Mountain lion hazing bill advances after charged hearing at California Capitol
A bill allowing El Dorado County to use trained dogs and their handlers to chase away mountain lions like the one that killed a Mount Aukum man and savagely attacked his brother last year passed a California state Senate committee Tuesday.
But changes shoehorned by committee members have angered the Sacramento-area state senator who authored the bill, saying the new-look legislation betrays her constituents and the two young men for whom the bill is named.
Senate Bill 818, dubbed Taylen and Wyatt's Law, bears the names of the Brooks brothers, who were attacked by a mountain lion in April 2024 as they searched for deer antlers in the wilderness near their southern El Dorado County home. Taylen, 21, was killed in the mountain lion attack. Younger brother Wyatt, then 18, was nearly killed trying to fight off the predator and save his sibling's life.
SB 818 passed the state Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee on a 4-2 vote, with the new, forced amendments. State Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, a fierce defender of the bill in its original form; and state Sen. Kelly Seyarto, R-Murrieta, voted no.
'I am saddened and angry because my constituents entrusted me to save lives, not re-election campaigns,' said state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, R-Jackson, visibly upset as she stood alongside the Brooks family and El Dorado County Sheriff Jeff Leikauf. 'The blood and the flesh of the next victim will be on this committee.'
The clause in Alvarado-Gil's bill would have allowed El Dorado County to create a pilot program using trained dogs and certified handlers to chase mountain lions, a pursuit critics contended is dangerous. The committee, in advancing the legislation, stripped the use of hounds from the bill.
The amended version requires the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to create a program that focuses on public education, scientific research and grant funding for protective measures instead of the 'Tree and Free' strategy of non-lethal pursuit that was the core of SB 818.
Wyatt Brooks still wears the scars of the attack, cut into his face above the jawline. He sat silently with family in the front row of Tuesday's second-floor hearing at the California state Capitol. Behind them, several rows of supporters wore red T-shirts reading, 'In Memory of Taylen. In Honor of Wyatt,' and held placards that said, 'Taylen and Wyatt's Law.'
Supporters of Alvarado-Gil's proposal — including the Brooks family and Sheriff Leikauf — argued that the strategy was urgently needed in El Dorado County, which they described as a hot spot for mountain lion activity. The big cats, they said, have lost their fear of humans and prey upon domestic animals and livestock with increasing regularity.
The proposed pilot project 'is not an open season to hunt mountain lions, but a step to study the abnormal behavior that led to the kill of a beloved community member,' Alvarado-Gil testified. According to Alvarado-Gil's office, mountain lions killed more than 200 domestic animals in El Dorado County last year. Another 50 have been killed so far in 2025, county Agriculture Commissioner Leanne Mila testified Tuesday.
'Problem lions seek higher ground and regain their fear of humans,' Alvarado-Gil added. 'This is saving mountain lions' lives and protecting human life to study the 'why?' in El Dorado County where lions are attacking humans for prey.'
Sen. Monique Limón, D-Santa Barbara, chair of the Natural Resources committee, acknowledged the family's loss but defended the committee's changes. She said the panel 'remained committed to continue working on an issue that is a tragedy. Everyone I've talked to wants to make sure this tragedy informs policy.'
Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and National Wildlife Federation, opposed the bill, along with local conservancies and some area residents.
Among the opponents was Roger Trout, a former El Dorado County planning director, who argued the proposed 'Tree and Free' strategy would bring 'untold public safety consequences,' allowing hounds to pursue lions onto private property and endangering people and livestock.
The mountain lions, Trout said, 'are not less afraid of humans. They've been displaced because of fire. SB 818 is not necessary. El Dorado County deserves solutions that actually work.'
Alvarado-Gil responded sharply: 'This is about Taylen Brooks and the future of El Dorado County. We're talking about saving lives.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
21 minutes ago
- Fox News
Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' cracks down on Biden's student loan 'scheme,' top Republican says
The chairman of a key Senate panel is claiming victory against former President Joe Biden's student loan plans as part of President Donald Trump's "one big, beautiful bill." "The Biden administration was attempting to forgive student loans for people who willingly took on the loan and required the taxpayer, including people who never went to college and would never make what the person who took the loan would ever have the hope to make," Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., told Fox News Digital. "So we end that transfer of that student loan on the taxpayers, and that's probably our biggest savings." Cassidy's committee released its portion of the Trump agenda bill late on Tuesday. A press release for the legislation said it "ends Biden's student loan schemes that transfer debt onto the 87 percent of Americans who chose to not go to college or already paid off their loans" and "also prevents future Democrat administrations from implementing schemes." The bill specifically takes aim at Biden's expansion of Borrower Defense to Repayment regulations and Closed School Discharge regulations, which Republicans have held up as costly policies that shift federal student loan borrowers' burdens onto other taxpayers. Various versions of Biden's plans had previously been struck down in court. The bill would also eliminate federal Grad PLUS loans, a program used by graduate-level and professional students to pay for their studies, which can be used for graduate students' entire cost of attendance. It would instead keep in place a $20,500 annual limit for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans on graduate degrees, capped at $100,000 total, excluding undergraduate loans. For professional degrees, it keeps a $50,000 annual unsubsidized loan limit and a $200,000 total cap. The legislation is also aimed at cracking down on taxpayer funding subsidizing degrees from lower-performing universities. Colleges that see people with undergraduate degrees earn less than the typical high school graduate in their state, or graduate programs where attendees then earn less than the normal bachelor's recipient, would be blocked from federal student loan programs. "What we've got was a situation where people can borrow more money than they can effectively pay back, and that destroys their life, leaving them with a debt burden which keeps them unable to do other things in life. And there's at least some sense that universities offering these programs know that's the case. And so we attempt to fix that," Cassidy said. "So we have provisions that would say that if the degree being acquired does not end up paying more, the person receiving that degree doesn't get more on average than a person who did not get that degree, then the federal government is not going to lend them money." To encourage more people to pursue non-collegiate degrees, the bill would also establish a Workforce Pell Grant. Pell Grants are currently aimed at low-income students pursuing bachelor's degrees and are generally not repaid. "For example, a student gets a commercial driver's license. They're going to go out and make $100,000 a year after a couple of years of driving, I am told. And so we want to enable those people to accomplish that," Cassidy said. Foreign income would be taken into account when evaluating Pell Grants, while farm and small business assets would not, under the GOP bill. Those and several other measures in the legislation would add up to roughly $300 billion in taxpayer savings, Cassidy said. Senate Republicans are currently working through their version of Trump's massive agenda bill, which passed the House late last month. Republicans are using the budget reconciliation process to pass a sweeping bill advancing Trump's agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt. They are also working to use it to bring down the national debt – nearing $37 trillion – with the aim of cutting $1.5 trillion in federal spending. Reconciliation allows the party in power to completely skirt the minority, in this case Democrats, by lowering the Senate's threshold to advance from 60 votes to 51. The legislation must adhere to a specific set of rules, however, including measures that deal with the budget, taxation, or the national debt. Both the House and Senate must agree to identical versions of the bill before it gets to Trump's desk for a signature. The House's version passed 215 to 214, and leaders there have implored the upper chamber to change as little as possible. Cassidy acknowledged there were some changes made but was optimistic about how they'll be met in the House. "There's several things, but one thing I think that they're going to like is that we do fully fund the Pell Grant program. You know, we address the shortfall there. And so I think they're going to like it," he said. "It's going to give low-income students access to career education. We need those kind of career type jobs to make sure that all this manufacturing and construction has a workforce to address it. And so we think it helps the needs of society. We think it helps the needs of the student." House and Senate GOP leaders had previously set a goal of having a bill on Trump's desk by the Fourth of July. Cassidy declined to comment on whether that was a feasible benchmark but argued that lawmakers should be ready to extend that timeline – and possibly shrink their summer recess – to get the final product. "As far as I'm concerned, the most important thing is to get it right. So if there is a delay, the president said it today – if there is a delay, that's not that big of a deal. The most important thing is we get it right," he said.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
NC doctors, legislators, and cancer survivors push for prostate cancer screening money
New Bern Alderman Victor Taylor speaks about his prostate cancer treatment at a news conference on a proposal to establish a statewide screening program for uninsured and underinsured men. (Photo: Lynn Bonner/NC Newsline) Offering prostate cancer screening to men who are uninsured or underinsured will save lives, legislators, doctors, advocates, and cancer survivors said at a news conference Tuesday. 'Prostate cancer is one of the most curable cancers if it is detected early,' said Rep. Rodney Pierce (D-Halifax), the bill's lead sponsor. But, too many North Carolinians are diagnosed too late. 'This legislation is about saving lives, about a higher quality of life, and giving our fathers, uncles, brothers, nephews and sons the fighting chance they deserve,' he said. House bill 128 would appropriate $2 million to establish a prostate cancer screening program modeled after the state's breast and cervical cancer screening program. Money for prostate screening is not in the House or Senate budget proposals, but Pierce hopes it will be funded. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men in the state, according to the UNC Men's Health Program. The issue has gained increased attention in the last few weeks after former President Joe Biden was diagnosed with 'a more aggressive form' of prostate cancer. Men in North Carolina are diagnosed with prostate cancer at higher rates than men nationally, according to the National Cancer Institute, and North Carolina's mortality rate is higher, at 20.2 per 100,000 men. Black men are more likely to develop prostate cancer and more likely to die from it, according to the American Cancer Society. Legislators at the Tuesday news conference made direct appeals to Black men to be screened. A blood test is used to screen for and monitor prostate cancer. Rep. Abe Jones (D-Wake) said he's tested twice a year because his father had prostate cancer. 'It is a sneaky, nasty, tricky disease,' Jones said. 'It's ugly and it kills Black men at a higher rate.' 'It doesn't give you a warning, it just comes on you,' Jones said. 'I just encourage all my brothers out there to please get tested.' New Bern Alderman Victor Taylor, a prostate cancer survivor, said the screening bill would help men in rural areas. It's vital for men to talk about prostate cancer, he said. 'It's so important to talk, talk, talk and share,' he said. 'You don't know how many lives you've saved by talking and sharing.' The bill proposes free or low-cost testing for uninsured or underinsured men ages 40 to 70 who have a family history of prostate cancer. Men without a family history would be eligible for screening at ages 50 to 70. Recommendations for screening have a cloudy history. In 2012, the US Preventative Service Task Force, a group of independent experts, recommended against routine screening. The recommendation changed in 2018, with the group suggesting men 55- to 69-years old talk with their doctors about regular screening. The task force is in the process of updating its recommendation. Dr. Dan George, a member of the Duke Cancer Institute who specializes in prostate cancers, said there's a concern that prostate cancer is going under-treated. 'It's so vitally important for people to recognize that knowledge is power,' George said. 'Understanding your cancer status is an opportunity for you to prevent a leading cause of death in this state.' Rural residents would benefit from routine testing that residents with access to medical specialists can more easily obtain, he said. Former state Sen. Eddie Goodall, a Union County Republican, talked about his prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. Goodall said he was diagnosed in 2005, just as his first term in the legislature was beginning. 'I was excited about being a freshman senator and being able to change the world,' Goodall said. Instead, he received a diagnosis that he kept secret from his mother because he didn't want her to worry about another son dying. Goodall said that five years before he was diagnosed, his brother died of cancer. Goodall said he talked and compared notes with another former senator who was diagnosed with prostate cancer at about the same time. Goodall decided against surgery. The cancer spread to his bones. Goodall said he started hormone therapy in 2018 and was told he had 18 months to two years to live. 'But it's been seven years, and I'm still here. So I'm very grateful for that.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
In Michigan, two Democrats are generating 2028 buzz
LANSING, Mich. — As she spoke Friday night in the high school gymnasium where Magic Johnson starred as a prep basketball player, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., reached for a football analogy while wrestling with the existential questions facing the Democratic Party. 'We know the Lions are going to the Super Bowl this year because they have a good defense and a good offense, right?' Slotkin, referring to Detroit's NFL team, told an audience of roughly 400 people at a town hall forum. 'So we have to be able to do both,' Slotkin added. 'We have a strong defense, but then you've got to have a vision, an alternative vision, to what is being provided to us every day. And that is the charge of the next generation of leaders in the Democratic Party.' Slotkin narrowly won her Senate seat last year, prevailing in a competitive state that backed Donald Trump for president. Almost instantly, given her against-the-current victory and Midwest perch, Slotkin became a go-to voice for a party struggling with its identity. She delivered the Democratic response to Trump's joint address to Congress in March. She also has thrown herself into advocating for a robust takedown of the president's agenda. 'I wrote a war plan,' the former CIA analyst and Pentagon aide told her audience here last week, 'of how to contain and defeat Trump — a 17-page PowerPoint.' The town hall put Slotkin in her old congressional district, but the content was consistent with a message that she has been testing nationally. And by advancing her 'alternative vision,' Slotkin is establishing herself as another Democratic officeholder in Michigan who could emerge as a White House contender in 2028, along with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Whitmer, a subject of presidential speculation for years, remains popular with voters in a state that was placed near the front of last year's primary calendar. Unlike Slotkin, she has taken a less confrontational approach toward Trump in his second term. Those familiar with Slotkin's rise stress that her Senate campaign should not be viewed as some grand plan to quickly build a higher profile and set up a run for president. But a Democratic strategist who has worked on Michigan races believes that it's something she will at least consider. 'The way she thinks of it is, this party is on the precipice of full-on collapse,' said this person, who like others was granted anonymity to talk about a fluid situation and discuss sensitive intraparty dynamics ahead of 2028. 'Circumstances have just sort of pushed her into this.' Slotkin rolled her eyes and briskly sidestepped when asked in an interview if people have been encouraging her to consider running for president in 2028. 'I'm about to go out in front of 1,000 people who think that they're going to lose their health care,' she told NBC News before her town hall at Everett High School. 'I am focused on, literally, saving them from losing their health care and their food. And I get it. I know it's a good parlor conversation. It's just, honest to God, not where my head is focused right now. It's just not.' Whitmer was a finalist to be Joe Biden's vice presidential running mate in 2020, having positioned herself at the time as a prominent foil for Trump and a critic of his pandemic management. Whitmer also was on a short list of Democratic governors and senators who were seen as potential replacements for Biden on the ticket last year before then-Vice President Kamala Harris sewed up the nomination. Spokespeople for Whitmer did not respond to requests to interview the governor for this article. Two Democratic operatives who have worked with her said it is unclear to them what her intentions are for 2028 and would not be surprised if she were to pass on a run. 'I think it's a huge open question,' one of the operatives said. 'What people who don't know her miss is that she's a super-regular person who likes hanging out at the lake and drinking beer and hanging out with her dogs and husband.' Although the term-limited Whitmer has not made definitive plans, many of her recent moves as governor have been viewed through the prism of national politics. She has made public overtures to Trump, meeting with him at the White House and working with him on issues important to Michigan. Whitmer's way has been rewarded on one level. Trump announced a new fighter jet mission for an endangered air base in her state and committed his administration's support to combat Asian carp, a Great Lakes nuisance. On the latter issue, the White House even took a shot at Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a potential Whitmer primary rival in 2028 whom the Trump administration characterized as a hindrance to mitigating the ecological impact of the invasive fish. But Whitmer's courtship also has put her crosswise with other Democrats who find her too accommodating of Trump. After one of her White House meetings in April, Whitmer joined Trump for a photo opportunity in the Oval Office, where the president announced investigations of two political adversaries and repeated his debunked claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Adding to Whitmer's political troubles that day was a New York Times photographer who documented the governor — who later acknowledged she did not want her picture taken there — hiding her face behind blue folders. Whitmer's team has taken comfort in internal and independent polling since then that has shown that a majority of Michigan voters approve of her job performance as governor. 'From her perspective, I think it's, 'I'm going to do as good a job as I can for the people in my state, and the political benefits will follow,' as opposed to others who are taking different approaches by showing up in New Hampshire and South Carolina,' two states typically at the front of the primary calendar, said another operative who has worked with Whitmer. 'Are they as focused on their states as they should be? Will they have a set of accomplishments?' In a presidential primary debate, this person added, 'all she has to do is throw in a couple of places where she's held Trump's feet to the fire and stood up to him. Yeah, she took some s---, but she's positioned herself well to make a pretty compelling argument that she got some really important stuff for her state that at the end of the day made her a great governor.' Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel, who served in the Legislature during Whitmer's first term as governor, praised her for working across the aisle but also for championing new gun-safety laws and a repeal of the state's anti-union 'right-to-work' law. 'Too often we find labels and differences in places where there aren't,' Hertel said in an interview. 'It's incredibly important that we're pushing back and fighting back and all those things. That doesn't mean there aren't places of agreement where we can work with each other. That's part of being a successful public servant. … So I don't think it's a binary choice, and I think that our leaders in Michigan understand that, and I think that's how they're behaving.' Slotkin has used her bully pulpit as a newly elected senator to push back on Trump more. 'I think for me,' she said in the interview, reaching for another sports metaphor, 'it's just call balls and strikes on what he's proposing and what it's going to do to your business, your life, your family. You don't have to overhype what's happening, but don't underhype it, either.' Slotkin also has a calling card Whitmer doesn't: She has twice won tough elections — her first House re-election bid in 2020, and last year's Senate race — with Trump on the top of the ticket. (A third Michigan Democrat who could run in 2028, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, lives in the state but has never won an election there and is associated more with Indiana, where he was the mayor of South Bend.) 'Gretchen,' said the strategist who has worked on Michigan races, 'has only had to run statewide in two cycles good for Democrats, and never on the ballot the same year as Trump. It's a completely different dynamic.' One of the operatives who has worked with Whitmer characterized the differences between her and Slotkin as minor nuances. 'The No. 1 similarity, which is probably more important than all of those smaller discrepancies, is that they're tough women,' this person added. During Friday's town hall, during which members of a heavily Democratic audience read aloud questions they had submitted in advance, Slotkin shared a stage with Hertel and Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, who won her seat last year in a competitive, neighboring district. Slotkin's old district, now represented by Republican Tom Barrett, is the type of place where they are hoping to rally discouraged Democrats. Questions ranged from concerns about spending cuts and Trump's massive domestic policy bill to a fear that the president could declare martial law to postpone future elections — an unsubstantiated theory percolating on the political left. Slotkin validated their worries with calls to action. 'The president has made comments that are real close to martial law,' she said. 'He's talked about sending the National Guard into our cities. We need to listen when he says things.' The next day, Trump deployed the National Guard to the Los Angeles area to counter protests against immigration raids, ignoring the wishes of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. Slotkin also pressed the audience to engage Republicans, noting how she invited her township supervisor, a Republican, to join her at Trump's inauguration in January. 'We've got to have these conversations, not just with them, but with those folks who just kind of can't stand politics either way,' Slotkin said. 'It's hard to like politics right now. Most of you probably don't like it. You just do it because you love your country.' This article was originally published on
