A runaway windmill in Tehachapi closed Highway 58 -- a major east-west freeway connecting California's southern Central Valley to Las Vegas, Nevada and Arizona -- for most of the day Sunday. As of 6:45 p.m., the highway remained closed between Tehachapi and Mojave. Officials had no estimate as to when it might reopen

For the first time in more than a year, a group other than the Solano County Planning Commission will be discussing a proposal to install up to 88 wind turbines in the Montezuma Hills. The Solano County Airport Land Use Commission will hear the issue Thursday night, a year after voting against the issue the first time around for fear of the turbines affecting the radar system at Travis Air Force Base. The difference this time is that officials at Travis are no longer objecting to the proposal, as stated in a letter written by Wing Commander Col. Steven Arquiette earlier this month. ...The company proposing the project, enXco, has offered Travis a gift of up to $1 million that the base may use anyway it wishes.

The action comes a year after Supervisor Judy Mikels asked for a study based on concerns that arose in Kern County over proposals for wind generation farms rising hundreds of feet into the air. Not only did the height of the wind turbines threaten the air space, but the devices could also interfere with pilots' radio frequencies, planning officials said.

A large power-generating windmill caught fire early Monday near the Solano County community of Birds Landing, but firefighters were letting the huge structure burn itself out.

A wind turbine caught fire in Birds Landing early Monday, but investigators have yet to identify what caused the flames. The fire, on the top portion and on the blades of the 200-foot turbine, was discovered around 5:30 a.m. by employees of FPL Energy - High Winds. The turbine that caught fire was one of 90 the company maintains in the 6700 block of Birds Landing Road near Rio Vista. Van Culver, high winds plant leader for FPLE, said by early afternoon the company was still assessing the risk of climbing the tower to get a closer look.

The fire was caused by burning debris from a wind turbine that caught fire due to a malfunction.

After watching and learning from the year-long process of approving new wind turbines in the Montezuma Hills, one county supervisor will ask Tuesday for a temporary ban on such projects. Supervisor Barbara Kondylis will present the issue at Tuesday's Solano County supervisors meeting. The discussion comes after the Planning Commission recently approved 75 new wind turbines in an area east of Travis Air Force Base. ...Now, Kondylis wants to see the approval of similar projects stopped until the kinks of the new radar system are worked out. "I really think it's time for us to stop and give Travis a chance to get their radar in place," she said. "Hopefully they will be able to resolve the problem.

Firefighters rescued a windmill maintenance worker who was having chest pains as he worked more than 150 feet above the ground this afternoon. Palm Springs firefighters were called to the 5400 block of North Indian Canyon about noon regarding a man having chest pains, Battalion Chief Mark Avner said.

A big-rig's load - a 128,000-pound section of a pylon for a wind turbine - shifted as the rig was headed south on Route 113 south of Dixon early Wednesday, triggering a 10-hour traffic nightmare. No injuries were reported. According to the California Highway Patrol, a section of the support pylon for a wind turbine destined for Montezuma Hills was being transported southbound on Highway 113 ...around 4 a.m. when a stabilizing bar on the 168-foot-long trailer carrying the pylon broke and allowed the cargo to shift.

This news report was submitted to Windaction.org by Scott Jackson, a reseller of Redriven windmills. Mr. Jackson is seeking to get the Redriven turbine de-certified in the State of California for safety reasons.

Lewis calls the whole proposal, its implications and its aftermath "just weird." For instance, he didn't receive the letter from Schumacher until July 5 - almost three weeks after the board's decision. "This letter was the first anyone knew about it," Lewis said. "We were just shocked this could happen without notifying anybody." Galvin is mobilizing the neighborhood and hopes people will show up at a school district meeting tonight to complain. "It's imperative we show opposition to this thing. Otherwise it's going to get shoved down our throats, which is what the school district has done already," she said. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Windaction.org has been informed that this project has since been canceled due to complaints filed by residents in Torrance.]

Travis Air Force Base officials have taken a stance against proposals to add more than 100 wind turbines in the Montezuma Hills, saying they may interfere with a new radar system the base will begin to install in November.

The company trying to build additional wind turbines in the Montezuma Hills has offered Travis Air Force Base up to $1 million to help solve any potential radar issues caused by the structures. The Solano County Planning Commission again will hear the wind turbine issue at tonight's meeting, but based on a year of discussions and postponed meetings on the issue, a delay may be as likely as a decision. ...Also involved is the Solano County Airport Land Use Commission, which voted against the project in April due to safety concerns regarding interference with Travis' radar. The planning commission must vote with a super-majority to override that decision.

Among the rolling grassy slopes of the Montezuma Hills, statuesque wind turbines loom over wheat fields, cattle and sheep. The approximately 700 turbines, each with three blades atop 400-foot towers, whirl amid the Delta breezes. Thus, a couple thousand blades lumbering through circles of air 200 feet in diameter, are hard to miss. Especially on radar. That detail has Travis Air Force Base officials doing a double take at plans to expand the wind farm, which chews up the air east of the base. Air Force officials say a proposed plan to install more than 100 additonal turbines in the Montezuma Hills could cause problems with future aircraft-control radar at Travis. And they know this because the turbines already whirling away are causing problems.

Elliott said the threat that the two proposed mega windmills -- which would be more than 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty -- pose to his home and family was dramatically demonstrated in 2002, when an existing shorter windmill malfunctioned and caught fire.

Firefighters have fully contained a 68-acre wildfire in the Whitewater Canyon area about 1.5 miles north of Interstate 10, according to CAL FIRE. ...It was caused by an undetermined problem with a wind turbine, according to CAL FIRE.

A faulty windmill near Tehachapi shuts down all lanes of Highway 58 between highways 202 and 14; and CHP Officers say it could be days before the roadway re-opens. Mojave CHP got the call about the out-of-control windmill located in the Tehachapi Wind Farm a little after 1:20 Sunday afternoon.

A plan to install more than 100 additional wind turbines in the Montezuma Hills has been shelved for at least six months, and possibly longer. The proposed location of the turbines, which are similar to some 700 currently operating in the hills, is one which would pose problems to the aircraft control radar used by Travis Air Force Base.

The windturbine that started spinning wildly on May 3 disintegrated two or three days later, according to the California Highway Patrol. All that is left now is a turbine-less twisted tower. The CHP closed Highway 58 for hours after it was notified that the turbine was spinning out of control on Sunday. The closure snarled traffic in the area.

It could be a major safety hazard, windmills near the 1-10 in North Palm Springs crashing down to the ground. It happened yesterday, and now there's an investigation as to why the wind turbine, nearly 200 feet fell. "It went into overspeed, some sort of maintainence or some sort of malfunction," said Jeff Welton of the Palm Springs based Wintec Energy.