Latest news with #YakimaHerald-Republic
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Why the Justice Department just sued a small Idaho town
The small town of Troy, Idaho, is facing a major legal problem. Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against it based on religious freedom concerns. The Justice Department alleges that town leaders are discriminating against a local evangelical church by unnecessarily preventing it from holding worship services in Troy's business district. Troy officials say they're enforcing zoning law, not engaging in discrimination. 'The fact that it was this church had zero to do with the denial,' said Todd Richardson, Troy city attorney, to the Yakima Herald-Republic. The religious freedom lawsuit filed by the Justice Department centers on Christ Church, an evangelical Christian house of worship that holds services in both Troy and Moscow, Idaho. In late 2022, a leader at Christ Church sought permission from Troy to hold worship services at a former bank building downtown. The congregation needed a conditional use permit because the building was zoned for business, not religious events. According to the Justice Department lawsuit, the city regularly allows noncommercial activity in its downtown business district, as well as noncommercial redevelopment. But many residents spoke against Christ Church's plan, including some who complained about the congregation's beliefs and practices, and Troy leaders denied the conditional use permit. 'In its denial of the application, the city said the 'great majority of the city residents' opposed approving the permit,' the Yakima Herald-Republic reported. The City Council reaffirmed the denial on appeal. In the new lawsuit, the Justice Department argues that Troy violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, or RLUIPA, when it denied the conditional use permit. The denial stemmed from animus toward the congregation, not legitimate governmental concerns, the lawsuit alleges. 'RLUIPA unequivocally forbids local governments from deciding zoning matters based on their dislike of certain religious groups,' said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in a statement. The lawsuit also accuses Troy of treating faith-based requests for zoning law adjustments differently than secular ones. 'The City Code, on its face, and in the C-1 zoning district where the Subject Property is located, treats religious assembly uses on less than equal terms with nonreligious assemblies or institutions,' the suit says. In an interview with Fox News, Richardson, the Troy city attorney, rejected the Justice Department's claims and criticized it for using 'bullying tactics.' 'The case isn't about religion, he said, but about the city preserving the two-block downtown area as a commercial district and resisting the influx of as many as 15% of its population gathering at one location and putting a 'strain on the city's limited resources,'' Fox News reported. Although Christ Church is a small congregation in a rural area of Idaho, this month is not the first time it has made national news. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the church's members were arrested for violating Moscow's mask mandate while singing hymns and protesting the city's pandemic-related public health rules. President Donald Trump defended their protest in a social media post at the time, according to Idaho News 6.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Farmers enlist surprising helpers in effort to save $300 million in lost crops: 'They have been extremely accurate'
Canine noses can sniff out everything from disease-carrying pests to ecologically damaging invasive species. Now, they could be the key to ensuring a popular summer fruit continues to burst with flavor while saving the Northwest's agricultural industry millions in lost revenue. As reported by the Yakima Herald-Republic, cherry growers in Washington state may soon use dogs to help detect which fruit trees are infected with little cherry disease and similar X-disease pathogens, which can result in smaller, bitter-tasting cherries. All in all, these diseases cost the Northwest cherry industry around $300 million each year. To combat this, Washington State University is helping to lead the charge with its Yakima-based little cherry disease program. Early research and testing have discovered that dogs may provide a more comprehensive diagnosis than traditional and damaging PCR tests, helping teams identify which trees to target for removal to prevent disease spread. This may become increasingly important as the agricultural sector as a whole grapples with the impacts of a warming climate. "PCR only tests a small part of the tree and is very destructive," Corina Serban, who heads the WSU initiative, told the Herald-Republic. "Dogs test the whole tree, and at this point they have been extremely accurate. They haven't alerted on a [non-infected] tree." This year, the WSU team will test additional trees flagged by the dogs and gather data along with Jessica Kohntopp, an Idaho-based K9 owner who has a background in training canines to recognize citrus grove diseases in Florida. Kohntopp teamed up with WSU in 2023. Now, researchers are seeking funding to extend the two-year project. If all goes well, canine detectors could make their way to orchard and nursery owners over the next few years. "As a researcher, you really want to make sure you don't send these dogs into an orchard and they falsely alert," Serban told the Herald-Republic. "Jessica would like more data but she is really confident that the dogs are finding it." What is stopping you from upgrading to a heat pump system? The cost of installation I live in a cold area I don't know enough about it I already have one Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
WA food banks bracing for potential impacts from federal cuts and tariffs
(Photo courtesy of Washington State Department of Agriculture) This article was first published by the Yakima Herald-Republic. Cuts to U.S. Department of Agriculture food assistance programs could hit local farmers, food banks and their users at a time when more families are reliant on them. Northwest Harvest CEO Thomas Reynolds has been tracking the situation closely. Northwest Harvest is a statewide nonprofit that distributes goods to most food banks in Yakima County, and has 400 partners across the state. Since 2023, it has operated the Fruitvale Community Market in Yakima, a food pantry modeled after a grocery store and one of the largest food banks in the state. Lately, the lines at Fruitvale Community Market have been much longer than usual, Reynolds told the Yakima Herald-Republic. The food bank is open three days a week. Last summer, it served about 750 households on the days it was open, a number that's now grown to 1,300 households. 'That's a really strong indicator that household budgets are being constrained by the increased cost of rent, of fuel, of food and of health care,' Reynolds said. The federal funding situation is changing each day, he said. 'It's just a dynamic situation right now,' Reynolds said. He does not believe a complete federal cut would happen, as too many constituents rely on these programs. If there was a complete cut, 'every food bank overnight would have to quadruple what they're doing just to meet the gap,' he said. Reynolds said Northwest Harvest is preparing for a wide range of scenarios. While the organization does not rely on federal funding to operate, many of its partners do. Northwest Harvest depends on donations of money and food, and has some state support. Adding to the situation, and his worries, are concerns about potential labor shortages during the upcoming harvest season and tariffs impacting farmers' bottom line, which might lower produce donations to Northwest Harvest. Northwest Harvest has increased its budget for purchasing food in case less food is donated, he said. 'The growers, the orchardists, the ranchers in the Yakima Valley are some of the most generous people in Washington state,' Reynolds said. About 70% of the foods the organization distributes across the state are fruits and vegetables, most of which are grown near Yakima, he said. It also receives local beef, dairy, eggs and will trade some of its apples for other in-demand goods it can't get locally, like citrus fruit. He's also concerned about how the terminations of USDA research positions might impact the future of American agriculture. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat who represents Washington state, lambasted the Trump administration for funding cuts in a news conference on April 10. She said $1.6 billion in funds that help food banks, public school students and local farmers have been cut nationwide. The USDA's Local Food for Schools program awards funds to schools to buy local produce; the Local Food Purchase Assistance program helps states, tribes and territories buy local food for food banks; and the Emergency Food Assistance Program provides food assistance to people with low incomes. All are facing cuts. Around $25 million would have gone to Washington state alone, she said. 'Right now, some of the richest and most powerful men in the world are stealing food from our kids,' Murray said. Joining Murray was Cal Coblentz, CEO of Partners Inland Northwest, a food bank in Spokane. Coblentz said that at least a quarter of households in Washington need some kind of food assistance, according to studies by the state Department of Agriculture. That increased from just one in seven in 2021, he said. In some areas, up to 70% of households with children might need food assistance. So far, 23 school districts have withdrawn from the Local Food from Schools program because they don't have money in their budgets to make up for the federal funding shortfall, according to Murray's office. The program helps get fresh food to around 850,000 students in Washington state, the senator said. The Local Food Purchase Assistance program and the Emergency Food Assistance Program also saw cuts of $500 million each nationwide, she said. USDA Farm to School grants also were canceled, which help food purchasing programs as well as field trips and school gardens. 'These programs support American farmers by buying their products,' Murray said. Cutting the programs hurt the domestic market at a time when the international market is in flux with proposed tariffs, she said. 'It's almost as if their plan is to hammer farmers as hard as they can,' Murray said. Haley Olsen-Wailand, a farmer who grows organic vegetables on the Olympic Peninsula, said last year was the best year financially in her family's 22 years of growing. But now, she has major concerns about the future with the federal cuts. She said just under 20% of her farm's gross sales came from sales to food banks, spurred directly by Local Food Purchase Assistance program funds, she said. A grocery store might not want curved cucumbers, but food banks will buy them. 'As a farmer, having a market for secondary vegetables and fruits is very valuable,' she said. Local schools were starting to make more meals from scratch using local produce because of the programs. 'We were excited by the idea that we had an expanding local market,' she said. 'In our industry, new markets are few and far between.' Now she's not as confident. 'We put these seeds in the ground, and it's months before we harvest them. We need to know where they are going, she said. 'Losing these markets is a really big blow to us right as our costs are rising.' Questen Inghram is a Murrow News Fellow at the Yakima Herald-Republic. Email qinghram@ or call 509-577-7674.
