PLANET IN PERIL

Los Angeles Times Drought conditions may have leveled off across California, but nearly 100% of the state remains in the third-harshest category for dryness, according to the latest measurements.  Story here. Puddles of water are all that remain in some areas of the San Gabriel River's West Fork in the Angeles National Forest, revealing the effects of the prolonged drought. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) 

ClimateProgress A small town on Taro Island — the capital of Choiseul Province in the Solomon Islands — is planning to relocate its entire population in response to climate change, Reuters  reports . It’s the first time that a provincial capital in the Pacific Islands will have done so. More here.

CBC News TSB report made public more than a year after deadly train accident in Quebec. Details here. Please also read; "Have Our Servants Become Our Masters?"

By: The Canadian Press NAIN, N.L. - An Inuit group in Labrador says there's no time to waste in developing a long-term management plan for the George River caribou herd as its population dwindles. Sarah Leo, president of the Nunatsiavut (noon-AT'-see-ah-voot) government, describes the situation as a crisis. The Newfoundland and Labrador government said last week that the herd's population has dropped by more than 13,000 over the last two years despite monitoring, research and a five-year moratorium on all hunting. The herd is now estimated at about 14,200, down from 27,600 in 2012. The latest estimate comes from a photo census by biologists in Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec in July. 

CommonDreams 'We can't be investing in infrastructure that's going to lock in our fossil fuel reliance.' Details here.

by Larry Powell Back in May, I reported (on P in P , the Roblin Review and Neepawa Press), that wild berries and medicinal plants in central Manitoba had been found by First Nations researchers to not only be declining in abundance, but to be in very sickly condition, as well. While lab tests proved inconclusive, the researchers remain convinced through observation and experience that farm chemicals used on field crops on and near the reserves, are likely contributing factors. I asked three Manitoba cabinet ministers to comment. (While aboriginal people come under federal jurisdiction, conventional farmers who operate in the vicinity of reserves, do not.)  Today,   more than three months later,   not one of these politicians has seen fit to get back to me! Those I invited to comment were;