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Articles Tagged With ‘California’




All steamed up over fatal oak blight

Written on 15 Aug, 2012 in Daily Briefs, Featured | 3 comments

A new way has been found to battle a particularly lethal plant disease called sudden oak death, which periodically plagues this region and can cause huge financial losses. The baffling and complex disease, it has been discovered, can be eradicated... (Continue reading)

Push to list great white sharks as endangered

Written on 13 Aug, 2012 in Daily Briefs, Featured | 13 comments

Environmentalists have petitioned the state and federal governments to have great white sharks off the coast of California declared endangered. [LATimes] According to recent studies, about 220 adult and near-adult great white sharks inhabit the waters of California’s central coast... (Continue reading)

Blakeslee’s bid for the governor’s office?

Written on 10 Aug, 2012 in Daily Briefs, Featured | 28 comments

Sam Blakeslee said he was putting political aspirations aside  and planned to work at a nonprofit focused on promoting common-sense solutions to big policy problems vexing Sacramento. [LATimes] However, an early strategic plan for the California Reform Institute shows a... (Continue reading)

Worker shortage threatens state crops

Written on 6 Aug, 2012 in Featured, Uncovered SLO | 73 comments

By DANIEL BLACKBURN A plaintive, years-long cry from California farmers worried about an adequate supply of harvest laborers now is being heard statewide as the prediction – often scorned by critics — begins to materialize. And while the looming shortage... (Continue reading)

California’s untapped $285.5 million

Written on 5 Aug, 2012 in Daily Briefs, Featured | 16 comments

California auditors discovered an additional $119 million in untapped monies bringing the total to $286.5 million that lawmakers were unaware of while cutting government funded services and programs, California Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration announced on Friday. [LATimes] The review of... (Continue reading)

Felon firefighter forces dwindling

Written on 1 Aug, 2012 in Daily Briefs, Featured | 8 comments

Even as California’s fire season reaches its peak, state officials are learning that a new prison policy will drastically affect the numbers of firefighters available in emergencies. (SF Chronicle) State prison trustees who have been trained to provide critical, physical... (Continue reading)

California departments hoarding more than $2.3 billion

Written on 27 Jul, 2012 in Daily Briefs, Featured | 38 comments

While California legislators vote to cut funding to schools and healthcare, state departments have underreported more than $2.3 billion, according to a analysis of 500 special funds by the Mercury News. Following the discovery that state parks had underreported $54... (Continue reading)

House votes for oil drilling off California coast

Written on 26 Jul, 2012 in Daily Briefs, Featured | 12 comments

In an election-year swipe at President Barack Obama’s energy policies, the Republican-led House on Wednesday voted to revoke Obama’s five-year plan for offshore drilling, replacing it with its own more ambitious plan for gas development that opens up areas of... (Continue reading)

School test answers go viral

Written on 23 Jul, 2012 in Daily Briefs, Featured | No comments

Test questions and answers posted online will delay release of the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) results for two weeks, state education officials said. (San Jose Mercury News) The annual posting usually occurs in mid-August, but when Department of Education... (Continue reading)

Medi-Cal facing expensive boom

Written on 12 Jul, 2012 in Daily Briefs, Featured | 45 comments

Medi-Cal patient numbers will expand dramatically over the next few years while more and more California physicians are curtailing their services to recipients of the state’s health care program. (San Jose Mercury News) Many doctors already view Medi-Cal reimbursements as... (Continue reading)