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We can’t protect what we don’t understand: The case of eastern golden eagles

Columns

There’s a special story unfolding at Bernheim Forest and Arboretum in Kentucky, where eastern golden eagles have made their winter home. Scientists have been tracking golden eagles since the 1970s, but the first known pair to be tracked simultaneously in eastern North America was at Bernheim. It all began with Harper, a male golden eagle that was successfully captured and equipped with a transmitter in 2015. Four winters later, Harper’s mate was also fitted with a solar-powered GPS tracking device. They named her Athena. As part of the Eastern Golden Eagle Working Group, ...

Dear Annie: From retirement dreams to raising kids again

Columns

Dear Annie: I never imagined I’d be packing school lunches again at 62. My husband, “Tom,” and I raised our children, worked hard and finally reached that stage where life felt calmer. We downsized, paid off most of what we owed and talked about traveling, volunteering and enjoying a quieter home. Then everything changed. Last year, our daughter, “Nicole,” hit a wall. I won’t share all her business, but there were issues with addiction and an unstable relationship. One night she called crying, and by the next morning, our two grandkids, “Sophie” (8) and “Mason” ...

This is no longer dysfunction — it is danger

Columns

When a Transportation Security Administration official warns that airports could “quite literally shut down,” we are no longer talking about inconvenience, delays or political theater. We are talking about vulnerability in one of the most sensitive and critical systems in our country. Aviation security is not just another government function. It is a frontline defense. And when that defense shows signs of strain, every American should pay attention. Let’s speak plainly. When security systems are stretched thin, when agents are overwhelmed, when focus is fractured, the margin for ...

Remove triggers for migraines by leading a healthy lifestyle

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I read your recent column about migraines and strokes. About 40 years ago, I began having occasional visual-interference episodes with zigzags, blurry central vision, and more that lasted for about 30 minutes. My doctor described them as ocular migraines. When I read about migraines, the first possible cause that was listed were preservatives, so I started reading labels. My episodes occurred only after eating food with added nitrites and sulfates. It was very consistent, so I now read labels and avoid them. And thanks to the fact that more foods are now being made ...

The energy policy we could have had

Columns

Oil, oil, oil. The war with Iran has oil prices soaring. And no thanks, President Trump, for your other war, the one against green energy. As Americans freak over gas prices, they are taking another look at electric vehicles. But guess what? Most domestic automakers dropped ambitious investments toward that end, leaving car lots bereft of these gasoline-replacing vehicles, at least American-made ones. It didn’t have to be that way. Barack Obama and Joe Biden launched serious programs to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Trump trashed those ambitious plans to bring Americans ...

Fact vs. fiction on Medicaid and the wealth tax

Columns

I try to be fair to people I disagree with. Emmanuel Saez — the famous UC Berkeley economist who’s considered an architect of California’s proposed billionaire wealth tax — is someone I read carefully, even when I find his income-inequality work unconvincing. So, when I say that his arguments for the wealth tax are not just biased or misleading but egregiously wrong, I’m not being careless. I mean it. In a recent debate at Stanford University, Saez offered his central justification (apart from, you know, “billionaires are unfairly rich”): California’s hospitals need it ...