Latest news with #Boldon
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Records expected to be broken at 16th annual Grand Blue Mile
DES MOINES, Iowa — Downtown Des Moines is gearing up for the 16th annual Grand Blue Mile. The Grand Blue Mile is part of the acclaimed Drake Relays, one of the most prestigious and historic track and field meets held every spring by Drake University. The relays were nicknamed America's Athletic Classic as a result of the range of participants. It was designed for everyone, from elite runners to families, and even walkers. The relays kicked off last weekend with the Drake Road Races. The Grand Blue Mile takes place on Tuesday in downtown Des Moines. The community fitness event was designed to promote wellness. The one-mile race has divisions for families, kids, recreational walkers and runners, and even elite athletes. How a class project revived St. Anthony's middle school track team Drake University's Blake Boldon is the Franklin P. Johnson Director of the Drake Relays. He said around 3,000 people will participate in the 16th annual Grand Blue Mile. All participants receive a commemorative shirt and bib. Those who participated in the Drake Road Races as well can receive a Bulldog Double Medal. New this year is Spike's Sprint. This is a new youth event for children between the ages of two and 10. The event was named after Drake's mascot, Spike the bulldog. Children will participate in an age-based sprint with varying distances based on age. Each participant receives a bib and a finisher giveaway, plus a front row seat in the Mascot Madness race. In recent years, the Grand Blue Mile served as the USA Track & Field 1-Mile Championships. For the first time this year, the Grand Blue Mile will serve as a selection event for the 2025 World Road Running Championship. The top two finishers in the men's race and the top two finishers in the women's race will be automatically selected to represent Team USA at the World Championships later this year. 'Growing up here in Central Iowa, it really is magical to see a National Championship just in the shadow of our skyline, right here in the heart of our city and in the center of our state come to life every spring. So, it means a lot, not just for me but for our entire community,' said Boldon. Urbandale family seeks change in school child abuse investigations after their experience Just feet away from the finish line is the Honorary World Record Way. This is located on 13th Street between Grand Avenue and Locust Street. The Des Moines City Council approved the World Record Way following the performances by Nikki Hiltz and Sam Prakel at the 2023 Grand Blue Mile. They were the first-ever world records in the road mile. Organizers say they're expecting history to be made again this year. 'I'm going to make an early prediction that we'll see an American record here on the city streets of Des Moines tonight,' said Boldon. Roads will be closed throughout Downtown Des Moines because of the Grand Blue Mile. The closures start as early as 9 a.m. and go as late as 11 p.m. They are mainly between Grand Avenue and Locust Street, from as far east as 6th Avenue to as far west as 15th Street. Aside from getting the chance to watch history take place, there will also be family-friendly activities like a bounce house, face painting, balloon animals, and a DJ. Records expected to be broken at 16th annual Grand Blue Mile Ames teen with gun arrested in Des Moines carjacking How a class project revived St. Anthony's middle school track team Pleasant Hill family reminisce on meeting Pope Francis twice Des Moines shooting leaves one seriously injured Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
EDITORIAL: Debt-relief plan is a good, but temporary, fix
Feb. 22—Earlier this month, DFL Sen. Liz Boldon of Rochester introduced the Minnesota Medical Debt Reset Act. This bill, if it became law, would grant $5 million from the state's general fund to the nonprofit organization Undue Medical Debt. That organization, in turn, would use that $5 million to "buy and forgive" up to $500 million of medical debt for an estimated 250,000 to 400,000 Minnesotans. One could see this as little more than a state-funded accounting gimmick. Some of this debt is still on the books of medical providers, while some of it has been "sold" to collection agencies. Neither the hospitals nor the debt collectors have any realistic expectation that these debts will be paid, so given the choice between further futile collection efforts or settling for one cent on the dollar, they will take the penny and close a bunch of unproductive files. Clearly, this would not be a bailout for medical providers. In 2023, for example, Mayo Clinic's income-based charity care program reduced patients bills by $57.8 million, and the clinic also wrote off nearly $90 million in unpaid patient bills as bad debt. We suspect Mayo would see little, if any of the Medical Reset money — and even if all $5 million came to the clinic, it would barely make a ripple in Mayo's finances. But for the people who currently fear going to the mailbox, answering their phone or checking their email, the Medical Debt Reset Act would provide welcome relief. Medical debt is unlike a car loan, a student loan or other forms of consumer debt. It's often unexpected, is seldom incurred willingly, and often coincides with a reduction in income due to lost time at work. Making matters worse, the consumer of medical care has little, if any, opportunity to shop around and compare prices. When your child develops severe stomach pain and a fever at 2 a.m., you don't drive an extra hour for a discount appendectomy. You rush your kid to the nearest ER, pray for good news from the surgeon — and then go home to await the barrage of envelopes that will reveal how much you owe. If you've never received a collections letter from a hospital or been contacted by a collections agency, then you likely do not comprehend the tension and worry experienced by those who have unpaid medical bills. Such debt isn't just felt when the mortgage comes due or when the car needs new tires: People with unpaid hospital bills are far more likely to delay or even avoid care for any new health problems that arise. So the sick get sicker. Therefore, we support Boldon's bill and hope it becomes law. It would help Minnesotans whose household incomes are at or below 400% of federal poverty guidelines, or whose medical debt exceeds 5% of their household income. This bill is in its legislative infancy, and despite its relatively small cost, we expect it to encounter some fairly stiff opposition. Given the current state and national focus on government efficiency and eliminating fraud, critics of Boldon's bill will point out that some people routinely put medical bills on the bottom of the stack. They could pay, but they choose not to — or they drag out the process for months, even years, hoping that the hospital will just give up. Those critics aren't wrong. Indeed, show us a state or federal program that allocates money to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations or local governments, and we'll show you an opportunity for someone to game the system. Look hard enough and you'll find a few dollars that weren't well-spent. Boldon's bill, however, wouldn't have an application process, which would reduce the likelihood of fraud. The state would identify eligible households through existing financial records, and those who qualify would simply get a letter with the good news that some or all of their medical debt has been erased. That brings us, however, to a bigger question: What then? The Medical Debt Reset Act, as currently proposed, would be a one-off. A welcome one-off, but a one-off nonetheless. A year or two later, many of those households who had their debt erased would be in trouble again. Or another family with a similar situation would take their place in debt. Minnesota won't cure its health care system with a Band-Aid. Or with a series of Band-Aids. Uncompensated care for uninsured patients — too often received in high-cost emergency rooms — is still a big problem, but medical debt has become commonplace among the insured, too. Premiums, on average, are up 24% in the past five years, and wages haven't come close to matching that increase. Health insurance deductibles have risen 47% in the past decade, and even households with what would be considered "good" insurance through an employer can easily incur out-of-pocket costs that top $12,000 in a single year if a family member is seriously hurt or hospitalized for an illness. Even in good economic times, few households can easily absorb that kind of unexpected financial hit — and these are not good economic times. The cost of housing, cars, child care and groceries is through the roof. Not surprisingly, Americans' total credit card debt is at an all-time high of $1.211 trillion. Something's gotta give. We believe most Minnesotans want to pay their own way. They don't want "charity care" or debt forgiveness. They want a living wage that will put a roof over their heads, groceries in the pantry, shoes on their kids' feet and a decent car in the garage. They want health insurance that is affordable, and they want to know that a medical crisis won't cost them their home, their 401(k) or their child's college fund. A well-intended effort to take some medical debt off the books shouldn't distract us from a much bigger goal: to prevent that debt from happening in the first place.
CBS News
04-02-2025
- CBS News
Police search for man charged with sexually assaulting girl, 12, in Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS — Police are still searching for a man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in Minneapolis in October. An arrest warrant has been issued for 24-year-old Danylo Boldon, who was charged last week in Hennepin County with one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. According to the criminal complaint, the victim was reported missing on Oct. 8, 2024, a few blocks east of Lake Nokomis. Hours later, a resident called 911 to report a girl had rang their doorbell and said a stranger had "grabbed her and put her in a small black car and drove around" before raping her, the complaint states. She said he eventually released her near a fast-food restaurant about a mile north of where she was reported missing. She was transported to Hennepin Healthcare, where the hospital's assault response team confirmed she had suffered multiple injuries in the attack. With help from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, investigators pinpointed Boldon, whose profile is in the National DNA Index System due to a previous offense in Wisconsin. The complaint states the victim told investigators her attacker had a tattoo of a rose on his hand, which Boldon does, according to records from a previous police encounter he had in Minnesota. Boldon is believed to be unhoused and his current whereabouts are unknown. He could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted. Sexual Assault Resources General Sites for information related to sexual assault and resources throughout Minnesota: General Sexual Assault Websites:
