An important turning point in the pre-existing litigation over water resources in the ACF River Basin came in 2011, when the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed and vacated a 2009 District Court ruling from the Middle District of Florida.D The Eleventh Circuit held that the District Court lacked jurisdiction over claims made by Alabama, Southeastern Federal Power Customers, and Apalachicola because they did not challenge final agency action by the Corps as required by the Administrative Procedure Act. [node:read-more:link]

The ruling of the Constitutional Court, the highest in Spain, is that the regional law baning bullfighting  trespassed on culture in which only the national government is empowered to legislate. [node:read-more:link]

A jury found seven defendants not guilty of charges filed against them for their part in the 41-day armed occupation of Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January and February. Ammon Bundy, Ryan Bundy and five others were charged with conspiracy to prevent federal employees at the refuge from doing their jobs by intimidation, threats or force.  Some of the defendants were also charged with having firearms at a federal facility; the 12-person jury acquitted the occupiers of those charges as well. [node:read-more:link]

The drama over possible illegal use of dicamba continues. The Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed that it executed federal search warrants at several southeastern Missouri locations as part of an investigation into alleged misuse or misapplication of dicamba onto herbicide-tolerant soybeans and cotton.  The agency said in a formal statement that the activity was part of an ongoing criminal inquiry and stems from widespread complaints of damage to sensitive crops across Missouri and several other states in the Midwest and Southeast. [node:read-more:link]

A group of residents are rallying to shut down the controversial tenant farm at 465 American Legion Highway.  This comes after news last week and subsequent public outcry that some animals removed in July have now returned to the farm – part of a case that some authorities call the largest farm abuse case in the Northeast. Selectmen and state legislators have been in contact with the Attorney General’s office and State Rep. Paul Schmid and Sen. Michael Rodrigues are pushing for a meeting. [node:read-more:link]

The brains of wild cats don’t necessarily respond to the same evolutionary pressures as those of their fellow mammals, humans and primates, indicates a surprising new study. Arguably, the fact that people and monkeys have particularly large frontal lobes is linked to their social nature. But cheetahs are also social creatures and their frontal lobes are relatively small. And leopards are solitary beasts, yet their frontal lobes are actually enlarged. So what gives? Surprisingly, overall brain size did not differ, on average, between the social and solitary species of wild cats. [node:read-more:link]

Pigs at family-friendly fairs are responsible for infecting children with a type of swine flu not previously seen in humans, according to a report published by Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In August, the CDC confirmed variant swine flu viruses in 18 people -- 16 of them children -- who attended agricultural fairs in Michigan and Ohio. [node:read-more:link]

The looming failure of free trade talks with the European Union would derail Canada's push to reduce its dependence on the United States and potentially complicate negotiations with other nations, such as India and China.  The EU's hopes of signing the pact this week appeared to evaporate on Monday as the Belgian government failed to win the consent of regional authorities necessary to approve the deal.  The European deal would have given Canada preferential access to a market of 500 million people, more than the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), at a time when the U.S.-Canadian [node:read-more:link]

While the lifting of a $100 cap on Cuban cigars and their famous rum has gotten headlines, it’s the lifting of other trade restrictions with the island country that has Illinois companies in a position to profit.  President Barack Obama’s latest decree allows for tractors and certain agricultural products like pesticides and fertilizers to be sold on credit.  Before, Cuban business had to be done with cash-in-hand and often pushed the island’s business elsewhere. [node:read-more:link]