Government

"When recent heavy rains swelled a private Mississippi lake and began eroding its earthen dam, Yazoo County Emergency Management Director Jack Willingham was scrambling for a plan. He had no contact information for any of the homeowners who might need to evacuate, so he drove to the scene and began knocking on doors."

"The National Park Service today [Wednesday] defended its hiring of former acting Director P. Daniel Smith for a job in North Carolina that appeared to be posted just for him."

"The Trump administration completed the fewest cleanups of toxic Superfund sites last year than any administration since the program’s first years in the 1980s, figures released by the Environmental Protection Agency indicated Wednesday."

"Mandy Gunasekara, who pressed for President Trump to exit the Paris climate agreement as the Environmental Protection Agency’s top air-policy adviser, is poised to return to the agency as its next chief of staff, according to two individuals briefed on the matter."

"President Trump plans to nominate a former utility executive and Hill aide to serve as EPA deputy administrator, the White House announced today."

"John Busterud, once a top attorney for California utility giant Pacific Gas and Electric Co., will now lead EPA's Pacific Southwest branch."

"Amid an explosive outbreak of a novel coronavirus in China that has killed over 1,000 and sickened over 43,000 worldwide, US President Donald Trump proposed a nearly 19 percent budget cut to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—the agency primarily tasked with preparing for and responding to such outbreaks and other serious health threats."