WitnessLA

1 month ago | witnessla.com | Celeste Fremon

In a decision that some found very unexpected, on Wednesday, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, along with Chief Justice John Roberts, joined the U.S. Supreme Court’s three liberal justices in a 5-4 order, that told the Trump administration to direct the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign-aid reimbursements for critical work that has already been done.

1 month ago | witnessla.com | Celeste Fremon

This afternoon, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the unsealing of a grand jury indictment against 30 detention services officers from Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall on charges of child endangerment, abuse, conspiracy, and battery. The indictment alleges that the officers allowed—and, in some instances, encouraged—69 fights to occur between youths at the Downey-located youth hall during the period from July 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023.

1 month ago | witnessla.com | Claudia Boyd-Barrett

Jacquie Marroquin spent much of her childhood living in fear of her father. A child of undocumented immigrants from Guatemala, Marroquin – who grew up in Los Angeles in the 1970s – worried that speaking to anyone in authority about her father’s physical and emotional abuse would put her family in danger of being separated, or get her parents deported. But she desperately wanted the abuse to stop.

2 months ago | witnessla.com | Celeste Fremon

Now that the Palisades and Eaton wildfires that caused such damage and heartache in Los Angeles County have been thoroughly doused by two sets of rainstorms, with a larger storm bringing more rain today and tomorrow, a series of government agencies are engaged in an ambitious two-phase plan to clear the wreckage of the homes, businesses, and other community structures, so that these thousands of burn sitesmay be returned to use, sooner rather than later.

Jan 24, 2025 | witnessla.com | Celeste Fremon

As Los Angeles County residents continue to struggle with the destructive aftermath of the Eaton and the Palisades fires, the Hughes Fire, which bloomed into being On Wednesday, January 22, is still only 24% contained as of Thursday afternoon, and the red-flag warnings will through Friday. As for the Hughes fire, the Castaic-located firestorm didn’t just ignite, it seemed to explode, burning more than 10,000 acres which means it is now the third-largest wild fire to menace Southern California.