California

"The signs appear about 200 miles north of Los Angeles, tacked onto old farm wagons parked along quiet two-lane roads and bustling Interstate 5."

"Chevron Corp. is spending millions of dollars on a Richmond, Calif., city council election in an attempt to 'buy' the council, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said."

"This summer, California’s water authority declared that wasting water — hosing a sidewalk, for example — was a crime. Next door, in Nevada, Las Vegas has paid out $200 million over the last decade for homes and businesses to pull out their lawns."

"A long-running battle over an oyster farm at Pt. Reyes National Seashore may be winding down. The National Park Service says a settlement agreement would, if approved by a federal court, would require the Drake Bay Oyster Company to cease operations by the end of the year."

"Mountain lions in Southern California are under growing pressure from a shrinking gene pool, fragmented by highways and urban sprawl that has left the cats' territories increasingly isolated from each other, a study published on Wednesday showed."

"President Barack Obama is planning to designate 346,000 acres within the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles as a national monument, a step supporters say will ensure better stewardship in one of the nation's most heavily visited forests but worries some local officials because of potential restrictions."

"PORTLAND — New threats and a legal settlement prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal today to list West Coast populations of fisher as threatened under the Endangered Species Act."

"California’s largest utility released an email Monday saying the state’s top regulator privately asked the company to donate more than $1 million to support a state-backed environmental ballot initiative."

"LOS ANGELES - The fall season has brought a wave of hot, dry weather to California, with parts of the state baking this weekend in triple-digit temperatures and officials expressing concern the summer-like heat could spark a massive wildfire."