The East Bay's largest water supplier is likely to impose mandatory rationing next month that could include higher water rates, limits on outdoor sprinklers or possibly a ban on car washing. Elsewhere in the East Bay, residents are expected to be asked to conserve water voluntarily. SJ Mercury 4/24/08
East Bay water managers are mulling a slew of measures - from ordinary bans on car washing to drastic water bill increases - to protect their critically low reservoirs. SF Chronicle 4/24/08
A state task force recommended Wednesday a permanent ban on fishing in selected spots of ocean from Mendocino County to Santa Cruz, a move designed to protect 80 square miles of California's most pristine habitat. The proposal by the Marine Life Protection Act Blue Ribbon Task Force would protect dozens of species, including rockfish - yellow eye, canary, bocaccio - northern red abalone, seabirds and sea lions and other marine mammals underwater and all along that section of coast. SF Chronicle 4/24/08
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The two biggest U.S. warehouse retail chains are limiting how much rice customers can buy because of what Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., called on Wednesday "recent supply and demand trends." The broader chain of Wal-Mart stores has no plans to limit food purchases, however. USA Rice Federation spokesman David Coia said there is no rice shortage in the United States. "It's possible that small restaurants and bodega-type neighborhood stores may be purchasing rice in larger quantities than they do typically to avoid higher prices," Coia said about the warehouse chain restrictions. CC Times 4/24/08
On Wednesday, Sam's Club said customers would no longer be allowed to purchase more than four bags of jasmine, basmati or long-grain white rice on each visit. By midafternoon Wednesday, the Costco in Alhambra -- which had not placed limits on purchases -- said it had run out of rice. LA Times 4/24/08
Some Asian restaurants are even reconsidering their longstanding policy of refilling rice bowls for free on the doubling prices of rice. In a valley where nearly 30 percent of residents are of Asian descent, people are increasingly frustrated by the soaring cost of the staple of Asian cuisine. Latino restaurants have been hurt, too, but the price of the standard long-grain rice that is the staple of Mexican diets hasn't gone up nearly as much as the imported aromatics. SJ Mercury 4/24/08
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The worst spring cold snap in more than 30 years is threatening to wreak havoc on the wine industry as three recent days of frost have killed grapevine buds up and down the crucial North Coast vineyard region. So far, grape growers estimate that as much as 10 percent of their crops could be lost, an unusual occurrence in an industry that hasn't seen a significant spring frost since the early 1970s. SF Chronicle 4/24/08
Imported food would have to meet domestic U.S. safety standards under a bill Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, introduced Wednesday. Wading into a food fight that has long stymied other lawmakers, Costa and a Republican colleague offered a bill that they said would boost consumer confidence. At least in part, the legislation would lift other states to some food safety standards already imposed in Florida and California. Backed by farm industry groups such as the Western Growers Association and the United Fresh Produce Association, the new bill vies for attention with a more aggressive effort introduced previously by other House Democrats. Sacramento Bee 4/24/08
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