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Today's headlines:
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts to get The LA Report delivered to you twice on weekdays, with special editions on Saturday and Sunday.
Topline:
Depression increased 36% and anxiety increased 22% among patients seen at AltaMed after the Lineage warehouse fire, according to a new report released Thursday.
Why it matters: The report, released nearly 100 days after the Lineage fire broke out, compares the patients treated within a 5-mile radius of the Lineage warehouse since June 17 with patients treated in the same period in 2025. The clinic estimates about 40,000 patients were seen during that period.
More findings: The numbers also revealed a 27.8% increase in gastrointestinal concerns, a 24.2% increase in eye and throat irritation and a 19.9% increase in respiratory diagnoses within the same timeframe.
Read on... for more on the new report.
This story first appeared on The LA Local.
Depression increased 36% and anxiety increased 22% among patients seen at AltaMed after the Lineage warehouse fire, according to a new report released Thursday.
The report, released nearly 100 days after the Lineage fire broke out, compares the patients treated within a 5-mile radius of the Lineage warehouse since June 17 with patients treated in the same period in 2025. The clinic estimates about 40,000 patients were seen during that period.
The numbers also revealed a 27.8% increase in gastrointestinal concerns, a 24.2% increase in eye and throat irritation and a 19.9% increase in respiratory diagnoses within the same timeframe.
“On their own, the data do not establish that the fire caused each of these increases, but they definitely help us identify trends,” said Dr. David Escobar, regional medical director for AltaMed, at a press conference Thursday at Lou Costello Recreation Center.
“Patients were coming to me frequently with headache, throat irritation, eye irritation, and traumatic stress,” Escobar said.
A majority of patients who were evaluated for behavioral health issues were treated through talk therapy and trauma therapy, Escobar said.
Chronic stress and depression have disrupted Elizabeth Lopez’s daily life in the months after the fire. Lopez lives in the Estrada Courts housing complex and said she experienced the smoke, smell and physical symptoms after the fire, including eye irritation and ongoing asthma attacks.
The inability to leave her home during heat waves over the summer and having to endure the horrible smell left her feeling defeated and with no motivation, Lopez said. Her doctor prescribed her antidepressants.
“I’ve never been on depression [medication],” Lopez said. “I didn’t have that energy that I used to have. I had always been a very active person…and I just wasn’t.”
Lopez is a health promoter for AltaMed and said she referred her neighbors to AltaMed mobile health clinics to get treated for similar symptoms.
Since June 23, AltaMed has deployed its mobile health unit at Lou Costello Recreation Center, Pecan Recreation Center, and the Robert Louis Stevenson Branch Library, providing clinical evaluations, respiratory care, medication access, and connections to social support to help residents navigate recovery.
Escobar emphasized that the needs of the patients he cared for in Boyle Heights did not end when the fire was knocked down on June 24.
“Even when the fire was out, patients were still coming to me in my clinic personally with ongoing new or recurring symptoms…which tells me clinically there’s still exposure happening of some kind or another,” Escobar said. “What concerns me the most as a physician clinically is that I still do not know exactly what my patients were exposed to.”
Escobar told Boyle Heights Beat that the vast majority of AltaMed patients in Boyle Heights and East L.A. have Medi-Cal and Medicare. The health provider also serves residents without insurance and offers sliding scale fees.
In August, a St. John’s Community Health report also revealed the physical and mental toll that the fire had on patients seen at its mobile clinics. Of the 1,306 patients seen between June 17 and July 31, 36% had serious health problems attributed to smoke and toxic chemical exposure, including acute upper respiratory infections, eye disorders and asthma exacerbation. Dozens of patients were prescribed anxiety and/or sleep medication to treat acute stress after the fire.
Topline:
After a fire scorched more than a third of Santa Rosa Island this spring, the race is on to protect what remains of a beloved grove of rare Torrey pines.
Why it matters: The island’s grove of Torrey pine trees, a subspecies found nowhere else on the planet, bore much of the worst damage. Early surveys estimate as much as 80% of the rare trees will perish.
Why now: The biggest worry is how intense El Niño-driven rains may erode soil in the charred remains of the grove.
Read on ... to learn how officials and volunteers are working together ahead of the rainy season — and what you can do to help.
After a fire scorched more than a third of Santa Rosa Island this spring, the race is on to protect what remains of a beloved grove of rare Torrey pines.
The fire sparked in mid-May after a sailor wrecked his boat on the island’s rugged southeastern shore. It grew to more than 18,000 acres, becoming the largest fire ever recorded on the Channel Islands.
The island’s grove of Torrey pine trees, a subspecies found nowhere else on the planet, bore much of the worst damage. Early surveys estimate as much as 80% of the rare trees will perish. Experts with the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden are working on a more complete analysis.
Now, the biggest worry is how intense El Niño-driven rains may erode soil in the charred remains of the grove.
“ It keeps me up at night,” said Michelle Gados, a restoration ecologist with the California Institute of Environmental Studies and a lead on the restoration effort. “I just hope it's not as bad as they predict because this would just be really bad timing. … If you get too much too fast, then all that soil could slide down the slopes.”
The pines released thousands of seeds during the fire — more than 14,000 have been collected by Gados’ team, park staff and other partners since the fire, while thousands more seeds remain in the charred soil.
“ So we're really concerned about all that seed being washed out to sea,” Gados said.
She said keeping the soil intact in the grove is key to supporting surviving trees and to planting hundreds of Torrey pines after the rainy season. The goal is to plant 300 to 500 Torrey pines annually over the next four years.
To prevent erosion, biologists, fire crews and dedicated volunteers have been racing for nearly four months to build 500 wattles — essentially 18-foot cigars of rolled-up biodegradable material. The fiber cylinders can be bought pre-made, but on the island, they have to be built from scratch to avoid introducing any nonnative plants. They’re made of a tightly rolled coir blanket, or coconut husk fiber, around five layers of jute fabric. The wattles will be installed in some of the most erosion-prone areas identified in the Torrey pine grove.
The islands’ trails will be closed at least through next summer, potentially for a year or more. Park officials plan to begin trail repairs in spring 2027.
Water Canyon Campground and designated backcountry beach camping areas in the northwest and southwest quadrants of Santa Rosa Island will reopen Oct. 14.
If you want to join the next volunteering trip, you can reach out to the National Park Service at chis_volunteer@nps.gov or the California Institute of Environmental Studies at info@ciesresearch.org.
“This is kind of a make-your-own option that we have developed through other projects that have been ongoing for about a decade and have worked really well,” said David Mazurkiewicz, a wildlife biologist with Channel Islands National Park, and the implementation lead for the post-fire response on Santa Rosa.
He said they expect to have all 500 rolled and installed by the end of October, just as the official rainy season begins.
Originally, the park was planning to work with fire crews from across the state and country, but a busy fire season across the West pulled those crews elsewhere, Mazurkiewicz said. So dozens of dedicated volunteers have stepped in.
The latest volunteer cohort of about 20 went to the island this week, where for several days they’ll camp and spend their days rolling wattles.
David Rush of Riverside was there for the second time since the fire.
“The Torrey pines, they're the most endangered pine on the planet, so it's a worthy cause,” he said. “We're killing the earth, and just doing, in my own little way, something to help, it's cool.”
Carlos Cruz, a first-year student at Cal State Channel Islands, joined this round, too. With Indigenous roots in Oaxaca, Mexico, he felt called to the work to honor and restore land that for millennia was home to and tended by Chumash people.
“ I think that it’s important to understand and … see, as folks residing on spiritual lands, how we could come together,” he said.
The fire is just the latest moment of upheaval in the island’s long history. Birthed from shifting tectonic plates and volcanic lava flows more than 15 million years ago, then eventually named Wi'ma and inhabited by Chumash people for millennia, the island as we know it today was reshaped by European settlers. Experts say the recent fire was made worse by nonnative grasses that have covered it since ranching began here in the mid-1800s, after European settlement.
Nonnative livestock and game species such as feral pigs, cattle, horses, deer and elk destroyed the island’s forest of native oaks and bishop pines, as well as over 75% of the island's native vegetation.
It’s only been in the last decade-and-a-half that, thanks to conservation efforts since the islands became a national park in 1980, native plant and animal life have begun to return, including the once-nearly extinct endemic Santa Rosa Island fox. Mazurkiewicz said officials have not found many carcasses of the foxes in the burn scar, and expect their population to remain stable despite the fire.
Park officials have also been working for more than a decade to restore an ancient oak and bishop pine forest, or “cloud forest,” named for the trees’ ability to catch heavy ocean fog and harvest its water, which then condenses and drips to the chaparral below their branches. That ecosystem, essential habitat for native species, is slowly being restored, and was largely untouched by the recent fire.
In areas that were once just dirt, there are now native shrubs like toyon, sage scrub, lupin and lemonade berry. And in recent years, in the absence of nonnative mammals, Torrey pines have actually been growing beyond their traditional footprint on the island as well — some of those seem to have survived the fire.
In the burn scar, other signs of hope are sprouting. On a recent afternoon, Mazurkiewicz pointed to light green grass emerging from the charred hillsides.
“All that green is actually native vegetation, and it just was waiting for a little breathing room,” Mazurkiewicz said.
In some ways, he said, the fire may prove beneficial — by clearing out the invasive nonnative grasses that have choked much of the island’s flora.
Native plants like the endemic manzanita — which hasn’t done so well since the fire — as well as other native shrubs, grasses and trees are propagated at the island’s nursery. A newly-built shade house will soon be the home of Torrey pine seedlings that will eventually be replanted in the burn scar.
But for now, how the Torrey pine grove will fare is unclear. One factor that could play a big part in its future is how severe the upcoming rains will be.
“We don’t know until we get some rain, and we can see whether the trees that are pushing back out are going to hold,” Mazurkiewicz said. “The grove was heavily impacted. … A lot of those trees are not going to make it. But there's also outliers that look a little more encouraging.”
Topline:
Pour yourself a cup of ambition. It’s Dolly Parton Day. Across the world, communities are dedicating Friday to honoring the beloved country singer. The day is falling on Sept. 25, a wink at Parton’s hit song “9 to 5.”
Why now: Parton, who died of cancer last month at age 80, built an impressive legacy over the decades as a singer-songwriter, actor, philanthropist and entrepreneur — leaving big and small ways to honor the icon.
The backstory: In the U.S., a growing number of state and local leaders are establishing Sept. 25 as an annual Dolly Parton Day from California to the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The proclamations highlight Parton’s successful career and stress her lifelong commitment to promoting literacy.
Read on... for how you can celebrate Dolly Parton Day.
Pour yourself a cup of ambition. It’s Dolly Parton Day.
Across the world, communities are dedicating Friday to honoring the beloved country singer. The day is falling on Sept. 25, a wink at Parton’s hit song “9 to 5.”
Parton, who died of cancer last month at age 80, built an impressive legacy over the decades as a singer-songwriter, actor, philanthropist and entrepreneur — leaving big and small ways to honor the icon.
So whether it’s dusting off your rhinestones, donating a book or throwing back a pink-themed cocktail, here’s how you can celebrate Dolly Parton Day.
In the U.S., a growing number of state and local leaders are establishing Sept. 25 as an annual Dolly Parton Day from California to the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The proclamations highlight Parton’s successful career and stress her lifelong commitment to promoting literacy.
In Nashville — where Parton had lived since she was 18 — the city will honor the singer with pink lights and posters and give away stickers, buttons and bookmarks. Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines announced that it would hold a Parton-inspired karaoke Friday for travelers and employees. Tennessee state and local officials are currently in the process of renaming the airport after Parton.
“Dolly Parton’s impact on Nashville will be felt for generations, through the music she has given us, the people she has helped and the example she continues to set,” said Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell in a statement. “She has shown us that caring for a community means showing up for one another.”
Over in New Orleans, the marching group Krewe of Dolly will lead a parade through the city’s French Quarter to honor Parton.
And in San Francisco, organizers are planning a public event in the heart of the city, called “Dolly Day,” designed to be a celebration of life that will include “singing loud, dressing up, and being a little kinder than usual in her honor.”
For those chained to their actual 9 to 5 job on Friday, sneaking away for an event may be challenging. Instead, you can channel Parton’s giving spirit.
Parton made it her mission to improve literacy through her Imagination Library book giveaway program. The program has quickly expanded, resulting in more than a million books sent out each month to children in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia.
The Imagination Library is encouraging the public to give directly to their local Imagination Library Partner on Dolly Parton Day, or help establish a new program in their community.
Don’t know where to start? The Dollywood Foundation is directing people to ImaginationLibrary.com, where a ZIP code search can find nearby programs.
“For Dolly, giving was always personal and from her heart,” said Jeff Conyers, president of The Dollywood Foundation, in a statement. “She believed deeply in helping people, especially children, and she always felt if you are in a position to help, you should help.”
The Queen of Country was known for her over-the-top style, proudly wearing sequins with big hair and plenty of fringe in her signature color pink.
Parton especially adored butterflies, singing that “love is like a butterfly, as soft and gentle as a sigh.”
Dig into your closet and throw on something extra flashy, shiny or sparkly. Feeling adventurous? Some tattoo artists are offering Dolly-inspired tattoos on Friday, but a butterfly clip will also work.
Of course, there’s no easier way to celebrate Parton than by playing one of her many, many albums throughout the day.
Known for her hits “9 to 5,” “Jolene,” and “I Will Always Love You,” Parton’s catalog runs deep, and there’s room to discover new favorites.
It was Parton’s wish that her songs would have a lasting impact, and that in turn, she would be remembered for trying to make the world a better place.
“I hope that a lot of my songs may last that long. And I hope I’ll be remembered as somebody that tried to do some good in the world and left, you know, a few good things,” she told The Associated Press in 2024.
Topline:
Long Beach Airport will hold an emergency preparedness drill Friday night that will include smoke, along with lights and sirens from emergency vehicles.
The details: The drill, which will happen from 9 to 11 p.m. on Friday, is required by the Federal Aviation Administration every three years and “will test the speed and effectiveness of first responders” and airport staff in an emergency situation, according to the airport. No roads will be closed near the airport, and the drill is not anticipated to impact any aircraft operations, Lee said.
Read on... for more on the operation.
Long Beach Airport will hold an emergency preparedness drill Friday night that will include smoke, along with lights and sirens from emergency vehicles.
The drill, which will happen from 9 to 11 p.m. on Friday, is required by the Federal Aviation Administration every three years and “will test the speed and effectiveness of first responders” and airport staff in an emergency situation, according to the airport. As part of the drill, volunteer actors will play injured victims.
It will not take place near the terminal or the drop-off area, but may be visible to some people at the airport, said airport spokesperson Darrick Lee.
No roads will be closed near the airport, and the drill is not anticipated to impact any aircraft operations, Lee said.
