Bob Murray Files For Black Lung Benefits — After Years Of Fighting Mine Safety Regulations

WVPB: Bob Murray, Who Fought Against Black Lung Regulations As A Coal Operator, Has Filed For Black Lung Benefits
Robert E. Murray, the former CEO and president of the now-bankrupt Murray Energy, has filed an application with the U.S. Department of Labor for black lung benefits. For years, Murray and his company fought against federal mine safety regulations aimed at reducing the debilitating disease. “I founded the company and created 8,000 jobs there until the move to end coal use. I am still chairman of the board,” he wrote on a Labor Department form that initiated his claim obtained by the Ohio Valley ReSource. “We’re in bankruptcy, and due to my health could not handle the president and CEO job any longer.” (Mistich and Patters, 9/30)

In news from the Midwest and West —

Indianapolis Star: Indiana Infant Mortality Hits Historic Low
Infant mortality fell to its lowest level in Indiana recorded history last year, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Thursday. This marks the third consecutive year Indiana's infant mortality rate, which tracks the number of babies that die before their first birthday, has fallen and the lowest it's been since record-keeping began in 1900, state officials said in a news release. (Hays, 10/1)

The Hill: SD Reaches Record High Coronavirus Death Toll 
South Dakota recorded a record high COVID-19 death toll Thursday with 13 fatalities and 747 new positive virus cases. According to state epidemiologist Josh Clayton, cities and rural zones are reporting significant clusters of the virus in recent days, the Associated Press reported. He noted that 245 of the infections reported were backlogged from previous days after a reporting error. (Deese, 10/1)

Kaiser Health News: Thousands Of Minks Dead As COVID Outbreak Escalates On Utah Farms
Thousands of minks at Utah fur farms have died because of the coronavirus in the past 10 days, forcing nine sites in three counties to quarantine, but the state veterinarian said people don’t appear to be at risk from the outbreak. The COVID-19 infections likely were spread from workers at the mink ranches to the animals, with no sign so far that the animals are spreading it to humans, said Dr. Dean Taylor, the state veterinarian, who is investigating the outbreak. (Aleccia, 10/2)

The Salt Lake Tribune: State Officials, After Forcing TestUtah To Change Tests And Labs, Are Still Negotiating Its New Agreement 
When TestUtah sites returned an unusually low number of positive results for the coronavirus this spring, state officials devised two unsuccessful attempts to discover the reason — then promised a third try. The new review never got underway. But decisions by state officials have forced TestUtah to stop working with the two testing partners it had chosen — Salt Lake City company Co-Diagnostics Inc., which had supplied its testing kits, and Orem’s Timpanogos Regional Hospital, which had processed them. (Carlisle and Alberty, 10/1)

The Oklahoman: Oklahoma Receives 77,000 Rapid COVID Tests As Trump Vows More To Come
Oklahoma received this week 77,000 rapid COVID-19 tests after President Donald Trump vowed to distribute millions of the tests to states. The quick-response tests Oklahoma received were part of an initial shipment and state leaders expect more will arrive through the end of the year. The Oklahoma State Department of Health plans to distribute the tests so they can be used in K-12 schools, health care settings and be used to test other vulnerable populations, Gov. Kevin Stitt's office said in a news release in response to questions from The Oklahoman. Specific details of where the tests will be used will be released soon. (Forman, 10/2)

The Washington Post: California Wildfires Prompt New Warnings Amid Record Heat, Erratic Winds
Tens of millions of Californians are under heat warnings and advisories Thursday as a record-breaking, relentless heat wave continued to roast areas from San Francisco to San Diego. The heat, associated with an unseasonably intense and stubborn area of high pressure parked over the region, is sending temperatures soaring up to 30 degrees above average for this time of year in some areas. (Freedman, 10/1)

In news from the East —

North Carolina Health News: Opioid Hotspots Get $1M In Treatment Grants 
In the decade-plus since the opioid crisis entered public consciousness, two intertwined realities have emerged in North Carolina, both involve a death of sorts. One of these realities is easy to grasp: From 1999 to 2016 more than 12,000 North Carolinians died from opioid overdoses. The other reality concerns programs that may or may not have the funding to fully address the crisis. (Engel-Smith, 10/2)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Picks More Companies To Grow, Process Medical Cannabis 
After more than a year of delays due to logistical errors and allegations of impropriety, the state has picked 11 companies to expand and diversify Maryland’s medical cannabis industry. The Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission on Thursday selected three companies to grow medical cannabis and eight companies to process the plant into products to be sold at retail dispensaries. The companies were awarded “pre-approval” for licenses. (Wood, 10/1)

Carroll County Times: Carroll County Nets $2.5M Upgrade To 911 System, Seeks Election Grant 
Carroll County’s 911 system will get a state-of-the-art upgrade thanks to a $2.5 million reimbursement from the Maryland Emergency Number Systems Board. The Board of County Commissioners unanimously voted Thursday to accept more than $2,581,300 from the state board. The project includes 10 new phone work stations for dispatchers, plus hardware and software upgrades to the county’s existing system, said Scott Campbell, director of public safety for the county. (Keller, 10/2)

The Washington Post: Maryland Relaxes Nursing Home Visitations As State Records No Virus Deaths For First Time Since March 
Maryland lifted restrictions on nursing homes and assisted-living facilities Thursday, becoming the first jurisdiction in the greater Washington region to allow widespread visitations since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) cited the increased availability of rapid tests and said the new guidelines apply to facilities with no active cases over the previous two weeks. The announcement came hours after state health officials reported that Maryland had no virus-related fatalities in a single day for the first time since the earliest days of the pandemic. (Chason, Hedgpeth and Fadulu, 10/1)

The New York Times: New York Becomes First Big City In U.S. To Reopen All Its Schools
New York City completed the reopening of all its public schools on Thursday morning, a major step in its recovery from having been the global epicenter of the pandemic and a hopeful sign for the country’s unsteady effort to return children to classrooms. Not long after sunrise, middle and high school principals welcomed students back into their buildings for the first time since March, following elementary school children who had started earlier this week. About half a million students, from 3-year-olds in pre-K programs to high school seniors, will have returned to school by next week. (Shapiro and Zaveri, 10/1)