Luna, Bass ready for Red Flag fire danger through Friday
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass are preparing for dangerous fire weather as a National Weather Service Red Flag Warning takes effect for much of LA County today through Friday night.
Strong Santa Ana winds and very low humidity could drive rapid fire spread, with gusts of 50 to 70 mph forecast in the mountains and gusty winds across many valleys and coastal communities. Critical conditions could linger into Saturday, and a heat advisory is in effect for parts of the county through Saturday. Residents should prepare for utility power shutoffs and wind-related outages. The county Fire Department has added staff and pre-positioned ground and aerial resources, and the county’s Emergency Operations Center activated this morning.
“As Los Angeles County prepares for the upcoming Red Flag Warning, the safety of our communities and our personnel remains our highest priority. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is taking proactive steps to ensure we are prepared to respond quickly and effectively to any emergencies that may arise,” said Luna.
Bass directed the Los Angeles Fire Department to predeploy personnel and equipment, and the department has requested additional help from the state Office of Emergency Services. As of Wednesday morning, the LAFD had not declared its own Red Flag Day, which would ban parking in posted areas of the city’s Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones.
“I am in constant communication with Chief Moore, and LAFD resources are being predeployed strategically to keep Angelenos and our hillside communities safe,” said Bass.
County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone urged residents to review the county’s Ready! Set! Go! program, identify their evacuation zone and be prepared to leave without delay.
Residents can sign up for emergency alerts at NotifyLA.org and LAFD notifications at lafd.org/alerts. Cooling center information is at ready.lacounty.gov/heat.
Lowenthal bill extends public employer health cost pilot to 2030
Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal (D-Long Beach, Signal Hill) secured Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature on AB 2594, which extends a state pilot through 2030 to test whether self-funded public employers can lower health care costs by contracting directly with medical providers.
The VEBA [voluntary employees’ beneficiary association] Direct pilot, run by California Schools VEBA, was launched in January 2024 and now includes 23 participating employers and 5,691 members. Its medical group partners are based in the San Diego area, but the model aims to cut administrative layers by connecting employers and providers directly around measurable health outcomes.
“Nearly 40% of Californians bear some kind of medical debt. This number is alarmingly high and points to a need to find novel solutions to drive health care costs down for Californians,” said Lowenthal.
Preliminary 2025 data showed cancer screening rates of 69.3% for colorectal, 85.2% for cervical and 83.6% for breast cancer, results the program says exceed statewide benchmarks for PPO plans. The law requires an interim report to the Legislature by Jan. 1, 2029.
For LA County cities and school districts facing rising employee health costs, the results could show whether direct contracting is worth trying.
Padilla, Schumer deploy 100-plus Senate staff as election observers
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said they recruited and trained more than 100 Senate Democratic staffers as official congressional election observers, who will be deployed to polling sites in nine states with Senate races in the midterms.
The observers will document attempted voter interference, threats against election workers, misinformation, and other attempts to meddle in elections on Election Day and through canvassing and certification. Padilla, the top Democrat on the Senate Rules Committee and California’s former secretary of state, and Schumer launched Senate Democrats’ participation in the program in June. Their announcement did not name the nine states.
“Every eligible American deserves to cast a ballot free from intimidation, and every vote deserves to be counted fairly,” said Padilla.
Padilla framed the program as a response to President Trump’s comments about elections.
“Donald Trump has made clear that he wants to ‘take over the voting’ in state-run elections. Election interference is unconstitutional and illegal and Congress will be watching,” said Padilla.
Sherman blasts Trump deal to buy Russian diesel
U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks, Encino, Woodland Hills, Northridge, Malibu, Pacific Palisades) joined Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee in condemning President Trump’s decision to allow purchases of Russian diesel, warning it would enrich Vladimir Putin and undermine U.S. support for Ukraine.
Trump announced Oct. 9 that after a call with Putin, Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons after that, CNBC reported. The Treasury Department issued a temporary license allowing Russian diesel imports, including into the U.S., through April 7, 2027. Diesel prices have surged worldwide as Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries forced Moscow to ban exports, and the AP described the deal as an attempt to address high fuel prices before the midterms.
“President Trump is blaming Ukraine for rising fuel costs to distract from the real cause: his war of choice in Iran. The American people are paying the price for this president’s decisions, and now he is filling the Kremlin’s war chest,” said the committee Democrats in a statement.
The opposition is bipartisan. Republican Sens. Susan Collins, Thom Tillis, John Curtis and Lisa Murkowski joined Democrats in arguing that the deal violates a 2022 law banning Russian energy imports, ABC News reported.
Treasury says the license complies with all applicable laws, and Trump has said he made the right choice. Sherman and his colleagues are pushing the End Russian Oil Windfalls Act, introduced in April, which would bar the administration from issuing such licenses.
