Wednesday, January 8, 2025
It is Wednesday, January 8, 2025. Here are today’s top stories.
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Los Angeles region hit by wildfires
News reports said the Los Angeles region has been hit by four wildfires that are moving rapidly and forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate. At least two people have been killed. The fires spread overnight and were fueled by powerful winds.
CNN said many people were forced to abandon cars in the neighborhood between Malibu and Santa Monica and that firefighters had to use bulldozers to move vehicles for others.
The largest fire is called the Palisades Fire and it has destroyed 1,000 structures and is growing as of this morning. A fire chief said they’ve had to break it to some evacuees that there is nothing left in their neighborhood.
A person posted a video showing terrifying fires just outside of a home. They tried to use a garden hose to stop the fire but it was too much. The person in the video said, “Let’s get out of here… We tried our best… There’s nothing we can do now.”
News reports said the home belonging to reality TV stars Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag was destroyed and that they watched it burn down on security cameras. They said the most important thing is that their family is safe.
Firefighting crews said they are currently unable to use aircraft to drop water on the flames due to intense winds. News reports said some wind gusts reached speeds between 50-99 mph. These winds push flames across very dry vegetation as Southern California had a very hot summer and almost no rain during the past several months.
https://www.axios.com/2025/01/08/california-fire-rare-climate-change-factors
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Six major landlords accused of scheming to keep rents high
AP News said the Department of Justice and 10 states are suing several large landlords and accusing them of scheming to keep rents high.
The landlords collectively operate more than 1.3 million units in 43 states.
The lawsuit accuses the landlords of sharing sensitive data on rents and occupancy among themselves in internal communications, even though they are competitors, so they could understand more about the rent market and whether customers accepted an algorithm’s price recommendations. The alleged collusion also could have caused rents to remain high because the landlords were in the loop among themselves on pricing.
The DOJ said the landlords put “profits over people” and made housing less affordable across the country.
Two of the landlords, Greystar and RealPage, denied any wrongdoing and said they would defend themselves in the lawsuit.
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Ohio woman killed and eaten by neighbor’s pigs
A news report from Ohio said a 75-year-old woman was killed and eaten by her neighbor’s pigs on Christmas Day. This happened in the city of Pataskala.
Police said it was a horrible, horrible situation. Police said they were called to perform a welfare check because the woman, Rebecca Westergaard, did not visit her family’s home as planned and they couldn’t get ahold of her. When police arrived, they found Rebecca dead on her property near her house and partially eaten. Police said there were two pigs that belonged to her neighbor. Police said they are trying to figure out whether to bring criminal charges because it’s a new situation with farm animals rather than a typical dog attack.
I’m not familiar with pigs’ behavior but when I read online comments, many people said pigs can become very dangerous.
https://www.cleveland19.com/2025/01/07/ohio-woman-killed-partially-eaten-by-neighbors-pigs/
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JetBlue passenger opens exit door
A news report from Boston said a person on a JetBlue plane that was taxiing for takeoff suddenly opened an exit door and was quickly restrained by other passengers. This happened Tuesday night. The plane was destined to go to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The opening of the exit door caused an emergency slide to deploy on the plane. The suspect was detained and is expected to face a judge today. Passengers on the plane were moved to another aircraft that landed in San Juan.
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Trump wants U.S. to acquire Greenland, Panama Canal, maybe Canada
Donald Trump, our soon-to-be-president, said he wants the U.S. to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal. Trump said he needs them for economic security.
USAToday explained that the Panama Canal has been operated by Panama since 1999 following a deal orchestrated by the late President Jimmy Carter 22 years earlier.
Trump said that deal was a bad one and he’s not pleased with the Panama Canal right now because it allegedly charges U.S. ships more for entry than other nations.
Greenland is a territory controlled by Denmark. Trump said the island is needed for national security purposes. Analysts with USAToday explained that Greenland would be valuable for control of the Arctic Circle region and to stem expansionist efforts from Russia and China.
Trump even talked about potentially acquiring Canada.
USAToday said Canadian and Danish leaders pushed back at Trump’s comments by saying Canada would never be a part of the U.S. and that Greenland is not for sale.
Yesterday reporters asked Trump whether he would use military or economic coercion to acquire Panama Canal or Greenland and Trump said he’s open to it, saying, “It might be that you’ll have to do something.”
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That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.