6 Injured in School Shooting; Menstrual Items in Male Restrooms | California Today - Sept. 29

Good evening. Welcome to California Today. I'm Liang Zhang. Here's a preview of some of today's stories. Community members gathered in Oakland to call for an end to gun violence. That's after a shooting at a local school injured six. Fortunately, no one was killed. It's already confirmed that people are leaving the state. We'll hear from an economics researcher on what he thinks the reasons are that drive people away from California. And a new law will require women's sanitary products in men's bathrooms on school campuses. We'll hear from a trustee on good and bad about the changes. Oakland Unified student and staff leaders are pleading for an end to gun violence. That's after six people were shot on East Oakland campus Wednesday afternoon. Oakland's second school shooting in a month. Officials said a school shooting in Oakland left at least six people wounded on Wednesday. No one was killed in the incident. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf wrote on Twitter that the shooting happened at Sojourner Truth Independent Study, an alternative K-12 school. Oakland police have confirmed six adults were injured in the shooting. In all, six adults, individuals 18 and over, who have some affiliation with the school were determined to be suffering from gunshot wounds. They were all transported to local hospitals. According to police, two victims are in serious condition as of Thursday morning. One victim is in stable condition, and the three other victims have been released from the hospital. Staff and community members gathered at a church after the shooting. It's devastating that our kids have to suffer through gun violence that erupts in the school, a sacred space where they should be learning and empowered and preparing for life ahead, but yet here they are needing to dodge bullets to kind of avoid this craziness that's spilling into schools from the streets. Oakland police said on Wednesday afternoon, they are still searching for the suspect or suspects. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families in this incident. I want to begin by saying that any time there's a shooting in our community, it's a complete tragedy. But as a parent, I completely understand the fear, the emotion, the panic when shootings are occurring at our schools with our young children, and it's completely and wholly unacceptable. Police urge anyone with additional information or video footage of the event to come forward. This is the second time in a month that there has been a shooting on an East Oakland school campus. Last month, a 13-year-old was shot at Madison Park Academy in the city's Sobrante Park neighborhood. A 12-year-old was arrested in the case. It's situations like this that give me and I know other parents pause as to really challenging and questioning whether or not everything possible is being done to keep our kids safe. We've got to do more. At the Wednesday afternoon news conference, the Oakland Unified Students School Board called on the school district to implement more safeguards to prevent people from entering campuses with weapons. Despite California's beautiful landscapes, natural resources, and some of the best weather across the nation, residents are leaving the state at a, quote, alarming rate. NTD's Daniel Hall hears from a research fellow for Regional Economics for his insight on the mass accidents. He says the policies, not the politics, are to blame. The Department of Finance estimates California's population has declined by 300,000 people annually in recent years. After the 2020 census, the exodus has resulted in the Golden State losing a seat in Congress. E.J. Antony, a research fellow for Regional Economics in the Center for Data Analysis at the Heritage Foundation, wrote that people leaving this fast is a, quote, alarming rate. You're looking at the highest income taxes, the highest sales taxes in the country in California. On top of that, you have a slew of bad regulatory policies that make it impossible for many small businesses to operate. And instead of being faced with these tough living conditions, despite the beautiful weather that the Golden State has, many people are picking up and leaving. Antony cited several issues which he says are the cause of the exodus. Those include leadership, public policies, an increase in taxes and high gas prices. It really seems to be a culmination of a multitude of bad policies over the years. And if we look at the data, what we see is that year after year, the policies, unfortunately, get worse and worse. Antony reported that California has the highest marginal income and sales tax in the nation. Income tax sits at 13.3 percent, while sales tax is 7.25 percent. It also has nearly the top corporate tax. The Golden State additionally has one of the highest gasoline and diesel taxes in the nation, about 68 cents and one dollar, respectively. Antony warned that imposing gasoline taxes has negative setbacks that lead to a higher and unsustainable cost of living. I think people really underestimate how much the price of gasoline affects so many aspects of our lives because it affects not only transportation costs, but also when you go to the grocery store and you pick an item up off the shelf, chances are it got there by some by a vehicle that was powered either by gasoline or by diesel. Antony also talked about California's push for green energy. He described it as one of the biggest detriments to the state's residents. He says that's because green energy is both expensive and unreliable. California's energy costs are approximately 80 percent higher than the national average. California's war on reliable energy has probably been the biggest detriment to itself and its people, because that includes things like not only taxes on gasoline, on diesel, but also a vow to abolish the internal combustion engine within the state in only a matter of years. You are talking about completely upending the state's entire infrastructure system to make that happen. Additionally, Antony says that political affiliation is not a factor. He stresses that the root of California's problems are the policies and not the political parties. Antony blames both parties for what he described as ineffective and counterproductive policies. You find Californians leaving not only for Texas, but also for Nevada, for Washington, for Oregon and other states that are not known at all for being conservative. But what do all these states have in common? Low taxes, less regulation, lower cost of living. And so people are leaving the policies and their bad effects, not so much the politics. He said the demographics of people leaving are often affluent families, while lower income families remain stuck where they are. Daniel Hall, Entity News, California. Just as Antony said, the wealthy are leaving California. The sales of priciest houses in California dropped dramatically. Other factors include inflation and rising interest. According to real estate service Redfin, California leads the United States in plunging luxury home sales. Luxury home sales dropped 70 percent in the city of Oakland and 55 percent in San Jose and San Diego. Nationwide, the sales of luxury houses declined about 28 percent. Mortgage News Daily reported that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.8 percent as of January 28th. It has been steadily rising since January. According to the U.S. Labor Department, the annual inflation rate for the United States reached 8.3 percent in August. Real estate service stated that rising interest rates, inflation, a tepid stock market and general economic uncertainty are causing luxury homebuyers to back off. Jordan Levine, vice president and chief economist of the California Association of Realtors, said, quote, It's normalizing. I see that decline not as signs of a market that's in a big selloff, but rather one that's kind of rebalancing after having been running so incredibly hot last year. The California Association of Realtors reported that the length of time houses stayed on the market has doubled in many of the larger metro areas in California. For the first time in more than 17 months in August, an average home in the United States sold for less than its listing price. New law will require employers to provide pay scales for their job posting starting January 1st, 2023. The goal is to increase pay transparency and narrow the wage gap. Opposers argue it will limit an employer's ability to hire and discourage growth or expansion in California. Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1162 into law on Tuesday, requiring employers with 15 or more workers to provide a salary range on their job postings. The law will come into effect on January 1st, 2023. The measure also requires employers to maintain records of the job titles and wages of each employee. The data will be subject to the inspection of the labor commissioner. Violation fines will be up to ten thousand dollars. The bill's author, Democratic Senator Monique Lamone from Santa Barbara, wrote disclosing salary ranges have been proven to narrow the wage gap. California Unions and Women's Committee supported the measure, but the Chamber of Commerce and certain industry associations opposed it. They said the law could limit an employer's ability to offer higher wages to new or existing employees and discourage growth or expansion in California. Other bills signed by the governor on Tuesday include Assembly Bill 1287 to eliminate the pink tax in California and a new law to increase eviction protections for domestic violence and abuse survivors. These bills were all backed by the Legislative Women's Caucus. Governor Gavin Newsom has recently signed a bill into law that would now require California public school systems, community colleges and the California State University system to provide free menstrual products to both women and men. However, the law is being met with backlash due to hidden inclusions. NTT's Jackie Rios spoke with a trustee of a California school district to find out more. The Menstrual Equity for All Act, introduced by Democratic Assemblywoman Christina Garcia, will eliminate taxes on menstrual products. It will also expand access to free sanitary pads and tampons in public schools. The bill also requires that all gender neutral restrooms and at least one men's restroom have accessibility to these products. According to the law, it's sixth through 12th grade and it's at least one men's bathroom. And everywhere where these are facilitated, there's supposed to be a notice on the wall saying that it's California law and that there needs to be access to free tampons and menstrual pads as well and hygiene products in all gender bathrooms, in women's bathroom and at least one men's bathroom. Esther Valdez Clayton, a trustee for the Coronado Unified School District in Southern California, gave a divided opinion on the bill. She said the bill is intended to provide access to menstrual products, especially minorities who may not have access or finances to obtain these products. But she also said that the bill contained portions that she described as, quote, inexplicable and illogical. That was about menstrual products in the men's bathroom. Valdez Clayton says one legislator commented that it was to normalize menstruation amongst all genders. It has everything to do with what they said that they intended to do, normalize menstruation among all genders. That means to educate the next generation of Americans to believe that men have a uterus, men have a need to menstruate, men have have a reproductive system and that anybody can cross over and be a man and have a period and be a woman and have a period. She goes on to say that we are supposed to be educating children in academics and not indoctrinating them. She stressed that many parents have no idea that this is even going on. Valdez Clayton argues that legislators are using race and poverty as an excuse to pass an underlying agenda. As a Latina, I'm tired of being used consistently because of my race, because of my skin color, to justify the normalization of something that has really has to do with morality and a psychological condition. It has nothing to do with impoverished women. She added that the language of the bill did not include the term women, but instead use menstruating persons. The right thing to do to provide for poor women. But why do our boys have to be exposed to that? It's not a biological need for that. And that really shows forth their true meaning, their true intent. Clayton added that it is important that parents talk with their children, get involved with their local school boards and stay up to date with current policies going on. Jackie Rios, NTD News, Los Angeles. We are going to take a short break, but here's a look at what we got for you when we come back. Google has a new way to search for food rather than look up a restaurant, they are developing a way to search for a specific dish. And a new bill will allow more hunting of wild pigs. That's after the destructive pigs, who are not local to California, have grown to large numbers and ended up destroying property. We're here for what's changing. That and more on California Today. The woman is facing murder charges after driving into a man who she alleges tried to run over a cat. 20 year old Hannah Starr Esser struck 43 year old Louis Anthony Victor with her vehicle after a verbal confrontation in Cypress, California. Victor was pronounced dead at the scene. Esser is being held on a $1 million bail and could get a maximum of 25 years to life in prison. Have you ever had this problem when you are in the mood for a specific dish, but you don't know which restaurants offer it? Well, Google may have a solution soon. The company is working on making it easier to find dishes at nearby restaurants. Google announced the new search feature Wednesday. Users will be able to search for a particular dish on Google Maps by typing its name and then typing near me. The list of results will include images and you will be able to click on each image and get some specific details such as price, restaurant names and even ingredients. The feature will even let you search for versions of dishes that are vegan, vegetarian or spicy. Google plans to release the feature in the coming months. California just signed a legislation to start dealing with one of its somewhat invasive species, wild pigs. That's due to ongoing concerns with the damage they cause. NTV's David Lam talked to state agencies to hear about what they're now taking measures to reduce the problems. If you like picnicking, just be wary that you may or may not get some special guests joining you. Within the last 30 minutes, I saw a group of pigs, most likely a family, just go through this area looking for food, scaring off some turkeys, and then they ran off that way. So when you get a special picnic campground like this, plus a tree that drops a lot of acorns, it could be a prime spot for these animals to drop by. These are wild pigs, feral pigs, or scientifically known as Seuss Graffa. A park official said that this area of the Joseph D. Grant County Park has about 50 to 60 feral pigs alone. Their diet is varied and includes fruits, roots, fungi, and invertebrates. With the use of their snout, they can tear up the land, including residential neighborhoods. Due to the nature of their shovel-like nose, pigs can be very destructive, and they pretty much dig and shovel out everything that they can as their food source with their nose. Williams is a manager with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. She says data suggests that wild pig populations are the highest along the central coast of California. According to the CDFW, wild pigs currently inhabit 56 of the state's 58 counties. There are a couple different things to be concerned about. Wild pigs are extremely intelligent and highly fecund, meaning that they bear multiple litters or can bear multiple litters in a year. And they're also very willing to acclimate their behaviors to surrounding environments. So we're really just concerned about the ecological damage and to habitat, public health concerns, and things like that in areas where pig populations are overabundant. The feral pigs are descendants of wild boar introduced by European settlers for spawning purposes. Those boar bred with escaped domesticated pigs, creating the population in California. If you encounter wild pig, just treat it as you would any other wild animal. Do not approach it. Do not interfere with its young and also limit any possibilities of encounter by removing attractants or anything in the area that they might come after. Their population and impact led Napa County based Senator Bill Dodd to introduce Senate Bill 856. The bill expands pig hunting opportunities in California as a tool to address the problem of overabundance. On September 22nd, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law. It classifies the wild pig as an exotic game mammal and allows hunters to pay a fixed price for unlimited hunting. It is extremely unlikely that we will ever be able to move, remove all wild pigs throughout the state just through hunting. But we do look at it as an effective tool to both reduce the population and help in changing some of their behavior. The bill has been opposed by some hunting groups, citing potentially reduced revenue. Although attacks on humans are rare and not often deadly, wild pigs can attack if they feel threatened. Williams suggests keeping surroundings tidy, such as cleaning up left out dog food or cat food, which can attract wild pigs. David Lam, NTD News, California. Now, let's check in with NTD's Thomas Christian for today's sports roundup. I'm Thomas Christian giving you the California Today Sports Roundup. Four-time NBA champion LeBron James is getting into the pickleball business as his firm LRMR Ventures headlines a new ownership group buying a team with Major League Pickleball. LeBron is joined by fellow basketball greats Draymond Green and Kevin Love, as well as investment firm Essie Holdings and others, the elite North American League said on Wednesday. Major League Pickleball founder Steve Kuhn said the investment would be truly instrumental in helping the league achieve its goal of reaching 40 million pickleball players by 2030. Kuhn said in a statement, quote, It's a watershed moment for pickleball in general. Pickleball is a fast-paced paddle sport sweeping the nation with similarities to tennis, although played on a much smaller court with a net using a perforated plastic ball. MLP is expanding its league to 16 teams from 12 and is due to wrap up its 2022 season in Columbus, Ohio, next month. LeBron's business partner, Maverick Carter, told CNBC that both the sports community and, quote, capacity to be both fun and competitive were motivating factors in the deal. John Brebbia ran his streak of consecutive scoreless starts to nine. Jock Pedersen tripled home two runs and San Francisco beat visiting Colorado for a seventh straight time. Brebbia combined with Sean Hell, Shelby Miller, Tyler Rogers and Junior Marte on a four-hitter. Brebbia has pitched a scoreless first in all nine of his starts this year, matching the record set by Tampa Bay Rays' Ryan Stanek in 2018 and tied by the New York Yankees' Chad Green in 2019 for the most consecutive scoreless starts in a single season. Rockies starter Jose Urena gave up three runs, two earned in five innings. Giants six, Rockies three. Mike Trout and Taylor Ward homered and Michael Lorenzo threw five effective innings to lead Los Angeles past Oakland in Anaheim, California. Mike Trout led off the fourth inning with his 38th homer of the season, sparking a three-run rally in support of Lorenzen. The right-hander gave up one unearned run in the first inning and nothing else in Oakland starter Adrian Martinez gave up three runs on five hits and four in two third innings. Angels four, A's one. Freddie Freeman broke up a scoreless tie with a run-scoring single to center with one out in the 10th inning, giving Los Angeles a shutout victory over San Diego. Freeman's career-high 192nd hit of the season off Padres reliever Steven Wilson drove an automatic runner Mookie Betts from third. Alex Vecchia earned the win after pitching a scoreless ninth. Padres starter Joe Musgrove worked five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and four walks and fanning eight. Dodgers one, Padres zero in 10 innings. And that's all for sports. That's all we've got for you tonight. We'd like you to join us again on California Today every weekday at 830 p.m. Make sure to check out our broadcasts on our California Today web page. You can find it at ntd.com slash California dash today. You can also find all of our top latest clips there ready to share with the friends and family. Send us a message on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram or through our email California dot today at ntd.com. I'm Liang Zhang. Have a wonderful evening.