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Crop-rich California region may fall under state monitoring to preserve groundwater flow

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Crop-rich California region may fall under state monitoring to preserve groundwater flow

California might step in to regulate groundwater use in part of the crop-rich San Joaquin Valley, which would be a first-of-its-kind move that comes a decade after lawmakers tasked local communities with carefully managing the precious but often overused resource.

At issue is control over a farming-dependent area where state officials say local water agencies haven’t come up with a strong enough plan to keep the water flowing sustainably into the future. The State Water Resources Control Board will hold a hearing Tuesday to decide whether to place the region under monitoring, which would mean state, not local, officials would temporarily watch over and limit how much water could be pumped from the ground.

CALIFORNIA CONSIDERS ADDING TREATED WASTEWATER TO DRINKING SUPPLY THROUGH NEW PROPOSAL

“It’s a huge deal,” said Dusty Ference, executive director of the Kings County Farm Bureau, which represents regional farmers. “What you gain in having local control is the ability to build groundwater recharge projects and some flexibility with how water is used and moved and traded or not.”

Sandbags are stacked around a well in anticipation of flooding of the Kings River in the Island District of Lemoore, Calif., April 19, 2023. California officials are considering whether to take over monitoring groundwater use in the fertile San Joaquin Valley under a landmark law aimed at protecting water flow to homes and farms. The Tuesday, April 16, 2024, hearing before the State Water Resources Control Board is the first of its kind since California passed a groundwater management law a decade ago.  (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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Ference said the state board wouldn’t have the local expertise or staff to do this.

“It will just be, ‘Here’s the pumping amount we authorize. Do with it what you can.’”

The hearing is seen as a test of how California’s groundwater rules are working 10 years after lawmakers passed them. The limits came after years of overpumping and drought led to a host of problems ranging from residential wells running dry to sinking land. The goal was to make the most critically overdrafted groundwater basins sustainable.

Communities have since formed groundwater sustainability agencies and drafted management plans. In the Tulare Lake Subbasin, five local agencies worked on a single proposal, only to see it rejected last year by the state Department of Water Resources over concerns about lowering groundwater levels, sinking land and degrading groundwater quality.

If the state water board steps in after Tuesday’s hearing, officials could require anyone who extracts more than a minimal amount of groundwater to report how much they take and pay fees for it. The state could also require larger pumpers to install and use meters that measure water use.

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The Tulare Lake Subbasin covers a stretch of Kings County, which is home to about 150,000 people halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The county is a major producer of milk, pistachios, cotton and processed tomatoes, according to a county agricultural report.

It’s also home to Tulare Lake, a large, dry basin that fills with water in rainy years. The lake most recently reappeared in 2023 after intense winter downpours that flooded farms and roads.

Doug Freitas, an almond grower who owns property in areas governed by three different groundwater agencies, said each agency has been talking about what to do next. He said he knew about the state’s groundwater law, but like most small farmers, he was so busy trying to make ends meet that he couldn’t foresee the impact.

“As a farmer, my opinion is we need more time,” Freitas said. “I would like to go to that meeting and beg for mercy and ask for them to let us come back to the table.”

One of the agencies, the Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency, proposed an April 23 vote on charging landowners fees and limiting pumping. The move has met with some resistance, and agency director Dennis Mills recently told residents something must be done if they want to try to keep the state from stepping in.

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“They will not accept more promises at this point,” Mills said. “Just a revised plan is not good enough. They need to see concrete steps as to how we’re addressing these things.”

Then there are people like Joaquin Contente, a longtime dairy farmer in Kings County, who said pumping fees and caps spell trouble for him, whether they are imposed by local or state officials. He relies on groundwater to grow the alfalfa he feeds his 800 cattle.

“I know there’s a lot of people losing sleep over it, because I am one of them,” Contente said.

Ference, the farm bureau director, said he supports local control so that farmers can have a say in what happens and communities can invest in local recharge projects.

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“This is a community, countywide issue that, if it’s not managed properly, will be catastrophic,” he said.

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Utah

Utah Rallies From Three Goal Deficit, Falls in Overtime | Utah Mammoth

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Utah Rallies From Three Goal Deficit, Falls in Overtime | Utah Mammoth


Utah kept pushing and tied the game 1:45 into the third period with Michael Carcone’s first of the series. Less than five minutes later, Captain Clayton Keller’s goal gave the Mammoth its first lead of the game. Throughout this playoff series, plenty of different players have stepped up in a variety of ways. Having this depth, and plenty of impactful performances, has been a strength of the Mammoth.

“It’s playoff hockey, you kind of expect bigger games from everybody,” Sergachev explained. “And guys are providing, and they’re playing well. (Karel Vejmelka) is standing on his head, saving crazy shots, and facing a lot of traffic in front.”

Brett Howden’s second goal of the night tied the game, 4-4 halfway through the third. After neither team was able to convert in the final nine and a half minutes of the third period, Game 4 went to overtime. Both teams generated multiple chances; however, Shea Theodore’s goal with 52 seconds left in the first overtime period secured the win for Vegas.

“We had lots of good looks early,” Keller said of overtime. “They did too. Lots of back and forth and I think, for a lot of us, it’s probably the first game in overtime we’ve had in the playoffs, and to feel that’s good and it’s experience. It’s only going to help us moving forward.”

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As they have done throughout the playoffs and the regular season, Utah will use this experience to their advantage while remaining even-keeled. It’s a best of three series with Game 5 on Wednesday and Game 6 on Friday. The Mammoth have plenty of leaders in their locker room to keep them focused and encouraged moving forward.

“Yeah, that’s something that we’ve worked at all year,” Keller shared. “We’ve gotten better, and this is the time when we need to be even keeled the most, each team is going to have a push, until you rebound and take the other team’s push. I think we’ve done a great job all year, and we’ve got to continue to work at that.”

“There is plenty of hockey left in this series; a tied series going back,” Cole explained. “It’s a three-game series. (We’re) focusing on what we can control and where we stand right now. I think that will do us well.”

Additional Notes from Tonight

  • Six of Utah’s 12 forwards recorded over 20 minutes of ice time: Lawson Crouse (28:56), Logan Cooley (27:58), Schmaltz (27:46), Keller (25:40), Dylan Guenther (24:34), and Alexander Kerfoot (21:40). All six of Utah’s defenseman recorded over 20 minutes of playing time. Sergachev led all Mammoth skaters with 30:32 TOI.
  • The Mammoth set a new franchise high for hits in a single game with 57. Kailer Yamamoto and MacKenzie Weegar each recorded nine hits, which led the team.
  • With three Mammoth defenseman recording points in Game 4, Utah’s blueliners have combined for 11 points (3G, 8A) through the first four games of the series. Sergachev (1G, 2A), Cole (1G), and Sean Durzi (1A) all had points in the loss.
  • With three assists in Game 4, Sergachev became the first Mammoth skater to post a three-point game in the playoffs.

Game 5 is on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Game 6 is on Friday at the Delta Center. If Game 7 is needed, the series will shift back to Vegas on Sunday.

Upcoming Schedule

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  • May 3: UTA vs VGK – TBD



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Washington

Washington sues Albertsons, Safeway for ‘deceptive’ deals

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Washington sues Albertsons, Safeway for ‘deceptive’ deals


From October 2019 to May 2024, the companies brought in as much as $19.7 million with the deceptive deals, Washington Attorney General Brown said

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Washington Attorney General Nick Brown filed a lawsuit against Albertsons, Safeway and Haggen on Monday, alleging the grocery chains are deceiving shoppers with “buy one get one free” deals.

According to the lawsuit, the corporate owner of Albertsons, Safeway and Haggen has overcharged customers in more than three million transactions within a five-year period by using deceptive “buy one get one free deals.”

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Albertsons Companies – which is the parent company of Safeway and Haggen – is among the largest grocery chains in the United States, Brown said, explaining the company operates all Safeway, Albertsons and Haggen stores in Washington, totaling 225 stores in the state.

Brown argues that the stores entice shoppers with the BOGO promotions on everyday items such as bread, cereal, fresh produce and olive oil.

The lawsuit, filed in King County, says the stores artificially increase prices of products slated for the deals in the weeks and months before the BOGO promotion is introduced. Brown says this overcharges customers in the interim.

According to the lawsuit, the stores then lower prices around 30 days after the deal is over. “The net result is that consumers think they’re getting a second item free, but in practice, they’re just paying an inflated price for the first item,” the Washington Attorney General’s Office said.

The lawsuit details one incident at a Gig Harbor Albertsons, which hiked the price of a bottle of olive oil to $10.99 for the BOGO promotion, after the oil was previously $6.99 a week before, marking a 57% increase.

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After the BOGO deal ended, however, Brown’s office says the price went back to $6.99.

“We’re not going to stand for people getting fleeced by these deceptive practices,” Brown said. “That’s why we’ve filed this case. We want to make sure we’re protecting people’s pocketbooks, and we all know that affordability is a major issue these days. We’ve got to push back when companies are misleading their customers.”

Brown’s office said from October 2019 to May 2024, the company brought in as much as $19.7 million with the deceptive deals.

This isn’t the first time the defendants have been accused of deceptive BOGO deals, officials note.

Brown’s office said Albertsons previously paid $107 million to settle a 2016 class action lawsuit for misleading BOGO deals in Oregon.

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The companies also settled a proposed class action lawsuit filed in 2023 in federal court in another case involving BOGO deals in Washington.

The lawsuit accused the company of violating Washington’s Consumer Protection Act by engaging in unfair and deceptive practices by artificially inflating the pre-BOGO price, then lowering the price after the deal ends. The Attorney General’s Office also alleges the company misrepresented prices and therefore engaged in unfair competition.

Attorney General Brown is seeking a court ruling that the stores violated state law and end the company’s use of these practices. Brown is also seeking restitution for Washington consumers and is asking the defendants to pay civil penalties for every violation of state law, along with pre-judgement interest.

In a statement shared with KOIN 6 News, Albertsons Companies — which is the parent company of Safeway and Haggen — said, “We are aware that the Washington Attorney General has filed a lawsuit related to certain buy‑one‑get‑one promotions. We engaged in good‑faith discussions with the Attorney General’s Office and strongly disagree with its claims, which are based on flawed analysis and data errors that we identified and raised.”

“Albertsons Companies is committed to complying with the law and to offering customers clear value through our promotions,” Albertsons Companies continued. “As this is pending litigation, we will address the matter through the legal process and cannot comment further.”

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Wyoming

American Rare Earths accelerates Wyoming pilot plant project

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American Rare Earths accelerates Wyoming pilot plant project


Australia-based American Rare Earths, which operates a US subsidiary called Wyoming Rare, has advanced the pilot plant program for its Halleck Creek Project in Wyoming to produce a high-purity separated rare earth oxide.

The company has signed agreements for initial processing to be done in Wyoming through Western Research Institute in Laramie and DISA Technologies in Casper, followed by a final stage of hydrometallurgical processing and oxide separation at the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) in Saskatoon, Canada.

The pilot plant program has been structured in three stages. The first two stages, milling and sizing followed by mineral separation and concentration, will take place in Wyoming. SRC will handle leaching, impurity removal and oxide refining in the third stage.

This will allow the front end of the pilot plant processing to stay in Wyoming, as it will process ore that has already been extracted from the American Rare Earths Halleck Creek site and stockpiled in Laramie. It will then leverage the downstream facility at SRC to accelerate production, the company said.

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The pilot plant will use DISA’s patented high-pressure slurry ablation (HPSA) technology to handle coarser particle sizes and then use the GradePro reflux classifier and induced roll magnetic separators to perform primary mineral separation and secondary concentration.

The SRC facility has a similar process configuration to the type of downstream processing facility American Rare Earths intends to build in Wyoming. The company will use the data generated during the pilot campaign to further develop its plans for the commercial plant and mine.

“The pilot plant and production of pre-production rare earth oxide were previously expected to take several years. This defined pilot pathway now materially shortens the timeline and positions the Company to deliver outcomes within months,” said Mark Wall, CEO of American Rare Earths.

Source: American Rare Earths





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