Indiana's well-known exotic animal refuge Wildlife in Need claimed another victory this month when a federal administrative law judge upheld a previous decision saying the federal government did not have grounds to terminate owner Tim Stark's exhibitor's license. Wildlife in Need posted the decision on Facebook Monday, saying the group "will not bow to the terrorism" and called the decision a win. [node:read-more:link]
A leading critic of federal food and agriculture policy believes the GMO disclosure bill passed by Congress this month is a fair compromise that is likely to have little impact on consumer food choice.Tom Colicchio, co-founder of Food Policy Action and a judge on the Bravo series Top Chef, says he thinks his fellow activists were mistaken in opposing the bill, which would allow companies to disclose biotech ingredients through digital, QR codes as an option to on-package text. [node:read-more:link]
A state Supreme Court judge struck down New York's attempt to clamp down on independent energy service companies with strict new rules, calling the effort "arbitrary'' and "irrational.'' State Supreme Court Justice Henry Zwack, of Albany, vacated new regulations that were announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in February following approval by the state Public Service Commission. The PSC's decision to restrict the activities of energy marketers, also known as ESCOs, "appears to be irrational, arbitrary and capricious,'' Zwack wrote. [node:read-more:link]
Gov. Paul LePage is proposing a three-year “grandfather” period to allow Maine residents who have installed solar panels to recover some of their upfront investment through a practice called net metering. After that, he wants to end the program. The governor’s new proposal is drawing swift criticism from the solar industry. Under net metering, residential solar generators can get a credit on their electric bill for excess electricity that they put back into the power grid. Over time, those credits can help cover the cost of the original investment, for, say, solar panels. [node:read-more:link]
Each year, the Alliance sends a few lucky representatives to several national animal rights conferences. [node:read-more:link]
Just in time for football season, Tin Roof Brewery plans to roll out its long-awaited Bayou Bengal beer: the first officially licensed beer of LSU. This may be the first official beer of the Fighting Tigers, but it’s not the first attempt to get there. The anticipation for such a partnership has been simmering since 2011, when the fledgling microbrewery first announced it was unveiling “Bandit Blonde” with LSU. [node:read-more:link]
runching across a brushy, logged-over slope near Corvallis, Oregon, Reed Wilson points his trekking pole at an ancient Douglas fir in a neighboring patch of forest. The tree is more than an armspan in diameter, its toes decorated with saprophytic orchids and millipedes. One of 117 behemoths among these otherwise young stands, this tree and 38 others also wear necklaces of pink tape. Tree-climbing citizen surveyors left them to mark the presence of red tree vole nests. [node:read-more:link]
The U.S. government's $2.65 billion operating loan program to help farmers keep their businesses going has already run out of cash, as requests for federal financial assistance grow amid the worst agricultural downturn in more than a decade. As a result, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is looking for other money sources "to help bridge the gap in farm operating loans as much as possible until additional funds are made available, either this year or in the next fiscal year," the agency said. The agency declined to say what other funding it was hoping to leverage for assistance. [node:read-more:link]
Scientists following up on a rare wolverine sighting in the Sierra Nevada set up cameras and captured video of the animal scurrying in the snow, scaling a tree and chewing on bait. They believe the wolverine is the same one that eight years ago became the first documented in the area since the 1920s. Chris Stermer, a wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, set up the remote cameras in the Tahoe National Forest after officials at a field station sent him photos in January of unusual tracks in the snow near Truckee. [node:read-more:link]
The family of a rancher authorities say was shot and killed by two Adams County Sheriff’s deputies has filed a legal notice of their intent to sue the county. The family of Jack Yantis filed a tort claim earlier this year as a precursor to a wrongful death lawsuit seeking $500,000. Authorities say the deputies shot and killed the 62-year-old Yantis after one of his bulls was hit by a car and charged emergency crews on a highway just north of the tiny town of Council in west-central Idaho. Authorities said the deputies planned to shoot the injured bull when the rancher arrived with a rifle. [node:read-more:link]
