Listed below are the morning’s prime tales on Tuesday, July 8, 2025…
- When the Eaton Fireplace burned by way of the town of Altadena, not solely did it erase houses, but additionally household images, heirlooms, and historical past. A gaggle of volunteers is aiming to revive a few of that historical past, by way of the voices of fireside survivors.
- Native and state officers are denouncing the actions of the Trump administration, after federal immigration officers swept by way of MacArthur Park on Monday.
- California is pushing again towards the Trump administration over transgender athletes in class sports activities.
Volunteer Historians Race To File The Tales And Voices Of Eaton Fireplace Survivors
On a current afternoon, Veronica Jones thumbed by way of recordsdata within the small neighborhood middle constructing in Altadena. “This constructing holds the historical past of Altadena. We have now been archiving for 90 years,” mentioned Jones, president of the Altadena Historic Society and a resident for greater than 60 years.
When the Eaton Fireplace burned by way of Altadena, it erased greater than houses. It additionally took household images, heirlooms and historical past. Jones and a small group of volunteers are actually working to revive a few of that historical past by way of the voices of fireside survivors. “Earlier than we form of labored at our personal tempo,” Jones mentioned, noting the society is made up of all volunteers, greater than half of whom misplaced their houses. “Now there’s an urgency to doc every thing, to get the historical past of the fireplace, to get the historical past that we didn’t have earlier than, to seek out methods to seize these pictures that will have burned.”
The historic society has lengthy recorded oral histories of residents for archiving. Now they wish to seize as many tales of fireside survivors as they will. Up to now they’ve targeted on capturing the tales of Black households in Altadena who misplaced their houses. That particular historical past — of racist housing insurance policies that concentrated Black households in west Altadena — turned a nationwide story when the Eaton Fireplace disproportionately affected that a part of the neighborhood “For those who’re going to have roots right here and keep right here, you have to know the way this city happened,” Jones mentioned. “It’s worthwhile to perceive that the tradition of the city advanced due to the historical past, due to the redlining.”
Jones and her group have to date recorded the voices and tales of an 86 12 months previous musician, a multigenerational household and a lifelong Altadenan in his 90s, amongst others.
