21 States Sue Trump Administration Over Relaxed Coal Restrictions, Citing ‘Climate Crisis’
Navy Flubs Cleanup of Toxic Shipyard ; Gay Penguins Adopt Abandoned Egg ; and More Picks
Navy Flubs Cleanup of Toxic Shipyard ; Gay Penguins Adopt Abandoned Egg ; and More Picks 8/15
Report: Navy Altered Hunters Point Cleanup to Cover, Not Remove, Toxic Soil (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “In its cleanup of the tainted former Hunters Point shipyard, the Navy pledged to use the strictest standards and scrub the site of contamination. But for several years now, a new report says, the Navy has instead been spreading thin layers of soil and asphalt on top of contaminated soil, a practice that city voters and supervisors once opposed.”
‘This Will Be Catastrophic’: Maine Families Face Elder Boom, Worker Shortage (Russ)
The author writes, “Across Maine, families … are being hammered by two slow-moving demographic forces — the growth of the retirement population and a simultaneous decline in young workers — that have been exacerbated by a national worker shortage pushing up the cost of labor. The unemployment rate in Maine is 3.2 percent, below the national average of 3.7 percent. The disconnect between Maine’s aging population and its need for young workers to care for that population is expected to be mirrored in states throughout the country over the coming decade, demographic experts say.”
Paralyzed Wisconsin Lawmaker Calls GOP Leader ‘Sad’ (Klaus)
From the Star Tribune: “The Republican leader of the Wisconsin Assembly on Thursday accused a paralyzed Democratic lawmaker of going public with his requests for accommodations to undermine the GOP legislator’s taking over as head of a national organization. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, in an interview on WISN-AM, accused Rep. Jimmy Anderson of trying to make Vos look bad just before he became president of the National Conference of State Legislatures last week, 10 days after the Anderson story first broke.”
NYPD Police Union Boss: Sorry for Sharing Racist Video, ‘I Have Black Friends’ (Chris)
The author writes, “The president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, New York City’s second-largest police union, says he should not face consequences for circulating an explicitly racist video — in which black people are referred to as ‘monsters’ and public housing as a ‘war zone’ — because it was an ‘honest mistake.’”
Gay Penguins Skipper and Ping Called ‘Exemplary Parents’ After Adopting Abandoned Egg in Berlin Zoo (Mili)
The author writes, “Gay penguins Skipper and Ping have been given the chance to be parents after taking in an abandoned egg at the Berlin Zoo. The pair, two male emperor penguins — both 10 years old — had longed to be dads for quite some time as they showed ‘immediate baby fever’ as soon as they arrived to the zoo in April, Berlin Zoo spokesman Maximilian Jaeger told German news agency DPA. ‘They kept trying to hatch fish and stones,’ Jaeger explained to DPA.”
