California

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Facebook is expanding its efforts to remove more COVID-19 conspiracies that discourage vaccination against COVID-19, according to an announcement by the company.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — In the year since the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant crashed into a hillside on a foggy morning, killing all nine aboard, there’s been plenty of finger-pointing over the cause of the tragedy.

Bryant’s widow blamed the pilot. She and families of other victims also faulted the companies that owned and operated the helicopter. The brother of the pilot didn’t blame Bryant but said he knew the risks of flying. The helicopter companies said the weather was an act of God and blamed air traffic controllers.

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- An avalanche in Millcreek Canyon of the U.S. state of Utah on Saturday killed four skiers and injured another four, the Utah Avalanche Center (UAC) said.

The fatal accident, first reported around local time 11:40 a.m. (1840 GMT), was "unintentionally triggered" at 9,300 feet (2,834.7 meters), the UAC said.

All eight involved, aged 23-38, wore beacons, and the survivors were able to dig out the victims, it said.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office on Saturday issued revised guidelines for indoor church services after the Supreme Court lifted the state’s ban on indoor worship during the coronavirus pandemic, but left in place restrictions on singing and chanting.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Unemployment agencies across the U.S. became lucrative targets for criminals when they were bombarded with claims last year as millions lost jobs due to coronavirus shutdowns.

Now, simple tax forms being sent to people who never collected unemployment benefits are revealing that their identity was likely stolen months ago and used to claim bogus benefits that have totaled billions of dollars nationwide.

(AP) --- Coronavirus deaths in the United States surpassed 450,000 on Thursday, and daily deaths remain stubbornly high at more than 3,000 a day, despite falling infections and the arrival of multiple vaccines.

Infectious disease specialists expect deaths to start dropping soon, after new cases hit a peak right around the beginning of the year. New COVID-19 deaths could ebb as early as next week, said the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- While the daily infections of COVID-19 in the Los Angeles (LA) County continued decreasing, the death toll in the most populous county in the United States climbed above the 17,000-mark Tuesday.

The region registered 3,763 new cases and 205 related deaths in the past 24 hours, raising the total caseload to 1,124,558 and the death toll to 17,057, the LA County Department of Public Health said on Tuesday.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — In the year since California saw its first coronavirus case, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has gone from a governor in command to one lurching from one political crisis to the next.

Just in recent weeks, he drew surprise and pushback for abruptly lifting stay-at-home orders; he overhauled the state’s vaccine system as California lags behind smaller states in getting shots out; his effort to reopen schools foundered; and state audits revealed missteps that contributed to at least $10 billion in unemployment fraud.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — One of the largest vaccination sites in the country temporarily shut down Saturday because dozen of protesters blocked the entrance, stalling hundreds of motorists who had been waiting in line for hours, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Los Angeles Fire Department shut the entrance to the vaccination center at Dodger Stadium about 2 p.m. as a precaution, officials told the newspaper.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are no longer in favor in San Francisco, where the school board has voted to change the name of 44 schools it says bear the monikers of people associated with racism, slavery or colonization.