By John Flesher, AP TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Federal agencies will provide better and more accessible information about matters such as long-term weather prospects and soil moisture levels under a program designed to help communities prepare for future droughts and respond more effectively when they happen, Obama administration officials said Thursday. The U.S. Department of […]
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By Kathryn Reed Technology has almost rendered fire lookouts obsolete. Still, there is one from the 1930s that is going to get a new lease on life in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The U.S. Forest Service wants to move the Zephyr Point lookout to White Hill, which is above the agency’s firehouse at Spooner Summit. […]
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By Sophia Pearson and Bob Van Voris, Bloomberg Google Inc.’s project to digitally copy millions of books for online searches doesn’t violate copyright law, a federal judge ruled, dismissing an eight-year-old lawsuit against the largest search-engine company. Google Books provides a public benefit and is a fair use of copyrighted material, Judge Denny Chin in […]
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By Kathleen Kingsbury, Reuters Employers tried the carrot, then a small stick. Now they are turning to bigger cudgels. For years they encouraged workers to improve their health and productivity with free screenings, discounted gym memberships and gift cards to lose weight. More recently, a small number charged smokers slightly higher premiums to get them […]
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By Kathryn Reed Round Hill Pines Beach will have new operators for the first time since 1968. While Frank and Susan Forvilly wanted to keep operating the Nevada beach, the U.S. Forest Service said no. Instead, it was revealed Nov. 15 that Bob and Tammy Hassett will take over the operations starting with the 2014 […]
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By Albertina Torsoli, Bloomberg Diabetes kills one person every six seconds and afflicts 382 million people worldwide, according to the International Diabetes Federation, which has been canvassing the help of people ranging from celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to Bob Marley’s nephew to raise awareness about the problem. The number of diabetes cases has climbed 4.4 […]
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By Meredith Clark, MSNBC Thousands of people convicted of non-violent crimes are serving life sentences, according to a report by the American Civil Liberties Union. There are currently 3,278 people who have been sentenced to life without parole for crimes as small as selling less than $10 worth of marijuana and shoplifting. The report also […]
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By Kathryn Reed Regulating the size of a burn pile and testing the moisture content of soil are some of the rules that are proposed to go by the wayside when Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board revises the timber waiver in 2014. The board on Nov. 14 heard an update from Doug Cushman, senior engineer, […]
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Updated: Nov. 15 10:25am By Kathryn Reed All Lukins Brothers Water Company customers are on a “boil water” order because coliform was discovered at one of the test sites. Coliform is found naturally in the environment. According to the EPA, “Total coliforms are a group of closely related, mostly harmless bacteria that live in soil […]
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By Lyndsey Layton, Washington Post When a student at Elliston Elementary in rural Montana logs onto her laptop for a remote lesson over the Internet, Tressa Graveley must ration the Web for the rest of her tiny school. The teacher tells other students to shut down their browsers and stop streaming video or there won’t […]
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