Author: Don Thompson
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Toxic pesticide use rising at illegal California pot farms
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Researchers and U.S. authorities are finding what they say is an alarming increase in the use of a powerful banned pesticide at illegal marijuana farms hidden on public land in California. The pesticide residue is showing up in about 30 percent of the plants themselves, researcher Mourad Gabriel told The Associated Press.…
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Judge tosses California law allowing life-ending drugs
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A California judge on Tuesday threw out a 2016 state law allowing the terminally ill to end their lives, ruling it was unconstitutionally approved by the Legislature. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia said lawmakers acted illegally in passing the law during a special session devoted to other topics, said…
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Former California police officer named as serial killer, rapist from the 1970s and 80s
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A DNA match led to the arrest of a 72-year-old former police officer in one of the most baffling and sadistic crime sprees of the 1970s and ’80s — a string of at least 12 slayings and 45 rapes in California by an attacker dubbed the Golden State Killer, police said Wednesday.…
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California considering changing police use of force standards
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Several state lawmakers and the family of a 22-year-old unarmed black man fatally shot by police are proposing Tuesday that California become the first state to significantly restrict when officers can open fire. The proposed legislation would change the current “reasonable force” rule to a “necessary force” standard. That means officers would…
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Just a few states have “red flag” gun laws
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The warnings around Nikolas Cruz seemed to flash like neon signs: expelled from school, fighting with classmates, a fascination with weapons and hurting animals, disturbing images and comments posted to social media, previous mental health treatment. In Florida, that wasn’t enough for relatives, authorities or his schools to request a judicial order…
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Judge aims to referee fight over Charles Manson’s remains
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The fight over the body and possessions of apocalyptic cult leader Charles Manson has fragmented into at least three camps competing over an estate that could cash in on songs he wrote that were used by The Beach Boys and Guns N’ Roses. Manson, 83, died in November nearly a half-century after…
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Children quieted others at California school as gunman fired
RANCHO TEHAMA RESERVE, Calif. — Teacher Jennifer Bauman threw herself against a classroom door that wouldn’t lock right, terrified that the gunman shooting outside her small Northern California elementary school would barrel in and find the children huddled under desks. Shooter Kevin Neal, 44, bypassed their door, taking out a window before he went on…
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Police find California gunman’s wife dead in their home
RANCHO TEHAMA RESERVE, Calif. — The wife of a gunman who went on a shooting rampage in a Northern California town was found dead inside their home, authorities announced Wednesday, raising the death toll from the attack to five. Investigators discovered the body of Kevin Janson Neal’s wife hidden under the floor. They believe her…
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Three killed in shooting near school in northern California
RANCHO TEHAMA RESERVE, Calif. — A gunman driving stolen vehicles and choosing his targets at random opened fire “without provocation” in a tiny rural Northern California town Tuesday, killing four people and wounding at least 10 others, including a student at an elementary school, before police shot him dead, authorities said. The gunfire began shortly…
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Evacuees might not return until spillway is repaired
OROVILLE, Calif. — Nearly 200,000 people who were ordered to leave their homes out of fear that a spillway could collapse may not be able to return until the barrier at the nation’s tallest dam is repaired, a sheriff said Monday. Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea gave no timetable for the work. Officials from the…