Delta water update: Local interests 'no longer losing' [Stockton Record]
Much of the push and pull over water in California centers on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a massive estuary that is the source for about 25 million water users in the state. And since about two-thirds of the Delta is in San Joaquin County, officials long have been concerned that there might not be enough weight behind the interests of local residents, farmers and others in the estuary neighborhood. In recent years, county officials have worked to better define their positions and alliances. They have edged into the ever-evolving discussion on how to slake the state's thirst.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120510/A_NEWS/205100326
Robots measure flow of Sacramento River [San Francisco Chronicle]
A fleet of 100 robots floated down the Sacramento River on Wednesday to demonstrate their ability to measure the pace of the river's flow and to navigate the delta's water. The foot-long devices, 40 of them fitted with propellers, are designed to serve as unique water-borne sensors to detect pollutants in a river, measure changes in salinity, monitor fish life and signal downstream in emergencies to warn of levee breaks, oil spills or other hazards, said the fleet's developers. The demonstration of the "Floating Sensor Network" marked the first public display of a project long in the making by a research team headed by UC Berkeley's Alexandre Bayen, a civil and environmental engineer, and Andrew Tinka, a graduate student in Bayen's laboratory.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/10/BACF1OFNV4.DTL
Postal service holds back on closings [New York Times]
The United States Postal Service said Wednesday that it would keep hundreds of small post offices open by reducing business hours or offering stamps and packaging in grocery stores, whittling down its ambitious plan to streamline its services and balance its books by closing thousands of post offices. Giving Congress more time to pass legislation to overhaul the financially struggling agency, the service held back from the wholesale closings of mostly rural post offices that it had proposed last year. The Postal Service’s hope is that Congress, given more time, will come up with a plan to overhaul the agency. But Wednesday’s action signals that the Postal Service needs to move forward with staffing cuts. Patrick R. Donahoe, the postmaster general, said the latest plan would take two years to put into effect and would save about $500 million a year. That would not be nearly enough to fill its multibillion-dollar shortfalls, but it addresses objections from dozens of small communities where post offices were targeted for closing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/us/politics/postal-service-holds-back-on-closures.html?_r=1
University files suit over farm encampment [Associated Press]
Occupy protesters on a patch of University of California, Berkeley land were facing a lawsuit after the University of California went to court seeking to have them removed from its property. The University of California filed the suit Wednesday, alleging the group of 14 unnamed protesters conspired to cut locks, trespass and establish an illegal encampment. University officials are requesting a court order requiring the protesters to leave the property, and are asking for monetary damages for costs associated with the protest.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/09/4479101/university-files-suit-over-farm.html#storylink=misearch
Santa Barbara researchers uncover 'superbug' salmonella [Ventura County Star]
They look ordinary much of the time — your everyday, garden-variety salmonella bacteria. Place them inside a chicken, cow or virtually any animal and they become a special-forces team that adapts instantly to a new environment. They arm themselves with gut-wrenching efficiency that makes them 100 times more likely to cause disease than previously believed, at least in animals. The UC Santa Barbara researchers who uncovered the capabilities in a handful of existing strains call them "extreme salmonella," also using phrases like superbugs and "hypervirulent." They contend the discovery after eight years of research underscores the fragility of food-safety systems across the country that are scrambling to deal with tainted dog food and suspicious sushi. But they also say their work will lead to veterinary vaccines and protection.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/may/09/santa-barbara-researchers-uncover-superbug/
Opinion: Editorial misleading and wrong about the testing of U.S. cattle [Oakland Tribune]
…It is the U.S. food-safety system that stopped us from having a BSE problem of any significance. We had preventive bans in place years earlier than most everyone else….BSE restrictions in the U.S. are among the strongest in the world because we've focused our resources where they count: Preventing the spread of the disease in ruminants and prohibiting at-risk animal products from entering the human food supply. It's because the testing is targeted that the U.S. was able to identify this fourth case of BSE. However, the fact that our resources are correctly focused meant this animal never would have entered the food supply even if it hadn't been detected.
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