Category Archives: California

Three killed as Amtrak train collides with car at ‘dangerous’ crossing in California

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The crossing at the rural site did not have guard rails or a train signal and neighbors had complained of safety issues in the past

An Amtrak train in California collided with a vehicle at an unprotected crossing along a rural dirt road on Sunday, leaving three people dead and at least two others injured.

Authorities said the passenger train was traveling westbound when it struck a sedan crossing the tracks near Brentwood, California, about 60 miles east of San Francisco, around 1pm. The crash sent the vehicle into a parked SUV roughly 60ft away, the East Bay Times reported.

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California’s largest reservoirs at critically low levels – signaling a dry summer ahead

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Images from Lake Oroville and Lake Shasta compiled by the state show ‘a shocking drop in water levels’ compared to years past

California’s two largest reservoirs are at critically low levels, signaling that the state, like much of the US west, can expect a searing, dry summer ahead.

This week, officials confirmed that Lake Oroville, the state’s second-largest reservoir, was at just 55% of its total capacity when it reached its highest level for the year last month. Meanwhile, Shasta Lake, California’s largest reservoir, was at 40% capacity last month – after the state endured its driest start to a year since the late 19th century.

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Bill Cosby found guilty of sexually abusing minor at Playboy Mansion

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Jurors at the civil trial ruled in favor of Judy Huth who accused the comedian of forcing her to perform a sex act in 1975 at 16 years old

Bill Cosby sexually abused a 16-year-old girl at the Playboy Mansion in 1975, jurors determined on Tuesday after a nearly month-long civil trial.

Jurors in Los Angeles county ruled in favor of Judy Huth, who is now 64, awarding her $500,000 in a legal defeat for the once-beloved comedian and star of The Cosby Show.

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California Taiwanese church shooting suspect charged with hate crime for May attack

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David Wenwei Chou, 68, is accused of opening fire on a gathering at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian church and killing one person

Authorities in California have added hate crime allegations to attempted murder charges filed against a 68-year-old who opened fire at a Taiwanese American church luncheon last month, killing one person and wounding five.

The gunman, David Wenwei Chou, is accused of attacking a gathering of members of the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian church in Laguna Woods in May. A 52-year-old doctor who took his mother to the event was killed.

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Blow to Uber as top Massachusetts court blocks ballot question

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Justices reject planned ballot measure, citing proposal limiting companies’ liability for accidents

Massachusetts’ top court on Tuesday blocked an effort to ask voters whether app-based ride-share and delivery drivers should be treated as independent contractors rather than employees, in a setback for companies such as Uber and Lyft.

The unanimous decision by the Massachusetts supreme judicial court marked a victory for labor activists who sued and argued the ballot measure proposal contained loopholes that would create a sub-minimum wage for drivers for the companies.

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Mexican megachurch leader jailed in US for more than 16 years for child sexual abuse

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La Luz del Mundo ‘apostle’ Naasón Joaquín García sentenced after admitting three abuse charges in Californian court

The leader of the Mexican megachurch La Luz del Mundo was sentenced on Wednesday to more than 16 years in a California prison for sexually abusing young female followers.

Naasón Joaquín García, 53, pleaded guilty last week in Los Angeles superior court to three felonies on the eve of a long-awaited trial.

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High-stakes California races will decide LA mayor and San Francisco recall

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Analysts watch to see if voters in America’s more liberal cities will address police reform, homelessness and mass incarceration

High-stakes primary races taking place on Tuesday in California are expected to have major consequences for police reform, incarceration and the state’s growing homelessness crisis.

The most closely watched race is the mayor’s contest in Los Angeles, where voters are deciding between a tough-on-crime real estate developer, Rick Caruso, who has already poured nearly $40m of his own fortune into his primary campaign, and the former community organizer and Democratic congresswoman Karen Bass.

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A mega-tsunami in the Pacific north-west? It could be worse than predicted, study says

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Scientists find the size of the ‘outer wedge’ of a faultline can magnify a rupture’s impact, worrying news for a fault running from Vancouver Island to northern California

Scientists have long predicted a giant 9.0-magnitude earthquake that reverberates out from the Pacific north-west’s Cascadia fault and quickly triggers colossal waves barreling to shore.

But what if these predictions were missing an important piece of information – one that, in certain scenarios, could tell an even more extreme story?

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Woman testifies that in 1975 Bill Cosby grabbed her and kissed her aggressively

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The woman, now 61, took the stand during the civil trial over the lawsuit of Judy Hoth, who alleges she was assaulted during the same time

A woman testified Friday that she was 14 when Bill Cosby took her into a trailer on a movie set in 1975, grabbed her so she couldn’t move her arms, and kissed her aggressively.

“I was struggling to get away,” she said. “It was very shocking.”

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Police arrested teen for allegedly planning shooting at Berkeley, California, high school

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Authorities received tip that the teenager was recruiting students for mass violence, in one of many recent threats against US schools

A teenage boy was arrested in Berkeley, California, on Monday after police received a tip he was “recruiting other high school students to participate in a mass shooting and/or bombing” at a local high school.

When authorities searched the teen’s home they found explosives, assault rifles, knives and electronic devices that could be used to make more weapons, police said.

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Democrats rush to push gun safety laws after mass shootings as Republicans stall

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New York governor seeks to ban people under 21 from buying assault rifles, while California governor intends to sign restrictions, including the right to sue gun manufacturers

With Republicans stonewalling for years on any significant federal gun safety legislation, some states are now rushing to take steps themselves following large-scale shootings in New York and Texas this month.

Democrats in some blue states are making fresh efforts to reinvigorate proposals toward what gun control advocates call “evidence-based policy interventions”.

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Train to nowhere: can California’s high-speed rail project ever get back on track?

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Despite 14 years of work and about $5bn spent, the 2008 promise of quick transport between Los Angeles and San Francisco has not materialized

In the depths of the 2008 recession, Californians were sold on a beautiful dream: a bullet train that would whisk them between Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours.

The project was to be the start of a new era of high-speed rail that would eventually stretch the full length of the west coast, from San Diego to Vancouver, across the desert to Las Vegas, and, eventually, all across the continental United States.

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Rattlesnakes thrive in California amid increasingly hotter temperatures

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Study finds pacific rattlesnakes, which can’t control their own temperature, prefer places where the climate averages 80F

Many species are suffering at the hands of a warmer world, but one California inhabitant seems to be enjoying hotter temperatures: the pacific rattlesnake. Their populations across the south-west are thriving, according to a study by researchers at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and the University of Michigan.

The study found that when given the choice, rattlesnakes – which cannot control their own temperature and rely on the environment for warmth – actually prefer to live in places where the climate averages more than 80F, suggesting they’re likely to do well as the planet gets hotter.

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San Francisco archbishop bars Pelosi from communion over abortion stance

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Ultra conservative Salvatore Cordileone accuses pro-choice House speaker of failing to ‘understand the grave evil she is perpetrating’

The Roman Catholic archbishop in Nancy Pelosi’s home town of San Francisco has banned her from receiving communion there over her staunch support of abortion rights, which she has strengthened as supreme court justices weigh finalizing a draft ruling outlawing the termination of pregnancies in more than half the county.

In a letter addressed to the US House speaker and posted on his Twitter account, ultra conservative Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone argued that Pelosi’s “position on abortion has become only more extreme over the years, especially in the last few months,” and he had decided to block her from communion after she had ignored his requests to explain her stance to him.

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‘Extremely active’ jumping worms that can leap a foot raise alarm in California

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Earthworm native to east Asia and known for its large appetite poses threat to forest ecosystems, scientists say

An invasive worm species known for its “voracious appetite” and ability to jump a foot in the air is raising alarm in California, where scientists have expressed concerns about the threat the worms pose to forest ecosystems.

The Amynthas agrestis, also known as the Asian jumping worm, Alabama jumper or crazy snake worm, have been spotted in California in recent months. The earthworm is native to east Asia, particularly to Japan and the Korean peninsula. However, in recent years the worms made their way to North America via various landscape plants that have been imported from the region.

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Average price of gas surpasses $6 a gallon for first time in California

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The price is a record high for the state and follows a record high average price nationwide at nearly $4.59 a gallon

The average price of gas in California has surpassed $6 a gallon for the first time ever as fuel costs across the US reach record highs.

Drivers in the Golden state are paying more for a gallon of fuel than anywhere else in the country at an average of $6.06, an all-time high for California and the US, according to AAA. The national average is nearly $4.59 a gallon, also a record, increasing 10 cents since Monday. Meanwhile, in some rural regions of California prices are even higher – fuel costs more than $7 a gallon in Mono county in the state’s east.

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‘Amazing and loyal’ dog defends woman from mountain lion attack in California

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Erin Wilson says Eva jumped to her defense and was badly wounded in protecting her after the cougar attacked during a walk

A woman who was attacked by a mountain lion in northern California says her dog jumped to her defense and was badly wounded in protecting her.

“I don’t think I will ever be able to live up to how amazing and loyal she is to me,” Erin Wilson told the Sacramento Bee on Tuesday.

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Beijing’s rhetoric in spotlight as Taiwan condemns California shooting

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Deadly incident renews debate over cross-strait tensions and Beijing’s reunification rhetoric

Taiwan’s president has condemned the deadly shooting at a Taiwanese church in California by a man reportedly driven by hatred of the self-governing island, where debate about cross-strait tensions has intensified along with Beijing’s reunification rhetoric.

Tsai Ing-wen’s office issued a statement saying she condemned “any form of violence” and extended her condolences to those killed and injured, and that she had asked the island’s chief representative in the US to fly to California to provide assistance.

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Shooting at southern California church leaves one dead and five wounded

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Suspect arrested after churchgoers tie him up with cord following second US mass shooting of weekend

Gunfire at a southern California church has killed at least one person and wounded five before a suspect was taken into custody, authorities said.

The shooting early on Sunday afternoon occurred at Geneva presbyterian church in Laguna Woods, a town of 16,000 that consists of Laguna Woods Village, a retirement community for people 55 and older once known as Leisure World.

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‘Everything was orange’: US wildfires burning at furious pace early this year

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Wind-driven flames tearing through dry vegetation exacerbated by the climate crisis in California and New Mexico

Extreme conditions have fueled an explosive start to what’s expected to be yet another intense season of big blazes, with months to go before wildfire threats typically peak across the west.

Wildfires have charred close to 1.3m acres nationwide this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), outpacing the 10-year average for this time of year by more than 71%. Predictions for the rest of the spring do not bode well for the west, with the drought and warmer weather brought on by the climate crisis worsening wildfire danger.

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