Free Republic

California officials on Monday said they have canceled a no-bid contract to promote the safety of aerial spraying for an invasive moth, acting after The Associated Press reported on the deal last week. E-mails obtained by the AP revealed that a senior state contracting official questioned the arrangement with a prominent public relations firm that has ties to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The official said it was difficult to justify a public affairs campaign related to moth spraying as an emergency. Classifying it as an emergency allowed the contract to be exempted from normal contracting rules that are designed to limit...

The vision of airplanes rumbling slowly over San Francisco, spraying a pesticide mist on parks and playgrounds, has now mobilized one of the most effective lobbying groups in the world. Moms. The California Department of Food and Agriculture's plan to eradicate the light brown apple moth with aerial spraying over the city this summer was already in an uphill fight. But when 100 or so mothers and kids showed up at City Hall on Monday afternoon with signs like "Keep Your Spray Off My Baby," it was clear that the battle had entered a new phase. "Nothing gets people more...