AgClips
Recent AgClips
Federal court rules Ohio’s congressional map is unconstitutional
Fox News | Posted onMay 9, 2019 in SARL Members and Alumni NewsA federal court on Friday found Ohio’s congressional map unconstitutional, ordering that a new map be proposed by June ahead of the 2020 elections -- and blocking the state from holding another election under the current map.“Accordingly, we declare Ohio’s 2012 map an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander, enjoin its use in the 2020 election, and order the enactment of a constitutionally viable replacement,” the decision said.
The Mississippi River has been flooding for 41 days now
NPR | Posted onMay 9, 2019 in Agriculture NewsThe Mississippi River has been at major flood stage for 41 days and counting, and this week a temporary wall failed, sending water rushing into several blocks of downtown Davenport, Iowa. In that same area — the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois — the river crested at a new record height.
China warns of ‘countermeasures’ against U.S. products if Trump
The Washington Post | Posted onMay 9, 2019 in NewsChina warned Wednesday of retaliation if President Trump goes through with his threat to further raise tariffs on Chinese goods, setting up a potential escalation in a trade war that had seemed just weeks ago to be nearing its end.The trans-Pacific brinkmanship now spills over to face-to-face negotiations as trade talks resume late Thursday in Washington — just hours before Trump’s latest tariff threats are due to hit $200 billion in Chinese products.The Chinese warning — issued as China’s vice premier arrived in Washington — signaled that Beijing was prepared to take the same hard-line rou
America's farmworkers are aging, not being replaced
UPI | Posted onMay 9, 2019 in Agriculture NewsThe average age of America's hired farm laborers is steadily increasing, threatening the future of the nation's farming industry. The reason is the foreign-born workers, who comprise more than half the workforce, are getting older. At least half those workers are unauthorized. And because the United States is cracking down on illegal immigration, younger immigrants are not arriving to replace them.Between 2007 and 2016, the estimated number of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico dropped about 22 percent, according to the Pew Research Center.
In North Carolina, bill to raise electric vehicle registration fees stalls
Energy News Network | Posted onMay 8, 2019 in Energy, SARL Members and Alumni NewsMeanwhile, a bill that would fine drivers for blocking charging stations advances in the House. Some North Carolina state lawmakers want to fine drivers of gasoline-powered cars for blocking charging plugs for electric vehicles. Others want to hike annual registration fees for plug-in cars to become the highest in the country.“On one side, you’ve got something good for [electric vehicles], on the other — really just the worst,” said freshman Sen.
Trump to Ease Drilling Rules Sparked by 2010 Gulf Oil Spill
Bloomberg | Posted onMay 8, 2019 in Energy NewsThe Trump administration is poised to relax offshore drilling requirements imposed in response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 people in 2010 and unleashed the worst oil spill in U.S. history. The Interior Department will unveil its final plan Thursday to ease some of the mandates, following industry complaints they are unwieldy and expensive, said two people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named before a formal announcement.
California to ban controversial pesticide blamed for harming child brain development
CBS News | Posted onMay 8, 2019 in Agriculture, SARL Members and Alumni NewsThe nation's most productive agricultural state will ban a widely used toxic pesticide blamed for harming brain development in babies, California officials said. The move would outlaw chlorpyrifos after scientists deemed it a toxic air contaminant and discovered it to be more dangerous than previously thought. State Environmental Secretary Jared Blumenfeld said it's the first time the state has sought to ban a pesticide and the move was overdue."This pesticide is a neurotoxin and it was first put on the market in 1965," Blumenfeld said.
Rural hospital CEOs call for medicaid expansion
Daily Yonder | Posted onMay 8, 2019 in Rural NewsAt a roundtable meeting April 24, CEOs of rural North Carolina hospitals explained to Gov. Roy Cooper and state Health and Human Services Sec. Mandy Cohen that expanding Medicaid would help their institutions keep the doors open. There were some common elements to all their stories.
Towns without newspapers
Daily Yonder | Posted onMay 7, 2019 in Rural NewsLast week I saw a news story that the West Virginia state auditor had recently completed a report that concluded: Richwood “appears to be in more need of finance recovery than before the flood,” because, as the news report stated: “The report … concludes city leaders spent precious federal dollars to hire themselves, friends and family for flood relief jobs. Much of the money was not spent for its stated purposes. “ As a result, the mayor, the former mayor and the city recorder are charged with embezzlement.
Colorado Dem lawmakers tackle climate change without a single GOP backer
The Colorado Independent | Posted onMay 7, 2019 in NewsA climate change bill that would gradually reduce Colorado’s carbon emissions over the next 30 years is headed to the governor’s desk for approval — without a single Republican vote. Even as the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns of irreversible and long-term impacts if emissions are not aggressively curbed, Republican lawmakers in Colorado’s Senate Wednesday questioned the scientific consensus, the impact of Colorado’s action on a global challenge and the economics of transitioning from fossil fuels.