House panel has a ‘near-universal consensus’ on pausing the U.S. Postal Service’s planned changes

The USPS will have new leadership who may rethink
 recent plans. (Photo by Clay Leconey, Unsplash)

Over the past few decades, the United States Postal Service has struggled to stay financially afloat and transition from a letter-delivery service to more of a package-delivery service. USPS leadership has faced an uphill battle to maintain its mission — to accept and deliver mail to every address in the U.S., its territories, and possessions — while remaining solvent.

The last Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, retired after his 10-year plan, Delivering for America, floundered and repeatedly angered lawmakers. “As a new leader takes the helm of the U.S. Postal Service, a House panel debated the future of the independent entity,” reports Sean Michael Newhouse of Government Executive. “There was a near-universal consensus on pausing and even reversing" DeJoy's plans. 

Mike Plunkett, the CEO and president of the Association for Postal Commerce, told the panel, “Under the Delivering for America plan, our members have suffered unprecedented rate increases and service degradation. . . . If the incoming PMG is to have any chance at success, the postal service must immediately pause implementation of Delivering for America.”

Plunkett suggested a “moratorium on rate increases, a pause in spending on building new facilities and halting any product changes while new leadership assesses what reforms to keep, modify or unwind,” Newhouse writes. “Jim Cochrane, the CEO of the Package Shippers Association, a trade organization, testified that USPS needs a ‘new vision’ to improve its finances.”

David Steiner, who previously served as the CEO of Waste Management and as a member of the FedEx board, was selected by the bipartisan USPS Board of Governors to become the next Postmaster General.

“DeJoy was pressured to resign [in March] due to conflicts with the Department of Government Efficiency," Newhouse reports. “President Donald Trump, who reportedly backed Steiner, has mused about privatizing USPS or folding it under the Commerce Department.”

Canadian travelers boycott visits to U.S., and the loss of Canadian dollars could 'upend local economies.'

Fearful of problems at the U.S.-Canada border, many
Canadians have canceled U.S. travel.  (Adobe Stock photo)

In a response to U.S. annexation and tariff threats, many Canadians are boycotting U.S. travel and opting to spend their vacation dollars in other countries. "Canadians have long been the top international travelers to the U.S.," reports Allison Pohle of The Wall Street Journal. The loss of Canadian travel dollars "threatens to upend local economies across the U.S. . . . Even a 10% reduction in Canadian travel could mean $2 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses."

Craig Treulieb, a Canadian who planned a celebratory trip to the U.S. with his wife, serves as an example of how costly the loss of Canadian visitors can be. "They spent about $3,500 on flights, hotels, an Airbnb booking and a rental car, with plans to spend freely on food and excursions during the nearly two-week trip," Pohle writes. "The day after (former Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau told business leaders that (President Donald) Trump might be serious about annexing Canada, they canceled the trip. They will instead travel to British Columbia."

Canadians' concern over border delays has kept some from visiting the U.S. simply because they fear they won't be allowed home. "Canadians say Trump’s threats of annexation have infuriated and scared them, so much so that they won’t cross the border to spend time or money," Pohle reports. "Recent news about lengthy detentions for tourists and green-card holders has further deterred would-be travelers."

Air travel to the U.S. from Canada has also decreased. "Calgary-based WestJet says it has 'observed a shift in bookings from the U.S. to other sun destinations such as Mexico and the Caribbean among Canadian travelers,'" Pohle writes. "In tiny Whitefish, Mont., which is just 60 miles from the border of British Columbia, spending by Canadians was down 14% in January compared with a year ago."

A plan to restore and protect the Mississippi River is getting another chance in Congress

The Mississippi River basin, its major tributaries and the hypoxic "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico. (EPA map via WJS)

After centuries as a mighty force, the Mississippi River needs planned protection to keep it viable. "Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin announced that she plans to introduce the Mississippi River Restoration and Resilience Initiative in the Senate. Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota will bring the same bill forward in the House," writes Report for America correspondent Madeline Heim for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The proposal is "modeled after programs that protect other major bodies of waters across the U.S., like the successful Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Chesapeake Bay Program."

Over the past two decades, Mississippi waters have included record highs and lows as drought and flooding have taken a toll. Despite the river's environmental traumas, it remains a vital part of U.S. infrastructure. "Millions of Americans rely on it for drinking water, commerce and recreation, and its floodplains provide food and habitat for hundreds of fish and wildlife species," Heim writes. "But it's facing a multitude of challenges, from extreme weather to habitat loss to persistent agricultural and industrial pollution. That pollution contributes to the Gulf of Mexico's dead zone, which last year was almost as big as Yellowstone Park."

Heim reports, "Even in the past few years, the river has experienced the impacts of a changing climate, said Kelly McGinnis, the Mississippi River Network executive director. Last spring, communities along the upper river saw near-record floodwaters, book-ended by severe droughts that slowed shipping traffic to a crawl."

The Mississippi River's restoration plan would be housed within the Environmental Protection Agency, but input and problem-solving data from the 10 states the river touches would be used. Program funding "would fall into four main buckets," Heim explains. "Those include improving water quality, restoring habitats, reducing the presence of invasive species and creating natural infrastructure to protect against flood damage."

Beyond the four focus points, the program includes a "science plan," which "would create three regional hubs at universities in the 10 border states for research on the river's challenges," Heim reports. While the Mississippi plan is based on the success of The Great Lakes Initiative, it faces a far more partisan Congress for passage. "Baldwin said that she plans to have discussions with senators from across the aisle whose states border the river and that she believes bipartisan support is possible. . . . Its supporters believe that its reintroduction will help remind people of the threats the river faces."

Double, double toil and trouble; haunting Kentucky tales and tourist dollars bubble

Part of Kentucky's After Dark campaign highlights rural areas with
chilling legends and haunts to share. (KY After Dark photo via DY)

If you're hankering for good scare, look no more; Kentucky is investing in dark tourism that'll deliver chills and thrills. "Thought to be the first of its kind in the country, the Kentucky After Dark campaign provides visitors with passports and encourages them to visit the small towns and big cities in Kentucky that are home to tales of the supernatural and unexplained," reports Liz Carey of The Daily Yonder. "Tourism directors hope that the campaign will not just bring people to cities like Louisville and Richmond but to smaller towns like Cadiz, Kelly, and Simpson."

Robbie Morgan, director of the Lawrenceburg/Anderson County Tourism Commission, told Carey, "Rural communities don't have the money to advertise like larger cities do. This is one-in-a-lifetime money. . . . We're really small. We're hoping that [Kentucky After Dark visitors] would come early enough to maybe dine with us and that they may even spend the night with us. Any of those dollars that are left here in our community is something that has a positive impact."

"Promoting scary events during Halloween makes sense – and cents," Carey reports. "According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent a record $10.6 billion on Halloween last year. A 2022 study of 937 tourists by Passport-Photo Online found that 82% of tourists have been to a dark tourist site in their lifetime, and of the 18% that haven't, nearly two-thirds (63%) said they had a dark site they wished to visit."

Chilling rumors of unexplainable or paranormal happenings often live on "in small towns that dot the landscape across the country," Carey reports. "In Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, the community sees an influx of tourists during the fall who come to the Anderson Hotel – a haunted hotel in the middle of town, Morgan said. In the spring, visitors come for the Wildman Festival – celebrating the area's many bigfoot sightings."

Dark tourism has worked in other areas of the country. For instance, in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, "the Mothman Festival and the legend of Mothman draw in nearly 50,000 tourists a year to the town of just over 4,000 people," Carey writes. "Officials with the West Virginia Tourism Department said the Mothman legend and other paranormal sites, like the TransAllegheny Lunatic Asylum, the Moundsville Penitentiary, and the Flatwoods Monster Museum, draw in tourists all year round."

The campaign, Morgan said, "will help more than just the 12 communities the passport leads visitors to," Carey adds. "In Lawrenceburg, it's not uncommon for visitors to the city's haunted hotel to book hotel rooms months in advance, Morgan said. And when those rooms fill up, neighboring rural counties benefit."

90% of U.S. iron ore travels through the Soo Locks, and the system needs expensive upgrades

Map by Marine Cadastre, Army Corps of Engineers via 
The Wall Street Journal

It isn't just the mighty Mississippi River that moves U.S. commerce. A system of locks, known as the Soo Locks is also vital to trade, but the neglected system needs ongoing, long-term repairs.

"About 10,000 ships pass through the Soo Locks each year to bring iron ore, grain, limestone and other staples across the Great Lakes and Canada into the Midwest and beyond," reports Ken Thomas of The Wall Street Journal. "The navigational system allows large ships to bypass rapids below Lake Superior. . . . Every few decades, the locks were upgraded — until recently."

The pandemic gave Americans a first-hand look at the havoc supply chain disruptions can cause, helping projects like the Soo Locks repairs become a national priority. "Now, construction crews are working to complete a modernization of the locks," Thomas writes. "The question is whether the upgrades can get the funds they need in time." And while the Biden administration has increased funding, more will be needed through 2030 when the upgrades are slated for completion.

In 2015, a Department of Homeland Security study "found that the aging network serves shipping vessels carrying nearly 90% of the nation's iron ore, a critical component of the steel used to make cars and refrigerators," Thomas explains. "The study estimated that if it closed for an extended period, it would also disrupt steel production, cost millions of jobs, and reduce U.S. gross domestic product by $1.1 trillion. . . . John Walsh, the chief executive of the Michigan Manufacturers Association, said trade associations as well as congressional delegations from the Great Lakes states are working to keep the funding a priority.

"The locks are the only effective way to transport the raw materials because distributing iron ore and other supplies by trucks or trains would be cost-prohibitive. Supporters noted that 13 of 14 North American integrated steel mills are dependent upon the Soo Locks to transport iron ore from Minnesota and Michigan," Thomas adds. "The system is nearly as old as the U.S.: The first lock, about 40 feet long to handle canoes, was built on the St. Marys River in 1798 by the Northwest Fur Co. to enhance the fur trade."

Help your community 'know their risk and protect their money' by raising public awareness with this media kit

To increase the public's awareness of deposit insurance and how it can protect people's money in the event of a bank's failure, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation developed a national consumer campaign, "Know Your Risk. Protect Your Money."

The campaign reaches people who may have lower confidence in the U.S. banking system or do not use a bank, as well as those who use mobile payment systems, alternative banking services and financial products that may appear to be FDIC-insured but are not.

The FDIC is asking financial institutions, community organizations, government agencies, and others who serve the public to help raise awareness of deposit insurance protections.

Tips on how to spread the word:

• Link to FDIC's Deposit Insurance page from your website (also available en español).
• Publish posts on your own social media channels using the materials on our social media toolkit page and including the hashtag, #IsYourMoneyInsured.
• Review the campaign launch press release to learn more.

To make the topic less daunting, FDIC offers several "Saving Pigs" in English and Spanish to get the conversation going.
                 
           

Is the U.S. inching toward recession? Ag economists weigh in on warning signs

Graphic by Lindsey Pound, Farm Journal

Over the past two years, many economists and business leaders have warned that an economic downturn is on the horizon. "While ag economists continue to be at odds when it comes to the likelihood of a recession in the United States, there are also concerns about economic woes around the globe," reports Tyne Morgan of Farm Journal. "Some economists doubt the United States' biggest importers will be able to avoid a recession over the next 18 months."

Ag Economists' Monthly Monitor has kept tabs on U.S. trade partners' ongoing efforts to prevent  a recession. "A survey of nearly 60 ag economists from across the country were asked if the United States' major importers will avoid a recession over the next 18 months," Morgan writes. "Of those who answered the question, nine said 'yes,' but eight responded 'no.' Four remained unsure. . . .when asked to explain their reasoning, the answers revealed a host of concerns, including labor shortages, risks in China and Europe, and the strength of the U.S. dollar."

The U.S. economy has proved robust, but many economists "point to red flags that continue to flash caution signs moving forward," Morgan explains. "One is the fact credit card debt is climbing at a time when inflation continues to eat away at consumers' spending power." 

September's Monitor conducted an anonymous survey asking economists to name the top three indicators they use when considering possible recession. Their replies included:

"I follow Fed monetary actions, interest rates and unemployment levels."

"I follow unemployment rate, hourly wage rate and consumer prices."

"I don't think the Fed can get inflation down to the 2% mandate without a recession if it holds to that mandate."

"Employment growth remains fairly strong, and the U.S. unemployment rate remains historically low. As long as there is not a sizable decline in demand for labor (which is what I believe), the U.S. should, at worst, have a shallow and relatively short recession."

"Ag economists' view on the overall ag economy is also starting to erode," Morgan reports. "The September Monitor shows lower commodity prices, concerns about demand, and a negative outlook for China's economy, all contributing to the changing views, even as the cattle herd and U.S. corn and soybean crops continue to shrink." 

A group of 10 states wants to create a compact to protect the Mississippi River

Aerial view of the Mississippi River near Guttenberg, Iowa.
(Photo by Drake White-Bergey, Wisconsin Watch via WWNO)

The Mississippi River, one of the biggest jewels in America's geography crown, has provided many of the country's commerce and water needs for centuries. Now, the river is stressed by weather extremes and is being considered by drought-stricken Western states as a possible solution for their water shortages.

Historically, the Mississippi has lacked a governance, but given its vital importance to trade and dams, some states are working to create a new framework. "A coalition of Mississippi River mayors wants a 10-state compact that would establish collective management of the waterway," reports Keely Brewer, WWNO, which serves New Orleans. "At the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative's annual meeting, about 30 mayors unanimously voted in favor of pursuing a compact that would span more than 2,300 miles of river. It's the first step of what could be a lengthy process."

The group would provide an "overall management structure." MRCTI's executive director, Colin Wellenkamp, said, "A compact among the core states bordering the river would be a way to think about river management at the watershed scale, from the headwaters in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, and coordinate during events affecting the whole river, like drought and flooding," Brewer writes. "A compact could provide legal protections for Mississippi River resources, such as the vast amount of water the river drains from 31 states and two Canadian provinces."

Mark Davis is the director of Tulane University's Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy in New Orleans, which studies Mississippi River management issues. Brewer reports, "Davis likened the water in the Mississippi River to a baton in a relay race; management changes with each of the 10 states it flows past, not including the other 21 states that feed into the river. . . . As parched states in the West grapple with drought and water scarcity, there have been renewed efforts to pump Mississippi River water west. But Wellenkamp said their concern lies with 'anyone that wants to put a straw in the Mississippi,' not just western states."

"The mayors are looking to the Great Lakes Compact as a model. In that region, eight states and two Canadian provinces established principles for water management and a requirement to notify and consult other members before diverting large amounts of water.” Getting the Great Lakes states to agree to a "shared vision" has presented a challenge, but Davis said "They agreed on something fundamental: they didn't want their water sent to just anyone with a checkbook," Brewer adds. 

"Wellenkamp said a Mississippi River compact would be similar to the Great Lakes agreement in terms of geographic scope, and he likes that it isn't overly prescriptive. But he said there's a key difference: they're trying to develop a Mississippi River compact in the face of severe climate threats." Davis told Brewer: "We are highly motivated by recent disasters and highly motivated by recent climate impacts that the Great Lakes did not have."

Low-high, high-low: Mississippi flooded in spring, but now levels are falling and barge traffic could be slowed again

Just below the confluence with the Ohio River, a barge loaded with coal and gravel found the channel close to the Kentucky shore of the low Mississippi River last Friday as the Missouri shore grew more sandy. (Rural Blog photo by Al Cross)

Life on the Mississippi is getting drier as the river faces drought and dipping levels. Low water is "threatening to disrupt commerce for a second consecutive year, months after cities along the vital economic artery saw floodwaters test their sandbag barriers and containment walls," reports Shannon Najmabadi of The Wall Street Journal. "Water levels in St. Louis and Memphis are 10 to 20 feet lower at this point in the year than in 2020 and 2019 due to lack of rain. Parched soils have absorbed moisture instead of letting it run off into the river, though recent downpours have helped, said Lisa Parker, spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Mississippi Valley Division."

Over half of U.S. soybeans are exported, and most of that goes down the Mississippi, Najmabadi notes. Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, "said the Army Corps of Engineers has begun monitoring water levels and has 16 dredges operating on the Mississippi River to keep the water channel and harbors deep enough for transit. Steenhoek told the Journal, "We've really seen this ebb and flow—this dramatic ebb and flow—this last year more than we've seen in years past."

Part of spring's water highs stemmed from Minnesota's record snowfall melting in April, its runoff engorging the river, but it is increasingly plagued by droughts. "Low water levels on the Mississippi River last fall contributed to $20 billion in economic losses, according to an AccuWeather estimate. Some barges were grounded on sandbars," Najmabadi reports. "Other vessels lightened their loads to keep them from sitting too low in the water, which increased transportation costs for farmers and others."

The river's fluctuating levels are affected by weather and changing climate, but the river is engineered by humans. Nicholas Pinter, a University of California professor who has extensively researched rivers and watersheds, told Najambadi, "Climate change is in there. . . . [But] it's smaller than the impacts of levees and navigational infrastructure on portions of the Mississippi River."

Bob Criss, a professor emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis and "critic of the Corps' management of the river, said U.S. goods should also be moved by rail," Najambadi reports. "Because locks and dams used to make the Mississippi River navigable create a slow-moving, deep channel that has changed the environment." Criss told her: "The Mississippi River from St. Louis all the way to New Orleans was twice as wide as it is now. It was full of islands and sandbars, which are habitats for birds and everything else. The barges do not pay for the river maintenance. . . . They pay nothing for the dredging."

Tracy Zea, president and chief executive officer of the Waterways Council, which represents river shipping interests, "is hopeful water levels won't be as low as last fall," Najambadi writes. "About 500 million tons of goods, worth more than $158 billion, are transported on inland U.S. waterways each year, Zea said. The vessels are more fuel-efficient than trucks or trains. One barge can carry the load of 70 fully loaded semi-trucks."

Probe of Chinese solar-panel makers all but halts imports, slowing clean-energy projects and giving coal a reprieve

"Auxin Solar Inc., a tiny, struggling maker of solar panels, has thrown the entire American renewable-energy industry into chaos," Phred Dvorak and Katherine Blunt report for The Wall Street Journal. "A petition Auxin filed with the Commerce Department accusing Chinese companies of circumventing tariffs spurred a U.S. probe in March that has effectively halted most solar-panel imports, according to utilities and industry groups, delaying solar projects all over the country. Since the Commerce Department agreed to investigate, the complaint has halted panel shipments from Southeast Asia to the U.S., according to utilities and trade groups, because makers overseas worry that they could be hit retroactively with extra duties."

If it's bad for solar, it's good for coal. Dvorak and Blunt note, "Indiana-based utility NiSource Inc. said delays of up to 18 months in solar projects meant it would have to keep coal-fired power plants that are slated for retirement running longer than expected."

The investigation triggered an immediate backlash from utilities and politicians, who warn it "could set back U.S. efforts to transition to cleaner energy sources to combat climate change. A U.S. solar trade group estimates the turmoil could cost the industry billions of dollars," Dvorak and Blunt report. Auxin CEO Mamun Rashid said his employees have been harassed and his company servers hacked. He said hurting the renewable-energy industry is the last thing he wants to do, but that unfair trade practices have made it impossible to compete with Chinese solar-cell factories, the Journal reports.

"The furor over the petition by Auxin, a privately held company based in San Jose, Calif., highlights how dependent the American solar industry is on foreign supplies, most of which are controlled by Chinese companies that can produce large volumes at low prices," Dvorak and Blunt report. "Chinese manufacturers make around 63% of the polysilicon used in most solar panels globally, and more than two-thirds of the wafers that are the next step in the manufacturing process. For the past decade, the U.S. has tried to keep some solar manufacturing at home by levying tariffs on the solar cells and panels that are the final stages of production, including steep duties on Chinese makers. But production instead shifted to Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, which last year manufactured nearly half of the cells and 80% of the panels that U.S. solar companies depended on for their projects, according to trade associations."

A group of American solar-panel manufacturers complained anonymously to Commerce last year that Chinese manufacturers were getting around tariffs by routing their business through those Southeast Asian countries, but it was rejected because the businesses didn't identify themselves. "Auxin, which had been a member of the group, decided to try again on its own and in the open, according to a person familiar with the matter," Dvorak and Blunt report.

The nation's largest solar manufacturer, First Solar, Inc., has publicly supported Auxin though it isn't part of the petition (and, owing to different materials and manufacturing processes, isn't affected by the tariffs). Samantha Sloan, the company's vice-president of policy, told the Journal that the blowback against Auxin suggests that some "are afraid that the Department will find that Chinese solar manufacturers are, in fact, engaged in circumvention and will hold them accountable for their unfair and unlawful trade practices," she said.

Policy paper shows how local strategies are helping revitalize three small cities: Wheeling, Emporia and Laramie

Part of the historic district of Laramie, Wyoming (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

A five-part policy paper aims to cut through stereotypes to show small-town America as it really is and discuss examples of local strategies for sustainable growth in three small cities (Wheeling, West Virginia; Laramie, Wyoming; and Emporia, Kansas) and surrounding rural areas. Its authors argue that this is more important than ever as such places struggle economically during the pandemic.

Pundits and policymakers (not to mention the general public) often paint rural and small-town America as a monolith of white people who depend on traditional industries and struggle with stagnation, decline and despair. "These characterizations are not just inaccurate; they actively obscure effective solutions for rural economic and community development and the local efforts underway to implement them," Hanna Love and Mike Powe write for the Brookings Institution.

Love is a senior research analyst for Brookings' Metropolitan Policy Program. Powe is the director of research at Main Street America, a nonprofit focused on revitalizing older and historic commercial districts. They write, "For decades, local leaders have been implementing locally tailored economic development strategies that value and build upon place-based assets, and have garnered real successes in fostering recreation, amenity-based, and service economies that support rural places of opportunity." Here's a brief summary of each part:

Main Streets are a key driver of equitable economic recovery: Downtown revitalization of commercial corridors outside metropolitan areas can foster economic revival for small businesses and make small cities more equitable, dynamic and resilient. Love and Powe provide a framework for evaluating revitalization efforts and applying elsewhere the lessons learned in Wheeling, Laramie, and Emporia.

Non-metro small businesses need local solutions to survive: The pandemic disproportionately hurts small businesses, especially outside metro areas, places that were still rebounding from the Great Recession. They often had less access to capital, poor broadband connectivity, and were more likely to be the most immediately vulnerable industries than their urban counterparts, Love and Powe write. This section discusses the role downtown revitalization and government support can play in helping underserved rural small businesses develop, survive and grow.

A flexible, accessible and healthy built environment; Non-metro residents face persistent barriers, such as lack of access to health care, broadband, and fresh food, and they're disproportionately likely to be struggling with poverty, debt, and isolation. "Rural small businesses face similar challenges in connectivity and capital access, and are suffering further due to their concentration in the most immediately vulnerable industries," Love and Powe write. This section explores whether downtown revitalization can promote the improvements needed for the health and resilience of a broader swath of rural residents and small businesses.

Main Streets can't achieve true economic revival without bridging social divides: Non-metro revitalization and growth increasingly rely on immigrants, but many places struggle with racism or elitism that makes them feel unwelcome. "This brief examines whether downtown revitalization can help foster cohesive social environments that nurture racial and economic inclusion, reflect community identity, and enhance residents’ attachments to place," Love and Powe write.

Creating a shared vision of rural resilience through community-led civic structures: "As governmental responses to the covid-19 pandemic remain inconsistent and marked by disparate outcomes by race and place, people and small businesses are turning to local organizations for relief—seeking support from the community and civic structures they know and trust. While much attention has been paid to community-based actors in cities, less is known about how community organizations and coalitions are stepping up in rural areas, where residents and small businesses face similar barriers in accessing relief," Love and Rowe write. "This brief examines how the place-based entities behind downtown revitalization can not only provide relief to residents and small businesses, but also how they can support the development and capacity of other community organizations, coalitions, and networks to build resilience in the years to come."

Amazon reportedly planning new service for rural deliveries, cutting out U.S. Postal Service, which needs its money

Amazon may be looking to handle its own deliveries to rural areas rather than relying on the U.S. Postal Service, Kim Lyons reports for The Verge. "The e-commerce behemoth would rely on shipping hubs in rural areas under a plan called 'wagon wheel,' a reference to Amazon’s hub-and-spoke supply chain. In Amazon’s terminology, a wagon wheel station provides support for smaller shipping facilities."

It's unclear when or where the program would be launched, "but Amazon executives said on the company’s third quarter earnings call last week that it expects to continue putting money into its shipping and delivery infrastructure for years to come," Lyons reports.

The Postal Service received $3.9 billion in revenue from Amazon in fiscal 2019 for delivering 1.54 billion Amazon packages. That's about 30 percent of Amazon's total volume, Lyons reports. Amazon is more likely to rely on USPS for rural deliveries than its own couriers, since such deliveries are more time-consuming and thus less profitable. 

UPS to add 1,500 access locations, mainly rural, in 2020

Package delivery giant United Parcel Service is moving further into rural areas that are under-served in the era of e-commerce," Anne D'Innocenzio reports for The Associated Press. "The Atlanta-based company said Wednesday it's adding 1,500 pickup and drop-off locations at small businesses primarily located in rural cities and towns across the U.S by year-end. It's through its Access Point program, where UPS pays local merchants a small fee to act as a package pickup location. The move will increase those locations to more than 22,000 this year."

The company said that would put 92 percent of the U.S. population within five miles of an access point. That will help small businesses and give rural residents more access to online shopping, AP reports: "Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer of Publicis Communications, says rural areas are even more dependent on e-commerce as more retailers close stores in those areas."

UPS has made efforts in recent years to expand its rural outreach. In 2019 it added 12,000 new package pick-up locations inside CVS, Michaels and Advance Auto Parts stores, AP reports.

Trump administration delays ban on Huawei Technologies because of concerns about disruptions in rural service

"The Trump administration is extending a reprieve for Huawei Technologies and U.S. companies working with the telecom giant by 90 days, the Commerce Department announced Monday," Bobby Allyn reports for NPR. The new deadline is Nov. 19.

As part of the trade war with China, in May President Trump announced that, within 90 days, U.S. telecoms networks had to stop buying or using equipment from "foreign adversaries". However, the move drew immediate protests from rural wireless carriers who rely on the less expensive Huawei equipment. Monday's extension is meant to give them "a little more time to wean themselves off," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Fox Business Network.

Despite the extended deadline, the Commerce Department is still pressuring Huawei, and has banned another 46 of the company's subsidiaries from doing business with U.S. companies because of national security concerns; that brings the total number of Huawei affiliates on the "Entity List" to more than 100. Commerce officials alleged that the companies engaged in activities including "providing financial services to Iran and obstructing justice in connection with a probe into violations of U.S. sanctions," Allyn reports.

Huawei protested the move, saying in a statement that the decision was politically motivated and unrelated to national security, Allyn reports.

Great Lakes near or at record high levels; scientists say climate change driving extreme swings in water levels

A pier on Lake Ontario is partially inundated by rising water and wind-driven waves. (Buffalo News photo)

Water levels in the Great Lakes have been high since 2014 and these days are at or near record highs. "In May, new high water level records were set on Lakes Erie and Superior, and there has been widespread flooding across Lake Ontario for the second time in three years. These events coincide with persistent precipitation and severe flooding across much of central North America, Drew Gronewold and Richard Rood write on The Conversation. Gronewold and Rood are professors at the University of Michigan who specialize in hydrology and climate science.

What happens to the Great Lakes matters; they contain about one-fifth of the world's surface fresh water, and more than 30 million people live in the Great Lakes basin, many of whom rely on the lakes for drinking water, industrial use, shipping and recreation, Gronewold and Rood report.

High water levels pose several problems for those who live near or depend on the Great Lakes, "including shoreline erosion, property damage, displacement of families and delays in planting spring crops. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently declared a state of emergency in response to the flooding around Lake Ontario while calling for better planning decisions in light of climate change," Gronewold and Rood report.

Based on their research, Gronewold and Rood say climate change is causing rapid fluctuations between too-high and too-low water levels in the Great Lakes, and that this will be the new normal. Water levels in most Great Lakes were very low as recently as 2013, but began surging in 2014 after the "polar vortex" froze much of the lakes and caused evaporation to drop, even as regional precipitation began increasing.

Water levels are influenced by three main factors: rain and snowfall over the lakes, evaporation, and runoff that enters the lakes from tributaries and rivers. Runoff is affected by rain over land, snow and soil moisture. Warmer weather increases evaporation, but also causes snow to melt and runoff to increase. That makes for bigger swings in water level, especially considering that spring is coming earlier these days. Gronewold and Rood call for government agencies and weather forecasters to develop new tools to assess how future climate conditions could affect the Great Lakes' water levels, since current tools aren't capturing the whole picture.

FedEx to hire 700 part-time rural and residential drivers

FedEx Corp. is planning to hire about 700 part-time drivers in 160 U.S. residential and rural markets. They'll use company vehicles, won't get benefits, and will be paid $17.10 per hour in most markets, according to a review of help-wanted ads, Lisa Baertlein reports for Reuters.

"FedEx, like global rival United Parcel Service, is investing billions of dollars to cope with the boom in low-margin residential deliveries, which account for just over half of total package volume versus 20 percent in 2000," Reuters reports. "Taking small numbers of packages the 'last mile' to shoppers' doorsteps and far-flung homes is more costly than delivering scads of envelopes and packages to office buildings . . . which has been the Memphis-based company's bread and butter."

FedEx said the drivers are meant to be a flexible supplement to its existing workforce. Some experts say the move is a response to Amazon, which employs "flex" drivers at $18 to $25 an hour (with no benefits) to deliver packages from their own cars, Baertlein notes

John Haber, chief executive of consultancy Spend Management Experts, said FedEx's move is a shift toward the gig economy. He and other consultants said the new drivers could support FedEx's "Extra Hours" service that allows retailers to provide next-day local delivery for online orders. "They've got a ton of Walmart business," Haber told Baertlein. "If these drivers are rural, this fits the Walmart model."

FedEx also recently announced it would start offering Sunday deliveries, with no extra fees, to most U.S. homes to better accommodate online shopping habits, Paul Ziobro reports for The Wall Street Journal. It hasn't made clear what the extent of Sunday delivery will be in rural areas.

Supreme Court rejects fast-track challenges to livestock-confinement laws in California and Massachusetts

"Two groups of state attorneys general were blocked Monday from bringing a challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court against California and Massachusetts laws that set standards for the treatment of farm animals raised to produce eggs and some meats sold in those states," Bill Lucia reports for Route Fifty. "The attorneys general were asking the Supreme Court to allow their lawsuits to proceed directly to high court, without going through lower federal courts first."

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill led a group of other attorneys general opposing the Massachusetts law and Missouri Attorney General Joshua Hawley led mostly the same group of AGs to oppose California's laws: those of Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. "Those involved in the effort against the Massachusetts law were from mostly the same states. But South Carolina and West Virginia’s attorneys general also took part and Nevada and Iowa’s attorneys general did not," Lucia reports.

The Massachusetts and California laws are meant to improve confined farm animals' welfare by giving them more room to move. The California law, which went into effect in 2015, protects egg-laying hens. The Massachusetts law, passed more than two years ago and scheduled to go fully into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, centers on egg-layers, veal calves and pigs. Sales of such animal products will be prohibited if they come from operations the state considers excessively confined, Lucia reports.

"The attorneys general behind the current cases suggest the California and Massachusetts laws run afoul of federal law and are in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause, which prohibits state laws that discriminate against, or significantly impede interstate commerce," Lucia reports.

Seven-decade old vision for America by 'philosopher of the New Deal' remains relevant today, ag columnists write

As negotiators wrangle over reconciling the Farm Bill, which Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, says won't be finished until after Election Day, a pair of longtime ag policy columnists consider some of the issues it tackles through the words of Henry A. Wallace, whom they call their intellectual mentor.

In his book 60 Million Jobs, Wallace "offers some principles to his 1945 audience that resonate today," Harwood D. Schaffer and Daryll E. Ray write for their Agricultural Policy Analysis Center column. Wallace was President Truman's secretary of commerce when the book was published, but had been Franklin D. Roosevelt's secretary of agriculture, then his, vice president, and was called "the philosopher of the New Deal."

Wallace argued that the U.S. needed to provide 60 million jobs by 1950 to transition the country from a wartime to a peacetime economy. Those jobs "produce 200 billion dollars’ worth of goods and services…with a distribution of wages that will leave no family and no individual beyond the benefits of this abundant national production," he wrote.

Wallace also argued that the U.S. must "squarely face the problem of racial and religious discrimination and propaganda-bred hatred" and acknowledge women's equality in the workplace in order to "attain full employment and lasting peace at home."

Though some things have changed in the U.S. since Wallace published his book, "his vision for an America in which all people share fully in its abundance is as relevant today as it was 73 years ago," Schaffer and Ray write.

Memo reveals Interior's recommended changes to monuments, three new ones for people of color

Petroglyphs at Gold Butte National Monument in Nevada. (AP photo by Christian Lee)

A copy has been leaked of the memorandum that Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke sent to President Trump last month, in which he recommended that the size of some national monuments be reduced in order to again open up those lands for commercial use. The memo revealed that Zinke recommended modifying 10 monuments, which includes shrinking the boundaries of at least four Western sites. Zinke also recommended that local officials and affected industries be able to weigh in on the way the targeted monuments are managed, and said that "the administration should permit 'traditional uses' now restricted within the monuments’ boundaries, such as grazing, logging, coal mining and commercial fishing," Juliet Eilperin reports for The Washington Post.

The memo "does not specify exact reductions for the four protected areas Zinke would have Trump narrow — Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, Nevada’s Gold Butte, and Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou — or the two marine national monuments — the Pacific Remote Islands and Rose Atoll — for which he raised the same prospect," Eilperin reports. "The two Utah sites encompass a total of more than 3.2 million acres, part of the reason they have aroused such intense emotions since their designation."

Zinke also suggested establishing three new national monuments to recognize either African American or Native American history: Camp Nelson south of Nicholasville, Ky., where African Americans joined the Union Army and began Kentucky's change of heart in favor of the Confederacy; the Jackson, Miss., home of Medgar Evers, where he was murdered; "and the 130,000-acre Badger-Two Medicine area in Zinke’s home state of Montana, which is consider sacred by the Blackfeet Nation," Eilperin reports.

The issue may create legal precedent for a president's ability to act under the Antiquities Act, since conservation groups such as the Wilderness Society have vowed to fight Zinke's recommendations in court if they become a reality. "No other president has tried to eliminate a monument, but some have trimmed and redrawn boundaries 18 times, according to the National Park Service," Matthew Daly reports for The Associated Press. President Trump ordered Zinke's review after complaining that former presidents had misused the authority granted by the Antiquities Act to create too-large monuments that hamper important commercial activities.

In an unprecedented move, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross overrules a fish-catch limit

Summer flounder
(Boston Globe illustration)

Earlier this month, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross dismissed a report from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission that concluded that New Jersey was violating a conservation plan for summer flounder, also called fluke. "The decision, which effectively allows New Jersey to harvest more summer flounder, marked the first time the federal government had disregarded such a recommendation by the commission, and it drew a swift rebuke from state officials along the East Coast," David Abel reports for The Boston Globe.

Congress established the multi-state commission 75 years ago to manage fishing in order to maintain a sustainable supply. The commission lowered catch limits after it found that that summer flounder were being overfished, based on government surveys that found their population was down almost 25 percent since 2010. "If the population falls another 14 percent, reaching a critical threshold for the ability of the fishery to rebuild, commissioners will be required by their rules to reduce quotas drastically or implement a region-wide moratorium on catching fluke," Abel reports.

New Jersey, a member of the commission, proposed an alternative plan, but the commission rejected it after its scientists said that plan would result in nearly 94,000 more fish being caught. Ross, who oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, overruled the commission and allowed New Jersey to go ahead with its plan. Members of the commission, fishing officials, and regional NOAA officials were furious. "They said it was unprecedented for a commerce secretary to make a decision without seeking their input," Abel reports. "Such rulings are routinely vetted by NOAA’s regional officials and scientists, who review the commission’s recommendations and then prepare the agency’s response, they said."

New Jersey fishermen argue that the commission's recommended limits would have made it difficult to catch and keep any fluke other than the large females that replenish the flounder population.

The broader impact of the decision remains unknown. Some fishing officials worry that Ross' decision sets a precedent for states to reject the commission's findings and appeal to the federal government whenever they don't like what they're hearing. And if summer flounder are overfished to the point where the population can't rebuild itself, that could impact the marine ecosystem and the coastal economies that rely on it.