California

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Californians lost power as utilities sought to prevent the chance of their equipment sparking wildfires and the fire-weary state braced for a new bout of dry, windy weather.

More than 1 million people were expected be in the dark Monday during what officials have said could be the strongest wind event in California this year.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — The man who bought two rifles that husband-and-wife assailants used to kill 14 people in a Southern California terror attack nearly five years ago was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California prosecutors said Friday they again will seek the death penalty for Scott Peterson even as a county judge considers throwing out his conviction for murdering his pregnant wife because of juror misconduct during a 2005 trial that riveted the nation.

Stanislaus County Assistant District Attorney Dave Harris announced that it is prosecutors’ intention to retry the penalty phase of the case, spokesman John Goold said after a court hearing. He said prosecutors otherwise won’t comment or discuss the decision.

(AP) --- U.S. regulators on Thursday approved the first drug to treat COVID-19: remdesivir, an antiviral medicine given to hospitalized patients through an IV.

The drug, which California-based Gilead Sciences Inc. is calling Veklury, cut the time to recovery by five days — from 15 days to 10 on average — in a large study led by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Attorneys for Mexico’s former defense minister, Salvador Cienfuegos, were due in federal court in Los Angeles on Tuesday as prosecutors seek to have him held without bond on charges that he used his power in office to protect a major drug cartel.

Cienfuegos, 72, is charged with four counts of drug trafficking and money laundering. His lawyers may also tell the court whether their client will fight attempts to send him to New York, where the indictment was handed down in a U.S. district court.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California won’t allow any distribution of coronavirus vaccines in the nation’s most populous state until it is reviewed by the state’s own panel of experts, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday.

Vaccinations for the pandemic “will move at the speed of trust,” said Newsom, a Democrat, and the state wants its own independent review no matter who wins the presidential election next month.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 19 (NNN-Xinhua) — There have been over 8,600 wildfires that have burned more than 4.1 million acres (16,592 square km) in the US state of California since the beginning of this year, according to the fire summary released by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

To date, the total number of fatalities statewide is 31 and more than 9,200 structures have been destroyed.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration abruptly reversed course and approved California’s application for disaster relief funds to clean up damage from six recent deadly and destructive blazes that have scorched the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday.

“Just got off the phone with President Trump who has approved our Major Disaster Declaration request. Grateful for his quick response,” Newsom said in a brief statement.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — YouTube is following the lead of Twitter and Facebook, saying that it is taking more steps to limit QAnon and other baseless conspiracy theories that can lead to real-world violence.

The Google-owned video platform said Thursday it will now prohibit material targeting a person or group with conspiracy theories that have been used to justify violence.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Thousands of people in Northern California remained without power Friday after a utility cut off service to prevent powerful winds from damaging equipment and sparking wildfires amid a fall heat wave.

Restorations began Thursday afternoon, and by evening Pacific Gas and Electric said about 30,000 customers were still in the dark — down from about 45,000 the previous night. All electricity was expected to be restored by late Friday after the second round of hot, dry gusts this week moved through the region and raised the risk of fires, PG&E said.