Governor Gavin Newsom hails ‘towering figure’ who stood up for working class and nurtured many political careers
The former US congressman John Burton, a salty-tongued and unabashedly liberal San Francisco Democrat who stood up for the working class and nurtured countless political careers, including that of Nancy Pelosi, died Sunday. He was 92.
Burton died in San Francisco of natural causes, his family said in a statement.
Continue reading...Livestream of voyage to bottom of one of country’s deepest lakes draws thousands – but no sign of Tahoe Tessie yet
The cobalt waters of Lake Tahoe have long captivated the public, helping drive the area’s massive tourism industry and even attracting urban legends about what lies in the cold, shadowy depths.
Theories have ranged from an aquatic creature named Tessie to perfectly preserved bodies dumped by the mafia decades ago.
Continue reading...California governor condemns decision to deploy troops in response to anti-Ice protests as ‘waste, fraud and abuse’
Donald Trump’s deployment of the national guard in Los Angeles in response to protests in the city over immigration raids cost taxpayers nearly $120m, the California governor’s office said on Thursday.
The US president sent 2,000 national guard troops into the city in June amid clashes between federal immigration agents and protesters. This week a judge ruled that dispatching the military to accompany authorities on immigration enforcement operations violated federal law.
Continue reading...Report links Arizona-Sonora smuggling to rising homicide and overdose deaths in both countries
A new “golden triangle” of fentanyl and gun trafficking between Mexico and the US ties together the homicide and overdose crises of the two countries, according to a a new study.
The triangle spans Baja California, Sinaloa and Sonora – the three states where almost all fentanyl seizures in Mexico take place – and connects to Arizona through a quieter part of the US-Mexico border that has become a hotspot for trafficking in both directions.
Continue reading...Blaze in Chinese Camp – a town settled around 1850 by Chinese miners – was caused by lightning, authorities say
Multiple structures burned in a historic Gold Rush town in northern California on Tuesday night, after thousands of lightning strikes ignited a spate of fast-moving fires in the rural dry foothills of the Eastern Sierra.
Chinese Camp, about 57 miles (92km) east of Stockton and named for the Chinese miners who settled there, is a registered California landmark filled with historic structures, and home to roughly 60 residents.
Continue reading...Bill says state and community colleges must have ‘early warning systems in place’ amid Trump’s deportation push
California lawmakers have passed a bill requiring schools to alert families and teachers when immigration enforcement authorities are on campuses as the Trump administration continues its aggressive mass deportation campaign.
Under the bill, K-12 schools, state universities and community colleges must notify students, faculty and staff, “similar to early warning systems in place for other campus emergencies”, according to a statement from state senator Sasha Renée Pérez, who authored the legislation.
Continue reading...Judge said administration violated federal law by sending troops to accompany Ice agents on immigration raids
A judge has ruled the Trump administration’s use of national guard troops during southern California immigration enforcement protests is illegal.
Judge Charles Breyer ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump’s administration violated federal law by sending troops to accompany federal agents on immigration raids. The judge did not require the remaining troops withdrawn, however.
Continue reading...Benjamin Guerrero-Cruz, 18, was initially held at a facility near LA and later transferred to an Arizona holding site
The family of 18-year-old Benjamin Guerrero-Cruz was shocked when they found out that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) had discreetly moved him out of California, according to California congresswoman Luz Rivas, who spoke with his relatives and reviewed federal detention records.
Guerrero-Cruz, who was first detained in Van Nuys neighborhood while walking his dog, was transferred late Monday from the Adelanto detention facility in San Bernardino county to a remote holding site in Arizona without any notification given to his family.
Continue reading...Pickett fire chars Napa wine country while predicted thunderstorms add to danger of Oregon’s Flat fire
Wildfires raging in northern California wine country and central Oregon have destroyed multiple homes and threatened thousands more as hot, dry weather created challenges for firefighters battles the blazes.
Ten structures – including four homes – have been destroyed in Oregon’s Deschutes County as of Monday, where a wildfire dubbed the Flat fire continues to burn.
Continue reading...Cities that limit cooperation with immigration authorities had sued Trump administration over funding freeze
A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from cutting off federal funding to 34 “sanctuary cities” and counties that limit cooperation with federal immigration law enforcement, significantly expanding a previous order.
The order, issued on Friday by the San Francisco-based US district judge William Orrick, adds Los Angeles and Chicago, as well as Boston, Baltimore, Denver and Albuquerque, to cities that the administration is barred from denying funding.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Organizers disrupted Trump’s immigration crackdown by targeting hotels where officers were staying, documents show
When Donald Trump’s administration escalated immigration raids in Los Angeles earlier this summer, protest organizers responded with actions staged in an unusual setting: the hotels where immigration officers were staying.
Protests took place at several southern California hotels where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents had been spotted. Some activists launched “No sleep for Ice” rallies, with chants and music blaring through the night, in hopes of pressuring the hotels to kick agents out.
Continue reading...Assembly passes measure 57-20, sending it next to the state senate before on to governor Gavin Newsom
The California assembly on Thursday approved the first in a series of three bills designed to redraw congressional boundaries and create five potential new Democratic US House seats.
The effort in California is an answer to the Republican redistricting push in Texas, sought by Donald Trump and aimed at tilting the map in his party’s favor before next year’s midterm elections.
Continue reading...Move comes after state refused to remove gender identity, trans and nonbinary references from sex-ed curriculum
The Trump administration has terminated a grant that provided millions of dollars for a California sex education program after the state refused to remove all references to gender identity, transgender people and nonbinary people from its curriculum.
Advocates fear more states could lose more money in a burgeoning war between the Trump administration and supporters of comprehensive sex ed.
Continue reading...Temperatures are expected to spike with a trio of heat, thunderstorms and fire risks compounding dangers
Californians are bracing for the first major heatwave of the year, a multiday scorcher that could bring triple-digit temperatures, pose significant threats to public health and sharply heighten wildfire risks.
After a notably cooler summer, temperatures are expected to spike across the American south-west starting on Wednesday and extending through the weekend, as severe conditions expand north along the coast into British Columbia by the end of the week.
Continue reading...Shannon ‘SJ’ Joslin among group who hung 66ft flag on El Capitan as others could face prosecution under protest laws
A Yosemite national park ranger was fired after hanging a pride flag from El Capitan, while some park visitors could face prosecution under protest restrictions that have been tightened under Donald Trump.
Shannon “SJ” Joslin, a ranger and biologist who studies bats, said they hung a 66ft-wide transgender pride flag on the famous climbing wall that looms over the California park’s main thoroughfare for about two hours on 20 May before taking it down voluntarily. A termination letter they received last week accused Joslin of “failing to demonstrate acceptable conduct” in their capacity as a biologist and cited the May incident.
Continue reading...Homeland security department claims agent shot in ‘self-defense’ after driver refused to roll window down
A federal agent fired at a moving vehicle in southern California after the driver refused to roll down his window during an immigration stop and sped off, the Department of Homeland Security said.
A DHS statement said the driver struck two US Customs and Border Protection agents as he drove away on Saturday, prompting one agent to fire his weapon “in self-defense”. No one was hit by the bullets.
Continue reading...Jasveen Sangha, fifth and last defendant charged in Friends star’s overdose to strike plea agreement with prosecutors
A woman known as the “ketamine queen”, charged with selling Matthew Perry the drug that killed him, agreed to plead guilty on Monday.
Jasveen Sangha becomes the fifth and final defendant charged in the overdose death of the Friends star to strike a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. Having initially pleaded not guilty, her change of plea means she’ll avoid a trial that had been planned for August.
Continue reading...Ryan Wardwell was rappelling down Seven Teacups falls when ‘extreme hydraulics’ trapped him behind a cascade
A California man who recently became trapped behind a waterfall for two days while climbing was dramatically rescued by police utilizing a helicopter.
Ryan Wardwell, 46, of Long Beach, went to waterfalls known as the Seven Teacups on 10 August with plans to rappel down, the sheriff’s office of Tulare country said in a social media post. But the “extreme hydraulics” of the waterfalls pushed Wardwell off his rappelling lines and trapped him behind a cascade of the Kern river, according to the sheriff’s office.
Continue reading...Governor revealed the election rigging response act to counter Trump’s push to gain five extra seats in Texas in midterm elections
Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, on Thursday said state Democratic lawmakers would move forward with a redistricting plan intended as a direct response to a Republican-led effort in Texas to redraw congressional maps to control of theHouse majority after the midterm elections.
Newsom, joined by congressional Democrats and legislative leaders, unveiled his plan, known as the election rigging response act, to override the state’s independent map-making commission and approve new congressional lines that would aim to “neuter and neutralize” Texas’s proposal.
Continue reading...Gregory Rodriguez convicted of more than 60 charges of abusing women in his custody over nearly a decade
A former California correctional officer convicted of dozens of sexual abuse charges at a women’s prison was sentenced to 224 years in prison on Thursday.
Gregory Rodriguez, 57, worked as a guard at the Central California women’s facility (CCWF), the state’s largest women’s prison, and was found guilty in January of over 60 charges of abusing nine women in his custody, including rape and battery.
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organizations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
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