Featured Stories
'It's About Time': ALG Praises House Passage Of Sunshine Protection Act, Urges Senate Passage
FAIRFAX, Virginia, Aug. 9 [Category: Government/Public Administration] -- Americans for Limited Government posted the following news release:
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'It's About Time': ALG Praises House Passage Of Sunshine Protection Act, Urges Senate Passage
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July 15, 2026, Fairfax, Va.-Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano today issued the following statement praising the House for passing the Sunshine Protection Act and urged the Senate to do the same:
"The House has finally passed legislation that will end standard time once and for all. No more sunsets in the middle of the
... Show Full Article
FAIRFAX, Virginia, Aug. 9 [Category: Government/Public Administration] -- Americans for Limited Government posted the following news release:
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'It's About Time': ALG Praises House Passage Of Sunshine Protection Act, Urges Senate Passage
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July 15, 2026, Fairfax, Va.-Americans for Limited Government Executive Director Robert Romano today issued the following statement praising the House for passing the Sunshine Protection Act and urged the Senate to do the same:
"The House has finally passed legislation that will end standard time once and for all. No more sunsets in the middle of theafternoon. It's about time. Nobody likes the constant clock changes. The fact is that under current law, there was never a way to opt out of standard time whereas states were permitted to opt out of daylight savings time if they really wanted to, as Arizona and Hawaii do. School districts can always have starting bells later to compensate if there is concern about later sunrises during the winter months, although it's worth noting almost all districts are already on Christmas vacation during the shortest days. Clearly, based on the House vote, and unanimous passage of practically identical legislation by the Senate in 2022, and the President's support, daylight savings time is far more popular. But really, it's just let's pick a time and stick with it. Compromise if needs be: shave a half hour off standard time. Anything's better than the clock changes, and the early sunsets in the winter are frankly depressing. But the bill's fine the way it is. It is time for the Senate to immediately take up this common sense, bipartisan legislation, stop switching the clocks and let the sun shine into the evening for good."
For media availability contact Americans for Limited Government at media@limitgov.org.
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Original text here: https://getliberty.org/2026/07/its-about-time-alg-praises-house-passage-of-sunshine-protection-act-urges-senate-passage/
Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership: Hunters and Anglers Applaud Senate Introduction of MAP Roads Act
WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 -- The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership issued the following news release:
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Hunters and Anglers Applaud Senate Introduction of MAP Roads Act
Bill would direct Department of Transportation to establish grant program to fund the digitization of county public roads
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Senators John Curtis (R-Utah) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz) have introduced the Modernizing Access to Public Roads Act into the Senate. The bill would establish a grant program through the U.S. Department of Transportation to address the mapping shortfalls and improve public access on the rural road
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 -- The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership issued the following news release:
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Hunters and Anglers Applaud Senate Introduction of MAP Roads Act
Bill would direct Department of Transportation to establish grant program to fund the digitization of county public roads
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Senators John Curtis (R-Utah) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz) have introduced the Modernizing Access to Public Roads Act into the Senate. The bill would establish a grant program through the U.S. Department of Transportation to address the mapping shortfalls and improve public access on the rural roadsystems across America, resulting in reduced confusion, fewer conflicts with private landowners, and easier access for hunters and anglers.
This is a bipartisan, bicameral effort, with the House version of this bill sponsored by Representative Blake Moore (R-Utah) and cosponsored by Representative Val Hoyle (D-Ore.), Representative Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.), and Representative Susie Lee (D-Nev.).
"The lack of publicly accessible and accurate county road map information is a key barrier for hunters and anglers trying to access public lands," said Joel Webster, chief conservation officer of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. "The bipartisan, bicameral MAP Roads Act will provide funding to address these mapping shortfalls and improve public access, resulting in reduced confusion for hunters and anglers trying to navigate rural road systems across America. TRCP applauds Senators Curtis and Kelly, as well as Representatives Moore, Hoyle, Hurd, and Lee, for their leadership on this bill"
The MAP Roads Act builds on the success of the MAPLand Act, MAPWaters Act, and MAPOceans Act by establishing a $20 million, 5-year pilot grant program through the U.S. Department of Transportation to:
* Fund county road digitization by converting paper or outdated formats into standardized geospatial datasets.
* Create publicly accessible statewide road data repositories that distinguish public and private roads, are compatible with third-party mapping platforms, and are updated annually.
* Provide funds to support local capacity toward county subgrants, personnel training, or hiring contractors for data conversion.
The clarity and accessibility to this information for both the public and local municipalities would improve rural commerce, public safety, navigation, and access to public lands so more Americans can confidently access and enjoy their public roadways and the adventures beyond. The MAP Roads Act would not create any new road authority, or alter any legal status, ownership, or jurisdiction of roads.
"Access is essential to conserving our hunting traditions and connecting people with the upland habitats that make those traditions possible," said Ariel Wiegard, Vice President of Government Relations for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. "The bipartisan MAP Roads Act will modernize county road records, giving hunters greater confidence as they access public lands while reducing confusion and inadvertent trespass. We thank the Senate sponsors for advancing this commonsense, bipartisan solution that benefits hunters, conservation, and rural communities."
"Accurate and accessible maps are fundamental to ensuring Americans can safely and confidently access our public lands and waters," said Kaden McArthur, Congressional Affairs Director for Trout Unlimited. "We thank Senators Curtis and Kelly for their leadership on the MAP Roads Act, which will modernize outdated public road information and make it easier for anglers and other outdoor recreators to find reliable, legal access to rivers, streams, and other public destinations. By improving the accuracy and availability of these maps, this bipartisan legislation will help people spend less time navigating road systems and more time enjoying the outdoors."
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Original text here: https://www.trcp.org/2026/08/03/hunters-and-anglers-applaud-senate-introduction-of-map-roads-act/
[Category: Environment]
Tenth Circuit Decision Revives Groups' Suncor Clean Air Act Lawsuit
SAN FRANCISCO, California, Aug. 4 -- Earthjustice posted the following news release on Aug. 3, 2026:
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Tenth Circuit Decision Revives Groups' Suncor Clean Air Act Lawsuit
Victory -- Suit sent back to trial court to consider harm from Suncor refinery's pollution violations
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Denver, CO -- The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled in favor of environmental justice and conservation groups in a lawsuit seeking to hold Suncor Energy accountable for repeated Clean Air Act violations at its Commerce City refinery. The citizen suit, filed in August 2024, alleges that Suncor has failed to
... Show Full Article
SAN FRANCISCO, California, Aug. 4 -- Earthjustice posted the following news release on Aug. 3, 2026:
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Tenth Circuit Decision Revives Groups' Suncor Clean Air Act Lawsuit
Victory -- Suit sent back to trial court to consider harm from Suncor refinery's pollution violations
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Denver, CO -- The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals today ruled in favor of environmental justice and conservation groups in a lawsuit seeking to hold Suncor Energy accountable for repeated Clean Air Act violations at its Commerce City refinery. The citizen suit, filed in August 2024, alleges that Suncor has failed tocontrol pollution emissions at its refinery, resulting in long-lasting harm to surrounding communities in North Denver.
"This decision is deeply personal," said Ean Thomas Tafoya, vice president of state programs with GreenLatinos. "My family lives in North Denver, and like so many of our neighbors and GreenLatinos members, we've lived with the impacts of industrial pollution for decades. Today's ruling is an important step toward ensuring our communities have the opportunity to hold polluters accountable when the government fails to hold them accountable themselves."
A District Court judge dismissed the groups' case in May 2025, finding that 20-year-old settlements between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Suncor qualified as government enforcement of the violations and, as a result, barred the groups from suing. The Tenth Circuit disagreed with this ruling and decided that the District Court applied the wrong legal standard in its order.
"For decades Suncor has delivered extraordinary levels of toxic pollution to North Denver and been fined pennies," said Margaret Kran-Annexstein, director of Colorado Sierra Club. "The Court of Appeals recognized the right of community members to challenge violations to federal air regulations. When decision makers fail to enforce the law, we must be able to fight back."
The Clean Air Act guarantees that communities harmed by air pollution violations can participate in enforcing and stopping that pollution. If the government has failed to enforce the violations in court, members of the public can step in to file their own lawsuit. In the District Court ruling, the judge found the suit barred, despite the fact that the last time the government took the refinery to court for air pollution violations was an EPA suit over 20 years ago -- before many of the limits that Suncor is violating even existed.
In the years since, the government has settled a handful of administrative actions to enforce Suncor's emissions violations. These settlements have proven ineffective. Settlements the Attorney General's office negotiated with Suncor in 2020 and 2024 have required Suncor to pay fines that are just a fraction of what the law allows and have failed to deter future violations.
"All Coloradans deserve clean air and honest enforcement," said Bobbie Mooney, staff attorney with 350 Colorado. "This decision brings us closer to the justice our communities have been denied for decades. This ruling is a victory for community power and a long-overdue check on Suncor's pollution."
The Tenth Circuit found that the District Court erred in concluding that all of the suit's claims were barred. Specifically, while it agreed with the District Court that the 20-year-old settlements could, under certain circumstances, bar citizen-suit claims for violations of the "same" pollution limits, the District Court failed to evaluate whether the citizen suit involves the same limits covered by the government's suit.
Today's ruling will send the case back to the trial court to answer that question. If the District Court finds that the claims are the same, the Tenth Circuit further directed the District Court to scrutinize whether the government is enforcing those same limits diligently.
"We are grateful that the Court recognized that our clients are legally entitled to step in to stop Suncor's Clean Air Act violations," said Ian Coghill, senior attorney with Earthjustice's Rocky Mountain Office. "Many of the limits Suncor is violating did not even exist the last time the government went to court. Meanwhile, the administrative settlements negotiated behind closed doors have clearly done nothing to deter Suncor from continuing to violate its pollution limits. These violations have significant impacts on the communities surrounding the refinery and must at long last be addressed."
Suncor's pollutants pose an ongoing health threat to the refinery's neighbors, predominantly communities of color who are more likely to be economically disadvantaged. Residents of neighboring zip codes suffer disproportionately from high rates of asthma, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.
Earthjustice represents GreenLatinos, the Sierra Club, and 350 Colorado in the lawsuit.
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About Earthjustice
Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people's health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.
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Original text here: https://earthjustice.org/press/2026/tenth-circuit-decision-revives-groups-suncor-clean-air-act-lawsuit
[Category: Environment]
RFK Jr. Demands Editors of Journal Defend 'Concern' About 2020 Vaccine Study
FRANKLIN LAKES, New Jersey, Aug. 4 -- Children's Health Defense, an organization that says it restores and protects the health of children by eliminating exposures to environmental toxins, issued the following news:
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RFK Jr. Demands Editors of Journal Defend 'Concern' About 2020 Vaccine Study
In a letter to the editors of Sage Open Medicine, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked the editors to explain why they are now questioning a peer-reviewed study comparing health outcomes between vaccinated and unvaccinated children. The study, by CHD Chief Scientific Officer Brian Hooker
... Show Full Article
FRANKLIN LAKES, New Jersey, Aug. 4 -- Children's Health Defense, an organization that says it restores and protects the health of children by eliminating exposures to environmental toxins, issued the following news:
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RFK Jr. Demands Editors of Journal Defend 'Concern' About 2020 Vaccine Study
In a letter to the editors of Sage Open Medicine, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked the editors to explain why they are now questioning a peer-reviewed study comparing health outcomes between vaccinated and unvaccinated children. The study, by CHD Chief Scientific Officer Brian Hookerand Neil Z. Miller, a medical research journalist, was published in May 2020, after passing the journal's peer-review process.
by Brenda Baletti, Ph.D.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is demanding to know why the editors of Sage Open Medicine have raised concerns about a peer-reviewed study, published in May 2020, comparing health outcomes between vaccinated and unvaccinated children with a message of concern.
In a letter dated July 29, Kennedy wrote to Managing Editor Prajakta Mane concerning the study by Children's Health Defense (CHD) Chief Scientific Officer Brian Hooker and Neil Z. Miller, a medical research journalist.
Hooker and Miller found that partially vaccinated infants were more than twice as likely as unvaccinated infants to later be diagnosed with developmental disabilities and ear infections. They were also more than four times as likely to develop asthma.
The authors also found a statistically significant association between vaccines and gastrointestinal disorders. The study was based on anonymized medical chart data from three U.S. pediatric practices with over 2,000 total patients in the cohort.
Sage placed an "expression of concern" on the article on May 18, indicating that the article was under investigation. The editors provided no further details.
In his letter, Kennedy noted that publishers have many ways to foster debate about a study's findings, including letters to the editor or publishing peer reviewer comments.
Expressions of concern may be appropriate, he said, but should be accompanied by an explanation for the action, according to journal ethics guidelines.
Kennedy asked the editors of Sage Open Medicine to respond by Aug. 15, providing a full accounting of what led to their decision.
"Scientific journals have a responsibility to uphold transparency, protect research integrity, and defend academic freedom. The American people deserve a scientific process that is open, accountable, and worthy of their trust," Kennedy wrote in an X post, where he shared the letter.
Miller told The Defender that he believes the journal challenged the paper because its findings raise questions about vaccine safety.
"Before publication, our paper underwent three rounds of peer review," Miller said. "After it was published, it came under sustained criticism, and efforts were made to persuade the publisher to remove it. The expression of concern is the latest development in that process."
The journal did not respond to The Defender's request for comment on Kennedy's letter.
Authors say criticism reflects broader fight over vaccine research
Kennedy and Hooker are co-authors of The New York Times bestseller "Vax-Unvax: Let the Science Speak," which addresses some issues similar to those analyzed in the article.
Hooker told The Defender that the attack on their study is part of an attack on research providing evidence that contradicts the claim that all vaccines are "safe and effective." Recently, other articles that initially passed rigorous scrutiny under the peer review process have been challenged or retracted by the journals that published them.
Critics say many of these retractions are part of a coordinated campaign, fueled in part by anonymous posters on PubPeer, to discredit researchers who challenge mainstream vaccine science.
"This is the first and only remaining 'vax-unvax' study that is in a PubMed-indexed journal. That's why the pro-pharma crowd wants it retracted," Hooker said.
PubMed Central, a free and publicly available resource provided by the National Library of Medicine, is considered an authoritative source for archived biomedical research.
After an 11-month rigorous review process, the article was published in May 2020. It has since been downloaded nearly 300,000 times.
"The journal has forwarded concerns raised anonymously twice before regarding the methods/results of the paper, and the authors have addressed those concerns without any issuance of an official notice of concern," he said.
Hooker said several months ago, the journal contacted them with new allegations of data impropriety. The allegations originated from an anonymous post on PubPeer.
"There was no basis to the allegations, and I was able to address them directly with the journal to show that they were false," he said.
The journal continued to lodge complaints against the authors, repeating earlier complaints that had already been addressed, Hooker said. He said he had heard nothing from the journal since the expression of concern was posted.
"I'm extremely grateful for Secretary Kennedy's investigation into this matter," he said. "This type of censorship hinders the advancement of the best care for our children."
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Brenda Baletti, Ph.D., is a senior reporter for The Defender. She wrote and taught about capitalism and politics for 10 years in the writing program at Duke University. She holds a Ph.D. in human geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master's from the University of Texas at Austin.
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Original text here: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/rfk-jr-demands-sage-journal-defend-concern-2020-vaccinated-unvaccinated-chd-study/
[Category: Health Care]
Plethora of New NCFR Journal Articles Available to Read
ST. PAUL, Minnesota, Aug. 4 -- The National Council on Family Relations issued the following news on Aug. 3, 2026:
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Plethora of New NCFR Journal Articles Available to Read
29 Early-View Articles Published July 26-Aug. 1
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Stay current on the latest research from NCFR's three scholarly journals -- Journal of Marriage and Family (JMF), Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Science (FR), and Journal of Family Theory & Review (JFTR).
Most Recent Journal Issues:
JMF August 2026 issue (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17413737/2026/88/4): Includes articles on family
... Show Full Article
ST. PAUL, Minnesota, Aug. 4 -- The National Council on Family Relations issued the following news on Aug. 3, 2026:
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Plethora of New NCFR Journal Articles Available to Read
29 Early-View Articles Published July 26-Aug. 1
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Stay current on the latest research from NCFR's three scholarly journals -- Journal of Marriage and Family (JMF), Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Science (FR), and Journal of Family Theory & Review (JFTR).
Most Recent Journal Issues:
JMF August 2026 issue (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17413737/2026/88/4): Includes articles on familydisruption and reorganization, intergenerational relationships, cohabitation, marriage, and more.
FR July 2026 issue (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17413729/2026/75/3): Features research on parent-child relationships, marriage and couple relationships, measurement, family-level processes, and much more.
JFTR June 2026 Special Issue (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17562589/2026/18/2): The articles in this special issue, themed Critical Masculinities: Theoretical Advances on Gender in Families, "critique, expand, and transform our understanding of masculinities--and of masculinities within families--in a way that is timely, sociopolitically relevant, intersectional, and reflexive," write special issue guest editors Samuel H. Allen, Ph.D., and Kevin Roy, Ph.D., in their introduction.
New Early-View Articles Published Online (July 26-Aug. 1):
Journal of Family Theory & Review:
* Partnering Symbolic Interaction and Queer Theory: Mutualism for Contemporary Family Life -- Bethany Willis, Nikki DiGregorio
Journal of Marriage and Family:
* A Cross-Cultural Psychometric Evaluation of the 3-Item Relationship Satisfaction Scale Across 37 Languages -- Marta Kowal
* Partner Gender and Sexual Orientation, Partner Binegativity, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization Among Chinese Bisexual Individuals -- Shiyi Li, Yaxin Pu, Jessica N. Fish, Wenjian Xu
* The Cohabitation and Child Penalty in Stepfamilies (open access) -- Mette Ejrnaes, Mathilde Lund Holm
* Pathways From Marital Satisfaction to Mindful Parenting: Divergent Mediating Roles of Self-Compassion for Mothers and Fathers -- Wan Ding, Ruonan Qin, Wanyan Bai, Jingning Liu, Ruibo Xie
Family Relations:
* Music's Relationship-Building Function and University Students' Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Household Chaos -- Junfeng Liu, Shen-Long Yang, Feiyao Wang, Ting-Ting Rao
* Internet Use, Perceived Spousal Contributions, and Chinese Women's Marital Satisfaction: A Panel Study -- Shuhuan Zhou, Yuqiao Cao, Xiaokun Yang
* A Prospective Study Examining the Consequences of Family Rejection for Sexual and Gender Minority Youth -- Weiman Xu, Lorey A. Wheeler, Heather Littleton, Seungju Kim, Rayni Thomas, Joseph Gardella, Jillian R. Scheer, Caitlin Ryan, Alexis Chavez, Antonia Barba, Caroline Spitz, Katie M. Edwards
* Economic Pressure on Rural Spiritual Filial Support: Alexithymia Mediates and Dual Filial Piety Moderates -- Yuanping Deng, Mingyun Cao, Yuxiao Qiu, Huapei Mao
* "Is it for your own good?": Typology of parental roles in disabled youth's romantic relationships -- Lei Wang, Zhongming Ge
* Early Child Temperament Predicts Parental Burnout in First-Time Mothers -- Sandra Wenig, Eva Potuznikova, Zdenka Bajgarova
* Digital Leadership and Female Employees' Psychological Well-Being: Work-Family Balance Mediation and Digital Transformation Moderation -- Tugba DIKBAS CAVUS, Zeynep Ozguner
* Wives, Mothers, Players: Chinese Married Women's Affective Labor in Otome Gaming
* Examining parent emotion socialization with children in daily life (open access) -- Rosanna Breaux, Michelle Le, Jasmine Lewis, Delshad M. Shroff, Annah R. Cash, Katelyn M. Garcia, Corinne N. Carlton, Stephanie N. Pham
* Self-Differentiation and Mentalization in Couple Adjustment: An Actor-Partner Mediation Model (open access) -- Buket Unver
* The Role of Parental Depressive Symptoms and Burnout in Externalizing Behaviors of Toddlers (open access) -- Gizem Arikan, Ibrahim Hakki Acar, Ayse Meltem Ustundag-Budak
* Essentially Stressed: Comparing the Parenting Stress of Essential and Non-Essential Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic -- Casey Scheibling, Max Stick, Laura Pazos
* Unraveling the upward intergenerational link between adolescent depression and maternal health in later life (open access) -- Keun Young Kwon, Hayun Jang, Jinho Kim
* Tracking Daily Coparenting Quality: Validation and Utility of the Polish D-Cop (open access) -- Dorota M. Jankowska, Boguslawa Lachowska, Brandon T. McDaniel
* Trust as a Foundational Family Need in Contexts of Trauma: A South African Qualitative Study (open access) -- Nicolette V. Roman, Moses Mutua Mutiso, Friday Alaji, Chante Johannes, Katerina Demetriou, Avukonke Nginase, Olaniyi J. Olabiyi
* Patterns of Service Needs for Married Immigrant Women and Their Predictive Factors -- Ja Hyun Shin, Boyoung Nam, Yoon Hee Choi
* Parenting stress and its relation to mothers' characteristics and children's age (open access) -- Osnat Lavenda, Yaira Hamama-Raz, Liat Hamama
* Supported Decision-Making in Young Adults With Intellectual Disabilities--Perspectives of Parents and Personal Assistants -- Jakub Niedbalski
* Between Autonomy and Relational Autonomy: Reproductive Decision-Making in China (open access) -- Dexu Huang, Erik Blair, Sam Miles
* 90 Day Fiance: Presentations of Status Exchange on the International Marriage Market (open access) -- Andrea Laurent-Simpson, Beth Montemurro, Jessica Wray
* Parenting Program for Families in Contexts of Social Vulnerability Within the Spanish Red Cross (open access) -- Florencia Barreto-Zarza, Adriana Diaz-Arguello, Carmen San Martin Cabezon, Enrique B. Arranz-Freijo
* A bioecological policy analysis of trauma-informed practice: Implications for families, schools, and communities (open access) -- Anglin P. Thevaraja, Miriam R. Linver, Pearl Stewart, Kira Chontow
* Longitudinal actor-partner effects of emotion regulation difficulties on marital conflict and happiness in couples (open access) -- Yookyung Eoh, Jae Eun Lee, Ji Young Choi
* Exploring Relational Dynamics Affecting Developmental Outcomes Among Rural Chinese Children (open access) -- Jia Zhuang, Jet Uy Buenconsejo, Chen Deng, Joel C. Arenas, Siyun Xie, Jacky C. K. Ng
NCFR member journal subscribers can access articles by logging into their NCFR account.
Learn more about NCFR's scholarly journals prior to submitting your manuscript.
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NCFR is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose members support all families through research, teaching, practice, and advocacy.
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Original text here: https://www.ncfr.org/news/plethora-new-ncfr-journal-articles-available-read
[Category: Sociological]
PETA Seeks to Sink Proposed Loophole for Law-Breaking San Antonio Aquarium Over Prohibited Animals
NORFOLK, Virginia, Aug. 4 -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued the following news release:
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PETA Seeks to Sink Proposed Loophole for Law-Breaking San Antonio Aquarium Over Prohibited Animals
Leon Valley, Texas -- Following a formal complaint filed by PETA asking the city of Leon Valley to stop the San Antonio Aquarium from illegally exploiting animals--activity that has often led to animals biting and injuring customers--PETA has just learned that city leaders are quietly trying to push through an exemption to city code. The carveout would allow the Aquarium to continue
... Show Full Article
NORFOLK, Virginia, Aug. 4 -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued the following news release:
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PETA Seeks to Sink Proposed Loophole for Law-Breaking San Antonio Aquarium Over Prohibited Animals
Leon Valley, Texas -- Following a formal complaint filed by PETA asking the city of Leon Valley to stop the San Antonio Aquarium from illegally exploiting animals--activity that has often led to animals biting and injuring customers--PETA has just learned that city leaders are quietly trying to push through an exemption to city code. The carveout would allow the Aquarium to continueengaging in otherwise illegal activities and leave many of the animals confined in the San Antonio Aquarium's dismal enclosures with little to no protection. In response, PETA rushed an urgent letter to city council members today, calling on them to vote down the proposed loophole.
The City of Leon Valley Code currently prohibits keeping animals who are venomous and/or inherently dangerous to humans, including primates, alligators, and stingrays. Yet for years, officials have looked the other way while the San Antonio Aquarium has displayed alligators, a venomous octopus, stingrays, and pufferfish--and ignored numerous reported injuries to the public, including that of a six-year-old boy, who was grabbed by an octopus.
Now, rather than enforcing the ordinance, and just months after receiving PETA's complaint, city leaders are apparently kowtowing to the aquarium by trying to amend the law so that it and other similar operations would effectively receive a blanket exemption to the ordinance it's been violating for years. PETA notes that several species exhibited at the aquarium are not covered by specific federal or state welfare standards.
"Leon Valley should be holding the San Antonio Aquarium accountable for years of brazenly flouting local law, not trying to quietly rewrite the rules for its benefit," says PETA Foundation's Associate Director of Captive Wildlife Rebecca Smudzinski. "PETA is urging city council members to reject this backroom loophole and prioritize animal welfare and public safety by refusing to hand this shipwreck of a facility a get-out-of-jail-free card."
The San Antonio Aquarium is owned by the notorious Covino family, which has a long history of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) citations, wildlife trafficking, and animal exploitation and neglect. The Covinos also own the Houston Interactive Aquarium and Animal Preserve as well as the Austin Aquarium, which was issued an official warning last year by the USDA after a slew of customers were bitten, scratched, and otherwise injured by animals. PETA encourages everyone to call on the Covino family to transition to animal-free entertainment and transfer the animals to reputable facilities where they can live in peace.
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PETA--whose motto reads, in part, that "animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way"--points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
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Original text here: https://www.peta.org/media/news-releases/peta-seeks-to-sink-proposed-loophole-for-law-breaking-san-antonio-aquarium-over-prohibited-animals/
[Category: Animals]
CIRES' Space Weather Forecasters Bid Farewell to DSCOVR
BOULDER, Colorado, Aug. 4 -- The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences issued the following news:
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CIRES' space weather forecasters bid farewell to DSCOVR
Five things to know about the space forecasting satellite shutting down this August
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This month, NOAA will retire the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), a satellite floating in space one million miles from Earth. DSCOVR's instruments supported Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) space weather forecasts for over a decade, helping warn the public of infrastructure disruptions -- power, air travel, telecommunications,
... Show Full Article
BOULDER, Colorado, Aug. 4 -- The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences issued the following news:
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CIRES' space weather forecasters bid farewell to DSCOVR
Five things to know about the space forecasting satellite shutting down this August
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This month, NOAA will retire the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR), a satellite floating in space one million miles from Earth. DSCOVR's instruments supported Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) space weather forecasts for over a decade, helping warn the public of infrastructure disruptions -- power, air travel, telecommunications,and GPS mapping.
CIRES spoke with Jeff Johnson, software engineer and DSCOVR project lead, to highlight five facts about the satellite and its importance in space weather forecasting.
1. NOAA purchased a satellite -- named DSCOVR -- from NASA. Before serving as a space weather forecasting satellite, it sat in cold storage for over a decade after its mission to observe Earth and make climate observations was canceled. Once in NOAA's hands, DSCOVR monitored solar winds, which support the prediction of space weather events like geomagnetic storms.
2. DSCOVR launched in February 2015 and traveled nearly four months and one million miles to L1, a neutral gravity point between the Sun and Earth where the satellite uses little fuel to hover in space. Only seven satellites orbit at L1, compared to thousands circling Earth.
3. DSCOVR monitored space weather during a busy season for the Sun. The Sun goes through 11-year cycles of "minimums" and "maximums." During a minimum period, "The Sun is quiet, like a cueball with no sunspots and no activity," Johnson said. The Sun peaked at its maximum last October, and its active season will continue for several more years.
4. A busy season for the Sun brings an increase in solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which can disrupt public infrastructure. Forecasters used DSCOVR to predict the timing of these events. For example, when electrically charged particles from CMEs hit the satellite, forecasters could provide 15 minutes to an hour's notice before they hit Earth.
5. The new satellite replacing DSCOVR, SOLAR-1, was designed and built by NASA while collaborating with NOAA. The new satellite is equipped with updated instruments specific to space weather forecasting, rather than climate research, including a coronagraph, to forecast CMEs.
Once DSCOVR is decommissioned, NOAA operators will cease all communications with the satellite.
What happens next? Using gravity, they'll push it out into space, away from the L1 point, and it will continue to orbit the sun -- perhaps forever.
"For more than eight years, the DSCOVR satellite served as SWPC's primary detector for CME arrivals, providing vital observations that empowered forecasters to predict geomagnetic activity with high accuracy," Johnson said. "Building on this legacy, we look forward to advancing our capabilities with the SOLAR-1 spacecraft."
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Original text here: https://cires.colorado.edu/news/cires-space-weather-forecasters-bid-farewell-dscovr
[Category: Environment]
