There's really no such thing as a bad year for wildflowers, but some are more glorious than others. Admittedly, 2013 hasn't been a great year for spring color displays. But there's still time, according to Sierra National Forest botanist Joanna Clines.
Fresno's long fight over animal control appears headed toward an armistice.
FRESNO -- Culinary students from some of the nation's top cooking schools traded their chef coats for sweat shirts to learn how food in the San Joaquin Valley is grown.
LOS BANOS The California Department of Transportation has committed to paying for a traffic light near Los Banos' newest elementary school, taking a financial burden away from the district and guaranteeing that Mercey Springs Elementary will open in August.
ATWATER An inmate shot by a correctional officer earlier this week at U.S. Penitentiary Atwater is expected to survive. The penitentiary released initial details Thursday about the incident that happened earlier in the week, but no one at the prison was available for comment.
ANGELS CAMP Outsiders might not notice some of the biggest changes at the Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee this year: the remodeled goat barn, the buried drains that fixed several muddy spots, or the new roof on one fair building. But county residents know. In fact, many of them are the volunteers that made it happen.
FRESNO If you want to hike to the top of Half Dome this year, pick any day but Saturday.
The Madera County Arts Council's plan for a place to showcase artwork is getting a big boost.The Elaine Secara Trust has donated $2.5 million to the council to help construct and maintain an arts center. The donation was announced at the council's 30th anniversary gala Saturday.
Already reeling from a paltry allocation of federal water from the Central Valley Project, farmers on the west side of the valley were stung last week when their anticipated supplies were cut even further.
SAN FRANCISCO Student enrollment at California's community colleges has fallen dramatically in recent years as campuses slashed teaching staffs and course offerings in response to unprecedented cuts in state funding, according to a report released this week.
The news that federal funding for the air traffic control tower at Castle Airport is coming to an end has prompted local officials to consider alternative ways to keep it staffed.
SACRAMENTO If you're reading this, consider yourself served. The state of California has filed a civil case against everyone -- literally, the whole world -- seeking to validate $8.6 billion in voter-approved bonds for its $69 billion high-speed rail project.
WASHINGTON -- A long-running Sierra Nevada forest planning dispute will be settled by the Supreme Court in what could shape up to be a crucial public lands case.
Spring started at 4:02 a.m. Wednesday, according to scientists who track Earth's axis, but cattle ranchers wouldn't mind if winter stayed around for a little while.
WASHINGTON -- Nearly a dozen burly California raisin growers watched intently Wednesday as Supreme Court justices struggled to figure out how their industry works.
FRESNO -- Cake-batter-flavored vodka from Modesto tied with dried fruit from the Hughson area for a top prize at a major food show.
FRESNO -- The California High-Speed Rail Authority holds most of its board meetings in Sacramento. But a special teleconference meeting Monday offered Fresno-area residents a chance to attend without making the three-hour haul up Highway 99.
Kaiser Permanente has sent notices to members in Stanislaus County that its contract with Emanuel Medical Center expires March 31 and won't be renewed.
SACRAMENTO A massive plan to build plumbing in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California's most important water supply, began trickling out Thursday as state officials released hundreds of pages of draft documents.
WASHINGTON -- Dissident California raisin growers will soon get their day in the Supreme Court sun, with a case that's juicier than it seems.
Since comets are little more than snowballs blazing through space, you never know how spectacular they'll appear to viewers millions of miles distant.
CERES -- Three men died just before dawn Monday after the car they were riding in was struck from behind by a big rig on southbound Highway 99.
TURLOCK Bolt the dog is free, released to a Southern California rescue group earlier this month in a settlement between his owner, Daniel Mendonca, and the city of Turlock.
FRESNO Dianna Hanson first developed a passion for wild animals at age 7 when her mother adopted a tiger in her name.
You won't need mud on your tires or hay bales in your pickup bed to show other motorists that you support farming.
FRESNO Little by little, parts of the San Joaquin River Parkway are becoming more accessible to the public.
FRESNO While many are chattering about high-speed rail these days, state transportation leaders are quietly planning to drop more than $15 billion into California's Amtrak train service -- including a big chunk here in the valley.
FRESNO The prospect of construction jobs in the recession-weary San Joaquin Valley long has been a selling point for proponents of California's $68 billion high-speed rail project.
FRESNO Joe Bigham, a longtime Associated Press correspondent for the San Joaquin Valley, loved his family, his profession and his role mentoring young journalists, said those who knew him.
SACRAMENTO -- Lane splitting.
It may be a little late in the game, but a Madera County supervisor is floating a last-ditch alternative for a high-speed train route between Merced and Fresno.
FRESNO -- Bans on burning wood in fireplaces have plummeted more than 50 percent in the San Joaquin Valley -- the benefit of better air movement compared to the stagnant winter of 2011-12.
California is poised to shatter an all-time weather record with the driest January-February period in recorded history across much of the Sierra Nevada. That's bad news for valley farmers who depend on precipitation to fill a system of reservoirs with the water that's needed to irrigate their crops.
FRESNO A federal jury in Fresno on Tuesday convicted the operator of an Atwater tax consulting business for impersonating an aide to former Rep. Dennis Cardoza in an attempt to deceive a client. Susan Tomsha-Miguel, 52, was convicted of impersonating a federal officer or employee.
A collection of landowners whose properties are in the path of proposed high-speed trains in Madera and Fresno counties have dropped their lawsuit against the California High-Speed Rail Authority.
