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Atmospheric river will bring heavy rain, snow to California-Oregon area this week

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Atmospheric river will bring heavy rain, snow to California-Oregon area this week


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The California-Oregon region is bracing for the first major storm of the season, an atmospheric river that potentially could dump nearly 10 inches of rain on the greater Redding area by the weekend.

And while the calendar still says fall, the storm kicks off with wintry conditions driven by low snow levels.

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“It’s definitely our first significant storm. I would say depending on how you want to define winter, I suppose you could call it the first winter storm,” Sara Purdue, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said on Monday.

When does the storm hit Oregon-Northern California?

Much of the rain and snow that will fall on the area will happen Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

The Northern Sacramento Valley, including Redding, is expected to get 6 to 8 inches of rain Tuesday through Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

The heavy rain has prompted the Weather Service to issue a flood watch for the Northern Sacramento Valley from Tuesday evening through Saturday morning.

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There is a winter storm warning for the mountains and foothills of Shasta County that is in effect through Wednesday night. The National Weather Service forecasts 8 to 18 inches of snow above 4,500 feet and 4 to 8 inches above 3,000 feet.

Snow is not expected to fall as low as the valley floor.

For Siskiyou County and the Mount Shasta-Shasta Valley area, there is the potential for 8 to 12 inches of snow Tuesday and Wednesday, said Alexis Hermansen, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

Snowfall accumulations will be higher in the mountains surrounding the city of Mount Shasta.

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“We could see a foot and a half to over 2 feet,” Hermansen said.

Winds also will be a concern in the Shasta Valley north of Mount Shasta, with gusts possibly up to 70 mph Tuesday night through Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service said.

Snow levels will increase to over 6,000 feet into Thursday and Friday.

Drivers on I-5 be prepared; carry snow chains

Mountain travel Tuesday and Wednesday will be especially challenging with the lower snow levels.

Chris Woodward, spokesman for the California Department of Transportation, said chain controls are expected to be in place at the higher elevations of Interstate 5 north of Redding.

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“The most important thing motorists need to know is to be prepared, have those chains when you need to have them,” Woodward said.

Caltrans recommends drivers check their brakes, battery, windshield wipers, defroster, heater, headlights and exhaust system before traveling in the mountains.

In addition to packing chains, Woodward said drivers should have an ice scraper and shovel, flashlight, warm blankets, water, non-perishable food items and a cell phone.

Motorists can check road conditions on the Caltrans’ QuickMap site at https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov.

There is also a chance Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol will screen motorists for chains 10 miles north of Redding on I-5 at the Fawndale exit, Woodward said.

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Screening vehicles allows authorities to meter traffic traveling through the Sacramento River Canyon, which can get treacherous and often is closed temporarily due to big-rig trucks and other vehicles spinning out on I-5 during heavy snowstorms.

“When we need to close the interstate, that screening acts like a kink in the hose, slowing that interstate traffic down and moderating the traffic,” Woodward said.

Thanksgiving travel outlook

This week’s storm is expected to linger through the weekend.

Purdue of the National Weather Service in Sacramento said Monday that it’s still early to get an accurate forecast for the busy Thanksgiving week.

“Potentially, there will be a damp start — I won’t say wet start — but damp start to the beginning of next week,” she said.

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AAA projects 80 million travelers will head 50 miles or more from their homes next week.

The extended holiday forecast, which includes the Tuesday (Nov. 26) before Thanksgiving and Monday (Dec. 2) afterwards, is expected to exceed pre-pandemic Thanksgiving travel levels and set a record, AAA said.

David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly “Buzz on the Street” column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.





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Man charged with murder, kidnapping their 5-year-old child before fleeing to Mexico

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Man charged with murder, kidnapping their 5-year-old child before fleeing to Mexico


A 40-year-old Los Angeles man was charged with murder after allegedly killing his girlfriend and kidnapping their young child before fleeing to Mexico, according to authorities.

Ruben Fregosojuarez has been charged one count of murder and one misdemeanor count of child abuse under circumstance or conditions other than great bodily injury or death, according to a Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office news release. Authorities first identified him as Ruben Fregoso but Los Angeles County prosecutors listed him as Ruben Fregosojuarez.

On Monday around 12:39 p.m., the Los Angeles Police Department conducted a welfare check in the 2600 block of South Alsace Avenue in West Adams, police said in a news release.

Officers found a woman dead inside the home “as a result of violence” and the woman’s daughter missing, police said. On Monday night, the California Highway Patrol issued an Amber Alert for the child, Daleza.

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Photos obtained by NBC4 appear to show Fregosojuarez in a parking garage in San Ysidro with the girl on Sunday. The California Highway Patrol has listed her age as 4 years old but Los Angeles police say the girl is 5. She is also described as the suspect’s daughter.

The alert said that the girl was last seen with Fregosojuarez, who allegedly abducted her in a 2019 Land Rover Discovery, on Sunday at about 4 a.m.

The CHP posted in an update that the vehicle was found but that the child and man were still missing. The girl is described as 3 feet tall, 45 pounds, and having black hair and brown eyes.



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23andMe Sued by California Over Massive 2023 Data Breach

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23andMe Sued by California Over Massive 2023 Data Breach


California’s attorney general is suing the consumer genetics testing company formerly known as 23andMe, alleging the company failed to protect customers’ sensitive personal information in a massive 2023 data breach that exposed the ancestry and genetic data of nearly 7 million people.

Attorney General Rob Bonta filed the lawsuit on Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court against Chrome Holding Co., formerly known as 23andMe, accusing the company of failing to properly investigate or respond to numerous warnings that its systems had been compromised. The company’s mail-in self-testing kits became synonymous with DNA testing before it filed for bankruptcy in 2025.

In 2023, cybercriminals breached 23andMe’s systems by using a “credential-stuffing attack,” which involves bombarding online accounts with huge sets of user names and passwords stolen in previous unrelated attacks. Over a period of months, the intruders were able to make off with the personal data of more than 6.9 million people.

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“23andMe’s security measures were so lax that the threat actor was able to operate undetected within 23andMe’s systems for over five months, and remarkably, 23andMe only began investigating after the threat actor offered the stolen user data for sale on the dark web and reached out to 23andMe to demand a ransom,” Bonta’s office said in the complaint. 

The San Francisco-based company, which allowed people to submit genetic materials and get a snapshot of their ancestry, revealed in October 2023 that hackers had accessed customer information in the prolonged data breach that targeted customers with Chinese or Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. The stolen data of more than 1 million Asian-Pacific Islander and Ashkenazi Jewish users was later posted for sale on the dark web. 

“The sale of this data on the dark web took place amidst a period of mounting anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander and antisemitic hate and violence,” Bonta said in a press release. “This is disturbing and incredibly dangerous.”

 A January 2024 lawsuit accused the company of not doing enough to protect its customers and not notifying certain customers that their data had been targeted specifically. It later settled the lawsuit for $30 million.

23andMe representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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At its peak, 23andMe became the best-known name in the emerging area of DNA self-testing, with users paying upwards of $99 for kits that gave them insights into their genetic makeup, potential relatives and ancestry. But the company’s momentum slowed down in recent years after its $3.5 billion public offering in 2021.

Last July, TTAM Research Institute, a nonprofit led by Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe’s cofounder and former CEO, acquired 23andMe’s assets for $305 million.    





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Newsom signs law to shield California elections from federal interference

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Newsom signs law to shield California elections from federal interference


Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, signed legislation Wednesday that aims to shield California elections from federal interference, saying he expected Donald Trump’s administration to try to meddle in the midterms this year.

The law, which took effect immediately and came days before next Tuesday’s primary, prohibits any person – including federal agents – from accessing voter rolls or election technology without a court order. Law enforcement officers are restricted from disrupting election workers, except in public safety emergencies.

Trump administration officials so far have said they have no plans to send immigration agents to polling locations across the US, a concern raised this year by several Democratic secretaries of state. But Newsom warned “we have to be prepared for everything” because “there’s no rules any more with the Trump administration”.

Voting is already under way in California’s closely watched primary for governor, where a crowded field of Democrats and two viable Republicans are vying for just two spots on the November ballot. Under the state’s open primary system, only the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.

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Newsom, who cannot seek a third term, said the election law is a response to “legitimate anxiety” about Trump’s tactics, primarily in Democratic-led states, where the president has deployed federal agents over the objections of local leaders. The Democratic governor warned against underestimating someone who “doesn’t believe in free and fair elections”.

“I expect the worst with Trump because he’s done the worst,” he said at a news conference.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told the Associated Press later Wednesday that Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections.

“Instead of levying false attacks at the President, Newscum should look in the mirror,” she said in a statement, using Trump’s derogatory nickname for Newsom.

In an interview last year with Vanity Fair, Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, knocked down the idea that Trump would deploy the military to suppress voting, saying it was “categorically false”.

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The California law also makes it a crime to knowingly take voted ballots out of the custody of election officials.

Earlier this year, the FBI under Trump seized the 2020 general election ballots from Georgia’s most populous county, which is heavily Democratic and has long been at the center of the president’s false claims that fraud cost him the race. The FBI and justice department also have sought records from previous elections in the largest counties in Arizona and Michigan.

Trump triggered a national redistricting frenzy ahead of the midterms when he urged Republicans in Texas and elsewhere to redraw their US House districts to help the party retain control of the closely divided chamber. Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Tennessee also have enacted new maps that could benefit Republicans, and Louisiana is expected to be next.

Republicans so far think they could gain as many as 14 seats from redistricting in November, while Democrats think they could gain six in California and Utah.



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