This week on Valley Edition we explore issues that may impact the region as a whole. Our reporting team tackles regional issues that include advocacy for potable water in rural communities, hydraulic fracking and restorative justice in Valley schools. As well as a festival celebrating honey in the region.
Earlier this year the California water board drafted recommendations to address nitrate pollution in groundwater and presented them to the legislature. One of the main recommendations is to create a new funding source to provide safe drinking water to poor, disadvantaged communities. Now, growers, affected community members, and legislators are debating where that funding should come from. FM 89’s Rebecca Plevin has the story.
Also on the show, could California be on the verge of a new gold rush? That’s the finding of a new study from USC about petroleum deposits that lie deep beneath the Central Valley known as the Monterey Shale. But extracting that oil isn’t easy, and it would require the use of a number of advanced techniques, including hydraulic fracturing. And that’s attracted concerns from environmental groups and state regulators. Valley Public Radio’s Joe Moore reports on some recent developments in the fracking debate.
Joe Moore also reports on the dramatic rise in cases of Valley Fever in recent years and how that is causing big problems in California’s prison system. Moore reports on why the federal office that runs health care in the state’s prisonsis ordering some prisoners out of the valley.
The first talk segment of the show focuses on Fresno Unified School District’s new approach to discipline known as restorative justice. Valley Edition Host Juanita Stevenson discusses the topic with Ambra Dorsey, the Executive Director of the Dept. of Prevention & Intervention for Fresno Unified.
We end the program with a conversation about a Valley staple: honey. Felix Muzquiz, the executive director of the Vineyard Farmers Market Association in Fresno, talks with host Juanita Stevenson about the significance of honey bees in the region and about a honey festival that will take place Saturday, May 4 form 10 AM to 12 PM at a local farmers market.
For more information about the ‘Bee My Honey Festival’ visit: http://www.vineyardfarmersmarket.com/Events.htm
Guest
Restorative Justice
Ambra Dorsey, the Executive Director of Dept. of Prevention & Intervention for Fresno Unified School District
Bee My Honey Festival
Felix Muzquiz- Executive Director of the Vineyard Farmers Market Association
