The Fresno County Sheriff's Department has recently received several reports of raisin theft in the Kerman and Biola areas. Officers say thieves are sneaking onto farms and taking whole rows of rolled raisins at a time. The Sheriff's Department says so far, the losses have totaled $13,000.
Deputies are on alert, but they also need the public's help. If you see any suspicious activity, call the sheriff's department
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A diverse group of private organizations and government agencies have formed the Invasive Species Council of California. It will plan ways to keep additional invasive pests out of California.
The council is developing plans for public education, early detection and rapid response to deal with the threats posed by invasive species. They plan to identify pests that could enter California, along with strategies to keep them out.
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Governor Schwarzenegger has rejected, for the fifth time, an attempt by democratic lawmakers to modify the union election process among California's farm workers.
Fewer than 16,000 full-time farm workers belong to a union. The governor vetoed a bill, last week that would have required the state's Agricultural Labor Relations Board to declare a union victory if an employer was found to have corrupted the union voting process.
Supporters of the measure say it aims to ensure coercion-free elections. Schwarzenegger says it unfairly tips the scale in favor of unions and does not improve upon the current secret-ballot system.
