Business News
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
Last year, as the Kincade fire burned in Sonoma County forcing the largest evacuation in the county’s history during one of the biggest public safety power shutoffs in California history, hundreds of cell towers residents have come to rely on went dark.
This left hundreds of thousands of Californians in harm’s way without their cell phone during a disaster.
Sen. Mike McGuire introduced SB 431 last year, which would mandate telecommunication providers have backup power systems for their cell towers.
This week, that bill was strengthened even further when Senator McGuire and Senator Glazer joined forces and introduced amendments that will add cable service providers to the power backup mandate, and lengthen the amount of time the backup power system operates to no less than 72 hours.
“During last year’s power outage debacle, nearly 2 million Northern California residents had their landline, cell phone and cable service interrupted. Our phones are our lifelines. It’s how we keep in touch with the rest of the world and how we receive emergency alerts. Telecom representatives assured us this worst-case scenario, hundreds of cell towers going down due to the lack of power, wouldn’t happen. It’s simply not true. It’s time California steps up and mandates cell towers have backup power. This bill isn’t about checking your Facebook status. It’s about life and death,” Sen. McGuire said.
SB 431 requires that cell towers located in high fire-threat zones (these high-risk areas are where the majority of power shutoffs have been happening) have backup power for no less than 72 hours by July 1, 2021.
It empowers the California Public Utilities Commission to develop desperately needed regulations to keep cell towers energized during extended power shutoffs.
Bay Area Sen. Steve Glazer is a joint author of SB 431.
“It is critical that Californians be able to communicate during power outages, whether planned or caused by an emergency. During last fall’s outages, thousands of residents in my district were left without the ability to receive alerts from public agencies or seek help, even as fires raged nearby. This is unacceptable. SB 431 is the first step toward ensuring that this won’t happen again,” Sen. Glazer said.
In Sonoma County, during last year’s Kincade Fire and Public Safety Power Shutoff, 118 cell towers were down.
Many evacuated residents from Sonoma County found themselves in Marin County for shelter where another 160 cell sites were down. Hundreds of more sites were down across California, which puts lives at risk.
SB 431 is co-authored by a bipartisan group of legislators including Senators Stern, Gonzalez, Wilk, Nielsen, Beall, Caballero, Hill, Dodd, Monning, Wieckowski and Dahle, and Assemblymembers Bauer-Kahan, Rubio, Wood and Levine.
The bill is currently in the Assembly Committee on Communications and Conveyance and will be heard in the coming months.
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- Written by: California Department of Food and Agriculture
There are currently 11 board members with terms of office expiring on May 31, 2020, and Senate Bill 153 added two additional board members, effective Jan. 1, 2020.
The board advises CDFA and makes recommendations on matters including, but not limited to, industrial hemp seed law and regulations, enforcement, annual budgets, and the setting of an assessment rate.
The term of office for board members is three years.
Members meet at least once per year but may meet more frequently if needed.
The members receive no compensation but are entitled to payment of necessary traveling expenses in accordance with the rules of the California Department of Human Resources.
Funded by the industrial hemp industry and implemented by the Industrial Hemp Program at CDFA, enforcement of California Industrial Hemp Law ensures an orderly market of industrial hemp registration and compliance.
The Industrial Hemp Advisory Board makes recommendations to the CDFA Secretary on all matters pertaining to industrial hemp seed law and regulations, enforcement, annual budgets, and the setting of an assessment rate required to accomplish the purposes of the California Industrial Hemp Law.
The board has the following vacancies:
• Five of the board members shall be registered cultivators of industrial hemp.
• Two board members shall be members of an established agricultural research institution (as defined in FAC § 81000).
• One board member shall be a representative as provided by the California State Sheriffs’ Association and approved by the secretary.
• One board member shall be a county agricultural commissioner.
• One board member shall be a representative of the Hemp Industries Association or its successor industry association.
• Two members shall be representatives of businesses that sell industrial hemp products.
• One board member shall be a member of the public.
The successful candidates will be appointed to serve a three-year term that expires May 31, 2023.
Individuals interested in being considered for these Board appointments should send a letter of interest, indicating which position(s) they are eligible to fill, and a brief resumé to Michelle Phillips by March 15, 2020, at California Department of Food and Agriculture, Pest Exclusion Branch, 1220 N St., Sacramento, CA 95814, Attention: Michelle Phillips.
For additional information, visit the Industrial Hemp Program webpage at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/industrialhemp/, contact the Nursery, Seed, and Cotton Program at 916-654-0435, or send an email to
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
This measure will protect consumers and farmers by providing clear information about the source of the olives and olive oils in the products they buy.
California has had a thriving olive oil industry since the mid-19th century. The state produces 4 percent of the world’s olive oil from over 75 varieties of olives.
Due to California’s well-established reputation for producing high-quality olive oils, the demand for California olive oil is steadily increasing.
Because of this spike in demand, there has been an increase in branding of olive oil with the term “California” or a California regional designation when the product on shelves is actually blended using oils sourced from other regions of the world, including Spain, North Africa and Argentina.
As a result, a bottle of olive oil may be advertised and branded as “California” or a specific California region, but actually come from other countries.
This has led to consumer confusion, and places California olive farmers and oil producers at a competitive disadvantage.
“To us, it’s really quite simple,” said Peter and Debbie Hunter from Longview Ranch in Winters, California. “If a bottle is labeled as ‘California Oil’ it should be just that: 100 percent California produced olive oil. If a packer wants to blend non-California oils, then the bottle should not have the California moniker front-and-center. We adhere to strict regulations and labor practices in California, and consumers are beginning to recognize that. We must make sure that the trust in ‘California’ brands is not eroded.”
AB 2074 establishes clear guidelines for when olive oil producers can use the term “California” in their labeling.
The bill strengthens existing law by making it illegal to make any false representation that an olive oil is produced entirely from olives grown within California when it is not.
Similarly, the bill prohibits any representations indicating that an olive oil was produced from olives grown in a specific region of California, unless at least 85 percent of the olive oil was produced from olives grown in that region.
“California has the best agricultural products, and the highest environmental and labor standards, in the world. Consumers look for California-grown foods because they associate California with quality. Allowing companies to trick consumers into thinking they’re buying a California product because they slap ‘California’ on their package undercuts everything we’re trying to accomplish as a State,” said Aguiar-Curry.
“This bill will ensure that consumers know exactly what they are buying, and it will help to support our local farmers who are producing world-class oils from olives grown here in our State. These folks may try to confuse my colleagues, but they’re making a profit off our state, and the price we ask for that is to actually produce a California product.”
By establishing stronger guidelines for olive oil producers to follow in their branding, labeling, packaging, and advertising, AB 2074 provides consumers with clear information about what they are purchasing.
AB 2074 does not restrict blending oils from different sources and destinations, but it makes clear through establishing standards that when “California” is used, the product actually comes from California.
This bill strengthens the integrity of the world-renowned California olive oil brand.
Aguiar-Curry represents the Fourth Assembly District, which includes all of Lake and Napa Counties, parts of Colusa, Solano and Sonoma counties, and all of Yolo County except West Sacramento.
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- Written by: Better Business Bureau
The company came to BBB’s attention in 2016.
Consumers primarily report that they order wine barrels from the Napa-based company, but have not received their order and are unable to contact customer service.
Dirt Cheap Barrels responded to some consumer complaints, but on those occasions, the consumers were unsatisfied with Dirt Cheap Barrels’ response, claiming that Dirt Cheap Barrels was not following through in refunding the purchases.
As of Feb. 4, 2020, the company has 17 unanswered complaints on file with BBB.
Dirt Cheap Barrels informed BBB that they are based in the United Kingdom, although the company’s address is listed as 2700 Napa Valley Corporate Drive in Napa, California on customer invoices.
When Better Business Bureau called a company in the commercial building at that address, the company indicated that Dirt Cheap Barrels was not located in the office building, and stated that they receive many calls from consumers asking for the location of Dirt Cheap Barrels.
When BBB mailed a letter to the company’s Napa address, the mail was returned from the post office as “insufficient address.”
If you are looking to make an online purchase, BBB recommends researching the company prior to making any purchases.
You can evaluate a company’s credibility by referencing their business profile at www.bbb.org .
Reading reviews and customer complaints on www.bbb.org is a great way to learn more about a company before spending money.
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