Latest news with #SonjaShaw
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Rising antisemitism is causing immense harm to American Jews
'A Sacramento rabbi speaks out about rising antisemitism,' ( May 24) Rabbi Reuven Taff's article resonated with me. He expressed the painful reality Jewish people are experiencing across California and around the country, facing violent hate crimes at schools and synagogues and Jewish communal facilities, like the Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. Callous indifference appears to be mounting to abuses and expressions of bigotry and discrimination against Jews. Anti-Jewish sentiment is widespread in America, and it is causing immense harm to Jewish Americans as individuals, as families and as a community. People of conscience need to step up as allies and speak out in defense of freedom, equality and safety for Jews and in defense of the rights and welfare of Americans of all backgrounds and identities. Noam Schimmel Lecturer, UC Berkeley 'California updates track meet rules after Trump threat,' ( May 27) California state law correctly protects the rights of all public school students, including trans students, to be free from discrimination while participating in school-sponsored activities. To the extent that the President of the United States and California State School Superintendent candidate Sonja Shaw, who is running on an anti-trans platform, think they have the power and/or ability to restrict California's students simply because they don't like our non-discrimination laws just goes to show what despicable bullies they truly are. The 16-year-old trans student and her mother who are now caught in the eye of this storm are real-life heroines for not only standing up to the bullies holding positions of power in federal and local government, but also to hate-mongering individuals screaming at them from the track meet stands. Like the state of Maine, I have no doubt that Attorney General Rob Bonta will legally challenge any unlawful action taken by the federal government against California and our students. Wendi Ross Roseville 'US Senate votes to overturn California bid to ban gasoline-powered vehicles,' ( May 22) Congratulations to Congress for blocking California's unprecedented and short-sighted attempt to ban gas-powered vehicles by 2035. In a stunning defeat for Gov. Gavin Newsom, this move restores some policy sanity to the once 'Golden State.' In a state leading the nation in poverty, with some of the highest costs of living, Newsom seems determined to remake the state into a haven for only the wealthy. Michael Pruden Sacramento 'California waives the rules for wildfire rebuilding projects,' ( Jan. 29) Safeguarding communities from wildfires is imperative, but the Fix Our Forests Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Alex Padilla, isn't the answer. The bill ignores decades of science-backed research and promotes reckless backcountry logging that fails to keep people or communities safer. It doesn't mitigate fire behavior in extreme wind-driven wildfires and may even worsen fire risk because forest floors will experience increased exposure to the sun's drying heat, and windbreaks will be lost. We deserve legislation protecting forests and providing real defense against wildfires, not the faux fix of this bill. Jennifer Normoyle Hillsborough
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Letters to the Editor: Battle over transgender athletes in school sports is only hurting the kids
To the editor: Not only is Chino Valley Unified school board President Sonja Shaw spreading misinformation and division, she's doing incredible harm to transgender girls who are trying to live their lives peacefully and productively ('Justice Department investigates California over allowing transgender athletes in girls' sports,' May 28). She calls them boys. They are not boys. Her lies only hurt these girls psychologically, and what they are going through is not easy. Her despicable narrative is a distraction for the harm felon President Trump and the MAGA Republicans are doing to Americans. Gerald Orcholski, Pasadena .. To the editor: Trump rants about transgender women competing in women's sports. Why does he never mention transgender men competing in men's sports? In any case, it has not been proved that transgender women necessarily have an advantage over cisgender women. In the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, a transgender woman weight lifter registered a 'did not finish' result after three failed lifts, while cisgender women won medals. David E. Ross, Oak Park This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editor: Battle over transgender athletes in school sports is only hurting the kids
To the editor: Not only is Chino Valley Unified school board President Sonja Shaw spreading misinformation and division, she's doing incredible harm to transgender girls who are trying to live their lives peacefully and productively ('Justice Department investigates California over allowing transgender athletes in girls' sports,' May 28). She calls them boys. They are not boys. Her lies only hurt these girls psychologically, and what they are going through is not easy. Her despicable narrative is a distraction for the harm felon President Trump and the MAGA Republicans are doing to Americans. Gerald Orcholski, Pasadena .. To the editor: Trump rants about transgender women competing in women's sports. Why does he never mention transgender men competing in men's sports? In any case, it has not been proved that transgender women necessarily have an advantage over cisgender women. In the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, a transgender woman weight lifter registered a 'did not finish' result after three failed lifts, while cisgender women won medals. David E. Ross, Oak Park
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Petition to stop development of new Springfield neighborhood denied
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The petition that would bring the construction of a new neighborhood in southeast Springfield to a city-wide vote was denied. Residents of Chimney Hills and Chimney Hills Place submitted a petition with 1,996 signatures to the city clerk nearly two weeks ago. The petition was for a public vote to repeal the ordinance relating to the preliminary plat of the Chimney Rock subdivision. 'We just want to do everything we can to make sure that we're being heard,' said Chimney Hills Place resident Sonja Shaw. City Council approved a preliminary plat that would create a new neighborhood right behind Chimney Hills Place near Galloway — called Chimney Rock. Lane splitting ban approved by Springfield City Council 'Almost 2,000 people said, 'Yes, we think this needs another look,'' Shaw said. 'This needs to go back to city council for review.' The Springfield city clerk's office said the ordinance neighbors were petitioning is an act that is administrative and not up to a city-wide vote. 'We're exploring every option,' Shaw said. 'We're not just going to give up just because they say no.' Shaw tells me she sees an issue with the lot sizes of what will become the Chimney Rock neighborhood, with 40 homes being added to the area. Another big issue is the access points to get to the new neighborhood. Shaw tells Ozarks First she believes the access point from Mimosa Street would be dangerous. '(It's) spilling into an existing neighborhood, already a busy street,' Shaw said. City worker dies after accident at Springfield landfill Neighbors say this plan is violating an ordinance from 2018 that denies access to Mimosa or Arcadia Street, right where the developer wants to put the access points to Chimney Rock. 'You'll notice there's a public hearing sign here,' Shaw said. 'So we had a get notice about this 40 lots, but that administrative re-plat where they took an extra piece and made the access point. No one knew anything about that.' Neighbors tell Ozarks First they are not sure what their next steps will be, but they won't give up trying to make either city council take a second look at this plat or leave it up to Springfield voters. When asked why the petition was void, the City of Springfield responded with a statement that said: 'Council Bill No. 2025-017 (the target of the referendum petition) is an act that is administrative in nature. It is well-established law that administrative acts are not subject to referendum. See State ex rel. Whittington v. Strahm, 374 S.W.2d 127 (Mo. 1963). This line of cases includes a detailed discussion of the question you raise.' Springfield City Attorney Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
School choice activists warn parents about blue state's homeschool bill with jail-time provision
From one blue-state parent to another, activists in California are warning Illinois families about a bill advancing through their state legislature that would create more regulations, and penalties, for homeschooling parents. It's the latest high-profile battle dealing with school choice, a campaign issue President Donald Trump ran on. "Illinois, California, Colorado, they all compete with each other. They're coming after homeschooling, just like they've been coming after public schools," California parents rights activist Sonja Shaw said in a video posted to X on Wednesday. "They're attacking families, stripping parental rights, and pushing their radical agendas while our kids are failing at reading, writing and math." At issue is HB2827, the Homeschool Act, which would charge parents with a misdemeanor if they fail to register their kids in a "homeschool declaration form" to the nearest public school they would otherwise be attending. Failure to do so would be considered truancy, and parents could face up to 30 days in jail with fines. The bill passed a major hurdle passing out of the Democrat-dominated House education committee in a party-line vote on Wednesday, despite having upward of 50,000 witness slips in opposition and only 1,000 in support, including the Illinois State Board of Education. Illinois Parents, Lawmakers Sound Alarm Over Proposed Homeschooling Bill: 'Direct Assault On Families' California parents opposed a similar bill that failed to make it out of committee in the state legislature in 2018, Ab 2756, only after hearing three hours of testimony from parents and homeschoolers. Opponents say the Democrat-led bill would have mandated all homeschooling families in the state to adhere to involuntary home inspections, after the Turpin-family child abuse case. Read On The Fox News App "This is calculated. This is how they do it. They do it in increments, slowly taking control away while people sit back thinking that their kids are safe and it doesn't affect them," said Shaw, who is a school board member in Chino and running for state superintendent of public instruction. "Every parent needs to be in this fight. If we don't stand up now together, there will be nothing left to fight for our kids in their future. Please get involved. Please speak up. Please show up, because our children are worth this fight." Karoline Leavitt Vows Trump Will Keep Males Out Of Girls Locker Rooms Amid Illinois School Controversy Will Estrada, senior counsel for the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, told Fox News on Wednesday that the bill's language was left "open-ended for unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats to be able to write different sections of regulations." "If this bill is passed into law, it's going to be expanded in future years to put even more restrictions on homeschool and private school families," Estrada said after testifying at Wednesday's hearing. "The record of homeschoolers shows that we do well academically, socially, emotionally and so why are we messing with them? That's the question. This bill is a solution in search of a problem." Hhs' Civil Rights Office Finds Maine In Violation Of Title Ix For Allowing Biological Males In Women's Sports Democrats say the bill – which contains a portion that requires parents to hand over teaching materials if its suspected the child isn't being educated properly – will strengthen oversight of homeschooling. Democratic state Rep. Terra Costa Howard introduced the bill following an investigative story by Pro Publica, which has a left-leaning bias according to the nonpartisan news rating company AllSides, entitled, "How Illinois' Hands-Off Approach to Homeschooling Leaves Children at Risk." The report included cases of abuse that went unnoticed because children were not in school. But opponents of the bill pushed back, saying in the hearing that there's no correlation between homeschooled students being more at risk of abuse than those in the public school system. "I believe this bill will help protect abused and neglected children and leave in place the freedom of parents to decide how to best meet the educational needs of their children," Tanner Lovett, an opponent of the bill, said Wednesday. The Illinois homeschool bill will now head to the state House of Representatives for a floor vote. If passed by the House and Senate, it would land on the desk of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat considered a potential 2028 presidential hopeful. The bill passed out of the committee as President Trump is expected to sign an executive order Thursday dismantling the federal Department of article source: School choice activists warn parents about blue state's homeschool bill with jail-time provision
