Category Archives: California

‘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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California synagogue killer not allowed to speak as he gets life without parole

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Judge denies white supremacist, 22, opportunity to address court as survivors of 2019 attack give moving statements

A 22-year-old white supremacist was denied a chance to address a courtroom before a judge sentenced him Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for bursting into a southern California synagogue on the last day of Passover in 2019 with a semiautomatic rifle, killing one worshipper and wounding three others.

An agreement with prosecutors that spared John T Earnest the death penalty left little suspense about the outcome, but the hearing provided 13 victims and families a chance to address the killer and gave a sense of finality to a case illustrating how online hate speech can lead to extremist violence. Many gave heart-wrenching accounts of how their lives were upended and how determined they were to persevere despite such devastating loss.

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The California region where Covid ‘just isn’t slowing down’

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The state has the country’s lowest case rate. But in the vaccine-resistant Central Valley and rural north, healthcare workers are pushed to the limit

California has the lowest coronavirus case rate in the country. But within the state, the agricultural Central Valley and rural north remain overwhelmed.

Resistance to vaccines and public health mandates, combined with the advance of the Delta variant, have triggered an explosion of cases that are pushing already strained public health systems to the brink. In some counties, the case rate per 100,000 people is three or more times that of the state.

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Inside the San Francisco Bay Area’s pandemic murder surge: ‘No one knows this pain but us’

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Guardian analysis reveals region-wide increase in violent deaths, but Black and Latino residents make up majority of victims

On the night of 3 September 2020, Sonya Mitchell got a call as she was leaving work. Her 23-year-old son, Daimon “Dada” Ferguson, had been shot in a drive-by outside his older sister’s home.

In the months before, Mitchell, 56, had been watching reports of shootings in her hometown of Vallejo, in the San Francisco Bay Area, with increasing concern. There was the shooting at a birthday party on 9 June that killed two women and injured a 10-year-old. Three separate shootings had rocked the city on 20 August, including a double homicide that left a 25-year-old man and his 24-year-old girlfriend dead in a car with their infant son.

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Smoke from Fawn fire in California paints sky orange – video

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A wildfire in northern California spread rapidly on Thursday, burning homes and prompting evacuation orders in a rural community in Shasta county. The Fawn fire in northern California started Wednesday north of Redding in Shasta county, and scorched more than 8.5 sq miles (22 sq km) of heavy timber on steep, rugged terrain amid hot, dry and gusty conditions. A woman was arrested on suspicion of starting the fire

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‘It was never about saving Newsom’: how Latino voters played a major role in California

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About 30% of California’s registered voters are Latino, and it appears they voted largely Democrat – but some say it was ‘about ensuring this state didn’t move backward’

Luis Sánchez worked overtime to rescue Governor Gavin Newsom in California’s recall race. His group PowerCA Action reached more than a quarter-million voters ahead of election day, encouraging young Latino Californians to head to the polls.

Related: ‘Study Newsom’s playbook’: what Democrats – and Republicans – can learn from California’s recall

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California recall vote shows Trump’s big lie is now Republican playbook

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Pre-emptively branding as rigged an election you are likely to lose risks turning off GOP voters and undermining democracy

It was a pre-emptive strike against truth by some of the biggest names on the American right wing.

Former president Donald Trump warned that the ballot would be “rigged”. The Republican candidate Larry Elder predicted “shenanigans”. The conservative media star Tomi Lahren suggested that “voter fraud” was inevitable.

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California wildfires burn into some groves of ancient giant sequoias

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National Weather Service issues weather watch for critical fire conditions in Sequoia national park

Crews continue to battle California wildfires that have burned into some groves of ancient giant sequoias, the world’s largest tree.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a weather watch for critical fire conditions in the Sequoia national park in the Sierra Nevada, where the Colony fire was burning about a mile from Giant Forest, a grove of 2,000 sequoias.

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Real estate heir Robert Durst found guilty of murdering his friend Susan Berman

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Prosecutors said multimillionaire killed friend because she planned to tell police what she knew about his wife’s death

The multimillionaire New York real estate heir Robert Durst has been convicted of murdering his best friend Susan Berman more than 20 years ago, in a case that took on new life following the documentary The Jinx.

Related: Cockroaches, staged wrestling and more lies: the peculiar murder trial of Robert Durst

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World’s largest tree wrapped in fire-resistant blanket as California blaze creeps closer

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Efforts underway to protect General Sherman and other giant trees from wildfires threatening Sequoia national park

As flames crept closer to California’s cherished sequoia trees firefighters took an unusual step to protect them, wrapping the giant bases in fire-resistant blankets.

The shiny material that helps quell flames, commonly used to protect structures, is rarely applied to natural features, but crews fighting the KNP Complex fire in the Sequoia national park said they are doing everything possible to protect the iconic trees.

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Wildfires in California threaten world’s biggest tree – video

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Firefighters have wrapped the base of the world’s largest tree in a fire-resistant blanket as they tried to save a famous grove of gigantic old-growth sequoias from wildfires burning in California. The colossal General Sherman tree in Sequoia national park’s giant forest is among the trees to be wrapped in aluminium as wildfires close in on the Giant Forest

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Gavin Newsom will remain California governor after handily defeating recall attempt

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California voters resoundingly reject choice to replace Democratic governor, who faced a battle for his political life

California’s governor, Gavin Newsom has prevailed in a historic recall election that had him battling for his political life. In a referendum on the governor’s leadership through the pandemic, voters resoundingly rejected the choice to replace him with a Trumpist Republican.

The Associated Press projected the results about 45 minutes after polls closed on Tuesday night. Newsom’s most popular challenger was Larry Elder, a rightwing radio host who drew comparisons to the former president and who attempted to sow baseless doubts about the election process.

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Governor Gavin Newsom defeats California recall effort – video

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California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, has successfully fended off an effort to oust him from office in a special election. He overcame a Republican campaign to unseat him over his liberal policies on immigration, Covid-19 and crime. 

Newsom, a first-term governor beset by challenges including the pandemic, extreme drought and severe wildfires, boosted turnout among Democrats with a flurry of late campaigning. In the final days of the race, he appeared alongside President Joe Biden and the vice-president, Kamala Harris, who formerly represented California as a US senator and attorney general

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Californians vote in recall election as polls show Newsom holding favor – live

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Damien Gayle reports:

Facebook has kept internal research secret for two years that suggests its Instagram app makes body image issues worse for teenage girls, according to a leak from the tech firm.

Related: Facebook aware of Instagram’s harmful effect on teenage girls, leak reveals

Joe Biden will reportedly propose a target for 70% of the world’s population to be vaccinated within the next year at a global vaccines summit he intends to convene alongside the UN general assembly in New York this month.

The US president’s target, reported by the New York Times, is in line with ambitions set jointly by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the WTO and the World Health Organization (WHO) but is more ambitious than current performance and the targets set at the G7 meeting in Cornwall chaired by the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson. The G7 agreed to donate 870m doses of Covid-19 vaccines directly, with an aim to deliver at least half by the end of 2021.

Related: Joe Biden to propose target of vaccinating 70% of world in a year

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‘It’s a reality’: Biden calls for urgency in California as climate crisis fuels wildfires

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President calls year-round fires an emergency country can no longer ignore as he advocates for rebuilding plan

Joe Biden travelled to California on Monday to survey wildfire damage as the state battles a devastating fire season that is on track to outpace that of 2020, the state’s worst fire season on record.

The president is using the trip to highlight the connection between the climate crisis and the west’s increasingly extreme wildfires as he seeks to rally support for a $3.5tn spending plan Congress is debating.

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Lake Tahoe ski resort changes name to remove racist and misogynistic slur

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Resort will be called Palisades Tahoe after consulting with Indigenous groups over longstanding name

A popular ski resort at California’s Lake Tahoe has changed its name to remove a racist and misogynistic slur after consultations with local Indigenous groups.

The resort, known as Squaw Valley since 1949, will be called Palisades Tahoe, the business announced on Monday.

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US Evangelical Lutheran Church installs first openly transgender bishop

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The Rev Megan Rohrer will lead nearly 200 congregations of one of the largest Christian denominations in the US

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America has installed its first openly transgender bishop in a service held in San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral on Saturday.

The Rev Megan Rohrer will lead one of the church’s 65 synods, overseeing nearly 200 congregations in northern California and northern Nevada.

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Toxic algae leads to closure of river areas near where California family died

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  • John Gerrish, Ellen Chung, daughter and dog found on 17 August
  • Official: bloom in Merced River can make people and pets sick

The mysterious deaths of a family of hikers from northern California and their dog have led federal officials to close 28 miles along the Merced River, where high levels of toxic algae were detected.

Related: Hiking trail where California family was found dead closed due to ‘unknown hazards’

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Hiking trail where California family was found dead closed due to ‘unknown hazards’

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Officials have not yet been able to determine how the family died but have closed the Savage Lundy trail through 26 September

A popular national forest in California has closed trails near where a couple, their baby and the family dog were found dead last month.

Pointing to “unknown hazards found in and near the Savage Lundy trail”, officials announced Sierra national forest would close trails, campgrounds and picnic sites for nearly a month. John Gerrish, 45, his wife, Ellen Chung, 30, their one-year-old daughter, Muji, and their dog were found dead on the Mariposa county hiking trail. Officials have not yet been able to determine how they died.

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Strong winds push surging Caldor fire closer to Lake Tahoe

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  • Fire’s thick smoke envelops all-but-deserted South Lake Tahoe
  • NWS warns of low humidity and gusts that could fuel wildfire

Flames raced across treetops and through drought-stricken vegetation as firefighters scrambled Wednesday to keep a growing California wildfire from reaching a resort city at the southern tip of Lake Tahoe after evacuation orders were expanded to neighboring Nevada.

Related: Empty beaches and eerie skies as Caldor fire looms over Lake Tahoe – in pictures

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