Melissa Gomez

SELMA, Calif. — When Teresa Bynum first heard the high-speed rail was coming to California, her family blasted the project and was staunchly against it.

California's Central Valley is where many of the people most vulnerable to bird flu live and work, and where the majority of cases in humans have been found.

As the H5N1 bird flu virus continues to rip throughout California's dairy herds and commercial poultry flocks, a Central Valley state official is raising concern about the lack of wastewater surveillance in the region.

The Central Valley is home to many of California's most vulnerable groups to bird flu: agricultural workers. It's also where wastewater surveillance of the virus is the weakest.

More than 1,100 homes, businesses and other buildings have burned and at least two people are dead in wildfires scorching communities across Los Angeles County, making this one of the most destructive firestorms to hit the region in memory.

The Eaton fire cut a brutal swath through Altadena and a cherished way of life in this eclectic foothill community it upended.

For some, Altadena's draw has been the seclusion it offers, nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, straddling the line between urban and wild.

Since 1946, the Zorthian Ranch has served as a haven for creatives who wanted to escape the confines of urban living. Last week, the Eaton fire ripped through the ranch, leaving ashes in its wake.

For years rumors swirled about a cult living on the secluded property at the end of Fair Oaks Avenue in the San Gabriel Mountain foothills bordering Altadena.

LOS ANGELES — For years rumors swirled about a cult living on the secluded property at the end of Fair Oaks Avenue in the San Gabriel Mountain foothills bordering Altadena.