County Roundup

The state Public Health Department has lifted the annual quarantine on sport-harvested mussels in San Luis Obispo, Del Norte and Humboldt counties.

Officials issue a quarantine for the entire California coastline each year from May 1 through Oct. 31 to protect consumers from paralytic shellfish poisoning and amnesic shellfish poisoning, both forms of nervous system poisoning that have been linked to deaths of marine mammals along the coast.

The quarantine for all other counties was lifted Oct. 31.

— Stephen Curran

Cal Poly

The university’s Supermileage Team is shaping up its three-wheeled Black Widow vehicle for the Shell Eco-Marathon to be held March 26-28 in Houston.

Cal Poly’s team finished second in 2008 by traveling 2,752.3 miles per gallon of gas. In 2007, Cal Poly’s Black Widow took first place with 1,902.7 miles per gallon.

The Cal Poly Supermileage Team joins students from a senior project team and a department club to work on vehicles that are as fuel-efficient as possible.

This year, the team is working on two cars: the Black Widow and a new three-wheeler. Find more at http://cpsmv.blogspot.com/.

— Nick Wilson