Quick hits: Trucks for farmers; guide for emergency alerts; Native Americans enter elections; PORKtober is here!

AGwagon kits make trucks tough enough for farming.
(Photo by Matthew J. Grassi, Farm Journal)

Farmers who want a truck built for the rigors of farming can now make one with "AGwagon," aftermarket kits, reports Matthew J. Grassi of Farm Journal. "There has never been a pickup truck 100% purposely built for farmers and ranchers. . . . The kits convert off-the-factory-line trucks into rugged and tough, back 40 devouring, farm equipment hauling beasts. . . . The AGwagon kits were built off feedback from a panel of 14 farmers and ranchers."

Signing up for emergency alerts may sound simple, but often it's not. This group made an emergency alert guide that can be a model for other communities, reports Natasha Uzcátegui-Liggett of CalMatters. "If you’re interested in publishing a comprehensive emergency alert guide for your state, you can start with our article on CalMatters (it’s free to republish if you credit us clearly, and the majority of it applies to all states), and then swap out the section titled 'How to sign up for your county’s alerts' with your reporting for your state. . . "

Humans and other animals have more than one 'prong' of defense against germs.
(Knowable graphic)

Immune systems are part of living creatures' defenses against bacteria and viruses, but they aren't the only type of protection. "Some scientists think we should devote more attention to a second prong of defense: one that allows our bodies to more harmlessly live with pathogens until they’re cleared from our systems," reports Liam Drew of Knowable. "There is a substantial body of research showing various ways in which animals can tolerate, and so survive, maladies such as malaria, sepsis and dysentery."

Dr. Stephen Loyd

He was a physician, then an opioid addict, and now he's West Virginia's "drug czar," reports Leah Willingham of The Associated Press. "Dr. Stephen Loyd, who has been treating patients with substance use disorder since he got sober two decades ago, says combating opioid addiction in the state with the highest rate of overdose deaths isn’t just his job. It’s an integral part of his healing. . . . Loyd says he is ready to help advise the state's foundation on how to distribute the nearly $1 billion in settlement money saying the state has a 'moral and ethical responsibility' to spend it wisely."

Amid election year tensions and negativity, there are some bright spots. This November, "a record-breaking number of Native Americans are running for state and local office," reports Daniel C. Volk of Route Fifty. "Advance Native Political Leadership, a group that works to increase Native American representation at those levels of government, says there are 230 Native candidates running across the country this year, up from 100 when it first started counting in 2016. About 80% of this year’s candidates are women."

Deanne Frieders

It's PORKtober, and "This Farm Girl Cooks" web writer Deanne Frieders can help you decide "what's for dinner," even if you're delivering supper to a field of workers, reports Jennifer Shike of Farm Journal. "As a cook, she loves how versatile pork is to cook with as it can take on so many flavor profiles from Italian to Tex-Mex to Asian." To explore Frieders' website full of farmer-friendly meals, click here.

PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals," can cause devastating health issues for humans, partially because they build up in the body over time. Much of the concern over PFAS has been their "everlasting" presence in U.S. water supplies, but this town has succeeded in removing them, reports Pien Huang of NPR. "Yorba Linda is a small, sunny city southeast of Los Angeles. It’s home to the nation’s largest per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) water treatment plant of its kind." The plant can serve as a model for other communities.