🌀 The National Weather Service received permission to hire 450 meteorologists, hydrologists, and radar technicians, months after being hit by DOGE-related staffing cuts that brought concerns about whether the agency was prepared for hurricane season.
Mental Health
Photo: Richard Requena/Pioneer Press
Illinois is the first U.S. state to provide free mental health screenings for students in 3rd through 12th grade
A new law in Illinois will require all public schools to offer third- through 12th-grade students a free, optional mental health screening once a year. Similar to vision or hearing screenings, the assessment will help “provide early identification and intervention” so students “can get help they need as soon as possible.”
One high school student, 17-year-old Abhinav Anne, had long been advocating for the law to prioritize and support students’ mental health after experiencing a crisis of his own.
The screenings will begin next school year, and the state’s Board of Education has one year to provide schools with guidance and policy on how to use the screening tools.
Why is this good news? Students deserve to have mental health support before they reach the point of a crisis — early detection and intervention tools like mental health screenings help do that. And now, the state of Illinois is making them even more accessible.
The Gates Foundation pledged $2.5 billion to “ignored, underfunded” women’s health. One of the largest recent commitments as part of Bill Gates’ plan to give away his fortune by 2045, this funding will address long-neglected conditions like endometriosis and menopause, fund research, product development, and equitable access globally.
A Los Angeles librarian brings books and resources to unhoused people on Skid Row
Local libraries have it all — but only one has Amanda Mellor, an adult librarian at Los Angeles Public Library who doubles as the Persons Experiencing Homelessness Outreach Librarian. In this role, she goes out into the community and “connects people who are experiencing homelessness, or other life instabilities, with library resources.”
Whether that’s signing up for a library card or developing on-site programs for those more hesitant to visit the library in person, Mellor’s outreach approach brings the library’s resources to them.
And her work is being recognized nationally. Earlier this year, she was named to the Library Journal’s 2025 “Movers & Shakers” list, which honors 50 librarians who serve as advocates, community builders, educators, and innovators across the country’s library systems.
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