We have said that The New York Times often provides the best rural coverage of any national news organization, because it has the staff and the editorial interest required to do the coverage. But sometimes the paper misses by a mile. That seems to be what happened with today's business-page story pegged to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's comment that the financial-regulation bill about to pass Congress "punishes Main Street for the sins of Wall Street."
Reporter David Herszenhorn came to Main Street in McConnell's hometown of Louisville, and concluded that in Kentucky's largest city, "Main Street seems to be an extension of Wall Street" because national and international financial institutions have offices there and a new, publicly owned arena on the street is "financed through a bond deal underwritten by Goldman Sachs." But what about the housing-loan debacle that prompted the reform bill? Herszenhorn writes, "Main Street seems less an innocent victim of Wall Street in the financial crisis of 2008 than a savvy counterparty, whose own dealings contributed to the days of easy credit and overinflated real estate prices that led to the collapse."
"How did he come to that conclusion?" small-town Kentucky columnist Don McNay asks on The Huffington Post. "Sounds like he wrote it on the plane before he got here."
The 1,245-word story devotes all of two paragraphs to the real contrast McConnell was talking about, between Wall Street banks that precipitated the debacle and community banks in smaller towns that played little if any role but seem likely to bear a disproportionate burden from the bill. “Congress is painting them both with the same brush,” Ballard Cassady, president of the Kentucky Bankers Association, told Herszenhorn. “Being a community bank is more a state of mind than size. Even the largest of banks in the state of Kentucky are community-minded.”
Cassady said he told the Times some other things that didn't make the paper: "Banks in Kentucky didn't fall for" the idea of making home loans with 10 percent or nothing down; most of the bad loans were made by largely unregulated entities, such as mortgage companies; and the "most costly" feature of the reform bill will be the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which will require more recordkeeping, a greater burden for small banks. He also said all loan instruments will be subject to approval by the agency, making it more difficult for community banks to tailor loan arrangements with borrowers in specialized industries.
Writing for The Atlantic, former banker Daniel Indiviglio says, "There are a number of provisions that would hurt community banks due to their costs increasing disproportionally to those at larger institutions." He quotes Steve Wilson, Chairman and CEO of LCNB National Bank in Lebanon, Ohio: "It's amazing how they've called this the Wall Street rein in act, and yet the overall bill is more targeted towards additional regulatory burdens -- additional regulations on the Main Street banks. We have identified, within the bill proposed in the Senate now, we have identified 27 new regulatory burdens that come to us."
Federal regulation has often made allowances for smaller entities, including banking, but Cassady said Congress appears to be accepting the argument of Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren, who said that creating such provisions for smaller entities would encourage large banks to circumvent the regulation by creating subsidiaries.
We encourage rural journalists to talk to their local bankers about financial reform, and to seek out the perspectives of others who may see its benefits. For example, in the Charlotte Business Journal, Adam O'Daniel says Thad Woodard, president of the North Carolina Bankers Association, "compares pending financial-services reforms to a pendulum swinging toward an extreme point before returning to its equilibrium. But while he believes reforms will ultimately be good for the industry, Woodard and North Carolina’s community bankers are fearful of the unknowns they say could harm small lenders in the meantime." (Read more)
Friday, June 11, 2010
Wis. judge says papers can't videostream high-school games covered by pay-TV contracts
Apparently for the first time, a federal judge has ruled that a state high-school sports group can limit local news coverage of games, an issue that has surfaced in several states. Ruling in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association's lawsuit against the Wisconsin Newspaper Association and Gannett Co. Inc., U.S. District Judge William Conley "struck down the newspapers’ argument that the arrangement violated the First Amendment right to freedom of the press," the Pierce County Herald writes. Conley wrote, “This is a case about commerce, not the right to a free press.”
The WIAA filed suit after the Appleton Post-Crescent, a Gannett daily, live-streamed video of four high-school football playoff games on its website in 2008. The group cited its contract with the production firm When We Were Young to show games for a fee. The judge ruled that paper could interview participants and show limited highlights, but can only show live coverage of games not covered by the contract with When We Were Young. Bob Dreps, attorney for the newspaper association, said his clients were disappointed that Conley approved "the continued commercialization of high school sports." (Read more) UPDATE, July 9: The newspapers are appealing.
The WIAA filed suit after the Appleton Post-Crescent, a Gannett daily, live-streamed video of four high-school football playoff games on its website in 2008. The group cited its contract with the production firm When We Were Young to show games for a fee. The judge ruled that paper could interview participants and show limited highlights, but can only show live coverage of games not covered by the contract with When We Were Young. Bob Dreps, attorney for the newspaper association, said his clients were disappointed that Conley approved "the continued commercialization of high school sports." (Read more) UPDATE, July 9: The newspapers are appealing.
New federal food-safety rules pose a serious threat to small producers, farmer writes
New U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations aimed at making food safer may sound good, but will be devastating for small producers, a farmer-columnist writes. On the surface, USDA's food safety program, "Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Principles," sounds great, northwest Missouri farmer Richard Oswald writes for the Daily Yonder. "Everyone wants safe food, but it assumes that food suppliers are all large corporations involved in producing, processing, and merchandising," Richard Oswald "The requirements of HACCP generate mountains of paper, the kind of detailed reporting that only resource-rich big business can handle."
"Small farms work a little differently than big corporations do," Oswald writes. "Farmers do bookwork on rainy days, weekends, or evenings after supper. Hiring a fulltime bookkeeper is something few can afford." While the Obama administration has been a staunch advocate of local food, Oswald writes new HACCP regulations threaten to derail the movement by treating small local producers like "big multinational corporations." The problem with HACCP is that it "fails to recognize that a lot of food ills are cured simply by doing it right, locally, in the first place," Oswald writes.
"Food is not inherently dangerous any more than air or water is dangerous. They’re only dangerous when man or nature has polluted them," Oswald writes. "The way to stop pollution may not be to put more laws on the books but to enforce the laws we have." Farmers across the country have voiced support for USDA-administered "Good Agriculture Practices," a farmer-produced, seven-page rulebook, as an alternative. "HACCP assumes food producers and processors need strict rules to follow, but GAP relies on basics combined with ethical standards of food production by caring local providers," Oswald writes. "Oversight isn’t removed, but it's carried out in a better, less costly context for more effective outcomes." (Read more)
"Small farms work a little differently than big corporations do," Oswald writes. "Farmers do bookwork on rainy days, weekends, or evenings after supper. Hiring a fulltime bookkeeper is something few can afford." While the Obama administration has been a staunch advocate of local food, Oswald writes new HACCP regulations threaten to derail the movement by treating small local producers like "big multinational corporations." The problem with HACCP is that it "fails to recognize that a lot of food ills are cured simply by doing it right, locally, in the first place," Oswald writes.
"Food is not inherently dangerous any more than air or water is dangerous. They’re only dangerous when man or nature has polluted them," Oswald writes. "The way to stop pollution may not be to put more laws on the books but to enforce the laws we have." Farmers across the country have voiced support for USDA-administered "Good Agriculture Practices," a farmer-produced, seven-page rulebook, as an alternative. "HACCP assumes food producers and processors need strict rules to follow, but GAP relies on basics combined with ethical standards of food production by caring local providers," Oswald writes. "Oversight isn’t removed, but it's carried out in a better, less costly context for more effective outcomes." (Read more)
BLM reveals its plan for managing wild horses
In October we reported that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar planned to announce a broad plan to relocate and sterilize Western wild horses. Last week his Bureau of Land Management unveiled the formal proposal for the program, opening the proposal for a 60-day public comment period, Phil Taylor of Environment & Energy Daily reports. BLM "manages 38,000 free-roaming horses across 10 Western states and another 35,000 horses in short-term corrals and long-term pastures, warned that herd numbers could grow to nearly 325,000 by 2021 without enhanced use of fertility control," Taylor writes.
"We need a fresh look at the Wild Horse and Burro Program," BLM Director Bob Abbey said in a statement. "As part of this effort, we want all those with an interest in wild horses and burros and their public lands to consider our initial ideas and offer their own." Among the proposals are "a regime that contemplates the increased use of an infertility drug, the adjustment of male-to-female ratios in herds and introducing or retaining biologically sterile male mules to reduce the number of mares foaling on the range," Taylor writes.
"The BLM proposal also includes a controversial plan to establish both federal and private preserves in the grasslands and plains of the Midwest, where operating costs are considerably less than in the arid West, according to the agency," Taylor writes. Deniz Bolbol of the California-based group In Defense of Animals, objected to the plan, saying, "This appears to be a continuation of the ill-conceived Salazar proposal from last October. It makes no fiscal sense whatsoever to remove wild horses from the public lands where they originate." (Read more, subscription required)
"We need a fresh look at the Wild Horse and Burro Program," BLM Director Bob Abbey said in a statement. "As part of this effort, we want all those with an interest in wild horses and burros and their public lands to consider our initial ideas and offer their own." Among the proposals are "a regime that contemplates the increased use of an infertility drug, the adjustment of male-to-female ratios in herds and introducing or retaining biologically sterile male mules to reduce the number of mares foaling on the range," Taylor writes.
"The BLM proposal also includes a controversial plan to establish both federal and private preserves in the grasslands and plains of the Midwest, where operating costs are considerably less than in the arid West, according to the agency," Taylor writes. Deniz Bolbol of the California-based group In Defense of Animals, objected to the plan, saying, "This appears to be a continuation of the ill-conceived Salazar proposal from last October. It makes no fiscal sense whatsoever to remove wild horses from the public lands where they originate." (Read more, subscription required)
Wind-industry lobby, Steelworkers announce alliance to encourage U.S. turbine production
The American Wind Energy Association has a powerful new ally in its quest to increase U.S. wind production: the United Steelworkers Union, whose members make much of the industry's equipment and want to make more. The two groups announced a partnership Thursday "to expand U.S. wind power production and related domestic manufacturing, with programs to build up the domestic supply chain for the growing industry," Jenny Mandel of Environment & Energy Daily reports.
"We jointly recognize that the deployment of wind energy facilities are vital to this nation's energy security, but that deployment must be linked, to the maximum extent practicable, with the development and utilization of domestically produced materials, original-equipment manufacturers and component parts," the groups said in a joint statement outlining the partnership. As recently as March AWEA had fought legislation that would have punished companies for looking abroad for turbine equipment.
"That collaboration will include "results-oriented targets" for the growth of existing and new domestic suppliers, the establishment of an inventory of domestic suppliers, identification of supply chain gaps to be filled and jointly developed training programs to ensure that workers have the skills needed for wind-related manufacturing," Mandel writes. Denise Bode, the CEO of AWEA, described the steelworkers as "the wind union," saying, "we're well-positioned to recapture leadership in a brand-new manufacturing sector: wind." (Read more)
"We jointly recognize that the deployment of wind energy facilities are vital to this nation's energy security, but that deployment must be linked, to the maximum extent practicable, with the development and utilization of domestically produced materials, original-equipment manufacturers and component parts," the groups said in a joint statement outlining the partnership. As recently as March AWEA had fought legislation that would have punished companies for looking abroad for turbine equipment.
"That collaboration will include "results-oriented targets" for the growth of existing and new domestic suppliers, the establishment of an inventory of domestic suppliers, identification of supply chain gaps to be filled and jointly developed training programs to ensure that workers have the skills needed for wind-related manufacturing," Mandel writes. Denise Bode, the CEO of AWEA, described the steelworkers as "the wind union," saying, "we're well-positioned to recapture leadership in a brand-new manufacturing sector: wind." (Read more)
Illinois 12-year-old starts paper, joins press group
"We were intrigued by his inquiry about membership in our organization," David Porter, communications and marketing director for the IPA, told Stuffelbeam. "To be honest, we really had no category for him, but we did not want to discourage him. We looked at what he is doing and felt any young person pursuing journalism should be encouraged. We felt strongly he should be recognized for his effort and service to his community." Davis said his newspaper "is eight pages pretty much every week and includes Annawan news, events, advertising, weather, puzzles (yes, Sudoku), a comic strip and anything else that strikes the 12-year-old’s fancy," Stuffelbeam writes. The newspaper is distributed at the local IGA and has three subscribers. Annawan is on Interstate 80 in Northern Illinois. (Read more)
S.C. man gets two years for attending cockfights
"For the first time in memory in South Carolina, a county magistrate judge has sentenced someone to prison on the state misdemeanor charge of just being present at a cockfight," reports John Monk of The State newspaper in Columbia. "Lexington County Magistrate William Shockley of Swansea on Wednesday sentenced Chad Gable, 36, of Orangeburg, to two years in prison for attending two cockfights in the Swansea area in 2008 and 2009."
Each of the two misdemeanor counts carried a maximum one-year prison sentence. The sentence "was just the latest step in a two-year probe of illegal cockfighting operations in South Carolina," Monk reports. State and federal authorities say they are committed to stamping out the "active and widespread cockfighting subculture" in South Carolina. Two undercover videos of the cockfights were shown during the trial, including one showing Gable refereeing a fight.
According to a state Department of Natural Resources spokesman, "If he had pleaded guilty, Gable could have avoided prison and, at most, paid $4,200 or so in fines and court costs on the two charges," Monk writes. "This is a serious crime," spokesman Robert McCullough told Monk. "Along with dog-fighting and other blood sports, it’s just not going to be tolerated anymore. The law is out there, and we are going to enforce it." (Read more)
Each of the two misdemeanor counts carried a maximum one-year prison sentence. The sentence "was just the latest step in a two-year probe of illegal cockfighting operations in South Carolina," Monk reports. State and federal authorities say they are committed to stamping out the "active and widespread cockfighting subculture" in South Carolina. Two undercover videos of the cockfights were shown during the trial, including one showing Gable refereeing a fight.
According to a state Department of Natural Resources spokesman, "If he had pleaded guilty, Gable could have avoided prison and, at most, paid $4,200 or so in fines and court costs on the two charges," Monk writes. "This is a serious crime," spokesman Robert McCullough told Monk. "Along with dog-fighting and other blood sports, it’s just not going to be tolerated anymore. The law is out there, and we are going to enforce it." (Read more)
Ashley Judd, in D.C., hits mountaintop removal
"It is utterly inconceivable that the Smokies would be blasted, the Rockies razed, the Sierra Nevadas flattened, that bombs the equivalent to Hiroshima would be detonated every single week for three decades," Judd said. "The fact that the Appalachians are the Appalachians makes this environmental genocide possible and permissible."
"I am very proud to be a Kentuckian," Judd said. "And, of the many things my Creator has seen fit to allow me to accomplish, being an Eastern Kentuckian is the simple fact that brings me the most honor, the greatest sense of self. I love and am proud of being a hillbilly." You can see Perk's post here or watch C-SPAN's video of Judd's speech here, or on the press club site here.
UPDATE, July 4: Political leaders in Eastern Kentucky are upset with Judd, WYMT-TV in Hazard reports. News Director Neil Middleton posted excerpts that generated many comments objecting to Judd's speech.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Booms and berms offer only partial protection from Gulf oil-well blowout
"For weeks, workers have encircled barrier islands in the Mississippi River Delta with floating containment booms -- long, linked sections of PVC fabric -- designed to keep oil from reaching the marshes, with mixed success," Reese notes. "More recently, Louisiana officials are undertaking a new project to construct 6-foot-high sand berms on the seaward side of barrier islands fringing the delta to protect sensitive shorelines, fish nurseries and other wildlife habitat further inland. But with such large volumes of oil spreading through the Gulf -- between 12,000 and 25,000 barrels continue to spew each day from BP PLC's damaged well 50 miles offshore -- many experts doubt whether such efforts will be effective. . . . And last week's beginning of hurricane season only increases the odds of more oil reaching land. . . . Even with hundreds of miles of booms and berms in place, oil will continue to reach land, and experts say there are no clear answers for how best to clean up oil-soaked areas."
"If we have a tropical storm that really starts to break the oil up, we would have to ... prioritize, putting booms in one area but not another," John Anderson, a professor of coastal geology and oceanography at Rice University in Houston, told Reese. "We don't have enough booms to stretch from Louisiana to south Florida. ... "This is a very serious catastrophe, and I don't think even professionals have grasped the sheer magnitude of this event." That's one reason we call it a blowout, not a "spill." (Read more, subscription required)
USDA sees more corn being used for ethanol
The Department of Agriculture has raised its estimates of corn used for ethanol, reflecting "the continued record pace of ethanol production and usage through March based on the latest data from the Energy Information Administration," Rita Jane Gabbett reports for MeatingPlace.com, a news service for the meat industry, which keeps a close eye on ethanol's effect on corn prices.
In its monthly World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates, USDA raised the corn-for-ethanol number in the marketing year that ends in September by 150 million bushels to 4.55 billion bushels, and its forecast for ethanol use in the 2010-11 marketing year by 100 million bushels, to 4.7 billion.
"Higher ethanol production is also supported by record production of gasoline blends with ethanol as indicated by weekly data from EIA through May and forecasts for rising gasoline demand during the summer driving season," Gabbett reports. "USDA said the increased ethanol use will more than offset reduced feed and residual use, which was lowered by 25 million bushels due to increased availability of distillers' grains."
Meanwhile, the department forecast slightly lower corn prices in the current year, based on prices reported to date, but higher prices next year. It cut the projected average for the current year 5 cents on both ends of the range, to $3.45 to $3.65 per bushel, but raised the 2010-11 average by 10 cents on both ends of the range, to $3.30 to $3.90 per bushel.
In its monthly World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates, USDA raised the corn-for-ethanol number in the marketing year that ends in September by 150 million bushels to 4.55 billion bushels, and its forecast for ethanol use in the 2010-11 marketing year by 100 million bushels, to 4.7 billion.
"Higher ethanol production is also supported by record production of gasoline blends with ethanol as indicated by weekly data from EIA through May and forecasts for rising gasoline demand during the summer driving season," Gabbett reports. "USDA said the increased ethanol use will more than offset reduced feed and residual use, which was lowered by 25 million bushels due to increased availability of distillers' grains."
Meanwhile, the department forecast slightly lower corn prices in the current year, based on prices reported to date, but higher prices next year. It cut the projected average for the current year 5 cents on both ends of the range, to $3.45 to $3.65 per bushel, but raised the 2010-11 average by 10 cents on both ends of the range, to $3.30 to $3.90 per bushel.
Pork looks to step out from behind label of "The other white meat," needs to address taste issues
In an effort to rebrand the industry, the National Pork Board may soon abandon its 23-year-old tagline and refer to pork as something other than "The Other White Meat," board Vice President Ceci Snyder said at the World Pork Expo on Wednesday, Dan Piller of the Des Moines Register reports. "New consumer surveys show that the line has little bite," and Snyder added that the industry is concerned about consumer suggestions that pork lacks taste.
"Consumers want healthy food, and pork definitely is healthy," Snyder told Piller. "But they want taste and variety as well, and we have to communicate that." Snyder said the board will continue to use "The Other White Meat" in a limited way to preserve its trademark, but offered no glimpse at what the new campaign would look like. "I tell the pork people that they're the Oreo cookie, caught in the middle between beef and chicken," Wes Jamison, professor of communications at Palm Beach Atlantic University, told Piller. "That gives them an identity problem."
The tagline was "developed in 1987 as pork's response to concerns about the effects of red-meat consumption on weight and heart health," Piller writes. Red-meat consumption has dropped by 25 percent since 1960, but much of that market is believed to have gone to poultry and fish. Even if the pork industry decides to change its tagline, it will still need to address the underlying issues surrounding the meat's popularity. "The pork people should ask themselves why the 'white meat' line isn't working anymore," Drew McClellan of McClellan Marketing in Des Moines told Piller. "Taste may be a problem. I was in my 20s before I learned that pork could taste good." (Read more)
"Consumers want healthy food, and pork definitely is healthy," Snyder told Piller. "But they want taste and variety as well, and we have to communicate that." Snyder said the board will continue to use "The Other White Meat" in a limited way to preserve its trademark, but offered no glimpse at what the new campaign would look like. "I tell the pork people that they're the Oreo cookie, caught in the middle between beef and chicken," Wes Jamison, professor of communications at Palm Beach Atlantic University, told Piller. "That gives them an identity problem."
The tagline was "developed in 1987 as pork's response to concerns about the effects of red-meat consumption on weight and heart health," Piller writes. Red-meat consumption has dropped by 25 percent since 1960, but much of that market is believed to have gone to poultry and fish. Even if the pork industry decides to change its tagline, it will still need to address the underlying issues surrounding the meat's popularity. "The pork people should ask themselves why the 'white meat' line isn't working anymore," Drew McClellan of McClellan Marketing in Des Moines told Piller. "Taste may be a problem. I was in my 20s before I learned that pork could taste good." (Read more)
Fight against Western grasshopper infestation looks much different than in previous years
Farmers are fighting this year's Western U.S. grasshopper outbreak, which we have covered here and here, in new ways. "Bug wars have long punctuated life in the nation’s grassy midsection, but this year is an exclamation point," Kirk Johnson of The New York Times reports. At least $25 million in hay, wheat and alfalfa alone is at risk in a 7,800-square-mile section of Wyoming with portions of Montana and South Dakota also at serious risk.
"The grasshopper fight of 2010 is different from past plagues in money, tactics and science," Johnson writes. "With low farm prices last year, many ranchers decided to forgo the $1-an-acre spraying fee for prophylactic grasshopper control." That failure to spray, combined with ample spring rains this year and last fell left more adults to lay more eggs. "Largest project in my lifetime — nothing even close," Dean McClain, 56, owner of Wyoming-based Ag Flyers, which is contracted for pesticide treatment work, told Johnson. "Average year for me is about 2,000 acres. This year, I’ll do just short of a million."
"The federal government, which led the grasshopper counterattack during the last big outbreak, in 1985 — and before that in the early 1970s — has also retreated under financial pressure and is focusing its bug-killing firepower this year on federal and American Indian tribal lands," Johnson writes. Spring rains, which some had hoped would kill many of the grasshopper nymphs, were too early or too late to cause significant damage to the population. The technology surrounding the kill has improved since the 1980s outbreak, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture sprayed fields with a broad-spectrum insecticide that also wiped out many other species and has been linked to human health concerns. Now pilots use Dimilin, which kills grasshoppers indirectly, by hampering their ability to molt between growth stages. (Read more)
"The grasshopper fight of 2010 is different from past plagues in money, tactics and science," Johnson writes. "With low farm prices last year, many ranchers decided to forgo the $1-an-acre spraying fee for prophylactic grasshopper control." That failure to spray, combined with ample spring rains this year and last fell left more adults to lay more eggs. "Largest project in my lifetime — nothing even close," Dean McClain, 56, owner of Wyoming-based Ag Flyers, which is contracted for pesticide treatment work, told Johnson. "Average year for me is about 2,000 acres. This year, I’ll do just short of a million."
"The federal government, which led the grasshopper counterattack during the last big outbreak, in 1985 — and before that in the early 1970s — has also retreated under financial pressure and is focusing its bug-killing firepower this year on federal and American Indian tribal lands," Johnson writes. Spring rains, which some had hoped would kill many of the grasshopper nymphs, were too early or too late to cause significant damage to the population. The technology surrounding the kill has improved since the 1980s outbreak, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture sprayed fields with a broad-spectrum insecticide that also wiped out many other species and has been linked to human health concerns. Now pilots use Dimilin, which kills grasshoppers indirectly, by hampering their ability to molt between growth stages. (Read more)
Musical showing aftermath of 1960s W.Va. mine disaster opens in New York to mixed reviews
As the Appalachian coalfield continues to deal with the aftermath of the April mine explosion that killed 29 West Virginia miners, the aftermath of a similar but fictional disaster is playing out in a musical that debuted in New York in May. The disaster "recalled an era half a century ago when such catastrophes were more common – the era depicted in 'The Burnt Part Boys,' set in the coal country of West Virginia in 1962," Jonathan Mandell writes for The Faster Times. "But that was also the era of boys’ adventure stories and movie Westerns, family and fantasy TV series. All are part of 'The Burnt Part Boys,' now opened at Playwrights Horizons, an odd mash-up of a musical – somewhere between 'Floyd Collins' and Harry Potter — that might have worked better had it stuck to one genre."
The musical follows two boys 10 years after a mine explosion and fire that killed their father and a dozen other miners. The central drama arises from the older brother's decision to work in the same mine and the younger brother's attempts to stop him. Early reviews have been mixed at best. "There are unquestionably moving moments in 'The Burnt Part Boys,' helped along by good acting and singing as well as several memorable dramatic tableaux, most of them involving a chorus of dead miners," Mandell writes. "There is just too much else there that feels like filler." (Read more)
A slow-moving plot through much of the production, just over 90 minutes, seems to be the most consistent criticism of the play, though little mention has been given to its portrayal of mining culture. Charles Isherwood, reviewer for The New York Times, took issue with the play's seemingly bland title, but writes "This small flaw is not, unfortunately, the only one made by the creators of this warm-spirited and family-friendly but dramatically static new show." (Read more) The play is directed by Joe Calarco with book by Mariana Elder, music by Chris Miller and lyrics by Nathan Tysen.
The musical follows two boys 10 years after a mine explosion and fire that killed their father and a dozen other miners. The central drama arises from the older brother's decision to work in the same mine and the younger brother's attempts to stop him. Early reviews have been mixed at best. "There are unquestionably moving moments in 'The Burnt Part Boys,' helped along by good acting and singing as well as several memorable dramatic tableaux, most of them involving a chorus of dead miners," Mandell writes. "There is just too much else there that feels like filler." (Read more)
A slow-moving plot through much of the production, just over 90 minutes, seems to be the most consistent criticism of the play, though little mention has been given to its portrayal of mining culture. Charles Isherwood, reviewer for The New York Times, took issue with the play's seemingly bland title, but writes "This small flaw is not, unfortunately, the only one made by the creators of this warm-spirited and family-friendly but dramatically static new show." (Read more) The play is directed by Joe Calarco with book by Mariana Elder, music by Chris Miller and lyrics by Nathan Tysen.
As Tenn. lets guns in eateries with booze, states' gun-death and -ownership rates are compared
"As Tennessee prepares again to allow guns in restaurants that serve alcohol, a nationwide survey by gun-control advocates claims more guns mean more crime and more deaths, with Tennessee near the top of the list. Gun-rights supporters say it's all a numbers game and that guns actually drive down crime," Matt Lakin reports for the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
The state Legislature has overridden Gov. Phil Bredesen's veto of a bill that will allow holders of gun-carry permits to take their weapons into any restaurant selling alcohol, though they can't legally drink while carrying and restaurant owners could still ban guns on their individual properties. An earlier law was declared unconstitutionally vague.
Lakin reports that the Violence Policy Center, a Washington-based group that wants to ban handguns, "ranks Tennessee in seventh place nationally for gun-related deaths, at a rate of 15.03 per 100,000 people. That's above a national average of about 10 gun deaths per 100,000, according to the survey. Tennessee's household gun ownership rate is about 46 percent, the VPC estimates." The data are based on statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for causes of death in 2007, the most recent year available. (Read more)
VPC lists gun-death rates by state here but does not list gun-ownership rates, except for the five states with the lowest rates (Hawaii, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York) and the five highest rates (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alaska, Alabama, Nevada). Its critics say some states with high gun-ownership rates have low gun-death rates. At our request, VPC gave us the study with the state-by-state chart of gun ownership, which we have put into a sortable Excel spreadsheet file and posted here. The data are from 2002; VPC, citing an author, says the data are the most recent available.
The state Legislature has overridden Gov. Phil Bredesen's veto of a bill that will allow holders of gun-carry permits to take their weapons into any restaurant selling alcohol, though they can't legally drink while carrying and restaurant owners could still ban guns on their individual properties. An earlier law was declared unconstitutionally vague.
Lakin reports that the Violence Policy Center, a Washington-based group that wants to ban handguns, "ranks Tennessee in seventh place nationally for gun-related deaths, at a rate of 15.03 per 100,000 people. That's above a national average of about 10 gun deaths per 100,000, according to the survey. Tennessee's household gun ownership rate is about 46 percent, the VPC estimates." The data are based on statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for causes of death in 2007, the most recent year available. (Read more)
VPC lists gun-death rates by state here but does not list gun-ownership rates, except for the five states with the lowest rates (Hawaii, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York) and the five highest rates (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alaska, Alabama, Nevada). Its critics say some states with high gun-ownership rates have low gun-death rates. At our request, VPC gave us the study with the state-by-state chart of gun ownership, which we have put into a sortable Excel spreadsheet file and posted here. The data are from 2002; VPC, citing an author, says the data are the most recent available.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Hospitals say funds to encourage digitization of medical records come with too-strict rules
In February 2009 the Obama administration made available tens of billions of dollars to help doctors and hospitals buy equipment to computerize patients’ medical records, but now some of the country's top medical facilities are joining with smaller hospitals in saying the initial eligibility rules for the funds are too strict. "Doctors and hospital executives, who have expressed their frustration in meetings with White House and Medicare officials, said the issue offered a cautionary tale of what could happen when good intentions meet the reality of America’s fragmented health care system," Robert Pear of The New York Times reports.
The funds are distributed through Medicare and Medicaid as incentives to use electronic records, and when the law was passed the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the incentive payments would total $34 billion. "It is no surprise that tiny hospitals in the Midwest and doctors practicing by themselves would grumble about the White House proposals," Pear writes. "But elite institutions have similar concerns." Institutions like Kaiser Permanente, Intermountain Healthcare and the Mayo Clinic have voiced concerns about the requirements.
"At this date, Intermountain could not meet 36 of the 48 meaningful use requirements," Dr. Brent E. Wallace, chief medical officer at the Utah-based company, which President Obama has pointed to several times as the shining example of health care done right, told Pear. "To qualify under the administration plan, doctors would have to meet 25 criteria, or objectives, and hospitals would have to meet 23," Pear writes. Jonathan D. Blum, deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told the Times, "We want to strike a balance. We will provide flexibility for doctors and hospitals, but push them to elevate their performance. Final rules will be out in early summer." (Read more)
Unsure of how the administration's programs will affect them, many in rural health care have been skeptical of the switch to electronic records, Teryn Schaefer of KOMU-TV, the University of Minnesota-owned station, reported earlier this month. But some like Dr. Karen Edison, director of UM's Center for Health Policy, say "Electronic records are the future and that rural health care will have to convert soon or later and they are there to make it happen," Schaefer writes. (Read more)
The funds are distributed through Medicare and Medicaid as incentives to use electronic records, and when the law was passed the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the incentive payments would total $34 billion. "It is no surprise that tiny hospitals in the Midwest and doctors practicing by themselves would grumble about the White House proposals," Pear writes. "But elite institutions have similar concerns." Institutions like Kaiser Permanente, Intermountain Healthcare and the Mayo Clinic have voiced concerns about the requirements.
"At this date, Intermountain could not meet 36 of the 48 meaningful use requirements," Dr. Brent E. Wallace, chief medical officer at the Utah-based company, which President Obama has pointed to several times as the shining example of health care done right, told Pear. "To qualify under the administration plan, doctors would have to meet 25 criteria, or objectives, and hospitals would have to meet 23," Pear writes. Jonathan D. Blum, deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told the Times, "We want to strike a balance. We will provide flexibility for doctors and hospitals, but push them to elevate their performance. Final rules will be out in early summer." (Read more)
Unsure of how the administration's programs will affect them, many in rural health care have been skeptical of the switch to electronic records, Teryn Schaefer of KOMU-TV, the University of Minnesota-owned station, reported earlier this month. But some like Dr. Karen Edison, director of UM's Center for Health Policy, say "Electronic records are the future and that rural health care will have to convert soon or later and they are there to make it happen," Schaefer writes. (Read more)
Number of Roundup-resistant weeds is rising
"We can go back to the old ways, but do we want to do it, environmentally?" Jeff Stachler, who led several Ohio weed studies, told Beyerlein. "How do we want to harm the environment the least?" In addition to the cost-saving and productivity benefits of using Roundup Ready seeds, many Roundup advocates say the herbicide is more environmentally friendly that other older weed killers. (Read more)
White House delaying release of report identifying Mexico as key to meth problem
In an apparent effort to sooth relations with the Mexican government, the Obama administration has delayed releasing the 2010 National Methamphetamine Threat Assessment, The New York Times reports. The report obtained by the Times "describes a 'high and increasing' availability of methamphetamine mainly because of large-scale drug production in Mexico," Charlie Savage and Michael R. Gordon report. The report was completed in mid-May, but administration officials first delayed its release because Mexican President Felipe Calderón was scheduled to come to Washington on a state visit, and have since delayed its release more than once.
"The report was particularly touchy because it came less than two months after the distribution of another National Drug Intelligence Center study that had portrayed the drug trafficking situation in Mexico in stark terms, prompting complaints from the Mexican government," the Times writes. A Justice Department spokeswoman told the Times there was no intention to suppress the report by the NDIC and that the department was delaying its release for administrative reasons.
The center sent advance copies of the report to the White House and to Justice Department headquarters and printed about 300 copies and shipped them to San Diego for distribution at a conference about efforts to block the flow of chemicals used to manufacture meth, the Times reports. An official in the Office of National Drug Control Policy then pointed out Calderón's visit, prompting the first delay. For now, "the report remains in official limbo," the Times writes. (Read more)
"The report was particularly touchy because it came less than two months after the distribution of another National Drug Intelligence Center study that had portrayed the drug trafficking situation in Mexico in stark terms, prompting complaints from the Mexican government," the Times writes. A Justice Department spokeswoman told the Times there was no intention to suppress the report by the NDIC and that the department was delaying its release for administrative reasons.
The center sent advance copies of the report to the White House and to Justice Department headquarters and printed about 300 copies and shipped them to San Diego for distribution at a conference about efforts to block the flow of chemicals used to manufacture meth, the Times reports. An official in the Office of National Drug Control Policy then pointed out Calderón's visit, prompting the first delay. For now, "the report remains in official limbo," the Times writes. (Read more)
USDA to survey 13 states, seeking extent and causes of bee-colony collapse disorder
The Department of Agriculture has launched a 13-state survey aimed at determining the cause and extent of Colony Collapse Disorder among bee populations. The $550,000 survey of 320 apiaries "is not a census of the total bee population," Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers reports. "Instead, it will focus on mortality and troublemakers." Some beekeepers have reported losing 30 to 90 percent of their hives to the disease.
"Whatever kind if research we can get, it's a good thing, because bees are such a valuable commodity," Janet Brisson, treasurer of the Nevada County Beekeepers Association in Pennsylvania, told Doyle. The survey will be conducted by the Agricultural Research Service and Penn State, and specialists will collect samples from selected apiaries. "The samples will then be tested for evidence of pests or pathogens, including foreign mites known as Tropilaelaps," Doyle writes.
"California's almond crop alone requires more than 1.4 million colonies of bees annually, amounting to more than half of all bees in the United States," Doyle writes. "The state's lawmakers have been at the forefront of the legislative effort to find out more about what's gone awry." In addition to California the survey will be conducted in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Florida, Hawaii, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. (Read more)
"Whatever kind if research we can get, it's a good thing, because bees are such a valuable commodity," Janet Brisson, treasurer of the Nevada County Beekeepers Association in Pennsylvania, told Doyle. The survey will be conducted by the Agricultural Research Service and Penn State, and specialists will collect samples from selected apiaries. "The samples will then be tested for evidence of pests or pathogens, including foreign mites known as Tropilaelaps," Doyle writes.
"California's almond crop alone requires more than 1.4 million colonies of bees annually, amounting to more than half of all bees in the United States," Doyle writes. "The state's lawmakers have been at the forefront of the legislative effort to find out more about what's gone awry." In addition to California the survey will be conducted in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Florida, Hawaii, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. (Read more)
Duke Energy asks suppliers for prices on mountaintop-removal coal and otherwise
One of the country's top coal-burning utilities is asking its suppliers to submit price estimates for coal mined by mountaintop removal and coal not mined through the controversial process. The request, from North Carolina-based Duke Energy, "comes amid growing pressure from lawmakers and environmentalists to stop the practice of removing the earth above coal seams," Bruce Henderson of the Charlotte Observer reports. "The practice is cheaper and safer than underground mining, but can level mountain peaks while filling valleys with debris."
"Duke is under state mandates to provide the cheapest possible electricity," Henderson writes. Duke spokesman Dave Scanzoni told Henderson the data will help Duke determine financial impacts that may be reviewed by regulators. Duke spends about $3 billion per year on coal to burn in power plants in the Carolinas, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, Henderson reports. Duke released its annual environmental report in April, which said "Our goal, as always, is to strike the right balance between economic, environmental and social considerations." (Read more)
"Duke is under state mandates to provide the cheapest possible electricity," Henderson writes. Duke spokesman Dave Scanzoni told Henderson the data will help Duke determine financial impacts that may be reviewed by regulators. Duke spends about $3 billion per year on coal to burn in power plants in the Carolinas, Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, Henderson reports. Duke released its annual environmental report in April, which said "Our goal, as always, is to strike the right balance between economic, environmental and social considerations." (Read more)
Biomass industry says new EPA regulation would be devastating, wants break for being green
A top biomass industry official said Tuesday the Environmental Protection Agency's new proposal governing emissions standards would cost the industry $50 billion. "The ruling announced last Friday would apply strict emissions limits on a wide variety of the boiler types used in burning material for energy, including biomass material," Darius Dixon of Environment & Energy Daily reports. In a conference call Tuesday Bob Cleaves, president and CEO of the Biomass Power Association, said the regulation "lacks economic rationality," and while the federal government "has its heart in the right place," the new regulation would be "impossible to comply with."
"The new regulations would cover several pollutants, including particulate matter, cadmium, mercury and carbon monoxide, in addition to greenhouse gases," Dixon writes. "Cleaves said industry leaders believed that biomass power producers might be allowed certain exemptions from new emissions regulations because, in principle, biomass is 'carbon neutral.'" Instead the proposal makes little distinction between biomass and dirtier coal or garbage incineration, Cleaves said.
Franz Matzner, climate legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said last month that EPA's rule must distinguish between those biomass techniques that are carbon-neutral and those that are not. "The science around biomass continues to make clear that not all biomass is good from a carbon footprint perspective," Matzner said. The 45-day public comment period on the rule began on Monday. (Read more, subscription required)
"The new regulations would cover several pollutants, including particulate matter, cadmium, mercury and carbon monoxide, in addition to greenhouse gases," Dixon writes. "Cleaves said industry leaders believed that biomass power producers might be allowed certain exemptions from new emissions regulations because, in principle, biomass is 'carbon neutral.'" Instead the proposal makes little distinction between biomass and dirtier coal or garbage incineration, Cleaves said.
Franz Matzner, climate legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said last month that EPA's rule must distinguish between those biomass techniques that are carbon-neutral and those that are not. "The science around biomass continues to make clear that not all biomass is good from a carbon footprint perspective," Matzner said. The 45-day public comment period on the rule began on Monday. (Read more, subscription required)
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