Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us

On Monday night, the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art were filled with celebrities, fashion insiders, and art lovers, who all donned spectacular looks for the 2024 Met Gala. The buzzy annual event, which takes place every year on the first Monday in May, has long been heralded as fashion’s biggest night and this year’s red carpet definitely made the case for this distinction.

When it comes to making a dramatic, memorable fashion statement, few do it like Zendaya, who showed out and showed up at the Met Gala not once, but twice in two showstopping looks. Throughout the years, the Challengers star has cemented her status as a true style icon, thanks to her fearless approach to dressing up and her longtime collaboration with her stylist and “image architect,” Law Roach.

DES MOINES, Iowa — A Tennessee-based sanitation company has agreed to pay more than half a million dollars after a federal investigation found it illegally hired at least two dozen children to clean dangerous meat processing facilities in Iowa and Virginia. The U. S. Department of Labor announced Monday that Fayette Janitorial Service LLC entered into a consent judgment, in which the company agrees to nearly $650,000 in civil penalties and the court-ordered mandate that it no longer employs minors.

Current Miss USA Noelia Voigt announced Monday that she was stepping down from the role to focus on her mental health. Voigt, who represented Utah and became the first Venezuelan-American to be crowned Miss USA in Sept. 2023, announced the “very tough decision to resign” in an Instagram post. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “I realize this may come as a large shock to many,” Voigt, 24, said in the caption of her post.

A Kansas City-area man who’s charged with killing his hospitalized wife told police he couldn’t take care of her or afford her medical bills, court records say. Ronnie Wiggs made his first appearance Monday on a second-degree murder charge and was referred to the public defender’s office. A hearing was set for Thursday to review his $250,000 bond. A phone message that was left with the public defender’s office wasn’t immediately returned. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] His wife was getting a new port for her dialysis when staff at Centerpoint Medical Center in Independence called a “code blue” Friday because she was unresponsive. Staff managed to get her pulse back, but they determined she was brain dead and made preparations to harvest her organs, according to the probable cause statement.

(WASHINGTON) — An American soldier has been arrested in Russia and accused of stealing, according to two U. S. officials. U. S. officials said the soldier, Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, was stationed in South Korea and was in the process of returning home to Fort Cavazos in Texas. Instead, officials said he traveled to Russia. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel details. Cynthia Smith, Army spokeswoman, confirmed that a soldier was detained on Thursday in Vladivostok, a major military and commercial Pacific port, on charges of criminal misconduct.