Omaha Is Home to a Massive Superfund Site. Most Kids Living There Aren’t Tested for Lead. For more than a century, a smelter and other factories spewed 400 million pounds of lead dust across the city’s east side. Faced with similar concerns, 13 states passed laws requiring all kids to get a blood test before kindergarten. But not Nebraska.

NEW: For more than a century, a smelter and other factories spewed 400 million pounds of lead dust across Omaha’s east side.

Faced with similar concerns, 13 states passed laws requiring all kids to get a blood test before kindergarten. But not Nebraska.

Arsenic and the Old West Hello and welcome to a special second April 2026 edition of Solid Ground!

On arsenic and the Old West, a Sunday dispatch from the high desert: open.substack.com/pub/rubygone...

Whitman on the courage of optimism as a force of resistance www.themarginalian.org/2018/07/26/w...

The Affluence of Time Grounding for the New Year

From the Substack! Some essentail grounding for the new year and an essay on the consideration of time as affluence: rubygonewild.substack.com/p/the-afflue...

‘Things That Could Not Be Avoided’ A crusading detective’s encounter with a charismatic cult figure and his followers in the Oregon forest had a deadly consequence.

Many thanks to @altajournal for supporting this piece! #truecrime #pnwlife #oregon

"Soon, violence crept up from the edges..."

Read more about how a charismatic cult leader and his flock took an Oregon county by storm: bit.ly/42lQH3J"

Wilderness and the American Spirit by Ruby McConnell Wilderness and the American Spirit retells the story of the American West putting our national mythology in context with our current environmental crisis.

Happy Book Birthday to WILDERNESS AND THE AMERICAN SPIRIT by @rubygonewild.bsky.social

At this time when the fabric of what it means to be America is facing challenges, this book about the making & mythology of the American West is a read for this moment!

overcupbooks.com/products/wil...

Two Chemical-Industry Officials Expected to Help Oversee E.P.A. Chemical Rules Nancy Beck and Lynn Ann Dekleva worked in the first Trump administration, where they fought chemical restrictions.

“Currently, more than 80,000 chemicals on the market are not subject to environmental testing or regulation.”

Nothing like starting out on a new platform with a picture of a landfill. It's oddly beautiful under that cloudy blue sky. And important, if we want to survive ourselves. My next book is all about our questionalbe use of the subsurface; hang onto your hats, people, it's a wild ride.