Latest news with #JoelWilliams
CBS News
01-07-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Minnesota hospitals brace for potential cuts after Senate passes Trump's "big, beautiful bill"
President Trump's massive tax and spending plan is a step closer to his desk after the U.S. Senate narrowly approved its version of the bill Tuesday morning. In response, protesters rallied outside the state health department in St. Paul. They demonstrated against what could be more than $1 trillion in cuts to programs like Medicaid. At Hennepin Healthcare, nearly 100,000 people use that insurance option. "I am kind of shocked to be honest," Joel Williams, a Medicaid user, said. Williams served as a Chicago police officer for 25 years. He is now disabled with severe asthma, is a kidney transplant recipient and he depends on Medicaid and Medicare. When asked if he was scared about cuts, Williams said, "Definitely. This is major, this is major major. I never thought after years of working... It's unbelievable to me. I'm trying to grasp it." Interim Hennepin Healthcare CEO Dr. Thomas Klemond is also scared. "We are looking at 100 million or more potential losses," Klemond said. "These are projections and the bills are still evolving. We are looking at, can we keep doing what we are doing?" Klemond says as Minnesota's largest safety net hospital, they will continue to treat everyone regardless of ability to pay. He adds that as people lose insurance, emergency room visits will soar. That means other hospital programs, even Hennepin Healthcare's renowned poison center and its burn unit, could be eyed for cuts. Klemond said. "Can we continue doing all of the things we are doing? Can we continue doing most of the things we are doing? Can we survive?" Klemond said. At Hennepin Healthcare and at hospitals around the state and country, this latest vote just raises the level of uncertainty over how they are going to be able to care for patients in the future. Klemond says he expects to start losing Medicaid reimbursements as soon as January 2026 in Minneapolis. There are concerns that some hospitals in small communities will close down altogether. The major health provider for rural Minnesota says they're still processing what is in the bill.
RNZ News
01-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Foodbanks struggling with demand ahead of winter surge
The government is providing $15 million for the community food sector from July but ongoing funding is uncertain. (File photo) Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Foodbanks already struggling with demand are bracing for a winter surge and calling on the government for guaranteed permanent funding. The coalition was providing $15 million for the community food sector from July but ongoing funding is uncertain. Manukau Foodbank, one of the largest in the country, recently had to cap the number of people getting food parcels. Manager Joel Williams said they supported more than 200 families each week, buying staples to plug gaps in donated goods. "We've got that mixture of high quality great products, rice, milk powder... down here, tonic water and crackers. That's the tension that we sit in all the time." The foodbank, run by the Salvation Army, had operated out of a warehouse in industrial Manukau for 30 years. Williams said they had been forced to open an online booking system and cap numbers because of the constant queues of people waiting for food parcels and some missing out. "How many more need to be fed? I don't see an end to that number. We'll occasionally be closed for a public holiday and we'll select a day of the week and double the numbers for that day. "Those slots get filled up within 15 minutes. We've got an online booking system and the bookings, they're like Chili Pepper tickets." Williams said they were seeing some people who were employed, but most were without work. "There's a vast number of unemployed people in New Zealand now, and the largest number of people that we see are unemployed or partially employed, on a benefit of some type. "The two largest cohorts of people are solo mums or single older men really struggling with rent." He said over the past year there had also been an increase in migrants asking for help, as well as people who were fully employed or unemployed for the first time. The Ministry of Social Development's latest monthly update in May showed there was an 11 percent annual rise - just over 21,000 people - on the JobSeeker benefit, to 213,831. The unemployment rate was 5.1 percent. The Salvation Army ran 60 foodbanks across the country. Food security manager Sonya Cameron said another year with some government funding was a relief. "It's fantastic for us, it feels like a reprieve. We had expected that funding could have ended this July so now we've got another year. "Minister [Louise] Upston is saying very clearly that she does not expect the funding to be permanent, so we're still needing to look at how we seek ways to reduce our costs and try to become financially sustainable." Cameron said foodbanks provided vital support for people and needed ongoing funding. "People come into our centres because they need food and from there we're able to then connect them to the other support that they need." Auckland City Mission also confirmed it expected to receive approximately the same amount of government funding as last year, which meant it will not have to reduce the number of food parcels it distributes. It came after a collective of foodbanks wrote to Social Development Minister Louise Upston asking for ongoing sustainable funding before this year's budget announcement. Foodbanks started to receive direct government funding in 2020 during the pandemic, and over the following four years more than $200 million was invested in the sector. Since then it had been on a one-off basis only. Food security funding was extended with one-off grants to 13 providers last year, including the mission, which received a one-off $700,000 from the ministry for food parcels. The ministry said it was reviewing the way foodbanks were funded. Kore Hiakai / Zero Hunger Collective was a group of organisations working together to address food-related poverty. Executive director Tric Malcolm said its monthly data showed demand for food parcels had not eased since Christmas, and winter increased that pressure. "Capacity I think was passed a long time ago. What we've heard from foodbanks across the country for more than 12 months now is that they're trying to find ways to make everything stretch." She said ongoing government funding would help foodbanks pay for the staples they had to buy. "The level of resource available in the community has decreased, there's less people able to donate from their generous pockets because everybody's struggling with the cost of living... and there seems to be less philanthropic money that's available as well." The collective met with Upston after the recent Budget and expected to have another meeting in coming months. "When we came out of the global financial crisis we knew that food parcelling had increased exponentially, and if we kept food parcelling we're sticking a band aid on the problem." The latest Health Survey found one in four children , 27 percent, live in households that run out of food often or sometimes. "We've been inviting government to help us, help community, help business, help philanthropy find more long lasting solutions and at the same time make sure no-one in this moment goes hungry long term," she said. Looking ahead, Williams would like to see the causes of poverty addressed. "Foodbanks are not an appropriate response to food poverty. Poverty exists for one simple reason - people don't have enough money. There's a lot of things the government can do to change that. "There's a desire in our sector, in the food rescue and foodbank sector, to put ourselves out of a job, to not be needed. That would be nice. "We're the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, and it just seems that more people than ever are falling off the cliff. Sure would be nice if somebody built a fence." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
CNN
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Jackie Chan in ‘Karate Kid: Legends'
Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio co-star in the latest 'Karate Kid' big screen adventure. Leigh Waldman and Joel Williams contributed to this story by Rick Damigella.
CNN
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Jackie Chan in ‘Karate Kid: Legends'
Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio co-star in the latest 'Karate Kid' big screen adventure. Leigh Waldman and Joel Williams contributed to this story by Rick Damigella.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Most of Utah's snowpack has melted. What do Utah's reservoirs look like now?
People recreating near Utah reservoirs this Memorial Day weekend will likely find many of them full after a mixed bag of a winter. Utah's reservoir system remains 87% full with about 10% of the peak statewide snowpack left to melt, according to Utah Division of Water Resources data. Twenty-five of the state's 43 largest reservoirs are currently 81% full or more, including five that are listed at full capacity. Only eight are listed at 60% or lower, including Lake Powell, the nation's second-largest reservoir, and Panguitch Lake, which is still being repaired after cracks were found in the dam last year. Some of the other lower reservoirs are also scattered across central and southern Utah, where this year's snowpack wasn't as productive as in northern Utah. 'It's encouraging to see how much we've benefited these last three years, having average or above-average precipitation and snowpack,' said Joel Williams, the water division's deputy director. 'It's helped fill our reservoirs. We still are hurting in the southern part of the state … and we know we need some good snowpack in the future to help them out.' Williams provided members of the Utah Legislature's Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Interim Committee an update on the state's snowpack on Wednesday. While reservoir numbers are good, he outlined some trends that water managers must track this year. This year's spring snowmelt hasn't been as efficient as experts had hoped, which lowered the state's water outlook heading into May. Snowmelt has been 'a bit earlier than average,' so the statewide snowpack could reach zero inches of snow-water equivalent before it normally does in the middle of June. Reservoirs at 100% or more capacity: East Canyon Reservoir Pineview Reservoir Porcupine Reservoir Scofield Reservoir Woodruff Creek Reservoir Woodruff Narrows Reservoir Reservoirs at 81% to 99% capacity: Big Sand Wash Reservoir Causey Reservoir Currant Creek Reservoir Deer Creek Reservoir Echo Reservoir Flaming Gorge Reservoir Joes Valley Reservoir Jordanelle Reservoir Hyrum Reservoir Lost Creek Reservoir Miller Flat Reservoir Newton Reservoir Otter Creek Reservoir Rockport Reservoir Sand Hollow Reservoir Smith and Morehouse Reservoir Starvation Reservoir Stateline Reservoir Strawberry Reservoir Utah Lake Willard Bay Reservoirs at 61% to 80% capacity: Bear Lake Cleveland Lake Gunlock Reservoir Huntington North Reservoir Ken's Lake Millsite Reservoir Moon Lake Reservoir Quail Creek Reservoir Red Fleet Reservoir Settlement Reservoir Steinaker Reservoir Reservoirs at 41% to 60% capacity: Gunnison Reservoir Minersville Reservoir Panguitch Lake Piute Reservoir Yuba Reservoir Reservoirs at 21% to 40% capacity: Lake Powell Lower Enterprise Upper Enterprise Several southern and central Utah basins have already reached the end of the snowmelt, hitting zero inches earlier than usual, according to Natural Resources Conservation Service data. Some had decent snowpack levels, but Williams said it was also a 'dismal' winter for southern Utah. As a result, Gov. Spencer Cox's drought declaration centered on 17 counties, mostly within those regions. Despite dropping levels, some Lake Powell ramps remain open for Memorial Day weekend. The Antelope Point Business, Bullfrog North Launch, Halls Crossing, Wahweap Main and Wahweap Stateline Auxiliary ramps are available for houseboats and small motorized vehicles, per the National Park Service. Meanwhile, most of the remaining snowpack is in the highest elevations of northern Utah. About 2 inches of snow-water equivalent remains within the Great Salt Lake basin, 11% of its peak and 63% of its median average for late May. This year's projected hot summer could increase evaporation rates along lower-level reservoirs and the Great Salt Lake, which is something water managers will have to 'plan for,' Williams cautioned. Potential monsoonal moisture would help reduce evaporation loss over the summer should storms materialize, but long-range outlooks seem to indicate that those storms may not reach the Great Salt Lake Basin. Water conservation measures are encouraged, as the state hopes for a better snowpack next winter. The Great Salt Lake's southern arm lost 3 feet of water after last year's summer heat. Williams said lake levels could become a concern again if the region experiences a repeat this summer. The lake is currently listed at 4,193.4 feet elevation, which is a level that could still impact brine shrimp viability, recreation and ecosystem health, according to the state's Great Salt Lake Strategic Plan. It's only about 1½ feet above a stage where 'serious' effects on air quality and mineral production are also possible. The lake hit a record low of 4,188.5 feet elevation in 2022 before a couple of good snowpack seasons improved the lake's fortunes. 'We had a little bit of a breathing (room) and it's back to a little bit of a nervous feeling,' Williams said. 'We don't want to hit a new record low; we want to maintain the progress we've had and work on increases and ways we can increase the flow.'
