Farm leaders celebrate water bond passage, prepare for round two [Fresno Bee]
Farm
water officials worked years on the $7.5 billion state water bond that passed
Tuesday, offering the possibility of partly bankrolling a new reservoir near
Fresno. Now it’s time for round two – actually getting funding for Temperance
Flat and other projects. At the Fresno Irrigation District Thursday, farm water
officials joined the California Latino Water Coalition in announcing they would
continue pushing for the projects next year at the California Water Commission
in Sacramento. The commission will allocate $2.7 billion for water storage
projects, based on public benefit, and there will be competition for the money.
“Tuesday was not a finish line,” said Ryan Jacobsen, executive director of the
Fresno County Farm Bureau. “It’s a starting line to make sure projects get the
funding.”…The debates now will shift to the California Water Commission, which
has nine members. Two are from the San Joaquin Valley – farmer Joe Del Bosque
and Dave Orth, general manager of the Kings River Conservation District. Del Bosque
took part Thursday in the announcement at Fresno Irrigation District
headquarters.
Some
in GOP fear schism over Obama, immigration [Associated Press]
With
President Barack Obama vowing to press ahead on immigration, prominent Hispanic
Republicans are worried about the reaction of staunch conservatives. They fear
it will harm the party's ability to win over Latinos in the next presidential
election and beyond. While immigration was generally a muted issue in midterm
elections dominated by the GOP, Obama promised the next day to move ahead on
his own to remove the threat of deportation or grant work permits to an
unspecified number of immigrants living here illegally. "The initial
reaction from Republicans is going to be very ugly and not well- thought-out,
unfortunately," said Alfonso Aguilar, former chief of the U.S. Office of
Citizenship in the George W. Bush administration and executive director of
Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles. Aguilar said congressional
Republicans must offer a plausible alternative to the president's plan,
especially since the GOP-controlled House has shelved bipartisan immigration
legislation.
High-Speed
Rail Authority has 30 eminent-domain cases pending ... and it's just getting
started [Sacramento Business Journal]
The
California High-Speed Rail Authority needs approximately 1,100 parcels for its
first construction segment, 130 miles from Madera to Bakersfield. The state
began making offers on properties in 2012 that were standing in the way of
future tracks and infrastructure. So far, the state has sought ownership of 822
parcels, and acquired just 106. Not all of the negotiations have gone smoothly.
The state has received permission to move forward with eminent domain
proceedings for 36 parcels so far….Owners of six of those parcels have since
settled with the state. Of the 30 that remain, 10 are now pending in
courthouses in Fresno and Madera counties. None have gone to trial yet.
Water
Board moves to implement marijuana growing regulations [Willits News]
Area
marijuana grows may soon be regulated by the North Coast Regional Water Quality
Control...
The
North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, based in Santa Rosa, has
announced a new "cannabis cultivation regulatory program" to address
the issue of water quality, and pollution, caused by marijuana growing in
creeks across the North Coast. The program will be the first of its kind in the
state, and a big step in bringing some kind of environmental oversight to the
largely illegal and almost totally unregulated marijuana cultivation industry.
It will not address the specific problem of water-theft, or violation of
water-rights, which are the domain of the enforcement program within the
statewide Water Resources Control Board, based in Sacramento. The program will
include new staff devoted to inspection and enforcement, as well as a
permitting process that seeks to bring growers into a framework for regulating
their waste and run-off.
‘Disease
detectives’ trace last year’s hepatitis A outbreak to Turkish pomegranates
[Sacramento Bee]
A
mysterious outbreak last year of a foreign strain of hepatitis A set in motion
a federal government investigation that led food-safety sleuths halfway around
the world to Turkey. There, in a pomegranate grove, the detective work paid
off: Investigators found the likely culprit of a widespread foodborne virus
that sickened at least 165 people in 10 states, including California….“The
investigation captured the whole global aspect of today’s food system,” said
Mike Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine for the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration….For the first time in 70 years, the federal
agency is undertaking a major update of food safety inspection rules to
emphasize prevention over enforcement. Taylor said the result will likely be a
stronger presence overseas for FDA authorities, and inspection and enforcement
tools to hold food producers accountable for the safety of imported products.
Cow
prices jump over the moon [Wall Street Journal]
U.S.
cattle prices are surging again, a fresh blow to consumers already stung by
record costs for steaks and ground beef. Live-cattle futures leapt to an all-time
high of $1.705 a pound last week, reflecting concerns that domestic cattle
supplies are even tighter than many analysts expected….Analysts said the latest
jump in cattle prices likely would be passed along to grocery shoppers in the
next few months….Cattle and beef prices have spiked in the past several years
as drought in the southern U.S. Great Plains dried out pastures and raised
costs for hay and other feed, forcing ranchers to cull herds. Now, weather
conditions are improving, prompting ranchers to hold on to more breeding
animals in order to expand herds. While the rebuilding efforts could ease
supply constraints in coming years, they are curtailing the number of cattle
moving through the supply chain now.
Ag
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