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A WOMAN FROM the fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles has offered to “fill up the hydrants myself” as she confronted California Governor Gavin Newsom over his response to the disaster.
Rachel Darvish, a lawyer who has lived in the Palisades all her life, was forced to flee her home along with many thousands of others because of the devastating flames.
Out-of-control wildfires are continuing to rip across parts of Los Angeles, leading to at least 10 deaths and the destruction of over 10,000 structures, as well as evacuation orders for nearly 180,000 residents across the city.
Despite the efforts of over 1,400 firefighters, the biggest blazes remain totally uncontained – with weather conditions and the underlying impact of climate change expected to continue fanning the flames for days to come.
'Can I hear your call to the President, because I don't believe it.'
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 9, 2025
This is the moment a woman in LA confronted the California Governor Gavin Newsom over the wildfires. https://t.co/g1yZAnHJkc
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/rMLDGfkRo4
In the video, LA-based mother Darvish approached Newsom, saying that her daughter’s school had burned down due to wildfires.
She demanded to know what action Newsom was taking in the battle against the blaze, and asked to join the phone call to President Biden that the governor was trying to make at the time.
Darvish questioned why fire hydrants in the Palisades ran out of water while firefighters were tackling the huge blazes. She told the governor that she would “fill up hydrants myself” and asked Newsom if he would do the same. “I would do whatever I can,” Newsom replied.
A spokesperson for Newsom has since told US media that the governor got through to Biden after speaking to the affected Darvish, with the US president announcing that the federal government would cover 100% of costs for the response to the Los Angeles wildfires for at least 6 months.
The spokesperson also told reporters that they later spoke with Darvish to connect her with recovery services and other information.
Governor Gavin Newsom has addressed the public several times in recent days, saying that the state and national government are “throwing everything at our disposal” to tackle the wildfires.
Newsom has also overseen the deployment of the National Guard service members in affected areas “to protect communities in the days to come”.
Los Angeles officials and Newsom continue to receive criticism from local residents and political figures such as President-elect Donald Trump over the preparation and response to the wildfires.
In a social media post yesterday, Trump took aim at Los Angeles Mayor Bass and Gavin Newsom – both Democrats – for what he described as “gross incompetence” in dealing with the fires.
“One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“It’s ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!,” he wrote, misspelling the governor’s name in an apparent jab.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has also faced questions about her leadership during the ongoing wildfires, which are still spread across Los Angeles.
Bass was away from the city on a planned diplomatic trip to Ghana when the Palisades Fire first erupted on Monday, and has been hit by critics for her leadership during the disaster.
Rick Carusoa, a Republican mayoral opponent to Bass in the 2022 elections, has accused her of “abandoning her post” in an interview with Politico.
The mayor, who did post a warning about the windstorm on social media Monday, declined to respond to a reporter earlier this week when why she did not return to the city “fast enough”.
On her return two days ago, Bass was confronted at the airport by a Sky News reporter, who asked if she owed Angelenos an apology for her absence during the fires.
Bass refused to answer as the reporter followed her down the gangway.
At a press conference yesterday, Bass stated that her “number one focus” was to “save lives and save homes”.
“When that is done, when lives have been saved and homes have been saved, we will absolutely do an evaluation to look at what worked, and what didn’t work, and to correct or to hold accountable any body, department, individual, etc.,” Bass said.
“But my focus right now is on the lives and on the homes.”
According to US media, it is unclear when Bass was informed about the fires and decided to return to California.
Bass had left Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson as mayor pro tempore in her absence.
At a news conference Wednesday morning, Harris-Dawson acknowledged the work of the first responders doing “heroic work in the face of grave danger.”
“Last night was one of the most devastating and terrifying nights that we’ve seen in any part of our city, at any part of our history,” he said.
On Wednesday night, Bass told reporters she had been in “constant contact” with local, federal, and county officials marshaling the response to the fires as she made her way back to the United States.
“I took the fastest route back which included being on a military plane which facilitated our communications. So, I was able to be on the phone the entire time of the flight,” Bass said, adding she also had phone access during her commercial flight “like most people do.”
“I was on the phone on the plane almost every hour of the flight. So, although I was not physically here, I was in contact with many of the individuals that are standing here throughout the entire time when my flight landed, immediately went to the fire zone and saw what happened in Pacific Palisades.”
L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna announced several measures yesterday to ramp up security in areas that have been evacuated because of devastating fires in the area.
More than 20 arrests have been made on suspicion of looting over the last few days.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has officially requested the support of the California National Guard for both fires,” Luna said. “They will be assisting us with traffic control and critical infrastructure protection.
“Having additional resources, having the National Guard with us,” he added, “will help send a stronger message, keep people out of the impacted areas, so we don’t continuously victimize the people who have already been victimized.”
The sheriff also said the agency was working to implement a curfew that would run from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. “within the specific impacted areas around the two fire areas,” he said, referring to the Palisades fire in Pacific Palisades and the Eaton fire, the worst of the five blazes impacting the city.
He said he hoped to have it in place by this evening.
L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger emphasized that the curfew was not to punish residents but to keep the area safe.
Newsom also spoke out strongly against those taking advantage of affected areas.
“And to those who would seek to take advantage of evacuated communities, let me be clear: looting will not be tolerated,” the state governor said.
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Greed.
@Liam Clifden: They’ll take the shirt off any man’s back….
@Gerard Carey: as Gordon gekko said ….greed is good
Another company who care more about their share holders than their customers.
@Paddy Murphy: tell me a comparison between profit and loss
@Paddy Murphy: Be great if our government could do the same for us.
Really are they trying to close the bars … And just stay at home..
I’ve been drinking pints in Waterford City today for €4.60 a pint of Guinness, same price for a pint of Coors, explain that, I think the VFI are responsible for a lot of the inflated prices.
@sean whelan: Waterford is a good place
@sean whelan: You’ve been drinking pints at that price because the publican has absorbed the cost increase. His profit margins have been lowered because he doesn’t want to lose business. He takes the hit,not his loyal customers. It’s sad to see so many bars and hotels closed down around the country because of the greed of their suppliers. The town centres suffer with so many abandoned but once much loved hosteleries boarded up. Say what you want about alcohol,but it is a fully legitimate business operating a public house. It provides employment,creates a lively atmosphere in a town centre,and is an important factor of providing a social community for those who seek a place to interact with others.
Because they think they can get people to pay it. They will keep on doing it until they see a fall in sales.
This whole VAT excuse from pubs……its a charge they simply pass on to us, this mass wringing of hands in nothing but a cynical ploy – not one of them dropped their prices when the VAT rate dropped and so were trousering the difference. Most put their prices up when the VAT rate increased to maintain the profits they were making off the difference and they’ll continue to do it. The VFI will be solely responsible for killing pubs but like most of Ireland will want to blame someone else.
@Niall Whyte: The 9% VAT rate never applied to alcoholic beverages as far as I know, just food and lodging if I remember correctly.
@Niall Whyte: Jesus not this again. The VAT rate didn’t change on alcohol.
Paid 15 euro in mc daids on Friday what a fu…king rip off for 2 pints,1 Guinness 1 Carl’s berg,won’t be back in fact won’t be drinking in city centre anytime soon,Ireland the land of rip off prices.
@David Clarke: check out the snug, the lark inn and o’reillys on Tara st. Thank me later :)
The pubs in Temple bar are refusing to increase the price of the pint, they have all agreed to leave it at €25.
ireland is a rip off straight and simple ,i was in the uk last week and i went to lunch with a few friends we had 2 pints of fosters and a pint of strongbow while we waited for or meal we had 4 starters 2 soups and a roll and 2 chicken appetisers,4 man courses i think it was 2 gammon steaks with pineapple and a side of veg i had something similar to and irish stew and there was also a steak pie for a total of 53 sterling!! i genuinly thought the server had made a mistake until she gave me the itemised reciept ,yes you read that right, soup and a roll was 3 quid! the mains where around 7 sterling the side of veg was 1,50 and the pints around the 4 sterling mark the same thing in ireland would be well north of 120 euro
@John O’sullivan: you drank Fosters? Crikey!
@John O’sullivan: pub grub in the UK is, in general, vastly inferior in quality to what you get over here (doesn’t justify the gouging that goes on all the same)
@John O’sullivan: The best car market in the world is right next door. Can we access it? no chance. Overloards dont allow it.
@John O’sullivan: you’d no doubt get similar in Witherspoons here, too. Those prices are certainly not typical of the south of England where hospitality is, generally, more expensive than it is here.
Drinking attitudes in Ireland have drastically changed (for the better) too expensive, plus it would be very naive to say that the smoking ban wasn’t a big contribution to the demise of the pub, it has been, nobody wants to spend €6+ for a pint of Heineken in a pub and then be expected to go outside in the rain to have a cigarette! Crazy
@Fintan Pox: Simple. Quit smoking.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: In fairness, there are a decent sized cohort of people/smokers who only have a ciggy with a pint when they go out for a drink now and again. Fair play to them for not getting hooked on nicotine, not easy!
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: simple, a coffee table, my drinks at my convenience, my cigarettes on the table, a fire going, watching anything I want on TV. I get to enjoy all those things at home. Good luck to talking to yourself in the pub lol
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: why?
@Fintan Pox: o one gives a flying toss about smokers and rightly so,why should I or anyone else want to breath obnoxious poison into our lungs,get outside and kill yourself in the fresh air,leave the rest of us alone
@David Clarke: but people like you are the very ones who complain about the cost of smokers on the public health system. Unfortunately, politicians don’t give a toss about smokers either. It’s a very foolish approach to public health. We should cherish all citizens and do our very best to help smokers quit with harm reduction like vaping.
@David Clarke: a glass of Guinness and home? Nobody wanted the stupid ban only obnoxious people with a vanity problem, you probably took the vaccination too
@David Clarke: i suspect would rather breath the smoke alone than talk to you in clean air dave
One of the biggest bug-bear’s I have is people in pubs tapping their card/phone for pints. Anecdotally I’d say 70% to 80% of customers now do it. Think folks! You are adding to the price of a pint with these practices – the publican has to build in a bank charge for you using your card into the price – this affects everyone, including the cash-paying customer. Stop it please.
@Laois Weather: So,you’re saying pay in cash instead? Great,pay in cash and you pay the same price for those who use contactless.
@Larry Betts: yes, but you’re missing the point. The person who charges you, your local bar who has a family doesn’t pay a percentage on your card payment. Charging by card costs more than cash.
@Larry Betts: So, pay by card then. That €5 you paid the bar owner last night, it’s worth roughly €4.85 to them.They then take that €4.85 and pop into the service station and fill up with €4.85 to drive home a few customers, tapping their card of course. That €4.85 is worth roughly €4.61 to the service station owner who pops down the bar tomorrow night for a pint. The €4.61 won’t buy a pint. But the bank is up €0.39.
Now, do the same with a €5 note, and see how it goes after just two transactions.
@Laois Weather: cash isn’t free. Banks charge to lodge cash and to withdraw cash and then charge for coins, too. Then there’s the security issues associated with holding cash and the inconvenience of travelling constantly to and from bank. Unless someone is hiding money, card transactions are not more expensive to the vendor than cash. Businesses that only accept cash are 100% hiding income.
No customers, no shareholders
@N D K: lovely
Greed of this government taxation to the last on every single thing ,the government are distroying this country its no longer competitive, you can’t even go stay in a hotel in Ireland for a weekend without it costing you the same price as a Weeks holiday abroad .tourism is finished in this country our government would rather spend billions housing migrants in hotels than dropping vat rates and fill our countrys hotels restaurants and bars up with money spending tourists .
@M G: Western seaboard where Tourism is vital for the economy & for survival has been destroyed by this Govt. Along the Western seaboard all associated businesses that depended on the tourists in hotels for spin off business are now closed or are on verge of closing. Hotels are full of Migrants, tour buses have gone elsewhere, Roderic O Gorman has killed off the Tourism industry in less than two years, a business that took decades to build & now locals have no jobs & are competing with Migrants for jobs, school places, GP availability. It has lead to societal breakdown & division.
Congrats Roderic.
12 euro for two pints of Guinness tonight. No wonder the pub was empty. It’s over for the pubs and clubs.
Who cares? Free the green!
There is a monopoly here with Diageo,C and C and Heineken .
I work in Germany and we drink local beer and the prices are good , around 5€ a pint.
I am not saying we should go local what I am saying is there the beers we drink are not the best but they have been marketed as if they are .
@Marty OMeara: In Dublin Guinness is the local beer.
@Deano: Guinness is cheaper down the country.
There was a fella called Charles Boycott….
@Charles Kingston: Yes, the pubs should ban selling Guinness until they reverse the price rise.
To stop us drinking of course…we all know rising the price saves us from ourselves ;-)
Stop buying it. There greedy. 5 euro all pint should be in whole country.
Lovely times out and about a year ago, the Dutch know how to party, not a Fianna Fail nanny state, could go into a pub in a designated smoking section of the bar, very good ventilation. Ireland is the only country in the world, to have a blanket ban on smoking, and pubs struggling! Lol
Shooting themselves in the foot.
So for a 6 euro pint Diageo (who makes the pints) gets about €1.50, the publican (who sells the pints) about €2.50 and the taxman gets €2 (for doing nothing)
Because people will continue to pay it?
@Oh Mammy: Ireland, land of the gullible
They’re probably keep raising the price until people stop buying it… then they’ll reduce the price to what or was just before people stopped buying it. It’s called “testing what the market will bear”
Because they know the Irish will still pay it.
@Shane O Mac: I think it’s because they know the tourists will pay it.
The Irish are mere collateral damage.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: the Irish are paying for a lot of other things as well, and we still put up with it. We do nothing about it
Earlier tonight I got €5.40 back in change from €10 for a lovely pint, few nights away in Co. Sligo……..something ain’t right
The maximum price used to be fixed in Bars by regulation.
They are legally obliged to maximise profits for their shareholders.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: That’s not true at all!
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill:Simple . That’s 100% BS
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: complete BS. No such law exists
Let the publicans suck it up. They’ve raised prices in an ad hoc and crazy way since Covid. Customers have no idea now of how much their pint will cost from pub to pub. If only we had old school journalism now. This company raising their charges by 8c is not the story. The story is how pubs jumped from €5 pre Covid to €6.20 plus plus whatever you fancy after. And still have the brass neck to complain about loss of custom and the vat rate on hospitality. It’s draught lager from a barrel. Not liquid gold…or is it?
Am I wrong but is there a price point called diminishing returns if there is its approaching fast
People will complain about the ” price of a pint ” , again , and again , and again. Yet , even with the arse hanging out of their trousers , would still go and pay it. If there’s one certainty in Ireland, people will prioritise money for drink , for better or for worse . It’s just the way it is in this country .
We need to form a union for drinkers, Critical Union of National Tipsy Swiggers, for example. Then said union calls a national walkout at 8pm on a given Saturday night. 1% of the cost of what they would have drank that night goes to the union, a one off payment. Then the union reps can go back into the pub and have a few free subsidised quiet pints on a Saturday night. Aces!
Seriously is it any wonder some people choose to do drugs when out. 100e wouldn’t even get a 20 Yr old drunk these days. But a 2euro tablet would get u there in minutes. People don’t have the money they just don’t have it. Will be no pubs in ten year in ireland. I hate to think what will be.
Because after over and 120 odd years off ffg lying entitled scom anyone within the top 1 percent can do what they like , but the reality shocking thing is , the poorly educated that voted for them
They rise the price because they are greedy. Next, they will give the jobs to non Europeans to reduce the costs, like everywhere
Hopefully when Sinn Fein get in, they will allow smokers some compromise
Greed that’s why. It’s actually depressing.
7.20 for a pint of Heinekin in The Foggy Dew. The bar girl would not even look me in the eye. Drive anyone to drink….at home. A lot of trendy looking heads there drinking/laughing while coming to terms with the realisation they’ll be renting forever.
The more expensive the pint, the less customers, the more expensive the pint etc. The pub is history. Drink at home.
Because they can.
Now shut up and drink their products.
The price of Drinks in this country is gone beyond a joke the VFI are killing all the pub trade and pubs are closing down in droves, where I’m from we used to have 52 pubs in our town 20yrs ago then with the smoking ban the pubs all started closing. We now only have 15 pubs left, the rest are all closed and gone to wreck and ruin we used to have 4 night clubs now there is nothing. I’m not a drinker or a smoker but all these increases are killing the pub trade I used to love going out at weekends now the atmosphere is gone, if something doesn’t change soon we will have lost part of our heritage forever
They are off their rocks
Dirty Jopenses Bistars
“if a pub sells a pint for €6, 23% of that goes to the government in the form of VAT.
€6 – €1.38 = €4.62″
This isn’t correct. If €6 includes 23% VAT, then the price before VAT is €4.87 (6/1.23) and the VAT is 23% of €4.87.
100% greed. Doesn’t bother me I don’t drink any their muck
Because they can.
Who is going to stop them ?
about $14 nz dollars a pint,and brewed in auckland.ALL beer in NZ is costly.
What is the story with Murphy’s now….is it still available? As expensive as a pint of Guinness. Can you still buy a pint of Beamish?
Ffg have collided with the Catholic child and women abusers since the foundation of the state, as yourself why the maternity hospital is been built in Vincent’s and a 400 hundred room children’s hospital, probably the most expensive piece of shit ever built, and the answers are look in the mirror
Because they can. The same for vintners who will charge 6c for diageo increase and 5c or 10c for themselves. With no major competive markets in Ireland they will gouge us senseless. Take mobile phones as a reflection of the markets, each company increases rates by 3% + inflation annually. No competition and no investigations by most regulaters
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