"El Dorado County environmental health officials are urging residents and visitors to take precautions after a chipmunk found in the Lake Tahoe Basin last week tested presumptive positive for the bacteria that causes the plague."

"Gov. Jerry Brown calls for the immediate release of a cheaper, but less environmentally friendly, blend of gasoline in an effort to bring down pump prices."

"Utility is hoping to bring Unit 2 back into service at 70% capacity for five months before taking it offline for further inspections."

Climate change and warmer temperatures are already hurting agriculture in California.

"Cutbacks leave rangers outnumbered in dealing with car burglaries, drug deals, gold prospectors and rowdy parties along the mountain creek."

"SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Tuesday setting a two-year moratorium on closing state parks in the wake of a scandal in which some parks officials hid surplus funds while facilities were threatened with being shuttered."

"Valley fever starts with the simple act of breathing."

"After Edison submits a plan to restart one reactor at San Onofre, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to take months to review it."

"California regulators have not been conducting the intensive workplace-safety inspections of Chevron's Richmond plant and the state's 14 other oil refineries that federal standards call for, a Chronicle investigation shows."

"A state plan to rank communities by the cumulative effects of pollution on residents has raised objections among local business leaders, who say it would kill job development in areas identified as disadvantaged."

"A new management plan for the Giant Sequoia National Monument further limits logging in and near groves of the world's largest trees, but would still allow it in nearly a quarter of the monument."

"California public health scientists have twice recommended in the past five years that Yosemite National Park authorities educate visitors about hantavirus, a rare disease that is linked to the deaths of two park visitors, one illness and a possible fourth this summer. Yet park officials did not warn visitors until after the disease showed up in recent weeks."

"FRESNO, Calif. -- The rustic tent cabins of Yosemite National Park — a favorite among families looking to rough it in one of the nation's most majestic settings — have become the scene of a public health crisis after two visitors died from a rodent-borne disease following overnight stays."

"California legislators are poised to vote this week on a pair of bills that would help renters and low-income communities go solar. But the bills have encountered stiff resistance from some utility companies, which call them unnecessary and expensive."

"YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. -- A second person has died of a rare, rodent-borne disease after visiting one of the most popular parts of Yosemite National Park earlier this summer, and park officials were warning past visitors to be aware of some flu-like aches and symptoms and seek medical help immediately if they appear."