Layoffs Slowed In August, Still Above Year Ago; Job Growth Also Slowed

Government agencies and private employers said this month that they plan to lay off 51,114 workers, the outplacement consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported this morning. And while that’s down 23 percent from the 66,414 layoffs announced in July, the August total was still “up 47 percent from a year ago,” the firm said. What’s [...]

The Destructive Power Of Water

Hurricane Irene flooded or damaged hundreds of roads and scores of bridges as the storm cut a treacherous swath across 11 states in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast during the weekend of Aug. 27-28. Buildings were washed away, and many homes were flooded. [Copyright 2011 National Public Radio]

Major Grass Fire in NE OKC

Firefighters are working hard to stamp out hot spots in northeast Oklahoma City where a three square-mile grass fire got out of control on Tuesday.

Cell Phones Could Help Doctors Stay Ahead Of An Epidemic

The year 2010 was a very bad one for Haiti. It started with an earthquake that killed over 300,000 people, mostly in the crowded capital of Port-au-Prince. After that, cholera originating in a U.N. camp broke out in a northern province and eventually spread to the city. But public health researchers learned something useful from [...]

A Push To Curb Auto Service Contract Scams

You’ve likely seen the commercials for vehicle service contracts on TV promising to save customers thousands of dollars in repairs to their older cars and trucks. And St. Louis is like the Silicon Valley of those vehicle service contract companies. But while the industry continues to thrive, Missouri’s Better Business Bureau logged almost 1,000 complaints [...]

Training Afghans To Take Over Bomb-Defusing Efforts

August brought a grim new statistic from Afghanistan: The death of at least 66 U.S. soldiers, making it the deadliest month for U.S. troops in nearly 10 years of war. Nearly half of those casualties were the result of the rare shootdown of a Chinook helicopter packed with U.S. Navy SEALs. Of the remaining casualties, [...]

N.J. Chef: ‘It’s A Disaster In Here’ After Irene

Many of the places in Hurricane Irene’s path were big tourist destinations: North Carolina’s Outer Banks; Cape Cod; Ocean City, Md. Some businesses in those areas escaped relatively unscathed, allowing managers to breathe a sigh of relief and hope for a big turnout on Labor Day weekend. Others weren’t so lucky — places like Sallee [...]

In 2007, Walter Reed Was The Army’s Wakeup Call

For more than a century, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center was known as the hospital that catered to presidents and generals. Eisenhower was treated and died there. So too did Generals “Black Jack” Pershing, Douglas MacArthur and George Marshall. But in recent years, Walter Reed was shorthand for scandal. A 2007 series that dominated [...]

Perry Revives Social Security ‘Ponzi Scheme’ Rhetoric

When Texas Gov. Rick Perry was asked about Social Security during a campaign stop in Ottumwa, Iowa, last weekend, he didn’t mince words. He suggested younger workers who are required to pay into the retirement system are the victims of a government swindle. “We need to have a conversation with America, just like we’re having [...]

A Remnant From Algae In Malaria Parasite May Prove Its Weakness

Scientists may have found a critical weakness in Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria. Researchers say the discovery provides a promising target for new malaria therapies. The weakness is related to a structure inside malaria cells called an apicoplast. About a decade ago, molecular biologist Joseph DeRisi of the University of California, San Francisco [...]