Catawba County Director of Utilities and Engineering Barry Edwards has been named one of the winners of the 2013 Energy Leadership Awards by the Business Journal of Charlotte.

The Western Piedmont Council of Governments has won a national honor for the Western North Carolina Annual Air Quality Conference held at Lenoir-Rhyne University.

Catawba County Public Health's annual report, emergency preparedness outreach have won national honors from the National Association of County Information Officers.

Budget Office wins national award, for producing budget document judged easy to read and understand, for 25th straight year

A demonstrator holds a sign in support of the Affordable Care Act in front of the U.S. Supreme Court last November. On Thursday, the justices did just that.; Credit: Alex Brandon/AP

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act for the third time on Thursday, leaving in place the broad provisions of the law enacted by Congress in 201o. The vote was 7 to 2.

The opinion was authored by Justice Stephen Breyer who was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented.

The decision threw out the challenge to the law on the grounds that Texas and other objecting GOP-dominated states were not required to pay anything under the mandate provision and thus had no standing to bring the challenge to court.

"To have standing, a plaintiff must 'allege personal injury fairly traceable to the defendant's allegedly unlawful conduct and likely to be redressed by the requested relief,' " the majority wrote. "No plaintiff has shown such an injury 'fairly traceable' to the 'allegedly unlawful conduct' challenged here."

The mandate, the most controversial provision of the law, required that people either buy health insurance or pay a penalty. In 2012, it was upheld by a 5-4 vote, with Chief Justice John Roberts casting the decisive fifth vote, on the grounds that the penalty fell within the taxing power of Congress.

In 2017, Congress got rid of the penalty after the Congressional Budget Office concluded that the law would continue to function effectively without it. That prompted the challengers to go back to court, contending that because the penalty had been zeroed out, it was no longer a tax or a mandate. What's more, they contended, because the mandate was so interwoven with the rest of the ACA, the whole law must be struck down.

Over 31 million Americans have access health insurance through the ACA — a record high since the law's inception, the White House said last week. In addition, the Urban Institute reported in May that ACA premiums have gone down each of the last three years.

Many of the provisions of the ACA are now taken for granted. Up to 135 million people are covered by the ban on discrimination against those with preexisting conditions.

Young adults are now permitted to stay on their parents' insurance until age 26; copays are not permitted for preventive care; and insurance companies can no longer put lifetime caps on benefits, are required to spend 80% of premiums on medical coverage and are barred from discrimination based on factors like gender.

In addition, Medicaid coverage was greatly expanded after all but a dozen states took advantage of the ACA to expand federally subsidized coverage under the program. Among those who have benefited are many who lost their health insurance when they lost their jobs in the COVID-19 pandemic.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Recipients of the 10th annual Communication Awards were announced today by the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine.

As the gap in life expectancy between the highest and lowest earners in the U.S. has widened over time, high earners have disproportionately received larger lifetime benefits from government programs such as Social Security and Medicare, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

During a ceremony at its 155th annual meeting, the National Academy of Sciences presented the 2018 Public Welfare Medal to physician, anthropologist, and humanitarian Paul Farmer.

The National Academy of Engineering today announced the winners of its 2018 EngineerGirl essay competition.

The Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) recently selected winners for its University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced today the recipients of the 2018 Communication Awards. Supported by the W.M. Keck Foundation since 2003 as part of the Keck Futures Initiative, these prestigious awards -- each of which includes a $20,000 prize -- recognize excellence in reporting and communicating science, engineering, and medicine to the general public.

The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI) is pleased to announce the recipients of three $500,000 NAKFI Challenge awards. A 15-year, $40 million dollar program funded by the W.M. Keck Foundation, NAKFI was initiated in 2003 to break down barriers between fields and to promote interdisciplinary research.

On Sunday, Sept. 30, during its 2018 annual meeting, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) will present two awards for extraordinary impact on the engineering profession.

The winners of the sixth annual D.C. Public Health Case Challenge were announced at this year’s National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Annual Meeting.

In light of the many costs generated by child poverty for the United States, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides evidence-based policy and program packages that could cut the child poverty rate by as much as 50 percent while at the same time increasing employment and earnings among adults living in low-income families.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced today the recipients of the 2019 Communication Awards. Supported by the W.M. Keck Foundation since 2003 as part of the Keck Futures Initiative, these prestigious awards in four categories -- each of which includes a $20,000 prize -- recognize excellence in reporting and communicating science, engineering, and medicine to the general public.

The winners of the seventh annual D.C. Public Health Case Challenge were announced at this year’s National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Annual Meeting. The challenge aims to promote interdisciplinary, problem-based learning around a public health issue of importance to the Washington, D.C., community.

Only about 4 million people live in the Arctic, but despite its relatively small population, the region is hugely consequential.

It normally takes 15 to 20 years to develop a vaccine, but due to the urgency of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers are accelerating the vaccine development process.

The Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) has selected winners for its annual University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine announced today that Lory Mitchell Wingate will join the organization as its new chief operating officer, effective July 6. Wingate comes to the National Academies from the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), where she currently serves as senior vice president and chief operating officer.

The Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) has selected winners for its annual University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs.

The Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) today announced nine winners of its annual Graduate Research Awards.

A new report says wind turbine generators used in offshore wind farms can interfere with navigational radar used by ships to avoid collisions, posing challenges for safe maritime navigation.

As health care delivery systems increasingly depend on technology, the expertise of clinical engineers in the use and management of this technology is critical for achieving best outcomes. In a new NAE Perspective, Thomas Judd and Yadin David discuss the indispensable role of clinical engineers in merging technology at the point of care.

The recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law is poised to enable nationwide investments in roads, bridges, broadband, and more. A new National Academies initiative aims to help states, regions, and communities coordinate their investments and maximize the benefits.

The Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) has selected winners for its annual University Design Competition for Addressing Airport Needs. Now in its 16th year, the prestigious competition encourages students to design innovative and practical solutions to challenges at airports.

A range of ‘climate-smart’ farming practices have the potential to lower greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and help sequester carbon dioxide emitted by other parts of the economy. A recent webinar explored how to expand use of these practices.

Among the many parts of the U.S. public health system strained by the COVID-19 pandemic were the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine and its network of quarantine stations. A recent report explored how to improve these stations based on lessons learned during the pandemic.

The Transportation Research Board’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) has announced the winners of its annual Graduate Research Awards. The prestigious awards focus on applied research on airport and related aviation system issues to help the public sector continue to improve the quality, reliability, safety, and security of the U.S. civil aviation system.

The results of the 2024 European Cybersecurity Blogger Awards are in and the winner of the Best Cybersecurity Vendor Blog is... drumroll, please... WeLiveSecurity!

Shanker Trivedi, senior vice president of enterprise business, Nvidia, on unique strength of India’s digital economy, positioning the country as one of the top three AI economies of the world

The gusting westerly winds that dominate the climate in central Asia, setting the pattern of dryness and location of central Asian deserts, have blown mostly unchanged for 42 million years. A University of Washington geologist led a team that has discovered a surprising resilience to one of the world's dominant weather systems. The finding could help long-term climate forecasts, since it suggests these winds are likely to persist through radical climate shifts.

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Technology advancements are expected to continue to drive down the cost of wind energy, according to a survey of the world's foremost wind power experts led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Experts anticipate cost reductions of 24%-30% by 2030 and 35%-41% by 2050, under a median or 'best guess' scenario, driven by bigger and more efficient turbines, lower capital and operating costs, and other advancements (see Figure 1).

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On existing devices, users can switch to the new Outlook for Windows from a toggle in the Mail and Calendar applications.

Top wearables brands such as Boat and Gizmore are making most products locally in key categories audio and smartwatch through electronics contract manufacturers such as Dixon Technologies and Optiemus Electronics. Domestic shipments of wearables jumped 81% on-year in the first quarter of calendar year 2023 to 25 million units, with India surpassing China to become the largest market in the world, according to IDC India.

Using software tools developed by Near Zero, a research group hosted by the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global Ecology, a team of researchers has completed the largest expert survey yet on any energy technology, in this case wind energy.

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Manish Prasad, president and managing director of SAP Indian Subcontinent, told ET that India is a key growth market for the company. SAP, which is Europe's biggest tech company by market capitalisation, is seeing cloud revenues in the India market rising at over 50% a year as mid-market firms up adoption.

Three winning contestants were chosen out of more than 7,000 entries from across the U.S. 

David DelGhingaro, president, Brolite Products, provides some fresh perspective on how to breathe new life into the bread category.

The company is best known for its fruit-based bars, each containing just two ingredients.

Jill McCauley and Terry Howard, the founders of The Invisible Chef, are expanding their baking mix collection with the launch of new Baking Kits at the Winter Fancy Food Show in Las Vegas.

The panel of judges was comprised of New Hope editors and analysts, alongside industry expert guest judges.

Experts from Chesapeake Spice and Elite Spice discuss their winning entries from SNAXPO23.

This year’s first winner was a team of students from the University of Wisconsin–Stout, and the second-place winner was a team of students from the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly).

If there’s one trend that touches nearly every area of the food industry—from formulation to marketing, from ingredients to finished products—it’s clean label.

Freeze quality is essential when manufacturing well more than a million baked and prepared food items a day for shipment nationwide.

Reviewing and revising sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOPs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Four products in bright Hooters orange packs are now available in over 1,300 Publix Super Markets nationwide.

Two of the producer’s Wings flavors, Buffalo and Korean BBQ, will be offered at more than 100 of the stores across the U.S.