California Weekly Roundup: Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026
The Sacramento Bee:
Lawmakers Send $90 Million Grant Package For Planned Parenthood Clinics To Newsom
Both chambers of the California Legislature voted Monday to send a $90 million grant package for women’s health clinics to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, moving quickly to shore up the state’s reproductive health programs against cuts pushed by President Donald Trump’s administration. (Graham, 2/9)
KCRA:
California Governor Proposes Menopause Support In 2026-27 Budget
After vetoing a menopause care bill last fall, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveils proposal to improve access to menopause resources and education. (Wingo, 2/6)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Newsom To Louisiana AG Who’s Suing Over Abortion: ‘Go F— Yourself’
In response to Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s reported plans to sue California and New York for refusing to surrender abortion providers wanted for prosecution in the antiabortion state, California Gov. Gavin Newsom clapped back Thursday with an f-bomb. (Hosseini, 2/6)
CalMatters:
California Bans Fees For Help With VA Disability Claims
A booming industry that charges veterans for help in obtaining the benefits they earned through military service must shut down or dramatically change its business model in California by the end of the year under a new law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed today. (Ashton, 2/10)
Los Angeles Times:
$600 Million In Trump Administration Health Cuts Will Hit California HIV Programs
Public health experts warned Tuesday that $600 million in cuts to federal public health funding announced by the Trump administration would endanger one of California’s main early-warning systems for HIV outbreaks, leaving communities vulnerable to undetected disease spread. (Quinton and Ceballos, 2/10)
LAist:
LA Voters Will Decide On Sales Tax Increase To Cover Federal Health Care Cuts
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday placed on the June ballot a proposed temporary half-cent sales tax increase to fund the county’s struggling health care system, which has been hit hard by federal funding cuts. (Stoltze, 2/10)
Becker's Hospital Review:
House Republicans Subpoena 8 Insurers Over ACA Fraud Concerns
The House Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas Feb. 9 to eight health insurers, seeking documents about fraud issues and ACA marketplace subsidies. The subpoenas target Blue Shield of California, Centene, CVS Health, Elevance Health, GuideWell, Health Care Service Corp., Kaiser Permanente and Oscar Health. (Emerson, 2/10)
Los Angeles Daily News:
Van Nuys Businesses Say They’re Hurting After Viral Dr. Oz Video Alleging Health Care Fraud In Area
Business owners said they, too, took a hit after Dr. Mehmet Oz, a top federal health official in the Trump administration, posted a now-viral video in which he talked about alleged rampant health care fraud in Los Angeles County. (Tat, 2/8)
Los Angeles Times:
The Loss Of Healthcare Subsidies Force Californians To Pay More Or Go Without
[Mikayla] Tencer is among tens of thousands of middle-class Californians facing steep increases in health insurance costs after Congress allowed enhanced federal subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans to expire Dec. 31. (Tanaka and Petersen, 2/6)
KVPR:
Major Disruption Hits Blue Shield Health Insurance Customers In The Fresno Area
Community Health System facilities, including Fresno’s Community Regional Medical Center and Clovis Community Medical Hospital ... are no longer considered in-network for patients insured by Blue Shield. (Klein, 2/6)
Voice of OC:
Kaiser Strikes Swell As Walk-Outs Enter Third Week
Healthcare workers across California and Hawaii are continuing to walk off the job at Kaiser Permanente medical centers, labs and pharmacies, including at two locations in Orange County, to demand increased staffing and wages. (Hicks, 2/9)
Los Angeles Times:
One Of California's First Labor Fights Over AI Is Playing Out At Kaiser
Workers of one of the most powerful unions in California are forming an early front in the battle against artificial intelligence, warning it could take jobs and harm people’s health. (Wong, 2/6)
Becker's Hospital Review:
2,100 Nurses, Healthcare Workers To Strike Across California, Nevada
About 2,100 nurses and healthcare workers from four hospitals operated by Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare are set to strike this month across California and Nevada. (Gooch, 2/10)
Becker's Hospital Review:
18 States Push For Reinstatement Of SNF Minimum Staffing
The minimum staffing requirements ... include set minimum staffing standards for nursing hours per resident per day, required SNF to have registered nurses on site 24/7 and established minimum hours for certified nurse assistants. (Taylor, 2/6)
Edsource:
Cal State To Back Three Proposals On Nursing Education, Campus Safety And More
California State University leaders have endorsed a suite of legislative proposals aimed at funneling new nurses into high-need areas of the state, reengaging students who started but never completed college and responding to threats of violence targeting CSU campuses. (DiPierro, 2/6)
Southern California News Group:
LAPD On Course To Put Drones In The Sky As First Responders
The Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners on Tuesday, Feb. 10, approved using a $2.1 million donation to purchase 24 drones and equipment to bolster LAPD’s plans to use them as first responders at times following a successful pilot program. (Percy, 2/10)
The Bay Area Reporter:
SFAF Opens Castro Pharmacy
The San Francisco AIDS Foundation has opened a full-service pharmacy in the Castro, in Suite B on the first floor of the Strut building in the LGBTQ neighborhood. The project ... should make it easier for clients to get their medication and help the agency as it faces financial challenges. (Ferrannini, 2/10)
Becker's Hospital Review:
California Hospital’s Critical Access Status Restored, 1 Step Closer To Reopening
Willows, Calif.-based Glenn Medical Center has regained its critical access designation, marking an important step toward reopening the hospital. (Ashley, 2/6)
Becker's Hospital Review:
What Cedars-Sinai’s Near-Miss Analysis Reveals About ICU Patient Safety
Nurses’ clinical intervention and barcode medication scanning emerged as the two biggest safeguards preventing patient harm in intensive care units at Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai, according to a study published in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. (Bean, 2/6)
Becker's Hospital Review:
UC Davis Installs Radiation Platform With Integrated CT Imaging
UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center in Sacramento, Calif., has activated a CT-guided radiation therapy platform designed to deliver highly targeted treatment. (Jeffries, 2/9)
Becker's Hospital Review:
Kaiser Permanente Inks Women’s Sports Health Partnership
Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente and RAJ Sports, the parent company of the Portland Thorns and Portland Fire, have entered a partnership aimed at expanding medical care and wellness services for professional women athletes and strengthening community programming in Portland, Ore. (Diaz, 2/6)
CalMatters:
California Sues Rady Children's Over Transgender Health Care Cutoff
AG Rob Bonta sued Rady for ending trans youth care via contract law, not civil rights. Parents ask: Do our protections actually work? (Hwang, 2/4)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Trump Administration Wants Citizenship Checks For SF HUD Tenants
The Trump administration has given the San Francisco Housing Authority 30 days to verify the citizenship status of an unspecified list of tenants who are receiving rental assistance from the agency. (Waxmann, 2/9)
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Seeks To Dump Federal Judge Overseeing A Homelessness Settlement
One day before a hearing to explore whether the city of Los Angeles misled a federal court on its plan to clear thousands of homelessness encampments, the city’s outside counsel asked an appeals court to remove the judge from the case. (Smith, 2/9)
:
End To Voucher Program Puts Hundreds Of San Diegans At Risk Of Homelessness
Unexpected federal funding issues could undo the progress [Katrina Lewis] and her fiancé, as well as 400 other local households at risk of homelessness, made while in their own apartment or home. (Sitton, 2/7)
Times of San Diego:
County Unveils New 'Dashboard' Showing Progress On Unhoused Populations
San Diego County leaders Tuesday announced a new way for residents to track the region’s progress on homelessness, launching interactive dashboards with real-time data and milestones on the crisis. (2/10)
CapRadio:
Sacramento’s Young Adult Shelter Turns To Community Support
Last year, a shelter in North Sacramento helped over 100 unhoused young adults move into permanent housing. Currently, all 50 cabins at The Grove are filled, and there is a waitlist. (Rodriguez, 2/5)
KQED:
San José Mayor Matt Mahan Wants To Be Governor. Here’s A Look Into His Signature Homelessness Program
Since San José Mayor Matt Mahan took office in 2023, the city has dramatically shifted the city’s approach to homelessness from building permanent affordable housing to building more temporary shelters, with the goal of getting people off the street faster. Now, as he eyes the governor’s office, we look into how his signature homelessness program is going. (Guevarra, Marzorati, Kariisa and Montecillo, 2/9)
San Francisco Chronicle:
California's CARE Court Is Falling Far Short Of Its Goals
She begged California's CARE Court to help her son. He died 10 days after it dismissed his case. (Bollag, 2/9)
CalMatters:
Mental Health Podcast On Gov. Newsom's CARE Court
One of Gov. Newsom’s signature mental health programs was meant to bring treatment to people who refused it. So far, it’s helping fewer Californians than many hoped. (Wernau, 2/5)
The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat:
Supervisors OK New Facility In Sonoma To Expand Area Mental Health, Homelessness Services
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors held its 2026 Goal Setting Session at the Sonoma Veterans Memorial Building on Feb. 3, where city and valley residents spoke about local issues and county officials approved a new mental health and homeless services center in Sonoma. (Molloy, 2/3)
Los Angeles Times:
Homeboy Industries To Convert Monastery Of The Angels Into Treatment Facility
The new Home of the Angels is expected to open late next year and will provide substance abuse and mental health treatment for the formerly incarcerated and gang-involved. (Khouri, 2/6)
Los Angeles Times:
Meta, TikTok And Others Agree To Teen Safety Ratings
Meta, TikTok and Snap will be rated on their teen safety efforts amid rising concern about whether the world’s largest social media platforms are doing enough to protect the mental health of young people. (Wong, 2/11)
Edsource:
Students Become Lifeline For Peers Facing Suspensions, Mental Health Struggles
At Antioch High School in Contra Costa County, students sign up to become peer advocates and support peers through counseling, mentorship, conflict mediation and brief interventions for substance use and mental health. (Sanganeria, 2/10)
CalMatters:
Mental Health Advocate For California Tribes Dies In Murder-Suicide
Celinda Gonzales of the Yurok Tribe worked to prevent suicides among Native Americans after experiencing loss in her family. She “was a friend to many,” the tribe said. (Duara, 2/11)
Los Angeles Daily News:
Additional Case Of Measles Exposure Reported At Disneyland, Health Officials Say
The OC Health Care Agency on Saturday said an individual who was infectious with measles visited Disneyland Park on Thursday, Jan. 22 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Disney California Adventure Park from 3 p.m. until closing. (Barragan, 2/7)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Death Cap Mushroom 'Superbloom' Leads To Record CA Poisonings
Poison control and public health officials tracking the outbreak have noticed a worrisome pattern in the cases. ... Many of the victims are immigrants who do not speak English. (Bauman, Ho and Hernandez, 2/5)
The Sacramento Bee:
Bill In California Legislature Would Make It A Crime To Collect DNA Without Consent
A new bill proposed by an Orange County assemblymember would make it a crime to steal someone’s DNA — such as collecting genetic material from a discarded cup, straw or strand of hair and submitting it for testing without permission. (Hunt, 2/9)
CalMatters:
California Sues Websites With 3D Printer Ghost Gun Instructions
Two websites that distribute instructions for how to manufacture ghost guns are facing a new lawsuit from the state of California alleging that they provide access to illegal and untraceable firearms. (Mihalovich, 2/7)
Los Angeles Times:
Residents Who Sued Due To Putrid Dominguez Channel Smell Win Millions
Two dozen people who sued the owners and tenants of a Carson-based warehouse responsible for a putrid smell emanating from the Dominguez Channel waterway, which led to hospital visits and headaches, won a multimillion-dollar verdict Friday. (Campa, 2/7)
inewsource:
EPA's Lee Zeldin Visits Coronado To Discuss Tijuana River Sewage
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency visited the San Diego border for the second time in 10 months on Thursday to get a closer look at the Tijuana River sewage crisis that has closed beaches and caused health problems for residents, Navy SEALs and others for years. (Salata, 2/5)
CalMatters:
Tijuana River Cleanup Continue Thanks To Bipartisan Efforts
The U.S. and Mexico are speeding up plans to clean the Tijuana River and considering interim steps to protect public health, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin said at a San Diego meeting with local leaders and Congress members Thursday. (Brennan, 2/9)
Los Angeles Times:
Torrance Residents Call For The Ban Of ‘Flesh-Eating’ Chemical Used At Refinery
Residents and advocates gathered Saturday to demand the ban of a chemical that’s used at a Torrance oil refinery and that they say has the potential to cause a mass casualty disaster. (Mendez, 2/7)
Voice of OC:
South OC Residents Protest Plans To Double Trash Capacity At Local Landfill
South Orange County residents recently got a whiff of county plans to double trash deliveries at Prima Deshecha, the county’s biggest landfill down in San Juan Capistrano. And they’re not happy about it. (Biesiada, 2/11)
CalMatters:
Illegal Pot Farms Pollute Public Lands With Lasting Effects
Even after legalization, illicit cannabis grows continue to pollute California’s public lands. And the contamination, new research shows, lingers. (Becker, 2/9)
LAist:
Altadena Care Facility Pushes Back On State Citation For Eaton Fire Evacuation
The daughter of a woman state regulators concluded was left in her room at an assisted living facility during Eaton Fire evacuations confirmed recently that her family did not call 911 about the incident. (Schrank, 2/6)
Times of San Diego:
County Initiates Health Inspection At Otay Mesa Detention Center
San Diego County has begun the public health inspection process at the Otay Mesa Detention Center following reports of concerning conditions inside the privately operated immigration facility. (Ireland, 2/9)
East Bay Times:
Poverty Simulation Highlights Silicon Valley Inequality
In the echoing expanse of a Sunnyvale food bank, Silicon Valley leaders scrambled across a warehouse floor, making a dull cacophony as they ran to different tables where they begged for work, bargained for groceries, sought housing, and bailed their loved ones out of jail. (Zambrano, 2/10)
Los Angeles Blade:
Project Angel Food Is Now Able To Feed 10,000 People Daily With Expanded Building
On Thursday, community gathered to celebrate Project Angel Food’s new kitchen and campus building, which allows them to serve more of the county’s critically ill community. (Song, 2/7)
Los Angeles Blade:
Congresswoman Maxine Waters Introduces New Resolution For National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
H.Res.1039 supports more funding, resources and awareness for Black American communities, who are disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS. (Song, 2/7)
