DES MOINES, Iowa — Stung by paying billions of dollars for settlements and trials, chemical giant Bayer has been lobbying lawmakers in three states to pass bills providing it a legal shield from lawsuits that claim its popular weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Nearly identical bills introduced in Iowa, Missouri and Idaho this year — with … Read more
WASHINGTON — The company responsible for a global recall of sleep apnea machines will be barred from resuming production at U.S. facilities until it meets a number of safety requirements, under a long-awaited settlement announced Tuesday by federal officials. Philips will be required to overhaul its manufacturing and quality control systems and hire independent experts … Read more
The aftermath of last year’s fiery train derailment in eastern Ohio doesn’t qualify as a public health emergency because widespread health problems and ongoing chemical exposures haven’t been documented, federal officials said. The Environmental Protection Agency never approved that designation after the February 2023 Norfolk Southern derailment even though the disaster forced the evacuation of … Read more
WASHINGTON — Anti-smoking groups sued the U.S. government Tuesday over a long-awaited ban on menthol cigarettes, which has been idling at the White House for months. The lawsuit is the latest effort to force the government to ban menthols, which are disproportionately used by Black smokers and young people. It comes amid growing concerns from … Read more
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming Republican Gov. Mark Gordon has vetoed a bill that would have allowed people to carry concealed guns in public schools and government meetings. In his veto letter Friday night, Gordon said he had concerns the bill would exceed the separation of powers provision in the state constitution since any policy, further … Read more
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — David Rebuck, who oversaw New Jersey’s development of nation-leading internet gambling and sports betting industries and advised more than two dozen states on setting up and regulating their own gambling operations, retired Friday after 13 years as one of America’s most influential gambling regulators. Rebuck, 71, stepped down as director of … Read more
Officials in Ecuador have named the likely source of contaminated ground cinnamon used in fruit pouches tied to more than 400 potential cases of lead poisoning in U.S. children, the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday. Carlos Aguilera, a cinnamon-processing company in Ecuador, supplied the spice added to WanaBana and other applesauce pouches sent to … Read more
NEW YORK — New York’s American Museum of Natural History is closing two halls featuring Native American objects starting Saturday, acknowledging the exhibits are “severely outdated” and contain culturally sensitive items. The mammoth complex across from Central Park on Manhattan’s Upper West Side is the latest U.S. institution to cover up or remove Native American … Read more
JACKSON, Miss. — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the owner of a medical marijuana dispensary who sued Mississippi over state regulations that he says censor business owners by preventing them from advertising in most media. In a Monday ruling, U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills said he agreed with Mississippi’s argument … Read more
ST. LOUIS — The nation’s rivers and streams remain stubbornly polluted with nutrients that contaminate drinking water and fuel a gigantic dead zone for aquatic life in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a recently released Environmental Protection Agency assessment. It’s a difficult problem that’s concentrated in agricultural regions that drain into the Mississippi River. … Read more
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