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Riverside County man arrested for allegedly harassing women at Zuma Beach with rifle under trench coat Kyle Kiddy, 34, was arrested on Sunday and booked on suspicion of violations including carrying a concealed firearm, and was being held on $60,000 bail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Deputies went to the beach after receiving reports of “a suspicious
male harassing female patrons of the beach,” a sheriff’s department
statement said.
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Two undocumented immigrants denied vaccine, prompting reminder that vaccines are for everyone “It is unacceptable, absolutely abhorrent, that any for-profit entity, or any other entity, would deny vaccination to any human being simply because they do not have immigration status,” said Angelica Salas, executive director of the L.A.-based Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. Rite Aid spokesman Chris Savarese on Thursday described the two cases
as “isolated incidents and mistakes” among the approximate 1 million
vaccines the pharmacy has given out.
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San Francisco paying $16.1 million for people living in tent camps, as city struggles with swelling homeless population Six tent sites dubbed “safe sleeping villages” have been set up since the start of the coronavirus pandemic to shelter people who might otherwise sleep on the sidewalks. The 262 tents currently house more than 300 people, with some vacancies. The villages also provide access to bathrooms, meals and 24-hour security, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday. The funding is only a fraction of the more than $300 million the city
spends annually on homeless services, and the average cost per night
is less than what the city pays under a program to shelter homeless
people in hotels, the Chronicle said.
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Leaving California? A guide to what state is best to move to First, let’s remember that far more folks talk about leaving California than actually do. For example, a recent poll showed 26% of residents were pondering a move out-of-state. Yet in 2017-2019, Census Bureau stats show just 3% of the population departed. But for those who are seriously considering a move — or those who
like to compare state economies — I loaded my trusty spreadsheet with
cost-of-living and employment data — not to mention a key political
stat — creating a guide to good targets for antsy-to-exit Californians.
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California now has the worst COVID-19 spread in US Last week, the state reported the nation's fourth highest number of daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over a seven day period, but California jumped to first place when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its case per capita tracker Saturday. According to the CDC update from Saturday, California has reported
an average of 100.5 daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over
the past seven days, which places it comfortably ahead of second-place
Tennessee, which saw an average of 89.6 daily cases per 100,000 residents
over the same time period.
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Why so many people are getting swept to sea along California's coast A school principal was on vacation, taking family photos by the sea in Mendocino Big River Headlands State Park. A father and his two young children were spending a Sunday at Blind Beach in Sonoma Coast State Park. Each of these people was swept from dry ground into the frigid, turbulent
sea. Each faced the shock of the cold, the pounding of incoming, indifferent
waves.
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Cigar-shaped UFOs return to US as mysterious objects appear over California The beams of lights in the sky were caught on camera from high ground looking towards an urban area in Orange County. Captured on the night of December 23 and published on Youtube by LUFOs
on Christmas Eve, subscribers have shared their thoughts on the images.
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California now has the worst COVID-19 spread in US Last week, the state reported the nation's fourth highest number of
daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over a seven day period,
but California jumped to first place when the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention updated its case per capita tracker Saturday.
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California City Changes Course on License Plate Data Sharing "I want to make it clear to the public that that data sharing has stopped," Mayor Mary Salas said at a City Council meeting Tuesday. The South County city has temporarily blocked federal agencies with
an immigration enforcement component from looking at the data until
the City Council learns more about the data-sharing program. That report
to the council is likely to happen in January.
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Video shows Fairfax resident confronting man posting swastika stickers around town An out-of-town visitor wandered through town putting up stickers of swastikas Tuesday until a local, 21 year-old Noah Mohan, confronted him. A video of the encounter has spread on social media. "Let me see your stickers? Why you putting that up in my f---ing town,
bro?" he asks in the video. "Putting up Nazi stickers in Fairfax? Let
me see your face, bro. You keep putting them up and I will keep ripping
them off." More
Audit: EDD puts millions of jobless workers at risk of ID theft The disclosure served up a fresh embarrassment for the embattled agency that has failed to promptly and accurately pay unemployment claims at a time of historic job losses amid coronavirus-linked business shutdowns. “EDD has sent at least 38 million pieces of mail containing claimants’
full Social Security numbers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic,”
the state auditor said as part of a scathing report regarding the EDD’s
performance. The results of that could be catastrophic, auditor Elaine
Howle warned in a report to the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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California's ban of gas-powered cars by 2035 looks great for Tesla, but could distract the young automaker from its best chance to grow And it is great news for America's dominant electric-vehicle manufacturer, which currently makes almost all its cars in the Golden State. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Tesla was on track to sell nearly
50,000 vehicles in California through the second quarter. A combination
of heavily taxed gasoline and perks for zero-emission vehicles has given
Left Coasters ample reason to go electric.
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California opposes district’s bid to control Del Mar bluffs, erect chain-link fence The transit district filed a petition in August with the federal Surface
Transportation Board asking it to relieve the Coastal Commission and
the city of Del Mar of jurisdiction over the bluff projects, including
plans to install a chain-link fence that would stop pedestrians from
crossing the tracks to get to the beach.
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Joe Biden Endorses California Law Doing Harm To Freelancers, Which Democrats Hope To Impose Nationwide In a late night tweet on May 26, former Vice President Joe Biden stated his support for Assembly Bill 5 and his opposition to the proposed ballot measure backed by Uber and Lyft that would partially repeal it. This is not the only new California law Biden recently endorsed. In
addition to supporting AB 5, the former Vice President has also come
out in favor of the measure on the November ballot that would raise
taxes by an estimated $12 billion annually, doing so by eliminating
Proposition 13’s property tax cap for commercial properties.
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Hollywood sign-style Trump letters appear on side of California freeway for second time The sign supporting President Trump faced northbound lanes near Getty Center Drive. The white lettering appears to be around 10 feet tall and mimics the style of the landmark Hollywood sign. It was first reported at 6:41 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol’s incident log, which referred to it as a “traffic hazard.” The sign had been placed in an area with dry brush, and the reporting
party was apparently concerned it could spark a blaze, the log stated.
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California investigators seize PG&E equipment in search for cause of deadly wildfire PG&E said the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection seized electrical equipment in connection with the Zogg Fire, which began in late September. The fire, which began amid high winds, led to the deaths of at least four people and has burned more than 88 square miles, according to the AP. The fire was nearly entirely contained as of Friday. A 12,000-volt PG&E circuit services the area where the fire began.
PG&E said in a filing that its automated equipment “reported alarms
and other activity between approximately 2:40 p.m. and 3:06 p.m.”
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Hollywood's Apocalypse NOW: Rich and famous are fleeing in droves Set just a few hundred yards from the ocean in sun-kissed Venice Beach, Los Angeles, Gold's was the backdrop for Pumping Iron, the 1977 documentary which followed a young, unknown Austrian bodybuilder called Arnold Schwarzenegger as he prepared for the Mr Universe contest. The film turned him into an overnight sensation. He would go on to
become a global superstar, marry a member of the Kennedy clan, and become
Governor of California.
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'Gender Reveal' Ignited 8,600-Acre El Dorado Blaze The El Dorado Fire burning in the Yucaipa area grew to 8,600 acres Monday amid a record-setting heat wave. On Yucaipa Ridge's south slope, it continued to burn throughout the
night making a significant push downslope from Wilshire Peak to below
Pine Bench Rd., impacting structures.
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California's Oldest State Park, Home To Majestic Coast Redwoods, Is 'Gone' "We are devastated to report that Big Basin State Park, as we have known it, loved it, and cherished it for generations, is gone," Sempervirens Fund, an organization dedicated to redwoods protection, wrote in a post to their website Thursday afternoon. The CZU Lightning Complex, a combination of several fires burning over
the last several days in San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties, has "damaged
the park’s headquarters, historic core and campgrounds," according to
the California Department of Parks and Recreation.
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Whistleblower sues LAPD claiming it’s run by a ‘SWAT mafia’ that promotes a ‘culture of violence’ Former SWAT Sgt. Tim Colomey, who served in the unit for 11 years, filed a civil lawsuit claiming the so-called ‘SWAT mafia’ of veteran officers turns a ‘blind eye’ and even ‘glamorizes’ the use of deadly force by agents. Colomey also claims agents who try to deescalate conflicts instead
of using lethal force face a backlash and are labeled ‘cowards’ by the
group of veterans.
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California Legislators Propose 0.4% Wealth Tax, Plus 16.8% Income Tax Rate Not shocked yet? The newest tax some golden state legislators want
to collect is a .4% wealth tax. The “leader” in state taxes already,
this would be first-in-the nation wealth tax targeting the very wealthy.
This isn’t on income they earn, mind you, but on their wealth itself.
A summary of the bill says, “AB 2088 establishes a first-in-the-nation
net worth tax, setting a 0.4% tax rate on all net worth above $30 million.”
California Assembly member Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, proposed the legislation.
The tax would be applied to the net worth of about 30,400 Californians,
“raising approximately $7.5 billion annually,” the summary claims. “The
tax takes into account all assets and liabilities held by an individual,
globally, capturing the immense levels of accumulated wealth held by
the top 0.1% of Californians.”
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California Indian tribe gets back Big Sur ancestral lands The Esselen Tribe of Monterey County closed escrow on 1,199 acres (485 hectares) about 5 miles (8 kilometers) inland from the ocean that was part of a $4.5 million deal involving the state and the Western Rivers Conservancy, The Mercury News reported Monday. It marks the first restoration of any lands to the tribe, which lost 90% of its approximately 1,000 members to disease and other causes by the early 1800s. “It is beyond words for us, the highest honor,” said Tom Little Bear
Nason, chairman of the tribe. “The land is the most important thing
to us. It is our homeland, the creation story of our lives. We are so
elated and grateful.”
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Los Angeles Mayor Says City May Shut Off Water, Power At Houses Hosting Large Parties In a briefing, Garcetti expressed concerns about reports of large parties and gatherings that violate public health orders, often taking place at homes that are vacant or being used as short-term rentals. Starting Friday night, he said, houses, businesses and other venues hosting "un-permitted large gatherings" will face tougher consequences. "If the LAPD responds and verifies that a large gathering is occurring
at a property, and we see these properties reoffending time and time
again, they will provide notice and initiate the process to request
that DWP shut off service within the next 48 hours," Garcetti said.
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California's Only Known Gray Wolf Pack Has Eight New Pups Eight youngsters were tallied in the Lassen Pack in northeastern California, according to an April-through-June report from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. Genetic testing of their excrement shows at least four are male and two are female, according to the agency. The father is a black-furred male that began traveling with the pack
last year. He isn't related to any other known California wolves, and
his origin isn't clear, the agency said. The pack in Lassen County now
has at least 14 animals.
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Orange County Democrats Demand Airport Remove John Wayne's Name The resolution, which was approved Friday, states: "There have been
numerous calls to remove John Wayne's namesake from Orange County's
airport because of Wayne's white supremacist, anti-LGBT and anti-Indigenous
views, which were shared in part in a 1971 interview, where Wayne is
quoted saying, "I believe in white supremacy" and "I don't feel guilty
about the fact that five or 10 generations ago, these people were slaves."
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Laney College professor put on leave after demanding student named 'Phuc Bui' 'anglicize' her name A series of emails between the professor and student shared on social
media reveals that Hubbard reached out to a student named Phuc Bui Diem
Nguyen, and wrote, "Could you Anglicize your name. Phuc Bui sounds like
an insult in English."
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Two of California’s national parks are reopening. Here’s what you can and can’t do Joshua Tree National Park announced that it began reopening access to some parts of the park Sunday, according to a National Park Service news release. All park entrances, road and parking lots are open, and visitors can
use trails, family campsites and some bathroom facilities, the park
said.
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Ammunition background checks in California uncover ‘ghost’ guns, heroin and more More than 15,000 rounds of ammunition in Auburn. Six large-capacity magazines and a gram of methamphetamine in Bakersfield. These are among the items special agents in California found in the last month during a dozen operations to confiscate firearms and ammunition possessed by owners who failed background checks. The agents seized a total 51 firearms, including assault weapons and
‘ghost’ guns – weapons unable to be traced because they have no serial
number – 28,518 rounds of ammunition and more than 120 magazines, according
to a Tuesday announcement from the California Department of Justice.
Drugs found included 116 grams of methamphetamine and four grams of
heroin.
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California doctors say they've seen more deaths from suicide than coronavirus since lockdowns “The numbers are unprecedented,” Dr. Michael deBoisblanc of John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, California, told ABC 7 News about the increase of deaths by suicide, adding that he’s seen a “year’s worth of suicides” in the last four weeks alone. DeBoisblanc said he believes it’s time for California officials to end the stay-at-home order and let people back out into their communities. "Personally, I think it's time," he said. "I think, originally, this
was put in place to flatten the curve and to make sure hospitals have
the resources to take care of COVID patients. We have the current resources
to do that, and our other community health is suffering."
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California to give cash payments to immigrants hurt by virus Many Americans began receiving $1,200 checks from the federal government this week, and others who are unemployed are getting an additional $600 a week from the government that has ordered them to stay home and disrupted what had been a roaring economy. But people living in the country illegally are not eligible for any
of that money, and advocates have been pushing for states to fill in
the gap. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would spend $75 million of taxpayer
money to create a Disaster Relief Fund for immigrants living in the
country illegally.
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San Jose: Fire at auto yard consumes 30 Porta Potties The two-alarm fire was reported at about 9:25 p.m. at A-1 Auto Dismantlers at 200 Hillsdale Ave., said San Jose fire Capt. Peter Caponio. “One of our crews was initially brought out here for a smoke investigation,
and they found 100-foot flames in the auto yard, where there’s probably
30 or so Porta Potties and a bunch of dismantled cars,” Caponio said.
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California emergency manager admits sunbathing on empty beach: 'I own this' Chris Godley, the director of Emergency Management and leader of Sonoma County’s Emergency Operation Center, took a Saturday trip with his family to an unnamed, seemingly empty beach in Sonoma County. Photos of the family trip were posted to Facebook. “Road tripping
up the coast. Beautiful drive and nice views. Family beach time together.
Grateful for fresh air and the ocean,” the post read.
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Large group busted for meat market theft after leaving 'trail of meat' behind Around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, Visalia police officers responded to a burglary at the Jalisco Meat Market. When officers arrived, they detained one adult and a boy under the age of 18, leaving the business. Officers followed a trail of meat to a nearby apartment, where they
found more people that were involved. Detectives executed a search warrant
at the home and found six adults and five minors connected to the burglary.
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Feds Unearth Drug-Smuggling Tunnel From Tijuana To Otay Mesa Federal agents on the San Diego Tunnel Task Force made the discovery on March 19 and also seized roughly 1,300 pounds of cocaine, 86 pounds of methamphetamine, 17 pounds of heroin, 3,000 pounds of marijuana and more than two pounds of fentanyl, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. "The large seizure of mixed drugs represents the first time in San
Diego's history where five different types of drugs were found inside
a tunnel," the DEA reported.
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Paddleboarder arrested at Malibu Pier for flouting state stay at home order The lifeguards flagged down deputies for assistance, but the man ultimately chose to stay in the water alongside the Malibu Pier for about 30 to 40 minutes, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said in a Facebook post. Deputies summoned their patrol boat from Marina Del Rey, and the man
swam to shore once it arrived, officials said. He was subsequently arrested
on suspicion of disobeying a lifeguard and violating Gov. Gavin Newsom's
stay at home order, a misdemeanor.
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Stormy Daniels Attorney Michael Avenatti Released From Prison, Will Move To California A federal judge in California said today that the pandemic concerns required that Avenatti should be released from a federal detention center in New York for 90 days. He will be in quarantine for 14 days before moving to Los Angeles.
Avenatti won his release when attorneys argued a recent bout with pneumonia
left him vulnerable to the coronavirus.
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Over 15,000 huge seafloor holes have mysteriously appeared off California coast – and no one knows why As many as 15,000 holes have been found during an underwater survey by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). Experts were originally studying mysterious large "pockmarks" across
the seafloor off the coast of California's Big Sur region. These strange
depressions are unexplained, and average 574 across and 16 feet deep.
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Coronavirus shutdown in California: What are the rules There was no end date on the order. Restrictions will be in place “until further notice,” it said. Besides the staffing of the businesses allowed to remain open, the
order specifies activities needed “to maintain continuity of operation
of the federal critical infrastructure sectors, critical government
services, schools, childcare, and construction, including housing construction.”
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Gov. Newsom issues sweeping guidance in California as number of coronavirus cases nears 200 Newsom issued an executive order late Wednesday recommending the closures extend through March, and about 12 hours later at a news conference he said it was likely they would stretch into April. Newsom said he was not ordering the closures but expected compliance. A short time later Walt Disney Co. announced Disneyland and Disney
California Adventure would close starting Saturday because it was in
the best interest of guests and employees.
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Car flies off seaside cliff in California — and then vanishes, dashcam video shows A witness reported that the car had driven off the road and plunged over the cliff Monday morning, near Gray Whale State Cove Beach along Highway 1 between Pacifica and Montara, according to Cal Fire officials in San Mateo County. “Tire tracks were found,” Cal Fire officials said on Twitter on Monday,
sharing photos showing search crews combing Pacific Ocean waters for
traces of the vehicle reported missing. “Car parts found in water, unclear
if the parts connected to this incident.”
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How did the California Dream become hot, dry dystopia? Faced with a warming climate and an aging infrastructure, Californians are conceding that this may be the “new normal.” But the chaos was compounded on Sunday when residents lost even the
most basic public services. In a global hotspot of innovation and technology,
we cooked on propane stoves in Silicon Valley, shut down interstates
in the North Bay, and panicked when cell-phones dropped with loved ones
in danger.
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Naturally, 2019 Closes with Thousands of 10-Inch Pulsing “Penis Fish” Stranded on a California Beach What in the name of Secretariat is a fat innkeeper worm? The fat innkeeper
worm (Urechis caupo) is a type of spoonworm (Echiuroidea), an order
of non-segmented marine worms identified by a spatula-shaped proboscis
used for feeding and sometimes grasping or swimming. The fat innkeeper’s
family (Urechidae) contains only four species worldwide, collectively
known as either innkeeper worms or, well, penis fish. This is why we
prefer scientific names. U. caupo is the sole representative in North
America, found only from Southern Oregon to Baja, with the bulk of sightings
between Bodega Bay and Monterey. So, whether or not you feel privileged
by its presence, U. caupo is an almost uniquely California experience,
perhaps having the best claim for State Worm.
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Dozens of California deputies lied about booking evidence they collected, 2nd audit shows The result, Orange County DA Todd Spitzer said, his office’s lawyers
may have filed and prosecuted dozens of criminal charges based on deputies’
reports that falsely stated evidence had been booked in the California
county of 3.2 million residents.
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Laguna Beach uses 1,000 goats to help prevent wildfires ABC News reports that the city is using more than 1,000 goats to chew through dry weeds and grass. Laguna Beach's Fire Marshall, James Brown, calls the vegetation "fuel" for wildfires. Laguna Beach has used goats since 1992 and Brown said the program
was "extremely effective." This is the largest group of goats the city
has had in the history of the program; goats and herders from Peru have
cleared 80% of this year's 250-acre goal.
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California Freelancers Suffer From Totally Predictable 'Unintended Consequences' of Gig Worker Protection Bill Instead, the company decided to cancel the contracts of some 200 or so freelancers that now work for SB Nation. It will "replace them with 20 new part-time and full-time staffers," a "source familiar with the decision" told the Los Angeles Times. AB5 "makes it impossible for us to continue with our current California
team site structure because it restricts contractors from producing
more than 35 written content 'submissions' per year," explained SB Nation's
John Ness.
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California Can Expect Blackouts For A Decade, Says PG&E CEO The revelation by corporation CEO Bill Johnson came Friday at a California
Public Utilities Commission meeting at which he said his company is
trying to reduce the chances of wildfires by trimming more trees and
using technology to target smaller areas of the grid when fire dangers
require power outages. But Johnson said it could take 10 years before
such outages are "really ratcheted down significantly."
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California Now Has Highest Gas Prices and Top Gas Tax Rate in Country The average price for regular gas in California is $4.09 while the national average is $2.65, according to data compiled by the American Automobile Association. Gas taxes recently went up by 5.6 cents in California, bringing the
total state gas taxes to 62 cents per gallon. Factoring in federal gas
taxes brings the total to 80 cents per gallon.
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Kincade fire: Mandatory evacuations for Healdsburg, Windsor The mandatory evacuation affects 44,374 residents, county officials
said. Additional evacuation warnings affect another 43,411 residents.
For more information on the evacuations visit SoCoEmergency.org.
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California condor births mark a milestone — and we have pictures to prove it But for a while, it seemed this breathtaking bird would fade forever into the California sunset. By 1982, the ravages of hunting, habitat encroachment and lead poisoning
had reduced their numbers to a mere 22. That spelled the end of independence
for these raptors. Five years later, the last of their kind were living
in the Peregrine Fund's captive breeding program.
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Driver in Clown Mask With Prop Chain Saw Accused of Leading CHP on Chase Damik A. Disdier was booked on suspicion of felony evading police, according to the California Highway Patrol. The agency described him as 40 years old, while L.A. County booking records listed his age as 36 The peculiar pursuit began shortly before 3 p.m. Saturday, after witnesses
began calling CHP to report seeing a black BMW sedan driving at 2 to
3 mph in the fast lane of the northbound 405 Freeway, near the 22 Freeway,
in Westminster, CHP said in a written statement.
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Will California Ever Release Manson “Family” Member Leslie Van Houten? In thrall to Manson and his Family—and at the direction of Charles
“Tex” Watson, whom Manson had instructed to make certain that Van Houten
and Krenwinkel directly participated in the killings—Van Houten plunged
a carving knife 16 times into Rosemary LaBianca, the wife of supermarket
executive Leno LaBianca, who was also murdered, after Manson broke into
the LaBiancas’s Los Feliz bungalow, subdued the couple, and ordered
Van Houten, Krenwinkel, and Watson inside.
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San Francisco Officials Designate NRA a Domestic Terrorist Organization The resolution calls out the NRA for inciting acts of violence and
spreading "misinformation and propaganda" and encourages the city to
assess and limit contracts with vendors affiliated with the NRA. It
stops short, though, of putting in place any enforcement mechanisms
or new regulations.
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Community Group Partnering with Pot Dispensaries for Gun Buy-Back United Playaz, a community group made up of ex-gang members, is offering cash in exchange for firearms; $100 for hand guns and $200 for assault rifles, no questions asked. The organization has raised $50,000 which will go to buying back the
guns as well as other anti-violence initiatives. Half of that money
comes from an unlikely source: pot dispensaries.
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California finally to move ahead with 'cradle to career' data system The marching order for what Newsom is calling a Cradle to Career Data
System is included in a lengthy bill elaborating on the 2019-20 state
budget for education. It lays out steps over the next 18 months that
will determine what the system will look like, how it will be governed,
who will have access to data and how privacy and security will be handled.
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Sacramento salon owner claims Californian homeless crisis is forcing her to relocate Elizabeth Novak, who owns a hair salon in downtown Sacramento, posted a video on Twitter on Friday describing how she often finds people camping in tents across her front door. She told how the vagrancy epidemic gripping the state is affecting
long-standing business owners and that her shop has been broken into
and she has even been attacked.
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San Francisco Rebrands Criminals: 'Justice-Involved Person Going forward, what was once called a convicted felon or an offender released from jail will be a “formerly incarcerated person,” or a “justice-involved” person or simply a “returning resident.” Parolees and people on criminal probation will be referred to as a
“person on parole,” or “person under supervision.”
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Guns Purchased Out of State Keep Claiming Lives in California Although California has some of the strictest gun control laws in
the country, neighboring states like Arizona and Nevada take a far more
lenient stance on who can purchase guns and how quickly they can do
so, and California legislators have tried to regulate the flow of firearms
coming here from outside, to limited effect.
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California's Soaring Gas Taxes Aren't Even Going to the Roads The average price of regular unleaded gas is now $3.02 per gallon,
meaning that federal and state taxes represent about 20 percent of the
retail price. That’s considerably more than gas-station owners’ 2-cents-per-gallon
gross profit.
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Why Are There So Many Cemeteries in East L.A.? When construction on a nearby Catholic cemetery faced community resistance,
the L.A. Archdiocese hired an ex-city attorney who found a loophole
that allowed county health officials to grant the permit, and the Archdiocese
started digging. That precedent led to the construction of a dozen more
eternal resting sites in the area, slowly turning L.A.’s Eastside into
a necropolis metropolis.
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California Interest Groups Decide Hydroelectric Power Doesn't Count as Renewable Energy She wanted the term “renewable energy” in California law to refer to—hold on to your hat—renewable energy. Specifically, she wanted to allow two utilities, in the Modesto and
Turlock irrigation districts, to be able to categorize as renewable
energy electricity that turbines at the Don Pedro Reservoir generated.
Certainly, such energy sounds renewable. But her measure failed to get
enough support in the California Senate.
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California food stamp program, CalFresh, expanding to include 200,000 elderly, disabled people Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis announced the expansion of CalFresh on Friday. Under the expansion, 200,000 elderly and disabled people would be eligible for food stamps. The Calfresh program issues monthly electronic benefits that can be
used to buy most foods at markets and grocery stores.
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Caltrain fatally strikes person, the sixth such death this year The collision occurred around 7:40 a.m. involving northbound train No. 227, which runs from Gilroy to San Francisco, Caltrain spokeswoman Tasha Bartholomew said. The person was trespassing on the tracks near the station at 3400
Monterey Highway, according to Bartholomew.
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California hits back as Trump threatens to ‘dump’ immigrants in ‘sanctuary cities’ Gov. Gavin Newsom labeled the president’s proposed policy nonsensical, saying Trump campaigned on deporting more immigrants. But his latest plan looks as if he intends to allow some migrants to remain in the U.S. “Which one is it, Mr. President?” Newsom asked rhetorically, in an
interview with The Times. “That fundamental flaw in the logic needs
to be considered.”
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You can see California's super bloom from 35,000 feet An SFGATE reader captured the spectacular floral display from aboard a plane that took off from Los Angeles International Airport at around noon on March 15, and the images are going viral in the My Home is California Facebook group where members share photos showing off the Golden State's beauty. The so-called "super bloom" is centered around the small town of Lake
Elsinore, and it turns out the best way to see the wildflowers might
be from an airplane or in the photos above.
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Just how awful is the California Department of Motor Vehicles? In February, the state Legislative Analyst’s Office released its review of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s transportation budget. The report reveals that the state’s Motor Vehicle Account has an “operational shortfall” of $400 million in the current year and is projected to be insolvent two years from now. The Motor Vehicle Account receives most of its revenue from fees for
vehicle registration and driver’s licenses, and the money goes mainly
to support the activities of the California Highway Patrol and the DMV.
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Will a $10,000 tax deduction inspire Californians to save for college? The proposal, Assembly Bill 211, would give families a deduction of up to $10,000 if they contribute money to a state-managed college savings plan known as ScholarShare. Today, 34 other states that levy income tax offer that kind of deduction for contributions to tax-advantaged 529 college savings plans. California lawmakers have raised the idea in the past, but shot it
down over concerns that it would mostly benefit families who already
are well off and able to save money.
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‘DEA huh?’ Fake agent’s story unravels when he pulls over real agent, Cali cops say It was that traffic stop on Christmas Eve that triggered a broader investigation into 49-year-old Alex E. Taylor, which revealed the federal agent he stopped was far from the only victim, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Agents arrested Taylor on Saturday and raided his San Jose home, seizing
an imitation DEA badge, a Volkswagen Jetta tricked out with police-style
lights, handcuffs, methamphetamine and a fake concealed weapons badge,
Drug Enforcement Administration agents said in a news release on Tuesday
announcing Taylor’s arrest.
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‘Let’s be real.’ Gavin Newsom says he’ll cut back on California’s high-speed rail plan He invoked his father’s difficult final years as he called for a state
master plan on aging, and asked former First Lady Maria Shriver to lead
an effort to combat Alzheimer’s. He put Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg
in charge of a new state commission on homelessness.
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'Typhus zone': Rats and trash infest Los Angeles' skid row, fueling disease Uneaten food is dumped on the street — a salad platter was recently splattered on the asphalt — and discarded clothing piles up only to be swirled into rats' nests. Those rats, experts say, are likely contributing to the growing number
of typhus infections cropping up on skid row and other parts of the
region. The disease is spread by fleas, which are carried by rats, opossums
and pets. More
California Police Share Photos Of A Recently Discovered Underground Lair Serving As A Gang Hideaway However, they ended up finding even more than they bargained for.
Upon stumbling across a manhole, police became immediately suspicious
and unscrewed the cover. Underneath was a dirty metal ladder leading
to a type of underground lair.
More
California Will Keep Your DNA on File Even if You Haven't Been Convicted of a Crime Now the Equal Justice Society (EJS), the Center for Genetics and Society (CGS), and CGS consultant Pete Shanks are suing to stop the retention of DNA for those who have not been convicted of a crime. The plaintiffs, who are being represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), argue that the policy violates the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures. When the state seizes and analyzes DNA, the information is uploaded
to a national database called the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS.
There it remains indefinitely, unless someone's record is expunged.
Those affected by this practice include those arrested without probable
cause and those arrested and released without charges.
More
L.A.'s Housing Crisis Hits Hollywood: The Entertainment Workers Living in Their Cars The entertainment industry, one of the city's biggest and most capricious
employers, counts a number of car dwellers like Noelle among its workforce.
Though the precise figure is unknown, it's a small but visible population.
Of the 45 or so people hosted each night by Safe Parking L.A. — an organization
that launched in 2016 and opened its first facility this year providing
guarded, secret lots for vehicle dwellers to sleep in — an actor and
a couple of part-time production or lighting professionals usually show
up, founder Scott Sale says.
More
Drive, walk, ride a bike or a scooter? New California traffic laws might affect your ride License plates: AB 516, sponsored by Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-South
San Francisco. This law requires California new- and used-auto dealers
to attach temporary license places on a vehicle at the point of sale
if it does not already have DMV-issued plates. No vehicle can be driven
off the dealership lot without a plate affixed to it.
More
California Gov. Jerry Brown pardons 143 people on Christmas Eve Brown, who has been governor for the past eight years, had already pardoned more people than any governor in California history before his Christmas Eve actions. But on Monday, he broke the record for most commutations, surpassing the combined totals of all previous governors, including himself when he served his first tenure as California governor between 1975 and 1983. "The atmosphere, the gangs, the hopelessness, sentences that are so
long ... the no-exit attitude has made it virtually impossible to have
any strong rehabilitative atmosphere," Brown told the San Francisco
Chronicle. "This has given me the interest, where I can, in instilling
hope."
More
California wants to tax your text messages State regulators say the money would be used to support programs that provide phone service to the poor. It's unclear how much you'd have to pay per message. The wireless industry and business groups are fighting the plan. They
say it could cost phone users an extra $44 million a year. More
UN expert: San Francisco’s homelessness crisis is a human rights violation and suggests ‘a cruelty that is unsurpassed’ While New York City and Los Angeles have the highest numbers of homeless people in the US, San Francisco has the highest rate of street homelessness nationwide. On any given night, more than 4,300 citizens sleep without a roof over their heads. But not even this knowledge could prepare Farha for what she witnessed
in January.
More
The Terrifying Science Behind California’s Massive Blaze When it hit the town of Paradise, home to 27,000 people, those buildings
became yet more fuel to power the blaze. The town's mayor says that
80 to 90 percent of homes have been destroyed—nearly 6,500 structures
in addition to 260 commercial buildings. For perspective, the previously
most destructive wildfire in state history, Tubbs Fire that raged through
the city of Santa Rosa last year, destroyed 5,500 total structures.
More
Under California's New Governor, the Proposed Bullet Train May Get Cheaper but Also Dumber Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom handily won the race to succeed Gov. Jerry Brown, defeating Republican John Cox 60 percent to 40 percent. Newsom didn't say much whle he was running about the fate of the California
High-Speed Rail project. This effort has been a complete disaster since
voters approved a $10 billion bond in 2008 to start a first leg of a
train that is supposed to travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles in
less than three hours. Costs have ballooned for just the very first
(uncompleted) leg in the Central Valley, from $6 to $10 billion. Estimates
for the entire project have jumped from $64 to $77 billion—and really,
if the entire thing ever is fully built, it will likely cost well over
$100 billion.
More
Mysterious space object that landed on California ranch identified The owner of the ranch near Hanford spotted the big chunk of metal
in his walnut orchard on Oct. 13 and alerted local authorities. Detectives
with the Kings County Sheriff's Office followed several leads, including
the possibility the object was related to the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
which launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base several days prior. SpaceX
denied the debris had anything to do with the launch.
More
California's DMV finds an additional 1,500 people wrongly registered to vote under new system “When I saw that card, I just threw it out,” Marquis said. “I know I’m not going to vote. I’m not allowed to vote, it’s stupid that I should be registered to vote.” The Newport Beach resident, who has a green card and is married to a U.S. citizen, was one of some 1,500 people who the California Department of Motor Vehicles said on Monday were wrongly registered to vote between late April and late September. These errors, which included other non-citizens, are in addition to
the roughly 23,000 registration mistakes disclosed by the DMV last month.
More
Southern California pot church properties raided The Riverside County district attorney's office says search warrants were served Friday at the buildings in Jurupa (Huh-ROO'-puh) Valley operated by the Vault Church of Open Faith. Authorities contend the businesses are illegal marijuana dispensaries. No arrests were made but authorities say they seized at least $75,000
in cash.
More
Driver Gets $400 Ticket for Using Mannequin to Cheat Way Into Carpool Lane That's the message the California Highway Patrol has for anyone looking to cheat their way into carpool lanes. And oh, you'll also get a ticket for over $400. A motorist received just that Thursday morning after being caught
driving in the HOV lane with a mannequin in the passenger seat of their
car. The driver -- and mannequin -- were headed westbound on Highway
4 in Contra Costa County when a CHP motorcycle officer pull them over.
More
California first to sign Green Bond Pledge to fight climate change California is the first state to sign the Green Bond Pledge that creates a bond market to finance eco-friendly, carbon-free infrastructure improvement projects. The Green Bond Market is seen as a financing tool for alternative,
carbon-free and environmentally friendly infrastructure and capital
improvement projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute
to climate change.
More
California Lawmakers Question DMV: Why the Wait? Assemblyman Phil Ting says the line at a San Francisco DMV office
he visited last month snaked around the block. He says it looked more
like a queue for rock concert tickets than for people trying to renew
their licenses. Ting will lead a hearing Tuesday to question DMV officials
about what they are doing to reduce wait times.
More
California Has 48 Hours to Pass This Privacy Bill or Else What’s really happening is that California lawmakers have 48 hours
to pass such a bill or the policy shit is going to hit the direct democracy
fan. Because if lawmakers in the California Senate and House don’t pass
this bill Thursday morning, and if California governor Jerry Brown doesn’t
sign this bill into law Thursday afternoon, a stronger version of it
will be on the state ballot in November. Then the 17 million or so people
who actually vote in California would decide for themselves whether
they should have the right to force companies to stop selling their
data out the back door. Polls predict they would vote yes, despite the
claims of tech companies that passage of the law would lead to businesses
fleeing California. And laws passed via the ballot initiative process,
rather than the legislative process, are almost impossible to change,
so California would likely have this one on its books for a very long
time.
More
Cannabis Business Summit Draws Thousands to Silicon Valley Nearly 6,000 people are expected to come through the three-day event that started Wednesday and features everything from the latest in weed-growing technologies to companies working on helping marijuana-related startups get venture financing. Several attendees said the marijuana scene Thursday reminds them of
the early days of the Bay Area tech boom.
More
California has hit its 2020 greenhouse gas emissions goal years ahead of schedule The state planned to reduce gas emissions to under 431 metric tons
by the end of 2020. The good news is, it finally reached that goal -
four years ago. If you're confused, we'll clarify: California's Air
Resources board has only just released its emissions report for the
years 2000 to 2016. Based on the report's data, 2016's emission numbers
were already under 429.4 metric tons, putting the state well ahead of
schedule.
More
California prohibits drones from delivering marijuana Unfortunately for technology advocates, acceptable methods of transportation aren’t as forward-looking as the laws that govern usage. The Bureau outlines in its proposed program description that cannabis
goods will be required to be transported inside commercial vehicles
or trailers. Specifically, transportation may not be done by aircraft,
watercraft, rail, drones, human-powered vehicles or unmanned vehicles.
More
How an irked Northern California postal patron helped crack a global plant smuggling scheme It’s the Golden State’s first-ever undercover plant investigation — and a tale of amazing obsession, where vigilant authorities, passionate plant lovers and an irked postal customer discovered that foreign thieves are slipping into California’s wild landscapes, fueling a budding black market in the lucrative exotic plant industry. The suspects, Korean and Chinese nationals, face criminal charges. And the kidnapped plants — small, squat and cherished succulents called
Dudleya farinosa –– once again are back in American soil. This week,
volunteers returned more than 2,000 plants to their wild and windswept
Northern California coastal cliffs. Hundreds more will stay in pots,
tended by other volunteers, until autumn replanting.
More
Is Napa growing too much wine? Residents seek to preserve treasured land His winery, Stag’s Leap, shocked the wine world by taking top honors. “It broke the glass ceiling that France had imposed on everyone,” he recalls. “People’s aspirations were liberated.” Today Winiarski, 89, is speaking not of liberation, but of limits.
A growing coalition of industry veterans and longtime residents fear
that Napa has become a victim of its own success, pointing to the ecological
transformation of the valley floor from dense oak woodland to a sea
of vine-wrapped trellises. And they are posing a thorny question: has
a unique agricultural region reached a tipping point at which agriculture
itself becomes the threat?
More
California to require solar panels on most new homes The plan doesn't require that a home reach net-zero status (where
the solar power completely offsets the energy consumed in a year). However,
it does provide "compliance credits" for homebuilders who install storage
batteries like Tesla's Powerwall, letting them build smaller panel arrays
knowing that excess energy will be available to use off-hours.
More
How do coyotes thrive in urban Southern California? The answer is not for the weak-stomached "They're like Christmas packages," she said of the cantaloupe-sized coyote stomachs before her. "You never know what you're going to find inside." Martinez is part of a team of researchers that for more than a year has been cataloging the astonishingly diverse contents stewing in the bellies of local urban coyotes. Organs from coyotes that perished across Los Angeles and Orange counties
under myriad circumstances are offering fresh glimpses of a biological
mystery: Exactly what fits into the diet of the intelligent, socially
organized and highly adaptive scavengers in urban settings?
More
California store sued over no-Spanish language policy The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging store managers publicly reprimanded Hispanic employees caught speaking Spanish. The store allegedly barred workers from speaking Spanish around non-Spanish
speakers even during breaks or when talking to Spanish-speaking customers.
More
The homeless Disneyland worker who died alone in her car A night janitor at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Mesfin decided not to tell family and coworkers that she was homeless, outside of one or two people. When she died, barely a week after her birthday, she was alone in that same car — a 61-year-old woman, worn out, suffering from heart problems. A victim of her own secrecy, nobody in her life could be there to help her. Relatives and friends began a frantic search when she failed to show up at work on Nov. 29, 2016, or get in contact. Because they had no clue where to look, it took 20 days to discover
Mesfin, dressed in exercise clothes and clutching her keys, in the driver’s
seat of her dark green 1999 sedan parked at the gym where she showered.
More
More than a million illicit residents have received California driver's licenses Assembly Bill 60, authored by then-Assemblyman Luis Alejo in 2013,
required California DMV offices to issue driver's licenses to undocumented
immigrants as long as they can prove their identity and residence within
the state. The law has led to 1,001,000 undocumented immigrants receiving
licenses as of March 31 but doesn't give the licensees carte blanche
to drive outside of California or fly across state or federal borders.
More
California Would Require Twitter, Facebook to Disclose Bots Bots, which can be purchased or created by individuals or organizations, have been used to inflate influence or amplify divisive opinions in politics and national tragedies. In the recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, for example, bots with suspected links to Russia released hundreds of posts to weigh in on the gun control debate. Russia-linked bots on Twitter shared Donald Trump’s tweets almost
half a million times during the final months of the 2016 election campaign,
compared with fewer than 50,000 retweets for Hillary Clinton’s account.
More
Trump administration picks new fight with California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt is expected this week to declare that having the nation’s auto fleet meet an average 54.5 mpg standard by 2025 is too strict, two people familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill. The decision could have huge ramifications for California, which negotiated
the target with the Obama administration in 2011 after winning a waiver
from the Clean Air Act to impose its own in-state fuel economy standards.
More
California sues Trump administration over Census citizenship question The Commerce Department announced late Monday that it would resume the long-abandoned practice of asking about citizenship during the Census, taken every 10 years. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that information is needed to enforce the Voting Rights Act, which protects minority voters. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who filed the lawsuit,
and others argue that asking people whether they are citizens is not
only unconstitutional, but also would intimidate immigrants — both legal
and illegal — and result in a dramatic undercount of minority communities.
More
Invasive 20-pound rodents increasingly burrowing into California Weighing in at 20 pounds and measuring 2 feet, 6 inches long, plus a 12-inch tail, the nutria live in or near water. They're also incredibly destructive. “They burrow in dikes, and levees, and road beds, so they weaken infrastructure, (which is) problematic for flood control systems,” California Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Peter Tira said. When nutria aren’t burrowing, they’re eating. They can consume 25
percent of their body weight each day in vegetation, but they waste
and destroy 10 times that.
More
California DMV disengagement report reveals self-driving improvements Cruise’s numbers were very positive, relatively speaking. The company’s
reported around a 1400% improvement in performance, with the number
of average miles between disengagements climbing from around 300 miles
between each to aver 4,600.
More
California Considers $1,000 Fine for Waiters Offering Unsolicited Plastic Straws Calderon, the Democratic majority leader in California's lower house, has introduced a bill to stop sit-down restaurants from offering customers straws with their beverages unless they specifically request one. Under Calderon's law, a waiter who serves a drink with an unrequested straw in it would face up to 6 months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. "We need to create awareness around the issue of one-time use plastic
straws and its detrimental effects on our landfills, waterways, and
oceans," Calderon explained in a press release.
More
California's Other Drought: A Major Earthquake Is Overdue The magnitude 7.9 earthquake that struck off Alaska's Kodiak Island on Jan. 23, 2018 was just the latest reminder of major seismic activity along the Pacific Rim. Tragic quakes that occurred in 2017 near the Iran-Iraq border and in central Mexico, with magnitudes of 7.3 and 7.1, respectively, are well within the range of earthquake sizes that have a high likelihood of occurring in highly populated parts of California during the next few decades. The earthquake situation in California is actually more dire than
people who aren't seismologists like myself may realize. Although many
Californians can recount experiencing an earthquake, most have never
personally experienced a strong one. For major events, with magnitudes
of 7 or greater, California is actually in an earthquake drought
More
California AG: Employers who Cooperate With Federal Immigration Raids Will be Prosecuted The Sacramento Bee’s Angela Hart asked Becerra if the attorney general’s office would take legal action against employers who cooperate with ICE officials. “There are new laws in place in California now in 2018 with the advent
of 2018. I mentioned two of them specifically, AB 450 and SB 54. AB
450 in particular deals with the workplace in particular and how we
go about treating the information about the workplace and employees
at the workplace by employers,” Becerra explained. “What we’re trying
to make sure is that employers are aware that in 2018, there is a new
law in place.”
More
Thomas fire, California's largest on record, finally 100% contained The fire burned for more than a month, though its spread was contained several weeks ago. Heavy rains earlier this week, which caused land burned by the fire to create mudflows that buried neighborhoods, helped fully extinguish the blaze. In the end, the fire burned 281,893 acres. The fire eclipsed the 2003 Cedar fire in San Diego County, which burned
273,246 acres.
More
2018’s new laws: California businesses brace for changes The California Chamber of Commerce has released a list of the laws that are scheduled to take effect in 2018 or beyond. Some are far-reaching, while others make small changes to portions
of existing laws or may affect employers only in specific industries.
Senate Bill 63, also known as the New Parent Leave Act, requires small
businesses with 20 or more employees to provide eligible employees up
to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to bond with a new child
— leave that must be taken within a year of the child’s birth, adoption
or foster care placement.
More
Man begging for gas money in Santa Ana found with stolen $265,000 Ferrari Israel Perez Rangel, 38, was being held in the Orange County jail on suspicion of vehicle theft and grand theft auto with prior convictions and vandalism causing damages of $10,000 or more. Rangel is suspected of stealing a 2015 Ferrari 458 from Ferrari & Maserati of Newport Beach Service Center in Costa Mesa on Wednesday, Oct. 18, said Michelle Van Der Linden, spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. The keys had been left in the vehicle, which the District Attorney’s
Office valued at $265,000, and the theft was reported to Costa Mesa
police the next day.
More
2 women harassed her for breastfeeding at Disneyland, so she took a photo with them In a Nov. 18 post to the Facebook group “Breastfeeding Mama Talk,” Brittni Medina wrote that her husband was prompted to snap the photo after two woman grew angry at her for breastfeeding her son while waiting in line for a ride. The women are visible in the background of the photo. It is legal to breastfeed in public in California. “These women were making snarky comments so I moved from my spot to
catch a picture with these characters,” Medina wrote in her Facebook
post.
More
31 Christmas and holiday things to do in Southern California We picked some of the biggest and best attractions and events in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties worth checking out whether you have out-of-towners coming to visit or need an idea to get the kids out of the house. Our list is organized by county and then by date, starting with attractions
that are already open for the season.
More
Antonio Villaraigosa made more than $1 million annually from consulting, tax returns show Villaraigosa made an average total income of $893,883 per year between
2011 and 2016, and paid an average combined state and federal tax bill
of $362,201 per year, for an average combined tax rate of about 40 percent
— or 44 percent after deductions and credits. He’s the last of the four
Democrats in the 2018 governor’s race to release six years of returns.
More
Californians will turn private ranch land into new public beach The commission, which oversees coastal development, unanimously approved a deal that calls for the owners to fix damage to land they developed without permission and to transfer 36 acres of coastal property to Santa Barbara County. It will be used to extend a current public park at remote Jalama Beach, 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The area is a rarity on the 21st-century central and southern coast
of California — free of urban sprawl, crowds, cookie-cutter developments
and freeways.
More
Alameda schools did nothing about anti-Semitism, family says An image of the advertising logo Mr. Clean in a Nazi uniform with “Mr. Ethnic Cleansing” added in bright red letters also appeared on the 14-year-old’s phone. Natasha, who is Jewish, was told in another text that Hitler’s biggest mistake was not killing her family. The texts were allegedly sent by fellow students. “Telling a Jew that her family should have been killed in the Holocaust
is like telling a black student that her family should have been lynched,”
said Natasha, now a sophomore at the school. “It’s a very clear threat,
and I can tell you it instills very real fear.”
More
Pending home sales plunge across Bay Area and state That’s according to a new survey by the California Association of Realtors, which examines pending sales as a bellwether for where the housing market is headed. It didn’t provide data on closed home sales. “After a solid run-up of closed sales in May, June and August,” the
report said, “continued housing inventory issues and affordability constraints
may have pushed the market to a tipping point, suggesting the pace of
growth will slow in the fall.”
More
California cops injured in Las Vegas mass shooting heroism denied workers’ comp due to state law They sprang to action – shepherding people to safety, performing CPR and helping local authorities secure the area – sometimes getting gunshot wounds or injuries in the process. But as those wounded officers have begun filing for public-employee
benefits to cover the long-term medical care some might need to recover
from the trauma, local cities and counties are asking themselves whether
they’re required or even allowed to pay to treat off-duty police who
chose independently to intervene in an out-of-state emergency. And due
to some muddy language in California’s labor code, it’s unclear whether
the municipalities will have to pony up.
More
California Considers Following China With Combustion-Engine Car Ban Governor Jerry Brown has expressed an interest in barring the sale of vehicles powered by internal-combustion engines, Mary Nichols, chairman of the California Air Resources Board, said in an interview Friday at Bloomberg headquarters in New York. The earliest such a ban is at least a decade away, she said. Brown, one of the most outspoken elected official in the U.S. about
the need for policies to combat climate change, would be replicating
similar moves by China, France and the U.K.
More
California Is Already Preparing for a North Korean Nuclear Attack Noting the heightened North Korean threat, the Los Angeles-area Joint Regional Intelligence Center issued a bulletin last month warning that a nuclear attack on Southern California would be “catastrophic” and urged officials in the region to shore up their nuclear attack response plans. The report cites North Korea’s late July test of an intercontinental
ballistic missile that could, in theory, reach the West Coast of the
United States. “North Korea’s propaganda videos feature ruins of San
Francisco and Washington,” the document says.
More
Effort to bar child marriage in California runs into opposition “I thought, that can’t be true in California,” said state Sen. Jerry Hill, a Democrat from San Mateo. “We found that it is true in California and true in many states throughout the country.” But Hill’s resulting proposal to bar juveniles from getting hitched
has been watered down after it prompted strong objections from civil
rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union.As the emotional
fight unfolds in Sacramento, there’s no agreement even about a basic
piece of information — how many minors get married each year in California.
More
Berkeley teacher Yvette Felarca arrested on charges of inciting a riot Police took Felarca, 47, into custody in Southern California on charges of assault by means of force likely to inflict great bodily injury, a felony, and participating in a riot, and inciting a riot, both misdemeanors, according to information provided by the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office. Felarca was captured on video hitting a member of the Traditionalist
Worker’s Party, a white nationalist group that had taken out permits
for a rally on the west steps of the state capitol.
More
Gender 'X' could soon be an option on California state IDs The California Senate has already passed SB179, which would introduce a third gender option for state identification. Currently, driver’s licenses and other forms of official identification only contain options for male or female. The bill would allow a third option, which would likely be ‘X,’ according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The bill allowing people to identify as “nonbinary” will be considered
in the California Assembly. It would also make it easier for transgender
people to make sure legal state documents appropriately reflect their
gender.
More
When the Civil War Came to San Diego Most of them were Southerners, and their leader, a red-headed Confederate
sympathizer named Dan Showalter, was famous. A few months earlier, this
“fascinating and baffling character” had fired a bullet straight into
a fellow state legislator’s mouth at 40 paces. Now, he was heading east
to slaughter Yankees.
More
Cancer-Causing Chemical TCP Plagues California Drinking Water The state is poised to take the first step Tuesday to regulate the substance — called 1,2,3, TCP — but test data compiled by an activist group show it's also been detected by utilities across the country. Some who live in this lush farmland believe it's to blame for the health problems of their family members and neighbors. "The word that really captures all of it is 'outrage,'" said Jerry
Tinoco, 45, who is from the city of Arvin and says at least three close
family members have been diagnosed with cancer. "It's a man-made chemical,
so someone is to blame."
More
More than a third of California households have virtually no savings, are at risk of financial ruin That’s the grim assessment of the 2017 Prosperity Now Scorecard. The report was compiled by Prosperity Now, a Washington, D.C.-based organization seeking to help people — particularly people of color and those with limited income — achieve financial security and prosperity. The scorecard also shows that 46 percent of households in the Golden
State didn’t set aside any savings for emergencies over the past year,
a higher percentage than the national rate of 44 percent.
More
California man sues over denial of $5M lottery prize Ward Thomas of Long Beach says he sent his son to buy Scratchers tickets from a gas station in October. One was a winner. Thomas says he validated the ticket at a lottery office but two months later, the prize was denied because his son was 16 and only adults can play. Thomas filed a lawsuit last week against the commission and the gas
station, which he claims didn't check the boy's age or tell him only
adults could buy tickets.
More
Why people love to hate Californians The Trump election was a reminder to many in the Bay Area of what
a bubble we live in, and how different things can be in the Golden State.
The president himself called California "out of control" earlier this
year, joining the chorus of those lamenting California's idiosyncrasies.
We wouldn't be surprised if today there are even more in the far-right
aghast with California.
More
California May Place ‘Third Gender’ Option on State Documents The Gender Recognition Act of 2017 would add “non-binary” to male and female on official state documents and make it easier for transgender people to change them. The proposed legislation is another example of California’s growing
culture clash with the Republican-controlled Congress and many of the
nation’s red states, which are embroiled in an emotional debate over
gender politics.
More
Skiers hit the slopes in bikini tops as California's endless winter endures a heat wave For Stev Fagran, a 56-year-old schoolteacher from Wellington, Nev., the Sierra’s endless winter gives him a chance to build on a personal record of 164 consecutive months skiing, hunting out snow patches until the flakes fall again in September. Some years that means hunting narrow strips of snow in shaded fissures.
This year, whole peaks in the Sierra Nevada remain covered.
More
504 Californians requested life-ending prescriptions, group says The number represents only those who have contacted Compassion & Choices,
an advocacy group that provides information on the process. The organization
believes the overall figure is much higher.
More
Gov. Brown defends gas tax, local legislator Brown was also dismissive of efforts by a Republican assemblyman from Huntington Beach to qualify a ballot measure that could reverse the Democrat-backed tax plan. “Roads require money to fix,” Brown said during a Friday visit to
Orange County. “Republicans say there’s a magic source of money — it
doesn’t exist. … You want to borrow money and pay double? Or do nothing?
Or take money from universities?”
More
Why are doughnut boxes pink? The answer could only come out of Southern California She chose carefully: an old fashioned, plenty of glazed, a few sprinkles, and a puffy maple bar, all tucked neatly into that familiar container that so often blends into the background of daily life here. “I’m like one of Pavlov’s dogs when I see a pink box,” said Vilsack,
29, outside Rose Donuts & Cafe. “My mouth starts watering because I
know what’s inside.”
More
Communists to be allowed to have state jobs in California The measure by Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) would strike language
in California law dating from 1953 that warns of "a clear and present
danger, which the Legislature of the State of California finds is great
and imminent, that in order to advance the program, policies and objectives
of the world communism movement, communist organizations in the State
of California and their members will engage in concerted effort to hamper,
restrict, interfere with, impede, or nullify the efforts of the State...and
their members will infiltrate and seek employment by the State and its
public agencies."
More
California shark attacks: Here's why they're on the rise Leeanne Ericson, a single mother of three, was wading in remote waters south of San Clemente in Orange County on Saturday when a shark bit her right leg. A GoFundMe page says the shark tore Ericson's leg from the glute to her knee and that she is currently "fighting for her life" at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. The incident is particularly jarring for a county that had seen a total
of four shark attacks in the past nine decades before Saturday, according
to data from the University of Florida's International Shark Attack
File. In May 2016, a triathlete was bitten near Corona Del Mar in Newport
Beach, just 30 miles north of the recent incident. Researchers believe
great white sharks are responsible for both attacks.
More
A vineyard’s winged protectors It’s no wonder Jack London once wrote about California wine country, “I have everything to make me glad I’m alive.” The rolling hills, the endless blue skies, and the perfect weather -- it’s a nature lover’s paradise. But all that nature can be a problem. Just ask Rams Gate vineyard manager Ned Hill. “Deer, rabbits, coyotes, raccoons, foxes, birds, you name it. Grapes are tasty when they get ripe!” he explained. And so, like any cash crop, grapes need protection. And here, Beau
Bastian, is the muscle.
More
California’s ‘new’ environmentalism: Toxic air, tainted water driving climate-change debate Garcia channeled her anger into a successful 2012 Assembly campaign,
and today she is in the vanguard of a movement that is redefining environmentalism
in California. She and her political allies are warriors for “environmental
justice” who argue that Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers should
pay more attention to the polluted air and cancer-causing toxins plaguing
California’s poor and working-class neighborhoods as they pursue the
lofty goal of saving the planet from global warming.
More
How far can California go as it becomes immigrant sanctuary? “I couldn’t be more disappointed that President Trump has used his
first budget proposal to prioritize the border wall – his pet project
– and a deportation force over critical support for state and local
law enforcement,” Feinstein declared in March. Later, when the Department
of Homeland Security laid out a plan to implement his immigration order,
Feinstein fumed that was “simply unparalleled in its meanness, scope
and most likely its enforceability.”
More
President Trump OKs Federal Aid Following California Storms The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Sunday that the funds will aid state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in areas affected by severe weather from February 1 to February 23. The assistance will be available in more than two dozen counties,
mostly in the northern part of the state. Gov. Jerry Brown requested
the aid last month. After five years of drought, California saw record-breaking
precipitation this year that led rivers and creeks to break their banks.
More
School ‘lunch shaming’ could end under new California bill Sen. Bob Hertzberg, a Democrat from Los Angeles, is carrying a bill he says will put a stop to schools embarrassing children whose parents fall behind on their lunch payments. Hertzberg says the shaming takes multiple forms: Some students are altogether denied food while others are given paltry snacks. Such treatment, he says, “undercuts a child’s ability to learn and
succeed in school.
More
Desalination is no longer a pipe dream in Southern California If it sounds like something out of the future, consider: As of today, seven ocean desalination plants are under consideration along the coasts from Dana Point through Monterey Bay. By the mid-2020s, those plants could be using the Pacific to produce about 10 percent of the fresh water needed in parts of Los Angeles and Orange counties. Another project, in Carlsbad, opened about a year ago and is on track to produce about 8 percent of San Diego’s water. Desalination, long considered something out of “The Jetsons,” is real . But also consider this: Though the promise of desalination is appealing
— fresh, clean water that can outlast any drought — critics and water
experts have many questions.
More
Feel-good efforts won’t solve California’s housing crisis The state has been underbuilding housing for the last decade, ever since an overheated housing market collapsed. Despite the ensuing recession, California’s population continued to
grow by over 300,000 persons a year. Households, each with an average
of almost three persons, continued to form.
More
California gun owners brace for shortages, price hikes under new ammo regs Ball, a 39-year-old banker from Roseville, is a casual shooter who spends a few days a year at the target range. Typically, when he’s running low on ammo, he swings by a local sporting-goods store and buys what he needs, or he orders online. But like thousands of other hunters and target shooters in California, Ball has been stocking up in advance of a host of new state gun laws, set to take effect this year and next, that include ammunition regulations that are among the most stringent in the nation. “I’ve definitely been picking up a little more than I typically would,”
Ball said. “I do worry about – not so much about supply but prices.
The fact California has these extra rules in place, what’s that going
to be like?”
More
Former U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder visits Sacramento to meet with California's legislators Holder, along with five lawyers from his firm, met separately with the Senate and Assembly Democratic caucuses. That afternoon, there was a confab in the governor’s office with legislative leaders and, via telephone, state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra. “I'm here just to assist these gentlemen and the people who they serve
with in trying to protect the interests of the people of California,”
Holder said as he stood alongside De León (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly
Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount). When asked how he would provide
such assistance, he simply answered, “Well.”
More
California secession movement starts gathering petition signatures This isn't the first effort aimed at California secession but leaders say the previous tries were mostly about building awareness of the issue and increasing public support. They say recent polls show more Californians want a divorce from the union and believe that President Donald Trump's election also has boosted their cause. "We definitely see that there's some newfound support for this and
we want to get the signatures out there, especially now because we're
in the first 100 days of Donald Trump's presidency when he's going to
be aggressively pursuing his policies that the people of California
are going to reject — and have rejected," Louis Marinelli, president
of the Yes California Independence movement, said Friday.
More
There’s a right way for Fortress California to hunker down But it’s not for nothing that Golden State Democrats have spent the past three months girding for chaos. We extended health insurance to millions under the Affordable Care Act. Trump and the Republican Congress have vowed to dismantle it and replace it with – well, they haven’t yet said what. We are the sixth largest player in the global economy. Trump has vowed to end the North American Free Trade Agreement and
bashed China and Mexico, major trading partners. More
Sonoma’s Wackiest Wineries But it doesn’t have to be that way. Where is the fun, the laughter, the spirit of Bacchus which used to be the whole point of drinking wine? Must tourists solemnly trek from tasting room to tasting room forever commenting on terroir and bottle-shock and mouthfeel? Luckily, some Sonoma wineries have begun to put the fun back in fundamentals,
realizing that a sense of humor not only makes wine more enjoyable but
more importantly is a good way to attract customers. The next time you
make a pilgrimage to the Wine Country, swing by some of Sonoma’s wackiest
tasting rooms, where you don’t have to be a master sommelier to have
a good time
More
It's all part of Gov. Brown's plan to fight climate change Brown said, per the Sacramento Bee, adding that that ark saved Earth's species. "We've got to build our ark, too, by stopping ... dangerous pollutants." Brown's approval of Senate Bill 1383 goes after short-lived climate
pollutants, which include methane, black carbon, and HFC gases, per
the AP. Although these gases don't linger in the atmosphere, they still
make people sick and hasten global warming due to their heat-trapping
ability, per Reuters. "We're protecting people's lungs and their health,"
Brown said, per Courthouse News.
More
Millipede discovered in California has 414 legs, four penises Scientists have discovered new species of millipede with just those far-out features in a cave in California’s Sequoia National Park. The pale bug’s 414 legs are actually fairly meager for a millipede. Some species can have as many as 750. None have 1,000, though the name means “thousand feet. ” Like some other species, this millipede also has four modified legs that are used as penises. The discovery was made by Jean Krejca of the Texas group Zara Environmental
LLC. Millipede experts Paul Marek at Virginia Tech and Bill Shear at
Virginia’s Hampden-Sydney College classified the creature.
More
Baby Kidnapped for Two Years and Innocent Mother Incarcerated Amy never gave up, however. She fought back, and over three and a half years later she won her case and had her son returned to her custody. Her son was kidnapped by DCFS when he was 11 months old, and at age
4 he has now spent half of his life away from his mother and in foster
care with strange people.
More
California soldiers must repay enlistment bonuses Now the Pentagon is demanding the money back. Nearly 10,000 soldiers, many of whom served multiple combat tours,
have been ordered to repay large enlistment bonuses — and slapped with
interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens if they refuse — after
audits revealed widespread overpayments by the California Guard at the
height of the wars last decade.
More
Californians more likely to use guns to kill themselves than others From 2009 through 2014, the number of people who used a gun to kill
themselves in California actually outpaced the number who used a gun
to commit homicide. That's largely because the homicide rate has fallen,
while the suicide rate has remained steady (4.1 per 100,000 in 2014).
More
Lawyer accused of disrobing during Sacramento jail visit wins $45,000 settlement The settlement agreement also required the Sheriff’s Department to revise its policies on how it handles cases in which wrongdoing by an attorney during a confidential client visit is suspected. The unusual case stemmed from a November 2014 incident at Rio Cosumnes
Correctional Center, in which attorney Sage Kaveny was accused of removing
her pants and boots and engaging in sexually explicit conduct while
visiting a client.
More
New California law requires actors’ ages removed from IMDb upon request Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 1687 on Saturday after it passed both
the State Assembly and the State Senate with ease. Effective January
1st, 2017, any online entertainment database that hosts information
relevant to hiring (resumés, headshots, etc.) must remove or leave unpublished
someone’s age or birthday should a paying subscriber submit a request.
IMDb is the most popular and commonly known site that falls under the
law’s coverage. Though the law was specifically designed to protect
actors and actresses from age discrimination, it also applies to any
entertainment industry job.
More
With governor’s veto, California’s ‘tampon tax’ will survive, for now Some states have heeded the call. In the past year, officials in New York, Illinois and Connecticut have passed measures to end increasingly unpopular sales taxes on tampons, pads, menstrual cups and other feminine-hygiene items. Five other states have also nixed the “tampon tax,” which treats menstrual products as luxury goods rather than tax-free medical necessities. But America’s most populous state won’t be joining the push. On Tuesday, California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that would have ended the state’s tax on menstrual products. The measure was one of seven pieces of legislation Brown killed Tuesday, citing the state’s budget woes. “Tax breaks are the same thing as new spending,” the governor said
in a statement.
More
California dominates list of car theft 'hot spots' The National Insurance Crime Bureau ranked (and mapped
out) the nation's metropolitan areas each year by car-theft rate
and also issued a ranking for each state.
More
Angry man spends $200 at sushi restaurant, leaves 13-foot python instead of tip Instead of "dropping the mic" after a memorable rant, officials say the 46-year-old man dropped a 13-foot-long snake in the middle of the restaurant — then slithered out. Motohashi later was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats, said Lt. Jim Gavin of the Los Angeles Police Department in Van Nuys. The cold-blooded act unfolded about 7:20 p.m. Sunday when Motohashi
entered Iroha Sushi of Tokyo in the 12900 block of Ventura Boulevard
and showed off a small snake to customers sitting down for dinner.
More
California closes the Steve Jobs license plate loophole Jobs—or someone close to him—spotted a loophole in California DMV regulations allowing six months of grace before a license plate had to be attached to a new car. As a result, the Apple supremo maintained a rolling six-month lease on a series of new SL55 AMGs, replacing one with another just before the grace period ran out. Jobs is no longer with us, but in case any of his disciples were in
the habit of copying his phobia of license plates, watch out. On Monday,
California Governor Jerry Brown signed a new law that does away with
the loophole. From 2019, California joins most of the other states in
the nation by requiring newly bought cars to be issued temporary license
plates.
More
California counties push for all-out fracking ban Those groups had a victory this week in Butte County, where a ballot ban on fracking passed with more than 70 percent of the vote. “It’s been really a community organizing triumph as much as anything else,” Ken Fleming said, an organizer with Frack-Free Butte County. “The message was pretty clear: Do you wanna trust the oil companies,
or do you wanna make sure to continue to have clean water? I think that
question was a pretty clear result.” This November, Monterey County,
one of the state’s top 10 oil-producing counties, will consider a similar
ballot initiative to end fracking.
More
California's skyrocketing housing costs, taxes prompt exodus of residents But enduring a daily grind that made her feel like a "gerbil on a wheel," Eaton reached her limit. Skyrocketing costs for housing, food and gasoline, along with the
area's insufferable gridlock, prompted the four-decade Bay Area resident
to seek greener pastures -- 2,000 miles away in Ohio.
More
LA County catalytic converter thefts spiking, thieves moving away from enforcement crackdown He jumped into his 2007 Toyota Prius and started it up, but the normally quiet hybrid sedan sounded like a race car on the NASCAR circuit. Overnight, thieves had sawed off the catalytic converter, leaving no functioning exhaust system. “The thought occurred to him, ‘if they took mine, they probably took
yours, too,’ ” said his girlfriend, Xandy Mancao, 31. Boada, 30, was
exactly right. When Mancao rushed out to her car — also a 2007 Prius
and also parked in front of their apartment — she was greeted by the
same deafening sound as she engaged the ignition switch — a roar echoing
through Highland Park where they live, and a sound becoming increasingly
more common in other parts of southeast Los Angeles and the west San
Gabriel Valley during the past eight months.
More
Huge rise in number of great white sharks spotted off California coast Before 2015, Huntington Beach was never closed due to shark activity - but this year, there have already been three closures. 'I've seen more white sharks this year than I have in the previous 30,' Lt. Claude Panis of the Huntington Beach Fire Department's Marine Safety Division told LA Times.com. With the increase in great white sightings in the last few years,
researchers who have been studying juvenile sharks off neighboring Sunset
Beach said the predators have a tendency to leave during the colder
months and head toward Mexico. However, scientists at Cal State Long
Beach's Shark Lab said some have remained in the area as a result of
warmer waters due to El Nino.
More
Hollywood embraces California’s grittier edge It shouldn’t: Oceanside is exactly what Hollywood looks for in California these days, and not just because a gangsters-by-the-sea story makes it easy to mix TV’s favorite forms of titillation: bikinis and Berettas. Oceanside is a city of 175,000 on the northernmost edge of greater
San Diego at a moment when producers are seeking stories from California’s
edges.
More
California among 10 states with worst emergency response times But what happens at the next step, when we arrive at the hospital
in an ambulance or on our own? Many people still face a painfully long
wait before they are seen by a physician or properly diagnosed. HealthGrove,
a health data site that's part of Graphiq, wanted to find out which
states have the slowest emergency department response. Using data collected
from a Medicare survey of more than 4,000 hospitals, HealthGrove found
the 10 states with the slowest emergency response times based their
Timeliness Score.
More
California lawmakers unplug the state's electric car program Even though the old Civic had failed the state's smog test three times and was costing him hundreds of dollars a month in maintenance, Lua said he couldn’t afford to replace it until he learned about a state incentive that helps low-income residents in California’s most polluted communities replace their dirty cars. The state covered more than half the new car’s price tag. “It saves me gas. It saves me money. I feel safer. And most important,
it’s for my kids,” said Lua, a 31-year-old mail carrier for a San Joaquin
Valley school district.
More
California panels approve raft of gun control bills in wake of Orlando massacre During the state Assembly Public Safety Committee, Democrats sparred with a National Rifle Association lobbyist who testified against several of the bills, calling him "crazy" and "vicious" for protecting the killers who "terrorize our streets." And when the lobbyist said the legislation wouldn't help save lives, one lawmaker suggested washing his mouth with soap. "The reason they were murdered was because of your organization," said
another lawmaker, Assemblyman Evan Low, an openly gay Silicon Valley
Democrat who was speaking about the 49 people slaughtered early Sunday
at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. "It's difficult for me to sit
here and look you in the eye and respect you."
More
America's vanishing West: California losing most land to development From 2001 to 2011, an area totaling 4,321 square miles -- or 15 times the size of San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco combined -- was modified by development in the 11 Western states, the report found, with California losing the most natural land, and Wyoming and Utah changing at the fastest rate. "We are nibbling away at our wild places at a fairly rapid clip,"
said Mike Dombeck, former chief of the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S.
Bureau of Land Management in the 1990s.
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