The battle for the Redwood City salt ponds
REDWOOD CITY — For the past decade, a 1,400-acre salt property in Redwood City has been a community battleground.
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Environment
New smoking ban aims to end cigarette butt litter on state beaches and parks
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law that will ban the use of cigarettes, nicotine and marijuana vapes at state parks and beaches. Starting Jan. 1, the state’s Department of Parks and Recreation will be required to put up no-smoking signs at beaches and parks. There will be a fine up to $25 for a person caught smoking, and it will be considered an infraction.
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San Mateo County will have completely green power by 2025, local agency says
SAN MATEO — By the end of 2019, the Wright Solar Facility in Los Banos will come online, converting that light into renewable energy for more than 100,000 San Mateo County homes. The facility is one local agency’s latest stride toward fulfilling an ambitious promise: supplying enough green power for all of San Mateo County within the next five years.
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Bay Area kid activists are prioritizing climate protests over school plays to save their future
BAY AREA — There is a growing crowd of Bay Area youth climate activists. Youth leaders were some of the critical organizers of the local September climate week, where 40,000 people were out in the streets of San Francisco, a portion of the estimated 7.6 million who struck globally in support of more governmental action to prevent climate change.
Bay Area restaurants tally losses from spoiled food, lost sales from power shutoffs
Pacific Gas and Electric’s late October power shutoffs impacted numerous restaurants in the Bay Area. Restaurants lost food and customers. Picco Restaurant & Pizzeria, a restaurant specialized in California-influenced Neapolitan pizzas in Larkspur, had to close their restaurant Oct. 26 at 2:30 p.m. and reopened on Oct. 29. It estimates its losses at $43,000. The
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University researchers grapple with impacts of power outages
BAY AREA — Universities across the Bay Area have grappled with the impacts of the Kincade Fire and PG&E’s preventive power outages, that left over 1.5 million Californians without of power throughout October.
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Kincade Fire forces adoptable animals to evacuate twice
SACRAMENTO — The Kincade Fire in Sonoma County prompted large-scale evacuations on Oct. 26 and forced thousands of residents to flee their homes. But it wasn’t just humans that were displaced by the fire — pets and animals living at shelters also had to evacuate. The Sacramento Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals took in a total of 42 animals from Sonoma County.
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Half Moon Bay neighbors support the medically vulnerable during power shutoffs
HALF MOON BAY — When the power goes out in Canada Cove, a Half Moon Bay neighborhood for seniors, dozens of residents are unable to use vital medical devices. So neighbors are helping spread support and information, including how to get backup batteries.
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Are pesticides the reason honeybees are in trouble?
SAN MATEO — According to the United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, the number of honeybees declined by 60 percent since 1947. Over the last decade, some environmental activists and scientists pointed to the negative effects of neonicotinoid pesticides as potential reasons for the declines in honeybee colonies. But some members of the San Mateo beekeeper’s guild are citing other explanations
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Hotels, tourism industries in Sonoma and Napa counties see impacts from Kincade Fire
SONOMA COUNTY — Hotels in Sonoma County are experiencing a simultaneous increase in bookings and cancellations as the region’s week-long battle as the Kincade Fire burns.
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Price of fire insurance will continue to rise in wildfire-prone areas, former state insurance commissioner predicts
CALIFORNIA — For many homeowners in California where headline-making wildfires have burned homes, led to power outages and caused billions of dollars in damages, getting property and casualty insurance becomes a key challenge.
As fires rage, California takes steps to integrate technology into wildfire management
CALIFORNIA — In September, even before the October wildfires began to ravage parts of northern and southern California, governor Gavin Newsom announced two contracts totaling nearly $2 million for developing technology to facilitate wildfire detection and emergency decision-making.
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