U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Wilkie Thanks President Trump for Making “988” America’s New National Suicide Prevention Number

U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Wilkie Thanks President Trump for Making “988” America’s New National Suicide Prevention Number | site |



(October 17, 2020) - - Today, October 17, 2020, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published the following information: Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie released the following statement after President Trump signed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act: “People in distress and in need of timely care should face the fewest obstacles possible to get help. The bill President Trump signed today will soon make it easier for those at risk to be quickly connected to a trained responder and will help save lives.” Currently, anyone in need of timely crisis suicide prevention resources can reach the National Suicide Prevention Hotline by dialing 1-800-273-8255. Veterans who call that number can press 1 to be connected to the Veterans Crisis Line. During the ...

National Institutes of Health says Study discovers Gene that Helps us Know When it’s Time to Urinate | site |




(October 19, 2020) - - Today, October 19, 2020, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published the following information:

In a National Institutes of Health-funded study involving both mice and patients who are part of an NIH Clinical Center trial, researchers discovered that a gene, called PIEZO2, may be responsible for the powerful urge to urinate that we normally feel several times a day. The results, published in Nature, suggest that the gene helps at least two different types of cells in the body sense when our bladders are full and need to be emptied. These results also ...

Trump Administration Adds 1,275 Miles to the National Trail System | site |



30 trails designated, continued expansion of outdoor recreation


(October 22, 2020) - - Today, October 22, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Interior published the following information:

BOULDER CITY, Nev. — U.S. Secretary of the Interior David L. Bernhardt announced 30 new national recreation trails in 25 states, adding more than 1,275 miles to the National Trails System. Secretary Bernhardt made the announcement from Lake Mead National Recreation Area, where he designated 76 miles of the Colorado River within Lake Mead National Recreation Area as a national water trail. The newly designated Mohave National Water Trail begins where the Black Canyon National Water Trail ends, providing water recreation opportunities for 106 miles along the Colorado River.

Today’s announcement is in addition to the 370 miles of national recreation trails...

National Drought Resilience Partnership Responsibilities Under New Executive Order | site |



(October 22, 2020) - - Today, October 22, 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published the following information:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2020 – National Drought Resilience Partnership (NDRP) staff provided an overview of the NDRP’s role under the Presidential Executive Order (EO) issued October 13 on Modernizing America’s Water Resource Management and Water Infrastructure at the National Integrated Drought Information System Executive Council fall meeting on Tuesday. Established in 2016, the NDRP is an interagency task force responsible for enhancing coordination of federal drought resilience policies and monitoring the implementation of the activities and goals as set out in the Presidential Memorandum that established the partnership. Under the EO, the NDRP will implement the “Priority Actions Supporting Long-Term Drought Resilience” document is...

National Urban League publishes Restart Smart: School Reopening Guidance | site |



(October 14, 2020) - - Today, October 14, 2020, the National Urban League published the following information:

By National Urban League

Restart Smart: School Reopening Guidance

The National Urban League believes that high-quality in-person instruction is the ideal for student learning, this may not be consistently possible in many places due to public health concerns. Any decision on school reopening must be conditioned on meeting the following four principles with public health concerns kept top of mind. If these principles cannot be met, we believe that school buildings should remain closed, and school systems should redouble their efforts to ensure that every student will have the support, resources, and opportunities imperative to be both truly educated and fully supported in a high-q...

National Institutes of Health Study aims to Identify promising COVID-19 Treatments for larger Clinical Trials | site |



(October 13, 2020) - - Today, the National Institutes of Health published the following information:

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, today launched a study designed to determine whether certain approved therapies or investigational drugs in late-stage clinical development show

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round gold objects) emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, is the virus that causes COVID-19. The virus shown was isolated from a patient in the U.S. Graphic courtesy NIAID

promise against COVID-19 and merit...

Wet Snow Flight Hazards Highlighted in National Transportation Safety Board Safety Alert | site |




(September 17, 2020) - - Today, September 17, 2020, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) published the following information: WASHINGTON (Sept. 17, 2020) — The National Transportation Safety Board issued Safety Alert SA-082 Thursday, highlighting the importance of pilots assessing, understanding and preparing for the risk of wet snow and icing conditions before flight. The “Flight in Snow” safety alert provides guidance to pilots, dispatchers and operators regarding flight during wet snow and icing conditions. Wet snow contains liquid particles on the snowflakes or liquid particles falling amongst the snowflakes compared to dry snow in which there is no liquid. The liquid in wet snow has the potential to compromise flight safety through structural, engine and windshield ice accumulation. “As we go into the fall season with coolin...

National Transportation Safety Board Renews Call for Inward-Facing Cameras in Locomotives | site |




(September 15, 2020) - - Today, September 15, 2020, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) published the following information: WASHINGTON (Sept. 15, 2020) — The National Transportation Safety Board Tuesday once again called for federal railroad regulators to mandate the use of inward- and outward-facing cameras on train locomotives after investigating an Ohio collision between two CSX Transportation trains. Tuesday’s reiteration of its 2010 camera recommendations came after the board completed its investigation into the Aug. 12, 2019, train collision and derailment near Carey, Ohio. The NTSB investigation found that the westbound train’s engineer was impaired by his use of alcohol at the time of the accident. Although post-accident testing showed the presence of marijuana in his system, NTSB investigators could not determine if his us...

National Institutes of Health to Assess and Expand COVID-19 Testing for Underserved Communities | site |



(September 30, 2020) - - Today, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published the following information:

The National Institutes of Health has awarded nearly $234 million to improve COVID-19 testing for underserved and vulnerable populations. A part of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative, the RADx Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) program will support 32 institutions across the United States and will focus on populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic. These groups include African Americans, American Indians/Alaskan Natives, Latinos/Latinas, Native Hawaiians, older adults, pregnant women and those who are homeless or incarcerated. “It is critical that all Americans have access to rapid, accurate diagnostics for COVID-19, especially underserved and vulnerable populations who are bearing the brunt of th...

National Institutes of Health expands Clinical Trials to Test Convalescent Plasma against COVID-19 | site |


Rigorous studies to build on earlier efforts to test the experimental treatment


(September 22, 2020) - - Today the National Institutes of Health published the following information: Two randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are expanding enrollment to further evaluate convalescent plasma as a treatment for patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Preliminary observational studies indicate that convalescent plasma may improve outcomes among severely ill and hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Prospective, well-controlled randomized trials are needed to generate sufficient data on whether convalescent plasma is effective and safe for the treatment of COVID-19. Convalescent plasma is blood plasma taken from people who have recovered from COVID-19. It contains antibodies that can recognize and ...

National Institutes of Health Funds Community Engagement Research Efforts in Areas Hardest Hit by COVID-19 | site |




(September 16, 2020) - - Today, September 16, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published the following information:

The National Institutes of Health today announced a $12 million award for outreach and engagement efforts in ethnic and racial minority communities disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The award to RTI International, a non-profit research institution, will support teams in 11 states established as part of the NIH Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities. These teams have received initial funding to immediately create CEAL programs, and RTI will serve as the Technical and Administrative Support and Coordination (TASC) center.

The CEAL research teams will focus on COVID-19 awareness and education research, especially among African Americans,...

National Transportation Safety Board Issues 4 Safety Recommendations Based on Investigation of USS Fitzgerald Collision| site |



(September 3, 2020) - - Today, September 3, 2020, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) published the following information:

WASHINGTON (Sept. 3, 2020) — The National Transportation Safety Board issued Thursday four safety recommendations in its final report on the agency’s investigation of the fatal, June 17, 2017, collision between the USS Fitzgerald and the container ship ACX Crystal.

The collision happened shortly after the 504.5 foot-long, US Navy destroyer Fitzgerald, with 315 people on board, departed its homeport of Yokosuka, Japan, bound for the Philippines. The Fitzgerald was traveling southbound at about 22 knots in the bay of Sagami Nada off Japan’s Honshu Island, while the 730 foot-long, Philippine-flag, container ship ACX Crystal with 21 people on board was traveling east-northeast...

National Transportation Safety Board says First Officer, Captain Actions, Aviation Industry Practices, Led to Fatal Atlas Air Crash | site |



(July 14, 2020) - - Today, July 14, 2020, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) published the following information:

WASHINGTON (July 14, 2020) — The National Transportation Safety Board determined during a public board meeting held Tuesday that Atlas Air flight 3591 crashed in Trinity Bay, Texas, because of the first officer’s inappropriate response to an inadvertent activation of the airplane’s go-around mode, resulting in his spatial disorientation that led him to place the airplane in a steep descent from which the crew did not recover.

The accident happened Feb. 23, 2019, when the Atlas Air Boeing 767 cargo jet entered a rapid descent from about 6,000 feet and impacted a marshy bay about 40 miles from Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport. The captain, first...

National Transportation Safety Board calls for Renewed Road Safety Effort as Nation Reopens | site |


(May 18, 2020) - - Today (May 18, 2020), the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) published the following information: WASHINGTON (May 18, 2020) — The National Transportation Safety Board is calling on Americans to practice highway safety with the same sense of responsibility they applied to reducing the spread of the coronavirus when they take to the nation’s roads as the country continues to reopen. In a “normal” year, more than 36,000 Americans are killed on our roads. While it is too early to tell what will happen to highway crash and fatality trends in the year of the pandemic, the desire to return to normality will increase the number of drivers on the road and that increases risk for highway users. “The number of traffic fatalities was a crisis before the pandemic,” said Robert L. Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Boar...

U.S. Department of Education addresses Helping Students Adversely Affected by School Closures | site |



U.S. Education Secretary DeVos Announces Broad Flexibilities for States to Cancel Testing During National Emergency



(March 20, 2020) - - Today (March 20, 2020), the U.S. Department of Education published the following information:

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced today students impacted by school closures due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic can bypass standardized testing for the 2019-2020 school year. Upon a proper request, the Department will grant a waiver to any state that is unable to assess its students due to the ongoing national emergency, providing relief from federally mandated testing requirements for this school year. Secretary DeVos commented: "Students need to be focused on staying healthy and continuing to learn. Teachers need to be able to focus on remote learning an...