California’s wildfire season still has a ways to go yet, but much of the state’s landscape has already been devastated by fast-moving, dangerous fires. As stories come in from anxious residents describing “hellish-like” scenes, and with much of the regular wildfire season still to go, more than 3 times the total amount of land burned last year has now been surpassed. Bridge Fire Patrick Campanale/Unsplash The Bridge Fire is yet to be contained, and is burning parts of San Bernardino County and the San Gabriel Mountains. CalFire’s report on Wednesday evening estimated that the fire had spread over 50000 acres…
Author: Benjamin Carter
Last month, thousands of Floridians protested against a Department of Environmental Protection plan to add a suite of leisure facilities to state parks, including golf courses and pickleball courts. But a recent revelation shows that, at an earlier stage of planning, the project was far more extensive in scope, with developments being looked at in 17 additional state parks in addition to the final list of 9 that sparked protests. Great Outdoors Initiative Brandon Williams/Unsplash DEP plans were released last month in news outlets which revealed a series of developments planned for 9 Florida state parks, which was officially titled…
Hoonigan, the automotive brand set up by the late rally driver Ken Block, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after racking up massive debt. The brand had recently merged with Wheel Pros, who had just gone through a period of rapid growth following the pandemic, and managed to amass over $1 billion in debt. Hoonigan Chris Demers/Unsplash Hoonigan was founded by Brian Scotto and Block, a former professional rally driver, in 2011, initially as a lifestyle and media brand. The brand has adapted since and, especially following its merger with Wheel Pros, could be seen as a more general automotive…
A black bear was recently seen walking along a crowded California beach on a sunny beach day in California. The powerful beast was witnessed by stunned onlookers enjoying a day out walking across the picturesque shoreline. South Lake Tahoe Artur Westergren/Unsplash The bear was spotted on the beach of South Lake Tahoe, a small city on the southern shoreline of Lake Tahoe, near the Sierra Nevada mountains. The city is a popular tourist spot in both summer and winter, due to its pleasant shorelines, but also relative close proximity to ski slopes. Lake Tahoe Sonal Gupta/Unsplash Black bears are not…
Following the revelation that former Republican vice president Dick Cheney had endorsed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for the presidency, some were wondering if Cheney’s president, George W Bush, would follow suit. Bush’s team released a statement outlining the 78-year-old’s position, and it may come as no surprise that he has not endorsed a candidate whose previous speech he once reportedly described as “some weird s***.” Tenure Levi Meir Clancy/Unsplash President Bush served as the US president for 2 terms between 2001 and 2009, famously leading the response to the 2001 New York terror attacks. Cheney was his vice-president for both…
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) will, on Monday, begin hearing cases over an antitrust trial regarding Google’s allegedly monopolistic business practices. Google will face questions over their advertising practices, which accounts for the vast majority of their total revenue and so could have a huge potential impact on how they continue operating their business. Past Monopoly Trial Christian Wiediger/Unsplash This is not the first time Google have faced an antitrust trial, as they faced a similar lawsuit just last month. August’s trial covered their search engine monopoly. IT was alleged that Google had resorted to illegal monopolistic tactics to…
Evacuation orders have been issued in California as the Boone Wildfire cuts a swathe across California’s belly. The fire’s rapid expansion to double its size in the space of 24 hours on Wednesday was attributed to the desiccated condition that the region had been left in after a hot, dry summer in the Golden State. Scope of Fire Engin Akyurt/Unsplash The fire is one of the more significant of the season, and has burned down a large chunk of the California countryside. Favorable conditions have meant that, as of the most recent reports, it has managed to reach across a…
A global fast food chain has announced that it is closing several California branches it believes are no longer providing “acceptable returns”. The chain overall had reported increased sales but, over the same period, foot traffic had dipped slightly. Fast Food Struggles Willis Lam/Wikimedia The fast food industry has struggled in recent months as consumers struggle to reconcile new price points for what used to be a fast, budget eating option. Rubio’s Coastal Grill recently filed for bankruptcy due to the “rising cost of doing business” in California. Fewer Consumers Andrea Leopardi/Unsplash Price hikes in recent months in fast food…
Back in 2016, Californians voted through a ban on single-use plastic bags. However, in the years since, bag waste has hugely increased in the Golden State. As a result, lawmakers revisited the law, and, late on Wednesday night, passed 2 bills to modify the approach in an attempt to redress the trend. Trend Setters Brian Yurasits/Unsplash California paved the way for this type of legislation on plastics when they passed a bag ban in 2014. The state was the first in the nation to pass a ban on single-use plastic bags, and the precedent led to bans in other states.…
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Florida governor Ron DeSantis suggested that his administration’s plans for the construction of a suite of leisure facilities in state parks would be put on ice. He told reporters that the plans were “not approved by me. I never saw that,” and that he would request that Florida’s Department for Environmental Protection (DEP) revisit the proposals, which he said were leaked. Great Outdoors Initiative Eric Hooper/Unsplash DEP plans released last week in news outlets revealed a spate of developments planned for 9 state parks, dubbed the ‘Great Outdoors Initiative’. The parks would have some of…