Latest Stories By Samantha Putterman

Soon after news broke that classified documents had been found in an office belonging to President Joe Biden at a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, former President Donald Trump and his allies compared it with the classified files seized at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.  “When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of […]

Hours after 19 children and two teachers were shot dead at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Arkansas gubernatorial candidate Sarah Huckabee Sanders gave a primary victory speech and vowed to make sure kids will be as safe in the womb as they are in a classroom. The comment was made on May 24, but […]

As the nationwide baby formula shortage continues, Abbott Laboratories, one of the largest manufacturers of formula in the country, announced it reached an agreement with U.S. health regulators to resume operations at its largest domestic factory in Sturgis, Michigan. While this is welcome news for parents and caregivers scrambling to find food for their babies, […]

When Texas enacted a ban on abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy, an international women’s health advocacy nonprofit organization saw a 1,100% increase in orders for so-called abortion pills. The two-drug combination enables women to terminate their pregnancies within the first 10 weeks. Though the spike in demand has since leveled off at […]

Russia has blocked or restricted access to social media platforms within Russia, made it illegal to use the words “war” or “invasion,” and signed into law jail penalties for anyone who broadcasts or publishes information about the invasion that the Russian government deems to be false. But fact-checkers have also found cases in which Ukraine’s […]

In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released developmental milestone checklists for infants and young children to help parents track their child’s development and intervene if it seemed a child was delayed.  The benchmarks, part of the CDC’s “Learn the Signs. Act Early” developmental monitoring program, remained unaltered for decades. But that changed […]

As news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spread across the world, misinformation quickly followed. Social media feeds are filled with distressing images, videos and stories with descriptions that convey they are scenes from the ongoing crisis. And while legitimate coverage of the operation has shown troubling scenes of destruction and turmoil, many of the images […]

As the omicron variant of COVID-19 loosens its grip on the United States, public health officials and lawmakers are deliberating which rules and restrictions to ease. But ever-evolving pandemic public health guidance and recent efforts by states to lift restrictions have given rise to social media claims that contend something nefarious is afoot. Scientists and […]

After he finished “Lose Yourself” on the Super Bowl halftime show stage, rapper Eminem bowed his head and dropped to his knee as Dr. Dre seated himself at a piano and performed some of Tupac’s “I Ain’t Mad at Cha.” It was one of several moves that had people talking about the hip-hop show well […]

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government rolled out a loan relief program to help small businesses impacted by the crisis. Businesses have been able to use these Paycheck Protection Program loans to maintain payroll, hire back employees who may have been laid off, and cover applicable overhead expenses.  More than 11.4 […]

Fox News and other outlets are touting a new study that looked at how early COVID-19 lockdowns impacted mortality of the disease. The stories come with bombshell headlines that say research conducted by Johns Hopkins University found that lockdowns barely reduced deaths. “Johns Hopkins Study: Lockdowns Had ‘Little To No Effect On COVID-19 Mortality’ But […]

Roughly 23 million children in the U.S. can’t get a vaccine against COVID-19 — but that may soon change. Pfizer and BioNTech have requested an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for a two-shot, low-dose regimen for children 6 months to 5 years old. It would be the first COVID-19 vaccine available […]