More than 200 guests came to hear Michigan democrat Debbie Stabenow as she discussed the new reform on the health bill.

Two additional measures she hopes to see in health care reform include insurance coverage for those up to age 26 without a school enrollment requirement. Also a re-insurance program for those ages 55 to 64 who have taken early retirement or lost jobs but are not old enough for medicare coverage.

Stabenow said that no state will benefit more from the health care reform than Michigan. she also estimated that the price tag for a heath care reform package is between 800 and 900 billion.

Women in their early forties are now at an average risk for routine mammograms. The United State Preventive Services Task Force has updates its mammography guidelines. A new recommendation is for women ages 40 to 49 to not get routine screenings, instead, they should consult their local doctor. Women at this age in their life experience false positives, much anxiety, and unnecessary biopsies as a result of the test.

For women ages 50 to 74, mammogram screenings are required once every two years. Many other health experts and the American Cancer Society do not at all agree with the new guidelines. They believe all women, regardless of age, should discuss this issue with their physician.

Breast cancer is ultimately the most common type of cancer for women in the United States. Nearly 200,000 women this year will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer.

The Morbark employees volunteered in a local health-steps fitness competition and celebrated their success by making contributions to the Norval k. Morey cancer center and the pediatrics department of the central Michigan community hospital. Morbark president agreed to pay one penny for every two minutes of exercise completed by employees.

The fitness competition ran from march 31st through June 30th. the Morbark health coordinator said the competition was designed to focus on the numerous types of exercise available and the many ways employees could add activity to their lives.

Dozens of employees participated in the activity challenge and another 17 took part in a weight loss competition. the winner of the weight loss competition lost more then 55 pounds and 27 percent of his total body weight. by the end of the 14 weeks the total donation to the hospital was 525 dollars.

This Thursday, November 12th the Community Cancer Services of Isabella County will be holding its annual meeting at 7 p.m. at the community mental health building in mt. pleasant.

The community cancer services is the local cancer organization dedicated to help those in the local community who are suffering from cancer. This weeks meeting is an addition to their regular monthly meeting and members of the community are invited to attend.

Research on radiology from the Central Michigan community hospital has grown in the past years and no w is currently processing more than 60 thousand radiology exams a year.

Radiology is a branch of medicine that studies and performs diagnostic imaging to diagnose and treat medical conditions. Diagnostic imaging uses different technologies to look inside your body for clues about a medical condition. A variety of machines and techniques can create pictures of the structures inside your body such as bones, tissue and organs. Machines including x-ray, Ultrasound, CT scan, Nuclear Medicine, PET scan, and a MRI scan are all forms of radiology.

The technology used at the Central Michigan Community Hospital has advanced education and proven history of performing the procedures patients may need to undergo. For more information on Diagnostic imaging services at the Central Michigan community hospital, contact the imaging department at (989) 772-6794

Midland's Lil' Chef Restaurant joins the crowd and goes smoke-free. Usually a place for a late night burger and cigarette, Lil' Chef decided back in mid-October to finally cut out smoking altogether.

Restaurant manager, Frank Knowles, says late-night and early-morning business has slowed down. Now he believes it has become more of a family-filled environment, and in turn, has increased weekend traffic tremendously.

Brighton, Mount Pleasant, and Midland all have the same owner, and he has made the smoke-free decision now for all three restaurants. The Brighton restaurant went smoke-free a year ago, and Mount Pleasant Lil' Chef switched back in July.

Even though Lil' Chef has operated the same way for the past 36 years, everyone, including the owners, believe the new change is a great one.