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Climate change continues to challenge the ecosystem, and cause more serious air pollution. Firefighters on Sunday were gaining the upper hand on a fire that erupted near the Carquinez Bridge, which connects Contra Costa County to Vallejo in Northern California, and quickly spread into Crockett south of the Carquinez Strait, which connects California’s two largest rivers to San Francisco Bay. The Glencove fire, which started close to the Interstate 80 toll plaza north of the Carquinez Strait, was 75% contained by about 2 p.m., according to a Solano County sheriff’s official. The Carquinez Bridge, which had been closed, was reopened around 2:30 p.m. At one point the fire north of the bridge threatened the Vallejo neighborhood of Glencove to the east and the California Maritime Academy to the west. Vehicles in a parking lot burned and two firefighters suffered minor injuries because of heat exposure. Earlier, homeowners were seen with garden hoses trying to get

By Rong-Gong Lin II, 

Cindy Carcamo

Oct. 27, 2019

Blog #16

My colleagues and I look forward to Wednesday’s farmers market near my work place. Local farmers deliver fresh, local food to a growing number of shoppers demanding food that is not only healthy, but environmentally friendly. But farmers markets take sustainability a step further. They also ensure farmers can make a living off sustainably grown food, while providing an outlet where communities can find and purchase their products. Sustainability is the overarching theme in this system. Farmers engage in sustainable farming practices to produce healthy food to sustain the local community, who in turn provide the money necessary to sustain the farmers. Each share in the success of the other in a mutually beneficial relationship that has become a model for sustainability. Farmers who choose to use sustainable practices face a challenging economic climate dominated by large, corporate farms. Many find they cannot compete with the massive volume, low market prices, and government subsidies enjoyed by large operations. Farmers markets offer small and mid-sized farmers a low-barrier entry point to develop and establish a thriving business free from the overhead necessary to sell in large retail outlets. But just as important, farmers markets create a space where the focus of food is on quality and farming practices rather than price alone.

Blog # 17

Proper hands washing techniques and hands hygiene is a very important educational need for the psychiatric and mental ill population, especially as they plan to move to a more independent living housing. I teach my clients how to proper foods handling, storage and cooking to avoid contamination and food poisoning. Hand-washing is still the best way to prevent colds and other respiratory and infectious diseases that are transmitted by hand to mouth or hand to nose/eye contact. Soap acts as a vehicle to trap the germs (i.e. viruses, bacteria) that are loosened by the act of rubbing your hands together under water. These germs can then be rinsed away by the water. Contact with other people throughout the day, touching contaminated surfaces, and even petting animals can cause a variety of cold-causing germs to accumulate on your hands. Then by touching your eyes, nose, and mouth you can infect yourself if you don't wash your hands often enough. Touching someone else or touching a doorknob or other surface can then spread cold germs to others. Never allow bare hands to come in contact with food that will not be cooked. Use clean sanitized utensils, deli paper, disposable gloves. Keep all foods covered or otherwise protected from outside contamination. Keep all food service equipment, utensils, and paper goods similarly protected from outside contamination. Never store raw foods, especially poultry and meats above raw or uncooked foods, or sanitized equipment, or in a manner that will contaminate other foods. Packaged food is not to be stored in contact with water or undrained ice. Use a mechanical refrigerator or dry ice. Wrapped sandwiches are not to be stored in direct contact with ice. Therefore, proper hands hygiene is the most effective way to control food contamination.