Bug smuggling is big business
Demand for exotic pets and collectors’ items drives a flourishing illegal trade in beetles, spiders, and more.
Inside the drug industry’s plan to defeat the DEA
Newly unsealed documents in a landmark civil case in Cleveland provide clues to one of the most enduring mysteries of the opioid epidemic: How were drug companies able to weaken the federal government’s most powerful enforcement weapon at the height of the crisis? The industry enlisted members of Congress to limit the powers of the …
Continue reading “Inside the drug industry’s plan to defeat the DEA”
Sweeping changes in chronic pain
Carol and Hank Skinner of Alexandria, Va., can talk about pain all day long. Carol, 77, once had so much pain in her right hip and so little satisfaction with medical treatment she vowed to stay in bed until she died. Hank, 79, has had seven shoulder surgeries, lung cancer, open-heart surgery, a blown-out knee …
State of emergency
Katrina. Sandy. Harvey. Maria. Each was a disaster of shattering magnitude, battering America’s shores over the past two decades. But between these pivotal storms lie hundreds of smaller disasters that garner a fraction of the national attention and the billions of federal dollars that accompany them. A News21 analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency data …
The trouble with tigers in America
As a subculture of enthusiasts raises and breeds the big cats, authorities now say there probably are more of the animals in
cages in the United States than in the wild across the world.
A banking mystery
State regulators shuttered a local bank in rural Texas last month citing “insider abuse and fraud by former officers,” breaking a string of 17 months without a bank failure. Texas Banking Commissioner Charles G. Cooper called the closure of Enloe State Bank an “isolated case” in a recent interview. Other experts agree the May 31, …
Missing the big picture?
Officials say drug abuse problems seldom involve only one substance. And while local officials are grateful for the funding, the grants can be spent only on creating solutions to combat opioids, such as prescription OxyContin, heroin and fentanyl.
Fighting Fentanyl
While the Trump administration has made the opioid epidemic a priority, people in communities across the country continue to die in record numbers from fentanyl, and health officials are struggling to provide treatment for tens of thousands more. President Trump has taken a number of steps to confront the crisis, stem the flow of fentanyl into the country from China and Mexico and step up prosecutions of traffickers. Congress also has increased spending on drug treatment.
Trump’s Trade War
President Donald Trump’s announcement regarding his decision to place tariffs on Chinese imports in 2018 further complicated a historically tumultuous relationship between China and the U.S. With Trump’s recent threats to further raise tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese goods, a trade deal between the nations has yet to be negotiated. In …
The ‘thoughts and prayers’ backlash
The nation has seen a dramatic change in how Americans use and react to faith-related language after mass shootings.
