Light News Dump

Lawns are the largest and most useless irrigated crop in the US
https://anarchimedia.com/2019/01/25/lawns-are-the-largest-and-most-useless-irrigated-crop-in-the-us/

Trump fracking plan targets over 1 million acres in California
https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-fracking-oil-gas-california-20190425-story.html

Pentagon prepares to illegally expand military’s role at border by loosening rules prohibiting troops from interacting with migrants
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2019/04/26/pentagon-prepares-to-expand-militarys-role-at-border-by-loosening-rules-prohibiting-troops-from-interacting-with-migrants/

A pod of orcas is starving to death. A tribe has a radical plan to feed them | The Lummi Nation is dropping live salmon into the sea in a last-ditch rescue effort: ‘We don’t have much time’
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/25/orca-starving-washington-feed-salmon-lummi-native-american

Trump withdraws from UN Arms Trade Treaty
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/nra-supporters-back-trump-bad-business/story?id=62615916

Mar-A-Lago Rejected Dozens Of Americans In Favor Of Foreign Workers: Trump often says his resorts have no choice but to hire foreign guest workers — there just aren’t any Americans to take the jobs. But government records show nearly 60 US residents applied for those jobs, and only one was hired.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/mar-a-lago-rejected-dozens-of-americans-in-favor-of-foreign

'Columbus Day' to become 'Indigenous Peoples' Day' in Maine with governor's signature
https://www.wmtw.com/article/columbus-day-to-become-indigenous-peoples-day-in-maine-with-governors-signature/27282314

Oklahoma combines Native American Day and Columbus Day
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/440820-oklahoma-to-combine-native-american-day-with-columbus-day

UN says 3rd Hezbollah tunnel crossed into Israel
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/un-confirms-3rd-hezbollah-tunnel-at-lebanon-israel-frontier/2019/04/25/237fe3fc-6752-11e9-a698-2a8f808c9cfb_story.html

Sexism is when Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders don't have to explain why they voted for the Crime Bill, but Hillary Clinton had to explain why her husband signed the Crime Bill.
https://twitter.com/mrfilmkritik/status/1121560739087515649?s=21

I can't believe they're straight up pretending Bernie didn't vote for the crime bill again. Again.
https://twitter.com/agraybee/status/1121517886370086926?s=21

Hundreds quarantined at 2 Los Angeles universities after measles scare
https://abcnews.go.com/US/hundreds-quarantine-ucla-cal-state-university-measles-scare/story?id=62640448

90% of nuclear plants can’t handle the flood risk they face, but Trump team ignores threat
https://thinkprogress.org/nuclear-plants-flood-risk-trump/

South Texas Mayor Is Arrested on Election Fraud Charges, Fueling Bitter Political Fight. According to court documents, Mr. Molina and his wife were both registered as volunteer voter registrars in the 2017 election and were authorized to help people fill out voter registration applications. Several of those with false addresses were signed by Mr. Molina and included his voter registrar number, according to the criminal complaint. Nearly 20 people have been arrested since last year in connection with the fraud case. Prosecutors said the scheme — involving Mr. Molina, his wife and paid campaign workers — was largely carried out by having numerous voters who did not live in Edinburg claim they were residents, including many who stated they lived in an apartment complex Mr. Molina owns.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/us/texas-voter-fraud-molina-edinburg.html

Five new cosponsors sign onto House impeachment resolution
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-impeachment-five-new-cosponsors-sign-onto-house-resolution/

Senator Warren introduces military housing bill to boost inspections, transparency
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-housing-bill/senator-warren-introduces-military-housing-bill-to-boost-inspections-transparency-idUSKCN1S2142

Trump Is Still Defending His Response To Deadly Charlottesville White Nationalist Rally
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/donald-trump-charlottesville-rally-robert-e-lee

Hacker Finds They Can Kill Car Engines After Breaking Into GPS Tracking Apps. "I can absolutely make a big traffic problem all over the world"
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zmpx4x/hacker-monitor-cars-kill-engine-gps-tracking-apps

Saudi Arabia said they confessed. But court filings show some executed men protested their innocence
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/26/middleeast/saudi-executions-court-documents-intl/index.html

Elizabeth Warren offers military housing bill to boost inspections, transparency following a series of reports revealing squalid conditions in privately managed base homes
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-housing-bill/senator-warren-introduces-military-housing-bill-to-boost-inspections-transparency-idUSKCN1S2142

Pizza Huts Across U.S. to Have Vegan Cheese by End of Summer
https://theveganherald.com/pizza-huts-across-u-s-to-have-vegan-cheese-by-end-of-summer/

Saudi Arabia beheaded a pro-democracy protester set to attend college in U.S.
https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/wjv5zn/saudi-arabia-beheaded-a-pro-democracy-protester-set-to-attend-college-in-us

My new hobby: calling out greenwashing on Twitter. In this case, Nestlé proudly announces to care about deforestation but then stops responding when I point out their hypocrisy
https://twitter.com/Nestle/status/1120436132615983106

Beto [VIDEO] Let us forever free Dreamers from any fear of deportation by making them citizens today, bring their parents and millions more out of the shadows, honor our asylum laws, never again take another child from another parent, and reunite every family that has been separated so far.
https://twitter.com/BetoORourke/status/1121815618422857728

F.B.I. Warns of Russian Interference in 2020 Race and Boosts Counterintelligence Operations
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/us/politics/fbi-russian-election-interference.html

Activists say new Canadian group supporting China's control of Tibet is a front for Beijing
https://nationalpost.com/news/activists-say-new-canadian-group-supporting-chinas-control-of-tibet-is-a-front-for-beijing

E.P.A. Proposes Weaker Standards on Chemicals Contaminating Drinking Water
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/us/epa-chemical-standards-water.html

ISIS flags and explosives found in Sri Lankan raids
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/26/asia/sri-lanka-bombings-suspect-intl/index.html

Scott Wheeler's EPA killed a report on formaldehyde toxicity
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-the-epa-stifling-science-on-chemical-toxicity-reports/

Dayton, Ohio Braces Itself For Upcoming KKK Rally
https://forward.com/fast-forward/423278/dayton-ohio-braces-itself-for-upcoming-kkk-rally/