A rare late spring windy Santa Ana heat blast from the east is expected to cause temperatures to rise as much as 20 degree over seasonal averages, meteorologists say. Hot temperatures are expected Tuesday throughout San Diego County amid a heat wave that will last through Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. KGTV-10 News Meteorologist Megan Parry says temperatures are expected to near record…
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting shelter-in-place protocols and safety concerns disrupted rural communities and markets for agricultural products, according to California Farm Bureau’s AgAlert. . Around California, county Farm Bureaus responded with innovative solutions intended to help their members ensure safety of themselves, their families and their employees, and to promote and sell crops and commodities in new and rapidly changing conditions. Here are three…
IN SUMMARY The National Guard — now deployed to some California cities where property damage and a few incidents of violence occurred — are being welcomed by some but not all. As Californians continue to protest the death of George Floyd and what it signifies about broader racism, thus far two counties and the mayors of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Sacramento have requested —…
Following peaceful protests over the weekend that sometimes turned violent, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department instated a curfew on Monday, June 1, 2020 and protests have still continued. According to Martha Montoya, who sits on the State Board of Food and Agriculture, the protests have been disrupting access to markets for small farmers, who are already struggling to adapt during the pandemic. “It’s a tough situation,” said Montoya…
IN SUMMARY Despite investing more than any other state, California’s response rate is off more than 10% from the final 2010 count. Even with extensions, there’s a possibility for a record low turnout that would sink the state’s $187 million investment. Heather Heckler was counting on buying census ads in four weekly newspapers that have long served Plumas County, located in the northern Sierra Nevada….
Hundreds more Imperial County residents will soon be able to get checked for COVID-19 after state officials designated the area a “testing desert.” County officials said Monday the state is expected to open a local testing site by May 4. The site will be able to test 130 residents a day, said Dr. Stephen Munday, the county’s health officer. Only about 1,600 of Imperial County’s…
As doctors and consumers are forced to put most nonemergency procedures on hold, many health insurers foresee strong profits. So why is the industry looking to Congress for help? Insurers say that while that falloff in claims for non-COVID care is offsetting for now many insurers’ costs associated with the pandemic, the future is far more fraught. Costs could remain modest or quickly outstrip savings….
San Diego County and California prisons and jails were being emptied of prisoners this week, part of a dramatic release of inmates aimed at slowing the spread of the virus, which can race through institutional populations with deadly impact. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department released around 400 inmates without bail Wednesday and Thursday in compliance with a state order to reduce prison populations to prevent…
Loss of business due to mass closures of restaurants, schools and corporate cafeterias in response to COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders has small farms looking to collaborate as they try to adapt to the crisis by finding new markets and changing sales strategies, according to Ching Lee, an assistant editor of Ag Alert, published by the California Farm Bureau. During a webinar last week aimed at helping…
Sick of the coronavirus, this may take one’s mind off it: Anza had a 4.9 earthquake that shook San Diego County and rain is on the way this week. Good times. Looking backwards a bit, as the county recorded its 17th coronavirus death on Friday, April 3 — an 18th person died Saturday — the earth shook in a different way. A magnitude 4.9 earthquake…