Contributed

WASHINGTON — The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress found that on a single night in January 2020, there were 37,252 Veterans experiencing homelessness in America, an increase of 0.4% over 2019.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the health insurance provisions tucked into the giant stimulus legislation known as the American Rescue Plan is not the financial help directed at those seeking coverage on the Obamacare insurance exchanges or the six months of free COBRA coverage aimed at laid off workers. It was the signal that the health insurance industry was back, commanding once again its privileged position as the payer of American health care. It was no longer the villain it had become in the late 2000s, before the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Back then, demonizing insurers made good copy. When Los Angeles Times investigative reporter Lisa Girion revealed that insurance giant Wellpoint was raising premiums for thousands of policyholders because the cost of their care exceeded what they had paid, that revelation helped push the Affordable Care Act over the finish line a few weeks later.

The State of California announced that Riverside County will move into the orange tier of the state’s reopening framework Wednesday (April 7). The move is based on meeting a statewide goal to administer 4 million vaccines in disadvantaged communities, and the subsequent loosening of the case rate threshold to move into the orange tier.

The U.S. housing market is in the midst of an inventory crisis. The number of homes for sale in the U.S. is hovering near record lows, caused by a pandemic-induced housing inventory death-spiral.

To celebrate spring, Carla Hall, renowned chef, author, and television host, offers two delicious recipes that make carrots the star ingredient of the season.