West Coast Wrap Friday, 10/30/2026

Kids were scared, so I was trying to stay calm for them, took them in quickly, but my heart was just pounding. I was terrified for them. A scary scene outside an Arizona school where four people were injured by a lightning strike. The storm part of a pattern of severe weather across the west as we head into this weekend. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to West Coast Rap. I'm Alex Savage. Authorities say four employees at a school northwest of Phoenix were hurt when lightning struck that campus today. As Fox 10's Brian Webb reports tonight, the victims were all conscious as they were taken to the hospital. Well, this is where it happened. El Mirage Elementary School. The school stayed in session today, even after a shocking start to the school day and a real life lesson in the power of lightning. The storm hit just as students were being dropped off on the backside of the building. Then a bright flash and loud boom enough to startle Alexis and all the students around her. I was over there at that gate and The lightning struck, the thunder hit. I had a bunch of group of kids. I grabbed them all, handed them my umbrella, and then... Once it, like, stopped, I took him inside as quickly as possible. Then next came the emergency call. Reports that four people were injured after a lightning strike. I'm told all of them are adults who work at the school and that no children were hurt. But that one lightning strike was enough to rattle the entire area like the public library across the street. I was pulling books off the shelves and the lightning and the thunder were right on top of each other like I saw a flash. The thunder was so loud that it felt like the building shook and I literally jumped in the air. First responders say the victims likely did not take a direct hit and that one of them was holding an umbrella, possibly accidentally attracting trouble. Our patient stated she was holding an umbrella. There's not, we don't, it doesn't appear that she was directly struck, but yeah, definitely felt, you know, a little bit of electricity through that umbrella. The captain says the victims went to the hospital, all were alert and talking and expected to be okay. Alexis and her students are okay too, even after a heart-stopping lightning strike from out of the blue. My heart was pounding so hard. The kids were scared, so I was trying to stay calm for them. Took them in quickly, but like my heart was just pounding. I was terrified. We did go inside the school to ask if anyone could talk to us about the lightning strike or the people who were hurt, but they declined. In El Mirage, I'm Brian Webb, Fox 10 News. Yeah, really close call there in Arizona. Now, the coastal flooding threat continues all across the West, still with water levels being pushed higher because of warmer Pacific Ocean waters tied to El Nino. High tides push water onto the streets north of San Francisco this afternoon. This was the scene in Marin County, which has experienced coastal flooding for five straight days now. Thankfully, there are no reports of any damage in this area. We have also seen similar scenes along the Southern California coast all throughout this week. So let's bring in KTVU. WVU meteorologist Roberta Gonzalez, who is tracking the ongoing flood threat. This is going to continue. The concerns about coastal flooding will continue through the weekend in some places, it sounds like. It's going to continue throughout the year at different stages, right? But we did have some good news in Southern California with the coastal flood warning from San Diego to all the way to the Orange County area. That was allowed to expire 2 o'clock today. We also had the cancellation, the expiration of the coastal flood advisories from Los Angeles. We do have the extension of the coastal flood advisory until Saturday at 6 p.m. But on the shoreline here. And you pretty much know the drill by now. The North Bay all the way to the South Bay. We have this extended coastal flood advisory until Sunday, 6 p.m. And tomorrow's high tide once again over seven feet. So we will see some inundation up to two feet possible. Lapping on shore in those flood-prone areas. Now, take a look at our satellite and radar. What you're seeing here to the south, this is subtropical moisture. What you're looking at here to the north, beautiful. Look at that, counterclockwise rotation around the core, the center of that. Cool Pacific storm here. And then we have a whole lot of subtropical moisture to the southeast as well. Now, meanwhile, as we take a look at Phoenix, splash and dash showers today with 11 one hundredth of an inch of precipitation. We also had a deluge of rain in the Vegas area. And when I took a look at the readings, it was only three one hundredth of an inch. But boy, was it pouring there. Flood watch remains in effect Saturday through Monday now for Maricopa, Pinal. counties in the Arizona area. And then meanwhile, we're taking a look at the rainfall totals. It doesn't look like much for a flood watch in Phoenix, but watch what happens as we venture into Sunday and into Monday. Over two inches of rain, that'll cause some desert flooding. Also, desert flooding expected in Las Vegas. And look at Yuma, over a quarter of an inch of rain, that will cause some desert flooding with a runoff also. So in San Francisco today, it was 65 degrees with the clouds clearing out early. Meanwhile, we take you to right there. Look at that in Los Angeles, 70 degrees, two degrees shy of the... Temperature that you historically experienced this time of the year, Phoenix, 74 degrees. That was 10 degrees below average for this time of the year. And in Seattle, you checked in seven degrees below average at 49 cool degrees and only three one hundred seven inch of rain. That rain's moving out. This rain's moving due east. We do have also some snow to talk about in the greater Lake Tahoe area where we do have a winter storm advisory that goes into effect tomorrow through Sunday morning. Above 7,000 feet, six inches to a foot of snow. So clearing out in the San Francisco Bay Area before more showers arrive Saturday night to Sunday. And we're looking at over in the Phoenix and Denver area, temperatures close to where they should be for this time of the year. Alex. All right, Roberta, thank you. Anyone who tries to illegally deceive voters and interfere with the election will answer for it. As we count down to election day, a political firestorm is growing over Alaska's U.S. Senate race. Accusations that Democratic candidate Mary Peltola tried to confuse voters with a spoiler candidate have divided voters as they head to the polls. We're talking about a president trying to overturn an election, and that's where the focus should be. I think there's no denying it, and if I heard her say that it didn't happen or I didn't know nothing about it, I would just at that point At this point just think even less of her. And today, the U.S. Justice Department asked a judge to isolate some early votes in Alaska. It wants those ballots set aside as investigators look into whether the campaign of U.S. Senate candidate Mary Peltola recruited someone to enter the race with the same name as her Republican opponent, Dan Sullivan. Fox's Sarah Allegra is in Alaska now, where federal officials say a criminal investigation is underway. The Justice Department says they've launched a civil and criminal investigation as they're looking to add more investigators and prosecutors to assist here. They've also filed a preliminary court order to help preserve ballots. This is Fox reports more than 30 subpoenas have been issued so far. That lawsuit seeks to protect ballots. Nothing more for the moment, just protect the status quo. So Alaska can determine whether voters were misled. Or if the votes for Daniel J. Sullivan could have changed the outcome of the election. This all stems from the New York Times reporting that Democratic challenger Mary Paltola's campaign and National Democratic aides helped recruit a man named Dan Sullivan to siphon votes away from the sitting GOP Senator Dan Sullivan. Now, Paltola said she knew nothing about other candidates except herself and the incumbent. Here are the key players. We have Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, Independent Dan Sullivan, a retired teacher seeking the same seat, and Democratic challenger Senator Sullivan tells Fox's bad friend he's not buying the Including though, Peltola's denial. Total disdain for the people of Alaska. Mary Peltola and her campaign and the Democrats in DC and Alaska think the Alaskan people are dumb. We're not dumb. The decoy Dan is not in it to win it, he's in it to rig it. Meanwhile, voters we spoke with have different opinions about the alleged scheme. One calling the situation corrupt, another dismissing the investigation entirely. Alaska needs better than Mary Portola. The other Dan Sullivan is just the result of Mary Portola's fraud. That's hogwash. I don't care about it. And the real Dan Sullivan, he's failed us all. Now here's how both Sullivans appear on the ballot. Republicans say it could confuse voters and lead them to vote for the wrong candidate. Both qualified because Alaska advances its top four primary finishers regardless of party. All of this as people are already voting. According to the state so far, more than 72,000 people have cast their ballot in some shape or form out of the some 600,000 voters here in the state. As we get closer and closer to Election Day, this story is far from over. In Anchorage, Alaska, Sarah Allegre for West Coast Rep. And in California today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the U.S. Justice Department's demand to set aside 20,000 ballots that it claims are from likely non-citizens. Elections officials dispute the accuracy of the Trump administration's data. The appeals court said that segregating those ballots could have, quote, catastrophic effects on the entire system. The DOJ is expected to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Today, California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state will be deploying a rapid response team to guard against voter intimidation or meddling. We will be monitoring his monitors, and I assure you it will be 10 to 1. We are flooding the zone, and we're going to do it in key congressional districts that we think he's most likely to assault. Governor Newsom said the state will be sending out over 1,000 trained poll observers as well as election law attorneys to handle any questions about irregularities at vote centers. In Los Angeles, it is the final stretch in what has been a contentious mayoral race. As Fox 11's Susan Hirasuna reports tonight, the two candidates clashed over homelessness in campaign events that were just a mile apart. She supported our efforts on homelessness and public safety. In Encino in the morning, residents with Karen Bass. She is the only one who has made progress. A mile away in the afternoon, residents supporting Nithya Raman, both candidates for mayor chose basically the same San Fernando Valley area to distinguish her candidacy from her opponents. Being in Raman's council district four allowed the incumbent mayor to call out what she sees as Raman's failures. The 49% reduction in homelessness in this district was in site safe operations. And I think that one of the things that is also consistent, which is very dangerous in our city, is the inability to tell the truth. When it's in my district, she gets the credit. When numbers go up across the entire city, it's not her fault. So which is it? Are you in charge or are you not? Rahman chose the corner off the 101 freeway to show the before conditions of the underpass compared to today with a restored mural. Just one of many homeless encampments she says she successfully cleared. We brought outreach here. We brought people indoors and these areas have stayed clear. Rahman then called out the mayor for her management of the funding to solve the city's homeless problem. This mayor spent $400 million of your money, delivered indefensible results, and then refused to let your city hall watchdog check the books. That's not bad luck. That's managerial malpractice. The mayor answered with her own criticism. Affordable housing is central to her platform. She's number 14 in terms of the least amount of affordable housing built in her district. And she is the one who has been extremely inconsistent with what she said in the last two weeks. So we don't know where she stands on anything or what she actually believes in. Latest polling suggests the two candidates are running neck and neck. Rahman believes that is to her advantage. That is a sign to me of the deep, deep dissatisfaction that Angelenos are seeing in their leadership. And that was Fox 11's Susan Hirasuna reporting tonight. The Democratic Governors Association is pumping millions of dollars into some key governor's races here in the West, including in Arizona and Nevada. According to the DGA, it has spent $15 million on governor's races in Arizona and Nevada, as well as races in Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Democrats are hoping to regain a majority of the nation's governorships for the first time since 2010. Much more to come here on West Coast Rap. Tonight, cameras capture the moment an Arizona woman fights off an attacker. After the break, why investigators believe her fiancé was behind this assault. NTSB investigators are now in Oregon trying to figure out why two helicopters collided in midair late yesterday, killing three people. We told you about this story last night. It happened a few miles east of the McMinnville Airport, south of Portland. Witnesses reported hearing an explosion when those helicopters collided. According to authorities, two people, an instructor and her student, were in one helicopter while one person was in the other. The occupants of the Robinson helicopter were identified as a flight instructor out of the state of Texas and a student pilot from the United Kingdom. The sole occupant of the Airbus is an adult male from Newburgh, Oregon. So far, there are no reports of either helicopter pilot reporting any problems while in flight. The Oregon teacher who's credited with fighting off the gunman during that deadly shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School is releasing her first statement. Ben Lapine Schools published that statement on behalf of Cassidy Schutz, a certified learning specialist at that school. Schutz was the teacher who threw her cell phone at the shooter back on October 15th and wrestled him for the shotgun. In her statement, Schutz writes, quote, it all happened so fast and I wish with everything in me that we had more time. The pain of this loss I will carry with me forever. There are no words for this unimaginable reality we are facing. My focus is on these families, our team, our school, and my own healing. She asked for privacy, adding that she will not be making any more public statements at this time. Well, disturbing new details now following the arrest of a woman's fiancé in Arizona who's accused of orchestrating a plan to have someone break into their home and rape her. Fox 10's Nicole Christine has the details on this case. A reported assault took place on October 16th at the victim's Buckeye home near Southern Avenue and Miller Road. Court documents show the fiance told police he was at the gas station at the time. Now police say that fiance was behind the entire attack. This was a terrifying ordeal for them, for this woman and her young children. Surveillance video capturing the moments a Buckeye mother fights off a man in her driveway. The woman at that home claimed that she was At her home with her two small children when a stranger walked in and attacked her. The day after the reported attack, police arrested 20 year old Adrian Ayala on charges including burglary, aggravated assault and sexual abuse. That's when the case took a turn. The suspect made some claims during the arrest that he had gone to the victim's home because he had met the victim's fiance online and had struck a deal about committing this assault Police say investigators are still searching for a motive in the case, but evidence suggests the woman had no idea about the assault scheme. Commending the victim for being observant, even as she was being attacked in her own home. She was able to provide police with a description of the suspect vehicle, a partial plate. And so that immediately gave our investigators something to work off of, to be observant. To promptly report, all of those are important factors. Court documents also mention that one of the woman's young children was knocked over during the reported attack. Police say that the victim's family is now receiving assistance through the department. In Buckeye, Nicole Christine, Fox 10 News. Well, we are seeing some new snow falling in the Sierra. Today, Sierra at Tahoe shared this footage of snow coming down at the resort. They captioned the clip, Winter flipped the switch this morning. Let's go. Winter weather advisory will take effect in the Sierra Nevada tomorrow. Now, we don't see much of that snow sticking. Let's give you a live look at conditions along Interstate 80 near Soda Springs, close to Lake Tahoe. Forecasts for a super El Nino this winter have ski resorts across the West preparing for a whole lot of snow, potentially. FOX 13's Lauren Donovan spoke with resort operators in the Pacific Northwest who say they do understand that a super El Nino does not necessarily guarantee a lot of snow. As we know, last season was a little bit lackluster, but as we've seen over the last couple of weeks and months, plenty of preseason snowfall, and that's getting us really excited for the upcoming season. At Crystal Mountain, fresh snow at the base, and there's even more you can't see Let's see from here. Ryan McClary says at least a foot has already piled up on the upper mountain. We typically need two to three feet to safely open for the season. Last winter, limited snowpack and early spring-like weather limited how much terrain Washington ski resorts could keep open. Crystal saw fewer visitors and cut ticket prices. Now, the forecast for a Super El Nino is raising concerns about another dry winter. Crystal Mountain has seen a couple of Super El Ninos over the past number of decades. And for both of those seasons, we saw over 400 inches of snowfall. And so we're gonna be prepared for whatever winter brings. Whatever the weather brings, Crystal wants to entice more newcomers to the slopes. It's new beginner progression pass costs about 700 bucks. That includes three days of rentals, lessons, and lift access. Complete those three days, and you get a season pass for the rest of the winter. It's an exciting new way to get people into the sport, and we're really hopeful that it will bring more people up to the mountain. And that was FOX 13's Lauren Donovan reporting for us tonight. Typically, the Crystal Mountain Resort needs about two to three feet of snow at its base before it can open up for the season. Much more to come here on West Coast Rap tonight. It is not just Halloween that has people cosplaying this weekend. After the break, see how costumes and pop culture collide at the kickoff of L.A. Comic-Con. As we head into a busy Halloween weekend, a quick... reminder here that daylight saving time comes to an end this Sunday morning. This means everyone across the West, except most of Arizona and Hawaii, will turn back the clocks by one hour. So don't forget that. And of course, it will not be Halloween costumes, just Halloween costumes you're seeing in Southern California this weekend. The start of L.A. Comic-Con weekend puts pop culture fandom on full display tonight. Fox 11's Mario Ramirez shows us how special Special tributes will mark the event's 15th year. Live long and prosper. We are paying tribute to Star Trek icons, Walter Koenig, who played Chekov in the original Star Trek series, and Sir Patrick Stewart, who passed earlier this week. And from Star Trek... To Legos, there really is something for everyone at this year's L.A. Comic-Con. You've been running the show since 2018. Happy Comic-Con. Thank you, and thank you for joining us this morning. Yes, what do you think of my costume? I love your costume, and I love the homage, particularly with the sad news from Sir Patrick yesterday. He was such an amazing person, and, you know, so I think there will be a lot of people dressing up as him, and there will be a lot of people celebrating. I want to bring in Caitlin. Caitlin. You've got all the Legos that anybody can want. Tell me about your booth here. Yeah, so we're Bricks and Minifigs, and we buy, sell, and trade Lego pieces from all decades. And we have all the different fandoms, and we're really excited to be here at L.A. Comic-Con, our first time here. As people are heading to Comic-Con, what do they need to know? It's our 15th anniversary. We've been in Los Angeles since 2011. And I think for people that have been here before, they know that this is a celebration of every kind of nurture. nerddom. So what I always say to first timers is whatever you're into or whatever your kids are into, you'll find it here. And so whether that's K-pop Demon Hunters, which is brand new, or it's like the classic Star Wars or Star Trek or Marvel or DC characters, the nice thing about a big convention like this is there's a little bit of everything. For now, we're at the LA Convention Center in downtown Amore.