Details

Written by: Editor

Published: 16 June 2009

Created: 16 June 2009

Last Updated: 16 June 2009

CLEARLAKE – Wal-Mart will hold a grand reopening on Wednesday, June 17.

The event will begin at 9 a.m.

Wal-mart will be hand out grant monies to several community organizations at the event.

The community is invited to come and have a piece of cake to celebrate the store's new grand opening.

The Clearlake Wal-Mart store is located on Dam Road off of Highway 53.

Details

Written by: Editor

Published: 15 June 2009

Created: 14 June 2009

Last Updated: 14 June 2009

SACRAMENTO – The California Senate voted 32-0 earlier this month to approve SB 2, legislation by Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) to extend the state’s Pierce’s Disease Control Program.

Assemblymembers Wes Chesbro (D- Arcata) and Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) are principal co-authors of the bill, which next moves to the Assembly for further consideration.

SB 2, extends from 2011 to 2016 the Pierce's Disease Control Program within the CDFA, and expands the program’s research component to include designated new pests and diseases affecting grapes grown in California. The research is paid for by funds which the winegrape growers assess upon themselves.

The Wiggins bill calls for a referendum of the state’s winegrape growers in order to continue the industry assessment.

In the late 1990s, Pierce's Disease, which has been present in California for more than 100 years, threatened to cause sizable damage to grapes due to the arrival of the glassy-winged sharpshooter.

The glassy-winged sharpshooter carries the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, which causes Pierce's Disease in grapes, almonds, oleander and citrus fruits. The insect feeds on a plant's water producing elements. When a plant develops Pierce's Disease, its ability to draw in moisture is hindered and the plant will either die or become unproductive.

In response to this threat to the grape industry, the Legislature passed bills that eventually resulted in the creation of an advisory task force on the Pierce's Disease issue in 1999.

In 2000, the Pierce's Disease Control Program was created as a partnership between the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), county agriculture commissioners, United States Department of Agriculture, University of California, local agencies, industry and agriculture organizations to combat the spread and find solutions for Pierce's Disease and the glassy-winged sharpshooter.

According to Wiggins, the Pierce's Disease Control Program “has proven to be a very successful effort to control the spread of Pierce's Disease and the glassy-winged sharpshooter. While the program is due to sunset in 2011, the disease and the threat of its spread still remain. By extending the sunset date, the Pierce's Disease Control Program can continue to combat the spread of Pierce's Disease and the glassy-winged sharpshooter.”

Wiggins, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on California’s Wine Industry, represents the premium wine-growing counties of Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake.

Supporters of SB 2, including the California Association of Winegrape Growers, Family Winemakers of California and the Wine Institute, state that the great inter-governmental and industry coordination through the Pierce's Disease Control Program has proven an excellent model for pest control programs.

By extending the research funding of the program to include other significant pests and diseases threatening California grape growers, they assert, California will be able to build on the success of the Pierce's Disease Control Program to combat other significant pests to grapes grown in the state.

Details

Written by: Editor

Published: 14 June 2009

Created: 13 June 2009

Last Updated: 13 June 2009

SACRAMENTO – Taxable sales in California declined 2.3 percent in the second quarter of 2008, reflecting impacts of the national recession, which began in December 2007, according to a report from Betty T. Yee, chairwoman of the Board of Equalization (BOE).

California’s taxable sales totaled $139.9 billion in the second quarter of 2008, down $3.3 billion from the second quarter of 2007. This is the fourth straight quarter of declines in the state’s taxable sales. Taxable sales have not fallen in four consecutive quarters since 2002.

Income growth continued to be much stronger than taxable sales, a trend seen since early 2007. Income and sales were both boosted in the second quarter of 2008 by the federal Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which provided income tax rebates for most households during this period.

While taxable sales in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area declined 0.8 percent in the second quarter of 2008, the city of San Francisco’s taxable sales increased 6.0 percent, the fastest growth rate of the ten most populous cities in California.

Some other Bay Area cities also increased taxable sales in the second quarter 2008, including 6.9 percent in Cupertino, 6.2 percent in Milpitas and 4.2 percent in Berkeley.

In constant dollar terms, taxable sales decreased by 5.4 percent in the second quarter 2008 over the same quarter a year ago.

The California Taxable Sales Deflator measured an inflation rate of 3.3 percent for the second quarter of 2008. In contrast, the California Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 4.0 percent. (The CPI includes services, whose prices tend to increase faster than those of most taxable goods.)

Taxable Sales in California is a quarterly report on retail sales activity in California, as measured by transactions subject to sales and use tax. It includes data about statewide taxable sales by type of business, as well as data about taxable sales in all California cities and counties from the first quarter of 2000 through the second quarter of 2008 and can be viewed on the BOE Web site at: www.boe.ca.gov/news/tsalescont.htm .

View all taxable sales in California for the 2nd Quarter of 2008 here: www.boe.ca.gov/news/tsalescont08.htm .