California

California's Senate narrowly passes a ban on BPA, a chemical that threatens child development, in baby bottles and sippy cups. Industry groups are mounting a big PR and lobbying blitz to stop it in the state Assembly.

Some California farmers are depleting the groundwater beneath their land faster than nature can recharge it -- and climate change is likely to make things worse. While farmers resist regulating groundwater use, critics argue that not doing it "could prove catastrophic to the state’s real estate sector and its $36 billion agricultural economy."

"Thousands of Santa Barbara residents are being allowed to return home as low winds and dramatically cooler temperatures have given firefighters the upper hand in their assault on the 6-day-old Jesusita fire, which stretches for five miles."

"SAN FRANCISCO -- A Bay Area oyster cannery in an estuary slated to become a federal wilderness area is at the heart of a battle pitting proponents of fishing and local food production against environmental advocates."