Santa Anita horse racing consensus picks for Friday, January 24, 2025

• January 24, 2025

The consensus box of Santa Anita horse racing picks comes from handicappers Bob Mieszerski, Eddie Wilson, Kevin Modesti and Mark Ratzky. Here are the picks for thoroughbred races on Friday, January 24, 2025.

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​ Orange County Register 

Why California’s US senators won’t join President Trump on his trip to fire-ravaged LA

• January 24, 2025

Although both were invited, neither Sen. Alex Padilla nor Adam Schiff will join President Trump on his trip to Los Angeles County on Friday.

Instead, both Democrats will remain in Washington, D.C., where nomination votes are on the docket for Trump’s Cabinet picks.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, has said lawmakers will “work as long as needed to confirm President Trump’s nominees. Nights. Weekends. Recesses.” The Senate is scheduled to hold late night and weekend votes on Pete Hegseth, Trump’s defense secretary nominee, and Kristi Noem, his pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, according to Punchbowl News.

“Sen. Schiff greatly appreciates the president’s visit to see the devastation of these wildfires firsthand and the invitation to accompany him and regrets that he is unable to join the president in Los Angeles due to scheduled nomination votes,” said Marisol Samayoa, a spokesperson for the new senator.

A spokesperson for Padilla also confirmed Friday morning that the senator was invited but could not attend.

“The senator regrets not being able to join President Trump in Los Angeles due to the Senate vote schedule,” said Edgar Rodriguez. “He welcomes the president’s support for federal disaster aid to assist the thousands of families and businesses impacted by these devastating fires.”

But Trump, speaking to reporters on the south lawn of the White House early Friday morning, suggested he wasn’t the one to invite Schiff, according to White House pool reports.

“I didn’t invite him. Somebody did,” Trump said, according to pool reports.

Earlier Friday morning, Schiff said he was “glad” Trump was heading to Southern California during what is the first week of his second term in the White House.

“I’m glad that he’s going to see the devastation because frankly, until you see it and the scope of it — whole neighborhoods gone, block after block after block — it’s hard to wrap your head around,” Schiff said during an MSNBC interview. “I hope he can’t help but be moved by what he’s seen, and I would hope also that we can get away from this partisan talk of conditioning aid to California.”

Trump is heading to L.A. after first stopping in western North Carolina, where Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic flooding and damage in September. There, Trump is expected to receive a briefing on recovery efforts and meet with families impacted by the hurricane, according to the Asheville Citizen Times.

The president will then head out west, touching down in Southern California before traveling to Las Vegas later Friday.

Details of Trump’s visit to L.A. are scant. Even Gov. Gavin Newsom — who, albeit, has often publicly feuded with Trump and has been the subject of more recent heavy criticism by the president over his handling of the fires — said Thursday afternoon that he had not been in contact with the White House.

Still, Newsom said he planned to welcome Trump on the tarmac when he arrives.

​ Orange County Register 

Containment jumps made in Hughes, Palisades fires as winds to make way for potentially wet weekend

• January 24, 2025

Firefighters continued to gain control of fires burning near the Santa Clarita Valley and along the coast amid dry conditions — but Santa Ana winds were anticipated to subside on Friday, Jan. 24, making way for potentially wet weather over the weekend.

Crews battling the Hughes fire in the Castaic area have upped containment to 56% and held the fire’s destruction to 10,396 acres, according to Angeles National Forest and Cal Fire officials.

Along the coast in Malibu and Pacific Palisades, the Palisades fire was 77% contained, Cal Fire officials said.

LAFD helicopter pilots describe water drops, challenges of battling Palisades fire in high winds

“For today, winds will shift from northeast to southwest and humidity levels will increase through the afternoon and into the evening hours,” officials said.

The Eaton fire that hit Altadena remained at 95% containment, the latest data from Angeles National Forest officials shows.

Debris-cleanup efforts were ongoing for the Palisades and Eaton fires, which both erupted on Jan. 7, Los Angeles County officials have said.

Crews battling the Hughes fire, which ignited about 10:50 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22, focused on “improving (the) fire line, performing tactical patrols, and mopping up hot spots to prevent the fire’s spread,” officials said.

Containment is the percentage of a fire’s perimeter that won’t balloon anymore because of firefighters work or natural barriers such as the ocean or rocks.

​ Orange County Register 

Trump heads to LA, poised to see fire damage firsthand

• January 24, 2025

President Donald Trump has embarked on a trip to Los Angeles County, en route to survey the massive damage from recent fires in the county.

Trump, newly sworn in this week as the nation’s 47th president, was set to get a first-hand look at the toll of the Palisades and Eaton fires, which broke out on Jan. 7 amid extreme winds in the region.

As of Friday morning, the 14,021-acre Eaton Fire was 95% contained, and the 23,448-acre Palisades Fire 77%, according to Cal Fire.

Together, they’ve claimed 28 lives — 11 in the Palisades Fire area and 17 in the Eaton area, according to the county medical examiner.

Air Force One is scheduled to touch down at LAX in the early afternoon after a trip that starts in North Carolina, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene in September.

After surveying the damage there, his flight will head to Los Angeles. By mid-afternoon, he will be touring a neighborhood in Pacific Palisades with fire officials and homeowners, according to reports.

Later, Trump will receive an emergency briefing from local leaders at all levels of government.

Participants are slated to include Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass; Ric Grenell, presidential envoy for special missions; Randy Moore, chief of the U.S. Forest Service; Kathryn Barger, Fifth District member of the county Board of Supervisors; and Ed Ring, director of water and policy for the California Policy Center.

Southern California Reps. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, and Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, will be among a dozen or so congressional representatives in attendance.

It was unclear whether, if at all, Trump would visit the fire-scorched Altadena and Pasadena communities.

Despite the sheer force of nature from the disasters, early Friday, Trump blamed previous administrations for neglecting structural issues in North Carolina and California that he said led to the devastation.

“It’s been a horrible thing the way that’s been allowed to fester, and we’re going to get it fixed up,” Trump said of the hurricane’s aftermath in North Carolina before embarking on the trip early Friday morning.

Trump, according to White House pool reports, also repeated his assertion that the fires in L.A. “could have been put out if they let the water flow.”

“I think we’re going to have a very interesting time,” Trump said of his visit out west.

It’s his first trip since becoming president on Monday, though in his first term, as 45th president, he also traveled to L.A.

In L.A. County, he will find a region immersed in clean-up from some of the most destructive fires in state history, even as families continue to return to the rubble of their homes in the coastal Palisades and the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Both Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff said they had been invited to attend the trip with the president but had to stay behind in Washington, D.C., because of nomination votes for Trump’s Cabinet.

But Trump, speaking to reporters on the south lawn of the White House early Friday morning, suggested he wasn’t the one to invite Schiff, according to pool reports.

This isn’t the first time Trump has come to survey a fire-ravaged California.

In 2018, Trump toured areas decimated by the Camp fire in Northern California’s Butte County, which killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 19,000 structures.

Trump then — like he is now — was extremely critical of the state’s management and threatened to withhold federal aid.

“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” Trump said in a post on what was then Twitter at the time. “Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more (federal) payments!”

This time, Trump is castigating California’s water management.

In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity this week — Trump’s first television interview since his inauguration for his second term — accused Newsom of refusing to “release the water that comes from the north.”

“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,” Trump said.

But local leaders have urged Trump to pull back from setting conditions on federal support in the area.

Barger, at an event at a Pasadena church on Thursday, seemed hopeful that Trump would back federal support, especially after seeing the scope of the damage.

“My hope is he will see and experience what he needs to,” she said, “to understand the importance of being a partner with us to rebuild. I, for one, don’t care if he talks to me. I want him to talk to the people. Because when you talk to the families that were devastated, I would defy anybody to turn their back.”

​ Orange County Register 

Alexander: Result was lopsided, but Lakers-Celtics rivalry goes well beyond one game

• January 24, 2025

LOS ANGELES — Never let anyone tell you that the Lakers-Celtics rivalry doesn’t still run white hot.

Exhibit A: Some 2½ hours before game time Thursday night, two buses carrying Boston players, coaches and support personnel turned into the L.A. Convention Center complex, headed for the tunnel leading to the arena.

On the street, a small but vocal number of Laker fans were waiting. As the buses approached, they started booing.

And I am willing to bet that when the Lakers visit Boston in early March the favor will be returned, probably louder. Maybe even with projectiles.

Fans on both sides have long memories and a sharp sense of history. Whether their recollections go back to Kobe Bryant vs. Kevin Garnett, or Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird, or Jerry West and Elgin Baylor vs. Bill Russell, they realize these games mean something beyond another stop on the 82-game schedule.

The stakes were raised further last June, when the Celtics ensured that their Banner No. 18 would be hanging in the rafters of TD Garden, one more than the Lakers’ collection – and no, the In-Season Tournament Champions banner doesn’t count. Even Adam Silver would acknowledge that.

So what to make of the Lakers’ 117-96 thumping of Boston on Thursday night? It was a game so out of hand that Bronny James was … wait for it … the human victory cigar at the end. If you are not old enough to get that reference, feel free to search “Red Auerbach” and “victory cigar.” If you’re a Celtics fan of a certain age and do remember, hey, what goes around comes around.

“All of us grew up, you know, watching all the rivalry games and, you know, they always mean a little more,” Lakers guard Austin Reaves said. “So it doesn’t change when you’re a part of it. It actually probably grows even more. There’s been so many battles, you know, that the Lakers, Celtics have had in both franchises’ histories. And I’m just honestly, you know, happy to be a part of it.

“But, you know, I’d like to think that I compete the same way every single game,” he added.

Maybe Thursday night was an outlier. Boston was playing a single-city back-to-back, having been extended to overtime in a victory over the Clippers on Wednesday night, and the effects might have shown up Thursday in their 38.5% shooting (35 for 91, including 14 for 48 from 3-point territory) and particularly their 12-for-18 performance from the foul line.

At one point in the third quarter the Celtics’ best players, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, each stepped to the line and missed back-to-back free throws. Maybe they were having flashbacks to the previous night and shooting into The Wall at the Intuit Dome.

But really, where are these teams around the midpoint of the 2024-25 season?

Boston is third in the league in victories at 31-14, trailing Cleveland by six games for the No. 1 seed in the East yet seemingly assured of a high seed in the weaker conference assuming things don’t go off the rails. Any sense of urgency in the Celtics’ camp concerning the upcoming trade deadline would have more to do with gearing up for another championship run.

You don’t think that would have the Laker faithful grinding their teeth?

As for the home team, there’s still a lot to figure out, even with a two-game winning streak that propelled the Lakers (24-18) into fifth in the West, a season-high six games over .500.

Jarred Vanderbilt and his defensive skills will rejoin the rotation some time during the six-game Grammy trip, which starts Saturday night against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco and ends Feb. 4 against the Clippers in Inglewood, with stops before that in Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington and Madison Square Garden. However, coach JJ Redick and his players were being rather vague on when Vanderbilt’s return exactly will take place. He missed the last 32 regular-season games of last season, plus the playoffs, and the first 42 so far this season following offseason foot surgery.

Vanderbilt’s defensive skills and willingness to do whatever’s necessary in the team concept will help. But will that be enough in a highly competitive Western Conference, with 11 teams over .500 and four over .600?

LeBron James emphasized earlier this week, in his trademark passive-aggressive manner, that the roster as presently constituted has no margin for error. Anthony Davis has let it be known that his wish list includes someone who can play center and allow him to roam a little more.

They’re not wrong. When all cylinders are firing, as they were Thursday night with 42.9% 3-point shooting and what might have been their most connected defensive effort of the season, there’s reason to believe the Lakers could make noise in the postseason. And when they’re not, it’s obvious that this collection of talent isn’t enough in a brutal conference and with the standards that the attitude of Laker Exceptionalism have established.

The trade deadline is Feb. 6. Is there a deal to be had that will significantly improve this team? Better not to assume that the cavalry is coming.

Did the Celtics – the idea of the champs, not necessarily the heavy-legged souls in green uniforms who actually showed up – bring out the best in the Lakers? LeBron shook his head no before the question could even be completed.

“I heard that question way too many times in my career,” he said. “Absolutely not. It’s one game. They hold the Larry O’Brien Trophy, we’re trying to aspire to get there. We want to just continue to work on our game. So (it) absolutely doesn’t matter.”

Then again …

“They (his players) know who Boston is,” Redick said. “They’re the world champions. They can go on a flurry and beat you in a number of ways. It’s terrifying as a coach to try to figure that out. And I think our guys understand that. They understand the respect that you have to have for that type of opponent.

“And as much as this game could be about reinforcing and establishing those standards that we try to (set) as a group for 42 games, hopefully there’s some reinforcement, maybe some establishment, but some belief that gets reinforced here about what we can be and how good we can be.”

Anything helps, right?

jalexander@scng.com

​ Orange County Register 

US economic losses from natural disasters soared in 2024, even as they eased globally

• January 24, 2025

By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

Economic losses from hurricanes and other natural disasters soared in the U.S. last year and were above average globally, reflecting another year of costly severe storms, floods and droughts.

Damage caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton helped push total economic losses from natural disasters in the U.S. to $217.8 billion last year, according to insurance broker Aon PLC. That figure represents an 85.3% increase from 2023, when losses totaled about $117.5 billion. It’s also the largest annual tally of economic losses from natural disasters since 2017.

Insured losses, or the portion of economic losses that are covered by insurance, also rose last year. They climbed 36% to $112.7 billion, the most since 2022.

Hurricane Helene tore across six southeastern states last fall, costing $75 billion in economic losses, mainly due to inland and coastal flooding. according to Aon. Less than two weeks later, Hurricane Milton made landfall on the west coast of Florida, causing some $25 billion in economic losses.

“In 2024, one of the big differences is we had significant U.S. hurricane events that happened,” said Liz Henderson, global head of climate risk advisory at Aon. “When those events happen, they affect a large area and they affect areas with large values in terms of properties and people and content. So the losses from those events tend to be significantly higher.”

At least two other hurricanes, several severe “convective” storms and a drought contributed to the losses from natural disasters in the U.S. last year.

In addition to the severe storms in the U.S., deadly floods in the Valencia region of Spain and other natural disasters drove worldwide economic losses from natural disasters to $368 billion last year, according to Aon. That’s a 7.3% decline from 2023, but about 14% higher than the annual average going back to 2000. Global insured losses, meanwhile, climbed 15.1% to $145 billion.

While it’s impossible to predict the timing, location and losses from natural disasters, 2025 is not off to an encouraging start. The devastating wildfires that erupted in Los Angeles County on Jan. 7, killing at least 28 people and destroying more than 14,000 structures, are already projected to be among the costliest natural disasters.

In a separate report last week, Aon estimated that total economic and insured losses for the two largest wildfires — the Palisades fire and the Eaton blaze burning just outside Los Angeles — could reach into the lower tens of billions of dollars, likely making them the costliest wildfires in U.S. history.

​ Orange County Register 

The DMV long ago stopped providing 1984 Olympic license plates

• January 24, 2025

Q: Mr. Honk: The other day I saw a California 1984 Olympics license plate. Was that for only those on the Olympic Committee? I worked the ‘84 Olympics but was not aware of these plates and I’d love to buy one now.

– Lisa Stelmar, San Clemente

A: Mention of those Games prompts neat memories for Honk, Lisa and many others – neat plates, too.

Red and blue and, of course, the Olympic rings.

But the Department of Motor Vehicles had a relatively tight window for when orders were accepted: September 1983 to Dec. 31, 1984, Katarina Snow, a DMV spokesperson, told Honk. By January 1990, even those with the plates could not get replacement ones if theirs were damaged.

Those who got them more than 40 years ago can keep renewing them.

In 1990, Olympic Training Center license plates were born to raise money for the construction of such a facility. In 2013, lawmakers put an end to getting those plates.

Now, did you have to be special to get the plates?

Honk knew who to ask: Donald La Plante of Downey (and Honkland) who has them.

“Anyone could buy them,” he told Honk in an email. “Definitely not on the Olympic Committee, although I worked for USC at the time, so I had limited access to the Olympic areas, but anyone could buy the plates. …

“I rarely see (others with) an ’84 Olympic plate now,” La Plante said. “But interestingly enough, I saw (someone) right in front of me in Laguna Beach a few months ago with the plate.”

It is possible that enough interest will surface for 2028 Olympic license plates, with the Games returning to Los Angeles, Lisa, and Honk is keeping an ear to the ground and will keep Honkland updated.

Under current regulations, someone would have to step up.

There has to be 7,500 pre-paid orders rounded up, and Honk hasn’t heard of such an effort yet.

HONKIN’ FACT: Three Southern California letter carriers were honored on Wednesday, Jan. 22, for joining the Million Mile Club for driving that distance without causing an accident or getting a moving violation while on duty: Keith Allred, a 30-year letter carrier; Alan Chang, 37 years; and Bryan Montoya, 34 years. A fourth, Glenn Miyashiro, 50 years, hit the 2-million-mile mark. All work from the Temple City post office.

HONKIN’ FACT No. 2: Someone is hurt or killed by a drunk driver every 79 seconds, according to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving. With the Super Bowl coming, everyone – those who drink and those who might have to dodge an intoxicated motorist – should keep this top of mind.

To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. To see him on the social media platform X: @OCRegisterHonk

​ Orange County Register 

Decision times begin for newly homeless fire victims

• January 24, 2025

As the flames of California history’s most damaging winter began to cool, decision times were about to arrive for tens of thousands of the state’s newest homeless.

Some evacuees had homes to return to; some did not. This was almost like a random lottery. But those whose homes fell to the mid-January firestorms suddenly face decisions they never wanted to think about.

The questions are no different from those that confronted victims of many fires over the last few years, but are made different and maybe more difficult because of scale. Never before have more than 10,000-plus fire victim households faced these issues simultaneously.

Do they rebuild, or do they sell the land long occupied by their ravaged homes? Do they settle for what insurance companies are willing to pass out, or hire a lawyer? With insurance companies bringing claims adjusters from around the nation, many of them unfamiliar with California conditions, do they hire a public adjuster to fight lowball damage evaluations?

Amid a housing shortage, do they seek a temporary rental or try to buy something in what is fast becoming a seller’s market? Do they want to keep living in what proved to be a hazardous environment, no matter how benign it seemed for previous decades?

The paths many will choose were eased only a little by an executive order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom while flames were still spreading. He took the California Environmental Quality Act off the table, so environmental impact reports will no longer be a necessity for anyone rebuilding anything even similar to a previous abode or commercial building. CEQA never applied to individual homes, so this will aid only developers doing multiple rebuilds. For those who lost homes at or near the beach, Newsom’s order means the state Coastal Commission won’t have a voice in how or what they can build.

But what about folks in their 70s and 80s? One 85-year-old Pacific Palisades resident whose longtime home burned down said he would rebuild. Noting he would be about 90 when that project ends, he said, “So I’ll be 90? So what?”

Others in that age cohort will no doubt opt to take insurance settlements and sell their land for others to rebuild upon, while moving to condominiums in untouched areas or to independent and assisted living facilities.

Younger homeowners will for the most part rebuild, as has happened with most residents of other fire-ravaged areas from Santa Rosa and Napa to San Diego and Malibu.

Whether in Northern California or Southern California, in a forest or along the ocean, reporters visiting the blackened scenes of fires a week or two after blazes end often are told by determined residents, “This is the price of living in paradise. We knew the risk and we’re coming back.”

To obtain fire insurance when they do that, they will have to use fire-resistant materials not commonly employed in earlier eras when most of the destroyed homes were built. Stone and Spanish tile roofs will be more common. So will fireproof siding. Finer screens will be deployed over vents where flying embers sometimes enter homes and ignite attics. Landscaping will employ more fire-resistant vegetation and fewer trees that can fall or spread flames. Nothing on the exterior will be placed even near to most walls.

Homes and buildings thus will more resemble small forts than ever before in California. There will be more brickwork, too, even if that can be an earthquake hazard.

The entire process, replete with permitting delays and contractor cost overruns in the coming boom construction market, will take more than five years, during which whole sections of cities will be grossly underpopulated.

There will be scams and gouging galore, even though some hotels and merchants now are offering deep discounts to fire evacuees. Some lawyers will demand unethically large percentages of insurance settlements. Imposter contractors will collect deposits, only to disappear.

So one watchword for the rebuilding will be “caveat emptor” – let the buyer beware.

But California will also see displays of fortitude, courage, generosity and family closeness. In short, the wide panoply of human behavior and emotions will operate closer to the surface than usual, with survivors needing to be as watchful now as they were while evacuating.

Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com.

​ Orange County Register