State Highlights: Health Care, Suicide Prevention Likely To Take Hits In Mass. Gov.’s Budget Cuts; In N.Y., 5 Babies Born With Zika-Related Symptoms

Boston Globe: Baker To Cut $98 Million From State Budget 
Governor Charlie Baker said Tuesday that he is unilaterally slashing $98 million from the state budget to remedy what his administration says is a gap between projected revenue and authorized spending. Cuts will touch a wide swath of government programs. They include health care for the poor, suicide prevention, the State Police crime laboratory, literacy programs, state parks, and the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services. But the total amount of spending being axed is small compared to the $39 billion budget. (Miller, 12/6)

The New York Times: New York City Has 5 Babies Born With Zika-Related Brain Issue
At least four babies have been born in New York City with Zika-related brain developmental symptoms since July, the city’s health department said on Wednesday, bringing the total number of such births to five. The numbers were announced in an alert the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene sent to doctors, urging them to remain vigilant and to continue to warn pregnant women and sexually active women of reproductive age not using a reliable form of birth control against traveling to places where the virus is spreading. (Marc Santora, 12/7)

Georgia Health News: State Still Faces Shortage Of Caseworkers For Foster Kids 
As the number of foster children in Georgia soars, a state agency continues to struggle with a high turnover rate among the caseworkers who help these kids. Georgia DFCS assigns each foster child a caseworker, and the agency says the annual turnover rate for these workers is about 37 percent. DFCS is recruiting now to fill about 170 positions for child welfare case managers. The turnover rate among the caseworkers, says a DFCS spokeswoman, comes from several factors, including the departure of many for jobs with less stress and better pay. The starting salary for a child welfare case manager is $28,005. (Miller, 12/6)

The Baltimore Sun: University Of Maryland To Engage School Teachers, Students In Childhood Obesity Prevention Efforts 
The University of Maryland School of Medicine will use a $5 million federal grant to tackle childhood obesity by helping teachers, parents and students come up with ways to practice healthy habits in schools. The school will announce Wednesday it has received the funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop ways to help implement wellness policies the schools were required by federal law to establish. (McDaniels, 12/6)

Sacramento Bee: Rideout Health Settles For $2.4 Million In Alleged Drug Management, Record-Keeping Violations 
Rideout Health, the Yuba-Sutter county nonprofit healthcare system, will pay $2.4 million to settle federal claims that it allegedly mishandled records for thousands of drug transactions within three of its healthcare facilities, according to a press release by the U.S. Department of Justice... The alleged violations were first investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration after it received information from the California State Board of Pharmacy that the system’s Fremont Medical Center was operating with an expired DEA registration. (Chavez, 12/6)

Sacramento Bee: Conjoined Twins Eva And Erika Sandoval Begin Separation Surgery 
Fused from the chest down, the twins from Antelope have managed to grow into talkative, playful toddlers while sharing a liver, bladder and some digestive tract as well as a third leg. Their parents and Stanford doctors, however, decided to go ahead with the dangerous surgery because of growing health risks if the twins stayed conjoined. Only a few hundred surgeries have ever been performed successfully to separate conjoined twins, and doctors calculated a 30 percent chance that one or both twins wouldn’t make it through Tuesday’s operation. (Caiola, 12/6)

Health News Florida: Ciguatera Toxin Stalks Florida Reef Fish 
It's the most common marine toxin in the world, but many aren't familiar with the all-too-common ciguatoxin. Even less well known are the severe—and often bizarre—neurological symptoms that accompany exposure. Aside from gastrointestinal distress, ciguatoxin can also cause dizziness, numbness, uncontrollable itching, even an inability to differentiate between hot and cold. In rare cases, it can even be fatal. (Smith, 12/6)

Sacramento Bee: Mothers Donate Breast Milk At A Collection Spot In Sacramento 
Heeding a statewide call for mothers’ milk, a handful of parents came with babies in tow or toting coolers of frozen breast milk to free drop-off events this week in Sacramento. Mila Linhart, 4 months old, was sweetly oblivious as her mother handed over about 400 ounces of frozen breast milk on Tuesday, surplus that Elizabeth Pontarelli wanted to share with preemie babies like her daughter. (Buck, 12/6)

Denver Post: Denver Shelters, Outreach Workers Prepare As Arctic Cold Threatens Homeless Population
With deadly cold weather rolling into Denver, outreach workers are doing their best to persuade those who live on the streets to get inside, and shelter providers are preparing for an influx of homeless people. The first major cold snap of the year is expected to begin Tuesday night, with temperatures falling to 6 degrees combined with a brisk wind that will make it feel like minus-8. More bone-chilling cold is on tap for Wednesday, and snow is expected to fall both days. (McGhee, 12/6)

The CT Mirror: DDS Group Home Privatization Effort Slows Down — For Now
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s plans to privatize 40 group homes and lay off nearly 500 Department on Developmental Services employees next year — as well as union efforts to block those actions — have stalled temporarily, but have not gone away. Spokespeople for the administration and two state employee unions confirmed all parties are talking and have delayed a Hartford Superior Court hearing planned for this week, but released few other details. (Phaneuf, 12/7)

Arizona Republic: Breaking Ground: Work Begins On First Place Complex In Phoenix For Adults With Autism
On Tuesday, she [Denise Reznik] and other community leaders finally broke ground on First Place, a living center tailored to adults with autism and related disorders.The $15-million mixed-use development is expected to open in 2018 at Third Street and Catalina Drive. The complex will have 56 apartments with varying layouts, a training academy for residents and a leadership institute for medical professionals and researchers when it is complete. (Polletta, 12/6)

The CT Mirror: Advocates Give Legislators A ‘Mental Health 101’
As a newly elected state representative, David T. Wilson’s “homework” Tuesday included spending two hours in a “mental health 101” session, hosted by advocates hoping to make an impression with lawmakers. The Litchfield Republican and the handful of other newly elected or returning legislators who came heard about legal rights and supportive housing, addiction and recovery, the needs of young adults and holistic healing. They participated in a grounding exercise, raising upturned hands and taking deep breaths. (Levin Becker, 12/6)

The Star Tribune: Abbott Sued After Newborn Was Breast-Fed By Wrong Mother 
A mother whose newborn son was mistakenly turned over by maternity ward staff to another mother and breast-fed has sued the Minneapolis hospital.Tammy Van Dyke, of Apple Valley, sued Allina Health System's Abbott Northwestern Hospital late last week. The suit said the Dec. 5, 2012, mix-up led to "unnecessary medical treatment, tests and expenses, and severe mental injury and emotional pain and suffering." (Walsh, 12/6)

Sacramento Bee: In Sacramento, More Discover Health Benefits Of Fermented Foods 
The surge in popularity of fermented foods in recent years – eating them, creating them at home, exploring different cultures and cuisines – is based largely on the idea that this stuff can be really good for you.In today’s filtered, purified, sanitized, antibacterial world, you might think avoiding bacteria of any kind is a good thing. Turns out, plenty of bacteria, invisible to the naked eye, are plastered all over our food and working on our behalf. (Robertson, 12/6)