SACRAMENTO, Calif.— California State Parks is honoring the service of veterans, and active and reserve military members, by offering free admission to 130 participating state park units on Memorial Day – Monday, May 29, 2023. The list of participating park units can be found at parks.ca.gov/MemorialDay2023. “State Parks invites these brave people and their families to […]
California
CHP looks to secure a safe start to the summer with holiday enforcement efforts
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Memorial Day weekend is quickly approaching, and many Californians are preparing to kick off the summer with a holiday gathering or road trip. Forty-five people were killed in crashes in California during last year’s Memorial Day weekend, nearly a 30 percent increase from the same period in 2021. The California Highway Patrol […]
Investigation into misleading wildfire mailers results in ban from industry
LOS ANGELES, May 23, 2023 — A California Department of Insurance investigation into misleading mailers on insurance claims following wildfires has resulted in the ban of public adjuster and California Recovery Group owner/director, Argen Youssefi, 32, of Glendale. The investigation found California Recovery Group (CRG) and its owner, Youssefi, were soliciting business at consumers’ homes and sending […]
Earlier snowpack melt in the West could bring summer water scarcity
May 22, 2023 – Snow is melting earlier, and more rain is falling instead of snow in the mountain ranges of the Western U.S. and Canada, leading to a leaner snowpack that could impact agriculture, wildfire risk and municipal water supplies come summer, according to a new CU Boulder analysis. Published today in Nature Communications Earth […]
Recreational Ocean, In-River Salmon Fisheries in California to Close for Remainder of 2023
The California Fish and Game Commission acted unanimously to enact a full closure of California’s recreational salmon fishing season in the Klamath River Basin and Central Valley rivers through its annual process for adjusting seasons and bag limits on Tuesday, May 17, 2023. In a separate emergency action, the Commission voted to close recreational salmon […]
Inyo National Forest to host Wildflower Walks
In celebration of National Wildflowers Week (May 14 – 20) designated by the United States Forest Service, Inyo National Forest botanists are hosting four Saturday “Wildflower Walks” at various locations during the summer blooming season: Botanists will be available for you to ask all your burning botanical questions. Until then, they’ll be posting on the […]
New UCS Study Finds Top Fossil Fuel Companies Responsible for Over a Third of Area Burned by Wildfires Across Western North America in Last 40 Years
WASHINGTON (May 16, 2023)—A pioneering study published today in Environmental Research Letters links the area burned by forest fires and increases in drought and fire-prone conditions to heat-trapping emissions from the largest global carbon producers. The findings of “The Fossil Fuels behind Forest Fires,” an analysis led by experts at the Union of Concerned Scientists […]
Indigenous science key to adapting to climate change
May 15, 2023 – To adapt to climate change, Karuk Tribe members identified the importance of monitoring climate stress on plant species and actively managing and restoring healthy ecosystem processes to increase the consistency and quality of their food harvests, according to a new report. The Karuk Tribe’s Aboriginal Territory encompasses over a million acres […]
May Revision Maintains Critical Behavioral Health Investments
Sacramento, CA – The leaders of California’s county and community behavioral health system appreciate Governor Gavin Newsom’s commitment to maintaining and prioritizing the state’s behavioral health programs and progress in his May Revision budget proposal for 2023-24. “In a time of both fiscal uncertainty and great need, we appreciate the critical attention to strengthening our behavioral health […]
Sequoia Parks Conservancy announces closure of Crystal Cave for the 2023 season
Three Rivers, CA – Sequoia Parks Conservancy announces the closure of Crystal Cave for the 2023 season due to damage sustained to the road, trail, and visitor facilities at Crystal Cave during the 2021 KNP Complex wildfire and the extreme winter weather this year. Sequoia Parks Conservancy is working closely with the National Park Service […]
Pilot who deliberately crashed airplane for online views agrees to plead guilty to felony obstruction charge
LOS ANGELES – A YouTuber pilot has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge for obstructing a federal investigation by deliberately destroying the wreckage of an airplane that he intentionally crashed in Santa Barbara County to gain online views, the Justice Department announced today. Trevor Daniel Jacob, 29, of Lompoc, agreed to plead […]
AG Bonta Co-Leads 22 States to Protect Patients Against Texas’ Attempt to Exclude Abortion from Emergency Healthcare
OAKLAND, May 9, 2023 — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today co-led a multistate coalition in a legal fight to protect Americans’ access to abortions during life-threatening medical emergencies. In an amicus brief, the coalition supported the Biden Administration’s defense of its Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) guidance, which restates hospitals’ obligations under […]
Bonta: As Attacks on Reproductive Rights Persist, California Will Continue to Lead Nationwide Defense
LOS ANGELES, May 2, 2023 — One year after the leak of a draft Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined the Southern California Legal Alliance for Reproductive Justice (SoCal LARJ) to uplift the alliance’s legal aid efforts and the launch of a new hotline. The alliance is made up of law firms across Southern California that […]
DWR May 1 Snow Survey Collects Data on Spring Runoff
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Department of Water Resources (DWR) today conducted the fifth snow survey of the season at Phillips Station. The manual survey recorded 59 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 30 inches, which is 241 percent of average for this location on May 1. The snow water equivalent measures the […]
JPMorgan Chase Bank Assumes All the Deposits of First Republic Bank, San Francisco
WASHINGTON – First Republic Bank, San Francisco, California, was closed today by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect depositors, the FDIC is entering into a purchase and assumption agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, Columbus, Ohio, to assume all of […]
California Approves World’s First Regulation to Phase Out Dirty Combustion Trucks and Protect Public Health
SACRAMENTO – The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved world-leading regulation to phase out the sales of medium and heavy-duty combustion trucks in California by 2036 – moving the state forward on Governor Gavin Newsom’s ambitious plan to dramatically cut pollution, protect public health and accelerate the transition to clean vehicles. CARB also approved first-in-the-nation […]
Many transgender parole seekers in California face misgendering
A new study of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) parole hearings by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law and the Social Justice Legal Foundation finds 43% of parole hearings for transgender and nonbinary people included misgendering and/or insensitive comments. For instance, one nonbinary 44-year-old individual asked to be addressed by name, […]
Coal trains increase air pollution in San Francisco Bay Area
Coal trains and terminal operations add a significant amount of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution to urban areas, more so than other freight or passenger trains, according to a study conducted in Richmond, California, by the University of California, Davis. The paper, published in the journal Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, is the first study […]
Federal Court Slams For-Profit Immigration Detention Center for Solitary Confinement Policies
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, April 26, 2023 —Late last week, the United States District Court of the Southern District of California allowed claims to proceed that Management & Training Corporation (MTC) – owner and operator of Imperial Regional Detention Facility (IRDF) – engaged in “outrageous conduct” and acted with “reckless disregard” by subjecting Plaintiff Carlos Murillo Vega […]
Woodpecker Guides Post-Fire Forest Management
Ithaca, NY—What’s good for the Black-backed Woodpecker is good for restoration of burned California forests. The birds’ unique relationship with fire underpins the latest research into improved post-fire management. A study published in Ecological Applications describes a new tool that factors how fires burn into forest management decisions and turns science into action for wildlife conservation. “Wildfire […]