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There are 18 wildfires now blazing across California, which means many of the state's residents are waking up to the smell of smoke and hazy skies. The Carr fire near Redding has scorched at least 145,015 acres and killed seven people, and three fires in Mendocino County are all less than an hour away from Santa Rosa — where some neighborhoods burned to the ground last year. (McClurg and Snow, 8/5)

Renowned health policy researcher Dr. Elliott Fisher has been placed on paid administrative leave from his position as director of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice pending an investigation into his workplace conduct. Adam Keller, the institute's chief of strategy and operations, also has been placed on leave. Both men are barred from entering Dartmouth property or attending Dartmouth-sponsored events during the investigation, a university spokeswoman said Wednesday. (Meyer, 8/3)

The term “country doctor” may call a horse and buggy to mind. But handling a horse used to be just one of a rural doctor’s many skills. A country doctor might be called on to practice dentistry, dispense prescriptions and deliver babies over a wide swath of territory. The Country Doctor Museum brings that history to life. The Bailey, N.C., museum is dedicated to interpreting the history of medicine in rural America — a history that spans 200 years. (Blakemore, 8/5)

In 2016, the infant mortality rate in the United States was 5.9 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which listed the 2016 infant mortality rate in Michigan as 6.4 deaths per 1,000 live births. The Detroit Health Department wants to create a new reality for pregnant moms in Detroit through by providing social support and clinical services. Almost a year after launching in August 2017, SisterFriends Detroit has been able to form more than 220 pairs of "sister friends" aimed at reducing the city's infant mortality rate. (Paige, 8/5)

In Connecticut, 21.4 percent of women report experiencing depression, compared with 13.4 percent of men, according to 2015 Department of Public Health data. Millennial women in the state experience depression four more days in an average month than their male counterparts, the Status of Women data project reported this year. (Shaddox, 8/5)

The state’s day care regulator fired back at a federal report released Friday that said Georgia will miss a key deadline requiring that it conduct national criminal background checks on child care workers. Difficulties with staffing, funding and coordination with other states will keep the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning from putting its full system in place by the Sept. 30 deadline, according to the audit report by the watchdog for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (Mariano, 8/3)

The Orange County medical examiner wants to be the first in Florida to use CT scanning technology for autopsies. ...Medical Examiner Dr. Joshua Stephany says the new technology would allow his staff to complete autopsies quicker and more accurately. (Prieur, 8/3)

Forty years ago this week, President Jimmy Carter declared Love Canal a national health emergency when the small community near Niagara Falls, New York, learned that their homes and school were built on 22,000 tons of chemicals. Today, many residents in the area, which was deemed safe by authorities, claim to be facing health problems. (Thompson , Rothman and Regan, 8/5)

After two decades of flat or reduced funding from its chief client — state government — community-based agencies are struggling to retain both their programs and the low-paid staff who deliver care for thousands of poor, disabled and mentally-ill adults and children. Depending on the vantage point, Connecticut’s nonprofit social services sector is viewed as either the best means to preserve the state’s safety net or as the cheapest route to drive down government spending. (Phaneuf, 8/6)

A Cobb County medical group has agreed in federal court to pay $1.2 million for re-using sinus catheters and making false claims to Medicare. Northwest ENT Associates, based in Marietta, allegedly violated the False Claims Act, federal prosecutors said Friday. (Brasch, 8/3)

During his decades-long career, Capt. Neal Urch, jail administrator for Henderson County, has seen first-hand the dangers faced by law enforcement both on the streets and behind prison walls. To increase safety at the jail, Urch is helping the county bring in a Special Operations Group, created to better control the inmate population, mitigate use of force and prevent officer and inmate injuries. (Walter, 8/4)