Business leaders speak out for immigration reform [Bakersfield Californian]
A
coalition of medical and business organizations, including Dignity Health
locally, joined a chorus of calls for immigration reform Wednesday even as
various proposals in Congress appear to be dead….Leaders from business,
manufacturing and agricultural groups launched a "day of action" to
push for immigration reform Wednesday, staging a news conference in Washington,
D.C., and local events in more than 40 congressional districts across 20
states. Participants included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Partnership for a
New American Economy, Business Roundtable, The American Farm Bureau Federation,
AmericanHort, the National Association of Manufacturers, Western Growers and
Small Business Majority. Dick Castner, western regional director for the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, said the current system is "hopelessly inadequate for
the needs that we have and needs to be modernized."
Emergency rules would
add teeth to California water-conservation rules [Sacramento Bee]
People
who heavily water their lawns in the middle of a drought could end up paying a
lot of green for that emerald grass. California water authorities proposed
emergency regulations this week that would prohibit wasteful lawn watering and
car washing, with fines of up to $500 a day for residents who break the rules.
The proposal also would grant police and other law enforcement officials broad
discretion to write citations for water use they deem wasteful. The dramatic
move by the State Water Resources Control Board comes in response to the worst
drought to grip California in a generation – one that threatens to get worse if
it doesn’t rain this winter. Figures released last month showed that between
January and May of this year, California as a whole cut its water use 5 percent
compared to the same period over the preceding three years. That falls well
short of the 20 percent reductions Gov. Jerry Brown urged when declaring a
state of emergency in January. “We’re trying to deal with the fact that
California is in this incredibly historic and severe drought and trying to
figure out ways to increase our resilience and security,” said water board
Chairwoman Felicia Marcus. “We’ve been lucky in the last 100 years or so that
it has started to rain after three years of drought, but there’s no guarantee
that it will this time.”
Editorial: Saving water in California [New York Times]
California
is in the third year of its worst drought in decades. But you wouldn’t know it
by looking at how much water the state’s residents and businesses are
using….Without much stronger conservation measures, the state, much of which is
arid or semiarid, could face severe water shortages if the drought does not
break next year….California’s agriculture sector is the largest in the country,
and it accounts for about 80 percent of the state’s water use. Even a small percentage
reduction in the fields could have a sizable effect on total water
consumption….Mr. Brown’s administration should think a lot bigger than
emergency aid aimed at a single drought. The state must focus on longer-term
policies that encourage people to alter their lifestyles and businesses to
change how they operate.
Letter to Editor: Would you want farmers' water? [Wall Street Journal]
…While
it is true that the rates that farmers pay for water are less than the
residential users, it's not the same product. Would city users be happy with
unfiltered, untreated water? Would delivery only six months a year be
satisfactory? Would it be acceptable for residential users to pay tens of
thousands of dollars for the infrastructure to get the water to their houses
and yards? How about being the first in line for water rationing such as the
kind that destroyed tens of thousands of acres of farmland in Mendota, Calif.?
Logue seeks support
for Sites Reservoir [Marysville Appeal-Democrat]
Assemblyman
Dan Logue has penned a letter to Congress seeking federal support for the Sites
Reservoir in Colusa County and Temperance Flat Dam near Fresno. The letter,
signed by a dozen other state legislators, was sent Tuesday to senators Dianne
Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. It asks that as Congress deliberates the Emergency
Drought Relief Act, the "devastating effect" of the drought on urban
residents be considered.…While the letter doesn't specifically address the idea
of building the Colusa County and Fresno-Madera counties storage facilities,
Logue said Wednesday that is what is being sought.
Virus will keep
piglets from California State Fair [Sacramento Bee]
A
devastating virus that has killed millions of piglets across the country and
caused a spike in pork prices now is disrupting one of summer’s most beloved
annual events: the California State Fair. The State Fair, which opens Friday,
will shut down its popular piglet exhibit this year and step up veterinary
inspections of adult pigs in response to a viral epidemic that has affected
5,000 farms and killed more than 8 million piglets. County and state fairs
across the country are taking similar precautions as farmers struggle to manage
the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus, or PED, which is believed to have
originated in China and was discovered in the United States in May of last
year.
Ag
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