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Californians 'angry' amid devastating wildfires, asking where high tax dollars went: local researcher
Kristian Fors, a Los Angeles County resident and research fellow at the California-based Independent Institute, says locals are wondering what their tax dollars are going toward as officials struggle to contain devastating wildfires fanned by strong winds.
The wildfires have destroyed more than 12,300 homes around LA over five consecutive days, leaving at least 11 people dead and thousands displaced. As of Saturday morning, the Palisades Fire was 11% contained, the Eaton Fire 15% contained, the Kenneth Fire 80% contained, and the Hurst Fire 76% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“I think at its core level, we, the citizens of the United States and of Los Angeles, we expect certain provisions from our government. And when people see that our basic needs are not being met, they’re angry,” Fors told Fox News Digital.
“I think the people of California — they’re willing to pay high taxes. They’re willing to support things that maybe they don’t necessarily agree with because there is a basic assumption that underlies it all, that our government is here to take care of us,” he continued. “But now in a situation like this, when there’s total mismanagement, when people are scared, when there’s 0% containment, people are asking themselves a question, what did all those tax dollars go for?”
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Firefighters work near a burning structure in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. (Jason Ryan/NurPhoto)
Fors, whose research focuses on government waste and inefficiencies in California, evacuated his home in La Cañada Flintridge, which neighbors the now-smoldering city of Altadena, with his grandfather after their next-door neighbor knocked on their door at 6 a.m. and said, “You need to leave.”
The research fellow pointed to multiple issues he believes could have been addressed to mitigate wildfires, including more favorable insurance policies that would encourage “a lot of productive sorts of construction” built to withstand wildfires and other natural disasters; putting fire-resistant power lines underground; turning power off when strong winds blow through certain areas; and more controlled burns.
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Luke Dexter reacts as he sifts through the remains of his father’s fire-ravaged beachfront property in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire Friday, Jan. 10, 2025 in Malibu, Calif. (John Locher)
Fors also noted that California has been struggling to address its housing crisis for years, and displaced residents are struggling to find places to go after evacuating from their homes.
“At a statewide level, I’m not sure if the necessary efforts are being taken.”
“[California Gov.] Gavin Newsom back in 2020 came up to a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Forest Service, and they agreed that they were going to clear … 500,000 acres of forest land per year,” Fors explained. “And that means doing controlled burns, because part of the issue with living in a place like California is we’re surrounded by wild lands. These wild lands accumulate brush, and that brush is incredibly dangerous. … So they came to this memorandum of understanding they were going to clear 500,000 acres, but they’ve only cleared about 100,000 per year.”
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A helicopter drops water on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Etienne Laurent)
LA County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone told reporters on Saturday that his department is prepared for the strong Santa Ana winds that could fan the flames through Wednesday.
“These winds, combined with dry air and dry vegetation, will keep the fire threat in Los Angeles County high,” Marrone said.
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People watch the smoke and flames from the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood on Jan. 7, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Tiffany Rose/Getty Images)
The Eaton Fire has burned 14,117 acres and is now 15% contained, with over 7,000 structures damaged or destroyed. Marrone said 2,832 emergency personnel are deployed to fight the fire.
Todd Hopkins, battalion chief for Cal Fire, said the Palisades Fire is now at 21,596 acres and is 11% contained. A total of 5,316 structures have been destroyed in the fire, including 426 homes. More than 150,000 residents have been evacuated, he added.
Fox News’ Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
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MISSOULA, Mt. — Karsen Beitz arrived at Montana with no scholarship offers, one remaining walk-on spot and no guarantee that his track career would last.
Now, the former Sentinel High School standout is one of the fastest athletes in Montana history.
Beitz, a Missoula native and junior sprinter for the Grizzlies, has turned an unlikely college opportunity into a record-setting career. He owns Montana’s 100-meter and 200-meter program records and enters next week’s Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships as one of the top sprinters in the league.
Coming out of high school, Beitz was a football and track athlete without a Division I offer.
“I was upset about it,” Beitz said. “But at the same time, I was fine with just going to college and living a normal college life.”
That changed after conversations between Sentinel coach Dylan Reynolds and Montana coach Doug Fraley.
“You may not think he’s a D-I prospect based on his times,” Reynolds told Fraley, “but I’m just telling you, if he gets in the right program, he’s going to be a D-I runner.”
Fraley had one walk-on spot left on his roster. He brought Beitz into his office, talked with him and decided to take a chance.
“I liked him. We had a good conversation, so I decided to give him the last walk-on spot,” Fraley said. “I’m sure glad I did.”
Beitz became a Division I athlete in his hometown, but his first goal was modest. He wanted to prove he belonged and earn a scholarship.
He did that quickly.
As a freshman, Beitz placed at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships and helped Montana’s 4×100-meter relay reach the podium with a school-record performance.
“There was no doubt he earned that scholarship,” Fraley said.
Beitz continued to climb in 2025. He placed second in the 200 meters at the Big Sky indoor meet, but a hamstring injury kept him out of the outdoor championships.
“It sucked to deal with,” Beitz said. “But I’m young and still had two years left, so I shifted my mindset to how I could come out these next two years.”
He has not looked back.
Beitz won the 200 meters at the 2026 Big Sky indoor championships, the first individual conference title of his track career. His time of 21.09 seconds edged Idaho State’s Alex Conner by one-hundredth of a second.
“I think the best part about it was seeing how happy Doug was,” Beitz said. “He was jumping up and down, gave me a big hug. After last year, I knew what I was capable of, so to go out there and do it was amazing.”
Then came the outdoor season.
In April, Beitz broke Montana’s 58-year-old 200-meter record, running 20.55 seconds at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate in Long Beach, California. The previous record had stood since 1968.
Two weeks later, he added the school’s wind-legal 100-meter record, running 10.25 seconds at the Bengal Invitational in Pocatello, Idaho. Which broke a 44-year-old program record and gave Beitz both sprint marks.
“He’s a really competitive guy, and he wants to be the best in the Big Sky,” Fraley said.
The records have not left Beitz satisfied. They have made him hungrier.
“You have all these goals and numbers in your mind,” Beitz said. “Then once you hit those numbers, you’re not satisfied. There’s just more numbers to chase.”
The next chase begins at the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships, scheduled for May 13-16 in Portland, Oregon.
After college, Beitz hopes to follow his mother’s footsteps and become a pharmacist. Maybe even the world’s fastest pharmacist.
“If I’m running around the hospital talking to doctors,” Beitz said, “I’ll do it pretty fast.”
From a walk-on few people noticed to a conference champion and school-record holder, Beitz has become Montana’s fastest man — and he is not done running.
Alex LaRosa hit for a .262 batting average in 50 plate appearances for the Bishop Gorman baseball team through its 32 games played entering Thursday.
But with a chance for the Gaels to punch their ticket to the Class 5A state tournament, LaRosa came up with the biggest swing of his season.
LaRosa hit a solo home run in the top of the sixth inning and broke a tie game, which proved to be the deciding run in Gorman’s 8-4 win over Centennial on Thursday night at Durango High in a 5A Southern Region winners bracket final.
The Gaels (28-6) have qualified for the 5A state tournament, which begins May 14 at Las Vegas High. The Gaels also advance to Saturday’s 5A Southern Region title game at 10 a.m. Saturday at Durango.
“My teammates, they just push me to be better in everything to do,” LaRosa said. “I know if I get on, they’re going to to get the job done and score me. My job, hitting in the bottom of the lineup is making sure I get on base anyway I can. I just put a good swing on the ball and it got out.”
Centennial falls to the losers bracket final and will play either Arbor View or Palo Verde at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Durango to determine Gorman’s opponent for Saturday and the South’s second spot in the state tournament. Arbor View and Palo Verde play in an earlier elimination at 4 p.m. Friday at Durango to determine Centennial’s opponent.
”It feels good, we fell short the last couple of years (of reaching the state tournament),” LaRosa said. “It just feels good to finall be in it and hopefully we keep going and win it.”
LaRosa’s blast was much needed after a disastrous bottom of the fifth inning for Gorman. The Gaels led 4-0, but Centennial (25-10) cut into the deficit when Jaxon Burr singled which scored Chase Hurley, who led the inning off with a triple.
Then Jake Turner hit a fly ball to left-center field, and as Gorman center fielder DeMari Hall and Logan Grubbs dived for the ball, they collided and the ball went all the way to the wall for a two-run, inside-the-park home run.
Four batters later, Gorman catcher Austin Argenta threw to first base to pick off runner Trevor Henson, but Argenta’s throw was wild and sailed into left field, scoring Kane Barber from second, tying the game.
“I had just given a speech right before we went out to hit that we were good, we weren’t losing this game,” LaRosa said. “We’re still in this game and the dugout went crazy. We just exploded after that.”
LaRosa, who finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored, followed up with his home run in the top of the sixth, which hit the top of the left field fence. That caused a brief discussion between the three umpires before they confirmed it was a home run.
“I was just looking for a fastball to drive into the gap so my teammates could drive me in, but I got lucky, back spun it and it got out of here,” LaRosa said. “At first, I thought it was gone and then I looked up and the ball bounced back in the field.
“Then the (umpire) told me it was a home run and I kind of blacked out. It was a surreal feeling.”
Grubbs added an RBI single in the top of the seventh for Gorman. Chase Wilk was 2-for-4 with a home run in the second, a run scored during a three-run Gorman fourth inning and an RBI on a ground out in the seventh.
Justin Rodrigues had a two-run double in the fourth capped off the fourth inning for Gorman, which put the Gaels ahead 4-0. Rodriguez went 2-for-4 and recorded the final three outs on the mound for the Gaels.
Hurley and Burr each had two hits and a run scored for Centennial.
“It feels good, just returning to a national powerhouse that we were,” LaRosa said. “It’s the standard to be in the state tournament every year and compete for that state championship. So it feels good to bring the culture back to Gorman.”
Other 5A baseball results
No. 2S Arbor View 11, No. 2M Faith Lutheran 3: At Durango, Devin Martin’s two-run home run capped off an eight-run fourth inning for Arbor View, which helped the Aggies (30-7) roll past Faith Lutheran (16-15) in a 5A Southern Region elimination game.
In the fourth inning against Faith Lutheran, the Aggies scored twice on bases loaded walk, a wild pitch, a two-run single from Rhett Bryce and an RBI single by Angelo Ugarte before Martin hit his home run.
Martin finished with three RBIs and Ugarte added two RBIs. Rookie Shepard and Kingston Kela each recorded an RBI for Faith Lutheran.
No. 3M Palo Verde 7, No. 2D Desert Oasis 5: At Durango, Stone Amsden’s grand slam highlighted a seven-run seventh inning to give Palo Verde the lead, and the Panthers (26-8) held on to beat Desert Oasis (26-8-1) in an elimination game.
Desert Oasis, the Desert League’s No. 2 seed, led 4-0 entering the seventh. Owen Anderson and Matthew Simmler each had an RBI single, and Kyle Johnson scored in a wild pitch before Amsden’s homer put the Panthers, the Mountain League’s No. 3 seed ahead.
Amsden finished 2-for-4 for Palo Verde. The Panthers had just six hits.
Lincoln Guillermo was 2-for-4 with a home run for Desert Oasis, and Brody Griffith was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Landon O’Dell had an RBI single for the Diamondbacks and Aidan Smith added an RBI and a run scored.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
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