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This is the weblog of
Raymond Powers.
Here I will be sharing what I find of import, humor, concern, inspiration and on the transformational edge
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A Quote:
A different world cannot be built by indifferent people.
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Raymond lives in Ojai, where the time now is:
01:09AM
Unique Readers:
Primarily
Public Domain
Everything I've written here, except my copyrighted
essays, poetry, lyrics, and music is hereby placed in the public
domain. The quotes from other people's writings, and the pictures
used might or might not be copyrighted, but are considered fair
use. Thus the license here would best be described as:
Primarily Public
Domain.
Please ask permission if there is any question in
regards to public domain usage.
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| Monday, December 18, 2006 |  |
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18 Dec 2006 @ 17:57
Lawsuit stirs up guacamole labeling controversy
By Jerry Hirsch
Times Staff Writer
Published November 30, 2006
Peanut butter is made from peanuts, tomato paste is made from tomatoes, and guacamole is made from avocados, right?
Wrong. The guacamole sold by Kraft Foods Inc., one of the bestselling avocado dips in the nation, includes modified food starch, hefty amounts of coconut and soybean oils, and a dose of food coloring. The dip contains precious little avocado, but many customers mistake it for wholly guacamole.
On Wednesday, a Los Angeles woman sued the Northfield, Ill.-based food company, alleging that it committed fraud by calling its dip "guacamole." Her lawyer says suits against other purveyors of "fake guacamole" could be filed soon.
FOR THE RECORD:
Guacamole lawsuit: An article in Thursday's Business section about a lawsuit alleging that Kraft Foods Inc. committed fraud in labeling a dip as guacamole referred to the product as one of the bestselling avocado dips in the nation. In fact, Kraft's product is ranked No. 13 among guacamole dips and has only a 3% dollar share of the guacamole-flavored-dip segment, according to market researcher ACNielsen. —
The suit, which seeks class-action status, highlights the liberty some food companies take in labeling their products.
If consumers read the fine print, they would discover that Kraft Dips Guacamole contains less than 2% avocado. But few of them do. California avocado growers, who account for 95% of the nation's avocado crop, said they didn't know that store-bought guacamole contained little of their produce.
"We have not looked at this issue, but we might follow it now that we are aware of it," said Tom Bellamore, the top lawyer at the California Avocado Commission in Irvine.
Kraft and other food companies said they weren't deceiving customers by skimping on the avocado. A Kraft spokeswoman said most people understood that guacamole was part of the company's line of flavored dips.
"We think customers understand that it isn't made from avocado," said Claire Regan, Kraft Foods' vice president of corporate affairs. "All of the ingredients are listed on the label for consumers to reference." More >
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| Wednesday, November 22, 2006 | |
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22 Nov 2006 @ 23:42
This is a topic I have recently learned about from my friend Jock Doubleday. I rarely see a doctor and have no children so this health concern has alluded me. Though my 86 year old mother, who gets a flu shot yearly, did complain of a myriad of symptoms this year after she received her vaccine.
This article is from the Organic Consumers website.
Americans Surprised, Concerned that 90% of Flu Shots Contain Mercury
* Health Officials' Aggressive Flu Shot Campaign May Disregard Safety, According to Survey of 9,000 Americans
*74 Percent of Respondents Unaware Flu Shots Contain Mercury, 78 Percent Disagree with CDC About Vaccinating Pregnant Women and Children
PRNewswire, Nov 13, 2006
Straight to the Source
PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- As health officials step up their effort to vaccinate Americans against the flu, a new survey suggests serious concerns over the toxin mercury, an ingredient in over 90 percent of this season's flu shot supply. PutChildrenFirst.org, a parent-led organization advocating vaccine safety, commissioned a survey of over 9,000 Americans to learn their plans for getting flu shots, their knowledge of its ingredients, and who they hold responsible for making sure vaccines are safe.
The survey revealed that the overwhelming majority of Americans were unaware that most flu shots contain mercury and that they would refuse a shot with mercury.
"More than 75 percent of Americans feel a mercury-containing flu shot should not be given to a pregnant woman or a child, despite recommendations from medical authorities to do just that," said Lisa Handley, a founding parent of PutChildrenFirst.org. Her own son, Jamison, had an adverse reaction to a flu shot containing mercury in 2003. "I know firsthand how life-changing a flu shot with mercury can be, since our son began his regression into autism after his flu shot." More >
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| Friday, November 3, 2006 | |
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3 Nov 2006 @ 16:15
Seafood, other ocean life threatened by overfishing, pollution
The Associated Press
Published: November 2, 2006
WASHINGTON: Clambakes, crabcakes, swordfish steaks and even humble fish sticks could be little more than a fond memory in a few decades.
If current trends of overfishing and pollution continue, the populations of just about all seafood face collapse by 2048, a team of ecologists and economists warns in a report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
"Whether we looked at tide pools or studies over the entire world's ocean, we saw the same picture emerging. In losing species we lose the productivity and stability of entire ecosystems," said the lead author Boris Worm of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
"I was shocked and disturbed by how consistent these trends are — beyond anything we suspected," Worm said.
While the study focused on the oceans, concerns have been expressed by ecologists about threats to fish in the Great Lakes and other lakes, rivers and freshwaters, too.
Worm and an international team spent four years analyzing 32 controlled experiments, other studies from 48 marine protected areas and global catch data from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's database of all fish and invertebrates worldwide from 1950 to 2003.
The scientists also looked at a 1,000-year time series for 12 coastal regions, drawing on data from archives, fishery records, sediment cores and archaeological data.
"At this point 29 percent of fish and seafood species have collapsed — that is, their catch has declined by 90 percent. It is a very clear trend, and it is accelerating," Worm said. "If the long-term trend continues, all fish and seafood species are projected to collapse within my lifetime — by 2048."
"It looks grim and the projection of the trend into the future looks even grimmer," he said. "But it's not too late to turn this around. It can be done, but it must be done soon. We need a shift from single species management to ecosystem management. It just requires a big chunk of political will to do it."
The researchers called for new marine reserves, better management to prevent overfishing and tighter controls on pollution.
In the 48 areas worldwide that have been protected to improve marine biodiversity, they found, "diversity of species recovered dramatically, and with it the ecosystem's productivity and stability."
While seafood forms a crucial concern in their study, the researchers were analyzing overall biodiversity of the oceans. The more species in the oceans, the better each can handle exploitation.
"Even bugs and weeds make clear, measurable contributions to ecosystems," said co-author J. Emmett Duffy of the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences.
The National Fisheries Institute, a trade association for the seafood industry, does not share the researchers alarm.
"Fish stocks naturally fluctuate in population," the institute said in a statement. "By developing new technologies that capture target species more efficiently and result in less impact on other species or the environment, we are helping to ensure our industry does not adversely affect surrounding ecosystems or damage native species.
Joshua Reichert, head of the private Pew Charitable Trusts' environment program, pointed out that worldwide fishing provides $80 billion (€62.6 billion)in revenue and 200 million people depend on it for their livelihoods. For more than 1 billion people, many of whom are poor, fish is their main source of protein, he said.
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation's National Center for Ecological Synthesis and Analysis.
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Associated Press Writer John Heilprin contributed to this report. More >
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| Monday, October 30, 2006 | |
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30 Oct 2006 @ 19:32
Stonyfield's Response to Business Week Organic Myth Article
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30 Oct 2006 @ 19:28
The Organic Myth
Pastoral ideals are getting trampled as organic food goes mass market
Next time you're in the supermarket, stop and take a look at Stonyfield Farm yogurt. With its contented cow and green fields, the yellow container evokes a bucolic existence, telegraphing what we've come to expect from organic food: pure, pesticide-free, locally produced ingredients grown on a small family farm.
So it may come as a surprise that Stonyfield's organic farm is long gone. Its main facility is a state-of-the-art industrial plant just off the airport strip in Londonderry, N.H., where it handles milk from other farms. And consider this: Sometime soon a portion of the milk used to make that organic yogurt may be taken from a chemical-free cow in New Zealand, powdered, and then shipped to the U.S. True, Stonyfield still cleaves to its organic heritage. For Chairman and CEO Gary Hirshberg, though, shipping milk powder 9,000 miles across the planet is the price you pay to conquer the supermarket dairy aisle. "It would be great to get all of our food within a 10-mile radius of our house," he says. "But once you're in organic, you have to source globally."
Hirshberg's dilemma is that of the entire organic food business. Just as mainstream consumers are growing hungry for untainted food that also nourishes their social conscience, it is getting harder and harder to find organic ingredients. There simply aren't enough organic cows in the U.S., never mind the organic grain to feed them, to go around. Nor are there sufficient organic strawberries, sugar, or apple pulp -- some of the other ingredients that go into the world's best-selling organic yogurt.
Now companies from Wal-Mart (WMT ) to General Mills (GIS ) to Kellogg (K ) are wading into the organic game, attracted by fat margins that old-fashioned food purveyors can only dream of. What was once a cottage industry of family farms has become Big Business, with all that that implies, including pressure from Wall Street to scale up and boost profits. Hirshberg himself is under the gun because he has sold an 85% stake in Stonyfield to the French food giant Groupe Danone. To retain management control, he has to keep Stonyfield growing at double-digit rates. Yet faced with a supply crunch, he has drastically cut the percentage of organic products in his line. He also has scaled back annual sales growth, from almost 40% to 20%. "They're all mad at me," he says.
As food companies scramble to find enough organically grown ingredients, they are inevitably forsaking the pastoral ethos that has defined the organic lifestyle. For some companies, it means keeping thousands of organic cows on industrial-scale feedlots. For others, the scarcity of organic ingredients means looking as far afield as China, Sierra Leone, and Brazil -- places where standards may be hard to enforce, workers' wages and living conditions are a worry, and, say critics, increased farmland sometimes comes at a cost to the environment.
Everyone agrees on the basic definition of organic: food grown without the assistance of man-made chemicals. Four years ago, under pressure from critics fretting that the term "organic" was being misused, the U.S. Agriculture Dept. issued rules. To be certified as organic, companies must eschew most pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, bioengineering, and radiation. But for purists, the philosophy also requires farmers to treat their people and livestock with respect and, ideally, to sell small batches of what they produce locally so as to avoid burning fossil fuels to transport them. The USDA rules don't fully address these concerns.
Hence the organic paradox: The movement's adherents have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, but success has imperiled their ideals. It simply isn't clear that organic food production can be replicated on a mass scale. For Hirshberg, who set out to "change the way Kraft (KFT ), Monsanto (MON ), and everybody else does business," the movement is shedding its innocence. "Organic is growing up."
Certainly, life has changed since 1983, when Hirshberg teamed up with a back-to-the-land advocate named Samuel Kaymen to sell small batches of full-fat plain organic yogurt. Kaymen had founded Stonyfield Farm to feed his six kids and, as he puts it, "escape the dominant culture." Hirshberg, then 29, had been devoted to the environment for years, stung by memories of technicolor dyes streaming downriver from his father's New Hampshire shoe factories. He wrote a book on how to build water-pumping windmills and, between 1979 and 1983, ran the New Alchemy Institute, an alternative-living research center on Cape Cod. He was a believer.
But producing yogurt amid the rudimentary conditions of the original Stonyfield Farm was a recipe for nightmares, not nirvana. Meg, an organic farmer who married Hirshberg in 1986, remembers the farm as cold and crowded, with a road so perilous that suppliers often refused to come up. "I call it the bad old days," she says. Adds her mother, Doris Cadoux, who propped up the business for years: "Every time Gary would come to me for money, Meg would call to say 'Mama, don't do it."'
READ MORE More >
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| Wednesday, October 4, 2006 | |
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4 Oct 2006 @ 20:04
Positive Proof of Global Warming More >
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| Tuesday, October 3, 2006 | |
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3 Oct 2006 @ 17:04
Sign Sign everywhere a sign
Sign Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign
And the sign said anybody caught trespassing would be shot on sight
So I jumped on the fence and yelled at the house, Hey! what gives you the right
To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in
If God was here, he'd tell you to your face, man you're some kinda sinner
(c) Five Man Electrical Band
Well, this time the shoe is on the other foot. My foot.
Living in the serenity and sanctity of Matilija Canyon for almost seven years now (not a long time for the residents who have called this home for decades, accepting fire and flood as part of their relationship with nature) I have been fortunate to experience life in various locations throughout the canyon. In 1999 I moved from Los Angeles, up canyon, close to the Dent House. For five years I studied the terrain, cultivated gardens, became familiar with seasons and learned of the pre-European Chumash culture and their continued devotion to this land. Since then, I have lived briefly, for one year, in the center portion of the canyon and now for the last six months given the responsibility and honor of stewarding and caregiving one of the most pristine and historical environments in the Ojai Valley.
Though a "nature lover" and preserver during childhood, (in Junior High I was asked by my science instructor to join the environmental club. After school we planned eco-fairs for the campus and took field trips to places such as the landfill in the Santa Monica mountains) since moving to Ojai, I have become more immersed in the theories, methods and lifestyle of sustainability. At times failing and also celebrating my successes in sustaining land, livlihood and relationship. Ojai has become for me an important "real time" social experiment, as I experience myself and others balance nature, commerce, diversity and, at times, culture clash.
The sign(s) posted on the roadside demarcate an area of the land, once public yet since 1988 rezoned as private, which fall within my stewardship. For at least three generations the families of Ojai, and visitors, have come here to take refuge during the hot summer months and take advantage of the swimming. Unfortunately, in my brief role as conservator, take advantage IS what some seem to do. Not one to enjoy policing, micro-managing, or outright harassing others, the last few months of summer left me in a quandry. How do I respect the lineage of Ojai who has enjoyed this river oasis while also protecting the land (and safety of the people) from pollution, broken glass, inebriated clumsiness, spray paint and gang activity?
More >
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| Monday, September 25, 2006 | |
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25 Sep 2006 @ 16:36
NBuzz Newsletter
WORLD SOLAR ENERGY NEWS
Projects...
Spain: ACCIONA to Build World's Largest Photovoltaic Plant in Portugal (update)
United States: GE Energy to Supply Solar Equipment to Korean PV Project
United States: Vallecitos Water District to Unveil 340 kilowatt PV System
United States: SunEdison to Build Solar Farm
Japan: Sharp Commissions Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing Facility
United States: WorldWater & Power to Build Solar System for The Center for Great Expectations
Markets...
United States: Solar Gas Station Wins Property Tax Appeal
Manufacturing...
Norway: REC Increases Polysilicon Production
Norway: REC to Invest in Additional Cell and Production Capacity
Companies...
Germany: Aleo Solar Secures Contract from PowerLight Corporation
United Kingdom: Romag Signs Cell Supply Letter of Intent with E-Ton Solar
Germany: SolarWorld Group Signs Chinese Solar Wafer Contract
Germany: SolarWorld Signs Supply Agreement with Italian Wholesaler
United States: Start Up, Solaria Raises $22 Million
Belgium: Commission Clears Acquisition of Avancis by Shell and Saint-Gobain
Germany: SolarWorld Group Contracts Two Wafer Supply Deals
PROJECTS
Madrid, Spain: ACCIONA to Build World's Largest Photovoltaic Plant in Portugal (update)
ACCIONA has been selected to build and operate as owner a 62 MW photovoltaic solar plant near the town of Moura, in southern Portugal. With an investment in excess of 200 million euros, its construction will be carried out in two stages: the first, with 40-45 MW, will be concluded in 2008 and the other, with the remaining power, will be completed by 2010.
Web Site: [link]
Atlanta, GA, USA: GE Energy to Supply Solar Equipment to Korean PV Project
GE Energy’s technology has been selected for one of the largest solar power projects in Asia, a three-megawatt facility being developed at Yong Gwang, Korea.
Web Site: [link]
San Marcos, CA, USA: Vallecitos Water District to Unveil 340 kilowatt PV System
The Vallecitos Water District (VWD) will be holding a dedication ceremony for their recently installed solar photovoltaic (PV) carport system in honor of the late Paul A. Davy, former VWD Director and the visionary for solar, at the District's headquarters.
Web Site: [link]
Denver, CO, USA: SunEdison to Build Solar Farm
Xcel Energy on Friday selected Baltimore's SunEdison to build the largest solar electric farm in Colorado. The 8 Megawatt solar farm, capable of powering more than 2,600 homes along the Front Range and other parts of Colorado, would be built in the San Luis Valley near Alamosa.
Web Site: [link],2777,DRMN_23914_5015443,00.html
Kameyama, Japan: Sharp Commissions Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing Facility
Sharp Corporation’s state-of-the-art Kameyama Plant No. 2 recently became operational. As a "Super Green Factory" with a high level of environmental performance designed to minimize impacts on the environment to the greatest extent possible, the Kameyama Plant features an energy supply system based on integrating diverse power sources distributed within the plant into a single large-scale system independent of the utility power grid.
Web Site: [link]
Pennington, NJ, USA: WorldWater & Power to Build Solar System for The Center for Great Expectations
WorldWater & Power Corp. today announced the signing of a $446,250 contract with The Center for Great Expectations to build a roof-top solar power system.
Web Site: [link]
MARKETS
Sutter Creek, CA, USA: Solar Gas Station Wins Property Tax Appeal
Jon's Pit Stop in Martell, California has achieved a favorable outcome in an appeal against the Amador County Assessor's Office. Jon and Polly Luy, owners of Jon's Pit Stop, received a property tax assessment of $58,500 for a new solar support structure (tax exempt under California Assembly Bill AB-1755) that is part of their 84 kW STC SolarStar™ electric system.
Web Site: [link] (Corrected Link)
MANUFACTURING
Oslo, Norway: REC Increases Polysilicon Production
Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) has decided to invest $50 million to further increase polysilicon production by close to 20% through de-bottlenecking, at one of the existing plants.
Web Site: [link]
Oslo, Norway: REC to Invest in Additional Cell and Production Capacity
Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) has decided to more than quadruple its solar cell production and double its solar module production within 2008. REC's production of cells and modules will be increased from today's 45MW level, up to a total of 225MW in cells and 100MW in modules.
Web Site: [link]
COMPANIES
Prenzlau, Germany: Aleo Solar Secures Contract from PowerLight Corporation
Prenzlau based aleo solar AG has been commissioned by US system integrator, PowerLight Corporation to produce 10,000 solar modules.
Web Site: [link]
London, United Kingdom: Romag Signs Cell Supply Letter of Intent with E-Ton Solar
Romag Holdings says the company has experienced strong growth in demand for the company's PowerGlaz solar panels. To support this growth, Romag has signed a Letter of Intent for the supply of PV cells from E-Ton Solar in Taiwan.
Web Site: [link]
Bonn, Germany: SolarWorld Group Signs Chinese Solar Wafer Contract
SolarWorld-Konzern has landed one of its biggest export orders to date. The SolarWorld subsidiary Deutsche Solar AG which is among the world's largest producers of solar silicon wafers will supply 350 million EUR worth of wafers to China.
Web Site: [link]
Bonn, Germany: SolarWorld Signs Supply Agreement with Italian Wholesaler
SolarWorld AG has concluded a comprehensive agreement for the delivery of complete solar power systems and solar modules with the Italian solar power wholesaler Tecnospot in Bolzano.
Web Site: [link]
Freemont, CA, USA: Start Up, Solaria Raises $22 Million
Solaria®, a solar technology company, yesterday announced the completion of $22 million in Series B financing. The funding round includes investments from Sigma Partners, NGEN Partners, Q-Cells AG and Moser Baer.
Web Site: [link]
Brussels, Belgium: Commission Clears Acquisition of Avancis by Shell and Saint-Gobain
The European Commission has granted clearance under the EU Merger Regulation to the acquisition of joint control of Avancis GmbH of Germany by Shell Erneuerbare Energien GmbH (Shell) of Germany, belonging to the Shell Group, and Saint-Gobain Glass Deutschland GmbH (Saint-Gobain), also of Germany.
Web Site: [link]
Bonn, Germany: SolarWorld Group Contracts Two Wafer Supply Deals
SolarWorld has concluded two contracts for the delivery of solar silicon wafers until 2018 with two well-known customers in Taiwan and South Korea.
Web Site: [link] More >
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25 Sep 2006 @ 01:44
I live in Ojai, CA where the Day Fire has been burning the wilderness for a couple of weeks now. One of our local community, Tyler Suchman, who started the Ojai Post has been instrumental in deciminating information about the fire's status.
Here is the latest report and make sure to visit Ojai Post for current, up to date information.
Ojai Fire Watch: Day Fire - 9/24 Sunday Thread
DAY FIRE RESOURCE PAGE
[[Update: 6:26pm] Weather - NWS / Ojai (5:59 report)
Fire Weather Warning - Red Flag Warning Is Cancelled...The National Weather Service in Los Angeles / Oxnard has cancelled the red flag warnings.
[As of: 5:12pm] VC Sheriff's Dept (12:40pm report)
All precautionary and recommended evacuations are still in effect. All road closures are still in effect for non-residents. All four evacuation shelters are still open and available to evacuees. Pine Mountain Club is no longer available for animal sheltering/evacuation. At 12:30 p.m., a DC-10 dropped 12,000 gallons of fire retardant on the Nordoff Ridge (this was the first useage of this plane in an ACTUAL fire), over an area that is 3/8 to 3/4 of a mile wide. 127,500 acres have been affected by the Day Fire, which is 40% contained at this time. Currently there are over 3,200 fire personnel, and over 45 aircraft (32 helicopters, 8 air tankers, 4 air attack craft, 1 DC-10) battling the fire. [ed.note: two days ago we had a report that the DC-10 was not being used because of bureaucratic red tape. Looks like the paperwork got done.]
[Update: 2:58pm] KVTA.com has some interesting new info on the DC-10 Jumbo Jet.
[Update: 4:01pm] blogger Mark Storer reports that the DC-10 was previously used to effectively fight a July Yucca Valley fire.
[Update: 4:04pm] a 3:55pm VCSD update announces the Santa Paula Meeting, already covered below.
[Update: 5:12pm] a 5:00pm VCSD update announces: "Sheriff's Officials have been in contact with Ojai Unified School District officials. Assessments are currently being made about the possibility of school closures for tomorrow (09/25/06). We will post the decision here as soon as it is confirmed."
[No Change In Status: 4:58pm] VC Fire Dept (10:35am report)
Fire Engine Strike Teams are currently on-scene for structure protection in the Upper Ojai area. Reports have been received of visible flames to the east. There is a Recommended Evacuation along highway 150 from Upper Ojai - Sulphur Mountain Rd. area to Steckel Park area. Fire is currently being seen at the top of Topa Topa Bluffs and adjacent mountain areas but has not gone over. It is firmly established in the head of the Santa Paula Creek and is working its way downslope toward the mouth of the creek. Erratic winds may cause unpredictable fire behavior. Fire personnel are on-scene. (read more at the VCFD page... [in Spanish])
[No Change In Status: 4:58pm] Forest Service / Inciweb.org: (8:42am report)
Size: 127,569 acres, Containment: 40 percent, Cost: $33,685,016, Line to Build: 59 miles. Weather Conditions: Red Flag warning in effect through 6 pm tonight, for strong offshore winds and low humidity. Full report after the jump...
[Update: 6:39pm] OUSD (5:45pm report)
"The fire department has made excellent progress in pushing the Day Fire off of the Topa Topa ridge today. As of this afternoon, the fire appears to be moving away from Upper Ojai. The fire department has downgraded the evacuation to "precautionary" (6 hours notice) instead of the "recommended" (3 hours notice) that had been in place for Upper Ojai. Highway 150 will remain closed tomorrow. Because the fire department is anticipating heavy fire vehicle traffic on Highway 150, they have requested that we close Summit School and ask parents to stay off of the road as much as possible. This will allow our fire fighters to do their job much more efficiently. Summit School will be open on Tuesday, September 26 unless the fire situation changes. So to summarize, although the danger has lessened, we are closing Summit School to assist in reducing traffic on Highway 150 tomorrow. Stay home and read a good book! All other bus routes for high school and junior high students in the Upper Ojai are expected to be running tomorrow."
[New: 1:52pm] Santa Paula Community Meeting on the Day Fire
When: Monday, September 25, at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Santa Paula Community Center, 530 West Main Street, Santa Paula Fire and law enforcement officials will update residents on the status and strategies for containment of the Day Fire. For further information contact: Ventura Co. Fire Info. Center at (805) 388-4276 Los Padres NF Fire Info. Center at (805) 961-5770
News Story 10:03am
AP: Firefighters Face Hot, Dry Winds
One of the "spot" blazes burned about 7,000 acres in the canyons above Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula along Highway 150, about 75 miles north of Los Angeles. The campus was evacuated late Saturday. Plumes of reddish smoke were visible as students raced between dorms gathering books and clothing. Charlie Kaiser, 20, walked to his car carrying a surfboard wrapped in a blanket and several books. "If we get Monday off, I want to go surfing," Kaiser said.
Recent Photo: 10:10am
photo courtesy of Ginny in Upper Ojai who writes: The smoke is blowing toward Dennison, so you folks in Ojai should start seeing action soon
Oil Fields
Reader Kira asks: Where are the Sespe oil fields in relation to Ojai? How close is the fire to them? What do the officials expect if the fire reaches the oil fields? Could we see uncontrollable fire burning for long periods of time? [Update: 3:09pm] reader mk answers: the Sespe Oil Fields are just north of Filmore. They burned over during the Piru Fire a couple years ago. They might be shut down, but I wouldn't expect long term oil fires.
[Update: 4:12pm] Vacuum: Still no mention of the Day Fire, no resource links, nothing from our elected officials: Elton Gallegly, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Audra Strickland, nor the City of Ojai(!)
Thank you to the Ojai community for passing the word around and contributing in the comments and via email. Additional updates and questions should be directed to: tyler -at- ojaipost dot com. Shout out to our hosting provider, Digital Housing, which is doing a great job keeping this site humming under an increasingly heavy load.
And a big tip of our community hat to the 3,200 men and women who are working incredibly hard to save our local towns. Their efforts are invaluable, and we owe them our deep gratitude. If you see fire workers, officials and other personnel around Ojai, take a moment to let them know that they are doing a great job (unless they are lugging a hose through your backyard - just let them do their thing).
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Information Update
Los Padres/Angeles National Forest
Phone: (805) 961-5770
September 24, 2006, 6:00 a.m
Fire Name: Day Fire
Date and Time of Fire Start: September 4, 2006 at 1:55 p.m.
Location: Los Padres National Forest, Angeles National Forest, Sespe Wilderness
Kind of Fuels: Heavy mixed brush with scattered timber
Cause: Day Fire was human-caused, resulting from a member of the public burning a small amount of material within the Los Padres National Forest. The investigation is ongoing.
Size: 127,569 acres
Containment: 40 percent
Cost: $33,685,016
Line to Build: 59 miles
Weather Conditions: Red Flag warning in effect through 6 pm tonight, for strong offshore winds and low humidity. Expect East winds of 20-30 mph w/gusts to 45 this morning, decreasing this afternoon. Max temps – Valleys: 80-92. Ridgetops: 60-69. Min. RH – 5-15% above 3000’ / 15-25% below. Winds–Valley: 4-8 mph – gusts 20 mph. Ridgetops: 20-30 mph – gusts to 45 mph.
Fire Behavior: Santa Ana winds surfaced 10:00 Saturday and fire crossed over Piru Creek near Alamo Creek.May spot across north side again due to wind eddies in canyon bottom. Fire is established at head of Santa Paula Creek, working downslope towards the mouth of the creek.
Agency Jurisdiction: US Forest Service, Los Padres National Forest, Ventura County Fire.
Agencies Involved: U.S. Forest Service, Los Angeles County Fire, California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection,
Bureau of Land Management, California Highway Patrol, Ventura County Fire, National Weather Service, Santa Barbara County Fire, Cal-Trans, and many assisting agencies.
Incident Commanders: Mike Dietrich / George Custer
Equipment and Personnel:
73 Hand crews
28 Helicopters
44 Dozers
270 Engines
500 Overhead
45 Water tenders
Total Number of Personnel: 3,237
Threatened:
Residences and commercial buildings; recreational campsites; water quality due to post-fire debris flows; electric transmission lines and gas pipelines; cell phone and radio communications; Sespe Condor Sanctuary; arroyo toad, California red-legged frog, and Sespe River steelhead habitat.
Structures Destroyed: One
Structures Threatened: 2049
Injuries: One [ed.note: 10news.com is reporting that its a bee sting (!)]
Evacuations:
Recommended evacuation notice for Ojai – Sulphur Mt. Rd to Steckel Park along Hwy 150. Precautionary evacuation orders in effect for the areas of Hwy 33 from Rose Valley Rd to Lockwood Valley Rd./Hwy 150 Santa Paula to Thatcher School/Lockwood Valley Rd from Hwy 33 to Frazier Mt. Park Rd. Shelters at Nordhoff High School in Ojai/Sacred Heart Church-Ventura/Santa Paula Community Ctr.
Animal evacuations:Call 1-888-223-7387
Special Information: Hwy. 33 is closed northbound at Wheeler Gorge after the tunnels, southbound at Lockwood Valley Rd. Lockwood Valley Road is closed at Lake of the Woods Hwy 150, Mupu to Reeves RD. See website for national forest closure information. More >
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Sounding Circle implies the cycles, spirals and symbols of our thought, our culture, our lineage and our imagination.
A place to share ideas, create community, and give voice to our muse.
"Giving more than we take, taking just what we need."
"The universe is music connecting 10th dimensional hyperspace".
Prof. Michio Kaku, Phd. |
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"It's not what you think, it's what you think about."
- lyric from You Can't Turn Back (But You Can Turn Back On) |
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Sounding Circle
