Massachusetts Healthiest State In Survey, Hawaii Drops To Second Place

NBC News: Healthiest States In The U.S. During The 2020 Pandemic Were In The Northeast
For the first time in years, Hawaii didn't top digital health company Sharecare's Community Well-Being Index, which was released on Tuesday morning. Instead, Massachusetts made a surprise appearance at the top of the list. Hawaii came in second, followed by New Jersey, Maryland and New York. The rankings, which have been shared every year since 2008, look at social determinants of health like access to health care, food, housing, transportation and personal health risk factors including physical health, community and social bonds, financial management skills and strength of purpose in daily life. To make the list, researchers from Sharecare and the Boston University School of Public Health assessed more than 450,000 respondents across all 50 states. (Breen, 5/25)

Politico: Poll: Most Voters Oppose Newsom Recall As Covid Optimism Rises
California's rebound from the Covid-19 crisis is complicating the drive to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom, with a strong majority of state voters now approving of his pandemic management and just 40 percent saying they would remove him, a new Public Policy Institute of California poll shows. Californians have growing optimism about the state’s recovery as infection rates decline and a larger share of the state becomes fully vaccinated while a wider array of businesses open. A whopping 90 percent of likely voters said they overwhelmingly believe the worst of the crisis is behind the state, greater than the 74 percent who said that in March. (Marinucci, 5/26)

Politico: Can Mississippi’s Last Abortion Clinic Survive? 
Long before the funky restaurants and shops began to turn Fondren into Jackson’s trendiest district, the neighborhood’s landmark institution was a bright pink building, surrounded by a concrete and iron wall, 8 feet tall at its peak, that is Mississippi’s last abortion clinic. Last week, the scene was more or less normal: The women seeking care would slowly turn into the parking lot, careful not to hit the protesters camped at the entrance who held signs preaching eternal damnation. Volunteers in rainbow-patterned vests ushered the women inside. Pop music blared from speakers to drown out the protesters, many of whom bring their own amplifiers. (Fowler, 5/26)

The New York Times: Puerto Rico, Recovering From A Spring Surge, Lifted A Curfew That Was In Effect Throughout The Pandemic
As Puerto Rico recovers from a spring coronavirus surge and cases decline, the U.S. territory is steadily relaxing pandemic restrictions, including lifting a nightly curfew that was in effect since March 2020. The island is taking a big step toward returning to normal not long after experiencing its worst outbreak. Toward the end of April, Puerto Rico was reporting over 1,000 cases a day, up from about 200 new daily cases in mid-March. (Waller, 5/25)

The Oregonian: Coronavirus In Oregon: State Discloses Huge Surge In Wasted Vaccines
The Oregon Health Authority reported 9,090 vaccine doses have now been wasted, spoiled or expired since December. That’s more than double the total disclosed last week, which stood at 4,418, and it’s more than quadruple the 1,922 reported three weeks ago. (Schmidt, 5/25)

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: NH House Panel Splits On Banning Vaccine Questions, Mandates
A New Hampshire House committee split evenly along party lines Tuesday on a proposal to prohibit most businesses from asking customers or employees whether they’ve been vaccinated against the coronavirus. The committee on executive departments and administration voted 9-9 on amending a Senate-passed bill to add several vaccine-related provisions favored by Republicans. It reached the same outcome on a Democrat-backed amendment, meaning both versions will go to the full House next month with no committee recommendation. (Ramer, 5/25)

The New York Times: Mount Sinai Seeks To Expand School Virus Testing Program
Every week, students at KIPP Infinity Middle School, in West Harlem, file into a large auditorium and take their places on the designated floor markings, making sure to stand six feet apart. Then they pull down their masks and fill sterile tubes with their spit. The school’s teachers try to make the experience fun, running competitions to see who can fill their tube fastest and holding dance contests while students wait for their classmates to finish. (Anthes, 5/25)

AP: ACLU Lawsuit Challenges Arkansas Trans Youth Treatment Ban
The American Civil Liberties Union asked a federal judge Tuesday to strike down a new Arkansas law that made the state the first to ban gender confirming treatments or surgery for transgender youth. The ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging the new prohibition, which is set to take effect on July 28. It prohibits doctors from providing gender confirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18 years old, or from referring them to other providers for the treatment. (DeMillo, 5/25)

CalMatters: California's April Unemployment Rate Reveals Paradox
Despite California’s high unemployment rate, many positions at restaurants, bars and retail stores are going unfilled — causing some business owners to fear they won’t be able to fully reopen even when the state gives the green light on June 15. The Golden State’s unemployment rate remained unchanged between March and April, holding steady at 8.3% even as employers added nearly 102,000 jobs, according to figures released Friday by the Employment Development Department. That accounts for 38% of all U.S. jobs gained last month — a bright spot that dims when one takes into account that California still has the nation’s second-highest unemployment rate and has regained only 48% of jobs lost amid the pandemic. In some areas, the share of jobless residents is actually increasing: Los Angeles’ unemployment rate shot from 11.4% in March to 11.7% in April. (Hoeven, 5/24)

NBC News: Woman Suing Fertility Doctor, Accusing Him Of Impregnating Her With His Own Sperm
A New Jersey woman accused a doctor of "medical rape" by secretly using his own sperm to impregnate her nearly 40 years ago, she said in a federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday. Bianca Voss, 75, said she paid her New York City OB-GYN, Dr. Martin Greenberg, $100 to secure sperm from an anonymous donor at a sperm bank in 1983, according to her civil complaint filed in New York. The procedure led to a successful pregnancy and birth of her daughter, Roberta Voss, in 1984. t wasn't until Roberta Voss purchased a DNA kit from 23andMe in the fall of 2020 that she discovered her biological father was a man named Martin Greenberg, born in 1943 and now living in Florida. (Li, 5/25)

ABC News: Tennessee Bans Teaching Critical Race Theory In Schools
The legislation, which was amended several times in the final days of the legislative session, takes effect July 1. Among other things, Tennessee's teachers can't instruct that “an individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or sex, is inherently privileged, racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously.” “Impartial discussion of controversial aspects of history” is still permitted under the law, and limits on teacher speech won’t apply when a teacher is responding to a student’s question or referring to a historic figure or group. (Kruesi, 5/25)