Category Archives: California

Britney Spears’s conservatorship terminated after nearly 14 years

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Musician regains independence after legal arrangement denied her right to make key life decisions

A judge has approved the termination of Britney Spears’s conservatorship, freeing the pop star from the controversial legal arrangement that has controlled her life for nearly 14 years.

The ruling marks an extraordinary victory for the singer who had fought for years to regain her independence from the courts, which in 2008 took away her rights to make basic decisions about her finances, career and personal life.

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California women gave birth to each other’s babies after IVF mix-up

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Couples to sue clinic after raising girls for months that were not theirs, says lawsuit, before babies were swapped back

Two California couples gave birth to each other’s babies after a mix-up at a fertility clinic and spent months raising children that were not theirs before swapping the infants, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles.

Daphna Cardinale said she and her husband, Alexander, had immediate suspicions that the girl she gave birth to in late 2019 was not theirs due to the child’s darker complexion.

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Californians rush to see rare ‘corpse plant’ that only blooms for 48 hours

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Bloom of the plant, which emits a putrid odor of rotting flesh, began Sunday and quickly drew visitors to botanical garden

The bloom of a giant and stinky Sumatran flower nicknamed the “corpse plant” because it smells like a dead body is drawing huge crowds to a southern California botanical garden.

The bloom of the Amorphophallus titanum plant began Sunday afternoon at the San Diego Botanic Gardens in Encinitas. By Monday morning, timed-entry tickets had sold out, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported, and more than 5,000 people were expected to have visited the garden by Tuesday evening.

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The anchor-outs: San Francisco’s bohemian boat dwellers fight for their way of life

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Since the 1950s, Marin county waters have been home to a community of mariners. Now local authorities say they have to leave

For decades, a group known as the “anchor-outs” enjoyed a relatively peaceful existence in a corner of the San Francisco Bay. The mariners carved out an affordable, bohemian community on the water, in a county where the median home price recently hit $1.8m.

But their haven could be coming to an end – and with it, a rapidly disappearing way of life.

Top: Anchor-out boats sit in Richardson Bay in Sausalito, California, last month. Bottom: Jeff Jacob Chase looks out the window of a friend’s boat.

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Halyna Hutchins mourned amid anger at Hollywood ‘cutting corners’ on sets

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Somber vigil charged with subdued rage over conditions that many lower-paid crew believe were linked to cinematographer’s death

A public vigil for the slain cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in Los Angeles on Sunday evening served both as an unofficial memorial event and an outlet for anger over working conditions in Hollywood that many lower-paid crew believe were linked to the 42-year old mother’s death.

Several hundred colleagues gathered outside the local union office for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) which represents workers on film and TV sets, who had been poised to go on strike to protest about pay, long hours and dangers on sets just days before Hutchins was fatally shot by Alec Baldwin on the New Mexico set of the desert western film Rust last week.

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Current approach to wildfires risks lives and wastes money, say experts

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Researchers call for new firefighting techniques that focus on managing landscapes, as global heating sees increase in blazes

A new approach is urgently needed to tackle global wildfires as current methods are no longer working, draining the public purse and placing lives at risk, according to experts.

This summer saw some of the worst wildfires in history and underscored the destructive impacts of global heating. As Cop26 approaches and is expected to shine a light on the importance of protecting ecosystems and building defences to avoid loss of homes and lives, experts say a lack of foresight and funding worldwide means harmful wildfires will continue to rage, putting communities and firefighters in danger.

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US west coast braces for ‘atmospheric river’ as huge storm brews

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Northern California faces flash flood risk and threat of mudslides, especially in fire-charred areas

A huge Pacific storm is poised to unleash conditions known as an “atmospheric river”, with torrential rains and strong winds putting about 10 million people at risk of flash floods in parts of northern California this weekend.

The incoming tempest has raised fears of mudslides, especially in areas charred during record-setting wildfires this summer.

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California proposes ban on new oil and gas drilling near schools, homes and hospitals

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State officials called one of the most aggressive steps in the US to protect public health and safety from the dangers of drilling

California’s oil and gas regulator on Thursday proposed that the state ban new oil drilling within 3,200 feet of schools, homes and hospitals to protect public health in what would be the nation’s largest buffer zone between oilwells and communities.

It’s the latest effort by Democratic governor Gavin Newsom’s administration to wind down oil production in California, aligning him with environmental advocates pushing to curb the effects of climate change and against the powerful oil industry in the nation’s seventh-largest oil producing state.

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Netflix employees join wave of tech activism with walkout over Chappelle controversy

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Slew of walkouts by tech workers, unthinkable mere years ago, shows workers ‘now understand their labor power’, expert says

Employees at Netflix halted work on Wednesday and staged a protest outside the company’s Los Gatos, California, headquarters to condemn the streaming platform’s handling of complaints against Dave Chappelle’s new special.

The actions – which hundreds participated in – are the latest in a string of highly visible organizing efforts in the tech sector, as workers increasingly take their grievances about company policies and decisions public.

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Religious exemptions threaten to undermine US Covid vaccine mandates

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In California hundreds of public employees, including police and firefighters, are claiming ‘sincerely held’ objections to the vaccine

This month, California became the first state to require Covid-19 vaccines for all schoolchildren but the provision came with a loophole: students will be granted religious exemptions.

California, which currently has the lowest coronavirus case rate in the US, has been issuing a series of sweeping mandates, requiring that healthcare workers, state employees, care workers and schoolteachers staff all get the vaccine. But in each case, Californians are able to ask for personal belief exemptions – and they are doing so in droves.

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‘I kept finding snakes’: more than 90 rattlesnakes found under California home

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Rescuers used 24in snake pole to remove snakes preparing to hibernate from mountainside home in Santa Rosa

Al Wolf is used to clearing one or two snakes from under houses but recently was called by a woman who said she had seen rattlesnakes scurry under her northern California house and was surprised to find more than 90 rattlesnakes getting ready to hibernate.

Wolf, director of Sonoma County Reptile Rescue, said he crawled under the mountainside home in Santa Rosa and found a rattlesnake right away, then another and another. He got out from under the house, grabbed two buckets, put on long, safety gloves, and went back in.

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Robert Durst sentenced to life in prison for murdering his friend Susan Berman

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The real estate heir had been convicted of first-degree murder last month as prosecutors argued he shot Berman in her home

Robert Durst, the real estate heir suspected in a string of killings over nearly four decades, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering his friend and confidante Susan Berman.

A Los Angeles jury convicted Durst, 78, of first-degree murder last month for the 2000 killing. Prosecutors argued that Durst had shot Berman at point-blank range in her home to prevent her from telling police what she knew about the 1982 disappearance of Durst’s first wife, Kathie McCormack Durst. The verdict marked the first homicide conviction for Durst, who has been linked to the deaths of three people in three states.

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Case of the Zodiac killer takes another twist – but police say it isn’t solved

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Police say investigation remains open as former law enforcement members claim to have identified killer

The case of the Zodiac killer took another twist this week after a team of investigators claimed they had unmasked the man who has fixated the public and amateur sleuths for decades.

But the apparent breakthrough was not so clearcut.

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Tesla headquarters will move from California to Texas, Elon Musk announces

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CEO confirms move in shareholder meeting after clashes with California officials over pandemic restrictions

Elon Musk has announced that Tesla will move its headquarters from California to Texas, following through on a threat he had hinted at for several months.

The company has been building a new plant in Austin and the CEO confirmed the move in a shareholder meeting on Thursday. He gave no timeline, however, and said the electric car maker will keep expanding its manufacturing capacity in the Golden State.

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Tesla ordered to pay $137m to Black former employee for racial abuse

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California federal court orders company to pay Owen Diaz who alleges he faced ‘daily racial epithets’ including the ‘N-word’

Tesla has been ordered by a federal court in California to pay almost $137m in damages to a Black former employee who said he endured racial abuse while working at a factory in Fremont.

Owen Diaz, a former contracted elevator operator who worked at the plant between 2015 and 2016, alleged he was harassed and faced “daily racial epithets” including the “N-word”. He also said employees drew swastikas and left racist graffiti and drawings around the plant.

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Huntington Beach oil spill blackens beaches and waves – in pictures

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An estimated 126,000 gallons of crude oil has leaked from an underwater pipeline near Los Angeles in one of the largest disasters in recent state history. The spill near Huntington Beach has created a miles-wide sheen in the ocean and washed ashore, threatening the coastal ecosystem and marine wildlife. Crews are scrambling to clean up the area, which officials say could take weeks or even months

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California beaches closed as ‘devastating’ oil spill threatens wildlife

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An estimated 126,000 gallons leaked from an underwater pipeline in one of the largest spills in recent state history

Temperatures in southern California surged on Sunday, but Huntington state beach was devoid of the umbrellas and beach blankets that would typically line its shore.

Instead, public works officials were working feverishly to stop the spread of an estimated 126,000 gallons of heavy crude oil that leaked from an underwater pipeline over the weekend in one of the largest spills in recent California history.

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California oil spill fouls beaches and kills wildlife – video

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A large oil spill off the coast of Southern California has killed wildlife and fouled beaches along the Orange county coast. At least 126,000 gallons (572,807 litres) spilled into the waters after oil leaked from a broken pipeline connected to an offshore rig

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‘There’s tar everywhere’: large California oil spill fouls beaches and kills wildlife

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Crews scramble to contain 126,000 gallons of crude oil that spilled in waters off Orange county before it spread further into wetlands

One of the largest oil spills in recent Southern California history fouled popular beaches and killed wildlife while crews scrambled Sunday to contain the crude before it spread further into protected wetlands.

At least 126,000 gallons (572,807 liters) of oil spilled into the waters off Orange county, according to a statement from the city of Huntington Beach.

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