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Robert Plank has 2441 articles published.

As Wildfires Worsen, Californians Harness Tech for Help

in Local Roundup

HEALDSBURG, CALIFORNIA – When a wildfire threatened Margie Hanselman’s home in the northern California hills two years ago, the fire department dispatcher told her all the crews were already busy battling another blaze.

“That’s when I knew we were really on our own,” she said. “I knew I had to do something differently for the next big emergency.”

So Hanselman, her neighbors and fire officials got together and turned to mobile phone apps, social media and communications technology to better share news, emergency updates and preparation advice on threats in their fire-prone community in Sonoma County wine country.

Continue Reading on Voice of America

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‘Scariest tree pathogen in the world’ spreading rapidly in California

in Local Roundup

Sudden Oak Death (SOD), a deadly disease for oak trees, is on the rise in California. According to a survey conducted by UC Berkeley scientists, the number of infected trees has almost doubled since 2018.

Matteo Garbelotto, the director of the UC Berkeley Forest Pathology and Mycology Laboratory, has been involved in conducting the survey of 14 California counties (stretching from Humboldt to Monterey) for the past 12 years. This year, two aspects of the results stood out to him.

“We found this year the most sharp increase ever in the number of trees affected,” said Garbelotto. However, this was expected due to the wet winters we’ve had in California for the past two years — the spores spread faster with significant rainfall.

Continue Reading on SF Gate

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Swarms of small earthquakes hits the California-Mexico border

in Local Roundup

A swarm of small earthquakes has struck near the California-Mexico border underneath the town of El Centro in Imperial County.

Scientists are closely watching the cluster, which began at 6:07 p.m. Monday with a magnitude 2.8 quake, followed six minutes later by the largest quake so far, a magnitude 4. There were 18 aftershocks within the first two hours, Caltech seismologist Egill Hauksson said.

By Tuesday morning there had been dozens of aftershocks.

No damage was reported in El Centro, which has a population of about 44,000. El Centro is the seat of Imperial County, one of the nation’s most important agricultural regions. The region has been hit hard in past quakes, most recently during the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck south of the California-Mexico border on Easter Sunday in 2010, killing two people in Mexicali and damaging buildings on both sides of the border.

Continue Reading on LA Times

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Flames Return to Where California’s Largest Wildfire Started

in Local Roundup

Monday: For a second time, a blaze narrowly missed the home of the rancher who inadvertently sparked the Ranch fire. Also: Meet Col. Charles Young.

Five months ago, we brought you the story of the rancher in Mendocino County who inadvertently started the largest wildfire in California history when he hammered a stake into a wasp’s nest.

I was surprised to learn last week that his home nearly burned — again — in the latest round of wind-driven fires in Northern California. Flames from the Burris fire, which was extinguished Nov. 3, scorched the sloping fields around the rancher’s wood-shingled home, coming very close to engulfing the wraparound porch.

Continue Reading on New York Times

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Man Allegedly Busts Into Ex-Girlfriend’s Bedroom, Repeatedly Stabs Current Boyfriend While 1-Year-Old Slept In Same Bed

in crime/Local Roundup

Alvino Alaniz is accused of forcing his way into his ex’s home and attacking her new partner, who sustained life-threatening injuries but survived.

A man in northern California woke up to one of the worst scenarios imaginable. His girlfriend’s ex allegedly forced his way into their home, kicked down their bedroom door and began stabbing him while his baby was just feet away.

Alvino Alaniz, 31, is accused of invading the victim’s Turlock home in the middle of the night on Tuesday. After busting into the couple’s bedroom door he allegedly began stabbing the 34-year-old victim as he lay in bed, according to the Modesto Bee.

Continue Reading on Oxy Gen

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1 killed in California plane crash; 3 people in home escape

in Accident/Local Roundup

A small airplane crashed into a residence in a Southern California city, leaving the pilot dead. Three people inside the home, including an infant, made it to safety, officials said.

“A single-engine Cirrus SR22 crashed under unknown circumstances into a house on West 115th Street in Upland,” FAA spokesperson Ian Gregor confirmed. Upland is 20 miles west of San Bernardino.
San Bernardino County Fire Department spokesman David Pingree told CNN affiliate KCAL that two adults and the child were able to get out of the home on Thursday morning.
Continue Reading on CNN

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Two escaped murder suspects arrested, returned to California jail

in Local Roundup

Two murder suspects who escaped from a California county jail were captured on Wednesday morning, police said.

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said Santos Samuel Fonseca, 21, and Jonathan Salazar, 20, were both located, arrested and transported back to the county after escaping the Monterey County Adult Detention Facility on Sunday.

Capt. John Thornburg of the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said the pair were turned over to deputies at around 5 a.m. after receiving a tip that led to their capture in Tijuana.

Continue Reading on UPI

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Firefighters from across the United States came to help during Kincade fire

in Local Roundup

While Sonoma County and local Cal Fire fire agencies were first to the Kincade fire when it erupted two weeks ago in remote, rugged land atop the Mayacamas Mountains, nearly 500 more agencies headed this way to help.

The vast majority of the 506 agencies came from around California but 159 came from outside the state, including 11 from Montana, 16 from Colorado, three from South Dakota and two from Nebraska, according to a Cal Fire list.

At its peak, 5,245 firefighters were battling the blaze, which has burned almost 78,000 acres since it started on Oct. 23. As of Wednesday, it is 88 percent contained. Full containment is expected on Thursday.

The most out-of-state aid came from Oregon, where firefighters from 54 agencies headed south to help in Sonoma County.

Continue Reading on Press Democrat

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California DMV data breach exposes thousands of drivers’ Social Security information

in Local Roundup

SACRAMENTO — 

Already besieged by problems including long wait times, the California Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday said it suffered a data breach in which federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, had improper access to the Social Security information of 3,200 people issued driver’s licenses.

Notices of the data breach went out to those whose Social Security information — including whether or not a license holder had a Social Security number — was accessed during the last four years by seven agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, the Small Business Administration, and district attorneys in San Diego and Santa Clara counties.

Some of the data were accessed as part of investigations into criminal activity or compliance with tax laws, officials said.

Continue Reading on Los Angeles Times

Victims from fatal head-on identified

in Accident/Local Roundup

The names of the two people killed in a head-on collision on Santa Fe Drive have been released by the Merced County Sheriff’s Department.

The deceased were identified as Margarita Leyva-Alonzo, 47, of Turlock and Gabriel Amaro Rufina, 50, of Turlock.

The collision happened around 5:30 a.m. Oct. 24 on Santa Fe Drive, east of East Avenue in Merced County.

Leyva-Alonzo was driving a 2004 Chevy Venture eastbound on Santa Fe Drive. Headed westbound on Santa Fe was a 2008 Ford Crown Victoria, driven by Charles Everett, 43, of Sacramento.

Continue Reading on Turlock Journal

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