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GOLD MINE ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT

Documents: Mining company writing own environmental report

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Documents show the U.S. Forest Service allowing a Canadian company to write a key environmental report on its proposed open-pit gold mines in central Idaho after the Trump administration became involved. The documents obtained by conservation group Earthworks show British Columbia-based Midas Gold's lobbying efforts after initial rebuffs from the Forest Service. The report involves the potential effect on salmon protected under the Endangered Species Act. The report could sink the project if it results in restoration work making the mines economically unfeasible. Midas Gold says it's normal for a company to write such a report and makes the process more inclusive and transparent.

PUBLIC RECORD LAWSUIT

Idaho Press Club wins public record case against Ada County

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Press Club and four Boise-area journalists have won a lawsuit they filed against Ada County officials under Idaho Public Records Act. In Friday's ruling, 4th District Judge Deborah Bail said the county's approach to the public records requests it had received from the journalists was so far removed from the requirements of the state law that it was as though the county were doing the opposite of what the Idaho Public Records Act required. She ordered the county to turn over the documents and pay the reporters' attorneys fees.

UNIVERSITIES-TUITION FREEZE

Idaho universities, college announce in-state tuition freeze

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The presidents of Idaho's four-year state universities and college have announced a tuition freeze for in-state students during the upcoming school year. It's the first statewide tuition freeze in 43 years. The move means the University of Idaho, Boise State University, Idaho State University and Lewis-Clark State College are all giving up potential revenue at a time when they are also being asked to cut budgets. Idaho State Board of Education President Debbie Critchfield says the freeze will help preserve access and affordability for Idaho students.

AP-US-WILDFIRES-LAND-MANAGEMENT

As California thins forests to limit fire risk, some resist

SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS, Calif. (AP) — Climate change and decades of lax land management practices have put the U.S. West on a collision course with out-of-control wildfires. Now authorities are rushing to limit the potential damage. Among the most important tools against fires is to thin trees and brush to reduce the amount of vegetation that would become fuel in a fire, and using controlled burns to keep undergrowth and shrub lands in check. Those efforts can be undercut if private landowners don’t cooperate. Wildfires killed 149 people and destroyed almost 25,000 homes across California in the past three years.

HANFORD CONTRACT

New Hanford cleanup contract worth up to $10B awarded

RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — The Department of Energy has awarded a new Hanford environmental cleanup contract worth up to $10 billion over 10 years. The Tri-City Herald reports the winning bidder for the new Hanford Central Plateau Cleanup Contract announced Thursday is a team of Aecom Management Services in Maryland; Fluor Federal Services in South Carolina; and Atkins Nuclear Secured in Tennessee. The work includes digging up contaminated soil and debris, tearing down defunct buildings with radioactive or hazardous chemical contamination, operating lined landfills for radioactive and hazardous chemical waste, and cleaning up contaminated groundwater.

AP-US-CHRISTMAS-TREES-IMMIGRANTS

Crash shines light on immigrants in Christmas tree workforce

GERVAIS, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s Christmas tree industry suffered a blow recently when three men died after a pickup truck slammed into a van carrying them and 10 other Guatemalans home from work at a tree farm. The Nov. 29 crash shined a light on Oregon’s immigrant farm workers, the driving force behind the nation's largest Christmas tree industry. State Employment Department officials say Oregon Christmas tree farmers faced a tight labor market this year. They used farm labor contractors who found migrant workers in California to help with the tree harvest. Labor shortages have become a problem across the agriculture industry and have sparked a push in Washington to address the issue.

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