Topline:
As of Monday more than 23,000 acres have burned since the Line Fire ignited Thursday evening, threatening multiple mountain communities above San Bernardino.
Extreme weather: The fire has burned so hot and consumed so much fuel that it has generated its own weather, including erratic winds and lightning strikes which can make the fire extremely dangerous and difficult to fight.
Keep reading... for more on evacuations and weather conditions.
This story is no longer being updated. You can read the latest at: Strong winds may prove challenge for firefighters on Line Fire in San Bernardino mountains
As of Monday evening, the Line Fire in San Bernardino County has grown to 25,813 acres and is threatening mountain communities near Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear.
Multiple evacuation orders are in place for nearby residents. Authorities warn that more than 38,000 structures, including homes and businesses, are still threatened. Some, 8,800 structures are in places under mandatory evacuation orders and another 29,200 structures are under warnings, according to a Monday evening update.
The fire broke out last Thursday and has been a challenge for firefighters because off a mixture of high temperatures, steep terrain and dense brush. It has also created its own weather, generating erratic winds that cast embers far and wide.
The concern going into Tuesday: stronger winds, which could increase spotting, which happens when embers ignite more spot fires.
Fire officials say "the fire could remain active overnight as vegetation remains critically dry."
Cooler weather is on the way, and temperatures should drop back down to around normal later in the week.
On Saturday, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in San Bernardino County to secure federal assistance for firefighting efforts.
Terrifyingly awesome pyrocumulonimbus clouds formed on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, generating erratic winds and lightning strikes which threaten new fire starts. There's a good chance they'll show up again on Monday, according to the National Weather Service in San Diego.
Omg pic.twitter.com/nFl2wp7LlS
— FirePhotoGirl (@FirePhotoGirl) September 8, 2024
To form, the clouds need both a source of lift and a source of moisture. When the fire burns extremely hot, that hot air rises high into the atmosphere, carrying with it a whole lot of water released by live plants, primed to burn after months of extreme temperatures throughout Southern California.
The towering pyrocumulonimbus clouds can climb to 40,000 feet in the air.
Notable PyroCu plumes already on three significant SoCal fires this afternoon, as labeled, including #LineFire, #BridgeFire, and new #AirportFire. PyroCb possible later this PM, with lightning/outflow & downdraft winds as hazards. #CAwx #CAfire pic.twitter.com/f22jMqrE4c
— Dr. Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) September 9, 2024
A wildfire smoke advisory has been extended until Monday night as the smoky air will continue to impact San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles counties. We have a guide on how to keep yourself safe from wildfire smoke.
Evacuation orders have been issued by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department for the following areas:
Authorities say those who require additional time to evacuate and those with pets and livestock should leave immediately.
For people:
For animals: Devore Animal Shelter, 19777 Shelter Way, San Bernardino
The Line Fire broke out Thursday evening in the city of Highland at Baseline Road on the edge of open space and a residential neighborhood. The cause is under investigation.
Editors Fiona Ng and Megan Garvey, and reporter Erin Stone contributed to this report.
Pasadena record store and venue Healing Force of the Universe, a destination for local musicians and music fans, is fundraising to move to a bigger space.
The performances: The shows Healing Force puts on are all kinds of genres, but they share a common thread. They’re often meant to promote peace and relaxation, as well as deep, careful listening on the hi-fi sound system.
What's next: Its current location is set to close this month, but Manuel and his team are already raising funds to cover a move to another space: G-Son Studios in Atwater Village. The repurposed ballroom was the home base for the Beastie Boys when they recorded their classic albums Check Your Head and Ill Communication.
See the Pasadena space before it closes: The venue is still open at 1200 E. Walnut Street and is holding events through this Halloween weekend. You can see their calendar of events on their website.
For the last three years, the record store and music venue Healing Force of the Universe has been operating on a sleepy street corner not far from Pasadena City College. Nearby businesses include a shoe repair store, a nail salon and several auto shops.
“We're kind of in a dead corner,” owner Austin Manuel said. “No offense if anybody lives here, but not a very foot-trafficked area, kind of a hard place to have a store.”
In spite of the location, Manuel said Healing Force has become a home away from home for musicians and music fans. One of them is Bobby Bradford, a jazz trumpet legend who lost his house and personal archive in the Eaton Fire. He performs regularly at the venue. (Healing Force has also partnered with LAist on fire recovery events.)
Its current location is set to close this month, but Manuel and his team are already raising funds to cover a move to another space: G-Son Studios in Atwater Village. The repurposed ballroom was the Beastie Boys' home base when they recorded their classic albums Check Your Head and Ill Communication. Run-DMC and Biz Markie stopped by at one point, and Beck also laid down tracks for his album Odelay there.
Healing Force sells records, of course, but these days it’s more of a nighttime performance space. Manuel said he wants people to feel comfortable striking up conversations after a show.
“I grew up in the church in the South, and I was like, ‘How do I design this so that it feels like a Southern church lady could come in here and feel welcome?’" Manuel said. “ I didn't want it to be too cool. I wanted it to feel kind of suburban in a way.”
Though the name might call to mind a cult slogan — and Manuel said they lean into that aesthetic on purpose — it’s actually a reference to the 1970 album Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe by saxophonist Albert Ayler.
At the venue, “people can kind of get … into a meditative zone,” Manuel said. “After the [January 2025] fires, it felt so good to come back together in this room and feel the healing of community.”
The shows Healing Force puts on share a common thread: They’re meant to promote peace and relaxation, as well as deep, careful listening on the hi-fi sound system. But they’re an eclectic mix of genres. On one night, you might see L.A. spiritual jazz band Phi-Psonics, who turned a residency at the venue into a live album, Expanding to One.
On another night, you might catch a spaced-out electronic set, an up-and-coming singer-songwriter or a group of session musicians who’ve played with the likes of Paul Simon, Elton John and Lucinda Williams.
With the new space on Glendale Boulevard, Manuel said, Healing Force would triple its capacity for concerts, get a bar space and be closer to other venues in Northeast L.A.
“If 1,000 people gave $25, we would get there,” Manuel said – though he also said most people have been giving more.
You can read more about the fundraiser and donate at Healing Force’s GoFundMe.
The venue is still open at 1200 E. Walnut Street and is holding events through this Halloween weekend. You can see their events calendar on their website.
Racist language still lurks in housing documents. You can get rid of it as part of a 2021 law which mandates its removal in California. Here’s how to do it across Southern California.
Why now: California counties are reporting mixed progress meeting the demands of a 2021 law to excise the language from property records.
The backstory: Language in housing documents that restricts the sale of a property to a person of the white race is called a “restrictive covenant,” and in California the practice began in the 19th century.
What's next: Counties are asking for the public’s help by identifying the language in their housing documents and filling out a form to get rid of it.
Read on… to read the text from a restrictive covenant from 1924.
The racist DNA of Jim Crow discrimination may be embedded in your housing documents.
The language in housing documents that restricts sale or use of a property only to a person of the white race is called a “restrictive covenant,” and in California the practice goes back to the 19th century and continued into the mid-20th century. While housing discrimination persists, the practice was found unconstitutional in 1948.
California counties are reporting mixed progress in meeting the demands of a 2021 law to excise the language from property records.
According to Sylvia Manzo, deputy recorder in the Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s office, the county finished the job in March of this year, removing racist language from more than 27,000 property documents with the help of computer software.
L.A. County is far from done. It says that with the help of an outside company hired in 2024, 50 million pages will be examined yearly, which would take about 10 years to finish the job.
Public agencies could use the public’s help.
Here’s a 1924 example from a property in Bakersfield. The text reads, “That the lands herein conveyed shall never, at any time, be sold to or rented to or occupied by any person not of the white or Caucasian race.”
Or this language from a 1936 document relating to a Costa Mesa property: “That said premises shall not be sold, conveyed, rented, or leased to, or occupied by any person of African, Mexican, or Asiatic descent.”
The Restrictive Covenant Modification Form is at the heart of the effort to remove the racist language from housing documents. Each county has its own process. Some charge a fee; others don’t. Some require a notary certification for the signature; others don’t.
Registrar-Recorder officials recommend these steps:
The Orange County spokesperson says there may be some properties not caught by its software and urges the public to report them. Here’s the form
Here’s the Riverside County form
Here’s the San Bernardino County form
Here’s the San Diego County form
Here’s the Santa Barbara County form
Ignoring the racist language in property documents, some say, reinforces the legacy of segregation, while taking steps to remove restrictive covenant language is a way individuals and organizations can repudiate policies that sought to discriminate.
Topline:
Workers will begin removing the iconic Santa Monica Pier sign today for restoration.
Why now: It's part of the city's Pier Bridge Replacement Project, which will replace the bridge that connects the pier to Ocean Avenue.
The backstory: The sign has been on the Santa Monica Pier since 1941 and is listed on the California Register of Historical Resources. It will be sent to a company called YESCO, which is based in Las Vegas and, according to the city of Santa Monica, is nationally recognized for its work creating, maintaining and restoring neon signage.
What's next: The city says workers will set up equipment and start taking down the neon today. The top crown portion of the sign will come down Wednesday, and then the main sign itself on Thursday.
How to watch: If you want to watch, the city has set up two viewing areas — one at the southern edge of Palisades Park across from The Lobster restaurant and another at the corner of Ocean and Colorado avenues. The work will happen between 5 a.m. and 3 p.m. You can view a map here.
Large support from Latino voters helped President Donald Trump win the 2024 election. But according to recent numbers from the Associated Press, about 6 in 10 Hispanic voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the presidency and more than 7 in 10 disapprove of his performance on the economy.
“ One hundred percent of Latinos are affected by the economic crisis that's afflicting everybody right now, especially working-class people, of which Latinos make up the largest share,” he said.
Party dealignment: The Latino shift away from Trump and the Republican Party does not mean a shift towards Democrats. “Latinos really do not have confidence in either party, and it's manifesting in wider and wider swings in how they're voting,” Madrid said. “They're rejecting the parties in power, they're rejecting establishment politics, and we're witnessing the rise of an emergent Latino populism."
Immigration enforcement isn't a top priority: Madrid pointed out that even with increased ICE raids, immigration only comes in as the fifth most concerning issue for Latino voters, and a third of those Latino voters are in favor of deportations.
Listen to the full conversation:
