State Highlights: 5-State Initiative Aims To Boost Vaccination Rates For Children, Low-Income Pregnant Women; Mobile Dialysis Unit Finally Arrives In Puerto Rico

Stateline: How To Boost Vaccine Rates For Low-Income Families 
A new five-state project funded by the federal government aims to improve vaccination rates among low-income children and pregnant women, using statewide registries intended to track the immunization histories of all residents. The hope is that new ways of collecting and analyzing data identified during the project eventually will spread to all states. The $880,000, three-year U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention effort in Colorado, Hawaii, Kentucky, Montana and New Mexico faces numerous obstacles, including privacy and technological issues. (Ollove, 10/5)

The Associated Press: Dialysis Clinic Arrives In Puerto Rico A Year After Maria
A mobile dialysis unit long sought by patients suffering kidney failure on the tiny Puerto Rican island of Vieques has arrived more than a year after Hurricane Maria. Gov. Ricardo Rossello said Thursday that the $3 million unit bought by the U.S. government will be set up at a shelter serving as a makeshift emergency clinic. (10/4)

The CT Mirror: CVS, Aetna Urge Connecticut Regulators To Approve Proposed Acquisition
The Connecticut Insurance Department now has 30 days to decide whether to approve CVS Health Corp.’s acquisition of Hartford-based Aetna Inc. – a merger the companies say will drive down health care costs and opponents portray as anti-competitive and harmful to patients. (Rigg, 10/4)

Columbus Dispatch: OhioHealth To Drop Anthem Medicare Plan From Its Network
OhioHealth is dropping an Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicare plan from its network on Jan. 1, affecting about 11,000 patients. The decision means those patients will no longer be covered for non-emergency services provided by OhioHealth hospitals, doctors and other OhioHealth operations. Emergency services still will be covered. (Williams, 10/4)

KQED: Lawsuit: Systemic Racism Tainted S.F. Drug Stings That Targeted Only Black Suspects
Racism drove a series of undercover drug stings in San Francisco four years ago, resulting in indictments for more than three dozen black suspects, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union and its Northern California chapter. The sprawling complaint filed on behalf of six people arrested in the joint federal/SFPD operations in 2013 and 2014 cites official reports, academic research and news articles going back over a decade that document severe racial disparities in the city's arrest rates, as well as multiple high-profile scandals. (Emslie, 10/4)

The Associated Press: Utah Vet Confessed To Sending Ricin Envelopes, Officials Say
A Utah Navy veteran confessed to sending four envelopes containing the substance from which ricin is derived to President Donald Trump and members of his administration, authorities said in court documents. (10/4)

The Associated Press: Mormon Church Backs Deal To Allow Medical Marijuana In Utah
The Mormon church joined lawmakers, the governor and advocates to back a deal Thursday that would legalize medical marijuana in conservative Utah after months of fierce debate. The compromise comes as people prepare to vote in November on an insurgent medical marijuana ballot initiative that held its ground despite opposition from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Whitehurst, 10/4)

The Star Tribune: Demand For Campus Child Care In Minnesota Spurs Outcry From Parents
The University of St. Thomas is closing its campus child-care center to make space for a new student wellness facility — a decision that comes after intense soul-searching at the University of Minnesota over the future of its Child Development Center. A group of parents and others are rallying to ward off the slated June 2019 closure of the St. Thomas center, which they say comes amid a shortage of high-quality child-care options in the Twin Cities. (Koumpilova, 10/4)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: DeKalb Ambulance Service May Be Replaced
The situation has drawn attention to a broader issue: holding emergency medical transportation services accountable. Critics say Georgia has a flawed system in which regional councils oversee ambulance providers but can struggle to hold them to their commitments even when there are chronic public safety concerns. (Berard, 10/4)

The Associated Press: Arizona Company Recalls Beef That's Sickened 57 People In US
An Arizona company voluntarily recalled more than 6.5 million pounds (2.9 kilograms) of beef that could be contaminated with salmonella, federal officials announced Thursday. An investigation found the products, including ground beef and beef patties likely came from JBS Tolleson Inc., a meat packing plant west of Phoenix. The raw beef was packed between July 26 and Sept. 7 and shipped to retailers nationwide, including Walmart, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. (10/4)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Louisiana Included In Ground Beef Recall; 57 People Sick Nationwide So Far 
More than 6.5 million pounds of raw beef have been recalled nationally because of salmonella contamination concerns, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday (Oct. 4). Some of the meat was sold in Louisiana. So far, 57 people in 16 states have gotten sick from the meat. Health officials believe raw ground beef was the probable source of the sickness. Arizona-based JBS Tolleson said it sold various raw beef items, including ground beef, that may be contaminated with salmonella. (Wells, 10/4)

Health News Florida: Judge Blocks Medical Marijuana License Process
In what could be another delay for Florida’s burgeoning medical-marijuana industry, a Tallahassee judge agreed Wednesday to block state health officials from moving forward with the application process for highly sought-after medical marijuana licenses. Leon County Circuit Judge Charles Dodson’s verbal order during a hearing came nearly two months after he found that a state law, passed during a special legislative session last year, runs afoul of a constitutional amendment broadly legalizing medical marijuana. (Kam, 10/4)

Boston Globe: First Retail Pot Shops In Massachusetts Approved By Commission
Two years after Massachusetts voters approved legalizing marijuana, the wait for retail pot stores to open is almost over. In a historic vote on Thursday, the Cannabis Control Commission issued four final recreational marijuana licenses to two companies. (Adams, 10/4)

State House News Service: The State's First Recreational Marijuana Shops Are OK'd For Leicester And Northampton
Legal marijuana sales are "weeks away" in Massachusetts, the chairman of the Cannabis Control Commission said Thursday after regulators approved final business licenses for shops in Leicester and Northampton. The CCC on Thursday afternoon granted final business licenses for Cultivate Holdings LLC to grow between 5,001 and 10,000 square feet of marijuana, to manufacture marijuana products and to sell non-medical marijuana at 1764 Main St. in Leicester and for New England Treatment Access LLC to sell non-medical marijuana at 118 Conz St. in Northampton. (Young, 10/4)