Tag Archives: California

UC Davis Chancellor Makes Strong Statement Against Hate

In the wake of the news report that a Jewish fraternity at the University of California Davis was vandalized by swastikas after a vote by the Student Senate to support the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

Here is the letter from Chancellor Linda Katehi:

Dear UC Davis Campus Community:

This morning students at a UC Davis Jewish fraternity discovered despicable and hateful graffiti on their walls, including a large red swastika that appeared to be spray-painted on the exterior of the house.

This kind of behavior is not only repugnant and a gross violation of the values our university holds dear, it is unacceptable and must not be tolerated on our campus or anywhere else.

No matter what religious, political or personal beliefs we hold, as members of a university community we have an obligation to treat each other with respect and dignity, even when we disagree.

Nothing rivals a swastika as a more potent or offensive symbol of hatred and violence toward our Jewish community members, but this odious symbol is an affront to us all. As campus leaders, we are saddened and outraged that this occurred in our community.

As our Principles of Community demonstrate, UC Davis is built on a foundation of tolerance and inclusion, and when those principles are violated in such a reprehensible manner, we have all been violated.

We have requested that the police investigate this act of vandalism as a hate crime. We appeal to every member of our UC Davis community to denounce any and all such acts of bigotry and intimidation. We must instead demonstrate to the world that no matter what issue or debate we engage in, we are a community committed to mutual respect and tolerance. No single act such as this will ever define us, but we must define ourselves as a university community that has no tolerance for prejudice or such an abhorrent symbol and the history of hatred it evokes and extends.

Sincerely,

Linda P.B. Katehi

Chancellor

 

Ralph J. Hexter

Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor

 

Adela de la Torre

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

“Hamas & Sharia Law Have Taken Over UC Davis”

Anti-Semitism is on the rise at the University of California Davis as one Islamist is claiming victory at forcing Sharia law on the campus.

Jewish students were threatened and harassed as they were speaking out against a student government resolution to divest from Israel as part of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

The anti-Semites waved Palestinian flags in the face of the Jewish students before the 8-2 vote in favor of the anti-Semitic movement.

The pro-terrorists in the audience yelled “Allahu Akbar!” following the vote.  The vote was pushed by the pro-Hamas terrorist organization Students for Justice in Palestine.

Immediately after the vote, swastikas were spray painted on a Jewish fraternity’s home.

The celebration among Islamists on campus was loud and immediate.  Azka Fayyaz, who is a member of the University of California Davis student senate, posted on Facebook following the vote: “Hamas & Sharia law have taken over UC Davis.”

Humboldt County California Suffers Severe Quake

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that Humboldt County California was struck by a 5.7 magnitude earthquake Wednesday afternoon.

The quake’s epicenter was underwater about 40 miles southwest of Eureka.

Lt. Wayne Hanson of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office told NBC that no major damage or injuries were reported but that the shaking was significant.  The USGS “Did You Feel It” website had multiple reports from coastal areas of Level VI shaking, designed as “strong”.

Ironically, the quake struck as a “room full of Public Safety Officials” were meeting at the California Office of Emergency Services.

The USGS reported measurements from the quake over 200 miles to the north, east and south.

30 Babies Placed Under Home Isolation In Measles Outbreak

An outbreak of measles that started at Disneyland is causing massive problems throughout California according to the LA Times.

Thirty babies are now in home isolation in Alameda County because of possible exposure to measles. Sherri Willis of the Alameda County Public Health Deaprtment told the LA Times that the children were not infected but had contact with measles patients.

“It is our job to try to determine who has been exposed,” Willis said.

There have been 87 confirmed cases of measles connected to the Disneyland strain.  Officials say that most of the people who have contracted the disease were not vaccinated against it and urged all people to get vaccinations if they did not as a child.

Measles is spread through the air by coughing or sneezing.  The U.S. had a record number of cases last year, with 644 infections in 27 states.

Other precautions being taken include over two dozen high school students from Huntington Beach High School being sent home because they were unvaccinated and one student was confirmed to have measles.

“Unimmunized students are excluded from school for 21 days past the date of exposure, during which they need to monitor themselves for signs of measles,” Deanne Thompson, Orange County health care agency spokeswoman said. “This is to avoid spreading the disease.”

Measles Outbreak At Disney Grows To 70 Patients

A measles outbreak traced to Disney theme parks in California continues to grow with 70 people sickened from the highly contagious disease.

The outbreak has now spread to five states and into Mexico with the majority reported in California.

State epidemiologist Gil Chavez told reporters that anyone who has not had the MMR (mumps/measles/rubella) vaccine should temporarily avoid Disney theme parks.  He also said highly crowded locations like airports or bus stations should also be avoided.

He said anyone who’s been vaccinated has nothing to fear.

State officials said cases range from 7 months to 70 years old.  About 25% of those infected had to be hospitalized and five of the sickened were Disney employees.

Chavez said California averages 4 to 60 measles cases a year, so 2015 is off “to a bad start.”  He said that it’s likely they won’t be able to find patient zero for this outbreak.

Idaho and California Hit With Quakes

Weekend earthquakes shook California and caused rock slides in Idaho.

Two back-to-back quakes struck southern California Saturday night with the strongest a magnitude 4.2 according to the U.S. Geological Survey.  That quake was centered around 8 miles north of Castaic, California.

“All of the sudden it was two big rattles and little rumbles afterwards,” Castaic resident Jessica Shickle told NBC Los Angeles. “It was like the Lord literally just took our house and just kind of gave it a couple shakes, and that was it and it went away.”

USGS seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones told NBC the quake was basically small.

“This really is a very small earthquake,” Dr. Jones said. “It’s a size that’s relatively common in Southern California. I did a check and there were eight earthquakes 4.2 and larger in 2014.”

On Sunday, a 4.9 magnitude quake rocked Challis, Idaho and surrounding areas.  The quake was followed by aftershocks of 4.0 and 3.6 a few hours later.

The 4.9 quake caused rock slides that blocked roadways but officials say there were no serious injuries.

Earthquake Strikes Near San Pedro, California

The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck Tuesday off the coast of San Pedro, California.

The tremor struck around 3:26 p.m.

The epicenter was 16 miles from Long Beach and 14 miles from Rancho Palos Verdes.  The quake was reportedly shallow at a depth of 2 miles.

Residents of the area said that the quake felt a lot bigger than the USGS report.

“Felt much stronger than a 3.9,” Chris DuRee, who was near downtown Long Beach, told KTLA-TV. “Rattled softly and then a few strong rolls. No damage anywhere.”

No reports of significant damage or injuries according to local officials.

Earthquake Could Cut Off L.A.’s Water Supply

Los Angeles is one earthquake away from losing a major part of their water supply.

The city of Los Angeles gets almost 90 percent of its water from three major aqueducts.  These aqueducts run from the Colorado River, Owens Valley and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

The aqueducts cross the well-known San Andreas Fault a total of 32 times.

This means any major quake along that fault line could end the water supply into the nation’s second largest city.

Mayor Eric Garcetti is calling on city officials to create better plans to protect the city’s water supply.

“[Water is] one of L.A.’s greatest earthquake vulnerabilities,” Garcetti told the L.A. Times. “If it were to take six months to get our water system back … residents and businesses would be forced to relocate for so long that they might never come back.”

Officials are looking to San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission for a possible solution.  The SFPUC recently installed a specially designed pipe over a fault line that has “accordion-like joints” that would allow the pipe to flex and move in any direction should the fault line move.

“We’re the first city that’s really bet its life on outside water,” U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones told the Times. “We have to cross the faults. There’s no way to not go over the fault.”

“There should be a serious dialogue among the agencies that are responsible for the three sources of water to Southern California,” said Thomas O’Rourke, a Cornell University engineering professor. “Sometimes it’s very difficult to go beyond those institutional barriers…. Somebody just has to take it up.”

Strong Storm Slams California

A massive storm rolled into northern California on Thursday, knocking out power, flooding highways and toppling trees.

Strong winds contributed to the death of a 40-year-old homeless man who had been sleeping on a trail when a tree fell on him.  An elementary school student survived in what local officials called a miracle after an 80-foot tree fell on him.  He is listed in good condition at a hospital.

“It’s a big storm, as we expected, and it’s headed south with very powerful winds and heavy rainfall,” National Weather Service meteorologist Will Pi told Fox News.

Parts of Southern California that are prone to mudslides have been evacuating ahead of the storm.  At least one apartment complex was entirely evacuated because of previous slides in the area.  Lumberjacks in the San Bernardino National Forest were putting concrete weights on lumber stacks to keep them from collapsing from the high winds.

Many stores have been blocking their doors with sandbags in anticipation of flooding.

California officials are concerned about the San Bernardino Mountains because of the wildfires in the last few years that has devastated the vegetation and made the land primed for major mudslides.

The storm is also expected to dump feet of snow in the mountains and ski resort operators say they expect to have over three feet of new snow by the weekend.

California Protesters Block Highways

Protesters upset over the death of a convicted criminal while he had been resisting arrest and another who attempted to take a police officer’s gun to shoot him blocked a California highway for hours Monday night.

The protesters had been marching through Berkeley in a mostly peaceful protest although some businesses suffered broken storefront windows.  After a short time, the protesters jumped a fence and blocked Interstate 80.

The protesters continued to block the highway despite a heavy police presence forcing police to stop traffic on the highway for the safety of the protesters.

The protesters were shouting, “Shut it down for Michael Brown.”

The protesters also forced an Amtrak train to stop.  The California Highway Patrol said they arrested over 150 protesters on a variety of charges.

Despite the damage and delays caused to others not connected to the Michael Brown or Eric Garner situations, protesters continued to insist the protests were only peaceful.

“I want to tell you this is a peaceful protest,” said Nisa Dang, an African-American student at U.C. Berkeley. “I want to also say this is a protest for black students, for black bodies. If they want to take the lead, let them take the lead.”

Berkeley’s mayor told the New York Times he was disappointed in the protests.

“It’s ironic that the place with probably the strongest supporters is being trashed,” said Tom Bates. “What we have are a lot of people who are outside agitators who want to disrupt and cause violence with the police.”

“[I am] totally devastated and disappointed,” Bates added.  “What could have been peaceful deteriorated into people attacking the police and doing damage.”