Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)
June 23, 2023
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., this week reintroduced his bill to improve the resilience and health of the nation’s watersheds – the land leading into streams, rivers or lakes – as Oregon and the entire American West continue to suffer from severe drought.
“Watersheds play an essential role in the health and economic livelihood of local communities, supporting safe drinking water for communities, outdoor recreation and productive fisheries. All of this is at risk because of the climate crisis,” said Wyden. “More must be done to strengthen the health and resilience of our nation’s watersheds. My Watershed Results Act creates science-driven, cost-effective tools to protect the land that touches all of our nation’s waterways and provide stability for generations to come.”
Watersheds are made up of millions of acres of rivers and streams, farms and rangeland, forests and developed towns and cities, with restoration needs often varying dramatically from acre to acre. Wyden’s Watershed Results Act – first introduced last Congress – would use the best scientific and data analysis to identify the most effective acres where watershed restoration work would generate the greatest environmental results at the best value for taxpayers. The Interior Department would coordinate to establish several watershed restoration programs across the country.
Joe Whitworth, President and CEO of The Freshwater Trust: “The dire and worsening problems impacting our rivers and streams have a direct impact on the future of freshwater in our country. The urgency of this moment is unmistakable, and a bill like this lays the foundation for much-needed change on how those working in water work on behalf of this resource. We hope others will support it.”
Julie O’Shea, Executive Director of Farmer’s Conservation Alliance: “We commend Senator Wyden for his introduction of this legislation. In the midst of major ongoing drought, it is important that we have in place a broad array of tools that help to rapidly increase agricultural resilience and environmental benefits throughout the West. These pilot watershed efforts would allow us to better understand how we can all collaborate to secure resiliency for our watersheds.”
Dan Keppen, Executive Director of Family Farm Alliance: “Farmers play a critical role in ensuring the resiliency of our watersheds. We are supportive of this legislation because it encourages collaboration among all those funding and working with and on behalf of water. Collaboration and innovation are both desperately needed if we are going to ensure that our freshwater resources can support the future of farming.”
Timothy Male, Executive Director of Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC): “Two of the most important ways to make national environmental programs more effective are captured in Senator Wyden’s legislation: a focus on quantified environmental outcomes, and permission for federal agencies to use pay for success contracts to buy them. The Watershed Results Act puts in place the right incentives for America’s restoration experts and scientists to do their most effective and creative work for freshwater.”
Nick Wobbrock, Co-Founder & COO of Blue Forest Conservation: “The need for investment in watershed health to effectively respond to the impacts of climate change is non-negotiable. This bill offers an innovative model that will enable federal agencies the flexibility of leveraging private investment and conservation finance to achieve watershed resilience goals through quantified and monitored outcomes. We applaud Senator Wyden for introducing the Watershed Results Act.”
Adam Kiel, Managing Director of Soil and Water Outcomes Fund and Executive Vice President of AgOutcomes: “The Soil and Water Outcomes Fund works with farmers and outcome beneficiaries across ten states, from Iowa to New York, to improve water quality and climate resiliency. The proposed Watershed Results Act of 2021 supports an outcome-based approach to water quality improvement and, if passed, would represent a transformative approach in how the Federal Government funds environmental outcomes by providing cost-effective delivery of conservation dollars to areas providing the highest benefit.”
Timothy Martin, Executive Director, Irrigation Innovation Consortium: “The Irrigation Innovation Consortium conducts research and develops grounded solutions for water management. In addition to equipping stakeholders with new knowledge and tools, we address financial, practical, and technological barriers to adopting innovative practices. By merging powerful technology, a coordinated funding approach, and streamlined delivery of funds to agricultural producers, the Watershed Results Act will demonstrate a new pathway forward to achieve beneficial economic and environmental outcomes. We support this legislation, and we encourage other organizations to do the same.”
Eric Letsinger, CEO of Quantified Ventures: “ At Quantified Ventures, we scale up investable, outcomes-based solutions for good. The WRA would help organize and streamline federal funds in a way that makes it much easier to access and use private capital to get watershed solutions to an entirely new scale. We applaud the innovation and hope others will support the bill too.”
A one-page summary of the bill can be found here.
Bill text can be found here.
Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.), Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and 33 members of the Senate Democratic caucus in a letter to the Trump administration demanding answers about the tens of thousands of federal health workers that have been fired this week and the unquestionable impact on Americans’ health and well-being.
“Your actions continue to show a reckless disregard for the health and well-being of American families, most significantly for underserved communities. You claim this ‘reduction in force’ will ‘make America healthy again.’ But firings of this scale will do the exact opposite,” wrote the Senators. “If you do not reverse course, you will do irreparable damage to our nation’s human services, health care delivery, public health, and scientific infrastructure – making Americans sicker and leaving our communities ill-prepared for future threats.”
The letter, sent to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), comes as HHS begins to dismantle entire agencies, like those focused on the well-being of seniors and people with disabilities and research to promote health care quality, and lay off thousands of workers across the department, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the Administration for Community Living (ACL), and more.
Among the layoffs was the entire staff of the Healthy Aging Branch of the CDC, which administers Alzheimer’s disease programs and oversees the funding for Cortez Masto’s bipartisan BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act. This bill – reauthorized by Congress last year – helps combat Alzheimer’s and supports caregivers and their families.
Read the full letter here.
Senator Cortez Masto has pushed multiple Departments under the Trump Administration for detailed, public information regarding the impacts of President Trump’s federal funding freeze, hiring freeze, and terminations on Nevada – including the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, and the General Services Administration.
A portrait of President Donald Trump in the ‘America’s Presidents’ exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery.Win McNamee/Getty Images
I teach history in Connecticut, but I grew up in Oklahoma and Kansas, where my interest in the subject was sparked by visits to local museums.
I fondly remember trips to the Fellow-Reeves Museum in Wichita, Kansas, and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. A 1908 photograph of my great-grandparents picking cotton has been used as a poster by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
This love of learning history continued into my years as a graduate student of history, when I would spend hours at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum learning about the history of human flight and ballooning. As a professor, I’ve integrated the institution’s exhibits into my history courses.
The Trump administration, however, is not happy with the way the Smithsonian Institution and other U.S. museums are portraying history.
On March 27, 2025, the president issued an executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which asserted, “Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth. Under this historical revision, our Nation’s unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness is reconstructed as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.”
Trump singled out a few museums, including the Smithsonian, dedicating a whole section of the order on “saving” the institution from “divisive, race-centered ideology.”
Of course, history is contested. There will always be a variety of views about what should be included and excluded from America’s story. For example, in my own research, I found that Prohibition-era school boards in the 1920s argued over whether it was appropriate for history textbooks to include pictures of soldiers drinking to illustrate the 1791 Whiskey Rebellion.
But most recent debates center on how much attention should be given to the history of the nation’s accomplishments over its darker chapters. The Smithsonian, as a national institution that receives most of its funds from the federal government, has sometimes found itself in the crosshairs.
America’s historical repository
The Smithsonian Institution was founded in 1846 thanks to its namesake, British chemist James Smithson.
Smithson willed his estate to his nephew and stated that if his nephew died without an heir, the money – roughly US$15 million in today’s dollars – would be donated to the U.S. to found “an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”
The idea of a national institution dedicated to history, science and learning was contentious from the start.
In her book “The Stranger and the Statesman,” historian Nina Burleigh shows how Smithson’s bequest was nearly lost due to battles between competing interests.
Southern plantation owners and western frontiersmen, including President Andrew Jackson, saw the establishment of a national museum as an unnecessary assertion of federal power. They also challenged the very idea of accepting a gift from a non-American and thought that it was beneath the dignity of the government to confer immortality on someone simply because of a large donation.
In the end, a group led by congressman and former president John Quincy Adams ensured Smithson’s vision was realized. Adams felt that the country was failing to live up to its early promise. He thought a national museum was an important way to burnish the ideals of the young republic and educate the public.
Today the Smithsonian runs 14 education and research centers, the National Zoo and 21 museums, including the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which was created with bipartisan support during President George W. Bush’s administration.
In the introduction to his book “Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects,” cultural anthropologist Richard Kurin talks about how the institution has also supported hundreds of small and large institutions outside of the nation’s capital.
In 2024, the Smithsonian sent over 2 million artifacts on loan to museums in 52 U.S. states and territories and 33 foreign countries. It also partners with over 200 affiliate museums. YouGov has periodically tracked Americans’ approval of the Smithsonian, which has held steady at roughly 68% approval and 2% disapproval since 2020.
Smithsonian in the crosshairs
Precursors to the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the Smithsonian took place in the 1990s.
In 1991, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which was then known as the National Museum of American Art, created an exhibition titled “The West as America, Reinterpreting Images of the Frontier, 1820-1920.” Conservatives complained that the museum portrayed western expansion as a tale of conquest and destruction, rather than one of progress and nation-building. The Wall Street Journal editorialized that the exhibit represented “an entirely hostile ideological assault on the nation’s founding and history.”
The exhibition proved popular: Attendance to the National Museum of American Art was 60% higher than it had been during the same period the year prior. But the debate raised questions about whether public museums were able to express ideas that are critical of the U.S. without risk of censorship.
In 1994, controversy again erupted, this time at the National Air and Space Museum over a forthcoming exhibition centered on the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima 50 years prior.
Should the exhibition explore the loss of Japanese lives? Or emphasize the U.S. war victory?
Veterans groups insisted that the atomic bomb ended the war and saved 1 million American lives, and demanded the removal of photographs of the destruction and a melted Japanese school lunch box from the exhibit. Meanwhile, other activists protested the exhibition by arguing that a symbol of human destruction shouldn’t be commemorated at an institution that’s supposed to celebrate human achievement.
Protesters demonstrate against the opening of the Enola Gay exhibit outside the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in 1995. Joyce Naltchayan/AFP via Getty Images
Republicans won the House in 1994 and threatened cuts to the Smithsonian’s budget over the Enola Gay exhibition, compelling curators to walk a tightrope. In the end, the fuselage of the Enola Gay was displayed in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. But the exhibit would not tell the full story of the plane’s role in the war from a myriad of perspectives.
Trump enters the fray
In 2019, The New York Times launched the 1619 project, which aimed to reframe the country’s history by placing slavery and its consequences at its very center. The first Trump administration quickly responded by forming its 1776 commission. In January 2021, it produced a report critiquing the 1619 project, claiming that an emphasis on the country’s history of racism and slavery was counterproductive to promoting “patriotic education.”
That same year, Trump pledged to build “a vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans to ever live,” with 250 statues to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
President Joe Biden rescinded the order in 2021. Trump reissued it after retaking the White House, and pointed to figures he’d like to see included, such as Christopher Columbus, George Washington, Betsy Ross, Sitting Bull, Bob Hope, Thurgood Marshall and Whitney Houston.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with honoring Americans, though I think a focus on celebrities and major figures clouds the fascinating histories of ordinary Americans. I also find it troubling that there seems to be such a concerted effort to so forcefully shape the teaching and understanding of history via threats and bullying. Yale historian Jason Stanley has written about how aspiring authoritarian governments seek to control historical narratives and discourage an exploration of the complexities of the past.
Historical scholarship requires an openness to debate and a willingness to embrace new findings and perspectives. It also involves the humility to accept that no one – least of all the government – has a monopoly on the truth.
In his executive order, Trump noted that “Museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn.” I share that view. Doing so, however, means not dismantling history, but instead complicating the story – in all its messy glory.
The Conversation U.S. receives funding from the Smithsonian Institution.
Jennifer Tucker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States Senator Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) reintroduced the Cormorant Relief Act, legislation that would fully reinstate the ability of catfish farmers and other aquaculture producers to remove predatory double-crested cormorant populations. The legislation would restore U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulations to allow producers to fight the cormorants, which threaten the livelihoods of aquaculture operations in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, and other states.
“Alabama is the number two state in American catfish production, raising one-third of the world’s catfish,” said Senator Tuberville. “As a former catfish restaurant owner, I know firsthand how critical catfish are to our economy. America’s catfish farmers should be able to protect their livelihoods against these invasive birds without fear of repercussions from the federal government. It is important that we put our American catfish farmers first!”
“Double-crested cormorants pose a significant threat to Arkansas’s fish farmers, but unnecessary regulation currently prevents them from taking additional steps to protect their ponds. Our bill would once again give fish farmers the ability to adequately defend their fish populations from the birds that are eating into their bottom line,” said Senator Cotton.
Text of the legislation may be found here.
This legislation is supported by the National Aquaculture Association and the Catfish Farmers of America.
BACKGROUND:
The double-crested cormorant is a large water bird that feeds primarily on fish, consuming approximately a pound of fish per day. The cormorant population in North America has been increasing for decades as they have no natural predators and a growing prey base. As a result, these birds cause millions of dollars in losses across the aquaculture industry each year.
From 1998 to 2016, an Aquaculture Depredation Order existed allowing aquaculture producers to take double-crested cormorants committing or about to commit depredation of aquaculture stocks. However, a lawsuit brought against the Fish and Wildlife Service challenged the Aquaculture Depredation Order renewal and in 2016 the order was vacated. Currently, aquaculture facilities must pursue individual depredation permits, which impose constraints on farmers and prevent them from adequately protecting their fish against this avian predator.
MORE:
Tuberville, Wicker Introduce Resolution Designating August as National Catfish Month
Following Tuberville Efforts, Biden Administration Reverses Course on Disastrous Catfish Rule
Tuberville Warns Biden Against Order Threatening Alabama Catfish Industry
Tuberville Introduces Legislation to Support Domestic Beekeepers and Honey Producers
Tuberville Demands Biden Administration Protect Farmers Amid Historic Inflation, Rising Input Costs
Tuberville Honors National Agriculture Week, Continues to Stand Up for Farmers
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children’s Literature & Childhood Culture, Queen Mary University of London
This spring, Babe is returning to cinemas to mark the 30th anniversary of its release in 1995. The much-loved family film tells the deceptively simple but emotionally powerful story of a piglet who saves his bacon through intelligence, kindness and hard work.
Babe becomes the trusted ally of both farmer and farmyard animals and, like so many Hollywood heroes before and since, he refuses to stay in his lane.
It’s a film which, on paper, really shouldn’t work and which sounds alarm bells to any self-respecting children’s literature scholar like me. It takes an expertly crafted English children’s book with tasteful black-and-white illustrations – Dick King-Smith’s The Sheep Pig (1983) – and turns it into an all-singing, all-dancing technicolour extravaganza.
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The film inserts new episodes and characters – an evil cat, a plucky duck and (most alarmingly) a brace of brattish kids. And it replaces a perfectly good, does-what-it-says-on-the-tin book title with the cutesy moniker of the piglet star.
It shouldn’t work … but it really, really does. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it’s one of the most successful film adaptations of a children’s book of all time.
It met with both commercial and critical success, making over US$254 million at the box office and being nominated for no less than seven Academy Awards, one of which it secured for visual effects.
So, what exactly is so special about Babe? It was one of the first films which, thanks to the then-cutting edge combination of animatronics and visual effects, delivered convincing talking animals who, endowed with the gift of speech, could themselves “look like movie stars”. But with all the jaw-dropping technological advances of the last 30 years, how has this film managed to stand the test of time so well?
The answer in part is that its source material is exceptionally strong. The Sheep Pig is written with restraint and economy, but also great warmth and relish. King-Smith has immense fun, wallowing in words like the proverbial pig in muck, and putting it all to the service of a story whose core values are easy to get behind. The Sheep Pig is a soft-power parable which advocates for brains over brawn, for respectful communication and common decency.
But the excellence of a film’s bookish bedrock is no guarantee of success. Indeed, the brilliance of a book can often be something of a liability. Think of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, or any of the film and TV adaptations of Noel Streatfeild’s superb Ballet Shoes. With Babe, though, the book is catalyst rather than straitjacket, an enabling prompt which initiates a new work of equal strength and quality.
The pacing is well judged, the look of the film lush, and there are several actual laugh-out-loud moments – including the duck’s panicked realisation that “Christmas means carnage!” Above all, it’s a film with immense emotional intelligence and power.
Recognised for its visual effects, it also succeeds in large part because of the strength of its soundscape and score. There’s one scene in particular which really soars, and which takes on the elephant in the room: the human habit of eating pigs.
Babe is so shocked and upset on learning this fact from the evil cat (who else?) that he loses the will not just to win in the sheepdog trial, but to live at all. The supremely taciturn Father Hoggett must act to make amends and save his pig protégé.
In an astonishingly moving act of love, this man of few words takes the sickly and sick-at-heart pig onto his lap and sings to him. At first a gentle crooning, the farmer’s expression of care and affection soon swells to an out-and-out bellow, accompanied by a wild, caution-to-the-wind dance.
It’s difficult to imagine a more lyrically apt song than the 1977 reggae-inflected hit based on the powerful tune of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 in C Minor: “If I had words”, it begins. It’s a moment of huge emotional force and intensity, in which the gaping abyss of age and species difference are bridged through music and dance.
James Cromwell as Farmer Hoggett, here and throughout the film, is tremendous, his reserved performance a key factor in its success. The role – which he almost didn’t take because of the paucity of lines – was career-defining, and prompted personal epiphanies which flow naturally from this scene.
First, Cromwell never ate meat again. Second, he has spoken (with visible emotion) of the delivery of the film’s final pithy-but-powerful line of approbation – “That’ll do pig, that’ll do” – as a moment of communion with his father on catching sight of his own artificially aged reflection in the camera lens. “My life changed, and I owe it to a pig,” the actor concludes.
Babe is a film and an adaptation with many qualities. It’s wholesome without ever being sickly. But above all, it has an emotional force which worked on actors and audiences alike and which, 30 years later, remains undiminished.
Kiera Vaclavik does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States Senator Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)
WASHINGTON – Today,U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) took to the Senate floor to celebrate President Trump’s “Liberation Day” after Senate Democrats repeatedly tried to block and impede the President’s tariffs from going into effect.
Read excerpts from Senator Tuberville’s remarks below or watch on YouTube or Rumble.
“The media, for some reason, is in full meltdown mode after President Trump declared today ‘Liberation Day.’ Only my Democratic colleagues and the media, globalist media would find a reason to be mad about that. I’m highly convinced that my colleagues in the woke media would rather President Trump fail than achieve a goal to help the United States of America and the taxpayers. President Trump’s views on tariffs – they aren’t complicated. He believes, as I do, that America has been ripped off by unfair trade deals for decades and simply wants a level playing field.
We have to change directions. What we’re doing is not working. U.S. catfish and shrimp producers have faced some of the worst blows, for example. Vietnam is dumping billions – I repeat, billions – of pounds of catfish, and India is dumping billions of pounds of shrimp every year in the U.S. markets, flooding the markets and reducing the price for our quality domestic products. It’s devastating. We need to put a reciprocal tariff on these countries to protect our American producers. […]
Now, I recognize that tariff actions may cause reciprocal tariffs from other countries. We need to take that in stride.
In this country, we’ve had a party for 249 years. United States has put that party on. The party needs to continue, but all the other countries that have been built off the American taxpayers, such as the Middle East, such as Europe, such as China, they need to start bringing gifts to the party because the American taxpayer can’t afford it any longer. We’re $37 trillion in debt. And the only way to pay that down is to force other people to help us. The American taxpayer can’t afford it.
As a result, American jobs have been sent overseas. […] We have to get manufacturing back in this country. […] President Trump is 100% committed folks – 100%. He’s gonna do whatever it takes to usher in a Golden Age for the American economy. And by the way, just the threat of President Trump’s tariffs has already led India, Vietnam, and Israel to proactively drop significantly and lower tariffs against the United States, before it’s really even started. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or Democrat, we should all be united in wanting economic policies that put American farmers, producers, businesses, and manufacturers first.”
MORE:
Tuberville Praises President Trump for Making Tariffs Great Again
ICYMI: Tuberville in Yellowhammer: President Trump’s tariffs are Making America Great Again
ICYMI: Tuberville in Newsweek: America is Back. President’s Joint Address Will Celebrate It
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.
Governor Shapiro Invests in Pennsylvania Businesses and Main Streets as the Federal Government Raises Taxes and Prices
Governor Josh Shapiro visited Fegley’s Brew Works in the Lehigh Valley to highlight his Administration’s investments in Pennsylvania’s small businesses and main streets – and his work to cut taxes and reduce costs for Pennsylvanians. The Shapiro Administration has committed $20 million to the Main Street Matters Program, helping small businesses and commercial corridors all across the Commonwealth. Over the past year, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) has supported local economic development efforts, including $20,000 to Bethlehem City for commercial faade improvements, $146,500 for remediation of a blighted property in Bethlehem’s Enterprise Zone, and multiple Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) grants to support community development in Bethlehem City. Additionally, last fall, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) awarded more than $516,000 in research and marketing grants to boost sales, production, and quality in Pennsylvania’s craft beer and malt beverage industry.
During his visit, Governor Shapiro highlighted the harmful impact of new federal tariffs, which threaten to raise costs for businesses and put key industries – such as Pennsylvania’s craft beer industry – at risk. With more than 500 craft breweries across the Commonwealth, Pennsylvania is a national leader in craft beer production, supporting thousands of jobs and generating millions in economic impact. Since taking office, the Governor has prioritized investments to help craft brewers expand, modernize, and reach new markets. His Administration remains committed to lowering costs, cutting red tape, and ensuring Pennsylvania’s businesses have the resources they need to compete and grow.
“Every community in Pennsylvania has a main street – places where we come together to shop at small businesses, share a meal with family or friends, or have a beer on the weekends – and those main streets matter. While my Administration invests in our main streets, Washington is making it harder for the small businesses that line them to succeed bydriving up their costs and increasing taxes,” said Governor Shapiro. “The new federal tariffs going into effect today are a tax on our businesses and our consumers that will drive up costs for everyone – they’ll even make beer more expensive. Here in Pennsylvania, instead of raising costs, we’re cutting costs for our businesses and consumers, and focusing on smart, strategic investments that create opportunity and grow our economy.”
List of Speakers: Jeff Fegley, owner of Fegley’s Brew Works Governor Josh Shapiro Beau Baden, owner of Sherman Street Beer Company Bethlehem Mayor Willie Reynolds Senator Lisa Boscola Representative Steve Samuelson Representative Jeanne McNeill
Shapiro Administration Fights for Food Banks, Farmers, Discussing Painful Impact of Unlawful Federal Funding Cuts
In the wake of Governor Josh Shapiro’s appeal of USDA’s decision to cancel $13 million in funding to Pennsylvania under the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program, Lt. Governor Austin Davis and Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding led a roundtable at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
Today’s discussion brought food bank leaders, farmers, and stakeholders together to explore the region’s challenges that would be exacerbated by federal funding cuts. In contrast, the group discussed the positive impact proposed increases and initiatives in Governor Shapiro’s 2025-26 budget would have on Pennsylvania food banks, the regional food system, and area farmers.
“Investing in Pennsylvania farmers and helping them do what they do best — feed people — is an investment in our future,” said Lt. Governor Davis. “That’s why the Shapiro-Davis Administration has pushed for more investments to support agriculture – while supporting Pennsylvania families, students and seniors. These are proven programs that work. They’re the definition of win-win – farmers get paid to produce food. Folks in need can eat fresh, healthy food.”
Speakers Include: Lisa Scales – Pittsburgh Food Bank Lieutenant Governor Austin Davis Deputy Secretary Pham Art King – Harvest Valley Farms Representative Emily Kinkead Secretary Russell Redding
TORONTO and TAMPA, Fla. , April 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Voxtur Analytics Corp. (TSXV: VXTR; OTCQB: VXTRF) (“Voxtur” or the “Company”), a North American technology company creating a more transparent and accessible real estate lending ecosystem, announces that it has adopted an “Advance Notice By-law” to establish the conditions and framework under which registered or beneficial owners of common shares of the Company (the “Shareholders”) may exercise their right to submit director nominations. The Advance Notice By-law fixes a deadline by which such nominations must be submitted by a Shareholder to the Company prior to any annual or special meeting of Shareholders, and sets forth the information that a Shareholder must include in the notice to the Company for the notice to be in proper written form in accordance with the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) (the “Act”).
The Advance Notice By-law ensures that all Shareholders receive sufficient notice and relevant information about director nominees, which allows them to make informed voting decisions. Among other things, it requires Shareholders to notify the Company of director nominations within the following timeframes:
Annual Meetings: Notice must be given at least 30 days before the meeting. If the meeting date is publicly announced less than 50 days in advance, notice must be provided no later than the close of business on the 10th day following the announcement.
Special Meetings (that are not also annual meetings): Notice must be provided no later than the close of business on the 15th day following the public announcement of the meeting date.
To be valid, a Shareholder’s notice must include specified information about the proposed nominee, as outlined in the Advance Notice By-law. The Advance Notice By-law also prescribes the required written form of the notice and allows the Board of Directors, at its sole discretion, to waive any requirements under these provisions.
The Advance Notice By-law is effective immediately and will be presented to Shareholders for approval, confirmation, and ratification at the next Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders of the Company on June 27, 2025 (the “Meeting”). Pursuant to the provisions of the Act, the Advance Notice By-law will cease to be effective unless it is approved, ratified, and confirmed by a resolution adopted by a majority of the votes cast by the Shareholders of the Company at the Meeting.
A copy of the Advance Notice By-law has been filed under the Company’s profile on SEDAR+.
About Voxtur
Voxtur is a transformational proptech company that is redefining industry standards in a dynamic lending environment. The company offers targeted data analytics to simplify the multifaceted aspects of the lending lifecycle for investors, lenders, government agencies and servicers. Voxtur’s proprietary data hub and workflow platforms more accurately and efficiently value real estate assets, providing critical due diligence that enables market participants to effectively originate, trade, or service defaults on mortgage loans. As an independent and transparent mortgage technology provider, the company offers primary and secondary market solutions in the United States and Canada. For more information, visit www.voxtur.com.
Forward-Looking Information
This news release may contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, “forward-looking information”) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information reflects management’s current expectations regarding future events, the Company’s operations, performance, or financial results, and speaks only as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking information may be identified by words such as “anticipates”, “believes”, “expects”, “intends”, “plans”, “projects”, or similar expressions. While the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking information are reasonable, such information is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business, readers should refer to the Company’s management’s discussion and analysis and other continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR+. These uncertainties and factors include, among others, the failure of Shareholders to ratify the Advance Notice By-law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise this information to reflect new events or circumstances except as required in accordance with applicable laws.
NEITHER THE TSXV NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSXV) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
Voxtur’s common shares are traded on the TSXV under the symbol VXTR and in the US on the OTCQB under the symbol VXTRF.
Contact: Jordan Ross Chief Operating Officer Tel: (416) 708-9764 jordan@voxtur.com
Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer today announced that Heather Ranck is being reinstated as the Director of the National Rural Export Center. The senators have worked with the new administration at the Department of Commerce to accelerate the important work of the National Rural Export Center by bringing back Ranck to the position, citing her experience and leadership in founding the center, which specializes in conducting customized market research designed to guide rural U.S. companies toward the most opportune exporting markets.
“Heather has dedicated her career to helping support farmers, ranchers and manufacturers in North Dakota and across the country as they navigate global markets,” said Hoeven. “With 20 years of experience at the Department of Commerce, she has the experience and skillset necessary to help our producers find and expand markets for their products. Given her breadth of knowledge, it only made sense that the Department of Commerce bring her back to lead the National Rural Export Center.”
“Heather’s reinstatement sends a strong message that President Trump values rural exporters and companies looking to sell their goods and services beyond our borders. The Rural Export Center is a critical asset in finding new market opportunities for small, medium size and large companies throughout rural America, and Heather has been the driving force in its success from the beginning. I look forward to working with Heather, Senator Hoeven and the business community we represent, in building on the center’s success and taking rural exporters to even greater economic opportunity,” said Cramer.
“As Chairman of the North Dakota District Export Council (DEC), we are extremely pleased and appreciative that we have Heather Ranck back as Director of the National Rural Export Center. Heather is a proven leader and has served the Rural Export Center as its director in the past with great outcomes and great care for the export communities, and it is great to have her back in leadership. The ND and Northern MN District Export Councils look forward to working with her again. I want to thank Senator Hoeven and Senator Cramer for their leadership in Heathers’ reinstatement, and their insight and belief in the value of exports from North Dakota to the global market,” said Perrie Schafer, Chairman of the North Dakota District Export Council.
The five-week election campaign is now in full swing throughout the nation.
Amid the flurry of photo opportunities and press conferences, candidates campaign in specific areas for a reason: to shore up or win back key seats.
But which seats are key? Here, six experts explain the seats to watch in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.
New South Wales
David Clune, honorary associate, government and international relations, University of Sydney
How the 2025 federal election will play out in NSW is difficult to predict for two reasons.
The first is the recent redistribution which, as ABC analyst Antony Green’s pendulum shows, has redefined many electoral boundaries.
The second is the number of crossbench MPs. There are three Teals in formerly safe Liberal seats: Mackellar (Sophie Scamps), Warringah (Zali Steggall) and Wentworth (Allegra Spender). Teal Kylie Tink’s seat of North Sydney has been abolished.
All were lifted into parliament by the rising tide of resentment against former Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Now that tide has gone out, the survival of these MPs depends on how they have performed as local members. The overall impression is that they have done well in connecting with their constituents and will be hard to shift.
There is a chance the formerly safe upper north shore seat of Bradfield could augment their numbers. Teal Nicolette Boele gave Liberal Paul Fletcher a very uncomfortable election night in 2022 when she slashed his majority. After the redistribution, the Liberals hold the seat by a narrow 2.5%. Fletcher is not recontesting. Boele is running a well-financed campaign with a lot of grass roots support.
The redistribution has pushed many former North Sydney voters into Bradfield. Whether they remain Teal or revert to being true-blue Liberals remains to be seen.
Much of the rest of the former North Sydney has gone into the very marginal Labor seat of Bennelong, which is now notionally marginal Liberal.
The Nationals have a problem in Calare, where former Nationals MP, now independent, Andrew Gee, is recontesting. The Nationals are also facing challenges from the left on the upper north coast due to demographic change. They hold Cowper by 2.4%.
Liberal-aligned independent, Dai Le, narrowly won Fowler in Sydney’s western suburbs in 2023. Labor has endorsed Tu Le, also of Vietnamese descent, in what promises to be a tough fight. Parramatta is another marginal seat in the western suburbs, held by Labor’s Andrew Charlton with a two-party preferred margin of 3.7%.
The government is concerned about seats on the central coast and in the Hunter and Illawarra regions, where concerns about wind farms and job losses due to renewable energy are a major issue. Most of the government’s vulnerable seats are in these areas: Gilmore, Robertson, Paterson and Hunter would all be lost with a two-party-preferred swing of 5%.
Queensland
Paul Williams, associate professor in politics and journalism, Griffith University
For decades we said Queensland was a key “battleground” in federal elections where seats north of the Tweed so often held the keys to The Lodge.
The 1975 election saw the Coalition leave Labor with a single seat, and the 1996 poll bequeath Labor just two. Conversely, Labor’s Kevin Rudd rode to victory on his nine-seat haul in in 2007, with Rudd losing seven of those in 2010.
But, for the past 15 years, federal elections have seen little movement in Queensland except, of course, for 2022 when the Greens won three seats. In short, Queensland is no longer the “make-or-break” state. Even the retirements of Keith Pitt (Hinkler), Karen Andrews (McPherson), Warren Entsch (Leichhardt) and Graham Perrett (Moreton) will hardly affect the mood.
The electoral pendulum confirms this. Labor holds just five of Queensland’s 30 seats, with Blair – a mix of outer-suburban and regional proclivities – Labor’s most marginal, but still held by a healthy 5.2% buffer. Given the two-party-preferred (2PP) swing to the Liberal-National Party (LNP) in Queensland will likely be under five percentage points – far lower than the 7.0% two-party-preferred swing the LNP attained at last October’s state election – the Coalition is unlikely to seize any more Labor property.
Conversely, despite the LNP holding seven Queensland seats on margins under 5%, the electoral tide is well and truly out for a Labor Party, whose Queensland brand is damaged at all levels. Inflation and housing shortages have hit Queensland hard, and especially so in the regions. Peter Dutton’s seat of Dickson – the LNP’s most marginal on just 1.7% – is therefore safe.
Climate action and other “community” candidates (some reject the “Teal” moniker) are standing on the Gold Coast (McPherson and Moncrieff), on the Sunshine Coast (Fisher and Fairfax), and in Groom and Dickson. None will win, but some will carve out a respectable primary vote.
All eyes will instead be on the cashed-up inner-urban seats of Ryan (potentially returning to the LNP), Griffith (a possible Labor win) and Brisbane (a genuine three-way race) – all three useful, but not essential, to Labor’s pathway to minority government.
In the Northern Territory, Labor’s Marion Scrymgour holds Lingiari by 1.7%, making that seat one to watch.
South Australia
Rob Manwaring, associate professor of politics and public policy, Flinders University
South Australia is rarely a key battleground in federal elections, and only comprises ten electoral seats.
There are, however, three key seats worth watching as they will tell us a lot about how the election campaign is playing out: Sturt, Boothby and Mayo.
In Sturt, the Liberals hold this key seat in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs with a margin of 0.5%. A fresh challenge for the incumbent James Stevens is that he faces a threat from SA’s first real Teal candidate, Verity Cooper. This potentially pulls this seat into a three-way fight.
Boothby, in Adelaide’s southern suburbs, will be a good litmus test of how well Labor’s campaign is performing. Labor won the seat for the first time ever in 2022, and Louise Miller-Frost has a 3.3% margin. Liberal candidate Nicolle Flint is resurrecting her political ambitions and would be a useful ally for Peter Dutton, if she were to win.
Finally – a question – does Rebekah Sharkie like pizza? Infamously, when state Labor Premier Jay Weatherill needed a critical independent vote to secure office in 2014, he drove to Port Pirie and brokered a deal over pizza with Geoff Brock. Sharkie holds the seat of Mayo in the Adelaide Hills as a member of the Centre Alliance party with a safe 12.3% margin. Sharkie aligns herself with the Teals, and if a Dutton-led victory looks likely, then she may well be ordering her favourite slice to thrash out the terms of any support.
Tasmania
Robert Hortle, deputy director of the Tasmanian Policy Exchange, University of Tasmania
There are two main seats to watch in Tasmania.
The large, rural seat of Lyons is one of the most marginal in the country. Labor’s Brian Mitchell won with a 0.9% margin in 2022, but he’s made way for Rebecca White. Despite an underwhelming record as Tasmanian Labor Leader – three state election defeats – White is very popular in Lyons. However, Liberal candidate Susie Bower was somewhat unlucky to lose in 2022 after winning 37.2% of the primary vote, and has been in campaign mode for the past three years.
On the surface, Franklin – Australia’s only non-contiguous electorate – looks like a safe Labor seat. Julie Collins, the MP since 2007 and a cabinet minister, has a 13.7% margin. But her primary vote fell in 2022, and community backlash against salmon farming in Franklin’s waterways – which Labor and the Coalition both support – could make her vulnerable.
If independent Peter George (former journalist and anti-salmon campaigner) can get ahead of the low-profile Liberal candidate at some point in the count, Liberal preferences may get him across the line.
Two other Tasmanian seats are unlikely to change hands, but feature some interesting dynamics.
Liberal MP Bridget Archer’s 1.4% margin in the northern seat of Bass might look vulnerable. However, she managed a strong primary vote in 2022 despite a big swing against the Liberal Party. She’s very popular in the community for her willingness to stick to her values – even if it means voting against her party 28 times – and should hold her seat despite rumours of internal moves against her.
In Braddon, long-serving Labor Senator Anne Urquhart has quit the upper house to run. Incumbent Liberal MP Gavin Pearce is retiring, and his replacement candidate, Mal Hingston, is a bit of an unknown. It’s unlikely Urquhart will be able to overturn the 8% two-party preferred margin, but prominence in the community might give her a glimmer of hope.
Another point of interest is who will pick up the votes won by the Jaquie Lambie Network (JLN) in 2022. The JLN is not running candidates following a spectacular implosion at state level – and where those voters find a home could be crucial, particularly in Lyons.
Victoria
Zareh Ghazarian, senior lecturer in politics, school of social sciences, Monash University
Victoria is shaping up to be a crucial state for the major parties. Several seats are held by the Labor and coalition parties with a margin of less than 5%.
According to Antony Green, Chisholm is the most marginal seat Labor currently holds. The eastern Melbourne seat has been held by both major parties over the past 30 years.
Next up is Aston, further east of Chisholm, which Labor won at arguably the Liberal Party’s lowest ebb in this electoral cycle at a byelection in 2023.
McEwen, on the other hand, is a provincial electorate to the north of Melbourne. Holding onto these three seats will be a significant feat for Anthony Albanese and may set up Labor to hold a majority government.
For the Coalition, the most marginal seat is Deakin, which is a neighbouring electorate to Aston and Chisholm. The seat is held by a margin of just 0.02%, making it the most marginal in the country.
Monash is also a very interesting seat as it was won by Russell Broadbent, who lost Liberal Party preselection and has decided to run as an independent. His local profile may provide a boost to his primary vote, but may not necessarily be enough to win the seat, which will likely be held by the Liberals.
The Coalition will be in trouble if it fails to retain any of its seats in Victoria. It would need to reclaim Chisholm and Aston if it has any chance of forming majority government.
Other seats to watch include Kooyong, held by Monique Ryan with a margin of 2.2% who defeated Josh Frydenberg in 2022, and Goldstein, held by Zoe Daniel with a margin of 3.3% after defeating Liberal Tim Wilson. These will be a test of whether the Liberal Party is able to reconnect with voters who had traditionally supported them in the past.
Western Australia
Narelle Miragliotta, associate professor in politics, Murdoch University
The five WA seats to watch are Curtin, Bullwinkel, Forrest, Pearce and Tangney.
The affluent inner metropolitan seat of Curtin is held by Teal Kate Chaney on a 1.3% margin. The Liberal’s 2022 defeat was existential and the party are investing heavily in reclaiming it, although Chaney is not likely to be outspent entirely, or outmanoeuvred.
Bullwinkel is a new seat on the eastern fringes of Perth. The majority of its voters are in the metropolitan area, but the seat also takes in regional parts of the state. The seat’s geography and lack of incumbent led to the Nationals fielding Mia Davies, who was leader of the Nationals in the state parliament between 2017 and 2023.
As a result, this notional Labor seat is the site of a fierce three-way contest. YouGov projects a “Coalition” gain, although the outcome will be influenced by whether the Liberals and Nationals can contain simmering hostilities.
Pearce, in the state’s far north, is held by Labor on a comfortable 8.8% margin. However, it’s one of the most indebted electorates in the nation, and the state Labor government experienced large swings against it in outer suburban and regional state electorates earlier this year.
Tangney, in the state’s southern suburbs, was a major win for Labor in 2022. A blue-ribbon inner-city seat held uninterrupted by the Liberals since the early 1980s, Tangney is Labor’s most marginal WA seat (2.6% margin). To Labor’s advantage is the fact that several of the once-safe Liberal inner metro electorates within Tangney’s boundaries have recently voted with Labor at a state level. However, it will be a tight contest.
Paul Williams is a research associate with the T.J. Ryan Foundation.
Rob Manwaring receives funding from the Australian Research Council for a Discovery project on political parties and associated entities.
David Clune, Narelle Miragliotta, Robert Hortle, and Zareh Ghazarian do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Rural and remote Albertans play a crucial role in the province’s prosperity, from feeding the world to producing raw materials and adding to Alberta’s vibrant cultural landscape. They also face unique challenges when it comes to accessing affordable utilities and heating costs. By ensuring rural Albertans have affordable access to the utilities they need, Alberta’s government is helping keep lights on, homes warm and businesses in operation, powering both livelihoods and success.
Budget 2025 provides $8.5 million for the Rural Utilities Program – which consists of the Rural Electric Program, Rural Gas Program and Rural Water Program – and the Remote Area Heating Allowance. This will help communities access critical services like gas, power and water, as well as deliver direct financial relief to thousands of rural Albertans facing high utility bills so that they can continue their vital work.
“Farmers, ranchers and rural communities are the backbone of Alberta, working hard to support us all. In return, we must ensure they can keep doing what they do best, and these grants do just that by ensuring they can access the utilities they need – at a reasonable cost.”
“These grants are making a difference for Albertans across the province, ensuring that everyone, no matter where they live, has access to essential utilities. I’m proud of how this government continues to support and stand by the hard-working rural communities that help drive our province forward.”
A total of $700,000 is allocated to the Rural Electric Program, recognizing the increasing role electricity plays in modern farming and ranching. Under this program, grants are administered by the Alberta Federation of Electrification Associations and support the construction of electrical services for farms and ranches.
“Alberta’s Rural Electric Grant Program is helping rural Albertans access the power they need to continue putting food on tables around the world. We’re grateful for the government’s ongoing support and commitment to rural electrification.”
When it comes to home heating, Budget 2025 commits $5.7 million to the Natural Gas Program, to be administered by the Federation of Alberta Gas Co-ops, to expand and update natural gas infrastructure. This funding will help provide more rural Albertans with reliable and affordable home heating options as well as help communities attract new businesses, create jobs and diversify the local economy.
For those who are unable to access the natural gas system, Budget 2025 also commits $1.6 million for the Remote Area Heating Allowance program. Direct financial relief is provided to more than 2,000 households, the majority from Indigenous communities, to help with the high cost of alternative heating fuels, such as heating oil and propane.
“With this funding, gas co-operatives can continue the ongoing expansion of our natural gas distribution system so that we can connect even more rural communities to affordable gas heating.”
Equally as important as electricity and heat is access to safe, abundant water for residential, livestock and irrigation needs. Budget 2025 commits $500,000 for the Rural Water Program, first introduced in 2024, to ensure rural water co-ops across the province have access to modern water treatment and distribution systems. Grants are administered by the Alberta Federation of Rural Water Co-operatives.
“Access to clean water is non-negotiable for any home or farming operation. The Rural Water Program is providing support as we work to ensure rural Albertans have the modern water distribution systems they need. ”
Budget 2025 is meeting the challenge faced by Alberta with continued investments in education and health, lower taxes for families and a focus on the economy.
Quick facts:
The Rural Electric Program was established in 2013 and has provided more than $7 million in grants to rural Albertans who are actively farming and where the services are being used for a farming operation.
The Rural Gas Program was established in 2001 and has distributed more than $70 million to help build the largest rural gas distribution system in the world.
More than 18 per cent of Albertans live in rural and remote communities.
Related information
Farm fuel and rural utility programs
Utilities Consumer Advocate
Financial Assistance Resources (UCA)
Related news
Power up, costs down (March 25, 2025)
Don’t default to the Rate of Last Resort (Feb. 4, 2025)
Keeping Albertans’ lights on and homes warm (Oct. 21, 2024)
Introducing the Rate of Last Resort (Sept. 25, 2024)
Power rates slashed in half by new market rules (Sept. 5, 2024)
Power watchdog supports Alberta’s electricity market reforms (Aug. 6, 2024)
Preventing power price spikes (June 26, 2024)
Affordable and reliable electricity for Albertans (March 11, 2024)
The Copernicus Climate Change Service report states that the global average surface air temperature during January 2025 was the hottest on record (0.79°C warmer than the 1991-2020) despite the development of La Niña conditions. However, the average temperature in the Indian region was the second highest since 1901 (0.98°C warmer than 1991-2020). The main reason for higher temperatures is global warming, which is closely linked to climate change. Global warming refers to the long-term increase in Earth’s average surface temperature due to human activities, primarily burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas. This process releases greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which trap heat and cause the planet to warm up.
In general, during the La Niña years, the Indian summer monsoon experiences above-average rainfall, which is beneficial for better crop production. However, currently, neutral El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is prevailing over the equatorial Pacific Ocean with above-average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the eastern and far western Pacific Ocean and below-average SSTs in the central Pacific Ocean. The latest Monsoon Mission Climate Forecasting System (MMCFS) and other global model forecasts indicate that neutral ENSO conditions are likely to continue during the southwest monsoon season of 2025. Thus, no La Niña impact is expected on the Indian monsoon during 2025. IMD will issue the first stage of the seasonal forecast for the 2025 Southwest monsoon seasonal rainfall by mid-April.
Various organisations under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) have been conducting regular studies on monsoons and associated rainfall and temperature patterns in the country, including those during the El Niño and La Niña periods. The India Meteorological Department continuously monitors the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) changes globally, especially in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, which have a significant impact on the Indian climate. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) also prepares forecasts based on the Monsoon Mission Climate Forecasting System (MMCFS) and issues the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)/ Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) bulletin every month (https://www.imdpune.gov.in/cmpg/Product/Enso.php). IMD also issues monthly and seasonal outlooks for rainfall and temperature with monthly updates, which helps to prepare for the impact of El Niño/La Niña-related weather variations. These forecasts are complimented by the extended range forecasts updated every week for the next four weeks. Additionally, the IMD issues agriculture-specific advisories to help farmers prepare for extreme weather events associated with El Niño and La Niña, such as heavy rains or droughts. These advisories are helpful for decision-making in various agriculture operations, such as crop selection, irrigation practices, pest and disease warnings, disaster management, preparedness, etc.
This information was given by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
The Ministry of Earth Sciences has allocated Rs. 480/- crore and billed for the launch of the Indian National Satellite (INSAT-3DS).
Currently, INSTAT-3DS,along with INSAT-3DR, are in use for the operational weather services, and some of the important applications of satellite products are:
Round-the-clock monitoring of severe weather conditions with rapid scan capability. Satellite images are generated every 5 minutes for the area of interest (where the severe weather is prevailing).
A satellite visualization tool known as Real-time Analysis of Products and Information Dissemination (RAPID) to visualize and analyze satellite images and derived products as per the user’s choice (https://rapid.imd.gov.in/r2v/).
Numerous satellite-derived products and imageries are generated at each 30-minute gap, which is very useful in real-time monitoring the cyclone activity and determination of cyclone track and intensity.
During pre-monsoon season thunderstorms and lightning season of March to May, various products like Outgoing Longwave Radiation, Quantitative Precipitation Estimate, Sea Surface Temperature, Insolation, winds, winds derived products, etc. and Temperature, Humidity profiles/Thermodynamic indices etc. are used for monitoring the movement of convective weather systems.
Satellite-derived products are also helpful in monitoring the onset, active, and withdrawal phases of southwest and northeast monsoons. It is also used to monitor and analyse the origin, movement, and possible impact of Western disturbance moving across North India.
Data Collection and Dissemination: The satellite’s data relay transponder facilitates efficient collection and distribution of meteorological, hydrological, and oceanographic data from various ground stations, supporting The India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Search and Rescue Operations: The satellite has a dedicated search and rescue payload that assists in locating and saving lives during maritime and aviation emergencies. These advancements in INSAT-3DS have strengthened India’s capacity to monitor and predict weather patterns, enabling better preparedness for extreme weather events and contributing to improving agricultural and water management decisions.
Meteorological data and products from both the INSATs are also useful in various sectors in real-time:
Monitoring severe weather phenomena like intense rainfall episodes, heatwave conditions, cold wave day and night fog, etc. are easily monitored over the Indian region/neighbouring countries by day and night (24-hour) coverage of satellite data.
Special sector images are generated for pilgrimage (Like Amarnathji yatra, Kumbh Mela, Kedarnath Jee yatra, etc.)
The accumulated snow-bound area images during winter time are generated for specially monitoring the fresh and old snow and its coverage.
Agriculture sector services. Satellite provides better guidance for agro meteorology with the help of many satellite-derived products (like Insolation, Land Surface Temperature, Evapotranspiration, etc.).
Renewable energy sector: Satellite-based Winds, clouds, Outgoing longwave radiation, etc., provide an important input to this sector for managing the resources efficiently.
Research and development activities. New algorithms and approaches (like AI/ML, deep learning, etc.) are also under development to further streamline the process.
Therefore, with the support of INSAT-3DS (which provides advanced imaging and sounding capabilities), weather monitoring service capabilities are enhanced. It offered detailed observations of land and ocean surfaces, real-time data on cloud cover, moisture content, temperature profiles, and other atmospheric parameter which are crucial for weather monitoring.
The INSAT-3D has reached its end of life and has been replaced by the INSAT-3DS, whereas INSAT-3DR is operational in sensing and transmitting meteorological data.
This information was given by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development will discuss the Commission Work Programme with Commissioners Christophe Hansen, responsible for Agriculture and Food, and Olivér Várhelyi, responsible for Health and Animal Welfare, on 8 April. The exchanges are organised to discuss the state of implementation of the current Commission Work Programme (CWP) as well as the priorities to be reflected in the CWP for the next year.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As first reported in Fox News, Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) and Congressman Tracey Mann (KS-01) sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum urging him to reverse the listing of the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard and the Lesser Prairie Chicken from the threatened and endangered species list. Doing so would unleash American energy, highlight the success of local conservation efforts, and restore regulatory certainty for rural communities.
Under the Biden Administration, the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard and the Lesser Prairie Chicken were listed as endangered species, ignoring the conservation efforts already being made by Texas and Kansas farmers, ranchers, and agricultural and energy producers. The efforts resulted in net acreage conservation gains for the Dunes Sagebrush Lizards’ habitat and increased the Lesser Prairie Chicken population. In the letter to Secretary Burgum, the Members stress that the Trump Administration has the opportunity to correct these misguided listings and ensure America can maintain its energy dominance.
In the letter, the members write in part,“Empowering states, landowners, and private partners to continue leading species management ensures we can protect wildlife without sacrificing economic growth, energy production, or the livelihoods of hardworking Americans. Striking this balance is critical to maintaining our environmental stewardship and America’s energy dominance. With the right approach, we can achieve lasting conservation results without burdening the very communities that have been instrumental in protecting these species… The Trump Administration can correct these misguided policies by directing FWS to delist both the Lesser Prairie Chicken and the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard. Doing so will restore balance to our conservation efforts—allowing local stakeholders to continue their successful work while safeguarding American energy production, protecting jobs, and supporting rural economies,”
In addition, the Representatives reintroduced theLimiting Incredulous Zealots Against Restricting Drilling (LIZARD) Act to strike the Biden Administration’s designation of the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This listing directly threatens the production of oil, natural gas, wind, and solar energy developed in the Permian Basin and across America.
“Former President Biden spent four years fulfilling his promise to kill the fossil fuel industry one horrible policy at a time – including listing the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard under the Endangered Species Act, a direct attack on our hardworking men and women in the energy sector,”said Rep. Pfluger.“This listing, along with many others, was completely misguided and repudiates significant private conservation efforts in West Texas. I am proud to lead the charge alongside my good friend and colleague Rep. Tracey Mann to continue undoing the Biden Administration’s nonsensical policies and protect American energy production and jobs.”
“From day one, President Biden used every tool in his toolbox to trample on the livelihoods of America’s energy and agricultural producers,”said Rep. Mann. “His administration continuously ignored the facts on the ground and decided federal bureaucrats were better equipped to manage these populations than local citizens. Our bill restores power back to the local communities most impacted by these decisions and removes the regulatory handcuffs put on them by the Biden Administration. We look forward to working with President Trump and Secretary Burgum to reverse these ill-informed listings and unleash the American energy dominance 77 million Americans voted for this past November.”
Read the full text of the legislation here.
This legislation is supported by several associations in the energy industry, including the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and the Permian Basin Petroleum Association (PBPA).
IPAA President & CEO Jeff Eshelman said,“IPAA has serious concerns with the final rule to list the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard. Unfortunately, the Fish and Wildlife Service continues to disregard the large amount of conservation work already done to protect the species and the successes of these programs. This listing is an affront to the oil and natural gas industry employees who live and work in the Permian Basin in both Texas and New Mexico. IPAA believes that the decision to list the DSL is unwarranted and thanks Congressman Pfluger for his efforts to stop this misguided listing decision.”
PBPA President Ben Shepperd said,“The Permian Basin Petroleum Association strongly supports Congressman Pfluger’s reintroduction of the LIZARD Act and his continued efforts to challenge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s unjustified listing of the dunes sagebrush lizard under the Endangered Species Act. The Service’s arbitrary decision ignores sound science and disregards the extensive, state-led conservation initiatives that have successfully protected the species—initiatives that have resulted in the enrollment of hundreds of thousands of acres and the commitment of millions of dollars in both Texas and New Mexico. Rather than imposing burdensome federal regulations, Congressman Pfluger is standing behind proven, effective conservation efforts that prioritize real results over bureaucratic red tape. PBPA members have long demonstrated their commitment to responsible stewardship of our natural resources through voluntary conservation programs, and we greatly appreciate Congressman Pfluger’s leadership in recognizing and supporting these efforts.”
Background:
In recent years, through state and private conservation efforts in New Mexico alone, 1,905,120 acres have been enrolled in a Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA) and Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) by the ranching community and 2,230,066 acres have been enrolled in the CCA and CCAA by the oil and gas industry to protect the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard.
These enrollments have resulted in a net acreage conservation gain for the species’ habitat and the associated financial contributions have helped fund dozens of reclamation and conservation programs to support the species while still allowing for the development of natural resources and human existence in the region.
Read the full letterhereor below:
We write to urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to reverse the Lesser Prairie Chicken and the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard listings under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These designations have imposed unnecessary regulatory burdens on our rural communities, threatening the vital work of hardworking farmers, ranchers, and energy producers while disregarding the proven success of the state and privately led conservation efforts.
For over a decade, voluntary public-private conservation partnerships have remarkably succeeded in stabilizing and increasing the Lesser Prairie Chicken population. In fact, since 2013, the population has more than doubled due to the dedication of local officials and companies who have implemented targeted conservation strategies. Instead of recognizing these efforts, the prior administration’s disastrous listing decision disregarded measurable progress and subjected key industries to regulatory overreach that weakened our energy independence and agricultural production.
Similarly, the designation of the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard as endangered threatens responsible energy development and economic prosperity in the Permian Basin, a critical region in ensuring America’s energy security. Industry leaders and conservationists have invested significant resources in habitat protection and species management programs, successfully maintaining the lizard’s habitat while allowing for responsible land use.
Reversing these listings would recognize the success of local conservation efforts and restore regulatory certainty for the communities and industries that depend on access to these lands. Empowering states, landowners, and private partners to continue leading species management ensures we can protect wildlife without sacrificing economic growth, energy production, or the livelihoods of hardworking Americans. Striking this balance is critical to maintaining our environmental stewardship and America’s energy dominance. With the right approach, we can achieve lasting conservation results without burdening the very communities that have been instrumental in protecting these species.
The Trump Administration can correct these misguided policies by directing FWS to delist both the Lesser Prairie Chicken and the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard. Doing so will restore balance to our conservation efforts—allowing local stakeholders to continue their successful work while safeguarding American energy production, protecting jobs, and supporting rural economies.
We appreciate your attention to this urgent matter and look forward to your prompt response.
Source: United States Senator for Commonwealth of Virginia Mark R Warner
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) have introduced legislation to eliminate food deserts and expand access to affordable and nutritious food by incentivizing food providers to expand access to healthy food options in underserved communities. The Healthy Food Access for All Americans (HFAAA) Act was also introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by U.S. Reps. Emilia Sykes (OH-13) and Jennifer McLellan (VA-04).
“Fresh and nutritious foods are a cornerstone of health and wellbeing, but too many families in Virginia and across America live in places where these foods are out of reach,” said Sen. Warner. “This legislation will help us fight food deserts by incentivizing grocery stores to come to communities that have the hardest time accessing fresh produce.”
“Even while living in the breadbasket of our nation, food insecurity affects far too many Kansans, particularly those living in rural communities far from a grocery store,” said Sen. Moran. “This legislation, which would incentivize food providers to establish and renovate grocery stores, food banks and farmers markets in communities that traditionally lack affordable, healthy and convenient food options, would help provide those who are hungry with access to nutritious food.”
“Many West Virginians struggle to access fresh, nutritious food to keep their families and communities well fed. I’m proud to reintroduce the Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act, which will expand access to healthy foods through food banks and local grocery stores in rural communities across West Virginia and the nation,” said Sen. Capito.
“Access to nutritious food is essential for every family’s health and well-being, but it remains out of reach for far too many communities. This bipartisan legislation offers a key solution to eliminating food deserts in Maryland and across the country – ensuring every American can buy fresh, affordable, healthy food in their neighborhood, regardless of where they live,” said Sen. Van Hollen.
According to recent data, an estimated 18.8 million Americans live in what the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) classifies as a “food desert.” Urban areas designated as food deserts lack a grocery store within one or more miles. Rural areas designated as food deserts lack a grocery store within ten or more miles. Studies have shown that Americans who live in communities with low-access to healthy food options are at higher risk for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Specifically, the Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act – which defines a grocery market as a retail sales store with at least 35 percent of its selection (or forecasted selection) dedicated to selling fresh produce, poultry, dairy, and deli items – would encourage investment in food deserts across the country that have a poverty rate of 20 percent or higher, or a median family income of less than 80 percent of the median for the state or metro area.
It would grant tax credits or grants to food providers who service low-access communities and attain a “Special Access Food Provider” (SAFP) certification through the Treasury Department. Incentives would be awarded based on the following structure:
New Store Construction – Companies that construct new grocery stores in a food desert will receive a one-time 15 percent tax credit after receiving certification.
Retrofitting Existing Structures – Companies that make retrofits to an existing store’s healthy food sections can receive a one-time 10 percent tax credit after the repairs certify the store as an SAFP.
Food Banks – Certified food banks that build new (permanent) structures in food deserts will be eligible to receive a one-time grant for 15 percent of their construction costs.
Temporary Access Merchants – Certified temporary access merchants (i.e. mobile markets, farmers markets, and some food banks) that are 501(c)(3)s will receive grants for 10 percent of their annual operating costs.
The Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act boasts the support of numerous organizations, including Feeding America, the National Grocers Association, and Share Our Strength.
“Feeding America commends Senator Warner for confronting the unfortunate fact that for the 47 million Americans living with hunger, access to affordable nutritious food is significantly harder for those who live in food deserts. The Feeding America network of more than 200 food banks understands that areas without affordable, healthy food options have higher rates of food insecurity. Rural communities in particular lack access to adequate transportation to the nearest grocery store or food pantry. Feeding America supports the Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act as a critical step to give nonprofits and retailers support to increase food access in underserved areas,” said Vince Hall, Chief Government Relations Officer at Feeding America.
“The National Grocers Association applauds Senator Warner and Representatives McClellan and Sykes for their leadership on this important legislation focused on eliminating the challenges confronting grocers seeking to expand access to nutritious food in underserved rural and urban areas alike. Independent grocers are the backbone of the communities they serve and have a long-standing tradition of leading efforts to provide improved food options for those most in need. Enhanced access to healthy food bolsters both the physical well-being and economic vitality of local communities everywhere, and we look forward to working with Congress to pass this important bipartisan legislation,” said Stephanie Johnson, Vice President, Government Relations, National Grocers Association.
“To end childhood hunger in America, we must ensure that low-income families have access to healthy, affordable food options no matter their zip code or circumstances. Ending food deserts will help more families put food on the table and help children get the nutrition they need to grow up healthy and strong. Share Our Strength supports The Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act and thanks Sens. Warner, Capito, Van Hollen, and Moran for their leadership on this issue,” said Jason Gromley, Senior Director of Share Our Strength.
Bill text for the Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act can be found here. A summary of the bill can be found here.
Question for written answer E-001269/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Andreas Schwab (PPE)
Solar Package I came into force in Germany on 16 May 2024. Certain aspects require State aid approval from the Commission, including support for agri-photovoltaics (agri-PV) on agricultural land.
Agri-PV enables dual land use, increases agricultural resilience and contributes to the energy transition. The fact that State aid approval is still pending is creating significant economic uncertainty for farmers and companies.
The delay threatens the economic stability of companies investing in agri-PV and a swift decision is crucial to avoid jeopardising the EU’s climate goals.
1.How does the Commission assess the challenges faced by agri-PV projects that rely on the swift approval of Solar Package I, especially as in some Member States, Recovery and Resilience Facility funds can already be used for agri-PV?
2.What measures is the Commission taking to ensure that investments already made in agri-PV projects do not become unprofitable due to the delay?
3.What steps does the Commission plan to take to make future State aid approvals for agri-PV faster and more predictable to ensure investment security?
Source: United States Small Business Administration
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is reminding small businesses and private nonprofit (PNP) organizations in Idaho of the May 2, 2025, deadline to apply for low interest federal disaster loans to offset economic losses caused by severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides occurring April 14–15, 2024.
The disaster declaration covers Idaho County.
Under this declaration, the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to eligible small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries, and PNPs that suffered financial losses directly related to the disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for aquaculture enterprises.
EIDLs are available for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the business did not suffer any physical damage. The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills not paid due to the disaster.
“SBA loans help eligible small businesses and private nonprofits cover operating expenses after a disaster, which is crucial for their recovery,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “These loans not only help business owners get back on their feet but also play a key role in sustaining local economies in the aftermath of a disaster.”
The loan amount can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses and 3.25% for PNPs, with terms up to 30 years. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms, based on each applicant’s financial condition.
To apply online, visit SBA.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.
Submit completed loan applications to the SBA no later than May 2.
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About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.
Source: United States Senator for Maine Susan Collins
Click HERE to watch and HERE to download video of her full remarks
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Susan Collins delivered remarks on the Senate floor in support of a resolution authored by Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) that would end the emergency declaration that President Trump signed in February to implement tariffs on Canada for not doing enough to halt the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.
Below is the transcript of her remarks:
“Mr. President, I rise today in support of the resolution introduced by my colleague from Virginia, Senator Kaine, to overturn the emergency declaration for the northern border that is being used to impose tariffs on goods imported from Canada.
“Mr. President, the Maine economy is integrated with Canada, our most important trading partner. From home heating oil, gasoline, jet fuel, and other refined petroleum products, to Maine’s paper mills, forest products businesses, agricultural producers, and lobstermen, the tariffs on Canada would be detrimental to many Maine families and our local economies.
“Mr. President, of course I share the President’s goal of stemming the tide of dangerous fentanyl that flows into the United States. I commend him for taking far stronger actions to halt this dangerous and deadly flow than did the previous administration. I do not, however, agree with his invoking the powers of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs on Canadian goods and products. The fact is, the vast majority of fentanyl in America comes from the southern border. In fiscal year 2024, less than 1% of fentanyl seizures occurred at our northern border, and our Canadian neighbors are working collaboratively and cooperatively with our government to stop that trafficking.
“Mr. President, one of the best examples of the intertwined relationship between Maine’s economy and Canada can be seen at the Twin Rivers paper mill in Madawaska, Maine, way in the north, on the Canadian border. Twin Rivers produces lightweight specialty paper for packaging materials, for our nation’s newspapers and our retailers’ catalogs, for food and environmentally safe papers used in restaurants, and for a wide variety of other paper goods that are used all over the country. The raw pulp for this paper mill in Maine is piped across the St. John River, from Edmundston, New Brunswick, to Madawaska, Maine. There literally is a pipeline through which the pulp travels between these two sister mills. A tariff placed on this pulp would jeopardize the financial well-being of this vital paper mill, which employs more than 500 people in rural northern Maine. There is not another big employer in that area that could possibly compensate for the loss of those 510 direct jobs. And that doesn’t include the indirect jobs: the truck drivers, the restaurant owners who would be harmed by the closure or reduction in the operation of this vitally important mill. The tariff would not only devastate Twin Rivers, but also harm hundreds of Maine families.
“Another example of our integration with Canada is in energy. 95% of the heating oil that is used by most Mainers to heat their homes comes from refineries in Canada. Irving Oil, a Canadian-based company, has 150 gas stations in Maine and supplies two-thirds of the state’s gas, diesel, and heating oil. This includes Mr. President, 100% of the jet fuel that is used by the Air National Guard Base in Bangor. Maine consumers, Maine businesses, and the U.S. Department of Defense, our own Department of Defense, would bear the cost of that Canadian energy tariff.
“Mr. President, Canadian tariffs would also harm many Maine farmers, lobstermen, and fishermen. According to the Maine Potato Board, 90% of the potash, which is the fertilizer used for growing potatoes, is imported from Canada. Fertilizer accounts for 11% of total input costs to grow our great Maine potatoes. Tariffs on imports like fertilizer will only hurt Maine potato growers. And Mr. President, I grew up in Aroostook County. I know these potato growers. I picked potatoes as a school child when I was growing up.
“Just recently, a farmer from Mars Hill, Maine, told me that just the threat of tariffs is causing a price increase on seed and equipment. This farmer supplies potatoes to a Canadian company with facilities on both sides of the border. The different facilities have specialized equipment to process potatoes for different uses, hash browns in one plant, curly fries in another. A tariff on potatoes as they cross back and forth between Maine and Canada would cause terrible harm to this and other growers
“Other products are processed back and forth across the border as well. For example, many Maine blueberries are processed in Prince Edward Island. Maine also sends between $200 million and $400 million worth of lobster to Canada each year for processing. There are 240 lobster processing plants in Canada, but only 15 in the United States. I share the President’s goal of getting more of that manufacturing done in the State of Maine, done in the United States, but the fact is that if we impose these tariffs on Canadian processing, it’s going to be our Maine lobstermen who will bear the cost; it’s going to be consumers who bear the cost.
“I would like to make mention of another industry that would be affected as well, and that is the aquaculture industry. In Washington County, in far-eastern Maine, Cooke Aquaculture is one of the largest employers, with more than 200 direct jobs throughout the state. While they have a processing plant in Machias, Maine, the first step of their salmon processing occurs in Canada before reentering the United States for finishing. At a time when the Maine aquaculture industry is growing, these tariffs on Canada would jeopardize current jobs and also block future ones.
“Mr. President, close relationships between and among families on both sides of the border are very common in the State of Maine. It is typical of communities, ranging from Calais in the east, Fort Kent in the north, and Jackman in the West. You see it all across the northern, eastern, and western parts of our state, because our communities are so integrated. It is not surprising to me that I had a conversation with members of the tourism industry in Maine just this morning, who told me that they’re seeing cancelations by Canadian tourists, who have come for years to vacation in Maine. Old Orchard Beach, for example, is known for the number of Canadian tourists.
“We don’t want to discourage these Canadian tourists who are so vital to Maine’s economy from vacationing in Maine because they are so angry at what has happened. Maine families benefit from more than $900 billion in goods and services that are exchanged between our two countries every year. It is crucial that we remain a dependable and vibrant global trading partner, particularly with Canada.
“Now, I want to distinguish that I think there is a strong case to be made for tariffs on Mexico, on our adversary, China, but I don’t see the case for Canada. There are areas where Canada does need to do better, and the dairy industry is one. And I hope that we will see that result. And let me conclude my remarks by reaffirming my support for ensuring that the Department of Homeland Security has every tool at its disposal to stem the flow of fentanyl into our nation. But unlike Mexico and China, Canada is not complicit in this crisis, and we should continue working with our Canadian allies to secure the northern border, not unfairly penalize them. Our consumers, our manufacturers, our lobstermen, our blueberry growers, our potato farmers will pay the price.
“Mr. President, the price hikes that will happen for Maine families, every time they go to the grocery store, they fill their gas tank, they fill their heating oil tank, if these tariffs go into effect, will be so harmful. And as price hikes always do, they will hurt those the most who can afford them the least. Therefore, I will support this resolution, and I urge my colleagues to do so likewise.”
Kisan Rail Facilitates Swift Transport of Perishables from Surplus Regions to Markets Across the Country Since August 2020, Indian Railways Operated 2,364 Kisan Rail Services, Transporting 7.9 Lakh Tonnes of Perishables; 65 Services from Gujarat Transported 18,250 Tonnes to Different Parts of the Country
Railways, Agriculture and other Ministry with States and other Stakeholders Identify Key Circuits for Efficient Movement of Fruits, Vegetables, and Other Perishables Across India
Posted On: 02 APR 2025 7:41PM by PIB Delhi
Kisan Rail enables movement of perishables including fruits and vegetables from production or surplus regions to consumption or deficient regions in reasonable time.
Since the launch of Kisan Rail service on 7th August 2020, Railways have operated around 2,364 Kisan Rail services, transporting approximately 7.9 lakh tonnes of perishables. Out of these, 65 services have operated from Gujarat to different parts of the country, transporting 18,250 tonnes (approximately) of fruits and vegetables.
Potential circuits for movement of vegetables, fruits and other perishables are identified in consultation with Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Agriculture/Animal Husbandry/Fisheries Departments of State Governments as well as local bodies and agencies, Mandis etc., and services are planned on the basis of demands placed taking into consideration, operational feasibility.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Railways, Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Tracey Mann (Kansas, 1)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Tracey Mann (KS-01) and August Pfluger (TX-11) reintroduced the Limiting Incredulous Zealots Against Restricting Drilling (LIZARD) Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. The LIZARD Act will remove the dunes sagebrush lizard from the threatened and endangered species list under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Members also urged Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to reverse the listing of the dunes sagebrush lizard and the lesser prairie-chicken (LPC) from the threatened and endangered species list to recognize the success of local conservation efforts and restore regulatory certainty for rural communities.
“From day one, President Biden used every tool in his toolbox to trample on the livelihoods of America’s energy and agricultural producers,” said Rep. Mann. “His administration continuously ignored the facts on the ground and decided federal bureaucrats were better equipped to manage these populations than local citizens. Our bill restores power back to the local communities most impacted by these decisions and removes the regulatory handcuffs put on them by the Biden Administration. We look forward to working with President Trump and Secretary Burgum to reverse these ill-informed listings and unleash the American energy dominance 77 million Americans voted for this past November.”
“Former President Biden spent four years fulfilling his promise to kill the fossil fuel industry one horrible policy at a time – including listing the dunes sagebrush lizard under the Endangered Species Act, a direct attack on our hardworking men and women in the energy sector,” said Rep. Pfluger. “This listing, along with many others, was completely misguided and repudiates significant private conservation efforts in West Texas. I am proud to lead the charge alongside my good friend and colleague Rep. Tracey Mann to continue undoing the Biden Administration’s nonsensical policies and protect American energy production and jobs.”
Under the Biden Administration, the LPC and dunes sagebrush lizard were listed as endangered species, ignoring the honest conservation efforts by Kansas and Texas farmers, ranchers, agricultural, and energy producers. The efforts increased the lesser prairie-chicken population and resulted in net acreage conservation gains for the dunes sagebrush lizards’ habitat. In the letter to Secretary Burgum, the Members highlighted that the Trump Administration had the opportunity to correct the misguided listings and ensure America could maintain its energy dominance.
“Empowering states, landowners, and private partners to continue leading species management ensures we can protect wildlife without sacrificing economic growth, energy production, or the livelihoods of hardworking Americans. Striking this balance is critical to maintaining our environmental stewardship and America’s energy dominance. With the right approach, we can achieve lasting conservation results without burdening the very communities that have been instrumental in protecting these species,” the Members wrote.
“The Trump Administration can correct these misguided policies by directing FWS to delist both the Lesser Prairie Chicken and the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard. Doing so will restore balance to our conservation efforts—allowing local stakeholders to continue their successful work while safeguarding American energy production, protecting jobs, and supporting rural economies,” the Members concluded.
Rep. Mann introduced legislation to remove the LPC from the threatened and endangered species list and to prohibit future efforts to relist the LPC in January 2025.
In May 2021, Rep. Mann criticized the listing of the LPC as endangered and threatened. After Rep. Mann pressured U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency extended the public comment period for citizens to submit feedback on the proposed rule. In November 2022, he blasted U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s final rule that ignored the facts of the LPC population and declared a proxy war on American agriculture and energy.
In February 2023, Rep. Mann led a bicameral Congressional Review Act to strike down the LPC’s listing on the threatened species list. The resolution passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in July 2023. Rep. Mann strongly condemned President Biden’s veto of the resolution and his refusal to listen to America’s agriculture and energy producers.
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For more information on Rep. Mann visit www.mann.house.gov
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children’s Literature & Childhood Culture, Queen Mary University of London
This spring, Babe is returning to cinemas to mark the 30th anniversary of its release in 1995. The much-loved family film tells the deceptively simple but emotionally powerful story of a piglet who saves his bacon through intelligence, kindness and hard work.
Babe becomes the trusted ally of both farmer and farmyard animals and, like so many Hollywood heroes before and since, he refuses to stay in his lane.
It’s a film which, on paper, really shouldn’t work and which sounds alarm bells to any self-respecting children’s literature scholar like me. It takes an expertly crafted English children’s book with tasteful black-and-white illustrations – Dick King-Smith’s The Sheep Pig (1983) – and turns it into an all-singing, all-dancing technicolour extravaganza.
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The film inserts new episodes and characters – an evil cat, a plucky duck and (most alarmingly) a brace of brattish kids. And it replaces a perfectly good, does-what-it-says-on-the-tin book title with the cutesy moniker of the piglet star.
It shouldn’t work … but it really, really does. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it’s one of the most successful film adaptations of a children’s book of all time.
It met with both commercial and critical success, making over US$254 million at the box office and being nominated for no less than seven Academy Awards, one of which it secured for visual effects.
So, what exactly is so special about Babe? It was one of the first films which, thanks to the then-cutting edge combination of animatronics and visual effects, delivered convincing talking animals who, endowed with the gift of speech, could themselves “look like movie stars”. But with all the jaw-dropping technological advances of the last 30 years, how has this film managed to stand the test of time so well?
The answer in part is that its source material is exceptionally strong. The Sheep Pig is written with restraint and economy, but also great warmth and relish. King-Smith has immense fun, wallowing in words like the proverbial pig in muck, and putting it all to the service of a story whose core values are easy to get behind. The Sheep Pig is a soft-power parable which advocates for brains over brawn, for respectful communication and common decency.
But the excellence of a film’s bookish bedrock is no guarantee of success. Indeed, the brilliance of a book can often be something of a liability. Think of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, or any of the film and TV adaptations of Noel Streatfeild’s superb Ballet Shoes. With Babe, though, the book is catalyst rather than straitjacket, an enabling prompt which initiates a new work of equal strength and quality.
The pacing is well judged, the look of the film lush, and there are several actual laugh-out-loud moments – including the duck’s panicked realisation that “Christmas means carnage!” Above all, it’s a film with immense emotional intelligence and power.
Recognised for its visual effects, it also succeeds in large part because of the strength of its soundscape and score. There’s one scene in particular which really soars, and which takes on the elephant in the room: the human habit of eating pigs.
Babe is so shocked and upset on learning this fact from the evil cat (who else?) that he loses the will not just to win in the sheepdog trial, but to live at all. The supremely taciturn Father Hoggett must act to make amends and save his pig protégé.
In an astonishingly moving act of love, this man of few words takes the sickly and sick-at-heart pig onto his lap and sings to him. At first a gentle crooning, the farmer’s expression of care and affection soon swells to an out-and-out bellow, accompanied by a wild, caution-to-the-wind dance.
It’s difficult to imagine a more lyrically apt song than the 1977 reggae-inflected hit based on the powerful tune of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3 in C Minor: “If I had words”, it begins. It’s a moment of huge emotional force and intensity, in which the gaping abyss of age and species difference are bridged through music and dance.
James Cromwell as Farmer Hoggett, here and throughout the film, is tremendous, his reserved performance a key factor in its success. The role – which he almost didn’t take because of the paucity of lines – was career-defining, and prompted personal epiphanies which flow naturally from this scene.
First, Cromwell never ate meat again. Second, he has spoken (with visible emotion) of the delivery of the film’s final pithy-but-powerful line of approbation – “That’ll do pig, that’ll do” – as a moment of communion with his father on catching sight of his own artificially aged reflection in the camera lens. “My life changed, and I owe it to a pig,” the actor concludes.
Babe is a film and an adaptation with many qualities. It’s wholesome without ever being sickly. But above all, it has an emotional force which worked on actors and audiences alike and which, 30 years later, remains undiminished.
Kiera Vaclavik does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Whether you’re an avid runner or frequently go to the gym, many fitness enthusiasts find they eventually get stuck in a routine – logging the same miles or doing the same workout over and over again.
What if there were a way to challenge both endurance and strength at once with an effective, varied training routine?
Welcome to Hyrox – the increasingly popular fitness race that blends endurance running and strength. Designed for everyday athletes and elite competitors alike, Hyrox offers an accessible yet competitive race format.
By focusing on functional fitness, this workout provides a structured way for people to push their limits while training for a clear goal. It also comes with many physiological benefits regardless of your skill level – including strength, endurance and power.
Athletes run 8km in total, but after each kilometre they must complete a functional fitness exercise. In a Hyrox race, the first exercise is 1,000m on a ski ergometer, followed by a 50m sled push, a 50m sled pull, 80m of burpee broad jumps, a 1,000m row, a 200m farmer’s carry, 100m walking sandbag lunges – finishing with 100 wall balls.
A Hyrox race can be competed individually, in pairs, or in a team of four done in a relay-format. The difficulty of the race depends on your skill level. Athletes in the pro division work with heavier weights than the open division. Those competing as a pair split the stations but run together – adding teamwork to the race.
The average finish time of a Hyrox race is 90 minutes – though this can vary depending on a person’s age, gender and fitness level. Elite racers will aim for a sub-60 time – with current world records set at around 50 minutes.
A race of this duration and intensity puts serious physiological stress on the body – which requires a good level of overall fitness.
Transitioning between runs and exercises causes the body to shift between different energy systems during Hyrox. The aerobic system uses oxygen to steadily fuel the muscles over a period of time. This is essential for the running segments. The anaerobic system, on the other hand, provides short bursts of energy without needing oxygen. This is crucial for the high-intensity exercise portions.
The adrenaline and intensity of the race also means your endurance, explosive power and strength are put to the test simultaneously. Without adequate training and a race plan, this could leave you feeling fatigued towards the end of the race, which can affect your coordination and power.
Hyrox training
Because Hyrox is a new competition format, research on its training benefits is limited. But some early findings suggest that a successful race performance is linked to the amount of training a person puts in ahead of competition and their overall fitness levels. This aligns with what we know about endurance and strength-based training.
The combination of running and intense exercises over a long duration challenges the body’s ability to use oxygen efficiently. Training for Hyrox can lead to improvements in the aerobic capacity or maximum oxygen uptake (VO₂ max), a measure of aerobic fitness.
An improvement in VO₂max means your body can use oxygen more efficiently, allowing you to sustain higher intensities of exercise for longer periods of time. This improves endurance, helps you maintain speed throughout the race and contributes to overall cardiovascular health.
Training for Hyrox requires a balanced approach of running, strength training and Hyrox-specific workouts. This training strategy is known as concurrent training. Research shows concurrent training has benefits for strength, muscular health and cardio-respiratory fitness in people of all ages.
Regular long runs of 40-60 minutes at a low intensity help improve aerobic capacity as well. This allows your body to use oxygen more efficiently for sustained effort. Meanwhile, high-intensity interval runs – such as repeatedly running 400m to 1km with short rest periods of 30-60 seconds – improves your body’s anaerobic threshold. This means you can sustain higher intensities of exercise for longer before fatigue sets in.
The functional stations require full-body strength and muscular endurance, which will be built up gradually as you train for a race. Once you’re more familiar with these exercises, you can begin practising them under fatigue. This is essential for both performance during a race and for preventing injuries.
To maximise performance, a typical weekly training plan should prioritise endurance training over strength training to ensure you are well-prepared to finish a Hyrox race. For the best results, this structured approach should be followed for at least six weeks.
Even without signing up for a race, Hyrox training can give you fitness benefits. You can modify the exercises and how much you run depending on your fitness level.
An all-round Hyrox programme does not just improve functional fitness – it pushes athletes to new limits with a clear, goal-oriented training approach. Whether you’re an elite racer or just looking for a new fitness challenge, Hyrox offers a unique test of endurance and strength.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ (IA-02)
Davenport, Iowa –Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01) welcomed U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to Iowa to highlight the state’s leadership in biofuels. Rollins and President Trump announced the release of $537 million for 543 biofuel infrastructure projects across 29 states, including Iowa, under the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP).
“It was an honor to host Secretary Rollins and showcase how Iowa’s farmers and biofuels producers are powering America,”said Miller-Meeks. “This investment expands access to higher ethanol blends, strengthens energy independence, and supports our farm families.”
Speaking at Elite Octane in Atlantic, Sec. Rollins emphasized the program’s impact. “This funding helps retailers offer higher ethanol blends, ensuring a greater market for Iowa’s corn and soybean growers,” she said. “President Trump is delivering on our commitment to farmers, ranchers, and small businesses.”
Rollins made the announcement alongside Governor Kim Reynolds, Senator Joni Ernst, Representatives Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig, and Elite Octane CEO Nick Bowdish.
Out of the 543 projects receiving funding, six biofuel infrastructure projects will be in Iowa’s First District:
ICC Motor Fuel 1 LLC – $1,842,000: Installing 30 E15 dispensers and 13 ethanol storage tanks at 13 locations, including Eldridge and Davenport Expected to increase ethanol sales by 3,775,358 gallons per year.
R.A.M. Inc. – $834,000: Installing nine E15 dispensers, two B20 dispensers, two ethanol storage tanks, and one biodiesel storage tank at two fueling stations in Davenport. Expected to increase biofuel sales by 908,523 gallons per year.
Mac’s Convenience Stores LLC – $4,705,500: Installing 111 E15 dispensers and 23 ethanol storage tanks at 23 fueling stations, including Burlington (3), Clinton, Muscatine, and Rock Island. Expected to increase ethanol sales by 12,064,378 gallons per year.
D&D Marion LLC – $915,000: Installing eight E15 dispensers, 10 B20 dispensers, one ethanol storage tank, and one biodiesel storage tank at a fueling station in Marion. Expected to increase biofuel sales by 3,943,000 gallons per year.
Generational Fuel LLC – $177,750: Installing two E15 dispensers, two E85 dispensers, and two B20 dispensers at a fueling station in Sully. Expected to increase biofuel sales by 291,004 gallons per year.
County Automotive Services LLC – $517,500: Installing three E15 dispensers, three E85 dispensers, one B20 dispenser, one ethanol storage tank, and one biodiesel storage tank at a fueling station in Tipton. Expected to increase biofuel sales by 280,819 gallons per year.
These investments ensure greater access to renewable fuels, benefiting both Iowa’s economy and America’s energy security.
Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
The design proposes a series of spaces that encourage socialisation and conversation.
The draft design for the Dickson Shops upgrade is now available to view. The ACT Government is seeking feedback and suggestions from the community.
The design enhances the unique identity and character of Dickson shops while providing much needed upgrades and improvements.
Here are some of the elements included in the design:
Safety and pedestrian experience
The designs include enhanced lighting, upgraded paving and widened footpaths. Circulation spaces for pedestrians are included, with more seating opportunities and bicycle parking.
The project proposes widening the pedestrian link from Cowper Street to the post office. It will also consider ways to improve the pedestrian crossing on Badham Street.
Community connection
Providing spaces for the community to gather and socialise is main feature of the design.
It proposes decluttering Taglietti Square (the library plaza) and other courtyards. This would create more spacious, accessible and adaptable areas for small events and activities. This approach also supports outdoor dining.
The design for the area south of the post office includes opportunities for incidental play. This will help to create a family-friendly space that is safety distanced from traffic.
Existing artworks have been retained and repurposed in the proposal. The landscape design visually aligns with the iconic Dickson Heritage Library, designed by Enrico Taglietti.
The plans propose reusing existing bricks as a feature in the paving design. This supports sustainability and respects the history of the area.
Large mature trees have been kept and there is more greenery to mitigate urban heat.
Consultation is open until 23 April 2024, with construction expected to begin in 2025.
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ALBUQUERQUE – A Farmington man has pleaded guilty to assault resulting in serious bodily injury, while his wife has pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting in connection with a violent assault in 2023.
According to court records, on July 28, 2023, during an argument, Renauldo Sandoval, 40, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, slammed Jane Doe into a wall and strangled her, causing her to fall to the ground. Lisa Sandoval, 39, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, then pinned Jane Doe to the ground.
At sentencing, Renauldo and Lisa both face up to 10 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Acting U.S. Attorney Holland S. Kastrinand Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.
The Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Nation Police Department and the Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Meg Tomlinson is prosecuting the case.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Randy Feenstra (IA-04)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Hull) introduced legislation – theTax-Free Pell Grants Act– to make federal Pell Grants tax-free.
Specifically, this legislation expands the use of Pell Grants on a tax-free basis, improves coordination with the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC), and ensures that students do not lose out on any AOTC benefits. Increasing compatibility with the AOTC ensures that Pell Grants are not treated as taxable income, even if they are used for non-tuition education expenses.
U.S. Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Mike Kelly (R-PA), and Danny Davis (D-IL) are co-leads.
“I have long supported Pell Grants because they offer academic opportunities to our students and ensure that Iowans who might otherwise skip higher education because of the cost can pursue advanced studies. These grants are an important investment in the next generation of leaders, farmers, innovators, and entrepreneurs who will support our communities and power our economy forward,” said Rep. Feenstra. “However, current law still requires some students to pay taxes on their Pell Grants, reducing the financial support that these grants are intended to provide. That’s why I’m glad to help introduce legislation to make Pell Grants completely tax-free so that our kids can focus on their studies without worrying about the cost.”
While Pell Grant awards used to pay for tuition and fees are already treated as tax-free income, any portion of a Pell Grant used for other education-related items like living expenses is taxed. Currently, using Pell Grants to cover tuition reduces potential AOTC eligibility and creates complications for students in maximizing their educational benefits. As a result, many students simply forgo the AOTC, leaving an estimated hundreds of millions of dollars unclaimed each year.
The AOTC covers up to $2,500 in annual college tuition, fees, and other education-related expenses — 40% of the credit, up to $1,000, is refundable.
With more than 3 million undergraduate students in the United States being parents – nearly one in five college students– access to affordable childcare can be the difference between completing a degree program or not. TheTax-Free Pell Grants Actmeets this need by adding childcare and computer costs as qualifying expenses for the AOTC.
Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) called out President Trump for firing Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and discussed the importance of a fully-functioning FTC, which protects consumers from rip-offs. Senator Welch served as Ranking Member of the subcommittee while Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) held the floor with a marathon speech, which lasted more than 24 hours.
“I do want to address one thing that has disturbed me and it’s what happened at the FTC. [The FTC] is an organization that is about protecting against unfair competition, and we need five people on it and two have been fired. They happened to be the Democrats. There’s always been a five-person FTC—three of the majority party and two from the minority party and it shifts back and forth. I just want to express my dissatisfaction and dismay at that because that FTC does things that are absolutely helpful to protecting consumers from this abusive pricing power,” said Senator Welch in the hearing.
Senator Welch continued: “[The FTC] stopped a consolidation of Kroger and Albertsons, which most economists thought was going to raise food prices for those folks in Utah and those folks in Vermont. They brought an Administrative Complaint against the prescription benefit managers. And it’s such a rip-off what’s happening to everyday consumers and employers, by the way, who pay a lot of money for employer-sponsored health care, and they have no visibility, no transparency, into how much people are getting charged. It hurts small employers and big employers in your state and mine. The FTC was on that case. They’re on another matter that is near and dear to Vermont farmers—the right to repair. How in the world is it that you can’t, if you own a tractor, repair it yourself?…The FTC was looking into that, and I think farmers in Florida, farmers in Utah, farmers if Illinois, if they can figure out how to repair it themselves, they shouldn’t have to get ripped off by not having a right to repair. I know there is some bipartisan support for that. We had an FTC that was on all three of those cases.”
In response to a question about right to repair legislation, Morgan Harper, a witness from the American Economic Liberties Project said: “It’s not fair – [that’s] the short of it. And even though it’s a different market area I think a lot of the principles are relevant for this discussion of Big Tech in the fact that there is litigation to address that, and the FTC is looking into it. It’s exactly like you said—one of the reasons why we have to make sure we have strong commissioners.”
Watch Senator Welch’s opening remarks in the hearing:
Watch the full hearing.
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Senator Welch’s Committee and Subcommittee Assignments for the 119th Congress include:
Senate Committee on Finance
Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry
Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Ranking Member, Subcommittee on the Constitution
Senate Committee on Rules & Administration
Four ticket options available, including Early Access and Dash Pass
Festival runs April 12-13, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; tickets availableonlineand in person
PHOENIX, April 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Electrify Expo, North America’s largest electric vehicle (EV) and technology festival, is returning to Phoenix for its second year, offering exciting demo experiences for all ages across 1 million square feet of space at State Farm Stadium, April 12-13. With more brands, interactive exhibits and hands-on demos than ever before, attendees can explore the latest in EVs, from cars and trucks, to bikes, motorcycles, charging solutions and sustainable technology.
“We’re thrilled to return to Phoenix with a new line up this year,” said BJ Birtwell, CEO and founder of Electrify Expo. “With so much momentum behind EV adoption in the region, the festival gives people a chance to feel the fun factor of nearly all things electric.”
Phoenix is charging ahead in EV adoption, with more drivers making the switch and the city ramping up support for electric transportation. The city is expanding public charging stations and investing in infrastructure to keep up with demand. With a goal of 280,000 EVs on the road by 2030, Phoenix is aligning with clean energy targets and making it easier than ever for residents to go electric, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.
Fun for all ages, festivalgoers can demo the latest EVs on multiple demo courses, jump into the Kids Zone, check out Electrify Race League and find savory cuisine from popular food trucks.
Attendees can check out, jump in or take a spin in the latest electric vehicles from top automakers, including:
Ford
Tesla
Lexus
Porsche
Toyota
Lucid
Jeep
Dodge
Leading micromobility brands will offer rides of their e-bikes, e-scooters and other electric rideables, including:
Can-Am
Kawasaki
Droyd
Rawrr
Ghostcat
Voro Motors
ONYX Motors
… and many more!
For the 2025 season, Electrify Expo offers five ticket options to suit every attendee’s needs:
General Admission Pass ($20): All day access to the festival and demo experiences.
HeadStart Pass ($30): Get early access to explore the festival an hour before general admission.
Dash Pass ($55): Skip the lines with priority access to participating demo zones.
Power Pack ($99): The best of both worlds, early entry plus priority access for the ultimate experience, and exclusive access to the VIP Lounge.
Electrify Expo’s gates will open at 9 a.m. on Saturday, April 12 and Sunday, April 13, with the full day of festivities concluding at 5 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase in-person and online.
Media interested in attending may request credentials by emailing ee@skyya.com.
About Electrify Expo Electrify Expo is North America’s largest electric vehicle (EV) and technology festival, where consumers come to shop and experience all things electric. The festival showcases the industry’s leading brands and exciting startups through hands-on activations, demos and experiences spanning EVs, micromobility, solar energy, charging solutions, powersports, automotive aftermarket and connected home technology, providing attendees with immersive learning opportunities and memorable interactions. From high-powered demo courses to engaging education zones, Electrify Expo offers a unique festival vibe for consumers to reshape what they think they know about EVs. In 2025, Electrify Expo’s nationwide tour will visit Orlando, Phoenix, Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago and New York. To stay up to date on the latest news and announcements from Electrify Expo, visit www.electrifyexpo.com and follow on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
