The Editor’s Mailbag

By Amanda Hernández, Stateline.org Rampant sexual abuse by guards at women’s prisons in California. An inmate suicide that went unnoticed for 18 hours in Washington state. Multiple jail breaks in Pennsylvania. Related Articles National News | Today in History: January 18, Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce from Michael Jackson National News | Lawsuit alleges Vermont tracks pregnant women deemed unsuitable for parenthood National News | TikTok refugees are pouring to Xiaohongshu.

By Darius Tahir, KFF Health News Preparing cancer patients for difficult decisions is an oncologist’s job. They don’t always remember to do it, however. At the University of Pennsylvania Health System, doctors are nudged to talk about a patient’s treatment and end-of-life preferences by an artificially intelligent algorithm that predicts the chances of death. Related Articles Health | Changing your eye color is easier than you think.

Dear Eric: I took a job in DC at the behest of my close friend, who also invited me to live with her. She said she was going to retire and move back to her Midwest hometown. She offered to rent her townhouse to me for a really reduced rate while she’s in transition. Well, not only is she not making any attempts to move, but she also comments on my eating choices and constantly gives me unsolicited advice. She’s vegan and a diabetic, so she’s very strict with her diet.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: My husband and I spent a few days with some friends at a house in a rural setting near a small lake. During our stay, the electricity went out. The toilets did not work for over 24 hours, and we had to use buckets for the waste we generated. After the toilets were working, our host disposed of our collected waste in the lake.

An illegal gambling network that ran from strip-mall casinos to a warehouse in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood was taken down this week by state and local law enforcement agencies. Authorities raided slot-machine parlors in suburban West Palm Beach, Fort Pierce, Vero Beach and Zephyrhills, confiscating machines and cash. They also charged officers of a company in Miami that sold slot machines to illegal casinos.

Floridians are jumping on the newest TikTok trend: changing your eye color. The young and old have discovered that turning brown eyes blue or hazel eyes green can be as simple as putting in color contacts or as permanent as laser surgery that inserts color pigment into the cornea. Ophthalmologists say both come with risks. Keratopigmentation, also called eye tattooing, is performed on the cornea.