LA's water boss struggles to explain why they ran out of WATER
Los Angeles' water boss who makes $750,000 a year couldn't quite explain why fire hydrants have run dry during the disastrous wildfires in a bumbling video. During a press conference Wednesday, Janisse Quiñones (pictured), the newly appointed chief executive officer and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said all water storage tanks in the Pacific Palisades area 'went dry' as flames continue to rage on.

At least seven people have been killed and almost 180,000 forced to leave their homes amid the most destructive blaze in the county's history. Quiñones, who previously worked for PG&E prior to being appointed in May, said the third water tank ran out at about 3am local time Wednesday, after the first tank ran out around 4.45pm, and the second at approximately 8.30pm - each at about 1,000,000 gallons each. 'Those tanks help with the pressure on the fire hydrants in the hills of Palisades, and because we were pushing so much water in our trunk line, and so much water was being used before it can get to the tanks - we were not able to fill the tanks fast enough,' she explained. 'So the consumption of water was faster than we can provide water in our trunk line,' she continued, adding that there is water in the truck line, but it 'cannot get up the hill because we cannot fill the tanks fast enough.'

After someone asked her for the number of hydrants that cannot get water because of these issues, Quiñones started to stumble on her words. 'We, um, we were trying to keep water at all altitudes on the Palisades, and I think about three in the morning, that's when - uh - the hydrants went dry above the Brentwood area. We were able to push water on the, on that trunk line on, on the east side of that, um, and we have some water on high elevations - 16-80,000, but at 3,000, all of the, at 3am, all of the, uh, fire hydrants went dry in the Palisades,' she added.

Quiñones said that about 20 water tanks are now being sent from construction crews to firefighters to help them continue to fight the growing blaze. 'We identified other areas in our system where tankers can re-fill - it takes about 30 minutes to re-fill about 4,000 gallons of water, and we're constantly moving that water to the fire department to get them as much water as we can. She further warned that because the department is 'pushing the water system so hard,' the quality of water 'is decreasing in the Palisades area.

A boil water notice has since been issued for the Los Angeles area over the next 48 hours, the CEO said. In the midst of the horrific fires, furious LA residents have slammed local politicians for a shocking litany of failures which have exacerbated the deadly wildfires currently razing the city. Complaints range from Mayor Karen Bass being AWOL in Africa, to fire hydrants running out of water and electricity to power cables being left on to fuel the flames.

Businessman and mayoral candidate Rick Caruso (pictured) blasted local officials for failing to refill the water supplies despite knowing that strong winds which could whip up wildfires were on the way. 'Their hands have been tied. They can't fight a fire without water and the resources that are needed. Everybody knew these winds were coming,' Caruso told Fox 11. 'The other question has to be, were all the things in place to try to mitigate the damage here? The real issue to me here is two-fold.'

'We've had decades to remove the brush in these hills that spreads so quickly, and the second is, we've got to have water. My understanding is the reservoir was not refilled in time, in a timely manner to keep the hydrants going... this is basic stuff, this isn't high science here. It's all about leadership and management that we're seeing a failure of, and all of these residents are paying the ultimate price for that,' Caruso continued.

Audio of communications between firefighters confirms that first responders ran out of water in some areas. 'We have no water, it is... we're doing the best we can up there. We are making sure that people are out of the way,' one firefighter can be heard saying. Lawyer and Pacific Palisades native Rachel Darvish, 49, whose home has likely been engulfed by the flames, questioned why officials like Mayor Karen Bass did not plan ahead despite knowing 'critical' weather conditions were on the way.

I don't know if our house is still there, what I can tell you is I have a photo of the neighbor's house which is gone,' Darvish told Fox News. 'We have questions. I know where I am right now, but I don't know where my mayor was when this was happening. I do know now where she was.' 'Nobody told us where to go or what to do. I didn't even have an evacuation order. I love the fire department, I love our fire personnel (but) we need more, where were they?' Speaking about Bass, she continued: 'For someone to be in charge of my town - where were you? Where were you when the decisions should have been made about how to get in and out of places.' Many celebrities have seen their multi-million dollar mansions burnt to the ground as the fire spread to Hollywood Hills, prompting criticism of city officials who have been blamed for failing to adequately prepare for the disaster.

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Is pizza shack really better than franks and why are they both better than Harris?

The $750,000-a-year LA water czar is responsible for a raft of failures that contributed to the devastating Palisades Fire, fire department insiders told DailyMail.com.

On Mayor Karen Bass's orders, the city maxed out its budget to 'attract private-sector talent', hiring Department of Water and Power (LADWP) CEO Janisse Quiñones on a $750,000 salary in May – almost double that of her predecessor.

Now, Quiñones is being blamed by LA Fire Department (LAFD) insiders for leaving a nearby reservoir disconnected and fire hydrants broken for months, DailyMail.com can reveal, leading to firefighters running out of water as they battled the devastating Palisades Fire this week.

And, Daily Mail.com has learned, Quiñones past employer is also linked to fire scandals. She was previously a top executive at electricity company PG&E, which went bankrupt over liability for several massive wildfires in California.

She served as senior vice president at Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) from 2021 to 2023.

The utility company's power lines sparked the second-largest wildfire in California history, Dixie, in 2021. Its involvement in the 2018 Camp Fire cost PG&E a $13.5billion legal settlement.

The firm's liability for allegedly causing fires was estimated at $30billion when it filed for bankruptcy in 2018. It exited bankruptcy in 2020.

Quiñones joined PG&E in April 2021 as Senior Vice President of Gas Engineering, switched to Senior Vice President of Electric Operations in July 2022, and left the firm in December 2023.

Sources told DailyMail.com that since her hiring at LADWP, Quiñones oversaw the shutdown and emptying of a reservoir in the Pacific Palisades during brushfire season.

The shutdown meant firefighters battling the current Palisades Fire ran out of water faster, experts say.

The Santa Ynez Reservoir is designed to hold 117 million gallons of drinking water. But it was taken offline in recent months to repair a tear in its cover that exposed the water and potentially impacted its drinkability.

The shutdown was first publicly reported by the LA Times on Friday morning.

Former DWP general manager Martin Adams told the paper that having the Santa Ynez reservoir would have helped fight the Palisades Fire that wiped out most of the Pacific Palisades neighborhood this week.

'Would Santa Ynez have helped? Yes, to some extent. Would it have saved the day? I don't think so,' Adams said.

He said the crucial reservoir had been offline 'for a while' before the fires, but didn't know the precise date.

But a source in the LA Fire Department (LAFD) told DailyMail.com that DWP officials told them 'had it not been closed they probably would have been ok and had enough water for the fire.'

At a press conference this week, Quiñones said firefighters ran out of water in the Palisades due to low pressure in the system, because they were using water faster than it was being replenished.

A well-connected former LAFD senior officer told DailyMail.com that lack of water was already a 'common' problem, exacerbated by DWP failing to fix cutoff fire hydrants.

'Yearly, the fire department goes out and checks every hydrant,' he said.

'For my entire career we would do this once a year then send in a report to our Hydrant Unit with all the problems we encountered. Year after year the same hydrants that had problems were not fixed.

'One example that comes to mind were the hydrants by Palisades High School on Temescal Canyon. They were dry many times we checked them. DWP knew they had problems and it would take months to fix them.

'It's a City-wide known problem with DWP.

'Last year the yearly hydrant checks were given back to DWP because the firefighters literally are too busy on calls.

'I would be willing to bet DWP didn't do this. I would love to see if they have the documents.'

LADWP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A current senior LAFD official also told DailyMail.com that some hydrants in the Palisades were not working when desperate firefighters tried to use them this week, and that they had not been fixed because of budget cuts by LA Mayor Karen Bass.

DailyMail.com exclusively obtained a memo to LAFD 'top brass' sent on Monday January 6, the day before the Palisades Fire began, revealing demands from Bass to cut the department's budget by a further $49million, on top of $17.6million of cuts already voted on by the city council.

The Los Angeles Daily News previously reported that the city's overall spending on its fire department increased by $53million in the fiscal year 2024-25 which runs to this July, but that $7 million of their budget was put in a separate fund for personnel while pay negotiations were still being hashed out, leading to the $17.6million accounting shortfall.

Department veterans told DailyMail.com that the net effect of the budget machinations has meant less firefighters on the ground for years.

The under-fire LADWP was only just recovering from a series of major scandals, including in 2022 when its former General Manager David Wright was sentenced to six years in federal prison for bribery.

Wright took bribes from lawyer Paul Paradis to help secure a $30million, three-year, no-bid LADWP contract for the lawyer's company, according to federal prosecutors.

Compounding the corruption, Paradis was also taking nearly $2.2million in illegal kickbacks from a complex scheme where he simultaneously represented LADWP and residents suing the department over a billing debacle.

DWP implemented a new billing system in 2013 that inaccurately inflated utility bills, sparking class-action lawsuits.

Paradis represented the city as Special Counsel, but was simultaneously representing claimants in the billing debacle, and colluded to get a favorable payout for himself and clients. He was sentenced to three years in prison in 2023.

LA Mayor Karen Bass FIRES fire chief Kristin Crowley after lashing out.​

Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley was fired by Mayor Karen Bass on Friday afternoon, a source close to the chief’s office told DailyMail.com.

‘Kristin was summoned by Bass this afternoon, about 4pm. She came back from that meeting, hugged her staff goodbye and left. She said she was fired,’ the source said.

The alleged booting follows Crowley lashing out against the Mayor’s cuts to her department, in an interview with a local Fox TV station around 12pm Friday.

‘My message is the fire department needs to be properly funded,’ the Chief said. ‘It’s not.’

‘Did they fail you?’ Fox LA’s Gigi Graciette asked. ‘Yes,’ Crowley replied.

The Fire Department (LAFD) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hours earlier, Chief Crowley delivered a scathing indictment of the Mayor Bass's administration, exposing a crisis of funding, staffing, and readiness that she says left her department ill-equipped to face the catastrophe.

Chief Crowley delivered a swift rebuke on city leadership, raising questions about its preparedness in the face of the most destructive fire season in the history of LA that has displaced more than 100,000 residents.

In an extraordinary public airing of grievances, Crowley acknowledged to a reporter with KTTV that the city, and by extension, Mayor Bass, failed its residents during the wildfires.

When pushed several times if the city had failed, Crowley's response was unflinching: 'Yes.'

The stark admission sent shockwaves through the city, as Crowley detailed the dire state of her department.

Years of budget cuts, she said, had left the LAFD grappling with crippling staffing shortages, outdated equipment, and insufficient resource - issues she claimed had been repeatedly brought to the city's attention.

'Since day one, we've identified huge gaps in regard to our service delivery and our ability of our firefighters' boots on the ground to do their jobs,' Crowley said.

'This is my third budget as we're going into 2025-2026, and what I can tell you is we are still understaffed, we're still under-resourced, and we're still underfunded.'

Crowley painted a grim picture of the department's daily operations, revealing that firefighters are handling more than 1,500 calls and transporting 650 patients every day under normal conditions. The wildfires have only exacerbated these challenges.

'We are screaming to be properly funded to make sure that our firefighters can do their jobs so that we can serve the community,' Crowley said.

'This isn't a new problem. It's been a problem for years. And it's time for it to be fixed.'

Despite her repeated warnings and detailed memos outlining the department's needs, the city slashed the LAFD's budget by over $17 million in recent years.

The result, Crowley said, was predictable: slower response times and a diminished capacity to combat the growing frequency and intensity of fires.

'Any budget cut is going to impact our ability to provide service,' she explained. 'If there's a budget cut, we had to pull from somewhere else. What does that mean? That doesn't get done or that there are delays.'

Crowley's criticism extends beyond the immediate crisis, pointing to a systemic failure to scale the fire department's capabilities alongside the city's explosive growth.

'We know we need 62 new fire stations. We need to double the size of our firefighters,' she said. 'The growth of this city since 1960 has doubled, and we have less fire stations.'

The fire chief called out city officials for ignoring 'real data' that supports the fire department's repeated requests for increased funding.

'When you talk about sounding the alarm and asking and requesting budgets that are easily justifiable based off of the data, real data shows what the fire department needs to serve this beautiful city and the beautiful community that we swore that we would. That's what that is about.'

Crowley's remarks were not just a critique but also a heartfelt plea for immediate and sustained action.

Emphasizing the non-political nature of her role, she said, 'None of us on the fire department are politicians. We're public servants first. We took an oath to serve the public before ourselves and even before our families.

'What our people need to do their jobs is to make sure that we can save lives and that we can protect property to the greatest capacity,' Crowley said. 'But we need to be funded appropriately. And that's where my head is at.'

Bass has yet to respond to Crowley's blistering criticism, but the fallout is already apparent.

Accusations of negligence and failure to prioritize public safety have added fuel to mounting dissatisfaction among residents, many of whom are reeling from the devastation caused by the wildfires.

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Benny is from Iowa ... for the noletrolls who come here after getting kicked off their own board.

That's a hell of an achievement. From right up the road, Mt. Vernon, Iowa.

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…I would think killing off Ironman, Captain America and emasculating Hulk in favor of having the Falcon guy hold down the Marvel fort, is not the smartest way forward.

But hey…good luck.

Employers stuck the landing in 2024, finishing the year with a bounce of hiring after a quarter filled with disruption.

The economy added 256,000 jobs in December, seasonally adjusted, the Labor Department reported on Friday. It was a better-than-expected number amid a labor market that has been slowly cooling for two years. The unemployment rate edged down to 4.1 percent.

LeVar Woods stopped in to see 2026 four-star TE, Roman Voss last night.

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Sawyer crushes Ewers then the scoop and score

How do you guys feel about having people donate to get a player with an injury but the people asking for money not telling you about said injury before you donated your hard earned money?

Seems like a used car salesmen tactic to get your money and sell you a lemon

The high of the CC years has come to an abrupt halt. We are now seeing what a new coach with role players brings us. The freshman look to have potential but I worry what the recruiting classes going forward will look like.
Yes the 25 class is strong at this time but I have to wonder if we'll keep them all with the team playing as it is right now. The Iowa feel good culture is great but you also feel good when you're competitive. The 26 class will tell us alot because the CC effect will be largely gone and it will be Jan's first class on her own.
We need some leaders and shooters so I hope things change are more positive going forward.

I know, I know, we officially voted that we don't care.

Hottest year on record sent planet past 1.5C of heating for first time in 2024​

Highest recorded temperatures supercharged extreme weather – with worse to come, EU data shows

Climate breakdown drove the annual global temperature above the internationally agreed 1.5C target for the first time last year, supercharging extreme weather and causing “misery to millions of people”.

The average temperature in 2024 was 1.6C above preindustrial levels, data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) shows. That is a jump of 0.1C from 2023, which was also a record hot year and represents levels of heat never experienced by modern humans.

The heating is primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels, and the damage to lives and livelihoods will continue to escalate around the world until coal, oil and gas are replaced. The Paris agreement target of 1.5C is measured over a decade or two, so a single year above that level does not mean the target has been missed, but does show the climate emergency continues to intensify. Every year in the past decade has been one of the 10 hottest, in records that go back to 1850.

The C3S data also shows that a record 44% of the planet was affected by strong to extreme heat stress on 10 July 2024, and that the hottest day in recorded history struck on 22 July.

more here

Florida woman poured Diet Mountain Dew on her body to erase DNA after killing roommate in Daytona Beach: police​

A Volusia County woman suspected of killing her 79-year-old roommate allegedly doused herself in soda in an attempt to erase possible evidence on her body, according to an arrest affidavit.

She poured diet Mountain Dew all over her body when police told her they were going to collect her DNA as part of the investigation, authorities said.

Her DNA was later found on the handle of a bloody knife found lying next to the victim's body at the Daytona Beach home they shared, the affidavit stated.

Nichole Maks, 35, was booked into the Volusia County jail on Aug. 5 on charges of first-degree murder, tampering with evidence and resisting arrest with violence, jail records show.




The Story of Ms. Maks

On the Disney+ mobile app, the tile advertising Andor has been updated to reflect the upcoming season's release date, with the bottom of the poster for the show reading "Season 2 coming April 22." In addition to marking two years and five months after the season 1 finale, which aired in November 23, 2022, this release date will come hot on the heels of the fan convention Star Wars Celebration. The next convention takes place between April 18 and April 20, 2025, leaving just a two-day hiatus between the end of the event and the premiere of the new season.

Good size and a good receiver for NDS.

Now because of Bernie Sanders policies they’re burning to the ground.

It is great to be an Iowa Wrestling fan.

Go Hawks!

Ewers may be one of the worst QBs in recent Texas history. Two separate throws that he missed badly on. Both should have ed h recevers toward the post but instead Ewers throws it down the middle. One incompletion that should have been a TD and the other a momentum starting INT for ASU. Skattabo for ASU appears to be a good back but is arrogance is off putting.

...Gen Alpha is lost.
I also fear for Gen Beta...

Tonight marks the beginning of 5 days of playoff football. Gotta love it.

Notre Dame vs. PSU. Who you got? LFG Irish. I can't stand State Penn.