Ritz-Carlton Hit With $1.6 Million Fine Over Beach Access
The California Coastal Commission fined one of the swankiest hotels on the Central Coast $1.6 million for a continued pattern of preventing access to a nearby public beach.
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California Fines Unpermitted Luxury Hotel $15.6 Million
Sending a message about the value of maintaining affordable visitor accommodations along California’s coast, the state’s Coastal Commission on Wednesday issued its largest fine ever — $15.58 million — to a luxury hotel owner that demolished two affordable motels in Santa Monica to build a high-priced property near the world-famous pier.
Read moreIndia Evacuates 1.2 Million as Cyclone Fani Blasts East Coast
Cyclone Fani tore through India’s eastern coast on Friday as a grade 5 storm, lashing beaches with rain and wind gusting up to 127 miles per hour and affecting weather as far away as Mount Everest.
Read moreCommission Adopts Environmental Justice Guidelines
Low-income communities and people of color will enjoy fuller access to California’s beaches thanks to the California Coastal Commission’s adoption of an environmental justice policy Friday that will provide clear guidelines for development projects along the Pacific Coast.
Read moreBeach Fans Cleared to Fight Enclave for Coastal Access
Public access advocates have won a victory in their fight against a wealthy neighborhood’s efforts to keep a an eight-mile stretch of picturesque coastline just north of Los Angeles private.
Read moreNH Court Upholds Beach Ban on Bare-Breasted Ladies
Slamming a razor-thin vote that upheld a New Hampshire beach town’s ban on topless women, the dissenting justices accused the majority Friday of upending the safeguards of equal protection.
Read moreDispatches From the Road: North Sonoma Coast, California
In his latest dispatch, Courthouse News’ western bureau chief goes for a hike at a fishing camp in Northern California.
Read moreCalifornia Intent on Public Access for Beach in Ritzy Enclave
In no uncertain terms, members of the California Coastal Commissioner put property owners in a wealthy enclave north of Los Angeles on notice that their days of blocking the public from accessing an 8-mile stretch of pristine coast will soon be over.
Read more51 Pilot Whales Die in Another Mass Stranding in New Zealand
Fifty-one pilot whales died Friday in a mass stranding in New Zealand, less than a week after 145 pilot whales and nine pygmy killer whales perished in two other unrelated strandings.
Read moreJustices Turn Down California Beach-Access Spat
Among a list of dozens of cases rejected Monday by the Supreme Court is that of a California billionaire trying to make the state pay to use his property as a beach-access point.
Read moreThe Secret to Success Is in the Waves
Even as we prepare to celebrate the first California Surfing Day on Sept. 20, it’s probably not a good idea to let your bosses know you’re taking a long lunch to catch waves.
Read moreFrench Court Upholds Kate Middleton Topless Photos Fine
A French court of appeals has upheld a ruling Wednesday that two directors of French celebrity magazine Closer should be fined a maximum $52,500 for breaching the privacy of Kate Middleton, when publishing topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge sunbathing back in 2012.
Read moreLandslide at Famed Greek ‘Shipwreck’ Beach Injures Woman
Greek authorities have sent fire department rescue crews accompanied by a sniffer dog to a popular secluded beach on the western island of Zakynthos after a landslide Thursday in the cove caused at least one injury.
Read moreCalifornia Coastal Commission Eyes Beefing Up Beach Access for All
With hundreds of miles of picturesque and accessible coastline, California has an abundance of beaches for all of its 39 million residents plus tourists to enjoy. But while the state’s constitution guarantees a public right of beach access and there are over 1,000 access points statewide, low-income and minority communities have long struggled to connect with the Golden State’s majestic shoreline.
Read moreCalifornia Development
Developers brought a federal complaint against Defense Secretary James Mattis, challenging the closure and transfer of Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach to allow development of 12,272 residential units and 6.1 million square-feet of commercial space on 5,000 acres “along one of the most congested transportation arteries in the nation.”
Read moreNY Agrees to Remove 23 Feral Cats From Jones Beach
Just in time for the piping plovers to fledge this fall, New York and American Bird Conservancy have resolved a 2016 federal lawsuit over what to do with a community of feral cats at Jones Beach.
Read moreFight for Beach Access Through California Enclave Heats Up
As expected, environmentalists have lobbied to intervene in a settlement between the California Coastal Commission and a wealthy beach community that continues to deny public access to a pristine beach in Santa Barbara County.
Read moreCalifornia Coastal Commission Continues to Tackle Beach Access
An elected commission in California continues to grapple with beach access advocates clamoring for the destruction of both legal and physical impediments preventing the general public from enjoying two beaches near affluent neighborhoods.
Read moreMartins Beach Feud Continues as State Prepares for Eminent Domain
California lawmakers unveiled their strategy for the next round in the long-running feud between the state and a Silicon Valley billionaire over public access to one of the state’s most picturesque beaches.
Read moreMigrating Birds Create Flu Bonanza for Scientists to Study
It’s a marvel of ecology as shorebirds migrating from South America to the Arctic time a stop critical to their survival to this mass crab spawning. It’s also one of the world’s hot spots for bird flu — a bonanza for scientists seeking clues about how influenza evolves so they just might better protect people.
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