National News

LENEXA, KAN. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released updated guidance on indoor air quality strategies for preventing the spread of common respiratory viruses in homes, schools, offices, and commercial buildings. EPA’s updated guidance reflects the latest science on indoor air quality strategies and recent ventilation recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and […]

BLOOMINGTON, Minnesota  – They have quirky names and are often mistaken for stones, but freshwater mussels are very much alive and perform critical ecological functions in rivers and streams. We at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have published a recovery plan to save four imperiled mussels protected under the Endangered Species Act: the rayed

LENEXA, KAN. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that the Missouri University of Science and Technology and Missouri State University have been selected to collectively receive nearly $700,000 in grants to provide technical assistance to businesses to develop and adopt pollution prevention (P2) practices in local communities. Missouri University of Science and Technology(Missouri

WEST DES MOINES, IA –  Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences, in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Toronto and the University of California – San Diego, has shared new findings from a multinational study on drug shortages in the U.S. and Canada. Published in the Journal of the American Medical

ATLANTA, GA. — The CDC has updated the vaccine recommendations for people 65 years and older and those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised to receive a second dose of 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine six months after their first dose. These updated recommendations also allow for flexibility for additional doses (i.e., three or more) for those

LENEXA, KAN. – This is National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized stronger requirements for identifying and cleaning up lead paint dust in pre-1978 homes and childcare facilities. The final standards are the latest action in President Biden’s whole-of-government strategy to protect families and children from lead exposure. Children are especially

By Jackie Dover Things, they are a changing in Medicare, especially the prescription drug programs. Every year there are some changes to particular plans but 2025 will have big changes for Medicare Part D.   Open Enrollment for Medicare Part C and Part D plans is every year from October 15 through December 7 so

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments for more than 72.5 million Americans will increase 2.5 percent in 2025, the Social Security Administration announced today.  On average, Social Security retirement benefits will increase by about $50 per month starting in January. Over the last decade the COLA increase has averaged

KANSAS CITY – Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), were unchanged in September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. A 4.5-percent decrease in the energy index was balanced out by a 0.3-percent advance in the index for all items less food and