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SACRAMENTO California sues Trump administration over fracking rule
California’s attorney general is suing the Trump administration for rolling back a fracking rule that he says is designed to protect public health and the environment.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the lawsuit as he celebrated his first year as California’s top law enforcement official.
He says his office has filed 25 lawsuits against President Donald Trump’s administration.
The latest suit challenges the federal Bureau of Land Management’s rollback of a major rule last month governing fracking, which cracks open underground oil and gas deposits with pressurized water, sand and chemicals. The rule would require drilling companies to disclose the chemicals they use for fracking.
SAN LUIS OBISPO Cal Poly San Luis Obispo dedicates solar farm
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo now has a 4.5 megawatt solar farm that is expected to generate about 25 percent of the university’s total electrical needs.
The installation dedicated Wednesday is Cal Poly’s first major energy project since announcing a goal of climate neutrality and is expected to save $10 million on utility bills over 20 years.
The 18.5-acre solar farm has more than 16,000 individual solar panels with tracking technology to follow the sun across the sky.
Academic applications include a solar engineering and microgrid laboratory for experiments in solar technology.
Cal Poly’s Animal Science program will use the site to research vegetation management practices for utility scale solar farms by grazing the site with its sheep herd.
BEVERLY HILLS Quake fault runs under Beverly Hills’ famed Rodeo Drive
A new map says an earthquake fault runs under the world-famous Rodeo Drive shopping district in Beverly Hills.
The California Geological Survey map released earlier this month used additional information to track a fault that originally was thought to end on the city’s western edge.
The Los Angeles Times reports Wednesday that the Santa Monica fault zone actually extends another mile from West Los Angeles through the Beverly Hills central district and into the civic center area.
Scientists believe the fault could produce a magnitude-7 earthquake but the last temblor on the fault occurred at least 1,000 years ago.
California law bars new development on top of fault lines so the discovery could limit future construction projects there.
OXNARD Person killed, dog rescued after car plunges into ocean
Authorities say one person was killed when a car flew off Pacific Coast Highway and plunged into the ocean in Southern California.
The California Highway Patrol says a dog was rescued from the submerged vehicle after the crash Tuesday evening near Mugu Rock in Ventura County.
All lanes of the PCH were closed while crews pulled the wrecked car out of the water near the surfline.
The person who was killed has not been identified.
Photos from the scene show the rescued dog wrapped in blankets in the back of a vehicle.
LOS ANGELES 8,000 volunteers counting homeless in Los Angeles County
Nearly 8,000 volunteers are fanning out as part of a three-night effort to count homeless people in most of Los Angeles County.
The count organized by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority kicked off from various deployment sites Tuesday and continues Wednesday and Thursday.
The data gathered are used to help officials request and allocate funding for homeless services.
This year’s count comes as money is coming in from two ballot measures. Proposition HHH, approved by voters in 2016, will allow the city of Los Angeles to issue $1.2 billion in bonds to construct housing. Measure H, approved last March, will make $355 million in sales tax revenue available for services across LA County.
The tally will include most of the county — with the cities of Long Beach, Glendale and Pasadena under different jurisdictions.