State Highlights: Grocery Deserts Impact Rural Areas; Many California Seniors Just A Disaster Away From Homelessness

Stateline: As Rural Groceries Fade Away, Lawmakers Wonder Whether To Act
Some states are trying to tackle their rural grocery gaps. Supporters of such efforts point to tax incentives and subsidies at various levels of government that have enabled superstores to service larger areas and squeeze out local independent grocers. Now, dollar stores are opening in rural regions and offering items at lower prices, posing direct competition to local groceries. Critics see that development as a threat to public health, since dollar stores typically lack quality meat and fresh produce. But every town and every store is different, making statewide solutions elusive. (Simpson, 10/2)

USA Today: Thousands Of California Seniors Are 'One Disaster Away' From Homelessness. What Can The State Do?
Homelessness experts say California’s low-income seniors are especially vulnerable because of the state's housing affordability crisis: With fixed income and high rent prices, an illness or job loss can quickly put them on the streets. The state already accounts for about a quarter of the nation's homeless population, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and 69% of the 130,000 homeless Californians were unsheltered on a single night last year. (Lam, 10/2)

Dallas Morning News: In Dallas County, People Of Color Are More Likely To Be Drowning In Debt From Medical Bills
People of color, like Torres, are more likely to face medical debt because they lack health insurance coverage and have lower incomes, according to a report that the left-leaning Center for Public Policy Priorities published last month. Nearly 4.3 million Texans living in ZIP codes where more than 60% of the residents were not white had unpaid medical debt sent to a collections agency, according to an analysis of credit reports and 2017 U.S. Census data. (Méndez, 10/2)

The New York Times: N.Y. Declares That The End Of The AIDS Epidemic Is Near
There was a time when the diagnosis of H.I.V. was a death sentence, when thousands of New Yorkers, primarily gay men, succumbed to AIDS-related illnesses, and the end of the epidemic seemed both medically and mentally impossible. On Wednesday, however, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo declared that New York is on track to meet its goal to end the AIDS epidemic in the state by 2020. (McKinley, 10/2)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: HHS Awards $492,370 To State Toward Ending HIV Epidemic
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has awarded $492,370 to Georgia to conduct state and local planning and kick off community involvement for the proposed federal initiative, Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America, which seeks to reduce new HIV infections in America by 90% by 2030. The funding includes two parts. (Miller, 10/3)

The Associated Press: EPA Issues Violation Notice To San Francisco
The Trump administration ratcheted up its feud with California on Wednesday as the Environmental Protection Agency issued a notice accusing San Francisco of violating the federal Clean Water Act. Last month, President Donald Trump warned of a potential violation notice, saying the city was allowing needles and human waste to go through storm drains to the Pacific Ocean -- an allegation fervently denied by city officials. The violation notice came in the form of a letter to Harlan Kelly, Jr., general manager of the city’s Public Utilities Commission. (10/2)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Kids With Asthma: Black Children May Need Different Treatment
Deaths from asthma are disproportionately higher among black patients than among white patients, but black patients constitute the minority of participants in trials informing treatment. As a result, recommended treatments might not work well enough for African Americans. (Clanton, 10/2)

Los Angeles Times: Health Officials Confirm First West Nile Virus Death In L.A. County This Year
A South Bay resident has died from a neuroinvasive illness caused by West Nile virus, marking the first confirmed death this year from the mosquito-borne disease in Los Angeles County. Public health officials confirmed Wednesday that the patient was hospitalized and died from a West Nile virus-associated illness that affects the central nervous system but did not provide details about the person’s age or when they got sick. (Cosgrove, 10/2)

The Advocate: Impacts Of Students Misdiagnosed With Mental Health Conditions At Iberville School Unknown
Records from a health center that's accused of misdiagnosing Iberville Parish students as having serious mental health disorders will follow those students for years, authorities say, but the full impact of the false reporting — part of an alleged scheme to maximize Medicaid payments — remains unknown. Federal prosecutors allege that from 2011 to 2015, St. Gabriel Health Clinic Inc. officials gave schoolchildren bogus mental health diagnoses, without informing their parents, and offered group therapy sessions during classroom hours, all to collect Medicaid reimbursement. (Rddad and Lussier, 10/2)

Los Angeles Times: Vaccine Bill Protester Threw Blood On California Senators, Investigation Confirms
A red liquid thrown by a protester from the visitors gallery of the California Senate chamber in an “unanticipated attack” on state lawmakers during the final night of the legislative session was found to be blood, according to the state Senate. Secretary of the Senate Erika Contreras sent an email to staff members on Wednesday that said “lab tests confirmed that the substance thrown from the Senate gallery was human blood.” Safety precautions were taken in hiring a company certified in hazard cleanup to sanitize the chamber, and the blood tested negative for any blood-borne pathogens or infections, Contreras wrote. (Luna, 10/2)

Austin American-Statesman: Gov. Greg Abbott Threatens State Intervention Over Austin's Homeless Ordinances
Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday threatened to send state troopers to Austin if the city’s inaction over tent camps for the homeless continues. In a letter to Mayor Steve Adler, Abbott promised state action that included posting Texas Department of Public Safety troopers in areas of the capital city “that pose greater threats” and deploying Texas Department of Transportation staff to clean up the encampments. (Jankowski, 10/2)

The New York Times: James Robinson, 79, Dies; Filled An Ambulance Gap In Brooklyn
The incident prompted Mr. Robinson to start a volunteer ambulance corps in Bedford-Stuyvesant that has answered calls ever since, cutting response times to only a few minutes. The group, one of more than 30 volunteer emergency service agencies in New York City today and one of nearly that many certified to give basic life support, has also trained more than 1,000 emergency medical technicians. Mr. Robinson, who was known as Rocky, died on Friday at 79. The cause was heart failure, said a son, Antoine Robinson. (Barron, 10/2)

WBUR: Sheriff's Deputy Sues Her County To Get Health Coverage For Transgender-Related Care
A sheriff's deputy in Perry, Ga., filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday against the county where she works for refusing to allow her health insurance plan to cover her gender-affirmation surgery. Sgt. Anna Lange came out as transgender in 2017, after working in the Houston County Sheriff's Office since 2006. (Landman, 10/2)

The Associated Press: Man Sues Oregon Clinic Over Donated Sperm Used For 17 Kids
A man who says his donated sperm was used to father at least 17 children in violation of an agreement that allowed for no more than five has sued an Oregon fertility clinic. Dr. Bryce Cleary believes it’s possible that he has many more children from his sperm donations 30 years ago, the Oregonian/OregonLive reported. (10/2)

Colorado Sun: Colorado’s Top Federal Prosecutor Says Banks Working With Marijuana Industry Have “No Carve Out” From Prosecutions
Colorado’s top federal prosecutor says that he would never tell banks working with legal marijuana businesses in the state that they are devoid of criminal liability. “As federal prosecutors,” Jason Dunn told The Colorado Sun on Tuesday, “we will never tell them that what they are doing is lawful under federal law. There’s always a risk, just like a retail marijuana business in Colorado, that they face federal prosecution. There is no carve out from federal prosecutions.” (Paul, 10/2)