New Jersey Agrees $22 Million Abuse Settlement

New Jersey agreed to pay $22 million to settle claims that child welfare workers failed to adequately monitor a girl who was severely beaten by her father. The settlement follows a separate $8 million agreement alleging emergency-room medical staff failed to respond properly to her injuries. In Iowa, water pollution and rising cancer rates have become prominent campaign issues, amid concerns about nitrate runoff from fertilizers and animal waste, water-use restrictions, and the costs borne by communities downstream. Farmers are adopting some runoff-prevention practices, while critics argue that insufficient regulation leaves residents and water utilities paying for the pollution; research is examining how much environmental exposure contributes to Iowa’s elevated cancer rates.