|
COLUMNS |
Occupied Kalifornia Welcome
to the Strangest place on Earth |
SPONSORS |
| |
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.
More
|
California
residents were stunned to watch a fireball of space junk shoot across
the sky and fall onto a nearby ranch last week. Videos of the bizarre
sight quickly spread across social media — with many wondering what
the debris was and where exactly it came from.
Randall Marquis has lived in California for 31 years, but he knew it
was a mistake when he received a notice last month that said he was
newly registered to vote. He may have a state driver’s license, but
he’s a citizen of Canada.
JURUPA VALLEY, Calif. Southern California authorities say they seized
more than 100 pounds of marijuana and hundreds of plants from buildings
owned by a church that considers pot a religious sacrament.
Shame on you.
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - California finance officials are taking greener
steps to battle climate change blamed by many for the state's chronic,
devastating wildfires.
California lawmakers are seeking answers from the Department of Motor
Vehicles about hours-long wait times that have prompted public outcry.
Recent headlines have suggested that California lawmakers are considering
a bill that would give Californians “unprecedented control over their
data.” This is true but that is not the whole story.
The sweet smell of success could be detected in the South Bay on Thursday
as the Cannabis Business Summit and Expo brought dozens of companies
and thousands of attendees to the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.
Given the current US administration's views on green energy, you'd be
forgiven for thinking it would be more difficult than usual for states
to implement their own greenhouse gas emission plans. However, California
is looking to prove that perception wrong: the state hit their greenhouse
gas emission goal four years ahead of schedule.
California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control is actively working to develop
regulations for the licensing of commercial marijuana businesses in
the state. Its latest rules dictate, among other things, how cannabis
can (and can't) be transported.
California’s wildlife detectives have cracked an international plant
heist, sleuthing from the most curious clues — spilled dirt from mailed
packages, stuffed backpacks left on ocean bluffs, a suspicious van filled
with big boxes, and holes in the sand.
The rise of Napa began with an upset. Warren Winiarski would know –
his wine, a cabernet sauvignon, was a firm underdog at a legendary 1976
blind tasting in Paris, which pitted the best of France against the
little-known California region.
There's no question that solar power is entering the mainstream, but
California is about to give it a giant boost. The state's Energy Commission
is expected to approve new energy standards that would require solar
panels on the roofs of nearly all new homes, condos and apartment buildings
from 2020 onward. There will be exemptions for homes that either can't
fit solar panels or would be blocked by taller buildings or trees, but
you'll otherwise have to go green if your property is brand new.
Danielle Martinez donned a lab coat, pulled on a pair of latex gloves
and adjusted her safety goggles in preparation for one of biology's
little surprises.
SAN DIEGO — Federal officials say an Albertsons grocery store in San
Diego subjected Hispanic employees to harassment and a hostile work
environment by implementing a no-Spanish language policy.
For seven years, Yeweinishet “Weini” Mesfin lived out of her Honda Civic.
More than 1 million undocumented immigrants have received driver's licenses,
the California Department of Motor Vehicles announced Wednesday.
California has proposed legislation that would require social platforms
like Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. to identify automated accounts,
or bots, amid a push by state lawmakers to police the technology companies
that have proven vulnerable to manipulation and the spread of fake news.
The Trump administration is picking a new fight with California, this
time over global warming and emissions standards for cars.
California filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Tuesday
for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, the latest volley
in a feud between Sacramento and Washington over federal immigration
policies.
A giant invasive rodent with the ability to destroy roads, levees and
wetlands has been discovered in Stanislaus County.
California’s Department of Motor Vehicles releases an annual report
detailing the number of disengagements reported by companies it has
licensed to test autonomous vehicles on public roads in the state. This
year, the report reveals some interesting details about the progress
of some of those companies, including Waymo, GM’s Cruise and Tesla (sort
of – you’ll see what I mean).
Ian Calderon wants restaurateurs to think long and hard before giving
you a straw.
California earthquakes are a geologic inevitability. The state straddles
the North American and Pacific tectonic plates and is crisscrossed by
the San Andreas and other active fault systems.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D-CA) said during a press
conference Thursday that employers in California who cooperate with
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in their rumored upcoming
immigration raids would be prosecuted if they cooperate in a manner
that violates California law. Becerra held the press conference following
reports that ICE officials are “preparing for a major sweep in San Francisco
and other Northern California cities.”
The Thomas fire, the largest wildfire on record in California and the
trigger point for this week’s deadly mudslides in Montecito, was declared
100% contained Friday.
A slew of new laws that address unpaid parental leave, new hiring restrictions
and other workplace issues will have an impact on California businesses
in the coming year.
SANTA ANA – A man begging for gas money for a $265,000 Ferrari was arrested
on suspicion of stealing the luxury vehicle and taking it on a two-week
joyride, authorities said Wednesday, Nov. 29.
A woman’s photo of herself breastfeeding her 10-month-old son at Disneyland
has gone viral, with more than 1,100 shares on Facebook.
Dust off your jingle bells and get ready for the parades, light displays
and holiday happenings that only appear this time of the year.
Former
Los Angeles mayor and governor hopeful Antonio Villaraigosa saw his
income soar in the years after he left the mayor’s office, thanks to
big consulting contracts with companies like Herbalife and Cadiz, according
to tax returns released by his campaign on Tuesday. No compatible source
was found for this video.
LOS ANGELES — The California Coastal Commission on Thursday agreed to
carve a mile of public beach out of ranch land that has been in private
hands for more than a century.
ALAMEDA — Natasha Waldorf was a freshman at Alameda High School last
year when she received a text as she sat in class that called her a
“big-nosed kike.”
Pending home sales fell markedly across California in September, with
the largest regional drop-off in the Bay Area where an ongoing housing
shortage and exorbitant prices appeared to dissuade some potential buyers.
As bullets rained down on a Las Vegas concert crowd this month, killing
dozens, many of the 200-plus Southern California police officers attending
the festival shifted instantly into law-enforcement mode.
The internal combustion engine’s days may be numbered in California,
where officials are mulling whether a ban on sales of polluting autos
is needed to achieve long-term targets for cleaner air.
With U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
trading insults and threatening war, California officials are taking
the threat of nuclear exchange seriously.
A Bay Area legislator was shocked when he learned from a young constituent
that while Californians cannot legally consent to sex until they are
18, they can — with the permission of a parent and a judge’s order —
get married at any age, even if their spouse is many years older.
Yvette Felarca, the controversial Berkeley middle school teacher who
frequently marches and protests against groups she considers to be fascistic,
was arrested Tuesday night in connection with a violent neo-Nazi rally
in Sacramento in June 2016.
California could become the U.S. state with the most fluid definition
of gender on its official state IDs if a bill making its way through
the legislature becomes law.
Union troops were more than a little suspicious when they ran into a
group of 16 men traveling east through San Diego’s backcountry in the
early days of the Civil War. The men declared they were peaceful miners,
but they each packed a rifle and a pair of revolvers instead of shovels
and picks.
ARVIN, Calif. — In the Central Valley of California, hundreds of wells
that provide water to a million people are tainted with a chemical that
some experts say is one of the most powerful cancer-causing agents in
the world.
More than 37 percent of California households have so little cash saved
that they couldn’t live at the poverty level for even three months if
they lost a job or suffered another significant loss of income.
LONG BEACH, Calif. — A man who was denied a $5 million lottery jackpot
because his teenage son bought the ticket is suing the California Lottery
Commission.
Californians
have always had quite a reputation, whether it's for our liberal politics
or easy-going West Coast ways, but California has established itself
even more as the free-spirited stepchild of the United States since
Donald Trump was elected.
SACRAMENTO — In a significant milestone for transgender rights, California
legislators on Thursday introduced a bill that would make the Golden
State the first in the nation to create a third gender marker on its
driver’s licenses, birth certificates and state IDs.
Skiers in bikini tops are showing up on California mountain slopes that
could remain open into August. Hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail must
cross miles of deep snowfields that should have melted a month ago,
some of them scrambling for their lives in the icy water of raging mountain
streams.
SAN
DIEGO — At least 504 terminally ill Californians have requested a prescription
for life-ending drugs since a state law allowing physician-assisted
deaths went into effect in June 2016, marking the first publicly released
data on how the practice is playing out in the nation’s most populous
state.
A day after signature gathering began to recall a Fullerton legislator
for supporting new transportation taxes, Gov. Jerry Brown offered an
impassioned defense of the road-improvement plan and of the Democratic
state senator under attack.
Sharon Vilsack pulled into a San Clemente strip mall on a recent morning
to perform one of Southern California’s most quintessential rituals
— picking a pink box of doughnuts to share.
Being a member of the Communist Party would no longer be a fireable
offense for state jobs under a measure narrowly approved by the California
Assembly on Monday.
San Clemente's beaches reopened Wednesday afternoon after a shark attack
four days earlier led to their closure. The daily beach report was accompanied
by a warning: "Enter the water at your own risk."
You may not know that falcons are sentinels -- watching over a number
of our vineyards. John Blackstone has sent us a Dispatch from California
Wine Country:
SACRAMENTO – Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia’s hometown of Bell Gardens
is so notoriously contaminated by toxic waste sites and freeways stacked
with diesel trucks that some residents of nearby towns call it “Bell
Garbage.”
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is a very vocal member of California’s
chorus of complaint about President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented
immigrants.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Donald Trump has approved federal assistance
to help California counties recover from winter storms that caused flooding,
mudslides and power outages.
A California lawmaker wants to end “lunch shaming” at campuses across
the state.
Here’s
an idea: Let’s use the ocean to create an endless supply of pure water,
no matter how much rain and snow falls (or doesn’t) on California.
Two
new documents – a report by the state housing agency and Gov. Jerry
Brown’s 2017-18 budget – focus harsh economic reality on fanciful political
“solutions” to the state’s severe housing crisis.
Matt Ball isn’t the type of gun enthusiast who hoards ammunition – at
least not normally.
With California’s relationship to President Trump growing increasingly
strained, Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday met in person with the high-profile
attorney tasked with shaping their strategy for upcoming clashes: former
U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder.
Backers seeking to break California away from the U.S. started collecting
signatures Friday to get a proposed independence measure on the 2018
statewide ballot.
Saturday’s extraordinary protest marches notwithstanding, California
greets President Donald Trump with a fresh eye and high hopes that he
will soon earn the benefit of the doubt.
Winemaking is serious business. Especially in California’s Sonoma County,
heart of the Wine Country, where every visitor’s a connoisseur (or least
pretends to be a connoisseur) and every winery a no-nonsense temple
to the art of the grape.
California Gov. Jerry Brown kept up his assault on climate change Monday,
pushing through a law meant to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from
dairy farms and landfills. "You know, when Noah wanted to build his
ark, most of the people laughed at him?"
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, California (AP) — What has 414 legs and four
penises? Until recently, nothing we knew of.
Tammi Stefano interviewed Amy Duran on Friday August 28th on The National
Safe Child Show. Amy is a mother who had her son taken by Los Angeles
County’s Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) with the help
of the Police Department. Vindictive people used DCFS and local law
enforcement to kidnap Amy’s son, and to put Amy into a holding cell
in a detention center where she was told she would spend the next 12
years, even though she had violated no laws and was not convicted of
any crimes. During this time, Amy fainted several times, and could not
tell the difference between night and day as there were no windows in
the cell.
Short
of troops to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago, the California
National Guard enticed thousands of soldiers with bonuses of $15,000
or more to reenlist and go to war.
The debate over firearms safety and the effects of rising gun sales
tends to revolve around the best way to keep guns out of the hands of
criminals. But about 21,000 Californians committed suicide with a firearm
between 2001 and 2014, almost equal to the number of firearm homicide
victims. 
Sacramento County has settled another lawsuit involving its jail, this
time agreeing to pay $45,000 to an attorney who says she was falsely
accused of exposing herself to a client while visiting him when he was
locked up.
In a move to curb age discrimination in Hollywood casting, California
has signed into law a bill requiring websites such as IMDb to remove
mention of an actor’s age or birthday upon request.
A national movement is steadily gaining steam, and its backers have
one simple demand: Stop taxing menstrual products.
Proceed to the Central Valley with caution if you'd like your car to
drive back from wherever you came. The Central Valley region appeared
many times in a ranking of nationwide car thefts. Eight California metro
areas made the top 10 list, including the San Francisco-Oakland region.
Beyond the top 10, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Fresno and other California
cities made an appearance.
Hiroshi Motohashi was angry with the management of the Studio City sushi
restaurant, so police said he decided to leave something for other customers
to remember him by.
One of the many things Steve Jobs was famous for was his refusal to
put a license plate on the back of his car, a Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG.
California is known for some of the strictest fracking regulations in
the country, but some activist groups now seek an all-out ban.
Living in San Jose, Kathleen Eaton seemingly had it all: a well-paying
job, a home in a gated community, even the Bay Area's temperate weather.
On the morning of May 31, Peter Boada had a hankering for some doughnuts.
If you fancy hitting the surf off the cost of California, keep your
eyes peeled because the number of juvenile great white shark sightings
has shot up.
The setting for Hollywood’s newest gangland drama – TNT’s series “Animal
Kingdom,” about a crime family headed by Ellen Barkin – might seem surprising:
Oceanside, in northern San Diego County.
In a health emergency, timing is crucial. Minutes ticking by can literally
mean life or death. Recently, HBO's John Oliver critiqued the lackadaisical
911 response in the U.S., stating, "Ubers can find you better than ambulances
can. Depending on where you live, [911 dispatchers] may also be underfunded,
understaffed and full of outdated technology - which is fine, if you're
describing a Radio Shack."
A few months ago, Gabriel Lua purchased a 2013 Chevy Volt to replace
his 1987 Honda Civic, which had been giving him exhaust headaches and
made him worry about the health of his children, ages 3 and 5.
SACRAMENTO -- Two days after the worst mass shooting in modern U.S.
history, two key legislative committees on Tuesday approved a sweeping
package of gun control legislation following the year's most fiery hearings.
The natural landscape of the American West is gradually disappearing
under a relentless march of new subdivisions, roads, oil and gas production,
agricultural operations and other human development, according to a
detailed mapping study released Tuesday.