CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : PARLIER : 450-Year-Old Oak Tree Gets Reprieve

A 450-year-old oak tree has won a temporary reprieve while a Parlier couple continued battling city leaders whose planned sewage project could kill it. “We won the first round,” Mary Beth Avery said after the City Council delayed expanding the sewage treatment operation until an environmental impact report is completed. City Manager Al Puente said acquiring the Averys’ 40-acre property is the most efficient way to dispose of treated sewage water, which currently is pumped onto a city-owned vineyard near the Averys’ land. But Mary Beth Avery and her husband, Leland, say the sewage would kill the old 100-foot oak and two younger ones. Their historic property--which includes a vineyard, a turn-of-the-century house, and a barn--is best left untouched, they said.