ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Hospitals across the United States and in Alaska are dealing with an IV fluid shortage after flooding from Hurricane Helene caused medical supply manufacturers to cease production.

Baxter International, the largest supplier of IV fluid and peritoneal dialysis fluid for care facilities, was forced to shut the doors of its largest production facility in North Cove, North Carolina — which was impacted by major flooding and water saturating the building.

In a release Thursday, Baxter described their plans to minimize patient disruption moving forward, mentioning a customer limit on orders to prevent stockpiling saline, dextrose, and peritoneal dialysis solutions.

Alaskan hospitals are experiencing the effects of the shortage. Providence Alaska Medical Center said in a written statement:

“The situation and impact to products and availability are currently being assessed, but in the meantime, Providence is employing various mitigation strategies to ensure there is no disruption to patient care, including strategies to conserve current supply and use of alternative fluids and solutions as appropriate.”

Currently, the situation is not considered dire. In a release from Alaska Emergency Medical Services, State Director Michael Levy said it is hoped the situation will be resolved and production will resume quickly, but there are currently no details available.

Baxter’s statement from Thursday also mentioned their medical affairs team’s availability to advise on possible solutions while supply rationing is still in effect.

Copyright 2024 KTUU. All rights reserved.

The Red-Blue Showcase is, first and foremost, a fan event. Call it Meet the Team with a little basketball thrown in for good measure. The results have no bearing on anything, nor do the performances.

That was Tommy Lloyd’s message after a 20-minute exhibition that saw Team Red rally in the second half to beat Team Blue 47-44 on Friday night at McKale Center. Caleb Love led Red, which featured four of Arizona’s top returning scholarship players, with 19 points including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:55 left, while Campbell transfer Anthony Dell’Orso had 15 for a Blue roster that featured four of the Wildcats’ five newcomers.

“I literally had nothing to do with that,” Lloyd said of the rosters. “That was all (assistant coach) Jack Murphy. I love my staff and give them a ton of freedom, so whatever they felt was comfortable with I was gonna go with it.”

Lloyd said the exhibition was the “longest extended scrimmage” Arizona has had since preseason practice officially began on Sept. 23. He said the game was most helpful for seeing his players building habits and getting comfortable with the pace and style of play, particularly for the newer players, but that no definitive decisions about rotations or playing time would come from it.

“I told our guys, no matter what happens today in the Red-Blue game, whether you play great, your team wins, you play bad, your team loses, it’s going to probably have no impact on our journey as a team this season, or your journey as a player,” Lloyd said. “We practice tomorrow. I can’t wait. We’re going to tape up and and we’re going to get after it like a normal day.”

Ahead of the scrimmage were a 3-point contest and a dunk contest. Love beat freshman Carter Bryant in the finals, hitting the last moneyball just before the buzzer to win 17-16.

“I had to make it interesting,” said Love, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year who like fellow UA guards Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis tested the NBA Draft waters last spring before coming back for a second season in Tucson.

Bryant, a 5-star prospect who committed to the UA almost 18 months ago, also competed in the dunk contest and ended up beating out defending champ Lewis in the finals. He said this was the fifth Red-Blue game he’s been to, including ones as a recruit and when his father got him tickets one year for his birthday.

“This is surreal for me,” Bryant said. “For me to finally have the opportunity to compete in a Red-Blue game, it’s awesome.”

The only scholarship player not to participate Friday was sophomore center Henri Veesaar, who is dealing with a lower body injury that has kept him out of practice recently. Lloyd said there was no need to “throw him out there” for a scrimmage.

“It’s no secret, if we were in the midst of games he’d be available to play,” Lloyd said.

Arizona’s first competition against another team comes Oct. 21 at home against Eastern New Mexico, the first of two exhibitions. The 2024-25 season begins Nov. 4 at McKale against Canisius.

Gov.Gavin Newsom is hoping his latest round of homeless encampment resolution funding will not just help clear the state’s sidewalks — but also hold cities and counties more accountable for making it happen.

Newsom on Friday doled out $130.7 million to 12 cities and six counties, aiming to clear homeless encampments and provide shelter, care and support. Among the recipients are Riverside and San Bernardino counties, Pasadena and Los Angeles cities, but missing this round was Los Angeles County.

Newsom said L.A. County’s absence is not an oversight, nor is it a political maneuver.

“A disproportionate share has gone to L.A. City and L.A. County, as well as their C.O.C. (Continuum of Care), so they’ve been well resourced,” Newsom said. “It’s not intentional. I wouldn’t read between the lines.”

L.A. County received $51 million of homelessness funding from the state in May.

Newsom said so far, the state’s $1 billion encampment resolution program has doled out more than $737 million to clear encampments across California.

As part of this latest round of funding, Newsom said he’s also stepped up accountability measures and promised to claw back funding if the cities or counties fail to meet the requirements. The new standards, he said, are essential to reduce encampments and reclaim California’s public spaces.

Related story: Newsom makes good on threats against Norwalk for its ban on homeless shelters

“We need to re-democratize our streets and do it in a compassionate way, with our values intact, support the people who are out there and the underlying causes,” Newsom said. “But, we need to take back the streets.”

Newsom said the encampment resolution program is working. Since July, 991 encampments have been removed and more than 12,000 have been removed over the past three years.