Arcata Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary...and Wastewater Treatment System

Aired on The California Report magazine on May 4, 2012:

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201205041630/b

In most cities, waste treatment plants are unwelcome and often controversial. The concrete and steel facilities can be ugly -- and smelly. But that is not the case up on the North Coast, where the City of Arcata built an eco-friendly wastewater system right on scenic Humboldt Bay. But this system is so popular, people have gotten married on its grounds. 

"Tresspass" Marijuana Grows Targeted by NorCal Community Groups

Aired on The California Report on Thursday, April 5, 2012.

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201204050850/a

Fort Bragg Councilman Jere Melo loved the woods.  That's why, even after he retired from a career in forestry, he took on contract work patrolling private timberland. He often looked for signs of illegal marijuana grow sites, and he became increasingly concerned about their negative impact on the environment and public safety.  Last August 27, he was on such a patrol, but he didn't find a marijuana garden.  Instead, a mentally disturbed man who was reportedly tending a field of opium poppies shot and killed him.  After Melo's death, his widow Madeline started the Jere Melo Foundation to educate the public about her late husband's passion: keeping the forests free of illegal marijuana grows.  The organization hosted its first public forum at the end of March.

Warren Hellman Tribute Concerts

Aired on KQED News and The California Report on February 20, 2012.

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201202200850/c

http://www.kqed.org/a/kqednews/RN201202201204

Mendocino Salt Farmers

Aired on The Splendid Table on February 18, 2012.

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/listings/120218/

A couple in their 50s have to reinvent their careers and want to stay on the Mendociono Coast.  What do they take on?  Salt farming, of course.

Funding Cuts Would Keep Rural Kids Waiting for the Bus

Aired on The California Report on the morning of Tuesday, January 24, 2012.

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201201240850/b

Before dawn on January 24th, two school buses full of students and a caravan of community members from rural Humboldt County began a five-hour trek to Sacramento. They're protesting the decision to eliminate all state funding for school buses as part of the budget-balancing trigger cuts.

Filipino-American Parol Lanterns

Aired on The California Report on December 23, 2011.

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201112231630/c

Just a few blocks from San Francisco's shopping mania, the Bayanihan Community Center is filled with people engaged in a much more traditional activity -- hand-making star-shaped lanterns out of bamboo and tissue paper. During the Christmas season, many Filipino-American homes display the colorful star shaped lanterns called parols. Parols have a long history in the Philippines, but the holiday symbol isn't so well known in California. Now a community center in San Francisco is encouraging people to reconnect to this tradition, by making their own parols, and sharing them with the community.

Latinos and the "green economy" in Imperial County

Aired on Latino USA, the weekend of December 16, 2011.

http://www.latinousa.org/976-2/

In 2009, President Obama called for a New “Green” Deal… evoking Roosevelt’s New Deal of the 1930’s that dramatically expanded and changed America’s infrastructure. The goal of the Obama plan was to create millions of green jobs. But has that happened? And if so, has this “new deal” been for everyone?

In this piece, I revisit my reporting in Calipatria in Imperial County which sits atop abundant geothermal activity. It’s 80% Latino and has one of the country’s highest unemployment rates. But the people there hope this renewable energy resource will give it just the “green” economic boost it needs.