The Brief

Thousands of residents in Granada Hills and Porter Ranch are being strongly advised to boil their tap water before using, or to use bottled water.

The notice comes after the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power says a faulty valve knocked out the water supply to the area at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Here’s what we know about the situation.

Where is the outage?

The water issue affects 9,200 customers in Granada Hills and Porter Ranch, according to the utility. The outage area is bounded by these streets:

• Rinaldi Street to the south
• Balboa Boulevard to the east
• De Soto Avenue to the west
• The foothills to the north

A map of affected areas.

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Courtesy Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

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What happened?

On Tuesday, crews were making repairs at a pump station that connects to a 10 million gallon water tank.

A valve 24 feet underground that controls the flow of water to the tank broke and didn’t open. That cut off the flow going into the area’s pipes.

LADWP put out a plea for customers to conserve water Tuesday night, but the tank was drained by the morning.

It’s led to safety concerns because contaminants can be introduced when pipes lose water pressure. The utility is now “strongly advising” residents to boil water while testing is underway. LADWP will contact customers when the water is safe to drink.

How do you boil water?

Water should be boiled for at least one minute. The rule of thumb is to let it cool for about 30 minutes before using, according to the CDC.

That includes water used for brushing teeth and making ice cubes.

If you can’t boil it, you can also use unscented liquid bleach, according to LADWP. Here are the directions:

• For clear water, use 8 drops (1/8 teaspoon) of bleach for one gallon of water. For cloudy water, filter through a clean cloth and use 16 drops (1/4 teaspoon) of bleach for one gallon of water. 
• Mix well and allow it to stand for 30 minutes before using.
• The water may taste or smell like chlorine — this means disinfection has occurred.

What’s being done to help?

Crews have been working on emergency repairs, but a temporary fix is expected soon. Mayor Karen Bass said at a news conference Wednesday they’re working with a specialized contractor to get water back into the tank.

“ We are hoping to restore water service with an emergency repair much quicker than the permanent fix will take,” she said.

Janisse Quiñones, the LADWP head and chief engineer, said the water is coming from the  Metropolitan Water District. Pumping should start around 7 p.m. Wednesday night.

“ If they are successful, we may be able to restore water service in the next 24 to 48 hours to the whole area,” she said.

Permanent repairs may extend to the weekend.

But the weather will be very hot over the next few days, with the San Fernando Valley sticking around the mid-90s. Officials are urging residents to stay hydrated.

Three LADWP drinking water pickup sites will be open until further notice from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. These locations also have portable showers, hand washing stations, mobile laundry units and portable toilets. Here’s a map:

Bass’ office says cooling centers with restrooms can also be used. For recreation and parks facilities, see here. For local library locations, see here.

The L.A. Fire Department has also deployed water tankers, engines and other resources to the area as a precautionary measure in case of fires, according to her office.

The son of Hollywood legend Rob Reiner will face murder charges in the killings of his parents — Hollywood legend Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, the Los Angeles County district attorney announced Tuesday.

In addition to two counts of murder, Nick Reiner, 32, faces special-circumstance allegations — multiple murders and use of a deadly weapon — that would make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted

District Attorney Nathan Hochman said his office has not yet determined whether it would seek death or life without the possibility of parole. Such decisions are usually made after a preliminary hearing where a judge hears evidence from prosecutors.

"Prosecuting these cases involving family members are some of the most challenging and most heartwrenching cases that this office faces because of the intimate and often brutal nature of the crimes involved," Hochman said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

In the past, Nick Reiner has admitted to struggles with drug addiction and mental illness. It is unclear how much of that will factor into the case.

"At the appropriate time, if there is evidence of mental illness, it will be presented in court and in whatever detail the defense seeks to do that," Hochman said.

Nick Reiner was arrested Monday in Exposition Park in connection with the stabbing deaths of his parents, according to Los Angeles police.

His parents Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 68, were found dead Sunday after police were called to their Brentwood home on South Chadbourne Avenue around 3:40 p.m. .

Detectives with the Police Department’s elite Robbery Homicide Division, Homicide Special Section began an investigation and identified Reiner as the suspect, according to police.

The younger Reiner was located and arrested at approximately 9:15 p.m., according to police. He was booked on suspicion of murder and remains in custody with no bail.

Police did not say where Reiner was found.

There was no official word regarding a possible motive for the crime or the cause of death.

People Magazine reported that the couple's daughter, Romy Reiner, was the one who found the bodies.

Variety published a statement issued by the Reiner family that said: “It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner. We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time.''

The family members of the late All in the Family creator Norman Lear also issued a statement saying they were devastated by the deaths.

“Norman often referred to Rob as a son, and their close relationship was extraordinary, to us and the world,” the statement read. “Norman would have wanted to remind us that Rob and Michele spent every breath trying to make this country a better place.''

Rob Reiner became a household name playing Michael "Meathead" Stivic on TV’s All In The Family. It captured the politics of the time.

But he went on to eclipse that early success with a decades-long career in film. He directed dozens of movies, including such legendary romantic comedies as When Harry Met Sally and The American President, and he revived the art of the mockumentary with This Is Spinal Tap.

Other beloved films include Stand By Me and The Princess Bride. He was nominated for an Oscar for directing A Few Good Men.

Michele Singer Reiner was a photographer who met her husband while he was filming When Harry Met Sally. He said he changed the ending of the film after their meeting.

Reiner was politically active throughout his career as an actor, director, producer and writer. He was an outspoken liberal and Democratic Party fundraiser.

Lisa Gladstone is stuck between (moving) rock and a hard place.

Her home in Rancho Palos Verdes started ripping apart in 2023 when heavy rains led to unprecedented land movement. So in a last-ditch effort to salvage what they could, she and her husband took out an $80,000 loan to have crews cut their house in half to keep the part on moving land from dragging the whole house with it.

Windows do not close in Lisa Gladstone's home in Rancho Palos Verdes because of land movement.

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Courtesy Lisa Gladstone

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Despite their efforts, it eventually was red-tagged as uninhabitable.

So when a city-backed buyout program was announced for residents who lost their homes, they immediately applied. But there was a catch: To qualify, homes can’t be in foreclosure proceedings, and U.S. Bank had started knocking, telling the 72-year-old and her husband they needed to come up with $44,000 by Christmas Day to make the mortgage current.

“ When we get the FEMA funds, we would pay off the mortgage, and we would have enough money that we can live without additional stress,” Gladstone said. “I can't get anyone at U.S. Bank to have that conversation with. Every time I call, they tell me I have to fill out this mortgage assistance document, which is very scary, intrusive because it feels like I'm giving U.S. Bank access to our other remaining assets, which I cannot afford to do.”

But until the federal relief dollars trickle in — and the city has said that could take years — or U.S. Bank gives Gladstone a clear answer, the 72-year-old said they’re stuck in a “ circular, crazy, purposefully defeating system.”

A spokesperson for U.S. Bank said in a statement to LAist that "over the last year, we have been in regular communication with the client to help resolve their situation and continue to work with them directly on the matter. That said, we want to clarify that the property is not and has never been in foreclosure proceedings during that period of time. It sounded like the most recent communication was this week, and the team was going to reach back out to make sure next steps and where things stand were understood.”

Meanwhile, the couple remains stuck in a sort of limbo and has moved out to Moab, Utah, to await next steps.

How we got here

In 2011, Gladstone bought the home in the Portuguese Bend area of the city with her husband, Milton Owens, knowing about the history of land movement.

 ”We had an independent engineering report done on it, and everything checked out fine,” Gladstone said. “Things hadn't been moving and we lived there almost happily ever after as seniors in a community that was very safe and comfortable.”

Then the land movement started. First, they were lucky.

“ One of the fastest-moving houses in the neighborhood was next door to us, and we had no movement,” she said. “We were across the street from a cul-de-sac, where we had repeated water main breaks for months and months and months.”

Damages to the foundation of Lisa Gladstone's home in Rancho Palos Verdes.

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Courtesy Lisa Gladstone

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But when the heavy rains of 2022 and 2023 saturated the ground, their house no longer was spared. SoCalGas and Southern California Edison shut off utilities to their neighborhood, forcing them off the grid, as they watched their house slowly tear apart.

 ”We hired a structural engineer, and his advice was that we cut the home into two parts and try to have one part not pulling the other part into the slide,” Gladstone said.

So they took out the $80,000 loan and paid for the project, which ultimately failed to save the house.

“ We just did everything we could. We did experimental things, we did things that were intended at first to just prop the house up and keep it from sliding even more,” she said.

In the end, the couple just couldn’t take it anymore.

“ If you tried to turn on the microwave to heat up a cup of coffee, it would blow the light if you had them both on at the same time,” Gladstone said. “You couldn't run laundry, you couldn't turn the water heater on without turning everything else off, and it became the way of life as the whole house was falling in around us.”

Now, the couple hopes to stave off foreclosure proceedings until the federal buyout money comes in. Then, they plan to pay off the mortgage and use the remaining money to live out the peaceful retirement they envisioned when they moved into their Rancho Palos Verdes home.

Topline:

The backstory: Estimates suggest the monarch butterfly population has declined by more than 80% since the 1980s due to habitat loss, pesticides and climate change.

The latest: Researchers on the Central Coast are using new technology to track the endangered species' population. “Just this year, cellular tracking technologies have developed a radio transmitting tag that is small enough to put on a butterfly,” said Charis van der Heide, senior biologist at environmental consulting firm Althouse and Meade Inc., speaking on LAist's AirTalk with Larry Mantle.

Hi-tech mini backpacks: These tiny yet mighty solar transmitter tags serve as mini backpacks for monarchs, allowing researchers to track the butterflies in an effort to help monitor their movements. “This tag weighs 0.7 grams,” said van der Heide, adding, “And we just put it on the back of a monarch and let it fly away.”

Get involved: The tags connect via Bluetooth to a public app called Project Monarch, allowing researchers and everyday visitors to help track the butterflies’ movements in real time.

Learn more: Listen to the full AirTalk segment to hear more about the tracking project and how to get involved.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is reviewing evidence in the deaths of film director and actor Rob Reiner and producer Michele Singer Reiner.

Police say the couple's son Nick Reiner was arrested Sunday night and booked on suspicion of murder. He is being held without bail and is due to appear in court for charges. Online records that previously listed a bail for $4 million have since been updated.

Reiner was born in Los Angeles 32 years ago, one of Rob Reiner's four children. His grandfather, Carl Reiner, was a comedy legend during the early days of television.

Nick Reiner had been open about his struggles, saying he started using drugs when he was young. He said he was just 15 when he began spending years in and out of rehab and addiction treatment centers.

"I am a spoiled, white, rich kid from a Hollywood family," he told NPR in 2016. "But I think it's even more of a testament to how powerful drugs can be that you don't care about any of that stuff."

Reiner has been candid about using all kinds of drugs, including methamphetamine and heroin, and about his many relapses.

On the podcast "Dopey" in 2016, he talked about how he hated getting sober and how he sometimes chose to be homeless rather than go back to rehab.

Ten years ago, after years of bouncing in and out of halfway homes and treatment centers, Reiner decided to co-write a screenplay based on some of his experiences. His father co-produced and directed the movie: Being Charlie, a semiautobiographical story about a troubled teen who has a turbulent relationship with his famous father, who is running for California governor.

"It was never about the drugs," Charlie tells his father. "All I ever wanted was a way to kill the noise."

In a key scene, Charlie's father tells him he loves him and talks to him about supporting him through tough love. "Every expert with a desk and a diploma told me I had to be tough on you," he says. "But every time we sent you away to another one of those programs, if I saw you slipping further away from us, all I could tell myself was 'I'd rather have you alive and hating me than dead on the streets.'"

Rob Reiner told NPR that the collaboration was the most satisfying creative experience he'd ever had– "because I got to work with Nick. And even though we had struggled through some difficult times and the making of the movie certainly dredged those things up, it was also an opportunity to work through a lot of that stuff."

For his part, Nick told NPR that making the movie was part of his long recovery journey.

Rob Reiner attends the screening of "Misery" during the 2025 TCM Classic Film Festival at TCL Chinese Theatre on April 25, 2025 in Hollywood, California.

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Photo by Jesse Grant

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Getty Images for TCM

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"A lot of people that go through addictions of all kinds are kind of hard to love," he said. "So I guess the character was to show how ugly it gets."

In one scene, the character Charlie steals OxyContin from a sick, elderly woman who really needs it.

"I have definitely done things similar to that," Reiner said. "I can't say I've done that in quite some time, but when I was going through a lot of that stuff, sure, you don't really think about anything. You throw your morals out of the window."

The killings of Rob and Michele Reiner left friends and fans around the world stunned.

"I'm devastated," says cinematographer Barry Markowitz, who shot Being Charlie and some of Rob Reiner's other films.

Markowitz, a friend of the Reiners, called them a "stronger than strong" close-knit family. He says he used to stay with the family whenever he was in Los Angeles.

Markowitz painted a different picture of Nick Reiner.

He recalled a young man who loved basketball and had traveled to Europe to learn more about his family's Jewish roots. He says he saw Nick and the family in L.A. just 10 days ago.

"[Nick] was going through some rough times for many years, but his soul was so pure and gentle," Markowitz said. "He was on the upswing. Looked like a GQ model. I wish I could give you a tidbit or something, like 'Oh, he looked bad and this and that' — he didn't. That's what's so spooky about mental illness."

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