The Nation
CDC to Drop Vaccine Data on Kids
Federal health officials have decided to forgo gathering detailed data on whether children in 22 big cities are receiving recommended immunizations and instead will survey teenagers, who are the target of several new vaccines. The decision is drawing protests from local health officials.
MORE: Washington Post
A salmonella outbreak that sickened dozens of people in 19 states appears to be over, though investigators remain uncertain how it began, a Food and Drug Administration official says.
MORE: Los Angeles Times

The Nation
Health Data Network Standards OKd
An influential advisory committee has approved a set of minimum functional requirements for the Nationwide Health Information Network, laying out a framework for exchanging medical records among doctors, hospitals and other health care providers. The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics report is the panel’s distillation of more than 1,200 initial requirements.
MORE: Federal Computer Week

The Great Lakes Region
Fish Virus Brings Export Ban
In an attempt to stop the spread of a fish-killing virus recently discovered in the Great Lakes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued an emergency order prohibiting the live export of dozens of fish species from the lakes. Species affected include coho and chinook salmon, yellow perch and whitefish.
MORE: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Washington, D.C., Region
Feds Undermining Fight Against Sprawl
As they battle sprawl, Washington-area leaders say they face a stubborn foe: the United States government. In scattering employees to the region's outer edges, local officials and planners say, the federal government has undermined efforts to concentrate growth near public transit and the area's urban core.
MORE: Washington Post

Los Angeles County
Hospital Gets Federal Reprieve
County health officials won a vital reprieve when federal regulators agreed not to immediately pull the plug on funds for the troubled Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center as it prepares to merge with another county hospital.
MORE: Los Angeles Times

The Nation
More ‘Green’ Computer Products in Pipeline
The number of certified eco-friendly computer products available to government agencies has grown rapidly since a new green seal of approval was released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in July. Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and Sony are among the manufacturers that have registered more than 200 products that meet the voluntary manufacturing standard.
MORE: Federal Computer Week

The Nation
High Court to Rule on Police Chases
The Supreme Court stepped into the national debate on the risks of high-speed police car chases, announcing that it will decide whether the Constitution permits police to use deadly force against a fleeing motorist whose only suspected offense is speeding or reckless driving.
MORE: Washington Post

The Nation
Bush Appointee Overruled Staff on Endangered Species
A senior Bush political appointee at the Interior Department has rejected staff scientists' recommendations to protect animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act at least six times in the past three years, documents show. Staff complaints have led the agency's inspector general to look into the role of Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald in decisions on protecting species.
MORE: Washington Post

The Nation
Voting Machine Firm Probed for Chávez Ties
Federal officials are investigating whether Smartmatic, the South Florida parent company of Oakland, Calif.-based Sequoia Voting Systems, whose electronic voting machines operate in 17 states, is secretly controlled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Smartmatic categorically denies any link to the anti-American Chávez regime.
MORE: Miami Herald

Boston
Census Bureau: City Grew After All
The U.S. Census Bureau said it had underestimated Boston's population in 2005 and released a new tally showing that, rather than shrinking by 30,000 residents in the first half of the decade, the city gained about 7,500, increasing its population to an estimated 596,638.
MORE: Boston Globe