California

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Californian Busted for Lucrative Illegal Gold Mine

Sierra Nevada digger hit with environmental charges

(Newser) - California authorities aren't buying landowner Joseph Hardesty's excuse that he is merely running a gravel business from a Gold Rush-era mine in a gold-rich part of the state. Authorities in El Dorado County say he is running one of the most blatantly illegal gold-mining operations ever seen in...

'Poster Couple' for Gay Marriage Divorcing

Robin Tyler and Diane Olson married in California in 2008

(Newser) - Two women in California who became what MSNBC calls the "poster couple" for gay marriage are getting a divorce. Robin Tyler and Diane Olson were the first women to legally marry in Southern California in June 2008, right after the state Supreme Court swept away a law banning same-sex...

Supreme Court&#39;s Move on Gay Marriage? Maybe Not
Supreme Court's Move on
Gay Marriage? Maybe Not
Prop 8 reaction
Feb 7, 2012 4:38 PM CST

Supreme Court's Move on Gay Marriage? Maybe Not

Prop 8 ruling is limited to California, providing a potential reason to skip

(Newser) - Kevin Drum at Mother Jones thinks today's court decision declaring California's ban on gay marriage to be unconstitutional is "great news" for sure, but he's not getting too excited just yet. Most people think this one is headed to the Supreme Court, where it looks like...

Court Blocks California's Ban on Gay Marriage

Declares Prop 8 unconstitutional, paving way for Supreme Court decision

(Newser) - A big win for gay rights in California, at least for now: In a 2-1 decision, a federal appeals court ruled that the state's ban on gay marriages is unconstitutional. Supporters of Proposition 8, which limits marriage to a man and a woman, plan to appeal, paving the way...

Court to Rule on Calif. Gay Marriage Ban Today
 Court to Rule on Prop 8 Today 
Feb 7, 2012 4:58 AM CST

Court to Rule on Prop 8 Today

Decision can still be appealed to larger panel, Supreme Court

(Newser) - Californians are awaiting a ruling today on whether the state's Proposition 8 banning gay marriage is constitutional. A three-judge panel of the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will decide if the law, passed by referendum in 2008, violates equal protection and due process. A lower court shot down...

Calif., NY May Sign On to Robo-Signing Settlement

Obama administration nearing deal for mortgage relief

(Newser) - California and New York are close to signing on to the Obama administration's multibillion dollar mortgage robo-signing settlement, significantly expanding the deal, the New York Times reports. If California signs on, the settlement total will jump from $19 billion to $25 billion. In exchange, the states want measures to...

Homeless Killer Suspect Accused of 2 More Murders

Itzcoatl Ocampo to be charged with stabbing Raquel Estrada, Juan Herrera

(Newser) - Authorities believe Itzcoatl Ocampo, the 23-year-old Iraq veteran charged with stabbing four homeless men to death in California, also killed two other people—ones that he knew. Ocampo will be charged today with the murders of Raquel Estrada, 53, and her 34-year-old son, Juan Herrera, the mother and brother of...

Cop Suspected in Sex Crime Dies in Shootout

California cops suspected him of sexual misconduct with teenager

(Newser) - A California policeman yesterday shot and killed a fellow officer suspected of sexual misconduct, the AP reports. Police in Santa Maria learned of his alleged relationship with a 17-year-old girl and confronted him in the wee hours yesterday morning on duty at a DUI checkpoint. The officer resisted arrest and...

Artist Wants to Bury Jet in Mojave

Visitors will pass through underground tunnel in 'Terminal'

(Newser) - Swiss artist Christoph Buchel has applied for a permit for a truly big, truly strange art exhibit: He wants to bury a 727 in the Mojave Desert, allowing guests to visit it through an underground tunnel. The piece will be called "Terminal," and the group Buchel organized for...

Dad Gets Restraining Order Against 4th-Grade Bully

Son was threatened with knife in Calif. school, says father

(Newser) - Here's one way to deal with bullies. A Southern California dad has taken out a restraining order against a classmate of his fourth-grade son who he says threatened his boy with a knife. A judge has granted a temporary order requiring the classmate to stay at least 20 feet...

California Occupy Activists Charged With ... Lynching

Sergio Ballesteros interfered with protester arrest, say authorities

(Newser) - In a bizarre twist, two Occupy California activists have been busted for ... lynching. Under California law the crime involves “taking by means of a riot any person from the lawful custody of any peace officer." Of course the 1933 law was intended to save people from vigilantes, particularly...

Can Birdsong Cut Crime?
 Can Birdsong 
 Cut Crime? 
Jan 17, 2012 3:30 PM CST

Can Birdsong Cut Crime?

California mayor says it already has

(Newser) - Crime has dropped in a California town, and residents should be thanking their fine feathered friends, says the mayor. Last year, he began piping recorded birdsong to 70 speakers on a highway. Minor crime dropped 15% from 2010 while serious crimes dropped 6%, the Wall Street Journal reports. It's...

Homeless Killer Suspect's Father Is Homeless

Itzcoatl Ocampo was a changed man after serving in Iraq, family says

(Newser) - Itzcoatl Ocampo, the California man accused of stabbing four homeless people to death , often gave money to the homeless, says his father, who is homeless himself. Refugio Ocampo, who lives in the cab of a broken-down truck, says that just a few months ago, his son gave a beggar his...

2 Adults, 2 Kids Dead in California Murder-Suicide

Another man wounded in stabbing

(Newser) - Two adults and two children were found dead of gunshot wounds in a California apartment yesterday, while another man was found with stab wounds outside its door, police say. Though the details remain hazy, police believe the mother of the kids shot herself when police arrived, the Fresno Bee reports....

Cops: Man Poisons Rice Krispies to Kill Wife

Fernando Porras busted as he flees from hospital

(Newser) - A California man spiked his wife's bowl of Rice Krispies with enough chemicals to kill her, say Azusa police. Suspect Fernando Porras' 17-year-old daughter called 911 after her mother said the cereal smelled and tasted awful. It had been doused with the household cleaner Goof Off, according to investigators....

Suspect in Homeless Killings Is Iraq War Vet

Calif. man talked of hallucinations

(Newser) - A suspect detained for killing homeless people in Southern California is a mentally unstable Iraq war veteran who complained of hallucinations, the Los Angeles Times reports. When Itzcoatl Ocampo returned from service in 2010, "he was sick," his uncle says. But Ocampo never went to therapy appointments made...

California Parents Prepare to Fire School

Group plans to use state's Parent Trigger law

(Newser) - The Parent Trigger is cocked and ready to fire at an underperforming elementary school in California. A 2010 state law gives parents the power to take over schools, and a parents group at Desert Trails Elementary outside Los Angeles plans to do so if the district doesn't overhaul the...

California Facing Driest Year on Record

Lack of snow not a problem, water manager says

(Newser) - The snow that provides around a third of California's water has largely gone AWOL this year, and with rain also noticeably scant, experts believe the state may be about to experience its driest year since records began. The temperature pattern known as La Niña, combined with a strong...

Passenger Tasered at Calif. Airport
 Flier Tasered at Calif. Airport 
Jan 11, 2012 3:21 AM CST

Flier Tasered at Calif. Airport

Edwin Barton loses it after having to go through screening twice

(Newser) - Here's a new one in the ongoing battles between airline passengers and security. Now a flier has been been zapped with a Taser—three times—for becoming "unruly" during a security screening in California. New Hampshire flier Edwin Barton, 26, walked into the Sacramento Airport off his Southwest...

Serial Killer Stalking California Homeless

Three killed in 10 days in Orange County

(Newser) - Homeless Californians were packing shelters last night after discovering they're being stalked by a serial killer. The stabbing deaths of three homeless men in 10 days have been linked to a single "serious, dangerous serial killer operating in Orange County," police warn. A man wearing a dark,...

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