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Nov162018 by adminNo Comments

Most of Minnesota's energy could come from wind, solar by 2050

Nov. 16 (UPI) -- A new study out of Minnesota found that 70 percent of the state's electricity could come from wind and solar energy by 2050 -- and it would cost about the same as natural gas. State officials plan to use the report, which was commissioned by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, as it considers future energy policy decisions. The state has been a national leader in pushing renewable energy since 2007 when then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, enacted legislation to increase renewable energy use and decrease greenhouse gas emissions. "The best time to have taken action on energy issues would've been 30 years ago," Pawlenty said after signing the Next Generation Energy Act of 2007. "The nation has been asleep at the switch, but here in Minnesota we are kick-starting the fut...

Nov132018 by adminNo Comments

Most COPD patients never go to rehab, despite health benefits

Health

Nov. 12 (UPI) -- The vast majority of patients hospitalized for COPD, the fourth highest cause of death in the United States, never get follow up pulmonary rehabilitation. Those startling findings, which wer published Monday in the Journal Annals of Thoracic Society, found that only 2 percent of more than 4,200 COPD patients in the U.S. began pulmonary rehabilitation after six months of COPD-related hospitalization. And among 6,100 COPD patients, only 2.7 percent received rehabilitation for their condition. "Unfortunately, many patients face multiple barriers to participating, such as family responsibilities or transportation, and participation rates are especially low among vulnerable populations," Kerry A. Spitzer, doctor at Baystate Medical Center and co-author of the study, said in a ...

Nov92018 by adminNo Comments

Voters defeat most state tax measures on midterm ballots

Finance

When it came to tax measures on the ballot, midterm election voters were quick to say, "no." In the last 15 years, voters have approved about half of tax measures on ballots, said Vanessa Williamson, a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution. This year, there were a lot more "no's" than typical, she said, perhaps due to this particular election's overwhelming controversy and high number of key races. "When in doubt, many people vote 'no,'" she said. Most rejected measures w...

Nov82018 by adminNo Comments

Most tonsillectomies performed on children no benefit to health

Health

Nov. 6 (UPI) -- New research suggests that most tonsillectomies performed on children provide no benefit to their health. Researchers at the University of Birmingham's Institute of Applied Health Research report in a new analysis of medical records that, among children who had their tonsils removed in Britain between 2005 and 2016, just 11.7 percent of the procedures were necessary. For the new study, published Tuesday in the British Journal of General Practice, researchers analyzed medical records for 1.6 million children under age 15 who had the procedure at one of 700 U.K. general practices. Of the 18,271 children who had their tonsils removed, only 2,144 -- seven in eight -- had enough sore throats to justify surgery, according to findings In addition, many children who might benefit...

Oct132018 by adminNo Comments

How to make the most of Social Security's 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment for 2019

Finance

The Social Security Administration has announced that the cost-of-living adjustment to benefits will be 2.8 percent next year. That is the biggest increase since 2012, when beneficiaries saw a 3.6 percent increase. But before you celebrate, there are some things you need to keep in mind. The average Social Security benefit in 2018 is $ 1,422. With the cost-of-living adjustment, that will be $ 1,461 per month in 2019. That extra $ 39 per month will amount to $ 468 per year, or $ 936 per year f...