California
Doctor, nurses stabbed at California hospital; man arrested
A man stabbed a doctor and two nurses inside a Southern California hospital emergency ward on Friday and remained inside a room for hours before police arrested him, authorities said.
The man walked into Encino Hospital Medical Center in the San Fernando Valley shortly before 4 p.m., Los Angeles police Officer Drake Madison said.
The man had parked his car in the middle of a street and went to the emergency room, where he asked for treatment for anxiety before stabbing the doctor and nurses, authorities said.
Fire officials said three victims were taken to a trauma center in critical condition. Police later said one was in critical condition and underwent surgery.
All three were later listed in stable condition at Dignity Health Northridge Hospital Medical Center.
The first floor of the Encino hospital and some nearby offices were evacuated, police said.
“We've moved patients out of the danger zone," LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said at a news conference.
There was no evidence that the man knew the victims, Hamilton added.
The man remained inside a room in the hospital for about four hours as SWAT team members tried to unsuccessfully to negotiate with him before he was finally arrested, police said.
He was taken to another hospital for treatment of self-inflicted injuries to his arms, authorities said.
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The man's name wasn't immediately released, but Hamilton said he had a lengthy criminal record, including two arrests last year for battery of a police officer and resisting arrest.
Benjamin Roman, an ultrasound technician, told KNBC-TV that before the stabbing, he saw the man, who had a dog with him and who might have been high on drugs because he looked anxious and was drenched in sweat.
After the hospital issued an “internal triage" code, Roman said he saw a doctor and a nurse who had been stabbed.
“The doctor looked (like) she was in pain," he said. “There was a lot of blood and it looked like ... he might have got her abdomen."
The attack comes only two days after a gunman killed four people and then himself at a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The assailant got inside a building on the Saint Francis Hospital campus with little trouble, just hours after buying an AR-style rifle, authorities said.
The man killed his surgeon and three other people at a medical office. He blamed the doctor for his continuing pain after a recent back operation.
Victims in California shooting remembered for warm hearts
A father of four. A best friend with a positive personality. A vivacious partygoer. The six people who were killed during a mass shooting in California’s capital city were remembered by their friends and family Monday as police worked to piece together what happened.
Dozens of rapid-fire gunshots rang out early Sunday in the crowded streets of Sacramento, leaving three women and three men dead and another 12 people wounded. On Monday, small memorials with candles, balloons and flowers had been placed near the crime scene.
Investigators were searching for at least two shooters who were responsible for the violence on the outskirts of the city’s main entertainment district that occurred as bars and nightclubs were closing. Sacramento police said Monday that they booked Dandrae Martin, 26, as a “related suspect” on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and being a convict carrying a loaded gun. Jail records said he was held without bail and was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. It was not immediately clear whether Martin had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Few details have been made public as investigators comb through evidence gathered from what Police Chief Kathy Lester called a complex crime scene. Witnesses have submitted more than 100 videos and photos taken during and shortly after the shooting.
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The Sacramento County coroner released the identities of the six people killed. They were Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21; Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; and De’vazia Turner, 29.
DE’VAZIA TURNER
De’vazia Turner had four young children, including a 3-year-old daughter named Penelope with sticky fingers. But his bright yellow Mercedes CLS was always clean.
Born and raised in Sacramento, Turner played football from a young age until a knee injury slowed him down. He worked as a manager for an inventory company, keeping a close eye on things his mother might like and letting her know when they would go on sale.
“He was a protector,” his mother, Penelope Scott, said. “Raising him as a single mom, you know, he took the role of being the man of the house. He took care of everything.”
He worked out with his dad, Frank Turner, five days a week. When they weren’t pumping iron, they were probably talking about cars. They both had old Buicks – Turner’s was a 1973 while his dad’s was a 1970 – and Turner had big plans for his. He had just ordered a new stereo and a steering wheel with a cherrywood finish.
Frank Turner said he plans to finish his son’s car, including painting it to include images of De’vazia’s face for his kids to see.
“I want them to see their daddy when they see that car,” Frank Turner said.
De’vazia visited his mother on Saturday, eating leftover pork chops and taking a shower before briefly falling asleep on her couch. When he woke up, he said he was going out – a rarity for him, because he works so much, Scott said.
Scott woke up at around 1 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep. She was looking at her phone when she got a call that her son had been killed.
“Your kids are supposed to bury you. You’re not supposed to do that,” she said. “I’m grateful that he has a legacy with his children. However, you know, he’s 29. He didn’t make it to 30.”
The last time Frank Turner saw his son was at the auto shop where they were working on their cars. After his son’s death, a friend called Frank Turner and told him the shop’s security cameras had picked up their conversation.
He watched the video — a father and son spending time together on something they loved — and he cried.
JOHNTAYA ALEXANDER
Alexander was just shy of turning 22 when she was killed, her father told the Los Angeles Times. Her birthday was at the end of the month.
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She hoped to become a social worker who worked with children and was a doting aunt to her nieces and nephews, John Alexander told the newspaper.
His daughter’s name was a combination of his own and his older sister’s, he told the Times.
“She was just beginning her life,” he told the newspaper, sobbing. “Stop all this senseless shooting.”
MELINDA DAVIS
Davis was a “very sassy lady” who lived on the streets of Sacramento near the shooting site, The Sacramento Bee reported.
Shawn Peter, a guide with the Downtown Sacramento Partnership who had known Davis for 15 years, told the newspaper that she had been homeless and lived in the area on and off for a decade.
Officials had helped her find housing before the pandemic began but she had returned to the downtown business district in recent months, Peter said. A small bouquet of purple roses with a note saying “Melinda Rest In Peace” was left on the street in her memory.
“Melinda was a very eccentric individual, a very sassy lady,” he told the newspaper. “This was her world, 24/7.”
Davis was a periodic guest at Maryhouse, a daytime center for women and children experiencing homelessness, from 2016 to 2018, director Shannon Stevens said in an email to The Associated Press. Stevens recalled her as kind but someone who did not do well in crowds. She was seeking housing services at the time.
“This was a space she came to find respite from the trauma of living on the streets of our city,” Sacramento Loaves & Fishes, which runs the Maryhouse program, said in a statement.
SERGIO HARRIS
Described by family members as the life of the party, Harris was a frequent presence at the London nightclub which is near the shooting scene.
“My son was a very vivacious young man,” his mother, Pamela Harris, told KCRA-TV. “Fun to be around, liked to party, smiling all the time. Don’t bother people. For this to happen is crazy. I’m just to the point right now, I don’t know what to do. I don’t even feel like this is real. I feel like this is a dream.”
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His family members congregated at the crime scene Sunday after they hadn’t heard from him for hours. Later that day, Harris was the first victim publicly identified by the coroner.
“This is a sad and terrible act of violence that took the lives of many,” his wife, Leticia Harris, told KCRA-TV. “I want answers so I can have closure for my children.”
YAMILE MARTINEZ-ANDRADE
Martinez-Andrade was killed in front of her best friend, according to KXTV-TV.
She was described as someone who “brought light to the room,” the station reported, and had a positive outlook.
“There was never a dull moment with her. She has a beautiful heart and a beautiful mind. Everyone misses her so much,” her best friend, who was not named, told KXTV-TV.
JOSHUA HOYE-LUCCHESI
A memorial with white and blue balloons, candles and two empty bottles of Hennessy was left a block from the shooting in honor of Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi. On the ground, someone wrote “Josh” in what appeared to be blue paint.
“I love and miss you. Foreva n my heart!” someone wrote in black marker on a white balloon shaped like a star. “Things will never be the same,” read another balloon.
Police say 6 dead, 10 injured in California shooting
Police in California are searching for at least one suspect in connection with a mass shooting early Sunday in downtown Sacramento that claimed six lives and left 10 other people injured.
Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said at a news conference that police were patrolling the area at about 2 a.m. when they heard gunfire. When they arrived at the scene, they found a large crowd gathered on the street and six people dead. Another 10 either took themselves or were transported to hospitals. No information was given on their conditions.
Authorities don't know whether one or more suspects were involved and are asking for the public's help in identifying who is responsible. Lester did not give specifics on the type of gun used.
This is “a very complex and complicated scene,” she said. Lester issued a plea to the public, asking for witnesses or anyone with recordings of the incident to contact police.
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Shortly after the shooting, video was posted on Twitter that showed people running through the street amid the sound of rapid gunfire. Video showed multiple ambulances at the scene.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said on Twitter: “Words can’t express my shock & sadness this morning. The numbers of dead and wounded are difficult to comprehend. We await more information about exactly what transpired in this tragic incident.”
Residents were asked to avoid the area, which is packed with restaurants and bars, including the London nightclub.
Kay Harris, 32, said she was asleep when one of her family members called to say they thought her brother had been killed. She said she thought he was at London.
Harris said she has been to the club a few times and described it as a place for “the younger crowd.” Bars and clubs close at 2 a.m. and it's normal for streets to be full of people at that hour.
She has spent the morning circling the block waiting for news.
“Very much so a senseless violent act,” she said.
Police have the streets around the club closed, with yellow police tape fluttering in the early morning breeze.
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Berry Accius, a community activist, said he came to the scene shortly after the shooting happened.
“The first thing I saw was like victims. I saw a young girl with a whole bunch of blood in her body, a girl taking off glass from her, a young girl screaming saying, ‘They killed my sister.’ A mother running up, ‘Where’s my son, has my son been shot?’“ he said.
Universal health care bill faces deadline in California
California Democrats must decide Monday whether to advance a bill that would make the government pay for everybody’s health care in the nation’s most populous state; a key test of whether one of their most long-sought policy goals can overcome fierce opposition from business groups and the insurance industry.
A bill in the state Legislature would create the nation’s only statewide universal health care system. It’s still a long way from becoming law, but Monday is the last chance for lawmakers in the Assembly to keep the bill alive this year.
The bill would create a universal health care system and set its rules — but it would not pay for it. There’s another bill that would do that. It has a different deadline and does not have to pass on Monday.
Still, Monday’s debate will likely be dominated by concerns about cost. The latest estimate says it would cost taxpayers at least $356.5 billion per year to pay for the health care of nearly 40 million residents. California’s total operating budget — which pays for public schools, courts, roads and bridges and other important services — is roughly $262 billion this year.
Earlier this month, Democrats filed a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would impose hefty new taxes on businesses and individuals to pay for the system. The taxes would generate roughly $163 billion per year, and the amendment would give lawmakers the power to raise those taxes to keep up with costs.
Supporters hope both proposals — the bill to create the system and the bill to pay for it — will move forward together this year. But Monday’s deadline is only on the bill that would create the system. Still, that hasn’t stopped opponents from connecting the two issues.
“A vote for this bill is naturally a vote for the taxes that come along with it,” said Preston Young, a policy advocate with the California Chamber of Commerce who is leading a coalition of 130 companies against the bill. “Health care costs continue to increase, so the tax obligations correlated with it will go up as well.”
Supporters say Californians and their employers are already paying exorbitant amounts for health care through high deductibles, co-pays and monthly insurance premiums. This bill, if it becomes law, would eliminate all of those and replace them with taxes.
“Sure, there is sticker shock. But there should be sticker shock for how much we are paying now,” said Stephanie Roberson, director of government relations for the California Nurses Association. “What are we getting? People are still uninsured. People are still underinsured. People are going into medical debt. People have to reach tens-of-thousands of dollars of deductibles. We’ll eliminate that under this program.”
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Right now, lots of people pay for California’s health care system, including patients, insurance companies and employers. The bill before the Legislature would change that to a single payer — the government. If enacted, it would unravel the private health insurance market. Private health insurance would still be allowed, but only for services not covered by the government.
Progressives have long dreamed of a single-payer health system in the U.S., believing it would control costs and save lives. But it’s never happened. Vermont enacted the nation’s first single-payer health care system in 2011, but later abandoned it because of the cost. Proposals in Congress have gone nowhere.
In California, voters overwhelmingly rejected a single-payer system in a 1994 ballot initiative. State lawmakers tried again in the 2000s, twice passing single-payer legislation only to have both bills vetoed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican. Another attempt in 2017 passed the Senate but died in the Assembly.
This year’s vote won’t be easy, even in famously liberal California. While this bill has the support of some Democratic leaders and powerful labor unions, it has intense opposition from business groups that are pressuring more moderate Democrats not to vote for it.
The bill needs 41 votes to survive on Monday. Democrats have 56 of the 80 seats in the Assembly. But they are missing three of their more liberal members who have recently resigned to take other jobs, leaving little room for defections.
Supporters so far have not gotten a boost from someone they thought would be an important ally: Popular Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom campaigned for a universal health care system during his 2018 run for governor. But since taking office, Newsom has focused mostly on expanding access to insurance coverage.
Newsom has said he still supports a single-payer system. A commission he established to study the idea is due to release its report later this year. But Newsom has been silent on this latest proposal ahead of Monday’s deadline.
“What we need right now is support from the governor on this bill,” Roberson said. “We welcome him to make good on his campaign promise.”
Body cam footage released in 2018 California bar massacre
Video from cameras worn by deputies who responded to a mass shooting at a Southern California bar in 2018 and recordings of calls for help released Tuesday captured the chaos, horror and confusion of the massacre that left a dozen people dead.
Terrified patrons hiding from a gunman still stalking victims reported the shooting in whispers to dispatchers, while others sobbed over the trauma of an event still unfolding. Officers encountered patrons running for their lives and a man bleeding in the parking lot while friends tried to save him.
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The footage and audio from the Borderline Bar and Grill shooting was released Tuesday by the Ventura County sheriff’s after a court fight by The Associated Press and other news outlets who sought the evidence under public records laws.
While the evidence was documented in a more than 400-page report on the shooting released in July, it was the first time the video and call recordings were released.
Investigators concluded that Ian David Long, 28, who served as a Marine in Afghanistan, felt college students disdained veterans and targeted the Thousand Oaks country bar because it was student night. Long took his own life as police surrounded the building on Nov. 7, 2018.
As lines rang off the hook at a sheriff’s call dispatch center, a woman reporting the shooting whispered: “We’re hiding. The guy’s probably still here.”
When a dispatcher asked another woman if she saw the shooting, she responded: “It’s still happening!”
Patrons were still running for cover when the first officers arrived.
Videos from the perspective of a dozen officers show how they were largely in the dark about what happened after one of their own, Sgt. Ronald Helus, went into the building after radioing: “We got multiple people down. We need a lot of ambulances.”
Surveillance footage showed Helus and CHP Officer Todd Barrett slowly entering the bar with guns raised and Helus with a flashlight on the barrel of his rifle scanning the darkness. Long, who had been hiding in the office by the entrance, ambushed the men from and began firing from his .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol.
Barrett ran outside and began returning fire. Helus stumbled as he retreated. When he stood up, he was struck by a bullet fired Barrett fired at Long.
Helus managed to roll onto his back and fire several rounds as Long shot him five times while he was down. The medical examiner, however, concluded it was Barrett’s inadvertent shot that killed the veteran officer.
Some of the body cameras captured the sporadic bursts of gunfire that erupted in the entrance of the bar.
Other cameras were either not turned on at the time of the shooting or were on officers who arrived later.
In the silence that followed the shootout, Sgt. Laura Natoli, standing behind bushes near the bar, noted the smoke she could see inside the bar and said to a deputy: “I wonder if he took himself out.”
Shortly after, a man in a plaid shirt and ball cap who had been the bar emerged from the darkness behind a dumpster and startled Natoli.
“Jesus, what are you doing dude?” she said.
The man said he was in the Army and wanted to help. He said at least one, possibly two, officers were down.
“I watched him,” he said. “By the front door.”
Deputy Charles Gallagher, who was with Natoli, cursed.
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“We have no other communication from people inside that’s what I’m worried about,” Natoli said.
Meanwhile, behind a patrol vehicle where Deputy Matthew Kahn had taken cover with another officer, a shooting victim was on the ground and sounded as if he was drifting into unconsciousness as his fellow bargoers applied pressure to stop the bleeding.
“Take me to the hospital,” the man said.
A woman reassured him: “They’re on their way.”
Another officer who arrived told them they needed to carry him to a staging area where ambulances were arriving.
“He’s not going to make it sitting here,” the officer said.
The man was carried to safety. He was the only gunshot victim who survived, Cmdr. Jeff Miller said.
At some point, Kahn, who had spoken to Barrett, could be heard saying Helus had been shot. But his call was not retransmitted, according to the report.
Miller said word of Helus’ shooting wasn’t widely relayed.
“There was a lack of knowledge of Sgt. Helus being shot and down for a pretty substantial time,” Miller said when asked about the footage and radio calls.
Most of the newly released footage ends after Natoli sends Deputy Steve Manley and another officer with assault rifles to the front of the bar to see if they can see any sign of Helus.
Manley’s camera captures the barrel of his rifle as he moves along in the shadows and ducks behind a low wall and bushes in front of the bar.
With his gun trained toward the entrance area, he reported that there was no movement. Then a pop could be heard inside the building.
“I just had one shot,” he said on his radio — a transmission heard on the other videos.
The shot was Long taking his own life, Miller said.
The videos ended there.
Major storm dumps snow, closes mountain routes in California
A major Christmas weekend storm caused whiteout conditions and closed key highways amid blowing snow in mountains of Northern California and Nevada, with forecasters warning that travel in the Sierra Nevada could be difficult for several days.
Authorities near Reno said three people were injured in a 20-car pileup on Interstate 395, where drivers described limited visibility on Sunday. Further west, a 70-mile (112-kilometer) stretch of Interstate 80 was shut until at least Monday from Colfax, California, through the Lake Tahoe region to the Nevada state line.
The California Department of Transportation also closed many other roads while warning of slippery conditions for motorists.
Read:Flight cancellations snarl holiday plans for thousands
“Expect major travel delays on all roads,” the National Weather Service office in Reno, Nevada, said Sunday on Twitter. “Today is the type of day to just stay home if you can. More snow is on the way too!”
The weather service issued a winter storm warning for greater Lake Tahoe until 1 a.m. Tuesday because of possible “widespread whiteout conditions” and wind gusts that could top 45 mph (72 kph).
Turbulent weather stretched from San Diego to Seattle. More than a foot (0.3 meters) of snow was reported near Port Angeles on Washington state's Puget Sound. Portland, Oregon received a dusting, but the city was expected to get another 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) by Monday morning, according to the weather service.
In California, rockslides caused by heavy rain closed more than 40 miles (64 kilometers) of coastal Highway 1 in the Big Sur region south of the San Francisco Bay Area. There was no estimate for the reopening of the scenic stretch that is frequently shut after wet weather.
The latest in a series of blustery storms hit Southern California with heavy rain and wind that flooded streets and knocked down power lines late Saturday. Powerful gusts toppled trees, damaged carports and blew a track-and-field shed from a Goleta high school into a front yard two blocks away, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. No injuries were reported.
More than 1.8 inches (4.5 centimeters) of rain fell over 24 hours in Santa Barbara County's San Marcos pass, while Rocky Butte in San Luis Obispo County recorded 1.61 inches (4 centimeters), the weather service said.
Los Angeles International Airport said a “storm-related electrical issue” forced a partial closure of Terminal 5, causing post-Christmas passengers to divert to other terminals for certain services.
“Cancellations and delays are possible, so it will be important to check your flight status today if flying through Terminal 5,” LAX tweeted.
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In the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles, crews were repairing a section of State Route 18 that washed down a hillside after heavy rain late Thursday. The closure of the major route into the Big Bear ski resort area could last for weeks, officials said.
The continuing storms were welcomed in parched California, where the Sierra snowpack had been at dangerously low levels after weeks for dry weather. But the state Department of Water Resources reported on Christmas Eve that the snowpack was between 114% and 137% of normal across the range with more snow expected.
Up to 8 feet (2.4 meters) of snow was predicted at the highest elevations of the Sierra.
Before Sunday, 20 inches (50 centimeters) of snow already had fallen at Homewood on Lake Tahoe’s west shore. About a foot (30 centimeters) was reported at Northstar near Truckee, California, and 10 inches (25 centimeters) at the Mount Rose ski resort on the southwest edge of Reno.
Rain, snow fall as California braces for brunt of storm
The Western U.S. is bracing for the brunt of a major winter storm expected to hit Monday, bringing travel headaches, the threat of localized flooding and some relief in an abnormally warm fall.
Light rain and snow fell in Northern California on Sunday, giving residents a taste of what’s to come. The multiday storm could drop more than 8 feet (2.4 meters) of snow on the highest peaks and drench other parts of California as it pushes south and east before moving out midweek.
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“This is a pretty widespread event,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Anna Wanless in Sacramento. “Most of California, if not all, will see some sort of rain and snow.”
The precipitation will bring at least temporary relief to the broader region that’s been gripped by drought caused by climate change. The latest U.S. drought monitor shows parts of Montana, Oregon, California, Nevada and Utah in exceptional drought, which is the worst category.
Most reservoirs that deliver water to states, cities, tribes, farmers and utilities rely on melted snow in the springtime.
The storm this week is typical for this time of the year but notable because it’s the first big snow that is expected to significantly affect travel with ice and snow on the roads, strong wind and limited visibility, Wanless said. Drivers on some mountainous passes on Sunday had to wrap their tires in chains.
Officials urged people to delay travel and stay indoors. Rain could cause minor flooding and rockslides, especially in areas that have been scarred by wildfires, according to the forecast. The San Bernardino County sheriff's department issued evacuation warnings for several areas, citing the potential for flooding. Los Angeles County fire officials urged residents to be aware of the potential for mud flows.
Forecasters also said strong winds accompanying the storm could lead to power outages. Karly Hernandez, a spokesperson for Pacific Gas & Electric, said the utility that covers much of California didn’t have any major outages on Sunday. Crews and equipment are staged across the state to respond quickly if the power goes out, Hernandez said.
Rain fell intermittently across California on Sunday. Andy Naja-Riese, chief executive of the Agricultural Institute of Marin, said farmers markets carried on as usual in San Rafael and San Francisco amid light wind.
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The markets are especially busy this time of year with farmers making jellies, jams and sauces for the holidays, he said. And, he said, rain always is needed in a parched state.
“In many ways, it really is a blessing,” Naja-Riese said.
Lichen Crommett, manager of the San Lorenzo Garden Center in Santa Cruz, California, said customers weren’t deterred by a light sprinkling of rain Sunday morning.
“It’s not like raincoat worthy just yet, but any second it could change,” she said.
A second storm predicted to hit California midweek could deliver almost continuous snow, said Edan Weishahn of the weather service in Reno, which monitors an area straddling the Nevada state line. Donner Summit, one of the highest points on Interstate 80 and a major commerce commuter route, could have major travel disruptions or road closures, Weishahn said.
The weather follows a calm November that was unseasonably warm.
“With this storm coming in, it’s going to be a wakeup call to a lot of folks,” Weishahn said.
Vail Resorts’ three Tahoe-area ski resorts opened with limited offerings over the weekend after crews worked to produce artificial snow. Spokeswoman Sara Roston said the resorts are looking forward to more of the real thing.
“We will assess once the storm comes in, but we do expect to open additional terrain following,” she wrote in an email.
Meanwhile, the Sierra Avalanche Center warned heavy snow and strong winds on top of a weak snowpack could cause large and destructive avalanches. One man died Saturday at a ski resort in the Pacific Northwest when he was caught in an avalanche that temporarily buried five others.
California high court won't hear Brad Pitt divorce appeal
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to consider Brad Pitt's appeal of a court ruling that disqualified the judge in his custody battle with Angelina Jolie.
The court denied a review of a June appeals court decision that said the private judge hearing the case should be disqualified for failing to sufficiently disclose his business relationships with Pitt's attorneys.
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The state Supreme Court’s decision finalizes that ruling. It means the fight over the couple’s five minor children — which was nearing an end — could just be getting started.
“Ms. Jolie is focused on her family and pleased that her children’s wellbeing will not be guided by unethical behavior," her attorney, Robert Olson, said in an email.
Pitt's attorneys didn't immediately issue a comment.
Jolie, 46, and Pitt, 57, were among Hollywood’s most prominent couples for 12 years. A former Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, John Ouderkirk, officiated at their 2014 wedding, then was hired to oversee their divorce when Jolie filed to dissolve the marriage in 2016.
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He ruled the couple divorced in 2019, but he separated the child custody issues.
Jolie and Pitt have six children: 20-year-old Maddox, 17-year-old Pax, 16-year-old Zahara, 15-year-old Shiloh, 13-year-old Vivienne and 13-year-old Knox. Only the five minors are subject to custody decisions.
Drought-stricken California doused by major storm
A powerful storm barreled toward Southern California after flooding highways, toppling trees and causing mud flows in areas burned bare by recent fires across the northern part of the state.
Drenching showers and strong winds accompanied the weekend’s arrival of an atmospheric river — a long and wide plume of moisture pulled in from the Pacific Ocean. The National Weather Service’s Sacramento office warned of “potentially historic rain.”
Flooding was reported across the San Francisco Bay Area, closing streets in Berkeley, inundating Oakland’s Bay Bridge toll plaza and overflowing rivers in Napa and Sonoma counties. Power poles were downed and tens of thousands of people in the North Bay were without electricity.
By Sunday morning, Mount Tamalpais just north of San Francisco had recorded a half foot (15 centimeters) of rainfall during the previous 12 hours, the weather service said.
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“Some of our higher elevation locations could see 6, 7, 8 inches of rain before we’re all said and done,” weather service meteorologist Sean Miller said.
About 150 miles (241 kilometers) to the north, the California Highway Patrol closed a stretch of State Route 70 in Butte and Plumas counties because of multiple landslides within the massive Dixie Fire burn scar.
“We have already had several collisions this morning for vehicles hydroplaning, numerous trees falling, and several roadways that are experiencing flooding,” the highway patrol’s office in Oroville tweeted on Sunday. “If you can stay home and off the roads today, please do. If you are out on the roads, please use extreme caution.”
The same storm system also slammed Oregon and Washington state, causing power outages affecting tens of thousands of people. Two people were killed when a tree fell on a vehicle in the greater Seattle area. Eastside Fire & Rescue responded to the scene of the fatalaties near Preston, Washington, which is about 20 miles east of Seattle.
In California’s Colusa and Yolo counties, state highways 16 and 20 were shut for several miles due to mudslides, the state Department of Transportation said.
Burn areas remain a concern, as land devoid of vegetation can’t soak up heavy rainfall as quickly, increasing the likelihood of flash flooding.
“If you are in the vicinity of a recent burn scar and haven’t already, prepare now for likely debris flows,” the Sacramento weather service tweeted. “If you are told to evacuate by local officials, or you feel threatened, do not hesitate to do so. If it is too late to evacuate, get to higher ground.”
South of San Francisco, evacuation orders were in effect in the Santa Cruz Mountains over concerns that several inches of rain could trigger debris flows in the CZU Lightning Complex Fire burn scar when the storm moves through early Monday. Further south, parts of western Santa Barbara County saw evacuation warnings upgraded to orders in the area burned by this month’s Alisal Fire.
Read: California wildfire dangers may be spreading south
Strong winds were also expected, with gusts of up to 60 mph (97 kph) at the windiest spots in Northern California. Elevations above 9,000 feet (2,745 meters) in the Sierra Nevada could get 18 inches of snow or more from Sunday until Monday morning.
Recent storms have helped contain some of the nation’s largest wildfires this year. But it remains to be seen if the wet weather will make a dent in the drought that’s plaguing California and the western United States. California’s climate is hotter and drier now and that means the rain and snow that does fall is likely to evaporate or absorb into the soil.
California’s 2021 water year, which ended Sept. 30, was the second driest on record and last year’s was the fifth driest on record. Some of the state’s most important reservoirs are at record low levels.
Plane crash kills 2, burns homes in California neighborhood
A twin-engine plane that killed at least two people and left a swath of destruction in a San Diego suburb nose-dived into the ground after repeated warnings that it was flying dangerously low, according to a recording.
The Cessna 340 smashed into a UPS van, killing the driver, and then hit houses just after noon Monday in Santee, a suburb of 50,000 people. The pilot also is believed to have died, and at least two people on the ground were hurt, including a woman who was helped out the window of a burning home by neighbors.
An investigator from the National Transportation Safety Board was expected to be at the scene Tuesday morning, according to an agency tweet.
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The plane was heading in to land at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego when it crashed. Shortly before, when the plane was about a half-mile from the runway, an air traffic controller alerted the pilot that the aircraft was too low.
“Low altitude alert, climb immediately, climb the airplane,” the controller tells the pilot in audio obtained by KSWB-TV.
The controller repeatedly urges the plane to climb to 5,000 feet, and when it remains at 1,500 feet warns: “You appear to be descending again, sir.”
KGTV-TV, an ABC affiliate, posted video the station said it received from a viewer showing the plane arcing in the sky and then plunging into the neighborhood in a burst of flames.
The plane was owned by Dr. Sugata Das, who may have been piloting the aircraft and died in the crash.
He worked at Yuma Regional Medical Center in Arizona, the hospital's chief medical officer said.
Das, a licensed pilot, lived in San Diego and commuted back and forth to Yuba, according to a website for a non-profit organization he served as director. He leaves two young sons.
United Parcel Service of America Inc. confirmed one of its workers died, although the employee's name wasn't immediately released.
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People a block away from the scene said their homes shook from the thunderous crash.
Neighbors ran to help and helped rescue a couple believed to be in their 70s from one burning home.
Michael Keeley, 43, ran barefoot outside and saw flames engulfing the UPS truck and a home on the corner. He joined two neighbors at the burning home in calling through an open window.
With thick smoke inside the home and flames licking the roof, Keeley reached through the window to grab a woman’s arm and help her climb out. Her forearms were burned, and her hair was singed, he said.
“I’m glad I didn’t have to go inside with my bare feet,” said Keeley, a probation officer.
At the same time, other neighbors knocked down the couple’s fence to rescue the woman’s husband from the backyard.
Keeley said after the couple escaped to the sidewalk, the woman pleaded for help for her dog that was believed to be inside the home.
“She kept saying, ‘My puppy, my puppy,’ ” he said.
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But moments later, there were explosions inside the home. The group helped the couple walk a safe distance away until paramedics arrived.
Andrew Pelloth, 30, lives across the street from the couple and was working from home when he heard a whirring and then a huge boom.
“My initial thought was that it was a meteorite coming down,” he said. “I could hear it falling, and then some kind of explosion.”
Pelloth looked outside and saw the UPS truck on fire. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and then joined other neighbors who pulled the boards off the couple’s fence to rescue the woman’s husband.
Erik Huppert, 57, who ran down to help after his house shook, said he saw the man walking in the backyard after they pulled off the boards.
“Both were definitely in shock, but at least they were alive,” said Huppert, a military contractor.
No one was home at the other house that was destroyed, which sold only a month ago, Pelloth said.