FREE
LA County supervisors seek more detailed plan on spending freeze
Report: Lack of clarity, oversight hamper LA’s homeless programs
PG 02
PG 28
VISIT HEYSOCAL.COM
MONDAY, MARCH 10- MARCH 16, 2025
LA County, Pasadena, Sierra Madre sue Edison over Eaton Fire By Joe Taglieri
See Fire lawsuits Page 28
See Homeless mortality rate Page 27
to attorneys representing fire victims. | Photo courtesy of LA Fire Justice
reporting that photographic evidence of the utility’s tower at the end of the idle Mesa-Sylmar transmission line showed signs of potential arcing and damage to the grounding equipment for two of the three idle conductors.
By City News Service
Pasadena’s lawsuit notes that weather forecasts in the days prior to the fire had repeatedly warned of extreme fire danger, with the National Weather
“Photogrammetry” video displays flames from the Eaton Fire under SoCalEdison power lines, according
cials said in a statement. “After the fire started, SCE informed the California Public Utilities Commission that a ‘fault’ occurred on its transmission line around the time the fire started.” The lawsuits cite a Feb. 6 SCE letter to the CPUC
plateaued for 2nd year in 2023
he homeless mortality rate in Los Angeles County plateaued for the second consecutive year in 2023, marking a significant development due in large part to a reduction in drug overdoses, Department of Public Health officials announced Thursday. DPH officials released findings of the sixth annual report on mortality among people experiencing homelessness, which showed there were 2,508 deaths of unhoused individuals in 2023. From 2021 to 2022, the mortality rate increased by 2%, followed by a 1% increase from 2022 to 2023. While the report found the mortality rate remained high at 3,326 deaths per 100,000 people, county officials noted that it has leveled off compared to a previously devastating increase of 56% from 2019 to 2021. “It’s good news that the rate has leveled off, but it’s still very high, and we’re working collectively with many partners to decrease the mortality rate over the next three years,” William Nicholas, director of DPH’s Center for Health Impact Evaluation, said. Officials cited the distribution of naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal medication, for the reduction in overdose deaths.
L
os Angeles County and the cities of Pasadena and Sierra Madre on Wednesday sued Southern California Edison on allegations that the utility’s equipment caused the Eaton Fire that killed 17 people, burned over 14,000 acres and destroyed more than 9,400 structures. The lawsuits seek to recover public funds spent on responding and recovering from the wildfire, which started during an intense windstorm Jan. 7. Pasadena’s suit alleges the blaze damaged the police department training facility, the Pasadena Municipal Assistance, Solutions, and Hiring building and fleet as well as city-owned tanks for water storage. In unincorporated Altadena, the fire destroyed county parks, a nature center, multiple trails and other community infrastructure, officials said. Sierra Madre’s lawsuit claims the blaze destroyed or damaged many city landmarks, such as the Sierra Madre Historical Wilderness Area and the Mount Wilson Trail. “The county’s complaint against SCE alleges that witnesses, photos, and videos indicate the fire started directly under SCE transmission lines in Eaton Canyon,” county offi-
LA County homeless mortality rate
T
joet@beaconmedianews.com
NO. 214
VOL. 11,
Additionally, harm reduction, mental health and substance-use treatment services contributed to the rates in 2023, authorities said. Nicholas noted that the state of California added new fields in its electronic Death Reporting System for recording whether a decedent was homeless at the time of death. “This puts California the vanguard of a national movement to track housing status on state death records,” Nicholas said. According to the report, the five leading causes of death among homeless people were drug overdoses, coronary heart disease, traffic-related deaths, homicide and suicide — accounting for about 75% of all deaths in 2023. In prior years, COVID-19 played a significant role in homeless deaths. Drug and alcohol overdose accounted for 45% of all deaths, and it was the leading cause of death among men, women, white, Latino, Black, Asian and American Indian/Alaska native people experiencing homelessness. The percentage of overdose deaths involving fentanyl also plateaued in 2023, however, 70.4% of those deaths involved fentanyl, meaning
OUR 2025 SUMMER CAMP GUIDE IS HERE!