A family counts on a miracle to bring their daughter back
Arlene MartinezA Redding-area family asks the world to pray their daughter back to life. Groups vow to fight federal efforts to renew oil drilling and fracking across a million California acres. And Ventura County elected officials try to seal off more public records (SMH).
I'm Arlene Martínez with your news for Wednesday.
But first, 15 months after the Carr Fire separated him from his family, a cat that goes by the name "Little B" returns home. <3
In California is a roundup of stories from newsrooms across the USA TODAY Network and beyond. Sign up for M-F delivery here!
A family asks for prayers to revive dead toddler
The toddler died suddenly over the weekend. Now, the family is asking members of their Redding megachurch to pray her back to life. Since Saturday, members of Bethel Church have been using prayer, music and song to bring back to life 2-year-old Olive Alayne.
"Bethel Church believes in the stories of healing and physical resurrection found in the Bible (Matthew 10:8), and that the miracles they portray are possible today," Bethel Church leaders said in a statement.
Olive Alayne stopped breathing early Saturday, and attempts to revive her were unsuccessful. Her family began its prayers shortly after she was declared dead and took to Instagram to ask others around the world to pray.
Plane theft, shrimp theft and See's Candies
A teenage girl busts through barricades and tries to steal a plane at Fresno Yosemite International Airport. She crashed into a building and fence but failed to get airborne.
A man stuffed 30 pounds of shrimp down his pants over three visits to a grocery store, Riverside police said. The whole thing happened over 15 minutes.
See's Candies, as familiar to many Californians as traffic, is beautifully celebrated in this story. Can you guess its No. 1 selling chocolate? The answer's at the bottom.
Death reports are public. Ventura County's elected leaders hope to change that.
Elected leaders in Ventura County want to block death records from the greater public and this week voted 5-0 to find a state legislator willing to sponsor legislation to get there. If supervisors get their way, the decision could impact all 58 counties.
The move comes at a time when the criminal investigation into the November 2018 mass shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill is reportedly drawing to a close. Officials have said they will release the autopsy records once the investigation ends.
Glen Smith, litigation director for the First Amendment Coalition, said the reports were an important part of government transparency and accountability. "If you have a child who died in foster care, somebody killed by a police officer or someone killed in an industrial accident or automobile accident, there is a real public interest in knowing what exactly happened to the deceased."
Findings from death records have led to changes in public policy to prevent similar fatalities, including sudden deaths in infants, and the Ventura County Star used them to reveal autopsies were being done by an assistant who had no medical license.
The impeachment ... and what else we're talking about
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said his GOP colleagues will "rue the day" they chose party over country on the day the House voted to impeach President Trump. (follow this developing story here).
Analysis: For Trump and Pelosi, impeachment will shape their legacies and their futures.
Boeing's decision to temporarily stop making its most popular passenger jet, the 737 Max, is having a ripple effect in California and across the global aerospace chain.
Two brothers are facing charges of beating a groom to death hours after his wedding in Chino.
Resisting fracking across 1 million acres
Environmental groups say they plan to fight a Trump administration decision to allow fracking and oil drilling across more than 1 million acres in California. The move to lift the five-year moratorium followed a federal environmental report that concluded there were no adverse impacts of fracking that couldn't be alleviated. Enviro groups aren't in agreement.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves pumping chemically treated water into deep rock formations to create or widen cracks and release oil and natural gas.
The impacted counties include Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura. The lands are near forests, wildlife refuges and Carrizo Plain National Monument, and home to threatened and endangered wildlife, including San Joaquin kit foxes and California condors, environmental groups say.
And See's Candies No. 1 seller is...
The Bordeaux, a round treat filled with brown sugar buttercream and coated in chocolate sprinkles. As for me, hands down, See's dark-chocolate covered marzipan reigns over all.
In California is a roundup of news compiled from across USA TODAY Network newsrooms. Also contributing: Associated Press, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle.