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Editorial: Surgeon general targets toll of loneliness, isolation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:17 GMT

The “nation’s doctor” is on a campaign to combat what he calls an epidemic of loneliness and isolation taking its toll on roughly half the people in the United States. His call to action to “mend the social fabric of our nation” deserves broad support, from government, professionals and institutions — and from each of us.U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, whose job is to give Americans the best scientific information about improving health and reducing the risk of illness, started warning about the dangers of loneliness before COVID hit. Now, he says, the crisis is more urgent.Americans are used to surgeon generals using their bully pulpit to lead the fight against such scourges as smoking, drug addiction and obesity. One of Murthy’s goals is to convince us that loneliness is also a serious threat to physical health and can even cause premature death. Research tells us that loneliness can cause or worsen cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression and anxiety. The effect...

Pozniak: College classes in prison keep incarcerated from returning

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:17 GMT

The old adage of “lock them up and throw away the key” has been sharply refuted by a recent study that makes a strong case for providing educational courses and training for those incarcerated in New England correctional facilities. With 95% of the incarcerated eventfully returning to their communities, the New England Commission on the Future of Higher Education recommends that correctional facilities provide the incarcerated with access to high quality, workforce aligned, post secondary opportunities with a wide range of educational pathways, which is an important step toward reducing recidivism. A study by the Rand Corporation shows that educational programs reduce recidivism for incarcerated people by more than 40% and leads to more positive post-release employment opportunities.As someone who has been teaching at the Middlesex County House of Corrections and Jail in Billerica, I agree with this recommendation which was endorsed by the  83 commission members including those that...

Dear Abby: Son’s kids aren’t his – so is he really a grandpa?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:17 GMT

Dear Abby: For more than five years, my son dated a young woman with a child. During that time, they lived with him. After they broke up, he was able to have visitation and shared parenting rights even though the little girl, “Paisley,” was not his own.I must say it was a benefit for the child. To this day, Paisley is still a major part of his life. For the last five years she has called him Dad because her mother doesn’t want her real dad to be part of her daughter’s life, and Paisley wanted someone to call Dad.Fast-forward three years. My son found love again and ended up marrying a fine lady and mother of two. Their father is a very important part of their lives. They also, along with Paisley, all have grandparents.My question is, since none of these children are my son’s, what are these kids to ME? I don’t think they are my grandchildren, but my ex-wife says she accepts them as grandchildren, so I should do it and give them the same benefits t...

Heavy rains cause flooding and mudslides in southwest Japan, leaving 2 dead and at least 6 missing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:17 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Torrential rain has been pounding southwestern Japan, triggering floods and mudslides and leaving two people dead and at least six others missing Monday.Rains falling on the regions of Kyushu and Chugoku since the weekend caused flooding along a number of rivers as well as mudslides, closing roads, disrupting trains and cutting the water supply in some areas.The Japan Meteorological Agency issued an emergency heavy rain warning for Fukuoka and Oita prefectures on the southern main island of Kyushu, urging residents in riverside and hillside areas to take maximum caution. More than 1.7 million residents in vulnerable areas were urged to take shelter.Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters the government has set up a task force and is doing its utmost for the search and rescue operation “as we put the people’s lives first.”Two people have died and at least six others were missing, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency and prefectural o...

In search of a lost cemetery, dig begins at a former Native American school in Nebraska

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:17 GMT

Bodies of dozens of children who died at a Native American boarding school have been lost for decades, a mystery that archeologists aim to unravel as they begin digging in a central Nebraska field that a century ago was part of the sprawling campus.Crews toting shovels, trowels and even smaller tools planned to start searching Monday at the site experts suspect is the Genoa Indian Industrial School cemetery. Genoa was part of a national system of more than 400 Native American boarding schools that attempted to integrate Indigenous people into white culture by separating children from their families and cutting them off from their heritage.The school, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) west of Omaha, opened in 1884 and at its height was home to nearly 600 students from more than 40 tribes across the country. It closed in 1931 and most buildings were long ago demolished. For decades, residents of the tiny community of Genoa, with help from Native Americans, researchers and state official...

Deep partisanship will be on display as Congress releases competing voting bills

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:17 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Congress in the coming weeks will consider shoring up voting and election laws — efforts that will reflect the vast gulf between Democrats and Republicans on protecting a foundation of American democracy.The parties will unveil separate and competing proposals that will have little chance of success in a divided government, but are likely to be used to rally supporters ahead of the 2024 elections.House Republicans on Monday are scheduled to release a proposal that would tighten voting laws and take a defiant stand against concerns that laws passed in recent years by GOP-controlled state legislatures disadvantage some voters. Democrats, meanwhile, are preparing to reintroduce their own proposals to set federal voting standards and restore protections under the Voting Rights Act.Even as the country prepares for the next presidential election, the separate measures will underscore how the two major parties have acted with little cohesion and often are completely at odds ...

Stock market today: Asian shares are mixed on signs of slowing growth in the US and China

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:17 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares got the week off to a slow start, with mixed trading Monday as China reported wholesale prices fell in June, amid other signs the economy is slowing. Benchmarks rose in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Mumbai but fell in Tokyo and Sydney. U.S. futures and oil prices declined. The decline in producer prices by 5.4% in June from a 4.6% drop in May suggests a further weakening of demand in many industries as activity in the world’s second largest economy slows and growth in the U.S. and Europe also tapers off under a barrage of interest rate hikes meant to snuff out inflation. China’s economy has slowed faster than hoped after an initial surge in growth as the country bounced back from disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Markets in China tend to react positively to signs of weakness in anticipation of possible stimulus measures that might make more money available for investing in shares. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.8% to 18,510.77 and t...

Biden is off to Windsor Castle to have tea with King Charles and promote clean energy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:17 GMT

LONDON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s itinerary this week in Europe is dominated by the ongoing war in Ukraine and his continued efforts to rally an international coalition against Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.But first, some tea.The U.S. president’s initial stop on his three-nation trip is Britain, where he’ll meet with King Charles III for the first time since the latter was crowned in May. Biden did not attend Charles’s coronation, sending first lady Jill Biden instead, and Monday’s visit will be marked by a bit of royal pomp — including a royal salute, a viewing of U.S.-related artifacts at Windsor Castle and teatime for the two men.Biden and Charles will also use their visit to bring attention to climate issues, hosting a forum that will focus on how to encourage private companies to engage in more clean energy efforts, specifically in developing economies.“The president has huge respect for the king’s commitment on the climate issue in particular, that he has been a c...

Families with transgender kids are increasingly forced to travel out of state for the care they need

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:17 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — On an early morning in June, Flower Nichols and her mother set off on an expedition to Chicago from their home in Indianapolis.The family was determined to make it feel like an adventure in the city, though that wasn’t the primary purpose of the trip.The following afternoon, Flower and Jennilyn Nichols would see a doctor at the University of Chicago to learn whether they could keep Flower, 11, on puberty blockers. They began to search for medical providers outside of Indiana after April 5, when Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a law banning transgender minors from accessing puberty blockers and other hormone therapies, even after the approval of parents and the advice of doctors. At least 20 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for trans minors, though most are embroiled in legal challenges. For more than a decade prior, such treatments were available to children and teens across the U.S. and have been endorsed by major medical asso...

Las Vegas police officer set to go on trial over $165k stolen in 3 casino heists

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:16:17 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A trial for a Las Vegas police officer accused of stealing nearly $165,000 in a series of casino heists is set to begin Monday with prosecutors painting him as a gambling addict who grew increasingly desperate under a crush of debt.Prosecutors claim Caleb Rogers, 35, carried out three robberies over a span of four months while armed with a weapon issued by the police department.Rogers’ attorney, Richard Pocker, said the government’s evidence allegedly tying Rogers to two of the robberies is weak. He accused the FBI and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department detectives of pressuring two people, including Rogers’ brother, into identifying him as the suspect in the robberies to close out the cases. Rogers made off with more than $85,000 in the first two robberies between November 2021 and January 2022 at casinos off the Las Vegas Strip while his police colleagues spent months trying to catch the thief, investigators and prosecutors said. Rogers near...