Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued an emergency proclamation for San Luis Obispo County due to the effects of the Chimney Fire, which has burned thousands of acres, damaged critical infrastructure, destroyed homes and caused the evacuation of residents.

Davis, California - The drought continues for California’s agriculture in 2016, but with much less severe and widespread impacts than in the two previous drought years, 2014 and 2015.  Winter and spring were wetter in the Sacramento Valley, to the extent of several reservoirs being required to spill water for flood control, but south of the Delta was unusually dry.  The much-heralded El Nino brought largely average precipitation north of the Delta, replenishing some groundwater, and drier than average conditions to the southern Central Valley and southern California. 

Sacramento, California - Food Tank and Visit Sacramento’s Farm-to-Fork Program have announced the full speaker list for the first annual Farm Tank conference on September 22 during Sacramento’s Farm-to-Fork Celebration.

Los Angeles, California - A former member of the Guatemalan army, whom witnesses say participated in a massacre there more than three decades ago that claimed over 200 lives, was deported to his native country Wednesday, capping a longstanding effort by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to win the ex-commando’s removal from the United States.

San Francisco, California - An e-commerce retailer pleaded guilty for conspiring to fix the prices of posters sold online, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.

Sacramento, California - Nearly eight years ago, the California State Board of Food and Agriculture began a strategic planning process for the state’s agriculture and food system that ultimately led to California Agricultural Vision.