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Monday, January 13, 2025

Mayor Karen Bass Declines Help from NYFD, Accepts Help from Mexico

New York Post: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass denied rebuffing an offer by the FDNY to help try to contain the area’s deadly fires — even though California officials have said they don’t have enough firefighters themselves. New York City fire Commissioner Robert Tucker made the helpful overture to the embattled Bass in recent days, as five blazes rage around Los Angeles and its suburbs, killing at least 10 people and destroying thousands of homes and businesses. JetBlue even offered to pay for the city smoke-eaters’ flights across the country from the Big Apple to Los Angeles. But the offers apparently fell on deaf ears, as no orders have been issued to send New York City crews out West, sources said. Meanwhile, California Gov. Gavin Newsom accepted help from Mexico, thanking its president, Claudia Sheinbaum, on Friday for the assist, while extra firefighters from Colorado, New Mexico and Utah flocked to the state to help Thursday (New York Post). Reporter Charles Gasparino: Mexico thinks it’s paying Cali for all those migrants they sent there by helping with the fires, while the mayor says no to NYFD. Can’t make this up (X).

Massive Water Reservoir in Los Angeles Closed for Nearly An Entire Year Ahead of Wildfire

Los Angeles Times: A large reservoir in Pacific Palisades that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system was out of commission when a ferocious wildfire destroyed thousands of homes and other structures nearby. Officials said that the Santa Ynez Reservoir had been closed since about February for repairs to its cover, leaving a 117-million-gallon water storage complex empty in the heart of the Palisades for nearly a year. The revelation comes amid growing questions about why firefighters ran out of water while battling the blaze, which ignited Tuesday during catastrophically high winds (Los Angeles Times). Daily Mail: The $750,000-a-year LA water czar is responsible for a raft of failures that contributed to the devastating Palisades Fire. On Mayor Karen Bass’s orders, the city maxed out its budget to ‘attract private-sector talent’, hiring Department of Water and Power (LADWP) CEO Janisse Quiñones on a $750,000 salary in May – almost double that of her predecessor. Now, Quiñones is being blamed by LA Fire Department (LAFD) insiders for leaving a nearby reservoir disconnected and fire hydrants broken for months, leading to firefighters running out of water as they battled the devastating Palisades Fire this week (Daily Mail).

Mayor Karen Bass Sought to Cut $49 Million More of LAFD’s Budget One Week Before Fire

Daily Mail: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass demanded her Fire Department make an extra $49 million of budget cuts last week, a leaked memo revealed. This cut is already on top of $17.6 million of cuts in her latest budget. The extra cuts, requested just days before fires broke out and devastated swathes of Los Angeles, would have shut down 16 fire stations and crippled the department’s ability to respond to emergencies, sources said (Daily Mail). Ed Morrissey: Just when one might assume that the depth of incompetence and mismanagement could not possibly go any lower (X). End Wokeness: Governor Newsom cut $100 million in fire prevention spending this year… all while allocating $3 BILLION DOLLARS on free healthcare for illegals (X).

Petition to Recall Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Nears 100,000 Signatures

Townhall: A growing wave of frustration in Los Angeles has sparked a recall petition for Democrat Mayor Karen Bass. Despite the city’s rising crime, homelessness, and a series of controversial decisions, the wildfires that have destroyed lives, homes, and businesses were the final straw for residents. Voters are demanding accountability and change. Critics argue that Bass’s leadership has only exacerbated the city’s problems, with many calling for stronger policies to restore law and order. As the petition gains momentum, it’s clear that LA residents are losing patience with what they see as failed leadership. The pressure for Bass to address the mounting concerns or face potential removal from office is mounting. As of Sunday, the petition to remove Bass from office has surpassed 86,000 signatures. LA residents blame the mayor’s “gross mismanagement” for the out-of-control fires that should have already been contained if cuts hadn’t been made to critical areas. Bass cut $17.6 million from the Los Angeles Fire Department’s budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year— a move critics have condemned as “a poor decision (Townhall). National Review: Nearly 130,000 Californians have faced evacuation orders and at least 16 people had died as a result of the fires. Five wildfires remained active in Los Angeles County on Sunday, including Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth, Hurst and Archer. The Palisades fire has been the costliest in Los Angeles history. Los Angeles Fire Department chief Kristin Crowley has accused the city of failing its people after firefighters ran out of water in some areas and faced weakened water pressure in others. State and local officials are investigating the situation (National Review).

FEMA Director States California Was “Very Prepared” for Fires

Daily Wire: FEMA Administrator Deanna Criswell claimed during an interview over the weekend that fire officials in Southern California “were very prepared” for the catastrophic fires that erupted last week — despite significant evidence to the contrary. Criswell made the remarks when asked by Margaret Brennan on CBS News “why the area was so unprepared” for the fires. “I think that they were very prepared,” Criswell claimed… She further claimed that it was harder for firefighters to reach the fires because it was in “such a populated area” (Daily Wire). Face the Nation: When asked why the Los Angeles area was so unprepared for these wildfires, Deanne Criswell says, “I think that they were very prepared.” But she adds the firefighters “have never seen 100 mph winds that are fueling the fire” (X).

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas Gives Amnesty to 850,000 Illegal Immigrants

How many times must they prove they do not care about Americans? Townhall: In a move that has many critics up in arms, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has granted amnesty to 850,000 illegal immigrants, further exacerbating concerns about the Biden administration’s border policies. With just days away from being outgoing President Joe Biden’s last week in office, critics argue that this decision, which effectively shields hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens from deportation, signals an alarming disregard for the rule of law and sets a dangerous precedent for future immigration enforcement. With the U.S. southern border already overwhelmed by record numbers of illegal crossings, conservatives contend that this blanket amnesty acts as a stab in the back to President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans. With just days left as Biden’s border czar, Mayorkas announced the 18-month expansion of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) amnesty, which includes the 234,000 illegal immigrants from El Salvador who first got their TPS status after a 2001 earthquake that destroyed the nation’s economy. The mass amnesty also includes 600,000 economic migrants from Venezuela (Townhall). Fox News: The first Trump administration moved to cut down on the number of countries designated for TPS, but the Biden administration has used it broadly, designating or redesignating a number of countries, including Venezuela, Afghanistan and Haiti. There are currently 17 countries designated for TPS (Fox News).

Democrat Claims Trump Will Ignite More Fires, Climate Disasters Like Los Angeles

Townhall: A Democratic Senator is warning that the wildfires ravaging Los Angeles are just a “preview of coming atrocities” driven by climate change, further claiming that President-elect Donald Trump has been “bought off by Big Oil.” The senator’s remarks come as the state grapples with devastating fires, with many critics accusing California leadership of being responsible for the fires and using it to push their political agenda. While the fires have caused widespread destruction, the senator’s comments have sparked backlash from conservatives, who argue that such rhetoric ignores the role of mismanagement, government policies, and radical environmentalism in exacerbating the disaster. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) dared to claim the California wildfires are “what a climate emergency looks like,” while claiming Trump will bring more so-called climate-related natural disasters— including death (Townhall). Ed Markey: Trump has been bought for $1 billion by Big Oil. Just a payoff to kill the IRA and the Green New Deal. We know what will happen. More fires, more climate disasters, more death. The LA fires are preview of coming atrocities (X).

President Biden Upset Meta Replaces Fact-Checking Program

National Review: President Joe Biden on Friday lambasted Meta’s decision to replace its third-party fact-checking program with user-generated “community notes” on Facebook and Instagram as “shameful.” The change marks Meta’s renewed commitment to free speech and represents the social media conglomerate’s rightward shift as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office. Biden called out CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the decision. “The idea that, you know, a billionaire can buy something and say, ‘By the way, from this point on, we’re not going to fact check anything.’ And you know, when you have millions of people reading, going online, reading this stuff . . . I think it’s really shameful,” Biden told reporters at the White House (National Review). New York Post: Biden officials phoned executives at Meta to “scream” and “curse” at them while demanding that they remove any negative posts about the coronavirus vaccine on Facebook, said Zuckerberg, rehashing the admission he made in front of Congress over the summer (New York Post). Libs of TikTok: Mark Zuckerberg says the Biden admin called his employees and “screamed and cursed” at them to take down Covid/vaccine content. They wanted Meta to censor memes too. When he pushed back, the Biden regime started investigating his companies. “It was brutal” (X).

Special Counsel Jack Smith Resigns from DOJ Position

Townhall: Special Counsel Jack Smith resigned from the Department of Justice on Friday after completing his two criminal investigations of President-elect Donald Trump. Smith’s departure from the DOJ was noted in a brief section of a court filing submitted by Justice Department officials to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Saturday afternoon. The filing urged the judge not to extend her temporary order from the previous week, which had blocked the release of Smith’s final report submitted to department leaders on Tuesday (Townhall). Florida Rep. Byron Donalds: Jack Smith weaponized our justice system for politics. Jack Smith’s un-American lawfare FAILED. And today, Jack Smith has resigned in DISGRACE. This travesty must NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN (X).

10.

Arizona Cardinals Step Up to Accommodate Division Rivals, Los Angeles Rams, for Playoff Game

PJ Media: The NFL playoffs start on Saturday and the Arizona Cardinals won’t be a part of them this year, but that didn’t stop the team from stepping up in a big way. As fires ravaged Los Angeles this week, there was some concern that the wildcard game between the Minnesota Vikings and the L.A. Rams, which was slated to take place at SoFi Stadium in nearby Inglewood, wouldn’t happen. On Thursday, the NFL made an executive decision to move the game to Arizona to the Cardinals’ home base, State Farm Stadium in Glendale. But the Cardinals took things a step further. As one of the only NFL teams with its own fleet of airplanes, the Cardinals offered a couple of their planes to the Rams organization to help them get to Arizona. The planes helped transport approximately 350 players, coaches, staff, and their family members, including four dogs and two cats. The team has also offered the use of its training center for the foreseeable future (PJ Media). NFL: The Cardinals have gone above and beyond to make the Rams feel at home… They’ve scrambled to get enough paint in Rams colors for the field and end zone. To that end, 200 gallons were driven from a factory in Leland, Mississippi to Arizona, which arrived Saturday. On a few days notice, the team ordered enough food to feed 60,000, and they now have normal, game-day quantities… All the Rams equipment that was trucked to Phoenix arrived at the facility at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. The Cardinals support staff worked with the Rams until 3:30 a.m. to set it up and be ready for meetings. In addition, the Cardinals cleared out 74 total lockers so the Rams had space. For instance, Marvin Harrison Jr.’s locker is now Puka Nacua’s locker. The stadium game entertainment staff has been working around clock to prep all videoboard content and digital assets from SoFi Stadium and bring them to State Farm Stadium. It will look like a Rams home game (NFL).