Consumers turning to local growers for produce as investigators seek source of intestinal virus

Consumers are turning to produce from local farmers 

in light of a quickly spreading intestinal virus. (Shelly Paul, Unsplash.com)

The source of a virus quickly spreading throughout the United States has yet to be identified, though lettuce is believed to be a likely suspect. The Food and Drug Administration identifies Cyclosporiasis as an intestinal illness caused by parasites associated with all kinds of fresh produce. It occurs only in humans and the most common symptom is diarrhea. 

Produce farmers are facing scrutiny as investigators look into their methods and hygiene, and as consumers turn to trusted local growers, reports Austin Mirmina in CT Insider. Mirmina visited the DeFrancesco farm in Northford, CT, and learned that the farm’s produce stand has been very busy. “I noticed yesterday our lettuce cooler was completely cleared out,” said co-owner Mike DeFrancesco. “I’m seeing a lot of people buying three or four heads of lettuce at a time, when normally people would buy just one head.”

Sara Moniuszko reports in USA Today that as of July 15, 1,645 cases of the illness had been confirmed with more than 5,100 being investigated across 34 states. A cluster of cases in Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia are likely linked, according to the CDC. The outbreak in those states is believed to be directly tied to shredded lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants and distributed by Taylor Farms.

Jamey Lee reports in Market Watch that the illness may have more than once source and might not end until August, and this outbreak appears to be the largest on record.

Bill to increase black lung benefits gets bipartisan local support, faces uphill climb in Congress

Black lung disease, as depicted in the above 

X-ray photo, has affected thousands of coal miners. 

Efforts to increase those benefits have been ongoing 

but have thus far failed. (Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com)

Efforts to increase benefits to coal miners suffering from pneumoconiosis, commonly known as “black lung disease,” have stalled in Congress despite bipartisan support at the local level across coal-producing states. Liam Niemeyer reports in the Kentucky Lantern that “dozens of county and city governments — comprised of both Republicans and Democratic leaders — across multiple Appalachian states have passed resolutions to urge an increase in benefits to support the approximately 25,000 recipients of black lung disability benefits.”

The Save Our Miners Act was introduced June 30. The Lantern story notes that it “would seek to increase benefits all the way back to the same funding level, relative to inflation, as miners received in 1969.” The average monthly benefit in 2026 is $794 or about two thirds of what the check would have been in 1970, adjusted for inflation. But while local officials from both parties sound the alarm, partisan ideologies on Capitol Hill have prevented change.

The trust fund pays miners when coal companies deemed responsible can’t be identified or have gone out of business. The revenue comes from a tax on mined coal. “That fund has taken on hundreds of millions of benefit liabilities because of coal mine bankruptcies, a larger trend seen with the rapid decline in the state’s coal mining industry,” Niemeyer reports.

Republicans are hesitant to support the increased spending, citing concerns about the solvency of the fund, and they accuse Democrats of waging a war on coal companies who pay into the fund. Democrats say their proposals would require only modest investment to provide the needed benefit increases.

The Save Our Miners Act is sponsored by Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) and co-sponsored by Rep. Chris DeLuzio (D-PA) and Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-KY). It goes next to the House Education and Workforce Committee.

Pending closure of community health center in Iowa evidences strength of healthcare as a midterms issue

Health care access has become a major issue approaching the midterm 

elections, no matter the political party. (Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com)

While Republicans tout Medicaid cuts as cost-saving and necessary to reduce fraud and waste, Democrats see the issue as an opportunity for gains in November. Rural voters have leaned reliably Republican for years but with the threat of hospital and clinic closures looming, and in the midst of an already existing crisis of access in many small communities, constituents are questioning the GOP’s strategy.

Reuters reporter Nathan Layne spoke to Shannon Gooden, a receptionist at the River Hills Community Health Center in Centerville, Iowa. The center is closing on July 31. Layne reports that even though the cuts have not been cited as the reason for the closure, it’s not a stretch to draw that conclusion. Layne quotes Gooden as evidence: “I was raised a Republican, and I’ve always voted Republican, but it’s gotten to the point now, more what are you going to do for us? … Something needs to change.”

Layne also cites a Reuters/Ipsos poll from June that showed healthcare costs at the top of all other issues that voters want Congress to address. In response, Republicans point to a $50 billion rural health fund established to help states prop up healthcare access in rural communities. The fund came in the wake of the Medicaid cuts that resulted from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and provides $10 billion in each of the next five years to qualifying states. But Democrats and some state officials claim the fund won’t solve the problem and offers little help to rural hospitals.

The Medicaid cuts go into effect in 2027. Some states and institutions already are making cuts in preparation.

A look back at fracking, from a leading reporter on the beat; environmental questions remain as industry shifts

Mike Soraghan started out with Energy and Environment News, which was bought by Politico, so now he writes for both. His latest opus is a look back at the history of horizontal hydraulic fracturing of deep shale, better known as "fracking," which has had a big impact on parts of rural America. Soragahn has covered it for more than a decade.

Mike Soraghan (Politico photo)

"Shale promised riches, and in some instances, it delivered, saving farms," he writes for Politico Magazine. "Fracking birthed tales of instant 'shale-ionnaires' and oilfield strippers tucking four-figure handfuls of cash in their garter belts for a night’s work. And it also fundamentally changed the United States’ position in the global energy economy, in ways that have been on prominent display over the first half of 2026.

"But a lot of the people you’d expect to profit from fracking . . . were instead crushed by it. And drilling wells could wreak environmental havoc, triggering earthquakes, ruining farmland, polluting airways and contaminating household water to the point it could catch fire. In short: Fracking rewrote the book on American energy, globally and domestically. . . . Today, even if you walk everywhere or drive an electric vehicle, fracking is responsible for keeping your grocery and electric bills down."

But now, "That tumultuous chapter is coming to an end, just as a war-driven energy crisis offers — or threatens — to rewrite the script once again. The irony is that the U.S. is outdoing the petro-kingdoms of the Middle East — just as the world is accelerating its turn toward renewable energy. The easy oil is getting harder to find. Even as production continues to climb, the rate of growth is slowing. Automation is replacing oil workers the way it did coal miners. Environmental protests have moved on to data centers. America’s wildcatters are again starting to scan the horizon for new discoveries abroad. Even Michael Steele, the former Republican Party chair who coined the term, 'Drill, Baby, Drill,' thinks the phrase has outlived its usefulness."

Environmental questions remain, especially "the long-term impact of pumping chemicals from the nearly 2 million fracked wells — questions that may not be answered for years or decades," Soraghan writes. Environmentalists are mostly against fracking shale, but Christopher Knittel, the associate dean for Climate and Stability at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told Soraghan that greenhouse-gas emissions have been cut mainly by power plants’ switch from coal to natural gas. More broadly, Knittel worries that the U.S. backoff from electric vehicles means the American industry could be “islanded off” from the rest of the world. "Perhaps the model for the United States’ energy future isn’t Saudi Arabia, but an actual island," Soragahn concludes.