More than a million tons a year of America's plastic trash isn't ending up where it should. The equivalent of as many as 1,300 plastic grocery bags per person is landing in places such as oceans and roadways, according to a new study of U.S. plastic trash. In 2016 —...
California Deputies Help Dumpster-Diving Bear Escape
KINGS BEACH — Sheriff's deputies in Northern California have helped a massive dumpster-diving bear get out of a sticky situation. Placer County sheriff's deputies found the bear trapped Monday in a locked trash bin in Kings Beach, on Lake Tahoe's northern shore. Video the agency posted to Facebook shows a...
State Stalls, Fresno Co. Moves Ahead on Suicide Prevention
State Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) wants to help prevent suicide, especially among youth. So she authored SB 331, a bipartisan bill requiring each California county to develop a suicide prevention plan. Listen to this article: But, the bill was stopped in committee, frustrating Hurtado. “This year, the Assembly Appropriations Committee’s leadership...
Walters: Is Reducing Trash a Wasted Effort?
California’s Department of Motor Vehicles has long been a poster child for managerial shortcomings among the state’s many agencies. It is, however, not the only example of how state programs fail to complete their designated missions. Another is the ambitious effort to reduce the nearly 80 million tons of trash...
Walters: Is Reducing Trash a Wasted Effort?
California’s Department of Motor Vehicles has long been a poster child for managerial shortcomings among the state’s many agencies. It is, however, not the only example of how state programs fail to complete their designated missions. Another is the ambitious effort to reduce the nearly 80 million tons of trash...
Council Wants Answers on Fires, Homeless, and Trash on Highways
For weeks, Fresno councilmen Miguel Arias and Garry Bredefeld have sounded the alarm on social and broadcast media about trash and homeless encampments along Caltrans property in Fresno. A conversation on the topic was supposed to come to City Hall via a special Fresno City Council meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday....
Park Service to Tap into Entrance Fees to Keep Operating
WASHINGTON — The National Park Service says it is taking the extraordinary step of dipping into entrance fees to pay for staffing at its highly visited parks in the wake of the partial government shutdown. P. Daniel Smith, deputy director of the service, said in a statement Sunday that the...
Sequoia, Kings Canyon Close Due to Health, Safety Concerns
SAN FRANCISCO — Overflowing trash and human waste and other unsafe visitor conditions have prompted Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California to close to the public. The parks said in a statement they were shutting Wednesday evening and would likely stay closed for the duration of the government...
Fed Up, He Takes on River West Trash With His Own Hands
Sometimes there comes a point when even a patient person who has spent much of his life in government and understands how things work there can't take the red tape and turf wars anymore. That's what happened to Tom Bohigian, the longtime state director for former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer...