western news

SALT LAKE CITY - Well over a decade ago, Utah dairy farmers operating near a power plant began to complain that inordinate numbers in their herds were getting sick and cows were dying of ailments that should have been treatable.

California students who are bullied at school soon will have a stronger law to back them, legislation that requires additional training for administrators and makes it easier for victims to transfer to another school.

Restoring endangered steelhead trout to the Southern California rivers and streams where they once swam in abundance will cost as much as $2.1 billion over the next 100 years, according to a new federal report.

A controversial state law approved last July amid heated debate isn't likely to affect California classrooms any time soon.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - For more than a quarter-century, California-based outdoor apparel company Patagonia has contributed 1 percent of its gross revenues to environmental causes and lived by a corporate mission that compels it to make the best products that do the least harm.

California principals are facing shrinking budgets and mounting responsibilities to lead teachers and keep schools running -- creating competing pressures that may make the job untenable, a study has found.

State of Teaching in California

-- The number of students in California schools is on the rise. Meanwhile, the number of teachers has dropped by 13,000 in the past two years.

-- Teacher training has been cut by $100 million since 2007-2008.

-- In 2010-2011, fewer than half of schools surveyed had 180 days in the school year. Two years earlier, they all had 180 days.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Hundreds of new laws will take effect in California beginning Sunday, including those banning minors from using tanning beds, raising the age that children must use car booster seats and prohibiting the open carrying of handguns.

SAN FRANCISCO - Starting Sunday, California will become the first state to try to curb the abuse of over-the-counter cold medicines containing a powerful cough suppressant by requiring consumers to show proof they're over age 18.

The ingredient is dextromethorphan, or DXM, and it's found in popular medications such as Robitussin-DM, Mucinex-DM, Delsym, Coricidin and NyQuil.

The average age of a farmer in California is creeping toward 60, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture is trying to attract newcomers to work the land.