This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
14,000 Are Without Power All Thanks To A Crow

Crows often get a bad rap. Sometimes they're seen as a harbinger of bad luck. Other times they symbolize death. And once in a while they'll even fly into a 34,500-volt circuit breaker and leave 14,000 residents without power for hours, which is exactly what happened today in the Valley Village area, reports the L.A. Times.
The outage happened at around 8:40 a.m., when Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's Distributing Station 57 experienced an equipment failure, according to KTLA. When a crew arrived at the station they found that a crow had been responsible for the malfunction.
According to the Times, outages of this scope are often solved quickly. But, due to complications, the crew had to bring in a remote transformer called a "hog wagon" to help restore the power. Initially the department said that it could take up to 10 hours to restore full power. As of 2:43 p.m., 13,500 residents were still without power:
Valley Village Outage Update: Approx. 1,500 restored 13,500 remain w/o power. Crews working diligently to restore to all customers.
— LADWP (@LADWP) June 23, 2016
Hopefully, this isn't the beginning to something truly awful:
-
It's been many, many years since we saw this much snow in our mountains. Going up there right now isn't safe, but here are some places where you can enjoy the view and snap a pic.
-
April Valentine died at Centinela Hospital. Her daughter was born by emergency C-section. She'd gone into the pregnancy with a plan, knowing Black mothers like herself were at higher risk.
-
A look at years past when snows creeped into our citified neighborhoods, away from the mountains and foothills.
-
-
In the face of a drier future, that iconic piece of Americana is on its way out in Southern California.
-
Another Missing Hiker Has Been Found Dead In San Gabriels As Search For Actor Julian Sands ContinuesBob Gregory, 62, went missing the same day as Sands. His body was recovered near Mount Islip.