California

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A massive cargo ship made a series of unusual movements while anchored in the closest spot to a Southern California oil pipeline that ruptured and sent crude washing up on beaches, according to data collected by a marine navigation service.

The Coast Guard is investigating whether a ship anchor might have snagged and bent the pipeline owned by Amplify Energy, a Houston-based company that operates three offshore oil platforms south of Los Angeles.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A ship’s anchor may have hooked, dragged and torn an underwater pipeline that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into the ocean off Southern California, according to federal investigators who also found the pipeline owner didn’t quickly shut down operations after a safety system alerted to a possible spill.

Questions remained about the timeline of the weekend spill, which fouled beaches and a protected marshland, potentially closing them for weeks along with commercial and recreational fishing in a major hit to the local economy.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard received the first report of a possible oil spill off the Southern California coast more than 12 hours before a company reported the major leak in its pipeline and a cleanup effort was launched, records show.

Oil spill reports reviewed Monday by The Associated Press raise questions about the Coast Guard’s response to one of the state’s largest recent oil spills as well as how quickly Amplify Energy, the company operating three offshore platforms and the pipeline, recognized it had a problem and notified authorities.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Some residents, business owners and environmentalists questioned whether authorities reacted quickly enough to contain one of the largest oil spills in recent California history, caused by a suspected leak in an underwater pipeline that fouled the sands of famed Huntington Beach and could keep the beaches there closed for weeks or longer.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A 22-year-old white supremacist was denied a chance to address a courtroom before a judge sentenced him Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for bursting into a Southern California synagogue on the last day of Passover in 2019 with a semiautomatic rifle, killing one worshipper and wounding three others.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Boeing announced on Wednesday that it will continue assuring the C-17 Globemaster III's worldwide mission readiness through a follow-on contract awarded by the U.S. Department of Defense, valued at up to 23.8 billion U.S. dollars including potential options and incentives over ten years.

The program is currently funded through September 2024 with a Phase I award of 3.5 billion dollars, the company said.

REDDING, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters hope shifting winds and cooling temperatures over the next few days will aid their efforts to battle a destructive wildfire in a drought-stricken forest in California’s far north that has displaced thousands of people and burned at least 100 structures.

LOS ANGELES, Sept 24 (NNN-Xinhua) — An explosive wildfire in northern California expanded to 4.9 square km in 24 hours, triggering multiple mandatory evacuation orders, under which over 4,000 residents fled from their homes.

Dubbed Fawn Fire, the fire started some 19 km north of Redding city on Wednesday night, burned wildly Thursday afternoon and threatened Redding city, which has a population of 100,000, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Former U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis testified Wednesday in the trial of fallen tech star Elizabeth Holmes, saying the entrepreneur misled him into believing she was on the verge of rolling out a blood-testing breakthrough that he hoped would help save lives of troops in battle.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — One desperate California school district is sending flyers home in students’ lunchboxes, telling parents it’s “now hiring.” Elsewhere, principals are filling in as crossing guards, teachers are being offered signing bonuses and schools are moving back to online learning.

Now that schools have welcomed students back to classrooms, they face a new challenge: a shortage of teachers and staff the likes of which some districts say they have never seen.