Oregon’s move to pharmacist-prescribed birth control is an attempt to increase access to the drugs and reduce unintended pregnancies, which make up more than half of all pregnancies in the United States. It also is part of a movement toward team-based medical care, in which doctors and other medical professionals together oversee patients’ care.

After rising steadily for nearly a century, the share of older Americans who live alone has fallen since 1990, largely because women ages 65 to 84 are increasingly likely to live with their spouse or their children. Older adults not only are less likely to live alone today than in 1990, but they are also less likely to live in nursing homes or other group quarters. In 2014, 3% of older Americans lived in nursing homes or other group quarters, down from 6% in 1990.  

Dulwich Picture Gallery is presenting an exhibition of paintings and prints by Nikolai Astrup (1880-1928), one of Norway’s finest twentieth-century artists. Along with Edvard Munch, Astrup expanded the artistic possibilities of woodcuts to capture the lush, wild landscapes and traditional way of life of his home in western Norway, powerfully capturing the myths and folklore of the country.

On February 11, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed, by voice vote, the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (S. 524), as amended, sponsored by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). Among other provisions, the bill would authorize a pilot program to pr…

The ringing bell that LIGO heard early in the morning of Sept. 14, 2015, was the result of two massive black holes merging together 1.3 billion light-years away. As the two black holes spiraled around each other, they radiated energy in the form of gravitational waves. While they merged into one even more massive black hole, they released three solar masses of energy. Imagine a Hydraulic and electromagnetic system that also compensates for the tidal stretching of Earth's crust!

Joan L. Cannon writes: A marriage would be a partnership in the profoundest sense. It would be the most welded commitment possible. It would presume without doubts ultimate mutual trust. It would be physically passionate, emotionally profound, mutually dependent, fully understanding of differing opinions but pliable and accepting and curious, respectful and humorous, and above all, appreciative. Maybe that is simply an annotated statement about love.   Sign  WHO IS THE EXPERT? Not for the first time I saw a call for a contest for manuscripts on marriage. As a theme/subject for…

"The US retail regular gasoline price is forecast to average $1.98/gallon (gal) in 2016 and $2.21/gal in 2017, compared with $2.43/gal in 2015. In January, the average retail regular gasoline price was $1.95/gal, a decrease of 9 cents/gal from December and the first time monthly gasoline prices averaged below $2/gal since March 2009." US Energy Administration, February 9, 2016

Some major cities are seeking to take advantage of their supply and motorists' demand with so-called demand-price parking. Rather than charge a flat rate for each spot in every area of the city, they are demanding motorists pay $4, $6 or up to $8 an hour for a spot on a busy street, close to shops and restaurants, while keeping hourly prices lower on less busy streets just a few blocks over.

The FDA will "Assemble and consult with the Pediatric Advisory Committee regarding a framework for pediatric opioid labeling before any new labeling is approved; Develop changes to immediate-release opioid labeling, including additional warnings and safety information that incorporate elements similar to the extended-release/long-acting opioid analgesics labeling that is currently required."

Need a break from the snow and cold weather hitting much of the US? Take the chill off of winter and escape to six of America’s beautiful and warm public lands. For instance, visit St. John, Virgin Islands National Park which offers snow-white sand dotted by palm trees, coral reefs, prehistoric sites and Bay Rum Tree forests. Its Trunk Bay is considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and features a 225-yard long underwater snorkeling trail.

Margaret Cullison writes: The winter salad creations of my childhood memory seem quaint, if not downright silly. For instance, the Candlestick Salad, dating back to the 1920s, probably elicited a few adult comments unfit for younger ears to hear. The salad consisted of a canned pineapple ring resting on a bed of lettuce, with half of a banana placed, cut side down, upright in the ring's center. The tapered banana top received a decorative finishing touch of miracle whip and a maraschino cherry, meant to resemble the candle's melting wax and flame.

Elisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun is one of the finest 18th-century French painters and among the most important of all women artists. An autodidact with exceptional skills as a portraitist, she achieved success in France and abroad during one of the most eventful, turbulent periods in European history. Of the 550 members of the Salons of the Académie during its 150-year history, only 14 were women. The exhibit is the first retrospective and only the second exhibition devoted to this artist in modern times.  Press Room Exhibitions News General Information Press Images Press Account FAQs for Media Contact Us Search the Press Room   Vigée Le Brun: Woman Artist in Revolutionary France   February 15–May 15, 2016 Exhibition…

Poll: Only 15% Of Uninsured Know Enrollment Deadline Is Approaching. And about two-thirds of those uninsured Americans surveyed had not been contacted about signing up for coverage before enrollment ends Jan. 31. Virtually no one knew that the fine for going without health insurance in 2016 has jumped to $695 per adult or 2.5 percent of household income ... whichever is higher.

Pregnant women with a history of travel to an area with Zika virus transmission and who report two or more symptoms consistent with Zika virus disease (acute onset of fever, maculopapular rash, arthralgia, or conjunctivitis) during or within 2 weeks of travel, or who have ultrasound findings of fetal microcephaly or intracranial calcifications, should be tested for Zika virus infection in consultation with their state or local health department. Testing is not indicated for women without a travel history to an area with Zika virus transmission.

Julia Sneden wrote: Slow learners and average students, after all, do not necessarily learn less than "gifted" students. They simply learn at a different speed. They are often surprisingly thorough and reflective and creative students who retain what they learn as well as or better than those who learn things faster. Brilliance has no lock on perseverance or creativity.

Editor's Note: Before turning on the Barrett-Jackson current auction sales for my husband's amusement (and outright envy), I encountered a program displaying the charms of the Snow-Trac, no longer manufactured, but still being acquired by devotees. The cable program which, we assume, may be downloaded through your cable station is Extreme Auto Hunters. Those who live in frequently snowed-in areas can of course, go a bit further with a vehicle/station designed for the International Polar Foundation. But, of course, we've found a free You Tube version, too.

There is little to guarantee that any vitamin, mineral, probiotic, sports supplement, herbal treatment, or other dietary supplement is safe, effective, or even contains what’s on its label. Last year a NY Attorney General's investigation found that several popular store-brand supplements at four major retailers — GNC, Target, Walgreens and Walmart — contained contaminants not listed among the labeled ingredients. Just 21 percent of them actually had the DNA of the plant species they purported to be vending.

"We are proud to once again offer the industry's most innovative and secure tax software at no cost to 70 percent of American taxpayers. Tax time can be stressful, but Free File makes step-by-step help accessible to everyone making $62,000 or less. IRS.gov/FreeFile is the one place where taxpayers can choose from a variety of industry-leading tax software options in order to prepare and e-file their federal tax returns at absolutely no cost."

From the US Department of the Interior: Dear Friends, It’s time to fall in love all over again! We’re getting ready for our annual Valentine’s Day video, and we need your help. Share your love story with us. Send us your videos and photos of of your weddings or proposals in national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands.

Since 1990, cancer mortality in the United States has dropped by a dramatic 23 percent, and research shows that prevention efforts like more and better screenings and public education around risk factors like smoking can take credit for much of that progress. V.P. Biden's discussion with cancer experts such as NIH director Francis Collins and Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn, now president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies touched on the promise of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to help find new ways to tackle cancer.

Ferida Wolff writes: Didn't last year seem to fly by? Time to take stock of things. Not to make resolutions, necessarily, as they rarely last through the year, but to see what is of value in our lives, to appreciate the people we love, and to move in positive directions. Do we respect ourselves? Are there things we'd like to change?

Actress Donna Murphy, who plays family matriarch Jane Green in Mercy Street: "I have played characters in this particular period before, so that was helpful. I've been in the corset and the hoop before. I know both what that feels like and what the etiquette and the sort of protocol of the time was in regard to many of the exterior elements. But I have never in over 30 years in the business been given that kind of customized material, particularly in a television film project."

Rose Madeine Mula writes: If the hullabaloo continues to escalate, the next generation of toddlers will be wearing hearing aids to pre-school where they will learn sign language. Talking will become obsolete since we won't be able to hear what anyone says, music will just be something people will read about in history books, and silent movies will make a big comeback. There will be no need to buy costly quadraphonic sound systems, and cars will be less expensive because they won't have radios or horns.