David Crary AP National Writer Published 12:09 AM EST Nov 7, 2018 New York — In the first statewide referendum on transgender rights, Massachusetts voters on Tuesday beat back a repeal attempt and reaffirmed a 2016 law extending nondiscrimination protections to transgender people, including their use of public bathrooms and locker rooms. Supporters of the law had feared a vote to repeal would prompt a wave of similar efforts to roll back protections in other states. Already, some protections at the federal level are under threat from President Donald Trump’s administration. “When transgender rights are being threatened nationally, we absolutely must preserve the rights we have secured at the state level,” said Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Civil-rights activists also scored a major victory in Florida, where voters approved a ballot measure that will enable more than 1 million ex-felons to regain … [Read more...] about U.S. ballot issues: Mass. protects transgender rights
Statewide protective agency
Wayne County resident dies of West Nile; 8 human cases statewide
Detroit Free Press Published 8:28 p.m. UTC Aug 23, 2018 A resident of Wayne County died of complications from West Nile virus, one of eight human cases so far this year, state health officials confirmed today. Health officials are urging residents to take precautions against mosquitoes, which carry the blood-borne illness. “It only takes one bite from an infected mosquito to cause a severe illness, so take extra care during peak mosquito-biting hours, which are dusk and dawn for the mosquitoes that transmit West Nile virus,” said Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. "Mosquito bite protection should continue until the weather significantly cools.” The other cases involve a resident of Kent County, a resident of Oakland County and five residents of Wayne County. All but one have been hospitalized with neurologic disease, officials said. In addition, three … [Read more...] about Wayne County resident dies of West Nile; 8 human cases statewide
DEQ: Harmful PFAS might contaminate more than 11,000 sites statewide
Keith Matheny Detroit Free Press Published 10:00 p.m. UTC Jul 30, 2018 The potentially health-harming chemical compound that shut down the drinking water supply in two West Michigan communities last Thursday may contaminate more than 11,300 locations statewide, according to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The DEQ provided the observation on the contaminants as part of a presentation to the Michigan Environmental Compliance Conference in Lansing last month, displaying a series of maps with various facilities that could have PFAS contamination: 1,487 fire stations across the Upper and Lower Peninsulas; 27 municipal airports; 519 waste-water treatment plants, and more. All told, more than 11,300 sites were listed in the presentation maps. "The number is staggering," said Anthony Spaniola, a Troy attorney whose family has owned frontage on Van Etten Lake in Oscoda for years. There, PFAS contamination emanating from … [Read more...] about DEQ: Harmful PFAS might contaminate more than 11,000 sites statewide
DNR : Ban deer feeding, baiting to combat ‘zombie deer’ disease
Keith Matheny Detroit Free Press Published 10:00 p.m. UTC Jun 8, 2018 The practice of deer hunters using food piles as bait to lure deer, or any other kind of deer-feeding, should be banned across all of the Lower Peninsula to help stop the alarming spread of chronic wasting disease in wild deer, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is recommending. DNR officials will present their plans to combat the deer disease to the policy-setting state Natural Resources Commission at its meeting Thursday. Other recommendations include banning non-synthetic deer urine-based lures and scents in hunting, as the disease is spread by a deer's bodily fluids, and expanding a more heavily scrutinized management zone for the disease from five counties and some surrounding townships to 13 counties. Chronic wasting disease, or CWD, a contagious, neurological disorder related to "mad cow disease," was discovered in a free-ranging, white-tailed deer in Michigan in May … [Read more...] about DNR : Ban deer feeding, baiting to combat ‘zombie deer’ disease
Pushing down energy use — and bills
Sick of $450-a-month gas and electric bills for their Baltimore County rowhouse, James and JoAnn Allis replaced their old, inefficient air conditioner. And their windows and doors. Then they added insulation in their home's many leaky spots and coated their roof to keep the house cooler in the summer.Now the retirees pay about $220 a month. "That's a big difference," said JoAnn Allis, flipping through recent Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. bills. "We had to do it in spurts, but ... gradually one thing leads to another that all brings your bill down."They're not the only ones needing less energy. BGE says per-customer electricity use was about 10 percent lower last year than in 2005, despite the proliferation of power-sapping smartphones, digital video recorders and other electronics. Highly efficient appliances, light bulbs and other products — both residential and commercial — are helping reduce consumption.The recession suppressed electricity demand, too. But that's not … [Read more...] about Pushing down energy use — and bills