Important Takeaways:
- ‘They gave everyone who smokes marijuana a license to kill’: Family of man fatally stabbed 100 times by his girlfriend expresses outrage as she avoids jail time – after judge ruled she was so high she couldn’t control her actions
- The family of a man who was murdered by his date after she stabbed him more than 100 times has voiced their outrage after the California woman was sentenced to just 100 hours of community service with no jailtime.
- Bryn Spejcher, 33, was given the lenient sentence after psychiatrists said the incident was ‘100 percent’ caused by cannabis-induced psychosis, which she suffered after taking two hits of the victim’s bong.
- The judge ruled Ms. Spejcher ‘experienced a psychotic break from reality’ and ‘had no control over her actions’ when she killed Chad O’Melia, who was 26 years old at the time of his death, on Memorial Day weekend 2018.
- The family of O’Melia cried when the sentence was read out at Ventura Superior Court, with the victim’s father warning it gave ‘everyone who smokes marijuana in this state a license to kill.’
- In California, voluntary manslaughter is defined as the killing of a person ‘upon a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion.’ It carries a prison term of between three and 11 year, fines, community service and probation.
- Spejcher will spend the 100 hours educating others on marijuana-induced psychosis and two years on probation – but has promised to spend the rest of her life debunking the myth that cannabis is harmless.
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Important Takeaways:
- San Diego declares state of emergency as torrential rain overturns cars, topples trees and leads to dozens of rescues across California and Texas amid warnings of flash flooding and avalanches
- California and Texas were under flood warnings on Monday as torrential rain swept through a large swath of the country following a week of deep freeze.
- Flash floods inundated homes and overturned cars in San Diego, toppling trees and overflowing streets with videos showing vehicles buried beneath.
- All the way up north, early morning flooding hit the town of Guerneville, near San Francisco, where a creek overflowed after more than 4 inches of rain fell in 24 hours. The local school district canceled classes for the day.
- On the southern end of the state, the weather system unleashed a severe punch with the second major rain event of the winter.
- Floodwaters swept away vehicles and caused cars to pile on top of each other in parts of San Diego.
- In San Antonio, Texas, firefighters investigated whether five homeless people might have been swept away by rushing waters early Monday morning, according to fire department spokesperson Woody Woodward.
- They were camping in drainage tunnels next to a highway north of downtown, officials said.
- Some parts of the San Antonio area had received up to five inches of rain since Sunday night, according to the National Weather Service.
- Rainfall was also soaking Houston, Dallas, as well as various parts of north and east Texas.
- In other parts of the country, as in Arkansas, there’s freezing rain. Forecasters warned that up to a half-inch of ice could coat parts of the state by Monday evening.
- That prompted an ice storm warning that includes much of the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas and the cities of Fayetteville and Fort Smith.
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Important Takeaways:
- California, New York residents moving out as 8.2 million Americans relocate to other states
- The federal agency estimated that the number of interstate movers rose about 4% from nearly 7.9 million people in 2021 to about 8.2 million last year. State-to-state migrations also comprised a larger share of all movers between 2021 and 2022, jumping from 18.8% to 19.9%.
- “The two largest flows, which were not statistically different from each other in size, came either to or from the four most populous states: large numbers of people moved from California to Texas and from New York to Florida,” survey statistician Mehreen S. Ismail wrote in a summary of the findings.
- According to the bureau, 102,442 people moved from California to Texas last year, the most between any two states. Another 91,201 people relocated from California to Arizona. California’s population is about 39 million, while Texas’ is 30 million. Arizona is home to 7.4 million people.
- In the next-biggest state-to-state jump, 91,201 people left New York for Florida. Another 75,103 people moved from New York to neighboring New Jersey.
- Texas had the country’s lowest outward migration rate at 11.7% of all movers, with 42,479 relocating to California and 38,207 to Florida.
- On the flip side, California had the nation’s lowest inward migration rate at 11.1% of all movers, with most coming from Texas.
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Important Takeaways:
- Highland Fire is at 25% containment after burning 2,500 acres in Southern California
- The wildfire in Southern California that led to evacuations for about 4,000 residents is at least 25% contained, fire officials said on Thursday.
- The Highland Fire has burned over 2,500 acres, including at least 15 structures and at three homes in Riverside County, according to Cal Fire.
- The department said the blaze ignited around 12:37 p.m. Monday in Aguanga, California and went uncontained through the evening. No fatalities have been reported and at least one person has been injured as of Thursday.
- Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire, which over 1,100 firefighters responded to.
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Important Takeaways:
- Southern California wildfire prompts evacuation order for thousands as Santa Ana winds fuel flames
- Hundreds of firefighters aided by aircraft on Tuesday battled a wind-driven wildfire that damaged or destroyed at least nine buildings in rural Southern California and prompted authorities to order 4,000 residents to evacuate.
- Gusty Santa Ana winds spread the Highland Fire over about 4 square miles (10 square kilometers) of brushy hills near the Riverside County hamlet of Aguanga after it broke out Monday afternoon.
- Three structures were confirmed destroyed and six others were damaged, Riverside County Fire Department spokesperson Jeff LaRusso said.
- By nighttime the fire was 10% contained but still threatened nearly 2,400 homes and other buildings, according to an update from fire authorities.
- The cause of the blaze was under investigation.
- Power utility Southern California Edison was considering cutting electricity to nearly 55,000 customers in four counties to prevent fires in the event wind damages equipment. Only a few dozen customers were affected by public safety power shutoffs as of Tuesday night.
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Important Takeaways:
- A new law in California will raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour next year, an acknowledgment from the state’s Democratic leaders that most of the often-overlooked workforce are the primary earners for their low-income households.
- When it takes effect on April 1, fast food workers in California will have the highest guaranteed base salary in the industry.
- The state’s minimum wage for all other workers — $15.50 per hour — is already among the highest in the United States.
- Newsom’s signature reflects the power and influence of labor unions in the nation’s most populous state
- Unions have played a big part in Newsom’s political rise in California, offering a reliable source of campaign cash.
- Right now, California’s fast food workers earn an average of $16.60 per hour, or just over $34,000 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the California Poverty Measure for a family of four
- The new $20 minimum wage is just a starting point. The law creates a Fast Food Council that has the power to increase that wage each year through 2029 by 3.5%
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Important Takeaways:
- “Each school district, county office of education, and charter school” is required to have at least one gender-neutral bathroom on campus on or before July 1, 2026
- In addition, the gender-neutral bathroom may only be temporarily closed if there is a documented student safety concern, an immediate threat to student safety or for the bathroom to be repaired.
- “These measures will help protect vulnerable youth, promote acceptance, and create more supportive environments in our schools and communities,” Governor Newsom said
- Senate Bill 760 is part of a cluster of bills aimed at expanding access to LGBTQ+ Californians, according to the governor, who applauded the state as having some of the most “robust laws in the nation when it comes to protecting and supporting our LGBTQ+ community.”
- “This year the LGBTQ Caucus took up the important work of protecting our communities in the face of vile anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, discriminatory laws across the country, and hatred,” Chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman, said in the press release
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Important Takeaways:
- The California legislature passed a bill Friday that requires a judge to consider whether or not a parent “affirms” their child’s “gender identity” in a custody dispute.
- Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener and Democratic Assembly Member Lori Wilson introduced the bill in February, with Wiener claiming that the legislation was needed to protect the “health, safety, and welfare of the child,” according to the Associated Press. The bill passed the state Senate Wednesday with a 30-9 vote before making it through the general assembly only days later at 57-16, according to KCRA, an NBC affiliate.
- “This bill, for purposes of this provision, would include a parent’s affirmation of the child’s gender identity or gender expression as part of the health, safety, and welfare of the child,” the legislation reads.
- Conservative commentators quickly took to Twitter after the vote to warn about the potential damage this would cause to parental and religious rights.
- “California is one Governor’s signature away from the power to remove children from parents who don’t affirm their children’s fake gender identity. This is tantamount to forced sterilization of children,” Nicole Solas, an attorney and senior fellow for the Independent Women’s Forum, wrote in a post. “I know another govt that forcibly sterilized kids.
- Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk called the bill “anti-parent,” according to a post.
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Important Takeaways:
- California Digging From Mud Left By Tropical Storm Hilary
- While northern Californians fight wildfires, southern Californians are recovering—particularly those in the drier parts of the Golden State—after receiving heavy rainfall from their first tropical storm in more than 80 years.
- Damaged roads and mud-deep vehicles ill Californians after Tropical Storm Hilary and its remnants dropped several inches of rain to areas that are typically dry.
- The damage across southern California after the storm’s passage has caused road closures and power outages and pushed community clean-up efforts.
- Riverside County—where Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs are located—saw about 1.5 inches of rain recently, causing I-10 freeway flooding and excessive damage that prompted the county’s chief executive to proclaim a local emergency.
- Palm Springs International Airport recorded 3.23 inches of rain in flooding unseen in the area since 2019, the National Weather Service says.
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Important Takeaways:
- California gas prices soar to the highest point of the year
- Gasoline prices in California have surged to the highest point of the year and are approaching prices seen last summer, according to the American Automobile Association.
- According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded in California was $5.26 on Tuesday, up 10 cents over the past week and 37 cents over the past month. A year ago, drivers were paying $5.34 per gallon.
- In Los Angeles County alone, the average price for regular unleaded was $5.36/gallon on Tuesday.
- The national average was $3.85/gallon.
- California, once again, has the highest gasoline prices in the nation. Washington State ($5.05/gallon) has the second-highest.
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