Wealthy LA homeowners take up arms to defend their fire-ravaged neighborhoods from looters [Video]

A professional's unexpected behavior in public raises questions about trust and ethics.

OUR FREE APP. A NEW MEXICAN WOMAN LOSES HER CHILDHOOD HOME AFTER IT BURNED DOWN IN HOBBS. SHE TELLS ALYSSA MUNOZ. THIS HAPPENED WHILE HELPING OTHERS IN HER COMMUNITY GO THROUGH THE SAME THING. BUT IN CALIFORNIA. SASHA JASMINE BAEZA SAYS WHILE THE CALIFORNIA FIRES DIDNT REACH HER DOORSTEP, SHE STEPPED UP TO HELP OTHERS IN HER COMMUNITY WHO HAVE BEEN AFFECTED. NOW, WHAT SHE DIDNT REALIZE IS THAT SHED ALSO BE HELPING HER FAMILY DO THE SAME THING MILES AWAY. EVERYBODY WAS WORRIED ABOUT ME IN LOS ANGELES, AND IT TURNED OUT THAT WE LOST A HOME BACK HOME IN NEW MEXICO. LOS ANGELES IS JASMINE BAEZS HOME AWAY FROM HOME FOR THE LAST 12 YEARS. SHE, LIKE MANY, WATCHED AS FIRES BURNED DOWN COMMUNITIES NEAR HER. IT WAS REALLY SCARY TO SEE THE FACT THAT THESE FIRES WERE RAVAGING THROUGH HOMES AND LAND, ACRES AT A TIME. IT TOOK, I THINK, OVER 5 TO 6 DAYS BEFORE THEY STARTED TO GET ANY CONTAINMENT ON THESE FIRES. A FEW DAYS LATER, BAEZA GOT A CALL. HER FAMILY WAS SEEING SIMILAR FLAMES MILES AWAY. I WAS JUST IMMEDIATELY SHOCKED. UPSET, CRYING. BUT MY GRANDMA WAS SAFE. MY GRANDPA WAS SAFE. A HOME BUILT 30 YEARS AGO BY HER GRANDPA AFTER IMMIGRATING HERE. GONE. WERE ALL REALLY UPSET THAT THE. ALL THE MEMORIES THAT WE BUILT WITHIN THAT HOME ARE GONE. SHE HAD THAT HOUSE SO MANY DIFFERENT COLORS LIKE GREEN, YELLOW, ORANGE, PINK. IT WAS JUST OUR LITTLE MEXICAN OASIS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF TOWN. NOW SHES SEEING WHATS LEFT OF HER CHILDHOOD HOME THROUGH FACETIME. OFFICIALS SAY THE FIRE WAS CAUSED BY A HEATER THAT WAS PLUGGED IN OVERNIGHT. AT THE END OF THE DAY, EVERYBODYS GRATEFUL, FEELING A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT THINGS. AND LIKE I SAID, WERE NOT FACING CHALLENGES LIKE WILDFIRES STILL GOING. SO FOR ME, THATS BEEN A LITTLE DIFFERENT WHERE IT JUST FEELS LIKE THIS HASNT THAT WE HAVENT REACHED A COMPLETE STOP. BUT ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, THEY DO HAVE A LOT MORE CONTAINMENT ON THE FIRES OUT HERE. AND THAT WILL ALSO HELP MY FAMILY FEEL BETTER. BAEZA SAYS HER FAMILY HAS GOTTEN A LOT OF SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY, AND GLAD EVERYONE WAS ABLE TO GE

Bank of Albuquerque customers can once again use online services. The bank says it experienced a significant outage involving a service provider. It started sometime Wednesday, Jan. 15.The service provider also impacted 26 other banks, according to a spokesperson with BOK Financial. Follow us on social: Facebook | X/Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeLate Thursday night Bank of Albuquerque posted this statement on its website:"Our digital banking platforms are back online after an outage at our service provider. Deposits, payments, and transactions may be delayed or incorrectly reflected but will continue to update as today's transactions are processed. Thank you for your patience as we work through remaining issues. For assistance, please contact ExpressBank."BOK Financial also offered this message to clients regarding to outage:"We understand how frustrated you are and apologize for the significant delay as we wait for the system to come back online. This is a system issue outside of our control but please be assured our team is working diligently with our vendor to get it back online. We know it is stressful to not have access to your account or debit card and sincerely regret the inconvenience it has caused. We will post an update as soon as we have one."Stay updated on the latest news with the KOAT app. You can download it here.

The excitement inside of BMW Manufacturing's Plant Spartanburg was high as the first vehicles rolled onto the newly expanded assembly line on Thursday morning. WYFF News 4 was given an exclusive look. To watch the story, click on the video above. The nearly $2 billion upfit expanded the assembly hall by more than 50 percent and will allow for the assembly of fully electric, hybrid and internal combustion engines. That diversity is part of BMW's "Technology Openness Approach." WYFF News 4 was also granted an exclusive interview with Oliver Zipse, chair of the Board of Management BMW AG.He said that strategy is all about the quality of the vehicle and the brand."Whether it's highly efficient combustion engines, whether it's plug-in hybrid, or fully electric, or even M models, we make that independent of the drivetrain, and customers have a choice. I think our current model success shows that we don't tell people what to buy, we supply what they want. We manage the complexity behind it, and we will continue that strategy here in Spartanburg," Zipse said. The expansion will enable BMW to build at least six fully electric models by 2030, and the high voltage batteries to fuel those vehicles will be assembled right down the street in Woodruff. Our tour gave us another exclusive peek today inside "Plant Woodruff," which is one year from completion. Zipse visited the plant for the first time since announcing the plan in 2022.He said he's pleased with the progress."We believe first of all in the technology, second that people would like to contribute for local value added and especially in the highly valued and very expensive electric drive train. So that is a big step for us, but also a big step for our customers," Zipse said. It's hard to overstate the economic value of South Carolina's relationship with the BMW Group for the past thirty years. The group has invested more than $14.8 billion and is now completing its seventh expansion. According to the Darla Moore School of Business at USC, the annual overall economic impact of BMW in South Carolina is $26.7 billion.Zipse said South Carolina feels like a second home."Now, 30 years later, we are the largest exporter in value of vehicles from the United States, so we are not only supplying the local market, we supply the world with our vehicles, and because we are investing, we see a grand future here in South Carolina for the world," Zipse said. He points to the company motto as the BMW Group and South Carolina look to the next 30 years, "Building Legacy - Driving Future."