Monarch butterflies, which once migrated in the tens of thousands to Pacific Grove, have fallen to 228 in the latest count in early December. Advocates welcomed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s announcement Tuesday recommending that monarchs be protected under the Endangered Species Act. Thousands of monarchs have historically overwintered in Pacific Grove in Monterey … Read more
Six former Apple employees have been charged with tricking the tech company into matching thousands of dollars in donations to children’s charities, when they weren’t donating anything. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday that over three years, the six tech employees defrauded both the state of California and Apple’s Matching Gifts Program. … Read more
BART said Tuesday that train fares will go up 5.5% on Jan. 1. BART said in a statement the increase will be “to keep pace with inflation so that the agency is able to pay for continued operations and to work toward restoring financial stability.” BART said its current funding model relies on passenger fares … Read more
Bird flu virus was detected in a retail sample of raw milk from the Raw Farm dairy of Fresno County, state health officials said Sunday, Nov. 24. An infected sample was collected by Santa Clara County Public Health on Nov. 21. County officials have been testing raw milk products in retail stores “as a second … Read more
A slipped ankle tendon sounds like something attributed to a hulking NFL star on a team injury report. But for a small penguin, such an injury used to mean amputation or even death. No more, said the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. One of the academy’s endangered African penguin chicks — part of … Read more
The California quail, majestic redwoods and glowing orange poppy can now welcome two animal icons to the state’s lineup of official symbols: Dungeness crab and banana slugs. On Oct. 4, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1797, naming the Dungeness crab the official state crustacean, and Assembly Bill 1850, which established the banana slug as … Read more
Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed a bill that allows some renters to allow their landlords to report their positive rent payments into a credit bureau agency. Assembly Bill 2747, sponsored by Assemblymember Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, was created to allow renters to see a positive impact on their credit score when they pay their … Read more
California condors are moving farther into the East Bay. Seven of the endangered birds flew north into Alameda and Contra Costa counties on a circuitous aerial tour on Aug. 18, the conservation group Save Mount Diablo said Monday. The three-hour flight began shortly after noon, when they left their previous evening’s roost site south of … Read more
In a first of its kind lawsuit, California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday accused ExxonMobil of a decades-long greenwashing strategy that falsely promises recycling will address the global plastics pollution crisis. In a double-barreled approach, a second lawsuit was filed against ExxonMobil by a coalition of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, … Read more
A Cal Fire firefighter was arrested Friday for allegedly igniting five fires in the North Bay in recent weeks when he was off duty. At 8 a.m. Friday, Cal Fire law enforcement officers arrested 38-year-old Robert Hernandez of Healdsburg at the agency’s Howard Forest station in Mendocino County on suspicion of arson to forest land … Read more