California has about 60,000 black bears, and as more homes are built in forested areas, the chances of running into one are only increasing. The department plans to euthanize Hope if they are able to safely capture her. Her cub, Bounce, would be taken in and rehabilitated. Many residents don’t agree with that plan.
Regulators Fail To Take Action To Better Protect Stoneworkers
At a meeting this week of the state board that adopts workplace safety rules, they failed to take up the idea of implementing new rules or regulations for workers who cut engineered stone.
Silicosis cases are surging in California’s countertop fabrication industry. The often deadly lung disease is linked to inhaling toxic dust. Medical and occupational safety experts warn that current regulations won’t protect hundreds more relatively young workers.
Between 1,000 to 1,500 stoneworkers in California could develop silicosis within the next decade, leading to roughly 285 deaths, according to California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA. The state is home to about 5,000 countertop fabrication workers, predominantly Latino immigrants.
Artificial stone in the U.S. market often contains more than 90% pulverized crystalline silica, far more than natural stones such as marble and granite. When workers powercut, polish and grind slabs of the material, tiny silica particles are released. If inhaled, they can lodge in the lungs and cause tissue scarring that progressively impedes breathing. Respirable silica can also lead to lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other illnesses.
East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell on Thursday became the latest Democrat to throw his hat in the ring for the 2026 governor’s race — announcing his campaign shortly before a scheduled appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“Our state, this great state, needs a fighter and a protector,” Swalwell told Kimmel. “Someone who will bring prices down, lift wages up.”
Swalwell has been a high-profile critic of President Donald Trump, taking a leading role in Trump’s second impeachment trial in 2021 and maintaining a regular presence on cable TV. The former Alameda County prosecutor has raised money and campaigned for Democrats across the country, and he could tap those relationships as he enters what promises to be an expensive campaign for the state’s top job. “I’ve been in these fights as a city councilmember up in Dublin, my hometown, as a prosecutor in Oakland, and taking on the most corrupt president ever in the U.S. Congress,” Swalwell said. “But I’m ready to bring this fight home.”
The race to succeed termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom remains wide open less than seven months before the June primary. Former Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla both passed on running, and the special election over Proposition 50 diverted attention and fundraising away from the campaign for governor. A poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies this month found 44% of voters remain undecided.