Security cameras capture moments black bear raids Monrovia kitchen
Zoe Caldman's 17-year-old dog named Doodle tried to bark and scare the bear away when it walked into the living room, but it was completely unfazed. Cadman even tried to scream, still ineffective as the creature wandered through her property.
It eventually left, but neighbors say that wasn't the bear's first unexpected visit of the day. They say that the same bear ransacked freezers, strolled through kitchens and even took a dip in one swimming pool on on Saturday — all on the same street.
A black bear coming face-to-face with a dog inside of a Monrovia home over the weekend.
Zoe Caldman
Alice Atkins says the bear crawled through her window at around lunch time and helped himself to a meal.
"It opened up the freezer, not a scratch on the freezer, and it ... went through the pizza and chowed down on the pancetta and bacon," Atkins said.
They tired to bang pots and pans but the bear just continued to ransack the fridge for more food. Eventually police were called to the scene and their attempts proved unsuccessful as well. Hours after it arrived, the bear was warded off with ammonia-soaked rags.
California Department of Fish & Wildlife officials say that residents can take a few steps to help try and keep curious creatures like the black bear away from their homes. They say people shouldn't leave out easy meals, such as trash, and make sure to lock doors and windows.
They also say that any sightings should be reported so scientists can investigate and determine if further action is needed.
"Our first step ... if this is a bear that keeps returning to the area, we can take steps to remove the bear," said Stephen Gonzalez, a spokesperson for CDFW. "We'll tranquilize the bear and put them into an area that's more suitable, usually deep into the forest."
There has been a small uptick in bear sightings in the months following the Eaton Fire, as thousands of acres of wildlife were destroyed by the devastating flames. There have been reports of bears wandering through neighborhoods in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains since the fire erupted in January, including in places like Altadena, Pasadena and Burbank.
He encouraged anyone who does encounter a bear to report the incident with CDFW's Incident Report.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Greece police investigate unconfirmed mountain lion sighting
The Greece Police Department is investigating unverified reports of a possible mountain lion sighting near Northbridge Drive, close to North Avenue and Larkin Creek. Officers have conducted a neighborhood canvass but have not found any video footage or physical evidence—such as tracks or fur—to confirm the animal's presence. The department is working with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to monitor the situation. Residents are urged to exercise caution if they encounter any wild animal: keep a safe distance, back away slowly, and avoid approaching or feeding it. Report any sightings immediately to law enforcement or the DEC. Those with photos, video, or specific information should contact: 911 (for immediate concerns) DEC Region 8 Wildlife Office: (585) 226-5380 or r8wildlife@ After hours: DEC ECO dispatch at 844-332-3267 This investigation comes just weeks after a viral video reportedly captured a large cat walking through a yard in Rochester's East Main and Culver neighborhood around 4 a.m. on July 9. The DEC responded but found no tracks or evidence to confirm whether the animal was a cougar (also known as a mountain lion). Officials say if it is a cougar, it's likely a former captive animal, not a wild one. The DEC notes there is no known wild population of mountain lions in New York State. For more information on how to identify a cougar and what to do if you think you've seen one, visit This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Greece NY police investigate unconfirmed mountain lion sighting Solve the daily Crossword
CNN
25 minutes ago
- CNN
Small businesses helped build Musk's empire. Their unpaid bills add up to millions
When Jennifer Meissner's small pipe welding business landed a multimillion-dollar contract to help build a sprawling new Texas headquarters for Tesla, she was convinced it was her company's big break. Instead, she says the deal led her into personal and professional bankruptcy – unable to pay dozens of her workers at Christmastime. Meissner said that was her last resort after Tesla, which is owned by the world's richest man, stopped paying her company for work they'd already done. 'They just don't understand how many lives they completely trashed,' Meissner said. 'Working with a company as big as (Tesla) is, you trust the fact they are going to pay their bills.' As Musk has relied on small businesses to help him grow his multibillion-dollar empire, many contractors claim they were not paid – and at least two say they were forced into bankruptcy as a result, according to a CNN review of civil lawsuits and construction liens against companies including Tesla, SpaceX and X. Even an attorney representing the carmaker in Meissner's bankruptcy case acknowledged that Tesla has a habit of not promptly paying its bills. 'I don't disagree that it does take Tesla some time to pay,' the attorney said in court last year, adding 'that goes for legal bills, too … I know it full well.' In Texas, where Musk has been rapidly expanding operations, contractors have filed liens for more than $110 million against Tesla in the last five years, with more than $24 million still allegedly owed to dozens of businesses, CNN's analysis shows. Tesla, SpaceX and X did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Tesla has at times argued in court that it didn't pay contractors because of shoddy work or missed deadlines, but most disputes never made it that far. Those who claim they are owed money, many of them mom-and-pop businesses, say Musk's corporations often stall for months before paying invoices, if they pay at all. This can lead to a devastating ripple effect as interruptions to cash flow make it difficult for vendors to pay employees and keep operations running. Other big companies that launched major construction projects in the state have been subject to far fewer liens. Apple, for example, has roughly $1.2 million in unpaid liens in the counties where it hired contractors to build its headquarters — less than 10% of the amount owed by Tesla. Tesla's corporate strategy mirrors the ruthless cost-cutting approach Musk has become known for. At Twitter, now known as X, he slashed jobs and budgets after taking over and allegedly stopped paying rent. And as the one-time head of the Department of Government Efficiency, he ordered entire agencies shuttered with little regard to the effect on taxpayers or services, critics said. For the first seven years Meissner's company was in business, she prided herself on not once being late to pay her workers, she told CNN. After securing the business deal with Tesla in 2022, she said her company's annual revenue grew exponentially, and she hired even more employees. With business booming, she was also hopeful that she would finally be able to start setting aside money for her special needs daughter, whom she adopted at the age of seven. But after dedicating the entire work crew at Professional Process Piping to the project with Tesla for more than a year and investing her own money in expensive equipment, Meissner said Tesla abruptly stopped paying the company's invoices and more than $1 million in work went unpaid at the time. Her world was turned upside down in a matter of months, she said. She took out high-interest loans, and for the first time was unable to pay the workers who remained loyal to her despite the financial difficulties. She said she couldn't afford to sue Tesla to demand payment given the financial hole she was in, which affected her own finances as well because she had personally guaranteed a number of the business loans for rental trucks and other subcontractors. 'I know how it felt, living paycheck to paycheck and not being able to pay bills. I know. And I swore that having the company, I was never going to have my men not paid,' she said. 'And when that happened, that hit worse than anything else.' Tesla ultimately came to an agreement with Meissner in bankruptcy court, with its lawyer claiming in the settlement that the contractor had 'overbilled the project and provided substandard labor and services.' Tesla agreed to pay Professional Process Piping's subcontractors $650,000, but Meissner says she is still out hundreds of thousands of dollars and isn't sure if she'll ever recover financially. To create Tesla's 10-million-square-foot production hub outside of Austin, Texas – known as the Gigafactory – contractors were hired for demolition, plumbing, painting and even to install robots that help build the carmaker's vehicles, according to lien filings. Workers were also hired by SpaceX to run wiring and put in drywall, among a large number of other construction tasks, as the company expanded its Starlink facility in rural central Texas—dubbed 'Project Echo.' And when Musk completed a high-profile takeover of the social media company formerly known as Twitter, which he rebranded X, contractors provided services ranging from private jet flights to janitorial work. CNN reached out to more than 100 companies that filed liens and lawsuits against Musk-owned companies, but even those willing to speak with reporters were hesitant to go on the record – citing Musk's power, frequent use of non-disclosure agreements and history of retaliating against critics with lawsuits and public attacks. On their face, liens don't necessarily mean that a company has done anything wrong. There could be other factors at play in some cases – such as substandard work or a contractor failing to pay the subcontractors they hired. Liens can also be filed as a way to encourage businesses to pay more quickly. But experts interviewed by CNN said liens are a last resort for businesses still needing to be paid. And a large number of liens could indicate a company is 'notoriously bad at paying its contractors on time,' said Scott Wolfe Jr., a former attorney and founder of a company that analyzes construction liens. Some lienholders told CNN they still hoped to be paid for their work, while others said they had written off the losses and doubted they'd ever see the money they claim to be owed. They described how excitement about major contracts with the company eventually turned into financial crises and sleepless nights. One contractor even told CNN that he had been so excited to land a project with Tesla that he bought himself a brand-new Model X, which he says now only serves to remind him of the nightmare business deal. A number of contractors interviewed by CNN said they weren't surprised by this business practice, noting how it aligned with Musk's reputation for penny pinching and slashing budgets at all costs – caring more about his personal missions than the people who get hurt along the way. 'His goal is to run through everything now – he doesn't care what or who that impacts – to save the future of the world,' said one entrepreneur about his impression of Musk. He spoke with CNN anonymously and said he remains a fan of Musk but that Tesla has a reputation in Austin of leaving contractors desperate to get paid – noting that his company had to take out extra lines of credit while awaiting payment from Tesla. 'Tesla was probably one of the only companies we did business with where it just felt like they absolutely did not care about putting a company out of business.' Several contractors said that in retrospect they would have hired attorneys to review the complicated contracts they signed, which they said included provisions that made it easier for Tesla to refuse to pay them. Some companies have taken their complaints a step further and filed lawsuits instead of or in addition to liens. Sun Coast Resources, a Houston-based fuel supplier, alleged in a lawsuit from April that Tesla had refused to pay for nearly $2.7 million worth of fuel that it delivered for construction machinery at Tesla's Gigafactory. 'While Tesla has never denied receiving the fuel, Tesla has offered a myriad of procedural reasons it has not paid,' Sun Coast wrote in its lawsuit. 'Moreover, Tesla has had constant personnel turnover and passed Sun Coast off from person to person who only conjures up some new reason as to why Tesla has not paid.' This month, Sun Coast Resources asked the court that the case be closed, and an attorney for the company told CNN the case had been resolved. And in 2022, a small Austin-based company, Full Circle Technologies, said in court that it was forced to file bankruptcy when Tesla refused to pay for work it did supplying and installing security cameras and other equipment at the electric automaker's Gigafactory. In bankruptcy filings, Full Circle Technologies said Tesla owed it nearly $600,000 and that it was 'forced to take on short term high interest loans to bridge the gap between performing the work for Tesla and the payment for its services.' When a creditor began to levy the company's bank accounts, the company said it had no option but to file for bankruptcy. Tesla then made its own claim in the bankruptcy hearings, stating Full Circle actually owed the carmaker money for allegedly breaching its contract. The two companies ultimately settled, but Full Circle CEO Abheeshek Sharma told CNN that Tesla was released from its obligation without paying a cent. And when Full Circle wasn't paid, the company said it couldn't pay its subcontractors either. One of the subcontractors, Electra Link, filed its own lawsuit against Tesla in a last-ditch effort to get paid the roughly $128,000 it said it was owed for the cabling it installed at the Gigafactory. It said Tesla had 'ignored' its three written notices that it had not been paid and that Tesla 'refused' to make any payments – prompting Electra Link to file liens against Tesla. Tesla turned around and countersued the company, claiming its liens were fraudulent because the contractor had only notified Tesla of the debt, and not the LLC used by Tesla for the project. The lawsuit was ultimately settled. After Musk's high-profile purchase of Twitter in 2022, at least seven different businesses filed lawsuits for non-payment – all of which have since been resolved. 'Twitter responded with a campaign of extreme belt-tightening that amounted to requiring nearly everyone to whom it owes money to sue,' attorney Ethan Jacobs wrote about the company's alleged refusal to pay contractors including marketing and consulting firms. Another lawsuit cited emails saying that new management wanted to 'hold firm' about not paying the invoice for private jet transportation that had already been provided. Twitter claimed it told the jet operator that the services had not been approved by an authorized employee and therefore it was not responsible for the expense. Jacobs, who represented many of these companies in their litigation against the social media firm and said all of his cases settled, said he found it surprising that a businessman as powerful and high-profile as Musk would be brazen enough to have 'a practice of not paying people until they sue.' 'They were essentially saying that they just decided not to pay until they had to,' he said of X under Musk's leadership. 'It's not the way I have generally seen people doing business.' After Meissner of Professional Process Piping filed for bankruptcy, she said she liquidated all available retirement and savings accounts, sold land just to be able to afford an attorney and stopped sending her daughter to the ballroom dance lessons Meissner said had served as a form of therapy for her. Meissner said she now works two jobs and will be working to pay off her debts for a long time. She also still worries that she could lose her house or car. 'It's been horrible,' she said. 'If I didn't have my family, I don't think I would have made it.' While every billion-dollar business is going to encounter some level of dissatisfied contractors or subcontractors, Meissner said the large number of liens that have been filed against Tesla indicate to her that this is simply the way the billionaire operates his companies. 'When there are that many (liens), that looks like standard business to me, and that's shady,' she said, adding that she wants Musk to know just how many lives have been impacted by these practices. 'It's not just my company, it's all the companies that support you. You own that business – your name is on it.'
CNN
25 minutes ago
- CNN
‘Why do I hurt?' Inside the final days of a mother who was allegedly poisoned by her husband
Angela Craig spent her last days ill and frustrated as doctors in Colorado couldn't pinpoint why she suddenly felt sluggish despite her active lifestyle. For nearly two weeks in 2023, family and friends saw the 43-year-old deteriorate as they drove her to hospitals and an urgent care clinic, each time returning home without answers. Craig, the youngest of 10 siblings, shared her symptoms with her family over text messages, and a close friend reviewed her vitals. The strange symptoms lasted for 10 days, worsening to the point that she was declared brain dead. The lack of answers frustrated Craig until her last moments earthside. Her final words were: 'Why do I hurt?' according to her sister-in-law, Renee Pray. More than two years later, James Craig, her husband and father of the couple's six children, was convicted Wednesday of killing her, in part by poisoning her protein shakes. The Colorado dentist was found guilty of murder and other charges, and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole He denied the allegations and had told others his wife had been suffering from suicidal ideations. But testimony from Angela Craig's friends and family paints a picture of a devoted mother experiencing inexplicable, worsening health complications that frustrated and handicapped her from living the active lifestyle she loved. On March 6, 2023, Angela Craig began her day by drinking a protein shake her husband made for her before he went off to work at his dental office in Aurora, Colorado. The couple often made them for each other, prosecutor Ryan Brackley said. After a workout, Angela Craig was feeling sluggish and texted her husband and her older sister, Toni Kofoed, saying her brain didn't want to work, Kofoed testified. The day before, the sisters had returned home from a genealogy conference they attended together in Utah. 'My stomach feels fine, but my head feels funny and dizzy. Very strange,' Angela Craig told her husband via text, according to the probable cause affidavit. James Craig, who was at work, stayed at his practice for a few hours before leaving to take his wife to the hospital, his office manager Caitlin Romero said in court. At the hospital, doctors conducted several tests, including an MRI, CT scan and bloodwork, but Angela Craig was discharged after nothing was found, Brackley said. The next day, she texted her husband and said, 'I feel drugged,' Garrett Lord, a cell phone analysis expert who testified about the Craigs' cell phone data, said in court. Angela Craig thought she had an inner ear infection and noticed her blood sugar level was high despite not having eaten and exercising, her sister, Kofoed, testified. Angela Craig also considered it could be diabetes because there was history of it in her family. 'It makes no sense,' said one message from Angela Craig to her sister. Around this time, text messages to the family group thread increased in frequency as Angela Craig grew concerned and frustrated without a diagnosis, her older brother, Mark Pray testified. At some point that day, she went to an urgent care clinic but was sent home again with questions unanswered about her illness, Brackley said. Angela Craig remained worried about having diabetes and sought the help of one of her best friends three days after she was first hospitalized. Her friend, Nikki Harmon, testified Angela Craig asked her to check her blood sugar levels. Harmon's daughter is a diabetic so her friend knew she'd be able to help her, she said. They became friends when their husbands were in dental school together in Kansas City. The couples also had children around the same ages. When Harmon arrived to the Craigs' home, she recalled Angela Craig 'looked like she hadn't slept well, she wasn't made up for the day' and she was 'just kind of slumped on the couch.' 'She had a protein drink next to her,' Harmon testified. '(She) told me her husband made her the protein shake that morning before he left' and the two friends tried to calculate carbohydrates to see if that had an impact on her blood sugar, Harmon said. Angela Craig was known to be very active and loved exercising on her stationary bike, doing yoga and Pilates, her 21-year-old daughter testified. It was unusual for her to hear that her mother was feeling so tired, she said. Her mother described feeling 'dizzy' and 'heavy' before her symptoms worsened, and she felt 'pukey' and 'less stable on her own two feet,' the daughter said. There was a moment that day when Angela Craig's symptoms became so severe she had to crawl across the floor to call for help because she couldn't get up on her own, said Brackley, the prosecutor. Angela Craig went back to the hospital for her second visit in three days. This time, she was not discharged until several days later. Angela Craig had already been at the hospital for a couple of days when her condition worsened so much that medical staff had to resuscitate her, James Craig told a woman he had an affair with, according to prosecutor Michael Mauro. After hearing about Angela Craig's condition, Pray and his wife Renee, drove through a snowstorm to Denver to visit her and help take care of the Craig children. When they finally got to the hospital, Angela Craig seemed better in person than James Craig made it appear to them, Pray testified. His sister was talking, her spirits seemed positive and 'she was acting fairly normal given the circumstances,' he said. After a six-day hospital stay, Angela Craig was discharged on March 14 without answers, yet again. Once Angela Craig got home, she could walk on her own, Pray said, but the nearly 9-mile drive from the hospital seemed to exhaust her. Still, within the hour, Angela Craig started searching online for possible causes of her symptoms, Brackley said. 'I'm shaking on the inside but I'm not shaking on the outside,' Pray testified his sister Angela Craig told him. That evening, a video from the Craigs' kitchen security camera shows James Craig making another protein shake for his wife. However, Renee Pray testified that she didn't remember who made it or if her sister-in-law even ate that day. The next morning James Craig texted his sister-in-law Renee Pray, asking her to give his wife a dose of clindamycin, an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections. Angela Craig had been taking it due to a sinus infection, the prosecution said. Mark Pray gave his sister the medicine at 10 a.m. and 'within 20 to 25 minutes, she couldn't even hold herself up,' he testified. Angela Craig was slumped over in her bed when he went back to check on her. That's when Pray carried his youngest sibling to the car and drove her to the hospital. On the way there Angela Craig, who was dizzy and had a severe headache, didn't understand what was happening to her, Pray explained. While they were in triage, if you weren't speaking to her, she'd pass out, he said. James Craig, who arrived to the hospital after the siblings, had allegedly emptied a capsule of the antibiotic and refilled it with the highly lethal chemical potassium cyanide, according to prosecutor Brackley. Angela Craig's condition continued to decline in the next three hours. She then had a seizure, experienced rapid decline and was placed on life support in the ICU. Kristin Aubuchon, a nurse at UCHealth in Aurora who treated Angela Craig at that point, testified she had seen other patients prior to her arrival, but 'on that date she was so sick I didn't leave her room once I stepped into it.' Angela Craig lost brain activity on March 15 but wasn't clinically determined brain dead until March 18, according to testimony from Aurora Police Department Detective Bobbi Jo Olson. After her death, multiple samples of Angela Craig's blood taken during the hospital visits were tested. Dr. James Brower, a forensic toxicologist with NMS Laboratories who tested the samples, testified that Angela Craig's blood from March 9 had a high and toxic level of arsenic that can cause gastrointestinal symptoms including abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, lightheadedness and a feeling of being uncoordinated. A sample from three days later, again, showed high levels of arsenic along with, cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, Brower said. The amount of arsenic was less than before, but showed likelihood she'd been exposed to arsenic again, he testified. Brower also testified the blood results appeared to show 'there had to have been a second administration of cyanide in the hospital.' The chemical can cause similar symptoms to arsenic, and eventually it results in organ failure, he added during testimony. In the wake of Angela Craig's death, her 21-year-old daughter recalled expressing concerns about her mother's illness being hereditary, to which she said her father stayed quiet. He did however say he didn't want an autopsy to be performed on her mother to 'satisfy their curiosities,' she testified, though it's unclear who he was referring to. During the emotional testimony, the Craigs' daughters denied their mother could have taken her own life. For them, Angela Craig struggled 'like anyone else' but was mostly frustrated over not knowing what was wrong with her. CNN's Melissa Gray, Celina Tebor and Cindy Von Quednow contributed to this report.
