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- Western US states fail to negotiate crucial Colorado River deal: ‘Mother nature isn’t going to bail us out’
Western US states fail to negotiate crucial Colorado River deal: ‘Mother nature isn’t going to bail us out’
Negotiators disbanded on Friday without a plan for the basin supplying water to 40m people, thrusting the region into uncertainty
The future of the American west hung in the balance after seven states remained at a stalemate over who should bear the brunt of the enormous water cuts needed to pull the imperiled Colorado River back from the brink.
Negotiators, who have spent years trying to iron out thorny disagreements, ended their talks on Friday without a deal – one day before a critical deadline to form a plan that had been set for Saturday.
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© Photograph: Étienne Laurent/EPA

© Photograph: Étienne Laurent/EPA

© Photograph: Étienne Laurent/EPA
Four States Sue Administration Over Loss of Public Health Funds

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Dozens of Earthquakes Have Rattled San Ramon, California

© Christie Hemm Klok for The New York Times
What Do You Get When You Put a Mummy Through a CT Scan?

© Mark Abramson for The New York Times
Rare Albatross Coasts Above California Waters Far From Home

© Melody Baran/University of California-San Diego-Scripps Institution of Oceanography, via Associated Press
FCC aims to ensure "only living and lawful Americans" get Lifeline benefits
There's another battle unfolding between the Federal Communications Commission and California over the state's distribution of federal Lifeline money. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is proposing new nationwide eligibility rules to counter what he calls California's practice of giving benefits to dead people.
California officials say the FCC allegations are overblown, and that there is simply "lag time between a death and account closure" rather than widespread failures in its Lifeline enrollment process. Meanwhile, the only Democratic commissioner on the FCC alleges that Carr's plan to change eligibility rules uses "cruel and punitive eligibility standards" that will raise prices on many people who are still very much alive and eligible for the program.
Carr's office said this week that the FCC will vote next month on rule changes to ensure that Lifeline money goes to "only living and lawful Americans" who meet low-income eligibility guidelines. Lifeline spends nearly $1 billion a year and gives eligible households up to $9.25 per month toward phone and Internet bills, or up to $34.25 per month in tribal areas.


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© Ramsay de Give for The New York Times
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Brenna Henn Wanted to Improve Genetic Medicine. Then Her N.I.H. Grant Was Cut.

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A Wealth Tax Floated in California Has Billionaires Thinking of Leaving

© Marco Bello/Getty Images