Photos: Best of the West

Cindy Lawson plays catch with her dog, Moby, on the beach near the San Onofre nuclear power plant in San Clamente, Calif., Thursday, July 19, 2012. Federal regulators Thursday concluded that the operator of the San Onofre plant did not mislead the government about extensive modifications to its troubled steam generators, where damage has been found on scores of tubes that carry radioactive water. Environmental activists had accused Southern California Edison of duping the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about a series of changes to the massive machines. The seaside plant between San Diego and Los Angeles has been shuttered since January, after a tube break in one of the generators released traces of radiation. (AP Photo/Grant Hindsley)