Norman Jr., an 8-foot prop werewolf, was erected by Pastor Tim Hartley on the scorched lot of a sobering living house in West Altadena operated by the Episcopalian Diocese of Los Angeles.
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Topline:
A prop werewolf put up for Halloween by Altadena residents became a symbol of pride after the Eaton Fire. It's also divided the community.
About the werewolf: Norman Jr., as the werewolf is affectionately known, appeared on this burned-out corner lot in West Altadena just days after the fire, replacing a previous werewolf that popped up on the property a few years earlier. Both belong to Jubilee House, a large sober living home for men operated by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. One of the residents bought the original werewolf just in time for Halloween a few years ago and named him Norman — a nod to the home’s eerie resemblance to Norman Bates’ house in the 1960 classic slasher film Psycho.
Tensions begin: Photos of the wolfman wearing the outfits the caretaker created started blowing up on social media, and life started returning to the neighborhood, with the pace of rebuilding picking up speed. That’s when the little green taco truck from the San Fernando Valley appeared.
Read on... for more on the community tensions sparked by this local werewolf.
After the Eaton Fire burned across Altadena a year and half ago, an unusual sight reappeared up amid the ashes and debris: a giant werewolf wearing a large T-shirt, with a big rainbow-colored heart that said, “I love Altadena.”
“Where he sits on that hill, the sun behind him when we were there in the evening, the sun was setting and the clouds were perfect. It was just such a weirdly hopeful thing,” said Taylor Jennings, who was visiting from Fresno last summer when he saw Norman standing over the fire-torn intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Mariposa Street.
“All around there’s devastation, and there’s an 8-foot [tall] werewolf. At that point, I realized how Altadena is feral, and he just seemed like the perfect mascot,” Jennings said.
Norman Jr., as the werewolf is affectionately known, appeared on this burned-out corner lot in West Altadena just days after the fire, replacing a previous werewolf that popped up on the property a few years earlier.
Both belong to Jubilee House, a large sober living home for men operated by the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. One of the residents bought the original werewolf just in time for Halloween a few years ago and named him Norman — a nod to the home’s eerie resemblance to Norman Bates’ house in the 1960 classic slasher film Psycho.
Courage Escamilla hams it up with Norman Jr. on a recent weekday afternoon.
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House manager Brian Woodruff said trick-or-treaters would never stop by the house.
“Every year I bought candy, every year,” Woodruff said, laughing, as he stood on the cleared lot near Norman Jr. “And I always ended up being the one eating all the candy!”
That changed after Norman appeared on the front lawn. The trick-or-treaters came in droves, lured by the werewolf’s grinning fangs and gnarled outstretched arms. They’d stop and take pictures with Norman and leave gifts and thank you notes. So, the guys at the house decided to keep him up year-round and started creating new outfits for Norman to mark the changing of the seasons.
“Summer was coming up, we can get the Big-and-Tall catalog, we can order him a tank top,” Woodruff recalled. “And then I went online, and I found some oversized sunglasses,” he said, chuckling at the memory.
Then came the fire. All ten residents of Jubilee House got out safely, but the place burned to the ground. Among the debris lay the mangled pieces of Norman’s metal limbs.
“The first time I came up, I didn’t expect to be so disoriented, you probably experienced this, too,” said Pastor Tim Hartley, the director of the Jubilee House program. “I didn’t know where I was.”
A few weeks later, hoping to boost morale, Hartley started shopping for and found a replacement: Norman Jr.
“Once we put up that werewolf, it became this landmark [after the fire] that people could use for where they were in Altadena, as well as this source of hope for people,” Hartley said.
That’s what Norman Jr. came to symbolize for longtime Altadena resident Courage Escamilla.
“He’s kind of a symbol for people in town who for their whole life have struggled to ever feel like they fit in because they’re eccentric or different or stand out,” Escamilla said.
Rigoberto Gonzales runs through the extensive menu of his Mexican food truck.
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After the fire, he became an advocate and community booster, helping to organize rallies and fundraisers. Escamilla’s hard to miss, usually pulling up to community events on his motorcycle, sporting a red durag, with a raccoon tail dangling from the back of his waistband.
“You feel like you’re now in a community that embraces the weird, the unusual, and so for me, Norman represents the message that we embrace and appreciate the strange and unusual in this town,” Escamilla said.
After all, he said, fictional “monsters” are often just misunderstood.
“They’re often unfairly targeted, and I always felt like I related to that on some subconscious level and have always loved monsters for the fact that they can be loved,” Escamilla said.
“Symbols of things that were previously seen as repugnant are now seen as something that represents love and acceptance, and I find that rather special.”
Norman Jr.’s main character was another Altadena resident who lost her home. She stepped up to the task, creating new seasonal outfits and making sure he stayed upright when it was stormy.
On a spring day, she draped the werewolf’s plastic and metal body and articulated limbs in a form-fitting fake fur suit with a big red heart on its chest, hand-stitched for his frame.
With everyone from the sober living home scattered to new locations, Hartley welcomed her help.
“She honored this space in a way that I just appreciated,” Hartley said. “And then she’d say, he’s a little rickety, so I’m going to put out the word to have people come help me secure him, and these strangers would all gather to help, which I just loved.”
Norman Jr.’s caretaker declined to be interviewed and asked that we not use her name. But she did explain how Norman’s corner became a refuge for her after losing her home in the fire.
Pastor Tim Hartley shows off a Norman Jr. T-shirt, hand-screened by a local artist, to commemorate the Eaton Fire.
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Photos of the wolfman wearing the outfits she created started blowing up on social media, and life started returning to the neighborhood, with the pace of rebuilding picking up speed.
That’s when the little green taco truck from the San Fernando Valley appeared.
Behind the wheel was Rigoberto Gonzales. Also, a plumber who moonlights doing work on home rebuilds around town, Gonzales saw a need for food options that could appeal to the growing army of construction workers.
Knowing nothing about Norman’s story, he parked his lime green truck beneath the giant oak tree that shares the same corner. Norman’s caretaker was not happy. She asked Gonzales to move, even though his vehicle didn’t disturb or block access to the werewolf.
“Every time I see her, she was so mad, for no reason,” Gonzales said, as he took a break from the truck on a recent afternoon.
“Then she later tells me what’s the reason. She just doesn’t want me to be here.”
The conflict simmered for weeks. Gonzales said he felt unfairly targeted. He said he asked her why he needed to move.
“I mean, give me the reason [why] I have to move? And she only walked away,” he said.
The caretaker quit caring for Norman, claiming she felt unsafe. Gonzales insisted that not he, nor any of his staff or customers, ever harassed the caretaker in any way.
Then, a group of fire survivors, who never bothered talking to Gonzales or the property managers, rallied behind the caretaker. They accused Gonzales of exploiting a vulnerable, traumatized community and ruining the sacredness of Norman Jr.’s corner.
Then, it escalated. A disgruntled resident posted Gonzales’ license plate on social media.
Others threatened to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department or LA County Public Health. In a community forum on Facebook, one person “joked” about putting nails under his tires. Another person suggested setting off “stink bombs.”
Local therapist and activist Melissa Lopez said a few people tied to that same Facebook group later showed up to hassle Gonzales in person. After that confrontation, they appeared to have backed off.
“That hurts, to see some of these violent reactions, to say they were going to bring a truck and wall off the area to him,” Lopez said. “People are gathering up pitchforks, and [it’s] scary.”
Things eventually cooled down, but not without some sore feelings. Norman’s caretaker still hasn’t returned.
But Norman Jr. continues to be looked after by his community of admirers — including Lopez, who just got a colorful Norman Jr. tattoo on her calf.
Lopez said she found some similarity between the friction over Norman Jr. and a recent monster movie, director Guillermo del Toro’s 2025 Frankenstein film. In the adaptation, she said, the scientist gives Frankenstein’s creature a voice, and the creature tells his story.
“It’s so beautiful because of that, because you get to see that he’s been dehumanized, that we created a monster,” Lopez said.” And I think that’s so true of society. We create the monsters, and how quickly we go to ostracize, to condemn people.”
Suzanne Levy
is a senior editor on the Explore LA team, where she oversees food, LA Explained and other feature stories.
Published June 15, 2026 8:20 PM
Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard foundation, speaks onstage during the 2026 James Beard Restaurant And Chef Awards in Chicago.
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Topline:
Several Los Angeles heavy-hitters were recognized in the James Beard 2026 awards, the Oscars of the food world, which were handed out Monday night in Chicago. Dave Beran of Seline in Santa Monica won Best chef for California, Providence won Outstanding Hospitality, and Kato won Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program.
Why it matters: Similar to the Oscars, winning can lead to an instant boost in reservations and bragging rights. While three of L.A.'s restaurants were recognized, however, the city lost out in key categories like Outstanding and Emerging chef.
Who else was honored: Nancy Silverton won a Lifetime Achievement award, Inglewood legacy restaurant Silver Spoon was honored with an America's Classics award, and L.A. nonprofit, No Us Without You, was awarded Humanitarian of the Year.
Several Los Angeles heavy-hitters were recognized in the James Beard 2026 awards, the Oscars of the food world, which were handed out Monday night in Chicago.
Best Chef in California
Dave Beran, of Seline in Santa Monica, won Best Chef in California. The chef, who got Jeremy Allen White camera-ready for The Bear, said operating a restaurant in disaster-prone L.A. is hard.
"You name the problem every year.... whether it's fires so on and so forth. So to stay culture and goal-focused and believe in what we're doing even though I'm sure there are paths that probably would have been more profitable ... [the award] means a lot," Beran said.
Chef Dave Beran of Pasjoli and Seline in Santa Monica.
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Beran, who also owns Pasjoli nearby, offers a 16-22 course tasting menu at Seline for $295.
Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
While L.A. was eclipsed in some key categories, like Outstanding Chef, Emerging Chef and Best New Restaurant, it picked up awards in others. Kato, the one-star Michelin restaurant in DTLA, won the Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program. Ryan Bailey, sommelier and co-owner, told the audience in his acceptance speech that their vision was all about inclusion.
It was important that "no matter what was in your glass you were raising to cheer, you felt equal” at the bar.
Outstanding Hospitality
Meanwhile Providence, the three-star Michelin restaurant on Melrose that's celebrating its 21st anniversary this week, won Outstanding Hospitality. Co-owner and General Manager Donato Poto joked that in the restaurant world, its longevity puts it "somewhere between middle age and a miracle."
Kim Stoler, beverage director at Providence restaurant on Melrose, mixes the Electric margarita made table side.
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With a 1:1 customer to staff ratio, Poto said that exceptional service "is not something that can be scripted or manufactured, but rather is the result of a team united by a shared commitment to care, humility, and excellence."
Other SoCal honors
In a ceremony that was part celebration and part a passionate plea for recognition of the role of immigrants in the food industry, the contributions of other Angelenos were also honored.
Silver Spoon, the legendary soul food restaurant in Inglewood, was recognized with a James Beard America's Classics award, given to "locally owned restaurants with timeless appeal."
Local icon Nancy Silverton was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award. However, she said, “This award doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere … because I have nowhere to go. And mark my words I will be back there to receive my lifetime achievement award 2.0. “
A local nonprofit, No Us Without You, was awarded Humanitarian of the Year. Started by chefs Othón Nolasko and Damián Diaz to provide food relief to hospitality workers during the pandemic, six years later, it's pivoted to also serve food at home to families affected by ICE raids.
Officials have issued evacuation orders and warnings for residents near the Max Fire, which broke out late Monday afternoon.
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Topline:
A fire near Stevenson Ranch Monday afternoon prompted evacuation orders and warnings before firefighters were able to stop its forward progress hours later at 6:25 p.m. The Max Fire, which was reported at about 4:20 p.m., has so far burned 45 acres, according to the L.A. County Fire Department.
What we know so far: The fire is located just west of the 5 Freeway in Pico Canyon Park, near Stevenson Ranch Parkway, according to Cal Fire.
Read on ... for more on evacuation orders and warnings.
This is a developing story and will be updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
A fire near Stevenson Ranch Monday afternoon prompted evacuation orders and warnings before firefighters were able to stop its forward progress hours later at 6:25 p.m. The Max Fire, which was reported at about 4:20 p.m., has so far burned 45 acres, according to the L.A. County Fire Department.
The fire is located just west of the 5 Freeway in Pico Canyon Park, near Stevenson Ranch Parkway, according to Cal Fire.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for parts of the communities of Southern Oaks and Sunset Pointe, including the Laing-Brookefield Open Space. Parts of Valencia and Newhall are under evacuation warnings.
The basics
Acreage: 45 acres as of 6:25 p.m. Monday
Containment: 0%
Structures destroyed: None reported
Deaths: None
Injuries: 0
Personnel working on fire: Not immediately available
Authorities say those who require additional time to evacuate and those with pets and livestock should leave immediately.
What we know so far
The Max Fire broke out about 4:20 p.m. west of Stevenson Ranch. It's currently 0% contained.
It's among several fires in recent days, including the Hazel Fire near Lancaster, which burned 66 acres Monday before the L.A. County Fire Department said crews had stopped forward progress of the fire. Evacuation warnings for nearby residents are still in place for that fire. LAist media partner CBS LA reports aerial footage showed a few structures on fire.
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By Christopher Weber and Konstantin Toropin | The Associated Press
Published June 15, 2026 5:11 PM
A United States Air Force B-52 Stratofortress crashed shortly after takeoff.
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Topline:
A B-52 bomber crashed today and burst into flames, killing all eight people aboard, shortly after takeoff at a U.S. Air Force base in Southern California’s Mojave Desert, military officials said.
What we know: Aerial footage showed virtually nothing left of the aircraft that went down around 11:20 a.m. during a routine test mission at the base, which is north of Los Angeles. After reviewing footage of the crash, it was determined that no one could have survived, Col. James Hayes, the Deputy Commander at Edwards Air Force Base, said at a news conference.
About the victims: “We lost eight great Americans,” Hayes said, adding that officials were working to notify their families. On board was a mix of military service members and government and civilian contractors, Hayes said.
A B-52 bomber crashed Monday and burst into flames, killing all eight people aboard, shortly after takeoff at a U.S. Air Force base in Southern California’s Mojave Desert, military officials said.
Aerial footage showed virtually nothing left of the aircraft that went down around 11:20 a.m. during a routine test mission at the base, which is north of Los Angeles. Black smoke rose from a large swath of charred desert near what appeared to be a runway on the base, with emergency vehicles nearby.
After reviewing footage of the crash, it was determined that no one could have survived, Col. James Hayes, the Deputy Commander at Edwards Air Force Base, said at a news conference.
“We lost eight great Americans,” Hayes said, adding that officials were working to notify their families.
On board was a mix of military service members and government and civilian contractors, Hayes said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, and it could take up to six months to complete an investigation, Hayes said, but shared that the B-52 was supporting the “radar modernization program.”
In 2025, a B-52 flew to Edwards with a new, modernized radar system. A test team planned to conduct ground and flight test activities on the aircraft throughout 2026 to feed a production decision, the air force said in a 2025 news release. The modern Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar system replaced the aircraft’s antiquated radar for efficacy.
Edwards Air Force Base is home to a large portion of the U.S. Air Force’s aircraft test and development efforts and is about 100 miles (161 km) north of Los Angeles. The 412th Test Wing, which runs the base, also conducts developmental testing of all Air Force aircraft, weapons systems, software and components before purchase by the service as well as throughout their lifespan.
The vast desert base is also where Air Force test pilot Chuck Yeager reached a speed of Mach 1.05 and broke the sound barrier in 1947.
The airfield was closed most of Monday and all inbound aircraft were being diverted, but it reopened by late afternoon. Non-commercial visitor passes for the base were suspended as emergency crews doused the flames.
It’s too soon to say what might have happened.
The way the B-52 crashed so quickly after takeoff without getting very high or going far makes aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti suspect some kind of flight control malfunction.
It’s possible the controls were rigged wrong after maintenance, he said, or a catastrophic engine problem or a failure of a piece of equipment that was being tested.
“I think it was definitely a controllability issue. Now, whether that was tied to an engine failure, a flight control failure, or some new testing device failure, I’m not sure,” said Guzzetti, who used to investigate crashes for both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Although the Air Force has been flying B-52 bombers for more than 70 years, testing out new equipment on a plane can create new challenges.
“A flight test is always riskier than normal operations, so that’s why you have specially trained test pilots, and you should have other safety protocols,” Guzzetti said.
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Toropin reported from Washington D.C. AP Transportation Writer Josh Funk contributed to this story from Omaha, Nebraska and AP reporter Hallie Golden contributed from Seattle.
Erin Stone
covers climate and environmental issues in Southern California.
Published June 15, 2026 3:35 PM
Several historic cabins in Crystal Cove State Park, like this one, suffered damage and flooding during heavy surf and high tides.
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Topline:
Heavy surf, high tides and rip currents have done some damage to the Southern California coast, with potentially dangerous conditions expected to last at least until Thursday.
Why it matters: A young girl was recently swept into the ocean and killed, and some coastline infrastructure has been damaged.
Keep reading...for more on the recent heavy surf and high tides.
Heavy surf, high tides and rip currents have done some damage to the Southern California coast, with potentially dangerous conditions expected to last at least until Thursday.
The conditions already have had devastating consequences. Just last week in Laguna Beach, a 5-year-old girl drowned after she was swept into the ocean by powerful surf. Authorities said they were able to rescue her mother and brother, who were caught in the same swell.
In Crystal Cove State Park, tides over 7 feet and heavy surf damaged part of a historic cabin, and nearly flooded another. A lifeguard tower was nearly pulled into the water.
Heavy surf and high tides pulled sand from beneath a cabin at Crystal Cove Historic District.
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'Biggest waves I've ever seen'
“ At the peak of it, just the biggest waves I've ever seen here in my experience as a lifeguard,” said Jake Beckley, who’s been a Crystal Cove lifeguard for six years. “We've lost pretty much the entire beach at certain points.”
The tide reached as high as The Beachcomber restaurant at one point, and pulled chunks of a historic seawall from beneath a cabin nearby.
About Crystal Cove
In the 1910s, the area became popular with both beachgoers and Hollywood movie makers who used it as a filming location. From there, it grew into a bustling community for summer visitors, and later residents. In 1979, it became a California State Park.
Sandra and Rigo Garcia of San Dimas have been visiting Crystal Cove to stay in those historic cabins since the late 1990s. They’ve seen the beach change over the decades.
Sandra and Rigo Garcia have been coming to Crystal Cove for decades and have seen the beach change.
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“The tide is just so high that it took all the sand, and we're just like, ‘Oh, where's my beach?’” Sandra Garcia said as they sat under an umbrella on the sand of a small road.
Rigo Garcia pointed to the patch of sand in front of them.
“This spot was always the greatest spot, because I would come early in the morning, set up the easy-ups and chairs, and we always had plenty of real estate,” he said. “The kids would be able to swim maybe 10, 15 yards while they're out there. But now it's so dangerous…too many rocks.”
How we got here
A strong southern swell, combined with high tides, has led to the coastal erosion and flooding. The highest tides of the year, however, usually come in the winter, but over the last week some beaches have seen record high tides for this time of year, according to the National Weather Service.
“As sea levels rise, things like this are gonna become more common."
— Riley Pratt, environmental scientist
Riley Pratt, an environmental scientist with California State Parks Orange County District, said these events are a window into the future — as pollution in our atmosphere heats up the planet and melts glaciers, sea levels rise.
“As sea levels rise, things like this are gonna become more common, and their impact is going to be proportionally greater because the baseline is shifting,” he said. “That's going to change what is this just annual cycle into something that's new and that we haven't seen before.”
But for now, the beach is crowded, the sun is shining, and summertime is in the air. And for the Garcias and their fellow beachgoers, there’s no time like the present.
“Earth changes, so you have to go with it,” said Sandra Garcia. “Even though it has changed so much, we still can enjoy it… and be thankful that we have this paradise here.”
What's next
In Orange County, the National Weather Service warns that dangerous surf conditions, including rip currents, are expected to continue through Friday evening.
This creates dangerous conditions for swimming. Anyone caught in a rip current is advised to swim parallel to the shore to clear it. And, as the NWS says, "always swim near a lifeguard."
In L.A. County, conditions are expected to continue through Wednesday night, including coastal flooding, high tides and rip currents.
Southerly swell combined w/increased tides will bring dangerous rip currents & elevated surf from Pt. Conception southward today into early this coming week. Remain off rocks & jetties, always keep an eye on the ocean, and follow local lifeguard advice before swimming. pic.twitter.com/WNBxUK2igi
