Publication archives

A tiny species of wasp that scientists only identified last year is invading the islands and threatening to kill off the native wiliwili tree. Since scientists found the Erythrina gall wasp on Oahu in April, it has left an unsightly trail of defoliation among the wiliwili trees and red-flowering Indian coral trees on the island.

You have to wonder whether reality ever comes knocking on George W. Bush's door. If it did, would the president with the unsettling demeanor of a boy king even bother to answer? Mr. Bush is the commander in chief who launched a savage war in Iraq and now spends his days happily riding his bicycle in Texas. This is eerie. Scary. Surreal.

Oil tumbles $2.83 a barrel. Gasoline futures touch an all-time high before ending the day 9 cents lower on signs of falling demand in July. -------------------------------------------------------

Congress must soon decide on the details of a $3 billion cut in agricultural spending across the next five years. In the kind of selflessness that normally characterizes special-interest lobbying, powerful farm-commodity lobbyists are urging that farmers be protected and that the brunt of the pain be born by the neediest citizens, who struggle to get by on food stamps.

As the 2007 Farm Bill debate begins to unfold, it will be prudent to keep an eye on news items regarding the health of the overall aggregate economy. Although probably not directly related to any specifics in the farm policy arena, the economy will have an impact on budget deficit projections, which will influence the upcoming farm policy debate.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 - The Bush administration clashed with doctors on Wednesday over the merits of a proposal to charge higher co-payments to Medicaid recipients, with doctors warning that the fees could deter some poor people from seeking necessary medical care.

About 60 traders gathered in Tallahassee on Wednesday to haggle over a hot commodity. It wasn't petroleum or corn, but endangered woodpeckers. Biologists representing state and federal agencies, the military and private landowners in four states met to decide which forested areas that need red-cockaded woodpeckers should get them.

Armies of tree-boring bugs are transforming some of Yellowstone National Park's green forests into seas of red, dead trees. The bugs - four species of bark beetles and one budworm - have infested more than 50,000 acres in perhaps the largest insect outbreak recorded in Yellowstone.