
Japanese Beetle Treatment and Rural Broadband Improving
**The Washington State Department of Agriculture’s Pest Program is seeking permission from property owners in Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties to treat their yards for Japanese beetle.
Over 17,600 property owners in the area will begin receiving letters that include information about the project as well as a consent form to have their property treated.
Japanese beetle treatments are free to those in the treatment area that sign up.
**The NCTA, or Rural Broadband Association, released its “2024 Broadband-Internet Availability Survey Report,” capping off a year in which NCTA members made remarkable strides in delivering robust and reliable high-speed connectivity in the most rural parts of the country.
Despite operating in rural areas, approximately 89% of respondents’, on-average, can receive downstream speeds greater than or equal to 100 Mbps, up from 84% in 2023.
Upload speeds continue to increase as well.
**Friedrich Merz, a German conservative, is considered the frontrunner to become the country’s next chancellor.
He wants the European Union to make another attempt at a free trade deal once Donald Trump is back in the Oval Office, saying we need a positive agenda that would benefit both American and European consumers.
Merz says a joint free trade initiative could also halt the dangerous spiral of tariffs.
More From News Talk KIT








