Sharon McNary

If a regional blackout hit LAX, only two of the airport’s terminals have the backup power systems sufficient to keep planes and passengers moving. Early Wednesday, airport operators cut off power to Terminal 2 to test how well it could function on backup power.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors moved a step closer to putting a measure before voters that would give the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission subpoena power.

Power lines operated by big utilities have sparked some of California's largest fires. Southern California Edison has announced its plan to raise nearly $600 million from ratepayers to make those fires less likely.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power got cited by the EPA a couple of years ago for bulldozing eight acres of wetlands the utility owns in Granada Hills. This week, DWP agreed to pay penalties of more than $5 million.

Even if your home made it intact through a big wildfire, your insurance company could still cancel your coverage. The state legislature has now passed Senate Bill 824, by Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Huntington Park) that could ease the insurance hunt for those whose homes survived.

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is offering $100 million in rebates to owners who add or augment attic insulation. Insulation helps reduce the loss of winter heat and summer cooling through the roof, and it helps save on electricity and gas use.

Twenty-one Southern California airports now use more precise satellite-guided flight paths under a new FAA program that was completed this year. But newly proposed updates to two routes out of Burbank are raising concerns in Sherman Oaks.

In just the last four years, birds have hit aircraft at LAX more than 500 times. One bird caused $1.5 million dollars in damage when it hit a 747 two years ago.

The time may have passed when certain bodily functions were off limits in polite conversation. After all, social media's "poop" emoji got a prominent role in a recent kids' film.

The Los Angeles City Council has voted to provide nearly one billion dollars in tax breaks to large developments since 2005. Downtown hotels that got millions of dollars of tax breaks each have become our modern-day landmarks.