MATT SEDENSKY National Writer, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - A woman uses a walker as she exits an assisted living building at the Toby and Leon Cooperman Sinai Residences, July 4, 2025, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

How to protect a loved one when choosing a nursing home or assisted living facility

February 8, 2026

The need to move a loved one into a nursing home or assisted living facility often comes suddenly — after a fall, a medical crisis or the loss of a caregiver. Experts say knowing what to look for can make a critical difference. Federal data and star ratings can help rule out the worst nursing homes, but they shouldn’t be the only guide. Experts on long-term care say staffing levels are the most important factor. They say visiting facilities at night or on weekends is key to getting a complete picture. They recommend looking beyond a nice lobby to see if there are odors, call bells ringing nonstop or employees speaking disrepecfully to residents.

FILE - Containers with Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, a Taiwanese container shipping company, are stacked up at the Port of Los Angeles with the the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge seen in the background on Wednesday, April 9, 2025 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

A look at the experts racing to decode Trump’s tariff rules

December 23, 2025

In a breathless year of tariffs unleashed by the administration of President Donald Trump, perhaps no one has had to live the reality of every fluctuation of trade policy than customs brokers. Each arrival of foreign products imported to the U.S. requires filings with the government, a bureaucratic hurdle that many importers turn to customs brokers for help. With a spate of new trade rules unleashed by the Trump administration, brokers have seen their demand grow alongside their workloads. They have had to race to keep up as duties have been imposed and taken away with little notice, and have struggled to interpret the unclear language in orders.

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs, April 2, 2025, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Truce fizzles as U.S.-China trade tensions return to full boil

October 11, 2025

Months of relative calm in the long-simmering trade war between the U.S. and China may be coming to an end. A spate of moves between the two nations this week has thrust trade hostilities back in the global spotlight, roiled stock markets and raised alarms of what might come next. China announced strict new limits on exports of rare earth minerals crucial to high-tech products. The U.S., in turn, has threatened an additional 100% tax on Chinese imports and export controls on American software. Both sides also hit one another’s ships with new port fees. Experts say it is unclear if it all means a rapid escalation is inevitable or if the threats could pave the way for an agreement.

In CBS role, Bari Weiss goes from critic of mainstream news to one of its gatekeepers

October 8, 2025

Bari Weiss has been unflinchingly critical of mainstream news outlets. Now, she’s set to run one. The 41-year-old founder of The Free Press site was named this week as CBS News’ editor-in-chief. That Weiss has risen to take the helm of the type of traditional news source she has so often maligned is as confounding to some as the fact that nearly all her experience is in expressing opinions and none of it is in TV news. Weiss calls herself a centrist, but most often rankles those on the left.

A woman uses a walker as she exits an assisted living building at the Toby and Leon Cooperman Sinai Residences, July 4, 2025, in Boca Raton, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Nursing homes struggle with Trump’s immigration crackdown

July 13, 2025

Nursing homes around the U.S. say they’re feeling the effects of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. As Trump has rescinded work authorizations for various groups of immigrants with Temporary Protected Status, long-term care employees have been pulled from their jobs. Meantime, facilities around the country say they’re seeing a narrowing of the pipeline of potential candidates. Some homes who had tapped refugees from Afghanistan, Ukraine and elsewhere are lamenting the pause of refugee arrivals. Others who sought out nurses in Nigeria and the Philippines say visa waits are dragging on so long that candidates are choosing other countries.

Andrei Kozlov, an artist who was taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, speaks with The Associated Press during an interview Monday, May 19, 2025, at his studio in New York.

Freed from Hamas captivity, former hostage tells his story through his paintings

May 28, 2025

Taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Andrei Kozlov is pouring his experience in captivity onto canvas in an exhibition of paintings. The 28-year-old Russian-born Kozlov was rescued by Israeli Defense Forces last June after about eight months as a hostage. He’s at work in New York on a series of mostly acrylic depictions of his capture, captivity and release that he hopes to show this summer. The paintings focus on dark moments of Kozlov’s life and their colors frequently reflect that. But overjoyed by his freedom, the former hostage says his art is “about hope.”