West Coast

Growing high tides have turned this photo — taken from Pompano Beach, Florida, after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 — into a regular occurrence along the U.S. coastlines.

New report forecasts a troubling picture of rising tides, frequent flooding on coasts

Some Americans think major flooding will not affect the country until decades from now. A recent report says major implications may be arriving much sooner.

New report forecasts a troubling picture of rising tides, frequent flooding on coasts
Jonathan Erland says the VFX crew working on "Star Wars" didn't just create the things you saw on screen. They had to build from scratch the equipment that made those visual effects.

The visual effects pioneer responsible for the original 'Star Wars' thinks movies today may rely too much on effects

The visual effects pioneer responsible for the original 'Star Wars' thinks movies today may rely too much on effects
A 1923 Ku Klux Klan parade in Albany is pictured

In the shadow of a racist past, Portland still struggles to be welcoming to all its residents

In the shadow of a racist past, Portland still struggles to be welcoming to all its residents
students

US law students, driven by their own family stories, are helping asylum-seekers

US law students, driven by their own family stories, are helping asylum-seekers
Homeless

In California, where homelessness has risen, cities are looking for long-term solutions

In California, where homelessness has risen, cities are looking for long-term solutions
Farm book

What's it like to be a migrant farmworker? One anthropologist lived and worked alongside them.

"I’ll never feel the same about berries,'' says Seth Holmes. In “Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies,” he describes the bone-crushing work that he and Mexican migrant workers did to put fruit and vegetables on your table.

What's it like to be a migrant farmworker? One anthropologist lived and worked alongside them.
Vegetables at a Whole Foods Market in La Jolla, California. Much of its produce comes from the state’s Central Valley, where it's picked by migrant farmworkers.

How the produce aisle looks to a migrant farmworker

How does picking the tomato compare to the onion? And what about strawberries? One Mexican American migrant farmworker who lives in California's Central Valley took us to the produce aisle to tell us what he sees when he's at the supermarket.

How the produce aisle looks to a migrant farmworker
Vietnamese immigrants pray to a small shrine erected five years ago. The area was once littered, covered in graffiti, and a frequent stop for the city's public works department. But after one neighborhood resident placed the statue on the corner, local Vi

Can you name the West Coast city where a Buddhist shrine turned a neighborhood around?

In the American city we want you to name, a Buddha statue purchased at a hardware store managed to turn an eyesore of a street corner into a shrine and gathering place.

Can you name the West Coast city where a Buddhist shrine turned a neighborhood around?
Blue whales are the largest creatures that have ever lived. They were hunted to near extinction in the 20th century and have only recovered since to perhaps 10% of their pre-whaling numbers, but new research has found that the Northeastern Pacific populat

Here's the green success story of the California blue whale

A new study of blue whales in the eastern Pacific has found that the population of the behemoths there has bounced back to near pre-whaling levels. But other populations of blues elsewhere are not doing nearly as well.

Here's the green success story of the California blue whale
Pete Knutson and his son Dylan sell local Pacific salmon at outdoor markets around the Seattle area. The sign on their stall at a recent market in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood reads, “In response to multiple customer inquiries regarding the Fukushima i

Worried about radioactive 'Fukushima' fish in the US? Don't be, scientists say

Nearly three years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, many consumers in the US remain concerned about radiation in fish from the Pacific Ocean. One Seattle fisherman finally got his fish tested, and found what many scientists have also found: there's nothing to worry about.

Worried about radioactive 'Fukushima' fish in the US? Don't be, scientists say
terminal

Environmentalists and coal interests fight it out in a small Washington State election

With national policy on climate and energy in political gridlock, the opponents are fighting in local and state trenches. That's why money is pouring into a small county north of Seattle, where there's a debate over a shipping terminal that would send coal to Asia.

Environmentalists and coal interests fight it out in a small Washington State election

Transcript: Interview with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Transcript: Interview with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

America's Relationship with Marijuana

America's Relationship with Marijuana

On Guam, little apprehension from North Korea's threatened attack

North Korea's sabre-rattling toward the United States is mostly hot air for those of us living in the mainland United States. But a tiny U.S. outpost west of Hawaii, Guam, is within range of North Korea's missiles. But they're still not worried.

On Guam, little apprehension from North Korea's threatened attack

When the United Nations was new, cities fought for right to host it

The United Nations was going to be located in the United States -- that much was sure. But just where the new headquarters, the new capital of the world, would be located, was much debated back in the 1940s. A new book looks at that battle.

When the United Nations was new, cities fought for right to host it