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Board OKs contract with state to combat citrus greening disease, 'cleans up' leftover budget expenses By City News Service
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he Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved Riverside County Agricultural Commissioner Ruben Arroyo's request for his office to remain under contract with the state to enforce regulations aimed at combating citrus greening disease. In a 5-0 vote without comment, the board signed off on the $751,594 agreement with the California Department of Food & Agriculture to take all necessary steps to contain and prevent spread of Asian citrus psyllid infestations, which cause greening disease, also known as Huanglonbing, or HLB. The contract will expire on Sept. 30, 2024. The county's commercial citrus crops, spread across roughly 20,000 acres, are valued around $200 million. For the last six years, the board has maintained a local emergency declaration connected to greening disease. Last year, over 80 residential citrus trees countywide were plagued with HLB. In July 2017, a grapefruit tree and two other trees in the area of Chicago and Marlborough avenues on the east end of Riverside became infested with psyllids, prompting the state to place a quarantine over a 94-square-mile area encompassing both Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Under the still-active order, only citrus products that are "commercially
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Deputy charged with transporting thousands of fentanyl pills on I-10 By City News Service
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sheriff's correctional deputy who was allegedly caught carrying over 100 pounds of fentanyl on Interstate 10 was charged Monday with transportation of drugs for sale and other offenses. Jorge Alberto Oceguera-Rocha, 25, of Banning, was charged in state court after federal prosecutors declined last week to seek an indictment against him, resulting in his flash release from jail and immediate rearrest. Along with the transportation count, Rocha is charged with possession of controlled substances for sale, along with sentence-enhancing allegations of perpetrating a drugrelated offense while armed. He pleaded not guilty during an arraignment before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Valerie Navarro, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Oct. 31 at the Banning Justice Center. Rocha's attorney, Randy Collins, also submitted a motion for a bail review hearing, which will be held on the same day. The defendant is being held on $5 million bail at the Byrd See Fentanyl pills Page 28
Clarence Thomas secretly participated in Koch network donor events By Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski for ProPublica
This map tracks citrus greening disease quarantine areas in Southern California. | Image courtesy of the California Department of Food and Agriculture
cleaned and packed" are permitted to be shipped out of the quarantine zone. No citrus nursery stock can be moved outside the area under quarantine, and no residentially grown citrus fruit can be moved. However, growers are permitted to consume and share with people within the quarantined locations. A map of the impacted area, along with the boundaries of similar quarantines in Los Angeles and Orange counties, can be found at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/ citrus/pests_diseases/hlb/ regulation.html. The board first declared a local state of emergency in
August 2017 because of the potential spread of greening disease. The city of Riverside's foundational citrus-bearing tree, known as the "parent navel orange tree," located at the intersection of Arlington and Magnolia avenues, received protective netting and treatment in April 2019 to prevent an Asian citrus psyllid infestation. The tree is listed as a California Historic Landmark and has been preserved since 1873. Psyllids host virulent bacteria that cause HLB, which destroys plants' vascular systems, render-
ing fruits misshapen and unmarketable. The disease typically kills infected trees within a few years. The finger-tip size, moth-like insects arrived in the U.S. in the 1990s. The disease rampaged throughout Florida in 2005 and has since inflicted over $3 billion damage to crops in the Sunshine State, according to a study published by the University of Florida. Psyllids originate in tropical and subtropical regions. They first appeared in California in 2008 and have been trapped throughout the Inland Empire.
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This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Series: Friends of the Court:SCOTUS Justices’ Beneficial Relationships With Billionaire Donors upreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ decadeslong friendship with real estate tycoon Harlan Crow and Samuel Alito’s luxury travel with billionaire Paul Singer have raised questions about influence and ethics at the nation's highest court. On Jan. 25, 2018, dozens of private jets descended on Palm Springs International Airport. Some of the richest people in the country were arriving for the annual winter donor summit of the Koch network, the political organization founded by libertarian billionaires Charles and David Koch. A long weekend of strategizing, relaxation in the California sun and high-dollar fundraising lay ahead. Just after 6 p.m., a Gulfstream G200 jet touched down on the tarmac. One of the Koch network’s most powerful allies was on board: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
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