A ballot measure requiring the labeling of genetically modified foods has taken a big step forward, while funding priorities for the California State University system are also expected to be affected by the November election.

What do the Sierra snowpack and the state’s economy have in common? There is less to both than Californians would like.

The latest hazard to women’s health may be right at their fingertips.

The clarity of Lake Tahoe's water improved in 2011, but overall has remained nearly stable since 2000, according to UC Davis scientists who study the lake.  

The latest data released by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency reported the average annual clarity level for 2011 at 68.9 feet, a 4.5-foot improvement over 2010, when average clarity levels were the second-worst on record.

Winter clarity last year continued a decade-long pattern of improvement, while summer clarity continued to decline at the same rate that it has since the late 1960s, when monitoring began. 

Average annual clarity in the past decade has been better than in recent decades.Yet this year’s value is still more than two dozen feet away from the clarity restoration target of 97.4 feet set by federal and state regulators.

Read more: Lake Tahoe water clarity improved in 2011