DNA evidence now shows that the 500-pound black bear the public had nicknamed “Hank the Tank” is, in fact, at least three not-so-little bears who have damaged more than 30 properties around Lake Tahoe in recent months.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife on Thursday said it will soon begin trapping bears in the South Lake Tahoe area to tag the animals and collect evidence for genetic analysis. The bears will be released in a “suitable habitat” and the agency said no trapped animals will be euthanized as part of the project.
From the South Lake Tahoe Police Department
The bears are responsible for more than 150 incident reports in the region straddling Northern California and Nevada, including a break-in at a residence in the Tahoe Keys neighborhood last week.
One of the Hanks smashed a window Friday and squeezed into the house on Catalina Drive while the residents were at home, CBS Sacramento reported. Police responded and banged on the outside of the house until Hank exited out the back door and disappeared into the woods.
Also known as Jake or Yogi or simply Big Guy, the then-solo bear was what one wildlife official described as a “severely food habituated bear” that has “lost all fear of people” and thinks of them as a food source.
“What’s problematic about this bear is how large it is,” Peter Tira, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told SF Gate on Sunday. “It’s learned to use that size and strength to break into a number of occupied residences, bursting through the garage door or front door."
Once the trapping efforts begin, the three Hanks — at least — may well form a brigade.
Jared C. Bass, senior director for Higher Education at the Center for American Progress, joins Cheddar News to discuss how schools are navigating the Omicron variant.
Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the advocacy group GLAAD, joined Cheddar to discuss the organization's Accelerating Acceptance report that examines how welcoming the general public is toward members of the LGBTQ+ community. Ellis noted that while visibility and representation is up in media, video games, and on social media, it has conversely opened the door for increased targeted harassment on the street, particularly for transgender and gender non-conforming people. "I go to the school board meetings, I hear the homophobia and the transphobia in-person, in real-time, and so, we're seeing that more and more at the local level across the country," Ellis said. "And we're going to see that play out in the midterm elections, especially the local elections."
Steve Patton, EY Americas Mobility Sector Leader, joins Cheddar News to discuss what can be done to speed up the adoption of EVs, and how infrastructure can be scaled up to support this transition.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is ramping up a civil investigation into The Trump Organization. The AG's office has subpoenaed Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. They have refused to comply with the subpoenas. Bradley Moss, national security attorney, joins Cheddar News to discuss the next steps in this investigation.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has officially reduced the 110-year prison sentence of truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos to 10 years, calling the initial lengthy sentence “unjust.” Dan Gilleon, constitutional attorney at Gilleon Law Firm APC, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
LG announced its latest cooking appliances including its ThinQ Recipe service. The app allows people to choose from up to 10,000 recipes and have the ingredients delivered to their doorstep. LG Electronics executive Brandt Varner joins Cheddar News to talk about the products.
Former Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was sworn in as the newest Mayor of New York City. Adams is now expected to work on a number of issues such as crime and coronavirus. Erin Durkin,, reporter at PoliticoNY, joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
The six-month trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has come to an end with the former tech startup star found guilty of four out of 11 counts of fraud. Michael S. Weinstein, Esq, chair of the white collar criminal defense practice at Cole Schotz, and former Department of Justice trial attorney, joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss what happens next for the former mogul. "Do I think it's going to be more than five or seven years? Probably yes. I think that's probably a fair range at this point," he said about her potential prison sentence.
We are just one day away from what has been called the most influential tech event in the world. CES 2022 will officially kick off on Wednesday in Las Vegas, but the annual tech summit is being impacted by COVID-19, like so many other recent events. The Consumer Technology Association originally planned for a hybrid event to take place from January 5-8, with some in-person events and some virtual; however, a few big-name companies announced they will not be attending in-person, so the CTA decided to shorten the event by one day, with it now ending on Friday. Consumer electronics senior analyst Will Greenwald joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
