A 28-year-old California woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to repeatedly punching a flight attendant in May, bloodying her face and chipping three teeth, federal prosecutors said, part of a surge in violent behavior by airline passengers in the past year.

The woman, Vyvianna M. Quinonez of Sacramento, California, was charged with interference with flight crew members and attendants, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said in a statement on Wednesday. She faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The assault unfolded toward the end of a Southwest Airlines flight from Sacramento to San Diego, prosecutors said. The flight attendant, who was not identified, had asked Quinonez to buckle her seat belt, put up her tray table and “wear her face mask properly,” the statement said.

Quinonez started filming the flight attendant on her phone and pushed the woman, prosecutors said.

The attack escalated from there, as captured on video by another passenger.

Quinonez, who was sitting in an aisle seat, stood up and punched the flight attendant in the face multiple times, according to the video. She also grabbed the flight attendant’s hair before the woman was able to move back up the aisle. Several passengers grabbed at Quinonez’s clothes to try to stop her, prosecutors said.

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A man then “jumped in between” Quinonez and the flight attendant, prosecutors said.

“Hey, you better sit down,” he said in the video, using an expletive.

Quinonez responded, but it was not clear in the video what she said. Her mask had not been covering her nose, but she pulled it up.

“Don’t you dare touch a flight attendant like that,” the man said in the video.

The flight attendant was covering her face as blood streamed from beneath her left eye, according to the video. She walked away into the galley as multiple passengers yelled at Quinonez. “A child is here,” one woman said, referring to a boy sitting in the row in front of Quinonez.

Prosecutors said the flight attendant was taken to a hospital with injuries that included a swollen eye, a bruised arm and a cut under her eye that had to be stitched. They said she also had three chipped teeth, two of which had to be replaced with crowns.

Southwest Airlines did not comment Wednesday night.

Quinonez is set to be sentenced March 11, prosecutors said. It was not clear if Quinonez had a lawyer, and she did not respond Wednesday to messages left at a number listed under her name.

“The flight attendant who was assaulted was simply doing her job,” Randy Grossman, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, said in the statement. “It’s inexcusable for anyone to use violence on an airplane for any reason.”

After the attack, both Southwest and American Airlines announced in May that they would continue a suspension of alcohol service on flights in an effort to stop the surge of unruly passenger behavior.

Since Jan. 1, the Federal Aviation Administration has received about 5,700 reports of unruly passengers, including more than 4,100 reports of passengers refusing to comply with a federal mandate that they wear masks on planes.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/scientists-discover-new-muscle-layer-in-human-jaw-that-helps-it-in-stabilisation-439376">Also read |&nbsp;Scientists discover new muscle layer in human jaw that helps it in stabilisation</a>

The FAA has fined several passengers tens of thousands of dollars this year for clashing with airline crews over mask requirements and other safety instructions. Earlier this year, the agency imposed a zero-tolerance policy for interfering with or assaulting flight attendants that carries a fine of up to $35,000 and possible jail time.

However, some say the new policy is not enough. In a statement in October, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants called on the FAA and the Department of Transportation to implement a central registry of sorts so that all U.S. airlines could ban rowdy passengers.

“We need to keep pushing,” the association said at the time. “We need more police in airports, increased fines for egregious behavior, and stronger, enforceable criminal penalties.”

A 28-year-old California woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to repeatedly punching a flight attendant in May, bloodying her face and chipping three teeth, federal prosecutors said, part of a surge in violent behavior by airline passengers in the past year.

A 28-year-old California woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to repeatedly punching a flight attendant in May, bloodying her face and chipping three teeth, federal prosecutors said, part of a surge in violent behavior by airline passengers in the past year. The woman, Vyvianna M. Quinonez of Sacramento, California, was charged with interference with flight crew members and attendants, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said in a statement on Wednesday. She faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The assault unfolded toward the end of a Southwest Airlines flight from Sacramento to San Diego, prosecutors said. The flight attendant, who was not identified, had asked Quinonez to buckle her seat belt, put up her tray table and “wear her face mask properly,” the statement said. Quinonez started filming the flight attendant on her phone and pushed the woman, prosecutors said. The attack escalated from there, as captured on video by another passenger. Quinonez, who was sitting in an aisle seat, stood up and punched the flight attendant in the face multiple times, according to the video. She also grabbed the flight attendant’s hair before the woman was able to move back up the aisle. Several passengers grabbed at Quinonez’s clothes to try to stop her, prosecutors said. Also read | Lickable TV: Japanese Professor creates screen that tastes good A man then “jumped in between” Quinonez and the flight attendant, prosecutors said. “Hey, you better sit down,” he said in the video, using an expletive. Quinonez responded, but it was not clear in the video what she said. Her mask had not been covering her nose, but she pulled it up. “Don’t you dare touch a flight attendant like that,” the man said in the video. The flight attendant was covering her face as blood streamed from beneath her left eye, according to the video. She walked away into the galley as multiple passengers yelled at Quinonez. “A child is here,” one woman said, referring to a boy sitting in the row in front of Quinonez. Prosecutors said the flight attendant was taken to a hospital with injuries that included a swollen eye, a bruised arm and a cut under her eye that had to be stitched. They said she also had three chipped teeth, two of which had to be replaced with crowns. Southwest Airlines did not comment Wednesday night. Quinonez is set to be sentenced March 11, prosecutors said. It was not clear if Quinonez had a lawyer, and she did not respond Wednesday to messages left at a number listed under her name. “The flight attendant who was assaulted was simply doing her job,” Randy Grossman, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, said in the statement. “It’s inexcusable for anyone to use violence on an airplane for any reason.” After the attack, both Southwest and American Airlines announced in May that they would continue a suspension of alcohol service on flights in an effort to stop the surge of unruly passenger behavior. Since Jan. 1, the Federal Aviation Administration has received about 5,700 reports of unruly passengers, including more than 4,100 reports of passengers refusing to comply with a federal mandate that they wear masks on planes. Also read | Scientists discover new muscle layer in human jaw that helps it in stabilisation The FAA has fined several passengers tens of thousands of dollars this year for clashing with airline crews over mask requirements and other safety instructions. Earlier this year, the agency imposed a zero-tolerance policy for interfering with or assaulting flight attendants that carries a fine of up to $35,000 and possible jail time. However, some say the new policy is not enough. In a statement in October, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants called on the FAA and the Department of Transportation to implement a central registry of sorts so that all U.S. airlines could ban rowdy passengers. “We need to keep pushing,” the association said at the time. “We need more police in airports, increased fines for egregious behavior, and stronger, enforceable criminal penalties.”

California woman pleads guilty to punching flight attendant in the face

On Monday, a strong 6.2 magnitude earthquake jolted the northern California coast. The disaster, which usually spurs panic among people, didn’t even faze the residents.

No major casualty, or injury was reported, and the day passed off with minimal panic.

The residents knew well in advance about the calamity that was to strike. This is thanks to America’s first public earthquake-warning app that gives “seconds to prepare”.

The app, known as ShakeAlert, is managed by the US Geological Survey (USGS) which sends an SMS alert to people seconds before an earthquake of 5.0 magnitude or larger is about to shake their location.

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It took 11.4 seconds for the first <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ShakeAlert?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ShakeAlert</a> Message data package to be produced by <a href="https://twitter.com/USGS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USGS</a>. The quake was estimated at M4.5. At this level alert delivery to cell phones by <a href="https://twitter.com/MyShakeApp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MyShakeApp</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Android?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Android</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ReadySanDiego?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ReadySanDiego</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/QuakeAlertUSA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@QuakeAlertUSA</a> was possible. <a href="https://twitter.com/Cal_OES?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Cal_OES</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CAGeoSurvey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CAGeoSurvey</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/USGS_Quakes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@USGS_Quakes</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZIDob71r0Z">pic.twitter.com/ZIDob71r0Z</a>
— USGS ShakeAlert (@USGS_ShakeAlert) <a href="https://twitter.com/USGS_ShakeAlert/status/1473351499736444928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 21, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The app, which is available for Android and Apple smartphones, only covers the Los Angeles county.

“We got some reports from folks that they got up to 10 seconds’ warning before they felt shaking. That’s pretty darn good,” Robert de Groot, a ShakeAlert coordinator with the USGS, told the Guardian.

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A 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit Northern California yesterday…here are some sad scenes from inside of a liquor store 😭 <a href="https://t.co/yowh4OZPq1">https://t.co/yowh4OZPq1</a> <a href="https://t.co/nPM6ukK9Dz">pic.twitter.com/nPM6ukK9Dz</a>
— Wu-Tang Is For The Children (@WUTangKids) <a href="https://twitter.com/WUTangKids/status/1473274743507898368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 21, 2021</a></blockquote>
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A data package is created from information provided by USGS sensors and – within seconds – shows up on phones. Some apps that provide alerts are available to download but even some who didn’t have an app on their phone were notified. Affected individuals are instructed to drop, cover, and hold on.

The earthquake occurred just after noon and was centred off the coast, near a tiny town called Petrolia that’s home to fewer than 1,000 people.

The USGS estimated economic losses of less than $10 million and no fatalities.

Photos showed shattered store windows, broken bottles falling&nbsp;into store aisles and tiles that had fallen loose from a commercial building’s ceiling.

The area last suffered an earthquake of a similar magnitude in 1993, when one person died, according to the USGS.

(With inputs from agencies)

On Monday, a strong 6.2 magnitude earthquake jolted the northern California coast. The disaster, which usually spurs panic among people, didn’t even faze the residents.

On Monday, a strong 6.2 magnitude earthquake jolted the northern California coast. The disaster, which usually spurs panic among people, didn’t even faze the residents. No major casualty, or injury was reported, and the day passed off with minimal panic. The residents knew well in advance about the calamity that was to strike. This is thanks to America’s first public earthquake-warning app that gives “seconds to prepare”. The app, known as ShakeAlert, is managed by the US Geological Survey (USGS) which sends an SMS alert to people seconds before an earthquake of 5.0 magnitude or larger is about to shake their location. It took 11.4 seconds for the first #ShakeAlert Message data package to be produced by @USGS. The quake was estimated at M4.5. At this level alert delivery to cell phones by @MyShakeApp, @Android, @ReadySanDiego or @QuakeAlertUSA was possible. @Cal_OES @CAGeoSurvey @USGS_Quakes pic.twitter.com/ZIDob71r0Z — USGS ShakeAlert (@USGS_ShakeAlert) December 21, 2021 × The app, which is available for Android and Apple smartphones, only covers the Los Angeles county. “We got some reports from folks that they got up to 10 seconds’ warning before they felt shaking. That’s pretty darn good,” Robert de Groot, a ShakeAlert coordinator with the USGS, told the Guardian. A 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit Northern California yesterday…here are some sad scenes from inside of a liquor store 😭 https://t.co/yowh4OZPq1 pic.twitter.com/nPM6ukK9Dz — Wu-Tang Is For The Children (@WUTangKids) December 21, 2021 × A data package is created from information provided by USGS sensors and – within seconds – shows up on phones. Some apps that provide alerts are available to download but even some who didn’t have an app on their phone were notified. Affected individuals are instructed to drop, cover, and hold on. The earthquake occurred just after noon and was centred off the coast, near a tiny town called Petrolia that’s home to fewer than 1,000 people. The USGS estimated economic losses of less than $10 million and no fatalities. Photos showed shattered store windows, broken bottles falling into store aisles and tiles that had fallen loose from a commercial building’s ceiling. The area last suffered an earthquake of a similar magnitude in 1993, when one person died, according to the USGS. (With inputs from agencies)

Moments before earthquake struck California, peoples’ phones were buzzed with warning

The omicron variant has taken the world by storm, there is not much known about the virus' effects but one does know that it is spreading fast. 24 countries have reported the presence of new covid-19 mutation, the latest to them is the United States.

United States: First Omicron infection detected in California

Following complaints of alleged incidents of harassment and discrimination, California is gearing up to investigate Google’s treatment of female Black employees.<o:p></o:p>

Experts at the California department of fair employment and housing (DFEH) have recently interviewed several Black women who have worked, or are working, at Google. These women were questioned about their experiences in the tech company, and if they have faced any form of harassment and/or discrimination.

<o:p>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/now-people-can-send-and-receive-messages-from-their-face-through-smart-glasses-437367">Now, people can send and receive messages from their face through smart glasses</a></o:p>

Analysts and attorneys of DFEH have not only interviewed the people who had filed a complaint against Google, but also several Black female employees who have been associated with the tech giant but had not filed a complaint. These women were also asked about their experiences to make sure the accounts of different match.<o:p></o:p>

These interviews happened almost a month ago, sources revealed to Reuters on condition of anonymity. <o:p></o:p>

Meanwhile, Google is trying to paint its image by stating that the tech giant is focused on "building sustainable equity" for all of its Black employees. "Our goal is to ensure that every employee experiences Google as an inclusive workplace," it said. "We'll continue to focus on this important work and thoroughly investigate any concerns, to make sure our workplace is representative and equitable."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/report-google-to-cut-pay-and-eventually-fire-unvaccinated-employees-437139">WATCH |</a>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/report-google-to-cut-pay-and-eventually-fire-unvaccinated-employees-437139/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

While Black men have been complaining about casual racism and intended discrimination for years now, as more and more Black women join workplaces and start speaking against such mistreatment, the experts are now looking at fixing these societal issues.<o:p></o:p>

Black women have been complaining that they were not being taken seriously in the Google workspace and were being ignored from some of the major projects.

<o:p></o:p>

​​​​​​​(With inputs from agencies)

Following complaints of alleged incidents of harassment and discrimination, California is gearing up to investigate Google’s treatment of female Black employees.

Following complaints of alleged incidents of harassment and discrimination, California is gearing up to investigate Google’s treatment of female Black employees. Experts at the California department of fair employment and housing (DFEH) have recently interviewed several Black women who have worked, or are working, at Google. These women were questioned about their experiences in the tech company, and if they have faced any form of harassment and/or discrimination. Also read | Now, people can send and receive messages from their face through smart glasses Analysts and attorneys of DFEH have not only interviewed the people who had filed a complaint against Google, but also several Black female employees who have been associated with the tech giant but had not filed a complaint. These women were also asked about their experiences to make sure the accounts of different match. These interviews happened almost a month ago, sources revealed to Reuters on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, Google is trying to paint its image by stating that the tech giant is focused on "building sustainable equity" for all of its Black employees. "Our goal is to ensure that every employee experiences Google as an inclusive workplace," it said. "We'll continue to focus on this important work and thoroughly investigate any concerns, to make sure our workplace is representative and equitable." WATCH | While Black men have been complaining about casual racism and intended discrimination for years now, as more and more Black women join workplaces and start speaking against such mistreatment, the experts are now looking at fixing these societal issues. Black women have been complaining that they were not being taken seriously in the Google workspace and were being ignored from some of the major projects. (With inputs from agencies)

California to investigate Google for treatment of Black female workers

A major storm has brought rain and snow to California. The extreme weather has disrupted travel sparking weather alert as well. Officials have urged people to stay indoors and avoid travel.

Heavy rains and snow batter California, officials issue weather alert

In a rare sighting, a sunfish was found basking in the sun by some paddleboarders off the coast of Laguna Beach, California recently. &nbsp;

Paddleboarders, Rich German and Matthew Wheaton, witnessed the astonishing moment. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/israeli-company-reveals-worlds-biggest-lab-grown-steak-435406" hreflang="en">Israeli company reveals world's biggest lab-grown steak</a>

Sunfish or mola mola live 60 to 120 miles offshore. They generally hunt at great depths where there is very cold water. Sometimes, it also comes to the surface to float motionless and hike its body temperature with the help of sun. &nbsp;

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In a social media post, German, said, "According to the internet, the largest one on record is 8 feet 11 inches. We didn’t have a measuring tape, but Matt’s board is 14-foot-long and the fish sure looked a solid 9 feet-plus. Always fun to witness one of these interesting creatures." &nbsp;

What’s special about the ocean sunfish is that it is also the world’s largest bony fish. It can reach a maximum weight of 5,000 pounds, as per the National Park Service. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/over-40-camels-barred-from-saudi-beauty-pageant-over-use-of-botox-touch-ups-435505" hreflang="en">Over 40 camels barred from Saudi ‘beauty’ pageant over use of Botox, touch-ups</a>

Sunfish many a time also get mistaken for sharks while swimming upright due to the way their dorsal fin rises from the water. &nbsp;

These aquatic animals generally dwell in near-shore oceans all over the globe. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

In a rare sighting, a sunfish was found basking in the sun by some paddleboarders off the coast of Laguna Beach, California recently. Paddleboarders, Rich German and Matthew Wheaton, witnessed the astonishing moment.

In a rare sighting, a sunfish was found basking in the sun by some paddleboarders off the coast of Laguna Beach, California recently. Paddleboarders, Rich German and Matthew Wheaton, witnessed the astonishing moment. Also Read: Israeli company reveals world's biggest lab-grown steak Sunfish or mola mola live 60 to 120 miles offshore. They generally hunt at great depths where there is very cold water. Sometimes, it also comes to the surface to float motionless and hike its body temperature with the help of sun. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rich German (@richgermanlb) × In a social media post, German, said, "According to the internet, the largest one on record is 8 feet 11 inches. We didn’t have a measuring tape, but Matt’s board is 14-foot-long and the fish sure looked a solid 9 feet-plus. Always fun to witness one of these interesting creatures." What’s special about the ocean sunfish is that it is also the world’s largest bony fish. It can reach a maximum weight of 5,000 pounds, as per the National Park Service. Also Read: Over 40 camels barred from Saudi ‘beauty’ pageant over use of Botox, touch-ups Sunfish many a time also get mistaken for sharks while swimming upright due to the way their dorsal fin rises from the water. These aquatic animals generally dwell in near-shore oceans all over the globe. (With inputs from agencies)

Off California coast in US, paddleboarders witness massive sunfish

California will soon enact the largest mandatory residential food waste recycling program in the US in January, an effort designed to cut down on organic waste and reduce the state’s methane emissions, locals welcome the move.

United States tackles food waste with largest recycling program

In a welcome move, the US makes it mandatory for most families residing in California state to recycle food scraps into compost or energy. Locals are happy with the rule and are ready to comply.

The US makes it mandatory for most people in California to recycle food scrap into compost or energy

California state police arrests the father-son duo responsible for raging the massive Caldor wildfire back in October that destroyed many homes and forced people to flee. However, the duo claims that it was an accident.

California state police arrests father-son duo for raging massive Caldor wildfire back in October

California's oil spill crisis has taken a bit of a toll on the commercial fishing industry and it is also affecting the tourism industry. It's been two months since the incident occurred.

United States: Officials to meet to evaluate oil crisis

Pictures of an ultra-rare deep-sea fish dubbed “deep-sea monster” has gone viral after a tourist spotted the creature washed ashore at a beach in California, US

On November 13, Jay Beiler was walking on Black’s Beach in Torrey Pines in San Diego when he spotted the “ultra-rare” species.

He initially thought that it was a jellyfish, but upon a closer look, he realised that it was something that he had never seen before.

The odd-looking creature piqued Beiler’s interest as he clicked three pictures of the creature&nbsp;and shared them with others.

The photos eventually ended up with scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who&nbsp;revealed that the creature was a Pacific footballfish.

In an interview to a local media, Beiler said that the creature was large, and its length was about a foot.

“I have never seen anything quite like this before,” Beiler told NBC 7 San Diego.

“At first, I thought it was a like a jellyfish or something, and then I went and looked at it a little more carefully, and some other people were gathered around it too, and then I saw that it was this very unusual fish. It’s the stuff of nightmares mouth almost looked bloody,”

Scientifically known as Himantolophidae, footballfish lives in waters that are 3,000-4,000 feet deep. The creature is mostly found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.

A professor of zoology, Johan Reinhardt, had first discovered the fish in 1837.

(With inputs from agencies)

Pictures of an ultra-rare deep-sea fish dubbed “deep-sea monster” has gone viral after a tourist spotted the creature washed ashore at a beach in California, US On November 13, Jay Beiler was walking on Black’s Beach in Torrey Pines in San Diego when he spotted the “ultra-rare” species.

Pictures of an ultra-rare deep-sea fish dubbed “deep-sea monster” has gone viral after a tourist spotted the creature washed ashore at a beach in California, US On November 13, Jay Beiler was walking on Black’s Beach in Torrey Pines in San Diego when he spotted the “ultra-rare” species. He initially thought that it was a jellyfish, but upon a closer look, he realised that it was something that he had never seen before. The odd-looking creature piqued Beiler’s interest as he clicked three pictures of the creature and shared them with others. The photos eventually ended up with scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who revealed that the creature was a Pacific footballfish. In an interview to a local media, Beiler said that the creature was large, and its length was about a foot. “I have never seen anything quite like this before,” Beiler told NBC 7 San Diego. “At first, I thought it was a like a jellyfish or something, and then I went and looked at it a little more carefully, and some other people were gathered around it too, and then I saw that it was this very unusual fish. It’s the stuff of nightmares mouth almost looked bloody,” Scientifically known as Himantolophidae, footballfish lives in waters that are 3,000-4,000 feet deep. The creature is mostly found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. A professor of zoology, Johan Reinhardt, had first discovered the fish in 1837. (With inputs from agencies)

‘Ultra-rare deep-sea’ footballfish washes ashore California beach

Wildfires in the US have resulted in the killing of thousands of giant sequoias as nearly 20 per cent of these trees have vanished in a time period of two years. Fires in California affected an estimated 2,261 to 3,637 sequoias. Last year, the same fire killed 7,500 to 10,400 of the 75,000 trees.

Clay Jordan, superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, "The sobering reality is that we have seen another huge loss within a finite population of these iconic trees that are irreplaceable in many lifetimes."

“As spectacular as these trees are, we really can’t take them for granted. To ensure that they’re around for our kids and grandkids and great-grandkids, some action is necessary.”

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/california-wildfires-reach-edge-of-sequoia-grove-home-to-worlds-largest-tree-414101">Also read |&nbsp;California wildfires reach edge of sequoia grove, home to world's largest tree</a>

In September the General Sherman Tree, which is the largest living thing on Earth was foiled with fire. Two lightning-sparked wildfires in California merged and made a run to the edge of a grove of ancient sequoias. This happened as people tried to protect the world’s largest tree by wrapping its base in protective foil.

The flames reached the westernmost tip of the Giant Forest, scorching a grouping of sequoias known as the Four Guardsmen.

This further led to the entrance to the grove of 2,000 sequoias.

California has been experiencing megafires in the last few years as a result of climate change. &nbsp;In 2017, two fires killed more giant sequoias. This came as a warning for what was about to come.&nbsp;

Wildfires in the US have resulted in the killing of thousands of giant sequoias as nearly 20 per cent of these trees have vanished in a time period of two years.

Wildfires in the US have resulted in the killing of thousands of giant sequoias as nearly 20 per cent of these trees have vanished in a time period of two years. Fires in California affected an estimated 2,261 to 3,637 sequoias. Last year, the same fire killed 7,500 to 10,400 of the 75,000 trees. Clay Jordan, superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, "The sobering reality is that we have seen another huge loss within a finite population of these iconic trees that are irreplaceable in many lifetimes." “As spectacular as these trees are, we really can’t take them for granted. To ensure that they’re around for our kids and grandkids and great-grandkids, some action is necessary.” Also read | California wildfires reach edge of sequoia grove, home to world's largest tree In September the General Sherman Tree, which is the largest living thing on Earth was foiled with fire. Two lightning-sparked wildfires in California merged and made a run to the edge of a grove of ancient sequoias. This happened as people tried to protect the world’s largest tree by wrapping its base in protective foil. The flames reached the westernmost tip of the Giant Forest, scorching a grouping of sequoias known as the Four Guardsmen. This further led to the entrance to the grove of 2,000 sequoias. California has been experiencing megafires in the last few years as a result of climate change. In 2017, two fires killed more giant sequoias. This came as a warning for what was about to come.

California wildfires have killed 20% of giant sequoias over a time span of 2 years

California energy commission has issued a 1-point-4 billion dollars plan to help the state achieve its electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refuelling goals. The budget will be allocated in phases in next three years.

California energy commission issues 1-point-4 billion dollars plan

The Supreme Court appears likely to rule against a New York law that imposes strict limits on who can carry guns in public, which could radically reshape the nation’s relationship with guns.

This is undoubtedly a big deal — the court’s first major Second Amendment case in more than decade — but you might be wondering what it has to do with California.

Well, California is one of a few states with concealed carry restrictions similar to New York’s. So the fate of our state’s law, which greatly limits the number of people here with weapons in public, hinges on the Supreme Court decision.

“If the New York law fails, then basically, automatically California’s law is also invalid,” Gabriel Chin, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, told me.

Such a change would probably lead to a major jump in the number of Californians able to carry guns in public, particularly in places where concealed carry permits are currently rare, such as the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego.

How we got here

Since the early 1980s, states have been relaxing gun laws and making it easier for people to carry loaded weapons in public.

Most Americans now live in a state that either doesn’t require a permit to carry a concealed weapon or that grants one to anyone who meets basic criteria, such as passing a background check and being older than 21.

Between 1999 and 2016, the number of Americans with concealed carry permits skyrocketed to more than 14.5 million from 2.7 million.

But about seven states — home to a quarter of the U.S. population — have retained laws that make it tougher to obtain the permits.

In California and New York, for example, people who want to carry a weapon in public must show a specific reason they need a gun more than the average person, such as an ongoing threat to their safety. This “good cause” criteria gives officials discretion to deny concealed carry permits if they don’t think the applicant deserves one.

And that is what’s at issue in the Supreme Court case — whether New York’s limitations on who can obtain concealed carry permits violates the Second Amendment. The plaintiffs in the case received licenses to carry weapons for hunting but were denied permission to keep guns on them at all times because they couldn’t prove they had a special need for them.

Similar gun lawsuits have been taken up by lower courts in recent years, but the Supreme Court has declined to weigh in until now, following recent appointments of conservative justices.

“The question has to be, ‘Why did they do so now?’” Chin said. “And I think the answer is that now they’re confident about how it’s going to come out.”

How this could play out in California

Currently, about 120,000 Californians have concealed carry permits. But they’re heavily concentrated in San Bernardino, Shasta, Fresno, Orange, Sacramento and Kern counties.

That’s because law enforcement officials in each county determine who can receive a permit. In Fresno County, where more people are authorized to carry a weapon than anywhere else in the state, the sheriff sometimes carries the paper applications around and hands them out to encourage people to apply, according to The Fresno Bee.

By contrast, in San Francisco, there are only two active concealed carry permits in the whole city. And while Los Angeles County accounts for more than 25% of the state’s population, it’s home to less than half a percent of California’s concealed carry permits.

If the New York law (and therefore the California law) is found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, the California Legislature is likely to try to find other ways to regulate guns, experts say. Intense political will here has led California to enact more gun control laws than any other state.

But still, without a “good cause” provision, California counties would in most cases be unable to deny concealed carry permits to people who want them.

“The fact that there are just a handful of permits in San Francisco County and Los Angeles County isn’t because of a lack of desire for concealed carry permits — it’s because of the restrictive policy,” Chin said. “I think there’s a high probability that in the near future we’re going to have a lot more permits.”

The Supreme Court appears likely to rule against a New York law that imposes strict limits on who can carry guns in public, which could radically reshape the nation’s relationship with guns.

The Supreme Court appears likely to rule against a New York law that imposes strict limits on who can carry guns in public, which could radically reshape the nation’s relationship with guns. This is undoubtedly a big deal — the court’s first major Second Amendment case in more than decade — but you might be wondering what it has to do with California. Well, California is one of a few states with concealed carry restrictions similar to New York’s. So the fate of our state’s law, which greatly limits the number of people here with weapons in public, hinges on the Supreme Court decision. “If the New York law fails, then basically, automatically California’s law is also invalid,” Gabriel Chin, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, told me. Such a change would probably lead to a major jump in the number of Californians able to carry guns in public, particularly in places where concealed carry permits are currently rare, such as the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego. How we got here Since the early 1980s, states have been relaxing gun laws and making it easier for people to carry loaded weapons in public. Most Americans now live in a state that either doesn’t require a permit to carry a concealed weapon or that grants one to anyone who meets basic criteria, such as passing a background check and being older than 21. Between 1999 and 2016, the number of Americans with concealed carry permits skyrocketed to more than 14.5 million from 2.7 million. But about seven states — home to a quarter of the U.S. population — have retained laws that make it tougher to obtain the permits. In California and New York, for example, people who want to carry a weapon in public must show a specific reason they need a gun more than the average person, such as an ongoing threat to their safety. This “good cause” criteria gives officials discretion to deny concealed carry permits if they don’t think the applicant deserves one. And that is what’s at issue in the Supreme Court case — whether New York’s limitations on who can obtain concealed carry permits violates the Second Amendment. The plaintiffs in the case received licenses to carry weapons for hunting but were denied permission to keep guns on them at all times because they couldn’t prove they had a special need for them. Similar gun lawsuits have been taken up by lower courts in recent years, but the Supreme Court has declined to weigh in until now, following recent appointments of conservative justices. “The question has to be, ‘Why did they do so now?’” Chin said. “And I think the answer is that now they’re confident about how it’s going to come out.” How this could play out in California Currently, about 120,000 Californians have concealed carry permits. But they’re heavily concentrated in San Bernardino, Shasta, Fresno, Orange, Sacramento and Kern counties. That’s because law enforcement officials in each county determine who can receive a permit. In Fresno County, where more people are authorized to carry a weapon than anywhere else in the state, the sheriff sometimes carries the paper applications around and hands them out to encourage people to apply, according to The Fresno Bee. By contrast, in San Francisco, there are only two active concealed carry permits in the whole city. And while Los Angeles County accounts for more than 25% of the state’s population, it’s home to less than half a percent of California’s concealed carry permits. If the New York law (and therefore the California law) is found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, the California Legislature is likely to try to find other ways to regulate guns, experts say. Intense political will here has led California to enact more gun control laws than any other state. But still, without a “good cause” provision, California counties would in most cases be unable to deny concealed carry permits to people who want them. “The fact that there are just a handful of permits in San Francisco County and Los Angeles County isn’t because of a lack of desire for concealed carry permits — it’s because of the restrictive policy,” Chin said. “I think there’s a high probability that in the near future we’re going to have a lot more permits.”

How the SC’s gun case could affect California

If everything had gone according to plan, California would have approved new guidelines this month for math education in public schools.

But ever since a draft was opened for public comment in February, the recommendations have set off a fierce debate over not only how to teach math, but also how to solve a problem more intractable than Fermat’s last theorem: closing the racial and socioeconomic disparities in achievement that persist at every level of math education.

The California guidelines, which are not binding, could overhaul the way many school districts approach math instruction. The draft rejected the idea of naturally gifted children, recommended against shifting certain students into accelerated courses in middle school and tried to promote high-level math courses that could serve as alternatives to calculus, such as data science or statistics.

The draft also suggested that math should not be colorblind and that teachers could use lessons to explore social justice — for example, by looking out for gender stereotypes in word problems, or applying math concepts to topics such as immigration or inequality.

The battle over math comes at a time when education policy, on issues including masks, testing and teaching about racism, has become entangled in bitter partisan debates. The Republican candidate for governor in Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, seized on those issues to help propel him to victory Tuesday. Now, Republicans are discussing how these education issues can help them in the midterm elections next year.

Even in heavily Democratic California — a state with 6 million public school students and an outsize influence on textbook publishing nationwide — the draft guidelines encountered scathing criticism, with charges that the framework would inject “woke” politics into a subject that is supposed to be practical and precise.

“People will really go to battle for maths to stay the same,” said Jo Boaler, a professor of education at Stanford University who is working on the revision. “Even parents who hated maths in school will argue to keep it the same for their kids.”

The battle over math pedagogy is a tale as old as multiplication tables. An idea called “new math,” pitched as a more conceptual approach to the subject, had its heyday in the 1960s. About a decade ago, amid debates over the national Common Core standards, many parents bemoaned math exercises that they said seemed to dump line-by-line computation in favor of veritable hieroglyphs.

Today, the battles over the California guidelines are circling around a fundamental question: What, or whom, is math for?

Testing results regularly show that math students in the United States are lagging behind those in other industrialized nations. And within the country, there is a persistent racial gap in achievement. According to data from the civil rights office of the Education Department, Black students represented about 16% of high school students but 8% of those enrolled in calculus during the 2015-16 school year. White and Asian students were overrepresented in high-level courses.

“We have a state and nation that hates math and is not doing well with it,” Boaler said.

Critics of the draft said the authors would punish high achievers by limiting options for gifted programs. An open letter signed by hundreds of Californians working in science and technology described the draft as “an endless river of new pedagogical fads that effectively distort and displace actual math.”

Williamson M. Evers, a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and a former official with the Education Department during the administration of George W. Bush, was one of the authors of the letter and objected to the idea that math could be a tool for social activism.

“I think that’s really not right,” he said in an interview. “Math is math. Two plus two equals four.”

Distress over the draft made it to Fox News. In May, Boaler’s name and photograph were featured on an episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” an appearance she did not know about until she began receiving nasty letters from strangers.

Like some of the attempted reforms of decades past, the draft of the California guidelines favored a more conceptual approach to learning: more collaborating and problem-solving, less memorizing formulas.

It also promoted something called de-tracking, which keeps students together longer instead of separating high achievers into advanced classes before high school.

The San Francisco Unified School District already does something similar. There, middle school math students are not split up but rather take integrated courses meant to build their understanding year by year, although older high school students can still opt into high-level classes such as calculus.

Sophia Alemayehu, 16, a high school junior in San Francisco, advanced along that integrated track even though she did not always consider herself a gifted math student. She is now taking advanced calculus.

“In eighth and ninth grade, I had teachers tell me, ‘Oh, you’re actually really good at the material,’” she said. “So it made me think, maybe I’m good at math.”

The model has been in place since 2014, yielding a few years of data on retention and diversity that has been picked over by experts on both sides of the de-tracking debate. And while the data is complicated by numerous variables — a pandemic now among them — those who support San Francisco’s model say it has led to more students, and a more diverse set of students, taking advanced courses, without bringing down high achievers.

“You’ll hear people say that it’s the least common denominator that discourages gifted kids from advancing,” said Elizabeth Hull Barnes, the math supervisor for the district. “And then it’s like, nope, our data refutes that.”

But Evers, the former Education Department official, pointed to research suggesting that the data on math achievement in places such as San Francisco was more cherry-picked than conclusive. He added that California’s proposed framework could take a more nuanced approach to de-tracking, which he saw as a blunt tool that did not take the needs of individual districts into account.

Other critics of de-tracking say that it amounts to a drag on children who would benefit from challenging material and that it can hurt struggling students who might need more targeted instruction.

Divya Chhabra, a middle school math teacher in Dublin, California, said the state should focus more on the quality of instruction by finding or training more certified, experienced teachers.

Without that, she said, students with potential would quickly fall behind, and it would only hurt them further to take away options for advanced learning. “I feel so bad for these students,” Chhabra said. “We are cutting the legs of the students to make them equal to those who are not doing well in math.”

Tracking is part of a larger debate about access to college. Under the current system, students who are not placed in accelerated courses by middle school may never get the opportunity to take calculus, which has long been an informal gatekeeper for acceptance to selective schools.

According to data from the Education Department, calculus is not even offered in most schools that serve a large number of Black and Latino students.

The role of calculus has been a talking point among math educators for years, said Trena Wilkerson, president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. “If calculus is not the be-all, end-all thing, then we need everyone to understand what the different pathways can be and how to prepare students for the future,” she said.

California’s recommendations aim to expand the options for high-level math, so that students could take courses in, say, data science or statistics without losing their edge on college applications. (The move requires buy-in from colleges; in recent years, the University of California system has deemphasized the importance of calculus credits.)

For now, the revision process has reached a sort of interlude: The draft is being revised before another round of public comment, and it will not be until late spring, or maybe summer, that the state’s education board will decide whether to give its stamp of approval.

But even after that, districts will be free to opt out of the state’s recommendations. And in places that opt in, academic outcomes — in the form of test scores, retention rates and college readiness — will add to the stormy sea of data about what kinds of math instruction work best.

In other words, the conversation is far from over.

“We’ve had a really hard time overhauling math instruction in this country,” said Linda Darling-Hammond, president of California’s board of education. “We cannot ration well-taught, thoughtful mathematics to only a few people. We have to make it widely available. In that sense, I don’t disagree that it’s a social justice issue.”

If everything had gone according to plan, California would have approved new guidelines this month for math education in public schools. But ever since a draft was opened for public comment in February, the recommendations have set off a fierce debate over not only how to teach math, but also how to solve a problem more intractable than Fermat’s last theorem: closing the racial and socioeconomic disparities in achievement that persist at every level of math education.

If everything had gone according to plan, California would have approved new guidelines this month for math education in public schools. But ever since a draft was opened for public comment in February, the recommendations have set off a fierce debate over not only how to teach math, but also how to solve a problem more intractable than Fermat’s last theorem: closing the racial and socioeconomic disparities in achievement that persist at every level of math education. The California guidelines, which are not binding, could overhaul the way many school districts approach math instruction. The draft rejected the idea of naturally gifted children, recommended against shifting certain students into accelerated courses in middle school and tried to promote high-level math courses that could serve as alternatives to calculus, such as data science or statistics. The draft also suggested that math should not be colorblind and that teachers could use lessons to explore social justice — for example, by looking out for gender stereotypes in word problems, or applying math concepts to topics such as immigration or inequality. The battle over math comes at a time when education policy, on issues including masks, testing and teaching about racism, has become entangled in bitter partisan debates. The Republican candidate for governor in Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, seized on those issues to help propel him to victory Tuesday. Now, Republicans are discussing how these education issues can help them in the midterm elections next year. Even in heavily Democratic California — a state with 6 million public school students and an outsize influence on textbook publishing nationwide — the draft guidelines encountered scathing criticism, with charges that the framework would inject “woke” politics into a subject that is supposed to be practical and precise. “People will really go to battle for maths to stay the same,” said Jo Boaler, a professor of education at Stanford University who is working on the revision. “Even parents who hated maths in school will argue to keep it the same for their kids.” The battle over math pedagogy is a tale as old as multiplication tables. An idea called “new math,” pitched as a more conceptual approach to the subject, had its heyday in the 1960s. About a decade ago, amid debates over the national Common Core standards, many parents bemoaned math exercises that they said seemed to dump line-by-line computation in favor of veritable hieroglyphs. Today, the battles over the California guidelines are circling around a fundamental question: What, or whom, is math for? Testing results regularly show that math students in the United States are lagging behind those in other industrialized nations. And within the country, there is a persistent racial gap in achievement. According to data from the civil rights office of the Education Department, Black students represented about 16% of high school students but 8% of those enrolled in calculus during the 2015-16 school year. White and Asian students were overrepresented in high-level courses. “We have a state and nation that hates math and is not doing well with it,” Boaler said. Critics of the draft said the authors would punish high achievers by limiting options for gifted programs. An open letter signed by hundreds of Californians working in science and technology described the draft as “an endless river of new pedagogical fads that effectively distort and displace actual math.” Williamson M. Evers, a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and a former official with the Education Department during the administration of George W. Bush, was one of the authors of the letter and objected to the idea that math could be a tool for social activism. “I think that’s really not right,” he said in an interview. “Math is math. Two plus two equals four.” Distress over the draft made it to Fox News. In May, Boaler’s name and photograph were featured on an episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” an appearance she did not know about until she began receiving nasty letters from strangers. Like some of the attempted reforms of decades past, the draft of the California guidelines favored a more conceptual approach to learning: more collaborating and problem-solving, less memorizing formulas. It also promoted something called de-tracking, which keeps students together longer instead of separating high achievers into advanced classes before high school. The San Francisco Unified School District already does something similar. There, middle school math students are not split up but rather take integrated courses meant to build their understanding year by year, although older high school students can still opt into high-level classes such as calculus. Sophia Alemayehu, 16, a high school junior in San Francisco, advanced along that integrated track even though she did not always consider herself a gifted math student. She is now taking advanced calculus. “In eighth and ninth grade, I had teachers tell me, ‘Oh, you’re actually really good at the material,’” she said. “So it made me think, maybe I’m good at math.” The model has been in place since 2014, yielding a few years of data on retention and diversity that has been picked over by experts on both sides of the de-tracking debate. And while the data is complicated by numerous variables — a pandemic now among them — those who support San Francisco’s model say it has led to more students, and a more diverse set of students, taking advanced courses, without bringing down high achievers. “You’ll hear people say that it’s the least common denominator that discourages gifted kids from advancing,” said Elizabeth Hull Barnes, the math supervisor for the district. “And then it’s like, nope, our data refutes that.” But Evers, the former Education Department official, pointed to research suggesting that the data on math achievement in places such as San Francisco was more cherry-picked than conclusive. He added that California’s proposed framework could take a more nuanced approach to de-tracking, which he saw as a blunt tool that did not take the needs of individual districts into account. Other critics of de-tracking say that it amounts to a drag on children who would benefit from challenging material and that it can hurt struggling students who might need more targeted instruction. Divya Chhabra, a middle school math teacher in Dublin, California, said the state should focus more on the quality of instruction by finding or training more certified, experienced teachers. Without that, she said, students with potential would quickly fall behind, and it would only hurt them further to take away options for advanced learning. “I feel so bad for these students,” Chhabra said. “We are cutting the legs of the students to make them equal to those who are not doing well in math.” Tracking is part of a larger debate about access to college. Under the current system, students who are not placed in accelerated courses by middle school may never get the opportunity to take calculus, which has long been an informal gatekeeper for acceptance to selective schools. According to data from the Education Department, calculus is not even offered in most schools that serve a large number of Black and Latino students. The role of calculus has been a talking point among math educators for years, said Trena Wilkerson, president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. “If calculus is not the be-all, end-all thing, then we need everyone to understand what the different pathways can be and how to prepare students for the future,” she said. California’s recommendations aim to expand the options for high-level math, so that students could take courses in, say, data science or statistics without losing their edge on college applications. (The move requires buy-in from colleges; in recent years, the University of California system has deemphasized the importance of calculus credits.) For now, the revision process has reached a sort of interlude: The draft is being revised before another round of public comment, and it will not be until late spring, or maybe summer, that the state’s education board will decide whether to give its stamp of approval. But even after that, districts will be free to opt out of the state’s recommendations. And in places that opt in, academic outcomes — in the form of test scores, retention rates and college readiness — will add to the stormy sea of data about what kinds of math instruction work best. In other words, the conversation is far from over. “We’ve had a really hard time overhauling math instruction in this country,” said Linda Darling-Hammond, president of California’s board of education. “We cannot ration well-taught, thoughtful mathematics to only a few people. We have to make it widely available. In that sense, I don’t disagree that it’s a social justice issue.”

Should social justice be part of math education?

Four manufacturers of prescription opioids won the pharmaceutical industry’s first major legal victory in the opioid crisis, turning aside claims by local California governments that they contributed substantially to the epidemic.

In a bench trial decision late Monday, a state judge flatly rejected a legal argument being employed in thousands of cases against the industry over its role in an epidemic of abuse that, according to federal data, has contributed to the deaths of some 500,000 people in the United States since the late 1990s and grown worse during the pandemic.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/jj-to-stop-selling-opioids-in-us-reaches-usd-230-mn-settlement-394318">J&amp;J to stop selling opioids in US, reaches USD 230 mn settlement</a>

“There is simply no evidence to show that the rise in prescriptions was not the result of the medically appropriate provision of pain medications to patients in need,” wrote Judge Peter Wilson of Orange County State Superior Court, who presided over a four-month bench trial.

The manufacturers include Johnson &amp; Johnson, which has a nationwide opioids settlement offer pending; Teva, a maker of generic opioids based in Israel; Allergan, a subsidiary of AbbVie; and Endo Pharmaceuticals.

Brought by the counties of Santa Clara, Los Angeles and Orange and the city of Oakland, the case, filed in 2014, was one of the first to demand that drug manufacturers be held accountable for the ongoing epidemic.

The legal issue before Wilson was whether the companies were liable for creating “a public nuisance,” an argument put forth by the local California governments as well as most plaintiffs pursuing cases against the industry in state and federal courts across the country.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/study-finds-that-humans-climate-change-are-largely-responsible-for-fires-in-us-west-426227" hreflang="en">Study finds that humans, climate change are largely responsible for fires in US west</a>

Even if the companies perpetrated false or misleading marketing, wrote Wilson, “any adverse downstream consequences flowing from&nbsp;medically&nbsp;appropriate&nbsp;prescriptions cannot constitute an actionable public nuisance.” He also emphasized that neither he nor the companies disputed the gravity of the opioid epidemic.

Essentially, he said that the plaintiffs could not distinguish the rise in legitimate prescriptions of federally approved pain medications from those prescriptions that were illegitimate or otherwise ill-gotten.

Even if the judge could infer that the rise in opioid prescriptions must have logically included the medically inappropriate ones, he wrote, the plaintiffs did not offer evidence to show that, “without rank speculation,” the volume of those prescriptions helped create the public nuisance and, if so, to what extent.

The ruling underscored what legal experts have asserted from the outset about the opioid litigation: that apportioning responsibility will be very difficult because opioids pass through so many entities — including manufacturers, medical supply distributors, doctors and pharmacies, including big-box retailers — before reaching a patient. Crucially, the medication is federally approved. Moreover, establishing a nexus between the corporate entities and the substantial illegal trafficking of opioids is also very challenging.

Adam Zimmerman, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles who studies mass litigation, said that it was difficult to predict whether the ruling was an outlier because so few cases have been decided among thousands that are employing similar legal strategies by both sides. Nevertheless, he said: “It’s the first defense win so it suggests that maybe as these cases are litigated instead of being settled there are opportunities for defendants to score victories.”

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/tokyo-train-attack-man-dressed-as-joker-wanted-to-kill-lots-of-people-426163" hreflang="en">Tokyo train attack: Man dressed as 'Joker' wanted to 'kill lots of people'</a>

He noted that the plaintiffs’ approach was to rely heavily on statistical modelling of pill volume, overdoses and deaths rather than producing individual prescriptions and tying them to outcomes.

“The defendants have said over and over again that the plaintiffs need to establish with precision exactly what illegal marketing behaviour of theirs caused the opioid epidemic or whether the crisis would have just emerged anyway,” Zimmerman said. But other judges, he said, may find the plaintiffs’ macro approach persuasive.

Indeed an Oklahoma state judge presiding over a 2019 bench trial against Johnson &amp; Johnson ruled against the company, finding it liable for $465 million, a decision that is currently on appeal. In July, the company proposed a nationwide settlement of $5 billion over nine years, pending approval by plaintiffs in thousands of cases. At the time, the California plaintiffs chose not to participate because of their ongoing trial.

Wilson’s decision is labelled “tentative,” a procedural term, although in practice it is final. The plaintiffs have already announced they will appeal and noted that this is just one state case among thousands that have been filed.

“The people of California will have their opportunity to pursue justice on appeal and ensure no opioid manufacturer can engage in reckless corporate practices that compromise public health in the state for their own profit,” the lawyers said in a statement.

The plaintiffs originally named Purdue Pharma as the first defendant in the case, but the company filed for bankruptcy protection and restructuring.

The remaining companies in the case hailed the ruling.

“The court’s thorough and thoughtful opinion reflects the evidence as it came in over months of testimony,” Endo said in a written statement. “Endo did not make false or misleading statements, and Endo’s lawful conduct did not cause the widespread public nuisance at issue in plaintiffs’ complaint.”

Teva said, in a statement, that “a clear win for the many patients in the US&nbsp;who suffer from opioid addiction will only come when comprehensive settlements are finalized and resources are made available to all who need them.”

Watch |&nbsp;Four drug firms agree to pay $26bn in proposed US opioid settlement

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/four-drug-firms-agree-to-pay-26bn-in-proposed-us-opioid-settlement-399662/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Teva and Allergan are currently on trial in New York, the first jury trial in an opioids case; both Endo and Johnson &amp; Johnson have already settled in that case. Pharmacy chains are facing a jury trial in a federal Ohio court. A recently concluded bench trial brought by local West Virginia governments against distributors awaits a federal judge’s decision. Washington state’s trial against Johnson &amp; Johnson is scheduled for early next year.

Johnson &amp; Johnson, referring to its pharmaceutical division, Janssen, which made its opioids, said: “The well-reasoned tentative decision reflects the facts of the case: Janssen’s actions relating to the marketing and promotion of its important prescription pain medications were appropriate and responsible and did not cause any public nuisance.”

Four manufacturers of prescription opioids won the pharmaceutical industry’s first major legal victory in the opioid crisis, turning aside claims by local California governments that they contributed substantially to the epidemic.

Four manufacturers of prescription opioids won the pharmaceutical industry’s first major legal victory in the opioid crisis, turning aside claims by local California governments that they contributed substantially to the epidemic. In a bench trial decision late Monday, a state judge flatly rejected a legal argument being employed in thousands of cases against the industry over its role in an epidemic of abuse that, according to federal data, has contributed to the deaths of some 500,000 people in the United States since the late 1990s and grown worse during the pandemic. Also read | J&J to stop selling opioids in US, reaches USD 230 mn settlement “There is simply no evidence to show that the rise in prescriptions was not the result of the medically appropriate provision of pain medications to patients in need,” wrote Judge Peter Wilson of Orange County State Superior Court, who presided over a four-month bench trial. The manufacturers include Johnson & Johnson, which has a nationwide opioids settlement offer pending; Teva, a maker of generic opioids based in Israel; Allergan, a subsidiary of AbbVie; and Endo Pharmaceuticals. Brought by the counties of Santa Clara, Los Angeles and Orange and the city of Oakland, the case, filed in 2014, was one of the first to demand that drug manufacturers be held accountable for the ongoing epidemic. The legal issue before Wilson was whether the companies were liable for creating “a public nuisance,” an argument put forth by the local California governments as well as most plaintiffs pursuing cases against the industry in state and federal courts across the country. Also read | Study finds that humans, climate change are largely responsible for fires in US west Even if the companies perpetrated false or misleading marketing, wrote Wilson, “any adverse downstream consequences flowing from medically appropriate prescriptions cannot constitute an actionable public nuisance.” He also emphasized that neither he nor the companies disputed the gravity of the opioid epidemic. Essentially, he said that the plaintiffs could not distinguish the rise in legitimate prescriptions of federally approved pain medications from those prescriptions that were illegitimate or otherwise ill-gotten. Even if the judge could infer that the rise in opioid prescriptions must have logically included the medically inappropriate ones, he wrote, the plaintiffs did not offer evidence to show that, “without rank speculation,” the volume of those prescriptions helped create the public nuisance and, if so, to what extent. The ruling underscored what legal experts have asserted from the outset about the opioid litigation: that apportioning responsibility will be very difficult because opioids pass through so many entities — including manufacturers, medical supply distributors, doctors and pharmacies, including big-box retailers — before reaching a patient. Crucially, the medication is federally approved. Moreover, establishing a nexus between the corporate entities and the substantial illegal trafficking of opioids is also very challenging. Adam Zimmerman, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles who studies mass litigation, said that it was difficult to predict whether the ruling was an outlier because so few cases have been decided among thousands that are employing similar legal strategies by both sides. Nevertheless, he said: “It’s the first defense win so it suggests that maybe as these cases are litigated instead of being settled there are opportunities for defendants to score victories.” Also read | Tokyo train attack: Man dressed as 'Joker' wanted to 'kill lots of people' He noted that the plaintiffs’ approach was to rely heavily on statistical modelling of pill volume, overdoses and deaths rather than producing individual prescriptions and tying them to outcomes. “The defendants have said over and over again that the plaintiffs need to establish with precision exactly what illegal marketing behaviour of theirs caused the opioid epidemic or whether the crisis would have just emerged anyway,” Zimmerman said. But other judges, he said, may find the plaintiffs’ macro approach persuasive. Indeed an Oklahoma state judge presiding over a 2019 bench trial against Johnson & Johnson ruled against the company, finding it liable for $465 million, a decision that is currently on appeal. In July, the company proposed a nationwide settlement of $5 billion over nine years, pending approval by plaintiffs in thousands of cases. At the time, the California plaintiffs chose not to participate because of their ongoing trial. Wilson’s decision is labelled “tentative,” a procedural term, although in practice it is final. The plaintiffs have already announced they will appeal and noted that this is just one state case among thousands that have been filed. “The people of California will have their opportunity to pursue justice on appeal and ensure no opioid manufacturer can engage in reckless corporate practices that compromise public health in the state for their own profit,” the lawyers said in a statement. The plaintiffs originally named Purdue Pharma as the first defendant in the case, but the company filed for bankruptcy protection and restructuring. The remaining companies in the case hailed the ruling. “The court’s thorough and thoughtful opinion reflects the evidence as it came in over months of testimony,” Endo said in a written statement. “Endo did not make false or misleading statements, and Endo’s lawful conduct did not cause the widespread public nuisance at issue in plaintiffs’ complaint.” Teva said, in a statement, that “a clear win for the many patients in the US who suffer from opioid addiction will only come when comprehensive settlements are finalized and resources are made available to all who need them.” Watch | Four drug firms agree to pay $26bn in proposed US opioid settlement Teva and Allergan are currently on trial in New York, the first jury trial in an opioids case; both Endo and Johnson & Johnson have already settled in that case. Pharmacy chains are facing a jury trial in a federal Ohio court. A recently concluded bench trial brought by local West Virginia governments against distributors awaits a federal judge’s decision. Washington state’s trial against Johnson & Johnson is scheduled for early next year. Johnson & Johnson, referring to its pharmaceutical division, Janssen, which made its opioids, said: “The well-reasoned tentative decision reflects the facts of the case: Janssen’s actions relating to the marketing and promotion of its important prescription pain medications were appropriate and responsible and did not cause any public nuisance.”

Opioid makers win major victory in California trial

A powerful storm brought about flash floods and drenched parts of northern California already scarred from devastating wildfires. The storm triggered mudslides and brought down electric lines. The storm is being described as a 'bomb cyclone' - which is an intense weather event when pressure drops quickly. The weather whip-lash follows the busiest wildfire season in California's history, and also heightens threats of further flash flooding.

Flash floods drench parts of northern California

A powerful storm brought about flash floods and drenched parts of northern California already scarred from devastating wildfires.

Powerful storm brings flash floods in California

In the wake of California wildfires, upwards of 10,000 trees weakened by fires, drought, disease or age must be removed, work that will keep a nearby highway closed to visitors who seek the world's two largest sequoia trees.

The hazard trees could potentially fall onto people and cars on the section of State Route 180 known as Generals Highway, or they could create barriers for emergency and fire response, the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks said Friday.

The highway is closed due to the KNP Complex blaze, which was 60 per cent contained after burning 138 square miles (357 square kilometers) of forest, and will remain blocked off to visitors after the fire is out while saw crews cut down trees and trim branches. Cooler weather has helped slow the flames and the area was expected to see rain starting Sunday.

Also Read |<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/californias-alisal-fire-continues-to-burn-14500-acres-420718">&nbsp;California's Alisal fire continues to burn 14,500-acres</a>

The highway connects Giant Forest, home to the General Sherman Tree, which is considered the world's largest by volume, and Grant Grove, home to the General Grant Tree, the second-largest tree in the world. The trees along the highway include sequoias, pine and conifer trees, said fire spokeswoman Kimberly Caschalk.

The KNP Complex has been burning since September 9, when lightning ignited two fires that later merged. 
Forest officials said earlier this month the fires may have killed hundreds of giant sequoias, but the full extent of the damage has not been determined.

The fire's impact on giant sequoia groves was mixed. Most saw low- to medium-intensity fire behaviour that the sequoias have evolved to survive, and the most notable trees survived.

Firefighters took extraordinary measures to protect the sequoias by wrapping fire-resistant material around the bases of some giants, raking and clearing vegetation around them, installing sprinklers and dousing some with water or fire retardant gel.

On Friday, forest staff unwrapped the base of the General Sherman tree after danger from the fire had passed.

"We're confident that tree is relatively safe," Caschalk said.

Drought in the West tied to climate change is making wildfires harder to fight. Scientists say climate change has made the West much warmer and drier in the past 30 years&nbsp;meaning the rain and snow that does fall is likely to evaporate or absorb into the soil &nbsp;and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

Recent storms have helped contain some of the nation's largest wildfires this year, including one that threatened the popular Lake Tahoe resort region this summer and is now 100 per cent contained after snow blanketed the western side of the blaze and rain dropped on the eastern side. But this week's storms won't end drought that's plaguing California and the western United States.

In the wake of California wildfires, upwards of 10,000 trees weakened by fires, drought, disease or age must be removed, work that will keep a nearby highway closed to visitors who seek the world's two largest sequoia trees.

In the wake of California wildfires, upwards of 10,000 trees weakened by fires, drought, disease or age must be removed, work that will keep a nearby highway closed to visitors who seek the world's two largest sequoia trees. The hazard trees could potentially fall onto people and cars on the section of State Route 180 known as Generals Highway, or they could create barriers for emergency and fire response, the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks said Friday. The highway is closed due to the KNP Complex blaze, which was 60 per cent contained after burning 138 square miles (357 square kilometers) of forest, and will remain blocked off to visitors after the fire is out while saw crews cut down trees and trim branches. Cooler weather has helped slow the flames and the area was expected to see rain starting Sunday. Also Read | California's Alisal fire continues to burn 14,500-acres The highway connects Giant Forest, home to the General Sherman Tree, which is considered the world's largest by volume, and Grant Grove, home to the General Grant Tree, the second-largest tree in the world. The trees along the highway include sequoias, pine and conifer trees, said fire spokeswoman Kimberly Caschalk. The KNP Complex has been burning since September 9, when lightning ignited two fires that later merged. Forest officials said earlier this month the fires may have killed hundreds of giant sequoias, but the full extent of the damage has not been determined. The fire's impact on giant sequoia groves was mixed. Most saw low- to medium-intensity fire behaviour that the sequoias have evolved to survive, and the most notable trees survived. Firefighters took extraordinary measures to protect the sequoias by wrapping fire-resistant material around the bases of some giants, raking and clearing vegetation around them, installing sprinklers and dousing some with water or fire retardant gel. On Friday, forest staff unwrapped the base of the General Sherman tree after danger from the fire had passed. "We're confident that tree is relatively safe," Caschalk said. Drought in the West tied to climate change is making wildfires harder to fight. Scientists say climate change has made the West much warmer and drier in the past 30 years meaning the rain and snow that does fall is likely to evaporate or absorb into the soil and will continue to make weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive. Recent storms have helped contain some of the nation's largest wildfires this year, including one that threatened the popular Lake Tahoe resort region this summer and is now 100 per cent contained after snow blanketed the western side of the blaze and rain dropped on the eastern side. But this week's storms won't end drought that's plaguing California and the western United States.

After California wildfire, thousands of trees to be removed

Global warming has increased temperatures in freshwater streams further threatening aquatic species and the latest victim of the ongoing climate crisis is California's spring- run chinook salmon which is fighting for survival especially at a time when extreme drought has gripped California.Our next report has more details.

Global warming increases temperatures in freshwater streams

The signs at scattered rallies across California on Monday were familiar to anyone who has followed the state’s yearslong childhood vaccine wars.

“Our kids are not lab rats.” “My body, my choice.” “Coercion is not consent.”

California has mandated that all schoolchildren must eventually get COVID-19 vaccines, the first and only state to do so. In protest, some parents pulled their children from school Monday and took to the streets in Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Vacaville, Sacramento and more.

At the heart of this fight is a complicated truth: California’s new student vaccination requirements haven’t yet begun, but the state already has a remarkably low number of outbreaks at schools.

Of the 2,321 nationwide school closures since August because of COVID-19, about 1% have been in California — even though the state accounts for 12% of the nation’s K-12 students, according to data from Burbio, a technology company that monitors outbreaks.

So some parents may be wondering: If masking, testing and other prevention strategies are working so well, why is the state adding an immunization requirement?

Simply stated, vaccines are the best tool for sparing people from coronavirus infections. You’re probably familiar with these numbers by now, but the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines prevented roughly 95% of symptomatic illnesses in clinical trials.

And while experts say California’s classroom safety measures are highly effective, the fall semester has also coincided with a precipitous drop in coronavirus spread statewide. In other words, more protection may be needed if cases begin to climb again.

Linda Darling-Hammond, the president of California’s Board of Education, told me she saw vaccines as the next stage of the state’s pandemic response. Gov. Gavin Newsom has often been criticized for introducing restrictions, such as in July when he mandated universal masking in schools — only for the move to be later endorsed by federal officials.

“The science works, if you are very, very persistent and purposeful about implementing it,” Darling-Hammond told me. “I think there’s a human tendency to say — as soon as things look good — ‘OK, we can take our foot off the gas.’ We can’t.”

Darling-Hammond said the state needed to be prepared for the emergence of more variants. Vaccinating children will not only confer them protection from infection but also limit virus spread that can lead to new mutations.

Statewide, 71% of Californians 12 and older are fully immunized, one of the highest rates in the nation, according to a tracker by The New York Times. The percentage is lower for the youngest age group eligible for vaccines, those between 12 and 17, at around 57%.

But there’s a lot of variation across the state, and school outbreaks have typically hit places where coverage is low, Darling-Hammond told me.

Counties where multiple schools have closed this fall include Kern (where 43% of people 12 and older are fully vaccinated), Tehama (41%) and Lassen (32%).

There aren’t uniform guidelines across the state for when a school must shut down in response to an outbreak, so the closure numbers aren’t a perfect measure of how many students and teachers are falling sick. Still, they provide a snapshot of where and how often big outbreaks are overwhelming districts.

Statewide, the student vaccine requirement isn’t expected to take effect until July — first for seventh grade and up, followed by kindergarten through sixth grade — and only after the vaccines get full approval from the Food and Drug Administration for those age groups. (Currently, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has received full FDA approval — and that’s only for people 16 and older.)

For other childhood vaccines, California barred parents in 2016 from citing their religious views to get out of vaccinating their children, after the number of unvaccinated students crept dangerously high.

But for the COVID-19 vaccine, officials say, parents will be allowed to opt-out if they feel it conflicts with their personal beliefs.

The signs at scattered rallies across California on Monday were familiar to anyone who has followed the state’s yearslong childhood vaccine wars. “Our kids are not lab rats.

The signs at scattered rallies across California on Monday were familiar to anyone who has followed the state’s yearslong childhood vaccine wars. “Our kids are not lab rats.” “My body, my choice.” “Coercion is not consent.” California has mandated that all schoolchildren must eventually get COVID-19 vaccines, the first and only state to do so. In protest, some parents pulled their children from school Monday and took to the streets in Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Vacaville, Sacramento and more. At the heart of this fight is a complicated truth: California’s new student vaccination requirements haven’t yet begun, but the state already has a remarkably low number of outbreaks at schools. Of the 2,321 nationwide school closures since August because of COVID-19, about 1% have been in California — even though the state accounts for 12% of the nation’s K-12 students, according to data from Burbio, a technology company that monitors outbreaks. So some parents may be wondering: If masking, testing and other prevention strategies are working so well, why is the state adding an immunization requirement? Simply stated, vaccines are the best tool for sparing people from coronavirus infections. You’re probably familiar with these numbers by now, but the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines prevented roughly 95% of symptomatic illnesses in clinical trials. And while experts say California’s classroom safety measures are highly effective, the fall semester has also coincided with a precipitous drop in coronavirus spread statewide. In other words, more protection may be needed if cases begin to climb again. Linda Darling-Hammond, the president of California’s Board of Education, told me she saw vaccines as the next stage of the state’s pandemic response. Gov. Gavin Newsom has often been criticized for introducing restrictions, such as in July when he mandated universal masking in schools — only for the move to be later endorsed by federal officials. “The science works, if you are very, very persistent and purposeful about implementing it,” Darling-Hammond told me. “I think there’s a human tendency to say — as soon as things look good — ‘OK, we can take our foot off the gas.’ We can’t.” Darling-Hammond said the state needed to be prepared for the emergence of more variants. Vaccinating children will not only confer them protection from infection but also limit virus spread that can lead to new mutations. Statewide, 71% of Californians 12 and older are fully immunized, one of the highest rates in the nation, according to a tracker by The New York Times. The percentage is lower for the youngest age group eligible for vaccines, those between 12 and 17, at around 57%. But there’s a lot of variation across the state, and school outbreaks have typically hit places where coverage is low, Darling-Hammond told me. Counties where multiple schools have closed this fall include Kern (where 43% of people 12 and older are fully vaccinated), Tehama (41%) and Lassen (32%). There aren’t uniform guidelines across the state for when a school must shut down in response to an outbreak, so the closure numbers aren’t a perfect measure of how many students and teachers are falling sick. Still, they provide a snapshot of where and how often big outbreaks are overwhelming districts. Statewide, the student vaccine requirement isn’t expected to take effect until July — first for seventh grade and up, followed by kindergarten through sixth grade — and only after the vaccines get full approval from the Food and Drug Administration for those age groups. (Currently, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has received full FDA approval — and that’s only for people 16 and older.) For other childhood vaccines, California barred parents in 2016 from citing their religious views to get out of vaccinating their children, after the number of unvaccinated students crept dangerously high. But for the COVID-19 vaccine, officials say, parents will be allowed to opt-out if they feel it conflicts with their personal beliefs.

California accounts for 12% of US students but only 1% of COVID school closures

In many parts of California, reminders abound that the American West is running out of water. “Bathtub rings” mark the shrinking of the state’s biggest reservoirs to some of their lowest recorded levels. Fields lie fallow, as farmers grapple with an uncertain future. A bed-and-breakfast owner spends $5 whenever a tourist showers.

But not in San Diego County.

In this coastal desert metropolis, life has stayed mostly the same for residents already accustomed to conserving what they have long treated as a precious resource.

On a recent afternoon, boats sped over the silvery surface of San Vicente Reservoir, a key water-storage site for the county about 25 miles northeast of downtown San Diego. It was about as full as usual, cutting a sharp contrast with the desiccated lake beds where state officials have appeared in recent months, pleading with Californians to save water. The San Diego County Water Authority estimated that it would have sustainable water supplies through 2045, even if dry conditions persisted for years.

Now, with San Diego facing the prospect of orders to use even less water, its relative water plenty has become a case study in the uneven ways that the Western drought is affecting the nation’s most populous state. And the county’s try-everything approach to getting water has emerged as a model for cities — including Denver and Albuquerque, New Mexico — where leaders are dealing with one of climate change’s most dire effects.

“There are no silver bullets anywhere,” said Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow with the Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy Center, who noted San Diego’s strides. “They’re definitely in the upper echelon of these creative approaches.”

A hot, dry, fiery summer has deepened the West’s water crisis. In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom called on all Californians to voluntarily cut their water use by 15%. That month, statewide water use decreased by a little less than 2% over the previous year. In parts of Southern California, residents actually used more water.

State officials, including Newsom, have said repeatedly that they hope to avoid mandating severe water-use reductions like the ones ordered by the governor’s predecessor, Jerry Brown, in 2015. Back then, Brown imposed a 25% reduction on the state’s 400 local water supply agencies — a move Mount described as a “blunt instrument” that angered many urban Californians forced to let their lawns die.

Nevertheless, state leaders have said they were not ruling out mandatory restrictions if the voluntary efforts do not save enough water through the fall.

The worsening conditions are forcing Californians to confront a fundamental divide: Rural Northern California is home to the bulk of the state’s water supplies — in reservoirs and underground — and yet much of it is piped south to thirsty cities and farms located on inhospitable lands.

Some urban water agencies in Southern California — like the ones that manage San Diego’s water — have enforced restrictions and spent billions of dollars to ensure they are equipped to weather inevitable periods of drought. So they are bristling at suggestions they might be ordered to cut back, alongside others who have not adequately prepared for lean times.

“During a time of crisis, there is the logical and appropriate belief that everyone should do their part,” Mount said. “The question is: What if they’ve done their part ahead of time?”

San Diego water officials have said that state-mandated cutbacks this time would be an unfair punishment for residents of a region who have already ponied up for higher water bills and willingly changed their habits to save water.

“To move the needle — we’re already so low from the last drought, there’s not much more we could do,” said Brian Hojnacki, a management analyst for the city of San Diego’s water utility.

The city of San Diego was among the first in the state to introduce many of the water-use restrictions that have become familiar to Southern Californians. Residents are barred from watering their yards during much of the day. Restaurants are not allowed to serve customers water unless they specifically request it. Schoolchildren have been taught songs to help them remember to conserve.

Francisco Pantaleon, 40, even remembered his mother instructing him to save pool water as a child in Oceanside, a suburb in the northern part of the county: “Don’t come in and out and splash.”

For much of the past century, San Diego was almost entirely dependent on water that came from elsewhere in the state or from the Colorado River. Its supplies were effectively controlled by water officials in Los Angeles — a contentious relationship that seeded long-running legal battles.

In 1991, during a punishing drought, San Diego reached a turning point. The Metropolitan Water District, the Los Angeles-based wholesaler that controlled nearly all of San Diego’s water, slashed the county’s supply by 30% for a little more than a year. Grass turned brown. Residents put bricks in their toilet tanks to make them flush less water.

And, crucially, the region’s burgeoning biotechnology industry was hammered by water shut-offs that came with little warning.

Joe Panetta, president and chief executive of Biocom California, a biotech advocacy group formed largely in response to that crisis, recalled panic as projects that cost tens of thousands of dollars were ruined. Researchers could not wash lab equipment.

The group took its cause to city and county leaders.

“We told them it’s going to do tremendous harm to this young industry if the water is shut off,” Panetta said.

After that, San Diegans made a collective vow: Never again.

In 1996, the San Diego County Water Authority struck a landmark agreement to buy water from farmers in the Imperial Valley, in California’s southeastern corner, that heralded the beginning of the region’s water divorce from Los Angeles.

Over the following two decades, the agency took on a series of significant — and expensive — infrastructure projects aimed at establishing more diverse sources of water, more places to keep it and more ways to move it around the county.

In 2010, the authority lined canals in the Imperial Valley with concrete to prevent water from seeping into the earth and made a deal to take the water saved by the process — some 26 billion gallons a year. The authority finished raising the San Vicente Dam in 2014, adding more capacity to San Vicente Reservoir in the biggest water-storage increase in the county’s history.

Then there was the long, fraught gestation of a seawater desalination plant, the largest in the United States and now the envy of desperate communities up the coast, despite environmental concerns. Since 2015, millions of gallons of seawater have flowed into the $1 billion facility in Carlsbad each day, where it is filtered into something that tastes like it came from an Evian bottle, not the Pacific Ocean.

Across the county, restrictions and conservation pushes have led per capita water use to fall by half over the past three decades.

The next major task? Expand the region’s so-called pure water programs, once given the derisive moniker “toilet to tap,” because they purify gray water to make it drinkable. Today, such programs are seen as some of the most promising paths forward, not just in San Diego but across the state. (The system in neighboring Orange County is often cited as a gold standard.)

San Diego has provided a road map for others now scrambling for water, said Toni Atkins, who is the president pro tem of the California Senate and previously served on the San Diego City Council. And she is proud of that.

Still, Atkins said, her charge is to look at the bigger picture, and that means making decisions that will protect the whole state. That could mean sharing the burden as the drought continues.

Although San Diego has come up with more ways to get water locally, it still gets most of its water from outside the county, including from the shrinking Colorado River.

“The resentments are still going to be there; everybody wants to make sure they get the water they need,” she said. “Like with wildfires and the pandemic, we’re all in this together.”

But residents say they would be hard-pressed to find other ways to trim.

“We’ve done a lot already,” Paul Rodriguez, 61, said in his kitchen while puzzling over the prospect.

Down the hall of the compact ranch house he and his wife share in Chula Vista, the county’s second-largest city, the couple had installed a low-flow toilet and shower.

He looked out at the native plant garden that replaced their lawn several years ago. Monarch butterflies floated among milkweeds. The couple waters the yard once every three weeks.

In many parts of California, reminders abound that the American West is running out of water. “Bathtub rings” mark the shrinking of the state’s biggest reservoirs to some of their lowest recorded levels.

In many parts of California, reminders abound that the American West is running out of water. “Bathtub rings” mark the shrinking of the state’s biggest reservoirs to some of their lowest recorded levels. Fields lie fallow, as farmers grapple with an uncertain future. A bed-and-breakfast owner spends $5 whenever a tourist showers. But not in San Diego County. In this coastal desert metropolis, life has stayed mostly the same for residents already accustomed to conserving what they have long treated as a precious resource. On a recent afternoon, boats sped over the silvery surface of San Vicente Reservoir, a key water-storage site for the county about 25 miles northeast of downtown San Diego. It was about as full as usual, cutting a sharp contrast with the desiccated lake beds where state officials have appeared in recent months, pleading with Californians to save water. The San Diego County Water Authority estimated that it would have sustainable water supplies through 2045, even if dry conditions persisted for years. Now, with San Diego facing the prospect of orders to use even less water, its relative water plenty has become a case study in the uneven ways that the Western drought is affecting the nation’s most populous state. And the county’s try-everything approach to getting water has emerged as a model for cities — including Denver and Albuquerque, New Mexico — where leaders are dealing with one of climate change’s most dire effects. “There are no silver bullets anywhere,” said Jeffrey Mount, a senior fellow with the Public Policy Institute of California’s Water Policy Center, who noted San Diego’s strides. “They’re definitely in the upper echelon of these creative approaches.” A hot, dry, fiery summer has deepened the West’s water crisis. In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom called on all Californians to voluntarily cut their water use by 15%. That month, statewide water use decreased by a little less than 2% over the previous year. In parts of Southern California, residents actually used more water. State officials, including Newsom, have said repeatedly that they hope to avoid mandating severe water-use reductions like the ones ordered by the governor’s predecessor, Jerry Brown, in 2015. Back then, Brown imposed a 25% reduction on the state’s 400 local water supply agencies — a move Mount described as a “blunt instrument” that angered many urban Californians forced to let their lawns die. Nevertheless, state leaders have said they were not ruling out mandatory restrictions if the voluntary efforts do not save enough water through the fall. The worsening conditions are forcing Californians to confront a fundamental divide: Rural Northern California is home to the bulk of the state’s water supplies — in reservoirs and underground — and yet much of it is piped south to thirsty cities and farms located on inhospitable lands. Some urban water agencies in Southern California — like the ones that manage San Diego’s water — have enforced restrictions and spent billions of dollars to ensure they are equipped to weather inevitable periods of drought. So they are bristling at suggestions they might be ordered to cut back, alongside others who have not adequately prepared for lean times. “During a time of crisis, there is the logical and appropriate belief that everyone should do their part,” Mount said. “The question is: What if they’ve done their part ahead of time?” San Diego water officials have said that state-mandated cutbacks this time would be an unfair punishment for residents of a region who have already ponied up for higher water bills and willingly changed their habits to save water. “To move the needle — we’re already so low from the last drought, there’s not much more we could do,” said Brian Hojnacki, a management analyst for the city of San Diego’s water utility. The city of San Diego was among the first in the state to introduce many of the water-use restrictions that have become familiar to Southern Californians. Residents are barred from watering their yards during much of the day. Restaurants are not allowed to serve customers water unless they specifically request it. Schoolchildren have been taught songs to help them remember to conserve. Francisco Pantaleon, 40, even remembered his mother instructing him to save pool water as a child in Oceanside, a suburb in the northern part of the county: “Don’t come in and out and splash.” For much of the past century, San Diego was almost entirely dependent on water that came from elsewhere in the state or from the Colorado River. Its supplies were effectively controlled by water officials in Los Angeles — a contentious relationship that seeded long-running legal battles. In 1991, during a punishing drought, San Diego reached a turning point. The Metropolitan Water District, the Los Angeles-based wholesaler that controlled nearly all of San Diego’s water, slashed the county’s supply by 30% for a little more than a year. Grass turned brown. Residents put bricks in their toilet tanks to make them flush less water. And, crucially, the region’s burgeoning biotechnology industry was hammered by water shut-offs that came with little warning. Joe Panetta, president and chief executive of Biocom California, a biotech advocacy group formed largely in response to that crisis, recalled panic as projects that cost tens of thousands of dollars were ruined. Researchers could not wash lab equipment. The group took its cause to city and county leaders. “We told them it’s going to do tremendous harm to this young industry if the water is shut off,” Panetta said. After that, San Diegans made a collective vow: Never again. In 1996, the San Diego County Water Authority struck a landmark agreement to buy water from farmers in the Imperial Valley, in California’s southeastern corner, that heralded the beginning of the region’s water divorce from Los Angeles. Over the following two decades, the agency took on a series of significant — and expensive — infrastructure projects aimed at establishing more diverse sources of water, more places to keep it and more ways to move it around the county. In 2010, the authority lined canals in the Imperial Valley with concrete to prevent water from seeping into the earth and made a deal to take the water saved by the process — some 26 billion gallons a year. The authority finished raising the San Vicente Dam in 2014, adding more capacity to San Vicente Reservoir in the biggest water-storage increase in the county’s history. Then there was the long, fraught gestation of a seawater desalination plant, the largest in the United States and now the envy of desperate communities up the coast, despite environmental concerns. Since 2015, millions of gallons of seawater have flowed into the $1 billion facility in Carlsbad each day, where it is filtered into something that tastes like it came from an Evian bottle, not the Pacific Ocean. Across the county, restrictions and conservation pushes have led per capita water use to fall by half over the past three decades. The next major task? Expand the region’s so-called pure water programs, once given the derisive moniker “toilet to tap,” because they purify gray water to make it drinkable. Today, such programs are seen as some of the most promising paths forward, not just in San Diego but across the state. (The system in neighboring Orange County is often cited as a gold standard.) San Diego has provided a road map for others now scrambling for water, said Toni Atkins, who is the president pro tem of the California Senate and previously served on the San Diego City Council. And she is proud of that. Still, Atkins said, her charge is to look at the bigger picture, and that means making decisions that will protect the whole state. That could mean sharing the burden as the drought continues. Although San Diego has come up with more ways to get water locally, it still gets most of its water from outside the county, including from the shrinking Colorado River. “The resentments are still going to be there; everybody wants to make sure they get the water they need,” she said. “Like with wildfires and the pandemic, we’re all in this together.” But residents say they would be hard-pressed to find other ways to trim. “We’ve done a lot already,” Paul Rodriguez, 61, said in his kitchen while puzzling over the prospect. Down the hall of the compact ranch house he and his wife share in Chula Vista, the county’s second-largest city, the couple had installed a low-flow toilet and shower. He looked out at the native plant garden that replaced their lawn several years ago. Monarch butterflies floated among milkweeds. The couple waters the yard once every three weeks.

Despite a punishing drought, San Diego has water. It wasn’t easy.

The hundreds of new laws that Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed over the past several weeks include plenty of “firsts.”

California has become the first state to force the garment industry to pay workers by the hour, instead of per item. The first to ban the sale of gas-powered lawn mowers. The first to target Amazon production quotas. The first to outlaw removing a condom without permission during sex.

Of these landmark bills, perhaps the most controversial is one requiring all public high school students to take an ethnic studies course to graduate.

Under the new law, high schoolers will be taught about the struggles and contributions of African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans and other ethnic groups, “which have often been untold in U.S. history courses,” according to the state’s model ethnic studies curriculum.

California’s student population is highly diverse — less than a quarter of public K-12 students are white. Through ethnic studies courses, students can learn their own stories as well as those of their classmates, Newsom said.

“America is shaped by our shared history, much of it painful and etched with woeful injustice,” Newsom wrote in his signing message. “Students deserve to see themselves in their studies, and they must understand our nation’s full history if we expect them to one day build a more just society.”

What’s the new law exactly?

Assembly Bill 101 adds one semester of ethnic studies to the state’s high school graduation requirements.

This will introduce high schoolers to concepts that have typically been reserved for the collegiate level.

Not only was ethnic studies born on a Bay Area college campus, but it is also already a graduation requisite at California community colleges, the California State University system and some University of California campuses.

The specifics of what will be taught in high schools are up to local districts.

The nearly 900-page model curriculum approved by the California Department of Education this year includes dozens of sample lessons, such as “#BlackLivesMatter and Social Change,” “Chinese Railroad Workers” and “U.S. Housing Inequality: Redlining and Racial Housing Covenants.”

Whom does this affect?

The first high schoolers subject to the new mandate are those graduating in the 2029-30 academic year. Schools do not have to begin offering ethnic studies courses until 2025.

The requirement applies to students at all California public schools, including charters. There are currently about 1.7 million public high school students in the state.

Is anyone else doing this?

Several districts in California have already added ethnic studies to their high school graduation requirements, including San Diego, San Francisco, Fresno and Los Angeles Unified school districts.

In 2017, Oregon passed a law ordering that ethnic studies concepts be integrated into existing social studies courses for K-12 students. The rule differs from California’s in that it does not create a distinct course focused on ethnic studies.

Who opposes the law?

California has been working for years on developing a model ethnic studies curriculum, but early drafts faced heavy pushback from many quarters. Amid these concerns, Newsom last year vetoed a nearly identical version of the bill.

Previous drafts of the state’s teaching guide were criticized as too left-leaning, filled with jargon and promoting “critical race theory,” an academic concept that argues racism is ingrained in American laws and government institutions.

There was also condemnation from Jewish groups, who felt the curriculum emphasized Palestinian oppression while barely mentioning the Holocaust, as well as other ethnic groups that felt excluded.

The final version of the state’s curriculum, approved this March, deleted references that offended Jewish groups while adding lessons about the experiences of Jews, Arabs and Sikhs in America, The Los Angeles Times reports. It also struck terms such as “cisheteropatriarchy” and “hxrstory,” as well as language connecting capitalism with oppression.

Yet critics remain. Some supporters of the original guidelines feel the scope should not have been expanded beyond the four ethnic groups that lived in America before Europeans arrived.

Others find the current version too radical still. Williamson M. Evers, a former assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education, told The Los Angeles Times that the model curriculum was “permeated” with content that made it “racially divisive and burdened by faddish ideology.”

As districts across the state figure out how to put into place this new mandate, the debate will undoubtedly continue.

The hundreds of new laws that Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed over the past several weeks include plenty of “firsts.” California has become the first state to force the garment industry to pay workers by the hour, instead of per item.

The hundreds of new laws that Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed over the past several weeks include plenty of “firsts.” California has become the first state to force the garment industry to pay workers by the hour, instead of per item. The first to ban the sale of gas-powered lawn mowers. The first to target Amazon production quotas. The first to outlaw removing a condom without permission during sex. Of these landmark bills, perhaps the most controversial is one requiring all public high school students to take an ethnic studies course to graduate. Under the new law, high schoolers will be taught about the struggles and contributions of African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans and other ethnic groups, “which have often been untold in U.S. history courses,” according to the state’s model ethnic studies curriculum. California’s student population is highly diverse — less than a quarter of public K-12 students are white. Through ethnic studies courses, students can learn their own stories as well as those of their classmates, Newsom said. “America is shaped by our shared history, much of it painful and etched with woeful injustice,” Newsom wrote in his signing message. “Students deserve to see themselves in their studies, and they must understand our nation’s full history if we expect them to one day build a more just society.” What’s the new law exactly? Assembly Bill 101 adds one semester of ethnic studies to the state’s high school graduation requirements. This will introduce high schoolers to concepts that have typically been reserved for the collegiate level. Not only was ethnic studies born on a Bay Area college campus, but it is also already a graduation requisite at California community colleges, the California State University system and some University of California campuses. The specifics of what will be taught in high schools are up to local districts. The nearly 900-page model curriculum approved by the California Department of Education this year includes dozens of sample lessons, such as “#BlackLivesMatter and Social Change,” “Chinese Railroad Workers” and “U.S. Housing Inequality: Redlining and Racial Housing Covenants.” Whom does this affect? The first high schoolers subject to the new mandate are those graduating in the 2029-30 academic year. Schools do not have to begin offering ethnic studies courses until 2025. The requirement applies to students at all California public schools, including charters. There are currently about 1.7 million public high school students in the state. Is anyone else doing this? Several districts in California have already added ethnic studies to their high school graduation requirements, including San Diego, San Francisco, Fresno and Los Angeles Unified school districts. In 2017, Oregon passed a law ordering that ethnic studies concepts be integrated into existing social studies courses for K-12 students. The rule differs from California’s in that it does not create a distinct course focused on ethnic studies. Who opposes the law? California has been working for years on developing a model ethnic studies curriculum, but early drafts faced heavy pushback from many quarters. Amid these concerns, Newsom last year vetoed a nearly identical version of the bill. Previous drafts of the state’s teaching guide were criticized as too left-leaning, filled with jargon and promoting “critical race theory,” an academic concept that argues racism is ingrained in American laws and government institutions. There was also condemnation from Jewish groups, who felt the curriculum emphasized Palestinian oppression while barely mentioning the Holocaust, as well as other ethnic groups that felt excluded. The final version of the state’s curriculum, approved this March, deleted references that offended Jewish groups while adding lessons about the experiences of Jews, Arabs and Sikhs in America, The Los Angeles Times reports. It also struck terms such as “cisheteropatriarchy” and “hxrstory,” as well as language connecting capitalism with oppression. Yet critics remain. Some supporters of the original guidelines feel the scope should not have been expanded beyond the four ethnic groups that lived in America before Europeans arrived. Others find the current version too radical still. Williamson M. Evers, a former assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education, told The Los Angeles Times that the model curriculum was “permeated” with content that made it “racially divisive and burdened by faddish ideology.” As districts across the state figure out how to put into place this new mandate, the debate will undoubtedly continue.

All California public high school students will soon have to take ethnic studies

California firefighters scrambled overnight on Wednesday as the 14,500-acre blaze continues to burn in Santa Barbara County. Officials are concerned that strong winds, which prompted a wind advisory for the area Wednesday, may lead to heavy flames.

California firefighters scrambled overnight on Wednesday as the 14,500-acre blaze continues to burn in Santa Barbara County. Officials are concerned that strong winds, which prompted a wind advisory for the area Wednesday, may lead to heavy flames. According to the US Forest Service, the Alisal fire is just five per cent contained. Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joan Hartmann, at a community briefing said, "This fire is a reminder that as summer winds down, our fire season ramps up." More than 1,300 personnel are responding to the wildfire. #Alisal Fire - UPDATE- 7 a.m. briefing held at ICP/Earl Warren Showgrounds. 14,500 acres, 5% contained. 1,300 personnel assigned with more on the way. Hoping for favorable winds for fixed-wing aircraft to engage. Photos by Christina Favuzzi/MFD pic.twitter.com/81IA8b1HsY — SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) October 13, 2021 × "The main constraint has been heavy winds that have limited safe access to suppress the fire and limited the use of aircraft to engage and support fire suppression," an incident report said. Also read | 'Extreme' California wildfire forces hundreds to evacuate The cause of the fire, which began near the Alisal Reservoir on Monday afternoon, remains under investigation, the state's fire agency Cal Fire said. Air pollution in the area was deemed unhealthy for sensitive groups by air quality technology company IQAir. The area also had a concentration of the pollutant PM2.5 nearly four times higher than what the World Health Organization recommends for air quality. SPECIAL AIR QUALITY ADVISORY: smoke from the #AlisalFire near Santa Barbara is expected to move into portions of the South Coast Air Basin and elevate air quality levels: https://t.co/Y158OoPtBX pic.twitter.com/VEqa4FneIY — South Coast AQMD (@SouthCoastAQMD) October 13, 2021 × The company recommended that the sensitive groups in affected areas wear a face mask while outdoors. The use of an air purifier has also been recommended. Santa Barbara County fire chief Mark Hartwig said that the Alisal is a "wind-driven" fire, noting that the weather has helped to spread its flames quickly. Fully containing the wildfire could take weeks, he added. In order to prevent additional wildfires from igniting, energy provider Pacific Gas and Electric issued public safety power shutoffs in 12 counties throughout California. "As a result of this wind event, combined with extreme to exceptional drought conditions and extremely dry vegetation, PG&E began sending one-day advance notifications Wednesday morning to customers in areas where PG&E may need to proactively turn off power for safety to reduce the risk of wildfire from energised power lines," the company warned. Also read | US coastline to be dotted with wind farms, says Biden administration Scientists say human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels, is warming the planet and changing weather patterns. This is contributing in making wildfires hotter, more intense and more destructive. Along with other parts of the western United States, California has struggled under a years-long drought that has left various region's tinder dry.

California's Alisal fire continues to burn 14,500-acres

One grew to a size larger than Rhode Island and levelled a Gold Rush-era town. Another swelled to a quarter of a million acres as it came within a few miles of Lake Tahoe. Another burned down 900 buildings and was the first-ever to reach 1 million acres.

In the past two years, California has found itself under siege from more large-scale fires burning with greater intensity than at any time on record. Giant blazes are tearing across the state with greater speed and frequency, destroying towns and sending smoke hurtling hundreds of miles away. Nine of California’s 20 largest fires have occurred since 2020, according to Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency. Four of them are still burning. The fires have forced state and federal officials to marshal armies of people and resources at all costs.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/in-pics-firefighters-try-and-protect-giant-sequoias-amid-california-fires-415158">In Pics | Firefighters try and protect giant sequoias amid California fires</a>

In late August, New York Times journalists shadowed emergency crews in a remote forested area of Northern California as they battled the Dixie fire, which at nearly 1 million acres is the second-largest fire in state history. Over several weeks, the operation grew to a scale rarely seen before: Thousands of personnel were deployed, as well as hundreds of bulldozers, aircraft and other equipment, along with millions of gallons of water and flame retardant. Officials spent more than $610 million over three months to bring the fire under control — by far the most expensive suppression campaign in California history, according to the head of Cal Fire.

The Dixie fire shows that as wildfires have grown in size, so has the magnitude of the effort to combat them. But as government budgets become strained and extreme drought and the effects of climate change, alter the landscape, battling megafires — massive blazes that spread quickly and burn at high intensity — is increasingly costly, raising questions about the long-term sustainability of the firefight.

At the height of the operation, 6,579 people worked around the clock to battle the Dixie fire.

The command centre at the Lassen County Fairgrounds appeared like a small town that sprung up overnight. It was filled with offices in trailers, catering stations, fueling areas, laundry services, sleeping tents and parking spots for many of the 569 fire engines and 194 water trucks working Aug. 16, when the operation was at its peak.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/the-secret-war-over-pentagon-aid-in-fighting-wildfires-416479">The secret war over Pentagon aid in fighting wildfires</a>

Each morning at 7 a.m., hundreds of firefighters, bulldozer operators and pilots gathered under a poplar grove for a daily briefing. Some crew members wore sweatshirts bearing the names of past big fires like badges of honour: Creek fire, Campfire, Lightning Complex. Dixie already had one, too.

In one area of the command centre, a resupply warehouse roughly the size of a Home Depot store serviced engine crews returning to the fire line. In another, volunteers with the California Conservation Corps rewound heaps of used 100-foot lengths of the yellow fire hose. In all, more than 1,174 miles of hose were used — enough to stretch from San Diego to Vancouver.

At the time, the Dixie fire, one of a growing number of wildfires that had broken out across the American West, spanned five counties, threatening nearby communities and spewing smoke into the atmosphere. Kristen Allison, a 25-year veteran firefighter who was stationed 70 miles away, struggled to comprehend the scale.

“Fifteen years ago, a 100,000-acre fire would be the largest fire of your career. Now, we have 1-million-acre fires,” Allison said. “We’re the size of Rhode Island, working toward Delaware.”

Watch |&nbsp;Gravitas US Edition: Wildfire in Northern California destroys nearly 6,000 acres of land

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-us-edition-wildfire-in-northern-california-destroys-nearly-6000-acres-of-land-415956/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

“Meanwhile, there are five other 100,000-acre fires burning right now in Northern California,” Allison added. “Even if we had all the resources we wanted, we would not be able to contain these fires.”

At the fire’s peak, 198 bulldozers worked to contain it, helping cut 1,792 miles of fire breaks.

Much of the fight against the Dixie fire was a gruelling and dirty effort to head off future burn: As many as 89 hand crews on a single day burned ground cover and carved so-called line breaks — barriers to slow or stop the progress — through the forest. Bulldozers, many of which were operated by contractors for upward of $7,000 a day, cleared wide swaths of trees and flammable vegetation. Strike crews laid those dozer lines with fire hose and stood guard, often through the night, to prevent the fire from jumping over.

Fueled by a combination of high winds, mountainous terrain and dry conditions, Dixie shows how the scale of wildfires has dramatically increased. In 2010, 72,000 fires in the United States burned 3.4 million acres; last year, 59,000 fires burned 10.1 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

Trying to put out Dixie sometimes felt like an exercise in futility. It routinely leapt over breaks, and a team led by Sarah Collemer, a Cal Fire equipment boss from Santa Cruz, worked to clear them.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/in-california-even-fire-resistant-trees-need-to-be-protected-from-flames-414740">In California, even fire-resistant trees need to be protected from flames</a>

“We’ve been trying to hold the line, but the wind keeps coming up, and most of the embers start a new fire,” Collemer, who was overseeing a team of 30 bulldozers, said. “It’s just hard to start over every day on the line.”

Like other recent megafires, the Dixie blaze has burned at a severe pace, sometimes scorching 50,000 acres in a sustained run over 8 miles in one day.

Crews used enough fire retardant to fill 31 Olympic-size swimming pools.

Air attack — deploying planes and helicopters to drop water and retardant — is often the costliest part of any large wildfire operation.

Aircraft have dropped about 21 million gallons of flame retardant mixture on the Dixie fire, at a cost of $4.62 per gallon. The aircraft themselves cost more than $1 million a day in the initial weeks of the fire.

“They call me the most expensive man on the fire,” said Matt Stanford, the air operation branch director at Cal Fire base camp. “Every day, costs come in, and I’m on the top of the heap.”

Some critics argue that retardant, a mixture of water and phosphate salts often used as a fertilizer, does more damage than good. The U.S. Forest Service restricts use around waterways to avoid fish kills and algae blooms.

Despite the trade-offs, air attacks are the most visible show of force and can cover lots of ground quickly. The candy-colored liquid retardant lingers long after water has evaporated and is more effective at lowering a fire’s intensity so that crews can engage on the ground.

When the smoke thickens, planes are grounded, forcing aviation chiefs to use large helicopters that can fly under the smoke — though they hold smaller quantities of water or retardant. Under heavy smoke conditions, helicopters, too, are grounded.

Crews were diverted even as the fire still raged.

Even before the Dixie fire was close to contained, Cal Fire began diverting resources from it. While crews were using drip torches to burn off dry ground cover that could feed oncoming flames, some personnel were reassigned to the Caldor fire, which was racing up the Sierra Nevada mountains toward South Lake Tahoe, one of California’s premier tourist destinations.

The Caldor fire stopped within just a few hundred meters of South Lake Tahoe, and the town was spared.

California pays for large wildfire responses through an emergency fund with no set limit on spending. In recent decades, the percentage of the U.S. Forest Service budget spent on wildfires increased to 50% from 20%, and in 2021 the Forest Service received a $2 billion budget for wildfires. State and federal officials threw every resource possible at both megafires.

Thom Porter, who leads Cal Fire, said he supports more wildfire prevention strategies but that the reality during this high fire season doesn’t allow for it.

“The efforts that we put in are absolutely necessary,” Porter said. “There is no choice but to fight a fire when the fire is going. We’re seeing entire centers of towns burn up, historic centers of towns, like Greenville,” he added, referring to the city that burned.

Since July, California has spent $1.1 billion trying to put out fires.

President Joe Biden, who has called wildfires “a blinking code red for our nation,” has made fire suppression a priority of his infrastructure bill, pledging to increase federal funding and military assistance. During a joint conference with Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, the president said the bipartisan bill would include $8 billion for wildfire resilience and promised to provide California with “every resource available to keep families safe.”

“It’s a great starting point,” Porter said, adding that he welcomed more investment by the federal government while acknowledging that it’s impossible to put out megafires under certain weather conditions, no matter the amount of firefighters and flame retardant.

As of Sunday, fires had burned more than 2.8 million acres across the state. The end of fire season is still weeks away.

One grew to a size larger than Rhode Island and levelled a Gold Rush-era town. Another swelled to a quarter of a million acres as it came within a few miles of Lake Tahoe.

One grew to a size larger than Rhode Island and levelled a Gold Rush-era town. Another swelled to a quarter of a million acres as it came within a few miles of Lake Tahoe. Another burned down 900 buildings and was the first-ever to reach 1 million acres. In the past two years, California has found itself under siege from more large-scale fires burning with greater intensity than at any time on record. Giant blazes are tearing across the state with greater speed and frequency, destroying towns and sending smoke hurtling hundreds of miles away. Nine of California’s 20 largest fires have occurred since 2020, according to Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency. Four of them are still burning. The fires have forced state and federal officials to marshal armies of people and resources at all costs. Also read | In Pics | Firefighters try and protect giant sequoias amid California fires In late August, New York Times journalists shadowed emergency crews in a remote forested area of Northern California as they battled the Dixie fire, which at nearly 1 million acres is the second-largest fire in state history. Over several weeks, the operation grew to a scale rarely seen before: Thousands of personnel were deployed, as well as hundreds of bulldozers, aircraft and other equipment, along with millions of gallons of water and flame retardant. Officials spent more than $610 million over three months to bring the fire under control — by far the most expensive suppression campaign in California history, according to the head of Cal Fire. The Dixie fire shows that as wildfires have grown in size, so has the magnitude of the effort to combat them. But as government budgets become strained and extreme drought and the effects of climate change, alter the landscape, battling megafires — massive blazes that spread quickly and burn at high intensity — is increasingly costly, raising questions about the long-term sustainability of the firefight. At the height of the operation, 6,579 people worked around the clock to battle the Dixie fire. The command centre at the Lassen County Fairgrounds appeared like a small town that sprung up overnight. It was filled with offices in trailers, catering stations, fueling areas, laundry services, sleeping tents and parking spots for many of the 569 fire engines and 194 water trucks working Aug. 16, when the operation was at its peak. Also read | The secret war over Pentagon aid in fighting wildfires Each morning at 7 a.m., hundreds of firefighters, bulldozer operators and pilots gathered under a poplar grove for a daily briefing. Some crew members wore sweatshirts bearing the names of past big fires like badges of honour: Creek fire, Campfire, Lightning Complex. Dixie already had one, too. In one area of the command centre, a resupply warehouse roughly the size of a Home Depot store serviced engine crews returning to the fire line. In another, volunteers with the California Conservation Corps rewound heaps of used 100-foot lengths of the yellow fire hose. In all, more than 1,174 miles of hose were used — enough to stretch from San Diego to Vancouver. At the time, the Dixie fire, one of a growing number of wildfires that had broken out across the American West, spanned five counties, threatening nearby communities and spewing smoke into the atmosphere. Kristen Allison, a 25-year veteran firefighter who was stationed 70 miles away, struggled to comprehend the scale. “Fifteen years ago, a 100,000-acre fire would be the largest fire of your career. Now, we have 1-million-acre fires,” Allison said. “We’re the size of Rhode Island, working toward Delaware.” Watch | Gravitas US Edition: Wildfire in Northern California destroys nearly 6,000 acres of land “Meanwhile, there are five other 100,000-acre fires burning right now in Northern California,” Allison added. “Even if we had all the resources we wanted, we would not be able to contain these fires.” At the fire’s peak, 198 bulldozers worked to contain it, helping cut 1,792 miles of fire breaks. Much of the fight against the Dixie fire was a gruelling and dirty effort to head off future burn: As many as 89 hand crews on a single day burned ground cover and carved so-called line breaks — barriers to slow or stop the progress — through the forest. Bulldozers, many of which were operated by contractors for upward of $7,000 a day, cleared wide swaths of trees and flammable vegetation. Strike crews laid those dozer lines with fire hose and stood guard, often through the night, to prevent the fire from jumping over. Fueled by a combination of high winds, mountainous terrain and dry conditions, Dixie shows how the scale of wildfires has dramatically increased. In 2010, 72,000 fires in the United States burned 3.4 million acres; last year, 59,000 fires burned 10.1 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Trying to put out Dixie sometimes felt like an exercise in futility. It routinely leapt over breaks, and a team led by Sarah Collemer, a Cal Fire equipment boss from Santa Cruz, worked to clear them. Also read | In California, even fire-resistant trees need to be protected from flames “We’ve been trying to hold the line, but the wind keeps coming up, and most of the embers start a new fire,” Collemer, who was overseeing a team of 30 bulldozers, said. “It’s just hard to start over every day on the line.” Like other recent megafires, the Dixie blaze has burned at a severe pace, sometimes scorching 50,000 acres in a sustained run over 8 miles in one day. Crews used enough fire retardant to fill 31 Olympic-size swimming pools. Air attack — deploying planes and helicopters to drop water and retardant — is often the costliest part of any large wildfire operation. Aircraft have dropped about 21 million gallons of flame retardant mixture on the Dixie fire, at a cost of $4.62 per gallon. The aircraft themselves cost more than $1 million a day in the initial weeks of the fire. “They call me the most expensive man on the fire,” said Matt Stanford, the air operation branch director at Cal Fire base camp. “Every day, costs come in, and I’m on the top of the heap.” Some critics argue that retardant, a mixture of water and phosphate salts often used as a fertilizer, does more damage than good. The U.S. Forest Service restricts use around waterways to avoid fish kills and algae blooms. Despite the trade-offs, air attacks are the most visible show of force and can cover lots of ground quickly. The candy-colored liquid retardant lingers long after water has evaporated and is more effective at lowering a fire’s intensity so that crews can engage on the ground. When the smoke thickens, planes are grounded, forcing aviation chiefs to use large helicopters that can fly under the smoke — though they hold smaller quantities of water or retardant. Under heavy smoke conditions, helicopters, too, are grounded. Crews were diverted even as the fire still raged. Even before the Dixie fire was close to contained, Cal Fire began diverting resources from it. While crews were using drip torches to burn off dry ground cover that could feed oncoming flames, some personnel were reassigned to the Caldor fire, which was racing up the Sierra Nevada mountains toward South Lake Tahoe, one of California’s premier tourist destinations. The Caldor fire stopped within just a few hundred meters of South Lake Tahoe, and the town was spared. California pays for large wildfire responses through an emergency fund with no set limit on spending. In recent decades, the percentage of the U.S. Forest Service budget spent on wildfires increased to 50% from 20%, and in 2021 the Forest Service received a $2 billion budget for wildfires. State and federal officials threw every resource possible at both megafires. Thom Porter, who leads Cal Fire, said he supports more wildfire prevention strategies but that the reality during this high fire season doesn’t allow for it. “The efforts that we put in are absolutely necessary,” Porter said. “There is no choice but to fight a fire when the fire is going. We’re seeing entire centers of towns burn up, historic centers of towns, like Greenville,” he added, referring to the city that burned. Since July, California has spent $1.1 billion trying to put out fires. President Joe Biden, who has called wildfires “a blinking code red for our nation,” has made fire suppression a priority of his infrastructure bill, pledging to increase federal funding and military assistance. During a joint conference with Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, the president said the bipartisan bill would include $8 billion for wildfire resilience and promised to provide California with “every resource available to keep families safe.” “It’s a great starting point,” Porter said, adding that he welcomed more investment by the federal government while acknowledging that it’s impossible to put out megafires under certain weather conditions, no matter the amount of firefighters and flame retardant. As of Sunday, fires had burned more than 2.8 million acres across the state. The end of fire season is still weeks away.

Inside the massive and costly fight to contain a megafire

Fighting for justice for women, the state of California has declared that anyone who secretly removes a condom during sex without verbal consent from their partner will be charged with civil sexual battery offense.<o:p></o:p>

With the hope of providing more rights for victims of sexual assault, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two new laws that tackle ‘stealthing’ and spousal rape.<o:p></o:p>

Introduced by Democratic Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, removing a condom secretly without a verbal consent from the partner will now be prohibited and illegal under AB 453. Victims of stealthing can now sue the person who removed the condom against violation for damages and relief.

<o:p>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/status-of-women-and-state-of-feminism-in-china-419602">Spanish doctor writes 'current illness: homosexual' for a gay woman</a></o:p>

"Sexual assaults, especially those on women of color, are perpetually swept under the rug," Garcia said in a&nbsp;statement. "...It's disgusting that there are online communities that defend and encourage stealthing and give advice on how to get away with removing the condom without the consent of their partner."&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>

People found guilty of stealthing can now be held liable for general, special and punitive damages according to the law.<o:p></o:p>

This law has been brought into place after a 2017 Yale study revealed that women and men around the world have been victims of stealthing. Victims were not just worried about getting pregnant or getting infected by sexually transmitted diseases, but also felt that the experience was "disempowering, demeaning violation of a sexual agreement".

<o:p>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/status-of-women-and-state-of-feminism-in-china-419602">Status of women and state of feminism in China</a></o:p>

California has also become the first state to differentiate between spousal rape and non-spousal rape. Earlier, rape was defined as an act of sexual intercourse forced upon a person by anyone other than their spouse. However, now if the partner does not give consent for sexual intercourse that will be made illegal under the new spousal rape law. The latest law has eliminated the provision to include spousal rape under the definition of rape.<o:p></o:p>

"Rape is rape," Assemblywoman Garcia said in a&nbsp;statement. "And a marriage license is not an excuse for committing one of society's most violent and sadistic crimes. AB 1171 will mandate adherence to a law that will protect vulnerable spouses in a union."&nbsp;<o:p></o:p>

Fighting for justice for women, the state of California has declared that anyone who secretly removes a condom during sex without verbal consent from their partner will be charged with civil sexual battery offense.

Fighting for justice for women, the state of California has declared that anyone who secretly removes a condom during sex without verbal consent from their partner will be charged with civil sexual battery offense. With the hope of providing more rights for victims of sexual assault, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two new laws that tackle ‘stealthing’ and spousal rape. Introduced by Democratic Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, removing a condom secretly without a verbal consent from the partner will now be prohibited and illegal under AB 453. Victims of stealthing can now sue the person who removed the condom against violation for damages and relief. Also read | Spanish doctor writes 'current illness: homosexual' for a gay woman "Sexual assaults, especially those on women of color, are perpetually swept under the rug," Garcia said in a statement. "...It's disgusting that there are online communities that defend and encourage stealthing and give advice on how to get away with removing the condom without the consent of their partner." People found guilty of stealthing can now be held liable for general, special and punitive damages according to the law. This law has been brought into place after a 2017 Yale study revealed that women and men around the world have been victims of stealthing. Victims were not just worried about getting pregnant or getting infected by sexually transmitted diseases, but also felt that the experience was "disempowering, demeaning violation of a sexual agreement". Also read | Status of women and state of feminism in China California has also become the first state to differentiate between spousal rape and non-spousal rape. Earlier, rape was defined as an act of sexual intercourse forced upon a person by anyone other than their spouse. However, now if the partner does not give consent for sexual intercourse that will be made illegal under the new spousal rape law. The latest law has eliminated the provision to include spousal rape under the definition of rape. "Rape is rape," Assemblywoman Garcia said in a statement. "And a marriage license is not an excuse for committing one of society's most violent and sadistic crimes. AB 1171 will mandate adherence to a law that will protect vulnerable spouses in a union."

California becomes first state to ban secret removal of condom during sex

What is the best thing to do while your country and fellow countrymen are going through a humanitarian crisis? An Afghan politician’s son believes buying a luxurious house is the right answer.<o:p></o:p>

Daoud Wardak, son of former Afghan Minister of Defense&nbsp;Abdul Rahim Wardak, recently bought a $20.9 million worth mansion in one of the most sought-after neighbourhoods in California.<o:p></o:p>

Located on the famous Trousdale Estates street in Beverly Hills, the house is nearly 9,000 square foot big property which earlier belonged to the&nbsp;Woodbridge Group, a now-defunct Ponzi scheme.

<o:p>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/isis-claims-responsibility-of-mosque-blast-that-killed-at-least-60-people-419339">ISIS claims responsibility of mosque blast that killed at least 60 people</a></o:p>

Known for its ‘modern meets midcentury’ design, the house has been completely newly reconstructed this year and has been designed by the famous architecture firm Woods + Dangaran.<o:p></o:p>

The house now has five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, class-A glassy walls and a breath-taking view of the Downtown LA skyline. The whole house features interiors of unvarnished woods and other similar natural materials to match the muted palette of grey and cream tones throughout the house.<o:p></o:p>

In the back of the house is an open rectangular pool a few feet away from the house which sends a sense of calmness in the areas — which is something the new owner’s fellow countrymen have been craving.<o:p></o:p>

Labelled as the 'ethnic Pashtun refugee' who was born in Afghanistan in 1977, the man is believed to be the president of AD Capital Group, a Miami-based firm. Daoud Wardak is Abdul Rahim’s youngest son.<o:p></o:p>

Abdul Rahim Wardak served as the defense minister of Afghanistan government between 2004 and 2012. He is known to be a key planner in setting up the Afghan National Army (ANA). While the US spent nearly $85 billion on ANA over the past 20 years, many believed that some leaders were falsifying the number of soldiers under them to keep a huge amount of the financial aid for their personal profits. <o:p></o:p>

What is the best thing to do while your country and fellow countrymen are going through a humanitarian crisis? An Afghan politician’s son believes buying a luxurious house is the right answer.

What is the best thing to do while your country and fellow countrymen are going through a humanitarian crisis? An Afghan politician’s son believes buying a luxurious house is the right answer. Daoud Wardak, son of former Afghan Minister of Defense Abdul Rahim Wardak, recently bought a $20.9 million worth mansion in one of the most sought-after neighbourhoods in California. Located on the famous Trousdale Estates street in Beverly Hills, the house is nearly 9,000 square foot big property which earlier belonged to the Woodbridge Group, a now-defunct Ponzi scheme. Also read | ISIS claims responsibility of mosque blast that killed at least 60 people Known for its ‘modern meets midcentury’ design, the house has been completely newly reconstructed this year and has been designed by the famous architecture firm Woods + Dangaran. The house now has five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, class-A glassy walls and a breath-taking view of the Downtown LA skyline. The whole house features interiors of unvarnished woods and other similar natural materials to match the muted palette of grey and cream tones throughout the house. In the back of the house is an open rectangular pool a few feet away from the house which sends a sense of calmness in the areas — which is something the new owner’s fellow countrymen have been craving. Labelled as the 'ethnic Pashtun refugee' who was born in Afghanistan in 1977, the man is believed to be the president of AD Capital Group, a Miami-based firm. Daoud Wardak is Abdul Rahim’s youngest son. Abdul Rahim Wardak served as the defense minister of Afghanistan government between 2004 and 2012. He is known to be a key planner in setting up the Afghan National Army (ANA). While the US spent nearly $85 billion on ANA over the past 20 years, many believed that some leaders were falsifying the number of soldiers under them to keep a huge amount of the financial aid for their personal profits.

Afghanistan's former defense minister's son buys mansion worth $20.9 million

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would be moving its headquarters from Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas. He announced the news at the 2021 Tesla, Inc. annual meeting of stockholders, which took place at Austin.

Tesla aims at increasing production at its plant in Fremont, California, by some 50 per cent. He did not elaborate on how he would achieve such an increase in production.&nbsp;

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Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependen on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1259162367285317633?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
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"I'm excited to announce that we're moving our headquarters to Austin, Texas," he said. "Just to be clear, though, we will be continuing to expand our activities in California."

Talking about the inaugural plant in Silicon Valley, Musk said, "When we first went in there it was it like a kid in his parents' shoes; tiny us and this giant factory."&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/jury-orders-tesla-to-pay-137-million-over-racist-treatment-418415">Also read |&nbsp;Jury orders Tesla to pay $137 million over racist treatment</a>

He added, "Now, it's like a spam can. We are hitting the sides of the bowl."

He further highlighted that the cost of living in Silicon Valley is high for workers.&nbsp;

Musk had clashed with regulators in California and is among high-profile tech figures who personally left the state for places with lower income taxes and less regulation.

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives termed it as a "smart strategic move" as he said, "We believe this was the first step towards Tesla making Austin its domestic and global foundational location over the coming decade with its recent frustration with California officials likely accelerating this move."

Meanwhile, earlier this week, a California jury ordered Tesla to pay $137 million to Owen Diaz, a Black former employee who accused the carmaker of ignoring racial abuse he faced while working there.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/tesla-chief-elon-musk-praises-china-again-416500">Also read |&nbsp;Tesla chief Elon Musk praises China again</a>

"They awarded an amount that could be a wake-up call for American corporations," said civil rights attorney Larry Organ, who represented the former Tesla worker.

"Don't engage in racist conduct and don't allow racist conduct to continue."

Human resources vice president Valerie Capers Workman downplayed the allegations of racist abuse in the lawsuit. However, he acknowledged that at the time Diaz worked there, Tesla "was not perfect."&nbsp;

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would be moving its headquarters from Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas. He announced the news at the 2021 Tesla, Inc.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would be moving its headquarters from Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas. He announced the news at the 2021 Tesla, Inc. annual meeting of stockholders, which took place at Austin. Tesla aims at increasing production at its plant in Fremont, California, by some 50 per cent. He did not elaborate on how he would achieve such an increase in production. Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependen on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2020 × "I'm excited to announce that we're moving our headquarters to Austin, Texas," he said. "Just to be clear, though, we will be continuing to expand our activities in California." Talking about the inaugural plant in Silicon Valley, Musk said, "When we first went in there it was it like a kid in his parents' shoes; tiny us and this giant factory." Also read | Jury orders Tesla to pay $137 million over racist treatment He added, "Now, it's like a spam can. We are hitting the sides of the bowl." He further highlighted that the cost of living in Silicon Valley is high for workers. Musk had clashed with regulators in California and is among high-profile tech figures who personally left the state for places with lower income taxes and less regulation. Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives termed it as a "smart strategic move" as he said, "We believe this was the first step towards Tesla making Austin its domestic and global foundational location over the coming decade with its recent frustration with California officials likely accelerating this move." Meanwhile, earlier this week, a California jury ordered Tesla to pay $137 million to Owen Diaz, a Black former employee who accused the carmaker of ignoring racial abuse he faced while working there. Also read | Tesla chief Elon Musk praises China again "They awarded an amount that could be a wake-up call for American corporations," said civil rights attorney Larry Organ, who represented the former Tesla worker. "Don't engage in racist conduct and don't allow racist conduct to continue." Human resources vice president Valerie Capers Workman downplayed the allegations of racist abuse in the lawsuit. However, he acknowledged that at the time Diaz worked there, Tesla "was not perfect."

Elon Musk announces Tesla headquarters to move from California to Texas

Researchers in California unveiled a bipedal robot on Wednesday that combines walking with flying to create a new type of locomotion, allowing it to jump, skateboard and walk on a slackline.

Meet Leo, a robot with multiple skills

California has been battling oil spill since the past many years. The oil is also contaminating the wetlands nearby.

California continues to battle oil spill

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