Coastal fire victim has some advice for those burned out in Eaton, Palisades fires

• February 24, 2025

The fiery destruction of wide swaths of Pacific Palisades and Altadena sent Ramin Yazdi flashing back to the night in May 2022 when he stood in the street watching his home burn down in Laguna Niguel’s Coastal fire.

“I couldn’t get myself to leave,” remembered Yazdi, 62. “It was like a war zone.”

Yazdi knows better than most what’s in store for victims of the Los Angeles County wildfires — the dislocation, the litigation decisions, the dance with insurance carriers, the debate over whether to rebuild, the wrestling with inspectors and contractors.

But there are things that Yazdi has no way of knowing. His ocean-view neighborhood lost 20 houses while 11 others were damaged, but the city was still there. The Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires devastated entire neighborhoods, leveling more than 16,000 structures and taking 29 lives.

Yazdi, a businessman and an attorney specializing in advising internet startups, wondered whether they could find enough materials to rebuild simultaneously.

“I don’t think there will be a nail left at the Home Depot,” he said.

Yazdi, president of the Coronado Pointe homeowners association, offered some counsel to the Los Angeles County victims whose heads are undoubtedly swimming with all the decisions they must make.

He advised Eaton fire victims to join one of the lawsuits — there are dozens of them — against Southern California Edison alleging the massive utility’s equipment triggered the fire.

Yazdi was among the first of the Coastal fire victims to sue SCE, whose equipment sparked the blaze, according to a joint state and local investigation. The probe found that sparks from an overhead power line ignited the vegetation below.

The main lawsuit involving the 20 destroyed homes in Coronado Pointe was filed by the firm Bridgford, Gleason & Artinian. Attorney Richard Bridgford said claims by nine of the property owners have already been mediated and the rest are set to go to mediation. Yazdi’s house is among those still in the process.

“People are getting paid out and they are rebuilding,” Bridgford said. “The most rewarding thing about handling these cases is seeing people go from complete devastation to rebuilding their lives and their homes.”

Aimee Larr has already finished rebuilding her home with an expansive view of the ocean and the hills and has moved back in. She said tenacity and organization were key.

Edison committed to rebuilding

Edison spokesperson Gabriela Ornelas said the utility will continue to work toward getting the community rebuilt.

“Our thoughts remain with everyone that was affected by the Coastal fire,” Ornelas said. “We are committed to helping the community rebuild and are working with the appropriate agencies to ensure that is a smooth and efficient process.”

Yazdi used money from his insurance policy and some of his own to start rebuilding his home, which he expects to be completed in September.

With alleged evidence mounting against SEC in the Eaton fire — caught by cellphone cameras, surveillance camera videos and sensors — Yazdi said it would be unwise not to join the lawsuit against the utility. A state investigation into the cause of the Eaton fire has not concluded.

Choosing a law firm

Yazdi advised victims to pick a law firm that has the financial and logistical resources to take the case all the way to trial if need be.

“There are a lot of attorneys who have no intention of prosecuting the case,” he said. “Don’t pick an attorney firm that has so many cases that they can’t handle.”

Pick a firm that “can make a credible threat to go to trial,” Yazdi said.

Compiling an inventory

He also counseled those who lost homes to take the time to inventory their property losses, which they will have to do by memory. And which can be especially painful.

“Every time I sit down with my wife to go through this, she starts crying,” Yazdi said. “It’s so hard to go through memory lane, it’s like reliving the nightmare.”

Gone are the written messages that Yazdi’s late father left to him. Others may lose irreplaceable things such as wedding dresses or kids’ baby shoes.

As painful as it may be, the inventories must be done as part of the financial recovery process.

Yazdi advised victims to “close your eyes and go from room to room.”

He also said to ask friends and family if they have any pictures taken inside the home, which can help victims remember what was there.

Working with insurance companies

Yazdi warned that the day after the Coastal fire, the neighborhood was swarmed with public adjusters, whom he described as middlemen who offer to negotiate with the insurance companies on behalf of victims in exchange for a cut of the claim.

He said victims should try to work directly with the insurance companies, get as much as they can on their own and then, if they feel it is needed, sign with a public adjuster. That type of adjuster is not to be confused with the claims adjusters employed by the insurance companies.

Challenges of rebuilding

Victims who lost homes will be faced with the decision whether to rebuild — which can be agony.

“It’s been a nightmare trying to deal with contractors and price gouging. It’s been really difficult to build a house in this (economic and regulatory) environment,” Yazdi said.

Approvals must be obtained from the homeowners association, if applicable, the city, the county, the state and the fire agency. There are fees and inspections.

“It’s a constant request for inspectors, waiting for inspectors to come out, constant delays and aggravations,” Yazdi said.

He advised homeowners not to be the first in the neighborhood to hire a contractor. Wait and watch while others bring on their contractors. Look at the jobs they are doing. Get estimates from those contractors. Compare notes with neighbors.

Even with the due diligence, rebuilding is a grueling, years-long experience, and Yazdi said there are pitfalls.

For one thing, while he has obtained an interim insurance policy during the construction phase, he is having trouble getting insured for when the house is complete.

“The insurance companies are so worried about fire. If there’s a tree within two miles, they’ll say it’s a fire hazard,” Yazdi said. “I’m worried I’ll never get good insurance (coverage), and if there were another fire, I would be financially destroyed.”

With the neighborhood becoming a construction zone, there have been some nagging disagreements among neighbors, Yazdi said. Some are complaining about the noise, the trucks, the dirt, the inability to walk their dogs without bumping into a construction worker. One neighbor sued another whose rebuild is now obscuring their view.

“These are complaints they should be making to (SCE) not their neighbors,” he said.

​ Orange County Register 

Pennsylvania hostage-taking and shootout highlight rising violence against US hospital workers

• February 24, 2025

By MEAD GRUVER, Associated Press

A man who took hostages in a Pennsylvania hospital during a shooting that killed a police officer and wounded five other people highlights the rising violence against U.S. healthcare workers and the challenge of protecting them.

Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49, carried a pistol and zip ties into the intensive care unit at UPMC Memorial Hospital in southern Pennsylvania’s York County and took staff members hostage Saturday before he was killed in a shootout with police, officials said. The attack also left a doctor, nurse, custodian and two other officers wounded.

Officers opened fire as Archangel-Ortiz held at gunpoint a female staff member whose hands had been zip-tied, police said.

The man apparently intentionally targeted the hospital after he was in contact with the intensive care unit earlier in the week for medical care involving someone else, according to the York County district attorney.

Such violence at hospitals is on the rise, often in emergency departments but also maternity wards and intensive care units, hospital security consultant Dick Sem said.

“Many people are more confrontational, quicker to become angry, quicker to become threatening,” Sem said. “I interview thousands of nurses and hear all the time about how they’re being abused every day.”

Archangel-Ortiz’s motives remained unclear but nurses report increasing harassment from the public, especially following the coronavirus pandemic, said Sem, former director of security and crisis management for Waste Management and vice president at Pinkerton/Securitas.

In hospital attacks, unlike random mass shootings elsewhere, the shooter is often targeting somebody, sometimes resentful about the care given a relative who died, Sem noted.

“It tends to be someone who’s mad at somebody,” Sem said. “It might be a domestic violence situation or employees, ex-employees. There’s all kinds of variables.”

At WellSpan Health, a nearby hospital where some of the victims were taken, Megan Foltz said she has been worried about violence since she began working as a nurse nearly 20 years ago.

“In the critical care environment, of course there’s going to be heightened emotions. People are losing loved ones. There can be gang violence, domestic violence. Inebriated individuals,” Foltz said.

Besides the fear of being hurt themselves, nurses fear leaving their patients unguarded.

“If you step away from a bedside to run, to hide, to keep safe, you’re leaving your patient vulnerable,” she said.

Healthcare and social assistance employees suffered almost three-quarters of nonfatal attacks on workers in the private sector in 2021 and 2022 for a rate more than five times the national average, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Other recent attacks on U.S. healthcare workers include:

• Last year, a man shot two corrections officers in the ambulance bay of an Idaho hospital while freeing a white supremacist gang member before he could be returned to prison. They were caught less than two days later.
• In 2023, a gunman killed a security guard and wounded a hospital worker in a Portland, Oregon, hospital’s maternity unit before being killed by police in a confrontation elsewhere. Also in 2023, a man opened fire in a medical center waiting room in Atlanta, killing one woman and wounding four.
• In 2022, a gunman killed his surgeon and three other people at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, medical office because he blamed the doctor for his continuing pain after an operation. Later that year, a man killed two workers at a Dallas hospital while there to watch his child’s birth.

The shooting is part of a wave of gun violence in recent years that has swept through U.S. hospitals and medical centers, which have struggled to adapt to the growing threats.

With rising violence, more hospitals are using metal detectors and screening visitors for threats at hospital entrances including emergency departments.

Many hospital workers say after an attack that they never expected to be targeted.

Sem said training can be critical in helping medical staff identify those who might become violent.

“More than half of these incidents I’m aware of showed some early warning signs from early indicators that this person is problematic. They’re threatening, they’re angry. And so that needs to be reported. That needs to be managed,” he said.

“If nobody reports it, then you don’t know until the gun appears.”

Associated Press writer Chris Weber contributed to this report from Los Angeles.

​ Orange County Register 

California bill-paying problems near 9-year high

• February 24, 2025

An early warning sign of bill-paying problems is flashing for California and the nation.

To check Californians’ financial health, my trusty spreadsheet examined consumer debt statistics compiled by the New York Fed. These numbers for 2024’s final three months provide a window into the bill-paying habits of roughly 90% of the population with credit histories.

Ponder a metric that tracks debts moving into 30-days-or-more-late status. Basically, we’re talking about the first skipped payment.

As 2024 ended, 3.25% of California borrowings fell into this worrisome bucket – the highest level since 2016’s first quarter. Yes, almost nine years ago, when the economy’s rebound from the Great Recession was kicking into high gear.

Nationally, skipped payments are even higher: 4.14% of debts entered the earliest of tardy status in the fourth quarter. It’s the biggest boost since the first quarter of 2020, just before the coronavirus upended the business climate.

Now, for context, this level of skipped bills is below the pace 2003-2005, boom times just after the turn of the century.

And 2024 is nowhere near the wave of early missed payments during the Great Recession. In 2009-10, these late payments averaged 14.4% of debts in California and 10.8% nationally.

Still, today’s growing bill-paying pressures help explain rising consumer angst, anxieties that are otherwise contradicted by economic yardsticks that suggest a robust economy.

Bigger picture

It’s one thing to miss one payment. It’s another when those late bills run even tardier.

Ponder debts that are 90 days or more late. Across California, that was 1.6% of debt in the fourth quarter, up from 1.2% at year-end 2023 and the highest since the first quarter of 2021.

Yet this tardiness is still solid repayment, historically speaking. In the pre-pandemic period of 2018-19, the average bill was 1.9% tardy. And we’ll note the 11.6% average of 2009-10.

Californians have been better at this level of bill paying than most Americans, too.

Nationally, 1.9% of debts were tardy in the fourth quarter, up from 1.7% a year earlier. Like California, this is low: 3.1% of bills were late in 2018-19 and 7.9% in 2009-10.

Big borrowers

Californians carry lots of debt, mainly due to lofty home prices and mortgages.

At year-end 2024, outstanding consumer borrowings statewide totaled $86,130 per capita, with 79% of those debts tied to first mortgages.

The nation’s $60,630 of debt per capita is almost one-third less than California. And the typical American has 69% of their borrowings linked to a mortgage.

But consumers have cooled their willingness to borrow recently, a sign of skittish shoppers.

California’s debts grew 1.4% in the past year after expanding just 0.1% in 2023. Compare that with debts jumping by 8% in 2022 or growing at a 2.7% average annual pace in 2018-19.

And U.S. borrowings are shrinking, falling at an 0.7% annual rate in the fourth quarter. That’s a switch from 1.9% growth for 2023, 7.3% in 2022, and 3% in 2018-19.

Home sweet home

Whatever the payment challenges, they are not mortgages.

As of year-end 2024, California mortgages that went unpaid for 90 days or more accounted for only 0.6% of all loans. Yes, that’s up from 0.4% a year earlier and 0.5% in 2018-19.

So, 2024 wa relatively typical for late bills. Remember, 11.9% of California home loans in 2009-10 went unpaid for 90 days or more.

Ponder similar trends nationally: 0.6% of U.S. mortgages are 90 days late – equal to a year ago and below 1% of 2018-19. This metric hit 8.1% in 2009-10.

Bottom line

Pick your reason for more skipped payments: Stubborn inflation. High interest rates. Sluggish job markets. Or the evaporation of stimulus-fueled savings.

Regardless of the cause, it seems balancing a typical household budget was challenging as 2024 ended. While it was not historically significant, it was noticeably more difficult.

Consider a consumer’s worst-case scenario: bankruptcy. New filings remain rare, though they are are modestly more common. (Note: Some legal challenges have made bankruptcy an even less-appealing option.)

California’s new bankruptcies increased to 35 per 1,000 consumers in the fourth quarter, up from 32 at year-end 2023. However, this pace is less frequent than the 56 per 1,000 in 2018-19 and 266 in 2009-10.

This mimics national trends: At year-end 2024, there were 42 new U.S. bankruptcies per 1,000 consumers, up from 40 a year earlier. This metric averaged 76 in 2018-19 and 211 in 2009-10.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]

​ Orange County Register 

Starbucks lays off 1,100 corporate employees as coffee chain streamlines

• February 24, 2025

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press Business Wrtier

Starbucks plans to lay off 1,100 corporate employees globally as new Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol streamlines operations.

In a letter to employees released Monday, Niccol said the company will inform employees who are being laid off by mid-day Tuesday. Niccol said Starbucks is also eliminating several hundred open and unfilled positions.

“Our intent is to operate more efficiently, increase accountability, reduce complexity and drive better integration,” Niccol wrote in the letter.

Starbucks has 16,000 corporate support employees worldwide, but that includes some employees who aren’t impacted, like roasting and warehouse staff. Baristas in the company’s stores are not included in the layoffs.

Niccol said in January that corporate layoffs would be announced by early March. He said all work must be overseen by someone who can make decisions while the the Seattle coffee giant reduces the complexity of its structure and eliminates silos within the company that slow communication.

“Our size and structure can slow us down, with too many layers, managers of small teams and roles focused primarily on coordinating work,” Niccol wrote.

Starbucks hired Niccol last fall to turn around sluggish sales. He has said he wants to improve service times — especially during the morning rush — and reestablish stores as community gathering places.

Niccol is also cutting items from Starbucks’ menu and experimenting with its ordering algorithms to better handle its mix of mobile, drive-thru and in-store orders.

Starbucks’ global same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, fell 2% in its 2024 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 29. In the U.S., customers tired of price increases and growing wait times. In China, its second-largest market, Starbucks faced growing competition from cheaper rivals.

Starbucks shares were flat in premarket trading Monday.

​ Orange County Register 

Galaxy shut out by San Diego FC in 2025 home opener

• February 24, 2025

CARSON — The Galaxy raised the championship banner, brought out the sixth MLS Cup for a walk through the supporters section and officially kicked off 2025 and the long journey to try to repeat.

As MLS has a way of proving, no two seasons are alike and the Galaxy learned that Sunday.

After going unbeaten at Dignity Health Sports Park last season, the Galaxy, in front of a sellout crowd of 25,224, dropped their home and season opener to an expansion team and new in-state rival San Diego FC 2-0.

The loss was the first at home since the final game of the 2023 season (Oct. 21).

“I thought most of the night (we were) a little disconnected in terms of our positions and specifically kind of in our midfield, where we needed to be and when we needed to be there,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “I felt like we weren’t very dynamic in the front half of the field and when we were getting forward and getting into forward positions, we weren’t really turning, advancing possessions into attacks.

“I felt like it was a little bit stagnate, not as dynamic as we’ve obviously seen in the past, in terms of breaking down the other team.”

In the 52nd minute, a bad pass from new starting goalkeeper Novak Mićović, combined with a bad first touch by defender Emiro Garces led to a loose ball that fed directly toward San Diego’s Anders Dreyer, who’s left-footed shot ended as the franchise’s first goal.

“It’s a tough ball to handle,” Vanney said. “I didn’t feel like Novak was under as much pressure as it looked like he did when he hit the ball. For Novak maybe to be a little bit calmer, to deliver a pass that’s a little more friendly at the point that it arrived at Emiro, I think it was almost more self-defense then actually doing something with it. The whole thing just seemed a little bit rushed and it didn’t need to be.

“I felt that through the course of the game, there were a lot of what I call for our group uncharacteristically unforced errors, choices that sometimes didn’t make sense to me, it looked a little bit not settled and that’s something we have to keep taking steps at.”

Mićović came up two big saves afterward that kept the deficit at 1-0, allowing the Galaxy’s attack to finally show signs of life.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen until late, with the additions of Miguel Berry, Ruben Ramos and Elijah Wynder as the Galaxy picked up their pace on attack.

“Ultimately the game turns on a mistake,” Vanney said. “I thought toward the end, when we got some urgency, we started to get a little more dynamic, we started to move a little bit more, break lines with our run, get to the endline and started to see things that looked like real opportunities.”

However, as the Galaxy pressed, chasing the one-goal deficit, San Diego would find the second goal late in stoppage time on a counter attack, ending with Dreyer’s second goal of the night to seal their first franchise win.

“They prepared well,” Galaxy defender and captain Maya Yoshida said of San Diego. “There’s no excuse that we even we (though) miss a couple of experienced players, who can change the game, we prepared well, we already have the base of the team since last season, of course the new players have to understand how we play still, but instead of six weeks of preparation for them, we should have done better and today’s totally lost.”

San Diego FC’s arrival gives California a fourth team, joining the Galaxy, LAFC and the San Jose Earthquakes, which could lead to several new rivalries springing up across the state. Something that commissioner Don Garber touched on before the game.

“Rivalries are what makes MLS so exciting,” Garber said. “One of the reasons why we wanted a team in San Diego …Look at the El Trafico (rivalry between the Galaxy and LAFC), we used to joke about the competition being named after the characteristic that people aren’t crazy about it, but now its one of the most anticipated events that we have in MLS, played in the Rose Bowl, having 70-80,000 people attending those games.

“So, it’s going to be really interesting to see what happens between those four clubs. The good part about it is, the fans and the teams create those very natural and authentic rivalries. It’s not a league marketing program.”

For the Galaxy, losing Sunday is the quickest way to start a new rivalry. The teams will meet again May 24 in San Diego.

​ Orange County Register 

Lynn Biyendolo early goal lifts USWNT over Australia in SheBelieves Cup

• February 24, 2025

GLENDALE, Ariz — Lynn Biyendolo scored 42 seconds into the match and the United States beat Australia 2-1 on Sunday in the SheBelieves Cup.

Michelle Cooper scored her first international goal in her second appearance for the U.S., which improved to 2-0 in the four-team round-robin tournament.

Biyendolo’s goal was the fastest by a U.S. player since Ashley Hatch scored 24 seconds into a match in November 2021, also against Australia.

Biyendolo, formerly Lynn Williams, was married in the offseason. It was her 22nd international goal.

Michelle Heyman scored in the 80th minute for Australia.

Cooper’s goal in the 68th minute made it 2-0.

“It was absolutely surreal,” Cooper said. “I looked at (teammate Ally Sentnor) and I said, ‘I’m so sorry’ because I basically stole it from her. But she was like, ‘It’s OK, I’m happy for you.’ So it felt great.”

U.S. coach Emma Hayes changed her entire starting lineup following the team’s 2-0 victory over Colombia on Thursday in the tournament opener in Houston. It was just the sixth time in the team’s history that the full lineup was swapped out in back-to-back games.

Gisele Thompson and Claire Hutton made their first starts for the national team. Gisele’s older sister Alyssa Thompson also started.

Mandy McGlynn was in goal for the United States as Hayes continues to consider a top goalkeeper following Alyssa Naeher’s retirement last year.

Hayes has been bringing in new players and tinkering with lineups ahead of Women’s World Cup qualification next year, and Cooper appreciated the opportunity.

“I just want to get to know the players and build good connections and get to know the staff, to hopefully build a relationship and build their trust in me to be on this team,” Cooper said.

The Matildas continue to struggle without superstar Sam Kerr, who hasn’t played for the national team in more than a year after ACL surgery.

In Sunday’s earlier SheBelieves match, Japan beat Colombia 4-1. Mina Tanaka, who plays in the NWSL with the Utah Royals, scored in the eighth minute and again on a penalty in the 80th. Real Madrid’s Linda Caicedo scored for Colombia.

The final SheBelieves matches will be played Wednesday in San Diego. The United States plays Japan and Colombia faces Australia. The winner of the tournament, now in its 10th season, is determined by accumulated points.

​ Orange County Register 

Ducks force OT but fall to Red Wings

• February 24, 2025

DETROIT — Patrick Kane scored his second goal of the game on a breakaway with a minute left in overtime and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Ducks 5-4 on Sunday night to end the Ducks’ four-game winning streak.

Marco Kasper, Alex DeBrincat and Kane scored during the first 5:06 of the game, the fastest any team has scored three goals this season. Michael Rasmussen added a power-play goal for Detroit, which squandered a late two-goal lead and improved to 8-1-1 in its last 10 games. Alex Lyon made 24 saves.

The Red Wings bounced back from a 4-3 overtime loss to Minnesota on Saturday in which they gave away a two-goal lead in the third period.

The Ducks scored twice in the final 2:16 after pulling goaltender Lukas Dostal for an extra skater.

Cutter Gauthier scored twice, including the tying goal with 53 seconds left. Ryan Strome and Owen Zellweger also scored for the Ducks. Dostal made 31 saves.

Takeaways

Ducks: They allowed just six goals during its four-game streak. The Ducks gave up more than four goals for the first time in 14 games.

Red Wings: Detroit converted on three of four power plays. Its power play, ranked second in the league, has produced 50 goals. Only Winnipeg (51) has scored more with the man advantage.

Key moment

The Ducks’ Isac Lundestrom and Brian Dumoulin were sent to the penalty box at 4:21 of the first after committing tripping penalties. DeBrincat converted during the 5-on-3 advantage, knocking in a rebound of a shot by Dylan Larkin. Kane scored from the high slot during the subsequent 5-on-4 advantage, giving Detroit a 3-0 lead.

Key stat

DeBrincat has regularly produced against the Ducks. He has 15 goals and 28 points in 18 games.

Up next

Both teams play Tuesday. The Ducks visit Buffalo, and the Red Wings are at Minnesota.

​ Orange County Register 

Sea lions found in distress off Malibu, acid toxicity is suspected

• February 24, 2025

MALIBU — An outbreak of domoic acid is sickening sea lions in the waters off Malibu, according to wildlife officials.

Workers at the California Wildlife Center responded to at least 14 calls for sea lions in distress over a four-day period, the center said in a Facebook post on Saturday.

“Though we have not confirmed the cause for these animals’ illness, their signs and the recent rains make the situation highly suspicious for domoic acid toxicity,” the post said. “Malibu residents, visitors, and other beachgoers are advised to keep their distance from animals on the beach and call or text our Marine team at 310-924-7256 for assistance with animals in distress.”

Domoic acid is an algal bloom resulting from a single-celled organism called Pseudo-nitzschia. There are benign and toxic strains which animals may be exposed to through ingestion of contaminated fish. In its toxic form, DA damages the brain and heart, even in low doses. Signs in marine mammals include seizures, a craning head motion known as “stargazing,” and highly lethargic or comatose states.

The public is advised to not interact directly with animals such as sea lions in distress as they may lunge and bite without warning.

​ Orange County Register