California

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Calif. Unemployment Hits Record 11.2%

(Newser) - The unemployment rate in California rose to 11.2% in March, the Los Angeles Times reports today. A loss of 62,100 jobs puts the state at the highest jobless level since 1976, when recording started. It trails only Michigan (12.6%), Oregon (12.1%), and South Carolina (11.4%)....

Gunman Kills 2, Self at Calif. Medical Center

Pharmacy worker believed to have been fearing layoffs

(Newser) - A worker at the Long Beach Medical Center shot and killed his boss and another manager before taking his own life yesterday, reports the Los Angeles Times. Witnesses said pharmacy technician Mario Ramirez, 50, showed up for work brandishing a pair of handguns and deliberately sought out his victims. Friends...

Calif. Child Murder Suspect Tried to Kill Herself

Huckaby swallowed three knife blades before arrest

(Newser) - Days before she was arrested for the rape and murder of Sandra Cantu, California Sunday-school teacher Melissa Huckaby attempted suicide by swallowing three razor blades, CBS reports. She was hospitalized and remained under suicide watch until yesterday’s hearing, where a sobbing Huckaby learned she could face the death penalty...

Sunday School Teacher Faces Death Penalty

Prosecutors file charges of murder, kidnapping, and rape

(Newser) - A California Sunday school teacher arrested for the murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu is now eligible for the death penalty after prosecutors added three “special circumstances,” to her charges today, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The San Joaquin County DA alleges that Melissa Huckaby killed the girl after...

Calif. Utility Aims to Buy Power From Space

Orbiting solar farm planned for 2016

(Newser) - California’s Pacific Gas and Electric is seeking approval for its commitment to buy electricity from an innovative source, the San Francisco Chronicle reports: an orbiting solar power array that would beam electricity back to Earth. Solaren Corp. plans to deploy the satellite sometime before 2016; PG&E has signaled...

Calif. Sunday School Teacher May Also Face Rape Charge

Will be charged today; may face death penalty

(Newser) - The California Sunday school teacher set to be accused of killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu may also face rape and child molestation charges, qualifying her for the death penalty, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Melissa Huckaby will be arraigned this afternoon; prosecutors will charge her with murder but are debating whether...

Porn's Marilyn Chambers, 56, Found Dead

Cops: Foul play unlikely in death of ex-soap model turned adult star

(Newser) - Former soap model and porn star Marilyn Chambers was found dead in her California home last night, the Los Angeles Times reports. Police are still determining how she died, but don’t suspect foul play. Chambers, whose real name is Mary Ann Taylor, became a cultural sensation when she dumped...

Stymied, Calif. Gay Activists Rally Grass-Roots Effort

(Newser) - Gay-marriage proponents in California are taking a page—and some staff—from the Obama campaign in an attempt to swing conservative votes, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many believe Proposition 8 passed because there was little outreach to districts that voted for the ban. “They would fly over from...

Legalize Pot? That's Nearly the Case Now in Calif.

(Newser) - Don’t look now, but marijuana is essentially legal in California, the Washington Post reports. Medical marijuana facilities litter the state, some offering only the flimsiest pretext of medical care. Stride into the Medical Kush Beach Club in Venice Beach, for example, and two scantily clad women will lead you...

Calif. Sunday School Teacher Held in Child's Death

(Newser) - A Tracy, Calif., Sunday school teacher was arrested last last night on suspicion of kidnapping and killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, whose body was found in a suitcase in an irrigation pond Monday. Melissa Huckaby, 28, was arrested about 5 hours after she drove herself to the local police station at...

$40K Reward Offered for Condor Shooter

Green groups hire private eye to probe California attack

(Newser) - Environmental groups probing the shotgun shooting of two California condors have hired a private eye and raised $40,500 in reward money for information leading to the culprits, the Los Angeles Times reports. The condors—two of just 81 in California and 322 in the world—were found last month...

Rookie Angels Pitcher Dead in Car Crash

(Newser) - Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in a car crash early this morning, the Los Angeles Times reports. Hours after the 22-year-old rookie delivered six shutout innings against Oakland, his car was sideswiped by a minivan running a red light. Two others in Adenhart’s vehicle were dead at the...

Animal Rights No Longer for Vegetarians Only

(Newser) - Electing a black man president wasn’t the only historic thing voters did last November, writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times. California voted, by nearly a 2-1 margin, for an animal-rights initiative that bars farms from keeping calves, pregnant hogs, or hens in cages too small for them....

Fishing Ban Imperils Calif. Salmon Industry

There aren't enough fish to sustain industry: fishery heads

(Newser) - Plummeting populations have led to a federal ban on commercial salmon fishing off  California for the second straight year, raising fears that the industry will disappear altogether, the Los Angeles Times reports. "If we don't go fishing next year, we have to start thinking that salmon fishing in California...

Cash-Strapped States Raise Taxes as Revenue Declines

At least 10 states face substantial budget gaps

(Newser) - A precipitous decline in tax revenue has at least 10 states considering major increases in sales or income taxes to close budget gaps that in some cases run into the billions, the Wall Street Journal reports. States like Oregon, facing a $4.4 billion budget gap and 10.8% unemployment,...

Now NYU Goofs on Acceptance Notices

Congrats, you've been accepted —not!

(Newser) - Just to make college admission a tad more excruciating, New York University has become the latest school to screw up on college acceptance notices, reports the Los Angeles Times. Some 500 rejected applicants were erroneously emailed last week that they had been accepted into an NYU graduate program. Officials blamed...

'Santa Shooter' Had Coke in His System

(Newser) - The California man who murdered his ex-wife and eight members of her family on Christmas Eve while dressed as Santa Claus had cocaine in his system, the Los Angeles Times reports. The coroner’s office said the cocaine was present in trace amounts and was only a contributing factor to...

Strapped Californians Pan Like It's 1849

Soaring gold prices and a lousy economy have many hoping to strike it rich

(Newser) - The miserable state economy and the soaring price of gold have sent Californians back into them thar hills, USA Today reports. Prospecting clubs all over the state report a huge jump in the number of people panning for gold just as a 10.5% unemployment rate has left cash-strapped residents...

Cash-Strapped Calif. Considers Selling San Quentin

(Newser) - Some state lawmakers have proposed a novel solution for California's budget problems: sell San Quentin Prison, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Experts estimate the 435-acre site, picturesquely situated on a peninsula overlooking San Francisco Bay, could go for more than $2 billion. About half of that would go toward building...

Shoplifting Couple Raided After Appearance on Dr. Phil

(Newser) - A couple that revealed their thieving ways to TV psychologist Dr. Phil appear to have received a federal investigation in return, the North County Times reports. The California couple appeared on Dr. Phil’s show in November and were shown on a 3-day shoplifting road trip with their children. Last...

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