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The tragic Los Angeles fires were a historically destructive disaster, but they also presented a unique opportunity to study the toxic exposures faced by firefighters. New findings point to a heightened risk for serious diseases like lupus. (Woodhouse, 11/19)

When a Charlotte man fell off a ladder last week and likely fractured his foot, his doctor told him he needed to go to the hospital for an X-ray. But the man, the Latino owner of a small construction company, refused to go, the doctor said. He was too afraid he might run into U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents, even though he’s in the country legally. (Crouch, 11/20)

Missouri has escalated its attempt to seize Chinese government-owned property across the United States, asking the Trump administration for help collecting on a roughly $25 billion court judgment related to the COVID-19 pandemic that Beijing has flatly rejected. Missouri is asking the U.S. State Department to formally notify China that the state intends to pursue assets with full or partial Chinese government ownership to satisfy the judgment, state Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said Wednesday. (Lieb, 11/20)

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission moved forward on Tuesday with its efforts to regulate the sale of consumable hemp products as questions swirled around the future of the industry due to federal restrictions on the products approved by Congress last week. A provision of the funding bill for the U.S. Department of Agriculture that ended the longest government shutdown on record also undid a provision of the 2018 farm bill that first allowed Texas’ $8 billion hemp industry to thrive. (Cobler, 11/19)

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is suing Planned Parenthood for what he called deceptive marketing practices involving abortion pills. In a November 6 video on X, Uthmeier said Planned Parenthood “falsely marketed to women” that abortion pills are safer than over-the-counter medications. (Putterman, 11/19)

If heat-trapping pollution from burning coal, oil and gas continues unchecked, thousands of hazardous sites across the United States risk being flooded from sea level rise by the turn of the century, posing serious health risks to nearby communities, according to a new study. Researchers identified 5,500 sites that store, emit or handle sewage, trash, oil, gas and other hazards that could face coastal flooding by 2100, with much of the risk already locked in due to past emissions. But more than half the sites are projected to face flood risk much sooner — as soon as 2050. Low-income, communities of color and other marginalized groups are the most at risk. (Pineda, 11/20)