About Mary Turck
News Day, written by Mary Turck, analyzes, summarizes, links to, and comments on reports from news media around the world, with particular attention to immigration, education, and journalism. Fragments, also written by Mary Turck, has fiction, poetry and some creative non-fiction.
Mary Turck edited TC Daily Planet, www.tcdailyplanet.net, from 2007-2014, and edited the award-winning Connection to the Americas and AMERICAS.ORG, in its pre-2008 version. She is also a recovering attorney and the author of many books for young people (and a few for adults), mostly focusing on historical and social issues.
October 6, 2014 · 9:24 am
© phasinphoto Fotolia.com
In 2013, Chris had inexpensive health insurance. His premiums were only $200 each month. That sounds pretty good, especially since average premiums for a single person are more than $400 per month.
This is the one of a series of articles on understanding health insurance. Click here for all of the articles. This series covers basics — exceptions and complications go beyond the basics.
Trouble was — Chris’s actual health care costs were a lot higher. Besides paying the premium, he had to pay $3,000 of medical costs out of his pocket before the insurance paid a dime. Premiums are just one of the costs to look at when you buy health insurance. Continue reading →
October 2, 2014 · 9:01 pm
“A fish rots from the head down,” according to an old saying. The state shut down Community Action of Minneapolis (CAM), and executive director Bill Davis needs a good defense attorney, but the “head” of this and other non-profit organizations includes the board of directors. Even though CAM is dead, the problems that brought it down continue in other non-profit organizations. Continue reading →
September 30, 2014 · 9:03 pm
Every year that annoying notice comes. It’s open enrollment time. During this time, you can make choices about health insurance. You can compare deductibles, calculate premiums, check coverage, and read policies. Or you can do nothing, and your insurance will automatically renew. If you have employer-sponsored insurance, individual insurance, MNSure insurance, or Medicare, you need to decide. Continue reading →
September 30, 2014 · 3:37 pm
When should the media publish photos and full names of crime victims? When two thirteen-year-old girls went missing, the sheriff sent out their names, descriptions and photos in a call to the public to help find them. That seemed like a necessary step in the search, and publishing the information could help. But after they were found, should news media continue to republish their full names and photos? Continue reading →
September 28, 2014 · 8:31 am
© Igor Zakowski – Fotolia
The new sharing economy masquerades as a people-to-people economy. That sounds friendlier than the corporate, profit-driven economy. Take a second look, thought, and this new sharing economy turns out to be the old corporate wolf in a new internet fleece. Continue reading →
September 23, 2014 · 2:38 pm
(c) Rini Templeton
Teaching English led Artika Tyner to become a lawyer. “When I began student teaching,” she writes, “I witnessed firsthand the disparities in the school system influenced by factors such as race and poverty. This was a formative moment in my personal and professional development…. I became committed to shaping public policy and standing up for children. At this point, I also recognized that the law is a language of power and I wanted to learn this language in order to empower others in my community.” Continue reading →
September 23, 2014 · 9:24 am
“If you know one person with Alzheimer’s, you know one person with Alzheimer’s,” my mom reminds me often. Every person has his or her own story. Each story has different, heart-breaking details, as the disease steals away reason and personality and physical strength and coordination. One thing does not change: the disease moves inexorably onward. Continue reading →
September 21, 2014 · 12:55 pm
© lenets_tan – Fotolia.com
Think you don’t need to worry because you already have health insurance? Think again: insurance companies keep changing the game. Three stories give reasons to think twice about your insurance: Preferred One’s pull-out, higher costs with “automatic” renewal, and sneaky drug price increases. Continue reading →
September 18, 2014 · 9:50 pm
Born into grinding poverty near the ancient Mayan city of Copán, Honduras, Margarita Murillo grew up into a lifetime of activism on behalf of campesino farmers, women, and the poor. She managed a brief period of schooling in between work and taking care of little sisters. By the age of 12 or 13, she had become an activist in the Catholic Church’s Caritas organization. Continue reading →
September 17, 2014 · 3:02 pm
Yao Yang showed the open house tour group a small melon.
“Farmers often work twelve-hour days,” Yao Yang explained. Having water available near the field is a big deal. That’s often not the case on rented fields, but it’s an important part of the Hmong American Farm. So are the simple washing sheds where they can prepare produce for market, and the cooler where produce can be stored until it’s picked up for delivery.
The 16 farmers who rent five or ten-acre fields from the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA) are part of a project that includes research, cooperation and community. Continue reading →
Mary Turck