Apache fire, which prompted evacuation orders, was contained 15% due to ‘favorable’ weather conditions
A wildfire is threatening a community in rural northern California near Paradise, where the state’s deadliest wildfire struck six years ago.
The blaze, dubbed the Apache fire, broke out on Monday and had grown to more than 600 acres (243 hectares), prompting evacuation orders.
Continue reading...Sheng Thao maintains no plans to resign after authorities carried 80 boxes out of her home as part of investigation
Sheng Thao, mayor of Oakland, California, delivered a prepared statement on Monday in her first public remarks since federal authorities raided her home last week.
Thao, who is serving her first term as the city’s mayor, maintains that she did not do anything wrong and she has no plans to resign from office.
Continue reading...California family lets Diesel ‘live his best life’ with his new herd after he got loose on a camping trip
A donkey spotted apparently living with a herd of wild elk in a video that went viral on the internet has been identified as Diesel, a once beloved pet who had apparently run away five years ago.
The video was taken earlier this year, when Max Fennell, a hunter in northern California, filmed a group of wild elk apparently hanging out with a donkey who appeared to be a member of their herd.
Continue reading...Agents also conducted searches at two homes owned by members of the politically influential Duong family
Federal authorities have raided a home belonging to the mayor of Oakland, California, as part of an investigation that included a search of at least two other houses, officials said on Thursday.
The raid took place on Thursday morning, when FBI agents carried 80 boxes out of a four-bedroom home that property records link to Sheng Thao, who is serving her first term as the city’s mayor.
Continue reading...US says dams killed off salmon, inundated villages and burial grounds, and spirited wealth away from tribes
The US government, in a report published on Tuesday, acknowledged for the first time the harms that federal dams have inflicted on Native American tribes in the US Pacific north-west.
The report by the interior department details the “historic, ongoing and cumulative impacts of federal Columbia River dams on Columbia River Basin Tribes”, including how dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers have devastated salmon runs, inundated villages and burial grounds, and deprived tribal members of the ability to exercise traditional ways of life.
Continue reading...Measure passes 5-2 as Gavin Newsom calls for statewide ban on cellphones for students during the school day
The Los Angeles unified school board passed a resolution on Tuesday banning cell phones from district classrooms. As the second-largest school district in the US, the vote makes it the largest school district in the US to approve such a ban.
As more educators across the US explore similar policies, California governor Gavin Newsom called on Tuesday for a statewide ban on phones in class. The measure in Los Angeles was introduced by board member Nick Melvoin and will be implemented starting in January 2025 after passing in a 5-2 vote. Melvoin said in a statement the measure is meant to support “students’ academic success and wellbeing”, adding that studies have shown smartphones and social media distract kids from learning and stifle their in-person social connections.
Continue reading...At least one killed as residents of Ruidoso escape blazes which are 0% contained
Two fast-moving fires killed at least one person in New Mexico, claimed 1,400 structures and forced the evacuations of thousands of residents as firefighters hope cooler temperatures and the chance of rain could bring some relief as they struggle to bring the “out of control” blazes to heel .
A state of emergency has been declared by New Mexico’s governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, and by the Mescalero Apache Tribal Council, to speed recovery and response funding into the region.
Continue reading...Other versions of the 10ft-tall metal installation were found in places like Utah, California, Wales and Romania in 2020
The mysterious monoliths that surfaced during the Covid-19 pandemic have reappeared, this time in a Nevada desert.
Other versions of the singular, reflective, 10ft-tall metal installation were found in places like Utah, California, Wales and Romania in 2020, but now can be seen at Gass Peak, roughly 40 miles north of Las Vegas.
Continue reading...The Post fire, which grew to more than 14,600 acres, is one of nearly a dozen wildfires actively burning in California
Firefighters in California are battling blazes in challenging conditions after several wildfires broke out over the weekend, forcing evacuations and consuming thousands of acres of land.
Los Angeles county is dealing with its first major wildfire of the year after a blaze dubbed the Post fire swiftly grew to more than 14,600 acres (5,900 hectares). The fire, which broke out on Saturday, is burning through the mountains along the major Interstate 5 highway, fueled by strong winds that are pushing the flames through dry brush.
Continue reading...Cause of blaze, named Post Fire, unknown as two buildings damaged and nearby valley and lake reservoir close
A wildfire that forced the evacuation of at least 1,200 people in southern California has burned more than 16 sq miles, officials said Sunday.
The blaze, named the Post Fire, started Saturday and was burning near the Interstate 5 freeway in Gorman, about 62 miles (100km) north-west of Los Angeles, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection.
California state park services evacuated 1,200 people from the Hungry Valley recreation area in Gorman and both Hungry Valley and the Pyramid Lake reservoir were closed as a result of the fire threat, the Los Angeles county fire department said.
The flames broke out at around 1.45pm, authorities said. The cause isn’t known.
No homes were threatened by the fire but two commercial buildings have been damaged, the Los Angeles county fire department said Sunday.
The fire was moving south-east toward Pyramid Lake and crews were constructing perimeter fire lines while aircraft worked against limited visibility to stop the fire’s progress, the fire department said. Fire lines had been built around 2% of the perimeter as of Sunday morning, the Los Angeles county fire department said.
Strong winds will impact firefighting efforts, especially after 8pm, the department said.
People camping on Havasupai reservation say they vomited and had fever as health officers look into source of outbreak
Dozens of hikers say they fell ill during trips to a popular Arizona tourist destination that features towering blue-green waterfalls deep in a gorge neighboring Grand Canyon national park.
Madelyn Melchiors, a 32-year-old veterinarian from Kingman, Arizona, said she was vomiting severely Monday evening and had a fever that endured for days after camping on the Havasupai reservation.
Continue reading...Makah people, whose right to hunt whales is noted in treaty, granted waiver by US government to kill two or three a year
After facing decades of legal and bureaucratic hurdles, the Makah Tribe in Washington has won approval from the US to resume whale hunting for the first time in 25 years.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) Fisheries announced on Wednesday that it would grant the tribe a waiver, allowing the Makah “a limited subsistence and ceremonial hunt” under an 1855 treaty. The Makah will be permitted to hunt up to 25 eastern North Pacific gray whales over 10 years.
Continue reading...Dr Julio Frenk to succeed Gene Block amid scrutiny of university’s handling of pro-Palestinian protests
The president of the University of Miami was chosen Wednesday to become the next chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles, where the retiring incumbent has faced widespread scrutiny over his handling of pro-Palestinian campus protests.
Dr Julio Frenk, a Mexico City-born global public health researcher, was selected by regents of the University of California system at a meeting on the UCLA campus, where there was a swarm of security officers.
Continue reading...Thousands of academic workers returned to the job after weeks-long strike and vowed more actions to come
Thousands of University of California academic workers who went on strike across six campuses protesting administrators’ response to pro-Palestinian protests returned to the job on Monday under court order, but their union vowed more protests to come.
An Orange county superior court judge late on Friday granted a temporary restraining order sought by the university, which asserted that the walkout stemmed from non-labor issues and that it violated the no-strike clause in the union’s contract.
Continue reading...Rescue helicopter hoists man to top of cliff after a private helicopter spots sign in remote area and alerts authorities
A kite surfer was rescued after using rocks to spell out the word “help” when he became stranded on a northern California beach last weekend, authorities said.
The kite surfer got stuck Sunday on a narrow beach at the base of towering bluffs with the tide coming in, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection’s Santa Cruz unit.
Continue reading...Newberg-Dundee police department said in addition to vandalism were ‘concerns of biased intent’
A Pride flag that hung in the window of an Oregon library was the apparent target of BB gun fire amid Pride month and a growing wave of anti-LGBTQ+ measures from US legislatures.
In a Facebook statement on Wednesday, the Newberg public library in Newberg, Oregon, said that around 7.10pm, a BB gun was fired at a window on the south-east corner of the library. A picture showed a shattered window, behind which a Pride flag hung.
Continue reading...El Paso, Texas, saw temperatures of 106F, with border patrol identifying ‘heatstroke and dehydration’ as cause of death
At least four people have died crossing the US-Mexico border near El Paso, Texas, amid the searing heatwave gripping the south-west.
Temperatures in El Paso peaked at 106F (41C) on Thursday, and some 34 million people – from the southern tip of Texas across Arizona and up into California and Nevada – were under heat alerts.
Continue reading...California supreme court greenlights project that protesters say will add noise pollution to already dense historic park
A California supreme court ruling will allow student housing at University of California, Berkeley, to be built at the historic People’s Park.
The court on Thursday ruled that a new law enacted in 2023 invalidates the claims by two local organizations that sued the school, saying students living in downtown Berkeley would add noise pollution to an already dense area. The project set off years of protests over the park – a landmark that is a touchstone of counterculture.
Continue reading...Patrice Miller was found dead in her home in what authorities confirm is first known attack of its kind
A 71-year-old woman was mauled to death by a black bear in a Sierra Nevada community in 2023 in what is believed to be California’s first fatal black bear attack, the state department of fish and wildlife confirmed this week.
Patrice Miller was found dead in her Downieville home in November by a Sierra county sheriff’s deputy who was called to the residence to check on the senior after she had not been seen for several days, KCRA3 reported.
Continue reading...Charles Barrett was accused of using his fame as a rock climber to lure victim to park and later making threatening phone calls to her
A professional rock climber who assaulted a woman three times during a weekend hiking trip to California’s Yosemite national park in 2016 has been sentenced to life in prison.
Charles Barrett, 40, had been accused of using his fame as a rock climber to lure the woman to the park, and then making hundreds of threatening phone calls against her and his other victims after he was arrested and placed in custody.
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
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