State Highlights: Education Department Allowed To Penalize Texas For Cutting Disabled Student Funding, Court Rules; Woman Who Shot Kansas Abortion Doctor Released From Prison

Texas Tribune: 5th Circuit Upholds Feds' $33 Million Penalty For Texas Decrease In Special Education Funding
Texas' decision to spend $33.3 million less on students with disabilities in 2012 will likely cost it millions in future federal funding after a Wednesday afternoon 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. According to the New Orleans-based court, the U.S. Department of Education was within its rights to try to withhold the same amount from Texas' special education grants, since a 1997 federal statute prohibits states from reducing their funding for kids with disabilities from year to year. (Swaby, 11/7)

The Associated Press: Anti-Abortion Activist Who Shot Kansas Abortion Doctor Freed
A woman who shot Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller and attacked abortion clinics in several states in the 1990s has been released from prison in Oregon, prompting concern in clinics across the country, according to a published report Wednesday. (11/7)

Chicago Tribune: Barriers For Cops Seeking Mental Health Treatment Remain Despite FOID Card Law 
When a new state law took effect in August, supporters believed it would finally remove an obstacle for police officers seeking mental health treatment and maybe help lower a high suicide rate. Turns out it was not that simple. The law prohibits police departments from firing officers whose firearm owner’s identification cards have been revoked after an inpatient stay at a mental health facility. Many departments, including the Chicago Police Department, require officers to have FOID cards. After the law was passed, Chicago and some other departments said they would still require FOID cards for officers who work the streets. (Buckley, 11/7)

The Baltimore Sun: Independent-Living Apartment Complex In Timonium Logs Cases Of Legionnaires' Disease 
Two residents of St. Elizabeth Hall, an independent-living apartment complex on the campus of Stella Maris, a nonprofit long-term care facility in Timonium, were diagnosed with Legionnaire’s disease, officials confirmed Tuesday. Stella Maris notified state and Baltimore County health officials and building residents and instituted water restrictions at St. Elizabeth, which has a separate water system from the campus. Officials plan to continue treating the water and cooling and heating systems, and will continue to test, treat and monitor for the bacteria that cause the disease, officials said. (Cohn, 11/7)

The Associated Press: Florida Surgeon Removes Healthy Kidney He Thought Was Tumor
A Florida surgeon removed a woman's healthy kidney while she was undergoing back surgery because he believed the vital organ was a cancerous tumor. The Palm Beach Post reported last week that Maureen Pacheco has sued Ramon Vazquez and two other surgeons for malpractice. Vazquez was responsible for cutting Pacheco open in 2016 so two orthopedic surgeons, Dr. John Britt and Dr. Jeffrey Kugler, could perform the back operation. (11/7)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio Professor Sues, Doesn't Want To Use Transgender Students' Pronouns
A professor at Ohio's Shawnee State University is suing his superiors in federal court after he was punished for not referring to a transgender student by the pronouns she requested. Nicholas Meriwether, who teaches religion and philosophy at the public university, filed a complaint in U.S. District Court Monday against the school's trustees and other officials stating they violated his freedom of speech, freedom of religion and due process. (Knight, 11/7)

Sacramento Bee: U.S. Department Of Justice To Investigate SLO County Jail
Amid a series of deaths, lawsuits and an ongoing FBI investigation into alleged civil rights abuses of mentally and medically ill County Jail inmates, San Luis Obispo County officials now say the U.S. Department of Justice is getting involved. ...The FBI formally launched an investigation into the county’s treatment of inmates in May 2017, a spokeswoman previously confirmed, after receiving at least one complaint related to the January 2017 death of Atascadero resident Andrew Holland. (Fountain, 11/7)

Houston Chronicle: Fidelis Healthcare Partners Picks Denver For Its First Project
Fidelis Healthcare Partners, a recently launched affiliate of Houston-based Fidelity Realty Partners, has reached a deal to develop its first project. The company has been awarded the contract to build Saint Joseph Medical Office Pavilion, a five-story office and retail building on the recently completed campus of Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver, the company announced. (Feser, 11/7)

Sacramento Bee: The City Could Get $7.7 Million While The County Will Get $12.7 Million.
The Sacramento City Council will vote Thursday on whether to declare an emergency shelter crisis, potentially unlocking millions of dollars in state funding as the city struggles to find shelter for its more than 1,000 homeless people. A state law, signed in June, gives Sacramento and 10 other California cities the option to declare a shelter crisis to gain access to a portion of $553 million in state funds. (Clift, 11/8)

Kansas City Star: Samson Dental Partners In Leawood Agrees To $5M Settlement
A dental business in Leawood has been deemed “a continuing high risk to the federal health care programs and their beneficiaries,” after agreeing to pay more than $5 million to settle allegations of Medicaid fraud. Samson Dental Partners does accounting, billing and other administrative services for dozens of ImmediaDent urgent care dental clinics in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. (Marso, 11/8)

The Associated Press: New U. Of Maryland Board Chair Apologizes Over Player Death
The University System of Maryland Board of Regents has a new chair, and her first public act was to apologize for how university officials responded to a player’s death. The Baltimore Sun reports Linda Gooden apologized Wednesday to the family of 19-year-old Terrapins football player Jordan McNair, who collapsed from heatstroke on the field in May and later died. The 17-member board has spent weeks overseeing two investigations into his death. (11/8)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Atlanta Partnership To Develop Housing For Homeless Individuals
The city of Atlanta and Atlanta Housing recently announced a new partnership to develop 550 permanent supportive housing units through the HUD-funded initiative HomeFirst, according to a press release. This collaboration also involves Invest Atlanta, the United Way Regional Commission on Homelessness, and Partners for HOME, a public–private entity commissioned by the City to proactively manage the continuum of care for Atlanta’s homeless population. (Miller, 11/7)

Boston Globe: Cambridge Health Alliance Apologizes After Globe Magazine Details Laura Levis’s Unimaginable Death
Officials at the parent company of Somerville Hospital apologized Wednesday night for not meeting “our own standards for transparency and accountability” in the death of Laura Levis, who went to the emergency room during a severe 2016 asthma attack and found the door locked. In a statement, Cambridge Health Alliance pledged to improve its emergency medical response protocols days after The Boston Globe Magazine published a story about how the cracks and flaws in the health care system led to Levis’s death. (McDonald, 11/8)

St. Louis Public Radio: St. Louis To Study If Filling Demolition Sites With Clean Soil Can Prevent Sewage Overflows
The city of St. Louis and the U.S. Geological Survey this month are starting a study to determine if filling demolition sites with clean soil instead of building materials can help address one of St. Louis’ biggest environmental problems: sewage overflows. Typically, contractors working for the city fill the basement with concrete and other materials from the demolished building. (Chen, 11/7)

Boston Globe: Marijuana Sales In Mass. Likely Days Away After Regulators OK Labs
Recreational marijuana sales in Massachusetts are likely just days away, after state regulators said they had cleared two licensed cannabis testing laboratories to officially begin operations. Two labs — CDX Analytics in Salem and MCR Labs in Framingham — were issued “commence full operations” notices by the Cannabis Control Commission on Wednesday. (Adams, 11/7)