Young Mom Seeks Living Kidney & Liver Donors to Save Her Life – Will You Help?

York, Pa. — Kierstin Foltz, 29, has battled a rare genetic kidney disease since birth and liver complications diagnosed at age 11. A brain bleed and multiple surgeries in 2021 worsened her condition, and she now requires both a kidney and a liver transplant to survive.

Motivated by her 4-year-old son, Axel, Foltz is calling on the public to consider living donation—a process in which a donor can give part of a regenerating liver or a healthy kidney. Her appeal highlights a national registry of over 100,000 transplant candidates, among whom roughly 5,000 die each year awaiting organs.

Bay Area public health leaders from twelve counties and the city of Berkeley are teaming up ahead of the new school year to remind parents that keeping routine immunizations current is crucial for safe, healthy learning. California law requires students to receive key vaccines—against measles, whooping cough (pertussis) and polio—before attending school, daycare or pre-K programs.

• Families should verify records via their provider or California's Digital Vaccine Record portal.
• Local health departments offer free or low-cost shots and "well-child" visits. VAERS resources are available for vaccine-safety concerns.

Madison, Wis. — After nearly two decades of running a Waunakee child care center, provider Heather Murray joined a wave of advocates pressing lawmakers to bolster Wisconsin's child care system. For the first time, the new state budget allocates $110 million in direct payments to providers, supplementing Governor Evers' earlier federal relief but falling short of his $330 million request.

Despite this historic investment, the package also loosens regulations—allowing one staffer to care for seven toddlers and 16-year-old assistants—that Murray and others warn could undermine quality and safety. Providers say they will continue lobbying for more robust, durable support ahead of the next budget cycle.

A 10-week Reciprocal Imitation Training (RIT) program significantly enhanced social functioning in preschoolers with autism, according to a new randomized controlled trial. Twenty-seven children, ages 27–47 months, were assigned to receive either three hours per week of RIT or community-based services.

• Treatment group (n=14) showed greater gains in joint attention at post-treatment (p < .05) and at 2–3-month follow-up (p < .05) compared with controls.


• Social-emotional scores on the Bayley scales rose significantly more for RIT participants at follow-up (time×group interaction, p=.02).

These findings support low-intensity imitation training as an effective approach to address core social deficits in autism.