High-speed rail agency poised to approve Fresno-Bakersfield section [Fresno Bee]
The
California High-Speed Rail Authority board is poised to forge ahead with
approval of its Fresno-Bakersfield bullet-train route when it meets Tuesday and
Wednesday in Fresno. A 20,000-page report detailing the potential effects of
construction and operation of the 114-mile segment will be up for public
comment for at least four hours Tuesday afternoon and evening at Fresno City
Hall. The next day, the board will consider certifying the report and adopting
its preferred route from downtown Fresno, around the east edge of Hanford and
to the northern edge of Bakersfield….For example, critics have repeatedly objected
to the rail line's potential effects on San Joaquin Valley farmland,
particularly in Kings County where bypasses around Hanford require the tracks
to make wide, sweeping curves through farm parcels east of the city.
John
Lindt: Local farmers face water loss next week [Visalia Times–Delta]
Instead
of water from Millerton Lake flowing south down the Friant Kern Canal to
irrigate farms in Tulare County, water from the dam may be released down the
river to wet fields in the Los Banos area as soon as next week. With no word
out of the federal Bureau of Reclamation on increasing the water allotment to
the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors, that group’s executive director
Steve Chedester says they are poised to “make a call” on river water to be
released from Friant Dam next week….By contract, the bureau has an obligation
to deliver water from north of the delta or as a last resort from the San
Joaquin River, and because of lack of any word from the bureau, “We are ready
to take 50,000 to 60,000 acre-feet out of Millerton in May” to meet their farmers’
water needs.
My,
what lovely flowers. Who lobbied for them? [New York Times]
There
was something different about the iris and quince blossoms in the flower
arrangements at the state dinner for France at the White House this year: They
were grown in the United States, not overseas. The change is a result of
pressure on the White House from the determined American cut-flower lobby,
which argues that if Michelle Obama is going to showcase locally grown food and
American wine, she can do the same for the hundreds of flowers, traditionally
changed weekly, in the White House’s state rooms, West Wing and private
quarters and, when it is in use, at Camp David….How American flowers had a star
turn in the arrangements — including weeping willow branches from New Jersey
and Scotch broom from Virginia that hung from enormous “floral chandeliers” in
the dinner tent — is a Washington tale of politics, trade deals and the fruits
of chatting up President Obama on Air Force One. (There are cut flowers there,
too.)
Calaveras
committed to tax break [Stockton Record]
For
almost half a century (the law passed in 1965), California has allowed counties
to give property tax breaks to ranchers and farmers who sign contracts to keep
their lands in agriculture for at least the next 10 years. The Williamson
Act,…Calaveras County supervisors this week informally reaffirmed their
commitment to the Williamson Act, which seeks to preserve food production and
open space in an age when farmers often feel pressure to cash out for
development. During a study session Tuesday, supervisors did not flinch at the
idea of continuing the tax break even though California's state government
since 2009 has stopped giving counties so-called "subvention" funding
to compensate for the lost property tax revenue.
Fresno
County still tops in the nation in ag production [Fresno Bee]
Fresno
County continues to be the nation's number one agriculture county, and
California remains the top-producing state, according to the latest national
Census of Agriculture. The 2012 census -- issued Friday and the most recent
compiled -- found that Fresno County's ag output was valued at $5.7 billion.
That was greater than 23 states. Of the top 10 agriculture producing counties
in the U.S., all but one was in California. Seven were in the San Joaquin
Valley….The U.S. Department of Agriculture's census, taken every five years,
provides a one-year snap shot at the nation's farming industry from value of
products to demographic details about who is farming.
Editorial: Base food labeling
on fact, not fear [Los Angeles Times]
The
scientific evidence on genetically engineered food, which has been around for
two decades, indicates that it is as safe for human consumption as any other
food. A California bill that would require the labeling of bioengineered food —
whose DNA has been modified in the laboratory to introduce certain traits —
caters to a scare campaign that is not based on solid evidence….State Sen.
Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) has said that her bill doesn't make judgments about
whether genetically engineered food is inherently good or bad but merely
informs consumers. Yet the wording says otherwise. It's full of negative
declarations about such food, with no mention of the positives….There's a limit
to what manufacturers can tell consumers about their food — labels can't
enumerate every possible or perceived concern. Labeling laws should set a
priority on providing information that significantly affects consumer health.
They should be based on facts, not fear.
Ag
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