Agriculture Daily News May 1

Health:

 

Three Bay Area counties get an F for fine particle pollution -- Air quality in Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San Francisco counties each received an F grade because of high levels of soot and other fine particles on winter nights, the American Lung Association said Wednesday in its annual report on air pollution in America.  The Lung Association said motor vehicles and wood fires in fireplaces are partly to blame for the dirty air. Fine particulates can trigger asthma attacks and cause a variety of lung and heart problems, especially among the young, the sick and the elderly. SJ Mercury 5/1/08

 

California Senate committee confirms first public health director -- A legislative panel Wednesday unanimously confirmed the nomination of Dr. Mark Horton as the first director of the California Department of Public Health, despite concerns about the department's capability.The department was spun off last year from the Department of Health Services in an effort to place greater emphasis on ensuring the safety of food, water and air, battling diseases and preparing for bioterrorism. Sacramento Bee 5/1/08

 

Salmon:

 

It's official: Salmon season a 'disaster' -- U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez on Thursday declared a commercial fishery failure for the West Coast salmon fishery due to historically low salmon returns. The NOAA's Fisheries Service also issued regulations to close or severely limit recreational and commercial salmon fishing in the area.  The actions paves the way for Congress to allocate disaster relief dollars for Northwest Fisheries. Bizjournals 5/1/08

 

Salmon or not, fishermen take to the water in name of tradition -- In a symbolic move to remind the general populace of their plight, at least a half-dozen salmon fishermen anchored their boats off the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf on Wednesday on what normally would have been the eve of the commercial salmon fishing season. But there will be no fishing this year, the result of federal and state closures designed to restore the dwindling chinook population, which returned at record lows during their annual fall runs last year up many Oregon and California rivers, including the Sacramento and Klamath rivers. SJ Mercury 5/1/08

 

Water Reserves:

 

Dry conditions in California reduce Sierra Nevada snowpack -- The Sierra Nevada snowpack, a key source of California's water supply, has fallen well below normal levels after California experienced its driest two-month period on record, state water officials said Thursday. Frank Gehrke, the snow survey chief at California's Department of Water Resources, said dry, sunny conditions in March and April melted what was an average snowpack earlier this year. In addition, soils parched from last year's drought are soaking much of the early snowmelt. SF Chronicle 5/1/08

 

Immigration:

 

Latinos still the largest, fastest-growing minority, census shows -- Newly released figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show that the nation's Latino population grew by 1.4 million in 2007 to reach 45.5 million people, or 15.1% of the total U.S. population of 301.6 million. Blacks ranked as the second-largest minority group, at 40.7 million. LA Times 5/1/08