California

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Cailfornia May Allow Noncitizens to Sit on Juries

Supporters of law say it's about 'discrimination'

(Newser) - California has recently passed a number of new bills that would expand the rights of permanent noncitizens: allowing them to monitor polls during elections; making drivers licenses available to unauthorized immigrants; and allowing those who were brought illegally to the US to practice law. But the newly passed law that...

A National First: California OKs Ride-Sharing

New regulations cement fast-growing services as legal

(Newser) - California has just become the first state to devise regulations for ride-sharing services, the fast-growing underground cab companies that have traditional taxis shaking in their boots. Services like Lyft, Sidecar, and Uber Technologies let you pay for a ride from people who use their own cars to drive you around....

Oakland Residents Turn to Private Security Guards

As crime spikes, neighborhoods chip in to hire extra enforcement

(Newser) - As crime continues to rise in Oakland, Calif., (robberies are up 54%, burglaries 40%, car theft 33%) entire neighborhoods are banding together to hire private security companies to supplement the city's overwhelmed police force, reports the San Francisco Chronicle . The owner of one security company says his officers now...

California to Pay Priciest Minimum Wage—in 2016

Would hit $10 then under new legislation, after bump to $9 in July 2014

(Newser) - California looks set to adopt the highest minimum wage in the country: $10 an hour. The state Legislature backed the move last night, voting 51-25 in favor of it after the state Senate had approved it 26-11. Gov. Jerry Brown says he'll sign the bill despite earlier concerns, Reuters...

59 Days Later, California Prisoners End Hunger Strike

40 had been striking since July 8

(Newser) - California inmates have ended a nearly two-month hunger strike to protest the prison system's isolation policies, prison officials said today. More than 30,000 inmates, who said gang leaders are often held for decades in isolation units, had been refusing meals when the strike began July 8. By this...

Biologists Try to Save Rare Trout ... by Poisoning a River

Controversial plan designed to flush out other species from creek

(Newser) - California fisheries officials pumped an 11-mile stream full of poison yesterday, killing all the fish in it—in what, believe it or not, is a conservation plan. State officials are trying to preserve the Paiute cutthroat trout, the rarest trout in the world, the LA Times explains. It's native...

County Votes to Secede From California

Siskiyou wants to become state of Jefferson

(Newser) - Not a big fan of Southern California? Neither is Northern California, apparently. Supervisors in rural Siskiyou County voted 4-1 Tuesday in favor of seceding from the state, reports the Times-Standard . The county thinks state officials in Sacramento are too focused on the big metro areas of the south and thus...

2 Steps Forward for Gay Marriage

A judge rules for gay couples in Ohio, and gay inmates can marry in Calif.

(Newser) - A federal judge in Ohio sided with a gay couple yesterday, ordering that David Michener be listed as the surviving spouse on the death certificate of William Herbert Ives—even though Ohio does not recognize gay marriage. The men, who have three children and had been together 18 years, wed...

California May Let Non-Physicians Perform Abortions

Bill on governor's desk makes them less restrictive

(Newser) - While states like Texas and North Carolina move to make abortion ever more restrictive, California seems to be headed in the opposite direction. State lawmakers recently passed a bill that would allow early abortions to be performed by non-physicians, like nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, and physicians' assistants, the LA Times...

Today Crucial in Yosemite Fire Battle

Rim fire still growing amid strong winds

(Newser) - The massive wildfire raging in and around Yosemite National Park is still growing, and forecasters warn that today will pose a huge challenge for firefighters. Progress has been made at the western edge of the fire, but it is still pushing to the north and east and strong winds spreading...

Calif. Wildfire Now Twice as Big as San Francisco

Rim Fire threatens Yosemite National Park

(Newser) - Tourists fled the area around Yosemite National Park yesterday, as a wildfire headed for the park quadrupled in size. The Rim Fire is now 63,000 acres, or about twice the size of San Francisco, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The main highway leading to the park was closed...

Judge: OK to Force-Feed Calif. Inmates

Backs officials' request as 129 remain on hunger strike

(Newser) - As a prison hunger strike continues in California, a federal judge has given officials the go-ahead to force-feed inmates. The procedure is allowed if a prison's medical chief finds that an inmate is "at risk of near-term death or great bodily injury" or can't make his or...

Hannah Anderson Surfaces Again

Calif. teen hits fundraiser, thanks supporters

(Newser) - Hannah Anderson again poked her head out in public yesterday, appearing at a car-wash fundraiser for her family. It's the second such event she's attended in a week , and meant to raise cash for funerals for her slain mother and brother, as well as counseling for the...

California the 1st to Give Transgender Kids Rights

Transgender students can now use bathroom of choice

(Newser) - California yesterday became the first state to enshrine certain rights in state law for transgender students in kindergarten through 12th-grade, requiring public schools to allow those students access to whichever restroom and locker room they want. Gov. Jerry Brown announced that he had signed AB1266, which also will allow transgender...

Mexican Drug Cartel, US Prison Gang Plotted Merger

La Familia, Mexican Mafia deal would have opened 'superhighway' for meth, guns

(Newser) - Authorities say they've thwarted a massive multinational business merger in Southern California—between Mexican drug cartel La Familia Michoacana and US prison gang Mexican Mafia. "This would have opened a superhighway for drugs and guns and given this cartel an exclusive franchise," says US attorney Andre Birotte...

Man's Leg Severed in Power Plant Implosion

One of 5 spectators injured in planned demolition

(Newser) - Five spectators were injured today after shrapnel was sent flying at the demolition of a decommissioned steam power plant in California's Central Valley, authorities said. More than 1,000 people had gathered at 6am in a nearby parking lot to watch the planned implosion at the plant owned by...

Fishermen Fight Enemy in Court—Sea Otters

They want otter-free zone off California coast

(Newser) - Southern California fishermen have gone to court to protect their catch from sea otters. The industry has filed a federal lawsuit demanding that the US Fish and Wildlife Service reinstate a no-otter zone off part of the coast, reports Courthouse News Service . It seems the sea otters love to hoover...

Celebs Back Calif. Prisoners' Hunger Strike

Jay Leno, Bonnie Raitt, others sign letter to governor

(Newser) - California prisoners have been hunger striking since July 8 to protest the state's use of solitary confinement, and now they have a cohort of celebrities and other big names on their side. In a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown sent yesterday, Gloria Steinem, Jesse Jackson, Bonnie Raitt, Jay Leno,...

Surf Fans Riot in California
 Surf Fans Riot in California 
Jul 29, 2013 5:12 PM CDT

Surf Fans Riot in California

7 arrested, one injured

(Newser) - An unruly crowd surged through downtown Huntington Beach in Southern California last night following the US Open of Surfing, brawling, looting a bicycle shop, clashing with police and trashing property before authorities broke up the melee and made arrests, authorities and witnesses say. Police say more than 100 officers from...

Plague-Infected Squirrel Closes Calif. Campgrounds

Experts fear spread via fleas

(Newser) - A plague threat has shut down campgrounds around Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reports. A ground squirrel in the area was found to have the plague, which can be transmitted to humans through fleas, a health official says. "It is important for the public to know that there...

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