11/4/08 Vote & Water Problems

Vote & Water Problems plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Today is the day. No more speeches or vague promises. You need to make a decision. Whether you believe in the electoral system or not it is important for each and every registered voter to make their mark. Exercise your freedom. VOTE! California is once again dealing with water issues and they plan to cut deliveries affecting farmers and ranchers all across the state. California Department of Water Resources Deputy Director Susan Sims explains why the state is short on water which is resulting in plans to cut water deliveries. SIMS: There are a couple of reasons. One is thanks to Mother Nature the last couple of years have been very dry in California particularly in the in Sierra Nevada Mountain range which is where most of the snow typically is and where most of our reservoirs get filled from that snow melt. We've had very low snow melt run-off the last couple of years and as a result our reservoirs are very low. The second issue has to do with our California delta. Most of the water San Joaquin farmers and agencies that serve customers down in Southern California and the Bay area get their water through the delta. We've got some court orders that are now restricting how much we can pump in order to save some endangered fish species. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. Little did you know that in eating that cinnamon roll the other day you were actually fighting harmful bacteria that might be present such as the E coli bug? Okay, so the beneficial part was in the cinnamon spice part of the roll; you'll have to come up with your own justification for the remaining ingredients! Researchers have now discovered that cinnamon and several other natural spices including oregano and lemongrass fight off harmful bacteria which might be present in foods. Just one teaspoon of cinnamon has been known to kill 99.5 percent of the E coli bacteria in just three days. Using herbs and spices to fight off and treat disease is nothing new though; they're power for healing has been used for thousands of years. Only modern society has become dependant on antibiotics, resulting in a constant quest for ever stronger drugs to fight infection. As antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria continue to increase natural spices may very well be our saving grace. And to think, we've actually had the power to combat illness and disease all along. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.