Geography of California

Southern Calif.-based burger chain Johnny Rockets sold to private equity firm

The Canadian PressJune 19, 2013 00:30

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. - Johnny Rockets, the Southern California-based burger chain with 1950s flair, has been sold to a private equity firm that targets underperforming and specialty companies. The Orange County Register reported Tuesday (http://bit.ly/10tQxV1) that Sun Capital Partners has purchased the company, which is headquartered in Aliso Viejo. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. John Fuller, the chain's chief executive, says the new owners want to expand the chain and find ways to help it cut costs.

Baseball: San Jose files lawsuit against MLB

Agence France-PresseJune 18, 2013 16:31

The city of San Jose filed a federal anti-trust lawsuit against Major League Baseball on Tuesday after four years without progress on a potential move of the Oakland A's to San Jose. The San Jose Mercury News reported the lawsuit claims Major League Baseball giving territorial rights to San Jose to the reigning World Series champion San Francisco Giants amount to an unlawful restraint of trade.

San Francisco supervisor wants family-friendly workplace scheduling for employees

The Canadian PressJune 11, 2013 15:42

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco businesses would be required to offer parents and caregivers flexible work schedules under a proposal a city supervisor wants to take before voters in November. The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/109lBt0) that Supervisor David Chiu's measure would allow workers to ask their employers to adjust their start times, telecommute or job share. Employers would only be able to deny the request if it created an undue hardship for the company, including increasing its costs or affecting its ability to meet customer or client needs.

Klamath Tribes and feds exercise water rights in Oregon, will shut off irrigation for ranches

The Canadian PressJune 10, 2013 19:32

GRANTS PASS, Ore. - Tens of thousands of acres in Oregon's drought-stricken Klamath Basin will have to go without irrigation water this summer after the Klamath Tribes and the federal government exercised newly confirmed powers that put the tribes in the driver's seat over water use — a move ranchers fear will be economically disastrous. Klamath Tribes Chairman Don Gentry and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor said Monday that they were making what is known as a "call" on their water rights for rivers flowing into Upper Klamath Lake in Southern Oregon.

Elderly women safely scramble from burning limo in California

Thomson ReutersJune 10, 2013 18:42

By Laila Kearney SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A group of mostly elderly women, half of them in their 90s and some using canes, escaped unharmed from a stretch limousine that burst into flames at a gated senior community in Northern California, police said on Monday. The incident on Sunday afternoon came a month after a bride and four friends died trapped in another burning limo as it crossed a bridge over San Francisco Bay some 30 miles away.

5 Dead in California rampage

Agencia EFEJune 8, 2013 14:30

Santa Monica, California, Jun 8 (EFE).- A lone assailant killed four people in a series of attacks in this beachfront city before being shot dead by police at a local college, authorities said. The incidents occurred Friday morning when a man between 25 and 30 set fire to a home with his father and brother inside, both of whom died, before going into the street with an assault rifle and bullet-proof vest and seemingly firing indiscriminately.

At least four dead in US rampage by black-clad gunman

Agence France-PresseJune 8, 2013 09:28

A black-clad gunman killed at least four people in a shooting rampage in the US state of California Friday, before police shot him dead in a college library, officials said. The assailant began by killing his father and brother before a random string of slayings in Santa Monica, only a few miles from an event attended by President Barack Obama. One witness described how the gunman, a white male aged 25 to 30 carrying an ammunition belt and a semi-automatic rifle, shot a motorist at point-blank range before hijacking another vehicle.

Gunman kills at least six people in Santa Monica shooting: police

Thomson ReutersJune 8, 2013 01:21

SANTA MONICA, California (Reuters) - A gunman killed at least six people in Santa Monica, California, west of Los Angeles, on Friday, before he was shot to death himself by police at the library of a community college, Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks said. Seabrooks said a second individual she described as a "person of interest" had been taken into custody in connection with the violence, which unfolded a few miles from where President Barack Obama was attending a political fundraiser.

Audit: Utility failed to spend $50M for gas pipeline safety before fatal California blast

The Canadian PressJune 5, 2013 15:04

SAN FRANCISCO - Pacific Gas and Electric Co. did not use $50 million it collected from ratepayers that was meant to improve its gas pipeline network in the decade leading to a deadly explosion in a San Francisco Bay area suburb, an audit shows. From 1999 to 2010, the utility regularly failed to use all the money to fix and maintain small gas lines that deliver natural gas to homes and businesses, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday (http://bit.ly/18QE2FM), citing the audit by Leawood, Kan.-based Overland Consulting for the California Public Utilities Commission.

Sierra Club expresses concerns over proposed Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe resort expansion project

The Canadian PressJune 3, 2013 04:17

RENO, Nev. - U.S. Forest Service officials say they plan to authorize a special use permit to allow the Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe resort near Reno to expand — a move that has drawn the concern of the Sierra Club. The agency's proposal would allow the resort to use 112 acres of Forest Service lands for a new chairlift and 11 new ski runs. Plans call for construction of a skier bridge across the Mount Rose Highway to connect the current ski area on the south side of the highway to the proposed new ski terrain on the north side of the highway.