Free Republic

A hot air balloon slammed into a Sacramento-area casino building Monday afternoon and stayed in the air after the chaotic tumble. Sister station KCRA's LiveCopter 3 captured the moment the balloon slammed into a building as Sky River Casino was celebrating a groundbreaking for a new hotel. The video showed the basket of the balloon hit the side of the building, at one point reaching a 90-degree angle, while there was someone still inside the basket. The balloon kept going, attempting to descend for a landing, then aborting the effort and climbing back into the sky. LiveCopter 3 observed the...

The California governor's race is heating up, with Emerson College polls showing two Republicans leading after Eric Swalwell's departure. Steve Hilton leads with 17%, followed by Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 14%. Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer is tied with Bianco at 14%. Trailing Democrats include former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and former Representative Katie Porter both tied at 10%. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan follows with 5%. The poll also found that 23% of likely voters said they are still undecided, meaning the race remains wide open.

SALINAS, Calif. — A convicted inmate murderer was sentenced for the murder of another inmate at Salinas Valley State Prison, per Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine M. Pacioni. John Lydon, 52, was found guilty of the murder of Son Kim Tran. He received life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The future of the historic Redman-Hirahara house in Watsonville is uncertain as officials debate whether to preserve or demolish the deteriorating building. The Redman-Hirahara home, designed by architect William Weeks, was originally owned by the Redman family before being sold to the Hirahara family in the late 1930s. The Hirahara family was moved away by the internment policies of World War II, but when they returned, they turned the house into a community center for returning residents of Japanese ancestry. Barry Pearlman, a former chairman and now a member of the Historic Resources Commission, said, "In the meeting that followed...

The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office announced on Tuesday that they have identified the remains found in 1995 as those of a missing teen from New York. On March 22, 1995, partial remains were found in a riverbed off Highway 129 east of Rogge Lane. All investigators could determine from DNA testing was that the remains were from an unknown female. Her identity was a mystery for decades before her case was re-examined in 2019 when her remains were sent for more forensic testing, including carbon dating. The testing determined that she was likely born in the 1960s, with her...

A verdict came down in the murder trial of a Capitola woman who was killed by her boyfriend back in Dec. 2023. A former San Francisco rock band member, Theobald "Theo" Lengyel ,54, was found guilty in the murder of Alice “Alyx” Herrmann. He was found guilty of first-degree murder. Prosecutors had alleged Lengyel strangled his then-girlfriend Alice Herrmann, 61, and then buried her body in a Berkeley park. The former tech worker and saxophonist in funk-metal band Mr. Bungle has not denied killing Herrmann but his lawyers say the circumstances do not rise to the category of first-degree murder;...

Two Hollywood legends will be in attendance at this year's Monterey Jazz Festival. Clint Eastwood will be presented with the inaugural Cultural Leadership Award on Sunday as part of the 67th annual Monterey Jazz Festival. Eastwood has been a longtime Monterey Jazz Festival board member and he will be given the award by his longtime friend Freeman. Monterey Jazz Festival at the Monterey County FairgroundsMonterey Jazz Festival returns to Monterey County for 67th year The presentation will be followed by "Eastwood Symphonic," a musical project led by Clint's son American jazz musician and composer Kyle Eastwood. The project features his...

It started with a petrified tree, half-buried in the mud of the Mokelumne River watershed in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The site intrigued Greg Francek, a ranger for East Bay Municipal Utility District, as he was walking the valley last summer. He inspected further, and what he recently discovered led to one of the most significant fossil discoveries in California history. Advertisement "I looked around the area further and I found a second tree," Francek said in an EBMUD statement released this week, documenting the discovery. "And then a third and so on. After finding dozens of trees I realized...