Feds Want Less Stringent Testing For Carcinogens Near Los Alamos Nuke Lab

AP: US Aims To Relax Testing Of Contaminants At Nuke Weapon Lab
The U.S. Energy Department wants to switch to less stringent testing for detecting cancer-causing chemicals at and around one of its premier nuclear weapons laboratories despite concerns from environmentalists and New Mexico regulators. The federal agency is using New Mexico’s three-year review of surface water rules to push for a test at Los Alamos National Laboratory that’s more limited in detecting polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. Medical research has shown the chemicals can cause cancer, impair children’s brain development, hurt reproductive systems and increase the chance of heart and liver diseases. (9/27)

In news about abortion and women's reproductive rights —

AP: Court Says It Will Wait To Rule On Georgia Abortion Law
A federal appeals court said Monday that it will wait until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a case that seeks to overturn its landmark decision guaranteeing a woman’s right to an abortion before weighing in on a restrictive Georgia abortion law that a lower court blocked. Mississippi has argued in court filings that the U.S. Supreme Court should overturn its decision in Roe v. Wade, which affirmed the right to an abortion. The high court is set to hear arguments in that case in December. Mississippi’s law would ban abortions later than 15 weeks into a pregnancy. (Brumback, 9/28)

AP: Senate Republicans To Vote On "Born-Alive" Legislation
The state Senate was set to vote Tuesday on a bill that would make health care providers who let a child that survives an abortion guilty of a felony. The Republican-authored measure would require any health care provider present at the time of an abortion that results in a child born alive to provide the same level of care that any reasonable provider would give to any other child born alive. (9/28)

The Washington Post: Women’s March Plans Return To D.C. To Fight For Abortion Access 
The Women’s March returns to Washington this Saturday for its fifth annual event. Though recent marches have been smaller than the first, which drew millions of participants, organizers say women have plenty to protest. The pandemic revealed striking wage and employment gaps for women, and a national child care crisis has left many overwhelmed and tapped out financially. Most of the previous marches have occurred in January, but organizers decided to host this year’s event in October to fight imminent threats to abortion access. (Parks, 9/27)

In updates from Texas, California, Wisconsin and Mississippi —

AP: Boy Dies From Brain-Eating Amoeba Found At Texas Splash Pad
A child has died after being infected with a rare brain-eating amoeba that was found at a Texas splash pad he had visited, and a review discovered lapses in water-quality testing at several parks, officials said Monday. Officials in Arlington, located between Dallas and Fort Worth, said the city and Tarrant County Public Health were notified on Sept. 5 that a child had been hospitalized with primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a rare and often fatal infection caused by the naegleria fowleri ameba. The boy, who was not identified by officials, died at the hospital on Sept. 11. (9/27)

Axios: SoCalGas Agrees To Pay $1.8 Billion For 2015 Gas Leak In Los Angeles 
Southern California Gas Company and its parent company announced Monday they've agreed to pay up to $1.8 billion in settlement claims over the 2015 Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility blowout. Some 100,000 tons of methane, ethane and toxic chemicals poured into the air for 112 days, forcing over 8,000 families to evacuate from their Los Angeles-area homes and sickening many with headaches, nausea and nosebleeds, per the L.A. Times. (Falconer, 9/28)

AP: Wisconsin Assembly To Vote On $100 Million For Mental Health
The Wisconsin Assembly is scheduled to vote on a Republican-authored bill that would require Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to spend $100 million on COVID-19 relief funding on mental health programs in schools. The measure up for approval Tuesday faces a nearly certain veto from Evers. He has already vetoed two similar bills that would direct how he spends COVID-19 funding from the federal government that is currently left to the discretion of the governor to hand out. (9/28)

AP: State Asks To Delay Order That It Create Mental Health Plan
The state of Mississippi intends to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that it come up with a plan detailing how it will work to prevent unnecessary institutionalization of people with mental illness. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves told the state it had 120 days to submit a plan to the U.S. Justice Department and a mental health expert. He ordered that the final plan, incorporating their feedback, be completed in 180 days. (Willingham, 9/27)