Take 5 for your health

Actor David Dastmalchian spoke Friday outside the Statehouse at a rally highlighting mental health and addiction treatment options in Kansas. (Photo: Susie Fagan | Heartland Health Monitor)

From Heroin To Hollywood: Kansas Native Shares Story Of Addiction And Recovery Los Angeles-based actor David Dastmalchian returned to Kansas with a message he said should transcend politics: We can’t give up on people who struggle with substance abuse and mental illness. Dastmalchian is now a budding Hollywood star, with roles in blockbusters like 2008’s…

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Take 5 for your health

Shona Banda, shown here after she was booked into jail and then released after posting bond in June, is preparing to sue Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, the Kansas Department for Children and Families and the Garden City Police Department. (Photo: James Dobson | Garden City Telegram)

Kansas Mom Charged in Marijuana Case to Sue Brownback, State Agency Lawyers for Garden City resident Shona Banda have prepared a lawsuit against Gov. Sam Brownback and the state agency that has custody of her child, claiming she has a constitutional right to use cannabis to treat her Crohn’s disease. Banda self-published a book and posted…

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Take 5 for your health

Head Start students at Woodland Early Learning Center in Kansas City, Missouri, interact in their classroom. (Photo: Mike Sherry | Heartland Health Monitor)

Program Has Been Giving Children A ‘Head Start’ In Kansas City For 50 Years This year marks historic anniversaries for several pieces of landmark legislation, including Medicare and the Americans with Disabilities Act. It’s also the 50th anniversary of another significant program, Head Start, which was launched as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. The…

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Take 5 for your health

Six Kansas cities have added e-cigarettes to their local smoking bans. (BIGSTOCK)

Health Advocates Will Push To Add E-Cigarettes To Kansas Smoking Ban Kansas’ ban on smoking tobacco products in most public places has been in place since 2010. In those five years, the smoke-free atmosphere of bars, restaurants and other indoor spots has become the norm. Erica Anderson, a health promotion specialist for the Lawrence-Douglas County…

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Take 5 for your health

This batch of young turkeys is among the first birds returned to an avian-flu infected farm in northwest Iowa. (Photo: Amy Mayer | Harvest Public Media)

Officials, Farmers Preparing For Fall Bird Flu Outbreak Amid Ongoing Mystery Farmers and agriculture officials are gearing up for another round of bird flu this fall, an outbreak they fear could be worse than the devastating spring crisis that hit egg layers and turkeys in the Midwest, wiped out entire farms and sent egg prices…

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