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.”
LOS ANGELES FIRE VICTIMS TO BE BOOTED FROM RED CROSS SHELTER TO MAKE SPACE FOR FILM CREWS, EVENTS
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.”
SEN. SCHIFF URGES TRUMP ADMIN TO EXCLUDE FIREFIGHTERS FROM FEDERAL HIRING FREEZE
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.”
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San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Giants honor Willie Mays with highway designation on what would have been his 95th birthday
The San Francisco Giants announced a fitting tribute to one of the best players in the history of Major League Baseball on Wednesday afternoon.
Willie Mays, the legendary center fielder and Hall of Famer, would have turned 95 on Wednesday. And the Giants, in conjunction with Mays’ Say Hey Foundation, along with several other sponsoring parties, will be designating a portion of a local freeway as the Willie Mays Highway.
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Hall of Famer Willie Mays tips his cap during introductions for Game 1 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Detroit Tigers in San Francisco on Oct. 24, 2012. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee/AP)
This designation will cover a portion of Interstate 80 where the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge reaches the city near Oracle Park, the Giants’ home stadium. Signs on I-80 have already been installed with the new designation, a way for Mays to become a permanent part of the San Francisco Bay Area and his home franchise.
Giants personnel spoke about the honor and what it meant to have a “reminder” of his infectious spirit and personality next to the stadium.
DODGERS’ SHOHEI OHTANI BLASTS HOMER IN WIN, ACHIEVES STATISTICAL FEAT UNSEEN SINCE WILLIE MAYS
“What an incredibly special way to honor Willie’s legacy,” said Larry Baer, Giants president and CEO according to MLB.com “For generations, this portion of I-80 on the Bay Bridge has carried Giants fans into San Francisco, and now it will forever carry Willie’s name—a lasting reminder of the joy and inspiration he brought to this city. It is also fitting that this same span of the bridge is named after former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown Jr., two great San Franciscans.”
San Francisco Giants players Orlando Cepeda and Willie Mays stand at the Polo Grounds in New York on Sept. 11, 1963, during a game against the New York Mets. (Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty Images)
Mays came to the Bay with the Giants in 1958, and has a list of accomplishments to rival any other player in MLB history. A 24-time All-Star, two-time MVP, 12-time Gold Glove winner and 660 home runs, the sixth-highest number by an individual player.
Jeff Idelson, the executive director of the Say Hey Foundation, also issued a statement celebrating the announcement.
“Wille was more than a baseball great, he was a part of the fabric that helped define San Francisco culture for more than a half century,” said Idelson. “Not only is this a fitting way to recognize his lasting contribution to the community, but it furthers Willie’s legacy as a national icon.”
Willie Mays visits PS 46 in Harlem, next to the site of the former Polo Grounds where the New York Giants played before moving to San Francisco in 1958, on Jan. 21, 2011, in New York City. (Michael Nagle/Getty Images)
One of the state senators who introduced the bill paving the way for this designation was Bill Dodd from nearby Napa, who also added, “I cannot think of anyone better to welcome people traveling across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco than Willie Mays. He was an inspiration to so many of us growing up. I was so pleased to have had a part in making this happen.”
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The combination of speed, power, defense and joy Mays played the game with is incredibly rare, which is why his legacy is still viewed with such importance today, nearly 53 years after he retired. Hopefully, the next generation of baseball fans will stay familiar with his career thanks to this reminder.
DENVER — Denver leaders say the city is ready to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention.
Local and state leaders came together Wednesday to show off the city, giving the Democratic National Committee its third of five site tours across the country.
Among the finalists are Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Denver.
“In 2028 Democrats will gather at the national convention to reaffirm the core principles of our party and nominate the next President of the United States of America,” Ken Martin, chair for the Democratic National Committee, said.
READ MORE: Denver selected as finalist to host Democratic National Convention in 2028
He said the process of selecting the host city is a “serious and deliberative one.”
The selection will be based on factors including hotel space, transit and airport access, venues, restaurants and bars, and culture, among other things.
Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib made the case for what Denver brings to the table.
“Denver offers a town square, a place to debate, place to energize and a place to organize around the ideals that have always propelled this country forward with fairness, justice and the pursuit of happiness, and that’s what the West has always provided,” Murib said.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also joined in the pitch. Johnston acknowledged it has been 18 years since Denver last hosted the DNC in 2008, but said he believes the event could bring in half a billion dollars in economic activity to the city.
► Watch Veronica Acosta’s report in the player below:
Denver leaders pitch city as host for 2028 Democratic National Convention
“It’s four consecutive days of prime-time national television of 50,000 or more people in the city, hosting parties, events, gatherings, and so it’s a huge economic impact for us,” Johnston said.
Hosting the convention comes with a significant cost to the city as well. Johnston said Denver has a plan in place to cover it.
“That is certainly part of the question the convention will have, is each city’s ability to fundraise for the convention,” Johnston said. “We’ve built a very detailed financial plan to lay out our path to raise the resources that we would need to do and we’re prepared to do that.”
Denver Democrats are hoping to recreate the success of the 2008 DNC, nearly two decades later.
“Hosting a national convention, of course, can be a great economic boon for any city with over 35,000 delegates, guests and members of the press in attendance; the Democratic National Convention helps showcase its host city as a world class destination,” Martin said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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Bryan Woo was the best pitcher the Seattle Mariners had in 2025 as they made their run to the playoffs.
He looked like that guy again on Wednesday afternoon.
Seattle Mariners 3, Atlanta Braves 1: Recap | Box score | Standings
Woo shook off a pair of recent shaky outings to go six scoreless, one-hit innings to lead the Mariners to a 3-1 win that clinched a series victory over the MLB-leading Atlanta Braves.
The 26-year-old right-hander worked around a pair of walks while tying his season-high with nine strikeouts.
Woo had a 2.25 ERA through his first five starts of the season, but he ran into trouble on Seattle’s last road trip, allowing seven runs on nine hits including four home runs at St. Louis on April 25. He struggled again last Friday, giving up four runs in the first inning and six runs total over six frames in a loss at home to Kansas City.
Those two outings pushed Woo’s ERA up to 4.61, but he lowered it to 4.02 on the year with his start Wednesday.
What Rowland-Smith sees in Woo’s recent struggles
With Woo dominant on the mound, the Mariners’ offense didn’t need to do too much to build a lead against the Braves. Seattle went up 1-0 when designated hitter Cal Raleigh came up with no outs and hit into a bases-loaded double play in the third inning, scoring catcher Jhonny Pereda.
Julio Rodríguez contributed with a little more volume in the sixth inning, blasting a 436-foot solo home run to center off of Braves starter Martín Pérez to put the M’s up 2-0. And after the Braves scored one in the eighth, team RBI leader Cole Young added some insurance by bringing home Josh Naylor home with his second double of the game.
The Mariners came back to beat Atlanta 5-4 on Monday, then had to bounce back Wednesday after falling 3-2 Tuesday night following Braves slugger Matt Olson’s go-ahead homer off of closer Andrés Muñoz in the ninth inning.
Seattle improved to 18-20 with the win, while the Braves dropped to 26-12. It was the first series loss of 2026 for Atlanta.
Houston Astros lose star Carlos Correa for season
The M’s are off Thursday, then begin a seven-game road trip at 4:40 p.m. Friday against the White Sox in Chicago. Mariners Radio Network coverage on Seattle Sports of that series opener will begin at 3:30 with the pregame show.
More on the Seattle Mariners
• Top prospect Colt Emerson snaps slump with HR, three-hit game
• M’s prospect Kade Anderson could benefit from new challenge
• Mariners place Gabe Speier on IL, add two lefty relievers
• Mariners showing some concerning signs on defense
• Seattle Mariners prospect Felnin Celesten on a tear in High-A
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