Topline:
More than a month and half after L.A.’s devastating fires, the recovery is just beginning. And even for the residents of burn zones whose homes survived, the road ahead is complicated.
Health concerns: Some residents are staying in their homes in the burn zones, waiting for insurance to cover cleanup and worrying about their health as debris removal continues around them.
Read on ... to learn more about how two Altadena residents are coping and for recovery resources.
On a sunny day in late January, Tamara Carroll returned to her home on Navarro Avenue in west Altadena for the first time. It survived the Eaton Fire, and she was coming back with an insurance inspector to assess the damage.
“ I don't know how I feel,” Carroll said. “I'm grateful I have a house to come back to, but it's a long journey ahead.”
Her group of girlfriends were there to support her — close friends she’s known for some 35 years.
"We come together in happiness and sadness ... all the events of life,” said friend Barri Brown. “This is one of those times where we come together and put our arms around each other.”
More than a month and half after L.A.’s devastating fires, the recovery is just beginning.
Even for residents whose homes survived, the road ahead is complicated.
Some are staying in their homes, worried about the health effects as they wait for their insurance to cover smoke and ash cleanup, and watch as debris removal continues around them. Others are staying elsewhere, and still not sure they’ll ever return for good.
For those whose homes still stand in the burn zones, homeowners insurance and personal property insurance should cover most damage, including smoke damage, said David Russell, professor of insurance and finance at Cal State Northridge. But there can be limitations.
“ In some cases, smoke damage is a tricky one because reasonable people can disagree about whether or not there's a smell of smoke or if it's damaged,” Russell said. “The policy is really about physical damage. And it's less about if you don't feel safe.”
Russell said personal property insurance may cover only the depreciated value of objects like couches and mattresses. Russell added that residents should not be afraid to ask their adjusters about additional coverage and to document everything if you disagree with the assessment.
Here are some more resources to help you navigate insurance and recovery after the fires:
Carroll didn’t evacuate the night the Eaton Fire broke out, putting out spot fires in her yard and her neighbors’ yard as she watched homes burning a couple blocks down the street.
Once the flames died down, she stayed in her house for nearly another week without power, water or gas.
“It was just cold. I had no heat, and I was sleeping in my clothes,” Carroll recalled. “I was hyper vigilant: I had my backpack. I slept in my shoes. And it just became too much on my psyche.”
She left for a hotel in Burbank, which her insurance is covering. But she’s been replaying the night of Jan. 7 in her head, and rewatching the videos she took on her phone.
“I keep replaying those moments where I see the flames and the fire.... That's the trauma,” Carroll said.
The insurance adjuster tallied the physical damage. He marked charred shingles on her roof with white chalk. Her outdoor furniture is burned. The wall between her and her neighbor's house blew over in the wind.
Inside, the house smells like smoke. The adjuster swiped the walls with tissues — a thin coat of ash covered them. The adjuster recommended a smoke and ash cleaning.
Her homeowners insurance covers only the structure itself — the adjuster told Carroll she’ll need to have another adjuster with her personal property insurance to assess her furniture, rugs and the like.
By mid-February, Carroll just got the check for exterior repairs, but still awaits the insurance payment for smoke and ash remediation inside. She’s negotiating with her adjuster for additional coverage.
Even once the repairs are done, though, she doesn’t know if she’ll permanently return to the home her parents bought in 1963.
“We're grieving,” Carroll said. “Altadena will never ever be like it was. Ever.”
A couple of blocks over, on Glenrose Avenue, Ana Martinez and her family are still working to clean up their home, which also survived the fire. Their neighbor’s house didn’t.
“We’re surviving,” Martinez said. “Trying to get back to normal. Our new normal now.”
Martinez pointed out damage to the three homes on the property: Roof shingles and wood siding are charred. The carport is gone. The window blinds are melted, the glass broken from the heat of the flames. Her trash bins are a single melted piece of green, blue and black plastic.
“It's my new art piece now,” Martinez said.
Martinez said insurance will replace only damaged shingles, not the whole roof, though she thinks that is needed. They’ll also replace the windows. Martinez and her husband, sons, nephews and other family members have done their best to clean up inside and outside their homes.
But they’re still waiting on professional smoke and ash remediation. And as debris cleanup continues around her, she worries the house will only take in more toxic ash and dirt.
In the days after the fire, researchers measured high levels of lead, heavy metals, asbestos, microplastics and other toxic pollutants in the air. Those particles can settle into soil and dust, potentially becoming re-suspended as cleanup and rebuilding efforts continue. That toxic pollution can lead to health issues, from respiratory problems to increased risks of heart disease and cancer.
All of that is making Martinez worried about her family’s health.
The Martinezes have lived in their home this whole time. She said she and her husband developed bad coughs and recently went to the doctor for lung X-rays.
“We have kids here,” Martinez said. “We want to make sure they're safe; we don't want to just do a job halfway.”
Their young granddaughter and grandson, who has heart and lung issues, recently returned to the house because insurance stopped advancing money for their stays in hotels and short-term rentals after the first couple of weeks, instead asking them to submit claims for reimbursement.
California law requires insurance to pay four months of advance payments for living expenses for people who lost their homes in a fire, but there aren’t the same benefits for those whose homes survived. Coverage for temporary housing in this case varies by policy.
In the Martinezes case, they now have to foot the bill upfront and submit claims for reimbursement.
“They said ... 'It's best if you don't stay; we recognize it's bad for your health, so go away ... and then send us the receipts,'” Martinez said. “But what if they come out and say, ‘Oh, that's not covered.’ Then what? We don't have the money to go anywhere. ... We're out of the little bit of money we have in our savings.”
Topline:
L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna confirmed Monday that ICE will play a role in World Cup security, but said he's been told they won't conduct immigration enforcement.
Why now: He made the comments today at a news conference on law enforcement's plans for the tournament, and said he'd been speaking directly with the head of Homeland Security in the Los Angeles area.
Why it matters: The World Cup is coming to Los Angeles at exactly the year mark since immigration agents ramped up arrests in the region. Masked agents in neighborhoods across the county sparked protests and widespread fear, and ICE arrests in the L.A. area last year tripled.
Read on… for more on what officials had to say about ICE and security at the upcoming World Cup.
L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna confirmed Monday that ICE will play a role in World Cup security, but said he's been told federal agents won't conduct immigration enforcement.
He made the comments at a news conference on law enforcement's plans for the tournament, and said he'd been speaking directly with the head of Homeland Security in the Los Angeles area.
"There will be federal agents," Luna said. " Because it's gonna take all of us to make sure that all the venues, the scoped and unscoped events, are secure."
SoFi Stadium is set to host eight tournament matches, including the U.S. team opener against Paraguay on June 12. Los Angeles will also host a historic match three days later when Iran is set to take the field in Inglewood, making the U.S. the first host nation in World Cup history to be at war with a participating country.
Luna said the federal government had said that civil immigration enforcement would not occur at the tournament. But he made no guarantees.
" They told us that specifically would not be occurring at any of the games. Any of that's subject to change," he said. "But I have trust that they're giving me the appropriate information because if that starts occurring, we're gonna have a whole new host of problems."
In a statement to LAist, Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis wrote that Department of Homeland Security is working with federal, state, local and international partners.
“The safety and security of the American people and the millions of visitors attending these events remain our highest priority," Bis wrote in an email. "DHS will continue leveraging every available authority, technology, and partnership to protect the Homeland while ensuring the World Cup remains safe, secure, and successful for everyone involved.”
Luna is the latest official to confirm that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will play a role in the tournament. Kathryn Schloessman, who leads L.A.'s World Cup host committee, told reporters last month that ICE would be at the World Cup, and that its presence was typical at these types of major events.
ICE has two main branches: Enforcement and Removal Operations, which detains and deports people, and Homeland Security Investigations, which conducts international criminal investigations.
Todd Lyons, the former head of ICE, said at a congressional hearing earlier this year that it would be ICE’s investigatory branch, not its enforcement division, playing a key role in World Cup security.
Still, some in L.A. aren't satisfied. The World Cup is coming to Los Angeles at exactly the year mark since immigration agents ramped up arrests in the region. Masked agents in neighborhoods across the county sparked protests and widespread fear, and ICE arrests in the L.A. area last year tripled.
SoFi Stadium workers represented by Unite Here Local 11 have threatened to strike over ICE's role in the tournament. They'll vote on whether or not to authorize a strike later this week.
Topline:
California air regulators on Friday approved a contentious overhaul of the state’s carbon market, creating a program that could steer billions of dollars in free pollution permits to oil refineries and other major polluters over the objections of environmental groups, key lawmakers and three of the board’s own members.
Why now? Ten members of the California Air Resources Board voted to adopt the changes to its cap-and-invest program after two days of lengthy hearings, including a full day dedicated to hundreds of public comments.
How we got here: The overhaul followed intensive lobbying by the oil industry as well as pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to help keep refineries operating in the state amid rising gas prices.
The context:The approval sets up a potential budget fight in Sacramento. The Legislative Analyst’s Office projects that quarterly auction revenue for state climate programs will drop from roughly $4 billion a year to about $2 billion under the new overhaul.
Read on... for more on the overhaul and its implications.
California air regulators on Friday approved a contentious overhaul of the state’s carbon market, creating a program that could steer billions of dollars in free pollution permits to oil refineries and other major polluters over the objections of environmental groups, key lawmakers and three of the board’s own members.
Ten members of the California Air Resources Board voted to adopt the changes to its cap-and-invest program after two days of lengthy hearings, including a full day dedicated to hundreds of public comments.
The overhaul followed intensive lobbying by the oil industry as well as pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to help keep refineries operating in the state amid rising gas prices.
The approval sets up a potential budget fight in Sacramento. The Legislative Analyst’s Office projects that quarterly auction revenue for state climate programs will drop from roughly $4 billion a year to about $2 billion under the new overhaul.
Such a shortfall would effectively zero out programs lawmakers spent last year fighting to fund: affordable housing, public transit, drinking water in low-income communities and pollution monitoring in California’s most polluted neighborhoods.
The governor’s office praised the measure as a compromise that balanced economic uncertainty with the state’s climate goals. Refinery closures and the Iran-Israel war have driven average California gas prices above $6 a gallon.
Newsom, in a statement, used the moment to draw a contrast with President Donald Trump.
“While Trump sows ongoing chaos and uncertainty, California is staying focused by protecting our economy, safeguarding public health, and doubling down on the clean energy future all Californians deserve,” he said.
Environmentalists warned the changes to the program amount to a giveaway to the fossil fuel industry that weakens California’s only program setting a firm cap on greenhouse gas emissions.
Katelyn Roedner Sutter, California senior director for the Environmental Defense Fund, called the decision “deeply misguided” for prioritizing polluters over communities.
“Newsom’s air regulators are handing billions to oil executives at the expense of our climate, health, and affordability for working families in a rushed process that has shortchanged meaningful public participation,” said Bahram Fazeli, policy director at Communities for a Better Environment.
California’s 13-year-old carbon market forces major polluters to buy permits while the state lowers the overall cap each year. Friday’s vote will reduce those permits – and creates a new subsidy program carved out of the market.
The program, which may still see changes, could make available a new pool of free pollution permits available to industry valued at as much as $4 billion. Companies that pledge to invest in clean energy and efficiency may qualify for the permits in exchange for investments in clean energy.
The pool will be capped at 118.3 million permits — the same number the air board has said must come off the market for California to hit its 2030 climate target. Environmentalists say the proposal risks wiping out those reductions.
Half are reserved for the fossil fuel sector. A recent Berkeley analysis, by the chair of an independent committee that oversees the carbon market, found refineries could end up with more free permits than they need to cover their emissions.
The air board has defended the design. Officials say the credits will go only to companies undertaking decarbonization projects, will be limited and temporary and can be clawed back if companies misuse them. The plan, they say, is meant to keep California refineries operating at a time of mounting closures and global market pressure. According to air regulators, the amended program will spur clean-energy investment as Trump cuts federal support.
Topline:
With the primary election tomorrow, we're getting an early look at the total number of votes by mail and in person ahead of the Tuesday 8 p.m. deadline to cast your ballot.
Keep reading ... for the latest on votes returned to date and what to watch for in the days and weeks ahead.
Here's what you should know about the vote totals currently released:
Keep in mind that June 9 will be the final day for votes postmarked by June 2 to arrive at county elections offices, so the bottom line on the vote totals won't be known until then.
In L.A. County, the combined tallied votes as of Sunday add up to about 10% of registered voters.
In Orange County, the current tallies represent about 22% of registered voters.
In L.A. County, updates on the counting are expected to continue through June 26.
Election night: After the polls close at 8 p.m., expect updates every 15 minutes or so through the early morning hours Wednesday.
Post election night: Expect updated counts around 5 p.m. on the following days: June 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 24 and 26.
Final results must be certified by July 10.
That hasn't been true in quite a while. It takes a while to get results because after the initial tallies on election night, there are still many, many votes to count and more mail-in ballots are usually arriving.
Here’s what we know so far:
Los Angeles County has more than 5.8 million registered voters. As of Sunday, May 31:
What's next:
Orange County has more than 1.8 million registered voters. As of Sunday, May 31:
What's next:
Political Data Inc. is tracking ballot returns across California and in some high-profile races.
As of midday Monday, turnout statewide was at 16%. While Democrats outnumber Republicans statewide by almost double, Republicans have returned more ballots pre-election (21% of their voters compared to 16% for Democrats).
Because of the increasing use of vote-by-mail ballots, the vote count has gotten longer, according to the California Voter Foundation. In an analysis, the organization found:
Election officials must physically open mail-in ballots and verify signatures.
Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation, recently wrote about the ripple effect of turning in mail-in ballots by hand or in drop boxes on election day. She wrote for our partner newsroom CalMatters:
"We turn in ballots in envelopes on Election Day that take time and care to process and cannot be processed until after Election Day. Processing these ballots — which account for as much as a quarter of all ballots cast — creates a bottleneck I like to call 'the pig in the python effect'. It prevents counties from doing other tasks they need to do to certify the results."
Topline:
New research reveals that companies are less likely to hire recent college grads into occupations that can be done remotely.
The findings: Researchers speculate that employers are reluctant to put recent college graduates in a setting where it's harder to absorb lessons from coworkers. The researchers found the unemployment rate among younger college grads — those under the age of 29 — rose 20% after the pandemic. Unemployment rose as remote work grew fourfold, the researchers write. "Our analysis suggests that these trends are related, with remote work making it more difficult for managers to train and mentor new employees."
AI not as big a factor: To see how the rise of AI chatbots may have contributed to rising unemployment among the younger set, the researchers used another index that divides occupations into those more exposed to AI, such as engineering and accounting, and those less exposed, such as teaching and nursing. They found exposure to AI didn't explain the divergence in unemployment rates in the 2022-24 time period. Remote workflows were much more of a driving force.
The buzz on college campuses is that AI is disrupting the job market for young college graduates.
But new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York finds that the culprit may be something else: remote work.
An analysis of federal employment data, paired with a deep dive into the flexible work arrangements at one unnamed Fortune 500 tech company, reveals that companies are less likely to hire recent college grads into occupations that can be done remotely.
Researchers speculate that employers are reluctant to put such workers in a setting where it's harder to absorb lessons from coworkers.
The researchers found the unemployment rate among younger college grads — those under the age of 29 — rose 20% after the pandemic, while unemployment among older college grads fell slightly.
The study compares unemployment rates pre-pandemic, from 2017 to 2019, with unemployment rates after the pandemic, from 2022 to 2024.
Unemployment rose as remote work grew fourfold, the researchers write. "Our analysis suggests that these trends are related, with remote work making it more difficult for managers to train and mentor new employees."
The research began with a look at how much feedback software engineers at a Fortune 500 tech company were getting, says Emma Harrington, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Virginia and one of the authors of the report.
"What we saw was this pretty striking pattern that software engineers got about 20% more feedback if they were sitting near their colleagues than if they were distant from them," she says, adding that that was true even before the pandemic.
But after the pandemic, feedback plummeted.
"And that really hit young workers much harder," says Harrington. "It was these people who had the most to learn that really saw this deficit in feedback."
The researchers then looked deeper into who was getting hired at the tech firm. Turns out, as the company embraced remote work, they switched away from hiring younger people.
"So they used to hire a bunch of new grads for their software engineering jobs," Harrington says. "Then they shifted really towards hiring much older people, like a decade older on average."
Later, the company pivoted again, implementing what Harrington calls a "pretty aggressive" return-to-office policy. At that point, the company resumed hiring new graduates.
"So [there was] some sense that these problems with mentorship were translating into whom this firm was deciding to hire," she says.
The researchers then wanted to see if what was happening at that single tech company was playing out in the broader economy.
Using a widely-used index that measures how feasible it is to do a job from home, the team divided all occupations into two categories: "remotable," which included software engineering, and "non-remotable," which included mechanical engineering.
They found the gap in unemployment between recent graduates and older workers was significantly higher in "remotable" jobs than in jobs that have to be done in person.
The unemployment rate for younger grads in "remotable" jobs jumped by almost a full percentage point after the pandemic, while the unemployment rate among older grads fell marginally.
They concluded that remote work explained nearly two-thirds of the rise in unemployment among young graduates during this period.
"This relative increase in young people's unemployment coincided with the pandemic and has remained elevated since then, as have rates of remote work," the researchers write.
To see how the rise of AI chatbots may have contributed to rising unemployment among the younger set, the researchers used another index that divides occupations into those more exposed to AI, such as engineering and accounting, and those less exposed, such as teaching and nursing.
They found exposure to AI didn't explain the divergence in unemployment rates in the 2022-24 time period. Remote workflows were much more of a driving force, Harrington says, while emphasizing that this could change.
"It's always hard to make guesses about what's going to happen with generative AI," she says. "It's certainly possible that this story could really change over the next few years."
Researchers at the London School of Economics have reached a similar conclusion — that remote work is having a clearer impact on early-career hiring than AI — in a working paper examining new hires in the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Australia.
Regardless of the cause, the New York Fed report warns that a high unemployment rate among young college grads is concerning.
"Early-career experiences can have lasting consequences," the researchers write. "Research finds that individuals who began looking for jobs in slacker labor markets tend to have lower earnings and slower career progression relative to comparable peers who began their job search in better market conditions."
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