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Judith Graham | (TNS) KFF Health News Carolyn Dickens, 76, was sitting at her dining room table, struggling to catch her breath as her physician looked on with concern. “What’s going on with your breathing?” asked Peter Gliatto, director of Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program. “I don’t know,” she answered, so softly it was hard to hear. “Going from here to the bathroom or the door, I get really winded. I don’t know when it’s going to be my last breath.” Dickens, a lung cancer survivor, lives in central Harlem, barely getting by. She has serious lung disease and high blood pressure and suffers regular fainting spells. In the past year, she’s fallen several times and dropped to 85 pounds, a dangerously low weight. And she lives alone, without any help — a highly perilous situation. This is almost surely an undercount, since the data is from more than a dozen years ago. It’s a population whose numbers far exceed those living in nursing homes — about 1.2 million — and yet it receives much less attention from policymakers, legislators, and academics who study aging. Consider some eye-opening statistics about completely homebound seniors from a study published in 2020 in JAMA Internal Medicine : Nearly 40% have five or more chronic medical conditions, such as heart or lung disease. Almost 30% are believed to have “probable dementia.” Seventy-seven percent have difficulty with at least one daily task such as bathing or dressing. Almost 40% live by themselves. That “on my own” status magnifies these individuals’ already considerable vulnerability, something that became acutely obvious during the covid-19 outbreak, when the number of sick and disabled seniors confined to their homes doubled. “People who are homebound, like other individuals who are seriously ill, rely on other people for so much,” said Katherine Ornstein, director of the Center for Equity in Aging at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. “If they don’t have someone there with them, they’re at risk of not having food, not having access to health care, not living in a safe environment.” Related Articles Weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy are all the rage. Are they safe for kids? Rural governments often fail to communicate with residents who aren’t proficient in English Some breast cancer patients can avoid certain surgeries, studies suggest Herb Chambers makes massive, $100M gift to Mass General Hospital to fund cancer care Who gets obesity drugs covered by insurance? In North Carolina, it helps if you’re on Medicaid Research has shown that older homebound adults are less likely to receive regular primary care than other seniors. They’re also more likely to end up in the hospital with medical crises that might have been prevented if someone had been checking on them. To better understand the experiences of these seniors, I accompanied Gliatto on some home visits in New York City. Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program, established in 1995, is one of the oldest in the nation. Only 12% of older U.S. adults who rarely or never leave home have access to this kind of home-based primary care. Gliatto and his staff — seven part-time doctors, three nurse practitioners, two nurses, two social workers, and three administrative staffers — serve about 1,000 patients in Manhattan each year. These patients have complicated needs and require high levels of assistance. In recent years, Gliatto has had to cut staff as Mount Sinai has reduced its financial contribution to the program. It doesn’t turn a profit, because reimbursement for services is low and expenses are high. First, Gliatto stopped in to see Sandra Pettway, 79, who never married or had children and has lived by herself in a two-bedroom Harlem apartment for 30 years. Pettway has severe spinal problems and back pain, as well as Type 2 diabetes and depression. She has difficulty moving around and rarely leaves her apartment. “Since the pandemic, it’s been awfully lonely,” she told me. When I asked who checks in on her, Pettway mentioned her next-door neighbor. There’s no one else she sees regularly. Pettway told the doctor she was increasingly apprehensive about an upcoming spinal surgery. He reassured her that Medicare would cover in-home nursing care, aides, and physical therapy services. “Someone will be with you, at least for six weeks,” he said. Left unsaid: Afterward, she would be on her own. (The surgery in April went well, Gliatto reported later.) The doctor listened carefully as Pettway talked about her memory lapses. “I can remember when I was a year old, but I can’t remember 10 minutes ago,” she said. He told her that he thought she was managing well but that he would arrange testing if there was further evidence of cognitive decline. For now, he said, he’s not particularly worried about her ability to manage on her own. Several blocks away, Gliatto visited Dickens, who has lived in her one-bedroom Harlem apartment for 31 years. Dickens told me she hasn’t seen other people regularly since her sister, who used to help her out, had a stroke. Most of the neighbors she knew well have died. Her only other close relative is a niece in the Bronx whom she sees about once a month. Dickens worked with special-education students for decades in New York City’s public schools. Now she lives on a small pension and Social Security — too much to qualify for Medicaid. (Medicaid, the program for low-income people, will pay for aides in the home. Medicare, which covers people over age 65, does not.) Like Pettway, she has only a small fixed income, so she can’t afford in-home help. Every Friday, God’s Love We Deliver, an organization that prepares medically tailored meals for sick people, delivers a week’s worth of frozen breakfasts and dinners that Dickens reheats in the microwave. She almost never goes out. When she has energy, she tries to do a bit of cleaning. Without the ongoing attention from Gliatto, Dickens doesn’t know what she’d do. “Having to get up and go out, you know, putting on your clothes, it’s a task,” she said. “And I have the fear of falling.” The next day, Gliatto visited Marianne Gluck Morrison, 73, a former survey researcher for New York City’s personnel department, in her cluttered Greenwich Village apartment. Morrison, who doesn’t have any siblings or children, was widowed in 2010 and has lived alone since. Morrison said she’d been feeling dizzy over the past few weeks, and Gliatto gave her a basic neurological exam, asking her to follow his fingers with her eyes and touch her fingers to her nose. “I think your problem is with your ear, not your brain,” he told her, describing symptoms of vertigo. Because she had severe wounds on her feet related to Type 2 diabetes, Morrison had been getting home health care for several weeks through Medicare. But those services — help from aides, nurses, and physical therapists — were due to expire in two weeks. “I don’t know what I’ll do then, probably just spend a lot of time in bed,” Morrison told me. Among her other medical conditions: congestive heart failure, osteoarthritis, an irregular heartbeat, chronic kidney disease, and depression. Morrison hasn’t left her apartment since November 2023, when she returned home after a hospitalization and several months at a rehabilitation center. Climbing the three steps that lead up into her apartment building is simply too hard. “It’s hard to be by myself so much of the time. It’s lonely,” she told me. “I would love to have people see me in the house. But at this point, because of the clutter, I can’t do it.” When I asked Morrison who she feels she can count on, she listed Gliatto and a mental health therapist from Henry Street Settlement, a social services organization. She has one close friend she speaks with on the phone most nights. “The problem is I’ve lost eight to nine friends in the last 15 years,” she said, sighing heavily. “They’ve died or moved away.” Bruce Leff, director of the Center for Transformative Geriatric Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is a leading advocate of home-based medical care. “It’s kind of amazing how people find ways to get by,” he said when I asked him about homebound older adults who live alone. “There’s a significant degree of frailty and vulnerability, but there is also substantial resilience.” With the rapid expansion of the aging population in the years ahead, Leff is convinced that more kinds of care will move into the home, everything from rehab services to palliative care to hospital-level services. “It will simply be impossible to build enough hospitals and health facilities to meet the demand from an aging population,” he said. But that will be challenging for homebound older adults who are on their own. Without on-site family caregivers, there may be no one around to help manage this home-based care. ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Kremlin says heavy Russian air strikes on Ukraine are its response to Ukraine's use of weapons obtained from its allies. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov highlighted a Ukrainian strike on a Russian military airport in Taganrog on Wednesday as justification, the Russian state news agency TASS reported. The Defence Ministry in Moscow wrote on Telegram that the Russian response had been to launch a massive attack on Ukraine's fuel and energy infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the overnight bombardment "one of the largest attacks on our power grid" since the start of the war in February 2022. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia's military used 94 missiles and cruise missiles as well as 193 combat drones. The new commander of Ukraine's ground forces vowed a "massive transformation" of his branch on Friday to improve troop training, management and recruitment. The overhaul by Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi, who assumed his post last month, comes as Ukraine's outmanned and outgunned army is struggling to halt a grinding Russian march in the east making its fastest gains since 2022. The Ukrainian military said the changes would cover training regimes as well as battlefield and logistics management, including by cutting corruption, embracing technology and strengthening the role of non-commissioned officers. "Today, the ground forces need changes, new energy among its soldiers, and a modern approach to the development of their capabilities," the military quoted Drapatyi as saying at a high-level security meeting. Ukraine has sought to replenish its ranks through mobilisation and recruitment but has faced difficulties as reports of corruption, poor training and mismanagement have dented enthusiasm for service. Authorities are also battling a rise in desertions as frontline troops grow physically and mentally exhausted from nearly three years of war. "Changes will certainly come," Drapatyi said. "No matter how difficult it is, we have no right not to do it." Zelenskiy called on Thursday for changes at training centres that would allow recruits to learn directly under battlefield commanders. He has also appointed a prominent brigade commander as a senior battlefield adviser. Ukraine is under pressure from outgoing US President Joe Biden's administration to lower the draft age, a move Ukrainian officials have ruled out, saying their forces need more foreign kit to equip the men already mobilised. Ukraine expanded its mobilisation drive in April, lowering the call-up age to 25 from 27 but since then has steadily lost ground in the east while launching an incursion into Russia's Kursk region. Ukraine is loath to reduce the mobilisation age further, fearing the damage it could do to the already-bad demographic outlook for the country. Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed and millions of people fled the country during the invasion. with DPA(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump has promised to reduce government waste and employed wealthy businessmen Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the charge. So far, spending on federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies are prime targets for Musk and Ramaswamy, and a recent report shows just how widespread federal DEI spending has become. The report from Do No Harm shows 500 ways the Biden-Harris administration “infused DEI into the federal government.” Those examples include federal agencies starting dozens of equity training programs, doling out federal contracts and jobs based on race and gender, and teaching Americans more about their country’s racism, both past and present. The DEI explosion took off after Biden issued executive orders on his first day in office as well as another in June of 2021. The first executive order “established that affirmatively advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our Government.” The second order established “that it is the policy of my Administration to cultivate a workforce that draws from the full diversity of the Nation.” Biden also issued other executive orders, including around gender and sexuality, to the same effect his first year in office. Those orders gave federal bureaucrats not only permission but actually direct orders to embrace DEI policies across the board. And Do No Harm’s report shows they did, full-throttle, citing 80 “Equity Action Plans” submitted by agencies that promised over 500 taxpayer-funded actions. Some of the actions are seemingly mild, such as the U.S. Social Security Administration tracking more racial data. Other examples of DEI policies, though, made the federal government the nation’s teacher. For example, a blog for the U.S. Treasury Department lectures Americans on racial inequality. More directly, the federal government began implementing training programs for many federal employees that fully embrace racial ideology labeled “woke” by its opponents. For instance, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission invested in training for employees to consider equity more in its regulatory decisions. “Training will address how equity and environmental justice involves removing barriers underserved communities may face in the context of the Commission’s practices, processes, and policies,” FERC said in its Equity Action Plan. “Training also will address how, consistent with FERC’s mission and statutory duties, the Commission considers the impact of its actions on such communities. More specific trainings geared toward the responsibilities of different program offices and issue areas also may be identified or developed and offered.” Other actions seem to favor some groups over others. Changing the “percentage” of benefits received necessarily requires giving contracts, grants, or other federal resources to certain groups, almost always at the expense of white Americans, even more often white men. For example, the American Battle Monuments Commissions in its Equity Action Plan called for “expanding the percentage of U.S.-based contracted goods and services awarded to minority-owned, women-owned, and service disabled veteran-owned enterprises.” In fact, the ABMC pledged to pay a worker for this sole purpose. In another instance, the Smithsonian Institute pledged to recruit more Black and indigenous interns. “One of the simplest ways to ensure equity and accessibility in internships is to provide a livable stipend and advertise it clearly in promotion materials,” the federal group said in its Equity Action Plan. “Many units include a statement directly in their internship description about their commitment to equity. They also are intentional about making the application process simple and transparent, offering access services for interviews and allowing for multiple formats in place of a required essay.” The Smithsonian Institution , the federal steward of America’s past, also promised to begin promoting a historical framework that emphasizes American racism in the past and today. The federal group pledged to “Address the historical roots and contemporary impacts of race and racism in the United States and globally through interdisciplinary scholarship, creative partnerships, dialogue, education, and engagement.” The Center Square has reported on other examples of DEI policies and grants becoming the norm in recent years as well, though much of this kind of spending began before the Biden-Harris administration took power. Those include:Judith Graham | (TNS) KFF Health News Carolyn Dickens, 76, was sitting at her dining room table, struggling to catch her breath as her physician looked on with concern. “What’s going on with your breathing?” asked Peter Gliatto, director of Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program. “I don’t know,” she answered, so softly it was hard to hear. “Going from here to the bathroom or the door, I get really winded. I don’t know when it’s going to be my last breath.” Dickens, a lung cancer survivor, lives in central Harlem, barely getting by. She has serious lung disease and high blood pressure and suffers regular fainting spells. In the past year, she’s fallen several times and dropped to 85 pounds, a dangerously low weight. And she lives alone, without any help — a highly perilous situation. This is almost surely an undercount, since the data is from more than a dozen years ago. It’s a population whose numbers far exceed those living in nursing homes — about 1.2 million — and yet it receives much less attention from policymakers, legislators, and academics who study aging. Consider some eye-opening statistics about completely homebound seniors from a study published in 2020 in JAMA Internal Medicine : Nearly 40% have five or more chronic medical conditions, such as heart or lung disease. Almost 30% are believed to have “probable dementia.” Seventy-seven percent have difficulty with at least one daily task such as bathing or dressing. Almost 40% live by themselves. That “on my own” status magnifies these individuals’ already considerable vulnerability, something that became acutely obvious during the covid-19 outbreak, when the number of sick and disabled seniors confined to their homes doubled. “People who are homebound, like other individuals who are seriously ill, rely on other people for so much,” said Katherine Ornstein, director of the Center for Equity in Aging at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. “If they don’t have someone there with them, they’re at risk of not having food, not having access to health care, not living in a safe environment.” Related Articles Weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy are all the rage. Are they safe for kids? Rural governments often fail to communicate with residents who aren’t proficient in English Some breast cancer patients can avoid certain surgeries, studies suggest Herb Chambers makes massive, $100M gift to Mass General Hospital to fund cancer care Who gets obesity drugs covered by insurance? In North Carolina, it helps if you’re on Medicaid Research has shown that older homebound adults are less likely to receive regular primary care than other seniors. They’re also more likely to end up in the hospital with medical crises that might have been prevented if someone had been checking on them. To better understand the experiences of these seniors, I accompanied Gliatto on some home visits in New York City. Mount Sinai’s Visiting Doctors Program, established in 1995, is one of the oldest in the nation. Only 12% of older U.S. adults who rarely or never leave home have access to this kind of home-based primary care. Gliatto and his staff — seven part-time doctors, three nurse practitioners, two nurses, two social workers, and three administrative staffers — serve about 1,000 patients in Manhattan each year. These patients have complicated needs and require high levels of assistance. In recent years, Gliatto has had to cut staff as Mount Sinai has reduced its financial contribution to the program. It doesn’t turn a profit, because reimbursement for services is low and expenses are high. First, Gliatto stopped in to see Sandra Pettway, 79, who never married or had children and has lived by herself in a two-bedroom Harlem apartment for 30 years. Pettway has severe spinal problems and back pain, as well as Type 2 diabetes and depression. She has difficulty moving around and rarely leaves her apartment. “Since the pandemic, it’s been awfully lonely,” she told me. When I asked who checks in on her, Pettway mentioned her next-door neighbor. There’s no one else she sees regularly. Pettway told the doctor she was increasingly apprehensive about an upcoming spinal surgery. He reassured her that Medicare would cover in-home nursing care, aides, and physical therapy services. “Someone will be with you, at least for six weeks,” he said. Left unsaid: Afterward, she would be on her own. (The surgery in April went well, Gliatto reported later.) The doctor listened carefully as Pettway talked about her memory lapses. “I can remember when I was a year old, but I can’t remember 10 minutes ago,” she said. He told her that he thought she was managing well but that he would arrange testing if there was further evidence of cognitive decline. For now, he said, he’s not particularly worried about her ability to manage on her own. Several blocks away, Gliatto visited Dickens, who has lived in her one-bedroom Harlem apartment for 31 years. Dickens told me she hasn’t seen other people regularly since her sister, who used to help her out, had a stroke. Most of the neighbors she knew well have died. Her only other close relative is a niece in the Bronx whom she sees about once a month. Dickens worked with special-education students for decades in New York City’s public schools. Now she lives on a small pension and Social Security — too much to qualify for Medicaid. (Medicaid, the program for low-income people, will pay for aides in the home. Medicare, which covers people over age 65, does not.) Like Pettway, she has only a small fixed income, so she can’t afford in-home help. Every Friday, God’s Love We Deliver, an organization that prepares medically tailored meals for sick people, delivers a week’s worth of frozen breakfasts and dinners that Dickens reheats in the microwave. She almost never goes out. When she has energy, she tries to do a bit of cleaning. Without the ongoing attention from Gliatto, Dickens doesn’t know what she’d do. “Having to get up and go out, you know, putting on your clothes, it’s a task,” she said. “And I have the fear of falling.” The next day, Gliatto visited Marianne Gluck Morrison, 73, a former survey researcher for New York City’s personnel department, in her cluttered Greenwich Village apartment. Morrison, who doesn’t have any siblings or children, was widowed in 2010 and has lived alone since. Morrison said she’d been feeling dizzy over the past few weeks, and Gliatto gave her a basic neurological exam, asking her to follow his fingers with her eyes and touch her fingers to her nose. “I think your problem is with your ear, not your brain,” he told her, describing symptoms of vertigo. Because she had severe wounds on her feet related to Type 2 diabetes, Morrison had been getting home health care for several weeks through Medicare. But those services — help from aides, nurses, and physical therapists — were due to expire in two weeks. “I don’t know what I’ll do then, probably just spend a lot of time in bed,” Morrison told me. Among her other medical conditions: congestive heart failure, osteoarthritis, an irregular heartbeat, chronic kidney disease, and depression. Morrison hasn’t left her apartment since November 2023, when she returned home after a hospitalization and several months at a rehabilitation center. Climbing the three steps that lead up into her apartment building is simply too hard. “It’s hard to be by myself so much of the time. It’s lonely,” she told me. “I would love to have people see me in the house. But at this point, because of the clutter, I can’t do it.” When I asked Morrison who she feels she can count on, she listed Gliatto and a mental health therapist from Henry Street Settlement, a social services organization. She has one close friend she speaks with on the phone most nights. “The problem is I’ve lost eight to nine friends in the last 15 years,” she said, sighing heavily. “They’ve died or moved away.” Bruce Leff, director of the Center for Transformative Geriatric Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is a leading advocate of home-based medical care. “It’s kind of amazing how people find ways to get by,” he said when I asked him about homebound older adults who live alone. “There’s a significant degree of frailty and vulnerability, but there is also substantial resilience.” With the rapid expansion of the aging population in the years ahead, Leff is convinced that more kinds of care will move into the home, everything from rehab services to palliative care to hospital-level services. “It will simply be impossible to build enough hospitals and health facilities to meet the demand from an aging population,” he said. But that will be challenging for homebound older adults who are on their own. Without on-site family caregivers, there may be no one around to help manage this home-based care. ©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

One day, when actor and comedian Rosie O'Donnell was in her 50s, her body ached and her arms felt sore, but she pushed through the pain, not realizing she was having a massive heart attack. She had surgery to put in a stent that saved her life. Shortly after her 2012 heart attack, O'Donnell shared her experience on her blog. During her 2015 television standup special, she spoke about how the experience changed her life. The segment included a heart attack acronym the comedian coined: HEPPP (hot, exhausted, pain, pale, puke). O'Donnell's candidness about her heart attack helped spread awareness about how it can present differently in women. She's one of countless celebrities over the years who have opened up about their health conditions, including breast cancer, HIV, depression, heart disease and stroke. When celebrities reveal and discuss their health issues, the impact can be far-reaching. It not only helps to educate the public, but it also can reduce stigma and inspire others. People are also reading... "Health disclosures by celebrities do matter, and we know this from decades of research across a lot of different health conditions and public figures," said Dr. Jessica Gall Myrick, a professor of health communication at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. "They absolutely do influence people." Some of the earliest celebrity health disclosures happened in the 1970s and 1980s with U.S. presidents and first ladies. When first lady Betty Ford was diagnosed with breast cancer just weeks after Gerald Ford became president in 1974, she spoke openly about her diagnosis, inviting photographers into the White House and helping make talk of cancer less taboo. In 1987, first lady Nancy Reagan used her breast cancer diagnosis as a chance to advocate for women to get mammograms. Her disclosure came two years after President Ronald Reagan's colon cancer diagnosis, about which the couple was equally as vocal. "Individuals throughout the country have been calling cancer physicians and information services in record numbers," the Los Angeles Times reported after Nancy Reagan's widely publicized surgery. The public showed a similar interest years earlier following Betty Ford's mastectomy. Another major milestone in celebrity health disclosures came in 1991, when 32-year-old NBA superstar Earvin "Magic" Johnson revealed he had tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. "Life is going to go on for me, and I'm going to be a happy man," Johnson assured fans during a news conference. He immediately retired, only to return to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996. His disclosure, along with his work as an advocate for safe sex, helped shatter stigmas around HIV and AIDS. Calls to testing centers increased significantly in the days and weeks after Johnson's announcement. "That celebrity disclosure really helped people see there was a wider susceptibly to HIV," Gall Myrick said. "People were more likely to say, 'I need to think about my own risks.' It was very powerful." When it comes to heart and stroke health, President Dwight Eisenhower helped make heart attacks less frightening and mysterious. During a news conference in 1955, millions of Americans learned from the president's doctors about his heart condition, his treatment, and concrete steps they could take to reduce their own heart attack risk. Other notable figures have shared their health experiences over the years. Soap opera legend Susan Lucci , who was diagnosed with heart disease in 2018, has advocated for women's heart health. Basketball great Kareem Abdul Jabbar talks about his irregular heartbeat, known as atrial fibrillation, and advocates for regular health screenings. Lawyer, author and television personality Star Jones continues to speak about heart disease risk after having lifesaving heart surgery in 2010. Longtime TV and radio personality Dick Clark brought stroke and aphasia into the national spotlight when he returned to hosting "New Year's Rockin' Eve" in Times Square just a year after his 2004 stroke and continued until his death in 2012. And actor and comedian Jamie Foxx recently revealed he had a stroke last year. "Celebrity disclosures represent teachable moments," said Dr. Seth M. Noar, director of the Communicating for Health Impact Lab at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. "Searches for different health conditions often spike in the wake of these types of announcements. They cause people to think about these health issues, learn more about them, and in some cases change their behaviors." Celebrities have also highlighted the importance of CPR and the use of an automated external defibrillator, or AED, to restore a person's heartbeat if they experience cardiac arrest. Interest in CPR and AEDs spiked in 2023 after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during an NFL game broadcast on national TV. Views of the American Heart Association's hands-only CPR pages jumped more than 600% in the days following Hamlin's cardiac arrest. Three months later, around 3 million people had watched the AHA's CPR video. Family members of celebrities who have died from a heart issue have also spread awareness. After actor John Ritter died of an undiagnosed aortic dissection in 2003, his wife, actor Amy Yasbeck, started the Ritter Foundation to raise awareness about the condition and help others avoid a misdiagnosis. A literature review published in Systematic Reviews in 2017 found that people are conditioned to react positively to celebrity advice. Research also has found that people often follow advice from celebrities who match how they perceive – or how they want to perceive – themselves. The most effective celebrity disclosures are frequently the ones that tell a compelling story and include clear steps people can take to apply lessons the celebrity learned to their own health situation, Gall Myrick said. "People are more likely to take action when they feel confident and capable." Research has shown that celebrity disclosures often impact calls to hotlines and page views on health-related websites, and they can spark behavioral and even policy changes. Anecdotally, Gall Myrick said, people ask their doctor more questions about health conditions and request medical screenings. Celebrities can have a big impact because people tend to have parasocial relationships with them, Gall Myrick said. These are one-sided relationships in which a person feels an emotional connection with another person, often a celebrity. People may feel as if they know the basketball player they've watched on the court for years, or the Hollywood actor they've followed, she said. They want to comfort them after a health disclosure. Social media has only increased this feeling of familiarity, as celebrities regularly share mundane – but fascinating – details of their daily lives, like what they eat for breakfast, their favorite socks, or the meditation they do before bed. "We spend a lifetime being exposed to celebrities through the media, and over time, you get to know these public figures," Gall Myrick said. "Some feel like friendships." A study published in the journal Science Communication in 2020 compared reactions to actor Tom Hanks, who had COVID-19 early in the pandemic, and an average person with COVID-19. Researchers found that participants identified more with Hanks when it came to estimating their own susceptibility to COVID-19. The participants also felt more emotional about the virus that causes COVID-19 when thinking about it in relation to Hanks versus an average person. When a celebrity reveals a health condition, it's a surprise that may feel personal, especially if they are well-liked and the health issue is dramatic and sudden. "We feel like we know them, and the emotional response is what can then push people out of their routine," Gall Myrick said. Noar said a celebrity health story is often a more interesting and powerful way to learn about a health condition than just the facts, which can feel overwhelming. People are drawn to the slew of media coverage that typically follows a celebrity disclosure, he said. "Some of these high-visibility public figures' stories are now woven into some of these illnesses," Noar said. For example, Angelina Jolie is often linked to the BRCA1 gene mutation after the actor shared she had a preventive double mastectomy because of her elevated breast cancer risk and had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed because of her increased risk for ovarian cancer. "It's a narrative, a story that humanizes the condition in a way that very informational communication really doesn't," Noar said. "People remember it, and it can potentially be a touch point." After a disclosure, patients may bring up a celebrity's story during a doctor's appointment and connect it to their own care. Today's multiplatform digital culture only amplifies celebrity messages. "You're seeing everyday people react to these events, and that can have a ripple effect too," Gall Myrick said. "We know from research that seeing messages more than once can be impactful. Often it's not just one billboard or one commercial that impacts behavior; it's the drip drip drip over time." Still, there's a cautionary tale to be told around the impact of celebrity health news, especially if the celebrity has died. An unclear cause of death may lead to speculation. Gall Myrick said that guesswork could potentially end up hurting rather than helping if patients were to act on misinformation or a lack of information. "Maybe the death was atypical or it needs more context," she said. "That's where advocacy groups and public health organizations come in. They need to be prepared for announcements or disclosures about celebrity deaths, and to fill in some of those gaps." American Heart Association News covers heart and brain health. Not all views expressed in this story reflect the official position of the American Heart Association. Copyright is owned or held by the American Heart Association, Inc., and all rights are reserved. Sign up here to get the latest health & fitness updates in your inbox every week!

Damaged 1840s Bayfield landmark will be rebuilt

SANTA ANA, Calif., Dec. 13, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — In a groundbreaking move for the property management and inspection industry, DrBalcony ( drbalcony.com ) introduces its cutting-edge app, a pioneering digital platform designed to revolutionize the balcony inspection process. This innovative tool empowers homeowners, property managers, and Homeowner Associations (HOAs) with a streamlined, intuitive experience, eliminating inefficiencies and redefining how inspections are managed. With a user-friendly interface and advanced features, the DrBalcony App transforms what was once a complex, time-consuming process into one that is seamless and efficient. Users can now obtain instant quotes, create and manage projects, and schedule inspections—all with just a few taps on their devices. “At DrBalcony, we are passionate about reimagining property management through technology,” said Greg, VP of Sales of DrBalcony. “The app reflects our dedication to simplifying inspections while upholding safety and compliance standards. With over 2,500 inspections completed, we’re proud to offer a solution that sets a new benchmark for convenience and reliability.” FEATURES THAT SET THE DRBALCONY APP APART The DrBalcony App is tailored to meet the specific needs of California property owners, offering features designed to ensure the integrity of balcony structures while making compliance with state laws like SB 721 and SB 326 more accessible than ever. Learn more: https://drbalcony.com/services/ A SOLUTION BACKED BY REAL RESULTS “For years, the balcony inspection process has been frustrating and inefficient,” shared Omid, CEO of DrBalcony. “This app eliminates unnecessary complications. From instant quotes to straightforward scheduling, it’s a game-changer.” DOWNLOAD THE DRBALCONY APP TODAY The DrBalcony App is now available for download and marks a significant leap forward in property management. By addressing common pain points in the inspection process, DrBalcony ensures peace of mind for property owners, engineers, and HOAs, all while maintaining safety and compliance with California’s strict balcony safety regulations . About DrBalcony: DrBalcony leverages innovative technology to enhance balcony inspection, focusing on efficiency, safety, and customer-centric solutions. With a mission to simplify the complex, DrBalcony has become a trusted name in the balcony inspection industry, ensuring compliance and safety standards are met with ease. Learn more: https://drbalcony.com/ . Your property’s safety has never been simpler—download the DrBalcony App today! NEWS SOURCE: DrBalcony Keywords: Real Estate, DrBalcony, Balcony Inspections, home inspection, safety, app, solution, service, SB 326, SB 721, SANTA ANA, Calif. This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (DrBalcony) who is solely responsibile for its accuracy, by Send2Press® Newswire . Information is believed accurate but not guaranteed. Story ID: S2P122836 APDF15TBLLI To view the original version, visit: https://www.send2press.com/wire/drbalcony-app-redefines-balcony-inspections-with-unparalleled-efficiency/ © 2024 Send2Press® Newswire, a press release distribution service, Calif., USA. Disclaimer: This press release content was not created by nor issued by the Associated Press (AP). Content below is unrelated to this news story.No. 25 Army 29, UTSA 24

CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 3, 2024-- Torrid Holdings Inc. (“Torrid” or the “Company”) (NYSE: CURV), a direct-to-consumer apparel, intimates, and accessories brand in North America for women sizes 10 to 30, today announced its financial results for the quarter ended November 2, 2024. Lisa Harper, Chief Executive Officer of Torrid, stated, “Our third quarter results were below our expectations as our fall assortments did not offer enough newness and novelty. We also saw the environment change meaningfully from the end of September and into October. Despite the weaker top line sales, we delivered a positive full-price comp, 285 basis points of gross profit expansion, and modest Adjusted EBITDA (1) growth. We ended the quarter with clean inventory levels, down 19% to last year, and $44 million in cash.” Ms. Harper continued, “While we are encouraged by our customers’ response to the newness in our assortments, given the volatility we have seen in our business, and recognizing that there is still considerable amount of the quarter ahead of us, we are taking a prudent approach to our fourth quarter outlook. As we move into fiscal 2025, we are confident that we have put in place the necessary changes and strategies to position us for growth.” Number of stores (as of end of period) 655 643 Comparable sales (A) (7 )% (8 )% Net loss $ (1,194 ) $ (2,748 ) Adjusted EBITDA (B) $ 19,584 $ 19,379 (A) Comparable sales (2) for the three-month period ended November 2, 2024 compares sales for the 13-week period ended November 2, 2024, with sales for the 13-week period ended November 4, 2023. (B) Please refer to “Non-GAAP Reconciliation” below for a reconciliation of net loss to Adjusted EBITDA (1). at the end of the third quarter of 2024 totaled $44.0 million. Total liquidity at the end of the quarter, including available borrowing capacity under our revolving credit agreement, was $151.8 million. for the nine-month period ended November 2, 2024, was $65.4 million, compared to $33.7 million for the nine-month period ended October 28, 2023. The above outlook is based on several assumptions, including, but not limited to, the macroeconomic challenges in the industry in fiscal 2024 as well as higher labor costs. The above outlook does not take into consideration the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ruling which mandates, among other things, decreases in credit card late fees, and could alter the profitability of our agreements with our private label credit card financing company. See “Forward-Looking Statements” for additional information. A conference call to discuss the Company’s third quarter 2024 results is scheduled for December 3, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. ET. Those who wish to participate in the call may do so by dialing (877) 407-9208 or (201) 493-6784 for international callers. The conference call will also be webcast live at . For those unable to participate, a replay of the conference call will be available approximately three hours after the conclusion of the call until December 10, 2024. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Non-GAAP Reconciliation” for additional information on non-GAAP financial measures and the accompanying table for a reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP measure. The Company does not provide reconciliations of the forward-looking non-GAAP measures of Adjusted EBITDA to the most directly comparable forward-looking GAAP measure because the timing and amount of excluded items are unreasonably difficult to fully and accurately estimate. For the same reasons, the Company is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information, which could be material to future results. Comparable sales for any given period are defined as the sales of our e-Commerce operations and stores that we have included in our comparable sales base during that period. We include a store in our comparable sales base after it has been open for 15 full fiscal months. If a store is closed during a fiscal year, it is only included in the computation of comparable sales for the full fiscal months in which it was open. Comparable sales for the third quarter of fiscal year 2024 compares sales for the 13-week period ended November 2, 2024, with sales for the 13-week period ended November 4, 2023. Partial fiscal months are excluded from the computation of comparable sales. We apply current year foreign currency exchange rates to both current year and prior year comparable sales to remove the impact of foreign currency fluctuation and achieve a consistent basis for comparison. Comparable sales allow us to evaluate how our unified commerce business is performing exclusive of the effects of non-comparable sales and new store openings. TORRID is a direct-to-consumer brand in North America dedicated to offering a diverse assortment of stylish apparel, intimates, and accessories skillfully designed for curvy women. Specializing in sizes 10 to 30, TORRID’s primary focus is on providing fashionable, comfortable, and affordable options that meet the unique needs of its customers. TORRID’s extensive collection features high quality merchandise, including tops, bottoms, denim, dresses, intimates, activewear, footwear, and accessories. Revenues are generated primarily through its e-Commerce platform and its stores in the United States of America, Puerto Rico and Canada. In addition to results determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”), management utilizes certain non-GAAP performance measures, such as Adjusted EBITDA, for purposes of evaluating ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe that these non-GAAP operating measures, when reviewed collectively with our GAAP financial information, provide useful supplemental information to investors in assessing our operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA is a supplemental measure of our operating performance that is neither required by, nor presented in accordance with, GAAP and our calculations thereof may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Adjusted EBITDA represents GAAP net income (loss) plus interest expense less interest income, net of other expense (income), plus provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”), and share-based compensation, non-cash deductions and charges, and other expenses We believe Adjusted EBITDA facilitates operating performance comparisons from period to period by isolating the effects of certain items that vary from period to period without any correlation to ongoing operating performance. We also use Adjusted EBITDA as one of the primary methods for planning and forecasting the overall expected performance of our business and for evaluating on a quarterly and annual basis, actual results against such expectations. Further, we recognize Adjusted EBITDA as a commonly used measure in determining business value and, as such, use it internally to report and analyze our results and as a benchmark to determine certain non-equity incentive payments made to executives. Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool. This measure is not a measurement of our financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to or substitute for net income (loss), income (loss) from operations, earnings (loss) per share or any other performance measures determined in accordance with GAAP or as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities as a measure of our liquidity. Our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an inference that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items. Certain statements made in this earnings release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and are subject to the safe harbor created thereby under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical or current fact included in this earnings release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations and projections relating to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “plan,” “intend,” “believe,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “can have,” “likely” and other words and terms of similar meaning (including their negative counterparts or other various or comparable terminology). For example, all statements we make relating to our estimated and projected costs, expenditures, cash flows, growth rates and financial results, our plans and objectives for future operations, growth or initiatives, strategies or the expected outcome or impact of pending or threatened litigation are forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expected, including: • the adverse impact of rulemaking changes implemented by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on our income streams, profitability and results of operations; • changes in consumer spending and general economic conditions; • the negative impact on interest expense as a result of steep interest rates; • inflationary pressures with respect to labor and raw materials and global supply chain constraints that could increase our expenses; • our ability to identify and respond to new and changing product trends, customer preferences and other related factors; • our dependence on a strong brand image; • increased competition from other brands and retailers; • our reliance on third parties to drive traffic to our website; • the success of the shopping centers in which our stores are located; • our ability to adapt to consumer shopping preferences and develop and maintain a relevant and reliable omni-channel experience for our customers; • our dependence upon independent third parties for the manufacture of all of our merchandise; • availability constraints and price volatility in the raw materials used to manufacture our products; • interruptions of the flow of our merchandise from international manufacturers causing disruptions in our supply chain; • our sourcing a significant amount of our products from China; • shortages of inventory, delayed shipments to our e-Commerce customers and harm to our reputation due to difficulties or shut-down of our distribution facility; • our reliance upon independent third-party transportation providers for substantially all of our product shipments; • our growth strategy; • our failure to attract and retain employees that reflect our brand image, embody our culture and possess the appropriate skill set; • damage to our reputation arising from our use of social media, email and text messages; • our reliance on third-parties for the provision of certain services, including real estate management; • our dependence upon key members of our executive management team; • our reliance on information systems; • system security risk issues that could disrupt our internal operations or information technology services; • unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential information, whether through a breach of our computer system, third-party computer systems we rely on, or otherwise; • our failure to comply with federal and state laws and regulations and industry standards relating to privacy, data protection, advertising and consumer protection; • payment-related risks that could increase our operating costs or subject us to potential liability; • claims made against us resulting in litigation; • changes in laws and regulations applicable to our business; • regulatory actions or recalls arising from issues with product safety; • our inability to protect our trademarks or other intellectual property rights; • our substantial indebtedness and lease obligations; • restrictions imposed by our indebtedness on our current and future operations; • changes in tax laws or regulations or in our operations that may impact our effective tax rate; • the possibility that we may recognize impairments of long-lived assets; • our failure to maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting; and • the threat of war, terrorism or other catastrophes, including natural disasters, that could negatively impact our business. The outcome of the events described in any of our forward-looking statements are also subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors described in the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on April 2, 2024 and in our other filings with the SEC and public communications. You should evaluate all forward-looking statements made in this earnings release in the context of these risks and uncertainties. We caution you that the important factors referenced above may not include all of the factors that are important to you. In addition, we cannot assure you that we will realize the results or developments we expect or anticipate or, even if substantially realized, that they will result in the outcomes or affect us or our operations in the way we expect. The forward-looking statements included in this earnings release are made only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except to the extent required by law. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures or investments. Investors and others should note that we may announce material information to our investors using our investor relations website ( ), SEC filings, press releases, public conference calls and webcasts. We use these channels, as well as social media, to communicate with our investors and the public about our company, our business and other issues. It is possible that the information that we post on social media could be deemed to be material information. We therefore encourage investors to visit these websites from time to time. The information contained on such websites and social media posts is not incorporated by reference into this filing. Further, our references to website URLs in this filing are intended to be inactive textual references only. Net sales $ 263,766 $ 275,408 Cost of goods sold 168,609 183,906 Gross profit 95,157 91,502 Selling, general and administrative expenses 74,899 71,881 Marketing expenses 13,056 12,739 Income from operations 7,202 6,882 Interest expense 8,784 9,757 Other income, net of other expense (362 ) 267 Loss before benefit from income taxes (1,220 ) (3,142 ) Benefit from income taxes (26 ) (394 ) Net loss $ (1,194 ) $ (2,748 ) Net loss $ (1,194 ) $ (2,748 ) Other comprehensive loss: Foreign currency translation adjustment (86 ) (271 ) Total other comprehensive loss (86 ) (271 ) Comprehensive loss $ (1,280 ) $ (3,019 ) Basic $ (0.01 ) $ (0.03 ) Diluted $ (0.01 ) $ (0.03 ) Basic 104,698 104,081 Diluted 104,698 104,081 Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 43,953 $ 11,735 Restricted cash 399 399 Inventory 138,261 142,199 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 33,343 22,229 Prepaid income taxes 6,617 2,561 Total current assets 222,573 179,123 Property and equipment, net 85,569 103,516 Operating lease right-of-use assets 149,732 162,444 Deposits and other noncurrent assets 18,027 14,783 Deferred tax assets 8,681 8,681 Intangible asset 8,400 8,400 Total assets $ 492,982 $ 476,947 Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 77,478 $ 46,183 Accrued and other current liabilities 116,650 107,750 Operating lease liabilities 36,312 42,760 Borrowings under credit facility — 7,270 Current portion of term loan 16,144 16,144 Due to related parties 4,330 9,329 Income taxes payable 62 2,671 Total current liabilities 250,976 232,107 Noncurrent operating lease liabilities 145,126 155,825 Term loan 276,445 288,553 Deferred compensation 3,735 5,474 Other noncurrent liabilities 5,986 6,705 Total liabilities 682,268 688,664 Commitments and contingencies Preferred shares: $0.01 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized; zero shares issued and outstanding at November 2, 2024 and February 3, 2024 — — Common shares: $0.01 par value; 1,000,000,000 shares authorized; 104,732,148 shares issued and outstanding at November 2, 2024; 104,204,554 shares issued and outstanding at February 3, 2024 1,049 1,043 Additional paid-in capital 138,532 135,140 Accumulated deficit (328,281 ) (347,587 ) Accumulated other comprehensive loss (586 ) (313 ) Total stockholders' deficit (189,286 ) (211,717 ) Total liabilities and stockholders' deficit $ 492,982 $ 476,947 Net income $ 19,306 $ 15,689 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: Write down of inventory 1,519 3,767 Operating right-of-use assets amortization 30,429 30,494 Depreciation and other amortization 27,842 28,242 Share-based compensation 4,531 5,981 Other (957 ) (1,351 ) Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Inventory 2,052 4,969 Prepaid expenses and other current assets (11,114 ) (4,578 ) Prepaid income taxes (4,056 ) (2,564 ) Deposits and other noncurrent assets (3,375 ) (6,433 ) Accounts payable 31,876 2,969 Accrued and other current liabilities 10,775 (5,954 ) Operating lease liabilities (33,527 ) (31,565 ) Other noncurrent liabilities (588 ) (468 ) Deferred compensation (1,739 ) 507 Due to related parties (4,999 ) (5,975 ) Income taxes payable (2,609 ) — Net cash provided by operating activities 65,366 33,730 Purchases of property and equipment (12,617 ) (15,228 ) Net cash used in investing activities (12,617 ) (15,228 ) Proceeds from revolving credit facility 62,780 455,110 Principal payments on revolving credit facility (70,050 ) (458,390 ) Principal payments on term loan (13,125 ) (13,125 ) Proceeds from issuances under share-based compensation plans 704 320 Withholding tax payments related to vesting of restricted stock units and awards (675 ) (249 ) Net cash used in financing activities (20,366 ) (16,334 ) Effect of foreign currency exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash (165 ) (141 ) Increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash 32,218 2,027 Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period 12,134 13,935 Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period $ 44,352 $ 15,962 Cash paid during the period for interest related to the revolving credit facility and term loan $ 27,080 $ 24,852 Cash paid during the period for income taxes $ 14,200 $ 10,976 Property and equipment purchases included in accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 1,450 $ 3,360 Net loss $ (1,194 ) $ (2,748 ) Interest expense 8,784 9,757 Other income, net of other expense (362 ) 267 Benefit from income taxes (26 ) (394 ) Depreciation and amortization (A) 8,523 8,785 Share-based compensation (B) 685 1,585 Non-cash deductions and charges (C) 112 409 Other expenses (D) 3,062 1,718 Adjusted EBITDA $ 19,584 $ 19,379 (A) Depreciation and amortization excludes amortization of debt issuance costs and original issue discount that are reflected in interest expense. (B) During the three months ended November 2, 2024 and October 28, 2023, share-based compensation includes $(0.3) million and $0.1 million, respectively, for awards that will be settled in cash as they are accounted for as share-based compensation in accordance with ASC 718, , similar to awards settled in shares. (C) Non-cash deductions and charges includes non-cash losses on property and equipment disposals and the net impact of non-cash rent expense. (D) Other expenses include certain transaction and litigation fees (including certain settlement costs) and severance costs for certain key management positions. View source version on : CONTACT: Investors Lyn Walther Media Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher Michael Freitag / Arielle Rothstein / Lyle Weston KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CALIFORNIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: RETAIL ONLINE RETAIL DEPARTMENT STORES FASHION SOURCE: Torrid Holdings Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2024. PUB: 12/03/2024 04:05 PM/DISC: 12/03/2024 04:06 PM

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Saints vs. Rams Predictions & Picks: Odds, Moneyline, Spread – Week 13VICTORIA - A Vancouver Island First Nation whose people were the first to greet European explorers in the region almost 250 years ago is taking British Columbia to court, seeking title to its traditional territories and financial compensation. The Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation filed a claim Thursday in B.C. Supreme Court seeking a return of decision-making, resource and ecological stewardship, said Chief Mike Maquinna, a descendent of the former Chief Maquinna who met British explorer Capt. James Cook in 1776. Crown-authorized forest industry activities approved by the province without the consent of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation have resulted in cultural, economic and environmental impacts, he said at a news conference on Thursday. “Our people, the Mowachaht/Muchalaht, have endured many hardships since first meeting Capt. Cook, who was the explorer who first came into our territory,” said Maquinna. “As a result of the explorations of our territory, the natural resources of our lands have been taken. We want to correct rights and wrongs here and hopefully as time goes on this will show that Mowachaht/Muchalaht has been infringed upon since time of contact.” Capt. Cook and Chief Maquinna met in March 1776 at the traditional Mowachaht/Muchalaht whale-hunting village of Yuquot, later named Friendly Cove by Cook. The Parks Canada website says Yuquot was designated a national historic site in 1923 as the ancestral home of the First Nation, which was continuously occupied for more than 4,300 years and the centre of their social, political and economic world. The Parks Canada website says the village became the capital for all 17 tribes of the Nootka Sound region. Maquinna said the province has been acting as the sole decision-making authority in the Gold River-Tahsis areas of northern Vancouver Island, especially with regards to the forest resource, without the consent of his nation. Hereditary Chief Jerry Jack said the claim seeks title to about 430,000 hectares of land on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island and an amount of financial compensation to be determined by the court. “It is common knowledge we were here long before Capt. Cook and now we have to go to court and definitively prove that,” he said. “I don’t like that we have to prove that we owned it before he showed up to my territory, to my beach.” The land title case does not make any claims against private land owners, homeowners or recreational hunting and fishing operators, said Jack. Premier David Eby said the B.C. government prefers negotiated land-claims settlements rather than become involved in lengthy, expensive court cases, but the Mowachaht/Muchalaht have the right to take that route. “We have no problem with them doing that,” he said at an unrelated news conference in Langley. “We’d rather sit down and find a path forward.” The 15-page notice of claim seeks declarations that the First Nation has Aboriginal title to its lands and that B.C.‘s Forest Act and Land Act will no longer apply to Mowachaht/Muchalaht lands once title is declared. Jack said the nation decided against pursuing formal treaty talks with the federal and provincial government years ago and has been planning the land title court case “for many decades.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2024. Note to readers: This is a corrected story. The Mowachaht/Muchalalaht First Nation previously said it sought title to about 66,000 hectares of land. The First Nation now says it is seeking title to about 430,000 hectares of land.

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