Six People Presumed Dead After Private Jet Crashes In San Diego Neighborhood

Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, May 23, 2025…

• Six people are presumed dead after a private jet crashed into a San Diego neighborhood early Thursday morning.
• California is suing the federal government for blocking the state’s ability to set its own clean air rules.
• The decision to take down a climate security website at Monterey’s Naval Postgraduate School, or NPS, signals broader self-censorship there around climate research and scholarship. It comes in the wake of the U.S. Defense Department’s call to eliminate so-called “climate distraction” in the military. 
• The legislature is considering two new bills aimed at improving conditions for incarcerated workers.

Investigation Continues Into Plane Crash In San Diego

A private jet carrying a music talent agent and five others hit a power line in foggy weather early Thursday and crashed into a San Diego neighborhood, slamming into a home and killing multiple people on the flight.

With the home engulfed in flames and jet fuel rolling down the streets, half a dozen vehicles ignited while residents in the neighborhood of U.S. Navy-owned housing were shaken awake just before 4 a.m. by the thunderous crash and subsequent explosions. No one in the neighborhood died, but eight people were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and injuries that were not life-threatening, including a person who was hurt climbing out a window, police officer Anthony Carrasco said.

Dave Shapiro, co-founder of Sound Talent Group, and two employees were among those killed, the music agency said in a statement. Sound Talent Group has represented artists including American pop band Hanson, American singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton and the Canadian rock group Sum 41. “We are devastated by the loss of our co-founder, colleagues and friends. Our hearts go out to their families and to everyone impacted by today’s tragedy,” the agency said.

Six people were on board the plane, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Authorities were still combing the scene and recovering the bodies before releasing an official number and identifying the dead, though there were not believed to be any survivors aboard the flight.

The airport weather instrumentation that pilots rely on to safely land planes has not functioned properly at Montgomery Field Airport, which is where the jet was flying to, since Tuesday, the National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed with KPBS.

California Sues Feds After Senate Blocks Its Clean Vehicle Rules

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said they will sue the federal government after Congress moved to revoke its electric vehicle mandate and two other clean air act rules Thursday.

The move, led by Senate Republicans, attempted  to block California from regulating the pollution that comes from cars, trucks and buses, and roll back the state’s long-standing authority to set higher air quality standards than the nation.

“Our lawsuit will be about ensuring California can enforce its state laws,” said Bonta on Thursday, adding that through the years, the allowances granted by the Environmental Protection Agency, called waivers, have lowered harmful emissions and improved public health.

California has regulated its own vehicle pollution since the 1960s, before the Clean Air Act was signed into law in 1970. Due to the state’s historically horrendous air pollution, the federal government granted California the authority to set its own emissions standards, as long as they were stricter than federal rules. Those rules would then require approval from the EPA through waivers for final approval.

Republicans sidestepped the filibuster by using a little-known tool called the Congressional Review Act to revoke the waivers. Both the Senate parliamentarian, essentially the chamber’s referee, and the Government Accountability Office, an independent agency overseeing the government, said using this procedure to rule on California’s rules was not allowed.

Call To Eliminate ‘Climate Distraction’ In The Military Stymies Research At Monterey School

Several faculty members at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, who spoke with KAZU on the condition of anonymity because they fear retribution, said they’ve felt pressured to stop referring to climate change in their research since Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called for the elimination of “‘climate’ distraction” in the military in March.

To avoid drawing scrutiny from Hegseth’s Department of Defense (DOD), members of the school’s Climate Security Network (CSN) reluctantly took down their website and paused their newsletter earlier this year, according to an NPS source. Faculty established the CSN in 2022 to prepare the Navy to adapt its operations to climate change.

According to KAZU’s sources at NPS, hiding the CSN’s work undermines the university’s mission to ensure combat readiness—and leaves the military less prepared for changing environments.

State Lawmakers Consider Bills Related To Incarcerated Workers

On Friday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee will consider two bills aimed at improving conditions for incarcerated workers.

Assembly Bill 746 would set up a system to allow prison workers to form cooperatives while serving time. Kelton O’Connor, who’s incarcerated at San Quentin, directs LUCI– a coalition supporting antipoverty policy and says he’s motivated by a deep personal heartbreak over  the climate crisis. “This was something that I was doing almost for mental health for myself, and I didn’t know how many people would want to be involved in this,” O’Connor said. “But a lot of incarcerated people are really inspired and fueled by the idea that we can be contributors rather than just play this victimhood role.” O’Connor said if the bill passes, 40% of the wages earned by coop members would go towards a grant program for businesses in poor communities that are focused on sustainability, reentry or helping crime victims.

The committee is also set to consider AB 1424, which would require the state to make conditions for prison workers more habitable.