The ivermectin story has an odd irony. One of the most divisive medications in contemporary medicine is a medication that helped hundreds of millions of people in tropical regions live free from crippling parasitic infections and won its creators a Nobel Prize in 2015. It’s not because of what it does, but rather because of what people thought it could accomplish. Let’s begin by discussing the true purpose of ivermectin, also referred to as ivermectina in many Spanish-speaking nations. The medication, which was approved for use in humans in 1987, essentially paralyzes the nerve and muscle function of parasites until…
Author: Sierra Foster
Sierra Foster
Born in Kansas City, Sierra Foster writes about politics and serves as Senior Editor at kbsd6.com. She was raised paying attention to this city, not just living in it. Sierra has a strong, deep connection to Kansas City, from the neighborhoods east of Troost to the discussions that take place in the city hall halls. Sierra, who is presently enrolled at the University of Kansas to pursue a degree in Political Science, applies the rigor of academic study to her journalism. She writes about politics in Missouri and Kansas as someone who genuinely cares about what happens to the people in these communities—the policies that impact them, the leaders who represent them, and the civic forces influencing their futures—rather than as an outsider watching from a distance. Her editorial coverage encompasses state-level policy, local government, and the national political currents that permeate bi-state regional life. Whether it's a city council vote or a Senate race, she has a special gift for turning complex policy language into writing that feels urgent, relatable, and worthwhile. Sierra seldom sits still off the page. She claims that playing soccer on a regular basis has sharpened her instincts for political reporting because of the sport's teamwork, strategy, and requirement to read a changing game in real time. She's probably somewhere in Kansas City with her friends when she's not writing or on the pitch, discovering new reasons to adore a city she already knows so well.
Telling a sitting president that he is mistaken comes with a certain kind of pressure. in public. repeatedly. on television in real time. Throughout the summer of 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci found himself in the midst of one of the most bizarre medical disputes in contemporary American history—a struggle not only over a medication but also over who gets to define reality in an emergency. The medication in question was hydroxychloroquine, also referred to as cloroquina in Spanish-speaking communities. It is an antimalarial drug that has been safely used for decades to treat ailments like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. By…
The events involving celebrity blogger Perez Hilton on Tuesday night are extremely unsettling, not only because of what transpired but also because of the manner in which it occurred. live-streamed on TikTok in front of a viewership. For several hours, the platform that built its empire on 15-second bursts of happiness, dancing, and distraction served as the setting for something far more somber. Following a flurry of calls from people who had seen the TikTok livestream and recognized what they were watching, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s deputies arrived at Hilton’s residence. For a brief moment, that particular detail sticks in your mind:…
Three FBI agents abruptly left the agency. Beyond a termination letter that questioned their careers, there was no formal procedure, no hearing, and no real explanation. This is the story behind a federal lawsuit that has quietly gained more traction in recent weeks than many observers anticipated. Blaire Toleman, Jamie Garman, and Michelle Ball investigated President Donald Trump’s attempts to contest the results of the 2020 election. All three were dismissed when FBI Director Kash Patel started his extensive personnel reorganization following Trump’s return to the White House. According to their March lawsuit, what happened to them was a “retribution…
Courts are able to cut through the clutter. That is precisely what a federal appeals court did on Tuesday when it decided that the Environmental Protection Agency lacked the authority to revoke $20 billion in climate grants that the Biden administration had given to a number of nonprofits prior to its departure. The entire U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rendered the ruling. The judges were divided, so the decision wasn’t unanimous, but the majority was adamant that the EPA had acted improperly when it attempted to reclaim funds that had already been given to organizations…
These activities follow a specific rhythm. A business grows. larger than anyone had anticipated. Millions of users and transactions are involved when it begins making decisions at scale, and somewhere in the fine print, something goes wrong. or intentionally excluded. Years go by. Attorneys take notice. Eventually, a settlement sneaks into people’s inboxes, where it’s easy to overlook among promotional and spam emails. That is essentially the tale of the Google YouTube lawsuit settlement that has been navigating the California legal system for a number of years. The lawsuit, which was first filed in Santa Clara County in 2020, accused…
Some athletes win everything at a young age before fading. Then there are athletes who perform flawlessly, subtly work toward something genuine, and give you hope that the best is still to come. It seemed like the second kind to Natasha Ward. Just a few months prior, she had won bronze at the UniSport Nationals over 800 meters. She was 21 years old, competing in the 400, 800, and 1500 meters while attending Macquarie University in Sydney to study exercise and sports science. She was headed in that direction. Then, NSW Athletics announced her passing on July 30. The reason…
Some political stories are written only after they’ve already ended. Perhaps the story of Abdul El-Sayed is one of those. The 41-year-old doctor and epidemiologist ran a Democratic Senate primary in Michigan for several months while the party’s establishment subtly, and occasionally not so subtly, supported Representative Haley Stevens. Stevens was inundated with cash. Her column was filled with endorsements. Nevertheless, El-Sayed had the advantage when the votes were counted on the evening of August 4th, ultimately winning by about two percentage points. It’s difficult to ignore the significance of that margin. It wasn’t a landslide. It wasn’t an anomaly,…
When Abdul El-Sayed eventually spoke to his supporters at Detroit’s Majestic Theater early on Wednesday morning, hundreds of them had been waiting for hours, fidgeting and glancing at their phones. There was still no official call for the race. El-Sayed, however, spoke with the cool assurance of a man who knew the math was on his side. He was ultimately predicted by NBC News to win, making him the Democratic nominee for the vacant Senate seat in Michigan, which Gary Peters is leaving after deciding not to run for a third term. Even though the Michigan Senate primary results were…
The internet in the early 2000s, with its dial-up connections, crowded homepages, and a few people who really thought blogging could make a difference, seems almost nostalgic. One of them was Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. He was born in Miami to Cuban parents and grew up in Little Havana. He went to an all-boys Catholic prep school and then to NYU to study acting, but his career never quite took off. The next part is what no one saw coming. He wrote a blog. He said himself that he did it because it looked easy. Part of what makes the…