Suicidal ideation is terrifying and isolating. This survivor is ‘living proof’ recovery is possible.

• September 24, 2024

Mary Lawal was 8 years old the first time she tried to take her own life.

Time has blurred the details for Lawal, now a 22-year-old psychology student at Prince George’s Community College. She doesn’t remember the circumstances that led up to her attempt — Did she have a fight with her parents? An argument with her siblings? — or how, as a child, she even knew suicide was possible. She has only a vague memory of feeling lonely and unlovable.

“I don’t think I had a full understanding of what I was doing,” she said.

In the last two decades, overall suicide rates in the U.S. have risen by more than a third. They are also up for children ages 8 to 12 — especially among young girls. Nearly 1 in 10 Maryland high school students reported having attempted suicide at least once in the year leading up to fall of 2022, according to results from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey.

But there are reasons to be hopeful. For two years, in Maryland and across the country, the 988 suicide and crisis hotline has made it easier to ask for help. And earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, introduced legislation that would create a federal grant program to support evidence-based models for stabilizing people with serious thoughts of suicide. Raskin lost his son to suicide in December 2020.

While suicidal ideation — thinking about or formulating plans for suicide — can be terrifying and isolating, research shows it also is treatable through psychotherapy, medication, family and social support, and other treatments. Nine out of 10 people who attempt to take their own lives do not die during that acute period of crisis, and do not go on to die of suicide in the future. Research shows that most people who make one attempt do not try to end their own lives again.

But Lawal did try again. After her first attempt as a child, she tried to take her own life four more times, most recently in 2021.

Lawal survived. And today, after several years of intensive treatment, hospital stays, medication and therapy, she considers herself to be in recovery from suicidal ideation and self-harm. She’s now an outspoken mental health advocate who shares her story with thousands of people on her Instagram, as well as with lawmakers, mental health workers and educators as a volunteer and youth adviser for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

She wants to bring people in crisis the message she so desperately needed when she was younger — that there is hope of getting better.

“I’m living proof that recovery is possible,” Lawal said. “Mental illness does not have to be a death sentence.”

Mary Lawal has survived five suicide attempts and is now a mental health advocate committed to sharing her story with others and spreading a message of hope. Lawal is a student at Prince George’s Community College. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff)

Lawal remembers struggling with her mental health from the time she was little. She spent her childhood moving between Bowie and Nigeria, where her dad grew up and ran a business. She switched schools four or five times while growing up, sometimes in the middle of the school year.

Ezekiel Adegbola met Lawal while they were both in high school in Nigeria. He remembers her as someone who quickly adapted to the “Nigerian way of life” and was very bright and funny. They quickly became friends, Adegbola said, and stayed close even after Mary returned to Maryland.

But inside, Lawal felt like she didn’t belong anywhere — like nobody truly understood her. At 13, she began to self-harm. She knew she needed help, but she didn’t know how to put what she was feeling into words. Mental health wasn’t something her teachers or classmates talked about at school.

“I felt as though I was just in this cycle of doom,” she said.

When it comes to preventing suicide — and most other public health crises — it’s key to implement upstream interventions, said Holly Wilcox, a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. That means tackling the first seeds of the problem before it becomes a crisis, and teaching people about how to recognize those seeds and what to do when they spot them.

Suicide may seem like too big and scary of a topic to broach with children, but there are age-appropriate — and effective — ways of doing so, Wilcox said. She and other researchers are currently testing out programs in Maryland schools, where kids are given tools for approaching sensitive situations and conversations with their friends, and taught when to involve a responsible adult.

“One thing we’ve been noticing is that students, even as young as middle school, really like having the space and time to talk about mental health,” said Wilcox, who has spent her career advancing public health approaches to suicide prevention.

“By allowing them to talk about it, our hope is that it addresses mental health stigma,” Wilcox said. “They can learn practical skills and learn about different mental health conditions. That should help them when they or someone else in their lives are facing any type of mental health problem or crisis; they’ll have something to draw from to be able to work toward a solution.”

Without a similar program in her school, Lawal turned to YouTube and social media to learn about mental health. Hearing others share experiences similar to her own was helpful, but she still wasn’t sure how to get better. While living in Nigeria, she considered walking to a nearby pharmacy to ask for help.

“I wanted to ask the pharmacist,” she recalled, “‘Do you guys have something for depression or suicidal ideation? Something to help?’”

When she got up the nerve to tell her parents how much she was hurting, they didn’t understand. They were a family of faith — Why couldn’t she trust that God would take care of her?

Lawal’s father, Wasiu Lawal, said he initially attributed his daughter’s mental health struggles to her youth. But things got worse, not better, as she got older, he said. Eventually, even though he didn’t understand therapy — mental health was never something people talked about when he was growing up in Nigeria — he knew his daughter needed serious intervention.

“I was willing to do anything that would help her,” Lawal said.

Toward the end of Lawal’s high school years, her mental health got even worse. In her lowest moments, she would scream and cry to her mother, asking her why she had brought her into the world.

But when Lawal was 19, after years of suicide attempts and terrifying intrusive thoughts regularly sending her to the hospital, a doctor suggested a partial hospitalization program to her family. For several weeks, Lawal spent hours each day participating in group and individual therapy. A few months later, she did the program again. This time, even though it was virtual, Lawal felt more prepared to be open with others in the program — to share her experiences and add her input during group therapy.

After several years of treatment and learning about mental health, it felt like everything clicked, Lawal said. She left the program with a deeper understanding of herself that became even deeper as she explored her relationship with her faith. She came to believe that everything she had gone through had a purpose — to help her understand others who were struggling and help them feel less alone.

“God, he had me then. He has me now,” she said. “In my darkest moments, in my darkest times, where I felt lonely, I felt like I had no one, he was still there with me and the reason why I’m still alive today.”

Rolly Orebote, a preacher and spiritual mentor based in London, remembers meeting Lawal through Instagram about four years ago. She could tell how much the young girl was struggling, she said, but over the past few years, she has been amazed at the person she has become.

“When I first met Sister Mary, she was a totally different person. Someone that was not understood, someone that didn’t have confidence in herself,” Orebote said. “I can’t really say how impressed and how proud of her that I am, because she’s grown so much in such a short space of time.”

Now, Lawal is well-practiced at sharing her story. In 2023, she addressed lawmakers in the Maryland General Assembly to ask them to fully fund the 988 hotline. She’s also helped facilitate support groups for NAMI and regularly volunteers to speak with journalists about mental health issues. As a psychology student at Prince George’s Community College, she’s not quite sure yet whether she wants to continue her studies and become a therapist or stay in advocacy.

Whatever Lawal decides to do, her father said, she is going to help many people. She’s taught him a lot about mental health, he said. Now, when he meets a parent whose child is struggling with their mental health, he knows how to talk to them about it — and helps them figure out how to support their child.

“She is amazing. Amazing,” he said of his daughter. “She can tell her story anywhere. She is not ashamed. She’s bold. I’m really proud of her.”

​ Orange County Register 

How to prevent or at least slow developing ‘dead butt syndrome’

• September 24, 2024

Morayo Ogunbayo | (TNS) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATLANTA — Its name might sound funny, but its long-term effects are no laughing matter. “Dead butt syndrome,” an affliction that once targeted athletes, is now a major cause of pain and discomfort among people who sit at a desk for hours a day.

The name refers to a serious weakening in one of the gluteal muscles, and while the early symptoms can lead to pain in the lower back and muscles, which in the long term can affect quality of life.

What is ‘dead butt syndrome’?

Gluteus medius tendinosis, often referred to as gluteal tendinopathy, is a tendon disorder that manifests in the hip and buttocks area, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The condition causes tendon tissue to break down or deteriorate and is a common cause of hip pain.

Although it can affect anyone, it is more in women past the age of menopause. Runners, skiers and dancers are also more prone to this affliction.

It is most typically caused by putting too much pressure on those tendons through physical activity or through tendon compression from an accident.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, excess pressure from weight gain or obesity can also aid in gluteal tendinopathy.

The cause of the condition, however, is underuse of these tendons through inactivity or a generally sedentary lifestyle.

How do you know if you have ‘dead butt syndrome’?

Symptoms of “dead butt syndrome” most commonly manifest as moderate hip pain, according to the Cleveland Clinic. This pain may occur while walking upstairs or up an incline, lying on your side, sitting for a prolonged time, or standing on one leg.

One alarming sign may be if you start to feel hip pain while getting out of bed each morning.

Gluteal tendinopathy can be diagnosed through a symptom evaluation with a health care provider, which may lead to an MRI or ultrasound to check the affected area.

What are the long-term effects?

Long-term, gluteal tendinopathy may cause common signs of aging earlier than you would like, including severe and chronic pain in the lower body, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Fatigue and irritability are also possible if the chronic pain begins to affect your sleep each night.

How can it be prevented or stopped?

The good news is there are ways to prevent this from happening to you. Avoiding repetitive activities that focus on the hips is a good way to start, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Even in common exercises like running or hiking, it is good to take a break when you feel undue pain in that region of your body.

The Cleveland Clinic also recommends lifting weights to strengthen the hips and prevent this condition in the long term. Yoga and other stretching exercises are a good idea to keep the lower body flexible.

Another tip is to change the way you sit each day during work or even just while relaxing. According to Dr. Robert Trasolini, an orthopedic surgeon, posture is important.

“Sitting with an arched back or slouching at your desk can put significant pressure on your deep butt muscles as well as your lower back,” he told People magazine.

If these symptoms have already begun for you, Trasolini has advice on how to slow or stop the condition. He recommends getting up every 30 minutes at work and going for a quick walk, just to reset the lower body.

“Set an alarm every 30 minutes, get up stretch every hour, take a short walk for between three and five minutes. Those allow the muscle to respond and get this thing stronger,” he told People.

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©2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

Am I liable for a slip and fall at a bowling alley? Ask the lawyer

• September 24, 2024

Q: We had a birthday party for our 12-year-old son. One of the kids slipped and fell while bowling, and wound up with a broken arm. We checked, and the approach did have a  greasy substance on it. The parents are angry. Do they have a claim against the bowling alley or against us?

D.R., Inglewood

Ron Sokol

A: The owner of the bowling alley has a legal duty to exercise ordinary care in the maintenance and management of the premises to avoid exposing persons to an unreasonable risk of harm. So, how did the greasy substance get there? Should the owner have known about it and removed it?  Was it, instead, obvious and someone else there (perhaps a parent) should have dealt with it, or the youngster could have avoided it?

Businesses, such as grocery markets, typically have what is a called a “sweep.” This is an inspection made of the aisles, floors, surrounding shelves and containers at reasonable time intervals. Did the owner do so? At this juncture, it is not possible to opine if the bowling alley is liable until you can gather more of the facts.

As to you being at fault, a question arises about the level of supervision of the kids at the party. A bowling party is not quite a swimming pool, so you may not have a “lifeguard” on hand; however, did one of the kids spill something that resulted in the slippery surface? Can you say you were vigilant, keeping a careful eye on things, and that no one noticed anything too risky? Here again, without knowing more, it is not possible to opine on whether there may be a valid claim against you.

If a claim does come forward, or you become aware that a formal claim is going to be brought against you, consult with a qualified attorney, including to assess if you have coverage through your homeowners policy, and/or if you have a claim in turn against the bowling alley. If you are concerned enough at this point, consult with the lawyer now.

Q: What does a premises expert look for in a slip and fall case?

H.O., Marina Del Rey

A: Often it is essential to have a premises expert conduct an inspection of the area where the slip and fall occurred. Alterations may be made to the site, or the location may be modified. Thus, it can be very important to have the inspection done promptly after the incident, and to seek out (or demand preservation of) any video of the incident.

The expert may photograph or video the site. In addition, he or she may take measurements; may test the soil or ground; and may determine incline, grade and quality of materials. Bottom line, the expert is going to seek to carefully assess information about what happened, how it happened, and be in position to opine if the slip and fall occurred as a result of a defect or dangerous condition. Part of the evaluation may also determine if an ordinance, code provision, rule, custom or law was violated with regard to the condition of the premises.

Q: Are slip and fall cases handled on an hourly or contingency basis?

P.D., Orange

A: In my experience, slip and fall cases are handled on a contingency basis (in other words, the lawyer receives a percentage from any recovery). The percentage that the lawyer charges should be negotiable. Discuss also with the attorney who is going to pay out of pocket costs, and how much might be spent.

Ron Sokol has been a practicing attorney for over 40 years, and has also served many times as a judge pro tem, mediator, and arbitrator. It is important to keep in mind that this column presents a summary of the law, and is not to be treated or considered legal advice, let alone a substitute for actual consultation with a qualified professional.

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​ Orange County Register 

Trump will attend Al Smith charity dinner that Harris is skipping to campaign in battleground state

• September 24, 2024

By MEG KINNARD

Donald Trump confirmed Monday that he would be the sole featured speaker at this year’s Al Smith charity dinner in New York, typically a good-humored and bipartisan political event that Vice President Kamala Harris said she is skipping in favor of battleground state campaigning.

The former president and current Republican presidential nominee confirmed in a Truth Social post on Monday that he would speak at the Oct. 17 dinner, calling it “sad, but not surprising” that Harris had opted not to attend.

The gala benefiting Catholic Charities traditionally has been used to promote collegiality, with presidential candidates from both parties appearing on the same night and trading barbs. But on Saturday, Harris’ campaign said the Democratic nominee would not go to the event, breaking with presidential tradition so she could campaign instead in a battleground state less than three weeks before Election Day.

Harris’ team wants her to spend as much time as possible in the battleground states that will decide the election rather than in heavily Democratic New York, a campaign official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss campaign plans and confirming a decision first reported by CNN. Her team told organizers that she would be willing to attend as president if she’s elected, the official said.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who plays a prominent role in the dinner, has been highly critical of Democrats, writing a 2018 Wall Street Journal op-ed that carried the headline, “The Democrats Abandon Catholics.” In his Truth Social post, Trump said Harris “certainly hasn’t been very nice” to Catholics, saying that Catholic voters who support her “should have their head examined.”

A Harris campaign official said Catholics for Harris-Walz is working to register people to vote and get involved in outreach across the country. Trump’s post stems in part from 2018 questions that then-Sen. Harris posed to a federal judicial nominee about his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a lay Catholic fraternal organization. Harris asked the nominee if he agreed with the anti-abortion views of the group’s leader, views that broadly align with the church’s stance.

The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is named for the former New York governor, a Democrat and the first Roman Catholic to be nominated for president by a major party. He was handily defeated by Herbert Hoover in 1928. The dinner raises millions of dollars for Catholic charities and has traditionally shown that those vying to lead the nation can get along, or pretend to, for one night.

It’s become a tradition for presidential candidates ever since Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy appeared together in 1960. In 1996, the Archdiocese of New York decided not to invite then-President Bill Clinton and his Republican challenger, Bob Dole, reportedly because Clinton vetoed a late-term abortion ban.

Trump and Joe Biden, who is Catholic, both spoke at the fundraiser in 2020 when it was moved online because of COVID-19. Amid the pandemic and economic woes, there was no joking, and both candidates instead used their speeches to appeal to Catholic voters.

Both Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton attended in 2016. Trump was booed after calling Clinton corrupt and claiming she hated Catholics.

___

Meg Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

​ Orange County Register 

Severe obesity is on the rise in the US

• September 24, 2024

By JONEL ALECCIA

Obesity is high and holding steady in the U.S., but the proportion of those with severe obesity — especially women — has climbed since a decade ago, according to new government research.

The U.S. obesity rate is about 40%, according to a 2021-2023 survey of about 6,000 people. Nearly 1 in 10 of those surveyed reported severe obesity, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. Women were nearly twice as likely as men to report severe obesity.

The overall obesity rate appeared to tick down vs. the 2017-2020 survey, but the change wasn’t considered statistically significant; the numbers are small enough that there’s mathematical chance they didn’t truly decline.

That means it’s too soon to know whether new treatments for obesity, including blockbuster weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound, can help ease the epidemic of the chronic disease linked to a host of health problems, according to Dr. Samuel Emmerich, the CDC public health officer who led the latest study.

“We simply can’t see down to that detailed level to prescription medication use and compare that to changes in obesity prevalence,” Emmerich said. “Hopefully that is something we can see in the future.”

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Most telling though, the results that show that the overall obesity rate in the U.S. has not changed significantly in a decade, even as the rate of severe obesity climbed from nearly 8% in the 2013-2014 survey to nearly 10% in the most recent one. Before that, obesity had increased rapidly in the U.S. since the 1990s, federal surveys showed.

Measures of obesity and severe obesity are determined according to body mass index, a calculation based on height and weight. People with a BMI of 30 are considered to have obesity; those with a BMI of 40 or higher have severe obesity. BMI is regarded as a flawed tool but remains widely used by doctors to screen for obesity.

“Seeing increases in severe obesity is even more alarming because that’s the level of obesity that’s most highly associated with some of the highest levels of cardiovascular disease and diabetes and lower quality of life,” said Solveig Cunningham, an Emory University global health professor who specializes in obesity.

Cunningham, who was not involved in the new study, said it’s not clear why rates of severe obesity are going up, or why they were higher among women. Factors could include the effects of hormones, the impact of childbearing or other causes that require further study, she said.

The new study also found that obesity rates varied by education. Almost 32% of people with a bachelor’s degree or higher reported having obesity, compared with about 45% of those with some college or a high school diploma or less.

The new report follows the release earlier this month of data from U.S. states and territories that showed that in 2023, the rate of obesity ranged widely by place, from a high of more than 41% of adults in West Virginia to a low of less than 24% of adults in Washington, D.C. Rates were highest in the Midwest and the South.

All U.S. states and territories posted obesity rates higher than 20%. In 23 states, more than 1 in 3 adults had obesity, the data showed. Before 2013, no state had a rate that high, said Dr. Alyson Goodman, who leads a CDC team focused on population health.

Color-coded U.S. maps tracking the change have gradually shifted from green and yellow, the hues associated with lower obesity rates, to orange and dark red, linked to higher prevalence.

“Sometimes, when you look at all that red, it’s really discouraging,” Goodman said.

But, she added, recent emphasis on understanding obesity as a metabolic disease and new interventions, such as the new class of weight-loss drugs, gives her hope.

The key is preventing obesity in the first place, starting in early childhood, Cunningham said. Even when people develop obesity, preventing additional weight gain should be the goal.

“It’s really hard to get obesity to reverse at the individual level and at the population level,” Cunningham said. “I guess it’s not surprising that we’re not seeing downward shifts in the prevalence of obesity.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

​ Orange County Register 

Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre says he has Parkinson’s disease

• September 24, 2024

By MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON — Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, he told a congressional committee Tuesday.

Favre made the disclosure as part of his testimony about a welfare misspending scandal in Mississippi. Favre, who does not face criminal charges, has repaid just over $1 million in speaking fees funded by a welfare program in the state and was also an investor in a biotech company with ties to the case. The biotech firm has said it was developing concussion treatments.

The former football star told the committee that he lost his investment in the company “that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others.”

“As I’m sure you’ll understand, while it’s too late for me — I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s — this is also a cause dear to my heart,” Favre said.

What causes Parkinson’s disease is unknown, and it is unclear if Favre’s disease is connected to his football career or head injuries. He said in 2022 that he estimates he experienced “thousands” of concussions in his two decades in the NFL.

Favre appeared at the Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee hearing to advocate reform of the federal welfare system to better prevent fraud.

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“The challenges my family and I have faced over the last three years—because certain government officials in Mississippi failed to protect federal TANF funds from fraud and abuse, and are unjustifiably trying to blame me, those challenges have hurt my good name and are worse than anything I faced in football,” Favre said.

House Republicans have said a Mississippi welfare misspending scandal involving Favre and others points to the need for an overhaul in the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

Favre has said he didn’t know the payments he received came from welfare funds and has noted his charity had provided millions of dollars to poor kids in his home state of Mississippi and in Wisconsin, where he played most of his career with the Green Bay Packers.

​ Orange County Register 

Several states are making late changes to election rules, even as voting is set to begin

• September 24, 2024

By ALI SWENSON

In Georgia, election workers will have to hand count the number of ballots cast after voting is completed. In North Carolina, some students and university staff can use their digital IDs to vote. In Wisconsin, ballot drop boxes are newly legal again, although not every voting jurisdiction will use them.

Across the country, including in some of the nation’s presidential swing states, new or recently altered state laws are changing how Americans will vote, tally ballots, and administer and certify November’s election.

It can be a challenge to keep track of these 11th-hour changes, especially since state election processes already vary so widely. Even more changes are looming in some states, with Election Day on Nov. 5 now just weeks away. Several states already have started sending out mail ballots, and in some states, voters have begun casting ballots in person.

“Last-minute changes to election rules — whether from a state legislature, an election authority or a court — can lead to confusion for voters and election officials,” Megan Bellamy, vice president of law and policy for the Voting Rights Lab, said in an email response. “Election season is underway. Lawmakers, administrative bodies and courts must recognize that.”

Here’s a look at some of the election processes that are new or have been recently modified.

New hand-counting requirements

Georgia and Arizona will both require election workers to hand-count ballots at polling sites on Election Day. Election officials say it could delay the reporting of results.

The Georgia State Election Board passed its new rule on Friday. It requires that the number of ballots — not the number of votes — be counted by hand at each polling place by three separate poll workers until all three counts are the same.

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Georgia voters make selections on touch-screen voting machines that print out paper ballots. Those ballots include a list of the selections so voters can verify their accuracy and a QR code that is read by a scanner to tally the votes.

Proponents say the new hand-count rule is needed to make sure the number of paper ballots matches the electronic tallies on scanners, check-in computers and voting machines. The three workers will have to count the ballots in piles of 50, and the poll manager needs to explain and fix, if possible, any discrepancies, as well as document them.

The rule goes against the advice of the state attorney general’s office, the secretary of state’s office and an association of county election officials. Critics worry it could delay the reporting of election night results, undermining public confidence in the process.

A similar change to state law this year in Arizona is also likely to cause delayed results in the swing state this fall. It requires counties to hand count ballot envelopes that are dropped off at polling centers on Election Day before the ballots are tabulated.

After the July primary, Maricopa County Elections spokesperson Jennifer Liewer said the new step resulted in a roughly 30-minute delay in reporting the county’s results, and said the impact could be greater in the general election “if we have hundreds of thousands of ballots dropped off.”

Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, estimates between 625,000 and 730,000 voters will drop off their ballots on Nov. 5.

JP Martin, a spokesperson for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, said in an email that the ballot counting mandate will “require considerable time, particularly since poll workers have already completed a 12-15-hour shift.”

Changes for early and mailed ballots

Chaos and disinformation about mail-in ballots and drop boxes have prompted partisan disagreements — and new rules — in several states over how these accessible voting methods should be used.

In Wisconsin, the then-conservative majority state Supreme Court outlawed drop boxes in 2022. But a new liberal majority on the court made them legal again in July. Some communities opened them for the state’s August primary, but more will be in use for November.

Their use in Wisconsin is voluntary and some conservative towns have opted against using drop boxes, citing security concerns. The state’s two most heavily Democratic cities, Milwaukee and Madison, used them in August and will again in November.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, issued a directive to county election boards in August that said only a voter can drop their personal ballot in a drop box. Anyone who assists someone else must return that ballot inside the county board office and complete an attestation form.

In Pennsylvania, a court battle is pending at the state Supreme Court that could decide whether counties must count provisional ballots cast by voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected for relatively minor mistakes, such as not inserting the ballot into an inner secrecy envelope. Practices vary by county and state law is silent on it. Republicans have argued that nothing in state law explicitly allows a voter to cast a provisional ballot in place of a rejected mail-in ballot.

Separately, the Pennsylvania state Supreme Court earlier this month threw out a case on a technicality after a lower court had ruled that rejecting mail-in ballots for “meaningless and inconsequential paperwork errors” — such as a missing handwritten date — violates the constitutional right to vote. As a result, counties are expected to continue the practice of disqualifying those ballots. Some counties — primarily Democratic ones — strive to help voters fix those errors or cast a provisional ballot instead.

This is the first presidential election since Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature made a series of changes to mail balloting in 2021. While those aren’t recent changes, their impact could be significant this year in a state that traditionally has had robust interest in voting by mail. One change makes a voter’s request for a mail ballot valid only for the next general election, rather than two general election cycles, meaning voters will have to reapply. Requesting a mail ballot also now requires a driver’s license number, state ID number or last four digits of a Social Security number.

Verifying a voter’s identity

In North Carolina, the State Board of Elections last month voted that students and staff at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill could show digital identifications on their smartphones to qualify to vote under the state’s recently implemented photo voter ID law.

It marked the first such digital ID the board has approved. Republican groups sued, contending that state law only allows physical cards.

A trial judge last week refused to block its use. Republicans have since filed an appeal notice. Only mobile IDs issued by UNC-Chapel Hill on Apple phones have been approved for use.

In Arkansas, a federal appeals court decision last week reinstated a rule that bans electronic signatures for voter registration. The state Board of Election Commissioners approved the rule in April, saying the state’s constitution allows only certain agencies, and not elections officials, to accept electronic signatures. Under the rule, voters will have to register by signing their name with a pen.

It was adopted after nonprofit group Get Loud Arkansas helped register voters using electronic signatures. The board said the rule was needed to create uniformity across the state.

The board’s director asked county clerks to identify any registration documents submitted using electronic signatures after the appeals court decision and make every effort to contact the voters as soon as possible to give them the chance to correct their application.

After the votes are in

Election administration doesn’t stop when the polls close, and a few states will have new processes in the post-election period.

The same Georgia election board that ordered counties to hand count the number of paper ballots had just weeks earlier passed new rules related to certification of the vote. One change provides for a “reasonable inquiry” before county election officials certify results, without defining what that means. Another allows county election officials “to examine all election-related documentation created during the conduct of elections.”

Democrats have sued to block the new rules, saying they could be used by local officials who want to refuse certification if they don’t like the election results.

In New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu signed legislation in July that establishes postelection audits. It took effect in time for New Hampshire’s late state primary on Sept. 10 and will apply to general elections.

The audits allow the secretary of state’s office to check that electronic vote-counting equipment functioned properly. Ten polling locations were chosen at random.

The audit of electronic ballot counting devices was determined successful by the appointed audit team, with all results within expected margins.

In Nebraska, former President Donald Trump’s allies were pushing for the state to change how it allocates electoral votes to prevent Vice President Kamala Harris from potentially claiming one of them by carrying the state’s congressional district for the Omaha area. But that effort appears doomed because a Republican state senator said he wouldn’t support it, denying backers the two-thirds majority they would need to get it through the Legislature and into law before the Nov. 5 election.

“After deep consideration, it is clear to me that right now, 43 days from Election Day, is not the moment to make this change,” state Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha said Monday.

Maine is the only other state that allocates Electoral College votes by congressional district.

Associated Press statehouse reporters across the country contributed to this report.

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

​ Orange County Register 

Not a scam: VA texting veterans to encourage them to apply for earned benefits

• September 24, 2024

This story — a somewhat personal one — starts as many do nowadays, with an unsolicited text message from an unknown number.

If you’re anything like me, then you would probably react much as I did when the text from “468311” came in early one morning last week.

“Afghanistan Veteran: You’re likely eligible for VA monthly compensation. Visit VA.gov/PACT or call 1-800-698-2411 & press 8, then 2,” the message read, the number and website hyperlinked.

You couldn’t pay me to respond to that text message or click that link address and phone number, let alone trick me with a promise or “compensation.” I may have once been credulous enough to commit the most well known of the “classic blunders” by voluntarily involving myself in a land war in Asia, but I wasn’t going to be fooled by a phisher, a smisher, a spoofer, or whatever else these con artists are currently called.

Not today, scammers, I thought to myself, mentally adding the sort of expletives reasonably expected from a former sergeant of military police.

The number looked familiar, though. It looked an awful lot like the actual number for the Department of Veterans Affairs. As any modern-day journalist might, I turned to the Google for answers.

That number was the VA’s. The website, too. I’d certainly served in Afghanistan. I’ve written about the PACT Act — the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 — I knew that was real.

It’s a fairly well-researched con, then, I told myself.

Without clicking the certain-to-be scam text message, I called the Department of Veterans Affairs directly. If someone was trying to cheat veterans they would probably want to know.

“Is this a scam?” I asked.

“That is not a scam,” the actual human who answered the phone at the VA said. He couldn’t see my visible confusion.

Genuinely surprised — I may have even scoffed — I countered with something along the lines of “you’re telling me the VA is actually reaching out to veterans to encourage them to sign up for disability benefits?”

I’d been a VFW post officer. I’d heard the war stories, and not the ones about the battlefields, but against the government bureaucrat-boogeymen who seemed intent on standing in the way of earned post-service services. It couldn’t be true.

“Yes, we are,” the VA employee said.

I didn’t want to get that guy in trouble for talking to me — not for talking to a veteran, that’s literally his job, but to a journalist, which most government employees aren’t allowed. I reached out to his bosses.

According to the Biden Administration’s Assistant Secretary at the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, Adam Farina, the text message is part of a new “paradigm shift at VA” pushed by President Joe Biden and VA Secretary Denis McDonough.

“We have been given one mandate: inform veterans of the benefits available to them and get them in the door for services,” he told me. “It’s an all-hands-on-deck outreach effort. The first in VA history, and certainly the largest in VA history, to get veterans to come to us.”

The text I’d received wasn’t the first the Department had sent. The veterans of Vietnam, whose exposure to Agent Orange is now presumed under the PACT Act, were contacted to apply for benefits in July. Those who served in Desert Storm were contacted after that. Afghanistan veterans are being contacted now, with Iraq War vets to follow.

So far, 3 million veterans have received such a text message, Farina said, with more to come.

“All of those efforts are targeted at veterans who are not currently receiving care or compensation at VA,” Farina said. “We want them to come to VA for the care and benefits they deserve.”

The VA has also hosted more than 800 live outreach events since March (including one at Gillette Stadium), and launched a national advertising campaign titled “What You Earned,” which aims to make veterans familiar with tangible VA benefits like low- or no-cost healthcare, no-money-down mortgages, and no-cost memorial and burial services.

The outreach is working, Farina said. More than 410,000 Veterans have enrolled for VA care over the last year, the largest enrollment jump since 2017. Since the PACT Act was signed into law in 2022, he said, nearly three-quarters of a million Veterans have enrolled in VA health care, a more than 33% increase compared to a similar period from before the legislation was signed.

The VA has received 4.4 million claims for compensation in the last two years alone, and 1.7 million of those fall under the PACT acts “presumed conditions” list, which makes it easier for veterans to tie their injuries to their service.

“The reason for this is we have found that veterans who come to VA do better,” Farina said. “We want them to come to VA, and that mandate has permeated through the Department, and we are just crushing the records.”

Right now, Farina said, more veterans are receiving disability benefits and care through the VA than ever before. This fiscal year alone, VA has awarded $137 billion in benefits to more than 6.7 million veterans.

Except for, of course, this procrastination-prone former noncommissioned officer, or I wouldn’t have gotten that text message.

I’ll have to get on top of that. If you got or get that text message, well, you probably should too. It really isn’t a scam (this time).

This is the message VA is sending to veterans to encourage them to sign up. It’s not a texting scam, but an outreach effort from VA. (screen capture from Herald Reporter Matthew Medsger’s cell phone)
The US Department of Veterans Affairs building is seen in Washington, DC, on July 22, 2019. (Alastair Pike/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

​ Orange County Register