San Diego County Fair Was a Big Hit!

I went to the fair and absolutely loved it! Sure… the weather sucked and it was massively overcrowded, but what fun would a fair be if it wasn’t???

Via the San Diego News Network:

The San Diego County Fair set attendance records during its 22-day run that ended Monday, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. More than 1.3 million people visited the annual fair.

The U-T also reported what will happen to the fair’s leftover fatty foods, including a 660-pound butter sculpture.

Some of the leftover food will be sold again when the Del Mar races kick off this month; other food has to be disposed; and many of the vendors are hitting the road for the next stop on the carnival circuit.

(FYI, the butter sculpture is fungus-infested, the U-T reports, and it will be donated to UCSD’s biochem department to be turned into biofuel.)

Marine Protection Plan Will Harm Local Jobs

Let there be fish!

Not sure if I like this or not. On one hand, I’m a bleeding-heart, environmentalist liberal… and on the other, I like supporting local businesses. I don’t really have a say in it though, soo… yeah. Check this out. Let me know what you think:

Via SignOnSanDiego:

Local fishermen and boat captains are on the hook to lose much of their financial catch because of a program to help protect more marine life along the coast.

No matter which of the three proposals state wildlife officials select, San Diego’s passenger fishing fleet and commercial fishermen will suffer disproportionately. Closures of near-shore angling areas could slash profits for passenger boats in the city by up to 40 percent — roughly twice the Southern California average, according to a state-sponsored report.

Commercial fishermen in Oceanside, the county’s other main harbor town, could see profits plunge by more than 28 percent. That’s worse than the drop for San Diego and any other Southern California city listed in the report, which was prepared by the nonprofit environmental analysis group Ecotrust.

The large local toll is because many of the most ecologically important zones along the county’s coastline are heavily used by anglers. The main proposed closures are off Del Mar, Encinitas, La Jolla and Sunset Cliffs.

Advocates for marine protected areas said the projected fiscal fallout is overblown. They’re confident that fishermen will quickly find new spots and that expanded no-harvest zones will boost ocean productivity, including more fish — and revenue — for anglers.