Cato Hernández
has scoured through tons of archives to understand how our region became the way it is today.
Published September 12, 2024 5:00 AM
A mix of rain and smoke from the nearby Line Fire creates a heavy stew of air pollution over San Bernardino
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David McNew
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Getty Images
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Topline:
Multiple wildfires are raging in Southern California, and it’s covering cities across the region in ash and smoke. If breathing is a struggle right now, wearing a mask can help.
How do fires affect the air? When you breathe in wildfire debris, very small particles and harmful gases get inside your body.
How do I know if I should wear one? There are air quality maps that can tell you how healthy or unhealthy the air quality is around you. But if you go outside and can smell smoke, or if the sky is kind of brownish, gray, or hazy, then you might consider wearing a mask.
What mask can help? Health experts say masking up with an N95 is the right option. These masks should be familiar — they’re what many people have used over the pandemic.
Heavy smoke from the Airport, Line and Bridge fires has been giving Southern California communities a hard time for multiple days now.
Listen
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How to protect your health during wildfires
When smoke and ash settle into your neighborhood, it irritates your eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. That can cause long-term damage, which is why it could be time to start wearing a mask.
How wildfires affect your health
When you breathe in wildfire smoke, very small particles get inside your body. But what those particles are, exactly, depends on what’s burning.
Ed Avol is a professor emeritus of USC’s Keck School of Medicine and was chief of its environmental health division. He said the first thing most people think about with wildfires is the wood aspect.
“I think what people often forget, though, is we often are also exposed to a lot of other things,” Avol said. “For example, if buildings are involved, or if cars or vehicles or other materials are involved, you get into all other kinds of exposure.”
Smoke can be made up of things we can see and things we can’t, which is why masks can help. Avol said there’s a lot of dirt, debris, and dust in smoke — often referred to as particulate matter. But we also inhale gasses like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and more.
“Health studies show and tell us that persistent exposure to these sorts of things can affect our respiratory system and can affect our cardiovascular system,” Avol said.
Groups who are especially sensitive to smoke include:
People with asthma
People with cardiovascular diseases
People with respiratory diseases
People over 65
Young children
Pregnant women
Is there a difference between smoke and ash?
The view from Griffith Park as a plume rises from the Bridge Fire burning in Angeles National Forest on Monday
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Being around either of these can cause problems for you, but there is a difference. Avol said the larger ash particles — things we can visibly see — may be less of a problem for a couple of reasons.
“We can see them, so we know to avoid them,” Avol said. “Secondly, because they’re larger, if we’re breathing through our nose, they tend to be taken out by the filtration systems in our nose. The larger particles get trapped either in the upper airways or in our nose, and then we just sort of blow our nose and sneeze it out.”
The more difficult issues are the smaller particles that get into our respiratory system. Once they pass the air blood barrier in the lungs, they can get into the circulatory system and go anywhere in the body.
When should I start wearing a mask?
If you’re very close to the fires or in a smokey area, Avol has some tips for how to tell when it’s time to put one on.
“If you go outside and can smell smoke, if you go outside and see that the sky is kind of brownish, gray, hazy… then you might consider, depending on your respiratory health, consider wearing those masks,” Avol said.
You can also check air quality maps around you to see what pollutant levels are. If your neighborhood is in an orange, red or even purple area, then it’s time.
How to check your air quality
This South Coast Air Quality Management District map will show you the level of pollutants in your area.
You can also check AirNow’s fire and smoke map, which measures fine particulate matter and fire-related detections.
What mask works best against smoke and ash?
One of the best masks should already be familiar to you from the pandemic: an N95 mask. These are particulate respirators recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies. Ones with a valve are fine to use.
“These are masks that are rated and tested to provide protection to at least 95% effectiveness for small particles, which are exactly the main problem, the main culprit, if you will, in wildfire smoke,” Avol said.
These masks are regulated by the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and will have “NIOSH” printed on them. N95 masks will almost always have two straps that go around your head — not ear loops — for a tighter fit that prevents outside air from getting in.
3M brand N95 particulate respirators are displayed on a table.
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KN95s are similar to N95s, but these Chinese-equivalents aren’t regulated by NIOSH and use ear loops. Still, these masks are 95% effective and have less air leakage than a surgical mask.
The mask market is also riddled with fakes, so consult the CDC’s guide to spotting them if you’re not sure about the authenticity of your N95. The CDC has a list of NIOSH-approved respirators. Approval numbers are also required to be printed on the product, which can be looked up on the CDC’s certified equipment list.
A P100 respirator mask could also protect you from smoke, but Avol said those go beyond what most people need.
What about kids?
If you’re looking to protect your children, hold on before strapping N95s to their faces. NIOSH hasn’t approved these masks for kids, which means there is a dearth of sizes.
“Trying to put an adult-sized face mask onto a child just doesn't work because it doesn’t seal well against their face,” Avol said. “It basically just leaks and so you mistakenly think you’re protecting your child and you’re not really doing that much.”
The mask does come in smaller adult sizes that could fit an older child’s face, or you could opt for a child’s KN95 mask.
“It may be a better day to do more reading,” Avol said. “Dare I say even watch TV or do something to minimize the increased ventilation on these particularly smoky days.”
Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published January 4, 2026 8:17 AM
Mount Baldy, photographed here in 2019, has been the site of more than 230 rescues and eight fatalities since 2017.
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Robyn Beck
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AFP via Getty Images
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Topline:
Two of the three hikers found dead last week at Mt. Baldy have been identified.
The backstory: Their bodies were discovered when a search-and-rescue crew was dispatched to search for another missing hiker, who was reported to have fallen 500 feet near Devil’s Backbone Trail.
What's next: Trails on and around Mt. Baldy are still closed after the discovery of the three bodies.
Two of the three hikers found dead last week at Mt. Baldy have been identified.
They are Juan Sarat Lopez, 37, and Bayron Pedro Ramos Garcia, 36, according to authorities on Saturday. Both men are Guatemalan nationals living in Los Angeles.
Investigators believe the two fell from the Devil’s Backbone Trail the same day they were found.
Their bodies were discovered when a search-and-rescue crew was dispatched to search for another missing hiker, who was reported to have fallen 500 feet near Devil’s Backbone Trail.
That person was identified later as Marcus Alexander Muench Casanova, 19, of Seal Beach.
Trails still closed
Hiking trails on and around Mount Baldy have been closed by authorities after the deceased hikers were found, until 11:59 p.m. Jan. 7.
“Our primary responsibility is the preservation of life,” Sheriff Shannon Dicus said in a social media message sent on New Year's Eve. “Closing these trails is a necessary step to mitigate ongoing risks. We urge the community to respect these boundaries.”
The following trails will be closed:
Forest System Trail No. 7W12 - Mount Baldy Trail
Forest System Trail No. 7W02 - Mount Baldy Bowl Trail
Forest System Trail No. 7W05 - Devil’s Backbone Trail
Forest System Trail No. 7W06 - Three T’s Trail
Forest System Trail No. 7W07 - Icehouse Canyon Trail
"We're going to have our very large U.S. oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country," Trump said during a press conference Saturday.
The capture of Maduro and Trump's comments comes at a time when even a country like Venezuela — with one of the biggest oil resources in the world — isn't a sure bet for attracting major oil companies.
Many oil companies have been bruised by their past experiences operating in the country. The global oil market is currently facing an oversupply. Oil prices are below $60 a barrel, and long-term projections for oil demand are unclear as the world shifts to more electric vehicles.
Trump promises to "run the country" and make way for U.S. oil companies in Venezuela. However, there's a long history of U.S. interventions in Latin America and the Middle East not going well, oil experts tell NPR.
Here's what you need to know about Venezuela's oil.
Venezuela has huge oil reserves, but now produces a fraction of what it used to
Venezuela was once one of the biggest global oil producers and was one of the main founders of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a group of some of the world's biggest oil producers, whose decisions help determine global oil prices. Venezuela has the largest proven reserves of oil in the world, according to OPEC.
But while the country was producing more than 3 million barrels a day a few decades ago, today Venezuela produces only about a million barrels a day, or roughly 1% of global oil output. The U.S. produces about 13 million barrels a day.
Much of Venezuela's oil went to refineries in the U.S. Now much of it goes to China.
Not all crude oil is the same — some oil is physically lighter and easier for refineries to process. Venezuela's oil is heavy and dense, and requires special refineries. Burning any type of oil contributes to climate change, but Venezuela's oil is "among the dirtiest oils in the world to produce when it comes to global warming," says Paasha Mahdavi, associate professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The El Palito refinery rises above Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025.
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Matias Delacroix
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Venezuela owes some U.S. oil companies billions
U.S. oil companies like Chevron began drilling in Venezuela about one hundred years ago and played a key role in developing the country's oil sector.
But around 2004 to 2007, then-President Hugo Chávez "basically forcefully renegotiated contracts" with international oil companies, says Francisco Monaldi, director of the Latin America Energy Program at the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University.
ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips left the country in 2007 and then took the Venezuelan government to international arbitration courts. The courts ordered Venezuela to pay ConocoPhillips over $10 billion and ExxonMobil over $1 billion. Venezuela has only paid a fraction of those sums to ExxonMobil and to ConocoPhillips.
Chevron, however, stayed in Venezuela — although " they didn't like it," says Gerald Kepes, president of Competitive Energy Strategies, an energy consultancy in Washington, D.C.
Chevron today produces about a quarter of Venezuela's oil.
In response to the news of Maduro's capture, Chevron spokesperson Bill Turenne said in an email, "Chevron remains focused on the safety and wellbeing of our employees, as well as the integrity of our assets. We continue to operate in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations."
Trump has said that Venezuela has "stolen" U.S. investment in the country's energy sector.
Will U.S. oil companies return?
Venezuela is what the oil industry calls a "brownfield" — meaning it's well established, and oil companies have a fairly good idea of what they will find when they drill. For companies like ConocoPhillips, returning to Venezuela could be an opportunity to recoup some of the billions owed to them by the government, Monaldi says.
In an email, ConocoPhillips spokesperson Dennis Nuss wrote, "ConocoPhillips is monitoring developments in Venezuela and their potential implications for global energy supply and stability. It would be premature to speculate on any future business activities or investments."
ExxonMobil did not respond to a request for comment.
Still, this isn't the best time to add to the global oil supply, Monaldi says. There's currently a worldwide glut of oil. Also, because Venezuela's oil is particularly bad for the climate, that makes it less attractive for European oil companies with climate goals, Monaldi says.
Aerial view of a ship at the Demerara river in Georgetown, Guyana on August 29, 2025.
Guyana's oil is lighter than Venezuela's, less polluting, and has lower taxes than Venezuela, Monaldi says. There's also no national oil company in Guyana, as there is in Venezuela.
"All that makes for Guyana to be one of the most attractive oil places in the world," Monaldi says.
While ExxonMobil is no longer in Venezuela, it is a major player in Guyana.
But Mahdavi says the Trump administration's plans to jumpstart the industry will be difficult. He notes that it took nearly two decades to revitalize Iraq's oil industry after the U.S. invasion, though corruption and mismanagement remain pervasive.
And ultimately, notes Kepes, if it's unclear who is in charge in Venezuela, oil companies will have concerns about the long-term viability of their contracts. "No one's going to start investing on the ground in a place where there's no legal contract and viable permission to operate or if there's concerns about political stability and violence," he says.
Copyright 2026 NPR
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Former Pali-Post editor Bill Bruns stands in front of the old "Pacific Palisades Post" building on Via de la Paz. The building held the newsroom as well as the paper's printing press.
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Topline:
The Palisadian-Post, a community newspaper dedicated to the Pacific Palisades, published its final edition on Christmas Day.
Whynow? After January’s fires subscriptions basically fell to zero and what advertisers the paper did have all but disappeared, according to owner Alan Smolinisky.
Who read it? At its height, the paper reached over 6,000 subscribers and was solely focused on stories local to the Palisades. Reporters would cover local community meetings, sports events and businesses.
Read on ... for nearly 100 years of memories of the Pali-Post.
The Palisadian-Post, the community paper that’s been covering the Pacific Palisades for nearly 100 years, printed its final issue on Christmas Day.
After January’s fires, subscriptions basically fell to zero, as did advertisers, according to a memo announcing the paper's closure from owner Alan Smolinisky.
But its end brings with it nearly a century of memories.
The Post remembered
The seaside community of Pacific Palisades was founded by members of the Methodist church in 1922. Six years later, the first issue of what would become the Pali-Post was published to document town life.
“ A little 12-point, 12-page tabloid, they called the Palisadian” saidBill Bruns, a former editor of the Palisadian-Post from 1993 to 2013, and member of the Pacific Palisades Historical Society. Before he was editor, Bruns was a loyal reader of the paper.
In 1934, the paper was purchased by Clifford Clearwater, one of the first settlers of the Palisades. Bruns said Clearwater had been an ambulance driver in World War I, and was the Palisades's original postal carrier where he would deliver mail by horseback.
He wasn’t trained as a journalist, but his life experiences gave him the confidence to keep publishing the paper, serving as its photographer and editor until his death in 1956.
“He had a friend who had a little plane and he would take Cliff up and Cliff would shoot these great aerial pictures of the town growing, hanging out of this little plane,” Bruns said.
Over the years, Clearwater took about 3,000 aerial photos of the community as it developed and grew. All of those pictures survived the Palisades Fire and are stored at the Santa Monica Library for the public to see.
In 1950, a rival paper — the Pacific Palisades Post — came on the scene and by the end of the next decade, the two papers would merge to become the Pali-Post that most people think of today.
Bill Bruns (back right) poses for a picture with the rest of the "Palisadian-Post" staff in 2013.
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A 'heyday' for community news
The paper changed hands again in 1981 and a little over a decade later, Bruns began as editor.
With an average of about 30 pages to fill every week, he said what readers appreciated most was the focus on local news. Reporters went in person to cover stories and were often seen at local meetings, sports events and businesses.
“So they knew that they were getting firsthand coverage of what was happening in the town,” Bruns said.
Readers like Sue Kohl who lived in the Palisades for 32 years, respected the breadth of its coverage.
The Post covered school sports her children participated in. She said it featured plenty of advertisements from neighborhood businesses, including her own real estate agency. She especially liked the small town bulletin feel of the paper.
“They talked about local issues. They talked about local residents, whether they were famous or not famous,” Kohl said.
One of her favorite sections to read was the “Two Cents” column, stray thoughts and opinions from Palisadians. She also appreciated the in-depth obituaries.
Bruns said the obit section was always appreciated by the families since the paper didn’t charge for them.
“ Because we didn't charge, people would write nice obituaries because they weren't worried about the cost and they would give us a picture and we ran those,” Bruns said.
The old "Pacific-Palisades Post" newsroom from Bruns' time as editor. After 2013, it was converted into a real estate office by the new owner, which was subsequently lost to the fire.
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Bill Bruns
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The paper was known for its responsiveness to the community. The staff took pitches from readers, Bruns said, and put the spotlight on Palisadians themselves.
There was a “golden couples” column for anybody married for 50 years or more; a “young Palisadians” column for enterprising youngsters and a “people on the move” column for the movers and shakers.
The paper also announced the first birth in the community each year.
“It was kind of a cool thing to be the first baby in the Palisades. They gave them prizes like baby gifts and things. Very local, community driven, small town emphasis,” Kohl said.
More than a paper
That small town emphasis remained a constant.Gabriella Bock was a reporter at the Pali-Post from 2016 to 2018. She said it her first real newsroom experience.
Gabriella Bock's old desk at the Pali-Post office on Alma Real.
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Gabriella Bock
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“ We were a small, tight-knit news team of myself, a sports reporter and one other staff reporter,” Bock said. “So I was able to be taken under their wing and learn a lot in a short period of time.”
Gabirella Bock's former media pass from 2017.
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Gabriella Bock
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But the paper was more than just a place to work. When Bock got married, her fellow reporters wrote a marriage announcement in the paper. When she was pregnant, they threw her a baby shower.
When she heard about the paper closing its doors, she said it was heartbreaking. To Bock it’s not about being nostalgic or sentimental about a former workplace. She sees the giant hole the disappearance of another local newsroom can leave people with.
“It's how people learn what's happening on their block, in their schools, in their city, and when that disappears, people oftentimes will lose a reason to stay engaged at all,” said Bock.
Gabriella Bock works the line at the Gracias Senor food truck for a Pali-Post story. The food truck often parked outside of the Ralph's grocery store on Alma Real.
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Bruns echoes Bock’s sentiment. He saw the paper as a unifier of the community in his two-decade tenure.
“It just made people feel more like they really liked their town, and the Palisades Post was a crucial element in that whole spirit of community,” Bruns said.
After Bill Bruns (left) retired in 2013 he received a commendation from former LA City Councilman Mike Bonin (right) for his years of service in local journalism.
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Kohl, whose home is more than halfway rebuilt, hopes that the spirit will return one day.
Last time she drove through her old neighborhood of The Alphabet Streets she saw several homes in the process of coming back up.
“I have faith that we will all come back, and I hope that the newspaper finds that as well,” said Kohl.
Sue Kohl and her dog Maisie stand in the construction site of her home being rebuilt in the Pacific Palisades.
Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published January 3, 2026 11:18 AM
President Donald Trump listens to a reporter's question in the Oval Office of the White House, on Friday.
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Alex Brandon
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AP
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Topline:
California lawmakers have issued their responses on the U.S. military operation in Venezuela.
The backstory: In a news conference this morning, President Donald Trump said the U.S. is going to "run" that country until a proper transition is in place.
President Donald Trump launched a military strike against Venezuela overnight, resulting in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
In a news conference this morning, Trump said the U.S. is going to "run" that country, until a proper transition is in place.
California lawmakers are reacting to the attacks.
"Nicolás Maduro was a thug and an illegitimate leader of Venezuela, terrorizing and oppressing its people for far too long and forcing many to leave the country. But starting a war to remove Maduro doesn’t just continue Donald Trump’s trampling of the Constitution, it further erodes America’s standing on the world stage and risks our adversaries mirroring this brazen illegal escalation," says Sen. Adam Schiff, a democrat.
Nicolás Maduro was a thug and an illegitimate leader of Venezuela, terrorizing and oppressing its people for far too long and forcing many to leave the country. But starting a war to remove Maduro doesn’t just continue Donald Trump’s trampling of the Constitution, it further…
Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, who represents areas including Murrieta and the Temecula Valley, says President Trump, "has taken strong action to protect America’s homeland from neighboring threats of narcoterrorism and the scourge of deadly narcotics. The Trump administration has my full support."
Our elite military have again performed brilliantly with total effectiveness, and minimum loss of life. They are the best-trained, best-equipped, and bravest in the world.
Once again, @realDonaldTrump has taken strong action to protect America’s homeland from neighboring threats…
California Governor Gavin Newsom did not directly response to the attacks. He zeroed in on a comment Trump made about the L.A. fires during the news conference.
"Unless Trump is finally delivering the federal aid survivors need to rebuild after the horrific fires — nearly a year after California first requested it — he should keep Los Angeles out of his mouth," Newsom's office says on social.
Unless Trump is finally delivering the federal aid survivors need to rebuild after the horrific fires — nearly a year after California first requested it — he should keep Los Angeles out of his mouth. https://t.co/DolwqB3NnJ
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) January 3, 2026
