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Medical copays reduce health care access in MS prisons; Israel planted explosives in pagers sold to Hezbollah according to official sources; Serving looks with books: Libraries fight 'fast fashion' by lending clothes; Menhaden decline threatens Virginia's ecosystem, fisheries.

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JD Vance calls for toning down political rhetoric, while calls for his resignation grow because of his own comments. The Secret Service again faces intense criticism, and a right to IVF is again voted down in the US Senate.

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A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

EPA is Asked to Rethink Effects of Pesticides on Bees

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Monday, July 24, 2017   

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Today is the final day for the public to comment on an updated assessment of four pesticides that environmental and food-safety groups worry are killing off bees.

Hundreds of thousands of public comments are being delivered to EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., today by Friends of the Earth, the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice and others. They're urging the agency to ban pesticides known as neonicotinoids.

Attorney Janette Brimmer with Earthjustice says there isn't enough scrutiny from the EPA of these types of pesticides.

"Our pesticide registration system is, generally, a broken system," she says. "I mean, it is so manufacturer-driven, and this is just kind of the latest example of it. And while it can work, it needs an EPA that is engaged, that cares about working."

The EPA's new risk assessment says the pesticides do not pose a significant risk to bee colonies.

But, according to an annual nationwide study from the Bee Informed Partnership, U.S. beekeepers lost a third of their colonies from last spring to this spring.

In Kentucky, most beekeepers are hobbyists, with less than 50 hives.

A study published in Science magazine on bees in Europe concluded that bees have a hard time establishing colonies the year after exposure to neonicotinoids.

Brimmer says with fewer pollinators to help the crops, farms have to rely on commercial beekeepers. But there's a problem there, too.

"Basically, since neonicotinoids came on the market, even contract pollinators - in other words, commercial beekeepers - are having a hard time supplying contracts, getting crops pollinated," she explains. "The price is going up for those crops. So, there's a ripple effect."

Big-box stores like Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart and nearly a hundred other retailers are phasing out plants treated with neonicotinoids because of their effect on bees.


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