2023 Wildfire Season

Allstate has announced it will no longer sell new home insurance policies in California following State Farm as the latest company to deem the state “uninsurable.” Also, health officials urge individuals to get the mpox vaccine ahead of Pride festivities, and Chico State renames Sutter Hall after an examination showed the building’s namesake mistreated Indigenous people.

CalMatter’s housing reporter Ben Christopher discusses what’s behind State Farm’s decision to halt new home insurance policies in California. Also, Dave Rickert starts as Shasta County’s new CEO and a state bill aims to limit renter security deposits to one month’s rent rather than three.

The announcement is the latest development in what has been a years-long issue in California: insurance companies dropping homeowners because of the growing risk of wildfires.

A wet winter brought record snowpack to California and might change how and where wildfires pop up in the state during warmer months.

Do you have a go bag packed? Share what’s in it using our go bag survey, or contact NSPR's Jamie Jiang at jamie.jiang@mynspr.org.

Congressional investigators say the use of a regulatory loophole to erase smoke pollution from the official record is on the rise.

Defensible space inspections began taking place in Butte County’s Upper Ridge and in other parts of the North State this month. Also, environmental groups and tribes push for protecting Northern California’s Molok Luyuk, and California officials plan to spend $60 million to help threatened fish species in the Yuba River.

Chico State is offering mental health support to students in the wake of this weekend’s deadly shooting. Also, a recent study done in conjunction with the town of Paradise sheds light on reducing wildfire risk, and seventeen-year-olds in California would get the right to vote under a proposal making its way through the state Legislature.

CalFire is reviewing public comments to make changes to its fire hazard severity zones map. Also, California Senator Dianne Feinstein returns to the Senate, and lawmakers are putting pressure on Gov. Newsom to increase childcare funding to the tune of a billion dollars.

With rain returning this week, North State residents might be enjoying a brief respite from thinking about wildfires. But CalFire is warning North State residents to be prepared.