California

Final evacuation order officially lifted nearly six months after Palisades fire

Published

8 months ago

June 16, 2025

Final evacuation order officially lifted nearly six months after Palisades fire

Nearly six months after a wildfire devastated the Pacific Palisades, the final evacuation orders have been fully lifted, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

A portion of the coastal Los Angeles neighborhood had remained under an evacuation order because of dangerous downed wires, potentially explosive lithium-ion batteries and toxic wildfire debris, according to Lyndsey Lantz, a spokesperson for the Fire Department.

The Army Corps of Engineers, the lead agency overseeing wildfire cleanup, has overseen federal contractors in clearing wreckage away from more than 3,200 properties, alleviating some of those worries.

“Our concern has decreased since much of the debris has been removed,” Lantz said.

Only residents and contractors had previously been able to return to the portion of Pacific Palisades that remained under the evacuation order. Authorities had established vehicle checkpoints, in part, to keep the public away from these lingering hazards.

As the final evacuation orders fully lift, however, the general public will be allowed to access the area. Los Angeles police are expected to maintain a presence in the neighborhood to ward off potential thieves and deter property crime.

Although people will be allowed back into fire-affected communities, public safety and health authorities are asking them to exercise caution, such as wearing an N-95 mask to prevent exposure to toxic dust.

Elected officials and environmental researchers have raised serious concerns about the possibility of lingering soil contamination because federal disaster agencies have decided not to pay for soil testing to confirm that heavy contamination isn’t left behind.

Soil sampling projects by Los Angeles Times journalists and, separately, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health found lead and arsenic contamination above California’s standards for residential properties at properties already cleaned by federal contractors.

Source link

California

California toddler falls out of moving car, mother charged

Published

8 hours ago

January 27, 2026

Press Room

California toddler falls out of moving car, mother charged

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A California mother was arrested on felony child abuse charges after a viral video showed her 19-month-old child falling from a moving SUV at a busy Fullerton intersection, police said Monday.

The Fullerton Police Department said it became aware of the video, which shows a black SUV turning at an intersection when a passenger-side door suddenly opens. A small child then falls out of the vehicle and onto the roadway.

The SUV immediately stops, and a car following behind narrowly avoids colliding with it. The car stops just short of the child on the roadway.

The video shows an adult woman running from the driver’s side, picking up the child and placing the toddler back inside the SUV before driving away.

MAN RUNS INTO FLORIDA STREET TO SAVE TWO YOUNG CHILDREN WHO WANDERED AWAY FROM RENTAL HOME

A black SUV turns at an intersection when a passenger-side door suddenly opens and a small child falls out of the vehicle and onto the roadway. (Fullerton Police Department)

A witness called police on Saturday and provided identifying information about the vehicle. Officers traced the SUV to a home in La Habra, where they located the vehicle, the child and a suspect believed to be the woman seen in the video.

A car following the SUV narrowly avoided hitting the child and SUV. (Fullerton Police Department)

Police identified the child as a 19-month-old who suffered injuries consistent with the fall. The toddler was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and is expected to make a full recovery.

FLORIDA DEPUTIES RACE TO SAVE 4-YEAR-OLD WHO STOPPED BREATHING AND HAD NO PULSE ON INTERSTATE, VIDEO SHOWS

The suspect was identified as Jacqueline Hernandez, 35, of La Habra, and the child’s mother. She was arrested and booked into the Fullerton City Jail for felony child abuse, police said.

The child’s mother, identified as Jacqueline Hernandez, 35, of La Habra, picks the child up from the road. Hernandez was later arrested and charged with felony child abuse, police said. (Fullerton Police Department)

Neighbors told FOX11 Los Angeles that the family has several children and could not believe the mother would put her children in such a dangerous situation.

“I can’t excuse something like that, I’m sorry,” a neighbor who wished to remain anonymous told the local station.

Investigators believe the incident occurred between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Jan. 20. Police said they did not receive any emergency calls related to the incident at the time.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The investigation remains ongoing, and police are asking anyone with additional information to contact the Fullerton Police Department’s Sensitive Crimes Unit.

Source link

California

California gubernatorial candidates outline their priorities at UCSF event

Published

20 hours ago

January 26, 2026

Press Room

California gubernatorial candidates outline their priorities at UCSF event

Several of the candidates vying to become California’s next governor gathered Monday at the University of California, San Francisco to make their case to voters.

Seven Democrats took the stage at UCSF to outline their priorities for their first 100 days in office. Republican candidates were invited but declined to participate.

On June 2, California voters will narrow the field to two candidates in an open primary. Those two will then face off on Nov. 3.

NBC Bay Area’s Velena Jones has more in the video report above.

Source link

California

California joins UN health network following US departure from WHO

Published

4 days ago

January 23, 2026

Press Room

California joins UN health network following US departure from WHO

Jan 23 (Reuters) – California said on Friday it will become the first U.S. state to join the World Health Organization’s global outbreak response network following the Trump administration’s decision to pull Washington out of the WHO.

The network, comprised of more than 360 technical institutions, responds to public health events with the deployment of staff and resources to affected countries.

It has tackled major public health events, including COVID-19.

The state’s decision to join the network comes more than a year after U.S. President Donald Trump gave notice that Washington would depart from the WHO. On Thursday, it officially withdrew from the agency, saying its decision reflected failures in the U.N. health agency’s management of the pandemic.

California Governor Gavin Newsom decried the United States’ move on Friday, calling it a “reckless decision” that will hurt many people.

“California will not bear witness to the chaos this decision will bring,” Newsom said in a statement. “We will continue to foster partnerships across the globe and remain at the forefront of public health preparedness, including through our membership as the only state in WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network.”

The governor’s office said he met with the WHO’s Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, where they discussed collaborating to detect and respond to emerging public health threats.

The WHO did not immediately respond when reached for comment.

Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington
Editing by Rod Nickel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Source link