community

SACRAMENTO — California’s growing data center industry will have more oversight after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed seven bills to regulate the industry’s electricity costs and track water consumption.

The new laws come amid growing public concerns about environmental and economic impacts of the massive facilities, and are aimed at protecting consumers from growing electricity costs and tracking the centers’ immense energy and water consumption.

Newsom on Monday criticized President Trump for dismissing calls to curtail or regulate the facilities and heralding them as “money machines,” even as states and communities across the nation take action to ban or regulate the centers.

“While the Trump administration moves toward deregulation, communities are left to deal with the consequences — higher electricity demand, grid constraints, water use, and pollution,” Newsom said in a written statement Monday. “With these laws, we are ensuring that Californians remain in the driver’s seat — and that those profiting from data centers aren’t doing so at our expense.”

Senate Bill 886 by Sen. Steve Padilla (D-Chula Vista) and Assembly Bill 2383 by Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Los Angeles) establish special rules for data centers’ electrical use. The law orders California Public Utilities Commission to create special requirements and rates for data centers’ use of electricity, including the costs for new power and for infrastructure upgrades.

Scores of other states have already passed similar legislation, according to utility groups.

Two bills by Assemblymember Diane Papan (D-San Mateo) will require oversight of data center water consumption. One measure will require data center operators, when applying for a business license or permit, to disclose an estimate of their water use and the expected source of water. Another will bar cities and counties from approving a new or expanded data center unless the developer submits a water assessment and a water scarcity plan, and will require developers to cover the cost of any water system upgrade that is necessary.

Newsom vetoed a similar Papan bill last year that would have required new data centers to disclose their expected water use. The governor said he was “reluctant to impose rigid reporting requirements” on “this critically important digital infrastructure” without understanding the full impact on the businesses.

But over the past year, a wave of data center pushback has swept the nation, including California, where dozens of cities and counties have proposed or adopted moratoriums on the facilities. While California lawmakers have hesitated to pursue outright moratoriums and bans that the public is calling for, the political tide has nevertheless turned against the facilities.

Data centers have existed for decades but are rapidly expanding because of the rise of artificial intelligence, or AI. The centers help power everything from streaming services to videoconferencing calls.

Data centers in California are typically smaller than the mammoth, 500+-megawatt AI facilities making headlines in other parts of the country. Electricity costs and state regulations on gas-powered generators limit the vast majority of them to under 100 megawatts.

But as proposals increase in number, opposition has been fierce and growing. A Public Policy Institute of California poll from July showed that 73% of residents oppose the construction of data centers in their communities.

WASHINGTON — Several of the nation’s largest voter engagement and racial justice organizations are facing steep funding shortfalls and staffing cutbacks just as voting is getting underway in an election that will determine control of Congress for the final two years of President Trump’s term.

The shortfalls are setting off alarms among Democratic strategists, who are betting on high turnout and robust voter protection efforts to boost the party’s chances this fall. They are worried that many grassroots groups will not be able to mount effective registration and get-out-the-vote efforts, much less protect against the possibility of election interference from the administration given Trump’s efforts to restrict voting access and assert federal control over the election.

America Votes, a coordinating hub for more than 400 progressive groups, has fallen “well below” the level of funding it had during the 2022 midterms, the group’s executive director, Daria Dawson, said in a statement to the Associated Press. America Votes has acted as a nerve center for the voter mobilization efforts of groups such as the NAACP, Planned Parenthood, the League of Conservation Voters, the AFL-CIO and SEIU labor unions, as well as local groups focused on racial justice, climate and civil liberties.

“There is still time to reach voters and bring them into this election, but we are no longer talking about a future opportunity,” Dawson said. “The window to engage them is open now, and it is narrowing every day.”

Racial justice activists feel betrayed

Wealthy donors and philanthropic groups have reduced their support of many liberal causes since the 2024 presidential election. That pullback has been especially stark for voting groups geared toward engaging communities of color.

While multiple organizers said some funders had expressed an interest in adopting different strategies, racial justice organizers have felt that as a betrayal.

A retreat in donor support is “handcuffing our ability to persuade our communities to vote in a year where there is no Voting Rights Act,” said Esosa Osa, a veteran Democratic strategist and founder of Onyx Impact, a research group focused on combating misinformation in Black communities.

A Supreme Court ruling this year knocked out one of the last remaining pillars of that landmark 1965 law, essentially gutting it.

“We are watching surrender, not strategy,” Osa said.

A July memo that circulated among major Democratic fundraisers warned that “the organizations that registered and persuaded millions of voters to participate in the 2018 and 2022 midterms are drastically underfunded. They have raised nearly 40% less than they had at this point in those cycles.”

It further warned that funding voter mobilization groups was especially critical “given that the Democratic brand is underperforming on generic ballot tests relative to historical comparisons and the president’s approval ratings.”

The shortfalls have led organizations focused on engaging and mobilizing key voting groups to scale back operations and staffing over the last year. That has included programs aimed at registering and mobilizing lower-propensity voters, voters of color, and rural and younger voters.

The Democratic National Committee, which has faced its own funding challenges, has consolidated voter engagement efforts this year partly in response to the ecosystem’s past shortcomings. The DNC in a statement said it was making “historic investments” in its organizing but did not address the weaknesses among allied groups.

“We are expanding our voter protection infrastructure to defend Americans’ sacred right to vote, hold Trump and Republicans accountable in court, and register and mobilize voters across the country,” said Angelo Fernández Hernández, a DNC spokesperson.

‘Being Black … again has become a bad word’

The reasons for the troubled funding landscape are varied and at times unclear, according to nearly two dozen fundraisers and organizers who spoke with the AP. Some donors, still disappointed with the Democratic Party and some of its allies following the 2024 presidential election, have closed their pocketbooks to liberal causes entirely.

While a small group of liberal megadonors has continued to bankroll progressive causes, most focus their support on liberal legal organizations that have taken the Trump administration to court, rather than political or voter engagement groups.

Others, including major philanthropic institutions, have pulled back out of fear of retribution that giving to political or racial justice causes could draw the administration’s ire. Organizers who have engaged with potential donors said the administration’s targeting of political opponents and diversity initiatives seems to have put a chill on fundraising for their causes.

Tameka Ramsey-Brown, founding director of the Michigan Coalition on Black Civic Participation, said multiple donors since the 2024 election had asked whether her group could remove the word “Black” from its name or find financial conduits to mask the source of donations for fear of retribution from the administration.

“Just being Black in this country again has become a bad word, and it has made it that much more difficult just to raise money because funders don’t want the added pressure and stress or attacks on them by funding us,” she said.

Smaller budgets, shifting strategies

Many of the nonprofit groups that traditionally have conducted the registration, voter education and organizing say they are trying to adapt to their new, leaner reality.

Vamos a Votar, an initiative of the largest civil rights and advocacy groups focused on Latino communities, has had to readjust its ambitions this year due to a lack of investment from funders.

“This is shaping up to be a cycle where investments haven’t gone to the Black and brown communities that will ultimately decide this election,” said Juan Proaño, chief executive of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a member of the initiative.

In a September pitch circulated among donors, the coalition said it aimed to invest $27.5 million in voter engagement and persuasion efforts this year, but still required $5.4 million from donors to fund voter turnout efforts across 10 states and 17 House districts. Even that investment reflected reduced ambitions from previous pitches to donors early this year.

“It has been extremely disappointing to see that progressive donors are not meeting the moment,” said Héctor Sánchez Barba, head of Mi Familia Vota, one of the affiliated organizations. “We are not waiting. We are always on the front lines for our democracy and our communities.”

To counter the funding cutbacks, some groups have begun relying more heavily on artificial intelligence to provide voter registration guides, share information in multiple languages and track potential election issues. Some groups have increased their partnerships with ride-sharing companies to provide free rides to polling places instead of bus shuttles.

With fewer in-person organizers, some groups are also focusing on social media and partnering with liberal content creators to boost their messages.

“In my more than 30 years of organizing, it has never been this bad to raise money to support Black causes of any kind,” said Melanie Campbell, president and chief executive of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, a nonpartisan civil rights group.

“We’re going to do the work, our state affiliates are doing all that is possible. … But the bottom line is that those who believe that democracy matters should make sure they fund the work.”

Brown writes for the Associated Press.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday vetoed legislation that would have narrowed exemptions to the California Environmental Quality Act for advanced manufacturing facilities amid pushback from business and industry groups.

Senate Bill 954 from state Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas) would have rolled back parts of last year’s controversial overhaul of CEQA, which fast-tracked approvals for a broad array of housing and infrastructure projects in an effort to ease new construction in the state.

Critics said the overhaul opened up a path for advanced manufacturing facilities such as strip miners, chemical producers, battery recyclers and semiconductor plants to open in communities without any environmental review. Dozens of environmental groups including the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and California Environmental Voters urged the governor to sign the legislation into law, arguing that it would have provided essential protections for communities that already experience the worst pollution from industrial facilities.

In his veto message, Newsom said last year’s CEQA reform was a “long overdue overhaul to get California building again.”

“While I appreciate the author’s stated intent to ensure these reforms do not result in unintended adverse impacts on the environment, this bill does not merely clarify or refine the existing exemption. It repeals the CEQA exemption for advanced manufacturing facilities,” the governor wrote. “Further, the bill’s numerous new siting, operational, and emissions requirements would make the narrower exemption impractical for many of the projects it was intended to support.”

In a statement, Blakespear said she was “disappointed” in the governor’s decision. While some of the new CEQA exemptions are important to stimulate construction, the recent near-miss chemical disaster in Garden Grove — which prompted thousands of evacuations in May —illustrates the danger that can come from siting advanced manufacturing facilities in communities, she said.

“We should not have to wait for another emergency before recognizing that sweeping — and rushed — exemptions from environmental review need reasonable guardrails,” Blakespear said. “Protecting communities and workers is not an impediment to economic growth; it is part of responsible growth. We need guardrails to these CEQA exemptions to safeguard Californians and ensure the environment isn’t damaged.”

Newsom’s veto came amid pushback from industry groups and prominent business organizations including the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Manufacturers & Technology Assn. The California Department of Finance also was opposed to the bill, which it described in an analysis as “inconsistent with Administration policy.”

Lance Hastings, chief executive of the California Manufacturers & Technology Assn., said in a statement Friday that the governor’s veto protects “the ability of manufacturers to innovate and create here in California.”

Manufacturing generates $382 billion a year for California and supports 1.24 million jobs, he said.

But opponents said Newsom’s decision will ultimately endanger communities and leave more people exposed to industrial hazards.

“Frontline communities across California continue to face consequences from polluting industries that have damaged our air, and water for the sake of corporate profit,” said Asha Sharma, deputy director at the nonprofit Sierra Club California. “SB 954 was developed to ensure those same mistakes do not continue.”

Blakespear said she will continue working on the issue next year.

The Trump administration is proposing a dramatic overhaul of the once-a-decade U.S. Census head count that could leave out millions of immigrants based on status and key racial and ethnic data, jeopardizing the allocation of resources and the country’s voting map.

The potential changes, announced Wednesday, would exclude undocumented immigrants, asylum seekers and anyone without permanent status. Certain demographic questions from the traditional questionnaire would also be eliminated.

It echoes Trump’s previous idea to add a citizenship question to the 2030 census.

The U.S. Census Bureau, in a post on the Federal Register website, argued “illegal aliens (among others) should not be included in the apportionment count, as they are not true inhabitants, members of the body politic, or persons with a ‘usual residence’ in the United States due to their lack of a sufficient tie and allegiance to the United States.”

The census also “should be colorblind and should not be distorted in any way by questions about immaterial personal characteristics, such as race,” the agency said. It also is considering nixing questions related to people who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community.

These changes would harm the quality of the data, said Beth Jarosz, a data researcher and vice president of the Association of Public Data Users. She called the proposals “unprecedented.”

“Not counting all of the people who reside here is actually where the real threat is,” Jarosz said. “If you think about all of the ways that census data are used.”

Census figures are traditionally used for an “apportionment count” to determine how many seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives. That count also determines the number of votes in the Electoral College.

“You can imagine if we have undercounts or if we have people counted in the wrong place,” Jarosz said. “Then their political power or their political representation gets diluted.”

Immigrants of every status have historically been counted

Historically, the decennial census has not sought to conduct a full count of people by citizenship status, she added. It may come up in the Census’ periodic American Community Survey.

Getting an accurate count of immigrants of various statuses is useful when assigning resources for public health emergencies or natural or human-made disasters.

“If you don’t have a count of everyone who’s there, you’re not going to have the resources you need,” Jarosz said. “And that puts everybody at risk.”

Why race and ethnicity census data matters

Race-related questions have been on the once-a-decade census since 1790. Starting in 2000, the U.S. census began allowing people to identify by more than one race. A 2015 Pew Research Center study found that multiracial people in the U.S. were growing at a rate three times faster than the general population. By 2020, 33.8 million people in the U.S. identified as being more than one race, according to the census.

Race and ethnicity data is essential for researchers who gauge discrimination, crime rates and wealth gaps in communities of color.

Manjusha Kulkarni is co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance, two advocacy groups that rely on census counts of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The proposed changes would have tremendous impact on the populations they serve, she said.

“It also seeks to exclude important demographic data from millions that enables lawmakers, health care providers, public safety officials and community advocates — really anyone who cares about the health, safety and well-being of all Americans — from having the necessary data to keep us safe and healthy,” Kulkarni said via text message.

Dropping race and ethnicity data as well as some immigrants sends a message that these communities don’t matter, she added.

Collecting data for the 2030 Census with all these missing elements would be detrimental, Jarosz said.

“These changes are like trying to land an airplane when you are in thick fog and someone has thrown paint across the front window and your instruments are also not working,” she said.

Tang writes for the Associated Press.

Comparing the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art to a spaceship has become an internet cliche, but the otherworldly campus really does feel like it exists in a galaxy far, far away. Nestled in Exposition Park beside the Natural History Museum and down the block from the soon-to-open Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center (with its actual spaceship), the Lucas Museum’s Ma Yansong-designed building sticks out like a green thumb.

There are 11 acres of lush public park space to explore, dotted with “Star Wars”-themed statues and a hanging garden, as well as benches and an amphitheater for outdoor events. A waterfall tucked on the north end of the building acts as a cooling mechanism for the 300,000-square-foot structure, but also serves as a gathering spot for jovial seagulls.

If you get peckish, there are two options: A cafe on the ground floor with typical sandwich and salad fare as well as a Starbucks; and a fifth-floor restaurant called Skywalker Grill with a full bar, curved cherry wood walls and lovely views of downtown L.A. (Nab a reservation or you’ll likely never get in.)

There are 100,000 square feet of gallery space, with the art spread mostly across the fourth floor — and in a fifth-floor murals gallery where you’ll find a selection of Banksys hidden in a back corner. More than 30 discrete galleries have something for almost everyone and are curated by broad themes including motherhood, community, romance, sports, science fiction and comics.

And, yes, there is a “Star Wars” exhibit, but it’s just a small part of the overall scene. If you come explicitly for that, your day will be filled with unexpected discovery.

Here’s a useful map to guide your way.

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1. Galleries
2. Galleries
3. Library
4. Sculpture garden 

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5. Education lobby
6. Lucas plaza
7. Oculus
8. Galleries
9. Private event space
10. Main lobby
11. Cafe
12. Gift shop 

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13. Theaters
14. Skywalker Grill
15. Galleries
16. The History of Narrative Art: Heroes, Myths, The Sacred
17. Waterfall 

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4th Floor Galleries 

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4th Floor Galleries 

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4th Floor Galleries 

RIYADH: With cricket’s popularity rising across Saudi Arabia,, cricket academies and clubs are rapidly expanding across the Kingdom in race to nurture young talent and grow the sport at a competitive level.

The spread of one of the world’s most popular sports is part of the mission to promote a healthy and active lifestyle under the Saudi Vision 2030’s Quality of Life program.

Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation, the official governing body in the Kingdom, supported by the Ministry of Sports and Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee, has been mandated to increase physical activity levels by 40 percent over the decade.

But cricket’s popularity at grass roots remains mostly organic, particularly among many expats from across Asia who have made Saudi Arabia their home on recent years and decades.

The SACF, under the auspices of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports, was established in 2020, with Prince Saud bin Mishal Al-Saud as chairman of the federation.

Interestingly, Foreign Missions and International Schools especially from South Asia are also promoting the game offering training sessions at the schools and organizing inter-school tournaments.

Speaking to Arab News Ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia Vipul said: ” I am very pleased to see the growing popularity of Cricket in Saudi Arabia. Cricket has become an integral part of India’s sporting and cultural tradition. The inclusion of Cricket in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games is a positive development towards its global visibility. We would like to see more and more countries embracing cricket.”

“The launch of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has further boosted its worldwide popularity of the game. A significant development in this respect was the IPL 2025 mega auction held on November 24 and 25, 2024, at the Abadi Al Johar Arena in Jeddah. There have also been several other engagements on cricket between our two countries, reflecting the growing interest in forging a long-term partnership in the development of cricket in Saudi Arabia,” added the ambassador.

He further said: “The large and vibrant Indian community in Saudi Arabia has also played an important role in promoting cricket. We are proud that some players representing the Saudi national cricket team come from the Indian community residing in the Kingdom. The Embassy of India will continue to engage with the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation and other stakeholders to promote greater cooperation and exchanges in the field of cricket. Such engagements will add yet another dimension to the already strong and multifaceted people-to-people partnership between India and Saudi Arabia.”

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador Omar Lebbe Ameer Ajwad told Arab News: “Cricket is part of the Sri Lankan community’s life in Saudi Arabia. There are more than 80 community cricket clubs across the Kingdom. Cricket is also part of Sri Lanka international school’s extracurricular activities. School organizes inter-house cricket matches during the annual sports meet.”

“To mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia, I have initiated a tradition of hosting an annual Cricket Tournament – Sri Lanka Ambassador’s Cup, among Sri Lankan community cricket clubs in the Kingdom,” said the envoy.

“Sri Lanka stands ready and would be pleased to support Saudi Arabia’s initiative to promote and develop cricket in the Kingdom,” he added.

The Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh last year held a cricket tournament to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between the south Asian nation and Saudi Arabia. Ajwad told Arab News that the plan is to make it an annual event.

“We are planning to bring some big names from Sri Lankan cricket in the final of the tournament in the future, in order to promote cricket among the Sri Lankan community in Saudi Arabia as well as promote cricket ties with the Kingdom.”

He added that since Saudi Arabia also has a cricket federation, the plan is to “explore opportunities” for cooperation in the game.

Cricket academies in different Saudi cities have taken major leaps in recent years.

Abdul Waheed, former captain and a star batsman of the Saudi national cricket team, who is associated with Arkan Sports Cricket Academy in Riyadh told Arab News: “Our academy aspires to be the grassroots engine of cricket development in Riyadh region. We aim for those being trained at our academy to practice and play good cricket and one day represent Saudi Arabia at the international level.”

MIND Cricket Academy, Jubail chairman Nasser Al Qashanain, told Arab News: “MIND Academy was established in 2019 in Jubail, with founder director Murali Krishnan, and co-founder R N Balasubramaniam. A home-grown academy is building a pipeline of young talent that its founders hope will one day represent the Kingdom on the world stage.”

“In December 2023, the academy decided the time had come to give cricket aspirants in the region a proper platform. Team Mind Academy launched the Mind Academy Cricket Club (MACC) — a dedicated home for young cricketers in Jubail, built on three pillars: dedication, discipline, and determination,” he said.

“From the outset, the academy prioritized coaching quality over quick wins. It brought in R. Aravind and C. Santosh, two India-based trainers certified by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to lay the technical groundwork for its young players,” he added.

The club’s growth was further accelerated by the support of its strategic partner and MIND Academy chairman Al Qashanain, whose backing helped Mind Academy Cricket Club secure a closer working relationship with the SACF.

“That partnership has since become a cornerstone of the club’s development, with SACF providing its coaches access to ICC Level 1 coaching certification and offering exceptional support throughout the journey — support that has been instrumental in establishing the club’s presence in Jubail,” said Al Qashanain.

“The SACF’s support for Mind Academy has been exceptional throughout their journey. Mind Academy and SACF signed a landmark MoU to jointly develop cricket at the grassroots level— a testament to the trust and confidence the federation places in the academy’s vision. Through SACF, the club’s coaching staff gained access to ICC Level 1 coaching courses held at the Sea Sports Center Fanateer in Jubail from 28–31 May 2025. The course was organized by the Jubail Cricket Association under the supervision of SACF and conducted by ICC/SACF-qualified tutors, with the proud support of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu,” he said.

The ICC certification has been a game-changer for the club, ensuring that every young cricketer at Mind Academy receives training that meets the highest international standards.

Mind Academy also forged a partnership with the Gary Kirsten Cricket Academy, opening the door for its coaching staff to progress through ICC coaching certification — from Level 1 all the way to Level 4 — under the mentorship of Gary Kirsten, a prominent former South African cricketer and elite coach who famously guided India to victory in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.

“That blend of local passion and international know-how has become the hallmark of Mind Academy,” said Al Qashanain.

IPL’s Delhi Capitals Academy have also expanded with a new Saudi Arabia centre. The academy has strengthened its international footprint with the launch of its first academy through a new center in Jeddah.

Jazim Haris, head of operations, JSC Sports, told Arab News: “Delhi Capitals Cricket Academy has made its landmark Middle East debut with the launch of its first centre in Jeddah in partnership with JSC Sports Centre, the city’s first international cricket academy.”

“Designed for boys and girls aged 5 to 17, the academy combines ICC certified coaching with high-performance bowling machines, advanced performance monitoring and international player exchange programmes,” he said.

“The partnership is further strengthened by JSC Sports Centre’s exclusive state-of-the-art cricket stadium near Naseem, Jeddah featuring three playing surfaces, analytical cameras and cutting-edgee batting technology to track and creating a global pathway for emerging talent and give families a premier space to connect, socialise and enjoy their children’s progress,” he added.

Haris further said: “The launch expands Delhi Capitals academy footprint to five countries seven centres in India and six overseas across the UK, Canada, the US and Saudi Arabia marking a significant step in developing Jeddah’s cricket talent pipeline and supporting the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 sporting ambitions.”

He added: “Our strong association with SACF has fostered our vision to pioneer cricket academies in Jeddah.”

Aqil Azad, who runs cricket academies with grounds facilities – Tamimi Cricket Club, and Arabian Cricket Academy – told Arab News: “We have about 40 children being trained at our academies by certified coaches, amid structured program, and a clear focus on the fundamentals of the game, delivered to children and teenagers who might otherwise have had little access to formal cricket coaching in the Eastern Province.”

“We provide structured training programs for aspiring cricketers across all age groups in Dammam and Al Khobar. From intensive net practice and field drills to competitive match-day scenarios, the academy provides a complete cricketing guideline for young players in the region. The club also actively engages with local schools, introducing cricket to young students and scouting talent at the grassroots level,” he added.

Manzar Khan, president of the cricket academy in Yanbu – Yanbu Al Sinaiyah Cricket Association – told Arab News: ” The academy was established in 1979 and is one of the oldest and prestigious cricket associations in the Kingdom. Home to one of the most beautiful and first-ever grassy cricket grounds in Saudi Arabia, setting a benchmark for cricket infrastructure in the Kingdom.”

“At the academy we provide state-of-the-art night cricket facilities equipped with 8 towering floodlight poles, enabling high-quality day and night matches. We practice in 4 cricket grounds to accommodate simultaneous matches and practice sessions,” he added.

There are about 25 registered teams competing under the YACA banner, representing diverse communities and strong cricketing talent in Yanbu, he informed.

Officially affiliated with the SACF, YACA organizes three to four major tournaments per season, ensuring continuous competitive cricket throughout the year, and is recognized as a key contributor to the development of cricket in the Kingdom.

California is poised to be the first state in the nation to allow people to identify their Jewish heritage on state forms, sparking debate within the community about identity and the merits of being singled out.

Some Jews believe the move would help people understand the community better, particularly on issues such as health and hate crimes. But some are wary about providing too much information given the history of government-sanctioned persecutions against Jewish people.

The state recognizes nearly 50 racial and ethnic identities for data collection, but it considers Jewish identity only as a religion, not an ethnicity.

Senate Bill 1387, which lawmakers passed Aug. 31, seeks to require state agencies to include a box for Jewish ethnicity on all demographic data forms, ranging from public assistance programs to college applications.

The goal is to improve the accuracy of state data to better understand the needs of Jewish communities, according to the bill’s author, state Sen. Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles). The bill, which received broad support in the Assembly and Senate, will head to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk in the coming weeks for a signature or veto.

The proposed law has gone beyond data collection within the Jewish community, prompting discussions and disagreements over whether being Jewish is religious, cultural or a blend of many things. For some, it’s evoked anxiety about the historical dangers of tracking Jews.

Stern doesn’t mind the debate. In fact, he says, it speaks to a core part of Jewish identity.

“I love that the Jewish tradition is us arguing with each other,” he said. “It is such a beautiful part of our heritage to debate these kinds of things and what it means to be Jewish, and I love making space for that.”

California has broadened the list of racial and ethnic categories people can select in recent years. Newsom last year signed a similar bill that created a category for Middle East and North African individuals separate from the “white” designation that had previously encompassed those ethnicities.

California is home to an estimated 1.2 million Jewish people, representing the second-largest Jewish population in the United States after New York. And for most American Jews, Jewish identity is not one size fits all.

“The difficulty here, I think, is that Jewishness doesn’t fit neatly into the categories Americans normally use,” said Jeffrey Kopstein, the chancellor’s professor of political science at UC Irvine. “So, of course, to non-Jews, Jews are often thought of as a religion, but Jewish identity also has historically involved ancestry, culture and peoplehood.

“Many people who are entirely secular nevertheless understand themselves and are understood by others as Jews,” he added.

A Pew Research study published in 2021 found that about 1 in 5 Jews in the United States — roughly 19% of respondents — said that being Jewish is about a combination of religion, ancestry and culture. About 22% said being Jewish is a matter of culture, while 21% said it was a matter of ancestry. About half as many — roughly 11% — said being Jewish is mainly about religion.

The study found that religion is not central to the lives of most Jews living in the United States. Still, identifying as Jewish matters greatly to them, with three-quarters of Jewish Americans saying that “being Jewish” is very important or somewhat important to them, according to Pew.

Jewish California, a Jewish advocacy group that sponsored the bill, wrote in a statement that when Jewish ethnicity is absent from data, disparities in healthcare, education and discrimination are less likely to be identified or addressed. Data collection, it says, “signals to the public how communities are understood.”

“When California recognizes Jews only as a religion, it reinforces a narrow and incomplete understanding of Jewish identity, encouraging the misconception that Jews are defined solely by belief or worship rather than by a rich and distinct culture, history, peoplehood, and shared experience. That misunderstanding leads to generalizations, creating fertile ground for bias and discrimination,” the group wrote in a statement.

But opponents argue that the bill oversimplifies Jewish identity and could potentially make people more of a target for antisemitism, which saw a nationwide surge after the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023.

In 2025, the Anti-Defamation League tallied 6,274 incidents of antisemitism in the United States, down from 9,354 incidents the year prior. Last year’s numbers were still about five times higher than a decade ago, according to the ADL.

Cat Zavis, a rabbi at Beyt Tikkun, told the California Assembly’s Judiciary Committee in June that the bill erases the diversity of Jewish people whose families come from a variety of places including the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Europe.

“Jews are not a single ethnicity. Judaism is a religion,” she said. “Many Middle Eastern and North African Jews have spent years working to have their distinct histories recognized. Their stories are not the same as those of Ashkenazi Jews. They have different experiences of displacement, discrimination, privilege and identity. By collapsing all Jews into a single ethnic category, this bill makes those communities invisible.”

Stern says people will still be able to check multiple racial and ethnic identification boxes on forms to encompass all the ways they identify.

Groups have also raised concerns about the government maintaining records on Jews, which is reminiscent for some of the trauma of the Holocaust. In the 1930s, the Nazi government used a variety of forms of public data including tax returns and census records to help identify Jews who would be rounded up and sent to concentration camps where millions were killed.

“History offers a clear warning: when Jewish identity is officially distinguished from that of all other ethnic groups, the results have too often been catastrophic,” the Bay Area chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, an advocacy organization that bills itself as the largest Jewish group supporting Palestine, wrote in a statement.

Supporters of the bill say identifying as Jewish under the law is strictly voluntary. For Stern, the root of the bill is empowerment.

As a kid growing up in Los Angeles, Stern wasn’t as religious as he is now, but he was still singled out for being Jewish. Other students drew swastikas on his backpack. Antisemitic cartoons appeared in his school newspaper.

“Some stuff happened where I went from being a normal kid blending in to suddenly realizing I had an identity and it was one that was sort of defined by being called out for it,” he said. “Back then, there were no forms on campus, or applying for college, that had an opportunity for me to identify as Jewish, even though I was being identified by other people that way.”

He hopes the proposed law will give people the chance to own their Jewish identity on their terms.

“Maybe this is one place where people who are excellent at disagreeing with each other can all kind of agree that there ought to be a space for us,” he said.

It’s back-to-school time for the Broad.

The Broad museum is launching a new educational initiative, it announced on Saturday. “Our Block, Our Stories” will pair students with contemporary artists to explore how those artists have been inspired by their local neighborhoods, communities and personal experiences.

The program, open to grades 3 through 12, includes off-site activities and field trips to the museum. The Broad is paying for students’ transport to the museum.

The inaugural project will focus on South Los Angeles students and spotlight L.A. artist Lauren Halsey. Students will visit Halsey’s South L.A. sculpture garden, “sister dreamer, lauren halsey’s architectural ode to tha surge n splurge of south central los angeles,” to explore themes of neighborhood, memory and belonging. Halsey’s work, which debuted in March, was presented by Los Angeles Nomadic Division and curated by LAND co-founder Christine Y. Kim.

Students will then, on the same day, travel to the Broad for guided tours, discussions and writing prompts. They’ll be encouraged to connect their personal experiences to works in the museum’s collection while also considering how they might creatively express their own life stories, from their individual communities, through art. April De Leon, Broad interim school program manager, is overseeing the program.

“It’s so we can bring hundreds of young people [to the museum] so they can be inspired to be creative — and in a way that helps their community, gives back to their community, transforms their community and their city,” said Ed Patuto, Broad director for audience engagement. “We’ll look at how other artists, too — like Mark Bradford, John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres — deal with their neighborhoods and opportunities in their neighborhoods for inspiration.”

The museum will provide educators with on-site worksheets and background materials on the artists, along with other pre-visit and post-visit resources in English and Spanish.

Field trips to the museum begin Sept. 18, though the Broad is still enrolling schools in the program. It’s giving priority to schools and youth organizations in and around South L.A. The Halsey program runs through Dec. 11.

Lauren Halsey’s South L.A. sculpture garden, “sister dreamer.”

(Allen Chen @_h_studio)

Patuto said that Halsey was the perfect artist to launch the program. Not only is her work represented in the Broad’s collection, but “she’s an artist who’s influenced by her community and, like a Mark Bradford, is actually building something in her community, for her community,” he said. “And that needs to be supported by arts institutions around the city.”

The idea behind the sculpture park, when Halsey first conceived it about 16 years ago, she said in an interview, was a space that represents and pays homage to the neighborhood, both aesthetically and conceptually.

“The heroes, the poetics, the material culture, the everyday,” she said. “But also, that it’s a sculpture park that serves — and for free — the neighborhood and L.A. at large.”

The Broad says it will continue to develop “learning modules” over the next several years.

The next one will launch in conjunction with the upcoming exhibition, “Has the myth been shattered,” opening in November. The show of Broad collection works spanning six decades, as curated by Jen Vanegas Rocha, addresses myths “and the way social media, mass media, can kind of mythologize things that happened to us,” Patuto said.

Free, youth-oriented cultural programming such as “Our Block, Our Stories” is a game-changer, Halsey said, adding that field trips she took to LACMA in middle school helped give her confidence to create and solidify her identity as an artist.

She hopes the Broad’s new educational initiative does the same for other young artists.

“It builds pride in one’s own neighborhood and validates experiences and expands on the possibility of what you can be as a young child and sparks your imagination,” she said. “I didn’t have that growing up in South Central, this access to art. So it’s really cool that the Broad came in and is partnering with me to bring this amazing, free programming to the neighborhood.”

Sparks center Cameron Brink condemned former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom for his behavior that got him removed from a WNBA game this week while also declaring her support for transgender women.

Kanter, who recently claimed he is eligible for the WNBA draft because he declared himself a transgender woman, was removed from the Chicago Sky’s game against the visiting Indiana Fever at Wintrust Arena on Sunday after he confronted Sky guard Natasha Cloud.

He has been banned by the Sky from attending Wintrust Arena.

Brink was asked about the situation before the Sparks’ game against Atlanta on Monday by Jarrod Castillo of The Mirror US, according to a video originally posted Wednesday on Threads.

“Personally, I think when it comes to the trans issues, I think it’s a non-issue, and I think it’s people trying to just come for the trans community, and I just don’t stand for that,” Brink said before blasting Freedom, whom she said is “just trying to stay relevant.”

Brink then added: “I think people are tuned in for the right reasons, and it’s great that we can all talk about things that are important and hard and even have your own opinions on that. But I think taking something that’s a non-issue right now and just trying to use it for clickbait or for views for likes, and then targeting a vulnerable community, is just really low.”

Brink, 24, has previously expressed support for transgender athletes, saying in an interview with Dime Magazine in 2024: “Some of my teammates go by they/them pronouns. I want to bring more acceptance to that and not just have people support us because of the way that we look.”

In an ESPN profile in July, Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said she did not support transgender women playing women’s sports, referring to them as “biological men.” Since then, Kanter and fellow former NBA player Royce White have claimed they should be eligible for the WNBA draft.

The WNBA ruled both players ineligible, according to Front Office Sports.

The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement includes only a single line addressing gender eligibility, stating in Article XIII, Section 1(a): “Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.”

Several other players have spoken out against the ire directed at transgender women, including Cloud, the Valkyries’ Gabby Williams and Storm’s Stefanie Dolson.

There is currently no transgender athlete playing in the league.

In death as in life, Parton left us one of the few spaces where Americans can still unite under a single banner. The banner of Dolly.

Flags are flying at half-mast to honor singer Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday at the age of 80.

There are few artists, let alone individuals of any stripe, whose loss compels a national day of mourning. Especially now, when it can appear there is little to agree upon and everything to debate.

But in death as in life, Parton left us one of the few spaces where Americans can still unite under a single banner: The banner of Dolly.

Her music was borderless, disarming and genuine. Simply put, it was a reflection of the woman who wrote and performed the songs. Her outsized personality, warmth, compassion and charm made her more than a country music star. Parton was an icon whose music, philanthropy and authenticity superseded genre, class, sexuality, color and politics.

She ingratiated herself to the public in bigger-than-big wigs, “trashy” outfits (her words) and with an unfailing sense of humor about herself. When I interviewed Parton in 2001 upon release of her album “Little Sparrow,” she expounded on her fashion sense.

“Just ‘cause I’m singing about a farmer doesn’t mean I have to come out in overalls,” she said. “Or just ‘cause I’m singing about a woman having a baby doesn’t mean I have to wear a maternity smock. But if I did, I’d put rhinestones on it.”

Parton’s self-effacing jokes made her immense talent less threatening in an entertainment industry that often reserved the title of “genius songwriter” for men. And women’s contributions were often minimized by putting the focus elsewhere.

In 1977, when she appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” the most powerful man on television asked what her ample bustline would have been called back home. “Healthy,” he joked? She laughed it off. He then said he would give a year’s pay to “peek under there.” She was quick with a comeback, “I paid good money for these.”

Parton was a master at meeting wisecracks about her shapely figure with her own one-liners. When Carson’s successor Jay Leno asked if her breasts were real, Parton replied, “They’re real big!”

The boob jokes were predictable during her frequent appearances on talk and variety shows. But the of-its-time sexism was neutralized when she’d pull out her acoustic guitar and perform a song as comfortably as if she were sitting on the porch of her childhood home in Appalachia. The audience was then reminded that it was her indelible songs like “Coat of Many Colors” or “Jolene,” and the home-spun beauty of Parton’s voice, that made her a star.

The fourth of 12 children born to a poor sharecropper in a one-room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River in Pittman Center, Tenn., Parton over six decades sold more than 100 million records to become one of the bestselling music artists of all time. She expanded her audience when in 1980 she played an overworked, underappreciated secretary alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in “9 to 5.” The title track she wrote and performed for the film is an enduring work anthem, no matter the generation.

Despite Parton’s huge pop successes, which also included “Here You Come Again” and “Islands in the Stream,” she always came back to her roots. “When I came out of the Smoky Mountains, I tried to make a living doing [mountain music], but I couldn’t,” she said back in 2001. “I had to prostitute myself in certain ways musically in order to make a living. It’s almost like I had to get rich in order to sing like I was poor again.”

But it was largely what Parton did and said outside the recording studio and film set that made her such an inspiring and beloved figure, especially in communities that had been overlooked, marginalized or demonized.

She spent her lifetime giving back to Appalachia and other regions of her home state, sponsoring literacy programs and building the Dollywood theme park to attract tourism and create jobs. She covered tuition and related college expenses should Dollywood employees enroll in higher education. It was also reported that Parton had anonymously paid for the band uniforms for a number of Tennessee high schools for years.

When Whitney Houston popularized the country singer’s song “I Will Always Love You,” Parton used her songwriting royalties to buy property in a historically Black Nashville neighborhood, and moved her own business offices into the complex rather than in the city’s corporate or music-row districts. Functioning as a local commercial building and office space, it allowed her to invest directly in the surrounding community. Parton referred to the property as “the house that Whitney built.”

Parton was also known for her long history of openly supporting the gay community. She raised money for HIV-related charities, and her production company, Sandollar Productions, co-produced the Oscar-winning documentary “Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt,” which honored people lost to AIDS. She also publicly came out in support of same-sex marriage in 2009 and voiced her support for the trans community after several anti-trans measures came into law in Tennessee in 2023.

Communities across the political and cultural spectrum, and countries overseas, are now remembering and honoring Parton with drag parades, New Orleans brass band tributes and even a King’s Guard rendition of “9 to 5” outside Buckingham Palace.

Parton’s acts weren’t political. They were empathetic. And unifying. Even in death.

Beneath its suburban bustle, there’s a layer of small-town, IYKYK pride in Torrance, a sprawling South Bay city that spans from the 405 Freeway to the Pacific Ocean.

For some who grew up in the area, it swells during a rewatch of the iconic coming-of-age TV series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “90210,” both of which use Torrance High School as a backdrop for their fictional campuses — Sunnydale High and West Beverly High, respectively.

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For others, it comes up when there’s talk about Del Amo mall, which once reigned as the largest indoor shopping center in the United States before the Mall of America took the title. (The mall was the place to be for teens and tweens, who spent their days after school playing pinball at Aladdin’s Castle arcade, filling blue-striped cellophane bags of assorted candy at Sweet Factory or perusing gag gifts at Aahs.)

And still for a set of longtime residents, it arises when one points to the airport named after Torrance-bred legend Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner turned World War II bomber pilot who endured brutal treatment from the Japanese navy — and became the subject of Laura Hillenbrand’s bestselling biography “Unbroken” and the subsequent movie adaptation directed by Angelina Jolie.

Torrance has long since grown from the utopia that industrialist Jared Sidney Torrance envisioned in 1910. His idea was to build a “workingman’s paradise,” a model industrial town halfway between Los Angeles and the San Pedro Harbor. To design the community, Torrance’s team brought on the Olmsted brothers, whose father designed Central Park in New York City.

It now stretches across 21 square miles, which include the 1.5 miles of coastline shared by Torrance and Redondo Beach, lovingly referred to as RAT Beach (short for “Right after Torrance”). Torrance has a thriving Japanese American community, a presence that endures with the many Japanese shops, markets and restaurants around town and in nearby Gardena. It’s the birthplace of the American Youth Soccer Organization, a nonprofit famously started out of a garage in 1964 with only nine teams. The city even has its own designated nature preserve — Madrona Marsh — that sits right in the middle of a cluster of homes, condominiums and Del Amo.

Yet what many locals appreciate most about Torrance is how it’s held onto its small-town tradition of simply getting together with your neighbors.

Every December, residents in the city’s 6th District get together for a holiday stroll around the neighborhood, putting up rows of lighted arches for families to walk through. In the spring, thousands cheer on battle tanks that rumble down the streets during the annual Armed Forces Day Parade. When the cherry blossom trees in Columbia Park flourish with soft pastel pink petals, the community comes together for the annual Torrance Cherry Blossom Cultural Festival.

It’s the simple comforts that make Torrance worth a visit — and why locals light up whenever anyone talks about the place they call home.