State Highlights: Police Chiefs Back Red Flag Gun Legislation In Massachusetts; Medical Marijuana Bill Passes In Missouri House

State House News Service: Mass. Police Chiefs Association Backs 'Red Flag' Gun Bill
The Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association is urging lawmakers to pass a so-called "red flag" bill aimed at reducing gun violence, describing it as another tool for public safety and a way of closing "dangerous loopholes." ...The bill, pending before the House Ways and Means Committee, would allow a family member, roommate or law enforcement official to petition the court to bar someone from owning a firearm if their gun ownership presents a "significant danger of causing personal injury to self or others." (Lannan, 5/1)

Kansas City Star: Missouri House Votes To Legalize Medical Marijuana
The Missouri House of Representatives voted 112-44 Tuesday to legalize medical marijuana for people with several health conditions, sending the measure to the Missouri Senate. If enacted, House Bill 1554 would allow people with terminal illnesses verified by doctors to request a registration card from the state that would allow them to possess and use smokeless marijuana. (Marso, 5/1)

St. Louis Public Radio: Medical Marijuana Bill Passes Missouri House
Legislation that would legalize marijuana for medical use in Missouri passed the state House on Tuesday. The bill originally would have only allowed medical marijuana use for terminally ill patients, but the House added amendments last week to expand access to those with chronic and debilitating, but not necessarily fatal, illnesses. (Griffin, 5/1)

The Washington Post: Scabies-Infested Georgia Nursing Home Neglected Rebecca Zeni, Suit Says
Pictures of Rebecca Zeni during her younger years showed her with flawless skin, well-defined eyebrows and long, thick lashes. Her hair, parted in the middle, was neatly tied with a bow behind her ear. Her beauty could capture a room, her daughter said, but she was more than just a beautiful face. She was a modern-day woman of the 1940s and 1950s, headstrong, career-oriented and hard-working, said Mike Prieto, a lawyer representing Zeni’s family. At a time when women were expected to marry young and have children, the small-town girl from North Carolina moved to Norfolk after high school to work at the naval base there, her daughter, Pamela Puryear, said. She later became a model in New York City and worked as an assistant for CBS News’s Mike Wallace before she married and became a stay-at-home mother. (Phillips, 5/1)

ProPublica: University Of Illinois At Chicago Officials Defend Handling of Researcher's Misconduct
University of Illinois at Chicago officials on Tuesday told faculty, staff and students that research misconduct by one of the campus’ star faculty members was an anomaly and there are no systemic oversight problems at the institution. ...The message to the campus came after a ProPublica Illinois investigation last week revealed how the National Institute of Mental Health recently ordered the university to repay $3.1 million in grant money that it had received to fund one of UIC psychiatrist Mani Pavuluri’s studies on bipolar disorder among children. (Cohen, 5/1)

Concord Monitor: Sununu Taps Assistant Commissioner To Take Over State Insurance Department 
Gov. Chris Sununu plans to nominate Assistant Commissioner John Elias to take over the state Insurance Department, replacing Commissioner Roger Sevigny after 16 years in the post, the governor’s office announced Tuesday. Sevigny, who announced his retirement in March, is set to step down in mid-June. Elias was appointed assistant commissioner in April 2016, entering the public realm after years in the insurance industry outside of New Hampshire. (DeWitt, 5/2)

Arizona Republic: School Shootings: School-Safety Plan For Guns Passes Arizona Senate
The Arizona Senate voted Tuesday to pass Gov. Doug Ducey's plan to prevent mass shootings in schools, but lawmakers reduced funding for new on-campus police officers by nearly half. ...Ducey's plan would create a new type of restraining order to keeps guns out of unstable people's hands. It would also increase funding to put at least 50 new police officers in schools. (Gardiner, 5/1)

The Star Tribune: Twin Cities Schools Boost Mental Health Programs After Student Deaths 
Several Twin Cities schools are re-examining how they address mental health issues, hoping to provide struggling teens with more resources. Efforts in the Hopkins and Mounds View school districts come in the aftermath of several student suicides and the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fla., which put new urgency around boosting mental health programs in schools nationwide. (Smith, 5/1)

Modern Healthcare: CHS Revenue Drops By 18% While Narrowing Operating Loss 
Community Health Systems managed to narrow its operating loss in the first quarter of 2018, and revenue was up slightly on a same-hospital basis. The Franklin, Tenn.-based hospital chain on Tuesday afternoon reported revenue of about $3.7 billion in the first quarter, down nearly 18% from $4.5 billion in the first quarter of 2017. That's due in part to having 28 fewer hospitals in the first quarter of 2018. (Bannow, 5/1)

Minnesota Public Radio: Dark-Colored Water Coming From Taps At A Mayo Clinic Hospital
The Mayo Clinic is investigating mysterious instances of dark-colored tap water coming out of taps at its sprawling St. Marys hospital. Patients and staff at the St. Marys Campus are being asked to stop drinking tap water or using ice from the ice machines. (Richert, 5/1)

The CT Mirror: Senate Adopts Bills To Safeguard Domestic Violence Victims, Incarcerated Women
The Senate unanimously approved a bill late Tuesday to reduce instances when victims of domestic violence are arrested alongside their attackers. The chamber also unanimously adopted a second measure that mandates a broad array of changes to the treatment of incarcerated women, particularly those who are pregnant. (Phaneuf, 5/1)

The Oregonian: Lane County Sees 12 Cases Of Whooping Cough, Asks For Vaccinations 
One high school in Lane County had so many students with pertussis -- or whooping cough -- that the public health department is investigating the cause. Twelve people at Sheldon High School, a public high school in Eugene, contracted pertussis, a highly contagious bacterial infection. Pertussis is also highly preventable through vaccination. According to The Oregonian/OregonLive's database of vaccination rates for Oregon schools last school year, Sheldon High has enough students vaccinated that contagious diseases should have a hard time spreading. However, any adults or students who aren't vaccinated are susceptible to contracting pertussis, according to the local health authorities. (Harbarger, 5/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Will Try New Approach For Conservatorships For The Most Troubled
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance to give the city attorney authority over conservatorship proceedings, the process of forcing mentally ill people into treatment or putting them in the care of a guardian. Those cases are currently overseen by the district attorney. (Swan, 5/1)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Dems Say Farm Bill Could Mean Thousands Of WI Children Losing Food Stamps
The GOP farm bill before Congress could lead to the loss of food stamps for thousands of children in Wisconsin, Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday. Statehouse Democrats said the legislation before the U.S. House of Representatives could result in 23,400 children in Wisconsin losing access to FoodShare benefits. (Stein, 5/1)

The Associated Press: Group Home Pays $450K To Family Of Boy Who Recorded Abuse
A group home in upstate New York will pay $450,000 to the family of a developmentally disabled boy who used his PlayStation to record caretakers threatening his life. The boy, Ralph White, was 12 when he allegedly was physically and psychologically abused at the privately run Northeast Parent and Child Society home in Schenectady in 2014. In one of the videos he recorded for his mother, White points to his swollen right eye and says “Mom, this is what it looks like.” (Klepper, 5/1)

Iowa Public Radio: Iowa Senate Frustrated With House Inaction On Medical Marijuana
Senators on both sides of the aisle expressed frustration Monday with the House’s refusal to consider a bill that would expand Iowa’s medical marijuana program. Republican and Democratic senators have been calling for an expansion of the list of medical conditions that allow a patient to obtain medical marijuana. (Sostaric, 5/1)