Central Valley

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers are revisiting a San Joaquin River restoration plan even as it comes under sustained pressure over funding and how it would work.

When officials decided not to stop the Tehipite fire east of Fresno, they got three big payoffs -- a cheaper fire to manage, reduced risk for firefighters and cleanup of dangerously overgrown forest.

Bailout stirs talk of revolt in GOP Valley Republicans are upset with Radanovich. By John Ellis / The Fresno Bee 10/12/08 22:32:32 Some prominent local Republicans are fed up with congressional representatives from their own party -- and Rep. George Radanovich is at the top of the list.

PORTERVILLE -- National forests and parks, long popular with Mexican marijuana-growing cartels, have become home to some of the most polluted pockets of wilderness in America because of the toxic chemicals needed to eke lucrative harvests from rocky mountainsides, federal officials said.

The scene is familiar in neighborhoods throughout the Valley: a dead lawn, debris in front and a murky swimming pool in back, sure signs of a foreclosed home.

FRESNO -- When a Mammoth Lakes hiker last week found some belongings of missing aviator Steve Fossett, he returned to the area the next day with a TV cameraman and a local bear guru.

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill that sought to give more cash assistance to Valley farmworkers hurt by the drought, saying the extra payments would stretch the state's "fragile" unemployment insurance fund.

The U.S. government spent $2.56 trillion domestically in 2007, but relatively few federal funds ended up in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

An economist told the California High Speed Rail Authority board Wednesday that the proposed rail system, subject of a $9.95 billion bond issue on the Nov. 4 ballot, will provide an economic boon to the Central Valley. The study, funded by the authority, was presented to the board during a meeting in Fresno.

The wreckage of Steve Fossett's plane has been found in the Mammoth Lakes area, 13 months after the adventurer vanished during a solo flight.

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers who blanched at a $700 billion financial rescue package have found time to honor the brave men who climbed Yosemite National Park's El Capitan peak a half-century ago.

WASHINGTON -- Political maneuvering over the San Joaquin River's future continues even as Congress grinds to a halt.

Bolstering the number of Central Valley residents attending college takes everyone's help, from educators in preschools to those at universities.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A coalition of Spanish-language media and community organizations kicked off a massive voter registration drive Thursday, aiming to register nearly one million Hispanic voters.

SAN FRANCISCO -- California vintners are bringing in the grape harvest this month after a challenging year that started with unusually sharp frosts and moved on to smoky summer wildfires.