Sacramento Bee: No More ‘Sell By’ Stickers. Gavin Newsom Signs Bill Standardizing Food Package Labels
When does that food actually expire? We’ll soon know. California Gov. Gavin Newsom over the weekend signed Assembly Bill 660 into law, which standardizes food package labeling. It will have to read either “best if used by” to denote peak product freshness or “use by” to denote when a food product is no longer safe to eat. The law also bans retailers from using public-facing “sell by” stickers that simply denotes when stock should be rotated and which can confuse some consumers. (Sheeler, 9/30)

Los Angeles Times: After L.A. Times Investigation, Newsom Signs Bill On Child Welfare
A new state law cracks down on accountability for providers of parenting classes that are often court-ordered in child abuse and neglect cases but have gone unregulated and have failed to keep children out of danger. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 3145 on Sunday, which creates the Foster Care Justice through Meaningful Help for Parents Act and requires that parenting courses provided as part of “family preservation services” prove that those services are actually working. The bill also requires that the California Department of Social Services publish an annual report on the data for the first time. (Mays, 9/30)

Los Angeles Times: Newsom Vetoes Bill Allowing Suits Over Sex Abuse At Juvenile Facilities
Many people who say they were raped or molested while confined at California juvenile facilities are out of time to sue the county governments that oversaw their care. On Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have changed the statute of limitations to give people sexually abused in juvenile facilities more time to sue. His decision infuriated victim advocates, who accused him of bowing to pressure from local officials concerned about how to pay for an onslaught of litigation. (Ellis, 10/1)

Times of San Diego: Lawsuit Filed Against County-Run Children's Center, Alleging Widespread Abuses
San Diego County has been named in a series of civil lawsuits on behalf of more than a hundred people, alleging a pattern of widespread abuse against children at the A.B. and Jesse Polinsky Children’s Center. The Polinsky Children’s Center is a county-run emergency shelter in Kearny Mesa for children who cannot remain with their families because of widespread abuse or neglect. (Binkowski, 10/1)

Los Angeles Times: Newsom Signs Law Regulating Active-Shooter Drills In Schools
After a series of controversial active-shooter drills at California schools involving a masked man using a fake gun, Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill into law to restrict how these drills are carried out across the state. Assembly Bill 1858, also known as the Safe and Prepared Schools Act, will standardize school active-shooter drills and direct the state’s Department of Education to update its guidance. Newsom signed the bill into law last week; it will go into effect Jan. 1. (Lin, 9/30)

Los Angeles Times: New Teaching Credential Will Change How Transitional Kindergartners Learn 
A new teaching credential is centering social and emotional development and playful learning in transitional kindergarten as it prepares the next wave of teachers. (Gold, 9/30)

CalMatters: As Heat Rises, Kids Are Sweltering In CA Schools With No AC
In her fifth grade class in a Los Angeles school, on a day when outdoor temperatures reached 116 degrees, the heat gave Lilian Chin a headache. The air conditioner in her classroom was broken. Her fingers felt numb and she vomited in class, according to her mother. The nurse wasn’t available, so she was sent back to her hot classroom. By the time the school day was over and Lilian made it to her mother’s air conditioned car, she was exhausted and red-faced. At home, she vomited again and got a leg cramp. Veronica Chin rushed her 11-year-old daughter to an emergency room, where she was diagnosed with heat exhaustion — a serious condition that leads to a life-threatening heat stroke if not treated promptly. (Reyes-Velarde, 10/1)

CalMatters: CA Schools Race To Spend Pandemic Money Before They Lose It
Despite the dire forecast for education funding, some California schools may soon find themselves doing something counter-intuitive: returning money to the government. The deadline for committing federal COVID-19 relief money is Sept. 30, and schools that haven’t planned to spend their money by then or received an extension must send it back to the U.S. Department of Education. (Jones, 9/30)

Los Angeles Blade: How Will California’s New IVF Law Impact LGBTQ+ Families?
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed California Senate Bill 729 into law on Sunday, giving California families unobstructed coverage for fertility treatments, in vitro fertilization and other family planning through major insurance plans and policies. Senator Caroline Menjivar introduced the bill last spring and since then, Republicans have amassed an attack toward IVF and fertility treatments. (Palomera, 9/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: Study: Anti-Trans Laws Led To Major Uptick In Trans Suicide Attempts
Implementing laws that attack the rights of transgender individuals led to a rise in suicide attempts among trans and nonbinary young people who live in states where the legislation was passed, according to a new study that LGBTQ advocates say underscores how serious a threat these laws pose. Suicide attempts increased by as much as 72% for some young people in the years after anti-transgender legislation was put in place, researchers with the Trevor Project found. They published their findings last week in the journal Nature Human Behavior. (Allday, 9/30)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Sonoma County’s Emergency Room For Psychiatric Patients Closed Suddenly Due To Mold. Hospitals Are Feeling The Strain
Nearly two months after Sonoma County’s only emergency department for psychiatric patients had to shut down due to a severe mold infestation, local hospitals are now feeling the strain in their own caseloads. (Espinoza, 9/30)

The Boston Globe: CVS Announces It Will Lay Off 2,900 Workers, Is Reported To Be Considering Breakup
CVS Health said Monday that it will lay off about 2,900 people amid pressure from investors to cut costs and improve its financial performance. And more dramatic changes could be coming soon. A spokesperson for the health care giant, which has long been based in Woonsocket, R.I., and operates health insurer Aetna in Hartford, confirmed the cuts, which will primarily fall on corporate roles. (Logan, 9/30)

Bloomberg: Baxter’s North Cove Plant In North Carolina Closed As Helene Damages Inventory
Baxter International Inc. has closed its biggest manufacturing facility after it was damaged when Hurricane Helene ripped through the US Southeast, causing widespread power outages and flooding. Baxter’s North Cove plant, located in Marion, North Carolina, is the largest manufacturer of intravenous and peritoneal dialysis solutions in the country. The disruption is expected to negatively impact the company’s financial results, according to a statement it released Sunday. (Muller, 9/30)

Axios: Hurricane Sends New Shudders Through Health Supply Chain
A Baxter International plant responsible for making IV fluids for most U.S. hospitals is among the major casualties from Hurricane Helene. The closure illustrated yet again how taking a single plant offline can trigger a domino effect felt around the world. "It's a very serious situation," said Allan Coukell, chief government affairs officer for the hospital-owned drugmaker Civica Rx, which is addressing supply chain constraints within its consortium of health system and pharma members. (Reed, 10/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: California DMV Drops Written Test Requirement For Most Drivers Over 70
Driver’s license renewals just got easier for older drivers in California. The California Department of Motor Vehicles announced Monday that it will no longer require most drivers age 70 and older to take a written knowledge test when renewing their licenses. ... Despite this change, drivers age 70 and older must still visit a DMV office for a vision exam and an updated photo when renewing their licenses. (Vaziri, 9/30)

The Washington Post: Plastic Surgeons Say The ‘Ballet Body’ Is The New Trend. Here’s What That Means. 
In its annual report of yearly procedures for 2023, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons dubbed the new popular look the “ballet body.” Fueled by the rise of the blockbuster GLP-1 drugs, including Ozempic and Wegovy, thinness appears to be making a comeback in the trend cycle. The reigning surgeries in the United States last year were liposuction, breast augmentation and the tummy tuck. And women displayed an increased preference for a smaller size of surgically sculpted breasts and buttocks, ASPS president Steven Williams said in an interview. (Vinall, 10/1)

CalMatters: Late Payments Hamper California’s Fight Against Homelessness
California’s homeless service providers have a problem: They aren’t getting paid on time, and it’s making it even harder for them to get people off the street. Nonprofits that provide everything from shelter beds, to counseling for homeless residents, to affordable housing, say they regularly are kept waiting weeks, if not months, for the city, county and state funding they rely on. That means they’re struggling to pay their employees, make rent payments for their clients, and, in some cases, even keep the lights on. Some are turning down new projects despite the massive need for services in their communities. (Kendall, 10/1)

KQED: CARE Court Was Supposed To Help Those Hardest To Treat. Here's How It's Going
When it rolled out last year in eight counties, CARE Court took aim at one of the state’s most vexing challenges: how to treat people whose illness often makes them believe they are not sick and who, if left untreated, can oscillate between jails, hospitals and homelessness. Using the weight of a judge’s black robe to nudge county health departments’ doctors in white coats to provide an array of services, the program sought to reach the hardest-to-treat cases. (Baldassari, 10/1)

Politico: New Poll Shows Where Californians Stand On Drug Penalties And Rent Control 
California voters strongly favor tougher penalties for drug use and theft. But their feelings are far more mixed on expanding rent control — and there is no clear front-runner in the 2026 race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to a new public poll. The survey, conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California, California State University Long Beach and Cal Poly Pomona and exclusively shared with POLITICO, reflected a conservative shift in how Californians view criminal justice issues, despite remaining overwhelmingly Democratic. (Gardiner, 9/30)

Voice of OC: Orange County Debates How California Should Address Street Crime
City officials across Orange County are publicly showing support for a statewide measure on the November ballot dubbed Prop. 36 that aims to increase punishment on certain drug and theft crimes and is expected to significantly increase costs for state prisons and courts. It would also create a new court process where people charged with a drug possession crime in certain circumstances will be forced to go to rehab or serve jail time. (Elattar, 10/1)

The Atlantic: The GOP’s Tipping Point On Weed
If Florida passes the amendment [that would legalize recreational cannabis], the state would become something of an aberration. Although 24 other states already have legal pot on the books, just four of them voted for Donald Trump in 2020: Alaska, Missouri, Ohio, and Montana. Many top Republicans remain vehemently against legal weed, warning that the drug brings disorder and health risks, especially as marijuana has become more potent. (Florko, 9/30)

Reuters: Harris Talks Racial Identity, Marijuana On Basketball Podcast 
Vice President Kamala Harris addressed Donald Trump's comments on her racial identity, the value she places on mental health, and her support for legalizing marijuana with former NBA stars Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on a podcast that aired on Monday. ... Harris reiterated a view she had expressed before becoming the Democrats' presidential candidate in July that cannabis should be decriminalized, citing the disproportionate impact that marijuana criminalization has had on Black people. "We know historically what that has meant and who has gone to jail." (Borter, 9/30)

NPR: Fentanyl's Pipeline Into The U.S. May Be Drying Up
This summer, Dan Ciccarone, a physician and street drug researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, sent a team to gather data on the city's streets in areas where illicit fentanyl has been a killer for years. They found something unexpected. "The fentanyl supply is drying up for some reason," Ciccarone said. "Hang out on the streets, talk to people — the drugs are hard to find and more expensive." (Mann, 10/1)

AP: Criminals Set Up Fake Online Pharmacies To Sell Deadly Counterfeit Pills, Prosecutors Say 
A network of illegal drug sellers based in the U.S., the Dominican Republic and India packaged potentially deadly synthetic opioids into pills disguised as common prescription drugs and sold millions of them through fake online drugstores, federal prosecutors said Monday. At least nine people died of narcotics poisoning between August 2023 and June 2024 after consuming the counterfeit pills, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Manhattan. (Matthews, 9/30)