Drilling
for Delta tunnel studies blocked in court [Stockton Record]
Test
drilling for Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed twin tunnels must wait until next
spring, despite state officials' warning in court documents that any delay
could drive up the cost of the now $14 billion project, or even render it
infeasible. Judges in San Joaquin, Contra Costa and Sacramento counties denied
requests by the state Department of Water Resources to expedite the work so it
could be done before the rainy season. And the state confirmed Monday that it
will withdraw a similar request in Yolo County…Water Resources is seeking
access to those private lands under eminent domain law, and asked judges in
each county to speed up the process. The judges refused to do so.
Federal
plan to save steelhead trout could cost $560 million [San Luis Obispo Tribune]
It’s
likely to take 80 to 100 years and cost $560 million, but by reducing man-made
hazards such as dams and groundwater pumping and restoring creek habitat,
federal officials hope to revive steelhead trout populations along the Central
Coast. The National Marine Fisheries Service’s draft recovery plan deals with
fish populations from the Pajaro River in Monterey County to Arroyo Grande
Creek. The plan was the subject of a workshop Monday in San Luis Obispo.…In San
Luis Obispo County, the main man-made threats to steelhead are dams,
groundwater pumping, creek channelization and agricultural development..…The
main strategy for recovering these fish populations is to reduce the man-made
hazards and restore creek habitat to the point that steelhead will not go
extinct in the event of a prolonged drought or other natural disaster.
Commentary: The rarely noticed
clause in Proposition 37 [Los Angeles Times]
Much
has been made of the wording in Proposition 37 about processed foods and the
word “natural.”…But there’s another phrase in Proposition 37, which would
require labeling of bioengineered food, that has received almost no attention
even though it strikes more closely at whether the initiative would achieve its
objectives should it pass next week…. "In the case of any processed food,
in clear and conspicuous language on the front or back of the package of such
food, with the words 'Partially Produced with Genetic Engineering' or 'May be
Partially Produced with Genetic Engineering.' " If food companies can
cover themselves by using the latter wording — that the food may have been
partially produced with genetic engineering — the consumer is still left to
guess whether there are bioengineered ingredients. There’s no rule that foods
without such ingredients have to say so; it would probably be easier and
cheaper for food companies to label all their products that way. But if that
happened, the main argument for Proposition 37 — that it’s the consumer’s right
to know — would be undermined. Think it wouldn’t happen? How many signs have
you seen warning of possible carcinogens somewhere on the premises of a
business? Like … everywhere?
Almonds
now No. 2 California commodity [Merced Sun-Star]
Almonds
were the second-most valuable commodity in California in 2011, surpassing
grapes for the first time ever, according to the California Department of Food
and Agriculture. In 2011, almonds generated $3.87 billion of economic activity,
according to agriculture department data, and grapes were valued at $3.86
billion. That's a switch from 2010 when California grapes were in second place
with a value of about $3.2 billion and the state's almond crop was third at
about $2.84 billion.
More
than 80,000 lbs. of walnuts stolen [Redding Record Searchlight]
Two
companies who recently bought walnuts from Tehama County each reported around
40,000 pounds of the processed nuts stolen in the last two weeks, and deputies
are searching for a suspicious delivery driver with a Russian accent who they
say is behind it all. The mystery started Oct. 26, when the Tehama County
Sheriff's Office got a call from a freight brokerage firm in Southern
California reporting that a truckload of walnuts never got to Miami like it
should have two days earlier, deputies said. Employees told sheriff's deputies
that the driver of a white semi with a Russian accent picked up the load on
Oct. 19. The walnuts were purchased by F.C. Bloxom and Co., a Seattle-based
company, and to be delivered to Miami.
Learning
to live with urban coyotes [New York Times]
…Coyotes
now inhabit every state in the country except Hawaii, eating mostly rodents,
rabbits, and fruit while making their homes between apartment buildings and in
industrial parks and popular recreation areas in metropolitan areas from New
York City to Chicago to San Francisco.…"There's a number of things that
coyotes really find to their liking in suburban communities, more than adjacent
wild areas," said Robert Timm, a wildlife specialist and the director of
the University of California's Hopland Research and Extension Center.…"It
may only take one person feeding coyotes to develop a really aggressive
one," Mr. Timm said in a phone interview. "If some people are just
ignoring them and coyotes are finding a lot of resources, they can start to
think, 'Oh, this is a really good place to be. I own this neighborhood
now.'"
Ag
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