A California lawmaker is urging federal regulators to investigate a new tanning industry group he says is using “junk science” to mislead the public about the risks of sunbeds.

A Swedish study has found that drivers take long gazes at electronic billboards, possibly raising the risk of highway crashes. The new research has put the U.S. billboard industry into a defensive mode. In an effort to dismiss the findings, the industry’s top trade group quickly cited an unpublished U.S. government study to argue that the electronic displays pose no traffic safety hazard.

The nation’s red and blue states often are miles apart in social attitudes and, of course, political outlook. It turns out that they also divide into distinct camps when it comes to a grimmer measure — fatal traffic accidents.

While newsroom budgets are shrinking -- and some news outlets are going out of business entirely -- the need for thorough, objective investigative journalism remains as crucial as ever.

FairWarning, an online, nonprofit news source will be able to continue providing public interest journalism on issues of health, safety and corporate conduct, thanks to recent donations of 60,000, including a $50,000 grant from the Charles Evans Foundation.