Author: Reporter

Compromised data: People who survive natural disasters are especially vulnerable to identity theft

Information theft is on the rise. Over 1.1 million people in the U.S. alone reported the crime to the Federal Trade Commission in 2022. When a thief opens accounts in your name or otherwise uses your data, you might feel powerless. But there are steps you can take to prevent the worst outcomes. Colleen Tressler, a senior project manager for the FTC, has tracked consumer issues including identity theft for more than three decades. She said frauds and scams often emerge during specific emergencies such as the COVID pandemic, and in the wake of climate-related catastrophes. “They’re imposters, so...

Read More

Auditory impairment: Research finds rural Wisconsin men are at high risk to suffer from hearing loss

Recent research estimated that hearing loss affects approximately 37.9 million Americans, being more common in rural areas than urban ones and in men than women. The study was published in January in The Lancet Regional Health-Americas Journal. It was the first to estimate hearing loss rates at the state and county level, and was led by NORC at the University of Chicago. The estimates are from 2019, and only included people who have hearing loss in both ears. While the study could not explain the reason for the geographic divide, experts who treat hearing loss say there are two...

Read More

Community health centers that serve 1 in 11 Americans as a critical safety net struggle to stay open

Elisa Reyes has come to Plaza del Sol Family Health Center for doctor’s appointments for more than a decade. She moved away a while ago but keeps returning, even if it means a two-hour roundtrip bus ride. That is because her two children see the same doctor she does. Because when she is sick, she can walk in without an appointment. Because the staff at the Queens clinic helped her apply for health insurance and food stamps. “I feel at home. They also speak my language,” Reyes, 33, said in Spanish. “I feel comfortable.” Plaza del Sol is one...

Read More

Prison to plate: Incarcerated workers are part of a hidden workforce behind many popular food brands

A hidden path to America’s dinner tables begins here, at an unlikely source in a former Southern slave plantation that is now the country’s largest maximum-security prison. Unmarked trucks packed with prison-raised cattle roll out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary, where men are sentenced to hard labor and forced to work, for pennies an hour or sometimes nothing at all. After rumbling down a country road to an auction house, the cows are bought by a local rancher and then followed by The Associated Press another 600 miles to a Texas slaughterhouse that feeds into the supply chains of...

Read More

Slow approval for U.S. work permits stokes tensions between newcomers and immigrants with local roots

Migrants at a city-run shelter in New York grumble that relatives who settled before them refuse to offer a bed. In Chicago, a provider of mental health services to people in the country illegally pivoted to new arrivals sleeping at a police station across the street. In South Florida, some immigrants complain that people who came later get work permits that are out of reach for them. Across the country, mayors, governors, and others have been forceful advocates for newly arrived migrants seeking shelter and work permits. Their efforts and existing laws have exposed tensions among immigrants who have...

Read More

U.S. economy’s surprising resilience sees surge in productivity from robots and happy workers

Trying to keep up with customer demand, Batesville Tool & Die began seeking 70 people to hire last year. It was not easy. Attracting factory workers to a community of 7,300 in the Indiana countryside was a tough sell, especially having to compete with big-name manufacturers nearby like Honda and Cummins Engine. Job seekers were scarce. Batesville Tool & Die managed to fill just 40 of its vacancies. “You could count on one hand how many people in the town were unemployed,” said Jody Fledderman, the CEO. “It was just crazy.” Enter the robots. The company invested in machines...

Read More