Local News
Pilot and Pedestrian Recovering After Small Plane Crash-Lands in Long Beach Park
An experimental home-built plane made an emergency landing in Long Beach’s Heartwell Park, injuring the pilot and a deaf pedestrian. Both survived and are recovering as the FAA investigates.
Last Updated on October 25, 2025 by Daily News Staff
Officials and aviation community share updates after an experimental aircraft made an emergency landing in Heartwell Park.
LONG BEACH, Calif. — October 25, 2025 — A routine flight turned into a life-threatening emergency Tuesday afternoon when a home-built experimental aircraft made a crash landing at Heartwell Park in Long Beach. The two-seat plane, piloted by an experienced aviator from the Compton/Woodley Airport community, came down on a soccer field, injuring both the pilot and a pedestrian walking her dog nearby.
According to officials, the plane suffered a power loss before touching down near Carson Street and Clark Avenue, where families and athletes often gather for recreational sports.
Emergency Landing and Rapid Response
The Long Beach Fire Department arrived within minutes of the call, finding the small aircraft on its belly with its landing gear collapsed. Both the pilot, an older male, and the pedestrian — later identified as Tiffany Harrison, 43 — were transported to local hospitals in moderate but stable condition.
“When units arrived, they found one small aircraft on its belly with broken landing gear. The fuselage was intact,”
— Long Beach Fire Department statement.
Mayor Rex Richardson called the outcome “a miracle,” emphasizing that despite the severity of the crash, there were no fatalities or life-threatening injuries.
“The good news is it could have been a whole lot worse,” Richardson said. “We are fortunate in that there have been no fatalities, no serious injuries.”
— Mayor Rex Richardson, Long Beach.
Updates on the Victims
Harrison, who is deaf, did not hear the aircraft’s approach as she walked her dog through the park. She sustained significant injuries, including fractures to her pelvis and spine, and a deep leg wound that required surgery and multiple blood transfusions. Her family reports that her dog was miraculously unharmed.
Her sister, Brittany McFall, shared that Tiffany’s recovery will be long and emotionally taxing.
“She’s probably going to have PTSD,” McFall said. “A normal person wouldn’t just walk in the park and have this freak accident happen.”
— via People Magazine.
The pilot, a veteran flyer affiliated with EAA Chapter 96, is also recovering in stable condition. Members of the aviation group described him as experienced and safety-conscious.
“He’s a good pilot. He’s been flying for many, many years,” said Dennis Lord, hangar manager for EAA Chapter 96. “They are certified by the FAA — there are hundreds of these aircraft flying over Southern California all the time.”
— via ABC7 Los Angeles.
The Aircraft and Ongoing Investigation
The aircraft is categorized as home-built experimental, a designation common among aviation hobbyists who construct and operate FAA-certified planes. The aircraft reportedly took off from Compton/Woodley Airport, made a stop in French Valley, and was returning west when the engine lost power.
Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are now examining the wreckage to determine the cause of the power failure.
Local aviation enthusiasts say the pilot’s decision to aim for the open soccer field likely saved lives.
“He did exactly what a pilot should do in an emergency — look for a clear, open space,” Lord added. “Heartwell Park was the safest possible place under the circumstances.”
— EAA Chapter 96 comment.
Community Reflection and Safety Awareness
The crash has renewed discussions around aviation safety in urban areas where recreational spaces and flight paths coexist. Long Beach residents expressed gratitude that the park’s youth leagues were not active at the time of the crash.
City officials have temporarily restricted access to portions of the park while federal investigators complete their fieldwork.
“This was an incredibly close call,” said Long Beach Parks and Recreation spokesperson Lydia Campos. “We’re reviewing protocols with aviation authorities to understand how we can better communicate when small aircraft operate near populated areas.”
Footnote:
During the Heartwell Park crash, Tiffany Harrison was walking her dog. Thankfully, while Tiffany was injured, her faithful companion escaped unharmed, a small relief amid the chaos. The community has expressed support and relief for both Tiffany and her dog, though no further details about the dog’s name or breed have been shared. (People, CBS Los Angeles)
Further Reading
For those following the story, here are several reliable sources with in-depth coverage and updates:
- Plane making an emergency landing on soccer field leaves 2 hospitalized – People
- Deaf woman hit by plane while walking her dog – People
- Small plane hit deaf woman walking dog when it crashed on Long Beach soccer field – ABC7 Los Angeles
- Woman hit by small plane that crash-lands at busy Long Beach park – Long Beach Post
- 2 hospitalized after small plane crashes in Long Beach – CBS Los Angeles
STM Daily News will continue to monitor updates from the FAA and NTSB as the investigation unfolds, as well as recovery reports from Tiffany Harrison and the pilot in the coming weeks.
📍 For more local updates, visit STM Daily News.
News
Black Los Angeles Is Shrinking—and Spreading Across the West
Black Los Angeles has changed dramatically over the past several decades. Explore why its population declined, where families moved, and which neighborhoods continue to anchor the region’s Black community.
Last Updated on August 21, 2026 by Daily News Staff
Black Los Angeles?
For much of the 20th century, South Los Angeles was the center of one of the most influential Black communities in the western United States. Neighborhoods such as Watts, West Adams, Crenshaw, Baldwin Hills and Leimert Park produced political leaders, musicians, entrepreneurs and cultural movements whose influence reached far beyond Southern California.
That community has not disappeared, but it has become smaller and considerably more dispersed.
Census figures show that Los Angeles has experienced a sustained decline in its Black population, particularly within the city and the older communities of South Los Angeles.
A decades-long population decline
In 1990, approximately 454,000 Los Angeles residents identified as non-Hispanic Black alone, representing about 13% of the city’s population. By the 2020 Census, that number had fallen to approximately 323,000—or about 8.3% of the population.
The same pattern is visible across Los Angeles County.
The county’s non-Hispanic Black population declined from approximately 935,000 in 1990 to about 761,000 in 2020. Between 2010 and 2020 alone, it fell by nearly 55,000 people, even as the county’s total population increased.
These numbers do not include everyone with partial Black ancestry or those identifying as multiracial. Nevertheless, the figures reveal a clear geographic and demographic shift.
Black Los Angeles has not simply vanished. It has spread outward.
Why have Black families left Los Angeles?
Housing costs are one of the most important factors.
As rents and home prices rose, many working- and middle-class families found it increasingly difficult to remain in neighborhoods where their families had lived for generations. Redevelopment and gentrification placed additional pressure on renters and homeowners, particularly in areas near downtown Los Angeles and new transit investments.
Older homeowners could sometimes benefit from rising property values, but their children often could not afford to purchase homes nearby. Selling a Los Angeles property also gave some families enough equity to buy larger or newer homes elsewhere.
Researchers at UC Berkeley’s Terner Center found that Black households were disproportionately represented among lower-income residents leaving the Los Angeles region.
Employment changes also contributed. Los Angeles lost many of the manufacturing, aerospace and industrial jobs that had helped support Black working-class families during the postwar period. Meanwhile, metropolitan areas in other states offered lower housing costs and growing professional communities.
Where did people go?
A significant portion of the movement remained within Southern California.
Lancaster and Palmdale in the Antelope Valley attracted families from South Los Angeles, Compton and Inglewood. Others moved east into Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Between 1990 and 2021, Riverside County’s Black population grew from approximately 64,000 to more than 156,000. San Bernardino County’s Black population increased from approximately 115,000 to 174,000 during the same period.
The Urban Institute concluded that many Black residents leaving Los Angeles County likely settled in these neighboring Inland Empire counties.
Other families left California entirely. Las Vegas and Phoenix became important destinations for people seeking comparatively affordable housing while remaining relatively close to Southern California.
Farther away, Atlanta, Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston and Charlotte have attracted Black professionals and families as part of what researchers call the “New Great Migration”—a movement of Black Americans toward metropolitan areas in the South.
Where are the remaining Black population centers?
The strongest concentration within the city continues to run through the Crenshaw district and surrounding neighborhoods.
Leimert Park remains the symbolic and cultural heart of Black Los Angeles. Baldwin Hills, Baldwin Vista, Hyde Park, West Adams and Crenshaw also retain important Black institutions, churches, businesses and homeowners.
Immediately outside the city, View Park–Windsor Hills and Ladera Heights remain two of the county’s most prominent Black middle- and upper-middle-class communities. Recent American Community Survey estimates indicate that approximately 55% of Ladera Heights residents identify as Black.
Inglewood remains another major center of Black cultural and commercial life, despite its transition into a predominantly Latino city. Central and northern Inglewood, particularly areas near Morningside Park, View Park and Hyde Park, retain substantial Black populations.
Farther south, Black communities remain in Westmont, West Athens, Carson, Gardena, North Long Beach and portions of Compton. Most of these places are no longer majority-Black, but they continue to contain significant populations and long-established community institutions.
Lancaster and Palmdale now represent one of the county’s largest suburban concentrations of Black families. Unlike the compact neighborhoods of historic South Los Angeles, however, the Antelope Valley population is distributed across a much larger area.
Altadena was another important center of Black homeownership before the January 2025 Eaton Fire. The community’s Black population had already declined from its 1980 peak, but west Altadena still contained generations of Black homeowners. The fire destroyed or seriously damaged many of those homes, leaving the community’s future uncertain.
A community transformed, not erased
Today’s Black Los Angeles is more fragmented and suburban than the community that existed during the second half of the 20th century.
Leimert Park, Crenshaw and Baldwin Hills remain culturally significant, but they are now part of a much wider network extending from Inglewood and Carson to Lancaster, Palmdale and the Inland Empire.
This transformation presents a challenge for maintaining political representation, neighborhood institutions and cultural connections. A population that once lived within a relatively concentrated area is now spread across multiple cities, counties and states.
The story, therefore, is not simply that Black Los Angeles declined.
It is that rising housing costs, economic changes and suburban migration redrew the map of Black life in Southern California.
Sources: U.S. Census data compiled by Los Angeles Almanac, Urban Institute, UC Berkeley Terner Center and Brookings Institution.
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Consumer Corner
Deed fraud can cause vulnerable Detroiters to lose their homes – here’s why it’s hard to catch the thieves
Deed fraud is rising in Detroit, where forged deeds can strip vulnerable homeowners of their property. Here’s how title theft works, why it’s hard to catch, and what reforms could help.
Donovan McCarty, Michigan State University
Buying her first home on Detroit’s far east side in 2021 was the moment when a lifelong dream finally came within reach for Kim Page.
“I accomplished something that I always wanted to do,” said Page, who grew up in the city. “I always wanted to buy my own home since I was like 18. I never wanted to rent from anyone.”
Page said she had saved US$15,000 and used $3,800 in cash to buy the single-family brick house on Britain Street. The house, owned by a friend planning to move out of Detroit, was “damaged pretty bad,” Page recalls. But the house was hers to care for, and she was determined to fix what was broken.
For the next several years, Page poured her sweat and paychecks into the property. Working first as a welder at automotive supplier Fisher Dynamics, and later as a phlebotomist, she paid for a dumpster, windows, a door, ceiling repair and an awning above her front porch. Page invested $27,000 in needed repairs and, in 2022, happily moved in.
But in August 2023, a storm damaged her roof. By March 2024, mold had grown inside the property, which made Page struggle to breathe; she moved in with family. She returned to the home in April 2024 for an appointment with a representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That’s when Page noticed the locks had been changed. Perplexed but undeterred, she broke down the back door to get inside and purchased new locks, which she installed.
Then on a hot, summer day in July 2024, Page came home to discover all her locks had been changed again.
Searching for answers, Page called the Wayne County Register of Deeds’ Mortgage and Deed Fraud Unit. The staff confirmed she was a victim of deed fraud – a crime where scammers forge signatures to record a phony transfer of property ownership. Once criminals hijack the title, they can sell the property, rent it out or drain its equity with mortgages, potentially leaving the rightful owner to face the legal and financial fallout.
“I just was in shock,” Page said. “I can’t believe somebody really did this to me.”
A nationwide problem that’s hard to nail down
Page reached out to me for help in March 2025. I’m a housing attorney, assistant professor at Michigan State University College of Law and director of the Housing Justice Clinic. I have represented dozens of victims of deed fraud.
I have also studied how property recording systems respond – or, more accurately, fail to respond – to fraud. My work examines how procedural gaps in title systems disproportionately harm elderly, low-income and minority homeowners.
Nationwide, deed fraud – also called quit claim deed fraud or home title theft – is a growing problem, including in New York, Boston, Miami and Philadelphia.
Exactly how big a problem it is, is hard to know. The FBI does not track deed fraud specifically, instead grouping it into a larger category of real estate crimes.
From 2019 through 2023, 58,141 victims in the U.S. reported $1.3 billion in losses relating to real estate crime, the FBI says. However, that number is likely undercounted because many people don’t know where to report it, are embarrassed they were victims or don’t know yet they have been targeted.
In Detroit, deed fraud may be particularly prevalent because so many housing deals are made in cash and many properties owe back taxes. The Wayne County Mortgage and Deed Fraud Unit has tracked more than 13,000 inquiries regarding deed fraud and has opened over 2,300 cases throughout Wayne County since 2005.
Without oversight, the crime often goes undetected
Committing deed fraud is remarkably simple.
A deed is the legal document that transfers ownership of a home or other real property from one person to another. When a home is bought or sold, a deed is legally drawn up to reflect the transfer of ownership. That deed is then recorded with a county register of deeds, providing public notice of who legally owns the property.
A fraudster can forge the signature of the real owner – sometimes someone who is deceased. They can file a deed that appears valid on its face but isn’t.
They then record that false deed with a county register of deeds, the local government office that keeps public land records and other documents showing ownership, claiming title to property they do not actually own.
Fraudsters often target vulnerable people and properties, including elderly owners, families dealing with inherited homes, and houses that appear vacant or neglected, such as those behind on property taxes.
The incentive is clear: Once a fraudster appears to hold title, they can try to sell the property to an investor or an unsuspecting buyer looking for stable housing. I have seen fraudsters secure as much as $50,000 from one deal when they obtained a mortgage based on a fraudulent deed. One notable case of fraud targeted Elvis Presley’s former estate, Graceland.
In Michigan and most other states, recording offices do not have authority to substantively review a deed to determine whether it is fraudulent. If the document complies with technical formatting requirements, such as margin and font size, it must be recorded. Once stamped and indexed, the deed appears legitimate and can easily trick desperate buyers, investors, financial institutions and even police officers, lawyers and judges.
In other words, the recording process is largely administrative, not investigative. The government office accepts and files the document without first verifying that the person signing it actually had the legal right to transfer the property.
That means a fraudulent deed can enter the public record, look valid to the outside world and remain undiscovered for months or even years.
Detroit is vulnerable
The housing market helps explain why Detroiters are more vulnerable to deed fraud.
Homes in Black neighborhoods nationwide are systematically undervalued compared with similar homes in white neighborhoods. Black borrowers are also more likely to be denied conventional mortgage loans. Detroit is about 73% Black, with a median household income of roughly $39,000 and a poverty rate exceeding 30%.
In a market where access to traditional financing is uneven and home prices are relatively low, cash sales accounted for 4 in 10 sales in February 2024.
Lenders, brokers and title companies act as informal gatekeepers when people purchase a home using a mortgage. In cash sales, those actors are absent, and there are fewer opportunities to detect irregularities in the documented history showing how title passed from one owner to the next over time.
Illegal tax practices led to thousands of foreclosed homes
Property tax distress attracts fraudsters. Fraudsters seem to rely on publicly available tax foreclosure lists to identify properties that appear abandoned. They then pay the past-due taxes to remove the property from foreclosure and attempt to sell or mortgage the property using their fraudulent deed.
The fraudsters may also assume that the owner lacks the resources to wage a prolonged legal fight to recover title if they do uncover their scheme. In many cases, that assumption proves correct.
Michigan’s Constitution caps assessments at 50% of market value, but researchers have found that from 2009 to 2015, a majority of Detroit homes were assessed above that limit. Once those inflated bills went unpaid, interest, penalties and fees accumulated, often ending in tax foreclosure.
More than 100,000 Detroit residents lost homes in that crisis, and homeowners were overtaxed by at least $600 million between 2010 and 2016.
In a city already destabilized by unlawful tax foreclosure, fraudsters found opportunity in homes burdened by vacancy and broken chains of ownership.
The burdens that deed fraud victims face
My first encounter with deed fraud came in July 2023. I received a request for legal assistance from a man who said he had been evicted from a home he claimed to own. Honestly, I didn’t believe him.
But when I pulled the court records and deeds, I learned he was right.
A fraudulent deed had been filed on his property, stripping him of title. The fraudsters then filed an eviction case against him.
The owner had no phone and no internet access to attend the virtual hearings. The court entered a judgment to evict him. A bailiff came, broke down his door and threw his belongings into a dumpster.
It took six months and two separate court cases before he was finally able to return to his home. He never recovered his belongings – and we never found the fraudster.
There are many other hardships for a legitimate owner. A fraudulent deed can prevent homeowners from selling their property, refinancing or accessing financial assistance programs.
To clear title, owners must file a quiet title lawsuit – a court action used to resolve disputes over who legally owns a property.
But quiet title cases are complex legal proceedings.
They require multiple filings, hearings and strict compliance with procedural rules. Even when fraud is obvious – for example, when a deed was signed by someone who was already deceased – courts generally require formal litigation to remove the cloud from the title.
Likewise, the legal process of notifying the defendant can be especially burdensome. Fraudsters often use fictitious names and addresses, making them difficult or impossible to locate. Even uncontested cases typically take months. If a defendant appears and disputes ownership, litigation can stretch for years.
Filing fees, service costs and other litigation expenses accumulate quickly. Hiring an attorney can cost several thousand dollars, and some victims have reported spending tens of thousands clearing title to their homes.
As for Kim Page, her case is still ongoing. After being locked out of her home, she had to move in with relatives for over a year, putting a strain on their relationship. She was eventually able to return to her home, but the legal dispute over ownership has not been resolved.
On top of that, she is facing a counter-lawsuit from the company that filed the fraudulent deed, requesting $50,000 for repairs the company made to the home while Page was locked out, along with property taxes and utility bills that the company says it paid to the county and utility companies on her behalf. The county opened an investigation, but it remains unresolved. As a result, she still has no idea who orchestrated the scheme.
While there are free legal services organizations to help, they have limited capacity, and income thresholds exclude some homeowners who still cannot afford private counsel.
Legal reforms likely won’t resolve systemic issues
Across the country, state legislatures have begun responding. Twenty-one have enacted deed fraud legislation, and 15 more have proposed it.
Another common intervention is fraud alert systems, which notify owners when any documents that impact the title of their property are recorded.
Other reforms increase notarial requirements or enhance criminal penalties.
These measures may deter some misconduct, but they do little to reduce the burden on victims once a fraudulent deed has been recorded.
In my assessment, meaningful reforms focus on empowering registers of deeds to substantively review suspicious documents before recording them; simplifying and expediting quiet title proceedings; and expanding civil remedies so victims can recover the costs associated with clearing their title.
Some jurisdictions like Texas and Florida have adopted streamlined procedures that allow victims to initiate quiet title actions using standardized forms with reduced fees. Others permit recorders, prosecutors or judges to act when fraud has already been established.
In Michigan, I am working with lawmakers and stakeholders to develop comprehensive legislation addressing these issues. Bills are expected to be introduced later this year.
At the same time, my clinic has begun exploring how technology can help identify fraudulent deeds already in the record. We are working with computer scientists to evaluate whether artificial intelligence tools could flag suspicious filings and potentially prevent fraudulent documents from being accepted in the future.
No property system can eliminate fraud entirely. Preventive and punitive measures may limit fraud, but they cannot eliminate the incentive to commit it. For fraudsters, the payoff can be substantial.
Conversations about the issue often begin and end with the mechanics of the crime or the procedural burdens victims face afterward. Far less attention is paid to the housing market conditions that make some communities especially vulnerable in the first place.
Page, now 42 and working as a transporter for Sinai-Grace Hospital, has been coping with the stress of legal proceedings for the past two years and living with a heart condition so serious that she got a defibrillator.
The longtime Detroiter is fed up – with the lack of police help to find the fraudster, as well as the court system. All she wants is to be the rightful owner of the home.
“Give me my house back,” Page said.
Detroit editor Eleanore Catolico contributed reporting.
Donovan McCarty, Director, Housing Justice Clinic at Michigan State University College of Law, Michigan State University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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amusement and theme parks
Mattel Adventure Park and VAI Resort Continue to Grow, But Opening Date Remains Uncertain
Get the latest update on Mattel Adventure Park and VAI Resort in Glendale, Arizona. Construction continues in 2026, but officials have yet to announce an opening date.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — One of Arizona’s most anticipated entertainment developments continues to make visible progress, but visitors eager to experience Mattel Adventure Park and VAI Resort will likely have to wait longer.
Located near State Farm Stadium in Glendale, the massive VAI Resort project and the adjacent Mattel Adventure Park have been under construction for several years. While the development has transformed the skyline west of Phoenix, recent updates indicate that neither attraction currently has a confirmed opening date.
New Reports Suggest Further Delays
Recent reports published in spring 2026 indicate that VAI Resort officials continue to maintain their policy of announcing an opening date approximately nine months before welcoming guests. Because no such announcement has been made, industry observers and local media outlets now believe a 2026 opening is becoming increasingly unlikely.
The uncertainty extends to Mattel Adventure Park, which was originally expected to open in 2022 before being delayed multiple times. After missing its latest target of late 2025, references to a specific opening date were removed from public materials. Park representatives have stated that they currently have no update regarding an opening timeline.
Construction Continues Across the Property
Despite the delays, construction remains active throughout the resort and theme park complex. Visitors traveling along Loop 101 can easily spot the towering Hot Wheels-themed roller coasters that have become some of the most recognizable structures on the site.
Drone footage and construction updates posted throughout 2026 show ongoing work on hotel towers, entertainment venues, infrastructure, and various attractions within Mattel Adventure Park.
The official VAI Resort website continues to promote its future offerings, including luxury accommodations, restaurants, entertainment venues, retail spaces, and the world’s first Mattel Adventure Park.
What Guests Can Expect
When completed, Mattel Adventure Park is expected to feature attractions inspired by some of Mattel’s most recognizable brands, including:
- Barbie™ Beach House
- Hot Wheels™ Bone Shaker™: The Ultimate Ride
- Hot Wheels™ Twin Mill™ Racer
- Thomas & Friends™ attractions
- Masters of the Universe-themed experiences
- Mattel Games-themed attractions and activities
The park will be Arizona’s first fully themed indoor-outdoor amusement park and is designed to offer experiences for guests of all ages.
Meanwhile, VAI Resort is planned to include four hotel towers with approximately 1,100 rooms, a large entertainment district, multiple restaurants, retail shopping, convention facilities, and a state-of-the-art amphitheater designed to host major concerts and events.
A Growing Vision
One factor contributing to the project’s lengthy timeline appears to be the continued expansion of the resort’s scope. Developers have repeatedly described VAI as a destination that has evolved far beyond its original vision, adding new hospitality, dining, entertainment, and retail components over time. Earlier project statements noted that these expansions affected scheduling for the adjacent theme park.
The development remains one of the largest tourism and hospitality projects currently underway in Arizona, with investments estimated at more than $1 billion.
Looking Ahead
For now, both VAI Resort and Mattel Adventure Park remain works in progress. Construction activity continues, new attractions are still being promoted on official websites, and developers have shown no indication that the project has been abandoned. However, without an announced opening date, Arizona residents and visitors will need to remain patient as Glendale’s ambitious entertainment destination moves closer to completion.
While many expected to be riding Hot Wheels coasters by now, the latest updates suggest that the world’s first Mattel Adventure Park is still a destination for the future rather than the present.
Related External Links
- Mattel Adventure Park Official Website
- VAI Resort Official Website
- City of Glendale Economic Development News
- State Farm Stadium Official Website
- Visit Glendale Arizona Tourism Guide
- Epic Resort Destinations
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