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New Rule Aims to Curb Mercury Emissions From Coal-Fired Power Plants
The Environmental Protection Agency is on the verge of proposing a new rule limiting emissions of mercury, arsenic and other toxics emitted by the nation’s coal-burning power plants. As the Los Angeles Times reports, the new clean air regulatory proposal is expected to be completed by the agency today and officially announced on Monday. It [...]
With Stronger Roofs, More Cars Get ‘Top Safety Pick’ Rating
The list of cars and trucks winning “top safety pick” ratings has grown to a record 115 for the latest model year. A big reason for the improvement: Automakers are designing stronger roofs to better protect motorists in rollover crashes. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in issuing its widely followed top safety pick selections, [...]
Teens Cut Drinking and Cigarettes, But Smoke More Pot
An annual survey has found that drinking and cigarette smoking among U.S. teenagers has fallen to the lowest levels in decades, but there also was some discouraging health news: More young people say they are using marijuana. The survey, conducted by University of Michigan researchers and known as the Monitoring the Future study, polls students [...]
Smoking Bans in Brazil, Bulgaria Light Up Global Trend
From Bulgaria to Brazil, the push to ban smoking is firing up. As Agence France-Presse reports, the government of heavy-smoking Bulgaria is renewing its effort to prohibit puffing in all enclosed public places, including cafes, bars and restaurants. The government’s proposal, which would take effect June 1, would build on a 2005 ban that outlawed [...]
Recall Rundown: Toasters, Utility Vehicles, Massagers and More
Toasters Recalled by Hamilton Beach Due to Fire Hazard E-Z-Go Recalls Golf Cars, Shuttles and Off-Road Utility Vehicles Due to Crash Hazard Recall: 2011 Nissan Juke for Faulty Turbocharger Sensor Bracket Handheld Massagers Recalled by Fourstar Group Due to Burn Hazard From Leaking Batteries (Sold Exclusively at BJ’s Wholesale Clubs) More Dog Food Recalled Due [...]
Promoter of Lap-Band Weight-Loss Surgery Warned Over Misleading Ads
Federal authorities have warned a Southern California marketing company promoting Lap-Band weight-loss surgery that it is illegally engaging in false advertising that downplays the serious risks of the procedure. The Food and Drug Administration told the firm, 1-800-GET-THIN, that its billboards and print advertising “fail to provide required risk information, including warnings, precautions, possible side [...]
Head Start Programs Faulted for Failing to Conduct Worker Background Checks
Instructors teaching without criminal background checks. Household chemicals left within the reach of preschoolers. A machete found near a play area, and broken gates leading to parking lots, streets and unsupervised areas. Those were among the violations discovered at Head Start programs around the country in a report by the inspector general of the U.S. [...]
Medtronic to Pay $23.5 Million to Settle Charges of Kickbacks to Doctors
The world’s No. 1 maker of medical devices, Medtronic, has agreed to pay $23.5 million to settle federal allegations that it provided kickbacks to doctors who implanted its pacemakers and defibrillators. As Reuters reports, the U.S. Department of Justice accused the Minnesota-based company of making illicit payments to physicians of $1,000 to $2,000 per patient, [...]
Problems Mushroom for Hanford Nuclear Waste Plant
To clean up the enormous nuclear mess at the Hanford site in southeastern Washington, government officials and their contractors for years have worked on a unique solution. They are constructing a plant that, using a process called vitrification, will convert radioactive wastes into glasslike logs that can be permanently disposed underground. But, as The Associated [...]
For 29 Dead Miners, No Justice
Early on April 5, 2010, in the heart of West Virginia coal country, a huge explosion killed 29 workers at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine. Later that day, President Obama directed Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis to conduct “the most thorough and comprehensive investigation possible” and to work with the Justice Department to investigate [...]
