| Metal theft plays major role in rural crime wave |
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Sims Metal has a strict policy for accepting scrap metal to discourage thieves, including asking questions about where the metals are from, verifying the information with a phone call, collecting valid IDs, vehicle licenses, picture of ticket transactions, fingerprints, picture of customer payments, and a three-day hold of metals mandated by California's metal theft law. Pictured is Robert Dominguez, Sims valley buyer, and Mark Silverman, Stockton's facility operation's manager. Photo courtesy of Sims Metal.
BY CRAIG W. ANDERSON
The National Insurance Crime Bureau said in a new report that since 2009 metal thefts across the nation have been "driven by rising prices for base metals, especially copper" and that "metal thefts are increasing in frequency and severity."
Copper is king
Of the more than 25,000 claims for the theft of copper, bronze, brass or aluminum recorded from 2009 through 2011, 96 percent concerned copper theft. "Thieves are willing to go to almost any length to steal metal, stripping sheets of aluminum from building rooftops, stealing memorial decorations from cemeteries, ripping apart air conditioners for their copper coils, and stripping homes and buildings of wiring and piping," noted the report.
Variety of metal thievery
"Thieves have come down the river on boats to steal pumps, conduit, copper wire and even PG&E meters," Mussi said. He pumps water from the river which means the pumps are out in the open and the conduit holding copper wire snakes over the sides of levees, also in plain view."
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| Flood plan expensive, impacts ag |
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| By Craig W. Anderson
The latest version of a flood plan drawn up by the Department of Water Resources for the state and the Central Valley will be expensive, with a cost between $14 billion to $17 billion, over 25 years.
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| Company making methyl iodide cancels chemical |
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By Craig W. Anderson
Methyl iodide, the pesticide slated to replace methyl bromide will never have the chance to do so after its maker, Arysta, voluntarily canceled its sale in California and the nation due to pressure.
DPR surprised
"I'm surprised by the announcement [that] Methyl iodide is no longer registered," said Department of Pesticide Regulation spokesman Lea Brooks in a statement. "DPR…accepted Arysta's request for voluntary cancellation of pesticide products containing methyl iodide."
The pesticide was to be sold under the name MIDAS and, said Tokyo-based Arysta LifeScience Corporation in a news release, "The sale of MIDAS was no longer economically viable in the U.S."
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| SJFB supports local candidates for office in 2012 |
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Elections loom on the horizon and SJFB has interviewed and selected for endorsement the candidates who Farm Bureau considers will be the best for agriculture in the future.
Bill Berryhill – Running for State Senate District Five
The Berryhill family has lived in the Valley for four generations and Bill Berryhill has farmed and harveshted winegrapes for 30 years with the business he built from the ground up.
As a member of the State Assembly he has worked hard to defeat job-killing regulations and has been a leading voice for cutting wasteful spending so funds will instead go to schools, roads, and other sectors that create jobs and are positive overall.
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| Ora Van Steyn is new NRCS district conservationist |
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Ora Van Steyn, the new district conservationist for the Stockton Natural Resource Conservation Service office knows that following the legendary and retired Dave Simpson, is both a challenge and an honor.
“Dave was here for more than 21 years and with NRCS for more than 25 and I’m looking forward to following in his footsteps,” said Van Steyn. “I want to maintain the level of quality customer service established by Dave and keep us in the top five of the nation’s offices.”
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