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NC Womens Prisons + Overcrowding Post-Helene in NCDAP

NC Womens Prisons + Overcrowding Post-Helene in NCDAP

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This week, we’re featuring two interviews concerning prison conditions in North Carolina.

First up, you’ll hear from Elizabeth Simpson of Emancipate NC, one of the signatories to a public letter to this state’s department of corrections calling for the release of hundreds of prisoners in North Carolina. This comes in response to over-crowding and understaffing of prisons following the emergency transfer of 2,000 prisoners from prisons in the western part of the state effected by Hurricane Helene.

Then, Mona Evans of Benevolence Farm, a post-release residence and re-entry program in North Carolina for people coming out of the women’s prisons talks about their programs, re-entry and some of the realities faced inside womens prisons in this state.

In this conversation I mentioned Victoria Law’s latest book, Corridors of Contagion: How the Pandemic Exposed the Cruelties of Incarceration (Haymarket Books). You can find our 2013 interview with her about her 2nd edition of Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women at this link.

Other projects Mona mentioned include:

  • Arise Collective re-entry program
  • DownhomeNC engages in a number of progressive causes in this state, including the bail fund that Benevolence Farms is currently running. You can find our 2020 interview with them here.

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Featured Track:

  • Women on the Inside by Sistas In The Pit from The We That Sets Us Free: Building A World Without Prisons

More Posts for Show: The Final Straw Radio

Updated guidelines to prevent a stroke

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UNITED STATES – October 22, 2024 – The American Stroke Association (ASA), a division of the American Heart Association, has recently updated its guidelines for the prevention of stroke for the first time in 10 years. There are new recommendations for screening and prevention, for medication to reduce risk factors, for diet (the Mediterranean diet) and for screening people at-risk due to sex, race, economic instability, poor health care access, unstable housing and racism.

According to the CDC, stroke was the #4 cause of death in 2023 and a leading cause of disability in the United States. More than 600 hundred thousand Americans have their first stroke every year. The leading risk factors are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity and diabetes. The ASA feels that as many as 80% of strokes can be prevented with a program of adequate exercise, proper diet and identification and treatment of risk factors.

A stroke is a brain injury that may result in permanent damage, disability or death. The brain can be deprived of blood when a blood clot or an atherosclerotic plaque blocks the flow or when a blood vessel within the brain ruptures or leaks. Oxygen-deprived brain cells may die within minutes. Our brain is divided into regions that are responsible for specific functions like motor activity, memory, thinking, emotions, speaking and breathing. If one of these regions is deprived of blood, then the body may be unable to function as it should.

A stroke is a medical emergency that requires prompt treatment to reduce the risk of permanent damage. The pneumonic BE FAST can help you recognize the signs of stroke: B for loss of balance, E for eye changes, F for face drooping, A for arm weakness, S for speech difficulty, and T for time to call 911 to get medical help.

You can reduce the risk of having a major stroke by following these recommendations from the American Stroke Association:

  • Manage high blood pressure including women at-risk due to pregnancy, early menopause or on birth control medicine
  • Control cholesterol level, blood sugar and body weight
  • Be active
  • Eat the proper foods
  • Don’t smoke
  • Take your medicine

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]


More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

Voting for our health in the 2024 election: A commentary

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UNITED STATES – November 5, 2024 – You had an impact on keeping Asheville healthy by casting your vote on November 5th, because our two-party political system was strongly divided on health-related issues in 2024. The winners will become the drivers of health-related legislation and policies for the coming years. The losers will be able to voice their concerns.

A good example of the power of the vote was when our elected state officials proposed Medicaid expansion bills in 2022 to increase access to health care for more North Carolinians. The bill was ratified in 2023. This was due to the grassroots efforts of many North Carolinians. Voters in 2020 and 2022 had a strong role in choosing state legislators that overturned years of avoiding Medicaid expansion, the federal program for health insurance for low-resource individuals. 75% of North Carolinians (including most Republicans and Democrats) wanted to improve the health of low-income persons and expand Medicaid. They voted for representatives to enact their wishes. On December 1, 2023, North Carolina officially became the 40th state to expand Medicaid.

The latest political candidates took sides on many health-related issues during the 2024 election, including:

  • Climate change
  • Woman’s reproductive health
  • Health care access
  • Vaccination
  • Gun violence

Everyone needs their health to live. Therefore, it is now up to our newly elected officials to enact legislation and health-related policies to keep us healthy. Timely assessment will show us how our legislators did. Our democracy’s strength lies with the ability of its citizens to chart their future course and keep Asheville healthy!

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]


More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

The weekly COVID-19 update: Will it surge this winter?

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ASHEVILLE, NC – November 13, 2024 – The CDC’s COVID Dashboard for the week ending on November 2nd shows:  

  • There were fewer than 10 deaths due to COVID in North Carolina, the lowest level of 6 groups.
  • Emergency department visits for COVID-19 are minimal in North Carolina, less than 1% of all visits and a moderate decrease since last week.

Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID outbreaks. The Buncombe & Henderson counties wastewater data on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard for the week ending on October 30th shows:

  • The number of viral gene copies in each water sample is between 0-20%, the lowest level of 5 groups.
  • The 15-day rate of change of the number of viral gene copies in each water sample was not reported.

Vaccine protection wanes over time and newer variants evolve to evade the body’s defenses. Persons in high-risk groups, ages 65 and older, with chronic health conditions or weakened immune systems, are more likely to develop severe illness. At-risk people can be protected, by staying home when not feeling well and keeping current with vaccination.

Americans can order up to 4 free COVID tests at COVIDtest.gov. I just did.

A new COVID vaccine is available for currently circulating strains. It is recommended for everyone 6 months and older. The timing is optimal to protect against getting severely ill during the winter surge of respiratory infections. Check with local pharmacies for availability.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]


More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

Resisting Immigration Prison in Tacoma and Fascists in Pittsburgh

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This week, we’re featuring three segments in our episode.

First up, you’ll hear Maru Mora-Villalpando talking about the immigration prison known as the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, WA and the organizing that her organization La Resistencia does to shut down this private prison run by Geo Group.

Then, a member of Pittsburgh Fash Watch, an antifascist group, talks about their mobilization and unmasking of white supremacists in their area, such as WLM and Goyim Defense League (GDL) chud Brandon Cahall.

Finally, Sean Swain addresses post-election ennui.

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Featured Track:

  • Bella Ciao by Leslie Fish

More Posts for Show: The Final Straw Radio

Hurricane Helene caused an IV fluid shortage nationwide

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MARION, NC – October 22, 2024 – One of the largest intravenous fluids suppliers in the U.S. has shut down because of damage from flooding due to Hurricane Helene. The Baxter International factory in Marion, NC, about 35 miles east of Asheville, is covered by mud that was left behind from the flood. A bridge to the factory was also damaged. The Baxter factory was making 60% of the total amount of intravenous fluids used in the U.S.

Intravenous fluids contain sterile water, sodium chloride, and carbohydrates. It is frequently used in hospitals including intensive care units, operating rooms and emergency rooms, surgery centers, nursing homes and dialysis centers for hydration and for the administration of drugs and nutrients.

There has been a great effort to increase the intravenous fluid supply. Baxter has already brought in 500 people to restore the factory to working order. They will quickly increase this number to one thousand in the next week. The federal government has invoked the Defense Production Act to assist Baxter to get the material that it needs to rebuild. FEMA is fixing the damaged bridge. The FDA has allowed the temporary importation of intravenous fluids. The Marion facility will resume some production this week. It is estimated that full capacity will be reached in a few months.

Other temporary solutions include postponing elective surgeries and asking health care providers to be judicious in intravenous fluid use. Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston has had to reduce its intravenous use by 50% for weeks. Dr Paul Biddinger, the chief preparedness and continuity officer at Massachusetts General Hospital, has described this as a crisis.

“This shortage is still touching nearly every hospital in the country,” says Dr. Chris DeRienzo, chief physician executive of the American Hospital Association.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]


More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour