North Carolina
USDA awards $4 million for obesity and nutrition centers
Cornell, Purdue, North Carolina and Colorado State universities will establish research centers on nutrition education and obesity prevention with $3.4 million in funding from the Agriculture Department.
A primary election olio in three parts
1. North Carolina Rep Renee Ellmers won the Republican nomination for a third term on Tuesday in "the one House race where immigration matters," as Politico phrased it. Ellmers, with Tea Party roots, is one of a few Republicans to support legalization of undocumented workers. She beat her opponent, economic commentator Frank Roche, by a 3-to-2 margin, says the State Board of Elections Web site.
Pompeo, Butterfield unveil GMO pre-emption bill
Reps Mike Pompeo of Kansas and GK Butterfield of North Carolina will unveil a bill today to set a federal standard for labeling genetically engineered foods and block states from adopting labeling laws of their own.
Hurricane slashes Georgia cotton crop by 20 percent
High winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Helene destroyed one-fifth of the cotton crop in Georgia, the second-largest cotton state in the nation, said the USDA's monthly Crop Production report. The USDA estimated that growers would harvest 1.65 million bales of cotton weighing 480 pounds each, down by 400,000 bales from a pre-hurricane estimate.