An October report from a national advocacy project gave North Carolina an “F” when it comes to statutes on treating mental and physical health similarly. Nonetheless, Jennifer Snow, the national director of public policy for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said identifying a statewide problem is tricky. “You can imagine for someone going through a mental health crisis, dealing with paperwork is…
Almost two of every 1000 Americans do not have steady access to shelter, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates. That’s approximately 565,000 people — a number that grew after the Great Recession and has started to decline, HUD says. Of those, over 83,000 are considered chronically homeless. These, the most-desperate cases, are mostly individuals with a disability who have been…
UTAH’S BEAR RIVER is an odd creature. Its headwaters and its mouth are only 90 miles (145km) apart. But the river takes its time spanning those points, flowing 500 miles over a tortuous path. It begins high in Utah’s Uinta Mountains, then spills north into Wyoming and Idaho, looping around the Wasatch Mountains. Near the town of Soda Springs, Idaho, the…
Many organizations have prioritized workplace equality and access to high-paying, executive level jobs for minority groups in recent years. Several 2020 presidential candidates are putting forward plans to increase minority executive positions by diversifing corporate boards, punishing companies with poor diversity track records and increasing funding for minority-led business institutions. However, according to our own 2019 analysis, white men still hold the majority of executive positions such as CEOs,…
A controversial radioactive waste dump in far West Texas is one step closer to being able to accept high-level nuclear waste. After requesting additional information from Waste Control Specialists, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week agreed to review the Dallas-based company’s application to expand its 14,000-acre facility in Andrews County to store up to 5,000 metric tons uranium of spent…
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday threw her support behind legislation establishing a state office of outdoor recreation, which an unlikely coalition of backers say would boost an industry they view as key to diversifying New Mexico’s economy. The newly elected Democrat did not just put her political muscle behind the idea, either. She put her calf muscles behind it,…
In one corner, children play dress-up with hats, goggles and necklaces. Across the room, three children chatter as they count colorful plastic bears. But what makes this preschool room different from most others in Colorado is how it came to be. The classroom — along with six others sprinkled throughout Westminster Public Schools — was born out of a new…
A new study finds that Texas is among the national leaders in “economic dynamism.” That’s a technical term: it means businesses starting and closing, workers changing firms or moving to new opportunities. According to the Economic Innovation Group, a think tank and advocacy group in Washington, D.C., dynamism is a more illuminating measure of economic health than typical metrics like the unemployment rate.…
Katherine Gibbons’ life turned upside down on the day in October 2018 when she skipped school, stole a liter of vodka, and drank much of it on the walk back from the grocery store. Her mother, who had been worried about Katherine’s erratic behavior for months, saw the 17-year-old was off campus through a phone-tracking app. She arrived at the…
For the past eight years, she’s been washing her hands pretty much every time she passes a sink. When she’s near a bottle of antibacterial gel, she uses it. She makes a point of avoiding people with contagious illnesses, even though it can be uncomfortable to ask to work from home or miss a date with friends. And she makes…