Altadena woman reflects on her home being the only one on her block to survive fire
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LOS ANGELES) — The wildfires burning across the Los Angeles area have ravaged thousands of structures, with the Eaton Fire destroying generations of homes in Altadena. One woman’s house was the only one on her block to survive.
Debbie Slavin told ABC News on Monday about how her house avoided catching fire when the first six houses on her block were burned to the ground.
“When the fire burned the fence, it also burst the pressurized water pipe,” Slavin said. “I honestly believe that’s what put the fire out on that fence.”
According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Eaton, Palisades and Hurst fires have burned over 38,000 acres. More than 12,000 structures, including homes and places of worship, have been destroyed, and officials expect further damage in the coming days.
The Eaton Fire has burned over 14,000 acres.
When Slavin returned to her neighborhood in Altadena to see Eaton’s damage, she got emotional.
“I got a call from my neighbor down the street whose also, house has survived, and he basically shared with me that there was still smoldering on my front lawn and that he was going to go ahead and, and spray it,” Slavin said. “And when I got there, it also was still smoldering, so I went ahead and also put more water on it.”
Altadena is a community in which many families have made their homes for decades. According to Slavin, the community members were close and organized gatherings.
Slavin, who still can’t get back to her home, mentioned that one of her neighbors had even gone to check on her house while she was away to ensure it was still locked. She cherishes the trust and care that neighbors have for one another, and feels emotional seeing her friends’ homes getting destroyed while hers remains safe.
“I don’t know what it’s going to look like in the future,” Slavin said about her community. “And that’s also what’s so heartbreaking. I’ve had some great friends lose their homes. And you have to ask yourself why my home and why not the ones across the street.”
A backyard in Orange County, New York, became the site of an incredible discovery of a complete mastodon jaw — the first find like it in New York in more than 11 years. (New York State Museum)
(NEW YORK) — A backyard in Orange County, New York, became the site of an incredible discovery of a complete mastodon jaw — the first find like it in New York in more than 11 years.
The jaw, along with a piece of a toe bone and a rib fragment, was uncovered near Scotchtown by researchers from the New York State Museum and SUNY Orange.
The discovery began when a homeowner spotted two teeth sticking out of the dirt under a plant. After digging a little deeper, they found two more teeth just below the surface. Realizing the find might be something special, the homeowner called in experts, and soon a full excavation was underway.
“When I found the teeth and held them in my hands, I knew they were something special,” said the homeowner. “I’m so excited that our yard had something so important for science.”
The team of researchers uncovered a well-preserved jaw belonging to an adult mastodon, an ancient relative of today’s elephants. The jaw will now be studied to figure out how old it is, what the mastodon ate and what its life was like during the Ice Age.
“This jaw is an amazing discovery,” said Dr. Robert Feranec, an expert from the New York State Museum. “Fossils like this help us learn about ancient ecosystems and give us clues about how the world has changed over time.”
Orange County has been a great place to find mastodon fossils. In fact, about one-third of the 150 mastodon fossils found in New York have come from this area.
Dr. Cory Harris from SUNY Orange said they hope to keep digging in the area to see if there are more bones waiting to be found.
“The jaw is the most exciting part, but the toe and rib fragments might also help us learn more about this animal,” Dr. Harris explained.
The jaw will eventually be displayed at the New York State Museum in 2025, after scientists finish their research, according to Michael Mastroianni, a leader at the museum.
(WASHINGTON) — Attorneys for President-elect Donald Trump and his allies unleashed a legal blitz this week to prevent the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s final report on his classified documents and election interference investigations, successfully convincing the federal judge who dismissed Trump’s documents case to issue an emergency injunction temporarily blocking the report’s release.
While Smith has released many of his findings already — through four indictments and a lengthy filing outlining the evidence against Trump — recent disclosures made by attorneys for Trump and his co-defendants suggest that the special counsel’s final report could contain previously undisclosed details that are potentially damaging to the president elect.
Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who reviewed a draft version of the report over the weekend, argued in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Monday that the report’s release would be a “partisan weapon” and “lawless political stunt, designed to politically harm” President-elect Trump and his allies.
According to Trump’s lawyers, a draft of the report included multiple “baseless attacks” on members of Trump’s incoming presidential administration that could “interfere with upcoming confirmation hearings.”
The letter did not provide any additional information about which, if any, of Trump’s nominees or appointees were mentioned in the report.
According to a court filing from Trump’s defense lawyers Monday, a draft version of the report asserts that Trump “engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort,” violated multiple federal laws, and served as the “head” of multiple criminal conspiracies.
Trump pleaded not guilty in 2023 to charges of unlawfully retaining classified materials after leaving the White House, and, in a separate case, pleaded not guilty to charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case this past July after deeming Smith’s appointment unconstitutional, leading Smith to appeal that decision.
Smith, who is now winding down both his cases against the president-elect due to a longstanding Department of Justice policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president, has not provided any details about the contents of his report. Smith’s team has accused Trump’s attorneys of violating a confidentiality agreement by making portions of their findings public in their filings.
Special counsels are mandated by internal Justice Department regulations to prepare confidential reports at the conclusion of their investigations to summarize their findings, and the attorney general can determine whether to release the report publicly. Smith’s report includes two volumes, covering his investigation into Trump’s alleged retention of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the report’s release would disrupt the ongoing presidential transition process and “exacerbate stigma and public opprobrium surrounding the Chief Executive,” suggesting that the report — which is being prepared by a prosecutor independent from the president — contradicts the Biden administration’s vow to “facilitate an orderly and collegial transition process.”
“It’ll be a fake report, just like it was a fake investigation,” Trump said at a news conference Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Trump’s lawyers also suggested that the report included a “pathetically transparent tirade” about social media platform X’s effort to “protect civil liberties.”
ABC News previously reported that X — then known as Twitter — was held in contempt and fined $350,000 for failing to comply with a search warrant for records and data from former President Trump’s social media account. X’s owner, Elon Musk, is now one of Trump’s most vocal supporters and advisers, and spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect Trump.
Blanche and Bove — both of whom Trump has picked for top Justice Department posts in the incoming administration — have argued that the report’s release would only offer a single-sided view of the case and give “rise to a media storm of false and unfair criticism” that Trump would need to address during the transition period.
While Trump is no longer being prosecuted by Smith, his two former co-defendants in the classified documents case have argued they would be unable to have a fair trial if the findings are released publicly. Lawyers for Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira have claimed that the report would reveal sensitive grand jury material — such as communications obtained via a subpoena — and support the finding that “everyone Smith charged is guilty of the crimes charged.”
Describing Smith as a “rogue actor with a personal and political vendetta,” lawyers for Trump’s co-defendants argued in a filing that the report would irreparably bias the public by amplifying the government’s “narrative” without providing Trump and his co-defendants the ability to respond.
“Smith’s planned Final Report — now that he is unshackled from due process requirements that restrained him as a government actor — would engender the very prejudice, passion, and excitement and be an exercise of the tyrannical power that our court system is designed to insulate against,” the filing said.
In a brief filing Tuesday, a lawyer on Smith’s staff confirmed that the special counsel’s office is “working to finalize” its report, and said that Garland will have the final say over what material will be made public.
A tropical system churning in the Caribbean is forecast to strengthen into Tropical Storm Rafael on Monday as it takes aim at Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the Gulf Coast.
A tropical storm warning has been issued for Jamaica, where Rafael is forecast to bring heavy rain and mudslides Monday night into Tuesday morning. A hurricane warning has been issued for the Cayman Islands.
Rafael could strengthen to a hurricane by Tuesday night into Wednesday morning as it makes landfall in Cuba with heavy rain, strong winds, flash flooding and storm surge.
Rafael is expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico as a tropical storm by the end of the week.
By Saturday, Rafael could reach the U.S. Gulf Coast.
It’s too early to tell which parts of the Gulf Coast will see the worst conditions. Everyone from Texas to Florida should monitor the storm’s path.
