California

Latest from California

1. Children are not products. Arcadia demands limits on surrogacy

   At an October 16 bail hearing, prosecutors described children kept indoors for years, sharpening the case for Congress to put child safeguards ahead of commercial surrogacy.

   Also filed under Los Angeles County, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida

2. Girls’ volleyball should be for girls—and San José State must answer for sidelining the coach who spoke up

   The new complaint adds religious and political retaliation claims as federal investigators’ Title IX findings sharpen questions about how San José State treated female athletes.

   Also filed under Santa Clara County

3. Sonoma Valley was right to end one cause’s year-round claim on the school flagpole

   Parents should watch as teachers hope incoming trustees will revisit the policy in December, testing whether one neutral rule will govern every symbolic flag.

   Also filed under Sonoma County

4. California must protect girls’ sports as an Olympic mom weighs leaving

   Pregnant with her second child, Kaillie Humphries says California’s policies allowing males in girls’ sports could influence whether she stays. (129 characters)

5. Newsom’s SB 1114 shields gender identity data from public view

   The law exempts state-held identity information from public records disclosure, while the California Family Council warns parents may be shut out of data about their children.

6. LAUSD faces deadline over what parents can know

   A Justice Department demand gives the district 14 days to change policies that federal officials say let employees withhold information from parents.

   Also filed under Los Angeles County

7. California Gov. Newsom signs SB 934 conversion therapy bill

   The governor says the update to California’s conversion-therapy ban protects LGBTQ youth after the Supreme Court struck down Colorado’s ban.

8. Water bills surged 62%, outpacing groceries and inflation

   Food & Water Watch found bills unaffordable for low-income households in 93% of systems it analyzed, while data-center growth could add infrastructure costs.

   Also filed under Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey

9. League cleared forum audience after candidate’s sports shirt dispute

   The Sept. 21 forum continued on camera without an audience, while four of seven Lucia Mar trustee areas have seats up in November.

10. Newsom signs new rules for kids’ social media and AI

    California’s law adds chatbot safeguards and bars addictive social-media features for users under 16.

11. Haotian Bai’s California Firm Arranged Surrogacy for Chinese Billionaires

    The report spotlights a California business, a surrogate’s concerns and the birthright-citizenship rules surrounding cross-border surrogacy.