A judge in California said that a law forcing companies to include women on their corporate boards is unconstitutional. 
In a ruling from Friday, Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis said California could not prove that the “use of a gender-based classification was necessary to boost California’s economy, improve opportunities for women in the workplace, and protect California taxpayers, public employees, pensions and retirees.”
The California legislature also didn’t think about changing anti-discrimination laws that were already in effect or “putting into effect a new anti-discrimination law focused on the board selection process before Senate Bill 826 was signed into law, Duffy-Lewis wrote,” per the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-16/california-law-women-on-corporate-boards-ruled-unconstitutional">Los Angeles Times</a>.
The court also found that the state couldn’t put forward any proof of a certain company that discriminated against a woman and would have been under the law.
Judicial Watch, a conservative legal foundation, brought a challenge against the law in a trial without a jury a few months ago, making the argument that taxpayers should not be forced to pay to make sure corporate boards met a certain gender qualification.
The law dates back to former Democratic Governor of California Jerry Brown, and was signed by Brown in 2018. However, workers with the secretary of state’s office said in the trial that it was essentially useless by 2022.
If a company didn’t meet the quotas, they could be fined $100,000 for a first-time offense and then $300,000 for another, but none were ever issued fines for violations and California wasn’t going to carry out the rule, according to Betsy Bogart, chief of business programs at the secretary of state’s office.
Last year, less than half of the almost 650 applicable companies in California reported they had acted in accordance with the law. &#8220;More than half didn’t file the required disclosure statement, according to the most recent report,” according to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-says-california-law-requiring-women-on-corporate-boards-is-unconstitutional#:~:text=The%20law%20required%20publicly%20held,required%20to%20have%20three%20women">PBS</a>.
Prior to Brown signing the legislation, the secretary of state at the time — Alex Padilla — told the governor it would be hard to carry out.
“Any attempt by the secretary of state to collect or enforce the fine would likely exceed its authority,” Padilla wrote to Brown in a letter that was incorporated in the trial.
State Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, who co-authored the legislation, said the decision was a disappointment.
“More women on corporate boards means better decisions and businesses that outperform the competition — that’s a studied, proven fact,” Atkins said in a statement. “We believe this law remains important — despite the disheartening ruling from the Los Angeles Superior Court — and it exemplifies equal access and opportunity, the very bedrock of our democracy. For those still afraid of women in positions of leadership, they need to work on figuring that out because the world is moving on without them.”
Judicial Watch also brought forward another lawsuit concerning a California law that tried to force certain companies in California to have specific diversity requirements for their boards. That law was also found to be unconstitutional by a judge in Los Angeles. The judge did not provide a reason for the decision.
The ruling “declared unconstitutional one of the most blatant and significant attacks in the modern era on constitutional prohibitions against discrimination,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-04-04/california-corporate-diversity-law-ruled-unconstitutional">said</a> in a statement, per the Los Angeles Times.

4CEE79BC-5AA2-4E96-B47E-7CD273BF81D4_1_201_a

California Law Mandating Women On Corporate Boards Declared Unconstitutional

Judge Declares California Law Mandating That Companies Have Women On Corporate Boards Unconstitutional

California

Constitution

Diversity

Jerry Brown

Judicial Watch

Xavier Becerra

A mansion in Los Angeles&#8217; Bel-Air neighborhood was put up for auction, but it ended up going for much less than was initially expected. 
“Nobody told me this thing’s going to go below, below this level,” the seller, Dr. Alex Khadavi, a dermatologist from Tehran who became a developer, said, per <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/13/bel-air-mansion-flops-at-auction-after-being-listed-at-87point8-million.html">CNBC</a>.
Last year, he filed for Chapter 11 level bankruptcy protection two weeks after listing the home, per the outlet. Khadavi said he would only go for as low as $50 million, but the house was auctioned off for much less than that — at a bid of less than $45.8 million. It was put up for auction this week at $87.8 million. 
“Horrible, Horrible, Horrible!” Khadavi told CNBC about the situation. 
The <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/10/87-million-bel-air-mansion-debuts-after-seven-year-renovation-.html">house</a> has seven bedrooms and eleven bathrooms, with two garages and an individual guest house with two bedrooms. 
In an interview with the outlet last summer, Khadavi <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/10/87-million-bel-air-mansion-debuts-after-seven-year-renovation-.html">said</a>, “Seven is a number and theme that has affected me in every important aspect of my life,” adding, “from the age I came to America, to the floor level of my condominium.”
Khadavi bought the property for $16 million and decided against selling it to a developer for $24 million, opting to renovate it himself. Not only did he almost entirely get rid of the former mansion — with only one wall still up from the previous house — he also constructed a way for a part of the floor to ascend from below the living room and become a DJ booth and dance floor. 
The outlet also noted that Khadavi appears to be in debt to multiple creditors, per court filings, which state that he owes them tens of millions of dollars. 
He had several reasons for the underwhelming performance of the sale. He said he was unhappy that the bidding happened at the same time that equities and crypto went down. He also said he thinks the agreement with Concierge Auctions didn’t allow the auctioneer to begin the bidding below the reserve cost. The auction lasted five days, and he said he was stunned to observe the company begin the bidding $10 million under the lowest price he’d been willing to think about, saying he believes that led to the lackluster bidding that came to follow. 
Concierge Auctions’s president, Chad Roffers, sent a statement to CNBC saying, “After a spirited auction, the bidding is closed and the high bid is in the hands of the Trustee. With over 80 qualified showings in the last 60 days, we are confident market value was delivered.”
Ordinarily, sellers don’t have to accept a bid if it’s below their reserve cost, but since the residence is part of bankruptcy dealings, the situation is more complex. The doctor told the outlet that the court would look at the highest offer on the home, and the sale would continue if the court accepted it. 
Khadavi said he’s thinking about pursuing legal avenues against the company because of what he says was a “flawed” auction. 
Co-listing agent Aaron Kirman of Compass said he wasn’t happy, either, and “[w]e wanted more.” However, he said he didn’t think it was a faulty auction. “At the end of the day, the highest bidder is the highest bidder,” he said. 
It’s not uncommon for residences like the Bel-Air mansion to experience a massive price decrease if they are on the market for a long time before auction. CNBC noted that “the top four mansions to ever sell at auction saw their original asking prices chopped by 68% or more.”
The Bel-Air agreement will have a fee of 5% approved by the court, which the buyer has to pay, per the auctioneer’s website. That would mean the offer would be a little more than $48 million. If the court approves the transaction, the property will become the fourth priciest residence ever to be sold at an auction.

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$87.8 Million Listed Bel-Air Mansion Sells Way Below Asking Price At Auction

Bel-Air Mansion Listed For $87.8 Million Sells For Much Less At Auction

Housing

Los Angeles

As California’s need for energy continues to rise, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom is now reconsidering whether or not to close the state’s last remaining nuclear power plant.
California’s last remaining nuclear power plant was set to close by 2025, but Newsom seems to be getting cold feet. He told a local TV station that he is in support of “keeping all options on the table” to ensure the state has a “reliable grid” heading into the summer.
“It is very, very hard at this point, to turn this battleship around,” Katie Tubb, research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Wire. “The first reactor is scheduled to close in 2024, the second in 2025. There&#8217;s a process to actually getting beyond those dates…&#8221;
The plant in question is Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, owned by Pacific Gas &amp; Electric (PG&amp;E), which was planning to shut down the plant by 2025. The plant created about 6% of California’s power last year. In 2016, PG&amp;E reached an agreement with environment organizations and its union workers to stop its nuclear work after its licenses for nuclear reactors <a href="https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/environment/article261004182.html">end in 2024 and 2025</a>.
Newsom, however, is shifting the goalposts a bit. He said he’s looking into trying to get federal funds – up to $6 billion dollars –  that are directed at helping save nuclear reactors facing shutdowns. The Biden administration announced this funding in April.
Newsom said state authorities could determine later on whether or not they want to go forward with that as a possibility. A spokesperson for Newsom <a href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2022-04-29/california-promised-to-close-its-last-nuclear-plant-now-newsom-is-reconsidering">told</a> the Los Angeles Times that he still supports shutting down the plant eventually.
Technically, Newsom doesn’t actually make the call since he doesn’t own the plant. A <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-seeks-applications-bids-6-billion-civil-nuclear-credit-program">description</a> of the Biden administration’s guidance says it “directs owners or operators of nuclear power reactors that are expected to shut down due to economic circumstances on how to apply for funding to avoid premature closure.”
While it appears that PG&amp;E will need to apply for the funds itself, it looks like PG&amp;E might go for it.
A spokesperson for PG&amp;E, Suzanne Hosn, told The Daily Wire in an email: “PG&amp;E is committed to California’s clean energy future. The people of PG&amp;E are proud of the role that Diablo Canyon Power Plant plays in our state. We are always open to considering all options to ensure continued safe, reliable, and clean energy delivery to our customers.”
Tubb, the Heritage research fellow, had doubts the plant would actually stay open. There’s also a question as to whether the plant qualifies for the federal funds because, as Tubb says, it is shutting down for political reasons, not economic reasons.
Nuclear energy could have a massive impact going forward. In 2020, nuclear energy made up more than 9% of the state’s total power mix. For Diablo Canyon specifically, it’s significant. The two reactors at the plant create a total of 18,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity each year, which PG&amp;E says is enough energy to power three million Northern and Central Californians.
Nuclear energy makes up almost as much as all other renewable energy sources <a href="https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&amp;t=3">combined</a> in the U.S., so this isn’t just a California issue. States across the country are looking to create renewable energy — and do it in a climate-friendly way — so nuclear could be an option if the multiple sides to this debate can get on board.

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Newsom Reconsiders Shutting Down Nuclear Plant

Newsom May Not Close Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant

Gavin Newsom

Nuclear Power

On Friday, the Texas state Supreme Court allowed the state child welfare agency to continue investigations of “‘sex change’ procedures” that may “constitute child abuse under existing Texas law,” according to the Office of the Attorney General, as noted by Republican Governor Greg Abbott in February.
A lower court issued an injunction in March, banning state authorities from going forward with Abbott’s directive that told the Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate such situations.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, and Lambda Legal had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/aclu-sues-abbott-over-directive-to-investigate-transgender-procedures-as-child-abuse">filed</a> a lawsuit over the governor’s direction to investigate &#8220;&#8216;sex change&#8217; procedures&#8221; on children.
Travis County District Judge Amy Clark Meachum then blocked an investigation by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services of the parents of a 16-year-old who claimed to be transgender and brought the lawsuit.
Meachum later temporarily halted investigations from the direction of the governor throughout the state. The ruling was later upheld by a Texas appeals court, per <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/05/13/1098779201/texas-supreme-court-transgender-gender-affirming-child-abuse">NPR</a>.
The Friday decision gets rid of Judge Meachum’s statewide directive, but it allows the injunction against investigating the specific family to remain. The state supreme court said the appeals court had gone above its power by putting forward a statewide directive.
“The far-reaching injunction was automatically superseded when the state filed an interlocutory appeal. But appeals court judges then reinstated the statewide injunction,” the outlet noted.
“Having reviewed the record, we conclude that reinstating the temporary injunction is necessary to maintain the status quo and preserve the rights of all parties,” the appeals judges <a href="https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2022-03-22/texas-appeals-court-reinstates-temporary-ban-of-investigations-into-gender-affirming-care">wrote</a> at the time.
The supreme court decided that Abbot and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are allowed to share their viewpoints, but the child welfare agency is &#8220;not compelled by law to follow them.”
“Just as the Governor lacks authority to issue a binding &#8216;directive&#8217; to DFPS, the court of appeals lacks authority to afford statewide relief to nonparties,” the supreme court also said.
The ruling was only concerning carrying out the injunction, while the “merits of the case — whether state-ordered child abuse investigations into transgender care violate the rights of families — remains before the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals,” per the <a href="https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2022/05/13/supreme-court-texas-can-resume-transgender-care-abuse-investigations/9761318002/">Austin American-Statesman</a>.
Paxton <a href="https://twitter.com/KenPaxtonTX/status/1525160471904800769">tweeted</a> in celebration, writing, “Just secured a win for families against the gender ideology of doctors, big pharma, clinics trying to ‘trans’ confused, innocent children. SCOTX green-lighted investigations that lower Dem courts froze,” adding, “‘Transing’ kids through surgery/drugs is abuse &amp; I’ll do all I can to stop it.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Just secured a win for families against the gender ideology of doctors, big pharma, clinics trying to “trans” confused, innocent children. SCOTX green-lighted investigations that lower Dem courts froze
“Transing” kids through surgery/drugs is abuse &amp; I’ll do all I can to stop it
&mdash; Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) <a href="https://twitter.com/KenPaxtonTX/status/1525160471904800769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texas-democrat-judge-blocks-state-investigation-into-parents-permitting-16-year-old-to-undergo-gender-treatment">reported</a>, on February 22, Abbott wrote a <a href="https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/O-MastersJaime202202221358.pdf">letter</a> to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), stating, “The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has now confirmed in the enclosed opinion that a number of so-called ‘sex change’ procedures constitute child abuse under existing Texas law.”
The governor continued, “Because the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) is responsible for protecting children from abuse, I hereby direct your agency to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of any reported instances of these abusive procedures in the State of Texas.”
“It is already against the law to subject Texas children to a wide variety of elective procedures for gender transitioning, including reassignment surgeries that can cause sterilization, mastectomies, removals of otherwise healthy body parts, and administration of puberty-blocking drugs or supraphysiologic doses of testosterone or estrogen,” Abbott noted. “Texas law imposes reporting requirements upon all licensed professionals who have direct contact with children who may be subject to such abuse, including doctors, nurses, and teachers, and provides criminal penalties for failure to report such child abuse. … Texas law also imposes a duty on DFPS to investigate the parents of a child who is subjected to these abusive gender-transitioning procedures, and on other state agencies to investigate licensed facilities where such procedures may occur.”

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Texas Supreme Court Lifts Lower Court’s Block Of Investigations Of Transgender Procedures As Child Abuse

Texas Supreme Court Allows Investigations Into Transgender Procedures As Child Abuse

Child Abuse

Court

Greg Abbott

Ken Paxton

Texas

Transgender

Michael Shellenberger is running for governor of California and is looking to beat Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, all while keeping with his liberal roots and looking to other solutions to problems that have plagued the state for years.
Shellenberger is the author of “San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities,” and he sees multiple problems with the structure of California and its policies.
He described to The Daily Wire how the homelessness crisis in California is a “complete disaster,&#8221; noting how he discovered that European researchers call the so-called homeless encampments “open drug scenes,” which he said are essentially open air drug markets in which addicts live so they can be close to their drug dealers.
&#8220;Basically every woman I interview in these camps has been sexually assaulted multiple times,” he said. “The vast majority of people are using both methamphetamine and fentanyl, both highly concentrated synthetic versions.”
Shellenberger said that while there is a lot of diversity of people — their stories, racial classes, socioeconomic classes — the uniting factor is the addiction.
“That&#8217;s why they&#8217;re there,” he said. “Some people have serious mental illness. Some people are just addicts.”
He pointed to progressive policies as a main issue, saying that in progressive West Coast cities, and more and more in progressive cities across the country, “progressive policymakers have decided that it&#8217;s more compassionate to let people just remain in the throes of late-stage addiction, living in tents, defecating publicly, engaging in prostitution, human trafficking, and sexual assault rather than require them to stay in shelters, require them to get drug treatment, require them to get psychiatric care.”
The Housing First policy in California, Shellenberger said, is what has led to the homelessness “disaster.” The idea behind the policy was to give a home to people who have &#8220;substance abuse or addiction or mental illness&#8221; so they can &#8220;stabilize and then, on their own, they want to go get treatment.&#8221;
 He said it “doesn&#8217;t deal with the root problem, which is untreated mental illness and addiction.” He said the only effective option is called “contingency management,” which is essentially a practice of giving people a reward for abstinence, taking medicine, or going to work.
He said that progressives tend to have a “big blind spot” regarding compassionate solutions that might have “unintended negative consequences,” and he also said there’s a “grift” happening at the same time, calling the Housing First policy a “scam,” saying that it “allows for much more money by the builders and the contractors to kick back to Democratic Party politicians in a form of campaign contributions.”
When it comes to the climate, Shellenberger calls himself “a pro-human environmentalist.” He said there are essentially two sides, and pro-human environmentalists believe that people should protect the natural world so they can enjoy it, but also recognize modern vehicles are necessary. On the other hand, he said, some people are “anti-human environmentalists, who believe that humans are a cancer on the earth.”
He said that California has been dominated by the anti-human environmentalist side, pointing out how “we’ve been fighting to save our last nuclear plant,” and there have been blackouts happening in the state for multiple years. He also pointed to the need for more power and the real human impact: “When there&#8217;s not enough electricity for air conditioners, people die.”
Shellenberger discussed the push for nuclear energy as a clean response to the energy crisis. He pointed out how nuclear energy can be used for desalination, to make fertilizer, and create hydrogen.
He said that nuclear plants are the correct environmental alternative and they are also a way to lower energy costs, as is clear in Europe and Japan, which are keeping their nuclear plants running because “we&#8217;re in the worst energy crisis in 50 years in part because climate activists — anti-human climate activists, I should say, not the pro-human side — have repressed oil and gas development.”
“We need abundant energy in order to both lift people out of poverty, but also protect the natural environment,” he added.
Shellenberger switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Independent last spring as soon as he completed writing “San Fransicko.” He pointed out how “there&#8217;s been a supermajority of Democrats” in California, and said there’s “no way” to blame Republicans for the “humanitarian disaster on our streets.”
He still has a lot of the same values he did before, but he said he “couldn&#8217;t sleep at night continuing to be a Democrat” after discovering what he did.
“I’m a conservative when it comes to believing in the need for civilization. I&#8217;m a libertarian when it comes to my love of freedom,” he said. “And I&#8217;m a bleeding heart liberal when it comes to my compassion for the most vulnerable.”
“And I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s a contradiction between those three things. In fact, I think they all need each other,” he concluded.
The primary for California governor will be held on June 7.

Michael Shellenberger In Madrid

Independent Candidate For California Governor Talks Progressive Policies, Leaving The Democratic Party, And The Need For ‘Pro-Human’ Environmentalism

Michael Shellenberger Discusses Progressive Policies In California In Bid For Governor

2022 Election

Democratic Party

Drugs

Environmentalism

Homelessness

A developer is looking to construct a $1.4 billion desalination plant near Huntington State Beach in order to make water from the ocean available for drinking.
On Thursday, the California Coastal Commission is set to vote on the Poseidon Water plant, which would be constructed close to the Pacific Coast Highway and Magnolia, according to outlet <a href="https://ktla.com/news/local-news/developer-wants-to-build-1-4-billion-seawater-desalination-plant-in-huntington-beach/">KTLA</a>.
Jessica Jones, the director of communications at Poseidon Water, a U.S. seawater desalination developer, said, “The site in Huntington Beach is a perfect site for sea water desalination.”
The potential project has been met with pushback. Democratic Governor of California Gavin Newsom is in favor of the idea, but some are concerned about the financial and environmental impacts.
The possible plant would work like Poseidon Water’s location in Carlsbad, which pushes seawater through a procedure that involves utilizing thousands of pressure vessels, along with reverse osmosis to get rid of the salt in the water.
Authorities with Poseidon reportedly said that it only takes around two hours from when the water arrives from the ocean to make it potable. California is facing an intense drought, affecting farmers and municipalities across the state. Those who are in favor of the process say the plant will provide a beneficial source of water that won’t be affected by droughts.
“What that means is that it’s not dependent on snowpack in the Sierras or local rainfall,” Jones said.
The Huntington Beach location would utilize around 107 million gallons of ocean water per day to make around 50 million gallons of water that would be safe for people to drink. But it comes at a cost of around 57 million gallons of brine left over, which is water with high levels of salt. The brine would be diffused as it is delivered back into the sea.
However, some point out the negative sides to building the plant.
“There’s something for everybody to dislike about this plant,” Ray Hiemstra, associate director of programs at nonprofit Orange County Coastkeeper, said.
A report by staff of the California Coastal Commission <a href="https://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2022/5/Th9a10a/Th9a10a-5-2022-staffreport.pdf">said</a>, “The facility, in total, would kill marine life in about 100 billion gallons of seawater per year, resulting in substantial losses of marine ecosystem productivity and reduced water quality, all of which would require significant mitigation.”
The report included mitigation possibilities, but wasn’t optimistic.
It noted, “The Regional Board also determined that Poseidon could offset this loss of marine life by providing mitigation in the form of more productive habitat that totaled 100.5 mitigation credits each year,” adding that “Poseidon proposed, and the Regional Board imposed, mitigation measures to address these impacts through a project in the nearby Bolsa Chica Lowland Restoration area and at the Palos Verdes Restoration Reef site.”
The report stated, however, that “this mitigation is far less than needed to ensure conformity to Coastal Act provisions.”
Some also wonder whether the desalinated water is necessary. Hiemstra noted that Orange County is “in a unique situation” with a large aquifer.
But Newsom is in favor of constructing the facility, stating that possessing more possibilities for water is necessary for California. The Orange County Water District also pressed the California Coastal Commission to green light the plan.
“With Southern California’s water reserves dropping lower every day and this seawater desalination project the only new, large water supply project in the entire state of California that can be shovel ready in the immediate future, we call upon the Coastal Commissioners to approve the permit,” water district authorities said in an email to the outlet.

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Potential Water Project Could Make More Ocean Water Safe To Drink In California

California Coastal Commission Set To Vote On Huntington State Beach Poseidon Desalination Water Project

drought

A hospital in Missouri is going to experience an incoming baby boom as 11 members of its staff — ten nurses and one doctor — are pregnant at the same time. 
Most of the pregnant employees are nurses at Liberty Hospital’s Birthing Center and they noted they are hoping to give birth at that location when they go into labor, per <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Family/11-staffers-missouri-hospital-pregnant-time/story?id=84589251">ABC News</a>, which also reported that the simultaneous pregnancies were not planned.
&#8220;There&#8217;s a lot of nurses saying they won&#8217;t drink the water,&#8221; Hannah Miller, a postpartum nurse expecting her first kid, told &#8220;Good Morning America.&#8221; 
&#8220;One of the nurses actually brought her own water bottle the other night and I was joking with her. I was like, ‘Oh, you&#8217;re really not drinking the water,'&#8221; Miller added. 
Dr. Anna Gorman, of Northland Obstetrics and Gynecology said it wasn’t probable that all 11 of the staffers would be expecting at the same time. Gorman is expecting her second kid. 
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s really unique because it&#8217;s all in the same unit … and especially like our population ratio, I think is quite high. So sure it happens, but it&#8217;s pretty exciting when it&#8217;s this big,” the OB-GYN said.
&#8220;This is definitely a great experience and it&#8217;s something that I feel like we&#8217;ll probably bond over for a lifetime, having the babies due around the same time,&#8221; Alex Atcheson, a labor and delivery nurse, told “GMA.” “It&#8217;s been great to have each other for support and go through pregnancy together.”
Atcheson and her coworker Alison Harrell are 37 weeks pregnant and will give birth in the next two weeks, as both of them have the same due date of May 27. Their labor and delivery colleague, Katie Bestgen, is also due soon — on July 20.
“Alex and I figured out pretty early that we were due the same day,&#8221; Harrell said. &#8220;And then we started making a list of everyone and people just kept adding to the list as time went on.”
Christen Burns, 26, said she “was one of the last ones to tell everybody that I was pregnant,” and is expecting her first kid. She said, &#8220;I think it was just more exciting to add to the group and have everybody right there with me.”
The nurses and colleagues have been discussing their personal experiences, as well as taking part in celebrating the joyful news. 
&#8220;It&#8217;s been really helpful. Just like getting advice and tips from my coworkers and especially the ones that have had babies before and just relating and like, ‘Oh, do you have problems with your hips too, or different pains or that kind of thing?'&#8221; Cheyenne Beaty said. 
The 26-year-old labor and delivery nurse has enjoyed having people at work who can help give her support. “It’s just nice that there&#8217;s people around me going through the same thing for sure,&#8221; she said.
Therese Byrum is 27 years old, and said that recently there have been a minimum of two pregnant employees working together on a shift and they’ve also had situations where everybody was pregnant on a shift. The obstetric float nurse goes between labor and delivery, the NICU, and in postpartum, and she will be one of the last employees to deliver her child, expecting her fourth kid on Thanksgiving Day.

Baby cupcakes

Baby Boom!: 11 Workers At One Hospital Are All Pregnant At The Same Time

11 Employees At Liberty Hospital In Missouri Are All Pregnant

Health Care

hospital

Missouri

Nursing

Pregnant

States have moved in both directions on the topic of abortion over the past year or so in anticipation of a possible ruling on Roe vs. Wade. 
According to a <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/abortion-policy-absence-roe">Guttmacher Institute</a> report, 23 states have legislation that could be utilized to limit abortion. As The New York Times pointed out, some states <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/us/abortion-bans-restrictons-roe-v-wade.html">had</a> abortion bans in place before the Roe decision took effect in 1973, including Michigan, Alabama, Arizona, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. If Roe is overturned, as is expected, those old laws could become active again. 
Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer already filed a lawsuit asking the state Supreme Court to clear up the issue, and she is openly pro-choice. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers – a Democrat – has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/wisconsin-s-democratic-governor-vetoes-five-gop-abortion-bills-n1285350">vetoed</a> pro-life bills in the past. 
Other states put abortion <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/us/abortion-bans-restrictons-roe-v-wade.html">bans</a> on the books after Roe, with the intention that they would likely go into effect if the Supreme Court let them. These are often called “trigger” laws. They have different parameters, but those states include Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. 
According to Guttmacher, seven states have “laws that express the intent to restrict the right to legal abortion to the maximum extent permitted by the U.S. Supreme Court in the absence of Roe,” and nine states have post-Roe limitations that are currently blocked in the courts.
Four states, including Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, and West Virginia, have amended their state constitutions to specifically exclude the right to an abortion. 
Some states have moved in the opposite direction to expand access to abortion, and make it even more accessible to women, especially for women who may travel from more restrictive states to obtain the procedure. 
Four states have moved to allow abortion throughout the full term of pregnancy, including Colorado, New Jersey, Oregon, and Vermont. The District of Columbia also has this provision.
Colorado and California in particular have some of the most permissive laws. Colorado recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/colorado-codifies-access-to-abortion-into-law-says-the-pre-born-do-not-have-rights">passed</a> a bill that specifically states that a fetus does not have human rights prior to birth.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has expressed a goal for California to become a destination for abortion if and when women are restricted in neighboring states. California Democrats in the state legislature have also pushed for a bill that bars the state from fully investigating perinatal deaths, including infant deaths within the first week of birth. 
As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-democrats-are-pushing-a-bill-opening-the-door-to-decriminalizing-infanticide-pro-lifers-warn">reported</a>, the bill, “<a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2223">AB 2223</a>, which passed the Assembly Health Committee on Tuesday, states that mothers cannot be held liable for either civil or criminal penalties ‘based on their actions or omissions’ connected to a ‘perinatal death due to a pregnancy-related cause.’”
Earlier this year, Newsom also <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/03/22/governor-newsom-signs-legislation-to-eliminate-out-of-pocket-costs-for-abortion-services/">signed</a> the Abortion Accessibility Act, which in most situations, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-moves-radical-on-abortion">makes abortion </a>taxpayer funded. 
Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/02/supreme-court-abortion-draft-opinion-00029473">leaked </a>a draft majority opinion titled, “Opinion of the Court&#8221; written by Justice Samuel Alito, and joined by the four other conservative-leaning justices. Alito wrote, “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,”adding, “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.” 
If this decision becomes final, it will be up to each state to legislate whether or how they want to limit abortion access.
If Roe is overturned, local voters will be able to decide their own rules based on their values. Based on opinion polling, the majority of Americans, almost 7 in 10, favor having some access to abortion.
More than half of voters think the limit should be around 15 weeks, however, which is comparable to the standard throughout most of Europe. It’s likely there will be a lot of diversity among the states, with a handful banning it outright, but most falling somewhere in the middle.

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How Each State Differs On Abortion Laws

States Move To Expand Access To Abortion Or Limit Abortion

Abortion

Roe v. Wade's Long And Brutal Legacy

Supreme Court

Democratic Governor of California Gavin Newsom <a href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2022-04-29/california-promised-to-close-its-last-nuclear-plant-now-newsom-is-reconsidering">told</a> the Los Angeles Times last week that he is taking action to hold off on closing down the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, which was set to be shut down over the next few years. 
The governor told the outlet that California would be looking to try to receive federal funds directed at helping save nuclear reactors facing shutdowns; funding announced by the Biden administration in April. There is a question, however, as to whether or not Diablo would qualify for the money. 
“The requirement is by May 19 to submit an application, or you miss the opportunity to draw down any federal funds if you want to extend the life of that plant,” Newsom said. “We would be remiss not to put that on the table as an option.”
Newsom noted that state authorities could determine later on whether or not they want to go forward with that as a possibility. A spokesperson for Newsom told the Times that the governor still wants to witness the plant shut down in the long run. 
The owner of the plant is Pacific Gas &amp; Electric (PG&amp;E), which is planning to close it down by 2025. The nuclear plant reportedly created 6% of California’s power last year. In 2016, PG&amp;E reached an agreement with environment organizations and its union workers to stop its nuclear work after its licenses for nuclear reactors <a href="https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/environment/article261004182.html">end in 2024 and 2025</a>. 
Suzanne Hosn, PG&amp;E spokesperson, told The Daily Wire in an email, “PG&amp;E is committed to California’s clean energy future. The people of PG&amp;E are proud of the role that Diablo Canyon Power Plant plays in our state.”
“We are always open to considering all options to ensure continued safe, reliable, and clean energy delivery to our customers,” Hosn added.
Nuclear power is often pointed to as a climate-friendly solution to energy, although it has gotten pushback from some activists.
PG&amp;E <a href="https://www.pge.com/en_US/safety/how-the-system-works/diablo-canyon-power-plant/about-the-diablo-canyon-power-plant.page">explained</a> that the Diablo Canyon plant “has continued to safely produce clean and reliable energy without greenhouse gases,” keeping away six to seven million tons per year of greenhouse gases that would be discharged by “conventional generation resources.”
The two reactors at the plant create a total of 18,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity each year, which the group notes is an amount sufficient to accommodate almost “10% of California&#8217;s energy portfolio and 20% of the power that PG&amp;E provides throughout its service area.”
Electricity has been an issue in California for the past several years, and the decision to end the use of the nuclear power plant could make the problem worse. In August of 2020, hundreds of thousands of Californians <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/02/why-is-california-closing-diablo-canyon-nuclear-plant.html">went through rolling energy blackouts</a> as a heat wave struck at the state’s power grid. That same year, nuclear energy made up <a href="https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/california-electricity-data/2020-total-system-electric-generation">more than 9%</a> of the state’s total power mix. Newsom told the Times that he has been considering keeping the plant open for longer since the August 2020 blackouts.
Still, some groups are not happy about the possibility that the plant will stay open. 
In response to the governor’s interview with the Times last week, San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace <a href="https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/environment/article261004182.html">released</a> a statement wondering “whether the governor has the power to make any decisions about how long Diablo Canyon should operate,” and pointing to multiple problems with trying to keep the plant open at this stage in the shutting-down operations. 
The group <a href="https://mothersforpeace.org/contact-us/">describes</a> itself as a non-profit “concerned with the local dangers involving the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant and with the dangers of nuclear power, weapons, and waste on national and global levels.” It also said it “concerns itself with issues of peace, social justice, and a safe environment.”
Mothers for Peace said that if PG&amp;E wants to keep going past the 2025 shutdown date, “it would have to face a variety of complicated issues.”
“Logic and the safety of our community requires Diablo Canyon to close as planned in 2024 and 2025,” the group concluded. “Millions of dollars of taxpayer and rate payer money have already been spent to support an orderly shutdown process.”
As the San Luis Obispo Tribune <a href="https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/environment/article261004182.html">reported</a>, the group also pointed out how the federal funds from the Biden administration’s Nuclear Credit Program mandates that the applicant be the nuclear plant’s owner, which would be PG&amp;E. 
Environmental groups in the past were reportedly worried about how the cooling system would impact sea life, and how close the facility was to multiple geologic faults, per <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-activists-who-embrace-nuclear-power">The New Yorker</a>. They took these concerns to the California State Lands Commission, which has to provide a lease to the in order for the nuclear plant to be able to function. 
Newsom, who chaired the commission at the time while he was lieutenant governor, reportedly said he would consider the problems, and at a meeting in December of 2015, he said, “I just don’t see that this plant is going to survive beyond ’24-2025.”
The unreliability of the electric grid continues to be on the mind of many Americans, all while some climate activists push for nuclear energy, noting that it is a reliable power source that is arguably better for the environment than others. The Times noted that nuclear energy accounts for almost as much as all other renewable energy sources <a href="https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&amp;t=3">combined</a>. 
As California shifts to potentially keeping the plant open, several other reactors might still be shut down, The New Yorker reported last year. The outlet pointed to a 2018 <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/nuclear-power-dilemma">report</a> from the Union of Concerned Scientists describing how expensive it would be &#8220;to bring unprofitable plants back to a breakeven point.&#8221; The group described how shutting down “unprofitable and marginal at-risk plants early could result in a 4 to 6 percent increase in US power sector emissions.” It also noted that if fresh policies aren&#8217;t formed, natural gas and coal will fill the hole created.

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Newsom Open To Keeping Major Nuclear Plant Operating In California

Newsom Might Support Keeping Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant Open

Environmentalists

Harvard released a report last week about the school’s legacy of slavery and racism, as well as a pledge to spend $100 million to fund programs to address past wrongs.
Harvard President Larry Bacow originally began this initiative in 2019 — and on April 26, he announced the findings, as well as some sweeping recommendations. 
In a video <a href="https://legacyofslavery.harvard.edu/about/aboutmessage-from-president">announcement</a>, Bacow said: “The truth is that slavery played a significant part in our institutional history. The truth is that the legacy of slavery continues to influence the world in the form of disparities in education, health, wealth, income, social mobility, and almost any other metric we might use to measure equality.”
The <a href="https://legacyofslavery.harvard.edu/report/recommendations-to-the-president-and-fellows-of-harvard-college">report</a> found that between 1636 (when the school was founded) to 1783 (when slavery ended in Massachusetts), leaders and workers at the school enslaved more than 70 people, although it added that number is “almost certainly an undercount.”
The report also included the names of some of the slaves, as well as the people who enslaved them.
It said that the university profited from slavery and had financial connections to it in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries through its donors. This includes donors who got rich through the slave trade, as well as connections to plantations in the South.
It also pointed out how the remains of thousands of people are in Harvard’s museum collections, and a lot of them are believed to be from Indigenous people, with at least 15 of them from Africa that could have been enslaved.
The report recommended that the school engage with descendant communities and honor enslaved people through “Memorialization, Research, Curricula, and Knowledge Dissemination.” They also said the school should create partnerships with black colleges and universities.
The committee is calling it “reparative” but they didn’t actually call for direct payments to slave descendants. They did, however, recommend that Harvard should try to find the direct descendants of slaves associated with the school.
They also said the responses to the report “would be voluntary” and not done because of a legal requirement. As for legally mandated reparations, the idea has circulated for a while but it’s had a hard time getting off the ground.
A <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/40">bill</a> to create a Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans was introduced in the House last year. It was first introduced in the 80s. 
On various occasions, initiatives geared toward helping the black community have been referred to as reparations, including programs like affirmative action, but direct payments to slave descendants based purely on genealogy have not been tried on any large scale.
In California, a reparations task force had some <a href="https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2022/04/californias-reparations-task-force/">pushback</a> over a vote about who would qualify for reparations. In a 5 to 4 decision, the members voted to define those who are eligible as people who descended from an enslaved person or a free black person in the U.S. before the end of the 19th century.
Other schools have taken this kind of action, too, but this isn’t Harvard’s only scandal with racist allegations. Harvard is still embroiled in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/24/us/politics/supreme-court-affirmative-action-harvard-unc.html">lawsuit</a> that will soon appear before the Supreme Court where they’re being accused of discriminating against Asian Americans in admissions. In the 1920s Harvard college also had an admissions policy limiting the number of Jews.

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Harvard Releases Slavery Report Findings, Pledges $100 Million To Right Past Wrongs

Harvard University Released Slavery Report Findings, Pledges $100 Million To Right Past Wrongs

Education

Harvard

Slavery

Abortion clinics in California are getting ready for a potentially massive influx of people coming to the state to get abortions if Roe v. Wade is struck down.
&#8220;It is a little intimidating to know those numbers and influx will happen, but it&#8217;s certainly not anything we&#8217;re not ready for,&#8221; Lauren Babb, the vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, <a href="https://www.kcra.com/article/planned-parenthood-california-surge-abortion/39909784">told</a> local outlet KCRA.
As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/if-roe-is-thrown-out-roughly-half-of-u-s-states-will-restrict-abortions">reported</a>, around half of the states in the country will limit abortions if Roe vs. Wade is overturned. The Guttmacher Institute, a supporter of abortion rights, <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/abortion-policy-absence-roe">wrote</a>, “23 states have laws that could be used to restrict the legal status of abortion” while noting that “16 states and the District of Columbia have laws that protect the right to abortion.”
California has been preparing for this possibility for some time. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has already made the point that the Golden State will be a sanctuary for women seeking to get an abortion who are not able to get one in their home states. 
&#8220;Our responsibility is to others, not just to the few 40 million proud Californians, but others and so we&#8217;ll have to do more. We&#8217;ll have to do better,&#8221; Newsom said.
KCRA reported that Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, which has around 30 centers in California, said it has been operating to ensure it can take on a possible spike in demand. Babb told the outlet that more clinicians, providers, and employees had been brought on. 
Health centers are also reportedly being reconstructed for additional exam rooms. Some anticipate having 200-500 patients per week from other states if abortion is made illegal in other areas of the United States. 
Planned Parenthood is also keeping a close watch on some of the bills considered by California lawmakers about abortion. The governor, along with other progressive Democrats, is reportedly trying to add an amendment to the state’s constitution. The amendment, which Senator Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) <a href="https://www.kcra.com/article/ca-lawmakers-abortion-rights-leaked-roe-v-wade-draft/39899616#">said</a> she is planning to introduce, would definitively declare that abortion is a right that is protected. 
&#8220;We will not back down. We will double down,” Atkins said. &#8220;If the Supreme Court of the United States won&#8217;t protect our bodily autonomy, California will make sure our constitution leaves no room for confusion.&#8221;
Babb also pointed out that one proposed bill in California could benefit Planned Parenthood by permitting some nurse practitioners to carry out abortions without being observed by a physician.
The overturning of Roe v. Wade appears to be more of a possibility in recent days after a draft majority opinion <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chief-justice-roberts-likely-to-order-investigation-of-scotus-leak-report">was leaked</a> by Politico on Monday night, showing that five of the nine justices would decide to overturn the prior ruling. 
It is still unclear who leaked the document from inside the high court. In it, Justice Samuel Alito wrote, “We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” and sent the wider pro-abortion world into a panic. 
If the majority opinion draft turns out to be the final decision, laws on abortion would once again be decided on a state-by-state basis.

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Planned Parenthood In California Anticipating Spike In Out-Of-State Patients Seeking Abortions

Planned Parenthood In California Preparing For A Spike In Out-Of-State Patients Seeking Abortions 

Planned Parenthood

An Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/Russia-ukraine-war-mariupol-theater-c321a196fbd568899841b506afcac7a1">investigation</a> has revealed that around 600 people, and potentially many more, were killed in the attack on a Mariupol theater in Ukraine when the Russian military bombed the building that was being utilized as a primary bomb shelter in the country.
“When people came in, they thought they were safe,” Elena Bila, who was a stage manager at the theater for 19 years, said. “In fact, they weren’t safe.”
Russian forces bombed the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater in Mariupol on March 16, shocking the world. According to the AP, the bombing was “the single deadliest known attack against civilians to date” in the war.
An AP investigation found proof showing that the true death toll was likely nearer to 600 people who were inside and outside of the structure. The number is nearly double the toll that has been discussed up to this point, with a lot of survivors saying there were probably even more deaths.
In its investigation, the AP recreated the events inside the theater using the descriptions of 23 survivors, people rescuing others, and individuals closely aware of the use of the structure as a bomb shelter. The outlet also used two sets of the theater floor plans, as well as pictures and videos taken inside the building from before, during, and after the day. It also relied on comments from experts who looked into the outlet’s <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-business-europe-donetsk-0e361756c6acc287e8974103913abfc6">strategy</a> of investigation.
The outlet noted that it is not possible to know an exact number since communication was cut off and people were constantly going to and from the building. A document gathered by the AP noted that the government initially thought that around 300 people had died and has since started a war crimes investigation.
AP reporters used a 3D model of the theater’s layout, which witnesses also looked at multiple times, who spoke about where people were inside the building.
Lots of survivors reportedly said that around 1,000 people were in the building when it was attacked, but the highest amount that anyone saw get out, as well as rescuers, was about 200 people. People who survived mostly got out through the main exit or a side door. The back of the building and the opposing side were demolished.
The AP <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-business-europe-donetsk-0e361756c6acc287e8974103913abfc6">noted</a> that there were a few other witnesses who had different accounts, with one saying there were only a couple of hundred people inside, and one saying around 1,300 people were in the building.
Russia has also reportedly claimed that the building was destroyed by Ukrainian forces or said it was operating as a base for the Ukrainian military. The AP investigation said this is not true, as no one witnessed Ukrainian soldiers working inside the structure.
The outlet added, “And not one person doubted that the theater was destroyed in a Russian air attack aimed with precision at a civilian target everyone knew was the city’s largest bomb shelter, with children in it.”
Survivors continue to be distressed by the Russian military’s attack.
“They came not to capture the city — they came to destroy it,” Maria Kutnyakova said, whose mother escaped out of the building and whose sister survived the attack. “They are trying to hide how many people actually died in Mariupol, hide their crimes.”
“This strong witness testimony will be important in establishing that (Russian illegal) conduct was widespread or systematic,” James Gow, a professor of international security at King’s College London, said, per the outlet.
Around a week prior to the attack, the set designer at the theater wrote “CHILDREN” in Cyrillic letters and white paint outside the building on the ground, hoping to deter a potential air attack. The AP noted that the signs, which were written at the front and back entrances, were able to be deciphered from satellites.
Russian government media collected video showing no bodies in the building. The low amount of bodies made a police officer and an official with the Mariupol Red Cross believe that maybe fewer than 500 people were killed, but the majority of survivors &#8220;suggested the bodies were either pulverized into the dust or removed by the Russians,” per the outlet.

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AP Investigation Finds Around 600 Died In Mariupol Theater Bombing, Likely More

AP Investigation Finds Double Amount Of People Killed In Russian Bombing Of Mariupol Theater

Associated Press

Russia

Ukraine

Ukraine-Russia War

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Charlotte Pence Bond