RPT-U.S., China accelerate beef talks; deal possible by early June

CHICAGO, May 19 Talks on restarting U.S. beef exports to China are moving fast and final details should be in place by early June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday, allowing American farmers to vie for business that has been lost by rival Brazil. As part of a trade deal, U.S. ranchers are set to face tests over the use of growth-promoting drugs to raise cattle destined for export to China and to log the animals' movements, according to the USDA.

Apocalyptic Progressivism

Shortly after the 2008 election, President Obama's soon-to-be chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, infamously declared, "You never let a serious crisis go to waste." He elaborated: "What I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."

PM markets: grain prices trim gains as funds take a breather

Ideas of the Brazilian soybean and corn harvest got another boost, while crop reports from the US southern Plains showed little reason to start fretting over drought damage to winter wheat yet, and absent fund buying, grain markets trimmed their recent gains. The latest forecast for Brazilian soybeans from FC Stone came in at a hefty 109.07m tonnes, nearly 5m tonnes up from its February forecast, with favourable weather across most of the country's growing regions.

Ex-CIA agent freed in Portugal, avoids extradition to Italy

President Donald Trump's new immigration order will remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary U.S. travel ban, U.S. officials say, citing the latest draft in circulation. President Donald Trump's new immigration order will remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary U.S. travel ban, U.S. officials say, citing the latest draft in circulation.

2 dams illustrate challenge of maintaining older designs

Twelve years ago, widespread destruction from Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast helped compel federal engineers 2,000 miles away in California to remake a 1950s-era dam by constructing a massive steel-and-concrete gutter that would manage surging waters in times of torrential storms. The nearly $1 billion auxiliary spillway at Folsom Dam, scheduled to be completed later this year, stands in contrast to the troubles 75 miles away at the state-run Oroville Dam, where thousands of people fled last week after an eroded spillway threatened to collapse - a catastrophe that could have sent a 30-foot wall of floodwater gushing into three counties.

California is getting soaked right now, but farmland is still sinking due to lack of water.

A NASA report released Wednesday found that land in one of California's most productive agricultural regions continues to subside rapidly because of heavy groundwater pumping. For decades, and especially during the last five years of drought, growers have relied on pumping water from the ground when surface water wasn't available.

The Latest: California at heaviest snowpack in 22 years

Authorities say inmates used "sharp objects" to take over a Delaware prison and hold three prison guards and a counselor hostage A former death row inmate at the Delaware prison where inmates took employees hostage says the prisoners were protesting what he called "inhumane" conditions at the facility Roaring storms that brought California almost a year's worth of snow and rain in a single month should make state water manager's Sierra snowpack survey Thursday a celebration, marking this winter's dramatic... California water managers say Sierra Nevada snow drifts are at a drought-busting 173 percent of average, with the most snow recorded since 1995 A group of Yemeni business owners plan to shut down their delis, grocery stores and bodegas around New York City in protest of President Donald Trump's travel ban on people hailing from seven Muslim-majority... Many Yemeni business owners ... (more)

California at heaviest snowpack in 22 years

Roaring storms that brought California almost a year's worth of snow and rain in a single month should make state water manager's Sierra snowpack survey Thursday a celebration, marking this winter's dramatic... California water managers say Sierra Nevada snow drifts are at a drought-busting 173 percent of average, with the most snow recorded since 1995 A group of Yemeni business owners plan to shut down their delis, grocery stores and bodegas around New York City in protest of President Donald Trump's travel ban on people hailing from seven Muslim-majority... Many Yemeni business owners have shut down their delis, grocery stores and bodegas around New York City in protest of President Donald Trump's travel ban Some Maine sixth-graders are pushing state lawmakers to pass a bill that would make it easier for residents to keep hedgehogs as pets Some Maine sixth-graders are pushing state ... (more)

Hey News Media, If ‘Climate Change’ is Causing Droughts, Why Do They Keep Ending?

Thanks to the news media having no incentive to tell you this, you may not have noticed but the California drought, which eighteen months ago was "historic" and "catastrophic," has suddenly effectively ended. The key mountain range where in 2015 Governor Jerry Brown famously revealed the snowpack to be virtually nonexistent is now at 180% of normal for this time of year, while state-wide "snow water" is 193% .

Shutdown averted, Senate backs stop-gap spending bill

With less than hour to spare, the Senate late Friday backed legislation averting a government shutdown as coal-state Democrats retreated on long-term health care benefits for retired miners and promised a renewed fight for the working class next year. The 63-36 vote sent the stop-gap spending bill to President Barack Obama, who signed the measure early Saturday morning.

Brown water, beaver battle among early signs of water woes

Beaver dams have been demolished, burbling fountains silenced, and the drinking water in one southern town has taken on the light brownish color of sweet tea. Though water shortages have yet to drastically change most people's lifestyles, southerners are beginning to realize that they'll need to save their drinking supplies with no end in sight to an eight-month drought.

New Aerial Survey Identifies More Than 100 Million Dead Trees in California

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today that the U.S. Forest Service has identified an additional 36 million dead trees across California since its last aerial survey in May 2016. This brings the total number of dead trees since 2010 to over 102 million on 7.7 million acres of California's drought stricken forests.

Massive Oklahoma manhunt ends with fugitive suspect dead

A western Oklahoma county sheriff says the manhunt is over for Michael Dale Vance Jr., a suspect in a string of violent crimes. A massive, weeklong manhunt for a suspect in a string of violent crimes, including the killing of two relatives, the shooting of three law enforcement officers and multiple carjackings, has ended in a police chase and... Authorities say investigators found three people shot to death outside a rural home in central Kansas, and an unharmed 18-month-old child was found inside.