California
More than 80 homes lost in Southern California’s massive Airport Fire: “I don’t have nowhere to go”
More than 80 homes were completely destroyed in the massive Airport Fire, which tore through Orange and Riverside counties and left several people injured as entire communities were forced to flee, authorities said Saturday.
Since it broke out Monday afternoon, the wildfire has scorched more than 23,000 acres and remained just 19% contained as of Saturday, according to Cal Fire, or the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. In the last few days, fire officials lifted some mandatory evacuation orders while many of those affected remain under evacuation warnings, meaning they can return home but should be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
Fourteen people, including a dozen firefighters, have been injured.
An estimated 109 structures have been lost so far — 82 of which are homes — in addition to 24 structures that are damaged including six homes, according to fire officials. Nearly 22,000 structures are still being threatened, Cal Fire said Saturday.
As the blaze raced through Lake Elsinore earlier this week, huge flames engulfed houses along El Cariso Road and left them scorched to the ground. The community is just five miles outside the lake in Riverside County.
Dean James, who lives in the El Cariso neighborhood, was packing up to leave when his car wouldn’t start. His roommate panicked and ran off as she feared for her life and was surrounded by flames when a firefighter later rescued her. By the time the wildfire was done tearing through their neighborhood, their home had been burned down to little more than some piles of debris.
“I don’t have nowhere to go,” James said. “I got less than $100 in my pocket.”
James’ roommate was later treated for burn injuries in the intensive care unit at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.
Just hours after it sparked, the wildfire exploded over Monday night in Orange County’s Trabuco Canyon and spread into Riverside County the following day. People in both counties were forced to flee their homes, facing mandatory evacuation orders as firefighters raced to stop the growing blaze. More recently, firefighters have made progress and some evacuations have been lifted.
How to get help after a wildfire in Southern California — from shelters to tax relief and insurance
Nearly a week since it started, more favorable weather, including cooler and less dry conditions, has helped firefighters in recent days as containment rose from 8% on Friday to 19% on Saturday.
As crews continue to assess the damage, the number of homes and other buildings lost in the wildfire could change as those assessments are ongoing. “Damage assessment teams diligently evaluated the extent of structural damage, and those efforts will continue as they gain access,” reads the Cal Fire statement issued Saturday.
Meanwhile, firefighters are working to prevent further losses by firmly establishing a containment line around the blaze.
Cal Fire officials said the status of mandatory or voluntary evacuations could change, depending on the level of containment and other considerations.
Still, they are working to get people back home.
“Efforts are underway to safely return residents to their homes as conditions permit,” Cal Fire officials said.
Rapper was stabbed 16 times by fellow inmate in May 2025 while 10-year sentence in Megan Thee Stallion shooting case
Tory Lanez has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections stemming from a May 2025 incident where the rapper was stabbed in prison.
Lanez — born Daystar Peterson and currently serving a 10-year sentence after being found guilty in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting case — also sued the warden and guards at the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi, where the rapper was stabbed 16 times in an “unprovoked life-threatening attack” by another inmate, the lawsuit states.
Peterson was hospitalized following the May 2025 incident, suffering a collapsed lung among stab wounds to his back, torso, and head.
According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit criticized the Department of Corrections for housing Peterson with fellow inmate and alleged attacker Santino Casio, who was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder. “The choice to house Casio with Peterson was known or should have been a known danger,” the lawsuit said, adding that Tory Lanez’ “high-profile celebrity status” made him a target.
The lawsuit also said that prison guards were slow to respond to the shanking, and didn’t employ flash grenades or other measures to halt Casio’s attack.; Casio was not charged for stabbing Peterson, the Associated Press notes.
Lanez, who following his hospitalization was transferred to San Luis Obispo County’s California Men’s Colony, also alleges in the lawsuit that he never received his possessions from the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi, including songbooks filled with lyrics to his unreleased music.
Lanez is serving a 10-year prison sentence for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot during a confrontation in the summer of 2020. He was eventually convicted on several firearms charges, including assault with a firearm, in December 2022. In November 2025, his appeal was denied by a three-judge panel, and the 10-year sentence was upheld.
From one crackdown on hospice fraud to another.
A few weeks ago, the FBI arrested multiple people in Southern California that were accused of defrauding the government for millions of dollars.
In a more recent announcement last Thursday, California’s State Attorney General Rob Bonta held a press conference to announce a fraud bust of their own.
“Operation Skip Trace uncovered and ended a hospice fraud scheme that defrauded Medi-Cal of $267 million,” Bonta said. “So just to be clear, a quarter billion dollars over funds that are paid for by California taxpayers, funds that are meant to provide care to Californians in need. It is unacceptable. It is illegal and we will not stand for it.”
The operation saw a total of 21 suspects charged as a result and dismantled a major hospice fraud scheme, with two handguns and over $750 thousand in cash seized as well.
According to the state’s attorney general, this is just one of the many cases over the years the state has cracked down on.
“This is just the latest example of the California DOJ’s longstanding ongoing and successful efforts to combat hospice and medical fraud,” Bonta said. “We have been doing this work for years. We’ve been doing it successfully before certain people in this country decided to think about it for the first time. We will continue to do this work. Heads down, sleeves rolled up, important investigative work, prosecutorial work.”
He added to that by taking a shot at the Trump Administration’s latest fraud operations.
“While healthcare fraud might be President Trump’s shiny new political talking point, the California DOJ has been going after healthcare fraud since 1979,” Bonta said. “For decades, Trump is late to the party. Protecting taxpayer dollars and protecting programs sick and vulnerable Californians rely on have been our priority for nearly five decades.”
Governor Gavin Newsom also spoke out about this latest crackdown while taking a shot of his own at President Trump.
In a post to “X” the Governor’s Press Office wrote in part quote…
“California has been cracking down on hospice fraud long before Trump gutted oversight and pardoned the architect of the biggest health care fraud scheme in U.S. history.”
State Republicans have responded to this latest announcement from Attorney General Bonta, calling for a special session to demand accountability from the Governor on widespread fraud.
California
Xavier Becerra surges in poll after Eric Swalwell drops out of California governor’s race
A new poll shows a major shift in the California governor’s race after former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who was once a frontrunner, dropped out of the election following several allegations of sexual misconduct.
“This definitely throws this race into even more volatility, creates a huge vacuum,” Pomona College politics professor Sara Sadhwani said.
According to the new numbers, Xavier Becerra, the former state attorney general and Health and Human Services Secretary under President Biden, is surging in popularity.
In Emerson College’s Inside California Politics poll, Becerra is now polling at 10%, a seven-point jump since March.
Republican Steve Hilton remains in the lead with 17%, followed by Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 14%.
Among Democrats, billionaire Tom Steyer leads the pack with 14%, followed by Becerra and former Rep. Katie Porter at 10% each. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan sits at 5%.
The poll showed that 23% of voters remain undecided.
“Xavier Becerra should be the happiest of them all because he’s the biggest move in this survey,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, director at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Emerson College conducted the poll right after Swalwell dropped out of the race and President Trump endorsed Hilton.
“I believe over time, because Trump has endorsed Hilton for the governorship, that Hilton will continue to edge up and Bianco by definition will have to go down,” Yaroslavsky said.
Last weekend, the California GOP held its convention, and, similar to the Democrats, the party did not make an endorsement. However, Bianco received the most votes from the GOP delegates.
“We’re extremely happy with how it came out,” Bianco said. “There was a lot of effort put in by my opponent. Hundreds of thousands of dollars to try and win this election.
With the large number of undecided voters, Yaroslavky believes that the race is still in the air.
“It’s still early,” Yaroslavsky said. “It’s a little less than seven weeks before the election. The ballots go out at the beginning of next month. People, at least 30%, still haven’t made up their mind.”
In the state’s primary system, only the top two vote-getters in the June primary will advance to the November general election.
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