Los Angeles Times

The crisis at a Garden Grove aerospace firm that required the evacuation of 50,000 people was probably caused by the failure of a cooling system designed to regulate the temperature of chemical tanks, interim Orange County Fire Authority Chief TJ McGovern told The Times on Tuesday. This may have led to a buildup of heat in a pressurized tank filled with 7,000 gallons of a chemical called methyl methacrylate, a highly flammable liquid monomer used to manufacture plastics. “We don’t know why, but it stopped cooling,” McGovern said. “So that’s what started this event, to where the product heated up ... and that’s how this whole response started. We’re just now being able to get to the tanks, so there’s definitely more to come of what caused it.” Officials evacuated an estimated 50,000 people on Friday after determining one of the three tanks at the aerospace company was in danger of a massive blast called a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion, which would have caused widespread da

The Los Angeles Philharmonic announced Tuesday that it has named Daniel Harding the orchestra’s 12th music director, ending three years of intense speculation over the orchestra’s future after Gustavo Dudamel leaves in August to head the New York Philharmonic. Harding will begin a six-year contract for up to a dozen concerts a season, beginning in the fall of 2027, almost 30 years after the British prodigy made his U.S. debut conducting the L.A. Phil at the 1997 Ojai Festival. “I wouldn’t want to come to L.A.,” he explained on a brief phone call from his home in Paris, “if I didn’t think it would be a challenge.” L.A. Phil President and CEO Kim Noltemy said that Harding was the overwhelming favorite of the orchestra players. The Times' Classical Music Critic Mark Swed has more about the news at the link in bio. 📷 @etilauphoto / For The Times

A regional smoke advisory remains in effect through Thursday night as multiple wildfires send thick plumes across Southern California, degrading air quality from the coast to inland valleys. Onshore winds are pushing smoke from the Sandy fire into Los Angeles County, where neighborhoods from the San Fernando Valley to Arcadia could face unhealthful air for sensitive groups. Additional smoke from the Bain, Verona and Santa Rosa Island fires is expected to blanket the Inland Empire, L.A. Basin, Catalina Island and Coachella Valley, prompting health precautions. Read more at the link

Los Angeles voters watched as wildfire destroyed thousands of homes. They mourned the loss of entertainment industry jobs and despaired over homeless people living in squalor. Now, a former reality television villain who lost his home in the Palisades fire is using his Hollywood savvy, social media skills and his own innate rage to harness those emotions, emerging as an unexpected and polarizing contender in the mayor’s race. Spencer Pratt of MTV’s reality soap “The Hills” has turned a sleepy citywide contest into a national story, outpacing his rivals in fundraising, putting in an assured debate performance and ranking near the top of voter surveys. L.A. has never seen a mayoral candidate quite like Pratt, a scathing critic of City Hall who has depicted its streets as a dystopian hellscape menaced by drug-addicted zombies. He has vowed a scorched-earth policy for those who might block his vision for clearing away the unhoused. Pratt has picked up campaign donations from Democr

Five people are dead including two gunmen who police said entered the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday morning and opened fire. Police swarmed the center after receiving reports of an active shooter and significant injuries. By 1 p.m., officials said in a social media post that the threat had been “neutralized.” The two gunmen died by self-inflicted gunshot wounds, police said. They were believed to be 17 and 19 years old. The shooting occurred while a school that operates at the center and mosque, was in session. The lower-grade classrooms of the K-12 facility are on site at the center, while grades 4 through 12 operate at a separate campus. It is the only accredited Islamic school in San Diego, according to the school’s website. No children were injured in the incident, said Ahmed Shabaik, chairman for the Islamic Center of San Diego, in a brief interview. Read more at the link in bio.