Oakland truckers strike to protest pollution rules [San Francisco Chronicle]
The
truckers' strike at the Port of Oakland stems from complaints over work
conditions, but it also underscores a long-simmering tension between the
trucking industry and environmental regulators. Dozens of nonunion truckers
walked off the job this week in part to protest what they said were the high
costs of retrofitting or replacing trucks to meet air quality standards in
California, home to cities with some of the worst air pollution in the country.
The laws were approved five years ago to cut down on diesel emissions from
trucks carrying goods into and out of ports and rail yards. Without the
controls, diesel trucks and buses coughed out enough smog to form one-third of
the state's nitric-oxide emissions and 40 percent of the state's diesel
particulate-matter emissions, which have been linked to more than 9,000
premature deaths annually.
State
extends price increase for California dairy operators [Fresno Bee]
California
agriculture officials on Tuesday extended a temporary price increase to the
state's struggling dairy industry while acknowledging that the state's milk
pricing system is outdated. But the announcement did little to mollify dairy
operators, who contend they are under paid. Karen Ross, California Department
of Food and Agriculture secretary, prolonged a monthly price increaseof 12.5
cents per hundred pounds of milk that was put in place in June. The increase
was due to expire at the end of the year, but Ross extended it through June
2014.
HECA
project clears ag protection hurdle [Bakersfield Californian]
Kern
County supervisors, over the objections of a long stream of farmers, rural
residents and environmentalists, agreed to remove ag protections from some land
so it could be used for the controversial Hydrogen Energy California project.
The Board of Supervisors had been asked to cancel an agricultural preserve on
72 acres of the project northwest of Tupman – something needed to develop one
corner of the project as it is proposed. It agreed to do so….Farmers and
project opponents argued that the project draws heavily on Kern County's
depleted water supplies, eats up prime farmland and threatens families and the
community of Tupman.
Modesto
Irrigation District OKs $442.7 million budget for 2014, but no word on rate
hikes [Modesto Bee]
Modesto
Irrigation District leaders on Tuesday unanimously approved a $442.7 million
budget for 2014 with no hint of whether electricity customers might face rate
increases. A revamped board could take up the sensitive question after three
newcomers are elected Nov. 5 to the five-member panel. Political divisions
among leaders were on display once again Tuesday, with Vice Chairman Larry Byrd
calling budget numbers “very encouraging” and outgoing board member Tom Van
Groningen drawing attention to paltry amounts of money collected from farmers
compared to power customers.
California
winemakers raising their glasses to Smithsonian [Merced Sun-Star]
Christine
Wente began organizing her family’s winemaking lore even before the Smithsonian
curators came calling. This week, with the federal government finally back in
business, Wente and other California winemakers are serving up some of their
stories at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. That legacy
has already lured the Smithsonian curators, who’ve undertaken an American Food
and Wine History Project since 1996. The specialized collection, a tiny part of
the museum’s overall stock, which comprises more than 3 million items, so far
boasts a 1973 Stag’s Leap cabernet sauvignon and 1973 Château Montelena
chardonnay, which prevailed in a famous 1976 Paris tasting.
Op-Ed: Antibiotics for
people, not animals [Los Angeles Times]
So
far this year, more than 300 people have gotten sick from bacteria called
Salmonella heidelberg. Almost three-quarters of them live in California. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that chicken produced in
three Central California processing facilities is the "likely source of
this outbreak" and that the bacteria are "resistant to several
commonly prescribed antibiotics." The CDC estimates that for every
reported salmonella infection, there are about 29 more unreported cases,
bringing the potential toll to more than 9,000 victims. About 42% of the
patients who reported their illness have been hospitalized, an uncommonly high
rate that indicates this bug is more virulent than usual. According to the CDC,
drug resistance "may be associated with an increased risk of
hospitalization or possible treatment failure in infected individuals."
Ag
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