Health:
Fires, foreclosures raise risk of West Nile virus -- Two plagues in California, fires and foreclosures, may be increasing the risk of another: West Nile virus. Wildfires have sullied the air in the Sacramento area so badly that officials there have held off aerial spraying of insecticide to combat the virus, which is spread to humans and animals by infected mosquitoes. At the same time, backyard pools left with standing water in abandoned, foreclosed properties have created a breeding ground for mosquitoes, raising the risk of West Nile infection. SJ Mercury 7/14/08
West Nile spraying to begin Wednesday in south Sacramento -- Now that the smoke has cleared from the air, planes carrying aerial treatments for West Nile virus plan to begin their work over south Sacramento on Wednesday night. The Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District plans to begin spraying a 23,000-acre area of south Sacramento between 8 p.m. and midnight Wednesday. Treatments will continue for three consecutive nights at about the same time, the district announced in a news release Monday. Sacramento Bee 7/15/08
Food:
*Legislature approves bill banning trans fats -- California is poised to become the first state in the nation to ban restaurants and other food facilities from using trans fats, which are known to increase the risk of heart disease, under a bill approved by the state Legislature Monday and sent to the governor. The measure, passed with a bare majority, comes two weeks after a similar ban in New York City became fully effective. SF Chronicle 7/15/08
Soaring fuel costs take huge bite out of grocery, farm budgets -- Farmers are paying more money to fill their tractors with diesel for planting and harvesting. They also spend more for fertilizer, pesticides and plastic packaging, most of which are petroleum-based. Then, products are shipped using diesel trucks and rail cars that are far costlier to run now than in years past. The result is bigger and bigger food bills that are causing financial hardship for millions of Americans. Sign on San Diego 7/15/08
Water:
Water Fight ... Deja Vu? -- Less than a week after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger offered a new version of his water bond proposal, Democratic leaders in the Legislature today resurrected their own spending plans for water projects that the governor vetoed last year. While many agree that California needs to revamp its water supply infrastructure, the Republican governor and Democratic lawmakers who control the Legislature so far have not been able to close a deal on a comprehensive plan. SF Chronicle 7/15/08
*Dan Walters: Can we trust California's water future in politicians' hands? -- Don Perata, the outgoing president pro tem of the state Senate, said Monday he and other legislators are exploring whether they should shift responsibility for handling a worsening water supply crisis to an independent commission based on the Transportation Commission model. Sadly, it may be the only way to resolve the self-defeating, never-ending political wrangle over whether to build new dams and reservoirs, whether to construct a new "conveyance" for Northern California water through or around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, whether to shift more water from agricultural to residential and industrial users, and whether to focus on conservation as an alternative to new storage. Modesto Bee 7/14/08
State leaders say 'no' to offshore oil -- Fearing environmental damage to the state's coastline, California's top leaders made it clear Monday that they want no part of President Bush's plan to lift the offshore-drilling moratorium. As soon as the president announced his plan, California's Democratic leaders accused him of cozying up to oil interests and said his plan would do nothing to lower gas prices. San Luis Obispo 7/15/08
Parks and forests:
*California gets control of worst fire event in state history -- Most of the fires were started on June 21st when a massive lightning storm moved across the state sparking over 800 fires. Thus far the wildfires have consumed over 860,000 acres of land - a number that appears to be a record since record keeping began in 1950. Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the state's Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention, or CalFire, said Monday, "We now have light at the end of the tunnel." Examiner 7/15/08
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