California
‘Empire’ state? San Bernardino County developer pushes idea of seceding from California
Citing disproportionate allocation of assets and “unfunded mandates,” a San Bernardino County developer proposed this week that the Board of Supervisors discover seceding from California to type a brand new state that might be known as “Empire.”
“Our Sheriff’s Division, our judges, are always taxed with an excessive amount of with not sufficient assets,” Jeff Burum, chairman of improvement agency Nationwide Group Renaissance, stated Tuesday on the Board of Supervisors assembly.
“The state of California continues to allocate assets to the high-cost areas to our detriment and different inland valley communities,” he stated. “It’s time to cease it.”
Burum proposed placing the problem on the November poll.
“If we placed on an advisory vote for simply San Bernardino County residents, a easy sure or no vote: Do they help [the board] trying into … seceding from the state of California, I promise you, you’re going to get an affirmative vote,” he stated.
Becoming a member of Burum in favor of the proposal have been the mayors of Upland and Fontana, who echoed his considerations relating to the necessity for assets for public works and different capabilities.
“We can not proceed to beg and crawl and squirrel depend … to get assets for our county,” stated Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren. “We have now hundreds of thousands of residents which have wants, and the county is our lifeline, and that lifeline continues to be choked.”
“Now we’re listening to that we’re going to need to have all electrical automobiles by 2035,” stated Upland Mayor Invoice Velto. “I’m curious the place they’re going to get the cash for the roadways when the fuel tax begins dropping.”
California plans to halt the sale of latest combustion-engine automobiles by 2035, requiring new automobiles offered to be zero-emission however not banning gasoline-powered engines totally, with a view to reduce down on dangerous emissions which are fueling the local weather disaster.
“How they count on cities like Upland and plenty of different cities in our county to realize these mandates once we don’t have the funds is simply unimaginable,” Velto stated.
On the shut of the assembly, board Chairman Curt Hagman expressed his help for exploring the secession thought additional.
Hagman stated he was not solely displeased with the monetary points but additionally “fed up with the best way they deal with our public security.”
“I help the trigger,” he stated. “It’s about dropping the power to control on an area degree, which this nation was based mostly on. It was based mostly on states’ rights, based mostly on native management.”
The board couldn’t take motion on the proposal Tuesday, however the situation might be mentioned if it have been to seem on a later agenda.
Each Hagman and Warren acknowledged the unlikelihood that the proposal would succeed.
“I do know individuals will say, ‘Y’all went loopy,’” Warren stated. “Sure, we have now. We have now went loopy to serve others.”
“It’s one in one million that we’ll achieve success at this level,” Hagman stated, including that he hoped exploring such a transfer would a minimum of ship a message to the state.
County Counsel Tom Bunton illustrated the chances stacked in opposition to profitable secession: A brand new state has not been fashioned by separating from one other since West Virginia did so in 1863. No new state has joined the union since Alaska in 1959.
The proposal is the newest chapter in an extended historical past of parts of California making an attempt to secede, citing political and monetary divides.
In 2013, the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted to discover seceding from California to type the brand new state of Jefferson. As of 2022, Siskiyou County stays a part of the state.
California
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says state will provide rebates if Trump removes tax credit for electric vehicles
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will provide rebates to residents if President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration does away with a federal tax credit for electric vehicles.
In a news release issued Monday, Newsom said he would restart the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which provided financial incentives on more than 590,000 vehicles before it was phased out late 2023.
“We will intervene if the Trump Administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California,” Newsom said. “We’re not turning back on a clean transportation future — we’re going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don’t pollute.”
The federal rebates on new and used electric vehicles were implemented in the Inflation Reduction Act that President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022. When Trump’s second term in office begins next year, he could work with Congress to change the rules around those rebates. Those potential changes could limit the federal rebates, including by reducing the amount of money available or limiting who is eligible.
Limiting federal subsidies on electric vehicle purchases would hurt many American automakers, including Ford, General Motors and the EV startup Rivian. Tesla, which also builds its automobiles in the United States, would take a smaller hit since that company currently sells more EVs and has a higher profit margin than any other EV manufacturer.
Newsom also announced earlier this month that he will convene a special session “to protect California values,” including fundamental civil rights and reproductive rights, that he said “are under attack by this incoming administration.”
“Whether it be our fundamental civil rights, reproductive freedom, or climate action — we refuse to turn back the clock and allow our values and laws to be attacked,” Newsom said on X on Nov. 7.
A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first time California will be taking action against the Trump’s administration concerning clean transportation legislation.
In 2019, California and 22 other states sued his administration for revoking its ability to set standards for greenhouse gas emission and fuel economy standards for vehicles, The Associated Press reported.
California sued the Trump administration over 100 times during his first term, primarily on matters including gun control, health care, education and immigration, the Los Angeles Times reported.
California
45 Years Later, California Murder Mystery Solved Through DNA Evidence
A 45-year-old cold case of a 17-year-old girl brutally raped and murdered has been resolved, bringing closure to the family. On February 9, 1979, Esther Gonzalez walked from her parents’ home to her sister’s in Banning, California, roughly 137 km east of Los Angeles. She never arrived. The next day, her body was discovered in a snowpack near a highway in Riverside County, California. Authorities determined she had been raped and bludgeoned to death, leading to an investigation that spanned decades.
The lab was able to match the DNA to a man named Lewis Randolph “Randy” Williamson, who died in 2014. Williamson, a US Marine Corps veteran, called authorities on the fateful day to report finding Ms Gonzalez’s body. At the time, he claimed he could not identify whether the body was male or female. Described as “argumentative” by deputies, Williamson was asked to take a polygraph test, which he passed, clearing him of suspicion in the pre-DNA era. He had faced assault allegations in the past but was never convicted of any violent crimes, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Despite limited leads, the Riverside County cold case homicide team didn’t give up. A semen sample recovered from Ms Gonzalez’s body in 1979 was preserved but remained unmatched in the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) for decades.
In 2023, forensic technology finally caught up. The homicide team collaborated with a genetic lab in Texas that specialises in forensic genealogy. A sample of Williamson’s blood from his 2014 autopsy provided the DNA match needed to confirm him as the 17-year-old’s rapist and killer.
The Gonzalez family had mixed emotions—relief at finally having answers and sadness knowing Williamson would not face justice, as he died in Florida ten years ago. Ms Gonzalez, remembered by her family as a shy yet funny and mild-mannered young woman, was the fourth of seven children. Her oldest brother, Eddie Gonzalez, wrote on Facebook, “The Gonzalez family would like to thank the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department on a job well done. After 40 years, the Gonzalez family has closure.”
“We are very happy that we finally have closure,” Ms Gonzalez’s sister, Elizabeth, 64, shared with CNN. “We are happy about it but, since the guy has died, a little sad that he won’t spend any time for her murder.”
California
Bird Flu Virus Identified In Raw Milk Sold In California
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has detected the avian influenza or “bird flu” virus in a sample of a raw milk product. The product which was for sale at retailers at the time of the testing has now been recalled by the producer after the state of California requested it’s withdrawal from sale.
The affected product is cream top, whole raw milk produced and packaged by Raw Farm, LLC of Fresno County with lot code 2024110. The best buy date of the batch is 11. Nov, 2024 meaning consumers could still have it in their homes. No illnesses have currently been reported from this batch of milk, but people can take several days to develop bird flu after exposure. According to the World Health Organization, most people develop symptoms within 2-5 days, but can take up to 17 days to develop.
According to the CDC, bird flu symptoms may include fever or feeling feverish or chills, eye redness or irritation, and respiratory symptoms, such as cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, and tiredness.
Customers should not consume any product matching the description above and should return the product to stores or dispose of it. The CDPH is also in the process of informing re also in the process of informing retailers about the infected product to notify them to remove it from their shelves. The CDPH has since visited both locations of the company’s farms and has found no further evidence of bird flu. The CDPH will continue to test the farm’s milk twice a week.
The CDPH stresses that there is no risk of consuming pasteurized milk as the milk is heated to temperatures which inactivate bacteria and viruses. However raw milk does not go through this process, meaning any bacteria or viruses in the milk can be transferred to the consumer. Public health departments, as well as the CDC have long warned against the dangers of consuming raw milk, which has been responsible for outbreaks of Listeria, E. coli, Campylobacter and Salmonella, among other microbes.
California has been hit with bird flu outbreaks in both dairy cow herds and poultry farms with over 400 dairy herds affected as of 22. November. Twenty-nine human cases have also been recorded in the state, mostly individuals who have had close contact with infected livestock. The numbers of infected individuals are likely to be under reported and very little is known about the severity of disease in humans so far. Just two days ago, the CDC confirmed a case of H5N1 bird flu in a child in California with no known contact with livestock.
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