Latest news with #Palmdale
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Yes, Christian Bale is building homes in California to keep foster siblings together
Claim: Actor Christian Bale is building 12 homes in a $22 million village in Palmdale, California, that aims to keep siblings in the foster-care system together. Rating: In June 2025, a claim (archived) circulated online that Batman actor Christian Bale was building 12 homes in a $22 million village in Palmdale, California, that aimed to keep siblings in the foster-care system together. One popular Facebook claim read: "Christian Bale Is Building 12 Foster Homes That Aim to Keep Siblings in the Foster Care System Together and Under the Same Roof." The claim circulated on X (archived), Instagram (archived) and Bluesky (archived), where posts included an alleged $22 million price for the development. Snopes readers also searched our site for more information about the rumor. The heartwarming claim is true. Bale and Together California, a charity founded by the actor; his wife, Sibi; and University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Eric Esrailian, broke ground on the project in 2024. According to Together California, the village, located near Palmdale, will feature 12 homes and a community center. The project was estimated to cost $22 million at the time of the groundbreaking, according to international media. According to Together California's Facebook page (archived), construction remained ongoing in June 2025. In May 2025, CBS reported the village was hoping to welcome its first children "next year." CBS also reported that "trained foster parents" would take care of the children living in the village. According to AC Martin, the architects on the project, Together California's "Village for Brothers and Sisters" will feature 12 town house units for children in foster care, two studio units for young adults transitioning out of the foster-care system, a 7,000-square-foot community building and outdoor space. Bale first got involved with the U.S. foster-care system in 2008, according to CBS, after considering what would happen to his own daughter if she were left without her parents. DALTON, ANDREW. "Christian Bale Breaks Ground on Foster Homes He's Fought for 16 Years to See Built." AP News, 7 Feb. 2024, Gardner, Chris. "Christian Bale Breaks Ground on 16-Year Passion Project: 12 New Homes for Foster Children." The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Feb. 2024, "Our Village." Together California, Accessed 19 June 2025. Shoard, Catherine. "Christian Bale Unveils Plans to Build 12 Foster Homes in California." The Guardian, 8 Feb. 2024. The Guardian, Smith, Tracy, and Jennifer Earl. Christian Bale's on a Mission to Keep Foster Siblings Together. For Him, It's the Role of a Lifetime. - CBS News. 18 May 2025, Together California. "Together California Had the Incredible Opportunity to Sit down with CBS Sunday Morning and Speak about the Mission That Drives Us Every Day. ." Facebook, 7 June 2025, Together California: A Village for Brothers & Sisters. Accessed 19 June 2025. Williams, Martha. "Christian Bale Breaks Ground on 12 Foster Homes in California." Mail Online, 9 Feb. 2024,
Washington Post
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Many here wanted Trump to enforce immigration, but ‘it's going overboard'
PALMDALE, Calif. — Jesus Martinez, a 36-year-old aerospace worker, said he initially supported President Donald Trump's decision to send the military to quell immigration protests in California. But he has grown increasingly uneasy after seeing images of ICE raids near schools, neighborhoods and at workplaces where families are being separated. 'It's going overboard. It's too much,' said Martinez, a former Democrat who supported Trump in 2020 and sat out the 2024 election.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
Where Is Pearl Fernandez Now? What Happened to the Mom of 3 After Brutally Murdering Her Son Gabriel 12 Years Ago
Pearl Fernandez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the horrific murder of her son, 8-year-old Gabriel Fernandez. Twelve years ago, on May 22, 2013, emergency personnel responded to a 911 call from Pearl, who alerted paramedics that her son was not breathing. When they arrived at the home she was then sharing with her boyfriend Isauro Aguirre in Palmdale, Calif., paramedics found that the little boy had sustained serious injuries including a fractured skull, broken ribs and BB gun pellet marks on his body. Pearl and Aguirre were quickly arrested for their presumed involvement in Gabriel's death and were both charged with first-degree murder with special circumstances of torture when he was taken off life support on May 24, 2013. In court proceedings in the years to follow, many of Gabriel's family members, including his siblings Virginia and Ezequiel, testified about the torturous abuse the child experienced at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend. Social workers were even implicated after being accused of neglecting Gabriel, although charges against them have since been dropped, per the Los Angeles Times. But, where is Pearl Fernandez now? Here's everything to know about what happened after Gabriel Fernandez's tragic murder in 2013. Gabriel was an 8-year-old boy who was severely abused to the point of torture by his mother, Pearl, and her boyfriend, Aguirre, until his horrific death on May 24, 2013. According to TIME, Gabriel spent the majority of his childhood living with his uncle and later his grandparents. In 2012, however, Pearl regained custody of her son, which The Atlantic reported in 2018 was allegedly done so she could gain welfare benefits, much to the dismay of family members who were concerned for Gabriel's well-being because of Pearl's alleged history of drug abuse and neglect. When testifying years later in court, Gabriel's grandfather, Robert Fernandez, claimed that it was within Pearl's legal right to take her son back and that deputies had told him that his custody was not valid, per CBS. So, the then-7-year-old boy moved to his mother's house, where months of horrifying abuse began. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Gabriel was often beaten by Aguirre because he believed that he was gay. Prosecutors said that he had suffered several injuries from the abuse, including 12 broken ribs, burn marks and a fractured skull. The young boy was also forced to eat cat litter and feces, and slept 'bound and gagged inside a small cabinet,' the DA's Office added. On May 22, 2013, Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel arrived at Pearl's home after she called 911 to report that Gabriel was not breathing. She and Aguirre had beaten him extensively that day, allegedly as punishment for not cleaning up his toys. Gabriel was declared brain dead that day and was taken off life support two days later. A day after Pearl called police to alert them that her son was unresponsive, she and Aguirre were arrested for their involvement in his abuse. At the time, Aguirre was charged with attempted murder while Pearl was arrested for felony child endangerment and abuse, per Newsweek. However, when Gabriel was taken off life support the next day, Aguirre and Pearl were then both charged with first-degree murder with a special circumstance of torture. Following court proceedings, a jury found Aguirre guilty of first-degree murder and the special circumstance of the infliction of torture in November 2017. He was then sentenced to death by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli. Meanwhile, Pearl pleaded guilty in February 2018 and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in June. 'This case showed how evil can not only inflict lasting damage to those who loved Gabriel but our society as well,' Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a June 2018 statement. 'The horrific nature of Gabriel's abuse and murder has been seared into our minds and the defendants will now spend the rest of their lives in prison for their reprehensible actions.' After Gabriel's death, four social workers were accused of failing to protect him and were each charged with one felony count of child abuse and one felony count of falsifying public records. Prosecutors alleged that social workers Stefanie Rodriguez and Patricia Clement ignored evidence of Gabriel's abuse, including calls from his teacher, and falsified reports that were intended to document signs of his abuse. Meanwhile, their supervisors, Kevin Bom and Gregory Merritt, were also accused by prosecutors of approving false reports that contradicted evidence of the abuse Gabriel was suffering. All four employees pleaded not guilty to the charges. 'I think Gabriel could have been saved about a dozen different ways and that's what's so intense and so heartbreaking about his story,' Brian Knappenberger, the director of Netflix docuseries The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez, told PEOPLE in 2020. 'I think you see that in a lot of the pictures of Gabriel. If you look at him, it's easy to understand the kind of warmth and potential he had.' Gabriel's case ended up with Rodriguez after his teacher, Jennifer Garcia, called the Los Angeles County child abuse hotline to report signs of abuse she was witnessing, including bruises and alarming conversations. According to a 2018 investigative report from The Atlantic that cited L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) records, neither Rodriguez nor Bom reviewed Pearl's history, despite four previous, unrelated calls being made to the agency with claims of abuse, nor did Rodriguez go to Gabriel's school or talk to his neighbors. Moreover, the social worker reportedly never interviewed Gabriel or his siblings alone, which is standard, required department policy. In a brief statement to The Atlantic, Rodriguez said she was supervising other cases at the time that presented equal or greater danger. Four years after being charged, an appellate panel ruled in January 2020 that the social workers could not be prosecuted in Gabriel's death because they would not have been able to control the actions of his parents, nor did they have custody or care of Gabriel. A few months later, in July, their charges were officially dismissed by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. In 2018, Aguirre was admitted to San Quentin State Prison following his death sentence. It seems, however, that he has moved facilities since as the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation inmate search showed that he is in California State Prison, Corcoran, as of May 2025. While Aguirre is still on death row, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced in March 2019 that the state would have a moratorium on capital punishment, meaning Aguirre's execution date is yet to be determined. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation inmate search, as of May 2025, Pearl was serving her sentence at the Central California Women's Facility located in Chowchilla, Calif. In April 2021, she attempted to make a bid for resentencing, arguing that she could no longer be convicted of first or second-degree murder because of changes to California's penal code. Her petition was denied, however, a few months later in June by Judge Lomeli, who said Pearl was 'not entitled to resentencing relief,' according to the Los Angeles Daily News. 'It has been established by her own admission during her guilty plea that the murder was intentional and involved the infliction of torture over a period of several months,' the judge continued, adding that records show Pearl was a 'major participant in the murder of a child victim.' Read the original article on People
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Christian Bale's mission to keep foster siblings together
Christian Bale may have played a superhero in the "Batman" franchise, but now he's on a real life mission to help some kids who could really use a hero. And for Bale, it's the role of a lifetime. The Oscar-winning actor is helping to build Together California, a foster care home designed to keep orphaned siblings together, in the desert community of Palmdale, California. Some organizations estimate up to 75 percent of siblings end up living apart after entering foster care in the U.S. "And so you imagine the trauma of that, you know? But added trauma to being taken from your parents, and then you lose your siblings, you know, that's just something that we shouldn't be doing," Bale told "CBS Sunday Morning" correspondent Tracy Smith. "It just requires having a heart" Bale said you don't necessarily need to have any history with – or connection to – the foster care system in order to be moved to take action and offer help. "It just requires having a heart," said Bale, adding that it just takes the basic understanding that as a society we should be taking care of our children. The inspiration behind Bale's foster care work came 17 years ago when he looked at his young daughter and imagined her without parents. He began to look into foster care and found Tim McCormick, who ran foster homes in Chicago for decades. Bale recruited McCormick to help him open Together California, a village in Los Angeles that houses groups of foster siblings. The siblings can stay together in individual houses around a central garden, where they're cared for by trained foster parents whose only job will be to look after them. "This is what this site is about. We create a place for authentic goodness to flourish. And it certainly impacts a child, but it impacts all of us. We create a different story of us as a society," Bale said. Bringing a vision to life Architects at AC Marin are helping bring Bale's vision to life, breaking ground on the construction site in February 2024. While it's one of their smaller architectural projects, AC Martin CEO Tom Hsieh says it's one of their biggest priorities. "I think we're at a point in our society where we have to help. And for me – you know, as exciting as creating the next high rise, we need to give back to society and community. This is small but I'm tremendously proud of this project," Hsieh told "CBS Sunday Morning." Right now, the village is still a construction site, but Bale says it already paints a picture. "I love designing. I love architecture," Bale said. "So I adore the whole design process. And so actually seeing it really – coming to happen is just very, very exciting." There's still a long road ahead. They need to continue to fundraise and find the right foster parents, but it's finally starting to take shape. They're hoping to welcome the first kids early next year. Bale has received numerous accolades throughout his career, but he says opening this center to keep foster siblings together will be among his greatest accomplishments. "This is something that when, you know, I'm closing my eyes for the last time. I wanna look and about, 'Did I do some good? Did I make any changes in the world that were useful?' And this will be one of the things that I'll be most proud of when I, you know, draw my last breath," he said. Raw Video: Mexican navy training ship hits Brooklyn Bridge Surprising facts about Mark Twain that biographer Ron Chernow learned while writing new book Family's goodbye to beloved dog becomes a lesson in letting go
CBS News
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Christian Bale's on a mission to keep foster siblings together. For him, it's the role of a lifetime.
Christian Bale may have played a superhero in the "Batman" franchise, but now he's on a real life mission to help some kids who could really use a hero. And for Bale, it's the role of a lifetime. The Oscar-winning actor is helping to build Together California, a foster care home designed to keep orphaned siblings together, in the desert community of Palmdale, California. Some organizations estimate up to 75 percent of siblings end up living apart after entering foster care in the U.S. "And so you imagine the trauma of that, you know? But added trauma to being taken from your parents, and then you lose your siblings, you know, that's just something that we shouldn't be doing," Bale told "CBS Sunday Morning" correspondent Tracy Smith. "It just requires having a heart" Christian Bale is helping to build Together California, a foster care home designed to keep orphaned siblings together. CBS Sunday Morning Bale said you don't necessarily need to have any history with – or connection to – the foster care system in order to be moved to take action and offer help. "It just requires having a heart," said Bale, adding that it just takes the basic understanding that as a society we should be taking care of our children. The inspiration behind Bale's foster care work came 17 years ago when he looked at his young daughter and imagined her without parents. He began to look into foster care and found Tim McCormick, who ran foster homes in Chicago for decades. Bale recruited McCormick to help him open Together California, a village in Los Angeles that houses groups of foster siblings. The siblings can stay together in individual houses around a central garden, where they're cared for by trained foster parents whose only job will be to look after them. "This is what this site is about. We create a place for authentic goodness to flourish. And it certainly impacts a child, but it impacts all of us. We create a different story of us as a society," Bale said. Bringing a vision to life Together California broke ground on the construction site in February 2024 CBS Sunday Morning Architects at AC Marin are helping bring Bale's vision to life, breaking ground on the construction site in February 2024. While it's one of their smaller architectural projects, AC Martin CEO Tom Hsieh says it's one of their biggest priorities. "I think we're at a point in our society where we have to help. And for me – you know, as exciting as creating the next high rise, we need to give back to society and community. This is small but I'm tremendously proud of this project," Hsieh told "CBS Sunday Morning." Right now, the village is still a construction site, but Bale says it already paints a picture. "I love designing. I love architecture," Bale said. "So I adore the whole design process. And so actually seeing it really – coming to happen is just very, very exciting." There's still a long road ahead. They need to continue to fundraise and find the right foster parents, but it's finally starting to take shape. They're hoping to welcome the first kids early next year. Bale has received numerous accolades throughout his career, but he says opening this center to keep foster siblings together will be among his greatest accomplishments. "This is something that when, you know, I'm closing my eyes for the last time. I wanna look and about, 'Did I do some good? Did I make any changes in the world that were useful?' And this will be one of the things that I'll be most proud of when I, you know, draw my last breath," he said.
