Articles by Amy Taxin

Associated Press

Disneyland’s Mickey Mouse And Cinderella Performers May Unionize

Workers who help bring Disneyland’s beloved characters to life — including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Cinderella — are looking to unionize. Labor organizers announced the campaign, saying performers want better safety conditions and scheduling policies to help them keep …

California Community Braces for Floods as Epic Snow Melts

Ron Caetano is packed and ready to go. His family photos and valuables are in the trailer and he’s put food in carry totes. He moved the rabbits and chickens and their automatic feeders to higher ground. He and his …

SUV Hits 25 LA County Sheriff’s Academy Recruits on Run

WHITTIER, Calif. (AP) – The driver of an SUV veered into the wrong lane and plowed through dozens of Los Angeles County sheriff’s academy recruits running in formation during a training exercise early Wednesday, injuring 25 of the cadets, authorities …

California Cleaning up from Destructive Mudslides

Rescuers searched this week for a person missing in a mudslide that swept boulders down fire-scarred slopes and damaged or destroyed 30 homes in the Southern California mountains as firefighters in the northern part of the state tried to contain …

Oil Company Settles Criminal Cases In California Spill

An oil company on pleaded guilty in federal court to negligently discharging crude off the Southern California coast when its underwater pipeline ruptured last year, a spill that closed miles of shoreline and shuttered fisheries. Meanwhile, in state court, Houston-based …

Lawsuit Says Boy’s Brain Damaged by Errant Throw at California Stadium

A 6-year-old boy suffered a fractured skull and brain damage when he was accidentally hit by a baseball thrown by a Los Angeles Angels player who was warming up before a 2019 game, according to a lawsuit announced that blames …

Oil Company Sues Over California Underwater Pipeline Leak

A Houston-based oil company on Feb. 28 sued two container ship operators and an organization that helps oversee marine traffic, saying they failed to prevent last fall’s underwater pipeline leak off the Southern California coast. Amplify Energy Corp., which owns …

California Officials Promising Improved Response After Oil Spill

California officials on Monday said better communication and detection technologies could improve the state’s response to an oil spill like last month’s crude pipeline leak off the Orange County coast. State lawmakers held an oversight hearing in Costa Mesa to …

Popular California Beach City Reopens After Massive Oil Spill

A Southern California beach that was closed more than a week ago because of a leak of crude oil from an undersea pipeline reopened on Monday, far sooner than many expected, City and state beaches in Huntington Beach reopened after …

California Spill Not the Environmental Disaster First Feared

After a crude oil sheen was detected on the waters off the Southern California coast, environmentalists feared the worst: A massive spill that would wreck the ecosystem. A week later, the region and its signature beaches appear to have been …