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In the cannabis patch, a patchwork of safety standards

This story was produced by FairWarning (www.fairwarning.org), a nonprofit news organization based in Southern California that focuses on public health, consumer, labor and environmental issues. You can sign up for their newsletter here. Although 35 states, three U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for recreational or medical use, there still are …

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OSHA blamed for going AWOL during COVID-19

This story was produced by FairWarning (www.fairwarning.org), a nonprofit news organization based in Southern California that focuses on public health, consumer, labor and environmental issues. You can sign up for their newsletter here. When workers at the Maid-Rite Specialty Foods meatpacking plant feared that a lack of safety precautions against COVID-19 put them in imminent …

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Kenosha deals with complex past, present healing

Kenosha, WI helped give Donald Trump a slim margin of victory in 2016, a win that can be traced in part to the healthy majority who years ago supported the Kennedys versus racist former Alabama Gov. George Wallace.

Diane Wilson investigating microplastic pollution on Cox’s Creek in the Texas Gulf Coast town of Point Comfort. She led a group of local residents in a successful courtroom assault on giant Formosa Plastics. (Tamir Kalifa)

Tenacious citizens take on the plastics industry over an insidious pollutant

This story was produced by FairWarning, a nonprofit news organization based in Southern California that focuses on public health, consumer and environmental issues. Diane Wilson paddled her kayak up Cox’s Creek, watching out for spiders and snakes as she ducked under a low iron bridge. She wasn’t on an outing. She was on a mission. …

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Migrants family with children in a refugee camp

Millions displaced by U.S. combat since 9/11

The wars the U.S. government has fought since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have forced 37 million people — and perhaps as many as 59 million — from their homes, according to a newly released report from American University and Brown University’s Costs of War Project. Until now, no one has known how many …

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Planes on airfield at U.S. military base

Anthropologist warns of growth in U.S. bases

Perhaps the most critical component of U.S. military power is its relentless presence around the world. The globe is indisputably covered with U.S. military bases. Recent estimates put the number as high as 800 in more than 80 countries, but a true number may be harder to come by as bases open and close under …

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Safety advocates assail lack of federal action on weak vehicle seats

This story was produced by FairWarning, a nonprofit news organization based in Southern California that focuses on public health, consumer, labor and environmental issues. Andrew Warner was driving his family home from a Christmas party near Houston when they were rear-ended by a drunk driver. Warner’s seat buckled, slamming backward into his infant daughter, Taylor. …

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Will the ADA protect workers at high-risk for COVID-19?

At least 27 million workers under the age of 65 suffer from medical conditions — including heart disease, diabetes and chronic kidney disease — that put them at increased risk of dying from COVID-19, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Such conditions tend to be more prevalent among people of color.

Big drug companies resist state efforts to cap insulin prices

In the United States, the average list price for insulin tripled from 2002 to 2013 and then doubled from 2012 to 2016, forcing some diabetics to spend as much as $1,200 a month.