Today, we’re taking a moment to pause and honor the men and women who gave their lives in service to the country. While the newsroom is quieter for the holiday, we’ve still gathered a few stories for you below. The Unbiased Updates team will be back with you tomorrow.
Today is Memorial Day. Here’s why it matters.
By Julia Marshall
For many people, Memorial Day means the beginning of summer: grilling out, going out on a boat or heading “up North” to spend time with friends and family.
What many fail to recognize, however, is the real purpose of the holiday — honoring the men and women who died in service of our country.
A special message from Straight Arrow’s Craig Nigrelli:
We’ve reached Memorial Day, often called the unofficial kickoff of summer. But it truly means so much more than a long weekend of barbecuing, camping, relaxing at the beach and enjoying get-togethers with family and friends.
It’s the perfect time to reflect on the men and women who laid down their lives for our country and our freedom. From wars past to more recent conflicts, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, and even in the past few months, Americans who have died in the conflict with Iran.
When I see the flag this weekend, I will pause, reflect a bit longer, and say, “Thank you.”
A heartfelt thank you to all who gave everything for my (our) freedom. To those who continue to serve our country with honor, I am deeply grateful.
The Unbiased Updates team will be back Tuesday. We’ll see you then.
Memorial Day cookouts can dish out food poisoning, and it’s no picnic
By Diane Duenez
As Americans prepare for Memorial Day weekend gatherings, health experts warn that the combination of warm weather and outdoor dining can send people to the bathroom, hospital or morgue if the host isn’t vigilant about food safety.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 9.9 million people in the United States contract foodborne illnesses each year, putting tens of thousands in hospital beds and killing hundreds more. Many cases go unreported, meaning the true number is likely much higher.
Picnics, barbecues and all-day grazing events are holiday weekend staples, so food safety specialists say awareness is key to preventing illness.
Will rising costs keep Americans home on Memorial Day?
By Lauren Pearle
A gallon of gas costs 40% more than it did a year ago. Average air fares are up more than 20%. But soaring prices aren’t keeping millions of Americans from hitting the road or taking to the skies this Memorial Day.
“Americans don’t let much get in the way of the best time of the year, even gas prices,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. De Haan told Straight Arrow that while some travelers may scale back, most Americans will trim other household spending before giving up their long-awaited summer vacations.
Still, if fuel prices keep rising, experts said some trips may be grounded.
Rotten tomato prices put a squeeze on summer meals
By Lauren Pearle
As Memorial Day arrives and Americans prepare to fire up their grills, they’ll likely pay plumper prices in the produce aisle.
Food prices were up 3.2% in April from a year earlier, according to the Labor Department. But fresh produce rose much more: Consumers in U.S. cities paid 6.5% more for fresh fruits and vegetables, while tomato prices jumped nearly 40% in a single year.
This is rotten news for healthy summer meal planning — and for anyone who believes a burger without a tomato is a missed opportunity.
Is nothing sacred? Rising beef prices end a beloved Texas tradition
By Maggie Gordon
HOUSTON — The death notice arrived digitally: a fade-to-sepia montage loaded onto Instagram over Sarah McLachlan’s mournful goodbye ballad:
“I will remember you…”
Sixteen-ounce ribeyes, crowned with slabs of butter, whirled through the photo carousel posted by Moontower Inn, a neighborhood bar in Houston’s East End.
“…Will you remember me…”
Marisa Campbell couldn’t turn away. She knew she had to make it to the steak wake and pay her respects to a neighborhood mainstay forced to call it quits due to a sharp increase in beef prices.
Clinical trial keeps Stage 4 skin cancer victim alive years after ‘four months to live’
By Diane Duenez
ST. LOUIS — What began as a small, hard-to-see mole on her ankle became a life-threatening battle with Stage 4 melanoma for Deborah Dieman. Doctors told the Missouri woman at one point that she had only months to live. Today, more than four years after enrolling in an experimental immunotherapy trial, she is alive and sharing her story to urge others not to ignore changes in their skin.
Dieman discovered a mole years ago, but she had difficulty monitoring it because of its location. Routine checkups initially raised no alarms until her primary care physician urged her to see a dermatologist immediately. Tests later confirmed the mole was malignant melanoma.
The cancer spread aggressively. Surgeons removed tumors from her ankle and lymph nodes, and she underwent months of infusions with immunotherapy drugs. Despite treatment, the cancer returned rapidly, erupting into hundreds of painful tumors throughout her leg, causing severe infections and organ damage.
Doctors told her chemotherapy might extend her life by only two months. She declined and went for a second opinion.
The doctor who claims functional medicine reversed her MS
By Jess Craig
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Terry Wahls can walk. She can ride her bike. She can run two miles on a treadmill. She can tend to her backyard garden, which on an unseasonably warm April afternoon in Iowa City, is in the chaotic throes of the early Spring growing season.
Wahls gives a tour, her 14-year-old dog, Teddy, trailing: Persimmon and pawpaw trees, thornless blackberries and raspberries her grandchild will pick when they ripen. The peas have sprouted.
A wheelbarrow her father built decades ago rests near the garden’s edge, returned years later by a stranger who recognized it during her son’s state senate campaign.
The back room of her house is mid-renovation; she removed an exercise pool her mom persuaded her to install two decades ago when Wahls faced a downhill spiral from multiple sclerosis and could no longer bike or swim or ski. Back then, she was a physician facing an early end to her medical career, and the possibility that, in her 50s, she might spend the rest of her life in a nursing home.
Today, she no longer needs the pool.
More from Straight Arrow News:
‘No Mow May’: A boon for the bees or a well-intended mistake?
As May unfolds, folks across the country may notice overgrown yards and gardens. Grass shoots taller, wildflowers cover people’s property and things look altogether a bit more wild.
All signs and vines point to No Mow May, an annual movement meant to encourage more food for bees and other pollinators, and lower carbon footprints. The main idea: To skip lawnmowing for the month of May, allowing native flowers to bloom and increasing the number of flowers for bees and other pollinators.
Intentionally skipping mowing in May has taken on a life of its own in recent years, spurring debate over the best ecological solution for pollinators.
“No Mow May is not a one-size-fits-all solution for helping pollinators in the spring,” said Elise Bernstein, a native bee researcher at the University of Minnesota Bee Squad. “It is not a phrase that should be taken literally.”