Category Archives: West Coast

Belva Davis, a journalist who ‘opened doors for a generation’, dies aged 92

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Friends and colleagues remember the first Black woman hired as a TV reporter on the west coast for her ‘courage, integrity, grace and humanity’

Unflappable. Fair. A mentor. The trailblazing journalist Belva Davis carried all of these traits, according to friends and colleagues, as they remembered the first Black woman hired as a television reporter on the west coast in the days following her death.

Davis entered television news in the 1960s, when the industry was dominated by white men, making her presence on screens especially pioneering. She died on Wednesday at the age of 92.

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Trump fires US attorney who told border agents to follow law on immigration raids

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New York Times reports Michele Beckwith’s firing came after she reminded Border Patrol to comply with courts

Donald Trump fired a top federal prosecutor in Sacramento just hours after she warned immigration agents they could not indiscriminately detain people in her district, according to documents reviewed by the New York Times.

Michele Beckwith, who became the acting US attorney in Sacramento in January, received an email at 4.31pm on 15 July notifying her that the president had ordered her termination.

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Eat salmon, win prizes: Fat Bear Week begins in Alaska’s Katmai national park

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Fattest brown bears, bulking up for hibernation, pitted against each other in online public vote – who will win?

It’s that time of year again, when audiences turn to a welcome distraction from the heavy news cycle: Katmai national park and preserve in southern Alaska is celebrating its fattest brown bears.

The park is set to kick off its annual Fat Bear Week on Tuesday, an online competition where the public votes for the park’s fattest brown bear.

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California becomes first state to ban face coverings for most law enforcement

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Local and federal agents, including immigration officials, may not wear masks while conducting official business

California will be the first state to ban most law enforcement, including federal immigration agents, from covering their faces while conducting official business under a bill signed by the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, on Saturday.

The ban is California’s direct response to a recent series of immigration raids in Los Angeles where federal agents wore masks while making mass arrests. The raids prompted protests and led Donald Trump to deploy national guard troops and marines to the city.

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San Francisco supervisor recalled after voting to close highway for car-free park

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Joel Engardio, who becomes fifth elected city official to be ousted in four years, says he stands by his decision

A San Francisco supervisor was recalled on Tuesday after he successfully pushed to turn a stretch of coastal highway used heavily by neighborhood motorists into a car-free park despite strong objections by some of his constituents.

Joel Engardio became the fifth elected official in San Francisco to be ousted in a recall vote in four years. He conceded, saying in a statement that he accepted the outcome and still stood by his decision to help create a park called Sunset Dunes.

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Donkey recovering after latest arrow attack on wild burros in California

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Cupid recovers from surgery after what officials say is latest in half-dozen attacks on donkeys in semi-rural areas

A wild burro dubbed Cupid is recovering from surgery after being shot with an arrow in what officials say is the latest in a series of a half-dozen attacks since June on donkeys that roam semirural areas of inland southern California.

The two-year-old female burro was spotted last Wednesday with a blue arrow protruding from her right shoulder as she wandered with a herd in the foothills of Moreno Valley, about 65 miles (104km) east of Los Angeles.

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Supreme court lifts restrictions on Los Angeles immigration raids in win for Trump

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Conservative majority lifts restraining order from judge who found’roving patrols’ were conducting indiscriminate arrests

The US supreme court on Monday cleared the way for federal agents to conduct sweeping immigration operations in Los Angeles, the latest victory for Donald Trump’s administration at the high court.

The conservative majority lifted a restraining order from a judge who found that “roving patrols” were conducting indiscriminate arrests in LA. The order had barred agents from stopping people solely based on their race, language, job or location.

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Ex-congressman John Burton, influential California Democrat, dies at 92

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Governor Gavin Newsom hails ‘towering figure’ who stood up for working class and nurtured many political careers

The former US congressman John Burton, a salty-tongued and unabashedly liberal San Francisco Democrat who stood up for the working class and nurtured countless political careers, including that of Nancy Pelosi, died Sunday. He was 92.

Burton died in San Francisco of natural causes, his family said in a statement.

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What lies beneath: Lake Tahoe dive offers rare view of the deep

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Livestream of voyage to bottom of one of country’s deepest lakes draws thousands – but no sign of Tahoe Tessie yet

The cobalt waters of Lake Tahoe have long captivated the public, helping drive the area’s massive tourism industry and even attracting urban legends about what lies in the cold, shadowy depths.

Theories have ranged from an aquatic creature named Tessie to perfectly preserved bodies dumped by the mafia decades ago.

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Ex-pilot who tried to cut engines on flight after taking mushrooms pleads guilty

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Joseph Emerson, formerly of Alaska Airlines, must do 664 hours of community service and pay $60,569

A former Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to cut the engines of a passenger flight in 2023 while riding off-duty in the cockpit pleaded guilty or no contest to all charges against him Friday, saying in court that he regretted endangering those on board as well as the damage he caused to his former profession.

Joseph Emerson reached the plea agreements because he wants to take responsibility for his actions and hopes to avoid further time behind bars, said his attorney, Noah Horst.

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Trump’s LA national guard deployment cost taxpayers $120m, Newsom says

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California governor condemns decision to deploy troops in response to anti-Ice protests as ‘waste, fraud and abuse’

Donald Trump’s deployment of the national guard in Los Angeles in response to protests in the city over immigration raids cost taxpayers nearly $120m, the California governor’s office said on Thursday.

The US president sent 2,000 national guard troops into the city in June amid clashes between federal immigration agents and protesters. This week a judge ruled that dispatching the military to accompany authorities on immigration enforcement operations violated federal law.

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Fast-moving wildfire destroys multiple structures in historic California Gold Rush town

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Blaze in Chinese Camp – a town settled around 1850 by Chinese miners – was caused by lightning, authorities say

Multiple structures burned in a historic Gold Rush town in northern California on Tuesday night, after thousands of lightning strikes ignited a spate of fast-moving fires in the rural dry foothills of the Eastern Sierra.

Chinese Camp, about 57 miles (92km) east of Stockton and named for the Chinese miners who settled there, is a registered California landmark filled with historic structures, and home to roughly 60 residents.

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California bill requires families to be alerted of immigration agents on school campuses

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Bill says state and community colleges must have ‘early warning systems in place’ amid Trump’s deportation push

California lawmakers have passed a bill requiring schools to alert families and teachers when immigration enforcement authorities are on campuses as the Trump administration continues its aggressive mass deportation campaign.

Under the bill, K-12 schools, state universities and community colleges must notify students, faculty and staff, “similar to early warning systems in place for other campus emergencies”, according to a statement from state senator Sasha Renée Pérez, who authored the legislation.

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Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupts, shooting lava 330ft from its crater

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North vent in Halemaʻumaʻu crater started releasing the molten rock in 32nd such episode since December 2024

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano resumed erupting on Tuesday, firing lava 330 ft (100 meters) into the sky from its summit crater.

It’s the 32nd episode of the volcano releasing molten rock since December 2024, when its current eruption began. So far, all the lava from this eruption has been contained within the summit crater inside Hawaii Volcanoes national park.

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Trump illegally deployed national guard during LA Ice protests, judge rules

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Judge said administration violated federal law by sending troops to accompany Ice agents on immigration raids

A judge has ruled the Trump administration’s use of national guard troops during southern California immigration enforcement protests is illegal.

Judge Charles Breyer ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump’s administration violated federal law by sending troops to accompany federal agents on immigration raids. The judge did not require the remaining troops withdrawn, however.

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‘Nightmare’: family in shock after Ice moves LA teen out of state without their knowledge

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Benjamin Guerrero-Cruz, 18, was initially held at a facility near LA and later transferred to an Arizona holding site

The family of 18-year-old Benjamin Guerrero-Cruz was shocked when they found out that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) had discreetly moved him out of California, according to California congresswoman Luz Rivas, who spoke with his relatives and reviewed federal detention records.

Guerrero-Cruz, who was first detained in Van Nuys neighborhood while walking his dog, was transferred late Monday from the Adelanto detention facility in San Bernardino county to a remote holding site in Arizona without any notification given to his family.

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Wildfires in California and Oregon destroy homes and prompt thousands of evacuations

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Pickett fire chars Napa wine country while predicted thunderstorms add to danger of Oregon’s Flat fire

Wildfires raging in northern California wine country and central Oregon have destroyed multiple homes and threatened thousands more as hot, dry weather created challenges for firefighters battles the blazes.

Ten structures – including four homes – have been destroyed in Oregon’s Deschutes County as of Monday, where a wildfire dubbed the Flat fire continues to burn.

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Wildfires in California and Oregon grow, prompting evacuations and warnings

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Firefighters battle blazes amid dry, hot weather as fires in Napa county and Deschutes and Jefferson counties spread

Wildfires in California wine country and central Oregon grew overnight, prompting hundreds of evacuations as firefighters worked on Sunday to try to contain the blazes amid dry, hot weather.

The Pickett Fire in Napa county had grown to more than 10 sq miles (26 sq km) and was 11% contained as of early Sunday, according to the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection.

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LA Ice protests spurred US military to identify ‘hotels to avoid’ due to ‘harassment’

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Exclusive: Organizers disrupted Trump’s immigration crackdown by targeting hotels where officers were staying, documents show

When Donald Trump’s administration escalated immigration raids in Los Angeles earlier this summer, protest organizers responded with actions staged in an unusual setting: the hotels where immigration officers were staying.

Protests took place at several southern California hotels where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents had been spotted. Some activists launched “No sleep for Ice” rallies, with chants and music blaring through the night, in hopes of pressuring the hotels to kick agents out.

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California legislature approves first of three redistricting bills in response to Texas gerrymandering

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Assembly passes measure 57-20, sending it next to the state senate before on to governor Gavin Newsom

The California assembly on Thursday approved the first in a series of three bills designed to redraw congressional boundaries and create five potential new Democratic US House seats.

The effort in California is an answer to the Republican redistricting push in Texas, sought by Donald Trump and aimed at tilting the map in his party’s favor before next year’s midterm elections.

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