Author: Reporter

CASA of Lexington has tried just about everything to find volunteers to serve as advocates for abused and neglected children with the Kentucky nonprofit. Since 2020, it has hired someone to focus on recruiting volunteers, added in-person and virtual outreach events and options to complete the required 30-hour training, and printed information on fans to hand out in churches, Melynda Milburn Jamison, its executive director, said. She even visited a men’s-only barbecue to make a quick 10-minute pitch. The result? In 2022, CASA of Lexington had 62 new volunteers complete training, short of its target of 80. Only two...

The first comprehensive poll to measure public attitudes on foundations and nonprofits offers signs that charitable organizations are more trusted than other institutions, such as businesses, governments, and the news media. But it shows many warning signs for nonprofits, given how little Americans know about charities and the pessimism they have about the ability of charities to make a positive difference in the world. Two especially disturbing findings: 48% think that nonprofits are on the wrong track, and only a third believe charities contribute a lot to society. Perhaps most surprising is that only 5% of Americans think they...

Heat waves fueled by climate change are arriving earlier, growing more intense and lasting longer, creating higher risks of illness and death for older people who are especially vulnerable to hot weather. In America’s hottest big metro, older people accounted for most of the people who died last summer in broiling heat inside their homes, almost all without air conditioning. The heat dangers well known in greater Phoenix are becoming known familiar nationwide. WHY ARE OLDER PEOPLE MORE LIKELY TO DIE FROM THE HEAT? People ages 60 and over tend to have more chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease...

Obesity is a major and growing problem around the world, but especially in the U.S., where more than 40% of adults and about 20% of children now meet the criteria for what doctors say has become an intractable chronic disease. Rates of the disease have soared in recent decades, spurred by the complex interaction of genes that make people more likely to store food as fat, a food system that provides easy and cheap access to processed treats explicitly designed to be overconsumed, and social settings that limit access to healthy options and exercise for many people. Obesity is...

The Biden administration announced more than $80 million of funding in late April in a push to produce more solar panels in the U.S., make solar energy available to more people, and pursue superior alternatives to the ubiquitous sparkly panels made with silicon. The Department of Energy highlighted a community solar site in Washington. Community solar refers to a variety of arrangements where renters and people who do not control their rooftops can still get their electricity from solar power. The Biden administration said the effort was the largest community solar iniative ever in the United States. Now it...

Toyota plans to make an all solid-state battery as part of its ambitious plans for battery electric vehicles, the company said in June amid mounting criticism Japan’s top automaker needs to do more to fight climate change. Toyota Motor Corp. aims for a commercial solid-state battery as soon as 2027. Charging time, one of the main drawbacks of electric vehicles, will get shortened to 10 minutes or less, the company said in a statement. It plans to deliver 1.5 million EVs in 2026 by expanding its battery EV lineup and developing technology. “With the evolution of the vehicle’s operating...