A high-profile energy bill passed the Senate late Wednesday night after a procedural fight sparked by a Republican lawmaker’s lengthy filibuster.Sen. [node:read-more:link]
A collection of essays by scholars and activists attempts to reshape our understanding of the southern mountains. Before you fall for the trope of Hillbilly Elegy and Ron Howard’s proposed film adaptation, get a more complex and complete picture from Appalachian Reckoning, says our reviewer. If footnotes were arrows, J.D. [node:read-more:link]
Ean Petersen has learned how the interior hinges of his 3D-printed birds, cats and dogs need proper spacing in order to flex and bend, and through trial and error, which materials work best.The North Platte 10-year-old can laser engrave paw prints onto a set of dice and laminate the instructions for "Pet Store," the board game he created to play with family and friends.Having access to the equipment used by makers and creators at his local public library has kindled Petersen's creative spark, bolstered his self-esteem and unleashed his entrepreneurial spirit.Petersen is among the thousands [node:read-more:link]
A federal agency and national association have commissioned a toolkit to help groups raise more money for rural health-related projects. The creators hope a rising tide in funding will lift all boats.A new online “learning portal” seeks to help rural organizations raise more funding from philanthropies, which tend to favor urban projects and organizations over rural ones, a federal study shows. “There’s been a great interest in philanthropic investments in rural communities,” said Alana Knudson, one of the portal’s contributors. [node:read-more:link]
The stigma of drug addiction means people in small towns may keep secrets to themselves – until it’s obvious something is wrong. Fighting addiction means talking honestly about the problems confronting our rural communities.Normal protocol was to send students who failed the drug test to a substance-abuse class at the juvenile detention center and ban them from participating in after–school activities. However, in my case, the positive drug test was kept a secret. I was allowed to continue doing theater and didn’t have to go to the substance abuse class. [node:read-more:link]
On a 36-22 margin Monday night the House rebuffed a bid by a Globe rancher to legally limit the use of the words “meat’’ and “milk’’ when offering foods for sale in the state.Republican Rep. David Cook told colleagues he was mainly concerned about efforts to actually grow animal protein in laboratories. Cook said if those prove commercially successful the manufacturers should not be able to pass those off as something that actually came from what at one time was a living, breathing animal.Ditto poultry. [node:read-more:link]
Australian consumer acceptance of a technology that offers an alternative to physical castration should give more pork producers the confidence to use it, says one of Australia’s leading pork suppliers. The technology, known as immunological castration or immunocastration, involves administering a protein compound that works like a vaccine to reduce the risk of boar taint, an unpleasant odor that can occur when cooking meat from sexually mature male pigs. [node:read-more:link]
Nonprofit advocacy groups linked to DTE Energy are waging a public campaign to significantly reduce the amount customers are paid for their solar power, in line with the utility’s request before Michigan regulators.While these groups — classified as 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations — have been prominent in statewide elections and lobbying lawmakers on behalf of utility interests, the latest involves policy decisions at the Michigan Public Service Commission. [node:read-more:link]
More than 90 percent of U.S. coal-fired power plants that are required to monitor groundwater near their coal ash dumps show unsafe levels of toxic metals, according to a study released on Monday by environmental groups, which cited the potential harm to drinking water. [node:read-more:link]
The William Crawford Gorgas Electric Generating Plant near Parrish is set to be retired in April, but Alabama Power customers will be repaying about $740 million in costs related to the Walker County coal power plant long after it closes, according to documents the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Alabama Power’s parent group, Southern Company, disclosed in its latest public 10-K filing that “approximately $740 million of net investment costs [from Plant Gorgas] will be transferred to a regulatory asset at the retirement date and recovered over the affected units’ [node:read-more:link]
