Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Malware Attack Forces City In California To Shut Down IT Systems, Reroute 911 Calls
CBS News: Northern California City Declares Emergency After Malware Disrupts 911, Public Safety Systems
A Northern California city declared a state of emergency Saturday after malware disrupted 911 routing, police and fire dispatch and other critical city systems. Suisun City officials said the cybersecurity incident began around 5:45 a.m. Friday. The city shut down its entire IT network to contain the threat and preserve evidence for a federal investigation. (Padilla, 8/9)
MPR News: North Dakota Banned Kratom And Set A Special Session For September
Smokes 4 Less in Fargo is stocked full with a rainbow of colorful products like vapes, pipes and bongs. But one shelf, deep in the store, is completely bare. It’s been that way since last Wednesday, when North Dakota’s ban on kratom took effect. (Ratanpal, 8/9)
News Service of Florida: Small School Districts In Florida Band Together To Lower Health Costs For Employees
As many Florida school districts look to close schools to cope with declining enrollment, leading to budget cuts, some are banding together to reduce another key factor to their bottom lines: health insurance premiums. (Goni-Lessan, 8/9)
KFF Health News: Many States Cover Doula Care, But Access To A ‘Birthing Bestie’ Is Often Out Of Reach
Doula Taja Iglesias and her business partner have built a space in Alexandria, Virginia, that’s all things pregnancy, birth, and childcare. Comfortable couches in one area invite expectant parents to settle in for birth education classes. In another, a colorful pile of toys await the babies and toddlers. And there’s a free supply of diapers and food. Years ago, as Iglesias was giving birth and expressing her wish not to have an epidural for pain, she felt isolated and that her preferences were dismissed by the medical staff. Today, she works hard to make sure other parents can have the support of a doula. (Spears, 8/10)
Maryland Matters: Maryland 2026 Heat Deaths Break Record
The 2026 heat season is now the deadliest in known history, as new data from the Maryland Department of Health reports a total of 50 heat-related fatalities since May, surpassing the previous record set of 46 in 2012. (Brown, 8/7)
Flatwater Free Press: Hundreds Of Omaha Homes With Unsafe Lead Don’t Qualify For EPA Cleanup
Despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent on environmental cleanup, more than half the yards in a section of Omaha, Nebraska, that used to surround a lead smelter still have enough contamination to cause high blood-lead levels in kids, according to tests by the Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica. The findings were consistent across the city’s older urban core — in the historically Black neighborhoods north of downtown, the predominantly Hispanic areas to the south and the more white and affluent areas in midtown. (Bowling, 8/10)
In mental health news —
NC Newsline: North Carolina High Schoolers Show Improvements In Mental Health
One of the most vexing problems caused by the pandemic was the toll it took on the mental health of young people. Students struggled with school closures, isolation from their friends, and the difficulties of remote learning. But after years of focus on behavioral health, it appears that North Carolina high school students are doing better. (Henkel, 8/9)
The Washington Post: What This Officer Said To A Suicidal Man To Talk Him Off A Bridge
When Mike Hotz approached a man standing on the edge of a bridge in Nashville, the man rebuffed him. “Stay back,” the man told him. “Don’t come any closer.” Hotz, a lieutenant for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, was sent to the scene on July 23 after calls came in about a man who was livestreaming on social media and saying he was on a bridge and about to take his own life. (Page, 8/9)
