http://www.post-gazette.com/ Health, Science, Environment, Medicare news en-us Copyright 2012, post-gazette.com. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:39:22 -0500 15 http://www.post-gazette.com/includes/2007design/images/150x30pg_now_logo.gif http://www.post-gazette.com/ 144 39 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1210020-455.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml Citing unhealthy concentrations of sulfur dioxide emissions from the Homer City coal-fired power plant in Indiana County, a coalition of five environmental groups filed notice Monday that it will sue California-based Edison International, which operates the 43-year-old facility. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1210064-53.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml A 5-year-old boy who watched as his older brother was beaten to death has been placed in the care of his aunt, who said she is concerned for the child's mental health. Crystal McKee said she will seek counseling for Vincere McKee, who confided some of what he witnessed to his 10-year-old cousin as the children struggled to grasp the death of 11-year-old Donovan McKee. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1210075-113.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml WASHINGTON -- After pushing through some of the most sweeping and contentious environmental measures in years, the Obama administration has slowed action on several policies as it calculates what it should undertake before the end of the term. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1210094-115.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml The recent disclosure of the Sierra Club's secret acceptance of $26 million in donations from people associated with a natural gas company has revived an uncomfortable debate among environmental groups about corporate donations and transparency. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12045/1210095-115.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml To the Editor: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12044/1209530-114-0.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml It started when Deborah Bishop was still in her 20s. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:15:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12044/1209529-114-0.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml Excela Health, in cooperation with the American Heart Association, is sponsoring a "Buzz on Women's Health," featuring presentations from the health concern's female cardiologists, at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 21 at Ferrante's Lakeview, 6153 Lincoln Highway, Hempfield. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:14:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12044/1209459-115.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml Since the beginning of January, Mars has dramatically doubled in brightness and will double again in February from magnitude --0.5 to --1.2. The latter figure is the maximum brightness of the Red Planet when it goes into opposition on March 3. Mars' westward or retrograde motion against the starry background has also accelerated the rate it rises in the evening sky. Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209745-114-0.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml Pittsburgh spends more on hospital care per person than any other major U.S. city, including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles. This region is also near the top in the number of hospital admissions for chronic conditions that should be managed without being hospitalized, such as diabetes or asthma. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:09:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209697-57.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml In between two pristinely kept homes in Ingram, Stanley Biolowas Jr. lived in a decaying two-story house filled with trash. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:01:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209400-115.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml Almost hidden in the northern hills, the pilot water treatment plant here does not seem a harbinger of revolution. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209781-115.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml Does your ponytail splay outward or droop limply? Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12042/1209616-455.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml President Barack Obama's announcement that his administration had found a way to provide free contraceptives to employees of Catholic agencies without the employer having to pay for them or refer employees to insurers was greeted cautiously by the Catholic bishops. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:28:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12042/1209625-503.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml A Greene County man charged last year with illegally dumping millions of gallons of Marcellus Shale wastewater, sewer sludge and restaurant slop throughout southwestern Pennsylvania, has reached a plea agreement with the state attorney general's office. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12042/1209647-115.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml Eleven states sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday over its delays in tightening air quality standards involving soot. The Obama administration has faced intense opposition to the stricter regulations from industry and Republicans, who claim that they would drive up energy costs and hurt economic growth. The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, says the new rules are "vitally important to public health." The states say that soot contributes to respiratory illness and heart di Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12042/1209648-115-0.stm?cmpid=healthscience.xml WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy's loan guarantee program for alternative energy projects, which produced the ill-fated loan to the solar panel maker Solyndra, needs more rigorous financial oversight and stricter performance standards for recipients to reduce the chance of future defaults, according to an audit conducted by the White House and released Friday. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500