Washington — A controversial U.S. Department of Agriculture final rule unveiled Sept. 17 removes maximum line speeds in pork-processing plants and transfers certain inspection responsibilities to plant workers.

Minneapolis — A coalition consisting of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, three local affiliate unions and watchdog group Public Citizen is suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture over a controversial final rule that removes maximum line speeds in pork-processing plants and transfers certain inspection responsibilities to plant workers.

OSHA’s 2023 final rule updating its electronic injury and illness reporting requirements went into effect in January, and the first reports under the revised requirements were already due to the agency on March 2.

This time next year, the nation will be electing a new president, who could move OSHA in a different direction. What can the agency accomplish in the remaining months of the Obama administration? OSHA-watchers weigh in.

Washington – OSHA’s final rule on preventing slips, trips and falls is scheduled for publication in August, according to the spring regulatory agenda released May 18.

OSHA’s final rule on occupational exposure to beryllium is scheduled for publication in January, according to the Department of Labor’s fall regulatory agenda, released Nov. 17.

Washington – OSHA has issued a final rule lowering occupational exposure limits for beryllium. The standards apply to general industry, construction and shipyards.

OSHA has issued a long-awaited final rule lowering occupational exposure limits for beryllium, a lightweight metal used in various industries. Supporters of the rule say it's the result of an innovative collaboration between industry and labor.

Washington – A final rule intended to protect workers from exposure to beryllium has been delayed a second time.

Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency says the potentially carcinogenic chemical substance 1,4-dioxane poses “unreasonable risk” to workers under certain conditions.

Washington — An Environmental Protection Agency final rule will require manufacturers and importers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to report information on PFAS use, exposures and hazards.

Washington – OSHA has issued a final rule that revises requirements for face and eye protection for workers in general industry, construction and longshoring, as well as at shipyards and marine terminals.

Washington — NIOSH has announced winners of the third and final phase of its Respirator Fit Evaluation Challenge.

Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a final rule on asbestos intended to keep manufacturers from reintroducing “discontinued uses” of the known human carcinogen into the market without EPA approval.

Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency has announced the availability of the final scope of Part 2 of the final risk evaluation to be conducted for asbestos.

Washington — A bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers have introduced a joint Congressional Review Act resolution to repeal the National Labor Relations Board’s recently revised joint employer rule.

Washington – OSHA on April 1 released its final rule on electric power generation, transmission and distribution; and electrical protective equipment.

Washington — A coalition of roadway safety advocacy groups, in conjunction with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Department of Transportation challenging a controversial final rule FMCSA claims will add flexibility to hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers.

Washington — A pair of advocacy groups are calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to reconsider a final rule aimed at strengthening protections for drivers and passengers in light vehicles involved in “underride” crashes, which occur when vehicles strike the rear of large trucks and slide underneath.

Washington — OSHA’s rule on worker walkaround representation is undergoing a final review, according to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website.

Washington — OSHA’s final rule on worker walkaround representation is set to go into effect May 31.

Washington — OSHA submitted its permanent standard on COVID-19 for the health care industry to the White House Office of Management and Budget for final review Dec. 7.

Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency has published a final rule that restores pesticide application exclusion zone requirements intended to protect farmworkers, pesticide handlers and workers’ families.

Washington — The Federal Aviation Administration has finalized a policy requiring air traffic controllers to have at least 10 hours of off-duty time between shifts.

Washington — A new Federal Transit Administration final rule establishes mandatory minimum safety standards for rail transit employees who work on or near tracks.

Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency, in accordance with the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, is seeking comment on proposed significant new use rules for six chemical substances that are subject to agency premanufacture notices.

Arlington, VA — Mine operators will soon be required to have a written safety program for mobile and powered haulage equipment “developed and updated with input from miners and their representatives.”

Washington — A long-anticipated Mine Safety and Health Administration final rule intended to reduce miners’ exposure to silica has been sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review.

Arlington, VA — The Mine Safety and Health Administration has issued a long-anticipated final rule that lowers miners’ permissible exposure limit to respirable crystalline silica.

Washington — A new Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement final rule codifies existing agency practice related to the review and approval of projects that will feature “new or unusual technology” – including equipment used in high-pressure or high-temperature environments.

Kyowa Hakko USA is excited to announce the launch of CENTR Enhanced sparkling water, a functional beverage with a blend of nootropic and adaptogenic ingredients that includes its Cognizin® citicoline.

Six years after playing at Tell Me More's first anniversary, the the jazz group performs as the show closes.

The host shares some final thoughts before the close of the show.

This primary's days are numbered - and we've got what you need to get ready for Tuesday. Primary expert Dante Scala tells Brady why the first-in-the-nation vote can break your heart, yet keep you coming back for more. Plus, how New Hampshire is and isn't like the rest of the country. And a hero public radio reporter saves a First in the Nation landmark.

The Orion upper stage of the Angara-A5 heavy rocket launched the Gagarinets small satellite into low Earth orbit, Roscosmos said on its Telegram channel. "The Cubesat 3U format satellite was created by Russian private company Avant Space and is intended to test elements of the service platform,” the state corporation said. After the launch of the Gagarinets, the upper stage continued its work.

The US will expand sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. The sanctions will now affect companies that provide services or funding to install equipment on board the vessels that take part in the project. Such a move may permanently halt the construction of the pipeline. The news to expand the sanctions was reported on the website of the US Department of State. Similar restrictions are to be imposed on the participants of the Turkish Stream and other similar projects.The Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline provides for the construction of two sections of the gas pipeline system with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the coast of Russia to Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Originally, the construction of the pipeline system was supposed to be completed in 2019. However, the work on the project was suspended after US Congress passed a package of sanctions against the participants of the project. The USA remains opposed to the project, claiming that it makes Europe overly dependent on Russian natural gas and increases political pressure on Ukraine, which transits natural gas further to Europe. Kiev and several countries of the European Union share the same position. "Russia uses its energy export pipelines to create national and regional dependencies on Russian energy supplies, leveraging these dependencies to expand its political, economic, and military influence, weaken European security, and undermine U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. These pipelines also reduce European energy diversification, and hence weaken European energy security," the US State Department said in a statement. Russia, Germany, Austria and a number of other countries, whose companies are involved in the construction, insist that this is nothing but a business project.In late 2019, the United States imposed sanctions on Nord Stream-2, having demanded the companies involved in the construction should immediately stop their works on the project. Allseas, a Swiss company, pulled out of the project almost at once.Representatives of Russia's natural gas monopoly, Gazprom, stated that they would be able to complete the construction of Nord Stream-2 independently. For the time being, one needs to finish the construction of the section that is 100 kilometres long. On October 17, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in an interview with RND that the project would be completed.

Case Western Reserve University has a new offer for the 25 to 30 students each year who are named finalists for the prestigious Hertz Fellowship but are not ultimately selected as Hertz Fellows: matriculate at CWRU and receive full financial benefits.

[Sports] :
The North Korean women's football team defeated the world's top ranked U.S. squad in the semifinals of the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup under way in Colombia, moving a step closer to winning their third World Cup title. North Korea claimed a one-nil victory over the U.S. in the ...

[more...]

[Economy] :
A large delegation representing Czech power authorities will make a two-week visit to South Korea for working-level negotiations ahead of the conclusion of a final contract for the Czech nuclear power plant project.  Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power(KHNP), which was selected in July as the preferred bidder ...

[more...]

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has...

File: Stephen Yan dresses as Deadpool at Comic-Con on July 19, 2013 in San Diego.; Credit: Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images

Hey, you! Yeah, you reading this! They're finally making a Deadpool movie!

If you like fourth-wall breaking, second-person addresses like the above, you may be in the target audience for the long-in-development "Deadpool," which Twentieth Century Fox announced Thursday that it was finally moving ahead with, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The studio announced a Feb. 12, 2016 release date for the film with Tim Miller set to direct the character who's served as both friend and foe to the X-Men.

The so-called "Merc with a Mouth" is a mercenary character created in the early '90s by artist Rob Liefeld, with Liefeld being an outspoken champion for the character. The character was part of the same Weapon X program that created Wolverine, with a similar healing factor power, but with a horribly scarred face he covers with a mask. He's also been played as crazy, which manifests itself as the character often knowing he's in a comic book and talking directly to the reader.

Ryan Reynolds has long been tied to the project, including playing a version of the character in the much-hated "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," but no deal has been made yet, according to the Reporter.

This follows footage leaking over the summer of a "Deadpool" test with Reynolds voicing the character in a CGI clip. Reynolds said in an interview in the Niagara Falls Review earlier this month that that it's unfortunate the footage leaked, "but who cares," because the positive response to the clip had helped push the film forward after being stuck in development hell.

"The movie has been in a state of limbo for a while. There was such an overpowering reaction to the footage, you sort of feel like, 'Oh, so we weren't crazy for our reasons for loving this character, for loving this role.' It's interesting to see the power of the Internet. It's awe-inspiring, actually," Reynolds told the Review. "And it's neat that Twitter and Facebook and Instagram can move mountains when used in the right way."

Watch the "Deadpool" test footage below (Warning: Contains some adult language):

Deadpool test footage

There'd also been debate about whether a movie would stay true to the character's outrageous attitude mixed with violence and go for an R rating, or whether it would go for a wider audience by staying at PG-13. Deadpool creator Liefeld has argued that the film would work just fine without restricting its audience with an R.

Liefeld tweet 1

Liefeld tweet 2

Liefeld told the Daily Superhero in a previous interview that the footage for the test was filmed three years ago, using motion capture over footage of Reynolds. He also talked up Miller as a director, noting that he directed the pre-credits scene for "Thor: The Dark World."

"Fox had released a relatively small budget for Tim to present his vision of the script written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick," Liefeld said. "The digital costume over Ryan Reynold's motion capture (Mo-Cap) performance was an approach they wanted to explore and they had a relatively small window to create this short so they opted to 'test' the look of a digital Deadpool costume over Ryan. I'm quite pleased at how it turned out, especially considering Baraka-Deadpool from Wolverine Origins."

Liefeld was referring to the transformation of Deadpool in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" to a mouthless, pointy-limbed character in the film, which many fans argued took away what they loved most about Deadpool: His sense of humor. Liefeld also said he'd seen even more impressive sequences than the one that made its way online.

It's unclear whether this will tie in with the other X-Men films, but with the studio's recent attempt to tie together the "First Class" franchise with the older X-Men films in "Days of Future Past" and the character's long history of involvement with the X-Men and other related teams, it seems like a likely move.

Former LA Times food writer Russ Parsons offers John Rabe a piece of pie, in John's Mercedes; Credit: John Rabe/KPCC

Semi-retired, former LA Times food writer Russ Parsons appeared often on Off-Ramp over the years, helping to explain the city’s communities through their food, as well as giving solid cooking advice. For the final edition of Off-Ramp, John picked up Russ at Jongewaard's Bake-N-Broil, a Long Beach institution.

Parsons brought John an olallieberry pie (a cross of 'Black Logan' blackberries and youngberries), whilst the inimitable Parsons -- author of "How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table" and "How to Read a French Fry: And Other Stories of Intriguing Kitchen Science" -- opted for the coconut cream.

Listen to the audio for John and Russ' observations on how food brings the disparate cultures of Los Angeles together, and to hear about which part of hosting Off-Ramp is as humbling for John as it is for Parsons when readers tell him they cook his food at Thanksgiving.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

The US Supreme Court is seen in Washington, DC on July 1, 2021.; Credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court ends its spring term today with two final decisions expected to come down, one involving a pivotal voting rights case out of Arizona and the other involving so-called “dark money” and campaign finance. 

Today on AirTalk, we’ll get a summary of the arguments that each side in the two cases will be making, and we’ll look back on the Spring 2021 term overall, as the nine justices will break until the fall.

Guests:

Vikram Amar, dean and professor of law at the University of Illinois College of Law

David Becker, executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonpartisan, non-profit organization that works with election officials around the country to ensure convenient and secure voting for all voters; he is the former director of the elections program at The Pew Charitable Trusts and a former senior trial attorney in the Voting Section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; he tweets @beckerdavidj

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Architectural plans have been finalized for the new Sherrills Ford branch of Catawba County Library. The 10,000 square foot facility, to be erected on 2.5 acres near the intersection of Highway 150 and Sherrills Ford Road, is expected to be completed in 2014.

The latest and final in a series of congressionally mandated biennial reviews of the evidence of health problems that may be linked to exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides used during the Vietnam War changed the categorization of health outcomes for bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, and spina bifida and clarified the breadth of the previous finding for Parkinson’s disease.

Student teams from Kansas, Massachusetts and New York are finalists in the American Society of Baking’s 2016 Product Development Competition.

Puratos Serbia has utilized flour and dough analysis technology to help develop a game-changing quality assurance database for its extensive product line.

Attendees can vote on the awards during the packaging show, Sept. 11–13 in Las Vegas.

The capital infusion will be used to scale up inventory, hire key operational staff, and broaden its network of creators and brand ambassadors.

Five U.S.-based food, beverage, and CPG women entrepreneurs will compete for $60K in cash and in-kind prizes on Nov. 14 at The Town Hall by Skylight in NYC.