Minnesota isn’t alone: Air quality plummets across Midwest due to wildfires
Haze from Canadian wildfires blankets the Chicago skyline as seen from the city’s South Loop neighborhood on Wednesday. Kathleen Foody/AP Smoke from wildfires in Canada is again blanketing parts of the U.S. with a thick haze that’s reducing visibility and prompting air quality warnings in several states. Minnesota isn’t alone: States across the Midwest are […]
More unhealthy air in southern, central Minnesota as wildfire smoke continues
INTERVIEWER: Well, I’m looking out my window in Saint Paul– and, yep, still cloudy and hazy. You can see the smoke in the air that’s blown in from Canadian wildfires. This is a pattern we’ve seen a lot this month. NPR Meteorologist Sven Sundgaard has been tracking all things related to air quality and weather. […]
Minnesota sets record for most air quality alerts in a season
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued a record 23rd air quality alert of the year Tuesday morning, as yet another round of smoke from Canadian wildfires drifts across southern and eastern parts of the state. Air quality readings were in the red category, meaning unhealthy for everyone, across most of eastern Minnesota — including the […]
Choosing death on one’s own terms
CATHY WURZER: It did not get a hearing in the 2023 Minnesota legislative session, but a bill was introduced that would allow people of sound mind with a terminal illness to choose the time of their death with a physician-prescribed dose of lethal medication. There are other ways to hasten death. A Minnesota woman and […]
ChangeMakers: Reneka Evans has dedicated her life to helping Black trans women
In celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, throughout June MPR News is featuring stories about transgender and nonbinary Minnesotans making an impact. See more at mprnews.org/changemakers. Reneka Evans, 54, has been working in community health care in the Twin Cities and broader Minnesota for more than two decades, first at the African American AIDS Task Force, […]
Wildfire smoke: How to protect your health and home
Canada’s wildfire season is off to its worst start on record, and with that comes smoke that’s been drifting over the northern U.S. including Minnesota. The smoke greatly impacts our air quality and produces hazy, smoky skies. Earlier this month, smoke from Canadian wildfires brought the worst air quality to the Twin Cities since records […]
The hospital bills didn’t find her, but a lawsuit did — plus interest
Bethany Birch paid more than $5,200 toward her medical debt after getting sued by Ballad Health in 2018. Owing to a Tennessee court judgment, she accrued an additional $2,700 in interest over that time. Maddy Alewine/KFF Health News Bethany Birch had pain in her diaphragm on and off for eight months in 2016. She knew […]
An Alzheimer’s drug is on the way, but getting it may still be tough. Here’s why
In patients with Alzheimer’s disease, a substance called beta-amyloid can form toxic clumps in between neurons. Drugs like lecanemab are designed to remove amyloid-beta from the brain. National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health. The first drug shown to slow down Alzheimer’s disease is likely to receive full approval from the Food and Drug […]
Hennepin EMS paramedics add new tool to save lives as opioid overdoses increase
This story comes to you from Sahan Journal through a partnership with MPR News. Earlier this month, Hennepin Healthcare Emergency Medical Services Assistant Chief Ryan Mayfield responded to an overdose call — a common enough scenario, especially on a summer Friday. Hennepin EMS paramedics treat about 10 to 20 overdoses a day. In this case, bystanders told […]
Child lead exposure is the highest it’s been in four years. Who’s solving the problem?
CATHY WURZER: The state legislature passed a $240 million bill back in May focused on lead exposure in drinking water. But in older homes in Minneapolis, lead isn’t just in the plumbing, it could be all over the home from the walls to the window sills. Child lead exposure in Minneapolis is currently the highest […]