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North Carolina senators approved a bill on Thursday to bar women from getting abortions on the basis of race, sex or a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. With the Senate’s party-line vote, the prohibition Republicans are seeking now heads to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who is likely to veto it, having rejected previous anti-abortion restrictions. (Anderson, 6/10)

Houston has seen a “rapid” increase in respiratory illnesses since Gov. Greg Abbott ended Texas’ mask mandate nearly three months ago, according to new research from Houston Methodist Hospital epidemiologists. In a study published last week, Methodist researchers documented “a marked increase” in cases of rhinovirus/enterovirus, an upper respiratory infection, in the weeks after mask mandates were lifted in Texas. The report found similar upticks of influenza cases over the same period. Influenza, the paper’s authors said, typically peaks during winter months before dropping to low levels in the summer. (Downen, 6/10)

The City of Houston is known for so many things — great food, birthing world-renowned artists, the world capital of space exploration and international energy, the most diverse city in the U.S. and the fourth largest city in the country. And, it's the city with the most dog attacks on postal workers. The United States Postal Service released its dog attack national rankings showing the Bayou City as No. 1, with 73 attacks reported in 2020. (Welch, 6/10)

Food insecurity is a much greater problem than most Georgians would ever imagine. Carla Harward, an attorney who retired and moved to Trion several years ago, took it on herself to do something about the combination of food waste in schools and making sure that children across the state don’t go hungry. An estimated one in six children across Georgia, more than 400,000, are considered food insecure, according to Harward. At the same time, schools across the state have been throwing away thousands of tons of food. (Walker, 6/10)

Louisiana is poised to soon stop accepting the federal $300-a-week boost to jobless benefits a month early under a deal passed by lawmakers in the waning hours of the legislative session Thursday, a move that would make the state the latest to end the benefits over concerns from business groups that they are causing a worker shortage. Lawmakers approved a bill to boost the state’s unemployment benefits by $28 a week starting next year. But it would only take effect if Gov. John Bel Edwards ended the state’s participation in the federal program by July 31, which appears likely. That program is giving thousands of laid-off workers $300 a week in addition to whatever they get from the state, which currently is a maximum of $247 a week. (Karlin, 6/10)

KHN: Colorado Bill Aims To Give Farmworkers Easier Access To Medical Care

A woman with pregnancy complications needed permission from her boss to visit a doctor. Community health volunteers were turned away from delivering food and covid information to worker housing. A farmworker had a serious allergic reaction but was afraid to seek treatment. To Nicole Civita, policy director with Colorado advocacy group Project Protect Food Systems Workers, such stories encapsulate an entrenched power dynamic that covid-19 has brought into focus: Farmworkers are “essential but treated as expendable,” including when it comes to accessing health care. (Honig and Bichell, 6/11)