Obama still plans to push immigration bill [USA Today]
President
Obama says he hasn't given up on an immigration bill, and will push it after
the government shutdown and debt ceiling disputes are resolved. "Once
that's done — you know, the day after — I'm going to be pushing (Congress) to
say, call a vote on immigration reform," Obama told the Los Angeles
affiliate of Univision, the Spanish language television network. Obama's
immigration hopes figure to continue hitting opposition in the Republican-run
House, where members describe a proposed path to citizenship as amnesty for
lawbreakers.
Feds
stop paying pest control bills [San Diego Union-Tribune]
A
California citrus association expects to pay $100,000 this month to cover pest
control bills the federal government is no longer paying due to the federal
shutdown, the group’s president said on Tuesday. California Citrus Mutual
agreed to cover the costs to ensure workers continue to monitor traps for the
Asian citrus psyllid, an invasive insect that carries the deadly and incurable
plant disease called Huanglongbing or HLB, said Joel Nelsen, the citrus group’s
president….Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau
said the lapse in pest control funding is “another frustration, another
letdown” from the federal work stoppage, which has dragged out 15 days so far.
At this point, however, Larson said the government shutdown hasn’t had a major
impact on the county’ overall agriculture industry, which was valued at $1.7
billion in 2012.
Warnings
as salmonella strains resist antibiotics [San Francisco Chronicle]
A
virulent outbreak of salmonella poisoning traced to three Foster Farms chicken
plants in the Central Valley has peculiar features that food safety experts
said should alarm regulators and consumers alike - in particular, the number of
people who are coming down with a form of the disease that is resistant to
antibiotics….The pathogens are resistant to the same antibiotics used to help
livestock grow faster and to prevent disease among animals living in crowded
conditions. At least 70 percent of the antibiotics used in the United States
annually are administered to healthy livestock at low, routine doses. The idea
is to keep the animals from getting sick. Such minimal doses, however, fail to
kill disease-causing bugs that grow in cattle, chicken and other food animals -
instead, they encourage them to evolve into drug-resistant strains.
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Perea:
California water bond needs fixing before it goes to voters in 2014 [Valley
Public Radio, Fresno]
The
state's twice-delayed water bond needs more tweaking - and a diet - before it
goes to voters in November 2014. That was the message delivered by Assembly
member Henry T. Perea on Tuesday, as he spoke on Valley Public Radio's Valley
Edition. "If the Legislature does nothing on re-negotiating the water
bond, there will be a bond for the voters to vote on, this coming election in
November [2014]. Now all the public polls point to the fact that this bond
doesn't pass. So that's why we're trying to renegotiate what that looks
like," says Perea….Perea says the current proposal - at around $11 billion
is too pricey for California voters, and includes too many projects that aren't
directly related to what he views as the core mission of the bond. He says any
successful effort needs to address the environment, water storage and conveyance,
and drinking water cleanup.
Imperial
Valley reflects on QSA 10 years later [Imperial Valley Press]
The
nation’s largest agriculture-to-urban water transfer was signed 10 years ago
today. And while there is no shortage of opinions on the implementation and
effects of the transfer, statements by officials from the San Diego County
Water Authority and the Imperial Irrigation District are illustrative of how
the Quantification Settlement Agreement is viewed. The major beneficiary of the
transfer, SDCWA, extols the role that water from the Imperial Valley plays in
its diversifying and improving its water supply.…Local reaction is less
enthusiastic. “Ten years into this water-sharing pact, IID has met all its
obligations and will continue to do so,” said Kevin Kelley, IID general
manager.
Costly
lesson of Rim Fire: Forests need to be thinned [Stockton Record]
If
you burn it, they will come. That movie-based logic is how federal dollars get
allocated for forests, say foresters, scientists, environmentalists and others
familiar with how fire risk gets handled in the Sierra. The Rim Fire that
started Aug. 17 and burned more than 400 square miles has already run up a $127
million price tag for firefighting. On Friday, federal officials announced
another $4.3 million in funding for post-fire treatments to damaged watersheds.
Ag
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