In Other News: MLK Jr. National Park reopens; Can you prevent your kids from catching a cold?

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, January 22, 2019

MLK Jr. National Park reopens for holiday, thanks to a private grant

Atlanta’s Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park has reopened for the first time since the partial government shutdown began on Dec. 22, thanks to a grant from Delta Air Lines. The deal allows the park to avoid the awkward possibility that it would be closed on the federal holiday honoring King. The reopening comes as the civil rights leader’s family and fans celebrate what would have been King’s 90th birthday. And because of the grant, those celebrations and remembrances can now include visits to the home where King was born and his longtime church. The 35-acre park, which draws more than 670,000 visitors to Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood each year, reopened Saturday. With an $83,500 grant from Delta and money from National Park Service recreation fees, it now has enough funds to operate until Feb. 3. — NPR

University of Oklahoma student expelled from sorority over viral blackface video

A sorority at the University of Oklahoma says it has expelled a student who was seen wearing black paint on her face and using a racial epithet in a video that went viral on Twitter. In a statement Saturday, London Moore, the president of the Theta Gamma chapter of Delta Delta Delta, condemned the “racist, offensive and disgraceful” behavior seen in the video. Moore said the video “is in no way consistent with Tri Delta’s ideals” and apologized to students for “this senseless act of racism.” “The woman who participated in, filmed and posted the video is no longer a member of our organization,” Moore said. The University of Oklahoma said Saturday it was investigating after the video began circulating on social media. The video, posted Friday to Twitter, shows two women in a Snapchat post, one of whom is wearing black paint on her face and hands and uses a racial slur. — CBS News

Vitamin C? No wet hair outside? What actually works to prevent kids’ colds

Sniffles and sneezes are hard for kids to avoid this time of year. While parents do their best to prevent children from getting sick, some of the precautions they take may not be helping. In fact, more than half of parents have tried methods to prevent common colds that have little or no scientific evidence behind them, according to new research from the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan. “Wintertime colds are common among children, often making them feel uncomfortable and causing them to miss school or other activities,” the researchers write. Children get on average three to six colds per year, with some lasting as long as two weeks. To assess how much parents know about cold prevention, researchers surveyed more than 1,100 parents from across the United States. — CBS News