Brutal Fire Season + VP Motorcade + Story Behind Abandoned Baby

LOS ANGELES, CA — Happy Saturday, Los Angeles!

Another heatwave is bringing triple-digit temperatures to the San Fernando Valley and an elevated fire danger across the Southland this weekend. The vice president is in town along with her traffic-jamming motorcade, and the cow saga is showing no sign of letting up.

All this and more in LA's top stories.

Saturday's Weather Report: Another heatwave is moving in with a high of 86 degrees Downtown, 93 degrees in North Hollywood and 76 degrees in Redondo Beach.

Patch Pick: I should probably apologize for making every Patch Pick this week about the great cow escape, but I couldn't help myself. At first, it was so not LA...a cattle stampede?!? Then, when a grammy-winning artist rescued the last fugitive cow, it was so LA. And now, to wrap up the story, supporters of the unruly herd held a vigil for the cows, calling for the entire herd to be spared a trip to the slaughterhouse. Who knows? Maybe an Oscar-winner (animal rights activist Joaquin Phoenix, perhaps?) will come to their rescue (More on Patch).

Here are 5 of Los Angeles County's top news stories of the day:

1. Southern California fire chiefs met Friday to brace for one of the worst fire seasons on record. The message for residents is to prepare, ahead of time, with defensive space around your home and a plan for evacuation (More on Patch).
2. Vice President Kamala Harris is back in town after taking her first trip to the southern border since taking office. Harris is spending the night at her Brentwood home, and her motorcade is expected to snarl traffic through Saturday. Motorists are advised to expect delays on the Westside (More on Patch).
3. For the first time in months, coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and transmission rates are climbing in Los Angeles, but the trend was expected following the widespread reopening of the state last week. Now, however, 99 percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations are among the unvaccinated, according to county health officials. The data, and the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, point to a new urgency to reach millions of unvaccinated residents (More on Patch).
4. Los Angeles Sheriff's Department detectives say they found the woman who gave birth to a baby boy in a Lynwood park restroom and left him in the trash. According to investigators, she is a newly arrived 22-year-old Guatemalan woman, who said she had been raped and hid the resulting pregnancy. She was arrested, but her baby is in stable condition, and numerous families are seeking to adopt him (More on Patch).
5. A man driving a car with "SOS" written on the hood led police on a chase and crashed through a fence at LAX and onto a runway. The chase briefly shut down several runways as the man was taken into custody (More on Patch).

Featured Events For Your Weekend:

The Laramie Project, Saturday, 12:00 a.m., Los Angeles

• TWO DAYS ONLY! JUNE 26-27, 2021, STREAMING ON DEMAND. The Laramie Projectby Moises Kaufman and Members of Tectonic Theater Project. In October 1998, a twenty-one-year-old student at the University of Wyoming was kidnapped, severely beaten, and left tied to a fence in the middle of the prairie outside Laramie, Wyoming. His bloody, bruised, and battered body was not discovered until the next day, and he died several days later in an area hospital. His name was Matthew Shepard, and he was the victim of this assault because he was gay.

The Phoenix Los Angeles and AT Center to Host Pride = Health Saturday, 11:00 a.m., AT Center, 1773 Griffith Park Blvd, Los Angeles

• The Phoenix, a non-profit organization that fosters a supportive, sober active community for individuals recovering from substance use, is collaborating with the AT Center to host Pride = Health, a local fundraiser to raise funds for gym equipment as part of the two organizations’ on going partnership. The Phoenix Los Angeles invites local sober LGBTQ+ members, friends, and family to the three-hour, fun-filled event to celebrate Pride and sobriety through food, games, music, dancing and more. The event will feature performances from The Iconic House of Ebony, Pickle and Ronald Keaton, DJ by DJ BB Gurl, and emceed by Tony Moore. Scott Strode, founder of The Phoenix will also be sharing his experience with sobriety and how he created The Phoenix as an inclusive community for supporting individuals in recovery from substance use disorder.

Torrance Antique Street Faire, Sunday, 8:00 p.m., Downtown Torrance - 1317 Sartori Ave., Torrance

• Join the hunt for vintage treasures when 150 sellers transform the streets of downtown Torrance into an eclectic open-air antiques market! Antique Appraisal Booth - only $3.00 per item! DJ Ozzie in the Park! Special performance by LA Swing Dance Posse at 10:00 am and 12:30 pm. Pet Friendly! Free admission and parking! For information call (310) 328-6107.

See more on the Los Angeles calendar!

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~Paige

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Los Angeles County Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Los County Patch? Email all inquiries to me at paige.austin@patch.com