Good News For Farmers: Right-To-Repair Laws Are Surging

Aaron Lehman is the fifth generation to run his family farm in central Iowa. He uses six tractors and grows corn, soybeans, oats and hay on 500 acres. He enjoys it because he says the time and money he puts in is used to benefit his farm and family. Still, the 58-year-old can’t repair his own tractors because manufacturers make it difficult for farmers to repair the machines themselves. Federal and state lawmakers across the country have proposed dozens of so-called “right-to-repair” pieces of legislation that would make it easier for individuals to fix cars, phones, wheelchairs, and tractors. While critics of the right-to-repair movement and some industry leaders argue that such bills create environmental risks and allow people to steal intellectual property, supporters say they are needed because corporations have monopolized control over repairs, forcing customers to either pay a large sum to the company or just buy new products. The wave of new legislation, they say, would return more power to the people.

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The Truth About the Yuka App

In today’s health conscious society, many people are using food rating and scanning apps to help them evaluate the health value, ingredients, and quality of packaged grocery items using their smartphone. One of the most popular apps is Yuka. The Yuka app claims to help consumers make healthier choices by providing a breakdown of what ingredients are in each food, and scores them as excellent, good, poor or bad. Unfortunately, the Yuka app isn’t fully reliable because it flags ingredients as hazardous in isolation without considering the actual tiny amount present in a product. Highly nutritious foods can receive low scores due to a tiny trace of an additive, while heavily processed items without additives can get high ratings. Take, for example, Frigo String Cheese and Chef Boyardee Cheese Ravioli. The string cheese gets a 34/100 “poor" rating, while Chef Boyardee Cheese Ravioli gets a 63/100 “good” rating. The ravioli has 7g protein, 2g saturated fat, and 750mg of sodium. The string cheese has 6g protein, 3.5g saturated fat, and 200mg of sodium. It doesn’t add up. How can you say the ravioli is healthy because it has 1 gram less saturated fat? What about the 500mg more of sodium? Put simply, the food rating system is flawed. Labeling food as good or bad can also create fear and anxiety around food, and lead people to develop obsessive habits. If you’re eating a diet full of whole and minimally processed foods, you shouldn’t have to care about the “score” of your crackers or peanut butter. Most of us know what foods are nutritious and that make us feel good. The most nutritious foods don’t typically come with a barcode that can be scanned, but not everything we eat has to be physically nourishing. A healthy diet has a variety of foods….and no guilt attached. Eating more whole foods and fewer ultra-processed ones is always ideal, but we don’t need the app to tell us that.

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The Tale of the “Chicago Rat Hole”

Sometime in the early 2000s, a rodent fell — or was dropped by a flying predator — into wet concrete on a street in Roscoe Village in Chicago, creating what appeared to be a rat-imprinted hole that would become a viral sensation. On January 6, 2024, local comedian Winslow Dumaine posted the rodent-shaped hole on social media, and it wasn’t long before Chicagoans nicknamed it “Splatatouille.” Residents and tourists alike turned the site into a sensation, and one offbeat couple even posed for their engagement picture there. Finally, 13 days after going viral on social media, the hole was filled by an unidentified source, However, community members were able to restore the “rat hole” to its original shape. By the end of April, the Chicago Department of Transportation determined that the sidewalk was damaged and needed to be replaced. Today, the rodent-shaped hole is encased and on display at Chicago City Hall. However, the drama surrounding the famous hole wasn’t over yet. In October 2025, researchers published an article in the journal Biology Letters that uncovered a shocking fact: there’s a 98.67% chance the “Chicago rat hole” was actually made by a squirrel. Researchers speculate that it was probably an eastern gray squirrel that fell from a tree. Since the Windy City has a long history of rat activity, no one could blame Chicagoans for thinking the hole looked like a rat.

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What’s the Right Time to Eat Dinner?

It might surprise you to learn that having dinner whenever you feel like it isn’t what the doctor ordered. A recent poll showed that 71% of respondents said they typically eat dinner at 6 p.m. or later. For years, 5 p.m. has been shorthand for early-bird specials, senior discounts, and a restaurant so empty you basically have the place to yourself. Today, Gen X and Baby Boomers are more likely to eat dinner at 8 p.m. or later, while Gen Z and Millennials sit down at the dinner table between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. So, who’s right? It actually depends on your bedtime, but research points overwhelmingly in one direction: earlier and well before you go to bed. According to science, Gen Z and Millennials may have stumbled onto a genuine health upgrade with those dinners before 6 p.m. Eating late keeps insulin levels elevated and delays the melatonin onset. Eat too late and you force your body to do two jobs at once — digest a meal and manage blood sugar……..and do it at a time when it’s trying to wind down for sleep. The most consistent finding is that a large meal close to sleep — within about 1-2 hours — is more likely to impair sleep continuity. So, go ahead and sit down for dinner at 5:30 p.m. — you’re not turning into your grandparents, you’re listening to your body clock. Bonus! If you eat earlier, you’ll find that fighting acid reflux will become a memory pretty quickly.

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