Dear Editor,
I write with deep concern over the unfolding controversy involving Assam’s Cabinet Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah, his family’s dairy venture, and a significant ₹50 lakh subsidy meant for dairy farmers. An RTI revelation highlights that 90 state-owned Gir cows reportedly went missing from Rangiya Railway Station, only to seemingly reappear at a private dairy firm run by the minister’s wife in the same region.
This dairy enterprise, JMB Aqua Agro Pvt. Ltd., registered in Shillong and spanning more than 104 bighas with Gir cattle, poultry, horticulture, and fishery operations, experienced spectacular growth: revenue rose by 13.9%, profit by nearly 500%, and assets by over 1,900% in 2022–23. Notably, the minister’s wife was appointed managing director in March 2020, and their daughter was added as a director in 2023.
While family-run enterprises are not inherently wrong, the opacity here is troubling. Were public subsidies—intended as lifelines for small farmers—diverted to a privately controlled operation aligned with political influence? And how did 90 Gir cows vanish from public inventory, only to surface under the minister’s firm? These gaps demand investigation.
Furthermore, the timing is striking. Minister Baruah has publicly positioned himself as a protector of cattle and rural livelihoods. Yet, the alleged misdirection of funds and livestock undermines that commitment. As RTI activist Dilip Nath has demanded, it is vital to trace the procurement of cows under the Garukhuti project, track the subsidy’s approval to the minister’s wife, and examine declarations of business interest.
In a healthy democracy, public trust hinges on transparency—especially when government schemes are involved. Hence, I urge:
1. A judicial or independent probe into the missing state Gir cows, their procurement, and eventual placement.
2. Full disclosure of the subsidy approval process, including eligibility assessments and any conflict-of-interest disclosures.
3. A review of public asset declarations by the minister and his family to ensure no discrepancies.
The people of Assam deserve accountability, not "cash for curd" schemes serving political families. Let this inquiry affirm that governance is neither opaque nor partisan, but truly public-centered.
When Steve Stierwalt studied agriculture at the University of Illinois in the 1970s, soil health wasn’t commonly taught or discussed. Faculty often told their young farming students to put all their faith in commercial fertilizers.
But over his 40 years as a corn and soybean farmer in Champaign County, Stierwalt said soil erosion, which can cause fertilizer and manure runoff to end up in nearby rivers and streams, has become an increasingly serious problem.
“When we plowed, we plowed pretty much everything,” except for a row near the fence line, Stierwalt said. “The grass near the fence row kept getting taller, it seemed to me. I came to understand that it wasn’t the fence row getting taller, it was the soil in the fields that was getting shorter.”
In the early 2010s, Stierwalt started experimenting with cover crops, which can help hold soil in place and reduce runoff pollution.
“This valuable resource that we take for granted, we were letting it get away,” Stierwalt said. “We have some of the best soil in the world here, and we have to protect it.”
Six years ago, Illinois became the second state in the nation to offer subsidies to farmers for planting cover crops in the fall, an effort to reverse its status as one of the worst states for agriculture runoff. Demand for the Fall Cover for Spring Savings program — which offers a $5 per acre discount on the following year’s crop insurance premiums — has outpaced state funding every year since.
However, despite the program’s popularity and calls from environmentalists and farmers for its funding to increase, Gov. JB Pritzker has proposed a 31% funding cut.
Pritzker, a Democrat, recently proposed an overall $2 billion increase to next year’s state budget. But he also recommended cuts to several programs, including reducing the cover crop insurance credit budget from $960,000 to $660,000.
Pritzker’s office did not respond to a request for comment but the governor referenced program cuts in a recent address.
Photo: Jennifer Bamberg/Investigate Midwest
Kristopher Reynolds, Midwest Director for American Farmland Trust and a fifth generation farmer in Nokomis, is pictured at the Illinois State Capitol on March 12, 2025. He works with farmers and landowners on conservation cropping practices to meet the goals of Illinois’ Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy.
“I have made difficult decisions — including to programs I have championed, which is hard for me,” Pritzker said during his State of the State and budget address in February.
Two state lawmakers introduced bills this legislative session to increase the program’s annual funding to $6.1 million. They say it's crucial to support the practice, which will benefit communities in Illinois and beyond.
It's an investment because you know you're doing right by the environment. You know you're doing right by your land, and long term, you're going to build your soil health, and that will impact your bottom line.
Ed Dubrick small pasture poultry farmer Cissna Park Illinois
The bills did not clear a recent committee deadline. However, lawmakers can still negotiate funding for the program as they continue to work to pass a budget by the end of May.
Illinois is one of the leading states for farm fertilizer runoff and one of the top contributors to the Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone, a barren area of around 4,500 square miles of coastal waters deadly to fish, shrimp and other marine life. It costs the region’s fishing and tourism industry millions annually.
Runoff from Illinois farms has only worsened, according to a 2023 state study. Between 2017 and 2021, average nitrate-nitrogen loads increased by 4.8%, and total phosphorus loads increased by 35%, compared to the 1980-1996 baseline.
Nutrient levels were highest between 2016 and 2020 before declining slightly. The improvement was attributed to regulatory permits on wastewater treatment plants, which also pollute waterways.
However, nitrate levels remain well above the state’s reduction goals.
Less than 6% of Illinois farmland uses cover crops
The soil in Illinois is famously fertile and much of the land is flat. The soil isn’t highly erodible like soil on a slope or a hill might be. But when fields are left bare after harvest, the soil can easily blow away in the wind or wash away in storms, depositing fertilizers and chemicals into waterways.
Cover crops, which include winter wheat, crimson clover, cereal rye, oats or radish, are planted after harvest and before winter. The crops can reduce soil erosion, break up compacted soil, provide a habitat for beneficial insects and wildlife, and prevent latent fertilizer from leaching into rivers and streams.
Since the Fall Cover for Spring Savings program began in 2019, the Illinois Department of Agriculture has received more applications than the program can fund.
This year, the program sold out in two hours.
Under current funding levels, only 200,000 acres are available, which advocates say is too small.
“At the rate conservation is being invested in right now for agriculture, it would take 200 years to hit the goals under the Nutrient Reduction Strategy. And that’s assuming … there would be new adopters,” said Eliot Clay, executive director of the statewide Association of Soil and Water Conservation District.
The Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (NLRS) is a statewide, multi-agency effort to reduce the amount of nutrients in Illinois waterways and the Gulf of Mexico. The policy working group’s latest report, produced in 2023, found that to meet just half of its goals of reducing runoff, nearly all of Illinois’ corn and soybean farmers would need to adopt cover crops.
“It doesn’t mean the state won’t meet the goal,” a spokesperson for the NLRS team at University of Illinois Extension said in an emailed statement to Investigate Midwest. “There is quite a bit of variability of riverine nutrient loads at watershed scales for nitrogen and phosphorus.”
However, the spokesperson added that more research, data acquisition, and planning are needed at watershed scales.
Out of the state’s 26.3 million acres of farmland, an estimated 3% to 6% grew cover crops in 2022, according to USDA data.
Kristopher Reynolds, Midwest director for American Farmland Trust and a fifth-generation farmer in Nokomis, said Illinois needs to see cover crop adoption of at least 15% and more state and federal incentives are needed.
The Gulf Hypoxia Task Force, a federally funded program through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has provided additional funding to supplement the cover crop program. However, the Trump administration’s freeze of some federal grants might put those funds at risk.
Earlier this year, the Illinois Department of Agriculture was awarded a $25 million grant from the EPA to support conservation practices for the next three years.
“We don't know the status (of the grant),” said Jerry Costello II, director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, while speaking to the House Appropriations Committee on March 12. “Last that we've heard, things looked good. But that's been a while."
“We've got two and a half months left in this process in Illinois, right?” added Costello, citing the time the state has to finalize its 2026 budget, which begins in July 2025. “Two and a half months plus or minus. So surely we'll have some guidance … we certainly hope so.”
Because of the sheer scale of the agriculture industry, government regulations requiring conservation practices can be difficult to carry out, said Clay, the executive director of the Soil and Water Conservation District.
Farmland covers 75% of the entire state of Illinois, and even if all farmers employed precision sensors to track runoff points, it would cost billions, Clay said.
There would also need to be an army of workers to track and enforce regulations.
However, “industry self-regulating usually doesn't work, and it hasn't worked in ag, because that's basically what they've been doing for the most part,” Clay said. What’s needed, he added, is more public-private partnerships.
Stierwalt, the farmer in Champaign County, helped develop STAR, or Saving Tomorrow’s Agricultural Resources, which gives farmers a five-star score based on their conservation practices.
The state adopted the framework in 2023 to support the state's nutrient loss reduction goals.
Stierwalt said the ultimate goal is to get companies to purchase agricultural commodities based on the rating system.
If the public and industries that rely on agricultural goods for ethanol or food products want sustainably raised crops, then the farmers will grow them, he said.
Cover crop barriers include both cost and culture
Cover crops have long-term benefits but can be expensive and require extra work. Crop yields may even decrease during the first few years.
Cover crops cost roughly $35 to $40 an acre, and farmers don’t make a direct profit from it. The crops are planted in the fall and aren’t harvested. Instead, as the plants die and decompose, they provide nutrients back into the soil for the new commodity crop. Some farmers terminate the crops with chemical herbicides.
But the $5 an acre from the Fall Cover for Spring Savings program acts as an incentive for doing the right thing, which will pay off later, said Ed Dubrick, a small pasture poultry farmer in Cissna Park who also farms vegetables with his wife.
“It's an investment because you know you're doing right by the environment,” Dubrick said. “You know you're doing right by your land, and long term, you're going to build your soil health, and that will impact your bottom line.”
There are also cultural barriers to planting cover crops. Row crop farmers often pride themselves on tidy, neat rows, and cover cropping and no-till can leave fields looking messy.
Walter Lynn, a retired certified public accountant and farmer in Springfield, said farmers sometimes only cover crop fields that are out of sight from their neighbors or the road because they’re afraid they’ll be judged.
At a recent soil health conference in Omaha, Lynn said he met a farmer who believes he can’t openly discuss his practices with his equipment dealer, saying, “There's a vulnerability that ag doesn't deal well with.” But at the conference, Lynn said the farmer found a welcoming atmosphere: “It's so good to come to this space at this meeting … I feel like I'm a member of the cover crop witness protection.”
Chad Wallace sells his product locally to get the best prices. Many farmers in his position are left discouraged by the difficulties they face in going against the industrial ag industry practices.
Concentrated animal feeding operations, also known as CAFO, in Illinois are hurting small farmers and possibly the environment due underregulation by the state.
Photo: Emilian Robert Vicol/Pixabay
by Judith Ruiz-Branch Illinois News Connection
CHICAGO - Illinois is known for having some of the weakest environmental laws for concentrated animal feeding operations, with a lack of oversight and public transparency for the entire process. A coalition of rural landowners is working to change it.
In Illinois, it is estimated there are more than 21,000 concentrated animal feeding operations.
Chad Wallace, director of rural affairs for the Illinois Environmental Council, works with the Illinois Livestock Reform Coalition, which has about 70 members across states. They are trying to come up with legislative solutions for the growing concerns of landowners who have been affected by them.
"The industry is basically embedded," Wallace acknowledged. "It is very hard for folks to go up against something that is so broad and so organized."
Nearly all applications submitted in Illinois over the past decade have been approved. Wallace pointed out several attempts to introduce legislation to increase regulation have failed, with the most recent in 2019 for a proposed moratorium on lagoons being used for holding confinement waste.
More than 90% of animals raised for agriculture in the U.S. come from concentrated animal feeding operations, yet environmental advocates argued the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is unaware of the locations of the majority of operations, making it difficult to regulate them and account for their environmental impact.
Wallace, who grew up in a farming family, raises beef, pork and lamb and has been approached by people wanting to construct operations on his land. He declined but noted it came with a cost.
"One of the struggles is constantly having to build the value of your product due to not being in the industry," Wallace explained.
Wallace sells locally to get the best prices for his products. He added many in his position are left discouraged by the difficulties they face in going against the industrial ag industry. Proponents of concentrated animal feeding operations said they are an economic necessity to keep retail prices of meat, milk and eggs affordable for consumers, and are crucial to the viability of rural communities.
PEORIA - Last month, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has reported the state’s first bird flu cases in poultry flocks.
In a health advisory sent to long-term care (LTC) facilities, farm bureaus and local health departments, the IDPH reports large commercial poultry flocks in central and southern Illinois have recently tested positive for the H5N1 virus. Farm owners are now in the process of “de-populating” the birds.
Several counties in northern Illinois have reported events where many ducks and geese have died, referred to as “die-offs.” The reason LTCs received the notice is because many are located on retention ponds that attract waterfowl and wild birds.
No human cases have been reported in Illinois yet. But health officials continue to warn those who interact with potentially infected animals that if they don’t wear the proper personal protective equipment (PPE), they are at higher risk of developing the novel influenza A virus due to H5N1.
Doug Kasper, MD, an infectious disease specialist with OSF HealthCare, says bird flu has really hurt local American farms.
"Avian flu is a different strain of Influenza A. It's a strain that has been circulating in bird and cattle populations for over two years. It has been devastating to those populations, like poultry and dairy farms across the country," Dr. Kasper says. "What was unique was that in the calendar year 2024, was the first confirmed testing where the spread from an animal to a human occurred of this specific strain of influenza."
In early January, the Louisiana Department of Health reported the first-ever human bird flu death in the United States. The patient was reported to be over 65 years of age and had underlying medical conditions. The patient contracted H5N1 after exposure to sick and dead birds in a backyard flock.
Currently bird flu is only transmitted from animal to animal or animal to person. There have been no reported cases to have transmitted from human to human, but Dr. Kasper says there is always a concern about that possibility.
"Whenever there is an animal strain of infection that's not typically found in humans, we worry about the impact of if it were to cross over," Dr. Kasper says. "We've seen this with other infections throughout history. Even within COVID-19, there was the initial thought that it was an animal strain of infection."
The current flu vaccine does not protect against avian influenza, Dr. Kasper says.
"Each year the influenza vaccine, which is made up of three or four strains of influenza virus, is reexamined and matched up to a variety of factors to try and predict which strains will be most prevalent the next year," Dr. Kasper says. "Right now, avian flu cases in humans are so low that it doesn't warrant a different strain that would be much more likely to be found."
IDPH’s guidance to LTCs is to have residents tested for the flu if they are suspected of having acute respiratory illness. Don’t touch dead or sick birds, only trained staff in appropriate PPE should handle with caution.
"The average person who does not interact with poultry or dairy farms is at very low risk of avian flu," Dr. Kasper says.
There is concern that bird flu could enter the food production and distribution across America. This is why the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is closely monitoring dairy and poultry farms, to try and limit any possible contamination of dairy, meat or poultry products.
The bird flu continues to be rarely seen in humans, as only 67 cases (as of January 15) have been reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most cases have been mild, Dr. Kasper says.
One of President Donald Trump’s first-term achievements was a major tax cut, which he signed into law in 2017. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act largely benefited the wealthiest families in the U.S.
But farm households also saw their tax rates decrease.
That means many farms will see their tax liability increase when the tax cuts expire at the end of the year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture research.
Currently, farm households have an average credit of about $3,800. Unless Congress acts, it could be about $1,300.
Congress could extend the tax cuts through legislation, and Trump has said he wants more changes to the tax code.
If the tax cuts do expire, which is scheduled for midnight on Dec. 31, 2025, farm households of varying sizes would be affected in different ways.
Child tax credit
For instance, fewer farm households would receive the Child Tax Credit. The 2017 law temporarily increased this credit and raised the income threshold for eligibility. Under the current law, about 36% of all farm households are eligible for the tax credit. When the law sunsets, about 27% of farm households will be, according to USDA research.
The tax credit amount will also decrease. Currently, farm households have an average credit of about $3,800. Unless Congress acts, it could be about $1,300.
Qualified business income deduction
Another 2017 tax cut that farmers were eligible for was the qualified business income deduction.
It is for businesses that are not organized as C-corporations, which allows owners and shareholders to separate their tax liability from that of the corporation (such as publicly traded corporations). The new deduction was intended to “provide parity with C-corporations” for farms and other businesses, according to the USDA.
Almost half of farm households receive the deduction. If the deduction is eliminated, the farms’ average tax bill would increase by 9%, or about $2,500.
Estate tax
Another part of the tax cut that could sunset is the provision related to the estate tax, which applies to the transfer of property after a relative dies. The tax only affects the wealthiest families in the U.S. and has become a persistent target of Republicans, who have labeled it the “death tax.”
Though implemented in 1916, the estate tax has “never directly affected a large percentage of farmers,” USDA researchers wrote.
USDA researchers estimate that, currently, just 0.3% of all farm households would be eligible to pay the estate tax. If this part of the 2017 tax cut expires, though, 1% of all farm households would be eligible.
This mostly affects the largest U.S. farms, which generate more than $1 million in annual gross income.
This article first appeared on Investigate Midwest and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Many states have considered so-called "right to repair" legislation, but only Colorado has passed a law specifically related to farm equipment.
CHICAGO - Some Illinois farmers say a lawsuit against equipment manufacturing titan John Deere is long overdue, and they hope the outcome is not more laws but rather, the right to repair their own equipment.
The Federal Trade Commission and Attorneys General from Illinois and Minnesota have sued Deere for monopoly practices they allege unfairly drive up costs and resolution times for fixing farm equipment.
Rob Larew, president of the National Farmers Union, said manufacturers use intellectual property as an excuse to not share the details of their equipment technology.
"If folks could imagine being told by the manufacturer of their car, their minivan or their pickup truck that they, number one, cannot repair it on their own -- that they have to take it into the dealer and get the dealer equipment every single time and get those repairs made -- that would be outrageous," Larew contended.
As a company, John Deere said it has taken a number of steps to support customers' ability to maintain their machines and called the lawsuit "baseless."
Many states have considered so-called "right to repair" legislation, but only Colorado has passed a law specifically related to farm equipment. Larew noted manufacturers have long used promises or nonbinding agreements with equipment dealers to maintain their autonomy.
"In those agreements, it actually prevents farmers from fighting for their right to repair, and in exchange for that they promise to do better and to grant some additional access," Larew explained. "But I think as farmers, we see this really as pretty straightforward, common sense, and we need this issue completely resolved."
Larew added it is a bipartisan issue and is hopeful for a resolution, either through legal or legislative channels. President Donald Trump's new appointee for FTC chair, Andrew Ferguson, has said while he is in favor of right to repair legislation, he does not agree with the decision to file a lawsuit.
One example: The price of oranges and the price of orange juice have both steadily increased in recent years due to declining production in Florida caused by large hurricanes.
CHICAGO - Consumers are unhappy with increasing food prices and blame inflation. In reality, natural disasters have a direct link to grocery costs, with no end in sight.
Climate change affects Illinois farms, especially drought. The weather extremes lower their livestock's productivity, raising the price of dairy and meat products.
Michael Stromberg, spokesperson for Trace One, a food and beverage regulatory compliance company, said the effects of floods, hurricanes, drought and extreme heat have a nationwide and global impact.
Photo: Hans/Pixabay
"The price of oranges and the price of orange juice have both steadily increased in recent years due to declining production in Florida caused by large hurricanes," Stromberg outlined. "Grain prices are through the roof in critical agriculture regions like the Midwest. It starts with drought. It affects a huge portion of agriculture in that region that has an aftereffect at the grocery store in terms of your grocery prices."
Illinois ranked 10th in the Trace One study of all 50 states where natural disasters have the biggest impact on the nation's food supply. Losses were mostly due to drought in Henry, Sangamon, Lee, Logan, Bureau and Mason counties.
Stromberg argued innovation is needed to solve these dilemmas. One solution is to develop and
distribute climate-resilient crops capable of withstanding extreme droughts and floods. Other strategies are to implement effective water resource management systems and invest in flood control measures alongside restoring natural buffers. Wetlands and watersheds will act as sponges to help mitigate the dangers of excessive rainfall. He added more answers can take on a scientific tone.
"Farmers can use newer precision agriculture technologies like IOT sensors, drones, advanced analytics that can allow farmers to better monitor weather patterns, things like soil health and their water usage, which can optimize resources better," Stromberg explained.
He urged the public to vote for policies prioritizing renewable energy, water conservation and sustainable agriculture to drive "incremental improvement," and for the public to reduce their food waste. Another Trace One study found Illinoisans lost slightly more than $1,900 per household, or $766 per person from food waste last year.
As inflation and falling crop prices continue to affect farmers, their advocates say the incoming Trump administration could take steps to reform the nation's industrial agriculture system.
Potential steps include ending foreign farmland ownership, blocking a U.S. Department of Agriculture rule mandating farmers use electronic ID tags on livestock, supporting low-wage farmworkers, and ending lobbying by global food corporations - said Joe Maxwell, chief strategy officer for Farm Action.
Maxwell said West Virginia voters overwhelmingly support reforms to break up major corporations' hold on the nation's food system.
"Eighty-eight percent of rural voters in battleground states during this last election cycle," said Maxwell, "say they would be more favorable toward a candidate who supports cracking down on meat processing monopolies and ensuring local businesses can compete."
Maxwell predicted that food producers will likely be hit harder by President Donald Trump's tariff plan.
The nation's largest food and agriculture legislation, known as the Farm Bill, expired last fall, and lawmakers have yet to agree on a new version.
Maxwell said a new Farm Bill would offer a chance to make major changes to benefit small farmers and consumers, and boost local supply chains.
"We believe with the current environment" said Maxwell, "it is reasonable to have the perfect opportunity to get both parties pushing for antitrust reform and action within the next two years."
According to a Farm Action report, between 2017 and 2022, more than 140,000 farmers nationwide went out of business.
Dec 27, 2024 10:14 pm .::. Commentary |Am Yisrael Chai is not just a slogan
Am Yisrael Chai – It’s just a slogan, it is a way of life
I remember growing up as a kid in Brooklyn singing the Am Yisrael Chai chant, we’d sing it with great excitement and with great pride. And then I remember myself as a young adult, growing into my career as a professional Jew working for various nonprofits, always ending my talks, and my social media posts, with the chant: Am Yisrael? (audience) Chai. I remember how friends and colleagues thought it was cute, reminiscent of a time when they too may have sung the song as kids, they’d chuckle. That’s what I was known for, I was the guy who people knew would scream out AM YISRAEL CHAI wherever and whenever possible. Am Yisrael Chai is not a slogan, it is a way of life.
Dec 27, 2024 09:01 pm .::. Outlasting a talented Tri-Valley squad, SJO basketball advances to State Farm tournament quarterfinals
The St. Joseph-Ogden boys basketball team trailed on the scoreboard for 19 minutes of their quarterfinal game against Tri-Valley (10-1) at the State Farm Holiday Classic. That was until Spartan Coy Taylor sank a field goal with 4:57 left in the game to give his team the one-point go-ahead, 41-40. Persistent and tenacious, SJO (5-3) held the late game lead to win by two 44-42 at Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center on Friday.
Dec 27, 2024 07:13 pm .::. Kearney steps up to lead Spartans in State Farm win over U-High
Rebounding from their 41-29 loss to Bishop McNamara on Thursday, the St. Joseph-Ogden girls' basketball team advanced forward in the consolation bracket at the State Farm Holiday Classic after holding off a huge second-half surge from Normal University to win, 36-33 on Friday. The victory guaranted SJO at least a fourth-place finish in the consolation bracket.
Dec 27, 2024 06:41 pm .::. Think a toy is unsafe, there are options available to report the potential danger to children
The National Retail Federation expects people will spend nearly $989 billion by year's end on holiday shopping but the costs cannot compare to an injury or death due to unknowingly buying a faulty product.
Many children's toys are manufactured in countries like China and India. In their haste to avoid possible Trump administration tariffs, a few safety steps may have been skipped before sending them to the States, said one product liability attorney.
Dec 27, 2024 05:55 pm .::. Exposing misconceptions about infant nutrition for new moms
Bringing a new baby home raises the focus on their and mom’s well-being. Toward the top of the list: what and how the child is being fed.
Whether you choose to breastfeed or use formula, misconceptions about infant nutrition are everywhere. Xandra Anderson, a certified lactation consultant at OSF HealthCare, cuts through the noise.
Dec 27, 2024 02:54 pm .::. New Year - New Diet: Be wary of fad diets on social media
Among the New Year’s resolutions worldwide, many people have pledged to find and stick with a healthy diet. But there’s a lot more to it than just grabbing every “reduced fat” item off the grocery store shelf.
Karen Whitehorn, MD, an OSF HealthCare internal medicine physician, hears questions all the time about diets. Her first question back is usually: what do you want out of your diet? Do you want to be healthy? Lose weight? Manage a medical condition? Sort through the details, and you’ll find the best option.
Avoiding holiday acid reflux is a cinch; Dr. Greg Ward explains how
The advice from Greg Ward, MD, is sure to raise some eyebrows.
But he’s serious. It’s one way to prevent reflux, an ailment that’s painful and annoying in mild cases and can necessitate surgery in advanced instances. And it's something to be aware of during holiday eating.
Learning by leading: Building teen entrepreneurship and real-world business know-how
Already on Tiktok or Instagram? Teens can get real-world skills by blending business and their social media platforms into a unique venture this summer where they can learn valuable business experience as entrepreneurs.
Rybak wins state track title, next stop Notre Dame
Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks
Father McGivney's Elena Rybak and St. Anthony's Isabella Keller embrace after running in the Class 1A 1600m Run on Saturday at the Illinois High School Association's Girls Track & Field State Finals.
