Scenes from South Lake Tahoe as the raging Caldor fire bears down on the popular resort city and fills the skies with orange smoke. Thousands of firefighters are battling to slow the blaze, which has already consumed an area larger than Chicago
Continue reading...Category Archives: California
Chaos as Caldor fire forces unprecedented evacuation of Tahoe tourist town
Cal Fire chief warns of ‘fire activity that we have never seen before’ as fleeing residents clog roads
Thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate the tourist town of South Lake Tahoe as the raging Caldor fire draws closer, prompting chaotic scenes and clogged roads as residents rush to leave the area.
Monday’s fresh evacuation orders, unheard of in the city, came a day after communities several miles south of the lake were abruptly ordered to evacuate as the wildfire raged nearby.
Continue reading...California: mother fights off mountain lion with bare hands to save 5-year-old son
The mountain lion, which dragged the boy across his front lawn, was later killed by wildlife officers
A mountain lion that attacked a 5-year-old boy in southern California has been shot and killed by a wildlife officer, authorities say.
The 65-pound (30kg) mountain lion attacked the boy while he was playing near his house on Thursday in Calabasas and “dragged him about 45 yards” across the front lawn, said Captain Patrick Foy, a spokesman with the California department of fish and wildlife, on Saturday.
Continue reading...Unvaccinated teacher infected half her students with Covid, CDC finds
- Teacher read to class without a mask despite Covid symptoms
- Teacher infected 26 people at California elementary school
- Vaccine wars: how loved ones are being torn apart
An unvaccinated teacher in a California elementary school infected half her students and 26 people in total when she contracted the Covid-19 Delta variant, researchers for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found.
Related: US intelligence couldn’t resolve debate over Covid origins – official report
Continue reading...Sirhan Sirhan: six Kennedy children condemn decision to grant killer parole
Two children of assassinated Senator Robert F Kennedy support California decision which may be reversed
Six children of Robert F Kennedy have condemned the decision to grant parole to Sirhan Sirhan, the man who shot and killed the New York senator as he ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968.
Related: 'Something died in America': John Lewis on Robert Kennedy's legacy
Continue reading...Sirhan Sirhan, man who assassinated Robert F Kennedy, granted parole
- Sirhan, 77, convicted of killing Kennedy in Los Angeles in 1968
- Decision subject to further review and governor’s final approval
The man who killed Robert F Kennedy was granted parole on Friday after two of the former attorney general, senator and presidential hopeful’s sons spoke in favor of release and prosecutors declined to argue he should be kept behind bars.
Related: 'Something died in America': John Lewis on Robert Kennedy's legacy
Continue reading...Caldor fire burns on both sides of US Highway 50, footage shows – video
The Caldor fire continued its slow march toward the Lake Tahoe resort region on Friday. If the fire continues its path, fire crews plan to make a stand at Echo Summit, a mountain pass where US Route 50 begins its descent toward Lake Tahoe.
The fire has been the nation’s top firefighting priority because of its proximity to Lake Tahoe, a popular tourist destination that is home to thousands
Continue reading...Caldor fire advances towards Lake Tahoe as communities clouded in smoke
Fire was less than two dozen miles from Lake Tahoe on Wednesday evening, at times burning 1,000 acres of land an hour
A wind-driven wildfire continued to advance towards Lake Tahoe, clouding the alpine vacation and tourist spot on the California-Nevada state line in a sickly yellow layer of smoke.
The Caldor fire on Wednesday evening was less than two dozen miles (37km) from Lake Tahoe, at times burning 1,000 acres (405 hectares) of land an hour.
Continue reading...Lake Tahoe shrouded in smoke from surging Caldor fire – in pictures
The pristine setting of Lake Tahoe, on the California-Nevada border, was obscured by thick plumes of smoke as thousands of firefighters worked to contain the nearby Caldor fire, which has burned more than 120,000 acres. Tourists wore masks outdoors and ducked into cafes and casinos to escape the haze and the smell
Continue reading...California Caldor fire burns thousands of hectares in weekend surge – video
The owner of a cabin which became surrounded by flames near Kyburz, California, managed to escape the Caldor fire after shooting the first part of this footage. The fire has burned more than 40,500 hectares (100,000 acres) in the north of the state since it started on 14 August, and more than 12,000 in just two days.
More than 500 structures were destroyed over the weekend by wildfire fuelled by warm winds and drought-stricken vegetation
- California’s Caldor fire burns 100,000 acres as it rips through small towns
- The climate science behind wildfires: why are they getting worse? – video explainer
‘A complete shock’: the rightwing contrarian leading the California recall race
Larry Elder doesn’t believe in gun control or the gender pay gap. He has risen to the top of the Republican field in the recall election for governor
Larry Elder is a confounding frontrunner in the Republican race to replace Gavin Newsom as California governor.
Related: Grizzly Flats: the California town leveled by the Caldor fire – in pictures
Continue reading...Blow for Uber as judge finds California’s gig-worker law unconstitutional
- Judge sides with drivers in lawsuit brought over Prop 22
- Uber criticizes decision and says it plans to appeal
A judge on Friday struck down a California ballot measure that exempted Uber and other app-based ride-hailing and delivery services from a state law requiring drivers to be classified as employees eligible for benefits and job protections.
Related: One airport, 1,300 snakes: San Francisco helps to save endangered species
Continue reading...California fire destroys mobile homes as 11,000 firefighters battle blazes
- Dry and windy weather hampers efforts to fight dozens of fires
- Dixie fire, California’s biggest, only 35% contained
Dry and windy weather hampered efforts to contain destructive fires that are devouring the bone-dry forests of drought-stricken northern California, as a small wildfire swept through a mobile home park, leaving dozens of homes in ashes and injuring at least one person.
Related: Grizzly Flats: the California town leveled by the Caldor fire – in pictures
Continue reading...Investigators seek clues after California family found dead on hiking trail
Deaths of couple, their daughter and their dog remain unexplained, says sheriff’s office
Investigators were searching for clues in the unexplained deaths of a California couple, their baby and the family dog in a remote area of the Sierra national forest.
John Gerrish, his wife, Ellen Chung, their one-year-old daughter, Muji, and their dog were found dead on a hiking trail in Mariposa county. A family friend had reported them missing Monday evening.
Continue reading...One airport, 1,300 snakes: San Francisco helps to save endangered species
A parcel of land owned by the international airport is home to the largest population of the San Francisco garter snake
Across from the San Francisco international airport, and past the bustling highway that hugs it, lies what appears to be an empty lot. But the 180-acre, airport-owned parcel of land, which sits beyond the tarmac, tucked against residential homes, isn’t quite empty. It’s home to roughly 1,300 snakes.
With brightly painted bands of blue, orange-red and black that line their slender bodies, the garter snakes, which can grow up to 3ft long, are considered among the most beautiful in the world. They are also among the most threatened.
Continue reading...Grizzly Flats: the California town leveled by the Caldor fire – in pictures
Houses were reduced to piles of ash and cars to twisted metal as the blaze rushed through the El Dorado county town
Continue reading...Caldor fire turns sky red in California and Nevada – video
The sky over parts of Nevada and California turned red and orange as the Caldor fire, which erupted over the weekend, exploded in size on Tuesday and ran through the town of Grizzly Flats, destroying many buildings and forcing residents to leave. Two were injured. Officials estimated that the blaze had blown through 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres)
- Surging wildfire tears through northern California town and threatens others
- Caldor fire levels northern California town as dry weather fuels blazes
Surging wildfire tears through northern California town and threatens others
Caldor fire explodes in size as Pacific Gas & Electric begins shutting off power to 51,000 customers
Critically dangerous fire weather was forecast across northern California from Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday evening, threatening to intensify several large blazes and increasing the risk of new ones, as a small rural town in the Sierra Nevada was ravaged by a fire that grew with devastating speed.
The Caldor fire, which erupted over the weekend, exploded in size on Tuesday and ran through the town of Grizzly Flats, destroying many buildings and forcing residents to leave. Two were injured. Officials estimated that the blaze had blown through 30,000 acres – up from 6,500 acres reported by the California department of forestry and fire protection (Cal Fire) earlier that day.
Continue reading...Is this the beginning of the end of the American gas station?
A movement in California seeks a moratorium on new pumps – and a transformation of the US transportation system
Emily Bit remembers a time when she didn’t feel the constant threat of climate change. Her family lives in American Canyon, in southern Napa county, California, a state now being hit by record high temperatures and devastating wildfires. “It didn’t used to be this bad,” she said.
These days her family has to evacuate their home every summer. Two of her friends lost their homes in Paradise, the town consumed by the 2018 Camp fire disaster, the deadliest in California history. Last year, a wildfire burned the nature reserve behind her local school until it was “entirely black. It was like something from a dystopian novel”.
Continue reading...Black bear captured after visiting California supermarket – video
A juvenile black bear was filmed on video by stunned shoppers after it wandered into a Los Angeles area supermarket. The bear was spotted inside the Ralphs supermarket in Porter Ranch before it was shooed out. It was later seen outside and was tranquillised and relocated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service
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