Sharon McNary

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 'new normal' for California fire season has SoCal Edison officials looking at ways to harden the power grid in an effort to prevent as many fires as possible.

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.

L.A.'s fire, police and emergency management departments all have their own way of notifying us in a disaster. That is, if you've signed up for alerts.

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.

Proposed changes will send planes south over the Santa Monica Mountains along two new flight paths that could affect Studio City and Sherman Oaks.

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.

Three natural gas pipelines cross Morongo land in Riverside County. SoCal Gas had just a few days left to make a deal -- and avoid increasing the likelihood of sudden summer power outages.

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.

That acrid chemical odor and your stinging eyes are not from the chlorine. Yes, there's likely pee (or worse) in your public pool. Here's how you can help improve the water quality.