Science, Health, Tech

Delaware's prescription opioid distribution settlement fund sits at roughly $250 million.

During the pandemic, more Americans qualified for food assistance and cash aid.According to one non-partisan study, food benefits – through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP – lowered child poverty by roughly 14 percent and kept more than four million Americans above the poverty line. Now, many states are returning to pre-pandemic levels of assistance, in the midst of an economy featuring high inflation and higher costs at the grocery store.Delaware Public Media’s Kyle McKinnon sat down with the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services’ Marcella Spady and Janneen Boyce to learn more about how the end of pandemic-related SNAP funding looks in the First State.

The term “influencer” gets thrown around a lot. These online celebrities are known for advertising products to followers, often leading to impulse buying decisions by viewers.But some on the internet are beginning to take a step back and question the motives behind these social media recommendations, launching a new category known as “de-influencers.”In this week’s Enlighten Me, University of Delaware senior and Delaware Public Media intern Meg Roessler looks at how this new wave of content creators is taking apps such as TikTok by storm and making users question, ‘Do I really need to buy this?’

Listen to the full show or individual segments.

Delaware currently has no state-level certification process for recovery homes, which play a vital role in the state's response to the opioid crisis.

Delaware's syringe exchange programs — a key element of the state's efforts to limit the spread of diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C among drug users — are currently required to provide one-to-one exchanges of syringes.

The webinar discussed benefits of adopting the Advanced Clean Car II program, which the Sierra Club says is the best tool states have for slashing emissions from the transportation sector.

The report by the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays points to some progress, including the discovery of new bay grasses in Little Assawoman Bay.

The trauma center at Bayhealth Hospital Kent Campus has been reverified as a Level III Trauma Center.

This month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unveiled its new proposal for regulating so-called “forever chemicals” in drinking water. These new enforceable limits on PFAS chemicals would be much stricter than the maximum contaminant levels Delaware had been considering.But enforcing those limits – if finalized – will come with a cost as water companies are required to test and treat to make sure their water is in compliance.This week, contributor Jon Hurdle reports on how much that could cost and who will pay for the EPA’s new regulations.