Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court Says Trump May Cancel DEI-Related Health Research Grants
A divided Supreme Court said Thursday the Trump administration may cancel hundreds of health research grants that involve diversity, equity and inclusion or gender identity. The justices granted an emergency appeal from President Trump’s lawyers and set aside a Boston’s judge order that blocked the canceling of $783 million in research grants. (Savage, 8/21)

Los Angeles Times: Federal Funding For Sex Education In California Is Cut Over ‘Radical Gender Ideology’
The Trump administration has canceled a sexual education grant to California worth about $12.3 million on the grounds that it included “radical gender ideology” after state officials refused to revise the materials. The funding helps pay for sex education programs in juvenile justice facilities, homeless shelters and foster care group homes, as well as some schools, reaching an estimated 13,000 youths per year through 20 agencies. (Blume, 8/21)

ABC News: US And EU Release Details For Tariffs On Cars, Pharmaceuticals
The United States and European Union on Thursday released new details of their trade agreement, including tariff levels for consumer staples like pharmaceuticals and autos. The accord officially establishes a 15% tariff rate for pharmaceuticals from the EU, a top source of U.S. drug imports. Generic pharmaceuticals will be exempt from the new agreement, meaning such drugs will face a roughly 2.5% tariff rate in place prior to the Trump administration. The move ruled out the possibility of a higher tariff rate for pharmaceuticals, for which Trump had previously threatened levies as high as 250%. The new tariffs will take effect on Sept. 1, the joint framework said. (Zahn, 8/21)

Fierce Healthcare: HHS To Form Outside Committee On Reshaping Medicare, Medicaid
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will seek external experts for a new committee tasked with providing strategic guidance on the care provided by government insurance programs. The HHS announced Thursday that the Healthcare Advisory Committee will offer recommendations to Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz, M.D., seeking to "improve how care is financed and delivered" across Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act's exchanges. (Minemyer, 8/21)

The Desert Sun: Aging With HIV: Local Leader Calls For Change
More than half of people living with HIV in the United States are now over the age of 50. That striking demographic shift is at the center of a growing advocacy movement — and right here in Palm Springs, one of the voices leading that charge is David "Jax" Kelly, JD, MPH, MBA and founder and CEO of the Aging and HIV Institute. (8/22)

The New York Times: Trump Budget Office Is Withholding H.I.V. Funds That Congress Appropriated 
The Trump administration is ignoring a directive from Congress and refusing to fully fund a landmark H.I.V. program that is widely credited with saving millions of lives over the past two decades. The Office of Management and Budget, headed by Russell T. Vought, has apportioned only $2.9 billion of $6 billion appropriated by Congress for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in the 2025 fiscal year spending bill, according to budget documents and members of the program’s staff. (Nolen, 8/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: North County’s First Shelter For Homeless Young Adults Opens In Vista 
There were 298 young adults found sleeping outside in San Diego County at the start of the year. A few weeks ago, Ruben Rodriguez was on the verge of adding to that number. Rodriguez, 21, had aged out of foster care and was staying with a friend, but he lacked a long-term bed. Then he heard about a renovated house in Vista for people like him. (Nelson, 8/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Housing Authority Director Steps Down As ‘Challenges Remain’
The director of the San Francisco Housing Authority has stepped down after six years at the helm of the long-troubled public housing agency. Tonia Lediju said she will focus on her role as a city councilor in Vallejo and is “excited to pursue new professional opportunities” in a statement. She said she had originally promised former Mayor London Breed she would stay at the housing authority for just one year, but “the challenges were daunting” and she agreed to “stay on and see this work through.” (Dineen, 8/21)

Becker's Hospital Review: Adventist Health Restructuring To Affect 300 Corporate Roles
Adventist Health’s back-office services restructuring of 750 employees will affect around 300 corporate roles at its Roseville, Calif., headquarters, according to an Aug. 20 news release shared with Becker’s. On Aug. 6, the health system launched multiple financial sustainability initiatives, including outsourcing certain business functions and requiring a return to office for corporate employees in 2026. It also said vendor partners will take over finance, human resources, talent acquisition, supply chain IT and accounts payable services to help with growth, cut costs and improve efficiency; Adventist will maintain oversight, however.(Ashley, 8/21)

The Oaklandside: This Summer Program Trains Oakland Grads For Vital Health Care Roles
When Victor Chan was a senior at Oakland Technical High School in 2022, he was confident he would be heading to Southern California for college to study nursing. He hadn’t been searching for a summer work program. But then he was rejected by the schools he applied to. After “crying it out,” he decided to go to Laney College for two years. Then he came across Oakland Unified School District’s Highway to Work program, which trains high school graduates for technical healthcare roles. He applied on a whim to the emergency room technician program, and it turned out to be a perfect fit. (McBride, 8/21)

Los Angeles Times: Here's Why — And How Much — We Should Worry About The Plague Today 
The plague sounds like a distant threat, but a small number of serious cases of the disease occur every year. Experts explain why it persists. (Garcia, 8/22)

ABC News: More Shrimp Recalled Due To Possible Radioactive Contamination, FDA Says 
Multiple brands of raw and cooked frozen shrimp have been added to an ongoing recall of frozen shrimp due to possible radioactive contamination, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The frozen shrimp products are sold by Southwind Foods, LLC, of Carson, California, according to an FDA alert issued on Thursday. The bagged, frozen raw and cooked shrimp from the latest recall were sold between July 17 and Aug. 8 in nine states — Alabama, Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia — the FDA said. The products were sold under the brand names Sand Bar, Arctic Shores, Best Yet, Great American and First Street, according to the recall notice. (Benadjaoud and Deliso, 8/21)

Politico: The Fall Trip To The Pharmacy For A Covid Shot May Be Strewn With Obstacles 
The millions of Americans who are used to getting their Covid-19 vaccines at a local pharmacy may face new hurdles this fall depending on where they live and whether federal health officials have decided they qualify. Pharmacists’ authority to vaccinate individuals varies across state lines. In some places, it’s dependent upon a federal advisory process that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has upended. (Gardner, 8/22)

Los Angeles Times: Marijuana Farm With Toxic Chemicals Busted In Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park is home to the world’s largest trees and iconic birds including peregrine falcons and bald eagles. But in its backcountry, illegal marijuana grows are wreaking havoc on this biodiverse haven by diverting creeks, poisoning soil with pesticides and dumping thousands of pounds of waste. On Thursday, the National Park Service announced a key win in its decades-long battle against these toxic farms: the removal of nearly 2,400 marijuana plants and around 2,000 pounds of trash from a 13-acre illegal grow site. (Harter, 8/21)

The Oaklandside: A Toxic Foundry Finally Left East Oakland. Then The City Allowed In A New Polluter.
Three years ago, the AB&I metal foundry ceased all operations in East Oakland. After years of community advocacy, the plant’s 200 union jobs were gone. So were its foul-smelling toxic emissions, the subject of a $1.2 million settlement with the State of California, which said the plant had released air contaminants in violation of the law. The closure of the plant, on San Leandro Street near the Oakland Coliseum, came as a relief to many residents of the East Oakland community. But last year they began to notice something strange going on there. (Rhoades, 8/21)

Voice of OC: Garden Grove Bans Booze Ads Near Schools & Playgrounds
Outdoor advertisements of alcoholic beverages like beer, wine or whiskey will soon no longer be allowed to go up near schools and parks in Garden Grove. Last week, Garden Grove City Council members voted unanimously on an ordinance banning the advertisement of alcohol on billboards and signs within 500 feet of a school, playground, child care facility or library at the request of Councilwoman Yesenia Muñeton. (Elattar, 8/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Whole Foods Shut For Months Amid Rats, Rodents, Renovations
When county health inspectors visited Whole Foods Market’s Cupertino location in April, they found rodent droppings under the banana display. More were visible among the boxes of extra stock in the receiving bay and between cabinets in the juice bar. The store, which is just a few miles from Apple’s headquarters, has been shuttered since. (Hodgman, 8/21)

CNN: Irate Parents Turn To Legal Action Over The Marketing Of So-Called ‘Toddler Milks’ 
“Toddler milks” are marketed to parents who have been using infant formula as a necessary next step in their child’s nutritional journey, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Critics say these expensive concoctions — first introduced into the United States in the 1990s — are not nutritionally necessary, may be contributing to childhood obesity, and should not be sold at all. (LaMotte, 8/21)

East Bay Times: Devastating Health Cuts Are Coming. To Avert Crisis, State Must Compel Data Sharing.
More than three million Californians are expected to lose health coverage in the next several years due to federal Medicaid cuts. At the same time, over half of Californians say they have skipped or delayed care because of rising costs—with nearly half in that group saying their health got worse as a result. (Aneeka Chaudhry and Dan Chavez, 8/22)

San Diego Union-Tribune: In San Diego, Routine Care Is Increasingly Hard To Find
I tried to schedule a doctor’s appointment in San Diego last month, just something routine — a check-in for the kind of persistent, shapeless ache you’re told not to ignore. It wasn’t urgent, not yet, but it wasn’t nothing either. I called my provider’s office, gave my ID number, waited on hold and was told with a practiced politeness that the next available date was in mid-November. (Caitlin H. Morrison, 8/12)

Los Angeles Times: The Heat-Safety Law Isn't Enough. Farmworkers Are Still Dying Every Summer 
It’s an all-too-familiar old problem in California. Nearly 20 years ago, in the shadow of four farmworker funerals — Arvin, Fresno County, Kern, Imperial Valley — California enacted the nation’s first heat rules for basic worker safety: water, shade, rest. Mercies you’d think needed no law. (Dean Florez, 8/14)

The Bay Area Reporter: Kaiser’s Gender Care Decision Is Wrong
Add Kaiser Permanente to the list of health care providers bending to President Donald Trump and his administration. Late last month, Kaiser announced that it would pause gender-affirming surgeries for trans youth under 19. It was a slap in the face to many LGBTQ patients; Kaiser is one of the leading providers of health insurance in the Bay Area. Even if you’re not a trans youth, Kaiser’s decision is deeply troubling. The new policy goes into effect on August 29. (8/20)

Los Angeles Blade: State Department's New Human Rights Reports Are Silent. We Refuse To Be.
In Dhaka, Bangladesh, a young gay man who had traveled five hours to meet us at the U.S. ambassador’s residence spoke softly about the violence he endured. For years, activists like him would meet with U.S. officials to tell their stories, trusting our government to publish their truth for the world to hear. Last week, the Trump administration betrayed that trust and cast aside decades of bipartisan work. Instead of fair and accurate reporting, it systematically deleted almost all references to abuse and persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) people in the 2024 U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, known as the Human Rights Reports (HRRs). (Jessica Stern, Suzanne B. Goldberg and Reggie Greer, 8/18)