Government

"FLINT, Mich. — A task force appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder issued a hard-hitting report on the Flint drinking water public health crisis, slamming the catastrophe as a story of "government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction and environmental injustice."

"BURNS, Ore. -- Harney County, infamous now for enduring a 41-day occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, may find itself back in the spotlight soon and this time it will be the government's doing. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell concluded a day of tours and meetings in the Burns area Monday by declaring she intends to help trumpet a success that got overshadowed by acts of the armed protesters who took over the reserve Jan. 2."

"Michigan's government on Monday released goals to help the city of Flint recover from a health crisis caused by the lead contamination of its drinking water."

"Under fierce attack from the political right, and with even some Democrats questioning its competence, the Environmental Protection Agency is facing a tumultuous election year — with rising regulatory responsibilities, falling budgets and its very existence at stake."

As the Flint water crisis was being discovered, Michigan environmental officials tried to manipulate exemptions in the state's freedom of information law to keep secret emails that should have been subject to disclosure.

"Marilyn and Jack Whitcher have been regular visitors to the glacier-carved valley of Yosemite National Park since they were dating more than five decades ago. This trip was different."

The efforts of more than 700 mosquito-abatement districts in the U.S. are inconsistent, uncoordinated, and often poorly funded -- and that will make it hard to fight mosquito-borne diseases like Zika virus.

"Gov. Rick Snyder said Monday his office will release thousands of pages of emails his staff sent or received related to Flint’s water supply switch and subsequent contamination dating back to 2011."

Michigan officials still say they cannot conclusively link an outbreak of Legionnaire's disease to Flint’s contaminated water supply, partly because sputum cultures were not collected from patients. But the possibility of a link was raised in internal government emails as early as October 2014, and state officials did not inform the public of the outbreak until last month.