At UC Santa Cruz, police arrested one student who was using a megaphone during a demonstration on Oct. 7, according to an eyewitness who spoke to LookOut Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office public arrest reports show one person was arrested on the Santa Cruz campus for obstruction of a public officer and battery without injury that day.

While no arrests were made, Pomona College has suspended 12 students for the remainder of the 2024–25 academic year following an Oct. 7 demonstration in which they entered, damaged and vandalized a restricted building, according to the student newspaper. The college also banned dozens of students from the four other campuses of the Claremont Colleges, a consortium that includes Pomona.

Private colleges have implemented their own policy changes. Pomona College now requires students and faculty to swipe their ID cards to enter academic buildings. Since last semester, students and visitors entering USC are also required to show a school or photo ID.

Some students are still facing charges from last year’s protests

Few charges have been filed after UCLA’s encampment made headlines in April when counterprotesters led an attack on encampment protesters while law enforcement did not intervene for several hours. The following day, 254 people were arrested on charges related to the protest encampment. In October, two additional people were also arrested for participating in the counter-protester violence.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office is pursuing three felony cases against individuals arrested at UCLA in relation to violence during last spring’s protests.

Meanwhile, the city attorney’s office is reviewing 93 misdemeanor cases from USC and 210 from UCLA, according to information it provided to CalMatters last month.

Lilyan Zwirzina, a junior at Cal Poly Humboldt, was among the students arrested in the early morning of April 30 following protesters occupying a campus building and ignoring orders to disperse from the university. Law enforcement took her to Humboldt County Correctional Facility, where she faced four misdemeanor charges, including resisting arrest. Zwirzina thought she’d have to cancel her study abroad semester, which conflicted with the court date she was given.

“I was pretty frustrated and kind of freaked out,” Zwirzina said. Authorities dropped the charges against her in July.

The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office didn’t pursue charges against 27 of the 39 people arrested, citing insufficient evidence. The 12 remaining cases were referred to the Cal Poly Humboldt Police Department for investigation. Those cases remain under investigation, according to the university.

For 13 people, including students, arrested at Stanford University in June, the Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen has not pressed charges as of Nov. 20, according to information his office provided CalMatters.

Elsewhere across the state, some district attorneys are pursuing misdemeanor and felony charges against student protesters. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer is pursuing misdemeanor charges against 50 people, including two UCI professors, a teaching assistant, and 26 students, stemming from a protest at UC Irvine on Oct. 22, 2023. Charges include failure to disperse, resisting arrest and vandalism.

At Pomona College, 19 students were arrested on April 5 on charges of trespassing after some protesters entered and refused to leave an administrative building. Students arrested either had their cases dismissed or have accepted community service in lieu of further legal action. James Gutierrez, the attorney representing the arrested students, said he asked that the college drop charges against its students, citing their right to protest the use of paid tuition dollars.

“They are righteously demanding that their colleges, the ones they pay tuition to and housing fees and pour a lot of money into, that that university or college stop investing in companies that are directly supporting this genocide and indirectly supporting it,” he said.

Students fight back against campus protest policies

As administrators face the challenge of applying protest policies more uniformly and swiftly, the truer test of California public higher education institutions’ protest rules will be playing out in court.

In one already resolved case, UC leadership agreed in August to comply with a court order requiring the campus to end programs or events that exclude Jewish students. A federal judge ruled some Jewish students in support of Israel who were blocked from entering the encampment had their religious liberties violated — though some Jewish students did participate in UCLA’s protest encampment.

Now, students have filed at least two lawsuits against their campuses and the UC system for violating their rights while ending student encampments last spring. In September, ACLU NorCal filed suits against the UC and UC Santa Cruz for not providing students due process when they immediately barred arrested students from returning to campus.

“Those students should have gotten a hearing, an opportunity to defend themselves or to explain themselves, and the school would have shown evidence of why they created a risk of disturbance on campus,” Chessie Thacher, senior staff attorney at ACLU of Northern California, said.

UC Santa Cruz spokesperson Scott Hernandez-Jason said the university “appreciates the court’s careful deliberation” and that the university “is committed to upholding the right to free expression while also protecting the safety of its campus community.”

In October, ACLU SoCal filed lawsuits on behalf of two students and two faculty members against the UC and UCLA, alleging the actions the university took to break down the encampment violated their free speech rights.

UCLA spokesperson Ricardo Vazquez told CalMatters via email that the university would respond in court and that UCLA “fully supports community members expressing their First Amendment rights in ways that do not violate the law, our policies, jeopardize community safety, or disrupt the functioning of the university.”

“The encampment that arose on campus this spring became a focal point for violence, a disruption to campus, and was in violation of the law,” Vazquez said in the email statement. “These conditions necessitated its removal.”

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — California state agencies say most dairies in the state are under quarantine because of the bird flu.

Now, they are working alongside each other with local dairy farmers to help reduce exposure to H5N1 between infected cows and people.

Over 650 of the 984 dairies in the state are under quarantine because of a growing bird flu outbreak.

Although the California Department of Public Health says the risk remains low for the general public the virus kills 90% to 100% of infected poultry and about 1% to 2% of cows.

“So, while it does impact dairy herds, and it’s definitely devastating to the herd managers compared to how it acts in poultry it’s much less severe,” says Dr. Annette M. Jones, the state veterinarian and director of the animal health and food safety services with California Department of Food and Agriculture.

In Southern California more dairies have recently tested positive for the bird flu.

The health department and California Department of farm and Agriculture say they have also seen cases in cats.

“LA County has reported two domestic cats who have been confirmed to have consumed raw milk that was infected. We’re seeing a lot of neurological diseases and feline species with this particular virus,” mentions Dr. Erica Pan, the California State Epidemiologist and Deputy Director for the Center for Infectious Diseases at the California Department of Public Health

Doctors also confirm some wastewater in the state has tested positive for the virus.

“A lot of the pasteurized milk that can be PCR positive, you know, and again, we know pasteurized milk is safe, any virus fragments in there are not infectious, but they can still test positive in the wastewater,” explains Dr. Erica Pan.

“So, we think actually a lot of our wastewater detections are from residential or other commercial milk dumping or down in the sinks.”

So far, the state has handed out over four million pieces of PPE and says the state of emergency declaration allows them to expand their workforce and better monitor and respond to situations.

“We are really focusing on those who are at highest risk, which is people working with infected animals. Which is why we are focusing as well on education outreach and providing personal protective gear. The only other tip I would remind people to do is avoid touching wild sick animals, or dead animals,” says Dr. Pan.

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What’s New

An incoming atmospheric river will bring 25-foot waves to the coastline in central California early next week, as well as heavy rain and strong winds.

Why It Matters

The Pacific Northwest is known for its atmospheric rivers, particularly during the winter months. The storms bring heavy rain and snow, typically to Oregon, Washington and California. Though the moisture-laden storms can help alleviate drought, they also pose life-threatening risks from mudslides and floods.

Back-to-back atmospheric rivers have already hit the West Coast this month, including one that brought heavy rain and strong winds to Washington and Oregon earlier this week.

Another few storms will barrel into the West Coast this weekend, with meteorologists expecting their impact to stretch further south into California. In addition to precipitation, the storm will spur large, dangerous waves that will break along the coast.

What to Know

The high surf advisory will go into effect early Saturday morning. It stretches from Cloverdale to Monterey, according to a map from the National Weather Service (NWS).

Some of the advisories expire on Sunday, though the high surf advisory issued by the Los Angeles NWS office will remain in effect throughout next week.

Large, breaking waves are possible, along with dangerous rip currents. The biggest threat for large waves will be on west and northwest-facing beaches.

The highest forecast waves could hit up to 25 feet tall for Central Coast beaches from Monday into Tuesday. Waves will likely be smaller for the Santa Barbara South Coast beaches, reaching up to 12 feet on Monday and Tuesday. Ventura County beaches could see breaking waves of 8 to 12 feet with local set as high as 17 feet on Monday night into Tuesday.

What People Are Saying

NWS meteorologist Devin Black told Newsweek: “The storm system is generating winds. Pacific systems that come through our area tend to build way back west, and that allows the swells to really build.

“Average waves for Central Coast beaches are around 5 to 8 feet this time of year, meaning the incoming waves will be “pretty significant.”

NWS Los Angeles in a high surf advisory: “There is an increased risk for ocean drowning. Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Large breaking waves can cause injury, wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats near shore.”

NWS San Francisco in a hydrologic outlook: “The storm door is wide open with a very active storm track forecast to impact Northern California. Wet and unsettled weather will bring periods of light to moderate rainfall to the region with the biggest impact expected over the North Bay.”

What Happens Next

The storms expected to hit the Golden State this weekend will “prime the soils” for storms to come later next week, potentially leading to dangerous water rises in area creeks and streams, the hydrologic outlook warned. Residents in the impacted area are urged to keep an eye on NWS weather alerts as the storms arrive, given that the storm set to hit Monday is “gearing up to be the strongest and wettest of the series.”