California

New program aims to boost salmon in Northern California river

Published

11 months ago

February 23, 2025

New program aims to boost salmon in Northern California river

For the first time in more 80 years, Chinook salmon are swimming in the North Yuba River in Northern California thanks to an innovative wildlife program.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, along with federal and local agencies, launched a pilot program to reintroduce Chinook salmon into their historic spawning grounds in the North Yuba River in Plumas County. This stretch of cool water, according to the state, is considered some of the highest quality and most climate-resilient in California.

But Chinook salmon disappeared from the waterway after the construction of the Englebright Dam prevented fish from swimming upstream.

In October, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife constructed a series of nests along the 12-mile stretch of gravel riverbed and then filled them with fertilized Chinook salmon eggs from a nearby hatchery. Four months later, these salmon eggs have begun to hatch and the first young salmon were observed Feb. 11, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“The North Yuba represents a really unique location for us. Between the main stem and its tributaries there is somewhere around 40 to 50 miles of habitat that is ideal for spring-run Chinook salmon for holding, spawning and rearing,” said Colin Purdy, a fisheries environmental program manager for the state. “If we can develop this pilot effort into a full reintroduction program, we would be able to more than double the amount of available salmon habitat in the Yuba River watershed. And that’s a huge win for spring-run Chinook salmon.”

The state project is one of many initiatives that aim to reintroduce salmon to California’s cold-water habitats upstream of dams and other fish barriers. This includes several dam removal projects, including along the Klamath River, the largest dam removal in U.S. history.

However, unlike the Klamath River, there are no plans to remove dams in the Yuba River, which the state says are critical to maintaining water supply and flood protection. Because dams will remain in place, the state is collecting the newly hatched Chinook salmon in the North Yuba River, and they will be trucked downstream and released in the lower Yuba River, where they can continue their migration to the Pacific Ocean.

“This is a habitat that salmon haven’t been into for a long time so we have very little data to understand how salmon will respond,” Purdy said. “… So there are a number of different things that we’re going to be able to learn from this.”

Source link

California

California toddler falls out of moving car, mother charged

Published

9 hours ago

January 27, 2026

Press Room

California toddler falls out of moving car, mother charged

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

A California mother was arrested on felony child abuse charges after a viral video showed her 19-month-old child falling from a moving SUV at a busy Fullerton intersection, police said Monday.

The Fullerton Police Department said it became aware of the video, which shows a black SUV turning at an intersection when a passenger-side door suddenly opens. A small child then falls out of the vehicle and onto the roadway.

The SUV immediately stops, and a car following behind narrowly avoids colliding with it. The car stops just short of the child on the roadway.

The video shows an adult woman running from the driver’s side, picking up the child and placing the toddler back inside the SUV before driving away.

MAN RUNS INTO FLORIDA STREET TO SAVE TWO YOUNG CHILDREN WHO WANDERED AWAY FROM RENTAL HOME

A black SUV turns at an intersection when a passenger-side door suddenly opens and a small child falls out of the vehicle and onto the roadway. (Fullerton Police Department)

A witness called police on Saturday and provided identifying information about the vehicle. Officers traced the SUV to a home in La Habra, where they located the vehicle, the child and a suspect believed to be the woman seen in the video.

A car following the SUV narrowly avoided hitting the child and SUV. (Fullerton Police Department)

Police identified the child as a 19-month-old who suffered injuries consistent with the fall. The toddler was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and is expected to make a full recovery.

FLORIDA DEPUTIES RACE TO SAVE 4-YEAR-OLD WHO STOPPED BREATHING AND HAD NO PULSE ON INTERSTATE, VIDEO SHOWS

The suspect was identified as Jacqueline Hernandez, 35, of La Habra, and the child’s mother. She was arrested and booked into the Fullerton City Jail for felony child abuse, police said.

The child’s mother, identified as Jacqueline Hernandez, 35, of La Habra, picks the child up from the road. Hernandez was later arrested and charged with felony child abuse, police said. (Fullerton Police Department)

Neighbors told FOX11 Los Angeles that the family has several children and could not believe the mother would put her children in such a dangerous situation.

“I can’t excuse something like that, I’m sorry,” a neighbor who wished to remain anonymous told the local station.

Investigators believe the incident occurred between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Jan. 20. Police said they did not receive any emergency calls related to the incident at the time.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The investigation remains ongoing, and police are asking anyone with additional information to contact the Fullerton Police Department’s Sensitive Crimes Unit.

Source link

California

California gubernatorial candidates outline their priorities at UCSF event

Published

22 hours ago

January 26, 2026

Press Room

California gubernatorial candidates outline their priorities at UCSF event

Several of the candidates vying to become California’s next governor gathered Monday at the University of California, San Francisco to make their case to voters.

Seven Democrats took the stage at UCSF to outline their priorities for their first 100 days in office. Republican candidates were invited but declined to participate.

On June 2, California voters will narrow the field to two candidates in an open primary. Those two will then face off on Nov. 3.

NBC Bay Area’s Velena Jones has more in the video report above.

Source link

California

California joins UN health network following US departure from WHO

Published

4 days ago

January 23, 2026

Press Room

California joins UN health network following US departure from WHO

Jan 23 (Reuters) – California said on Friday it will become the first U.S. state to join the World Health Organization’s global outbreak response network following the Trump administration’s decision to pull Washington out of the WHO.

The network, comprised of more than 360 technical institutions, responds to public health events with the deployment of staff and resources to affected countries.

It has tackled major public health events, including COVID-19.

The state’s decision to join the network comes more than a year after U.S. President Donald Trump gave notice that Washington would depart from the WHO. On Thursday, it officially withdrew from the agency, saying its decision reflected failures in the U.N. health agency’s management of the pandemic.

California Governor Gavin Newsom decried the United States’ move on Friday, calling it a “reckless decision” that will hurt many people.

“California will not bear witness to the chaos this decision will bring,” Newsom said in a statement. “We will continue to foster partnerships across the globe and remain at the forefront of public health preparedness, including through our membership as the only state in WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network.”

The governor’s office said he met with the WHO’s Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, where they discussed collaborating to detect and respond to emerging public health threats.

The WHO did not immediately respond when reached for comment.

Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington
Editing by Rod Nickel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Source link