Category Archives: California

Millions of Californians put under strict Covid lockdown

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Stay-at-home order will stay in place through Christmas after hospital intensive care beds filled almost to capacity

More than 23 million people in Southern California have been placed under the harshest lockdowns in the United States, as Covid-19 cases hit record levels in the country’s most populous state.

The restrictions require people to stay at home and minimise contact with other households. They came into effect at 11.59pm on Sunday (02:59 ET/06:59 GMT) and will remain in place for at least three weeks, covering the Christmas holiday.

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US sees record coronavirus infections as states face deadline for vaccine orders

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  • More than 14m cases recorded with 2,607 deaths on Friday
  • More lockdowns in California as Arizona and Idaho reel

As US states faced a deadline to place orders for a coronavirus vaccine, California went back into lockdown and federal authorities advised the wearing of masks indoors, new infections reached a record 227,885 on Friday.

Related: 'Ridiculous double standard': LA residents condemn maze of Covid restrictions

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Christian group tears down mysterious monolith on California mountain

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A group of young men posted a video of themselves replacing the monolith, which was similar to one discovered in Utah, with a cross

A group of young men claiming to be Christians have posted a video of themselves tearing down a mysterious monolith that had appeared atop a California mountain and replacing it with a cross.

The monolith had been built near the town of Atascadero and sparked huge interest after the appearance of a similar silvery metal-faced monolith that had been discovered in the deserts of Utah.

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US breaks daily coronavirus records as Fauci warns January will be ‘terrible’

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  • New daily highs for cases, hospitalizations and deaths
  • Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings could fuel surge

The US set three grim coronavirus records on Thursday, as it recorded the highest daily number of coronavirus deaths, the highest number of new cases, and the number of people admitted to hospital with Covid exceeded 100,000 for the second day in a row.

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‘I guess this is a thing now, right?’: monolith appears on California mountain – video report

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A new mysterious metal monolith has appeared atop a mountain in California, just a week after a similar structure captured the imagination of the world when it was discovered in the deserts of Utah – before disappearing. Amid mounting international attention of the mystery, a similar structure was reportedly found in the mountains of Romania - before it disappeared as well

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Covid and California’s farmworkers: study lays bare disproportionate risks

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Primarily Latino workforce has contracted Covid-19 at nearly three times the rate of other residents

California’s agricultural workers have contracted Covid-19 at nearly three times the rate of other residents in the state, a new study has found, laying bare the risks facing those who keep a $50bn industry afloat.

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New mystery metal monolith appears on a California mountaintop

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Not long after a similar structure was discovered in a Utah desert, a silvery column has been found in Atascadero

A new mystery metal monolith has appeared atop a mountain in California, just a week after a similar structure captured the imagination of the world when it was discovered in the deserts of Utah – before being taken down and disappeared.

The local newspaper in the small town of Atascadero, on the central California coast, reported that the silvery column had been found atop Pine mountain where dozens of local hikers made the trip to view it – and post their pictures on the internet.

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US braces for post-Thanksgiving Covid surge as 100,000 are hospitalized

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Hospitalizations are at twice as many as in April and July spikes, while more than 150,000 test positive nearly every day

Americans are bracing for a surge in Covid-19 cases following the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, as the number of people hospitalized hit an all-time high on Wednesday.

More than 100,000 people are hospitalized, according to data from the Covid Tracking Project, the highest number yet recorded, and nearly twice as many people as were hospitalized at the peak of earlier coronavirus waves in April and July.

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Los Angeles reverses plans to close Covid-19 testing site for film shoot

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City faced widespread uproar over news that Union Station testing center would be closed for filming of She’s All That remake

Los Angeles reversed the planned closure of a downtown coronavirus testing site, after the news that the center would be closed because of a film shoot for the remake of the popular teen comedy She’s All That was met with widespread uproar.

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Harvey Milk’s murder is a stark reminder of the persistence of police brutality

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Few realize Milk and San Francisco mayor George Moscone were killed in part due to their opposition to police violence and abuse

Like millions around the world, last May the image of the Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killing George Floyd sickened and angered me and drove me to the streets to demonstrate in support of Black Lives Matter. It also reminded me of events that occurred in my hometown of San Francisco 42 years ago on Friday.

Many people know who Harvey Milk was, are familiar with his contributions to the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement and remember that he was assassinated on 27 November 1978 after being in office for less than a year. Fewer people are aware that one of the proximate reasons why Milk and San Francisco’s progressive mayor George Moscone were killed was because of their opposition to police violence and abuse.

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California enacts coronavirus curfew for majority of state’s 40m residents

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Governor Gavin Newsom announced the stay-at-home order for all non-essential work and gatherings from 10pm to 5 am

California is imposing a curfew affecting nearly all of its 40 million residents beginning this weekend, as the state tries to control a surge in coronavirus cases.

The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, announced what officials are describing as a limited stay-at-home order on Thursday, saying that all nonessential work and gathering must stop from 10pm to 5am. The order will apply to the 41 counties currently in the most restrictive tier of reopening rules, which accounts for 94% of the state’s 40 million residents.

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Naya Rivera drowning: wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Glee actor’s son

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Lawsuit alleges boats lacked safety equipment and that there were no warning signs around California lake where she died in July

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed over the drowning of Glee actor Naya Rivera, who died in July while boating with her four-year-old son on a lake in California.

The suit was filed on Tuesday against Ventura County and managers of Lake Piru over her accidental death on 8 July at the lake north-west of Los Angeles. It was filed on behalf of her son, Josey Hollis Dorsey, by Ryan Dorsey — Rivera’s ex-husband and the boy’s father and guardian — and also on behalf of her estate.

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US officials warn of tens of thousands more Covid deaths in coming weeks

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  • CDC warning comes amid threat of PPE and bed shortages
  • New coronavirus cases increase with 150,000 on Thursday

Government health officials have warned that tens of thousands of Americans will die in the coming weeks as coronavirus continued to surge across the country, shattering more daily records.

Related: Coronavirus live news: Germany, Sweden and Russia all report record rises in daily cases

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Who will fill Kamala Harris’s Senate seat in California?

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The state’s governor will appoint a replacement for Harris now she has been elected vice-president. Who’s in the frame?

With Kamala Harris officially headed to the White House, a fresh political battle in her home state of California looms: who will fill her US Senate seat?

Related: US election live: Joe Biden wins and says 'It’s time for America to unite'

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Whale, that was close!: humpback appears to overturn kayakers in California

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Two whale-watchers at Avila beach had a close encounter that dumped them into the ocean

Two kayakers in California had an unsettlingly close whale watching experience Monday, after a humpback appeared to overturn their boat and almost swallow them, according to a report.

Liz Cottriel and Julie McSorley told the Fresno-area Fox affiliate that they were watching whales from a distance of about 30 feet (9.14 meters) during what appeared to be a peaceful morning near Avila beach.

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Seven new charges brought against adult film star Ron Jeremy

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He has now been accused by 23 alleged victims and faces a total of 11 counts of rape, eight of sexual battery and 16 other sexual offenses

Porn star Ron Jeremy was charged on Wednesday with an additional seven counts of rape and sexual assault, bringing to 23 the number of his alleged victims, the Los Angeles district attorney’s office said.

Jeremy, 67, one of the biggest names in the adult film industry, was initially charged in June with raping three women and sexually assaulting a fourth, but more women have come forward to police since then.

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What I learned at man camp, where men get in touch with their emotions

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In early March, I headed to the California desert to explore my emotions and learn ‘healthy masculinity’ with a group of men

On a Friday evening in early March, two weeks before much of the US went into a coronavirus lockdown, I found myself standing in the California desert, screaming into another man’s face.

The next day, the smell of burning sage wafted through the air as I took my shirt off and wrestled a guy inside a metal dome.

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California appears to be winning fight against Covid-19. How long will it last?

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State is currently faring better than the US as a whole, but experts and public health officials expect a fall surge

After a brutal summer of increased infection and overburdened hospitals, California is having a moment of respite in coronavirus transmission as much of the nation and the world experiences yet another rise in cases.

But experts and public health officials warned Californians to practice caution.

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