California

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Buried Gold Likely Not From Heist, Says US Mint Rep

And he's not the only one to pooh-pooh the theory

(Newser) - Perhaps it was too intriguing to be true: A rep for the US Mint and an expert on the San Francisco Mint throw water on the latest theory surrounding the $10 million in gold coins uncovered in California—that they were the long-hidden spoils of a 1901 gold heist from...

Source of Buried California Gold: Century-Old Heist?

If the theory is true, it could be bad news for the couple who found the coins

(Newser) - The only thing more mysterious than the identity of the couple who stumbled upon an estimated $10 million in US gold coins while walking their dog on their California property: Where did the gold come from? The San Francisco Chronicle floats a theory with all the intrigue and illegality you...

Teen Killed Trying to Retrieve Phone From Tracks

She was sucked in by freight train's 'vacuum'

(Newser) - Yet another person has died after putting her phone's safety ahead of her own. Jenna Betti, 14, was killed by a freight train on Sunday when she tried to retrieve a phone she had dropped on the tracks in Martinez, Calif., reports the San Francisco Chronicle . She had been...

Calif. Gov: Stoners Will Be Our Downfall If Pot Is Legal

Jerry Brown says we won't be 'alert' enough

(Newser) - Jerry Brown thinks legalizing marijuana would put California and the rest of America at a competitive disadvantage, because we'd have too many stoners. Toward the end of a brief Meet the Press interview yesterday, the California governor was asked about Colorado and Washington's legalization moves. It was just...

Parched Calif. Farmers Turn to 'Water Witches'

Vineyard owners say dowsing works; scientists disagree

(Newser) - With California in the grip of drought, farmers throughout the state are using a mysterious and some say foolhardy tool for locating underground water: dowsers, or water witches. Practitioners of dowsing use rudimentary tools—usually copper sticks or wooden "divining rods" that resemble large wishbones—and what they describe...

Why 30K US Inmates Went on Hunger Strike

Solitary confinement drove alleged gang leaders to make a statement

(Newser) - Last summer, four prison inmates organized a hunger strike from their solitary-confinement cells and inspired 30,000 prisoners to join them —a stunning development that says a lot about US prisons, writes Benjamin Wallace-Wells in New York . The four guys—allegedly leaders of white, black, and Latino gangs—were...

Polio-Like Illness Hits Kids in California
Puzzling Polio-Like Illness Hits Kids in California
in case you missed it
Mar 1, 2014 12:25 PM CST

Puzzling Polio-Like Illness Hits Kids in California

Doctors mystified by at least 25 cases

(Newser) - Public health officials are mystified by an outbreak of a polio-like illness that has left at least 25 children in California with paralyzed limbs. The affected children are hit quickly with severe weakness or paralysis, sometimes after a respiratory illness, the Los Angeles Times reports. The first case surfaced in...

Court: Calif. Drivers Can Use Phones to Check Maps

Law doesn't apply to smartphone apps

(Newser) - Using a smartphone to look a map while driving is allowed under the California law that bans motorists from talking or texting on a handheld phone, an appeals court has decided. The court sided with Steven Spriggs, who was fined $165 after a highway patrol officer spotted him looking at...

Split California Into 6 States? Petition Moves Ahead

Venture capitalist gets go-ahead to start collecting signatures

(Newser) - Californians may soon get a chance to vote on splitting their state into six smaller ones, reports the San Francisco Chronicle . Venture capitalist Tim Draper has gotten formal approval to start collecting petitions for his "Six Californias" idea. If he can get about 807,000 names by July 18,...

Dad Tried in Vain to Save Family in Fiery Calif. Crash

Was following wife, 4 kids when vehicle hit their SUV

(Newser) - A California father who was driving behind his family's SUV tried in vain to save them from the fiery wreckage after a vehicle ran a stop sign near Fresno and plowed into their vehicle. The man's 29-year-old wife and their four children—1- and 3-year-old boys and girls...

17 People Called 911 About Wrong-Way Driver

She was seen on 2 freeways before crash killed 6

(Newser) - The woman accused of killing six people in a horrific crash in California was spotted driving the wrong way on two freeways before she drove her Camaro at 100mph into a Ford Explorer, the California Highway Patrol says. At least 17 witnesses called 911 before the crash to report seeing...

Man Electrocuted While Taking Facebook Photos

California resident died after snapping pics in family's tree

(Newser) - A California man met a tragic end over the weekend when he climbed a tree to take photos of the sunset and electrocuted himself. David Strohm Jr., 27, climbed a tree in his parents' backyard Saturday in Tustin, Calif., snapped the sunset pics, and posted one on Facebook shortly after...

Driver in Wrong-Way Crash Was on 'Girls' Night Out'

Olivia Carolee Culbreath, 21, just had a baby last month

(Newser) - Olivia Carolee Culbreath, the 21-year-old arrested in a wrong-way crash in California that killed six people yesterday, had just had a baby late last month and was on a "girls' night out" when the horrific collision occurred around 4:40am Sunday in Diamond Bar, one of her friends tells...

11 Dead in Two Wrong-Way Crashes

Drivers in Florida and California trigger deadly accidents

(Newser) - In a scary weekend for freeway driving, 11 people were killed in two wrong-way crashes—one in Florida and one in California, CNN reports. The Florida crash occurred early this morning on Tampa's Interstate 275 when a Ford Expedition going south in a northbound lane struck a Hyundai, killing...

Educator in Viral Video Charged With Sex Abuse

'You sicken me,' former student tells Andrea Cardosa in YouTube video

(Newser) - An educator confronted via YouTube by a former student who accused her of abuse has been arrested and charged with 16 counts of child sex abuse. Andrea Michelle Cardosa quit her job as an administrator at Alhambra High School in Southern California hours after the video surfaced, CNN reports. The...

California Farmland Lies Bare and Dry—Over a Fish?

Central Valley farmers want water, but it's complicated

(Newser) - California is embroiled in a water crisis that's right out of Chinatown. In the midst of a devastating drought, state officials cut off water to thousands of acres of Central Valley farmland—in part to protect smelt fish from swimming into pumps and going extinct. Not surprisingly, farmers and...

Uber Sued After Driver Kills 6-Year-Old

California suit cites distracted-driving rules

(Newser) - Driving service Uber now operates in 60 cities and is worth $4 billion, the Boston Globe reports. But the company is under scrutiny for more reasons than one, including this big one: A driver hit a 6-year-old girl on New Year's Eve, killing her, and a lawsuit was filed...

California in 'Worst Drought in 100 Years': Governor

Meteorologists predict drought will last at least 3 more months

(Newser) - Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for California today, over what the governor called "perhaps the worst drought that California has ever seen" in the roughly 100 years the state has been keeping records. Brown asked all residents to voluntarily cut back their water usage by 20%. "...

California's Next Minority: White People

Latinos expected to take top spot in March

(Newser) - Latinos will be the single largest "race or ethnic group" in California as soon as this March, according to a new demographics report from Gov. Jerry Brown's office. That's actually behind schedule—demographers expected non-Hispanic whites to pass the crown in the middle of last year , but...

Jury Acquits Officers Who Beat Homeless Man to Death

Fullerton, Calif., case hinged on graphic surveillance video

(Newser) - Two former California police officers were acquitted today in the death of a homeless man after a violent struggle with officers that was captured on surveillance video. It was a rare case in which police officers were charged with a death involving actions on duty. In the death of Kelly...

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