The Bakersfield Californian: Adventist Agrees To Take Over Financially Ailing Bakersfield Heart Hospital
Adventist Health has agreed to acquire Bakersfield Heart Hospital for a nominal sum after years of sale talks accelerated by recent financial challenges left over from the pandemic. (Cox, 6/6)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Supervisors Award Controversial Ambulance Contract To Sonoma County Fire District, Prompting Threats Of Lawsuit
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously agreed to award its exclusive ambulance contract to Sonoma County Fire District, all but ending American Medical Response’s 30-year reign in the county. (Espinoza, 6/6)

Fresno Bee: New Proposed Route Between Downtown Fresno & Clovis Hospital 
During budget hearings Tuesday, Councilmember Miguel Arias, who represents District 3 — which includes downtown Fresno’s Community Regional Medical Center hospital — made a motion to allocate $500,000 to fund a route for a transit line between the downtown hospital and Clovis Community Medical Center. (Montalvo, 6/6)

Politico: Can Hospitals Turn Into Climate Change Fighting Machines?
On the grounds of the University of California San Diego health system, cacti and succulents thrive where water-hogging grass once lived. Patches of bare earth await replanting or a blanket of mulch. Recycled “grey” water runs through pale purple pipes. But the real action is inside the hospitals, where another set of pipes carry nitrous oxide. It’s a common anesthetic, also known as laughing gas, and it spews greenhouse gases that linger in the atmosphere for around 114 years. The pipes leak, a lot. Up to 80 percent of the gas can escape. (Kenen, 6/6)

Sacramento Business Journal: Sutter Health Names Todd Smith As New Chief Physician Executive 
Dr. Todd Smith will work closely with Sutter’s new chief operating officer in a leadership partnership overseeing acute, clinical and ambulatory operations. (Hamann, 6/6)

Orange County Register: Campaign Launched To Take Proposed Anti-Fentanyl Law Directly To California Voters
Families of victims killed by fentanyl poisoning, turned away repeatedly by state legislative committees, launched an effort Tuesday, June 6, to take their bid to tighten drug laws directly to the voters. (Saavedra, 6/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Mayor Breed Told Police To Arrest More Drug Users. Will That Get Them Into Treatment?
San Francisco Mayor London Breed has become increasingly vocal about her goal to get people who are high on drugs off the streets – and into treatment by whatever means possible. Her latest push toward that end is to direct her police department to arrest people whose behavior is escalating into self-harm or violence, jail them to sober up and then offer them treatment. (Moench, 6/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Dealer Gets 6 Years After Fentanyl-Laced Cocaine Causes Death
A Tenderloin drug dealer who unknowingly sold powder laced with fentanyl, with fatal consequences, was sentenced to six years in federal prison Tuesday. (Egelko, 6/6)

KQED: The Ethics Of Photographing Addiction In The Tenderloin
San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood has been at the forefront of the opioid epidemic, amassing a reputation as a place of open air drug dealing, crime, and homelessness. Viral images and videos of open-air drug use have been seen around the world. Some argue publishing pictures and videos of people experiencing addiction is dehumanizing and has long-term effects that follow them for the rest of their lives. Others argue the images raise awareness and showcase the reality of San Francisco’s overdose epidemic. (Guevarra, McDede, Montecillo and Esquinca, 6/7)

CalMatters: California Rent Relief Is Still Available For Thousands Of Tenants Who Were Denied COVID Assistance
More than 100,000 California tenants whose applications for COVID-era rental assistance were denied or delayed by the state’s housing department will get another shot at relief, thanks to a new legal settlement between the state and a coalition of anti-poverty and tenant rights groups. More aid isn’t guaranteed. But under the terms of the settlement signed at the end of last month, California’s Housing and Community Development Department agreed to audit its past denials and improve multilingual access for tenants who don’t speak English as a first language. (Christopher, 6/6)

KQED: San Francisco To Implement Newsom's CARE Court Plan To Treat Severe Mental Illness
San Francisco is poised to be among the first eight counties in California this year to implement CARE Court, a new approach to treating severe mental illness that Gov. Gavin Newsom calls a “paradigm shift,” but which supporters and opponents alike fear will fail to deliver on its sweeping promises. (Shafer, 6/6)

Los Angeles Times: Eviction Notices Spurs Growing Concerns About Skid Row Receiver
A spate of eviction notices issued at properties owned by Skid Row’s largest nonprofit landlord is prompting Los Angeles city officials to demand answers from the person they installed to oversee the buildings. City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto deemed the eviction notices illegal and said the apparent blunder is contributing to an erosion of the city’s confidence in Mark Adams, the receiver appointed by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge in April to fix 29 buildings owned by Skid Row Housing Trust after its financial collapse earlier this year. (Dillon and Smith, 6/7)

Voice Of San Diego: Proposed Camping Ban Aims To Transform San Diego’s Homelessness Epicenter
For decades, East Village has been the epicenter of the region’s homelessness response. It is there where unhoused residents can access shelter, restrooms, meals, showers and other resources. Hundreds have set up camp in the area for that reason. The concentration of services is by design, the result of decades of deliberate decision making by San Diego officials. But a controversial ordinance pushed by downtown City Councilman Stephen Whitburn and Mayor Todd Gloria could transform the area at the front lines of the region’s homelessness crisis, a hub the city itself created years ago. (Halverstadt, 6/6)

Voice Of San Diego: What A Crackdown On Homeless Camps Could Mean For Neighborhoods 
It’s a familiar reality for homeless San Diegans and housed residents of communities surrounding downtown: When police crack down on homeless camps in the area, unsheltered residents relocate – at least temporarily.  A camping ban proposed by City Councilman Stephen Whitburn and touted by Mayor Todd Gloria could cause more frequent and sustained moves into neighborhoods near — or even far from — downtown that lack the public restrooms, services and other amenities unhoused residents cluster around. (Halverstadt, 6/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: Study Finds No Side Effects From COVID Vaccines For Young Children
A first-of-its-kind study found no serious side effects from COVID vaccines in young children, according to research from Kaiser Permanente released Tuesday. The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, reviewed records of more than 245,000 doses of Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines given mostly to children age 4 or younger between June 2022 and March 2023. (Castro-Root, 6/6)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Moderna, Pfizer Sued In San Diego Over Patent For MRNA COVID-19 Vaccine 
Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech were named in lawsuits Tuesday that accuse them of stealing a patented method developed by researchers from The Scripps Research Institute that made the COVID-19 vaccine possible. (Rocha, 6/6)

Reuters: US FDA Approves Cue Health's At-Home COVID Test 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Cue Health's at-home COVID-19 test, the first coronavirus test to get marketing authorization using a traditional premarket review, the agency said. The FDA had granted emergency use authorization for the test in 2021 to make it available to consumers without a prescription. (6/6)

Bay Area Reporter: HIV Advocates Ask SF Supervisors To Fund $7M Request
With their roughly $7 million funding request not included in Mayor London Breed's budget proposal this year, HIV advocates and service providers are turning to the Board of Supervisors to find the money as it takes up this month the city's fiscal priorities for the next two years. The city is facing a $780 million deficit over that time span. Roughly 40 people marched on City Hall Monday, June 5, for a rally on the steps of the building. Timed to coincide with HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day, the activists then met with eight of the 11 supervisors to press their case for why they should allocate the additional funding for the various health services and programs for those living with HIV. (Bajko, 6/6)

AP: HIV Protection, Cancer Screenings Could Cost More If 'Obamacare' Loses Latest Court Battle 
A judge’s order that would eliminate requirements that health insurance plans include cost-free coverage of HIV-preventing drugs, cancer screenings and various other types of preventive care should remain on hold while it is appealed, the Biden administration argued before an appellate panel Tuesday. It’s the latest legal skirmish over mandates in former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law, commonly known as “Obamacare,” which took effect 13 years ago. (McGill, 6/6)

Los Angeles Blade: Elton John AIDS Foundation Launches Ambitious New Initiative
The Rocket Fund is the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s latest transformative $125 million campaign to redouble the fight against AIDS everywhere. Growing levels of stigmatization, marginalization, and poverty have led to high rates of HIV and low access to healthcare globally. “For years, HIV/AIDS has caused enormous pain across the world, but I pray that soon this epidemic will be a thing of the past” said Sir Elton John. “More than 30 years after I launched the Elton John AIDS Foundation, my passion for reaching everyone, everywhere with education and compassionate care is still as strong as ever. The Rocket Fund will turbo-charge our mission and reach those most at risk from this terrible disease. Now is the time. This epidemic has gone on too long. We must all act together to see AIDS defeated in our lifetimes.” (Levesque, 6/6)

Los Angeles Daily News: Monterey Park Shooting Survivor Calls For Assault Weapon Ban, Mental Health Support For Community 
Lloyd Gock, a survivor of the mass shooting at a Monterey Park dance studio on Jan. 21, spoke to federal lawmakers on Monday, June 5, describing the nightmare he witnessed and the mental health impacts he has suffered since. (Vergara and Carter, 6/6)

The Guardian: Can Medicaid Help Those Affected By Gun Violence? In California, A New System Could Help People Rebuild Their Lives 
Hospital-based violence intervention programs could soon see funds provided by Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. (Singh, 6/7)

The Hill: One Person Died From Gun Violence Every 11 Minutes In 2021, Setting New Record: Study
Gun deaths in the U.S. reached a record-high in 2021, with an average of one person dying every 11 minutes each day — a total of nearly 49,000 deaths from gun violence throughout the year, according to a new study. A new Johns Hopkins study, using the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control, found gun deaths reached the highest number ever recorded for the second straight year in a row. (Fortinsky, 6/6)

Reuters: US Cannot Ban People Convicted Of Non-Violent Crimes From Owning Guns-Appeals Court
The U.S. government cannot ban people convicted of non-violent crimes from possessing guns, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The 11-4 ruling from the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest defeat for gun control laws in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year expanding gun rights nationwide. (Pierson, 6/6)

AP: Founder, Ex-Executive Of Edgy Sexual Wellness Company OneTaste Charged With Forced Labor Conspiracy 
Two former executives of a company known for offering “orgasmic meditation” sessions have been charged with using sex, psychological abuse and economic exploitation to coerce work from people while taking over their lives, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. The case follows years of scrutiny and a recent Netflix documentary on the business, known as OneTaste. Ex-sales chief Rachel Cherwitz was arrested in northern California and was due in court there Wednesday, while founder and ex-CEO Nicole Daedone remained at large. Both were indicted on a forced labor conspiracy charge. (Peltz, 6/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: Cosmetic Butt Injection Death In San Mateo: Defendant To Enter Plea
On April 19, Christina Ashten Gourkani, a 34-year-old social media influencer from San Jose known for her resemblance to Kim Kardashian, met a woman at a Burlingame hotel room to receive buttock-enhancing injections. Gourkani, who had undergone cosmetic procedures before, quickly fell ill and was rushed to a hospital, San Mateo County prosecutors say, and died the next morning after suffering from an infection and a pulmonary embolism. (Ho, 6/7)

The Oaklandside: Here's Where Kids Can Get Free Meals In Oakland This Summer
Summer can be a difficult time for students who rely on school meals. The city of Oakland is again offering free food for Oakland youth at dozens of sites during the summer months. All children 18 and younger are eligible, as well as adults with disabilities enrolled in a school program, such as Oakland Unified School District’s Young Adult Program.  (McBride, 6/6)

Capital & Main: In Anaheim, Health Starts In School
In its first year as a state-recognized community school, Sycamore Junior High in Anaheim opened a two room community center. Staff coordinated monthly campus visits for a mobile dental unit and organized a monthly food pantry for the neighboring community. But mostly, explains Araceli Huerta, community school coordinator for Sycamore, they listened. They listened to parents, students, other staff and community members. “The students frigging loved it,” Huerta said, speaking in between a brief campus tour and a parent meeting on the first Tuesday of the summer break. “The students love being heard.” (Sanchez-Tello, 6/2)