Author: Ruth

Why is no one screaming about the mass drugging of American Children???

When will this stop?

USA Today

Fleeing an abusive stepfather in El Salvador, Gabriela headed for Oakland, California, where her grandfather had promised to take her in. When the teenager reached the U.S. border in January 2017, she was brought to a federally funded shelter in Texas.  Continue reading “Immigrant shelters drug traumatized teenagers without consent”

USA Today

A Texas tourist who collected 40 queen conchs seashells from Key West, Florida, is going to jail for 15 days.

A Florida judge also sentenced Diana Fiscal-Gonzalez of Dallas to serve six months of probation and pay a $500 fine, plus $268 for court costs, for taking 40 queen conchs from the waters that surround Key West, the Miami Herald reports.   Continue reading “Woman who collected queen conch seashells in Florida sentenced to jail”

Washington Post

When Milton Edgerton began his career as a plastic surgeon, his patients were wounded veterans of World War II, troops scarred by shrapnel or bullets or flames.

Later, as one of the foremost medical practitioners at Johns Hopkins University and the ­University of Virginia, he treated cancer patients and burn victims. He reconstructed hands, breasts, ears and — on one headline-grabbing occasion — used novel surgical techniques to help a girl who was “born without a face,” as was widely reported at the time.  Continue reading “Milton Edgerton, trailblazing plastic surgeon for children and transgender patients, dies at 96”

Washington Post – by DeNeen L. Brown

A lawyer representing the eldest son and two grandsons of Henrietta Lacks, whose “immortal cells” have been the subject of a best-selling book, a TV movie, a family feud, cutting-edge medical research and a multibillion-dollar biotech industry, announced last week that she plans to file a petition seeking “guardianship” of the cells.  

“The question we are dealing with is ‘Can the cells sue for mistreatment, misappropriation, theft and for the profits earned without their consent?’ ” said Christina J. Bostick, who is representing Lawrence Lacks, the eldest son of Lacks, and grandsons Lawrence Lacks Jr. and Ron Lacks.  Continue reading “Can the ‘immortal cells’ of Henrietta Lacks sue for their own rights?”

Adirondack Daily Enterprise

WHALLONSBURG — Some refugees have come from as far away as California.

At the north end of Roxham Road, where those seeking new lives cross into Canada on foot, Janet McFetridge met a doctor and his family from El Salvador.

In another case, the Champlain woman told the audience at a recent event at the Whallonsburg Grange, the children were dressed in party clothes but had no coats to protect them from the 15-degree temperatures.  Continue reading “Volunteer group aids migrants fleeing to Canada”

Boston Herald

A mother who visited her soon-to-be kindergartner’s classroom in Somerville this week tweeted her shock over a sing-song nursery rhyme teaching kids how to respond in a lockdown — which city leaders are defending as a sober reminder of the reality in schools across the nation.

Georgy Cohen tweeted an image of the rhyme, writing that “this should not be hanging” in the classroom and added “but I, like most of you, have congressional representatives I can call to advocate for gun reform. Or we can support orgs like @Everytown and @SandyHook.”  Continue reading “Lockdown rhyme draws attention in Somerville”

New York Times

High in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Spain, an international team of researchers set out four buckets to gather a shower of viruses falling from the sky.

Scientists have surmised there is a stream of viruses circling the planet, above the planet’s weather systems but below the level of airline travel. Very little is known about this realm, and that’s why the number of deposited viruses stunned the team in Spain. Each day, they calculated, some 800 million viruses cascade onto every square meter of the planet.

Continue reading “Trillions Upon Trillions of Viruses Fall From the Sky Each Day”

VPR – by Nina Keck

In Rutland, demolition crews began tearing down a dilapidated three-story dwelling which will soon be replaced with a brand-new 1,500-square foot, energy-efficient New England-style farmhouse.

And if all goes according to plan, it’ll be given away to a lucky winner in a nationwide contest.

Rutland City came to own the property at 60 Cleveland Avenue because of unpaid taxes. It’s one of a number of blighted properties in the northwestern part of the city that Rutland officials have been trying to renovate.   Continue reading “In The Market For A Free House? Rutland And GMP Team Up For House Giveaway Contest”

Maine Public

In the wake of the Parkland, Fla. school shootings last week, Democrats in the Maine Legislature are hoping to introduce a number of last-minute gun control bills next week, including a ban on “bump stocks,” devices that are used to boost the performance of semiautomatic rifles. However, one Republican leader says it’s too late in the session to take up such major legislation.

Leaders from both parties will meet next Tuesday to decide which, if any “after deadline” bills they will allow for consideration this session. In addition to the bump stock ban, House Speaker Sara Gideon and some fellow democrats are also drafting a proposed ban on high capacity ammunition magazines, an improved background check process and a proposal to raise the age to buy a firearm to 21.   Continue reading “Leaders to Decide if Gun Control Bills Will Be Considered This Session”

Appalachian Magazine

If you were born prior to the 1970s, chances are you belong to an exclusive club known as the “Round Scar Generation”. Most likely, there is a round scar on your upper left arm that came as a result of being punctured with an oversized needle in hopes of keeping you from catching small pox.

You may not realize it, but your sacrifice of having a scarred arm for the remainder of your days enabled humanity to rid itself from this dreaded disease that claimed the lives of 30% of those it infected.   Continue reading “The Round Scar Generation – How a Vaccine Defined a Generation”

VPN

For decades gun control has been the third rail of Vermont politics — but almost overnight that appears to have changed — and recent events in Vermont and beyond have put gun legislation on a fast track in Montpelier.

Republican Gov. Phil Scott had been one of the most ardent opponents of new gun laws in Vermont. Even last Thursday — the day after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida — Scott said he thought Vermont’s laws were fine just the way they are.  Continue reading “In Less Than A Week, Scott And Lawmakers Put Gun Control Bills On Fast Track”

WITF

(Philadelphia) — Philadelphia’s district attorney has created a new position to protect immigrants trying to navigate the criminal justice system.

Larry Krasner says the office’s new immigration counsel will help people move through the system without facing “disproportionate consequences,” like deportation, because of their status.   Continue reading “Philadelphia DA names staffer to protect immigrant rights”

Vermont Public Radio

The Vermont House has given strong initial support to a highway safety bill that includes the primary enforcement of Vermont’s seat belt law.

Under current law, a driver must be pulled over for a different traffic offense in order to receive a ticket for not wearing a seat belt. This bill allows law enforcement officials to stop a car if they see a driver or any passengers not buckled up.   Continue reading “Vermont House Gives Initial Approval On Tougher Enforcement Of Seat Belt Law”

Maine Public

The U.S. Border Patrol is running daily citizenship checks on buses traveling from Fort Kent toward the state’s interior and making periodic checks on buses originating in Bangor. Civil rights advocates say these checks may be in violation of protections outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

Daniel Heibert, chief patrol agent for the Houlton sector, says the agency has the authority to make such checks anywhere within 100 miles of the border, a standard which encompasses the entire state of Maine.   Continue reading “U.S. Border Patrol Checks on Buses Increasing Across Maine”

Maine Public – by Fred Bever

The Maine Supreme Court has turned back an attempt by Gov. Paul LePage to limit welfare benefits for some immigrants.

The case was brought forward by Euphrem Manirakiza, an asylum seeker from Burundi who was denied SNAP benefits, or food stamps, in 2015.   Continue reading “Maine Court Turns Back LePage Limits on Food Stamps for Immigrants”

Maine Public – by Emily Burnham

The story of the Bangor native who survived the siege and assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas in April 1993 will be told in a new six-episode miniseries, “Waco,” that premieres tonight.

The miniseries is based in part on David Thibodeau’s 1999 book, “Waco: A Survivor’s Story,” which recounts his experience living with the Branch Davidians for about 18 months in his early 20s, and the years immediately following the raid by federal authorities on their compound.   Continue reading “Story Of Bangor Native Who Survived Waco Siege Told In New TV Miniseries”