Agriculture support services
State relaxes some emergency COVID-19 rules for ag workers

Jun. 01, 2021 01:05 PM EDT
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — The state has relaxed some emergency rules so fully vaccinated farmworkers living in temporary housing no longer need to wear masks. ...

Some ag groups upset with Inslee over farm worker rules

By Nicholas K. Geranios May. 25, 2021 03:39 PM EDT
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Some top agriculture groups are upset with Washington Gov. Inslee because farm workers were not covered in last week's announcement that...

Labor and Industries creates new farmworker safety team

May. 20, 2021 08:11 AM EDT
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington state Department of Labor and Industries is creating a new team aimed at improving farmworker safety. ...

FILE - In this Tuesday, May 18, 2021. filer, rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip to Israel. The deaths of two Thai migrant farm workers in Israel in a rocket attack from Gaza cast fresh light on the difficult lives thousands of their countrymen face far from their homes. It is not unusual for Thais from their country’s economically disadvantaged rural areas to seek work abroad at wages considerably better than they could earn at home. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa, File)
Thais killed by rocket in Israel part of large workforce

By Grant Peck May. 19, 2021 11:10 AM EDT

Washington governor signs agriculture worker overtime bill

By Nicholas K. Geranios May. 11, 2021 04:27 PM EDT
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Agricultural workers in Washington state would become eligible for overtime pay under a bill signed Tuesday by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee...

Editorial Roundup: Idaho

By The Associated Press Apr. 09, 2021 03:06 PM EDT
Recent editorials from Idaho newspapers: Welcome back, Idaho legislators. Wear a mask. We’re not paying for another recess ...

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2021, file photo, Hispanic farm workers wait in line to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Mecca, Calif. Volunteers in California are working to ensure that the thousands of farmworkers who toil in the fields every day are receiving coronavirus vaccinations. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
California targets critical farmworkers for vaccinations

By Olga R. Rodriguez And Daisy Nguyen Apr. 03, 2021 11:14 AM EDT

Craig Rawls, an Army National Guardsman, right, speaks with his wife Chris Rawls, with only a face mask as a protective garment at the Mississippi State Veterans Home in Collins, Miss., as part of Operation "Family Reunion," Thursday, April 1, 2021. Due to the relaxation of protocols designed to slow the spread of coronavirus, the veterans home allowed indoor, in-person visits between veterans and two family members without the use of PPE for the first time since March of 2020. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
The Latest: Navajo Nation reports 4 new virus deaths

By The Associated Press Apr. 03, 2021 06:19 AM EDT

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 19, 2020 file photo, a voter submits a ballot in an official drop box during early voting in Athens, Ga. On Friday, April 2, 2021, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly asserting “Georgia’s new anti-voting law makes it a jail-time crime to drop off grandma’s absentee ballot in a drop box.” But the election bill known as SB 202, signed into law on March 25, has an exception allowing people to drop off ballots on behalf of their relatives. It also allows a caregiver to deliver a completed ballot on behalf of a disabled person, or a jail employee to deliver a completed ballot on behalf of someone who is in custody. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week

By The Associated Press Apr. 02, 2021 02:06 PM EDT

In this March 24, 2021 photo, a farmworker poses for the camera holding a bucket of harvested tomatoes at a farm in Delray Beach, Fla. Many U.S. health centers that serve agricultural workers across the nation are receiving COVID-19 vaccine directly from the federal government in a program created by the Biden administration. But in some states, farmworkers are not yet in the priority groups authorized to receive the shots. (AP Photo/Cody Jackson)
Groups rush to get Florida farmworkers vaccinated

By Adriana Gomez Licon Apr. 01, 2021 10:09 AM EDT

First lady Jill Biden speaks to farm workers at The Forty Acres, the first headquarters of the United Farm Workers labor union, in Delano, Calif., Wednesday, March 31, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)
Jill Biden urges farmworkers to get vaccinated in California

Mar. 31, 2021 07:51 PM EDT

State's 1st federal mass vaccination site opens in Yakima

By Nicholas K. Geranios Mar. 31, 2021 11:39 AM EDT
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Just in time for the asparagus harvest that will employ large numbers of farm workers, the federal government has opened a mass COVID-19...

Pilot program vaccinates Oregon farmworkers at unique clinic

By Bryce Dole Mar. 30, 2021 04:05 PM EDT
BOARDMAN, Ore. (AP) — Maria Corona knew she wanted to get the vaccine. Three months earlier, eight of her family members tested positive for COVID-19. So had...

13 Oregon counties can start broadening vaccine access

Mar. 23, 2021 12:46 PM EDT
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Health Authority says 13 counties can start giving COVID-19 vaccines to agricultural workers, people experiencing homelessness...

Governor accelerates Oregon's vaccine eligibility timeline

By Sara Cline Mar. 19, 2021 02:08 PM EDT
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Gov. Kate Brown announced Friday she is accelerating Oregon's COVID-19 vaccine eligibility timeline in order for vulnerable populations...

In this March 17, 2021 image, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham meets with Indigenous leaders during a tour of a vaccination clinic at Kewa Pueblo, New Mexico. The New Mexico Health Department announced Friday, March 19, 2021, that the state had administered more than 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)
Grocery store workers, others now on New Mexico vaccine list

By Susan Montoya Bryan Mar. 19, 2021 12:00 PM EDT

WA vaccine eligibility to expand to more groups on March 31

By Rachel La Corte Mar. 18, 2021 05:41 PM EDT
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Restaurant workers and people with two or more specified underlying conditions are among the groups who will be able to get the COVID-19...

FILE - In this June 15, 2020, file photo, is an overhead view of the Senate chambers in the State Capitol in Denver. A Colorado state Senate panel is hearing testimony on a bill to grant minimum wage and overtime rights to thousands of farmworkers and allow those workers to organize and join labor unions. The bill, sponsored by three Democrat lawmakers, would regulate working hours for overtime, rest and eating breaks, and guarantee farmworkers living space that conforms with health guidelines to stem the spread of the coronavirus. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)
Colorado Senate panel advances farmworker wages, rights bill

By James Anderson Mar. 17, 2021 05:54 PM EDT

FILE - Mary Jenkins, left, received the COVID-19 vaccine in Paterson, N.J., Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. New Jersey has reached 1 million people fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Just over 3 million people have had at least one of the two-shot vaccines, according to the state Health Department site. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
NJ hits 1M full vaccinations, with more people eligible

Mar. 15, 2021 02:57 PM EDT

FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2021, file photo, medical professionals from Oregon Health & Science University load syringes with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a drive-thru vaccination clinic in Portland, Ore. Oregon health officials and vaccine advisory committee have made critical, and often controversial, decisions about which groups of people should be prioritized next for the COVID-19 vaccine amid limited supply. Under a new pilot program this week, at least seven federally qualified health centers in Oregon are now able to inoculate whoever they want, even if that patient does not fall into currently eligible categories. (Kristyna Wentz-Graff/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Under new program, some Oregon centers can vaccinate anyone

By Sara Cline And Gillian Flaccus Mar. 12, 2021 02:30 PM EST