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The 2026 International Academicians Hong Kong Forum Held in Hong Kong, Focusing on AI-Driven Innovation in Health and Higher Education
The 2026 International Academicians Hong Kong Forum, jointly organised by the International Alliance of Academicians (IAA) and the Hong Kong Association of Overseas-Returned Scholars (HKAORS), was successfully held in Hong Kong on April 14. As one of the major events of the Business of Innovation and Technology Week 2026, the Forum focused on two core themes: "Aging and Chronic Disease Management: Challenges and Innovations" and "AI and Innovation in Higher Education." It brought together more t
Candidates to field questions at San Joaquin Delta College forum on Tuesday
The forum will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the college’s Dawn Mabalon Forum. It is free and open to the public.
Forum on harnessing Artificial Intelligence for health equity
Register to this forumOver the past decade, artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly evolved in complexity, performance, and utility. Its integration across a wide range of industrial sectors has accelerated, with healthcare emerging as one of the most transformative sectors. In this sector, AI has enabled high-impact applications – from enhancing the speed and accuracy of disease diagnosis and supporting clinical decision-making, to strengthening public health initiatives such as disease surveillance and workforce optimization. Moreover, AI holds immense potential to empower individuals, enabling them to take greater control of their personal health and well-being. Yet the central question remains: Who benefits, who is at risk, and do these innovations close or widen health inequities? While the potential of AI-enabled applications is substantial, many countries have approached their adoption with caution. This hesitancy stems from concerns about risks and benefits, including model bias, data breaches, privacy violations, and the erosion of professional skills due to over-reliance on AI. Additional barriers include inadequate data infrastructure and a lack of robust evidence on the most effective forms and interfaces of AI to enhance service delivery and system performance. Moreover, the rapid rise of Generative AI has introduced a heightened urgency for the development of comprehensive governance and ethical frameworks. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Health Practice Team and Digital Sector, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Western Pacific, are convening the Forum on Harnessing AI for Health Equity on 25–26 March at ADB Headquarters. Senior health officials from 16 developing member countries (DMCs), alongside leading researchers, innovators, and policymakers from across Asia and the Pacific, will engage in discussions on how AI can be governed, financed, and scaled to deliver healthier lives for all. The forum is funded through the High-Level Technology Fund with support from the Government of Japan. Objectives The two-day forum aims to:Identify high-impact, evidence-based health AI use cases suitable for resource-constrained settings and map out a pipeline for potential supportIntroduce and validate the WHO's policy guidance on minimum necessary ecosystem for countries and institutions to self-assess readiness for AI adoptionObtain initial commitment from participating stakeholders to join a pilot regional initiative focused on data/model sharing for a priority health challengeEndorse a prioritized set of actionable policy recommendations focusing on governance, regulation, and sustainable financing necessary to scale high-impact health AI use cases in resource-constrained settings Target participants The forum will convene participants from 16 ADB DMCs including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Viet Nam. In addition, health system leaders and practitioners, private sector technologists, academic experts, representatives from civil society organizations, development partners, and philanthropic institutions engaged in AI for Health from Australia, the People’s Republic of China, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea will also be invited. SessionsDay 1 (25 March)Session 1: AI Use Cases for the Care Continuum: Improving Access and QualitySession 2: Adopting a risk-based approach for AI use case prioritizationSession 3: Establishing the Minimum Ecosystem for Implementation Risk ManagementSession 4: Future-Ready Health Workforce: Building Competency for Human-AI CollaborationDay 2 (26 March)Session 5: The Political Economy of AI in Health: Understanding Stakeholder Interests and their Impact on EquitySession 6: AI and Health Financing: Supporting Fair Coverage and ProtectionSession 7: AI Regulation and Oversight: Pathways for Different RealitiesSession 8: The Way Forward – Building Alliances and Regional Partnership How to registerThe forum will be held in a hybrid format. In-person attendance is by invitation only, while livestreaming of the forum will be available to the public. To register, please complete this form on or before 24 March 2026.Event organizers / partnersAsian Development Bank (ADB)WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific High-Level Technology Fund (HLTF)ContactAkihito WatabeHealth Specialist, SD3-HSDawatabe@adb.org Jae Kyoun KimHealth Specialist, SD3-HSDjkkim@adb.org
Afternoon/Evening College Football Live Thread
We’ll be along shortly with a recap of Georgia’s 45–10 win over Arkansas. But there’s still plenty of college football action on the docket for this Saturday. This will be the forum for all discussion, whether it involves Lane Kiffin or not. The full television schedule for the remainder of the day is here, and […]
Forum in Baghdad puts responsible business practices at the heart of Iraq's economic growth
Government representatives, business leaders, international partners, academics and civil society representatives gathered in Baghdad today for the Iraqi Forum for Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Integrity. The Forum aimed to strengthen the role of Iraq's private sector in driving sustainable economic growth by promoting transparency, accountability and responsible business practices
National Forum To Convene on Cutting Edge Science that Drives Solutions In Harmony with Nature - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog
The 43rd National Forum Series, Advancing Science on Pesticides, Taking Action in Harmony with Nature, and Sustaining Life —scheduled to begin on October 21, 2026, 1:00-3:30pm (Eastern time, US)—will focus on cutting edge science that both (1) defines the limitations of health and environmental protection standards governing allowed toxic pesticide use and (2) informs the urgent need to advance alternatives not reliant on hazardous inputs. The Forum is free to all participants. ➡️ Register HERE.
Alaska Science Forum Time capsule: Color guard
Note: Regardless of how far they had advanced into autumn colors, all the leaves in Goldstream Valley on the morning of Sept. 3, 2026, were crusted with frost. Neither green willow nor purple fireweed leaves were spared, a first-frost possibility that Carla Helfferich explores in this week’s Alaska Science Forum time capsule from Sept. 11, 1997. Helfferich was the primary author for the forum from 1988 to 1994, when she hired Ned Rozell as her successor.
Sons, mothers of people killed by ICE agents demand answers: ‘We still have so many questions’
The forum, led by Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), included the mothers of Renee Good and Ruben Ray Martinez, and the woman who filmed Alex Pretti's death.
Brothers of Renee Good, woman killed by ICE officer, call for action in Congress
The forum, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Robert Garcia, highlighted Use-of-force complaints against Homeland Security officers
THE FORUM Brings Together Leaders from Sport, Leisure and Entertainment to Debate the Future of Football as a Global Industry
Madrid has become the global epicenter of the sports and leisure business with the celebration of THE FORUM, an exclusive event promoted by Atlético de Madrid and Apollo Sports Capital. Held at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, it brought together some of the most influential leaders in the industry, with more than 400 attendees. The event […]
Candidates clash over affordability, health care in California governor's race debate
Candidates in California's crowded race for governor clashed over affordability and health care Tuesday night during a high-stakes debate, using the forum to draw sharp contrasts as voters prepare to narrow the field ahead of the June 2 primary election.
Lee Health Expands Healthcare Access in Eastern Lee County with New Outpatient Center at The Forum
Residents of eastern Lee County will soon have greater access to healthcare services closer to home with Lee Health at The Forum. Scheduled to open next year, the facility will offer primary care, Lee Convenient Care, and on-site laboratory services, creating a convenient healthcare destination for patients in Lehigh Acres, East Fort Myers, and surrounding […]
Live: Governor candidates Demuth and Klobuchar to talk business issues at forum
The forum hosted by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce begins at 9 a.m. Monday in Brainerd.
Greenville hosting small real estate developer forum Oct. 18-20
During the forum's time in Greenville, attendees will learn about the people, projects and policies that have led to the city's transformation
Inside the 2025 UVA Conference on Ethical AI in Business
The University of Virginia convened faculty, technologists, economists and even fiction writers at The Forum Hotel on the Darden School of Business Grounds to explore “minding the gap” between AI’s promise and shortcomings.
County Invites Youth, Camps To Register For ‘Mind Your Business’ July 7 - Town-Crier Newspaper
Palm Beach County’s Mind Your Business Youth Entrepreneurship Forum returns on July 7, offering a full day of hands-on learning and innovation for young people across the county. Now in its seventh year, the forum is designed to inspire the next generation of creators, problem-solvers and emerging business leaders. Open to youth ages 10 to […]
Democratic candidates discuss inclusive politics, bumpy primary campaign
The forum took place with just three weeks to go before the primary election and following a massive shakeup in the race last week.
Bari Weiss: Think For Yourself, Not By Yourself
When we launched The Free Press, the plan was simple: Tell the truth plainly, and let readers come to their own conclusions. I thought there would be a sizable enough group of people who would pay the cost of one coffee a month to read high-quality news and opinion journalism. But what happened next surprised even me. Yes, you came for the stories—for the investigations, essays, debates, interviews, podcasts, and arguments. But over the past few years, you also found one another. I’ve watched strangers become friends in the lobby before our debates. I’ve seen people trade numbers after live recordings of Honestly, launch businesses after Free Press dinners, fall in love after our meetups—even get married (!?), and say some version of the same sentence over and over again: I thought I was the only one. We live in the most connected age in history, and yet, millions of people feel isolated, alienated, politically homeless, and starved for real conversation. We have followers and no neighbors. Algorithms instead of interlocutors. Our social media feeds are like troughs, but what we really need is a table to gather around. The Free Press is a publication, yes, but it is also a gathering place for independent minds. So today, I’m thrilled to share our new investment in you. We are launching a new world of community experiences for our paid subscribers, designed to bring _Free Press_ers together online and in real life. Introducing Our Community Launch The Free Press Forum Our new digital home for paid subscribers, the Forum, is now live. This is where _Free Press_ers can meet, debate, recommend, organize, joke, argue, and converse like civilized people. Imagine that. This is not social media as you know it. No bots. No algorithmic rage bait. No performative nonsense. Just smart people talking to one another. Inside the Forum, you’ll find conversations on the things our readers already care about most: the issues of the day, recommendations (books, music, travel), work and networking, parenting, dating, and where to find your people—online and in real life. Jump in! Introduce yourself and join the first conversations in the Free Press Forum here. You’ll also find announcements from us (paid subscribers are first to hear!) and our writers, hosting regular Ask Me Anythings (AMAs)—live conversations where subscribers can ask questions, push back, and continue the discussion beyond the page. This Thursday, subscribers can chat with our brilliant reporter, culture vulture, and co-founder Suzy Weiss. Friday, I’ll be lending you Nellie Bowles, queen of TGIF, to answer subscriber questions live. Read more about The Forum directly from Nellie here. The Free Press Supper Club The best part of being a _Free Press_er is meeting other _Free Press_ers. So we’re inviting you all to dinner to do just that. It’s part salon, part blind date, part old-fashioned dinner party. Here’s how it works: You answer a short questionnaire. We match you with a small group of _Free Press_ers in your city. We send you to a great restaurant. You show up for supper. The rest is up to you. Your next best friend, co-founder, or future spouse may already be waiting at the table. Learn more and sign up here for our first Supper Club in 12 cities in three countries taking place on June 18. Don’t see your city? Raise your hand if you’d like a Free Press Supper Club near you. Yes, St. Louis—we hear you. The Free Press Retreats and Excursions We’re also building something new for 2027: immersive experiences for Free Press readers who want to continue the conversation trailside, poolside, or around a fire long after dessert. The Free Press Retreat will be an intimate long weekend built around big ideas, outdoor adventure, great meals, and the kinds of discussions that happen when curious people spend meaningful time together. Bring your spouse, your parents, your children—or come on your own. Free Press Excursions will take us farther afield: curated trips with Free Press writers and contributors exploring places that help explain the world we live in, from the battlefields of Gettysburg and Normandy to the Vatican in Rome. We’ll share more details this summer. If you’d like an early look when these experiences open for registration, show your interest here.**A Note to Our Subscribers** These new offerings exist because of our paying subscribers. If you’re already one: Thank you. You built this. And you keep us going. If you’ve been reading us for free and wondering whether to join, this is a very good time. For a short while only, we’re offering a rare 20 percent discount for you to join our community as a paid subscriber. You’ll unlock everything we publish, plus exclusive access to our members-only Forum, Supper Clubs, and more insider perks. Thinking for yourself shouldn’t mean thinking by yourself. See you there. —Bari
Filipinnovation Forum Explores Filipino Contributions to Life and Environmental Science Research and their Impact on Communities
Filipinnovation Forum Explores Filipino Contributions to Life and Environmental Science Research and their Impact on Communities Attendees gather for a group photo after an insightful panel discussion during the forum […]
When papers become currency: a Chinese debate about trust in science
Last Saturday, 31 October, I went to the University of Hong Kong’s Beijing Centre for its Talent Forum. It was the fourth stop in the series this year, following events in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang, Shenzhen’s Qianhai, and on HKU’s main campus. The programme covered a remarkable distance in one afternoon. HKU’s Xiao-Jing Wang discussed computational neuroscience, intelligence, and the prefrontal cortex—before even delivering his inaugural public lecture to students back in Hong Kong. His colleague Bing Zhang took us from the Big Bang to artificial intelligence. Tsinghua’s Xue Lan asked how AI might reshape the institutional infrastructure underpinning higher education. There were lively panels featuring industry leaders from JD.com, Xiaomi, Haier—and Kaiser Y Kuo on the closing panel discussing innovation and international connections. I cannot pretend to have followed every detail of the brain models or the astrophysics. The talk that stayed with me was closer to something we have covered before: Zhou Zhonghe 周忠和 on papers, evaluation, and scientific trust. Zhou is a palaeontologist, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and an international member of the US National Academy of Sciences. He is also editor-in-chief of The Intellectual (知识分子), China’s leading science commentary platform. His subject was uncomfortable enough for a room full of successful academics: what happens when the system for recognising good science starts rewarding something else? Part of my interest came from our sister newsletter, The East is Read, which covered the controversy around “Geng Tongxue” in May. A PhD dropout from Beihang University, Geng has publicly challenged papers by prominent researchers through detailed online allegations of manipulated images and fabricated data. At Tongji University, an investigation into a challenged Nature paper found academic misconduct, and the dean of its life sciences school was removed. The affair brought doubts about academic integrity well beyond laboratories and university committees. How could someone outside the established hierarchy spot problems in papers that had passed through prestigious journals and institutions? And what, exactly, had all that prestige guaranteed? Zhou approached these questions through two essays published in July by The Intellectual: one by Wang Xiaodong, director of the National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, and a response by Wang Liming, of Shanghai’s Shangsi Institute of Natural Sciences. Both began with the controversy over Geng. Their arguments deserve a wider audience, so I want to put parts of them alongside what Zhou said on Saturday. Wang Xiaodong’s starting point is evolution. A research system selects for the behaviour it rewards. Grants, jobs, journals, talent programmes, and prizes collectively determine which scientists prosper and which practices get passed down from advisors to students. “Whatever the system rewards is what it will evolve to produce,” he writes, citing the ancient Chinese saying: The King of Chu loved slender waists, and many in the palace starved to death. That is a more demanding diagnosis than saying there are dishonest people in science. Punishing a fraudster does not change the selective environment that made a particular kind of research profitable. His account also gives scientific success an awkward role in the story. As Zhou put it on Saturday, science became a victim of its own success. Once research became central to industry, national power, and economic growth, universities and laboratories expanded, and public money followed. That created an administrative need for rapid decisions: who should get the next grant, the next laboratory, the next appointment? The difficulty is that the true value of a discovery may take years or decades of testing and building to become clear. Resource allocation cannot wait that long. Publication counts, journal prestige, impact factors, and citations therefore become convenient ways to make an instant judgement. “The real problem is not that these indicators have no value,” Wang Xiaodong writes, “but that they are trying to answer a question that only time can answer.” Telling administrators simply to stop counting papers will never be enough. They still have budgets to distribute and appointments to make. Something has to replace the shortcut. Zhou described the consequences inside publishing. Papers acquire ever more requirements: a complete story, polished presentation, extensive datasets, and accessibility to readers beyond the immediate field. Individually, those demands sound reasonable. Together, he warned, they produce formulaic “eight-legged” papers 八股文 and rigid reviewing, while genuinely original or non-consensus work struggles to get past journal editors—some of whom wield immense gatekeeping power despite having limited laboratory experience themselves. Meanwhile, the demands for sprawling, “complete” narratives have fuelled a wider replication crisis. Wang Xiaodong uses a mahjong metaphor to describe the result: put the complex papers published by the exact same lab over several years side by side, and they often look like “Thirteen Orphans” (十三不靠)—every tile completely unrelated to the next, and none of them reproducible by outsiders. Zhou also spoke frankly as an editor who has trouble finding reviewers. Everyone wants someone else to review their work; qualified senior researchers have little time to return the favour. The labour is anonymous, unpaid, and brings almost no institutional recognition, so it increasingly gets passed down to postdocs and graduate students. And while anonymity protects reviewers from rank and personal favours, hyper-specialisation means an author’s most qualified reviewer is often a direct competitor, shielded from accountability. The protection and the problem coexist. Wang Liming takes the argument a step further. The decisive change, in his essay, is the instant conversion of academic honour into material resources. Once a paper can be cashed in for funding, a job, students, commercial investment, or even a company valuation, scientists are alienated from their work: they must keep minting this “research currency” to keep their teams alive. He is careful not to romanticise the past. The old world of gentleman scientists—financially independent figures like Boyle and Darwin who needed nothing from external funders—was also a closed club that excluded people without inherited wealth, women, and much of humanity outside the West. Professional science allowed ordinary people, himself included, to become researchers. Nobody should want to undo that. The problem, in his account, is an exchange system that becomes too uniform and too difficult to correct. His most pointed Chinese example is the “hat” (帽子): the prestigious talent designation that brings continuing access to money, laboratory space, students, and institutional influence. “If papers are the circulating currency of the research system, then a ‘hat’ is a bond that pays interest over the long term,” he writes. A paper at least requires another round of peer review. A title in the Chinese context can lock in a judgement made years ago and turn it into permanent status rent, regardless of whether its holder is still doing good science. Here, official institutions hire, organise, and evaluate scientists. Unlike honours awarded by autonomous academic communities in the West, a Chinese “hat” blends non-scientist administrative power with state authority. Once granted, it turns a past judgement into permanent status rent that is nearly impossible to revoke—because taking a hat off would imply that official authority erred in putting it on. Both Wangs see China as experiencing, at compressed speed, pressures present across global science. Research expansion, rising investment, publication growth, and elaborate evaluation metrics arrived in China within two or three decades rather than two or three centuries. Zhou agreed with that international framing—noting that recent US White House science policy documents and the new president of the US National Academy of Sciences, a fellow palaeontologist who recently visited Zhou’s institute in Beijing, have raised strikingly similar warnings about consensus-bound peer review, short-term project grants, and the replication crisis. Still, Zhou emphasised that China’s traditional hierarchy, personal networks (guanxi), and the ethos that “a good scholar becomes an official” (学而优则仕) amplify those pressures at home. So what would change things? Here Zhou’s tone differed from the call for a revolution in scientific trust in Wang Xiaodong’s essay. As an evolutionary biologist, Zhou favoured patchwork repair (修修补补). Living systems survive through accumulated adjustments; dramatic mutations are usually fatal. Science cannot return to a small, slow-moving pastoral era, especially after the successive accelerations of professionalisation after the Second World War, the internet, and now artificial intelligence. But it can alter the local environment in which researchers work. He pointed to domestic experiments designed to support unconventional research and diversify funding, including Tencent’s New Cornerstone Investigator Program, the Xplorer Prize, and the Future Science Prize. He also mentioned participating in reviews for “major non-consensus projects” under the National Natural Science Foundation of China. One guiding principle he recalled was wonderfully direct: “Failure is allowed; corruption is not” (允许失败，不允许腐败). That distinction would mean quite a lot if taken seriously. An honest attempt that fails should not have to disguise itself as a success to survive an assessment. Wang Liming’s essay adds a sharp caveat to the optimism about new domestic funders. Multiple organisations do not automatically produce multiple ways of judging science. If the same pool of senior domestic scientists makes the decisions through the same two-round review procedures, it is still “fake diversity.” He argues for three distinct kinds of money: broad baseline funding governed by fair procedures; patient funding for questions that take ten years; and non-consensus funding based on individual taste, deliberately empowering a few genuine experts to make biased, contrarian bets on eccentric ideas that would inevitably be averaged out by a committee. Replacing one monopoly with another achieves little; a healthy ecosystem needs variance. Zhou’s proposals for publishing were similarly concrete: strip papers of their resource-allocation burden and return them to recording discoveries and establishing priority; separate dissemination from evaluation, as eLife and Peer Community In do; adopt more modular “micro-publications” and real-name endorsements; recognize the labour of editors and reviewers; and give replication work proper credit rather than treating it as an unpublishable dead end. AI makes every part of this debate more urgent—and Zhou wove it throughout his talk. In his own preparation, he used AI to survey the declining influence of academic monographs, noting how tools are already changing how scholars gather information. More fundamentally, he placed AI as the latest great acceleration in scientific history: just as the internet sped up the pace of research and tightened external resource pressures, AI is compressing the cycle again. In the essays Zhou cited, AI cuts both ways. Wang Xiaodong expects large language models to erase much of the English-writing disadvantage long faced by Chinese scientists, further swelling the flood of papers coming out of Chinese labs. Wang Liming sees AI accelerating both ends of the trust crisis: it lowers the cost of paper mills and fabricated images just as quickly as it lowers the cost of automated image forensics, data auditing, and code reproduction. “Whoever builds the verification layer wins,” Wang Liming writes. His proposed alternative to the static, packaged “story paper” is a continuously versioned “unit of discovery” containing a falsifiable claim, raw data, analysis code, experimental parameters, and an ongoing log of independent checks—where negative results and failed replications are recorded rather than buried. Zhou ended his keynote by bringing AI back to the question of scientific honour and credit. Citing a recent Intellectual discussion on “What AI Means for Mathematics” featuring Fields Medalist Deng Yu 邓煜—at a moment when AI is already batch-solving mathematical conjectures, as HKU Vice-President Lin Chen noted in his opening remarks—Zhou agreed that human researchers must remain the principal agents: AI is a tool that frees scientists from tedious calculation to think about deeper, messier real-world problems. Yet that partnership creates a thorny new evaluation problem. When a breakthrough is made with AI, what is the human contribution and what is the machine’s? And since AI models distil centuries of accumulated human scholarship, is it right that the credit and value flow so heavily to the private AI companies building the tools? The old struggle over how to assign scientific honour is acquiring a whole new layer. What I took away was a serious discussion of how science can remain trustworthy as its scale, incentives, and tools change. These were scientists with real standing inside China’s system questioning how that standing is produced, and proposing changes that would affect their own institutions and peers. That made the afternoon at HKU’s Beijing Centre worthwhile. At the close, Wang Feng, Director of Communications and Public Affairs at HKU, said the value of the forum series—which heads to Hangzhou in December and cities like Chengdu early next year—would lie in the real cooperation it helped bring about. The university has plenty to celebrate: this week it topped the QS Asia rankings for a second consecutive year, alongside its 11th-place position in the QS World University Rankings 2027. For me, bringing this debate to an audience beyond the people who review papers and allocate grants was a useful contribution. Share [ The East is Read PhD dropout’s exposé forces an academic fraud reckoning in China A former doctoral student turned blogger has shaken China’s academic establishment by publicly accusing prominent university scholars of fabricating data and manipulating papers, triggering investigations at several leading institutions and drawing rare attention from state media… Read more 5 months ago · 43 likes · 8 comments · Yuxuan JIA ](https://www.eastisread.com/p/phd-dropouts-expose-forces-an-academic?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web&embedding_publication_id=47580)
Fargo health officials say they 'just want to save more lives' with syringe services program
Fargo Cass Public Health leaders sat down with The Forum to explain how the program at the Harm Reduction Center works.
CARE for Women: An investment in health system redesign
An expansion of preventative care could widely improve health outcomes for women. The CARE framework, by the Forum and McKinsey health Institute, can help.
2026 Health Policy Leadership Forum
The National Governors Association Center for Best Practicesconvened state and territory governors’ health policy advisors in Charlotte, North Carolina, July 8-10 for the 2026 Health Policy Leadership Forum. Through a discussion-based format, the forum provided governors’ advisors, NGA Partners and invited guests with an opportunity to exchange perspectives, share implementation strategies, and discuss emerging policy challenges shaping state and territorial health systems. Discussions focused on advancing governors’ health priorities in a rapidly evolving policy and fiscal environment while highlighting innovative approaches and peer-informed solutions from across the country.
The Politics of Heat, Homes, and Lobster Boats.
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by First National Bank. MOUNT DESERT ISLAND REGION—The candidates’ forum focusing on House District 15 and incumbent Holly Eaton and Clifford Noyes last week spent a lot of time on the candidates’ thought of heating, communication with constituents, property taxes, education costs, and other issues. It also was a time for the community to ask their own questions and see two candidates up close and personal at the Southwest Harbor Fire Department firehouse. Jim Vallette organized the hour-long event, which was moderated by Carrie Jones of the Bar Harbor Story. Ken Rozsahegyi provided technical support for the congenial event. House District 15 serves Brooklin, Deer Isle, Eagle Island Township, Frenchboro, Isle au Haut, Marshall Island, Southwest Harbor, Stonington, Swan's Island, Tremont, and Vinalhaven. Jones advised as she began the question and answer part of the event, ”Treat everyone here like they are going to be the ones who might give you a ride in a rainstorm, pull your pet out of a burning building, or be the one grading your kids’ papers at school, okay?” She continued. “That’s it. Tonight isn’t meant to be a gotcha debate. The goal is to give people in the district a chance to get to know both candidates, hear what they care about, and understand what they’d actually try to accomplish in Augusta.” The questions and discussion throughout were kind. Eaton currently serves in the position. She’s a Democrat from Deer Isle, raised in a fishing family and has worked in nonprofits and volunteered for her school board. Noyes is unenrolled (politically) and from Southwest Harbor and currently a school board member, self employed as a mason. He focused on fiscal issues throughout the forum. Eventually, at Jones’ prompting, the candidates played “Rock, Paper, Scissors” for who would go first for their closing statements. Noyes used the opportunity to urge others to head to the ballot. “Whether you vote for me or Holly, it’s important that people vote,” Noyes said. He hoped the voter turnout in the district would be over 35 percent because that would mean people were truly engaged. Eaton stressed that she’s a Democrat, but in Augusta, her role isn’t about party. “I am a Democrat, but when I go to Augusta, I am there to represent the people of District 15. I want people to feel as though I’m accessible, that I’m responsive, and that I show up for the district,” Eaton said. Being there for others was vital, she explained. “When something comes before me in Augusta, I try to look at it through the lens of the people and the communities that I represent. How will this affect the people who live here? Does it make it easier or harder to raise a family here, to operate a small business, to work on the water, to afford a home, to keep our schools open, or provide the essential services our communities depend on?” Eaton said. Noyes spoke about fiscal responsibility and about the state being more responsive to communities and the ideas that come from them. “I feel that we desperately need to restore some fiscal sanity, a little bit. So when the legislature meets again,” Noyes said, “it could be critical for Maine residents that we don’t keep digging this hole that we’re in financially and keep raising our taxes so the struggling families struggle even more.” The two answered a series of questions from Jones, then answered questions from the audience and participants via Zoom. Jones asked what they heard the most from people about what was making their lives hard and what can the legislature in Augusta do it about those issues. Both spoke to concerns about heating oil costs. Noyes spoke to the three H’s: health, home, and heat. Eaton and Noyes spoke to the burdens of families with lower incomes, with Eaton mentioning LIHEAP (Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program). They both were in favor of free community college and trade programs. They both supported the working waterfront. Both said that data centers—such as the one proposed in Eastport, which is out of the district—should be a local decision, but neither were in favor of it. The working waterfront was supported by both. Eaton’s served on the Maine Marine Resource Committee in the legislature. She advocated a diversity of fishing resources and less of a reliance on lobstering. Shrimp, she hoped, would make a comeback. Noyes worried about out-of-state pressure on the lobstering industry, also spoke of shrimp harvesting timings, and said he supported the lobstering industry. QUICK NOTE Carrie Jones is, obviously, the co-founder of the Bar Harbor Story, which made us have a bit of a hard time putting out this story and thinking it through and how to present it. We ended up with this article. The debate in its entirety is below, many thanks to Ken and Jim for making it publicly available. UPCOMING AND PAST EVENTS The following events are or were organized by the League of Women Voters Downeast. DISTRICT 7 DISTRICT ATTORNEY DISTRICT 13 Thursday, Oct 15, 2026 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM Candidate Forum: House District 13 125 State St , Ellsworth Featuring candidates Michael Cunningham (D) and Russell White (R), moderated by Cyndi Wood, managing editor of the Ellsworth American. DEMOCRACY FORUM Friday, Oct 16, 2026 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM Democracy Forum — Election 2026: What’s on Your Ballot RECENT PRESS RELEASES AND BRIEFS To see all the press releases, click here. To see our news, click here. For the full archive, click here. All of these are on our dedicated website. [ ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/feeling-stressed-kids-corner-invites) [ Feeling Stressed? Kids’ Corner Invites Parents, Educators, and Caregivers to Rediscover the Joy with National Speaker Raelene Ostberg Oct 14 ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/feeling-stressed-kids-corner-invites) [ Read full story ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/feeling-stressed-kids-corner-invites) [ ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/mainely-meats-pink-party-for-breast) [ Mainely Meat’s Pink Party for Breast Cancer Awareness is October 18! Oct 14 ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/mainely-meats-pink-party-for-breast) [ Read full story ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/mainely-meats-pink-party-for-breast) [ ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/conners-emerson-school-announces) [ Conners Emerson School Announces Public Surplus Property Sale Oct 14 ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/conners-emerson-school-announces) [ Read full story ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/conners-emerson-school-announces) [ ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/planting-the-writers-garden) [ Planting the Writer’s Garden 12:15 AM ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/planting-the-writers-garden) [ Read full story ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/planting-the-writers-garden) [ ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/artist-maria-de-los-angeles-explores) [ Artist Maria de los Angeles explores migration and belonging in COA public lecture 12:19 AM ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/artist-maria-de-los-angeles-explores) [ Read full story ](https://barharborstory.substack.com/p/artist-maria-de-los-angeles-explores) HELP SUPPORT THE BAR HARBOR STORY When we started The Bar Harbor Story, we didn’t know if anyone would read it. But you showed up. You shared. You sent tips. Now—over 400,000 views every month later—it’s clear: people here care about their community and each other. We’ve kept everything free because news should never be out of reach, but every one of our stories takes time to write, and your support keeps The Bar Harbor Story going. If you value our work, please consider a paid subscription, a founding membership, or a sponsorship. It truly helps us cover one more meeting, tell one more story, shine one more light. Even $5 a month makes a difference. Click here to become a one-time supporter now. Thank you so much for being here. Founding member information can be found here. Have questions about sponsorships? Just send Shaun an email at sfarrar86@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you. Subscribe Share Bar Harbor Story Share Leave a comment
Free all-day science forum set for Saturday; food, $200 gift cards for participants
A national science think tank is holding a free public forum in Charleston, West Virginia, on Oct. 3, 2026, to help shape the future of American science. The forum, to be held at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center, is sponsored by American Science@250: Rethink, Reimagine, Redesign, a nationwide initiative led by the Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes at Arizona State University.
New luxury brands open at Strip shopping mall
Several new storefronts have opened at the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, spanning jewelry, women’s fashion and menswear and accessories, the shopping mall announced.
WHO Step-by-Step programme recognized as a promising innovation for mental health in humanitarian settings
WHO, in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Lebanon’s National Mental Health Programme, showcased Step-by-Step at the World Bank Group’s biennial Fragility Forum in Washington, DC. The forum convened more than 1500 representatives from governments, international organizations and civil society to advance the development agenda in the world’s most fragile and crisis-affected communities. WHO was invited to demonstrate Step-by-Step – a digital self-help intervention for depression, alongside innovations presented by Stanford University and Google. The World Bank Group selected Step-by-Step from among more than 50 innovations that they reviewed in the lead up to the Forum.About Step-by-StepStep-by-Step is a free digital tool developed by WHO in collaboration with Lebanon’s National Mental Health Programme and other partners, that helps people manage depression and anxiety on their own, with light guidance from a trained supporter. It uses a picture-based story to walk users through evidence-based techniques for managing common mental health conditions. Users complete five modules, with weekly contacts – of around 15 minutes each – from a trained non-specialist helper, such as a community health worker.Evidence-basedClinical trials in Lebanon involving nearly 1250 participants – including 680 Lebanese participants and 569 Syrian participants – showed that Step-by-Step significantly reduced depression, anxiety and stress, and improved daily functioning. By the end of the programme, a reduction in depressive symptoms of more than 50% was reported by almost half (46%) of Lebanese participants and more than one third (37%) of Syrian participants compared to approximately 14% of those who did not use the programme. Cost-effectiveness analyses further suggest that Step-by-Step may offer a cost-saving response to depression in humanitarian emergencies in low- and middle-income countries.Used globallyStep-by-Step is already in use nationwide in Lebanon and Thailand, as part of each country’s mental health system. In India, the NGO – Kaya Guides – has adapted Step-by-Step for delivery through a widely used messaging app. Together, these programmes have provided thousands of people with evidence-based support for depression. The content is freely available from the WHO website for any organization or country to adapt for their own context.A new implementation guideThe Fragility Forum coincided with the recent launch of WHO’s new practical guide: Psychological self-help interventions: delivering self-help for individuals, featuring Step-by-Step and Doing What Matters in Times of Stress (WHO, 2026). The guide is designed to help governments, health workers, organizations and planners bring evidence-based mental health support to more people, particularly in low-resource and crisis-affected settings.
Business briefs: Watchmaker Hublot opens third Las Vegas boutique
The 404.72-square-foot store is at 3327 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Suite 1740A in the Palazzo Shops at the Venetian. It joins Hublot locations at the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace and Crystals at CityCenter.
Health Care Partnership outlines workforce progress
More local nursing graduates are staying in the region, according to officials offering an update on the progress of the New Hanover Healthcare Career Partnership at a public forum last night. According to Jack Watson, dean of UNCW’s College of Health & Human Services, the number of UNCW nursing graduates choosing to remain in the area after graduation has climbed from 27% to the mid-40% range. The New Hanover Healthcare Career Partnership aims to address the region’s healthcare worker shortage, with a key focus on nursing through strategic partnerships between UNCW, Cape Fear Community College (CFCC), New Hanover County Schools and the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce Foundation. "Each of the partners had pathway programs,” said Watson, “but they were almost at times done in a silo." One of the New Hanover Community Endowment's largest commitments to date, the collaborative received a $22.3 million grant in 2023, to be disbursed over three years, beginning in 2024. At the public forum, leadership addressed the nursing bottleneck created by the pandemic, and Laurie Whalin, president of the Novant Health Coastal Region, acknowledged that Novant Health had relied heavily on travel nurses during that period, with travel nurses making up about 47% of staff and nursing turnover at 35% at the height of the pandemic. "I can say we are in a tremendously different place today,” Whalin said at the forum. The number of travel nurses employed by the Novant Health Coastal Region has dropped to around 100 today, which Whalin says accounts for less than 4% of the workforce. Roughly two years into the grant term, major stakeholders in the collaboration pointed to various accomplishments tied to the initiative. According to Stephen Hill, vice president of talent development with the Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, 250 more nurses live in New Hanover County in 2026 than in 2023. Whalin added that between 2021 and 2025, the Novant Health Coastal Region has hired close to 1,200 registered nurses. Additionally, according to Whalin, over the past two years, hiring and retention of nursing graduates from UNCW increased by 103%, while hiring and retention of nursing graduates from CFCC increased by 70%. Mandy Mills, director of career & technical education at New Hanover County Schools, pointed to the launch of its first Health Sciences Academy program, established across the county's four traditional high schools (Hoggard High School, Laney High School, Ashley High School and New Hanover High School), which started with 38 students last year. Mills also pointed to growth in the district’s Nursing Fundamentals course, which grew from 10 seats in 2023 to 50 in 2025-2026 and is now offered at all four traditional high schools. Watson emphasized the growing nursing class sizes and offered an update on the school’s accelerated nursing degree, which launched last year. Eleven students graduated in the first class, and all passed their boards on the first try, Watson said. This year’s class has 24 students. When the endowment announced its $22.3 million grant for the collaborative in 2023, UNCW and CFCC were each slated to receive the bulk of the funds, at about $10 million each. UNCW’s plans for the grant money included expanding its simulation lab, Watson said. He added that construction is expected to begin on the simulation lab this year and will likely extend through next year. According to Mary Ellen Naylor, dean of Health & Human Services at CFCC, the college has experienced growth in its associate degree nursing retention, rising from 59% in 2023 to 76% for the May 2026 class. CFCC used part of its endowment funding to support wraparound services, including a housing stipend, tuition assistance, exam assistance, emergency assistance, drop-in daycare and clinical and educational supplies. "We have very strong … students, but once they get into the program, there are competing priorities,” Naylor said. “They are working multiple jobs. They have children. They're single parents." According to Naylor, in 2026, 94% of students who used support services are still enrolled or have graduated. Addressing a question from an audience member about an approaching “enrollment cliff,” driven largely by dropping birth rates, Watson and Naylor said demand remains strong at both schools. “Right now … we do have more applicants than we have spots in our nursing program, and it is still a competitive process to get into,” Watson said. “I do not foresee that changing.” "(We've) doubled enrollment in our nursing programs over the last few years, but just as Dean Watson said, we still have very robust applicant pools, so it is still very competitive to get in,” Naylor said. "We have the applicant pool to support that, but again, it's not as easy as just saying, 'Okay … we're going to take another 90 students.' It's making sure all the resources and infrastructure that we need to educate the students outside the classroom is there as well." In response to a question about applying the collaborative model to other healthcare positions besides nursing, Sophie Dagenais, CEO and president of the endowment, said she sees the potential for the model to expand to other healthcare jobs and even other industries, but that the endowment hopes to learn from this model first. “This is a grant that is in year two of three years, and first we wanted to learn what is this going to demonstrate, what will we learn and then how may we scale it possibly,” she said. According to endowment spokesperson Amber Rogerson, funds for the program are set to expire after June 2027. “It's too early to discuss what happens after that,” wrote Rogerson in an email, “though we know the partners are considering the future, and some of the work supported by the grants is now built into their regular operations.”
Colorado business groups host gubernatorial forum Thursday
Several business groups are hosting a forum among gubernatorial candidates on Thursday morning. The candidates attending are Democratic Attorney General Phil Weiser and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, and Republicans Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer and Victor Marx. The forum will take place from 7 to 9:30 a.m. at the Infinity Park Event Center in Glendale. The organizers […]
Asia-Pacific parliamentarians urge bolder action for universal health coverage, climate resilience and responsible AI
Parliamentarians representing 16 countries from across the Asia-Pacific region concluded the Ninth Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health (APPFGH) today, reaffirming their key role in advancing universal health coverage (UHC) amid the risks and opportunities posed by AI and climate change. In adopting the Phnom Penh Communiqué, parliamentarians urged fellow legislators regionwide to strengthen sustainable financing for UHC to widen access to health for all, including the most vulnerable populations; promote responsible governance of AI amid ethical concerns over this fast-evolving technology; and build climate-resilient health systems to anticipate and respond to mounting pressures ranging from rising sea levels in coastal areas to air pollution and other environmental degradation.The National Assembly of Cambodia, with support from Cambodia’s Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), hosted the Forum in Phnom Penh from 11 to 13 August 2026 – the first time the Forum has convened in a Mekong country.Parliamentarians urge action to close gaps in accessIn the Communiqué, parliamentarians recognized that at-risk and marginalized groups are the ones most severely affected by gaps in access to health services. These groups include people living in poverty, women and children, persons with disabilities, older people, migrants, refugees, and those in rural, remote or island communities. The Communiqué urges fellow parliamentarians and policy-makers to advocate for laws and policies that support sustainable financing to protect people from financial hardship, with a focus on primary health care, prevention and equity. "The Communiqué is a call to action. It sets out ambitious, concrete measures that deliver meaningful impact on the ground. We are all accountable for advancing universal health coverage and translating our commitments into tangible results. Cambodia is fully committed to advancing UHC, including the promotion of ‘healthy people, prosperous country’ campaign,” said Samdech Maha Rathsapheathika Thipadei Khuon Sudary, President of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia.His Excellency Professor Chheang Ra, Minister of Health of the Kingdom of Cambodia, highlighted the need for collaboration beyond the health sector. “Universal health coverage cannot be achieved by the Ministry of Health alone. It requires support, particularly from parliamentarians, across political, legislative, financial, social protection, education, infrastructure, and environmental domains. While each country follows its own path, one factor is universally critical for success: strong governance and leadership. We all believe in this principle, and in our respective political roles, we remain committed to strengthening these key success factors to ensure that no one is left behind.”Promoting responsible AI adoption Parliamentarians acknowledged that, while AI has already demonstrated its ability to improve access to health services and support delivery, careful and ethical governance is necessary to safeguard quality, safety, privacy and public trust. This underscores the importance of parliamentarians in promoting legal and regulatory frameworks addressing liability, records ownership and data governance, while embracing innovation that protects ethical practice.“Without strong governance, safeguards for privacy and data security, sustainable financing, and attention to those most at risk of exclusion, new technologies may widen existing gaps instead of closing them. This is why parliamentarians matter. We pass laws. We approve budgets. We scrutinize government action. We represent communities. We can ask whether health services are reaching rural, remote, ageing, poor, and marginalized populations. We can ask whether innovation is being guided by equity, evidence, and ethics,” said Hon. Man Hee Lee, President of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health.Building climate-resilient health systemsParliamentarians also reiterated that the climate crisis is a direct threat to people’s health and to achieving UHC more broadly, deepening the same gaps in access already faced by at-risk and marginalized communities. They recognized the need for WHO Member States to ensure sufficient national appropriations and oversight, and for parliamentarians to raise awareness in their constituencies and mobilize local action in building climate-resilient and sustainable health systems.“Universal health coverage, climate change and AI cannot be addressed in isolation. The same communities struggling to access health services today are often the ones most exposed to climate shocks, and most in need of the opportunities AI can offer if this technology is governed responsibly,” said Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific. “Having served previously in this Forum myself as a parliamentarian from Tonga, I recognize how the Phnom Penh Communiqué reflects the shared resolve of legislators across the Asia-Pacific region: the laws parliamentarians pass and the budgets they approve help ensure this progress reaches the people who need it most.”As the Forum drew to a close, delegates reflected on what they would carry back to their own parliaments and constituencies.“I wish to share three points here worth carrying home from Phnom Penh: we need to invest in primary health care as the foundation of coverage; we need to remove the barriers that keep people from care, whether financial, geographic or social; and we need to build systems that are inclusive by design, protecting those most at risk of being left behind,” added Hon. Ouch Borith, First Vice-President of the Senate of the Kingdom of Cambodia.###Notes for editors:The Asia-Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health (APPFGH) is a platform for parliamentarians to exchange ideas, build political will, strengthen capacity and foster collaboration towards sustainable health action. This was the ninth meeting of the APPFGH, with the theme “Universal Health Coverage in the era of Climate Change and Artificial Intelligence”. Target 3.8 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls on countries to achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health services, and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all. In the Western Pacific, UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1) rose from 63 in 2000 to 81 in 2023 (figures include Indonesia), and roughly one in four people in the Western Pacific have experienced financial hardship (SDG 3.8.2). Progress towards UHC in the Asia-Pacific region remains uneven, with hundreds of millions of people still lacking access to essential health services or facing financial hardship due to health-related expenses. Strengthening the role of parliaments – through legislation, financing and oversight – is central to closing this gap and accelerating progress towards UHC across the region.Parliamentarians participating in APPFGH in Cambodia this week include: Hon. Pehin Dato Adanan YUSOF, Brunei Darussalam; Hon. Rosmawatty ABDUL MUMIN, Brunei Darussalam; Hon. LORK Kheng, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. YOS Phanita, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. KHOUN Khundy, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. HENG Halim, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. KHOENG Noupheap, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. SENG Nhak, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. LY Sukry, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. NHOEURN Raden, Kingdom of Cambodia; Hon. Dr Ratu Atonio LALABALAVU, Republic of Fiji; Hon. Vijay NATH, Republic of Fiji; Hon. Man Hee LEE, Republic of Korea; Hon. Dr Jiho CHA, Republic of Korea; Hon. Jonghun BAEK, Republic of Korea; Hon. Youngsuk SEO, Republic of Korea; Hon. Dr Phayvanh KEOPASEUTH, Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Hon. Suhaizan Bin KAIAT, Malaysia; Hon. Dr Perpetua KONMAN, Federated States of Micronesia; Hon. Ganmaa DAVAASAMBUU, Mongolia; Hon. Charmaine SCOTTY, Republic of Naoero; Hon. Vincent Ambance KUMURA, Papua New Guinea; Hon. Dr Edwin CRUZADO, Republic of the Philippines; Hon. AUUAPAAU Mulipola Aloitafua Mulipola, Samoa; Hon. ASIATA TAVUI Tafu Salevao, Samoa; Hon. Dr Alani Petelo TANGITAU, Tonga; Hon. Paul PAOLO, Republic of Vanuatu; Hon. Franklyn Ezra WILLIAM, Republic of Vanuatu.For more information, contact: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific: wprocom@who.int National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia (International Relations Department): ir.nacambodia@gmail.com
North Dakota Women's Business Center offers coaching, connections and more
In honor of International Women's Day, The Forum is profiling the organization known for lifting up female business owners.
Health Care Partnership outlines workforce progress
More local nursing graduates are staying in the region, according to officials offering an update on the progress of the New Hanover Healthcare Career Partnership at a public forum last night. According to Jack Watson, dean of UNCW’s College of Health & Human Services, the number of UNCW nursing graduates choosing to remain in the area after graduation has climbed from 27% to the mid-40% range. The New Hanover Healthcare Career Partnership aims to address the region’s healthcare worker shortage, with a key focus on nursing through strategic partnerships between UNCW, Cape Fear Community College (CFCC), New Hanover County Schools and the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce Foundation. "Each of the partners had pathway programs,” said Watson, “but they were almost at times done in a silo." One of the New Hanover Community Endowment's largest commitments to date, the collaborative received a $22.3 million grant in 2023, to be disbursed over three years, beginning in 2024. At the public forum, leadership addressed the nursing bottleneck created by the pandemic, and Laurie Whalin, president of the Novant Health Coastal Region, acknowledged that Novant Health had relied heavily on travel nurses during that period, with travel nurses making up about 47% of staff and nursing turnover at 35% at the height of the pandemic. "I can say we are in a tremendously different place today,” Whalin said at the forum. The number of travel nurses employed by the Novant Health Coastal Region has dropped to around 100 today, which Whalin says accounts for less than 4% of the workforce. Roughly two years into the grant term, major stakeholders in the collaboration pointed to various accomplishments tied to the initiative. According to Stephen Hill, vice president of talent development with the Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, 250 more nurses live in New Hanover County in 2026 than in 2023. Whalin added that between 2021 and 2025, the Novant Health Coastal Region has hired close to 1,200 registered nurses. Additionally, according to Whalin, over the past two years, hiring and retention of nursing graduates from UNCW increased by 103%, while hiring and retention of nursing graduates from CFCC increased by 70%. Mandy Mills, director of career & technical education at New Hanover County Schools, pointed to the launch of its first Health Sciences Academy program, established across the county's four traditional high schools (Hoggard High School, Laney High School, Ashley High School and New Hanover High School), which started with 38 students last year. Mills also pointed to growth in the district’s Nursing Fundamentals course, which grew from 10 seats in 2023 to 50 in 2025-2026 and is now offered at all four traditional high schools. Watson emphasized the growing nursing class sizes and offered an update on the school’s accelerated nursing degree, which launched last year. Eleven students graduated in the first class, and all passed their boards on the first try, Watson said. This year’s class has 24 students. When the endowment announced its $22.3 million grant for the collaborative in 2023, UNCW and CFCC were each slated to receive the bulk of the funds, at about $10 million each. UNCW’s plans for the grant money included expanding its simulation lab, Watson said. He added that construction is expected to begin on the simulation lab this year and will likely extend through next year. According to Mary Ellen Naylor, dean of Health & Human Services at CFCC, the college has experienced growth in its associate degree nursing retention, rising from 59% in 2023 to 76% for the May 2026 class. CFCC used part of its endowment funding to support wraparound services, including a housing stipend, tuition assistance, exam assistance, emergency assistance, drop-in daycare and clinical and educational supplies. "We have very strong … students, but once they get into the program, there are competing priorities,” Naylor said. “They are working multiple jobs. They have children. They're single parents." According to Naylor, in 2026, 94% of students who used support services are still enrolled or have graduated. Addressing a question from an audience member about an approaching “enrollment cliff,” driven largely by dropping birth rates, Watson and Naylor said demand remains strong at both schools. “Right now … we do have more applicants than we have spots in our nursing program, and it is still a competitive process to get into,” Watson said. “I do not foresee that changing.” "(We've) doubled enrollment in our nursing programs over the last few years, but just as Dean Watson said, we still have very robust applicant pools, so it is still very competitive to get in,” Naylor said. "We have the applicant pool to support that, but again, it's not as easy as just saying, 'Okay … we're going to take another 90 students.' It's making sure all the resources and infrastructure that we need to educate the students outside the classroom is there as well." In response to a question about applying the collaborative model to other healthcare positions besides nursing, Sophie Dagenais, CEO and president of the endowment, said she sees the potential for the model to expand to other healthcare jobs and even other industries, but that the endowment hopes to learn from this model first. “This is a grant that is in year two of three years, and first we wanted to learn what is this going to demonstrate, what will we learn and then how may we scale it possibly,” she said. According to endowment spokesperson Amber Rogerson, funds for the program are set to expire after June 2027. “It's too early to discuss what happens after that,” wrote Rogerson in an email, “though we know the partners are considering the future, and some of the work supported by the grants is now built into their regular operations.”
Produced water forum brings science, questions to Iraan
More than 50 residents, ranchers, elected officials, industry representatives and water stakeholders gathered at the Iraan Civic Center Friday, Oct. 2, for a first-of-its-kind local discussion centered on whether highly saline produced water from Permian Basin oil and gas operations could one day be treated and beneficially reused. Hosted by Friends of the Pecos River and the Texas Produced Water Consortium, the forum ran from 9:30 a.m. to noon and included presentations, refreshments and an extended public question-and-answer session.
Colorado governor candidates pledge to improve state's business climate
Two Democrats and two Republicans pitched their campaigns for Colorado governor to a roomful of business leaders in Glendale on Wednesday, offering different visions for the state but finding plenty to agree about — with the business community and with each other. Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet told the forum, organized by groups including Colorado […]
Paducah Chamber to host Judge Executive forum; Baptist Health blood drive continues
The Paducah Chamber will host its Judge Executive Forum Thursday. The forum will be available to view on WPSD at Midday, or via stream. And Baptist Health will enter day
At Davos, a Clash Between Trump’s World and the Old World
For decades, leaders have gathered in Davos to discuss a shared economic and political future. On Wednesday, President Trump turned the forum into a bracing clash between his worldview and theirs.
Sole finalist to become UF's next President to engage in multiple forums with school's community
The forums for Stuart Bell come as some are criticizing UF's process in selecting Bell.
MARIA BARTIMORO TO HOST AMERICA BUSINESS FORUM 2026
America Business Forum today announced that Maria Bartiromo will serve as Host of America Business Forum 2026, taking place December 16-17 at Kaseya Center in Miami. Across two days, Bartiromo will guide the conversations on the forum's main stage, before a live arena audience and a global broadcast.
Six decades of politics (but little government)
The first aired episode of “Star Trek,” entitled “The Man Trap,” premiered on September 8, 1966 — 60 years ago today. I’m actually editing a political science fiction issue of The Forum right now, and it’s prompted to me think a lot about the ways that Trek deals with politics and government and what it’s offered us as commentary. The @smotus report is a reader-supported publication. To support this work, please become a paid subscriber. Subscribe The original TV series ran from 1966 to 1969. It had a loyal but modest following, but the audience grew substantially with the series in syndication for years after that. The franchise developed its first motion picture in 1979, followed by five sequels, and then a whole other series of films built around the “Next Generation” series that first aired in 1987. In recent decades, several more TV series have built up around it, including the current “Strange New Worlds,” now in its fourth season. Throughout the past six decades, the franchise has offered us a good many insights into US politics and international relations, although often disguised as science fiction yarns. The original series was largely a Cold War fable, with the United Federation of Planets (a stand-in for the US) perpetually at odds with the Klingon Empire (a stand-in for the USSR). The “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” episode (1969) posited a planet divided into two races, largely indistinguishable to outsiders, but nonetheless constituting a brutal racial hierarchy. “Patterns of Force” (1968) showed a struggling planet where the leader had attempted to construct a benevolent dictatorship — literally Nazism without bigotry — and found that authoritarianism could not exist apart from hierarchy and oppression. (Relatedly, I’d put “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,” high on a list of dad films about the end of the Cold War, near “The Hunt for Red October.”) Get 20% off for 1 year Indeed, the original series itself was something of a political statement, with a multi-racial crew running the Enterprise, a diverse and largely peaceful Federation mostly free from want and oppression, and protected by Starfleet, an armed force whose scientific mission was at least as important as its military one. Famously, when Nichelle Nichols wanted to walk away from the role of Uhura on the original series, none other than Martin Luther King, Jr. met with her and urged her to remain on the show, discussing the importance of viewers seeing an intelligent Black woman as part of the command team three centuries hence. Later series in the Trek franchise offered a good deal of political commentary on their own, but probably none as explicitly and incisively as “Deep Space Nine,” which ran from 1993 to 1999. The episodes surrounding the Dominion War, especially the “In The Pale Moonlight” (1998), showed the compromises, sacrifices, and moral rot associated with winning even a just war — probably better than any series would until “Andor” (2022-25). In “Far Beyond The Stars” (1998), Captain Benjamin Sisko is somehow transplanted to the role of a science fiction writer in 1950s New York. The writer is frequently sidelined and his ideas stolen because publishers don’t want to credit a Black writer. Several series have depicted the secretive Section 31 — an unacknowledged black ops security force operating within Starfleet. These episodes often end up using Section 31 as a foil to show the dangers of a lawless group within a lawful society, even (especially) when that group posits itself as essential for everyone else’s freedom to continue. The current “Strange New Worlds” has played with a few political themes. I found the first two seasons of this show among the best that the Trek franchise has produced in decades, but this season and the last have really been struggling for ideas. Yet one interesting thread is the idea that the diplomatic and enlightened leadership style of Captain Christopher Pike will not work in all situations. “A Quality of Mercy” (2022), which I wrote about here, puts Pike in the middle of a battle with a Romulan vessel in an alternate timeline, and finds that Pike’s conciliatory style would actually make a lengthy and deadly war more likely, while a quick and more violent approach might have prevented the war. This season’s opener, “Valles Marineris,” shows a pre-lightspeed civilization locked in a war to the death with a neighboring planet. The idea of an alliance or a federation hasn’t even occurred to them — their ship’s commander is curious but doesn’t see it as an option. For a franchise as political as “Star Trek,” one thing we almost never see is the government. We get occasional glimpses of Starfleet’s council — mostly uniformed people at a rectangular table — but almost no sense of how the Federation is governed. Are there elections? Who is in the legislature? How much power does the president have? What kind of factional divisions do they wrestle with and how? The shows and films are pretty silent on this. We’ve seen a few military tribunals within Starfleet, but little about how civilians deal with crime and injustice. With recent years seeing some of the franchise’s more interesting plot lines and casts, it seems clear that Star Trek is still full of energy and ideas. Given the erosion of American democracy and the reshuffling of the international order, there’s no shortage of material for future shows to comment on. I’m not sure we should toast to 60 more years, but cheers to a show that continues to teach us about ourselves. Share
Kentucky 6th District candidates Alvarado, Dembo debate costs, health care in Estill County
The forum was moderated by Estill County High School junior Lincoln Wilburn.
Democratic candidates DeGette, Kiros and James clash in CD1 forum
The three Democratic candidates for Colorado’s 1st Congressional District clashed on Friday night over a host of issues, even as they expressed frustration with their party. The candidates — U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, doctoral student Milat Kiros and university regent Wanda James — took part in the forum moderated by Colorado Politics reporters on Friday […]