krystal and her cousin

Elon Musk’s data centers are pushing out a family that’s owned land since “before people of color were allowed to”

On a 2-acre property in Mississippi, 52-year-old Krystal Polk’s family lived off the land for generations, raising chickens and pigs, growing onions and herbs and trading their peaches for pears. The land, on the border with Tennessee in the city of Southaven, was her family’s survival, Polk said. “We lived a very simplistic life,” she…

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Colombia earthquake survivors are reliving a nightmare from 1999: “You feel a sense of powerlessness”

Jahir Rodríguez knew what was happening when he saw thick, dark clouds forming near his home in western Colombia on Monday morning. Parts of his dear Pereira were crumbling.  The urban planner and former professor also knows what happens next after a powerful earthquake devastates whole communities. He sprang into action after a deadly 1999 quake…

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Why Taylor Farms is facing scrutiny over salmonella and cyclospora outbreaks

Taylor Farms, whose lettuce public health officials have identified as the source of this summer’s widespread cyclosporiasis outbreak, now faces another serious food safety issue. The Salinas, California, produce supplier recently recalled several food items made with jalapeños suspected of being contaminated with salmonella.  But Jennifer McEntire, founder of food safety consulting firm Food Safety Strategy,…

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Inflation held steady in February before Iran war drove up gas prices, CPI report shows

The Consumer Price Index rose at an annual rate of 2.4% in February, unchanged from the prior month and representing a cooler pace than economists had forecast. The Labor Department data captures the period before the Iran war broke out in late February. Since then, oil prices have surged, driving inflation concerns among investors.  “Inflation was starting to ease in…

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