The most important stories for you to know today
The Directors Guild of America Awards, considered an important precursor to the Academy Awards in March, handed out top prizes to directors Celine Song and Christopher Nolan.his fifth career nomination in the category.
Oppenheimer is up for 13 Oscar statues, including best director. Celine Song won the DGA's first-time theatrical feature film category forChristopher Nolan beat out fellow directors Martin Scorsese, Yorgos Lanthimos, Alexander Payne and Greta Gerwig, the latter of whom was controversially snubbed for the Oscar best director nomination forThe defending champion Kansas City Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for Super Bowl 58 this afternoon.On Sunday the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs will take on the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for Super Bowl 58. The Chiefs and the 49ers, when Kansas City became champions for the first time in 50 years. San Francisco last won in 1995 against the San Diego Chargers.Whether you're curious, or you're looking to impress your friends at your Super Bowl gathering, here are a few things that make this year's game unique:49ers running back Christian McCaffrey and head coach Kyle Shanahan have the chance to join their fathers as Super Bowl champions.When it comes to the impact of inflation on our food consumption during the game: Beer and guacamole are ok, butthe friendly wagering over the results of the gameThe Kansas City Chiefs! Kansas City Chiefs fan Don Lobmeyer, of Wichita, Kansas poses for pictures ahead of Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 9, 2024.13 songs to get Kansas City Chiefs fans pumped for the Super Bowl San Francisco 49ers fans cheer during Super Bowl LVIII Opening Night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 5, 2024.Here for the commercials, the half time show and the food? We'll be here to keep you updated on the biggest moments of the game, the commercials and the halftime show, plus all the action happening in the stands, in the suites, at watch parties and around the country.Country music star Reba McEntire will sing the national anthem, Oscar nominee Andra Day will perform"Lift Every Voice and Sing," and Post Malone will sing"America the Beautiful."will perform a DJ set before the game while the players warm up and fans arrive. He will then stay as the in-game DJ and play during featured breaks.Hiking can be dangerous. Just ask Rob Klusman, who is the president of Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team. He said his volunteer-run outfit conducts on average 100 operations a year.To the rest of the world, Los Angeles is all about the beaches. To some of us tried-and-true LAists, the mountains are our temples. They're the place for quietude, where you get inside your head, and in the best way possible — get a little lost. But we can all imagine how dangerous it can be, how one false step or a small lapse in judgment can quickly put us in a jam. Those kinds of scenarios are not just theoretical to Rob Klusman, president and a member of theKlusman said his team on average conducts 100 or so operations each year."Safety is relative," he said."But you can always be prepared." For starters, Klusman pointed to a checklist of 10 essential items that you should always have with you on a hike, which"You blow a whistle, it doesn't take very much energy," Klusman said."The sound from a whistle carries a very, very, very long way. It can be heard from hundreds and hundreds of yards away. A shout probably can't be heard over a running stream or over the wind, or over more than about 20 or 30 yards.""If you can reflect the sunlight off of a mirror, can be seen from six, eight, 10 miles away from the air quite easily," said Klusman."On a search and rescue operation, I was able to signal a National Guard helicopter with a little simple mirror. And they came straight to where we were because they're like, 'Oh, we see the flash.'""You know, people are very small and some of these big mountains you can blend in and not be seen on the ground or from a helicopter," Klusman said. Wearing bright color clothes could get your noticed more easily.Klusman said it's vital to always tell someone — a friend or a family member — where you plan to go and when you plan to return, so that they can get help if you don't show up. "There's a misconception that people have that you have to wait 24 hours before reporting somebody's missing. That's not true," said Klusman."If somebody's overdue and it's been four or five hours since they were supposed to come home, notify the authorities right away and we can initiate a search and rescue for them."Hiking in the mountains always comes with danger, and in winter those risks can grow exponentially. Since just 2020, 10 people have died on Mt. Baldy alone. Just this month, three peopleafter they were able to camp overnight in terrible conditions because they had the right equipment. That group carried a whistle and had left a detailed itinerary with family members. Another solo hiker who went out in the recent record-setting storm Before making any trip, be sure to check conditions where you plan to go and the skill level you need to trek in the area you're visiting.Always plan for the worst and hope for the best. Carrying a few extra items can save your life. At a minimum, always carry the"10 Essentials":Extra clothing Before you leave home, always tell a friend or family member where you plan on going and when you plan to return. Leave them with instructions on what to do if you don't return on time. In case of an unexpected problem or emergency, always have a back-up plan for escaping the area safely. Also provide this back-up plan with your friends or family before you leave. Although it's sometimes nice to be alone in the outdoors, it's always safest to go with at least one or two partners, especially if you're a novice or unfamiliar with the area. Have the appropriate level of knowledge and experience for the adventure you plan to have. If you are a novice, please rely on a professional guide or at least a highly knowledgable and experienced partner. As much as possible, study and become familiar with the area you plan on exploring. Gain a thorough understanding of the terrain and its potential hazards. Review the local weather forecast in the area you plan on going and take the appropriate clothing and equipment. During winter-like conditions in mountainous terrain, check the current avalanche report in the area. Be healthy, safe, and smart. Know your limits, don't over-extend them, and don't take unnecessary risks. It's advisable not to go hiking with an existing injury, as it could become unpredictably worse during activity. While in the backcountry with young children, always keep them within sight. If your dog is with you, be courteous and keep it leashed in areas that require it. Doing so will keep you, your dog, other people, and the wildlife more safe. Be aware of your surroundings at all times. There are many objective hazards in the wilderness, and they aren't always obvious. Keep a keen eye out for deteriorating weather, dangerous trail conditions, avalanche risks, and wildlife.Volunteers will soon be returning to the Mojave National Preserve to help plant Joshua tree seedlings — after more than 1 million were lost in recent fires. As usual, they'll be bringing a few helpers — camels.Scientists knew that Joshua tree restoration in the burn scar was going to be difficult, in part because of the tough desert terrain. So when a longtime volunteer and camel owner suggested using camels to transport equipment and material for the plantings, the National Park Service agreed.Two fires in the last several years combined to destroy more than 100,000 acres of the Mojave, killing millions of Joshua trees along the way. The plant is slow-growing and difficult to propagate, so scientists and park rangers decided to plant seedlings actively.The Mojave National Preserve was known for being home to the world's largest and densest Joshua tree forest. Then in the summer of 2020, atorched through more than 43,000 acres of Cima Dome in the desert, and with it an estimated 1.3 million Joshua trees — about a quarter of its population. Scientists knew restoration was going to be an uphill battle because of how much time the plant takes to pollinate and grow. "Joshua trees seeds don't spread very quickly," said Debra Hughson, deputy superintendent at the Mojave National Preserve."They don't move very fast or they don't move very far with just small mammals around."" would feed on Joshua trees and spread their seeds far and wide through their excrement. Since the animals became extinct, wind and rodents have taken up the job — with decidedly less success. One scientist toldthat out of 1,000 Joshua tree seeds, only three or four of them sprout. Even then, the plant grows just Against those odds, Cima Dome's recovery felt particularly urgent, since its higher elevation was supposed to shield the plant from hotter, drier — and increasingly inhospitable — weather. "This is an area where Joshua trees may be able to survive in the face of climate change," Hughson said. To jump start the process of recovery, Hughson and her colleagues decided to try something different — planting seedlings in the Dome's burn scar."What we thought we would do is try to plant Joshua trees in a more spaced-out pattern so that it would accelerate the recovery of the entire area because you would have distributed seed sources. That was generally the idea," Hughson said. But the process was arduous; the hike to the designated planting spots alone took volunteers several hours. "It's designated wilderness, so there are no roads. You don't get in your Jeep and drive there with a tank of water in the back or on a trailer. It has to be carried in," said Hughson."Then once they got there, the actual planting probably took an hour — to erect the cage around it, to dig the little hole to put the seedling in, and to give it its first splash of water. Then you gotta walk all the way back.""Camels helped to survey Route 66 — a little part of it," said Nance Fite, a longtime volunteer at the Mojave National Preserve. Fite has kept big animals all her life: horses, water buffalos, camels. The 70-year-old Norco resident said the latter have had a long history in the United States. "The government brought camels into Texas in 1856, and they came across the desert from Texas to Los Angeles in 1857." Fite replicated that experience by riding her camel along that same portion of the trail through the Mojave in 2007, deepening her link to both the animal and the land. When she heard about the Joshua tree restoration project at Cima Dome, she convinced the park service to let the camels pitch in and help. "Prehistoric camels were in the Mojave Desert, and the camels came through in 1857," said Fite."They leave even a smaller footprint than a mule or a horse." Fite recruited her friend Jennifer Lagusker, who trailered Herbie, Sully, and Chico from her Sylmar home to the Mojave. "The job was to pack them and have them carry these things into wherever the park service had us go," Lagusker said."When Nance told me about this, I thought, 'Well, what better way to advocate for the camel than to show the world, hey, they can pack, they really like it, and honestly, they need that kind of a job.'" Leading the pack is Herbie."He is my biggest one, my smartest one. He is my go-to when it comes to doing projects we've never done before, like this project," said Lagusker.Next is Sully."He doesn't like to be in the front of the line. He likes to keep his nose right next to Herbie's butt — like a security," Lagusker said. Rounding out the pack is Chico — the smallest of the three — short for Chiquito."He's very vocal. He has an opinion for everything. When it comes to the three of them, he's the one that tells the others what to do," she said. Since 2021, the trio has been involved in most of the plantings, with Herbie and Sully carrying the seedlings, and Chico transporting the water on miles-long hikes through the desert.As soon as a couple months from now, volunteers like Fite and Lagusker and the camels will gear up again for another expedition to Cima Dome. But after 2024, seedling restoration will come to an end for that area. National Park Service's Hughson said some 3,500 young Joshua trees have been planted since the the project started in 2021, but estimated that the survival rate is just about 20 percent. "Our goal is to protect natural systems and natural ecosystems — all the plants, all the animals, but then some animals and some plants wind up being just a little bit more 'charismatic' than other ones," said Hughson, meaning that some species command more attention than others. "The Joshua tree is charismatic, the desert tortoise, the desert bighorn sheep, and so if we can get support and resources to save , then everything else comes along with it," Hughson said. After Cima Dome, the park service will turn their focus to a different fire-scorched area in the Mojave, where another million or so Joshua trees were destroyed by the"It's truly incredible to see." said Lagusker. "You pack all of this weight on them, and to see them get up with such ease and just walk. It's like they get in a zone and like a light switch that turns on when you see them caravaning out in the desert."The couple who caused 2020's deadly El Dorado Fire in the San Bernardino Mountains has pleaded guilty to charges including involuntary manslaughter and recklessly causing fire to inhabited structures.In high September heat, the couple set off a smoke bomb at their gender reveal party sparking a fire which quickly spread and threatened communities in the San Bernardino Mountains.Refugio Jimenez Jr. pled guilty to three felony charges, including a charge of involuntary manslaughter. Angelina Jimenez pled guilty to three misdemeanor charges.Refugio Jimenez Jr. faces a year in jail, 200 hours of community service, and two years of felony probation, according to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office on Friday. Angelina Jimenez will face 400 hours of community service and one year of probation. The couple was also ordered to pay over $1.7 million in damages.The El Dorado fire killed one firefighter and burned more than 22,000 acres in Riverside and San Bernardino counties over two months.The term “unsubsidized 100% affordable project” was once an oxymoron. Under Mayor Karen Bass, Los Angeles is now approving them by the hundreds.in December 2022, shortly after being sworn into office. In the year and change since, the city’s planning department has received plans for more than 16,150 affordable units, according to filings gathered by the real estate data company, ATC Research, and analyzed by CalMatters. That’s more than the total number of approved affordable units in Los Angeles in 2020, 2021 and 2022The seven-story apartment building planned for West Court Street on the south side of Los Angeles’s Echo Park neighborhood doesn’t make sense, not if you know anything about affordable housing in California. All 190 of the proposed units will be reserved for people making under $100,000, which in Los Angeles makes this an “affordable housing” project. But unlike the vast majority of affordable developments that have been proposed in California in recent memory, no taxpayer dollars are allotted to build the thing. Especially in the state’s expensive coastal cities, the term “unsubsidized 100% affordable project” is an oxymoron, but Los Angeles is now approving them by the hundreds.in December 2022, shortly after being sworn into office. In the year and change since, the city’s planning department has received plans for more than 16,150 affordable units, according to filings gathered by the real estate data company, ATC Research, and analyzed by CalMatters. That’s more than the total number of approved affordable units in Los Angeles in 2020, 2021 and 2022Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass attends the 2023 Milken Institute Global Conference at The Beverly Hilton on May 01, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.The city has also been the subject of at least two lawsuits and a multi-front political battle over whether and how to turn the mayoral decree — which is only in effect as long as Bass wants it to be and barring a court’s decision to end it — into a permanent fixture of Los Angeles housing policy. The policy was designed to fast-track the approval process for 100% affordable projects. What it perhaps was not designed to do — but has done at a scale that few anticipated — is allow private developers, who rarely dabble in affordable housing and simply look to make as much money as humanly possible from building new homes, to take a second look at a set of state laws that give added benefits to entirely affordable projects. Throw those two policies together and building new apartments for working class Angelenos is suddenly a booming business.Andrew Slocum and Terry Harris, the developer pair behind the seven-story project on West Court Street, represent the type of developer suddenly wading into Los Angeles’ affordable housing market. They aren’t leading nonprofits or charities. They don’t run websites with feel-good mission statements. Both come from the proudly profit-seeking world of “luxury” housing development. “We are mission driven in the sense that we want to provide housing,” said Slocum. But he’s pursuing this affordable project, along with two others, because it “made more financial sense.” Harris, a former college basketball player pursuing a post-athletic career in Southern California real estate, put it more bluntly.of the program by the pro-housing advocacy group Abundant Housing LA estimated that roughly three-fourths of affordable units proposed through the policy are doing so without any public money. In“I don’t think anybody saw this coming,” said Scott Epstein, policy director at Abundant Housing LA and one of the authors of that analysis. “When it comes to 100% privately invested projects…I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything close to the magnitude that that has been unleashed.”Between the extraordinary cost of building new apartment buildings in coastal California and the money that a developer can recoup through legally capped rents, traditional affordable housing projects almost inevitably run a sizable financing gap. That gap is almost always filled by public subsidy. A large project might require half a dozen loans, grants and tax bill write-offs from local, state and federal housing agencies. Most of these sources of public finance come with strings attached, which can saddle projects with yet higher costs and further delays. Los Angeles’ new breed of affordable housing circumvents all of that — at least on paper. None of these units have actually been built yet. But talk to supportive policy advocates and industry players in Los Angeles and you quickly run out of new synonyms for “unprecedented.” “This is clearly a monumental shift in how affordable housing is developed in the state,” said Mahdi Manji, policy director at Inner City Law Center, a legal service provider and affordable housing advocacy group in Los Angeles’ Skid Row. “We just haven’t seen this before.”Privately funded developers hoping to crack Los Angeles’ affordable housing market tend to follow a familiar pattern.The order sets a shot-clock of 60 days for the city’s planning department to approve or reject a submitted project. As long as that project meets a basic set of criteria, it must be approved. That means no city council hearings, no neighborhood outreach meetings and no environmental impact studies required.“To go from acquiring a lot to putting a shovel in the ground in less than a year is kind of unheard of,” said Steven Scheibe, a small-scale developer working on his first entirely affordable project through Executive Directive 1. Less time spent paying off debt, making payroll and ensuring skittish investors that the project is a sure thing saves projects on the front end. Another key detail: Unlike most recent statewide laws aimed at speeding up the approval of new housing, the Los Angeles law doesn’t require developers to pay construction workers heightened “prevailing wages” — roughly equal to what unionized construction workers earn on a public infrastructure projects. Muhammad Alameldin, a researcher at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation, said that makes Executive Directive 1 a kind of alternate reality for housing policy in California. “It shows what is the minimum that could be built in California, without and prevailing wage, like a real world example of that,” he said. “I don’t think any other big city in the country has taken this sort of initiative to build housing.” Then comes the next step. Most so-called “ED1 projects” also make use of a hodgepodge of statewide “density bonus” laws that allow developers of 100% affordable housing projects to pack far more units and floors onto a given lot than would otherwise be allowed under local zoning rules. These laws also let affordable developers pick and choose from a wide range of goodies and freebies that cut costs further and allow for yet denser development. That means no parking spots, limited open space, smaller rooms and fewer trees. All those added units mean developers can set the rents lower and still pay themselves back for the cost of construction and then some. Together the executive directive and the density bonus form a necessary “one-two punch” to make these projects work, said Charly Ligety, a director of research and development at Housing On Merit, a nonprofit that invests in affordable housing projects. “It’s, one, ‘Oh, I can put 80 units on a single family plot…’ and then, two, ‘…To go from acquiring a lot to putting a shovel in the ground in less than a year is kind of unheard of.And while Bass’ order and the state’s density bonus laws are pulling privately funded developers into the suddenly profitable world of affordable housing development, other economic forces are pushing them out of the high-end luxury market:have made waiting around on municipal approvals that may never come an especially costly proposition. Los Angeles’ recently enacted tax on multimillion-dollar real estate transactions,Just because something is “affordable” in Los Angeles doesn’t mean it’s cheap. To qualify as a 100% affordable housing project under the city of Los Angeles’ streamlined treatment, a studio can go for roughly $1,800. Compare that to a traditional publicly subsidized project which could charge as little at $650 for the same unit.Developers flocking to the city’s new program are essentially “making a bet,” said Gary Benjamin, a land-use consultant who advises developers on how to navigate the city’s planning and permitting bureaucracies. The bet is that housing costs are so astronomically out of reach in Los Angeles that even someone making north of $70,000 per year would jump at the chance to rent “a more bare bones product without all the bells and whistles” for what could amount to a modest rent reduction. That bet is still very much in play. It will be months before the first of the apartments approved under Executive Directive 1 are tenant-ready. “This is just a whole new product specifically catering to the middle-lower end of the market. That just wasn’t a thing that people were doing before,” said Benjamin. In the meantime, the rush of planned development has promised the demolition of existing buildings across the city. In many cases, those are commercial buildings or unoccupied single family homes and both city and state law require developers to pay displaced tenants’ relocation costs and to offer them a right to return to the new building. Even so, the planning blitz hasworried that they will be evicted to make way for “affordable” units that they themselves might not be able to easily afford. All those added units mean developers can set the rents lower and still pay themselves back for the cost of construction and then some.— the mere fact that a developer could successfully build an apartment building within the price range of someone earning just under the area’s typical income would not be cause for celebration — and wouldn’t need an emergency declaration to bring about. “It shouldn’t be odd” that a developer might choose to build an $1,800 per month studio without taxpayer support, said Manji with the Inner City Law Center. “It’s only odd because we’ve made it odd.” Though his organization principally advocates for unhoused Angelenos, Manji said he supports the policy, even if units being proposed are “not housing for homeless folks.” Allowing private developers to serve lower- to middle-income renters frees up scant financial subsidies and rental vouchers for people who most desperately need the help, he said. That’s especially important this year when the governor isLos Angeles’ city council is currently mulling a permanent ordinance that would codify the mayor’s signature affordable housing policy and put it on a firmer legal footing. The council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee is expected to take it up in the coming weeks.Bass’ order is the target of two lawsuits from Fix The City, a local nonprofit that has regularly contested the city’s land use decisions going on two decades. In both suits, the group disputes the legal validity of a sweeping 13-month-long housing policy passed by mayoral edict. “To give emergency powers reserved for earthquakes and horrible storms and true catastrophic emergencies to apply that to housing to override community plans and zoning for an indefinite period of time — it’s just not good government and it decimates due process,” said Michael Everoff, one of the group’s co-founders. Translating the mayor’s order into permanent city law and ending the emergency declaration could weaken Fix The City’s legal challenge, at least as it applies to future projects, though Everoff disputed that point. But whether a majority on the city’s council will agree to do so — and how much of the mayor’s original policy they will opt to rewrite, soften or jettison in the process — is an open question. Still up for debate: Just how many incentives and waivers the city is willing to grant 100% affordable developers as they make use of the state’s density bonus program. So far that decision has been left to the planning department’s discretion. That unlimited economizing and supersizing has resulted in projects that are “Slocum, the developer of the proposed Echo Park apartment building, said most of his projects would “no longer work” if subject to such a cap. He said he needs eleven or twelve.But the biggest debate over the breadth of the city policy may have already come and gone. Though the first version of the executive order seemed to apply to all housing sites in the city, Bass later came back with an amended order to exempt all of the city’s single family neighborhoods. That clarification cut outThe city has since tried to revoke the approvals of some of those projects. Their fate is now the subject of yetof lawsuits, these brought by the pro-housing development legal group YIMBY Law, who argue that the city has to let those developments go ahead. In its first suit on behalf of a proposed 7-story project in the west San Fernando Valley, the group denounced the city for having “buckled to political pressure from ‘Not In My Back Yard’ constituents.” Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, whose district includes the southwest San Fernando Valley and who opposed approving these under-the-wire affordable projects in single family areas said there’s virtually no chance that the council will decide to re-expand the policy to every part of the city. Doing so might have a limited effect anyway: The number of single family parcels that can be turbo-developed under the state’s density bonus law is limited. “While that may be something for the future, right now we’re piloting the way it is,” he said. “And as it is, it’s a major step forward. To go that extra step…would be a declaration of war with our single family neighborhoods.” That war may be coming to Los Angeles before long. Just as cities across the San Francisco Bay Area were required by state law toAccording to experts, therapy isn't supposed to last forever. Here's how to know when it's time to move on — and how to have that conversation.Fueled by social media, therapy is having a moment. But there aren't a lot of conversations about when a patient should wind down treatment.While everyone's situation is different, therapist Lori Gottlieb and psychiatrist Richard A. Friedman agree that patients should start therapy with goals for their treatment in mind.. But, if you’re lucky enough to find mental health treatment, how do you know when it’s time to move on?, therapy isn’t supposed to last forever. Here are some things to chew on if you’re thinking about ending treatment.It’s important to acknowledge that there are many different kinds of therapy, and many reasons someone might seek it. “There's a difference between someone coming in for a discreet issue and someone who has a chronic condition where they really need the ongoing support,” says therapist Also, some therapy might end because it’s just not the right match between patient and provider. “That's a different conversation that you should absolutely have … your therapist will support your decision and provide resources or referrals if you're wanting them and wish you well,” said Gottlieb.Gottlieb says therapists will often set goals with patients at the beginning of treatment. “One of the first things we do in those early sessions is to say, 'let's understand what you're hoping to get out of coming here.'”, professor of clinical psychiatry and the director of the psychopharmacology clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College, said it’s helpful to ask yourself, “Am I ready to see whether I've met my goals and I'm feeling better enough that I can go off on my own?” This is something that your therapist should be keeping an eye on as well. Said Gottlieb, “Every therapist works differently, but I think every therapist should have goals in mind and should absolutely be monitoring those goals and see how far along you are.”in The Atlantic about how to know when to end therapy, noted it's hard to know whether or not your therapy has been effective until you suspend the treatment. “In the absence of meeting on a regular basis," he said,"you have a chance to assess what its impact has been on you, and you can even ask your friends and family and loved ones, ‘How do you think I'm doing?’” Taking a break from therapy is also about trusting that you’ve done the work, and that your therapy has provided tools for you to deal with problems in the real world outside of your session.The way I think about therapy is it is a kind of training. When it's over, you've learned to be your own trainer to some extent,” said Friedman. Added Gottlieb, “We do want you to take what we're talking about in the therapy room and then bring it out into the world into how you navigate through the world. Notice your patterns. Notice the ways that your relationships are going. Notice your relationship to yourself.”Just because you’ve decided to end therapy doesn’t mean you have to stop immediately. “Once you have this conversation, and do decide to take a break, you'll taper down to make sure you still have support during this change, so it's not as though you'll bring up the conversation and say goodbye that same day,” Gottlieb explained.Here's one way Gottlieb suggests you might broach the subject: “You might say, ‘Before we start today, I want to bring something up about where I am with our work together. I feel like I'm doing really well, and I've been thinking about taking a break from therapy and seeing how that goes. I came into therapy because of this and now I feel this ... I wonder if moving to once a month for a few months as a trial period to see how I feel and then taking a break if that goes well might be a good plan. What do you think?’”“It's not a final termination when you leave therapy, the door will still be open,” said Richard A. Friedman. Gottlieb echoed this. “Just because someone leaves therapy doesn't mean that they've left forever. Often people leave. They're feeling pretty good. They're functioning pretty well. And then something else comes up in their life and then they come back because they need the support. And that's pretty common.”Mosquito season starts when it warms up in late February or March, so the recent storms probably won't affect on mosquito populations.It's still too early in the year for most mosquito species to thrive, but tray mosquitoes have been spotted in the area, which is atypical.Empty any standing water you can, since mosquito eggs can thrive in anything bigger than a bottle cap. It only takes about a week for mosquitoes to mature from egg to adult.Good news for mosquito haters across Southern California: It's still too early in the year for most mosquito species to thrive, despite all the recent record-setting rain that the pesky insects thrive on.the possibility that some mosquitoes will use the wet weather to breed — especially since there's been anecdotal evidence in recent years of invasive mosquito species being active in the winter, including the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus that have moved into the area. "I myself in Riverside am finding once in a while I have seen the stray adult Aedes mosquitoes even now ," Ray said."So there is something going on where they're adapting to colder climates." A stray mosquito here and there normally wouldn't be a cause for concern. But according to Ray, with California's cold winter weather, there shouldn't beReceptacles with standing water, like this tub, would be prime areas for mosquitoes to lay their eggs once the weather warms up."Not only is the range spreading because of the climate change — you get more parts of California that are accessible to them to grow and breed — but it seems to me that there's a small possibility, but a real possibility, that they are adapting to colder climates," Ray said. Scientists still haven't studied how prevalent these winter mosquitoes might be or what might be causing the cold-blooded insects to adapt to colder climates, he added. In the meantime, he doesn'tfor when mosquito season starts again in earnest in March — or for anyone who wants to get a head start: Mosquitoes need standing water to breed, so dump out any receptacle bigger than a bottle cap, especially after it rains. Treat standing water that can't be emptied with a bacterial toxin that kills mosquitoes but is harmless to humans and other animals. Be mindful of sprinklers and other watering systems in your home and try to prevent them from causing any puddles. Check with your neighbors when you spot a mosquito near your home, since mosquitoes tend not to travel far from where they hatch.An aerial view of upscale homes destroyed by a landslide on Palos Verdes Peninsula in July 2023, in Rolling Hills Estates.Land movement in the Portuguese Bend/Abalone Cove area in the city of Rancho Palos Verdes has been accelerating, according to city geologist Michael Phipps.The area has shifted around 7 feet of in the last 15 months, with half of that movement happening since October. “If the landslide continues to accelerate the way it has been over the last 15 months, it's going to start creating more issues with roads and with infrastructure, utilities,” Phipps said.The real effects of the storm, Phipps said, will be felt when the rainwater infiltrates into the ground and starts affecting the land movement.With six weeks of “typically the wettest portion of the winter” left this year, “we’re worried about it, we’re concerned,” Phipps said.Driving down Palos Verdes Drive South can be a different experience every day. Some days the road dips, other days it’s a smoother drive. That’s because land movement in the Portuguese Bend/Abalone Cove area in the city of Rancho Palos Verdes has been accelerating, according to city geologist Michael Phipps. That area, he said, has shifted around 7 feet of in the last 15 months, with half of that movement happening since October. Phipps added that the large landslide in the area that's 1.5 miles wide by 1 mile long is “failing into the ocean.” The slide is over 100 feet deep and the effects of the recent historic Southern California storms will reveal themselves “in a matter of weeks.” The real effects of the storm, he said, will be felt when the rainwater infiltrates deep underground and starts affecting the land movement.“If the landslide continues to accelerate the way it has been over the last 15 months, it's going to start creating more issues with roads and with infrastructure, utilities,” Phipps said. Two homes have been red tagged in the area since early 2023. And Rancho Palos Verdes City Manager Ara Mihranian said that over the last year the city has received several reports from residents in the area regarding gas leaks and power disruptions. He said crews have gone from repairing the Palos Verdes Drive South stretch every quarter to “every couple of weeks."While land movement in the area has been accelerating since 2018, the effects of last year’s rainy season are being seen now. “Last year's rainfall was about 220% of the average for that area, so they had almost 26 inches of rain on the top of the mountains there,” Phipps said. And with six weeks of “typically the wettest portion of the winter” left this year, “we’re worried about it, we’re concerned,” he said. To slow down and stop a landslide, the city has been taking the water out of the ground. At the landslide in Portuguese Bend, he said almost a quarter million gallons of water is being pumped out daily. With rain expected in the coming weeks, Mihranian added that the city is taking short-term measures, such as filling fissures with soil and sand and putting tarps over areas susceptible to water entering the ground.4.6 Quake Shakes SoCal, DLTA Building Owners Must Remove Graffiti, & CA Could Outlaw "Digital Discrimination" — The P.M. Edition
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