California

"A proposal to exclude prisons from California's long-awaited rules to protect indoor workers from extreme heat threatens to delay implementation until well into the summer or kill off the safeguards altogether, labour rights advocates say."

"Famous for its lush vineyards and cherished local wineries, Napa Valley is where people go to escape their problems."

"Signal Hill Petroleum spent millions to overturn California’s landmark law protecting neighborhoods from oil drilling. Now it wants to drill dozens of new wells in a city established a century ago to avoid taxes on oil development."

"But it may not be what it appears"

"A plan to develop a new city northeast of San Francisco has been seven years in the making, but until recently, the details were largely kept under wraps. Now that the plans are public—and the proposal has garnered enough signatures to make it onto the November ballot for voter consideration—residents and activists are squaring off to defeat what the developers promise will be a kind of green urban paradise.

"The first heat wave of the season has arrived earlier than usual across much of the U.S. Southwest, with dangerously hot conditions that produced triple-digit temperatures on Tuesday. Forecasters say temperatures are likely to top 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) in some areas by Thursday."

"Last week, General Sherman, California's most famous giant sequoia, got a checkup."

"The golden state legalised marijuana production in 2016, but strict curbs have led to a thriving black market. Its hub is in Siskiyou county, where the environmental damage is clear to see".

"A proposal to ban the weed killing chemical paraquat cleared the California State Assembly last week and now faces a fight in the State Senate over what would be the first such ban in the country."

"California’s utilities regulator today adopted new rules for community solar projects, despite warnings from clean energy advocates that the move will actually undercut efforts to expand solar power options for low-income customers."

"Agriculture drained this ecosystem. Now, under the specter of future drought, the same systems have started to bring back both water and wildlife."