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550-pound bear finally evicted from California home after bizarre strategy ends monthlong ordeal

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550-pound bear finally evicted from California home after bizarre strategy ends monthlong ordeal

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A 550-pound bear that had been living beneath a California man’s home for over a month has finally left after a bizarre strategy ended a long streak of failed removal attempts by state officials.

The male black bear was reportedly removed from the crawl space Tuesday after bear-removal experts from Tahoe traveled to the Altadena home. One team member crawled inside and fired paintballs filled with vegetable oil, wildlife organization BEAR League told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

According to surveillance video, the large bear has been wedging itself in and out of a small crawl space beneath Ken Johnson’s house since late November. Johnson said that the animal caused extensive damage to his home, costing tens of thousands of dollars. It also created a dangerous, unlivable situation involving structural and gas line issues. 

“Right after surviving the Eaton fire, I lost my job, and shortly after that the bear began tearing into the structure of my home,” Johnson said in a GoFundMe page. “I have video footage of it twisting gas pipes, which created an extremely dangerous situation and forced me to shut off my utilities just to stay safe.”

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BEAR REMAINS UNDER CALIFORNIA HOME AFTER WEEKS OF FAILED REMOVAL ATTEMPTS

A 550-pound bear finally scurries away after a wildlife expert crawls under the home to flush it out. (BEAR League)

The bear eviction finally took place after Johnson contacted BEAR League, an organization that specializes in bear removal emergencies in Lake Tahoe, located seven hours north of Altadena. 

BEAR League told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the organization was “pleased to have helped Ken Johnson with this bear.”

“A Southern California homeowner had a large male bear living under his house for more than a month before reaching out to the BEAR League for help,” the organization added in a post on Facebook on Thursday. 

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BEAR League told Fox News Digital that the league used paintballs filled with vegetable oil that hit the bear in the backside. The wildlife rescue group reportedly finished the job in less than 20 minutes.

WILD BEAR MAKES ‘VERY POLITE’ SURPRISE VISIT TO CALIFORNIA ZOO BEFORE RETURNING TO FOREST

Surveillance video has captured a large bear squeezing itself into a new home. (Ken Johnson via Storyful)

“After earlier removal attempts by state wildlife officials were unsuccessful, BEAR League first responders Scott and Dave traveled to the Los Angeles area to assist,” the organization added. “Scott, one of our most experienced responders, crawled beneath the home—fully aware the bear was still there—to get behind him and encourage him to exit through the crawl space opening.”

To prevent the bear from denning in the crawl space again, the organization said it “loaned electric unwelcome mats to give the homeowner time to make repairs and secure the crawl space to prevent another visit.”

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According to social media footage posted by the organization, the mat worked just as designed, and the bear scurried away when it returned.

BEAR League emphasized that residents should be cautious about having open crawl spaces, noting that properly securing them helps people coexist safely with wildlife.

“We remind those who live in bear country that a poorly-secured crawl space is an open invitation for a winter visitor like this bear,” the league said to Fox News Digital. “BEAR League responds multiple times per day at this time of year to evict bears from under homes in the Lake Tahoe region, and we’ve done so for 30 years without cost to the homeowner.  We work hard to educate people who share space with the bears that if humans take some very simple steps, they can live in harmony with the bears.”

Tuesday’s success ended a long streak of failed eviction attempts by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which had been trying to remove the bear for over a month. At one point, a trap even caught the wrong bear. Efforts that included bait, noisemakers and even a trap that caught the wrong bear all failed.

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San Francisco, CA

San Francisco hotels see steady World Cup business, but fall short of Super Bowl surge

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San Francisco hotels see steady World Cup business, but fall short of Super Bowl surge


Bay Area bars and restaurants are packed for World Cup watch parties this week, but San Francisco hotels are not seeing the same sell-out crowds experienced during the Super Bowl earlier this year.

While the Super Bowl brought a concentrated week of events that sent hotel prices soaring into the thousands, the World Cup spans more than a month. The extended timeline has resulted in a slower, steadier trickle of out-of-town soccer fans booking rooms.

The Bay Area has several exciting matches on the schedule at Levi’s Stadium, but none feature top-seeded teams or the mega-star power seen when “Messi mania” previously swept the region.

“We knew we weren’t going to get any of the first-place teams. We weren’t going to get Brazil, or Germany, or any of the teams carrying big fan bases — Messi, Ronaldo,” said Alex Bastian, CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco. “But that being said, this is still such a great thing, because people are coming here from around the world.”

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Bastian noted that the city’s hospitality industry is still in a strong position for the summer.

“We have a great convention calendar for the month of June, and because we were prepared, we’re doing much better compared to our colleagues across the country,” he said.

A significant surge in hotel bookings could still happen if Levi’s Stadium secures a match featuring Team USA. That possibility grew stronger following the U.S. team’s 2-0 win over Australia on Friday.

“I’m really excited about Team USA. I’m USA all the way,” Bastian added. “I’m hopeful that when that game is played here, the world will come check out San Francisco as well.”

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Denver, CO

Rockies ride Kyle Freeland’s gem, Braxton Fulford’s double to 4-3 win over Pirates

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Rockies ride Kyle Freeland’s gem, Braxton Fulford’s double to 4-3 win over Pirates


The night belonged to Kyle Freeland, who joined the 1,000 K Club. The moment belonged to Braxton Fulford. The ninth inning — and a big sigh of relief — belonged to closer Antonio Senzatela.

Fulford hit a two-run, two-out, pinch-hit double in the eighth inning off Mason Montgomery to lead the Rockies to a 4-3 win over the Pirates at Coors Field in front of a Friday night crowd of 33,596.

Fulford drove in Tyler Freeman and Cole Carrigg, who scratched out back-to-back two-out singles off Montgomery.

“I had been warming up in the cage for that at-bat for a couple of innings, so I felt pretty prepared,” Fulford said. “I got an advantage count (3-1) and I knew he was going to come with the heater and I was all over it.”

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Fulford caught Montgomery for three seasons at Texas Tech, so he knew the left-hander’s tendencies.

“It’s kind of unfortunate for pitchers that you catch, because you kind of get to see their stuff,” Fulford said. “You kind of understand more of who they are. So I do feel like I had the advantage there.”

In the ninth, the Pirates loaded the bases against Senzatela with no outs on a single by Marcell Ozuna and an error on a groundball by shortstop Ezequiel Tovar. But Senzatela struck out pinch-hitter Tyler Callihan and induced Jared Triolo to ground to Tovar, who started the game-ending double play.

“It was kind of a crazy ending to the game — bases loaded and no outs,” Freeland said. ” ‘Senza’ got a big punchout in that situation, picks up Tovar. Then Tovar gets another opportunity to turn a double play, and he gets it done.”

Before all of the late-game drama, Freeland pitched his best game of the season: 7 1/3 innings, two runs allowed on four hits, no walks, and eight strikeouts. It marked the fourth time in his career that he pitched 7 1/3 or more innings.

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“Tonight, I thought he was absolutely exceptional,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “I thought his body language was impressive. He attacked the strike zone — relentlessly. His heater had good ‘vert’ tonight. The breaker was good. It seemed like he was in control all night.”

“Gritty” is the word often used to describe Freeland. Dominant was a more apt description on Friday night. History-making works, too. Freeland’s eight Ks gave him 1,001 for his career, joining right-hander German Marquez (1,069) as the only two pitchers in franchise history to eclipse 1,000. Freeland struck out Marcell Ozuna in the seventh for No. 1,000, and then promptly fanned Brandon Lowe for 1,001.

The hard-core Rockies fans behind the dugout gave Freeland a standing ovation.

“I’m very grateful for the fans always supporting me, and for making it this long in my career to reach some of these milestones, especially with one ballclub,”  said Freeland, who struck out eight and walked none for the second time in his career. “I definitely hear those fans when I pop out of the dugout after every inning.”

The 33-year-old Denver native blanked the Pirates for the first seven innings, giving up just two hits. Pittsburgh finally got to Freeland in the eighth, putting up back-to-back doubles by Esmerlyn Valdez and Triolo to cut Colorado’s lead to 2-1. Up to that point, it looked as if Freeland had the juice to throw a complete game, especially since he threw just 81 pitches.

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Seattle, WA

Suarez’s no-hit try ends on Naylor double in seventh, but Boston still tops Seattle

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Suarez’s no-hit try ends on Naylor double in seventh, but Boston still tops Seattle


Ranger Suarez carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 6-2 on Friday night.

Suarez (3-3) struck out five and walked three in 6 2/3 innings. His no-hit bid ended with Josh Naylor’s one-out double in the seventh.

The 30-year-old lefty earned his first win since April 27 against Toronto.

Caleb Durbin put the Red Sox ahead with a second-inning solo homer, his fifth of the year. Durbin had his second three-hit game this season, with his first coming against Tampa Bay on June 10.

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Ceddanne Rafaela scored on a wild pitch in the seventh, and Marcelo Mayer drove in two more runs with a bases-loaded single.

Carlos Narváez added a sacrifice fly before Seattle finally escaped the inning on a diving catch by Dominic Canzone in right field.

Suarez issued a two-out walk that loaded the bases in the seventh on his final pitch of the night, but Justin Slaten ended the threat by striking out pinch-hitter J.P. Crawford to preserve a 5-0 lead.

Mayer added one more insurance run with a ninth-inning RBI double. The Mariners got on the board thanks to Julio Rodríguez’s two-run homer in the ninth.

Seattle starter Bryce Miller (3-1) struck out seven in five innings. He allowed three hits and one run.

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Luis Castillo, who has started in all but three of his 258 career appearances, gave up five runs in four innings of relief as the Mariners revived their “piggyback” rotation.

Up next

Red Sox LHP Connelly Early (5-5, 3.81 ERA) starts opposite Mariners RHP Emerson Hancock (5-3, 3.28) on Saturday night.



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