By PETER FIMRITE, San Francisco Chronicle

The ferocious great white sharks of Northern California spend their time devouring sea lions, traveling, mating and, occasionally, touring San Francisco Bay, but they never socialize with sharks from other regions, according to a new study.

Mexican drug traffickers have expanded their marijuana-growing operations in California parks as state and local governments have tightened spending and slashed jobs and services.

The tree-strangling pathogen that causes sudden oak death is baffling scientists even after 14 years on its trail.
The latest puzzle for sleuths in the field and laboratory is how the microscopic misfit manages to survive in waterways after all known sources and hosts have been removed.

Game wardens across California are finding that hard economic times can be deadly for animals. They're being killed, captured and sold on the black market or butchered for valuable body parts in unprecedented numbers, state officials said.

The expected transformation of California's climate this century will mean significant increases in the number and scope of wild fires and could bring major changes in wildlife habitat and the health of the state's 31 million acres of forest, according to the team of scientists.

On a steep hill in a thickly wooded area of Mount Tamalpais, Eddie Alvarez was swinging a pick.
He was part of a crew of California Conservation Corps workers digging dirt, hauling rocks and building wooden bridges Monday in an effort to make the trail next to the Pantoll Ranger station accessible to people in wheelchairs.

The valley known as Perazzo Meadows is a stunning landscape of woods and watershed habitat surrounded by glimmering Sierra Nevada peaks, but there is more to the high-country Shangri-La than sheer beauty.

The "drill, baby, drill" chant may fire up supporters of Big Oil, but it does not reflect the feelings of most Western voters, according to a new poll released Wednesday.If anything, the poll indicates voters in California, Oregon and Washington would like to yell out to those who will listen, "alternatives, sweetie, alternatives!"

BEIJING -- It is hard to see what the modernization of Beijing and the glitz and glamor of China's Olympic coming-out party are doing for the residents of the city's Suo Jia area.

Friday's Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics will mark the start of a two-week series of dreams-come-true for athletes from around the world. But only once they have gone home will another U.S. athlete, Scott Winkler, get his chance for glory in Beijing.