| Harris, Biden’s VP pick, opposed USMCA, backed farm bill – AgriPulse 8/14/20 Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s pick as his Democratic running mate, has gone on record opposing new trade agreements, including the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and has taken up the interest of farmworkers during her short tenure in the U.S. Senate. Harris, a former California attorney general, was elected to the Senate in 2016 to succeed fellow Democrat Barbara Boxer. Her four-year Senate tenure hasn’t produced a long voting record on agriculture and trade policy, but she supported the 2018 farm bill and took stands on some rural issues….”Senator Harris is a very smart and fair leader,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta in Stockton, Calif. “She will work productively with all parties to help solve California’s water challenges.” Millions in US face losing water supply as coronavirus moratoriums end – The Guardian 8/14/20 Millions of families in America risk losing running water over unpaid bills as moratoriums on shutoffs expire across the country, despite record levels of unemployment and mounting fatalities from the coronavirus pandemic.Running water had been guaranteed to about two-thirds of Americans as hundreds of utilities suspended disconnections amid warnings from public health experts that good hygiene, particularly hand-washing, was crucial to curtailing the spread of the virus.But now at least 115 local moratoriums on water disconnections, including the statewide orders in Indiana and Ohio, have expired. That leaves 46 million or so people at risk of having their taps turned off even as the pandemic rages. |