Government

"ROSEBURG, Ore. — So much timber money once flowed into this rural Oregon county that its leaders set up committees to find ways to spend it. Today, Douglas County's library system is on life support, and its sheriff's department is on track to lose funding."

"As Trump appointees take their new positions in the federal bureaucracy, a legal battle is escalating over alleged intimidation of the civil servants who make the government function."

"Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner (FERC) Colette Honorable said Friday she will leave the board when her term expires in June."

UPDATE (10:50 EDT, 4/24/17): In a reversal, the EPA website now says its Open Data Service will continue. "Donald Trump is to completely shut down one of the government's most important data services." "The Environmental Protection Agency's Open Data Web service – which stores information on climate change, life cycle assessment, health impact analysis and environmental justice – is to have its funding removed and will no longer be in operation, according to people working on the plan."

"What is at stake as Congress considers the E.P.A. budget? Far more than climate change."

"When Mike Cox quit, he did so with gusto. After 25 years, he retired last week from the Environmental Protection Agency with a tough message for the boss, Administrator Scott Pruitt."

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is shutting down a program at its headquarters that helps states and localities adapt to the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels."

"The Trump administration has failed to fill crucial public health positions across the government, leaving the nation ill-prepared to face one of its greatest potential threats: a pandemic outbreak of a deadly infections disease, according to experts in health and national security."

"It is a tale of two photographs, one light and airy, the other kind of, well, dark."