Adding insult, Democratic Mayor Karen Bass was 7,400 miles away in Africa, and months earlier she had approved an $18 million cut to the fire department.

So no GD it is not becaues she is "black"

Bass also took heat from far-left activists online, who accused the mayor of cutting the fire department’s budget in order to pay for a costly new contract with the city’s police. Also weighing in against her was Patrick Soon-Shiong, the politically idiosyncratic owner of the Los Angeles Times, who echoed the attack, posting on X that “the Mayor cut LA Fire Department’s budget by $23M.”

That assertion is wrong. The city was in the process of negotiating a new contract with the fire department at the time the budget was being crafted, so additional funding for the department was set aside in a separate fund until that deal was finalized in November. In fact, the city’s fire budget increased more than $50 million year-over-year compared to the last budget cycle, according to Blumenfield’s office, although overall concerns about the department’s staffing level have persisted for a number of years.

But the mayor’s team did not push back on the record to inquiries about Soon-Shiong’s post, allowing the incorrect information to circulate widely online for most of Wednesday. Bass briefly noted in the news conference that LAFD’s budget was higher than what was allocated on July 1.

Are you stoned or pissed off, or both, when you create these postings?

A large reservoir in Pacific Palisades that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system was out of use when a ferocious wildfire destroyed thousands of homes and other structures nearby.

Officials told The Times that the Santa Ynez Reservoir had been closed for repairs to its cover, leaving a 117 million gallon water storage complex empty in the heart of the Palisades.

The revelation comes among growing questions about why firefighters ran out of water while battling the blaze. Numerous fire hydrants in higher-elevation streets of the Palisades went dry, leaving firefighters struggling with low water pressure as they combated the flames.

Had the reservoir been operable, it would have extended water pressure in the Palisades on Tuesday night, said former DWP general manager Martin Adams, an expert on the city's water system. But only for a time.

"You still would have ended up with serious drops in pressure," Adams said in an interview Thursday. "Would Santa Ynez [Reservoir] have helped? Yes, to some extent. Would it have saved the day? I don't think so."

Lack of water is hampering LA fire battle. Why not use ocean water to fight fires?
As multiple deadly wildfires burn across Los Angeles and hundreds of thousands of residents flee their homes, the lack of water is impeding firefighters' efforts to fight the flames.

not quite as bad as the reporter in a canoe making it seem like she was in deep floodwaters only to have people walk through the 6" water in front of her while she was live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgm3_jzcNm4

Mel Gibson had a few good lines after his house was destroyed.

“You remember George Carlin talking about your stuff? I had my stuff there, and it’s all like, I’ve been relieved from the burden of my stuff because it’s all in cinders.

“I went home and I said to myself, well, at least I haven’t got any of those pesky plumbing problems anymore.

“I have never seen a place so perfectly burned,” Gibson said of his destroyed home. “You could put it in an urn.”

when a tornado blows through a republican town that tornadoes have been blowing through for hundreds of years, I won't blame the republican mayor. I won't do it for people who live in the republican gulf of america when a storm wipes them out, either.

Bass isn't some crazed leftist. She's pretty reasonable. I could see why you'd think she is. I mean, she is black after all.

The menstrual cycle changes among Hassidic Jewish women was something as well.

:lol:

"The reservoir being empty didn't impact the loss of water pressure at fire hydrants."

"Maybe the reservoir being full would have aided the water pressure a little, but it probably wouldn't have mattered a whole lot."

"Ok, the reservoir being empty impacted water pressure and the ability to fight the fires and we need an investigation so that the reservoir isn't empty again."

The menstrual cycle changes among Hassidic Jewish women was something as well.

Oh so I guess maybe it is kinda a big deal after all that the reservoir was empty and could’ve helped. Who knew ?

Newsom just killed his 2028 campaign this past week. He was probably the early favorite too.

Not even close. If anything his national star is brighter contrasted against the absolute catastrophic shitshow that is the LA municipal government.

This Mark Pastrella guy is pretty white, not sure why he's included.

Caleb Williams isn't really a "true" rookie because he turned 23 late into his 1st season in the NFL!"

Yes it is.

The destruction is going to be the perfect blank slate to implement all kinds of progressive land use principals.

No new single family homes!

He's not getting out of this one unscathed. He had cut the budget for a lot of the preventative work and had significantly reduced controlled burns. That fuel load in the forests falls on the state.

Plus the insurance industry will be running for the exits because CA won't allow them to charge the rates that they should relative the risk. That's going to have a lot of downstream effects for CA and none of them good. Either the state picks up a bill they can't afford or a lot of places are going to become uneconomical to inhabit.

Many that is true, but an incomplete statement.