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WASHINGTON – Members of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee have been announced for the 113th Congress.
Democratic members include Collin Peterson, Minnesota; Mike McIntyre, North Carolina; David Scott, Georgia; Jim Costa, California; Tim Walz, Minnesota; Kurt Schrader, Oregon; Marcia Fudge, Ohio; Jim McGovern, Massachusetts; Suzan DelBene, Washington; Gloria Negrete McLeod, California; Filemon Vela, Texas; Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico; Ann Kuster, New Hampshire; Rick Nolan, Minnesota; Pete Gallego, Texas; William Eynart, Illinois; Juan Vargas, California; Cheri Bustos, Illinois; and Sean Patrick Maloney, New York.
Republican members are Frank Lucas, Oklahoma, chairman; Bob Goodlatte, Virginia; Steve King, Iowa; Randy Neugebauer, Texas; Mike Rogers, Alabama; K. Michael Conaway, Texas; Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania; Bob Gibbs, Ohio; Austin Scott, Georgia; Scott Tipton, Colorado; Steve Southerland, Florida; Rick Crawford, Arkansas; Martha Roby, Alabama; Scott DesJarlais, Tennessee; Chris Gibson, New York; Vicky Hartzler, Missouri; Reid Ribble, Wisconsin; Kristi Noem, South Dakota; Dan Benishek, Michigan; Jeff Denham, California; Doug LaMalfa, California; Richard Hudson, North Carolina; Rodney Davis, Illinois; Chris Collins, New York; Ted Yoho, Florida.
There are two vacancies that will be filled in the coming weeks.
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FINLEY, Calif. – Lake County Energy Watch, in partnership with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Energy Training Center, is hosting the class “Integrated Energy Management for Dairy, Winery and Other Agricultural Facilities” on Tuesday, Feb. 12, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Mount Konocti Growers, 2550 Big Valley Road, Finley.
This class will describe ways to manage energy relative to lighting, HVAC, refrigeration, boilers, pumps, motors and self-generation, as well as the benefits of those options.
Get tips on where to start, what to look for, how to quantify costs and value, and how to identify sources of financing.
Learn which tips are effective in getting projects installed, results verified, and choosing the next best steps for continuous improvement.
The class is designed for building operators, building owners, commissioning agents, contractors and engineers. However, anyone interested in saving money on electric costs is encouraged to attend.
Immediately following the class, PG&E will provide a presentation on Time Varying Pricing (TVP).
Under TVP, rates are higher when electric demand is higher, typically on weekday afternoons. At all other times, rates are lower.
All business and agriculture customers will transition to a time-of-use rate as part of a statewide plan to help protect California’s energy resources.
You will learn how TVP will affect you, how to conserve electricity during peak hours, and may be eligible for an onsite rate analysis.
Registration is required for this class, and complimentary breakfast and lunch will be provided.
To register, please call 707-263-2221 or send an email to
You may find additional no-cost training opportunities at www.pge.com/energyclasses .
For more information concerning TVP, business customers can call 800-987-4923, and agricultural customers can call 1-877-311 FARM (3276) or email
Lake County Energy Watch is administered by PG&E using funding from California utility ratepayers under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission.
Energy Watch partnerships are designed to help local governments and their communities lower their energy bills and enjoy a cleaner environment.
For more information about the Lake County Energy Watch program, please call 707-263-2221 or visit www.energy.co.lake.ca.us .
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Management at the California State Fair announced that the Northern California Brewers Guild (NCBG) will take over as coordinators for the 2013 California State Fair Commercial Craft Brew Competition and the California State Fair Home Brew Competition.
The NCGB is a 501(C) 6 nonprofit trade association representing more than 95 Northern California brewers and works with and directly supports the California Craft Brewers Association, which represents more than 330 California brewers statewide.
California has more breweries than any other state in the nation with the numbers increasing annually; California historically remains a leader in the industry.
The NCGB’s plans are to reach out to all of California’s breweries with an invitation to compete in the competition and then participate in the celebratory “Brewer’s Festival” which is held during the annual State Fair in Sacramento.
Their goals include increasing the number of competing California breweries, improving the judging process; expand awareness and education of craft brewing while building the California State Fair Brewer’s Festival into a marquee event.
This exciting new energy is consistent with the fair’s mission to showcase and celebrate California culture; the California State Fair uses the competition as a way to increase public knowledge of the art and science of brewing beer and the many different styles involved.
Entry materials, specific details for delivery location and dates will be posted on the California State Fair’s website, www.bigfun.org later in January 2013.
Breweries should expect an entry period from March 18 to May 1 and delivery of brews June 6-10; judging will follow shortly thereafter.
For additional information please contact Steve Swinford, executive director of NCGB, at
The California State Fair will run July 12-28, 2013, at Cal Expo in Sacramento. For more information visit www.bigfun.org .
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SACRAMENTO – Caltrans has begun a pilot program to accept contractor bids through an online electronic bidding (e-bid) system, which reduces project costs and expedites the bidding process.
Previously, contractor bids had to be physically delivered to Caltrans district offices across California, depending on where the job was to be built.
But with the new pilot program, bids on all contracts can also be submitted online at www.bidx.com . At present, departments of transportation in 37 states accept bids via the site.
“This simplifies an often-hectic process and minimizes post-bid cost adjustments,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. “It’s the right way to go.”
For contractors, e-bid greatly simplifies bidding on Caltrans projects. More than 600 project contracts are awarded annually, with as many as 5,000 total bids submitted.
What used to be done by dispatching a person with the actual paperwork, known as a “bid runner,” to a local Caltrans office can now be done online instead.
“It will save considerable time and money for contractors involved in the bidding process,” said Sam Hassoun, director, Joint Engineering Division of Associated General Contractors of America. “Subcontractors often wait until the last minute to finalize what they will charge, and it can make it extremely challenging for us to put those final numbers together in a bid in-hand to be delivered on a tight deadline. E-bid eliminates the stress of that.”
Caltrans expects a gradual transition over from the existing system to the E-bid pilot program, with both methods of bid submittal available as contractors decide which works best for them.
In recent months, Caltrans has trained approximately 100 contractors across the state on how to use the www.bidx.com interface to submit electronic bids as it transitions to an all-electronic bidding system.