QCA.news - Quad Cities news and view from both sides of the river

Monday, June 1st, 2026
	1 killed in dump truck crash A dump truck appeared to be in the ditch on its side.
	Meet our new Storm Track 8 meteorologist, Matthew Clark! Matthew joins our team all the way from Tampa, Florida. He looks forward to the change of pace with the Midwest's weather.
	Police: 6 family members killed in Muscatine before suspected gunman shot himself Police say all 6 victims are believed to related to suspected gunman
	Iowa Democratic Senate primary: Wahls, Turek make final push before election Iowa’s primary election is Tuesday, and candidates across the state are making their final push to voters.
	Iowa primary election guide: What voters need to know With early voting numbers lagging behind 2022, Iowa county auditors are preparing for Tuesday's primary. Here's what you need to know to vote.
	Illinois passes budget, still no deal to keep the Bears in the state Illinois state lawmakers wrapped up the legislative session after almost three straight days of debate, but there's still no deal to keep the Chicago Bears in Illinois. Our Quad Cities News Illinois Capitol Bureau chief Alex Whitney looks at why that will be in limbo going into the summer.
	Dementia tracking bracelets helping bring loved ones home A Geneseo program designed to keep people with dementia safe is giving families peace of mind and helping police find missing loved ones faster.
	7 dead, including accused shooter, following series of shootings in Muscatine Police believe 52-year-old Ryan Willis McFarland shot and killed six family members on Monday. When confronted by police, officers said McFarland took his own life.
	Police: Muscatine man fatally shot six family members and himself A domestic dispute is believed to have triggered the shootings, in which seven, including the suspect, were killed.
	1 person is dead after a crash in Rock Island County The sheriff's office says a car was hit by a truck. The driver of the car, 38-year-old Brenton Collins died at the scene.
	I Am Curious (About the Yellow): “Backrooms,” “Pressure,” and “The Breadwinner” I'm not sure what it says about the future of horror movies – if it says anything at all – that the year's strongest, scariest creep-out to date is directed by someone not quite old enough to drink.
	Scott County residents invited to take public transit survey Residents in Davenport, Bettendorf, Eldridge and LeClaire are invited to take a survey to share experiences and ideas for public transit.
	The Third Place QC seeks larger home as demand for services exceeds expectations The organization anticipated serving about 40 people a day when it opened in October 2025. Since then, The Third Place has served around 120 people daily.
	Frequent records requester sues Davenport for redacting attorney billing Ezra Sidran's lawsuit alleges Davenport improperly redacted certain information from billing statements for outside legal counsel that he requested under open records laws.
	Illinois politics latest: State budget finalized, Chicago Bears bill stalls, social media tax Brenden Moore with Capitol News Illinois joined The Current to break down the latest headlines from the statehouse.
	Scott County worker killed in dump truck rollover crash A secondary roads employee was driving a county-owned dump truck when the driver reportedly lost control and rolled into a ditch.
	June (and summer) climate preview for the Quad Cities What a beautiful Monday! It made for a great (and above average) start to June and meteorological summer in the Quad Cities. Here's a look at the June climate stats for the Quad Cities: And this is also the first day of meteorological summer in the Northern hemisphere too - here are some summer stats [...]
	Rescue Rocks benefit for Scott County shelter returns Saturday The Humane Society of Scott County will hold its annual Rescue Rocks fundraiser June 6 at The Tangled Wood in Bettendorf, featuring live music, a silent auction, food and drink specials, and adoptable pets.
	Multiple active crime scenes in Muscatine Around 3:10 p.m. a KWQC crew could see police in the 300 block of Park Avenue.
	Police responding to active scene in Muscatine News 8 journalists are on the scene of an investigation in the 200 block of Park Avenue in Muscatine.
	66th Honor Flight departs with 8 service women making the trip The 66th Honor Flight departed the Quad Cities International Airport this morning with eight service women making the trip.
	Iran halts talks with U.S. over Israeli actions in Lebanon, Gaza Trumps says Israel and Hezbollah will stop fighting after Iran stops talks with U.S. over Israeli operations in southern Lebanon, Gaza
	Police responding to scene in Muscatine News 8 journalists are on the scene of an investigation in the 200 block of Park Avenue in Muscatine.
	Greyhound Lounge opens in downtown Davenport Greyhound Lounge is a new bar in downtown Davenport catering drinkers and non-drinkers in a unique and cozy setting.
	Voting opens to name the Field of Dreams ballpark’s new baseball team The decision is up to Iowans — what will be the name for Dyersville’s baseball team?
	Large police presence near Muscatine riverfront A large police presence including Iowa State Patrol and the Muscatine Police Department is in multiple locations near the Muscatine riverfront on Monday afternoon. Police blocked off both the riverfront bike path and the 200 block of Park Avenue in what appears to be a crime scene. Yellow police tape stretched across Park Avenue. Muscatine [...]
	Justice Department says it will abide by court order pausing its 'anti-weaponization' fund The Justice Department said it 'strongly disagrees' with the court's ruling that paused a $1.776 fund for victims of government "weaponization," but would still abide by it.
	Scott County employee killed in dump truck rollover crash on Monday A secondary roads employee was driving with a load of gravel in a county-owned dump truck when the driver reportedly lost control and rolled into a ditch.
	Florida sues OpenAI and Sam Altman over alleged safety lapses The lawsuit accuses the company of failing to warn users that ChatGPT could be dangerous and instead marketing it as safe and reliable.
	Officials: Investigation underway in Muscatine, public asked to avoid area near riverfront Developing.
	Race for US Senate in Iowa, Davenport city council's priorities: News 8 This Week - May 31, 2026 This week, News 8's Jon Diaz speaks with Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Zach Wahls. Plus, Davenport City Administrator Tim Gleason on city priorities.
	AI giant Anthropic files paperwork for an IPO The Anthropic IPO, and those of other AI-related firms like OpenAI, could be among the biggest in U.S. history.
	AI giant Anthropic prepares to sell stock to the public; files preliminary IPO paperwork The Anthropic IPO, and those of other AI-related firms like OpenAI, could be among the biggest in U.S. history.
	Serena Williams returns to tennis, announcing 'next chapter' A tennis legend at 44, Serena Williams is returning to pro tennis this month, announcing plans to play in the HSBC Championships in London. Williams, a mother of two, retired nearly four years ago.
	Two Republicans aim to become candidate to flip state auditor seat to GOP control Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer and Iowa County Supervisor Abigail Maas face off in the June 2 Republican primary to succeed Democrat Rob Sand as Iowa State Auditor.
	Hammond mayor expects final Bears stadium decision in 30 days Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. expects the Chicago Bears will decide by the end of June whether the team will construct their stadium in Northwest Indiana.
	Vehicles struck by gunfire in Rock Island Two vehicles were hit by gunfire in Rock Island on Sunday. The Rock Island Police Department says it happened around 9:21 p.m. near 43rd Street and 15th Avenue. Officers responded to the area after reports of shots being fired and found two vehicles struck by gunfire and recovered shell casings. Police say "the investigation suggests [...]
	Richard Pryor's daughter studies the N-word — a word he used, then disavowed Historian Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor spent years researching the racial slur, but never revealed that her father was the legendary comic who used it profusely. Her new book is Something We Said.
	After gunfire heard Rock Island police find shell casings KWQC is working to learn more information.
	Star-Spangled Sing-Off: Vote now for your favorite a capella performance The first-round of voting is now open.
	Sara Evans will be in concert at Rhythm City, Davenport Sara Evans will be in concert at Rhythm City Casino Resort On Friday, Oct. 9. Tickets are available online here or at The Market at Rhythm City for $44.45-$87.25. (The online/phone ticketing fee is waived when you purchase tickets at The Market Gift Shop inside Rhythm City Casino Resort, 7077 Elmore Ave., Davenport.) About Sara [...]
	Motorcycle, car and van crash in Rock Island Westbound 18th Avenue is closed at 30th Street after a motorcycle, car and van crashed near 29th Street on Monday. A witness told Our Quad Cities News that the car was turning left onto 29th and hit the westbound motorcycle, which sent the motorcycle into the van waiting at the stop sign. The motorcyclist was [...]
	Remains found in Kewanee identified as man missing since 2022 He was reported missing on Nov. 18, 2022.
	Man who died in Rock Island County crash identified UPDATE: The man who died in Sunday's crash was identified as Brenton G. Collins, 38, of Seaton, Illinois, by Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson. EARLIER UPDATE: A crash in Rock Island County killed one driver and sent another to the hospital. The Rock Island County Sheriff's Office says it happened Sunday around 6:30 at [...]
	Skeletal remains found in park identified as man missing since 2022 The skeletal remains found inside a Northeast Park waste tank have been identified as Daniel J. Cernovich, a Kewanee man missing since November 2022.
	With data centers, skepticism is not anti-business Crews work on Applied Digital data center construction in Harwood, North Dakota, on May 6, 2026. (Photo by Dan Koeck/North Dakota Monitor)South Dakota is having the wrong argument about data centers. This is not a debate about technology. It’s a debate about power — who gets to decide what happens to rural land, water and infrastructure when billion-dollar industries come calling. Too many of those decisions are being made everywhere except in the communities expected to live with the consequences. The artificial intelligence economy is coming whether South Dakota participates or not. The real question is whether the state enters that future with a plan, or rushes to approve projects before the rules are written. Rural residents have seen this pattern before — in Black Hills mining fights, large concentrated animal feeding operations, industrial wind corridors, and now battery-storage campuses. Data center restrictions signed into South Dakota law after push for incentives failed The industry changes. The political script does not. Again and again, industrial-scale projects are pushed into agricultural landscapes while local residents are told the impacts are manageable and the economic benefits inevitable and necessary. Wind farms are not farms. Battery-storage campuses are not farms. Data centers are not farms. They are industrial facilities, and they should be treated as such. These operations require transmission corridors, substations, emergency-response planning and long-term pressure on roads, water systems and electrical grids. Yet South Dakota continues forcing many of them through zoning systems designed for cornfields and cattle lots. The result is predictable. Residents fill hearing rooms. Opposition outweighs support. Citizens raise concerns about groundwater, roads, fire protection and property values. Then they are told the project meets standards already written into law. The public gets a hearing. The outcome too often feels predetermined. That disconnect is what makes the data-center debate politically volatile. Rural South Dakotans are not anti-technology. They are tired of being treated as spectators in decisions that permanently reshape their communities. Their concerns are legitimate. South Dakota already faces pressure on water supplies, aging infrastructure and increasing competition for electricity. Into that reality comes an industry capable of consuming enormous amounts of power and, depending on cooling systems, massive quantities of water. Skepticism is not anti-business. It is risk assessment — and it may be the last remaining form of practical conservatism in South Dakota politics. The state possesses exactly what the AI economy wants: land, energy capacity, cold weather and political stability. That makes South Dakota attractive. It also makes South Dakota vulnerable to negotiating from weakness. States eager to “win” economic-development competitions often stop asking whether projects truly benefit the people expected to live beside them for decades. If a project only works through tax exemptions, subsidized infrastructure and public assumption of long-term risk, lawmakers should ask two simple questions: Who actually benefits? Who absorbs the risk? SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX. Serious government begins with calling these projects what they are: industrial. If a facility requires major transmission infrastructure, industrial water demand and round-the-clock emergency planning, it should be regulated as industrial development — not pushed through agricultural zoning frameworks designed for a different century. Serious siting policy cannot stop at roads, substations and water pipelines. Industrial siting is also a habitat issue. South Dakota sits within one of North America’s most important migratory bird regions. The Prairie Pothole Region supports globally significant waterfowl populations, while the state’s grasslands and river corridors remain critical habitat for pheasants, ducks, raptors and migratory birds that also underpin a major outdoor recreation economy. New transmission corridors and industrial energy infrastructure fragment habitat, disrupt migration routes and increase collision risks for birds and other wildlife. Other states increasingly incorporate wildlife-corridor mapping, habitat analysis and avian-protection standards into large-scale siting decisions. South Dakota should do the same before AI-related infrastructure expands faster than the state’s ability to manage the ecological consequences. A state that spends millions promoting big game and pheasant hunting, waterfowl habitat and outdoor tourism cannot pretend habitat fragmentation stops mattering simply because the industry carries a technology label instead of an energy label. Companies should also pay the full cost of the infrastructure they require. If a data center demands new substations, transmission upgrades, expanded roads or emergency-response capacity, those costs should not quietly migrate onto rural ratepayers and county taxpayers under the banner of economic development. Counties must retain meaningful zoning authority. Local control cannot be a campaign slogan in the fall and an inconvenience in the spring. If state government overrides county decisions whenever corporate pressure intensifies, then “local control” becomes meaningless. Quotation Skepticism is not anti-business. It is risk assessment — and it may be the last remaining form of practical conservatism in South Dakota politics. A serious framework also requires transparency. Before approvals occur, companies should disclose projected water withdrawals, energy demand, cooling methods and infrastructure impacts. Independent hydrological reviews should be mandatory and funded by the applicant, not taxpayers. Drought-contingency restrictions should ensure industry, agriculture and households operate under the same reality when water supplies tighten. This is not anti-business. It is the minimum standard for responsible governance. When rural residents conclude that corporations operate under one set of rules while ordinary citizens operate under another, public trust collapses. Cynicism spreads. People stop believing economic growth is designed to benefit them — and they stop believing that state government is on their side. If South Dakota approves billion-dollar industrial projects without a statewide siting plan, transparent water rules and real county authority, that is not “pro-growth” competitiveness. That is surrender. South Dakota needs a plan before the next wave of AI-driven development arrives, because once the infrastructure is built, the consequences are permanent and the leverage is gone. Without that plan, “local control” becomes a slogan, nothing more. With it, South Dakota can welcome innovation without surrendering the people who live closest to the land — the people with the most to lose, and the most worth protecting. Courtesy of South Dakota Searchlight
	Chicago Bears stadium deal fumbled as Illinois legislative session ends Illinois lawmakers adjourned without passing a tax incentive bill for the Chicago Bears, leaving the team to evaluate a move to Hammond, Indiana.
	Two-vehicles struck, potential victim after shots fired in Rock Island The Rock Island Police Department responded to the area of 43rd Street and 15th Avenue to reports of shots fired.
	Rock Island police respond to shots fired call, shell casings found, Sunday night KWQC is working to learn more information.
	3 Things to Know \| Quad Cities morning headlines for June 1, 2026 Moline officials lifted a precautionary boil order for residents on 34th Street, and Bettendorf police are raising funds for our local Honor Flight.
	US stadiums switch to grass for FIFA World Cup 2026 US stadiums switch to grass for FIFA World Cup 2026For one month, the grass under the world’s best soccer players has to be pitch-perfect at stadiums across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.In the U.S., that has meant hauling grass in dozens of refrigerated tractor trailers, laying pipes, and spreading sand across several existing fields before the new grass is rolled out, stitched together, and then kept green with LED lights in the indoor stadiums.The story of the World Cup grass started four years ago, with the cooperation of two U.S. universities charged by FIFA with growing the perfect grass.In this article, LawnStarter explores the grass preparation at each U.S. stadium for soccer’s biggest competition, starting June 11.Natural Grass vs. Artificial Turf: Why FIFA Insists on GrassWhy are World Cup matches played on natural grass and not artificial turf? FIFA’s Quality Program has very high test standards for ball rolling, bouncing, and shock absorption. Every stadium needs to deliver consistent playability across the tournament.Why FIFA insists on grass:Player preference: Professional soccer players and their coaches prefer the feel and consistency of natural grass.Ball behavior: FIFA closely monitors how the ball rolls and bounces to ensure consistent ball behavior across all venues.Injury and performance: Research has shown differences in injury rates between playing on artificial turf and playing on real grass.The Masterminds Behind the Turf: Michigan State and TennesseeGrowing world-class grass for stadiums in very different climates is a serious undertaking that requires academic precision.Michigan State University’s Turf Management Program, under the leadership of Professor John “Trey” Rogers III, provided a source of both educational and research-based information to support the 2026 World Cup.The University of Tennessee’s Center for Athletic Field Safety is well-known for its testing of field surfaces and for developing recommendations about which type of grass or root zone mixture may be used safely for athletes to play on, as well as how the type of grass and root zone mixture can influence athlete injury prevention, health and biomechanics.Through their collaboration with each other, MSU and the University of Tennessee have developed turf systems that will allow the soccer ball to bounce, roll, and grip similarly across the 16 total World Cup venues in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.They split the fields into two families, covering 88 miles of natural sod:Warm‑weather venues use Bermudagrass.Cooler and indoor venues use a mix of Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass.For those cooler, indoor venues, the two groups chose an 84% Kentucky bluegrass and 16% perennial ryegrass combination when growing the turf using plastic sheeting. Through FIFA-funded trials, they determined this combination provided better quality and quicker establishment of sod than did individual Kentucky bluegrass.Instead of planting grass in native soil and slicing off the roots, MSU and UT had farms grow it on a thin layer of sand with plastic sheeting. When the grass roots reach the plastic, they spread sideways and intertwine, forming a dense mat which can be rolled up like carpet without cutting the roots that can be easily shipped and installed.The Turf Transformation: A Closer Look at Each U.S. StadiumMetLife Stadium (New York/New Jersey)Location: East Rutherford, New JerseyCapacity: 82,500World Cup matches: 8World Cup surface: Bermudagrass, hybrid reinforced fibersGrass provider: Carolina Green Turf FarmOpened: 2010For the World Cup finals, MetLife Stadium swapped out its artificial turf for a Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass field grown at Carolina Green Turf Farm in North Carolina. The existing turf infrastructure stays in place, but it’s now buried under roughly 2 feet of sand plus a full irrigation and vacuum‑ventilation system, with the warm‑season grass forming the top layer.FIFA senior pitch manager David Graham summed up the stakes as crews stitched the rolls together on site: “It’s only justice that the best players on the planet hopefully get the best grass on the planet, and we’re trying to achieve that.”Crews hauled in roughly 20 truckloads of sod that had been grown for about 10 months before installation. They used a “sewing machine-esque device” to stitch hybrid reinforcement fibers through the profile so the pitch can withstand eight matches, including the final.AT&T Stadium (Dallas Stadium)Location: Arlington, TexasCapacity: 94,000 (World Cup configuration)World Cup matches: 9World Cup surface: Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass mixture with hybrid reinforced fibersGrass provider: Green Valley SodOpened: 2009“Jerry World” replaced its Hellas Matrix Turf artificial grass with Helix Soft Top turf to install a natural-grass playing surface. The crews removed the existing turf and left the concrete subbase, on top of which they installed an entirely new irrigation system along with a new ventilation system.Following this installation, about 10 inches of sand was placed atop the subbase to provide a root zone to create a FIFA‑spec root zone roughly 2 feet above the stadium floor. On top of the root zone is a Kentucky bluegrass sod grown in Colorado, rolled into large pieces and transported to AT&T Stadium.A second, backup field was also planted in case there were issues with the primary field, due to it hosting the most matches of any World Cup venue: nine games.Mercedes‑Benz Stadium (Atlanta Stadium)Location: Atlanta, GeorgiaCapacity: 75,000World Cup matches: 8World Cup surface: Kentucky bluegrass, hybrid reinforced fibersGrass provider: Green Valley SodOpened: 2017Atlanta’s domed Mercedes‑Benz Stadium had one of the toughest turf swaps in the tournament. For the World Cup, crews tore out the existing turf and artificial surface starting in late January, then built a Permavoid-based system from scratch, topped with a Kentucky bluegrass/perennial ryegrass hybrid grass grown in Colorado.According to UT researchers, this pitch was one of the most difficult World Cup pitches to maintain due to limited direct sunlight. The grass requires the use of a combination of LED grow lights, an extensive irrigation system, and a shallow root zone to provide consistent safety for players and good playing conditions.NRG Stadium (Houston Stadium)Location: Houston, TexasCapacity: 72,000World Cup matches: 7World Cup surface: Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass mixture with hybrid reinforced fibersGrass provider: Green Valley SodOpened: 2002Under NRG Stadium’s turf is a concrete floor with channels for fake grass systems. The UT team chose a shallow system using Permavoid. These are strong plastic cells that store water and help the field drain.Crews put the Permavoid right on the concrete. They covered it with a plastic woven sheeting to keep sand out of the cells, then added a deep-sand base and hybrid Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass.The grass had been grown in the Denver area for the past 18 months, then shipped from Denver to Houston in massive refrigerated rolls before being stitched together into a continuous surface.The stadium’s large roof severely limits how much sunlight reaches the grass. Crews brought large LED grow lights from Europe to assist in maintaining the health of the grass during the seven World Cup matches that will be hosted there.Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City Stadium)Location: Kansas City, MissouriCapacity: 73,000World Cup matches: 6World Cup surface: Bermudagrass, hybrid reinforced fibersGrass provider: Carolina GreenOpened: 1972Arrowhead already uses natural grass. However, the field was still rebuilt to meet FIFA rules. For the tournament, grass provider Carolina Green from North Carolina provided Bermudagrass mixed with hybrid fibers. This is built on a stronger base of about 12 inches of sand over a gravel and pipe network with vacuum drainage, giving the surface a stable platform for the six matches.To make the field the right size (115 by 74 yards), the Chiefs have removed seats and extended the playing surface into the corners, trading a small amount of capacity for a fully FIFA‑compliant pitch.SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles Stadium)Location: Inglewood, CaliforniaCapacity: 70,000World Cup matches: 8World Cup surface: Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass mixture with hybrid reinforced fibersGrass provider: Desert Green SodOpened: 2020To make natural grass work under SoFi Stadium’s translucent roof, FIFA and the UT/MSU team chose a Permavoid system stacked on top of the NFL turf, then covered with geotextile fabric, sand, and a hybrid Kentucky bluegrass/perennial ryegrass carpet reinforced with synthetic fibers.SoFi tested a similar hybrid grass for a Concacaf Nations League test event and found that it “weathered the strain of four games in as many days.” This showed FIFA that the grass can survive eight World Cup matches. With corners changed to meet FIFA’s field shape, the stadium perfectly shows how UT’s shallow system works inside a roofed stadium.Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Stadium)Location: Miami Gardens, FloridaCapacity: 65,000World Cup matches: 7World Cup surface: Bermudagrass, hybrid reinforced fibersGrass provider: Miami Dolphins’ own private sod farm in Loxahatchee Groves, FloridaOpened: 1987Miami is one of the few World Cup venues that didn’t need to convert from turf to grass because it already uses Bermudagrass grown at a private sod farm in Loxahatchee Groves, roughly an hour north of the stadium.The grass was specifically grown for the World Cup by FIFA and transported to Hard Rock Stadium and converted to a temporary warm-season grass surface for the seven World Cup matches. However, the staff had to rely on grow lights as well as carefully manage water usage to ensure the color and density of the grass would remain uniform throughout the entire tournament.Gillette Stadium (Boston Stadium)Location: Foxborough, MassachusettsCapacity: 65,000World Cup matches: 7World Cup surface: 365SS Kentucky bluegrass with hybrid reinforced fibersGrass provider: Tuckahoe Turf FarmsOpened: 2002For its World Cup matches, Gillette Stadium returned to real grass for the first time in almost 20 years. Gillette Stadium tore up the existing FieldTurf and gravel, rebuilt the new base with sand and other porous materials, and then installed a hybrid‑reinforced 365SS Kentucky bluegrass sod supplied by Tuckahoe Turf Farms in New Jersey.The hybrid grass is about 95% natural and 5% synthetic fiber. The roots wrap the fibers together to provide stability to the surface.Grass provider Tuckahoe CFO Allen Carter shared the backstory.“We have been working with FIFA and the stadiums on this project for about four years now,” he explained. “The sod itself is about a year old.” Carter added that the sod was grown “on plastic on top of special pods that had computer‑controlled irrigation systems,” so they could dial in nutrients, water, and FIFA‑spec topdressing from day one.At Gillette, superintendent Ryan Bjorn said “the installation process was really intense,” and that “we’re really just focused on making sure that this field is as strong as it can be.”Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia Stadium)Location: Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaCapacity: 69,000World Cup matches: 6World Cup surface: Kentucky bluegrass with hybrid reinforced fibersGrass provider: Tuckahoe Turf FarmsOpened: 2003“The Linc” had been home to real grass, but it was renovated prior to hosting the 2025 Club World Cup, which opened up potential for a complete FIFA-recognized hybrid system for the 2026 World Cup.For the Club World Cup, crews took out seats to widen the field to 115 by 74 yards. They installed a HERO Hybrid grass from Tuckahoe Turf Farms, a Kentucky bluegrass mix reinforced with synthetic fibers, grown on plastic for about a year before installation.“We have grown the sod on plastic on top of special pods that had computer-controlled irrigation systems, then controlled the amount of nutrients, water, applied the FIFA spec topdressing throughout its growth period, and of course kept it mowed at the requested height,” Carter said.“The hybrid-infused system should help with the wear of the pitch,” he noted, as the stadium prepares to host six games in a short amount of time.Lumen Field (Seattle Stadium)Location: Seattle, WashingtonCapacity: 69,000World Cup matches: 6World Cup surface: Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass mixture with hybrid reinforced fibersGrass provider: Moses Lake, Washington farmOpened: 2002In Seattle, the artificial grass hides under a layered natural‑grass system. For the 2026 World Cup, crews built the grass field right on top of the existing FieldTurf: 6 inches of sand and other base materials went down first, then a hybrid Kentucky bluegrass/perennial ryegrass sod from a Moses Lake, Washington, farm was rolled out on top.FIFA turf expert Trey Rogers explained the logic to the Seattle Times.“As long as we have 6 inches of sand over the top of the artificial turf, the player will not feel anything but a natural turf reaction,” Rogers said.The new field will host a minimum of six World Cup events and then Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC events before the grass is removed.With long June days and cooler temperatures, Seattle may be able to rely more on natural sunlight than the domed U.S. venues. However, the shallow profile system still requires irrigation, drainage, and close monitoring to ensure the grass is World Cup-ready.Levi’s Stadium (San Francisco Bay Area Stadium)Location: Santa Clara, CaliforniaCapacity: 71,000World Cup matches: 6World Cup surface: Bermudagrass, hybrid reinforced fibersGrass provider: West Coast TurfOpened: 2014Levi’s Stadium already uses high‑performance natural grass, and for 2026, the stadium is using Bermudagrass reinforced with stitched synthetic fibers supplied by West Coast Turf.The fibers are stitched lightly so the grass can be removed easily after the tournament. But while they’re in place, the fibers tie the roots together into a strong mat. With a traditional root base and a strong warm-weather grass, Levi’s Stadium can easily hold up to six matches.Back in Your Own BackyardThe grass beneath the World Cup soccer players will get a lot of attention in the coming weeks, but at home, there’s no need for laying pipes and inches of sand and then a new layer of specially formulated grass.Just take care of your grass. Water it in the morning when needed, heeding any local watering restrictions. Block weeds or pluck them out when they spring up. Rake or blow leaves. Aerate your lawn as necessary. And mow your grass regularly or hire a local lawn care pro to do it for you.You can leave the running around on the grass to the soccer stars, and instead, simply enjoy the luxury and health benefits of walking barefoot on your grass.This story was produced by LawnStarter and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Coroner identifies man killed in car, truck crash in Rock Island County Brenton G. Collins of Seaton, Illinois, died after the crash at the intersection of 134th Avenue West and 105th Street West near Taylor Ridge.
	AI workflow design: Build workflows AI can run end-to-end AI workflow design: Build workflows AI can run end-to-endAI workflow design is the process of building repeatable marketing workflows that an AI “teammate” can execute end-to-end using defined inputs, rules, and quality checkpoints. As AI evolves beyond one-off prompts, businesses can now automate multi-step processes with consistency and control.OpenAI’s GPT-5.3 Codex signals this shift into the “AI teammate” era, enabling AI to plan, use tools, and execute workflows across multiple steps.In this guide, WebFX teaches how to automate workflows with AI, recognize when a workflow is ready, and avoid the mistakes that cause agentic automation to fall apart.Agentic AI models signal the ‘AI teammate’ era for marketing workflowsRecent developments in AI include models designed to take on long-running tasks involving planning, tool use, and execution — not just single-step assistance. These models are designed to perform better at tasks that look like real, day-to-day work outputs and structured deliverables, not just writing text.Here’s what that means for marketing managers designing delegable workflows:It can handle full workflows, not just one-off tasks. You can delegate repeatable processes from start to finish, as long as the steps are clear and consistent.You’re meant to guide it as it works. The safest setup includes a few points where a human can review, approve, or stop the run.It can work across the tools you already use. That’s why it helps to define clean handoffs between analytics, ads, your CRM, docs, and spreadsheets.It’s a good fit for recurring deliverables. Weekly and monthly reports, QA checks, and competitive digests are easier to delegate because the format stays the same.It’s faster, so iteration is easier. When the model works more quickly, it’s more realistic to run a “draft-review-fix-rerun-rerun” loop without wasting time.Basic access rules still matter. Limit what the AI can touch, decide when it needs approval, and set clear “pause-and-ask” moments for anything sensitive.If the model can execute across tools, your advantage comes from designing workflows that it can run reliably.The AI teammate era means AI workflow automation at the team levelMost teams already use AI for tasks like drafting a post, rewriting a paragraph, summarizing a call, and brainstorming subject lines. That’s helpful, but it doesn’t change how work moves through your team.Marketing workflow automation does. Instead of speeding up one step, it enhances speed and consistency across the whole process — the tool switching, manual checks, copy-paste handoffs, and “did anyone QA this?” moments that slow launches and create rework.Here’s the difference: WebFX This shift matters because AI is not just a “wait-for-the-final-answer” model. It is something you direct and supervise while it works, with progress updates and the ability to steer midrun.That interaction model maps directly to how workflow AI should operate in marketing: with clear checkpoints where a human can approve, correct, or halt the run.Use this framework to see where you are in your AI marketing journey and what to build toward:Task help: AI supports a single step, such as drafting a report summary.Workflow delegation: AI executes a repeatable process across tools. For example, pull metrics, compare periods, flag anomalies, draft a narrative, and route for approval.Repeatable systems: The workflow runs on a schedule with templates, rules, permissions, and QA gates.As agents become more capable, the advantage shifts to the teams that can design workflows humans can steer and supervise reliably, instead of relying on one-off prompts.What a delegable workflow needsBuilding an AI workflow that a team can trust requires several key elements. Delegation works when four ingredients are true at the same time:Clear inputs: The agent can reliably access the data it needs, such as where it lives, what time frame to use, and what fields matter.Explicit rules: Your team has written down what “good” looks like, plus thresholds and edge cases. For example, what to do when numbers spike, what sources are allowed, or what claims need citations.Defined output format: The deliverable is template-able. This could include a report structure, a QA pass/fail table, or a standardized brief.Human QA checkpoints: Specific moments where a marketer approves, corrects, or halts execution, especially before publish, spend changes, or outbound comms.If any of these are missing, the agent doesn’t become a teammate. It becomes a faster way to create rework.4-step marketing workflow decomposition guideHere’s how to create an AI marketing workflow that can actually run. Use this guide if you want to convert a messy, multitool process into an agent-ready brief.Think of it as translating “how we do this” into a system that an agent can execute with guardrails in place.1. Map a recurring workflowPick one workflow your team repeats weekly, biweekly, and monthly. Then map it end-to-end:Who starts it and what triggers it? Is it a date, a Slack request, or a client meeting?What tools does it touch?What decisions happen along the way?Where do approvals happen?As you map, highlight handoffs and bottlenecks. Those are usually where delegation pays off.For example, a weekly PPC performance recap often includes these tasks: pull numbers from ad platforms, compare to last week, explain swings, propose next actions, format into a doc or Slack update, and send for review.2. Identify the tools neededList every app the workflow uses, whether it includes analytics, CRMs, ad platforms, PM tools, spreadsheets, docs, or Slack. Define what kind of access the workflow requires in each tool, because that determines permissions and where you add review gates.A simple way to do that is to label each interaction as one of the following:Read actions: The agent only needs to retrieve information. Maybe it pulls metrics, checks statuses, reviews logs, or grabs screenshots.Write actions: The agent needs to create or update something, such as drafting a report, updating a Google Sheet, opening a Jira/Asana ticket, or posting a draft message in Slack.Sensitive actions: The agent would touch high-risk areas. Either sensitive data like customer details or credentials, or high-impact actions like budget changes, sending emails, or publishing pages. These should default to restricted access and require a human approval step.For example, if your reporting workflow requires GA4, Search Console, and CRM attribution, you need clear access rules and a consistent schema for what gets pulled, when, and how it’s labeled.3. Document the rules and processNow spell out the standards your team relies on to keep output consistent:What metrics matter most, and what thresholds trigger action?What explanations are acceptable, and what is speculation?What sources are allowed for insights and benchmarks?When should the agent stop and ask for approval?You should also document escalation and stop conditions. If the agent can’t access a tool, sees missing data, or falls below a confidence threshold, it should route to a human — not guess.OpenAI’s rollout highlights that as agents become more capable, they also require stronger supervision and access controls, including monitoring, trusted access, and fallback behavior. So marketing workflow delegation needs the same basics: scoped permissions, escalation paths, and clear stop conditions.4. Draft the agent briefThis is where you reframe steps into an outcome-driven brief that powers your AI marketing automation. Keep it tight and operational. Here’s an AI agent brief template you can use:AI Agent brief template:1. Executive summaryName of Agent: For example, Weekly Performance Narrator Agent.Objective: Write a one-sentence outcome, for example, “Produce a weekly marketing performance narrative with anomalies flagged and next actions recommended.”Key Value: Time saved, fewer errors, and faster turnaround. For example, “Reduce reporting time by 60% and cut revision rounds in half.”2. Workflow mapping WebFX 3. Agent capabilities and toolsData Inputs: Tools like GA4, Search Console, CRM, ad platforms, spreadsheets, or call transcripts.Systems to Integrate (APIs/Access): Google, Meta, HubSpot/Salesforce, Asana/Jira, Slack, or Looker Studio.Tools to Use: Browser/computer use, spreadsheet editor, doc builder, data connector, or screenshotter.Access Levels: WebFX 4. Persona and tone (optional for LLM context)Role: For example, “You are a senior marketing operations analyst.”Tone: Concise, practical, skeptical of weak claims, or cite sources when needed.Output Style Rules: Use bullets for findings, include numbers, avoid hype, and label assumptions.5. Rules, guardrails, and securityQuality Standards: Accuracy checks, citation rules, formatting requirements, and brand constraints.Approval Gates: Where it must pause for human review.Escalation Path: If there is missing data, low confidence, or conflicting signals, who should it notify and how?Stop Conditions: When to halt instead of guessing. For example, “If tracking data is incomplete, stop and request confirmation.”Data Handling: PII handling, what can or cannot be stored, or retention limits.Permissions: Read-only defaults, least-privilege access, or credential handling.6. Success metrics (KPIs)Pick three to six metrics that match the workflow:Time-to-completion: For example, less than 30 minutes from trigger to draft output.Revision rounds: For example, one round on average.Accuracy/error rate: For example, 98% metric accuracy and zero missing required fields.Consistency: For example, 100% adherence to the template and required sections.Business impact (optional): For example, faster launch cycles, fewer QA issues, and improved reporting adoption.If you can hand that brief to a new hire and they’d understand what “done” looks like, you’re close to agent-ready.5 workflows that are perfect AI teammate pilotsIf you’re wondering which workflow you should automate, here are practical candidates for marketing workflow automation that are repeatable, structured, and measurable.Weekly reporting narratives and anomaly notes: An AI agent for this workflow would be able to pull metrics, compare periods, flag spikes or drops, draft insights in your template, and pause for approval.Competitive intel digest: The AI can check a defined set of competitor pages, ads, or keywords, log changes, summarize trends, and produce a consistent brief.Campaign QA workflow: The AI teammate verifies UTMs, tracking, landing page requirements, link checks, naming conventions, and stops at a launch gate.Content refresh queue: This AI agent would identify pages to update, suggest improvements, draft updates with sourcing notes, and route for editorial review.Sales enablement repurposing: The AI converts one approved asset, such as a case study or webinar, into a set of channel outputs with brand constraints and review steps.If you’re trying to decide what to delegate, start with workflows where the output format is stable and the QA gate is obvious.Where most teams get it wrongAI can absolutely streamline operations, but it follows your process exactly. If the workflow is unclear or inconsistent, automation tends to create even faster confusion rather than faster results. Common breakdowns look like this:Missing rules: The agent can’t infer your standards, so you get inconsistent outputs.Unclear ownership: Nobody is accountable for quality, approvals, and updates to the workflow brief.No QA gates: Nobody outlined constraints regarding hallucinations, wrong data pulls, brand or compliance issues, and “almost right” work that still requires heavy rework.Messy inputs: The AI doesn’t complete tasks effectively when you feed it incomplete tracking, inconsistent naming, scattered docs, or conflicting dashboards.Poorly defined tool access: Too much permission creates risk. Too little access makes the workflow unusable.A lightweight safeguard model helps:Put human-in-the-loop checkpoints at publish or spend moments.Version your agent brief and prompts.Define “stop” conditions so the agent asks instead of guessing.Even OpenAI positions steerability and supervision as essential to effective agent work. So missing QA gates isn’t a minor flaw. It breaks delegation.Agent-ready workflow criteriaUse this quick rubric to judge whether a workflow is ready for delegation as part of your AI workflow design process.A workflow is a good candidate if you can answer “yes” to most of these: WebFX The overall verdict:5–6 “Yes” answers: You’re in a good place. This workflow is ready to delegate — just keep the review gates in place.3–4 “Yes” answers: Close. Start with a smaller version (read-only + draft output), then expand once your inputs and rules are clearer.0–2 “Yes” answers: Not yet. Use the “what to fix” column as your cleanup list, then rerun the rubric.This story was produced by WebFX and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Staying Silent Can Leave You at Risk for Endometrial Cancer Sorry, but your browser does not support the video tag. var bptVideoPlayer = document.getElementById("bptVideoPlayer"); if (bptVideoPlayer) { var cssText = "width: 100%;"; cssText += " background: url('" + bptVideoPlayer.getAttribute("poster") + "');"; cssText += " -webkit-background-size: cover;"; cssText += " -moz-background-size: cover;"; cssText += " -o-background-size: cover;"; cssText += " background-size: cover;"; bptVideoPlayer.style.cssText = cssText; var bptVideoPlayerContainer = document.getElementById("bptVideoPlayerContainer"); if (bptVideoPlayerContainer) { setTimeout(function () { bptVideoPlayerContainer.style.cssText = "display: block; position: relative; margin-bottom: 10px;"; var isIE = navigator.userAgent.match(/ MSIE(([0 - 9] +)(\.[0 - 9] +) ?) /); var isEdge = navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Edge") > -1 \|\| navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Trident") > -1; if (isIE \|\| isEdge) { fixVideoPoster(); } }, 1000); } var bptVideoPlayButton = document.getElementById("bptVideoPlayButton"); if (bptVideoPlayButton) { bptVideoPlayButton.addEventListener("click", function () { bptVideoPlayer.play(); }, false); bptVideoPlayer.addEventListener("play", function () { bptVideoPlayButton.style.cssText = "display: none;"; }, false); } var mainImage = document.getElementById("mainImageImgContainer_sm"); if (mainImage) { mainImage.style.cssText = "display: none;"; } var mainImage = document.getElementById("photo-noresize"); if (mainImage) { mainImage.style.cssText = "display: none;"; } var assetGallery = document.getElementsByClassName("asset_gallery")[0]; if (assetGallery) { assetGallery.style.cssText = "display: none;"; } var assetGallery = document.getElementsByClassName("trb_article_leadart")[0]; if (assetGallery) { assetGallery.style.cssText = "display: none;"; } var assetGallery = document.querySelectorAll("[src='https://d372qxeqh8y72i.cloudfront.net/079a0c92-264e-48ac-88f7-eee8f24b71d4_web.jpg']")[0]; if (assetGallery) { assetGallery.style.cssText = "display: none;"; } } function fixVideoPoster() { var videoPlayer = document.getElementById("bptVideoPlayer"); var videoPoster = document.getElementById("bptVideoPoster"); fixVideoPosterPosition(videoPlayer, videoPoster, true); window.onresize = function() { fixVideoPosterPosition(videoPlayer, videoPoster); }; videoPoster.onclick = function() { videoPlayer.play(); videoPoster.style.display = "none"; }; videoPlayer.onplay = function() { videoPoster.style.display = "none"; }; } function fixVideoPosterPosition(videoPlayer, videoPoster, display) { setTimeout(function () { var videoPosition = videoPlayer.getBoundingClientRect(); videoPoster.style.position = "absolute"; videoPoster.style.top = "0"; videoPoster.style.left = "0"; videoPoster.style.width = videoPlayer.offsetWidth + "px"; videoPoster.style.height = (videoPlayer.offsetHeight + 20) + "px"; if (display) { videoPoster.style.display = "inline"; } }, 1010); } (BPT) - Sponsored by GSK: Gynecologic health is never something to be embarrassed about. Ever. Watch as Shakeya Allen, founder of the Uterine Cancer Awareness Network, hits the streets of New York City to uncover what happens when we're not afraid to ask and answer questions we often keep to ourselves regarding our gynecologic health. If something feels off, talk to your doctor. Visit dontbeembarrassed.com for more information.Intended for US audiences only.Trademarks are owned by or licensed to the GSK group of companies.©2026 GSK or licensor.NPUS-ECUCOCO260027 May 2026Produced in USA.
	Postpartum pelvic health: What to expect in the first 6 weeks and when to seek pelvic floor therapy Postpartum pelvic health: What to expect in the first 6 weeks and when to seek pelvic floor therapyIn clinical practice as a pelvic health physical therapist, birthing parents frequently express the same concern: "I had no idea it would be this hard. I didn’t think it would take this long to recover."Whether it's lifting a stroller without back pain, returning to workout routines, or having symptom-free, fun sex again, there’s often a gap between expectation and reality.Our culture puts a lot of pressure on people to "bounce back" after having a baby. Fitness influencers and professional athletes make ultrafast recovery look like the norm. But remember: Recovery is literally their job. Many have entire teams dedicated to getting them back to their prebaby baseline.Most people have other stuff to concern themselves with: their families, jobs, community responsibilities. So offer yourself some patience and kindness: You’ve been through some major changes since conception, and as they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day.In this article, Aeroflow Breastpumps offers an expert perspective about what's actually realistic and the types of support that can help during early postpartum recovery.How pregnancy changes your body from the inside outThe most obvious physical changes of pregnancy are the ones you can see: weight gain, a growing belly. What’s less visible is how those shifts affect your entire musculoskeletal system. Consider the following “big three” categories of musculoskeletal change.Spinal PostureAs your belly grows, the natural forward arch in the lower back (the lumbar lordosis) increases to compensate for the additional weight. Your pelvis tilts further forward, and your upper back curves in the opposite direction. Your head shifts slightly forward, creating an exaggerated, triple-S-curve in the spine.Things don’t just magically pop back to their previous positions postpartum. You’ll need intentional, specific strengthening and training to reestablish your prepregnancy posture and mobility.Abdominal MusclesPregnancy places significant strain and stretch on your abdominal muscles. Many people who carry a pregnancy to term will exhibit some degree of diastasis recti abdominis (DRA) either during or after pregnancy. DRA is the stretching and thinning of the connective tissue that connects the two sides of your abdominal muscles at the midline.Pelvic FloorPregnancy asks a lot of your pelvic floor muscles. You can visualize these muscles as a hammock strung across the base of your pelvis. Now imagine dropping a bowling ball into the middle of that hammock. For the nine months of pregnancy, your pelvic floor works overtime to support additional weight from your developing baby.After those nine months of hard work, the labor and delivery process presents another major challenge for the pelvic floor—yes, even if you delivered via C-section. If you labored at all before your C-section, your pelvic floor experienced increased pressure and strain. Even if you didn’t labor before cesarean, you may still experience certain pelvic floor symptoms after birth.Your pelvic floor in the first 6 weeks postpartumIn the first four to six weeks after delivery, your body is focused on healing the tissues that experienced the most physical trauma during birth. After vaginal delivery, that’s usually your pelvic floor; after cesarean, it’s typically the abs.There’s swelling, muscle soreness, and maybe some nerves that got irritated from prolonged labor or surgical positioning. All of these take time (and a solid dose of TLC) to resolve.Postpartum Wound HealingIf you experienced perineal tearing during delivery, your postpartum body is working hard to heal that wound. The same goes for a C-section scar.Early wound healing is a rather chaotic process. Your body’s top priority is closing the wound quickly to protect it from infection. Think of it like 10 people simultaneously throwing water on a house fire: It isn’t very organized, but it usually does the job of slowing down the fire and saving the house.Much like this imaginary crew of amateur firefighters, your body lays down new tissue as fast as possible. Later on, the body sends in the professional fire crew to reorganize that tissue into a stronger, more organized structure. This is why scars usually look big and lumpy early on, and get smaller and lighter over time.Even if your wound sites look healed on the surface, don't expect them to feel completely normal at the six-week mark. Instead, focus on gradual improvement week over week for many months postpartum.Postpartum pelvic floor symptoms: When to reach out for helpSome discomfort in the first weeks is typical: After all, your body is recovering from a major physical accomplishment. If pain or other symptoms persist without improvement or worsen during these early weeks, though, your body is telling you it’s time to reach out for extra help.Far too many people quietly accept long-term symptoms as “just the price of giving birth” when they’re actually very treatable.Case in point: Leaking pee when you sneeze, cough, or laugh is common right after vaginal delivery, but it's not something you have to live with forever.If you’re still experiencing leaks after six weeks postpartum, your pelvic floor and core are asking for some extra help. Here are some other symptoms that can indicate ongoing pelvic floor problems.Difficulty emptying your bladder or bowels. In response to pain and trauma, the pelvic floor can go into a kind of high-alert protective pattern, holding on tightly and struggling to relax. A nonrelaxing pelvic floor makes it difficult to fully empty when you pee or poop.A feeling of heaviness or fullness in the vagina. Some people describe this feeling like “there’s something sitting inside my vagina,” or “like my insides are trying to come out through my vagina.” These symptoms can suggest pelvic organ prolapse, in which internal organs descend lower into the pelvis and press against the vaginal walls. Don’t panic: Many postpartum people have or develop some degree of prolapse, and most cases respond very well to rehabilitation.Core weakness. Your abs and other core muscles are going to feel weak after giving birth, and that's completely expected. It takes at least six to eight weeks to rebuild muscle strength and volume (and that’s assuming you’re doing consistent strength training).Here’s the good news: Most people start feeling stronger before six weeks, even before they return to regular exercise routines. This happens because your brain is reestablishing its connection to your muscles: Mind-muscle communication gets better before your strength fully returns. Don't expect your core to feel at 100% even at six weeks.Why consider pelvic physical therapyPelvic health PT is an effective tool for improved postpartum recovery. It can help you regain pelvic floor strength and reestablish continence sooner; return to comfortable, enjoyable sex sooner; and get back to your favorite activities.Despite the name, pelvic health PT involves more than just the pelvic floor. It evaluates breathing patterns, posture, ergonomics during breastfeeding, pumping, and lifting your baby, and even your foot posture. It's a whole-person approach, and it encourages collaboration with OB-GYNs, midwives, and lactation consultants to make sure you're getting well-rounded support.The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends two early postpartum visits: one at two weeks and one at six weeks. Unfortunately, that two-week visit often doesn't happen, especially in areas with provider shortages. Pelvic PTs can serve as an extra set of eyes during that early window.What to expect from pelvic PTPelvic PT is not nearly as intimidating as you might expect.The first visit usually involves a lot of talking: Your PT will ask about your birth history, your current symptoms, and what activities matter most to you. From there, they may start with movement and functional assessments: watching you walk, bend, and lift; assessing the strength and mobility of your hips and spine; examining muscle recruitment in your core muscles.An internal pelvic floor exam may be appropriate for some people. In pelvic physical therapy, there’s no speculum and no stirrups. One gloved, lubricated finger is used to gently assess the pelvic floor muscles through the vaginal canal.Remember: You’re in charge, and your consent and comfort come first. If you're not comfortable with an internal exam, there are plenty of workarounds and alternatives your PT can offer.How long does postpartum PT take to start working?There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to postpartum recovery. Many people feel ready to move forward on their own within about eight to 12 weeks of starting pelvic PT. If you had significant perineal tearing, delivery complications, or preexisting pelvic floor issues, it may take longer to reach your recovery goals, and that’s okay.Questions worth asking your pelvic health providerPelvic health professionals talk about poop, pee, and sex for a living. There’s no such thing as “too much information.”Here are some common questions they usually hear from early postpartum patients:"Is XYZ symptom normal right now?" Whether it's neck pain from your breastfeeding positions or pelvic pressure that just doesn't feel right, ask. There are no stupid questions."What activities should I avoid or ease into?" Running, heavy weightlifting, high-impact exercise classes: You absolutely can return to these activities, but you need a thoughtful, progressive return plan. Jumping right back into CrossFit or marathon training without proper preparation is a great way to end up pulling a muscle and peeing your pants in public."How do I know if I'm doing my exercises correctly?" As if mom brain wasn’t enough to contend with… now you have to remember all the instructions to multiple new exercises? Here’s a hack: Ask your PT to record a video on your phone while teaching you a new exercise. If they provide their instructions as a voiceover while filming, you'll have both the visual and the verbal cues to refer to at home."What's a realistic timeline for my specific goals?" Your recovery timeline is yours alone. Setting clear expectations early makes the mental side of recovery a lot more manageable, especially if you’re doing so with the help of a postpartum care team. It really helps to know that it's going to get better, and there's the plan for getting there.Remember: You aren’t alone in this recovery journey. There’s a whole community of new parents just like you out there. With a little help and support, you can rebuild your strength, mobility, and confidence after baby, no “bouncing back” required.Recovering after birth looks different for everyone, and having the right support can make a meaningful difference.This story was produced by Aeroflow Breastpumps and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	What to wear to a soccer game this summer What to wear to a soccer game this summerBy dressing strategically with gear that keeps up, you can focus less on sweat and more on the thrill of a soccer game this summer, Dove Men + Care reports. Lightweight, breathable fabrics, moisture-wicking layers, and smart accessories, paired with staying hydrated, will keep you comfortable throughout a match. When the game ends, a quick post-event routine will leave you feeling fresh and ready for whatever comes next.Check the weather before you head outBefore heading out in your favorite team jersey, take a quick look at the weather forecast. The temperature, humidity, and cloud cover can all affect your sweat levels and how comfortable you feel.“Heat increases how much sweat the body produces, while high humidity slows sweat evaporation, causing moisture to sit on the skin instead of cooling it,” explains Unilever R&D manager David Waters. “When sweat lingers in warm, damp conditions, it creates an ideal environment for bacteria to grow and break sweat down into odor‑causing compounds. As a result, hot and humid weather often makes both wetness and body odor more noticeable and longer‑lasting.”To stay smelling fresh, apply deodorant to clean, dry skin before you get dressed. If you want to manage both odor and sweat throughout the day, apply an antiperspirant.Games that start in the heat of the day often cool off by evening, so when you’re thinking about what to wear for that soccer game, consider layers. A lightweight tee under a loose button-up or thin pullover gives you flexibility when the temperature changes. A thin windbreaker can also be handy when the evening chill sets in.Best clothing choices for the game“Clothing doesn’t just absorb sweat, it changes the climate sitting on top of your skin, which directly determines how much your body sweats,” says Unilever R&D scientist Matt Annecharico. “Sweat cools only when it evaporates. Breathable fabrics and natural fibers allow for more evaporation, while clothing that’s synthetic and fits tightly doesn’t allow much evaporation. This means more sweat can occur, and it will have less of a chance to cool you down.”Start choosing your clothing strategically from your base layer, which is your first line of defense against sweat. Moisture-wicking fabrics are designed to pull sweat away from your skin and spread it across the fabric's surface, letting it evaporate quickly. This keeps your body cooler and prevents that clingy, damp feeling. Dove Men + Care Dry-fit shirts and performance tees or ones made from micromodal fabric (a soft, lightweight and breathable fabric) are ideal for hot-weather events. Match these fabrics with long-lasting freshness and odor protection to stay comfortable throughout the match. For all-over coverage, try a whole-body deodorant.Pick loose, light-colored outer layersYour outer layer can make a big difference in how comfortable you feel at a summer soccer game. Light-colored shirts and jerseys reflect heat better than darker options, which trap sunlight and warmth.Go for loose, roomy cuts that let air flow freely. Look for features like perforations, mesh panels, or vents. Many fan jerseys now include these. You can also layer a casual short-sleeve button-down over a performance tee for extra style and comfort while keeping cool.Wear breathable lower-body gearChoosing the right lower-body gear is just as important. Shorts or pants made from technical blends or micromodal fiber allow heat to escape and moisture to dry fast. For a more casual or less intense match, linen-blend shorts or pants are a great option. They’re lightweight and airy without feeling like you’re overdoing it.Your underwear and footwear should play their part too. Breathable mesh or micromodal blends prevent uncomfortable sweat buildup and friction, especially in tight stadium seating. Look for moisture-wicking boxer briefs and wear breathable sneakers and quick-dry socks to prevent odor and blisters.Gear up with smart accessoriesMany athletic accessories now feature moisture-wicking, quick-dry, or UV-blocking technology, giving you extra comfort and protection. Wear a wide-brimmed hat to keep your face and neck out of the sun or choose a breathable cap with a mesh back to help heat escape. Cooling towels, wrist sweatbands, and portable mini fans can be real lifesavers when temperatures climb. Don’t forget to wear sunglasses with UV protection and put on sweat-resistant sunscreen. With the right accessories, you’ll stay cool, dry, and focused on the game, not the heat.Stay hydratedNo outfit can save you if you’re dehydrated. Staying hydrated helps regulate your body temperature and keeps fatigue at bay. Bring a water bottle and take regular sips.Your simple match day routineLet's summarize what works:Hydrate before you arrive.Layer moisture-wicking and breathable pieces.Pack sunscreen, sunglasses, and a breathable hat.Bring a cooling towel or mini fan.Refill your water bottle throughout the day (and drink).Post-game freshnessStaying fresh after the game matters. For you and your clothes. Quick-dry or easy-care fabrics make washing simple, but that doesn’t mean you can skip washing them and just stuff them in your gym bag.A good post-game shower routine goes a long way. Use a quality body wash for odor control, towel off well, and apply your favorite deodorant or antiperspirant to clean, dry skin. You’ll feel refreshed, and your gear will last longer, too.FAQsWhat fabrics keep you cool and dry during summer soccer games?Choose moisture-wicking fabrics, which pull sweat away from your skin and dry quickly to keep you comfortable in the heat. Micromodal fabric is also a good pick as it’s soft, lightweight, and breathable. These fabrics won’t stop you from sweating, but they help you stay dry and comfortable for longer.How do I stop sweat marks at outdoor events?Wear loose, light-colored clothing made from moisture-wicking fabrics to help your body stay cool. Use a reliable antiperspirant to control odor and moisture throughout the day.What shoes should I wear to a soccer game if I’ll be standing a lot?Footwear is important when you’re thinking about what to wear for a soccer game. Breathable sneakers or sport sandals, together with moisture-wicking socks, keep feet cool and prevent odor and blisters.This story was produced by Dove Men + Care and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Operating Big Boy: Inside the cab of America’s most powerful steam engine World's largest operating steam locomotive makes stop in Denison and Carroll
	AI watermarking: Why Big Tech is betting on AI provenance, and losing AI watermarking: Why Big Tech is betting on AI provenance, and losingWherever internet users turn, they are accosted by AI-generated text, videos, and images, many of which are undetectable. The sanctity and trust of online spaces is crumbling under the weight of AI-content. Biden’s AI safety executive order and the European Union’s AI Act advocated proper labeling of AI output, also known as “watermarking,” but these regulations were undone in 2025. Despite no national or international strategy, many AI companies are still developing and deploying “watermarking” signals in their content. While this is a step in the right direction to regain public trust and protect consumers, watermarking can easily be bypassed.Below, Pangram Labs explores how watermarks work, why they fail and why AI detection methods that rely on a specific type of pattern recognition are reliable.AI watermarking is detected, but not seenTo humans, AI watermarking is invisible. Instead of a traditional watermark displaying a company’s name or logo, AI watermarks are embedded into an AI model's text, image, and video output in an imperceptible way.Google uses SynthID, which embeds subtle variations in Gemini's output, detectable by Google's own technology. For text, SynthID alters the predictability scores of certain words according to a pseudorandom function, giving Gemini a preference for using certain words. Thus, when the text is fed back into the model, it can recognize its own handiwork based on word frequency analysis.Fully AI-generated content cannot be copyrighted under U.S. law, so it's in AI companiesâ€™ interest to develop a method for determining the provenance of their model's content. That way, once the AI-generated text, image or video gets circulated around the web, there is a signature to identify where it came from.Claiming stake to their model’s creations isn’t the only reason Big Tech has such a desire for provenance. As internet users gawk at the never-ending pile of AI slop delivered to their doorsteps daily, major AI developers fear the legal, reputational and security risks that could come their way. Bad actors use AI tools to create deepfakes or spread misinformation, threatening global security. To avoid a potential crackdown in the shape of strict government mandates, big tech aims to get ahead of the game by building tools to self-regulate. If their models can decode content just as easily as they can generate content, why would any government entity need to monitor their development?Bad news: Watermarking is not foolproofIf everyone in the world promised to never alter AI content, maybe watermarking would work. But in this world, bad actors can easily alter AI-generated content in a way that obscures its origins. Secondary paraphrasing tools, like humanizers, can easily change words or sentence structure, inserting flaws or gibberish in an attempt to disguise AI-generated content. Unfortunately, sometimes this flimsy disguise works. Pangram Labs tested 19 different AI humanizers and found that many successfully removed watermarking from text.Bad actors can also launder text by running it through multiple different translations before back-translating it into English, removing watermarks and creating a clean piece of writing that will not flag the AI companies’ decoding systems.Watermarks are delicate and easily tampered with, making them useless. Detection requires other tools.Statistical pattern recognitionThe companies who are responsible for AI-generated slop cannot be solely responsible for detecting when a piece of content is theirs. Watermarking requires the cooperation of AI developers and can be removed in the blink of an eye.But where one method fails, another prevails. A method called independent statistical pattern recognition is far more robust and reliable for identifying AI-generated content. Advanced detectors don’t need watermarks to function. They are trained on diverse datasets through a method called hard negative mining, in which the detectors are fed hard-to-detect examples. These detectors can flag AI-generated content from open-source or unreleased models, identify maliciously modified text, and offer line by line analysis on mixed AI-generated and human written pieces.From self-policing and to independent detectionAI companies will not become the champion of internet authenticity. Watermarking is a strategy that does not stand up to bad actors, and independent detection is the only real solution.True authenticity and transparency on the internet can only occur with a detection-based framework. Reliable, independent, and state-of-the-art detectors are helping to create checks and balances for the entire internet.Whether you are an academic, a professional, or an IT developer, watermarking is not your silver bullet. Protecting against academic dishonesty or AI spam content requires detection. To accurately verify the origins of essays, emails, and social media posts, organizations must use detection tools that analyze text, rather than watermarking.This story was produced by Pangram Labs and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	7 smart things to do with your summer job and side hustle money 7 smart things to do with your summer job and side hustle moneyCongratulations on landing a summer job. Or ramping up a side hustle. Or picking up gig work, like babysitting, lawnmowing, and dog walking. Now that you’ve got your own cash in your pocket, you might be wondering what to do with it. If you’re feeling hyped, proud, and maybe a little scared, you’re not alone.In this article, Wells Fargo offers seven tips on smart things to do with the money from your summer job or side hustle.Key takeawaysKnow how — and how much — you’ll be paid.Open a banking account made especially for teens.Activate direct deposit for recurring paychecks.Set spending goals and track your progress. with LifeSync®Understand the true cost of things so you can spend wisely.Tuck money away in a retirement account now while you’re in a low tax bracket.Don’t be left footing the bill for your friends.1. Know how, and how much, you’ll be paidDepending on the type of job and frequency, you could get paid in a variety of ways: in cash, by check, through direct deposit, or with Zelle or another digital payment app.You work at a company. You’ll generally get a paycheck with the payroll taxes, like those for Social Security and Medicare, withheld. Because of this, the actual amount for you — your take-home pay — will probably be less than you might have figured. Use a paycheck calculator to get a better idea.You work for yourself. This could be making extra money by selling crafts or clothes online, cleaning pools, coaching or tutoring, or any of the usual side hustles for teens. If you make more than $400 after expenses, you may owe self-employment taxes. These are taxes that an employer would normally withhold through payroll, and you may have to pay them even if you don’t earn enough to pay income taxes.You get paid with tips. If you’re serving at a restaurant, caddying, valeting, or any other job where your income is augmented with tips from customers, keep a daily record using an IRS form or similar. You’re responsible for paying income, Social Security, and Medicare tax on that tip money.Consult with a professional tax advisor, the IRS, and relevant IRS publications for additional information.2. Open a banking accountLook for a bank account that has benefits for teens, like no monthly service fee if you’re under 24 years old and no overdraft fees. Other key features include mobile deposit, bill pay, and sending and receiving money with Zelle.Make an appointment to visit a branch with a parent or guardian and meet with a banker. When you have your account, load your debit card to your digital wallet so you can pay for everyday things with your phone.Make it a habit to check your bank account balance and transactions at least once a week. Set up alerts so you know when your paycheck comes in or if your account balance dips below the amount you specify.3. Activate direct depositIf offered by your employer, direct deposit is a convenient, safe, and faster way to have your recurring paycheck automatically deposited into your account, so you won’t have to worry about checks getting lost, delayed, or stolen, or making a trip to the bank to deposit.4. Set spending goalsSo, what do you want to spend your money on?Maybe you want to save a chunk of cash to buy a car, move into an apartment, or take a big trip. You have to save money to spend money.One way to get started is to set attainable goals and track your progress. Some banks will have tools to do this within their app, or you can find whatever way suits you to set and track your money goals.5. Understand the true cost of things so you can spend wiselyIt’s less about budgeting, and more about knowing and preparing for ongoing costs. Write down what you pay weekly, monthly, or annually for expenses such as gas, eating out, clothes, gym membership, phone bill, and so on. If your bank has bill pay, you can schedule automatic payments so you’re always paying your bills first. Then you’ll have a handle on how much you can spend or save each month.Beware of hidden costs. For example, if you are saving up to rent an apartment, understand all the associated costs beyond just paying rent: security deposit, renters insurance, parking, furnishings, and much more. If you’ll have a roommate, map out how you’ll both share ongoing expenses.Now that you’re tuned in to the true costs, you can apply this knowledge to all kinds of situations. Take music festivals. Add up the gas or airline ticket, hotel or tent, merch, food, and other costs in addition to the ticket, to make sure the total amount is worth spending your hard-earned cash. If not, scale back or announce to your friends that you’re “loud budgeting.”6. Be in it for the long haulWhen you’re young and have your first real job, it’s a good time to start setting aside money so it can grow for the long term with the help of compounding interest.Options include a savings account, your employer’s retirement plan, and a Roth IRA, from which you can take out contributions or principal amounts for any reason without taxes or penalties. You could contribute to a Roth IRA if you earned income from a W-2 job or even yardwork and babysitting.The best part about investing is you don’t have to have a lot of money to start; every little bit counts. Start with the minimum to get your feet wet, so you can understand the options and outcomes. This is a good habit to continue throughout your life.7. Don’t be left holding the bagHave you ever been put in a situation where you are on the hook for expenses, often in an unfair way because other people fail or refuse to take responsibility? This is a money lesson you don’t want to learn by experience. Here are some tips:Resist being an unpaid chauffeur. If you’re the one driving your friends around town, ask for gas money.Be cautious when pooling resources. On trips, are you the one paying for everyone’s ticket, only to have to hound your buddies to pay you back? Don’t set a precedent for you paying for everything. This is great practice for the future, when you have more formal partnerships, cosigning for other people, or otherwise obligating yourself.Be wary of being the family bank. Hold friends and family accountable. You’re doing your part for yourself; they should do theirs. Let them know you expect to be paid back, for example by using Zelle to request money. If you’re too easy on folks, you might end up always being last on the list to be paid back.Resist the urge to be too trusting or to let things go too easily. Use this opportunity to set boundaries. You’ve worked hard for your money, and you should be able to spend it how you see fit.This story was produced by Wells Fargo and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	What Americans think about election policy and how the 2026 elections will go What Americans think about election policy and how the 2026 elections will goEarlier this year, Votebeat asked a group of election experts what worried them about the administration of the 2026 midterms. This article shares the results for a closer look at how the American people are feeling.Several polls in recent months have asked about people’s confidence in the election, the likelihood of voter fraud, and how — if at all — election laws should be changed. Their responses defy easy categorization: Many are concerned about fraud and support efforts to weed it out, but they’re also worried about voter disenfranchisement and oppose federal intervention in elections.Polls: Many Americans are concerned about voter fraudWith President Donald Trump continuing to spread fear about widespread voter fraud in the midterms — despite his claims about past elections being repeatedly debunked — about half of Americans say they have concerns along these lines. According to an Ipsos/Reuters poll conducted April 15-20, 46% of American adults agreed with the statement that noncitizens cast a large number of fraudulent ballots in U.S. elections, and 50% were very or somewhat concerned about ineligible voters casting a ballot in the midterms.Trump’s invectives against mail voting have also trickled down to the general public: The same survey found that 53% of adults were concerned about fraudulent mail-in or absentee ballots in the midterms.More generally, a Marist University/NPR/PBS News poll conducted March 2-4 found that 50% of adults thought it was likely that there would be voter fraud in the November elections. By contrast, none of the experts in Votebeat’s informal survey thought it was likely that a significant number of ineligible voters would cast ballots in 2026. Studies have repeatedly shown that noncitizen voting and voter fraud by mail are exceedingly rare.It’s important to look at polls in the aggregate, and not every survey agrees that such a large percentage of Americans have been convinced by Trump’s claims. In a YouGov/CBS News poll conducted March 16-19, only 23% of adults said they thought noncitizens vote “a lot” in federal elections, although an additional 27% said they do so “sometimes.” And just 32% thought voter fraud and irregularities were generally widespread in U.S. elections; 57% thought they occurred only in a few isolated incidents, and only 11% said there was no voter fraud or irregularities whatsoever.Still, 38% of YouGov/CBS News’ respondents thought “a lot” of fraud takes place when ballots are cast by mail, compared to just 13% who said the same of ballots cast in person, and 42% said ineligible voters casting ballots was a “major problem” — not quite half, but a meaningful minority.Unsurprisingly, the slice of the populace that is most likely to fret about fraud is Republicans. For example, 54% of Republicans thought there were widespread fraud and irregularities in U.S. elections versus just 14% of Democrats and 28% of independents. And 69% of Republicans said that ineligible voters were a major problem, compared with 20% of Democrats and 39% of independents.Americans are also worried about voter access, federal troops, and attempts to overturn election resultsFraud isn’t the only concern that Americans have about elections, though. In fact, all three polls found that more people are worried about disenfranchisement than fraud. In the Ipsos/Reuters poll, 57% said they were very or somewhat concerned about eligible voters being prevented from voting, and 44% of respondents to the YouGov/CBS News poll identified that as a major problem. And according to Marist, 58% of adults think it’s likely that many people will show up to vote in 2026 and be told they’re not eligible.When it comes to the tradeoff between voting access and security, Americans are slightly more likely to prioritize access. When Marist asked respondents what concerned them more, 59% said “making sure that everyone who wants to vote can do so,” while 41% said “making sure that no one votes who is not eligible.”That also comes across in Americans’ opposition to stationing federal agents at voting locations. According to Ipsos/Reuters, people disagree with the idea that federal law enforcement should be present at polling places, 55% to 40%, and they disagree with sending National Guard troops there by an even wider margin: 67% to 28%. However, in the Marist poll, only 54% of adults opposed having the National Guard at polling places, while 46% supported it. The difference might be explained by the fact that Marist specified that they would be there “to monitor November’s election” — a reminder that how pollsters word their surveys matters.What really keeps Americans up at night, though, is what could happen after votes are cast. In the YouGov/CBS News poll, 47% of adults said “votes not being counted properly” is a major problem with U.S. elections, and 55% said “attempts to overturn official election results” are. Similarly, 69% of Ipsos/Reuters’ respondents said they were very or somewhat concerned about attempts to overturn official election results — by far the highest share of any scenario posed to them.Americans have mixed views of Trump’s election agendaSo people are plenty worried about how the midterms will go — but what, if anything, do they think should be done about it? Well, the polls found that Americans have complicated, even contradictory, views on that.First — as Trump has said many times — Americans strongly support many of the Republicans’ plans to tighten election rules. About 80% of adults support requiring voters to show ID, according to both YouGov/CBS News (which asked specifically about photo IDs) and Ipsos/Reuters (which just asked about “official ID”). And per YouGov/CBS News, 66% of adults favor requiring people to show proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. Respondents said, 43% to 29%, that such a requirement would do more to prevent illegal voting by noncitizens than to prevent legal voting by citizens (28% said it would do both things equally).There is, of course, pending federal legislation to implement a proof-of-citizenship requirement, but interestingly, the YouGov/CBS News poll found that people narrowly oppose one of those bills, the SAVE Act, 31% to 28%. However, the important number there is the 41% who weren’t sure where they stood on it — probably a symptom of the fact that many Americans aren’t closely following the debate over the bill in Washington. Indeed, 36% of adults told YouGov/CBS News that they don’t even know what’s in it!On the other hand, Americans clearly aren’t on board with Trump’s movement to end mail voting. According to YouGov/CBS News, 49% of adults believed that mail voting should be available to all voters who want it, while 39% thought it should only be allowed for voters who can’t vote in person. Only 12% thought it should never be permitted.The same poll also found Americans are skeptical of the Trump administration’s efforts to get more involved in election administration. Only 41% of respondents thought there should be more federal oversight of elections than there is now. An identical 41% thought the current level of oversight was sufficient, and 18% thought there should be even less than there is now.Similarly, when YouGov/CBS News asked who should have the final say in how states administer their elections, only 29% said the federal government. A whopping 71% said it should be up to the individual states.Americans trust local election officialsThe public’s preference for local election administration reflects a broader truth: For all their anxieties on a national level, Americans still largely feel good about how the midterms will be run in their neck of the woods.In the Marist poll, 66% of adults said they were confident that their state or local government would run a fair and accurate election this November, although that was slightly lower than the share who thought that ahead of the 2020, 2022, or 2024 elections. And per YouGov/CBS News, 35% of adults have “a lot” of confidence in their local election administrators, 39% have “some,” and only 26% have “not much” or “none at all.”Finally, about 70% of respondents to the YouGov/CBS News and Ipsos/Reuters polls said they were confident that their own vote would be counted correctly. And Marist found that 63% had either “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence that ballots cast in the election would be counted accurately.Notably, these questions were the only ones in this article without a significant partisan split: For example, 68% of Democrats had confidence that 2026 ballots would be counted accurately, and 67% of Republicans did.Overall, Americans’ views on election administration can seem to be all over the map. They’re worried about elections being overturned, but also think vote-counting will be accurate. They take fraud seriously and support election-security measures, but they’re concerned that voters will be disenfranchised.It doesn’t necessarily make for a cohesive narrative, but it’s possible to reconcile all the data above: It’s not unreasonable to want both fraud-free elections and full voter access; to support federal laws but feel they should be implemented on the state level; and to worry about worst-case scenarios but acknowledge they are unlikely to happen. The partisan debates over voting that people have grown accustomed to don’t leave a lot of room for nuance, but arguments made by politicians and activists are often merely archetypes; Americans’ actual beliefs are considerably more complex.This story was produced by Votebeat and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Quad-Cities gas prices fall nearly 16 cents, expert warns they could go back up Prices in the area are down more than 15 cents from last week, but are 5.3 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and $1.19 per gallon higher than a year ago.
	UnityPoint Health to host Moline event highlighting value of veterans workforce To support veterans in their job searches and help employers hire the best candidates, UnityPoint Health – Trinity and the Quad Cities Community Veterans Engagement Board will host “Vet TalkX: Why Hiring Veterans is Good for Business.” The free event is open to employers, business owners, human resources professionals, nonprofit leaders, veterans and transitioning service [...]
	NM health agency says adult cigarette use down as vaping rises The New Mexico Department of Health announced on May 29, 2026, that cigarette use among adults had declined while vaping rose, but both forms of nicotine use have declined among youth. (Joshua Bowling/Source NM)While cigarette use has declined in New Mexico, the state health department reported on Friday that residents are vaping more, “trading one public health risk for another,” according to a news release. Between 2022 and 2024, the percentage of New Mexico adults smoking cigarettes dropped from 15% to 11.7%, while the use of e-cigarettes increased from 7.3% to 8.2% during the same time period. However, both cigarette and vaping use have dropped among high school students during recent years: from 8.3% in 2019 to 3.3% in 2023 for cigarettes, and from 33.4% to 18.8% in the same time period for e-cigarettes. Middle school students’ smoking of e-cigarette use also dropped from 15.1% in 2019 to state health officials characterized as a “record low” of 10.4% in 2023. “New Mexicans have made progress quitting smoking, but it remains a significant public health problem,” NMDOH’s Nicotine Use Prevention and Control office Director Anthony Garcia said in a statement. “More people are vaping, especially youth, because it’s sold as a safer choice to cigarettes, but e-cigarettes contain toxic chemicals linked to cancer along with brain, cardiovascular, and respiratory harm.” The agency cited data from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids that says tobacco use kills approximately 2,600 New Mexicans each year and causes close to 24% of cancer deaths in the state. State lawmakers on the interim Tobacco Settlement Revenue Oversight Committee met last week to discuss more comprehensive strategies for tackling youth nicotine use. In March, state Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced a lawsuit against Circle K and other retailers that sell vapes, accusing them of selling vapes in colorful packaging to subliminally advertise to children. The health department cited services to help quit that are available by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) or 1-855-DEJELO-YA (1-855-335-3569). Services are available online at QuitNowNM.org or DejeloYaNM.org. Courtesy of Source New Mexico
	Emergency crews respond to dump truck rollover A dump truck appeared to be in the ditch on its side.
	This small ant’s sting can cause severe reactions. Few people know it exists. This small ant’s sting can cause severe reactions. Few people know it exists.Researchers in the South want people to know about an invasive ant species whose painful sting can cause fatal anaphylaxis in some people — and disrupt local ecologies as well.Asian needle ants are not widely known and often meander outdoors individually, so it’s easy to miss them and get stung, Healthbeat reports. As temperatures grow warmer in the spring, the ants become more active, and people spend more time outside.Dan Suiter, an entomologist with the University of Georgia’s extension service, received calls from three people in 2024 reporting being stung by Asian needle ants and requiring hospitalization for anaphylaxis, an allergic reaction that can be fatal.Suiter said he wants to make sure people know about the Asian needle ant so they can avoid stings. Since he began putting out press alerts over the past few years, he’s received many more reports from people who were stung and needed serious medical treatment.The species, discovered in Decatur, Georgia about a century ago, likely arrived in the United States through international trade.The ant has been reported in more than 20 states east of the Mississippi River, from Florida to Wisconsin, according to data from the Global Ant Biodiversity Informatics project at the University of Hong Kong.One study published last year found the ants thriving in a community mulch pile in Watkinsville, Georgia. Gardeners taking mulch from the pile could be contributing to the ants’ local spread, the authors wrote.The species has a 100-year head start on researchers, and they lack good historical data as to how the ant has spread in the United States, said Christopher Hayes, an entomologist at North Carolina State University.How invasive ants can affect the environmentAs with other invasive species — like kudzu — it’s too embedded in the environment to successfully remove it, Hayes said.In the Southeast, fire ants and Joro spiders are well-known invasive species.Scientists are seeking to better understand the Asian needle ant: where it is, its habitat, and its environmental impact. That’s important, Hayes said, because the ant can harm ecological systems.“On a daily basis, you have these multiple species that they’re always competing with one another,” Suiter said. Asian needle ants “out-compete” other ant species for food, driving those species to “local extinction.”That’s a problem because those species are often responsible for seed dispersal that allows native plant species to reproduce, he said.Hayes said he would like to figure out how to preserve native species and mitigate the Asian needle ant’s environmental impact.Painful sting can prompt anaphylaxis, phantom painAllergic reactions to stings by honeybees, wasps, and ants account for up to 43% of anaphylaxis cases and about 20% anaphylaxis-related fatalities. That makes them an important, if sometimes underrecognized, public health issue, according to a 2022 study.Suiter said people who are allergic to bees and wasps and those who carry EpiPens should know what the Asian needle ant looks like so they can avoid a potentially serious allergic reaction.As temperatures warm and summers grow longer, Hayes said, the Asian needle ant will have longer active seasons. While the ants typically “hunker down” over the winter, they become more active in warmer weather, meaning people will have more chances of being exposed to them.The ants don’t come indoors, instead preferring moist environments, like downed logs, Suiter said.The ants, whose scientific name is Brachyponera chinensis, are brownish, measure 3/16-inch long, and often live in logs and leaf litter and under rocks and stones.“One of the ways to minimize the numbers of needle ants in your yard would be simply to clean up all that,” Suiter said.Asian needle ants are less aggressive than fire ants, Hayes said. They are “stealthier” and more likely to be hidden in piles of wood than the fire ant mounds that Southerners are used to seeing.And while fire ants are more likely to come pouring out of a mound and bite people multiple times, Asian needle ants will “meander around on your arms” or other body parts until they get squeezed, such as in a gardener’s glove, prompting them to bite, Hayes said.In contrast to most other ant species that form long trails, Asian needle ants tend to go it alone.“When you see them in your yard or on the concrete, they’re just kind of meandering around as a single ant, and they don’t really garner your attention” the way ants in long trails might, Suiter said.“With the Asian needle ant, their rate of triggering anaphylaxis from a single sting is much higher than the rate of a fire ant individual sting triggering anaphylaxis,” Hayes said. “The sting of an Asian needle ant is more dangerous on the individual ant level.”(Colloquially, most people say they were “bitten” by an ant, Hayes said. In reality, most ants first bite people and then either sting with venom or spray an acid.)The sting looks different than a fire ant sting, which looks like a small zit with a white pustule, Suiter said. Asian needle ant stings have small red dot surrounded by swelling, similar to a yellow jacket sting.People who are allergic to other insects like bees and wasps are most at risk of anaphylaxis, Hayes said, because the venom is similar.But there are reports of people with no history of allergies or anaphylaxis also having severe reactions to the Asian needle ant, Hayes and Suiter said.If you do think you’ve been stung, keep an eye on the site and mark any swelling or redness with a marker on your skin so you can tell if it spreads. If it does spread, or you have difficulty breathing, seek medical advice right away, Hayes said.He has been stung before — “for science” — and said the sting felt like fiberglass underneath his skin, different from how a fire ant’s sting feels. He keeps an EpiPen and Benadryl on hand to help manage allergic reactions.The Asian needle ant has an unusual feature: It can cause pain hours after the initial sting, even up to 24 or 48 hours later.Hayes said his young son was stung last summer and woke up hours later screaming in pain.Suiter also reported the pain returning hours later after a sting. “It’s got kind of a bizarre response,” he said.This story was produced by Healthbeat and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	How President Trump tried to influence key Iowa primary races President Donald Trump has issued a series of endorsements in key Iowa Republican Primary races in 2026.
	New report looks to move beyond ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ in the math wars New report looks to move beyond ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ in the math warsEducators seeking to improve their schools’ math offerings should look critically at state and other recommendations to determine what works — and what doesn’t — inside their own classrooms, according to a new report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education.The group also calls for a massive study of existing research to help identify best practices, noting the last such effort was undertaken 20 years ago.CRPE’s Navigating the Math Wars: A Practical Guide to the Divides and Debates Influencing Math Instruction, released in late April, tracks the traditional teacher-centered approach and the reform movement, which calls for student-led learning.As The 74 explores in this article, the CRPE does not choose a side, but it does note that recent efforts to retool math education often call for a mix of the two. It also pays particular attention to the “science of math,” which gained traction in the early 2020s and argues that math instruction should be guided by empirical research and cognitive science while relying more on orderly, explicit classroom instruction.Mathematics has been a major educational concern for years with renewed attention after the pandemic. American students have long lagged their international peers, a trend that only worsened after COVID shutdowns.“This is a national priority that needs to be answered,” said Alexander Kurz, a senior fellow at CRPE and the report’s author. “In the absence of consensus, the guide urges educators to evaluate competing claims as they arrive at their schools and to anchor decisions in a clear-eyed look at what’s actually happening in their classrooms.”The report comes as more than a dozen states have passed legislation aimed at improving math education, in some ways following the state-driven initiatives that were built around the science of reading.Some, like New York, are calling for a complete overhaul of the way math is taught — with little explanation of what might change — while others have already chosen a pathway forward.California approved a revised math framework three years ago and in November 2025 adopted 64 programs at the K-8 level to help students reach those goals.Maryland recently adopted new math standards for the first time in 15 years while North Carolina is in the process of revamping its K-12 efforts to ensure more coherence across grades.Illinois released a draft numeracy plan last fall and put out a call to educators to gauge how they want to boost student proficiency.As state-level plans unfold, individual cities are taking their own steps to strengthen student performance, meeting with mixed success.New York City’s NYC Solves efforts have proved cumbersome, with the new administration vowing to make corrections. Boston is trying its own approach with Wicked Math while Washington, D.C., schools are using traditional and non-traditional means — including math field trips — to improve student engagement.CRPE urges educators looking for new ideas to consider related studies critically, noting they often do not encompass a wide student group. As a result, their recommendations might not work in all cases.“We should always approach these studies with a healthy skepticism,” said Yasemin Copur-Gencturk, who helped craft some of the CRPE report’s recommendations. “Something that might work with a particular group of students in a particular context may not work in another situation.”Some groups, Black students among them, have fallen even further behind their peers in math in recent years.An earlier CRPE report cites that on the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests, gaps between the highest- and lowest-performing students widened significantly after 2017. Higher-scoring kids started to rebound after the pandemic in 2024, but those in the 10th and 25th percentiles suffered steep and lasting losses.CRPE points out that nearly two decades ago, the National Mathematics Advisory Panel, composed of 24 expert members who reviewed more than 16,000 research publications and policy reports, marked the last nationwide effort to improve student performance in the subject, as detailed in its 2008 report.“Addressing core Math Wars debates, the NMAP deemed the conflict between conceptual understanding and procedural fluency ‘misguided,’ concluding that the two are mutually supportive,” the report found. “The panel also explicitly stated that high-quality research does not support exclusive reliance on either ‘teacher-directed’ or ‘student-centered’ instruction.”CRPE argues now is the time for an updated look at this high-stakes question.“A new national mathematics advisory effort could revisit the earlier panel’s questions while incorporating nearly two decades of new developments in mathematics education, special education, cognitive psychology, developmental science, and the learning sciences,” the report states.“Its aim should not be to declare winners and losers in the Math Wars, but to produce clearer, more transparent guidance on what is known, what remains open to further inquiry, and where practitioners can implement confidently.”This story was produced by The 74 and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	Ride the Island bike event celebrates Fathers Day, nation's 250 anniversary The Ride the Island Bicycle Ride celebrating Fathers Day and the nation's 250th anniversary, will be Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21, a news release says. Participants will ride the trails of the Rock Island Arsenal while exploring its rich history by visiting iconic landmarks and enjoying a fun-filled day of live music and activities for [...]
	More than 80 veterans fly to Washington for 66th Honor Flight of the Quad Cities More than 80 veterans from the Quad Cities area are boarding a plane to Washington, D.C., as part of the 66th Honor Flight of the Quad Cities.
	In Kachemak Bay, Kotzebue and beyond, Alaskans are on the lookout for harmful algae blooms A bright-green cyanobacteria bloom in Kotzebue on Sept. 30, 2022, collects on the surface of the water. (Photo by Alex Whiting/Native Village of Kotzebue)Algae is vital to a healthy marine system, and most of the hundreds of varieties in Alaska’s waters are beneficial or benign. But the handful that are harmful are, like other algae, proliferating in warmer conditions and releasing or threatening to release toxins that can sicken people and wildlife and, in the worst cases, cause deaths. Alexandrium cells collected from Kachemak Bay in 2017 are seen under a microscope. Alexandrium is hte type of algae that produces saxitoxin and related toxins, which cause paralytic shellfish poisoning. Photo provided by the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve) The best-known type of algae that poses risks to people, mammals and birds in Alaska is called Alexandrium. The toxins it produces cause paralytic shellfish poisoning; they block the delivery of sodium to cells, thus interfering with or shutting down nerves essential to bodily functions. The most potent Alexandrium toxin is saxitoxin, but there are related toxins produced by the same algae called gonyautoxins, or GTX. Some GTX varieties, including one detected in tomcod harvested in December by Nome-Beltz High School students in a yearslong science project, are nearly as toxic as saxitoxin. For simplicity’s sake, testing for paralytic toxins often lumps measurements of saxitoxin and GTX compounds together as “saxitoxin equivalent,” said Thomas Farrugia, coordinator of the Alaska Harmful Algal Bloom network. Like other algal toxins, Alexandrium toxins cannot be cooked or frozen away. There is no antidote for people afflicted by paralytic shellfish poisoning. People who recover do so after the toxin passes through their bodies. In fatal cases, people stop breathing. There were 132 reports of paralytic shellfish poisoning and five fatalities in Alaska between 1993 and 2021, a tally that does not include mild cases for which there was no medical treatment provided, according to state health officials. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX. In addition to posing risks to people who eat shellfish, saxitoxin and saxitoxin-like products of Alexandrium can poison wildlife. The toxin might have been a factor in bird die-offs in recent years, including the 2015-2017 event known as the “wreck” that wiped out an estimated 4 million common murres during the intense marine heatwave known as the “Blob.” It is now classified as the world’s largest wildlife die-off on record. Saxitoxin was determined to be the cause of death for northern fur seals found stranded on beaches in the Pribilof Islands in 2024 and 2025. Traces of domoic acid, but no Alaska problems yet There’s another algal threat on the horizon. Pseudo-nitzschia is another category of harmful algae of concern in Alaska. Pseudo-nitzschia, a type of algae that produces a toxin called domoic acid, is seen in this microscopic image. The sample was collected from waters at Unalaska. (Photo by Karie Holtermann, provided by Alaska Harmful Algal Bloom Network) Some varieties produce domoic acid, a toxin that is present in very small quantities in Alaska waters and Alaska animals. Its presence is so minute that it has not caused any trouble this far north. But domoic has wreaked havoc among marine mammal populations in California. In contrast to saxitoxin and related toxins, which cause paralysis by blocking nerve transmissions, domoic acid overstimulates the nervous system. The resulting illness, called amnesic shellfish poisoning, causes victims to go into seizures and can result in permanent memory loss, brain damage and death. Deaths to people have been extremely rare. The only recorded fatal human cases, according to scientific records, were four people who ate mussels in Canada’s Prince Edward Island in 1987. But starting in 1998, domoic acid has been taking a heavy toll on marine mammals in California. That year, a mass die-off of sea lions at Monterey Bay touched off alarms. Lefebvre, then a first-year graduate student who happened to be studying domoic acid, joined the investigation suggesting it could be the cause. Other potential causes, such as mercury poisoning, were initially suggested before domoic acid was identified as the culprit. The toxin accumulates to high concentrations in small fish like sardines and anchovies, which California sea lions eat. Hundreds of California sea lions died that year in the first documented marine mammal poisoning event caused by domoic acid. Since 1998, domoic acid-caused poisoning events in marine mammals occur annually in California, Lefebvre said. “We have dozens to hundreds of sea lions every year dying from domoic acid poisoning,” she said. Other marine mammals can be poisoned as well, including seals, otters, dolphins, porpoises and whales. Symptoms are visible and include seizures, in which animals sway their heads and move their flippers, disorientation and erratic behavior. Large numbers of seabirds have also been killed by the toxin. A California sea lion stricken by the neurotoxin domoic acid lies on a Sanag Barbara County beach in the summer of 2024. Domoic poisoning events from Pseudo-nitzschi algal blooms have caused deaths among California marine mammals every year since the first die-off was documented in 1998. (Photo provided by the Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute) “It’s become a regular event in California that continues to increase in severity. I’m kind of uniquely poised to see these trends after being involved in the first documented marine mammal domoic acid poisoning investigation and having studied this phenomenon for nearly 30 years,” Lefevre said. She leads a surveillance program at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center called the Wildlife Algal-toxin Research and Response Network (WARRN-West), which covers the North American West Coast from the Beaufort Sea to Southern California. Domoic acid detections, sometimes in combination with detections of saxitoxin, have also prompted shellfish harvesting closures and restrictions along the West Coast. Earlier this year, the commercial harvest of Dungeness crab was delayed in one Northern California area because of domoic acid. Domoic acid poisoning events have not been documented in Alaska, but low levels of the toxin have been detected. Residents in the Kenai Peninsula’s Kachemak Bay area worried that last summer that they might have witnessed the first poisoning event. At the same time that elevated Pseudo-nitzschia levels were detected in the bay, there was a die-off of birds and sea otters. Investigations by the Alaska Harmful Algal Bloom Network, the Homer-based Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Seldovia Village Tribe and other partners turned up no evidence of domoic acid poisoning, despite the Pseudo-nitzschia bloom there. The deaths remain unexplained, despite the testing of 30 marine mammals and 14 birds, said Rose Masui of the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Lefebvre, whose studies turned up trace levels of domoic acid in mammals ranging from sea lions in Southeast to bowhead whales in the Arctic, believes it will be a long time before Pseudo-nitzschia blooms becomes a serious danger in Alaska. Still, Kachemak Bay residents were smart to investigate it, she said. A bird stands on the beach on Oct. 22, 2025. at the end of the Homer Spit, which extends into Kachemak Bay. A die-off of birds and otters occurred in Kachemak Bay in the summer of 2025. Algal toxins were investigated as a posisble cause but ruled out. No cause has yet been identified. (Photo By Yereth Rosen) “It’s something to be watching,” she said. ‘Terrible nature’ and fluroescent-colored waters A third type of harmful algae of concern in Alaska is a collection in the genus Dinophysis. Those algae produce toxins that are not life-threatening, but cause a condition called “Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning.” The genus name itself hints at the unpleasant symptoms caused by the toxins; it derives from Greek words for “terrible” and “nature,” according to the U.S. National Office for Harmful Algal Blooms. Dinophysis species are widely present in Alaska, as a series of 2022 surveys showed. So far, there have not yet been any cases of Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning recorded in Alaska, according to the state Department of Health. However, blooms have prompted shellfish closures along the West Coast south of Alaska, including in Washington State. A fourth type of organism with blooms that proliferate in warmer conditions is cyanobacteria. Despite being commonly dubbed “blue-green algae,” cyanobacteria are photosynthesizing bacteria and not actually any type of algal species. There are thousands of identified types of cyanobacteria. The organisms are key building blocks to life on Earth. But certain types have their downsides. Blooms can deplete dissolved oxygen levels in water and lead to mass fish die-offs. They can also produce toxins that can poison fish and wildlife and pose direct threats to people. Some strains in freshwater have been shown to produce saxitoxin, as studies from the Great Lakes and elsewhere have shown. Cyanobacteria toxins can also irritate people’s skin and eyes, cause vomiting and diarrhea and, in the most serious cases, lead to organ damage or failure. In the Lower 48, warnings about blooms are regularly issued to swimmers, and beaches are occasionally closed. Now cyanobacteria is a concern in Alaska’s far north. ADinophysis algae, which produces toxins that cause Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning, is seen in a microscopic image. The algae sample was collected at Unalaska. (Photo by Karie Holtermann/provided by Alaska Harmful Algal Bloom Network) Until 2008, cyanobacteria blooms were no problem in the Inupiat community of Kotzebue, which lies just north of the Bering Strait, above the Arctic Circle. That year, the waters of Kotzebue Sound turned a weird, bright-green color. “It was like fluorescent green paint,” said Alex Whiting, director of the local tribal government’s environmental program. At first, people suspected that it was actually a spill of green paint or some other hazardous substance, he said. Even the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation was stumped for a while, he said. Eventually, the cyanobacteria was identified as the culprit. Since then, the blooms have been regular occurrences in the region, Whiting said. They are affecting places like Kobuk Lake, which is an arm of Kotzebue Sound, and Selawik Lake, which lies inland from Kotzebue and the Baldwin Peninsula on which the community is located. In partnership with Columbia University scientists, the Native Village of Kotzebue, the tribal government, has become the Alaska leader in cyanobacteria research in Alaska, Whiting said. “There’s nobody that has put as much effort in Alaska at this than the Native Village of Kotzebue,” he said. The Kotzebue-Columbia research project is working to evaluate the risks that cyanobacteria blooms pose to subsistence foods and the environmental drivers that lead to those blooms. That means compiling evidence about its effects in the food chain. The project is also testing a system that could help monitor blooms. Microscopic image of Cyanobacteria, which is not algae but a photosynthesizing type of bacteria. (Photo provided by the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve). The blooms cannot be prevented, but the hope is that people will be prepared should any ill effects result, Whiting said. The most pressing concern is the potential of cascading effects on the ecosystem. Cyanobacteria blooms, in addition to killing fish directly through oxygen depletion, can displace the phytoplankton that fish need as food sources. “If it becomes common enough and widespread enough, it can disrupt the environment and cause all kinds of issues,” he said. No dramatic effects have been documented so far from the Kotzebue-area cyanobacteria blooms. A 2021 fish die-off was suspicious, but no evidence turned up to tie it to cyanobacteria, Whiting said. For now, he said, it is understandable that Alexandrium, with its potentially acute effects, gets most of the attention when it comes to hazardous algal or algal-like blooms. Cyanobacteria and its chronic effects have been a bit overshadowed, he said. “Most people in Alaska don’t know that much about it.” That could change in a big way. “At some point, we might wake up and there might be 100,000 or 500,000 fish lying belly up in Kobuk Lake,” Whiting said. A bright-green cyanobacteria bloom edges the shore of Kotzebue Lagoon in the summer of 2025. (Photo by Bill Carter/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) This article was produced as a project for USC Annenberg’s Center for Health Journalism and Center for Climate Journalism and Communication 2025 Health and Climate Change Reporting Fellowship. 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	On board today's Honor Flight of the Quad Cities Our Quad Cities News is traveling with veterans and guardians on Monday's Honor Flight of the Quad Cities. We'll have more reports throughout the day as the trip continues.
	12 call center best practices to deliver exceptional customer service 12 call center best practices to deliver exceptional customer servicePhone calls remain one of the most direct and trusted ways to serve customers — especially when issues are complex, emotional, or urgent. While digital channels have seen tremendous growth, phone calls still account for approximately 68% of contact center interactions. Call center agents are often the first and most critical touchpoint in the customer journey. When managed well, they don’t just resolve issues — they build lasting relationships and drive business growth.Research shows that 79% of customers expect effective self-service options, but 77% say poor self-service is worse than not providing it at all. This creates a critical challenge: How do you deliver exceptional service at scale while managing rising costs and agent burnout?Quiq has put together 12 call center best practices to help your call center agents deliver exceptional customer service, improve call center performance, and support successful call center management — including how modern solutions like agentic AI and voice AI are transforming the industry.Key TakeawaysStrong fundamentals matter. Empathy, clear communication, and problem-solving remain the foundation of great customer service and drive improved customer satisfaction across every interaction.Infrastructure drives efficiency. Knowledge bases, smart routing, and modern call center software reduce wait times and unnecessary transfers — directly boosting call center efficiency.Consistency builds trust. Omnichannel support and shared customer data create more predictable, reliable customer experiences that reinforce customer loyalty.Training reduces churn. Well-trained customer service agents perform better, feel more confident, and are more likely to stay — a key advantage for call center leaders focused on customer retention.Agentic AI amplifies teams. AI can resolve routine customer inquiries, support agents in real time, and help contact center operations scale without sacrificing customer experience.12 Call Center Best Practices1. Listen to Customer Feedback — Before and After CallsListening is the cornerstone of effective call center management. Before diving into a script, take time to fully understand the customer’s concern. This reduces back-and-forth, accelerates resolution, and makes the customer feel genuinely heard.After interactions, actively collect feedback through customer surveys, post-call ratings, and follow-up emails. This data surfaces recurring problems, highlights training gaps, and provides valuable insights into how your call center’s service is perceived.2. Your Call Center Agents Should Demonstrate Empathy on Every CallThere’s often a significant gap between customer expectations and the reality of their experience. Bridging that gap starts with empathy.Use phrases like “I understand how frustrating that must be,” or briefly repeat back what the customer said to confirm you were listening. These techniques are especially important over the phone, where you can’t rely on visual cues like eye contact or body language.Empathy is not just a soft skill — it’s a measurable driver of customer satisfaction. Contact center operations that invest in empathy training consistently see stronger customer satisfaction scores and lower escalation rates.3. Let Your Call Center Team Go Off Script — ThoughtfullyCall center scripts are essential tools. They help call center reps stay on track, cover compliance requirements, and ensure important information isn’t missed. But customers can tell when an agent reads verbatim, and it creates distance.Effective contact center knowledge management software helps give agents a framework, not a cage. Encourage your center team to inject personality, adjust tone based on the customer’s mood, and treat scripts as guides rather than gospel.4. Reduce Wait Times to Meet Customer ExpectationsCustomers who choose to call expect faster resolutions than other channels. Long hold times signal dysfunction, erode trust, and increase call abandonment — one of the most damaging metrics in contact center management.Reducing wait times isn’t just a frontline challenge. It’s a systemic one. Key improvements include:A centralized, searchable knowledge base so agents can find answers fastA modern AI for CX software platform with intelligent call routing and real-time dashboardsAccurate call volume forecasting to ensure proper staffingInteractive voice response (IVR) systems to handle simple queries automatically5. Prepare Your Agents to Tackle Complex IssuesAs digital self-service improves, customers increasingly turn to the phone only when other options have failed. That means call center reps today are handling a higher concentration of difficult, emotional, or multi-layered customer issues than ever before.Effective call center management requires preparing agents for this reality. In addition to deep product knowledge, consider:Conflict resolution training for de-escalating upset customersRole-playing exercises to practice handling unusual or high-stakes scenariosClear escalation paths, so agents know when and how to involve a call center managerWhen dealing with an angry customer, coach your team to:Stay calm — Don’t take it personally or respond defensively.Show empathy — Acknowledge frustration before offering solutions.Avoid arguing — Let emotions settle before presenting facts.Take responsibility — Apologize when appropriate, even if the issue wasn’t the agent’s fault.Offer a solution — Resolve within company guidelines or escalate if needed.6. Personalize Customer Interactions Using Customer DataCustomers expect to be treated like individuals, not ticket numbers. Personalization means using available customer data — past interactions, purchase history, account details — to tailor conversations and eliminate the need for customers to repeat themselves.Modern call center platforms automatically surface context, giving agents a 360-degree view of the customer before the conversation even begins. This transforms the dynamic: Instead of starting from scratch, agents can open with relevance and empathy.7. Offer Omnichannel Support Across All Customer Service ChannelsToday’s customers don’t stay in one channel. They might start a conversation via web chat, follow up by email, and then call in to resolve the issue. If those channels don’t share context, customers have to start over — and that is one of the most common sources of frustration in the customer journey.Offering true omnichannel support means integrating all customer service channels — voice, email, SMS, social, and chat — on a unified call center platform. Shared customer data and interaction history ensure continuity regardless of how a customer reaches out.8. Invest in Ongoing Call Center Training for Your Customer Service TeamEven the best software can’t compensate for underprepared agents. Ongoing training is one of the highest-leverage investments in call center operations. It directly impacts every interaction, every metric, and every customer outcome.Training should cover:Product and policy knowledge (regularly updated as things change)Communication skills, including active listening and empathetic languageProper use of software and internal toolsHandling complex or emotionally charged callsQuality assurance standards and how interactions are evaluated9. Set Clear Goals and Key Performance IndicatorsWithout measurable goals, it’s impossible to know what great looks like, or where to improve. Defining key performance indicators (KPIs) gives your call center team clear targets to work toward, and gives leaders the visibility they need to coach effectively.Core call center metrics to track include:Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) — Direct measure of the customer experienceFirst Contact Resolution (FCR) — Indicates how effectively agents resolve issues on the first attemptAverage Handle Time (AHT) — Reflects efficiency without sacrificing qualityService Level — Measures how quickly customer calls are answeredAbandonment Rate — Signals when wait times are driving customers away10. Implement Agentic AI to Boost Agent PerformanceAgentic AI represents a significant leap beyond basic chatbots and scripted automation. Rather than replacing human agents, it empowers them, handling routine customer queries autonomously while giving human reps the context, recommendations, and in-the-moment guidance they need to handle complex issues.In practice, agentic AI in call center operations can:Resolve common inquiries (order status, account updates, FAQs) without agent involvementSurface relevant customer data and suggested responses during live callsAutomatically log interaction summaries, reducing after-call work timeDetect customer sentiment in real time and flag calls that may need escalationFor call center teams managing high call volume, this kind of intelligent automation is transformative. It reduces average handle time, improves first contact resolution, and ensures agents can deliver exceptional service even during peak periods, without burning out.11. Adopt Voice AI for Your Phone CallsVoice AI is redefining what’s possible in call center operations. Powered by natural language processing (NLP), modern voice AI systems can understand customer intent, route calls more accurately, and even handle entire interactions end-to-end for common use cases — all without a human agent or clunky IVR.For customers, this means shorter wait times, faster resolutions, and less frustration. For call center operations, it means reduced call volume pressure on human agents, lower operational costs, and more consistent service delivery across every call.Voice AI also excels at capturing structured data from unstructured conversations. A customer might describe a billing issue in a dozen different ways. NLP allows the system to understand intent across all of them, classify the issue accurately, and instantly route to the right resource.Beyond call handling, voice AI can help human call center representatives. As a customer explains their issue, AI tools can pull up relevant knowledge base articles, surface data, or suggest next-best actions — enabling agents to serve customers faster and more confidently.12. Analyze Customer Feedback to Drive Continuous ImprovementCollecting customer feedback is essential, but it only delivers value when you act on it. A robust feedback analysis process transforms raw data from customer surveys, post-call ratings, and interaction transcripts into actionable intelligence for improving customer service across the board.Effective contact center management means building a structured feedback loop:Collect — Use post-call surveys, CSAT ratings, and quality assurance reviews to gather consistent data.Analyze — Look for patterns: recurring complaints, common praise, and emerging issues that signal process breakdowns.Act — Update training materials, revise scripts, adjust workflows, or address systemic issues in software or routing.Measure — Track whether changes improve customer satisfaction scores, FCR, and other metrics over time.Contact Center Management Metrics to TrackTracking the right metrics is fundamental to effective call center management. Without clear benchmarks and data-driven insights, even the most talented teams can fall short of their goals. These five core customer service metrics offer a well-rounded view of call center performance and where to optimize.Average Handle Time (AHT)Formula: AHT = (Talk Time + Hold Time + After-Call Work Time) / Total Number of CallsWhat it measures: Average Handle Time is the total time agents spend on customer calls from greeting to final documentation. While a lower AHT often signals greater operational efficiency, it’s critical to strike the right balance. An AHT too low may indicate rushed interactions that compromise service quality and hurt customer satisfaction.How to optimize AHT:Build a robust internal knowledge base, so agents can find answers quickly during live calls.Equip your call center agents with real-time guidance tools to reduce time spent searching for solutions.Use software to automate repetitive tasks, like call summaries or ticket categorization.First Call Resolution (FCR)Formula: FCR = (Issues Resolved on First Contact / Total Issues) × 100What it measures: First Call Resolution measures your team’s ability to fully resolve issues during the first interaction, with no callbacks or follow-ups needed. High FCR is closely correlated with improved customer satisfaction, lower operating costs, and stronger customer loyalty.How to improve FCR:Train agents to handle complex issues confidently and independently.Analyze repeat customer calls to identify and address recurring problems.Equip agents with complete data before interactions begin.Ensure call center scripts and escalation paths are clear and current.Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)Formula: CSAT = (Satisfied Customers / Total Survey Responses) × 100What it measures: Customer satisfaction scores are the most direct reflection of how your team is perceived. Typically gathered through post-interaction customer surveys, CSAT captures the emotional reality of the customer experience — did they feel heard, respected, and helped?How to increase CSAT:Send surveys immediately after interactions while the experience is still fresh.Follow up on low scores to identify coaching opportunities and process improvements.Focus training on empathy and communication skills to build stronger rapport.Service LevelFormula: Service Level = (Calls Answered Within Threshold / Total Calls) × 100What it measures: Service level tracks how quickly your team answers incoming customer calls. Most call center operations target answering 80% of calls within 20 seconds. Meeting this benchmark reduces call abandonment, manages customer expectations, and signals that your operation is staffed and ready.How to maintain strong service levels:Improve call volume forecasting to anticipate demand spikes.Adjust staffing in real time to avoid under-coverage.Use self-service tools to deflect simpler customer queries.Abandonment RateFormula: Abandonment Rate = (Abandoned Calls / Total Incoming Calls) × 100What it measures: Abandonment rate reveals how many customers hang up before reaching an agent. A high rate is a clear signal that wait times are too long or that routing isn’t efficient enough. Both issues are fixable with the right center software and staffing strategy.How to reduce abandonment:Offer virtual hold or scheduled callback options to eliminate frustrating waits.Display estimated wait times so customers can make informed decisions.Use intelligent routing and self-service tools to resolve simple issues faster.Key Next Steps for Effective Call Center ManagementImplementing these call center best practices and tracking the right customer service metrics creates the conditions for stronger agent performance and happier customers. But metrics alone aren’t enough. The real impact of successful call center management comes from acting on insights — adjusting workflows, coaching agents, refining contact center scripts, and evolving your strategy as customer expectations change.Set a regular cadence for performance reviews. Benchmark your metrics against industry standards and internal goals. Whether you’re focused on improving inbound call center efficiency or expanding across new communication channels, aligning your key performance indicators with business outcomes will improve your call center experience.Call Center Representatives Are the Frontline of Your BrandContact centers play a pivotal role in shaping how customers perceive your company. Every incoming call is a moment of truth — an opportunity to turn a frustrated customer into a loyal advocate, or a satisfied one into a lost one.The most important thing to remember for your call center representatives is that they are your company’s voice. Follow company policy, but don’t stop there. Use these best practices, leverage your call center platform, and bring genuine care to every interaction. That’s what defines exceptional customer experiences, and it’s what separates great contact centers from the rest.For call center managers and CX leaders, the path forward is clear: Invest in your people, optimize your processes, and embrace technology that amplifies — not replaces — human expertise.Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)What are call center agent best practices?Call center agent best practices include active listening, demonstrating empathy, providing personalized customer service, efficient problem-solving, and using the right call center software to resolve customer issues quickly and consistently. Modern best practices also include leveraging AI tools like real-time coaching assistants and knowledge base automation to support agents during complex interactions.What KPIs should call centers track to improve performance?Key call center metrics include customer satisfaction (CSAT), first contact resolution (FCR), average handle time (AHT), service level, and abandonment rate. These customer service metrics help teams identify gaps, measure progress, and ensure excellent customer service delivery. Leading contact centers also track AI-specific metrics like automated resolution rate and escalation appropriateness when using agentic AI platforms.How does training impact call center performance?Ongoing training equips call center representatives to handle complex customer issues, use center software effectively, and deliver consistent service. This improves outcomes, strengthens loyalty, and reduces agent turnover. Training combined with AI tools provides continuous learning opportunities, with agents receiving real-time coaching suggestions during customer interactions.How can agentic AI support call center agents without replacing them?Agentic AI can resolve routine customer inquiries, provide real-time guidance, surface relevant data, and handle high call volume scenarios — freeing human agents to focus on complex, high-value customer interactions that require empathy and judgment.What is the role of natural language processing in call center operations?NLP enables voice AI systems to understand customer intent across varied phrasing, improving call routing accuracy and enabling more intelligent self-service. It also powers sentiment analysis tools that help call center leaders monitor customer satisfaction in real time and empower agents with proactive coaching.How does a call center manager improve customer retention?A call center manager improves customer retention by setting clear goals, investing in agent training, ensuring quality assurance standards are met, analyzing customer feedback, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement across the center team. Modern managers also leverage technology like AI-powered analytics to identify at-risk customers, spot patterns in escalations, and measure the effectiveness of different service approaches — enabling data-driven decisions that strengthen customer loyalty.What is voice AI and how does it work in call centers?Voice AI connects intelligent conversation systems to inbound calls, enabling customers to get help through natural spoken conversation. The system uses speech-to-text technology to convert customer questions into text, processes them using large language models and agentic AI, then converts responses back to speech. Unlike traditional interactive voice response (IVR) systems with rigid menu options, voice AI can understand complex, multi-part questions and take autonomous actions like updating reservations or processing refunds — all while maintaining natural conversation flow.How do I know if voice AI is right for my call center?Voice AI is particularly effective for call centers handling high volumes of routine inquiries — like order tracking, appointment scheduling, account updates, or FAQs — that don’t require complex judgment but consume significant agent time. It’s also valuable for organizations struggling with long wait times, high abandonment rates, or seasonal volume spikes. Brands in retail, travel and hospitality, and consumer services have seen the strongest results.This story was produced by Quiq and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	5 real estate scams fueled by AI that buyers and sellers should know 5 real estate scams fueled by AI that buyers and sellers should knowIf you’re buying or selling a home right now, scams are no longer just a rare or distant risk; they’re part of the housing market landscape. Real estate transactions involve large sums of money, tight timelines, and multiple parties. That makes them a prime target for fraud.And increasingly, scammers are getting a powerful assist from artificial intelligence (AI), HomeLight reports.According to the FBI’s latest Internet Crime Complaint Center report, cyber-enabled fraud now accounts for the vast majority of reported losses, with total losses surpassing $20 billion in 2025 alone. HomeLight Criminals are using technology to impersonate, intercept communications, and create highly convincing messages and images that are harder to spot than ever.AI is fueling real estate scamsThe FBI notes that cyber threats are continuing to evolve alongside emerging technologies, enabling scammers to operate faster, scale their attacks, and make their outreach feel more personal and legitimate. In fact, the report logged more than 22,000 AI-related crime complaints, tied to nearly $900 million in losses.Real estate is firmly in the crosshairs, says Matthew Gibbs, an agent in Middletown, New York. “Scammers are using AI to mimic property owners and [real estate] professionals, targeting unencumbered homes or vacant land.”In 2025 alone, there were more than 12,000 reported real estate-related fraud complaints, with losses exceeding $275 million. From fake wire instructions to impersonation scams that mimic agents, lenders, or title companies, these schemes are becoming more sophisticated and more convincing.5 real estate scams agents are reporting mostTo understand what this looks like on the ground, HomeLight surveyed 950 top-rated real estate agents nationwide. Below are the five most common real estate scams agents are seeing right now, and what you can do to protect yourself.1. Seller impersonation scamsScammers pose as home or land owners using forged identification, AI-generated documents, and stolen public records to list and sell properties they don’t own.“The seller won't meet in person or on a live video call,” says Kip Barnard, an agent in San Jose, California, with 22 years of experience. “Communication happens exclusively through email or text, and the price is often meaningfully below comparable sales with little explanation.”Barnard explains that the seller will typically push for a fast close with minimal contingencies and may specify their own title company. He says the title company requirement is a clear tell.“A motivated, legitimate seller doesn't care which reputable title company you use. Only someone with something to hide cares deeply about controlling that relationship.”How to avoid this scam: “Ask your agent to verify the seller's identity before you spend a dollar,” Barnard advises. “Insist on a title company you select independently. Ask the seller for documentation tied specifically to that parcel — a property tax bill, a recorded deed — something that connects them to the Assessor's Parcel Number (APN). If they resist, you have your answer.”2. Wire fraud scamsUsing malware and AI tools, cybercriminals hack the email accounts of real estate agents, buyers, or title companies to intercept closing communications and documents. They then send fake wire instructions to the buyer for down payments and closing costs.Gina Bentley, an agent serving Livermore, California, says this crime can be devastating. “A buyer involved in one of my listings received fraudulent wire instructions that appeared legitimate, but they did not independently verify them with the escrow company before sending the funds. The victim lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.”As with other real estate scams, AI technology is aiding this deception.“Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated. They can mimic emails, logos, and even communication styles from trusted parties in a transaction,” Bentley explains. “These fraudulent messages often look exactly like they are coming from your escrow officer, lender, or real estate professional.”How to avoid this scam: “If you get an email about money, you pick up the phone and call a known number — not the one that’s in the email,” says Jennifer Hupke, an agent in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “This isn’t about being overly cautious; it’s about protecting your money at the most vulnerable point in the transaction.”3. Fake rental listing scamsScammers steal listing photos and repost the properties as rentals to collect upfront deposits or fees.“I see so many of our homes that are for sale being listed by scammers as rental properties,” says Barry Monday, an agent in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. “Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t verify that the house is actually for rent before sending money.”In many cases, victims don’t realize it’s a fake listing until move-in day.“Many tenants are coming from out of the area, so they may not be able to see the home prior to their actual arrival for move-in,” says Anne Skinner, an agent serving Colorado's north-central mountain communities.She adds that this scam is especially prevalent in markets like hers, where there is a high volume of second homes that may remain unoccupied for months.How to avoid this scam: “If someone is renting out a home and they won't let you tour the house without a deposit, that's a red flag,” says Mariah Little, a Middletown, Delaware, agent. “Check to see if the property is also listed for sale. If so, it’s probably not for rent. Call the listing agent and confirm.”Also, if the rental price seems surprisingly low for the area, it may be a scam.4. Fake Zoom and Google Meet scamsScammers pose as buyers or sellers and push victims to click a fake video meeting link. The goal is often to install malware or steal passwords. Listing agents are often the target, but it can happen to home sellers, too.“The ‘buyer’ says they are from out of state and moving here for work,” explains Judah Sameth, an agent in DeKalb County, Illinois. “They say they want to have a Zoom call to discuss the buying process, but the link installs malware on your computer to steal your passwords.”How to avoid this scam: “Don’t do any Zoom or Google Meet calls unless you verify the individual,” advises Jessica Smith, an agent serving Mobile, Alabama. “Ask for identifying information and a pre-approval letter from their lender, or proof of funds.”Another safeguard against this scam is to use only video links you create.5. Deed and title fraud scamsScammers transfer property ownership to themselves using fake IDs and forged signatures. The advent of AI has exacerbated this, making it easier to create forged documents, clone identities, and bypass security checks faster than before.These criminals often target vacant land, rentals, or vacation homes. After selling the property for cash, they leave two victims in their wake.“You have the victim who really owns the property and doesn’t know any of this went on, and the victim who just gave up their life savings, thinking they’re now a homeowner,” Brian O'Malley, Cuyahoga County's director of transfer and recording, told News 5 Cleveland.How to avoid this scam: Beaufort, South Carolina, agent Julianne Clark says many county clerks or recorders offer free fraud alert notifications for property filings. “Register with your local county courthouse for deed scam protection,” she advises, noting that this is especially important if your property isn’t actively being used.The common thread behind real estate scamsAgents nationwide warn that real estate scammers follow predictable moments in a transaction. If you know where they show up, you can stay in control.“Every scam (wire fraud, seller impersonation, rental scams, etc.) leans on urgency, emotion, or confusion,” says Amanda Stanford, a San Antonio, Texas, agent with 30 years of experience. “Most people don’t lose money because they’re careless. They lose money because the scam looks exactly like a normal transaction at the exact moment they’re least likely to question it.”Agents also say it’s wise to remember an old adage: If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is, especially when you’re being pressured to move fast.“Scammers lure victims with prices significantly below market value,” says Eric Broesamle, an agent in New Baltimore, Michigan. “If a deal seems suspiciously cheap or the ‘owner’ is pressuring you to act with extreme urgency, it is likely a scam.”Stanford adds, “Trust the process, not the message. Slow down and verify everything by phone with partners you or your agent trust.”This story was produced by HomeLight and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	New survey: Modern men are embracing anti-aging on their terms (BPT) - Graying hair may be one of the most stereotypical indicators of aging, and recent data shows the complex relationship modern men have with this natural process.According to a nationwide survey of 2,000 U.S. men commissioned by Just For Men, 68% now care more about their appearance than they did five years ago, with 70% actively seeking help to slow signs of aging.Yet, here's the kicker — 16% of guys never talk about aging at all, turning anti-aging into an unnecessarily taboo subject. It's time to change that narrative, and that's exactly what the modern generation of men have begun to do. With nearly three of five aged over 25 worried about gray hair and wrinkles, there is no reason to ignore aging.The rise of men's groomingFrom taboo to essential, men's grooming is now growing as an extension of hygiene rather than vanity. Whether it's beard maintenance, skincare or hair health, there are many ways that men are now directly addressing their needs. Grooming is no longer seen as a complicated indulgence but as a way to feel polished and confident through a simple, everyday practice.Men today have more options than ever when it comes to managing gray hair, and that's empowering. Whether you choose to embrace the "quiet silver" trend, opt for subtle color blending or try a new hair serum that actively combats growing grays and maintains natural hair color, the important thing is that you're making a choice based on what makes you feel confident, and not reacting out of fear or social pressure.The grooming industry has responded to this shift by moving beyond simple cover-up solutions to products that promote anti-aging for a more natural look. With anti-aging as a whole, multiple realms of self-care products have been introduced for men. Whether through skin products, hair or shaving, millennial and Generation Z men are relying on innovations to address early signs of aging.More options, your choice The men's grooming category has long been a staple, with razors, trimmers and creams forming the foundation of many routines. But today, grooming is evolving from a basic chore into a proactive, personal ritual. Not only has it become self-care, but men have found ways to combat aging in the process — allowing men to take their appearance into their own hands and build real confidence in the process. Shaving may be a given, but Gen Z and millennials in particular are going beyond the bare minimum, according to a study conducted by Just For Men® and Talker Research, embracing self-care to feel more in control, polished and self-assured every day while focusing on anti-aging.Just For Men® Gray Reverse™ embodies this shift toward proactive, anti-aging grooming. Designed with a dye-free formula, it allows men to address grays before they fully emerge, turning what used to be a reactive fix into a subtle, everyday habit. By integrating solutions like this into their routines, men aren't just managing signs of aging, they're actively shaping how they look and feel in the long term. Why do gray hairs happen?Graying hair is a natural process that happens over time. At the root of each hair follicle are cells that produce melanin, the pigment that gives hair its color. As we age, these cells gradually slow down due to factors like accumulated damage and everyday stress. Both physical and emotional stress can speed up this process, causing hair to gray sooner.The good news? Understanding the background behind gray growth has opened doors to innovative, effective products that target the root cause rather than just covering up the results — including Just For Men® Gray Reverse™ Daily Hair Serum. The new product is a peptide-based serum that works with your body's natural hair pigmentation process to restore original hair color. The confidence connectionHow you look directly impacts how you feel. Anti-aging isn't about staying 22 forever. It's about taking control of your appearance. When you take active steps to implement anti-aging habits into your routine, you naturally feel more confident in how you present yourself to the world.Gen Z and millennial men especially have figured this out early. They're treating grooming like they treat fitness or career development: as an investment in their overall well-being and success. What's next for the modern man?Anti-aging skincare for men isn't just accepted now — it's expected. As the category continues to expand, the focus will remain on confidence, authenticity and simplicity. And confidence, as any successful guy will tell you, never goes out of style.For more information and men's grooming tips, visit www.justformen.com.
	Retirement calculator: How much do you really need to retire? Retirement calculator: How much do you really need to retire?When you think of your bucket list, what does it include? International adventures? Courtside tickets to watch your favorite team? No matter your dreams, one essential item probably sits at the top of your list: retirement.Understanding your retirement needsTo plan for a financially secure future, it’s important to assess your potential expenses, anticipate your desired lifestyle, and determine the resources required to support it. Below, Ally Financial shares some basic rules of thumb for planning your retirement timeline.How much do you need to retire?There are a lot of factors at play, but the exact number could depend on:The age you plan to retire.When you will begin taking Social Security benefits.Your desired lifestyle (hobbies, where you’ll live, travel) as a retiree.Retirement fund rules of thumbWhile you can determine how much you may need to save for retirement more precisely by using the calculator, you can also follow some useful rules of thumb to get a good estimate. One such guideline is to have 10 to 12 times your annual income at retirement age. So if you currently earn $100,000, you will need 10 times that amount, or $1 million, at retirement.Another common way of thinking is to accumulate enough to spend between 60% and 100% of your preretirement salary each year in retirement. This is what it might look like if you plan to spend 80% of your preretirement salary each year: Ally Financial How much to save for retirement by ageThe thought of having a couple million dollars by your 60s or 70s can sound daunting. Breaking down your retirement goals with age-based benchmarks can help. Ally Financial Strategies to help you get startedThere are a variety of steps you can take to help achieve your retirement goals.Set financial goalsWhen planning for retirement, set SMART financial goals:Specific: Define the exact number you want to achieve.Measurable: Quantify your goal to track progress, such as aiming to save $1,000 a month.Achievable: Set realistic goals based on income, expenses, and savings potential.Relevant: Ensure your goals align with your overall retirement vision.Time-bound: Establish a timeframe for achieving your goals, like retiring by age 65.Work with a financial advisorTrying to achieve a major financial milestone like retirement can be overwhelming. Working with a financial advisor can help you map out investing strategies that align with your money goals.Ways to catch upIf student loans, a rocky job market, or any other reason kept you from planning for retirement in the past, that doesn’t mean you can’t get on track.Employer 401(k) match: If your employer offers a contribution match for your 401(k), consider opting in to take advantage of the program.Automation: Automatically divert a portion of your paycheck into your 401(k), set up monthly transfers from your checking account to your IRA, or turn on recurring transfers for your savings account.Contributions: Work your way up to maximizing your contributions, as retirement accounts have contribution limits.2025 contribution limits Ally Financial Planning for your golden yearsNo matter your life stage or what you envision for your future, retirement is a worthy goal. Don’t let present or future financial fears hold you back from getting started. The sooner you start, the less you’ll have to worry later.This story was produced by Ally Financial and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	The world is getting too hot to feed itself The world is getting too hot to feed itselfAn intense heat wave engulfed much of Brazil for five days at the end of April 2024, when temperatures in the central and southern regions climbed to sweltering heights. Many affected were still reeling from another extreme heat wave that had walloped southern Brazil. Just the month before, the heat index in Rio de Janeiro reached a staggering 144.1 degrees Fahrenheit, the highest in a decade.The two events were part of a cycle of prolonged and severe periods of heat that hit one of the world’s largest agricultural powerhouses over several years, Grist reports. Yields of soy and corn, two of Brazil’s biggest commodities, fell in southeastern states like São Paulo. Peanuts, potatoes, sugarcane, and arabica coffee also suffered widespread losses. Droves of livestock pigs in the central-western region were afflicted with severe heat stress for the better part of a year. And when an atmospheric cold front was blocked by the prevailing heat dome and triggered devastating rainfall and flooding throughout the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, the supply chain and markets for pink shrimp were disrupted throughout Brazil.Much of this data is documented in a new joint report released in April by the World Meteorological Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Merging weather datasets with agricultural ones, the report traces the compounding effects of extreme heat on the global agricultural system and outlines how to produce food in a world where extreme heat is becoming a baseline.In the report, Brazil is the sole country-level case study explored in detail; the country’s exports face outsized pressure from warming temperatures and the oscillating extremes of natural weather cycles El Niño and La Niña. But a few dozen other nations are mentioned in the 94-page document, too.The authors cite how, in Chile, warming seas in 2016 prompted massive algae blooms that killed off an estimated 100,000 metric tons of farmed salmon and trout, creating the largest aquaculture mortality event in history. In the U.S.’s Pacific Northwest, when one of the strongest heat waves ever recorded struck in 2021, entire raspberry and blackberry harvests were lost, Christmas tree farms saw 70% timber volume declines, and the intersection of extreme heat, vegetative drying, and wildfires led to an increase of between 21% and 24% of forest area burned in North America that year. After a record heatwave hit India in 2022, wheat in over a third of Indian states fell anywhere between 9% and 34%, dairy animals afflicted with heat stress produced up to 15% less milk, and some cabbage and cauliflower yields were halved. And last spring in Kyrgyzstan’s Fergana mountain range, a region known for its year-round snow, spring temperatures rose 50 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the seasonal average — a bout of weather so unusual that it contributed to a locust outbreak and dramatic declines in cereal harvests.Human-caused warming has already been increasing at an unprecedented rate. The past 11 years are also the 11 warmest years on record. “We’re not moving at a speed that is good enough,” said Martial Bernoux, senior natural resources officer at the FAO’s Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Environment. “And we have, really, a residual risk that is increasing.”On a high-emissions trajectory, much of South Asia, tropical sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of Central and South America could experience as many as 250 days a year that are simply too hot to work outside by the close of the century, according to the report.Dangerous exposure to heat is already an occupational crisis for much of the world’s agricultural workforce. A 2024 report by the International Labour Organization found that extreme temperatures had put more than 70% of the global workforce, or some 2.4 billion people, at high risk. Those findings spurred a call to action on extreme heat by António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in the summer of 2024. He urged governments and the international community to prioritize four areas: caring for the most vulnerable; stepping up protections for workers exposed to excessive heat; boosting resilience using data and science; and quickly and equitably phasing out fossil fuels.“Heat is estimated to kill almost half a million people a year,” said Guterres at the time. “That’s about 30 times more than tropical cyclones. We know what is driving it: fossil fuel-charged, human-induced climate change. And we know it’s going to get worse.”According to Bernoux, the joint FAO-WMO analysis is a direct response to the UN Secretary-General’s call to action. “The UN said, ‘We have a problem,’” said Bernoux. “So FAO and WMO, we decided to work together to be able to reply to that.”Naia Ormaza Zulueta, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia studying extreme heat and the agricultural workforce, questions whether their report focuses enough on the people who grow, harvest, and raise the world’s food.“The diagnosis in this report is sharper than anything we’ve had before, and that matters,” said Zulueta, who calls it a breakthrough in perspective — one that underscores how climate change and food systems can no longer be studied in isolation. “The prescription is where the system hasn’t caught up.”First, the worker exposure calculations omit both hourly and nighttime wet-bulb exposure; Zulueta argues that these finer-grained metrics capture the severity of heat exposure for outdoor workers better than daily averages — meaning that she thinks the number of days of dangerous heat identified in the report is likely an undercount.The report’s recommendations on how the sector can best adapt also center entirely on crops, livestock, and ecosystems — such as planting earlier or later in the season, developing heat-tolerant breeds, and investing in large-scale irrigation systems. Direct recommendations for agricultural laborers, though, only appear in passing references to existing international agreements on worker safety and health adopted more than a decade ago. For instance, the FAO and WMO call for dramatically increasing global climate-related development finance for food systems and increasing early-warning systems to lessen extreme heat’s compounding risks, but no concrete roadmap is provided for how best to adapt food production in order to protect the billions of outdoor workers exposed to intensifying heat.Perhaps the oversight, says Zulueta, is because UN agencies tasked with worker rights — like the International Labour Organization — weren’t involved in the report. Even so, she finds it hard to justify, given the UN Secretary-General’s own emphasis on protecting the workforce from escalating temperatures.“The workers are present in the diagnosis, but they’re largely absent in the prescription,” Zulueta said. “It’s a little sad, to be honest with you. It almost feels like the human dimension is missing, and everything that comes with it.”This story was produced by Grist and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
	1 killed in car, truck crash in Rock Island County Officials said a car was hit by a truck, and the driver of the car died at the scene.
	Resignations, hirings and other Moline school personnel news from May 26 See the personnel items from the May 26 agenda of the Moline-Coal Valley School District.
	Rock Island police investigate neighborhood incident Neighbors near 15th Avenue and 42nd Street called for police for an unknown incident. News 8 has reached out for more information but has not heard back.
	1 killed in two-vehicle crash in Rock Island County The Rock Island County Sheriff's Office responded to a two-vehicle crash on 134th Avenue and 105th Street West. One person was pronounced dead on scene.
	A cancer vaccine made just for you. mRNA is back and it's fighting melanoma A study finds that an mRNA vaccine is highly effective at preventing recurrence of this dangerous skin cancer, when used in combination with Keytruda, an immunotherapy drug.
	Rock Island and Henry County real estate transactions for May 31, 2026 Here are homes sales and property sales in Rock Island County and Henry County.
	MercyOne Durant Physical Therapy moves next door to new location MercyOne Genesis Durant Physical Therapy moved to a new and larger location at 718 5th St. in Durant.
	Protect your pup this parasite season with broad spectrum parasite coverage Sorry, but your browser does not support the video tag. var bptVideoPlayer = document.getElementById("bptVideoPlayer"); if (bptVideoPlayer) { var cssText = "width: 100%;"; cssText += " background: url('" + bptVideoPlayer.getAttribute("poster") + "');"; cssText += " -webkit-background-size: cover;"; cssText += " -moz-background-size: cover;"; cssText += " -o-background-size: cover;"; cssText += " background-size: cover;"; bptVideoPlayer.style.cssText = cssText; var bptVideoPlayerContainer = document.getElementById("bptVideoPlayerContainer"); if (bptVideoPlayerContainer) { setTimeout(function () { bptVideoPlayerContainer.style.cssText = "display: block; position: relative; margin-bottom: 10px;"; var isIE = navigator.userAgent.match(/ MSIE(([0 - 9] +)(\.[0 - 9] +) ?) /); var isEdge = navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Edge") > -1 \|\| navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Trident") > -1; if (isIE \|\| isEdge) { fixVideoPoster(); } }, 1000); } var bptVideoPlayButton = document.getElementById("bptVideoPlayButton"); if (bptVideoPlayButton) { bptVideoPlayButton.addEventListener("click", function () { bptVideoPlayer.play(); }, false); bptVideoPlayer.addEventListener("play", function () { bptVideoPlayButton.style.cssText = "display: none;"; }, false); } var mainImage = document.getElementById("mainImageImgContainer_sm"); if (mainImage) { mainImage.style.cssText = "display: none;"; } var mainImage = document.getElementById("photo-noresize"); if (mainImage) { mainImage.style.cssText = "display: none;"; } var assetGallery = document.getElementsByClassName("asset_gallery")[0]; if (assetGallery) { assetGallery.style.cssText = "display: none;"; } var assetGallery = document.getElementsByClassName("trb_article_leadart")[0]; if (assetGallery) { assetGallery.style.cssText = "display: none;"; } var assetGallery = document.querySelectorAll("[src='https://d372qxeqh8y72i.cloudfront.net/60587a92-7cb6-4b3c-a6c5-7be56c9207c3_web.jpg']")[0]; if (assetGallery) { assetGallery.style.cssText = "display: none;"; } } function fixVideoPoster() { var videoPlayer = document.getElementById("bptVideoPlayer"); var videoPoster = document.getElementById("bptVideoPoster"); fixVideoPosterPosition(videoPlayer, videoPoster, true); window.onresize = function() { fixVideoPosterPosition(videoPlayer, videoPoster); }; videoPoster.onclick = function() { videoPlayer.play(); videoPoster.style.display = "none"; }; videoPlayer.onplay = function() { videoPoster.style.display = "none"; }; } function fixVideoPosterPosition(videoPlayer, videoPoster, display) { setTimeout(function () { var videoPosition = videoPlayer.getBoundingClientRect(); videoPoster.style.position = "absolute"; videoPoster.style.top = "0"; videoPoster.style.left = "0"; videoPoster.style.width = videoPlayer.offsetWidth + "px"; videoPoster.style.height = (videoPlayer.offsetHeight + 20) + "px"; if (display) { videoPoster.style.display = "inline"; } }, 1010); } (BPT) - Parasite season is in full swing. As temperatures rise, ticks and mosquitoes emerge, increasing the risk of serious diseases like Lyme disease and heartworm disease. These threats, along with intestinal worms, pose significant threats to our furry friends.Speaking with your veterinarian about comprehensive parasite coverage is one of the most important things you can do for your dog's health.Ask your veterinarian about Credelio Quattro™ (lotilaner, moxidectin, praziquantel, and pyrantel chewable tablets), the broadest parasite coverage of its kind* covering 6 kinds of parasites§ in one chewable tablet.Join Quattro Dogs across the country and keep your pup covered all year long.Visit QuattroDog.com and follow @CredelioQuattroUS on Instagram.*Based on label comparison of the number of parasite types covered in a chewable that targets ticks§Credelio Quattro protects dogs against ticks, fleas, heartworm disease, roundworms, hookworms and tapeworms.For complete safety information, please see the Credelio Quattro product label or ask your veterinarian.
	Does Illinois Really Want to Devote Bears Funds to What Might Turn Out to Be an Empty Lot? Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas released a “study” last week about the state megaprojects proposal, including a new Bears stadium complex that was mostly uncritically received by local news media. But it’s not her best work, to say the least.
	Think Your Home Air Is Clean? These 3 Summer Problems Say Otherwise (BPT) - While you may look forward to the sunny, warm days of summer, there's another aspect of the season that's not quite as fun: poor indoor air quality (IAQ). Depending on where in the country you live, you could face a number of hidden issues that impact the quality of the air you breathe in your own home.The trusted home comfort experts at Lennox, a leader in reliable, efficient climate-control solutions, offer guidance on what you should worry about when it comes to your home's air quality, and simple steps to put those worries to rest.No Fresh Air? To maximize efficiency of air conditioning, homeowners often keep homes tightly sealed up, with no open windows all summer long. This lack of ventilation traps volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in homes. VOCs are gases emitted from various household products and include a number of chemicals, some of which may have negative health effects like eye, nose and throat irritation, dizziness, headaches, fatigue and more. VOCs are ten times as concentrated indoors, making them a key factor in your home's air quality.The No Worries Fix. To reduce the potential negative impacts of VOCs, you can open windows at night or during early morning hours to allow for better ventilation without inviting the day's worst heat inside.How can you know if your home has a high level of VOCs? Beyond experiencing symptoms at home such as those mentioned above, be aware of persistent odors from things like new paint, furniture or carpet. For a clearer picture of what's in your indoor air, homeowners can reach out to a local Lennox dealer to perform an Indoor Air Quality test to help identify potential concerns.To improve your home's ventilation overall, consider a whole home ventilator. These units are your worry-free solution to delivering the fresh-air feeling you crave into your home.Thoughtful ventilation solutions, like opening windows, can help bring in fresh air efficiently. Getty ImagesHumidity? Many regions of the country are especially humid during the summer months, which can create problems for people with respiratory conditions like asthma or COPD, weakened immune systems or certain allergies. Because summer humidity can promote mold growth in homes, this can cause symptoms such as nasal congestion, coughing or eye irritation, to name a few.The No Worries Fix. To improve humidity levels in your home, use exhaust fans in bathrooms and kitchens to reduce moisture in the air. You'll also want to fix leaks or seepage, preventing moisture from coming in from the ground by putting a plastic cover over dirt in crawlspaces, and bolstering landscaping so the ground slopes away from your home.How can you tell if there's too much humidity in your home? Look for window condensation or warped wood. You may also notice a musty smell, mold growth or weakened structural elements.If your home could benefit from additional humidity control, you may want to invest in a reliable dehumidification system. Balanced humidity levels from a system like this can help make your home environment healthier and worry-free year-round, and can also save energy.Window condensation can signify there is humidity in your home. Getty ImagesPollen? Spring coming to a close doesn't mean your allergies get a break. Sneezing, coughing and itchy eyes are caused by pollen outside that invades your home. While tree pollen flares in the spring, summertime is when grass pollen is at its highest. It can be hard to avoid allergens in the summer, even when you're indoors.The No Worries Fix. To help keep pollen outside where it belongs, leave shoes at the door and then shower and change clothes immediately when you return home, especially if you've just spent time enjoying the great outdoors. Keep windows closed when the pollen count is high.If you or a family member suffers from frequent allergies, choose a high-efficiency HEPA or MERVE 13+ HVAC filter, or upgrade to a whole-home purification system for a worry-free way to clean the air inside your home. Healthy Climate® air purification and filtration systems from Lennox are designed to work with your central heating and cooling system to improve the air quality throughout your entire home, not just individual rooms.Family members who suffer from allergies can benefit from using a HEPA or MERVE 12+ filter. Getty ImagesNot Sure if Your Indoor Air Quality Needs Help? No Worries! You can take this online quiz to help determine what's going on with the air in your home. Or contact your local Lennox dealer to perform an air quality check to assess your home's levels of VOCs, humidity, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and more. Learn more about IAQ products Lennox offers at Lennox.com.Lennox indoor air quality solutions are built for reliable performance, long-lasting durability and energy-efficient operation, helping create cleaner air with comfort that stands the test of time. Courtesy of LennoxMain image caption: With warmer days ahead, poor indoor air quality can impact your home. Getty Images
	Confirmed Ebola cases in Congo reach 282 as survivors describe their recoveries The outbreak remains focused in Congo's eastern Ituri province. Congo has reported over 1,000 suspected cases with the Bundibugyo virus, which has no approved treatment or vaccine.
	Warm temperatures turn hot again Highs early this week will be above average in the mid-80s. By the end of the week, it turns hot again and stays hot. Drought conditions will worsen this week, but we do have some rain on the way. Here's your full 7-day forecast.
	Time on Your Hands This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.The average Rock Islander wastes two hours, sixteen minutes, thirty-four seconds each day. Don't judge. If the truth be…
	'At what point does it make sense to ditch a gas car for an electric vehicle?' "At what point does it make sense to ditch a gas car for an EV?" NPR listener Guadalupe Higuera of Phoenix asked this question and worked with Climate Desk reporter Jeff Brady to answer it.
	One by one, U.S. civil rights agency dismantles tools to fight discrimination The EEOC is seeking to overturn rules created decades ago to tackle discrimination in employment. The Trump administration says those rules have led to more discrimination —against white people.
	Is bovine colostrum really 'liquid gold' for gut health? Baby calves rely on it to build up their immune systems and gut. And now marketers are promoting it for humans. Here's what scientists say.
	Good News in Jesus Camp: “Godspell,” at the Timber Lake Playhouse through June 7 Kitty: I think that Godspell is a highly underrated musical. It’s the secret, more heartfelt version of Jesus Christ Superstar.Mischa: And without Andrew Lloyd Webber’s malevolent influence!
	The Black Box Theatre premieres "The Shark Is Broken" The Black Box Theatre is presenting the area premiere of "The Shark Is Broken." According to a press the release, “The Shark is Broken” by Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon is part of The Black Box Theatre's 10th anniversary. In 1975 the blockbuster movie 'Jaws' was released, but during filming in 1974 and 75, the [...]
	Violent clashes give way to peaceful PSG parade after Champions League win A huge crowd of supporters gathered peacefully near the Eiffel Tower on Sunday to celebrate Paris Saint-Germain's victory, which was marred by violent clashes overnight that led police to detain hundreds of people.
	Right-wing candidate pulls ahead in first round of Colombia's presidential vote Tough-on-crime outsider Aberaldo de la Espriella took the lead in Colombia's presidential race on Sunday night, setting up a runoff with Iván Cepeda, an ally of outgoing President Gustavo Petro.
	U.S. bombs Iranian military sites and Kuwait is hit by drone and missile fire The U.S. military says it bombed Iranian radar and drone control sites in Iran after Tehran shot down an American MQ-1 Predator drone this weekend. Kuwait said its air defenses opened fire on Monday.
Sunday, May 31st, 2026
	Inside Iowa Politics: Two big endorsements in Iowa governor campaign’s final days Two prominent endorsements could impact the race for governor in Iowa.
	One dead, one injured in Rock Island County crash Sunday The crash happened around 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of 134th Avenue West and 105th Street West.
	Elevate Summer Celebrations with Easy Backyard Recipes Featuring Fresh Corn (Feature Impact) Whether you're grilling in the backyard, at a picnic or simply relaxing poolside to celebrate America's 250th anniversary, this summer is sure to be filled with special celebrations. Throughout those 250 years, food has brought people together - and continues to do so. From barbecues to patios, fresh foods are at the heart of American celebrations. Healthy, fresh ingredients help elevate classic recipes with sweet corn taking center stage in many iconic summer dishes. As a trusted American grower, Duda Farm Fresh Foods provides equally healthy and flavorful recipes using Dandy Sweet Corn to build the heart of your menu. While corn on its own is a classic side dish - with Americans consuming approximately 1,400 bushels per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture - you can put a twist on tradition by serving Elote, also known as Mexican street corn, as a bold and delicious way to enjoy fresh corn at its best. Cooked to perfection then slathered in a creamy, zesty mix of mayonnaise, lime juice, cheese and chili powder, Elote transforms a simple ear of corn into an irresistible snack or side. You can add its vibrant flavor and fun to your table with a number of easy cooking methods: Grill: For the traditional method of cooking Elote, preheat your grill to medium-high heat. Place the corn directly on the grill grates then cook 10-15 minutes, turning every 2-3 minutes until nicely charred and cooked through, like these recipes for Easy Elote Corn or Vegan Elote. Boil: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add corn and cook 5-7 minutes until tender. Roast: Preheat the oven to 400 F. Place corn on a baking sheet and roast 20-25 minutes, turning halfway through. Air Fryer: Preheat the air fryer to 400 F. Cook corn for 12-15 minutes, turning once. Visit DudaFresh.com to find more ways to elevate your patriotic celebrations. Easy Elote Corn Recipe courtesy of The Produce Moms on behalf of Duda Farm Fresh Foods Servings: 4 1 Dandy Sweet Corn Tray (4 count) 1 lime, juice only (about 2 tablespoons) 1 cup mayonnaise or Mexican crema 2 tablespoons Elote seasoning 1 cup cotija cheese, crumbled fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish hot sauce or chili powder (optional) Heat grill to medium-high heat. Place corn directly on grates and cook 10-15 minutes, turning every 2-3 minutes, until charred and cooked through. While corn is still warm, squeeze lime juice on all sides. Brush or spoon mayonnaise on each ear, ensuring all sides are coated. Evenly sprinkle Elote seasoning over coated corn. Using hands, gently press seasoning into mayo. Arrange Elote on serving platter, sprinkle with cotija cheese and garnish with fresh chopped cilantro. Serve with hot sauce or chili powder for extra heat, if desired. Vegan Elote Recipe courtesy of Darn Good Veggies on behalf of Duda Farm Fresh Foods Cook time: 16 minutes Total time: 28 minutes Servings: 4 Vegan Parmesan: 1/2 cup raw cashews 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt Elote: 1/3 cup vegan mayonnaise 1/2 teaspoon ancho chili powder 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tablespoon lime juice 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder (optional) 1 pinch salt 4 ears Dandy Corn 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro To make vegan Parmesan: In small food processor or blender, pulse cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic powder and salt until it resembles grated Parmesan. Heat grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. In bowl, stir mayo, ancho chili powder, garlic, lime juice, chipotle powder and salt until smooth. Place corn on grill or grill pan and cook on all sides until corn is cooked and has grill marks, about 4 minutes per side. Spread corn with chili mayo then sprinkle with vegan Parmesan and cilantro.

Monday, June 1st, 2026

Sunday, May 31st, 2026