In brief: ‘King tides’ cause minor flooding

Huntington Beach, Calif. – Seawater spread into several low-lying communities along the California coast Thursday morning as unusually high “king tides” pulled the Pacific Ocean farther ashore than normal.

Causing some damage but mostly just making a nuisance, water flooded Pacific Coast Highway and side streets in Sunset Beach, a sliver of Huntington Beach between the ocean and a yacht harbor. Down the Southern California coast, Newport Bay was brimming, while just north of San Francisco the tide swamped a commuter parking lot in Marin City and seeped into dozens of cars.

Occurring several times a year, king tides happen when the Earth, moon and sun align in a way that increases gravitational pull on the Earth’s oceans, raising water levels several feet above normal high tides.

The event provided organizers of the California King Tides Initiative an opportunity to get California residents thinking about and preparing for the future. The 3-year-old initiative, sponsored by government and nonprofit groups, enlists camera-toting volunteers to photograph the king tides as an illustration of what low-lying coastal areas could look like if predictions about the Earth’s climate come to pass.

Authorities execute arrest of ‘Bad Barbies’

New York – New York City authorities say they have taken down a violent street gang whose female factions went by names including “Bad Barbies.”

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Wednesday that at its height, the Trinitarios gang had up to 100 female members. He said one was a 24-year-old involved in a fatal retaliatory shooting and in the shooting of a robbery victim outside a Mexican restaurant.

An investigation of the gang has resulted in arrests of 119 people in the Bronx and Manhattan since 2009.

Kelly and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced the latest arrests on Wednesday at a news conference.