Thursday, 25 June 2026, 18:30
A Venezuelan woman living in San Francisco is grieving the loss of her sister, who died when a building collapsed during a series of powerful earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela. Gladys Aparicio, a resident of the City and County of San Francisco, said the building where her sister Yolanda was staying crumbled to the ground, trapping her inside.
The tragedy has left Aparicio heartbroken and struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss. "No se lo deseo a nadie" (I wouldn't wish it on anyone), she said through tears, describing the shock and pain of losing a loved one in such a catastrophic event.
The earthquakes, which struck the coastal region of La Guaira, caused widespread destruction, leveling multiple structures and leaving many families displaced. Aparicio, who had moved to San Francisco years ago, said she had been in constant communication with her sister before the disaster.
The last message she received was a photo of the building just moments before it gave way. Rescue efforts in La Guaira have been hampered by aftershocks and debris, with local authorities confirming dozens of casualties.
Aparicio hopes to travel to Venezuela to attend a memorial service, though the logistics remain difficult amid the ongoing crisis. The San Francisco Venezuelan community has rallied around her, offering support and condolences.
This tragedy underscores the vulnerability of those with family in disaster-prone regions, and the emotional toll on diaspora communities far from home.
Source: dailybreeze.com
An investigation by The California Newsroom and UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program has revealed that between 2014 and 2024, 148 California law enforcement officers engaged in explicitly biased conduct, including racist, sexist, and homophobic slurs, violent threats, and demeaning comments. Only about 12% were fired.
The records, obtained from nearly 500 agencies, show that many faced minor penalties like reprimands or training. For example, Rafael Silva, a former Delano police officer, posted violent threats against transgender people on TikTok in 2023, including comments like "You ain’t safe.
We finna change your pronouns soon" and "My AR will track y’all down." Despite the FBI deeming these threats imminently dangerous, Silva was allowed to resign and later worked for police departments in Avenal and Wasco. He remains employed in Wasco as of June 2026.
The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) declined to decertify him. Experts say such behavior erodes public trust, undermines court credibility, and hampers recruitment of diverse officers.
"With such an important job, if someone is exhibiting any type of bias against a member of their community, I just don’t think they should have that job," said Vida Johnson, a Georgetown law professor. The investigation also found that bias extended to incarcerated people and fellow officers, with 61 correctional officers identified, over half still employed.
Only about 20% of officers received reprimands or training, and many appealed discipline successfully. The findings are likely just a fraction of incidents, as complaints are underreported due to the "Blue Wall of Silence" and fear of police.
The investigation highlights a systemic failure to hold officers accountable, with uneven discipline allowing many to remain on the job.
Source: almanacnews.com
A 33-year-old man was sentenced to 26 years in prison on Monday in Tulare County Superior Court for a deadly DUI crash that killed a woman in 2020 and a subsequent jail fight that injured a sheriff’s deputy.
Oscar Lopez-Almeida pleaded no contest to multiple charges, including gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI causing injury, driving with a suspended license due to a prior DUI conviction in Kings County in 2019, and assault with a deadly weapon.
The fatal crash occurred just before 6 p.m. on March 6, 2020, near the intersection of Avenue 184 and Road 64, southwest of the city of Tulare.
According to court records, Lopez-Almeida swerved his Honda Civic into the oncoming lane. The victim tried to avoid a collision but was struck on the passenger side.
The crash killed the victim’s wife.
A breath test administered after the crash revealed a blood-alcohol concentration above the legal limit. The surviving victim reported that Lopez-Almeida got out of his car and apologized.
Prosecutors cited aggravating factors, including that the crimes caused great bodily injury, that the defendant used a vehicle as a weapon, and that his criminal history showed increasing seriousness. For these charges, the court imposed the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison under California law.
Lopez-Almeida received an additional year for a separate incident while in custody at the Bob Wiley Detention Facility. In February 2024, he participated in a fight involving other inmates and battered a sheriff’s deputy.
Source: kmph.com
A rare pair of powerful earthquakes, known as a 'doublet,' struck Venezuela on June 24, 2026, killing at least 188 people and raising new questions for Californians about whether a similar back-to-back quake could hit the Golden State. The two quakes, each with a magnitude of 7.5, hit just a minute apart and originated from different faults, according to the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS, using predictive modeling, estimated that the death toll in Venezuela would most likely run into the thousands, with a substantial probability of exceeding 10,000.
A website set up to track missing people by leaders from the country's opposition reported that about 24,000 people remain unaccounted for, according to Reuters. The worst-affected area was La Guaira state, near Caracas and home to the city's airport.
Interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez said rescue crews from other countries would arrive soon and thanked leaders, including President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said there had been a 'devastating' number of deaths.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said rescue teams were being deployed and the Pentagon would send assets to the damaged airport.
Beyond the devastation, the unusual timing of the quakes is drawing attention from earthquake experts because of how rare and destructive such events can be. Doublet earthquakes are rare; there is only a 5% chance of having two large quakes in a sequence be within 0.2 units of magnitude, according to the USGS.
Doublets can greatly increase damage with prolonged or repeated shaking. For California, where hundreds of active faults crisscross densely populated areas, the sequence is a reminder of the state’s own seismic risks and the possibility of complex, multi-event earthquakes.
California’s fault system is complex enough to produce earthquake sequences that resemble a doublet, though scientists say exact 'mirror' events like Venezuela’s are uncommon. California has over 500 active faults, many of them interconnected, and large earthquakes can trigger nearby faults, creating cascading events.
Recent research from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa warns that stress is building across the San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems, particularly near Cajon Pass — a key junction between fault zones in the Inland Empire. Researchers say that while no earthquake is imminent, the region could see a multi-fault rupture, in which several segments break together rather than as a single, isolated quake.
That kind of event could extend shaking over a wider area, increase duration and intensity, and amplify damage across multiple regions. While this isn’t exactly the same as two separate quakes minutes apart, it highlights a similar risk: compounded seismic impacts.
Like Venezuela, California sits along a major tectonic boundary — in this case between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. Instead of colliding, the plates slide past each other along the San Andreas Fault system, building stress over time.
Key risk factors include long stretches of fault that haven’t ruptured in more than a century, dense population centers near major faults (Los Angeles, Inland Empire, Bay Area), and soft soils in some regions that can amplify shaking. Scientists say stress levels in parts of Southern California are among the highest in at least 1,000 years — though that does not mean a quake is imminent.
In a large rupture scenario, strong shaking could last 30 to 60 seconds or more, roads, pipelines and buildings could be offset by feet of movement, and areas near faults and on loose soils would face the greatest damage. Unlike common myths, California will not fall into the ocean; the motion along the San Andreas Fault is horizontal, meaning the land shifts sideways rather than drops.
Source: visaliatimesdelta.com
Source: napavalleyregister.com
California has unveiled a new public dashboard designed to track job losses potentially linked to artificial intelligence, a tool that Governor Gavin Newsom's office says is the first of its kind in the United States. The California AI-Unemployment Tracker, developed in collaboration with the California Policy Lab at UCLA and the Employment Development Department, aims to monitor unemployment claims for patterns among workers in occupations considered highly exposed to AI disruption.
The tracker utilizes unemployment data to identify trends, although it does not prove that AI directly caused specific layoffs. Instead, it provides insight into whether unemployment claims are rising among workers in jobs more susceptible to AI influence.
Governor Newsom emphasized the proactive approach, stating that the state is not merely observing AI advancements but is actively preparing through robust governance and innovative policy.
Initial findings from the tracker have shown no evidence of a statewide spike in unemployment claims from workers in high-AI-exposure occupations. Dr.
Ben Hyman, senior researcher at the California Policy Lab, noted that currently, there is no indication of large-scale AI-related layoffs in California's labor market. However, researchers have identified more targeted patterns, including an increase in claims from college-educated workers in high-AI-exposure roles and a sustained rise in the San Francisco Bay Area for those in such occupations.
Till von Wachter, a UCLA economics professor and faculty director of the California Policy Lab at UCLA, highlighted that the tracker replaces speculation with evidence, offering a clearer understanding of labor market changes and how to best support affected workers. The dashboard, which will be updated monthly, can help the state identify where job search support, retraining, upskilling, health coverage guidance, and other resources may be needed.
This initiative is part of broader workforce-tracking efforts mandated by an executive order, underscoring California's commitment to addressing the impact of AI on employment.
Source: cbsnews.com
Source: gov.ca.gov
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck parts of Northern California on [date], causing widespread shaking and prompting residents to seek safety. The quake occurred at 8:10 a.m., with its epicenter located in a rural area of the region.
Within minutes, a magnitude 2.0 aftershock was recorded, heightening concerns about additional seismic activity.
Local authorities reported no immediate casualties or major structural damage, but emergency services are conducting assessments across affected areas. The earthquake was felt as far away as the San Francisco Bay Area, with social media users reporting shaking that lasted several seconds.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed the event and noted that aftershocks are likely in the coming days.
Residents are urged to review earthquake preparedness plans and secure heavy furniture. Schools and businesses in the impacted zones have been advised to check for safety hazards.
This event serves as a reminder of the seismic risks in California, where the Pacific and North American tectonic plates interact. Experts recommend having emergency kits, knowing safe spots, and practicing drop, cover, and hold on drills.
Source: telemundo52.com