Free Republic

Cultivating a nose for mealybugs By JULISSA McKINNON Register Staff Writer Sunday, March 5, 2006 1:13 AM PST A litter of week-old golden retrievers look more like big hamsters than canines. But these nine tiny balls of fur are a big source of hope for Napa Valley growers whose vineyards are blighted by infestations of vine mealybug. For the past three years, the near-invisible pest has vexed growers as it clings to vines, sapping their energy, inviting molds and viruses and ruining grape crops. If left unchecked, mealybugs can kill a vine within five years. Currently there are 36 mealybug...

Jeff Miller, right, with the Statewide Investigative Fraud Team, SWIFT, explains to Michael Gomez, that he needs a contractor’s license to do any contracting work over $500. Gomez was arrested, cited for not having the license and released, during a sting operation in Napa, Thursday. Manuel Gomez looked stunned and confused as two Napa police detectives put him under arrest just as he clenched a contractor job with what he thought was a Napa homeowner.... see article http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2006/02/10/news/local/iq_3294552.txt

Despite a cold spring and late rains, the 2005 Napa Valley grape harvest for sparkling wine began on schedule Wednesday. Under a foggy pre-dawn sky, a crew of 30 whipped through an Oak Knoll vineyard, picking 20 tons of pinot noir for Mumm Napa. Winemaker Ludovic Dervin is pleased with grape quality and flavors, wishing only that quantity had lived up to early predictions. "The chardonnay is right on target but the pinot noir crop is lighter than we'd like," he told the cellar crew and other winery employees gathered for a traditional blessing of the grapes at the Rutherford...

Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, or LADA, refers to a form of type 1 diabetes that occurs not in childhood ot young adulthood-as is customary-but rather in individuals age 30 or older...

There has been a lot of signal interference on KSFO lately especially in the evening. Tonight a caller on Brian Sussman's show asked about it and was told by Brian that a Mexican Station from Mexico had recently moved to the same exact part of the radio dial as KSFO and was broadcasting an extremely strong signal. He said they had contacted the Federal authorities and they were looking into it. Excuse me for my lack of expertise in these matters by I thought it might interest some.