NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — Authorities in northeastern Nebraska say a Madison County man who was burning trash on his rural property died when the flames caught his clothing on fire. 

The Norfolk Daily News reports the incident happened Monday morning on property northwest of Norfolk. 

Firefighters and Madison County Sheriff's deputies called to the scene for a report of a fire found 72-year-old Stanley Acklie dead on his property from burn injuries. 

Officials say his body was found near a fire that was burning several outbuildings on the property. 

Sheriff Todd Volk said in a statement that Acklie had been burning trash when the fire apparently went out of control. 

The area has been under an elevated fire risk because of high winds and dry conditions.

By Associated PressNORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — Authorities in northeastern Nebraska say a Madison County man who was burning trash on his rural property died when the flames caught his clothing on fire. The Norfolk Daily News reports the incident happened Monday morning on property northwest of Norfolk. Firefighters and Madison County Sheriff's deputies called to the scene for a report of a fire found 72-year-old Stanley Acklie dead on his property from burn injuries. Officials say his body was found near a fire that was burning several outbuildings on the property. Sheriff Todd Volk said in a statement that Acklie had been burning trash when the fire apparently went out of control. The area has been under an elevated fire risk because of high winds and dry conditions.

Nebraska man killed in trash burn when clothes caught fire

By WENDY STOVALL <a href="https://dailymontanan.com/2022/04/12/scientists-get-together-to-role-play-volcano-eruption-predictions/">For the Daily Montanan</a>

In February, 100 scientists got together to practice coordinating themselves during a pretend volcanic eruption.

As scientists who work on potentially active volcanoes, we ask 
ourselves “what” questions a lot. What if a volcano starts showing signs
 that it’s waking up? What sort of eruption might happen at a given 
volcano?&nbsp; What types of hazards might result from an eruption? Pondering
 such questions and the depths of possible answers always lead to 
further questions, then answers, then ultimately more questions, and on 
and on.

One of the ways that we examine these questions is to gather a group 
of scientists pondering the same thing and pretend it is happening. 
That’s right – we roll play a volcanic event! This practice helps us 
create plans and be better prepared to respond to an actual volcanic 
event.

For the month of February 2022, we did just this. A group of about 
100 scientists representing 40 different institutions participated in a 
roleplaying scenario of a volcanic eruption. The fake eruption was in 
northern Arizona’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/san-francisco-volcanic-field">San Francisco Volcanic Field</a>&nbsp;(SFVF), which one day could erupt in real life – although there is no sign of any volcanic unrest in the area right now.

This scenario was the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Feos.org%2Fscience-updates%2Fmaking-the-most-of-volcanic-eruption-responses&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cyellowstone-caldera-chronicles%40listserv.usgs.gov%7C0a4b61ed13ea4c0072f408da1bc39abd%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C637852824164827756%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=t6lIXjP%2BBPCIhtl5cWd36%2FcMHVutVHMZKZj4Tdu3s%2Bs%3D&amp;reserved=0">second of its kind</a>&nbsp;hosted
 by the NSF-funded Community Network for Volcanic Eruption Response 
(CONVERSE). This group of researchers aim to enable, organize, and focus
 the collaboration of academic researchers and U.S. federal agencies 
involved in volcano science.

A team of eight scientists from different disciplines, like 
seismology, geology, and gas geochemistry, organized the scenario. The 
organizational team shared with the scenario participants volcano 
monitoring data (earthquake locations, ground surface motions, and 
volcanic gas measurements) and “official” volcanic activity 
notifications from the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO is 
responsible for monitoring and reporting on volcanic activity in the 
southwest U.S.). In effect, the organizers were the “dungeon masters,” 
and the participating scientists played roles closely aligned with what 
they would do in an actual volcanic eruption.

To make it realistic, the organization team had to conceptualize the rise of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.usgs.gov/glossary/volcano-hazards-program-glossary">magma</a>&nbsp;from
 deep within the earth to the surface. Organizers looked to the 
long-extinct 3–4-million-year-old San Rafael volcanic field located in 
southern Utah. The upper 2625 feet (800 meters) of the once subterranean
 volcanic plumbing system is visible today in the form of eroded dikes, 
sills, and volcanic conduits. Several researchers (including one of the 
scenario organizers) have used this geologic evidence to piece together 
the region’s eruption history, which fed into the design of the SFVF 
scenario.

With an analog volcano lined up, it was up to the geologists, 
geophysics, and gas geochemists of the organizer group to invent 
realistic datasets that would precede the pretend eruption. They relied 
upon actual data from similar eruptions, such as <a target="_blank" href="https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/b965D">Parícutin&nbsp;</a>(Mexico),&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.usgs.gov/media/videos/image-week-volcano-spains-la-palma-island">La Palma&nbsp;</a>(Canary Islands),&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/recent-eruption">Kīlauea&nbsp;</a>(Hawaii), and&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.vedur.is%2Fvolcanoes%2Ffagradalsfjall-eruption%2F&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cyellowstone-caldera-chronicles%40listserv.usgs.gov%7C0a4b61ed13ea4c0072f408da1bc39abd%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C637852824164827756%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=JBw7pAwo2X5vFW%2FkpYlpVWVzWTlJpbQAPz21KV0Dlhk%3D&amp;reserved=0">Fagradalsfjall&nbsp;</a>(Iceland). Some of the organizers took these data and developed mathematical models of ground movement and&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.usgs.gov/glossary/volcano-hazards-program-glossary">lava flow</a>&nbsp;areas, which were provided to the participants as the scenario progressed.

The entire group communicated in a collaborative virtual workspace 
and participated in two video conference calls each week. Pretend 
seismometers, GPS stations, gas sensors, and video surveillance 
equipment were “installed” in the “field.” Scientists planned fake 
sample collection campaigns and flew phony UAS video and gas monitoring 
instruments. Real, “what if” conversations were held between state, 
federal, and academic groups. Overall, it strengthened bonds between the
 community of scientists who might respond to future volcanic eruptions 
in the United States.

Scenarios like this allow scientists to practice working together, 
ensuring volcanic behavior is well documented while keeping people safe.
 Specifically, the USGS is mandated by the U.S. federal government to 
keep watch over the nation’s volcanoes and monitor hazards, then issue 
warnings to reduce the societal impacts of volcanic 
eruptions. Scientific researchers from academic and other institutions 
can bring unique perspectives to better understanding volcanic activity,
 aiding USGS scientists and land managers in the hazards response to an 
eruption. Because safety is a foremost concern, emphasis is placed on 
solid communication and coordination between all parties involved in 
observing, researching, and forecasting volcanic behavior.

Ultimately, the outcomes of this scenario will inform a new 
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory volcanic eruption response plan 
specifically for the Southwest U.S. volcanic fields located in Utah, 
Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.

So, why was San Francisco Volcanic Field chosen? The SFVF is one of the youngest of the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/yvo/dispersed-volcanic-fields-are-found-through-western-us">many volcanic fields spread throughout the western United States</a>,
 and it is relatively well studied. There’s a significant population 
center on its border (Flagstaff), and there will likely be eruptions 
from the area again. The&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/san-francisco-volcanic-field/sunset-crater">1085 A.D. eruption of Sunset Crater</a>&nbsp;was the most recent volcanic event from the San Francisco Volcanic Field, and&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nps.gov/sucr/learn/historyculture/people.htm">the eruption impacted indigenous people of the region</a>.

The coordination of scientists will yield a more complete 
understanding of volcanic processes and their hazards, while also aiding
 efforts to reduce the impacts of volcanic eruptions on society.

You can read more about the CONVERSE group and the February 2022 scenario at&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvolcanoresponse.org%2F&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cyellowstone-caldera-chronicles%40listserv.usgs.gov%7C0a4b61ed13ea4c0072f408da1bc39abd%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C637852824164827756%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=G2LYr4ksj6%2BF%2F1vPIofGfJ7jIZJ973p7eZ2ltdULhVU%3D&amp;reserved=0">https://volcanoresponse.org/</a>.

Yellowstone <a target="_blank" href="https://cms.usgs.gov/glossary/volcano-hazards-program-glossary">Caldera</a>&nbsp;Chronicles
 is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the 
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week’s contribution is from Wendy 
Stovall, volcanologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and Deputy 
Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/4/1649772759753.png" alt="An ash plume rises from the summit crater of Parícutin sometime during 1946-48. A thick ash deposit covers the foreground. An estimated 4,500 cattle and 550 horses died during the heavy ashfall in the early months of the eruption, devastating the local people who depended on the animals for food, plowing, and transportation. Ashfall was deeper than 6 inches over a 115 square mile area around the volcano and continued with varying intensity throughout the 9-year-long eruption. (Photo by Ray Wilcox of the U.S. Geological Survey)" />
 <figcaption>An ash plume rises from the summit crater of Parícutin sometime during 1946-48. A thick ash deposit covers the foreground. An estimated 4,500 cattle and 550 horses died during the heavy ashfall in the early months of the eruption, devastating the local people who depended on the animals for food, plowing, and transportation. Ashfall was deeper than 6 inches over a 115 square mile area around the volcano and continued with varying intensity throughout the 9-year-long eruption. (Photo by Ray Wilcox of the U.S. Geological Survey)</figcaption>
 </figure>By WENDY STOVALL <a href="https://dailymontanan.com/2022/04/12/scientists-get-together-to-role-play-volcano-eruption-predictions/">For the Daily Montanan</a>In February, 100 scientists got together to practice coordinating themselves during a pretend volcanic eruption.As scientists who work on potentially active volcanoes, we ask 
ourselves “what” questions a lot. What if a volcano starts showing signs
 that it’s waking up? What sort of eruption might happen at a given 
volcano?&nbsp; What types of hazards might result from an eruption? Pondering
 such questions and the depths of possible answers always lead to 
further questions, then answers, then ultimately more questions, and on 
and on.One of the ways that we examine these questions is to gather a group 
of scientists pondering the same thing and pretend it is happening. 
That’s right – we roll play a volcanic event! This practice helps us 
create plans and be better prepared to respond to an actual volcanic 
event.For the month of February 2022, we did just this. A group of about 
100 scientists representing 40 different institutions participated in a 
roleplaying scenario of a volcanic eruption. The fake eruption was in 
northern Arizona’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/san-francisco-volcanic-field">San Francisco Volcanic Field</a>&nbsp;(SFVF), which one day could erupt in real life – although there is no sign of any volcanic unrest in the area right now.This scenario was the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Feos.org%2Fscience-updates%2Fmaking-the-most-of-volcanic-eruption-responses&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cyellowstone-caldera-chronicles%40listserv.usgs.gov%7C0a4b61ed13ea4c0072f408da1bc39abd%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C637852824164827756%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=t6lIXjP%2BBPCIhtl5cWd36%2FcMHVutVHMZKZj4Tdu3s%2Bs%3D&amp;reserved=0">second of its kind</a>&nbsp;hosted
 by the NSF-funded Community Network for Volcanic Eruption Response 
(CONVERSE). This group of researchers aim to enable, organize, and focus
 the collaboration of academic researchers and U.S. federal agencies 
involved in volcano science.A team of eight scientists from different disciplines, like 
seismology, geology, and gas geochemistry, organized the scenario. The 
organizational team shared with the scenario participants volcano 
monitoring data (earthquake locations, ground surface motions, and 
volcanic gas measurements) and “official” volcanic activity 
notifications from the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO is 
responsible for monitoring and reporting on volcanic activity in the 
southwest U.S.). In effect, the organizers were the “dungeon masters,” 
and the participating scientists played roles closely aligned with what 
they would do in an actual volcanic eruption.To make it realistic, the organization team had to conceptualize the rise of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.usgs.gov/glossary/volcano-hazards-program-glossary">magma</a>&nbsp;from
 deep within the earth to the surface. Organizers looked to the 
long-extinct 3–4-million-year-old San Rafael volcanic field located in 
southern Utah. The upper 2625 feet (800 meters) of the once subterranean
 volcanic plumbing system is visible today in the form of eroded dikes, 
sills, and volcanic conduits. Several researchers (including one of the 
scenario organizers) have used this geologic evidence to piece together 
the region’s eruption history, which fed into the design of the SFVF 
scenario.With an analog volcano lined up, it was up to the geologists, 
geophysics, and gas geochemists of the organizer group to invent 
realistic datasets that would precede the pretend eruption. They relied 
upon actual data from similar eruptions, such as <a target="_blank" href="https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/b965D">Parícutin&nbsp;</a>(Mexico),&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.usgs.gov/media/videos/image-week-volcano-spains-la-palma-island">La Palma&nbsp;</a>(Canary Islands),&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/recent-eruption">Kīlauea&nbsp;</a>(Hawaii), and&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.vedur.is%2Fvolcanoes%2Ffagradalsfjall-eruption%2F&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cyellowstone-caldera-chronicles%40listserv.usgs.gov%7C0a4b61ed13ea4c0072f408da1bc39abd%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C637852824164827756%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=JBw7pAwo2X5vFW%2FkpYlpVWVzWTlJpbQAPz21KV0Dlhk%3D&amp;reserved=0">Fagradalsfjall&nbsp;</a>(Iceland). Some of the organizers took these data and developed mathematical models of ground movement and&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.usgs.gov/glossary/volcano-hazards-program-glossary">lava flow</a>&nbsp;areas, which were provided to the participants as the scenario progressed.The entire group communicated in a collaborative virtual workspace 
and participated in two video conference calls each week. Pretend 
seismometers, GPS stations, gas sensors, and video surveillance 
equipment were “installed” in the “field.” Scientists planned fake 
sample collection campaigns and flew phony UAS video and gas monitoring 
instruments. Real, “what if” conversations were held between state, 
federal, and academic groups. Overall, it strengthened bonds between the
 community of scientists who might respond to future volcanic eruptions 
in the United States.Scenarios like this allow scientists to practice working together, 
ensuring volcanic behavior is well documented while keeping people safe.
 Specifically, the USGS is mandated by the U.S. federal government to 
keep watch over the nation’s volcanoes and monitor hazards, then issue 
warnings to reduce the societal impacts of volcanic 
eruptions. Scientific researchers from academic and other institutions 
can bring unique perspectives to better understanding volcanic activity,
 aiding USGS scientists and land managers in the hazards response to an 
eruption. Because safety is a foremost concern, emphasis is placed on 
solid communication and coordination between all parties involved in 
observing, researching, and forecasting volcanic behavior.Ultimately, the outcomes of this scenario will inform a new 
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory volcanic eruption response plan 
specifically for the Southwest U.S. volcanic fields located in Utah, 
Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.So, why was San Francisco Volcanic Field chosen? The SFVF is one of the youngest of the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/yvo/dispersed-volcanic-fields-are-found-through-western-us">many volcanic fields spread throughout the western United States</a>,
 and it is relatively well studied. There’s a significant population 
center on its border (Flagstaff), and there will likely be eruptions 
from the area again. The&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/san-francisco-volcanic-field/sunset-crater">1085 A.D. eruption of Sunset Crater</a>&nbsp;was the most recent volcanic event from the San Francisco Volcanic Field, and&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nps.gov/sucr/learn/historyculture/people.htm">the eruption impacted indigenous people of the region</a>.The coordination of scientists will yield a more complete 
understanding of volcanic processes and their hazards, while also aiding
 efforts to reduce the impacts of volcanic eruptions on society.You can read more about the CONVERSE group and the February 2022 scenario at&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fvolcanoresponse.org%2F&amp;data=04%7C01%7Cyellowstone-caldera-chronicles%40listserv.usgs.gov%7C0a4b61ed13ea4c0072f408da1bc39abd%7C0693b5ba4b184d7b9341f32f400a5494%7C0%7C0%7C637852824164827756%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&amp;sdata=G2LYr4ksj6%2BF%2F1vPIofGfJ7jIZJ973p7eZ2ltdULhVU%3D&amp;reserved=0">https://volcanoresponse.org/</a>.Yellowstone <a target="_blank" href="https://cms.usgs.gov/glossary/volcano-hazards-program-glossary">Caldera</a>&nbsp;Chronicles
 is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the 
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week’s contribution is from Wendy 
Stovall, volcanologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and Deputy 
Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

Scientists gather to role play volcano eruption predictions

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday took fresh aim at ghost guns,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-are-ghost-guns-aab2ded78314603e8e87e92dbe4def3f">the privately made firearms</a>&nbsp;without serial numbers that are increasingly cropping up in violent crimes, as he struggles to break past gun-control opposition to address firearm deaths.

Speaking at the White House, Biden highlighted the Justice Department’s work to finalize new regulations to crack down on ghost guns, and announced the nomination of Steve Dettelbach, who served as a U.S. attorney in Ohio from 2009 to 2016, to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“Law enforcement is sounding the alarm,” Biden said of ghost guns, briefly holding one up for cameras to see in the Rose Garden. “Our communities are paying the price.”

He promised the new regulations would save lives.

Still, the announcement on guns highlights the limits of Biden’s influence to push a sweeping congressional overhaul of the nation’s firearm laws in response to both a recent surge in violent crime and continued mass shootings. Congress has deadlocked on legislative proposals to reform gun laws for a decade, and executive actions have faced stiff headwinds in federal courts — even as the Democratic base has grown more vocal in calling on Biden to take more consequential action.

Dettelbach’s confirmation, too, is likely to be an uphill battle. Biden had to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-gun-politics-susan-collins-angus-king-lisa-murkowski-e0d6522c455c86bd5d877307c4d5b19c">withdraw the nomination</a>&nbsp;of his first ATF nominee, gun-control advocate David Chipman, after it stalled for months because of opposition from Republicans and some Democrats in the Senate.

Both Republican and Democratic administrations have failed to get nominees for the ATF position through the politically fraught process since the director’s position was made confirmable in 2006. Since then, only one nominee, former U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones, has been confirmed. Jones made it through the Senate in 2013 but only after a six-month struggle. Jones was acting director when President Barack Obama nominated him in January 2013.

The Biden administration’s plan on guns was first reported by Politico.

For nearly a year,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-gun-politics-gun-violence-violence-edc7a2c8dc505915a8ad841616d40ebe">the ghost gun rule has been making its way</a>&nbsp;through the federal regulation process. Gun safety groups and Democrats in Congress have been pushing for the Justice Department to finish the rule for months. It will probably be met with heavy resistance from gun groups and draw litigation in the coming weeks.

Gun Owners of America vowed that it would immediately fight the rule.

“Just as we opposed the Trump Administration’s arbitrary ban on bump stocks, GOA will also sue Biden’s ATF to halt the implementation of this rule,” Aidan Johnston, the group’s director of federal affairs said in a statement. The group believes the rule violates the U.S. Constitution and several federal laws.

But gun safety advocacy groups, like Everytown for Gun Safety, which pushed the federal government for years to take action on ghost guns, applauded Biden’s moves and insisted that both Dettelbach’s appointment and the finalized rule will help combat gun violence.

“Ghost guns look like a gun, they shoot like a gun, and they kill like a gun, but up until now they haven’t been regulated like a gun,” said John Feinblatt, Everytown’s president.

Christian Heyne, the vice president of policy at Brady, another gun control group, said Dettelbach was “an unimpeachable public servant who has spent a career using the levers of government to hold negligent or nefarious actors accountable.”

Justice Department statistics show that nearly 24,000 ghost guns were recovered by law enforcement at crime scenes and reported to the government from 2016 to 2020. It is hard to say how many are circulating on the streets, in part because in many cases police departments don’t contact the government about the guns because they can’t be traced.

The new rule changes the current definition of a firearm under federal law to include unfinished parts, like the frame of a handgun or the receiver of a long gun. It says those parts must be licensed and include serial numbers. Manufacturers must also run background checks before a sale — as they do with other commercially made firearms. The requirement applies regardless of how the firearm was made, meaning it includes ghost guns made from individual parts, kits, or by 3D-printers.

Federally licensed firearms dealers must retain key records until they shut down their business or licensed activity and then transfer the records to ATF as they are currently required to do at the end of licensed activity. Previously, these dealers were permitted to destroy most records after 20 years, making it harder for law enforcement to trace firearms found at crime scenes.

“A year ago this week standing here with many of you, I instructed the attorney general to write a regulation that would rein in the proliferation of ghost guns because I was having trouble getting anything passed in the Congress,” Biden said.

The rule goes into effect 120 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.

For years, federal officials have been sounding the alarm about an increasing black market for homemade, military-style semi-automatic rifles and handguns. As well as turning up more frequently at crime scenes, ghost guns have been increasingly encountered when federal agents buy guns in undercover operations from gang members and other criminals.

Some states, like California, have enacted laws in recent years to require serial numbers to be stamped on ghost guns.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who was attending Monday’s event at the White House, applauded the move and pointed to a serious uptick in ghost guns being found by police. Police in Philadelphia have seen nearly a 500% increase in the number of ghost guns recovered in the past two years, Shapiro said. And just last week, a police officer there was shot by a ghost gun-wielding 18-year-old, who police said had also shot three others.

“This loophole has caused our nation countless lives,” Shapiro said in an interview. “Today is a critically important step to close that loophole.”

He said the move is likely to help drive down violence and aid both police and prosecutors in bringing their cases. The rule is also likely to help bring down the number of people who shouldn’t be purchasing firearms before a gun lands in their hand, he said.

“There are two challenges: One, criminals can easily buy them without going through a background check. And two, they are unserialized and untraceable.”

The critical component in building an untraceable gun is what is known as the lower receiver, a part typically made of metal or polymer. An unfinished receiver — sometimes referred to as an “80-percent receiver” — can be legally bought online with no serial numbers or other markings on it, no license required.

Police across the country have been reporting spikes in ghost guns being recovered by officers. The New York Police Department, for example, said officers found 131 firearms without serial numbers since January.

A gunman who killed his wife and four others in Northern California in 2017 had been prohibited from owning firearms, but he built his own to skirt the court order before his rampage. And in 2019, a teenager used a homemade handgun to fatally shoot two classmates and wound three others at a school in suburban Los Angeles.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/4/1649769587607.png" alt="Photo White House" />
 <figcaption>Photo White House</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday took fresh aim at ghost guns,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/what-are-ghost-guns-aab2ded78314603e8e87e92dbe4def3f">the privately made firearms</a>&nbsp;without serial numbers that are increasingly cropping up in violent crimes, as he struggles to break past gun-control opposition to address firearm deaths.<div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FWhiteHouse%2Fvideos%2F1056624581951277%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=854" width="560" height="314" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe></div>Speaking at the White House, Biden highlighted the Justice Department’s work to finalize new regulations to crack down on ghost guns, and announced the nomination of Steve Dettelbach, who served as a U.S. attorney in Ohio from 2009 to 2016, to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.“Law enforcement is sounding the alarm,” Biden said of ghost guns, briefly holding one up for cameras to see in the Rose Garden. “Our communities are paying the price.”He promised the new regulations would save lives.Still, the announcement on guns highlights the limits of Biden’s influence to push a sweeping congressional overhaul of the nation’s firearm laws in response to both a recent surge in violent crime and continued mass shootings. Congress has deadlocked on legislative proposals to reform gun laws for a decade, and executive actions have faced stiff headwinds in federal courts — even as the Democratic base has grown more vocal in calling on Biden to take more consequential action.Dettelbach’s confirmation, too, is likely to be an uphill battle. Biden had to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-gun-politics-susan-collins-angus-king-lisa-murkowski-e0d6522c455c86bd5d877307c4d5b19c">withdraw the nomination</a>&nbsp;of his first ATF nominee, gun-control advocate David Chipman, after it stalled for months because of opposition from Republicans and some Democrats in the Senate.Both Republican and Democratic administrations have failed to get nominees for the ATF position through the politically fraught process since the director’s position was made confirmable in 2006. Since then, only one nominee, former U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones, has been confirmed. Jones made it through the Senate in 2013 but only after a six-month struggle. Jones was acting director when President Barack Obama nominated him in January 2013.The Biden administration’s plan on guns was first reported by Politico.For nearly a year,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-gun-politics-gun-violence-violence-edc7a2c8dc505915a8ad841616d40ebe">the ghost gun rule has been making its way</a>&nbsp;through the federal regulation process. Gun safety groups and Democrats in Congress have been pushing for the Justice Department to finish the rule for months. It will probably be met with heavy resistance from gun groups and draw litigation in the coming weeks.Gun Owners of America vowed that it would immediately fight the rule.“Just as we opposed the Trump Administration’s arbitrary ban on bump stocks, GOA will also sue Biden’s ATF to halt the implementation of this rule,” Aidan Johnston, the group’s director of federal affairs said in a statement. The group believes the rule violates the U.S. Constitution and several federal laws.But gun safety advocacy groups, like Everytown for Gun Safety, which pushed the federal government for years to take action on ghost guns, applauded Biden’s moves and insisted that both Dettelbach’s appointment and the finalized rule will help combat gun violence.“Ghost guns look like a gun, they shoot like a gun, and they kill like a gun, but up until now they haven’t been regulated like a gun,” said John Feinblatt, Everytown’s president.Christian Heyne, the vice president of policy at Brady, another gun control group, said Dettelbach was “an unimpeachable public servant who has spent a career using the levers of government to hold negligent or nefarious actors accountable.”Justice Department statistics show that nearly 24,000 ghost guns were recovered by law enforcement at crime scenes and reported to the government from 2016 to 2020. It is hard to say how many are circulating on the streets, in part because in many cases police departments don’t contact the government about the guns because they can’t be traced.The new rule changes the current definition of a firearm under federal law to include unfinished parts, like the frame of a handgun or the receiver of a long gun. It says those parts must be licensed and include serial numbers. Manufacturers must also run background checks before a sale — as they do with other commercially made firearms. The requirement applies regardless of how the firearm was made, meaning it includes ghost guns made from individual parts, kits, or by 3D-printers.Federally licensed firearms dealers must retain key records until they shut down their business or licensed activity and then transfer the records to ATF as they are currently required to do at the end of licensed activity. Previously, these dealers were permitted to destroy most records after 20 years, making it harder for law enforcement to trace firearms found at crime scenes.“A year ago this week standing here with many of you, I instructed the attorney general to write a regulation that would rein in the proliferation of ghost guns because I was having trouble getting anything passed in the Congress,” Biden said.The rule goes into effect 120 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.For years, federal officials have been sounding the alarm about an increasing black market for homemade, military-style semi-automatic rifles and handguns. As well as turning up more frequently at crime scenes, ghost guns have been increasingly encountered when federal agents buy guns in undercover operations from gang members and other criminals.Some states, like California, have enacted laws in recent years to require serial numbers to be stamped on ghost guns.Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who was attending Monday’s event at the White House, applauded the move and pointed to a serious uptick in ghost guns being found by police. Police in Philadelphia have seen nearly a 500% increase in the number of ghost guns recovered in the past two years, Shapiro said. And just last week, a police officer there was shot by a ghost gun-wielding 18-year-old, who police said had also shot three others.“This loophole has caused our nation countless lives,” Shapiro said in an interview. “Today is a critically important step to close that loophole.”He said the move is likely to help drive down violence and aid both police and prosecutors in bringing their cases. The rule is also likely to help bring down the number of people who shouldn’t be purchasing firearms before a gun lands in their hand, he said.“There are two challenges: One, criminals can easily buy them without going through a background check. And two, they are unserialized and untraceable.”The critical component in building an untraceable gun is what is known as the lower receiver, a part typically made of metal or polymer. An unfinished receiver — sometimes referred to as an “80-percent receiver” — can be legally bought online with no serial numbers or other markings on it, no license required.Police across the country have been reporting spikes in ghost guns being recovered by officers. The New York Police Department, for example, said officers found 131 firearms without serial numbers since January.A gunman who killed his wife and four others in Northern California in 2017 had been prohibited from owning firearms, but he built his own to skirt the court order before his rampage. And in 2019, a teenager used a homemade handgun to fatally shoot two classmates and wound three others at a school in suburban Los Angeles.

🎥Gun Owners of America vow to fight Biden ghost gun rule

By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/04/11/concealed-carry-handgun-bill-comes-up-two-votes-short-and-fails-to-advance/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN
 — In a surprise, state lawmakers failed to muster enough votes Monday 
to advance a concealed carry handgun bill, called “constitutional carry”
 by some.

The
 vote to invoke cloture was 31-9, two short of what’s needed to stop a 
filibuster and advance a bill. It was also four fewer senators than the 
number who supported advancement of the bill from first-round debate.

“To
 say that I’m disappointed is an understatement,” said State Sen. Tom 
Brewer of Gordon, who has made passing the bill a priority during his 
six years in office.

At
 least 25 other states have passed such laws. In Nebraska, it would have
 allowed people to carry a concealed weapon without obtaining a $100 
state permit, undergoing a criminal background check and passing a gun 
safety class.

Brewer
 had worked for several weeks to negotiate a compromise to Legislative 
Bill 773 with the Omaha police union and police department, which had 
expressed concern about the bill watering down existing gun control 
ordinances in the state’s largest city and complicating their job of 
reducing gun violence.

The
 compromise amendment would have left in place an Omaha ordinance that 
requires registration of handguns. It also would have allowed&nbsp;for the 
continued prosecution of the crime of “carrying a concealed handgun” if a
 concealed gun was used in a long list of “covered offenses,” from 
robbery and kidnapping, to cockfighting and disorderly conduct.

But
 the powerful National Rifle Association urged a “no” vote against the 
amendment, calling it “a discriminatory attempt to place Omaha’s extreme
 firearm registration requirement into state law.”

Senators failed to pass the compromise amendment on a 13-29 vote — 12 fewer “yes” votes than needed.&nbsp;

The
 defeat pushed the Omaha Police Officers Association from neutral on the
 bill to oppose and sparked a debate over whether voting for LB 773 was a
 vote against law enforcement.

Tony Conner, president of the OPOA, said the amendment was fair.

&nbsp;“There has to be some common sense regulation,” Conner said.

Lincoln
 Sen. Adam Morfeld led the opposition to the bill, saying that the 2nd 
Amendment is not an unlimited right and that requiring a state permit 
and passing a safety course were not unreasonable. He pointed out that 
the Lincoln police had always been opposed to LB 773.

He joined Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt in arguing that most Nebraskans support reasonable gun laws.&nbsp;

Hunt
 said she supports a society that doesn’t need to carry a gun “all the 
time to defend ourselves.” In states that allow permitless carry, 
suicide rates and rates of domestic violence have risen, she said.

“We’re talking about a bill that makes it easier for violent people to attack the people they’re targeting,” Hunt said.

Brewer
 pushed back, saying LB 773 wouldn’t require everyone to carry a 
concealed handgun but would allow people to exercise their 
constitutional rights without getting a costly permit and taking a 
time-consuming test.

He
 grew angry after his amendment failed to pass, saying that the “sky 
hasn’t fallen” in the other 25 states that have adopted such laws. He 
also asked colleagues to “not put a lot of value” in the opposition from
 the Lincoln and Omaha police.

“In a perfect world, no one has a gun,” Brewer said. “But that’s not what the Constitution has given us.”

The
 senator, a decorated military veteran who still competes in sniper 
competitions, decried that the rules of the Legislature required 
two-thirds of the 49 senators to override a filibuster.

“You’re
 seeing why the rules of this Legislature are broken and a small group 
of people can kill anything that’s good,” Brewer said.

In
 the end, five senators who voted “yes” to advance LB 733 from 
first-round debate voted “no” or “present and not voting” Monday on 
cloture. They were Sens. Carol Blood, Jen Day, Suzanne Geist, Robert 
Hilkemann and Mike McDonnell.

In
 addition, one senator voting “yes” on first-round, Omaha Sen. Rich 
Pahls, has been absent due to a medical issue and didn’t vote Monday.

&nbsp;Hilkemann
 told his colleagues that after talking to a couple of constituents, 
including one who was a law enforcement officer, he didn’t feel LB 733 
was a good idea. Day said 69% of the emails to her office were against 
the bill.

Geist,
 a conservative Republican and a concealed carry permit holder, said she
 loves guns and loves to target shoot but has also worked with both the 
Lincoln and Omaha police on legislation.

“It’s
 a huge responsibility,” Geist said, to carry a concealed weapon. 
However, she added, she would have given the bill the 33rd vote to 
invoke cloture, if it had gotten 32 votes instead of 31.

Brewer
 said later Monday that he had called every gun rights group in the 
nation so they can target those who voted against him for defeat.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“We’re going to call out everyone who didn’t vote for the 2nd Amendment,” he said.

Brewer said he also regretted dissuading gun
 rights advocates from packing hearing rooms and hallways earlier this 
year as they did in 2020, when at least two men showed up openly 
carrying military-style rifles.

“I won’t make that mistake again,” he said. “We’re coming back. And it will be a different story.”

Hunt also responded later Monday night, saying the “revenge mindset … validates why this bill shouldn’t have passed. Reasonable supporters of the 2nd Amendment are not upset.”

Other advocates for gun control said they were “thrilled” by the rejection.&nbsp;

“Allowing
 people to carry concealed handguns in public without a permit is 
dangerous and would have put our communities at risk,” said Katie 
Townley, a volunteer with the Nebraska chapter of Moms Demand Action.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/4/1649771253291.png" alt="State Sens. Adam Morfeld, left, and Tom Brewer squared off in debate Monday over a bill to allow concealed carry of handguns without a state permit. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>State Sens. Adam Morfeld, left, and Tom Brewer squared off in debate Monday over a bill to allow concealed carry of handguns without a state permit. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>By PAUL HAMMEL <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/04/11/concealed-carry-handgun-bill-comes-up-two-votes-short-and-fails-to-advance/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN
 — In a surprise, state lawmakers failed to muster enough votes Monday 
to advance a concealed carry handgun bill, called “constitutional carry”
 by some.The
 vote to invoke cloture was 31-9, two short of what’s needed to stop a 
filibuster and advance a bill. It was also four fewer senators than the 
number who supported advancement of the bill from first-round debate.“To
 say that I’m disappointed is an understatement,” said State Sen. Tom 
Brewer of Gordon, who has made passing the bill a priority during his 
six years in office.<h2>25 other states </h2>At
 least 25 other states have passed such laws. In Nebraska, it would have
 allowed people to carry a concealed weapon without obtaining a $100 
state permit, undergoing a criminal background check and passing a gun 
safety class.Brewer
 had worked for several weeks to negotiate a compromise to Legislative 
Bill 773 with the Omaha police union and police department, which had 
expressed concern about the bill watering down existing gun control 
ordinances in the state’s largest city and complicating their job of 
reducing gun violence.The
 compromise amendment would have left in place an Omaha ordinance that 
requires registration of handguns. It also would have allowed&nbsp;for the 
continued prosecution of the crime of “carrying a concealed handgun” if a
 concealed gun was used in a long list of “covered offenses,” from 
robbery and kidnapping, to cockfighting and disorderly conduct.<h2>NRA urged ‘no’ vote</h2>But
 the powerful National Rifle Association urged a “no” vote against the 
amendment, calling it “a discriminatory attempt to place Omaha’s extreme
 firearm registration requirement into state law.”Senators failed to pass the compromise amendment on a 13-29 vote — 12 fewer “yes” votes than needed.&nbsp;The
 defeat pushed the Omaha Police Officers Association from neutral on the
 bill to oppose and sparked a debate over whether voting for LB 773 was a
 vote against law enforcement.Tony Conner, president of the OPOA, said the amendment was fair.&nbsp;“There has to be some common sense regulation,” Conner said.Lincoln
 Sen. Adam Morfeld led the opposition to the bill, saying that the 2nd 
Amendment is not an unlimited right and that requiring a state permit 
and passing a safety course were not unreasonable. He pointed out that 
the Lincoln police had always been opposed to LB 773.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/2/1645553414913.jpeg" alt="State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha (Courtesy of Unicameral Information Office)" />
 <figcaption>State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha (Courtesy of Unicameral Information Office)</figcaption>
 </figure>He joined Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt in arguing that most Nebraskans support reasonable gun laws.&nbsp;Hunt
 said she supports a society that doesn’t need to carry a gun “all the 
time to defend ourselves.” In states that allow permitless carry, 
suicide rates and rates of domestic violence have risen, she said.“We’re talking about a bill that makes it easier for violent people to attack the people they’re targeting,” Hunt said.Brewer
 pushed back, saying LB 773 wouldn’t require everyone to carry a 
concealed handgun but would allow people to exercise their 
constitutional rights without getting a costly permit and taking a 
time-consuming test.<h2>Discounts law enforcement opposition</h2>He
 grew angry after his amendment failed to pass, saying that the “sky 
hasn’t fallen” in the other 25 states that have adopted such laws. He 
also asked colleagues to “not put a lot of value” in the opposition from
 the Lincoln and Omaha police.“In a perfect world, no one has a gun,” Brewer said. “But that’s not what the Constitution has given us.”The
 senator, a decorated military veteran who still competes in sniper 
competitions, decried that the rules of the Legislature required 
two-thirds of the 49 senators to override a filibuster.“You’re
 seeing why the rules of this Legislature are broken and a small group 
of people can kill anything that’s good,” Brewer said.<h2>Five supporters changed</h2>In
 the end, five senators who voted “yes” to advance LB 733 from 
first-round debate voted “no” or “present and not voting” Monday on 
cloture. They were Sens. Carol Blood, Jen Day, Suzanne Geist, Robert 
Hilkemann and Mike McDonnell.In
 addition, one senator voting “yes” on first-round, Omaha Sen. Rich 
Pahls, has been absent due to a medical issue and didn’t vote Monday.&nbsp;Hilkemann
 told his colleagues that after talking to a couple of constituents, 
including one who was a law enforcement officer, he didn’t feel LB 733 
was a good idea. Day said 69% of the emails to her office were against 
the bill.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/4/1649771356148.jpeg" alt="State Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln. (Courtesy of Unicameral Information Office)" />
 <figcaption>State Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln. (Courtesy of Unicameral Information Office)</figcaption>
 </figure>Geist,
 a conservative Republican and a concealed carry permit holder, said she
 loves guns and loves to target shoot but has also worked with both the 
Lincoln and Omaha police on legislation.<h2>A ‘huge responsibility’</h2>“It’s
 a huge responsibility,” Geist said, to carry a concealed weapon. 
However, she added, she would have given the bill the 33rd vote to 
invoke cloture, if it had gotten 32 votes instead of 31.Brewer
 said later Monday that he had called every gun rights group in the 
nation so they can target those who voted against him for defeat.&nbsp;&nbsp;“We’re going to call out everyone who didn’t vote for the 2nd Amendment,” he said.Brewer said he also regretted dissuading gun
 rights advocates from packing hearing rooms and hallways earlier this 
year as they did in 2020, when at least two men showed up openly 
carrying military-style rifles.“I won’t make that mistake again,” he said. “We’re coming back. And it will be a different story.”Hunt also responded later Monday night, saying the “revenge mindset … validates why this bill shouldn’t have passed. Reasonable supporters of the 2nd Amendment are not upset.”Other advocates for gun control said they were “thrilled” by the rejection.&nbsp;“Allowing
 people to carry concealed handguns in public without a permit is 
dangerous and would have put our communities at risk,” said Katie 
Townley, a volunteer with the Nebraska chapter of Moms Demand Action.&nbsp;

Neb. concealed carry handgun bill comes short of votes

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is visiting corn-rich Iowa on Tuesday to announce he’ll suspend a federal rule preventing the sale of higher ethanol blend gasoline this summer as his administration tries to tamp down prices at the pump that have spiked during&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-7dd1f64818de5eadb86f12ad58e12a25">Russia’s war with Ukraine</a>.

Most gasoline sold in the U.S. is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-environment-covid-19-pandemic-f1c7a7c8e05247f3456e26d449d88ab3">blended with 10% ethanol</a>. The Environmental Protection Agency will issue an emergency waiver to allow widespread sale of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-environment-smog-clean-air-act-us-news-2fa4d36b2aa5418184a3833c69efc9f9">15% ethanol blend</a>&nbsp;that is usually prohibited between June 1 and Sept. 15 because of concerns that it adds to smog in high temperatures.

Senior Biden administration officials said the move will save drivers an average of 10 cents per gallon at 2,300 gas stations. Industry groups say most of those stations are in the Midwest and the South, including Texas.

Biden is to announce the move at a biofuel company in Menlo, west of Des Moines. Iowa is the country’s largest producer of corn, key to producing ethanol.

The waiver is another effort to help ease&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-business-prices-opec-cf470e24ebc8b7bb4a74bf1ed50d5e6d">global energy markets</a>&nbsp;that have been rocked since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-russia-moscow-kyiv-626a8c5ec22217bacb24ece60fac4fe1">Russia invaded Ukraine</a>. Last month, the president announced the U.S. will release&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-business-europe-3e1808077371b88ae043c86584763afd">1 million barrels of oil</a>&nbsp;per day from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-business-prices-ae5200310e3d3c0390d9e1cbb3c5a964">the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve</a>&nbsp;over the next six months. His administration said that has helped to slightly reduce gas prices lately, after they climbed to an average of about $4.23 a gallon by the end of March, compared with $2.87 at the same time a year ago, according to AAA.

Members of Congress from both parties, as well as industry groups, had urged Biden to grant the E15 waiver.

“Homegrown Iowa biofuels provide a quick and clean solution for lowering prices at the pump and bolstering production would help us become energy independent once again,″ said Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley. He was among nine Republican and seven Democratic senators from Midwestern states who sent Biden a letter last month urging him to allow year-round E15 sales.

The trip will be Biden’s first as president to Iowa, where his 2020 presidential campaign limped to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-in-state-wire-ia-state-wire-caucuses-joe-biden-53a3df6f615b9cec6e12c216307f0624">a fourth-place finish</a>&nbsp;in the state’s technologically glitchy caucus.

After bouncing back to win&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/bb261be1a4ca285b9422b2f6b93d8d75">the Democratic nomination</a>, Biden returned for a rally at the Iowa state fairgrounds four days before Election Day 2020, only to see Donald Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-hillary-clinton-iowa-iowa-city-3652c57038446e453516b9370c1ab243">win the state</a>&nbsp;by 8 percentage points.

Biden heads back to the state at a moment when he’s facing yet more political peril. He’s saddled with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-joe-biden-business-health-inflation-6b6b0abfef867fc405e9f358ce2c3a09">sagging approval ratings</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-inflation-soars-776c03520c90083894fedf31f1a7db00">inflation at a 40-year high</a>&nbsp;while his party faces&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-georgia-donald-trump-2ad863083ef6a097dc5785977c7bd9aa">the prospect of big midterm election losses that could cost it control of Congress</a>.

The president also planned to promote his economic plans to help rural families struggling with higher costs, while highlighting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-technology-business-broadband-internet-congress-d89d6bb1b39cd9c67ae9fc91f5eb4c0d">the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law</a>&nbsp;enacted last fall. The law includes money to improve internet access, as well as for modernizing wastewater systems, reducing flooding threats and improving roads and bridges, drinking water and electric grids in sparsely populated areas.

“Part of it is showing up in communities of all sizes, regardless of the results of the last election,” said Jesse Harris, who was a senior adviser to Biden’s 2020 campaign in Iowa and directed get out the vote and early voting efforts for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008.

Harris said most presidents who visit Iowa typically go to the state’s largest cities. Hitting an area like Menlo, part of Guthrie County, which backed Trump over Biden by 35 percentage points in 2020, “does speak to the importance the administration places on infrastructure broadly but also infrastructure in rural and smaller communities.”

The Biden administration plans to spend the coming weeks pushing billions of dollars in funding for rural areas. Cabinet members and other senior officials will travel the country to help communities get access to money available as part of the infrastructure package.

“The president is not making this trip through a political prism,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “He’s making this trip because Iowa is a rural state in the country that would benefit greatly from the president’s policies.”

Still, administration officials have long suggested that Biden travel more to promote an economy that is rebounding from the setbacks of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">the coronavirus pandemic</a>. The number of Americans collecting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-unemployment-jobless-claims-aea70c27cbaebdb732cf7426e37a5b58">unemployment has fallen to the lowest levels since 1970</a>, for example.

But much of the positive jobs news nationally has been overshadowed by surging gas, food and housing prices that have pushed consumer inflation to 7.9% over the past year ending in February. That’s the sharpest spike since 1982. Inflation figures for March, due out Tuesday, are likely to bring more bad news for the Biden administration.

“Maybe a trip back to Iowa will be just what Joe Biden needs to understand what his reckless spending, big government policies are doing to our country,” Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement.

After Iowa, Biden will visit Greensboro, North Carolina, on Thursday.

Psaki blamed Russia’s war in Ukraine for helping to drive up gas prices and said the administration expects the consumer price index for March to be “extremely elevated” in large part because of it.

The EPA has lifted seasonal restrictions on E15 in the past, including after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/hurricane-harvey">Hurricane Harvey</a>&nbsp;in 2017. The Trump administration allowed for selling E15 in the summer months two years later but had the rule struck down by a federal appeals court.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is visiting corn-rich Iowa on Tuesday to announce he’ll suspend a federal rule preventing the sale of higher ethanol blend gasoline this summer as his administration tries to tamp down prices at the pump that have spiked during&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-7dd1f64818de5eadb86f12ad58e12a25">Russia’s war with Ukraine</a>.Most gasoline sold in the U.S. is&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-environment-covid-19-pandemic-f1c7a7c8e05247f3456e26d449d88ab3">blended with 10% ethanol</a>. The Environmental Protection Agency will issue an emergency waiver to allow widespread sale of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-environment-smog-clean-air-act-us-news-2fa4d36b2aa5418184a3833c69efc9f9">15% ethanol blend</a>&nbsp;that is usually prohibited between June 1 and Sept. 15 because of concerns that it adds to smog in high temperatures.Senior Biden administration officials said the move will save drivers an average of 10 cents per gallon at 2,300 gas stations. Industry groups say most of those stations are in the Midwest and the South, including Texas.Biden is to announce the move at a biofuel company in Menlo, west of Des Moines. Iowa is the country’s largest producer of corn, key to producing ethanol.The waiver is another effort to help ease&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-business-prices-opec-cf470e24ebc8b7bb4a74bf1ed50d5e6d">global energy markets</a>&nbsp;that have been rocked since&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-russia-moscow-kyiv-626a8c5ec22217bacb24ece60fac4fe1">Russia invaded Ukraine</a>. Last month, the president announced the U.S. will release&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-business-europe-3e1808077371b88ae043c86584763afd">1 million barrels of oil</a>&nbsp;per day from&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-business-prices-ae5200310e3d3c0390d9e1cbb3c5a964">the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve</a>&nbsp;over the next six months. His administration said that has helped to slightly reduce gas prices lately, after they climbed to an average of about $4.23 a gallon by the end of March, compared with $2.87 at the same time a year ago, according to AAA.Members of Congress from both parties, as well as industry groups, had urged Biden to grant the E15 waiver.“Homegrown Iowa biofuels provide a quick and clean solution for lowering prices at the pump and bolstering production would help us become energy independent once again,″ said Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley. He was among nine Republican and seven Democratic senators from Midwestern states who sent Biden a letter last month urging him to allow year-round E15 sales.The trip will be Biden’s first as president to Iowa, where his 2020 presidential campaign limped to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-in-state-wire-ia-state-wire-caucuses-joe-biden-53a3df6f615b9cec6e12c216307f0624">a fourth-place finish</a>&nbsp;in the state’s technologically glitchy caucus.After bouncing back to win&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/bb261be1a4ca285b9422b2f6b93d8d75">the Democratic nomination</a>, Biden returned for a rally at the Iowa state fairgrounds four days before Election Day 2020, only to see Donald Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-hillary-clinton-iowa-iowa-city-3652c57038446e453516b9370c1ab243">win the state</a>&nbsp;by 8 percentage points.Biden heads back to the state at a moment when he’s facing yet more political peril. He’s saddled with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-joe-biden-business-health-inflation-6b6b0abfef867fc405e9f358ce2c3a09">sagging approval ratings</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/us-inflation-soars-776c03520c90083894fedf31f1a7db00">inflation at a 40-year high</a>&nbsp;while his party faces&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-georgia-donald-trump-2ad863083ef6a097dc5785977c7bd9aa">the prospect of big midterm election losses that could cost it control of Congress</a>.The president also planned to promote his economic plans to help rural families struggling with higher costs, while highlighting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-technology-business-broadband-internet-congress-d89d6bb1b39cd9c67ae9fc91f5eb4c0d">the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law</a>&nbsp;enacted last fall. The law includes money to improve internet access, as well as for modernizing wastewater systems, reducing flooding threats and improving roads and bridges, drinking water and electric grids in sparsely populated areas.“Part of it is showing up in communities of all sizes, regardless of the results of the last election,” said Jesse Harris, who was a senior adviser to Biden’s 2020 campaign in Iowa and directed get out the vote and early voting efforts for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008.Harris said most presidents who visit Iowa typically go to the state’s largest cities. Hitting an area like Menlo, part of Guthrie County, which backed Trump over Biden by 35 percentage points in 2020, “does speak to the importance the administration places on infrastructure broadly but also infrastructure in rural and smaller communities.”The Biden administration plans to spend the coming weeks pushing billions of dollars in funding for rural areas. Cabinet members and other senior officials will travel the country to help communities get access to money available as part of the infrastructure package.“The president is not making this trip through a political prism,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “He’s making this trip because Iowa is a rural state in the country that would benefit greatly from the president’s policies.”Still, administration officials have long suggested that Biden travel more to promote an economy that is rebounding from the setbacks of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic">the coronavirus pandemic</a>. The number of Americans collecting&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-business-health-unemployment-jobless-claims-aea70c27cbaebdb732cf7426e37a5b58">unemployment has fallen to the lowest levels since 1970</a>, for example.But much of the positive jobs news nationally has been overshadowed by surging gas, food and housing prices that have pushed consumer inflation to 7.9% over the past year ending in February. That’s the sharpest spike since 1982. Inflation figures for March, due out Tuesday, are likely to bring more bad news for the Biden administration.“Maybe a trip back to Iowa will be just what Joe Biden needs to understand what his reckless spending, big government policies are doing to our country,” Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement.After Iowa, Biden will visit Greensboro, North Carolina, on Thursday.Psaki blamed Russia’s war in Ukraine for helping to drive up gas prices and said the administration expects the consumer price index for March to be “extremely elevated” in large part because of it.The EPA has lifted seasonal restrictions on E15 in the past, including after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/hurricane-harvey">Hurricane Harvey</a>&nbsp;in 2017. The Trump administration allowed for selling E15 in the summer months two years later but had the rule struck down by a federal appeals court.___

Biden waiving ethanol rule in bid to lower gasoline prices

WASHINGTON
 — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that taxpayers who may 
need to take additional actions related to Qualified Opportunity Funds 
(QOFs) should begin receiving letters in the mail in April.

Taxpayers who attached <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8996">Form 8996, Qualified Opportunity Fund</a>,
 to their return may receive Letter 6501, Qualified Opportunity Fund 
(QOF) Investment Standard. This letter lets them know that information 
needed to support the annual certification of investment standard is 
missing, invalid or the calculation isn't supported by the amounts 
reported. If they intend to maintain their certification as a QOF, they 
may need to take additional action to meet the annual self-certification
 of the investment standard requirement.

To correct the annual maintenance certification of the investment 
standard, these taxpayers should file an amended return or an 
administrative adjustment request (AAR). If an entity that receives the 
letter fails to act, the IRS may refer its tax account for examination. 
Investors who made an election to defer tax on eligible gains invested 
in that entity may also be subject to examination.

Additionally, taxpayers may receive Letter 6502, Reporting Qualified 
Opportunity Fund (QOF) Investments, or Letter 6503, Annual Reporting of 
Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) Investments. These letters notify them 
that they may not have properly followed the instructions for <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8997">Form 8997, Initial and Annual Statement of Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) Investments</a>,
 since it appears that information is missing, invalid or that they may 
not have properly followed the requirements to maintain their qualifying
 investment in a QOF with the filing of the form.

If these taxpayers intend to maintain a qualifying investment in a 
QOF, they can file an amended return or an AAR with a properly completed
 Form 8997 attached. Failure to act will mean those who received the 
letter may not have a qualifying investment in a QOF and the IRS may 
refer their tax accounts for examination. This may result in letter 
recipients owing taxes, interest and penalties on gains not properly 
deferred.

For general information, visit the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/businesses/opportunity-zones">Opportunity Zones page</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON
 — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that taxpayers who may 
need to take additional actions related to Qualified Opportunity Funds 
(QOFs) should begin receiving letters in the mail in April.Taxpayers who attached <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8996">Form 8996, Qualified Opportunity Fund</a>,
 to their return may receive Letter 6501, Qualified Opportunity Fund 
(QOF) Investment Standard. This letter lets them know that information 
needed to support the annual certification of investment standard is 
missing, invalid or the calculation isn't supported by the amounts 
reported. If they intend to maintain their certification as a QOF, they 
may need to take additional action to meet the annual self-certification
 of the investment standard requirement.To correct the annual maintenance certification of the investment 
standard, these taxpayers should file an amended return or an 
administrative adjustment request (AAR). If an entity that receives the 
letter fails to act, the IRS may refer its tax account for examination. 
Investors who made an election to defer tax on eligible gains invested 
in that entity may also be subject to examination.Additionally, taxpayers may receive Letter 6502, Reporting Qualified 
Opportunity Fund (QOF) Investments, or Letter 6503, Annual Reporting of 
Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) Investments. These letters notify them 
that they may not have properly followed the instructions for <a href="https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8997">Form 8997, Initial and Annual Statement of Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) Investments</a>,
 since it appears that information is missing, invalid or that they may 
not have properly followed the requirements to maintain their qualifying
 investment in a QOF with the filing of the form.If these taxpayers intend to maintain a qualifying investment in a 
QOF, they can file an amended return or an AAR with a properly completed
 Form 8997 attached. Failure to act will mean those who received the 
letter may not have a qualifying investment in a QOF and the IRS may 
refer their tax accounts for examination. This may result in letter 
recipients owing taxes, interest and penalties on gains not properly 
deferred.For general information, visit the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/businesses/opportunity-zones">Opportunity Zones page</a>.

IRS sends letters to taxpayers related to Qualified Opportunity Funds

Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri had some of the highest 
rates of elevated blood lead levels in children

By ALLISON KITE and NIARA SAVAGE <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/04/11/known-to-be-toxic-for-a-century-lead-still-poisons-thousands-of-midwestern-kids/">Midwest Newsroom&nbsp;</a>

When
 the pediatrician recommended Lisa Pascoe have her then-toddler tested 
for lead poisoning, she thought there was no way he could be at risk. 
Everything in her South St. Louis home had been remodeled.&nbsp;

But
 then the nurse called to say her son’s blood lead level was dangerously
 high — five times the level federal health officials then deemed 
elevated.

Pascoe said she was “completely shocked” and “probably hysterical.”&nbsp;

“After
 you hang up on the phone, you kind of go through this process of ‘Oh my
 gosh, my kid is lead poisoned. What does that mean? What do I do?'” she
 said.

That same week, St. Louis city health workers came out to test the home to identify the source of the lead.

The
 culprit? The paint on the home’s front window. Friction caused by 
opening and closing the window caused lead dust to collect in the mulch 
and soil outside of the house, right where her son played every day.&nbsp;

A
 decade later, the psychological scars remain. Pascoe and her toddler 
ended up leaving their St. Louis home to escape lead hazards. To this 
day, she’s extra cautious about making sure her son, now a preteen, and 
her 2-year-old daughter aren’t exposed to lead so she doesn’t have to 
relive the nightmare.

Pascoe’s
 son was one of almost 4,700 Missouri children with dangerous levels of 
lead in their blood in the state’s 2012 report —&nbsp;decades after the U.S. 
started phasing lead out of gasoline and banned it in new residential 
paint and water pipes. Missouri’s lead poisoning reports run from July 
through June. Though cases have fallen precipitously since the mid-20th 
century, lead is a persistent poison that impacts thousands of families 
each year, particularly low-income communities and families of color.

Eradicating it has been a decades-long battle.&nbsp;

Omaha
 has been cleaning up contaminated soil from two smelters for more than 
20 years. The Argentine neighborhood of what is now Kansas City, Kansas,
 grew up around a smelter that produced tens of thousands of tons of 
lead as well as silver and zinc. About 60% of homes in Iowa were built 
before 1960, when residential lead-based paint was still used. Missouri 
is the <a target="_blank" href="https://health.mo.gov/living/environment/lead/">number one producer</a> of lead in the United States.

The
 four states have some of the most lead water pipes per capita in the 
country. While representative data on the prevalence of lead poisoning 
is hard to come by because screening rates lag in many areas, one study 
published last year found that the four states struggled with some of 
the highest rates of lead poisoning.

Over
 the next few months, The Missouri Independent and NPR’s Midwest 
Newsroom are collaborating to investigate high levels of lead in 
children of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. By analyzing scientific
 research, delving into state and local data and interviewing parents, 
experts and advocates from across the country, the project will shed 
light on a public health disaster that continues to poison children 
every year.

“We
 know that there is no safe level, that even at really low levels, it 
can affect intellectual growth, cognitive development. And we can 
prevent that type of harm,” said Elizabeth Friedman, a physician and 
director of the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit for 
Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. “So why wouldn’t we?”

David
 Cwiertny, director of the Center for Health Effects of Environmental 
Contamination at the University of Iowa, said it’s “unacceptable” for 
anyone to be exposed to lead.&nbsp;

“We should go to the ends of the Earth to invest in staff and preventing it from happening if we can,” Cwiertny said.

At
 Pascoe’s St. Louis home, workers encapsulated the flaking paint and 
replaced the top layer of tainted soil outside the home. During 
encapsulation, lead paint is coated and sealed to prevent the release of
 lead dust or paint chips. Her toddler’s blood lead level began to drop 
from its high of 25 micrograms per deciliter.

But that wasn’t enough to keep his lead level low.

Even
 though Pascoe kept her son&nbsp; from playing outside, cleaned regularly 
with a vacuum cleaner equipped with a HEPA filter provided by the health
 department and wiped off everything that could track lead dust in the 
home — from shoes to the family dog’s feet — her son’s level hovered at 
six micrograms per deciliter for nearly a year.&nbsp;

In
 2013, Pascoe and her son moved out of the city and into a home without 
lead in St. Louis County. Finally, his levels dropped below one.

Lead
 is a dangerous neurotoxin commonly used in water pipes, paint, gasoline
 and household products until the late 20th century, decades after 
scientists began sounding the alarm about its danger.&nbsp;

In
 high doses, lead can be fatal. Women in the 19th century used it to 
induce abortions and sometimes ended up poisoning themselves. Children 
who are lead poisoned now, however, have much lower levels and don’t 
show blatant or immediate symptoms.

Even after the source of the exposure is eliminated, long-term effects of the toxin linger.

“Once a kid is exposed to lead, it is not reversible,” said Dr. Justina Yohannan, a licensed psychologist based in Atlanta.&nbsp;

Officials with the World Health Organization warn there is no safe level of lead in blood. Even levels as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health#:~:text=The%20neurological%20and%20behavioural%20effects,behavioural%20difficulties%20and%20learning%20problems.">low as five micrograms per deciliter</a> can cause behavioral difficulties and learning problems in children.

Lead-poisoned
 children may have trouble with language processing, memory, attention 
and impulsivity, Yohannan said. Many require special education services 
in school.&nbsp;

Now in sixth grade, Pascoe’s son has been diagnosed with autism and ADHD.&nbsp;

The
 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year updated its blood 
lead reference value to 3.5 micrograms per deciliter from five. The 
reference value represents the 2.5% of children with the most elevated 
blood lead levels who should be prioritized for investigations and 
resources. It’s not a health standard, and CDC leaves it to the state 
and local authorities to determine at what levels they will take action 
depending on state laws, local ordinances and the resources they have 
available.

The
 Healthy Homes program in St. Louis County, where Pascoe now lives with 
her husband Daniel Pascoe, follows up with a home inspection&nbsp;only if a 
child’s blood lead level exceeds 10 micrograms per deciliter unless a 
family makes a request for an assessment below that level. The City of 
St. Louis separated from St. Louis County in the late 19th century and 
operates as a separate local government.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Follow-up on lower levels of exposure is focused mostly on educating parents and families about the risks and dangers of lead.&nbsp;

For
 higher levels of exposure, health workers use an X-ray fluorescence 
analyzer during assessments to test components of the home for lead.

“The
 most common source of lead exposure in the county is lead-based paint. 
So majority of the time, that’s our main focus,” said Tammi Holmes, 
supervisor of the Healthy Homes program.&nbsp;

“We’re
 looking for anything that’s original to the house, original windows, 
original doors, door casings, things like that, that may have lead based
 paint on them.”

Pascoe
 says she never saw her son eat lead paint chips. And while lead 
poisoning due to consumption of paint chips is fairly common, Holmes 
said it’s not always a factor.

“A
 lot of times people think that the only way kids are exposed is just by
 eating and ingesting lead based paint,” Holmes said. “But that’s not 
always the case. The main route of exposure, a lot of times, is 
inhalation and it’s the dust.”


  A sign warning of potential lead hazards at the site of the Pruitt 
Igoe Housing Apartment Complex in north St. Louis. The National 
Geospatial Intelligence Agency dropped the site as a potential space for
 its new headquarters, in part, due to the presence of toxins. (Brian 
Munoz/St. Louis Public Radio)

Lead poisoning disproportionately affects Black children and kids in low-income neighborhoods.

In
 predominantly Black neighborhoods of North St. Louis, across town from 
Pascoe’s old home, children suffer some of the highest rates of lead 
poisoning in the city. Black children in Missouri are nearly twice as 
likely to suffer lead poisoning as their white peers.&nbsp;

“And
 this has happened because of the racist historical practices and 
policies that continue to segregate children and families of color into 
older, sometimes less-maintained, overburdened and under-resourced 
neighborhoods where lead exposures are more common,” Friedman said.&nbsp;

Philip
 Landrigan, a lead researcher for 50 years, did research and testing 
near an enormous smelter in Kellogg, Idaho, in the early 1970s.&nbsp;

“And
 the doctor who was the doctor for the lead company … told me one time 
in a meeting that the only kids in Kellogg, Idaho, who got lead 
poisoning are ‘the dumb and the dirty,’” Landrigan said. “… And even 
though that was 50 years ago, that line of thinking is still alive and 
well.”

While
 many cities have grants or loans available to help remediate homes, 
low-income families in rental housing don’t always have the final say.

Amy
 Roberts, who runs the lead poisoning prevention program in Kansas City,
 Missouri, said landlords are often cooperative and allow for repairs 
when their tenants’ children are lead poisoned. But not always.

“Sometimes
 we get pushback from landlords who don’t want to do it, or they’ll do a
 little bit, or they’ll just take a long time,” Roberts said, “or 
they’ll evict the family.”

It’s
 illegal to evict a family because of lead exposure, Roberts said. But 
if a landlord has cause to evict a family that they haven’t acted on, 
they might do so rather than deal with the Health Department coming in.&nbsp;

“They’ll
 say, ‘Well, we didn’t evict them because of the lead. We evicted them 
because they were behind on their rent,’” Roberts said. “And so would 
they have allowed them to stay if we hadn’t gotten involved because of 
the lead? It’s hard to know.”

In Omaha, where an old lead smelter left behind contamination over 27 square miles centered on downtown, <a target="_blank" href="https://library.municode.com/ne/omaha/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIIMUCO_CH18NU">local ordinances</a>
 have more teeth. Naudia McCracken, the lead program supervisor for 
Douglas County, said landlords are required to repair any lead hazards.

“There’s no ifs, buts, maybes,” McCracken said. “They have to fix it.”

While
 Omaha has struggled with contamination brought on by the smelters, she 
said that legacy has allowed the county and city to be more aggressive 
in remediating contamination and preventing lead poisoning.

Omaha
 provides a home inspection to any family with a child whose blood lead 
level is greater than 3.5 micrograms per deciliter. And the city 
provides inspections to families in any house built before 1978.

Speaking
 only for herself, McCracken said she’d like to see more money go into 
removing lead paint and improving housing nationwide.

“In
 the majority of the country, in the way that the programs are, we’re 
waiting for there to be a child with (an elevated) lead level for action
 to take place,” she said. “And I think that’s kind of backward.”

The
 water crisis in Flint, Michigan, shone a light on the devastating 
effects of lead. Scientists’ conclusion there is no safe level of lead 
and President Joe Biden’s pledge to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/12/16/fact-sheet-the-biden-harris-lead-pipe-and-paint-action-plan/">remove the estimated 10 million water service lines</a> underground add momentum toward finally eradicating the metal.&nbsp;

Bruce
 Lanphear, a longtime lead researcher and professor at Simon Fraser 
University in Vancouver, said the U.S. has typically made progress on 
lead when crises or new research galvanized public support for action. 
But regulations and action to clean up lead contamination often depend 
on what is considered feasible.

Cwiertny noted the issue of lead poisoning through drinking water had risen in prominence following crises.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“The
 concern I have is people will — through the rhetoric of politicians 
talking about what great progress we’re making by getting $15 billion 
here and allocating recovery funds there to address this — is that 
people will think it’s a problem that gets solved and there won’t be any
 accountability,” Cwiertny said.&nbsp;

By
 the time the U.S. started phasing lead out of gasoline, banned it in 
residential paint in the 1970s and outlawed lead water pipes in 1986, 
scientists had been warning of the dangers of lead for decades.&nbsp;

In
 1925, as use of lead in gasoline gained momentum, Yandell Henderson, a 
professor at Yale University, told a gathering of engineers that it 
would slowly poison vast numbers of Americans.&nbsp;

“He said that if a man had his choice between the two diseases, he would choose tuberculosis rather than lead poisoning,” <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1925/04/22/archives/sees-deadly-gas-a-peril-in-streets-dr-henderson-warns-public.html#:~:text=Billions%20Are%20Involved.%20%2D-,SEES%20DEADLY%20GAS%20A%20PERIL%20IN%20STREETS%3B%20Dr.,Describes%20Its%20Effects%20as%20Insidious.">the New York Times wrote at the time</a>.&nbsp;

A concerted effort by the lead industry staved off regulations, Lanphear said.&nbsp;

Lanphear said he was invited to speak to Omaha residents 20 years ago about lead poisoning. At the end, he took questions.

“T​here
 was this big burly guy with a flannel shirt, beard (who) got up 
—&nbsp;trucker’s hat — and he got teary and he said, ‘I worked at the smelter
 for years, and every morning, I was ordered to reverse the flow and 
discharge all the contaminants that they had scrubbed out during the 
day.’”

There
 are stories that “just break your heart” showing how flawed regulation 
was, Lanphear said, and how “irresponsible” the industry was.

The legacy of the lead is well-documented among adults who grew up surrounded by the metal.&nbsp;

Forty
 years ago, more than 90% of children had blood lead levels above 10 
micrograms per deciliter, almost triple the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention’s new reference value, updated to 3.5 micrograms per 
deciliter in October.&nbsp;

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2118631119">Researchers estimated last month</a>
 that just over half of Americans alive today were exposed to high lead 
levels as children, especially those born between 1951 and 1980. On 
average, lead cost those people 2.6 IQ points.&nbsp;

Childhood exposure to the metal causes a 70% increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality.&nbsp;

“But
 it was largely overlooked, largely forgotten,” Lanphear said. “All of 
the focus was on lifestyle choices, which was convenient. Industry 
didn’t have to do anything. Government didn’t have to change 
regulations.”

Acute
 lead poisoning results in noticeable symptoms, including loss of 
appetite, constipation and stomach pain, fatigue and a blue tinge around
 the gums.&nbsp;

But
 lead poisoning now is nearly always chronic, low-level poisoning that 
may not show obvious symptoms. It can manifest later in behavioral 
challenges, lowered IQ and increased risk of cardiovascular disease.&nbsp;

Scientists
 in the second half of the 20th century started documenting links 
between low-level lead poisoning and lowered IQs. In the early 1970s, 
there were children with lead levels above 40 micrograms per deciliter 
who experienced convulsions and comas, Landrigan said. Some children 
died of lead poisoning at that time.

Before
 1970, blood lead levels were considered elevated above 60 micrograms 
per deciliter. The surgeon general reduced that to 40 in 1970. The CDC 
reduced it to 30 in 1978; 25 in 1985; 10 in 1991; five in 2012; and 3.5 
last year.&nbsp;

“So
 we were really breaking new ground when we tested those children around
 the El Paso smelter and the Kellogg, Idaho, smelter and determined that
 children with no obvious symptoms had reduced IQs and slow reflexes,” 
Landrigan said.&nbsp;

Lanphear
 said it was difficult for researchers to come to grips with the fact 
that they had all been exposed to dangerous levels of lead when they 
were children.&nbsp;

“So
 there was sort of this disbelief, and I think that happened almost at 
every level,” he said. “How could it be that in the ’70s, virtually, by 
today’s standards, all kids were lead poisoned?”

The
 Pascoes are vigilant about researching the products the family uses 
now. Their 2-year-old daughter only uses toys and crayons that are 
lead-free, and the family eats from glass dishes to avoid contact with 
lead that could leach into food from ceramic plates and bowls.&nbsp;

Lisa
 avoids wearing jewelry the toddler might put in her mouth and doesn’t 
visit older or recently renovated homes that could be lead hazards.&nbsp;

Other parents are often shocked when Pascoe tells them about her son’s lead poisoning.&nbsp;