Black farmers fight to keep their land, cultivate next generation

John Boyd Jr., a fourth-generation farmer, grew up close to his 1,000-acre farm in southern Virginia where he now grows soybeans, wheat and livestock.

Boyd, of Baskerville, Virginia, is also the founder of the non-profit National Black Farmers Association, which educates and advocates for Black farmers’ civil rights, land retention and access to public and private loans, among other initiatives.

Boyd and his father farmed together for 30 years and his grandparents were sharecroppers after the abolition of slavery in 1865.

“I know there were slaves and sharecroppers that helped build these barns here,” Boyd told ABC News. “You can see the logs were hand-carved by wooden axes. … Just looking at that reminds me of history, where I came from and where we have to go in this country.”

© Bill Clark/Getty Images, FILE Rep. Bobby Scott, left, and John Boyd, Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association, wait for the news conference to start on Wednesday, March 24, 2010, on the $1.15 billion Black farmers settlement.

As part of his efforts with the NBFA, Boyd has worked to attract more Black people who are interested in farming, as well as to protect their rights and their land, even riding a mule-drawn wagon and driving a tractor to Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress.

© Scott J. Ferrell/Getty Images, FILE Baskerville, Va., farmer John W. Boyd Jr. arrives on Capitol Hill on a borrowed tractor to urge the U.S. Senate and President Obama to pass $1.15 billion in funding for a settlement in a 1997 case against the Agriculture Department.

“The most powerful tool you can possess, only secondary to Jesus Christ, is land ownership,” he said.

To be a farmer in the U.S. is to be part of an aging but crucial industry. Black farmers, especially, have seen their numbers plummet from nearly 1 million at the turn of the 20th century to only about 50,000 today, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. While the reasons are complex, they ultimately come down to economics, migration -- mainly to northern urban areas -- and discrimination and racism, according to the Duke Sanford World Food Policy Center.

© Chris Maddaloni/AP, FILE Baskerville, Va., farmer and National Black Farmers Association president John Boyd leads demonstrators in his carriage to find their Congressional representatives at the Capitol.

Watch “Juneteenth: Together We Triumph — A Soul of a Nation Special Event" on FRIDAY at 9 p.m. ET and next day on Hulu.

In 2017, Black farmers were older than the overall population of U.S. farmers, according to the 2017 agricultural census, which said that their farms were smaller and the value of their agricultural sales were less than 1% of the U.S. total. Due to more complete data collection, the census found that the number of Black producers was 5% higher than in 2012, but the number of Black-operated farms dropped by 3%. In all, 57% of Black-operated farms had sales and government payments of less than $5,000 per year, according to the census, while 7% percent had sales and payments of $50,000 or more when compared with 25% of all farms. © ABC News
A rich history of farming

Black people have a rich history in farming predating slavery. Leah Penniman, co-director of Soul Fire Farm in Petersburg, New York, said that the Mende and Wolof people of West Africa were expert rice farmers kidnapped from their homes and taken to the Carolinas. MORE: Biden signs bill making Juneteenth, marking the end of slavery, a federal holiday

“Our ancestral grandmothers had the courageous audacity to braid seeds into their hair,” Penniman told ABC News, adding that they were transported in slave ships with okra, cowpea, egusi melon, sorghum, millet and eggplant seeds.

© ABC News Leah Penniman, co-director of the Afro-Indigenous community-centered Soul Fire Farm, talks to ABC News about Black people's history and connection to the land.

Hundreds of years later, when enslaved people were given freedom, they were also promised no more than 40 acres of Confederate land along the Atlantic coast, a plan from the federal government that came to be known widely by the phrase “40 acres and a mule.”

The government’s promise was broken soon after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, when his successor, Andrew Johnson, overturned the order and the land was given back to its original owners.

“If ‘40 acres and a mule’ had been a promise kept, that [land] would be worth almost $7 trillion today,” Penniman said.

ABC News Soul Fire Farm is an Afro-Indigenous-centered community farm committed to uprooting racism and seeding sovereignty in the food system, its website says.

Many of the former slaves became sharecroppers, often renting land from their former owners.

“It didn’t just stop when we were freed,” said Boyd. “Where were we free to go? We didn’t have any money. We didn’t have any resources. So, many Blacks stayed on these farms like my forefathers. … That’s how Blacks got land in the first place.”
'It's about fairness'

Boyd said the challenge for Black farmers has been holding onto the land and believes the federal government has failed to adequately support farmers of color.

“The last plantation,” as he calls the USDA, is “the very agency that’s supposed to be lending me a hand up, [and it is] the very agency putting Black farmers out of business.” ©

 ABC News John Boyd Jr. is the founder of the National Black Farmers Association. He's been fighting for years to protect his land and that of other Black farmers around the country.

Boyd said that even up until the 1980s, he would see the word “negro” on USDA applications and that at his area’s USDA office, the only day they would see Black farmers was on Wednesdays.

“We named it Black Wednesday,” he said.

The USDA said in a statement to ABC News that it did include the word "negro" on the application Boyd referenced until at least 1988 and that it used the terms "Black" or "African American" since then. It also said the "scenario" Boyd recalled with regard to Wednesdays "is a reprehensible one, but we have no information to support the claim."

"It is clear that for much of the history of the USDA, Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian American and other minority farmers have faced discrimination -- sometimes overt and sometimes through deeply embedded rules and policies -- that have prevented them from achieving as much as their counterparts who do not face these documented acts of discrimination," the USDA said in its statement. "We are committed to building a different USDA, one that is committed to equality and justice, celebrates diversity and is inclusive of all customers." MORE: EXPLAINER: The story of Juneteenth, the new federal holiday

Boyd said that since 1995, “a half-trillion dollars -- with a ‘T’ -- have been paid out to large-scale farmers in this country in the form of just subsidies” by the USDA.

"That doesn’t include farm ownership loans, farm equipment loans, any of those things, and little to none has went to Black farmers," he said. © ABC News People work on the land at Soul Fire Farm in Petersburg, New York.

In 1999, the USDA settled the class action lawsuit Pigford v. Glickman, and eventually paid more than $1 billion to Black farmers, who claimed they were unfairly denied loans and other government assistance.

“It’s about fairness,” Boyd said. “It’s about dignity and respect.”

Signs of turning tide

For Black farmers, the tide is showing signs of turning. In March, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act, a nearly $2 trillion law that directed $5 billion to farmers of color. Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, co-sponsored the bill, which is meant to provide additional relief to Americans impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The COVID-19 pandemic both illuminated and exacerbated long-standing health disparities and economic disparities,” Warnock told ABC News. © ABC News Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock talks to ABC News about the issues Black farmers face.

Lestor Bonner, a Vietnam War veteran and fifth-generation farm owner, said that in 1893, his great-grandfather bought the farm that he now works on. He said there’s only 136 acres left and that he needs $20,000 to save it from foreclosure. The relief money, he said, could help jumpstart his business after a difficult year living through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bonner said he thought he would have the money by now “so I could get a crop in the ground this year,” he told ABC News.

ABC News Lestor Bonner, a farmer in Virginia, talks to ABC News about his fight to keep his land.

As part of the American Rescue Plan Act, the USDA had set up a loan forgiveness program that would have helped Bonner pay off his outstanding loans, as well as pay for supplies and equipment to help him continue farming. But this month, a federal judge in Wisconsin ordered the government agency to stop forgiving loans, saying the program unconstitutionally uses race as a factor in determining who is eligible.

© ABC News Lestor Bonner, a farmer in Virginia, talks to ABC News along with John Boyd Jr., the founder of the National Black Farmers Association.

Penniman says her organization’s mission is to help Black farmers hold onto their land, as well as to introduce young Black potential farmers to the occupation (the average age of Black farmers is over 60).

“We have between one and 2,000 folks who come through for these courses every single year at the farm to learn everything from taking care of the soil to planting a seed,” she said. 

© ABC News Leah Penniman is co-director of Soul Fire Farms. She says their mission is to help Black farmers hold onto their land and train a new generation of Black farmers.

Penniman said that many important agricultural techniques, including many of the practices in organic farming, like raised beds, composting and cover-cropping “come out of an Afro-indigenous tradition.”

Boyd, for his part, said he’s “proud and excited to see young people” taking an interest in land ownership and farming.

“There’s a new generation of Black farmers. I love that win,” he said. “So, I welcome them to the fight and welcome them as farmers and stewards of the land and contributors to agriculture and the fruit base in this country. That’s what my fight is all about.”

Preliminary report blames construction errors for deadly Mexico City metro collapse

Sara Puig, Noticias Telemundo and Juliana Jiménez J., Noticias Telemundo 

A structural failure caused by at least six serious construction errors led to the collapse of a Mexico City metro train overpass last month that killed 26 people, according to a

 preliminary accident report the municipal government presented Wednesday.

© Provided by NBC News

The document, which the Norwegian company DNV and international experts prepared at the request of the Mexico City government, found multiple problems with the screws, beams and planks used in the structure.


It further detailed deficiencies in the welding of bolts that were not fused as they should have been to prevent erosion from water and use. It said bolts were missing in the beams that make up the bridge, that different types of concrete were used and that some welds were poorly made or not completed.

Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said at the news conference that officials will continue to investigate and follow up "not only because of our legal obligation but because of our ethical, human and moral commitment."

The city's public works secretary, Jesús Antonio Esteva Medina, said reviewers visited the accident site to prepare the report, adding that laboratory tests are still needed to determine, for example, whether any incorrect or defective materials were used.

Esteva said they found deformed beams in the section where the metro track was curving and that other beams had slid from their positions.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who was Mexico City's mayor when the so-called Golden Line was built, defended his management of the project Wednesday and reiterated his willingness to work with the authorities.

"I support the carrying out of the necessary expert and technical investigations to determine the causes of the accident and define the responsibilities that may arise," Ebrard, one of the most important political figures in the national administration, said in a letter posted on Twitter.

Ebrard said decisions about the layout, design, construction and supervision of the metro line were made in consultation through committees and that there is ample documentation.

Wednesday's report found that a different concrete was used where the crucial Nelson bolts were placed — and that the bolts were not spaced equidistantly, "which does not comply with the design," Esteva said. The bolts also were not pushed well into the beams, and fewer bolts were used than required.

"In the area of ​​the fault, the necessary reinforcements in the columns were not observed, and the foundation was shallow" in the columns, Esteva said.

The report said information about repairs carried out after the rail line was built and about the daily maintenance tasks at that section of the subway still need to be analyzed.

DNV maintained that its objective, beyond clarifying the cause of the incident, is to determine whether there are systemic problems to prevent them in other sections of the metro.

An elevated bridge of Line 12 collapsed between the Olivos and Tezonco stations shortly before 10:20 p.m. local time on May 3, causing one of the country's biggest rail-related tragedies.

In addition to the 26 people who died, almost 100 more were injured. The head of the capital's government, Claudia Sheinbaum, promised a thorough investigation.

"Noticias Telemundo Investiga" gained access to a report the city's congress issued in May 2019 to the management of the metro addressing service delays and its administrative and financial status. The document describes the use of defective parts to repair trains and reports that unskilled employees, such as ticket officers, were performing maintenance work.

Mexico City's metro, which transports about 6 million people every working day, is one of the busiest such systems in the world. Several citizen groups have criticized the precariousness of the facilities and a lack of maintenance that causes frequent interruptions in service.

A second phase of the report will be delivered July 14, and Phase 3 will be delivered Aug. 30.

A version of this story was first published on Noticias Telemundo.

Mexico City mayor to construction firms: Pay up for collapsed metro line

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday that she would like the firms that built the metro railway that collapsed and killed 26 people last month to help pay for its reconstruction, though she did not specify how much money was at stake.

 

© Reuters/HENRY ROMERO Employees work as part of the investigations at the site where an overpass for a metro partially collapsed with train cars on it, in Mexico City

Preliminary findings of an independent investigation presented on Wednesday showed the collapse of a section of the Metro 12 Line was caused by a structural failure.

The line was built by a consortium of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's Grupo Carso, Mexico's ICA, and French trainmaker Alstom SA.

"We want them to participate in the rehabilitation in economic terms. That is part of what we are proposing," Sheinbaum said at a news conference, without giving details of whether the firms would be asked to only rebuild the collapsed section or the whole line.

The Civil Engineering Corps of Mexico said on Thursday that after a physical inspection of the metro line it found evidence of other deficiencies and vulnerabilities that require further analysis.

Sheinbaum said she had spoken by phone this week with representatives of ICA and Grupo Carso and would be talking shortly with Alstom. She plans on meeting with company representatives in person next week.

ICA and Grupo Carso did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Raul Cortes; Additional reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Writing by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Leslie Adl

Commons committee calls for reshaping of EI to cover gig workers, self-employed


OTTAWA — A House of Commons committee is recommending a boost to the value and duration of employment insurance benefits, and expanding the system to cover gig workers and the self-employed.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Its report Thursday also asks whether special benefits, such as maternity and parental leave, should be hived off into their own program, and recommends extending sickness benefits to 50 weeks.

To pay for the moves, the committee says federal officials should look at having the government again help finance EI alongside premiums paid by employees and employers.

The committee says EI no longer reflects the realities of today's labour market, nor is it well positioned to respond to sudden disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a dissenting opinion, the Bloc Quebecois underlined the need for reforms, but outlined the party's concern that the opportunity for change would be lost to usual government complacency.

Last year, the government effectively shut down parts of the EI system over concerns that historic job losses at the start of the pandemic would crash the decades-old program, and instead put unemployed Canadians onto emergency pandemic aid.

The situation highlighted issues long known about EI, including how not all workers can qualify for benefits, and more are blocked entirely.

April's federal budget committed $5 million for a two-year review of EI, which the government hopes will allow time to begin badly needed upgrades to the aging computer system that runs the program.

The federal budget also proposed $648 million over seven years to fund a long-term technological upgrade to the EI system, the oldest portions of which rely on programming language from the 1960s.

In the meantime, the government is also planning to extend some pandemic-related measures that the committee believes should become permanent, such as lowering the bar to qualify and eliminating the one-week wait before receiving benefits.

The parliamentary budget officer on Thursday estimated that allowing workers to qualify for benefits after 420 hours of work, rather than 600 or more, will cost federal coffers $574 million this year, and $930 million in the ensuing 12-month period.

A second report estimated that waiving the one-week waiting period for benefits would cost $356 million over two years, just above the $320 million outlined in the budget.

Conservatives on the committee noted ongoing concerns with unemployed new mothers who, after being caught by the social safety net, don't have enough hours to qualify for maternity and parental leave benefits. The party urged the government to quickly close the loophole.

"It is a national shame that these women, despite paying into the EI system for years, are now ineligible for maternity benefits and forced to cut short precious time with their newborns to return to work so they can provide for their growing families," reads the Opposition's dissenting report.

The committee also suggested federal officials look at how to make it easier for new parents on EI-funded leave to work without jeopardizing their federal benefits, known as "working-while-on-claim."

A new study from the Institute for Research on Public Policy finds that EI claimants who worked while on claim were more likely to take up part-time work or to work more hours, which improved their job prospects.

With about half of EI claimants making use of the provisions, the study's authors make a similar recommendation to the committee, but add that the earnings limit rises during economic downturns when part-time jobs tend to be more plentiful and accessible.

Many of the committee's recommendations also match calls from Unifor, the nation's largest private-sector union, including ensuring migrant workers can qualify for benefits and improving retraining options.

"We have no time to waste," said Unifor national president Jerry Dias in a statement accompanying the release of his union's EI recommendations.

"Decades of cuts have left Canada's workers vulnerable to employer exploitation and reliant on a program that leaves far too many out."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2021.

The Canadian Press

The world’s 50 largest financial institutions increased investments in commodity companies that are linked to deforestation by more than $8 billion, reported Mongabay based on analysis of financial data

by Forests & Finance 

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© Provided by National Post A member of the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) walks next to a tractor used for deforestation at the National Forest Bom Futuro in Rio Pardo, Rondonia State, Brazil, September 13, 2019.

The report compared sustainability commitments of the world’s top 50 financial institutions with investments, lending, and guarantees to more than 200 companies that operate in industries linked to deforestation. These industries include beef and palm oil. Forests & Finance found that the gross value of investments in deforestation-linked commodity companies increased by more than 21 per cent, or $8.1 billion, when compared to the previous year.

“This indicates that the majority of financing to the different commodities driving deforestation (beef, palm oil, pulp and paper, rubber, soy and timber) is not subject to even basic desk-based social, environmental or governance checks, much less actual verification of client standards,” the report said.

The financial data comes from the Forests & Finance database that was made publicly available last year and includes information dating back to 2013. Forests & Finance is a coalition of NGOs that assesses the financials of companies involved in the beef, soy, palm oil, pulp and paper, rubber and timber supply chains.
Half of top businesses lack commitment to prevent supply-chain deforestation - report
From beef to chocolate, illegal deforestation found behind many everyday foods

To compile this report, the group analyzed the financial records of some 200 companies with interests in Southeast Asia, Latin America, West Africa, and Central Africa.

Investment data used in the assessment spanned 2016 to 2020 and included $128 billion in underwriting of commodity projects with ties to deforestation. Also included was $28 billion of investments that were made up to April 2021.

The largest recipient of investment was the South Asian palm oil industry, where five Malaysian companies received one-fifth of all investment in the region. U.S. firms, including BlackRock and Vanguard, were among those with significant investments in the industry.

The report from Forests & Finance also ranked more than 50 financial institutions based on environmental, social and governance policies (ESG), and investments they have with deforestation-linked companies.

Various major banks and investors in the industry received low scores from Forests & Finance. Among them were Bank of America, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street.

Based on the data, the group concluded that ESG policies of the top 50 financial institutions were inadequate. Forests & Finance gave the institutions an average 2.4 of 10 ranking.

“Protecting the world’s tropical forests has quite literally never been more important to all life on Earth,” said Merel van der Mark, a coordinator for Forests & Finance. “And yet, these financial institutions are all but writing a blank check to the companies driving forest destruction and human rights abuses.”

Forests & Finance also highlights how the figures used in this assessment are likely underestimated because of differing disclosure regulations across the regions involved in the report.

The report is paradoxically released at a time of increased global interest in ESG initiatives. Last year ESG fund assets hit a record high of approximately $1.4 trillion USD, reported Bloomberg News , where more than half of all money going into European funds went into sustainable products.

PwC, one of the four major accounting firms, is also taking a leading role in ESG according to Financial Times . The firm announced the launch of “trust leadership institutes” in both the U.S. and Asia, which will train clients in relation to ESG business ethics.

Despite the growth of ESG, deforestation-linked industries are still profitable. The palm oil industry alone quadrupled between 1995 and 2015 and is expected to so again by 2050, according to the Guardian . The continued growth of the palm oil industry could be partially attributed to its vast application, where Palm Oil Investigations said the product is listed as an ingredient in at least 200 common food, home, and personal care products.

One million chickens euthanized during labour dispute at Quebec slaughterhouse

MONTREAL — The head of an association representing Quebec chicken producers says it is unacceptable that one million chickens have been euthanized during an extended labour dispute at a slaughterhouse near Quebec City.
© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Exceldor co-operative closed its slaughterhouse in St-Ansèlme, Que., south of the provincial capital, on May 23 due to a strike, leaving few options for chicken producers.

Pierre-Luc Leblanc, president of Les Éleveurs de Volailles du Québec — the province's association of chicken producers — said he's never received as many calls and messages from members as in the past few weeks, unsure of how to handle the situation.

"People are telling me they are offended, mad and sad," he said. "It's not an easy situation because there's not a lot of solutions for us."

Leblanc's association represents more than 700 producers, mostly family-run businesses, who operate within strict guidelines.

"There are rules for producers: when you transport the chickens, you are allowed to have only one per cent rate mortality. If you go beyond that, you can get a fine for animal cruelty," Leblanc said. "But right now, we are allowing that many chickens to be killed."

Both the union and the company have confirmed the one million discarded chickens would have provided up to four million meals.

The union said the strike has forced Quebec producers to send euthanized chickens either to waste sites or to a rendering plant, where they can be transformed into products not for human consumption.

Exceldor spokesman Jordan Ouellet said the company tried to send as many chickens as possible to other slaughterhouses in Quebec or Ontario.

"The problem is that at one point, after 35 days, when chickens reach a certain weight, they are ready to be transformed," Ouellet said. "But beyond that, they continue to grow and infrastructures are not made for those sizes."

Premier François Legault described the situation in a Facebook post on Wednesday as a "shame that needs to stop."

Legault urged both sides to take up the province on its offer of an arbitrator to help resolve the matter, noting that the waste amounts to 13 per cent of the province's chicken production being throw in the garbage.

"Workers have the right to strike and employers have the right to lockout. But we shouldn't be allowed to waste huge amounts of food so stupidly. It’s indecent," Legault said.

The company and the union representing its striking employees continued talks Thursday.

Exceldor welcomed Quebec's offer, first made Tuesday by Labour Minister Jean Boulet, but the union has refused, saying it would prefer to continue with negotiations with a conciliator rather than have a third party impose a collective agreement.

Workers at the slaughterhouse have been without a contract since July 2020 and have been on strike for more than three weeks, with salaries and working conditions key sticking points.

"We have to give the conciliation process a chance," said Roxane Larouche, spokeswoman for the United Food and Commercial Workers union. "Of course, we are sensitive to food waste, there is no one who wants that. But it is the employer's responsibility."

Boulet agreed in an interview Thursday that the large rate of euthanasia and food waste was making the situation even more urgent, but was confident both sides understand the human and social repercussions and hoped they will soon find common ground.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 17, 2021.

Virginie Ann, The Canadian Press

Panel says Grassy Mountain coal mine in Alberta Rockies not in public interest

A joint federal-provincial review has denied an application for an open-pit coal mine in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, saying its impacts on the environment and Indigenous rights aren't worth the economic benefits it would bring.© Provided by The Canadian Press

In its 680-page report released Thursday, the panel questioned the ability of Benga Mining, owned by Riversdale Resources, to control the release of selenium from its proposed Grassy Mountain mine.

"In some cases the claimed effectiveness of the proposed measures was overly optimistic and not supported by the evidence," the report says. "As a result, we are not confident about the technical and economic feasibility of some proposed mitigation measures.

"We find that this was particularly true for effects on surface water quality, westslope cutthroat trout (and fish and fish habitat more generally), and vegetation."

A spokesman for Riversdale Resources or Benga Mining was not immediately available for comment.

Riversdale first filed its environmental impact assessment on the mine in 2016. Public hearings on the project in southern Alberta's Crowsnest Pass region were held last fall.

The mine, said Riversdale, would create about 500 jobs during two years of construction and 400 over its 23-year life. The company said it would pay $1.7 billion in royalties and $35 million in municipal taxes over that time.

It was supported by many in the town of Crowsnest Pass.

But concerns were raised during hearings about the chance the mine could contaminate headwaters of the Oldman River with selenium, an element commonly found in coal mines that is toxic to fish in large doses.

Riversdale argued the mine would capture up to 98 per cent of selenium release.

Probably not, said the panel. "The project as proposed is unlikely to achieve this capture efficiency."

The panel criticized Riversdale for using optimistic assumptions and relying on unspecified "adaptive management" measures if problems arose. It said its reclamation plans were vague and pointed out that much of the land wouldn't be available for reclamation for 25 years after the mine closed.

The review panel also concluded the mine would damage ecosystems and impair the cultural and physical heritage of local First Nations, even though most had signed agreements with the mine and didn't object to it.

Nor was the panel convinced by the mine's economic arguments.

"We are not able to verify the magnitude of the estimated benefits," it said. "We find that Benga's estimated royalty payments are likely overstated."

The panel advises federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson to turn the mine down. It has also denied the project's permit applications under provincial laws.

Alberta's Environment Minister Jason Nixon and Energy Minister Sonya Savage said the panel's conclusions prove the rigour of the province's regulatory system.

"We are continuing the process of widespread public engagement to inform the province’s long-term approach to coal and will have more to say on water quality management in the days ahead," they said in a joint statement.

New Democrat environment critic Marlin Schmidt said the panel's conclusions point to the need for an overall land-use policy for the eastern slopes, one of the province's best-loved landscapes.

"We can no longer consider these projects in isolation," he said. "We cannot pit potential mining jobs against the existing and future jobs supported by agriculture and tourism all along the eastern slopes."

Three groups that had long opposed the mine issued a joint press release.

"We take heart from the panel's decision and their recognition of the significant adverse environmental consequences associated with the Grassy Mountain proposal," said Bobbi Lambright of the Livingstone Landowners Group, a group of local ranchers and residents. "We have always seen Grassy Mountain as the litmus test for other coal development in the area."

Katie Morrison of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society said, "We are happy that this decision prioritizes clean water, fish and wildlife species at risk."

Latasha Calf Robe of the Niitsitapi Water Protectors added: "Projects that will have adverse effects on Niitsitapi ways of life, culture and rights should not proceed and we are grateful that the panel acknowledged the severe impacts a project such as this would have."

The mine is the first of a number of coal projects proposed for the mountains and foothills of Alberta's western boundary. At least eight companies have taken large exploration leases.

The exploration rush took off last spring after the United Conservative government revoked a decades-old policy that protected the area against open-pit coal mines. It sparked public outrage from First Nations, municipalities and thousands of Albertans.

In response, the province restored the policy, paused the sale of new leases and suspended permits for exploration work on the most sensitive landscapes. Work in less sensitive areas continues.

Earlier this week, Wilkinson announced that any proposals from those exploration leases would be subject to a federal environmental review. He said concerns about selenium prompted the move.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2021.

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

No apologies: Hassan Yussuff faces down his critics as he retires as leader of Canadian Labour Congress

David Thurton 

CBC

© Hassan Yussuff/Facebook Hassan Yussuff, centre, is retiring as president of the Canadian Labour Congress.

© Hassan 

Heading for the exits, Hassan Yussuff — leader of the country's largest labour organization — has a terse message for those unhappy with the mark he's leaving on Canada's labour movement.

"I'm never going to apologize for the advancement of the interests of working people," Yussuff told CBC.

Yussuff, the first non-white person to lead the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), said he's leaving the labour scene with pride in the gains he's made and no apologies for his harshest critics. The congress elects new leadership at its convention Friday.

Yussuff, a Guyanese-born Canadian turned political power broker, is often said to have the ear of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Thanks to that access, Yussuff said, unionized and non-unionized workers have gotten an expanded Canada Pension Plan, a ban on asbestos products, the repeal of controversial labour legislation and an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15/ hour.

His critics say that while the CLC may have gained access to the halls of power, that access didn't translate into real influence over policy.
Too close to the Liberals?

With his departure, those critics say they're hoping new leaders will more closely align the CLC with labour's traditional political partner — the NDP.

The Canadian national director of the United Steelworkers said such an alliance could deliver substantive changes for workers, such as pharmacare and higher taxes on the wealthy.

"Having access does not equal action," said Ken Neumann. "You've got to fight to get change."

The candidates running to replace Yussuff agree the labour movement needs to remain closely aligned with the New Democrats. The Labour Forward slate of candidates condemned Yussuff for publicly supporting former Liberal finance minister Bill Morneau for a top position at the OECD.

"His endorsement for Bill Morneau was a big shock and a big disappointment for many people," said Julius Arscott, who is also running for president under the Labour Forward slate.

Arscott is part of a slate of candidates who say they want to shake things up in the CLC by pushing the organization to confront systemic racism, skyrocketing real estate prices, stagnant wages and international human rights abuses.

The opposing team of candidates, Team Unite, would not evaluate Yussuff's tenure when asked by CBC News. Still, its leaders are campaigning on a pro-NDP platform that promises to mend frayed relationships in the house of labour and engage with disaffected workers.

"So I feel very strongly that we need to be able to speak to all governments, regardless of what political party they belong to," said Bea Bruske, Team Unite's candidate for CLC president. "However, at the same time, the NDP is our natural home."
Forget party loyalty, says Dias

Unifor national president Jerry Dias said he predicts Bruske will win on Friday. But his advice to everyone in the labour movement is to abandon party loyalties — because they won't be rewarded.

"The reason I say I don't have any blind loyalty to any political party is, no political party has any blind loyalty to the labour movement," Dias said.

He said he's seen both NDP and Liberal governments adopt anti-union measures, citing the federal government's move to intervene in the recent port of Montreal strike.

And while Unifor is not a member of the Canadian Labour Congress, Dias said he's been impressed by Yussuff's pragmatic approach to politics and his skill at navigating official Ottawa.

"Personally, I think Hassan did a hell of a job for the Canadian Labour Congress," he said.
'We're going to take advantage'

Asked about his closeness to the Trudeau government, Yussuff said it's paid dividends for the CLC.

He said Justin Trudeau's Liberals have demonstrated an interest in the problems of working people that goes beyond "platitudes" — at least compared to the previous Conservative government.

"We spent a decade getting beaten by a government who had no regard for the labour movement and for workers in this country," he said. "And we succeed in defeating that government. We're going to take advantage of the government that is there."

It's been rumoured that, after he leaves the CLC helm, Yussuff will run for the Liberals.

"I don't see myself doing that," he said. "I spent a lifetime running for office, which, by the way, is far more brutal than the other office. And the demands of it have been enormous."

Elected in 2014 and having served two terms, Yussuff, 64, said he wants to spend more time with his wife and teenage daughter after years of splitting his time between Ottawa and Toronto.

As for the possibility of a future appointment to the Senate, Yussuff was non-committal.

"If I feel I can make a contribution, I will seriously think about it."

Opinion Canada must step up to share more vaccines with the developing world
Dr. Ivar Mendez 

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed close to four million people and infected more than 177 million worldwide.

© Provided by Leader Post SASKATOON,SK--NOVEMBER 21/2019-9999 news Ivar Mendez Decade- Doctor Ivar Mendez, who works in remote medicine/robotics/neurosurgery, at his office in the Health Sciences Building on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon, SK on Thursday, November 21, 2019.

Successful vaccination strategies are substantially decreasing the number of COVID-19 infections and mortality rates in high-income countries while low-resourced countries are suffering the onslaught of the third wave with soaring deaths and infections.


I have recently returned from a humanitarian mission in Bolivia, the place where I was born, and have seen firsthand the devastating effects of COVID in a low-resourced setting. As cases increased, the country first ran out of ICU beds and then regular hospital beds. We implemented a program of virtual care where patients are taken care of at home by their relatives who communicate with their physicians with cellphones. We distributed portable oxygen concentrators, digital pulse oximeters, stethoscopes and thermometers that connect with regular cellphones. Using these simple devices, the COVID doctors can effectively monitor patients in their homes and instruct their family members in their care. The many years of experience of implementing virtual care in Saskatchewan using robotic technologies were invaluable to my work in Bolivia. Although this COVID virtual care program has saved many lives, the overall situation in Bolivia as it confronts the third wave is dire.

The COVID mortality rate in Canada is 681 in one million, while in Bolivia the rate is twice that, with over 1,300 deaths per million. Canada has tested 935,000 people per million population;, in Bolivia the rate is 136,000 per million. To date, more than 60 per cent of the population of Canada has received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine; only 12 per cent of Bolivia’s population has received their first dose. It is estimated that more than 250 physicians have died from COVID in Bolivia, which has a population of 11 million.
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These statistics illustrate a significant gap in tackling the pandemic globally. COVID-19 is a global event that requires a global approach and solution. The sharing of vaccines worldwide is crucial in confronting the pandemic. As transmission rates skyrocket in unvaccinated populations, the unchecked virus has a greater chance of mutating and developing variants that can challenge the effectiveness of current vaccines. Sharing vaccines is in our best interest as it will protect us from new variants and help end the pandemic sooner. An uncontrolled pandemic wreaks havoc on the economies of the world and affects everybody. It has been shown that for every dollar spent in helping poor countries defeat the pandemic, high-income countries get $4.80 as a result of boosting the global economy.

The G7 countries have purchased about 35 per cent of all the approved vaccines while they only make up 13 per cent of the global population. They have more than a billion doses extra than what is required to fully vaccinate their population. The time to share these vaccines with vulnerable populations around the world is now. There is still a huge gap in the vaccination of health-care workers and the elderly in the developing world. It is estimated that 11 billion doses are needed in the developing world to vaccinate 70 per cent of the population.

Sharing vaccines should be done in sufficient and predictable volumes and concurrently with the rollout of vaccine programs by high-resource countries. This will ensure equity and maximum impact on controlling the pandemic and the surge of COVID variants. Canada must be a leader in sharing vaccines with poor countries as it has ordered 252.9 million doses, enough to vaccinate every Canadian three times over. It is a moral imperative to share vaccines with the less fortunate, and with COVID-19, no one is safe until everybody is safe.

Dr. Ivar Mendez is the provincial head of surgery for the University of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

Brazil still debating dubious virus drug amid 500,000 deaths

By DAVID BILLER and DÉBORA ÁLVARES

1 of 13
FILE - In this May 26, 2021 file photo, a demonstrator holds an image of the Brazilian flag covered in fake blood and the Portuguese phrase "Bolsonaro Genocide" during an anti-government protest by unions against President Jair Bolsonaro's policies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in Brasilia, Brazil. Brazil's Senate is publicly investigating how the death toll got so high, focusing on why Bolsonaro's government ignored opportunities to buy vaccines for months. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — As Brazil hurtles toward an official COVID-19 death toll of 500,000 — second-highest in the world — science is on trial inside the country and the truth is up for grabs.

With the milestone likely to be reached this weekend, Brazil’s Senate is publicly investigating how the toll got so high, focusing on why President Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right government ignored opportunities to buy vaccines for months while it relentlessly pushed hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug that rigorous studies have shown to be ineffective in treating COVID-19.

The nationally televised hearings have contained enough scientific claims, counterclaims and outright falsehoods to keep fact-checkers busy.

The skepticism has extended to the death toll itself, with Bolsonaro arguing the official tally from his own Health Ministry is greatly exaggerated and some epidemiologists saying the real figure is significantly higher — perhaps hundreds of thousands higher.

Dr. Abdel Latif, who oversees an intensive care unit an hour from Sao Paulo, said the fear and desperation caused by the coronavirus have been compounded by misinformation and opinions from self-styled specialists and a lack of proper guidance from the government.

“We need real humane public health policy, far from the political fight and based on science and evidence,” he said.

Brazil’s reported death toll is second only to that of the U.S., where the number of lives lost has topped 600,000. Brazil’s population of 213 million is two-thirds that of the U.S.

The remains of a woman who died from complications related to COVID-19 are placed into a niche by cemetery workers and relatives at the Inahuma cemetery in Rio de Janeiro. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Over the past week, official data showed some 2,000 COVID-19 deaths per day in Brazil, representing one-fifth the global total and a jump public health experts warn may reflect the start of the country’s third wave.

Bolsonaro has waged a 15-month campaign to downplay the virus’s seriousness and keep the economy humming. He dismissed the scourge early on as “a little flu” and has scorned masks. He was not chastened by his own bout with COVID-19. And he kept touting hydroxychloroquine long after virtually all others, including President Donald Trump, ceased doing so.

As recently as last Saturday, Bolsonaro received cheers upon telling a crowd of supporters that he took it when infected.

“The next day,” he declared, “I was cured.”

Brazil's President Jair Bolsoanro, left, takes a motorcycle tour with supporters. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)

He pushed hydroxychloroquine so consistently that the first of his four health ministers during the pandemic was fired and the second resigned because they refused to endorse broad prescription of the medicine, they told the Senate investigating committee.

The World Health Organization stopped testing the drug in June 2020, saying the data showed it didn’t reduce deaths among hospitalized patients. The same month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revoked emergency authorization for the drug amid mounting evidence it isn’t effective and could cause serious side effects.

Nevertheless, the notion that medicines like hydroxychloroquine work against COVID-19 is one of the main things the fact-checking agency Aos Fatos has been forced to debunk continually for the past year, according to Tai Nalon, its executive director.

“This didn’t change, mostly because there is a lack of accountability of doctors and other medical authorities who propagate this sort of misinformation, and the government supports it,” Nalon said. “Basically it takes only the president to make any fact-checking efforts not useless, but less effective.″

In fact, the Senate hearings that began in April have turned into a forum for dueling testimony from doctors who are either pro- or anti-hydroxychloroquine, creating what some experts fear is a misimpression that the drug’s usefulness is still an open question in the international scientific community.

A health worker pauses in the ICU unit for COVID-19 patients at the Hospital das Clinicas in Porto Alegre (AP Photo/Jefferson Bernardes)

A Health Ministry official who is a pediatrician told the Senate that there is a much anecdotal evidence of its effectiveness and that the ministry provided guidelines for its use without explicitly recommending it. Fact-checkers cried foul, saying the ministry’s own records show it distributed millions of the pills nationwide for COVID-19 treatment.

A cancer specialist and immunologist who has been one of the drug’s biggest champions — and is said to be an informal adviser to the president — also testified, decrying demonization of a drug she said has saved lives. But fact-checkers proved her wrong when she claimed Mexico is still prescribing it for COVID-19.

Still, the drug is celebrated across social media, including Facebook and WhatsApp. And other misinformation is circulating as well.

Bolsonaro told a throng of supporters on June 7 that the real number of COVID-19 deaths in 2020 was only about half the official death toll, citing a report from the national accounting tribunal — which promptly denied producing any such document.

The president backtracked but has publicly repeated his claim of mass fraud in the death toll at least twice since.

Epidemiologists at the University of Sao Paulo say the true number of dead is closer to 600,000, maybe 800,000. The senators investigating the government’s handling of the crisis ultimately hope to quantify how many deaths could have been avoided.


Pedro Hallal, an epidemiologist who runs the nation’s largest COVID-19 testing program, has calculated that at least 95,000 lives would have been spared had the government not spurned vaccine purchase offers from Pfizer and a Sao Paulo institute that is bottling a Chinese-developed shot.

When the U.S. recorded a half-million COVID-19 deaths, President Joe Biden held a sunset moment of silence and a candle-lighting ceremony at the White House and ordered flags lowered for five days. Bolsonaro’s government plans no such observance.

The Health Ministry is instead trumpeting the 84 million doses administered so far. The number is mostly first shots; just 11% of Brazil’s population is fully vaccinated.

The Senate committee will name at least 10 people as formal targets of its investigation by next week, members told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. That could lead to a recommendation of charges by prosecutors. The list includes the pediatrician and cancer specialist who testified, the current health minister and his predecessor.

For his part, Bolsonaro has said the investigation amounts to persecution.

Last week, microbiologist Natalia Pasternak, who presides over the Question of Science Institute, a nonprofit that promotes the use of scientific evidence in public policies, went before the committee and decried the government’s “denialism.” She lamented that the myth of hydroxychloroquine won’t seem to die.

“In the sad case of Brazil, it’s a lie orchestrated by the federal government and the Health Ministry,” she said. “And that lie kills.”

___ Biller reported from Rio de Janeiro. AP videojournalist Tatiana Pollastri contributed from Valinhos, Sao Paulo.

Lordstown Motors reverses, says it has no firm truck orders

By JOHN SEEWER

yesterday

FILE - This Thursday, June 25, 2020, file photo shows the electric Endurance pickup at Lordstown Motors Corp., in Lordstown, Ohio. Startup electric truck maker Lordstown Motors says it’s still on track to begin production this fall despite a bumpy past week. Company executives in Ohio said Tuesday, June 15, 2021, that they have enough orders and cash on hand to keep operating through next May. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)


TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Struggling electric truck maker Lordstown Motors said Thursday it doesn’t have any firm orders for its vehicles, just days after its president said the company had enough to maintain production through 2022.

Questions have been mounting about whether Lordstown Motors has enough money to stay in business and about its previous claims that it already had presold 100,000 of its Endurance pickup trucks.

Lordstown CEO Steve Burns and Chief Financial Officer Julio Rodriguez resigned on Monday, the same day the company acknowledged one potential buyer that committed to a large number of preorders doesn’t appear to have the resources to complete that transaction, and other preorders appear too vague or weak to be relied on for purchases.

A day later, company President Rich Schmidt said during a meeting of the Automotive Press Association of Detroit that Lordstown was on track to begin making the Endurance in the fall and had enough binding orders to keep going through 2022.

But the company on Thursday said the statements about the orders were not accurate.

“Although these vehicle purchase agreements provide us with a significant indicator of demand for the Endurance, these agreements do not represent binding purchase orders or other firm purchase commitments,” the company said in the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The price for shares of the company, which have been cut in half this year, slid at the opening bell Thursday before recovering.

Last week, the company warned it might not be in business next year because of difficulty with securing funding to begin full production at its former General Motors plant in Ohio near Youngstown. In a quarterly regulatory filing, the company said the $587 million it had on hand as of March 31 wasn’t enough to begin full commercial production.

Angela Strand, the company’s new chairwoman, said on Tuesday that the upheaval from the past week won’t interrupt the company’s day-to-day operations or its plans to start making the Endurance.

Fires stoked by heat, wind force evacuations in Montana

By MATTHEW BROWN

1 of 7
Residents watch as flames from the Robertson Draw fire burn above Red Lodge, Mont., Tuesday evening, June 15, 2021. Wildfires burning in Montana exploded in size over the past 24 hours and triggered evacuations of people from rural areas as scorching heat and heavy winds stoked the blazes. (Larry Mayer/The Billings Gazette via AP)

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Wildfires in Montana have exploded in size, triggering evacuations and destroying an unknown number of homes as furious winds stoked the blazes and caused a firefighting helicopter to crash-land, officials said Wednesday.

The sudden ramping up of the fire season came as record-high, triple-digit temperatures early in the week baked much of Montana and portions of northern Wyoming. At least 14 new fires were reported in the two states since Tuesday.

Crews took advantage of a temporary break in the heat to dig fire lines, while aircraft dropped fire retardant to slow the advance of major blazes near Townsend in central Montana and Red Lodge near the Wyoming state line. Evacuation orders remained in place, and houses and other property remained in peril.

Hotel clerk Linda Bishop said “it looked like the end of the world” in Red Lodge, not far from Yellowstone National Park, when flames began chewing across the forested slopes of Mount Maurice that rise above the tourist town.

“In the afternoon, you could start to see the flames, and when it got dark, it looked like Armageddon,” said Bishop, who was up much of the night checking in arriving firefighters at the Beartooth Hideaway Inn and Cabins. “It was sad to see Mount Maurice burning. I just love that mountain.”

The fire was human caused and under investigation by the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Forest Service law enforcement, said Custer-Gallatin forest spokesperson Mariah Leuschen-Lonergan.

Further northwest in the Big Belt Mountains east of Townsend, firefighters pulled back from a separate fire burning in a heavily timbered canyon and took refuge in safety zones when the blaze began moving so fast and hot that it became unsafe to try to stop it, said Erin Fryer with the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest.

The fire burning in timber and grass in the Deep Creek Canyon area grew overnight from less than 1 square mile (3 square kilometers) to more than 3 square miles (8 square kilometers). Eight structures were reported destroyed. It was unknown how many of those were homes.

Investigators were examining if a power line downed by a tree started the fire.

A state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation fire helicopter crash-landed in the heavy winds, rolled over and caught fire. The five people aboard got out safely and were taken to hospitals for minor injuries before being released Tuesday night, agency spokesperson Paige Cohn said. The crash remains under review, she said.

A subdivision with 65 houses and cabins was evacuated as the flames neared. Aircraft dropped retardant Wednesday to slow the fire’s advance on the Grassy Mountain subdivision.

Officials said at a news conference Wednesday night near Townsend that they plan on using more aircraft Thursday to drop retardant on the fire.

Several of the officials said the region’s wildfires started unusually early this year. They said they expect to get more staff and equipment to battle the fires. They asked for the public’s patience.




State Highway 12 remained closed through the area after the fire burned over a two-mile stretch of the road, causing damage and leaving debris, officials said.

Meanwhile, the fire near Yellowstone National Park and the state line with Wyoming grew from about 3 square miles (8 square kilometers) to more than 31 square miles (85 square kilometers) by Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of houses in the path of the blaze, fire spokesperson Amy Hyfield said.

The fire that started Sunday in the Robertson Draw area was threatening 450 homes and hundreds more buildings and other infrastructure, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said. Some residents were being allowed home Wednesday evening, officials said during a public meeting, but were encouraged to remain vigilant and be ready to leave quickly.

Following a request from Gov. Greg Gianforte, the agency on Wednesday deemed the fire a major disaster because of the amount of damage it could cause, making Montana eligible for reimbursement for most costs. The Federal Emergency Management Administration authorized use of federal funds to help fight the blaze, U.S. Senator Jon Tester announced.

Crews had been deployed to protect houses, and about 21 buildings had been damaged as of Wednesday night, authorities said at the public meeting. They said the fire was human-caused, the person has been identified and officials have met with the county attorney amid an ongoing investigation. No injuries were reported.

The evacuation included U.S. Forest Service campgrounds and cabins on private inholdings south of Red Lodge.

Beartooth Pass — a highway that leads to Yellowstone National Park — remained open.

On the Crow Reservation, officials reported a new fire in the Bighorn Mountains near the Montana-Wyoming border. The fire was burning in steeply sided Little Bull Elk Canyon, with flames up to 150 feet (46 meters) high that threatened to spread the blaze, officials said.

Adjacent to the reservation, a new fire on National Forest land burned 7 square miles (18 square kilometers) near the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range after igniting Tuesday evening.

A fire 16 miles (26 kilometers) southwest of Ashland in southeast Montana threatened an unspecified number of homes and had burned 1 square mile (3 square kilometers).

Bill would pre-empt local say over offshore wind projects
By WAYNE PARRY June 15, 2021

This Oct. 1, 2020 photo shows wind turbines at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority plant in Atlantic City, N.J. On Tuesday, June 15, 2021, New Jersey lawmakers advanced a proposed law that would fast track offshore wind energy projects by pre-empting local controls over power lines and other onshore infrastructure associated with them. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)


ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey lawmakers are considering a law that would fast-track offshore wind energy projects by removing the ability of local governments to control power lines and other onshore components.

The bill, introduced last week and advanced on Tuesday, would give wind energy projects approved by the state Board of Public Utilities authority to locate, build, use and maintain wires and associated land-based infrastructure as long as they run underground on public property including streets. (The BPU could determine that some above-ground wires are necessary.)

It appears to be an effort to head off any local objections to at least one wind power project envisioned to come ashore at two former power plants, and run cables under two of the state’s most popular beaches.

At a virtual public hearing in April on the Ocean Wind project planned by Orsted, the Danish wind energy developer, and PSEG, a New Jersey utility company, officials revealed that the project would connect to the electric grid at decommissioned power plants in Ocean and Cape May Counties.

The northern connection would be at the former Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey Township; the southern connection would be at the former B.L. England plant in Upper Township.

Cables running from the wind farm, to be located between 15 and 27 miles (24 to 43 kilometers) off the coast of Atlantic City, would come ashore at one of three potential locations in Ocean City: 5th Street, 13th Street or 35th Street. They would then run under the roadway along Roosevelt Boulevard out to Upper Township and the former power plant, which closed in 2019.

Cables also would need to cross Island Beach State Park in Ocean County, running under the dunes and beach and existing parking lots, out into Barnegat Bay, coming ashore either directly at the Oyster Creek site in the Forked River section of Lacey, or at either Bay Parkway or Lighthouse Drive in Waretown, also known as Ocean Township in Ocean County.

An Orsted spokesperson said the company supports the bill, which he said “establishes a mitigation process for qualified offshore wind projects approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities if talks break down at the local level. This is critical for keeping timelines and schedules not only for the developer, but for the supply chain and workforce dedicated to the project.”

Orsted also proposes a second project off New Jersey, and Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a joint venture between EDF Renewables North America and Shell New Energies US LLC, also proposes an offshore wind farm off the state’s coast.

In addition, a Massachusetts company plans to build a high-voltage line to bring electricity from a future New Jersey offshore wind farm onto land, and connect it to the power grid. Anbaric, of Wakefield, Massachusetts, has already obtained several permits from New Jersey environmental regulators for what it calls its Boardwalk Power Link project.

The bill entitles a qualified wind energy project to obtain easements, rights-of-way or other property rights from any level of government that are necessary to build the project. The BPU would make a final decision if such approvals are withheld by governments.

No state, county or local government would be able to prohibit or charge a fee for the use of a street or other public property other than a road opening permit. If these governments refuse the permit for any other reason than legitimate public safety concerns, the state utilities board would be required to issue an order granting the necessary approval.

The wind energy developer would have to pay fair market value for easements or property rights it is awarded.

The bill was approved by a state Senate committee on Tuesday, and requires several additional approvals before being sent to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. It is to be considered Wednesday by an Assembly committee.

___

Follow Wayne Parry at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC

Study: Treating teachers' depression may boost grades of young students

By HealthDay News

When depression strikes teachers, they can suffer mightily, but a new study suggests their students' ability to learn might also be harmed.

Researchers found a correlation between teachers' depressive symptoms and math skills in early learners enrolled in Head Start programs.

Head Start is a U.S. government program providing early education, nutrition, health and parent support for low-income families.

Teachers' depressive symptoms were significantly associated with children's math achievement in Head Start programs. The linkage was through the quality of the teachers' relationships with the families, which in turn affected young children's motivation, engagement and persistence in learning, according to the investigators.

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The findings were published this week in the journal Child Development.

"The results indicate that alleviating Head Start teachers' depressive symptoms could support positive family-teacher relationships, as well as gains in children's approaches to learning and thereby their mathematical skills," said lead author Shinyoung Jeon, senior research and policy associate at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa Early Childhood Education Institute.

"More research is needed to understand the best mechanisms through which to reduce Head Start teachers' depressive symptoms, and more investment is needed in support of teachers' mental well-being," Jeon said in a journal news release.

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"Interventions that pair support for teachers' psychological well-being along with emphasis on building high-quality family-teacher relationships, may benefit children's learning and development," Jeon said.

The study used data from the nationally representative Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2014. This survey collected information on Head Start children, families, teachers, classroom quality and programs through direct child assessments, teacher surveys, parent surveys, classroom observation and director surveys.

Researchers included a sample of more than 1,500 children from 212 classroom in 113 centers at 59 Head Start programs in the United States.

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Children were from diverse ethnicities, including 27% White, 24% Black, 41% Hispanic/Latino, and 8% from other racial or ethnic groups.

The findings showed that teachers with higher levels of depressive symptoms reported more negative relationships with families.

Evidence suggested that family-teacher relationships were indirectly linked to math skills through children's approach to learning, though the study only found an association, and not a cause-and-effect link.

"Since we focused on Head Start children from low-income families, our study adds to the existing literature by identifying possible associations between a teacher's mental well-being and children's academic achievement that function via the quality of the teacher-parent relationship," said co-author Lieny Jeon, associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Education in Baltimore.

"The study findings support Head Start's strong emphasis on family partnerships as a way to enhance Head Start children's learning behaviors and their subsequent effects on academic achievement," Lieny Jeon said.The authors noted the study had some limitations, including that some of the data was self-reported. More information

The organization Zero to Three offers tips for building early math skills.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Amazon opens first full-size cashierless grocery store in Seattle suburb
By Daniel Uria
JUNE 17, 2021 /

Amazon opens its first full-size Amazon Fresh grocery store in the Seattle area on Thursday. It allows customers to take what they need and walk out, skipping the traditional cashier line. Photo courtesy Amazon

June 17 (UPI) -- Amazon will bring its cashierless "Just Walk Out" checkout technology to a full-size grocery store for the first time on Thursday.

The 25,000-square-foot Amazon Fresh store at The Marketplace at Factoria in Bellevue, Wash., is set to open Thursday, letting customers pay by connecting their Amazon account or credit card before or after entering the store.


Using the "Just Walk Out" system, shoppers scan a QR code and link a payment account. Once inside, each item taken off of the shelf automatically enters a virtual cart -- and vanishes if it's placed back on the shelf.

At the end, shoppers just exit the store and are charged appropriately.
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Amazon has previously launched the technology in various locations but Thursday is the first time it's being expanded to a full-size store.




"Bringing Just Walk Out technology to a full-size grocery space with the Amazon Fresh store in Bellevue showcases the technology's continued ability to scale and adapt to new environments and selection," Dilip Kumar, Amazon vice president of Physical Retail and Technology, said in a statement.

"I'm thrilled it'll help even more customers enjoy an easier and faster way to shop and can't wait to get their feedback on this latest Just Walk Out offering."

Although the cashierless feature is a main part of the Washington store, there are traditional checkout lanes staffed with cashiers and other employees inside to help if customers need it.

Amazon says the store will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day following its launch and the company plans to expand into other markets soon.

Amazon opened its first cashierless Amazon Go grocery store in Seattle a little over a year ago -- which was just 10,400 square feet -- and has since opened 13 Amazon Fresh stores in California, Illinois and Virginia.

The curious case of the dog that did not bark 

Nighttime barking reveals new species of tree hyrax in Africa


Four different tree hyrax species are found throughout Africa, including a newly named species found living between the Volta and Niger rivers. Photo by Sharp Photography/Wikimedia Commons

June 14 (UPI) -- The novel nighttime barking of several tree hyrax populations in West and Central Africa first alerted scientists that the region's forests might host a unique, yet-named species.

Now, a new survey -- published Monday in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society -- has confirmed the hyraxes living between the Volta and Niger rivers are genetically and anatomical distinct from their relatives in neighboring forest regions.

Scientists recorded and analyzed calls from the newly named species, Dendrohyrax interfluvialis, found in the wet and dry forests of southeastern Ghana, southern Togo, southern Benin and southwestern Nigeria.

"Sometimes a keen ear is as important as a sharp eye," study co-author Eric Sargis, curator of mammalogy and vertebrate paleontology at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, said in a press release.

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"My co-authors John Oates and Simon Bearder were in Nigeria in 2009 researching galagos, a group of primates, when they noticed that the hyrax calls were different on one side of the Niger from the other. All the evidence we subsequently studied, including the distinctive vocalizations, points to a unique species in the forests between the Niger and the Volta."

Hyraxes are unusual animals. Roughly the size of a groundhog, the tree-dwelling mammals are closely related to manatees and elephants. Though they're nocturnal, their eyes don't shine in the darkness, making them quite difficult to study.

Sargis and his colleagues compared the calls of the new species to hundreds of hyrax calls recorded between 1968 and 2020 at 42 sites in 12 countries.

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Measurements of duration, frequency range, repetition rates and other call characteristics confirmed that the "rattle-barks" of the new species were distinct from the shrieking calls recorded in the forests west of the Volta and east of the Niger.

The researchers also performed anatomical analysis of several dozen museum specimens, in addition to sequencing genetic samples from a handful of tree hyrax specimens.

The analysis confirmed the tree hyrax populations found between the Niger and the Volta are distinct from neighboring hyrax lineages.

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"There is increasing evidence that the Niger and Volta Rivers are significant biogeographic barriers to a range of mammals," said Oates, emeritus professor of anthropology at Hunter College in New York City.

"Hyraxes, for instance, don't cross water easily, so it makes sense that, through millions of years of changing climate, as African forests have expanded and contracted, new species would have differentiated in isolated forest fragments known as refugia, and then have been limited in their subsequent dispersal by large rivers."

The latest research has helped highlight the unique biodiversity found between the Niger and Volta Rivers. Unfortunately, the region's many novel species are increasingly under threat from human development.

Logging and the expansion of large-scale agriculture has fragmented the region's forests, and researchers say that stronger protections and large wilderness preserves are needed to ensure vulnerable ecosystems remain intact.

'African Ghandi' Kenneth Kaunda dead at 97
By Kyle Barnett
JUNE 17, 2021 

Former Zambian president Kenneth "KK" Kaunda, also known as Africa's Gandhi for his commitment to non-violence, has died at age 97. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

June 17 (UPI) -- Zambia's first president Kenneth Kaunda has died at age 97.

Kaunda, known simply as "KK," was the father of Zambia's independence.

He was both feared and beloved throughout the African continent.

Kaunda, an avowed socialist, was Zambia's first elected and longest-serving president, having filled the office from 1964 to 1991, when he was defeated in fair elections.

Kuanda stepped down in the face of loss and began a new life as en elder statesman.

Kaunda carried the moniker the "African Gandhi" for his commitment to non-violence as he led Zambia to independence in 1964.

His time in power was ushered in along with the many movements for independence and equality of Black people in the countries across the region.

Altogether Kaunda spent six decades involved in the political sphere. He was the leader of the main nationalist party, the center-left UNIP. Kaunda also became an AIDS activist after having a son die of the disease.

Son Kambarage Kaunda posted the news of his passing on Facebook.

Kaunda was admitted to Maina Soko, a military hospital in Lusaka, on Monday, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia.

Doctors said he did not have COVID-19. Kaunda's cause of death was pneumonia, according to Victoria Chitungu, a close family friend and author of a forthcoming biography of the former president that is expected to be released soon.