California Today: What Happened When America Emptied Its Youth Prisons

Today's top stories from California.

January 28, 2025, 9:31 a.m. Eastern time By Ryan Mac Some aluminum alloys in the engine blocks of modern cars can begin to melt at 960 degrees Fahrenheit. This was not a fact I held in my brain a few weeks ago. But after walking through the destruction of Altadena and seeing puddles of solid metal below charred vehicles, the liquefaction point of engine-block materials is at least one thing I've been able to fully comprehend lately. On Jan. 8, I was a reporter on the Business desk of The New York Times and was gearing up to cover the influence of a tech oligopoly on an incoming president set to assume office a whole coast away. But when a fire broke out a mile from my home in Hollywood on a day when two other infernos had already incinerated neighborhoods, my job changed in an instant. I was a fire reporter. Little else mattered. I had to learn fast. Where are the winds blowing? What does containment mean? How do I talk to someone on what may be the worst day of that person's life? Being a reporter is about taking in a lot of new information, processing it and explaining it to the world. And while I've taken in a lot of facts and data and reporting, the processing of what I've seen has yet to come. How do you make sense of a mother of two crying in front of you as she visits the destroyed dream home she had spent two decades building? Or that an Altadena neighborhood lost so many of the institutions — a summer camp, a diner, a hardware store — that made it what it was? Or that some locals still had the humanity to share tacos and Hennessy at a random gas station they had transformed into a charity site? I spent this past Sunday digging through the wreckage of my partner's father's home in Pacific Palisades. The two-story building had collapsed on itself and a steady rain had turned the ash and crumbling stucco into a slurry that made it nearly impossible to dig. This was a quest to find something — anything — yet all that survived was a sunscreen bottle, a few mugs and a 1988 Mercedes 560SL. The car stood out like a red beacon in front of a torched alien landscape. But the search provided a bit of clarity, with each jab of the shovel into the muck. It will take a long time to clean this all up. And it will take even longer to understand. Today's Top Story Balazs Gardi for The New York Times What Happened When America Emptied Its Youth Prisons Lessons from a radical 20-year experiment and a quiet triumph of public policy. Read more More California News Could Trump Use the 'God Squad' to Override Environmental Law? The president wants to convene the rarely used panel, which has the power to carve out exemptions to the Endangered Species Act. Here's what to know. As Immigration Crackdown Looms, Restaurants Are Racked With Fear In Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington and other cities, chefs and owners are worried for their workers and their businesses. What It's Like to Be a Kid After a Fire Took Almost Everything Ten children talked about losing their homes, their schools and their neighborhoods in the Los Angeles fires. They discussed what they're worried about and what's cheering them up. With Fires Burning, the Grammys Made a Choice: On With the Show Sunday's event has high-profile contests featuring Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Chappell Roan. But the big question may be whether the show strikes the right tone. Trump Seeks to Assert More Control Over California's Water The president, who has assailed California's leaders over wildfires, issued the directive in an executive order that was dated Friday but released on Sunday. 'A Dangerous Virus': Bird Flu Enters a New Phase A pandemic is not inevitable, scientists say. But the outbreak has passed worrisome milestones in recent weeks, including cattle that may have been reinfected. A hidden threat from rain on a burn scar: poisons in the runoff. $800,000 Homes in California A Spanish-style home in Long Beach, a Mediterranean-style house in San Leandro and a Craftsman bungalow in Los Angeles. Local Conditions Look up the heat index in your area using The Times's heat tracker. See active fires using The Times's wildfire tracker. Today's Recipe David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Marry Me Chicken By Naz Deravian 1 hour Makes 4 servings Play a Game The Mini Crossword Solve this bite-sized puzzle in just a few minutes. Spelling Bee How many words can you make with 7 letters? Wordle Guess the 5-letter word with 6 chances. See all our games Sign up for Your Places: Extreme Weather. Get notified about extreme weather before it happens with custom alerts for places in the U.S. you choose. Get it in your inbox Need help? 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