EnvironmentCalifornia farmers turn to agave amid drought conditions and climate changeSeptember 9, 2024 | Manola SecairaFarmers in California are trying to plant crops that don’t require a lot of water. Some are turning to growing agave as a response to a warming state. Listen /Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
EnvironmentDrought and climate change make agave an appealing California crop. Now, distillers look to turn it into spiritsSeptember 9, 2024 | Manola SecairaClimate change and drought has driven California farmers to seek more resilient crops — like agave. And as the crop takes off, distillers have started making their own California agave spirits.
EnvironmentMore extreme heat + more people = danger in these California cities. ‘Will it get as hot as Death Valley?’September 6, 2024Inland communities with big population booms will experience the most extreme heat days under climate change projections. The combination puts more people at risk — and many cities are unprepared.
Sacramento RegionWhat’s causing respiratory problems in South Sacramento? Expanded air monitoring program aims to provide answersSeptember 6, 2024 | Kristin LamThe program aims to improve air quality in the South Sacramento and Florin area, which has high rates of asthma and other respiratory problems.
EnvironmentMeet Corky Quirk, a guide who’s led Sacramento bat tours since 2004September 4, 2024 | Manola SecairaEvery summer, hundreds of thousands of Mexican free-tailed bats roost in the Yolo Causeway and, in the evenings, take flight. It’s a sight that’s attracted Sacramentans and tourists for years. Listen /Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
EnvironmentCalifornians to face steep fines for violating water orders under new legislationSeptember 4, 2024Ranchers who defied a state water order were only fined about $50 each. Under new legislation headed to the governor, some daily fines for water scofflaws can increase 20-fold.
EnvironmentThe Center for Land-Based Learning grows opportunities for beginning farmers with training programAugust 30, 2024Over seven months trainees attend Beginning Farmer Training Program classes twice a week, work in the 1-acre training plot at the Center for Land-Based Learning in Woodland, write their own business plan and sell produce at a farmers market.
EnvironmentCalifornia legislators, Tribal leaders urge Biden administration to designate three national monumentsAugust 28, 2024 | Manola SecairaMonument status could protect these sites, which have historical and cultural importance to multiple California tribes, from development and other harm.
EnvironmentMan accused of starting destructive California wildfire by throwing firework out car windowAugust 28, 2024A 26-year-old man has been accused of igniting a destructive California wildfire in early July by throwing a firework from a car window during hot, dry and windy weather.
EnvironmentSalmon will soon swim freely in the Klamath River for first time in a century once dams are removedAugust 28, 2024For the first time in more than a century, salmon will have free passage along the more than 400 miles of the Klamath River and its tributaries as the largest dam removal project in U.S. history nears completion along the California-Oregon border.