Agriculture:
*State vows to ensure moth spraying is safe -- California environmental officials pledge to thoroughly screen pesticides for risks to human health before the chemicals are aerially sprayed to eradicate a crop-eating moth in seven counties, including in the San Francisco Bay Area. The state is trying to avoid a repeat of last year's controversial 15 nighttime spraying forays over Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. SF Chronicle 6/12/08
Can Rice Lead to Gold? Marathon Will Offer Test -- Later this month, Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor of the United States plan to begin testing the latest design from the distance-running equivalent of Manolo Blahnik. Their shoemaker is a Japanese master craftsman whose soles are renowned not for space-age gels or air bladders but for the gripping properties of rice husks. The husks, which are ground and imbedded in the rubber soles of racing flats, are designed to absorb water and to provide up to 10 percent better traction along the 26.2-mile marathon course at the Beijing Olympics in August. NY Times 6/11/08
Water:
Water District in Southern California Issues an Alert on Use -- The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California issued a water alert on Tuesday, asking communities to modernize and toughen their water conservation rules. The district, the wholesale supplier of water to urban centers in six counties in Southern California, warned that mandatory rations could go into effect throughout the district next summer if the region’s 19 million or so urban residents did not cut back on water use. NY Times 6/11/08
*Salty canal plan debated -- Environmentalists say they will fight a proposal by Valley farmers to pump salty ground water into the canal that delivers drinking water to millions of south state residents. Growers in the west Valley are pitching the plan as a way to boost dwindling water supplies. If it were pumped into the California Aqueduct, water could be moved to farmers who don't have access to wells. Fresno Bee 6/12/08
Report rebuts cleanup proposal -- Federal scientists say they can't understand how a farmer-backed cleanup plan could reduce salty irrigation drainage that is poisoning land on the San Joaquin Valley's west side. A U.S. Geological Survey report released Wednesday says the plan relies on technologies that have not been proved on a large scale, such as in the 600,000-acre Westlands Water District, which designed the plan for its tainted acreage. Fresno Bee 6/12/08
Labor and immigration:
Guest workers in U.S. say they are being exploited -- On Wednesday, however, a dozen workers from India ended a four-week hunger strike that was meant to highlight their allegations that a guest worker program is abusing foreign laborers and shutting Americans out of decent jobs. Their protest was designed to illuminate a guest worker program that critics say is rife with exploitation and can be repaired only with congressional action. LA Times 6/12/08
Food:
Lines at Oakland soup kitchens keep growing -- Around Alameda County, lines are growing at soup kitchens and food distribution centers, according to the organizations that run them. The Alameda County Community Food Bank estimates that food requests are up 30 percent to 40 percent this year from the same time last year. Inside Bay Area 6/12/08
Parks and forests:
Wind-driven fires destroy 50 homes in Northern California -- The National Weather Service predicted gusty conditions across the Central Valley through this afternoon. In response, authorities braced for a third day of trouble from the siege of wind and fire. More than 30 homes were destroyed in a fast-moving grass fire that jumped into a Stockton neighborhood Tuesday, and 21 residences were gutted and 500 residents evacuated during a Butte County blaze that scorched 1,600 acres and continued to burn Wednesday evening. LA Times 6/12/08
Health
Life Expectancy Hits Record High in United States -- Americans' life expectancy reached a record high of 78.1 years in 2006, with disparities among ethnic groups and between the sexes generally narrowing, according to government data released yesterday. Washington Post 6/12/08
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