California

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- A gun control group in the U.S. western state of Washington is urging state lawmakers to give high priority to a proposed ban on high-capacity magazines in the state, a local radio station reported Monday.

Washington's KUOW Public Radio said the gun control advocacy group, the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility (WAGR), has listed restrictions on high-capacity magazines at the top of their 2019 policy agenda.

New York, Dec 27; PTI:A 33-year-old Indian-origin police officer in the US state of California has been killed after being shot by an "armed" unidentified gunman while he was conducting a traffic stop.

Corporal Ronil Singh of the Newman Police Department was shot and killed during a traffic stop when he was "working overtime on Christmas night to provide the best for his family."

"A few moments later he called out 'shots fired' over the radio,"the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department said in a statement, which is leading the investigation.

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Autonomous car startup Zoox Inc. on Friday became the first firm in California to transport passengers in self-driving vehicles on public roads in the U.S. state of California, state transport regulators said.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said in a statement that it has authorized Zoox to "participate in California's first pilot program providing 'drivered' autonomous vehicle passenger service to the public."

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Los Angeles auxiliary bishop, Monsignor Alexander Salazar, following an allegation of sexual misconduct with a child in the 1990s, officials said Wednesday.

The Vatican announced the resignation in a one-line statement. It was the latest in a string of misconduct allegations against bishops to come to light this year, following the scandal of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington that exposed how bishops have largely avoided punishment for improper behavior.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California moved Friday to eliminate climate-changing fossil fuels from its fleet of 12,000 transit buses, enacting a first-in-the-nation mandate that will vastly increase the number of electric buses on the road.

The California Air Resources Board voted unanimously to require that all new buses be carbon-free by 2029. Environmental advocates project that the last buses emitting greenhouse gases will be phased out by 2040.

11 Dec 2018; AFP: Two Catholic school nuns in California have admitted to embezzling about $500,000, and using the funds over the years for travel and gambling in Las Vegas, their order said on Monday.

Sisters Mary Margaret Kreuper and Lana Chang, who are said to be best friends, took the money from tuition, fees and donations at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, south of Los Angeles.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A dog that survived the catastrophic wildfire in Northern California apparently protected the ruins of his home for almost a month until his owner returned.

Madison was there waiting when Andrea Gaylord was allowed back to check on her burned property in Paradise this week.

Gaylord fled when the Nov. 8 fire broke out and decimated the town of 27,000. An animal rescuer who responded to Gaylord’s request to check on Madison first spotted the male Anatolian shepherd mix several days later.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — As terrified people scrambled out of broken windows, screaming and bleeding and fleeing a mass shooting inside a California bar, Sgt. Ron Helus and a highway patrolman decided to try to stop the gunman, running in together with assault-style rifles to what turned out to be an ambush.

Almost immediately inside the dark and smoky bar, the gunman fired on the officers, hitting Helus five times. They retreated and returned fire.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A suspected California serial killer cannot afford a private attorney, a judge ruled Thursday, keeping in place a public defender in a case expected to cost taxpayers $20 million.

Joseph DeAngelo, a former police officer facing 26 murder and kidnapping charges, could be required to reimburse the county to the extent he is able after the trial, Judge Michael Sweet said in Sacramento Superior Court.

DeAngelo, 73, stood in an orange jumpsuit inside a courtroom cage. He appeared to have lost weight in jail since his arrest in April.

VISALIA, Calif. (AP) — A high school teacher in central California was arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment after forcibly cutting the hair of one of her students while singing the national anthem, authorities said. Margaret Gieszinger was arrested Wednesday after videos posted to social media showed a student at University Preparatory High School in the city of Visalia sitting in a chair at the front of the classroom as Gieszinger cuts his hair.