Deaths, illness linked to listeria from Bakersfield apple supplier

A recent outbreak of listeria related illnesses has been traced to a Bakersfield apple supplier, according to an announcement on Friday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Following additional laboratory tests, FDA officials said that two strains of Listeria monocytogenes were found at the Bidart Bros. apple packing facility in Bakersfield, CA. The same strains of listeria were also found in apples collected at a retail store whose apples were supplied by Bidart The apples involved were of the Granny Smith and Gala varieties, and most of the illnesses appeared to be related to pre-packaged caramel apples.

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http://www.examiner.com/article/deaths-illness-linked-to-listeria-from-bakersfield-apple-supplier

Sexiest Bakersfield Environmental News stories for 2014

Looking back at the past year, some of the more popular articles published here had, well, sex as a theme. Sex sells right? It did for these articles, as they were some of the more popular ones published in this column. If you missed them, here are some summaries with links to the original articles and a slideshow with related photos.

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http://www.examiner.com/article/sexiest-bakersfield-environmental-news-stories-for-2014

Top 10 local environmental news stories for 2014

There were a lot of news stories relevant to Bakersfield and the San Joaquin Valley in 2014. Some dealt with air pollution, others with the drought, and some with climate change. Based upon records from Google Analytics, here are the top 10 Bakersfield Environmental News stories, as measured by readership records. Did you comment on any of them? Here's another chance if you haven't.

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http://www.examiner.com/article/top-10-local-environmental-news-stories-for-2014

Bakersfield settles bullet train lawsuit with High-Speed Rail Authority

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CaHSRA) announced yesterday that it has agreed to a settlement with the City of Bakersfield that will result in the dismissal of the latter's lawsuit against California's ambitious high-speed rail project. The litigation was filed by the city after officials objected to the Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for the Fresno to Bakersfield project section of the project.

Read more at the link below:

http://www.examiner.com/article/bakersfield-settles-bullet-train-lawsuit-with-high-speed-rail-authority