"It's wild times in the watershed. The most happy-go-lucky denizen of Bay Area creeks is back, after a hiatus of at least three decades: the river otter."

"SAN FRANCISCO — Some nail polishes commonly found in California salons and advertised as free of a so-called 'toxic trio' of chemicals actually have high levels of agents known to cause birth defects, according to state chemical regulators.

A Department of Toxic Substances Control report to be released Tuesday determined that the mislabeled nail products have the potential to harm thousands of women who work in more than 48,000 nail salons in California, and their customers.

"For the past 10 years, California has struggled with huge budget deficits and wrenching cuts. Suddenly, however, the state is poised to raise billions from an unusual new source: the proceeds from its landmark global warming law."

"Local activists say national groups, focused on renewable energy, ignore projects' threat to the Mojave."

"Concern over the safety of the San Onofre nuclear power plant is growing among Orange County cities closest to the facility, which has been shut down since January because of system failures."

"Kelp off Southern California was contaminated with short-lived radioisotopes a month after Japan’s Fukushima accident, a sign that the spilled radiation reached the state's coastline, according to a new scientific study."

"California's long-running campaign to reduce air pollution has indirectly helped create a new problem: its oil refineries produce more greenhouse gas emissions than refineries anywhere else in the country."

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission lays out steps that Southern California Edison must take before the troubled San Onofre plant will be allowed to come back on line."

A recycling facility for contaminated soils and other hazardous waste in the California desert community of Mecca is causing major problems. The problems are made worse by the fact that the facility is on tribal land, making state and federal regulation more difficult.

"In January 2009, Riverside County fire Capt. Robert Fish ventured to the scrubby desert outpost of Mecca to check on the busy contaminated-soil recycling plant there.

He found something unusual, worrying enough to alert his superiors.