Consumer Watchdog
"Allstate, the sixth largest home insurance company in California, had sought the rate increase premised on written assurances that it was continuing to sell homeowners policies to new customers." … more »
Beth LaBerg KQED
"Harris-Green and other residents are wrestling with officials they don't trust for agency over climate plans and flood protections, vowing that Marin City won't continue to be neglected. They are calling for reparations to repair the harm caused by decades of government inaction." … more »
Fire in Marin
"One of California’s top elected officials on Monday announced steps to limit how housing and other developments can be built in areas that are at highest risk of wildfire, a move that follows a series of deadly, destructive blazes in recent years but also comes amid the state’s persistent housing shortage." … more »
Ocean Voyages Institute
"A Sausalito-based cargo ship is concluding its 40-day mission to pick up as much plastic as possible around the Pacific Ocean, and it’s set to dock in the Bay Area this week. … more »
Jason Hickey.Flickr
"In a broad victory for government transparency, an appeals court has ruled that the California Public Utilities Commission must comply with a state law requiring all agencies to promptly release information to the public." … more »
Airbnb
"Ever since Airbnb came on the scene in 2008, there have been concerns that the short-term-rental company would deplete the housing stock by sucking up available rooms, causing prices to rise in cities like New York and San Francisco. There are now bidding wars for one in every five Manhattan rental apartments." … more »
California National Guard
"What happens when watchdogs seek records about possible wrongdoing? They hit roadblocks set up a century ago to frustrate robber barons." … more »
County Register
"The California Coastal Commission wants San Luis Obispo County to immediately halt all new water-using development, including housing, in Los Osos and Cambria. That’s according to two letters written by Central Coast District Director Dan Carl and sent to the county Planning and Building Department on April 19th" … more »
CA Dept. of Water Resources
"The droughts that swept across the western US in 2021 sparked wildfires and damaged crops. But the historic lack of water also had an impact on one of California’s key sources of renewable energy: hydropower." … more »
Koen Olthuis-Waterstudio
"Faced with worsening floods and a shortage of housing, the Netherlands is seeing growing interest in floating homes. These floating communities are inspiring more ambitious Dutch-led projects in flood-prone nations, from French Polynesia to the Maldives." … more »