People Who Live in Hawaii and Alaska Feel Most Well-Being

People Who Live in Hawaii and Alaska Feel Most Well-Being

A new report ranks the 50 U.S. states by their residents’ sense of well-being. That is the state of being happy, healthy, or successful. Hawaii did the best in the rankings. It was the fifth year Hawaii has held the top spot since the annual report began in 2008.

Alaska was ranked first in 2014, but it slipped to second place for 2015. Montana, Colorado, and Wyoming were the other states in the top five.

The worst-ranked states for 2015 were Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and West Virginia.

Each year, researchers from the Gallup and Healthways companies call Americans on the phone. They ask each person a series of questions. From the answers, they create the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.

During 2015, more than 177,000 adults across all 50 states answered the survey questions.

6. The researchers asked questions about five important aspects of well-being:

· Purpose: liking what you do each day and wanting to reach your goals.

· Community: liking where you live, feeling safe, and having pride in your community.

· Financial: managing your economic life to lower stress and increase security.

· Financial: managing your economic life to lower stress and increase security.

· Physical: having good health and enough energy to get things done daily.

Danny Quan owns and drives a taxi in Hawaii. He likes living there.

Even if you wake up kind of sad or unhappy, you can just come down to the beach. Or just enjoy the mountains, go hiking, or something,” he said.

Chad Garner moved to Anchorage, Alaska, eight years ago. He loves the outdoor activities there – fishing, cross-country skiing, running, biking.

10. “I didn’t come here for a job or anything like that,” he said. “I just wanted to be here.”

Alexis Will lives in Fairbanks, Alaska. She said exercise is important Alaskans.

It seems like people here aren’t as timid about going out no matter what the weather. I think that really brings a good sense of self and place to people,” she said. “You get to see the subtle changes throughout the year, and find the beauty even if it’s raining sideways” or extremely cold.

Kent Terada is a medical worker in Honolulu. He works three 12-hour shifts each week. He goes to the beach every Monday and Tuesday to surf for a few hours. Then a grabs a bite to eat. He sits under a tree and plays his ukulele.

It’s a pretty good life, I must say,” Terada said. “Am I supposed to having this much fun? I’m not sure.

News For You, March 23, 2016

Good News for Monarchs: Mexico Counts More Butterflies

Our natural world often seems in danger. Clean air and water can be hard o find. Forests are being cut down. The climate is changing.

But here is some good news. Monarch butterflies are making a comeback.

The colorful insects make their winter home in Mexico. This season, there were more than three times as many of them as last year.

Monarch butterflies migrate. That means hey fly south for the winter. Then they fly north when it gets warmer.

They move from Canada across the U.S. to Mexico. It is a 3,400-mile trip each way.

But the number of them had gone down for many years. Experts blame chemicals used on crops. They kill weeds and bugs that hurt crops. But they also kill the food butterflies need.

They also blame the loss of open land in the U.S. where the food could grow. That food is called milkweed. Butterflies eat it and lay their eggs on it.

Groups in the U.S. have been working to replace milkweed. They have planted more of it. They have also taken away chemicals on some land.

They replaced 250,000 acres of milkweed in the first year of the effort. It seems to be helping.

In 2013, monarchs covered a record low of 1.66 acres in their winter home. That went up to 2.8. aces in 2014. And this season, butterflies covered 10 acres.

Mexico is also part of the effort to bring the butterflies back.

The insects spend the winter in the mountains west of Mexico City. They live in the pine and fir forests. They form huge clumps on the trees.

It is not legal to cut down trees there. Open places with few trees are colder. That could kill the butterflies. But illegal cutting has been a problem. More than 22 acres were lost this season. Mexico is arresting more people who are doing it.

News For You, March 16, 2016

Thanks to a new open-carry gun law, they must make a choice. Do they allow openly carried guns in their businesses, or do they ban the weapons? Many wish they didn’t have to enter the gun debate at all.

Even gun supporters are split on the issue. Some dislike the new law. They think it could lead businesses to ban concealed guns, too. Other gun supporters are happy with the freedom the new law allows.

19. “Just the other day when I was eating lunch, it was…warm inside and I wanted to be able to take off my jacket,” said C. J. Grisham. He runs a group that pushes for open-carry rights. “Now I can take my jacket off.”

News For You, March 16, 2016

Explorer Back on Earth

Th Russians have spent longer stretches of ime in space. But Kelly broke the record for NASA. That is America’s space agency. The old record was 215 days. Kelly did not make his journey just to set a record. He did it to prepare future astronauts for trips to Mars.

NASA found one big change in Kelly’s body: He was 2 inches taller. That is because there was no gravity in space to press his spine down. Now that he’s back on Earth, Kelly has gone back to his shorter height.

He kept himself busy in space. He did 400 experiments with Kornienko. He grew lettuce on board the ISS. Explorers to Mars will most likely have to grow some of their own food. He even grew yellow and orange flowers called zinnias.

18. He also took hundreds of photos of Earth. His followers on Twitter and Instagram saw amazing images during his trip of 144 million miles. They saw sunrises and sunsets. They saw storms travel across the planet. They saw night lights in cities around globe. They also saw a few Kelly “selfies.”

19. “The journey isn’t over,” Kelly wrote in his last tweet from space. “Follow me as I rediscover Earth!”

News For You, March 16, 2016

People Who Live in Hawaii and Alaska Feel Most Well-Being

A new report ranks the 50 U.S. states by their residents’ sense of well-being. That is the state of being happy, healthy, or successful. Hawaii did the best in the rankings. It was the fifth year Hawaii has held the top spot since the annual report began in 2008.

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