Indian Affairs Employee Is Interior Department’s First COVID-19 Death

The pandemic has hit Native American communities particularly hard. A Bureau of Indian Affairs employee is the first Interior Department staffer to die from COVID-19, according to internal numbers obtained by HuffPost. The death, reported Tuesday, comes as the number of cases at the Interior Department has continued to increase. The unnamed Bureau of Indian […]

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At Least 40 Interior Department Employees Tested Positive For COVID-19

Internal data reviewed by HuffPost reveals how widespread the coronavirus has become within the department. At least 40 employees across the Department of the Interior have tested positive for COVID-19 and are considered contagious, resulting in mandatory employee quarantines, office closures and deep cleanings, according to internal data reviewed by HuffPost. Almost every bureau of […]

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Industry Groups Ask California To Delay Pollution Rules, Citing Pandemic

LOS ANGELES — Industry groups are pushing for California regulators to delay new environmental measures, including those meant to promote clean air. Their reason: the economic stress the COVID-19 pandemic is putting on their businesses. Groups have sent at least six letters to California officials in the past two weeks requesting delays or modifications to […]

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How Ditching the Iowa Caucus Could Remake the Biofuels Debate

If politicians no longer coveted that early “Iowa bump,” would they still feel compelled to support ethanol subsidies? In the wake of Iowa’s caucus vote-counting disaster, political staffers and pollsters alike are reconsidering the state’s “first in the nation to vote” status. The quaint caucuses and infamous fry-forward state fair could disappear were Iowa to […]

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Lawyers allege California scuba boat fire that killed 34 was result of safety violations, charging station

LOS ANGELES — Owners of a scuba-diving boat that caught fire off California’s Channel Islands last summer, trapping passengers below deck and killing 34 people, failed to follow mandated safety protocols and did not provide adequate charging procedures for electronic equipment, which likely caused the blaze, according to new legal claims on behalf of four […]

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