W. Va. students growing food for school cafeteria

Nine-year-olds Isaac Seabolt and Emily Glandon
collect onions and carrots at George Washington
Elementary in Eleanor. (Kenny Kemp/Gazette)

Around the country it is becoming more common for students of all ages to learn about agriculture by using greenhouses, allowing them to grow food that will be served in their own cafeterias. Students at George Washington Elementary School in Eleanor, W.Va., between Charleston and Huntington, have found a unique way to learn about foods by using a "high tunnel, a type of temporary greenhouse made of polyethylene that holds heat from the sun," reports Lydia Nuzum for The Charleston Gazette.

The project is the first of its kind in the county, according to Chuck Talbot, the agriculture and natural resources extension agent for Putnam County, who "hopes the hands-on experience will spark a greater interest in learning and health with the children," reports Nuzum.

The program, through a grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is one of several programs the school is using to stimulate the children through interactive learning. Principal Mary Beth Myers told Nuzum, "It's not sitting still and doing something out of a book. It is active learning. The students are always excited, and they're very engaged." (Read more)

FCC puts more money into rural broadband

About 15 million Americans, most of them living in rural areas, do not have access to high-speed Internet service, or broadband. The Federal Communications Commission, which has been working on the problem for several years, said Wednesday it will provide $485 million as part of a public-private venture to expand broadband to rural areas.

"The additional investment will leverage millions in additional private investment to quickly serve rural areas currently lacking access to high-speed broadband," reports Scherer. The move is phase 1 of the Connect America Fund. Phase II "will provide ongoing annual support of $1.8 billion for both voice and broadband service," reports Colleen Scherer of Ag Professional. "Total FCC investment in expansion and support of rural fixed and mobile broadband and voice through universal service is budgeted at $4.5 billion." (Read more)

Kentucky coal jobs at modern low; state's western coalfield now out-producing east

The coal mining business in Eastern Kentucky continues to suffer from record setbacks. The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet announced this week that coal jobs in Kentucky have dropped to its lowest level since at least 1950, when numbers were first recorded, reports Bill Estep for the Lexington Herald-Leader. (Photo: A train load of coal ready to be transported is parked near US 119 in Cumberland. Charles Bertram/Herald-Leader)

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/05/21/2648551/kentucky-coal-jobs-at-lowest-level.html#storylink=cpy

Since September 2011, the state has lost 5,695 coal jobs, or just over 30 percent, with more than 5,500 of those lost jobs from Eastern Kentucky coal mines, Estep reports.

Over the past 18 months, coal production in Eastern Kentucky has dropped 42 percent. Statewide production has fallen 26 percent during that time, and the smaller Western Kentucky Coalfield  (part of the Illinois Basin) out-produced the larger Eastern Kentucky field in the first quarter of 2013, producing 10.4 million tons  to 10.1 million.

"Eastern Kentucky coal producers face a number of challenges, including competition from relatively cheap natural gas and lower-cost coal from other regions in the country, higher mining costs, and tougher rules aimed at protecting the environment," Estep reports.

ead more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/05/21/2648551/kentucky-coal-jobs-at-lowest-level.html#storylink=cpyreports.

We reported on the decline in Central Appalachian coal most recently here and a recent conference in Eastern Kentucky designed to build a non-coal economy in Central Appalachia here and here. For a PDF of the state report on coal production and employment, click here.

Rural teens need more information and services about pregnancy issues, advocate says

Why are teen pregnancy and birth rates higher in rural America than in urban areas? Rural areas have a serious lack of information and services, something that needs to be changed to ensure the safety of pregnant teens, or those at risk of becoming pregnant, writes Rebecca Hart, of Provide, which works to ensure safe access to abortions, on the Daily Yonder.

Rural teens often lack necessary access to health care, writing Hart. There are too few primary-care physicians and emergency room doctors, treatment options are non-existent, or too far away, and fewer people are covered by Medicaid or may be covered by employer insurance that doesn't provide the care that is needed.

Another hurdle is education, or lack of it, Hart writes, staying that sex education in school is a must, and when teens do get pregnant, they need to be provided with options or support in issues such as adoption, abortion, and parenting. States such as Oklahoma and Mississippi teach abstinence, but Hart writes that without proper education, teen pregnancy rates are unlikely to decrease. Mississippi and North Dakota only have one abortion clinic in the state, making it much more difficult for a teen looking at that option.

Charts by National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy

The solution, Hart, says, is to provide teens with more access to whatever needs they require. Teens intent on keeping the baby should be "referred to prenatal care specifically geared to the medical, psychological, and financial needs of pregnant rural teens." Likewise, teens looking to give the baby up for adoption, or have an abortion, should be allowed access to all the information and help they need. (Read more)

Senate votes to cut crop-insurance subsidy for high-income farmers; more amendments coming

Now that farm lobbies have embraced the idea of more tax-subsidized crop insurance to replace direct payments, at a higher cost, "the same activists who spent years trying to kill direct payments are turning their guns on crop insurance," David Rogers reports for Politico.

The battle was joined this afternoon and tonight on the Senate floor, starting with 59-33 passage of an amendment that would "substantially cut the subsidy rate for wealthy farmers with incomes over $750,000," Rogers writes. "In the wings are proposals requiring much greater disclosure from the Agriculture Department on who benefits from the program. And there is a bipartisan proposal to bar any farmer from getting more than $50,000 in premium subsidies per year."

Opponents of the program say it's not right to heavily subsidize wealthy farmers, but supporters "argue the program proved its worth by helping farmers survive the fierce drought of last summer and fall," Rogers reports. "And in a broader sense, insurance for the farmer is also insurance for the nation by helping to maintain a safe and viable food supply system. Perhaps most important is the question of how to apply means-testing without driving larger participants out of the risk pool." Read more)

Farm Bill hemp amendment needs McConnell's push; Reid is for letting states label GMO-containing food

Sens. Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell

The Farm Bill keeps getting more interesting.

Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky wants an amendment to legalize industrial hemp, but senators in the Democratic majority aren't willing to let him hide behind his libertarian seatmate Rand Paul in order to include it among the amendments that will get a floor vote.

Meanwhile, Majority Leader Harry Reid "would allow states to impose their own food labeling rules requiring the disclosure of genetically-modified ingredients," reports David Rogers of Politico. "Who’d have guessed the Senate farm bill debate would bring out so much of what’s wild and free inside the sober men at the top?"

Rogers reports that McConnell "worked behind the scenes" to get Paul's hemp amendment added in committee, and as leaders on both sides tried to agree on a list of floor amendments, "One big question was whether McConnell would come out in the open and demand consideration of the legalization provision. Thus far the minority leader has been happy to let his younger, more naturally free-wheeling tea party colleague  . . . walk point for him on hemp. But with the Memorial Day recess looming, Democrats wanted McConnell to speak for himself — if the amendment is to be added to the mix."

Reid supports an amendment by independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont (who caucuses with Democrats) to allow states to require labeling of food products that include genetically modified organisms. "Opponents argued that the end result would be a checkerboard set of state laws and Congress should trust in the safety reviews conducted now by the Food and Drug Administration." (Read more)

Meanwhile, McConnell got one obstacle out of the way this afternoon when the Senate voted 44-52 against an amendment that would have ended crop insurance for tobacco, which remains a major crop in Kentucky though only about 5,000 farmers grow it.

Nearly a million in U.S. live near fertilizer storage sites like one that caused deadly explosion in Tex.

The deadly ammonium-nitrate blast that claimed 14 lives, injured more than 200, and caused more than $100 million in property damage at the West Fertilizer plant in Texas is a terrible tragedy that many might think could never happen to them. But the Reuters news service found that at least 800,000 Americans live within one mile of hundreds of storage sites for the potentially explosive chemical, Ryan McNeill and M.B. Pell report.

The Reuters analysis found that sitting within close proximity to the ammonium nitrate are hundreds of schools, 20 hospitals and 13 churches, and 10,000 or more people live within one mile of at least 12 of these facilities. Many of the sites are in rural areas. The data were incomplete, because reporting ammonium-nitrate incidents is voluntary, and some states failed to respond to the news organization's request for data.

"Among those that withheld data was Missouri, which The Fertilizer Institute, an industry association, said is the No. 1 user of ammonium-nitrate fertilizer in the United States. The group said Missouri accounts for 20 percent of the nation's use of the product." (Read more) An interactive map of known facilities with ammonium nitrate can be viewed here; below is a screen shot of the map focused on the Arkansas-Tennesee border, with Missouri's omission indicated:

We wrote about West Fertilizer here and about how ammonium nitrate is banned in some countries here.

Rural newspaper details ambulance crew's long journey to rescue one man

Harold Schaetzle

In Maine, which has the highest percent of rural population in the country, 96 percent of traffic fatalities in 2010 occurred on rural roads. With so many people living in rural areas, and so much area to cover, it's not uncommon for emergency personnel to travel some distance to the scene of an accident. But we were alerted to a story by Kaitlin Schroeder for the Morning Sentinel in Waterville that details how one rural ambulance crew went above and beyond the call of duty to rescue an injured man.

Jeremy O'Neil

"Rangeley NorthStar is responsible for 1,100 square miles of Maine's rural northwest, stretching west to the New Hampshire border and north to the Canadian border," reports Schroeder. After receiving a call about a spinal injury, three members of the Northstar crew -- Steve Grant, Harold Schaetzle and Jeremy O'Neil -- traveled 30 miles from their base to rescue the man, and another 64 miles to transport him to a hospital in Berlin, N.H.

Steve Grant

While that might not sound overly amazing, this is: The accident happened on an island, and the responders had to travel by boat to reach the injured man, secure him, travel back by boat to land, then drive the rest of the way to the nearest hospital. The main reason for the long distance is that the area doesn't have a high enough population of year-round residents to support more medical services, but is a popular spot for tourists, and most calls involve visitors injured during outdoor activities, reports Schroeder. (Read more) Here's a Google map of the likely route they took from Caribou Island in Parmacheenee Lake:

Senate keeps sweet deal for sugar growers

In what some critics are calling a sweet deal for sugar growers and a bad deal for consumers, the Senate Wednesday voted against a farm-bill amendment that would lower the price-support level of sugar from 18.75 cents per pound to 18 cents, reports David Rogers for Politico. The amendment had been pushed by candy makers, conservative activists and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"The sugar program stands out as one of the most intrusive of the commodity programs still on the books: a mix of price supports, import quotas, and since 2008, a feedstock program under which sugar can be purchased by the government to be used in biofuels," reports Rogers. Prices for sugar this week "ran at least a penny per pound above the price supports."

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), whose state is a major producer of sugar beets, said “We forget that this is much bigger than a sugar program. It’s much bigger than any one single commodity. My concern is when you single out one commodity, whether it’s soybeans, corn or sugar or tobacco or rice, when you single out one commodity, you threaten the effectiveness of the overall Farm Bill." (Read more)

Myrtle Beach writer is 2013-14 Nieman Fellow in Community Journalism; will spend year at Harvard

Isaac Bailey of The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, S.C., has been named the 2013-14 Donald W. Reynolds Nieman Fellow in Community Journalism, meaning that he will join 11 other American journalists and 12 from other countries at Harvard University for a year beginning in August.

Bailey, an award-winning journalist who has worked at The Sun News for nearly 16 years, will study the intersection of literacy, football, race and the economy in the South, particularly in South Carolina's Georgetown and Horry counties, with a goal of using the research to understand efforts to battle illiteracy and improve cross-racial understanding in the region.

The Nieman Foundation, which administers the oldest fellowship program for journalists in the world, aims to promote and elevate the standards of journalism and educate those specially qualified for the field. The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, created by a community newspaper publisher, funds the fellowship for a community journalist each year.

Eastern Livestock officials sentenced to jail time for theft of $32 million from cattle producers

Nearly two years after being indicted in a $32 million "check-kiting" scheme against cattle producers, the founder and chief operating officer for the now defunct Eastern Livestock LLC were sentenced Tuesday to jail time. Founder Tommy Gibson was sentenced to 70 months in prison, and COO Steven McDonald was sentenced to 57 months in prison, reports Justin Story for the Daily News in Bowling Green, Ky.

"When the company closed, billions of dollars worth of checks issued from various bank accounts were deposited in amounts that exceeded the balances available in those accounts, artificially inflating the company’s cash collateral account," reports Story. "The company’s line of credit with Fifth Third (Bank) expired Oct. 15, 2010, but Gibson and McDonald continued the scheme by depositing millions of dollars of checks from various bank accounts, in amounts exceeding available balances, into one of the company’s operating accounts with Fifth Third, according to federal court records."

Federal prosecutors have seized $4.7 million, and will distribute that money to the victims "by way of two bankruptcy cases in Indiana and the forfeiture action" brought by federal prosecutors, Story reports. (Read more)

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau narrowly defines 'rural,' which may tighten credit for farmers

Some farmers in Ohio, and probably most other states, may not be able to get certain types of mortgages because "They don’t live in counties defined by regulators as 'rural,' even if they’re surrounded by cows, pigs, chickens or soybeans," reports Stephen Koff, Washington correspondent for The Plain Dealer of Cleveland. The list for your state is here.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week finalized its list of "rural counties" for the purpose of mortgage lending "and left off the majority of Ohio farm counties," Koff writes. "The rural label packs a federal regulatory punch, especially as it pertains to balloon mortgages, or short-term mortgages that farmers often obtain."

"Of the state’s 88 counties, 44 are normally considered rural for census and state government purposes," Koff reports. "But for mortgage purposes, the CFPB only counted 20, leaving off places that proudly proclaim their status as boondocks country, such as Van Wert County, Wayne, Huron, and Auglaize."

"That has a real adverse, practical effect in a lot of Ohio communities," Jeffrey Quayle, senior vice president at the Ohio Bankers League, told Koff. Without the rural designation, "Banks there say they will be much less willing to issue balloon mortgages, or three- to five-year property loans that require repayment or refinancing at the end of the term," Koff writes. "That’s because a CFPB rule starting next January will restrict mortgages associated with steep payoff requirements. Balloon mortgages sought by farmers who cannot get traditional mortgages are among them."

"The CFPB says it wants to end predatory loan practices that led too many home buyers to foreclosure in recent years," Koff reports. "But community bankers serving small towns and rural counties say their loans did not cause the mortgage meltdown, and that the new regulations will unfairly hurt their future borrowers. The community banks hold all the risk because they do not sell these loans to third-party investors." (Read more)

Candidate ordered to reimburse Alaska Dispatch for legal fees in its fight to get his records

Chalk up another victory for journalists in the battle for open records. The Alaska Dispatch had already forced 2010 U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller to provide information from public records that detailed his improper activities. Now the Alaska Superior Court has ordered Miller, right, to reimburse the online newspaper more than $85,000 in legal fees from the lawsuit. Miller's employer was ordered to pay a little more than $12,000. (Photo by Stephen Mowers)

When Miller ran on the Tea Party ticket, the Dispatch argued "that Miller’s records, which detailed episodes of misconduct for which he was punished and barred from rehire for three years, should be available for Alaska voters to review," Jill Burke reports for the Dispatch. Miller dragged out the litigation for two years, leading to $112,000 in court costs for the Dispatch.

When a state judge ordered Miller to release the records, it turned out that he had repeatedly lied, and had used a colleague's computer to vote in his own online straw poll on who should be the new head of the Alaska Republican Party. The judge required him to undergo counselling. Miller plans to run again for the Senate in 2014. (Read more)

In wake of Monsanto ruling, Kentucky may label some in-state products as non-GMO

In the wake of last week's Supreme Court ruling in favor of food giant Monsanto in its battle with an Indiana soybean farmer over the right to grow genetically modified organisms, we've heard plenty of opinions on what should or shouldn't be done about the issue. Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer is considering a label for non-GMO Kentucky products, Nick Storm reports for "Pure Politics," part of cn|2, a service of the Insight Communications cable-TV firm.

“If you look at the advances we’ve made in agriculture, it’s been because the higher yields the more drought resistant plants and stuff. Those plants have been genetically modified,” Comer told Storm. “Eighty-eight percent of the corn planted last year was genetically modified (and) 94 percent of the soybeans planted all over the United States were genetically modified."

Still, many people have mixed feelings about GMOs. Comer said, "There’s a great concern by a large segment of the population – and its only growing – that there’s issues with the GMO’s. We’re looking at doing a program within the department that would allow for labeling of non-GMO Kentucky Proud products. We want to be very proactive in this, but it’s a very complex issue.” Kentucky proud is the state's marketing program for in-state products. (Read more)

We wrote about the use of genetically modified foods, and whether or not they should be labeled, here. This chart showing the increase of genetically engineered crops in the U.S. is from Food Politics.

'Blue card' immigration program moves closer with Senate committee vote for reform bill

One of the most talked-about parts of the proposed immigration bill has been the "blue card" program, which would make it easier for experienced farm and agriculture workers who are in the country illegally to move one step closer to obtaining a green card and legal residency in the U.S. On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the legislation by a 13 to 5 vote, sending it to the full Senate.

A "National Rally for Citizenship" was held
April 10 at the U.S. Capitol in support of
immigration reform. (UPI/Molly Riley)

To be eligible for the "blue card" program, applicants have to pay all taxes, pay a $400 fee, and have no convictions for felonies or violent misdemeanors, reports Agri-Pulse, a Washington newsletter: "Work requirements include performing at least five years of agricultural employment for at least 100 work days per year, or performing at least three years of agricultural employment for at least 150 work days per year."

Workers would have two options, "a portable, at-will employment-based visa and a contract-based visa program," reports Agri-Pulse. "The H-2A program would sunset one year after the new visa program is enacted." The new program, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, would provide three-year visas. Workers unemployed for more than 60 consecutive days would lose their status and be deported. Employers would also have to register with the USDA.

Wages and raises have also been set per position. Employers would also be required to provide housing or housing allowances, and would have to use the the federal work verification program, E-Verify, over a five-year period, reports Agri-Pulse. Through the first five years of the program, there would be a cap of 112,333 visas.

Agri-Pulse is subscription-only, but offers a free trial here. For more on the "blue card" program go here.

Webinar today to focus on transferring of wealth, and the opportunities available to rural areas

As older generations of Americans make plans to pass along their savings to younger generations, they often look to their rural roots, and give back to the communities in which they were raised. How can rural communities take advantage of these financial opportunities? The Center for Rural Entrepreneurship hopes to answer that question through a webinar designed for community leaders, policy makers, and those interested in community development through philanthropy.

The one-hour webinar is scheduled at 1 p.m.  today. Cost is $29.99. The webinar will be recorded, and will be available for viewing on the group's website. To register, or for more information, visit here.

Retired network reporter calls out lousy local TV

Ed Rabel, right, was a great correspondent for CBS News, and knows what good broadcast journalism is. He doesn't appear to be seeing much of it in Lincoln County, West Virginia, where he lives and watches stations in Charleston and Huntington.

"There is very little reason to watch the local news," Rabel writes in The Charleston Gazette. "If you're satisfied to simply see the day's digest of house fires, fender benders and high school reunions, fine. Otherwise, the regional boob-tube newscasts are nothing more than a 'vast wasteland' in the words of one-time FCC Chairman Newton Minow. Using my words, I would say the so-called newscasts are a colossal waste of time. Basically, the items they flog as news are merely undemanding fillers located between used-car commercials and mattress ads. Not to mention the announcements for male enhancement."

Rabel says the stations make much of the weather, even when it isn't news. "Instead of focusing on original reporting, the local stations are focused on cosmetics," he writes. "Not a country for old men and women, the local television "news" landscape is populated by bubble-heads and glib, young, sometimes pretty know-nothings. The truth is, they wouldn't know a news story if it slapped them in the face. When was the last time you saw an investigative piece about, let's see, the Massey Mine disaster? Or, how about, God forbid, an exclusive story that penetrated the precincts where politicians hide their secrets from the public?"

Rable blames station owners and managers fear "such stories might insult local advertisers or offend politicians on whose toes reporters might stomp. And investigative or original reporting is costly, meaning real reporters must be hired to do real reporting, a job that requires lots of time and money that the stations have no time for. Instead, I remember one Huntington TV station leading its newscast last December with the astonishing news that Christmas tree sales were on the rise. Hold the presses!
Someone once said that owning a local TV station is like having a license to steal. But the real license to broadcast calls for the people to be informed. People, isn't it time to revoke the license?" (Read more)

Farm Bill amendments target crop insurance

The critics of federal crop insurance, expansion of which will be a key part of a new Farm Bill, may have found its soft underbelly: insurance for tobacco growers, the only remaining federal support for the controversial crop.

“Joe Camel’s nose has been under the tent all this time in the form of these hidden crop insurance subsidies,” said Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain, sponsor with Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California of a farm-bill amendment that would eliminate insurance for tobacco. She said, “It’s time for the American taxpayer to get out of the business of subsidizing tobacco — once and for all.”

McCain "estimated that eight tobacco insurance products offered by the Agriculture Department had cost taxpayers $34.7 million in 2012," David Rogers reports for Politico. "Much of the remaining tobacco grown in the U.S. is for export and enjoying such profits, McCain said, that 'it makes no sense' to continue the subsidies, worth an estimated $333 million" over the next 10 years.

Regardless of what happens to the tobacco amendment (No. 923), "Waiting in the wings are more broadly written Senate amendments, seeking to cut insurance subsidies for wealthier producers and even capping the total premium support allowed per farm," Rogers reports — noting that President Obama's proposed budget calls for a lower level of support for crop insurance than Congress envisions.

"While the government absorbs about 62 percent of the premium costs for crop insurance, the farmer never sees that subsidy. What he or she sees is the bill for the remaining 38 percent — not some cash handout like today," Rogers notes. "Nonetheless, Obama’s budget calls for trimming back on the premium subsidies between 3 to 5 percentage points depending on the nature of the policy for a net savings about $7 billion over 10 years. And there’s a growing consensus that some across-the-board reduction will have to come sooner or later." (Read more)

For a list of amendments, from DTN/The Progressive Farmer, click here.

First in a series of conference calls on the Farm Bill will be held Wednesday, May 29 at 11 a.m.

Would you like to know more about the Farm Bill? The first of a series of conference calls on the legislation, hosted by the regional offices of the Council of State Governments and the State Ag and Rural Leaders group, will take place Wednesday, May 29 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time.

The House and Senate farm bills would both end direct payments to farmers, replacing these with expanded crop insurance, but the bills differ in a number of ways on the extent and nature of the farm safety net. They also disagree on spending cuts, mostly in nutrition programs, which account for 80 percent of expenditures in either bill. The current Farm Bill was extended last fall after efforts to pass the legislation stalled in the House, establishing a deadline of Sept. 30 for renewal.

To register for the free conference call, email Hans Poschman at hposchman@csg.org for call-in information.

Conservatives from California bolster conservative dominance of North Idaho; school elections today

Conservative transplants largely from California have taken over Kootenai County," Idaho, High Country News reports, asking, "Have they gone too far?" (Wikipedia map)

The story by Sierra Crane-Murdoch starts with former County Clerk Dan English, who recounted how Kootenai's voter performance veered rightward from 1996 to 2002, leaving him as the only Democrat left in an elected county office. He finally lost it in 2010, long after USA Today had dubbed Kootenai "the most Republican county in the most Republican state in the nation."

That's all we can share with you, because High Country News is available only by subscription, but the story's headline promises that it reveals "How right-wing emigrants conquered North Idaho." But you might want to check the The Spokesman-Review of nearby Spokane, Wash., where blogger Dave Oliveria took note of the HCN story, saying it "connects the dots." He tied it to today's local elections: "On Tuesday, we’ll learn whether Kootenai County archconservatives who call themselves 'Republicans' for politics’ sake will keep total control of the Coeur d’Alene School Board. And establish beachheads on the Post Falls School Board and Kootenai Hospital Board. The end game for the ideological radicals is the overthrow of the Coeur d’Alene City Council this fall." (Read more)

Critic of crop insurance calls it bloated, but he doesn't expect Congress to reverse course

One key to the new Farm Bill is expansion of crop insurance. We wrote about a recent study by Iowa State University agricultural economist Bruce Babcock that said taxpayers overpaid nearly $7 million for crop insurance in 2012, and he expects those numbers to keep going up.

In a business where insurers, farm lenders, industry grain giants and equipment companies all stand to profit from crop insurance, the outspoken Babcock is not exactly a popular person, reports Marcia Zarley Taylor for DTN/The Progressive Farmer. But if Babcock (Taylor photo) is correct, will Congress do about it? The answer, he says, is to continue to charge taxpayers even more money. Over the next 10 years he expects the crop insurance program will cost $8.8 billion per year.

"Rather than curbing the costs of crop insurance, the pro-agriculture members added more taxpayer support with new programs that protect shallow revenue losses," reports Taylor. Babcock said, instead of restraint, the ag committees "want to insure the deductibles. They want to keep current subsides and pile on more." (Read more)

Southern Great Plains' water is quickly drying up

America's high plains, especially the southern part, continue to suffer from drought and overuse, leaving many wells completely drained, or well on the way to being used up, reports Michael Wines for The New York Times.

"Vast stretches of Texas farmland lying over the aquifer no longer support irrigation," reports Wines. "In west-central Kansas, up to a fifth of the irrigated farmland along a 100-mile swath of the aquifer has already gone dry. In many other places, there no longer is enough water to supply farmers’ peak needs during Kansas’ scorching summers." The worst part, Wines reports, is that once the water is gone, it could take hundreds or thousands of years to be restored.

Bill Golden, an agriculture economist at Kansas State University, told Wines that most farmers will adapt to farming without irrigation. “The revenue losses are there,” he said. “But they’re not as tremendously significant as one might think.” Already some farmers have shifting their focus to other areas, such as dairy farming, which uses less water, but others continue to grow corn, a crop that requires large amounts of water, reports Wines. (Read more)

We reported on diminishing groundwater in the high plains here, and in Texas here.

Appalachian roads are most deadly in U.S.

Traffic deaths are more likely to occur on rural roads, and are rising. Now, a new study concludes that the fatality rate in Appalachia is 45 percent higher than in the rest of the country, according to a study by West Virginia University's School of Public Health, reports the State Journal in Charleston.

In Appalachia from 2008 to 2010 there were 15.8 traffic deaths for every 100,000 people, compared to 10.9 deaths per 100,000 in the rest of the country. Motao Zhu, the study's author, said that in Appalachia, "Traffic fatality rates were higher for passenger-vehicle drivers and passengers, motorcyclists and ATV riders, but lower for pedestrians and bicyclists." (Read more)

Free workshop will focus on covering rural health

The Association of Health Care Journalists is hosting a free workshop June 14 in Birmingham, Ala. that will focus on covering rural health issues and topics. The group's annual Rural Health Journalism Workshop "will bring journalists together with health care and policy experts who focus on the medical challenges of rural areas," says its website.

To register, simply join AHCJ. Breakfast and lunch will be provided at the event. Travel assistance is available for those who need it. More information on registration or travel assistance can be found here.

Researchers map geotagged 'tweets of hate'

A group of academic geographers at Humboldt State University in California and the University of Kentucky are researching geotagged "tweets of hate," including racism and homophobia,  and finding that they are more prevalent outside major metropolitan areas. The maps "show the significant persistence of hatred in the United States and the ways that the open platforms of social media have been adopted and appropriated to allow for these ideas to be propagated," the researchers write. Here's a map of racist tweets; click on the image for a larger version, or here for the original, interactive version.

"Quite depressingly, there are a number of pockets of concentration that demonstrate heavy usage of the word," the researchers write. "In addition to looking at the density of hateful words, we also examined how many unique users were tweeting these words. For example in the Quad Cities, 31 unique Twitter users tweeted the word 'nigger' in a hateful way 41 times. There are two likely reasons for higher proportion of such slurs in rural areas: demographic differences and differing social practices with regard to the use of Twitter. We will be testing the clusters of hate speech against the demographic composition of an area in a later phase of this project." Here's their map of homophobic tweets:
"Only around 1.5 percent of all tweets are geotagged, as it requires opting-in to Twitter's location services," the researchers acknowledge. "Sure enough, that subset might be biased in a multitude of ways when compared with the the entire body of tweets or even with the general population. But that does not mean that the spatial patterns we discover based on geotagged tweets should automatically be discarded." (Read more)

Corruption more likely at isolated state capitals, which get less scrutiny from public and journalists

State capitals located in more remote or rural areas tend to be more corrupt than ones that are less isolated from the rest of the state, or the country, according to a recently released study using data from 1976 to 2002, reports Brad Plumer for The Washington Post.

Remote areas often receive less newspaper and media coverage, and because the state houses are isolated, voters might not be as aware as other areas what's going on, which leads to smaller voter turnouts, reports Plumer. (Read more) The report can be read here. The study plotted federal convictions of public officials for corruption against a distance factor:

Political ads enrich TV stations, which do little political reporting and fatten themselves for sale

Atlantic Wire graphic shows advertising
buys for the past three presidential elections;
Television Bureau of Advertising chart below
shows political ad spending on local stations.

Every election season it's impossible to watch television without being bombarded with commercials from candidates or interest groups, and TV stations cash in. But a recent report finds that smaller-market stations do very little reporting on elections.

Swimming in the record-breaking revenues of the 2012 elections, smaller companies "primarily used the political windfall to clean themselves up to be acquired," Carl Salas, of Moody's Investor Services, which issued a report on the phenomenon. "The revenues from political advertising really improved companies’ balance sheets, and they’re using that to dress them up to be sold.”

And it's unlikely that the large corporations buying those small stations are any more interested in local news content than about stuffing their pockets, reports Sasha Chavkin for the Columbia Journalism Review.

Mergers and acquisitions among pure-play TV firms — those devoted entirely to television and not owned by major networks — will likely range from $3.5 billion to more than $6 billion in 2013-2014, reports Chavkin.

In 2008 the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, which publishes The Rural Blog, studied ads and news coverage about the U.S. Senate race on the TV stations in Lexington, Ky. We found that ads costing about $3 million consumed 115 hours of broadcast time on the four stations, which devoted only 3 hours and 50 minutes of air time to news coverage of the race, almost all of it superficial, usually with fewer issue details than the ads. For a report on the study, click here.

No Lexington station analyzed the ads for accuracy. The Moody's report on the 2012 elections concluded that "although many stations were producing valuable fact check segments that scrutinized the ads themselves, there was scant evidence that they were using any of the ad revenues to pay for additional political or investigative reporting," reports Chavkin.

Chavkin asked how consolidation affects the quality of local news. Advocates claim there's an increase in local programming, but detractors call that a myth, citing a new trend called shared-service agreements, where stations in the same market agree to share information, including broadcasting entire segments from other stations. In some cases, one station's newsroom does news programming for two stations. The end result, some say, is lesser quality in local news, Chavkin reports.

Safety-net hospitals in states that don't expand Medicaid won't lose funding in 2014 or 2015

Safety-net hospitals, which rely on Medicaid to fund care for low-income, uninsured or vulnerable populations, won't lose federal funds if their states choose not to expand Medicaid, for at least two years, Christine Vestal reports for Stateline.

Funds will be cut $500 million in 2014 and $600 million in 2015, but those funds will be allocated evenly among states, reports Vestal. The Department of Health and Human Services said it is undecided if states that don’t expand Medicaid will be docked in 2017 and 2018 when will reach an estimated $5.6 billion. (Read more)

The graphic by Stateline uses 2010 information from the National Association of Public Hospitals Health Systems, the Bureau of the Census and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Click on the image for a larger version.

Researchers urge government to find ways to encourage or help rural Americans get to college

It's no secret that a higher percentage of urban dwellers have the means to attend college and earn degrees than do their rural counterparts, but two higher-education researchers in a rural state argue that rural Americans have an untapped wealth of knowledge just waiting to be tapped into, if only someone can find a way to help them take the leap to the next level. (Daily Yonder map; click on it for larger version)

Only 31 percent of rural adults aged 18 to 24 were enrolled in college in 2009, compared to more than 40 percent in urban and suburban areas, and only 17 percent of rural residents 25 and older had a college degree, Sarah Beasley and Neal Holly both of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission write for The Chronicle of Higher Education. They say the statistics aren't as alarming as the fact that policymakers aren't making a concerted effort to narrow the gap, and find ways to encourage, or help rural residents get educated.

"Rural students have lower college aspirations and are less likely to attend college than their urban and suburban counterparts, perhaps because, research shows, they are more likely to live in areas with no post-secondary institution, have little access to college information, and have parents who did not attend college," Beasley and Holly write. "Unlike students in more populated areas, rural students must often face the dilemma of choosing between going to college (and leaving their families) or staying in their communities."

(Daily Yonder table) Rural high schools are also facing cutbacks, have a larger percentage of students poverty than most urban schools, and some rural students face a lack of resources, such as the inability to get Internet in some rural areas, the researchers write. They say it also doesn't help that rural areas are often left out of national higher-education conversations. They call not simply for more federal spending in rural areas, but the same support that urban areas get when it comes to encouraging kids to go to college. (Read more)

Frackers on federal land will have to disclose chemicals, but not if they are trade secrets

Companies using hydraulic fracturing to drill for oil and gas on federal land will be required to publicly announce all chemicals used in their drilling methods, according to a proposed new rule announced Thursday by the Department of the Interior.

Workers at a hydraulic fracturing operation
in Rifle, Colo. (Photo: Brennan Linsley, AP)

The rules disappoint environmentalists who note that companies are only required to submit a list of chemicals after a well has already been fractured and can withhold them if they are considered trade secrets, report Neela Banerjee and Wes Venteicher of the Los Angeles Times. Plus, the proposed rules also don't "call for baseline monitoring of nearby air or water before fracking and after."

Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, told the Times, "These rules protect industry, not people. They are riddled with gaping holes that endanger clean, safe drinking water supplies for millions of Americans," reports the Times. But Kathleen Sgamma of the Western Energy Alliance said, "States have been successfully regulating fracking for decades, including on federal lands, with no incident of contamination that would necessitate redundant federal regulation." (Read more)

Farmland prices fall in parts of Midwest, Southeast; price rises in Central Plains slow down

The rise of agricultural land prices in the U.S. farm belt slowed considerably or even reversed in the first quarter of the year. Non-irrigated farmland in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's region was up 3.4 percent, much less than the 7.7 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2012. The  St. Louis bank reported that land values in parts of the Midwest and Southeast regions fell an average of 2.3 percent from 2012 to 2013.

Even though numbers are down, they had been at record levels over the past year, rising a total of 19.3 percent, but signs of a slowdown are emerging, reports Mark Peters for The Wall Street Journal: "The benchmark corn contract has fallen more than 20 percent from records set last summer as federal forecasters predict a record corn crop this autumn," and farmers' costs are increasing.

Nathan Kauffman, an economist with the Kansas City bank, said it will take a few quarters to determine whether the first quarter's "modest" slowdown marks a fundamental shift in the farmland market or a short-term ebb, reports Peters. We wrote about the rising price of farmland and the fear of a crash here. (Wall Street Journal graphic)

Appeals court says New York towns can ban fracking

New York towns' bans on hydraulic fracturing have been upheld by an appeals court, which ruled that Dryden and Middlefield can use zoning laws to ban gas drilling, reports Chris Dolmetsch and David McLaughlin for Bloomberg. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images photo: Anti-fracking protesters in New York City)

The court said "The state law seeks to protect the right of the general public, not just the owners of oil and gas properties, a goal which is realized when individual municipalities can determine whether drilling activities are appropriate for their respective communities," reports Bloomberg.

Fracking has been banned in more than 50 towns in New York, and dozens more are considering bans, according to Karen Edelstein, a geographic information systems consultant in Ithaca, Bloomberg reports.

School drops graduation prayer when some students protest; weekly offers strong reporting, commentary

For the first time in memory Lincoln County High School in Central Kentucky will not have a planned prayer as part of its graduation ceremony, after a six students, some who called themselves atheists, protested the move. That prompted a long, well-written story by Editor Ben Kleppinger for the local weekly paper, The Interior Journal, published by Schurz Communications. The school allows a planned prayer at graduation as long as the senior class votes unanimously in favor of it. (Kleppinger photo: Christian students gather for a morning prayer at the school.)

Students can still pray at graduation, but it can't be a scheduled part of the ceremony, Kleppinger reported. Principal Tom Godbey said, “I’ve tried to educate the students on the fact that the school will not remove a person’s constitutional right. It doesn’t matter if it’s the majority or the minority, we’re going to protect the rights of everyone.” (Read more)

Ben Kleppinger

In a column, Kleppinger noted that he is a Christian and said Christians should remember their roots. "Christianity did not form as a religion of the majority. It began with a small handful of rogues who did everything wrong by the world’s standards," he wrote. "The real power behind Christianity is not the rule of the majority; it is the quiet secret that passionate believers can change the world without being accepted."

He opined, "Your religion is not under attack just because your local school system is caring about the needs and desires of atheists, along with all students. You don’t need to fight anyone over anything related to prayer at graduation, because even if no one prays up front, you — and everyone else — can still pray before, during and after the ceremony without consequence. . . . American Christians are among the least persecuted Christians in the world. I think it’s time we acknowledged that and stopped pretending our religion is somehow being snuffed out every time someone with a differing viewpoint wants to feel accepted or normal." (Read more)

Study finds unemployed North Carolina workers don't want farm jobs, or don't last through season

Much has been written about immigration reforms to allow aliens who are experienced farm and agriculture workers to have an easier time staying in the U.S., and move one step closer to gaining citizenship. Much has also been written about Americans claiming bias when it comes to farm jobs, saying Mexicans get all the work. Several lawsuits have even been filed by U.S. workers who said they were discriminated against in favor of Mexicans.

A study in North Carolina looked at unemployed workers referred to jobs through the North Carolina Growers Association, which between 1998 and 2011 hired 97 percent of referred applicants, reports Dylan Matthews for The Washington Post. Of the 130,000 unemployed in the state, the number who asked to be referred to the NCGA in 2011 was 268. Of those 268 applicants, 245 (91 percent) were hired, but only 163 of the 245 (66 percent) showed up to work, and only seven lasted through the growing season. (Click on charts for larger versions)

In 2001, the NCGA needed 6,500 total workers, reports Matthews. Because so few U.S. workers wanted the jobs, most of the jobs went to Mexicans holding H-2A agriculture visas. About 90 percent of the Mexicans were still working five months later, compared to fewer than 10 percent of U.S.-born workers. (Read more)

Charleston's county easily leads W.Va. in meth-lab busts, much more than population would suggest

The West Virginia county that lies near the center of the state and contains its capital has become the state's hub of methamphetamine labs. Kanawha County, with a mix of rural and urban population that is the state's largest, has had 113 meth-lab seizures this year, almost 100 more than the next highest county, with 14, reports Eric Eyre of The Charleston Gazette. (WOWK-TV image: Scene from a meth-lab bust this week in Kanawha County.)

Ten percent of the state lives in the Kanawha County, but 54 percent of this year's meth lab seizures were in the county, notes Eyre. Most of the busts were in the small towns of Clendenin (population 1,200), Elkview (1,200), St. Albans (11,000) and Sissonville (4,000). (Read more)

Oceana, W.Va., residents admit town has a drug problem, but say documentary went overboard

OxyContin has created a nightmare of problems in Oceana, a town of 1,400 in southern West Virginia, but residents say a new documentary called "Oxyana" is misleading in its depiction of the town and its people, reports Dave Boucher for the Charleston Daily Mail. (Photo: A drug is heated in the film.)

Local resident D.J. Morgan told Boucher, "I think that throughout the history of West Virginia, outsiders have always came in and mis-characterized our residents for stories in newspapers that were sold across the country for nothing more than a dog and pony show, and I think that is exactly what [filmmaker Sean Dunne] has created."

Whatever the opinions, the fact is that drugs are a concern in Wyoming County, which has 41,000 residents and 65 drug-related deaths since 2011, 80 percent of them from overdoses, the Wyoming county sheriff's office told Boucher.

In response to the film, Oceana officials have organized a meeting to allow residents to voice their frustrations about it, and for the town "to be honest with ourselves and realize there is a drug problem here and we need to take our town back and our county back," Morgan told Boucher. (Read more)

Kansas may be the only state to close criminal records, even to the accused or victims

Kansas residents who want to see records of criminal cases, even those pertaining to themselves, must fight the system in a state where legislators have decided to keep such records closed, and made it a misdemeanor for police or prosecutors to release records without a judge’s order, reports Karen Dillon for the Kansas City Star. (Beverly Stewart looks at photos of her daughter Susan Stuckey, who was shot to death by police in her home. Star photo by Tammy Ljungblad)

Ken Bunting, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, told Dillon, “I know of no other states where these records can be closed forever." Law enforcement officials say the records are closed "to protect the rights of the accused and to keep publicity from tainting a jury," reports Dillon. "In addition, the records may contain the name of a confidential informant or investigation techniques such as wiretapping that police want to keep secret."

But that doesn't explain why one couple needed to file a lawsuit to find out why their home was raided by police, only being told after public protest that it was because they visited a hydroponics store and field tests on leaves from their trash tested positive for drugs, though the test turned out to be incorrect and was actually false, reports Dillon. Or the grieving mother who wanted to know why her unarmed, mentally ill daughter was shot dead in her home by riot squads after she called 911. The city has spent $30,000 defending the case, and the district attorney called the shooting justified.

The Star interviewed three state legislators who didn't even know how restrictive the law is regarding criminal records, reports Dillon. Rep. John Rubin said records should be open “unless law enforcement can provide a justifiable reason to keep records closed or sealed to protect an ongoing investigation for prosecution. I’m surprised that is not the principle we are operating from in the state of Kansas.” (Read more)

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/10/4229965/many-criminal-records-closed-in.html#storylink=cp

Conference to look at past, present and future of newspapers

Some of the most respected names in Kentucky journalism are gathering for a one-day conference to examine the past, present and future of the newspaper industry, and the role journalists have played in helping to shape the state, the nation and the world. The Center for the Written Word at the Cardome Center in Georgetown, Ky., is hosting the event Wednesday, May 22.

John Carroll

The keynote speaker will be John Carroll, former editor of the Los Angeles Times, the Lexington Herald-Leader, and the Philadelphia Inquirer, who was at the helm of those papers when they won a combined 14 Pulitzer Prizes. Carroll will discuss why newspapers matter.

Registration begins at 1 p.m., followed by a panel at 2 p.m. discussing John Bradford, who started Kentucky's first newspaper, the Kentucky Gazette, and the evolution of journalism in the state since then. A 4 p.m. panel will discuss the future of newspapers. That will be followed by the unveiling of an exhibit on Bradford, then cocktails, dinner, and the address by Carroll.

Panels are free to attend. There is a $50 fee for the dinner and reception. To register contact Debbie Hoskins at 859-583-1716 or debrafhoskins@gmail.com, or call Center for the Written Word at Cardome, 502-863-1575, ext. 10, or email cardomecenter@gmail.com. (Read more)

House agriculture panel votes to let USDA create promotion program for organic farm products

The House Agriculture Committee voted 29-17 Wednesday night to allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish a promotion program for organic agricultural products, to be funded with a "checkoff" fee paid by organic producers if a super-majority of them approve it in a referendum.

Committee Chairman Frank Lucas of Oklahoma opposed the amendment to the House farm bill, but several of his fellow Republicans, from Northern and Western states, voted with Democrats to pass it. Lucas said he wasn't comfortable with the idea because the program would not be for a specific commodity, unlike other checkoff programs, but for a group of products. Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, argued likewise: "Organic is a brand. Checkoffs shouldn't promote brands."

Lucas asked, "How do I promote my organic pork without disparaging non-organic pork?" The amendment's sponsor, Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., right, said another law forbids disparagement of agricultural products, and urged his colleagues to "Get over our old biases."

Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., said the Organic Trade Association is using its website to attack traditional agriculture, which is not responding in kind. Schrader replied, "That a private trade group. This is about fairness in agriculture and trying to get us on the same boat."

The OTA won organic products an exemption from checkoff programs in 2002 and is promoting the organic checkoff, but not all organic-farming groups agree and the creation of such a program would be complicated and time-consuming, reported Anita Zimmerman of The Country Today.

The panel also passed an amendment by Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., to make it a crime to bring a child to an animal fight.

In other action on the bill, the committee defeated amendments by Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., to add $50 million for water and sewer projects to reduce a $3.2 billion backlog; and to guarantee $4 million for the Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program. Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, top Democrat on the committee, opposed the latter measure, agreeing with Republicans that the Appropriations Committee would likely keep the money from being spent. It lost 20-25; the water-sewer measure failed 22-23.

Senate farm bill heads to the floor; House version moving through key committee votes

The Senate Agriculture Committee cleared a new five-year farm bill Tuesday by a speedy 15-5 vote, but heated floor debates are expected over issues such as jobs, crop insurance, food stamps, disaster relief, rural development and the legalization of hemp, an issue not now in the bill but pushed by Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul, both of Kentucky, with state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, the state's other statewide elected Republican.

McConnell was the only Republican from the South to vote against the bill in committee, reports David Rogers of Politico. Also voting no were Democrat Kristen Gillibrand of New York and Republicans Pat Roberts of Kansas, Mike Johanns of Nebraska and John Thune of South Dakota.

“This is not a reform bill,” said Roberts, right. “This is a rear-view mirror bill.” He said target prices set for rice and peanuts are “essentially guaranteeing that a farmer profits if yields are average or above average.” (Read more)

The bill calls for the elimination of more than 100 programs, in some cases consolidating programs to save money while still providing needs, reports Bob Meyer of Brownfield. "By closing loopholes, cracking down on abuse and improving program integrity, the bill reduces the deficit without cutting standard benefits or removing any needy family from the program."

The bill should save taxpayers money "while providing farmers with a responsible risk management system that only helps farmers when they experience substantial losses due to events beyond their control," Meyer reports.

The House Agriculture Committee is marking up its own bill today. "The House debate is the more pivotal, especially after the tortured history of the last Congress," Rogers reports. "Chairman Frank Lucas, left, appeared firmly in control and signaled he would work into the night in order to complete committee action. But the Oklahoma Republican must navigate a narrow path between food stamp cuts that have angered Democrats and the bill’s commodity title, which often defies his own GOP leadership. Two votes Wednesday highlighted these tensions, which will surely spill over into House floor debate slated next month."

By 26-20, a narrower margin than last year, the panel endorsed "a new dairy program strongly opposed by Speaker John Boehner," and by 27-17 it backed Lucas's plan to cut $20.5 billion from food stamps and other nutrition programs over the next decade. "Nearly two million beneficiaries could be dropped from the food stamp rolls as a result of the program changes, which would reinstate a $2,000 federal asset test that not been adjusted for inflation since it was first imposed in the 1980s," Rogers reports. The second page of his story has a good, short summary of the dairy issue.

UPDATE, 11:43 p.m.: The House committee approved the bill 36-10.

Clinton tells Delta allies good policy needed for rural growth; easier to avoid partisanship at local level

Former President Bill Clinton said he has high hopes for continued economic progress in the area served by the Delta Regional Authority, which he helped create during his presidency, reports the website for the Mississippi Delta Grassroots Caucus, a support organization for the federal agency.

“There is never going to be enough government money to take a poor region of America out of the dumps all by itself,” Clinton said this month at a caucus meeting. “You’ve got to have private-sector growth. In order to have private-sector growth, you’ve got to have good government policy. You have to have government and the private sector, and increasingly all these great foundations working together.”

The closer to the grass roots, the less national politics complicates things, Clinton said: “All of the debate in Washington tends to be about what I would call macro-economic policy. But real life is lived in what the economists would call microeconomic policy. The more you go to the micro, the more jobs you’re going to create and the more bipartisan cooperation you’re going to have, because there is no other Republican or Democratic way to locate a plan, to start up an agricultural project,” and to do all the other range of economic development activities, the caucus website reports.

In wake of Boston bombing, immigration bill now includes stricter monitoring of foreign students

In response to the Boston Marathon bombing, the Senate panel looking at the proposed immigration bill voted unanimously Tuesday "to tighten the monitoring requirements of foreign students," requiring the Department of Homeland Security "to transfer all student visa information to border control agents at the nation’s 329 ports of entry," Ed O'Keefe and David Nakamura report for The Washington Post. (CNN photo: Azamat Tazhayakov, left, an alleged accomplice of suspected bomber Dzohkhar Tsarnaev, right, was in the country on an expired student visa)

The measure was proposed by Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), after it was found that one of the alleged accomplices of the accused bombers was in the U.S. on an expired student visa, and was allowed entry into the country, because U.S. Customs officials didn't know the visa was expired, reports O'Keefe and Nakamura. The hope is that the proposal will "prevent lapses in information-sharing about foreign students when their immigration status changes while they are in the United States."

Grassley, who has been the leading critic of the immigration bill, also submitted a proposal requiring businesses to hire Americans before "seeking out high-skilled immigrant workers, and a plan forcing companies dependent on such workers to continue counting them as part of immigrant worker quotas even if the worker is seeking permanent legal status," reports O'Keefe and Nakamura. The committee rejected that proposal. (Read more)

The bill includes a new "blue card" program that would allow experienced farm and agriculture workers who are in the country illegally the opportunity to move closer to obtaining a green card and legal residency, more quickly than most other workers. U.S. workers have also claimed racial bias, saying Mexican immigrants are getting all the jobs.

Is Obama administration's pro-wind policy keeping it from fining wind farms for killing birds?

Is the Obama administration biased in levying fines for deaths of protected birds? Some say that while oil and power companies have been heavily fined or prosecuted for such violations, a blind eye has been turned when the deaths happen as a result of flying into industrial-sized turbines on wind farms, reports Dina Cappiello for The Associated Press. (Cappiello photo: A golden eagle flies over a wind turbine in Converse County, Wyoming)

More than 573,000 birds are killed each year by wind farms, including 83,000 hawks, falcons and eagles, according to the Wildlife Society Bulletin, reports Cappiello. In Converse County in eastern Wyoming, nearly 50 golden eagles have died on wind farms since 2009. No one has been fined or prosecuted for any of the deaths.

That has some crying favoritism. In 2009 Exxon Mobil was fined $600,000 for killing 85 birds in five states including Wyoming, Cappiello nptes. Many think the reason no one is fined or prosecuted is because "wind power, a pollution-free energy intended to ease global warming, is a cornerstone of President Obama's energy plan. His administration has championed a $1 billion-a-year tax break to the industry that has nearly doubled the amount of wind power in his first term." 

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) said, "We obviously don't want to see indiscriminate killing of birds from any sort of energy production, yet the administration's ridiculous inconsistencies begs questioning and clarity -- clarity on why wind-energy producers are let off the hook." (Read more)