Topline:

An L.A. county employee who allegedly had “a long history of sleeping on the job” was in charge of emergency workers sending evacuation alerts during critical moments of the Eaton Fire, according to a whistleblower complaint filed with the county.

About the complaint: The complaint was filed late last year by Nick Vaquero, an associate director in the county’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) since 2023. The county’s Chief Executive Office confirmed to LAist that it received the complaint.

The response: County officials said they didn't see the person asleep during the night shift from Jan. 7 to the morning of Jan. 8, 2025, and said that he didn't have a track record of sleeping on the job. The person told LAist that he wouldn't say he never slept on the job in his 38-year career with the county but that it wasn't a regular occurrence.

Read on ... for more details about the complaint and the county's response.

A group of Los Angeles County high school students is trying to set a world record by collecting thousands of tennis balls and pickleballs for recycling — and they want your help.

Why it matters: The teens are working to keep the recreational equipment out of landfills through a youth-led recycling initiative called “Another Bounce.”

Why now: “There's so much waste, and nobody really pays as much attention to it as they should,” said Max Ehrman, a 15-year-old Brentwood School freshman and junior board member.

The backstory: An estimated 500 million...