Farm Group Opposes Boiler Pollution Rule

New York Farm Bureau Questions Health Concerns, Cites Costs

ALBANY -- A statewide lobbying group for farmers came out Tuesday against proposed state rules to phase out polluting outdoor wood-fired boilers.

Dean Norton, president of the New York Farm Bureau, said the proposal by the state Department of Environmental Conservation to require such boilers be shut down by 2015 or 2020, depending on their age, would hurt farm families who rely on units for heat and, sometimes, hot water.

"The DEC is asking some people to take cold showers, if they cannot use these boilers," said Norton, whose group includes about 30,000 farm families.

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Farm Group Opposes Boiler Pollution Rule

Bill Would Expand Aid to More Farmers

Owens Proposal: Measure Would Modernize Eligibility Criteria for Federal Loan Guarantees

WASHINGTON — Rep. William L. Owens said he may be able to advance a bill early this month to open U.S. Farm Service Agency loan guarantees to more farmers.

Mr. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, has complained that the agency does not extend loan guarantees to farms where the land is owned by one entity and the business by another, even if the names are the same.
With the help of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's office, Mr. Owens said, he should be ready to introduce legislation in the next two weeks. He said in a telephone interview he is confident it can pass well ahead of the next broad update to farm programs in 2012.

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Bill Would Expand Aid to More Farmers

FDA Releases Enhanced Food Safety Web Site

Government regulators said they upgraded an online reporting system to make it easier and faster to document foodborne illnesses and other safety matters.

The upgraded Web site, the Safety Reporting Portal, provides greater and easier access to online reporting, the Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health said in a joint statement May 24.

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FDA Releases Enhanced Food Safety Web Site

It's a Bee Market as Insects Swarm Wall Street

NEW YORK — Forget bears and bulls. It's bees that are making waves on Wall Street.

About 15,000 of them buzzed the posh Cipriani Wall Street restaurant this week, blanketing an elegant front door and forcing police to cordon off the block.

"We had 15,000 girls who wanted to get in and have a nice, fresh Bellini on a hot, sunny day," general manager Eric Bonnetain joked Tuesday.

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It's a Bee Market as Insects Swarm Wall Street