California
Space X sues California regulators, claiming bias against Elon Musk
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Elon Musk’s SpaceX sued California regulators Tuesday for alleged politician bias.
SpaceX claimed, in a lawsuit filed in California’s Central District, that regulators denied the company permission to conduct more rocket launches because of Musk’s many controversial and hard-line conservative stances. The decision, the company claims, violates its CEO’s right to free speech.
The space exploration company wanted to launch dozens of rockets each year from Vandenberg Space Force Base near Santa Barbara, California, according to the Wall Street Journal (NWSA), but the California Coastal Commission denied the request.
Commissioner Gretchen Newsom, who is not related to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, criticized Musk before the vote on the decision, saying he had “bigoted beliefs against California’s safeguards and protections over our transgender community.”
She also lambasted him for “hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA while claiming his desire to help the hurricane victims with free Starlink access to the internet,” the Journal reported.
Newsom also questioned SpaceX’s safety record and labor conditions.
The company said in court documents that “rarely has a government agency made so clear that it was exceeding its authorized mandate to punish a company for the political views and statements of its largest shareholder and CEO.”
Musk criticized the Commission, writing on X: “The Coastal Commission has one job — take care of the California coast,” he said. “It is illegal for them to make decisions based on what they (mostly wrongly) think are my politics.”
Musk claimed to have “done more to advance sustainable energy & help the environment than maybe anyone ever, which is not exactly a ‘far-right’ position.” He called on the commission to resign.
Because SpaceX is a major federal contractor, there is still a chance it could launch more rockets from California.
Col. Mark Shoemaker, a commander at the Space Force who oversees Vandenberg, told the Wall Street Journal, “We are assessing the outcome from Thursday, and it is too soon to comment on launch cadence beyond the current capacity constraint.”
California
Mississippi State women’s basketball will face California to open March Madness. Bracket update, game info
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State women’s basketball is back in the NCAA tournament.
The Bulldogs (21-11) drew a No. 9 seed and will play No. 8 California (25-8) on Saturday in Los Angeles. The winner will play No. 1 Southern Cal or No. 16 UNC-Greensboro.
It marks two trips to the NCAA tournament in the first three seasons under coach Sam Purcell. MSU was selected to the First Four in 2023 and defeated Illinois to make the first round. Then, it beat Creighton before losing to Notre Dame in the second round. The Bulldogs narrowly missed the NCAA tournament last season and played in the WBIT instead.
Mississippi State lost just one nonconference game before an up-and-down SEC schedule. It was a victim of two buzzer-beater losses to Missouri and Florida. MSU beat Missouri in the first round of the SEC tournament and then lost to Ole Miss in the next round.
Buy Mississippi State women’s NCAA tournament tickets
Jerkaila Jordan is Mississippi State’s leading scorer with 16.0 points per game.
MSU has never won the national championship but was a finalist in 2017 and 2018 under coach Vic Schaefer.
Who does Mississippi State women’s basketball play in March Madness?
Mississippi State will play California in the first round.
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
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California
Some COVID shocks were short-lived, others more permanent: These five Bay Area charts show how
It has been five years since the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place order was announced, these charts show how some things have recovered, and others have changed more permanently.
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A city named after Ireland’s capital has to put on a good show for St. Patrick’s Day.
So on Saturday morning, the 41st holiday parade got under way in Alameda County’s Dublin with bagpipe and high school bands and plenty of floats, cars and revelers decked out in green.
The city of San Francisco, with its Irish roots, also hosted a parade. And the crowd for San Jose’s annual Shamrock Run wound its way through downtown.
The Bay Area festivities — Irish dance and music, pub crawls, corned beef feasts — will continue Sunday and through the holiday, Monday.
Originally Published:
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