Posts Tagged: helicopter

News

‘Pesticide drift’ affecting California health and safety

A helicopter sprays a field in the Salinas Valley. (Photo: Dwight Smith, via Shutterstock)

Angela Mancuso had just dropped off her kids at Glenwood Elementary School when she started to smell something “funky.” She was driving back to her home just a mile away in Stockton and decided to roll down her window for some fresh air. She noticed too late that a helicopter applying pesticide to a nearby walnut grove that Tuesday morning in September 2016 kept flying back and forth across the road, spraying continuously.

News

Pressure mounts on how police handle mental-health crises

A modified image from a dash cam video taken at the May 2017 shooting of Mikel McIntyre. (Sacramento Sheriff's Department video)

On the afternoon of May 8, 2017, the family of 32-year-old Mikel McIntyre called 911 for help in dealing with his increasingly erratic and threatening behavior. The former high school and college athlete, who lived in Antioch and had briefly played baseball in the minor leagues, had been showing signs of serious mental illness, and his mother was concerned. She hoped a visit with family in Sacramento might help. The first call, shortly after 3 p.m., indicated a possible mental-health crisis: McIntyre had locked himself in a vehicle and was being “slightly combative,”

News

Big Sur: A breathtaking, costly isolation

The approach to Bixby Bridge in Big Sur along California Highway 1. (Photo: Jingjits Photography)

The stunning region was slammed by storms last winter resulting in multiple landslides and a bridge failure that have largely isolated the region for six months. Now there are just two ways in south of where the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge was demolished — take a rugged half-mile trail in, then take a shuttle or rent an electric bike, or make a lengthy detour in from U.S Highway 101.

News

Drones abound, raise fears of mid-air collisions

A professionally operated drone heads into the sunset. (Photo: Concept W, Shutterstock)

On a Saturday night in early December, while relaxing at his Martinez, Calif., home, Chinese exchange student Owen Ouyang decided to have some fun. He went out to the front yard and launched a sleek new drone he had recently purchased online for about $1,000. The 2.8-pound drone, advertised as “easy to fly,” proved anything but. Soon after takeoff, the drone veered dangerously toward a power line. It then climbed more than 700 feet – right into the path of a California Highway Patrol helicopter

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