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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
The California Rice Commission, established in 1999, functions as a quasi-governmental entity within the Department of Food and Agriculture, providing for the orderly production, milling, and marketing of California rice and the associated environmental benefits.
The commission’s board is made up of rice producers and handlers. Previously, each board member had to actively produce or handle rice to maintain board eligibility.
Extreme drought and water shortages have severely constrained rice production in the Sacramento Valley.
As California farmers confronted a third year of catastrophic drought impacts in 2022, less than half the state’s typical 500,000 acres of rice were planted.
Due to the massive drop in rice production, many producers and handlers were no longer eligible to serve on the Rice Commission’s board.
Likewise, because of reduced acreage in production, the allocation of commission board seats by district was poised to be dramatically impacted.
AB 454 allows the Rice Commission to annually review and evaluate state drought conditions and, if warranted, issue a drought declaration.
Under a drought declaration, a commission member who is a rice producer or handler would be allowed to continue serving on the commission and vote to issue a declaration if they historically produced or handled rice or if they participated in the Prevented Planting Program at USDA.
“Year-after-year, our rural family farms, agricultural communities, and businesses face mounting pressure from unprecedented climate events,” said Aguiar-Curry (D- Winters). “It’s imperative that we not lose the input of our farmers and handlers because of catastrophic droughts that they can’t control. I want to thank the Rice Commission for continuing to be a close partner on public policy that affects our agriculture and rice industry communities. Their leadership is incredibly valuable to our State Department of Food and Agriculture, and to me as I continue to serve my farming constituents. The governor’s support will help us maintain the rural voices that are so important to instructing decisions made by our state government.”
“We greatly appreciate Asm. Aguiar-Curry’s support of the rice industry. We are still feeling the impacts of last year’s drought and this bill will help us include growers on our board who were not able to plant last year due to the lack of water,” said Tim Johnson, president and CEO of the CA Rice Commission.
Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry represents the Fourth Assembly District, which includes all of Yolo, Napa, Colusa, Lake Counties, and parts of Sonoma County.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
“Reliable sources of water are vital to our communities as we face extreme drought and weather events,” said Thompson. “The funding for Sites and Los Vaqueros announced as part of the Investing in America agenda will help provide our families, farmers, and communities with the water resources we need to combat drought and live healthy lives. When I was in the State Senate, I appropriated the first funds for the Sites Reservoir, and this funding will help move the project forward. Proud to have voted for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that is part of the largest investment in climate resilience in our nation’s history.”
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is providing:
• $30 million for the Sites Reservoir Project to pursue off stream storage capable for up to 1.5 million acre-feet of water in the Sacramento River system located in the Coast range mountains west of Maxwell, California. The reservoir would utilize new and existing facilities to move water in and out of the reservoir, with ultimate release to the Sacramento River system via existing canals, a new pipeline near Dunnigan, and the Colusa Basin Drain.
• $10 million for the Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion Phase to efficiently integrate approximately 115,000 acre-feet of additional water storage through new conveyance facilities with existing facilities. This will allow Delta water supplies to be safely diverted, stored and delivered to beneficiaries.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is investing a total of $8.3 billion over five years for water infrastructure projects, including water purification and reuse, water storage and conveyance, desalination and dam safety.
The Inflation Reduction Act is investing an additional $4.6 billion to address the historic drought.
Thompson representS California’s Fourth Congressional District, which includes all or part of Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
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- Written by: California Department of Insurance
Ramos was convicted of multiple felony counts of grand theft, theft of fiduciary funds and additional enhancements for theft over $100,000.
Ramos was also sentenced to five years of mandatory supervision and ordered to pay $189,526 in restitution to his victims.
Ramos worked as an insurance broker from 1999 until 2015 under the business names See Solutions Insurance Brokerage LLC and CDR Insurance Agency LLC.
The department’s investigation found between 2014 and 2016, Ramos collected money from his victims that was intended to be premiums to pay their respective insurance carriers, but Ramos failed to remit the money to the insurance carrier and kept it for his personal use.
Ramos also created fraudulent certificates of insurance so his victims would be unaware that policies were not placed with insurance carriers. His actions resulted in the victims’ policies being canceled, which they did not discover until the investigation began.
Ramos’ insurance license was suspended and eventually revoked in 2019. The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case.
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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
On Saturday, July 8, at 7:53 p.m., the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center received a call regarding skeletal remains found by California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists in the Mattole River near the Ettersburg bridge.
A Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputy responded to the scene and took custody of the remains, which were identified as a human jawbone or mandible. No additional remains were located.
On Tuesday, sheriff’s deputies are conducting a ground search of the surrounding area in an attempt to locate additional remains.
Identification of the remains has not been made at this time.
Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at 707-445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at 707-268-2539.