Category Archives: California

Stevie Nicks donates $3m to medical school to recognize her voice doctor

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Musician donates to USC to help create endowed chair to recognize Dr Joseph Sugerman, who treated her for years

Legendary singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks has given $3m to the University of Southern California’s medical school to recognize the physician who has helped care for her voice throughout much of her career.

The major donation supports the creation of an endowed chair in otolaryngology at USC’s Keck School of Medicine in honor of Dr Joseph Sugerman, an ear, nose and throat specialist from Beverly Hills who has treated the singer – along with other performers and patients – for many years.

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California’s conservative Huntington Beach could get a gay, Democratic congressman

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Robert Garcia became the lead contender in Tuesday’s primaries for congressional district 42 after redistricting

The conservative California community of Huntington Beach, known for banning the Pride flag from city property and fighting the state over pandemic and housing policy, could soon be represented by a gay, Democratic congressman.

Robert Garcia, an incumbent two-term Democratic LGBTQ+ congressman, immigrant and Donald Trump critic, is considered the leading contender in Tuesday’s primary race for the US House seat. Thanks to a successful restricting effort that redrew California’s voting maps to favor Democrats, Huntington Beach is now part of Garcia’s congressional district 42.

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Wildfires devastating richer areas but fewer hectares burned globally – study

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‘Megafires’ in California, Canada, South Korea and Europe in 2025, but changes to farming slowed spread in parts of Africa

“Devastating” wildfires ripped across the wealthier parts of the world in 2025, a study has found, even as globally, the area ravaged by flames fell.

Catastrophic blazes claimed lives, homes and jobs last year in California, Canada, Europe and South Korea. But the 335m hectares burned was the second-lowest since 2002, the review found, largely owing to the expansion of African farms that have fragmented landscapes and hampered the spread of large savannah fires.

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Explosion threat at southern California chemical tank eliminated, firefighters say

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US officials credit overnight cooling and monitoring for stabilising tank after leak fears triggered mass evacuation

Firefighters contending with an overheating tank of hazardous chemicals in southern California said they had eliminated the threat of the tank exploding in an overnight operation, Orange county fire officials said on Monday.

The damaged chemical tank in southern California had cracked over the weekend, which authorities were hopeful would relieve pressure and reduce the risk of an explosion.

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‘He sacrificed his life’: security guard killed in San Diego mosque attack hailed as hero

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Amin Abdullah, 51, was one of the three victims of deadly shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday

A security guard who was killed during the shooting at a San Diego mosque on Monday is being hailed as a hero after police said that his actions “undoubtedly” saved lives.

On Monday, two teenagers opened fire at the Islamic Center of San Diego, California, shooting and killing three men. The two attackers, aged 17 and 18, were found dead several blocks away, from apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds, officials said.

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Teenagers behind mass shooting in San Diego rushed at mosque ‘fully armored’

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The firearms the shooters, aged 17 and 18, used in the fatal rampage were registered to one of their parents

The two teenage assailants responsible for a mass shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, California, rushed toward the mosque “fully armored” with handguns and rifles, authorities said.

A security guard shot and struck one of the shooters, according to members of the mosque – but the attacker continued charging. The guard – Amin Abdullah – also alerted administrators of the school at the Islamic Center, telling them to go into lockdown, before he was shot and killed. “If it was not for him … The carnage would be much worse,” said imam Taha Hassane. “He sacrificed his life.”

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Fast-growing southern California brush fire prompts evacuation orders

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Fire reported in Simi Valley, north-west of LA, as mandatory evacuation orders were issued for over 20,000 residents

A fast-growing brush fire ignited on Monday morning in southern California, prompting evacuation orders and damaging at least one home.

The Sandy fire was reported just after 10am in Simi Valley, a city in Ventura county about 30 miles north-west of Los Angeles.

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At least one person killed in shooting at Islamic Center of San Diego

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Police rushed to ‘neutralize’ the shooter and chairman of center confirmed security guard had been fatally shot

At least one person, a security guard, was killed in a shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego.

Police rushed to the center on Monday and “neutralized” the shooter, according to authorities. Authorities had not yet confirmed any fatalities or injuries, but chairman of the mosque that was targeted confirmed to outlets that a guard had been killed.

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ICE violently arrested a US citizen and filmed it ‘like a documentary’, videos reveal

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Exclusive: DHS made social media posts out of a protester’s arrest at gunpoint. Christian Cerna speaks out about the lengthy prosecution that derailed his life

Christian Cerna, 28, was driving with his partner and their two young children through Los Angeles, when two vehicles rammed his car and a group of men jumped out and trained their guns on them.

It was 11 June 2025, and as Cerna exited his vehicle with his hands raised, he realized the masked men weren’t street criminals as he initially feared. They were Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

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Three more people sick in California amid ‘unprecedented outbreak’ due to toxic mushrooms

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Since November, state has seen 47 cases of people accidentally ingesting poisonous wild mushrooms

Health authorities in California’s Napa county reported that three people had been hospitalized after consuming poisonous wild mushrooms as the state continues to grapple with an “​​unprecedented outbreak” of toxic mushroom illnesses.

Since November 2025, California has seen 47 cases of people accidentally foraging and eating poisonous wild mushrooms, including death caps, which can resemble edible species, and western destroying angel mus​​hrooms. Four people have died and several have required liver transplants.

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Closing arguments begin in high-stakes Musk v OpenAI courtroom showdown

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Jury set to deliberate and return a verdict on whether they believe AI firm and Altman are liable in case

Closing arguments began on Thursday in Elon Musk’s lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI, bringing the weeks-long courtroom battle between the two tech moguls nearer to a decision. A nine-person jury is set to deliberate and return a verdict on whether they believe the AI firm and Altman are liable in the case.

The trial, which began last month in an Oakland, California, federal courthouse, has gripped Silicon Valley and featured some of the tech industry’s biggest names as witnesses. Attorneys for both sides have presented testimony and documents that have exposed Musk and Altman’s private dealings, as well as provided a window into the contentious history of OpenAI.

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Amazon halts sales of illegal high-speed ebikes in California after fatal crashes

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Recent consumer alert on ebike safety laws says some vehicles should be classified as mopeds or motorcycles

Amazon said it plans to stop selling certain high-speed electric bicycles in California after a string of high-profile incidents and a consumer alert that the state attorney general issued last month.

In April an 81-year-old man in Orange county died after a teenager illegally riding an e-motorcycle struck him. The teen’s mother, Tommi Jo Mejer, has since been charged with involuntary manslaughter in Ed Ashman’s death as officials say she was warned it was illegal for her son to operate the vehicle.

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Betty Broderick, convicted in 1989 killings of ex-husband and his new wife, dies aged 78

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Broderick was serving a life sentence in California over killings and last month transferred to a medical center

Betty Broderick, who became infamous for the 1989 killings of her former husband and his new wife in a case that shocked the country and inspired movies and books, has died at the age of 78 while still serving a life sentence.

Representatives from the California department of corrections and rehabilitation confirmed to NBC News that Elizabeth A Broderick was moved from the California prison where she had been transferred to a medical center on 18 April. She died the following Friday.

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Federal authorities arrest 18 people in Los Angeles raid amid drug crackdown

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Justice department targets MacArthur Park, which has long struggled with fentanyl use, overdoses and homelessness

Federal authorities arrested 18 people in Los Angeles in a crackdown on drugs in MacArthur Park, the Department of Justice announced on Wednesday.

The DoJ said it was targeting an “open-air drug market” in the park near downtown, which has long struggled with fentanyl use and overdoses and has at times had large encampments of unhoused people.

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UCLA medical school illegally used race in admissions, justice department finds

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University of California at Los Angeles says admissions are ‘based on merit’ and it complies with state and federal laws

The US Department of Justice found on Wednesday that the medical school at the University of California, Los Angeles illegally considered race in admissions as the Trump administration ramps up scrutiny of colleges’ processes for selecting students.

The finding escalates the Trump administration’s ongoing standoff with UCLA, which has focused mostly on the main campus’s response to allegations of antisemitic harassment.

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Hundreds of animals rescued from ‘appalling’ conditions at California sanctuary

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San Diego Humane Society finds more than 400 animals at Julian facility, with malnutrition and injuries amid bankruptcy dispute

Authorities in California have rescued more than 400 animals, including horses, cats, dogs and goats, from a now shuttered sanctuary in San Diego county.

The San Diego Humane Society conducted the massive operation last week at Villa Chardonnay, a sprawling facility in Julian that had operated since 2003.

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California seeks millions in penalties from State Farm over alleged claims violations after LA wildfires

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State’s top insurance regulator says insurance company violated law while handling claims from 2025 wildfires

California is seeking millions of dollars in penalties from State Farm after an investigation found the insurance company was slow to investigate and underpaid claims from the 2025 Los Angeles-area wildfires, regulators announced on Monday.

State Farm violated the law hundreds of times in a sampling of 220 cases, the state’s insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, said. The maximum penalty amount allowed by law would be about $4m if State Farm is found to be “willful” in violating state law. Regulators may also temporarily suspend the company’s license, effectively prohibiting the state’s largest home insurer from writing new policies for a year in California.

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Mom faces involuntary manslaughter after son’s e-motorcycle crash kills man

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Orange county resident Tommi Jo Mejer’s son was illegally riding e-motorcycle when he ran into 81-year-old

A southern California woman is facing an additional charge of involuntary manslaughter after an 81-year-old man died from his injuries after being struck by the woman’s teen son while he was riding an e-motorcycle, prosecutors said on Friday.

On 16 April, Tommi Jo Mejer’s 14-year-old son was riding a Surron e-motorcycle and doing wheelies when he hit Ed Ashman, according to prosecutors. Ashman, a former captain in the US Marine Corps, was walking home from his job as a substitute teacher at a high school in Lake Forest.

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‘Don’t fall!’: foil boarders describe hair-raising shark chase caught on video off California coast

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Foil boarders were pursued by shark – likely a great white – off Santa Barbara before it lost interest and swam away

Ron Takeda and Tavis Boise were a few miles off the coast of Santa Barbara when they noticed the large mass trailing behind them.

“Tavis, is it a dolphin?” asked Takeda as he stood on his foil board, a specialized form of surfing, propelling himself through the waves. Boise, who was filming their run, recognized the question as an ominous sign – the veteran surfers are familiar enough with dolphins that Takeda should have recognized one immediately.

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US millionaire big-game hunter dies after being crushed by elephants

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Ernie Dosio, a 75-year-old vineyard owner, was hunting an antelope species in Africa when the incident occured

An American millionaire big-game hunter has died after being crushed by a group of elephants during a hunting expedition in Gabon.

Ernie Dosio, a 75-year-old vineyard owner, was hunting yellow-backed duiker, an antelope species, in the central African country of Gabon when the incident occurred last Friday. While in the Lope-Okanda rainforest, he and his guide unexpectedly came across five female elephants accompanied by a calf.

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