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Who polices hospitals merging across markets? States give different answers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:25 GMT

Samantha Liss | (TNS) KFF Health NewsSt. Louis’ largest health system, BJC HealthCare, plans to merge with Kansas City’s second-largest, Saint Luke’s Health System, uniting more than 28 hospitals on both sides of Missouri by the end of this year.The merger, which would span markets 250 miles apart and include facilities in neighboring Kansas and Illinois, is just one of the latest in a quickly consolidating hospital industry. Cross-market deals accounted for more than half of all hospital mergers and acquisitions during the last decade, according to a paper from experts on antitrust law. Today, nearly 60% of health systems operate multiple hospitals in different geographic markets.Not only are such deals more common, they can increase costs for patients. Merged hospitals in the same state but in different markets raised prices as much as 10% compared with other hospitals, researchers found after analyzing past deals. A separate study found stand-alone hospitals raised prices 17% aft...

For a classic Italian comfort food, try meatballs

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:25 GMT

By Carla Vigos | Laguna Woods Globe cooking columnistSeptember is my birthday month. It’s a time for reflection of all the special times and people in my life. I love my Italian heritage, and I am a huge fan of the food – which for most Italians go hand in hand.There are so many memories tied to the food my mother made. I think that’s one reason I love to cook.Spaghetti and meatballs is a comfort food memory. When the garlic hits the olive oil, it brings back memories of when I helped my mother in the kitchen.Sunday was sauce day. We would invite relatives over for spaghetti, and play cards after the meal.This month, meatballs are the star of this column, with a plain red sauce.For questions or comments, email [email protected] pounds 80% ground beef2 eggs2 to 3 large garlic cloves, minced1 cup bread crumbs softened with 3/4 cup water13/4 teaspoons salt3/4 teaspoon pepper1 teaspoon dried oregano3/4 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese1/4 cup chopped parsley1 ta...

Speaker McCarthy’s job at risk after House votes to move ahead with hard-right effort to oust him

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:25 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ability to remain in leadership is now seriously at risk after the House voted Tuesday to move ahead with an effort by hard-right Republican critics to oust him.The narrow vote forced by McCarthy’s chief rival, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, brought together a handful of conservative Republican critics of the speaker and many Democrats who say he is not worthy of leadership.By refusing to table the motion, or set it aside, the House now opens an extraordinary floor debate ahead of the next round of voting. A final outcome could be delayed.McCarthy insists he will not cut a deal with Democrats to remain in power.The House quickly opened debate on whether to oust McCarthy as speaker after the Tuesday vote, his job at risk from a conservative rebellion.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Kevin McCarthy is confronting his hard-right critics head-on Tuesday as he faces a historic challenge to o...

Idaho and Missouri shift to Republican presidential caucuses after lawmakers cancel primaries

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:25 GMT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Republicans in Idaho and Missouri will have to attend caucuses to make their presidential picks next year after the two states’ GOP-led legislatures canceled their presidential primaries and then missed a deadline to reinstate them. Presidential caucuses in both states are planned March 2, putting them near the front of the national presidential selection process. Both states would have been scheduled to hold March 12 primaries, had lawmakers not eliminated them. Members of Idaho’s Republican-led Legislature had talked about calling themselves into a special session to reinstate a primary but failed to agree on a proposal before Sunday’s deadline, imposed by the Republican National Committee, for states to submit their 2024 presidential nominating plans. Idaho lawmakers this year passed cost-saving legislation backed by Republican Secretary of State Phil McGrane that was intended to push the presidential primary to May 21 to coincide with...

Florida man convicted of killing two women over 25 years ago set to die by injection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:25 GMT

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A man is scheduled to die by injection more than 25 years after he killed two women he met in north Florida bars during a dayslong spate of crimes.Michael Zack III was scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. Tuesday for the murder of Ravonne Smith, a bar employee he befriended and later beat and stabbed with an oyster knife in June 1996. He also was convicted and separately sentenced to life in prison for murdering Laura Rosillo, whom he met at a bar in a nearby county. Zack’s nine-day crime run began in Tallahassee, where he was a regular at a bar. When Zack’s girlfriend called and said he was being evicted, the bartender offered to loan him her pickup truck. Zack left with it and never returned, according to court records.Zack drove to a bar in Niceville in the Florida Panhandle, where he befriended a construction company owner. The man learned Zack was living in the pickup truck and offered to let him stay at his home. Zack later stole two guns and $42....

Judges aiming to give Black voters more influence in Alabama set to redraw congressional districts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:25 GMT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge said Tuesday that the court will soon adopt new congressional districts for Alabama, choosing among proposals aimed at giving Black voters a greater opportunity to influence election outcomes in the Deep South state. U.S. District Judge Stanley Marcus, noting a ruling will be issued “shortly,” said the three-judge panel is aware of the time constraints posed by elections next year when the state’s seven U.S. House seats will be on the ballot. The court could rule as early as this week. The panel is stepping in to adopt new district boundaries after ruling that the Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature failed to remedy a Voting Rights Act violation when lawmakers adopted new lines this summer. The judges said the state-drawn plan — which had one majority Black district out of seven in a state that is 27% Black — illegally diluted the political power of Black residents. The judges last month wrote that they were “deeply troubled” that ...

Homeless 25-year-old Topeka man arrested in rape and killing of 5-year-old girl

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:25 GMT

A homeless Kansas man has been arrested in the rape and killing of a 5-year-old girl, authorities said Tuesday. Officers responded just before 6 p.m. Monday to a medical call at a Topeka gas station and found a fire crew attempting to save Zoey Felix, police said in a news release. She was rushed to a hospital and later pronounced dead. Investigators identified a 25-year-old man as a suspect and booked him into jail Tuesday morning on suspicion of first-degree murder and rape. His bond is set at $2 million and no attorney is listed for him, said Timothy Phelps, deputy director of the Shawnee County Department of Corrections. No formal charges were immediately filed, court records show. The news release said that the man was known to Zoey, but police spokesperson Rosie Nichols said she couldn’t provide additional details on how. She also declined to release information on the girl’s cause of death. Heather Hollingsworth, The Associated Press

Gun evidence is focus at the trial of a man accused of killing New Hampshire couple on hiking trail

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:25 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A man charged with shooting a New Hampshire couple to death on a hiking trail last year spent months hiding from police — but over a probation violation from Utah, not the killings — and an analysis of shell casings and bullets found in the area could not conclude that his gun fired the shots, his attorney said at the start of his trial Tuesday. “They got the wrong man,” Caroline Smith said during opening statements in the trial of Logan Clegg in Concord. She said he had no connection to the couple and was not the killer. Clegg, 27, who was living in a tent near the trail at the time, is charged with second-degree murder counts of knowingly and recklessly causing the deaths of Stephen and Djeswende Reid by shooting them multiple times. The newly retired couple were killed shortly after going for a walk on the trail near their Concord apartment on April 18, 2022. Their bodies, found several days later, were dragged into the woods and covered with leaves, sticks a...

South African cabinet minister and 3 other lawmakers cleared of corruption in parliamentary probe

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:25 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A South African cabinet minister and three other lawmakers from the ruling African National Congress party were cleared of corruption Tuesday by a parliamentary ethics committee.Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi and lawmakers Cedric Frolick, Mosebenzi Zwane and Winnie Ngwenya were implicated following a commission of inquiry into allegations of large-scale corruption under former President Jacob Zuma, who was South Africa’s leader from 2009-18.The four lawmakers had been under investigation since last year over separate allegations.Nxesi was accused of receiving money from a company connected to well-known South African businessman and government contractor Edwin Sodi.Sodi’s relationship with and payments to prominent ANC figures came under scrutiny at the commission of inquiry. He is reportedly under investigation by the anti-corruption Special Investigating Unit over another government contract.The Zondo Commission of Inquiry ra...

House sets up final vote on ousting McCarthy: live coverage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:40:25 GMT

The House is set to decide Tuesday whether to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), a vote that hasn't taken place in more than 100 years.Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) followed through on his promises and moved Monday to force a vote on a motion to vacate. On Tuesday afternoon, the chamber voted 208-218 on a motion to table Gaetz’s resolution to oust McCarthy, setting the stage for a vote on whether McCarthy should remain in the top spot.In the narrow GOP majority, McCarthy's fate could hinge on what Democrats decide.Follow along with live updates below.