Category Archives: California

Human composting: California clears the way for greener burial method

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The state is the fifth to legalize the environmentally-friendly process which allows for the natural reduction of human remains to soil

California lawmakers have approved a new way of returning those who have died to the earth, after Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill allowing human composting on Sunday.

Cremation, which accounts for more than half of burials, is an energy-intensive process that emits chemicals like CO2 into the air. Through human composting, or natural organic reduction (NOR), the body is naturally broken down into soil.

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Alaskans continue to grapple with fallout from typhoon-related flooding

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Rising waters brought power outages, damage and concerns over surviving the winter as downpours also affected California

Floodwaters in Alaska are receding after the remnants of a powerful typhoon pummeled the state’s western coastline. But residents are continuing to grapple with power outages, water damage and concerns about how to survive the coming winter.

This weekend, a low-pressure system spinning out from Alaska made its way down the coast to northern California, bringing rare September rain to the region. The downpours aided efforts to contain the 19 sq mile (49 sq km) Mosquito fire in the Sierra Nevada foothills, but raised new concerns.

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California woman who admitted to faking her kidnapping sentenced to 18 months in prison

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Sherri Papini’s case gained national attention when she went missing for weeks but was found staying with an ex-boyfriend

Sherri Papini, the California woman who admitted to faking her own kidnapping in 2016, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Papini’s case grabbed national attention when she went missing for several weeks, prompting a frantic search and widespread media coverage. She eventually reappeared with an elaborate story of being abducted by two “Hispanic women”, chained to a pole for three weeks, beaten and branded before being released by the side of a highway.

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California’s fast-food industry calls for referendum on new labor legislation

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Law provides for councils to represent workers, but opponents claim menu prices will increase and restaurants will close

The fast-food industry is seeking to overturn one of the most significant labor wins in recent American history by trying to scrap a new law in California that will establish an industry council for the sector on wage standards and other regulations, including safety.

The Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, AB 257, was signed into law by the California governor, Gavin Newsom, on 5 September in what is seen as a huge fillip to a US labor movement seeking to capitalize on a wave of unionization drives.

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Body of missing woman found after California mudslides

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Doris Jagiello went missing after thunderstorms triggered mudslides in the San Bernadino Mountains

A woman has been found dead under a pile of mud, rocks and other debris after flash floods unleashed mudslides that swept through her town in the southern California mountains.

Authorities had been searching for the missing woman for days after thunderstorms and heavy rain triggered mudslides that washed away cars, buried homes and affected 3,000 residents in two remote communities in the San Bernardino Mountains.

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Hollywood high school student dies after taking fentanyl-laced pill in apparent string of overdoses

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Death at Bernstein high school comes as new data shows 200 people dying a day of fentanyl overdoses

A teenage girl at a Hollywood high school died on Tuesday and another was hospitalized, after taking what police believe were counterfeit pills filled with fentanyl.

The incident, which is being investigated as a homicide by Los Angeles police, comes as federal officials announced new national counts of overdose deaths, showing nearly 200 people in the US are dying each day due to overdoses of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.

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California accuses Amazon of stifling competition in new major lawsuit

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The case mirrors a District of Columbia complaint alleging the company pushes sellers to maintain higher prices on other sites

California is suing Amazon, accusing the company of violating the state’s antitrust laws by stifling competition and engaging in practices that push sellers to maintain higher prices on products on other sites.

The 84-page lawsuit filed on Wednesday in San Francisco superior court mirrors another complaint filed last year by the District of Columbia, which was dismissed by a district judge earlier this year and is now going through an appeals process.

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Mudslides hit Los Angeles mountain area as thousands told to evacuate

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Heavy rains are remnants of tropical storm that brought badly needed rainfall to drought-stricken southern California last week

Thousands of residents of a mountain area east of Los Angeles were under evacuation and shelter-in-place orders after heavy rains unleashed mudslides, sending boulders and other debris across roads.

Firefighters went street by street in the community of Forest Falls on Monday night to make sure no residents were trapped. Eric Sherwin, spokesperson for the San Bernardino county fire department, said crews hadn’t found anyone who needed to be rescued and no one was reported missing. Crews would canvas the neighborhoods again and begin cleanup efforts after sunrise, he said.

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Air quality plummets as smoke from roaring wildfires chokes US west

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Blazes in California, Washington and Oregon cause widespread damage as plumes travel across states and into Canada

California firefighters are battling large blazes across the state as the west’s fire season heats up, covering swaths of Oregon, Washington, California and Canada in heavy smoke that has also traveled across the US.

Rain from tropical storm Kay brought relief to firefighters in southern California after a punishing heatwave gripped much of the state for more than a week and sent some crews to the hospital.

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Southern California lashed by tropical storm after record-breaking heatwave

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Fire crews make progress on massive Fairview fire, as storm set to bring cooler temperatures but possible flooding

Southern Californians welcomed cooler temperatures and spotty rain Saturday from a tropical storm veering off the Pacific coast days after a relentless heat wave nearly overwhelmed the state’s electrical grid.

Officials braced for flooding in coastal and mountain areas from the storm and feared powerful winds could expand the massive Fairview Fire about 75 miles (121 km) south-east of Los Angeles.

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California fights to control raging wildfires as threat of flash floods grows

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Southern California prepares for arrival of tropical storm that could affect power grid, while crews work to subdue growing fires

Tropical Storm Kay surged toward California on Friday, whipping up strong gusty winds and threatening to fuel ferocious wildfires already burning across the state.

After days of record-breaking heat that tested California’s energy capacity, baked moisture out of the drought-stricken landscapes and spurred the spread of deadly fires , the arrival of Kay, which started as a hurricane but was downgraded to a tropical storm, brought risks of flash floods and threatened more trouble for the state’s electric grid.

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Fires, heat … a hurricane? California’s ‘most unusual’ week of extreme weather

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A record heatwave added stress to the electrical grid and made firefighting difficult. Now a hurricane could bring flash floods

A collision of extreme weather events is bearing down on California as wildfires threaten communities, a record-setting heatwave is adding stress to the electrical grid, and moisture from a hurricane is expected to bring thunderstorms and flash floods.

Hurricane Kay, swirling off the coast of Mexico, is on its way north, bringing with it the chance of strong winds, severe rainstorms, and possibly dry lightning that could increase risks for new fire starts. It also could bring some welcome relief to the week of brutally hot weather.

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Temperatures smash records in US west as brutal heatwave continues

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Records broken in Sacramento and Reno, while California close to ordering rolling blackouts to ease strain on power grid

A brutal heatwave enveloping the US west smashed records on Tuesday, as high temperatures and historic energy use strained California’s grid to the brink of its capacity and spurred fire behavior across the state.

Western states are struggling through one of the hottest and longest September heatwaves on record.

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California’s week of heat and wildfires foretell a punishing autumn

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The fall season traditionally brings the highest fire risk to the west, but experts are bracing for even more explosive blazes

It was an explosive Labor Day across California, as an intense, days-long heatwave smashed temperature records, spurred the spread of deadly and destructive wildfires, and bathed cities in a stifling heat even long after the sun went down.

The events mark a grueling start of what traditionally make up the highest fire-risk months in the west, with experts bracing for a higher potential of a punishing autumn even after a milder-than-expected summer.

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Fast-moving California wildfire poses threat to rural communities

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About 7,500 people in Weed and those nearby under evacuation orders as much of state faces brutal heatwave

A fast-moving wildfire in northern California is threatening rural communities near the Oregon border, injuring people and torching homes.

About 7,500 people in Weed and several nearby communities were under evacuation orders on Saturday as the flames raced through tinder-dry grass. Much of California is facing a brutal heatwave this weekend that’s likely to see some of the hottest weather of the year.

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A girl wanted to keep the goat she raised for a county fair. They chose to kill it

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A California lawsuit brought by the girl’s parents accuses law enforcement of traveling hundreds of miles to confiscate a beloved pet

When a young California girl purchased a baby goat last spring, the intention was to eventually sell it at a county fair livestock auction. But after feeding and caring for the animal for months, she bonded with the goat, named Cedar, and wanted to keep it.

Instead, law enforcement officers allegedly travelled hundreds of miles to confiscate the pet, who was eventually slaughtered.

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Blazes erupt across California as state bakes in scorching heat

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Seven firefighters hospitalized, with extreme temperatures expected to last through Labor Day

Firefighters were battling blazes across California in grueling heat on Friday, as fast-moving flames erupted near the Oregon border and prompted evacuation orders for at least 5,000 people.

Residents of the towns of Weed, Lake Shasta and Edgewood in Siskiyou County were told to evacuate after a blaze, dubbed the Mill fire, began spreading in hot and windy conditions and grew to 500 acres in about an hour, the Siskiyou sheriff’s office said in a statement.

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Thousands of dead fish wash up in Oakland lake to create a putrid mess

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Experts, concerned about the algae bloom that is turning the water to brown muck, say the die-off is ‘like losing giant redwoods’

Thousands of fish carcasses have been floating up to the edges of the San Francisco Bay, and the scummy top of Oakland’s Lake Merritt – stewing under the sun and wafting a putrid stench into nearby neighborhoods.

The dead bat rays, striped bass, sturgeon, anchovies and clams, are likely mass victims of an algal bloom that scientists are racing to understand. In the meantime citizen scientists, local photographers, joggers and naturalists have been capturing dramatic photos of the die off.

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Brutal heatwave headed for US west, raising health fears

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Parts of California could see 115F heat as several states face potentially record-breaking weather

A brutal, potentially record-breaking heatwave is setting over the US west, the latest in a string of extreme temperature events that’s putting communities on high alert for heat-related illness and death.

Temperatures are expected to hit 115F (46C) in the coming days across parts of southern California, Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valley, according to the National Weather Service. In Death Valley, temperatures were forecast to reach more than 120F (49C).

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California fast-food workers close to winning historic protections

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New fast-food council would have power to set standards for wages and working conditions for half a million employees

California lawmakers approved a nation-leading measure that would give more than half a million fast-food workers more power and protections, over the objections of restaurant owners who warn it would drive up consumers’ costs.

The bill will create a new 10-member Fast Food Council with equal numbers of workers’ delegates and employers’ representatives, along with two state officials, empowered to set minimum standards for wages, hours and working conditions in California.

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