In some areas, hazards have surged. Buildings in the highest hazard zones will be subject to the strictest fire-resiliency rules. New Bay Area maps are coming later this month, with new Central Coast maps due in March.
CalMatters
Posted inLatest News
As California’s fire season grows, state senators push for more year-round firefighters
Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire proposed that state firefighters work full time in place of the seasonal workforce the agency currently staffs for nine months each year.
Posted inEducation
Demand for immigration legal services spikes at California colleges
California’s estimated 100,000 undocumented college students are grappling with President Donald Trump’s plans of mass deportations. Dream centers on many campuses are stepping in to provide guidance and meet the skyrocketing demand for legal services from students.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Artificial intelligence is bringing nuclear power back from the dead — maybe even in California
Energy demands from big tech, including for artificial intelligence, has elected officials giving an old power source a second look.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Why Trump’s conditions on L.A. fire aid put California Republicans in a tough spot
All the talk about attaching conditions to California’s federal disaster aid have placed the state’s Republican members of Congress in a quandary: Do they fight for speedy, unconditional relief dollars for wildfire victims in their home state? Or do they fall in line behind President Donald Trump?
Posted inLatest News
Trump is bound for L.A. — threatening to withhold fire aid and keeping Newsom out of the loop
The Trump administration apparently opted not to coordinate at all with Gov. Gavin Newsom while planning the president’s planned Friday visit to fire-ravaged Los Angeles. Just how awkward will this be?
Posted inLatest News
Trump’s order won’t halt California’s offshore wind leases. But will it derail the industry?
President Donald Trump’s order has no immediate effect on offshore wind leases already authorized, including two large areas off California’s coast. But it sends a current of uncertainty through the fledgling renewable energy industry, which relies on federal and state support.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘Devastating’ layoff notices hit California disabled prison contractors after union dispute
Dozens of disabled workers hired through the nonprofit PRIDE Industries are losing their jobs at a California prison after a union outsourcing dispute.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Trump takes step to overhaul Delta water deliveries to farms, cities
President Donald Trump is aiming to override new Biden-Newsom water delivery rules that have widespread support among Southern California cities and some Central Valley farmers.
Posted inLatest News
Private firefighters are increasingly popular with insurers. But do they pose a risk?
A growing and controversial ecosystem of private firefighting companies have seen themselves thrust into the spotlight as some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Los Angeles have gone up in flames. It includes firefighters directly contracted with government agencies as well as those who work for insurance companies and directly for rich families and developers.