Wildfires

California fire costs burn up the budget, environmentalists criticize Jerry Brown on oil, female surfers got pay equity at Mavericks, plus beer and the quiz.

The Cadiz water project, Steve Ballmer's Inglewood arena, ZEVs, clean water and cannabis are on tap for California lawmakers. Also: climate change sticker shock, net neutrality, #metoo, In-N-Out, Labor Day and more.

As California lawmakers addressed epic wildfires this week, there was an inescapable subtext: Climate change will be staggeringly expensive, and we'll all pay for it.

Calfornia shelved a big police reform bill, the bail bonds industry announced plans to launch a referendum, SB 100 went to the goverrnor, and a lead paint deal failed.

Lawmakers hope to manage California's forests better, partly by thinning the trees. Here's why that's not a simple task.

The Assembly approved the nation's toughest clean energy legislation, committing California to 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2045, and Gov. Jerry Brown signed landmark bail reform into law.

Soaring claims for fire damage are driving up premiums in the Sierra foothills and other fire-prone areas. Legislators seem likely to adjourn for the year without real relief for homeowners who are unable to buy fire insurance.

Of all the constituencies clamoring for help as firenados ravage California, homeowners worried about their fire insurance seem among the least likely this year to get legislative relief.

Compromise seemed distant as legislators raced to complete a final report on the issue of wildfire liability by week’s end. Organized labor and trial lawyers clashed.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to limit electric utilities’ liability costs for future fires faced tough questions at a committee hearing even as utility representatives said the change is needed to keep them solvent.