Capitol Weekly: Former Assembly Speaker John Perez Eyes Top State Stem Cell Job 
Two persons with deep ties to the University of California (UC) have been nominated for the position of chair of the governing board of the $12 billion California stem cell agency. They are John A. Pérez, former chair of the UC board of regents and former leader of the state Assembly, and Emilie Marcus, executive strategy officer at the UCLA School of Medicine. It is now up to the 35-member stem cell agency board to choose between the two. The position has an expected salary range that tops out at $632,000. (Jensen, 9/21)

San Gabriel Valley Tribune: Signatures Gathered To Oppose Pay Hike For Healthcare Workers
Opponents of newly approved ordinances that give healthcare workers in several Southern California cities a $25-an-hour minimum wage have gathered enough signatures to put the issue before voters. (Smith, 9/21)

Voice of San Diego: New Mandate Could Further Stress San Diego’s Clogged Behavioral Health System
A shortage of long-term care options for behavioral health patients that has for years fueled a clogged care system became an even bigger problem during the pandemic. ... Those waits have wreaked havoc on the rest of the system and an upcoming state mandate to provide and compel treatment through the state’s new CARE Court initiative by October 2023 will put more pressure on the region’s limited options. (Halverstadt, 9/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: Court Reinstates Malpractice Suit Against UCSF By Woman Whose Child Was Stillborn
A state appeals court says a woman who had a stillborn child in 2016, three days after undergoing pregnancy-related treatment at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, can sue the hospital for alleged medical malpractice, overruling a judge’s decision that she had waited too long to sue. (Egelko, 9/21)

The Bakersfield Californian: Drive-Thru Flu Vaccine Clinic Provides Ounce Of Prevention At No Cost To Patients 
Health experts warn the upcoming flu season may arrive early and could be stronger than in the past couple of years, Michelle Willow, director of external communications for Dignity Health’s Southern California Division, said in an email. (Mayer, 9/13)

Palm Springs Desert Sun: How Bad Will Flu Season Be? Can I Get A Flu And Covid Shot Simultaneously? Your Questions Answered
As cooler, fall temperatures make their way to the Coachella Valley, residents will see the return of pumpkin spice everything, apple picking and, unfortunately, the flu season. (Sasic, 9/21)

Los Angeles Times: 7th LAUSD Teen Overdoses From Possible Fentanyl-Laced Pills
At least seven teenagers, including the 15-year-old Bernstein High School girl who died last week, have overdosed in the past month from pills possibly containing fentanyl, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The latest overdose occurred Saturday morning, when a 15-year-old student from STEM Academy of Hollywood, one of three schools located on the Bernstein campus, was found unconscious by his mother in their Hollywood residence, said LAPD Chief Michel Moore. (Lin and Blume, 9/21)

Sacramento Bee: Lawsuit Says Sacramento Used SMUD Data For Marijuana Fines
An Asian American nonprofit organization and a digital privacy advocacy group are suing the city of Sacramento and Sacramento Municipal Utility District, alleging the agencies targeted Asian Americans as they enforced local marijuana cultivation rules. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by the Asian American Liberation Network and the Electronic Fronteir Foundation in Sacramento Superior Court, alleges that SMUD is “searching entire zip codes’ worth of peoples’ private data and disclosing it” to the Sacramento Police Department in bulk, without a court order or investigation. (Morrar, 9/22)

Los Angeles Times: How Weed Legalization Went Wrong In California
Architects of the effort to legalize pot in California made big promises to voters. But six years later, California’s legal weed industry is in disarray with flawed policies, legal loopholes and stiff regulations hampering longtime growers and sellers. Despite expectations that it would become a model for the rest of the country, the state has instead provided a cautionary tale of lofty intentions and unkept promises. (McGreevy, 9/22)

CapRadio: As Sacramento Schools Try To Address The Mental Health Crisis, Vulnerable Students Suffer
Tears are streaming down Nakeya Bell’s face as she listens to students in her IQ Squad program, Amari Haysbert and Jenalyn Phanh, open up about their trauma. At just 18 years old, Haysbert and Phanh are both young women of color who say their lives were upended by unstable familial structures, housing insecurity and COVID-19 while attending high school. (Prabha, 9/22)

Los Angeles Times: What It's Like Working At Amazon During A Heat Wave 
As California prepared for what would be a record-setting heat wave this month, so too did workers at an Amazon air freight hub in San Bernardino. They distributed among a dozen colleagues handheld thermometers to covertly document workplace temperatures, then compiled the results in a first-of-its kind report about conditions at Amazon during extreme temperatures. (Hussain, 9/21)

Becker's Hospital Review: Omicron Boosters For Kids Expected By Mid-October: CDC
Retooled COVID-19 booster shots that target omicron subvariants could be authorized and available for children to receive within a month, the CDC said in an vaccination planning guide released Sept. 20. Pfizer is developing a bivalent vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, while Moderna's would be eligible for those ages 6 to 17.  (Bean, 9/21)

ABC News: Updated Boosters For Elementary School-Aged Children 'Weeks' From Authorization: FDA Vaccine Chief
"I'm confident that we're only a matter of weeks away" from authorizing the 5-11 age range, FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks said during an event with the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project. Marks said that the youngest age group, kids under 5, was still "a few months away" from authorization. (Jhaveri, Haslett and Salzman, 9/21)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Tests In 2020 Compromised Due To FDA’s Authorization Process
A report released Wednesday by the HHS Office of the Inspector General pointed to problems with test performance and said patients may have received inaccurate results. The report said the federal government needs to solicit input from a variety of stakeholders and overhaul its strategy ahead of the next pandemic. (Goldman, 9/21)

The Hill: Federal Judge Strikes Down Biden Administration’s Head Start Vaccine, Mask Mandate 
A federal judge in Louisiana on Wednesday struck down a mandate from the Biden administration that required staffers at Head Start child care facilities to be vaccinated and to wear masks. U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty issued a permanent injunction against federal agencies enforcing Head Start vaccine and masking requirements. (Choi, 9/21)

Becker's Hospital Review: US Healthcare Workers More Emotionally Exhausted Amid Pandemic, Study Says
Emotional exhaustion among U.S. healthcare workers worsened over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and threatens to compromise patient care, according to a Sept. 21 analysis from JAMA Network Open. (Tucker, 9/21)