Section 4. This City Council finds and determines that: (a) there is a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare; (b) the moratorium must be imposed in order to protect and preserve the public interest, health, safety, comfort and convenience and to preserve the public welfare; and (c) it is necessary to preserve the public health and safety of all residents or landowners adjacent to such uses as are affected by this interim ordinance as well as to protect all of the citizens of Watsonville by preserving and improving the aesthetic and economic conditions of the City.

A Cell Phone Nation is a Captive Nation
Federal court: 4th Amendment standard does not always apply to mobile phone location data
Law enforcement can still be required to obtain a search warrant for access to citizens’ mobile phone location data, but police need not uphold the traditional Fourth Amendment standard of “probable cause” in the process of such an investigation, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
While civil liberties groups which argued in favor of stronger privacy protections largely called the ruling favorable, it still leaves room for law enforcement to continue large-scale mobile spying operations.

SmartMeters interfere with baby monitors, other household gadgets
You’ve read about problems with PG&E’s SmartMeter, especially the folks who claim it’s causing huge increases in their electrical bills. But that’s not the only issue with the vaunted high-tech device.
As Pacific Gas & Electric’s SmartMeter installation has rolled across Northern California, dozens of readers have contacted Action Line complaining about newly found erratic behavior with their household electronic gadgets. A conflict occurs, apparently, when the SmartMeter electronically transmits information back to the utility.

Mill Valley council asks for SmartMeter opt-out provision, health study
The Mill Valley City Council will ask state energy regulators to let some customers opt out of using SmartMeters, the devices Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is deploying throughout Northern California.
The council on Tuesday also joined Assemblyman Jared Huffman’s call for a study of the health risks of the meters, which use wireless signals to transmit data on energy use.
Mill Valley joins a number of local governments that have voiced concerns in recent weeks over the meters’ privacy, accuracy and safety. On Tuesday, the council voted to express its concerns in letters to the California Public Utilities Commission, which regulates PG&E, and the California Council on Science and Technology, which advises the state on science and technology issues.

Smart meters alone may not save much energy -study
LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters Life!) – Smart meters to boost energy efficiency in homes do not automatically achieve a significant reduction in energy demand, research showed on Wednesday.
Smart meters record energy or water consumption and send the readings back to the utility for monitoring and billing.
It is hoped that consumers will save energy through increased awareness of how much they use and that estimated bills will be eliminated.
Previous studies have shown that smart meters encourage homeowners to cut their energy use by 3 to 15 percent, but researchers said consumers also need educating about energy use.
Two scientific papers published in the September issue of the publication Building Research and Information showed the technology alone is not enough to deliver significant domestic energy savings.
In her paper, Sarah Darby at the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford examined how householders used feedback on their energy consumption with and without smart meters. She found that a reduction in energy demand “did not flow naturally from improved billing information”.