Los Angeles, Ca
Taco Bell’s Live Mas LIVE event postponed
Taco Bell will not be holding its second annual Live Mas LIVE event at the Hollywood Palladium on Tuesday as announced last month.
The company decided to postpone the event due to the L.A. County wildfires.
“To ensure the focus remains on the ongoing recovery and rebuilding efforts, we are postponing our upcoming Live Más LIVE 2025 and investor events to prioritize the safety and well-being of Los Angeles residents and the surrounding community,” a statement on the company website said.
Taco Bell held its first Live Mas Live event during Super Bowl weekend last year to announce upcoming menu plans.
The company didn’t announce when the postponed event would take place, but did outline how Yum! Brands, Taco Bell’s parent company, and its sister brands supported L.A. County amid the wildfires.
The support included a $250,000 donation to the Red Cross Disaster Responder Program.
Taco Bell and The Habit Burger & Grill, the latter of which is based in Irvine, have also sent food trucks to feed first responders.
Los Angeles, Ca
A warm weekend could turn into a rainy couple of days in Southern California
Above-average temperatures are in store to kick off February in Southern California before another spell of wet and rainy weather, according to predictions.
A weekend warmup is anticipated on Saturday with weather that is expected to be “fairly unexciting,” according to the National Weather Service.
Highs on Saturday and Sunday are expected to be in the mid-to-high 60s and low 70s across the region.
Saturday highs include 67 degrees in Los Angeles, 69 in Glendale, 72 in Northridge, 67 in Thousand Oaks, 63 in Santa Monica, 69 in Anaheim, 71 in Riverside, 70 in Ontario and 72 in San Bernardino.
On Sunday, highs are expected to be 1 or 2 degrees more than Saturday.
Meanwhile, while the Southland sees clear and sunny skies on the weekend, a low-pressure system looming over the Pacific Northwest will give stormy and rainy conditions to the neighbors up north.
By Tuesday, the tail end of that system is expected to touch down in Southern California, giving the region another wet couple of days.
As far as rain totals, early predictions from Tuesday to Thursday show between 1 and 2 inches for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, between 0.5 and 1.5 inches for Ventura and Los Angeles counties, less than 0.5 inches for Orange County and less than 0.3 inches in the Inland Empire.
Los Angeles, Ca
FireAid mixes music and stories of loss to raise money for LA wildfire relief
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Green Day kicked off the massive FireAid benefit concert Thursday night, a two-venue concert extravaganza that is raising money for Los Angeles-area wildfire relief efforts.
They launched into “Last Night on Earth” at the Kia Forum and were soon joined by Billie Eilish for the first surprise of the night. The lyrics are surprisingly astute: “If I lose everything in the fire / I’m sending all my love to you.”
After their set, Green Day frontman Billy Joe Armstrong hugged Billy Crystal, who was there to welcome to the crowd at the Kia Forum.
“Our goal is simple tonight, to spend more money than the Dodgers spent on free agents,” he joked. He told the audience U2 offered the first big donation of the night — $1 million dollars.
Crystal said he was wearing the clothes he had on when when he evacuated. He lost his home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood that he lived in for 46 years.
The first true-blue Los Angeles moment came from a surprise performance by Dr. Dre. The progenitor of West Coast hip-hop tackled “Still D.R.E.” with Anderson .Paak and Sheila E. before pivoting to Tupac and Dre’s classic “California Love.”
It was followed by the figurehead of Laurel Canyon folk, a moving set of “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell.
An hour and a half after Green Day, the show launched at the nearby Intuit Dome with presenter Samuel L. Jackson, an Altadena fire fighter who lost his home while fighting to save others and Rod Stewart.
“Here’s a new song. Not!” joked Stewart before launching into “Maggie May.”
Pink did a stripped-down version of “What About Us,” Melissa Etheridge’s “Me and Bobby McGee” and Led Zeppelin’s “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You.”
Music mixed with stories of fire’s toll
Behind the performers, images of firefighters and the devastation brought forth by the fires appeared on screen.
Between sets, survivors telling the stories of losing their homes were broadcast throughout the arena — both in person and in video packages.
Non-celebrities brought heart. The Williams family – four daughters and their mother – took the stage and discussed losing four homes in Altadena, California. They then introduced the folk rock band Dawes, who were also directly affected by the Eaton fire.
Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith lost a portion of the Altadena house he shares with actor-singer Mandy Moore, and his home recording studio and instruments were destroyed. Goldsmith’s brother and bandmate, Griffin Goldsmith, and his pregnant wife also lost their home in the fire.
They were joined by Stephen Stills and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell for Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” one of Stills’ groups. It made for a perfect transition for Graham Nash, who described his Crosby, Stills & Nash collaborator as his “partner of many years.”
Spirits were high. “We’re appreciative of this moment. I hope people remember this concert forever,” said Scott Jones, 54, who brought his daughter to the concert at the Kia Forum. The Los Angeles-resident and his daughter wore black T-shirts with “First Responders” written across their chests.
“I hope some of the firefighters who are able to attend can come and decompress a little,” Jones said. “They needed it. I’m supportive of what they have done for this city.”
How to watch FireAid
FireAid has taken over two Inglewood, California, venues — the Kia Forum and the Intuit Dome.
It is being broadcast and streamed live on Apple Music, Apple TV+, Max, iHeartRadio, KTLA+, Netflix/Tudum, Paramount+, Prime Video, the Amazon Music Channel on Twitch, SiriusXM, Spotify, SoundCloud, Veeps and YouTube. It will also be shown at select AMC Theatres locations in the U.S.
Who else will perform?
Eilish, Gracie Abrams, Jelly Roll, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Lil Baby, Olivia Rodrigo, Peso Pluma, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Tate McRae and Earth, Wind & Fire will perform at the Intuit Dome.
John Fogerty, No Doubt, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stevie Nicks, the Black Crowes and John Mayer will perform at the Kia Forum.
Mayer and Dave Matthews were originally scheduled to perform live together for the first time, but on Wednesday, the official Dave Matthews Band Instagram account announced that “due to a critical illness in the family,” Matthews will no longer take the stage.
How will donations work?
Those not in attendance can watch the live feed and contribute donations via FireAidLA.org. The link, which is open now, will also be up on the screen for the duration of the broadcast.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie will match all donations made during the live broadcast, doubling the proceeds. Crystal noted that because of their pledge, U2’s million dollar donation was worth twice that amount.
All of the proceeds will go to those affected. A 501(c)(3) was set up, and contributions to FireAid will be distributed under the Annenberg Foundation, which with FireAid has assembled a small committee to advise.
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AP Entertainment Writers Mark Kennedy and Jonathan Landrum Jr. contributed to this report.
Los Angeles, Ca
Eaton Fire victims return to the rubble of their home
ALTADENA, Calif. (KTLA) – Courtney Holmes and her son Xavier, 13, returned to what was left of her family’s home in Altadena on Thursday to reflect on its history and weigh their path forward after the Eaton Fire.
Holmes told KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos that her grandmother purchased the home in 1952, and it had been the center of her family’s lives ever since.
“Just to see it like this… to see my son’s room and the living room all sunk in and gone, it’s just devastating,” Holmes said.
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