A 4.3-magnitude earthquake was strong enough to rattle nerves in the middle of the night, especially in the heavily populated East Bay where it was centered.

© John G Mabanglo/EPA, via Shutterstock

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill to prevent federal agents from concealing their identities with masks. The law is expected to face a legal challenge.

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Public health advocates hoped that the measles outbreak might persuade the reluctant to get shots. That has not turned out to be true.

A hazy cloud that emerged over the active volcano was the result of high winds rather than a new eruption.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic state lawmakers have focused on pocketbook concerns this year, seeing their party’s national losses as a reckoning.

© Loren Elliott for The New York Times

Giant sequoias can live for thousands of years, but wildfires have killed staggering numbers of the trees in recent years.

© Noah Berger/Associated Press