NPR News Now - NPR News: 01-11-2025 3AM EST

Episode Date: January 11, 2025

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Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. The largest of the fires burning in Los Angeles is now 8 percent contained. The Palisades Fire has already burned more than 20,000 acres, and as Steve Futterman reports, at least 11 people have died from the multiple fires burning in the region. The Palisades Fire on Thursday had 0 percent containment. The winds for the most part since then have not been that intense and fire officials have taken advantage going on the attack with helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft dropping water and fire retardant on hot spots. Even with the progress however the Palisades fire is still burning,

still expanding and damaging some structures. This lull in the winds is expected to continue until Saturday. Fire officials hope to make as much progress before the winds begin to increase. Some evacuation orders have been lifted as several of the smaller fires have basically stopped expanding. For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman in Pacific Palisades, California. Health officials meanwhile are warning some people in LA that their water isn't safe. The advisories are for those living near the largest burn zones. As NPR's Ping Huang reports, urban wildfires offer specific

risks for drinking water. Residents near the wildfires, including those in Pasadena and the Pacific Palisades, should not drink the tap water. They should not make food or ice with it. They should even consider not showering or washing dishes with it. These warnings were issued over concerns of chemical contamination from the wildfires. Jackson Webster is a civil engineer at Chico State in California. Not everybody in all of Southern California needs to be concerned about their water right now, but there are certainly systems that have been damaged that probably will have lasting contamination issues. Webster says the low water pressure has created a vacuum that pulls ash and soot back into

the water system. You may not be able to see or smell it. Officials will need to test the water to see what's in it. Ping Huang, NPR News. President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced on Friday in his New York hush money case. That sentence that was given out by Judge Juan Marchand gave no jail time and no fines. Marchand says the law protecting a president required that sentence but he said it does not mean that Trump fully avoided his felony conviction. The protections afforded the office of the president are not a mitigating factor. They do not reduce the seriousness of the crime or justify its commission in any way.

The protections are, however, a legal mandate which pursuant to the rule of law, this court must respect and follow. President-elect Trump quickly expressed his displeasure with the decision. This has been a very terrible experience. I think it's been a tremendous setback for New York and the New York court system. You're listening to NPR News. A better than expected jobs report on Friday triggered a sharp sell-off in the stock market. As MPR Scott Horsley reports, all of the major stock indexes ended the week in the red. The Labor Department said Friday that employers added more than a quarter million jobs in

December, far more than forecasters had expected. The unemployment rate dipped to just 4.1 percent. While that's good news for workers, some investors were disappointed since a healthy job market means the Federal Reserve will likely take its time in cutting interest rates. The central bank was already expected to hold rates steady when policymakers meet later this month and with inflation hovering above the Fed's 2 percent target, investors now think rates may stay higher for longer. That weighed on stock prices. For the week both the Dow and the S&P 500 index fell about 1.9 percent. The Nasdaq dropped 2.3 percent. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington. Yet another winter storm is pounding parts

of the eastern U.S. at this hour. The storm dumped snow and ice on parts of Texas and Oklahoma before it moved to the east. Schools in the region were canceled for millions of students and in Arkansas the National Guard was used to help stranded motorists. Global temperatures in 2024 were more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. If the temperatures remain that high, scientists say it will mean increased deaths across the planet as well as more severe weather, increased species loss, and more rise in sea levels around the world. It's the first time that world temperatures have crossed that 1.5 degree mark. I'm Dale Willman, and you're listening to NPR News.