Tag: Northern California

Preliminary 4.8 earthquake strikes off Northern California coast

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Winding highway along rugged cliffs above a blue ocean

A preliminary 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the Northern California coast Friday night, and no tsunami is expected, officials said. The United States Geological Survey says the earthquake struck off the Humboldt County coast, about 75 miles southwest of Eureka, around 7:41 p.m.  Some people along the coast reported to the USGS that they felt weak to light shaking.  California Office of Emergency Services and the National Weather Service said a tsunami is not expected.  There have not been any reports of damage. 

Source: Preliminary 4.8 earthquake strikes off Northern California coast – CBS San Francisco

Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:3

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Lawmakers expected to pass law ending child marriage in California

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Judge’s gavel beside framed colorful map of California

California lawmakers are expected to pass a new law ending child marriage within the state.  Currently, California is one of three states that allow children of any age to get married if a parent or guardian signs off. The bill passing through the legislature would end underage marriage with no exceptions.  “So many survivors of child marriage have been fighting for over nine years trying to get this bill passed,” said Courtney Stodden, a staunch supporter of the new law.  Stodden spearheaded the battle to end underage marriage in California and across the country after her own experience as a child bride. When she was 16, Stodden married 51-year-old actor Doug Hutchison. 

“I was living in Washington state, and my manager at the time knew actor Doug Hutchison, who was teaching acting classes in Los Angeles,” Stodden said. “My mom signed me up for the acting classes.” Stodden said she grew closer with Hutchison after six months. They married in 2011 after her mother gave consent.  “He gained the trust of my mother,” Stodden said.  Advocates of the ban said that there were 35,000 underage marriages from 2000 to 2021, most of whom were girls. They said the ban is critical in protecting children from sexual assault.  “California must protect our kids and end child marriage once and for all,” said Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, who authored the bill.

“Notably, the age of sexual consent is 18 without exception, unless that individual is the spouse of the minor.” Thirty-three other states also allow underage marriage, but they have restrictions on the age of the child. The ban is set to reach Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, who is expected to sign off on it. 

Source: Lawmakers expected to pass law ending child marriage in California – CBS Los Angeles

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
1 John 5:13

Hope in the dark

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California scientists build robot to look for great white sharks near beaches

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From a distance, it looks like a kayak or a surfboard. But it’s not a person enjoying an afternoon at the beach — it’s a new high-tech device to look for great white sharks. Researchers at Cal State Long Beach have begun testing what they are calling a “semi-autonomous shark surveillance bot.” The unmanned craft, a prototype that is about 10 feet long and 3 feet wide, hit the water last month in Southern California. The craft can patrol near beaches for up to a week at a time, using acoustic receivers to listen for white sharks in the wild that have been fitted by scientists with tracking tags.

It also has cameras, and will soon include a drone for aerial surveillance that can send live 360-degree images back to lifeguards and biologists on the shore. “The idea is that you program it to mow the lawn — just go back and forth — in the ocean,” said Chris Lowe, a professor of marine biology and director of the Shark Lab at CSU Long Beach. “Lifeguards can drive it, or we can drive it from the lab.” Plans also are afoot by scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing to fit the craft with equipment that can detect shark DNA in the water, picking up traces of skin, mucous and other waste that leaves clues when the famous apex predators are coming and going through a popular beach area. Shark attacks remain extremely rare.

California has recorded 236 since 1950, including 17 fatalities, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. San Diego County has the most incidents with 27, followed by San Mateo County with 22, Santa Barbara with 21, then Marin, Monterey and Humboldt with 19 each, Santa Cruz County with 17, and San Luis Obispo and Sonoma counties with 16 each. Every year, millions of people swim, surf, kayak and dive in the ocean off California. In recent years, drone footage and signals from acoustic tags have shown that sharks regularly swim near people and almost never attack. “Sharks are swimming by surfers and swimmers all the time, and the people don’t know they are there,” Lowe said. “It is happening daily.” Several high-profile deaths in recent years have drawn more attention to the issue, however.

In December, Pebble Beach resident Erica Fox, 55, was killed by a great white shark off Lovers Point in Pacifica, in Monterey County, while swimming in the ocean. Her autopsy report, released by authorities last week, showed she died from a single bite from a shark that Lowe estimates was 16 feet long. In June 2022, another member of Fox’s swimming club, the Kelp Krawlers, Steve Bruemmer, was bitten and seriously injured while swimming in the same area. Two months later, a paddleboarder and his dog were thrown into the water there but escaped unhurt after a shark bit their board from below. Before Fox, the last fatal shark attack in the Monterey Bay area occurred May 9, 2020. Ben Kelly, 26, was surfing about 100 yards offshore at Manresa State Beach, roughly 4 miles south of Aptos in Santa Cruz County, when he was bitten by a 10- to 12-foot great white shark. Authorities said the bite severed an artery in his leg.

He was helped back to the beach but died a short time later. Adult great white sharks mostly eat seals and sea lions. Juveniles eat fish, squid and rays. Researchers think that most bites are accidental; great white sharks mistake people for seals or sea lions. “We don’t smell like food to them, we don’t look like food, and we don’t sound like food. Therefore they nearly always ignore us,” Lowe said. “We are probably getting dozens of encounters a week without bites.” Lowe said he hopes to have the surveillance device finished in two years, in time for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, when triathletes will be swimming in Long Beach Harbor, an area that sharks have been known to visit. Along the way, he said, it can help provide scientists more information about where and when sharks are present, and can help the public get a better understanding that the ocean is a wild place and sharks are part of it.

At first, Lowe said, he will use the device off Southern California, in places like Long Beach Harbor, Santa Monica Bay and Huntington Beach. But he said with enough funding, others could be made and used across the state in marine waters in Central and Northern California, as well. “This is not about ‘there’s a shark in the water, let’s pull everybody out,'” Lowe said. “It’s about giving people more information so they can make decisions for themselves.” “It’s an information tool,” he added. “We aren’t trying to scare people. We are trying to inform them so they can make better risk assessments. It’s like when you go to Yellowstone, and there are signs saying stay 150 feet from the bison.” Although Lowe said he believes this is the first time they all have been placed on one craft, many of the tools on the robot have been used by shark researchers for years. Barbara Block, a professor of marine sciences at Stanford University who has done groundbreaking research on great white sharks, tuna and other ocean species for decades, called Lowe’s project “a step forward.”

She said it’s important to remember that juvenile white sharks, which are often found closer to the beach in shallower waters, don’t bite people. Block’s team also uses DNA research to study sharks in the wild. She said while there are benefits, researchers cannot yet identify individual sharks from it, and changing ocean currents can create problems. “It tells you when a shark is present,” she said. “But it comes with lots of caveats. The DNA is in the water, and the water is moving. It takes 72 hours before it degrades. You might be looking at DNA from 3 days ago or today. It’s a challenge for all of us. Did a shark pass today or two days ago? The water moves.” The best way to know in real time if a shark is present is from acoustic tags and from drones, she said. Although hundreds of sharks have been tagged in the wild, many more have not.

Jim Birch, a scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute who helps lead efforts to design robotic equipment and ocean sensors there, said MBARI recently has used the DNA technology to study algae blooms in Lake Huron and to track ocean species between San Francisco and the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. That information can show over time what plants and animals generally live in certain areas and how they might be shifting due to climate change. The environmental DNA technology, known as “eDNA,” also detects harmful algae blooms, can identify if endangered salmon are present in rivers, and can discover whether invasive species like zebra mussels or quagga mussels are present in lakes, he said. “Visual and acoustic will give you real-time information about sharks,” he said. “The eDNA gives you the more broad biological perspective.” The project also has support from the New York University Center for Robotics, with $300,000 in funding from the Seaver Institute.

The Seaver Institute is a private philanthropic foundation based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1955 by Frank Roger Seaver, a San Jose native born in 1883, who became a prominent lawyer in Los Angeles, owned an oil drilling equipment company and donated millions to Pomona College, Pepperdine University and other nonprofits. Birch and Lowe said they are early in the shark surveillance robot project but that it has significant promise in the years ahead. “We don’t know enough about white sharks,” Birch said. “There is so much about the ocean we still don’t know. White sharks are fascinating apex predators, but they go away. The ocean is a big place. One of the big drivers is human curiosity. It is also about public safety, so that we can put a sign up at the beach saying, ‘White sharks are here during these months and you decide.'”

Source: California scientists build robot to look for great white sharks near beaches | Jefferson City News Tribune

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:10

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California bans ‘sell by’ labels on perishable food, in attempt to cut down on waste

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Packaged baby spinach, shredded mozzarella, hummus, and Greek yogurt with expiration and pricing labels in refrigerated shelf

California has banned “sell by” labels on perishable products, in an attempt to cut down on food waste. The law was passed in 2024 but didn’t go into effect until Wednesday.

It standardizes such labels to try to cut food waste and reduce consumer confusion in the state, according to The New York Times.  Manufacturers can still use several terms including “best if used by” or “best if frozen by” to indicate when a food item is at its peak quality, and “use by” or “freeze by” to indicate when a food item is no longer safe to consume.

Products exempt from the law are eggs and infant formula, according to California’s Department of Food and Agriculture. State and federal officials have long said the labels confuse consumers about when to throw away aging food products. There are roughly 50 variations of date labels in the United States, The Times also reports. 

Source: California bans ‘sell by’ labels on perishable food, in attempt to cut down on waste | Just The News

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5

Lifeguard rescues dog at Hilton Head beach

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You don’t have to carry this alone, He is your safe place and your help in every moment of need.  Bible Verse:God is our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very…

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Gavin Newsom opposes a California wealth tax. He’s proposing a national billionaire tax instead

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Silhouette of a man standing on a balcony looking at the lit California State Capitol building at dusk

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday proposed a national tax on billionaires that he says is the first part of an “economic reset for America” agenda, which aides explicitly say is part of his considering to launch a presidential campaign. “The system America’s founders built was designed to prevent the concentration of power in a few hands, but we have allowed that concentration to happen anyway, slowly, in plain sight, over decades,” Newsom writes. “We can reverse it together, as a country.”

It is extremely early in the presidential campaign cycle for a policy proposal — but comes as Democrats continue to embrace economic populism and moves against the wealthy. It also comes as California voters in November will decide on a billionaires’ tax after the governor and opponents of the tax late Thursday failed to reach a deal to keep it off the ballot. Newsom, who is term-limited in California and will leave office in January 2027, lays out his proposal in a Substack post that went live on Friday morning, calling for a minimum tax on anyone worth more than $100 million so that they pay at least the same rate, rather than less, than the average American worker who doesn’t have loopholes and other maneuvers to benefit from.

Various wealth tax ideas have been proposed by Democrats before, including by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as part of her 2020 Democratic presidential campaign. Newsom says his idea comes out of wanting to create a bulwark against how artificial intelligence will reshape the economy, also proposing what he calls a “national public equity fund” to give every American, rather than just tech companies and investors, a share in the wealth likely to be produced. That fund, an aide said, would cover worker transition benefits, universal childcare, free higher education and career training, healthcare and a national industrial strategy for AI.

Newsom also called for rewriting the rules around inheritance, arguing that with what he says will be the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in human history coming over the next 20 years, “if we do not act, that transfer of wealth among the ultra-wealthy will lock in a permanent American aristocracy of inherited wealth, with all the political consequences the founders warned us about.” Newsom explains why that he will personally vote no on the California proposal, which would levy a one-time 5% tax on residents with a net worth over $1 billion. Backers of the measure gathered more than 870,000 signatures and include progressives like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and California Rep. Ro Khanna – himself a 2028 contender. Newsom and others fear it would drive businesses out of California, and that the revenue collected would not be spread around widely enough. “We’re competing with 50 states,” Newsom told the World Economic Forum earlier this year.

“Capital flows and move(s). That’s real. It’s not imagined. It’s very, very real.” In his Substack post, Newsom writes that while he understands “the anxiety” driving interest in the California proposed tax, it “turns a blind eye to safety-net clinics and reproductive healthcare providers that Planned Parenthood has fought for decades to protect. There is nothing for housing, nothing for childcare, nothing for public safety workers who must answer 911 calls, and nothing for our public universities that have powered California’s economy for a decade.” Khanna, however, called Newsom’s proposal a distraction, arguing in a call with reporters on Friday that it didn’t actually constitute a wealth tax. “Taxing the loans on assets is something that the tech oligarchs themselves have proposed,” he said.

“That will raise a fraction of the revenue of an actual wealth tax, the kind that Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren or I have proposed.” Long a presumed candidate for president in 2028, Newsom has begun to show his political hand more explicitly with a video last week about what he said was a Justice Department investigation into his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom: “Donald Trump isn’t just coming after me because of my mean tweets, he’s coming after me because I am considering running for president.”

Source: Gavin Newsom opposes a California wealth tax. He’s proposing a national billionaire tax instead | CNN Politics

For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
Acts 17:28

Faith Under Pressure

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17,000 Baptized in Historic Worldwide Event: ‘Saying Yes to Jesus’

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baptism ceremony at clemson community church

17,000 Baptized in Historic Worldwide Event: ‘Saying Yes to Jesus’, Michael Foust – Read breaking news headlies with a Christian perspective and commentary from Michael Foust. A gathering at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., served as the focal point for the May 24 global event, featuring worship, personal testimonies, and live updates from participating churches around the world. Attendees watched baptisms take place across multiple nations as believers publicly professed their faith.

Baptize the World grew out of a movement led by Pastor Mark Francey of Oceans Church in California, whose previous initiatives – Baptize SoCal, Baptize California, and Baptize America – drew thousands of participants.

“This was never about one event or one location,” Francey said. “This was about the body of Christ coming together around the world to lift up the name of Jesus and publicly declare new life through baptism.”

He added, “From Washington, D.C., to nations around the world, we witnessed people saying yes to Jesus in a way that was visible, powerful, and deeply personal.”

Francey launched the movement after sensing about four years ago that God was calling him to organize a large-scale baptism event. Like its predecessors, Baptize the World was a multi-denominational effort that united churches around the public declaration of faith through baptism.

The movement began with more than 4,000 baptisms at Baptize SoCal in 2023 and grew to roughly 12,000 baptisms during Baptize California in 2024, held simultaneously in churches across the state and along the Huntington Beach shoreline.

“Psalms 133 says that where God’s people are in unity, God commands a blessing,” Francey previously told Crosswalk Headlines. “And so interdenominationally, from one side of the church world to the other side, we have some of the great Baptist churches, evangelical churches, Pentecostal churches, all linking arms together around one of the major creeds of the faith.”

Organizers received video updates and baptism reports from nations across the world, including Australia, Uganda, Pakistan, South Korea, Brazil, Romania, Switzerland, the Philippines, and Canada.

“Among the stories emerging from the global movement were baptisms in Tajikistan, where Christians make up less than 1% of the population, and in Equatorial Guinea, where nine siblings were baptized together,” a Baptize the World report said. “Organizers said additional stories from international churches are continuing to come in as more nations and churches report baptisms.”

Source: 17,000 Baptized in Historic Worldwide Event: ‘Saying Yes to Jesus’ – Michael Foust | Crosswalk.com

Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:3

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Northern California man arrested after major drug bust on Nebraska freeway, officials say

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bread on white plastic pack

Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) says troopers seized more than 500 pounds of suspected cocaine during a traffic stop on Interstate 80 Wednesday morning and arrested a Northern California man. The stop happened around 10:25 a.m. near Milford, Nebraska, at mile marker 382 on eastbound I-80. Troopers said a Nissan Rogue was pulled over after it was seen following a semi-truck too closely. During the stop, an NSP K9 alerted officers to the odor of a controlled substance coming from the vehicle, officials said.

A search of the SUV allegedly uncovered about 525 pounds of suspected cocaine along with 9.3 grams of suspected heroin. Booking photo of Gurarppan Gill Nebraska State Patrol The driver, identified as 23-year-old Gurarppan Gill of Yuba City, was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver, NSP said. Gill was booked into the Seward County Jail in Nebraska.

Source: Northern California man arrested after major drug bust on Nebraska freeway, officials say – CBS Sacramento

But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints.
Ephesians 5:3

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Invasive pest found on Costco plants a threat to California Wine Country vineyards, officials warn

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brown bug in close up photography

Authorities in Northern California alerted residents on Tuesday about an invasive species found on plants from Costco that could threaten the region’s vineyards and other agriculture in the region. Agriculture officials in Marin, Napa, Nevada and Solano counties issued a consumer alert “urgently asking residents to take immediate action” after glassy-winged sharpshooters were found on grapevines and citrus plants delivered to Costco stores. 

The Napa County Farm Bureau said in a press release that all life stages of the insect were detected on grape vine shipments from Fresno County-based Burchell Nursery to multiple counties, including Marin, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Yolo and other counties not named. Marin Agricultural Commissioner Joe Deviney said in a press statement that Burchell Nursery was required by state quarantine laws to notify ag offices before shipping, “and that did not occur.”  “Costco is not at fault here, and they’ve been an exceptional partner throughout this process,” Deviney added.

“They acted quickly, cooperated fully, and helped us reach customers as fast as possible.” Costco was directly contacting customers who purchased affected plants within the timeframe, Deviney said. The glassy-winged sharpshooter (Homalodisca vitripennis) is a large leafhopper insect native to the southeastern United States. First detected in California in the late 1980s, it has since become one of the state’s most significant agricultural threats for its role as a vector for a deadly plant bacterium that causes Pierce’s disease which fatally dehydrates grapevines.   

Source: Invasive pest found on Costco plants a threat to California Wine Country vineyards, officials warn – CBS San Francisco

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the hearts.
Proverbs 21:2

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PG&E warns Northern California counties of likely power shutoffs starting Sunday

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electricity towers in pune during sunset

Pacific Gas & Electric Company is warning residents in several Northern California counties that power shutoffs will be likely starting later this weekend. High winds and dry conditions are forecasted across the region in the coming days – prime weather for fire danger. A Red Flag Warning is already set to go into effect for parts of Solano County, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the Sacramento Valley and the entire Central Valley by Saturday. Now, PG&E is alerting customers in the following counties that shutoffs will be likely on

Sunday and Monday: Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa, Fresno, Glenn, Lake, Merced, Napa, San Benito, San Joaquin, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tehama and Yolo. Likely shutoffs are also listed on Tuesday, but only for Colusa, Fresno, Glenn, San Benito and Tehama

Source: PG&E warns Northern California counties of likely power shutoffs starting Sunday – CBS San Francisco

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
Romans 1:17

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