Former US representative who broke barriers as first woman president of state senate dies after five-month cancer battle
Former US representative Colleen Hanabusa, who was the first woman to serve as president of the Hawaii state senate, has died. She was 74.
Hanabusa died early on Friday after a five-month battle with cancer, said Mike Formby, her friend and former chief of staff in the US House.
Continue reading...California governor, promoting his memoir in LA, was asked if US should rethink military partnership with Israel
Gavin Newsom, the Democratic California governor, likened Israel to “an apartheid state” on Tuesday in comments sharply critical of the country’s joint war with the US against Iran.
Newsom, seen as a frontrunner for his party’s presidential nomination in 2028, made the comment during an appearance in Los Angeles to promote his book, Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery. He was asked if the US should rethink its military partnership with Israel.
Continue reading...State laws had limited sharing of information with parents about gender identity of trans students in public schools
The US supreme court has decided to block a series of California laws that can limit the sharing of information with parents about the gender identity of transgender students in public schools. This ruling marks a victory for parents who challenged these protections on religious and due process grounds.
The emergency request was granted on Monday and the decision was made along party lines, with the three liberal justices dissenting.
Continue reading...Trustees unanimously voted to place Alberto Carvalho on leave and appointed Andres Chait in the interim
Two days after the FBI searched the headquarters of the Los Angeles unified school district and the home of its superintendent, the district board of education placed Alberto Carvalho on administrative leave.
The board met in closed session meetings for several hours on Thursday and Friday to discuss Carvalho’s employment with the nation’s second largest school district. The trustees unanimously voted Friday to place Carvalho on paid leave, and appointed another high ranking district official, Andres Chait, to serve as interim superintendent.
Continue reading...States call move an illegal threat to public health and argue CDC puts children’s lives at risk with new guidance
More than a dozen states, including California, sued the Trump administration over its rollback of vaccine recommendations for children, calling the move an illegal threat to public health.
The states argue that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put children’s lives at risk when it announced last month that it would stop recommending all children get immunized against the flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV. Under the new guidance, which was met with criticism from medical experts, protections against those diseases are recommended only for certain groups deemed high risk or when doctors recommend them in what’s called “shared decision-making.”
Continue reading...Man, 32, shot dead by deputy after stabbing attack was the subject of domestic violence protection orders
A man shot dead by a sheriff’s deputy after he fatally stabbed four people outside his mother’s home near Gig Harbor, Washington, on Tuesday morning was the subject of domestic violence protection orders recording mental health and substance abuse issues stretching back at least five years.
Records reviewed by Associated Press show that the woman living at the address had obtained a 12-month protection order against her 32-year-old son in May. The order noted that he struggled from substance abuse, and had threatened his mother saying that her “grave has been already dug up”.
Continue reading...US citizen George Retes was held without access to family, an attorney, or information about the charges against him
An army veteran detained by federal immigration agents in southern California during his work commute in July has filed a lawsuit against the federal government.
According to the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday with the help of the nonprofit law firm Institute for Justice, George Retes was held in a detention center for three days without access to his family, an attorney, or any information about the charges against him, in what the suit argues was an unconstitutional detention.
Continue reading...Avalanche warning for Sierra Nevadas while southern California experiences heavy rain and flooding
California is being blanketed by a winter storm that has brought the coldest air mass in three years to the state – along with heavy snowfall, road closures and power outages.
The University of California Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Lab, near Donner Pass, reported 28in of snow on Tuesday, with another 3ft expected in the next two days. I-80 is closed from Colfax to the Nevada state line due to snow.
Continue reading...Dead included children, aged eight, nine and 14, and a 21-year-old man who were shot at a banquet hall
Details are beginning to emerge about the victims of the shooting at a toddler’s birthday party in Stockton, California, that left four people dead and at least 11 injured over the weekend.
The dead included children, aged eight, nine and 14, and a 21-year-old man who were shot at a banquet hall in the Central valley city where they had gathered with at least 100 other people to celebrate a two-year-old’s birthday.
Continue reading...Search continues after four people, including three children, were killed and 11 were injured in Stockton
Authorities in California urged witnesses of a deadly shooting at a child’s birthday party to come forward as the search for a suspect stretched into another day.
Three children ages eight, nine and 14 and a 21-year-old were killed on Saturday when gunfire broke out at a banquet hall in Stockton, in northern California. At least 100 people were gathered at the celebration, said the San Joaquin county sheriff, Patrick Withrow. Detectives believe the gunfire continued outside and there may have been multiple shooters.
Continue reading...Victims who died in Stockton attack reportedly between ages eight and 21, while 11 others were wounded
Police are searching for the suspect who killed four people, including three children, and injured 11 in a shooting at a family gathering in Stockton, California, on Saturday night – and they are appealing to the public for any tips people may have.
“If you have surveillance footage, if you’re a local business here, if you’re in the area, live in the area, or maybe you’ve heard rumors – please contact the sheriff’s office,” said Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin county sheriff’s office.
Continue reading...Elaine Miles of Northern Exposure was stopped by four masked men in Seattle while walking to bus stop
A Native American actor known for her role in Northern Exposure has said she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Seattle, Washington, who told her that her tribal identification “looked fake”.
Elaine Miles, an Indigenous actor, alleges that she was stopped by four masked men while she was walking to a bus stop in Redmond. She offered them her ID card from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon but was told by an ICE agent that “anyone can make that.”
Continue reading...Southern California residents shared disastrous effects of Trump’s immigration crackdown at a congressional hearing
The Trump administration’s ICE raids across southern California have had disastrous effects on the region’s immigrants and swept up US citizens in the process, community leaders and residents said at a congressional hearing in Los Angeles on Monday.
Andrea Velez, an American arrested by US immigration officials over the summer, described how she was accosted by masked agents while on her way to work. She said she was charged with assaulting an officer and held for two days in a federal detention center, where detainees had to pay for a cup in order to have water. The charges against her were ultimately dismissed due to what her attorney described as a lack of evidence.
Continue reading...Southern California residents shared disastrous effects of Trump’s immigration crackdown at a congressional hearing
The Trump administration’s ICE raids across southern California have had disastrous effects on the region’s immigrants and swept up US citizens in the process, community leaders and residents said at a congressional hearing in Los Angeles on Monday.
Andrea Velez, an American arrested by US immigration officials over the summer, described how she was accosted by masked agents while on her way to work. She said she was charged with assaulting an officer and held for two days in a federal detention center, where detainees had to pay for a cup in order to have water. The charges against her were ultimately dismissed due to what her attorney described as a lack of evidence.
Continue reading...Christian Jimenez, Oregon high school senior, faces possible obstruction charges after traffic stop by immigration agents
Immigration officers detained a student at a high school in Oregon during his lunch break on Friday, according to the student’s family.
Seventeen-year-old Christian Jimenez, a US citizen and senior at McMinnville high school, was driving his father’s vehicle around 12.30pm during lunch when agents from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stopped him, his older brother, Cesar Jimenez, told Oregon Live.
Continue reading...Fire-resistant upgrades are included in replacement structure less than a year after fires destroyed 13,000 homes
Less than a year after the Palisades fire destroyed nearly 7,000 structures in Los Angeles, the first completed rebuilt home is being celebrated in Pacific Palisades.
In a statement, mayor Karen Bass confirmed that the Los Angeles department of building and safety had issued the certificate on Friday, certifying that the home had passed inspection and was ready for occupancy.
Continue reading...Poverty rate jumped from 12.2% to 16.3% in 2023 in state, Tipping Point Community report finds
Newly released data found that the San Francisco Bay Area’s poverty rate soared from 12.2% to 16.3% in 2023, with an approximate total 1.02 million residents in this six-county region considered impoverished by year’s end.
Another 12.5% of residents – about 790,000 people – hovered on the brink of poverty, meaning that about three in 10 Bay Area residents struggled to cover basic expenses.
Continue reading...Cedric Irving Jr charged over death of ‘legend’ John Beam, who was shot and killed on Laney College campus last week
The 27-year-old man charged with murder in the fatal shooting death of revered Oakland college football coach John Beam made his first appearance in court on Tuesday and was ordered to remain in jail without bail.
Cedric Irving Jr, who does not have a criminal record, was charged with murder and use of a gun during the crime, Alameda county district attorney Ursula Jones Dickson said at a news conference. He did not enter a plea on Tuesday and is scheduled to do so at a hearing on 16 December.
Continue reading...Lingering thunderstorms pose risk of mudslides in areas around Los Angeles recently ravaged by wildfires
A powerful atmospheric river weather system has mostly moved through California but not before causing at least seven deaths and dousing much of the state.
Among the dead was a seven-year-old girl who was swept into the ocean by waves estimated up to 20ft at a state beach on Friday. The girl’s father, 39-year-old Yuji Hu, of Calgary, Alberta, was killed while trying to save his daughter.
Continue reading...Daughter of immigrants advocated for people with disabilities to have full autonomy over their lives
Alice Wong, a writer and disability rights activist who was born with muscular dystrophy and whose independence and writing inspired others, has died. She was 51.
Wong died Friday at a hospital in San Francisco due to an infection, said Sandy Ho, a close friend who has been in touch with Wong’s family.
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