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Abortion providers in Texas asked the Supreme Court Monday to clear the way for the lawsuit they filed in July against the state law forbidding women from ending unwanted pregnancies after six weeks. In legal papers, the abortion providers argued that a federal appeals court overseeing the case is obstructing their challenge with superfluous proceedings. (Bravin, 1/3)

More Southern California beaches have been reopening after a large sewage spill shut off large segment of the coastline before New Year’s Day. Orange County’s health care agency on Monday lifted closures for Seal Beach and Sunset Beach once testing showed the water quality was acceptable, said Julie MacDonald, an agency spokesperson. (1/4)

Another Wisconsin town is now waging a battle against "forever chemicals" after finding the toxic compounds during voluntary testing. The Town of Rib Mountain discovered PFAS in municipal drinking water wells during testing in November and December, according to a press release. The compounds were found in four wells, with levels about the recommended standard in only one. The other three wells tested had low levels of PFAS. Well #1, which had the elevated level of the compounds, has been shut off — meaning residents and businesses are getting their water from other wells within the system. (Schulte, 1/3)

A lengthy project to dig up and remove radioactive and hazardous waste buried for decades in unlined pits at a nuclear facility that sits atop a giant aquifer in eastern Idaho is nearly finished, U.S. officials said. The U.S. Department of Energy said last week that it removed the final amount of specifically-targeted buried waste from a 97-acre (39-hectare) landfill at its 890-square-mile (2,300-square-kilometer) site that includes the Idaho National Laboratory. (Ridler, 1/4)

New state Comptroller Natalie Braswell and the leaders of the General Assembly’s Labor Committee launched a $34 million relief program Monday for essential workers affected by the coronavirus. The program, which is accepting applications through July 20, covers lost wages, out-of-pocket medical expenses and burial costs tied to COVID-19 and incurred between March 10, 2020 and July 20, 2021. “Frontline workers made immense sacrifices to keep our state functioning during the pandemic,” said Braswell, who became the state’s chief fiscal guardian last week when Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo retired due to illness. “This relief program represents an opportunity to return the favor, offering critical financial assistance to workers who contracted COVID-19.” (Phaneuf, 1/3)

KHN: As Covid Hits Nursing Homes’ Finances, Town Residents Fight To Save Alzheimer’s Facility

Marvin Querry, 86, was on his tractor, planting rye on his 770-acre western Missouri farm, when the call came in early November. It was the social worker from Barone Alzheimer’s Care Center, where Querry’s wife, Diane, is a resident. The facility would be closing because of financial hardship, she said, reading from a statement. (Graham, 1/4)