California

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Suspect Accused of Starting Massive California Fire

Sheriff believes FedEx driver Justin Halstenberg may be responsible for more wildfires

(Newser) - A California man has been arrested for allegedly starting a wildfire that has put more than 65,000 structures at risk. Riverside County resident Justin Wayne Halstenberg, 34, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of arson, KCAL reports. Investigators believe he started the Line Fire , which has burned more than 54...

Family Who Lost Older Kids to DUI Loses Toddler in Hot Car

California girl's mother has been charged with leaving her in vehicle, where she died

(Newser) - A 3-year-old southern California girl died in a hot car outside her family's Orange County apartment complex amid 104-degree temperatures Friday, and her mother is charged in the toddler's death. Making the tragedy even more unimaginable: The girl's brothers were killed at ages 5 and 9 in...

Woman Found 'Emaciated,' After 12 Days in Wilderness

24-year-old went missing after telling fellow campers she wanted to go home

(Newser) - Esmeralda Marie Pineda was camping with three friends in the Northern California wilderness on Aug. 25 when she told them she wanted to go home to Sacramento. She was gone when they woke up the next morning, NBC News reports. "So, her friends went searching for her during that...

Half a House on Sale for Half a Million

Southern California property has an 'open-concept floor plan' after being crushed by tree

(Newser) - Newly listed for sale in Southern California's notoriously pricey realty market: half a house for half a million dollars. The one-bedroom, one-bathroom bungalow in suburban Monrovia, northeast of Los Angeles, was crushed by a tree in May with two renters and two dogs inside. There were no injuries, but...

Neighbor Charged With Killing Couple He Allegedly 'Hated'

Police believe remains found under Michael Sparks' home are of Daniel and Stephanie Menard

(Newser) - Murder charges have been laid against Michael Sparks, a neighbor of Daniel and Stephanie Menard, who were reported missing from their California nudist community last month. Police believe human remains found beneath Sparks' mobile home on Friday are the Menards. "We know they're dead," San Bernardino County...

He Blew Bubbles in Park, Was Cited for Littering

San Diego's Sandy Snakenberg, aka the 'Bubble Pirate,' plans to fight the citation in court

(Newser) - Sandy Snakenberg considers himself a pirate, but not the kind who robs people of their gold. He's the "Bubble Pirate," a performance artist who blows bubbles large enough to surround a person—which, according to the Washington Post , is apparently a crime in San Diego. Snakenberg was...

Lawmakers Back Moves to Atone for Racism

California bills call for issuing an apology and returning seized property, but there's no funding yet

(Newser) - California lawmakers last week passed some of the nation's most sweeping legislation aimed at atoning for a legacy of racist policies that drove disparities for Black people, in areas including housing, education, and health. None of the bills would provide widespread direct payments to African Americans, the AP reports....

California Legislation on Food Dyes Is a First

Measure passes to prohibit certain chemicals in food and drink served in public and charter schools

(Newser) - California has become the first state in the country to pass legislation prohibiting the use of certain chemicals in food and beverages served at public and charter K-12 schools because of concern the color additives impair learning. The bill, which has gone to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature, covers...

Cops: Pair Who Vanished From Nudist Park Likely Dead

California cops say neighbor Michael Sparks, 62, is now a murder suspect in the case

(Newser) - Police say they're now sure that an elderly couple who vanished from their California nudist community are dead, and a neighbor is in custody. ABC News reports 62-year-old Michael Sparks was arrested on murder charges Thursday, after a search using remote video gear found him hiding under his home...

Crime Victim Sets a Trap With an AirTag
To Catch a Thief, Woman
Mails Herself an AirTag
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

To Catch a Thief, Woman Mails Herself an AirTag

Packages were being stolen from her post office box

(Newser) - A Southern California woman fed up with her packages being stolen out of her post office box sent an Apple AirTag to the address and cleverly tracked down the suspected thief, police said. The woman had had several items stolen from her mailbox at the Los Alamos Post Office, the...

California Beach Town&#39;s Vexing Problem: Sewage
California Beach Town's
Vexing Problem: Sewage
longform

California Beach Town's Vexing Problem: Sewage

New Republic looks at the cross-border pollution affecting Imperial Beach

(Newser) - The "town awash in poop" is not a sought-after tourism slogan, but it's how the New Republic describes the California surf town of Imperial Beach near San Diego. The problem for residents is that the description is an apt one. The poop in question comes from across the...

A Single Moment in 2010 Debate May Have Saved Kamala Harris
14 Years Ago,
a Debate Answer
May Have Saved
Kamala Harris
in case you missed it

14 Years Ago, a Debate Answer May Have Saved Kamala Harris

Rival's answer in California attorney general's race turned into an effective ad in a tight campaign

(Newser) - As the Democratic convention opens on Monday, the New York Times looks back at a 47-second moment from back in 2010 that played a crucial role in Kamala Harris' political rise. It came during a debate between Harris and Steve Cooley in the race for California attorney general. Cooley, then...

Historic Ballpark Featured in Films Burns

Littleton hosted games and movies for more than 80 years

(Newser) - A Southern California baseball field dating to the 1930s, which appeared in films including A League of Their Own and was the setting for a famous baseball movie line, has burned down. The fire at Jay Littleton Ball Park in Ontario began about 11:30pm Thursday, KABC reports. Firefighters arrived...

Great White's Jack Russell Dies, a Month After Retiring

Singer, 63, who survived fatal '03 club fire, suffered from lewy body dementia, multiple system atrophy

(Newser) - He survived a massive blaze in 2003 while performing in a Rhode Island nightclub, in a tragedy that took the lives of 100 and injured hundreds more. Now, more than two decades later, Jack Russell, the frontman for the '80s group Great White, has died at 63, reports the...

'Doomsday' Fish Turned Up Before Quake

Oarfish lives up to its nickname with rare find in California

(Newser) - A rarely seen deep-sea creature known as the oarfish seems to have lived up to its nickname as the "doomsday fish" in California. A group of kayakers and snorkelers came across a dead oarfish floating in La Jolla Cove in Southern California on Saturday, reports Fox5 San Diego . Two...

On Death Row, Serial Killer Admits New Murder

William Suff confesses to 1986 murder of Cathy Small and 'other killings' in California

(Newser) - For nearly 40 years, the murder of 19-year-old Cathy Small, last seen leaving her California home in 1986, went unsolved. Only recently, family learned she was killed by a prolific serial killer. William "Bill" Suff, who's on death row in California for killing a dozen people in Riverside...

Fault Likely Behind Monday's Quake Has Terrifying Potential

Puente Hills thrust fault system could cause up to 18K deaths if 7.5 magnitude quake hits in LA

(Newser) - The San Andreas Fault is probably the best known fault in California, but scientists say a different fault system was likely behind Monday's 4.4 magnitude quake in the Los Angeles area. Although seismologists note that multiple faults run through and near the City of Angels—including the Elysian...

NPS: Tourists Went on Paintball Spree at Joshua Tree

German trio is accused of shooting up the national park with yellow paintballs

(Newser) - Three German tourists are personae non gratae at Joshua Tree National Park after the National Park Service says they were caught red-handed (or, in this case, yellow-handed) following a paintball vandalism spree. Citing a release , KTLA reports that a ranger making the rounds in the Southern California park on Aug....

Nearly 50 Years Later, Man Charged in Deaths of 3 Women

Authorities say Mississippi's Warren Alexander strangled victims in 1977 in Southern California

(Newser) - A 73-year-old man has been charged in the strangulation deaths of three Southern California women in 1977 after cold case detectives obtained a DNA match, authorities said Thursday, adding they believe there could be more victims. Warren Luther Alexander of Diamondhead, Mississippi, made his first court appearance Thursday, but arraignment...

Rash of Burglaries Rattles Ritzy Encino

Residents of the neighborhood near Beverly Hills worried about surge of break-ins

(Newser) - After a surge in burglaries in the upscale neighborhood of Encino, California, the Los Angeles Times reports that "palpable tension" exists among residents. KTLA reports that at least 10 burglaries have been reported to police over the last month, with no suspects in custody. "In all my years...

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