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SARL Members and Alumni News

Oregon Legislature to consider laws protecting wine industry

Capital Press | Posted on January 17, 2019

Oregon lawmakers will consider several proposals during the 2019 Legislature to protect the state's $5.6 billion wine industry, including a measure aimed at preventing out-of-state winemakers from hijacking the names and reputations of certain growing areas. The issue stems from a dispute last year between several Willamette Valley wineries and Copper Cane LLC, a California wine producer that purchases grapes from about 50 Oregon vineyards to make Pinot noir and rosé. Two brands in particular — Elouan and Willametter Journal — were accused of having deceptive labels and packaging that suggested the wines came from one or more of Oregon's federally designated American Viticultural Areas, or AVAs. State and federal laws tightly regulate how and when AVAs can be used to market wine. Copper Cane ultimately surrendered seven previously approved labels to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission has moved to revoke the company's license to do business in the state.


Minnesota:Grants available to support start-up, expansion and update farm projects

Message Media | Posted on January 17, 2019

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is now accepting applications for the competitive AGRI Value-Added Grant Program. The MDA anticipates awarding up to $2.5 million in this round of proposals. The aim of the Value-Added Grant is to increase sales of Minnesota agricultural products by diversifying markets, increasing market access and increasing food safety of value-added products through equipment purchases and facility improvements. New or established for-profit businesses can apply for funding to support start-up, expansion and updates; develop the processing and aggregating capacity of farmers selling to institutions; and increase food safety.Grant funds reimburse up to 25 percent of the overall project cost. Funding under this round will come at two levels. Level 1 projects will have a maximum award of $200,000 and a minimum of $1,000. Level 2 projects will have a maximum award of $1,000,000 and a minimum of $200,001. Level 2 projects will be subject to Minnesota’s Prevailing Wage Requirements.


Americans more likely to die of opioid overdose than in car crash

Fox News | Posted on January 15, 2019

For the first time in American history, one of the leading causes of deaths - vehicle crash - has been supplanted by opioid overdoses. Data, collected in 2017, shows Americans have a 1 in 96 chance of dying from an opioid overdose. The probability of dying in a motor vehicle crash is 1 in 103. Opioid pain relievers are the most fatally abused drugs and they're entirely legal. Roughly 60 people die every day as a result of overdoses from opioids - that's 22,630 Americans. To put that in perspective, that's roughly the size of the entire population of Auburn Hills.Heart disease is still the most likely cause of death (1 in 6) with cancer second most likely (1 in 7), followed by chronic lower respiratory disease (1 in 27) and suicide (1 in 88) before you get to opioid overdose and car crash.

 


Suburbs fuel Nebraska's job growth

Kansas City Federal Reserve | Posted on January 14, 2019

Employment in Nebraska remained solid through 2018, benefiting from strong gains in recent years by residents of the state’s suburban areas. Employment in Nebraska in recent years has increased most notably among residents of west Omaha and Sarpy County with rural parts of the state still struggling to add jobs. Overall, Nebraska’s unemployment rate has remained one of the lowest in the country and job prospects throughout the state are strong heading into 2019.


Ron DeSantis unveils sweeping environmental plan to fix Florida’s water woes

Tampa Bay Times | Posted on January 14, 2019

Two days after he took office, Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled sweeping measures to clean up Florida's troubled waters Thursday, including spending $2.5 billion and launching more aggressive policies to address algae choking Lake Okeechobee and polluting the state's coasts. The newly minted governor, who angered environmentalists on the campaign trail by dismissing climate change as a significant threat, also promised to establish a resiliency office to address looming dangers.


N.H. Agriculture Proposes 'New Hampshire's Own' Dairy Label

New Hampshire Public Radio | Posted on January 14, 2019

The New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food wants to create a new label for New Hampshire milk to help keep local dairies afloat. Agriculture Commissioner Shawn Jasper is working with Gov. Chris Sununu and lawmakers on a House bill to create the program, called the Dairy Premium Fund.Gallons with the “New Hampshire’s Own” sticker would carry milk from New Hampshire farms, and would cost an extra 50 cents for customers. Some of this would go to advertising the new brand, but most of it would go back to farmers voluntarily participating in the fund.Jasper says the bill is in response to the nationwide decline in dairy revenue and dairy farms.“We’re down to under a hundred that are shipping milk in New Hampshire, and I’m aware of another three or four that will be gone by April,” he says.


Environmental groups pull out of Wolf Plan talks

Capital Press | Posted on January 14, 2019

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is forging ahead with a long-overdue update of the state’s Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, even as four environmental groups withdrew from mediation and announced they will oppose it. In a Jan. 4 letter to Gov. Kate Brown, representatives for Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands, Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity said they will no longer participate in meetings hosted by ODFW to find common ground on wolf management with hunters and ranchers.Wolf advocates criticized the negotiations, describing the process as flawed and skewed in favor of killing wolves to protect livestock, rather than prioritizing non-lethal forms of deterrence. The groups slammed ODFW staff for “leading us to a seemingly predetermined outcome,” despite the agency paying more than $100,000 to hire a professional mediator.


NW legislatures take up issues impacting agriculture

Capital Press | Posted on January 14, 2019

In Oregon and Washington, the changing climate tops the governors’ legislative agendas. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee hope to help stanch global climate change by capping carbon production in their states. Though both proposals would exempt farmers and ranchers directly, the prospect of higher costs for fuel, energy and fertilizers caused by the caps poses a concern for agriculture. Meanwhile, in Idaho, legislators and new Gov. Brad Little must find a way to pay for a voter-mandated expansion of Medicaid coverage for Idaho residents even as tax revenues sink lower than originally forecast.


New bills would change how Michigan cops seize property

Detroit Free Press | Posted on January 14, 2019

The new session of the Republican-controlled Legislature began on a bipartisan footing Wednesday with the Democratic attorney general and lawmakers from both parties uniting behind a package of bills to reform civil asset forfeiture. The fact that police can sometimes seize property without charging — let alone a judge registering a conviction against — the person whose property is seized has long been a controversial issue in Michigan.The first bills introduced in the session that began Wednesday, House Bills 4001 and 4002, would require a criminal conviction before property with a value of less than $50,000 can be permanently seized through civil forfeiture. Laws would also be tightened for forfeiture of more valuable property.“Civil asset forfeiture reform will be our first bill because it is a strong, bipartisan reform that safeguards the rights of every single Michigan resident,” said newly elected House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering.


Ohio’s prison farm closure more costly than first thought

Farm and Dairy | Posted on January 14, 2019

New cattle barns and an unfinished milking facility, which were part of the Ohio prison farm system and brought to a close when Ohio Gov. John Kasich decided to sell the farms in 2016, were more costly than first realized.  The state-owned farms were operated by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, along with the Ohio Penal Industries, and used inmate labor to produce food for the prisoners. A report by the Ohio Inspector Generalshows that the new facilities cost the state a little more than $13 million, compared to roughly $8.6 million spent on the buildings. The larger amount comes from interest, because the bonds were not paid off from the sale of prison farms.“None of the bond payments for the London and Marion barns were paid from these income sources — or from the Ohio Penal Industries budget,” according to the investigation. “Therefore, state of Ohio taxpayers will ultimately pay the estimated $13 million in principal and interest on the bonds issued for ODRC’s dairy improvement projects.”


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