Wildfires churning out dense plumes of smoke as they scorch huge swaths of the U.S. West Coast have exposed millions of people to hazardous pollution levels, causing emergency room visits to spike and potentially thousands of deaths among the elderly and infirm, according to an Associated Press analysis of pollution data and interviews with physicians, health authorities and researchers.

Earth sweltered to a record hot September last month, with U.S. climate officials saying there’s nearly a two-to-one chance that 2020 will end up as the globe’s hottest year on record.

Welcome to the Pac-12 football coaches webinar, where Arizona’s Kevin Sumlin spoke from his bedroom because of a positive COVID-19 test, Cal’s Justin Wilcox and David Shaw related how they still don’t have final approval from their respective counties for a full team practice Friday, and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham began with the sentiment he said was “foremost on my mind”: A tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen.

In brief, here are a few of our favorite things about this special place.

With months still to go in California’s fire season, the state has already shattered records for the amount of land scorched in a single year — more than 4 million acres to date, with one blaze alone surpassing the 1 million-acre mark. Five of the 10 largest wildfires in state history have occurred since August.

The staggering scale of California's wildfires reached another milestone Monday: A single fire surpassed 1 million acres.

We explore Sunset Bay and Cape Arago.

The mayor of Portland has asked U.S. officials to end the federal deputization of dozens of police officers in Oregon's largest city as part of the response to ongoing protests in the city.

Check out this picturesque RV perch on the Central Oregon Coast.

Nathan Bittle, rated as a top 20 prospect in the 2021 class, announced his commitment to Oregon.

Ben Gregg waited a long time before receiving a scholarship offer from Gonzaga. It didn’t take the Oregon prep standout long to decide the wait was worth it. He announced his commitment to the Zags on social media Wednesday with the caption: “Dreams to reality.”

Milwaukee Brewers rookie and former Mt. Spokane star Drew Rasmussen's Major League debut was as strange as it was prosperous.

The man believed to have fatally shot a supporter of President Donald Trump following skirmishes between Black Lives Matter protesters and a pro-Trump caravan in Portland, Oregon, was a regular at the demonstrations that have roiled the Northwest city for months.

Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon, shifted their focus to the city's mayor, and police declared a riot as people broke windows, vandalized a business and set a fire inside the upscale apartment building where Mayor Ted Wheeler lives.

A supporter of a right-wing group who was shot dead on a Portland, Oregon, street was mourned by both friends and President Donald Trump as a victim of mob violence while an online fundraising effort raised tens of thousands of dollars in his memory.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday temporarily lifted a lower court’s preliminary injunction on federal law enforcement officers’ use of force, threats and dispersal orders against journalists and legal observers working at Portland protests.

Protesters in Portland smashed windows at City Hall in a demonstration that started Tuesday night and stretched into Wednesday morning and police made 23 arrests as they dispersed the crowd in Oregon's largest city, officials said.

Protesters repeatedly set fire late Monday night to a police union headquarters building and were repelled by officers spraying tear gas, officials said. Twenty-five people were arrested amid clashes that stretched into Tuesday morning.