From apple packing houses in Washington state to farm workers in Florida and a California county known as “the world’s salad bowl,” outbreaks of the novel coronavirus are emerging at U.S. fruit and vegetable farms and packing plants.

A rising number of sick farm and packing house workers comes after thousands of meat plant employees contracted the virus and could lead to more labor shortages and a fresh wave of disruption to U.S. food production.

(TNS) - Desperate for face masks, California paid $800 million to a politically connected firm that failed to deliver most of the state's order.

State officials in Mississippi paid nearly $500,000 to a company whose owner was convicted on federal fraud charges after he resold to grocery stores food that was intended for animals or meant to be destroyed.

The California Earthquake Authority today released updated guidelines for identifying, evaluating and repairing residential earthquake damage were

The guidelines were updated at CEA’s annual claim manager meeting.

(TNS) - A one percentage point increase in the positive rate for local COVID-19 testing appeared in county reports Thursday.

For the first time since May 20, four percent of test results returned in a single day were positive, with 142 new cases tallied and five new COVID-linked deaths announced.

A grass fire burning northeast of San Francisco destroyed or damaged about a dozen homes Wednesday and prompted evacuations of several streets, fire officials said.

The fire erupted at around 3:30 p.m. near a wildlife center in Suisun City, near Suisun Bay.

Al’s, a sporting-goods store tucked in Wilmington, Delaware’s small shopping district, opened during the Great Depression, weathered World War II and has been able to keep workers on the job during the coronavirus pandemic. But this past weekend delivered a new challenge.

Owner Bob Hart closed the 17,000-square-foot shop at 4 p.m. Saturday as protesters walked Market Street, blocks away. A few hours later, around 8:15 p.m., the first of the store alarms went off. Looters who followed the peaceful demonstrations broke windows at the store and stole the majority of Hart’s inventory, including about 10,000 pairs of shoes.

California regulators approved PG&E Corp.’s $58 billion reorganization plan, bringing the power giant another step closer to exiting the biggest utility bankruptcy in U.S. history.

The state’s Public Utilities Commission unanimously voted in favor of PG&E’s proposal after the company agreed to revamp its board and governance structure, submit to greater regulatory oversight and create local operating units to ensure a greater focus on safety.

A huge fire that tore through a warehouse on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf has destroyed fishing gear used to deliver about two-thirds of the city’s fresh seafood, threatening to disrupt the upcoming Dungeness crab season, local fishermen said Sunday.

The fire erupted before dawn Saturday and wiped out the warehouse the size of a football field near the end of Pier 45.

(TNS) - Facetime, Zoom, Google Meets — and ham radio.

Video conferencing may have come into prominence during the coronavirus pandemic as part of the effort to stay connected. But in contrast to the virtual online spaces where many convene, some central Ohioans are instead taking to the airwaves.

The Madison County Amateur Radio Club has expanded its weekly "nets" — a channel for multiple radios to use for communication — to almost every night, giving its members a space to entertain, educate and converse with each other. The radio club, made up of about 60 licensed amateur radio operators in Madison County and central Ohio, first expanded its "nets" in late March following Gov. Mike DeWine's initial stay-at-home order.

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