Health and Public Safety
October 9, 2009 -
You might not think it could happen in the region noted for a cuisine featuring sweet potatoes, greens, okra and watermelon, but a groundbreaking new federal report shows that no U.S. state is meeting national goals for consumption of fruit and vegetables -- and the situation is especially dire in the South.
October 9, 2009 -
The U.S. Department of Labor released a list this week of 10 mine operators around the country that have been warned of a "potential pattern" of violating health or safety standards, and most of them are located in the coalfields of Appalachia.
October 7, 2009 -
An in-depth review of monitoring data from coal ash ponds located next to 13 coal-burning power plants in North Carolina has revealed that all of them are contaminating groundwater with toxic metals and other pollutants -- in some cases at levels exceeding 380 times state groundwater standards.
October 6, 2009 -
The morning after the CBS News program "60 Minutes" aired its investigation into the hazards of coal ash waste from coal-burning power plants, the people of South Carolina awoke to some worrisome news about coal ash close to home.
October 2, 2009 -
Early this morning, the Senate Finance Committee completed its work on a health insurance reform bill, which now heads to the Senate floor.
October 2, 2009 -
A new report released this week by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and researched by the Urban Institute projects that over the next 10 years health care costs could skyrocket, going up by more than 35 percent if comprehensive health care