An acrid stink of petroleum three years ago sent Santa Barbara County firefighters scrambling in a search for a possible spill. When they arrived at Refugio State Beach they witnessed oil staining the pristine sands and seeping into the surf. Uphill they discovered oil gushing like a fire hose “without a nozzle.”

It was the worst California coastal spill in 25 years, spreading a shimmering sheen out to sea that eventually deposited tar balls on beaches more than 100 miles away. But were they looking at a crime scene?

(TNS) - Californians should expect more dramatic swings between dry and wet years as the climate warms, according to a new study that found it likely that the state will be hit by devastating, widespread flooding in coming decades.

UC researchers in essence found that California's highly volatile climate will become even more volatile as human-caused climate change tinkers with atmospheric patterns over the eastern Pacific Ocean.

The long-term average of annual precipitation in California won't change much, they predicted.

The increased reliance on emergency text alerts to receive warnings of natural or manmade disasters is a capability that most people have come to expect. Listening to broadcast radio warnings of severe weather happening miles away has transformed into more precise, geo-located alerts that target specific locations. The benefits of this technology are profound and should lead to people taking action when an alert comes in because they know that the threat is timely and accurate to their locations. New technologies could save many lives during future disasters.

More than a million San Francisco Bay Area residents would face extensive damage to their homes after a major earthquake on the Hayward fault, according to a new earthquake scenario developed by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The USGS findings, which were developed with contributions from partners that include the California Earthquake Authority, are part of a HayWired earthquake scenario report that describes likely impacts from a rupture of the Hayward Fault in the Bay Area.

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed an executive order removing barriers to mobile home construction and placement in an effort to help residents displaced by the recent Southern California mudslides and wildfires.

The order suspends for three months all regulations included in the state’s laws governing mobile and manufactured homes.

An Apple employee recently leaked an internal memo in which Apple warns employees to stop leaking information. (Read the memo here.)

While it is hard not to enjoy the irony of a leaked memo warning against leaked information, the incident has highlighted a sensitive issue that reaches far beyond Silicon Valley. Here are three reasons every organization should care about leaks.

(TNS) — In any given eight-hour shift, John Butz sits in front of eight monitors in the Trumbull Police Department, fielding 911 calls.

Amid the chaos that any night can bring, Butz will handle calls running the gamut from a report that someone ran over a mailbox to a 3-year-old in cardiac arrest.

“We’re the first link of communications,” during emergency situations, Butz said of dispatchers.

(TNS) - Running past the wounded crying out for help, a team of police officers made sure an active shooter was was no longer a threat. Only then did they start giving other assistance at a mass casualty drill on Thursday morning.

“You can't assume he's dead,” said Officer Michael Eldred of the Indiana State University Police. “They are still a possible threat. That's why we handcuffed him. Then, once the shooter is secured and we make sure there were no other active shooters, we try to lend any assistance we can.”

Blood, wounds and weapons -- all fake -- added to the chaotic scene in a parking lot near the Landsbaum Center on the campus of Union Hospital.

Teams from both Regional and Union hospitals participated in the drill, along with Air Evac, IU Health Lifeline personnel, staff of the Rural Health Innovation Collaborative Simulation Center, and other agencies.

Hazardous work zones continue to affect the careers and companies of employees in the U.S. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 765 work zone fatalities in 2016, which marked a 7% uptick from the previous year. In 2015, in addition to motor vehicle-related fatalities (the majority of which were in construction zones), 35,500 people were injured in work zone crashes, as reported in the 2017 edition of the National Safety Council’s Injury Facts.

To mark the beginning of the road construction season and to prevent further incidents, the 19th annual National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) has launched and will run through April 13. Organized by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Highway Administration, this year’s campaign is “Work Zone Safety: Everybody’s Responsibility,” and aims to encourage safe driving through highway work zones.

Risk managers are very concerned about the cyber risks facing their companies and are heavily investing in protection against cyber attacks with the blessings of their boards and CEOs, a major shift from even just 10 years ago when convincing a company to worry about cyber was a big challenge for risk managers.

However, the new challenges for them include getting the right coverage from the insurance market and ensuring their companies have enough coverage in the event of a major breach, three risk managers on a recent panel at Advisen’s Cyber Risk Conference in San Francisco said.