Agriculture Daily News 2/27

It's now the law, pet owners who live in Los Angeles must have their dogs and cats sterilized by the time the animals are 4 months old. CC Times 2/27/08

 

Many prominent figures of the Tokyo food world are saying to Michelin, thanks for all the attention (which we deserve), but you still do not know us or our cuisine. Food critics, magazines and even the governor of Tokyo have questioned the guide’s choice of restaurants and ratings. A handful of chefs proudly proclaimed that they had turned down chances to be listed. One, Toshiya Kadowaki, said his nouveau Japonais dishes, including a French-inspired rice with truffles, did not need a Gallic seal of approval. “Japanese food was created here, and only Japanese know it,” Mr. Kadowaki said in an interview. “How can a bunch of foreigners show up and tell us what is good or bad?” NY Times 2/24/08

 

California could become the first state in the nation to require paid sick leave for all workers under a bill introduced last week by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco. Ma, who is running for the position of Assembly Speaker, plans to showcase the bill at a San Francisco press conference today. Its political prospects are iffy, and even Ma concedes the bill will be difficult to pass. SJ Mercury 2/27/08

 

An autumn ritual for tens of millions of adults and senior citizens could become routine for kids as well if federal health advisers recommend yearly flu vaccination today for the nation's 60 million school-age children. A nod from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices won't mandate flu shots for children, but it will smooth the way for both private insurers and publicly funded vaccination programs to pay for the immunizations. SF Chronicle 2/27/08

 

There have been more large, environmentally damaging sewage spills in the San Francisco Bay Area in the first two months of 2008 than in the last 7 1/2 months of last year, a Chronicle analysis has found. There have been 276 sewage spills this year that either flowed into Bay Area waterways or contained at least 1,000 gallons of effluent, according to the analysis of State Water Resources Control Board statistics. SF Chronicle 2/27/08

 

A garbage-to-energy plant that produces clean fuel, reduces global warming gases and leaves nary a toxic trace. Yet "plasma gasification" is a real, albeit emerging, technology being considered by Sacramento as an alternative to its daily trans-Sierra hauling of waste to a Nevada landfill. Sacramento Bee 2/26/08