GOP's
food-stamp bill faces tight path [Wall Street Journal]
A
House Republican plan to scale back spending on food stamps is drawing resistance
from some GOP lawmakers who say the proposed cut is too big, and others who
think it doesn't go far enough. With Democrats united in opposition, the bill
faces a narrow path to passage when it comes to the House floor, likely on
Thursday….Still, House Republican aides were optimistic Wednesday that the bill
would pass. Even if it failed, House and Senate negotiators could still begin
working to find a deal on extending both agriculture and nutrition programs
beyond month's end. As a sign of Democratic opposition to the House nutrition
bill, the White House threatened to veto it on Wednesday.
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Gaviota
Coast Plan goes to SB County Supervisors [Santa Maria Times]
Like
it or not, the Gaviota Coast Plan passed its initial test Wednesday when the
Santa Barbara County Planning Commission gave its approval of the controversial
plan. After nine meetings to review the initiation draft of the plan, the
commission passed on its recommendation of approval to the Board of
Supervisors, which will get its first look at the document in
December.…Throughout the hearings on the somewhat divisive plan, agricultural
interests generally said they don’t want the added regulations they see coming,
while environmental and recreational groups don’t think there is enough
protection for sensitive habitat or enough impetus for acquiring, building and
maintaining trails along the entire Gaviota Coast. Most of the farmers and
ranchers who have attended the hearings have complained that the county is
misguided in trying to create and impose a community plan on an area that is by
and large rural and agricultural. Those sentiments didn't change Wednesday, as
they argued against any new rules being placed on their operations.
Results
point to safer pest control [Salinas Californian]
A
scientific process under development along the Central Coast is showing success
in treating key soil pathogens without the use of controversial fumigants
applied to the region’s billion-dollar strawberry crop.…Farm Fuel Inc., a young
Watsonville company launched in 2006 to develop new fuels for growers, began
applying the technology, called anaerobic soil disinfestations, or ASD, on six
acres in 2011, 130 acres last year and is on track to treat more than 500 acres
this year, said Stefanie Bourcier, principal project investigator for Farm
Fuel.…The potential success of the process, which basically uses principles of
microbiology to starve strawberry-hungry bugs of oxygen, would be a huge
advance toward the elimination of controversial fumigants such as methyl
bromide and chloropicrin….But some believe the research doesn’t justify such
bold statements. Carolyn O’Donnell, a spokeswoman for the California Strawberry
Commission, said Wednesday that ASD has shown some efficacy but not across the
entire spectrum of pathogens.
ACID
water export to San Joaquin Valley discussed at Cottonwood town hall meeting
[Redding Record Searchlight]
One
of Shasta County’s most valued — and contested — natural resources took center
stage Wednesday night among a panel of experts who fielded questions about a
local district’s decision to send water to Southern California. The
Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District will be sending about 2,400 acre-feet
of water south, a “very minor amount,” ACID’s general manager, Stan Wangberg,
told about 60 people gathered at the Cottonwood Community Center….The district
voted in May to send up to 3,500 acre-feet of water to the San Luis and Delta
Mendota Water Authority in exchange for $250,000.…Residents said they worried
the decision would set a precedent of the south state taking water from the
North State. Wangberg said, however, that the district was selling excess
ground water.
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Masses
of food wasted - 'use by' dates mislead [San Francisco Chronicle]
Americans
throw away 40 percent of the food they buy, often because of misleading
expiration dates that have nothing to do with safety, said a study released
Wednesday by Harvard University Law School and the Natural Resources Defense
Council, an environmental group….The report said 90 percent of Americans toss
good food into the garbage because they mistakenly think that "sell
by," "best before," "use by" or "packed on"
dates on food containers indicate safety.…In fact, "sell by" dates
are used by retailers for inventory control. "Best before" or
"use by" dates usually reflect manufacturer estimates of peak
quality. While some labels are intended to indicate freshness, none of them
reflects edibility or safety, said Ted Labuza, a food science professor at the
University of Minnesota who collaborated with the authors.
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Opinion: California’s
immigrant license bill sets up big conflict [Sacramento Bee]
…This,
then, is a potential scenario: Someone applies for a job that requires driving,
and the employer asks to see the applicant’s driver’s license. The “DP” and
other information on the license reveal that the applicant is an illegal
immigrant. The new state law says that the employer cannot discriminate against
the applicant for that reason and runs the risk of civil damages if the
applicant is rejected. Yet, if the employer hires the applicant in compliance
with state law, the business then becomes an outlaw in the eyes of ICE for
knowingly employing an illegal immigrant. Damned if you do, and damned if you
don’t.
Ag
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