Stateline Midwest
States cultivate healthy options in food deserts
By Kathryn Tormey | Monday, November 12, 2012 at 12:10 pm
Stateline Midwest ~ November 2012
Illinois Sen. Jacqueline Collins remembers when her legislative district on Chicago’s South Side had plenty of grocery stores and family restaurants.
But today, she sees a very different picture. She says she counts “too many” fast-food outlets. And in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood, for example, she counts just two full-service, sit-down restaurants.
U.S. data on teen immunizations show most coverage rising, but little change in HPV vaccination
By Kathryn Tormey | Monday, October 15, 2012 at 12:22 pm
Stateline Midwest ~ October 2012
More of the nation’s teenagers are getting immunized against diseases such as meningitis and diphtheria, but U.S. vaccination rates also show wide variances among the states. In addition, federal data show little progress in the percentage of girls receiving the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
“We are very concerned about plateauing in HPV vaccination rates,” says Dr. Melinda Wharton of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Illinois has unique partisan system of electing, retaining judges
By Mike McCabe | Monday, September 10, 2012 at 6:03 pm
Stateline Midwest ~ September 2012
Although judicial elections have long been a mainstay of the electoral landscape in many states, they have seldom attracted the same level of attention routinely paid to partisan contests for legislative seats or constitutional offices.
In recent years, however, a number of high-profile supreme court races have increasingly called attention to the means by which judicial officers are chosen.
What are Midwestern states’ policies on public notification of lawn pesticide application?
By Kathryn Tormey | Monday, September 10, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Stateline Midwest ~ September 2012
American citizens and businesses spent almost $62 billion on landscaping services in 2007, according to U.S. Census data. And to help keep those lawns and gardens pest-free, more than 102 million pounds of pesticides are applied yearly in the United States, according to Beyond Pesticides, a nonprofit group advocating for limited use of pesticides.
One of the biggest concerns about these chemicals is their potential impact on humans, which can include nerve damage, birth defects and cancer, reports the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Policymakers share ideas on how to reduce recidivism by better addressing mental health issues of offenders
By Kathryn Tormey | Friday, August 17, 2012 at 6:05 pm
Stateline Midwest
While 5 percent of the general U.S. population is affected by a serious mental illness, the rate in state prisons is much higher: 24 percent among females and 16 percent among males.
More than half the time, these illnesses occur in conjunction with substance abuse — a combination that, when left untreated, can lead to an increased risk of recidivism, according to Hallie Fader-Towe, a program director at The Council of State Governments’ Justice Center. She led a discussion on mental health and the criminal justice system at the Midwestern Legislative Conference Annual Meeting in July.
