Record visitor numbers have created a sometimes dangerous frenzy, with selfie-taking tourists routinely breaking park rules and getting too close to Yellowstone's storied elk herds, grizzly bears, wolves and bison. Major parks are grappling with illegal camping, vandalism, theft of resources, wildlife harassment and other visitor misbehavior. In July alone, law enforcement rangers handled more than 11,000 incidents at the 10 most visited national parks.   read more

"Historically, doctors and therapists were held in high regard and protected in general," said Spero. "And so to start bringing them into the criminal system, there's a lot of resistance." Agencies may even pull the plug on their investigation if the doctor agrees to step aside. That means any evidence of violations is hidden from the public. Regulators can also discipline a doctor without ever considering whether his violations could be criminal.   read more

Parker says the app has imported profiles of tens of thousands of people without their consent and exploits their identities for profit. An article reports that the game "commoditizes users without their knowledge" and "crafts a potential opening for harassment" because people who "own" others' profiles can rename them. Parker cites an interview with the app's founder, Chen, in which he "admits the game wouldn't work if he had to obtain consent from each user."   read more

The ruling was the first judicial rebuke of a statute that has been condemned as discriminatory and, with lawsuit after lawsuit, has deepened the national debate about transgender rights. His ruling is a milestone victory for critics of the measure, and a setback to many Republican leaders in North Carolina who have championed the statute. “Today is a great day for me, and hopefully this is a start to chipping away at the injustice of H.B. 2,” said Carcaño, a transgender plaintiff in the case.   read more

The American Egg Board allegedly increasingly funded pro-egg research on dietary cholesterol over the last 20 years. In 2013, it funded 92% of studies on dietary cholesterol. The Physicians Committee claims that the Egg Nutrition Center nominated seven people to the dietary guidance committee, including one who failed to disclose she received funds from the Egg Board for "the sole purpose of overturning defendants' recommended limits on dietary cholesterol intake."   read more

The man perhaps most famous for pharmaceutical price-gouging, Martin Shkreli, called the drug's makers "vultures." Sens. Charles Grassley and Richard Blumenthal demanded answers from Mylan CEO Heather Bresch. Sen. Hillary Clinton blasted the price of EpiPens as "outrageous," and Sen. Amy Klobuchar called for an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. And now, on Tuesday, six consumers from across the country brought the issue to court — filing suit against Mylan in Detroit, Michigan.   read more

The DOJ asserts that in practice, the program allows students with disabilities to be taught in the basement of a school building with its own separate entrance. The students are also educated in "often old, poorly maintained buildings, some of which formerly served as schools for black students under Jim Crow laws," the complaint states. Moreover, the program denies students with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from educational services available to students throughout the state.   read more

Authorities who had been targeting prescription painkiller abuse say the problem has changed quickly in recent years as users turned to heroin, fentanyl and even stronger drugs. Ohio has been among the states hardest hit by the overdose epidemic. Fentanyl overdose deaths spiked so quickly last year that scientists with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention visited the state to study the problem.   read more

Health officials warn that e-cigarettes and other vaping devices are poisoning kids with nicotine. But the market has evolved, and a lot of vaping these days is done with devices that can be loaded with flavored "e-juice" that comes in both nicotine and nicotine-free versions. "Strawberry. Watermelon. Passion fruit. There's a churros — you know, like cinnamon toast?" said Brooklyn Vape's Hosam Essa. CDC officials question whether many teens know the exact content of what they're vaping.   read more

Michigan developed an automated program that compares the list of public-assistance recipients with a list of outstanding felony warrants maintained by the law enforcement information network. However, the system repeatedly wrongly identifies SNAP recipients as felons and cuts off their food stamps. A federal judge found the state's use of the database deprived plaintiffs of their right to food assistance because they were neither actively fleeing nor avoiding prosecution for a felony.   read more

The reduction among the 60 officers who wore cameras amounts to about 20 fewer incidents of physical force per year. The authors speculate that if the cameras were worn by the entire department, the same reduction would translate to about 250 fewer incidents per year. The study cautions that cameras alone are just one piece of the puzzle. It notes that community policing strategies and better officer training are also essential to preventing such encounters.   read more

Last week, researchers studying maternal mortality in the U.S. reported an ominous trend: The rate of pregnancy-related deaths in Texas seemed to have doubled since 2010, making the state one of the most dangerous places in the developed world to have a baby. The bottom line: Maternal deaths have indeed been increasing in Texas, and black women are bearing the brunt of the crisis. For 2011 and 2012, black mothers accounted for 11.4% of Texas births but 28.8% of pregnancy-related deaths.   read more

Judge Logan dismissed the lawsuit, which claimed that the bill required doctors tell their patients the lie that medication abortion could be reversed. "The reversal of this unjustified restriction is good news for women, but it shouldn't have taken a year in court to convince Arizona politicians to keep junk science out of the exam room," said ACLU's Andrew Beck. "Lawmakers should recognize that Arizona women deserve high-quality medical care — not political ideology masquerading as medicine."   read more

Increase in fatalities since 2014 "is really getting to the crisis level," said GHSA's Jonathan Adkins. "While many factors likely contributed to the fatality increase, a stronger economy and lower unemployment rates are at the core of the trend," said the council. The council also predicts that 438 people will be killed on the nation's roads over the three-day Labor Day weekend that begins Sept. 2, which would make it the deadliest Labor Day weekend since 2008.   read more

The Texas RR Commission has been reluctant to acknowledge any connection between drilling and earthquakes, despite the conclusions of scientists in other states. But the EPA said: "In light of findings from several researchers, its own analysis of some cases, and the fact that earthquakes in some areas diminished following shut-in or reduced injection volume in targeted wells, EPA believes there is significant possibility that North Texas earthquake activity is associated with disposal wells."   read more

The report said NYPD's Intelligence Bureau regularly let deadlines pass before asking to extend investigations into political activity, and often failed to explain the roles of undercover officers, as required. ACLU's Lieberman said they stood by “allegations that there were often no valid reasons for the NYPD to open or extend investigations of American Muslims." She said the surveillance "was highly irregular [and] operated in a black box..."   read more