In brief: Nurses union, with mostly female membership, endorses Sanders

WASHINGTON – Bernie Sanders picked up his first major labor endorsement from the nation’s largest organization of nurses, reflecting the Vermont senator’s appeal among unions in his challenge to Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The 185,000-member National Nurses United endorsed Sanders during an event with the independent senator in Oakland, California.

Last month Clinton received the backing of the 1.6 million-member American Federation of Teachers, a union that includes some health care workers. But Sanders’ endorsement is noteworthy because about 90 percent of the NNU’s members are women, and it comes as the Democratic presidential field has been actively courting labor unions.

Announcing the endorsement, members of the nurses union pointed to Sanders’ record of seeking a single-payer health care system through the expansion of Medicare, his work to challenge Wall Street’s role in the economy and his opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

Space station astronauts take first taste of food grown in space

WASHINGTON – These are the salad days of scientific research on the International Space Station. On Monday, for the first time astronauts munched on red romaine lettuce that they grew in space.

After clicking their lettuce leaves like wine glasses, three astronauts tasted them with a bit of Italian balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil.

Astronaut Kjell Lindgren pronounced it awesome, while Scott Kelly compared the taste to arugula. They talked about how the veggies added color to life in space.

If astronauts are to go farther in space, they will need to grow their own food, and this was an experiment to test that.

Astronauts grew space station lettuce last year but had to ship it back to Earth for testing and didn’t get to taste it.

Staff pay suspension may signal rocky times for Perry’s 2016 bid

AUSTIN, Texas – Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has stopped paying his 2016 presidential campaign’s staff in the key early primary state of South Carolina, amid flagging polling numbers and sluggish fundraising.

Spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said late Monday that “tough decisions have to be made in respect to both monetary and time-related resources.”

“Gov. Perry remains committed to competing in the early states and will continue to have a strong presence in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina,” Nashed said in a statement.

Perry has spent more time than any other White House hopeful in Iowa, which opens presidential primary voting, and has frequently visited New Hampshire and South Carolina, sites of the next two primaries.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the pay suspension would be permanent. It was first reported by National Journal.

Perry dropped out of the race four years ago just before the South Carolina primary, after disappointing showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.