1. Oakland police shot and killed a sexual assault suspect who had fired on them early this morning with an assault rifle outfitted with an extended magazine, the Chron and Trib$ report. Oakland police said two officers went to the North Oakland home of the man and were investigating a sexual assault when the man came out firing. One officer, a fourteen-year veteran, was shot and was taken to a local hospital where he is in stable condition.
2. The massive blaze in Lake County known as the Rocky Fire has grown to 60,000 acres and has prompted the evacuation of 12,000 residents, the Chron reports. The blaze has destroyed 24 homes and 26 buildings, and is one of 21 large wildfires burning in California. Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency in response to the fires.
3. Bay Area transportation officials have decided to spend another $5 million on investigating how steel rods on the main tower of the new Bay Bridge that have been inundated with seawater can be made safe, the Chron$ reports. However, critics note that the engineering panel overseeing the work had been proven wrong before when they said water intrusion was not causing a problem to the rods.
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4. Climate scientists are trying to understand why a massive warm water blob has formed off the West Coast and is creating havoc for marine life, the AP reports (via the Chron). The blob began to gel in 2013 and is separate from the warm water El Niño event that is also forming off the coast.
5. California biologists are calling on the US Fish and Wildlife Service to ban the import of salamanders out of fear that European salamanders brought into the country as pets are carrying a deadly fungal disease that could decimate the state’s wild salamander population, the Chron reports.
