CA Dem returns from Cuba trip + Rice crop is dropping + Protest planned at energy hearing
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
Just a brief note before we get started. The AM Alert is taking a break for Thanksgiving, and will return on Tuesday, Nov. 29.
CALIFORNIA RICE PRODUCTION IS PLUMMETING
Things are looking grim for California’s rice harvest.
A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture study found that California’s 2022-23 rice-harvested acreage is the smallest it has been since 1958-59.
“This is the second consecutive year of a sharp decline... a result of a severe and prolonged drought, low reservoir levels and water restrictions,” according to the report.
California harvests almost exclusively medium- and short-grain rice, and accounts for three-quarters of the U.S. short- and medium-grain rice acreage.
According to the report, California’s yield is expected to show the sharpest decline in both quantity and percent, dropping more than 39%, mostly due to substantial area drop and a weaker yield.
CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN RETURNS FROM CUBA TRIP
Via David Lightman...
Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara and two other House members are back from a four-day trip to Cuba, where they met with farmers and local officials to talk about the status of agriculture there.
The three members of the House Agriculture committee wanted to “see the impact that U.S. agriculture is having in a nation that relies heavily on U.S. agricultural imports,” a delegation statement said Wednesday.
Their meetings aimed to better understand Cuba’s agriculture operations, and discuss “where opportunities for mutual economic benefit may exist for American businesses and the Cuban people,” the delegation said. They also raised human rights and migration concerns.
Among those involved in the meetings were Cuba First Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa, officials from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Assembly representatives. Also in the U.S. delegation were Reps. Jim Baird, R-Indiana, and Jahana Hayes, D-Conn.
PROTEST PLANNED AT CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING
When the California Energy Commission meets next week to discuss gas prices and the transition to alternative fuels, they will be met by protesters looking to “hold Big Oil companies accountable for ripping off Californians while enjoying record-breaking profits,” according to a press release from the Oil and Gas Action Network.
The meeting is set to begin at 10 a.m. Nov. 29, and run until 4 p.m.
Protesters plan to rally from noon to 1 p.m. outside the CEC building, 1516 9th St., to provide “some street theater and chants” demanding a cap on oil and gas company windfall profits and to listen to the meeting.
The day before, Nov. 28, protesters will stage actions at seven gas stations across the state, and one refinery, with protests planned in Oakland, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Fresno, Bakersfield, Los Angeles and San Diego.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“America’s disgusting fascination & ego with guns = the leading cause of death for American children. No other developed country has this issue. Everyday America is plagued with mass shootings. When TF are we going to learn.”
- Sen. Lena Gonzalez, D-Long Beach, via Twitter.
Best of The Bee:
Just days after a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ club killed five people and injured many more, Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose Twitter account recently was reinstated by Elon Musk, took to the platform to hurl an anti-LGBTQ slur at State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, via Andrew Sheeler.
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Republican Kevin Kiley, a conservative firebrand supported by former President Donald Trump, topped Democrat Kermit Jones to win the new 3rd Congressional District seat, according to an Associated Press projection, via David Lightman.
A Republican newcomer has overtaken an incumbent Democratic Assemblyman in the race to represent the Sacramento suburbs, potentially flipping a longtime blue seat red, via Lindsey Holden.