Alabama preschoolers could soon benefit from a federal grant. Our state is one of eighteen in the nation receiving federal grants to boost access to preschool programs. Washington is awarding more than two hundred and twenty six million dollars nationally. Alabama will be given seventeen and a half million in development grants. The development grants are meant to help states with no or small preschool programs. Federal officials say they expect the grants to help states develop high-quality preschool programs in regionally diverse communities ranging from urban to suburban and rural.
You may think you’re doing the right thing by rolling up your sleeve for a flu shot. However, as APR Student Reporter Kristen Feyt* explains, it may not be enough…
The Alabama Department of health says the current vaccine isn’t designed to stop the flu strain known as A/Switzerland. State Health Officer Don Williamson says this type of flu was identified too late to be put into the vaccine which includes four other strains. Williamson says the A/Switzerland strain will likely the problem virus this year. A major concern of health officials is an increase in the number of health care workers who get sick. The center for Disease Control and Prevention found that over half of the samples that were tested in the US showed positive for the A/Switzerland strain. Williamson still encourages people to get the vaccine to protect against other strains and to lessen the severity of an A/Switzerland infection. For APR News, I’m Kristen Feyt ?
A new study says the city of Mobile ranks just behind Detroit, Michigan for the number of disadvantaged residents. The think tank called Wallet Hub studied one hundred and fifty cities for factors like poverty and food insecurity. Mobile ranked one hundred and forty six to Detroit’s place at one hundred and fifty. Wallet Hub spokesman Jill Gonzales says when her group focused on Mobile, there was one number that stood out…
“The poverty rate in Mobile right now is at twenty four and a half percent. That means a quarter of the people there are really living beneath the poverty line and that would have a snowball effect on all of the other statistics for Mobile.”
Wallet Hub says the national picture of who’s in need has changed over the past forty years. The group says more low income Americans are experiencing economic struggles. ?
A possible pension oversight board for Alabama’s teachers is generating controversy. Finance Director Bill Newton likes the idea. He concerned about the long-term fiscal health of the system. The fund was at one hundred percent in the year 2000, but it’s only sixty four percent not. State retirement chief David Bronner says the idea is a slap at his staff. Bronner says the system's recent returns are in the top 13 percent in the country. A separate board that governs the pension for state employees created a similar committee.
