Latest news with #OMAHA
Washington Post
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
In pro-military Nebraska, a lawmaker's stand over Hegseth tests the GOP
OMAHA — A few weeks ago, the Republican congressman who represents this fervently pro-military section of Nebraska took a stand against the man in charge of the Pentagon. Rep. Don Bacon, a retired Air Force general who once commanded the nearby Offutt Air Force Base, last month became the first — and to date only — GOP lawmaker to gamble with his political future by demanding the ouster of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
New York Times
03-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Connections: Sports Edition hints for May 3, 2025, puzzle No. 222
Need help with today's Connections: Sports Edition puzzle? You've come to the right place. Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores. A quick public service announcement before we continue: The bottom of this article includes one answer in each of the four categories. So if you want to solve the board hint-free, we recommend you play before continuing. Advertisement You can access Saturday's game here. Game No. 222's difficulty: 3.5 out of 5 Scroll below for one answer in each of the four categories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yellow: DEFEND Green: TURN Blue: OMAHA Purple: INDIAN WELLS The next puzzle will be available at midnight in your time zone. Thanks for playing — and share your scores in the comments! (Illustration: John Bradford / The Athletic)
Associated Press
13-03-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Vaccinating poultry could help cut soaring egg prices but US remains hesitant
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Vaccines could be a key means of suppressing bird flu and avoiding the slaughter of millions of chickens, which is blamed for egg prices averaging nearly $6 a dozen. But the move has been delayed in part because of concerns it could jeopardize chicken exports worth billions of dollars a year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced plans to spend $100 million to study bird flu vaccines to fight the disease in concert with meat chicken, egg and turkey groups. That's part of a larger $1 billion effort to invest in more protections to keep the virus off farms that President Donald Trump believes will help lower egg prices. Chicken meat producers remain the most resistant to vaccines because of concerns they could harm meat exports, which totaled nearly $4.7 billion last year. Egg and turkey producers sell most of their products in the U.S. and have been hit hardest by the virus. Why is a vaccine needed? Without a new policy including vaccines, the government will continue to slaughter every flock with a bird flu infection to limit the spread of the disease. Those deaths have totaled over 166 million birds in the U.S. since 2022. Most birds killed are egg-laying chickens, and the death of so many hens is the main reason egg prices keep rising. The average price per dozen has hit $5.90, and in some part of the country, it is far higher. Poultry veterinarian Simon Shane, who runs said the government is hesitant to use vaccines and change its policy of killing birds largely because of the meat chicken industry's opposition. 'Basically this is a political issue, and this only came to a head because eggs are at $8 to $9 a dozen, and it's embarrassing the government — embarrassing the present administration,' Shane said. Why doesn't the US use a bird flu vaccine? Before using vaccinations, the government must decide how to devise an effective system and monitor for outbreaks within vaccinated flocks that might not show any symptoms, said John Clifford, the USDA's former longtime chief veterinary officer, who now works with a poultry industry export group. Once that is figured out, the industry can negotiate with countries to minimize trade problems. 'What the industry wants is the ability to develop the strategic plan to share that with the trading partners and then find out what kind of impact that that will have on trade,' Clifford said. There are fears that vaccinating could allow the virus to linger undetected in flocks and mutate in ways that could make it more of a threat to humans and allow sick birds to get into the food supply. Like with other diseases, properly cooking chicken to 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius) will kill bird flu, but the industry and chicken buyers don't want it there at all. For meat chicken, known as broilers, the virus isn't as significant because those birds are slaughtered at 6 to 8 weeks old and thus have less chance of being infected compared with egg-laying hens, which live to 2 years or older. Also most broilers are raised in the Southeast, which hasn't had as many outbreaks as the Midwest and West. Another delay to vaccinating concerns distribution. Egg farmers want to administer it through chicken feed or water, saying it's not practical to give shots to millions of birds in a single barn. It can also be difficult to tell the difference between a vaccinated bird and one that has been sick with the virus. That would make other countries nervous about importing meat. 'People have talked about how expensive it would be to monitor vaccinated populations. And it would be. But where do we want to spend our money?' said Dr. Carol Cardona, a bird flu expert at the University of Minnesota. 'We're spending our money hand over fist right now in depopulation and to buy eggs for breakfast.' What does the experience in other countries show? China and Mexico have been vaccinating their poultry for years, but they take different approaches. In Mexico chicken are vaccinated, but Clifford said the country doesn't slaughter flocks when infections are found. That basically ensures the virus is present in poultry. China still slaughters vaccinated flocks when infections are found, which has proven more effective at limiting the spread of the virus and reigning in outbreaks. Clifford said the U.S. would need to continue culling flocks with outbreaks even after vaccinating, and it might make sense to give shots only to egg layers and turkeys, not broilers. Will it help egg prices? Don't expect big relief anytime soon. The USDA, which did not respond to a request for comment for this article sent last week, clearly isn't moving to vaccinate immediately. And, regardless, it will take time to raise new hens. 'We're going to have to wait to replace those with new hatched chicks, and it takes 20 weeks before they even start laying,' Shane said. 'So I don't know where they're going to get the eggs from.' Prices may ease somewhat later this year after peak demand, which happens around Easter, if massive egg farms in Iowa, Ohio, California and elsewhere can avoid more outbreaks. The USDA has predicted that average egg prices will be 41% higher than the 2024 average of $3.17 per dozen. That would mean $4.47 per dozen, slightly below the current average.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Ashworth gets hot hand and scores 22 to lead Creighton to a 77-67 win over No. 11 Marquette
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Steven Ashworth scored 22 points and made a season-high six 3-pointers, including one in the last minute to help Creighton put away No. 11 Marquette in a 77-67 victory Saturday. The Bluejays have won nine straight games since losing 79-71 at Marquette on Jan. 3. Creighton (18-6, 11-2) moved within one game of Big East leader St. John's. Ryan Kalkbrenner had 19 points and blocked four shots, and Jamiya Neal scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half for the Bluejays. Kam Jones scored 27 points and David Joplin added 22 for Marquette (18-6, 9-4), which lost its third straight. Marquette wiped out an 11-point deficit in the middle of the second half and took its last lead at 61-60 on Joplin's layup with 6:34 left. The 7-foot-1 Kalkbrenner hit a 3 to put the Bluejays up 67-63 with 3 1/2 minutes left. Takeaways Marquette: The Golden Eagles are on their longest losing streak since they dropped four in a row between Dec. 11, 2021, and Jan. 1, 2022. Creighton: The Bluejays set a program record with their ninth straight Big East win. They matched their best 13-game start in Big East play since they joined the conference in 2013-14. They also have their longest win streak since they started 13-0 in 2016-17. Key moment Neal muscled in a shot from under the basket to give Creighton a 72-67 lead, then got the rebound on Stevie Mitchell's miss on the other end before Ashworth's 3 made it an eight-point game with 43 seconds left. Key stat Ashworth came into the game 3 of his last 26 from 3-point range and went 6 of 9 from beyond the arc. He was 1 of 13 on 3s in the Bluejays' loss to Marquette last month. Up next Marquette hosts DePaul on Tuesday. Creighton hosts No. 19 UConn on Tuesday. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: and Eric Olson, The Associated Press
