State scientists are recommending that children and women who are pregnant or breast-feeding avoid eating bass and sturgeon caught in the Sacramento River and upper Delta because of mercury contamination. This warning is the latest in a series of advisories issued over the years for fish that can accumulate mercury washed from long- abandoned gold mines. Sacramento Bee 4/18/08
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The Sudden oak death epidemic that has killed more than a million trees throughout coastal California started in two sites: Scotts Valley and on Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, a new genetic analysis reveals. Through genetic detective wok, scientists found that pathogens at both locations — separated by 62 miles — share identical DNA footprints, indicating that they are related, probably through the nursery trade, said lead investigator Matteo Garbelotto of the University of California Berkeley. SJ Mercury 4/17/08
Scientists also now think the killer organism, which they suspect rode in on nonnative nursery plants, eventually was carried by humans to the two ground zero zones. SF Chronicle 4/17/08
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Thousands of people whose policies were canceled by California health insurers will have a chance to win back their coverage and be reimbursed for outstanding medical bills, the Schwarzenegger administration announced Thursday. Cindy Ehnes, the director of the Department of Managed Health Care, said she would reopen policies dropped over the last four years by the state's five major insurers and submit them for reconsideration to an independent arbiter. LA Times 4/18/08
Policy rescissions differ from cancellations. When a policy is rescinded, the plan has no obligation to pay current claims, leaving patients with potentially devastating medical bills for care already provided. Cancellations are more likely to occur after claims are paid, she said. Sacramento Bee 4/18/08
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The United Farm Workers union has signed an agreement with a Mexican state to help recruit guest workers to labor on U.S. farms legally – and under union contract. The agreement was signed in early April in the western state of Michoacan, which has a long history of migration to California and is governed by the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution. Sacramento Bee 4/18/08
Late Thursday, House and Senate negotiators were set to all but complete the specialty crop sections of a new farm bill. Fruit and vegetable growers will see new grants, more research and increased federal snack purchases. But there's still conflict. Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan insisted on including $15 million to assist California, Michigan and Washington state asparagus producers hurt by competition with South American countries. In U.S. asparagus growing regions, the money sounds pretty good. The Bush administration, though, considers the funding a slap at international trading partners such as Peru. Modesto Bee 4/18/08
Once, vintners welcomed the invention of chemical sprays as a godsend against pests. But the chemicals also killed off natural enemies of the pests, a group of good, predatory insects and bugs. More vintners now consider these beneficial bugs their allies. Grape growers are creating sustainable habitats for them and taking a more nuanced approach to managing pests. More holistic pest management is now an important part of a vintner's education. SF Chronicle 4/18/08
The Bush administration Thursday resisted calls from Congress to add more inspectors and new technologies to oversee slaughterhouses, saying neither was necessary to do the job adequately. LA Times 4/18/08
Lawmakers stunned by a dramatic jump in federal spending on wildfires say they have found a way to pay for the next disaster. A bill approved Thursday by the House Natural Resources Committee would set aside up to $1 billion to pay for fighting major wildfires such as those that devastated Southern California last fall. AP 4/18/08
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