Dubbed the “Electra Fire,” because it is burning along the terrain by Electra Road near Highway 49, the inferno has been growing across the arid land since July 4 with firefighters on the ground and plane tankers in the air trying to contain its “dangerous rate of spread.” Firefighter podcast the Hotshot Wake Up tweeted incredible pictures and footage of the blaze and fire crews’ efforts to get it under control....
The 2,000-acre inferno is just one of several that are blazing across California, with National Weather Service extreme heat warnings in place for much of the state. Riverside County Fire Department (RCFD) first reported the Fairview Fire at 3.37 p.m. on Monday, when it was burning across “20 acres of light to medium vegetation at a rapid rate.” The fire grew quickly, first to 500, then 2,000 acres by the evening, according to emergency responders....
Beaches in Southern California were packed with people over the weekend. Many of those individuals did not adhere to the state and White House’s social distancing guidelines. At a Monday press conference, Newsom warned beachgoers that the “virus doesn’t go home because it’s a beautiful, sunny day around our coasts.” FOX LA journalist Bill Melugin on Wednesday night posted a bulletin that will reportedly inform California police chiefs of Newsom’s upcoming announcement to close all beaches and parks from Friday....
With a virulent new strain of coronavirus, California’s pandemic outbreak is so out of control that public officials have had to lift air pollution regulations in order to accommodate a spike in cremations. Meanwhile, public opinion data shows widespread support for keeping businesses closed to halt the outbreak. In response to the emergency—and to a recall effort around his handling of the pandemic and the economy—Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is lifting stay-at-home restrictions, removing essential workers from the state’s vaccine priority list, and championing a complex deal that extends the state’s expiring partial eviction moratorium but still allows landlords to pursue evictions....
Sean Covell, who owns three Fitness System franchises across the Sacramento area, announced to his members in a letter that he will be defying the state’s “stay at home order” and reopening his doors again to the public on Friday, believing the restrictions are violating his constitutional rights. The gyms were closed as part of California Gov. Gavin Newsome’s order enacted on March 19 to help prevent the spread of COVID-19....
On Tuesday, a 4.4-magnitude quake with a 4.3 aftershock a minute later hit Santa Rosa, California, at 6:30 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). It comes just a day after a “small” 2.6 magnitude earthquake was felt in Canoga Park, California, roughly 430 miles southeast of Santa Rosa, even though the USGS said earthquakes usually aren’t felt if they’re less than a 2 magnitude on the Richter scale....
San Diego Superior Court Judge Cynthia Freeland issued a temporary restraining order on the state’s January plan for reopening schools, which the parents in the suit say has “arbitrary” restrictions that have stalled local efforts to resume in-person classes. Now, any of the rules the state had enforced can be disregarded, and the state can’t apply any new restrictions to the North County region. The order is “exciting news,” one of the parents in the lawsuit, Melanie Burkholder, told KUSI on Monday....
A bill that would ban smokeless tobacco in California’s MLB stadiums will be introduced California next week, according to CBS Bay Area. Assemblyman Tony Thurman’s legislations would apply tot AT&T Park, the O.Co Coliseum, Angel Stadium, Dodger Stadium and Petco Park. The bill’s supporters say their goal is to improve the health of current players and set a good example for children. The 2011 labor negotiations instituted limited use of tobacco by players during games, banning players from carrying tobacco packages and tins in their back pockets when fans are permitted in the ballpark, or using tobacco during pregame or post-game interviews, and at team functions....
In aerial footage captured by ABC7, the shark can be seen approaching the shore and pushed closer to land by waves. The lifeguards grab the six-foot-long shark with their bare hands and drag it through the sand to an animal control vehicle on the beach. The shark washed up around 1:30 in the afternoon. A public information officer to ABC7 that there were two sharks that came ashore in Newport Beach on Friday afternoon....
Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a callout on Thursday and found Karen Ruiz suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, with her three-year-old daughter sat in a nearby car. She was pronounced dead shortly afterward. The shooter has been identified as 43-year-old Herbert Nixon Flores, the woman’s ex-boyfriend and father of their child. The Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement: “On January 6, 2021 at 9:35 a....
But while the emergency didn’t reach a level where rolling blackouts became necessary in large areas of California to reduce the strain on the power grid, two outages were reported in the San Francisco Bay Area cities of Palo Alto and Alameda, with several thousand customers reportedly affected for about an hour. On Tuesday evening, just before 5:30 p.m., California’s grid operators issued an emergency alert, warning power providers to get ready to “shed load”, but not begin rotating power outages....
Nery A. Martinez Vasquez and his wife Maura N. Martinez, both 52, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit forced labor, according to a Tuesday release from the Department of Justice (DOJ). The couple arranged for the family to come to the U.S. on tourist visas and overstay their visit while forcing them to work at their restaurant and janitorial company between September 2016 and February 2018 in order to pay off a debt that they falsely claimed was owed....
The Shasta County District Attorney issued 31 charges, including 11 felonies, against Pacific Gas and Electric after it deemed the company “criminally liable” for the Zogg Fire that killed four people and burned about 200 homes near Redding in 2020. State investigators determined that the fire started when a gray pine tree fell onto a PG&E transmission line. Shasta and Tehama counties sued the utility company for negligence, alleging PG&E failed to remove the tree even though it had been marked for removal two years earlier....
Ships pose a huge threat to whales across the ocean. This is especially true in locations where both have a large presence, such as the areas around ports. Over the summer, 30 blue whales were seen feeding on the Los Angeles-Long Beach shipping lanes, one of the world’s busiest. On the West Coast, it is estimated that ships kill 80 endangered whales every year, including 18 blue whales. In 2019, there were 13 confirmed vessel strikes off the coast of California....
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning on Saturday urging people in the San Francisco Bay Area to prepare for dangerously strong offshore winds as well as critically low humidity that will cause fires to spread rapidly. The warning is in effect through to Morning morning. Officials warned that the severe winds, with some gusts possibly reaching up to 80 miles per hour, will be the strongest of the year so far and the worst since the Wine Country Fires in 2017....
Tina Bejarano, from the city of Los Banos, central California, gave birth when she was 17-years-old, she told Fox affiliate KMPH-TV. She was raised by an abusive mother, who told Bejarano she couldn’t keep her baby. “The next day, she comes back to tell me, ‘The baby died 15 minutes after it was born. It never made it. It was sick,” Bejarano recalled. A few months after Bejarano’s loss, she married her husband Eric Gardere....
The Season 1 update to the game will be a telling moment for how well concerns will be addressed over the next year. It’s still early enough for existing impressions to be smoothed over. With a batch of new maps and weapons promised, as well as gameplay tweaks, it’s possible Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will feel much more complete by the end of the week. At least that’s what Activision will be hoping happens as it aims for a final flurry of purchases before the holidays arrive....
High-tech tools even more sophisticated than this are now being used as weapons in the war against terrorist networks. As the United States and its allies work to ferret out Al Qaeda’s sources of funding, financial institutions all over the world are under increasing pressure to pitch in. Banks have been required to report transactions that might point to bribery, insider dealing, money laundering and other crimes for years. New legislation passed since September 11 may force brokers, insurance companies and other financial institutions to do the same....
The Carolina Panthers quarterback gave abbreviated responses to a half dozen questions from reporters during the exchange, which lasted less than 2 minutes. Twice asked to describe his frustration level, Newton deflected to the “next question” each time before walking off the podium. Newton was making his first start since suffering a concussion in Week 4. He recovered from a brutal first half, during which the Saints jumped out to a 21-0 lead, and completed the Panthers’ comeback with a 2-yard rushing score with 2:58 remaining to tie the game 38-38....
Fans for the last week have voted on four narrowed-down lists — best touchdown celebrations, fines that were most worth the money, worst officiating calls and worst predictions. Here are the results, and the recipients of SN’s off-beat NFL awards for the 2015 season. MORE: Traditional awards for 2015 | Sporting News’ All-Pro team Best touchdown celebration of 2015 — Cam Newton’s “Dab On Dem Folks” / ball giveaway ritual (52 percent of votes)...
