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Good morning! It's Thursday, January 5th. I'm Shumita Basu, this is "Apple News Today." On today's show, heavy rain and strong winds continue to pummel California, the questionable credentials of coroners, and the long-term health benefits of Dry January.
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But first... Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is reportedly awake. That's according to his agent who shared the news on Thursday morning. The twenty-four-year-old has reportedly improved significantly since yesterday. His doctors say he appears to be neurologically intact and is making steady progress. Hamlin's collapse during the Bills game against the Bengals on Monday night was a shocking scene to watch on live TV. Even more jarring for the athletes on the field. We're still waiting for more information about the cause, but let's now talk about what his injury has meant for the players and their mental health.
According to the "Wall Street Journal," some players are saying they're reluctant to return to the field after watching their colleague and friend receive emergency treatment. One NFL agent told the "Journal" there's been conversation among players about whether they're ready to play again and whether future games should be delayed. Here's what one former NFL player, Marcus Spears, said on ESPN.
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When you see your teammate, you know, we talk about family and call each other brothers. There are people that are traumatized by seeing their loved one deal with this, who is Damar Hamlin. So I just wanna make it a point every time I show up on this television with all of humanity that has watched this, the football community, former players, we are going through an emotional state right now.
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This week, New York Jets coach Robert Saleh said he made it a point to give his players time to talk about what happened and air their thoughts. He later said, "Viewers should try to put themselves in the shoes of the players who give so much for the game."
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When I've gotten up here and I've talked about how these young men deserve everything they got. They earn it all. And they deserve to have as much as they're asking for. And they deserve whatever the NFL is willing to give. It's because we, we know what they do every day. We know how hard it is to play this game. And it's not just playing the game of football, it's all the preparation and how much their bodies hurt.
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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent out a memo saying that Monday's game between the Bills and the Bengals, which was suspended after Hamlin collapsed only about nine minutes into the game, will not resume this week. He also said the NFL is providing mental health support and resources to all players. So far, there have been no changes announced to the week-18 schedule which begins on Saturday. If that holds, the Bills will play again on Sunday.
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California is being hit with the third major downpour in less than two weeks, bringing heavy rain, hurricane-like winds, and power outages in some areas. At least five deaths have been reported related to these storms as of early this morning. This type of storm is called an atmospheric river. That's when huge amounts of rain come down in a relatively short period of time. Now, you might be thinking, "All this rainfall could be a good thing for a drought-stricken state." And in some ways, experts say, it has helped replenish reservoirs and build up snowpack. But, as the "LA Times" explains, at this rate of downpour, it leads to risks of flash floods and overflowing waterways.
Last weekend the rain got so bad that multiple levees in Sacramento County failed, killing one person and flooding a highway. In this storm, a toddler in a creek-side community in Sonoma County was killed by a falling tree. And wildfires have wiped out places where there might have been trees making some areas more vulnerable to landslides. State officials declared a state of emergency yesterday, calling this "one of the most challenging and impactful series of storms to touch down in California in the last five years." And they're asking people to brace for more rain, possibly extending well into next week and the following weekend.
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You might think you're familiar with the role of coroners from watching crime TV shows. They're the ones who get called in to officially investigate the cause of sudden or suspicious deaths. In real life, though, their credentials vary widely. In some cases, coroners are not required to have ever taken a science class in their lives.
Most of them are elected, and the qualification can be just, you have to be 18, you have to be a voter, and have no felonies, and that's it.
That's Samantha Young, a senior correspondent at "Kaiser Health News," who investigated this archaic system. She calls it disjointed and chronically underfunded. There are around 2,000 coroner's offices across the country that are responsible for determining the causes of death of more than half a million people a year. The job can be held by that hypothetical 18-year-old she mentioned or by a highly trained physician. Some coroners work for elected sheriffs, which raises questions about bias.
When you have a coroner who's elected, the critics of that kind of a system say that often these coroners can be subject to influence. They're politically connected, so they're really tied to their communities. They might wanna avoid some controversies, and by making a different kind of ruling in how a person might've died.
Young writes about a number of high-profile cases where the conclusion from coroners was controversial. One example is the 2020 police killing of George Floyd. A county medical examiner ruled it a homicide but indicated that the presence of fentanyl and a heart condition may have been factors. Meanwhile, pathologists hired by Floyd's family said he died of a lack of oxygen.
More than a decade ago, the National Research Council recommended that states replace coroners with medical examiners, describing a system in need of significant improvement. And there was a recent push to replace coroners nationwide with people who have some kind of medical training, typically doctors who've studied forensic pathology. But Young explains that cost issues and a lack of trained professionals has led to a change in tactics.
There's been more of a push now to give coroners more education, more training, so that they are better equipped to do their job.
The National Association of Medical Examiners says more training will help, but they'd also like to see a system in place to make sure that coroners can do their jobs completely independently of government or law enforcement. The group did their own survey and found four out of five forensic pathologists say they've been pressured by politicians or families to change their assessment of a cause of death.
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This New Year's Eve, I rang in 2023 with a fizzy glass of ginger beer. I was sick. I had COVID, and I didn't wanna compromise my immune system by drinking alcohol, but I also didn't wanna miss out on having something bubbly to celebrate. Call it an accidental launch of my own Dry January, what's become known as a common month of sobriety. For some people, it's a challenge, it's a test of willpower. Just get through the month and then you can go back to your old drinking habits. But research shows that people who do Dry January or similar sobriety challenges often end up making lasting changes to their drinking habits. That's because while 30 days might not seem like a long time, the "Washington Post" explains, it's enough time to form new habits. And for some people, being alcohol-free for a month is more rewarding than it is punishing. They find that they sleep better, have more energy, can concentrate more, and that encourages them to cut down on drinking even when January ends.
"NPR"'s' "Planet Money" has a story on the exploding market for nonalcoholic beer, wine, and spirits. It's up more than 20% last year and more than 120% over the last three years. Celebrities from Katy Perry to J.J. Watt to Bella Hadid are all getting in on the action, creating what "Planet Money" calls the golden age for nonalcoholic options. That's something we can all cheers to.
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You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. Plus, we've got a narrated article coming up next. It's a profile from the "New Yorker" of Republican leader Kevin McCarthy and his longtime ambitions to become Speaker of the House. After two days and six rounds of votes, he failed again yesterday to get enough Republican support for the job. This article argues that his attempts to placate both Trumpists and moderates may be why he's in this position today. So sit back, enjoy listening to that story, and I'll be back here with the news tomorrow.
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