Today’s Early Morning Highlights from Major News Organizations
KFF Health News: Doubts Abound About a New Alzheimer’s Blood Test
For the first time, people worried about their risk of Alzheimer’s disease can go online, order a blood test, and receive results in the privacy of their homes. This might seem appealing on the surface, but the development has Alzheimer’s researchers and clinicians up in arms. The Quest Diagnostics blood test, AD-Detect, measures elevated levels of amyloid-beta proteins, a signature characteristic of Alzheimer’s. Introduced in late July, the test is targeted primarily at people 50 and older who suspect their memory and thinking might be impaired and people with a family history of Alzheimer’s or genetic risks for the condition. (Graham, 10/26)
KFF Health News: Storing Guns Away From Home Could Reduce Suicides, But Legal Hurdles Loom
Mike Hossfeld unlocked a heavy black steel door to his home’s gun safe, unveiling both modern and antique firearms, some dating from the early 1900s. “Most of this is mine. There are a few weapons in here that belong to other folks,” he said. Hossfeld regularly stores firearms for others who are going through a mental health crisis or a rough period. That puts time and space between them and their guns, which can significantly reduce suicide risk. (Bolton, 10/26)
CNN: At Least 22 People Dead And ‘Person Of Interest’ Sought After Shootings In Lewiston, Maine, Officials Say
At least 22 people are dead and dozens are injured following two shootings Wednesday night at a bowling alley and a restaurant in Lewiston, Maine, and an intensive manhunt is underway for a person of interest, officials say. Robert Card, 40, of Bowdoin, is a person of interest and should be considered armed and dangerous, Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said. Law enforcement officials in Maine tell CNN that Card is a certified firearms instructor and a member of the US Army Reserve. Card had recently made threats to carry out a shooting at a National Guard facility in Saco, Maine, and also reported mental health issues, including hearing voices, the officials said. (Smart, Miller, Sutton and Wolfe, 10/26)
AP and Politico: Firearms Instructor Treated At Mental Health Facility Is Person Of Interest In Maine Mass Shooting, Police Say
A state police bulletin says the man, Robert Card, had been trained as a firearms instructor at a U.S. Army Reserve training facility in Maine. The document says Card had been committed to a mental health facility for two weeks in the summer of 2023. It did not provide specific details about his treatment or condition. (10/25)
Common Dreams and Truthout: New House Speaker Had Proposed Trillions In Cuts To Social Security And Medicare
The newly elected Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives has previously proposed trillions of dollars in cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and suggested that slashing the programs should be the top priority of Congress. During his tenure as chair of the Republican Study Committee (RSC) between 2019 and 2021, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) helped craft budget resolutions that called for roughly $2 trillion in Medicare cuts, $3 trillion in Medicaid and Affordable Care Act cuts, and $750 billion in Social Security Cuts, noted Bobby Kogan of the Center for American Progress. (Johnson, 10/25)
The New Republic: New House Speaker Once Blamed Abortions For Social Security, Medicare Cuts
In a clip that surfaced Tuesday, Mike Johnson put the onus of Republican cuts to essential programs on unborn children, claiming that if American women were producing more bodies to churn the economy then Republicans wouldn’t have to cut essential social programs like Medicare and Medicaid. (Houghtaling, 10/25)
CBS News: What Is New House Speaker Mike Johnson’s Record And Views On Abortion?
In Jan. 2022, the congressman from Louisiana said “a child in the womb” is a “unique human being with unique DNA” from the moment of conception and he called for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade long before the Dobbs decision in June 2022. Ahead of Wednesday’s speakership vote, House Judiciary Democrats posted a video on X of Johnson saying “Roe v Wade gave constitutional cover to the elected killing of unborn children in America, period. You think about the implications of that on the economy. We’re all struggling here to cover the bases of social security and medicare and medicaid and all the rest. If we had all those able bodied workers in the economy, we wouldn’t be going upside down and toppling over like this.” (Mizelle, 10/25)
ABC News: How New House Speaker Mike Johnson Spent Years Fighting Against Gay Rights
An ABC News examination of public records, news reports and documents shows the extent to which Johnson dedicated earlier phases of his career to limiting gay rights, including same-sex marriage and health care access, and through anti-gay activism on college campuses. In comments from over fifteen years ago, long before he became a lawmaker and while acting as an attorney and spokesman for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Christian advocacy group, Johnson described homosexuals as “sinful” and “destructive” and argued support for homosexuality could lead to support for pedophilia. He also authored op-eds that argued for criminalizing gay sex. “There is clearly no ‘right to sodomy’ in the Constitution,” Johnson wrote in a 2003 column in a Louisiana newspaper. (Steakin, 10/25)
Politico: Mike Johnson On The Issues: Where The New Speaker Stands On Abortion, Transgender Care, And Other Policies
Since being elected to Congress in 2016, Johnson has been a vocal advocate for spending cuts and enacting new restrictions on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the country’s largest program feeding low-income Americans. While he voted for the last farm bill in 2018, he criticized the legislation for failing to make deeper cuts to SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, which he dubbed “our nation’s most broken and bloated welfare program.” (10/25)
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