Opinion: The Song Of A Father's Heartbeat NPR's Scott Simon shares the story of Lucio Arreola, a father of three who's recovering from a heart transplant and whose family recorded a song for him using his own heartbeat. Scott Simon
Chlorine shortage hits Northwest drinking water suppliers Water utilities in Washington and Oregon are scrambling to keep customers supplied with safe drinking water following an equipment failure at the Northwest’s main supplier of chlorine. John Ryan
Delta Variant Drives New Cases, Hospitalizations In Southwest Missouri NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Steve Edwards, president and CEO of CoxHealth in southwest Missouri, about the current surge in coronavirus cases in his region driven by the Delta variant. Christopher Intagliata
Unpaid Caregivers Were Already Struggling. It's Only Gotten Worse During The Pandemic A new CDC study finds that people who provide unpaid care for their children or adult loved ones are twice as likely as noncaregivers to have experienced depression or anxiety, or thoughts of suicide. Rhitu Chatterjee
Needle Exchanges, Access To Safer Narcotics Could Save Lives — But It's A Tough Sell Researchers and doctors say they know how to curb harm caused by addiction and the spread of dangerous drugs. But lawmakers are reluctant to allow needle exchanges and access to safer narcotics. Brian Mann
A COVID Outbreak At The U.S. Embassy In Kabul Has Sickened 114 People And Killed 1 Military hospital ICU resources are at full capacity and the embassy has been forced to "create temporary, on-compound COVID-19 wards," according to a note sent to embassy staff. Michele Kelemen
Pfizer's COVID Vaccine In Teens And Myocarditis: What You Need To Know Health officials are investigating reports of mostly mild, temporary and treatable heart inflammation that may or may not be causally linked to vaccination with an mRNA vaccine against COVID-19. Joanne Silberner
The Mystery of the Origins of the Pandemic: Can It Be Solved? The world is calling on China to cooperate with investigations into the source of SARS-CoV-2. Will this pressure be fruitful — or could it backfire? Will Stone
Bariatric Surgery Works, But Isn't Offered To Most Teens Who Have Severe Obesity Experts now say the procedure is the most effective treatment for severe childhood obesity, which affects a growing number of kids. But stigma and insurers often stand in the way. Yuki Noguchi
If 140,000 more people get vaccinated, Washington state could reopen early ‘It's not over until it truly is over, and we are really concerned that folks are going to think that we're at 70%, and therefore you don't have to worry about anything.’ Kate Walters
