San Diego Uses Bleach to Clean Its Streets to Contain Outbreak

PUBLIC HEALTH | The San Diego-area hepatitis A outbreak that’s killed 16 people and infected 400 more has forced city and county officials to take swift action to contain its spread, including washing downtown streets with bleach. The outbreak has been largely linked to the area’s homeless population. County health officials, who declared an emergency earlier this month, have said the outbreak has been spread through a “fecally contaminated environment” and person-to-person transmission. The cleaning effort is expected to contain the outbreak’s spread. In addition to asking the city to disinfected downtown streets, the county has asked for the city to expand access to public restrooms. Like many cities, San Diego has struggled to deal with its skyrocketing homeless population. The outbreak has prompted long-awaited action from Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s administration for sheltering local homeless residents. [National Public Radio; Voice of San Diego]

ENVIRONMENT | New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a citywide mandate Thursday to retrofit 14,500 of buildings to be more energy efficient and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Existing buildings larger than 25,000 square feet would be required to invest in better heating and cooling systems, insulation and hot-water heaters if approved by City Council. The buildings account for nearly a quarter of New York City’s carbon emissions and would need to make the required changes by 2030. [The Washington Post]

#STATEGOVWIRE …

Sacramento, California: State legislative leaders have approved a drug price transparency bill, S.B. 17, which would be the nation’s first-ever such effort if Gov. Jerry Brown approves the measure. Certain disclosure rules would kick in for pharmaceutical firms wanting to hike the wholesale price more than 16 percent on drugs that cost more than $40 for a course of therapy. If Brown gives the bill a thumbs up, "SB 17 will set national health care policy, having impact for consumers and providers in other states," the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Ed Hernandez, said in a statement. [Southern California Public Radio / KPCC]

Richmond, Virginia: State officials are “scrambling to lure an insurer to fill the gaping holes in the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges” in 58 cities and counties across Virginia. Under deadline pressure, the state’s Health and Human Services Secretary Bill Hazel and Bureau of Insurance is trying to figure out a way to fill those gaps, but “the outlook is bleak.” [Richmond Times-Dispatch]

Boise, Idaho: Compared to most other Western states, Idaho generates the most money per capita from agriculture. The Gem State dominates its neighbors when it comes to farm products like hay, wheat, milk and beef cattle. Agriculture is “basically the foundation of our economy,” according to University of Idaho agricultural economist Ben Eborn. “...[W]e don’t do a lot besides agriculture. So we’re not a real diverse economy.” [Boise State Public Radio]

Nashville, Tennessee: In an announcement on Thursday, Gov. Bill Haslam and Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said that Tennessee has seen its highest-ever high school graduation rate, 89.1 percent. “Teachers and educators in Tennessee have worked tirelessly to support students and these record graduation rates show their hard work is making a difference,” Haslam said. “As more students graduate from high school, we are committed to helping them go to college, succeed and become skilled members of Tennessee’s workforce. The graduation rate is reflective of the many gains we are making in education in our state.” [Office of Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam]

#LOCALGOVWIRE ...

Washington, D.C.: At a National Academy of Sciences gathering, Albuquerque Innovation Team Director Scott Darnell gave a presentation about the city’s efforts to use data-driven decision-making strategies to improve public safety. Albuquerque’s i-team is funded through the Bloomberg Philanthropies Innovation Teams program. [@ABQiteam; ABQ i-team]

San Francisco, California: Members of the Board of Supervisors are pushing ahead with legislation that aims to cut down on rental car burglaries. One proposal would require rental car firms to remove advertising from their vehicles and hide sticker barcodes. “It is our utmost goal to curb the number of car break-ins in San Francisco,” Supervisor Norman Yee said. “This is just one of those solutions.” Police data recently showed that auto break-ins are on the rise in San Francisco. Rental cars can make attractive targets for thieves because renters are less likely to report crimes and more apt to leave valuables in the vehicles. [San Francisco Examiner]

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: A bureaucratic saga over what to do about a collapsed retaining wall adjacent to the Mulberry Street Bridge continues to play out in Pennsylvania’s capital city after the incident happened in May 2016. Although a judge has called the site—where the wall and a parking lot it supported collapsed down a hillside and into a tire shop—a “public danger,” the site has not yet been secured, thanks to delays, including securing a right-of-way entry agreement from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which controls the bridge and land adjacent to it. In the meantime, vandals continue to enter the site and have slowly stripped “a mystery car” that has been trapped on the collapsed wall. The tire shop owner, in the meantime, has had to close his shop due to black mold, laying off all his employees. [The Patriot-News / PennLive.com]

Colton, South Dakota: A local school district northwest of Sioux Falls has been accused of padding its enrollment numbers by asking area home-school students to come to public school for one day—the day of the annual head count used to determine state funding for local schools—with the promise of a free laptop. [Argus Leader]

New Orleans, Louisiana: The Lake Vista neighborhood can breathe a little easier with the apprehension of three aggressive squirrels. [@MayorLandrieu]