Category Archives: California

Joshua Trees win long term protection in environmental victory

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The bill, to be signed by the California governor, requires drawing up a conservation plan and creates a fund to protect the species

California lawmakers have voted to permanently protect the iconic western joshua tree, delivering a hard-won victory for environmentalists who have warned that the climate crisis has imperilled these fixtures of the high desert.

The Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act was passed Tuesday, as part of the state’s budget agreement. It prohibits the unpermitted killing or removal of the trees, requires the development of a conservation plan and creates a fund to protect the species. It appears to be the first California legislation focused on protecting a climate-threatened species.

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US navy accused of cover-up over radioactive shipyard waste

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Public health advocates say land at Hunters Point in San Francisco contains dangerous levels of strontium-90

The US navy is covering up dangerous levels of radioactive waste on a 40-acre former shipyard parcel in San Francisco’s waterside Hunters Point neighborhood, public health advocates charge.

The land is slated to be turned over to the city as early as next year, and could be used for residential redevelopment. The accusations stem from 2021 navy testing that found 23 samples from the property showed high levels of strontium-90, a radioactive isotope that replaces calcium in bones and causes cancer.

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Julian Sands: body found in California mountains where actor disappeared

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Human remains discovered near Mount Baldy and transported to coroner’s office for identification

Hikers have found human remains in a southern California mountain area where the British actor Julian Sands disappeared five months ago, authorities said.

The body was discovered at about 10am on Saturday in wilderness near Mount Baldy in the San Gabriel mountains and was transported to the coroner’s office for identification next week, the San Bernardino county sheriff’s department said in a statement.

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Scooter, a Chinese crested, is crowned world’s ugliest dog

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The annual contest celebrates pets’ imperfections, such as Scooter’s backwards-facing hind legs and sparse hair

Linda Elmquist, of Tucson, Arizona, smiled broadly as she held her little dog aloft. Finally, Scooter was being recognized for his best qualities on Friday as he was given the title of the world’s ugliest dog.

The competition, held as part of the Sonoma-Marin fair in Petaluma, California, for the past 50 years, is a world-renowned event that promotes dog adoption and showcases extraordinary canines that have defied adversity – and celebrates their imperfections.

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‘We’re going to keep fighting’: delivery workers stand up to Amazon

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Unionized workers at delivery service partner in California fight company’s intent to terminate contract

Amazon is embroiled in a fight with workers at one of its delivery service partners in what union activists say is part of a longstanding anti-union drive by the retail giant which is now facing scrutiny in the US Senate for its anti-labor rights practices.

At Battle Tested Strategies, an Amazon delivery service partner in Palmdale, California, workers are currently fighting Amazon’s intent to terminate the delivery service partner’s contract on Saturday.

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Who’s unhoused in California? Largest study in decades upends myths

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Most unhoused people are from in state and desire to find housing, while Black and older people are disproportionately affected

Nearly half of all unhoused adults in California are over the age of 50, with Black residents dramatically overrepresented, according to the largest study of the state’s homeless population in decades.

University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) research released on Tuesday also revealed that 90% of the population lost their housing in California, with 75% of them now living in the same county where they were last housed. The study further found that nearly nine out of 10 people reported that the cost of housing was the main barrier to leaving homelessness.

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At least 38 people shot, including two fatally, at weekend in US

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There have been more than 305 mass shootings in the US so far this year as of Sunday morning

At least 38 people were shot – including two fatally – in three different mass shootings reported Saturday and Sunday in separate parts of the US, according to officials.

One minor was killed and nine others were wounded in a shooting in a building in downtown St Louis, Missouri, about 1.45am Sunday, the local television station KMOV reported. The name of the slain victim wasn’t immediately available, and information on the conditions of the wounded wasn’t released right away either.

Associated Press contributed reporting

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Workers sue secretive elite club Bohemian Grove for wage theft

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The private club, which has included Reagan and Nixon among its members, is accused of failing to pay overtime and not giving breaks

Workers at Bohemian Grove, one of the most elite and secretive clubs in the US, have filed a lawsuit alleging numerous unfair labor practices, including 16-hour workdays without breaks, and a failure to pay overtime and minimum wages to the workers.

Bohemian Grove, which attracts some of the world’s most powerful people to a mysterious gathering in the woods north of San Francisco, has long been the subject of fascination and conspiracy theories.

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Two Americans found dead at Mexico resort died from inhaling toxic gas

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Workers at luxury hotel where John Heathco and Abby Lutz died report managers had disabled carbon monoxide alarms

Two Americans whose bodies were found in their room at a resort in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur on 13 June died from inhaling toxic gas, according to officials’ preliminary findings.

The couple – identified as 41-year-old John Heathco and 28-year-old Abby Lutz, of California – had reportedly been dead between 10 and 11 hours before being discovered in their room at the oceanfront Hyatt Rancho Pescadero Hotel in El Pescadero, Mexico. The cause of death was ruled as intoxication of an unspecified gas substance that local officials as of Saturday were still working to determine.

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California seizes enough fentanyl in San Francisco to kill city’s population three times over

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Governor’s office says over 4kg of drug seized in city since May – enough to cause deadly overdoses of more than 2m people

California law enforcement officials have seized enough fentanyl, in San Francisco alone, to cause the deadly overdoses of more than 2 million people since the beginning of May. The amount, over four kilos, was enough to kill the entire city’s population three times over, the governor’s office announced on Thursday.

The seizures were made by California highway patrol (CHP) officers and are a part of Gavin Newsom’s plan to address the spread of fentanyl, blight and public safety in the city where 268 people died from accidental overdoses in the first four months of 2023, according to a report from the city’s medical examiner. All of the fentanyl was found in and around San Francisco’s historic and long-embattled Tenderloin neighborhood.

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Greg Abbott decision to bus migrants to LA condemned as ‘despicable stunt’

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Los Angeles mayor says Texas governor ‘using human beings as pawns’ amid reports migrants were not given food or drink on bus

Governor Greg Abbott of Texas’s decision to bus migrants to Los Angeles this week has been decried as a “despicable stunt”, as advocates in California reported that the group was not offered food during the 23-hour trip.

On Wednesday, 42 migrants, including 15 youth and three babies, arrived at Union Station in downtown LA, said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, the communications director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights-Los Angeles (Chirla), who met the group when they arrived. The travelers he spoke to came from Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala and Haiti, and one came from China, he said, adding some told him they had been on the bus for nearly a day without any food or drink.

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Texas governor Greg Abbott sends ‘1st bus’ of migrants to Los Angeles

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The city found out about the bus before it arrived at Union Station, after which the migrants were directed to a nearby church

Texas governor Greg Abbott announced on Wednesday evening that his state had dropped off a busload of migrants in Los Angeles, the latest move by a rightwing governor to send people seeking help to a region run by Democrats.

Abbott claimed in a tweet that “small Texas border towns remain overrun & overwhelmed because Biden refuses to secure the border”, adding: “LA is a city migrants seek to go to, particularly now its leaders approved its self-declared sanctuary status.”

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Whale of a time: pod of 30 orcas bring killer moves to a California bay

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Marine biologists were surprised at the display of playful behavior ‘like kids in the park’, which lasted more than eight hours

A crowd of 30 killer whales met for a party in California’s Monterey Bay on Sunday.

They did belly-flops into the water, slapped the waves with their flukes and spewed water from their blowholes, surprising marine biologists who had never seen the animals engage in such playful behavior for so long.

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‘Hidden’ Malibu beach will open to the public for the first time in 40 years

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Access to Escondido beach was cut off in the 1980s by wealthy homeowners who craftily hindered the path to the coastline

California’s “hidden” beach will now be fully accessible to the public for the first time in 40 years, after the state approved an agreement for wealthy landowners to create a new path to the coastline.

Escondido beach, known for placid waters and golden sand, had been mostly inaccessible to the public since the 1980s, when homeowners in the area cut it off from the public. Though California law requires that land below the high tide line remain open to all, complicated legal and construction maneuvers had obscured access to the strip of coastline.

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A 14-year-old Santa Clara University graduate is SpaceX’s newest hire

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Kairan Quazi, the youngest graduate in the school’s history, will start at the company’s satellite internet division Starlink in July

Kairan Quazi is years away from legally being able to watch an R-rated movie at the theater by himself or buy a drink at the bar, but he’s about to get a college degree and start a job at SpaceX.

Other than that, the 14-year-old insists he’s had a fairly normal academic journey.

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‘I know he’s capable’: California’s Gavin Newsom backs Joe Biden on Fox News

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Governor spoke with host Sean Hannity about the state’s housing crisis and criticized Ron DeSantis while praising the president

California’s Gavin Newsom sat down with Fox News’s Sean Hannity for a wide ranging interview on Monday night that fueled speculation about his presidential aspirations – even as he again said he had no plans to run for the presidency in 2024.

The Democratic governor’s decision to appear on Hannity confounded many of his supporters, but Newsom, who routinely spars with Republicans on social media, took the opportunity to defend his state’s record and its policies with a senior adviser telling Politico that he viewed the interview as “going into the lion’s den”.

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Westfield mall firm gives up San Francisco center as Nordstrom closes

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City will lose one of its largest shopping centers which saw a decline in economic activity, occupancy and foot traffic

Westfield is ceding control of its San Francisco mall, the latest business to leave the city as it struggles to recover its pre-pandemic commerce levels.

The mall, located at 865 Market St, is among the city’s largest shopping centres. In a statement, to the San Francisco Chronicle, which was the first to report news of the planned closure, the company cited “challenging operating conditions” in the city’s downtown area as the reason for its departure. It has seen a decline in sales, occupancy and foot traffic, the company added.

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Cruise robotaxi appears to hinder emergency crews after mass shooting

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Company said vehicle never obstructed access to scene in San Francisco even as police in video say it blocked first responders

A Cruise self-driving car appeared to hinder first responders as they tried to access the scene of a mass shooting in San Francisco’s Mission District on Friday night, raising concerns about robotaxis’ ability to safely offer rides throughout the city.

Emergency crews were responding to a shooting on 24th Street shortly after 9pm in which nine people were injured. In a video posted to Twitter, a Cruise self-driving car is seen in the road as an officer approaches it and says it’s “blocking emergency medical and fire. I’ve got to get it out of here now.” In a statement, Cruise maintained that the car did not block emergency access to the scene “at any point”.

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California skate park renamed in honor of Tyre Nichols

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Nichols, who died after being beaten by police in Tennessee, spent much of his youth skateboarding at Sacramento park

California has dedicated a skate park in honor of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who spent much of his youth in the state and was killed last January in what prosecutors said was a fatal beating by police in Tennessee during a traffic stop.

An avid skateboarder, Nichols spent much time as a youth at the park on the outskirts of Sacramento. City officials and others held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly renovated skate park now named for Nichols.

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San Francisco shooting leaves nine wounded after ‘targeted’ incident

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Police say all victims are expected to survive their injuries after incident in Mission District on Friday night

Multiple victims were struck by bullets during a mass shooting in San Francisco’s Mission District on Friday night, but authorities said there were no fatalities.

“We can confirm there are 9 shooting victims – all are expected to survive their injuries,” the San Francisco police department said in a tweet.

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