�Թϲ�����

A top U.S. military official said Monday the Defense Department will appeal Hawaii’s order that it drain fuel from a massive tank farm that leaked petroleum into the Navy’s water system and contaminated Pearl Harbor’s tap water. Even so, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said in a statement the military continues to take actions “consistent with” Hawaii’s order to drain the tanks at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. (McAvoy, 2/1)

Maine may need to spend $20 million annually to fight harmful “forever chemicals” increasingly being found in land and water here, top state officials said Monday. The finding from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection was just the estimated cost of remediating places polluted by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are typically referred to as PFAS. It does not include other costs to the state, which could include reimbursing property owners or farmers whose livelihoods are affected by the chemicals. (Andrews, 1/31)

Still, more than 50 years after the passage of the landmark federal legislation, the region’s air remains among the most polluted in the country. Allegheny County, which includes the city and the surrounding area, is in the top 1 percent of U.S. counties for cancer risk from toxic air pollutants released from stationary sources, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The county still struggles to meet federal health standards for pollutants, including particulates and ground-level ozone, resulting in some of America’s highest rates of asthma, COPD, and cardiovascular disease, especially among the low-income communities of color that are the most exposed. (Hurdle, 1/31)

Legislation allowing Idaho K-12 teachers and other school workers to take home more of their paychecks by giving school districts an opportunity to leave private health care carriers and join the state’s self-funded health insurance plan cleared a Senate panel on Monday and headed to the full Senate. The Senate Education Committee voted to approve the plan that backers said is needed to help the state hire and retain teachers and other school workers by reducing premiums and lowering deductibles. Backers also said it could reduce reliance on school levies some school districts use that can raise property taxes. (Ridler, 1/31)

Ajury has found Canyon Creek Memory Care in Billings was negligent in the 2018 death of resident Owen Daniel Shively. Shively arrived at the care center on Dec. 13 and was assaulted by another patient Dec. 17 and died five days later. The patient pushed the 72-year-old Shively to the floor causing a fatal skull fracture, the victim’s family stated in a lawsuit. A Billings District Court jury on Jan. 28 awarded Tana Shively, the victim’s spouse, $310,000. The jury found that Canyon Creek was negligent in not managing the violent patient who pushed Shively, and that the negligence led to his death. (1/31)

The nursing home operator that already had one facility closed by the state last year because of a COVID outbreak is facing an investigation at another facility over allegations that as much as $250,000 that was supposed to go to employees was never distributed. Several legislators have asked the state Department of Social Services to investigate why the JACC Healthcare Group has not given the employees at the Vanderman Place Nursing Home and Healthcare Facility in Willimantic 4.5% salary increases that the legislature approved last year. (Altimari, 1/31)

Prisoners are not the only ones impacted by their incarceration. A prison or jail sentence affects that person’s family, from parents and siblings to partners and children. It means being separated from the outside world, missing birthdays and weddings, missing funerals. Not being there when they’re needed most. That absence is also felt by the people who did not commit any crime, the loved ones who become collateral damage. As the newest variant of the SARS CoV2 virus continues to permeate throughout the state’s prisons, it affects the ability of incarcerated people to communicate with their loved ones. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety has limited visitation as different prisons experience outbreaks in order to limit the spread of the virus both in the facility and outside in the community. (Thompson, 2/1)

Thousands of North Texas essential workers fear like never before the possibilities of contracting COVID-19 and having to work while sick to support their families. Whether because taking time off would leave their families with no income or because their bosses want them on the job even while sick, these employees say they have no choice but to continue working. “There is currently no law that prevents an employer from requiring an employee to come to work if that employee tests positive for COVID-19,” said Jamila Brinson, a labor and employment attorney at Jackson Walker LLP in Dallas. (Garcia and Ramos Pacheco, 1/31)