Oct. 27 (UPI) — Preparation is underway for Rockefeller Center’s annual 2025 Christmas tree custom in New York City.
Officials announced Monday a 75-year-old Norway spruce at 75 feet high and weighing about 11 tons was picked to be the iconic tree for this year’s holiday season. The tree was chosen by head gardener Erik Pauze.
“What I look for is a tree you’d want in your living room, but on a grander scale,” according to Pauze, adding it “needs to make people smile the second they see it.”
It was donated by the Russ family of East Greenbush, N.Y., and scheduled to be cut down Nov. 6.
The tree is slated to make the 130-mile journey to arrive in Manhattan at Rockefeller Center on Nov. 8 and will remain in place until mid-January.
Rockefeller’s Christmas tree tradition dates to 1931. Last year’s display was a 74-foot Norway Spruce grown in West Stockbridge, Mass.
After this season’s tree is removed from Rockefeller Center in January, it will be turned into lumber and used for Habitat for Humanity projects.
The vibe: A back-to-basics 1940s motor court in the heart of the 29 Palms revival.
The details: In 1946, when jackrabbits and homesteading World War II veterans dominated the dry, remote open spaces of the Morongo Basin, the Mesquite Motel went up along the main highway in Twentynine Palms. By 1962, it was called La Hacienda and had a tall, yellow, utterly utilitarian sign (and a little, rectangular pool). Later it became the Motel 29 Palms, the Sunset Motel and the Mojave Trails Inn. In 2019, owner Ashton Ramsey said, he bought it for $350,000 and dubbed it Ramsey 29.
The old yellow sign hangs out front. But Ramsey turned L.A.-based Kristen Schultz and her firm K/L DESIGN loose to take these 10 rooms in a desert-eclectic direction.
Furniture is hand-built, brick walls are whitewashed and coat hangers carry their own clever slogans. Headboards are upcycled from Italian military stretchers, canvas armchairs bear the words “soiled clothes large” and the new tiles on the bathroom floor say “29,” as do custom blankets and other items. The floors are concrete. Room 9, closest to the highway, now has triple-paned windows. Six rooms opened in 2020, the remaining four in 2024. Guests check themselves in digitally.
Ramsey plans changes around the pool next, including more palm trees. But he’s not shying away from the word “motel.”
“I’ve leaned into that,” Ramsey said. “You’ve got to be proud of what you are.” In fact, he said, “We didn’t just renovate a motel. We’re trying to renovate a town. If we don’t brag on 29, nobody else will.”
Spring rates typically start at $185 a night on weekends (plus taxes), $95 on weekdays. Free parking. Pets OK for a fee. (The hotel website routes bookings through Airbnb.)
Since September, shares of Dollar Tree have fallen by 20%.
Dollar Tree(DLTR 5.68%) stock has been doing fairly well this year, up 17% entering trading this week, which is better than the S&P 500‘s gain of 11%. But in recent weeks, Dollar Tree’s stock has been in a tailspin, reaching levels it hasn’t been at in months. It recently was down about 26% from its high of $118.06.
What’s behind the stock’s sharp sell-off, and could there be more trouble ahead for Dollar Tree investors? Here’s what you need to know about why it’s been doing so poorly, what could impact its future performance, and whether it’s worth buying the retail stock on the dip.
Image source: Getty Images.
The sell-off began after its second-quarter results came out
On Sept. 3, Dollar Tree released its second-quarter results for fiscal 2025. That day, the stock would fall by more than 8% and its decline would continue in the following weeks.
Overall, the quarter wasn’t a bad one for Dollar Tree. Same-store net sales rose by 6.5% for the period ending Aug. 2 and operating income of $231 million rose by 7% year over year. Investors, however, may have been worried about what lies ahead for the business in upcoming quarters.
On the company’s earnings call, CEO Michael Creedon did allude to tariff risk ahead.
“The timing of the impacts of tariffs and our mitigation activities played out differently than we originally anticipated, with some of the net positive benefits of our mitigation initiatives coming earlier in Q2 and the tariff impacts shifting to later in the year,” he said.
Tariffs have been a big concern for investors this year and while Dollar Tree is planning to mitigate those potential headwinds as best as it can, it could mean that worse results may be on the horizon for the discount retailer. A big test may be looming for the company when it reports results later this year, and investors may be hesitant to hold on to the retail stock given the uncertainty.
Why it may not be all bad news for Dollar Tree investors
Although tariffs may negatively impact Dollar Tree’s top and bottom lines, the company is giving itself more of a buffer these days by introducing a greater variety of products that are priced between $3 and $5. While the vast majority of its products still cost consumers less than $2, the expansion into higher-priced items can help it appeal to a wider range of shoppers.
During the quarter, Creedon said that households earning $100,000 or more were a “meaningful portion of our Q2 growth,” and that’s been part of an emerging trend for Dollar Tree as consumers look for ways to trim their budgets.
Dollar Tree is in a good position where both low-income and high-income shoppers may see a reason to go to its stores. With a solid comparable store growth rate, it’s proving that the business may be more resilient than other retailers.
Is Dollar Tree stock a good buy?
The decline in Dollar Tree’s stock in recent weeks doesn’t put it anywhere near its 52-week low of $60.49, but it does bring its price-to-earnings multiple down to around 17. That’s well below where the average S&P 500 stock trades — a multiple of nearly 26.
Tariffs may be a concern for the company in the short term, but over the long run it’s not likely to weigh on the business because policies may change and Dollar Tree will have more time to adapt. The stock’s reasonable valuation combined with the company’s continued strong results makes it a solid investment to consider today.
David Jagielski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
A WOMAN killed by a falling tree branch has been named and pictured as her family paid a heartbreaking tribute.
Jen Higgins, 49, died at the scene in Barlow Moor Road, Manchester, on August 30 following the freak incident.
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The fallen tree branch in Barlow Moor Road last monthCredit: MEN Media
In a statement, Jen’s family said: “The family of Jen Higgins are heartbroken to confirm she lost her life in a sudden and tragic accident.
“She was a beloved wife, daughter, sister, daughter-in-law, and aunt – a vibrant and supportive friend to many; and a dynamic and widely respected member of the Manchesterbusiness community.
“You will no doubt empathise with the deep and profound shock we are feeling at this moment and ask for privacy while we grieve. A further statement will be issued when we feel able.”
Died at the scene
Emergency services rushed to the road following a call at around 7.15pm but Jen died at the scene despite the efforts of paramedics.
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said at the time: “At around 7.15pm on Saturday, August 30, we were called to reports a tree had fallen onto a woman on Barlow Moor Road, Didsbury.
“Despite the best efforts of emergency workers, a woman in her 40s was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
“The death is not being treated as suspicious.”
A member of staff at Barlow Moor petrol station, who asked not to be named, described seeing the tree “snap” moments before the tragedy unfolded.
They said: “The tree just snapped, it was a big branch and just fell. A woman was walking underneath.
“The weather was a bit windy but not strong. A few locals came out and some of them were doctors so they were trying to help her.
“Then the ambulance came and police closed the road.
“It is a big tree and it was a massive branch that fell – blocking off all the road. It was two or three thick branches that fell at once.”
An inquest into Jen’s death is due to open at Manchester Coroners’ Court on September 23.
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Jen Higgins was killed by a falling tree branchCredit: Carousel PR
A MAN has been rushed to hospital with serious injuries after he was crushed under a large tree.
The tree is believed to have been damaged in the recent stormy weather.
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The dog walker was rushed to hospital after being found with serious injuriesCredit: WlStoke_Lodge / X
The horror incident unfolded on Shirehampton Road, Bristol, just before 5pm.
Emergency services rushed to assist the man who was out walking his dog when the terrifying incident occurred.
Police and fire crews were scrambled to the scene where the man was found with “serious injuries.”
He was rushed to hospital to be treated by medics.
A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police said: “We were called by the ambulance service shortly before 5pm to reports a man had been injured after a tree fell in Shirehampton Road in the Stoke Bishop area of Bristol.
“Emergency services attended and the man was taken to hospital for treatment of injuries described as serious.”
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The tree is believed to have been damaged in the recent stormy weatherCredit: WlStoke_Lodge / X
It prohibits the cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting or wilful damage or destruction of trees without explicit consent of the local planning authority, even on private land.
Viral Neighbour Shows No Respect: Cutting Down a 10-Year-Old Tree
The couple’s lime tree was protected because of its age and amenity value.
However, the couple chopped the tree down despite the planning applications not being approved.
They planted another tree in its place.
The council said that one of its ecologists was walking past the property when they noticed the tree was no longer there.
Recently, Newport City Council sent the couple a letter saying they would be prosecuted for causing or permitting the destruction of a tree protected by a TPO.
While husband Damon Rands was cleared of wrongdoing, it resulted in a trial at Newport Magistrates’ Court for Claire.
Yesterday, Claire lost her appeal and was sentenced.
It followed a long dispute over the TPO’s wording, with Claire’s lawyers arguing that the crime is written into law in England, and not Wales.
Instead, they argued she should be convicted of a lesser offence, as she didn’t personally chop down the tree.
Tim Straker, representing Newport Council alongside Elizabeth Nicholls said: “There is no dispute that Rands engaged somebody and secured the large lime tree of considerable amenity value to be removed from her garden, to use the vernacular, lock stock and barrel.
“It is said that in Wales you cannot be guilty of an offence of causing or permitting the destruction of a tree protected by a TPO. But it is unsatisfactory that someone could order a protected tree to be cut down on their land but then run free from any responsibility.”
It led Judge Celia Hughes to convict her of the more serious offence.
She said before sentencing: “It would be contrary to common sense that a householder could be prosecuted for a more minor offence when they are the person who directed the tree to be removed in the first place.”
The council estimated their property value had increased by at least £50,000 by removing the tree.
As such, she was dealt a £16,000 fine, as well as being ordered to pay £100,000 in prosecution costs.
She has 12 months to pay the fines.
The case has helped to define how the English law applies in Wales, determining that “causing or permitting the felling of a protected tree is an offence” according to Sarah Dodds of Tree Law UK.
A TEENAGER has died after a car she was travelling in crashed into a tree on a rural road in the early hours of yesterday morning.
The woman, 18, tragically passed away when the silver Renault Clio – which she was a passenger in – collided with a tree after veering off the road in Hartlepool at 4.18am on Thursday, Cleveland Police said.
A 26-year-old man, who was driving the vehicle, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving as well as other driving offences.
He remains in police custody at this time.
The tragic crash took place on a road known locally as Greatham Back Lane, which connects the A689 to Greatham village.
Police said the woman suffered fatal injuries in the collision and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her family have been informed and are being supported by specially trained officers.
Cops are now looking to witnesses or anyone who may have CCTV or dashcam footage of the silver Clio in the village to come forward.
You can contact Cleveland Police on 101, quoting reference number 148268.
Alternatively, you can upload footage directly by following this link.
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Police are appealing for any witnesses of the crash to come forwardCredit: Google Maps
The two-dimensional version of President Obama wearing a red and green Santa hat in California Rep. Grace Napolitano’s office draws a crowd.
Random visitors, and occasionally members of Congress, filtered past the door wrapped like a present, to snap a selfie with the commander-in-cardboard.
Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk) shows off Christmas decorations in her office. She said staff and visitors stop in to have their photo taken with the cutout of President Obama in a Santa hat.
(Sarah D. Wire)
Rep. Grace Napolitano shows off Christmas decorations in her office. (Sarah D. Wire/Los Angeles Times)
“They just decide they want to come in and stand next to him and get a picture taken,” Napolitano said, laughing.
At the White House Christmas party one year, the nine-term Democrat from Norwalk just had to let the president know how much action his doppelganger was getting in her office.
Napolitano said she showed Obama a photo of her staff posing with the cutout. The president pulled it out of her hands and showed it off to other attendees.
Her office on the sixth floor of the Longworth House Office Building is bustling around the holidays, a little cheer that helped as Congress bickered in the final days of the year on spending and world problems.
Decorations appear around the Capitol and House and Senate office buildings in December — Capitol police have a small tree, some office doors hold wreaths or feature entryway stockings — but Napolitano’s is one of the more elaborate.
“It makes it nice to walk into an office and see the cheerfulness,” Napolitano said.
Each door to her office suite is covered in shiny red or green colored wrapping paper and in the hallway, lit candy cane lawn ornaments lead visitors to the office. Lights shaped like chili peppers frame a mirror in the entryway and tinsel or garland line nearly every available surface. Chinese lanterns hang from the ceiling while Santa, reindeer and angel figurines peek out from shelves.
Napolitano began decorating the space when she took office in 1999, but it gained steam in 2011 when she received some of the 3,000 ornaments made by California children that had adorned the 63-foot-tall Capitol Christmas tree from Stanislaus National Forest.
Many of those ornaments still hang from the branches of an artificial pine reaching 6-feet high, not far from framed citations and awards for her public service. Napolitano said that next year, she plans to ask schools in her district to send new ornaments for the tree.
The wood-paneled office is traditionally more sedate, decorated with pictures from events in California or of her family and maps of the district. Brochures for tourist activities in Washington line a shelf.
Staff have to wait all month to find out what’s inside the wrapped boxes at the foot of the tree next to the picture of a fireplace decorated with lights. Eventually she’ll buy a faux fireplace with fake crackling flames to replace the photo, said Napolitano, who pays for the decorations herself.
Feels like family
Staff members do the decorating the week of Thanksgiving, she said, as a way to make Washington seem more like home during the hectic final weeks Congress is in session.
“It’s part of the family feeling” in the office, Napolitano said.
She tries to maintain the sentiment year-round.
Staff cook in the office weekly, practicing Napolitano’s recipes for dishes like enchiladas or migas — a mixture of scrambled eggs, vegetables and strips of corn tortillas.
Male staffers sport holiday ties she buys them and joke about the amount of food they eat at work. A staff member opened a cabinet to show off the seven bags of avocados ripening in preparation for “thank you” guacamole that Napolitano will make for staff who worked on the federal highway funding bill.
In recent years, Napolitano’s office has hosted a “hall party” for other members and staff.
Her Longworth neighbor, Rep. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego), said he loves having the decorations next door. He tries to spread his own holiday joy.
“I walk in there now every time I go by … and I sing a little Christmas song with them and they all laugh, but I love it,” Vargas said. Then he belted out the lyrics for “Holly, Jolly Christmas.”
The decorations inspired him.
“They put us in the Christmas spirit, so much so that I went out and got a tree myself, carried it down the street and put it in my office,” he said. “If you go into my office you’ll see a real tree with the real smells. It’s terrific.”
What’s it like to have Christmas cheer the next office over?
“Honestly, I don’t know if she is going to like this, but it’s like having my mom down the hall,” Vargas said. “If I really need anything I can go to her. She’s as helpful as anybody I’ve ever met, she’s as kind and nice and sweet as anyone I’ve ever met, and she always wants to help, but I’ve gained a few pounds because of her.”
This weekend, Descanso Gardens will unveil a meticulously curated art exhibition titled “Roots of Cool: A Celebration of Trees and Shade in a Warming World.” Co-curated by Edith de Guzman, cooperative extension climate researcher at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, and artist Jolly de Guzman — a husband-and-wife duo — the exhibition highlights all-women artists who provoke visitors to contemplate the pressing issue of shade equity, the unequal access to cooling shade across urban neighborhoods, and what a tree and shade filled future can look like for L.A.
The goals of the exhibition are clear from the start, beginning with its title, “Roots of Cool,” which creatively integrates the Fahrenheit symbol in the word “of,” a tree in the letter “t” and the word “cool” as a shadow cast from the word “roots.”
The exhibit begins in the garden’s pathways, strewn with artworks, which lead visitors to the gallery rooms housed in the park’s Sturt Haaga Gallery and historic Boddy House.
A visitor’s proposal for a new type of bus stop that offers more shade, part of the new exhibition “Roots of Cool: A Celebration of Trees and Shade in a Warming World” at Descanso Gardens on July 9, 2025.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
The first piece of art on the path, located at the gardens entrance, is Leslie K. Gray’s “Bus Stop of the Past,” an outdoor installation that shows the silhouette of a woman standing on an L.A. street, presumably waiting for a bus, with no shade structure nearby, meant to represent the climate-related challenges women bus riders faced while commuting in the past.
It’s the first of a three-part installation — the other two parts show up later in the exhibition — that invites visitors “to think temporally about where we’ve been and where we’re going,” Gray said. According to the artist, it is meant to highlight historical urban planning decisions that have left certain communities disproportionately vulnerable to heat, particularly women of color, who are prominent riders of L.A. public transportation, as indicated by statistics displayed on the bus signs accompanying the works.
Another standout of the outdoor part of the exhibition is Chantée Benefield’s “Cool Canopy,” which entails dozens of multicolored umbrellas suspended over visitors’ heads. The piece is particularly resonant given that it is actually a recreation that Benefield made after the original was lost, along with her family home, in the Eaton Fire.
Artist Chantée Benefield’s installation “Cool Canopy” at Descanso Gardens on July 9, 2025.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
“What if the trees in neighborhoods were like graffiti, just ubiquitous everywhere?” Benefield asked. Her installation is both a colorful homage to lost greenery and a powerful statement on urban shade disparities, prompting visitors to contemplate what they would do without the shade being cast by these “trees” as they walk through the sunny patch where the work is located.
The next stop on the pathway is the second piece in Gray’s three-part installation: “Bus Stop of the Present.” It’s a version of the first, but with the addition of a shade structure for the woman bus rider. However, it shows clearly that the added structure is still inadequate, reflecting many of the realities women bus commuters face today. The bus sign here contains scientific facts that make the case for the critical need for systemic urban planning changes. Gray emphasized that these facts were carefully selected from peer-reviewed research and “scientifically vetted.”
Entering the Sturt Haaga Gallery, things change. Each room is meant to elicit a specific experience around urban planning and vegetation, and so each has its own visual and auditory scheme.
Kim Abeles’ piece “Looking for Paradise (Downtown Los Angeles).”
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
It begins with a dreary, urban past: shown against gray walls, works by Kim Abeles and Diana Kohne address historical inequities. Abeles’ installation “Looking for Paradise” visualizes the uneven distribution of trees in Downtown Los Angeles, while Kohne’s painted urban landscapes vividly depict the shade inadequacies she witnessed firsthand through her bus commutes as an L.A. resident, emphasizing how Los Angeles and other cities were built for “efficiency” rather than human comfort. The works are paired with compelling research, including the history of redlining and crucial heat-shade statistics, which visitors can interact with and see how their own communities are affected by these factors.
The next room is the present, with bright yellow walls representing the increasing urban heat of a changing climate. The artworks attempt to do the same. For example, Lisa Tomczeszyn’s installation, “Every Bench Deserves a Tree,” consists of two benches beside each other, one with no shade and only a street sign reading “Asphalt Blvd” while the other is shaded by a large tree — with leaves that are actually cutout photos of trees throughout the Deaconso gardens.
Finally, the third gallery room attempts to project a cooler, more verdant future with walls colored a serene green hue. It features works that imagine a future where technology and city planning better respond to environmental stressors, including Pascaline Doucin-Dahlke’s “Suspended Garden.” Like Tomczeszyn’s work in the previous room, this piece is also comprised primarily of benches set underneath umbrellas. In this case however, those umbrella canopies are made of repurposed plant materials.
Artist Pascaline Doucin-Dahlke’s piece “Suspended Garden” at Descanso Gardens.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
One key goal of the exhibit is to help visitors connect to the importance of heat, shade and urban trees. For example, at the very end of the exhibit in the Boddy House, visitors can contribute to a real-world data collection study about how shade shapes their neighborhoods and what shade-heat related fact they find most striking, and are also invited to draw their imagined shade structures for women waiting at bus stops.
“[We] just don’t want to do science and just don’t want to do art. [We] want to create a good intersection that actually engages people,” said Jolly de Guzman.
Yarn Bombing Los Angeles’ installation inside of Boddy House at Descanso Gardens on July 9, 2025.
(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)
“We want to get them through the heartstrings, visually, aesthetically and actively,” added Edith de Guzman. Reflecting on the broader potential for change, she said, “There’s a lot of reasons to despair right now, but if we change our radio frequency a little bit, we can connect to a whole different feeling. We can actually create the city we want, in the neighborhoods that we deserve.”
The exhibition will run from July 12 to Oct. 12, 2025, with a free opening reception on Friday, July 11, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The family of a seven-year-old girl who died after a tree collapsed on her in a park has described her as “a light in our lives”.
Leonna Ruka, from Dagenham in east London, was visiting Southend-on-Sea with family.
Emergency services were called to Chalkwell Park shortly before 15:00 BST on Saturday, but Leonna died in hospital.
A six-year-old girl, who was also under the tree and is Leonna’s cousin, remains critically ill in hospital.
In a statement Leonna’s family said: “It is with broken hearts and unimaginable pain that we share the devastating loss of our beloved daughter Leonna – our beautiful, bright, and loving little girl, taken from us far too soon.
“Leonna was more than just a child – she was a light in our lives and in the lives of everyone who had the joy of meeting her.
“She was funny, kind, and full of life – a shining star who brought happiness wherever she went.
“From the moment she walked into a room, she would light it up.
“She was the kind of girl who gave love without asking for anything in return.
“She was perfect – too perfect for a world that can be so cruel and unfair.”
Before the sun rose Tuesday, Benito Flores fortified the front door of his one-bedroom duplex on a narrow street in El Sereno.
Flores, a 70-year-old retired welder, had illegally seized a home five years ago after its owner, the California Department of Transportation, had left it vacant. He’d been allowed to stay for a few months, then was directed to this nearby home owned by the agency, but now it was time to go.
Later in the morning, deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department were scheduled to lock him out.
Flores clearly had other plans. Over months, he’d sawed wooden two-by-fours to use as a brace between the front door and an interior wall to make it harder to breach. He bolted shut the metal screen door. Once Flores was satisfied he’d secured the entrance Tuesday, he retreated to a wooden structure he built 28 feet high in an ash tree in the backyard.
If the police wanted him to leave, they’d have to come get him in his tree house.
“I plan to resist as long as I can,” Flores said.
The homemade structure, 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide, represents the last stand for Flores and a larger protest that captured national attention in March 2020. Flores and a dozen others occupied empty homes owned by Caltrans, acquired by the hundreds a half-century ago for a freeway expansion that never happened. They said they wanted to call attention to the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles.
The issue, Flores said, remains no less urgent today. Political leaders, he argued, have failed to provide housing for all who need it.
“They don’t care about the people,” Flores said. “Who is supposed to give permanent housing to elders, disabled and families with children? It is the city and the state. And they are evicting me.”
For the public agencies involved, the resistance represents an intransigence that belies the assistance and leniency they’ve offered to Flores and fellow protesters who call their group “Reclaiming Our Homes.” The state allowed group members, or Reclaimers, to remain legally and paying rents far below market rates for two years. Since then, the agencies have continued to offer referrals for permanent housing and financial settlements of up to $20,000 if group members left voluntarily.
Evictions, they’ve said, were a last resort and required by law.
“We don’t have any authority to operate outside of that,” said Tina Booth, director of asset management for the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, which is operating the housing program on Caltrans’ behalf.
Four Reclaimers, including Flores, remain in the homes.
Two have accepted settlements and are expected to leave within weeks. The final Reclaimer also has a court-ordered eviction against him, but plans to leave without incident.
Flores said evicting him makes no sense because the property is intended to be used as affordable housing that he qualifies for. Flores, who suffers from diabetes, collects about $1,200 a month in Social Security and supplemental payments. If he’s removed, Flores said, he has no other option except to sleep in his van — where he lived for 14 years before the home seizure.
“We are going to live on the streets for the rest of our lives,” Flores said of he and others evicted in the protest group in an open letter he sent to Sheriff Robert Luna last week.
Flores received advance notice of the lockout. His supporters began arriving at 6 a.m. Tuesday to fill the normally sleepy block. Flores already was up in the tree.
Within 90 minutes, more than two dozen people had arrived. They stationed lookouts on the corners. Some went inside Flores’ house through a side door to provide another layer of defense.
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1.Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies speak over a fence to Benito Flores on Shelley Street in El Sereno, CA on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.2.Benito Flores speaks with the media on Tuesday, June 3, 2025 saying that the sheriff’s department that will serve him with eviction lack compassion and that him living on the street will mean facing death.
Gina Viola, an activist and former mayoral candidate, rallied the crowd on the sidewalk. It was “despicable,” she said, to leave homes empty when so many were in need. She said those in power needed to act, just as Flores and the Reclaimers have, to provide permanent housing immediately.
“This is part of a reckoning that is long overdue,” Viola said.
She pointed to the tree house, praising Flores.
“He’s a 70-year-old elder who has climbed … into the sky to make this point to the world: ‘This is my home and I won’t leave it.’”
The structure has been visible from the street for weeks. Flores had attached a sign to the front with a message calling for a citywide rent strike.
The tree house is elaborate. Flores used galvanized steel braces to attach a series of ladders to the ash tree’s trunk. Where the trunk narrowed higher in the tree, Flores bolted spikes into the bark to make the final few steps into the structure.
Inside the tree house and hanging on nearby branches were blankets, warm clothing, food, water and his medication. To keep things clean, there’s a wooden broom he can sweep out leaves and other detritus. Flores expected to charge his phone via an extension cord connected to electricity in the garage. He bolted a chair to the bottom of the tree house and has a safety belt to catch him should he fall.
Deputies had not yet arrived by 9 a.m. Flores descended, wearing a harness, to speak with members of the news media from his driveway. He spoke from behind a locked fence.
Flores rejected the assertion that the Housing Authority has provided him with another place to live. He said the agency’s offers of assistance, such as Section 8 vouchers, aren’t guarantees. He cited the struggles that voucher holders face when finding landlords to accept the subsidies.
“They offered me potential permanent housing,” Flores said of the Housing Authority.
Jenny Scanlin, the agency’s chief strategic development officer, said that Flores was offered more than two dozen referrals to other homes, but that he rejected them. Some involved waiting lists and vouchers, but others had occupancy immediately available, she said.
“We absolutely believe he would have had an alternative place to live — permanent affordable housing” — had Flores accepted the assistance, Scanlin said.
Joseph De La O, 62, seized a Caltrans-owned home in 2020. He accepted a settlement from HACLA and has since returned to homelessness. He came to Flores’ home to help protest the eviction.”
As Flores held court in the driveway, he rolled up a pant leg to show a sore from his diabetes and said that on the streets he’d have nowhere to refrigerate his insulin.
While Flores spoke, supporters were on edge. Representatives of the property management company milled a block away holding drills.
Around 9:45, two sheriff’s cruisers parked a block away. Three deputies got out and met the property managers, then walked to Flores’ home.
Flores’ supporters met them at the driveway. The deputies said they wanted to talk to Flores and brushed past to the locked gate. Flores told them to ask themselves why they needed to evict a senior citizen. The deputies responded that they had offered assistance from adult protective services and were following orders from the court.
A deputy handed Flores a pamphlet describing housing resources the county offered, including information about calling 211. Flores held up the paper above his head to show everyone. The crowd started booing and yelling “Shame.”
An officer then tried to reason with Flores in Spanish. But it was clear things were going nowhere.
“Suerte,” the officer said to Flores. “Good luck.”
Then they left.
The Sheriff’s Department could not immediately be reached for comment, and a Caltrans spokesperson referred comment to the Housing Authority. Scanlin said she expected the lockout process would continue per the court’s order.
Flores and his supporters believe sheriff’s deputies could return at any time. Some are planning to camp out at his house overnight.
Trains between Glasgow and London have been disrupted by damage to overhead electric lines caused by a fallen tree in southern Scotland.
Avanti West Coast said all lines were blocked between Lockerbie and Carstairs and services would be affected until 14:00. Some services scheduled to start in Glasgow now starting in Preston, Lancashire, and experiencing delays of several hours.
Passengers waiting overnight on the Caledonian Sleeper service from Glasgow Central were told a tree had come down on the line.
