Culver City Observer -

House Fire in Pacific Palisades

A fire destroyed a hillside Pacific Palisades house at 766 North Paseo Miramar early Thursday morning, reports the Los Angeles Fire Department. A resident called in the fire at 3:49 a.m. Thursday.

LA Firefighters arrived to find the large, one story home with heavy fire showing, with LAFD's Margaret Stewart saying firefighters were limited in their ability to fully attack all sides of the fire "due to the instability of the structure and hillside location.”

Crews continued with a defensive position, and a knockdown was called at 5:32 a.m.

LAFD said all occupants had left the building and that no injuries were reported, and that they were able to stop the fires from spreading to neighboring houses and brush. However, the house itself was unstable and a complete loss, said the LAFD.

Bloom Sponsors Hate Crime Bill

Assemblymember Richard Blooms website reports that he is sponsoring legislation to monitor hate crimes.

“Legislation to address the growing epidemic of hate crimes passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday afternoon. The bill, AB 1126, authored by Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), would established the first statewide commission in California to not only accurately monitor and track hate crimes and incidents, but to formally recommend policy to the Governor and State Legislature,” reports the website.

There is a growing gulf among California politicians who believe that racism is America’s biggest problem; and others who believe growing crime and homelessness are bigger problems.

LA Home Prices Rise

New data from the Case-Shiller Index reveals that the housing market is rising at a rate that hasn’t been seen in decades.

While the year-over-year change in home prices hit a historic high in 2005, that housing boom was tame compared to 2021 when considering the speed at which prices have risen in the past year.

Home prices have been rising for over a decade; however, prices have been skyrocketing at near-record rates—13.2% in March 2021.

Fueling the housing market has been five main factors, according to a January 2021 analysis from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

These include a prolonged housing production shortfall since 2008; record-low mortgage rates; fewer homes for sale due to stay-at-home orders and pandemic concerns; a shift in family spending away from travel and entertainment toward housing; and an acceleration of second home purchase.