World Surf League returns to Pipeline end-of-year event, big changes for 2026

• May 6, 2025

Hawaii’s Pipeline returns as competitive surfing’s big finale location in 2026. The mid-year cut is gone. And the one-day, winner-takes-all, WSL Final 5 championship is no longer.

The World Surf League recently announced big changes to the professional surfing tour for next year, also moving Lower Trestles to be the ninth stop on tour. So the surf spot just south of San Clemente will be making a later appearance than it is this year, when it will host competition in June. Lower Trestles was also recently announced as the site for the LA 28 Olympics.

The surf spot hosted the WSL championships for the first four seasons after the WSL Final 5 format was created in 2021, but this year, the one-day finals were moved to Fiji. And the sweeping changes just announced nix it altogether for 2026.

The finals event was a topic of contention among fans and athletes who often voiced a distaste for the one-day format, arguing a point system earned in a variety of waves throughout the year — as was the tradition since the 1970s — was the right way to determine the sport’s champions.

The 2026 season marks the 50th year of professional surfing, “a milestone that comes alongside a significant evolution of the Championship Tour calendar and competitive format,” WSL officials said in an announcement.

The iconic Pipe Masters in Hawaii will return as the closing event of the season, with longtime title sponsor Vans selling its intellectual rights for the name to the World Surf League Championship Tour, according to the announcement.  The Costa Mesa brand will still serve as the exclusive footwear and apparel partner for the contest.

The next season will start in April 2026, with 12 stops through the year, “reimagined to meet the ambitions and momentum of surfing’s next chapter,” officials said.

The mid-year cut, also a controversial system often bemoaned by surfers and fans, is being dropped for 2026.

The full field of 36 men and 24 women will compete in the first nine “regular-season” events.

After the ninth event at Lower Trestles, the field will be reduced to the top 24 men and 16 women for the two “postseason” events.

“Based on surfer and fan feedback, along with considerations of partner and permitting components, the (Championship Tour) will utilize a cumulative rankings format that combines a high-stakes finale with the depth of a full-season title race,” WSL officials said. “These changes reflect the importance of Pipe and ensure the finale delivers elite performances, meaningful consequences, and defining moments in the World Title race.”

The entire Championship Tour will return to compete at the final event for the Pipe Masters titles, the world champion titles and for requalification to the tour for the next year.

The top eight men and women heading into Pipeline will earn the competitive advantage of deeper seeding in the draw. The Pipe Masters will now award 15,000 points, 1.5 times more than a standard tour event, making it the most consequential stop.

“Pipeline has always held a special place in surfing history, and our fans have made it clear they want to see our sport’s most critical moments unfold there,” WSL CEO Ryan Crosby said, calling Pipeline an “iconic proving ground.”

“These changes represent a new era for the WSL,” he said. “By bringing the finale back to the North Shore and strategically innovating the format, we are celebrating surfing’s legacy and creating the ideal stage for the sport’s most unforgettable moments.”

The contests will also get rid of the non-elimination rounds, creating a more streamlined format.

​ Orange County Register 

What’s in Trump’s big bill? Money for migrant clampdown but tax breaks and program cuts hit ‘bumps’

• May 6, 2025

By LISA MASCARO, Associated Press Congressional Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is deep into drafting President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks, spending cuts and beefed-up funding to halt migrants, but it’s “bumpy,” one Republican chairman says, with much work ahead to meet House Speaker Mike Johnson’s goal of passing the package out of his chamber by Memorial Day.

In fact, the tax cuts portion is still a work in progress. As are the reductions in Medicaid, food stamps and other mainstay government programs. Mostly, the Republicans, who have the majority in Congress, have made progress on parts that would increase spending, adding some $350 billion to the Pentagon and Homeland Security, including money for the U.S-Mexico border wall.

“There are some bumps in the road,” Rep. Jason Smith of Missouri, the Republican chairman of the powerful Ways and Means tax-writing committee, acknowledged on “Fox News Sunday.”

All told, some 11 committees in the House are compiling their bills, and about half have finished up. They are being approved at the committee level by Republicans, on party-line votes, with Democrats opposed.

But some of the most-watched committees — Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce and Agriculture — have yet to act. Johnson himself acknowledged on Monday that his Memorial Day deadline may slip, but vowed “our timetable is on pace.”

Once all the committees are done, the different pieces of legislation will be rolled together at the Budget Committee into what Trump calls “one big, beautiful bill.”

If the House can pass the package, it next would go to the Senate, which is drafting its own version, for a final product by July 4.

Democrats say they will fight what House party leader Hakeem Jeffries calls the “extreme Republican agenda.”

Here’s a look at what’s in and out, so far.

Funding for 1 million migrant deportations, 20,000 new officers and the border wall

Two of the committees handling immigration- and border security-related matters have wrapped up their legislation.

Central to the Homeland Security Committee’s bill is $46.5 billion to revive construction of Trump’s wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, with some 700 miles of “primary” wall, 900 miles of river barriers and more.

It would provide $4 billion to hire an additional 3,000 new Border Patrol agents as well as 5,000 new customs officers, and $2.1 billion for signing and retention bonuses.

All told, the Homeland Security Committee approved $69 billion in new spending.

At the same time, the Judiciary Committee, which handles interior immigration enforcement and legal proceedings, has also completed its $110 billion bill.

It would impose a $1,000 fee on migrants seeking asylum — something the nation has never done, putting it on par with few others, including Australia and Iran.

And there are more new fees proposed on various other legal paths to entry, including a $3,500 fee for those sponsoring unaccompanied children to enter the U.S., a $2,500 penalty if sponsors of unaccompanied children skip court appearances and a $1,000 fee for individuals paroled into the U.S.

Overall, the plan is to remove 1 million immigrants annually and house 100,000 people in detention centers. It calls for 10,000 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and investigators.

More money for the Pentagon and Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’

The House Armed Services Committee was tasked with drafting legislation with $100 billion in new spending. But they did that and more, passing a bill with $150 billion for the Defense Department and national security.

Among the highlights, it would provide $25 billion for Trump’s “Golden Dome for America,” a long-envisioned missile defense shield, $21 billion to restock the nation’s ammunition arsenal, $34 billion to expand the naval fleet with more shipbuilding and some $5 billion for border security.

It also includes $9 billion for servicemember quality of life-related issues, including housing, health care and special pay.

Overhaul of the student loan repayment plans

A wholesale revamping of the student loan program is the key to the Education and Workforce Committee’s legislation, with $330 billion in budget cuts and savings.

The proposal would replace all existing student loan repayment plans with just two: a standard option with monthly payments spread out over 10 to 25 years depending on the amount borrowed, and a “repayment assistance” plan with monthly payments based on a borrower’s income.

The new income-based plan is generally less generous than those it would replace. Minimum payments for the lowest-income borrowers would be higher, and forgiveness would be provided after 30 years of payments instead of 20 or 25. The new repayment plans would take hold in July 2026.

Among other changes, the bill would repeal Biden-era regulations that made it easier for borrowers to get loans canceled if their colleges defrauded them or closed suddenly.

Federal employee pension cuts

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform targeted federal workers’ pensions for a projected $50.9 billion in deficit savings over 10 years.

Most of the savings would come from requiring federal workers hired before 2014 to pay more into the retirement system. They would have to match the 4.4% salary rate paid by federal workers hired since 2014.

The committee also called for basing a retiree’s annuity payment on their average top five earning years instead of the top three. And the committee’s plan would eliminate a temporary, supplemental payment for newly retired federal workers who retire before they are eligible for Social Security.

Republicans argued that federal employee retirement benefits outpace those in the private sector. But critics, including Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, who voted against the committee’s package, said changing a worker’s pension during the middle of employment is wrong.

Democrats said the change would result in less take-home pay for many middle-class Americans in the federal workforce.

More drilling, mining on public lands

The House Natural Resources Committee is set to meet Tuesday to consider its bill, which largely matches Trump’s executive orders to open public lands and waters to more natural resource development.

It would allow increased leasing of public lands for drilling, mining and logging while clearing the path for more development by speeding up government approvals. Royalty rates paid by companies to extract oil, gas and coal would be cut, reversing former President Joe Biden’s attempts to curb fossil fuels to help address climate change.

Oil and gas royalty rates would drop from 16.7% on public lands and 18.75% offshore to a uniform 12.5%. Royalties for coal would drop from 12.5% to 7%.

The measure calls for four oil and gas lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge over the next decade. It also seeks to boost the ailing coal industry with a mandate to make available for leasing 6,250 square miles of public lands — an area greater in size than Connecticut.

Republican supporters say the lost revenue would be offset by increased development. It’s uncertain if companies would have an appetite for leases given the industry’s precipitous decline in recent years as utilities switched to cleaner burning fuels and renewable energy.

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Collin Binkley in Washington and Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed to this report.

​ Orange County Register 

Homeland Security chief says travelers with no REAL ID can fly for now, but with likely extra steps

• May 6, 2025

By REBECCA SANTANA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Travelers who aren’t REAL ID compliant by the upcoming deadline this week will still be able to fly but should be prepared for extra scrutiny, the head of Homeland Security said Tuesday.

Kristi Noem told a Congressional panel that 81% of travelers already have IDs that comply with the REAL ID requirements. She said security checkpoints will also be accepting passports and tribal identification when the deadline hits Wednesday.

Those who still lack an identification that complies with the REAL ID law “may be diverted to a different line, have an extra step,” Noem said.

“But people will be allowed to fly,” she said. “We will make sure it’s as seamless as possible.”

REAL ID is a federally compliant state-issued license or identification card that Homeland Security says is a more secure form of identification. It was a recommendation by the 9/11 Commission and signed into law in 2005.

The commission recommended the government set security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and IDs. It was supposed to be rolled out in 2008 but implementation has been repeatedly delayed.

Besides needing a REAL ID to fly domestically, people will also need one to access certain federal buildings and facilities.

In recent weeks, Noem has been warning the American public about the upcoming deadline. In a television ad put out by Homeland Security, she warned that these IDs were needed for air travel and for entering public buildings, adding: “These IDs keep our country safe.”

A REAL ID-compliant driver’s license has a symbol (in most states, a star) in the top corner of the card.

​ Orange County Register 

Gaza aid dries up as Israeli blockade enters a third month

• May 6, 2025

By JULIA FRANKEL

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has blockaded all entrances to the Gaza Strip since March.

While pummeling the strip with airstrikes, it has banned any food, water, shelter or medication from being trucked into the Palestinian territory, where the U.N. says the vast majority of the population is reliant on humanitarian aid to survive. Israel says the blockade aims to pressure Hamas to release the hostages it still holds. Of the 59 captives remaining in Gaza, 24 are believed to still be alive.

Here’s a look at the humanitarian crisis spiraling in Gaza, through key statistics and charts:

The current blockade has lasted longer than any previous Israeli halt in aid to Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began. Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and Israel froze aid to Gaza for two weeks. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Now, Gaza is entering its third month without supplies. Thousands of trucks queue along the border of the territory, waiting to be let in. Community kitchens are closing down and bakeries are running out of fuel. Families spend hours waiting in line for small portions of rice.

In their desperation, Palestinians have begun scavenging warehouses and stores for anything left. Aid groups report a rise in looting incidents over the last week. At least some have been looted by armed groups.

Meanwhile, Israel is moving forward with plans to seize all of Gaza and to stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time. It says it will expand operations there, defying calls for an immediate renewal of a ceasefire from families whose relatives are still held hostage in Gaza. Israeli officials say there are 59 hostages in Gaza, including the bodies of 35.

Israel’s offensive has displaced more than 90% of Gaza’s population and, Palestinian health officials say, killed more than 52,000 people, many of them women and children. Palestinian officials do not distinguish between combatants and civilians in their count.

​ Orange County Register 

Woman shot dead while driving in Orange neighborhood

• May 6, 2025

One woman was killed and a second escaped injury in a shooting in Orange early Tuesday morning, May 6, authorities said.

The victim was driving a Honda SUV southbound on Highland Street nearing Del Mar Avenue about 12:30 a.m. when a male fired multiple times into the SUV, Orange police said.

The male, whose age was unknown, ran off and was being sought by police.

The SUV driver died at the scene, police said. Her identity was withheld by police pending notification of her relatives. A passenger was uninjured.

Investigators continue to investigate in the residential neighborhood, which sits just west of the 55 Freeway and south of Meats Avenue.

In November, a man was arrested near the same intersection after he allegedly fired shots at three Orange police officers as they approached him. He ran off but was found in a vacant apartment and taken into custody.

​ Orange County Register 

Trump administration asks judge to toss suit restricting access to abortion medication

• May 6, 2025

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and REBECCA BOONE

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has asked a judge to toss out a lawsuit from three Republican-led states seeking to cut off telehealth access to the abortion medication mifepristone.

Justice Department attorneys on Monday stayed the legal course charted by the Biden administration, though they didn’t directly weigh in on the underlying issue of access to the drug, which is part of the nation’s most common method of abortion.

Rather, the government argued the states don’t have the legal right, or standing, to sue.

“The states are free to pursue their claims in a district where venue is proper, but the states’ claims before this court must be dismissed or transferred pursuant to the venue statute’s mandatory command,” federal government attorneys wrote.

The lawsuit from Idaho, Kansas and Missouri argues that the Food and Drug Administration should roll back access to mifepristone. They filed their complaint after the Supreme Court preserved access to mifepristone last year. They want the FDA to prohibit telehealth prescriptions for mifepristone, require three in-office visits and restrict the point in a pregnancy when it can be used.

The case is being considered in Texas by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump nominee who once ruled in favor of halting approval for the drug.

Kacsmaryk’s original ruling came in a lawsuit filed by anti-abortion groups. It was narrowed by an appeals court before being tossed out by the Supreme Court, which found the plaintiffs lacked the legal right to sue.

The three states later moved to revive the case, arguing they did have legal standing because access to the drug undermined their abortion laws.

But the Department of Justice attorneys said the states can’t just piggyback on the earlier lawsuit as a way to keep the case in Texas.

Nothing is stopping the states from filing the lawsuit someplace else, attorney Daniel Schwei wrote, but the venue has to have some connection to the claims being made.

Besides, Schwei wrote, the states are challenging actions the FDA took in 2016, when it first loosened restrictions on mifepristone. That’s well past the six-year time limit to sue, he said.

Abortion is banned at all stages of pregnancy in Idaho. Missouri had a strict ban, but clinics recently began offering abortions again after voters approved a new constitutional amendment for reproductive rights. Abortion is generally legal up to 22 weeks in Kansas, where voters rejected an anti-abortion ballot measure in 2022, though the state does have age restrictions.

Trump told Time magazine in December he would not restrict access to abortion medication. On the campaign trail, the Republican said abortion is an issue for the states and stressed that he appointed justices to the Supreme Court who were in the majority when striking down the national right to abortion in 2022.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stance on abortion seems to have shifted at times, drawing criticism from both abortion rights advocates and anti-abortion forces. During his first confirmation hearing in January, he repeatedly said, “I have always believed abortion is a tragedy,” when pressed about his views.

Mifepristone is usually used in combination with a second drug for medication abortion, which has accounted for more than three-fifths of all abortions in the U.S. since the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

​ Orange County Register 

Soda drive-through will offer free internet famous drinks on May 12

• May 6, 2025

A pop-up soda drive-through is coming to Los Angeles and it’s offering drinks that have gone viral on the internet for free.

Soda company Olipop, which sells healthier versions of soda in various unique and nostalgic flavors, is organizing the free drive-thru experience on Monday, May 12 to mark the launch of its Orange Cream flavor. In addition to the Orange Cream soda, the pop-up drive-through will also include recreations of unusual drinks that have gone viral on platforms such as TikTok.

“We’re basically bringing internet famous drinks to life,” said Steven Vigilante, the company’s director of strategic partnerships. “We’re doing our own version and it’s all in service of the launch of our new flavor, which is Orange Cream,” he added.

Among the viral star drinks being served that day is the Cream Milk soda, which is a nostalgic drink made with the Orange Cream pop blended with vanilla almond milk and topped with a vanilla-frosted rim made with fruity cereal. Also on the drink menu is the Dirty Protein soda that once again combines the company’s Orange Cream soda with a Koia vanilla bean protein shake.

The star of the internet drinks served during the pop-up might be the Spicy Pickle soda. It was a drink created on the spot by singer Dua Lipa  when she poured a can of Diet Coke into a cup of ice and then added pickle juice, then some juice from a jalapeño jar.

“Of course it went viral because people were like ‘who would do that?’ and then everyone wanted to try it and post their reaction to it,” Vigilante said.

Those who attend can either drive in through the drive-through area or park nearby and walk in. There will also be free merch giveaways in partnership with Crocs.

Olipop Drive-Thru

When: 1:30-6 p.m., Monday, May 12

Where: 4450 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles

Information: drinkolipop.com/

​ Orange County Register 

Can I be sued for posting a critical review online? Ask the lawyer

• May 6, 2025

Q: We stayed at a vacation rental. It was not a quality residence, and we felt it made sense to post about our experience. We have now received a “cease and desist” letter from a lawyer, which indicates we have to retract the post or remove it, and if not, we may have a lawsuit on our hands. Do we have to comply?

W.B., La Habra

A: There is an expression “no good deed goes unpunished.”  I suspect your reason for posting the review was to inform others who may think of renting that location, and possibly also to get the owner to fix the place. Your “reward”  is an attorney jumping down your throat.

To be able to assess the situation, it would be necessary to review what you posted. Some basic questions arise: Is your post truthful? If it is, truth is a defense to defamation. In addition, statements of opinion are protected. For example, if you post, “We think this is not a place worth what they are charging,” that would likely be deemed an expression of opinion, not a factual claim. Further, California has the Anti-SLAPP law (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), which is designed to seek to promptly dismiss lawsuits that try to silence people for speaking their minds.

So did you knowingly make a false statement? Did you accuse them of criminal conduct without any basis? Did you threaten, harass or disclose some confidential information? If not, you may well defeat any claim brought, and I have to wonder why the owner can’t simply refute online what you posted. The dilemma remains a concern that the lawyer who wrote to you is going to take legal action, which at minimum will cost you some stress and bucks. Thus, if you are sufficiently worried, consult with qualified counsel.

In closing, I want to be able to say “the lawyer is huffing and puffing,” but there is no way for me to be able to make that determination without more details.

Q: We breed dogs. Another breeder has now posted very derogatory remarks about us. What can we do about this? We consider it absolutely false and harmful to our reputation and business.

C.S., Corona

A: If you are giving serious thought to taking legal action, first evaluate if, in fact, what has been posted meets the legal threshold for defamation. You have to prove (a) publication, (b) the statement pertains to you (and/or your business), (c) it is false, (d) the person acted improperly and (e) damage has ensued.

One thought is that a cease and desist letter may be called for, insisting that the item be removed from the platform where it was posted, as well as cessation of further defamatory statements, and possibly a public retraction or apology. The cease and desist letter will contain a deadline for compliance.

Also, report the offensive content directly to the social media platform; most have policies that prohibit defamatory content, and some have mechanisms for reporting violations.

If these efforts do not resolve the matter, a defamation lawsuit would typically be the next step. I have seen where a party published what I would call a “stinging rebuttal” to the remarks made, and not taken formal legal action. After all, lawsuits are not fun, can be costly and can be risky. So before going forward in court, make sure you have a good grasp of your chances of prevailing, the risks you face and just who you should pursue; claims against the party who made the post are often treated differently from claims you might include against the media platform (which has a level of statutory protection). Also, be sure to comprehend that seeking injunctive relief (asking that the court to require one or more of those sued to take certain action) is different from asking for monetary damages.

Ron Sokol has been a practicing attorney for over 40 years, and has also served many times as a judge pro tem, mediator, and arbitrator.  It is important to keep in mind that this column presents a summary of the law, and is not to be treated or considered legal advice, let alone a substitute for actual consultation with a qualified professional.

​ Orange County Register