The innovative program that provides a dose of hands-on health care training, boosting parents’ ability to care for common childhood ailments at home while saving Medicaid millions annually, has been awarded a $1.1 million grant by the U.S. Office of Head Start to train thousands more families nationwide.
The new grant will expand the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute’s successful model of providing low-literacy healthcare training for Head Start parents. The national rollout will train an additional 8,000 families over three years, further reducing health care costs, ER and doctor/clinic visits and missed school and workdays.
Since 2001, the program, called I Can Help My Child Stay Healthy, has reached nearly 27,000 families nationwide. UCLA researchers have shown that if the training were provided for the nearly one million families served by Head Start, potential savings to Medicaid could reach $554 per family in direct costs – or over half a billion dollars annually. (Photo above, by David Nolan)
The Front Line of Health Reform: Teaching Parents How to Treat Their Own Kids
Ford To Build Cleaner Engine At Ohio Plant
An auto plant in suburban Cleveland, closed since 2007, was chosen to make Ford’s new EcoBoost engines that will be standard on the Ford Taurus, a more fuel-efficient engine that will help the company deliver 20 percent better fuel economy and 15 percent lower CO2 emissions. (Read more at CBS News)
Kashmir Invests in Saving Endangered Snow Leopards
Authorities in Kashmir have launched a special project to save endangered snow leopards, and plan to spend nearly half a million dollars to train people and buy equipment to curb poaching and habitat loss. (Read more at Reuters)
Snow leopard, by photography winner Steve Winter
Lead Levels Plummet in Young Children
In a stunning improvement in children’s health, far fewer children have high lead levels than 20 years ago, a testament to aggressive efforts to get lead out of paint, water, and soil.
Federal researchers report that 1.4% of children in 2004 had high lead levels in their blood, down from 9% in 1998.
“It has been a remarkable decline… a public health success story,” said the study’s coauthor from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Read AP story at LA Times)
Sales Tax Deduction Encouraging Car Sales
A new federal incentive allows car and truck buyers to deduct the sales tax on vehicles purchased between Feb. 17 and the end of the year — just the encouragement some buyers needed to commit to a purchase.
“It’s the first good news the automotive industry has had in long time,” said James T. Fleming, president of the Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association. “I’ve talked to a number of dealers around the state and they said they’ve actually seen an uptick in traffic.” (Read more in the Norwich Bulletin)
Optimist Opens Retail Business to Fight Recession
“You can’t sit around grumpy, moping and feeling sorry for yourself in this recession,” the retired 76-year-old said. “You’ve got to get off your duff and do something. And what more can you do but open up a retail store to provide quality goods at good prices?
Bill Weisberg opened a discount athletic wear shop called Fabulous Buys in St. Louis Park, Minnesota and hired his grandkids to run it on weekends, convinced that his gamble can help jump-start Minnesota’s limping economy. (Minnesota Star-Tribune)
(Photo courtesy of Sun Star)
Thanks to GraemeThickins on Twitter for the news tip!
Organic Food Expert Chosen for No. 2 Agriculture Slot
President Barack Obama has chosen Kathleen Merrigan, an organic food expert who helped the US Senate develop labelling rules for organic food, to be second-in-command at the Agriculture Department. Sustainable and organic farmers are thrilled that someone who has been associated with these issues her whole career is going to be at such a high level in the department.
The Consumers Union praised the choice. “We would expect her to be a strong defender of USDA’s organic standards, which have been under repeated attack for the last several years,” said Jean Halloran, director of Food Policy Initiatives at the organization.
Merrigan currently is an assistant professor and Director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment M.S. and Ph.D. Program at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, Boston.
Stock Buying by Corporate Insiders Almost Tripled in Feb
Two good news stories in the financial sector caught our eye this week:
Hefty stock purchases by company officers and directors is growing evidence that insiders believe their companies have the worst of the recession behind them and their stocks should rise this year, analysts said last week.
California Wind Farms Providing Energy and Jobs
A new crop of wind turbines will be generating not only electricity but steady income for refugees of the ravaged housing and automotive industries.
“This is the best job I ever had,” said one of the new ‘windsmiths’ strapping on his climbing gear to perform maintenance on the wind turbines. (McClatchy News, via the Sac Bee)
More info on the Obama administration’s investment in energy, visit the US Dept. of Energy office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Right: Dillon Wind Power Project, CA- photo by Iberdrola Renewables
Human Sewage to Power Buses in Norway
Biomethane from human waste will soon power public transportation in Norway’s capital city. Starting in September 2009, the methane gas normally contributing to Global Warming, will be captured from one of Oslo’s sewage plants and converted into biomethane fuel to run 200 of the city’s public buses. (Read more at EcoWorldly.com)
Thanks to Brooke Estin for the story tip via Twitter!
(Photo by Seansie via Flickr, under a Creative Commons license)
US Halts Medical Marijuana Raids (w/ Video)
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced Friday he’s halting federal raids on medial marijuana distributors in the 13 states that allow marijuana use for patients with cancer and other painful medical conditions.
(Read story at MSNBC, or watch the following two videos – one of which shows how a burn victim is helped by the medical marijuana laws in California)
Note: New Jersey is also moving to allow medical marijuana.
Below: AG Halts Medical Marijuana Raids, and, Making the Case for Medical Marijuana
Honda Overwhelmed by Surge in Hybrid Sales
Overwhelmed by a three-fold surge in sales of its hybrid, Honda will increase production of the Insight, which debuted in Japan on February 6. The company plans to launch the gasoline-electric hybrid in Europe and the United States, in its first attempt at a low-cost, high-volume answer to the Prius, over the next two months. (Read more from Reuters)
After 9 Years, Missing Dog Returns to Family
A German shepherd named Astro who has been missing from his family for more than 9 years is finally home, thanks to the microchip embedded in the dog before his adoption from a shelter. The family had even moved three times after the dog left home. (MSNBC.com has the story)
U2’s Surprise Rooftop Gig (Video)
Traffic on Regent Street in London came to a halt as rock legends U2 performed on a roof top for thousands of commuters.
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These Uncertain Times?
“These uncertain times…” It’s hard to go through the day and not see or hear the use of this phrase. But what does it really mean?
What is being described as our modern state is really the norm. We are surrounded by uncertainty all the time.
I heard an authoritative radio voice usher the phrase three times today. “In these uncertain times, it’s important to find a lawyer you can trust.” Well, this had me spitting out my coffee in laughter.
A little while later, it was, “Are you looking for a safe place to invest your money, in these uncertain times?” to which I replied, “What money?”
Building a Bridge to Save Lives
The Nithi River used to claim as many as 50 lives each year near the Kenyan villages of Kajuki and Mutino.
But a Rotary club project between Meru, Kenya, and Middleton/Manchester, England, helped fund a new bridge that allows villagers to cross the river safely, while transforming the economies of the communities in the process.
Before the bridge was constructed, Mutino villagers had to make a 30 mile roundtrip journey to cross the river at a safe point, making it difficult to reach Kajuki for supplies and medical services. Often in emergencies, villagers would try to ford the river, and many died as a result. (In this photo, Mutino villagers ford the Nithi River during the dry season, courtesy of John Brooker)
Gharials Get Back Into the Ganges
131 gharials, the critically endangered long-snouted crocodile native to the Northern Indian sub-continent, were recently re-introduced to the river Ganges by WWF-India officials.
The gharials are responding well, according to WWF, since their release on February 12 into the Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh.
“An estimate indicates that barely 1,400 individuals survive in the wild in India,” said Dr Parikshit Gautam, Director, Freshwater & Wetlands Conservation Program, WWF-India. “For its conservation it is essential to locate viable alternative habitats for this species in crisis.”
Clean Living Way to Beat Cancer (w/ Video)
Over 40% of breast and bowel cancer cases in rich countries are preventable through diet, physical activity and weight control alone, experts say.
Simple measures like cycling to work and swapping fatty foods for fruit can make all the difference for these and many other cancers, they say. (Read the full story in BBC)
(Photo courtesy of Sun Star)
Hyundai Selling Cars and Peace of Mind
January car sales plummeted for most major automakers, but Hyundai saw a 14 percent sales jump thanks to their innovative Assurance program that allows buyers to return cars – no strings attached – if they lose their jobs in the first year of ownership. (US News Rankings and Reviews)
Co-op Mocks Recession, Doles Out $231 Million
What recession?
A Minnesota grain and energy cooperative sent $231 million on Friday to its members — and there’s more on the way — in what they called the largest-ever distribution from a U.S. co-op.
The checks mailed to members of CHS Inc., a Fortune 200 company, ranged from a few hundred dollars to just over $1 million, said a spokeswoman of the co-op, whose earnings have more than tripled in the past four years, selling grain, feed, food, and energy.
Let’s Join! (Full story at Minn. Star-Tribune)
