County-level map shows that Americans are on the move; 15% of U.S. families moved in 2014

County-level data shows that Americans are on the move, Tim Henderson reports for Stateline. About 15 percent of families moved in 2014, up from 11 percent during the recession but down from pre-recession numbers of 17 percent. Kimball Brace, president of Virginia-based Election Data Services, told Henderson, “The recession kept people at home. They couldn’t sell their home; they couldn’t find a job. We’re starting to see bigger numbers. We’re not all the way back.”

While some of the biggest moves have been to or from metro areas, some rural areas have seen an influx of migration led by the oil boom in North Dakota, where McKenzie County had an 18.3 percent increase in population from 2013 to 2014. (Stateline map: Where moves affect population. For an interactive version, click here)

Same-sex marriage OKd; maps shows same-sex couple estimates by county, state policies for gays

State bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision today, meaning that gay couples in 13 states where same-sex marriage was illegal—mostly in states with large rural populations in the Midwest and South—can now marry, Ana Swanson reports for The Washington Post.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion, “The court now holds that same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry. No longer may this liberty be denied to them." The 13 states were same-sex marriage was illegal were: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan. There are 390,000 same-sex married couples in the U.S. and another 70,000 couples living in the 13 states where same-sex marriage was illegal who would get married in the next three years, according to UCLA's Williams Institute. About one million same-sex couples, married and unmarried, live together in the U.S. (New York Times map; click here for interactive version with county data)

The court ruled in cases from Kentucky, where "voters by a 75 percent margin in 2004 approved a constitutional amendment saying that 'only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage' in the state, and in a recent Bluegrass Poll more than half of registered voters continued to oppose it," Andrew Wolfson notes for The Courier-Journal in Louisville. Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear's "administration has spent $195,400 defending Kentucky's ban in court," after Attorney General Jack Conway, the Democratic nominee for governor, declined to appeal a lower-court ruling against it, Linda Blackford reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader. One of the plaintiffs was Tim Love, so one of the cases decided by the court was Love v. Beshear.

A poll of 1,394 respondents by the University of Texas and The Texas Tribune found that 41 percent of state residents are against same-sex marriage, 14 percent are not sure and 44 percent are in favor, Ross Ramsey reports for the Tribune. A significant gap of opinions existed based on where people live, with 52 percent of urban respondents in favor of same-sex marriage, 43 percent of suburban respondents and 33 percent of rural respondents. More than 52 percent of rural respondents were against same-sex marriage, compared to 29 percent of urban respondents and 44 percent of suburban ones.

"Gay Americans still face disparities on issues like workplace and housing discrimination, hate crime and anti-bullying protection and adoption rights," Jacob Bogage writes for The Washington Post. His story is accompanied by a map drawn by the Movement Advanced Project, "a think tank that researches LGBT policy. The group created a metric to quantify a state's policies toward the LGBT community."

Click on map to view a larger version

Study: food industry workers at higher risk of occupational illness, injury and death

Compared to workers in other industries, workers in almost every step of the modern food industry are at a higher risk of occupational illness, injury and death, according to a study in the July Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Food-industry workers had a 60 percent higher rate of occupational illness and injury than workers in other industries, and severe injuries that necessitated taking time off work were twice as frequent for food industry workers. The risk of occupational death in the food industry was 9.5 times higher than in other industries.

The researchers analyzed Bureau of Labor Statistics data on occupational disease, accidents and deaths in food-related industries between 2008 and 2010. Using the "farm-to-table" model, the study might be able to assist in targeting particular workplace hazards within the food industry, according to Kira L. Newman of Emory University and other colleagues. The farm-to-table model framework includes five majors processes: food production, processing, distribution, storage and retail.

Those working in food processing, storage and retail were more likely to be injured as a result of a slip, trip or fall than those working in other stages of the farm-to-table model. This could be related to the high use of refrigeration, researchers said, writing, "Applying the farm-to-table model within occupational health . . . can reshape the understanding of how market forces in the food industry may impact workers and consumers."

Old Glory a source of pride for rural African Americans at flag factory in South Carolina

In a rural town 65 miles north of Charleston, S.C.—where nine African Americans were murdered in a historic church and a white suspect with ties to hate groups was arrested for the crime—the mostly African American employees of the Valley Forge Flag factory in Lane, S.C., continue to take pride in manufacturing American flags, while applauding their employer's decision to discontinue making the Confederate flag, Edward McAllister reports for Reuters. Confederate flags are not made a the Lane factory.
African American Margaree Mitchum, manager of the 100 employees at the Lane factory, told McAllister, "I look at a flag differently now. When I started to sew, and I saw them flying, it filled my heart because I’d had my hands on them . . . For us, as black people, the Confederate flag shows racism. Everything has its place, and I think it should be taken down."

Scott Liberman, chief executive officer of Valley Forge, a company founded by his great grandfather in 1882, told McAllister of manufacturing the Confederate flag, "I wish I had stopped doing it a long time ago. If it has become offensive to people, I don't want anything to do with it." (Read more)

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Monday called for the Confederate flag to be removed from the Capitol grounds, and Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley on Wednesday ordered the Confederate flag and other Civil War flags to be removed from Capitol grounds. Lawmakers in Mississippi, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia have also discussed removing the Confederate flag from state grounds or license plates and the University of Texas is discussing the future of a statue of Confederacy President Jefferson Davis on school grounds, reports The Associated Press.

Rural America provides food, energy, water, recreation and soldiers for U.S., advocate writes

Diane Smith

Urban and suburban residents who don't think rural America has much to offer should think again, opines Diane Smith, founder and CEO of American Rural, which says it "focuses on expanding opportunities for rural and small town businesses and entrepreneurs."

When it comes to food, 85 percent is grown in rural areas, Smith writes for the Flathead Beacon in Kalispell, Mont. "Billions of dollars’ worth of rural American agricultural products are exported around the globe each year, and hundreds of thousands of trees are planted on farmland for sustainability."

Energy and water are other keys, she writes. "Large scale energy production facilities including fossil fuels, hydro, solar, wind, biofuels and others are often located in rural communities. . . . Rural residents are often upstream stewards of rivers, lakes, and other waterways that have a profound impact on our downstream neighbors."

Tourism is another big part of rural America. "Whether it’s our national parks, the lure of a back road, or the desire to ski, bike, hike, fish, hunt, kayak or just get away from it all, rural areas are big recreation destinations," Smith writes. "Our national parks alone host millions of Americans and overseas visitors every year, and U.S. rural tourism continues to grow robustly."

Another important thing to remember is that rural America supplies more than its share of military recruits and veterans, she writes, though her numbers are off base. Bill Bishop clarified the numbers in the Daily Yonder in 2011, and the Economic Research Service of the Agriculture Department has the latest data.

Kentucky author, farmer echoed Pope Francis' sentiments about nature and humanity in 1983

Wendell Berry delivered the Jefferson
Lecture in the Humanities in 2012.

The Vatican released Pope Francis' "first much anticipated Encyclical 'Laudato Si' ("Praise Be to You") last week. In the document and the subsequent media conference at the Vatican, scientists and theologians of varying traditions intoned dire warnings about the limits of a science-based culture and called on the world to recover a pre-Modern respect for nature that harmonizes human advances with natural integrity," Duke University student Travis Knoll writes for The Huffington Post.

"As it turns out, a U.S. author from Kentucky came to Francis' same conclusions a little over thirty years ago," Knoll writes. "Award winning author Wendell Berry advocated in his 1983 essay 'Two Economies' for a system that would prioritize the spiritual 'Kingdom of God' without neglecting economical necessities."

"Two religious humans, one the leader of more than a billion Catholics, and the other, a small Kentucky farmer, both recognize that nature and humanity are not mutually exclusive, but mutually dependent," Knoll writes. "If you are suspicious of the Argentine cleric in white's credentials or relevance to the U.S.'s conscience, try lending your ears to the Kentucky farmer."

Berry's essay "advocated for a practical harmony that both shaped the environment through human invention and allowed the environment to provide practical aids and limits on human development," Knoll writes. "Berry used topsoil as an example. He argued that industrialists overlooked complex ecological systems by replacing the double function of topsoil, water retention and drainage, with machines and dams that performed merely one or the other task, risking eroded ecosystems. In short, in the name of efficiency, technocrats had overlooked and reduced nature's efficiency. Turning to the ironic belief that we can or ought to control nature, Berry asked: 'What is to be the fate of self-control in an economy that encourages and rewards unlimited selfishness?'"

"Berry illustrated that while humans could ruin the environment through a divorce of humanity and nature, human engagement with nature might improve it, if scaled correctly," Knoll writes. "He pointed to an indigenous community, the Papago in Mexico, that, through irrigation and regular agriculture, had formed a type of oasis that attracted birds. The Park Service in Arizona had banned the same nation from their traditional farming methods on an ecological preserve. This restriction ironically reduced the bird sanctuary's bird and plant biodiversity." (Read more)

Poor road conditions costing drivers big money in vehicle upkeep costs; rural roads in poor shape

Poor road conditions are costing residents in six states—Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, California, Oklahoma and Michigan—more than $600 per year per driver in extra vehicle upkeep costs, according to analysis from TRIP, a national transportation research group, Christopher Ingraham reports for The Washington Post. The average cost per state is $400-$500, with only two states—Minnesota and Tennessee—below $300. 

A report released last year by The Road Information Program, funded by lobbies interested in highways and their safety, found that one-third of rural roads in some states are rated as poor, while TRIP says federal transportation data from 2012 gave 15 percent of the nation's major rural roads a poor condition rating and another 40 percent a mediocre or fair rating. (Post graphic)

Six former railway employees charged in 2013 Quebec oil derailment that killed 47

"Six former employees of the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway, including the train engineer and the top executive, face charges under the Railway Safety Act and Fisheries Act for their alleged roles" in the 2013 train derailment in Quebec that resulted in the deaths of 47 people, Eric Atkins and Verity Stevenson report for The Globe and Mail in Toronto. The bankrupt company has also been charged in what was Canada's worst rail disaster in modern times. The train was carrying crude oil from North Dakota to Maine. (Getty Images by Francois Laplante-Delagrave: Photo from July 6, 2013 of Quebec oil derailment)

"The charges come as a battle over a $430-million victims’ fund is being waged in Quebec court and almost a year after a Transportation Safety Board report on the disaster found that just seven handbrakes were set on the train," Atkins and Stevenson write. "The federal government said the accused failed to ensure that the brakes were properly set on the unattended train of 63 oil tank cars that rolled down a hill in the early morning of July 6, 2013, before crashing in a series of explosions that destroyed 40 buildings and killed people in their sleep or as they enjoyed a night out in the picturesque village."

"There are also environmental charges over the spillage of oil," Atkins and Stevenson write. "All of the accused are scheduled to appear in a Lac-Mégantic court on Nov. 12. The charges have not been tested in court." (Read more)

Republican-led Congress ignoring Obama's $3 billion proposal to aid coal communities

"A massive $3 billion package to help struggling coal communities transition to a new economy is sitting unappropriated in the Republican-led Congress. And lawmakers are saying little—at least publicly—about if and how they ever plan to support it," Naveena Sadasivam reports for InsideClimate News as part of the series Coal's Long Goodbye. 

POWER+ plan was part of the White House's February budget proposal "to support towns and communities struggling to cope with the decline in coal production and use," Sadasivam writes. "The initiative provides coal country with an influx of cash to reclaim abandoned mines, provide job training to miners, reform health and pension funds and invest in carbon capture technology."

"In order to move the money from federal coffers to the states and counties, Congress must allocate the money from the federal budget through appropriations bills," Sadasivam writes. "Since the POWER+ proposal includes legislative reforms and fund allocations, executing the White House’s plan will require a high level of coordination in Congress."

That's where the proposal seems to be running into problems, Sadasivam writes. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Congressman Hal Rogers, Republicans from a state—Kentucky—that has lost more coal jobs than any other state, have shown little support for the proposal and have blamed Obama for coal's demise.

After the proposal was released, McConnell said it "was 'cold comfort' for the Obama administration to 'suddenly propose easing the pain they've helped inflict on so many Kentucky coal families," Sadasivam writes. Rogers said, "The president is missing the point: for centuries, this country has run on coal. Businesses large and small rely on cheap, reliable energy to remain competitive, and drawn-out rulemaking processes and bureaucratic overreach create uncertainty that will raise energy costs and threaten American jobs."

While both have said the proposal needs to be seriously considered, they "emphasized the need for regulatory relief in addition to the monetary support," Sadasivam writes. Philip Wallach of the Brookings Institution "said that unless there is a big conversation shift around climate change and energy policy, he doesn’t expect McConnell, Rogers or any of the other coal-state Republican leaders to come out in full support of the proposal," saying it would be an "unimaginable reversal." (Read more)

Gov. Mike Pence says Indiana will refuse to comply with gas emission rules unless changes are made

Gov. Mike Pence

Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Pence wrote a letter to President Obama saying that his state will refuse to comply with Environmental Protection Agency regulations on greenhouse gas emissions unless major revisions are made, Maureen Groppe reports for The Indianapolis Star. Pence didn't specify what improvements he was seeking.

"Pence made his challenge on the same day the House voted 247 to 180 to pass a bill to give states the ability to opt out of the regulations," Groppe writes. "The vote—primarily along party lines—was not strong enough to overcome a threatened White House veto. But it was backed by Indiana's seven Republican House members and by Democratic Rep. Andre Carson of Indianapolis."

Pence has said he isn't convinced that climate change is man-made, Groppe writes. Environmentalists say it's just another example of the governor siding with the coal industry over the health of his state's residents. The only states with higher emission rates than Indiana are Kentucky, West Virginia and Wyoming.

"If the rule goes into effect, the EPA estimates rates in the region that includes Indiana will be about 6 percent higher in 2020 than they would be without the rule," Groppe writes. "By 2030, as the cost of making energy improvements and other efficiencies begin to pay off, the increase in rates due to the rule is projected to be less than 1 percent, according to the EPA. Opponents say rate increases would be much larger."

Groppe told Obama that the regulations would "force the premature retirement of coal-fired power plants, 'threatening our stable source of affordable electricity,'" Groppe writes. Pence has also challenged the legality of the regulations, writing, "Our state will also reserve the right to use any legal means available to block the rule from being implemented." (Read more)

Duke Energy to close 12 more North Carolina coal ash ponds

Duke Energy announced on Tuesday that it will close 12 more North Carolina coal ash ponds, meaning the company "now aims to excavate 24 of its 36 ponds in the Carolinas," Bruce Henderson reports for the Charlotte Observer. After a Duke spill last year dumped 82,000 tons of coal ash in the Dan River, a state law was passed requiring "testing of all drinking wells within 1,000 feet of Duke's coal ash dumps," The Associated Press reported in May. "A separate state law passed in the wake of the Dan River spill requires the company to move or cap all of its dumps by 2029." 

Frank Holleman of the Southern Environmental Law Center said "the dozen ponds in Eastern North Carolina that Duke identified Tuesday are 'heavy polluters and they’re in extremely dangerous locations,'” Henderson writes. But the 12 remaining ponds not yet charted for cleanup "hold more than 70 percent of the 108 million tons of ash held in North Carolina ponds."

"Duke wants much of that ash to stay near the power plants that produced it. Ash would be stored in lined landfills or kept in place in drained ponds with caps to keep out rain," Henderson writes.

Kaiser conference call at 2 p.m. to discuss ruling in King v. Burwell and its effect on Obamacare

The Kaiser Family Foundation will hold a special media-only conference call at 2 p.m. (EST) today to explain today's Supreme Court decision in the King v. Burwell case and to answer questions about its implications. The Supreme Court ruled by a 6 to 3 vote "that millions of Americans are entitled to keep the tax subsidies that help them afford insurance" under federal health reform, Kimberly Leonard reports for U.S. News and World Report.

"The ruling, the second case in which the justices have decided in favor of the Affordable Care Act, preserves benefits for an estimated 6.4 million Americans and deals a crippling blow to the law's Republican opponents, who have attempted to undermine it since its passage in 2010," Leonard writes. "King v. Burwell centered on whether plaintiffs' arguments that middle- and low-income adults who purchased health insurance through the federally run Healthcare.gov marketplace were entitled to subsidies based on the language of the law that says tax credits are only to be distributed for marketplaces 'established by the state.'"

The link to register for the conference call is unavailable using some forms of browsers and is best attained using Chrome. For more information or questions, contact Tiffany Ford Fields at SCOTUS@kff.org or (202) 347-5270.

Rural counties continue to see population losses

Most rural counties suffered population loss when comparing data from 2003-2007 to 2010-14, says a report by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farming-dependent and manufacturing-dependent rural counties that saw population growth from 2003-2007 declined in population from 2010-14. The recession, changes in technology and aging rural populations are the main reasons for the decreases in populations. The Daily Yonder notes that non-metro counties have lost population for the fourth straight year. (USDA graphic)

Counties that rely on tourism and retirees are still growing but at a lesser rate, dropping from a growth rate of 5.1 percent from 2003-2007 to 1.4 percent from 2010-14, the report says. The oil and gas boom has spurred rural population growth in North Dakota, Texas, Montana and Pennsylvania.

But most rural counties lost population, with population growth in the Mountain West slowing for the first time in decades, the report says. For the first time, non-metro counties next to metro areas decreased in population, from gaining 900,000 people from 2003-2007, to losing 23,000 people from 2010-14.

Some of the biggest rural population declines occurred in the East, the report says. "For example, most metro counties in South Carolina maintained above average population growth through the housing crisis and recession, but non-metro areas switched from 2.1 percent growth during 2003-07 to -0.36 percent decline since 2010. Extensive areas of population decline also emerged along the North Carolina-Virginia border, in southern Ohio, and throughout New England." (USDA map)

Rural voters key for Democrats to win back control of Senate; Clinton nomination could hurt party

If Democrats want to win back the Senate next year they will have to do it by winning over rural voters in states that have swung in Republicans' favor, Matt Barron reports for The Hill. In six of the nation's most rural states—Arkansas, South Dakota, Kentucky, North Dakota, New Hampshire and North Carolina—both Senate seats are held by Republicans.

Even states that have long been considered Democrat-friendly are struggling to keep the party in control, Barron writes. "As recently as 2000, Democrats held a registration advantage in 11 of Arizona's 13 rural counties, but Republicans now hold the edge in seven of the 13."

Missouri, Nevada and Ohio face similar challenges, especially in Nevada, "where the Democrats must hold on to retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's seat," Barron writes. Rural voters will be key in Nevada, where former Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley lost the 2012 election in rural areas by 40,000 votes.

Those Republican-controlled states could face an uphill climb if Hillary Clinton gets the Democratic presidential nomination, Barron writes. "Her thread-the-needle base mobilization campaign will take a huge detour away from most of rural America, and the consequences could be devastating to other Democrats sharing the ballot with her." (Read more)

Small-town police departments are understaffed, lack training and standards, says federal agency

Small-town police departments are facing a crisis, Kevin Johnson reports for USA Today. "Half of the nearly 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the U.S. have fewer than 10 officers, according to the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics. Nearly three-quarters of agencies have fewer than 25 officers patrolling counties and towns where standards are uneven or non-existent."

University of Maryland criminologist Lawrence Sherman told the White House Task Force on 21st Century Policing earlier this year, "So many problems of organizational quality control are made worse by the tiny size of most local police agencies."

The task force "was established in the aftermath of the riots in Ferguson, Mo., where the operations of the town's modest 53-officer department were excoriated in a March review by the Justice Department. Unmet public safety needs threaten small-town policing operations in communities across the country," Johnson writes.

"That review, which concluded that the local department engaged in a broad pattern of racially biased enforcement, also raised broader questions about the capacity of small communities to carry out crucial public safety responsibilities," Johnson writes. "Smaller agencies, the White House panel concluded, 'often lack the resources for training and equipment accessible to larger departments.'"

Similar problems can be felt across the nation. Damascus, Va., a small town of about 500 residents in the Blue Ridge Mountains, has had four police chiefs since 2007, Johnson writes. One was busted for dealing meth, two others came under fire for alleged proprieties and the fourth and most recent one said he resigned "after being told to 'quit working criminal cases' in the busy meth distribution corridor and pay more attention to the needs of tourists who also flock to the region, a gateway to the iconic Appalachian Trail." (Johnson photo: Damascus Police Department)

Mike Lambert, mayor of Sorrento, La., a town of 1,500, was told in a 2013 meeting with the town's new chief executive that the six-officer police force had "no credibility in the courts," Johnson writes. "Corruption was rampant; residents were being harassed. The capper came last year when the chief, Earl Theriot, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI when he engaged in sexual activity at his office with an unconscious woman who had been the subject of a 911 call."  Lambert's only solution was to strike a deal "with the larger, better-trained and equipped Ascension Parish Sheriff's Department."

A review by the think tank Police Executive Research Forum said one of the problems in the St. Louis area, which inlcudes Ferguson, is that "St. Louis County contains a patchwork of police departments, many of which have jurisdiction over very small areas. This has led to confusion and distrust among residents, who often feel targeted and harassed by police officers and the municipal court system.'' The group recommended "'strategic consolidations of police agencies,''' advocating for the merger of about 20 small agencies into three so-called policing 'clusters.''' (Read more)

Alabama governor orders Confederate flag to be removed from Capitol grounds

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley this morning ordered the Confederate flag at the Capitol to be taken down, Charles Dean reports for The Huntsville Times. "Asked his reasons for taking it down and if it included what happened in Charleston last week, the governor said, 'Yes, partially this is about that. This is the right thing to do. We are facing some major issues in this state regarding the budget and other matters that we need to deal with. This had the potential to become a major distraction as we go forward. I have taxes to raise; we have work to do. And it was my decision that the flag needed to come down.'" (Dean photo: The Confederate flag being removed this morning)

Also removed were three Civil War flags: "the First National Confederate Flag, commonly referred to as the 'Stars and Bars'; the second flag is the Second National Confederate Flag, more commonly known as the 'Stainless Banner;' and the last flag standing is the Third National Confederate Flag," Dean writes.

Oklahoma Geological Survey reversed earthquake position after failing to get donation from oilman

While coming to the conclusion last year that no link existed between oil and drilling and a rise in the state's seismic activity, University of Oklahoma officials sought a $25 million donation from billionaire oilman Harold Hamm—the top donor to the university—to build "The Continental Resources Center for Energy Research and Technology," Mike Soraghan reports for EnergyWire. OU never got the money, and the university's Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS) has since reversed its stance, saying "that most of the quakes are 'very likely' triggered by oil and gas activities."

An email released earlier this year revealed that OGS officials have suspected since 2010 a link between oil and earthquakes. Oklahoma led the lower 48 states in earthquakes with 585 of magnitude 3 or higher in 2014, more than the state had in the previous 35 years combined. (U.S. Geological Survey graphic: Oklahoma earthquakes since 1978)
 
OGS "veered toward linking the seismic swarms to oil and gas drilling in the fall of 2013 when it joined in a U.S. Geological Survey statement about the rising earthquake hazard in the state," Soraghan writes. "But after that, state seismologist Austin Holland was summoned to 'coffee' with Hamm in the office of university President David Boren. Hamm has said that he was actually concerned about Holland's research linking quakes to hydraulic fracturing and was not trying to bully him."

"After the coffee meeting, Hamm continued to press Boren on man-made earthquakes, according to emails obtained by EnergyWire," Soraghan writes. "Hamm urged Boren to prohibit Holland from talking to reporters about quakes and instead have the university's spokeswoman handle such questions. When The New York Times wrote about Oklahoma earthquakes in December 2013, he forwarded the story to Boren with a note: 'This situation could spiral out of control easily.'"

Hamm also told OU officials he wanted people fired over the incident, Soraghan writes. Larry Grillot, retired dean of the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy at the University of Oklahoma, wrote in an email to university colleagues, "Mr. Hamm is very upset at some of the earthquake reporting to the point that he would like to see select OGS staff dismissed."

Hamm also offered to be on the search committee to replace the OGS director, who was retiring, Soraghan wites. Hamm, who wasn't put on the search committee, indicated to Grillot that he would be "visiting with Governor [Mary] Fallin on the topic of moving the OGS out of the University of Oklahoma." (Read more)

Farm app makes it easier for farmers to collect and retrieve data

Farmers are turning to technology to make their jobs easier, using the app FarmLogs "to record planting dates, watering schedules and crop yield," Steve Friess reports for The New York Times. "In addition, subscribers can receive data from FarmLogs about rainfall and soil health that is tailored to their fields." (Modern Farmer graphic: FarmLogs software maps a field in finances)

"It is a striking departure from just a few years ago, when farmers had to travel to their far-flung fields, scribble such data in notebooks and input it into hard-to-use software that resided on a specific desktop computer," Friess writes. "The FarmLogs app allows them to enter the information on mobile devices and to share it easily via the web. Certain bits of information, like the times and amounts of watering, may be transmitted to the app wirelessly through sensors in the field, saving farmers time and miles."

Jesse Vollmer, who co-created the app after hearing about his uncle's struggles with the family farm’s new data management software, told Friess, "In 2011, the Internet had changed the world but hadn’t yet changed farming.” Vollmer said about "70,000 row-crop farms of 100 acres or more in the U.S. are using some elements of the FarmLogs software to keep tabs on vital information of the growing season."

The app, which offers most of its functions for free, "compares real-time satellite images of every five square meters of field with the last five years of satellite imagery to detect whether a particular area is distressed," Friess writes. "If so, farmers receive push notifications urging them to go to that spot and see for themselves why the plants are struggling compared with previous years."

Missouri corn and soy farmer Michael Morris said that last year he tried several apps "but only FarmLogs could handle his volume of data," Friess writes. He told Friees, “We can do better nutrient placement decisions throughout the year with this technology. No other program really offers that.” (Read more)

House passes bill to overhaul toxic chemical safety laws; 1976 bill has never been reformed

For the first time in nearly 40 years, the House passed legislation to overhaul toxic chemical safety laws, Cristina Marcos reports for The Hill. Legislation, which passed Tuesday by a 398-1 vote, "would require the Environmental Protection Agency to review chemicals in products and issue risk management regulations in an expedited manner." A January 2014 chemical spill contaminated drinking water supplies for hundreds of thousands of people in Charleston, W.Va., and surrounding communities. 

The Toxic Substances Control Act law was originally enacted in 1976, Marcos writes. Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), the bill’s author, said, “The time is now to update this outdated law." Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) "warned that toxic chemicals needed to be reined in to protect public health," Marcos writes. Pallone said, “Toxic chemicals can be found in the products we use every day and are steadily building up in our bodies and the environment. Consumers are worried about chemicals like BPA and triclosan, but they don’t know how to avoid them. Something needs to change." (Read more)

Summer meals program struggles to reach impoverished children in rural and remote areas

While the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National School Lunch Program serves 21 million children free or reduced-price meals during the school year, the challenge is getting impoverished children fed during the summer, especially those who live in rural or remote areas. The Summer Food Service Program hopes to address that need, with more than 45,000 meal sites available last summer—a 29 percent increase over 2009—serving 23 million more meals than in the summer of 2009. (Read more)

One of the greatest hurdles is serving Native American communities, where 15 percent of households are food insecure, said a statement from USDA. In La Plata County, Colorado, the Boys & Girls Club of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe is filling a need by providing free breakfast and lunch to children 18 and younger, reports Shane Benjamin for The Durango Herald. It's the only summer meal program location in the county of 53,000—6.6 percent of which are Native Americans.

Accessing every child in need is one of the main problems, reports CNN. Fewer than four million children—less than 18 percent of kids in the school lunch program—are fed through the summer program. One problem is "the federal requirement that the kids receive the food at an approved location and eat it on-site. The rationale is to ensure that the children are the ones actually consuming the meals." But that's not easy for people living in rural and remote areas with limited transportation.

One way to help combat that problem is through technology. No Kid Hungry has created a Text for Summer Sites program that allows anyone to text "food" to 877-877 to find the location of free summer meals sites, reports the Fon du Lac Reporter. The site, which received 46,000 texts from all 50 states last year, is also available in Spanish by texting "comida."

"The way this database works is when people text their zip code and a keyword to a designated number, the nearest summer meals site address will be texted back to them," reports the Reporter. "They can also call the National Hunger Hotline or visit the website to find a site near them." (Read more)