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California Tag

Posted by Leslie Eastman on September 29, 2016 20 Comments
As if the election season isn't scary enough, the start of October a few days away and Halloween-themed everything can be seen everywhere. In Southern California, Knotts Berry Farm pulls out all the stops in making its amusement park the scariest place on earth. However, according to some mental health advocates, the newest attraction was too much.
A popular Halloween attraction at Knott's Berry Farm and California's Great America was shutting down, officials announced Wednesday, after some took to social media calling the display "offensive" to those suffering from mental illness.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on September 29, 2016 38 Comments
Now that the demonstrations have subsided in Charlotte, North Carolina, a San Diego neighborhood is facing potential unrest in the wake of a police shooting involving a black man.
A black man was shot in an encounter with El Cajon Police Tuesday, multiple witnesses said, while a woman wailed nearby, demanding to know why police shot her brother. Hours later, police officers told NBC 7 San Diego the man, now identified as Alfred Olango, was acting erratically and failed to comply, although they did not release details on the specific threat he presented to officers. Dozens of officers swarmed a public shopping center in the heart of El Cajon at 1 p.m. The community is approximately 30 miles east of downtown San Diego.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 16, 2016 9 Comments
The Associated Press, Gannett Co., and Vice Media LLC have filed a suit against the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to gather details how agents hacked into the phone of one of the San Bernardino shooters. The Justice Department fought with Apple for over a month, trying to convince the company to allow the government into Syed Farook's iPhone after he and his wife Tashfeen Malik, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, killed 14 people in San Bernardino, CA, in December 2015. The FBI took Farrok's phone as evidence, but couldn't open it due to a passcode. Apple refused to help, saying it would risk privacy of other customers. Then somehow, call it a miracle, the FBI managed to crack into the iPhone all by themselves!

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 27, 2016 7 Comments
My last report on California mentioned that Governor Jerry Brown was planning to introduce a ballot measure to extend AB-32, the state's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Despite the fact that the bottom has fallen out of the Cap & Trade permit market, the Assembly granted the rules an extension beyond the initial 2020 end date.
The Assembly approved sweeping climate-change legislation Tuesday that extends the state’s targets for reducing greenhouse gases from 2020 to 2030 in a controversial bill that saw White House officials and Gov. Jerry Brown privately urging lawmakers for support. Under SB32, the state would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. The bill would piggyback on AB32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which calls for California to reduce greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 18, 2016 17 Comments
While Louisiana is drying out from its epic flooding, California firefighters are valiantly battling massive wildfires that have erupted throughout the state over the past week.
Here are some of the fires now raging in California:
  • Blue Cut fire: 30,000 acres near the 15 Freeway in Cajon Pass; began Tuesday. 0% contained.
  • Clayton fire: 4,000 acres and 175 structures burned near Clear Lake; 40% contained (as of Wednesday morning); began Saturday.
  • Chimney fire: 7,300 acres and 40 structures destroyed in San Luis Obispo County; 25% contained (as of Wednesday morning); began Saturday.
This is in addition to Soberanes Fire near Big Sur that has closed lanes on a portion of state Highway 1 in Monterey County, blackened over 76,000 acres, damaged or destroyed over 30 homes, and is weeks from full containment. Now, reports are just coming in about another blaze that has forced evacuations about 20 minutes from where I live in San Diego.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on August 10, 2016 10 Comments
#Brexit, the British vote to leave the European Union, continues to inspire citizen activism. In the US, there has been calls for #Calexit to remove the state of California. The Democrats are experiencing the travails of #Demexit after the disclosure that the DNC intentionally hurt the Bernie Sanders campaign to promote Hillary Clinton. Now, an international organization has formed with the goal of preventing the ratification of the costly and dangerous Paris global warming treaty that is being promoted by the elites within the EU and US.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on July 31, 2016 6 Comments
Sanctuary cities have long been a problem, but the heightened public awareness in the wake of  high profile murders like that of Kate Steinle has prompted Congress to take action (finally).  To that end, Congress has conditioned DOJ grants on compliance with federal immigration law.  For California, this move puts at risk as much as $135 million in federal grants. Fox News reports:
California state and local law enforcement agencies may have to choose between more than $100 million in federal aid and the “sanctuary city” immigration policies that supporters say are humane, but critics say fuel crime. The policies, whether in writing or just in practice, preclude local law enforcement from working with federal authorities when they catch an illegal immigrant who by law faces deportation. The laws have sparked a national controversy in the wake of dozens of murders and other violent crimes committed by illegal immigrants who local law enforcement did not report to the Department of Homeland Security.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on July 30, 2016 4 Comments
San Diego may have joined Dallas and Baton Rouge as cities who have lost police officers in a deliberate attack.
San Diego police were trying to determine whether a shooting that killed a veteran officer and wounded another was a deliberate attack. Jonathan DeGuzman, a 16-year veteran of the force, died Thursday night when a gunfight erupted after he and his partner stopped someone on a street in a blue-collar area of town. Hours later, a trail of blood led to a wounded suspect who remained hospitalized in critical condition, while a second man described only as a potential suspect was captured after an hours-long SWAT standoff Friday.
San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman held a press conference, during which she described her work with the slain officer.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on July 26, 2016 13 Comments
Many Americans are closely watching the dumpster fire of the Democratic National Convention. However, a true wildfire is blazing near Santa Clarita, the third largest city in Los Angeles County.
The effort to control the raging Sand fire in the Santa Clarita Valley mountains has drawn firefighters and emergency crews in the hills toward Acton. So far, the fire has burned an estimated 33,172 acres and continues to threaten hundreds of homes. The blaze has prompted the evacuation of at least 10,000 homes and fire remains only 10% contained. At least 18 structures have been destroyed.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on July 19, 2016 4 Comments
My colleague Mary Chastain reported that Black Lives Matter activists in Wichita, KS, joined their local police department for the First Steps Cookout to bring together their community. San Diego took a different, though similar approach. City officials, area clergy, and our police representatives came together by our famous Balboa Park fountain in a display of civic unity.
"There is no doubt that our nation is hurting," San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer told the crowd. "The recent string of unjustifiable deaths cuts all of us deeply. From Dallas to Baton Rouge and (other cities), this loss of innocent lives has left all of us raw."

Posted by Mary Chastain on July 13, 2016 10 Comments
Two Los Angeles based U.S. Marines wanted to capture Pokemon on Tuesday, but instead caught a man wanted for attempted murder. Javier Soch, 26, and Seth Ortega, 24, started their hunt at 9AM when they noticed a man bothering a woman and her sons at a playground when Soch's game froze:
The man appeared odd, wearing a mismatched outfit with an oversized jacket and a baseball cap. He held an artificial rose in his hand, Ortega said. At some point he snapped his fingers and appeared fidgety.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 26, 2016 45 Comments
Legal Insurrection readers and authors were recently having a robust discussion on the the British exit from the European Union and its potential impact on the U.S. Perhaps the biggest #Brexit effect with be on state independence movements. For example, Louis J. Marinelli, a Californian political activist and leader of the California independence movement, is using the European developments to drive a harder push to have California split from the United States.
His dream of seeing a free, independent California Republic was buoyed by Thursday’s shock result of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union—known as Brexit. Marinelli, president of the "Yes California" movement, was inspired by the Brexit vote, as “Leave” supporters in England and Wales overwhelmed “Remain” backers in Scotland and Northern Ireland—prompting discussions of whether Scotland will hold another referendum to leave the U.K behind and retain EU membership.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 17, 2016 12 Comments
The ISIS-inspired terror attack in Florida has impacted the entire nation. From the American political outback called California, one of the most unexpected responses came from West Hollywood. The community woke up to find images of posters of "Gay Pride" flag (designed with a new, conservative twist) plastered along the streets.
Stickers and posters featuring a rainbow-colored version of the Gadsden flag and the hashtag #ShootBack were raising eyebrows in West Hollywood on Thursday morning in the wake of the massacre at a gay nightclub in Florida. The signage was affixed to electric boxes, light poles, trash cans and other fixtures near West Hollywood City Hall, the Pacific Design Center and along Santa Monica Boulevard. Several were hung near the Abbey Food & Bar, a well-known gay lounge. The posters featured a coiled, striking rattlesnake, similar to the yellow Gadsden flag that reads “Don’t Tread On Me” and often is used by the Tea Party movement. The West Hollywood signs were rainbow-colored, like the gay pride flag.
Welcome to the Tea Party, home of constitutionally inspired activism since 2009!

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 13, 2016 11 Comments
In April, a 2-member California parole board authorized the release of former Manson Family killer Leslie Van Houten. The decision to go forward with this recommendation now rests with Governor Jerry Brown. Now Debra Tate, sister of Sharon Tate (who was butchered in another Manson Family attack) is seeking around 12,000 more signatures for a petition to stop this miscarriage of justice by appealing to Brown.
Charles Manson's deranged "family," including Ms. Van Houten, broke into the home of Leno & Rosemary LaBianca on August 10, 1969. Manson had gone into their home and tied the couple up. Van Houten placed a pillowcase over Mrs. LaBianca's head, tied it with a lamp cord, and held Mrs. LaBianca down so Patricia Krenwinkel could stab the innocent woman to death.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on June 12, 2016 16 Comments
California's Santa Monica police may have prevented West Coast mass shooting today, by arresting a armed man with explosives heading to the areas's gay pride parade.
Authorities in Santa Monica found possible explosives as well as a cache of weapons and ammunition Sunday in the car of a man who told them he planned to look for a friend at the L.A. Pride festival in West Hollywood, a law enforcement source said. Federal and local law enforcement decided against canceling the annual parade, which went forward Sunday morning under tightened security. Investigators are now trying to piece together what happened but said they don’t believe there is any connection between the incident and the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., that killed at least 50 people overnight. Early Sunday, Santa Monica police received a call about a suspected prowler near Olympic Boulevard and 11th Street. Patrol officers responded and encountered an individual who told officers he was waiting for a friend, according to a law enforcement source familiar with details of the arrest. That led officers to inspect the car and find several weapons – including three rifles, one of them an “assault rifle” -- and a lot of ammunition as well as tannerite, an ingredient that could be used to create a pipe bomb, said the source. The car had Indiana plates.
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