Water:
*New vision out for Delta -- The Delta would be protected as a cultural and natural treasure and the state institutions governing it radically reshaped under a draft plan released Friday. The plan envisions a shift in emphasis so that the environment and the water supply drawn from the Delta are afforded equal value. In making that recommendation, the staff of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force suggests creating a new oversight agency akin to the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, stripping the state Department of Water Resources of its control of the massive State Water Project. The plan, which is certain to be changed substantially over the next four months, also suggests setting up a Delta Conservancy to buy land in the Delta for ecosystem and wetlands restoration. Contra Costa Times 6/20/08
City of Sacramento loses track of thousands of water meters -- Sacramento's Department of Utilities is in such disarray that thousands of city-owned water meters valued at $1.3 million are unaccounted for, according to a scathing audit released Friday. The missing meters – purchased as part of a citywide water meter retrofit program for homes and businesses – are believed to be part of a black-market salvage scheme that came to light in a joint police-FBI investigation launched in 2006. Sacramento Bee 6/21/08
*Supreme Court to review decision on Navy sonar use -- The Supreme Court announced Monday it will step into a dispute over the Navy's use of sonar off the Southern California coast and its potential harm to dolphins and whales. Acting at the Bush administration's urging, the court will review a federal appeals court ruling that limits the use of sonar in training seminars. SF Chronicle 6/23/08
L.A. may flush old fears of toilet to tap -- Eight years after Los Angeles leaders killed a multimillion-dollar water-recycling project amid vitriolic debate over politics and safety, the dubiously dubbed "toilet to tap" plan is back. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has made recycled water the centerpiece of his 20-year water plan, and now the one-time critic has become the leading proponent for purifying sewage and wastewater and returning it to the drinking-water supply. LA Daily News 6/22/08
Health:
Medical care's state of denial -- Each year, thousands of Californians find themselves at odds with their health insurers over whether they, as patients, should get the treatment their doctors prescribed. Anthem Blue Cross said it follows strict protocols, relying on medical evidence in determining what is necessary and appropriate to cover. Health insurers "are going back to the old strategies of the '90s, when they interrupted care on the front end by denying or delaying treatment offered by a doctor," said Jerry Flanagan, health advocate for Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica group. SF Chronicle 6/22/08
Agriculture:
UCD's agricultural genetic resource program will shut down -- For almost 25 years, a small program at the University of California, Davis, funneled resources into maintaining collections of genetic material that are California's arsenal in the battle to protect agriculture – until now. Citing a tight budget, the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources has given the Genetic Resources Conservation Program until the end of the month. The program is funded by the University of California system. Sacramento Bee 6/23/08
*S.F. firm harvests potential of unused land -- MyFarm, a new San Francisco business designs and plants an organic vegetable garden in clients' backyards. Customers pay MyFarm a weekly fee to maintain and harvest the vegetables that have just started to mature. SF Chronicle 6/22/08
Food and nutrition:
Cafeteria foods eat budgets -- Some Inland children will find higher prices in the cafeteria this fall, as schools try to make up for double-digit food cost increases. Higher costs for food and fuel are making it harder for schools to serve balanced, nutritious meals that children will eat, Inland school food-service directors said. PE 6/22/08
Milk prices set to rise in July -- Retail milk prices in Northern California will rise in July by roughly 20 cents a gallon, or about 7 percent, reaching their highest levels since January, according to data from the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Sacramento Bee 6/21/08
California cuisine follows state's delegation to Capitol Hill -- Californians are the new diet police in Washington, using their enhanced influence to launch makeovers of the cafeterias and restaurants that serve the nation's most powerful lawmakers and their staffers on Capitol Hill. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco struck first, greening up the House cafeterias by bringing in more organic and locally grown food and biodegradable cutlery. Now Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein is leading the charge to privatize the Senate's cafeterias, confident it will lead to healthier food choices and lower costs for the public. Sacramento Bee 6/21/08
School lunch prices rise -- The price for staples such as bread, milk and cheese jumped by as much as 17 percent in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The agency provides schools with roughly 15 percent of the food used for school lunches, with the bulk of the groceries bought privately and partially reimbursed. Most districts have steered clear of raising prices for students who receive a reduced-price lunch based on their family income. San Diego Union Tribune 6/21/08
Labor:
*State records biggest jump in unemployment -- California's unemployment rate rocketed up by 0.6 percentage points in May - the largest one-month increase since the state began keeping records in 1976 - as the fallout from high energy prices and the depressed housing market rippled through the state's economy. SF Chronicle 6/22/08
Parks and forests:
*Forest Service to beef up firefighting ranks -- The fast-spreading fire that broke out Friday in Santa Cruz County has put state and federal fire officials on edge as scorching temperatures throughout California threaten to make an already-bad fire season worse. The U.S. Forest Service announced plans Friday to hire additional firefighters to deal with the dangerously incendiary conditions in California. SF Chronicle 6/21/08
Lack of predators harms wild lands -- Scientists are certain that a scarcity of cougars and other large predators is devastating large stands of oak, aspen, cottonwood and even spectacular wildflower blooms in Western wild lands because deer and other foraging animals no longer fear predators and are overgrazing as a result. Inside Bay Area 6/21/08
National parks going carbon neutral -- A cluster of high-end hotel rooms is among the most visible successes of an ambitious plan by the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and 39 other national parks to reduce the threat of global warming by dropping their net carbon emissions to zero. To qualify, parks must work with the Environmental Protection Agency to quantify emissions levels associated with park activity. Contra Costa Times 6/20/08
California firefighters battle hundreds of blazes -- Hundreds of wildfires sparked by lightning flared Sunday across the heart of wine country and remote forests in Northern California, the latest batch of destructive blazes in the bone-dry state. One had spread across nearly 6 square miles by early Sunday after starting the previous afternoon in Napa County and quickly moving into a mostly rural area of Solano County. AP 6/23/08
*Governor's firefighting fee faces opposition -- Hoping to buy more fire engines and helicopters, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing a statewide surcharge on property insurance of $6 to $12 a year. Another lawmaker, state Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, wants to charge a $50 yearly fee on the 900,000 homeowners living in rural areas to fund fire prevention. Fees for fire safety - like many of California's other often-intractable debates over public spending - have run into a conflagration of controversy this year. The broader issues include: Should people who choose to live in high-risk areas pay more? And are new fees taxes in disguise, an end-run around Proposition 13? SJ Mercury 6/23/08
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