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Topline:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration advise consumers to avoid eating shredded iceberg lettuce at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.
Majority of patients ate iceberg lettuce: Health officials analyzed 190 cases of cyclospora in Michigan where a person who fell ill reported eating at Taco Bell. Officials found that 90% of those people said they ate iceberg lettuce. More than 1,644 sick people in this multi-state cyclospora outbreak reported eating at Taco Bell in those states starting May 13, according to the agencies. There have been 94 hospitalizations and no deaths reported. The agency notes this is one large cluster that is epidemiologically related. There are other clusters across the country that may or may not be associated. Cases have been identified in 34 states.
Source of the lettuce: The FDA traced this subset of cases identified nationwide to a single supplier of contaminated iceberg lettuce from Mexico, but did not name the supplier. FDA says it's working with the supplier to identify other locations where the contaminated lettuce has been distributed. The Associated Press, citing an unnamed federal official, has reported that Taylor Farms was the supplier of the lettuce. NPR has not independently confirmed that, and Taylor Farms has not responded to a request for comment.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration advise consumers to avoid eating shredded iceberg lettuce at Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.
Health officials analyzed 190 cases of cyclospora in Michigan where a person who fell ill reported eating at Taco Bell. Officials found that 90% of those people said they ate iceberg lettuce.
More than 1,644 sick people in this multi-state cyclospora outbreak reported eating at Taco Bell in those states starting May 13, according to the agencies. There have been 94 hospitalizations and no deaths reported.
The FDA traced this subset of cases identified nationwide to a single supplier of contaminated iceberg lettuce from Mexico, but did not name the supplier.
FDA says it's working with the supplier to identify other locations where the contaminated lettuce has been distributed. The agency notes this is one large cluster that is epidemiologically related. There are other clusters across the country that may or may not be associated. Cases have been identified in 34 states.
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Taco Bell issued a statement July 16 that it took "immediate action to voluntarily remove potentially impacted lettuce from a supplier in select states." The statement also said the lettuce would be removed from the supply chain nationwide and replaced within 24 hours.
The Associated Press, citing an unnamed federal official, has reported that Taylor Farms was the supplier of the lettuce. NPR has not independently confirmed that, and Taylor Farms has not responded to a request for comment.
A handful of big players with integrated supply chains and advanced processing infrastructure, including Taylor Farms, dominate the bagged lettuce and salad industry in the U.S.
With such a big reach, a single supplier can provide lettuce products to a number of retailers, so it's possible that additional clusters of cyclospora around the country could be linked to lettuce from the same supplier. It's also possible that there are multiple sources and suppliers linked to other cases around the country.
The FDA and CDC say the investigation is continuing.
The symptoms of the illness include watery diarrhea, loss of appetite and fatigue, and people contract it by eating or drinking contaminated food or water.
To protect yourself from the parasite, the CDC advises people to follow standard food safety handling protocols. "Wash your hands and any fresh produce thoroughly under running water before eating, cutting or cooking. This will reduce the risk of infection. Cooking kills the parasite, so heating food to 158 F or 70 C or higher is effective," said Dr. Gwen Biggerstaff with the CDC's Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases.
If people do develop symptoms, health officials advise people to contact their healthcare providers to be tested specifically for cyclospora. Routine stool tests often don't include that test.
"People with symptoms should stay well-hydrated and avoid preparing food for others while acutely ill, out of general caution, even though person-to-person spread is very unlikely," Biggerstaff said.
Copyright 2026 NPR
Topline:
Some fans with tickets to the 2028 Olympics were a tad suspicious this week when an email offering them a refund landed in their inboxes — but LA28 says its real.
The details: The email offered cash back for an accidentally included tax that "was partially charged in error" on their tickets to the Olympic Games. The subject line should read “Official LA28 Ticket Tax Refund”.
What happened: According to LA28, refunds are being sent to people who bought tickets to Olympic events at the Intuit Dome and to football matches in Columbus, Ohio. They were erroneously charged local taxes that didn't apply.
Read on... for details on the refund.
Some fans with tickets to the 2028 Olympics were a tad suspicious this week when an email offering them a refund landed in their inboxes.
The email offered cash back for an accidentally included tax that "was partially charged in error" on their tickets to the Olympic Games. The subject line should read “Official LA28 Ticket Tax Refund”.
The L.A. Olympics organizing committee says it's the real deal, though. According to LA28, refunds are being sent to people who bought tickets to Olympic events at the Intuit Dome and to football matches in Columbus, Ohio. They were erroneously charged local taxes that didn't apply.
For most purchases at Intuit Dome, the refund is under $11, according to LA28 spokeswoman Jacie Prieto Lopez. In Columbus, the refund is under $40.
Ticket purchasers eligible for the refund can accept it online or wait for a check to arrive in the mail.
Topline:
State regulators rejected utilities' proposal and ordered broader protections against power shutoffs during dangerous heat. Here's why regulators decided the utilities' proposal wasn't enough.
Why now: As another stretch of dangerous heat gripped the state, the California Public Utilities Commission wrote stronger rules itself. In a 4-0 vote, the commission lowered the temperature at which utilities must stop shutting off power to delinquent customers, from 100 to 90 degrees, and ordered utilities to adopt a more protective, region-specific heat standard within six months.
A battle to define extreme heat: During a record heat wave two years ago — the hottest July in California history — The Utility Reform Network, a consumer group, asked the utilities commission to revisit its definition of extreme heat. The group’s emergency request argued that “heat kills more people directly than any other weather-related hazard.”
Read on... for more on the proposal.
California bars utilities from cutting off power to customers who fall behind on their bills when it’s dangerously hot outside — a basic safety protection. Losing power in some rural areas can also mean losing water, and in cities, having no way to cool down can be dangerous, even deadly, when hot weather spans several days.
California regulators concluded more than a year ago that rules protecting delinquent customers from power shutoffs during heat waves weren’t strong enough. They ordered the state’s largest utilities to come up with better safeguards.
When the utilities unveiled their plan in December, their proposals barely changed anything, the commission concluded on Thursday, finding their proposal “does not offer sufficient health protections for ratepayers.”
The commission had set a May 1 deadline for the new rules. Utilities missed it, and consumer advocates filed emergency motions to force action.
As another stretch of dangerous heat gripped the state, the California Public Utilities Commission wrote stronger rules itself. In a 4-0 vote, the commission lowered the temperature at which utilities must stop shutting off power to delinquent customers, from 100 to 90 degrees, and ordered utilities to adopt a more protective, region-specific heat standard within six months.
During a record heat wave two years ago — the hottest July in California history — The Utility Reform Network, a consumer group, asked the utilities commission to revisit its definition of extreme heat. The group’s emergency request argued that “heat kills more people directly than any other weather-related hazard.”
The rules already barred electric utilities from disconnecting residential customers for nonpayment if forecasted temperatures soared above 100 degrees within 72 hours.
But a single statewide threshold, the group argued, didn’t account for how differently Californians experience heat depending on where they live.
Regulators declined to treat the request as an emergency, but ordered the utilities to come up with a plan for changing the 100-degree threshold by working with advocates and others.
The utilities proposed using CalHeatScore, a newly created state tool that scores heat by ZIP code – from Level 0 to 4 – using local health data and historical impacts, taking into account data on nearby cooling centers, as well as the number of children and seniors, who can be more susceptible to extreme heat.
The problem: the utilities proposed setting the cutoff threshold at Level 3 — a higher bar than advocates wanted — and keeping 100 degrees as the backstop when the index wasn’t available.
Advocates filed protests seeking a wider safety net, arguing for a lower Level 2 index score and a 90-degree backup threshold.
Utilities said they could not meet the deadline because CalHeatScore’s own data system, run by the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, was not yet ready to support them. Advocates countered that the utilities offered little evidence for sticking with the higher 100-degree threshold.
By May, with utilities still behind schedule, The Utility Reform Network joined with the San Diego-based Utility Consumers’ Action Network, the National Consumer Law Center and the Center for Accessible Technology, asking the commission to intervene.
This week the commission rejected the utilities’ proposal, siding with advocates. The path the utilities were proposing would be “no different” than prior practice. The resolution noted the extreme heat threshold is already below 100 degrees in 41 of California’s 58 counties.
A 90-degree day might be routine in dry, inland cities such as Bakersfield or Fresno, but such temperatures could be atypically dangerous in coastal or mountainous communities where fewer homes have air conditioning and people are less acclimated to the heat.
San Francisco, for instance, defines heat as extreme when temperatures climb above 85 degrees. In the far northwest county of Del Norte, extreme heat means anything above 76.8 degrees, the commission said.
“A single threshold temperature level needs to be more protective of residents in areas of the state that are not accustomed to high temperatures,” the commission wrote in its resolution.
While the utilities had wanted a narrower safety net for customers, they are now stressing they will comply with the more protective standard.
Last December, the major investor-owned utilities had together argued that extending protections to consumers at lower heat scores would halt disconnections too often, deepen unpaid balances, and add costs without a comparable health benefit. In a January filing, according to a PG&E spokesperson, the utilities argued that the 90-degree threshold was “overbroad.”
The protections would apply only to shutoffs for unpaid bills. They would not prevent outages caused by equipment failures, wildfire-prevention shutoffs, or other emergencies. Nevertheless, advocates say the changes are important.
“When electricity is shut off to a home, it can have a sort of a cascading effect of problems on tenants,” said Jason Zeller, an attorney with the Utility Consumers Action Network. “If tenants don't have electric service, they can be subject to eviction; if they have children, they can lose child custody.”
Reached ahead of the vote, all three utilities said they were prepared to comply with the commission’s new rules. Edison said the resolution would strengthen protections during extreme heat and that it was ready to change its disconnection policies. SDG&E said it supported the added safeguards and would implement the commission’s final requirements.
“Disconnection is a last resort at PG&E, only after multiple attempts to contact customers and offer payment plans and assistance programs,” said PG&E spokesperson Adrienne Moore. The region-specific standard is expected to be implemented within six months.
The commission’s independent Public Advocates Office had pressed for stronger protections throughout the process, formally opposing the utilities’ plan. Director Linda Serizawa the vote would provide consumers with “protection that takes effect when they need it most.”
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
Topline:
The Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce is spreading the word about a new loan program for business owners across the state.
More details: The World Stage Ready Forgivable Loan Program is presented by TMC Community Capital, a nonprofit microlender, which is offering small business loans with favorable terms including 12 months to repay the loan, 0% interest rate, a year-long deferment, if needed, and up to 100% forgiveness if program requirements are met.
Why now: The loans are funded through a $700,000 grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation and range from $5,000 to $10,000, Lacey said. TMC announced its partnership with Wells Fargo on LinkedIn last month.
Read on... for more on on the loan program.
This story first appeared on The LA Local.
The Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce is spreading the word about a new loan program for business owners across the state.
The World Stage Ready Forgivable Loan Program is presented by TMC Community Capital, a nonprofit microlender, which is offering small business loans with favorable terms including 12 months to repay the loan, 0% interest rate, a year-long deferment, if needed, and up to 100% forgiveness if program requirements are met.
The loan program looks to attract small businesses that are preparing for major events, want to serve more customers, grow their businesses with confidence and want access to expert support, according to TMC’s promotional flyer.
“A lot of small businesses simply don’t have information about these programs,” said JC Lacey, president of Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce. “It’s our goal to make sure they get it.”
The loans are funded through a $700,000 grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation and range from $5,000 to $10,000, Lacey said. TMC announced its partnership with Wells Fargo on LinkedIn last month.
“The loan amounts may seem small but these loans can help a business grow or save it from failing for an entire year,” Lacey said.
Other community partners assisting with the loan program are the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Yacanex Community, an educational entrepreneurship organization based in the Bay area.
Want to know more and/or apply for the program? See the details below:
