Elizabeth Chuck

A top psychology group is urging technology companies and legislators to take greater steps to protect adolescents’ mental health, arguing that social media platforms are built for adults and are “not inherently suitable for youth.” Social media features such as endless scrolling and push notifications are “particularly risky” to young people, whose developing brains are less able to disengage from addictive experiences and are more sensitive to distractions, the American Psychological Associati…

U.S. officials on Tuesday announced that the federal program that helps low-income women and young children access nutritious food will permanently allot more funds for fruit, vegetables and other vital staples. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, commonly referred to as WIC, provides monthly grocery benefits to almost 6.6 million mothers and children up to age 5 in the U.S., including nearly 40% of all infants. The benefits are for purchasing specific fo…

It was supposed to be a fun getaway for Destiny Morgan and her children: a chance to glide down waterslides, float along the lazy river and enjoy what Morgan thought would be a safe, family-friendly vacation. Instead, the 2021 trip to Crown Reef Beach Resort and Waterpark in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, abruptly turned to horror when Morgan’s youngest child, 4-year-old Demi Williams, drowned in one of the resort’s pools, which had no lifeguards attending to it and was poorly lit, according to a…

NBC News has reversed its decision to hire former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel as a political analyst after network executives faced a chorus of fierce on-air criticism. “There is no doubt that the last several days have been difficult for the News Group. After listening to the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be an NBC News contributor,” NBCUniversal Group Chairman Cesar Conde said in an email to staff members Tuesday. “I…

One nervous traveler touches the outside of the airplane while boarding and prays before takeoff. Another brings anti-anxiety medication. A third has been watching YouTube videos narrated by pilots to understand what happens during flights. Such rituals have helped anxious passengers overcome their fear of flying. But in recent months, several travelers said, news of issues on Boeing planes has made these strategies insufficient and has threatened their ability to walk down the jetway. So they…

A state legislator introduced a first-of-its-kind bill Tuesday that would ban seven additives from the foods that are served in California’s public schools. Assembly Bill 2316 would prohibit school cafeterias from offering foods containing six artificial food dyes that have been linked to hyperactivity and behavioral issues in some children. It would also outlaw titanium dioxide, a whitening agent used in candies and other products that is banned by the European Union because of concerns that it…

The 12-year-old who died last month at a North Carolina wilderness program for troubled adolescents spent his first and only night there on the floor of a bunkhouse. His sleeping bag was inside a small tent with an alarm pinned to the zipper, rigged to go off if he tried to get out, a staff member told authorities. He had been “loud and irate” when he arrived earlier that day and had refused to eat dinner, the counselor told detectives, adding that the boy had a panic attack just after midnight…

A U.S. senator from Oregon introduced a bill Thursday that would dramatically increase the security of the benefits cards that low-income families use to buy groceries. The bill comes amid a startling number of thefts from participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, whose electronic benefits transfer cards contain data on a magnetic stripe that is easy for criminals to clone using hidden “skimming” devices. The thieves produce duplicate cards that they use to drain victims’ SN…

A nurse at an Oregon hospital allegedly replaced pain medication with nonsterile tap water, introducing bacteria into a patient’s bloodstream that led to his death, a lawsuit filed this week alleges. The patient, Horace Wilson, was admitted to Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford with a lacerated spleen and broken ribs after he fell off a ladder in January 2022, the complaint says. As he recovered from multiple operations in the intensive care unit, Wilson’s treatment team noticed “un…

WIC is facing a $1 billion budget shortfall, alarming advocates and program participants who say healthy food is only one piece of the vital assistance that the federal nutrition program provides to millions of low-income women and young children. WIC — as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children is commonly called — helps mothers and children up to age 5 access staples such as fruit, vegetables and infant formula, and connects them to health care resources. T…