(The Center Square) – A low-oxygen “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico was larger than average but smaller than predicted, a recent survey found.
The “dead zone” with little to no oxygen can kill fish and marine life is approximately 6,705 square miles, or 4 million acres, the 12th largest found in 38 years of surveys. Work was done by scientists from Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium supported by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
This “dead zone” is the size of New Jersey, and is larger than NOAA predicted in June.
The agency predicted an above-average sized “dead zone” of 5,827 square miles, utilizing data on Mississippi River discharge and nutrient runoff data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
A map of the Gulf of Mexico’s hypoxia zone. A red area on the map denotes 2 mg/L of oxygen or lower, the level which is considered hypoxic, at the bottom of the seafloor.
Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
The average size of the hypoxia zone in the Gulf over the past five years has been 4,298 square miles.
These zones of low to no oxygen are caused by excessive nutrients, such as fertilizer runoff from farmland, and from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya river systems.
These nutrients set off an overgrowth of algae that dies and decomposes, depleting oxygen from the water as it sinks to the bottom. Research has shown this depletion causes fish and other marine life to vacate the area.
“It’s critical that we measure this region’s hypoxia as an indicator of ocean health, particularly under a changing climate and potential intensification of storms and increases in precipitation and runoff,” Nicole LeBoeuf, assistant administrator of NOAA’s National Ocean Service, said in a release. “The benefit of this long-term data set is that it helps decision makers as they adjust their strategies to reduce the dead zone and manage impacts to coastal resources and communities.”
The Environmental Protection Agency started the Gulf Hypoxia Program to reduce excessive nutrients and reduce the “dead zones” to 3,100 square miles or less by 2035. It is funded by $60 million from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.
www.thecentersquare.com – Dan McCaleb and Alan Wooten – (The Center Square – ) 2025-06-29 09:03:00
President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed a key Senate procedural vote 51-49, with two Republicans—Thom Tillis and Rand Paul—joining all Democrats in opposition. Democrats forced a full reading of the 940-page bill to delay the final vote, expected Sunday night or Monday. Trump praised Republicans who supported the bill, highlighting goals like economic growth, reducing wasteful spending, border security, military support, Medicaid reform, and protecting the Second Amendment. The bill extends Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, with the House having passed its version 215-214. Trump aims to sign it by July 4.
(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act cleared a Senate hurdle late Saturday, with a final vote in the upper chamber coming as early as Sunday night or Monday.
The procedural vote was 51-49, with two Senate Republicans – U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Rand Paul, R-Ky. – joining all Democrats in voting against.
To delay a final vote in the Senate, Democrats forced a full reading of the 940-page bill on the floor.
Trump celebrated the vote in posts on Truth Social.
“They, along with all of the other Republican Patriots who voted for the Bill, are people who truly love our Country!” Trump wrote. “As President of the USA, I am proud of them all, and look forward to working with them to GROW OUR ECONOMY, REDUCE WASTEFUL SPENDING, SECURE OUR BORDER, FIGHT FOR OUR MILITARY/VETS, ENSURE THAT OUR MEDICAID SYSTEM HELPS THOSE WHO TRULY NEED IT, PROTECT OUR SECOND AMENDMENT, AND SO MUCH MORE. GOD BLESS AMERICA &, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
The budget reconciliation bill, upon final passage, will implement Trump’s tax, energy, border, and defense policies, including an extension of the tax cuts he delivered during his first term, which are scheduled to sunset at the end of 2025 without action.
Assuming final passage in the Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives – where its version passed 215-214 – would need to agree to changes. Trump has said he wants the measure on his desk by July 4.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Right-Leaning
The article primarily reports on the legislative progress of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” with largely factual language, but the framing and selected quotes reflect a sympathetic perspective toward Trump and his policies. The article highlights Trump’s positive statements about the bill and its benefits—such as growing the economy, reducing wasteful spending, and securing the border—without presenting critical viewpoints or counterarguments. The use of phrases like “Republican Patriots” (quoted from Trump) and emphasis on policy goals aligned with conservative priorities contribute to a right-leaning tone. Overall, the piece leans toward supporting the Republican legislative effort while minimally covering opposing perspectives, indicating a right-leaning bias.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-06-29 05:46:00
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., opposed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act due to substantial cuts to Medicaid, which he says would harm North Carolina hospitals and rural communities. He criticized the bill’s impact on Medicaid coverage, urging a return to the House’s Medicaid approach with reforms to prevent waste and implement work requirements. Despite supporting elements like tax cuts and increased child tax credits, Tillis voted no to protect vulnerable populations. The bill narrowly passed the Senate and heads back to the House. Tillis faces potential primary challengers, with former President Trump seeking a candidate to better represent North Carolina and the U.S.
(The Center Square) – Improvements in the budget reconciliation bill, the North Carolina senator ultimately decided, were not satisfactory to “pass the president’s agenda” as he said one month ago.
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
Renee Bouchard, U.S. Senate Photographic Services | Tillis.Senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., was one of two votes from his party late Saturday night against passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. House Resolution 1, he said, had tens of billions of dollars in lost funding for North Carolina hospitals and rural communities.
“This will force the state to make painful decisions like eliminating Medicaid coverage for hundreds of thousands in the expansion population, and even reducing critical services for those in the traditional Medicaid population,” Tillis said. “The Senate should return to the House’s Medicaid approach. That plan includes commonsense reforms to address waste, fraud and abuse; and implements work requirements for some able-bodied adults to ensure taxpayer-funded benefits are going to our most vulnerable neighbors.”
“There is a lot for North Carolinians to love about the rest of the One Big Beautiful Bill, including extending the historic Trump tax cuts, increasing the child tax credit, providing historic funding for border security, and ending wasteful spending,” he said after his no vote. “We can and must accomplish this without hurting our rural communities and hospitals, and without jeopardizing access to care for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians who need it the most.”
The Congressional Budget Office, in an analysis shared by Democrats of the Finance Committee on Saturday, estimated cuts to Medicaid to reach $930 billion. Tillis released a Finance Committee report specific to the state saying the state’s budget would have a $32 billion impact to cover hospitals over the next decade.
Other published reports had the figure closer to $40 billion.
For more than a decade after passage of Obamacare, Republican majorities of the Legislature flatly rejected expansion of Medicaid because of costs. Finally passing it two years ago was historic in multiple storylines.
North Carolina became the 41st state to expand Medicaid in 2023 as part of a deal by a Republican majority General Assembly and former Democratic-Gov. Roy Cooper. It was Cooper’s chief campaign and gubernatorial priority. The deal cemented when a separate standalone bill on expansion mandated a two-year budget bill was required to be enacted with or without the governor’s signature.
In the $60.7 billion package 84 days late of the July 1 start to the fiscal year, the General Assembly included universal school choice for all K-12 students – known as opportunity scholarships – including private schools. It also did not provide funding Democrats have long sought related to what is known as the three-decades running Leandro litigation. Cooper didn’t sign or veto, and both became law.
The state got a $1.6 billion bonus from the federal government for enacting Medicaid.
Passed 51-49 just before midnight Saturday evening with Vice President J.D. Vance in the building just in case of a tie, the vote was procedural and begins debate. A final vote could come Sunday or Monday.
The House of Representatives – where its version passed 215-214 – would need to agree to changes. President Donald Trump hopes to sign it on or before Friday.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was the other Grand Old Party vote against.
All 45 Democrats and two independents caucusing with them also voted no. Sens. Ron Johnson, Rick Scott, R-Fla., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Cynthia Lee, R-Wyo., were among late votes swinging in favor. Sens. R-Wis., Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, swung sooner.
Tillis and Collins are considered most dangerous Republican seats to flip or change in the 2026 midterms.
“Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis,” Trump wrote overnight on social media. “I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks, looking for someone who will properly represent the great people of North Carolina and, so importantly, the United States of America.”
Rumors of Trump hopeful to primary Tillis are not new. Candidate filing period opens at noon Dec. 1 and runs through noon Dec. 19, and the state’s senior senator – and third-longest tenured among the state’s 16 in the Beltway – has $5.6 million cash on hand. That’s 11th-highest of senators’ reeelection bids.
In late May, Tillis had said, “Republicans must extend the Trump tax cuts and pass the president’s agenda. Failure is not an option. Here’s what needs to happen next in the Senate: We will make some improvements to the Big, Beautiful Bill, push for more spending cuts, and get the job done.”
Tillis has taken heat back home in western North Carolina for comments related to the embattled Federal Emergency Management Agency. And it’s only part of potential opponents’ early campaign fodder.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
This article primarily reports on Republican Senator Thom Tillis’s opposition to a significant budget reconciliation bill, presenting his arguments and concerns in detail. The tone is factual and largely neutral, providing context on Medicaid expansion in North Carolina, budgetary impacts, and legislative processes. It includes direct quotes, official data, and references to bipartisan actions without overt editorializing. The framing highlights Republican perspectives, especially on fiscal responsibility and healthcare reform, reflecting a center-right viewpoint through the choice of focus and language. However, it refrains from explicitly endorsing or opposing these views, maintaining overall balanced reporting with a slight tilt toward conservative policy emphasis.
California’s Proposition 12, which sets space requirements for farm animals, including pigs, is supported by USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and North Carolina Rep. David Rouzer as enforceable within California but not beyond its borders. Rouzer emphasized the importance of fair, science-based regulations for North Carolina’s pork producers, a major industry worth \$111.1 billion nationally. Rollins expressed concern over Proposition 12’s negative effects on pork producers outside California, highlighting the need to protect other states’ industries from extraterritorial regulations. Both leaders support balancing state rights with preventing adverse impacts on interstate agriculture.
(The Center Square) – California, says the leader of the USDA and a North Carolina congressman, has the right to enforce its Proposition 12.
The state line, however, is where that enforcement should end.
In the battle of pork production, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins affirmed that position in a congressional hearing this month. This week, U.S. Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., reminded Tarheel State farmers of her allegiances.
“North Carolina pork producers have a friend at USDA in Secretary Brooke Rollins,” Rouzer said, expressing gratitude for her push back against Prop 12. “Secretary Rollins is right, California has the right to do what California wants to do, but NC-07 farm families feed the nation, and they deserve fair, science-based regulations, not California mandates.”
Proposition 12 is the colloquial term for the Farm Animal Confinement Initiative. Egg-laying hens, breeding pigs and veal calves have space requirements, and sale of products from the animals is prohibited if not meeting the standard.
Rouzer comes from the 7th Congressional District, the southeastern portion of the state where trips on country roads often mean getting behind a hog truck hauling to the world’s largest pork production facility in the Bladen County crossroads community of Tar Heel. North Carolina’s $111.1 billion agriculture industry includes a No. 3 national ranking in pork production behind Iowa and Minnesota.
California’s market includes about 40 million people and 15% of domestic pork consumption. Compliance with the Golden State’s law can require new construction or retrofits with enormous fiscal impact.
In the Committee on Agriculture, Rollins told panelists, “No one is more of a believer in federalism, the 10th Amendment, and our Founders vision of the state’s rights to be able to be their own laboratories of innovation. When those ideas, those rules and laws begin to impact other states in such a negative way, that is not what our Founders intended.
“The extreme impact of Prop 12, especially on our pork producers – I believe this is a bipartisan question. We may not all agree in this room, but I think most agree even on the Democrat side of the House, that it cannot stand. I stand in full support of your effort.”
Rollins said her department may be able to inject something toward a solution.
“California has a right to do what California wants to do,” she said. “The minute that crosses the border and begins to compromise, in such a significant way, our pork producers we need to act.”
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
The article primarily reports on the opposition by USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and Representative David Rouzer to California’s Proposition 12, presenting their viewpoints and framing the issue around state rights and impacts on North Carolina pork producers. The language used by the quoted officials emphasizes federalism, economic harm to farmers, and resistance to California’s regulatory reach. While it reports statements and positions from officials without overt editorializing, the selection and presentation of these perspectives align more closely with a Center-Right viewpoint, highlighting concerns common among conservative and agricultural constituencies about state regulatory overreach and business impacts. The absence of counterbalancing views or perspectives from proponents of Proposition 12 further emphasizes this lean.
