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Road projects in St. Clair Shores, Greektown challenge businesses
Businesses navigating adversity, some gains through road construction projects in St. Clair Shores and Greektown
A modernized health plan: Supporting cost management and the employee experience.
The Surest health plan puts prices and care options in plain view. When costs are visible ahead of time, members may choose differently. And those choices have a ripple effect: potentially reducing costs for both members and employers. Win-win.
Fact or fiction? Examining the claims behind North Carolina political ads
As Election Day approaches, political ads across North Carolina are making claims about candidates’ past. The Chronicle examines the claims and the context behind them.
Jordon Steele-John: Australian senator denies claims of misconduct against women
Jordon Steele-John says the timing of the claims motivated by "nasty political games" within the Greens.
QED Science adds preprint scoring to research discovery | ETIH EdTech News
QED Science has introduced Insights Feed, combining personalized research recommendations across 250 life science subfields with quality scores for selected preprints. ETIH’s edtech news coverage examines the tool’s features, use of unpublished work and limits of the launch claims.
Tracey Moore Receives 2026 Queen City Film Festival Legacy Award
PLAINFIELD, NJ — Casting director, acting coach, and producer Tracey Moore received the 2026 Legacy Award Friday night during the Queen City Film Festival
Obama: Omar investigation should ‘outrage all Americans’
Obama claimed the probe was an attempt to strip Omar of her U.S. citizenship and possibly deport her over her public criticisms of Trump.
Streaming’s Biggest Show Returns…and a Buzzy Genre Struggles
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Obviously, the big news of the week (if not month) is Netflix letting go of executive Bela Bajaria, their chief content officer. I’m going to cover this in my next “Most Important Story of the Week”, but I also have a data angle that I might publish before then. (Too much news this month, am I right?) But first, I have a bonus Streaming Ratings Report issue for you. Today’s article is a bit of a grab bag of topics I’ve wanted to write about, but couldn’t squeeze into the (already very long) Streaming Ratings Report issues. The NFL drives huge viewership numbers, so I’ve got a look at that. A whole bunch of TV shows returned to the traditional broadcast channels, and I have thoughts. And I have a quick look at adult animated shows, since a couple flopped earlier this month. Plus, the Emmys aired earlier this month, and we got some fun data bout how popular those nominated shows are and why I’m not optimistic about the show’s future. That’s a lot, so let’s dive right in. Subscribe Sports - Football Remains the King of Streaming Over the last two Streaming Ratings Reports, I sorta ignored the biggest “show” each week. (I was tempted to say “piece of content” but I know that word bugs folks.) In my database, I call these “specials”, and they sure are special. I speak of the king of American TV: football!!! Streaming football is back and, unlike some other sports, it routinely dominates all viewership. Probably the best way to show this is to update one of my favorite graphics, the “40 Million Hour Club”1 since football games have joined that club each week they’ve premiered: (Yep, that’s the data through 28-Sep, the first four weeks of the season. As a reminder, I take the average minute audience provided by Nielsen, factor out a percentage of linear TV viewers in home markets, and multiply the run time by the three-hour runtime.) Again, the numbers are huge. Let’s start with Netflix. They grabbed the rights to the bonus opening week NFL Kickoff game (which was on YouTube last year) and it put up 18.5 million viewers on average. That nets out to 47.4 million hours of estimated streaming hours. That’s good! Though, notably, it’s well below Christmas Day games from previous years. Compared to other streamers/broadcasters, that’s a bit of a mixed result. On one hand, Netflix’s 18.5 million average is about what YouTube claimed last year, though Nielsen used a bespoke methodology at that time, so I trust this viewership figure more. So that’s good. (The game also shifted from a Friday to a Thursday and that could have helped the viewership as well.) And Netflix continues to best Prime Video in total viewership—as you’ll see next—though Netflix has had much higher-profile (opening week and Christmas Day) games. NBC/Peacock’s opening game the night before averaged 25.1 million average viewers, which is just much bigger than Netflix (or Prime Video). That’s the big caveat to all streaming viewership records: even in success, they can’t compete with traditional linear TV. Previously, I called this my “hierarchy of viewership”, and the data keeps supporting that thesis. The downside for NBC is that this game’s viewership was down compared to previous years, though it may be a counting issue. Here’s a great chart from Sports Media Watch: Indeed, looking at all the opening week games across all windows, Netflix still lags the other primetime windows, but does well compared to the afternoon games: I saw a few folks make the case that streamers still lag traditional broadcasters in reach, and I’d add they really lag compared to “broadcast plus streaming” options like NBC/Peacock, ESPN/Disney+ and CBS/Paramount+. The best data I saw for this came from Samba TV, who charted reach through the 2025 season, and, wow. (Samba TV’s numbers are historically lower than Nielsen’s, so don’t compare their household figures to Nielsen’s hours, but use them as a proxy for the relative reach of the streamers.) The good news is Prime Video is NOT having a down year. Their opening Thursday Night Football game reached 18.6 million viewers (about what Netflix got), but that’s a high for Prime Video on Thursdays and the biggest Thursday night game since 2015. The TNF games the weeks of 21-Sep and 28-Sep continued this streak, getting 43.1 (16.8 million average viewers) and 42.5 total hours (16.6 million average viewers), which were both up from last year. Still, that continues the (typical) season slide: (For those new-to-streaming-football-numbers folks, the viewership declines for Thursday Night Football as the year goes along.) Overall, it appears as if Prime Video is now part of the “football habit”, be it for customers at home or out at places like bars and restaurants. And its viewership is slowly catching up to broadcast. One last chart shows this. Last season, Nielsen started adding out-of-home viewership to the charts, so I try not to do season-to-season comparisons as I did for the first few years. And while Nielsen added Big Data viewing this year, I’m going to compare the last two seasons. Here’s that chart, which shows the season-over-season gains: When it comes to streaming football, we have to keep a few seemingly contradictory thoughts in our head… First, streaming doesn’t come close to matching broadcast’s reach and, thus, viewership. Second, even with that gap, football is still the biggest “thing” on streaming. It’s very, very popular. Third, while some methodology changes have likely helped Prime Video’s numbers, their viewership does appear to be growing. Lastly, yeah, the NFL started the season off poorly, with week one dragging down the numbers in year-over-year comparisons. However—and again, methodology changes may have helped this—the viewership grew compared to previous seasons over the next couple of weeks. So football is still king. On streaming and off. Television - Adult Animation Continues to NOT Make the Streaming Charts In the last two reports, two adult-animated shows whiffed: Netflix’s animated comedy, Dang! Paramount+’s Sega-video-game-inspired fantasy/comedy, Golden Axe. Neither made the charts, but that’s usually the case for animated shows. I mean, here’s literally every animated show that’s made the Nielsen Original charts since the start of 2025: And one of those shows is G_abby’s Dollhouse_! A kids show! The problem with charts like this is that they don’t give you a sense of how many shows miss the charts. Netflix had at least eleven animated flops, including comedies like Big Mouth (a show everyone assumed was popular in the pre-Streaming Ratings Era), Long Story Short, Haunted Hotel, Mating Season, Strip Law, and Alley Cats, and action shows like Blood of Zeus, Castlevania: Nocturne, Devil May Cry, Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, and Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. Prime Video had at least six animated misses, two in the same universe (Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss), three more comedies (#1 Happy Family USA, The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy and Kevin) and an action show (The Mighty Nein). Disney+ had MCU and Star Wars animated misses (Eyes of Wakanda, Marvel Zombies, Star Wars: Visions, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, and Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld) but I can’t tell how many of those shows were geared towards adults. HBO Max had Harley Quinn and Hulu had Solar Opposites. None of these shows made the charts! That’s a lot of misses! If I remade the chart with all those misses, here’s how it would look: Listen, I know the counter arguments. First, it’s cheaper to produce animated shows than live action. Fair enough, but with viewership this low, even that cheaper price point starts to not matter. Second, just look at the acquired charts. Hit animated comedies can generate viewership for years! Shows like The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers do really, really well. Fair enough, but streaming has failed to recreate the dynamic that Fox has mastered so well. That’s a problem for streaming still. Television - Emmys! The annual Emmys broadcast was a few weeks ago, and I’ve got data on how the nominees performed on streaming, plus hot takes on this year’s viewership (and the big news about the broadcast’s, er, streamcast’s future). We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… The top Emmy-nominated shows… ...why I’m worried about the future of the Emmys telecast... ...the pros of broadcast television ...and the cons... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! Next week, we’ve got a double issue (since the weeks of 21-Sep and 28-Sep were so light), but then I’ll be all caught up after a deluge of streaming ratings data from Nielsen in September. In the meantime, I’m going to try to take a look at Netflix’s stats to explain why Bela Bajaria is out. But even light weeks give me plenty to talk about. The Great British Baking Show returns to Netflix and Apple TV has a buzzy new star-studded comedy. And Netflix has a controversial-but-appears-to-be-popular new game show. Plus big films like Toy Story 5, Backrooms and The Breadwinner head to streaming. And is East of Eden a hit? After that, The Kardashians return to Hulu, Prime Video has a reboot of Carrie, and Netflix has a horror show, Below. Disclosure Day heads to Peacock, The Housemaid heads to HBO Max_,_ a new Ben Affleck film, Animals, lands on Netflix, and Apple TV has a new John Cena action film based on, checks notes, Hasbro’s Matchbox toys. Okay. Longterm, some interesting TV production news. HBO Max ordered How to Survive Without Me, starring Kaley Cuoco, Joshua Jackson, Ray Romano and Rita Wilson, for fifteen episodes! I love that some streamers (or, at least, HBO Max) are finally ordering TV shows with more than eight episodes. In less wise production news, Landman does not appear to be coming back this year, since it just started production. Frankly, I don’t love this (get your shows out on time) but Landman is so popular, I doubt it matters.
Robots, health, monarchs at Wisconsin Science Festival
EAU CLAIRE — For families enthusiastic about science, downtown was the place to be Friday, as educational organizations gathered for the Wisconsin Science Festival.
Tom Murphy explains his Associated Press Top 25 ballot
There was a major shakeup in the Top 10 after a upsets galore, especially in the SEC.
Popular actress, 52, hits back at claims she is ‘too old’ to be pregnant
Trump says he will close historic D.C. golf course for 15 months of renovations
A judge last week, however, ordered a halt to his redevelopment plans until at least Oct. 26 after scolding the government for starting a large-scale tree removal at the course over a holiday weekend while providing little notice to the court or the plaintiffs trying to stop the makeover.
Disney Villains Boo Buckets, VisionQuest, and Banana Ball Returns: This Week at TMSM
McDonald’s confirms Disney Villains Boo Buckets, VisionQuest premieres, Six Ravens opens at Disney Springs, and Banana Ball heads back to Disney World. Here’s everything you missed.
Scientists Finally Figured Out Why Big Dogs Age Faster Than Small Dogs
A new study of nearly 900 dogs found that changes involving so-called 'jumping genes' may help explain why larger breeds have shorter lives.
Malia Cohen explains why she should be reelected State Controller
California State Controller Malia Cohen is seeking reelection for an office that is responsible for the state's checkbook at a time when voters across the nation are focused on waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer money.
Lizzo Says She Was Healthy Before Losing Weight
After critics claimed getting smaller hurt her image, Lizzo fired back with a powerful reminder: Her brand was never her body - it was joy.
'Whalefall' Writer Explains the Real Science That Drives the Survival Thriller
What happens in 'Whalefall' is surprisingly accurate to the real ordeal, tapping deep into primal human fears.
Regional Science Consortium Researching Harmful Algal Blooms
If you've noticed large buoys or boats out on the bayfront and wondered what they were, you're not alone. The Regional Science Consortium is collaborating with Princeton Hydro on a research project funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study ways to control harmful algal blooms. Dr. Jeanette Schnars, the Executive Director of the Regional Science Consortium, explained the goal of the research."We are researching different ways to control blue-green algae, which creates harmful algal blooms and releases toxins," Dr. Schnars said.The project aims to identify potential techniques for controlling harmful algal blooms in Presque Isle Bay.Schnars explained that people may notice circular floats in the water near Perry's Landing and Liberty Park. Those floats are part of the testing process."You might see a circular float, almost like a hula hoop, that is out in the bay, near Perry's Landing and Liberty Park area, and those limn corrals go all the way to the bottom. And what we will do are some treatments within the limn corral in the bottom," Schnars said.After samples are collected, they are brought back to the laboratory at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center for analysis."A lot of those samples are coming back here. We are going to test them for the harmful algal bloom toxins before, during, and after, and see how effective the testing was," Schnars said.Sarah Magyan, an aquatic biologist with the Regional Science Consortium, explained that the team also collects samples from locations throughout the region."We pull samples every week from 30 different sites, and then we bring those back here, we preserve them and run them through the ELISA test," Magyan said.Schnars said researchers hope the results will help them develop effective ways to reduce harmful algal blooms in the future."If we can do some treatments over space and time in upcoming seasons, we may be able to reduce the number of harmful algal blooms we have in this area," Schnars said.The research is also important for public and animal safety. Magyan explained that toxins produced by certain algae can affect the skin, nervous system or liver.While toxin levels may be low for people, she emphasized the importance of protecting pets that swim in local waterways."Toxins can either be skin toxins, nerve toxins, or liver toxins. While we have low levels for people, it is important that we are keeping our pets safe because we recreate with our animals in the water, and we see hundreds and hundreds of dogs on Presque Isle and the rest of the shoreline," Magyan said.Testing began in September, and Schnars said researchers expect to conduct at least another six to eight weeks of testing to better understand the effectiveness of the treatments.
Analysis: Trump says he's a great dealmaker. His record says otherwise
Donald Trump has long promoted himself as an exceptional dealmaker, and that claim has helped fuel his rise from real estate tycoon to president. But many the deals he has
Analysis: Trump says he's a great dealmaker. His record says otherwise
Donald Trump has long promoted himself as an exceptional dealmaker, and that claim has helped fuel his rise from real estate tycoon to president. But many the deals he has
Joe Manganiello reveals what he said that caused 13-year estrangement from father
Joe Manganiello wrote about the ups and downs with his father in his new memoir, ‘Bloodlines,’ explaining why they’ve been estranged for more than a decade.
Question 3 on November ballot is about RI’s future jobs
Rhode Island relies on too few industries. The CEO of the R.I. Life Science Hub explains why investing in life sciences is key to future growth.
Chuck Lorre claims Les Moonves made ‘no f---ing way’ gesture at Jon Cryer’s ‘Two and a Half Men’ audition
Chuck Lorre recalls casting ‘Two and a Half Men’ in his new memoir, ‘Sitcom,’ and being told by the network, ‘We don’t want to hear the words ‘Jon Cryer.’’
Moore campaign ads shut out Sinclair stations amid feud with David Smith
While it’s normal for politicians and journalists to disagree on coverage in private, this dispute has played out in full view of the public.
Nestle, Unilever face regulatory action in India over misleading health claims
Investing.com -- India’s food safety regulator has issued notices to Nestle India and Hindustan Unilever over allegedly misleading nutritional and health claims on dietary supplements, as authorities intensify scrutiny of food manufacturers.
Money20/20: Where Banks, Big Tech and Regulators Do Business
Jessica Blue, Executive Vice President of Money20/20 USA, explains why convergence, partnerships and trust will define the next era of financial services
Health expert explains blood clot risk after Jaylen Hurts put on IR
As Philadelphia Eagles quarterback benched amid blood clot concerns, health expert explains the risk of clots migrating to the lungs and who is at risk
Play science games, win science prizes
The 2026 winners for the Nobel Prize in the sciences, explained
Scientists discover that male and female skin play by different rules
Scientists have uncovered a surprising difference in how male and female skin repairs and renews itself. By tracking individual skin stem cells in living mice for five months, researchers discovered that female cells work together in a highly coordinated way, while male cells operate more independently. This synchronization, driven by sex hormones, helps explain why wounds heal faster in female mice, especially during the first few days.
PS6 RAM and Storage Alone Reportedly Cost Sony Over $680, Claims Leaker
The memory crunch looks like it is hitting the PlayStation 6 harder than expected. Hardware leaker KeplerL2 claims on NeoGAF that the RAM and NAND flash storage in Sony's next console alone cost over $680. He posted it as a reply to a forum member who floated $680 as a possible subsidized retail...
The strange genius of Nathan Fielder, explained in 5 episodes
Nathan Fielder’s ‘You Can See Everything’ has everyone talking. But how do you even begin to explain his whole... thing? These five essential TV episodes are a good place to start.
NVIDIA says RTX 5090 is not discontinued, but good luck finding one for $1,999
The RTX 5090 is still in production, according to NVIDIA. However, the company has not explained how it intends to improve availability as retail prices remain far above MSRP.
WFAA
WFAA (Dallas–Fort Worth) is your source for breaking news, Texas weather, traffic, and live coverage in Dallas, Fort Worth, and across North Texas. Get the latest updates from the WFAA team — from major local headlines and investigations to severe weather, community stories, and the moments everyone’s talking about. Watch live newscasts, stream breaking coverage, and catch up on the top stories shaping Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, and surrounding communities. Subscribe for: • Dallas–Fort Worth breaking news + live updates • Texas weather forecasts, storms, and severe weather alerts • Investigations and accountability reporting • Community stories across North Texas • Major events, sports, and local explainers WFAA — Dallas–Fort Worth news and weather, live and on demand. 🔗 More: https://www.wfaa.com
24-Team College Football Playoff Coming as Soon as 2027
The 12-team playoff era didn’t last long. After just three years, it seems all but official that the playoff will double in size to 24 teams making it feel much more like the NCAA basketball tournament than the original 4-team playoff that lasted from the 2014-2023 season. With the news, we explain the details and […]
Chuck Lorre claims Cybill Shepherd became ‘a different person’ when shooting season 2 of ‘Cybill’
Chuck Lorre recounts how he was fired from ‘Cybill,’ a show he created, in his new memoir
Chuck Lorre claims Cybill Shepherd became ‘a different person’ when shooting season 2 of “Cybill”
The future creator of “The Big Bang Theory” writes about his Hollywood career in his new memoir.
Ben Affleck has no regrets over box office bomb ‘Surviving Christmas’ for this reason
Ben Affleck explained why working with the late James Gandolfini changed his perspective on ‘Surviving Christmas.’
Ex-Reform politician likens party's response to criticism to an abuser
Sarah Cooper-Lesadd, who defected to Plaid Cymru, says she is "not surprised" by new allegations.
Samsung Leak Claims 6 Galaxy Z Foldables for 2027
A leak claims Samsung could launch 6 Galaxy Z foldables in 2027, including a rollable Z Slide and a 3-tier Fold 9 line. Here is what is confirmed.
Is the brain actually 2 nervous systems smooshed together? A new study claims it is.
A recent study may reshape our understanding of brain evolution and open new avenues for studying neurological diseases.
Rabies reports are rising in California. Experts can’t explain why
Rabies reports are up across the U.S., including in one greater Bay Area county where human exposures to rabid animals have tripled, prompting a local advisory to stay away from sick creatures.
Detroit summit boosts Israeli business in face of pro-Palestinian wave
Michigan Israel Business Accelerator drew fire ahead of the Innovation Exchange Summit at Huntington Bank HQ, with Rep. Rashida Tlaib demanding state end funding for group
Montana’s House battleground: Can 2 political newcomers overcome party politics?
The fight for Montana’s 1st District tests whether candidates can use their backgrounds to connect with voters and avoid being shaped by national politics
Los Tacos No. 1 is betting on private equity. Its CEO explains why.
Los Tacos No. 1 took a private equity investment, and customers freaked out. Its CEO promises horse meat isn't coming to the menu: The quality stays.
Bridge winners
HUNTINGTON DUPLICATE BRIDGE ASSOCIATION: Monday, Oct. 5 — Elaine Whitt and Bob Hardin, Patricia Crews and Fuzzy Harrold. Wednesday, Oct. 7 — Bennie Shields and Bob Hardin, Elaine Whitt and
GTA VI not yet gold: Rockstar explains the final push before launch
Grand Theft Auto VI has yet to go gold ahead of its scheduled November 19, 2026 launch, with Rockstar developers telling Bloomberg that final fixes and refinements remain underway. The report examines how the game’s complex, interconnected systems have shaped development, though ongoing work does not itself signal another delay.
Selma Blair appears at 90s Con days after her arrest in connection with alleged airline assault
The “Cruel Intentions” star’s rep called the incident a “medical emergency.”
Scientists discover how deep sleep builds muscle, burns fat, and boosts the brain
Scientists have discovered a surprising two-way relationship between sleep and growth hormone, revealing how the brain carefully balances physical recovery with wakefulness. The findings could help explain why poor sleep harms metabolism and brain health, potentially opening the door to new treatments for sleep and neurological disorders.
Minnesota veterans receiving claims assistance, health exams at clinic
AP Entertainment SummaryBrief at 7:18 p.m. EDT
Selma Blair's representatives say she didn't intend to hurt anyone on flight that led to her arrest
Selma Blair's representatives say she didn't intend to hurt anyone on flight that led to her arrest
Selma Blair's representatives have stated she did not intend to harm anyone during a recent flight incident | WBBM Newsradio 780 AM & 105.9 FM
Let's talk 'You Can See Everything' spoilers: An explainer for Nathan Fielder's Elizabeth Holmes documentary
Who gets naked? What are the big twists? And what's next?
Super Smash Bros. Player Mew2King Banned From Tournament After Bug Bites Spark Health Concerns
Professional Super Smash Bros. player Jason ‘Mew2King’ Zimmerman has been banned from a competitive tournament after posting photos of his concerning skin condition and complaining of a bug infestation in his home.
Super Smash Bros. Player Mew2King Banned From Tournament After Bug Bites Spark Health Concerns
Professional Super Smash Bros. player Jason ‘Mew2King’ Zimmerman has been banned from a competitive tournament after posting photos of his concerning skin condition and complaining of a bug infestation in his home.
‘Whalefall’ ending explained: Who survives? What happened on the boat? How does it differ from the book?
Austin Abrams and Josh Brolin star in Whalefall, a heart-racing thriller based on Daniel Kraus’ novel. Who survives? What happened on the boat? How does it differ from the book? Here’s the answers.
Fans Are Calling GTA 6's Latest Trailer A Blurry 'Downgrade'
God forbid someone in Rockstar Games' marketing department decided to add a little artistic flair to a trailer
Appeals Court Questions Justice Dept. Claim that Trump Owns White House Records
A three-judge panel appeared unconvinced by claims that a federal law requiring the president to preserve and hand over his presidential papers was unconstitutional.
California falls short on Medi-Cal fraud, state report says - The Business Journal California auditor flags Medi-Cal fraud oversight concerns
California's state auditor raises concerns about Medi-Cal fraud oversight, citing millions in questionable claims and thousands of high-risk providers not under investigation.
From bowling alley handyman to business mogul: GOP candidate shares his American Dream story
Florida congressional hopeful Joe Strada explains how he built a half-billion-dollar business, why he entered politics and what matters more to him than money.
Commentary: Election outreach is public service, not politics
In response to concerns of advertising at a local sports event, the Charleston County Board of Elections explains their efforts to serve the public. Politics stay out of it.
Collin Gosselin slams mom Kate for mental health claims, says ‘maybe it’s time’ she get psychiatric evaluation
Collin Gosselin and his mother, Kate Gosselin, have been locked in a bitter feud after he accused her of abuse in his memoir, ‘In the Shadow of Eight,’ which released on Oct. 13.
Antonio Banderas, Nicolas Cage to star in 'True Detective' season 5
Nicolas Cage attends 'The Surfer' photocall at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 17, 2024, in Cannes, France. (Neilson Barnard/Getty Images) | Antonio Banderas
Headspace Issues Layoffs Following Sword Health Acquisition
It has been a little over two weeks since Sword Health's acquisition of the San Francisco-based digital therapy and psychiatry company Headspace officialy
Headspace Issues Layoffs Following Sword Health Acquisition
It has been a little over two weeks since Sword Health's acquisition of the San Francisco-based digital therapy and psychiatry company Headspace officialy
North Carolina could play a key role in this year's midterm elections
Midterm election results in North Carolina could significantly influence the state and shape the national political landscape, says John Dinan, a Wake Forest University professor of political science. Dinan explains what North Carolinians will see on the ballot, the importance of key candidate contests and the potential ripple effects on the state and federal levels.…
Louisiana renews deals with 4 Medicaid providers; lawmakers want better health outcomes
Louisiana lawmakers renewed state contracts Thursday with four private managed care organizations that provide Medicaid coverage, calling on state health officials to ensure the money results in better health outcomes.
Who Is Alive and Who Is Dead at the End of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4's Campaign? Infinity Ward Explains Captain Price's Fate
Who is alive and who is dead at the end of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4's campaign? Infinity Ward explains Captain Price's fate.
Selma Blair breaks silence on arrest and plane incident
The actress was arrested on Oct. 11 after allegedly assaulting two flight attendants mid-flight during “a medical emergency.”
The Creative Arts Economy: A Local Business Beat Hiding Plain Sight
Long before TimeLine Theatre opened the doors to its new home in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood earlier this year, PJ Powers and Mica Cole had a vision for something much more than a state-of-the-art show venue. For Powers, the theatre’s co-founder and Cole, executive director, the goal was to transform a shuttered warehouse into a living...Read More
"It's a Business Trip" | DeMeco Ryans Ahead of Texans vs. Jaguars
Ryans meets with the media in London ahead of Texans vs. Jaguars and explains how the team responded after travel issues delayed the trip overseas.
Candace Cameron Bure declined to return to ‘The View’ for season 30
Candace Cameron Bure says ‘The View’ asked her to return for season 30, with the ‘Full House’ and ‘Special Forces’ star explaining to EW why she declined.
Dr. Phil McGraw addresses Collin Gosselin’s ‘false’ claim that he helped offer Jon and Kate millions to stay married
The talk show host did not have “any vested interest” in the Gosselins’ relationship.
Everton Insider Makes Major David Moyes to Celtic Claim
The Everton insider has shared his view on the recent links involving David Moyes and Celtic.
Sylvester Stallone explains that shocking “Tulsa King” premiere twist: ‘I wanted people’s jaws to drop’
He believes that he went “as far as I could go” with the characters who met their end at the start of season 4.
Angine de Poitrine is weird. That may be exactly what your brain craves.
Québécois rock duo Angine de Poitrine has gone viral for its bizarre costumes and unconventional music, earning praise from rock legends. A cognitive neuroscientist explains the science behind its app...
Fort Smith Regional Airport traffic down 5.4% through September
Traffic out of the Fort Smith Regional Airport fell more than 20% in September, which followed a 12.5% decline in August. The declines result from fewer departures out of the...
Spending More Time With Your Cat May Have Positive Mood Benefits That Correlate With Cat And Their Owner's Hormones
Owning a dog has been shown to consistently offer a range of benefits, but less can be said about cats. This new study may help explain why.
Trump will rally Georgia Republicans despite party divisions in battleground state
President Donald Trump's midterm campaign blitz arrives in Georgia on Friday for a rally with top Republican candidates in a state that has long been the epicenter of the president's false claims about election fraud.
Is the Prince estate finally listening to fan complaints?
MINNEAPOLIS — Is the Prince estate finally listening to complaints from hardcore fans? On Oct. 9, the estate and NPG Records released the “Calabama EP” as a follow-up to the
Review: A Cornucopia of Entertainment Closes out CABARET CONVENTION 2026 at Rose Hall
KT Sullivan and company end convention week with style and flair.
Can AI solve our mental health access problem?
Last week I asked you what worries you most about AI in health. It was close, but your top answer was “AI giving bad health advice.” Last week’s poll results: You’re in good company. This concern was top of mind at a conference I joined at Stanford last week, where researchers, clinicians, and people who build AI systems spent a day debating trust and safety in health AI. Stepping back, I’m also hearing your emerging concerns about AI’s impact on our well-being generally. I see this as a matter of public health, and we’ll take it in pieces as we learn together. Today we’ll focus on AI chatbots used for therapy for mental health. Early this month, Governor Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 903, California’s most ambitious attempt to regulate AI use for mental health. It’s at the center of active debate, and raises the questions patients, family members, citizens, and voters will face as AI moves deeper into health care. Let’s work through it. What is “AI-based therapy”? It’s really two things: purpose-built mental health apps designed to deliver structured support, and general chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini that people increasingly use for emotional support—even if they weren’t built for it. Spoiler alert: I don’t know whether the shift toward AI therapy is good or bad. The evidence isn’t there yet. But I do know it’s already happening, and I have some ideas about how we can roll it out with safety in mind. The therapy dilemma, in a nutshell Mental health challenges are common, and strain health and well-being across populations. Therapy (interactive dialogue with a trained, empathetic practitioner) helps many people heal. The demand for licensed therapists far exceeds the supply in California, and AI-based therapy can narrow that gap. AI-based therapy remains novel, unproven, and not well tested. Right off the bat, we can see we’re dealing with trade-offs here. Since the main driver of demand for therapy from a robot is lack of access to therapy from a human, we’ll start there. It’s too hard to find and afford a human therapist California is short roughly 55,000 licensed, non-prescribing therapists and counselors, about 40% of what we need. Psychiatrists, who rely on talk therapy as a complement to prescribed medications, are even more scarce. Eight counties have none, and density ranges from 1.7 per 100,000 residents in San Benito County, to 68.1 in Marin County. My wife is a psychiatrist in Marin, and even here access is tight. If it’s hard in the best-supplied county, imagine rural Sierra County, or the San Joaquin Valley. In 2024, more than half of Californians who tried to make a mental health appointment struggled to find a provider who took their insurance, compared with 14% for physical health care. When Senate staff posed as “secret shopper” patients and called 120 mental health providers in Medicare Advantage networks, they landed an appointment less than once for every five tries. Insurers pay behavioral health clinicians about 22% less than medical and surgical clinicians for comparable office visits. On top of that, billing denials and prior authorizations hit hardest at the solo and small practices common in mental health. Psychiatrists opt out of Medicare at the highest rate of any specialty. In many places, a cash practice for therapy fills quickly with patients paying $250 or more an hour, with no insurance paperwork at all. Families who can pay cash find providers more easily. Those who rely on insurance, including Medi-Cal enrollees, older adults, rural residents, and non-English speakers, compete for what’s left. So we can’t pretend the human system works, and we can’t blame people for turning to AI for support when they’re in distress. AI is filling the gap It’s estimated that roughly a quarter of AI users use it for mental health support. If you have internet, it’s available 24/7, it’s cheap, and it speaks your language. Uninsured adults are about twice as likely as insured adults to do it (30% vs. 14%). It feels anonymous in ways that may enable people to ask things they’re unsure or embarrassed about. The largely hidden, personal use makes it hard to study whether it’s actually helping people with their mental health issues, but researchers are trying. Does AI therapy work? A 2026 analysis of nearly 40 randomized trials found chatbots showed a real but small reduction in depression symptoms. But most of these trials were compared to an alternative of no therapy, not a human therapist. So the benefit of AI therapy is probably real, but modest, and mostly untested against the alternative of human contact. We need more studies. Serious concerns OpenAI’s own estimate is that more than a million ChatGPT users each week show signs of suicidal planning or intent. These are high stakes encounters, and AI doesn’t always get it right. That’s partly because a chatbot can sound like a therapist, but it has no license, no duty of care, and it’s not clear who to hold accountable when it gets things wrong. AI is also designed to help users in whatever task they’re seeking to accomplish. People may feel like they’re getting therapy, but they’re mainly getting a convincing conversation. It’s easy for an AI companion to wander into gray areas, like playing along with “creative writing” that may be about the user’s own suicidal intent. Courts are driving safety conversations A wave of lawsuits have been filed on behalf of families claiming that chatbots pushed people they loved toward self-harm, including teens who died by suicide. The first settlements came this year. OpenAI is headquartered in San Francisco, and dozens of cases alleging that ChatGPT drove users to suicide or self-harm are now before a San Francisco judge. Character.ai has filed for bankruptcy after several states brought lawsuits accusing the chatbot of pushing dangerous content to kids. But the technology seems to be improving. Last month, an independent evaluation found that newer AI models “almost never endorse suicide.” That’s progress, but our societal appetite for even one preventable death is very low. So how do we move forward? Finding a middle ground Earlier this month the governor vetoed Senate Bill 903, a bill designed to place guardrails on the use of AI for therapy. The bill would have prohibited any AI-based platform from being advertised as psychotherapy, and would have required a licensed professional to review and approve each encounter where AI was used to support therapeutic decisions. Newsom called it overly broad, since even routine screening questions would have needed clinician sign-off. Knowing we’re already short on mental health providers, requiring human review of AI encounters may not relieve our access problems. Still, the answer isn’t no oversight. Here’s one feasible short term solution. Rather than reviewing each encounter, a licensed clinician can design the guardrails: what counts as a crisis, what triggers an immediate handoff to a human, and what gets sampled for audit each month. The AI runs inside that structure. Conversations get checked, failures get reported, and a real clinician owns the framework. Medicine already has models to learn from. The FDA process for rolling out newly approved medications is an example. After a product reaches patients, we keep watching for adverse events. Patient-facing AI needs the same “digital pharmacovigilance”: systematic tracking of harms, near misses, and the types of groups that get hurt and why. It’s also critical that users know that they can reach a human if they’re in crisis. Most chatbots now include messages like these: Bottom line The rush to use unproven AI tools for mental health support is mostly a workaround, a sign of a health system people can’t get into. We need better access to proven care from licensed clinicians. That takes reimbursement that makes accepting insurance viable, and a bigger workforce. But, built and tested well, AI could be part of the answer. It could be the 2 a.m. check-in when no one else is awake, or a way for patients to practice skills their therapist taught them. It could be the first step to get someone the right level of care, and take paperwork off clinicians’ plates so they spend more time with patients. None of this is simple. The SB 903 veto doesn’t end the debate, and the legislature will be back. In the meantime, those of us using these tools need to stay informed, ask hard questions, and hold the companies building them accountable. I’ll try to do my part, and we’ll keep learning together. Love,Matt P.S. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988- you’ll reach a real person— or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7. Dr. Matt Willis is the author of Your Local Epidemiologist in California. A California native, he’s served as a primary care physician, CDC epidemiologist, and public health officer for Marin County, where he guided the pandemic response. He lives in Marin with his family and their dogs, Teddy and Ramona. Thank you Cynthia He, MD, PhD, and Parnika Saxena, MD, for their guidance in preparing this article. Cynthia works in an outpatient mental health clinic, treating patients who have Medi-Cal or, sometimes, no insurance. Parnika works in an inpatient psychiatric unit, treating patients with public or private insurance or self-pay ability. All opinions are their own and do not represent their employers.
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Plague is stoppable. The next health threat may not be.
The word plague is scary. Centuries ago, the Black Death killed tens of millions of people and changed the course of history. Plague still kills people around the world, and the word still evokes catastrophe. New fears of plague surfaced on October 2, when a lab worker in Irkutsk, Russia, died of pneumonia. Reports suggested that she may have contracted plague through a laboratory exposure. Understandably, people were alarmed. On October 7, the World Health Organization called for the Russian Federation to be transparent about what it knew. WHO issued an update on October 10. Russian authorities told WHO that testing did not identify plague and that investigations found no laboratory release. WHO said confidence in its risk assessment remained limited and that further clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory information was needed. The cause of the woman’s illness remains unknown, and WHO says a laboratory-associated exposure cannot be excluded. As I explained in a recent interview, this incident is very unlikely to lead to a pandemic. Plague is still active, including in the U.S., which sees a handful of cases each year. But it is a disease we can prevent and treat. Plague doesn’t spread readily, and it responds to antibiotics. The standard response—isolate the patient, trace contacts, and administer antibiotics and monitor for symptoms among contacts for seven days—works. We have even planned for antibiotic-resistant plague. At CDC, we developed a playbook for antibiotic-resistant plague and ran exercises on how to find and stop it. CDC guidance anticipates engineered resistance and recommends two different classes of antibiotics if there’s reason to suspect it. There is no evidence that resistance—or even confirmed plague—is involved in this incident. We have thought through how to address plague, but we’re not ready for the next major health threat that emerges from a lab or from animal spillover to humans. What should concern people is how little stands between the world and the next pathogen to get loose. Since peak COVID, epidemic preparedness has fallen off the political agenda, but the risk is greater than ever. More labs handle dangerous pathogens with more ways to make those pathogens deadlier, and more people live and work in close contact with animals. There are actions we can take now: We need better lab safety in every country. The number of labs that work with dangerous pathogens has increased worldwide over two decades, but there’s no enforceable international standard and no inspection regime; the Biological Weapons Convention, fifty years on, still has no verification mechanism. Labs that study dangerous germs need strong safety systems, training, and oversight. We need to reduce spillover events. Three in four emerging human infections start in animals, and there’s a lot we can do to reduce spillover risk, but the world is doing very little of it. Live-animal markets are one place to act. For instance, closing live-bird markets helped control H7N9 influenza in China. Reducing opportunities for people to encounter infected animals can prevent infections before they become outbreaks. In The Formula for Better Health, which is now out in paperback along with the hardcover, Kindle, and audiobook versions, I argue that labs do too many risky experiments with too many dangerous pathogens in too many institutions, and that every experiment should first answer one basic question: Is the likely benefit greater than the risk? Spillover risk can also be reduced: In the book, I discuss how Brazil cut its deforestation rate by 70% from 2004 to 2012 while increasing agricultural production and reducing risky contact between people and forest animals. We need faster detection and response. Delay costs lives. Strong surveillance, good labs, and trained responders can turn a single case into a small cluster of infections instead of an epidemic. Resolve to Save Lives has worked for nearly a decade to help countries find and stop outbreaks faster. The 7-1-7 target, which Resolve to Save Lives developed with partners in Uganda and elsewhere, provides a clear standard: detect within 7 days, notify within 1 day and complete all essential early response actions within 7 days. In Uganda’s Kasese district, for example, a review of a measles outbreak using 7-1-7 identified shortages of accessible funds, fuel, and vehicles that delayed the response. District leaders established funds they could access quickly. When, a few months later, the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever appeared, the district detected it in three days, notified authorities in one, and mounted an effective response in two. Only one case was confirmed, and the patient survived. Because funds were available before the emergency, authorities were prepared and able to act. This kind of preparation can’t wait until the next crisis begins. Plague is an old disease we that know how to stop. The next threat may be harder to recognize, harder to treat, and easier to spread. Safer labs, less risk of spillover, and faster outbreak detection and response need sustained investment now, while we still have time to prevent the next emergency. Share
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