“Across the heartland of America and all along the Gulf Coast, sales of organic products are posting double-digit increases,” according to OTA. “The majority of American households in all regions of the country now make organic a part of their supermarket and retail purchases – from 68 to almost 80% of households in southern states, to nearly 90% on the West Coast.” The trade group also reported that organic sales are reaching the “milestone” of 5% share of the total food market in the U.S.   read more

Shannon Morgan entered 8THEIST into the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission website and it was rejected with the message “requested plate is considered objectionable.” However when Morgan entered “BAPTIST,” she was allowed to continue with the application.   read more

A report from the Society of Actuaries shows that the most popular “preference-sensitive” procedure undergone by new Obamacare subscribers is knee replacement surgery. A preference-sensitive procedure is one without which a patient can continue for some time, although their quality of life can be improved with the operation.   read more

A pregnant Missouri woman seeking an abortion is fighting the mandatory three-day waiting period imposed by that state’s Republican-dominated legislature. Her argument uses one of the right wing’s favorite claims—the violation of her sincerely held religious beliefs. “The potential is for this case to be a lot broader than Missouri,” said Doe’s attorney. “Many states have 24-hour waiting periods and five states have 72-hour waiting periods. I can envision similar suits being brought elsewhere.”   read more

Pew researchers found the decline in Christian affiliation is particularly pronounced among young adults, but is occurring among all ages. The median age of unaffiliated adults is 36, down two years from 2007. Those in the West are most likely to be unaffiliated, at 28%. Twenty-five percent of Northeasterners, 22% of Midwesterners and 19% of Southerners also said they were unaffiliated. The decline was most pronounced among mainline Protestants and Catholics, each of which saw about a 3% drop.   read more

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) revealed heavy alcohol use within the previous month among full-time employees was most likely to occur among miners, with 17.5% having done so, followed by those in construction, accommodations and food service, arts, entertainment and recreation, and utilities industries. Health care and social assistance workers were least likely to be heavy drinkers, with only 4.4% of those workers doing so in the previous month.   read more

The Nazis weren’t the only ones stealing historic works of art during World War II. American soldiers also looted artwork, albeit on a much smaller scale. Now five of those pieces have been returned to the owner or their heirs, with another being returned from a Paris museum.   read more

As far as Texas legislator Matt Rinaldi is concerned, his state needs to stop “Californianizing” by trying to ban plastic grocery bags. The Republican state representative has introduced legislation that would override local ordinances governing single-use plastic bags. The city of Austin prohibited the bags within its limits two years ago, while Dallas in January enacted a five-cent charge for them.   read more

A study of the court’s opinions, going back to 1791, included a ranking of 107 justices based on their choice of words used in opinions. It turns out five of the top 10 grumpiest justices are currently on the court. Justices Samuel Alito, Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy and Antonin Scalia and were found to have used some of the most unfriendly language in their opinions in court history.   read more

Cleveland was taking a cut of visiting NFL players’ salaries in proportion to their team’s schedules. If the team played 20 games, including exhibitions, Cleveland would count 5% of a visiting player’s salary as subject to that city’s income tax. Former Indianapolis Colt Jeff Saturday also sued Cleveland, saying he shouldn’t have had to pay the city any tax for the game his team played in 2008 because he was back in Indiana rehabilitating an injury.   read more

Dr. Micah Young was dean of health sciences and career programs at Malcolm X College until February 4, when he was fired for “alleged performance issues.” But Young claims the firing had more to do with his report of the discovery last summer of four decomposing bodies in an unrefrigerated walk-in safe on campus.   read more

Tribal leaders said the change was necessary to curb obesity rates, which are three times the national average. The junk food tax, said to be the first of its kind in the U.S., comes to a community where up to 90% of the grocery stores’ inventory qualifies as junk food. In fact, the USDA has described the entire Navajo Nation a “food desert” because of the lack of healthy foods. More than half of the residents drive up to 240 miles just to get to a store that sells fresh fruits and vegetables.   read more

Inhofe is now the chairman of the Senate’s Environment Committee. He celebrated the first day of his second shot at this position by speaking for 13 minutes claiming that human-caused climate change is a fake concept. He’s even written a book entitled The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future. But when it suits his purposes (or those of his financial backers), Inhofe is apparently willing to allow climate change into his worldview.   read more

In 2014, the death toll from such incidents was 526 plus 213 suicides. Another 419 were injured as a result of trespassing. “As a culture and as a country, we simply have not yet accepted that trains and railroad operations are dangerous,” said FRA's Sarah Feinberg. The death toll is much higher than those caused by derailments and collisions last year. “They should not be used as a shortcut on the way home from school or the grocery store. They are dangerous places,” said NTSB's Sumwalt.   read more

NhRP hailed the decision by Justice Barbara Jaffe of New York State Supreme Court, who accepted the argument that primates deserve legal standing similar to those of humans. “This is a big step forward to getting what we are ultimately seeking: the right to bodily liberty for chimpanzees and other cognitively complex animals,” said NhRP executive director Natalie Prosin. “We got our foot in the door. And no matter what happens, that door can never be completely shut again.”   read more

The 15-year veteran reporter gave up the newspaper business last August because he couldn’t afford the low pay. He left the Daily Breeze, the Southern California newspaper that once employed him and that generally pays its reporters in the mid-$40,000 range. But this week, Kuznia found out he and others at the Daily Breeze had received a Pulitzer for a six-month, 50-story investigation into possible corruption at a local school district.   read more