Harris Wolobah, a 10th grader from the city of Worcester, died on Sept. 1, 2023, after eating the chip manufactured by Paqui. The cause of death was listed as cardiopulmonary arrest 鈥渋n the setting of recent ingestion of food substance with high capsaicin concentration,鈥� according to the autopsy from the Chief Office of the Medical Examiner.

after Harris鈥� death. The Associated Press sent an email seeking comment Thursday to the Hershey Co., which owns Paqui.

The cause of death was determined on Feb. 27, and the death certificate was released to the city clerk鈥檚 office on March 5, according to Elaine Driscoll, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

Despite the warning, children have had no problem buying the chips. There have been reports from around the country of teens who have gotten sick after taking part in the chip-eating challenge, including three who were sent to a hospital. Paramedics were called to a Minnesota school in 2022 when seven students fell ill after taking part in the challenge.

When a glut of cargo ships waiting to dock off the Southern California coast left store pet food aisles empty, Nature’s Select was inundated with phone calls.

They all wanted to know, “Are you going to run out of pet food?”

But Megan Sanchez, the 32-year-old vice president of Nature’s Select and daughter of its founder, said she reassured concerned callers that the supply-chain shortages didn’t affect production because “everything we do is sourced within 80 miles of our manufacturing plant in Texas, and everything is U.S. based.”

As Nature’s Select celebrates its 30th anniversary as a family-owned brand, it continues that commitment to providing locally sourced, high-quality pet food鈥� a founding principle.

Paul Cavanaugh launched what became Nature’s Select from his home in northern Orange County in 1994 as a healthier alternative to commercial products, which he believed was contributing to his cocker spaniels’ allergies, skin irritations and ear infections.

Speaking by conference call alongside his daughter, the 71-year-old president and CEO said the three types of kibble he originally produced at a small Perris mill specializing in quality animal feed made a “remarkable” impact on his cockers.

They weren’t the only dogs to benefit from the brand in the early days.

On weekends, Cavanaugh promoted his brand at the OC Swap Meet in Costa Mesa, where he handed out samples of the chicken, lamb and beef-based kibble in Ziploc bags to attract customers.

Among pet owners these days, branding matters. Data provided by the American Pet Products Association (APPA) suggests Gen Zs and Millennials prioritize brand recognition more than Gen X and Boomer pet owners. But 30 years ago?

“The bags didn’t even have a name on it,” he said. “They were only labeled with the protein and fat content. People would come up, and they would listen to me explain it to one person. Before I knew it, I’d have 10 to 15 people standing there waiting to get a sample and fill out information so we could follow up with them.”

Nature’s Select launched as a pet food delivery service in Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside counties. Today, it’s available nationwide and remains a family-owned brand headquartered in Anaheim.

“We’re light years from those days,” Cavanaugh said. “But I take a lot of pride in that part of it. And I take a lot of pride in my daughter sitting in the company, ready to take over my office.”

The Southern California 色情论坛 Group caught up with Cavanaugh and Sanchez to reflect on 30 years of Nature’s Select and the future. This interview has been edited for clarity and space.

Q: When did you join the business, Megan?

Megan: I would help out with little shows and events, but I didn’t actually work here until high school, when I had an official customer service role. After college, they brought me into the social media marketing side. While learning about the business, I saw a need to automate a lot of stuff to improve timing while still keeping true to the personalized, friendly aspect.

Our customer service is what sets up apart, and people enjoy talking to us. We’re always here to help them.

Q: Is it true Nature’s Select was one of Southern California’s first pet food delivery businesses?

Megan: Starting off, it’s how we got the bulk of our business because it was such a novelty. Our customers had a route day. If they placed an order, it wouldn’t arrive until the next local delivery day.

Q: How long did it take for the business to expand beyond Orange County?

Paul: Do you know where it started? It started with customers of ours moving to Dallas and Chicago (in the late 90s and early 2000s).

Megan: They wanted to know how to keep getting the pet food. Shipping it nationwide didn’t exist. So (her father) developed the distributorship program, which isn’t technically franchising. It’s similar but different.

Q: How does a family-owned brand compete against e-commerce giants such as Amazon and Chewy?

Megan: It’s hard to compete with same-day and next-day delivery models, so we phased out the local delivery trucks and segued into more of a shipping model.

We are on Amazon. The difference is we fulfill the Amazon orders. Our products are not in the Amazon Fulfillment Center. We’ve always been direct-to-consumer, but I know a lot of our customers want to see us in little mom-and-pop pet food retail stores. So, my goal in the next few years is to explore those different sales channels to make it more available to them.

But I think the biggest way our business grows through word-of-mouth referrals from family and friends.

Q: What makes Nature’s Select stand out in a market flooded with competing pet products, each claiming to be the best?

Paul: We use dehydrated meal in our product, so dogs and cats get most of their protein from a meat source, not from vegetables.

Megan: (Dehydrated food rehydrated with water) and fresh food are becoming trendy, but they are not a replacement for kibble. Most families can’t afford them anyway. My dog is a 55-pound German shepherd mix, and it would cost $350 a month to feed him exclusively fresh food. So, kibble is always going to be an affordable option.

For our brand, the food quality speaks for itself. We have vitamin packs, selenium yeast, pre and probiotics. All of those things come together using quality products. It is possible to have a kibble that’s affordable, and you can feel good feeding it to an animal because the animal is digesting it properly, and they’re getting all the nutrients they need to sustain a long, healthy life.

Q: Have you faced any difficulties with the quality of your products or services due to supply chain shortages?

Megan: The only time we had issues was when Texas had those really gnarly storms in the winter of ’21. It delayed us by maybe a week or two because trucks couldn’t drive on the icy roads, but that’s about it.

Paul Cavanaugh

罢颈迟濒别:听President and CEO of Nature’s Select

Before Nature’s Select: After working in freight sales, Cavanaugh opened a ServiceMaster franchise that provided cleaning and restoration services in the commercial sector for about 7 years.

The birth of Nature’s Select: Cavanaugh and his wife, Diana, decided to become business partners. They focused on pet nutrition based on the experience with their cocker spaniels.

Today: Cavanaugh’s daughter, Megan Sanchez, has helped grow the brand and modernize it over the past five years.

Megan Sanchez

罢颈迟濒别:听Vice President of Nature’s Select

Earliest memory of her family-owned brand: “I remember doing the local deliveries with my dad. Back in the day, customers would put out a white dog food bucket that had our logo on it. My dad would put a fresh liner in it and pour the kibble in. Obviously a lot has changed since then with repackaging laws, but it truly was a service.”

Why she’d never sell the business: “A lot of family-owned brands sell to a big company, and then all the quality that made them great goes out the window.”

Most boastworthy: “We’ve never had a recall in our 30-plus-year history.”

But many of the park鈥檚 most iconic images 鈥� timeless, internationally famous shots of Half Dome, Tunnel View, Mirror Lake and other wonders that strikingly depict America鈥檚 natural heritage 鈥斅� were made by Bay Area native Ansel Adams.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Postal Service will issue featuring some of Adams鈥� most renowned photographs, including images of Yosemite Valley, the Golden Gate Bridge, and other majestic western landscapes, from the Grand Tetons to Monument Valley, Arizona.

The first such tribute to Adams鈥� work by the Postal Service, the stamps will be released at a first-day issue ceremony in Yosemite National Park, only a few feet from the Ansel Adams Gallery, where Adams, who died in Monterey in 1984, worked for decades redefining nature photography.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an incredible honor for Ansel,鈥� said Matthew Adams, his grandson, on Thursday. 鈥淚t shows that his popularity continues 40 years after he passed. His work resonates across time. He would be excited and honored.鈥�

Adams timeless black-and-white photographs are celebrated for their sharp focus, high contrast and complex dark room craftsmanship. Many of them he took with large format cameras on a tripod mounted to a platform he built on the roof of his 1940s-era Woody station wagon.

The Postal Service is printing 20 million of the stamps, said David Coleman, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service in Washington D.C.

More than 400 stamp collectors, photographers, and other fans of Adams鈥� work are planning to attend the ceremony at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Yosemite Valley to unveil the stamps. Anyone who pays admission to enter the park is allowed to attend.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a huge buzz around the park,鈥� said Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman. 鈥淲e鈥檙e super-excited. Ansel Adams is synonymous with Yosemite. He pioneered a lot of his techniques with the big box cameras here in Yosemite in the 1930s and 1940s.鈥�

At that event, which will feature remarks by Yosemite Superintendent Cicely Muldoon, Matthew Adams, and Daniel Tangherlini, a member of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, first-day covers of the stamps will be sold, with a postmark from the Yosemite Valley post office.

鈥淧eople come from all over the world and ask where did Ansel Adams take this photo, or that photo?鈥� Gediman said. 鈥淗is work epitomizes the spirit of the park in a way the way no other photographer has ever done. In a lot of people鈥檚 opinion, Ansel Adams is the preeminent photographer for national parks.

鈥淭his is a really fitting and well deserved tribute to his life and legacy.鈥�

Adams had a remarkable life.

Born in 1902 in the Fillmore District of San Francisco, he broke his nose when he fell down during the 1906 earthquake as a 4-year-old child. It remained crooked his whole life. As a boy, he spent time exploring Baker Beach and other wild areas around the city. He visited Lick Observatory near San Jose with his father to study the planets and stars.

He became an accomplished piano player.

When he was 14, he visited Yosemite for the first time with his family. His parents gave him a Kodak Brownie No. 1 box camera, which inspired him to photograph the waterfalls and scenery of the park. He returned the next year with a tripod and more cameras. He began to learn darkroom techniques, joined photo clubs and read photography magazines.

A lover of nature, Adams joined the Sierra Club and worked at LeConte Memorial Lodge in the park from 1920 to 1923. His first photographs were published in 1921 when he was 17, and his prints began selling in the park at Best鈥檚 Studio, the business of landscape painter Harry Best, whose daughter, Virginia, Adams eventually married, and whose studio later became the Ansel Adams Gallery.

He began traveling to parks around the West. He published his first book, Taos Pueblo, in 1930; then put up an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution the following year featuring his photographs of the Sierra Nevada, and a year later, opened a photo gallery business in San Francisco in 1933.

He was first elected to the Sierra Club鈥檚 board of directors in 1934 and served on its board for 37 years. During that time his photographs helped conservation groups push Congress to establish new national parks, including Kings Canyon. He donated photographs as part of the campaign to advocate for voters to pass Proposition 20 in 1972, which created the California Coastal Commission.

Adams helped establish the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Today his work hangs in many of America premier fine arts museums, and original prints have sold for hundreds of thousand of dollars.

He moved to the Carmel Highlands near Big Sur in the mid-1960s, taught photography workshops at Yosemite, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by in 1980 by President Carter.

Another U.S. postage stamp in 2002 featured an Adams image, 鈥淪and Dunes at Sunrise,鈥� that he made in Death Valley National Park in 1948. It was part of the 鈥淢asters of American Photography鈥� issuance featuring 20 different photographers from Dorthea Lange to Edward Weston.

鈥淪tamps are miniature pieces of art,鈥� Coleman said. 鈥淎nd these Ansel Adams stamps are pieces of art. How much more Americana can you get than Ansel Adams?鈥�

After driving diesel trucks for 10 years, Martorella initially eyed electric trucks skeptically. Now, he has nothing but praise for the cutting-edge machines, which he says ride smoother, accelerate faster, and are all around easier to maintain.

鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy how consistent that they鈥檝e聽been,鈥� he said. 鈥�(They) definitely knocked it out of the park.鈥�

The truck is one of seven heavy-duty electric trucks deployed to haul food at Performance Food Group in Gilroy, supported by an array of brand new charging stations, an upcoming installation of solar panels and a fleet of all-electric refrigerated trailers.

While the Gilroy site is one of only a handful across the country experimenting with the emissions-free tech for semis, state regulations will push more and more trucks in that direction in the coming years. By 2036, manufacturers will only be able to sell zero emissions heavy-duty trucks in California, and many fleets will gradually be required to incorporate more zero emission vehicles over the next decade.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important for anyone in their business to be thinking about these things. But they are out ahead of the curve,鈥� Bill Robertson, vehicle program specialist for California Air Review Board. 鈥淲e鈥檙e pretty excited about what they鈥檙e doing there.鈥�

The Gilroy site will serve as a test bed for the new technologies 鈥� both for the company and the industry 鈥� allowing them to understand the strengths and limitations of the tech in the real world. 鈥淲e鈥檒l continue to learn from this and add other technologies to it,鈥� said Jeff Williamson, senior vice president of operations for Performance Food Group. 鈥淭his is somewhat of our flagship, our model that we intend to build facilities on as we go forward.鈥�

Historically, trucking and shipping have been far from green. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, transportation makes up about 29% of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, and about a quarter of that comes from the medium and heavy duty trucks that drive industry and lug freight across the country. Almost all of those trucks run on diesel, a fuel with emissions that are associated with health risks such as asthma, and heart and lung disease.

鈥淒iesel鈥檚 been a great fuel for us. We just didn鈥檛 realize 75 years ago that it was gonna kill the planet,鈥� said Mike Roeth, executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency. 鈥淣ow we got to do something different.鈥�

But doing 鈥渟omething different鈥� is hard, especially for big rigs. Only 0.02% of the more than 5 million heavy duty trucks in the US are zero emission, according CALSTART, an organization that researches clean transportation. And switching over more of those trucks to electric comes with some serious hurdles.

To start, the electric trucks have a limited range. The trucks used in Gilroy reach about 200 miles per charge. Their batteries are also heavy, which means that electric trucks can come up against weight limits on roads, triggering potential聽trade-offs between energy and precious cargo.

Heavy-duty chargers for the batteries are also scarce, and often, relatively slow. Even rapid chargers can take 45 minutes to charge compared to the 10 minutes it may take to fill a tank with fuel. The batteries also require a lot of power to charge 鈥� each truck is the equivalent of about four to six Teslas, in terms of power, so larger truck stops and depots could need serious upgrades to their grids in order to provide what Roeth calls 鈥渁 football stadium鈥檚 worth of power鈥� to the trucks鈥� batteries.

鈥淚n today鈥檚 world, there is no battery electric vehicle that can truly replace, mile for mile, the capabilities that you get from a diesel engine vehicle,鈥� said Len Lamkin, vice president of transportation logistics for Performance Food Group

At its pilot site in Gilroy, Performance Food Group is working to change that. The company ships food to thousands of locations across the country, and the Gilroy warehouse serves much of Northern California and beyond. Two of its current electric trucks have been running routes to Santa Cruz since last year. The company also just expanded its electric fleet to seven by adding new electric trucks made by Volvo that will be deployed for deliveries throughout the region.

This progress has been made possible by a new set of chargers from the company FreeWire Technologies, which are capable of powering the electric fleet. Each charger is equipped with an internal battery, which allows the charger to store up power over time when demand is low. Then, they can deliver the electricity to the trucks when they come in to charge without needing to pull energy from the grid all at once.

The charging set up is one of the largest for heavy-duty trucking in the nation, says David Hochschild, chair of the California Energy Commission. And by using the chargers with batteries inside, the site didn鈥檛 need聽to make upgrades to the grid, which would be expensive and could take years. The upcoming solar array also helps offset the expected increase in energy demand that would accompany an expanding electric fleet.

鈥淭his is really a postcard from the future,鈥� said Hochschild.

All of this new technology comes at a cost, however. An electric 18-wheeler can sell for $365,000 to $435,000, more than twice the $170,000 price tag of a typical diesel truck, according to TEC equipment, which sold the trucks to the site. Some $120,000 per truck is offset by a state grant, and the site expects to recuperate much of the up-front cost in savings from maintenance and diesel fuel.

In the end, the electric trucks will likely be part of a multi-pronged approach that uses different technologies for different applications. The battery-powered cabs could be used over shorter distances where range is less of a concern, while other technologies, such as hydrogen-powered vehicles, might be more suitable for long-haul trucks.

鈥淭here鈥檚 not just one application that鈥檚 going to fit all 鈥� there鈥檚 no silver bullet,鈥� said Williamson. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a mix, we believe, of various technologies. We鈥檙e just trying to hone in on the right mix.鈥�

• 

  The trailers are fully hooked up and equipped. (Photo by Shafik Wahhab | Shafik Photography)

• 

  The property comprises two parcels for a total of 10 acres and comes with six well-appointed Airstreams, including one filled with B-52s memorabilia. (Photo by Shafik Wahhab | Shafik Photography)

• 

  The 10-acre property on the market for $452,000 includes six fully hooked up and equipped vintage Airstream trailers. (Photo by Shafik Wahhab | Shafik Photography)

Kate Pierson of The B-52s has listed her kitschy Airstream “glampground” in the Mojave Desert for $452,000.

Sited in unincorporated Landers with mountain views, Kate’s Lazy Desert comprises two parcels for a total of 10 acres. It comes with six fully hooked up and equipped vintage trailers, including one filled with B-52s memorabilia, a 400-square-foot “homestead cabin” dating to 1955 and a 225-square-foot storage shed.

Records show Pierson and her wife,聽 the artist and designer Monica Coleman, paid $18,000 for the initial 5-acre property in November 2011. A year later, Kate’s Lazy Desert with nightly rates from $200-plus, Yelp.com reviews show. In June 2017, the couple expanded the grounds through the purchase of a neighboring 5-acre vacant lot for $20,000.

Since it hit the market in early April, agent Niko Esposito of Paul Kaplan Group/Bennion Deville Homes has heard from “starry-eyed super creatives,” adventure groups and investors hoping to take advantage of the conditional use permit included in the asking price.

The CUP allows the next owner to operate the property as a motel, trailer park or campground.

Given the area’s history as a gathering place for spiritualists and UFO enthusiasts, it’s also ideal for “cosmic vibing” and “extraterrestrial communicating,” the listing reads.

The property is near Joshua Tree National Park, The Integratron and Giant Rock Boulder, a seven-story monolith. There are also popular restaurants in the area, including Pappy and Harriet’s and La Copine.

Pierson, 76, is a founding member and vocalist of The B-52s. Formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976, the band 鈥� including Fred Schneider, Keith Strickland and Cindy Wilson 鈥� has produced hits such as “Rock Lobster,” “Love Shack,” “Roam” and many others over the years and continues to perform.

In addition to The B-52s, Pierson has appeared as a guest vocalist on Iggy Pop’s “Candy” and R.E.M.’s “Shiny Happy People.” She released her debut solo album, “Guitars and Microphones,” in 2015.

Pierson also ventured into vacation rentals. Before Kate’s Lazy Desert, she launched Kate’s Lazy Meadow, a Catskills motel, in 2003. After selling that property in August 2021 for $2.3 million, Pierson and Coleman opened Kate’s Lazy Cape, a beach house in Truro, Massachusetts. The property is advertised on at $850 nightly.

You can find all of their work and more on our websites at:

The photographers are Keith Birmingham, Terry Pierson, Sarah Reingewirtz and Mindy Schauer.

The Press Photographers Association of Greater Los Angeles is an 88-year-old organization made up of photojournalists and photojournalism students. The association recognized work representing still photography and videography.

The awards were announced April 20.

Below are the winning images by SCNG photographers. To view the full list of categories and winners, visit .

Sports Feature

First place: Terry Pierson – The Press-Enterprise

Second Place: Terry Pierson – The Press-Enterprise

Animal

First Place: Keith Birmingham – Pasadena Star-色情论坛

Photo Essay

First Place: Sarah Reingewirtz – Los Angeles Daily 色情论坛

Third Place: Sarah Reingewirtz – Los Angeles Daily 色情论坛

UCLA

First Place: Keith Birmingham – Pasadena Star-色情论坛

Portrait

First Place: Sarah Reingewirtz – Los Angeles Daily 色情论坛

General 色情论坛

First Place: Terry Pierson – The Press-Enterprise

Second Place: Mindy Schauer – Orange County Register

Third Place: Mindy Schauer – Orange County Register

Cal Poly Humboldt estimated dozens of students are still in the building.

Activists Tuesday said the building was chosen because administrators work out of it. The occupation calls on the University to divest from companies that sell weapons to Israel. They join a smattering of actions at U.S. universities this week.

鈥淭hey are not leaving or moving until the university is completely divested from Israel,鈥� said Jasmine Jolly, who was helping coordinate breakfast outside the building Tuesday morning. The Times-Standard was not granted access inside the building.

The protesters began the action around 5 p.m. Monday. A university news release said classes there were canceled and classes taking place at the time of the occupation were evacuated, with the building shut down after protestors refused to leave voluntarily.

Police presence, from a variety of agencies in the region, increased as the day progressed. It鈥檚 unclear exactly how many police eventually arrived at the campus, with eyewitnesses guessing dozens of officers. A group of police outfitted with riot equipment attempted to enter the building, met by a line of activists blocking them.

Video taken by reporter Ryan Hudson for Redheaded Blackbelt inside the hall during a clash shows police in riot equipment forming a line and hitting protesters with batons and arms, and activists shoving back and hitting police with a lange empty water jug. Scanner traffic reported a CHP riot team from Redding responded. EPD spokesperson Laura Montagna said that a Law enforcement Code 30, where every law enforcement available to respond was sent out, which prompted EPD to arrive.

鈥淲e ended up with like two lines of students to where the police were, they eventually said we want to leave, will you please let us out,鈥� said Jolly, who said the protesters made a path for the police to leave.

Monday night, around 11:30 p.m., the police all left, according to Cal Poly Humboldt.

搁贰尝础罢贰顿:听

The university announced Monday night the campus would be closed through Wednesday due to safety concerns, with some classes continuing online. The university cited protestors barricading themselves in the building as the reason.

鈥淪everal protestors inside have barricaded themselves inside the building with furniture, vandalized parts of the building, and blocked entrances and elevators with tents, violating fire codes and creating extreme safety hazards for those inside,鈥� a Monday night news release said.

It is unclear how many people were injured in clashes between police and those occupying the building.

Students surrounding the building Tuesday celebrated occupying a building in the protest movement, which has prompted action at universities like Yale, Michigan鈥檚 Ann Arbor, Columbia and New York.

The Associated Press reports the death of more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in the Hamas-Israel war, following an Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel and has spelled a humanitarian crisis as Israel鈥檚 bombing of civilians continues.

Cal Poly Humboldt鈥檚 police department refused to answer questions about Monday, saying questions must be sent to the university鈥檚 marketing and communications department. Phone calls and email questions went unanswered before the Times-Standard print deadline.

Cal Poly Humboldt called the situation dangerous in a news release and warned people to stay away. Activists who spoke with the Times-Standard said the police sparked the violence.

鈥淲hen the police were here, the tensions were so high and they were so aggressive. They were assaulting students. They carried a girl out by her arms and legs. Their presence made a very angry, hostile kind of environment. And now this morning, you see there鈥檚 no police and there鈥檚 just a lot of people sitting around drinking coffee talking about what鈥檚 going on in Palestine,鈥� said Greg Bee outside the building Tuesday.

An Instagram post from Humboldt for Palestine, who noted they did not organize the occupation but it was an 鈥渙rganic CPH student organizing movement鈥� said the students are not negotiating until divestment happens. The post said students have further demands.

A Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine flag hung over the building鈥檚 sign Tuesday. 鈥淪top Genocide,鈥� 鈥淔ree Palestine River to Sea,鈥� was spray painted on the Theater Arts building.

Jolly noted local activists have tried other methods like a ceasefire resolution passed by the Arcata City Council and an attempt to have Eureka pass a similar resolution, plus weekly protests in front of the courthouse.

Sage Alexander can be reached at 707-441-0504

MODESTO 鈥� California will open its first new state park in a decade this summer, Gov. Gavin 色情论坛om and state officials announced Monday, as the state sets targets for cutting planet-warming emissions on natural lands.

The 1,600-acre Dos Rios tract in the state鈥檚 crop-rich Central Valley is set to open June 12 as California鈥檚 281st state park. near the confluence of the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers, it is surrounded by vast almond orchards and dairy pastures. Californians will be able to use the park for hiking and picnicking, with plans for swimming and boating access in the future.

Ali Manzo, a Central Valley native and California State Parks interpreter, said the new park will help bring people together and allow them to develop a deeper respect for nature.

鈥淒os Rios is not just a park,鈥� Manzo said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a community treasure that offers peace, adventure and a vital connection to nature.鈥�

Manzo joined the governor, First Partner Jennifer Siebel 色情论坛om and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta to announce the new park.

The Earth-Day announcement comes as 色情论坛om unveiled new targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions on natural lands. The plan sets out to reduce the risks of wildfires, expand forest cover and restore wetlands. 色情论坛om said the targets would move the state closer toward achieving its , meaning it will remove as many carbon emissions from the atmosphere as it emits, by 2045.

鈥淭hese are stretch goals, unquestionably,鈥� the Democratic governor said. 鈥淭he good news is we鈥檙e making real progress.鈥�

色情论坛om did not say what success would look like for implementing the targets. His administration did not release an estimate for how much the plan would cost the state, which is facing a massive projected budget deficit.

The plan aims to reduce the risks of wildfires across nearly 53,000 square miles (138,000 square kilometers) of land by 2045 through methods that include burning vegetation that can make wildfires more intense. The state also plans to plant 4.2 million trees, manage and restore 1.6 million acres (647,000 hectares) of grasslands, and protect more than 233,000 acres (94,000 hectares) of wetlands and seagrasses along that timeline.

California has spent about $9.6 billion since 2020 on efforts address climate change using the state鈥檚 natural lands.

Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot called the plan 鈥渁 big deal鈥� because the state has focused much of its climate policy on reducing emissions from other areas, such as the energy sector, and less so from natural lands.

鈥淲e know we have to reduce pollution significantly, but we also need to improve the health of our landscapes to actually remove carbon dioxide from the air,鈥� Crowfoot said.

In recent years, the state has approved the eventual phasing out of the sale of new fossil fuel-powered , , that transport goods through ports and .

___

Sophie Austin reported from Sacramento. Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse 色情论坛 Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @sophieadanna

Googlers in New York City and Sunnyvale took action with the activist group No Tech for Apartheid, demanding that the company drop a cloud contract with the Israeli military and government. They also called on the company to stop the harassment, intimidation and censorship of Muslim, Arab and Palestinian employees; and stop retaliation against workers who speak out against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud-computing project spearheaded by the Israeli government with collaboration from Google and Amazon Web Services.

Emaan Haseem, a software engineer, said that working at Google and supporting human rights issues by speaking out against the war in Gaza should not be mutually exclusive.

鈥淭o find out that your labor is being used for war still is very jarring to my coworkers and myself,鈥� Haseem said.

The group staged a sit-in Tuesday morning outside Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian鈥檚 office in Sunnyvale. Haseem said she had joined the sit-in outside Kurian鈥檚 office. Software engineer Marie Vachovsky said a group of more than a dozen people had occupied the office, but did not impede work or block anyone from entering or exiting; they were eventually escorted out of the building by security.

Outside the Google office, dozens of employees wore shirts with the phrase 鈥淕ooglers against genocide鈥� on it, with 鈥榞enocide鈥� being colored in Google鈥檚 classic colors. Some passed out 鈥淔ree Palestine鈥� buttons and others waved Palestinian flags. One of the signs even called out Google鈥檚 onetime slogan, 鈥淒on鈥檛 be evil,鈥� as they called for an end to retaliation against employees who spoke out against Project Nimbus.

According to magazine, another sit-in was being held at the Google office in New York and outdoor protests were taking place in San Francisco and Seattle. Tuesday鈥檚 action came a day after protesters opposed to the war in Gaza during the Monday morning commute.

This protest followed an article by Magazine reporting that the Israeli Ministry of Defense has its own 鈥渓anding zone鈥� into Google Cloud, giving them a way to store and process data and access AI services. The agreement, which was dated March 27, also gave the Israeli government a 15% discount on consulting fees.

On April 8, a Google spokesperson told the magazine that their work is largely for civilian purposes; this was the first time the Israeli Ministry of Defense was revealed as a Google Cloud customer. A spokesperson for Google could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

鈥淚 did not join Google to use the technology that I鈥檓 building towards a military,鈥� Vachovsky said during the protest. 鈥淚 also didn鈥檛 join Google to have my salary funded by technology and by contracts used by militaries.鈥�

This isn鈥檛 the first time that Google workers held protests against their employer or against Project Nimbus. In December, hundreds of people marched in San Francisco while about a dozen lied under white shrouds marked with 鈥淕enocide鈥� in Google鈥檚 trademark colors in protest of the contract with Israel鈥檚 government.

Thousands of Googlers worldwide also walked out in 2018 over how the company dealt with sexual harassment after Andy Rubin, who spearheaded Google鈥檚 Android operating system, was given a $90 million severance package after he was asked to resign over allegations of sexual misconduct. The next year, Googlers held another sit-in at several offices to protest alleged retaliation against employees who organized the last walkout. That same year, Google banned forced arbitration for directly employed workers after an employee pressure campaign.

Noura Khouri, a preschool teacher and community organizer with Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, said she felt proud and honored to be standing with the protesting Googlers who put their livelihoods at risk to demand that the company not use technology to aid the war in Gaza.

鈥淕oogle is known for its culture of openness and human rights, of equity and justice, and we鈥檙e just asking that they uphold their own values to do no harm, to do no evil and to do the right thing,鈥� Khouri said. 鈥淎nd we really want to support them in doing the right thing.鈥�

April 24, 2024:聽An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported some facts about a sit-in protest that targeted Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian鈥檚 office. The sit-in, attended by more than a dozen people, took place outside of Kurian鈥檚 office and did not obstruct normal work or prevent anyone from entering or exiting the area. Google engineer Marie Vachovsky was not among those who joined the sit-in.