Kirk Siegler

Severe drought has left northern Nevada's farmers scrambling to find enough feed for the cows they already have. It comes as farmers are under pressure to expand to provide powdered milk to China.

Eric Garcetti says he wants to reinvent Los Angeles and promote its diversity, food and innovators — but first, he says, he's going to focus on a less-glamorous agenda: infrastructure.

In a warming world, extreme droughts are predicted to become more common. Amid the historic drought gripping California and much of the West Coast, scientists are studying how states can manage with a lot less water in the future.

Roughly a million barrels of oil are being drilled from the North Dakota plains every day. Tens of millions of dollars have been put toward infrastructure for transporting that oil out of state, but recent derailments and explosions involving oil tanker trains are prompting calls for a slow-down.

With thousands of oil-related jobs in western North Dakota, some of the region's new workers are putting down roots. But many more commute from states where jobs are hard to come by — and that can mean being separated from spouses and children for weeks at a time.

Rough-and-tumble towns have popped up in areas once dominated by sleepy farming hamlets. Black gold has brought big-money jobs, but housing is expensive, crime has spiked, and water is running out.

Now is a good time to spot gray whales off the coast of Southern California, but scientists have been seeing an unusually high number of other whales. "The fact that we're getting a chance to see at this time of year fin whales, blue whales, is really a mystery," says a marine biologist.

Thirty-four firefighters died in the line of duty this year. The unusually high number is sparking a larger conversation about the dangers firefighters face as more homes are built in and around drought-stricken forests.

The Los Angeles County supervisor wants to create an independent commission to oversee the department following charges of inmate abuse and racial profiling.

Colorado enacted several tough gun control measures after the shooting in Newtown, Conn. — and then voters ousted two lawmakers who backed those laws. One former senator says he has no regrets, while the man who helped remove him is now focused on other gun rights supporters.

On Monday, federal prosecutors announced indictments against 18 current and former deputies of the L.A. Sheriff's department for corruption and civil rights abuses inside the nation's largest municipal jail system.

Railroads are increasingly becoming the preferred means of shipping the masses of oil being produced in North Dakota and surrounding states. The railroad industry is eager to fill in for the lack of pipeline capacity. But some say the train growth needs to slow down.