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- <text id=90TT0558>
- <title>
- Mar. 05, 1990: American Notes:California
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1990
- Mar. 05, 1990 Gossip
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- NATION, Page 21
- American Notes
- CALIFORNIA
- War of the Whirlybirds
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p> When word came last week that six enemy helicopters were
- approaching the city, Pasadena police scrambled one of their
- own choppers to warn the intruders away. Though no shots were
- fired and the opposing whirlybirds never came closer than a
- half-mile from each other, the aerial confrontation underscored
- a tense standoff between state and local officials in Southern
- California over efforts to control an infestation of
- Mediterranean fruit flies.
- </p>
- <p> Despite assurances that the insecticide poses no threat to
- humans, many people object to the state's program of spraying
- malathion from helicopters over a 400-sq.-mi. area that
- includes Los Angeles and Orange counties. Last week Pasadena
- passed an ordinance that effectively outlaws spraying within
- city limits by prohibiting aircraft from flying at altitudes
- of less than 700 ft. Despite the objections, Governor George
- Deukmejian plans to continue the spraying. Pasadena is
- considering filing misdemeanor charges against the pilots
- involved in the anti-medfly mission.
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
-
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