- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Most posts on this blog refer to stories in traditional press outlets, but here's one that might be considered "new media." Gus Joyce of Rancho Bernardo produced a nearly 10-minute video (which he posted on YouTube) about conflicts he found in recommendations to protect homes from fire and California building code.
In a folksy, non-combative tone, Joyce says he learned that California codes require home vent screening no smaller than a quarter-inch, but at the same time fire experts say quarter-inch mesh does not offer adequate protection from flying embers during wildfire.
One of the documents he found on the Internet, and described in his video, was...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The food and agriculture magazine Edible Sacramento featured honeybees on the cover of its summer edition, and sought comment from UC Davis entomologist Eric Mussen on the hottest issue related to the insects - colony collapse disorder. The value of honey bees, vignettes of beekeepers, and details about hive life and leadership are covered before what writer Mary Moulton called a "disturbing development."
The paraphrased information from Mussen notes that this is not the first time honeybees mysteriously vanished. "In the late 1800s there was a colony collapse and back in the 1960s and early...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
When UC Cooperative Extension was established in California nearly 100 years ago, it aimed to help housewives put up preserves and teach kids how to care for hogs, among other pursuits of typical rural-living, farming families. Though the program has advanced significantly in scientific research, nutrition education and youth development, traditional activities haven't been entirely abandoned.
The Modesto Bee spoke to Stanislaus County UC Cooperative Extension nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor Terry Spezzano for a story in today's paper about home canning.
"A lot of people have been calling me with...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Haagen-Dazs was front and center once again in a news story about colony collapse disorder, a mysterious ailment that is threatening bee hives and, in turn, the crops the bees pollinate. The opening interview on the NBC Nightly News piece was with Haagen-Dazs' spokeswoman Katty Pien standing in front of a grocery freezer full of the ice cream.
"More than 40 percent of the all-natural flavors that Haagen-Dazs has contain ingredients that are dependent upon honeybee pollination. For example, the Vanilla Swiss Almond ice cream has almonds that are 100 percent pollinated by honeybees," Pien stated.
The story, with Anne Thompson reporting, then...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Sudden Oak Death is changing the Bay Area landscape, according to a story in today's San Jose Mercury News by Julia Scott. The story was prompted by the removal of 40 dead trees in the forests surrounding Crystal Springs Reservoir. The trees were killed by Sudden Oak Death, which is gaining momentum in San Mateo County.
In the article, UC Berkeley forest pathologist Mateo Garbelleto offered a ray of hope, and what some might consider a worst-case scenario.
Garbelleto said a substance developed in his lab, Agri-Fos, can be applied to high-value trees to protect them from Sudden Oak Death. However, it would be cost prohibitive to...
