California News

The Almond Board of California has hired Bollywood actress Karisma Kapoor to promote the nuts in India. She’s appearing in television spots aimed at convincing Indians to eat almonds as a healthy snack.

Becky Sereno: “International markets are very important to the California almonds industry for a variety of reasons…

Becky Sereno with the Almond Board says the number one reason is to increase consumer demand. And it’s working. U.S. agricultural exports hit an all-time high of nearly $116 billion last year.

A California school district is taking new measures to combat truancy – GPS. The Anaheim Union High School District is handing out GPS devices to problem students, who are then required to check in during the day to make sure they are exactly where they are supposed to be.

There are about 75 kids enrolled in the initial GPS program, from the seventh and eighth grade district population. Instead of receiving detentions or prosecutions for their tardiness, students are instead given a new gadget, although it does come with a number of conditions. Students have to check in five times per day with the device; when they leave for school in the morning, when they arrive at school, lunchtime, when they leave school, and at 8PM every day.

The president’s plan would give less energy assistance for poor households and less money for reducing neighborhood blight and beach pollution. But the House’s new GOP majority wants to cut much deeper.

For struggling California, President Obama’s proposed budget will provide less money for a state government awash in its own red ink, less energy assistance for tens of thousands of poor households and less funding for projects such as those aimed at reducing beach pollution and neighborhood blight.

And that’s just a starting point in the eyes of the House’s new GOP majority, which is determined to wield the ax a lot more to reduce a record deficit.

A fighting rooster attacked and killed a spectator at an illegal cockfighting event in central California, regional media said.

Jose Luis Ochoa, 35, died of blood loss on Sunday after being hit in the leg by a sharp blade that was attached to the bird, official said.

When police arrived at the scene, Ochoa and others fled, leaving five dead roosters. The man died about two hours later at hospital. His death was ruled an accident.

Under Californian laws, cockfighting, raising gamecocks, being a spectator and possessing related tools are considered misdemeanors.

A California man is being held on $500,000 bond charged with threatening terrorism and possessing explosives. He was arrested just hours after allegedly telling the manager of a local bar about his plan.

“He was serious, and he was in a jubilant mood,” said Joe Nahhas, who manages Detroit’s J.S. Fields Pub and Grill.

He said 63-year-old Roger Stockham came into his bar last Monday, and like most people do at bars, he struck up a conversation. However, Nahhas told FOX 2 this conversation was by no means innocent.

A California surfer is in critical condition after being crushed by a giant wave south of San Francisco.

Thirty-year-old Jacob Trette suffered a brain injury but was moving his limbs after the Saturday accident at the Mavericks surfing area near Half Moon Bay.

A big-wave surf contest had been planned for Saturday, but was cancelled because the waves weren’t high enough.

Witnesses say the 25-foot wave that struck Trette and other surfers took everyone by surprise when it crashed down upon the crowd.

California Governor Jerry Brown’s budget will cut spending by $12.5 billion, including as much as a 10 percent pay reduction for most state employees, aides said.

The plan, which Brown is to unveil today, will also raise $12 billion by retaining tax increases due to expire and making other modifications. Some of the revenue will go to cities and counties as part of Brown’s plan to transfer spending authority from the state to local governments.

The largest U.S. state by population faces a $25.4 billion budget gap over the next 18 months, Brown said in a statement. The 72-year-old Democrat, who took the oath of office last week, has vowed to reach a budget agreement with state Legislators over the next 60 days.

Edmund G. Brown Jr. was sworn in as California’s 39th governor in a low-key ceremony this morning, saying the state has a history of overcoming tough challenges in a 16-minute speech he wrote that was both soaring and sobering.

“It is not just my family but every Californian is heir to some form of powerful tradition, some history of overcoming challenges much more daunting than those we face today,” Brown said in a speech delivered to thousands who attended the inauguration at Memorial Stadium. “From the native peoples who survived the total transformation of their way of life, to the most recent arrival, stories of courage abound. And it is not over.”