Owning a home comes with a startling number of responsibilities. Though many of them are related to renovation (more than four out of five homeowners are upgrading their bathrooms) or appliance repair, Canadian residents have become concerned over basement flooding. While there are a multitude of causes that attribute to wet basements, a new bill has been proposed for those who find themselves looking at the average $43,000 dollar cost: sue fossil fuel firms who have been contributing to the climate change that caused the flooding in the first place.

Canada Pushes For Climate Change Compensation

Peter Tabuns, an Ontario member of provincial parliament, suggested Bill 37 as a response to those whose properties are at such a high risk of flood that the owners cannot buy overland flood at a reasonable price.

“When thousands of people’s basements fill up with sewage for the third time in a row after a major storm has overwhelmed the sewer system, who is going to pay,” he asked. “When people who are already struggling to pay their bills are hauling out waterlogged couches and other furniture to put on the front lawn, who is going to pay to help replace that furniture?”

Bill 37 is not only limited to private homeowners: it would let governments, companies, and individuals alike sue gas and coal companies in Ontario for several types of damages, including “economic loss or physical loss of property, infrastructure, structures, resources, or other assets” as well as the cost of insurance to begin with. It is based on the same legislation currently in place that allows those suffering from illnesses as a result of smoking cigarettes to sue tobacco companies.

The Realities In America

Though it is unclear whether or not this bill will be passed, one thing is for sure: Americans will not have such a cushion when it comes to their own basement flooding. Instead, we will do as we always have — pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and get to work protecting ourselves against the inevitable.

If you’re looking to safeguard your home from the risk of flooding, there are two main things you should focus on: the cause and the coating. Surprisingly, clogged gutters are the number one source of flooded basements, so you should spend a good amount of time examining the state of yours to ensure they’re functioning as they should, and are funneling water away from your home. Installing covered gutters are one of the best ways to protect your home in the future (not to mention the time cut on spring cleaning).

When it comes to a waterproof coating, you have a few options to choose from. If you’re looking for a complete sealant (which we recommend) you’ll find two primary options: epoxy and polyaspartic. Though epoxy is easier to apply (especially in a DIY sense), they take between six and eight hours to fully cure and require multiple coats — this means you won’t have access to your basement for a few days.

Polyaspartic coatings, on the other hand, usually harden within five minutes and provide a solid, waterproof seal, although that quick cure means a professional is needed for installation. They’re also, as a result of their strength and the need for a professional application, generally more expensive than epoxy coatings. Ultimately, the choice comes down to your personal needs and desires. America may not have the ability to go after multi-billion dollar companies as a result of their personal flooding, but — as always — we’ll find a way forward.

For the first time in almost a decade, the number of U.S. children without health insurance is on the rise. The year 2017 saw an increase in uninsured children from 4.7% to 5%, and while the exact numerical increase may be relatively small, experts are concerned about the possible implications.

Coverage By The Numbers

While the overall population hasn’t seen a significant drop in insured people, remaining firmly at 8.8% uninsured, there are currently 276,000 more children without health insurance this year. This suggests an alarming overall trend that could set the precedent for future years. It is highly unusual to see rates of coverage drop during periods of economic growth, and as this is the first drop in insurance rates in the past decade, experts seem to have reason to worry.

In addition to an increase in uninsured children, out-of-pocket spending has accelerated for the past three years across all types of health insurance, including for employer-sponsored coverage. The ultimate end result is fewer people having health insurance, and higher insurance costs for those who do.

General Public Uninformed On Insurance Options

One of the many reasons that the state of health coverage in the United States seems to be worsening could be due to a general lack of education on health insurance options. For example, most Americans do not know crucial information about health insurance, such as the fact that 100 percent of medical and long-term care insurance premiums are deductible from gross income to arrive at adjusted gross income. The current administration and President Trump have slashed funding dramatically for programs that would educate Americans on health insurance options and assistance available for those unable to afford health insurance, resulting in a less educated general populace.

Lack Of Coverage Means Less Care

With fewer children covered by health insurance, more families are forgoing important preventative care measures that could make the difference for children’s overall health and safety. These crucial preventative care measures are essential to protecting not just children, but the health of the general public.

In 2017, an estimated 19.5 million children under one year old worldwide did not receive DTP3 vaccines, reflecting a harmful trend of forgoing vaccination. Many of these children did not receive vaccinations as a result of lack of health coverage that would make payments difficult. This contributes to an already dangerous and harmful trend of children not receiving appropriate vaccinations, putting those who are not able to be vaccinated at risk.

Additionally, if this trend of lack of coverage continues in combination with increasing out-of-pocket costs, many adults will also not seek out preventative care they need. This is especially important in adult populations, where different health risks arise. Certain preventative screenings, such as mammograms for the second most commonly diagnosed cancer among women, breast cancer, can prevent serious and expensive conditions. However, if people are forced to pay exorbitant out-of-pocket prices, it is unlikely these screenings will occur.

Overall, the decrease in insured rates for American children does not bode well for the state of American health. With 2019 just on the horizon, it remains to be seen whether this trend will continue into the new year, and what that might mean for Americans’ health insurance everywhere.

Updated 10/1/2020

Six people were trapped in an elevator in Chicago’s former John Hancock Center for three hours after plunging 84 floors. The rescue itself took a total of two hours.

In the early hours of the morning of Friday, Nov. 16, just after midnight, a hoist rope broke in an express elevator. Guests from the Signature Room on the 95th floor who were trying to go to the lobby without incident instead had a terrifyingly fast ride to the 11th floor. The elevator was able to stop there because several other hoist ropes had remained connected and worked to halt the elevator.

Elevators are necessary for a variety of reasons. Many differently-abled individuals rely on passenger lifts when they are unable to climb stairs. Additionally, for a building with 84 floors elevators are essential when it comes to making meetings on time. Learning when to use an elevator pitch can also help out your career when you’re stuck in an elevator with someone.

Expecting everyone in the building to climb stairs is simply unrealistic. But many buildings have staircases as well since the age-old question “can you use an elevator during a fire” is a hard no.

Are you curious about how elevators work? Check out this video:

When it spans more than 84 floors elevators are frequently inspected to meet the necessary safety protocols. Elevator maintenance happens frequently to prevent any issues from happening. How much does elevator maintenance cost? It depends on the type of elevator, its height, and how much the elevator can carry. Elevator maintenance jobs can enable top workers to make almost $100,000 per year in some cases. Passenger lift maintenance is essential, but most elevators come with safety protocols, like a safety brake, to slow the elevator down in the event of an emergency like this.

According to some of the elevator passengers, no one was injured but it took some time for building security to call the firefighters. As an elevator of standard-size is just 12 to 15 square feet and a mid-size one averages 15 to 18 square feet, this delay caused the passengers to be trapped in a small space for about an hour before rescue crews even arrived.

The elevator was stuck in a blind shaft, which is a shaft in which there are not openings at every floor to free the trapped passengers. Incidentally, the 11th floor was one floor without an opening. Once the rescue crews did arrive they had to break a concrete wall in the garage area of the 11th floor in order to free them.

After they broke through the wall, the crews shored up the elevator so that it wouldn’t fall further. They then used a small ladder to free those trapped inside. Elevator rider Jaime Montemayor told local news WBBM that he thought they were all going to die when the elevator started its plunge.

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, escalators and elevators cause the deaths of about 30 and seriously injure about 17,000 people each year in the United States. Simply riding in an elevator is relatively low-risk, as the majority of these accidents involve workers on or near elevators.

The elevator in the Chicago skyscraper reportedly passed its annual safety inspection earlier this year. The elevator and two others are now closed as crews repair the broken hoists and investigators attempt to determine what caused the ropes to snap in the first place.

The pharmacy store chain Walgreens has opened its first store in Chicago without a pharmacy. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Walgreens recently opened a store in the West Loop that has no pharmacy, becoming one of the few Walgreens in the nation to serve only as a store. Customers in need of a pharmacy have been redirected to nearby Walgreens at Halsted and Monroe streets.

Losing the pharmacy represents a major shift for the Walgreens chain. Walgreens currently has 120 stores in Chicago alone and approximately 10,000 stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

According to Walgreens’ 2017 annual report, prescription drugs and other pharmaceutical services made up 70% of sales at its stores. This may not be too surprising considering drug discovery is a multi-billion dollar industry and medicinal cures or relief for illnesses will always be in high demand.

Just last year, Walgreens filled over 1 billion monthly prescriptions worldwide. So why open a store without a pharmacy?

Walgreens spokesperson Phil Caruso says he can’t confirm that Walgreens is the first drugstore to open without a pharmacy in Chicago history, but it certainly isn’t the first Walgreens to do so. Four Walgreens in New York City listed under the Duane Reade brand don’t sell prescription medications, either.

“It is rare for one of our stores to not have a pharmacy,” Caruso said. Caruso declined to comment on other reasons why the new store has opened without a pharmacy.

One potential reason the store opened without a pharmacy is that Walgreens has come under fire for opioid sales. The state of Florida recently filed a lawsuit against Walgreens and CVS for allegedly overselling painkillers and contributing to the nation’s opioid epidemic.

In 2016 alone, up to 1,186,810 arrests were made in the U.S. for drug law violations.

But, Simon Pickard, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, says Walgreens may simply be moving in a new direction. Retail pharmacies, Pickard says, can be more expensive to maintain and Walgreens may be looking for other ways to stay profitable in the shadow of competition from online companies such as Amazon.

“I would imagine it’s inevitable that traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacies become less prevalent,” said Pickard.

Drugstores like Walgreens have been putting a greater focus on online and mail-order pharmacies while focusing on their cosmetics and skin-care products in-store. Event marketing has also been able to generate sales for up to 79% of marketers.

Whether Walgreens is looking to change up their retail stores or they’re looking to boost other product sales, the pharmacy-less store in the West Loop will still be selling products typically found in your average Walgreens. This includes over-the-counter medication, makeup, toiletries, food, and beer.

John Bacon, author of America’s Corner Store: Walgreens’ Prescription for Success, says Walgreens may be prototyping.

“The whole business of pharmaceuticals has gotten so complicated with Medicaid and whatnot that they’re trying to see if they can probably make their life simpler without it,” said Bacon.

Bacon pointed out that Walgreens had experimented in the 1990s with removing samples from their aisles. First, they implemented the change at a few stores before implementing it everywhere.

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In a series of rallies earlier this month, President Trump restated his anti-immigration stance, specifically focusing on illegal immigration and the migrant caravan moving towards the United States from Central America.

Caravans Become The Target Of Anti-Migrant Sentiment

President Trump, in recent rallies in Indiana during early November, railed against the movement of migrant caravans headed towards the United States. He specifically used references about the migrant caravans in several attacks at Democrats, stating that Democrats want caravans “full of illegal aliens to flood into our country.”

The comments came during the president’s campaigns for the Republican party leading up to the mid-term elections, during which a large number of Democrats were elected to seats in the House. Trump centered many of his arguments around immigration policy, continuing to cite his desire to build a wall on America’s southern border.

He also emphasized his own efforts to regulate and reduce immigration to America. In recent weeks, Trump has allegedly instructed border patrol agents to respond to rocks thrown at them “as firearms,” suggesting an increasingly hardline approach to illegal immigration that could potentially more easily escalate to violence.

Response To Anti-Immigration Language Not Entirely As Hoped

Perhaps Trump’s words in his Indiana rally may not have been the most well-chosen for the audience; the American Immigration Council reports that about 10% of the people living in Indiana are either immigrants or the children of immigrants. President Trump’s reliance on anti-immigration sentiment and policy may, in fact, be alienating the exact people he is attempting to reach. In several states, Trump’s anti-immigration language has been alienating more moderate conservatives, who are pushed to more Democratic leanings by the rhetoric.

In a modern United States where immigrants make up approximately 13% of the total population, President Trump’s harsh stance on immigration may be turning people against him in ways he is not expecting. His approval rate continues to drop, and the results of the 2018 midterms suggest that perhaps this rhetoric is not gaining him quite as much support as he would hope for.

While it remains to be seen how President Trump’s statements will translate into direct policy with regards to the continuing migrant caravans, it is clear that his stance is unlikely to change. It is difficult to say what this will mean for America’s immigrant population, though it is likely that whatever policies are formed, if any, will see considerable debate and discussion as they arise.