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Fire Messed Up The 10, And That’s Not Going To Help Traffic (And Other Headlines)

A sign warns: Incident Ahead All Lanes CLSD
Traffic backed up along a closed Interstate 10 after a fire that severely damaged the freeway in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.
(
Richard Vogel
/
AP
)
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There’s no good way to put this — traffic will be bad this morning. Very, very bad.

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The reason? A fire that originated in downtown Los Angeles early Saturday morning charred a section of the 10 Freeway over the weekend. The extensive damage caused authorities to shut it down indefinitely. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to aid with cleanup efforts, and on Sunday city leaders asked everyone for patience — and to brace for the inevitable impact to drivers.

10 Freeway shut down

"For those of you that remember the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Caltrans worked around the clock to complete emergency repairs to the freeways," said Mayor Karen Bass. "And this structural damage calls for the same level of urgency and effort."

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Unfortunately, this also means there’s no set timeline for when the freeway is going to open back up. It’s just too soon to know. As Bass said Sunday, “there’s no reason to think that this is going to be over in a couple of days.”

The fire’s cause is being investigated. It started in a pallet yard near the intersection of East 14th Street and South Alameda Street, then spread to another pallet yard. Firefighters managed to knock it down Sunday.

Check out what we have so far here.

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Wait ... one more thing

Alfred Molina on civil disagreement

Actors John Douglas Thompson and Alfred Molina stand on stage in a tense confrontation. Looking one another sternly in the eyes, Molina wears jeans and suspenders and points towards Thompson. Thompson, in a long sleeve button down denim shirt, is partially bent towards Molina.
John Douglas Thompson and Alfred Molina in Inherit the Wind at the Pasadena Playhouse
(
Jeff Lorch
/
Pasadena Playhouse
)
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Actor Alfred Molina spoke to LAist Weekend Edition host Julia Paskin about his performance as Henry Drummond in Inherit The Wind, which can be seen at Pasadena Playhouse. Molina’s portfolio of roles on stage and screen is impressive, and many people might best remember him as Doctor Octopus in the Spider-Man films.

His latest play, Inherit the Wind, is about a high school science teacher being prosecuted for teaching evolution. Molina (as Drummond) is the teacher’s defense attorney, and the trial takes place in a small town forced to wrestle with a volley of questions and discussion about religion.

If some of this sounds timely, Molina addresses that — especially when it comes to how his character, Drummond, deals with his adversary Matthew Harrison Brady, the prosecuting attorney. They’re opponents, yet they also remain respectful friends — which is not a feature of most discourse in 2023.

“They were clearly on different sides of the fence, but there was still this civility between them and an ability to discuss without rancor, without becoming sort of just angry with each other,” Molina said. “And I think that gives the relationship a depth which pays off later in the play.”

You can check out the rest of Julia’s interview here.

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