State Highlights: Underfunded Alaskan Police Force Gets Life-Saving Support From Iowa Officer; New Yorkers Push Mayor About Street Safety After Cyclists’ Deaths

ProPublica/Anchorage Daily News: How A Police Officer In Iowa Helped Protect An Alaskan Police Force — From Thousands Of Miles Away
On Michael Wongittilin’s first day in uniform as a police officer in Savoonga, Alaska, 11 years ago, a man walked into the village’s public safety office and pointed a gun at him. Wongittillin jumped behind a desk and then lurched out, ran toward the assailant and bombarded him with pepper spray — the strongest weapon that Savoonga officers carry. (Williams, 12/24)

The New York Times: More People Are Dying On New York City’s Streets. What Went Wrong?
As New York City tackled the stubborn problem of street safety in recent years, it earned praise for pushing down traffic deaths to their lowest level in a century and helped begin a national movement to make roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists. But years of progress could be in jeopardy: The number of traffic deaths rose in 2019, fueled by a spike in cyclist fatalities that has devastated and angered the city’s vibrant biking community. (Fitzsimmons, 1/1)

The Washington Post: States Have So Many Foster Children They're Putting Them In Jails
Though he's never been convicted of a crime, Geard Mitchell spent part of his childhood in a juvenile detention center, at times sleeping on cement floors under harsh fluorescent lights left on through the night during lockdowns. He attended high school by clicking through online courses and had “no one to talk to but the walls” because of restrictions on phone calls. (Wax-Thibodeaux, 12/30)

KCUR: Kansas Sees Shortage Of Psychiatrists And Other Mental Health Providers
Like the rest of the United States, Kansas is seeing an increase in patients seeking mental health treatment. But the state can’t find enough doctors, nurses and therapists to treat them. Providers say the problem is worse in the state’s least-populated rural areas, where clinic jobs can stay open for years at a time. ...One measure from the federal government suggests only nine of the counties in Kansas have enough psychiatrists, and they’re mostly in urban areas: Johnson, Wyandotte, Shawnee, Douglas, Harvey, Sedgwick, Marion, McPherson and Miami counties. (Ujiyediin, 12/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Wave Of Blazes Strains Firefighting Network, From Australia To California
For years, the U.S. and Australia shared firefighting resources—such as specialist firefighters—in each of their off-seasons. But that tradition is coming under pressure as fire seasons start earlier and run for longer, due in part to climate change, scientists say, as well as drought and extreme temperatures. Major fires broke out in Australia within days of a wildfire north of San Francisco in late October, a period of extreme fire weather that had California utilities collectively cutting power to millions of people. (Pannett and Cherney, 1/2)

Los Angeles Times: California, Climate Change And The Trauma Of The Last Decade
The wildfires were more destructive. The drought was the longest on record. And the storms, when they finally came, unleashed more water than our dams could contain. To live in California over the last decade has meant enduring a steady procession of weather-related disasters, each one seemingly worse than the last. Five of the 10 largest fires in state record books have occurred since 2010. (Netburn, 12/26)

The Washington Post: An Ohio City Known For Helping The Homeless Now Questions Its Limits
This small heartland city, situated almost halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati, has long had a heart. In good times and bad, it has offered a generous network of privately funded homeless shelters, drug rehabilitation facilities and soup kitchens, plus a library that promotes access for all. Yet in recent months, officials and residents have begun to question whom those services are benefiting and how to shoulder the cost. (Williams, 1/1)

The Associated Press: Judge Blocks California Law On Dialysis Clinics
A federal judge on Monday blocked enforcement of a California law aimed at preventing increased billing costs at dialysis clinics. There is "a dire public interest" in granting a preliminary injunction that would bar enforcement for months while a lawsuit against it proceeds through the courts, Judge David O. Carter said. (12/31)

NH Times Union: Norovirus Contributed To Death Of Adult Who Got Sick After Event At Puritan Backroom, Health Officials Say 
Norovirus was contributing cause in the death of a Hillsborough County resident who died after attending an event at a Puritan Backroom function hall Nov. 24, the state chief medical examiner's office said Tuesday. The office completed its final report Tuesday after conducting an autopsy last month. The person who died was among more than a dozen who fell ill with a gastrointestinal illness after attending a private event at the popular restaurant and conference center, according to health officials. (Hayward and Feely, 12/31)

The Oregonian: Family Sues Bend Hospital For $26.5 Million After Woman Died Following Breast Infection
St. Charles Health System is facing a $26.5 million wrongful death lawsuit from the estate of a Jacksonville woman who died of septic shock following a breast infection in 2017. The Bend Bulletin reported that the family of Casey Gwenyth Galusha-Beck filed suit Dec. 24 in Deschutes County Circuit Court, naming two St. Charles doctors as co-defendants. The suit alleges that after Galusha-Beck’s infection was successfully treated, hospital staff missed obvious signs of adrenal insufficiency, which led to circulatory collapse and death. (Andrews, 12/31)

Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Woman Goes From Being Homeless To Helping Those In Need Get Health Care 
When Aakifah Sheares applied for an administrative assistant job, she had no idea her experience being homeless or surviving domestic violence would help her land an entirely different gig. For almost two years now, Sheares has been a community health worker for Mount Carmel Health System. ...Sheares, 47, of the South Side, works with people in some of Columbus’ more in-need communities. Some days she’s based in Mount Carmel’s Franklinton location, but other days she travels directly to the homes of the people she helps. She guides her clients through the complexities of the health care system, including paperwork and finding the right doctors and specialists. She also checks in with them on a regular basis to offer support in the form of being someone to talk to. (Filby, 12/27)

Texas Tribune: In Rural Texas, People Experiencing Homelessness Are Invisible
Rural counties don’t typically conduct the homelessness counts that urban areas like Austin, Dallas or Houston organize each January. But the Texas Homeless Network estimates that in 2019 more than 8,000 people experienced homelessness in 215 Texas counties outside the state’s urban regions. That’s almost how many people experience homelessness in Dallas and Houston combined. (Garnham, 1/2)

The Baltimore Sun: Slow Burn: Maryland Medical Marijuana Companies Fume As Licensing Process Drags On 
When Maryland launched its medical cannabis industry, the first companies to nab coveted licenses for growing, processing and selling the drug were overwhelmingly white-owned. So, state lawmakers ordered more licenses to be issued, with the goal of getting more black people and women into the industry. But a year and a half later, those new licenses are on hold amid five lawsuits and accusations from applicants that the process was botched or biased. (Wood, 12/27)

Belleville News-Democrat: Legal Marijuana Sales Start In Collinsville And Across Illinois
The first day of 2020 has been highly anticipated for many — from baby boomers who remember smoking pot before the government declared the drug wasn’t safe to Medicaid patients who have waited to use cannabis for pain management in place of pills. It is the first time anyone 21 years old or older can legally buy marijuana in Illinois, the 11th state to legalize weed for people other than medical cannabis patients. (Cortes, 1/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: Lab Says Its Marijuana Breath Analyzer Will Hit The Market In 2020
Despite marijuana’s growing acceptance nationwide and its legality for recreational use in California, there is no consensus on how THC, its psychoactive ingredient, affects drivers or what levels constitute driving under the influence. That has left lawmakers, police and users grappling with a critical question: If you’re using marijuana, when is it safe to get behind the wheel? An Oakland company believes it’s solved one piece of that puzzle. (Cassidy, 1/1)