California
‘Demonic’ sea lions that attacked people off California coast were sickened by toxic substance: scientists
They were flippin’ poisoned!
The horde of “demonic” sea lions that attacked people off the California coast in recent weeks lashed out because they were sickened by mind-warping toxic algae, scientists have discovered.
The normally adorable ocean critters — who mauled a surfer and bit a swimmer — were reduced to a zombie-like state due to a neurological flare-up that caused confusion, seizures and panic, marine experts said.
“These animals are reacting to the fact that they are sick,” John Warner, CEO Marine Mammal Care Center in Los Angeles, told BBC News.
“They’re disoriented, and most likely, most of them are having seizures, and so their senses are not all fully functional as they normally would and they’re acting out of fear.”
The center tested hundreds of sea lions and found they suffered from the so-called “domoic acid toxicosis” from gobbling down fish exposed to the toxic bloom near the southern California shoreline.
At least 195 sea lions with the illness have been admitted to the center since late March, said Warner, who said they can recover with anti-seizure medications and sedation.
But the brain-bending condition often makes sea lions flip out with rage — like in the case of Rj LaMendola, who was dragged from his surfboard by a sea lion on March 21.
“It looked possessed,” LaMendola, 40, wrote later in Facebook post. “This creature looked like nothing I’d ever seen—its expression was feral, almost demonic, devoid of the curiosity or playfulness.”
He escaped from the blubber-bellied beast with a bloody gash on his left butt cheek and was rushed to a hospital.
“It felt like I was being hunted,” he said.“Today, I endured the most harrowing and traumatic experience of my 20 years of surfing.”
Nine days later, Phoebe Beltran, 15, was doing swim test in Long Beach to become a lifeguard when a sea lion repeatedly sunk its teeth into her right arm.
“I was just so scared, so shocked, but I still felt the immense pain on my arms, like, over and over again,” the teen told ABC 7.
She was hospitalized but didn’t require advanced treatment after the unprovoked attack.
Others have reported bizarre behavior and aggressive sea lions as experts said attacks by the animals are “on the rise.”
The toxic algae bloom sprouted earlier than normal this year and has spread for roughly 370 miles along Southern California coastline.
Exposed sea lions often become lethargic or in a comatose state then turn aggressive as they recover from the poisoning, Warner said.
“Their behavior changes from what we’re used to, to something more unpredictable,” Warner said.
“If they’re still aggressive or not foraging properly, it tells us their brains aren’t functioning the way they should,” he said.
Redwood Valley, Calif. — A 5.6 magnitude earthquake shook Northern California on Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake was centered 7 miles north of Redwood Valley in Mendocino County, north of Ukiah, and east of Highway 101. It had a depth of 5.0 miles.
A ShakeAlert notification went off on many people’s phones moments before the earthquake hit at 8:10 a.m., initially forecasted as a 6.1 magnitude quake by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and downgraded moments later.
People across Northern California felt the quake. Reports came in from as far away as Eureka, Redding, Sacramento, and the Bay Area. Most people reported light to moderate rolling and shaking.
Since the initial quake, several aftershocks have hit the same area. Three smaller quakes between 2.6-2.7 magnitude were detected in the same area between 8:17 a.m. and 9:06 a.m., and are expected to continue.
So far, there have not been any reports of major damage or injuries.
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California
DOJ charges 10 Southern California defendants in largest federal healthcare fraud crackdown in US history
Laura Ingraham: Fraudsters beware!
The Department of Justice announces the largest healthcare fraud takedown in U.S. history, charging 455 defendants across 45 states. They allegedly stole $6.5 billion from Medicare and Medicaid through wound care schemes and other fraudulent claims. Some funds were used for luxury homes and vehicles like a $135,000 Maserati.
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Federal authorities on Tuesday charged 10 Southern California defendants in a series of healthcare fraud schemes, including one case involving nearly $270 million in fraudulent Medi-Cal claims and another that allegedly defrauded Medicare out of approximately $27 million.
The charges were part of the Justice Department’s broader “2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown,” which resulted in charges against 455 defendants nationwide in schemes involving more than $6.5 billion in alleged fraud.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche described the operation as “the greatest combined federal and state effort in combating healthcare fraud in history.”
“Fraudsters can no longer rip off American taxpayers,” Blanche said during a news conference announcing the initiative. “If you seek to harm or cheat Americans, we will find you, seize any assets and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
FBI ADDS 2 FUGITIVES TO ‘MOST WANTED FRAUDSTERS’ LIST AMID HISTORIC $6.5B HEALTHCARE TAKEDOWN: PATEL
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during a news conference announcing what federal officials described as the largest healthcare fraud takedown in U.S. history, resulting in charges against 455 defendants nationwide. (Ken Cedeno / AFP via Getty Images)
In the Central District of California, federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against 10 defendants accused of defrauding government-funded healthcare programs or abusing their positions as medical professionals to illegally prescribe controlled substances.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said five individuals were arrested in the greater Los Angeles area for allegedly participating in a scheme that involved submitting nearly $270 million in fraudulent claims to Medi-Cal for expensive prescription drugs.
Among those charged was Christina Mareik, 61, also known as Christina Marie Sanchez Hernandez, of Whittier.
HOSPICE FRAUD USES STOLEN IDENTITIES FOR FAKE PATIENTS
The Justice Department announced charges against 10 Southern California defendants in connection with multiple healthcare fraud schemes. (Department of Justice)
Prosecutors allege Mareik helped facilitate fraudulent prescriptions that generated nearly $270 million in claims to Medi-Cal, which ultimately paid out more than $178 million.
According to prosecutors, the claims involved expensive drugs containing low-cost generic ingredients that were either not medically necessary or were never provided to the purported recipients.
Authorities said Mareik also sent thousands of fraudulent prescriptions to a co-conspirator and caused the submission of fraudulent prescriptions under her own name.
LOS ANGELES HOSPICE FRAUD REACHES BILLIONS AS MEDICARE PROVIDERS SCAM FEDERAL SYSTEM WITH FAKE COMPANIES
Federal prosecutors allege Southern California defendants participated in schemes that defrauded Medicare and Medi-Cal of hundreds of millions of dollars. (Department of Justice)
Mareik was arrested June 17 and charged with healthcare fraud.
The charges also include a San Fernando Valley man accused of operating hospice care companies that fraudulently billed Medicare approximately $27 million, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors also charged Oren David Shachar, 59, of Van Nuys; Abraham Shin, 66, of Corona; and Jeannie Choi, 57, of Torrance.
The three defendants face a 16-count indictment alleging they conspired to defraud Medicare out of approximately $27 million.
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The charges include conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, healthcare fraud, aggravated identity theft, monetary transactions involving criminally derived property exceeding $10,000, and violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute.
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
The IPOs of SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic could deliver billions of dollars to California’s coffers.
We’ve seen this movie before.
In 2022, California recorded a nearly $100 billion surplus, saved just $10 billion in its rainy day fund and then spent the rest. Two years later, a $56 billion deficit loomed.
Now, with the state facing ongoing operating deficits of more than $10 billion, we’re back in familiar territory.
The coming IPO windfall is a rare second chance. But we’ll only benefit from it if we first fix the structural flaw that’s caused us to squander every previous boom — a budget reserve that isn’t built to hold what we put in it.
The stakes this time are higher than ever. The war in Iran raised recession risk, and the federal government is systematically dismantling the funding streams California has depended on for decades.
When Washington retreats, Sacramento has to choose: cut services, raise taxes or have enough saved to bridge the gap. Right now, we don’t have enough saved.
We’re not outside observers wringing our hands. We helped shape the fiscal architecture the state is now straining against, and we’re here to say: It needs to be rebuilt.
As California state controller, one of us campaigned alongside Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to pass Proposition 58 in 2004 — creating California’s first Budget Stabilization Account. The other authored the Assembly Constitutional Amendment that became Proposition 2 in 2014 — the stronger, harder-to-raid replacement that voters approved with 69% support.
California’s tax system is the envy of progressive states and the nightmare of budget directors. We tax the wealthy at high rates, capture enormous capital gains revenue in boom years and then discover — every single time — that the peak doesn’t last.
If California treats the IPO windfall from SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI as permanent revenue, our state would repeat exactly the mistake we made four years ago.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assemblymember Avelino Valencia have each proposed important reforms to strengthen the fund. First, they call for requiring the state to make deposits until the fund reaches 20% of the general fund total, rather than the current 10%. Second, they propose changing an arcane accounting rule that treats saving for future downturns as spending.
We see one additional opportunity to make the rainy day fund even stronger.
If we want a larger budget reserve, we have to do more than merely allow it — we need to require it. Proposition 58 taught us everything we need to know on this front: Between 2004 and 2014, with that proposition fund in place, only two deposits were made. If we want consistent deposits during the boom times, they can’t be optional.
These reforms should be a win-win for the California Legislature. A larger reserve is the most durable protection that public sector workers, social service recipients and education advocates have against the kind of emergency cuts that have repeatedly gutted programs during downturns.
It’s also the strongest argument against tax increases in a recession because you don’t need to raise taxes if you actually save during the booms.
Building a stronger rainy day fund isn’t the cautious choice. It’s the visionary one — the closest thing we have to investing in the next generation of Californians.
We built the last rainy day fund because we’d lived through the consequences of not having one. We’re making the same argument again, for the same reason except now the stakes are higher. This time, the federal backstop is weaker, and the next storm is closer than it looks.
Fix the fund this year. The next generation of Californians will thank us for it.
Mike Gatto served in the state Assembly between 2010 and 2016, and he authored the measure that created California’s current rainy day fund. Steve Westly served as state controller between 2003 and 2007, and he co-championed Proposition 58, California’s original rainy day fund. Westly chairs the 21st Century Alliance, a nonpartisan organization focused on solutions to the state’s most pressing challenges.
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