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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.

Report: Warm, Severe Weather Increases Pesky Pests in Ohio

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author Mary Kuhlman, Managing Editor

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Wednesday, August 20, 2014   

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohioans stepping outside to enjoy nature might be noticing more pesky pests.

According to a new report, warmer temperatures and more severe weather events spurred by climate change are changing the outdoor experience in Ohio and leading to more annoying insects and plants.

"I'm talking about deer ticks. I'm talking about poison ivy. I'm talking about fire ants," said Doug Inkley, senior scientist at the National Wildlife Federation, who co-authored the report. "All of these species that are so bothersome to us are actually able to now proliferate because of the changing climate."

According to the report, warmer winters are contributing to more black-legged deer ticks, increasing humans' risk of Lyme disease. Another outdoor health threat from warmer waterways is algae, creating situations such as the toxic algae bloom that led to a drinking-water ban in Toledo earlier this month.

Black-legged deer ticks once were considered extremely rare in Ohio. But medical entomologist Dr. Glen Needham, an associate professor emeritus at Ohio State University, said that in recent years, dozens of counties have reported at least one.

"There are more kinds of ticks, and it seems that they're more abundant where we do find them," Needham said. "So, that's creating issues for people that use the out-of-doors and, as the hunting season is coming up, we're most concerned about the folks that are going to be out in the field."

The report recommends approving the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed limits on carbon pollution from power plants as a start to help curb climate change and save the outdoor experience.

The report, "Ticked Off: America's Outdoor Experience and Climate Change," is online at nwf.org.


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