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☆ A New Front in Reparations: Seeking the Return of Lost Family Land
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Audra D. S. Burch | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For much of their lives, the Jones siblings had passed by a parking lot on the campus of the University of Alabama in Huntsville without giving it much thought. Then one day, a relative casually pointed to the spot and said she thought it was once owned by their ancestors, who had farmed the land since the 1870s. The Joneses want it back. “For our family and others, it’s not just about the taking of the land, it’s about the taking of our ability to build wealth,” said Michael Jones, 63, the youngest of five brothers and sisters. African American families across the country — particularly in the South — are pushing for the return of land they say was taken in government seizures, an emerging attempt to provide economic restoration for the long saga of Black land loss and deprived inheritances.

Persons: Jones, it’s, ”, Michael Jones Organizations: University of Alabama Locations: Huntsville

☆ Ultrasound Pulses to Brain Send Mice Into a Hibernation-Like State
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Veronique Greenwood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Hibernating creatures curl up underground in winter, slowing their metabolism so they can make it to spring without food. Even laboratory mice, if deprived of food, can enter a state called torpor, a kind of standby mode that economizes energy. But as scientists work to understand states like torpor and hibernation, tantalizing details about how the brain controls metabolism have emerged. Researchers reported in the journal Nature Metabolism on Thursday that they’ve been able to send mice into a torpor-like state by targeting a specific part of the brain with short bursts of ultrasound. A growing body of work is exploring ultrasound as a treatment for disorders like depression and anxiety.

Persons: they’ve, neuroscientists, Hong Chen, Louis, William Tyler Organizations: Washington University, University of Alabama Locations: St, Birmingham

☆ Interested in Polyamory? Check Out These Places
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Valeriya Safronova | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Jace Knight had heard about Somerville, Mass., while working on a Ph.D. at the University of Alabama in 2020. In late March, Somerville passed two more laws extending the rights of nonmonogamous residents, this time banning discrimination on the basis of “family or relationship structure” in city employment and policing. (A similar ordinance, focused on housing, is currently being discussed by the Somerville City Council.) Around the same time these new laws passed, Mx. The city’s attitude toward nonmonogamy was a big factor in the group’s decision to move there, Mx.

☆ How Reuters pinpointed bat-virus risk zones worldwide
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

Areas where conditions are similar are more prone to spillover, scientists say. The Reuters analysis, which assessed spillover risk through 2020, has proven to have some predictive power. Similar statistical models are used widely to analyze data in ecology, and researchers use them to understand spillover risk. More than one of every five people on the planet is living in areas where the risk is highest for spillover. Using epidemic modeling software called GLEAMviz, the news agency simulated a worldwide pandemic originating from the spillover of a theoretical novel virus.

☆ Alabama Fires Its Baseball Coach Amid Allegations of Suspicious Betting on Its Games
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Lindsey Adler | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon, left, was fired by the school. Photo: Michael Johnson/The Advocate/Associated PressThe University of Alabama said Thursday it is firing baseball head coach Brad Bohannon for “violating the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of University employees. ” The action comes as three states have paused taking bets on the university’s baseball games. Questions about bets placed on Alabama baseball games surfaced late last week. Integrity, an independent firm that contracts with government regulators and sports leagues—including the Southeastern Conference, where Alabama plays—alerted the Ohio Casino Control Commission to what it described as suspicious bets placed on April 28 at the sports book located at Cincinnati Reds’ Great American Ball Park.

☆ Serbia School Attack Is a Rare Mass Shooting Outside the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Jenny Gross | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A mass shooting on Wednesday, in which eight students and a security guard were killed at a school in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, was a reminder that such attacks are far less common outside the United States. Serbs are known to have stockpiles of weapons left over from the Balkan wars of the 1990s, and there have been other mass shootings in the country. In 2013, a veteran of the Balkan wars shot and killed 13 people in a village near Belgrade. In 2007, a man fatally shot nine people in the village of Jabukovac, in eastern Serbia. The study found that among countries with more than 10 million people only Yemen had a higher rate of mass shootings per capita.

☆ The cost of college room and board is rising even faster than tuition. It's driving students into even more debt.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In many public universities, the cost of room and board has risen faster than the cost of tuition. Using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, Insider documented the reported tuition and room and board costs from ten public universities from 2012-2013 versus the 2022-2023 academic year. The data matches a trend that the College Board found, which noted that between 2009 and around 2014, the cost of room and board rose by more than 20 percent. Paying more for room and board leads to more debtAs students are forced to pay even more for room and board, they're often putting themselves into increasingly more debt. The sticker price of tuition, room, and board, however, isn't what it seems once interest is factored in.

☆ Louisville shooter legally purchased rifle -police
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Community members attend a vigil at Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church following a mass shooting at Old National Bank in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. April, 10, 2023. REUTERS/Jeffrey DeanApril 11 (Reuters) - The 23-year-old bank employee who shot dead five colleagues and wounded nine other people at his workplace in Louisville on Monday legally purchased the rifle, Louisville Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday. Louisville police responded within minutes to reports of an attacker on Monday morning at the bank office near Slugger Field baseball stadium. Sturgeon grew up in southern Indiana, just north of Louisville, according to his mother's Facebook page. Those statistics use the definition of four or more shot or killed, not including the shooter - according to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive.

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - The secretive world of Federal Reserve bank supervision has been laid bare by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and critics say it needs an overhaul to make it more nimble, transparent and decisive. Typically, bank supervisors do most of their work behind closed doors. Bank supervision is typically conducted behind closed-doors because of concerns that publicizing bank missteps could spur bank runs and undermine confidence in the overall system. SVB's rapid growth also was a factor for Fed supervisors. Barr said part of his review would look at whether Fed supervision was appropriate for the bank's "rapid growth and vulnerabilities."

WASHINGTON, March 20 - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a traveling Christian evangelist's free-speech challenge to a University of Alabama requirement that he obtain a permit before handing out religious pamphlets and preaching from a sidewalk adjacent to its campus. Keister, founder of a Pennsylvania-based group called Evangelism Mission, regularly visits U.S. university campuses in hopes of spreading his Christian message to students, according to court filings. School officials told Keister he needed a permit for a public-speaking event, prompting him and his companion to leave. Following losses in lower courts, Keister's appeal in 2018 was turned away by the U.S. Supreme Court, prompting him to file an amended civil rights suit against school officials the next year. The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, in recent years has taken an expansive view of religious rights, though this case came to the justices as a free speech dispute.

That’s consistent with the long-standing and well-understood rule that eating fewer calories contributes to weight loss. She also noted that the average person gains 1 or 2 pounds per year, which can amount to significant weight gain over time. Eating fewer large meals and more small meals, then, could "prevent that slow creep of weight gain," Bennett said. Consuming too much highly processed food like hot dogs, chips or soda can contribute to weight gain, whereas diets that rely on vegetables and whole grains may assist with weight loss. "Some of our best data in humans suggests probably diet quality matters more than meal timing," Peterson said.

☆ University of Alabama Basketball Player Darius Miles Charged With Murder
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and another man have been charged with capital murder after a fatal shooting near campus. Tuscaloosa Police Capt. Jack Kennedy said that the shooting occurred early Sunday morning in the Strip off University Boulevard near campus. He said Jamea Harris, 23 years old, of the Birmingham area was shot and killed.

A former University of Alabama basketball player was behind bars Sunday night after he was arrested in connection with a fatal shootout near campus, authorities said. He was booked on suspicion of murder and was being held without bail, the office said in a statement. Miles' name wasn't on the institution's basketball roster online late Sunday. The sheriff's statement addressed his status with the university in past tense. The other suspect, also booked on an allegation of capital murder, was identified as Michael Lynn Davis, 20, of Charles County, Maryland.

☆ Final farewell: From Sidney Poitier to Pope Emeritus Benedict a look back at the influential figures who died in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +55 min

Other world leaders who died in 2022 include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in August. The final days of 2022 saw the loss of some exceptionally notable figures, including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2022 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___Dan Reeves, 77. A Cuban-born artist whose radiant color palette and geometric paintings were overlooked for decades before the art world took notice. A prolific character actor best known for playing villains and tough guys in “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and other films.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried is in jail, but legal watchers are wondering: Where's ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison isn't named in prosecutors' charges against Sam Bankman-FriedBut the SEC's civil suit references her statements on the relationship between FTX and Alameda. Conspiracy charges and civil claims against SBF show others in the crosshairs, legal experts said. But her rise as CEO at Alameda, Bankman-Fried's other crypto company separate from FTX, may certainly put her in investigators' sights. The SEC's complaint on Tuesday claimed that Bankman-Fried "remained the ultimate decision-maker" at Alameda, even after Ellison took over the reins. Since Bankman-Fried's crypto empire began unraveling in November however, Ellison has stayed away from the public eye.

☆ Deion Sanders is showing that upward mobility isn't just for white coaches
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Cecil Harris | Cecil Harris Is A Veteran Sports Journalist Whose Work Has Appeared In The New York Times | Usa Today | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Many are upset that the Black former superstar is leaving a Historically Black University where his leadership could continue to provide a solid foundation for young Black athletes. Sanders proved his ability in his first coaching job by making the Jackson State Tigers the best team among HBCUs. In his final game at Jackson State, Sanders will lead the Tigers against North Carolina Central University in the Cricket Celebration Bowl on Dec. 17 in Atlanta. At each previous stop in Saban’s head coaching journey (University of Toledo, Michigan State University, Louisiana State University and the NFL’s Miami Dolphins), he may well have disappointed some players who signed on hoping he would stay. His son, Jackson State star quarterback Shedeur Sanders, is expected to do just that and follow his father.

☆ Drug and alcohol deaths increasing among US adults 65 and older, CDC data shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

In 2020, more than 5,000 adults 65 and older in the United States died of a drug overdose. Though drug overdose death rates for older adults tend to be lower than for other age groups – and made up just 0.2% of total deaths among adults 65 and older in 2020 – such deaths have been climbing. Between 2000 and 2020, the rates rose from 2.4 to 8.8 deaths per 100,000 people among adults 65 and older. Between 2000 and 2020, drug overdose deaths increased more among men than women, rising from 2.7 to 12.3 deaths per 100,000 men compared with 2.3 to 5.8 per 100,000 women. “Because of ageism, we typically do not think of older adults as having a substance use disorder nor do we think of older adults for being at-risk for a drug overdose.

☆ For small-business owners, poor performers can be a drag on the bottom line. Here's how to help them improve.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

InsiderPeople management is challenging for small-business owners, even when workers are productive. This article is part of Talent Insider, a series containing expert advice to help small business owners tackle a range of hiring challenges. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyPeople management is a perpetual challenge for small-business owners. Insider spoke with small-business owners and experts who offered advice on how to work with subpar employees to improve their performance. Nyberg said small-business owners often neglect to do this because they're stretched thin.

☆ They were diagnosed with uterine cancer and tumors. Now they're suing the makers of chemical hair straighteners.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms | Janelle Griffith | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Three years ago, Rhonda Terrell was diagnosed with an aggressive form of uterine cancer that has since spread to her abdomen and liver. “And I want to hold them accountable because I have granddaughters.”Bernadette Gordon, who used chemical relaxers from around 1983 to 2015, believes they caused her to develop breast and uterine cancer. In 2021, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer and underwent a hysterectomy, followed by six months of chemotherapy and radiation. There was never anything on the products' packaging, they said and their lawsuits allege, indicating that normal use of the products could cause them to develop uterine fibroids or breast or uterine cancer. “This study is the first to show a possible link between frequent use of hair straightening products and uterine cancer,” she said.

"This is the highest preterm birth rate that we've ever recorded," said Dr. Zsakeba Henderson, deputy chief medical and health officer for the March of Dimes. Alabama, with a preterm birth rate of 13.1%, is one of the worst ranked states in the country. Wingate has been charged with improving the state's preterm birth rate by improving maternal and fetal health. All had preterm birth rates of at least 11.5%. Only Vermont, with a preterm birth rate of less than 8.1%, scored an A on the March of Dimes report card.

☆ As measles outbreak sickens children in Ohio, local health officials seek help from CDC
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Jacqueline Howard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —A growing measles outbreak in Columbus, Ohio, has sickened dozens of unvaccinated children and hospitalized nine of them, and local public health officials are seeking assistance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One child is 6 years old.”Health officials with Columbus Public Health and Franklin County Public Health have been investigating these cases and tracing any contacts who may have been exposed to the measles virus. In the 1950s, researchers isolated the measles virus in a patient’s blood, and in the 1960s, they were able to transform that virus into a vaccine. As of October 28, a total of 33 measles cases have been reported this year in five jurisdictions across the United States, according to the CDC. “So the possibility that someone carrying measles virus coming into the country could spread into an unvaccinated population is always there.”

☆ These transformative leaders in healthcare are dealing with an unprecedented era of politics in the medical industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest healthcare news and analysis — delivered weekly to your inbox. But while the peak of the pandemic appears to be in the rearview, the healthcare industry has continued to be governed by political forces. This year, healthcare focused on transgender people and abortion rights has come under attack. Other healthcare professionals are using federal power to prevent the spread of infectious diseases other than COVID-19. Social stigma from the monkeypox outbreaks has mildly echoed the intense social and political stigma of HIV, which Daskalakis has focused on for the majority of his career.

☆ Musk halts Twitter's coveted blue check amid proliferation of imposters
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Nivedita Balu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The coveted blue check mark was previously reserved for verified accounts of politicians, famous personalities, journalists and other public figures. The flip-flop is part of a chaotic two weeks at Twitter since Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition. Musk has fired nearly half of Twitter's workforce, removed its board and senior executives, and raised the prospect of Twitter's bankruptcy. A number of misleading tweets about Tesla from a verified account with the same profile picture as the company's official account were also being circulated on the platform. In response, the billionaire said on Wednesday he aimed to turn Twitter into a force for truth and stop fake accounts.

The recently authorized booster vaccine protects against the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and the more recent omicron variants, BA.4 and BA.5. But there's a new batch of so-called "Scrabble" variants circulating globally. But experts still expect the shots to ramp up your immunity against all Covid variants, to some degree. The Scrabble variants are descendants of omicronThe new variants are descendants of omicron, which is a promising initial sign for the boosters. That can "restore a level of immunity and patch up the holes that some of these new Scrabble variants have found," she explains.

☆ Hubble vs. Webb: New NASA telescope reveals never-before-seen details from the early universe, within 400 million years after the Big Bang
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is 100 times stronger than the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble showed astronomers a single galaxy in the early universe, but JWST revealed it was two mysterious objects. Dan Coe, a researcher with the Space Telescope Science Institute, first discovered it 10 years ago with the Hubble Space Telescope, which was previously NASA's most powerful space observatory. One of the lensed images of MACS0647-JD, from the James Webb Space Telescope. Two galaxies colliding and merging, as photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

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