SAN DIEGO — Just a year ago, the Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club — which bills itself as having an “exquisitely manicured, visually breathtaking” golf course — featured the same traditional rolling hills of grass found at golf clubs around the country.
But then came the $4 million renovation. With shovels and bulldozers, out went 54 acres of turf, nearly half the lawn on the course. Walkways that were once grass were replaced with shredded redwood bark, known here as “gorilla hair” for its coarse appearance and the way it feels underfoot. Large stretches of fairway are now covered in decomposed granite, which Kevin Hwang, the general manager of the club, calls a “fancy term for dirt.”http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/us/in-drought-ridden-california-the-classic-lawn-loses-ground.html?ref=topics&_r=0
Article courtesy of the New York Times by Jennifer Medina

Passports may be required for some for domestic flights

Louisiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire and New York have failed to comply with the REAL ID Act, a federal law enacted a decade ago. January 2016 is the deadline for states to reach compliance with the federal guidelines and if those states don't issue federally approved IDs before January, residents of those states will not be able to use their state-issued driver licenses for air travel.

Read more: http://www.wfsb.com/story/30277633/passports-may-be-required-for-some-for-domestic-flights#ixzz3pCq4RPT6
Article courtesy of CNN

Local ski resorts giddy over weekend flakes

Some folks may have grumbled over the snowflakes that fell across New England over the weekend, but ski resorts were downright giddy. http://www.boston.com/news/local/2015/10/19/local-ski-resorts-giddy-over-weekend-flakes/XmF6RAOzWqQ1lyPXSZ1YWL/story.html?p1=story_hp
Article courtesy of The Boston Globe by Kristi Palma

Drone pilots could get jail time, fine for violating new L.A. ordinance

Flying a drone too high, too close to people or at an airport in Los Angeles could soon land you six months in jail and a hefty fine.
In a unanimous vote Wednesday, the L.A. City Council approved an ordinance that mirrors the Federal Aviation Administration’s civilian drone regulations and makes it a misdemeanor to violate them. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-passes-new-drone-ordinance-20151014-story.html
Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Joseph Serna

Port of Los Angeles has failed to meet pollution-cutting measures

The Port of Los Angeles has failed to carry out vital pollution-reduction measures it agreed to make after a legal settlement more than a decade ago, according to a document released by the port.  http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-1014-port-pollution-20151014-story.html
Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times by Tony Barboza

Los Angeles goes car free for a day for CicLAvia

Some six miles of streets in and around downtown Los Angeles are closed to motor vehicles Sunday as the city’s fifth anniversary celebration of the CicLAvia (sick-luh-VEE’-uh) festival opens the lanes to cyclists. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/angeles-688081-car-free.html
Article courtesy of The Associates Press by Richard Vogel