Pennsylvania needs more economic opportunities and a new report from the Keystone Research Center showed federal investments in climate and infrastructure projects would help grow a skilled construction workforce. Diana Polson, senior policy analyst at the center, said the report revealed federal money would create thousands of trade jobs through expanding union construction apprenticeships leading to quality careers, as electricians, operating engineers, carpenters, and laborers. "In Pennsylvania, for example, these apprenticeships train workers for jobs that pay more than most college-educated workers earn, and 61% more than the average worker in Pennsylvania," Polson pointed out. " .
A new survey found immigrant students need better help in school. The YouthTruth, Re-Imagining Migration survey was designed to examine the perspective of immigrant students as to how they are doing in school. The survey showed immigrant students do not feel they can be themselves there. .
Workers at Legacy s women s health clinics have announced their intention to unionize. About 60 nurse midwives and other health staff at clinics in Oregon and southwest Washington intend to join the Oregon Nurses Association. Heather Webster, a certified nurse midwife at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in North Portland, said the decision was driven in part by the failed attempt to close the birth center at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham. .
This week s move by federal lawmakers to advance another temporary government budget also means the Farm Bill, which recently expired, is extended. Farmer advocates are calming their panic, but said the agricultural sector needs focus and more support. The Farm Bill sets spending levels for agricultural and food assistance programs every five years. .
It might not make hearts skip a beat like the sight of a Monarch butterfly or gray wolf, but biologists say a rare flowering New Mexico plant nonetheless deserves endangered species protection. Inclusion of the swale paintbrush is under consideration by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. .