Tag: California

Mountain lion attack kills 21-year-old man, injures younger brother in California

A mountain lion killed a 21-year-old man and injured his 18-year-old brother in a remote area of Northern California’s foothills on Saturday, authorities said.

The brothers were hunting for shed antlers near Georgetown in El Dorado County when the mountain lion attacked, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said.

The younger brother called the sheriff’s officer around 1:15 p.m. to report the attack and said he was separated from his brother. 

Deputies arrived around 1:30 p.m. to find the 18-year-old with traumatic injuries to his face and began to administer aid. Other deputies found the missing brother lying on the ground as the mountain lion crouched over him, according to officials.

UTAH MAN STUNNED WHEN GRIZZLY BEAR INVADES ALASKAN CAMPSITE, SAYS HE ‘COULD HAVE TOUCHED IT’

Deputies fired their service weapons to scare off the mountain lion, which sat between the deputies and the victim. Once the mountain lion ran away, deputies raced to the older brother, but he was found deceased.

Wardens and Trappers from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife along with the El Dorado County Trapper responded to the area and located the mountain lion. The sheriff’s office said the big cat was euthanized.

3 GREAT WHITE SHARKS PING NEAR GEORGIA, SOUTH CAROLINA COASTS: ‘IT’S MOVING DAYS’

The brothers have yet to be publicly identified. No updates on the younger brother’s condition were immediately available.

Georgetown is a historic town of just over 2,000 people located about 50 miles northeast of Sacramento.

Since the mid-80s, there have been nearly two dozen reported mountain lion attacks on humans, according to a verified list kept by the fish and wildlife department. The last fatal encounter, however, was in 2004 in Orange County.

California Gov. Newsom announces plan to sign climate bill requiring large companies to disclose gas emissions

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday that he plans to sign into law a pair of climate-focused bills intended to force major corporations to be more transparent about greenhouse gas emissions and the financial risks stemming from global warming.

Newsom’s announcement came during an out-of-state trip to New York’s Climate Week, where world leaders in business, politics and the arts are gathered to seek solutions for climate change.

California lawmakers last week passed legislation requiring large businesses from oil and gas companies to retail giants to disclose their direct greenhouse gas emissions as well as those that come from activities like employee business travel.

CA INTRODUCES CLIMATE BILL THAT WOULD MAKE COMPANIES DISCLOSE THEIR GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

Such disclosures are a “simple but intensely powerful driver of decarbonization,” said the bill’s author, state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat.

“This legislation will support those companies doing their part to tackle the climate crisis and create accountability for those that aren’t,” Wiener said in a statement Sunday applauding Newsom’s decision.

Under the law, thousands of public and private businesses that operate in California and make more than $1 billion annually will have to make the emissions disclosures. The goal is to increase transparency and nudge companies to evaluate how they can cut their carbon emissions.

The second bill approved last week by the state Assembly requires companies making more than $500 million annually to disclose what financial risks climate change poses to their businesses and how they plan to address those risks.

CALIFORNIA’S GRID FACES COLLAPSE AS LEADERS PUSH RENEWABLES, ELECTRIC VEHICLES, EXPERTS SAY

State Sen. Henry Stern, a Democrat from Los Angeles who introduced the legislation, said the information would be useful for individuals and lawmakers when making public and private investment decisions. The bill was changed recently to require companies to begin reporting the information in 2026, instead of 2024, and mandate that they report every other year, instead of annually.

Newsom, a Democrat, said he wants California to lead the nation in addressing the climate crisis. “We need to exercise not just our formal authority, but we need to share our moral authority more abundantly,” he said.

Newsom’s office announced Saturday that California has filed a lawsuit against some of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, claiming they deceived the public about the risks of fossil fuels now faulted for climate change-related storms and wildfires that caused billions of dollars in damage.

The civil lawsuit filed in state Superior Court in San Francisco also seeks the creation of a fund — financed by the companies — to pay for recovery efforts following devastating storms and fires.

The post California Gov. Newsom announces plan to sign climate bill requiring large companies to disclose gas emissions appeared first on Buy It At A Bargain – Deals And Reviews.

California law will require judges to consider parents' stance on gender identity in custody battle

California approved a bill that instructs judicial courts in the state to consider, as one of its factors when making custody and visitation decisions, whether a parent affirms a child’s gender identify. Critics of the bill argue it will cause parents, who don’t support their kid’s desire to pursue gender-affirming surgery, to lose custody of their children. 

The California bill, AB-957, which passed in both houses of the state assembly on September 8, would consider parents’ “affirmation of the child’s gender identity or gender expression as part of the health, safety, and welfare of the child.” The bill awaits Governor Gavin Newsom’s, D-Calif., signature. 

Many parents are concerned this could mean that if they don’t accept their child’s use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or surgery, they could face the prospect of losing custody of their children. 

“Affirmation includes a range of actions and will be unique for each child, but in every case must promote the child’s overall health and well-being,” the legislation states.

FEMINIST MEDICAL SCHOOL PROFESSOR SAYS TRANS KIDS IDENTIFYING AS ‘MINOTAURS’ ARE PART OF GENDER REVOLUTION’

In line with the intentionally vague language of the bill, the bill’s sponsor, California Assemblymember Lori Wilson, said “affirmation is left undefined to allow the greatest extent of judicial discretion.” 

There are no specifications in the bill about the age of a transgender-identifying child, how long they have identified as transgender or any recognition of the difference between the affirmation of a social transition in comparison to medical intervention. 

Wilson has made it clear that AB 957 adds a parent’s affirmation of their child’s gender identity as “one factor” that a judge must consider in a custody dispute. She has previously emphasized the bill’s focus on affirming a child’s choice of gender “whatever it is” adding it is “our duty as parents is to affirm our children.” 

“As you can imagine, there are plenty of things a parent can say that are protected by the First Amendment, but also can be considered in a custody dispute,” she said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

Wilson blamed “online vitriol” over the bill on a “coordinated and sophisticated misinformation campaign that has been adequately fact-checked by the AP and others.” She said the focus of the bill is about “what is best for the child and there is a breadth of research that supports that affirmation of gender identity in the child’s best interest.”

WISCONSIN COUNTY CONSIDERS SANCTUARY STATUS FOR TRANSGENDER KIDS

In contrast, Protect Kids California spokesperson and recently elected school board member, Jonathan Zachreson, told Fox News Digital that California has established “very concerning” policies that lead children struggling with gender related issues towards a single path of lifelong medicalization. 

“AB 957 would be one more of those policies if signed by the governor,” he said. “Fortunately, Protect Kids California introduced an initiative to mitigate some of these harmful policies by prohibiting irreversible medical procedures that could possibly render someone sterile for anyone under 18.”

“We encourage everyone in the country to visit http://ProtectKidsCA.com to learn how they can help get this initiative on the November 2024 ballot,” he added.

Some new outlets, including the Associated Press, as mentioned by Wilson, have called out the “critics” of the bill, stating the legislation doesn’t use the word “surgery.” Although, some attorneys believe the vague language of the legislation is exactly what is harmful about it. 

Erin Friday, a California lawyer and mother to a daughter who transitioned and later detransistioned, told Fox News Digital that under this bill she would have lost custody of her daughter had it been in place when she was questioning her gender as she did not affirm her daughter in the transition. 

“Any parent who won’t affirm their child now, risks losing custody of their child,” Friday said. “California will be the first state to find parents abusive if they don’t agree to affirm their child’s gender identity, and we don’t even know what that means.” 

“957 is not limited to divorce situations, and this is what the author will tell you: it’s just a divorce, and it’s just one prong, and that is untrue,” she added. “Because the bill ties gender affirmation to three very important words and those are health, safety and welfare. Those words are magical words. They have a meaning in law, which the author doesn’t want you to know about.”

The California Family Code 3020 states it is public policy “to ensure that the health, safety, and welfare of children shall be the court’s primary concern in determining the best interests of children when making any orders regarding the physical or legal custody or visitation of children.”

Friday said “any” being the key word means “the judge must look at that in any custody claim, not just divorce.” In addition, “the penal code in California for abuse or neglect uses the words health and welfare,” she added. 

“They’re backdooring it,” Friday said. “They’re actually saying that the health, safety and welfare of all children is tied to affirmation and that’s how you get to where parents like me who did not affirm their child, could lose custody of their child.”

“Must they put them on puberty blockers?” she asked. “Must they cut their body parts off? Must they put them on cross-sex hormones, or must they just give them a haircut? What if the parents are religious and their religion says that they cannot affirm the child’s gender identity?”

“What happens when one parent is only willing to affirm by using a different name and the other parent is willing to cut the child’s gonads? Who wins?” she continued. “What happens if neither parent will affirm the gender identity? Who takes the kid?”

She said the vagueness of the legislation leaves parents wondering what “affirmation means,” but said the state is saying that in order to be a “good parent … You must affirm your child, otherwise you are undeserving of your children.”

MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE PASSES ‘TRANS REFUGE’ BILL OPPONENTS SAY WOULD STRIP CUSTODY FROM NON-CONSENTING PARENTS

Wilson introduced it the legislation alongside co-sponsor State Sen. Scott Wiener, who amended the bill to rewrite California’s standard of childcare under the California Family Code. Sen. Weiner has also advanced separate bills requiring foster parents to affirm the gender identities of children coming into their homes, as well as a bill that would make California a haven for LGBTQ children to obtain sex changes without parental consent. 

Conservative new outlet, The Daily Signal, warned that by changing the definition of what constitutes the “health, safety, and welfare of [a] child,” the bill would open parents, as well as other organizations like schools, churches and hospitals, who don’t affirm a child’s gender transition, to face charges of child abuse.

Friday described the bill as “frightening,” but said the law is unconstitutional and an abrogation of parental rights that will be challenged in court. 

Wilson said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital that she has consulted with judges and lawyers and feels “very confident” that there are no constitutional concerns with the bill. 

Wilson, who is the mother of a transgender son, said in a statement following the bill’s passage, which was forwarded to Fox News Digital, that she felt “extreme gratitude” to her colleagues for passing AB 957 “with such overwhelming and strong support.”

AB 957 is co-sponsored by the Women’s Foundation of California, Equality California, TransYouth Liberation, Los Angeles LGBT Center, TransFamily Support Services, Gender Justice Los Angeles, the EmpowerTHEM Collective and the California TGI Policy Alliance.

Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang blamed other states in the U.S. for “attacking LGBTQ+ youth” which Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Joe Hollendoner called “anti-trans legislation.”

“While states across the country are attacking LGBTQ+ youth, California continues leading the way to ensure that LGBTQ+ youth are protected, healthy, and can live their authentic life in an environment that accepts and supports them,” Hoang said. “Family acceptance of LGBTQ+ youth is strongly associated with positive childhood development, mental and physical health, and overall wellbeing.”

“Assemblymember Wilson’s AB 957 underscores familial acceptance as essential for transgender youth to live safely and proudly,” Hollendoner said. “As the tidal wave of anti-trans legislation continues to flood our country, it is especially vital for California to take a leading role in supporting the rights and dignities of our trans youth and their families.”

For more Culture, Media, Education, Opinion, and channel coverage, visit foxnews.com/media

Police union manager in California allegedly imported illegal opioids from India, Hong Kong, Singapore

The office manager for a Northern California police union allegedly imported illegal synthetic opioids from India and other countries and at least once used her work computer and address and the union’s UPS account to ship the drugs within the country, federal prosecutors said.

Joanne Marian Segovia, executive director of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association, was charged with attempting to unlawfully import valeryl fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, federal prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison.

Starting in 2015, Segovia had at least 61 drug shipments mailed to her San Jose home from India, Hong Kong, Hungary and Singapore with manifests that listed their contents as “wedding party favors,” “gift makeup,” “chocolate and sweets” and “food supplement,” according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.

FENTANYL OVERDOSES BECOME NO. 1 CAUSE OF DEATH AMONG US ADULTS, AGES 18-45: ‘A NATIONAL EMERGENCY’

It was not immediately known if Segovia, 64, has an attorney who can speak on her behalf.

Tom Saggau, a spokesperson for the police union in San Jose, said Segovia, a civilian, has worked for the union since 2003, planning funerals for officers who die in the line of duty, being the liaison between the department and the officers’ families and organizing office festivities and fundraisers.

He said that federal officials informed the union last Friday that Segovia was under investigation and that no one else at the union was involved or knew about Segovia’s alleged acts.

The revelation shocked her colleagues, Saggau said.

“We didn’t have any reason to suspect her,” he said, adding that the union’s board of directors has pledged to fully support the federal investigation.

Federal prosecutors said that in 2019, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted a parcel being sent to her home address that contained $5,000 worth of Tramadol, a synthetic opioid, and sent her a letter telling her they were seizing the pills. The next year, the CBP again intercepted a shipment of Tramadol valued at $700 and sent her a seizure letter, court records showed.

But federal officials didn’t start investigating Segovia until last year when investigators found her name and home address on the cellphone of a suspected drug dealer who is part of a network that ships controlled substances made in India to the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the complaint. That drug trafficking network has distributed hundreds of thousands of pills in 48 states, federal prosecutors said.

OPIOID DRUGS CAUSE MORE THAN HALF OF YOUNG CHILDREN’S POISONING DEATHS: NEW STUDY

Segovia used WhatsApp messaging service and her personal and office computers to order thousands of opioid tablets and other pills to her home and agreed to distribute the drugs elsewhere in the United States, prosecutors said.

On at least one occasion in 2021, Segovia shipped the illicit drugs to a North Carolina address by using the police union’s UPS account, prosecutors said. That address is linked to at least five illicit drug seizures, they said.

Investigators found hundreds of photographs in a WhatsApp chat on Segovai’s cellphone, including an image of the UPS shipping slip and another one of a computer screen showing a PayPal payment to an Indian name and Segovia’s police union business cards under it.

“Based on my training and experience, I know that shippers of controlled substances often send receipts and tracking numbers as proof that they in fact sent a package. I believe that the receipt provided by SEGOVIA was offered by her as proof that she sent a package to the North Carolina addressee,” David Vargas, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigation, wrote in the affidavit.

According to the complaint, Segovia continued to order controlled substances even after being interviewed by federal investigators in February. On March 13, federal agents seized a parcel in Kentucky, containing valeryl fentanyl, addressed to Segovia. The package allegedly originated from China three days earlier and declared its contents as a “clock,” prosecutors said.

California mom with suspected illicit ties allegedly kidnapped 2-year-old daughter: police

A California woman who had her daughter taken away from her by the state has abducted the two-year-old girl, police said Thursday.  Crystal Mendez was last seen with her daughter Tayana at an Oakland BART station, the San Jose Police Department said. The child was possibly taken from a residence, police said. Hours later, the … Continue reading California mom with suspected illicit ties allegedly kidnapped 2-year-old daughter: police

Shooting at California gas station leaves 8 people injured, 1 person dead: police

Eight people were shot, including one person who was killed, at a gas station in Oakland, California, Monday evening, according to police.

The incident occurred at a gas station at Seminary Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard at around 6 p.m. local time, the Oakland Police Department’s Kim Armstead said at a news conference.

Officers had responded to the scene to investigate a ShotSpotter activation and, upon their arrival, they learned of the shooting. Police did not find any victims when they arrived, but they did locate several casings.

“Shortly thereafter, our communications division received notification of multiple gunshot wound victims, who self-transported to local hospitals,” Armstead said.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA SHOOTING LEAVES AT LEAST 7 DEAD, OFFICIALS SAY: SUSPECT IN CUSTODY

Family members at Highland Hospital identified the deceased victim as 18-year-old Mario Navarro, according to KTVU.

It is unclear what led to the shooting. Police have not revealed information about any arrests or potential suspects.

Police said the seven surviving victims are in stable condition.

Investigators believe the shooting involved multiple gunmen, who may have fired their weapons from across the street. 

CALIFORNIA REELS FROM STRING OF MASS SHOOTINGS DESPITE HAVING SOME OF THE STRICTEST GUN LAWS IN US

Evidence was collected from two cars that may have been used to transport the gunshot victims to the hospital. 

The incident remains under investigation, police said.

Two men captured on video killing, mutilating cat in California

Two men were caught on tape killing and mutilating a stray cat in Pomona, California, and police remain on the lookout for the suspects.

The dark and grainy video shows two men stopping their vehicle in front of a business at 560 Union Avenue and fatally shooting a feline in the parking lot. The cat was initially seen flailing before it died.

The men then jump over the fence and approach the cat. One of the men takes out a sharp object and cuts the animal open as the other man records the incident on his cellphone.

CALIFORNIA MOM KILLED BABY BY SUFFOCATING HER DURING BREASTFEEDING, AUTHORITIES SAY

Store owners discovered the mutilated cat the next morning and alerted Pomona Police and the Inland Valley Humane Society.

“We’ve never had anything like this happen, it’s horrible,” Collin Lee of the Pomona business told FOX 11.

DRIVER IN WRONG-WAY WHITTIER CRASH RELEASED HOURS AFTER ARREST FOR ALLEGEDLY SLAMMING INTO SHERIFF’S RECRUITS

Authorities released surveillance video of the men and asked the public for help identifying them.

CFR Patio employees feed the feral cats in the area and have taken some of the felines home. But, they say, “we can’t take every one of them, so we try to take care of them here as much as we can.”

Some of the cats are pretty friendly, including the one that was killed, named Scruffy. Someone was preparing their home to take the cat with them.

The humane society has taken the cat’s body as evidence, and are watching security video from other businesses in the area to help with the investigation. 

California state senator says he remembers Paul Pelosi's alleged attacker from 2013 nudist protests

California state Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat, said that he remembers Paul Pelosi’s alleged attacker from nudist protests in 2013 relating to the implementation of a San Francisco ban on public nudity.

David DePape, 42, is accused of attacking Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in their San Francisco home early on Friday morning.

San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said DePape is being charged with attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary and other felony charges in relation to the attack, which took place after 2 a.m.

Police were responding to a wellbeing check when officers found DePape and Paul Pelosi struggling with a hammer, according to Scott, adding that the officers saw DePape take the hammer away from Paul Pelosi, who then “violently assaulted” him.

NANCY PELOSI’S HUSBAND PAUL PELOSI ATTACKED BY SUSPECT DAVID DEPAPE, WHO SHOUTED ‘WHERE IS NANCY?’: SOURCE

According to a law enforcement source, the suspect was shouting, “Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?”

Wiener, a California state senator in the San Francisco area, told Fox News Digital that he remembers DePape from pro-nudist protests in 2013.

“[DePape] looked very familiar to me from when we were dealing with public nudity issues in 2012/2013,” Wiener said. 

The protests came after Wiener sponsored legislation banning public nudity in 2012, according to ABC7.

Weiner said that DePape was associated with Gypsy Taub, who is a nudist activist in Berkeley.

“[DePape] was associated with this woman by the name of Gypsy Taub, who was like this very creepy person who, in addition to her activism around public nudity, she was a 9/11 denier,” Weiner said. “She was the ringleader, and she was extremely aggressive and creepy. … And I think he was one of the people in her work.”

PAUL PELOSI SAN FRANCISCO ATTACK: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT VIOLENT HOME INVASION

The California state senator said that Taub and DePape weren’t considered “regular” nudist activists, but “they were more aggressive” and “they were creepy.”

“I just want to, you know, be very clear, that they were in a different category than the regular [nudist activists],” Wiener said. 

DePape was tackled by police officers, who then took him into custody. Police are investigating a possible motive for the attack.

Drew Hammill, spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said in a statement on Friday afternoon that Paul Pelosi is expected to make a full recovery after undergoing surgery to repair a skull fracture as well as other injuries.

“Earlier this morning, Paul Pelosi was attacked at home by an assailant who acted with force, and threatened his life while demanding to see the Speaker,” Hammill said. “Mr. Pelosi was admitted to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital where he underwent successful surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands. His doctors expect a full recovery.”