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Crime and fentanyl hit California’s king of burgers

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Crime and fentanyl hit California’s king of burgers


Californians are pretty particular when it comes to their burgers. Whether it is based on the market, internet or random street surveys, the answer from the majority is overwhelming: In-N-Out is their favorite burger joint. A far cry from the household names and numbers of global companies like McDonald’s, Five Guys or Burger King, this chain operates only 400 restaurants in eight of the country’s 50 states, mostly in the West, and only serves a dozen or so regular products. In its 75 years of existence, its success has been slow but steady and, without leaving family hands, it has never closed any restaurants (with one curious exception: the first, the original one, was demolished for the construction of a highway, but was relocated very close by). However, now neither its burgers and shakes nor the handsome profits they generate have managed to stall the closure of one of its establishments for the first time. Crime in Northern California’s Bay Area has forced Oakland’s only restaurant to call it a day.

In-N-Out is so popular in California (also in Texas, Arizona, Nevada and it soon will be in New Mexico and Tennessee) that reports of this first shutdown have made headlines in the local news. Rumors surfaced in late January, but were not confirmed until late March, when their Oakland location bid farewell on the 25th at 1 a.m., after a non-stop day of serving their famous double burgers and Animal Fries, French fries with fried onions, melted cheese and their secret and delicious Animal Sauce. By March 31, the famous yellow sign and decorative elements were gone. Only a white building remained.

The famous hamburger restaurant has been forced to close following a surge in robberies, especially violent ones. Despite its tremendous success, it has not been able to endure the rampant crime in the area. With more than 27,000 employees nationwide — it is believed to be one of the best companies to work for — and around 20% margin on its products (at highly affordable prices, especially as California is one of the most expensive places on the planet), the company had an estimated revenue of $575 million last year. Its stores are not franchised: since being founded by Harry and Esther Snyder in 1948, they have been owned by the Snyder family, whose sole heiress, granddaughter Lynsi Snyder, has amassed a fortune of nearly $7 billion, according to Forbes. The increase in the minimum wage in the restaurant industry in California, which was raised to $20 an hour on April 1, has also not affected the chain’s revenues for the time being.

The Oakland establishment, near San Francisco, was still making a profit and was therefore the first to close (in these 75 years many of them have been relocated, but have never closed). “We feel the frequency and severity of the crimes being encountered by our customers and associates leave us no alternative,” regretted the chain’s chief operating officer, Denny Warnick, in a statement published by Associated Press. “Despite taking repeated steps to create safer conditions, our customers and associates are regularly victimized by car break-ins, property damage, theft, and armed robberies,” bemoaned Warnick, who said they could no longer ask anyone to come to the establishment, not even “to visit or work in an unsafe environment.” Employees have been relocated to nearby establishments or, for those who preferred, have had the opportunity to depart with a severance payment.

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Despite the fact that the U.S. has seen violent crime rates falling for more than two years (down more than 8.3% in 2023, according to CNN data, which cites the FBI), Oakland has experienced an uptick in violent crime, up as much as 21% last year over 2022. In addition, fentanyl is on the loose in the area. The terrible opiate, 50 times more powerful than heroin, whose use has now been declared an epidemic, is rampant in the city. The drug is fast acting and cheap, and it is estimated that one person in the country dies every five minutes from its use. It has already killed more Americans than the Vietnam War and Afghanistan combined. In Oakland, news of seizures and overdoses is continuous, and muggings and robberies have been linked to the drug.

This has prompted businesses such as Starbucks and the supermarket Target to close in the area; another fast-food chain, Denny’s, has announced that it will be the next to leave. The mayor of Oakland, Sheng Thao, said on local television that they have placed more police on patrol, but they understand that more needs to be done. In addition to being the only one in the city, this shut-down In-N-Out site was very close to Oakland Airport, a key Bay Area hub, as it is just 20 minutes from downtown San Francisco and has a throughput of about 11 million passengers annually. When landing, visitors will no longer be grabbing burgers on their way in.

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Northern California’s House of Clocks has stood the test of time for 55 years

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Northern California’s House of Clocks has stood the test of time for 55 years


While we may lose an hour of sleep this coming weekend, one clock store in California is gearing up for one of its busiest times of the year: daylight savings.

It’s the House of Clocks, the largest clock company in Northern California, which was recently celebrating 55 years of business.

It’s a place frozen in time. Just visit the store’s 240-year-old grandfather clock. It’s got plenty of stories to tell, dating back to 1780.

“This is the oldest piece we have right now,” clocksmith Joey Hohn said.

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The House of Clocks is on the outskirts of Downtown Lodi in San Joaquin County.

“We have new, we have vintage, we have antique,” co-owner Sandy Hohn shared. “Honestly, it feels like not a day goes by that we don’t get a phone call or an email of somebody wanting to sell something for 100 different reasons.”

The clock store has been with the Hohn family for three generations. It’s all thanks to one family heirloom.

“When the first war started, [my grandparents] left everything and had to move,” Joey Hohn explained. “After the Second World War, my grandpa was stationed in Germany. They went back to the house that had been abandoned and the neighbor who they left the property to said, ‘As far as I’m concerned, everything in the house is still yours.’ They went back and got this, so this is my great-great-grandparents’ clock.”

You can find just about anything in the House of Clocks, from old grandfather clocks to clocks that can fit in the palm of your hand.

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What you can’t find anywhere else is the Hohns’ love for Lodi.

“We’ve made so many friends over the years out of customers,” Sandy Hohn said. “Friends that are just wonderful, that love collecting, and we keep them repaired for their families, which is awesome. They have sentimental value that’s passed down.”

That same love for the city and their community runs in the family.

“We had a customer that wanted to repaint their dial,” Joey Hohn explained. “We told them no because it was her father’s who had passed away. Every time he went to wind the clock, he placed his thumb in the same spot. When we told her that smudge there on the dial was her father, she said, ‘Back away, don’t you dare.’ It was just a good memory we have.”

While you can’t turn back time, what we can do is keep memories alive and treasure the present moment.

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“There’s so many personalities,” Sandy Hohn said. “We just try to find a good home for them.”



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Signs of spring blooming at Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve after wet, warm winter

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Signs of spring blooming at Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve after wet, warm winter


It’s beginning to look a lot like spring!

The warm and wet weather this winter has led to the start of a dazzling super bloom at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve.

“We had an unseasonably warm winter as well, so there’s actually a lot of growth,” said Callista Turney with California State Parks. “We’re having early wildflowers that are already at the park. So if you look at the poppy live cam, it shows a lot of orange already.”

The rain has helped the early blooms, but it’s actually the heat that accelerated the growth of the flowers.

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“It will actually speed up the growth of the plants, so some of them were already blooming and that’s going to cause those blossoms to accelerate faster towards seed production. And the blossoms that are in the process of being formed, those are going to open up soon as well.”

We also sometimes see great super blooms in Death Valley National Park, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Joshua Tree and the Mojave National Preserve.

“It’s definitely a rare occurrence because we don’t always have the right conditions. It’s gotta be the weather, the wind, the rain, all coming together,” said Katie Tilford, Director of Development and Communications with the Theodore Payne Foundation.

If it continues to stay unseasonably warm, we’ll see a shorter bloom. The key to a longer season is milder weather.


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Republican governor candidate Chad Bianco says he’s the ‘antithesis to California state government’

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Republican governor candidate Chad Bianco says he’s the ‘antithesis to California state government’


We are counting down to the California governor’s race. Chad Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County, is one of the two biggest names running on the Republican ticket.

In a one-on-one interview with Eyewitness News political reporter Josh Haskell, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said, “I am the antithesis to California state government because I am going to take a nuclear bomb into that building and absolutely destroy everything that they do to us behind closed doors.”

Although he’s been elected by the voters twice, Bianco says he’s not a politician — which is why he believes his campaign for California governor is resonating, as reflected in the polls.

“President Trump, in one year, from 2025 when he took over, until now, did absolutely nothing to harm California. What’s harming California is 30 years of Democrat one-party rule that have created an environment here that no one can live in anymore. They’ve only been successful here in California because we vote D no matter what. You vote D or die. I mean, that’s it. Charles Manson would be elected in California if he was the only Democrat on the ballot,” Bianco said.

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Bianco isn’t the only conservative Republican running for governor, and according to polling, he’s neck-and-neck with former Fox News host Steve Hilton.

SEE ALSO: CA governor candidate Steve Hilton says ‘everybody supports’ Trump’s immigration policies

Leading in some polls in the wide-open California Governor’s race as the June primary creeps closer is Republican and former Fox News host Steve Hilton.

“Steve has no chance of winning in November. The Democrats know that I’m going to win in November, and so they have to do everything they can to keep me out of that,” Bianco said.

When asked about the affordability crisis in the state, Bianco said, “Almost the entire issue of affordability in California is because of regulation, excessive regulation imposed by government. Every single regulation can be signed away with the governor’s signature.”

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“It is a drug and alcohol addiction problem that, and a mental health problem,” he said about the homelessness crisis. “Every single bit of money that is going to these nonprofits that say ‘homeless,’ zero money. You’re getting absolutely nothing. I can’t tell you that we would end what we see in the homeless situation within a year, but I guarantee you we would never see it again after two years.”

When challenged on that prediction, pointing to how the state doesn’t have the facilities to treat the number of people living on our streets, Bianco responded, “We have been conditioned to believe that buildings take five years to build. It takes 90 days or less to build a house, but in California, it takes three to five years because the government won’t allow it. The regulations that are destroying this state are going to be removed with me as the governor.”

Bianco also said California jails shouldn’t have to play the role of treatment facilities.

Although he says he supports the Trump administration and wants the president’s endorsement, Bianco has been traveling the state — meeting not just with Republicans, but Democrats and independents as well. He says all of our state government officials have failed.

The primary election is June 2.

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No clear front-runner in race for California governor, new poll shows

A new poll shows there’s still no clear front-runner in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom.

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