By PETER FIMRITE, San Francisco Chronicle

The first wild gray wolf to enter California in almost a century is roaming the forests of eastern Shasta County looking for a mate that he may never find.

SAN FRANCISCO - Marine scientists are trying to find out why previously unknown blooms of toxic algae are suddenly proliferating along the California coast, killing wildlife and increasing the risk of human sickness.

SAN FRANCISCO - Environmental regulators walked gingerly along California's San Leandro shoreline recently, keeping a sharp eye out for the elusive wildlife killer known as the "nurdle."

"I've got one," said Jared Blumenfeld, regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, after scooping one out of a worker's net. In his palm was a tiny white pellet.

For fifty bucks, even you can swan around with a title fit for the Scottish gentry and, if you see fit, wear plaid kilts and tartan dresses.

An organization dedicated to the preservation of Scotland's disintegrating woodlands is offering California residents the title of Lord or Lady if they buy a square foot of dirt in the old country.

SAN FRANCISCO - Early fall rain has so far put the kibosh on the big fires that historically crackle through California this time of year, immolating neighborhoods and darkening the skies with smoke.

But that's nothing that a few weeks of sun and a bit of wind couldn't fix, according to fire officials.

SAN FRANCISCO - The harbor porpoise that washed ashore last month at San Francisco's Fort Funston was clearly a victim of foul play.

SAN FRANCISCO - Federal wildlife regulators admitted Wednesday that a "no-otter zone" established in Southern California 24 years ago was a failure and proposed scrapping the experimental program to establish a sea otter colony on a remote island off Santa Barbara.

SAN FRANCISCO - Filmmaker Alden Olmsted's effort to prevent California state parks from closing fits every known definition of a grassroots campaign.

Death is always near for the surfers at Mavericks Beach , which is why the daredevils who ride the monstrous breaks would like rescuers with potentially life-saving Jet Skis to be closer still.

The question is whether environmental laws should be changed to protect the safety of a group of thrill-seekers.

SAN FRANCISCO - Pacific Gas and Electric Co. announced that it is prepared to buy homes and farms in the Mojave Desert town of Hinkley, Calif., that are threatened by chemically laced groundwater flowing underneath the beleaguered farming community.