Important Takeaways:
- Sears has closed its final store in Washington, leaving it operating in only four states across the US.
- The department store, which was once the largest in the country, closed an outlet in the Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, Washington, on December 15.
- In the weeks leading up to its closure, the store, which had been there for three decades, hosted discount sales for shoppers.
- Its closure means that Sears only has eight stores remaining across California, Florida, Massachusetts and Texas.
- The department store was founded in 1892, and as recently as 2012 boasted over 4,000 stores across the US.
- But the vast majority have now shuttered since the company filed for bankruptcy in October 2018.
- The company also closed its final location in the New York area at the beginning of this year.
- Plans for the company going forward are unclear, and it is not known whether further closures are planned in 2025.
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Important Takeaways:
- California has declared a state of emergency for H5N1 bird flu amid fears that the virus could jump to people and start to spread.
- The move comes in response to a major outbreak of the virus among the state’s cattle which has spilled over and infected dozens of dairy workers.
- The announcement follows news that an individual in Louisiana was hospitalized with H5N1, becoming the country’s first severe case.
- The declaration of emergency gives California state and local resources to contain the outbreak, including hiring staff or issuing contracts for things like tests or personal protective equipment (PPE).
- Governor Gavin Newsom said the move would free up funds and ‘streamline and expedite’ the state’s efforts to tackle the outbreak.
- California has identified H5N1 in 645 dairy herds since its first detection in late August and nearly half of those were reported in the past 30 days, highlighting the rapid spread of the virus.
- Thirty-four of the US’ 61 human bird flu cases have also been in California
- Experts have described it as a pandemic ‘unfolding in slow motion.’
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Important Takeaways:
- Mysterious drones have been reported near military bases in Hawaii and by installations in Utah, California, Maine and Florida — among other facilities scattered throughout the country.
- It comes as residents in New York and New Jersey have reported thousands of sightings of unexplained mystery drones in the night skies.
- House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said Tuesday he believes some of the unidentified drones are “spy drones” from China.
- “We need to identify who is behind these drones,” he said. “My judgment based on my experience is that those that are over our military sites are adversarial and most likely are coming from the People’s Republic of China.”
- Sources have previously raised their concerns to The Post over Chinese landowners, who are usually linked to, or working on behalf of, the country’s communist government.
- Morgan Lerette, a former contractor for private military contractor Blackwater, previously told The Post: “The Chinese are, or will, use this farmland to learn more about US military capabilities, movements, and technology.
- “This will allow them to better understand how to transition their military from a defensive strategy to an expeditionary one.”
- Chinese holdings total under one percent of foreign-owned agricultural land in the US, per NBC, but it’s the proximity to critical military installations which raises concerns, critics have charged.
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Important Takeaways:
- Health officials have said that the overall risk to the American population is low, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed 61 human cases of the bird flu since April 2024.
- On Wednesday, California governor Gavin Newsom, whose state has seen the bulk of the cases confirmed so far, issued a state of emergency in connection with the bird flu
- Although the majority of the reported cases have come with only mild symptoms, this week the agency reported a new severe case of the virus discovered in Louisiana that resulted in hospitalization for the patient
- The Louisiana Department of Health tells CNN that the patient in question is older than 65 and is currently hospitalized in critical condition with “severe respiratory illness,” but also has other underlying health conditions.
- “While an investigation into the source of the infection in Louisiana is ongoing, it has been determined that the patient had exposure to sick and dead birds in backyard flocks,” the agency said, noting that this is also the first bird-flu case to be traced back to backyard flocks.
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Important Takeaways:
- The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that the tornado in Scotts Valley on Saturday caused several flipped vehicles, fallen trees, and multiple injuries due to the heavy winds and rain. It hit the city, which is about 6 miles from Santa Cruz, just before 2 p.m.
- According to the National Weather Service Bay Area, the EF-1 tornado had estimated peak winds of 90 mph. The agency said that power poles were included in the damage.
- “Everything was being blown that way. Cars were suddenly moving,” witness Ben Hughes told KGO. “You could see the traffic lights leave the poles.”
- “It was a miracle no one was killed in this event,” Scotts Valley Vice Mayor Derek Timm said to the news station on Sunday. “I feel like we dodged a bullet on this one, in terms of injuries and no fatalities.”
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Important Takeaways:
- One person has died and over 600,000 Americans have been left without power after a ‘bomb cyclone’ swept across northwest U.S. Tuesday evening, with strong winds tearing through towns and downed trees striking homes and vehicles.
- A woman in Lynnwood, Washington died Tuesday night when a large tree fell on a homeless encampment, according to South County Fire department.
- ‘Trees are coming down all over the city & falling onto homes,’ the fire department in Bellevue, about 10 miles east of Seattle, posted on the social platform X.
- ‘If you can, go to the lowest floor and stay away from windows. Do not go outside if you can avoid it.’
- More than 15,000 had lost power in Oregon and nearly 19,000 in California.
- As of 8 p.m., the peak wind speed was in Canadian waters, where gusts of 101 mph were reported off the coast of Vancouver Island, according to the National Weather Service in Seattle.
- Along the Oregon coast, there were wind gusts as high at 79 mph Tuesday evening, according to the National Weather Service in Medford, Oregon, while wind speed of 77 mph was recorded at Mount Rainier in Washington.
- In northern California, flood and high wind watches were in effect, with up to 8 inches of rain predicted for parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, North Coast and Sacramento Valley.
- Dangerous flash flooding, rock slides and debris flows were expected, according to the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center.
- A winter storm watch was issued for the northern Sierra Nevada above 3,500 feet, where 15 inches of snow was possible over two days.
- A blizzard warning was issued for the majority of the Cascades in Washington, including Mount Rainier National Park, starting Tuesday afternoon, with up to a foot of snow and wind gusts up to 60 mph, according to the weather service in Seattle.
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Important Takeaways:
- Firefighters in California gained a foothold in the battle against a wildfire north of Los Angeles while weather officials on Tuesday issued red flag warnings across the Northeast where blazes turned deadly over the weekend.
- The Mountain Fire in California’s Ventura County burned 20,630 acres of land as of Tuesday, an amount it has held near for several days after 80 mph winds fueled its explosive growth last week. As winds slowed, firefighters managed to bring the containment level to 42%, allowing officials to downgrade several evacuation orders. The fire has torched nearly 200 homes and businesses, injured six people and threatened thousands of structures.
- In the Northeast, weather officials issued red flag warnings from New Jersey to Massachusetts after a bout of modest weekend rainfall failed to douse the region’s wildfire threat.
- The rain helped firefighters gain some control over the Jennings Creek wildfire along the New Jersey-New York border, which has engulfed 3,500 acres and was 20% contained by Monday night. In anticipation of Tuesday’s winds and dry conditions, fire officials fortified control lines along the blaze’s east side.
- Some 82 brush fires were being monitored across Connecticut…
- Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont declared a Stage 2 drought advisory for all eight counties in Connecticut over the weekend, citing “far below normal precipitation levels and ongoing fire danger levels statewide,” according to a statement from his office.
- In Massachusetts, officials said firefighters were battling dozens of wildfires throughout the state. In October, the state’s Department of Fire Service recorded 200 wildland fires, a 1,200% increase from the month’s average total of 15 fires.
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Important Takeaways:
- Satellite imagery of a large fire burning outside of Los Angeles shows dozens of homes that were destroyed as Santa Ana winds helped drive the flames of the Mountain Fire.
- CAL FIRE estimates that more than 20,000 acres have burned, fueled by what officials described as favorable weather conditions.
- “The fire began in the Somis area and was driven by winds into the Camarillo Heights and the Camarillo Estates areas, where numerous homes were damaged or destroyed. Fire remains active on the northeast portion of the fire, moving downslope towards the Santa Clara River…All evacuation orders and warnings remain in place due to the extreme fire danger. Residents are strongly encouraged to heed the warnings and orders,” the agency said in a statement.
- So far, no life-threatening injuries have been reported among firefighters or residents fleeing the flames.
- According to emergency management, more than 10,000 homes and businesses were under evacuation alerts around Ventura County as the fire quickly spread through the hills of South California.
- Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in Ventura County due to the large wildfire.
- The cause of the Mountain Fire is still unknown, but authorities are working to determine if utility lines played any role in its ignition.
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Important Takeaways:
- A surge of earthquakes is rippling through California and reaching as far as Las Vegas.
- Since Oct. 9, Death Valley National Park has seen 130 earthquakes. Elizabeth Cochran, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, confirmed the number to SFGATE in an email. The park saw the largest earthquakes on Oct. 25, reaching magnitudes 4.7 and 4.5.
- “The cluster is considered a swarm of earthquakes because the sequence contains a large number of events but does not have a clear mainshock (an earthquake clearly larger than the rest in the sequence),” Cochran said.
- The recent shakes haven’t caused damage within the park. Death Valley has multiple fault lines — Cochran said namely the Towne Pass Fault and Northern Death Valley Fault — that cover a large area in eastern California and Nevada. The fault lines are capable of producing earthquakes with a magnitude of 7 or larger.
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Important Takeaways:
- A dystopian scene is emerging in California as dairy farmers battle a ruthless disease.
- Dead cows and calves stacked along roadsides rotting in the heat surrounded by crows, vultures and thick swarms of black flies.
- After wiping out tens of millions of birds worldwide, the H5N1 avian flu is tearing through dairy farms in the US.
- A total of 124 herds have been affected in California alone, in addition to nearly 200 herds spanning 13 other states including Colorado, Idaho and Michigan.
- Some fallen cattle are being intentionally left on the roadside to reduce the chance of the virus spreading on farms.
- There are growing concerns that it could have a knock-on effect on milk production and pricing.
- Eggs have already been hit by shortages and price gouging after the arrival of bird flu in chickens.
- Infected carcasses are being brought to a rendering site – a facility that processes animal remains – to be turned into ‘high protein’ animal feed and fertilizer, or liquids used in fuels, paints, varnishes, lubricants and other industrial products.
- Removing and processing these carcasses eliminates the risk of them passing bird flu onto other animals or humans.
- California is the nation’s largest dairy producer, and this state currently holds the record for the most bird flu-infected cattle herds in a single state, in addition to a high number of cases among dairy workers.
- Even if cows survive the virus, it takes a toll on their milk production.
- Observations suggest that production drops to just 60 percent or 70 percent due to the virus, the LA Times reported.
- The effect this will have on dairy prices remains unclear, but if expert predictions are correct, the dairy industry could become increasingly destabilized as cases and fatalities in cattle soar.
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