This is Good News Friday, where we find some good economic, energy, and environmental news and share it with PP readers. Please send any positive news to [email protected] with subject header "Good News Friday." We will save and post weekly. Enjoy!

Economy

The town that’s found a potent cure for illness – community (blackeagle)

Frome is a remarkable place, run by an independent town council famous for its democratic innovation. There’s a buzz of sociability, a sense of common purpose and a creative, exciting atmosphere that make it feel quite different from many English market towns, and for that matter, quite different from the buttoned-down, dreary place I found when I first visited, 30 years ago.

How Banks Could Control Gun Sales if Washington Won’t (blackeagle)

For example, Visa, which published a 71-page paper in 2016 espousing its “corporate responsibility,” could easily change its terms of service to say that it won’t do business with retailers that sell assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and bump stocks, which make semiautomatic rifles fire faster. (Even the National Rifle Association has said it would support tighter restrictions on bump stocks.)

Oregon legislature passes bill strengthening state’s gun laws (Rebecca S.)

“A person who assaults their boyfriend or girlfriend is no less guilty of domestic violence than someone who assaults their husband or wife,” House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson (D) told OregonLive.

The bill will now go to Gov. Kate Brown’s desk, who has said the legislation is a major priority for her. She tweeted that she will sign the bill into law.

America’s Basketball Heaven (blackeagle)

Founded in 1791, Kinston has seen its share of troubles: recurring floods, economic devastation, rampant gang violence — even, as Maxwell now recounts, wayward nuclear bombs. That Kinston has survived is remarkable enough. This does not make Kinston unique in a nation whose small towns have been battered for decades by economic dislocation. What does make Kinston unique is that this town of some 21,000 residents is most surely, per capita, the greatest producer of NBA players in America.

A Larger Role for Midwives Could Improve Deficient U.S. Care for Mothers and Babies (jdargis)

“We have been able to establish that midwifery care is strongly associated with lower interventions, cost-effectiveness and improved outcomes,” said lead researcher Saraswathi Vedam, an associate professor of midwifery who heads the Birth Place Lab at the University of British Columbia.

Are Germany’s Energy Transition Plans Working? (Michael K.)

Around one-third of the energy produced in Germany in 2016 was from renewable sources, but only 12 percent of the energy consumed in the same year was from renewables, creating a gap of 23 percent. This is attributed to both exports and waste, as the distribution network simply cannot keep up with production surges, although progress is being made on this issue.

Monsanto loses bid to stop Arkansas ban on farm chemical (jdargis)

The Arkansas ban hurts Monsanto’s ability to sell dicamba-tolerant seed in the state and has caused “irreparable harm” to the company, according to Monsanto’s lawsuit. The state also limited use of Monsanto’s dicamba herbicide in 2017 but allowed sales of products by other companies.

Building A Backup Bee (jdargis)

BOBs are nothing like honeybees, however. Honeybees are social. One queen and thousands of female workers live together in colonies that can last for years. Multiple generations of workers divvy up the jobs that keep the hive functioning. BOBs are solitary, spending their entire lives alone except when they mate. Mating is a male bee’s only job. Because they do not collect pollen for the babies, males often are not even counted in pollination work.

Gold & Silver

Click to read the PM Daily Market Commentary: 2/22/18

Provided daily by the Peak Prosperity Gold & Silver Group

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