Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent messages to all members of Congress terminating their positions, stating “Your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment.” All Democratic and independent members of Congress, as well as two Republicans, found themselves locked out of their offices after everything inside had been confiscated.   read more

PG&E said the water drained when workers doing routine maintenance removed some brush and materials from a clogged outlet valve. California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) requires that a minimum amount of water be released from the dam to keep fish alive in Hamilton Branch. There are also logging interests downstream. There wasn’t a lot of water in the reservoir before it went dry (maybe 170 acre feet), but folks were fishing in it the week before.   read more

Feinberg worked on Obama’s 2008 campaign and transition team. After the election, Emanuel brought her into the White House as his senior advisor. She left government service in 2010 to be Bloomberg’s Director of Communications and Business Strategy. The following year, Feinberg decamped for Facebook as its director of corporate and strategic communications. She returned to the Obama administration in 2013 as chief of staff to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.   read more

Even patients who are receiving hospice care and are near death are reported to have received the maximum amount of therapy. Between 2010 and 2013, about 110,000 patients died within five days of receiving ultrahigh therapy. If after such therapy “a large number of people are ending up in a hospice, that’s not a good outcome,” said professor Brant Fries, and “if you have lots of people who are dying, it doesn’t make any sense why you’re giving them rehab.”   read more

Since 2006, nearly 500 women have been charged with endangering their unborn children. Women who may have taken a sleeping pill a few days before giving birth have been swept up by the law, as have those who have falsely tested positive for drugs. “If hospitals are not informing their patients about what their drug-testing policies are, particularly when those results are used to involve law enforcement in their patients’ lives, that is an unconstitutional act,” said advocate Sara Ainsworth.   read more

Argentina wants Stiuso handed over, and Fernandez’s government has warned the Obama administration that its lack of cooperation in the matter could jeopardize the two countries’ relationship. “We ask ourselves sometimes: ‘Is the United States ready to allow the bilateral relations between it and Argentina to worsen for a man they all say has no importance, no strategic value for the United States?’” said Anibal Fernández, Argentina’s cabinet chief of staff.   read more

The newly formed German-based Intelexit has launched a PR campaign to lure employees of the NSA and the British GCHQ “in from the cold” and to stop spying. Intelexit has put up billboards outside offices run by both agencies to let their employees know they’re here to help. Intelexit has also handed out fliers outside the NSA’s Fort Meade, Maryland, headquarters. The information will tell employees where they can get support and counseling if they choose to leave the agency.   read more

The EPA has updated the Steam Electric Power guidelines, which have not changed since 1982, to include restrictions that prevent 1.4 billion pounds of toxic metals and other pollutants from reaching waterways annually. Federal regulators are targeting 64,400 pounds of lead, which has been linked to developmental and reproductive problems, and 79,200 pounds of arsenic, a known carcinogen. EPA estimates that compliance costs for the rule will total around $480 million per plant.   read more

Four national polls have shown that the majority of Americans favor the continued federal funding of Planned Parenthood, despite attacks from conservative lawmakers in the wake of the release of phony videos about the organization’s practices. Republicans in Congress have demanded the cutoff of all funding for Planned Parenthood, and even threatened to shut down the government if they don’t get their way. Such a move would run counter to the views of most Americans.   read more

Of 400 oncologists surveyed, nearly 50% said they had been informed how to identify patients who might be prospective donors. Some doctors were even promised a cut of the action: payments if a patient made a donation. Arthur Caplan, head of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center, said the practice of asking doctors to help raise money raises ethical issues. “Patients may be emotionally vulnerable; doctors have very close ties to their patients, which can strain asking on both sides."   read more

Boxing is responsible for about 20% of the concussions suffered by West Point cadets--97 concussions during the last three years, more than from any other sport. “No brain trauma is good brain trauma...there can still be lasting damage,” said Dr. Cantu. "Whatever benefit a cadet gains from boxing, the cost of...becoming more vulnerable to injury down range, are detrimental to military readiness,” said Brenda Fulton. “It’s possible by trying to prepare our cadets, we are making them less ready.”   read more

As presidential campaign donations have increased, so has the need for campaigns to respond quickly to donors’ needs. “Donors are demanding a lot these days, man, and they want answers and they want results, and a lot of them hit the panic button a lot,” said Republican lobbyist and Jeb Bush supporter Theresa Kostrzewa. “Donors consider a contribution like, ‘Well, wait, I just invested in you. Now I need to have my say; you need to answer to me.’”   read more

The director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, Jeff Tittel, criticized the DEP for waiting so long to test the former home of a pesticide manufacturer. “The failure to act all these years has even contributed to more contamination to spread and could lead to health problems since arsenic is a carcinogen,” said Tittel. “The DEP dropped the ball and we are glad the EPA has picked it up.” DEP spokesman Lawrence Hajna defended his agency, noting the site “was never on anybody’s radar."   read more

“The [Benghazi] committee has squandered the last 16 months and more than 4.5 million taxpayer dollars dredging up political attacks to impact the 2016 presidential election—a severe misuse of taxpayer funds..." said the committee's top Democrat, Rep, Elijah Cummings. "The committee has turned into a political punchline. Sadly, that comes at the expense of being taken seriously and being able to take effective, bipartisan actions to improve the security of our diplomats abroad.”   read more

Figures released by the FBI showed police across the country made more than 700,000 arrests on marijuana-related charges in 2014. “It’s unacceptable that police still put this many people in handcuffs for something that a growing majority of Americans think should be legal,” said Tom Angell of Marijuana Majority. “A record number of states are expected to vote on legalizing marijuana next year, so we hope and expect to see these numbers significantly dropping soon.”   read more

Alaska's rate jumped from 9.3% in 2013 to 11.2% in 2014. The state also experienced an increase in its child poverty rate, going from 12.1% to 15.8%, as did North Dakota (12% to 14.8%) and New Hampshire (10.2% to 13%). New Hampshire, however, had the lowest overall poverty rate among the 50 states at 9.2%. Mississippi did see its poverty rate decline from 24% in 2013 to 21.5% in 2014, which was “among the largest percentage-point decline of states,” according to the Census Bureau.   read more

Farms will have to post no-entry signs when fields are doused with the most toxic pesticides. Farmers also will have to maintain a 100-foot buffer zone around pesticide application equipment to protect workers from exposure and overspraying. Farm owners and their immediate families will be exempt from the rules. Between 1,800 and 3,000 people suffer from pesticide exposure each year at farm operations that will be covered by these rules.   read more