I am talking about a coordinated campaign launched by the religious right to overturn gay marriage, arguing it harms children. The effort is a direct attack on the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell vs. Hodges decision making same-sex marriage a fundamental right of equality under the 14th Amendment, but also seeks to engage churches on the issue and change public opinion.
Good luck with that last part. Most Americans support marriage equality. But the Supreme Court? That’s much iffier these days.
But what disturbs me the most, while we wait for litigation, is that the campaign is yet another disingenuous ploy by MAGA to use children as an excuse for attacking civil rights, and attempting, Christian nationalist-style, to impose religious values on general society.
MAGA frames so much hate — especially around immigrants and diversity — as protection of children, and through decades’ worth of conspiracy theory has attempted to paint LGBTQ+ parents as deviant and predatory. (QAnon, for example, was all about saving kids from gay and Democratic predators.)
In reality, it’s the MAGA folks who are traumatizing children.
“Our children are afraid. They’re terrorized,” Chauntyll Allen told me. She’s the St. Paul, Minn., school board member who was arrested recently for her part in the church protest of a pastor who is also an ICE official.
“And we’re not just talking about immigrants,” she continued. All kids “are watching this, they’re experiencing this, and they’re carrying the terror in their body. What is this going to do for our society in 20 years?”
This campaign to undo marriage equality, far from protecting kids, is just another injury inflicted on them for political gain. It features twoCalifornia cases that are meant to show how terrible any form of same-sex parenting is, but mischaracterizes the facts for maximum outrage.
The campaign also specifically targets in vitro fertilization and surrogacy as dangerous gateways to promoting LGBTQ+ families, an increasingly common position in far-right religious circles that would like to see more white women having babies through sex with white husbands.
Attacking marriage equality isn’t about protecting children any more than deporting immigrants is about stopping crime. Allowing it to be framed that way actually puts in danger the stability of the approximately 300,000 kids nationwide who are being raised by about 832,000 couples in same-sex marriages.
It endangers the physical and mental health of LGBTQ+ kids in any family who are growing up in a world that is increasingly hostile to them — with gender and identity hate crimes on the rise.
And it endangers everyone who values a free and fair democracy that separates church and state by eroding the rights of the vulnerable as precedent for eroding the rights of whomever ticks them off next. If LGBTQ+ marriages aren’t legally protected, how long before racists come for the Loving decision, which legalized interracial marriage?
If you doubt the MAGA agenda extends that far, when Second Lady Usha Vance recently announced her fourth pregnancy, one lovely fellow on social media wrote, “There is nothing exciting about this. We will never vote for your race traitor husband.”
Hate is a virus that spreads how it pleases.
Those behind the effort to undo marriage equality say that by legalizing the ability for LGBTQ+ folks to tie the knot, America put “adult desires” ahead of children’s well-being, which is dependent on being raised in a home that includes a married man and woman.
Never mind the millions of kids being raised by single parents, grandparents (looking at you, JD Vance) or other guardians who aren’t the biological John-and-Jane mommy and daddy of conservative lore. Never mind the many same-sex marriages that don’t include kids.
“Americans need to understand the threat that gay marriage poses to children and that natural marriage is directly connected to children protection,” Katy Faust, the leader of the campaign, said in an interview with a Christian news website.
Of course, the campaign also makes no mention of the hundreds of children currently held in detention camps around the country — on some days, the number of children locked up just by ICE (not Border Patrol or in the care of other agencies) has skyrocketed to 400 under Trump, according to the Marshall Project.
Outside of lockup, Black and brown children are being traumatized daily by the fear that they or their parents will be taken or even killed by federal agents. Thousands of kids across the country, including in California, have stopped going to school and other public places for fear of endangering themselves or their families. Don’t expect to see these folks campaigning to protect those kids.
The campaign also ignores the fact that U.S. Department of Justice funding to combat sex crimes against children was just slashed, leaving victims and prosecutors without crucial resources to fight that real and undoubtedly harmful exploitation of our youth by sex traffickers.
And Epstein. I cannot even start on save-the-children folks who seemingly ignore the victims of the sex crimes detailed in those files — many of them children at the time — while wringing their hands over families who don’t look like their own. It is a mind-blowing amount of hypocrisy.
But of course, none of this is about saving children — yours, mine or anyone’s.
But framing it around protecting children is a powerful manipulation — a last-ditch effort as same sex marriage does in fact become more accepted. Because who doesn’t want to save our kids? From whatever.
Don’t be surprised if this effort gains traction in coming months. As we head into elections, the MAGA machine will attempt to turn the lens away from immigration and back to old-school issues such as feminism, abortion and same-sex marriage, which time and again its base has been willing to vote on regardless of what else is happening.
Because they actually don’t care about kids. They care about power, and they’re perfectly willing to exploit kids to get it.
TikTok has agreed to settle the first in a series of closely-watched product liability cases, bowing out on the eve of a landmark trial that could upend how social media giants engage their youngest users and leave tech titans on the hook for billions in damages.
The settlement was reached as jury selection was set to begin in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday and comes a week after Snap reached a deal with the same plaintiff, a Chico, Calif., woman who said she became addicted to social media starting in elementary school.
“This settlement should come as no surprise because that damning evidence is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Sacha Haworth, executive director of the Tech Oversight Project, an industry watchdog. “This was only the first case — there are hundreds of parents and school districts in the social media addiction trials that start today, and sadly, new families every day who are speaking out and bringing Big Tech to court for its deliberately harmful products.”
TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Monday’s settlement.
“The Parties are pleased to have been able to resolve this matter in an amicable manner,” Snap spokeswoman Monique Bellamy said of the settlement.
The remaining defendants, Instagram’s parent company Meta and Google’s YouTube, still face claims that their products are “defective” and designed to keep children hooked to apps its makers know are harmful.
Those same arguments are at the heart of at least 2,500 cases currently pending together in state and federal courts. The Los Angeles trial is among a handful of bellwethers meant to clarify the uncharted legal terrain.
Social media companies are protected by the 1st Amendment and by Section 230, a decades-old law that shields internet companies from liability for what users produce and share on their platforms.
Attorneys for the Chico plaintiff, referred to in court documents as K.G.M., say the apps were built and refined to snare youngsters and keep them on the platforms without regard for dangers the companies knew lurked there, including sexual predation, bullying and promotion of self-harm and even suicide.
As the claims against Meta and YouTube head to trial, jurors will be asked to weigh whether those dangers are incidental or inherent, and if social media companies can be held responsible for the harm families say flowed from their children’s feeds.
Scores of potential jurors filled the beige terrazzo hallway outside Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl’s courtroom downtown Tuesday morning, most passing the time on social apps on their phones. Some watched short-form videos while others thumbed through their feeds, pausing every so often to tap a like on a post.
Roughly 450 Angelenos will be vetted this week for spots on the jury. The trial is expected to last through March.
Instagram is 15 years old, YouTube almost 21. Finding Angelenos unfamiliar with either is likely impossible. The trial comes at a moment when public opinion around social media has soured, with a growing sentiment among parents, mental health professionals, lawmakers and even children themselves that the apps do more harm than good.
The judge told prospective jurors that lawyers on the case could not review their online profiles. “We know many of you use defendants’ social media and video-sharing platforms, and you’re not being asked to stop, but until you’re excused, you should not change how you use social media and you should not investigate features you don’t usually use,” Kuhl said in court.
Phones are now banned in California public school classrooms. Many private schools impose strict rules around when and how social media can be used.
In study after study, pluralities of young users — among them the youngest of “Anxious Generation” Zoomers and the oldest Gen Alpha’s iPad kids — now say they spend too much time on the apps. A disputed but growing body of research suggests some portion are addicted.
According to a study last spring by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, roughly half of teens say social media is bad for people their age, that it interferes with their sleep and that it hurts their productivity. Almost a quarter say it has brought down their grades. And 1 in 5 say it has hurt their mental health.
K.G.M., the first bellwether plaintiff, said she started watching YouTube at age 6, and was uploading content to the site by age 8.
Today, about 85% of children under 12 watch YouTube and half of those watch it daily, according to Pew.
At 9, according to K.G.M.’s lawsuit, she got her first iPhone and joined Instagram.
By the time she joined Snapchat at age 13, she was spending almost every waking hour scrolling, posting and agonizing over her engagement, despite bullying from peers, hate comments from strangers and sexually explicit overtures from adult men.
“When I was in middle school, I used to go and hide in the counselor’s office … just to go on my phone,” she said in a deposition last year.
Around that time, she said Instagram began serving her content about self-harm and restrictive eating.
“I believe that social media, her addiction to social media, has changed the way her brain works,” the plaintiff’s mother, Karen, said in a related filing. “She has no long-term memory. She can’t live without a phone. She is willing to go to battle if you were even to touch her phone.”
“There became a point where she was so addicted that I could not get the phone out of her hand,” she said.
K.G.M.’s sister was even more blunt.
“Whenever my mom would take her phone away … she would have a meltdown like someone had died,” the sister said. “She would have so many meltdowns anytime her phone was taken away, and it was because she wouldn’t be able to use Instagram.”
“I wish I never downloaded it,” the plaintiff later told her sister, according to the deposition. “I wish I never got it in the first place.”
Boosters of the litigation compare their quest to the fight against Big Tobacco and the opioid-maker Purdue.
“This is the beginning of the trial of our generation,” said Haworth, the tech industry watchdog.
But the gulf between public opinion and civil culpability is vast, attorneys for the platforms say. Social media addiction is not a formal clinical diagnosis, and proving that it exists, and that the companies bear responsibility for it, will be an uphill battle.
Lawyers for YouTube have sought to further complicate the picture by claiming their video-sharing site is not social media at all and cannot be lumped in with the likes of Instagram and TikTok.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs say such distinctions are ephemeral, pointing out that YouTube has by far the youngest group of users, many of whom say the platform was an on-ramp to the world of social media.
“I am equally shocked … by the internal documents that I have seen from all four of these defendants regarding their knowing decision to addict kids to a platform knowing it would be bad for them,” said attorney Matthew Bergman of the Social Media Victims Law Center. “To me they are all outrageous in their decision to elevate their profits over the safety of kids.”
“Home Alone” is one of the most classic Christmas movies of all time, and it inspired a homebuilder in Utah to pay homage to the legendary film.A Utah builder decided to live his lifelong dream and build the ‘Home Alone’ home.”I mean, it could be viewed as certainly nerdy for somebody to go and invest seven million dollars into a home that’s based on a movie that they happen to love when they were kids, right?” Nathan Shaffer said.If the brickwork and windows don’t provoke a Christmastime déjà vu, the Oh-Kay Plumbing van with the Wet Bandit sticker will.A replica of the McCallister home Kevin was left alone in. “I remember watching it and a lot of us connected with that kid because it was like, dude, what would that be like to kind of be on our own,” Shaffer said.There aren’t many lookie-loos yet, but Shaffer’s crew will host community events where young and old can step into Kevin McCallister’s shoes.“We want them to just come and like be looking and using their creativity, right, to kind of use their imagination to find the things from the movie,” Shaffer said.Architect Josh Warner said the exterior is nearly identical.But since the interior was actually a soundstage, they modeled 60 to 70 percent off the real Chicago house — thanks to an online listing when it went up for sale.While there is no basement, there is an attic and a movie-style veranda with glass walls.
“Home Alone” is one of the most classic Christmas movies of all time, and it inspired a homebuilder in Utah to pay homage to the legendary film.
A Utah builder decided to live his lifelong dream and build the ‘Home Alone’ home.
“I mean, it could be viewed as certainly nerdy for somebody to go and invest seven million dollars into a home that’s based on a movie that they happen to love when they were kids, right?” Nathan Shaffer said.
If the brickwork and windows don’t provoke a Christmastime déjà vu, the Oh-Kay Plumbing van with the Wet Bandit sticker will.
A replica of the McCallister home Kevin was left alone in.
“I remember watching it and a lot of us connected with that kid because it was like, dude, what would that be like to kind of be on our own,” Shaffer said.
There aren’t many lookie-loos yet, but Shaffer’s crew will host community events where young and old can step into Kevin McCallister’s shoes.
“We want them to just come and like be looking and using their creativity, right, to kind of use their imagination to find the things from the movie,” Shaffer said.
Architect Josh Warner said the exterior is nearly identical.
But since the interior was actually a soundstage, they modeled 60 to 70 percent off the real Chicago house — thanks to an online listing when it went up for sale.
While there is no basement, there is an attic and a movie-style veranda with glass walls.
THE TWO SUSPECTS ARE STILL ON THE RUN. IF YOUR KIDS LOVE THOSE SQUISHY FIDGET TOYS LIKE THIS ONE, THE ONES THEY CAN KIND OF SQUEEZE FOR STRESS RELIEF OR TO HELP THEM FOCUS. YOU MAY WANT TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK BECAUSE THE NEW CONSUMER REPORTS INVESTIGATION FOUND THAT SOME OF THESE TOYS CAN ACTUALLY BREAK OPEN WHEN THEY’RE SQUEEZED. KCRA 3’S LEE ANNE DENYER SHOWS US HOW THE MATERIAL INSIDE COULD IRRITATE THE SKIN OR EVEN CAUSE CHEMICAL BURNS. LOVED BY KIDS, THESE BRIGHT, COLORFUL, SQUISHY BALLS ARE OFTEN MARKETED AS CALMING SENSORY TOOLS, BUT MANY PARENTS ARE SEEING A TREND. HUNDREDS OF ONE STAR REVIEWS ON AMAZON REPORTING THE TOYS POPPED WITHIN AN HOUR OR BROKE WITHIN TWO HOURS OF PLAYING WITH IT. PARENTS HAVE REPORTED THE STICKY GEL FROM SOME TOYS HAS LEFT KIDS WITH RED, IRRITATED OR EVEN PEELING SKIN. REPORTS FILED WITH THE FEDERAL SAFER PRODUCTS. GOV SITE CLAIM THAT CHILDREN SUFFERED SEVERE SKIN IRRITATION AFTER THEIR SQUISHY TOYS BURST OPEN. BREAKAGE ALONE IS A CONCERN. BUT WHEN WE SAW REPORTS OF KIDS WITH RED OR PEELING SKIN AND EVEN CHEMICAL BURN LIKE INJURIES, THAT REALLY RAISED SERIOUS QUESTIONS, AND IT MADE US WANT TO TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT’S INSIDE OF THESE COMPANIES. DON’T HAVE TO LIST THE INGREDIENTS OF WHAT’S INSIDE THESE SQUISHY TOYS. SOME DO AND SOME DON’T. THAT’S WHY KR SCIENTISTS DECIDED TO TEST SOME OF THESE POPULAR SQUISHY TOYS. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT’S INSIDE. SCIENTISTS BOUGHT EIGHT SQUISHY GEL TOYS, BROKE THEM OPEN, AND TESTED THE PH OF THE GEL INSIDE. SEVEN HAD A NEUTRAL PH. ONE OF THEM, THE NEATO GROOVY GLOB, HAD A PH LEVEL OF TWO, WHICH IS AS ACIDIC AS LEMON JUICE OR VINEGAR. SEE, OUR SAFETY EXPERTS SAY THAT THE LEVEL OF ACIDITY COULD POSE A RISK OF CHEMICAL BURNS, ESPECIALLY ON CHILDREN’S DELICATE SKIN. THE MAKER OF NIDO CHALLENGED CONSUMER REPORTS PH TEST RESULTS AND SAYS THAT THE INNER GEL IS MADE OF POLYVINYL ALCOHOL, WHICH IS SAFER FOR SKIN CONTACT. THE COMPANY ADDED THAT THEY’VE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THE CPSC AND THAT AFTER THE SALE OF 100 MILLION NIDO TOYS, THERE HAVE ONLY BEEN FOUR REPORTS OF INCIDENTS TO THE CPSC. TIKTOK TRENDS HAVE ALSO BEEN ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO MICROWAVE SQUISHY TOYS TO MAKE THEM SOFTER. NO ONE SHOULD EVER DO THIS. CONSUMER REPORTS FOUND SOME TOYS EXPLODED AFTER JUST 15 SECONDS, REACHING TEMPERATURES ABOVE 200 DEGREES AT THAT TEMPERATURE, EXPERTS WARN. INSTANT BURNS ARE LIKELY. THESE GEL TOYS CAN BE A LOT OF FUN, BUT IT’S IMPORTANT FOR KIDS TO USE THEM SAFELY. NEVER MICROWAVE OR FREEZE THEM. DON’T LEAVE THEM IN THE CAR. DON’T GIVE GEL FILLED TOYS TO BABIES OR TODDLERS. AND IF ONE DOES BREAK ON YOUR CHILD’S SKIN, WASH IT OFF RIGHT AWAY AND THROW OUT THE TOY. LEE ANNE DENYER KCRA THREE NEWS. I HAVE TO SAY, AFTER BORROWING THIS FROM OUR PRODUCER, SARAH, IT IS QUITE LOVELY. CAN I TRY? YEAH. OK
Warnings about squishy gel fidget toys | Consumer Reports
If your kids love those soft, squishy fidget toys, the ones you squeeze for stress relief, you might want to take a closer look. A new Consumer Reports investigation found that some of these toys can break open and what’s inside may irritate kids’ skin, or even cause chemical burns.Loved by kids, the bright, colorful squishy balls are often marketed as calming sensory tools. But many parents are seeing a trend: hundreds of one-star reviews on Amazon reporting the toys “popped within an hour,” or “broke within two hours of playing with it.”Parents have reported that the sticky gel from some toys has left kids with red, irritated, or even peeling skin.Reports filed with the federal SaferProducts.gov site claim that children suffered severe skin irritation after their squishy toys burst open.Breakage alone is a concern, but when you saw reports of kids with red, or peeling, or even chemical-burn-like injuries, that really raised serious questions, and it made us want to take a look at what’s inside these.Companies don’t have to list the ingredients of what’s inside these squishy toys. Some do, and some don’t. That’s why CR scientists decided to test some of these popular squishy toys to learn more about what’s inside.Scientists bought eight squishy toys, broke them open and tested the pH of the gel inside. Seven had a neutral pH. One of them, the Nee-Doh “Groovy Glob,” had a pH level of 2, as acidic as lemon juice or vinegar.CR safety experts say that level of acidity could pose a risk of chemical burns, especially on children’s delicate skin.Schylling, the maker of Nee-Doh, challenged Consumer Reports’ pH test results and says that the inner gel is made of polyvinyl alcohol, which is safe for skin contact. The company added that they’ve been in contact with the CPSC and that after the sale of 100 million Nee-Doh toys, there have only been four reports of incidents to the CPSC.TikTok trends have also been encouraging people to microwave squishy toys to make them softer. No one should ever do this. Consumer Reports found that some toys exploded after just 15 seconds, reaching temperatures above 200 degrees. At that temperature, experts warn, instant burns are likely.The gel toys can be a lot of fun, but it’s important for kids to use them safely. Never microwave or freeze. Don’t leave them in the car. Don’t give gel-filled toys to babies or toddlers.And if one does break on your child’s skin, wash it off right away and throw out the toy.You can read Consumer Reports’ full investigation, including safety tips and responses from regulators at CR.org.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
If your kids love those soft, squishy fidget toys, the ones you squeeze for stress relief, you might want to take a closer look. A new Consumer Reports investigation found that some of these toys can break open and what’s inside may irritate kids’ skin, or even cause chemical burns.
Loved by kids, the bright, colorful squishy balls are often marketed as calming sensory tools. But many parents are seeing a trend: hundreds of one-star reviews on Amazon reporting the toys “popped within an hour,” or “broke within two hours of playing with it.”
Parents have reported that the sticky gel from some toys has left kids with red, irritated, or even peeling skin.
Reports filed with the federal SaferProducts.gov site claim that children suffered severe skin irritation after their squishy toys burst open.
Breakage alone is a concern, but when you saw reports of kids with red, or peeling, or even chemical-burn-like injuries, that really raised serious questions, and it made us want to take a look at what’s inside these.
Companies don’t have to list the ingredients of what’s inside these squishy toys. Some do, and some don’t. That’s why CR scientists decided to test some of these popular squishy toys to learn more about what’s inside.
Scientists bought eight squishy toys, broke them open and tested the pH of the gel inside. Seven had a neutral pH. One of them, the Nee-Doh “Groovy Glob,” had a pH level of 2, as acidic as lemon juice or vinegar.
CR safety experts say that level of acidity could pose a risk of chemical burns, especially on children’s delicate skin.
Schylling, the maker of Nee-Doh, challenged Consumer Reports’ pH test results and says that the inner gel is made of polyvinyl alcohol, which is safe for skin contact. The company added that they’ve been in contact with the CPSC and that after the sale of 100 million Nee-Doh toys, there have only been four reports of incidents to the CPSC.
TikTok trends have also been encouraging people to microwave squishy toys to make them softer. No one should ever do this. Consumer Reports found that some toys exploded after just 15 seconds, reaching temperatures above 200 degrees. At that temperature, experts warn, instant burns are likely.
The gel toys can be a lot of fun, but it’s important for kids to use them safely. Never microwave or freeze. Don’t leave them in the car. Don’t give gel-filled toys to babies or toddlers.
And if one does break on your child’s skin, wash it off right away and throw out the toy.
You can read Consumer Reports’ full investigation, including safety tips and responses from regulators at CR.org.
Folks, who was supposed to be watching grandpa last night? Because he got out, got on TV and … It. Was. Not. Good.
For 18 long minutes Wednesday evening, we were subjected to a rant by President Trump that predictably careened from immigrants (bad) to jobs (good), rarely slowing down for reality. But jumbled between the vitriol and venom was a vision of American healthcare that would have horror villainess M3GAN shaking in her Mary Janes — a vision that we all should be afraid of because it would take us back to a dark era when insurance couldn’t be counted on.
Trump’s remarks offered only a sketchy outline, per usual, in which the costs of health insurance premiums may be lower — but it will be because the coverage is terrible. Yes, you’ll save money. But so what? A cheap car without wheels is not a deal.
“The money should go to the people,” Trump said of his sort-of plan.
The money he vaguely was alluding to is the government subsidies that make insurance under the Affordable Care Act affordable. After antics and a mini-rebellion by four Republicans also on Wednesday, Congress basically failed to do anything meaningful on healthcare — pretty much ensuring those subsidies will disappear with the New Year.
That’s bad enough. But Trump would like to make it worse.
The Affordable Care Act is about much more than those subsidies. Before it took effect in 2014, insurance companies in many states could deny coverage for preexisting conditions. This didn’t have to be big-ticket stuff like cancer. A kid with asthma? A mom with colitis? Those were the kind of routine but chronic problems that prevented millions from obtaining insurance — and therefore care.
Obamacare required that policies sold on its exchange did not discriminate. In addition, the ACA required plans to limit out-of-pocket costs and end lifetime dollar caps, and provide a baseline of coverage that included essentials such as maternity care. Those standards put pressure on all plans to include more, even those offered through large employers.
Trump would like to undo much of that. He instead wants to fall back on the stunt he loves the most — send a check!
What he is suggesting by sending subsidy money directly to consumers also most likely would open the market to plans without the regulation of the ACA. So yes, small businesses or even groups of individuals might be able to band together to buy insurance, but there likely would be fewer rules about what — or whom — it has to cover.
Most people aren’t savvy or careful enough to understand the limitations of their insurance before it matters. So it has a $2-million lifetime cap? That sounds like a lot until your kid needs a treatment that eats through that in a couple of months. Then what?
Trump suggested people pay for it themselves, out of health savings accounts funded by that subsidy check sent directly to taxpayers. Because that definitely will work, and people won’t spend the money on groceries or rent, and what they do save certainly will cover any medical expenses.
“You’ll get much better healthcare at a much lower price,” Trump claimed Wednesday. “The only losers will be insurance companies that have gotten rich, and the Democrat Party, which is totally controlled by those same insurance companies. They will not be happy, but that’s OK with me because you, the people, are finally going to be getting great healthcare at a lower cost.”
He then bizarrely tried to blame the expiring subsidies on Democrats.
Democrats “are demanding those increases and it’s their fault,” he said. “It is not the Republicans’ fault. It’s the Democrats’ fault. It’s the Unaffordable Care Act, and everybody knew it.”
It seems like Trump just wants to lower costs at the expense of quality. Here’s where I take issue with the Democrats. I am not here to defend insurance companies or our healthcare system. Both clearly need reform.
But why are the Democrats failing to explain what “The money should go to the people” will mean?
I get that affordability is the message, and as someone who bought both a steak and a carton of milk this week, I understand just how powerful that issue is.
Still, everyone, Democrat or Republican, wants decent healthcare they can afford, and the peace of mind of knowing if something terrible happens, they will have access to help. There is no American who gladly would pay for insurance each month, no matter how low the premium, that is going to leave them without care when they or their loved ones need it most.
Grandpa Trump doesn’t have this worry, since he has the best healthcare our tax dollars can buy.
But when he promises to send a check instead of providing governance and regulation of one of the most critical purchases in our lives, the message is sickening: My victory in exchange for your well-being.
A violent attack at Pleasant Grove High School in Elk Grove sent a 14-year-old boy to the hospital after he was assaulted by a group of students, resulting in the arrest of four students. Hunter, who didn’t want to share his last name, said that it all started over a girl he used to date, who he said then dated one of the alleged attackers. “I just got out of class and then I just see that group of kids coming towards me,” Hunter said. He described how one of the students approached him while yelling and punched him. He said as he took off his backpack and tried to defend himself, three other students joined in the attack. “More kids started going in and I was in a headlock. And then, I got thrown to the floor and, like, this kid is like, three times my size, and he’s like sitting on me, throwing punches at me and then another kid joins in, kicks me and starts hitting me,” he said.Screenshots from a video sent to Hunter’s father by the Elk Grove Police Department show the fight ending with Hunter face down on the ground as a teacher intervened. “I literally got full-on stomped into concrete like face down,” Hunter said. “I’m just laying on the floor. I’m not even fighting back.”The four students involved, all 14 years old, were arrested on assault charges and taken to juvenile hall, according to the Elk Grove Police Department. Hunter was taken to the hospital following the attack, where he was treated for his injuries, including a concussion. “He told me he’s like, ‘Dad I could have been killed. I could be paralyzed. I couldn’t play football anymore,’” Sean, Hunter’s father, said. While Hunter is expected to recover, his father said he wished more had been done sooner. “It just blows my mind that where’s security? You know, there’s teachers there,” he said.The school principal sent a message to families on Thursday, stating that school staff and security responded immediately to de-escalate the situation and emphasized that safety is their top priority. “Today, an altercation occurred on campus involving several students. School staff, along with EGUSD Safety and Security, responded immediately to de-escalate the situation and ensure the safety of all students. Due to the nature of the incident, law enforcement was called as a precautionary measure.Thanks to the swift and coordinated actions of our staff, the situation was contained. School administration, law enforcement, and support staff are actively following up with the students involved and have contacted their parents/guardians directly,” the message reads.However, Hunter said he does not feel safe. “I got jumped twice in the same month,” he said. Now, his father is considering pulling him out of Pleasant Grove High School. “What’s going on at the school with social media, the violence, the just the kids getting off on it, like thinking it’s like it’s entertainment at school these days. It’s just, it blows my mind,” he said.Elk Grove Unified School District is investigating the incident.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
ELK GROVE, Calif. —
A violent attack at Pleasant Grove High School in Elk Grove sent a 14-year-old boy to the hospital after he was assaulted by a group of students, resulting in the arrest of four students.
Hunter, who didn’t want to share his last name, said that it all started over a girl he used to date, who he said then dated one of the alleged attackers.
“I just got out of class and then I just see that group of kids coming towards me,” Hunter said.
He described how one of the students approached him while yelling and punched him. He said as he took off his backpack and tried to defend himself, three other students joined in the attack.
“More kids started going in and I was in a headlock. And then, I got thrown to the floor and, like, this kid is like, three times my size, and he’s like sitting on me, throwing punches at me and then another kid joins in, kicks me and starts hitting me,” he said.
Screenshots from a video sent to Hunter’s father by the Elk Grove Police Department show the fight ending with Hunter face down on the ground as a teacher intervened.
“I literally got full-on stomped into concrete like face down,” Hunter said. “I’m just laying on the floor. I’m not even fighting back.”
The four students involved, all 14 years old, were arrested on assault charges and taken to juvenile hall, according to the Elk Grove Police Department.
Hunter was taken to the hospital following the attack, where he was treated for his injuries, including a concussion.
“He told me he’s like, ‘Dad I could have been killed. I could be paralyzed. I couldn’t play football anymore,’” Sean, Hunter’s father, said.
While Hunter is expected to recover, his father said he wished more had been done sooner.
“It just blows my mind that where’s security? You know, there’s teachers there,” he said.
The school principal sent a message to families on Thursday, stating that school staff and security responded immediately to de-escalate the situation and emphasized that safety is their top priority.
“Today, an altercation occurred on campus involving several students. School staff, along with EGUSD Safety and Security, responded immediately to de-escalate the situation and ensure the safety of all students. Due to the nature of the incident, law enforcement was called as a precautionary measure.
Thanks to the swift and coordinated actions of our staff, the situation was contained. School administration, law enforcement, and support staff are actively following up with the students involved and have contacted their parents/guardians directly,” the message reads.
However, Hunter said he does not feel safe.
“I got jumped twice in the same month,” he said.
Now, his father is considering pulling him out of Pleasant Grove High School.
“What’s going on at the school with social media, the violence, the just the kids getting off on it, like thinking it’s like it’s entertainment at school these days. It’s just, it blows my mind,” he said.
Elk Grove Unified School District is investigating the incident.
Police in Pennsylvania are warning residents about a viral TikTok challenge where kids record themselves kicking in the front doors of people’s homes. Similar instances of door-kicking have been reported in other states.In Pennsylvania, Multiple police departments in the Susquehanna Valley have reported these incidents. The Lower Swatara Township Police Department said officers responded to a report of disorderly juveniles just before 3 a.m. on Sunday. Police reviewed video camera footage, which showed one juvenile kicking in a front door while recording on her phone before running off with two other juveniles. Watch: Ring camera footage of the incident Officers walked through the neighborhood and spoke to several residents who said the same incident had happened to them. Anyone who recognizes the individuals in this video is asked to contact Lower Swatara Township police. Police said this incident is likely related to a viral TikTok trend where kids are kicking in the front doors of people’s homes, warning that this challenge is very dangerous. Adams County Crime Stoppers reported a similar “door-kicking” incident where a male kicked the front door of a home in McSherrystown Borough, Pennsylvania, multiple times the night of Halloween, Oct. 31. Authorities said the male fled with two other individuals after causing damage to the door. Police released a photo of the male suspect. KCRA reports that police in the Sacramento, California, area have warned residents of an uptick in cases of kids kicking the front doors of strangers’ homes. In Baltimore, WBAL reported that two teenagers were arrested while carrying out the trend in July.In September, a “ding-dong ditch” prank in Houston, Texas, resulted in the death of an 11-year-old boy when the homeowner exited the house and shot him.Anyone who experiences similar activity at their home is advised to call the police immediately.
Police in Pennsylvania are warning residents about a viral TikTok challenge where kids record themselves kicking in the front doors of people’s homes.
Similar instances of door-kicking have been reported in other states.
In Pennsylvania, Multiple police departments in the Susquehanna Valley have reported these incidents.
The Lower Swatara Township Police Department said officers responded to a report of disorderly juveniles just before 3 a.m. on Sunday.
Police reviewed video camera footage, which showed one juvenile kicking in a front door while recording on her phone before running off with two other juveniles.
Watch: Ring camera footage of the incident
Officers walked through the neighborhood and spoke to several residents who said the same incident had happened to them. Anyone who recognizes the individuals in this video is asked to contact Lower Swatara Township police.
Police said this incident is likely related to a viral TikTok trend where kids are kicking in the front doors of people’s homes, warning that this challenge is very dangerous.
Adams County Crime Stoppers reported a similar “door-kicking” incident where a male kicked the front door of a home in McSherrystown Borough, Pennsylvania, multiple times the night of Halloween, Oct. 31.
Authorities said the male fled with two other individuals after causing damage to the door. Police released a photo of the male suspect.
KCRA reports that police in the Sacramento, California, area have warned residents of an uptick in cases of kids kicking the front doors of strangers’ homes.
Today’s class is in session and we’re learning to speak fluent gin alpha. Our instructors, PE teacher Aidan Worzea. Be in the middle school, um, we got 900 kids here. Uh, we have over 50 in every PE class here, so I’m constantly around them. Hadley. He did get on that one. I’ll give you that one. Today’s lesson translating the ever evolving middle school dictionary. Do you agree with what’s on the board so far? He did like kind of *** good job. According to Mr. Worzea, the top tier terms are locked, rage bait, hu, and their ultimate favorite, 67. So I give the 67 there. 67 is the most. Um, I hear clock it now recently *** ton. I see clock it and before you can even instruct once you say 6, you know it’s 7 and they’re going to interrupt. What does it? Mean? I believe it came from *** basketball player, the Ball family, LeAngelo Ball, I think, came up with the song of it, um, and then I heard that it was, they asked how tall was he? and they’re like, I don’t know, maybe 6 or 7. I think it really like popped off when like *** kid, Mason said 67. Just when you thought you had those, the kids hit you with *** new 1, 41, the opposite hand motion, and then bop. That’s like someone who’s had multiple girlfriends or boyfriends. It’s like, you’re *** bop. Got it. Don’t be *** bop. And then there’s Italian brain rock. Characters. So if you look up, there’s like burper Bata bump, shore. Um, ballerina cappuccino and perhaps the strangest one, it’s just like something people like to say like they’ll just like go around and be like, stop digging in your *** twin, which means nothing. random stuff on the internet. Huzz is *** new one as well. I hear it. I got some mixed emotions, but what I think it means is like crush. Maybe next week I’ll be told *** new one from one of the students, but uh. Uh, I learned from them and, uh, right now this is the main ones that I’m hearing for sure. Translation, just smile, nod, and clock it. Any advice for parents? I would say just if you’re hearing some of these different words, let’s make sure we kind of ask the meeting, um, because we don’t want our kids to go around, uh, saying things that they don’t know the meaning of it, um, and also that the meeting is, you know, good, something we want to be sharing out for sure.
A new internet slang meme taking over children’s vocabulary, 6-7, is now Dictionary.com’s 2025 Word of the Year.The meme is pronounced “six seven,” not “sixty seven,” like most would think, and has become a cultural phenomenon for Gen Alpha. Children have been saying the two numbers together with a hand gesture that someone would use to weigh two options. The phrase has gone viral on TikTok, with many people confused about its meaning. However, the meme itself has no real meaning and is said in a variety of ways. “It’s part inside joke, part social signal and part performance,” Steve Johnson, director of lexicography for the Dictionary Media Group at IXL Learning, said to USA Today. “When people say it, they’re not just repeating a meme; they’re shouting a feeling. It’s one of the first Words of the Year that works as an interjection – a burst of energy that spreads and connects people long before anyone agrees on what it actually means.”The meme started when Skrilla released his song “Doot Doot,” where he raps, “6-7, I just bipped right on the highway.”From there, people began using the lyrics “six seven” from the Skrilla song as background audio in videos. One video in particular that went viral said NBA player LaMelo Ball plays basketball like he’s 6 feet, 2 inches tall instead of his height of 6 feet, 7 inches.After that one video went viral, 6-7 became all the rage for the kids, and now it is being said everywhere.
A new internet slang meme taking over children’s vocabulary, 6-7, is now Dictionary.com‘s 2025 Word of the Year.
The meme is pronounced “six seven,” not “sixty seven,” like most would think, and has become a cultural phenomenon for Gen Alpha. Children have been saying the two numbers together with a hand gesture that someone would use to weigh two options.
The phrase has gone viral on TikTok, with many people confused about its meaning.
However, the meme itself has no real meaning and is said in a variety of ways.
“It’s part inside joke, part social signal and part performance,” Steve Johnson, director of lexicography for the Dictionary Media Group at IXL Learning, said to USA Today. “When people say it, they’re not just repeating a meme; they’re shouting a feeling. It’s one of the first Words of the Year that works as an interjection – a burst of energy that spreads and connects people long before anyone agrees on what it actually means.”
The meme started when Skrilla released his song “Doot Doot,” where he raps, “6-7, I just bipped right on the highway.”
From there, people began using the lyrics “six seven” from the Skrilla song as background audio in videos. One video in particular that went viral said NBA player LaMelo Ball plays basketball like he’s 6 feet, 2 inches tall instead of his height of 6 feet, 7 inches.
After that one video went viral, 6-7 became all the rage for the kids, and now it is being said everywhere.
An estimated 7 million Americans turned out Saturday to peacefully protest against the breakdown of our checks-and-balances democracy into a Trump-driven autocracy, rife with grift but light on civil rights.
Trump’s response? An AI video of himself wearing a crown inside a fighter plane, dumping what appears to be feces on these very protesters. In a later interview, he called participants of the “No Kings” events “whacked out” and “not representative of this country.”
I’m beginning to fear he’s right. What if the majority of Americans really do believe this sort of behavior by our president, or by anyone really, is acceptable? Even funny? A recent Economist/YouGov poll found that 81% of Republicans approve of the way Trump is handling his job. Seriously, the vast majority of Republicans are just fine with Trump’s policies and behavior.
According to MAGA, non-MAGA people are just too uptight these days.
Vice Troll JD Vance has become a relentless force for not just defending the most base and cruel of behaviors, but celebrating them. House Speaker Mike Johnson has made the spineless, limp justification of these behaviors an art form.
Between the two approaches to groveling to Trump’s ego and mendacity is everything you need to know about the future of the Republican Party. It will stop at nothing to debase and dehumanize any opposition — openly acknowledging that it dreams of burying in excrement even those who peacefully object.
Not even singer Kenny Loggins is safe. His “Top Gun” hit “Danger Zone” was used in the video. When he objected with a statement of unity, saying, “Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together. We’re all Americans, and we’re all patriotic. There is no ‘us and them’,” the White House responded with … a dismissive meme, clearly the new norm when responding to critics.
It may seem obvious, and even old news that this administration lacks accountability. But the use of memes and AI videos as communication, devoid of truth or consequence, adds a new level of danger to the disconnect.
These non-replies not only remove reality from the equation, but remove the need for an actual response — creating a ruling class that does not feel any obligation to explain or defend its actions to the ruled.
Politico published a story last week detailing the racist, misogynistic and hate-filled back-and-forth of an official, party-sanctioned “young Republican” group. Since most of our current politicians are part of the gerontocracy, that young is relative — these are adults, in their 20s and 30s — and they are considered the next generation of party leaders, in a party that has already skewed so far right that it defends secret police.
Here’s a sample.
Bobby Walker, the former vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans, called rape “epic,” according to Politico.
Another member of the chat called Black Americans “watermelon people.”
“Great. I love Hitler,” wrote another when told delegates would vote for the most far-right candidate.
There was also gas chamber “humor” in there and one straight up, “I’m ready to watch people burn now,” from a woman in the conversation, Anne KayKaty, New York’s Young Republican’s national committee member, according to the Hill.
Group members engaged in slurs against South Asians, another popular target of the far right these days. There’s an entire vein of racism devoted to the idea that Indians smell bad, in case you were unaware.
Speaking of a woman mistakenly believed to be South Asian, one group member — Vermont state Sen. Samuel Douglass, wrote: “She just didn’t bathe often.”
While some in the Republican party have denounced, albeit half-heartedly, the comments, others, including Vance, have gone on the attack. Vance, whose wife is Indian, claims everyone is making a big deal out of nothing.
“But the reality is that kids do stupid things. Especially young boys, they tell edgy, offensive jokes. Like, that’s what kids do,” Vance said. “And I really don’t want us to grow up in a country where a kid telling a stupid joke — telling a very offensive, stupid joke — is cause to ruin their lives.”
Not to be outdone, Johnson responded to the poop jet video by somehow insinuating there is an elevated meaning to it.
“The president was using social media to make a point,” Johnson said, calling it “satire.”
Satire is meant to embarrass and humiliate, to call out through humor the indefensible. I’ll buy the first part of that. Trump meant to embarrass and humiliate. But protesting, of course, is anything but indefensible and the use of feces as a weapon is a way of degrading those “No Kings” participants so that Trump doesn’t have to answer to their anger — no different than degrading Black people and women in that group chat.
Those 7 million Americans who demonstrated on Saturday simply do not matter to Trump, or to Republicans. Not their healthcare, not their ability to pay the bills, not their worry that a country they love is turning in to one where their leader literally illustrates that he can defecate on them.
Maybe 7 million Americans angry at Trump can’t convince him to change his ways, but enough outraged Vermont voters can make change in their corner of the country.
Which is why the one thing Trump does fear is the midterms, when voters get to shape our own little corners of America — and by extension, whether Trump gets to keep using his throne.
VIDEO: Utah family wake surfs in their backyard after record rainfall
Problem here and of course *** Farmington family decided to make the most of the mess this weekend, attempting to wake surf in their backyard. *** lot of water coming into the yard, nonstop, and my husband’s hunting, and I thought, there’s nothing I can do about this. So my kids started planning it and then I thought, I think we can do one better. So I grabbed *** ski rope and we put it on the back of the car and off we went. Were you worried about your kids getting hurt or dragged behind your car because we’re gonna have to say, you know, don’t try this at home. Um. You know, I was, I was careful. I’ll say I was careful, but I think sometimes we’re too careful in this world, so I think *** little bit of excitement’s OK. Stacy Durius has 4 older brothers, and she got one of them to jump in on the fun. They are usually the ones that are telling me to do crazy things and getting me when I was younger to do crazy things, and now I’m the younger sister who brings them to come and play with me too. He’s putting on his wetsuit and getting right in, her kids watching from the back of her car. Stacey says she’s never seen this kind of water in her yard and corral area here in Farmington, where she runs *** small farm and keeps horses. The record rainfall Saturday transformed this into *** muddy mess. I was like, Oh man, the kids are going to be *** mess. And then I thought, you know what, let’s just make the best of this, um, and go have some fun. And it looks like they did.
VIDEO: Utah family wake surfs in their backyard after record rainfall
A Utah family decided to make the most of the mud and water by attempting to wakesurf in their backyard after Saturday’s record rainfall.”A lot of water coming into the yard nonstop, and my husband’s hunting. I thought there’s nothing I can do about this, and my kids started playing in it, and I thought I think we can do one better, so I grabbed a ski rope and put it on the back of the car, and off we went,” Stacie Dorius said.Dorius has four older brothers, and she was able to get one of them to jump into the fun as well. “They are usually the ones doing crazy things and getting me when I was younger to do crazy things and now I’m the younger sister who brings them to come and play with me, too,” Dorius said. Dorius’ brother put on his wetsuit and got right in, while her kids watched from the back of her car, as they were pulling him. Dorius said she has never seen this kind of water in her yard and corral area in Utah. However, the record rainfall transformed her small farm into a muddy mess.
FARMINGTON, Utah —
A Utah family decided to make the most of the mud and water by attempting to wakesurf in their backyard after Saturday’s record rainfall.
“A lot of water coming into the yard nonstop, and my husband’s hunting. I thought there’s nothing I can do about this, and my kids started playing in it, and I thought I think we can do one better, so I grabbed a ski rope and put it on the back of the car, and off we went,” Stacie Dorius said.
Dorius has four older brothers, and she was able to get one of them to jump into the fun as well.
“They are usually the ones doing crazy things and getting me when I was younger to do crazy things and now I’m the younger sister who brings them to come and play with me, too,” Dorius said.
Dorius’ brother put on his wetsuit and got right in, while her kids watched from the back of her car, as they were pulling him.
Dorius said she has never seen this kind of water in her yard and corral area in Utah. However, the record rainfall transformed her small farm into a muddy mess.
>> NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES. SOME HAVE A PENCIL, TALENT AND A CREATIVE APPROACH TO GET KIDS EXCITED ABOUT MATH. GULF COAST NEWS BRIT SHOWS US HOW IT ALL ADDS UP IN TONIGHT’S STORY TO SHARE. >> AND THEY KNOW WHO THIS GUY IS GOING TO >> INSIDE THE DIMENSIONS OF A HERO IN THE MAKING JERRY TO CARE LIGHTS THE PAGE WITH PASSION. YOU PUT SO MUCH WORK INTO IT. YOU’RE SO GOOD AT IT. NOW THAT IT’S IN ITS COMES TO. SO NATURALLY, IT IS JUST FUND. THAT’S THE POINT YOU WANT TO GET PUT THROUGH MARVEL’S UNIVERSE AND CHANCES ARE YOU’LL MARVEL AT HIS WORK. EXCELLENT FOR WOLVERINE PUNISHER CONE IN NICK FURY, AGENT SHIELD HAWKEYE DEAD POOL. >> EVEN TIME, CAMEOS OF DR. STRANGE IRONMAN. >> WHO ELSE? >> BELIEVE IT OR NOT, HIS DRAWINGS WEREN’T ALWAYS COVER WORD THE THIS BUT BUT I DON’T MEAN TO BUT THIS IS GARBAGE. BUT AFTER 4 YEARS OF STUBBORN, PERSISTENCE AND SKETCHES, HE WAS OFFERED TO DRAW ON X MEN ANNUAL SERIES. AND I SAID THE >> SHE COULD YOU GIVE ME A FANTASTIC 4 INSTEAD AND I’M THE GUY GOES, LISTEN, I’LL GIVE IT TO SOMEBODY ELSE. YOU KNOW, AND I SAID TAKE IT. YOU WITH MORE THAN 10 SUCCESSFUL MARVEL COMICS UNDER HIS BELT, HIS FAVORITE AUDIENCE ISN’T AT COMICON ANYMORE. YOU CAN DROP YOU IN THE CYLINDER FROM PRETTY MUCH YOU KNOW, BELIEVE THAT A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE, YOU CAN IMAGINE YOU CAN DRAW ANYTHING. HIS WORKSHOPS IN SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC LIBRARIES ACROSS AMERICAN MIX. MARVEL WITH MATT. THEY THINK SUPERHEROES A COOL LITTLE THING. MATHIS TO COOL. SO WHEN YOU COMBINE THOSE 2 THAT KIND OF ALL OF A SUDDEN MATHIS KIND OF COOL, WHICH IS WHAT THE MATH TEACHER WANTS FOR THEM. >> WHILE JERRY LOVES DRAWING MUSCLES LIKE THE NEXT COMIC. HIS WORK IS ABOUT STRENGTHENING CONFIDENCE. YOU KNOW SOMETHING TO BE AWARE TO JUST SET YOURSELF APART RIGHT FROM SUPERHEROES TO STUDENTS. HE’S TEACHING NEXT GENERATION THEIR OWN KIND OF SUPERPOWER THAT CAN DO. YOU CAN LOOK REALLY GOOD. AND SO I KN
Sketching the outlines of a hero in the making, Jerry DeCaire lights the page with passion.”You put so much work into it that you’re so good at it now,” said DeCaire. “And it comes so naturally that it’s just fun, that’s the point you want to get to.”Flip through Marvel’s comics universe, and chances are, you’ll marvel at his work.X-Men, Thor, Wolverine, Dr. Strange, Iron Man — these are just a few comics he’s worked on.Believe it or not, his drawings weren’t always cover-worthy.”He says, ‘Hey buddy, I don’t mean to break your heart, but this is garbage,’” said DeCaire, describing what his mentor, comics legend John Buscema, told him when he was starting out.But four years of stubborn persistence and sketches later, he got an offer to draw an X-Men annual series.Now, with more than 10 successful Marvel comics under his belt, his favorite audience isn’t at Comic-Con anymore.”If you can draw a cube and a cylinder from pretty much any angle you can imagine or perspective you can imagine, you can draw anything,” said DeCaire.His workshops in schools and public libraries across America mix Marvel with math.”They think superheroes are cool. They don’t think math is too cool. So, all of a sudden, math is cool — which is what the teacher wants,” said Jerry.While DeCaire loves drawing muscles like the next comics artist, his work is about strengthening confidence.”Sometimes just being weird and setting yourself apart, right?” said DeCaire.
Sketching the outlines of a hero in the making, Jerry DeCaire lights the page with passion.
“You put so much work into it that you’re so good at it now,” said DeCaire. “And it comes so naturally that it’s just fun, that’s the point you want to get to.”
Flip through Marvel’s comics universe, and chances are, you’ll marvelat his work.
X-Men, Thor, Wolverine, Dr. Strange, Iron Man — these are just a few comics he’s worked on.
Believe it or not, his drawings weren’t always cover-worthy.
“He says, ‘Hey buddy, I don’t mean to break your heart, but this is garbage,’” said DeCaire, describing what his mentor, comics legend John Buscema, told him when he was starting out.
But four years of stubborn persistence and sketches later, he got an offer to draw an X-Men annual series.
Now, with more than 10 successful Marvel comics under his belt, his favorite audience isn’t at Comic-Con anymore.
“If you can draw a cube and a cylinder from pretty much any angle you can imagine or perspective you can imagine, you can draw anything,” said DeCaire.
His workshops in schools and public libraries across America mix Marvel with math.
“They think superheroes are cool. They don’t think math is too cool. So, all of a sudden, math is cool — which is what the teacher wants,” said Jerry.
While DeCaire loves drawing muscles like the next comics artist, his work is about strengthening confidence.
“Sometimes just being weird and setting yourself apart, right?” said DeCaire.
Just after sunrise Saturday, a school bus rolled up to a Sacramento County shopping center, filled with students from H. Allen Hight Elementary School in Natomas.The arriving students – open to experiencing a back-to-school boost – were soon greeted by volunteers eager to assist them on a shopping adventure.“They asked if we could find 70 students that would be willing to go on a shopping spree,” said the school’s principal, Andrea Mitchell. “We said, ‘Of course. We’ll find students.’”Mitchell explained how she and her staff selected students for the spree.“We looked into some of the students who we thought could benefit most,” she said. “We called those parents, and they said yes, and here we are.”The organizations that invited the students on the outing are the two Active 20-30 Clubs of Sacramento – Men’s Chapter No. 1 & Women’s Chapter No. 1032. The groups partnered for the annual event that is now in its 45th year.“We’re just excited to be able to help these kids start the school year with confidence,” said Chris Marshall of the Men’s Chapter No. 1 Active 20-30 Club. “It’s important for us as a group to make sure that kids that might seem unseen, feel seen.”The event also provided kids with backpacks, toiletries, school supplies, haircuts, hot breakfasts and outdoor activities.“It’s our duty to privilege and our platform to help those who need our help the most,” Marshall said. Natomas Unified School District donated that school bus to get students to and from their shopping spree. A day organizers hope will give the students a sense of how much their community cares for them.“They kept saying, ‘Why did you pick us?’” Mitchell said. “And we said, ‘Because you deserve it!’”For more information about the Active 20-30 Clubs or to assist with their mission of helping local youth, visit this link.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Just after sunrise Saturday, a school bus rolled up to a Sacramento County shopping center, filled with students from H. Allen Hight Elementary School in Natomas.
The arriving students – open to experiencing a back-to-school boost – were soon greeted by volunteers eager to assist them on a shopping adventure.
“They asked if we could find 70 students that would be willing to go on a shopping spree,” said the school’s principal, Andrea Mitchell. “We said, ‘Of course. We’ll find students.’”
Mitchell explained how she and her staff selected students for the spree.
“We looked into some of the students who we thought could benefit most,” she said. “We called those parents, and they said yes, and here we are.”
The organizations that invited the students on the outing are the two Active 20-30 Clubs of Sacramento – Men’s Chapter No. 1 & Women’s Chapter No. 1032. The groups partnered for the annual event that is now in its 45th year.
“We’re just excited to be able to help these kids start the school year with confidence,” said Chris Marshall of the Men’s Chapter No. 1 Active 20-30 Club. “It’s important for us as a group to make sure that kids that might seem unseen, feel seen.”
The event also provided kids with backpacks, toiletries, school supplies, haircuts, hot breakfasts and outdoor activities.
“It’s our duty to privilege and our platform to help those who need our help the most,” Marshall said.
Natomas Unified School District donated that school bus to get students to and from their shopping spree. A day organizers hope will give the students a sense of how much their community cares for them.
“They kept saying, ‘Why did you pick us?’” Mitchell said. “And we said, ‘Because you deserve it!’”
For more information about the Active 20-30 Clubs or to assist with their mission of helping local youth, visit this link.
Stockton residents are celebrating the reopening of the historic Victory Park pool, which has been closed since 2013 due to maintenance problems deemed beyond repair by city officials.”We’re excited,” said Judy Limon, a Stockton resident.The reopening includes the 75-foot pool, a splash pad, and other facilities. Susana Patterson, another Stockton resident, said she learned how to swim in that pool 47 years ago. “So now we get to come here and celebrate the reopening of the pool,” said Patterson.Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi said it was a community effort to bring the pool back.”I get a little teary-eyed about it,” said Fugazi. “It’s been 12 years and the community has just said, ‘Don’t forget about us.’”In 2016, voters passed a sales tax to fund recreation facilities, including the pool project. Construction finally began last October.”A lot of people have been waiting and looking at the calendar every day,” said Susana Limon.For the community, the pool represents more than just a place to swim. “That’s the best part, seeing the joy on the kids’ faces and delight because they deserve to be able to be in the pool and experience this,” said Carrie Patterson.Swimming at the Victory Park pool will be free through Labor Day weekend.After this weekend, admission will be $3 per person. The pool will be open only on weekends from 12 to 6 p.m. through September.Although summer is just about over, officials say that’s how the construction schedule worked out. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
STOCKTON, Calif. —
Stockton residents are celebrating the reopening of the historic Victory Park pool, which has been closed since 2013 due to maintenance problems deemed beyond repair by city officials.
“We’re excited,” said Judy Limon, a Stockton resident.
The reopening includes the 75-foot pool, a splash pad, and other facilities.
Susana Patterson, another Stockton resident, said she learned how to swim in that pool 47 years ago.
“So now we get to come here and celebrate the reopening of the pool,” said Patterson.
Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi said it was a community effort to bring the pool back.
“I get a little teary-eyed about it,” said Fugazi. “It’s been 12 years and the community has just said, ‘Don’t forget about us.’”
In 2016, voters passed a sales tax to fund recreation facilities, including the pool project. Construction finally began last October.
“A lot of people have been waiting and looking at the calendar every day,” said Susana Limon.
For the community, the pool represents more than just a place to swim.
“That’s the best part, seeing the joy on the kids’ faces and delight because they deserve to be able to be in the pool and experience this,” said Carrie Patterson.
Swimming at the Victory Park pool will be free through Labor Day weekend.
After this weekend, admission will be $3 per person.
The pool will be open only on weekends from 12 to 6 p.m. through September.
Although summer is just about over, officials say that’s how the construction schedule worked out.
Harrison Dayton loves his food and toys, but his parents remember his time in the neonatal intensive care unit all too well.”We would shake him and be like, ‘Come on, take a breath’ — just hearing his crying and not being able to hold him the first day,” said Wendy Dayton, Harrison’s mom.The 2-and-a-half-year-old was born at 33 weeks and weighed just over three pounds at birth. He was diagnosed with trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome, something that was uncharted territory for his family.”To be honest, I was devastated,” said Wendy, reflecting on the diagnosis. “I didn’t know what our lives were going to look like.”The Daytons are no strangers to hospital visits. On Mother’s Day of 2024, Harrison suffered a medical setback that left him intubated for 13 days.”I felt hopeless,” said Wendy. “The next morning, I had a conversation with his doctor and asked, ‘Am I going to lose my son?’”But things took a turn for the better this past fall, when Harrison took his first steps. In April, he could be seen practicing walking with a physical therapist.The Daytons are embracing new adventures as they prepare to travel to New York City next week for the National Down Syndrome Society Times Square Presentation, where Harrison’s photo will be displayed on a jumbotron.Wendy says it’s important that Harrison be featured on screen because “there isn’t a lot of representation of children with Down syndrome.””It’s such a hard journey for him, now he’s there,” said Wendy. “He’s happy, and he looks great and healthy, and it’s just truly amazing.”Despite their challenges, this family is navigating parenthood the best way they know how — by learning from their kids every day.”He’s a normal kid,” said Jake Dayton, Harrison’s dad. “We’re raising him the same way we raised any child.””He’s made us more empathetic and more patient,” Wendy added. “You look at life differently with him in your life.”
Harrison Dayton loves his food and toys, but his parents remember his time in the neonatal intensive care unit all too well.
“We would shake him and be like, ‘Come on, take a breath’ — just hearing his crying and not being able to hold him the first day,” said Wendy Dayton, Harrison’s mom.
The 2-and-a-half-year-old was born at 33 weeks and weighed just over three pounds at birth. He was diagnosed with trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome, something that was uncharted territory for his family.
“To be honest, I was devastated,” said Wendy, reflecting on the diagnosis. “I didn’t know what our lives were going to look like.”
The Daytons are no strangers to hospital visits. On Mother’s Day of 2024, Harrison suffered a medical setback that left him intubated for 13 days.
“I felt hopeless,” said Wendy. “The next morning, I had a conversation with his doctor and asked, ‘Am I going to lose my son?’”
But things took a turn for the better this past fall, when Harrison took his first steps. In April, he could be seen practicing walking with a physical therapist.
KINI, Mexico — On a hot June night Jesús Cruz at last returned to Kini, the small town in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula where he spent the first 17 years of his life.
His sister greeted him with tearful hugs. The next morning she took him to see their infirm mother, who whispered in his ear: “I didn’t think you’d ever come back.”
After decades away, Cruz was finally home.
Yet he was not home.
So much of what he loved was 3,000 miles away in Southern California, where he resided for 33 years until immigration agents swarmed the car wash where he worked and hauled him away in handcuffs.
Cruz missed his friends and Booka, his little white dog. His missed his house, his car, his job.
But most of all, he missed his wife, Noemi Ciau, and their four children. Ciau worked nights, so Cruz was in charge of getting the kids fed, clothed and to and from school and music lessons, a chaotic routine that he relished because he knew he was helping them get ahead.
“I want them to have a better life,” he said. “Not the one I had.”
Now that he was back in Mexico, living alone in an empty house that belonged to his in-laws, he and Ciau, who is a U.S. permanent resident, faced an impossible decision.
Should she and the children join Cruz in Mexico?
Or stay in Inglewood?
Cruz and Ciau both had families that had been broken by the border, and they didn’t want that for their kids. In the months since Cruz had been detained, his eldest daughter, 16-year-old Dhelainy, had barely slept and had stopped playing her beloved piano, and his youngest son, 5-year-old Gabriel, had started acting out. Esther, 14, and Angel, 10, were hurting, too.
But bringing four American kids to Mexico didn’t seem fair, either. None of them spoke Spanish, and the schools in Kini didn’t compare with those in the U.S. Dhelainy was a few years from graduating high school, and she dreamed of attending the University of California and then Harvard Law.
There was also the question of money. At the car wash, Cruz earned $220 a day. But the day rate for laborers in Kini is just $8. Ciau had a good job at Los Angeles International Airport, selling cargo space for an international airline. It seemed crazy to give that up.
Ciau wanted to hug her husband again. She wanted to know what it would feel like to have the whole family in Mexico. So in early August she packed up the kids and surprised Cruz with a visit.
The Cruz family — from left, Dhelainy, Angel, Esther, Jesús, Gabriel and Noemi — head to the vaqueria, a traditional Yucatecan festival in Kini.
(Juan Pablo Ampudia / For The Times)
Kini lies an hour outside of Merida in a dense tropical forest. Like many people here, Cruz grew up speaking Spanish and a dialect of Maya and lived in a one-room, thatched-roof house. He, his parents and his five brothers and sisters slept in hammocks crisscrossed from the rafters.
His parents were too poor to buy shoes for their children, so when he was a boy Cruz left school to work alongside his father, caring for cows and crops. At 17 he joined a wave of young men leaving Kini to work in the United States.
He arrived in Inglewood, where a cousin lived, in 1992, just as Los Angeles was erupting in protest over the police beating of Rodney King.
Cruz, soft-spoken and hardworking, was overwhelmed by the big city but found refuge in a green stucco apartment complex that had become a home away from home for migrants from Kini, who cooked and played soccer together in the evenings.
Eventually he fell for a young woman living there: Ciau, whose parents had brought her from Kini as a young girl, and who obtained legal status under an amnesty extended by President Reagan. They married when she turned 18.
As their family grew, they developed rituals. When one of the kids made honor roll, they’d celebrate at Dave & Buster’s. Each summer they’d visit Disneyland. And every weekend they’d dine at Casa Gambino, a classic Mexican restaurant with vinyl booths, piña coladas and a bison head mounted on the wall. On Fridays, Cruz and Ciau left the kids with her parents and went on a date.
As the father of four Americans, Cruz was eligible for a green card. But the attorneys he consulted warned that he would have to apply from Mexico and that the wait could last years.
Cruz didn’t want to leave his children. So he stayed. When President Trump was reelected last fall on a vow to carry out mass deportations, he tried not to worry. The government, he knew, usually targeted immigrants who had committed crimes, and his record was spotless. But the Trump administration took a different approach.
On June 8, masked federal agents swarmed Westchester Hand Wash. Cruz said they slammed him into the back of a patrol car with such force and shackled his wrists so tightly that he was left with bruises across his body and a serious shoulder injury.
Ciau, who was helping Esther buy a dress for a middle school honors ceremony, heard about the raid and raced over. She had been at the car wash just hours earlier, bringing lunch to her husband and his colleagues. Now it was eerily empty.
At the Westchester Hand Wash last June, an employee tells a customer that they are closed due to a recent immigration raid. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
At a news conference in June at Culver City Express Hand Car Wash and Detail, Noemi shows a photo of her husband, Jesús, who was taken into custody by immigration agents that month at a car wash. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Cruz was transferred to a jail in El Paso, where he says he was denied requests to speak to a lawyer or call his family.
One day, an agent handed him a document and told him to sign. The agent said that if Cruz fought his case, he would remain in detention for up to a year and be deported anyway. Signing the document — which said he would voluntarily return to Mexico — meant he could avoid a deportation order, giving him a better shot at fixing his papers in the future.
Cruz couldn’t read the text without his glasses. He didn’t know that he very likely would have been eligible for release on bond because of his family ties to the U.S. But he was in pain and afraid and so he signed.
Returning to Kini after decades away was surreal.
Sprawling new homes with columns, tile roofs and other architectural flourishes imported by people who had lived in the U.S. rose from what had once been fields. There were new faces, too, including a cohort of young men who appraised Cruz with curiosity and suspicion. With his polo shirts and running shoes, he stood out in a town where most wore flip-flops and as few clothes as possible in the oppressive heat.
Cruz found work on a small ranch. Before dawn, he would pedal out there on an old bicycle, clearing weeds and feeding cows, the world silent except for the rustle of palm leaves. In all his years in the big city, he had missed the tranquility of these lands.
He had missed his mother, too. She has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair. Some days, she could speak, and would ask about his family and whether Cruz was eating enough. Other days, they would sit in silence, him occasionally leaning over to kiss her forehead.
He always kept his phone near, in case Ciau or one of the kids called. He tried his best to parent from afar, mediating arguments and reminding the kids to be kind to their mother. He tracked his daughters via GPS when they left the neighborhood, and phoned before bed to make sure everyone had brushed their teeth.
He worried about them, especially Dhelainy, a talented musician who liked to serenade him on the piano while he cooked dinner. The burden of caring for the younger siblings had fallen on her. Since Cruz had been taken, she hadn’t touched the piano once.
During one conversation, Dhelainy let it slip that they were coming to Mexico. Cruz surged with joy, then shuddered at the thought of having to say goodbye again. He picked them up at the airport.
That first evening, they shared pizza and laughed and cried. Gabriel, the only family member who had never been to Mexico, was intrigued by the thick forest and the climate, playing outside in the monsoon rain. For the first time in months, Dhelainy slept through the night.
“We finally felt like a happy family again,” Ciau said. But as soon as she and the kids arrived, they started counting the hours to when they’d have to go back.
Noemi Ciau is comforted by her cousin Rocio after listening to her talk about her husband’s time in immigrant detention.
(Juan Pablo Ampudia / For The Times)
During the heat of the day, the family hid inside, lounging in hammocks. They were also dodging unwanted attention. It seemed everywhere they went, someone asked Cruz to relive his arrest, and he would oblige, describing cold nights in detention with nothing to keep warm but a plastic blanket.
But at night, after the sky opened up, and then cleared, they went out.
It was fair time in Kini, part of an annual celebration to honor the Virgin Mary. A small circus had been erected and a bull ring constructed of wooden posts and leaves. A bright moon rose as the family took their seats and the animal charged out of its pen, agitated, and barreled toward the matador’s pink cape.
Cruz turned to his kids. When he was growing up, he told them, the matador killed the bull, whose body was cut up and sold to spectators. Now the fights ended without violence — with the bull lassoed and returned to pasture.
It was one of the ways that Mexico had modernized, he felt. He felt pride at how far Mexico had come, recently electing its first female president.
The bull ran by, close enough for the family to hear his snorts and see his body heave with breath.
“Are you scared?” Esther asked Gabriel.
Wide-eyed, the boy shook his head no. But he reached out to touch his father’s hand.
Later, as the kids slept, Cruz and Ciau stayed up, dancing cumbia deep into the night.
The day before Ciau and the kids were scheduled to leave, the family went to the beach. Two of Ciau’s nieces came. It was the first time Gabriel had met a cousin. The girls spoke little English, but they played well with Gabriel, showing him games on their phones. (For days after, he would giddily ask his mother when he could next see them.)
Seperated for months, Jesús Cruz and Noemi Ciau share a moment at her parents’ home in Kini.
(Juan Pablo Ampudia / For The Times)
That evening, the air was heavy with moisture.
The kids went into the bedroom to rest. Cruz and Ciau sat at the kitchen table, holding hands and wiping away tears.
They had heard of a U.S. employer who, having lost so many workers to immigration raids, was offering to pay a smuggler to bring people across the border. Cruz and Ciau agreed that was too risky.
They had just paid a lawyer to file a lawsuit saying Cruz had been coerced into accepting voluntary departure and asking a judge to order his return to the U.S. so that he could apply for relief from removal. The first hearing was scheduled for mid-September.
Cruz wanted to return to the U.S. But he was increasingly convinced that the family could make it work in Mexico. “We were poor before,” he told Ciau. “We can be poor again.”
Ciau wasn’t sure. Her children had big — and expensive — ambitions.
Dhelainy had proposed staying in the U.S. with her grandparents if the rest of the family moved back. Cruz and Ciau talked about the logistics of that, and Ciau vowed to explore whether the younger kids could remain enrolled in U.S. schools, but switch to online classes.
When the rain began, Cruz got up and closed the door.
The next morning, Cruz would not accompany his family to the airport. It would be too hard, he thought, “like when somebody gives you something you’ve always wanted, and then suddenly takes it away.”
Jesús comforts his son Angel as they walk to the car to leave for the airport. (Juan Pablo Ampudia/For The Times)
Jesús hugs his son Gabriel as they say goodbye. (Juan Pablo Ampudia/For The Times)
Gabriel wrapped his arms around his father’s waist, his small body convulsed with tears: “I love you.”
“It’s OK, baby,” Cruz said. “I love you, too.”
“Thank you for coming,” he said to Ciau. He kissed her. And then they were gone.
That afternoon, he walked the streets of Kini. The fair was wrapping up. Workers sweating in the heat were dismantling the circus rides and packing them onto the backs of trucks.
He thought back to a few evenings earlier, when they had celebrated Dhelainy’s birthday.
The family had planned to host a joint sweet 16 and quinceñera party for her and Esther in July. They had rented an event hall, hired a band and sent out invitations. After Cruz was detained, they called the party off.
They celebrated Dhelainy’s Aug. 8 birthday at the house in Kini instead. A mariachi band played the Juan Gabriel classic, “Amor Eterno.”
“You are my sun and my calm,” the mariachis sang as Cruz swayed with his daughter. “You are my life / My eternal love.”
With back-to-school season in full swing, families across the country are continuing to feel the sting of high prices.In May and June, before the latest round of the Trump administration’s tariffs, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimated that tariffs on back-to-school items had risen to 18% (up from 5% a year earlier). A new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that prices of educational books and supplies increased 9.4% from May 2024 to May 2025.As costs pile up, over half of parents are planning to cut back on necessities to pay for school-related shopping, and 44% are planning to take on debt, according to a Credit Karma consumer survey. American families expect to spend an average of $570 per student on back-to-school shopping this year, according to a Deloitte survey released in July, and price pressures are pushing consumers to look for savings wherever possible.Track when (or if) your state has a back-to-school tax holidaySeventeen states have or had sales tax holidays in summer 2025. Each of those states has different policies on which items are included in the tax holiday, and the holidays are spread out, so it’s important to pay close attention to when your state’s holiday is, if it has one.These purchases don’t have to be in-store either — Amazon and other online retailers won’t charge taxes on eligible deliveries to states with these holidays on the books.Get library cards for the whole familyLibraries are a great way to save money not only on physical books, but also e-books, audiobooks and movies. Some public libraries also offer printing services, discounts for local attractions and cost-free tutoring services that can be used year-round.Shop localDeloitte found that over 2 in 3 shoppers will be looking to online retailers to do at least part of their back-to-school shopping.Shopping online can be a convenient and efficient way to directly compare prices between retailers and makes buying items in bulk (which can take your dollar further) easier. But consumers who do most of their back-to-school shopping online actually spent $100 more than families who relied on in-person shopping, Deloitte reported.Finding great local deals in person, may mean going beyond traditional retailers.Tina Marie Barnes, the manager of one of the Chatham PTA Thrift Shops in central North Carolina, said the stores — which raise money for local schools — started stocking up on “any back to school, items, backpacks, lunch boxes, pencils, crayons, notebooks, notebook paper, anything that a child could use” in January. The shops see hundreds of people a day, from families to college students, looking for find deals on clothes and school supplies.Repair instead of replacingA growing number of Americans live in states with “right to repair” laws that make it easier for consumers and independent businesses to repair electronics without having to go through manufacturers.These laws are relatively new – New York, the first state to enact one of these laws for consumer electronics, only did so in 2023, and Texas’s governor signed a right to repair law in June. An advocacy organization that supports these laws estimates that they might save families upwards of $300 a year.Take advantage of tax laws529 plans have traditionally allowed families to save money for college, but recent changes might allow families to increase savings before their kids graduate high school.Included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a change to 529 plans that allow parents to withdraw money from the accounts to pay for expenses related to K-12 schooling, including books, standardized test prep and other “instructional materials.”While contributions cannot be deducted from federal income taxes, most states allow residents to deduct contributions to these plans from their state income taxes. But importantly, “the earnings are not subject to federal or state tax when they’re used for qualified education expenses,” says Alexander Maged, an employee benefits lawyer at Ivins, Phillips & Barker. Withdrawals for qualified educational expenses are not subject to federal income taxes.When withdrawing money from these 529 plans, it’s important to maintain good records for purchases, balance current spending with future savings goals, and consult with an IRS representative if you’re unsure about what expenses qualify.Make budgeting a teaching lesson for kidsImpulse buying can quickly add up costs, especially when kids want the newest sneakers or an expensive first-day-of-school outfit. Setting a firm budget for back-to-school costs and giving kids a role in the discussion can help save money in the short term and teach kids an invaluable life lesson.”Families that include kids in back-to-school budgeting often find the process less stressful as children are incentivized to work within limits instead of pushing against them,” Julia Perez, a wealth manager at Crux Wealth Advisors, told CNN in an email.Kids are often tempted by immediate gratification, she said, so explaining what’s worth saving for can help “develop critical longer-term perspectives that can re-direct impulses and shape behavior.””Over time those habits compound. By the time they’re managing rent, student loans, or saving for a first home, saving isn’t an afterthought… it’s second nature.”
CNN —
With back-to-school season in full swing, families across the country are continuing to feel the sting of high prices.
In May and June, before the latest round of the Trump administration’s tariffs, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimated that tariffs on back-to-school items had risen to 18% (up from 5% a year earlier). A new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that prices of educational books and supplies increased 9.4% from May 2024 to May 2025.
As costs pile up, over half of parents are planning to cut back on necessities to pay for school-related shopping, and 44% are planning to take on debt, according to a Credit Karma consumer survey. American families expect to spend an average of $570 per student on back-to-school shopping this year, according to a Deloitte survey released in July, and price pressures are pushing consumers to look for savings wherever possible.
Track when (or if) your state has a back-to-school tax holiday
Seventeen states have or had sales tax holidays in summer 2025. Each of those states has different policies on which items are included in the tax holiday, and the holidays are spread out, so it’s important to pay close attention to when your state’s holiday is, if it has one.
These purchases don’t have to be in-store either — Amazon and other online retailers won’t charge taxes on eligible deliveries to states with these holidays on the books.
Get library cards for the whole family
Libraries are a great way to save money not only on physical books, but also e-books, audiobooks and movies. Some public libraries also offer printing services, discounts for local attractions and cost-free tutoring services that can be used year-round.
Shop local
Deloitte found that over 2 in 3 shoppers will be looking to online retailers to do at least part of their back-to-school shopping.
Shopping online can be a convenient and efficient way to directly compare prices between retailers and makes buying items in bulk (which can take your dollar further) easier. But consumers who do most of their back-to-school shopping online actually spent $100 more than families who relied on in-person shopping, Deloitte reported.
Finding great local deals in person, may mean going beyond traditional retailers.
Tina Marie Barnes, the manager of one of the Chatham PTA Thrift Shops in central North Carolina, said the stores — which raise money for local schools — started stocking up on “any back to school, items, backpacks, lunch boxes, pencils, crayons, notebooks, notebook paper, anything that a child could use” in January. The shops see hundreds of people a day, from families to college students, looking for find deals on clothes and school supplies.
Repair instead of replacing
A growing number of Americans live in states with “right to repair” laws that make it easier for consumers and independent businesses to repair electronics without having to go through manufacturers.
These laws are relatively new – New York, the first state to enact one of these laws for consumer electronics, only did so in 2023, and Texas’s governor signed a right to repair law in June. An advocacy organization that supports these laws estimates that they might save families upwards of $300 a year.
Take advantage of tax laws
529 plans have traditionally allowed families to save money for college, but recent changes might allow families to increase savings before their kids graduate high school.
Included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a change to 529 plans that allow parents to withdraw money from the accounts to pay for expenses related to K-12 schooling, including books, standardized test prep and other “instructional materials.”
While contributions cannot be deducted from federal income taxes, most states allow residents to deduct contributions to these plans from their state income taxes. But importantly, “the earnings are not subject to federal or state tax when they’re used for qualified education expenses,” says Alexander Maged, an employee benefits lawyer at Ivins, Phillips & Barker. Withdrawals for qualified educational expenses are not subject to federal income taxes.
When withdrawing money from these 529 plans, it’s important to maintain good records for purchases, balance current spending with future savings goals, and consult with an IRS representative if you’re unsure about what expenses qualify.
Make budgeting a teaching lesson for kids
Impulse buying can quickly add up costs, especially when kids want the newest sneakers or an expensive first-day-of-school outfit. Setting a firm budget for back-to-school costs and giving kids a role in the discussion can help save money in the short term and teach kids an invaluable life lesson.
“Families that include kids in back-to-school budgeting often find the process less stressful as children are incentivized to work within limits instead of pushing against them,” Julia Perez, a wealth manager at Crux Wealth Advisors, told CNN in an email.
Kids are often tempted by immediate gratification, she said, so explaining what’s worth saving for can help “develop critical longer-term perspectives that can re-direct impulses and shape behavior.”
“Over time those habits compound. By the time they’re managing rent, student loans, or saving for a first home, saving isn’t an afterthought… it’s second nature.”
THIS IS KCRA THREE NEWS AT 11. TONIGHT, TWO OF OUR REGION’S TOP RANKED FOOTBALL TEAMS GOING HEAD TO HEAD UNDER THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT. GRANT HIGH HOSTING THE FOLSOM BULLDOGS IN A GAME TELEVISED LIVE ON ESPN. BETWEEN THOSE TWO TEAMS, THERE ARE MORE THAN 30 STUDENT ATHLETES WITH D-1 OFFERS. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US AT 11. I’M CECIL HANNIBAL. YOU KNOW, BUT FOLSOM IN THAT GAME CAME OUT ON TOP. THAT SCORE 51 TO 13. KCRA 3’S PEYTON HEADLEE TAKES A LOOK INSIDE OF WHAT WAS A BIG OPPORTUNITY FOR BOTH OF THE SCHOOLS AND THEIR PLAYERS. THE STADIUM LIGHTS IN DEL PASO HEIGHTS SHINE A LITTLE BRIGHTER THIS SATURDAY. I PERSONALLY BELIEVE IT’S THE BIGGEST GAME IN SACRAMENTO HISTORY, AS THE GRANT HIGH SCHOOL PACERS AND FOLSOM HIGH SCHOOL BULLDOGS PREPARE FOR A KICKOFF, BEING WATCHED ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THIS MEANS, BIG MAN. THIS IS THIS IS NATIONALLY. YOU KNOW, A LOT OF EXPOSURE FOR THE KIDS. IT’S HUGE. AND WE YOU KNOW, THEY DESERVE IT. IT’S JUST A HUGE FACTOR WITH ESPN BEING HERE AND JUST ALL THE I’S. ESPN CHOSE THIS POWERHOUSE MATCHUP. FOR THEIR HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL KICKOFF SERIES. IT’S JUST YEAH, IT’S SO COOL AND SUCH A PRIVILEGE. THIS RIGHT HERE IS POSITIVE FOR I THINK IT’S JUST SUCH A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUNG KIDS AND THESE BOYS AND THESE HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS. IT’S A NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT, NOT ONLY ON THE SCHOOLS AND THE PLAYERS, BUT ON THE COMMUNITIES THEY’VE CREATED. WE WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THE BEAUTY, THE GREATNESS THAT EXISTS IN DEL PASO HEIGHTS COMMUNITY NEED THIS. AND IT’S UPLIFTING. IT KIND OF BRINGS EVERYONE TOGETHER. THE KIDS ARE INTO IT. THE COACHES, THE COMMUNITIES ARE INTO IT. LIKE IT DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS. I THINK IT REALLY BRINGS A SENSE OF COMMUNITY TOGETHER, AND I THINK THAT THAT’S A LOT OF WHAT WE ALL NEED. THE GAME, GIVING THESE PLAYERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHINE WITH THEIR SEASON ONLY JUST BEGINNING IN DEL PASO HEIGHTS. PEYTON HEADLEE KCRA THREE NEWS. DO YOU REMEMBER THOSE TEAMS PLAYED EACH OTHER ON ESPN BACK IN 2010, AND THAT GAME WAS IN FOLSOM, BUT GRANT WON THAT 149 TO 14. NOW WE’RE INTO THE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL AND FLAG FOOTBALL SEASON ACROSS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. WE WANT TO SEE YOUR PICTURES. SO SCAN THE QR CODE ON YOUR SCREEN TO SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOS. ALSO, BE SURE TO LEAVE A MESSAGE ABOUT WHAT SCHOOL YOU’RE SUPPORTING AND WHO KNOWS. YOU CAN SEE SOME O
‘It doesn’t get any better than this’: Grant High hosts Folsom Bulldogs in nationally televised game
ESPN chose this powerhouse matchup for their annual High School Football Kickoff series.
The Grant High School Pacers hosted the Folsom Bulldogs in a sold-out, high-profile Saturday night football game broadcast live on ESPN. Between the two teams, there are more than 30 student-athletes with Division 1 college offers. The game gave players an opportunity to shine, with their season only just beginning.”I personally believe it’s the biggest game in Sacramento history,” Caleb Tate, Grant High School Football Fan, said. “The kids are into it. The coaches, the communities are into it. Like it doesn’t get any better than this.”The game was part of ESPN’s annual High School Football Kickoff series. The national spotlight was not only on the schools and the players but also on the communities they have created. “It is absolutely well deserved. We want to highlight the beauty, the greatness that exists in Del Paso Heights,” Gina Warren, Grant High School Alumna, said. “It’s a special place with special people.”“I think it’s just such a great opportunity for young kids and these boys and these high school programs. They work so hard,” Melissa Murphy, parent of a Folsom High School Varsity Football player, said. “I think it really brings a sense of community together. And I think that’s a lot of what we all need.”This matchup was reminiscent of their previous encounter on ESPN back in 2010, which took place in Folsom, where Grant won 49-14.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
The Grant High School Pacers hosted the Folsom Bulldogs in a sold-out, high-profile Saturday night football game broadcast live on ESPN.
“I personally believe it’s the biggest game in Sacramento history,” Caleb Tate, Grant High School Football Fan, said. “The kids are into it. The coaches, the communities are into it. Like it doesn’t get any better than this.”
The game was part of ESPN’s annual High School Football Kickoff series. The national spotlight was not only on the schools and the players but also on the communities they have created.
“It is absolutely well deserved. We want to highlight the beauty, the greatness that exists in Del Paso Heights,” Gina Warren, Grant High School Alumna, said. “It’s a special place with special people.”
“I think it’s just such a great opportunity for young kids and these boys and these high school programs. They work so hard,” Melissa Murphy, parent of a Folsom High School Varsity Football player, said. “I think it really brings a sense of community together. And I think that’s a lot of what we all need.”
This matchup was reminiscent of their previous encounter on ESPN back in 2010, which took place in Folsom, where Grant won 49-14.
California will take a major step in its fight to protect children from the ills of social media with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature on a bill to limit the ability of companies to provide “addictive feeds” to minors.
The governor’s office said Newsom on Friday will sign Senate Bill 976, named the Protecting Our Kids From Social Media Addiction Act and introduced by state Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley). The bill was supported by state Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and groups such as the Assn. of California School Administrators, Common Sense Media and the California chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Newsom’s wife, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, is also outspoken about the links between social media consumption and low self-esteem, depression and anxiety among youth.
The legislation attracted an unusual collection of opponents, including the American Civil Liberties Union of California, Equality California and associations representing giants in the industry that own TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. The California Chamber of Commerce argued that the legislation “unconstitutionally burdens” access to lawful content, setting up the potential for another lawsuit in an ongoing court battle between the state and social media companies over use of the platforms by children.
“Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night,” Newsom said. “With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits.”
The bill, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2027, with Newsom’s signature, prohibits internet service and applications from providing “addictive feeds,” defined as media curated based on information gathered on or provided by the user, to minors without parental consent. SB 976 also bans companies from sending notifications to users identified as minors between midnight and 6 a.m. or during the school day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. unless parents give the OK.
The bill will effectively require companies to make posts from people children know and follow appear in chronological order on their social media feeds instead of in an arrangement to maximize engagement. Proponents of the bill point to warnings from U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and others about a mental health crisis among youths, which studies show is exacerbated by the use of social media.
“As a mother, I’m proud of California’s continued leadership in holding technology companies accountable for their products and ensuring those products are not harmful to children. Thank you to the Governor and Senator Skinner for taking a critical step in protecting children and ensuring their safety is prioritized over companies’ profits,” Siebel Newsom said.
The industry has argued that it’s false to assume that feeds curated by an algorithm are harmful but that a chronological feed is safe. The ACLU also argued that age verification creates potential privacy concerns because it could require the collection of additional user data that could be at risk in a security breach and because it could threaten the 1st Amendment rights of people who cannot verify their age.
Several groups advocating for LGBTQ+ youths suggested the bill could limit youths’ ability to engage on platforms that offer emotional support for their identities, particularly for kids who live in communities that might be hostile to their identity. Giving more control to parents could also potentially result in parents choosing settings that share sensitive information about the child, the groups said.
The bill marks the latest action in a battle between state government and social media companies taking place in the California Legislature and the court system over the use of platforms by children.
In October, Bonta’s office filed a lawsuit with 32 other states against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, alleging that the company designed apps specifically to addict young users while misleading the public about the adverse effects.
A bill that failed last year in the California Legislature would have made social media companies liable for up to $250,000 in damages if they knowingly promoted features that could harm children. Portions of a 2022 law that sought to require companies to provide privacy protections for children have also been held up in court.
They treated me like a kid. It was so frustrating. I went in, they gave me an IV with a ******** of meds, then also an intramuscular epi pen. I felt better in an hour, but they made me stay for another 5. They legally couldn’t keep me there, but that didn’t matter I guess. Whatever, I’m happy to be home and not itchy.
The cul-de-sac ends at the top of a hill with a sweeping view of the San Fernando Valley. From there, Hermano Drive slopes downward, curving left and gradually steepening before snaking right at a precipitous trajectory more reminiscent of a black-diamond ski slope than a suburban neighborhood.
At the bottom is busy Reseda Boulevard, with just a stop sign between the corner of Hermano Drive and the dangerous cross-traffic.
But ever since 2016, the Tarzana enclave has had four other signs that can’t be found on any other road in Los Angeles. Made of metal, there are two on the way up and two on the way down, each declaring: “NO SKATEBOARDING ON STREET & SIDEWALK.”
As skateboarding has gone from a maligned subculture to an Olympic sport, the signs along this hillside lane citing Sec. 56.15.2 of the city’s municipal code — “No person shall ride a skateboard on Hermano Drive” — reflect the contentiousness that occasionally flares up over its more dangerous manifestations.
Aaron Barlava in front of his parents’ home on Hermano Drive in Tarzana.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
The ordinance was badly needed, 25-year-old Aaron Barlava, who grew up on Hermano Drive, said while shooting hoops outside his parents’ house one recent afternoon.
“We’d always have groups of kids come up here toward the top of the hill and race down on their skateboards at excessive speeds,” he said. “It’s not for the sake of saying we don’t like skateboarding. … It’s a safety hazard. That is a very steep hill.”
The tucked-away feel of this community of about two dozen homes attracted many of its residents to Hermano Drive. But it also once drew groups of teenagers who saw its topography and knew they had to “bomb” it.
Getting on a board and riding down a hill as fast as possible, known as “bombing a run,” is a dangerous, and sometimes deadly, pursuit. The list of fatal accidents includes two teenagers who died within a few months of each other more than a decade ago in San Pedro, spurring an ordinance that restricted where and how skateboards can be ridden citywide and described bombing hills as “a significant danger.”
But tall hills never stopped beckoning a certain breed of young adrenaline junkies. And about nine years ago, a group of them decided Hermano Drive was a spot worth bombing again and again.
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When L.A. Councilman Bob Blumenfield started getting calls in 2015 from some Hermano Drive homeowners about groups of teens repeatedly slaloming past, he said, he “went over there and was like, ‘Damn, that does look like a fun run.’”
A self-described “skate rat” in his youth, Blumenfield nevertheless introduced the ordinance to bar skateboarding on the asphalt hill, labeling it an “extremely dangerous activity.” The municipal code, he noted, allows for ordinances restricting skateboarding in public places where skaters have exhibited “a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.”
Bob Blumenfield at a Sept. 26 Los Angeles City Council meeting.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
For months residents drove a little slower on Hermano, worried the combination of limited visibility and high speeds would eventually result in a skater being run over.
“I had to respond to the real safety concerns that community members had, which is this became the spot where kids would skate down — what they call bombing — and then veer off right at the end of the street,” the councilman said recently. “As you turn onto Reseda Boulevard, you don’t know what’s around the corner.”
In the years before the ordinance went into effect in April 2016, there were reports of multiple skateboarding injuries on the cul-de-sac, Blumenfield said, but there have been none since.
Sasoon Petrosian said he hasn’t seen a single skateboarder on the street since he moved into his house along one of the steepest stretches of Hermano Drive eight years ago.
Cars travel along Reseda Boulevard where it intersects with Hermano Drive, background, in Tarzana.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
“I see cars coming up and driving fast back down, and runners come up here and run back down,” the 43-year-old engineering director said while taking a break from dismantling Christmas decorations on his porch. “I have not seen anybody skate here. [The ordinance] definitely has worked.”
But there have been at least 11 citations issued for skateboarding on the street, according to records obtained from the Los Angeles Police Department via public records request. The department did not provide additional information about the citations or how it enforces the law, which provides for a $50 fine for a first offense and $100 for subsequent violations.
While street bombing is no longer as popular as it once was and seems to have been eliminated on Hermano Drive, it’s still a point of contention in some communities.
Last summer, the San Francisco Police Department arrested 32 adults and cited 81 minors during a clash with participants and spectators at an annual skateboarding event dubbed the “Dolores Hill Bomb.” The unsanctioned event draws hundreds of people to the sheer hills near the city’s Mission Dolores Park — where the most daring of them careen down the public roadways at high speed, resulting in injuries and one death in past years.
The department said in a news release that law enforcement action at last year’s bomb was necessary because the gathering had turned into a “riot” after an altercation broke out between attendees and a police sergeant.
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Skateboarders have long been at odds with police and property owners.
From the vilification they faced in the ‘70s and ‘80s, through the “skateboarding is not a crime” era that continued well into the 2000s, successive generations of boarders were maligned and driven out of many shared public spaces.
But the ascendance of skateboarding from an underground street diversion into a major industry and legitimate sports enterprise coincided with a transformation of its image in suburbs across America.
A 2010 photo of skateboarders “bombing” down Bluebird Canyon in Laguna Beach.
(John W. Adkisson / Los Angeles Times)
The best-selling video game franchise Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, along with ESPN’s X Games and “Jackass” performer Bam Margera brought new generations of kids to skate culture.
Social media and YouTube made it so anyone with a board and a smartphone could share their latest tricks and falls with the world and interact with millions of other skaters doing the same. Then came the widening embrace during the COVID era of the ‘90s and early aughts skater aesthetic. Today, it’s not rare to see teenagers in the Valley wearing vintage Thrasher or Nirvana T-shirts over torn baggy jeans and Airwalks.
With its anointment as an Olympic sport in 2020, skateboarding completed its transition to widespread acceptance. Many young parents who grew up skating themselves now see it as a wholesome way to get their kids out from behind their computer screens, doing something active with other young people.
Late Friday afternoon, Cory Masson’s was one of about two dozen long, gold-bathed shadows that zipped across the graffitied pavement at Pedlow Skate Park in Encino — less than two miles from Hermano Drive. The 9-year-old disappeared straight down into the empty deep end of a smooth cement pool and popped back out on the other end, sticking the landing.
Born in 1977, Cory’s mom, Brenda Masson, grew up in the ‘90s skating in the Valley and “watching our boyfriends get hit in the head with skateboards by security guards.” She wasn’t familiar with Hermano Drive, but she described the fact that skateboarding was specifically banned there as “the oddest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Today, she spends long days at the skate park watching her son and chatting with other parents.
“Cory is on the spectrum and I was looking for something for him to do solo,” she said. “I think the skate population has grown exponentially, and there’s way more girls skating. We’ve seen an extreme positive change in it.”
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Luna Luna, 19, of Reseda, practices a hardflip while skateboarding at Pedlow Skate Park in Encino.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
At the same time, there’s a rebel streak in the sport that refuses to die.
Martin Garcia said he “grew up bombing hills; that’s just something we did.” Asked what he liked about the death-defying runs, the 27-year-old Van Nuys resident’s eyes lit up as he recalled the feeling.
“It’s sick,” he said. “The fact that it’s dangerous as f—, that’s what attracts people. You go down that hill and escape death four times, it’s like, ‘Wow.’ And your homies are impressed.”
Ramon Black, 37, said he still skates Pedlow frequently. He understands the dangers of treacherous roads, but said he and his friends loved bombing another steep hill in the Valley when they were kids.
“I get why they do it. It’s a safety and liability issue,” Black said in between greeting friends as they rolled by. “When you’re young you don’t care about that stuff, but now that I’m older I know better.”
Eduardo Galvan is a lifelong skater who grew up in Venice, one of the sport’s crucibles. The 59-year-old is now “more of a cruiser” who rides his longboard mostly in the South Bay and runs a company in Tarzana that sells a range of products online, including skateboards.
Galvan said he’d never heard of Hermano Drive, but he doesn’t think the government should determine what spots are too dangerous to skate.
“We’re gonna do it regardless. If you’re a true skater it doesn’t matter, you’re gonna skate anyways,” he said. “This is your freedom.”
