High drama in Sierras
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At least 2 dead as Calif. effort helps find dozens of stranded hikers caught in freak blizzard this week. BY BEN MARGOT. YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif.
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With a clash of mallets and the stomping of jumbo feet that shook the earth, the game was under way. Tense commands were shouted by pith helmeted players tied firmly to their two-ton mounts. The beasts collided and the ball disappeared in a forest of elephantine legs, raising some dust and much laughter. We had just witnessed a classic scrum in the whacky sport of elephant polo.
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By Constance Loizos, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.  Jun.
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By Julia Glick, The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif.  Jun.
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Heavy snow and high wind hampered efforts Wednesday to rescue at least 10 hikers who were stranded by an unusually early winter storm in the Sierra Nevada.
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A wave of poaching has alarmed state and federal wildlife officials in several Western states.
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WALNUT CREEK, Calif. _ For the past 20 years, wildfires in western states have raged more often and more intensely, an alarming trend that has been blamed mostly on decades of aggressive fire suppression and century-old grazing and logging practices.
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With ash drifting down and the Tahoe Basin bathed in milky smoke, firefighters were grateful late Monday that the biggest disaster in the region's history wasn't even more disastrous.  If the treacherous Sierra winds kick up again, however, all bets are off.
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By LEE ROSS Mountain View Telegraph  A rummage sale, a rock quarry and a costly court case are all part of an ongoing dispute between San Pedro Rock and an East Mountains neighborhood association.
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A measure of normalcy began to return to this resort community Thursday, even as crews battled an unpredictable mountain wildfire for a fifth day. Sunbathers ventured to some beaches, and the smoke lurking in the mountains largely cleared.
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By Jessie Mangaliman, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.  Sep. 22--Bay Area park officials are on high alert today through most of Saturday, following a fire weather warning from the National Weather Service.
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Flames leap 200 feet in the air and burn at 2,000 degrees. A rain of fire sets thousands of acres ablaze. The smoke jumpers may get the glory, but the battle is being won by the wildfire-simulation brigade. By Michael Behar from Wired magazine.
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Chapter 342 of the King William Reservoir saga played out recently, the latest in a serial drama that holds hostage both residents and businesses alike on the Peninsula.   In the most recent installment, opponents of the mammoth water project cheered a ruling in their favor.
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A recent standoff between National Guardsmen and heavily armed outlaws along the Mexican border has rattled some troops and raised questions about the rules of engagement for soldiers who were sent to the border in what was supposed to be a backup role.
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WASHINGTON _ Wildfires around California's Lake Tahoe and Alaska's Kenai Peninsula are fanning the firefighting costs that officials are trying to curtail.
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This wrenching political thriller lends a human face to an upheaval so savage it seemed beyond the realm of imagination when news of it filtered into the West.
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By Brier Dudley, Seattle Times  Feb. 5--When hikers get lost on snowy mountains in the Northwest, it's gripping because the drama happens in our backyard.