Orange County

Tiny Endangered Mouse Gets Third Wild Home at Camp Pendleton

San Diego – October 06, 2026 -- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has established a third reintroduced population of endangered Pacific pocket mice at North San Mateo, a training area within Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

The milestone marks 20 years since the Alliance launched its Pacific Pocket Mouse Conservation Program in 2006. Since then, the organization has released more than 500 Pacific pocket mice into new and existing populations across the species' native range in Southern California.

The mouse weighs about as much as three pennies

The Pacific pocket mouse is the smallest and one of the most endangered mammals in North America, roughly the size of a human thumb. Once believed extinct, it was rediscovered in 1993 when a small remnant population turned up in Orange County, prompting an emergency listing under the federal Endangered Species Act. Only three original wild populations survive today.

SoCal Expands Rebate Program for Gas-to-Electric Heat Pump Switch by $60.2M

Diamond Bar, Calif. – October 02, 2026 -- The South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing Board has approved $60.2 million in additional funding for its GO ZERO Incentive Program, which pays homeowners and small businesses to swap gas furnaces and water heaters for zero-emission heat pumps.

The expansion follows a $21 million pilot launched in September 2025 that helped more than 3,000 single-family homes and 700 multifamily units switch from gas to electric systems. Multifamily funding was fully reserved within two weeks of launch, and single-family funding ran out in under six months.

New funding splits $60.2 million across three pools

The expanded program allocates $20 million each to single-family and multifamily rebates, with another $20 million distributed to either category based on demand.