On Sunday, dump trucks cleaned up one of Berkeley's largest homeless encampments. But residents haven’t been displaced, yet. KALW’s Scott Carroll has more.
FIREBAUGH, Calif.
A pregnant woman, her three children and mother-in-law were killed when the pickup truck they were riding collided head-on with a big rig on on a central California highway, authorities said Wednesday.
The crash occurred after 9 p.m. Tuesday when the pickup truck crossed over from northbound lanes to the southbound side of Interstate 5 near Firebaugh, California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Shasta Tollefson said.
The truck burst into flames and the big rig, carrying cardboard, also caught fire, causing damage to the road, the Fresno Bee reported.
The victims include a 31-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant; her children, who were 1, 8 and 10 years old; and her 52-year-old mother-in-law, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Coroners office said. Their names were not released, but the office said the victims appear to be from Northern California.
Year in Review: Locals take stand for Black lives appeal-democrat.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from appeal-democrat.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Liam Dillon
Los Angeles Times Dec 25, 2020
Dec 25, 2020
LOS ANGELES â Weary after months of sleeping on other people s couches, Martha Escudero walked through the broken door of an empty home in Los Angeles El Sereno neighborhood and started bringing it back to life.
She fixed the garbage disposal, turned the garage into a classroom for her 11- and 8-year-old daughters and harvested squash and sweet potatoes from a vegetable garden she planted.
Her homesteading, part of an organized effort by tenant activists in March, was illegal, but it worked. The Los Angeles Housing Authority this fall granted occupancy rights to the family of Escudero and others who had seized numerous homes that the state acquired as part of now-abandoned plans to extend the 710 Freeway.
She fixed the garbage disposal, turned the garage into a classroom for her 11- and 8-year-old daughters and harvested squash and sweet potatoes from a vegetable garden she planted.
Her homesteading, part of an organized effort by tenant activists in March, was illegal, but it worked. The L.A. Housing Authority this fall granted occupancy rights to the family of Escudero and others who had seized numerous homes that the state acquired as part of now-abandoned plans to extend the 710 Freeway.
“I feel like it was the best decision of my life,” said Escudero, 41, who works as a caregiver for seniors. “Everyone deserves this.”