I remember being in the @freep.com newsroom when the towers fell.

“Contaminated metal at an industrial site in Indonesia may be the source of radioactive material that led to massive recalls of imported frozen shrimp, international nuclear safety officials say, as efforts are underway to halt more U.S.-bound shipments.” www.wral.com/story/radioa...

On why CDC director was removed: “We’ll find out,” Sen. Cassidy replied when asked to respond to Kennedy’s claim that Monarez had lied in her WSJ op-ed. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/09...

On additional questioning as hearing continues, RFK Jr. acknowledges he demanded CDC director fire career scientists & that he “asked her” about a statement she wasn’t going to sign on to ACIP recommendations & he “wanted clarification about that”

RFK Jr. in today’s Senate hearing accuses former CDC director of lying. Asked if she was told to resign if she refused to sign off on changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, Kennedy said: “No, I told her that she had to resign because I asked her: Are you a trustworthy person? And she said, No."

Autoclave issue at Plum Island Animal Disease Center sends staff to hospital riverheadlocal.com/2025/09/02/p...

“… she traversed the country in rental cars and combed through newspaper archives, college records, bibliographies, government employment data and other sources to uncover the hidden work of female astronomers, botanists, biologists, chemists, engineers, entomologists, geologists and physicists.” 🔗👇

“Globally, news avoidance is at a record high, according to an annual survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism published in June. This year, 40% of respondents…said they sometimes or often avoid the news, up from 29% in 2017.” www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...

From ⁦‪@statnews‬⁩ : Trump says CDC is ‘being ripped apart,’ over Covid products and calls for clarity. “I want the answer, and I want it NOW,” he wrote in what appeared to be his first public acknowledgement of recent tumult at the CDC. www.statnews.com/2025/09/01/t...

Former CDC directors/acting directors Foege, Roper, Satcher, Koplan, Besser, Frieden, Schuchat, Walensky and Cohen:  “These are not typical requests from a health secretary to a C.D.C. director. Not even close. None of us would have agreed to the secretary’s demands…” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...

“In some states, pharmacists are forbidden to administer vaccines that are not recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel.” CVS Holds Off on Offering Covid Vaccines in 16 States www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/w...

“This doctor signed Irsay’s death certificate, stating the cause was cardiac arrest, and no autopsy or toxicology testing was performed,” according to Washington Post investigation. www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/...

FoodNet “has reduced required surveillance to two pathogens: Salmonella and Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC). Reporting of illnesses caused by Campylobacter, Cyclospora, Listeria, Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia is now optional…”

Profile of one of CDC director’s new lawyers: The “Washington litigator has spent decades representing senators, governors and lobbyists…But since launching his own firm in May, Lowell has a new specialty: defending the targets of Donald Trump’s retribution.” www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

AJC publisher: “The fact is, printing newspapers and putting them in trucks and driving them around and delivering them on people’s front stoops has not been the most effective way to distribute the news in a very long time.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/b...

Maryland inspectors missed major violations at adult day cares, audit finds
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

“The differing accounts from the U.S. government and industry sources on the human case are likely to further rattle an industry of cattle ranchers, beef producers and livestock traders already on high alert for potential U.S. infestations…” www.reuters.com/business/env...

As Texas measles outbreak grew, interviews+internal emails obtained by @kffhealthnews.org @healthbeat.org show delays in CDC engagement. “We had anticipated a measles outbreak, but we didn’t expect the federal government to be in collapse when it hit,” said one vaccine expert.

Paper “describes two melioidosis patients identified in Georgia in late September 2024, shortly after Hurricane Helene made landfall” w/ bacterial genomes highly related to those from US military members from Georgia who died “1983 and the other in 1989, a month after Hurricane Hugo made landfall.”

“Yes, vaccines are the way to get us out of it, but when you’re working with a community that’s not hearing that, you need to find other messages” …Texas officials also put out information about isolation+quarantine to help slow the spread, and about seeking care at the hospital.

One AI company “suggests on its website that its tool can be used for a journalistic task: ‘Write a blog on evidence-based tips to avoid injuries while exercising.’” Another company “advertises its software as an ‘AI Tool for Smarter, Faster Literature Reviews.’”

In Texas “…a new Sept. 1 law that will make the vaccination exemption form downloadable instead of it being mailed, vaccine experts fear herd immunity will be tougher to achieve.” www.texastribune.org/2025/08/18/t...

Texas declares end of measles outbreak in West Texas. “The end of this outbreak does not mean the threat of measles is over. Since there are ongoing outbreaks of measles in North America and around the world, it is likely that there will be additional cases of measles this year..”

“Perhaps the most forceful regulatory proposals in the report have to do with marketing. One recommends the Health and Human Services Department work with other federal agencies to enforce laws on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs…” www.statnews.com/2025/08/15/m...

“Maggots from screwworm flies burrow into the flesh of living animals, causing serious damage…The infestation…has now claimed its first human casualty: an 86-year-old woman with advanced cancer and complications from a screwworm infection…” www.reuters.com/business/hea...

Great read: With a Shovel and a Dream, a Woman Finds a 2.3 Carat Diamond in Arkansas After three weeks, with bug bites and tattered hiking boots, Micherre Fox found the stone at Crater of Diamonds State Park. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/15/u...

🧵 Over the past six months, @freedom.press filed 100+ FOIA requests to uncover how the Trump administration is targeting journalists and stifling dissent. FOIA is the public’s best way to force government transparency – so we’ll keep using it. Here are our 10 most urgent requests:

Kennedy’s Crusade Against Food Safety Rule Threatens Supplement Industry www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/w...

“…it opens the door for a new cheating method known as indirect prompt injection, which involves inserting hidden white text or other manipulated fonts that tell AI tools to give a research paper favorable reviews.” www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-in...

“A remarkable new video from Uganda provides direct visual evidence of many different wild animals interacting with wild bats, revealing just how many opportunities there are for potentially deadly bat viruses to jump into new species.” www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/s...

A “new study finds that approximately one in six papers across the natural and life sciences mischaracterize the findings in a paper they cite…” www.science.org/content/arti...

A sign of how far right the Republican party has moved. The first Earth Day in 1970 was supported by then president Richard Nixon (a Republican) who also signed the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and other key pieces of environmental legislation.

Despite growing Texas measles outbreak, the state’s largest school district isn’t enforcing vaccination requirements. Our investigation finds 91 Houston ISD schools at increased risk for measles outbreaks because of clusters of unvaccinated children. houstonlanding.org/dozens-of-ho...

Pandora’s Gamble among pandemic books featured by frmr dean of the Colorado School of Public Health: “Her accounts leave no doubt that leaks from laboratories occur…examples show a lack of accountability, unacceptable arrogance, and willful failure to communicate.” institute.dmns.org/perspectives...

Remember that stealth fighter that went missing? Tremendous story today of the experienced Marine pilot’s decision to eject near Charleston and the military system that betrayed him. www.postandcourier.com/news/special...

Brave and powerful story from @mackoxenden.bsky.social : “I sobbed. The pain was never in my head. It was never normal. And now, after years of dismissive doctors and searching for answers, it had a name — endometriosis.” houstonlanding.org/endometriosi...

Flashback to what I was writing 4 yrs ago: “Science, like journalism, is supposed to be about facts and about getting to the truth. But those who dare seek answers to reasonable questions about any lab accidents in Wuhan are accused of peddling conspiracies.” www.usatoday.com/in-depth/opi...

Houston has another measles case – an infant. Yet the outbreak that continues to grow in West Texas wasn’t the source. The highly contagious disease arrived in the way it has previously in Houston and across the country — through international air travel. houstonlanding.org/internationa...

Houston is investigating two possible cases of measles, a development that comes as the massive Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is drawing thousands of visitors into the city for livestock exhibitions, concerts and other events. houstonlanding.org/houston-inve...

More Texas measles cases announced this morning by state health officials. Confirmed cases now at 146, up from 124 earlier in the week. www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/... More on how the outbreak began + risk of spread through travel houstonlanding.org/what-to-know... @houstonlanding.bsky.social

‘High severity’ flu season hitting Houston brings illness, hospitalizations as officials continue to monitor for H5N1 bird flu. A Harris County child is among seasonal flu deaths in Texas. Insights from @HoustonHealth @hcphtx @harrishealth @bcmhouston @TexasDSHS houstonlanding.org/high-severit...

Appreciate this detailed, nearly three-page review of my book Pandora's Gamble in the new issue of the U.S. Army's Countering WMD Journal. www.usanca.army.mil/LinkClick.as...

No safety violations cited by Texas regulators in massive pipeline explosion near Houston. Residents who fled inferno + national safety advocate express shock, dismay. “This is all being swept under the rug,” says one Deer Park homeowner. houstonlanding.org/regulators-f...

“I always talk about trust and transparency,” Gene Olinger, told me during his first day as new director of the Galveston National Lab. “Trust is we tell you that we have measures in place to protect the community. Transparency is saying this is what’s happening and sharing it.” #virology

Exclusive from @houstonlanding.bsky.social - Lab workers at the Galveston National Laboratory + other UTMB Galveston labs had potential exposure incidents involving anthrax + deadly virus during 2024.

“Ms. Zondi’s trial is one of dozens that have been abruptly frozen, leaving people around the world with experimental drugs and medical products in their bodies, cut off from the researchers who were monitoring them…” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/h...

“The case is the largest citizen-initiated lawsuit to enforce the Clean Air Act, and the decision has given hope to the plaintiffs and Baytown residents living near the refinery.” houstonlanding.org/for-baytown-...

“People might think ‘It’s just a data set,” said Dawes. “It’s more than a data set, it’s years and years of collecting data, analyzing data, and putting it into a format that communities can use, literally, to extend their lives.” www.statnews.com/2025/02/01/c...

Deer Park police have closed their criminal investigation into last September’s pipeline explosion.