Category: Northern California

‘Expect Chaos’: Climate Expert Forecasts Extreme Weather as West Coast Prepares for El Niño

Climate experts are warning of possible extreme weather as an El Niño weather pattern arrives this summer along the west coast. This year’s El Niño looks to be a “strong one,” according to climate expert Dr. Jennifer Francis, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Climate Research Center in Massachusetts. “Expect Chaos,” Francis said on…


Elizabeth Holmes Enters Texas Prison to Begin 11-year Sentence for Notorious Blood-Testing Hoax

BRYAN, Texas—Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes entered Texas prison where she could spend the next 11 years for overseeing a blood-testing hoax that became a parable about greed and hubris in Silicon Valley. Holmes, 39, on Tuesday entered a federal women’s prison camp located in Bryan, Texas—where the federal judge who sentenced Holmes in November recommended…


The Day Has Arrived for Elizabeth Holmes to Report to a Texas Prison

Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes is scheduled to move to her new home—a federal prison where she has been sentenced to spend the next 11 years for overseeing a blood-testing hoax that became a parable about greed and hubris in Silicon Valley. The federal judge who sentenced Holmes, 39, in November recommended that she be…


Feminists Protest Against Transgender Athletes Policy in California

CLOVIS, Calif.—Women’s rights advocates held a protest against the California Interscholastic Federation’s (CIF) gender policy on May 27 at a high school competition, even though the two transgender athletes had withdrawn from the race. The policy or interpretation of the policy would allow transgender athletes who are biological males to attend females’ races in state…


Man Falls to Death After Breaking California Hospital Window With Oxygen Tank

SAN JOSE, Calif.—A man in police custody died Thursday in Northern California after he broke a hospital’s window with a metal oxygen tank and fell off a ledge following an altercation with an officer and a nurse, authorities said. The man was in custody because he had allegedly violated a court order, according to San…


California Reinstates 20-Year Ban on New Cardrooms

California Gov. Gavin Newsom reinstated a 20-year ban on new cardrooms, signing the bipartisan legislation on May 22 to protect the state’s growing gaming industry from smaller gambling operations. Sponsored by Assemblyman James Ramos (D-San Bernardino), Assembly Bill 341 prohibits the state from issuing new licenses but allows licensed cardrooms to operate fewer than 20…


As Elizabeth Holmes Heads to Prison for Fraud, Many Puzzle Over Her Motives

SAN JOSE, Calif.—As Elizabeth Holmes prepares to report to prison this week, the criminal case that laid bare the blood-testing scam at the heart of her Theranos startup is entering its final phase. The 11-year sentence represents a comeuppance for the wide-eyed woman who broke through “tech bro” culture to become one of Silicon Valley’s…


They Are Scared: Proponents of Gender Affirmation Showed Their Fear at a Conference

Commentary I went to a CAMFT (California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists) training conference on May 5 and 6 in order to get an in-person account of what is happening in my profession, in particular regarding gender ideology. I attended because I wanted to hear firsthand what is being taught to my colleagues. They…


Why California’s Schools Are Losing Their Teachers, Part III

Commentary In Part I and Part II, I described Marina Middle School in San Francisco. The principal, the secretary, the custodian, several teachers—all walked away. The school had devolved into a blackboard jungle. Students were in charge. In San Francisco, this was not the first such incident. Everett Middle School had incidents of violence and…


‘Whole Child’ Gimmick Is Health Socialism

Commentary Can California further socialize the raising of children, reducing the parents’ role even more? Yes, it can. In the May Revision to his budget proposal for fiscal year 2023-24, Gov. Gavin Newsom advances what’s called “Whole Child” health care: “The state is reasonably positioned to sustain the continued multi-year implementation of the California for…