the two fell from the Devil’s Backbone Trail the same day they were found.
Their bodies were discovered when a search-and-rescue crew was dispatched to search for another missing hiker, who was reported to have fallen 500 feet near Devil’s Backbone Trail.
That person was identified later as Marcus Alexander Muench Casanova, 19, of Seal Beach.
Hiking trails on and around Mount Baldy have been closed by authorities after the deceased hikers were found, until 11:59 p.m. Jan. 7.
“Our primary responsibility is the preservation of life,” Sheriff Shannon Dicus said in a social media message sent on New Year's Eve. “Closing these trails is a necessary step to mitigate ongoing risks. We urge the community to respect these boundaries.”
The following trails will be closed:
Topline:
Hours after the U.S. military captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, President Trump made it clear that the U.S. operation is about — at least in part — control of Venezuela's oil. .
Read on... for a primer about Venezuela's oil reserves.
Hours after the U.S. military captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, President Trump made it clear that the U.S. operation is about — at least in part — control of Venezuela's oil.
"We're going to have our very large U.S. oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country," Trump said during a press conference Saturday.
The capture of Maduro and Trump's comments comes at a time when even a country like Venezuela — with one of the biggest oil resources in the world — isn't a sure bet for attracting major oil companies.
Many oil companies have been bruised by their past experiences operating in the country. The global oil market is currently facing an oversupply. Oil prices are below $60 a barrel, and long-term projections for oil demand are unclear as the world shifts to more electric vehicles.
Trump promises to "run the country" and make way for U.S. oil companies in Venezuela. However, there's a long history of U.S. interventions in Latin America and the Middle East not going well, oil experts tell NPR.
Here's what you need to know about Venezuela's oil.
Venezuela was once one of the biggest global oil producers and was one of the main founders of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a group of some of the world's biggest oil producers, whose decisions help determine global oil prices. Venezuela has the largest proven reserves of oil in the world, according to OPEC.
But while the country was producing more than 3 million barrels a day a few decades ago, today Venezuela produces only about a million barrels a day, or roughly 1% of global oil output. The U.S. produces about 13 million barrels a day.
Much of Venezuela's oil went to refineries in the U.S. Now much of it goes to China.
Not all crude oil is the same — some oil is physically lighter and easier for refineries to process. Venezuela's oil is heavy and dense, and requires special refineries. Burning any type of oil contributes to climate change, but Venezuela's oil is "among the dirtiest oils in the world to produce when it comes to global warming," says Paasha Mahdavi, associate professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
U.S. oil companies like Chevron began drilling in Venezuela about one hundred years ago and played a key role in developing the country's oil sector.
But around 2004 to 2007, then-President Hugo Chávez "basically forcefully renegotiated contracts" with international oil companies, says Francisco Monaldi, director of the Latin America Energy Program at the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University.
ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips left the country in 2007 and then took the Venezuelan government to international arbitration courts. The courts ordered Venezuela to pay ConocoPhillips over $10 billion and ExxonMobil over $1 billion. Venezuela has only paid a fraction of those sums to ExxonMobil and to ConocoPhillips.
Chevron, however, stayed in Venezuela — although " they didn't like it," says Gerald Kepes, president of Competitive Energy Strategies, an energy consultancy in Washington, D.C.
Chevron today produces about a quarter of Venezuela's oil.
In response to the news of Maduro's capture, Chevron spokesperson Bill Turenne said in an email, "Chevron remains focused on the safety and wellbeing of our employees, as well as the integrity of our assets. We continue to operate in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations."
Trump has said that Venezuela has "stolen" U.S. investment in the country's energy sector.
Venezuela is what the oil industry calls a "brownfield" — meaning it's well established, and oil companies have a fairly good idea of what they will find when they drill. For companies like ConocoPhillips, returning to Venezuela could be an opportunity to recoup some of the billions owed to them by the government, Monaldi says.
In an email, ConocoPhillips spokesperson Dennis Nuss wrote, "ConocoPhillips is monitoring developments in Venezuela and their potential implications for global energy supply and stability. It would be premature to speculate on any future business activities or investments."
ExxonMobil did not respond to a request for comment.
Still, this isn't the best time to add to the global oil supply, Monaldi says. There's currently a worldwide glut of oil. Also, because Venezuela's oil is particularly bad for the climate, that makes it less attractive for European oil companies with climate goals, Monaldi says.
Next door to Venezuela is Guyana — a country that recently discovered over 10 billion barrels of oil and is a key emerging player in the international oil industry.
Guyana's oil is lighter than Venezuela's, less polluting, and has lower taxes than Venezuela, Monaldi says. There's also no national oil company in Guyana, as there is in Venezuela.
"All that makes for Guyana to be one of the most attractive oil places in the world," Monaldi says.
While ExxonMobil is no longer in Venezuela, it is a major player in Guyana.
For years, Venezuela and Guyana have had a territorial dispute that has also been related to oil rights. Last March, Venezuelan vessels entered Guyanese territorial waters approaching offshore oil vessels belonging to ExxonMobil.
"Without a doubt, with a changing regime, Guyana should feel more secure," Monaldi says.
Some increase in Venezuela's oil production could happen fairly quickly with more financial support and improved management, according to an analysis by Wood Mackenzie, an energy consultancy.
But Mahdavi says the Trump administration's plans to jumpstart the industry will be difficult. He notes that it took nearly two decades to revitalize Iraq's oil industry after the U.S. invasion, though corruption and mismanagement remain pervasive.
And ultimately, notes Kepes, if it's unclear who is in charge in Venezuela, oil companies will have concerns about the long-term viability of their contracts. "No one's going to start investing on the ground in a place where there's no legal contract and viable permission to operate or if there's concerns about political stability and violence," he says.
Copyright 2026 NPR
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The Palisadian-Post, a community newspaper dedicated to the Pacific Palisades, published its final edition on Christmas Day.
Why now? After January’s fires subscriptions basically fell to zero and what advertisers the paper did have all but disappeared, according to owner Alan Smolinisky.
Who read it? At its height, the paper reached over 6,000 subscribers and was solely focused on stories local to the Palisades. Reporters would cover local community meetings, sports events and businesses.
Read on ... for nearly 100 years of memories of the Pali-Post.
The Palisadian-Post, the community paper that’s been covering the Pacific Palisades for nearly 100 years, printed its final issue on Christmas Day.
After January’s fires, subscriptions basically fell to zero, as did advertisers, according to a memo announcing the paper's closure from owner Alan Smolinisky.
But its end brings with it nearly a century of memories.
The seaside community of Pacific Palisades was founded by members of the Methodist church in 1922. Six years later, the first issue of what would become the Pali-Post was published to document town life.
“ A little 12-point, 12-page tabloid, they called the Palisadian” said Bill Bruns, a former editor of the Palisadian-Post from 1993 to 2013, and member of the Pacific Palisades Historical Society. Before he was editor, Bruns was a loyal reader of the paper.
In 1934, the paper was purchased by Clifford Clearwater, one of the first settlers of the Palisades. Bruns said Clearwater had been an ambulance driver in World War I, and was the Palisades's original postal carrier where he would deliver mail by horseback.
He wasn’t trained as a journalist, but his life experiences gave him the confidence to keep publishing the paper, serving as its photographer and editor until his death in 1956.
“He had a friend who had a little plane and he would take Cliff up and Cliff would shoot these great aerial pictures of the town growing, hanging out of this little plane,” Bruns said.
Over the years, Clearwater took about 3,000 aerial photos of the community as it developed and grew. All of those pictures survived the Palisades Fire and are stored at the Santa Monica Library for the public to see.
In 1950, a rival paper — the Pacific Palisades Post — came on the scene and by the end of the next decade, the two papers would merge to become the Pali-Post that most people think of today.
The paper changed hands again in 1981 and a little over a decade later, Bruns began as editor.
With an average of about 30 pages to fill every week, he said what readers appreciated most was the focus on local news. Reporters went in person to cover stories and were often seen at local meetings, sports events and businesses.
“So they knew that they were getting firsthand coverage of what was happening in the town,” Bruns said.
Readers like Sue Kohl who lived in the Palisades for 32 years, respected the breadth of its coverage.
The Post covered school sports her children participated in. She said it featured plenty of advertisements from neighborhood businesses, including her own real estate agency. She especially liked the small town bulletin feel of the paper.
“They talked about local issues. They talked about local residents, whether they were famous or not famous,” Kohl said.
One of her favorite sections to read was the “Two Cents” column, stray thoughts and opinions from Palisadians. She also appreciated the in-depth obituaries.
Bruns said the obit section was always appreciated by the families since the paper didn’t charge for them.
“ Because we didn't charge, people would write nice obituaries because they weren't worried about the cost and they would give us a picture and we ran those,” Bruns said.
The paper was known for its responsiveness to the community. The staff took pitches from readers, Bruns said, and put the spotlight on Palisadians themselves.
There was a “golden couples” column for anybody married for 50 years or more; a “young Palisadians” column for enterprising youngsters and a “people on the move” column for the movers and shakers.
The paper also announced the first birth in the community each year.
“It was kind of a cool thing to be the first baby in the Palisades. They gave them prizes like baby gifts and things. Very local, community driven, small town emphasis,” Kohl said.
That small town emphasis remained a constant. Gabriella Bock was a reporter at the Pali-Post from 2016 to 2018. She said it her first real newsroom experience.
“ We were a small, tight-knit news team of myself, a sports reporter and one other staff reporter,” Bock said. “So I was able to be taken under their wing and learn a lot in a short period of time.”
But the paper was more than just a place to work. When Bock got married, her fellow reporters wrote a marriage announcement in the paper. When she was pregnant, they threw her a baby shower.
When she heard about the paper closing its doors, she said it was heartbreaking. To Bock it’s not about being nostalgic or sentimental about a former workplace. She sees the giant hole the disappearance of another local newsroom can leave people with.
“It's how people learn what's happening on their block, in their schools, in their city, and when that disappears, people oftentimes will lose a reason to stay engaged at all,” said Bock.
Bruns echoes Bock’s sentiment. He saw the paper as a unifier of the community in his two-decade tenure.
“It just made people feel more like they really liked their town, and the Palisades Post was a crucial element in that whole spirit of community,” Bruns said.
Kohl, whose home is more than halfway rebuilt, hopes that the spirit will return one day.
Last time she drove through her old neighborhood of The Alphabet Streets she saw several homes in the process of coming back up.
“I have faith that we will all come back, and I hope that the newspaper finds that as well,” said Kohl.
Topline:
California lawmakers have issued their responses on the U.S. military operation in Venezuela.
The backstory: In a news conference this morning, President Donald Trump said the U.S. is going to "run" that country until a proper transition is in place.
President Donald Trump launched a military strike against Venezuela overnight, resulting in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
In a news conference this morning, Trump said the U.S. is going to "run" that country, until a proper transition is in place.
California lawmakers are reacting to the attacks.
"Nicolás Maduro was a thug and an illegitimate leader of Venezuela, terrorizing and oppressing its people for far too long and forcing many to leave the country. But starting a war to remove Maduro doesn’t just continue Donald Trump’s trampling of the Constitution, it further erodes America’s standing on the world stage and risks our adversaries mirroring this brazen illegal escalation," says Sen. Adam Schiff, a democrat.
Nicolás Maduro was a thug and an illegitimate leader of Venezuela, terrorizing and oppressing its people for far too long and forcing many to leave the country. But starting a war to remove Maduro doesn’t just continue Donald Trump’s trampling of the Constitution, it further…
— Adam Schiff (@SenAdamSchiff) January 3, 2026
Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, who represents areas including Murrieta and the Temecula Valley, says President Trump, "has taken strong action to protect America’s homeland from neighboring threats of narcoterrorism and the scourge of deadly narcotics. The Trump administration has my full support."
Our elite military have again performed brilliantly with total effectiveness, and minimum loss of life. They are the best-trained, best-equipped, and bravest in the world.
— Rep. Darrell Issa (@repdarrellissa) January 3, 2026
Once again, @realDonaldTrump has taken strong action to protect America’s homeland from neighboring threats…
Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla says, "Let’s be absolutely clear: Trump’s military action in Venezuela is unlawful without approval from Congress."
Let’s be absolutely clear: Trump’s military action in Venezuela is unlawful without approval from Congress.
— Senator Alex Padilla (@SenAlexPadilla) January 3, 2026
There’s no clear objective, no endgame, and no plan for what comes next. This is a dangerous recipe for chaos in the region.
And while he escalates conflicts abroad,…
California Governor Gavin Newsom did not directly response to the attacks. He zeroed in on a comment Trump made about the L.A. fires during the news conference.
"Unless Trump is finally delivering the federal aid survivors need to rebuild after the horrific fires — nearly a year after California first requested it — he should keep Los Angeles out of his mouth," Newsom's office says on social.
Unless Trump is finally delivering the federal aid survivors need to rebuild after the horrific fires — nearly a year after California first requested it — he should keep Los Angeles out of his mouth. https://t.co/DolwqB3NnJ
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) January 3, 2026
