Topline:
Crews have continued making steady progress in containing the Franklin Fire in Malibu after red flag conditions subsided last week.
What we know so far: The Franklin Fire started shortly before 11 p.m. last Monday near Malibu Canyon Road and Station Boundary, according to L.A. County Fire officials. It's currently 89% contained.
Keep reading... for more on evacuations and weather conditions.
This is a developing story and will be updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
Crews have continued making steady progress in containing the Franklin Fire in Malibu after red flag conditions subsided. But with hazardous fire weather this week, officials are warning that the flames could flare back up.
People are being urged to prepare for evacuations and power outages with moderate Santa Ana winds, dry vegetation, and low humidity expected. A fire weather warning is in effect for parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties from 3 p.m. Tuesday through 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The city of Malibu has asked residents to call 911 if they see smoke, and to check on their elderly or disabled neighbors. Several circuits may have been shutoff Tuesday evening by Southern California Edison, according to the city of Malibu, with more power safety shut offs being considered for roughly 15,000 L.A. County customers.
As of Wednesday, the fire has grown to 4,037 acres, but containment had increased to 89%, officials reported. Fire crews were aided by higher humidity levels, slight precipitation, and calmer conditions.
So far, officials said 20 structures have been destroyed, with another 28 damaged, about half of which were homes.
All evacuation warnings have been lifted as of Monday, and the 6,300 people forced from their homes were able to return as of Friday evening, when the evacuation orders were downgraded. Malibu schools are also reopening this week.
Jan Smutz, fire behavior analyst with CalFire, said at a news conference Friday evening that the likelihood of an increase in fire activity continues to go down, but we’re not out of the woods just yet, especially with Santa Ana wind conditions expected to return Tuesday through Thursday.
“ We're going to remain vigilant and continue working until all those heat sources have been extinguished,” he said.
The Franklin Fire started shortly before 11 p.m. last Monday near Malibu Canyon Road and Station Boundary, according to L.A. County Fire officials. City officials said the fire sparked about three miles north of Pacific Coast Highway, and that the cause was not immediately clear.
At around 3 a.m. last Tuesday, Malibu officials reported that the fire had spread south over PCH, threatening structures by Malibu Pier, Malibu Road, Malibu Knolls and Sweetwater Mesa. The threat stretched to Serra, Civic Center, and other central Malibu neighborhoods by Tuesday evening.
As the fire advanced, Pepperdine University officials told anyone on campus at 1 a.m. to relocate to the campus center or library to shelter in place. Later Tuesday, officials said the worst of the fire had moved on and lifted the shelter-in-place order around 7:30 a.m.
City Hall reopened at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 18, according to Marianne Riggins, mayor pro tem for Malibu. A community meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, which will be livestreamed here. You can submit questions on comments in person, or by emailing citycouncil@malibucity.org.
An air quality alert was issued until 7 p.m. last Thursday, and CalOSHA reminded employers that they’re required to protect their workers by adjusting practices and providing N-95 masks. You can find more information in English here and in Spanish here.
As of Thursday morning, power had been restored to Malibu.
Residents were also asked to stop outdoor irrigation to conserve water and make sure there’s enough resources for firefighters.
“Fire season is not a season,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference last Tuesday. “It's year round in the state of California.”
No evacuation orders were in place as of Friday evening, and all evacuation warnings were lifted Monday morning, according to the city of Malibu.
All residents can return to their homes, but you may need a photo ID to access certain roads.
These areas have been thoroughly inspected and deemed safe, according to the city of Malibu, but people are being urged to remain cautious. For example, keep children and pets away from ash, and use N-95 masks during clean-up.
You can find tips for what to do when you return home after a fire in English here, and in Spanish here. You can also find soot and smoke cleaning tips in English here, and in Spanish here. And some suggestions for managing mental health and stress after an emergency in English here, and in Spanish here.
The following roads are open to residents with proper ID only:
Please note: Pacific Coast Highway is now fully open with traffic moving in both directions.
A Local Assistance Center opened at Malibu City Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 17, from 10 a.m. through 4 p.m., according to the city. Representatives from various agencies, city departments, the Red Cross, and AT&T were available to assist residents.
SoCal Edison has an assistance program for customers experiencing an extended outage. The special rates can be tapped at participating hotels within 20 miles of an outage. Those hotels are listed here.
The Boys and Girls Club of Malibu is offering free counseling services and emotional support to those impacted by the fire. You can find more information here, by calling (310) 457-6801 ext. 7414, or by emailing wellnessinfo@bgcmalibu.org.
Malibu Elementary, Malibu Middle, and Malibu High Schools reopened Monday after being closed for nearly a week. The campuses were spared from any damage.
But Webster Elementary School, which officials previously said suffered “significant damage”, remains closed for cleaning and repairs. The campus is expected to reopen on Jan. 6, after winter break.
Webster students and staff will temporarily relocate to Malibu Elementary School in the meantime, starting on Tuesday, Dec. 17, for those that are ready to return to in-person learning.
Parking restrictions on Grayfox Street will be temporarily lifted, except for Fernhill Drive to the elementary school’s entrance, which will be used for pickup and drop-off. The schools will also stagger those pickup and drop-off times for Webster and Malibu Elementary students to ease traffic congestion.
“Upon return to school, we understand that some families will still be dealing with the aftermath of this distressing event, including a few of our families who have lost homes or have damage,” Antonio Shelton, superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, said in a statement to families and staff last Thursday.
Topline:
Voters rejected a measure that would have weakened California’s landmark environmental law by fast-tracking reviews for some projects.
Details: With about 76% of votes counted, voters rejected Prop. 45 by 55.7% to 44.3%.
Why it matters: The vote maintains the status quo under the state’s Environmental Quality Act, which since 1970 has required public agencies to review project developments that could have harmful environmental impacts, and mitigate those harms.
Voters on Saturday rejected a measure that would have weakened California’s landmark environmental law by fast-tracking reviews for some projects.
With about 76% of votes counted, voters rejected Prop. 45 by 55.7% to 44.3%.
The vote maintains the status quo under the state’s Environmental Quality Act, which since 1970 has required public agencies to review project developments that could have harmful environmental impacts, and mitigate those harms.
“Californians have sent a clear message to corporate developers, utilities and data center builders that they will not stand for a broad assault at the ballot box on state law protecting our air, water and natural resources,” No on 45’s Woody Little said. “We were outspent but not outgunned.”
Supporters had said the changes would reduce building costs. The California Chamber of Commerce sponsored Proposition 45, the Building an Affordable California Act, which would limit the length of environmental reviews for projects deemed “essential” to 365 business days and require courts to resolve litigation in 270 calendar days. Those projects include housing, water, broadband and transit developments.
Proponents said the savings from building more quickly would pass to consumers and spent $41 million campaigning for the measure. The Building a Better California political action committee was the largest donor, giving $10 million to the campaign. The organization is funded partly by current and former Google executives Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt. Two of the largest investor-owned utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric Company and Southern California Edison, together donated $4.4 million.
Environmental groups argued the measure would go too far in weakening a law meant to protect people from environmental harms. Opponents, including a coalition of environmental, health and union organizations, spent $30 million trying to stop it. Wendy Schmidt, a Democratic philanthropist, was the largest donor, giving $10 million to the campaign. The political action committee Clean and Healthy California Sponsored by Environmental Organizations contributed $7 million.
The California Democratic Party opposed the measure. The California Republican Party supported it, while county Republican groups were split.
Deborah Sivas, an environmental law professor at Stanford University, said Prop. 45 would radically change current law. It would shift power “away from local governments and to developers by giving them some new tools … and limiting what courts can do in terms of reviewing decisions that agencies and local governments make,” she said.
California’s environmental review law, signed in 1970, requires agencies to assess the environmental impacts of developments and help mitigate them.
Over decades, developers have raised concerns about the process, arguing litigation and bureaucracy slow down construction.
State legislators have tried to fix the problem by passing laws that exempt or streamline certain projects from environmental review. In 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed laws that exempt many urban housing projects from the full review process.
But some supporters of Prop. 45, including the California Building Industry Association and the California Council for Affordable Housing, say those changes don’t go far enough.
“It’s an important piece of the puzzle, but (that type of housing) does not produce quickly or at scale,” said Jennifer Hernandez, an attorney who helped write the measure. “We need quicker, at scale, affordable housing.”
Supporters say Prop. 45 would help California redevelop large, unused sites like malls and parking lots into housing and make it easier to build away from urban areas.
Pro-housing and local government groups usually support CEQA reform, but Prop. 45 has divided many of them.
Housing advocates in the Bay Area, including East Bay for Everyone and the Greenbelt Alliance, oppose the measure. Other Yes in My Backyard groups are neutral, including Abundant Housing Los Angeles and both California YIMBY and YIMBY Action — the movement’s two flagship advocacy groups.
The split between pro-housing groups lies in whether California should keep building outward onto undeveloped land or promote construction in urban centers. Some supporters, including Oakland Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, have said the state needs all types of housing.
Others say building away from urban centers would make it harder to address climate change.
“We believe we can (and must) solve the housing and climate crises simultaneously. That means building communities with denser housing and alternatives to automobile dependence,” wrote Max Dubler of California YIMBY in a blog post explaining the group’s neutral stance on Prop. 45.
Public agencies and local governments that could benefit from the building rules were also divided.
The California Municipal Utilities Association opposes the measure. But most other groups representing local governments, including the League of California Cities and California State Association of Counties, remained neutral.
Prop. 45 supporters argued that streamlining development would make life more affordable for Californians, but the long-term financial benefits are unclear.
An analysis by Blue Sky Consulting Group, commissioned by the California Chamber of Commerce, estimated the measure would produce $1.5 billion in savings and additional revenues for public agencies over 10 years that would reduce overall housing costs.
But the measure would initially cost local governments and public agencies more as they adjust to the measure’s rules, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, a nonpartisan adviser to the Legislature.
Topline:
Democrats have done well in recent elections when they win young voters by a margin of at least 20 points. On Tuesday, they carried Gen Z — those under 30 — by nearly 50 points, according to exit polling.
Why it matters: It's a stunning shift from 2024, when the party lost critical ground with young people. Long seen as a part of the Democratic base, voters under 30 shifted right towards Donald Trump, motivated by his pledge to better their economic prospects.
Why now: But this week, the youngest generation of voters issued a strong rebuke of Republicans, taking another chance on Democrats and their change-focused message at a moment when many of them feel as though the American Dream is out of reach.
Democrats have done well in recent elections when they win young voters by a margin of at least 20 points. On Tuesday, they carried Gen Z — those under 30 — by nearly 50 points, according to exit polling.
It's a stunning shift from 2024, when the party lost critical ground with young people. Long seen as a part of the Democratic base, voters under 30 shifted right towards Donald Trump, motivated by his pledge to better their economic prospects.
But this week, the youngest generation of voters issued a strong rebuke of Republicans, taking another chance on Democrats and their change-focused message at a moment when many of them feel as though the American Dream is out of reach.
Americans ages 18-29 have a history of turning out at lower rates than older voters, and this year was no exception. Gen Z made up 11% of the total vote on Tuesday.
However, where young Americans may have made the greatest difference is on the margins in House and Senate races where Democrats flipped seats.
The Texas Senate race is a key example. Democrat James Talarico won the state by 12 percentage points; however, when looking at just Gen Z, he won it by 60 points.
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When assessing gains more broadly, Democrats argue the party's strong slate of candidates helped drum up increased enthusiasm.
But another motivating factor remains strong opposition to Trump. Throughout his second term, Gen Z increasingly soured on the president, with some arguing he failed to make good on a number of core campaign promises — from pledging to lower prices and repeatedly vowing "no new wars," to calling for a crackdown on federal corruption and the release of the Epstein files.
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Much of that disappointment was reflected in exit polling. Economic issues were the top concern for a plurality of 18- to 29-year-olds, at 43%, and these voters expressed broad frustrations with Trump's handling of the issue. More than eight in 10 said that Trump's policies have worsened economic conditions, with similar shares opposing his tariff strategy and the decision to go to war with Iran.
Early analysis from CIRCLE indicates that 15% of young people who backed Trump in 2024 voted for a Democratic House candidate in this year's midterms.
Democrats made gains with some young voters who backed Trump two years ago, including white men and Latino men, two blocs that narrowly voted Republican in 2024 and then voted blue on Tuesday by double digits. Democratic candidates also narrowed the margins with young rural voters and people without college degrees.
Some of those gains may have been helped by young Trump voters who chose to sit this election out, but it's unclear how many of them there were.
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The midterm results underscore how neither of the two major parties owns Gen Z, according to John Della Volpe, a left-leaning pollster who's extensively studied the politics of young Americans.
"The cohort of younger people in this cycle had a different set of experiences than the cohort of people two years ago, or four years before that," he said. "Every candidate, every party has to earn their votes."
Della Volpe, who runs the Harvard Youth Poll, notes that in the latest survey, released in October, there was a sizable enthusiasm gap between young Democrat and young Republican respondents. While half of Democrats said they definitely planned to vote, just a third of Republicans and less than a quarter of Independents said the same.
"I also think we shouldn't overread what's happened," he added. "Clearly a significant historic rebuke on the party in office — that's obvious — however, I think we need to more fully, kind of understand, the contour of the electorate, who showed up and who didn't show up."
By 2028, Gen Z and millennial voters will make up more than half of the electorate, a demographic shift with huge implications for Democrats and the GOP.
"Young adults can make a difference," said Elizabeth Matto, who serves as the director of the Center for Youth Political Participation at Rutgers University.
"They do care about politics. They can sway the outcome of elections. And they're a voting bloc worth paying attention to."
Copyright 2026 NPR
Topline:
The killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during the ICE surge in Minneapolis last winter was a pivotal moment for the country. After Democrats' sweeping wins this week, their deaths at the hands of immigration agents will likely be the targets of renewed investigations.
What's next: With a majority in Congress, Democrats can issue subpoenas to the major players in Trump's mass deportation plan, compelling them to testify under oath before the legislature.
The morning after Tuesday's midterms was gloomy and rainy in Minneapolis, but people still gathered at the place where Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a VA nurse and U.S. citizen, last January. All week, community members have come here to place their "I Voted" stickers at the memorial.
Nicki Adams, who dated Pretti and was his close friend for nearly 17 years, watched quietly as a woman added her sticker to a street lamp completely covered in the red decals.
"I wanted to see all the stickers. I just wanted to be here," she says. "It just means a lot to me. I think it would mean a lot to Alex, too."
A few blocks away, people left their stickers where an ICE officer killed Renee Good, a mom of three and a U.S. citizen, just a few weeks before Pretti's death. In Houston, they left them where an ICE officer killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a father of three and a Mexican immigrant, in July.
Adams says these stickers, and the election results this week, send a clear message to Congress: "You work for us, and please carry on these values that we care about … We want to be seen and heard and taken care of and have our neighbors taken care of."
The deaths of Pretti and Good during the ICE surge in Minneapolis marked a pivotal moment for the country, sparking intense public backlash to President Trump's aggressive deportation efforts. But federal law enforcement officials have given little indication they're progressing in investigating their deaths, or the deaths of at least seven other people killed by federal immigration agents since Trump took office again last year. DHS did not respond to an NPR request for the status of those investigations.
Now, after Democrats' sweeping wins this week, their deaths at the hands of immigration agents will likely be the targets of renewed investigations. With a majority in Congress, Democrats can issue subpoenas to the major players in Trump's mass deportation plan, compelling them to testify under oath before the legislature.
That could include White House Border Czar Tom Homan, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, former Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, and White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, among others.
Congress can also demand internal documents, like use-of-force reports.
"They can dissect these individual shootings, and really unravel the story of what happened," says Naureen Shah, who leads the ACLU's immigration policy work.
Democrats have already held shadow hearings on the ICE shootings, during which they've called in family members and witnesses to testify.
But Shah says now Congress can ask key questions of top decision makers: What orders were given to immigration officers in the field? What was training like for these officers?
Who made the decision to paint Good and Pretti as threats, including calling Pretti a "would-be assassin" and a domestic terrorist, when video showed otherwise?
"It's like we can turn the faucet on and actually find out so much more," Shah says. "There's an aspect of this that is really about a kind of reckoning with how it's possible that things that seemed unthinkable could happen on American streets. How do you have that reckoning if you don't actually have the ability to force people to explain themselves?"
Democratic leaders have already said that's the plan.
Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, who is expected to lead the House Judiciary Committee, told NPR in a statement that Congress will use "every tool" at its disposal to investigate ICE and that it is time for the agency to "start answering to the American people."
California Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, expected to lead the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, vowed to take on DHS and ICE abuses in a two-word statement: "Lawyer Up."
Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, expected to lead the House Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter on Wednesday to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, demanding the agency "comply with all document preservation requirements."
Illinois Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez wrote on social media that Noem, Miller, Homan, Bovino and Mullin should "clear" their schedules.
In response to that, DHS general counsel James Percival said Democrats are "more interested in political shenanigans than in governing" but said the agency is prepared to "deal with this nonsense."
There are key limitations to what Democrats in Congress can do with their majority when it comes to ICE accountability, says Rachel Moran, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.
Major changes, like clawing back funding for the agency, would require a veto-proof majority, something the Democrats don't have.
"You still have a president who has shown a complete lack of interest in accountability for federal agents and in fact, a great deal of knee jerk defensiveness about their conduct," Moran says.
In a statement, a White House spokesperson told NPR "if Democrats choose to pursue sham investigations and radical left policies, they are choosing to work against the American people."
Democrats, the statement added, "should be reminded that we still control the federal government and all of its powers."
But that's not true. Congress has its own powers, one of them being the ability to compel testimony. Moran says a deeper probe into the shootings could still serve important purposes, like making evidence available for states to use in their own criminal investigations.
Minnesota officials, for instance, have been fighting with the federal government to get evidence related to the Pretti and Good killings.
Brent Ganger, Renee Good's brother, says learning more information about his sister's death will be hard to hear, "but I think it's also super important for us to understand what happened that day. I don't want history to keep repeating itself."
It was painful, he says, to watch immigration agents kill more people after his sister. He thought her death would be a turning point. In a way, it might have been the start of one. After the surge in Minneapolis, most Americans said ICE had gone too far.
Ganger, who considers himself a moderate, was happy to see the Blue Wave this week. On election night, he was scrolling Instagram when he saw a photo of his sister's memorial site, with all the "I Voted" stickers.
"I was very grateful to see the repudiation of this administration from the country. It felt very supportive of my entire family," he says.
The next morning, in his home in Colorado, he got up and made biscuits and gravy, his sister's favorite breakfast.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Topline:
Residents, clergy and organizers faced off with federal immigration agents outside Adventist White Memorial on Friday night into Saturday morning, after reports of ICE presence at the Boyle Heights hospital.
Why it matters: Agents detained at least two people, according to rapid response groups. The confrontation and detention prompted a rally in front of the hospital Saturday afternoon.
Read on ... to learn how Boyle Heights neighbors and immigration activists mobilized on Friday night.
Abraham Zavala was born at Adventist White Memorial. So were his kids. So late Friday, when he heard federal immigration agents were at the Boyle Heights hospital, and that local youth were out blowing whistles to warn neighbors, he went.
“To me that’s sacred ground,” said Zavala, an organizer with Unión del Barrio.
“I’m a dad,” he said. “I wanted to be there to support the youth.”
He was among the Boyle Heights residents who converged on the hospital and stayed in a standoff with federal immigration agents into the early hours of Saturday. Agents detained at least two people, according to rapid response groups.
Neighbors alerted each other with noisemakers and fireworks. A woman pounded her pots and pans. Teenagers ran across Mariachi Plaza, shouting that ICE was in the area and urging residents to lock their doors.
“Even though we’re afraid, you know we’re still showing up,” said Myra Vasquez, a Boyle Heights resident who rushed to White Memorial after hearing reports of ICE in the area. “We’re not going to allow them to just come into our communities and terrorize us because they’re the real terrorists causing harm.”
The confrontation peaked around 11:30 p.m. Video shared with Boyle Heights Beat shows agents pushing back protesters who had moved toward them, and the two sides begin shoving. Agents appear to pepper-spray people on the sidewalk. One agent then tackles a man and pins him to the ground, while a second person is pulled from the crowd. Both were detained.
The standoff continued past midnight. Zavala said agents got out of their vehicles and formed a line in front of the parking lot where paramedics enter, blocking an emergency exit. “They literally became White Memorial’s private security detail,” he said. Zavala said he and another person were sprayed with Mace.
The Dept. of Homeland Security declined to comment about the incident in Boyle Heights, and, in a statement, the agency said they would “not disclose or discuss law enforcement operations.”
The spokesperson instead said that obstructing law enforcement is a federal crime.
“ICE does not target hospitals, schools, or churches,” the statement said, despite the large turnout of protesters who encountered the masked agents at the hospital.
Father Brendan Busse, who pastors nearby Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights, rushed to White Memorial after seeing reports from the Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network of ICE at the hospital.
Busse, a Jesuit priest, said he witnessed people caring for each other and tending to those suffering from pepper spray. People there advocated for them to find treatment at White Memorial, Busse said. Community members, he said, “were obviously doing their best, not just to communicate their feelings, but to push, to instigate the dispersal of this ICE presence.”
As clergy, Busse said their presence can help combat a narrative of those advocating for immigrants as “somehow dangerous, or violent, or vulgar.”
“Just to be there is a sign that that’s not the only version of what this looks like,” he said.
Initially, Busse showed up wearing a hoodie, but he decided to change into his green stole he had in his car as things appeared to get tense. “Just try to do what I could to bring a presence of maybe a little moral authority,” he said.
“It’s bad enough that people have to lift up their voices to say something so obvious, that their lives matter, that our communities are sacred, that families belong together,” Busse said. “It’s bad enough that they have to be out at 3 a.m. in the morning to tell anybody that.”
“It’s even worse if they would have to suffer the consequences of retribution and violence that comes from speaking out in that way,” Busse added.
The post Fireworks, whistles, pots and pans: How neighbors came together to push ICE out of Boyle Heights appeared first on LA Local.
