Religious beliefs involving the use of pesticides are part of a dispute over noxious weeds on a 2,000-acre organic farm in Oregon that has attracted the attention of organic food supporters. [node:read-more:link]
Innisfil, Ont., will become the first town in Canada to partner with the controversial ride-hailing service Uber to provide on-demand transit service. The roughly 36,000-population Ontario town, just south of Barrie on the western shore of Lake Simcoe, is officially launching the service at 10 a.m. to help address community concerns about a lack of transit. "To me, it's a savings, and everybody in the community can use it," he said. "If we went with buses, only a certain amount of people can use it.""To me, it's a savings, and everybody in the community can use it," he said. [node:read-more:link]
The opioid epidemic has killed tens of thousands over the last two years and driven major reforms in state and local law enforcement and public health policies for people with addiction. But another deadly but popular drug, methamphetamine, also has been surging in many parts of the country. And federal officials say that, based on what they learned as opioids swept the U.S., methamphetamine is likely to spread even further. [node:read-more:link]
Pallid sturgeon, declared endangered in 1990, can live for decades and reach 5 feet in length. Fewer than 125 are left in the Upper Missouri River Basin; they’re believed to be genetically distinct and key to the species’ survival. Their reproduction is hampered by dams, though, and in 2015, environmental groups sued to demolish one on the Yellowstone River that blocks 165 miles of crucial spawning habitat (“Can pallid sturgeon hang on in the overworked Missouri River?” HCN, 9/17/12). [node:read-more:link]
The impact is unclear at this point, but the primary worry is about ag land being taken out of production. [node:read-more:link]
The presence of fentanyl in the illicit drug supply has put law enforcement officials and the medical community on high alert in more than a dozen states, accelerating the battle against opioids on all fronts. States, counties and cities are responding to this latest crisis by doing more of what they already were doing: stockpiling the overdose reversal drug naloxone, funding more drug treatment, and ramping up police surveillance of drug trafficking. In addition, a handful of states are stiffening penalties for selling the lethal drug. [node:read-more:link]
Over the past three decades the area of sea ice in the Arctic has fallen by more than half and its volume has plummeted by three-quarters. So says a report “Snow, Water, Ice, Permafrost in the Arctic” (SWIPA), produced under the auspices of the Arctic Council, a scientific-policy club for the eight countries with territory in the Arctic Circle, as well as observers including China and India. SWIPA estimates that the Arctic will be free of sea ice in the summer by 2040. Scientists previously suggested this would not occur until 2070. [node:read-more:link]
A $330 million package will expand broadband access and digital literacy to communities deprived of a reliable internet connection, thanks to Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Solano. Assembly Bill 1665, joint-authored by several bipartisan Assemblymembers, including Aguiar-Curry, Eduardo Garcia, D – Coachella and Brian Dahle, R – Bieber, passed out of the Assembly Communications and Conveyance Committee with a 12-0 vote.“People don’t start businesses in areas where they can’t even send an email,” Aguiar-Curry said. [node:read-more:link]
Lawmakers Friday tentatively agreed to defund the state's main land conservation program to free up money for a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to curb discharges, and other legislative priorities. On the chopping block is Florida Forever, which acquires land for trails, natural spaces and conservation areas. That's not final until the Legislature passes a state budget by the May 5 end of session, and things still could change, state Sen. Rob Bradley said. [node:read-more:link]
Recent events have put rural America and our country’s ability to bring broadband to rural locations in the spotlight. As part of this broader conversation about rebuilding rural America, one question keeps rising to the top: how best can those in charge of telecom policy address connectivity needs that will only grow in the coming years? We should be looking—as the FCC has been looking—to build upon the successes of the current universal service support mechanisms. [node:read-more:link]
