Flooding disrupts shipments
OMAHA, Neb. — Normally this time of year, huge barges can be seen chugging up the Mississippi River, carrying millions of tons of grain to market and bringing agriculture-related products to farmers in the Midwest for the new growing season. But there’s not much barge traffic this year.
That’s because historic spring flooding that swamped and tainted farmland also left parts of the Mississippi closed for business.
The river, which runs nearly 2,350 miles from Minnesota’s Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico, is a main conduit of shipping everything from agriculture products and construction material to petroleum and coal. The troubles on the Mississippi also have affected shipping on the waterways that feed into it, including the Missouri River.
The interruption is hitting an agriculture industry that’s already suffering from a plethora of ills, including the Trump administration’s trade disputes that have helped drive down commodity prices.
“You’ve got a perfect storm here,” said Kenneth Hartman Jr., who grows corn, soybeans and wheat just south of Waterloo, Ill. “It looks bad for us.”
Police ID Oregon teen
Police released the identity Saturday of an 18-yearold student who was tackled after reportedly bringing a gun into a classroom at an Oregon high school.
The Portland Police Bureau said Angel Granados Dias had been booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on suspicion of possessing a firearm in a public building, attempting to shoot a gun at a school and reckless endangerment.
Authorities say he is a student at Parkrose High School, where he brought the shotgun Friday. Witnesses told The Oregonian/OregonLive that he appeared distraught when he appeared at the door to their government class and pulled the weapon from beneath a long black trench coat, and that a football and track coach who also works security at the school, Keanon Lowe, tackled him before anyone got hurt. Mr. Lowe is a former football standout at the University of Oregon.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Mr. Granados Dias had a lawyer. He was being held on $500,000 bail and was scheduled to appear in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Monday. There were no other suspects.
Another SpaceX lawsuit
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is suing the federal government again.
But this time, it wants its protest of a government contract to stay under seal, meaning its allegations would not become public.
In a motion filed with the Court of Federal Claims, the company said the privacy was necessary because the suit contains “confidential and proprietary information and source selection information not appropriate for release to the public.” SpaceX also filed its complaint against the government, with multiple exhibits attached, under seal.
Whether the complaint and other documents remain under seal will be up to the court to determine. The Court of Federal Claims hears suits against the federal government including bid protests and contract claims.