skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

IVF clinic bombing should be a security wakeup call for fertility centers, experts say; Illinois is first state to restrict federal access to autism-related data; Virginia ranks in top 10 for lowest rates of deaths on the job; Food security researchers in 20 countries thought they had U.S. funding. Then Trump took office.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Congress debates Medicaid cuts, FBI pledges to investigate missing Indigenous people, Illinois pushes back on federal autism data plan, and deadly bombing in California is investigated as domestic terrorism.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

New Mexico's acequia irrigation system is a model of democratic governance, buying a house in rural America will get harder under the Trump administration's draft 2026 budget, and physicians and medical clinics serving rural America are becoming a rarity.

New ND law raises bar for pesticide liability lawsuits

play audio
Play

Friday, April 25, 2025   

North Dakota lawmakers have opted to side with farm chemical manufacturers facing legal challenges about the safety of their products.

The state has finalized an update that limits the scope of how warning labels on these products can be viewed by the courts. This week, Gov. Kelly Armstrong signed a bill which said for a product like the weed-killer Roundup, a label consistent with federal Environmental Protection Agency language is good enough when warning about potential hazards. The agency currently finds no evidence Roundup causes cancer.

Sam Wagner, field organizer for the Dakota Resource Council, is among critics of the plan. He said the EPA's efforts and wording do not have enough teeth.

"The 'sufficient warning' clause basically would grant immunity to a company, saying that, 'We have warned you and the label has adequately told you what the risks are. So, if you have developed cancer, then you have done it on your own accord,'" Wagner explained.

Farm groups backed the new law, arguing it helps keep products on the market to protect crops from pests and disease. Similar bills surfaced in states like Iowa, Missouri and Georgia this year. Other states, like California, require more detailed labels amid a wave of lawsuits against manufacturers, some of which led to large monetary awards for plaintiffs.

Wagner contended his group's opposition is not just about high-profile products sold to farmers. He pointed to the roughly 1,600 chemicals registered with government agencies.

"Can you, with 100% certainty, say that every other chemical that we have -- and will be made in the future -- that they're going to be able to get it 100% right?" Wagner asked.

Sen. Janne Myrdal, R-Edinburg, a farmer and bill supporter, said agricultural workers are well aware of the dangers thanks to the labeling and go to great lengths to protect themselves.

"There are strict label requirements on how you're supposed to dress," Myrdal pointed out. "You have rubber gloves, facial (and) eye (shields), long boots, all of those things when you deal with those chemicals. And you should do that, because that's what the label said on some of these chemicals."

Disclosure: The Dakota Resource Council contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Energy Policy, Environment, and Rural/Farming issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Florida A&M University, a public historically Black land-grant institution in Tallahassee, was founded in 1887. It is one of the largest Historically Black Colleges and Universities by enrollment and the only public HBCU in Florida. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The selection of Marva Johnson, a longtime corporate executive and ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis, as the next president of Florida A&M University has …


Environment

play sound

Congress is set to claw back $6.5 billion in climate-related Inflation Reduction Act investments to help pay for the Trump administration's priorities…

Social Issues

play sound

The FBI has said it will add resources in 10 states including New Mexico to tackle unresolved crimes, with a focus on those related to missing and …


Health and Wellness

play sound

Illinois is the first state to block the federal government from accessing state data on autism. The order, signed by Gov. JB Pritzker last week…

Oregon and California have created prescribed burn liability funds to help reduce the risk for landowners and contractors. (David Elkins/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Washington lawmakers have created a new Prescribed Burn Liability Fund to help make controlled burns less risky on public, private and tribal lands …

Social Issues

play sound

A recent scam using fake Indiana government email addresses is prompting a broader warning to Hoosiers. The messages claimed to involve unpaid tolls …

Social Issues

play sound

A guaranteed income pilot program in Oakland improved housing stability and employment among its recipients, according to a new report from the …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021