Political discussions about immigrants often include the claim that there is a relationship between immigration patterns and increased crime. However, results of a new study find no links between the two. In fact, immigration actually appears to be linked to reductions in some types of crimes, according to the findings. [node:read-more:link]
As Texas population continues to increase, so will demands for water. The answer to the question of who owns Texas water will continue as a point of argument. Water availability has become such a critical issue that many statewide meetings, legislation and court cases revolve around the subject. A recent state-wide conference, devoted to water, was the Texas Section Society of Range Management annual meeting held in Uvalde. [node:read-more:link]
In February 2013, Texas filed suit against New Mexico and Colorado in the United States Supreme Court in a battle concerning the Compact. Although Texas sued both New Mexico and Colorado, it appears that Colorado was named only because they are party to the treaty at issue. All of Texas’ claims are based upon alleged wrongful conduct by and in New Mexico. [node:read-more:link]
Thanks to a new law that went into effect at the start of the year, whenever Dr. Amanda Bisol, owner of The Animal Medical Clinic in Skowhegan, writes an opiate-type painkiller prescription for one of her patients, she has to first run a background check on its owner. Public Law Chapter 488: An Act to Prevent Opiate Abuse by Strengthening the Controlled Substance Prescription Monitoring Program was signed by Gov. Paul LePage in 2016 and went into effect Jan. 1. [node:read-more:link]
Republican lawmakers in the Arizona Legislature are attempting to fast-track a plan to eventually offer vouchers to every public-school student and, in separate legislation, privatize oversight of the public money given to parents to pay private-school tuition and other expenses. The Legislature is training its sights on the plan to broaden eligibility for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, a school-choice program created six years ago for disabled children. [node:read-more:link]
Communities throughout rural Maine are up against no shortage of challenges. Facing geographic isolation, aging and declining populations, paired with the loss of traditional manufacturing or mill jobs, it can be easy to feel pessimistic about the prospects of the state’s rural backbone.But pessimism was not the mood that filled a Cross Insurance Center conference room Friday, as a daylong discussion about the future of Maine’s rural economy stoked hope and advocated for a collaborative approach to revitalizing these rural communities. [node:read-more:link]
The National Weather Service says a dam has failed in northern Nevada, causing flash floods and life-threatening situations for residents near the Utah border. The weather service stated there were reports of at least 2 to 3 feet of water rapidly moving downstream Wednesday night. The Elko Daily Free Press reports the depth of water may increase as the dam continues to fail. The National Weather Service in Elko has extended the flash-flood warning. Significant flash flooding was reported in Montello and authorities have closed State Route 233. [node:read-more:link]
Eight states lost population between 2015 and 2016, and 12 others recorded their lowest population increase of the decade, as economic woes and lower birth rates hit some states harder than others. Connecticut, Illinois, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming lost population. The last time so many states registered a drop in population was from 1986 to 1987, when oil prices collapsed. [node:read-more:link]
In the three years since the Affordable Care Act took effect, its federally funded expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults has become the states’ most powerful weapon in the battle against the nation’s worsening opioid epidemic. Now, as Congress and President Donald Trump debate potential replacements for the law, governors, health care professionals and advocates for the poor are cautioning that any cut in federal funding for addiction treatment could reverse much of the progress states have made. [node:read-more:link]
Antiparasitic medicine for endangered Key deer and an abundance of sterile New World screwworm flies continue to help fight the screwworm situation in South Florida. More than 101 million sterile screwworm flies have been released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Marathon and the Lower Keys since October. In Homestead, where a stray dog was found with a screwworm infestation in December, nearly 2 million have been released. They help to drive down the number of fertile flies by mating with wild flies to produce eggs that never hatch. [node:read-more:link]
