Latest news with #Baumgartner
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Baumgartner calls on RFK Jr. to reopen Spokane research lab focused on safety for miners, wildland firefighters
May 20—WASHINGTON — Rep. Michael Baumgartner sent a letter to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday asking him to reverse course and reopen an office in Spokane that conducts research on workplace safety for miners, farmworkers and wildland firefighters. It was the second letter the Spokane Republican has sent to Kennedy since the Department of Health and Human Services closed the Spokane Research Laboratory as part of the Trump administration's sweeping effort to shrink the federal workforce. Baumgartner voiced support for that push while asking the secretary to reconsider his decision. "I understand and support the broader effort to make government operations more efficient," Baumgartner wrote. "However, that effort should not come at the expense of worker safety or the loss of essential research capacity. The work conducted at the Spokane Lab plays an important role in protecting workers and advancing our national priorities." The congressman noted that Kennedy has reopened a similar office run by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, in Morgantown, West Virginia. He pointed out that the mine safety work in particular is aligned with President Donald Trump's stated goal of increasing mineral extraction in the United States. "The NIOSH Spokane Research lab conducts research ... aimed at preventing work-related illness, injury, and death in mines, forests, fisheries, and oil fields," Baumgartner wrote. "As the United States seeks to increase domestic mining production, the safety research conducted by NIOSH is more critical than ever." The department notified the Spokane lab's union at the end of March that virtually all of the roughly 90 workers would be fired by the end of June. Kennedy previously announced NIOSH will be consolidated into what he calls the "Administration for a Healthy America" as part of his reorganization of the agency. In response to a question from The Spokesman-Review asking why the Spokane lab remains closed, the HHS said in a statement that Kennedy "has been working hard to ensure that the critical functions under NIOSH remain intact." "The Trump Administration is committed to supporting coal miners and firefighters, and under the Secretary's leadership, NIOSH's essential services will continue as HHS streamlines its operations," HHS said. "Ensuring the health and safety of our workforce remains a top priority for the Department." In a Senate hearing on May 14, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., asked Kennedy why workers in the Spokane office hadn't been reinstated. When the secretary said he had brought back employees at the NIOSH offices in Morgantown and Cleveland, Ohio, Murray replied, "You can't fire 90% of the people and assume the work gets done." The facility at 315 E. Montgomery Avenue in the Logan neighborhood researches hard rock mining and other occupations relevant to western states, whereas the facility in West Virginia has focused on coal mining. Noting that specialization, Baumgartner wrote to Kennedy, "NIOSH's work is indispensable to the laudable objectives of renewing America's natural resource independence." Orion Donovan Smith's work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Iceland's Orca Pods Mysteriously Include Baby Pilot Whales
One day in June 2022 Chérine Baumgartner, a researcher at the Icelandic Orca Project, was watching from a dinghy as a pod of killer whales fed on herring—when she noticed something very odd about what seemed to be a young member of the pod. 'At first, we were like, 'Oh my god, this killer whale calf has a problem,'' she says. It was far tinier than normal and lacked an infant orca's characteristic black-and-pale-orange coloration. Baumgartner, now a Ph.D. student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, suddenly realized she was seeing an entirely different species: a baby pilot whale. She and her team observed the pod for nearly three hours before weather conditions forced them back to land. They found the pod the next day, but the pilot whale calf was nowhere to be seen. Scientists noticed orcas interacting with baby pilot whales off Iceland every year from 2021 to 2023. Each instance was short-lived and featured different individual pilot whales (dark-gray members of the dolphin family with a bulbous forehead) and different pods of orcas. Now, in a new study in Ecology and Evolution, Baumgartner and her colleagues describe the 2022 and 2023 incidents and posit three potential explanations: predation, play or parenting. In all the sightings, a weeks-old pilot whale swam by a female killer whale in what scientists call an echelon position, with the young whale located beside and slightly behind the adult orca. In the 2022 and 2023 instances, the killer whales occasionally nudged the calf along. In 2023 a calf was seen swimming ahead of the group, possibly as if to run away—and at one point it was lifted, belly-up, out of the water on the back of an orca. With the first possible explanation, the killer whales could have been keeping the young pilot whales around like a living lunch box; some orcas in Iceland are known to eat harbor seals and porpoises. But Baumgartner notes that these Icelandic killer whales are predominantly fish eaters and that they didn't display overtly aggressive behavior toward the pilot whale calves. So predation is less likely, though not impossible, she and her colleagues say. Alternatively, the killer whales could have been playing with the young whales or using them to practice hunting. Iceland's orcas often herd herring, and they could have been incorporating the pilot whale calves in their hunting games. Finally, the killer whales could have been extending their parental instincts to the young calves. Whales and dolphins in the wild often care for the young of other members of their pod, and although it's rare, dolphins have adopted calves from different species. In the pilot whales' case, Baumgartner says, she wouldn't categorize the relationship as adoption because the interactions seemed to be short-lived. The young pilot whales would likely have died without milk, and none of the female orcas were lactating at the time. These three possibilities also aren't mutually exclusive, she says. 'It could be [that the orcas] encountered the pilot whale opportunistically, and some individuals played with the whale, and others tried to nurture it,' Baumgartner adds. The other conspicuously missing pieces of the puzzle are how, in each instance, the orcas came across a pilot whale calf in the first place and what happened to that calf afterward. 'Was it lost or abandoned?' asks study co-author Filipa Samarra, principal investigator at the Icelandic Orca Project and director of the University of Iceland's research center on the Westman Islands. 'Or did the killer whales actively approach to take the calf away?' The researchers also wonder if the calves escaped or died or were killed or eaten by the orcas. Sarah Teman, a graduate student in ecology at the University of Washington, who was not involved with the new study, says her jaw dropped when she saw pictures of the pilot whales with the orca pods. Teman previously studied southern resident killer whales interacting with porpoises in the Salish Sea off British Columbia and Washington State. In that research, she observed interactions that may have been motivated by nurturing, hunting practice or 'play'—and often ended up killing the porpoises. 'It was fascinating to see such similar behaviors' in the Icelandic orcas, she says, adding that the animals' interactions with the pilot whales seemed to be largely driven by nurturing or play behavior, just as had been seen in the southern resident killer whales' interactions with porpoises. Samarra also speculates that the unusual interactions off Iceland could be a result of climate change because pilot whales increasingly follow schools of mackerel moving into warmer waters that overlap with the killer whales' range. She hopes that, next summer, her group will finally observe how the young pilot whales get entangled with the orcas and what happens to them next.
Scientific American
15-05-2025
- Science
- Scientific American
Friend or Food: Why Are Iceland's Orcas Taking in Pilot Whales?
One day in June 2022 Chérine Baumgartner, a researcher at the Icelandic Orca Project, was watching from a dinghy as a pod of killer whales fed on herring—when she noticed something very odd about what seemed to be a young member of the pod. 'At first, we were like, 'Oh my god, this killer whale calf has a problem,'' she says. It was far tinier than normal and lacked an infant orca's characteristic black-and-pale-orange coloration. Baumgartner, now a Ph.D. student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, suddenly realized she was seeing an entirely different species: a baby pilot whale. She and her team observed the pod for nearly three hours before weather conditions forced them back to land. They found the pod the next day, but the pilot whale calf was nowhere to be seen. Scientists noticed orcas interacting with baby pilot whales off Iceland every year from 2021 to 2023. Each instance was short-lived and featured different individual pilot whales (dark-gray members of the dolphin family with a bulbous forehead) and different pods of orcas. Now, in a new study in Ecology and Evolution, Baumgartner and her colleagues describe the 2022 and 2023 incidents and posit three potential explanations: predation, play or parenting. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. In all the sightings, a weeks-old pilot whale swam by a female killer whale in what scientists call an echelon position, with the young whale located beside and slightly behind the adult orca. In the 2022 and 2023 instances, the killer whales occasionally nudged the calf along. In 2023 a calf was seen swimming ahead of the group, possibly as if to run away—and at one point it was lifted, belly-up, out of the water on the back of an orca. With the first possible explanation, the killer whales could have been keeping the young pilot whales around like a living lunch box; some orcas in Iceland are known to eat harbor seals and porpoises. But Baumgartner notes that these Icelandic killer whales are predominantly fish eaters and that they didn't display overtly aggressive behavior toward the pilot whale calves. So predation is less likely, though not impossible, she and her colleagues say. Alternatively, the killer whales could have been playing with the young whales or using them to practice hunting. Iceland's orcas often herd herring, and they could have been incorporating the pilot whale calves in their hunting games. Finally, the killer whales could have been extending their parental instincts to the young calves. Whales and dolphins in the wild often care for the young of other members of their pod, and although it's rare, dolphins have adopted calves from different species. In the pilot whales' case, Baumgartner says, she wouldn't categorize the relationship as adoption because the interactions seemed to be short-lived. The young pilot whales would likely have died without milk, and none of the female orcas were lactating at the time. These three possibilities also aren't mutually exclusive, she says. 'It could be [that the orcas] encountered the pilot whale opportunistically, and some individuals played with the whale, and others tried to nurture it,' Baumgartner adds. The other conspicuously missing pieces of the puzzle are how, in each instance, the orcas came across a pilot whale calf in the first place and what happened to that calf afterward. 'Was it lost or abandoned?' asks study co-author Filipa Samarra, principal investigator at the Icelandic Orca Project and director of the University of Iceland's research center on the Westman Islands. 'Or did the killer whales actively approach to take the calf away?' The researchers also wonder if the calves escaped or died or were killed or eaten by the orcas. Sarah Teman, a graduate student in ecology at the University of Washington, who was not involved with the new study, says her jaw dropped when she saw pictures of the pilot whales with the orca pods. Teman previously studied southern resident killer whales interacting with porpoises in the Salish Sea off British Columbia and Washington State. In that research, she observed interactions that may have been motivated by nurturing, hunting practice or 'play'—and often ended up killing the porpoises. 'It was fascinating to see such similar behaviors' in the Icelandic orcas, she says, adding that the animals' interactions with the pilot whales seemed to be largely driven by nurturing or play behavior, just as had been seen in the southern resident killer whales' interactions with porpoises. Samarra also speculates that the unusual interactions off Iceland could be a result of climate change because pilot whales increasingly follow schools of mackerel moving into warmer waters that overlap with the killer whales' range. She hopes that, next summer, her group will finally observe how the young pilot whales get entangled with the orcas and what happens to them next.
09-05-2025
- Politics
Congress celebrates impactful teachers: 'We certainly do appreciate them'
Lawmakers are celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week 2025 by paying tribute to the educators who helped them ascend to Congress. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said his wife and mother-in-law, who were both educators, are his favorite teachers. Johnson added that his classroom teachers along the way positively influenced the "trajectory" of his life. "I credit so many of those people, in many ways, for being in the position I'm in now," Johnson told ABC News. "Teachers are one of the most underpaid professions, so we certainly do appreciate them," he said. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas, had several teachers who greatly impacted her life, but she told ABC News that it was her high school music teacher who recognized her talents. "Not so much musical talent, but he saw the opportunity to sharpen my leadership skills and he honed in on that and allowed me to grow," De La Cruz said. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., who has worked in the banking, finance and insurance industries, said his high school math teachers helped challenge him. "That was really the building blocks for me moving on to finance and college," Donalds said. "I always appreciate them." Freshman Rep. Michael Baumgartner, R-Wash., a new member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said he's a "big fan" of teachers. He brought a teacher from his district in Washington to President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress because he said educators inspire "the next generation." Baumgartner, who comes from a family of educators, said he doesn't believe he would be where he is today without teachers. "I had nuns that taught me -- I went to a little Catholic school in a small rural community -- and I remember them making us do cursive [handwriting], which I hated, but it was kind of that discipline, that inspiration and just that love of learning that you developed, so it was great," Baumgartner told ABC News. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., praised the nation's teachers and said "the United States of America has to continue to celebrate and lift up our public schools, our educators and our capacity to make sure that people receive a first-rate education so that they have a pathway into the American dream." Several members of Jeffries' caucus are decorated educators, including Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., the 2016 National Teacher of the Year. Hayes launched the Congressional Teacher Caucus to start Teacher Appreciation Week 2025. She said the caucus aims to provide a dedicated platform for educators serving in Congress to find commonsense solutions to addressing the educational issues of today, according to a release from Hayes' office. But Hayes opposes the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the Department of Education. She is squarely focused on defending public educators from the threats to winnow down the agency and launched the caucus in response to them. "I believe deeply in public education, and I'll always advocate not only for students but for the profession," Hayes previously told ABC News. In the upper chamber, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a former teacher, launched the "Save Our Schools" campaign to investigate attempts to dismantle the Department of Education. "The federal government has invested in our public schools," Warren said last month in an exclusive interview with ABC News. "Taking that away from our kids so that a handful of billionaires can be even richer is just plain ugly, and I will fight it with everything I've got." Warren suggested she is working with students, teachers, parents and unions to "sound the alarm" nationwide. Prior to politics, Warren was inspired by her second grade teacher to join the education ranks. "Whenever someone asked about my future, I would stand a little taller and say, 'I'm going to be a teacher,'" Warren recalled. "It guided my entire life." Dismantling and defunding teacher preparation programs will ultimately hurt the profession, according to Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev. Horsford credited his high school teacher Mr. Ware for motivating him to become the first person in his family to attain higher education. "He said he saw something in me and that I needed to believe in myself," Horsford told ABC News. "Now, to be here in Congress, and achieve some of the things that I have been able to achieve, I wouldn't have been able to do that without that education, that investment in myself, by getting my college degree," he said.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rep. Emily Randall, state and local Democrats address Spokane in "People's Town Hall"
Apr. 25—Rep. Emily Randall, Washington's other freshman member of congress, traveled to Rep. Michael Baumgartner's district Friday with other notable local and state Democrats to speak to residents and hear their concerns about "illegal and damaging actions by Trump, Musk and their allies." The event was meant to let local voters voice their concerns with D.C. to a more receptive audience than Baumgartner, Washington Democrats spokesman Stephen Reed said in an interview ahead of the event. Baumgartner's own town hall in March was frequently derailed by attendees angered by the White House and the congressman's comments. "We are here to show him how real democracy works, where you hear from the people, and not just campaign donors," said state Democratic party Chair Shasti Conrad, who was also on the panel at Friday's town hall. In a brief interview, Baumgartner said he was proud of his outreach in his district this year. "We've done more town halls than any other member of Congress — we've done seven — responded to a record number of engagements with constituents and continue to work hard throughout the district," Baumgartner said. "My sense is this is just a partisan political event for the Democrats, which is just something political parties do, so I'm not particularly surprised or troubled by the fact they're having this event." Friday's panel at Spokane Community College included Randall, Conrad, Spokane City Councilman Zack Zappone, Spokane Public Schools Board member Jenny Slagle and Spokane County Democratic party Chair Naida Spencer. Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown provided opening remarks. "I just want to acknowledge, this is not the script I ever would have written, that we would be here at this point in time," Brown said. "Once again, every election matters, every vote matters." Randall opened her remarks by noting her personal connection to Spokane, including having taken her first plane ride from Seattle to Spokane as a child to visit her grandparents, and also where she learned that her predecessor in Congress, Rep. Derek Kilmer, would not be running for re-election. "And it was here in Spokane that I decided to run for Congress," she said. She praised many of the steps taken in Washington state to support apprenticeship programs and fund special education, but lamented what she characterized as a lack of support for those efforts from the White House. She argued that there was significantly more bipartisanship in Olympia during her time in the legislature than in D.C. under the leadership of President Donald Trump. "But in the other Washington right now, there is no incentive for Republicans to work with Democrats," Randall said. "In fact, there are disincentives; this president, Elon Musk, they make phone calls to any Republican members who are not standing up for the party line, who are not stroking the ego of this president." She stated that the White House and Republicans in Congress were irresponsibly slashing the federal government, relying on "an algorithm that uses more power and water than it does good to cut people's jobs, their livelihoods, the funding that we need to ensure the benefits which they continue saying they're not cutting." She also noted that during earlier town halls she faced angry constituents who demanded to know why she wasn't taking more radical action, such as protesting and getting arrested through civil disobedience. "And I have been saying a lot lately that never in history has the government saved us from the government," Randall said. "And I do agree that we have to be creative, we have to think about what tools we can use to put pressure on this administration ... but we also are not going to be able to do it alone. "We need each and every one of you to think about how we can link arms and use our power and our voices to think about who else isn't in this movement yet." Randall noted that Washington is the most trade-dependent state in the nation, and argued that tariffs weren't inherently evil, but a tool that requires thoughtful planning. "Trump doesn't have a blueprint for his tariffs," she said. "Trump's taking the two-by-four and swinging it around to see who he hits and see who he scares off." Zappone spoke to the local impacts of federal funding freezes, totaling $62 million that stopped flowing and touching areas including police equipment, DUI court, wildfire defenses, a frozen program to plant trees in areas of the city without them, and over $25 million in water and sewer infrastructure funding. He argued that the Trump administration's aggressive stance on deportations had driven away immigrants from shopping and working downtown, and noted recent reporting that fewer Canadian tourists were visiting amid rising tensions between the two countries. Slagle spoke to various executive orders impacting public education, including on diversity, equity and inclusion programs. "Equity: What it means to Spokane Public Schools is ensuring that our students have a place where they can feel safe and supported," Slagle said. "To think that is what people oppose and what this administration wants to do away with is just not OK with us." Slagle said she worried about the possible threat to federal funding for the school district because of its commitment to these policies. "This could have deep impacts across not just our Title I programs, but into many other types of programs that the district does," Slagle said. Eight attendees were randomly selected to ask questions, and one that particularly lit up the panel was an audience member who pointed out the Democratic party's slipping appeal with working-class voters and asked what could be done to turn around. Randall, Conrad and Spencer all spoke to the economic difficulties they or their families faced. Conrad noted that her mother had worked until the day she died in order to maintain health insurance, and argued that she would still be alive if she had access to universal health coverage. Randall argued that working-class voters needed to see working class politicians who could understand their struggles. "I think many of us probably saw the clip of the new director of the Social Security Administration, talking about how folks can just afford to wait until their next Social Security paycheck," Randall said. "My grandparents certainly couldn't have. But when they added their Social Security to their union pension, they were able to have a dignified retirement." The Democratic party also has not focused as much effort into down-ballot recruitment and needs to back candidates in "every race, every place," Conrad said. "If we make everything about Trump, we are not ready for when he moves along, and somebody fills that void right away, and there will be tens and hundreds of Trumps if we don't fight this right now," Conrad said. "We need to be building, obviously, to take back the White House in 2028, but we also have to be looking forward and investing in candidates that can come up and be in the long run with all of us, and thinking about judges and things like that."
