Five Unanswered Questions About the FIU Bridge Collapse

Bridges don't usually crumble into dust. So when a pedestrian walkway at Florida International University collapsed Thursday, killing six people and crushing eight cars, people were rightly horrified and confused.

Tons of catfish products recalled

A Mississippi company is recalling around 35 tons of catfish products that might have been tainted by a compound that poses a public health concern. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Friday that various fresh and frozen, raw, intact Siluriformes products were produced Feb. 16 at the Heartland Catfish Company.

CRISPR helps find new genetic suspects behind ALS/FTD

Researchers used the gene editing tool CRISPR to rapidly search the entire human genome for genetic suspects behind hereditary versions of ALS and FTD. NIH-funded researchers at Stanford University used the gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to rapidly identify genes in the human genome that might modify the severity of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia caused by mutations in a gene called C9orf72.

Maple syrup season gets early start in parts of New England

The annual maple season got off to another early start with warmups in parts of New England, and producers are hopeful the recent cold and snow will extend it. Some producers in Vermont, the country's largest producer of maple syrup, have been going strong and producing a fair amount since about mid-February, but historically the season has been later, said Matt Gordon, executive director of the Vermont Maple Sugar Producers Association.

Debate stirs over ‘America’s Harvest Box,’ food benefit plan

In this Feb. 26, 2018, file photo, Carl Lewis in his market in Rankin, Pa. About half of Lewis' customers pay with benefits from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, so the government's proposal to replace the debit card-type program with a pre-assembled box of shelf-stable goods delivered to recipients worries him and other grocery operators in poor areas.

Food stamp administrators worry about food box proposal

Hawaii's food stamp administrator says he was stunned when he first heard that the U.S. Agriculture Department wanted to replace some cash benefits with a pre-assembled package of shelf-stable goods. That changed quickly to frustration, befuddlement and serious concern.

Renewable fuels on the line

It's his first week on the job. -Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Don Heck, director of the Iowa Central Biofuels Testing Laboratory, talks about their services during a meeting with Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and a group of producers concerned about changes to the renewable fuels standards in the Iowa Central Community College Board Room.

US govt to California: You can never leave

The Trump administration on Wednesday came down hard against California, suing the Golden State over its immigration policy that it said is obstructing federal officers from enforcing laws relating to illegal immigrants. WASHINGTON: In a country whose name is prefaced with United and whose pledge of allegiance speaks of "one nation under God, indivisible," secession is a no-go area.

State’s Barely Market Experiences Increased Productivity

The state's barley growers experienced their most productive year last year within the past ten years, as reported by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Alaskan barley farmers planted 5,500 acres of grain last year, while harvesting 239,000 bushels, marking the largest crop this decade, valued from $600,000 to $1.2-million-dollars.

More than One Thousand Women Take Over Suzano Pulp & Paper Mill to…

More than one thousand women from the Rural Landless Workers Movement took over a pulp mill owned by Suzano Paper company in Murcuri, in Bahia, Brazil [1] to protest the company's large-scale, industrial eucalyptus plantions and future plans for genetically engineered trees. The women cited the impacts on water caused by the plantations, including depletion of critical fresh water resources and contamination of water by aerial spraying of toxic agrochemicals on the plantations as reasons for the protest.

Dems: Did EPA security staffer steer contract to associate? Source: AP

Senate Democrats are pressing Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt on whether a key member of his taxpayer-funded security team improperly steered a government contract to a personal business associate. The Associated Press reported in December that EPA paid $3,000 to Edwin Steinmetz Associates to have Pruitt's office swept for hidden listening devices.