West
Los Angeles wildfire czar's $500K paycheck for 90 days of work draws swift blowback, mayor reverses course
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass backtracked on Saturday amid reports that her wildfire recovery czar, Steve Soboroff, would be compensated $500,000 for 90 days of work.
The Los Angeles Times first reported Saturday morning that Soboroff, a real estate developer and longtime civic official, would be paid $500,000 over the course of three months for working as the city’s “chief recovery officer.”
His compensation was to come from charity organizations, but Bass, who first tapped Soboroff for the job on Jan. 17, quickly reversed course by Saturday evening. She said Soboroff would now manage the rebuilding of the city free of charge.
“Steve is always there for LA. I spoke to him today and asked him to modify his agreement and work for free. He said yes,” Bass said, according to the Times. “We agree that we don’t need anything distracting from the recovery work we’re doing.”
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Mayor Karen Bass and Steve Soboroff discuss recovery efforts during a press conference in Pacific Palisades on Jan. 27, 2025. (Drew A. Kelley/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images)
Another person, longtime real estate executive Randy Johnson, was to be compensated $250,000 from philanthropic groups for assisting Soboroff, but he too would now do the job for free, Bass said.
On Johnson, Bass said she was “grateful for his generosity and expertise,” but the mayor’s office declined to name the charity organizations or clarify how the funding was raised, according to the Times.
Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez, a member of the five-person committee tasked with recovery, told the Times it was “infuriating” that philanthropic groups would pay two people $750,000, calling the amount “obscene.”
“He’s getting paid $500,000 for 3 months of work?” President Donald Trump’s envoy for special missions, Ric Grenell, wrote on X of Soboroff. “And they call this a charity. Gross. Offensive.”
A helicopter drops water as the Palisades fire grows near the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood and Encino, California, on Jan. 11, 2025. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
Grenell, who was seated next to Trump during a round table discussion in the Pacific Palisades last month, added: “I’m getting paid $0 – as are many people. It’s a good thing there will be strings on the Federal money for California.”
Larry Vein, a Pacific Palisades resident whose home suffered smoke damage, condemned Soboroff’s reported $500,000 compensation, saying no one should handle recovery efforts for “financial gain.”
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Steve Danton, who resides in a temporary apartment in Marina del Rey after his home was destroyed in the Palisades Fire, said Soboroff’s compensation is a “money grab,” adding that the city is experiencing a “crisis of leadership.”
Soboroff, who previously served in volunteer roles on the Board of Police Commissioners and on the commission that oversees the Department of Recreation and Parks, defended the $500,000 amount to the Times earlier Saturday.
Charred homes and burnt cars in the fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates in Los Angeles on Jan. 13, 2025. (Agustin Paullier/AFP via Getty Images)
He said he has specialized expertise, is taking on sweeping responsibilities, including communicating with federal agencies, and is giving up other real estate and environmental consulting work to become the wildfire recovery czar.
“I’ve been doing this for 35 years for free on some of the biggest civic projects for the city of Los Angeles. But nobody ever asked me to drop everything. This time they did,” Soboroff told the Times. “And I said OK, under the condition that my pay not be taken out of city money, or from any wildfire survivors who would otherwise benefit from that money.”
Soboroff said he has taken questions from “thousands of residents,” made recommendations on the city permitting process and advised the mayor to hire an outside project manager to lead city agencies in replacing damaged infrastructure.
“At the end of the day, I’m doing the stuff that all these other people are just studying,” he said. “I’m implementing to help people reach their goals of getting back in their houses and getting their jobs back.”
Read the full article from Here
Idaho
Grocery Outlets to close in Idaho Falls, Pocatello after company announces poor earnings – East Idaho News
IDAHO FALLS — Two local grocery stores are closing their doors, along with 34 others across the country, after their CEO announced last quarter that sales were unacceptable.
On Friday, the Grocery Outlets in Idaho Falls and Pocatello announced on Facebook that they’ll be closing their doors by March 21.
The Idaho Falls Grocery Outlet first opened its doors in July 2022, and the one in Pocatello opened in April 2023.
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EastIdahoNews.com contacted the operators of the Idaho Falls Grocery Outlet and was referred to corporate. They did not respond to a request for comment.
However, on March 4, Grocery Outlet CEO James Potter spoke during an earnings call with investors, on the closure of the stores in Idaho and across the country. Potter told investors during the call that the company’s fourth-quarter results were “unacceptable.”
“Our outlook for 2026 reflects a business with more work to do than we expected,” Potter said. “I own this, and I own fixing these issues.”
Potter said 36 stores were identified as lacking a viable path to sustained profitability despite the company’s support. The majority of the identified stores were located on the East Coast.
“However, it’s clear that we expanded too quickly and that these closures are a direct correction,” Potter said.
According to a list on Gordon Brothers’ website, a third store in Idaho will also close in Smelterville, located in Idaho’s panhandle. The investment firm’s website shows that all 36 locations are available for sublease.
With these closers, Potter said the company hopes to bring back $12 million and free up resources to assist other stores in different markets.
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HELENA — On Monday, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen sent a letter to the City of Helena claiming the municipality is not in compliance with the state’s law banning “sanctuary cities.” The letter comes just under a month after the State of Montana launched an investigation into a city resolution on Helena Police policy and Helena’s involvement in federal immigration enforcement.
In the letter, Knudsen laid out the ways he believes the city’s resolution violated state law. The attorney general gave Helena 15 days to respond or reverse the policy. If the city does not comply, his office will pursue legal action.
“Helena’s resolution appears to contain blatant violations of this law,” wrote Knudsen.
MTN News
On January 26, 2026, the City of Helena adopted a resolution clarifying when and how the Helena Police Department will cooperate with federal immigration officials. The vote was 4 to 1. The Helena commission seats and the mayor are elected in non-partisan races.
In the letter, Knudsen alleges the resolution established “a broad sanctuary city policy” that seeks to protect every illegal immigrant, regardless of whether the individual had committed a serious crime or not. The state further claims the resolution gives illegal immigrants “special privileges” in plea deals and establishes a “free-for-all policy” where a police officer can request the unmasking of Department of Homeland Security and ICE officers.
Knudsen has requested that the City of Helena, in their response, specifically describe in detail how the resolution complies with Montana law, provide emails and correspondence from city staff and the commission regarding the resolution.
Helena City manager Alana Lake told MTN in a statement: “The City of Helena is aware of the issues being raised by the Attorney General’s Office and is reviewing the matter. While we cannot discuss the details of a potential legal issue, the City is committed to transparency and compliance with the law. The City takes these matters seriously and will continue to cooperate with the appropriate authorities while remaining focused on serving our community.”
MTN News 
Passed in 2021, Montana House Bill 200 prohibits a state agency or local government from implementing any policy that prevents employees or departments from communicating with federal agencies regarding immigration or citizenship status for lawful purposes. It also states governments must comply with immigration detainer requests if they are lawfully made.
HB 200 was backed by Republicans and passed with only Republican votes. Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the legislation into law on March 31, 2021.
Passage of the resolution by the Helena City Commission has drawn ire from conservative voices in Montana politics and on the national level.
MTN News
The resolution said the commission supported the Helena Police Department avoiding “committing its resources to federal action for which it has no authority,” such as entering into an agreement with the federal government to directly enforce immigration laws. Under federal law, immigration enforcement is conducted by federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security. However, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, state and local governments can voluntarily enter into 287 (g) agreements with the federal government that allow them to enforce immigration laws.
The commission further supported HPD’s policy not to stop, detain, or arrest a person solely on suspected violations of immigration law, including assisting other agencies in an arrest based solely on immigration law.
DEEPER LOOK: Helena has seen a growing debate over ICE and local police involvement
In the resolution, the commission also supported an HPD officer, using their own discretion, requesting the identification and unmasking of a Department of Homeland Security Officer if the HPD officer “feels it will not be interfering with the actions of federal officers exercising their jurisdiction.”
“This adversarial relationship by local law enforcement toward federal officers itself undermines public safety and forces immigration officers to fear for their safety when they are simply carrying out their lawful duties,” wrote Knudsen.
The resolution further supports the City of Helena’s policy not to consider immigration consequences in a plea agreement with a defendant.
Mack Carmack, MTN News
The commission also supports the City of Helena not disclosing any sensitive information about any person – including immigration status, sexual orientation, or social security number – except as required by law.
“This is a restriction that directly conflicts with Montana’s prohibition on sanctuary jurisdictions, specifically ‘sending to, receiving from, exchanging with, or maintaining for a federal, state, or local government entity information regarding a person’s citizenship or immigration status for a lawful purpose,’” the attorney general wrote.
If a government is found to be violating Montana’s law banning “sanctuary cities”, the state could fine them $10,000 every five days, prevent them from receiving new grants from the state, and have their projects with the state re-prioritized. A government in violation can avoid penalties by becoming compliant with the law within 14 days of being notified of the violation.
Read the full letter from the Montana Attorney General to the City of Helena:
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Grocery Outlets to close in Idaho Falls, Pocatello after company announces poor earnings – East Idaho News
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