Editorial: Time to bring immigration reform to a vote [Sacramento Bee]
…Just
bring S 744 to the House floor for a vote and see if a majority supports it. If
it fails, then do something else….California has a huge stake in reforming the
current immigration system….This is yet another test of whether majorities, or
a tea party minority, rule in the House. Immigration reform can pass by
Boehner’s Dec. 13 deadline if he will bring it to a vote.
Major
split over buying junk food with federal aid [San Francisco Chronicle]
Washington
-- Food stamps, the nation's premier poverty program, can buy just about
anything that passes for edible on a supermarket shelf: chips, soft drinks,
candy and all the other items known in common parlance as junk food. This fact,
in tandem with epidemic obesity that afflicts the poor and racial minorities
more than other Americans, lurks beneath the brawl dividing Congress over
whether to slash funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program.…What few on either side want to touch are the conclusions of a report
last year by Oakland public health activist Michele Simon, who called food
stamps the "the largest, most overlooked corporate subsidy in the farm
bill" and urged Congress to enact nutrition standards that would limit purchases
of unhealthy food with government assistance.
Sierra
environmentalist group sounds the alarm about Rim fire salvage-logging bill in
the House [Modesto Bee]
A
group based in Twain Harte is urging Congress to reject a bill that would waive
environmental review of salvage logging from the Rim fire. The Central Sierra
Environmental Resource Center contends that the review is needed to ensure that
the logging leaves enough dead trees in place to protect the soil and sustain
wildlife adapted to charred forest. Executive Director John Buckley said the
group supports a substantial amount of salvage logging in the part of the
Stanislaus National Forest burned by the massive blaze. But it takes exception
to House Resolution 3188, introduced in September by Republican Rep. Tom
McClintock, whose district includes the burned area.
Farmworker
housing: A sad commentary [Salinas Californian]
Farmworker
housing in Monterey County is in a sad state….The problem is complicated by the
sheer number of reasons that contribute to the shortage of adequate and healthy
housing for the workers who pick and tend the crops that popularized the
meaning of “green gold.” Leaders inside and outside of government say the same
thing: Governments are failing for lack of a regional, collaborative approach,
and for creating onerous regulations that discourage construction of adequate
housing….Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau,
said there has been several ideas offered by growers in the three years he has
been at the helm of the Bureau. “They probably gave up trying to navigate the
regulatory morass, as well as finding it too costly,” Groot said. “They
understand the need and realize stable housing would provide a much more stable
workforce. But with the county ordinances it is just a lot to get through.”
*Link may
require paid subscription; text included in attached Word file.
Dry
winter ahead, state’s experimental forecast warns [Sacramento Bee]
Despite
a hint of rain and snow in the forecast next week, the Sacramento region and
California as a whole can expect a third dry winter ahead. That’s according to
an “experimental” long-range forecast released this week by the California
Department of Water Resources. The forecast covers the 2014 water year, which
runs from Oct. 1, 2013, through Sept. 30, 2014. It calls for “mostly dry
conditions for most of California,” with dry conditions being especially likely
in the south state. The forecast was done for the state by Klaus Wolter, a
Ph.D. meteorologist and research associate at the Cooperative Institute for
Research in Environmental Sciences, at the University of Colorado, Boulder
Commentary: No good deed goes
unpunished [Visalia Times-Delta]
…It
all started with a charitable effort coordinated by the Tulare County Farm
Bureau’s Young Farmers and Ranchers Committee. Four years ago the committee
decided to take some of their fundraising dollars and purchase animals raised
by local youth at the county fair, and take the meat from those animals and
donate it to local food charities….Because of a section in the Federal Meat
Act, meat that is ‘custom’ processed, can only be consumed in one’s own
household, or by non-paying guests — and donating it to the public food bank
was deemed a breach of the law….The effort will move forward, the Farm Bureau’s
young farmers will find an appropriate way to process the meat in future years,
and comply with the Federal Meat Act. Bin the meantime, there will be less
fresh pork in this year’s food pantries around Tulare County and a good deed
ends in disappointment.
*Link may
require paid subscription; text included in attached Word file.
Bill
DuBois Sr. keeps ringing through the years for Salvation Army [Imperial Valley
Press]
With
the familiar rhythmic ringing of a gold bell, a smiling Bill DuBois Sr., 97,
has been greeting Valley shoppers for decades as he volunteers to collect money
for The Salvation Army each season.…He first started doing it in 1947 in front
of what was then Clement’s Drugstore in downtown El Centro….DuBois Sr. even
helped The Salvation Army when he was living in Sacramento lobbying for the
state’s Farm Bureau….“He knows so many people. He’s been a farmer, a lobbyist
for the Farm Bureau, and been involved with El Centro Kiwanis for about 60
years. Every farmer and farming family in the Valley knows him. He’s the
history of the Valley,” said Chuck Storey, El Centro Kiwanis and Rotary member.
Ag
Today is distributed by the CFBF Communications/News Division to county Farm
Bureaus, CFBF directors and CFBF staff, for information purposes; stories may
not be republished without permission. Some story links may require site
registration. To be removed from this mailing list, reply to this
message and please provide your name and e-mail address. For more
information about Ag Today, contact 916-561-5550 or news@cfbf.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment