Yusra Farzan
Local news in Orange County has my heart: All those long meetings — city council, school boards, power authorities, housing commissions, planning departments — play a huge role in our everyday lives. So I take the time to synthesize how decisions in Orange County’s 34 cities affect your electricity bill, how your taxes are funding the next big project and the resources available at your child's school.
Even though I got my break in entertainment reporting, the pieces I am most proud of spotlight everyday people: teachers in Orange County, the duo who started a school for Ukrainian refugees, the women behind Ramadan markets and the teenager who invented a cancer-detecting toothbrush.
Ask me about the small liquor store in Garden Grove that also carries Sri Lankan snacks, the best places to get Arab food in Anaheim and why the drive to Laguna Beach is worth it for those warm, summer days.
I grew up in the Middle East, but I am of Sri Lankan descent. I used to live in Irvine, and I still have one foot in O.C. But now I also call Rancho Palos Verdes home — it’s also why I am so invested in covering the land movement here.
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The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to ask the state for a reprieve from laws that set density and energy requirements in burn zones. -
Fire danger is at critical levels in the areas, which aren’t scheduled to reopen until Feb. 1.
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Malibu schools were also closed for the day amid worries about conditions.
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Couple accused of impersonating firefighters in Palisades Fire — complete with their own fire engineThe couple, prosecutors say, bought the fire engine at an auction and now face 180 days in jail.
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Amy Phan West allegedly tried to stop her husband’s Jeep from getting towed.
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The City Council this week approved taking money from other infrastructure projects to help pay for dewatering wells.
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Firefighters had to battle multiple fire that cropped up heading into what forecasters say could be a rainy weekend.
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Around 38,000 people are under evacuation warnings after the fire quickly grew to more than 10,300 acres.
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Should you sell? Do you pay the mortgage if everything was lost? LAist has answers.
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“It just has to make us stronger. We can't let it go someplace else.”
