In the News
Point Reyes tiny homes open doors
by Sage Rios Mace
Three years ago in November, Enrique Hernandez set out to gather crisp apples and herbs from the garden beside his home at the Martinelli ranch. With his harvest, he baked a postre de manzana to celebrate the 94th birthday of Leroy Martinelli, a former rancher and dump operator whose property housed the trailer Mr. Hernandez lived in for 26 years. Mr. Hernandez recalls that day with a smile. “I brought him the apple tart and everything and said, ‘Look, thank you for this land—this is what it … Continue Reading
July 16, 2026
North Coast Groups Are Suing Over a Rule Change That Could Undo the Klamath River’s Comeback
The wild salmon swimming freely up the undammed Klamath River have become Exhibit A in a looming federal lawsuit. A coalition of North Coast conservation groups intends to sue the Trump administration over its new reading of the Endangered Species Act, which holds that destroying a species’ habitat no longer counts as harm. The Western Environmental Law Center, the Environmental Protection Information Center, the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center and Cascadia Wildlands plan to file in federal … Continue Reading
July 15, 2026
Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center plans fundraiser for renovations
by Keri Brenner
The Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center is planning a benefit on July 26 to raise more money for renovations. The center timed the event to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Ethel Seiderman, who founded the organization in 1973 with her husband Stan Seiderman. The couple started the center to meet a need for affordable childcare and family support services. “It’s going to be a real Ethel love-fest,” said Dave Cort, the former executive director of the San Geronimo Valley Community … Continue Reading
July 14, 2026
Marin County water utility seals deal for Sonoma County pipeline project
by Adrian Rodriguez
The Marin Municipal Water District is entering a $2.65 million deal with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to advance a major drought resiliency project. The water district board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the partnership agreement, charging the Army Corps to support the “atmospheric river capture” project. The project is a proposed pipeline that would replenish Marin reservoirs with Sonoma County rainwater during droughts. Under the agreement, the Army Corps will design a section … Continue Reading
July 14, 2026
U.S. Rep. Huffman: ‘Trump is … pushing species to the brink of extinction’
by Robert Schaulis
This Tuesday morning, a coalition of conservation interests filed suit against the federal government in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. That coalition is objecting to a rule change, enacted by the Departments of Commerce and Interior this week, that would change the way federal agencies define “harm” under the Endangered Species Act. According to the lawsuit’s plaintiffs, the Commerce and Interior Departments’ changes, which will redefine “harm” as … Continue Reading
July 13, 2026
Salmon fishing resumes off California coast for first time since 2022. Here’s what that means
by Anna Armstrong
Commercial and recreational salmon fishing has resumed off the North Coast after a three-year statewide closure, marking a long-awaited milestone for a troubled industry that has endured historic losses in revenue and resources. Charter captains are reporting abundant catches out of Bodega Bay, and commercial boats up and down the coast are again unloading hauls of the prized West Coast staple for the first time since 2022. Still, the reopening is far from a return to normal, industry … Continue Reading
July 12, 2026
Trump opens protected Pacific waters to commercial fishing
by Jennifer Yachnin
The Trump administration struck down prohibitions on commercial fishing Thursday across more than 500,000 square miles of marine national monuments in the Pacific Ocean, as environmental groups vowed to challenge the action in federal court. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to open the Mariana Trench, Papahanaumokuakea and Rose Atoll marine national monuments to commercial fisherman, removing restrictions put in place under the George W. Bush and Obama … Continue Reading
July 08, 2026
Dems request probe of offshore agency reorganization
by Hannah Northey and Ian Stevenson
Top Democrats on Wednesday called on Congress' watchdog to investigate the Trump administration’s decision to merge two existing bureaus within the Interior Department to oversee offshore oil and gas, wind and mining. Senate Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and House Natural Resources ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate whether a consolidation could undermine beefed up oversight created after the … Continue Reading
July 08, 2026
Displaced Ranchers Finally Find A Place They Can Call Home
by Staff
A year and a half after 150 ranch workers and families were displaced in a rural part of Marin County where housing is scarce, all 120 who chose to stay are now housed. Getting there required a public shelter crisis, hundreds of hours of hard labor, organizational collaboration and nearly $11 million in private, public and philanthropic funds. Those who made it happen celebrated Wednesday in the gray winds of West Marin at the opening of an interim tiny home community in Point Reyes … Continue Reading
July 04, 2026
Donors duped into giving cash to Trump-backed group instead of bipartisan America 250 team: report
by Joe Sommerlad
Some philanthropists seeking to support America’s 250th anniversary celebrations were misled into paying out their donations to a partisan initiative backed by the White House, House Democrats have alleged. The donors had meant to contribute to America250, a congressionally-chartered board founded a decade ago. But instead they were given routing and account numbers that directed funds to Freedom 250, President Trump’s own organizing effort established last December, according to Democrats … Continue Reading
July 02, 2026
Democrats Accuse Trump-linked fundraisers of fraud over diverted donations for America’s anniversary
by Micheal Biesecker and Josh Boak
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consultants tied to President Donald Trump may have engaged in financial fraud, tricking donors who wanted to support the nation’s bipartisan 250th anniversary organizer into sending their money instead to a rival group set up by his administration, according to a report released Thursday by House Democrats. The report draws in part on interviews by Democratic staffers of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Those interviews suggest that donors seeking to celebrate … Continue Reading
July 02, 2026
Nine years after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico is still waiting for help
by Danica Coto
Less than a quarter of the $14 billion allocated to rebuild Puerto Rico's power grid after Hurricane Maria has reached the island nearly a decade later, according to a federal audit released Wednesday. The U.S. Government Accountability Office found that of the $11 billion FEMA has obligated for grid recovery, only $2.7 billion had been disbursed as of February. The money has largely gone toward equipment, materials and engineering work. "The people of Puerto Rico have waited nine years for … Continue Reading
July 02, 2026
Donors were misled by Trump-backed Freedom 250, House Democrats allege
by Ben Binday and Dan Diamond
Some donors who intended to give money to a bipartisan effort to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary were, instead, steered to a White House-backed initiative under false pretenses, House Democrats allege in a report released Thursday morning, citing whistleblower interviews and newly obtained documents. The donors meant to give money to America250, a congressionally chartered initiative to celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial, according to Democrats on the House Natural Resources … Continue Reading
July 02, 2026
House Democrats accuse Trump’s Freedom 250 of misleading donors, potential wire fraud
by Ashleigh Fields
Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee released an interim report on Thursday alleging Freedom 250 potentially misled donors, directing them to complete payments that were rerouted. “According to sources interviewed by Committee Democrats, donors who intended to donate to America250 were instead given wire instructions with Freedom 250’s banking information—including its routing number and account number—so that contributions would instead flow to Freedom 250,” the House report … Continue Reading
July 02, 2026
ENERGY The Wind and Solar Tax Credits Are About to Expire. Will They Come Back?
by Emily Pontecorvo
As many Americans celebrate the country’s 250th birthday this weekend, the clean energy industry will be mourning a death. Independence Day marks the expiration of federal tax credits for wind farms and solar arrays, subsidies that have been in effect in some form or another since 1978. They may not be dead forever. Leading Democrats in Congress are preparing to reinstate the tax credits the next chance they get — whether or not the clean energy industry is asking for it. “Republicans … Continue Reading
July 02, 2026
A Firm Run by Trump Allies is Organizing the 250th. Their Fee? Unclear.
by David A. Fahrenthold and Andrea Fuller
A company with deep ties to President Trump is organizing some of the biggest events in Washington this weekend, including the Great American State Fair and the record-breaking fireworks display planned for Saturday. Those events will be funded, in part, by $68 million in taxpayer money. But because the Trump administration has routed those funds through an opaque nonprofit, it is unclear how much the company close to the president will receive. Event Strategies, Inc., a Virginia-based … Continue Reading
July 02, 2026
House Democrats accuse Trump of 'hijacking' America's 250th birthday for his own gain
by Rachel Treisman
As America's birthday celebrations kick into high gear, so too do criticisms of the preeminent national group organizing them, Freedom 250. Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee published a 55-page report Thursday accusing the group of aiding President Trump in turning America's milestone into a "hotbed of corruption and self-enrichment" through tactics that potentially amount to criminal fraud. It's titled "From Vanity to Insanity: How the White House Cheated the American … Continue Reading
July 02, 2026
Trump-backed organizer of America’s 250th birthday events may have duped donors, report from House Democrats alleges
by Piper Hudspeth Blackburn
Donors who intended to support a bipartisan nonprofit that’s organizing celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary were allegedly redirected — without their knowledge — to a separate nonprofit behind events being promoted by President Donald Trump, according to a report from a group of House Democrats, citing confidential, unnamed sources. The interim report, compiled by Democratic staff on the House Natural Resources Committee, includes accounts from unnamed sources about donors who wanted … Continue Reading
June 30, 2026
Panel to consider national park, recreation bills
by Jennifer Yachnin
House Natural Resources subcommittee will meet this week to discuss a slate of bills, including a proposal to create Georgia's first national park and to speed permitting for recreation projects on public lands. The Subcommittee on Federal Lands will hold a Wednesday hearing on seven measures. They include Colorado Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd's H.R. 9248, the Recreation Permitting Improvement Act. That proposal would add "recreation" to the list of industries eligible for a condensed … Continue Reading
June 29, 2026
Redwood High student’s winning photo to be sealed in time capsule for 250 years
by Ruth Dusseault
A Redwood High School student in Larkspur won an art competition in which the prize includes delivering his art into the next century. Joel Kurtzman was named the winner of the 2026 Congressional Art Competition for California’s 2nd Congressional District, earning a yearlong display of his photograph in the U.S. Capitol before it is sealed in a time capsule for 250 years. ... For full article, click … Continue Reading