Castle Work News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

The Washington Post and AP report on a new University of Hawaii study on the effects of the Lahaina wildfire. Researchers found, among other things, that up to 74% of the 679 people surveyed had elevated blood pressure levels, meaning a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Other news from around the nation comes from California, Missouri, North Carolina, West Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, and more.

Three years after adopting the most liberal drug laws in the nation, a new Oregon bill would reintroduce criminal penalties for drug use, while also allowing officials some latitude in pushing for treatment or jail for offenders. Other regional public health news is reported from Maryland, California, Colorado, and Texas.

A new study compares bureaucratic problems that beset private-sector hospitals to the more efficiently run Veterans Health Administration system. Also in the news: A major Brooklyn teaching hospital will shut; a medical helicopter crash kills three crew members in Oklahoma; and more.

At least 72 people have died, state officials say, and the number is likely to climb. Other state health news is from Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Montana, Missouri, Florida, and elsewhere.

Easy access to guns is a problem in Texas, say gun safety and mental health advocates. CDC data show the number of Texans who took their life with a gun last year was at a level not seen since 1999. Other reports say rising suicide among older men is worrying: It's a group hard to reach with support.