California

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10 Elderly Women Escape Calif. Limo Fire

Most were in their 90s, used walkers, canes to flee

(Newser) - Authorities say 10 elderly women escaped unharmed when the limousine they were in burst into flames while idling in Northern California. The fire yesterday morning comes a little more than a month after five nurses were killed while trapped inside a burning limousine on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge. Fire officials...

1863 Indian Massacre Site Uncovered in California

Now, the Paiutes and DWP are fighting to leave the area untouched

(Newser) - Archaeologists say they've stumbled upon a grim page in American history: the site of the 1863 Owens Lake massacre. The Los Angeles Times provides a history lesson: The Paiute Indians occupied land some 200 miles north of LA that proved desirable to an influx of ranchers in the mid...

School Holds Firearms Buyback ... for Toy Guns

Principal says toy guns desensitize kids to real weapons from a young age

(Newser) - A California school is running a "toy gun exchange" today, offering students a free book and a chance to win a bicycle in if they hand in their plastic pistols, reports the San Jose Mercury News . "Playing with toys guns, saying 'I'm going to shoot you,...

Feds Raid Calif. Capitol for First Time in 25 Years

State senator is target of corruption probe, sources say

(Newser) - FBI agents swooped down on the offices of a California state senator and the Latino Legislative Caucus in the first raid of its kind in the state's Capitol since the "Shrimpscam" corruption scandal 25 years ago, the Los Angeles Times reports. Law enforcement sources say Sen. Ron Calderon—...

Brush That Last Burned in 1929 Is Fueling Calif. Fire

3K evacuated in Powerhouse blaze

(Newser) - A California wildfire has burned some 35 square miles north of Los Angeles and prompted evacuation orders for almost 3,000 people. Part of its fuel: "extremely old and dry" brush that last burned in 1929, a US Forest Service official explained yesterday, per the AP . Some 2,100...

Cops: Man Painted Crosswalk on City Street

Californian jailed on vandalism charges

(Newser) - Anthony Cardenas really, really thought an intersection in his neighborhood of Vellajo, California, needed a crosswalk. So the 52-year-old painted one himself. Now he's in jail on felony vandalism charges. Police made sure nobody used the makeshift crosswalk until a state transportation crew came along and painted over it....

Owner of Killer Pit Bulls Charged With Murder

Calif. victim died of up to 200 puncture wounds

(Newser) - The owner of a pack of pit bulls that mauled a 63-year-old woman to death this month has been charged with murder, in a case that has rocked the town of Littlerock, California. Alex Jackson, 29, was yesterday charged in the death of Pamela Devitt, who died after suffering as...

12-Year-Old Pleads Not Guilty in Sister's Death

'I say he is innocent': Attorney for Leila Fowler's brother

(Newser) - The brother of 8-year-old Leila Fowler has pleaded not guilty in her death, his lawyer says. The California 12-year-old, whose name hasn't been released because of his age, appeared in juvenile court yesterday, lawyer Mark Reichel said, per CNN . "I say he is innocent," Reichel said. On...

'Worst Solo Car Crash in Memory' Kills 5 Calif. Teens

Scene so horrific responders thought 2 cars were involved

(Newser) - A fiery car wreck on Memorial Day has left five California teens, including two sisters, dead and the city of Newport Beach in shock over what authorities say is the worst solo crash in memory, reports the LA Times . Police say a 17-year-old student was speeding when he swerved off...

Family 'Meant World' to Man Who Shot Daughters

Anthony Alvarez, Vietnam vet, suffered from PTSD: son

(Newser) - Family was everything for Anthony Alvarez—and yet the 63-year-old man shot his two adult daughters on Memorial Day before taking his own life, say police. No motive has yet been revealed, but his son says the Vietnam veteran has "never been the same" since his wife of 42...

Man Shoots Adult Daughters With Kids in House

Anthony Alvarez's granddaughter called 911 after her mom killed

(Newser) - An 8-year-old girl dialed 911 at 4:39am yesterday to report a shooting, and the story gets worse from there. Police say the child's 63-year-old grandfather, Anthony Alvarez, shot his two adult daughters before taking his own life—while the girl and her two brothers were in the Orosi,...

Calif. Man Pretended He Was Disney Heir: Police

Cops say Stephen Urquidez even had bogus W-2 forms

(Newser) - He might have claimed to be from the happiest place on Earth, but police say Stephen Urquidez was living in his own little bogus world. The California man was arrested Tuesday on burglary charges, and the story is an odd one: Police say Urquidez went by the name "Stephen...

Rapist May Be Sentenced— Even Though He's Dead

Former cop Anthony Orban killed himself following conviction

(Newser) - A former police detective was convicted of kidnapping and rape last year—but before he could be sentenced, he committed suicide. But he's not off the hook: A California judge could still sentence Anthony Orban despite his death. "The only reason he is not here is because he...

Cops Fatally Beat Man, Take Witnesses' Phones: Report

Officials say devices needed as evidence

(Newser) - Police in the southern California community of East Bakersfield allegedly beat a man to death last week, and now a lawyer for the 33-year-old's daughters and parents is using the word "coverup"—because the local sheriff's department confiscated the phones of witnesses who filmed the incident,...

Police: Brother, Not Intruder, Killed Calif. Girl

Boy, 12, arrested for murder of 8-year-old Leila Fowler

(Newser) - A 12-year-old boy who told police that an intruder stabbed his 8-year-old sister to death has been arrested and will be charged with homicide, police say. The killing in the small northern California town of Valley Springs last month sparked a 15-day manhunt after the boy told police a tall,...

California Subdivision Mysteriously Sinks Away

Eight homes abandoned, 10 more soon to follow

(Newser) - Scott and Robin Spivey had a sinking feeling that something was wrong with their home when cracks began snaking across their walls in March. The cracks soon turned into gaping fractures, and within two weeks their 600-square-foot garage broke from the house and the entire property dropped 10 feet below...

Calif. Supreme Court: Cities Can Ban Pot Dispensaries

More than 200 localities allowed to keep bans in place

(Newser) - In a major setback for pro-marijuana activists in the first state to legalize the drug for medical use, California's Supreme Court has ruled that cities and towns can legally ban pot dispensaries. In its 7-0 decision, the court sided with more than 200 local governments in the state that...

'Valley Fever' Cases Surge in California, Arizona

Drought causing spread of fungus-laced spores

(Newser) - Public health officials in arid parts of the American West are battling a huge rise in cases of a dust-borne disease many people have never heard of. Valley fever is contracted when people breathe in fungus-laced spores, and the drier, warmer conditions of recent years have contributed to an 850%...

California Wildfire Burns Path to the Sea

Winds poised to worsen flames that have scorched 8K acres

(Newser) - Authorities are warning of "extreme fire danger" as Southern California wildfires continue to rage , having already cut a 10-mile path to the Pacific. The Springs Fire already scorched 8,000 acres of land, and it's putting 2,000 homes at risk, CNN reports. Winds today of some 35mph...

Turns Out the 'Hallucinating' Lost Hiker Had Meth in Car

May have been high during $160K taxpayer-funded rescue

(Newser) - Hiker Nicolas Cendoya might be regretting those interviews he gave about having "lucid dreams, lucid hallucinations" while being lost for three days in a Southern California national forest last month. The 19-year-old and a friend were eventually rescued , but police have now arrested Cendoya for felony drug possession after...

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