California
Hoopa Valley Tribe sues US over California water contracts
The Hoopa Valley Tribe alleged in a lawsuit Monday that the federal authorities is violating its sovereignty and failing to gather cash from California farms that depend on federally provided water to pay for damages to tribal fisheries.
The tribe, which has a reservation in northwest California, says in its lawsuit in opposition to the Biden administration that the Trinity River that it depends on for meals and cultural functions has been decimated by a long time of the federal authorities diverting water.
The go well with alleges the U.S. Division of the Inside has didn’t observe legal guidelines that require the contractors who use that water to pay cash for habitat restoration initiatives. It says these contractors owe $340 million for environmental restoration work alongside the Trinity River and different locations broken by water diversions.
“The river has turn out to be a spot that’s not a therapeutic place, however a spot that could be a sick place,” mentioned Jill Sherman-Warne, a member of the Hoopa tribal council.
The go well with additionally alleges that the federal authorities has didn’t appropriately seek the advice of with the tribe on issues associated to the river.
The Inside Division declined to remark by spokesman Tyler Cherry.
For the reason that Fifties, the Trinity River has been a serious supply of water for the Central Valley Challenge, a system of dams, reservoirs and canals that sends water south to farmers who harvest fruits, nuts and different crops. Fish that swim by the river embrace the coho salmon, which is listed as an endangered species. Twelve miles of the river move by the tribe’s reservation.
Congress up to date legal guidelines governing the water venture’s operation in 1992. It gave the tribe some energy to concur over adjustments to river flows, added necessities for shielding fish within the Trinity River, and said any renewals of long-term water contracts needed to observe current legal guidelines.
On the finish of the Obama administration, Congress handed a regulation saying that any non permanent federal contracts for water might be became everlasting ones in the event that they pay again the federal authorities for sure prices. Beforehand, the contracts needed to be reapproved regularly.
Westlands Water District, the nation’s largest agricultural water district, was one of many contractors that transformed its water contract to a everlasting one. The brand new settlement doesn’t grant Westlands any further water or promise that it’s going to get every thing in dry years, but it surely successfully provides the district a contract for water in perpetuity.
The deal was controversial as a result of David Bernhardt, a former Westlands lobbyist, was inside secretary when the contract was accredited and a choose later declined to validate it. However Westlands and the federal authorities are nonetheless transferring ahead with it, Westlands spokeswoman Shelley Cartwright mentioned. The district has rejected claims it acquired particular remedy.
The go well with alleges the contract fails to incorporate necessities for habitat restoration funds. As Bernhardt left workplace, he wrote a memo agreeing with employees suggestions that the majority environmental mitigation work associated to the Central Valley Challenge was full.
Daniel Cordalis, deputy solicitor for water assets in Biden’s Inside Division, later rescinded that call. However the tribes allege the cash has nonetheless not been paid. Cherry, the inside spokesman, didn’t reply to an e mail asking for the division’s present place on whether or not the work is finished.
Tribal leaders, although, say restoration work is much from full and that the river is in dire want of assist.
“An integral a part of the life right here is the Trinity River. That modified dramatically within the Fifties when Congress selected to dam up the river,” mentioned Mike Orcutt, fisheries director for the Hoopa Valley Tribe. “We’ve been preventing for many years to proper that fallacious.”
Cartwright, the Westlands’ spokeswoman, mentioned the district pays a set charge to a restoration fund primarily based on how a lot water it receives. She mentioned in an e mail that the contract “gives for the fee of cash, per federal regulation.”
The tribe initially sued through the Trump administration however later put the lawsuit on maintain and hoped to settle with the Biden administration. The present inside secretary is Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna Tribe and the primary Native American to carry a cupboard place. Tribal officers selected to resume the lawsuit as a result of the Biden administration has not modified course, leaders mentioned.
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This story has been up to date to say Westlands Water District has a everlasting contract for water, not a everlasting proper. It has additionally been corrected to say the tribe beforehand put the lawsuit on maintain.
California
Caitlyn Jenner says she'd 'destroy' Kamala Harris in hypothetical race to be CA gov
SAN FRANCISCO – Caitlyn Jenner, the gold-medal Olympian-turned reality TV personality, is considering another run for Governor of California. This time, she says, if she were to go up against Vice President Kamala Harris, she would “destroy her.”
Jenner, who publicly came out as transgender nearly 10 years ago, made a foray into politics when she ran as a Republican during the recall election that attempted to unseat Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021. Jenner only received one percent of the vote and was not considered a serious candidate.
Jenner posted this week on social media that she’s having conversations with “many people” and hopes to have an announcement soon about whether she will run.
Caitlyn Jenner speaks at the 4th annual Womens March LA: Women Rising at Pershing Square on January 18, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)
She has also posted in Trumpian-style all caps: “MAKE CA GREAT AGAIN!”
As for VP Harris, she has not indicated any future plans for when she leaves office. However, a recent poll suggests Harris would have a sizable advantage should she decide to run in 2026. At that point, Newsom cannot run again because of term limits.
If Jenner decides to run and wins, it would mark the nation and state’s first transgender governor.
California
Northern California 6-year-old, parents hailed as heroes for saving woman who crashed into canal
LIVE OAK — A six-year-old and her parents are being called heroes by a Northern California community for jumping into a canal to save a 75-year-old woman who drove off the road.
It happened on Larkin Road near Paseo Avenue in the Sutter County community of Live Oak on Monday.
“I just about lost her, but I didn’t,” said Terry Carpenter, husband of the woman who was rescued. “We got more chances.”
Terry said his wife of 33 years, Robin Carpenter, is the love of his life and soulmate. He is grateful he has been granted more time to spend with her after she survived her car crashing off a two-lane road and overturning into a canal.
“She’s doing really well,” Terry said. “No broken bones, praise the Lord.”
It is what some call a miracle that could have had a much different outcome without a family of good Samaritans.
“Her lips were purple,” said Ashley Martin, who helped rescue the woman. “There wasn’t a breath at all. I was scared.”
Martin and her husband, Cyle Johnson, are being hailed heroes by the Live Oak community for jumping into the canal, cutting Robin out of her seat belt and pulling her head above water until first responders arrived.
“She was literally submerged underwater,” Martin said. “She had a back brace on. Apparently, she just had back surgery. So, I grabbed her brace from down below and I flipped her upward just in a quick motion to get her out of that water.”
The couple said the real hero was their six-year-old daughter, Cayleigh Johnson.
“It was scary,” Cayleigh said. “So the car was going like this, and it just went boom, right into the ditch.”
Cayleigh was playing outside and screamed for her parents who were inside the house near the canal.
I spoke with Robin from her hospital bed over the phone who told us she is in a lot of pain but grateful.
“The thing I can remember is I started falling asleep and then I was going over the bump and I went into the ditch and that’s all I remember,” Robin said.
It was a split-second decision for a family who firefighters said helped save a stranger’s life.
“It’s pretty unique that someone would jump in and help somebody that they don’t even know,” said Battalion Chief for Sutter County Fire Richard Epperson.
Robin is hopeful that she will be released from the hospital on Wednesday in time to be home for Thanksgiving.
“She gets Thanksgiving and Christmas now with her family and grandkids,” Martin said.
Terry and Robin are looking forward to eventually meeting the family who helped save Robin’s life. The family expressed the same feelings about meeting the woman they helped when she is out of the hospital.
“I can’t wait for my baby to get home,” Terry said.
California
California may exclude Tesla from EV rebate program
California Gov. Gavin Newsom may exclude Tesla and other automakers from an electric vehicle (EV) rebate program if the incoming Trump administration scraps a federal tax credit for electric car purchases.
Newsom proposed creating a new version of the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which was phased out in 2023 after funding more than 594,000 vehicles and saving more than 456 million gallons of fuel, the governor’s office said in a news release on Monday.
“Consumers continue to prove the skeptics wrong – zero-emission vehicles are here to stay,” Newsom said in a statement. “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 proposed rebates would be funded with money from the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which is funded by polluters under the state’s cap-and-trade program, the governor’s office said. Officials did not say how much the program would cost or save consumers.
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They would also include changes to promote innovation and competition in the zero-emission vehicles market – changes that could prevent automakers like Tesla from qualifying for the rebates.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who relocated Tesla’s corporate headquarters from California to Texas in 2021, responded to the possibility of having Tesla EVs left out of the program.
“Even though Tesla is the only company who manufactures their EVs in California! This is insane,” Musk wrote on X, which he also owns.
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Those buying or leasing Tesla vehicles accounted for about 42% of the state’s rebates, The Associated Press reported, citing data from the California Air Resources Board.
Newsom’s office told Fox Business Digital that the proposal is intended to foster market competition, and any potential market cap is subject to negotiation with the state Legislature.
Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
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TSLA | TESLA INC. | 338.59 | -13.97 | -3.96% |
“Under a potential market cap, and depending on what the cap is, there’s a possibility that Tesla and other automakers could be excluded,” the governor’s office said. “But that’s again subject to negotiations with the legislature.”
Newsom’s office noted that such market caps have been part of rebate programs since George W. Bush’s administration in 2005.
Federal tax credits for EVs are currently worth up to $7,500 for new zero-emission vehicles. President-elect Trump has previously vowed to end the credit.
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California has surpassed 2 million zero-emission vehicles sold, according to the governor’s office. The state, however, could face a $2 billion budget deficit next year, Reuters reported, citing a non-partisan legislative estimate released last week.
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