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29 'California' stories October 2017 - October 2019
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Drone footage shows the aging PG&E transmission towers in California

Avatar for Haye Kesteloo Oct 29 2019 - 9:52 pm PT
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Drone footage shows the aging PG&E transmission towers in California

This year’s fire season in California has started out with massive fires in Los Angeles and near San Francisco. PG&E’s aging transmission lines form a huge risk as failing equipment can potentially start wildfires as was the case last year. The Camp Fire in 2018 was started by a powerline that came down from a transmission tower after one of the hooks that hold up the lines broke. An article in the Wall Street Journal investigates the status of the PG&E towers and lines in California and uses drone footage to show the aging equipment.


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Drone used to catch gun-wielding Point Sur Lighthouse trespasser

Gun-wielding Point Sur Lighthouse trespasser caught with help of drone

Avatar for Haye Kesteloo Dec 12 2018 - 10:52 am PT
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Law enforcement officials in California used a drone to catch a gun-wielding trespasser. After he had broken into the Point Sur Lighthouse, the man fled. He had been classed as a danger to the public and a drone was sent into the air to try and locate the trespasser. The Point Sur Lighthouse trespasser was successfully apprehended soon after. This is not the first time we have seen law enforcement officials using a drone to make an arrest.


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Woman settles lawsuit with USC frat and event-planning company after being hit in the head with a drone

Avatar for Haye Kesteloo Apr 27 2018 - 1:17 pm PT
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Woman settles lawsuit with USC frat and event-planning company after being hit in the head with a drone

A woman who was hit in the head with a drone at a 2015 frat party, settles the lawsuit with USC fraternity Pi Kappa Phi’s Delta Rho Chapter and event planner, Perfect Event Inc. according to documents filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court on April 12. According to her lawyers, the lawsuit was resolved. No terms were divulged.


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Amateur drones are interfering with firefighters in California wildfires

Avatar for Haye Kesteloo Oct 18 2017 - 10:15 am PT
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Amateur drones are interfering with firefighters in California wildfires

The FAA said on Monday, that hobbyist drones are becoming a problem in the California wildfires that continue to burn. So far at least two drone incidents have been reported in which unauthorized amateur drones were interfering with firefighters.

Earlier last week in the Santa Rosa area, where the mail was still being delivered after the fires had gone through, there was a drone incursion reported. Last Sunday Cal Fire helicopters were halted in Petaluma after a drone had been spotted.


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USPS postman delivers mail in burned down Santa Rosa neighborhood [Drone video]

Avatar for Haye Kesteloo Oct 13 2017 - 2:22 pm PT
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Even though most homes have completely burned to the ground and the homeowners have left, the mailman is still doing his rounds, as captured on video by drone pilot Douglas Thron. The almost eerie and apocalypse-like short film Thron uploaded to YouTube shows the extent of the devastation. Apart from the mailman doing his job, the streets show no sign of life. Houses are burned to the ground and skeletons of cars are still sitting in the driveways. Why would the USPS deliver mail to homes that no longer exist?


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