"A pair of wind-driven wildfires actively burning in Orange County and a couple of nearly extinguished blazes in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties have spawned the worst air quality in the nation, according to the government’s air quality monitoring agency."

"The cleanup of thousands of lead-contaminated homes, child-care centers, schools and parks surrounding the closed Exide battery recycling facility in Vernon is running behind schedule and over budget due to poor management by California regulators and has left children at continued risk of poisoning, according to a state audit released Tuesday."

"The Trump administration has recently removed the chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the nation’s premier scientific agency, installed new political staff who have questioned accepted facts about climate change and imposed stricter controls on communications at the agency."

"Hurricane Zeta is expected to be a Category 2 storm at landfall in southeast Louisiana, forecasters said Wednesday morning."