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Orange County and the Inland Empire went from having half of normal rainfall at the end of February to 90% or more today, he said. That ignited a bloom. Sure, the bloom isn’t as dramatic as it was last year, when a rare superbloom lit up social media and drove hundreds of thousands to travel to Riverside County, where Lake Elsinore’s Walker Canyon offered miles of rolling hills painted brilliant orange. But 2020 went from being a disappointment to an above-average wildflower year, said Naomi Fraga, director of conservation programs at the 86-acre California Botanic Garden in Claremont.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Chicago City Council approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot's request for emergency powers during a virtual meeting Friday. Mayor Lightfoot asked for emergency powers to make decisions about COVID-19-related spending at their discretion without council approval. Aldermen passed her request 29-21 Friday. The measure only needed a majority, 26 votes, to pass. The council first took up the mayor's request on Wednesday during a virtual session that turned heated. A small group of aldermen objected to giving Lightfoot such sweeping authority and they pushed any decision to Friday. "I think it is important that we work in collaboration...

Seven officers appeared at Lee’s home and arrested the 81-year-old for participating in an unauthorized protest last year that 1.7 million people attended. More than a dozen other democracy activists were detained the same day. The arrests buttressed a week of coordinated actions by Beijing that experts say have redefined the status of Hong Kong. The effect was to demolish the “one country, two systems” framework that prohibits Beijing’s involvement in local affairs and is supposed to afford the financial center a high level of autonomy. With the world distracted by the novel coronavirus pandemic, China has carried out a...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Friday two protests happened at the State House where demonstrators showed their support for reopening South Carolina’s economy. At noon, a group called Drive to Thrive asked the community to join in on a mobile protest against the ongoing closures of some non-essential businesses in our state. Their goal was to fill the streets of Columbia with at least 50,000 vehicles. Demonstrators were encouraged to stay inside their cars, and show an audible display of solidarity by honking their car horns for a full 60 seconds at 12:30 p.m. They’re also asking participants to support local...

Turkey claims it is striking “terrorists,” but locals are concerned airstrikes come amid increased instability, ISIS resurgence and target vulnerably minorities Turkish drones and warplanes flew into Iraq airspace and bombed near a refugee camp near Makhmour on Wednesday, killing and wounding several people. Iraq’s top security cell for media reporting that its air defense monitored a Turkish violation of Iraqi airspace and that at least two women “residents of the camp were victims of the bombardment.” Iraqi media reported in the evening of April 15 that the death toll at the refugee camp had risen to three. It is...

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside of the Wisconsin state Capitol Friday asking the state to lift its stay-at-home order aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus in the latest of protests that have swept the country, with especially large rallies in Minnesota, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The Wisconsin rally Friday drew fewer demonstrators than the Minnesota, Michigan and Pennsylvania rallies, but had enough protesters to cover the steps of the Capitol with people who were not social distancing or wearing masks. The protesters were advocating against a stay-at-home order issued by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, which he last week extended...

McKinsey & Company, a corporate consulting service with a long history of working closely with the communist regime in China, is advising the New York state government response to the coronavirus crisis, per public reports and confirmation from the governor’s office. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has regularly name-checked the corporate consulting company at his press conferences detailing his state’s handling of the pandemic. New York, including Cuomo himself, is actually using McKinsey data to compile modeling on the spread—infection rate—as well as the mortality rate of the virus in the state. Slides from Cuomo’s press conferences discussing...

On what has been quite possibly the dumbest news day in American history, we actually have more real news related to the coup cabal that operated within the Department of Justice and FBI from late 2015 through 2018. Sidney Powell, the badass attorney for General Mike Flynn, issued the tweet below announcing that the DOJ finally released BRADY evidence that Powell and Flynn’s previous attorneys have been seeking through three long years and a span of four Attorneys General and two FBI Directors: Sidney Powell 🇺🇸⭐⭐⭐ @SidneyPowell1 #BREAKING The government just provided the #Flynn defense with remarkable new & long...

The Department of Justice will appeal to the Supreme Court after it was ordered to hand over sealed documents from former special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation to Congress. The department on Friday asked the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to stay its ruling while it petitions the high court. "Whether and under what circumstances Congress may resort to the courts to seek grand jury materials generated in a criminal investigation in aid of an impeachment inquiry is plainly a question of great significance to all three branches of government, as well as to the functioning of the grand jury...

China has announced it will donate $30 million to the World Health Organization (WHO) to help its fight against the global coronavirus pandemic. The announcement: “At this crucial moment, supporting WHO is supporting Multilateralism and Global Solidarity,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying wrote on Twitter on Wednesday, according to NBC News.

"While the COVID-19-related closures have caused us to reassess the viability of some company-owned locations and make the difficult decision to permanently close about 30 gyms, we know that we will emerge from this stronger and ready to grow," the company said in a statement on its Facebook page.

A federal judge blocked a California gun law on Thursday that required people to undergo a background check before purchasing ammunition. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez in San Diego called the regulations "onerous and convoluted," adding that they violate a citizen's Second Amendment rights, the Associated Press reported. Benitez ruled in favor of the California Rifle & Pistol Association, which had asked him to halt the background checks with a preliminary injunction. "The experiment has been tried. The casualties have been counted. California's new ammunition background check law misfires and the Second Amendment rights of California citizens have been gravely...

The Navy recommended to Defense Secretary Mark Esper that Capt. Brett Crozier be restored to command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier on Friday, according to an administration official. Esper was not prepared to immediately accept the recommendation from Admiral Michael Gilday, the Chief of Naval Operations after being briefed on the investigation into the circumstances around Crozier's removal, telling top Navy officials he wanted more time to review their recommendations, two defense officials told CNN. The defense officials told CNN that the Navy intended to announce its recommendation at a press conference Friday afternoon but it was canceled...

There is simply no other way to state this. Nearly everything we’ve been told about models, rates of infection, deaths, and recoveries was inaccurate. I’m not here to argue that it was malfeasance or ignorance — both are unacceptable. But the one thing that Governor Andrew Cuomo’s stunning announcement made clear on Thursday is that there are some pretty shocking — and what should be — reassuring truths. Cuomo announced that antibody testing in New York state, which only began four days previous, was already demonstrating that at minimum 13.9% of New Yorkers, had COVID-19 late stage antibodies. The implication...

The Navy has recommended reinstating Capt. Brett Crozier as commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, according to reports, in a move that would be unprecedented. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday and acting Navy Secretary James McPherson made the recommendation to Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday when briefing him about the results of the investigation into the coronavirus outbreak aboard the aircraft carrier. Esper asked for more time to consider whether to reinstate Crozier, the Times added. In a statement Friday afternoon, chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said Esper is awaiting a written copy of the investigation to...

On Friday, April 24, 2020, the President signed into law: H.R. 266, the “Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act,” which provides additional fiscal year (FY) 2020 emergency supplemental funding to increase amounts authorized and appropriated for commitments for the Paycheck Protection Program authorized under section 7(a) of the Small Business Act, economic injury disaster loans and emergency grants under the CARES Act, to fund hospital and provider recovery and testing, and for other purposes.

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR AMERICANS: President Donald J. Trump is signing new legislation to further assist American small businesses, workers, and healthcare providers. President Trump is signing into law additional funding to support Americans impacted by the coronavirus.This legislation provides $320 billion in additional funding for the incredibly successful Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which has already aided countless small businesses and millions of American workers. With this new round of funding, President Trump will have signed into law more than $670 billion for the program. The bill also appropriates $60 billion more for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Disaster Loan Program.To...

Among the mainstream media’s more disturbing behaviors in the White House press briefing room over the last few weeks has been their condemnations of President Trump for touting the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for those suffering from the Wuhan coronavirus. As he’s done so, the mainstream media have furiously worked in concert to downplay the potential benefits of the drug, accusing him of giving people as sense of “false hope” over what the media frequently describes as an “unproven drug.” They’ve even bizarrely blamed Trump for the death of a man who allegedly swallowed fish tank cleaner...

Stunning documents withheld for years from former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s defense reveal that the retired three-star general did not commit any crimes, as suggested by Department of Justice prosecutors in former Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation, his attorney said. The documented evidence was sent to Powell by Shea but is under court seal. “The enclosed documents were obtained and analyzed by USA EDMO in March and April 2020 and are provided to you as a result of this ongoing review; additional documents may be forthcoming. These materials are covered by the Protective Order entered by the Court on...

President Donald Trump said Friday that his remarks on injecting disinfectants to treat COVID-19 were sarcasm, after doctors responded with horror and disinfectant manufacturers urged people not to ingest the poisonous substances. "I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters just like you, just to see what would happen," Trump said on Friday during a bill signing for the coronavirus aid package. "I was asking a sarcastic and a very sarcastic question to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside. But it does kill it and it would kill it on the hands, and it would make...