Dodge Ridge Ski Area in Tuolumne County reports 6 inches at the base and 10 inches at the Summit. Further north, the Sierra looked like this:

Students at the University of California-Berkeley are petitioning to cancel a December graduation speech by talk show host Bill Maher over what they say are his “racist and bigoted” views on Islam.

On numerous occasions Maher has leveled harsh words against Islam.

Because of his views, a Chang.org Petition to dis-invite Maher from the Berkeley graduation has drawn more than 5,000 signers. The Petition reads:

“Bill Maher is a blatant bigot and racist who has no respect for the values UC Berkeley students and administration stand for. In a time where climate is a priority for all on campus, we cannot invite an individual who himself perpetuates a dangerous learning environment. Bill Maher’s public statements on various religions and cultures are offensive and his dangerous rhetoric has found its way into our campus communities.”

But on Friday night’s edition of “Real Time,” Maher took a few minutes to reply to the Berkeley students, noting that his graduation speech is coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the college’s storied free speech movement.

On the charge that his views on Islam “bigoted” and “racist,” Maher chided the students’ language misstep: “Right, because Islam is a race.”

Roy Campbell filmed Western Screech Owl chicks peeking out of their owl box near the town of Murphys and sent this footage to Audobon California. Enjoy!

The show AgStories recently focused on Re-Horse Rescue Ranch of Jamestown, CA

Last Saturday at Sonora Crossroads…

Proper forest management benefits all of us.

It was a confrontation between a Minnesota man and TSA agents at the Denver International Airport…. after the man had already flew from Minnesota to Denver.

Kahler Nygard flew on Spirit Air with no incident. But after arrival in Denver, TSA agents met Nygard and demanded that he be screened.

The TSA agent, who identifies himself as Alex Grossman in the video, demands Nygard’s boarding pass.

Nygard points out that he no longer has it (since most airlines take it from you as you board the plane, you don’t need it once you are on-board), which stumps Grossman to the point of taking out his flip phone to call someone and say that “the passenger says he doesn’t have his boarding pass… and is pretty objectionable… and he’s filming me.”

Nygard repeatedly asks if he is being detained and what the problem is, but the agents do not answer — at least not in the recording.

Finally, Nygard walks away, saying that if he’s not being detained, he’s leaving. The agent threatens to call Denver police, but does not specify what law Nygard is accused of breaking.

Nygard told Denver media that the Denver police never contacted him following the incident.

(Hearst Communications) BART is investigating whether one of its police officers acted properly when he slammed a female passenger to the floor of a train at the Pittsburg/Bay Point Station, an encounter captured on video and posted online, an agency spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Some witnesses said the woman, whose name wasn’t released, had done nothing to warrant being taken to the ground. But BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said the woman had resisted arrest after being seen by other passengers acting erratically.

The incident happened about 9:30 p.m. Sept. 10. BART police were called to investigate reports that the woman was banging on train windows and trying to force open the doors, Trost said. An officer found the woman, who appeared to be passed out, on an SFO-bound train.

“The officer determined that the woman was intoxicated in public, and he attempted to place her under arrest,” Trost said. “The woman resisted being arrested, and additional BART and Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputies responded to assist.”

Paramedics at the scene believed she was under the influence of alcohol and methamphetamine. She was medically cleared at a county hospital and then booked at Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez on suspicion of public intoxication and resisting arrest.

Trost said she has forwarded videos of the incident to BART’s Office of the Independent Police Auditor. The name of the officer involved wasn’t released.

(ABC News) – It’s not every day that you see a presidential contender getting booed off stage.

But that’s what happened Wednesday night when Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, widely viewed as a likely Republican candidate for the White House in 2016, addressed a group called In Defense of Christians at a gala dinner for its inaugural summit at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington, D.C.

The video suggests, and Cruz’s office concurs, that the senator was booed and jeered for speaking favorably about Israel.

The video is missing some context and begins after Cruz has already been interrupted and as an apparent organizer urges “respect for dialogue.” Audience members shout at Cruz, who says he is “saddened.”

“If you will not stand with Israel and the Jews, then I will not stand with you,” Cruz says, and walks off the stage to some applause and a good number of jeers.

The group says it advocates for Christian communities in the Middle East. Its advisory board includes former attorney general John Ashcroft, former transportation secretary Ray Lahood, and Arab American Institute president James Zogby, according to its website. Its executive director is a former State Department representative to UNESCO.

“Tonight in Washington should have been a night of unity as we came together for the inaugural event for a group that calls itself ‘In Defense of Christians.’ Instead, it unfortunately deteriorated into a shameful display of bigotry and hatred,” Cruz said in a written statement on the event.

Many in the audience applauded him, Cruz said in the statement, but a “vocal minority” shouted him down. As Cruz was making that point to the crowd Wednesday night, one man shouted that it was “most of us” who disagreed with him. In his statement, Cruz said he spoke to the group in the hopes of talking about persecution of Christians at the hands of ISIS, against which he has railed before.

“But bigotry and hatred have no place in this discussion. Anti-Semitism is a corrosive evil, and it reared its ugly head tonight,” Cruz said. “After just a few minutes, I had no choice. I told them that if you will not stand with Israel, if you will not stand with the Jews, then I will not stand with you. And then I walked off the stage.”

In Defense of Christians has not yet responded to an inquiry from ABC News about Cruz’s appearance.

This three day holiday weekend, why not make a quick drive to see one of the “most colorful and romantic” cities in the world? This film shows you a few of the highlights of the city… and it was filmed in 1955!