In the placid LA suburb of Burbank, residents spend months – and thousands of dollars – turning their homes into Disney-style attractions. Why does it go so hard for Halloween – and is it becoming too popular for its own good?

Every night, starting in mid-September, Diego Linares puts on a serial killer costume and stands in his front yard for three hours. The 40-year-old alternates outfits: some nights he’s Michael Myers, the masked murderer from the Halloween films. Other nights he’s Jason Voorhees, from the Friday the 13th franchise.

His family’s modest suburban yard in Burbank, California, has been transformed into a slasher movie set. Fake mist leaks out of the door of a cabin labeled “Crystal Lake”. Jack-o-lanterns, monsters, corpses and illuminated gravestones jostle for space across the ground. From the roof above the front door, a giant skeleton blinks its digital eyes.

In the placid LA suburb of Burbank, residents spend months – and thousands of dollars – turning their homes into Disney-style attractions. Why does it go so hard for Halloween – and is it becoming too popular for its own good?

Every night, starting in mid-September, Diego Linares puts on a serial killer costume and stands in his front yard for three hours. The 40-year-old alternates outfits: some nights he’s Michael Myers, the masked murderer from the Halloween films. Other nights he’s Jason Voorhees, from the Friday the 13th franchise.

His family’s modest suburban yard in Burbank, California, has been transformed into a slasher movie set. Fake mist leaks out of the door of a cabin labeled “Crystal Lake”. Jack-o-lanterns, monsters, corpses and illuminated gravestones jostle for space across the ground. From the roof above the front door, a giant skeleton blinks its digital eyes.

Flight instructor, 22, and pilot, 38, among other fatalities after mid-air collision occurs near small airport

Three people have been killed after two helicopters collided in mid-air near a small airport in Oregon on Thursday, authorities have confirmed.

The Yamhill county sheriff’s office said on Thursday that it received reports at about 2.10pm local time about an aircraft incident involving two helicopters that had crashed south-east of McMinnville, near McMinnville municipal airport.

Dolores Huerta, the celebrated 1960s labor union leader and civil rights activist, died on Wednesday in California at the age of 96, her family said in a statement.

Huerta was a co-founder with Cesar Chavez, another veteran unionist and political activist, of the United Farm Workers union (UFW), which was credited with improving pay and conditions for agricultural workers through a series of strikes, boycotts and protests in the 1960s and 1970s.

• Dolores Huerta, California labor leader and civil rights champion, dies aged 96

Justice department had demanded state segregate and not count ballots from people it claimed were non-citizens

A federal judge declined to order California election officials to segregate and not count ballots from people the Trump administration claimed were non-citizens, rebuffing a legally thin request from the justice department that appeared designed to cast doubt over the results of the midterms.

The ruling from US district judge David Carter, nominated to the federal bench by Bill Clinton, comes about two weeks after the justice department delivered a USB drive to election officials in Los Angeles and Sacramento that it said contained the names of 20,000 non-citizens on the state’s voter rolls. There are more than 23 million registered voters in California and non-citizen voting is extremely rare.

Lawmakers, activists and union leaders across the US remember the co-founder of United Farm Workers union

Following the news that Dolores Huerta – the civil rights icon who popularized the rallying cry “Sí, se puede! – had died at the age of 96 on Wednesday, activists, lawmakers and civil rights leaders paid tribute to Hureta’s long and lasting legacy.

In California – where Huerta helped found the United Farm Workers (UFW) union – her death was deeply felt. It was in California’s central valley that she laid the foundations for the United Farm Workers, and helped organize the 1965 Delano grape strike – a national boycott of table grapes that resulted in better wages and working conditions for grape pickers. Several schools in California bear her name, and murals across the state depict her likeness. And in 2018, California declared 10 April – her birthday – Dolores Huerta Day.

Lawmakers, activists and union leaders across the US remember the co-founder of United Farm Workers union

Following the news that Dolores Huerta – the civil rights icon who popularized the rallying cry “Sí, se puede! – had died at the age of 96 on Wednesday, activists, lawmakers and civil rights leaders paid tribute to Hureta’s long and lasting legacy.

In California – where Huerta helped found the United Farm Workers (UFW) union – her death was deeply felt. It was in California’s central valley that she laid the foundations for the United Farm Workers, and helped organize the 1965 Delano grape strike – a national boycott of table grapes that resulted in better wages and working conditions for grape pickers. Several schools in California bear her name, and murals across the state depict her likeness. And in 2018, California declared 10 April – her birthday – Dolores Huerta Day.

Seawater surges into low-lying communities from San Diego to San Francisco Bay Area, submerging streets, homes and businesses

Historic high tides have caused chaos up and down the California coast this week, as parts of the state were inundated by record-breaking water levels. Seawater surged into low-lying communities from San Diego to the San Francisco Bay Area, submerging streets, flooding homes and businesses, and jamming important transportation corridors and train routes.

Kayakers and paddleboarders could be seen gliding through typically busy thoroughfares in Marin county, north of San Francisco, on Monday and Tuesday. Several drivers had to be rescued from floating cars in the area, while cyclists who had attempted to cross the temporary lagoon that had formed quickly found themselves waist-deep. Further south, in cities such as Newport Beach, water pounded the emergency infrastructure set up to keep out the swelling sea, which seeped through berms, seawalls and sandbag blockades along the shoreline.

Keaton Denlay says agents handed him ‘poorly formatted Excel spreadsheet’ and threatened to criminally prosecute him

A California county elections official is speaking out about the Department of Justice’s campaign against purported “voter fraud”, saying federal officials provided him a disorganized list of names filled with inaccuracies – and threatened to criminally prosecute him if he didn’t take action.

Keaton Denlay, the county clerk-recorder for Butte county, a region north of Sacramento, said a federal agent on Friday hand-delivered what appeared to be a printout of a “poorly formatted Excel spreadsheet with missing and jumbled information”. The DoJ claimed the list was of 47 “likely” noncitizens who were unlawfully registered to vote and demanded the county set aside their ballots. But Denlay said the document was riddled with errors and lacking crucial details, and he declined to act on it.

• Crucial Game 6 will take place on Thursday afternoon

• Game moved to larger State Farm Arena in Atlanta

• Hawks’ NBA game on same day could not be moved

The Atlanta Dream say their concerns about finding a suitable home venue for the WNBA finals went unheeded as they prepare to play the Golden State Valkyries in a crucial Game 6 on Thursday.

The Dream’s normal home, Gateway Center Arena, has a capacity of about 3,500 people. To accommodate the increased interest in the team during the finals, the Dream have played their two home games so far at the Atlanta Hawks’ State Farm Arena, which can seat more than 17,000 fans.