American emergency alert systems continue to face challenges in reaching everyone in harm's way

Tornado sirens are designed to warn people outside to take cover. 
 (Photo by G. Johnson, Unsplash)

Despite significant improvements in American emergency alert technology, the country often fails to broadcast warnings that reach people in time. "Federal, state and local authorities share responsibility for alerting citizens that they are in danger," report Drew FitzGerald, Josie Reich and Caitlin Ostroff of The Wall Street Journal. "But the country’s patchwork of digital and physical emergency-alert tools is often a step behind Mother Nature, with deadly consequences."

The tragic July 4th flooding, where, in Kerr County alone, there were more than 90 confirmed fatalities, offers a sobering picture of how much can go wrong. "There were repeated flash flooding warnings in Kerr County, as rain moved in and the Guadalupe River surged at the start of the July 4 weekend," the Journal reports. "Those alerts never reached some of the campers and residents who lacked cellphone service, silenced notifications or didn’t have phones with them, and outdoor sirens were considered but never built."

Texas is not alone. Human errors during the January Los Angeles wildfires caused some text alerts to be delayed, with some even sent to the wrong areas. During Maui's deadly wildfires, cellphone networks failed, leaving some residents who would have received text warnings unaware and unable to seek safety in time.

Besides Mother Nature's stealth, human error and the unpredictability of first-time disasters, what else is going wrong? "The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s internet-based alert system has made it easier for local authorities to reach residents," they write. "But industry experts say some rural officials often lack the funding, expertise or permission from state authorities to push their own alerts through broadcasters and cellphones."

Too many alerts "can cause cellphone users to shut off notifications that become bothersome or irrelevant. A menu of warnings for floods, fires, missing children and more have caused 'alert fatigue' in some areas," the Journal reports. "The FCC is working on changes that would let authorities send muted or vibrate-only notifications in less-dire situations. Those changes won’t go into effect until 2028."

Opinion: Medicaid changes in the federal 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' will have the most impact on rural America

President Donald Trump signs the One Big Beautiful Bill into law on July 4. (Photo via MedPage Today)

Despite the numerous taxation and spending changes in the federal budget bill known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, its most far-reaching changes may be to federal health care policy and spending. In an opinion piece for MedPage Today, Holland Haynie, M.D., a chief medical officer for a Federally Qualified Health Center serving five rural counties in Missouri, shares what she and other medical stakeholders think the reforms will ultimately mean for the future of health care for rural and underserved patients.

"I spent last weekend reading the bill. I joined a policy call with our state association. I talked to nonprofit partners, pharmacists, and other FQHC leaders. . . . Here's what I learned," Haynie writes. "New provisions either require states to set or give them more flexibility in setting stringent eligibility requirements, tighter enrollment verification, and work requirements."

Additional requirements add a Medicaid coverage hurdle that many people won't be able to overcome. Haynie explains, "In rural and underserved communities, paperwork barriers and access gaps are already steep. The impact may not be immediate, but over time, the shift could mean fewer patients covered and more strain on frontline clinics."

The bill dilutes Medicaid expansion and "states like Missouri, which expanded coverage only fairly recently. . . may now struggle to sustain it," Haynie writes. "When the federal match drops or plateaus and enrollment swells, states will face difficult choices cut benefits, reduce payments, or tighten eligibility."

What could that mean for a rural patients? Haynie gives an example:

"Let me tell you about a patient I saw last week. She's in her 60s. She's working two part-time jobs. She doesn't qualify for Medicaid, doesn't have employer insurance. . . She came into our clinic because she couldn't breathe. . . .We stabilized her. Our nurse followed up. . . . We did everything we could to keep her out of the hospital and in her home. That's what FQHCs do.

"Under this new law, we may not be able to do that much longer as our operating margins get even thinner. Uninsured rates will rise. Clinics will close. Access to care will shrink. And when that happens, the public will ask: how did this happen?"

"If you're in health care -- especially community-based care -- read the bill. Talk to your administrators. Talk to your legislators," Haynie writes, "The 'Big Beautiful Bill' may be remembered for its fiscal policy. But its deepest consequences will be felt in the quiet spaces of rural America: in exam rooms, emergency departments, and pharmacy counters where coverage used to exist."

Rural communities can provide ways for vulnerable senior residents to recover after natural disasters

Community support can help older adults recover from disasters. 
(Photo by Ross Harried, Getty Images via The Conversation, CC)

When extreme weather hits a rural community, elderly residents often struggle the most to recover. To help prepare for a natural disaster, smaller towns need to understand their residents' needs and capitalize on their strong community ties to overcome challenges. Lori Hunter, a sociologist who studies rural issues at the University of Colorado, offers tips on how communities can support their senior residents after the storm has passed.

Understanding your town's population makeup and preparation is key. "Rural areas have higher percentages of older adults, a group that is more likely to have chronic health problems that make experiencing natural disasters especially dangerous," Hunter explains. "Friends, family and neighbors in rural areas can help [seniors] develop disaster response plans to ensure older residents have access to medications and medical treatment and that they have an evacuation plan."

Rural communities tend to have stronger social ties that can help older residents work through recovery demands. "Those social connections can help reduce older adults’ vulnerability when disasters strike," Hunter adds. "Following severe flooding in Colorado in 2013, social connections helped older adults navigate the maze of paperwork required for disaster aid, and some even provided personal loans."

Supporting overall health for rural seniors can also mitigate a disaster's long-term impact. "Rural communities and local groups can also help build up older adults’ mental and physical health before and after storms by developing educational, social and exercise programs," Hunter writes. "Better health and social connections can improve resilience, including older adults’ ability to respond to alerts and recover after disasters."

As international grain sales dry up, Kansas farmers also face the loss of Food for Peace and other programs

Congressman Bob Dole of Kansas, standing, was a dedicated advocate for
the Food for Peace Act. (University of Kansas, Dole Archives photo)

Rich rivers of wheat have grown on the Kansas high plains for nearly 200 years. In 1953, a Kansas farmer believed he could help ease Cold War tensions by providing some of his surplus grain to a hungry world. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, another Kansan, endorsed the idea and created a program to support it.

"Food for Peace has sent sacks of grain stamped 'From the American People' to more than four billion people in 150 countries around the world," reports Elizabeth Williamson of The New York Times. "Now it is effectively dead."

In February, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, ended the program when he cut the U.S. Agency for International Development, which had administered it. Williamson writes. "Kansas’s Republican lawmakers tried to save it but failed to persuade President Donald Trump, who last month proposed cutting the entire 2026 budget for Food for Peace as well as another food aid program dear to Kansans, the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition program," which began in 2003.

With Food for Peace fading, many Kansas farmers are hurting. "It was the latest blow to farmers, particularly in Kansas, where about 80% of those on the high plains voted for Trump and agriculture makes up almost half of the state’s economy," Williamson explains. Instead of a more competitive market for their crops, which Trump campaigned on, Kansas farmers are sitting on grain and facing tariffs that have choked off import sales.

The Pawnee County Co-op in Larned, Kan., is "owned by its farmers, and is one of the biggest brokers of high plains wheat. Before Trump took office in January, the co-op sold half its grain abroad, to European, Asian and African buyers," Willaimson adds. "Now the co-op’s foreign sales are 'zero,' said Kim Barnes, its chief financial officer. . . .The co-op was stuck with 1.5 million bushels of grain sorghum after Trump started his tariff war with China."

Tom Giessel, a retired farmer, is disappointed with this administration. He told Williamson, "These people really don’t know the story of Food for Peace and the roots of it. . . . Farmers shipping grain to where people were hungry — that we did these kinds of things is really what made America great.”

Ag roundup: Screwworm update; Prop 12 egg suit; zoning officials close15-year-old's bait shop; disaster aid opens

Screwworm concerns closed U.S.-Mexico livestock trading 
again. (Meredith Corp. photo via Successful Farming)

Continuing its uphill battle to prevent screwworms from re-entering the U.S., the Department of Agriculture suspended its plan to "gradually resume imports through four further ports in the coming months," reports Oliver Ward of Successful Farming. "The announcement came just two days after USDA reopened a single port of entry for Mexican livestock in Douglas, Arizona."

Chickens and eggs are back in the news as the Trump administration files suit against California over its Proposition 12 egg rules that require cage-free housing for egg-laying hens. The suit claims the state's restrictions "violate the federal Egg Products Inspection Act, which it said trumps state egg regulations," reports Philip Gruber of Lancaster Farming. "California law raises egg prices for consumers by preventing farmers across the country from using standard agricultural practices that would help keep prices down, President Donald Trump’s administration said in a July 9 filing."

Max McKinney and his bait stand that officials have
now closed. (Photo by Foss Farms via Farm Journal)

At 15 years old, Max McKinney was already an entrepreneur running his own bait and snack shop until zealous county officials shut him down. McKinney’s 6’x15’ shop "was deemed a zoning violation by Washburn County, Wis., officials," reports Chris Bennett for Farm Journal. "After snapping photographs of the stand as proof of McKinney’s assault on county code, zoning officials issued a cease-and-desist letter, ordering closure under penalty of daily fines." Read how the McKinney family responded here. McKinney's bait shop isn't the only one to get zapped by rule-strapping officials.

Farmers with crops battered by natural disasters in 2023 and 2024 can now apply for USDA aid payments. "The program, referred to as the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program, will be administered in two stages," reports Lydia Johnson of Successful Farming. "The first application stage begins this week for producers with eligible crop losses caused by hurricanes, wildfires and other weather events who received assistance under crop insurance or the non-insured crop disaster assistance program. The second stage will begin in the fall for producers with eligible shallow or uncovered losses."

A Kansas district will open its ag-focused center in a remodeled grade school 
that was closed years ago. (USD 269 photo via The Daily Yonder)

After years of declining student enrollment, the Palco-Damar-Zurich school district (Unified School District 269) in western Kansas found a way to harness its farming history and grow again. "About a dozen new students have signed on, drawn by a new Ag-Focused School model and the opening of USD 269’s Northwest Kansas Agriculture Education Center program," reports Lane Wendell Fischer of The Daily Yonder. "Their vision is to provide some form of agriculture education from preschool through high school. At the elementary levels, students will be engaged in ag-related activities, lessons, and will even roll up their sleeves to do some chores."

Few people are more obsessed with the weather than farmers. While American farmers have a myriad of tools to use, many rely on the U.S. Drought Monitor to measure critical rainfall information. But the Drought Monitor also informs scientists, academics, water management experts and regular citizens about national rainfall across time. Below are examples of July Drought Monitor maps, where the difference of a year can be easily compared. 

 

Department of Veterans Affairs reverses course on mass layoffs after pushback

Veterans make up about 30% of the federal civilian 
workforce. (Gallup photo)

Faced with bipartisan pushback and anger from military veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs is backtracking on its plan to shed more than 80,000 employees. Eric Katz of Government Executive reports, "VA previously told top-level staff it would utilize widespread reductions in force to cut its workforce back to the level it employed in fiscal 2019, leading to a reduction of more than 80,000 employees."

Early 2025 cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency and the VA have already taken a disproportionate toll on veterans' post-service employment, because they make up roughly 30% of the U.S. federal civilian workforce. "The VA has already shed 17,000 employees since January, and plans to cut another 12,000 through additional attrition and separation incentives," Katz explains. "While VA said it would not implement a 'large-scale' or 'department-wide' Reduction in Force, it did not rule out using more targeted layoffs."

Reducing VA staff is framed as a reorganization effort to improve the VA, rather than a way to cut jobs. VA Secretary Doug Collins told Katz, "Since March, we’ve been conducting a holistic review of the department centered on reducing bureaucracy and improving services to veterans. . . . A department-wide RIF is off the table, but that doesn’t mean we’re done improving VA."

The VA has until Monday to "keep its plans under wraps, requiring all of those working on it to take the unusual step of signing a non-disclosure agreement," Katz reports. 

While Collins and some lawmakers said the reversal of mass layoffs was always a possibility, the American Federation of Government Employees council, which represents employees in VA’s central office, "suggested that the change was a direct result of outcry and pushback," Katz adds. "The group said the change in plans was not 'a coincidence, it was a response.' The union added significant damage has been done to the VA workforce."

Fatal Texas flooding leads to controversy over National Weather Service staffing cuts

The violent waters of the Guadalupe River flipped this
 motor home. (Photo by Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, NPR)

The fatal July 4th flooding in central Texas has led to questions over whether staffing cuts at the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contributed to the tragedy, which left more than 100 people dead. "The floods occurred along Texas’s Guadalupe River, roughly an hour’s drive northwest of San Antonio," reports Miriam Waldvogel of The Hill.

"The Austin/San Antonio Weather Service office’s warning coordination meteorologist, who organizes alerting the outside world about agency forecasts, took a Trump administration buyout in April," reports Rachel Frazin of The Hill. 

Rick Spinrad, who headed NOAA during the previous administration, "pointed to the absence of a warning coordination meteorologist," Frazin writes. Spinrad told her, "Information went out with significant lead time of several hours, and yet no action was taken. . . . In the weather forecast offices, the one who follows up with that is the position called the warning coordination meteorologist. And guess what, there is no WCM in the San Antonio/Austin weather forecast office, because that’s one of the positions that was lost in the cuts. . ."

A NWS spokesperson told The Hill that the Austin/San Antonio office and the San Angelo office "had additional forecasters on duty during the catastrophic flooding event in Texas’s Hill Country during the July 4 holiday weekend."

While Democrats want NWS cuts scrutinized for the part they may have played in the catastrophe, "President Trump said staffing cuts didn’t impact the handling of the incident," Frazin reports. Trump told reporters, "That was really the Biden set-up … but I wouldn’t blame Biden for it, either. . . . This is a hundred-year catastrophe, and it’s just so horrible to watch."

Trump will be in central Texas today, although "it’s not clear yet where he will visit," Waldvogel reports. "The deadly flash floods [swept through] Kerrville, Ingram, and Hunt, along with summer camps including Camp Mystic."

An in-depth look at screwworms and the USDA response to keep the problem from spreading in the U.S.

An adult female screwworm fly can lay up to 300 eggs
at a time. (USDA photo via Offrange)

 

Hollywood horror flicks can't hold a candle to the gruesomely parasitic screwworm. The flesh-eating larvae were eradicated in the U.S. nearly 60 years ago, only to reappear in South America and then migrate back into Mexico, where the Department of Agriculture has played hardball at the border, trying to keep the insidious pest from re-entering the states.

Luckily for cattle and other mammals, the screwworm, which is a type of blowfly's larva, isn't even a particularly effective parasite because it inevitably kills its host.

Female Cochliomyia hominivorax fixate on the smell of blood from any wound as a place to "lay their eggs — up to 300 at a time. These hatch out spined maggots that anchor themselves into flesh, then proceed to eat their way through it, sometimes deep into muscle," reports Lela Nargi of Offrange. "If it’s deep enough, the host animal cannot survive."

The USDA continues to use a multi-pronged approach to control screwworms:

• In May, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins suspended the import of live cattle, horses, and bison through U.S. ports of entry along the Mexican border, aiming to curtail entry possibilities while providing time to prepare and counter any screwworm infestations. While Rollins announced a phased reopening of the southern ports this July, the plan comes with heightened and constant monitoring.
• The plan includes the incremental release of thousands of sterile male screwworm producers with heavy monitoring by U.S. and Mexican scientists. The mass numbers of sterile screwworm-producing blowflies work to create a buffer by out-competing the fertile male flies. Since a female screwworm blowfly can only mate once in a lifetime, when she mates with a sterile male blowfly it insures that her eggs will never hatch -- no matter how many eggs she lays.
• Experts can also trap and measure the ratio of sterile to fertile male screwworm producers in different areas. Sterile releases aim to overwhelm the wild population, which scientists can also measure through traps.
• The USDA also employs teams affectionately known as "tick cowboys" who patrol borders on horseback, looking for any signs of illness in herds. By scouting for any cattle that appear distressed, the USDA can quickly detect, contain, and report any screwworm (or other) infestation.

An active screwworm infestation can be treated and cured, but like the worms themselves, it's "disgusting," Nargi writes. "The maggots have to be removed before the wound is cleaned and sutured." 

Screwworms do have a natural enemy -- fire ants. Nargi writes, "Unsurprisingly, no one is talking about dispersing more fire ants to eat the screwworms."

Experts are already hard at work helping livestock owners get prepared. Philip Kaufman, an entomologist at Texas A&M, "helped compile a new screwworm fact sheet that’s being distributed to ranchers," Nargi reports. "He isn’t prone to screwworm pessimism." He told her, "We are concerned, but we are not in a crisis. People are getting trained up and we’re gonna tackle this and solve it again."

Sharing any suspicious findings is key. Kaufman told Nargi, "Reporting is the number one thing people can do. If you ignore this, that fly population is just going to get bigger and bigger and cause more of a problem for everybody else. This is a community issue.”

Opinion: Public lands should not be sold. Open lands are our shared 'inheritance. . . and space of democracy'

Humpback whale joyfully feeding in the Kenai Fjords, Alaska. (NPS Photo by K. Thoresen)

Even though lawmakers ultimately rejected the sale of public lands as part of the federal budget bill called the Big Beautiful Bill, that doesn’t mean the idea won't come around again. In her opinion for The New York Times, Terry Tempest Williams explains what motivated Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and other like-minded Republicans to push for the provision and why so many Americans opposed it.

Had it passed, the provision would have facilitated the sale of more than one million acres of public lands; however, the loss of public property wouldn't be the only consequence. "Lee claimed in each of his many revisions of the proposal that disposing of our public lands was a way to address the housing crisis," Williams writes. "But that was a ruse; housing experts have said it wouldn’t have made a dent in the problem. What the senator wanted was to establish a precedent — to normalize selling off our public lands to generate cash to pay for tax cuts. Open that door, and the open space of democracy closes."

Porcupine caribou mothers go to Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 
Alaska for calving season. (Photo by P. Maher, CPAWS) 

As lawmakers wrangled over the provision, a dramatic rejection of the idea came from "over 100 conservation groups and public lands advocates, as well as hunters, anglers, ranchers, recreationists and right-wing influencers," Williams explains. The sale legislation failed because "in addition to Democrats, four Republican senators from Montana and Idaho refused to vote for it. . . five Republican House representatives from Western states said it was a 'poison pill.' . . . America’s public lands are safe — for now."

Americans made it known to Congress that their lands were not for sale. "Members of Congress learned once again that if they don’t support public lands, they risk being voted out of office, especially in the American West," Williams writes. "What we saw was collective outrage fueled by love — energy we must nurture and draw on in the months and years to come."

Lee isn't the first politician to look at federal lands and see the money privatization could bring. According to Williams, Americans must remain stalwart protectors of their public "inheritance" that remains home to vastly different kinds of wildlife and broad expanses of landscapes found nowhere else on the planet. Williams writes, "What I feel more deeply now is that open lands inspire open minds. This is the open space of democracy." 

The U.S. Declaration of Independence voices the conflicts of the past and the country's ideals

The drafters of the Declaration of Independence present their document to the Continental Congress.
(Painting by John Trumbull, Wikimedia Commons)

Rereading the U.S. Declaration of Independence can be a worthwhile endeavor. Remembering our country's ideals can help us consider our country's past and envision its way forward. 

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Quick hits: Kentucky history in photos; rural SNAP use; world's biggest telescope; gloomy toy tariffs; radishes!

South Fork of the Kentucky River, Breathitt County, Kentucky, 1940. 
(Photo by Marion Post Wolcott, Farm Security Administration)

Even one photo of an event or a person during a historical era can add rich nuance to a story. Sometimes, photos can even be the story. "Imagine looking at a state in forty-year intervals. Documenting Kentucky: Three Photographic Surveys, does just that in a new show at the Frazier History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky," reports Ted Wathen for The Daily Yonder." From loading cut tobacco leaves to a handful of newly hatched guinea chicks to horse-led recliners, the photographs tell quite a story.

Far fewer rural families currently use the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, than they did in 2015. "SNAP use has declined in nearly every state," reports John McCracken of Investigate Midwest. "Rural states have seen major drops in the number of households using the program, with Iowa, Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee seeing the most significant declines." The recently passed "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" will reduce federal SNAP spending by $290 billion over the next decade.

A small section of the observatory’s total view of the Virgo cluster. Bright stars in the Milky Way galaxy shine in the foreground, and many distant galaxies are in the background. (NSF-DOE photo)

Outer space can be a shared adventure as the world's largest telescope starts taking pictures. "The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is poised to discover billions of new astronomical objects, revolutionizing understanding of everything from the history of the solar system to the workings of dark energy," reports Jay Bennett for Wired. "The telescope will create a decade-long, high-resolution movie of the universe. It will generate about 20 terabytes of data per day, the equivalent of three years streaming Netflix."

While Santa Claus hasn't commented on the subject, the U.S. toy industry is hurting from high tariffs on Chinese goods. "The cost of toys and games is rising at a record rate as the industry begins to feel the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China," reports Rhian Lubin of The Independent. "Nearly 80% of the toys sold in the U.S. are sourced from China, according to The Toy Association, and the industry is bracing itself. . . . Last month Mattel, the creator of Barbie, Hot Wheels, Uno, American Girl and more, was threatened by Trump for refusing to move its production to the U.S. – the ultimate goal of the president’s tariffs."

Radishes come in a wide variety of flavors, colors
and shapes. (Photo by Philippe Collard, Unsplash)

For some people, summer's glory is summed up in a trip to the garden or a local farmer's market, where a variety of colors and flavors await to be tossed together into a delectable meal. Some visitors love fresh sweet corn, while some are rhubarb aficionados, but others love root crops -- especially radishes. "Of all the root crops known to humankind, my favorite is the humble radish," writes Jerry Nelson of Successful Farming. "Radishes are a good source of vitamin C, minerals, and bad breath. But their benefits don’t end there. They don’t even begin there. . . ."

Despite all their flaws, people are remarkably adaptable and creative beings. "Humans are the only animal that lives in virtually every possible environment, from rain forests to deserts to tundra," reports Christina Larson of The Associated Press. "This adaptability is a skill that long predates the modern age. According to a new study published in Nature, ancient Homo sapiens developed the flexibility to survive by finding food and other resources in a wide variety of difficult habitats." In other words, we were born food foragers and farmers!