Argus-Courier Staff: Petaluma Health Center Notifies Patients Of Data Breach
Current and former patients who have received services from the Petaluma Health Center may have had their personal information compromised as part of a cybersecurity incident in March, the health center said in a recent notice. (Parreira, 6/8)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Downtown San Diego Homeless Population Exceeds 2,000 For First Time 
More than 2,000 homeless people were counted on the streets of downtown San Diego one night in May, marking a new high in the number of individuals living without shelter in the area. The number of people counted each month by Downtown San Diego Partnership has been rising since mid-2022, but has never reached the 2,000 milestone until the May 25 count, which found 2,104 people on sidewalks and in vehicles. (Warth, 6/8)

inewsource: Homelessness In San Diego Spikes: What To Know
As the number of people living on San Diego sidewalks and riverbeds spikes dramatically, top city officials hope to make it illegal for people experiencing homelessness to live outside on public property. The latest point-in-time count, released Thursday, shows a 32% increase in San Diego’s unsheltered homelessness population — from 2,494 last year to 3,285. It’s the highest count recorded in at least the past decade. (Dulaney, 6/8)

Voice Of San Diego: How Police Plan To Tackle The Homeless Camping Ban 
Eight months ago, Mayor Todd Gloria gave police a directive: Order homeless residents to take down their tents during the day. For a handful of days, police gave those commands. Tents never came down on a broad scale and they returned to sidewalks in Barrio Logan and East Village within days of the initial orders. There is now no indication, anywhere, that the mayor’s directive resulted in any sustained police action. (Halverstadt, 6/8)

KQED: One Neighborhood’s Strategy For Curbing Homelessness? Turn Off The Library Wi-Fi
So much of life is online these days, but barriers to internet access remain, especially for folks who are unhoused. Resources at public libraries, like free Wi-Fi, are aiming to fill that gap. A 2022 study by the American Library Association found that 93 percent of libraries provide or plan to provide Wi-Fi 24 hours a day because of the high demand for internet. But San Francisco’s Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Branch Library has moved in the opposite direction after neighbors raised concerns about homelessness, crime, and open air drug use outside of the library. (Guevarra, Johnson, Herdman, Esquinca, Solomon, 6/9)

Capital & Main: Pandemic Relief Program Left Many California Renters Struggling
Blake Phillips is pretty sure he did everything right, which makes it all the more baffling to the Los Angeles resident that he slowly went broke, lost his restaurant business and was eventually forced to move out of his home and in with friends. He did all this while waiting for pandemic rental relief from the state of California, which, though promised and approved, has still not arrived. “I went from being a small business owner, middle class, paying my bills, to being completely wiped out,” Phillips said. “I lost everything because of the rent program.” (Kreidler, 6/8)

Los Angeles Times: Mayor Karen Bass Tests Positive For COVID-19, Feels 'Fine' 
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday evening, her office said Thursday. Bass is “is feeling fine and will continue to work remotely as she follows public health guidelines,” according to a statement from her press office. The mayor is vaccinated and boosted and has not previously tested positive for COVID-19, according to her office. (Wick, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Ashish Jha To Leave As Covid Czar As White House Winds Down Response 
White House covid coordinator Ashish Jha will step down next week as the Biden administration formally ends the role, the latest marker that officials believe the virus threat has largely passed. “We now have the tools to manage COVID-19 and the virus no longer controls our daily lives,” President Biden said in a statement on Thursday, announcing Jha’s departure and thanking him for his work. Jha’s last day will be June 15, and he will return to his position as dean of Brown University’s public health school. (Diamond, 6/8)

CNN: Mysterious Covid-19 Lineages In US Sewers Could Offer Clues To Chronic Infections
As Covid-19 testing and other coronavirus tracking efforts peter out in the United States, wastewater surveillance has become the primary method to monitor early community spread of the virus. And there’s some evidence that close investigation of the findings could also help unravel some of the mysteries of long Covid. Genetic sequencing of wastewater samples from sewer systems across the country has uncovered dozens of unique strains of the coronavirus, with multiple mutations in unusual combinations. (McPhillips, 6/9)

CIDRAP: Fatigue Can Lower Long-COVID Patients' Quality Of Life More Than Some Cancers 
Long-COVID fatigue can diminish quality of life more than some cancers, suggests an observational study published yesterday in BMJ Open. ... Many long-COVID patients were seriously ill, and their average fatigue scores were similar to or worse than those of people with cancer-related anemia (low counts of oxygen-carrying red blood cells) or severe kidney disease. Their health-related quality of life scores were also lower than those of people with advanced metastatic cancers, such as stage 4 lung cancer. (Van Beusekom, 6/8)

CIDRAP: High Mpox Vaccine Shortfall Seen Among Black Americans
As many as 78% of Black Americans eligible for mpox protection via the Jynneos vaccine have not been vaccinated, according to a new shortfall analysis published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). A second MMWR report today delves into mpox transmission risks to kids, noting that some adults did not begin to isolate until after they had received a diagnosis. (Soucheray, 6/8)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Grand Jury Suggests Sheriff Scan Deputies For Drugs In Jails 
As deaths and overdoses continue to plague San Diego County jails, the grand jury says in a new report that Sheriff Kelly Martinez should do more to keep illegal drugs from being smuggled into local detention centers. (McDonald, 6/8)

Reuters: California County Lifts Warning On Local Produce After Metal Dust Release 
A San Francisco Bay Area health officer on Thursday lifted an advisory warning neighbors of a refinery not to eat produce grown in potentially contaminated soil in the area, after a toxicologist found public health was not at risk. (Sanicola, 6/7)

AP: Jury Returns $63M Verdict After Finding Chevron Covered Up Toxic Pit On California Land
A California jury has returned a $63 million verdict against Chevron after finding the oil giant covered up a toxic chemical pit on land purchased by a man who built a house on it and was later diagnosed with a blood cancer. Kevin Wright, who has multiple myeloma, unknowingly built his home directly over the chemical pit near Santa Barbara in 1985, according to his lawsuit. (6/9)

The Bakersfield Californian: Valley's Air District To Relaunch Air Purifier Program 
Residents across the Central Valley are encouraged to claim free air purifiers as part of a relaunching by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District of its Clean Air Rooms Program, which looks to promote better breathing in the home. (Donegan, 6/8)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. School Officials Recommit To LGBTQ+ Support 
The unanimous approval of a symbolic resolution sends a message that L.A. Unified will not back down from LGBTQ+ curriculum. (Blume, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Biden Decries Rash Of ‘Cruel’ State Laws Targeting Rights Of LGBTQ+ Individuals
President Biden forcefully pushed back Thursday against a rash of “cruel” state laws curtailing the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, including transgender youths, saying the measures are being adopted by “prejudiced people” and pledging that his administration will stand up for those being targeted. “It’s wrong that extreme officials are pushing hateful bills targeting transgender children, terrifying families and criminalizing doctors,” Biden said. “These are our kids. These are our neighbors.” (Wagner, 6/8)

The Hill: Senate Hearing On Youth Mental Health Spurs Debate On Hormone Treatment, Disparities For LGBTQ+ Youth 
Debate in a Senate committee hearing about the youth mental health crisis grew tense when Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) brought up concerns about hormone treatment for transgender youth. The Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions met Thursday to evaluate the current mental health infrastructure and legislation. Nine mental health programs will lose their funding unless the committee re-approves their budget before the programs’ expiration date in September. (Kelly, 6/8)

The 19th: Americans Are Divided On Gender Identity, Pronoun Use, New PRRI Survey Shows
In much of the country, there are deep divides by partisanship and news consumption on using gender-neutral pronouns, being comfortable with a friend coming out as LGBTQ+, and feeling that it’s appropriate to discuss gender identity in schools. A new survey from the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) provides more insight into these splits — and finds that some Americans seem to be moving further away from certain acceptance of LGBTQ+ people. (Rummler and Panetta, 6/8)

Roll Call: Supreme Court Preserves Medicaid Recipients' Right To Sue 
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 7-2 to protect the right of Medicaid nursing home residents to seek relief in federal court when state officials do not meet a certain quality of care — a ruling policy watchers are hailing as a civil rights victory for Medicaid patients. (Cohen, 6/8)

Axios: CMS Announces New Decade-Long Primary Care Payment Experiment
The Biden administration on Thursday announced a 10-year experiment aimed at improving the way Medicare and Medicaid pay for primary care. The effort, dubbed the Making Care Primary Model, will ease safety-net and independent primary care providers — including federally qualified health centers — into getting paid for the value of services they provide, rather than the volume. (Goldman, 6/9)

Los Angeles Times: California's Longest-Serving State Employee Dies At 102 
California’s oldest and longest-serving state employee has died at age 102 after nearly eight decades on the job. May Lee was a few weeks shy of her birthday when she died May 26, according to Jennifer Iida, a spokesperson for the California Department of General Services. Lee worked for the state for 79 years, starting in accounting at the Department of Finance in 1943, then switching to the Department of General Services when it was created in 1963. (Lin, 6/8)

Times Of San Diego: End Of An Era: Footsie Wootsie Massages At SD Fair Rise From Forever 25¢ To $1  
In 1990, the late Larry Himmel of KFMB-TV reported that his favorite ride at the Del Mar Fair was the Footsie Wootsie massage chair. The cost: 25 cents. Fairgoers for generations could count on a quarter giving them a minute’s buzz of lower-leg relief. No more. Beginning Wednesday, the San Diego County Fair’s ubiquitous Footsie Wootsie massages cost $1 — payable only by credit card, Google Pay or Apple Pay. (Stone, 6/9)

San Francisco Chronico: How Author's Tale Of S.F.’s AIDS Epidemic With Her Gay Father Caught Filmmaker Sofia Coppola’s Attention
Whenever Sofia Coppola reads a new book, even a novel or memoir she has no intention of adapting to the screen, she admits that the filmmaker in her can’t help visualizing the scenes on the page as if they’re unfolding cinematically. “It’s kind of an annoying habit because I’m seeing everything I read as a film,” Coppola told The Chronicle by phone from her home in New York. “And with ‘Fairyland,’ I definitely saw San Francisco bathed in this 1970s golden light. It was such a magical time, a time I remember, before the ’80s when everything shifted.” (Zack, 6/9)

Military Times: Are More Mental Health Resources In Store For Limited-Duty Sailors?
The Navy would be required to increase mental health care access and screenings for limited-duty sailors under new legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The measure would require mental health provider billets, including medical officers, chaplains, and civilian mental health providers, for any units with 15 or more limited-duty status sailors. These sailors would also undergo a mental health screening with a certified mental health provider, then receive subsequent screenings every 60 days while on limited-duty. (Correll, 6/8)

Military Times: Pregnant Women At Kadena Air Base In Japan Facing Tough Decisions
Pregnant women at Kadena Air Base in Japan are being notified they won’t be able to deliver their babies at U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, the only full-servce medical center on the island, due to a staffing shortage. Women at Kadena whose estimated due date is from August through November are being given a choice: Either go to a Japanese medical facility or be placed in a “Stork Nesting” program in which they’ll be flown to a location in the continental United States, according to a June 7 memorandum signed by Air Force Lt. Col. Travis C. Russell, chief of the medical staff at Kadena’s 18th Medical Group. “Right now, spouses in the community are completely shocked,” said Rachel, an Air Force wife who is one of a group of advocates for dependent health care at Kadena. She asked that her last name not be used. (Jowers, 6/8)

CalMatters: Newsom's Big Health Care Promises Remain Elusive 
Five years ago, while running for governor, Gavin Newsom pledged to transform California’s medical care to a single-payer system similar to those in Canada and western Europe. Newsom backed single-payer legislation, which had passed the state Senate, saying there was “no reason to wait around.” (Dan Walters, 6/4)

CalMatters: Why California Mental Health Overhaul Restores Hope 
Gov. Gavin Newson’s announcement in the spring to radically reshape California’s mental health care was compelling for several reasons. One is personal: I have an adult son with schizophrenia, a condition that’s impacted our lives for almost 30 years and counting. (Randall Hagar, 6/5)

East Bay Times: COVID Death Rate Points To Ongoing U.S. Public Health Failure
Many immunocompromised and older people are still terrified of COVID. As a transplant infectious disease doctor on the front lines, I understand why. (Peter Chin Hong, 6/8)

CalMatters: Solitary Confinement Must Be Part Of California Prison Overhaul 
California has come a long way on solitary confinement. I know this because I spent more than a decade in isolation, and have been organizing with other solitary survivors to limit the practice in our state. (Kevin McCarthy, 6/7)

CalMatters: California Can't Treat Homelessness Like An Emergency
As her first official act as the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass declared a state of emergency over homelessness. She was later joined by the mayors of neighboring Long Beach, Santa Monica and Culver City, and the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. (Peter Laugharn and Miguel Santana, 6/8)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Public Parks Make Us Healthier, But Not All San Diegans Have Enough Access To Them
Park investments make San Diego a healthier place to live. Parks address growing rates of physical inactivity, poor mental health and social isolation. Our parks are about more than providing a venue for team sports or fitness classes. They also provide venues for people to make parks work for them, whether that is through installing outdoor gyms or creating safe walking paths for seniors. (Sonia Diaz and Guillermo Rodriguez, 6/8)