California
California pig welfare rule delays frustrate small farmers
DES MOINES, Iowa — Ohio hog farmer Joe Brandt modified his operation just a few years in the past to present his pigs extra room and maintain pregnant sows out of the slender crates utilized by most farms.
Brandt mentioned he wished to deal with his pigs extra humanely, however in doing so he additionally created a distinct segment for his household enterprise amid heightened considerations in regards to the remedy of animals, and that enabled him to cost larger costs for the pigs.
That payoff appeared more likely to develop even bigger after the January 2022 implementation of a California poll measure that required all pork bought within the state to abide by the requirements Brandt had already applied however which can be not often seen in giant hog farms. With that measure, Brandt and farmers like him would immediately be the one sources of bacon and pork chops for a state of 39 million those that consumes about 13% of the nation’s pork provide.
But, for causes out of Brandt’s management, it hasn’t occurred. California has but to totally write and approve the required rules, a state choose has blocked enforcement of the legislation due to that regulatory delay, and the U.S. Supreme Court docket will quickly hear a case introduced by a nationwide pork trade group that opposes the rules. Given all of the delays, Brandt wonders if he’ll ever see the surge in demand he anticipated when the measure was overwhelmingly authorised by California voters in 2018.
“It completely would assist,” mentioned Brandt, who maintains a herd of about 1,500 sows at his farm close to Versailles, Ohio. “It comes right down to positioning your self. When you see one thing and also you’re progressive and you’re employed towards it and also you imagine in it, I feel if a measure like this does go, you have to be rewarded for it.”
Brandt is amongst a whole lot of comparatively small farmers who’re caught between the state of California and the Iowa-based Nationwide Pork Producers Council, which represents the nation’s largest pig operations, based mostly primarily within the Midwest and North Carolina.
At subject is whether or not California’s Proposition 12 violates the U.S. Structure by interfering with a nationwide system by which about 65,000 farmers elevate 125 million hogs yearly, leading to product sales of $26 billion. California’s rules would ban pork gross sales within the state except the pigs have been born to sows with no less than 24-square-feet of area and a capability to show round.
The Nationwide Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation argue that California’s legislation violates the Structure’s commerce clause as a result of it throws a wrench within the nation’s pork system and requires out-of-state producers to incur almost all the prices of compliance.
After dropping earlier than the Ninth Circuit Court docket of Appeals, the nationwide associations requested the U.S. Supreme Court docket to contemplate their case. Arguments are deliberate for October.
If the Supreme Court docket finds California’s legislation unconstitutional, it couldn’t be absolutely applied and the nation’s pork producers can be free to proceed their present operations, together with using so-called gestation crates that defend sows from different pigs however stop them from turning round. Different features of the California legislation — governing the remedy of egg-laying chickens and cattle raised for veal — could possibly be enforced.
A choose on Aug. 11 positioned an identical sow welfare legislation on maintain in Massachusetts, pending the end result of the Supreme Court docket case.
Jared Schilling, who raises about 40,000 sows a yr close to New Athens, Illinois, mentioned his household hoped to achieve a aggressive edge once they modified their operation to present pigs extra room. The transfer has paid off; he will get premium costs by promoting his animals to specialty pork enterprise Coleman Pure Meals. Brandt additionally sells to Coleman.
However Schilling mentioned his income would doubtless rise extra if the California and Massachusetts legal guidelines are applied.
“Each trade has to make modifications to adapt to what the patron needs, whether or not it’s {the marketplace} or laws,” Schilling mentioned. “Most would favor {the marketplace} however they did vote on it, so somebody wants to fulfill that shopper demand.”
Michael Formica, a lawyer for the Nationwide Pork Producers Council, mentioned his group additionally represents small hog farmers and has no need to position their wants secondary to giant pork producers. Formica argued that the present system already rewards producers who meet what he estimated was the 5% of customers who need to pay considerably extra for pork raised with extra sq. footage and with out crates.
What the council opposes, Formica mentioned, is California imposing its requirements on the remainder of the nation, particularly because the state produces lower than 1% of the pork its residents eat.
“We respect {the marketplace} figuring out what {the marketplace} needs,” he mentioned. “If customers actually wished this, they might be shopping for pork chops for $15 or $25 a pound, however they don’t.”
If California’s legislation is allowed to take impact, Formica mentioned, smaller producers could possibly be damage as a result of as soon as giant suppliers shift to fulfill the principles, they might finally be capable of produce the identical pork at a decrease value than the area of interest farms.
Charlie Thieriot, chief government officer of Llano Seco Meats in Chico, California, mentioned his enterprise exceeds the California guidelines, and he strongly helps Proposition 12, calling its necessities the “tip of the iceberg” for the way pigs must be handled. However Thieriot, whose enterprise provides various elite Bay Space eating places, mentioned nationwide pork producers are adept at working on skinny margins, and he worries that small pig farmers do not understand the battle they may face competing straight with massive corporations if they’re compelled to turned Proposition 12 compliant.
“I feel these massive producers are actually simply extremely sensible, extremely strategic,” Thieriot mentioned. “They are going to be preparing for regardless of the courtroom decides they usually’ll have a Prop 12 compliant product prepared when that hammer drops.”
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Comply with Scott McFetridge on Twitter: https://twitter.com/smcfetridge
California
Rapper Sean Kingston Arrested in California for Fraud After SWAT Raids His Florida Home
Rapper Sean Kingston was arrested in California on Thursday on fraud charges, several hours after a SWAT team raided his rented South Florida home.
The Associated Press reported that Kingston, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, was taken into custody on a Florida warrant near Fort Irwin, California, according to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
Earlier on Thursday, authorities said they arrested the rapper’s 61-year-old mother, Janice Turner, following a raid on his mansion in Southwest Ranches, Florida. The AP reported that the sheriff’s office hasn’t released details about specific charges, citing an ongoing investigation.
Reporters outside his home said they could see authorities putting items in a van, according to the AP. The mansion was also surrounded by expensive-looking sports cars.
Kingston wrote on his Instagram Story earlier in the day, “People love negative energy! I am good, and so is my mother! … My lawyers are handling everything as we speak.”
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to the rapper’s representatives for comment.
Robert Rosenblatt, an attorney representing Kingston and his mother, told the AP, “We are aware of some of the allegations” being made against both of them.
“We look forward to addressing these in court and are confident of a successful resolution for Shawn and his mother,” Rosenblatt wrote in an email.
The AP reported that an attorney who witnessed Turner’s arrest said it was partly related to a lawsuit he filed against Kingston in February accusing him of defrauding a Florida company that installed a 232-inch television in his home.
Kingston is most known for his 2007 single “Beautiful Girls,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for four weeks. He also scored two other Top 10 hits with “Take You There” and “Fire Burning,” as well as collaborated with Justin Bieber on 2011’s “Eenie Meenie.” The rapper hasn’t had a major label release in more than a decade.
California
Newsom signs law allowing Arizona doctors to come to California to perform abortions
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Arizona doctors can temporarily come to California to perform abortions for their patients under a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
California’s law is meant to circumvent an Arizona law — first passed in 1864 — that bans nearly all abortions in that state. The Arizona Supreme Court had ruled that law can take effect next month.
The Arizona Legislature responded by repealing that law earlier this month. But the repeal won’t take effect until 90 days after the end of Arizona’s legislative session, which usually happens in June or July.
SUGGESTED: Louisiana abortion law would make mifepristone controlled, dangerous substance
The Newsom administration said California’s law is “a critical stopgap for Arizona patients and providers.”
“I’m grateful for the California Legislative Women’s Caucus and all our partners for moving quickly to provide this backstop,” Newsom said. “California stands ready to protect reproductive freedom.”
Since the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, more than 20 states began enforcing abortion bans of varying degrees.
California has done the opposite, with Newsom vowing to make the state a “sanctuary” for people in other states seeking abortions. California has passed dozens of laws to protect abortion access, including setting aside $20 million in taxpayer money to help pay for patients in other states to travel to California to get an abortion.
Newsom and his Democratic allies in the state Legislature worked quickly to get this law passed. But some Republicans questioned the need for it. Last year, Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed an executive order barring local prosecutors from bringing abortion-related charges.
Still, Democrats in the California Legislature felt the law was necessary. State Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Democrat from Berkeley and the bill’s author, said a law was stronger than an executive order from a governor.
“Once again California has made it crystal clear for all who need or deliver essential reproductive care: We’ve got your back,” Skinner said.
California’s law says Arizona doctors who are licensed in that state can come to California to perform abortions through Nov. 30.
Licensed Arizona doctors would have to apply to the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California. The law requires California regulators to approve those requests within five days.
The law says Arizona doctors would have to tell California regulators where they planned to perform abortions in the state. But the law bars California regulators from publishing any information on their website about Arizona doctors aside from the doctor’s name, status and license number.
California
California advances legislation cracking down on stolen goods resellers, auto theft
Thursday, May 23, 2024 3:03PM
The California Senate approved a bipartisan package of 15 bills that would increase penalties for organized crime rings and expand drug court programs.
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