From my Earth Day cover story from the Ventura County Reporter: California does not need fear hurricanes, but it does every few years face El Niño, an oceanic shift that drives unimaginably vast amounts of water across the Pacific and up against the coasts of North and South America, raising the sea level by asContinue reading “Climate change and VC: the good, the bad, and the odd”
Tag Archives: Ventura County
Fracking in Upper Ojai: the latest
Fracking — which as you all no doubt know is the injection of water and chemicals below ground at pressure, to break up rock formations and release natural gas and/or oil — has come to rural Upper Ojai and Ventura County. In truth, fracking turns out to have been going on in this area for aContinue reading “Fracking in Upper Ojai: the latest”
50 Shades of love and sex/Valentine’s Day 2013
From my cover story in this week's Ventura County Reporter: Since the genetic basis of our species, Homo Sapiens, stabilized approximately 100,000 years ago, the reproductive nature of the human body has not substantially changed. But in the last few years, human sexual experience has substantially changed, especially among the adventurous. For Valentine’s Day, andContinue reading “50 Shades of love and sex/Valentine’s Day 2013”
Will Ventura County’s Prez-picking streak continue?
Ventura County is one of just eight counties around the country that has picked every winner of the Presidential contest since Warren Harding successfully (with one exception — l976). Timm Herdt, the reigning political writer in this parts, hints that the streak may continue: In early 2008, Democrats overtook Republicans to gain a plurality amongContinue reading “Will Ventura County’s Prez-picking streak continue?”
Amber waves of grain…in Ventura County?
A fun story I wrote for the Star about two young farmers determined to turn back agricultural time in California. Amber waves of grain have not been seen much in Ventura County for more than a century, but this year, two young farmers in Ojai set out to turn back the clock, planting wheat, a cropContinue reading “Amber waves of grain…in Ventura County?”
Winner of Ventura county climate action award: 2012
Yours truly doesn't often win awards — it's been since college, actually — so when I won an award for my climate reporting (cited was Drought-Proofing Ventura County) it's news worth posting here. I was up against fellow reporter and friend Zeke Barlow, who unfortunately for the county has taken a job in Virginia,Continue reading “Winner of Ventura county climate action award: 2012”
Condors vs. wind turbines: Wildlife vs. green energy
Here's my story on this fascinating topic from the Star on Sunday, which my editor liked and nicely smoothed out for the centerpiece of the front page. Always interesting, watching a good editor at work. Great pics, too, from personal fave Juan Carlo.
Drought-Proofing Ventura County
How a water district is trying to shelter 600,000 people in Ventura county from the potential for drought or disaster; how the first attempt went awry, and how the second one will work — we hope. (Climate change is in the background of this story, but I didn't get into the projections — no time.) Continue reading “Drought-Proofing Ventura County”
Heard any frogs in your backyard lately?
A UC Berkeley researcher quoted in the U.S. News and World Report warns that the frogs in your backyard — if any — may be on their way out. If you happen to see a frog hopping around in your back yard, take a good look— it might not be around for much longer. Ecologists areContinue reading “Heard any frogs in your backyard lately?”
How Healthy are Our Oceans?
My cover story, this week in the VCReporter. I especially liked that both a commercial fisherman and a devout sports fisherman praised government regulators for maintaining the fisheries in SoCal: Both commercial fishermen and sport fishermen agree [that the fisheries are in decent shape]. “I think it’s doing pretty good,” said Pete DuPuy, who hasContinue reading “How Healthy are Our Oceans?”
Kit Stolz 