Brainerd considers contentious question of chlorinating the city’s drinking water
Officials in Brainerd, Minn., could decide on Tuesday whether to continue using chlorine to treat the city’s drinking water. Residents were advised to boil their water for six days earlier this month, after coliform bacteria was detected in the city’s water system. Officials think road construction may have caused the contamination. The boil advisory has […]
Ozempic seems to curb cravings for alcohol. Here’s what scientists think is going on
Some people who take Ozempic and Wegovy report it tamps down their cravings for alcohol, and they’re drinking less. lucentius/Getty Images During the COVID pandemic, J. Paul Grayson was hit with an avalanche of health problems – high blood pressure, prediabetes and a heart arrhythmia. He also gained 40 pounds to his 6-feet 3-inches frame. […]
Coronavirus FAQs: How worrisome is the new variant? How long do boosters last?
A booster vaccine is administered on the Indonesian resort island of Bali. Sonny Tumbelaka /AFP via Getty Images We regularly answer frequently asked questions about the coronavirus. If you have a question you’d like us to consider for a future post, email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: “Weekly Coronavirus Questions.” See an archive […]
Coronavirus FAQs: How worrisome is the new variant? How long do boosters last?
A booster vaccine is administered on the Indonesian resort island of Bali. Sonny Tumbelaka /AFP via Getty Images We regularly answer frequently asked questions about the coronavirus. If you have a question you’d like us to consider for a future post, email us at goatsandsoda@npr.org with the subject line: “Weekly Coronavirus Questions.” See an archive […]
Red Lake Nation nurse Charmaine Branchaud honored for improved immunization rates
Charmaine Branchaud can see the stories of Red Lake Nation students in the data. Branchaud says the work to improve Red Lake School District’s immunization rates began as she sifted through paper records. The data allowed her to understand student health needs. “I wanted to see if we had any frequent fliers,” she said, referring […]
After two-year spike, Boundary Waters visits drop to pre-pandemic levels
Updated 5:45 p.m. The number of visitors who ventured into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness dropped by about 9 percent last year following a two-year spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data released by the U.S. Forest Service. Nearly 151,000 people visited the million-acre wilderness along the Canadian border in 2022. Most […]
Cannabis education program comes to St. Cloud State
People looking to manage marijuana with expertise can look toward St. Cloud State University this fall. Minnesota’s first cannabis certificate program is launching at the university, aimed to train people in marijuana entrepreneurship. The completely online, six-month program is available to anyone over 18 through SCSU’s professional and continuing education department. Topics include cannabis agriculture […]
Schools could be getting millions more from Medicaid. Why aren’t they?
Jenny Eckart Hoyt directs her daughter Winnie’s attention to an “eye gaze” device in their Portland, Ore., home. The communication skills the eye gaze can unlock are critical for Winnie’s educational future. To master it, Winnie needs a lot of practice with a trained instructor. Beth Nakamura for NPR Seven-year-old Winnie Hoyt sits nestled in […]
New flame retardants found in breast milk years after similar chemicals were banned
Years after one class of flame retardants was phased out, researchers detected other, similar flame-retardant compounds in U.S. women’s breast milk in a recent study. Ceneri | Getty Images In the early 2000s, researchers tested breast milk samples from U.S. mothers and found high levels of toxic compounds used as a common flame retardant in […]
Why are more kids nearsighted?
As school starts up in the next few weeks, more young children will head to the classroom with blurry vision. Nearsightedness is increasing in kids at an alarming rate. The medical term is myopia, a condition in which people can see close objects clearly, but faraway objects, like a whiteboard across the classroom, are blurry. […]