By Peter Wallsten and Tom Hamburger, Washington Post Billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, whose record-breaking campaign spending in 2012 made him an icon of the new super-donor era, is leveraging that newfound status in an escalating feud with industry rivals over the future of gambling. Adelson, best known for building upscale casino resorts in Nevada […]
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By Bill Lindelof , Sacramento Bee The California Highway Patrol is investigating the death of a U.S. Forest Service firefighter who appears to have been run over by a car filled with his colleagues on a road in Yuba County over the weekend. Michael Patrick Kelly II, 32, who served as a squad boss on […]
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By Niraj Chokshi, Washington Post The income gap in America has been widening for decades and the modest three-year recovery did little to change that, according to Census data. The new data suggest that despite modest recoveries in many states, the middle class has been shrinking while households have been added in the lowest and […]
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By Kathryn Reed Prosecuting bad guys is what Vicki Ashworth has been doing for the last 16 years. Now she wants to be the judge in those cases. Ashworth is running for the El Dorado County Superior Court judgeship being vacated by Doug Phimister. For the past 14 years Ashworth has worked in the El […]
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By Kendall Taggart, Center for Investigative Reporting Judith Johnson of Stacyville, Iowa, doesn’t get out much anymore. Legally blind and living on a small Social Security pension, the 72-year-old used to go to church once a week. She stopped out of fear that her new walker would snag on the railroad tracks she had to […]
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By Peter Hecht, Sacramento Bee In the old Gold Rush town of Placerville, born from rough-hewn mining camps, a heralded social experiment packed up its tents last week. After just more than 16 months, Hangtown Haven, a self-governing tent city of homeless residents grappling with mental illness, alcoholism and other life issues, is closing. Its […]
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By Jon Erdman, Weather Channel The first 10 months of 2013 have been the driest such period on record in California, dating to 1895, according to the National Climatic Data Center. Compare the rainfall so far in 2013 with the average-to-date totals through Nov. 14. Some locations are running over 20-inch precipitation deficits for the […]
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By Kathryn Reed Survival of the honeybee is of much greater importance than whether or not there will be honey on store shelves. “We are having a hard time keeping bees alive … mostly the honeybees,” John Miller, president of the California State Beekeepers Association, told Lake Tahoe News. “Domestic honeybees are the global champions […]
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By Cy Ryan, Las Vegas Sun CARSON CITY — The Sierra Club is dropping its opposition to the $5.6 billion sale of NV Energy to billionaire Warren Buffett. Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. reached the deal to acquire NV Energy, Nevada’s primary electric utility, in May. NV Energy is the parent company of Nevada Power […]
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By John Flesher, AP TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Federal agencies will provide better and more accessible information about matters such as long-term weather prospects and soil moisture levels under a program designed to help communities prepare for future droughts and respond more effectively when they happen, Obama administration officials said Thursday. The U.S. Department of […]
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