August 20, 2026
August 20, 2026
A group of furious parents is taking a wealthy California school district to federal court after their kids were allegedly pushed into Islamic religious practices during a school-sponsored field trip - complete with hijabs for the girls and free Qurans for everyone. Ten families and community members, mostly Jewish along with Hindu and Zoroastrian parents, filed suit against the Palo Alto Unified School District and Palo Alto High School Principal Brent Kline. They claim the...
Sacramento just dropped another regulatory bomb on everyday Californians. The California Energy Commission unanimously approved the nation's first replacement tire efficiency standards on Monday, setting strict limits on rolling resistance for tires sold in the state. Phase 1 kicks in for tires manufactured starting in 2029. The tougher Phase 2 hits in 2033. Tire industry representatives say the 2033 standards would eliminate roughly 70% of the replacement tires currently on...
BERKELEY, Calif. — Zvezdelina Stankova, a teaching professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, has described a sharp drop in the mathematical readiness of incoming students, saying some arrive years behind grade level and struggle with concepts typically mastered in middle school. In an opinion piece published in the San Francisco Standard, Stankova wrote that office hours intended for advanced topics such as integrals frequently turn into remedial...
California's Democrat-controlled Legislature just rammed through a bill critics are calling the "Stop Nick Shirley Act" - a measure that makes it a lot riskier to film and post videos of people working at immigrant-service outfits, even when those outfits are raking in taxpayer cash and allegedly cooking the books. Assembly Bill 2624, authored by Oakland Democrat Mia Bonta (wife of Attorney General Rob Bonta), sailed through the Senate 30-10 on Tuesday and is now on its way...
Construction cranes are swinging over Santa Monica even as Californians vote with their feet and leave the state. A mixed-use apartment complex is rising on the old Pico Bowl site near Pico Boulevard and Third Street. Senior “affordable” and supportive housing is underway at 14th and Wilshire. Another 78-unit affordable project is climbing at 20th Street near Wilshire. Related towers are advancing toward 26th and Wilshire. All of this is happening while California lost...
In a stunning reversal of their 2020 "Megxit," Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are packing up their life in Montecito and relocating to the United Kingdom later this month with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5. The couple, who have made the exclusive Santa Barbara County community their primary home for the past six years, will establish a private, non-royal residence outside London while keeping their California property,...
Moscow region, Russia - A large fire engulfed Russia's biggest Wildberries logistics hub in the village of Koledino, roughly 40 kilometers south of the Kremlin, early on August 16, 2026, following a reported Ukrainian drone strike, according to open-source intelligence monitors and Ukrainian media. Videos and photographs circulating online showed intense flames and thick columns of black smoke rising from the sprawling complex, which spans more than 200,000 square meters and...
Actress Hayden Panettiere, best known for her roles as Claire Bennet in the NBC series Heroes and Juliette Barnes in Nashville, has died at the age of 36. Her family confirmed the news on Sunday, August 16, 2026, through a statement describing her as "an incredible light and a force of nature." No official cause of death has been released, and authorities have opened an investigation after police responded to an incident involving the actress. She had recently traveled from...
Santa Monica police and fire personnel responded Friday, August 14, 2026, to a death investigation in the 1100 block of 7th Street, where an adult was pronounced dead at the scene following an apparent suicide. The individual, described by authorities as an elderly man, was found on a sixth-floor construction balcony at Westminster Tower, a 17-story residential building. Preliminary information from the Santa Monica Police Department indicated the death was not related to...
