1 in 3 older adults feel lonely. Here's how pickleball may be helping

(The Center Square) – Chicago could soon be one of the largest cities in the U.S. to halt the development of new data centers large tech companies continue to invest heavily into the infrastructure backing artificial intelligence.

As politicians and candidates from both parties have taken aim at data centers for their large footprint on the power grid and environmental impacts, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order Tuesday aimed at data centers within the city’s limits. 

The order Johnson directs city agencies to act on regulating current data centers in the city and established a new task force to create and update rules in the city’s code related to such regulations.

“This order directs the Department of Environment to strengthen and modernize the conditions required to obtain an air pollution control permit and to issue new rules and do it within 90 days,” Johnson said.

While Johnson doesn’t have the authority to outright block the development of new data centers, he also called on the City Council to pass a moratorium on them when they return to regular meetings next month.

“I'm going to continue to partner with city council to ensure that those concerns that community members have are addressed and that's why the city council's authority to place a moratorium on data center development and advancement,” Johnson said.

The order comes just months after the Illinois General Assembly weighed legislation called the Protecting Our Water, Energy, and Ratepayers, or POWER, Act, but didn’t advance it before the end of their spring session.

Johnson said he wants state lawmakers to act on it when they return to Springfield in November.

“I'm calling on Springfield to pass the power act because working families should never be forced to pay higher utility bills to subsidize the massive energy demands of data centers,” Johnson said.

The POWER Act will likely be a top priority for lawmakers during their fall veto session, especially as Gov. J.B. Pritzker has pushed the legislature heavily to pass the law.

Reports widely suggest that as more new data centers come online, electric grids across the country face strain from the hundreds of gigawatts pulled by the facilities.

“We have something called the POWER Act that's being negotiated. And it did not pass in this last session of the legislature. It probably has a little more negotiation that needs to get done, but it very much can pass in the next session,” Pritzker said at a climate summit last month.

The statewide act would expand the required permits to build new centers, the reporting of energy consumption, payments into community funds, and plans to save water while bringing new capacity to the grid.

Denver, Minneapolis and Seattle all passed this year some type of halt to new data centers construction in their cities.

(The Center Square) – U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has effectively ended a Biden-era mass parole program after it dismissed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. 

The ruling is seen as a major victory for the Trump administration and for dozens of states that sued to stop parole programs created by the Biden administration that federal judges ruled were illegal but the programs continued.

Under the second Trump administration, Biden-era parole programs were terminated and expedited removal of those released into the country illegally began.

In order to stop this, several immigration groups sued led by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. Their lawsuit alleges a Department of Homeland Security memo and email violated the Administrative Procedure Act and Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause.

The groups won their first round in court after a district court granted a partial stay “to the extent the Challenged Actions subject to expedited removal individuals who have been, at any time, paroled into the United States at a point of entry.” 

The appellate court reversed this ruling, arguing “the district court lacked jurisdiction. Therefore, we vacate the district court’s stay.” 

It also clarified that “Although, we have jurisdiction over this appeal, the district court lacked jurisdiction.”

The appellate court also squashed the lawsuit altogether, ruling the plaintiffs don’t have legal standing to sue. 

In its 14-page ruling, it also tore apart the plaintiffs’ arguments, stating its counterarguments “failed.”

The requests they made for a stay were also faulty, the court said. “Even if the number of expedited removals increased because of the [memo and email], that does not mean getting rid of [either] will reverse that trend,” the court ruled. “The stay the plaintiffs requested would not affect the Government’s authority to continue subjecting the plaintiffs to expedited removal” under federal law.

The court also clarified in a note to its ruling that “Parole termination is ultimately irrelevant to our analysis here. The plaintiffs do not challenge the regulation rendering ex-parolees liable to expedited removal under the arriving in authority. So whether or not parole termination has taken place, and whether or not ex-parolees are subject to expedited removal under the designation authority, the organizational plaintiffs’ members would remain equally subject to expedited removal under the arriving in authority.”

At issue is the Trump administration’s expedited removal of millions of inadmissible foreign nationals who were released into the country through more than a dozen parole programs created by the Biden administration. The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security identified the parole programs as illegal when bringing impeachment charges against former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, The Center Square reported. 

Dozens of states sued, led by Texas and Florida, arguing the parole programs were illegal, The Center Square reported. A federal judge in Florida ruled more than once that the parole programs were illegal and expressed exasperation that they continued, The Center Square reported.

A successful appeal in this case is unlikely. 

“Plaintiffs cannot seek relief that changes nothing for them. The plaintiffs here tried to do just that. So we vacate the stay issued by the district court,” the court held.

The parole programs that were terminated led to millions of foreign nationals entering the U.S. They include one created for Central American Minors, a CHNV program for Cuban, Honduran, Nicaraguan and Venezuelans and a “Family Reunification Parole Process" for Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Hondurans and Columbians. 

The CHNV parole program ushered in more than three million people in three years deemed inadmissible under federal immigration law, The Center Square reported. They totaled more than the individual populations of 17 states.

Another 2.5 million Colombians, Salvadorans, Guatemalans and Hondurans were paroled through their own parole program, The Center Square reported. They totaled more than the individual populations of 15 states.

The Trump administration also terminated Biden era “Circumvention of Lawful Pathways" rule that altered the asylum process, a phone app created to expedite entry into the U.S. for inadmissible foreign nationals, among others, The Center Square reported.

Now those released into the country through the parole programs can be deported.

(The Center Square) – Medical watchdog Do No Harm’s latest report details how a network of various Colorado groups and institutions promote sex-rejecting procedures for children as well as market them using public funds.

Chief medical officer at Do No Harm Dr. Kurt Miceli told The Center Square: “A publicly funded network of Colorado organizations is pushing resources that promote youth gender ideology on vulnerable children. 

“Our report is a case study examining how the transgender industrial complex has pushed further and further into the lives of children, reaching even as far as school-based health centers in the state,” Miceli said. “Do No Harm urges Colorado leaders to prioritize evidence-based medicine and protect minors from a harmful ideology.

“Patients and families deserve medical care rooted in evidence, not ideology,” Miceli said.

Institutions connected to Colorado’s “publicly funded youth ‘gender-affirming care’...infrastructure” include I Matter, the University of Colorado School of Medicine, the University of Colorado School of Health, as well as the state’s School-Based Health Center network, according to Do No Harm’s report.

When contacted individually, none of these groups provided comment by publishing time. 

Do No Harm’s report – entitled “The Colorado ‘Gender Affirming’ Pipeline” – said the State of Colorado “spent $4.7 million on a marketing contract for I Matter,” which “included influencer campaigns targeting minors ages 13–17, with talking points emphasizing that youth 12 and older could access [gender-affirming] services without parental consent.” 

I Matter is “a state-funded therapy program primarily for youth 18 and under,” according to Do No Harm.

The report noted that the marketing contract “was funded at least in part with federal pandemic-recovery funds.”

In addition to I Matter, the University of Colorado appeared frequently in Do No Harm’s report. 

The report said the University of Colorado (CU) School of Medicine “hired faculty specifically to staff the TRUE Center…at Children’s Hospital Colorado and to research cross-sex hormonal therapy in a pediatric setting, with 75 percent of one researcher’s salary funded by a National Institutes of Health career-development award.” 

The TRUE Center is “a pediatric gender clinic,” Do No Harm said. 

The report also detailed how CU School of Medicine is “heavily influenced” by pro-gender affirming care political advocacy groups “resulting in a medical-school curriculum that singularly promotes and enables youth ‘transition.’”

The CU School of Public Health operated Colorado’s Queer Youth Network program that paid “‘queer’ youth ages 12–18 in rural Colorado $40 per session to participate in weekly virtual meetings.”

The report noted that “the employee who administered this program is personally on the TRUE Center’s patient/newsletter list.”

Both I Matter and Colorado’s Queer Youth Network program “share institutional distribution and recruitment channels through the state’s School-Based Health Center network, which has also distributed information on [gender affirming care]-related provider training materials,” Do No Harm’s report said.

School-Based Health Centers are “clinics operating out of public K–12 schools” according to Do No Harm.

Do No Harm obtained its findings by reviewing thousands of pages of documents obtained through the Colorado Open Records Act.

Do No Harm began researching Colorado’s "institutional support” of sex-rejecting procedures on children after “observing the rapid march of Colorado’s pro-’gender-affirming care’ policies in recent years.” 

For instance, in 2023 Colorado designated “gender-affirming care” as an “essential health benefit,” meaning private insurers must cover “sex-rejecting procedures,” according to Do No Harm’s report.  

Additionally, last year Colorado passed the Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals, which has a section that “includes ‘chosen name and how the individual chooses to be expressed’ as forms of gender expression for purposes of the ‘Colorado Anti-discrimination Act.’”

Neither the TRUE Center nor the School-Based Health Centers responded to The Center Square’s individual requests for comment.

(The Center Square) – U.S. House Democrats will be holding their second field hearing next week to address fatal shootings committed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-ME, has organized the hearing, “Seeking Justice in Biddeford” to conduct oversight of ICE’s use of force after the July 13 ICE fatal shooting of Colombian national Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, in Biddeford, Maine.

The hearing will be held at 11 a.m. Aug. 17 at Biddeford High School’s Little Theater.

It’s the second congressional field hearing in less than a month after members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, all Democrats, held a hearing in Houston, Texas. The hearing addressed the July 7 ICE fatal shooting of Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston. Less than a week later, another ICE agent shot and killed Guerrero in Biddeford.

In both cases, the men weren’t persons of interest that ICE agents were looking for during targeted enforcement operations, officials said. In both cases, the Department of Homeland Security said in separate statements that both men drove their vehicles toward ICE agents who fired in self-defense, killing them.

In both cases, witnesses and family members dispute the claims made by DHS and ICE, arguing the men didn’t “weaponize” their vehicles and were unarmed. Multiple investigations are ongoing into both shootings. Maine’s bipartisan delegation called for the DHS Inspector General to conduct a comprehensive, transparent and expedited investigation. A state AG investigation is also underway.

At the Houston hearing, Hispanic Caucus Chair U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-NY, said eight people, including two U.S. citizens, have been killed by ICE agents so far during the second Trump administration, The Center Square reported. 

Next week, scheduled speakers include Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain, Guerrero family legal representative Ben Gideon, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project executive director Sue Roche and Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition executive director Mufalo Chitam.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., ranking member of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security will co-lead the hearing as he did in Houston. Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and other Democratic members of Congress will also participate, according to an announcement from Pingree’s office. 

No Republican members have yet to announce their attendance. However, LaFountain said he hopes that Republican members of Congress will attend “because this is an issue that deserves serious attention and oversight from across the political spectrum,” Maine Morning Star reported. “Federal authority must come with federal accountability, and Congress has an important role to play in providing that oversight when the exercise of federal authority results in the death of a member of our community." 

On Tuesday, more than 150 people protested outside of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ Biddeford office, holding “ICE OUT!” signs. The protest was organized by Maine People's Alliance and Center for Popular Democracy, Maine Morning Star reported. 

Collins, running for reelection to her sixth term, has recently dropped in the polls. Her challenger, Democrat Troy Jackson, is ahead by 4 points, according to the polling. 

House Democrats began holding field hearings after assaults against ICE agents are up 1,300% since the Biden administration. Vehicular attacks against ICE agents are up 3,200%; death threats are up by 8,000%, The Center Square reported.

The hearings are also being held as U.S. citizens continue to raise concerns about ICE agent actions. 

In a video posted on social media on Tuesday, a recorded altercation with ICE agents in Virginia appears to show one ICE agent pointing a gun in the face of a U.S. citizen while she’s seated in her car. He and other agents are recorded shouting and swearing and threatening to “lock her up,” according to the video.

U.S. House Democrats posted the video to social media stating, “An ICE agent pointed a gun inches from a U.S. citizen’s face. This agency is dangerously out of control. If ICE is not held accountable, they will kill another innocent person.”

U.S. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-VA, said he’d been in contact with her and “she's a U.S. citizen and lives in my district.” 

“How many more videos like this will we need to see, with Americans having guns pulled on them by Trump's untrained ICE agents, before we get real accountability from ICE? I will be demanding answers and consequences,” he said.

(The Center Square) — Voters in Connecticut and Vermont went to the polls Tuesday to decide primary races that showcased Democrats’ struggle between moderates and its progressive left wing and demands for generational change in Congress.

In Connecticut's Democratic U.S. House primary, former Hartford Luke Bronin soundly defeated long-time incumbent 28-year veteran U.S. Rep. John Larson in a race that was framed around the need for younger representation in Congress. Larson, 78, was seeking a 15th term in the state's 1st Congressional District. 

The Associated Press called the race Tuesday night with Bronin ahead 53.5% to 34.7%, with an estimated 51% of votes counted. Larson conceded the race to Bronin at a primary night watch party. 

Bronin, who pulled off an upset by winning the Democratic Party's nomination in May, is among a crop of younger challengers taking on long-time incumbents this election cycle in a push for generational change. 

"Tonight, voters sent a message that if we are going to fix this mess we’re in, we need to build a Democratic Party that’s bringing a whole new energy to this fight,” Bronin said in remarks Tuesday night. “It’s time to be courageous, bold, and clear about who we’re fighting for and what we’re fighting for." 

Meanwhile, incumbent Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont easily defeated a primary challenge from liberal challenger Josh Elliott, according to preliminary results. 

Lamont, 72, was first elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022. He will face Republican state Sen. Ryan Fazio, 36, from Greenwich in the general election. 

In Vermont, Republican Gerald Malloy will face Democratic U.S. Rep. Becca Balint in the general election after beating Mark Coester in Tuesday's GOP primary for the state's only congressional district, which has been held by Democrats for more than two decades.

Malloy, a Weathersfield defense contractor, was ahead of Coester by nearly 4,000 votes or roughly 50%, according to unofficial results from the Vermont Secretary of State Tuesday night.

Balint, who faced no challengers from her party, easily won the Democratic primary for U.S. House on Tuesday, according to the AP's tally. She has been a vocal critic of President Trump's policies.

In Vermont's gubernatorial primary, progressive Amanda Janoo defeated Aly Richards to win the Democratic Party's nomination to take on Republican Gov. Phil Scott in the November elections.

Scott, a moderate who was first elected in 2016, is seeking a sixth term in office that would make him the longest-serving consecutive governor in Vermont history.

"Phil Scott is ready to build on his strong legacy in Vermont, growing the state’s economy, promoting fiscal responsibility and affordability, securing historic investments in housing and infrastructure, and investing in the next generation,” The Republican Governors Association said in a statement. “In his next term, Scott will continue his dedication to public service and all Vermonters.”

But progressive challengers lost to more moderate incumbents in several down ballot Vermont races on Tuesday, including contested races in the state's most populous county. 

Chittenden County Sheriff Dan Gamelin fended off a challenge from progressive contender Kevin Bloom, according to the AP's tally, while Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George bested Democratic challenger and former Franklin County State's Attorney Bram Kranichfeld an high profile race that was framed as a referendum around liberal policing policies and crime in Burlington. 

1 in 3 older adults feel lonely. Here's how pickleball may be helping

Pickleball has become America's fastest-growing sport, drawing millions of new players over the past few years, with a particularly devoted following among older adults. It’s also the subject of “The Dink,” the new Apple TV+ comedy about a sidelined tennis pro who trades his racquet for a paddle and finds himself taken in by a group of older players. Writer Sean Clements said the film grew out of his own experience getting "adopted by a whole crew of older women" at pickleball mixers.

That detail points to something bigger about the sport: Pickleball is as much about the people you meet on the court as the game itself. With about 1 in 3 adults ages 50 to 80 reporting loneliness, the connection it offers may be part of why it’s so good for well-being later in life.

LifeStance Health explains how a backyard game became a national obsession, and what the research says it may be doing for mental health.

How pickleball became America's fastest-growing sport

Pickleball was invented in 1965 by two neighbors on Bainbridge Island, Washington, using random sports equipment to entertain their children. While the children eventually moved on, the adults kept playing. For decades, it remained an under-the-radar favorite, passed along by friends, neighbors and word of mouth.

When the pandemic hit, many people went looking for something they could do outdoors, and pickleball found its moment. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), participation grew from 4.2 million players in 2020 to more than 24 million in 2025, making it the fastest-growing sport in the country for five years running.

But perhaps pickleball stuck because of what came with it: a standing game, a rotating cast of partners and easy conversation between points. What looks like a game may actually be community.

5 ways pickleball supports well-being later in life

Most people take up pickleball for the exercise, but a growing body of research suggests its biggest payoff may be mental, and the benefits may be strongest later in life.

1. It helps fight loneliness.

In a 2025 national survey of 825 U.S. adults over the age of 50, published in the Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, those who had never played pickleball were about 1.5 times as likely as current players to report feeling lonely. Pickleball players, both current and former, also reported more social connections than those who never played. Part of it may be the court itself: At roughly 30% the size of a tennis court, it keeps players close enough to talk and laugh throughout a match.

2. The more you play, the better you tend to feel.

A 2025 study of 1,667 players in Frontiers in Psychology found a dose-response relationship between pickleball and mental well-being. Those who played three or more times a week, and for longer sessions, reported higher well-being scores. The effect was strongest among older adults, particularly those ages 63 to 77. A 2023 systematic review came to similar conclusions, associating pickleball with improvements in life satisfaction along with lower stress and symptoms of depression.

3. It keeps the mind engaged.

Pickleball asks a lot of the brain at once: tracking the ball, reading opponents and adjusting shots quickly. Researchers call this kind of dynamic and reactive play open skill exercise, and a growing body of evidence suggests it may benefit the brain more than closed skill activities like running or swimming. While this research spans racquet sports broadly rather than pickleball specifically, it points to why a fast, strategic game may do more for the mind than a repetitive one.

4. It can pull you into the moment.

A 2026 study in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity found that adults 60 and older who played recreational doubles pickleball reported stronger flow states, or feelings of total concentration and losing track of time, than other activities. Pickleball may offer a welcome mental break from the day's worries.

5. It offers routine and a sense of purpose.

Beyond the numbers, a 2025 qualitative study in the Journal of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing found that older pickleball players described the sport as a source of autonomy, purpose and belonging, with many prioritizing community and connection over competition. A standing game gives the week a rhythm and something to look forward to, weaving movement and connection into everyday life rather than leaving them to chance. That kind of built-in structure can matter most in retirement, when the routines and relationships of work tend to fall away.

Pickleball isn't a cure-all or a replacement for mental healthcare, but perhaps the game itself was never really the point. What seems to keep people coming back is each other, and that connection is worth showing up for.

This story was published by LifeStance Health and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

(The Center Square) —Illinois state officials awarded more than $170,000 in taxpayer money to a nonprofit that paid for PTSD injections by the founder's private business because the founder claimed it helps many patients. But an investigation by The Center Square found the treatment claims are not supported by clinical trials.

Meanwhile, the nonprofit's executive director collects two $100,000 salaries for separate but similar full-time nonprofit jobs, where she has raised millions of dollars in government grants, state and federal records show.

The nonprofit, Erase PTSD Now, touts a little-understood treatment for post traumatic stress disorder that involves deep injections into military veterans' necks. The procedure is still being studied — including at federal Veterans Affairs clinics — and has been shown to partially alleviate PTSD symptoms in some people.

But the state grant money was awarded, at least in part, because the nonprofit claimed nearly half of patients "achieved full remission," according to its grant application. That claim of recovery is not backed by the results of clinical trials.

The application also did not mention that all of the money would go to a clinic that is owned by the nonprofit's founder, Dr. Eugene Lipov.

Federal rules say a nonprofit cannot be "operated for the benefit of private interests, such as the creator ... of the organization," according to the Internal Revenue Service. Erase PTSD Now has paid more than $2 million in recent years to businesses Lipov owns as its revenue from private sources and public tax dollars has increased, IRS records show.

"Dr. Lipov does not receive charitable grant funds personally," Coleen LaCosta, the nonprofit's executive director, told The Center Square. "To the extent treatment is provided by a medical entity in which he has an ownership interest, that entity is compensated for the medical services provided, just as any treating provider would be."

But most of the money Erase PTSD Now paid for treatments went to clinics associated with Lipov, in the United States and in Israel, IRS filings show.

Lipov declined to comment for this article and deferred questions to LaCosta. He has been a licensed physician in Illinois for more than 40 years and has not been disciplined by the state, according to state records.

Jeanne Ives, a former Illinois state representative and Republican gubernatorial candidate, said the grant awards show that the state needs better oversight of hundreds of millions of dollars it gives each year to nonprofits.

"Erase PTSD Now is just the type of nonprofit to capture a politician for funding," Ives told The Center Square. "It's run by a credentialed expert for a protected class, veterans, for a harm they suffered. I'm veteran, and if Erase PTSD Now had the solution for erasing PTSD then the veterans administration would be funding it directly."

Several employees of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, which gave Erase PTSD Now the grant money, either declined to comment or did not respond to requests to comment for this article.

Lipov is a leading advocate of the procedure — called stellate ganglion block — to treat PTSD sufferers. It involves injecting an anesthetic into a cluster of nerves at the base of the neck, with the guidance of ultrasound imaging.

Erase PTSD Now's grant application said the treatments would be performed at a discounted rate of $950 apiece, with each person receiving two treatments.

It's unclear exactly how much money the group has given to Lipov-affiliated clinics over the years.

Ives said the country has an unaccountable "welfare system" for nonprofits that should be changed.

"If people want to start a nonprofit and provide a service, then they should raise the money privately," she told The Center Square. "And if they take any government money, then their books should be opened up and they should be subject to (open records) laws."

'The God shot'

The treatment is approved by the federal government for certain chronic pain, and its use for that purpose dates back about a century. In recent decades it has been used without federal approval to treat PTSD, and medical insurance does not typically cover it.

Lipov and others claim that the procedure is akin to rebooting a computer. It numbs nerves that are associated with people's fight-or-flight response to "reset" them.

Some PTSD sufferers have reported remarkable recoveries after the procedure, while others have said it had little or no effect.

But Lipov, a pain doctor who has a dim view of traditional psychiatry, promotes it as "The God Shot," the title of a book he published this year that tells how he learned to use it for those who suffer from PTSD and hot flashes.

In the book, he describes delivering an ultimatum to one of his nurses who had hot flashes that he said made her increasingly difficult to work with: Be fired or take the shot. She took the shot, according to his telling.

Lipov wrote that the result was "nothing short of phenomenal. The transformation wasn't subtle or gradual — it was as if someone had flipped a switch."

"She spoke softly, listened patiently, and — most shocking of all — smiled," he wrote. "She actually smiled!"

Lipov has also injected at least one dog, according to a video he published on YouTube. The dog had been traumatized by a vehicle crash.

Several years ago he also assisted a former business partner in New York — whom he now claims has committed fraud — by injecting several people in long-term comas, hoping the unspecified treatment might awaken them. The injections didn't work, according to Lipov's sworn deposition in an ongoing federal lawsuit that the former business filed against him.

The lawsuit claims Lipov improperly reneged on a business agreement. Lipov alleges in court records that the former partner stole an investor's money. 

In the lawsuit deposition, which happened in October, Lipov testified that he had hired eight public relations firms in the past two decades to promote the injections for PTSD.

Payments to Lipov businesses

Lipov founded the organization currently known as Erase PTSD Now nearly 20 years ago, IRS records show. Until recent years it had annual revenues of less than $50,000.

Initially the nonprofit was called Chicago Medical Innovations. Lipov was listed as its principal officer, based in Illinois.

The organization changed names in 2015 to Global Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Foundation. A different person in North Carolina was listed as the principal officer, according to IRS records. In 2019 it became Erase PTSD Now, with a New York address.

In 2021, IRS records show it changed to a Chicago address and received a massive influx of cash. That was the first year LaCosta was listed as executive director, but the records do not say how much she was paid. Private contributions to the nonprofit soared to about $3 million that year, up from about $45,000 the previous year.

That was also the first year Erase PTSD Now reported it paid Lipov Medical Center for medical services — about $65,000. Its report to the federal government disclosed that Lipov was the sole owner of the medical center — better known as Stella Mental Health — and that he founded the nonprofit.

Its payments to Lipov's businesses increases substantially thereafter. In 2022, the total was more than $680,000.

In each of the past three years, the payments have totaled about $500,000, IRS records show. And they have been identical for each of those years: $478,175 to Lipov Medical Center and $205,250 to Eugene Lipov MD SC.

LaCosta said those figures were errors that would be corrected in future filings, and that they overstated what was paid to the businesses. She did not disclose the updated figures nor what the money was for.

Lipov is now listed as the nonprofit's medical director. Altogether, the nonprofit's IRS reported payments to his businesses were $2.25 million, which exceeds the total the nonprofit said it had spent on "treatment and recovery" in the past five years, according to its recent annual report.

The nonprofit has also sent more than a million dollars overseas in recent years to an Israeli clinic that is affiliated with Lipov. 

The nonprofit started getting government grant money in 2024, according to its filings. In that year and in 2025, the total was about $76,000.

That reported figure is lower than what Illinois had awarded the nonprofit through its Veterans Cash grant program, which is funded by lottery proceeds. State records show the state Department of Veterans Affairs awarded the nonprofit $99,000 in 2023 and $74,100 this year.

LaCosta said the nonprofit "did not fully utilize" the first grant.

Last year, Erase PTSD Now changed its address again to a city in Palm Beach County Florida, where LaCosta lives. There she is also executive director of Speak Up For Kids of Palm Beach County, which often gets more than $1 million of government grants annually. The organization helps foster children.

She said she is able to work the two full-time jobs because she has a supportive staff. LaCosta was hired by Speak Up For Kids first, in 2018, federal records show.

True believers

LaCosta said she later got involved with Erase PTSD Now after a friend underwent the injection procedure and benefitted from it. LaCosta said she had cultivated the other nonprofit, "taking it from grassroots to a more formalized foundation and structure," and was hired to do the same for the PTSD group.

She underwent the procedure herself — despite not having a PTSD diagnosis — after she scored "kind of high" on a questionnaire that is used to gauge PTSD symptoms. She said it had a calming effect and "actually cleared up my allergies too, though, for like a year."

Paul Blavin, one of a handful of unpaid board members for Erase PTSD Now, said he, his wife and his two children have had the procedure — also despite not being formally diagnosed with PTSD — and have experienced similar calming effects.

He told The Center Square it is "very similar to resetting your computer by pressing alt, control, delete, and you have a complete reset of the operating system."

Lipov described the effects similarly in a recently recorded talk in Mexico he gave as part of the TEDx series, an offshoot of TED Talks, in which organizers invite experts to ruminate about interesting topics.

Lipov mentioned the dog he had treated and said he had cured the animal of its "Xanax habit." He said a human PTSD sufferer who underwent the procedure was able to conceive a child the day after the treatment, after unsuccessfully trying for 20 years.

And he said the reason his work is not more popular is because many people with PTSD are so stigmatized they refuse to seek treatment. Thus, he has pushed the American Psychological Association to rename the condition PTSI, swapping "injury" for "disorder," arguing that a simple name change would alleviate the hesitancy.

TED, the parent organization that oversees the events, "flagged this talk because it falls outside the content guidelines TED gives TEDx organizers."

TED did not specify which guidelines it might have overstepped, but the organization typically does not permit commercial agendas and "bad science."

(The Center Square) – Consumer prices rose 0.1% in July after falling in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday, with the annual inflation rate easing to 3.4%.

The index for shelter rose 0.1% and accounted for about two-thirds of the monthly increase, the bureau said. The energy index fell 1.5% as the gasoline index dropped 2.9%, while food edged up 0.1%.

Grocery prices fell 0.1% over the month even as the food index rose overall. The meats, poultry, fish and eggs index dropped 0.7% as pork fell 1.5%, and fruits and vegetables slipped 0.1% as lettuce prices tumbled 16.4%. Over the year, eggs fell 25.7% while ground beef rose 9% and coffee climbed 10.3%.

Restaurant prices rose 0.3% over the month and 3.4% over the year. Prices for full-service meals were up 3.4% annually and limited-service meals 3.3%.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the core index rose 0.2% in July after holding flat in June. Over the past 12 months, core inflation eased to 2.5% from 2.6%.

Over the year, the energy index climbed 14.7%. Airline fares rose 25.5%, shelter increased 3.2% and food was up 3%.

Gasoline prices fell in July but remain 24.6% higher than a year earlier, a category that has swung sharply month to month.

The July increase followed the first monthly decline of the year and left the annual rate at its lowest since March. Prices had climbed 0.9% in March and 0.6% in April before cooling over the summer.

The bureau is scheduled to release the August index on Sept. 11.

(The Center Square) – David Crowley went from dropping out of the Wisconsin governor’s race to being the Democratic nominee.

The Milwaukee County Executive holds a more than 3,000-vote lead with 98% of votes reporting and is the projected winner in a close race against state Rep. Francesca Hong to take on Republican Tom Tiffany in the Nov. 3 general election.

“From day one, this campaign has been about what comes next for Wisconsin: making life more affordable, strengthening our schools, creating good-paying jobs, and making sure opportunity reaches every corner of our state,” Crowley campaign manager Darren Randolph said in a statement.

Crowley becomes the projected winner after absentee votes from Milwaukee County’s Central Count were added to the totals just before 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

Hong was a distinct leader in polls heading into the race as Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes dropped out late but remained on ballots.

“The fight continues no matter what,” Hong said before ending her watch party before the Milwaukee County Central Count numbers arrived.

Republican Tom Tiffany was declared the winner of his primary for Wisconsin governor in the minutes after polls closed.

Tiffany held 95.3% of the early votes while opponent Andy Manske had 4.6%.

"I want to thank Wisconsinites across our state for putting their trust in me,” Tiffany said in a statement. “This fight is bigger than any one party. It’s bigger than any one candidate. This fight is about Wisconsin and protecting the state we know and love. It’s about lowering property taxes, returning the surplus to you, getting utility costs under control, and letting hardworking Wisconsinites keep more of what they earn. Let’s move Wisconsin forward, together."

(The Center Square) – Voters across Minnesota cast ballots Tuesday night to pick party nominees in key U.S. House of Representatives races.

In the race for the state’s 5th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar was leading in the Democratic primary with 76.3% of the vote, with 3% counted. As of 9:45 p.m. central time it was still too early to call, though.

Matt Little, a former member of the Minnesota Senate, led the Democratic field in the primary for Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District. He had 47.3% of the vote with 77% reported, as of 9:45 p.m.

Republicans hold a slight majority in the House, with a 218-212 split between the two parties. There are currently four vacancies in the chamber.

Here’s how four of Minnesota’s most competitive House primary races finished Tuesday night.

District 5

Omar was leading the pack in the Democratic primary Tuesday night as she seeks reelection for a fifth term. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the Minnesota seat as “solid Democrat.”

Omar is a leading figure in the progressive bloc of the Democratic Party. Her reelection campaign has centered on abolishing ICE, supporting immigrants’ rights, and implementing universal healthcare.

She is likely to run against Republican John Nagel in the Nov. 3 general election, who had 50.4% of the Republican primary vote as of 10:45 p.m.

District 2

Democratic Rep. Angie Craig is foregoing reelection to run for U.S. Senate, leaving an open field to replace her in the House.

Republicans are eyeing the seat as a possible upset. Cook Political Report rates the seat as “likely Democrat.”

A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, Matt Little will be the Democratic nominee for the state’s 2nd Congressional District. Little previously represented the Twin Cities in the Minnesota House for four years between 2017 and 2021.

Little will face Republican nominee Eric Pratt, who was uncontested in the Republican primary.

District 1

Incumbent Rep. Brad Finstad was called as the Republican nominee for Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District late Tuesday. He had 90.4% of the vote with 24% reported, as of 9:45 p.m.

He will face Democratic nominee Jake Johnson in November’s general election. Johnson was leading by 61 points with 22% of the vote reported.

District 6

Rep. Tom Emmer won the Republican nomination in Tuesday’s race as he seeks reelection for his seventh term in the House. He had 81.3% of the vote with 66% reported.

His opponent in November’s general election will be Doug Chapin, who was uncontested in the Democratic primary.