Latest news with #KevinHall
France 24
22-05-2025
- Health
- France 24
Trump administration to release 'Make America Healthy Again' report
Kennedy has long emphasized the need to confront America's surging rates of chronic illness -- particularly in children -- even as critics say he downplays the continued threat of infectious disease. Since taking office, Kennedy has ordered the National Institutes of Health to investigate the drivers of autism -- a condition he spent years falsely linking to the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. He has also urged the food industry to phase out synthetic food colorings, a move with bipartisan appeal, though experts have criticized the administration for making the change voluntary. Ultra-processed foods, expected to feature heavily in the report, are another area of broad concern as childhood obesity continues to climb. Yet the administration has simultaneously slashed funding for research aimed at improving children's diets. Kevin Hall, a leading government nutrition scientist, resigned earlier this year, citing censorship by federal officials, he told The New York Times. Even before the report's release, it has exposed a rift among Republicans over agricultural pesticides -- which Kennedy fought against as an environmental lawyer. The divide pits pro-industry lawmakers and lobbying groups against the "MAHA base" of vocal RFK Jr. supporters. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Mississippi Republican, said she was "deeply concerned" by reports the assessment "may unfairly target American agriculture, modern farming practices, and the crop protection tools that roughly 2 percent of our population relies on to help feed the remaining 98 percent." A key flashpoint is glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller, long scrutinized by environmentalists, wellness influencers, and so-called "MAHA Moms." "We urge you and the Commission to stand firm in the face of these demands, which seek to protect corporations at the expense of American families," wrote a group of 360 Kennedy supporters in an open letter ahead of the report's publication.
Washington Post
17-04-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
Prominent ultra-processed food researcher leaves NIH, alleges censorship
Six years ago, Kevin Hall led a landmark study providing the most compelling evidence to date that ultra-processed foods are harmful to Americans' health. So when Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again movement — an effort to combat chronic disease and childhood illness — gained steam, he was hopeful the nation's biomedical research agency would prioritize more of his studies to understand the root causes of metabolic diseases.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Spokane leaders announce ban on right turns on red lights at some downtown intersections and other safety initiatives
Apr. 16—Noting a rising rate of traffic fatalities and serious injuries in Spokane, Mayor Lisa Brown, members of her cabinet and several City Council members announced a slate of initiatives aimed at making the city's streets safer for pedestrians and drivers. The city will soon roll out a pilot program banning right turns during red lights on Main Street downtown between Monroe and Division, as well as reprogramming crosswalk signals to give pedestrians a head start before vehicles get a green light. The Spokane Police Department will rebrand its traffic enforcement unit as the Traffic Safety and Education Unit, a four-officer unit on motorcycles focused broadly on traffic safety and another three officers focused on DUI patrols. Information from the unit and crash data will inform a new Traffic Fatality Review Team, which will have members from various city departments who will evaluate contributing factors to fatal crashes within the city and make recommendations to reduce the risks of further fatalities. Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall also reiterated ongoing efforts to expand the city's use of red light and speeding cameras. The first of these new cameras, which will be installed on two approaches to the city's most dangerous intersection, Mission and Greene, are expected to roll out this summer. Additional locations will be chosen later this year. These initiatives are "aimed at taking even more decisive action to protect everyone who uses our streets, including walkers, bicyclists, drivers, people who are in wheelchairs, the kids on their way from child care," Brown said Wednesday. The Spokane City Council also will soon consider rolling out a program to make it easier for neighborhoods to request to shut down a non-arterial street for community events, such as block parties, called the "Play Streets Program." The program is expected to start in June and run through the end of October. "Whether it's neighbors wanting to come together and close our street to allow kids to play on the street, do a spontaneous chalk art festival, close down the street and have a barbecue ... this is an opportunity for people in your neighborhoods to come out, meet your neighbors, have that connection and bring back that life to our neighborhoods," said Councilman Zack Zappone. There are already several intersections where right turns on red lights were recently banned, including at 29th and Perry, Cincinnati and Mission, and North River Drive and Washington Street. Those intersections also give pedestrians that head start on crossing ahead of a green light for cars, as do Desmet and Hamilton, 44th and Regal, and Main and Post. That head start also will be implemented this year at Monroe and Summit Parkway, various locations along Riverside Avenue, and where Howard intersects with Spokane Falls Boulevard, Main and Sprague. Interest in restricting right turns on red lights on Main Avenue grew after the death of 78-year old author and foster advocate Janet Mann, who was killed in a hit-and-run at the intersection of Main and Browne as she was crossing the street by 42-year-old Gary Burns. Burns had made a right turn onto Browne Street during a red light before striking Mann, Zappone said Wednesday.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Spokane police chief tells Senate committee to invest in more technology to catch fentanyl being smuggled over the border
Feb. 26—WASHINGTON — Spokane's top cop told senators on Wednesday that law enforcement agencies need more tools and resources to stanch the flow of fentanyl and other opioid drugs to communities across the United States. In testimony before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall, who spent most of his career near the U.S.-Mexico border as a member of the police department in Tucson, Arizona, said that most fentanyl enters the United States through legal ports of entry from Mexico. He called on the senators to pass a bill introduced by Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the top Democrat on the panel, aimed at improving the detection of drugs moving through transportation networks. "Interdicting fentanyl requires strong partnerships between local, state, federal and tribal agencies," Hall said. "We must enhance these collaborations with improved technology and resources." Cantwell pointed out that Washington and the nine other states with the highest numbers of opioid overdose deaths all have major intermodal hubs, like the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. She said organized crime syndicates in China and Mexico have developed sophisticated methods to meet demand for the highly addictive and dangerously potent drugs in the United States. "The supply chain is clear: The Chinese Triad sells precursor chemicals to Mexican drug cartels, hidden on ships and in air cargoes, and cartels make fentanyl and smuggle it through the United States," she said. "They hide fentanyl in personal vehicles, commercial trucks, buses, trains, planes and even on unmanned aerial vehicles." Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the committee's Republican chair, began the hearing by criticizing the Biden administration's border policies and asserting that the Coast Guard, which is under the committee's jurisdiction, could have interdicted more illicit drugs had its cutters not been busy intercepting migrants trying to enter the country illegally. The lead witness called by Cruz was Jena Ehlinger, a Texas woman whose 20-year-old son died after taking a counterfeit anti-anxiety pill that was laced with fentanyl. She praised a state law that allows Texas to charge someone who provides such a drug with murder and called for a more aggressive response to the opioid crisis. "Senators, our country is at war," Ehlinger said, "and we're losing the war, as evidenced by fentanyl becoming the No. 1 killer in the United States for ages 18 to 45." Hall said the opioid epidemic is especially devastating for Native people, where it's a relatively "invisible" crisis, partly because they are more isolated and have less trust in the government, emphasizing that he was speaking from his own experience as a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. In response to a question from Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., the police chief said that cooperation between tribal, state, local and federal law enforcement agencies is improving in Eastern Washington. "We're getting to a point where our relationships are getting stronger, where we understand this is a common issue that's killing all of us," he said. "It doesn't matter if you're Native or Indigenous, if you're from Spokane or if you're from Omak, it's still going to kill you. And so we all need to come together, and I'm starting to see that collaboration, that cooperation amongst the tribal folks, state, local and federal as well." Combating the opioid crisis, and the recent proliferation of fentanyl and its analogues in particular, is one of the few causes that has broad support among both parties in Congress, but Democrats and Republicans largely disagree on how to do so. Cantwell's legislation, which was co-sponsored only by Democrats after she introduced it in 2024, would invest in developing and deploying technologies to detect drugs that are often smuggled in hidden compartments inside vehicles. Orion Donovan Smith's work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Yahoo
Spokane police shoot man during altercation in East Central apartment complex
Feb. 9—A Spokane police officer shot a man at an East Central apartment complex Sunday afternoon while responding to calls of "suspicious activity." The person shot received surgery on Sunday, Spokane police Chief Kevin Hall told reporters after the shooting. Just after noon on Sunday, Spokane police responded to the Hart Terrace Apartments at 3308 E. 11th Ave. for calls of "suspicious activity," Hall said. There, they found a "suspicious vehicle" in the parking lot with a man inside, according to a Spokane Police Department news release. After running the vehicle's license plate, officers learned the registered owner was wanted for outstanding felony warrants. While attempting to arrest the man, an altercation ensued in the parking lot. The man didn't listen to officers' commands, and one officer shot him. Medics arrived and transported him to a local hospital where he received surgery. Hall said authorities are still investigating the shooting and "how the threat occurred," but believes the individual was armed. Radio traffic indicated he had a gun, according to the release. Responding authorities included Spokane police, Spokane Valley police, Spokane County Sheriff's Office and SWAT team. "After the shooting occurred, there were a number of individuals who were somewhat angry at the response and were associated with an apartment here that was involved in the initial suspicious activity call," Hall said. "Those individuals ran into the apartment, and therefore we brought in additional resources to help secure the scene." Authorities closed a number of nearby roads during the incident, including portions of South Thor Street and nearby side streets. The Spokane Independent Investigative Response Team is investigating the incident. Elena Perry's work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.
