11/20/06 AZM, Congress and arson sentence

The US Senate has adjourned until December 5th. That is the day lame duck Senators have agreed to take up the 2007 Agriculture Appropriations Bill. When they left town late last week without debating ag appropriations Senators agreed it would be the first order of business when they return to Washington. The new Congress in January will have to look at a Farm Bill. Incoming House Ag Committee chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota says farm bill spending should be protected despite attempts to cut government spending. PETERSON "The bill over the last four years has saved 13, 14 billion dollars below what it was supposed to cost. We didn't cause this budget problem. If we need additional baseline I think we have a good argument in the budget committees to adjust what we have to do." A pesticide that's been applied to apples, pears and other crops for nearly a half century is being phased out by 2012. AZM is used to keep crops free of codling moth and other pests but environmentalists say it poisons farm workers. Set the fire, pay the price. That's what Christopher Martin will do. The Idaho man was sent to the state penitentiary for ten years for starting a wildfire on BLM land. Martin waived his right to appeal and won't be eligible for parole consideration for at least three years. Now with Today's Food forethought here's Susan Allen. ALLEN " Communication towers could be for the birds! Literally! The Federal Trade Commission is currently in the process of considering the adoption of a plan that would revamp communications towers to make them more "bird friendly." Adaptations currently being discussed include installing new lighting systems, altering the location and size of towers and the guy wire structure throughout the US. Bird groups have concluded through studies that current communications towers are responsible for killing droves of birds. The American Bird Conservancy estimates that up to 50 million migratory birds die each year in our country alone from accidents associated with towers. The conservancy cited 230 different species of migratory birds that have been affected by the towers that are popping up everywhere equating to over one-third of all our bird population. It seems the birds are attracted to the low aircraft warning light especially during migration and like a moth to a light, birds will actually circle the towers in confusion then die from exhaustion or colliding with the guy wires. Thanks to bird lovers the FTC is taking notice. Northwest Report Bill Scott