Concerns Over Parents’ Rights Bill, Abuse In Kentucky

Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky Parents' Rights Bill Raises Alarm About Impact On Child Abuse
A proposed law to protect parents' rights in Kentucky is raising alarm among critics who say it could upend efforts to protect children from abuse and neglect, interfere with education and lead to more lawsuits with the state liable for costs. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, a non-partisan group, said the bill, known as the "Parents' Rights Protection Act," could have significant, unintended consequences in areas including child protection. "Parental rights are clearly important and must be upheld," Brooks said. "However, those rights should not come with a cost of failing to protect children from abuse or neglect." (Yetter, 2/7)

AP: Nashville Expanding Mental Health Worker, Police Partnership 
Nashville announced that it will expand a pilot project that pairs mental health professionals with police after the program’s first seven months yielded promising results. The announcement comes roughly a week after nine law enforcement officers — including six from Metro Nashville Police — fatally shot a man walking on Interstate 65. Officers speaking to him for about 30 minutes failed to de-escalate the situation. Landon Eastep’s wife, Chelesy Eastep, later told reporters her husband had woken up “agitated” and decided to go for a walk to calm down. Eastep’s death sparked a call for greater focus on mental health crisis response. (2/6)

Philadelphia Inquirer: ‘Absolutely Repulsive’: Outlaw Slams Cops Who Abuse Philly’s Injured-On-Duty Benefits
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw has vowed to investigate and punish Philadelphia police officers who are abusing a generous state disability benefit at a time when hundreds of officers say they are too injured to work. An Inquirer investigation, “MIA: Crisis in the Ranks,” published last week, found that at least 652 officers were labeled “injured on duty” on a 2021 list shared between the Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office, a figure that had more than doubled since 2017. (Gambacorta, Laker and Bender, 2/7)

North Carolina Health News: Wake Forest University Students On Fertilizer Plant Fire 
On the evening of Jan. 31, a fertilizer plant with 600 tons of ammonium nitrate inside caught on fire on Cherry Street in Winston-Salem, displacing 6,500 residents while emergency officials waited to see if the combustible materials would cause explosions. The Winston Weaver Company Fertilizer site is not too far from Wake Forest University, a campus with nearly 7,600 students who will return to class this week with many questions after a chaotic several days. Many are wondering about the long-term effects of being in close proximity to such a huge fire. (Jallow, 2/7)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Booming Missouri Medical Marijuana Industry Bets On Full Legalization In 2022 
Missouri medical marijuana sales are climbing, and thousands of workers have flocked to the industry. Now, business owners are betting big on full legalization in 2022. In the town of Humansville, Missouri, troops of cannabis workers are tending to crops in a facility about the size of a typical Target store. They are cultivating dozens of strains of flower for Flora Farms, one of the state’s most ubiquitous brands. “We think the market will go up three or four times (if full legalization passes),” said Mark Hendren, president of Flora Farms. “We hope that, and we expect that. And that’s just looking at what’s happened in other markets.” (Suntrup, 2/6)

Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi To Accept Medical Marijuana License Applications By June
Days after medical marijuana was legalized in Mississippi, the Mississippi State Department of Health, the entity overseeing the program, announced when it will begin accepting applications for licenses. By June, the state health department plans to begin accepting online medical marijuana license applications for patients, medical practitioners and cannabis cultivation facilities, according to a department news release Friday. After the process kicks off in June, there will be a 30-day approval time for licensure applications and a five-day approval time for program patients. (Haselhorst, 2/4)

The CT Mirror: Roads Are Deadlier Than Ever. Figuring Out Why Is Complicated.
On March 23, 2020, Connecticut came to a standstill. In an effort to control the devastating spread of COVID-19, Gov. Ned Lamont instructed all non-essential businesses to stop in-person operations and asked residents to “Stay Safe, Stay at Home.” As state after state issued lockdown orders, roads across the country emptied. Major highways were eerily deserted, and traffic fell to new lows. But something else started to happen, too. Even though there were fewer cars on the road, more people were dying in car crashes. (Golvala and Altimari, 2/6)

In news about the housing crisis and how it affects your health —

San Francisco Chronicle: Is Homelessness Increasing In San Francisco? Here’s Why The Data Isn’t Yet Clear
The coronavirus pandemic postponed the Point-in-Time, or PIT, count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless people that was to be held in 2021.The PIT count is a federally mandated tally of people experiencing homelessness conducted every two years that is considered the best data for measuring homelessness trends across the U.S. The last count was held in 2019, and indicated 8,035 people were experiencing homelessness in San Francisco. (Jung, 2/4)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Planned To Compel More People Into Drug And Mental Health Treatment. So Far, Only Two Have Been Helped
In 2019, San Francisco identified about 4,000 unhoused people who also struggled with addiction and mental illness, many of them deteriorating visibly on the streets. The tally came not long after the city broadened its rules on who can be forced into court-ordered mental health and drug treatment, a move that could have applied to 50 to 100 people, according to one estimate. But only two people have been treated by the expanded rules so far. (Morris, 2/5)

KHN: How The Tiny-Home Movement Is Providing More Than Just A Roof To Homeless People 
Tucked inside a residential neighborhood, and surrounded by a wooden fence and greenery, are nine little houses. With multicolored siding and roofs, they look like people-sized birdhouses. And they fit right in. So does Gene Cox, 48. He hasn’t been homeless in more than seven years. That’s the point of this little development. “This is the longest time I’ve stayed in one place,” said Cox, nursing coffee and a cigarette outside his tiny home after working second shift as a benefits administrator. “I’m very nomadic. I’ve moved around Wisconsin a lot over the last 22 years.” (Bruce, 2/7)