State Highlights: Judge Removes Mich. Governor And State From List Of Defendants In Flint Class-Action Suit; Calif. Candidate Newsom’s War Chest Flush As He Heads Into General Election

Reuters: Michigan Governor And State Dismissed From Flint Water Lawsuit
A federal judge on Wednesday removed Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, a former mayor of Flint, along with the state government from a list of defendants in a class-action lawsuit over the Flint water crisis. The lawsuit, brought by a dozen residents of Flint and three local businesses, involves 13 claims related to a decision in 2014 to pipe water from the Flint River, instead of water provided by Detroit Water and Sewerage. (Kvetenadze, 8/1)

Los Angeles Times: Newsom Cashes In On Primary Victory, Far Outraising Cox In California Governor's Race
Democrat Gavin Newsom emerged from California’s gubernatorial primary with a prodigious financial advantage over Republican rival John Cox, banking more than seven times as much money for the general election. As of June 30, California’s two-term lieutenant governor and the front-runner in the race, has more than $11 million in the bank, while Cox has $1.5 million, according to campaign finance reports filed with the state Tuesday. (Mehta and Willon, 8/2)

USA Today: Chicago Hopes Therapy In Jail Can Slow Gun Violence
The day's group therapy session for the young detainees at the county jail started with their behavioral health specialist testing them with a hypothetical scenario: They’ve cheated on a girlfriend and the other woman is pregnant. The participants – all facing serious charges and picked for the jail's intensive therapy program because they're deemed a high risk of getting caught in Chicago’s intractable gun violence once they leave custody – bristled at a push for honest talk. (Madhani, 8/2)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Shaheen Amendment Could Advance Childhood Cancer Research In N.H.
A recent federal study says the Granite State had the nation's highest pediatric cancer rate from 2003 to 2014. Senator Jeanne Shaheen and others have called on federal health officials to do more to study the causes of that problem. Now, Shaheen has tied the issue to the Senate's spending bill. (Ropeik, 8/1)

Reuters: Massachusetts Man Convicted Of Cyber Attack On Hospital
A Massachusetts man was convicted on Wednesday of carrying out a cyber attack on a Boston hospital's network on behalf of the hacking activist group Anonymous in protest of its treatment of a teenager at the center of a high-profile custody dispute. A federal jury in Boston found Martin Gottesfeld, 32, guilty of one count of conspiracy to damage protected computers and one count of damaging protected computers, prosecutors said. (Raymond, 8/1)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio Kidney Dialysis Amendment Backers Have Spent $4.1 Million So Far To Get On The Ballot
The Ohioans for Kidney Dialysis Patient Protection committee has received more than $4.5 million in contributions and loans this year from the Service Employees International Union and an affiliated union in California, according to a campaign finance report covering the first six months of the year. The committee spent nearly $3.7 million to companies to print and circulate petitions to collect signatures of registered Ohio voters. It reported having $433,847 on hand as of June 30. (Borchardt, 8/1)

Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Supports Planned Parenthood Lawsuit Over Federal Funding Policy
Columbus is lending its support to a lawsuit filed by women’s health advocates in an effort to preserve funding for reproductive health care. The city filed a brief Wednesday in support of Planned Parenthood and other groups behind a lawsuit challenging a federal policy that the organization says prioritizes methods of birth control not supported by the medical community. (Cooley, 8/1)

WBUR: Lawmakers' Failure To Pass Health Bill Leaves Telemedicine On Hold
While Massachusetts leads the country in health care access, it remains "one of the worst in the nation" for coverage of telemedicine services, says Kate Audette, director of state government relations at Boston Children’s Hospital. ... Massachusetts remains one of just 14 states lacking a telehealth parity law for private insurance coverage, a policy that would guarantee remote medical services would be covered as extensively as in-person care. (Kaplan, 8/1)

The Associated Press: Oklahoma Health Board Approved New Medical Marijuana Rules
Oklahoma health officials on Wednesday adopted new guidelines for the use of medical marijuana in the state after earlier rules hastily adopted last month came under harsh criticism from the attorney general and medical marijuana advocates. The state Board of Health voted unanimously to adopt new rules that amend or entirely revoke the previous guidelines, including eliminating a ban on the sale of smokable pot and requirements that a pharmacist be in every dispensary and that women of "childbearing age" undergo a pregnancy test. (8/1)

Health News Florida: Judge Urges Denial Of Nemours Transplant Proposals
Siding with a preliminary decision by state regulators, an administrative law judge Tuesday recommended denial of plans by Nemours Children’s Hospital to offer pediatric heart transplants and heart and lung transplants. Judge W. David Watkins, in a 68-page ruling, said the Orlando hospital had not shown that it should receive certificates of need for the proposed programs. (Hokrein, 8/1)

California Healthline: Moms Fight Back Against Violence In Their Communities
More than three years have passed since Asale Chandler’s teenage son was murdered in San Francisco. But Chandler said it feels as though it has been only three days. The anguish doesn’t get better, said Chandler, a 55-year-old community activist from San Francisco at a rally here Tuesday. “It gets worse.” Chandler’s 19-year-old son, Yalani Chinyamurindi, was one of four young black men who were shot and killed in January 2015 while sitting in a Honda Civic in the city’s Hayes Valley neighborhood. One man has been arrested in connection with the shooting. (Matthews, 8/1)

Pioneer Press: Embedded Social Worker Working With St. Paul Police Mental Health Unit. A Second Starts Soon.
She’s a licensed clinical social worker with a bullet-resistant vest. Amber Ruth was recently embedded into the St. Paul Police Department’s mental health unit. She follows up on crisis calls, working to connect people with mental health resources. And she’s also been out with officers on in-progress calls. Five minutes into Ruth’s second day of working at the police department, her skills were called into action. The mental health unit received a request to go out to talk with a man who is mentally ill and who’s had numerous interactions with law enforcement, said Sgt. Jamie Sipes, who heads the mental health unit. (Gottfried, 8/1)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Elections: Kelli Ward, Martha McSally Discuss Abortion Views
During an editorial board meeting at The Arizona Republic on Monday, Ward and her GOP rival Martha McSally laid out their views on abortion rights and how that would factor into their views of judicial nominations. It was at least one issue where Ward, a physician and former state senator, sketched out a more nuanced view of the issue than McSally, the congresswoman who has often added a measure of pragmatism to her conservative preferences. (Hansen, 8/1)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Morehouse Trauma Team On A Quest To Rewrite Medical History
Even though African-Americans had made significant contributions not only in medicine, but in technology, science, engineering, and the Industrial Revolution, those were often missing from school textbooks and classrooms. In many cases, that’s still true. (Bonds Staples, 8/2)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Birth Control, HIV Prevention Home Delivery Comes To Wisconsin
Starting today, Wisconsin residents can access prescription birth control and HIV prevention without setting foot in a doctor’s office.Nurx (pronounced Nur-ex) is a platform that already offers these services in 17 other states. (Groves, 8/1)

Tampa Bay Times: Temporary Switch To Chlorine May Change Taste Of Tampa Water
City of Tampa water customers may notice a slight difference in the taste and odor of their drinking water this month, as the Tampa Water Department temporarily converts its water disinfection from chloramine to chlorine disinfection. (Fanning, 8/1)

San Antonio Express-News: Post Apocolypse Aftermath: How Is California Adapting To New Cannabis Regulations?
As the data is beginning to show, sales are not only climbing but California’s journey is just beginning as it steps into its role as the cannabis capital of the world. Even while brands and retailers are still scrambling to navigate these new rules, the sales statistics signal the maturation and eagerness of the legal market to adapt to these new regulations. (Smith, 8/1)