Water and fishing:
*$9.3 billion water bond proposal goes to lawmakers -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sen. Dianne Feinstein floated a $9.3 billion proposal for new dams and Delta projects Thursday in what amounted to a last-ditch attempt to get lawmakers on board with a water bond package in time for November's elections. The plan, however, got a cool reception in the capitol where lawmakers are struggling with an estimated $15.2 billion budget deficit and mindful that voters just two years ago approved billions of dollars in mostly unused bonds for some of the same initiatives. SJ Mercury 7/10/08
Bad Fish -- Over the years, state health officials have put out advisories that recommend maximum amounts of fish that people can eat from the bay without causing ill health effects. The seven chemicals examined by the state in the new assessment are the banned pesticides chlordane, DDT, toxaphene and dieldrin; mercury leaking from old mines and industrial sources, PCBs once used in electrical equipment and selenium draining from irrigated soils in the Central Valley and from the bay's oil refineries. At the end of June, Cal-EPA's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment quietly released the new look at toxics in fish, which serves as the scientific underpinnings of future consumption advisories for sport fish in California, including in San Francisco Bay. SF Chronicle 7/14/08
*Governor signs Wolk bill to improve Delta oversight -- Late Thursday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law legislation by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk (D-Davis) to improve the efficiency of the commission that provides oversight over local land use decisions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Wolk's Assembly Bill 2503 authorizes voting members of the Delta Protection Commission to select a designee to vote in their absence, better enabling the commission to convene a quorum and effectively take action on items even when a member is unable to attend. Daily Democrat 7/13/08
EBMUD plugs 130 million gallon leak -- The East Bay's largest water district is fixing a leak that wastes more water in one day than renters just above it use in one month. The 36,000 gallon per day leak is one of four that have spilled into a storm drain for more than 10 years. The total loss: 300 million gallons. A district engineer noted that the leak was relatively small compared with the 200 million gallons a day ratepayers use. CC Times 7/11/08
Calif. aquafarmers cash in on demand for abalone -- n a process that has taken years to complete, microscopic abalone larvae have finally grown into fist-sized mollusks that can fetch $30 a pound from top-shelf restaurants and other buyers. The operation is one of a dozen or so aquafarms along the California coast betting on the culinary comeback of the puck-shaped mollusks that were brought to the brink of extinction by overfishing. Abalone production in the United States _ most of it in California _ roughly doubled from about 254,000 pounds in 1999 to about 522,000 pounds in 2005, the last year Ray Fields, owner of the Central Coast-based Abalone Farm, surveyed the nation's output for the International Abalone Symposium. AP 7/12/08
Levee project up for review -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, or SAFCA, will take comments on a draft environmental impact statement at a meeting Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m. at Teal Bend Golf Club, 7200 Garden Highway. The study examines environmental effects of the project's first phase, which extends from Elverta Road to Highway 99. Most work is set for 2009 and involves raising levees up to 3 feet and widening them by as much as 350 feet. Sacramento Bee 7/14/08
Agriculture:
*EPA strengthens controls on 5 common pesticides -- The federal Environmental Protection Agency strengthened regulations Thursday on five common pesticides and for the first time required farmers to set up sizable buffer zones around fields treated with the chemicals. The new restrictions came after four years of heated meetings among scientists, environmentalists and the chemical industry about how to protect farm workers' health while allowing growers to use the pesticides to reap more bountiful crops. AP 7/10/08
Bad economy hits day laborers hard -- As the housing crisis continues to ripple through every level of the economy, many are feeling its effects. Day laborers have been particularly hard hit, as their mainstays — new home construction, residential remodels, painting and landscaping — fall victim to belt-tightening in an uncertain economy. "The truth is, there are no jobs," said Rudy Lara, program assistant for the Multicultural Institute, a Berkeley-based program that connects day laborers with jobs. He added that many of the 70 to 75 people who line the streets each day had legitimate construction and painting jobs but were laid off because of the downturn in the economy and the mortgage crisis. CC Times 7/12/08
Record-breaking heat wreaking havoc on honey bees, too -- On days when temperatures exceed 100 degrees, bees collect more water to cool the hive to protect the brood (immature bees) and ward against a meltdown, said Susan Cobey, University of California, Davis, bee specialist. She said bees reduce their flight activity for nectar and pollen, but collect more water. They spread droplets of water and then fan their wings to ventilate and cool the hive. Western Farm Press 7/14/08
USDA increases 2007 crop year sugar marketing allotments -- In response to a tightening domestic refined sugar market, the U.S. Department of Agriculture today increased the 2007 crop year sugar Overall Allotment Quantity by 500,000 short tons, raw value. The Overall Allotment Quantity (OAQ) is the quantity of sugar that may be marketed in the United States without being subject to penalties. USDA expects this action to effectively eliminate marketing allotment program restrictions on domestic sugar beet and sugarcane processors and increase the 2007 crop year marketable sugar supply by 100,000 to 200,000 tons. Western Farm Press 7/11/08
Health:
Private hospitals join S.F. health care plan -- San Francisco's ambitious universal health care program took a step forward Thursday, when private hospitals agreed to begin treating participants rather than leaving their care entirely up to the city's strained public health system. The 25,000 people who have enrolled in Healthy San Francisco since it began a year ago have been treated at 27 community clinics for their primary care needs and at San Francisco General Hospital for inpatient services. SF Chronicle 7/11/08
Heat wave adds to West Nile danger -- California's heat wave this week has created ideal conditions for the spread of West Nile virus, the mosquito-borne illness that killed 21 state residents last year and is emerging once again as a public health threat this summer. SF Chronicle 7/12/08
Food:
Event relies on expert but aging crew -- Like Obon bazaars held by Japanese-American Buddhist temples every summer, San Jose's attracts and feeds thousands of visitors who depend upon finding favorites like sushi, tempura and teriyaki boasting the homemade taste that restaurants lack. At Obon, an aging corps of dedicated workers, especially those who make sushi, is not being replenished fast enough. SJ Mercury 7/13/08
Rocky Aoki, founder of Benihana eateries -- Rocky Aoki, who founded the theatrical Benihana chain of steakhouses, where Japanese chefs with flashing knives double as performers, died Thursday night in Manhattan. He was 69. In 1964, when Aoki opened his first Benihana steakhouse in Manhattan, he introduced New Yorkers to dining as theater, and chefs as culinary acrobats. SJ Mercury 7/13/08
*Restaurants fight new menu law -- Ordinance 40-08 requires any chain restaurant with 20 or more locations to print the total number of calories, saturated fat, carbohydrates and sodium for every item on its menu, and to put that information right on menus and menu boards. The California Restaurant Association is suing the city and county of San Francisco in federal court over the ordinance, asking that it be declared unconstitutional. The trade group says the law would only confuse customers and violates restaurants' First Amendment rights. The Golden Gate Restaurant Association will stay neutral. Last year, state Sen. Alex Padilla, a Los Angeles Democrat, proposed legislation similar to San Francisco's ordinance that would have applied to chains with at least 10 locations. Kevin Westlye, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, said his group got in touch with the senator and was able to convinced him to increase the minimum number of outlets to 15. In exchange, the Golden Gate Restaurant Association did not oppose the bill. California Restaurant Association Executive Director Jot Condie told LNL the issue must be decided at a state level, if menus are to be regulated at all. Legal News Line 7/14/08
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