"PORTLAND, Ore. — The trial of Ammon Bundy, his brother Ryan and five of their followers, antigovernment protesters charged in the armed takeover of a national wildlife refuge earlier this year, will begin here on Tuesday in a federal court."
The Society of Environmental Journalists joined some 40 other journalism groups in a letter urging the White House to do more on improving the transparency of federal agencies. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest (pictured) had recently claimed President Obama had a good record on transparency in an August 30 letter to the New York Times. But journalism and open-government groups said plenty of problems remained — particularly press office interference with journalists' access to agency officials. See this WatchDog story.
"The Senate is set to vote on a bill providing aid for the Flint, Mich., water crisis and other threats to drinking water around the United States."
"A House committee on Thursday voted to exempt some leases from the White House's moratorium on leasing federal land for coal mining."
"A Volkswagen engineer pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiring to defraud regulators and car owners, in the first criminal charges stemming from the American investigation into the German carmaker’s emissions deception."
"A reporter from Democracy Now! who documented security personnel with guard dogs working for Dakota Access Pipeline is facing criminal trespassing charges in Morton County."
"U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, the first black U.S. senator from the deep South since Reconstruction, is proposing that the site where the Civil War began be raised in status to that of a national park."
"Brushing aside a fresh court ruling, three federal agencies said they are withholding a permit on a portion of the project near Sioux Land."
"Environmentalists sued the Obama administration on Thursday seeking new federal water-quality standards designed to protect marine life against the corrosive effects of carbon emissions absorbed into the ocean from the burning of fossil fuels."
"The governor of North Dakota has activated the state's National Guard ahead of a U.S. District judge's decision Friday morning that could inflame protesters who have been gathered here for weeks in an effort to block a pipeline project."
