The FBI continues to deny the attack on a Pacific Gas and Electric substation in Santa Clara County, California was the work of terrorists despite the slow leaks of more disturbing details about the April 16th attack surface in various news outlets.
The Los Angeles Times reports the attack was “military style” and that whoever conducted the assault knew the layout of the area, locations of security devices and how to avoid being identified on camera.
At least two of the attackers knew exactly which manhole covers to remove to access an underground vault where they used heavy wire cutters to disconnect fiber optic cables.
Also, the snipers used rounds that caused the transformers to only leak oil and be disabled without exploding, avoiding unnecessary attention to the site until they were done disabling 17 transformers. Video of the shooters, stationed 40 yards away from the site, showed only muzzle flashes and at no point did it show any attacker’s face.
The attack was also the night after the Boston Marathon bombings, leading some to wonder if there was a connection between the two incidents.
One legislator is saying what the FBI is not. Representative Zoe Lofgren of San Jose told Fox News that the attack on the station was performed by “pros.”
Personal liberty watchdogs are concerned about a bill working through the California legislature that would require all cell phones to have a “kill switch” that can be activated by law enforcement.
Proponents of the bill say it would allow police or cell phone owners to shut off a device that is stolen so it cannot be used or resold by a thief.
However, critics say that the device could actually be used by authorities as a way to keep citizens from being able to communicate with each other in a time of crisis or as a way to quell dissent in a community.
For example, if police are caught abusing their authority, the police could activate the kill switches to destroy the phones and remove any video evidence of the abuse. It could also stop live streaming of any event authorities do not want to have publicized.
Wireless cell phone manufacturers and carriers have opposed similar measures in other states.
A photo released by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is clearly showing the major impact of the ongoing California drought.
The photo shows two satellite pictures taken one year apart on January 13th. The first photo shows significant snow covering parts of the state and the second barely shows any snow covering.
The NOAA report with the photo says that the amount of snow cover in some areas is between 78 and 96 percent below normal.
The drought is so significant that the state’s Department of Water Resources says that summer water deliveries for farmers and cities under contract with the California State Water Project will receive less than 5% of their contracted amount.
The impact could devastate the farms of the state that account for 15 percent of the entire nation’s crop totals. In addition to the obvious issues of watering crops, the drier conditions allow for more frequent brush and wildfires that destroy large acres of vegetation.
The governor has the state under a state of emergency because of the drought.
Global evangelist and Southern California pastor Bayless Conley was critically injured in a boating accident on Catalina Island Monday night.
Conley has undergone surgery that his doctors termed as “successful.” He remains in critical condition along with one of the other passengers on the boat. A third person suffered minor injuries.
Local emergency staff says Conley and the others were on a boat that crashed full speed into The Isthmus near Two Harbors on Catalina Island. The report did not say who was piloting the craft or where the victims were on the boat at the time of the accident.
“Please join us as we pray and trust God for a full and speedy recovery for Pastor Bayless and his friends,” Cottonwood Church said in a statement. The church asked for people to pray for comfort for them and their families at this time.
A post on his television ministry’s website said Conley was responsive to doctors but that “the next 24-48 hours are critical” for his recovery.
A group of San Francisco activists say they are planning to distribute free clean crack pipes to any addict that wants one.
The group claims that by providing the clean pipes, they are essentially providing the same service that the city is providing to drug addicts that inject via needles.
The city of San Francisco gives out approximately 2.7 million clean needles each year to addicts in an effort to lower the rates of blood transferred diseases like HIV and Hepatitis-C.
Laura Thomas of the HIV Prevention and Planning Council has made a formal recommendation to the city’s health department to have the city implement the plan. She said that the program would allow addicts to feel respected and likely make more of them come in for treatment for their diseases.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said that he is not supportive of the proposal because he believes there are many other ways to control HIV without giving out free drug paraphernalia.
Some advocates say they will give out crack pipes even without the government approval, in violation of state and federal laws.
A new scientific report says that the toxic pollutants causing massive levels of smog in China has the ability to cross the Pacific Ocean and create air quality problems for the western United States.
The study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is the first time scientists have been able to quantify the amount of Chinese pollution making its way across the ocean. The study said that anywhere from 12% to 24% of the daily sulfate concentrations around Los Angeles is directly attributed to Chinese pollution related to exports.
The researchers say one of the biggest hazards is “black carbon.” Unlike other forms of air pollution, black carbon is not removed from the air by rain. The carbon has been found in valleys and holes in California. Black carbon is connected to asthma as well as cancer, emphysema and heart & lung disease.
Smog in China has reached levels that in parts of Beijing officials had to turn electronic billboards into replicas of the sun so that residents would know when dawn and sunset were happening around them.
A campfire fanned by the Santa Ana winds caused a 1,700 acre brush fire that forced the evacuation of thousands of residents in the foothills near Los Angeles.
Three men were being held by Los Angeles County deputies under suspicion of starting the blaze.
At least five homes were completely destroyed and another 17 damaged by the blaze. A historic retreat that was once the home of the Singer sewing machine family had rental homes burned to the ground although statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary were completely unharmed.
Authorities said the wind faded during the day allowing them to bring the fire under control.
According to Glendora Fire Chief Tim Staab the men in custody were trying to keep a campfire going to stay warm.
Observers were more than a little surprised when soil testing showed a California beach that recorded radiation levels as much as 14 times the baseline level were not showing that higher total because of radioactive water from the Fukushima Nuclear Plant meltdown.
Initial concerns were that radioactive water from the 2011 meltdown had finally made its way to California shores. However, testing showed that the soil did not contain any Cesium-137 found in the Fukushima release.
Testing showed the material was naturally radioactive radium and thorium.
The cause of the radioactivity has not yet been identified and officials say even though the radiation is not coming from the Fukushima disaster it does not mean it’s safe to be on that beach.
Local experts say it’s possible that a thorium vein could be coming out of nearby coastal bluffs. Reports also found an oil pipeline once ran near the site and those pipes have a tendency to collect heavy radioactive minerals.
Further testing is being done to find the radiation source.
The Mount Soledad Memorial Association is not going to allow an anti-Christian lawsuit calling for only the removal of a cross from a veteran’s memorial to go down without a fight.
An appeal has been filed with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals contesting the order of U.S. District Judge Larry Burns that a cross be removed from Mount Soledad because it was unconstitutional. The judge had stayed his order because he expected the appeal.
“If we fail to preserve this veterans memorial and the ACLU is successful in tearing down the oldest Korean War veterans memorial in the United States, then so too will be the fate of other veterans memorials like it, including the Canadian Cross of Sacrifice and the Argonne Cross in Arlington Cemetery,” a lawyer defending the MSMA told Fox News.
The ACLU’s lawsuit does not call for the removal of other religious symbols from the site including Stars of David.
