U S THE SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE

Apr 12 2026ENVIRONMENT

Community Green Day Sparks Hope in DeKalb

The campus of Northern Illinois University buzzed with excitement on Saturday as DeKalb County Earth Fest returned for its third year. The celebration, built through a partnership between DeCarbon DeKalb and the university, aimed to connect people with nature without heavy guilt. The opening keynot

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Apr 12 2026SCIENCE

Crystals Growing Under a Beam: A New Peek Inside Tiny Salt Particles

Scientists have found a way to watch how salt crystals grow while they sit in water, using a special microscope that protects the crystal from damage. The trick is to coat the whole setup with a thin film of amorphous carbon, which shields the crystal from the intense electron beam that normally hur

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Apr 12 2026POLITICS

Ride‑Share Fees: A City Council’s New Twist on Driver Income

The city council is once again stirring debate with a fresh proposal that could change how ride‑share companies split fares. Two council members—one from District 2 and another from District 3—are looking at ways to cap the portion of fares that Uber and Lyft keep, hoping to leave drivers with a lar

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Apr 12 2026ENTERTAINMENT

FX Show Shaped TV More Than Sopranos

The 1999 launch of a mob drama on HBO shocked viewers. The series placed a gangster in the lead, breaking the norm of clean‑cut heroes. It earned 21 Emmy awards and sparked a wave of high‑quality shows like Breaking Bad, Succession, and Mad Men. A writer famous for horror recently said a different

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Apr 12 2026POLITICS

Virginia Governor Faces Legal Threat Over Gun Bills

The Department of Justice has warned Virginia’s governor that it will sue if she signs new gun‑control laws. A letter from the Civil Rights Division says any bill that limits law‑abiding citizens’ right to own firearms could trigger a lawsuit. The letter cites an executive order from the Trump

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Apr 12 2026CRIME

Seniors Face a 70% Rise in Identity Theft Losses

The FBI’s newest report on internet crime shows a sharp climb in identity theft affecting people over 60. In 2025, more than five thousand complaints were filed by this age group, with losses totaling nearly fifty million dollars—an increase of about seventy percent from the previous year. Older

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Apr 12 2026OPINION

Climate Change Talk: A Skeptical Review of “Extreme Weather” Claims

The Heartland Institute’s climate conference in Washington brought a mix of arguments and data. One speaker, John Clauser, who earned a Nobel Prize in physics for work on quantum entanglement, used his expertise to scrutinize the evidence often cited as proof of a looming climate crisis. Clauser’s c

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Apr 12 2026POLITICS

Food Trucks Move Into Downtown Spokane: A Look at the New Rules

Spokane is thinking about letting food trucks set up shop in more downtown spots. The city council will discuss a small plan that could drop a $60 permit fee for trucks that stay in town more than two weeks each year. That fee is rarely used, so it would cost the city only about $500 a year to keep.

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Apr 12 2026SCIENCE

Peeling Back the Layers of Plastic in Coastal Waters

Scientists collected tiny plastic fragments that float in three coastal areas, each with a different mix of ships and tourists. They focused on polyethylene pieces because it is common in the sea. Using a technique that shines infrared light onto the plastic, they recorded how the molecules vibrate.

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Apr 12 2026OPINION

New Jersey’s Homelessness Budget: A Small Step in a Huge Gap

The state has put $25 million on the budget for people without homes, and another $11 million for a veterans program. These amounts show that officials see the problem, but they fall far short of what data says is needed. In 2024, the state’s system could house about 38, 000 people and was runnin

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