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Hundreds of mink set loose in Pennsylvania, posing a potential public health threat

Hundreds of farmed mink are wandering through central Pennsylvania after escaping from a nearby fur farm, according to Pennsylvania State Police. Ever since, the escaped mink have been spotted everywhere in the region of Rockefeller Township: In the woods, on the road and under buildings. Local authorities originally claimed that between 6,000 and 8,000 mink escaped, but later revised their estimate....

Originally posted on salon.com

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There’s a river in Pennsylvania whose endpoint is unknown — and it’s not the only “lost” river

On maps, rivers are typically depicted as blue lines — with a starting point, usually near a mountain where rainwater collects; and an endpoint, usually in a lake or ocean. With the advent of satellite imagery, tracing the path of a river is typically a simple exercise; no more hacking through brush and scaling mountains to map geography....

Originally posted on salon.com

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Will deer-tick virus be the next big epidemic? A new study raises troubling questions

Shadow of a tick on a leaf Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images

It sounds like the premise of an unoriginal horror film: Human beings meddle with the environment to satisfy their own greed, and accidentally unleash a scourge of disgusting bloodsucking arachnids. Those bugs, once benign, now carry a rare and frequently fatal virus....

Originally posted on salon.com

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900,000 Pennsylvanians could face eviction this fall if government fails to act

During a protest organized by Make the Road Pennsylvania outside the Berks County Services Building in Reading, PA Tuesday afternoon September 1, 2020 to call for Gov. Wolf and the State Legislature to extend the eviction moratorium in Pennsylvania indefinitely. The group is concerned about the risk of eviction to people affected by the economic downturn resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 / Coronavirus pandemic....

Originally posted on salon.com

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A Pennsylvania fair held a transphobic dunk tank event mocking the state’s secretary of health

Rachel Levine, MD, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Many Pennsylvanians are outraged after learning that a man seemingly impersonating Dr. Rachel Levine — the state’s Secretary of Health and one of the few openly transgender government officials in the United States — participated in a transphobic dunk tank event at the Fireman’s Relief Carnival in the Bloomsburg Fair in eastern Pennsylvania on Saturday....

Originally posted on salon.com

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Everbody hates Rick Santorum

Published: Salon (April 9, 2015) How the former GOP heavyweight became a political irrelevancy 2016 is heating up. Indiana's anti-gay law dominates the headlines. And nobody is paying attention to poor ol' Rick As Americans brace themselves for Rand Paul’s...

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