Evincii, a software maker, has developed interactive kiosks now found in more than 100 Longs Drugs Stores that allow consumer to search for specific over-the-counter medicines. Evincii's kiosks, mounted near the edge of a store aisle, are an attempt to marry online product research — which most people do at home or work — with the crucial decision making that happens inside a store. The kiosks, called PHARMAssist, work like this: a computer-generated helper introduces itself as "Rex," it asks shoppers a series of questions about their symptoms, medical conditions, and preferences and then comes up with a list of products that all have the same active ingredients. CC Times 4/16/08
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Fish and Game officials on Tuesday reluctantly voted to shelter a diminished population of Sacramento River chinook by barring all ocean salmon fishing in state waters, out three miles from shore. The move follows last week's ban on salmon fishing in the 200-mile swath of federal water off California and Oregon. And on May 9, the state commission is likely to extend the closure to recreational salmon fishing in the Sacramento, American, and other Central Valley rivers. That's never happened before. Sacramento Bee 4/16/08
The California Fish and Game Commission has closed commercial and recreational salmon fishing in state-controlled coastal waters, which extend three miles out to sea. The decision, the most restrictive in history, could mean the loss of 2,263 jobs and up to $255 million for commercial and recreational salmon fishing industries. Stockton Record 4/16/08
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Stanford researchers are participating in a national study to test a new weight-loss therapy that blocks the nerves that tell people when they're hungry and control how the body stores fat. The treatment is considered a less invasive alternative to bariatric surgeries, which typically involve shrinking the stomach by wrapping a tight band around it or bypassing large sections of it and going straight to the rest of the digestive tract. SF Chronicle 4/16/08
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The Environmental Protection Agency was lambasted during a Senate hearing Tuesday for allowing the American public to learn that traces of pharmaceuticals are in much of the nation's drinking water from an Associated Press investigative series, not the federal government. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, angrily chided Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA assistant administrator for water, for the agency's failure to require testing for drugs and for public disclosure of test results. SJ Mercury 4/16/08
“EPA has failed to require the needed testing to determine the effects of these chemicals at low levels. In 1996, Congress told EPA in the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Food Quality Protection Act to develop a program to identify and address chemicals that harm the natural balance of hormones in our body, called endocrine disrupting chemicals.” –Sen Barbara Boxer Media Newswire 4/16/08
Boxer set the critical tone in her opening remarks, when she praised the AP and the U.S. Geological Survey, which has conducted extensive testing, for informing the nation that "our water supplies can contain a mixture of pharmaceuticals. Notice I didn't thank the EPA." AP 4/16/08
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In an opinion piece Secretary Kawamura explains he is trying “to focus on facts, and the fact is: A pheromone is simply a chemical signal that resembles a scent. Pheromone treatments have been used in the United States and around the world in agricultural and urban areas (including residential areas of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin) for well over a decade, without incident. As recently as last year, more than 3 million acres in the United States were aerially treated with moth pheromone to disrupt the mating of gypsy moths.” SF Chronicle 4/16/08
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With the nation's farm bill set to expire only days away on April 18, congressional leaders have been under great pressure to settle unresolved policy and funding issues and move the bill forward. Those close to the debate are on the fence over whether legislators will actually be able to finalize a farm bill by the April 18 deadline. California Farm Bureau Federation 4/16/08
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Farmers across the country are seeing fertilizer price increases caused by several factors, including the booming demand for fertilizer to produce animal feed for rapidly developing nations like India and China, where people are adopting diets richer in meat. But growers in California, the nation's leading agriculture state, have yet to see retail prices increase for the fruits and vegetables that dominate their farms. Canadian Press 4/15/08
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The nation’s food supply is no less a security concern than oil, but it will take a determined effort by agriculture to persuade state and federal government, as well as citizens, to accept the fact. Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape and Tree Fruit League, supported that position in remarks at a recent educational symposium held by the California Tree Fruit Agreement in Fresno. Western Farm Press 4/16/08
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Environmental and farmworker advocates have sued the Bush administration for allowing the continued use of four pesticides, saying the government brushed aside its own findings that the chemicals are dangerous to workers, children and wildlife. SF Chronicle 4/8/08
A group of farm worker advocates and environmentalists, including the United Farm Workers, the Teamsters, Pesticide Action Network North America, Beyond Pesticides and the Natural Resources Defense Council, has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco against the Bush administration saying the EPA should not have turned its back on its own findings and allowed pesticides that pose a danger to animals, children and adults to be sprayed on vegetable and fruit crops. Natural News 4/16/08
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Fueled by strong gains in premium California wine volume, California wine sales in the United States increased 2 percent in 2007 from the previous year to a record 457 million gallons (192 million cases), according to the Gomberg-Fredrikson Report. The retail value of these shipments increased 6 percent to $18.9 billion. Goodfruit 4/16/08
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Tight world grain supplies and a weak U.S. dollar have driven up rice prices, boosting optimism among California farmers as they begin to plant their rice crop. With rice prices continuing to rise, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is estimating that California farmers will plant more rice this season. According to the USDA NASS estimate, California growers are expected to plant 549,000 acres of rice this season, up from 533,000 acres in 2007. CFBF 4/16/08
California’s $500 million rice industry has had to make at least three fundamental changes in the way the crop has been grown in recent years, and more are in store for the state’s 2,500 producers, according to Tim Johnson, president and chief executive officer of the California Rice Commission (CRC). Like much of California agriculture, Johnson said rice growers face significant competition — not from markets but from available resources like quality air and water. Already on the books is air quality legislation sponsored four years ago by California Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, to improve air quality in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV). Today regulations require farm permits for air quality emissions, phased down agricultural burning in the entire SJV, mandated farm management plans, and mandatory best available control measures. Western Farm Press 3/31/08
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