--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Thursday, January 5th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, heavy rain and strong winds continue to pummel California. The questionable credentials of coroners and the long-term health benefits of dry January. But first, Buffalo Bill's safety, DeMar Hamlin, is reportedly awake. That's according to his agent who shared the news on Thursday morning.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The 24-year-old has reportedly improved significantly since yesterday. His doctors say he appears to be neurologically intact and is making steady progress.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Hamlin's collapse during the Bills game against the Bengals on Monday night was a shocking scene to watch on live TV. Even more jarring for the athletes on the field.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We're still waiting for more information about the cause, but let's now talk about what his injury has meant for the players and their mental health.
--:-- Shamita Basu: According to the Wall Street Journal, some players are saying they're reluctant to return to the field after watching their colleague and friend receive emergency treatment.
--:-- Shamita Basu: One NFL agent told the Journal there's been conversation among players about whether they're ready to play again and whether future games should be delayed.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Here's what one former NFL player, Marcus Spears, said on ESPN.
--:-- Marcus Spears: When you see your teammate, we talk about family and call each other brothers. There are people that are traumatized by seeing their loved one deal with this, who is DeMar Hamlin.
--:-- Marcus Spears: So I just want to make it a point every time I show up on this television with all of humanity that has watched this, the football community, former players. We are going through an emotional state right now.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This week, New York Jets coach Robert Sala said he made it a point to give his players time to talk about what happened and air their thoughts.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He later said viewers should try to put themselves in the shoes of the players who give so much for the game.
--:-- Shamita Basu: When I've gotten up here and I've talked about how these young men deserve everything they got, they earn it all. And they deserve to have as much as they're asking for. And they deserve whatever the NFL is willing to give It because we know what they do every day We know how hard it is to play this game And it not just playing the game of football It all the preparation and how much their bodies hurt
--:-- Shamita Basu: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent out a memo saying that Monday's game between the Bills and the Bengals, which was suspended after Hamlin collapsed only about nine minutes into the game, will not resume this week.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He also said the NFL is providing mental health support and resources to all players.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So far, there have been no changes announced to the Week 18 schedule, which begins on Saturday. And if that holds, the Bills will play again on Sunday.
--:-- Shamita Basu: California is being hit with the third major downpour in less than two weeks. bringing heavy rain, hurricane-like winds, and power outages in some areas.
--:-- Shamita Basu: At least five deaths have been reported related to these storms as of early this morning.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This type of storm is called an atmospheric river. That's when huge amounts of rain come down in a relatively short period of time.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And you might be thinking all this rainfall could be a good thing for a drought-stricken state. And in some ways, experts say it has helped replenish reservoirs and build up snowpack.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But as the LA Times explains, at this rate of downpour, it leads to risks of flash floods and overflowing waterways.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Last weekend, the rain got so bad that multiple levees in Sacramento County failed, killing one person and flooding a highway.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In this storm, a toddler in a Creekside community in Sonoma County was killed by a falling tree.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And wildfires have wiped out places where there might have been trees, making some areas more vulnerable to landslides.
--:-- Shamita Basu: State officials declared a state of emergency yesterday, calling this one of the most challenging and impactful series of storms to touch down in California in the last five years.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And they're asking people to brace for more rain, possibly extending well into next week and the following weekend.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You might think you're familiar with the role of coroners from watching crime TV shows. They the ones who get called in to officially investigate the cause of sudden or suspicious deaths In real life though their credentials vary widely In some cases, coroners are not required to have ever taken a science class in their lives.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Most of them are elected, and the qualification can be just you have to be 18, you have to be a voter and have no felonies. And that's it.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That's Samantha Young, a senior correspondent at Kaiser Health News, who investigated this archaic system.
--:-- Samantha Young: She calls it disjointed and chronically underfunded.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There are around 2,000 coroner's offices across the country that are responsible for determining the causes of death of more than half a million people a year.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The job can be held by that hypothetical 18-year-old she mentioned or by a highly trained physician.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Some coroners work for elected sheriffs, which raises questions about bias.
--:-- Shamita Basu: When you have a coroner who's elected, the critics of that kind of a system say that often these coroners can be subject to influence.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They're politically connected, so they're really tied to their communities.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They might want to avoid some controversies by making a different kind of ruling and how a person might have died.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Young writes about a number of high-profile cases where the conclusion from coroners was controversial.
--:-- Shamita Basu: One example is the 2020 police killing of George Floyd.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A county medical examiner ruled it a homicide, but indicated that the presence of fentanyl and a heart condition may have been factors.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Meanwhile, pathologists hired by Floyd's family said he died of a lack of oxygen.
--:-- Shamita Basu: More than a decade ago, the National Research Council recommended that states replace coroners with medical examiners, describing a system in need of significant improvement.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And there was a recent push to replace coroners nationwide with people who have some kind of medical training, typically doctors who have studied forensic pathology.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But Young explains that cost issues and a lack of trained professionals has led to a change in tactics.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There's been more of a push now to give coroners more education, more training, so that they are better equipped to do their job.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The National Association of Medical Examiners says more training will help, but they'd also like to see a system in place to make sure that coroners can do their jobs completely independently of government or law enforcement
--:-- Shamita Basu: The group did their own survey and found four out of five forensic pathologists say they been pressured by politicians or families to change their assessment of a cause of death.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This New Year's Eve, I rang in 2023 with a fizzy glass of ginger beer. I was sick. I had COVID. And I didn't want to compromise my immune system by drinking alcohol.
--:-- Shamita Basu: I was sick. I had COVID. And I didn't want to compromise my immune system by drinking alcohol. But I also didn't want to miss out on having something bubbly to celebrate.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Call it an accidental launch of my own dry January.
--:-- Shamita Basu: What's become known as a common month of sobriety. For some people, it's a challenge. It's a test of willpower. Just get through the month and then you can go back to your old drinking habits.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But research shows that people who do dry January or similar sobriety challenges often end up making lasting changes to their drinking habits.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That's because while 30 days might not seem like a long time, the Washington Post explains it's enough time to form new habits.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And for some people, being alcohol free for a month is more rewarding than it is punishing.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They find that they sleep better, have more energy, can concentrate more. And that encourages them to cut down on drinking even when January ends.
--:-- Shamita Basu: NPR's Planet Money has a story on the exploding market for non-alcoholic beer, wine, and spirits.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's up more than 20% last year and more than 120% over the last three years.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Celebrities from Katy Perry to J.J. Watt to Bella Hadid are all getting in on the action, creating what Planet Money calls the golden age for non-alcoholic options.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That's something we can all cheers to.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Plus, we've got a narrated article coming up next.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's a profile from The New Yorker of Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and his longtime ambitions to become Speaker of the House.
--:-- Shamita Basu: After two days and six rounds of votes, He failed again yesterday to get enough Republican support for the job.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This article argues that his attempts to placate both Trumpists and moderates may be why he's in this position today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So sit back, enjoy listening to that story, and I'll be back here with the news tomorrow.
