Sacramento, California - A former special agent for the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation was sentenced to serve 51 months in prison for filing false tax returns, obstruction of justice, and stealing government money, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Alex G. Tse for the Northern District of California.

Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced the appointment of Gabriel P. Sanchez as associate justice, Division One, Carin T. Fujisaki as associate justice, Division Three and Justice Stuart R. Pollak as presiding justice, Division Four of the First District Court of Appeal; Peter A. Krause as associate justice of the Third District Court of Appeal; and Frank J. Menetrez as associate justice, Division Two of the Fourth District Court of Appeal.

Sacramento, California - CDFA’s “Pest Prevention University” a chance for counties to learn more about pest programs:

Fresno, California - It was tractor demolition day Monday in Fresno at an event sponsored by the Valley Air District. The machinery being crushed was being traded-in for cleaner-burning items like trucks, harvesting equipment, pump engines and–yes–tractors. The air district announced the receipt of $108 million to assist with those trade-ins, the funding coming from theCalifornia Air Resources Board’s FARMER program (Funding Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emission Reductions).

Sacramento, California - A report issued last week by a consortium of environmental groups on antibiotics in the meat supply chain highlights the importance of work being undertaken by California Department of Food and Agriculture as the first state in the nation to regulate the use of antibiotics in livestock. The report touched on CDFA’s efforts but it is important to clearly state what is being done to implement the legislation in collaboration with sister agencies and a broad, diverse set of stakeholders.

Washington, DC - Envolve Foods, a Corona, California establishment, is recalling approximately 292,764 pounds of ready-to-eat chicken and beef products that contain a vegetable ingredient that may be contaminated with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Friday.