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Native American advocates welcome advance funding for Indian Health Service

Dec 27, 2022
The agency reduced care offerings during government shutdowns. Advance appropriations would provide a funding bridge when necessary.
Early funding for the Indian Health Service could help clinics serving Native populations prepare for health emergencies. Above, a community bulletin board with COVID-19 information in the To’Hajiilee Indian Reservation in New Mexico, May 2020.
Sam Wasson/Getty Images

Reforms in latest spending bill could help close gender gap in retirement savings

Dec 27, 2022
The SECURE Act 2.0 aims to help part-time and lower-wage workers — categories where women are overrepresented — save for retirement.
Because women typically generally earn less over their lifetimes, it can be more difficult for them to save for retirement, says economist Betsey Stevenson.
shapecharge/Getty Images

After a holiday marked by power failures, what's being done to ensure the lights stay on?

Dec 27, 2022
Experts say the country needs more transmission lines to move power from where it’s being generated to where it’s needed.
A sign for a closed bar in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Dec. 24. Millions spent the holidays without power due to extreme cold.
Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images

Biotech sector still hot despite cooling economy

Dec 27, 2022
The pandemic led to an explosion of interest in and funding of biotech. That continues even as many sectors slow and recession fears grow.
A sign on Oyster Point Boulevard calls South San Francisco the birthplace of biotech.
Beth LaBerge/KQED

Many low-income parents still struggle to find baby formula, even as production rebounds

More than 80% of infants consume formula in their first year. Though supply has improved since the crisis in May, some areas are seeing shortages.
A customer shops for formula at a Walmart in July. "There are certain stores at certain times in certain areas that will be out of stock still," said The 19th's Mariel Padilla.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

University looks to self-driving shuttles to transport students

Dec 27, 2022
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is piloting autonomous transit with vehicles in a project that could take students to and from the historically Black university to downtown Greensboro by the fall.
Four shuttles that will transport students are just part of the NC Transportation Center of Excellence on Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Technology (NC-CAV) fleet.
Cole delCharco

War in Ukraine disrupts Europe's green energy plans for the moment

Dec 27, 2022
The conflict has forced the continent to rely on coal.
Snow lies in a residential area while smoke rises from the chimneys of a coal-fired power plant in the background during a sub-zero day on Dec. 15, 2022 in Korbetha near Halle, Germany.
Photo by Jens Schlueter/Getty Images

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France cracks down on "dark store" meal delivery services

Dec 27, 2022
In some of Paris' neighborhoods, residents have had enough of so-called "dark stores" that offer home grocery and meal deliveries.
Scooters that make deliveries for a “dark store” in Paris are parked in a residential neighborhood. Some residents say these delivery services are noisy and have had a negative impact on their quality of life in the city.
John Laurenson

Flu season, COVID and other viruses mean medication is in demand

Dec 27, 2022
The country is still facing shortages of Children’s Tylenol and other common over-the-counter medicines.
While some stores are limiting purchases of flu medications to avoid panic buying, others are facing shortages.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

For incarcerated women with newborns, an Indiana prison unit offers a chance to bond

Dec 27, 2022
The women learn child care skills and are paid prison wages to take care of their babies.
Jessica Adams and her son Dawson will live on a maternal unit at the Indiana Women’s Prison until she is released.
Alisa Roth