What We Learned This Week - "Things on a Stick"

Blue-green algae plagued Iowa and North Dakota waters, raising cyanotoxin-related health concerns.  Researchers found neonicotinoid pesticides in over half of the U.S. streams they sampled.  A federal judge in North Dakota ordered a Friday hearing on a thirteen-state request to block the new Waters of the United States rule. The cause behind a significant Whitewater River fish kill three weeks ago has yet to be determined.  Upper Mississippi River mussels and High Plains sage grouse are making a comeback, and that's a good thing. Yellowstone River region bison are making a comeback, too, but some say that's not so good. At the Iowa State Fair, Presidential contenders spoke with voters, played festival games, and pretended to be normal by eating things on a stick.  The new flood control structures that are fueling a New Orleans rebuilding burst ignore the impacts of climate change. In the wake of falling oil revenues, Louisiana was forced to cut $4.6 million from state programs. Louisiana maps today look essentially the same as they did in the 1930s, but the River delta landscape they represent don't.  A Chippewa group's plans to gather wild rice from a Central Minnesota lake drew warnings from the state DNR.  A second round of closed-door meetings between the Kentucky Coal Association and the state’s leading gubernatorial candidates drew media criticism, and one candidate won’t say whether he plans to attend. And last but not least, the culprit in an ongoing, "novel" pollution event in the Boulder Creek watershed was finally nabbed.