The Associated Press: Officials Tight-Lipped In Attack On California Veterans Home
Authorities in Northern California have so far been tight-lipped about why a former Army rifleman may have killed three women after a daylong siege at a veterans home in Napa County wine country. Albert Wong, 36, slipped into a going-away party for two employees of The Pathway Home on the campus of the Yountville veterans home campus about 50 miles north of San Francisco on Friday, then let some people leave, but kept the three women. (3/12)

The New York Times: Gunman And 3 Hostages Found Dead At California Veterans Home
Three women and the gunman who took them hostage were found dead Friday evening at a home for military veterans in Northern California, hours after the gunman had fired at a deputy, the authorities said. Assistant Chief Chris Childs of the California Highway Patrol said the four people were found shortly before 6 p.m. local time inside a room at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville, where the hostages had been taken. (Stevens and Philipps, 3/9)

CNN: Gunman At California Veterans' Home 'Wanted To Get Back At Them' But 'Not Kill'
Authorities said that Albert Wong, a 36-year-old Army veteran, used to be a resident of the Pathway Home, the Yountville facility where he engaged police in a standoff Friday. The Pathway Home, which operates out of the Veterans Home of California, is a nonprofit that helps post-9/11 military veterans reintegrate into civilian life, including by counseling clients with post-traumatic stress disorder. (Hackney and Sterling, 3/11)

The Washington Post: Surfing As A PTSD Therapy Being Studied By Navy
In song and prose, surfing has long been celebrated as a way to soothe the mind and invigorate the body. But scientific evidence has been limited. Now the Navy has embarked on a $1 million research project to determine whether surfing has therapeutic value, especially for military personnel with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or sleep problems. Researchers say surfing offers great promise as therapy. It is a challenging exercise in an outdoor environment; people surf individually or in groups; military surfers who are reluctant to attend traditional group therapy open up about their common experiences when talking to other surfers on the beach. (Perry, 3/10)

The Washington Post: Fertility Clinic Informs Hundreds Of Patients Their Eggs May Have Been Damaged
A long-established San Francisco fertility clinic experienced a liquid nitrogen failure in a storage tank holding thousands of frozen eggs and embryos for future use, jeopardizing tissue hundreds of women had stored in hopes of having children. The March 4 incident at Pacific Fertility Clinic, acknowledged Sunday by the facility’s president, followed a similar malfunction the same weekend at an unrelated clinic in Cleveland, the University Hospitals Fertility Center. (Goldstein, 3/11)

KPCC: Deadline Looms To Find Shelter For OC Homeless In Motels
More than two weeks after Orange County officials cleared a homeless encampment and put nearly 700 people in motels, the deadline is looming for a more permanent solution. Under a legal settlement that allowed the 2-mile long Santa Ana River encampment to be cleared in February, the county is supposed to help find alternative housing for evictees before their 30-day motel vouchers are up. That could be the end of this week for some people. (Replogle, 3/12)

In other news —

Los Angeles Times: 'Eye-Popping' Number Of Hypodermic Needles, Pounds Of Waste Cleared From Orange County Riverbed Homeless Encampment
Crews from the Orange County Public Works department have collected nearly 14,000 hypodermic needles and cleared more than 5,000 pounds of hazardous waste — including human waste — from the vast homeless encampment along the Santa Ana River trail. The numbers, released last week, represent cleanup work done from Jan. 22 to March 3 along a two-mile stretch of trail spanning the 5 Freeway in Orange to Ball Road in Anaheim. (Do, 3/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: Deaths Of Homeless People Go Uncounted In Oakland — And Most Places
Like many local governments, Alameda County does not collect data on how many homeless people die each year or their causes of death. Even if it did, neither the state nor federal government tracks such data — or requires that it be collected. (Veklerov, 3/10)

KPBS: San Diego’s Somalis Worried About Mental Health Needs 
Research shows refugees are at a high risk for mental disorders, and some may inadvertently pass those symptoms on to their kids. But because of cultural stigmas and language challenges, they may not be fully addressed. (Mento, 3/12)

In other news —

The Mercury News: Stuck In Limbo, DACA Recipients Consumed By Fear And Anxiety
As the latest deadlines to salvage the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program passed with no action this month — and U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions announced the Trump Administration is suing California over its sanctuary laws — the chronic sense of foreboding among immigrants across the Bay Area is taking its emotional toll. ... Mental health experts and advocates say the fears and uncertainties plaguing undocumented immigrants and their families are causing “toxic stress” that can have long-term health effects, including problems sleeping and eating, headaches, vomiting, depression and anxiety. (Sanchez and Sulek, 3/9)

Capital Public Radio: Tribal Lands To Get Funding Boost To Curb Opioid Crisis
Across the country, American Indian and Native Alaskan people die from unintentional drug poisoning at almost twice the rate of the overall population. In California, a new state program is hoping to solve that problem with a focus on addiction therapy. (Caiola, 3/9)

In other news from across the state —

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Influential Parent Group At Sonoma Developmental Center Looks To Uncertain Future
It was a bittersweet goodbye Saturday when several dozen parents, siblings and other conservators of people still living at Sonoma Developmental Center gathered tearfully for the last time on the Eldridge campus. The Parent Hospital Association, which has fought, often fiercely, for the rights and care of residents since the 1970s — frequently raising their voices in Sacramento — mourned their lost battle to keep at least a part of the center open for clients with severe medical and behavior issues they fear the community isn’t equipped to handle. (McConahey, 3/10)

Oakland Tribune: Oakland Unified Amid Water Tap Overhaul To Get The Lead Out
In the year-and-a-half after concerns over McClymonds High School’s water quality surfaced, Oakland Unified has undergone a districtwide overhaul of its drinkable water taps. In the past seven months, the district has tested taps at most of its aging schools, childhood development centers and Oakland charter schools to find that 22 Oakland schools in addition to McClymonds had at least one tap with lead levels above federal and state standards, according to the district’s website. Those taps were taken out of service and many have either been replaced or fixed. (Tadayon, 3/9)

The San Diego Union-Tribune: Hundreds Walk To Raise Money And Awareness In Largest Annual Gathering Of San Diego Brain Injury Survivors 
The 11th annual Walk for Recovery at Mission Bay Park helped raise more than $40,000 for the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation. Founded in 1983, the nonprofit serves as a resource for survivors of brain trauma, their caregivers and their families, offering hope and support while supplying the best information about advances in medical treatment. The charity estimates that more than 11,000 people are affected by brain injury each year in San Diego County, a figure that includes victims and their families but excludes active-duty military members who also face head trauma in accidents and combat. (Prine, 3/10)

The New York Times: Trump To Push Ahead On Gun Training For School Employees, White House Says
President Trump is planning to move ahead with his contentious proposal to provide firearms training to school employees and intends to establish a federal commission to examine other proposals, like his suggestion to raise the age to purchase some weapons, White House officials said on Sunday night. But the administration’s efforts appeared to be piecemeal and of limited scope, falling far short of the language Mr. Trump has used for weeks about the need to end the scourge of school shootings, including at a dramatic meeting with relatives of victims of the Parkland, Fla., massacre. (Haberman, 3/11)

The Wall Street Journal: White House Unveils Proposals To Reduce Gun Violence At Schools
The White House blueprint, which comes in the wake of last month’s mass shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school, calls for “hardening our schools” by instituting security procedures comparable to those in airports, sports stadiums and government buildings. One way to do that, the White House said, is to use Justice Department grants to train school personnel to carry weapons “on a voluntary basis.” (Bender, 3/11)

The Associated Press: Trump Backs Off Push For Raising Assault Rifle Purchase Age
The White House unveiled a new plan to prevent school shootings that backs off President Donald Trump's support for increasing the minimum age for purchasing assault weapons to 21. Instead, a new federal commission on school safety will examine the age issue as part of a package the White House announced Sunday in response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, last month that left 17 dead. (3/12)

The Associated Press: Gun Background Check System Riddled With Flaws
Recent mass shootings have spurred Congress to try to improve the nation's gun background check system that has failed on numerous occasions to keep weapons out of the hands of dangerous people. The problem with the legislation, experts say, is that it only works if federal agencies, the military, states, courts and local law enforcement do a better job of sharing information with the background check system — and they have a poor track record in doing so. Some of the nation's most horrific mass shootings have revealed major holes in the database reporting system, including massacres at Virginia Tech in 2007 and at a Texas church last year. (3/10)

The Associated Press: Lots Of Talk, Little Action On Curbing Health Care Costs
It started as a bipartisan attempt to curb soaring health care premiums. But Congress' effort to stabilize the nation's insurance markets is faltering amid escalating demands by each party and erratic positions by President Donald Trump. Democrats want bigger federal subsidies for consumers under President Barack Obama's health care law while Republicans, still fighting that statute, aim to relax its coverage requirements and win abortion restrictions. (3/12)

The Hill: Liberal Group Warns ObamaCare Funds Would Do 'More Harm Than Good' 
A liberal group is warning against funding ObamaCare payments that are at the center of a debate in Congress, marking a shift from Democrats’ earlier position on the payments. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on Friday published an analysis warning against funding the payments, known as cost-sharing reductions (CSRs), which are the at the center of a bipartisan bill aimed at stabilizing the ObamaCare marketplaces. The bill could be included in a government funding measure this month. (Sullivan, 3/9)

In other national news —

The New York Times: Seeking Cheaper Health Insurance, Idaho Bucks Affordable Care Act
In this rugged state of jagged peaks and black volcanic soils, people struggle to make a living and get good health care. Only Mississippi has lower average weekly wages, and in the last few years, about 110,000 people in Idaho, a state of only 1.7 million, have been priced out of the health insurance market by rising premiums, insurance industry estimates show. This is also a deeply conservative place, where dismantling or weakening the Affordable Care Act — the signature law of the Obama administration — has been a longstanding priority for the governor and the Republican-dominated Legislature. Now those two powerful trends are colliding. (Johnson and Pear, 3/9)

The Hill: Idaho Governor Not Backing Down From Attempt To Skirt ObamaCare 
Idaho's Gov. Butch Otter (R) is not backing down from a plan to skirt ObamaCare rules with new state health insurance plans, despite a letter from the Trump administration saying the plan appeared to violate federal law. Otter said Friday that, despite a letter warning the state about its plans this week, the Trump administration is not asking the state to back down and discussions remain open. (Sullivan, 3/9)

The Associated Press: Trump Uses Page From 'Smart Policymaking 101' On Health Care
A smartphone app that lets Medicare patients access their claims information. Giving consumers a share of drug company rebates for their prescriptions. Wider access to websites that reliably compare cost and quality of medical tests. The Trump administration is taking a pragmatic new tack on health care, with officials promising consumer friendly changes and savings in areas from computerized medical records to prescription drugs. New Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has been rolling out the agenda, saying it has the full backing of President Donald Trump. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/10)

The Associated Press: Insurers Get Into Care, But Is It Good For Your Health?
In the not-too-distant future, your health insurance, your prescription drugs and some of your treatment may come from the same company. Insurers are dropping billions of dollars on acquisitions and expansions in order to get more involved in customer health. They say this push can help cut costs and improve care, in part by keeping the sickest patients healthy and out of expensive hospitals.That's a huge potential benefit for employers and other customers stressed by rising costs. But is this good for your health? (3/9)

Bloomberg: Cigna To Draw Antitrust Scrutiny Amid Health-Care Deal Wave 
Cigna Corp.’s proposed deal for Express Scripts Holding Co. faces a drawn-out merger review as the Trump administration’s antitrust enforcers weigh the competitive effects of a wave of consolidation sweeping the health-care industry. The tie-up of the insurer and pharmacy benefit manager comes on the heels of CVS Health Corp.’s agreement to buy insurer Aetna Inc. In both combinations, the companies say they’ll become more efficient firms and help lower health-care costs. Whether customers are actually poised to benefit is the key question for antitrust enforcers. (McLaughlin, 3/9)

The Wall Street Journal: House Introduces ‘Right To Try’ Legislation To Permit Use Of Unproven Drugs For Dying Patients
A House of Representatives committee early Saturday issued its version of “Right to Try” legislation that would enable a terminally ill patient to use an unproven, investigational drug in an effort to save that person’s life. Such legislation was passed in August by the Senate and supported by President Donald Trump in his State of the Union address. The conservative Goldwater Institute, which has helped such bills become law in 38 states, has been a prime driver of the idea. (Burton, 3/10)

Modern Healthcare: Without The 'Angelina Jolie Effect,' Genetic Testing For Prostate Cancer Languishes 
Thanks to actress Angelina Jolie's public announcement about her breast cancer treatment five years ago, there is broad public awareness about the value of gene testing to identify breast cancer risk associated with mutations in the BRCA genes. Since then, demand for BRCA genetic testing among women has increased. Now researchers are finding growing evidence of strong links between prostate cancer in men and mutations in the BRCA 1, BRCA 2 and other genes. A groundbreaking study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2016 found mutations in those DNA-repair genes in 11.8% of men with metastatic prostate cancer, compared with 2.7% of men without a known cancer diagnosis. (Meyer, 3/10)