Los Angeles Times: COVID Outbreaks Hit Workplaces, Schools Across California
The summer COVID bump is worsening in California, with infections spreading at schools and workplaces, and hospitalizations ticking up. While health officials continue to say the numbers are no cause for alarm, the infections are beginning to bring more disruptions to everyday life. (Lin II and Reyes, 9/7)

KQED: You’re Not Imagining It: COVID Cases Are Up Again
COVID-19 cases are on the rise (again). But this isn’t the surge of years’ past...it’s more like a “swell”. We also have more immunity, there are effective treatments, and a new booster is on the way. KQED Health Correspondent Lesley McClurg explains what you need to know about this increase in COVID cases. (Guevarra, McClurg, Montecillo, Esquinca, 9/8)

Bay Area News Group: California's Summer COVID Wave Breaks Into Top 5 Of Pandemic
California’s sneaky summer COVID wave is reaching heights not seen in more than a year as highly contagious strains of the virus continue to spread with the promise of a new vaccine days away. (Rowan, 9/7)

EdSource: Covid Cases Rise As LAUSD Tries To Improve Attendance 
COVID-19 cases are on the rise throughout Los Angeles Unified and the county. Public health experts are urging caution while school officials are looking to keep children in the classroom for their academic progress and emotional well-being. “We want kids in the classrooms learning,” said Sarah Van Orman, the University of Southern California’s vice president and chief campus health officer. “That’s what we’re all doing — whether that be in K-12 or in higher ed — balancing the need to prevent … respiratory illnesses within our communities with the need for people to … engage in the activities that they need to engage in, which includes learning at the K-12 levels.” (Seshadri, 9/8)

CalMatters: Soaring Chronic Absenteeism In California Schools Is At ‘Pivotal Moment’
As a new school year gets underway in California, districts are desperately trying to lure thousands of missing, tardy and truant students back to the classroom in what many view as a pivotal moment for education in California. (Jones, 9/7)

Reuters: Biden Tests Negative Again For COVID-19 - White House 
President Joe Biden has tested negative again for COVID-19, the White House said on Thursday, following his wife Jill's positive diagnosis earlier in the week. Biden is due to travel to India later on Thursday for a summit of the Group of 20 nations, followed by a trip to Vietnam. (9/7)

The New York Times: Jill Biden Tests Negative For Coronavirus 
Jill Biden, the first lady, tested negative for the coronavirus on Thursday, the White House said, putting an apparent end to a minor health scare that had threatened to upend President Biden’s trip to a Group of 20 summit in India. The announcement came shortly before Mr. Biden departed the White House for his trip to New Delhi, where he plans to lobby world leaders on matters that include condemning Russia’s war with Ukraine and curbing China’s financial influence over poorer countries. The president also tested negative for the virus on Thursday, as he had throughout the week. (Cameron, 9/7)

Stat: Trump Surgeon General Acknowledges Mistakes During Covid
The Trump administration made some serious missteps during the coronavirus pandemic, Trump’s top doctor Jerome Adams admits. But he says we still haven’t learned from them. (Owermohle, 9/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Lawmakers Pass Bill To Decriminalize Some Psychedelic Drugs
Gov. Gavin Newsom will decide whether to let Californians possess limited amounts of psychedelic mushrooms, DMT and peyote under a bill lawmakers passed Thursday. The bill is San Francisco Sen. Scott Wiener’s second attempt to decriminalize psychedelic drugs. A previous version of the bill died last year in the state Assembly. (Bollag, 9/7)

Los Angeles Times: 9th Circuit Ruling Threatens California Ban On Unlicensed Open Carry Of Handguns
California laws banning people from openly carrying handguns in public without a license are under greater legal threat after a federal appellate court decision Thursday. A conservative three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that a lower court “abused its discretion” when it declined to halt state enforcement of the laws while their constitutionality is being challenged. (Rector, 9/7)

AP: California Lawmakers Approve New Tax For Guns And Ammunition To Pay For School Safety Improvements
California lawmakers on Thursday voted to raise taxes on guns and ammunition to pay for security improvements at public schools and gun violence prevention programs. The federal government already taxes the sale of guns and ammunition nationwide. The government gives that money to the states, which spend it on wildlife conservation and hunter safety programs. (Beam, 9/7)

Sacramento Bee: Rocklin School Board Approves Parent Trans Notification Policy
After nearly four hours of often impassioned testimony, the Rocklin Unified School District Board of Trustees voted 4-1 early Thursday morning to require teachers and staff to alert a student’s parents if they request to use different pronouns, go by a different name, or otherwise indicate that they are reconsidering their gender identity. (Hatch, 9/7)

Voice of OC: An OC School District Adopts Transgender Notification; State AG Issues Legal Threat
Orange Unified School District became the latest school district in California to require school officials to notify parents if their children are transgender — a policy that’s being increasingly adopted by school boards throughout the Golden State. On Thursday, Orange Unified school board majority members voted to adopt the notification policy, with Board President Rick Ledesma arguing the move is a reaction against the state taking away parental rights. (Hicks and Elattar, 9/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Had The Second Largest Jump In Abortions In The U.S.
Legal abortions have increased an estimated 16% in California in 2023 compared to 2020, according to a report released Thursday that offers a glimpse into state-by-state changes in abortion volume and access since the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs ruling allowed many states to ban or restrict abortion. The Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports access to abortion and has measured the number of abortions in the U.S. for nearly 50 years, collected the data, which compares the first six months of 2023 to half of the total abortions in 2020. (Ho, 9/7)

CBS News: Stanford Studies Show Difference In Birth Complications Between Races
Two new studies from the Stanford University School of Medicine revealed significant differences between races in rates of birth complications caused by high blood pressure and anemia during pregnancy. The studies, published Thursday in the peer-reviewed medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, looked at the prevalence of birth complications caused by chronic hypertension, or high blood pressure, in pregnant women and the rates of complications from iron-deficiency anemia, excluding patients with anemia caused by genetic factors. (9/7)

Los Angeles Times: WGA, SAG-AFTRA Leaders Call For Striking Workers To Get Unemployment Insurance 
Leaders from the actors' and screenwriters' unions, both of which are currently on strike, protested outside Amazon's Culver City offices in support of state Senate Bill 799. ... That measure, and the focus of the event, was Senate Bill 799, which if it were to become law would allow striking workers to collect unemployment benefits after they’ve been on strike for two weeks. (Contreras and Wong, 9/7)

Sacramento Bee: California Workers Could Get More Sick Time Under SB 616
California lawmakers stood in the vanguard in 2014 when they mandated that workers be allowed three days of sick pay annually, but more than a dozen other states have since enacted more generous sick leave policies than that one. Sen. Lena Gonzalez, D-Long Beach, said it’s time that California increase the amount of mandated sick time, and she has introduced Senate Bill 616 to get it done. Initially, the measure would have mandated at least seven days of sick pay, but Gonzalez amended the bill last week to say at least five days. (Anderson, 9/8)

Politico: California Health Care Tax Proponents Go To The Ballot 
The coalition that secured a $36 billion tax deal to pump more money into Medi-Cal wants to make it harder for future administrations to spend that revenue elsewhere. The Coalition to Protect Access to Care — an amalgam of monied health care interests that includes representatives for doctors, hospitals, health plans and other key players — have filed paperwork to put a November 2024 ballot measure before voters that would make permanent a tax on health plans and funnel the revenue to certain parts of the health safety net. The measure, which was filed Wednesday with the attorney general and first reported here, would permanently authorize the tax. (Bluth, 9/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Health-Insurance Costs Are Taking Biggest Jumps In Years
Health-insurance costs are climbing at the steepest rate in years, with some projecting the biggest increase in more than a decade will wallop businesses and their workers in 2024. Costs for employer coverage are expected to surge around 6.5% for 2024, according to major benefits consulting firms Mercer and Willis Towers Watson, which provided their survey results exclusively to The Wall Street Journal. (Mathews, 9/7)

The Bakersfield Californian: Planning Commission’s Vote Brings VA Clinic A Big Step Closer 
Without the threat of environmental impact, the Bakersfield City Planning Commission stamped its unanimous approval Thursday on the long-awaited veterans outpatient clinic proposed in northwest Bakersfield, bringing to a clinch point a long-standing debacle that has stymied Kern's veterans. (Donegan, 9/8)

Sacramento Business Journal: Greater Sacramento Surgery Center Buys Building, Plans Expansion 
One of the most visible medical office buildings in the region has a new owner, with plans for some potential expansion. (van der Meer, 9/7)

Engadget: Walgreens Agrees To Pay $44 Million To Theranos Blood Test Customers
There was a time when Walgreens championed Theranos' blood tests and offered them at "wellness centers" in its stores. That was before it came to light that Theranos' tests were faulty, leading to a bitter breakup between the two companies. Now, according to Bloomberg, Walgreens has agreed to pay $44 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by customers who received flawed Theranos blood tests through its centers in Arizona and California. Lawyers for both sides struck a deal after a US district judge ordered the case to go to trial, and they filed a notice for a tentative settlement back in May. A court still has to approve the proposal, but based on the court filing by the plaintiffs, those customers will receive around double their out-of-pocket damages if the terms remain unaltered. (Moon, 9/8)

Modern Healthcare: HHS Proposes Nondiscrimination Rule For People With Disabilities
Healthcare providers would be required to make greater accommodations for patients with disabilities under a proposed rule the Health and Human Services Department announced Thursday. Primarily, the draft regulation seeks to prevent providers from turning away patients with disabilities based on an inability or an unwillingness to accommodate their needs. (Hartnett, 9/7)

Military Times: More Technical Problems Found With VA’s Disability Claims System
Veterans Affairs officials on Wednesday acknowledged additional technical problems with the department’s online disability claims filing process that affected tens of thousands more veterans than previously reported, raising new concerns about the reliability of the system. The news comes less than two weeks after VA leaders announced that about 32,000 disability claims had been lost in the computer systems for several months or years because of similar technical glitches. (Shane III, 9/6)

CapRadio: Sacramento State’s New Disability Cultural Center Offers Students A Place To Gather, Outside The Language Of Pathology
Students, faculty and staff at Sacramento State have a new resource: The Disability Cultural Center. It’s the first of its kind in the California State University system, and joins just over 20 similar spaces across the country — including UC Berkeley’s Disability Cultural Community Center, which opened its doors last year. And the center’s creation is emblematic of a growing recognition of ableism — the systemic discrimination and oppression of disabled people — and disability as an identity. (Salanga, 9/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bezos’ Ex Donates $20 Million To SF Affordable Housing Trust
Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $20 million to the San Francisco Community Land Trust, a local affordable housing nonprofit, according to a Wednesday press release. The organization called the gift “monumental” towards its efforts to acquire property and turn it into permanently affordable homes by placing it under community ownership. It also announced a new $60 million capital campaign, which it says will maximize the impact of the new funding. (Brown, 9/7)

Sacramento Bee: Homeless Union Files State Bar Complaint Against Sacramento D.A. 
A homeless advocacy group has filed a complaint with the State Bar of California against Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho, accusing him of urging city officials to violate a federal court order that temporarily bars them from clearing homeless camps. (Stanton, 9/7)

The Desert Sun: Testing Delayed For Water From Toxic Dump Leak, Riverside County Says
Riverside County declared a local emergency this week after discovering that flash flooding from last week's storm had caused water from a toxic dump site to flood into three nearby mobile home parks. (Rode, 9/7)

The Washington Post: This Was The World’s Hottest Summer On Record ‘By A Large Margin’ 
Fueled by unprecedented heat on much of Earth’s land and ocean surface, this summer was the planet’s hottest on record “by a large margin,” the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service announced Wednesday. August capped this summer’s extreme heat with a monthly average temperature of 62.3 degrees Fahrenheit (16.82 Celsius), which was 0.71 C warmer than the long-term average and 0.31 C warmer than the previous warmest August in 2016. It was the planet’s second-hottest month ever observed, closely following July, which was the hottest. (Stillman, 9/6)

Bloomberg: Pregnant Women Face Greater Health Risks In Excessive Heat
Exposure to extremely hot weather raises pregnant women’s risk of severe health complications, researchers said in a study coming at the tail end of the warmest summer on record. High outdoor temperatures during pregnancy were associated with a 27% increase in risk for such complications as sepsis, a potentially lethal reaction to infection, or dangerous increases in blood pressure, according to an 11-year review of more than 400,000 pregnancies in a Southern California health system. (LaPara, 9/7)

NPR: Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs Catch A Ride On Air Pollution Particles
It has long been suspected that particulate air pollution could transport antimicrobial-resistant bacteria that leak into the environment from farming, aquaculture, wastewater treatment and hospitals. The new research, from a team at Zhejiang University in China and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, set out to quantify the role of air pollution in the growing global AMR problem. The team found a strong association between particulate air pollution [in a given country and reports of clinical antibiotic resistance. (Spitzer. 9/7)

San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Suicide Rate Held Steady In 2022 
San Diego County’s suicide rate remains several percentage points better than the national average, according to the latest annual report card from the San Diego Suicide Prevention Council. (Sisson, 9/7)

The Bakersfield Californian: Dead Inmates' Families 'Hope For Change' After Filing Legal Action Against Local Jails 
Families of former Kern County inmates are seeking justice through legal action after alleging deputies’ failure to ensure inmates' safety led to their loved ones dying, according to documents released Thursday afternoon as part of the Board of Supervisors' agenda. (Desai, 9/8)

Voice Of San Diego: North County Report: What's A Public Health Care District Anyway?  
In 1945, right after World War II ended, California saw a severe shortage of hospital beds.  Those who lived in the more rural and lower income areas of the state had little access to basic health care. And the public and private hospitals that did exist were only in urban areas. That’s when state lawmakers enacted a new way for the public to create and access health care systems and facilities in their communities. These systems, though, come with strong oversight from the state and the public. They are called public health care districts and Palomar Health is one of them. (Layne, 9/6)

East Bay Times: How We Can Ease Emotional Struggles Of Family Caregivers
As family caregivers embark on a journey of compassion, selflessness, and dedication to those who need them most, behind the scenes lies a profound emotional burden that often goes unnoticed. (Christina Irving and Vanessa Souza, 9/7)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Solitary Confinement Is Needlessly Cruel, Inhumane 
When I was 17, I was sentenced to 45 years to life by a judge in San Diego County in 1995, for an action that I terribly regret. During more than 24 years of incarceration in Central California Women’s Facility and Valley State Prison for Women, I spent over three years in solitary confinement. This experience was by far the worst part of my imprisonment. (Niki Martinez, 9/5)

East Bay Times: Big Pharma Is Wrong. Negotiating Drug Prices Won't Hinder New Cures
Several pharmaceutical companies, including Merck, Johnson & Johnson and Bristol Myers Squibb; the key pharma lobbying group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA); and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have recently filed lawsuits against President Joe Biden’s administration, arguing that the Inflation Reduction Act provision that allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies is unconstitutional. (Colleen Grogan, 9/7)

San Diego Union-Tribune: FTC's Block Of Merger Halts Veterans' Cancer Care 
Every year, tens of thousands of veterans are diagnosed with cancer. In fact, veterans face a significantly higher risk of cancer than their civilian peers, often because of the hostile environments in which they served. Today the Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes an association between exposure to Agent Orange herbicide during the Vietnam War and an increased risk of developing various types of cancer, including non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, soft tissue sarcomas and certain respiratory cancers. (Charles J. Eggleston and Eric O. Johnson, 9/5)

San Diego Union-Tribune: How To Talk To Your Doctor About Breast Cancer 
As San Diego health care providers, we see the devastating impacts of women skipping their annual breast examinations and breast imaging. Early and accurate detection and treatment of breast cancer is essential; in fact, the survival rate for women diagnosed early with localized breast cancer is 99 percent. (Rakesh Patel and Kevin Lachapelle, 9/6)