Dust billows in the air like a fog lifting in the morning sunlight. The sounds of grinding metal and rock echo through the hillside. Adrenaline is high as the Hill Toppers traverse their way into the back country along the Dusy-Ershim OHV (Off Highway Vehicle) trail in the Sierra Nevada...
Hill Hoppers Conquer Dusy-Ershim Trail, Help Maintain the Sierra
Dust billows in the air like a fog lifting in the morning sunlight. The sounds of grinding metal and rock echo through the hillside. Adrenaline is high as the Hill Toppers traverse their way into the back country along the Dusy-Ershim OHV (Off Highway Vehicle) trail in the Sierra Nevada...
California Lawmakers OK Potential Fines for High Gas Prices
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers on Monday approved the nation's first penalty for price gouging at the pump, voting to give regulators the power to punish oil companies for profiting from the type of gas price spikes that plagued the nation's most populous state last summer. The Democrats in charge...
Who Buys Electric Cars in California—and Who Doesn’t?
Lea este artículo en español. In Atherton, one of the nation’s richest towns, giant oaks and well-manicured hedges surround gated mansions owned by some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent billionaires, basketball stars, tech executives, and venture capitalists. Each set on an acre of land, six-bedroom estates, brick-paved pathways, neoclassical statues, and...
Much of Drought-Plagued West Coast Faces Salmon Fishing Ban
SAN DIEGO — As drought dried up rivers that carry California’s newly hatched Chinook salmon to the ocean, state officials in recent years resorted to loading up the fish by the millions onto trucks and barges to take them to the Pacific. The surreal and desperate scramble boosted the survival...
A Boom for Concealed Carry Classes, but Long Waits for Permits
Business has been booming for Ziyad “Zip” Showket, a firearms instructor in liberal Marin County — thanks to six justices on the nation’s highest court. For two decades across four Bay Area counties, Showket has been schooling retired law enforcement officers, mall cops, and the rare civilian allowed under local...
It’s Raining Now, but How Can California Boost Its Water Supply Later?
Lea este artículo en español. Over and over again, drought launches California into a familiar scramble to provide enough water. Cities and towns call for conservation and brace for shortages. Growers fallow fields and ranchers sell cows. And thousands of people discover that they can’t squeeze another drop from their wells. So where can California get enough water...
With California Oil Production at Risk, Referendum Gives Voters a Say
Next year, California voters will have a chance to decide whether new oil drilling regulations should take effect. Oil industry officials warn that, if enacted, it could hinder production and force California to look elsewhere for its supply. In 2024, Californians will vote on whether the state should continue producing...
California Lawmakers Aim to Reconnect Neighborhoods Torn Apart by Highways
Lea este artículo en español. A new select committee in the California Legislature will explore ways the state can reconnect neighborhoods that decades ago were torn apart by interstates and highways. During the nation’s interstate highway construction boom in the 1950s and ’60s, numerous urban neighborhoods were sliced through, often isolating...
Pumping Mississippi River Water West: Solution or Dream?
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Waves of torrential rainfall drenched California into the new year. Snowpacks in the Sierra Nevada Mountains have swelled to more than 200% their normal size, and snowfall across the rest of the Colorado River Basin is trending above average, too. While the much-needed water has improved...