California
Rain helps firefighters battle several blazes in northern California
Cloudy climate and a few rain helped firefighters in northern California battle a number of blazes that exploded in dimension within the Klamath nationwide forest over the weekend.
Two our bodies have been discovered inside a charred automobile on Sunday within the driveway of a house close to the distant neighborhood of Klamath River, the Siskiyou county sheriff’s workplace mentioned. Different particulars weren’t instantly launched.
At the least two individuals have died and greater than 100 houses, sheds and different buildings have burned within the McKinney hearth because it erupted final Friday and the blaze stays uncontrolled, authorities mentioned.
The hearth close to the California-Oregon border has since develop into California’s largest this yr, and stays uncontained. A separate hearth north-east of Joyful Camp compelled evacuations and highway closures because it burned uncontrolled on Tuesday.
The US Forest Service shut down a 110-mile (177-km) part of the famed Pacific Crest Path in northern California and southern Oregon. Sixty hikers in that space have been helped to evacuate on Saturday, in keeping with the Jackson county sheriff’s workplace in Oregon, which aided within the effort.
Nonetheless extra fires are raging within the western US, threatening hundreds of houses.
In north-western Montana, a fireplace that began on Friday afternoon close to the city of Elmo on the Flathead Indian Reservation measured 20 sq miles (52 sq km), hearth officers mentioned. Some individuals have been compelled to flee their houses as gusting afternoon winds drove the hearth east.
The Moose hearth in Idaho has burned greater than 85 sq miles within the Salmon-Challis nationwide forest whereas threatening houses, mining operations and fisheries close to the city of Salmon. It was 23% contained on Tuesday, in keeping with the Nationwide Interagency Coordination Middle.
And a wildfire raging in north-western Nebraska led to evacuations and destroyed or broken a number of houses close to the small metropolis of Gering. The Carter Canyon hearth started Saturday as two separate fires that merged. It was about 10% contained on Tuesday.
The California hearth began small however exploded over the weekend as thunderstorm cells introduced winds gusting to 50mph (80km/h) at instances.
On Monday night, the blaze was holding about 4 miles from Yreka, a scenic metropolis of seven,500 individuals. Bulldozers managed to ring the town with firebreaks, whereas crews carving out hearth traces in steep and rugged terrain have been additionally making progress, hearth officers mentioned.
“We’ve acquired the climate,” mentioned Todd Mack, an incident hearth commander with the US Forest Service. “We’ve acquired the horsepower. And we’re getting after it.”
However the climate was a combined blessing. Weekend lightning additionally sparked a number of smaller fires close to the McKinney hearth. And regardless of the much-needed moisture, forests and fields within the area remained bone-dry.
Yreka may see a excessive of almost 90F (32.2C ) on Tuesday, and the Nationwide Climate Service issued a purple flag warning of maximum hearth hazard into Tuesday evening due to the prospect of lightning beginning new fires and gusty outflowing winds from thunderstorms powering the flames.
Amongst these ready out the hearth on the shelter on Monday was Paisley Bamberg, 33. She arrived in Yreka a number of months in the past from West Columbia, South Carolina. She was dwelling in a motel together with her six youngsters, ranging in age from 15 to her one-year-old twins, when she was advised to evacuate.
“I began throwing the whole lot on the highest of my truck,” however needed to go away many issues behind, she mentioned.
Bamberg mentioned she had simply been employed at an Arby’s restaurant and questioned if it might survive the hearth.
“There may not be a lot there once we get again,” she mentioned. “I don’t know if I’ve a job. The youngsters have been supposed to begin faculty and I don’t know if the varsity continues to be standing.
“I’m making an attempt to maintain up my spirits. I’ve six little people which can be relying on me,” she mentioned. “I can’t break down or falter.”
Franklin Thom made it to a shelter along with his daughter and simply his medication, some garments and his bathe footwear.
About 2,500 individuals have been below evacuation orders however Thom, 55, mentioned he knew many individuals remained in Yreka.
“There’s nonetheless lots of people on the town, individuals who refused to go away,” he mentioned. “Lots of people who don’t have automobiles and might’t go. It’s actually unhappy.”
Thom has lived in Yreka all his life however this was his first time being threatened by a wildfire.
“I by no means thought it might ever occur,” he mentioned. “I assumed, ‘We’re invincible.’ … That is making a liar out of me.”
Scientists have mentioned local weather change has made the west hotter and drier during the last three many years and can proceed to make climate extra excessive and wildfires extra frequent and harmful.
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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