USDA announces the second group of organizations selected to receive funding through USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Program. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the additional funding of $325 million will be for 71 projects. USDA received more than 1,000 proposals between two funding pools requesting more than $20 billion in funds. The announcement brings the…… MORE
Beef Agreement With Japan To Soon Start
U.S. Trade Rep Katherine Tai and Japan’s Ambassador to the U.S. confirmed that amendments to the beef safeguard trigger level under the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement will trigger on January 1, 2023. The letters confirmed both countries completed their procedures to put the protocol in place. “The new beef safeguard agreement will ensure that America’s farmers…… MORE
Storm Blowing Through California Dumps Snow In Sierra
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — Heavy snow fell in the Sierra Nevada as a winter storm packing powerful winds sent ski lift chairs swinging and closed mountain highways while downpours at lower elevations triggered flood watches Sunday across large swaths of California into Nevada. More than 250 miles (400 km) of the Sierra from…… MORE
Tribe Searches For Remains At California Construction Site
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A Native American tribe in Northern California is racing toward a Friday deadline to conclude its search for human remains and cultural artifacts on what was once a tribal village site but will soon be home to a shared-use path and parking area. Ancestors of the Wintu Tribe of Northern California…… MORE
American Farm Bureau Urges Labor Reform
Labor demands continue to tax the bottom lines of farmers and ranchers, with rising wage rates and record usage of the H-2A visa program. The American Farm Bureau Federation says meaningful reforms to the federal government’s guest worker program must be a priority for Congress by the end of the year. AFBF and more than…… MORE
Lively Arts Foundation Presents Central California Ballet Nutcracker ’22
The Lively Arts Foundation proudly presents the Central California Ballet Nutcracker ’22! Lively Arts Foundation’s presentation of Central California Ballet’s joyous and highly entertaining Nutcracker Ballet has been recognized in Dance Magazine for its resurrection of the character of the vengeful Mouse Queen from E.T.A. Hoffman’s original Nutcracker fairy tale. Set to Tchaikovsky’s memorable music,…… MORE
Juul Reaches Settlements Covering Thousands Of Lawsuits
(AP) – Embattled vaping company Juul Labs has reached settlements covering thousands of lawsuits over its e-cigarettes, which in recent years became a scourge in schools and communities nationwide. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Juul said that it has secured an equity investment to fund it. Buffeted by lawsuits, Juul announced…… MORE
1st US Floating Offshore Wind Auction Nets $757M In Bids
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The first-ever U.S. auction of leases to develop commercial-scale floating wind farms in the deep waters off the West Coast attracted $757 million in winning bids Wednesday from mostly European companies, in a project watched by other regions and countries just getting their own plans for floating offshore wind started. The…… MORE
California Death Row Inmate Dies Of Natural Causes At 69
SAN QUENTIN, Calif. (AP) — A prison inmate who spent more than 30 years on California’s death row for beating to death a woman and her 2-year-old daughter during a burglary died early Wednesday of natural causes, state corrections officials said. Richard Gonzales Samayoa, 69, was found unresponsive in his cell in the infirmary at…… MORE
Monarch Butterflies Reach Record Benchmark First Time In 22 Years In CA
(KMJ) — We’re often flooded with environmental reports full of doom and gloom. But there’s some good news for butterflies. The Xerces Society’s Western Monarch count has found over 300,000 Western Monarchs in over 183 sites across California. We’re told this is the first time this benchmark has been reached since the fall of 2000.…… MORE
