San Francisco Chronicle: In-N-Out Violated The Vaccine Mandate In Contra Costa County, Too
The California burger chain In-N-Out has been refusing to check customer vaccination cards in Contra Costa County, drawing fines from the county’s health department. The popular restaurant made national headlines on Tuesday, when it was reported that it was the first San Francisco restaurant to be temporarily shut down for violating the city’s indoor vaccine mandate. In Contra Costa County, the Environmental Health Division received repeated complaints from residents that the location in Pleasant Hill was not checking customers’ vaccine cards for indoor dining, according to spokesperson Karl Fischer. That resulted in enforcement officers visiting In-N-Out three times, issuing a warning and then two fines totaling $750. In-N-Out didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. (Bitker, 10/20)

Los Angeles Times: Will In-N-Out Spark More COVID Vaccine Mandate Conflicts? 
The city had ordered the burger spot, and all other local restaurants, to screen patrons’ COVID-19 vaccination status before allowing them to dine indoors. When inspectors found In-N-Out wasn’t doing that, they temporarily closed the location. The fast-food chain publicly decried the action but took steps to reopen just a few days later. But as more communities across California require proof of vaccination for many retailers and other public venues, the battle over enforcement of the new rules is just beginning to heat up. Next month, the city of Los Angeles will require that eateries, shopping malls and many other indoor venues check customers’ vaccination status. (Money, Yee and Lin II, 10/21)

Orange County Register: Woman Who Refused To Wear Mask In Costa Mesa Grocery Store Convicted Of Trespassing 
A maskless woman who refused to leave a Costa Mesa grocery store was convicted of trespassing on Wednesday, after becoming the only person to go on trial in Orange County for not following pandemic-driven face-covering mandates at local businesses. (Emery, 10/20)

Los Angeles Times: O.C. Woman Who Refused To Wear A Mask Found Guilty Of Trespassing 
Marianne Campbell Smith’s defiance of anti-mask rules didn’t end at a Costa Mesa supermarket. In an unusual move, Orange County prosecutors took her to trial. On Wednesday, a jury found Smith, who is married to a sixth-generation heir of the Irvine development family, guilty of misdemeanor trespassing and obstructing a business or its customers. (Fry, 10/21)

Southern California News Group: LAUSD Sued Again Over Student Vaccination Mandate 
The Los Angeles Unified School District is facing another lawsuit over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students. This time, the nation’s second-largest K-12 system, along with interim Superintendent Megan Reilly and all seven school board members, are being sued by the California chapter of the Children’s Health Defense — a group founded by anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — as well as the Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids. (Tat, 10/20)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Case Cluster Closes L.A. County Campus 
Coronavirus infections led to the shutdown this week of a campus in Los Angeles County, the first such closure since school opened in the fall — and a situation that also led to the quarantine of a rival high school football team. View Park Preparatory High School, an independent charter school authorized by the L.A. Unified School District, has shuttered its campus for the entire week, returning to remote learning out of an abundance of caution, according to the charter’s senior administrator. (Blume, 10/21)

Modesto Bee: Board Approves COVID-19 Testing For Modesto Junior College 
The Yosemite Community College District board voted Wednesday to approve a COVID-19 testing program despite concerns it’s not enough to prevent outbreaks when a large number of students return to classrooms at Modesto Junior College and Columbia College for the spring 2022 semester. The resolution, approved on a 5-2 vote Wednesday evening, does not include a COVID vaccination mandate that’s common at many universities in California and is imposed at some community colleges. (Carlson, 10/21)

Modesto Bee: Stanislaus School District Shares Test Scores, Enrollment
Leaders at Modesto City Schools on Monday shared data revealing how the COVID-19 pandemic affected students’ academic performance. “Across the board, there’s learning loss,” said Heather Contreras, assistant superintendent for school leadership. The district’s annual report to the school board on student outcomes covered a wide range of measures, including state test scores, graduation rates and enrollment trends. (Isaacman, 10/21)

Los Angeles Times: COVID-Era Learning Challenges LAUSD After School Closures 
For months, educators have been warning about the devastating effects the pandemic and school closures would have on student academic progress. But a first-of-its-kind Los Angeles Times analysis of data offers a particularly alarming assessment of the impact on L.A. students, showing deep drops in assessment scores or below grade-level standing in key areas of learning. Black, Latino and other vulnerable children have been particularly hard hit. (Esquivel and Lee, 10/21)

Los Angeles Times: Court Tosses Order Aimed At Protecting Detainees From COVID-19 
A federal appeals court decided 2 to 1 Wednesday to overturn a nationwide order requiring federal immigration authorities to monitor and possibly release detainees at high risk of dying or suffering long-term complications from COVID-19. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said a Riverside-based federal district judge overreached when he issued a preliminary injunction in April 2020 requiring the government to identify and track immigration detainees with certain health risks and establish directives for release during the pandemic. (Dolan, 10/20)

Sacramento Bee: How COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted CA Agricultural Workers 
Indigenous farmworkers’ deep distrust of the healthcare system made it even more difficult for them to access vital medical services during the coronavirus pandemic, exacerbating long-standing health disparities, according to a new study of more than 300 agricultural workers in California. The report, conducted by the Davis-based California Institute for Rural Studies and various grassroots organizations, finds 54% of the participants said costs, lack of insurance and lack of protections like sick leave posed significant barriers that prevented them from accessing healthcare. Another 13% said their fear of government agencies prevented them from seeking care, according to the study. (Lopez, 10/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: What The White House's Vaccination Plan For Younger Kids Means For The Bay Area
Wendy Matheny and her husband are among the millions of parents around the country weighing whether to vaccinate their elementary schoolchildren — who’d be the youngest group yet to get the shot — once vaccines are available. That day looks to be coming soon: A key Food and Drug Administration committee is slated to review the matter Tuesday, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will likely recommend the shots the first week of November. The White House on Wednesday announced plans to roll out the vaccine to the nation’s 28 million children in this age group, once regulators sign off. About 15 million doses, with smaller needles, will be shipped to providers immediately after authorization, White House officials said, and kids should be able to get shots at pediatricians’ offices, drugstores or even schools. (Ho, 10/20)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: CDC Approval Of Vaccine Will Make 37,000 Kids Eligible In Sonoma County
Federal approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5-11 appears closer than ever, and acceptance can’t come soon enough for some Sonoma County parents. “People are very excited, because they’ve seen what COVID has done to their family members,” said Dr. Urmila Shende, the county’s vaccine chief and a practicing pediatrician. “Many of them are just waiting for vaccine to be here, particularly as the holidays come upon us.” (Barber, 10/20)

Los Angeles Times: COVID-19 Vaccine Protects Teens, Even Against Delta Variant 
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the first COVID-19 vaccine for use in adolescents as young as 12, regulators based their decision on clinical trial data collected before the Delta variant became the dominant coronavirus strain. That left open the question of whether the vaccine’s real-world protection was still as good as advertised. Two new studies provide strong reassurance that the answer is yes. (Kaplan, 10/20)

Sacramento Bee: UC Davis Health To Build Hospital On New Campus In Folsom 
UC Davis Health announced Wednesday that it is planning a micro-hospital, ambulatory surgery center, outpatient medical office building and hotel on a 34.5-acre site in Folsom. The health system also reported that it is partnering with AKT Development Corp. and Angelo K. Tsakopoulos to develop a high-technology residential development near the medical campus it plans at the intersection of East Bidwell Street and Highway 50. (Anderson, 10/20)

The Bakersfield Californian: Mobile Health Clinic Launched Wednesday Designed To Expand Access To Kern's Rural Residents 
It's 38 feet long and boasts two exam rooms, a telemedicine station, an ADA-compliant restroom, a medical refrigerator and freezer, a lab, an intake and preventive care area and four outside security cameras. Oh yeah, and it travels on four wheels. In an effort to expand access to health care in Kern County's rural communities, Adventist Health officially "powered up" its new mobile health clinic at an event held Wednesday in McFarland. (Mayer, 10/20)

San Gabriel Valley Tribune: 148 Elder-Care Workers Getting More Than $8.3 Million In Wage Theft Case 
Nearly 150 former workers of an elder-care business in West Hills will be paid more than $8.3 million in a wage theft investigation that found employees were subjected to “oppressive” conditions and paid as little as $2.40 hourly, according to the state Labor Commissioner’s Office. The Oct. 1 judgment will compensate 148 employees who worked at six Adat Shalom Board & Care locations. It upholds wage-theft citations issued to the business and owner Angelica Reingold in 2018. (Smith, 10/20)

Los Angeles Times: Noxious Smell In Carson Now Expected To Linger Into The Weekend 
The noxious smell plaguing Carson residents would dissipate by the middle of this week, Los Angeles County officials said. But Wednesday — right about when the smell was supposed to go away — the officials revised their timeline. Efforts to combat the odor have been hampered by low supplies of a biodegradable neutralizer. And workers initially sprayed at high tide, causing much of the neutralizer to wash away. (Campa, 10/20)

AP: Reports: Health Problems Tied To Global Warming On The Rise
Health problems tied to climate change are all getting worse, according to two reports published Wednesday. The annual reports commissioned by the medical journal Lancet tracked 44 global health indicators connected to climate change, including heat deaths, infectious diseases and hunger. All of them are getting grimmer, said Lancet Countdown project research director Marina Romanello, a biochemist. “Rising temperatures are having consequences,” said University of Washington environmental health professor Kristie Ebi, a report co-author. (Borenstein, 10/21)

USA Today: Climate Change And Heat Waves Are Affecting Health In Deadly Ways
Working construction under the merciless Arizona sun, Eleazar Castellanos knew the signs that heat exhaustion was settling in. On the days when the temperature would top 100 degrees, he and his coworkers would sweat profusely. Then came the cramps in their arms and legs, and the overwhelming urge to stop: take a break, get some water, cool down. But they couldn’t. Not if they wanted to get paid and return home to their families as breadwinners. “Many of the employers don’t understand, we need to have breaks, to have water,” Castellanos said. “You don’t stop, because you know if you stop, you stop getting money. We try to get it done whatever the situation is.” (Bagenstose, 10/20)

The Washington Post: Wildfire Smoke Harms More People In The Eastern U.S. Than West, Study Shows
On July 20, a curious haze blanketed the sky across the eastern half of the United States. Sunsets appeared redder than normal, the atmosphere looked gray and dense and air quality plummeted. People from Washington to Philadelphia to New York snapped pictures of the abnormal hues — only to learn that the cause originated from wildfires nearly 3,000 miles away. As large fires smolder in the western United States, the smoke can travel across the country, blanketing large population centers. Now, a recent study shows that smoke, from both western wildfires and local sources, may be more harmful to residents in the eastern United States than many think. (Patel, 10/20)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Back Country Pot Shops To Expand Under New San Diego County Cannabis Law 
Cannabis shops in unincorporated San Diego County got the green light to expand Wednesday after the Board of Supervisors voted in a split decision to allow them to increase facility size and the range of products they offer. The second reading of a new ordinance finalizes a decision the board made earlier this month to remove the sunset date from the permits of five back country dispensaries and allow them to expand their businesses by up to 10,000 square feet without undergoing an environmental review. (Brennan, 10/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: Officials Say They're Ready To Announce What Killed A Family Hiking In Mariposa County
Mariposa County investigators will end the mystery of how a family and their dog died together on a remote hiking trail when they announce their causes of death Thursday. The Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday it will hold a news conference “regarding the cause of death and final investigative update on the Gerrish/Chung case.” (Gani, 10/20)

Los Angeles Times: We Know How To Fix The Syphilis Surge. Will We Do It? 
Twenty-one years ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that national adult cases of syphilis had reached their lowest levels ever, and entirely eliminating the disease among newborns seemed to be within reach. But syphilis cases have risen dramatically over the last decade for both adults and infants — even though the disease is curable, and even though we could protect babies by getting pregnant people tested and treated in time. (Alpert Reyes, 10/21)

San Diego Union-Tribune: Clear Your Medicine Cabinets Of Unwanted Prescriptions With Drug Drop-Off 
Saturday is your chance to rid your home of unused, expired and unwanted prescription drugs. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will be hosting 19 drop-off sites throughout San Diego County, as well as one in Imperial County, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. as part of the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. (Davis, 10/20)

San Diego Union-Tribune: County, Partners To Create Fentanyl Awareness Campaign To Target Teens, Youth Adults 
Alarmed by a surge in overdose deaths, San Diego County officials say they plan to work with schools and local agencies to focus a fentanyl awareness campaign on teens and young adults who may be considering buying pills on the street. The board voted 5-0 on Tuesday to back a proposal, drafted by Supervisor Jim Desmond with the help of District Attorney Summer Stephan, that calls for development of a prevention campaign targeting high school and college-age students. (Kucher, 10/20)

Orange County Register: Addiction: Anaheim Firm To Test Implant That Blunts A Drug User’s High 
As deadly fentanyl shows up in just about every street drug, and as overdose deaths are expected to hit an all-time high of 100,000 this year, an Anaheim company is closer to bringing a potentially life-saving implant to market. BioCorRx’s sustained-release naltrexone implant. BioCorRx hit a major milestone earlier this year when it got clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to proceed to human trials for BICX104, its naltrexone implant for opioid use disorder. (Sforza, 10/20)

Los Angeles Times: Using New Law, L.A. City Council Bans Homeless Encampments At 54 Spots 
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a ban on camping at certain locations, in the first use of new laws that passed over the summer. In a 12-2 vote, the council outlawed sitting, sleeping and lying at 54 locations in three of its districts. Amid contentious debate over the summer, the council enacted new rules regulating sitting, sleeping and storing property near fire hydrants, building entrances, driveways, libraries, parks, elementary schools and several other locations. (Oreskes, 10/20)

Los Angeles Times: VA To House Homeless Veterans Camped Around Its West L.A. Campus 
The Department of Veterans Affairs aims to place more than 500 unhoused veterans living in Los Angeles, including 40 from the high-profile Veterans Row encampment in Brentwood, into housing by the end of the year. Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough said Wednesday that the initiative would be completed in two parts: first to house the about 40 veterans from Veterans Row by November, then to house an additional 500 unhoused veterans by the end of December. (Martinez and Oreskes, 10/20)

Los Angeles Times: Las Vegas Motel Provides Eviction Relief Amid COVID Economy 
For tens of thousands of Americans nationwide, mostly in large cities, the ongoing health crisis, slow economic recovery and expiration of the federal and state eviction moratoriums have forced them into motels such as the Desert Moon. The Supreme Court in late August struck down the Biden administration’s moratorium on evictions that was set to expire Oct. 3, and Congress has yet to pass measures to reinstate it. (Lee, 10/21)