Angela Thomas thought her breast cancer diagnosis and the double mastectomy that followed were the most traumatic things she would ever experience. When the 32-year-old actress sought fertility treatment so she could have a baby after the cancer care was finished, her insurance company refused to pay. Thomas didn't need chemotherapy, which can affect fertility. But her doctors told her she shouldn’t get pregnant for the next five years, while she was on a cancer-related medication, and that having a healthy baby could be harder in her late 30s.  

Sonya Zalubowski writes: We now have the largest immigration since the waves that brought my own family here back in the early 1900s. Talk now here and all over Europe roils about what to do about these huge movements of people. I found reassurance in thinking about my own family and how they lived and worked after coming here in the early 1900s. I share with you this little vignette I wrote in the voice of a ten-year-old in my memoir about growing up in the 1950s in Kenosha, Wisconisn, the grandchild of immigrants from Poland who through their hard work carved out their new lives in this country.

Experts say the growth in the number of never married individuals stems from a variety of factors, including the rising share of young adults across the nation — particularly in a number of cities, including Philadelphia — and the tendency of those young adults to marry later in life than their age group once did. According to the Census Bureau, the median age of individuals in first marriages nationally increased from 26.2 in 2005 to 28.7 in 2015, following a decades-long trend. In addition, census data show that more adults are living together and/or having children without getting married.  Although Philadelphia’s percentage of adults who never married stands out among the most populous cities, it is very much in keeping with those of other high-poverty cities. © The Pew Charitable Trusts The percentage of adults in…

The US Forest Service has created this helpful tool for locating state and national forests, parks, and wildlife refuges across the country. On the homepage, visitors simply enter ZIP codes to find local sites of interest. For anyone interested in learning (or relearning) how to play the piano, this website provides a series of free video lessons. Ice and Sky earned a 2016 Webby nomination as an outstanding educational website. Horsethief is a digital magazine from Horsethief Books, a publisher of poetry books "from a diverse group of both emerging and established voices." Exotic and dramatic, Maria Merian's artwork was a valuable tool of discovery for Europeans at the time.

Rose Madeline Mula writes: Yesterday when I was Googling instructions on how to boil an egg (don't laugh, it's a lot more complicated than you think) the narrative was interrupted by a headline link that screamed, KATE INFURIATES THE QUEEN! Trouble at the palace? OMG! Kate was neglecting her royal duties to tout her revolutionary skin care line, highly recommended by Dr. Oz. So why all these outrageous claims? Because sprinkled throughout this salad of lies are ads for a myriad of products which I refuse to buy. And how do they get away with making these ridiculous false assertions? I wish I knew.

The sea of signs kept coming and coming and coming. As I watched the crowd and read the signs, I thought about many of the things you have said. One sign said “WE are what makes American Great.” Another proclaimed "Love not Hate will make America great." These reminded me of your campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" which you adopted from Reagan’s 1980 campaign. Historically, America is great when America is good, not when America is greedy. What can you do to make America good? Build doors, not walls. Be kind, not cruel. Will you do those things? Will you make American really great, not just illusorily great?"

Jo Freeman writes from Inauguration Day's protests: Protesting the inauguration of a President has become a tradition. While those who shouted "not my President" and other things as Donald Trump ascended to the highest office in the land clearly did not like him, most of them would have demonstrated had it been Hillary Clinton who took the oath. The inauguration is a soapbox because it attracts press looking for stories. This gives protesters an opportunity for a national voice for their issues that they usually don't have.

"To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) and the heads of all other executive departments and agencies (agencies) with authorities and responsibilities under the Act shall exercise all authority and discretion available to them to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of the Act that would impose a fiscal burden on any State or a cost, fee, tax, penalty, or regulatory burden on individuals, families, healthcare providers, health insurers, patients, recipients of healthcare services, purchasers of health insurance, or makers of medical devices, products, or medications."

Jo Freeman writes: The CodePinkers weren't anti-Trump so much as in favor of positions he opposes, and opposed to positions he favors. Several people wearing Trump scarves and red 'Make America Great Again' hats posed for photos with them. Knitted by women all over the country, CodePink has 5,000 to pass out. Inside each one is a little note identifying the maker. Mine was made by Pam in Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin.

"We laid out plans to preserve and pass on the digital legacy of the Obama administration and have been working to ensure this unprecedented digital transition meets three key goals. First, we are preserving the material we’ve created with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Second, we are working to ensure these materials continue to be accessible on the platforms where they were created, allowing for continued access to the content posted over the past eight years. Finally, we are working to ensure that the next White House and future administrations can continue to use and develop the digital channels we have created to connect directly with the people they serve."  

"They weren't really considered dolls, at least not in our modern sense of the term," said Marissa Stevenson, the art conservation intern tasked with researching the objects for the The Libbey Dolls — 2 exhibition. Inspiration for the figures came from works of art by French artists such as Nicolas Lancret and Louis-Léopold Boilly, drawn from an 1864 publication called "Modes et Costume Historiques..." Doucet could be considered one of the grandfathers of haute couture.

EPA Administrator Confirmation Hearing, Part 1: Scott Pruitt testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on his nomination to be administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the Trump administration. Education Secretary Confirmation Hearing: Betsy DeVos testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on her nomination by President-elect Trump to become his secretary of education. Health and Human Services Secretary Confirmation Hearing Representative Tom Price (R-GA) testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on his nomination to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration.

On his campaign website, Trump proclaimed that, "by allowing full competition in this market, insurance costs will go down and consumer satisfaction will go up." He also touted the idea during the second presidential debate, and since the election, Vice President-elect Mike Pence has made the same argument. The implication is that federal law prevents insurers from selling policies across state lines. That isn’t the case.

"I asked him, I said, how does this night compare to election night?" Obama's senior adviser Valerie Jarrett tells Frontline. "And he looked at me and said, Valerie, there’s just no comparison. Election night was just about getting us to a night like this." But then came the backlash — from Tea Party supporters, from establishment Republicans, and ultimately, from Donald Trump himself, who'd make repealing the bill a key promise of his winning campaign.

The eight-part drama follows Victoria from the time she becomes Queen in 1837 at the age of 18, through her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert. Famous for her candor and spirit, she was the first woman who seemed to have it all: a passionate marriage, nine children, and the job of being Queen of the world's most important nation. Victoria's often tumultuous reign lasted for 63 years; she was England's longest-serving monarch until she was overtaken by Elizabeth II in September, 2015. 

Jo Freeman writes to Congressman Nadler: Even though confirmation of Jeff Sessions to be the Attorney General is not a House function, as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, I know you are concerned with who heads the DoJ. Therefore I want to give you a little background on one of the reasons Sessions was not confirmed to be a federal district judge in 1986. At that time he was the US Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama.

The Huntington was founded in 1919 by Henry E. Huntington, an exceptional businessman who built a financial empire that included railroad companies, utilities, and real estate holdings in Southern California. Huntington was also a man of vision – with a special interest in books, art, and gardens. During his lifetime, he amassed the core of one of the finest research libraries in the world, established a splendid art collection, and created an array of botanical gardens with plants from a geographic range spanning the globe.

Fed Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen addresses educators in Washington and nationwide via webcast. "Very importantly for students, we try to make sure that the job market is strong so that students entering it will have a wealth of job opportunities.. we do work to make sure that unemployment is low and job opportunities plentiful. And we try to keep inflation low and stable. And that's something that is important to savers who are concerned about providing for their retirement."

Rusty patched bumble bees once occupied grasslands and tallgrass prairies of the Upper Midwest and Northeast, but most grasslands and prairies have been lost, degraded, or fragmented by conversion to other uses. Bumble bees are keystone species in most ecosystems, necessary not only for native wildflower reproduction, but also for creating seeds and fruits that feed wildlife as diverse as songbirds and grizzly bears.

By coincidence or by design, drawings by the same artist, for the same project, and even from the same sketchbook, have made their way separately into galleries and museums on the West Coast. Bringing these long-estranged drawings together again at the Crocker Art Museum illuminates the work and process of specific artists in the rich history of European draftsmanship and brings forward the history of drawings collectors and scholars in the West.

The letter was organized by the legislative arm of Women's Action for New Directions (WAND), a Cambridge-based grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to amplifying women's voices in national security, disarmament, and anti-militarization campaigns. Signed by 125 female and male state legislators, the letter has the backing of groups including the Arms Control Association, Global Zero, National Priorities Project, Peace Action, and Win Without War.

Employees Entering Government: Individuals who join the executive branch may be required to take actions, either before becoming an employee or shortly thereafter, in order to comply with ethics laws and regulations concerning conflicting financial interests and impartiality. Hearings to examine the nomination of Jeff Sessions, of Alabama, to be Attorney General, Department of Justice will begin on Tuesday this week.

"The reason these women are able to be in the positions they are and influencing the policy and the science that's being done at NASA today has very much to do with the female pioneers who came to NASA, and to its predecessor the NACA, back in the 1930s, the 1940s, through the 1950s and '60s," says Hidden Figures author Margot Lee Shetterly.