Tag Archives: Newsom

New Pandemic? California declares state of Emergency as H5N1 spreads

Bird Flu in Wastewater

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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America’s First ‘Severe’ Bird-Flu Case

Milk testing bird flu

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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Gavin Newsom issued executive order to start removing homeless encampments

Getty-Images-Skid-Row-Encampment-Los-Angeles

Important Takeaways:

  • “This executive order directs state agencies to move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them – and provides guidance for cities and counties to do the same,” Newson said in a statement. “There are simply no more excuses. It’s time for everyone to do their part.”
  • Newsom’s executive order was buoyed by the US Supreme Court’s decision last month, which rejected arguments that ticketing homeless people for sleeping outside violates the Constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual” punishment.
  • Chris Herring, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California Los Angeles, said “Before the Supreme Court ruling, cities were in the position where they would have to provide shelter offers before removing encampments,” “Now … they will be able to carry out these encampment sweeps with the very real threat of issuing people incredibly expensive fines of which people cannot pay and often results in a warrant or an arrest or can result in incarceration.”
  • Herring said the timing of the order wasn’t surprising as Newsom seeks to “politically clear his name of the homeless crisis, especially as he’s in the national spotlight right now amid the presidential election.”

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Gavin Newsome’s soft on crime approach is causing people to leave Oakland

Oakland-Closing-due-to-crime

Important Takeaways:

  • Rising crime risks turning Oakland into a ‘ghost town.’ Newsom is sending in reinforcements
  • Violent crime and other felonies fell in 2023 in America’s biggest cities. They increased in Oakland.
  • Robberies grew 38% last year in Oakland, according to police data. Burglaries increased 23%. Motor vehicle theft jumped 44%. Roughly one of every 30 Oakland residents had a car stolen last year, according to a San Francisco Chronicle analysis.
  • On Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he was taking action, deploying 120 California Highway Patrol officers to Oakland and the surrounding area to conduct a law enforcement surge operation. The aim: to crack down on crime, including vehicle theft, retail theft and violent crime.
  • “What’s happening in this beautiful city and surrounding area is alarming and unacceptable,” Newsom said in a statement.
  • Business owners have been pleading for help for months.

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Newsom signs law requiring K-12 schools have gender-neutral bathrooms by July 2026

Inclusive-Restroom-Sign

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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California Dreaming? More Americans are Leaving

Revelations 13:16-18 “Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Gavin Newsom addresses California exodus, tells Americans ‘don’t count us out’
  • California lost 117,552 people between Jan. 1, 2021 and Jan. 1, 2022, according to the state’s Department of Finance, bringing its population back to where it was in 2016.
  • In 2022, Florida saw the biggest rush of new residents migrating from predominantly blue states with steep taxes, with about 319,000 Americans making the move there, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. That amounts to a population increase of nearly 2% – well above the 0.4% national growth rate recorded in the U.S. between July 2021 and July 2022.
  • California attributed its population slump to reduced births, immigration, an increase in deaths and people moving to other states.
  • But one complaint that seems to stick around the Golden State is its high cost of living.
  • California’s state income tax currently sits at 13.3% with the top 1% of Californians paying roughly half of the state’s bill

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Many in California running out of food, water as Governor Newsom declares State of Emergency

Luke 21:25 ““And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves

Important Takeaways:

  • ‘There are roofs collapsing everywhere’: Thousands of Californians are running low on food and water as California Governor Newsom declares state of emergency in 13 counties after historic winter storms dump seven feet of snow
  • Newsom deployed the national guard on Wednesday to assist residents, especially in San Bernardino County, where some have been trapped in their homes for days
  • Wind, freeze and winter storm warnings were issued by The National Weather Service throughout the sunny state effective until Thursday as temperatures hit sub-freezing lows down to 26 degrees Fahrenheit in certain areas.
  • Southern California mountain ranges have been hit by several feet of snow and residents are begging the governor for help to clear the roads as food and water supplies run low.
  • The counties named in the emergency declaration include Amador, Kern, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Nevada, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sierra, Sonoma and Tulare.
  • The storm left about 100,000 homes and businesses in the state without power as of Wednesday.

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6.4 Northern California Earthquake has had 80 aftershocks, Gov. Newsom declares State of Emergency

Earthquake damage

Luke 21:11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

Important Takeaways:

  • Humboldt County earthquake: Gov. Newsom declares state of emergency in wake of deadly NorCal quake
  • FERNDALE — Two elderly residents died, 12 others injured and businesses and homes were damaged when a 6.4 magnitude earthquake followed by nearly 80 aftershocks rocked the Humboldt County coastline Tuesday.
  • Tens of thousands were left without power following the initial quake.
  • “Damage assessments are currently underway, with significant structural damages, including gas and water lines, observed in the Rio Dell community and moderate damages to properties throughout the Eel River Valley,” officials posted.
  • The sheriff’s office issued a boil water advisory for Rio Dell and parts of Fortuna

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Multiple fires in California as Newsom declares national emergency

Revelation 16:9 “They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”

Important Takeaways:

  • Western flames spread, California sees its largest 2022 fire
  • The McKinney Fire was burning out of control in Northern California’s Klamath National Forest, with expected thunderstorms a big concern
  • “The fuel beds are so dry and they can just erupt from that lightning,” Freeman said. “These thunder cells come with gusty erratic winds that can blow fire in every direction.”
  • The blaze exploded in size to more than 80 square miles (207 square km) just two days after erupting in a largely unpopulated area of Siskiyou County
  • The cause was under investigation.
  • California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency Saturday as the McKinney Fire intensified.
  • A second, smaller fire just to the west that was sparked by dry lightning Saturday threatened the tiny town of Seiad
  • A third fire, which was on the southwest end of the McKinney blaze, prompted evacuation orders for around 500 homes
  • The McKinney fire “remains 0% contained,” the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said
  • In northwest Montana, a fire sparked in grasslands near the town of Elmo had grown to about 17 square miles (44 square km) after advancing into forest
  • In Idaho, the Moose Fire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest has burned on more than 75 square miles (196 square km) in timbered land near the town of Salmon. It was 21% contained by Sunday morning

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Lightning-sparked fires rage across California, tens of thousands flee

By Steven Lam

VACAVILLE, Calif. (Reuters) – A firefighting helicopter pilot was killed in a crash, and scores of homes burned in California on Wednesday as hundreds of lightning-sparked blazes forced tens of thousands of people to flee their dwellings.

Nearly 11,000 lightning strikes were documented during a 72-hour stretch this week in the heaviest spate of thunderstorms to hit California in more than a decade, igniting 367 individual fires. Almost two dozen of them have grown into major conflagrations, authorities said.

Multiple fires raced through hills and mountains adjacent to Northern California’s drought-parched wine country, shutting down Interstate 80 at Fairfield, about 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Sacramento, as flames leapt across the highway, trapping motorists caught in a hectic evacuation.

Police in the nearby town of Vacaville reported that advancing flames had prompted the evacuation of a state prison there and a medical facility for inmates.

Four residents whose communities were overrun by flames hours earlier in the same area suffered burns but survived, though the severity of their injuries was not immediately known, said Will Powers a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire).

He said thousands of residents were under mandatory evacuation orders in a four-county area stricken by a cluster of nine wind-driven fires collectively dubbed the LNU Complex, triggered by lightning on Monday.

In central California, a helicopter was on a water-dropping mission in Fresno County about 160 miles (258 km) south of San Francisco when it crashed, killing the pilot, a private contractor, CalFire said.

As of Wednesday night, the LNU complex of fires had burned largely unchecked across 124,000 acres (50,000 hectares), with zero containment, destroying at least 105 homes and other structures and leaving another 70 damaged, CalFire said. Several of the fires had merged by nightfall.

Wearing a singed nightgown, Diane Bustos said her husband abandoned their car as it caught fire and then blew up on the west side of Vacaville early Wednesday morning. She lost both her shoes when she and her family ran for their lives.

“I made it, God saved me,” Bustos told television station KPIX.

There were social media accounts of people trapped in the blaze, but CalFire’s Powers said authorities had no reports of anyone missing.

A Reuters reporter saw dozens of burned-out homesteads and houses in the Vacaville-Fairfield area, dead livestock among torched properties and some animals wandering loose.

“We are experiencing fires the like of which we haven’t seen in many, many years,” California Governor Gavin Newsom told a news conference, adding he had requested 375 fire engines from out of state to help.

He declared a statewide fire emergency on Tuesday.

The last time California experienced dry lightning storms of such devastating proportions was in 2008, said CalFire spokesman Scott Maclean.

Fanned by “red-flag” high winds, the fires are racing through vegetation parched by a record-breaking heat wave that began on Friday. Meteorologists have said the extreme heat and lightning storms were both linked to the same atmospheric weather pattern – an enormous high-pressure area hovering over America’s desert Southwest.

The largest group of fires, called the SCU Lightning Complex, had scorched at least 102,000 acres some 20 miles east of Palo Alto, while a third cluster, the CZU August Lightning Complex, grew to more than 10,000 acres and forced evacuations around 13 miles south of Palo Alto.

(Reporting by Steven Lam in Vacaville, Calif.; Additional reporting by Jane Ross and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento. Writing and reporting by Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico; Editing by Stephen Coates, Sandra Maler and Lincoln Feast.)