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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Earth Week: "Right Time" for NY Gov to Act on Water Quality

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Thursday, April 24, 2014   

NEW YORK – As the nation celebrates Earth Week, New York conservation advocates are applauding a new move by the governor to improve groundwater protection – even during super storms.

Marci Bortman, director of conservation programs for the Long Island chapter of The Nature Conservancy, welcomes the news that Gov. Andrew Cuomo is launching an intensive review of clean water needs to deal with problems such as toxic red tides in collaboration with the Nassau and Suffolk County executives.

"The number one killer threat to our drinking water, our bays and our harbors on Long Island, Bortman says. “We are really excited about the opportunity to work with all levels of government to fix this problem."

Cuomo directed the Department of Environmental Conservation to establish an open process with input from experts and citizens to bolster natural coastal protections, dramatically improve water quality and seek federal funding.

The governor issued the directive on Earth Day, but Bortman says the effort to protect New York's water quality is welcome all week and all year.

"It's great Earth Week news, we've been slowly watching nitrogen pollution's increase,” she says. “It's been leading to harmful algal blooms, which are toxic red tides. It kills fish, it harms shellfish, it can even harm people."

Bortman says a $6 million plan is already in the works to implement nitrogen treatment pilot projects at individual homes and subdivisions in Suffolk County, and she is glad to see Cuomo pushing for more collaboration.

"To get together and start exploring those solutions that are out there, and used by other places in the country to reduce the amount of nitrogen coming from our wastewater and aging sewage infrastructure," she adds.

The first meeting takes place in Nassau County to discuss wastewater infrastructure on May 12.





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