A bill sponsored by one of Casper’s representatives to create a regulated industrial hemp industry in Wyoming is headed to Gov. Mark Gordon’s desk. Spearheaded by Republican Rep. Bunky Loucks, House Bill 171 breezed through the Wyoming Senate on Monday on its third reading with only two members of the body – Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, and Sen. Eli Bebout, R-Riverton – voting “no” on the measure. [node:read-more:link]
Republican legislators are pushing a bill to streamline Wisconsin’s water pollution credit-trading system, a move that would make it easier for farms and large-scale facilities to trade with one another. The bill’s authors, Sen. Rob Cowles, Sen. Jerry Petrowski and Rep. [node:read-more:link]
Minnesota should borrow nearly $1.3 billion to repair college campus buildings, create more affordable housing and fix roads, bridges and other infrastructure, Gov. Tim Walz said. While many pieces of Walz’s plan have widespread appeal, Republicans legislators said this is not the year for a large borrowing package. State lawmakers typically pass a bonding bill in even-numbered years. [node:read-more:link]
Two indoor farms finding commercial success in Calgary are NuLeaf Farms, which produces greens and herbs, and Deepwater Farms. Deepwater’s system, which currently occupies a 10,000-square-foot building in Calgary, combines both hydroponics and aquaculture to grow not just produce, but fish. The solid waste from the water the fish swim in is turned into a kind of liquid compost, which, in turn, nourishes the plants.“How amazing is it to say that you’re serving a fish that is produced a kilometre away from your restaurant? It doesn’t get any more local than that,” said MacLean. [node:read-more:link]
By July of next year, a practice in Ohio’s commercial harbors will no longer be allowed — the dumping of dredged materials into the open waters of Lake Erie. This ban is the result of a bill passed by the legislature in 2015 (SB 1), and is part of the state’s broader efforts to keep excess nutrients from entering the shallowest of the Great Lakes, causing harmful algal blooms and degrading water quality. [node:read-more:link]
Often overlooked in the national debates and discussions about health insurance, dental care is having something of a moment in the Midwest as states embrace ways to expand oral health access. [node:read-more:link]
Wisconsin farmers showed the effects of continued low prices for their products in 2018 as the state led the nation in farm bankruptcies for the third straight year and dairy farms closed at the highest pace this century.The state had 47 Chapter 12 bankruptcies, a chapter designated almost specifically for family farms last year, according to data from the U.S. Bankruptcy courts. That was 16 more than second-place Nebraska. [node:read-more:link]
Iowa is appealing a federal court ruling that says the state's ag-gag law is unconstitutional, based on free-speech violations.Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller filed a motion Wednesday to send the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Miller and Gov. [node:read-more:link]
A judge has just thrown out two amendments to the North Carolina Constitution that voters approved in November. One of the amendments was to implement a voter ID requirement, and the other was a cap on the state income tax rate.The North Carolina General Assembly is so gerrymandered that its members don’t truly represent the people of the state and thus should never have proposed constitutional amendments in the first place, Wake County Superior Court Judge G. Bryan Collins wrote in his ruling. [node:read-more:link]
People without identification have a harder time renting an apartment, opening or accessing a bank account, using medical insurance, qualifying for federal benefits, like food stamps, or even staying in some homeless shelters. And, of course, getting a job is nearly impossible. [node:read-more:link]
