Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger laid out a sweeping plan to address statewide water problems and the environmental decline in the Delta in response to charges this week from incensed lawmakers who said he was moving unilaterally to build a controversial aqueduct. His letter to leading senators comes as state water officials plan in the coming weeks to take the first steps toward developing an environmental study of the aqueduct, a canal that would divert water around the Delta to large pumps that supply farms in the San Joaquin Valley and cities in the East Bay and Southern California. CC Times 3/01/08
The Navy must abide by limits on its sonar training off the Southern California coast because the exercises could harm dozens of species of whales and dolphins, a federal appeals court ruled. he 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a 108-page ruling rejecting the Navy's appeal of a preliminary injunction from a lower court that barred the use of high-powered sonar within 12 miles of the coast. The injunction also set other limits that could affect Navy training exercises scheduled to begin this month. CC Times 3/02/08
A sharp jump in prices for wheat -- now at record highs -- and flour has chewed up the profit at pizza parlors and bakeries in the East Bay and elsewhere. In January, Rocco Biale, principal owner of Rocco's Ristorante & Pizzeria, was paying about $14 for each 50-pound bag of flour his Walnut Creek restaurant uses to make pizza. This week, prices are up to about $28 a bag. CC Times 3/01/08
When California's raw milk dairies learned about new legislation tightening safety standards for their unpasteurized milk and cream, they -- alongside passionate raw milk devotees -- bitterly lobbied against mandates they thought would destroy their business. Now their fears are starting to be realized. State agriculture officials have temporarily banned the sale of raw cream from the Organic Pastures dairy in Fresno, citing bacteria levels of as much as 150 times the legal limit. CC Times 3/06/08
A review of Zabu Zabu, a new shabu shabu restaurant in Berkeley. CC Times 3/06/08
Federal lawmakers Thursday insisted that USDA food inspectors reveal the names of distributors, restaurants and school lunch programs that received 143 million pounds of beef recalled by a Chino meat-packing company. PE 3/07/08
he City Council this week gave City Attorney John Russo the go-ahead to work on a possible legal challenge to the state's plans for aerial spraying to eradicate the invasive light brown apple moth. The council's decision in Oakland came one week after Berkeley took similar action, and Russo said other Bay Area cities will be brought into the mix too. Inside Bay Area 3/07/08
The light brown apple moth may not be the voracious crop threat portrayed by state and federal agricultural officials, according to some scientists who also warn that the aerial spraying of a pesticide over California's cities may turn out to be an expensive, unnecessary public relations nightmare doomed to fail. SF Chronicle 3/06/08
State wildlife officials warned fishermen Wednesday that salmon fishing will likely be severely restricted this year because of a precipitous decline in the number of wild chinook returning to spawn in the Central Valley. Officials with the California Department of Fish and Game met with fishermen to share the latest data on chinook salmon populations and solicit their views on possible restrictions this year—if any fishing is allowed at all. SJ Mercury 3/05/08
One of California's most precious natural resources -- its highly productive farmland – is being lost at an alarming rate. And, a new report from the American Farmland Trust says unless a different approach to land-use planning and development is adopted, another 2 million acres could be gone by midcentury. Central Valley Business Times 3/05/08
California wineries tallied record export revenue last year even as they shifted to lower-priced offerings, a sign that the state's industry is well-positioned in an increasingly competitive global market, analysts said. Total U.S. wine exports rose 8.6 percent, to $951 million, according to trade data released Friday by the Wine Institute, an industry group. Sales were strongest in Canada and several East Asian countries, where revenue jumped 20 percent or more. Sacramento Bee 3/01/08
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