New Congressional Seat & Honeybee Update

 New Congressional Seat & Honeybee Update plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

The 2010 Census figures have been released and it’s official, some 308.7 million people live in the U.S. all the way from California, the most populous state to the sparsely populated state of Wyoming. The 435 seats in the U.S. House are apportioned every 10 years among the 50 states based on population shifts. Washington state will get a 10th congressional seat while Oregon remains at five seats and Idaho at 2 seats.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything about the honeybee issue. USDA researcher Jeff Pettis says progress is slowly being made on understanding the various causes and conditions behind a disease fatal to honeybees.

PETTIS: We’re beginning to understand how some of these things interact. We’re beginning to understand synergism between certain pesticides and fungicides that could be affecting bee health. We have a gut parasite that we know has been around affecting bee health for some time and how it may interact and not be acting alone. So there’s some parts in there that build on each other that taken together help us and guide us in the future research. I guess I can’t point to any one particular gem from this past year. There’s certainly been advancements.

Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.

It’s one of those things that seem absolutely absurd on first glance, a law requiring California schools to provide students with fresh water at lunchtime. I know I’ve been out of school a while, okay quite a while, but don’t schools still have water fountains available in or near cafeterias? Apparently not, that’s why this bill came into being in the first place; seems nowadays the water fountain in the hallway has given way to the vending machine, with many schools claiming financial hardship when it comes to providing students with fresh water to drink. Now maybe I’m being a little dense, it has been known to happen, but wouldn’t it be less of a financial burden for schools to provide fresh tap water, even if it is just a few dozen pitchers and recyclable paper cups set out at mealtime? Governor Schwarzenegger has rejected such an appeal in the past stating “it would be attempting to legislate common sense and implying that school administrators are not acting in the best interests of the students”.  Well, if the shoe fits Gov. It seems pretty obvious that some common sense is needed in this situation.

Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.