skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Baltimore Restaurants Bar Sodas, Sugary Drinks on Kids' Menus

play audio
Play

Thursday, July 19, 2018   

BALTIMORE — Thanks to a city ordinance that went into effect Wednesday, Baltimore now is the biggest U.S. city - and the first on the East Coast - to prohibit restaurants from including sodas and sugary drinks on kids' menus.

The ordinance, which was signed by Mayor Catherine Pugh earlier this year, is designed to stop children from consuming so many sugary drinks, which is seen as a key factor contributing to high rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes. Shawn McIntosh, executive director with Sugar Free Kids Maryland, said milk, 100 percent fruit juices, water and flavored or sparkling water without added sweeteners will now be the default options at eateries city-wide.

"Well, right now the default beverage is typically a sugary beverage. And so a parent doesn't really have a choice when they look at a children's menu on the healthy beverage; it doesn't offer that as the default choice,” McIntosh said. “So now the choice is in the parents' hands."

McIntosh said 1-in-4 Baltimore children currently drinks at least one soda each day.

The ordinance is opposed by the Restaurant Association of Maryland, which issued a statement Wednesday saying "public policy that interferes with the minutiae of restaurant operations exacerbates the business challenges already facing city restaurants."

Seven California cities and Lafayette, Colorado, have enacted similar ordinances, according to health officials. McIntosh said she hopes other cities will jump on board with similar changes to protect the health of the population.

"We really hope this sweeps the country,” she said. “There are actually national chains doing this, so it's not something new. It's something that we're hoping that all restaurants will now do. "

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1-in-3 school-aged kids in Baltimore is obese. Restaurants that don't comply with the ordinance will face a $100 penalty.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021