YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 20, No. 32
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Art, Wine & Jazz canceled
August 10, 2018
East County Sports
Classic cruisers
by Aly Brown Staff Writer
The Art, Wine & Jazz Festival scheduled this year for Sept. 22 and 23 at The Streets of Brentwood has been canceled. The popular art festival, put on by the Brentwood Art Society (BAS) and scheduled to run at The Streets of Brentwood in what would have been its 17th year, has bounced between downtown Brentwood and The Streets over the years. But according to Rosalinda Grejsen, BAS past president, event changes requested by The Streets’ new ownership and marketing company – Fairborne Properties – would have put a damper on the experience. “(The Streets) absolutely will not allow any outside food vendors at all, and
Football, cheer, gymnastics and more are inside this week’s special sports section. Page 1B
Meet The Water Guy Photo by Tony Kukulich
R
ick Cambra received the Best in Show award for his 1956 Chevrolet Nomad during the Cruisin’ Blues classic car show and blues concert in Brentwood, Saturday, Aug. 4. To view more photos of the event, visit www.thepress. net/multimedia/slideshows
see Canceled page 30A
Farmers adjusting to area heat waves by Aly Brown Staff Writer
This summer, as recordbreaking temperatures and unprecedented wildfires have engulfed parts of the state and Pacific Northwest, East County farmers have been fighting their own battles against the heat here at home. “Fortunately, we had a lot of water, and that’s your only line of defense: making sure the crops are hydrated,” said Bloomfield Cherries owner Tom Bloomfield, whose family has been farming in the area for more than 100 years. Bloomfield’s crops include grapes, cherries and almonds, and the most delicate of the three were already harvested before the rash of heat waves.
NOW HIRING
“ Fortunately, we had a lot of water, and that’s your only line of defense: making sure the crops are hydrated.
”
Tom Bloomfield, Bloomfield Cherries “So far, I don’t really see any damage. Grapes are generally very tolerant to heat and so are almonds, and our cherries are already harvested,” he said. “We didn’t really have any warm weather until the end of the cherry cycle, but the trees still have to endure the summer even without the cherries on the branches. You can’t have sunburn on the wood.” Combating tree sunburn again comes back to water supply and making sure the plants
stay hydrated enough to develop a canopy of healthy leaves, which protect the trunks from the sun’s rays. The heat also impacts how and when the crops are tended and harvested. “The laborers get up earlier and some of the crews only work eight hours instead of 10,” Bloomfield said. “The hourly people get up earlier and hope to finish by 2 or 3 o’clock.” For Vornhagen Farms Cherries owner Kevin Vornha-
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gen, who is still the rookie on the farming scene, that labor force consists of himself. “I don’t have any employees … so I get up early in the morning or go out in the evening – whenever I can,” Vornhagen said. Kelli Nunn of the wellknown Nunn farming family said farmers have reported the obvious: being tired and grumpy. “There is a lot of harvesting happening, and they try to get most of it done before or after the most severe heat – very early mornings and after the sun goes down,” Nunn said. In a sign of the times, local farmers can expect more heat waves in the future. “With greenhouse-gas in-
www.ebparks.org/features/rin
LOOK INSIDE FOR THE NEW
Activity Guide
Enjoying Wine In The Bay
Popular annual fundraiser is coming to St. Anne Church Aug. 18. Page 10A
see Farmers page 30A
Calendar.............................31A Classifieds..........................26A Cop Logs.............................29A Entertainment..................11A Food.....................................10A Health & Beauty...............15A Milestones.........................12A Opinion...............................22A Pets........................................ 8A Sports..................................23A
LUHSD GODs
MLK Jr. Day
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CONNECTING PARKS TO PEOPLE
Casey Wichert, wastewater operations manager, helps keep the city’s water clean. 7A
Applications are now available for the 2019 Graduates of Distinction Program.
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County’s 41st commemoration of Dr. King’s life and legacy is coming up.