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Firefighting Foam Leaves Toxic Legacy In Californians’ Drinking Water

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Times by David S. Cloud

It was a Sunday tradition at Bethany Slavic Missionary Church. After morning services, Florin Ciuriuc joined the line of worshipers waiting to fill their jugs with gallons of free drinking water from a well on the property, a practice church leaders had encouraged.

“I take it for my office every week,” said Ciuriuc, a 50-year-old Romanian immigrant and a founding member of the largely Russian-speaking church, which claims 7,000 congregants.

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Water Interests Are fighting California’s Bid To Block Trump’s Environmental Rollbacks

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Phil Willon

California is close to adopting strict Obama-era federal environmental and worker safety rules that the Trump administration is dismantling. But as the legislative session draws to a close, the proposal faces fierce opposition from the state’s largest water agencies.
To shield California from Trump administration policies, lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow state agencies to lock in protections under the federal Endangered Species Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Fair Labor Standards Act and other bulwark environmental and labor laws that were in place before President Trump took office in January 2017.

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California’s Population Growth Is The Slowest In Recorded History

/in , /by /The Los Angeles Timesby Javier Panzar and Sarah Parvini

California’s 2018 population growth was the slowest in state history, new demographic data show underscoring shifting immigration patterns, declining birthrates and economic strains that are making it harder for some to afford living here. The state added 186,807 residents last year, bringing the estimated total population to 39,927,315 as of Jan. 1, according to estimates released by the state Department of Finance on Wednesday. The overall growth rate slipped to 0.47% last year from 0.78% in 2017, the slowest since data collection started in 1900, department spokesman H.D. Palmer said.

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Will Newsom End Oil Drilling In California? Many Environmentalists Are Betting Yes

/in , /by /The Los Angeles Timesby Phil Willon

California’s legacy of oil drilling should be just that, many environmentalists argue  relegated to the history books. They are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to ban new oil and gas drilling in California and completely phase out fossil fuel extraction in one of the nation’s top petroleum-producing and gasoline consuming  states.

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Imperial Irrigation District Sues To Block Colorado River Drought Plan

/in , , /by /The Los Angeles Timesby Bettina Boxall

Just as a long-negotiated agreement for how California and six other Western states will deal with drought on the Colorado River was about to cross the finish line, the river’s biggest user put up a roadblock. The Imperial Irrigation District in southeast California filed a lawsuit Tuesday asking a state court to block the plan until more analysis is done on the accord’s environmental impacts.

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L.A. weather Shifts As Gray Skies Make Way For A Spike In Temperatures

/in , /by /The Los Angeles Timesby Hannah Fry

The ominous gray clouds hovering above Los Angeles on Tuesday aren’t likely to produce much more than the occasional sprinkle for the region before summer-like temperatures return later in the week. The dash of moisture, which forecasters say will be mostly focused on the northern slopes of Ventura and Los Angeles counties, is the result of a low-pressure system known as an inside slider that’s moving over the inland portion of the state.

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