Monthly Archives: May 2009

A kindler, gentler grand jury

By Alex Breitler | Published: May 29, 2009 | Comments closed
Delta College, blasted last year by the San Joaquin County grand jury, passed a follow-up test today with flying colors. Of course, a lot has changed in 12 months. Five of the seven college trustees are new. Delta President Raul Rodriguez said this morning that “it’s positive, it’s good” although he disagrees with the grand jury’s assertion [...]
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More Tahoe trouble

By Alex Breitler | Published: May 28, 2009 | Comments closed
I blogged yesterday about invasive mussels being found on a number of boats that were screened at Lake Tahoe over Memorial Day weekend. Now, the Tahoe Divers Conservancy reports that “strange, new life” is being found in the underwater world of Lake Tahoe.   “In just a few years, the vast sandy nearshore that for centuries covered the [...]
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Invasive mussels….

By Alex Breitler | Published: May 27, 2009 | Comments closed
…found on boats at Lake Tahoe in the past week. Not good news.
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Wall of water

By Alex Breitler | Published: May 27, 2009 | Comments closed
It’s like that last wave that capsized the boat in The Perfect Storm. No fewer than 60 water bills are flowing through the state Legislature, according to a list distributed at this morning’s San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors meeting. That’s more than enough to swamp my inadequate brain. The Delta. Water conservation. Levees. Governance. Bonds. Is the water picture in [...]
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Consider the humans

By Alex Breitler | Published: May 25, 2009 | Comments closed
Oliver Wanger, the conservative federal judge who has sided several times with environmentalists in the battle ofover Delta water exports, hinted Friday that human impacts must also be considered. Disclosure: I have not seen the ruling yet; I was out of the office Friday because I’m carrying today’s Sunday shift. But here’s what the Fresno Bee reported. [...]
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Lawsuit alert

By Alex Breitler | Published: May 22, 2009 | Comments closed
Yep, another one. Yep, the Delta. This one’s a little different. On behalf of three San Joaquin Valley farmers, the Pacific Legal Foundation argues that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service never had authority to list Delta smelt as a threatened species in the first place. They cite the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Consitution, which basically says the [...]
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Sure sign of summer

By Alex Breitler | Published: May 19, 2009 | Comments closed
I know it felt like summer the past few days in Stockton. Now it really is summer. Tioga Pass has opened. Yosemite National Park announced the news this morning. Tioga is, as usual, the last trans-Sierra highway to open for the summer season, a sure sign that the deep freeze of winter is loosening its grip on the [...]
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Dramatic Delta College cuts?

By Alex Breitler | Published: May 18, 2009 | Comments closed
On the Delta College front, Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget revisions — if they prove true — would force the college to cut a full 20 percent of its $103 million budget, Delta President Raul Rodriguez said today. For the first time, the college says layoffs are possible, though it’s too early to say for certain. Cut and pasted [...]
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Hanging with the mayor

By Alex Breitler | Published: May 15, 2009 | Comments closed
  Only Gavin Newsom — or the Boston Celtics — could make me look so short. Here I am interviewing the San Francisco mayor after the groundbreaking of SFPUC’s new $112 million water treatment facility in the middle of nowhere (seven miles south of Tracy). This is Newsom’s second appearance in the Valley since announcing his candidacy for governor, [...]
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Taking a cotton to solar

By Alex Breitler | Published: May 15, 2009 | Comments closed
The NRDC’s Barry Nelson blogs that cotton farmers south of the Delta would do well growing electricity instead. He cites the South San Joaquin Irrigation District’s seven-acre solar system as an example that yes, it can be done, and on a fairly large scale. Nelson argues this would save water, help resolve the Valley’s drainage problems, reduce [...]
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