SACRAMENTO — As California reported a record of nearly 35,500 positive coronavirus cases on Friday, there's a glimmer of hope: The state is awaiting the first batch of coronavirus vaccine and plans to distribute it to hospitals to inoculate healthcare workers on the front lines of the pandemic. The state...
California’s Health Order Falling on Many Deaf Ears
In the Southern California oceanside city of Manhattan Beach, one arm of government is urging residents to stay home except for essential needs while another is encouraging them to get out and shop and even providing places where they can sit down to relax, eat takeout and watch the sun...
Health Officials Urge L.A. Hospitals to Halt Elective Surgeries as COVID Soars
A top health official in California’s third-largest county is urging hospitals to cancel elective surgeries and implement plans to prepare for an onslaught of COVID-19 patients, as intensive care units fill up statewide amid spiking virus cases. Ambulances have been waiting for hours to unload patients because Orange County emergency...
Navy Searching for Sailor from Carrier USS Roosevelt Possibly Overboard Off San Diego
SAN DIEGO — Search crews combed the ocean off Southern California on Friday for a sailor who may have gone overboard from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. The search started Thursday morning after a lookout spotted what appeared to be a person in the water, a statement from the...
California Jobless Claims Still a ‘Black Hole’, Fresno Lawmaker Charges
A beleaguered California agency's attempt to stem an unemployment benefits scam potentially exceeding $2 billion while reducing a frustrating backlog is failing, two state lawmakers from opposing political parties said Thursday, though others reported fewer problems. Democratic Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, who heads the Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee, said...
Man Arrested After Taking Fresno College Instructor Hostage at Her Home
A Fresno City College student is in custody after taking his former instructor hostage at her home, police said Thursday. The rescue of the unidentified instructor unfolded Thursday morning, The Fresno Bee reported, with a retired Tulare County Sheriff’s deputy who lived nearby interceding with his firearm before police could arrive....
Environmentalists Blast Feds Over New Bakersfield Area Oil Leases
BAKERSFIELD — Oil and gas leases on federal public lands in California were put up for auction for the first time in eight years on Thursday, drawing protests from environmental organizations on grounds including threats to climate, human health and wildlife. The seven parcels put up for bid by the...
City vs. Strip Clubs. San Diego to Fight Ruling Blocking COVID Shutdowns.
SAN DIEGO — While California's new stay-at-home order has shut down restaurant dining, shuttered salons and kept church services outside, two strip clubs in San Diego are still welcoming patrons nightly, protected by a court order. San Diego County officials on Wednesday voted 3-2 to appeal the judge's ruling that...
Midway Through Plagued First Term, Newsom’s Career Hits Make-or-Break Point
Speaking to the camera from his home office during the final days of a family quarantine, Gov. Gavin Newsom seemed at times to be giving himself a pep talk, as much as encouraging 40 million Californians to hunker down amid a coronavirus spike threatening to overwhelm hospitals. “We will get through this,” the governor said last...
More California Counties on Lockdown as COVID-19 Explodes
LOS ANGELES — California's coronavirus surge has caused so many hospitalizations and deaths that the numbers brought usually stoic public health officers in major metropolitan areas to pleas — and even near to tears — as they urged people to heed safety rules. Los Angeles County, the nation's largest with...