Monthly Archives: November 2007

SEEKING GOOD HOME

By Alex Breitler | Published: November 30, 2007 | Comments closed
• Capuchin monkey, clean, good looking babies. Asking $800 ea. For info email…. So reads a classified ad that ran in Wednesday’s newspaper. Glad to hear that the monkey is clean and good looking. I fit both of those qualities, too, my wife says. You know, my parents owned a monkey once before I was born. It [...]
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Dry times

By Alex Breitler | Published: November 27, 2007 | Comments closed
The state this afternoon announced its initial water allocations for cities and farms in 2008, and the number is grim: 25 percent of the requested water. That’s the lowest such allocation since 2003. Granted, it’s November. Plenty of time for snow and rain this winter. And if it does, the 25-percent figure is likely to increase. The State [...]
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Awesome shots

By Alex Breitler | Published: November 21, 2007 | Comments closed
I don’t write about polar bears very often, for obvious reasons. But if you’ve got just a couple of minutes to spare, watch this amazing video.
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Bags banned

By Alex Breitler | Published: November 20, 2007 | Comments closed
A group that calls itself the “Progressive Bag Alliance” is protesting the city of San Francisco’s impending ban on plastic bags. The move will lead to increased use of paper bags, which require more energy to produce, claims the alliance, which was founded, not surprisingly, by plastic bag manufacturers. How about a third option: reusable canvas bags? My wife [...]
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Bad boys, bad boys

By Alex Breitler | Published: November 15, 2007 | Comments closed
This from the L.A. Times:  “Investigating tips and ferreting out water wasters, a team of Drought Busters will hit streets across Los Angeles beginning today. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power resurrected the successful Drought Buster concept from the early 1990s – the last time Southern California suffered a major water shortage. This time, however, [...]
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Let it ring

By Alex Breitler | Published: November 14, 2007 | Comments closed
A woman called this morning incensed over today’s story regarding wood smoke and the health problems it can cause, especially in the San Joaquin Valley. The source of her anger, wihch I must confess I still do not completely understand, is a retired nurse quoted in the story who says she has to run from her [...]
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Wildlife, wildfire

By Alex Breitler | Published: November 10, 2007 | Comments closed
The following are USGS photos taken by motion-triggered cameras in Southern California before, during and after the recent wildfires.   A coyote walks in a dry creekbed of streamside scrub vegetation about 20 days before the fire. In their wildlife research, USGS scientists position camera traps along trails and dry creekbeds, places that are likely to be [...]
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Oil spill

By Alex Breitler | Published: November 9, 2007 | Comments closed
As if the Bay-Delta system isn’t under enough stress, NOAA officials moments ago said that of the 58,000 gallons of fuel oil spilled yesterday morning when a container ship clipped the Bay Bridge, only 8,000 gallons have been recovered. Several beaches have been closed, and the oil is showing up as far away as Muir Beach, [...]
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Delta publicity

By Alex Breitler | Published: November 7, 2007 | Comments closed
Stockton’s own Sophat Sorn, a leader in the Cambodian community and a member of Restore the Delta, is in the headlines and on the airwaves. Sorn was featured in a San Francisco Chronicle story about subsistence fishing in the Delta, and was reportedly on KQED this morning discussing the same subject. If you missed the show, it [...]
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Power to the people

By Alex Breitler | Published: November 6, 2007 | Comments closed
The city of Lodi has a cool new feature on its Web site that allows you to tour a virtual home and find ways to cut down on energy usage. How you use or maintain anything in your house, from surge protectors to swimming pools, may help you save a few cents and save the [...]
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