Warm temperatures and stead rains have led to an explosion of colour in the Anza-Borrego desert
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The Bombay Beach Biennale – in pictures
The fourth annual Bombay Beach Biennale took place last weekend on the shores of the Salton Sea in California. Artists and performers donated their time and talent to this volunteer-led event that transformed the town into a fully immersive artistic experience for 72 hours.
Continue reading...The hunt for black gold: is California the world’s next truffle hotspot?
For decades, enthusiasts have hoped truffles can follow wine’s path to success in the state. Charlotte Simmonds joins a search for the delicacy
Staci O’Toole is lying face down in the dirt. “I can smell it!” she cries, nose to the roots of a hazelnut tree.
A funky, fungal odor emanates from a shallow hole in the ground of this Sonoma Valley orchard. It hints at a hidden treasure many years in the making: a French Périgord truffle, grown right here in California.
Continue reading...Bernie Sanders visit shows California could hold key to 2020 victory
Weekend of rallies highlight how state’s diverse electorate and new early spot on primary calendar make it a prize for Democratic candidates
Bernie Sanders brought his anti-establishment message and calls for progressive reform to California, no longer as a long-shot presidential candidate but as a frontrunner with a good chance to win it all.
On Friday evening, Sanders kicked off a rally in sunny San Diego by thanking the thousands of supporters who had gathered, alongside a handful of right-wing protesters, for joining his “political revolution”.
Continue reading...#themooovement: parody Twitter account surpasses Devin Nunes in followers
Devin Nunes’ Cow has a herd of 498,000 followers on Wednesday night, surpassing the California congressman’s 396,000
A parody Twitter account that mocks Devin Nunes now has more followers than the California congressman does – all because of media attention brought by a defamation lawsuit Nunes brought against Twitter and users who make fun of him on the platform.
Devin Nunes’ Cow had more than 498,000 followers on Wednesday evening. Nunes’ own Twitter account had 396,000.Another account cited in the suit, “Devin Nunes’ mom” has since been suspended.
Continue reading...‘Flintstone’ house sparks lawsuit from California town: ‘It’s an eyesore’
The quirky home features dinosaurs and a sign proclaiming ‘Yabba-dabba-doo’, but neighbors aren’t amused
California architecture has captured the world’s imagination with its classic midcentury bungalows and beach houses. But one architectural landmark in the state has gone a distinctively different route, and it’s not to the town’s liking.
The “Flintstones” home in northern California appears to take its architectural cues from the town of Bedrock. The experimental house was built in the 1970s using a technique that involved spraying concrete to create curved walls. The result is a building where Fred and Wilma would feel at home, and it has become a landmark for drivers passing on I-280.
Continue reading...California governor to place moratorium on death penalty
Gavin Newsom’s executive order means 737 death row inmates will not be executed during his tenure
California’s governor is set to issue a moratorium on capital punishment in the US’s most populous state, providing a reprieve for hundreds of inmates sentenced to death.
On Wednesday morning, Gavin Newsom is expected to sign a new executive order that will put in place an executive moratorium on the death penalty, meaning 737 inmates awaiting execution in California will not be put to death during the governor’s tenure.
Continue reading...US college admissions scandal: how did the scheme work and who was charged?
Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were among 50 charged in scheme to get children into universities via bribery and cheating
There are 50 people charged in the case, including actors Felicity Huffman, known for her role on the TV show Desperate Housewives and the feature film Transamerica, and Lori Loughlin, a cast member on the TV series Full House. Defendants in the case include parents and college athletics coaches.
Continue reading...Felicity Huffman among dozens charged over admissions fraud at top US schools
Scheme helped wealthy Americans buy their children’s way into elite universities including Yale, Georgetown and Stanford
US federal prosecutors have charged the Hollywood actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, along with almost 50 other people, over a $25m scheme to help wealthy Americans buy their children’s way into elite universities including Yale, Georgetown, Stanford and the University of Southern California.
Huffman appeared in court in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon, where a magistrate judge said she could be released on a $250,000 bond. The judge ordered the Desperate Housewives star to restrict her travel to the continental United States. Huffman’s husband, the actor William H Macy, attended his wife’s initial court appearance. He has not been charged and authorities have not said why.
Continue reading...California family furious after hospital uses video call to tell grandfather he’s dying
- Ernest Quintana dies of chronic lung disease, aged 78
- Hospital defends ‘tele-visit’ with doctor on rolling screen
Ernest Quintana’s family knew he was dying of chronic lung disease when he was taken by ambulance to a hospital, unable to breathe. But they were devastated when a robot machine rolled into his room in the intensive care unit that night and a doctor told the 78-year-old patient by video call he would likely die within days.
“If you’re coming to tell us normal news, that’s fine, but if you’re coming to tell us there’s no lung left and we want to put you on a morphine drip until you die, it should be done by a human being and not a machine,” his daughter Catherine Quintana said.
Continue reading...‘An absolute miracle’: young sisters alive after two days in California wilderness
Leia and Caroline Carrico found ‘safe and sound’ by fire captain and firefighter who followed tracks from pink rubber boots
Armed with some outdoor survival training, granola bars and pink rubber boots, two sisters aged five and eight survived 44 hours in rugged northern California wilderness before they were found dehydrated and cold but in good spirits on Sunday, authorities said.
A fire chief and firefighter from a local volunteer department found Leia and Caroline Carrico in a wooded area about a mile and a half from their home in the small community of Benbow, where they had last been seen on Friday afternoon, Humboldt county sheriff William Honsal said.
Continue reading...Oakland teachers reach tentative deal to end week-long strike
The city’s 3,000 teachers walked off the job to demand higher pay, smaller classes and more school resources
Striking teachers in Oakland, California, reached a contract agreement Friday with district officials to end a week-long walkout.
The Oakland Education Association, which represents the city’s 3,000 teachers, said that union leaders reached a four-year agreement that calls for teachers to receive an 11% salary increase and one-time 3% bonus. The deal also requires the district to reduce class sizes and hire more student support staff, including special education teachers and counselors, the union said in a statement.
Continue reading...Friends speak out about the police killing of Willie McCoy – video
On 9 February, the 20-year-old Willie McCoy was shot and killed by police officers in California. He was shot an estimated 25 times in less than four seconds. At the time he had been asleep in his car at a Taco Bell. Willie was an up-and-coming rapper who went by the name of Willie Bo, in a group called FBG
Continue reading...California ‘Glory Hole’ drains reservoir after heavy rains – video
The water level in the Lake Berryessa reservoir, 75 miles north of San Francisco, has risen so much that, unusually, water is pouring into its overflow pipe, as can be seen in footage published by The Vacaville Reporter. The overflow, known as the Morning Glory Spillway, or simply the Glory Hole, drains water once the reservoir is over capacity and shoots it into a creek below the Monticello Dam.
Continue reading...Immigration, rail funding and lawsuits: why California and Trump are at war
The state, which styles itself as the Democratic-led ‘resistance’, has launched 46 lawsuits against the Trump administration
The Trump administration’s plans to pull millions in federal funding from California’s high-speed rail project is just the latest in the ongoing antagonism between the president and the state that stands on the opposite end of his party’s ideological spectrum.
Governor Gavin Newsom called the move “political retribution” for the state’s lawsuit against Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency, but California and Trump have been at it since before he was even elected president.
Continue reading...How Hollywood’s national park is recovering from wildfires
Recent wildfires scorched 90% of the federally protected Santa Monica Mountains – destroying a 1950s Hollywood set and affecting biodiversity. But life is slowly coming back
The fire came quickly. Fueled by dry, blustering winds, officials were unable to contain the Woolsey fire before it scorched the canyons of Ventura and Los Angeles counties, taking close to 97,000 acres and 1,500 properties with it.
One of the great casualties was the Santa Monica Mountains national recreation area. Nearly 90% of the federally owned land burned in the November 2018 blaze. The park is home to popular hiking trails, a rich ecosystem of plant and wildlife, including mountain lions and coyotes, as well as famous spots such as the Paramount Ranch’s “Western Town” (a well-known Hollywood set location), the historic 1927 Peter Strauss Ranch house, a research field station and ranger residences. Nearly all of them burned to the ground.
Continue reading...Serial killer’s drawings of alleged victims released by FBI
Agency hopes sketches by Samuel Little, who has confessed to killing 90 women, may help solve dozens of homicides
The FBI has released sketches made by a serial killer of his alleged victims, in the hope that they may help solve dozens of unsolved homicides.
The agency released the drawings and other information on a string of cold-case homicides that investigators say Samuel Little has admitted to having carried out.
Continue reading...Six California police officers fire shots at rapper asleep in car, killing him
Family of Willie McCoy allege racial profiling after Vallejo police fire ‘multiple rounds’ at man
California police officers fatally shot a 20-year-old rapper who was sleeping in his car outside a Taco Bell, authorities said.
Six Vallejo officers fired “multiple rounds” at the man, identified by family as Willie McCoy, police said. McCoy had a handgun on him when the officers fired out of “fear for their own safety” on Saturday night, according to the department. The family of McCoy, whose rapper name was Willie Bo, said Tuesday that police had racially profiled the young black man and that there was no justification for using deadly force against someone who was sleeping and not a threat.
Continue reading...Mayor’s joke about building wall around Apple HQ city angers neighbors
Communities around tech-rich Cupertino – teased they would pay for a wall – say city’s lack of affordable housing means they already subsidize it
A Donald Trump joke usually lands well in the heart of Silicon Valley. But when the mayor of Cupertino wisecracked in his state of the city address that he wanted to build a wall around the city where Apple is headquartered – and make the surrounding communities pay for it – he ignited a fury among local housing advocates, for whom the farce veered too close to reality.
Mayor Steven Scharf made his speech on 30 January, but it drew little attention until it was tweeted by venture capitalist and housing advocate Kim-Mai Cutler. Leading up to remarks on traffic, Scharf pulled up a PowerPoint slide titled, “Securing Our Borders With The Cupertino Wall” that showed a map of the city with the border marked in black.
Continue reading...California plane crash kills five – video
Five people died after a small plane crashed into a house, setting it on fire. A spokesman with the National Transportation Safety Board said the twin-engine Cessna 414A crashed on Sunday shortly after taking off from a nearby airport. Lt Cory Martino, from Orange County Sheriff Office, said the pilot and four occupants of the home in Yorba Linda died, while firefighters planned to search for additional victims
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