New World screwworm detected roughly 70 miles from the Texas border as USDA efforts intensify

New World screwworm was found roughly 70 
miles from Laredo, Texas. (USDA photo)

 

The New World screwworm and its flesh-eating larvae have made their way through Mexico to hover fewer than 70 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border. "The case was reported near Sabinas Hidalgo in Nuevo Leon," reports Joshua Baethge of Farm Progress. "That city is close to a major highway connecting Monterrey, Mexico’s second-largest metro area, and Laredo, Texas."

Screwworm larvae were discovered in "an 8-month-old cow that was moved to the area from southern Mexico, which has active NWS cases," Baethge writes. Concerned lawmakers and livestock owners would like Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to persuade the Mexican government to restrict cattle movement to contain the pest.

While NWS larvae will eat the flesh of any warm-blooded animal, female screwworm flies most often lay their eggs in the open wounds or scratches of sheep or cattle. The larvae are considered a threat to U.S. livestock and rancher economies as well as the U.S. food supply.

Rollins said "protecting the U.S. from New World screwworm is a 'national security priority," Baethge reports. Rollins added that "U.S. farmers and ranchers should know that the U.S. 'will not rely on Mexico' to defend the cattle industry, the food industry or 'our way of life.'"

State of Nuevo León within Mexico
(Wikipedia map)

The USDA and Mexican authorities have been working together to push the NWS away from both countries' livestock herds through sterile fly releases, animal surveillance and fly trapping and testing work. 

Since July, the USDA and Mexico "have been monitoring almost 8,000 traps across Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico," reports Jennifer Carrico of Progressive Farmer. "Currently, all the 13,000-plus screening samples have detected no NWS flies."

While the latest detection in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, appears to be limited to one cow, the USDA is still investigating. "Rollins said the U.S will be 'taking no chances,'" Baethge reports.

The U.S. and Europe are considering bird flu vaccinations for high-risk citizens; preparations are underway

Countries are considering bird flu vaccinations for
high-risk of exposure professions. (Adobe Stock photo)

As avian flu travels around the globe, infecting birds, wildlife, cows and people, some countries are considering vaccines for citizens in high-risk professions. Julie Steenhuysen and Jennifer Rigby of Reuters report, "The United States and Europe are taking steps to acquire or manufacture H5N1 bird flu vaccines that could be used to protect at-risk poultry and dairy workers, veterinarians and lab technicians . . .  moves influenza experts say could curb the threat of a pandemic."

The U.S. is "moving bulk vaccine from CSL Seqirus that closely matches the current virus into finished shots that could provide 4.8 million doses of vaccine," Steenhuysen and Rigby write. "European health officials told Reuters they were in talks to acquire CSL's pre-pandemic vaccine." Canada and the United Kingdom are also meeting with their vaccine suppliers to plan for pre-pandemic vaccines.

The newest strain of bird flu, also called H5N1, belonging to clade 2.3.4.4b, was detected in late 2020 and "caused unprecedented numbers of deaths among wild birds and domestic poultry and has begun infecting many mammal species," Reuters reports. "In March, U.S. officials reported the first outbreak of the virus in dairy cattle. . . .The Food and Drug Administration has estimated that 20% of the U.S. milk supply shows signs of the virus, indicating a wider spread is likely."

As more humans are exposed to H5N1, the chance that it may mutate and be able to spread more aggressively in human populations increases. Matthew Miller, co-director of the Canadian Pandemic Preparedness Hub at McMaster University, told Reuters, "All of our efforts need to be focused on preventing those events from happening. Once we have widespread human infections, we're in big trouble."

Reuters reports. "Dr. Richard Webby, a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital virologist who studies flu in animals and birds for the World Health Organization, said the situation in dairy cattle merits vaccine use." He told Reuters, "If we look at the exposure levels that some of these farmers are getting, it's high."

Flora & Fauna: Beagle Brigade searches for contraband; mushroom feeds 'family of four;' a big year for oysters

Graphic by Ali Aas, Ambrook Research

When sleuthing for illegal agricultural goods, sometimes the human nose can't do the job. That's when canines find the contraband. "A group of dogs, nicknamed the Beagle Brigade, spend their shifts stationed at airports, border crossings, and international mail and cargo facilities, searching for packed-away items that could harbor foreign animal diseases and potentially invasive pests — to the detriment of the American agriculture industry," reports Shea Swensen of Ambrook Research. "The program may get a permanent stamp of authorization, meaning reliable funding through Congress, thanks to the Beagle Brigade Act of 2023."

Frontal view of a fruit fly.
(Wikipedia photo)

Besides mosquitos, what's the most relentlessly annoying insect? The answer is Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly. Becky Krystal of The Washington Post reports, "Fruit flies can get in your house the same way any other insect can, through doors or windows especially, says Zachary DeVries, assistant professor at the University of Kentucky's Department of Entomology. . . . Fruit flies 'don't need a whole lot' to flourish, according to DeVries. A single potato, for example, can support 500 fruit flies, if not more, he says." Find out how to get rid of these black-bellied, red-eyed pests here.

Pallid bats have expressive faces.
(Photo by M. Andrus via Pinterest)

California is a big state with so much diversity it's hard to celebrate all the good things. But the state has decided to award "statehood" designation to its impeccably cute pallid bat, reports Soumya Karlamangla of The New York Times. "According to the bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October, bats, in general, provide $1 billion worth of pest control to California agriculture and reduce wildfire risks by eating bark beetles and wood borers that weaken trees."

California honors also went to the "golden chanterelle as a distinct fungal species that is endemic in the state," Karlamangla adds. "The mushrooms are a mesmerizing gold color, flute-shaped and large enough to 'feed a family of four with leftovers,' according to the Bay Area Mycological Society."

Chanterelles can make a hearty
meal. (Wikipedia photo)

Over the past decade, wildlife has had it tough, but if you're a Chesapeake Bay oyster, you're having an outstanding year. "The annual Fall Oyster Survey showed a 'remarkable number' of juvenile oysters," reports Joe Heim of The Washington Post. "And found them widely distributed through many regions of the Chesapeake, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced Tuesday. It found 86.8 spat, or juvenile oysters, per bushel, nearly four times the 39-year median. That marks the fourth consecutive year the survey showed results exceeding the median number."

A tufted titmouse looks for food.
(Photo by J. Bulmer, Unsplash)

Feel like the world is near collapse, or maybe it's just you? Feed some birds. Cute, delightful, kooky and beautiful, birds lift the human spirit. Corrie Evanoff writes, "Whether you try hanging a hummingbird feeder outside your apartment window or setting out a birdbath in a spot of your yard sheltered from predators, you'll be on the road to securing a better future for your feathered visitors — and yes, reaping the mental health benefits of the meditative hobby."

Grid manager's review does not recommend more security for electric substations, says 'Cost was a major concern'

A string of attacks with at least two involving gunfire occurred at substations and other
power facilities last year. (Map by Claudine Hellmuth, Energy & Environment News)

Despite last year's electric-substation shootings and discussion focusing on the power grid it manages, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. is not recommending additional security measures at electric substations, reports Robert Zullo of States Newsroom. Zullo notes that the corporation's CEO, Jim Robb, "told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that cost was a major concern. 'We're not recommending a common minimum level of physical security protections at this time,' Robb said, adding that NERC was aware of the vulnerability of substations and other electric transmission infrastructure, particularly in remote areas. 'Physical security hardening of substations can be extraordinarily expensive. . . . It's important that the risk abated is commensurate with the capital required.'"

FERC ordered the national grid manager to do the review last year, after gunfire attacks on substations in North Carolina, Ohio, the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere, the commission tasked NERC with reviewing existing rules, which only currently apply to electric infrastructure, that, if knocked out, would pose a hazard to the broader bulk power system," Zullo writes. "The current regulation, known as the CIP-014 Reliability Standard, came into being in 2014 after a sniper attack on a California substation. [The standard seeks to prevent] the successive loss of elements on the electric system that results in widespread service interruption. . . . Many substations, like the ones targeted in Moore County, N.C., don't meet that threshold, but damaging them can still result in a loss of power for thousands."

"NERC also didn't recommend extending the applicability criteria under the existing regulations to other, less crucial substations, finding that the rule 'appropriately focuses limited industry resources on risks to the reliable operation of the (bulk power system) associated with physical security incidents at the most critical facilities," Zullo reports. "The review found that the language in the requirements should be 'refined' so that owners of substations that meet the threshold for the security standards conduct effective risk assessments."

FERC Chairman Willie Phillips told Zullo, "There is no greater priority for me and for this commission than making sure that we protect the security of our electric grid." A NERC spokeswoman "said that while the commission cannot create a security standard or tell NERC how to write one, 'They do have the authority to order us to establish a new standard or modify an existing one.' . . . . Robb added that NERC sets baseline standards and that utilities, working with their regulators, can 'invest in additional protections."

Texans block Chinese billionaire's wind farm, citing security; 18 states mulling limits on foreign farmland ownership

Sun Guangxin (Photo by Zhang shi, Imaginechina)

Before curious rural Montanans reported a glowing orb high in the sky and the Chinese spy balloon was shot down, "Texas ranchers were worried about billionaire Sun Guangxin’s close connections with the Chinese state," reports Blake Schmidt of Bloomberg. "The former People’s Liberation Army captain . . . made a fortune by turning failing factories into lux real estate developments. . . . Critics have alleged that state connections are the backbone of Sun’s wealth, estimated at $2.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. And that’s precisely why ranchers in southern Texas are worried."

Their worries stem from the sheer size of Sun's landholdings and its location: "They are trying to stop Sun’s foray into the Lone Star State on national-security grounds after his firm amassed 140,000 acres of farmland worth about $100 million along the Mexican border," Schmidt writes. "When he tried to develop part of it as a wind farm, Texas lawmakers sounded alarms because of its proximity to the state’s electric grid and a U.S. Air Force base. ... Spurred by neighboring landowners who oppose the wind farm, state officials passed a law protecting state infrastructure from foreign entities, and are now considering an even more contentious proposal to ban Chinese companies and individuals from owning rural land entirely."

The Texas resistance was local, but it "snowballed into a national movement. The issue of restricting ownership of farmland by entities linked to China and other foreign powers has popped up in at least 18 states, according to the National Agricultural Law Center," Schmidt reports. "It’s another way in which geopolitical tensions are simmering between the world’s two largest economies."

Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that "foreign entities or individuals control less than 3% of the nation’s farmland, and, within that subset, those with ties to China control less than 1% or about 384,000 acres," Schmidt points out. Despite those details, "In Montana, the suspected spy balloon has breathed new life into a bill to restrict foreign ownership. A city council in North Dakota this month voted down plans for a Chinese company to build a corn mill near an Air Force base. . . . . Virginia’s Democrat-led state Senate approved a ban on land ownership by foreign governments after Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin rejected an effort by Ford Motor Co. to build a plant partnered with a Chinese battery maker."

Texas landowners first opposed the wind farm due to its scenic impact, but over time, they became more focused on national security. “We don’t care if you’re Elon Musk, Tom Hanks or a Chinese oligarch,” Randy Nunns, a board member of the landowner group Devils River Conservancy told Schmidt. “We don’t want the wind farm here.” Schmidt reports, "Nunns said that he didn’t expect his group’s not-in-my-backyard battle to go global, and that while the state’s proposal to ban Chinese ownership is 'too broad,' Sun’s investment activity was particularly concerning."

Farming is latest flashpoint between U.S. and China; Grand Forks drops support of Chinese mill after Air Force objects

Grand Forks, N.D., officials had previously backed plans for a
Chinese-owned corn mill. (WSJ photo by Lewis Ableidinger)

Adding new jobs, increasing tax revenue and providing a possible "perch for spying;" that last one is not something Grand Forks, North Dakota, will be offering: "The mayor of this city near the Minnesota border backed a Chinese company’s plans to build a $700 million corn mill on the outskirts of town," reports Kristina Peterson and Anthony DeBarros of The Wall Street Journal. "Then last week Brandon Bochenski reversed course, hours after the release of a letter from an Air Force official declaring the corn-mill project a security risk because of its proximity to the Grand Forks Air Force Base 12 miles away."

Bochenski, a former professional hockey player who previously played in Russia and was elected mayor in 2020, told Peterson and DeBarros, “When it comes to national security, I don’t think the economics matter. You’ve got to draw a hard line there.”

They write: "Bochenski said he and other officials who had supported the project would now block the development by the U.S. branch of Fufeng Group Ltd., which still owns the 370 acres of land . . . . The episode reflects intensifying concerns over whether the U.S. should be restricting the ability of foreigners, particularly from China, to buy American farmland. Lawmakers and others say they want to make sure the U.S. food-supply chain is protected. . . . Worries about China’s espionage deepened after a suspected Chinese spy balloon was identified in U.S. airspace and later shot down over the Atlantic on Saturday."

“Grand Forks and Fufeng became a flashpoint for a much broader discussion. The country collectively realized we had not been keeping our eye on the ball,” North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer told the Journal. In response, a Chinese Embassy spokesperson, said, "We oppose the malicious generalization of the concept of national security and the obstruction and sabotage of normal exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries."

The Journal adds: "China remains the biggest market for U.S. agricultural exports, buying almost $36 billion worth of agricultural goods in 2021, according to the Department of Agriculture. . . . In Congress, lawmakers have introduced bipartisan bills to tighten federal oversight of foreigners’ proposed purchases or outright block the ability of buyers from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran to buy U.S. farmland or agricultural businesses."

Rural Montanans were the first civilians to report the Chinese spy balloon; why are such balloons still used?

One of Larry Mayer's photos for the Gazette

Rural Americans were the first civilians to spy China's "weather balloon" escapade. "The president of the United States knew about the presence of the Chinese spy balloon for several days before it was spotted drifting over Montana. But the White House wanted to keep it secret fearing news of the surveillance balloon would sabotage Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s planned diplomatic trip to China, Bloomberg News reported. . .That changed when on Feb. 1 when Billings Gazette photographer Larry Mayer, responding to vague reports that the airspace around Billings had been closed, photographed an odd glowing orb high in the sky," the Gazette reports.

"Using a large telephoto lens, Mayer discovered it was a high-altitude balloon powered by a large solar array. ... The Gazette’s publication of those photos, connecting them to the closed airspace and the fighter jets being scrambled to track the balloon, was quickly picked up by other media around the world — and the White House," the Gazette notes. "The White House was especially alarmed the balloon was hovering over a part of Montana that houses intercontinental nuclear missile silos."

Thank you, curious Montanans. So, what is a spy balloon? "A spy balloon is literally a gas-filled balloon that is flying quite high in the sky . . . It has some sophisticated cameras and imaging technology on it, and it’s pointing all of those instruments down at the ground. It’s collecting information through photography and other imaging of whatever is going on down on the ground below it," reports Iain Boyd of The Conversation, an independent source of news and views from the academic and research community.

How and why do spy balloons work? Spying satellites give us clues, but have built-in disadvantages. In low Earth orbit, Boyd writes, "It takes them about 90 minutes to do one orbit around the Earth. That's pretty fast to take clear photographs." In geosynchronous orbit, satellites stay in one place above the ground to capture images continuously but are much farther away. "A balloon in some ways gets the best of those. These balloons are much, much closer to the ground than satellites, so they can see even more clearly. The balloons are moving, but they’re moving relatively slowly, so they also have a degree of persistence."

What was it doing up there? "It’s likely to be different kinds of cameras collecting different types of information," Boyd writes. "The broad interest in this incident illustrates its unusual nature. Few people would expect any country to be actively using spy balloons these days." UPDATE: The Washington Post reports that the balloon is part of "a vast aerial surveilance program" that "has for years collected information on military assets in several countries, U.S. officials said."

 

Substation attacks focus attention on grid's vulnerabilities

A string of attacks with at least two involving gunfire occurred at substations and other power
facilities since mid-October in the U.S. South and Pacific. (Photo by Claudine Hellmuth, E&E News)

Last week's disruptive shooting attacks on two substations in North Carolina, have focused attention on the vulnerabilities of the electric grid. "The incidents in the Carolinas followed attacks at six substations in Oregon and Washington in October and November," reports Miranda Willson of Energy Wire. "Grid security experts said it’s too early to tell whether the incidents were related or unusual in number, but said they showcase a need for the energy industry to be vigilant and prepared."

“It remains troubling and highlights how vulnerable is our critical infrastructure,” Richard Mroz, a senior adviser at the grid security advocacy group Protect Our Power, told Willson in an email. Ross Johnson, a security and intelligence specialist at Bridgehead Security Consulting, told Willson, "It’s a signal-to-noise problem: substation incidents are common, gunfire less so but not unheard of, and until arrests are made we are unlikely to know the motivation."

Willson reports, "There are more than 55,000 substations nationwide ... a key component of the power grid. The incidents come at a time when energy regulators and others say that threats to the power system — be they physical or cyber in nature — are becoming more serious and common."

There have been no identified motives or suspects for the recent attacks. "While some of the incidents involved gunfire," Wilson notes. "It’s unclear if guns were involved in all of the events.

In Oregon, two substations near Portland were targeted in what utilities described as deliberate attacks," Willson reports. "At least four substations in Washington have also been vandalized or targeted."

House Republicans say Chinese acquisitions of U.S. farmland could be security threat, ask GAO to investigate

Republicans who are likely to take control of the U.S. House in next month's elections have asked the Government Accountability Office, the auditing arm of Congress, to investigate foreign purchases of U.S. farmland, "questioning whether Chinese acquisitions in particular could pose a national-security threat," reports Kristina Peterson of The Wall Street Journal.

“China’s ownership of U.S. farmland is a threat to our food security and national security,” said Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said in a statement Monday. Comer and Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.), the top Republicans on the Agriculture and Oversight committees, asked for the GAO investigation in a letter signed by over 100 House Republicans. The letter specifically raised concerns over a Chinese company's purchase of 370 acres near an Air Force base in Grand Forks, N.D. 

Democrats have also expressed concern over foreign investment; they have backed a measure that would prevent acquisition of land by companies from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, Peterson reports.

By the end of 2020, less than 3% of all privately held farmland in the U.S. was held by foreign investors, Agriculture Department data shows. Canadians owned 32% of foreign-held U.S. farmland, the largest share of any country. Chinese investors owned less than 1% of the foreign-owned land but "analysts and lawmakers have expressed concerns that China’s need for more arable land and its search for new ways to feed its population are pushing the country to expand its U.S. holdings, through both legal and illicit means," Peterson reports.

Republicans tout Trump's law-and-order bona fides on third day of Republican convention; Pence gets fact-checked

On the third day of the Republican National Convention, speakers continued to stress familiar themes: that President Trump "is on the side of blue-collar workers and African-Americans; that he is the only credible candidate for pro-life voters; that he has saved the nation from what could have been a much worse coronavirus pandemic; and that he is the last bulwark standing in the United States between order and anarchy," David Knowles reports for Yahoo! News. "Meanwhile, a pattern solidified in which the president’s perceived weaknesses were portrayed as strengths and the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, was portrayed as a radical, intent on letting the far left burn the country to the ground. On a night whose theme was 'Land of Heroes,' the program made the case that Trump was one of them.

Here's some fact-checking from The New York Times:

• Several speakers, including Vice President Mike Pence, said Democratic nominee Joe Biden has said he would "defund the police." In July, asked if whether he would support redirecting “some of the funding for police into social services, mental health counseling and affordable housing,” Biden said "absolutely."
• Speakers did not frequently mention the pandemic, but when they did, they "largely downplayed the threat or misstated the government’s response, as one lawmaker did when he said the administration 'authorized testing requests at blazing speed.' It did not," the Times reports.
• Pence, in an attempt to paint Trump as the stronger candidate on terrorism, said Biden opposed the 2011 mission that took out Osama bin Laden. The Times called that misleading, saying was more skeptical than other Obama-administration officials at the time, "saying that he opposed the raid outright is at best a selective interpretation of the available evidence."
• Pence also slammed recent-police brutality protests, and lamented the death of Dave Patrick Underwood, an officer in the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Protective Service who was killed in Oakland, Calif. He didn't mention that the man charged with killing Underwood was an Air Force sergeant who has been linked to the far-right, anti-government "boogaloo" movement, the Times reports.

U.S.-China farm trade deal is in doubt after dispute over Hong Kong, Chinese cuts in soybean and pork purchases

The future of the "Phase 1" trade deal between the United States and China is in question after recent actions by the two governments, Karl Plume, Hallie Gu, and Keith Zhai report for Reuters.

In January, the countries signed a partial deal in which China promised to increase purchases of U.S. farm products by $32 billion over two years, if that didn't disrupt China's other trade relationships. China was once the U.S.'s top customer for soybeans, but lately China has been buying big from Brazil, Keith Johnson reports for Foreign Policy.

China recently passed a national-security bill that effectively overrode Hong Kong's legislature, giving Beijing more control over the city. In response, President Trump said Friday that the administration will begin eliminating policy exemptions for Hong Kong on extradition, technology exports and more, Jonathan Garber reports for Fox Business.

China volleyed back by canceling some U.S. agriculture purchases, weakening U.S. corn, wheat and lean hog futures; soybean futures remained flat. Sources with insider knowledge said the Chinese government told state-owned companies to stop making large-scale soybean and pork purchases from the U.S.; one of the sources said corn and cotton purchases were also on the chopping block, Reuters reports. But after that order, state-owned Chinese firms bought at least 180,000 tons of U.S. soybeans on Monday, scheduled to ship in the fall when U.S. soybeans are usually the cheapest on the global market, said three U.S. traders familiar with the deal.

"It was not immediately clear why buying continued after Beijing’s message to state-owned firms, but U.S. traders said Chinese importers still have not covered a large share of October and November soybean needs, Reuters reports. "The soybean sales on Monday were small compared to recent purchases by state-owned firms totaling 1 million tonnes or more at a time."

"Any sustained halt in buying would further threaten progress in meeting goals set in the Phase 1 trade deal signed in January," Reuters reports.

March 23 Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit in D.C. to explore issues like climate change, swine flu and more

Head to Washington, D.C., March 23 for the 2020 Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit, a day-long exploration of agriculture and food policy that will cover public and private-sector issues from climate change and swine flu to the links between food security and national security.

The summit will be held at the National Press Club from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Featured speakers (including invitees) include:

• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (invited)
• Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (invited)
• Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Sen. Debbie Stabenow
• House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson
• House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Mike Conaway
• American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall
• Ambassador Kip Tom, U.S. representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture
• Indigo Agriculture CEO David Perry
• Land O’Lakes Chief Technology Officer Ted Bekele
• Alan Rudolph, V.P. for research, Colorado State University
• Everett Hoekstra, president, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health
• Liz Wagstrom, chief veterinarian, National Pork Producers Council
• Jeff Simmons, president and CEO, Elanco
• Retired Army Gen. William "Kip" Ward, inaugural commander of the U.S. Africa Command

Click here for a complete schedule and ticket information. News-media tickets are free for those with press credentials.

Is Chinese broadband equipment a national security threat?

The Federal Communications Commission is proceeding with plans to stop telecommunications companies from buying equipment from foreign countries considered a security threat, and in some cases rip out existing equipment. That would have an outsized impact on rural America, which disproportionately relies on tech from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE. But is such equipment a real security threat?

Christopher Mitchell, who monitors community broadband at the nonprofit Institute for Local Self-Reliance, told NPR Marketplace's Jack Stewart that the FCC's plans may be justified. The gear lasts from three to five years, and many networks will upgrade in the next few years anyway. "In some ways, it’s an opportunity for some," Mitchell said. "I certainly think that there’s a real threat if we’re expecting these rural providers that operate on very thin margins, if we’re going to force them to bear the cost of ripping that out, then I think that’s the mistake. But ripping it out to me seems reasonable in a number of cases."

Mitchell told Stewa that China has been essentially subsidizing broadband buildout in rural America by selling the equipment so inexpensively, and said the U.S. government must step in and provide more funding.

States spending millions on new voting systems, but old software makes them still vulnerable to hackers

Though many counties and states have spent millions in federal funds updating their electronic voting systems to make them harder to hack, the new systems are still vulnerable to hacking, including in several battleground states.

"Many of these new systems still run on old software that will soon be outdated and more vulnerable to hackers," Tami Abdollah reports for The Associated Press. According to AP's analysis, "The vast majority of 10,000 election jurisdictions nationwide use Windows 7 or an older operating system to create ballots, program voting machines, tally votes and report counts."

Starting Jan. 14, 2020, Microsoft Corp. will stop providing technical support and software patches to fix vulnerabilities for Windows 7. That means hackers can much more easily exploit vulnerabilities, and for longer. Microsoft told the AP it would offer Windows 7 security updates through 2023 for a fee, Abdollah reports. In many states, expenses for elections are determined by local officials.

Many states are affected by the end of Windows 7 support, including Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, Abdollah reports.

"Critics say the situation is an example of what happens when private companies ultimately determine the security level of election systems with a lack of federal requirements or oversight. Vendors say they have been making consistent improvements in election systems. And many state officials say they are wary of federal involvement in state and local elections," Abdollah reports. "It’s unclear whether the often hefty expense of security updates would be paid by vendors operating on razor-thin profit margins or cash-strapped jurisdictions. It’s also uncertain if a version running on Windows 10, which has more security features, can be certified and rolled out in time for primaries."

It's an urgent issue; U.S. officials found that Russian hackers accessed voter databases and software systems in 39 states, and warn that Russia, China and other countries are trying to influence the 2020 elections. Abdollah reports. Retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, who was President Trump's chief of staff, told a Kentucky Chamber of Commerce dinner last week that Russians "made a decision about who they wanted to be president, and they were very good at what they did."

Small water, sewer systems show vulnerablity to hackers

Nearly 70,000 small and mid-sized water and wastewater systems in the U.S. are vulnerable to hackers, according to interviews with security experts and water company operators, Blake Sobczak reports for Energy & Environment News.

For example, hackers hit the water and wastewater facilities of the Fort Collins-Loveland Water District last month, infecting the computer systems with ransomware. Ransomware encrypts a victim's computer files, refusing to unlock them until a ransom has been paid online, Sobczak notes.

"Some larger utilities are well-positioned to thwart an attack by hackers backed by a foreign government, said Michael Arceneaux, managing director for the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center, the industry's clearinghouse for getting the word out about the latest hacking threats and vulnerabilities," Sobczak reports. "But in a sector that encompasses tens of thousands of local water systems, securing America's vast and disparate drinking water supply remains a significant challenge."

Cybersecurity for water utilities is only lightly monitored by the federal government and often ignored by state utility commissions. But water security is critical after a disaster: "In many emergency planning exercises, it isn't the lack of electricity that triggers chaos and widespread casualties. It's the lack of clean water that forces people from their homes," Sobczak reports.

"Sixty-three cyber vulnerabilities were uncovered in the 'water supply' sector in 2018, according to federal data, accounting for 15 percent of all industrial security problems. Only the energy and manufacturing sectors had more vulnerabilities in 2018," Sobczak reports. Power distributors use many of the same equipment providers and use similar computer systems as water utilities, and so may be vulnerable to the same kinds of cyberthreats.

Ewell Balltrip, a civic leader who published daily papers in challenging circumstances the heart of Appalachia, passes

Ewell Balltrip

Ewell Balltrip, who was an outstanding reporter, editor and publisher in his native Harlan, Ky., neighboring Middlesboro, and Dyersburg, Tenn., died yesterday in Lexington of chronic illness. He was 68.

Balltrip was "an effective and persistent community journalist, often under difficult circumstances," says the plaque prepared for his induction into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame at the University of Kentucky on March 25. "He was known for covering the coal industry and the War on Poverty, earning the confidence of especially sensitive local audiences."

Balltrip was publisher of the Harlan Daily Enterprise, the Middlesboro Daily News and the State Gazette in Dyersburg, all under ownership of the New York Times Co. After the company sold the Dyersburg paper in 1995, he returned to his native state to be executive director of the Kentucky Appalachian Commission for Gov. Paul Patton. In 2004 he founded the National Institute for Hometown Security in Somerset. He ran it until shortly before he died.

During both of his public-service careers, Balltrip was a leader in many local, state and regional nonprofits in Appalachian Kentucky. For example, he was a founding board member and officer of Forward in the Fifth, an education support and promotion group in the Fifth Congressional District.

The funeral will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday at Southern Oaks Funeral Home in Somerset, with visitation from 1 to 5; the obituary, with memorial-gift options, is here.

Rural telcos fear executive order banning Huawei tech

Many rural telecommunications companies are objecting to President Trump's tentative plan to issue an executive order banning certain Chinese telecommunications equipment, The Wall Street Journal reports.

"While the executive order would likely not identify companies by name, Huawei Technologies Co. is considered the prime target," reporters report John D. McKinnon and Stu Woo write. "U.S. officials say that Huawei has close ties to the Chinese government and could use its systems to monitor and disrupt U.S. telecommunications."

Rural telecoms, "many of whom have built their networks on low-cost Chinese gear, have been quietly lobbying against such a ban. The federal government and analysts estimate Chinese hardware makes up less than 1 percent of U.S. telecom networks, after Congress in 2012 effectively banned it from nationwide phone and internet providers." But many small carriers that account for little of the overall hardware account for a disproportionate share of the Huawei hardware.

Carri Bennet, general counsel of the Rural Wireless Association, told the Journal, “We’ve obviously been in touch with the administration to make sure they understand whatever they do in that [order] doesn’t have the unintended consequence of hurting rural America,” said. What nobody in the administration or government or Congress seems to have looked at is how pervasive is all this gear in our networks.”

"RWA’s members estimate it might cost from $800 million to $1 billion for them to replace all the potentially affected gear from their wireless networks—costs they believe the government is legally required to reimburse, the Journal reports.

White House shelves plan to prop up ailing coal and nuclear plants in the name of national security — for now

The Trump administration has shelved a major effort to help the coal industry on the advice of the president's advisors on the National Security Council and National Economic Council, according to four sources with knowledge of the discussions.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry proposed and promoted the plan, which would force power companies to keep unprofitable or barely profitable coal plants running for the sake of national security. But "Perry’s proposals — which would also keep aging nuclear power plants operating — have riled up the oil and gas industry, which has prospered as inexpensive natural gas has increasingly eaten away at coal’s share of U.S. power markets," Eric Wolff and Darius Dixon report for Politico. "Other critics include consumer groups worried about rising power bills for customers, environmental organizations concerned about the threat to wind and solar power, and conservative policy organizations that oppose what they see as heavy-handed federal intervention in the economy."

President Trump has argued that coal and nuclear power store their fuel on-site, making them less vulnerable to attack than oil and gas, which must use pipelines that are more easily attacked. But an Energy Department-ordered study that disagreed with that assessment was kept under wraps for the past six months after its submission.

Energy Department advisors have had a hard time deciding on a rubric for which plants get funding and who would pay. And without a solid legal justification, advisors are leery of enacting such a plan. But the plan may not be dead. "It is unclear whether Trump himself has decided against following Perry’s proposal. Even if he has, the sources warned that Trump frequently changes his mind, and the idea could re-emerge in advance of the president’s reelection campaign," Wolff and Dixon report.

Regulators, experts, say Trump's coal bailout unnecessary

Federal regulators and cybersecurity experts say that allowing ailing coal and nuclear power plants to close won't pose a security risk for the United States. President Trump recently ordered Energy Secretary Rick Perry to halt the shutdowns of such plants because he said they were necessary to maintaining the nation's energy mix, grid resilience and national security.

 "Asked by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing whether they believed the U.S. faced a national security emergency in wholesale power markets because of the closures, none of the five members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission answered in the affirmative," Miranda Green reports for The Hill. Four of the five members of FERC are Trump appointees.

FERC member Richard Glick told the panel he was "sympathetic to the plight of coal miners who have been disproportionately affected" by coal's long slide, but said it wasn't FERC's job to figure out how to help struggling communities, Green reports.

Some energy companies and grid operators have questioned President Trump's order, such as PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest power grid operator, who called the action "drastic" and warned it could hurt the markets and cost consumers more. Charlie Burd, executive director of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia, agreed, saying in a TV interview that picking winners and losers "can be a very dangerous situation," Alex Thomas reports for W.V. Metro News.

Cybersecurity experts said the action is pointless because "hackers have a wide array of options for hitting electric infrastructure and nuclear facilities that are high-profile targets," Timothy Gardner reports for Reuters.

Researchers find way to economically produce rare-earth minerals from coal; pilot plant planned

"University of Kentucky researchers have produced nearly pure rare-earth concentrates from Kentucky coal using an environmentally-conscious and cost-effective process, a groundbreaking accomplishment in the energy industry," the university says in a news release.

The Hicks Dome area of Southern Illinois is considered a
good potential source of coal for rare-earth production.

The 19 rare-earth elements are used in essential parts of smartphones and other high-technology devices, including missiles and other military hardware, but the market for them "has been all but monopolized by China," The New York Times reports. That has created urgency in the U.S. for alternate sources of the elements, and the Kentucky researchers tested coal with the help of a Department of Energy grant and a process for which they are seeking a patent.

"It wouldn't take very much for China to turn the switch off and then we would be in a lot of trouble," said Rick Honaker, a mining-engineering professor who co-developed the process, told The Rural Blog. China's control of the market also makes it possible to reduce rare-earth prices to quash competition, but U.S. companies could choose to contract with U.S. suppliers for reasons of security, and there is talk of federal subsidies to help them do so.

Rare earths have long been recoverable from coal and its waste products, but not economically, Honaker said. "The real breakthrough was economics," he said. "You could set up an operation today and make money." He said in the news release, "As far as I know, our team is the first in the world to have provided a 98 percent pure rare earth concentrate from a coal source. . . . We are excited about the new development and look forward to testing the process in our pilot-scale facility which will be operational during spring 2018."

Honaker said certain coal seams or areas affected by volcanic activity have the greatest potential; one is the Hicks Dome area in Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky, where the geology has long produced fluorspar, a mineral critical to certain industrial uses.