Smoke from Canadian wildfires brings unhealthy air to large swaths of the Midwest
Air quality alerts were in effect in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, as well as eastern Nebraska and parts of Indiana and Illinois. Forecasters said the smoky skies would remain for much of the day. People with lung disease, heart disease, children, older adults and pregnant women are most susceptible to the poor breathing conditions.
Canadian environmental officials said smoke from forest fires that was causing reduced visibility and poor quality would persist into Sunday for some areas.
The Switzerland-based air quality monitoring database IQAir, which assesses air quality in real time, listed the city of Minneapolis as having some of the worst air pollution in the world since Friday.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) is expected to reach the red or unhealthy category in a large swath of Minnesota and will likely remain through Saturday. AQI is a system used to communicate how much air pollution is in the air. It breaks pollution down into six categories and colors, and advice on what isn't safe to do. They range from 'good' (the color green) to 'hazardous' (maroon).
The smoke could start to decline beginning Saturday before spreading as far south as Tennessee and Missouri. The air could remain unhealthy for sensitive groups through Monday, state health officials said.
The EPA's Air Quality Index converts all pollutant levels into a single number. The lower the number, the better. Anything below 50 is classified as 'healthy.' Fifty to 100 is 'moderate' while 100-150 is unhealthy for 'sensitive groups.' Anything above 150 is bad for everyone. Parts of Minnesota exceeded that number on Saturday.
Health officials advise people with asthma and other lung disease, heart disease, children and older adults to avoid prolonged exposure to smoke and limit strenuous activities. They said to avoid burning things that could make the air pollution worse, and keep windows and doors closed to keep the smoke from getting inside.
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Associated Press
11 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Sila Realty Trust Completes Acquisition of a Two-Property Medical Outpatient Building Portfolio for $16.15 Million
TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 4, 2025-- Sila Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: SILA) (the 'Company', 'we', or 'our'), a net lease real estate investment trust ('REIT') with a strategic focus on investing in the growing and resilient healthcare sector, today announced the $16.15 million acquisition of two medical outpatient buildings ('MOBs') located in Southlake, Texas, an affluent suburb in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA (the 'Portfolio' or 'Southlake Healthcare Facilities'). The Portfolio is comprised of one gastroenterology center and one ambulatory surgery center ('ASC') with an overlapping physician group and patient population, benefiting from strong operational synergies due to their complementary uses and proximity to each other. The gastroenterology center is leased to GI Alliance, the largest gastroenterology group in the United States and a subsidiary of investment grade-rated Cardinal Health. The ASC is leased to a joint venture between a partnership comprised of Baylor Scott & White Health and United Surgical Partners International and a group of physicians. 'The operational integration of the Southlake Healthcare Facilities paired with the strong institutional support of the tenancies are key characteristics that we seek in the triple-net lease healthcare facilities that we endeavor to own,' stated Michael A. Seton, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. 'The ASC's affiliation with Baylor Scott & White Health and the tenants' focus on the best possible outcomes for patients result in strong operating performance and, consequently, durable income streams for Sila.' About GI Alliance & Cardinal Health GI Alliance is the largest gastroenterology group in the United States with over 1,000 physicians across the country. Partnering with the nation's premier independent gastroenterology physician practices, GI Alliance supports operational management, ancillary service development, and patient engagement, enabling practices to focus on providing the highest quality patient care while maintaining clinical autonomy. In January 2025, Cardinal Health acquired a 73% majority stake in GI Alliance for approximately $2.8 billion. Cardinal Health is a publicly traded, global healthcare services and products company that serves nearly 90% of all U.S. hospitals. The company provides customized solutions for hospitals, healthcare systems, pharmacies, ambulatory surgery centers, clinical laboratories, physician offices and patients in the home and is the 14 th highest revenue generating company in the U.S. It is also the largest distributor of medical supplies and surgical products across the country. About Baylor Scott & White Health and United Surgical Partners International Baylor Scott & White Health ('BSWH') is the largest not-for-profit healthcare system in Texas and one of the largest in the United States with more than 7,200 physicians and over 57,000 total employees. BSWH operates at 52 hospitals and over 1,300 clinics and care sites across north and central Texas, with the nearest hospital, the 302 bed Baylor Scott & White Medical Center, approximately two miles from the Southlake Healthcare Facilities. United Surgical Partners International ('USPI') is a for-profit subsidiary of Tenet Healthcare, operating as the largest ambulatory surgery service provider in the United States. USPI serves as a platform for partnerships with physicians and not-for-profit health systems, offering high-quality, convenient, outpatient surgical care. Today, USPI has over 535 ASCs and surgical hospitals across 37 states. About Sila Realty Trust, Inc. Sila Realty Trust, Inc., headquartered in Tampa, Florida, is a net lease real estate investment trust with a strategic focus on investing in the growing and resilient healthcare sector. The Company invests in high quality healthcare facilities along the continuum of care in the pursuit of generating predictable, durable, and growing income streams. Sila's portfolio comprises high quality tenants in geographically diverse facilities, which are positioned to capitalize on the dynamic delivery of healthcare to patients. As of March 31, 2025, the Company owned 136 real estate properties, and two undeveloped land parcels, located in 66 markets across the United States. For more information, please visit the Company's website at Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained herein, other than historical fact, may be considered 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provided by the same. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of trends and uncertainties. No forward-looking statement is intended to, nor shall it, serve as a guarantee of future performance. You can identify the forward-looking statements by the use of words such as 'anticipate,' 'believe,' 'continue,' 'could,' 'estimate,' 'expect,' 'intend,' 'may,' 'outlook,' 'plan,' 'potential,' 'predict,' 'project,' 'seek,' 'should,' 'will' and other similar terms and phrases. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations, and you should not rely on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and could materially affect the Company's results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, performance or future achievements or events. Additional factors include those described under the section entitled Item 1A. 'Risk Factors' of Part I of the Company's 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed with the SEC on March 3, 2025, a copy of which are available at The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. View source version on CONTACT: Investor Contact: Miles Callahan, Senior Vice President of Capital Markets and Investor Relations 833-404-4107 [email protected] KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA FLORIDA TEXAS INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HEALTH HOSPITALS SURGERY COMMERCIAL BUILDING & REAL ESTATE CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY GENERAL HEALTH REIT SOURCE: Sila Realty Trust, Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 08/04/2025 06:30 AM/DISC: 08/04/2025 06:30 AM
Associated Press
11 minutes ago
- Associated Press
CCHR: Coercive Psychiatric Commitment Worsens Homeless Crisis at High Cost
LOS ANGELES, Calif., Aug. 4, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) warns that proposals to expand involuntary psychiatric commitment of the homeless will not solve homelessness but will worsen it—by increasing trauma, violating civil liberties, and fueling massive public spending on a failed system. Despite mounting evidence that coercive psychiatric policies are ineffective and dangerous, policymakers are turning to forced hospitalization and drugging as supposed solutions to the growing homelessness crisis. CCHR, a watchdog organization established in 1969, says the data proves otherwise. 'This is not an expansion of care—it is an expansion of control,' said Jan Eastgate, president of CCHR International. 'These policies echo the disastrous mistakes of the 1960s that helped create today's homelessness. Repeating them will only entrench the crisis.' FORCED PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT WORSENS OUTCOMES A July 2025 U.S. study found that individuals involuntarily hospitalized for psychiatric reasons were nearly twice as likely to die by suicide or overdose within just three months of release. Others were more likely to be charged with a violent crime[1] – an outcome CCHR says is potentially linked to psychotropic drug effects. 'Involuntary psychiatric hospitalization research is likely the first to establish a causal link between hospitalization and harm a person experiences after they're discharged,' said Pim Welle, Chief Data Scientist in Allegheny County.[2] Other studies confirm the danger: Medical researcher Dr. Peter Gøtzsche stated: 'It has never been shown that forced treatment does more good than harm, and it is highly likely the opposite is true.'[7] Psychiatric drugs do not cure mental disorders. Instead, they often inflict permanent damage. Antipsychotics—frequently administered under court order—can cause: Even treatment for drug-induced conditions like TD comes with severe side effects, often mimicking or compounding symptoms caused by the original drugs. The Alaska Supreme Court ruled against forced drugging in a hospital setting due to the severe risks involved.[9] Yet many are still forcibly injected with long-acting antipsychotics that remain in their systems for weeks. The psychiatric industry often cites 'anosognosia'—the alleged inability to recognize one's own illness—to justify forced detainment and drugging. But there is no test to confirm this claim. People often refuse psychiatric drugs because of intolerable side effects, not because they lack insight. Psychiatrist and author Dr. Thomas Szasz wrote: 'There is neither justification nor need for involuntary psychiatric interventions.… Beware of benefactors who deprive their beneficiaries of liberty.'[10] MASSIVE COSTS WITH NO RETURN The financial burden of involuntary psychiatric treatment is staggering: And the spending doesn't stop at hospitalization. Many could be placed under Community Treatment Orders (CTOs) or Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT),[15] requiring continued drugging and threatening re-hospitalization if non-compliant—creating a costly, coercive revolving door. Dr. Gøtzsche has gone so far as to call forced psychiatric treatment 'a crime against humanity.'[16] CCHR asserts that involuntary psychiatric commitment is not compassionate care—it is legalized abuse wrapped in psychiatric-mental health justification. It fails the homeless, fails taxpayers, and fails basic human rights standards. 'The billions being funneled into failed psychiatric systems should instead be redirected into voluntary supports—such as housing, medical screenings, and non-coercive help,' Eastgate said. About CCHR: Founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and the late psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz, CCHR investigates and exposes human rights violations in the mental health system. With chapters in over 30 countries, CCHR has helped achieve more than 200 reforms protecting individuals from psychiatric abuse. To learn more, visit: Sources: [1] 'A Danger to Self and Others: Health and Criminal Consequences of Involuntary Hospitalization,' Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports, July 2025, [2] 'Study: Many Allegheny County psych hospitalizations do more harm than good,' Pittsburgh Public Source, 28 July 2025, [3] 'Risk of suicide according to level of psychiatric treatment: a nationwide nested case-control study,' Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, Sept. 2014, [4] 'Suicide Rates After Discharge From Psychiatric Facilities: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis,' JAMA Psych., July 2017, [5] 'Patients with substance use disorders need care, not coercion,' Harvard Public Health, 18 July 2023, [6] Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports, July 2025 [7] 'Abolishing Forced Treatment in Psychiatry is an Ethical Imperative,' 17 June 2016, [8] 'Brave New Pittsburgh: Forced Use of Psychotropic Pharmaceuticals is Coming,' Popular Rationalism, 16 May 2025, [9] Faith Myers vs. Alaska Psychiatric Institute, Supreme Court, 2-11021, Superior Court No. 3AN-03-00277, Opinion, No. 6021, 30 June 2006, [10] Thomas Szasz, MD, Coercion as Cure: A Critical History of Psychiatry, 2007, p. 22. [11] [12] 'Under an L.A. Freeway, a Psychiatric Rescue Mission,' New York Times, 22 Oct. 2024, [13] 'Descriptive Trends in Medicaid Antipsychotic Prescription Claims and Expenditures, 2016 – 2021,' The Jour. of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 10 July 2024, [14] The Jour. of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 10 July 2024 [15] [16] 'Forced treatment in psychiatry is a crime against humanity,' Journal of the Academy of Public Health, 30 Jan. 2025, MULTIMEDIA: Image link for media: Image caption: CCHR warns that proposals to expand involuntary psychiatric commitment of the homeless will not solve homelessness but will worsen it – by increasing trauma, violating civil liberties, and fueling massive public spending on a failed system. NEWS SOURCE: Citizens Commission on Human Rights Keywords: Religion and Churches, The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International CCHR, involuntary psychiatric commitment of the homeless, Forced treatment in psychiatry, CCHR International, involuntary commitment, Jan Eastgate, LOS ANGELES, Calif. This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (Citizens Commission on Human Rights) who is solely responsibile for its accuracy, by Send2Press® Newswire. Information is believed accurate but not guaranteed. Story ID: S2P128192 APNF0325A To view the original version, visit: © 2025 Send2Press® Newswire, a press release distribution service, Calif., USA. RIGHTS GRANTED FOR REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY ANY LEGITIMATE MEDIA OUTLET - SUCH AS NEWSPAPER, BROADCAST OR TRADE PERIODICAL. MAY NOT BE USED ON ANY NON-MEDIA WEBSITE PROMOTING PR OR MARKETING SERVICES OR CONTENT DEVELOPMENT. Disclaimer: This press release content was not created by nor issued by the Associated Press (AP). Content below is unrelated to this news story.
CBS News
11 minutes ago
- CBS News
Smoke moving out of Minnesota Monday as heat and humidity encroach
The air quality in Minnesota will continue to improve on Monday as wildfire smoke moves out of the state. An air quality alert that lasted a record six days across the state has been canceled, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. At times, Minneapolis' air quality was among the worst in any of the world's major cities. As the smoke moves out, expect highs in the upper 70s to lower 80s and light winds. Most of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin will stay dry and partly sunny. Spotty showers and isolated storms will continue across western and central Minnesota, with rainfall totals of up to half an inch possible in spots. Tuesday will be drier, then heat and storm chances return midweek.
