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HRM committee considers ban on plastics at city events

HRM committee considers ban on plastics at city events

Halifax’s Environment and Sustainability standing committee met Thursday, July 7 to discuss two motions. One about Floating Yellow Hearts in Little Albro Lake and one about making city green spaces less grass and more natural plants.

But before the committee debated those two motions they got a presentation from Natasha Tucker, the executive director of Mind Your Plastics. Her charity is dedicated to eliminating plastic pollution in Canada.

She laid out some stark facts: 90% of the plastic we put into recycling bins doesn’t get recycled. Every minute a dump truck full of plastic enters the oceans. It’s grim.

“We’re in a linear economy,” says Tucker. “Which is really focused on a take, make and dispose. So there’s a ton of resources that go into creating the products that we use, and then ultimately use for a very short period of time and dispose of.” She asked the committee to consider a motion that bans single-use or disposable items at municipal-run events because every city generates 20,000 tonnes of waste every festival/event season.

There is a hesitation by political leaders to do more than a plastic bag ban. “I was at a conference with many municipal leaders,” says Tucker. “Talking about plastic-free event policy or plastic pollution-free event policies and whatnot was like, ‘Well, we banned single use plastic bags so…’ I’m like, okay, but what’s next?”

For councillor Shawn Cleary, what’s next is a plan to put forward a motion to get a staff report on how HRM can legislate plastic-free events.

The committee also heard a motion from councillor Sam Austin to trial a pesticide in Little Albro Lake to get rid of the invasive Floating Yellow Hearts. This will require approval from the federal and provincial governments, so staff will come back to the committee with a plan when the pesticide use is approved by the other levels of government.

Finally, the city has been doing a pilot project on naturalizing green spaces. Naturalizing means putting native plants in instead of the boring monoculture grass that’s been common since the colonization of Canada. The pilot project went well, and the committee wants to expand it all over the city, to the tune of $150,000.

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Ban lifted for taking poultry to live events

Ban lifted for taking poultry to live events

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – Poultry owners can once again bring their birds to live events in Wisconsin.

The state’s Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection lifted the ban Monday that barred moving poultry to live events. The ban, which was put in place in May, went into effect to prevent the spread of the highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Lifting the prohibition does not mean that the state is out of the woods, however. The agency still recommends poultry owners to:

  • Clean and disinfect;
  • Restrict access by visitors and wild birds, and;
  • Wear separate shoes and clothes to wear around flocks

According to DATCP statistics, agency officials have counted 22 domestic flocks across 14 counties where HPAI has been found. The virus has led to the deaths of millions of birds across the state.

Poultry owners should still monitor their flocks and notify the agency about any illness or an increased number of deaths by calling 608-224-4872 during business hours or 800-943-0003 at other times. Additionally, they are required by state law to register their premises with DATCP, which helps officials track such disease outbreaks.

Copyright 2022 WMTV. All rights reserved.

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ND Department of Agriculture extends ban on poultry events

ND Department of Agriculture extends ban on poultry events

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – While national bird flu cases are decreases, state officials in North Dakota have decided all poultry and bird events will continued to be banned until further notice.

“The trend of decreasing cases of avian influenza nationally is encouraging, but we continue to have wild bird infections detected across the state and domestic poultry cases continue to pop up,” State Veterinarian Dr. Ethan Andress said. “The board is continuing to monitor and assess the risk, which will be reviewed again at their Sept. 7 meeting.”

To reduce the risk of spreading avian influenza across North Dakota, the State Board of Animal Health canceled all shows, public sales, and exhibitions of poultry and other birds in March 2022.

“Nationally, the outbreak has affected more than 37 million commercial and backyard birds in 36 states. North Dakota has had 167,000 birds in 10 counties affected,” Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said. “This order will help limit the spread of the disease in the state and protect our North Dakota producers and backyard bird owners.”

More information about avian influenza and biosecurity is available here.

Copyright 2022 KVLY. All rights reserved.

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FIG update code to ban gymnasts from displaying political propaganda in events

The FIG Executive Committee has updated its code of conduct following the incident where Russia's Ivan Kuliak used a World Cup event to demonstrate his support for the Ukraine invasion ©YouTube

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insidethegames.biz has established a global reputation for the excellence of its reporting and breadth of its coverage. For many of our readers from more than 200 countries and territories around the world the website is a vital part of their daily lives. The ping of our free daily email alert, sent every morning at 6.30am UK time 365 days a year, landing in their inbox, is as a familiar part of their day as their first cup of coffee.

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Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit. 

The remainder of 2022 is not going to be any less busy, or less challenging. We had the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, where we sent a team of four reporters, and coming up are the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Summer World University and Asian Games in China, the World Games in Alabama and multiple World Championships. Plus, of course, there is the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.

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FIG update code to ban gymnasts from displaying political propaganda in events

The FIG Executive Committee has updated its code of conduct following the incident where Russia's Ivan Kuliak used a World Cup event to demonstrate his support for the Ukraine invasion ©YouTube

Keep Olympic News Free

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For nearly 15 years now, insidethegames.biz has been at the forefront of reporting fearlessly on what happens in the Olympic Movement. As the first website not to be placed behind a paywall, we have made news about the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and other major events more accessible than ever to everybody. 

insidethegames.biz has established a global reputation for the excellence of its reporting and breadth of its coverage. For many of our readers from more than 200 countries and territories around the world the website is a vital part of their daily lives. The ping of our free daily email alert, sent every morning at 6.30am UK time 365 days a year, landing in their inbox, is as a familiar part of their day as their first cup of coffee.

Even during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, insidethegames.biz maintained its high standard of reporting on all the news from around the globe on a daily basis. We were the first publication in the world to signal the threat that the Olympic Movement faced from the coronavirus and have provided unparalleled coverage of the pandemic since. 

As the world begins to emerge from the COVID crisis, insidethegames.biz would like to invite you to help us on our journey by funding our independent journalism. Your vital support would mean we can continue to report so comprehensively on the Olympic Movement and the events that shape it. It would mean we can keep our website open for everyone. Last year, nearly 25 million people read insidethegames.biz, making us by far the biggest source of independent news on what is happening in world sport. 

Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit. 

The remainder of 2022 is not going to be any less busy, or less challenging. We had the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, where we sent a team of four reporters, and coming up are the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Summer World University and Asian Games in China, the World Games in Alabama and multiple World Championships. Plus, of course, there is the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.

Support insidethegames.biz for as little as £10 – it only takes a minute. If you can, please consider supporting us with a regular amount each month. Thank you.

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Nebraska drops ban on poultry events

Nebraska drops ban on poultry events

One human and more than 37 million birds—comprised mostly of poultry across 172 commercial flocks and 119 backyard flocks in 34 states—have been been affected in the current avian influenza outbreak.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in April 2022 that a Colorado man was the first reported U.S. citizen to have contracted the H5N1 virus during the current outbreak. The patient was an inmate at a state correctional facility whose pre-release employment program involved the depopulation, or killing, of poultry at a commercial farm in Montrose County. His only symptom was fatigue, and he has since made a complete recovery.

Stacker compiled statistics on the avian influenza in Nebraska using data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The data is current as of May 9. According to the USDA, the affected count captures the total number of birds on the premises where the H5N1 virus was detected. Although it is possible that not every bird was carrying the virus, all birds within an affected population are culled to prevent further spread.

Impact from state to state varies based largely on the number of commercial operations within each state. In Ohio, just one backyard flock and 20 birds were affected. In neighboring Pennsylvania, close to 4 million birds have been destroyed. Worse still, Iowa, which had the highest number of chickens of any U.S. state in 2021 with 60 million heads, has been the most severely impacted in terms of quantity, losing a little more than 13 million birds since the virus was first reported in a commercial turkey flock in Indiana in February 2022.

The impact of the outbreak is being felt by many Americans at the grocery store. According to the USDA’s Food Price Outlook for April 2022, poultry prices are predicted to increase between 7.5% and 8.5%, and egg prices are predicted to increase between 6% and 7% due, in part, to decreased production at some of the country’s biggest commercial flocks.

Read on to learn more about how the current avian influenza outbreak is affecting wild and commercial birds in your state.

– Number of birds affected in Nebraska: 4.9 million

— #2 most birds affected among all states

— 12.9% of all birds affected nationwide

Counties with the most birds affected in Nebraska

#1. Knox: 2.1 million birds affected (43.7% of all cases in Nebraska)

#2. Dixon: 1.7 million (36.0%)

#3. Butler: 987,000 (20.3%)

#4. Merrick: 90 (0.0%)

#5. Holt: 50 (0.0%)

#6. Washington: 50 (0.0%)

#7. Scotts Bluff: 30 (0.0%)

States with the most birds affected

#1. Iowa: 13.4 million

#2. Nebraska: 4.9 million

#3. Pennsylvania: 3.9 million

#4. Wisconsin: 3.0 million

#5. Minnesota: 2.9 million

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