State Highlights: FEMA’s Recovery Efforts On U.S. Islands Lag Behind Those On Mainland, Report Says; Citing Opioid Epidemic Challenges, Maryland’s Chief Medical Examiner Announces Resignation

The New York Times: FEMA’s Hurricane Aid To Puerto Rico And The Virgin Islands Has Stalled
More than two years after back-to-back hurricanes ravaged this tropical island, medical workers are still treating gunshot wounds in hallways and kidney failure in a trailer. They ignore their own inflamed rashes that they say are caused by the mold that has shut down an entire hospital floor below a still-porous roof. At least they have a hospital. The lone medical center on Vieques, an idyllic island that is part of Puerto Rico, was severely damaged by Hurricanes Maria and Irma, then abandoned to wandering roosters and grazing horses. Ailing people wait at the ferry dock to catch a boat to the mainland. (Walker and Kanno-Youngs, 11/27)

The Baltimore Sun: Long-Serving Chief Of Maryland Medical Examiner’s Office Steps Aside Amid High Death Toll 
As homicides and drug-related deaths continue their years-long rampage, Maryland’s long-serving and well-regarded chief medical examiner said he plans to leave his post. Dr. David Fowler has led the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the past 17 years, and confirmed to The Baltimore Sun that he will step down by the end of the year. Fowler said resource challenges related to the opioid epidemic was a factor in his decision. (Cohn and Fenton, 11/26)

NH Times Union: Manchester Resident Asks Questions After Seeing VA Employee, Homeless Man Near Her Home
A resident in a Manchester neighborhood said she was shocked last week to see a Veterans Affairs worker drop off a homeless man and allegedly try to help him set up camp in nearby woods. Officials said they later took the man to an emergency shelter. The homeowner said the two discontinued their effort once she started asking questions and pointing out they were on private property. The incident took place last Wednesday on the portion of Smyth Road east of Mammoth Road, about a quarter-mile from the Manchester VA Medical Center. (Hayward, 11/26)

MPR: Shortage Of Home Care Workers In Minn. Affecting People With Disabilities
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 gives people with disabilities the right to live in a community if that is where they want to live. However, high turnover rates and a large percentage of unfilled home care jobs are forcing people into institutions such as nursing or group homes. (Scheffler, 11/26)

The Washington Post: About One Out Of Every Three Washingtonians Say They Or Someone They Know Have Experienced Gun Violence, Poll Finds
Nearly half of Washingtonians in the city’s poorest neighborhoods say they or someone they know has been threatened with a gun or shot in the past five years, a Washington Post poll finds. Across the city, about a third of District residents say they or someone they know has been menaced or been the victim of gun violence since 2014, even as a large majority of Washingtonians say they feel safe in their neighborhoods. (Schwartzman and Guskin, 11/26)

Health News Florida: State Fights Cities, Counties On Gun Law
Pointing to a “hierarchical relationship” with local governments, the state late Friday asked an appeals court to uphold a 2011 law that has threatened tough penalties if city and county officials approve gun regulations. Lawyers in the offices of Attorney General Ashley Moody and Gov. Ron DeSantis filed a 42-page brief arguing that the 1st District Court of Appeal should overturn a circuit judge’s ruling that said parts of the law were unconstitutional. (Saunders, 11/22)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Student Suicides In Greenfield Raise Issues Of Bullying, Mental Health
Research shows there are effective programs school districts can use to reduce bullying and offer mental health support — not all of which have been tried in Greenfield. Superintendent Lisa Elliott said staff "diligently work to be proactive" and are considering at least one such program. School leaders called a community meeting Monday night, closed to media, to discuss next steps. (Linnane, 11/26)

Kansas City Star: Over 6,000 Untested Sexual Assault Kits Found In Missouri
Jackson County has the highest number of untested sexual assault kits in the state, with more than 2,300 kits stored at area police departments and health facilities, a report from the Missouri attorney general’s office said. The report identified a total of 6,157 kits across the state that were collected before April 30, 2018, but had never been tested. (Moore, 11/27)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Critics: Reforms Not Enough To Ensure Better Ambulance Service
Some of Georgia’s most influential leaders in emergency medical services, as well as patient advocates, are pushing for more dramatic reforms to a state proposal affecting the hiring of ambulance providers. The proposal, expected to take effect Dec. 9, is a first step to EMS reforms that are long overdue, said Bud Owens, chairman of an advisory committee of state EMS leaders that makes recommendations to the state. (Berard, 11/27)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Summit County Public Health Awarded $2.48 Million To Address Infant Mortality Rates Among African-American Families In Akron Area
Summit County Public Health has been awarded $2.48 million to support programs to reduce infant mortality rates in the Akron area, particularly among African-American families. The Ohio Department of Medicaid and the Ohio Medicaid Managed Care Plans awarded the grant for health officials to continue initiatives to eliminate poor birth outcomes and infant deaths in Akron and Summit County for two years beginning Jan. 1, 2020. (Goist, 11/26)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Has Limited Options To Combat Homelessness In Los Angeles
Although the White House has vowed to take action to combat homelessness in Los Angeles and other cities, President Trump’s options are limited without cooperation from the courts, Congress and local and state governments. Administration officials have floated a range of potential plans — including using police to clear skid row and other encampments, reducing regulations for building new housing, and increasing temporary shelter space by making federal facilities available or erecting temporary structures. (Bierman, 11/26)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Grants To Ohio Crime Victim Assistance Programs Cut By More Than $10 Million As Federal Fund Shrinks
More than $10 million in cuts to programs that serve victims of crime in Ohio means some local domestic violence survivors won’t have an advocate by their side in court next year and newly-created centers to address trauma will be able to offer fewer supports. Deposits to a federal fund to help crime victims, established 35 years ago by the Victims of Crime Act, commonly referred to as VOCA, have plummeted in recent years, meaning less money is being passed down to states, which distribute grants to local agencies that provide advocacy, therapy and other support. (Dissell, 11/26)

The Washington Post: Maryland Records Lowest Number Of New HIV Cases In More Than 30 Years
For the first time in more than three decades, the state of Maryland recorded fewer than 1,000 new cases of HIV infection in 2018. The state Department of Health announced on Tuesday that 997 new cases of HIV were reported in Maryland last year. That’s the lowest since 947 people learned they’d contracted the virus in 1986, just five years after the state’s first reported HIV case. (Zauzmer, 11/26)

Miami Herald: Eye Specialist Sued Again Over Retinoblastoma Treatment
Last week, Alvarenga filed suit against Murray, Nicklaus Children’s and neuro-oncologist Ziad Khatib, alleging malpractice in the treatment of her son, Jayden, 6, whose treatment for metastasized cancer continues as he struggles to complete the first grade. It was the third such suit filed by parents in similar cases. The previous lawsuits were filed last year and have not yet been resolved. All of the families share the same attorney. (Conarck, 11/27)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Student Suicides In Greenfield Raise Issues Of Bullying, Mental Health
Research shows there are effective programs school districts can use to reduce bullying and offer mental health support — not all of which have been tried in Greenfield. Superintendent Lisa Elliott said staff "diligently work to be proactive" and are considering at least one such program. School leaders called a community meeting Monday night, closed to media, to discuss next steps.Hernandez and two other Greenfield families had their own meeting Monday afternoon at Generations Against Bullying, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit with a mission to raise awareness about bullying. (Linnane, 11/26)

Health News Florida: Group Ready To Fight Recreational Pot Efforts
With recreational marijuana advocates working to get two separate initiatives on the November 2020 ballot, opponents have formed a political committee focused on defeating the legalization efforts. Organizers of Floridians Against Recreational Marijuana, or FARM, issued a news release Friday announcing the formation of the political committee, aimed at combating “the mega-marijuana, out-of-state corporate interests” behind legalization. (Kam, 11/27)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Boy With XLA Saved By Father's WebMD Research And Doctors
Jack had a rare, life-threatening immune deficiency, later confirmed as Bruton’s X-linked agammaglobulinemia, also known as XLA. The condition afflicts about one in every 250,000 people and can be treated by infusing patients with antibodies. Jack received his first infusion that day and stayed overnight for observation. (Johnson, 11/26)