An Orange County man who prosecutors say led a drug-trafficking ring that exported hundreds of pounds of meth to Australia and Papua New Guinea has been sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Dangerous conditions are developing up and down California's coast, with gale-force winds and high seas prompting the National Weather Service (NWS) to issue several advisories and warnings to mariners.

A report from the NWS Sacramento CA was issued on Tuesday at 3:42 p.m. for strong thunderstorms until 4:30 p.m. The alert is for Northern San Joaquin Valley, Motherlode and West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada.

It was what politicians call a “beauty contest,” in which candidates are given opportunities to briefly strut their stuff without any deep oratory.

Witnesses observed a man forcibly taking the victim’s silver SUV, jumping into the driver’s seat and speeding away on the four-lane corridor with “the vehicle owner partially inside the rear

Steve Hilton, one of the Republican candidates for California governor, said he wanted to scrap income tax for high earners.

The state is confronting what officials say is an unprecedented confluence of forces that will test its long record of enduring catastrophes, natural and otherwise.

California receives over $15.7 billion in transportation grants and $20.6 billion in homeland security grants annually. The funding could be in jeopardy under an administration policy.