TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ attorney general is telling public schools they’re required to tell parents their children are transgender or nonbinary even if they’re not out at home, though Kansas is not among the states with a law that explicitly says to do that. Republican Kris Kobach’s action was his latest move to restrict […]

NEW YORK (AP) — A Brooklyn woman who pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with various pandemic-era relief schemes was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation and $650,000 in penalties. Prosecutors said Chanette Lewis, 32, carried out some of the schemes by leveraging her job at a call center, part of a New York […]

CHICAGO (AP) — A large children’s hospital in Chicago remains hobbled by a cyberattack that began more than a week ago, cutting doctors and nurses off from digital patient records and limiting parents’ ability to communicate with their kids’ caregivers.  Officials at Lurie Children’s Hospital said Thursday that they are still working with the FBI […]

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Lawmakers in the Virginia House of Delegates — controlled by Democrats who flipped the chamber in November after campaigning on abortion rights — decisively voted down a bill that would have instituted a near-total abortion ban. On a bipartisan 8-0 vote Wednesday night, a House subcommittee rejected the measure that would […]

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday that authorities in Greece violated the privacy rights of a group of women who were arrested and publicly identified in 2012 as HIV-positive prostitutes who allegedly endangered public health. The case was brought to the Strasbourg, France-based court by 11 Greek women, 10 […]

While construction continues on the University of Prince Edward Island’s new medical school, the leader of the opposition says Islanders deserve answers on how the school will affect an already strained health system. P.E.I. interim Liberal Leader Hal Perry said “multiple red flags” brought up by the province’s outgoing health authority CEO and a report […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The secrecy surrounding Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalizations due to prostate cancer surgery set off a political firestorm, launched multiple reviews and triggered calls for his ouster.  To some, the uproar may be puzzling or even offensive. An individual’s right to privacy, particularly about medical issues, is sacred. And most people have […]

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly renewed her call Wednesday to expand Medicaid and countered an anticipated single-rate flat income tax for individuals with a plan that would instead cut taxes by doing things like accelerating the phasing out of the state’s sales tax on groceries.  Kelly said in her annual State of the State address that […]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A lawsuit to block enforcement of Louisiana’s new ban on transgender health care procedures for anyone under 18 was announced Monday by LGBTQ+ advocates. The lawsuit was prepared by Lambda Legal and others on behalf of five Louisiana minors and their parents, identified in the filings by pseudonyms. Lambda Legal said […]

VANCOUVER — On Christmas Day, Trey Helten and colleagues at Vancouver’s Overdose Prevention Society were still at work, dealing with the latest victim of what Helten says is a seasonal spike in the drug toxicity crisis. Helten shared a photo and a story on social media on Monday describing how he and colleagues administered Naloxone […]

OTTAWA — The new federal dental insurance plan will be phased in gradually over 2024, with the first claims likely to be processed in May, government officials said ahead of a formal announcement scheduled for Monday morning. Applications are expected to open as early as next week, starting with qualifying seniors over the age of […]

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — An inmate at Newfoundland and Labrador’s largest jail says the facility has been unable to offer dental services for at least five months. Jesse Lewis says staffing shortages at the jail led the previous dentist to abandon the work because there were too many cancelled appointments when no guards were available […]