Two people were shot by Customs and Border Patrol agents in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday.Video above: Portland City Council president gives statement on shootingA statement from the Department of Homeland Security says the shooting occurred as Border Patrol agents were conducting “a targeted vehicle stop.”DHS said it believed both the driver and the passenger had ties to the Tren de Aragua gang, but provided no evidence on why that was believed. The statement also said the passenger of the vehicle was involved in a recent shooting in Portland.”When agents identified themselves to the vehicle occupants, the driver weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over law enforcement agents. Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot. The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene,” the statement says. A news release from Portland police says officers responded to the city’s Hazelwood neighborhood around 2:20 p.m. local time for a report of a shooting. Minutes later, Portland officers were notified that a man who had been shot was calling for help.”Officers responded and found a male and female with apparent gunshot wounds. Officers applied a tourniquet and summoned emergency medical personnel,” Portland police officials said. Both people were transported to the hospital and their conditions are unknown. Portland police officials also said they determined that both people were injured in the shooting involving federal agents. Video below: FBI agents on scene after Customs and Border Patrol agents shoot two people in Portland, OregonThe shooting came after 37-year-old Renee Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Wednesday in Minneapolis.Protests followed the killing, which also set off a clash between federal officials who insist the shooting was an act of self-defense and Minneapolis officials who dispute that narrative.”We are still in the early stages of this incident,” Portland police Chief Bob Day said in the release. “We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more.”
Two people were shot by Customs and Border Patrol agents in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday.
Video above: Portland City Council president gives statement on shooting
DHS said it believed both the driver and the passenger had ties to the Tren de Aragua gang, but provided no evidence on why that was believed. The statement also said the passenger of the vehicle was involved in a recent shooting in Portland.
“When agents identified themselves to the vehicle occupants, the driver weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over law enforcement agents. Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot. The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene,” the statement says.
A news release from Portland police says officers responded to the city’s Hazelwood neighborhood around 2:20 p.m. local time for a report of a shooting.
Minutes later, Portland officers were notified that a man who had been shot was calling for help.
“Officers responded and found a male and female with apparent gunshot wounds. Officers applied a tourniquet and summoned emergency medical personnel,” Portland police officials said.
Both people were transported to the hospital and their conditions are unknown. Portland police officials also said they determined that both people were injured in the shooting involving federal agents.
Video below: FBI agents on scene after Customs and Border Patrol agents shoot two people in Portland, Oregon
Protests followed the killing, which also set off a clash between federal officials who insist the shooting was an act of self-defense and Minneapolis officials who dispute that narrative.
“We are still in the early stages of this incident,” Portland police Chief Bob Day said in the release. “We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
One year after two of the most destructive wildfires in California’s history erupted just hours apart, survivors commemorated the day in Altadena and Pacific Palisades with a mixture of anger and somber remembrance.
At the American Legion veterans post in the Palisades, hundreds gathered at a military-style white-glove ceremony to pay respects to the 12 families who lost loved ones in the Palisades fire.
Just down the street, an even larger crowd shouted the rally cry “They let us burn,” to demand comprehensive disaster planning, relief for families working to rebuild and accountability for government missteps that they say enabled the disaster and have slowed the recovery.
In Altadena, survivors congregated at the Eaton Fire Collaborative’s community center with a clear message: They were not backing down in the fight to return home.
“This year has been the hardest year of our lives,” said Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivor Network. “Unimaginable grief. The 31 people who died that day, and the hundreds who have died prematurely since. Home lost. Jobs lost. Incomes lost. A sense of safety and identity stripped away.”
In the evening, Atladenans plan to gather at a beloved family-owned burger joint that miraculously still stands amid a sea of empty lots. The restaurant, Fair Oaks Burger, reopened an outdoor kitchen for residents and recovery workers just weeks after the fire and has become a lifeline for the neighborhood.
Jessica Rogers, who lost her home in the Palisades fire and has since become the executive director of the Palisades Long-Term Recovery Group, which organized the remembrance ceremony, said that people are still processing what happened over the last year.
“The five different stages of grief — you can feel them. Sometimes people can feel them almost all at the same time,” she said. “There is no right or wrong way to process grief. Everybody processes it in their own way, at their own speed and their own time. And some need to do it at home, behind closed doors; others need to do it very vocally, out in public.”
Pacific Palisades resident Julia Citron, right, cries with her mother, Lainie, in Palisades Village on Wednesday. The Citrons lost their home in the fire. “It was the only house our children knew,” said Lainie Citron.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Very different communities, the Palisades and Altadena share similar frustrations — with insurance companies, government agencies and disaster scammers. But on Wednesday, they directed their wrath on contrasting targets. In Altadena, activists are focused on real estate speculators and Southern California Edison, suspected of triggering the Eaton fire. In the Palisades, anger continues to mount against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the city’s Fire Department and state agencies.
Inside the Palisades Legion Post, the 11-year-old daughter of Jim Cragg, the Post’s former commander, handed white roses to the families of fire victims. One of these was a family member of Rory Sykes, who perished in the blaze, who told Cragg: “He would have loved this.” Both held back tears.
The families then led hundreds of Palisadians waiting outside — many wearing “They Let Us Burn” T-shirts — in a procession down to a small community park, where the legion had placed 13 memorials: One for each victim, and one for the many uncounted lives lost in the fire’s wake.
In a moment of silence, Palisadians called out the names of loved ones who had died in the aftermath. Many sobbed.
Researchers estimate the January fires resulted in upward of 400 excess deaths in L.A. County beyond the official death toll.
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1.Steve Salinas shields from intense heat as he hoses down a neighbors rooftop on Sinaloa Ave. as the Eaton Fire continues to grow, January 8, 2025.(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)2.The view from the same rooftop, one year later.(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
“People burned alive in their homes. There was nobody going to get them,” Kathleen Boltiansky said through tears as she watched the ceremony.
Boltiansky, who lost her house in the fire, planned to attend the “They Let Us Burn” rally after the service. “Public safety should be item No. 1 — if they cannot provide public safety, what are they doing?”
Just across the street, Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” played over a loudspeaker as protesters gathered in front of the burned husk of the historic 1924 Business Block Building.
Rally organizer Jeremy Padawer, who lost his home in the Palisades fire, took the stage. “The days of gaslighting should be over,” he called out.
Padawer asked the audience to raise their hands if their home burned or remains contaminated.
Hundreds of hands shot up.
Josh Lederer, clutching a “They Let Us Burn” banner, described how he, his wife and 2-year-old daughter moved five times since the fire and are still unable to return to their home amid fights with their insurance company. He’s glad his child is too young to really understand what’s going on.
“You feel, when there’s an emergency, your city’s going to be there to protect you, and we had nobody,” said Lederer, 42. “And since then, we’ve had nobody helping us. All we get is lip service from Karen Bass and Newsom that it’s somebody else’s fault or we’re trying to profit off this. We’re not trying to profit off anything. We want our lives back.”
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonald, left, speaks with Mayor Karen Bass after a private ceremony where they remembered the fire victims with faith leaders, LAPD officers and city officials as flags were lowered outside City Hall.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
When ABC 7 Eyewitness News asked Bass if she thought the “They Let Us Burn” rally is how residents should commemorate the one-year anniversary, she dismissed the event.
“I don’t think so,” she said. “But again, I think there are people who are profiting off this, and that is what I find very despicable.”
Padawer said he had invited Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom to the rally to listen to survivors and accept accountability, but neither joined.
A spokesperson for Newsom’s office said the governor would meet directly with survivors in Los Angeles this week. Bass started the day at a private vigil at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, then presided over a flag-lowering ceremony at City Hall to honor the victims.
Jessica Rogers with the Palisades Long Term Recovery Group, third from left, hugs Marina Shterenberg, who lost a loved one in the Palisades fire, during a community ceremony in partnership with the Palisades American Legion Post 283, marking the one year anniversary of the fire on January 7, 2026. The ceremony honored those who lost their lives in the fire, including Mark Shterenberg.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Several elected officials attended the American Legion ceremony — including state Sen. Ben Allen and county Supervisor Lindsey Horvath — but only one attended the rally too: City Councilmember Traci Park. She stepped on stage at the rally in a far less somber tone than at the memorial.
“Let’s end this culture of half-assed solutions,” she said — also noting that there were “some folks” who “didn’t want me to come here today.”
“What happened on Jan. 7 was catastrophic failure and to pretend otherwise is just insulting,” she told the crowd. “You did not imagine what happened, and you are right to be angry.”
In Altadena, a coalition of lawmakers, survivors and advocates at the Collaboratory community center set the tone for the second year of recovery.
Recently, a survey from the nonprofit Department of Angels found that more than 7 out of 10 Altadena residents remain displaced from their homes. Nearly half have exhausted their savings, and over 40% have taken on personal debt to survive, said Miguel Santana, co-founder of the nonprofit.
Among them are people like Ada Hernandez, who owned a 1950s home on Mountain View Street with her husband, Miguel, where they lived with their 5-year-old son, Mason, 2-year-old Sadie and 14-year-old dog Bentley. They moved into their home in 2018, on the same day she lost her firstborn son. But in the fire, she said, she lost every physical memory of him, including his neonatal intensive care unit pillow and handprint.
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Now, the pain has compounded as her family has been forced to move three times over the last year. They have spent the last two months in an Airbnb with help from the Salvation Army, she said, but that runs out next Wednesday.
“We feel forgotten,” Hernandez, 37, said. “We feel like we’re at a standstill.”
Bass and Newsom have touted L.A.’s recovery as one of the fastest in modern California history. Bass, in particular, points to her work in cutting red tape at the Department of Building and Safety, which is reviewing and signing off on the rebuilding plans. But to many survivors, recovery still feels painfully slow.
Avaristo Serrano helps build a home on Highview Street, one year after the Eaton fire.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
As of December, L.A. County had issued rebuilding permits for about 16% of homes destroyed in Altadena, and the city of L.A. issued permits for just under 14% for the Palisades, The Times found. Many whose homes survived the fire but were contaminated by smoke and ash are still fighting with their insurance companies to remediate their homes. Many homes in Altadena remain contaminated even after remediation.
Mark Mariscal, a longtime Altadena resident, said he faced months of delays by his insurance company but, with help from the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, finally got a check in the mail. He became emotional as he remembered the lives lost and everything that transpired since Jan. 7.
“It’s just a battle, a good one because we’re pretty sure we’re never moving again,” he said. “After we build this house the way we want it, we’re not moving again. Unless I’m sent up to my higher power.”
For many survivors, finding a sense of peace in their healing journeys one year into recovery has proved difficult without closure. Investigations and reports into the failures that led to and exacerbated the disasters have left residents with more questions than answers.
Meanwhile, emergency officials failed to issue evacuation orders for west Altadena, a historically Black enclave, until five hours after the fire began to engulf homes in the neighborhood. An investigation by The Times found that even as the fire progressed far into the west side of town, the majority of Los Angeles County Fire Department resources remained elsewhere.
“So many different layers of mistakes had to be made for this to occur,” Padawer told The Times. He said the rally was intended to highlight both the “gaslighting” and “solutions that can help our neighbors come home.”
The Palisades Long Term Recovery Group, in partnership with the Palisades American Legion Post 283 hosts a community ceremony with white glove presentation of flags for the families of those lost, marking the one year anniversary of the Palisades fire on January 7, 2026.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Sue Kohl, president of the Pacific Palisades Community Council, said she had mixed feelings early Wednesday as reporters gathered for a news conference on the barren front lawn of what will be her new home on Iliff Street in the decimated Alphabet Streets neighborhood.
Construction on her two-story home — surrounded by empty lots — is well underway. But she has no memories here, she said. It’s not the place where she lived for 32 years and raised five children and three stepchildren.
The anniversary, she said, is “like emotional ping pong. You want to be positive. But at the same time — I mean, look around. At least now you see a lot of construction.”
Many survivors say a hope for the future is the one thing that motivates them. In five years, or maybe ten, Rogers looks forward to all the little things that make the Palisades the Palisades.
“I’d like to see children running down the streets happily. I’d like to hear them, see them on their bikes, watch the teenagers hang out at CVS, in the parks. I’d like to see all Angelenos from all parts of Los Angeles back up in our hiking trails,” she said.
“That would bring me a lot of joy, to see our schools thriving again, and I’d love to complain about the 3 p.m. traffic — the kids’ pickup time from schools in the village,” she said. “That’s what I’d like to see come back in our community as soon as possible.”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will be shutting down its operations with a final edition slated for May 3, the newspaper’s owner, Block Communications, announced Wednesday.”We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on Pittsburgh and the surrounding region,” the announcement states.The Post-Gazette is the largest newspaper representing the Pittsburgh metropolitan area and traces its roots to 1786, forming under its current name in 1927.Block Communications said the closure comes after losing “more than $350 million in cash operating the Post-Gazette” over the past 20 years. In addition, Pittsburghsister station WTAE reports that they cited a November decision that ruled in favor of the paper’s union, restoring the terms of its 2014-17 contract. Workers represented by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh had been on strike for more than three years, then the longest active strike in the country.On Wednesday morning, the Post-Gazette’s publisher asked a court to freeze an order requiring the company to change its health insurance for union workers. Shortly after they were denied, the announcement came that the newspaper would close.In the announcement on Wednesday, Block Communications said the decision would require them to work under a contract that was “outdated and inflexible operational practices unsuited for today’s local journalism.””We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on Pittsburgh and the surrounding region,” the announcement stated.The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh released a statement about the Post-Gazette shutdown, saying in part, “Instead of simply following the law, the owners chose to punish local journalists and the city of Pittsburgh.”Post-Gazette staff learned about the closure during a Zoom meeting. In the video, which Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 has seen, the president of Block Communications called it extremely difficult news as she made the virtual announcement that will end nearly two centuries of the P-G in Pittsburgh.”This is a seismic change for the entire region,” said Andrew Conte, managing director of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University. “We often talk about the local news crisis as a problem of the media, but really, it’s a crisis for all of us. It’s a community challenge because it affects how people interact with local news and information, and when something as large as the Post-Gazette goes away, it creates a huge void.”Conte worked as a journalist in the Pittsburgh area for decades. Like many Pittsburghers, he has watched the yearslong battle between Post-Gazette journalists and Block Communications and the recent end to a three-year strike.”People have been thinking about what it would mean to lose the Post-Gazette for a long time,” he said. “But when it actually happened today, it felt like a gut punch.”The Post-Gazette started out in 1786 as a weekly called The Pittsburgh Gazette and was the first newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains. As one of its first major stories, the Gazette published the newly adopted Constitution of the United States.Pittsburgh is located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. County Executive Sara Innamorato called the decision to close “a major loss” for the area.”I’m deeply worried about the public’s ability to access trustworthy and fact-checked information at a time when misinformation is running rampant online,” she said in a statement.It is one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in the United States.Conte said it’s tough news for the journalists losing their jobs, as well as the community.”The real challenge is the work that journalists do that is accurate, objective, relevant to lots of people, that trained people are going out and asking these questions and finding out what’s going on and telling people, and that’s what’s being lost here is that we have fewer people doing that work,” he said.Announcement follows Supreme Court denial of bid to halt order Also on Jan. 7, 2026, the Supreme Court denied the Post-Gazette’s request to freeze a temporary injunction that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit had issued more than nine months ago. In a November 2025 decision, the appeals court held that the company had bargained in bad faith and improperly declared an impasse in the bargaining process. It ordered the company to comply with remedies ordered by the National Labor Relations Board.PG Publishing Co. filed an emergency motion with the Supreme Court to stay the order in response. In the Jan. 7 decision, which vacated a Dec. 22 stay from Justice Samuel Alito’s that had paused the 3rd Circuit’s injunction, justices did not explain their reasoning, Bloomberg Law reported.Second Pittsburgh paper to announce closing in one weekBlock Communications is the same company that owned the Pittsburgh City Paper, a free alt-weekly that announced it was closing on Dec. 31, 2025, after 34 years serving the city.In a statement to sister station WTAE’s news partners at the Trib, owner Block Communications said, in part, “The City Paper business model has not reached a level of financial performance that allows Block Communications to continue operating it responsibly.”Block Communications also owns The Blade, a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio.
PITTSBURGH —
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will be shutting down its operations with a final edition slated for May 3, the newspaper’s owner, Block Communications, announced Wednesday.
“We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on Pittsburgh and the surrounding region,” the announcement states.
The Post-Gazette is the largest newspaper representing the Pittsburgh metropolitan area and traces its roots to 1786, forming under its current name in 1927.
Block Communications said the closure comes after losing “more than $350 million in cash operating the Post-Gazette” over the past 20 years. In addition, Pittsburghsister station WTAE reports that they cited a November decision that ruled in favor of the paper’s union, restoring the terms of its 2014-17 contract. Workers represented by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh had been on strike for more than three years, then the longest active strike in the country.
On Wednesday morning, the Post-Gazette’s publisher asked a court to freeze an order requiring the company to change its health insurance for union workers. Shortly after they were denied, the announcement came that the newspaper would close.
In the announcement on Wednesday, Block Communications said the decision would require them to work under a contract that was “outdated and inflexible operational practices unsuited for today’s local journalism.”
“We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on Pittsburgh and the surrounding region,” the announcement stated.
The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh released a statement about the Post-Gazette shutdown, saying in part, “Instead of simply following the law, the owners chose to punish local journalists and the city of Pittsburgh.”
Post-Gazette staff learned about the closure during a Zoom meeting. In the video, which Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 has seen, the president of Block Communications called it extremely difficult news as she made the virtual announcement that will end nearly two centuries of the P-G in Pittsburgh.
“This is a seismic change for the entire region,” said Andrew Conte, managing director of the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University. “We often talk about the local news crisis as a problem of the media, but really, it’s a crisis for all of us. It’s a community challenge because it affects how people interact with local news and information, and when something as large as the Post-Gazette goes away, it creates a huge void.”
Conte worked as a journalist in the Pittsburgh area for decades. Like many Pittsburghers, he has watched the yearslong battle between Post-Gazette journalists and Block Communications and the recent end to a three-year strike.
“People have been thinking about what it would mean to lose the Post-Gazette for a long time,” he said. “But when it actually happened today, it felt like a gut punch.”
The Post-Gazette started out in 1786 as a weekly called The Pittsburgh Gazette and was the first newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains. As one of its first major stories, the Gazette published the newly adopted Constitution of the United States.
Pittsburgh is located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. County Executive Sara Innamorato called the decision to close “a major loss” for the area.
“I’m deeply worried about the public’s ability to access trustworthy and fact-checked information at a time when misinformation is running rampant online,” she said in a statement.
It is one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in the United States.
Conte said it’s tough news for the journalists losing their jobs, as well as the community.
“The real challenge is the work that journalists do that is accurate, objective, relevant to lots of people, that trained people are going out and asking these questions and finding out what’s going on and telling people, and that’s what’s being lost here is that we have fewer people doing that work,” he said.
Announcement follows Supreme Court denial of bid to halt order
Also on Jan. 7, 2026, the Supreme Court denied the Post-Gazette’s request to freeze a temporary injunction that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit had issued more than nine months ago.
In a November 2025 decision, the appeals court held that the company had bargained in bad faith and improperly declared an impasse in the bargaining process. It ordered the company to comply with remedies ordered by the National Labor Relations Board.
PG Publishing Co. filed an emergency motion with the Supreme Court to stay the order in response.
In the Jan. 7 decision, which vacated a Dec. 22 stay from Justice Samuel Alito’s that had paused the 3rd Circuit’s injunction, justices did not explain their reasoning, Bloomberg Law reported.
Second Pittsburgh paper to announce closing in one week
Block Communications is the same company that owned the Pittsburgh City Paper, a free alt-weekly that announced it was closing on Dec. 31, 2025, after 34 years serving the city.
In a statement to sister station WTAE’s news partners at the Trib, owner Block Communications said, in part, “The City Paper business model has not reached a level of financial performance that allows Block Communications to continue operating it responsibly.”
Block Communications also owns The Blade, a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio.
The 120-year-old Craftsman home in the middle of the Hollywood Center Motel had survived earthquakes, flooding, riots, a murder investigation and the raucous force of the rock-n-roll era.
But in the early hours of Sunday, the historic motel once frequented by Neil Young and Crazy Horse turned to ashes as people illegally sheltering in the home rushed to flee the burning building on Sunset Boulevard.
“It’s a gut punch for Hollywood preservation,” said local historian Brian Curran, who recently submitted an application for the house to be designated a historic-cultural monument.
Last month, the city of L.A.’s Cultural Heritage Commission voted to move forward with consideration of such a designation. This week, commissioners were scheduled to visit the site.
But now it’s too late to save the 1905 home featured in “L.A. Confidential” and “The Rockford Files.”
“The real tragedy is that this building had been left vacant and it no longer had any kind of purpose, so it became a magnet for transients,” said Curran, who serves as co-chair of Hollywood Heritage’s Preservation Committee. “If you go look at it now, it is essentially a pile of crushed wood that has been sprayed with fire retardant.”
The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to reports of a trash fire at 4:30 a.m. Sunday. There, they discovered the boarded-up Craftsman-style house engulfed in flames and heard voices yelling for help.
Crews used a ladder to rescue a 42-year-old man who had broken through the windows on the second floor in an effort to flee the blaze. He was transported to the hospital in stable condition while 70 firefighters worked to extinguish the stubborn fire.
A fire crew aims hoses at the fully engulfed historic motel on Sunset Boulevard.
(Los Angeles Fire Department)
Transients taking shelter inside the home had been a persistent problem since the property was foreclosed on and vacated in late 2024, said Athena Novak, a representative for the owner, Andranik Sogoyan. The owner repeatedly tried to seal off the building, but steel wire cutters were used to cut through the fences on multiple occasions, she said.
“The owner, of course, was reinforcing it the best he could,” she said. “He had a maintenance man going there all the time. The maintenance man was attacked a few times with weapons.”
Two smaller fires had already occurred recently at the property, on Sept. 15 and Oct. 19, which made the monument effort even more urgent, Curran said.
Hollywood Heritage, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving neighborhood history, mourned the loss of the motel in a statement Sunday.
“The building could readily have been painted and preserved to serve in an adaptive re-use capacity as a gem in the community,” said the organization. “By allowing its decay and neglect we again see rare historic buildings lost which were eminently restorable.”
The organization was scheduled to host a webinar Wednesday evening highlighting the history of the motel. Now the event will continue as a tribute to the motel and a discussion of strategies to stop the loss of historic properties to neglect.
“We are absolutely crushed and sick that this could happen,” Curran said, “and afraid that this is going to be a pattern.”
Almost exactly a year ago, another rock-era institution — the 111-year-old Morrison Hotel, featured on the cover of the Doors’ fifth studio album — was engulfed in flames after a series of smaller fires. Local merchants reported that unhoused individuals would often sleep inside the building.
The 1905 home was completely destroyed in the blaze Sunday, the same week that city officials were set to the visit the site as they considered monument status.
(Hollywood Heritage)
The 1905 home that formerly served as the centerpiece of the Hollywood Center Motel was originally the home of William and Sarah Avery, who affectionately referred to it as “El Nido,” meaning the nest. In 2019, it was identified in the citywide survey of historic resources as a rare example of Shingle architecture that predates Hollywood’s consolidation with the city of Los Angeles.
“The house exemplifies many of the characteristics of the Shingle Style including: asymmetrical façade, picturesque massing, dominant front facing gable, multiple gables and dormers, overhanging eaves, covered porch, second story balcony, differing wall textures, oriel windows,” the application states.
Six smaller buildings were later constructed on the property, and the structures collectively became the Hollywood Center Motel, which opened in 1956, according to the monument application.
The motel was a magnet for rock-and-rollers and folk artists seeking affordable housing close to the bustling Hollywood music scene. The band Buffalo Springfield took up residence in the 1960s, and Neil Young returned to the site in the 1970s with his band Crazy Horse, according to reporting from SF Gate.
File photograph of the Hollywood Motel located on the 6700 block of Sunset Blvd in Hollywood.
(Hollywood Heritage)
The neon signs and classic sleazy-motel look also made it a popular filming site for TV crime shows such as “Perry Mason” and “T.J. Hooker.” Then in 1986 it became the scene of a real crime — the murder investigation of Richard Mayer, whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase at the motel.
The worn-down motel closed its doors in 2018, at which point the former owner and a handful of long-term tenants continued to occupy the property, Curran said. It was foreclosed on and vacated in late 2024.
In early 2025, the new owner submitted demolition permits to destroy the structures. This hastened Hollywood Heritage’s effort to secure monument status and preserve the 1905 home.
Sogoyan said the owner was fully supportive of the monument effort and ready to comply with measures to redevelop the property around the historic home, should the designation have been granted.
The motel’s loss is felt not only by history buffs but also local residents accustomed to walking by the iconic site on a daily basis, Curran said.
A five-alarm fire that tore through a partially built Denver apartment complex Friday was still burning Monday as investigators worked to uncover the cause of the city’s worst blaze in decades.
The fire still burned underneath massive piles of debris at the destroyed apartment complex at 5337 Leetsdale Drive in Denver’s Washington Virginia Vale neighborhood, Denver Fire Department Division Chief Robert Murphy said Monday.
The development was planned as a 283-unit luxury apartment complex called Harker Heights before the fire sparked Friday night.
Fire investigators are considering what started the blaze and have not yet landed on one clear cause, Murphy said. Investigators are looking into the possibility that a homeless person was in the building when the fire began, but have not yet confirmed anyone was present, he said.
Rumors that the fire was sparked by vagrants have not been proven, Murphy said.
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” he said. “We’ve also heard the firework theory. And then as ever, there are things construction people do that have caused fires before. We are really looking at all angles.”
Fire officials still aren’t sure whether anyone was killed in the blaze, Murphy said. Crews haven’t been able to search through the debris for any bodies.
“I really hope there is nobody in there,” he said. “We are not getting any reports of anybody missing.”
Investigators are relying on witness accounts and ample surveillance video from neighboring businesses as part of the investigation, he said. The “enormity” of the building and the massive amounts of debris complicate the investigative work, Murphy said.
“It is going to be difficult and not timely,” he said.
The property’s ownership will bring in the heavy equipment to dig through the debris, he said, but firefighters will be present during that process to quickly knock down any fire that flares up as the debris is removed.
“There is going to be active fire there, not crazy, but smoldering and smoking until we can get an excavator in there and open it up,” Murphy said. “Some of that fire, we can’t reach it; it is hidden.”
Just one or two fire companies remained at the scene Monday — down from a peak of about 175 firefighters and support personnel who responded to the blaze Friday.
Fire officials hoped to further reduce on-scene crews by Monday night, keeping just a few uniformed personnel on site to keep control of the area during the ongoing investigation into the fire’s cause.
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain.South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks strike midnight in Auckland, a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball drops in New York’s Times Square.The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from various floors of the 787-foot Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s North Island on Wednesday due to forecasts of rain and possible thunderstorms.Australia plans defiant celebration after country’s worst mass shootingAustralia’s east coast welcomes 2026 two hours after New Zealand, but in Sydney, the country’s largest city, celebrations will be held under the pall of Australia’s worst mass shooting in almost 30 years. Two gunmen targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, killing 15 and wounding 40.A heavy police presence monitored the thousands who thronged to the downtown waterfront on Wednesday to watch a fireworks show centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Many officers openly carried rapid-fire rifles, in a first for the annual event.An hour before midnight, the massacre victims will be commemorated with one minute of silence while images of a menorah are projected on the bridge pylons. The crowd has been invited to show their solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community by shining their phone torches across the harbor.New South Wales Premier Chris Minns urged Sydney residents not to stay away through fear, saying extremists would interpret smaller crowds at New Year’s Eve festivities as a victory.“We can’t be in a situation where this horrible, criminal, terrorist event changes the way we live in our beautiful city,” Minns told reporters on Wednesday.“We have to show defiance in the face of this terrible crime and say that we’re not going to be cowered by this kind of terrorism,” he added.Indonesia and Hong Kong hold subdued eventsIn Indonesia, one of Australia’s nearest neighbors, cities scaled back New Year’s Eve festivities as a gesture of solidarity with communities devastated by catastrophic floods and landslides that struck parts of Sumatra island a month ago, claiming more than 1,100 lives.The capital, Jakarta, will not ring in 2026 with its usual fanfare, choosing instead subdued celebrations with a calm and reflective program centered on prayers for victims, city Gov. Pramono Anung said last week.Makassar Mayor Munafri Arifuddin urged residents of one of Indonesia’s largest cities to forgo parties altogether, calling for prayer and reflection instead. “Empathy and restraint are more meaningful than fireworks and crowds,” he said.Concerts and fireworks on Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali have been canceled and replaced with a cultural arts event featuring 65 groups performing traditional dances.Hong Kong, too, will ring in 2026 without the usual spectacular and colorful explosions in the sky over its iconic Victoria Harbor, after a massive fire in November killed at least 161 people.The city’s tourism board will instead host a music show featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district. The facades of eight landmarks will turn into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.Many parts of Asia welcome the new year by observing age-old traditions.In Japan, crowds will gather at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo for a bell striking at midnight. In the South Korean capital Seoul, a bell tolling and countdown ceremony will be held at the Bosingak Pavilion.Berliners celebrate in snowTourists and Berliners alike marked the end of 2025 by enjoying snowfall, taking selfies and making snowmen in front of the German capital’s cathedral and the iconic Brandenburg Gate. The famous Berlin TV Tower was nearly invisible thanks to the falling flakes and fog.___Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand —
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain.
South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks strike midnight in Auckland, a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball drops in New York’s Times Square.
The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from various floors of the 787-foot Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s North Island on Wednesday due to forecasts of rain and possible thunderstorms.
Australia plans defiant celebration after country’s worst mass shooting
Australia’s east coast welcomes 2026 two hours after New Zealand, but in Sydney, the country’s largest city, celebrations will be held under the pall of Australia’s worst mass shooting in almost 30 years. Two gunmen targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, killing 15 and wounding 40.
A heavy police presence monitored the thousands who thronged to the downtown waterfront on Wednesday to watch a fireworks show centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Many officers openly carried rapid-fire rifles, in a first for the annual event.
An hour before midnight, the massacre victims will be commemorated with one minute of silence while images of a menorah are projected on the bridge pylons. The crowd has been invited to show their solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community by shining their phone torches across the harbor.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns urged Sydney residents not to stay away through fear, saying extremists would interpret smaller crowds at New Year’s Eve festivities as a victory.
“We can’t be in a situation where this horrible, criminal, terrorist event changes the way we live in our beautiful city,” Minns told reporters on Wednesday.
“We have to show defiance in the face of this terrible crime and say that we’re not going to be cowered by this kind of terrorism,” he added.
Indonesia and Hong Kong hold subdued events
In Indonesia, one of Australia’s nearest neighbors, cities scaled back New Year’s Eve festivities as a gesture of solidarity with communities devastated by catastrophic floods and landslides that struck parts of Sumatra island a month ago, claiming more than 1,100 lives.
The capital, Jakarta, will not ring in 2026 with its usual fanfare, choosing instead subdued celebrations with a calm and reflective program centered on prayers for victims, city Gov. Pramono Anung said last week.
Makassar Mayor Munafri Arifuddin urged residents of one of Indonesia’s largest cities to forgo parties altogether, calling for prayer and reflection instead. “Empathy and restraint are more meaningful than fireworks and crowds,” he said.
Concerts and fireworks on Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali have been canceled and replaced with a cultural arts event featuring 65 groups performing traditional dances.
Hong Kong, too, will ring in 2026 without the usual spectacular and colorful explosions in the sky over its iconic Victoria Harbor, after a massive fire in November killed at least 161 people.
The city’s tourism board will instead host a music show featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district. The facades of eight landmarks will turn into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.
Many parts of Asia welcome the new year by observing age-old traditions.
In Japan, crowds will gather at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo for a bell striking at midnight. In the South Korean capital Seoul, a bell tolling and countdown ceremony will be held at the Bosingak Pavilion.
Berliners celebrate in snow
Tourists and Berliners alike marked the end of 2025 by enjoying snowfall, taking selfies and making snowmen in front of the German capital’s cathedral and the iconic Brandenburg Gate. The famous Berlin TV Tower was nearly invisible thanks to the falling flakes and fog.
___
Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.
Javier Zanetti lived out his dreams as a player, lifting 16 trophies in an Inter Milan career that spanned a record 858 appearances, winning 145 caps for Argentina, and earning a reputation as one of the best defensive players of his generation.
For more than three decades, lifelong New Yorkers and tourists visiting the Big Apple have shared the experience of a MetroCard swipe gone wrong. Swiping the transit card too fast or too slow, with the stripe facing the wrong side, or having insufficient fare all led to the subsequent, seemingly judgmental thud of the turnstile slamming into you.”It’s embarrassing. You feel like you’re not an authentic New Yorker if you’re not swiping your MetroCard the right way,” said Mike Glenwick, 37, who has lived in the city most of his life and has been collecting limited-edition MetroCards since he was six.Now the days of swiping the blue and yellow plastic cards are numbered. Come January 1, the Metropolitan Transit Authority will no longer sell MetroCards, and riders will be required to use OMNY, a contactless fare payment system. (Existing MetroCards will continue to be accepted at terminals, though MTA said their “final acceptance date will be announced at a later time.”)Bidding farewell to the card has been a journey for New Yorkers and the MTA alike.From tokens to cardsNew York City subway’s iconic tokens were the default form of fare payment before the MetroCard was introduced. When tokens were initially rolled out in 1953, they were about the size of a dime and most had a hollowed-out Y between an engraved N and C, spelling out NYC.Though clunky to carry around, they were easy to use: all transit passengers had to do was drop the tokens into a turnstile or farebox. For the MTA, it overcame the issue of being able to increase fares without having to redesign fare collection systems to accept various kinds of coins.But in 1983 Richard Ravitch, then the commissioner of the MTA, began to envision a different fare payment system. Instead, he floated a magnetic stripe card with a stored value.”His argument was that New York is a very modern cosmopolitan city and there are other modern cosmopolitan cities that are using this as their fare payment system,” said Jodi Shapiro, curator of the FAREwell MetroCard exhibit at the New York Transit Museum. But as his idea gained traction, it quickly became about more than just keeping up with other cities. At one point the MTA considered integrating MetroCards with pay phones so callers didn’t have to use coins (that didn’t end up happening, though).The MTA initially thought the shift to MetroCards would “spell the death knell for fare evasion” since many riders were previously getting away with using various other kinds of coins and tokens, said Noah McClain, a sociology professor who has researched MetroCard technology and fare evasion trends. But that was hardly the case: “Fare evasion certainly endured, albeit often in different forms.”One famous one, “swipers,” as they came to be known, sold bent MetroCards that allowed riders to fraudulently bypass turnstiles. Separately, a group of hackers was able to successfully reverse engineer many parts of the MetroCard.But riders saw benefits, too. One of the biggest selling points for the MetroCard was that users could purchase different, more flexible fares. That included discounts for seniors, disabled people and students, as well as cards that offered unlimited rides throughout the month.Cards also came with a massive perk that tokens didn’t: free transfers. One swipe of a MetroCard on a bus or subway meant riders didn’t have to pay again if they transferred to another bus or subway train.A collector’s itemBut just as New York subway tokens became icons of the city, so did the MetroCard. And that was by design.”MetroCards were made to be collected,” Shapiro said. The year the MTA launched the MetroCard, 1994, was also when it released an inaugural limited edition card. Since then there have been around 400 commemorative MetroCards issued. Some of those have featured advertisements, a major source of revenue for the MTA, while others have commemorated historic events, such as Grand Central’s centennial anniversary and the first game between the Yankees and Mets in 1997, a tradition now known as the “Subway Series.”Other notable cards include the Supreme-branded ones and the David Bowie ones aimed at marketing a museum exhibit timed to the release of cards. New Yorkers reported hours-long lines to purchase these at stations.Glenwick has nearly 100 MetroCards in his collection, and his first featured members of the New York Rangers after the team won the Stanley Cup in 1994 for the first time in 54 years.The idea to collect MetroCards immediately clicked for him: “It was something that was accessible to collect. I didn’t spend extra money because we used the MetroCards anyway,” he said.An art mediumThomas McKean has lost track of how many MetroCards he’s accumulated over the past 25 years. It all started on a subway ride where he forgot to bring a newspaper or a book, something he’d typically do before the age of smartphones.In their absence, to pass the time, he stared at his MetroCard, idly wondering how many words he could wring from its letters. When he got off the subway, he grabbed a fistful of MetroCards lying around on the ground of the station, and once he got home, he started making MetroCards with different words.”And then without even realizing it, I got hooked because I love the material and aesthetic,” McKean told CNN. His designs were initially two-dimensional, using the front and back of MetroCards cut up and pieced together like a mosaic, but eventually he started experimenting with three-dimensional designs, too.McKean’s art has been featured at home goods store Fishs Eddy in Manhattan, as well as on the cover of a Time Out New York magazine. His art will also be featured at an upcoming exhibit at the Transit Museum’s Grand Central gallery. Over the years, he’s taken on several commissions. To his surprise, many of those customers aren’t based in New York and yet they exhibit the same admiration for the MetroCard as lifelong New Yorkers.McKean said he has several thousand untouched MetroCards left in his reserves in addition to all the scraps from prior projects. “I never throw anything away until it’s just too small to use.”A tap-and-go futureThe transit system going forward, OMNY, short for One Metro New York, replaces swipes with taps at turnstiles via smartphones or smartwatches with mobile wallets, credit cards or OMNY cards.For now, riders can still use cash to purchase OMNY cards for $1 at vending machines at subways and at retailers across the city. But many feel as though it’s a matter of time before the MTA stops accepting cash, like many retailers have, which has essentially excluded people who are unbanked and lack a credit or debit card. (The MTA didn’t respond to CNN’s request for comment.)”While there’s no doubt the MetroCard will remain an iconic New York City symbol, tap-and-go fare payment has been a game changer for everyday riders and visitors, saving them the guessing game on what fare package is most cost efficient for their travels and making using NYC’s transit system much easier,” MTA chief customer officer Shanifah Rieara said in a statement in March, when the phaseout of the MetroCard was announced.At the time, the MTA said the change will save the agency $20 million annually “in costs related to MetroCard production and distribution; vending machine repairs; and cash collection and handling.”But for all the benefits that the MTA has advertised OMNY contains, including unlimited rides after your 12th of the week, Glenwick is not ready to make the transition.”I feel like part of my childhood is disappearing… I don’t want to let it go until I have to.”
CNN —
For more than three decades, lifelong New Yorkers and tourists visiting the Big Apple have shared the experience of a MetroCard swipe gone wrong. Swiping the transit card too fast or too slow, with the stripe facing the wrong side, or having insufficient fare all led to the subsequent, seemingly judgmental thud of the turnstile slamming into you.
“It’s embarrassing. You feel like you’re not an authentic New Yorker if you’re not swiping your MetroCard the right way,” said Mike Glenwick, 37, who has lived in the city most of his life and has been collecting limited-edition MetroCards since he was six.
Now the days of swiping the blue and yellow plastic cards are numbered. Come January 1, the Metropolitan Transit Authority will no longer sell MetroCards, and riders will be required to use OMNY, a contactless fare payment system. (Existing MetroCards will continue to be accepted at terminals, though MTA said their “final acceptance date will be announced at a later time.”)
Bidding farewell to the card has been a journey for New Yorkers and the MTA alike.
From tokens to cards
New York City subway’s iconic tokens were the default form of fare payment before the MetroCard was introduced. When tokens were initially rolled out in 1953, they were about the size of a dime and most had a hollowed-out Y between an engraved N and C, spelling out NYC.
Though clunky to carry around, they were easy to use: all transit passengers had to do was drop the tokens into a turnstile or farebox. For the MTA, it overcame the issue of being able to increase fares without having to redesign fare collection systems to accept various kinds of coins.
But in 1983 Richard Ravitch, then the commissioner of the MTA, began to envision a different fare payment system. Instead, he floated a magnetic stripe card with a stored value.
“His argument was that New York is a very modern cosmopolitan city and there are other modern cosmopolitan cities that are using this as their fare payment system,” said Jodi Shapiro, curator of the FAREwell MetroCard exhibit at the New York Transit Museum. But as his idea gained traction, it quickly became about more than just keeping up with other cities. At one point the MTA considered integrating MetroCards with pay phones so callers didn’t have to use coins (that didn’t end up happening, though).
The MTA initially thought the shift to MetroCards would “spell the death knell for fare evasion” since many riders were previously getting away with using various other kinds of coins and tokens, said Noah McClain, a sociology professor who has researched MetroCard technology and fare evasion trends. But that was hardly the case: “Fare evasion certainly endured, albeit often in different forms.”
One famous one, “swipers,” as they came to be known, sold bent MetroCards that allowed riders to fraudulently bypass turnstiles. Separately, a group of hackers was able to successfully reverse engineer many parts of the MetroCard.
But riders saw benefits, too. One of the biggest selling points for the MetroCard was that users could purchase different, more flexible fares. That included discounts for seniors, disabled people and students, as well as cards that offered unlimited rides throughout the month.
Cards also came with a massive perk that tokens didn’t: free transfers. One swipe of a MetroCard on a bus or subway meant riders didn’t have to pay again if they transferred to another bus or subway train.
A collector’s item
But just as New York subway tokens became icons of the city, so did the MetroCard. And that was by design.
“MetroCards were made to be collected,” Shapiro said. The year the MTA launched the MetroCard, 1994, was also when it released an inaugural limited edition card. Since then there have been around 400 commemorative MetroCards issued. Some of those have featured advertisements, a major source of revenue for the MTA, while others have commemorated historic events, such as Grand Central’s centennial anniversary and the first game between the Yankees and Mets in 1997, a tradition now known as the “Subway Series.”
Other notable cards include the Supreme-branded ones and the David Bowie ones aimed at marketing a museum exhibit timed to the release of cards. New Yorkers reported hours-long lines to purchase these at stations.
Glenwick has nearly 100 MetroCards in his collection, and his first featured members of the New York Rangers after the team won the Stanley Cup in 1994 for the first time in 54 years.
The idea to collect MetroCards immediately clicked for him: “It was something that was accessible to collect. I didn’t spend extra money because we used the MetroCards anyway,” he said.
An art medium
Thomas McKean has lost track of how many MetroCards he’s accumulatedover the past 25 years. It all started on a subway ride where he forgot to bring a newspaper or a book, something he’d typically do before the age of smartphones.
In their absence, to pass the time, he stared at his MetroCard, idly wondering how many words he could wring from its letters. When he got off the subway, he grabbed a fistful of MetroCards lying around on the ground of the station, and once he got home, he started making MetroCards with different words.
“And then without even realizing it, I got hooked because I love the material and aesthetic,” McKean told CNN. His designs were initially two-dimensional, using the front and back of MetroCards cut up and pieced together like a mosaic, but eventually he started experimenting with three-dimensional designs, too.
McKean’s art has been featured at home goods store Fishs Eddy in Manhattan, as well as on the cover of a Time Out New York magazine. His art will also be featured at an upcoming exhibit at the Transit Museum’s Grand Central gallery. Over the years, he’s taken on several commissions. To his surprise, many of those customers aren’t based in New York and yet they exhibit the same admiration for the MetroCard as lifelong New Yorkers.
McKean said he has several thousand untouched MetroCards left in his reserves in addition to all the scraps from prior projects. “I never throw anything away until it’s just too small to use.”
A tap-and-go future
The transit system going forward, OMNY, short for One Metro New York, replaces swipes with taps at turnstiles via smartphones or smartwatches with mobile wallets, credit cards or OMNY cards.
For now, riders can still use cash to purchase OMNY cards for $1 at vending machines at subways and at retailers across the city. But many feel as though it’s a matter of time before the MTA stops accepting cash, like many retailers have, which has essentially excluded people who are unbanked and lack a credit or debit card. (The MTA didn’t respond to CNN’s request for comment.)
“While there’s no doubt the MetroCard will remain an iconic New York City symbol, tap-and-go fare payment has been a game changer for everyday riders and visitors, saving them the guessing game on what fare package is most cost efficient for their travels and making using NYC’s transit system much easier,” MTA chief customer officer Shanifah Rieara said in a statement in March, when the phaseout of the MetroCard was announced.
At the time, the MTA said the change will save the agency $20 million annually “in costs related to MetroCard production and distribution; vending machine repairs; and cash collection and handling.”
But for all the benefits that the MTA has advertised OMNY contains, including unlimited rides after your 12th of the week, Glenwick is not ready to make the transition.
“I feel like part of my childhood is disappearing… I don’t want to let it go until I have to.”
BY MOSCOW AND KYIV. WELL, TODAY MARKS THE FIRST DAY OF KWANZAA. IT’S A CELEBRATION THAT HONORS AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE. THE ANNUAL CELEBRATION HAS DEEP ROOTS HERE IN CALIFORNIA. KCRA 3’S CECIL HANNIBAL IS LIVE IN RANCHO CORDOVA, WHERE THE COMMUNITY IS GATHERED TONIGHT. DEEP ROOTS IS FOR SURE. THIS IS THE FIRST DAY OF KWANZAA, OF COURSE, AND IF YOU DIDN’T KNOW, IT WAS ACTUALLY CREATED IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NEARLY 60 YEARS AGO. NOW, THIS SEVEN DAY CELEBRATION, THIS HOLIDAY IS CELEBRATED BY PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD OF AFRICAN DESCENT. THIS EVENT IS STILL GOING ON RIGHT NOW. FOR A CLOSER LOOK INSIDE, I WANT TO SHOW YOU THIS VIDEO. IF YOU CAN TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR SCREEN FOR ME REAL QUICK. EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THIS EVENT, REGARDLESS OF RACE OR CULTURAL BACKGROUND. IT’S A CHANCE TO, OF COURSE, COME LEARN, BUT ALSO TO BUY THINGS FROM HANDMADE NECKLACES TO CLOTHING AND EVEN BOOKS THAT TEACH ABOUT BLACK HISTORY IN THE PAN-AFRICAN MOVEMENT. THERE’S A NUMBER OF SPEAKERS TONIGHT FROM THE MAYOR OF RANCHO CORDOVA. RIGHT NOW, A PASTOR IS SPEAKING. WE ALSO HEARD FROM THE ORGANIZER, MICHAEL HARRIS, WHO SAYS HE STUDIED UNDER THE ORIGINAL CREATOR OF KWANZAA, DOCTOR MAULANA KARENGA, AND EXPLAINED WHY THIS HOLIDAY IS SIGNIFICANT TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY AND HIS NOTION OF A HOLIDAY THAT CELEBRATED AFRICAN CULTURE IN A TIME WHERE BLACK FOLKS DIDN’T HAVE NO CLUE WHO THEY WERE. WITH NO BLACK STUDIES PROGRAM, AND FOR PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT TO DO A DEEP DIVE AND ASK THOSE QUESTIONS. WHO ARE YOU? WHO ARE YOU REALLY? ARE YOU? WHAT IS AFRICA TO YOU? WHAT IS AMERICA TO YOU? SO BACK OUT HERE LIVE. THEY ARE ALSO HAVING LIVE CULTURAL PERFORMANCES, REFRESHMENTS AND ARTS AND CRAFTS FOR KIDS. NOW THERE ARE SEVEN DAYS OF KWANZAA. TODAY IS UMOJA, WHICH STANDS FOR UNITY. SO THE HOPE OF THIS EVENT IS TO REALLY BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER ALL IN ONE ROOM AND TO CELEBRATE THIS HOLIDAY TOGETHER. RANC
Sacramento region celebrates Kwanzaa with unity and cultural festivities
Sacramento region celebrates Kwanzaa with unity and cultural festivities
The city of Rancho Cordova celebrated the first day of Kwanzaa with a cultural event inviting people from across Sacramento County to city hall on Friday.It’s part of the 27th Annual California State Capitol Kwanzaa celebration, organized by Michael Harris, president and CEO of the California Black Agriculture Working Group.Harris, who studied under Kwanzaa’s original creator, Dr. Maulana Karenga, emphasized the holiday’s significance to the Black community. “We carry the oldest, largest, most accurate notion of authentic California Pan African Ancestry,” Harris said. The event, which began on the first day of Kwanzaa, Dec. 26, features a variety of activities, including live cultural performances, arts and crafts for children, and a “Farm to Fork Friday” event offering samples of Pan African cuisine. The celebration includes speeches from notable figures such as Pastor Carl Dee Amattoe and Rancho Cordova Mayor Garrett Gatewood, along with other regional community leaders.Guests can also purchase handmade items like necklaces and Afrocentric clothing. The event aims to bring people together from diverse backgrounds to honor African culture and the seven principles of Kwanzaa, starting with Umoja, which means unity. The celebration continues throughout the week, offering a chance for reflection, dialogue, and shared creativity in the spirit of unity.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. —
The city of Rancho Cordova celebrated the first day of Kwanzaa with a cultural event inviting people from across Sacramento County to city hall on Friday.
It’s part of the 27th Annual California State Capitol Kwanzaa celebration, organized by Michael Harris, president and CEO of the California Black Agriculture Working Group.
Harris, who studied under Kwanzaa’s original creator, Dr. Maulana Karenga, emphasized the holiday’s significance to the Black community.
“We carry the oldest, largest, most accurate notion of authentic California Pan African Ancestry,” Harris said.
The event, which began on the first day of Kwanzaa, Dec. 26, features a variety of activities, including live cultural performances, arts and crafts for children, and a “Farm to Fork Friday” event offering samples of Pan African cuisine.
The celebration includes speeches from notable figures such as Pastor Carl Dee Amattoe and Rancho Cordova Mayor Garrett Gatewood, along with other regional community leaders.
Guests can also purchase handmade items like necklaces and Afrocentric clothing.
The event aims to bring people together from diverse backgrounds to honor African culture and the seven principles of Kwanzaa, starting with Umoja, which means unity.
The celebration continues throughout the week, offering a chance for reflection, dialogue, and shared creativity in the spirit of unity.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.Related video above: Ukraine and U.S. discuss peace proposals on Christmas Day amid Russian attacksZelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.”The meeting will take place at Mar-a-Lago.An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.“It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv. Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.On the ground, two people were killed and six more wounded Friday when a guided aerial bomb hit a busy road and set cars aflame in Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.One person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”
KYIV, Ukraine —
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.
Related video above: Ukraine and U.S. discuss peace proposals on Christmas Day amid Russian attacks
Zelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.”
The meeting will take place at Mar-a-Lago.
An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”
The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.
“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.
The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.
“It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.
Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.
Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.
On the ground, two people were killed and six more wounded Friday when a guided aerial bomb hit a busy road and set cars aflame in Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.
One person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.
Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.
“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.
Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.
Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.Related video above: Ukraine and U.S. discuss peace proposals on Christmas Day amid Russian attacksZelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.”An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.“It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv. Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.On the ground, two people were killed and six more wounded Friday when a guided aerial bomb hit a busy road and set cars aflame in Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.One person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”
KYIV, Ukraine —
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.
Related video above: Ukraine and U.S. discuss peace proposals on Christmas Day amid Russian attacks
Zelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.”
An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”
The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.
“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.
The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.
“It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.
Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.
Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.
On the ground, two people were killed and six more wounded Friday when a guided aerial bomb hit a busy road and set cars aflame in Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.
One person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.
Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.
“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.
Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.
Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”
The City of Orlando on Monday will “begin to carefully remove select artifacts” from Pulse nightclub as it works toward creating a permanent memorial at the site of the 2016 massacre that left 49 people dead. Items to be removed include the “chandeliers, bar top, posters and other interior items that have been carefully prepackaged inside of the building,” the city said. “These items will then be transported to an environmentally controlled warehouse. While we have not finalized if these artifacts will be a part of the permanent memorial, we want to ensure their preservation during the design and construction phase,” the city said in a news release. Full list:Two chandeliers Signage and posters Ornamental framed mirror Bar top Track lighting, including track Cash register Primary section of breach wall Portion of the sunburst wall inside the club Portion of the “Glitter” wall inside the club Wood floor (as much as possible) Rectangular ceiling pendent lights iPad The numbers on the outside of the building tiles from the outside patio bar Additionally, some items that were part of the temporary memorial will be removed and preserved:An approximately 4’x8’ piece of the existing memorial fenceBenches on existing memorial site Remembrance items left by family, friends and/or visitorsThe city will begin the next phase of construction after the items are removed, which will include the removal of the Pulse sign and clearing the site. Estimated timeline for construction: February 2026: 30% design plans March/April 2026: Site clearing begins May 2026: 60% design plans Early fall 2026: start of construction Late 2027: Construction completed Pulse mass shootingOn June 12, 2016, a gunman entered the nightclub and opened fire, which caused the deaths of 49 people and left 53 others injured.Families of victims and survivors of the attack were allowed into the building earlier this year for the first time. The City of Orlando purchased the Pulse property in 2023 for $2 million and plans to build a $12 million permanent memorial, which will open in 2027. Those efforts follow a multiyear, botched attempt by a private foundation run by the club’s former owner.”The whole process of grief goes on and on,” Nancy Rosado said. “Grief does not end, does not stop.”In the aftermath of the mass shooting at Pulse, Rosado, a retired NYPD sergeant and social worker, provided services for survivors and victims’ families.”A lot of memories were formed there. A lot of relationships were formed there. It’s very deep and meaningful. And how it all ended up, although hurtful, deserves its place in history”Rosado served on the Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee set up by the City of Orlando in June 2024 to develop the conceptual design. “Once this process starts, and every time, like right now, removing artifacts, someone’s going to hurt,” Rosado said, “someone’s going to get misty eyed. Someone’s going to have maybe a complaint or maybe be happy about it.” Rosado said she hopes the artifacts will eventually be preserved in the Orange County History Center, by the City or at the welcome center for the permanent Pulse memorial.”This is another step in a process that has taken so long, nearly 10 years since this horrific tragedy,” Orange County Democratic State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith said.Smith and the Orange County delegation helped secure $400,000 in state funding for the $12 million project.”It will be a place of peace that the survivors and impacted families will be able to have to pay respect to their loved ones,” Smith said.Renderings from the advisory committee show a reflection pond over what will have been the dance floor.Rosado said she’s pleased the recommended design includes flags from the Hispanic victims’ countries of origin. “The acknowledgement and the recognition of the Hispanic communities having been impacted the way it was,” she said. “It wasn’t just an LGBTQ thing.”
ORLANDO, Fla. —
The City of Orlando on Monday will “begin to carefully remove select artifacts” from Pulse nightclub as it works toward creating a permanent memorial at the site of the 2016 massacre that left 49 people dead.
Items to be removed include the “chandeliers, bar top, posters and other interior items that have been carefully prepackaged inside of the building,” the city said.
“These items will then be transported to an environmentally controlled warehouse. While we have not finalized if these artifacts will be a part of the permanent memorial, we want to ensure their preservation during the design and construction phase,” the city said in a news release.
Additionally, some items that were part of the temporary memorial will be removed and preserved:
An approximately 4’x8’ piece of the existing memorial fence
Benches on existing memorial site
Remembrance items left by family, friends and/or visitors
The city will begin the next phase of construction after the items are removed, which will include the removal of the Pulse sign and clearing the site.
Estimated timeline for construction:
February 2026: 30% design plans
March/April 2026: Site clearing begins
May 2026: 60% design plans
Early fall 2026: start of construction
Late 2027: Construction completed
Pulse mass shooting
On June 12, 2016, a gunman entered the nightclub and opened fire, which caused the deaths of 49 people and left 53 others injured.
Families of victims and survivors of the attack were allowed into the building earlier this year for the first time.
The City of Orlando purchased the Pulse property in 2023 for $2 million and plans to build a $12 million permanent memorial, which will open in 2027. Those efforts follow a multiyear, botched attempt by a private foundation run by the club’s former owner.
“The whole process of grief goes on and on,” Nancy Rosado said. “Grief does not end, does not stop.”
In the aftermath of the mass shooting at Pulse, Rosado, a retired NYPD sergeant and social worker, provided services for survivors and victims’ families.
“A lot of memories were formed there. A lot of relationships were formed there. It’s very deep and meaningful. And how it all ended up, although hurtful, deserves its place in history”
Rosado served on the Pulse Memorial Advisory Committee set up by the City of Orlando in June 2024 to develop the conceptual design.
“Once this process starts, and every time, like right now, removing artifacts, someone’s going to hurt,” Rosado said, “someone’s going to get misty eyed. Someone’s going to have maybe a complaint or maybe be happy about it.”
Rosado said she hopes the artifacts will eventually be preserved in the Orange County History Center, by the City or at the welcome center for the permanent Pulse memorial.
“This is another step in a process that has taken so long, nearly 10 years since this horrific tragedy,” Orange County Democratic State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith said.
Smith and the Orange County delegation helped secure $400,000 in state funding for the $12 million project.
“It will be a place of peace that the survivors and impacted families will be able to have to pay respect to their loved ones,” Smith said.
Renderings from the advisory committee show a reflection pond over what will have been the dance floor.
Rosado said she’s pleased the recommended design includes flags from the Hispanic victims’ countries of origin.
“The acknowledgement and the recognition of the Hispanic communities having been impacted the way it was,” she said. “It wasn’t just an LGBTQ thing.”
Given Monday’s extreme low temperatures, the city of Gloucester has established warming centers for those unable to get out of the cold.
Action Inc., 180 Main St., provides overnight sheltering for those who are unhoused, operating from 4:30 p.m. to 8 a.m. daily, with a capacity of 16 beds and an extreme weather overflow policy. It also offers assistance with heating costs and potential system repairs for income-qualified households (978-282-1000).
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Claudio Braga and Stephen Kingsley were on target as resurgent Hearts won 2-0 away to misfiring Falkirk to move six points clear at the top of the William Hill Premiership.
Business owners on Daytona’s beachside say safety concerns have become a daily challenge, and they are calling for help. Managers and employees along the busy corridor report frequent disruptions tied to people experiencing homelessness, including panhandling and confrontations with customers.Patricia Williams-Fay, manager of the Starlite Diner, said the issue is affecting business.”They come in at times, and they’ll harass our customers,” she said. “Panhandle in the building, panhandle out front. And as much as we would like to be able to give them whatever they want, we can’t afford to do that.”As concerns grow, the Beachside Redevelopment Board is weighing whether to add dedicated patrols throughout the district. In fact, the city’s Beachside Redevelopment Board, which acts like an advisory board, said there needs to be a change.Board members previously requested a quote from First Coast Security, the same company that patrols Beach Street. But because the Beachside area is significantly larger, foot patrols like those used on Beach Street are not practical. Instead, two alternative options were presented.Golf cart patrol costing $135,000 per year, operating Monday through Saturday, and vehicle patrol costing $148,000 annually, with the same schedule.The city is also exploring the option of hiring a detail police officer, though the cost has not yet been determined. Thomas Caffrey, a board member, said a foot patrol may not be necessary on Main Street, but the Beachside and A1A boardwalk corridor, especially the boardwalk, would benefit from one. Other board members said they support the golf cart option.Caffrey said the board will decide Wednesday night whether to recommend private security or a dedicated police officer, noting that private security would guarantee consistent coverage.”The hired security is nice because they are guaranteed to be there. If we get a police officer, there is a chance it could be called outside of the district.”The proposed patrol zone would begin on Seabreeze Boulevard and run south to International Speedway Boulevard.Business owners say increased security presence could make a major difference. Still, Williams-Fay said efforts should also focus on getting people experiencing homelessness the help they need.”I think that it would be a good idea that this force, whatever they put over here, can take them to the hospital to wherever they need to go to get help, you know,” she said.”The board’s recommendation will move next to city staff, and they’ll decide whether to present it to the Daytona Beach City Commission for further consideration.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. —
Business owners on Daytona’s beachside say safety concerns have become a daily challenge, and they are calling for help.
Managers and employees along the busy corridor report frequent disruptions tied to people experiencing homelessness, including panhandling and confrontations with customers.
Patricia Williams-Fay, manager of the Starlite Diner, said the issue is affecting business.
“They come in at times, and they’ll harass our customers,” she said. “Panhandle in the building, panhandle out front. And as much as we would like to be able to give them whatever they want, we can’t afford to do that.”
As concerns grow, the Beachside Redevelopment Board is weighing whether to add dedicated patrols throughout the district.
In fact, the city’s Beachside Redevelopment Board, which acts like an advisory board, said there needs to be a change.
Board members previously requested a quote from First Coast Security, the same company that patrols Beach Street. But because the Beachside area is significantly larger, foot patrols like those used on Beach Street are not practical. Instead, two alternative options were presented.
Golf cart patrol costing $135,000 per year, operating Monday through Saturday, and vehicle patrol costing $148,000 annually, with the same schedule.
The city is also exploring the option of hiring a detail police officer, though the cost has not yet been determined.
Thomas Caffrey, a board member, said a foot patrol may not be necessary on Main Street, but the Beachside and A1A boardwalk corridor, especially the boardwalk, would benefit from one. Other board members said they support the golf cart option.
Caffrey said the board will decide Wednesday night whether to recommend private security or a dedicated police officer, noting that private security would guarantee consistent coverage.
“The hired security is nice because they are guaranteed to be there. If we get a police officer, there is a chance it could be called outside of the district.”
The proposed patrol zone would begin on Seabreeze Boulevard and run south to International Speedway Boulevard.
Business owners say increased security presence could make a major difference. Still, Williams-Fay said efforts should also focus on getting people experiencing homelessness the help they need.
“I think that it would be a good idea that this force, whatever they put over here, can take them to the hospital to wherever they need to go to get help, you know,” she said.”
The board’s recommendation will move next to city staff, and they’ll decide whether to present it to the Daytona Beach City Commission for further consideration.
Central Florida shoppers kicked off Small Business Saturday with the sights, sounds and smells of the Winter Park Farmers’ Market.It’s where local vendors say the day offers a critical boost heading into the holiday season.The annual shopping event encourages residents to spend their dollars locally.It is something business owners say directly supports the families and entrepreneurs who give Orlando’s neighborhoods their character.”It’s all about the local community,” said Chris Rivera, who owns Thirsty Husky Coffee with her husband, Eddie.Vendors at the market said shoppers can find items that stand out from big-box shelves.”We all have wonderful, unique items to offer the public that they can’t find in the supermarket or anywhere,” said Anna Marie Mele, owner of Pesto Diva.Small Business Saturday, founded by American Express in 2010 and co-sponsored nationally by the U.S. Small Business Administration since 2011, has become one of the busiest shopping days of the season for independent retailers. The SBA says more than 36 million small businesses operate nationwide.Rivera said customers should know their purchases matter.”The money that you are spending on local businesses is going back to the community, really,” she said.For many vendors, the day’s foot traffic can help set the tone and the revenue for the rest of the holidays.”We are all here for you, rain or shine, and we are happy to be able to offer you our services and our products,” Mele said.Just a few blocks away, Park Avenue was buzzing as shoppers browsed boutiques and cafés that are part of the city’s long-standing small business ecosystem.”This is the best street to shop and it has a lot of little boutiques,” said shopper Karen Miles-Miller. “If we want them to survive, we have to support them. It’s pure economics.”Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer encouraged residents to keep that mindset going beyond the weekend.”Let’s make an effort to frequent our city’s small businesses during the entire holiday season,” Dyer said in a statement. “By shopping and eating small, we support entrepreneurs and their employees who play a big role in making Orlando more vibrant.”Dyer highlighted several events in the city’s 12 Main Street Districts, including:Ship, Shop & Score — Curry Ford WestWe Sell — Small Business Saturday — Thornton Park DistrictShop Small Sip and Stroll — Audubon Park Garden DistrictResidents can follow @orlandomainstreets and @dwntwn_orlando on Instagram for updated deals and promotions heading into Small Business Saturday on Nov. 30.For shoppers looking to participate nationally, the SBA offers a Small Business Saturday directory and marketing materials for business owners.Whether at a farmers’ market stand or a longtime storefront, small business owners say the support they receive this weekend means everything and for the community they help shape.
WINTER PARK, Fla. —
Central Florida shoppers kicked off Small Business Saturday with the sights, sounds and smells of the Winter Park Farmers’ Market.
It’s where local vendors say the day offers a critical boost heading into the holiday season.
The annual shopping event encourages residents to spend their dollars locally.
It is something business owners say directly supports the families and entrepreneurs who give Orlando’s neighborhoods their character.
“It’s all about the local community,” said Chris Rivera, who owns Thirsty Husky Coffee with her husband, Eddie.
Vendors at the market said shoppers can find items that stand out from big-box shelves.
“We all have wonderful, unique items to offer the public that they can’t find in the supermarket or anywhere,” said Anna Marie Mele, owner of Pesto Diva.
Small Business Saturday, founded by American Express in 2010 and co-sponsored nationally by the U.S. Small Business Administration since 2011, has become one of the busiest shopping days of the season for independent retailers. The SBA says more than 36 million small businesses operate nationwide.
Rivera said customers should know their purchases matter.
“The money that you are spending on local businesses is going back to the community, really,” she said.
For many vendors, the day’s foot traffic can help set the tone and the revenue for the rest of the holidays.
“We are all here for you, rain or shine, and we are happy to be able to offer you our services and our products,” Mele said.
Just a few blocks away, Park Avenue was buzzing as shoppers browsed boutiques and cafés that are part of the city’s long-standing small business ecosystem.
“This is the best street to shop and it has a lot of little boutiques,” said shopper Karen Miles-Miller. “If we want them to survive, we have to support them. It’s pure economics.”
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer encouraged residents to keep that mindset going beyond the weekend.
“Let’s make an effort to frequent our city’s small businesses during the entire holiday season,” Dyer said in a statement. “By shopping and eating small, we support entrepreneurs and their employees who play a big role in making Orlando more vibrant.”
Residents can follow @orlandomainstreets and @dwntwn_orlando on Instagram for updated deals and promotions heading into Small Business Saturday on Nov. 30.
For shoppers looking to participate nationally, the SBA offers a Small Business Saturday directory and marketing materials for business owners.
Whether at a farmers’ market stand or a longtime storefront, small business owners say the support they receive this weekend means everything and for the community they help shape.
WEBSITE. BACK TO YOU. ALL RIGHT. SPENCER. THANK YOU. IN LAKE COUNTY, PEOPLE IN PARTS OF TAVARES ARE HAVING TO MAKE SOME ALTERNATE PLANS FOR TOMORROW’S THANKSGIVING FEAST. HOMES ON MULTIPLE STREETS ARE UNDER A BOIL WATER NOTICE AFTER A WATER MAIN BREAK ON TUESDAY. WESH 2’S HAYLEY CROMBLEHOLME IS LIVE IN TAVARES TONIGHT. AND HAYLEY, YOU SPOKE WITH ONE RESIDENT WHO ACTUALLY CHANGED UP HIS DINNER PLANS BECAUSE OF ALL THIS. YEAH THAT’S RIGHT. HE’S MOSTLY BEEN RELYING ON BOTTLED WATER AND EATING OUT RATHER THAN GOING THROUGH THE HASSLE OF HAVING TO BOIL IT. HE HAD BEEN PLANNING ON MAKING A FEW THINGS AT HOME, AND EVEN THOUGH THEY MIGHT GET THE RESULTS OF SOME OF THAT WATER TESTING ON THE HOLIDAY, HE STILL FELT LIKE HE NEEDED AN ALTERNATE PLANS. THE TIMING COULDN’T HAVE BEEN WORSE. DOUG EVANS SAID HE GOT THIS NOTICE ON HIS DOOR TUESDAY FROM THE CITY OF TAVARES, LETTING HIM KNOW THERE WAS A PRECAUTIONARY BOIL WATER NOTICE IN HIS AREA FOR ANY WATER USED FOR THINGS LIKE DRINKING, COOKING, WASHING DISHES AND MAKING ICE. THE SIMPLE STUFF WE STILL USE BOTTLED WATER. IT’S NOT THAT BAD, BUT DOING DISHES, LAUNDRY NOT HAPPENING. IT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. IT’S JUST TOO MUCH OF A HASSLE. EVANS NOW HAS LARGE WATER BOTTLES PLACED THROUGHOUT THE HOME AND HAND SANITIZER SITTING NEXT TO THE SINK. THE CITY SAID THE ADVISORY CAME TUESDAY AFTER A BROKEN SIX-INCH MAIN LED TO A WATER SHUT OFF. NOW WATER SAMPLES HAVE TO BE TESTED BEFORE RESIDENTS ON PARTS OF WEST BURLEIGH BOULEVARD, NORTH AVE AND CLIFFORD STREET CAN BE GIVEN THE ALL CLEAR. ALL AS PEOPLE ARE PREPARING FOR THANKSGIVING, WE HAVE OUR GRANDKIDS. WE WERE GOING TO HAVE THEM HERE AND DO A FEW THINGS, ENJOY US JUST HAVING THE HOLIDAYS AND HAVING THEM HERE FROM OUT OF STATE. BUT NOW NOT SO MUCH. EVANS SAID THEIR INITIAL THANKSGIVING PLANS HAVE HAD TO CHANGE. ABSOLUTELY NO COOKING? NO, NOT AT ALL. WE HAD PLANNED TO COOK A FEW THINGS, BUT NO, THAT’S THAT’S NO LONGER GOING TO HAPPEN. THE CITY SAID TYPICALLY, THE RESULTS OF WATER TESTING CAN BE BACK WITHIN 48 HOURS, WHICH WOULD BE THANKSGIVING DAY. BUT THEY CAN’T SAY IF THE RESULTS WILL BE BACK OR WHAT THOSE RESULTS WILL BE. BUT IF THE WATER GETS THE ALL CLEAR, THE CITY SAID STAFF WILL BE KNOCKING ON DOORS AND LEAVING NOTICES, LETTING PEOPLE KNOW. EVEN ON THE HOLIDAY. IT’S ALL GOOD. BUT IN CASE THE RESULTS DON’T GO THE WAY THEY’D LIKE, EVANS HOPES FOLKS HAVE A BACKUP PLAN. I HOPE SO, I HOPE SO, BECAUSE IT’S NOT GUARANTEED. BUT AGAIN, THOSE RESULTS COULD COME BACK ON THANKSGIVING DAY. THE CITY WILL BE GETTING THE WORD OUT, AND YOU CAN USE THE WATER IN YOUR HOME IF YOU LIVE ON THOSE PARTS OF THOSE STREETS AFFECTED, YOU SHOULD JUST BOIL IT FIRST. COVERING LAKE COUNTY. LIVE I
Boil water notice issued for parts of Tavares ahead of Thanksgiving
The City of Tavares announced a boil water notice for parts of several streets Tuesday. The city said it came after a broken six-inch main led to a water shutoff. Now residents at 105 W. Burleigh Blvd. through 201 W. Burleigh Blvd., 802 N. Joanna Ave. through 1102 N. Joanna Ave., and 120 W. Clifford St. are being told to boil any water needed for things like drinking, cooking, brushing teeth and washing dishes. “The timing couldn’t have been worse,” said Doug Evans, who lives in one of the impacted areas. Evans said he got a notice on his door Tuesday from the city of Tavares, letting him know there was a precautionary boil water notice in his area. “The simple stuff, we still use bottled water, it’s not that bad, but doing dishes, laundry, not happening. It’s not gonna happen. It’s just too much of a hassle,” Evans said. The city said water samples have to be tested before residents can be given the all-clear. All as people are preparing for Thanksgiving. “We have our grandkids, and we were going to have them here, do a few things, enjoy just having the holidays and having them here from out of state. Now not so much,” Evans said. Their initial Thanksgiving plans have had to change. “Oh, absolutely no cooking. No. Not at all,” he said. “We had planned to cook a few things, but that’s no longer going to happen.”The city said typically the results of the water testing can be back within 48 hours, which would be Thanksgiving Day. But they can’t say if the results will be back, or what those results will be. But if the water gets the all clear, the city said staff will be knocking on doors and leaving notices letting people know, even on the holiday.
TAVARES, Fla. —
The City of Tavares announced a boil water notice for parts of several streets Tuesday.
The city said it came after a broken six-inch main led to a water shutoff. Now residents at 105 W. Burleigh Blvd. through 201 W. Burleigh Blvd., 802 N. Joanna Ave. through 1102 N. Joanna Ave., and 120 W. Clifford St. are being told to boil any water needed for things like drinking, cooking, brushing teeth and washing dishes.
“The timing couldn’t have been worse,” said Doug Evans, who lives in one of the impacted areas.
Evans said he got a notice on his door Tuesday from the city of Tavares, letting him know there was a precautionary boil water notice in his area.
“The simple stuff, we still use bottled water, it’s not that bad, but doing dishes, laundry, not happening. It’s not gonna happen. It’s just too much of a hassle,” Evans said.
The city said water samples have to be tested before residents can be given the all-clear. All as people are preparing for Thanksgiving.
“We have our grandkids, and we were going to have them here, do a few things, enjoy just having the holidays and having them here from out of state. Now not so much,” Evans said. Their initial Thanksgiving plans have had to change.
“Oh, absolutely no cooking. No. Not at all,” he said. “We had planned to cook a few things, but that’s no longer going to happen.”
The city said typically the results of the water testing can be back within 48 hours, which would be Thanksgiving Day. But they can’t say if the results will be back, or what those results will be.
But if the water gets the all clear, the city said staff will be knocking on doors and leaving notices letting people know, even on the holiday.
